“Is anything happening yet, Your Majesty?” I ask Hatchesput over the phone. There is a short delay before she replies.
“No, nothing yet.”
“Oh,” Pulania exclaims. “I hadn’t foreseen this. There’s a problem with the invocation.” She turns to me and looks very concerned. Luckily I’ve turned the cell phone to mute, Hatchesput doesn’t need to hear that we have a problem on our end.
“What, what is it?” I ask.
“The covenant is requiring not just my blood, but that of the other witness. It wants the blood of Samael, as well.”
Strong blood magiks like that of the covenant can have their own life and soul. Pulania’s invocation has been less an incantation than a discussion with the magiks of the ancient agreement.
“Well, that’s not a problem, we can call Samael here.” The pub is actually the one place we know we can summon Samael without killing someone, it shouldn’t be a problem.
“No, you don’t understand, he’s an angel. Have you ever seen an angel bleed?”
I consider that a second, I had sparred with Master once, cutting him with my obsidian dagger. He’d said it had made him uncomfortable, but he’d healed almost immediately, he hadn’t actually spilt one single drop of blood, not a one.
“Angel’s don’t bleed.” And now I realise why Pulania has such a panicked look on her face. I probably look a little aghast myself.
“What do we do now?” I ask Pulania, after all, she’s the one with hundreds years of magikal experience.
“I don’t know. I have no idea.”
Ficketty feck. Great. Shite, shite, shite! But then something occurs to me. I take out my own knife, and slash my hand. “This will have to do. As a daughter of Samael, I carry some of his blood.”
I sprinkle my own blood on the covenants.
Eppy is looking at me, I offer the blade to her. She nods and takes it from me. There are two daughters of Samael here. She cuts open her own palm, and sprinkles around her own blood, adding it to Pulania and mine, before handing me back my obsidian dagger.
After I roughly wrap my hand in one of the bandages that Pulania had at the ready, I unmute my cell phone.
“They’re dropping from the sky,” we hear Hatchesput commenting. “The covenant invocation is working!” she adds excitedly.
“Are they all falling?” I ask. My worry is that Samael’s blood, given by Eppy and I, is diluted, so it may not be as effective as we hoped.
There’s a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, and then the answer comes back.
“No.”
Chapter 49: Getting ready
“The idea is to make it known that we’re at the Hill of Tara. The wedding will help with that. Tara is the diversion that Susan will need.”
“Oh, okay, I can see that,” Gil replies to my explanation. She is wondering why the wedding will be such an open affair. I mean, we could do it in secret so as not to attract the attention of the other side, but Eppy agreed that we needed to start focussing the enemy on where Susan wouldn’t be, we need to have the main battle at Tara. Having a big wedding there is going to let the other side know where we’re planning on making our stand. I’m trying to explain to Gil some of the stuff she missed out on while she was gallivanting around with Raven boy.
“You’re not to tell anyone about Ruby though, not Jonathon, not Hatchesput, not Arawan, no one. They’re all going to be thinking they’re protecting the real Susan. Only we girls are going to know the truth, no one else.”
Gil nods in agreement.
“The covenant only worked on about a third of the Fae on the other side. That still leaves a substantial number of witches we’re going to have to fight. With the Seelies and Unseelies, we should have a slight advantage, but not much, there must be near to a thousand of them left from what Hatchesput has said. Their numbers had been growing by that much.”
I’m still wondering why the invocation didn’t work on the other two thirds of the covenant breakers. Hatchesput has spies in the other camp, so maybe we’ll find out something when she hears back from them.
“We need to give the other side a name,” Pulania comments. “It’s too awkward calling them ‘the other side’ all the time.”
“It’s kind of hard, the good guys on our side are mainly evil, dark witches, it’s mainly good witches that are the bad guys,” I comment.
“Well, there is that.”
“Traitorous Fae, how does that sound?” Gil asks. “Or, you could go for ‘Covenant breakers’.”
“Hey, you pulled that out of my head,” I object.
“Might have done, can you pass the lip stick?”
