Trying my best to shake the curious glances from the Dagda’s guard, I strode over to Lasair and climbed up into the saddle, patting his neck and complimenting him on his patience and loyalty. The red horse answered me with a cheerful whicker.
“Here,” the Dagda said, passing over a cloth sack. “Something for you to eat on the road.”
It turned out to be some sort of walnut bread that tasted slightly of pound cake and honey. I broke it in half and gave a piece to Cade before quickly polishing off my portion. A water skin was handed back, and I took several long swallows. It was a nice change from the mead and ale Cade and I had been drinking of late.
Once we cleared the hills and started crossing the rolling farmland, Fergus and Meridian joined us, taking up their usual habit of scouting