We’re getting Eppy and ourselves ready for the ceremony. We’ve set ourselves up in the pub, again. There’s more room here, and the weather in Edinburgh was shite, the wind would have ruined our hair, magikly fixing it every five seconds would have been a major hassle. The priests of the Tuatha de Danann will preside, though, interestingly, Eppy also asked for a later private ceremony with a Catholic Priest, to which Arawan agreed, of course, he’s not evil, just Unseelie, so there’s nothing to stop him from doing that. As dark witches, Pulania and I shouldn’t be able to attend the latter private ceremony, however, we’re not entirely dark. We haven’t given Eppy an answer about whether we’re going though. It could well be physically uncomfortable for us, maybe impossible, I’m not even sure we can step foot inside a church.
I guess Eppy, having lived in Ireland for centuries, is comfortable with the local ways. She wasn’t brought up in dark coven, like I was. I’m not sure how she grew up, really. I notice she does wear a small silver cross, I wonder what the history of that is? I guess she’s Catholic, but she might have other beliefs too. An Elemental who is hundreds of years old would have experienced many things.
Eppy catches me looking at the cross she wears. She picks it up from her throat and kisses it. “This was given to me by a previous husband. I loved all my loves.”
“Hmm, I’ve killed a few of mine. They were drop kicks. But you were around before Christianity in Ireland, you haven’t always been Catholic.”
Eppy shrugs. “No, but Christianity in Ireland wasn’t always Catholic. It just grew into that. I used to follow the old ways, but having wed so many Christian men, it was easier to become Christian myself. I still follow some of the old religion of the Milesians. I guess I was actually part of their religion, in some ways.”
The Milesians, I remember the Lebor Gabála Érenn, or the Book of the Taking of Ireland, listed them as one of the early peoples of Ireland. I suddenly feel a hollowness, talking to Eppy, she’s my twin, but she seems so much more ancient than I am. It’s because she has her memories, memories that go back hundreds of years. I’m like a little girl beside her, she knows, and has experienced, so much more than me. She’s an old soul. I can hear it in the way she speaks, with almost every sentence I can see her remembering a past I don’t have.
Pulania puts her hand on my shoulder, she can read my mind, she knows how I feel.
The conversation falls into silence for some time, my melancholy has probably killed the mood. As my familiar, Gil can sense my feelings too. Maybe Eppy can as well, I think I’m beginning to be able to feel some of her moods, so she can probably feel mine.
Oh ficketty feck, I guess it’s up to me to break this dour situation. “I think we’re ready.”
Oh, my god, I think we’re ready, did I really say ‘that’ to break the atmosphere?
“Don’t swear in goodness.” Pulania raps me on the top of my head.
“Ow! That hurt.”
Pulania is smirking at me, and I can’t help but grin back.
“I’m a bad girl,” I admit, and the others giggle at that.
“It is time to go, though,” Pulania agrees. “Where are the men, do we have an escort?”
“Master has disappeared. I think he’s been forbidden from interfering. We’re too close to Susan’s birthing time.” And of course, Susan and Arda
n have to stay at Pulania’s, that goes without saying.
“Where’s Jimmy, he should be here. There should be a royal escort too,” Pulania complains. “This is a royal wedding. There needs to be pomp and ceremony.”
“Your pomp and ceremony has been here all along.” Jimmy turns around, startling us from the suddenness of his appearance. He is in one of the booths, they’re so high backed you can’t see who’s in them, he could have been quietly sitting out of sight for some time, hidden from our view until he’d leaned around the backing. “I’ve just been resting here, taking a bit of a nap until you were ready to go.”
“Jimmy! Don’t do that,” Pulania scolds him. He made us all jump about a foot, none of us had sensed him at all. “How long have you been there?”
“Oh, hard to say, lassie, might have drifted off for a wee while, all that female gibbety gibbering was wont to put a man to sleep.”
“What are you doing here anyway?” Pulania accuses. “You weren’t invited.”
“Nay, I was ordered, lassie.” Jimmy stands up and he’s clothed in what I take is the fine dress uniform of the Seelie Army Commander. For a second, we’re all stunned by the brilliant whites, with epaulets and buttons of gold.
“Shit, Jimmy looks good,” I comment.
Jimmy just winks at me. “By order of the Queen of the Seelie Court, and the King of the Unseelie Court, I have been sent to command the honour guard that will bring the young bride to partake of the marriage ceremonial of the Tuatha De Danann.”
He actually stood at attention when he said that, so he’s taking his role seriously.
“Young bride?” Eppy asks.
Pulania steps up to answer before Jimmy can get a word in. “Just take the compliment, dear. The Faerie people are all so old that even we are young compared to them.”
“Oh, of course. I hadn’t thought of that.”
Jimmy remains silent, a huge grin on his hairy red face.
“Not to sound unimpressed, or anything,” Gil pipes up, “but isn’t an honour guard usually more than one soldier?”
“Well, lassie. If I click my dainty little fingers,” Jimmy raises his fingers for effect, “the whole regiment will appear here in the pub…”
“Don’t do that,” I interrupt. “They’ll all want a drink, and the Faerie people rarely pay. You’ll bankrupt us, we’re doing really well here.”
“No need to panic, lassie,” Jimmy replies. “I can just as easily take all of us to the regiment, all I have to do is… click the fingers of the other hand.” Jimmy lowers the one hand and raises the other with a questioning smile on his face. “Ready to go, lassies?”
We all look at each other, not only is Eppy dressed to the nines, we are as well. Nobody is objecting, so we look to Pulania to reply.
“Okay,” Pulania says. “I guess we’re…”
But Jimmy just clicked his fingers.
Chapter 50: Revelations
We’ve come out in the Neolithic passage tomb underneath the Hill of Tara, the Dumha na nGiall, or the mound of the hostages. I remember that the Tuatha de Danann were banished here by the High Druid, Amergin, some time back in the iron age. Though how I know this… I don’t actually know. It must be one of those shattered memories of the past that sometimes pop into my head.
Around us are the Seelie Regiment that Jimmy promised. Jimmy is there too, looking overly smug. I hate traveling this way. Only the very powerful of the Seelie can do it, I know that, and Jimmy is one of those. The less powerful use the Faerie paths. Though, we’ve come out in a Faerie path, or the exit from one, so maybe Jimmy cheated a little.
“Well, lassies, if you’re ready we’ll escort you to the Hill.”
We all nod to Jimmy as his troops form around us. Then Jimmy orders us all forward.
The tomb passage is relatively short so it’s only a few steps to the Hill top, where the evening air has already begun to cool. The sun hasn’t quite set, but will do in the next few moments. Torches have been lit to guide our path, and fire braziers line the way to keep the spectators warm. Most of our allies are here, the Seelie, the Unseelie, our own coven, and many others. There are Ravens in the shadows – a supporting contingent from the British royal family. With the dwindling light I can see them around the perimeter of the old Hill fort. Trenches have been dug into strategic points and gun positions have been sand bagged, in preparation for the battle to come.
The covenant breakers are going to know we’re here. There’s so much magik swirling in the air they couldn’t help but know. As we process toward the centre of the hill, I note that the British Princess we met so long ago is standing at a prominent position beside Queen Áine. Hatchesput is also there. The Seelie soldiers line the area that has been reserved for us, and as previously arranged, Pulania and Eppy go forward alone to where Arawan awaits, near the Stone of Destiny. Around them in white robes are the Faerie priests.
Words are being spoken by them, but we have to stand so far back it’s barely decipherable. I guess Pulania is sort of giving the bride away, in Tuatha de Danann style.
“Evening, Egghead.” A croaky voice comes up from beside me. It’s Hatchesput.
“Your Majesty, Supreme Evality, Fae Queen of…”.
“Cut the crap, it’s nowhere near as much fun being Fae Queen of Hibernia as I’d hoped, nor Grand High Witch of Britain. Too much responsibility.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, Your Majesty,” I reply.
“So, you’re twins hey?” Oh, she means Eppy and I. I cringe a little, we hadn’t even considered that with Hatchesput being at the wedding the cat would be out of the bag. I mean, we were just so absorbed with preparing for the big day, and worrying about Susan and the battle to come that it had just slipped our minds.
“Umm, yeah,” I answer lamely.
“Always knew you and Pulania were different, a touch of evil, but not evil through and through. In the olden days we would have offed you. Different world now, now we cohort with White witches, Seelies, all sorts.”
She pauses, does she want me to say anything in response? I’m not sure I really have anything to say about that.
“She’s a damn powerful Elemental, that girl, your sister. You’re pretty powerful too, what are you exactly? You’re not a dark witch, and your sister isn’t a typical Elemental. She’s not lost her soul, and has a lot more magiks than any Fae fallen Elemental. How is that?”
“Descendants of Gaea,” I reply. There’s no point in holding back now, I’m pretty sure she has a rough idea anyway. “I’m Thanatos Moerae.”
“Deathly fate?” A puzzled Hatchesput translates the Greek.
“A bit like a Fury, they’re distant cousins.”
“Ah huh, that would explain a few things.” I notice that Hatchesput has edged away a little. Is she scared of me? Well, I guess a Fury is something just about any creature might fear.
“The children of Gaea are all just stuff of legends, I didn’t think any actually existed, well apart from the Daughters of Gaea, the Pulania who witnessed the Covenant was supposed to be one of those.”
Oh shite. I stand there awkwardly watching the distant ceremony as beside me the wheels in Hatchesput’s head put two and two together.
“Nooo, it couldn’t be. She’s not that Pulania, is she?”
I don’t answer, but not denying it is a kind of an answer in itself.
“Nooo, friggin’ children of Gaea amongst us all these years, and I had no idea. But how has she become dark? I mean, she would’ve started life as a White witch.”
“Corrupted by the angel of death, my father, Samael,” I answer.
“The other witness to the covenant?”
“Exactly so. I’m sure he must be around here somewhere, watching.” And there she had it, the whole family tree was out there now. There’s no point in hiding anything anymore though, we could all be dead in a couple of weeks time if we don’t keep Susan alive, nothing after that really matters.
“Really? Well fire and brimst
one, I never. It looks like I picked the right side then.”
Mawh, not the furious reaction I was expecting. We settle into a comfortable silence, watching Eppy and Arawan’s ceremony. I guess the Grand High Witch of Britain has just reaffirmed her commitment to stand by us, and try and live if we can. Comforting that. Live and let live, I say.
“Your Majesty, do we know what happened with the covenant breakers?” I venture.
“You mean why so few were affected? Well, none of the Southern or Eastern European covens were affected, and pitiful few of the American ones. We believe that they’re ancestors were never signatories, so the covenant had no power over them. Of the covens that were affected, only about a half of their number lost their power. I don’t know why it didn’t work completely, do you?
“We didn’t have the blood of Samael, only Elspeth and my blood, it wasn’t what the covenant demanded.”
“Oh, lesson for the future then. Don’t use angels as covenant witnesses.”
So it would seem.
Chapter 51: It’s time
“It’s time, the babies are coming!” A panicked Ardan breaks into my room waking me up.
“What? Ficketty feck, Ardan, I was sleeping, did you have to wake me?”
“The babies are coming! It’s time?”
“Babies take ages to pop out, you didn’t have to wake me for this.” I’m a bit annoyed, it’s like six in the morning. I’m sure I could have gotten a bit more sleep without too much trouble. It’s not as though it’s the end of the world or anything. Oh, well, figuratively speaking, at least.
“What do you mean, the babies are coming?” As I brush the sleep from my eyes and start to think thoughts of morning coffee, it strikes me that Ardan had used the plural. “Is Ruby in labour too?”
“Yes,” his head bobs furiously. “They’re both doing it. It’s been going on for hours. Pulania wants you up now. She says that the time is upon us.”
“Oh, well, that’s different, be a good man and go out of my room so that I can get dressed, will you?”
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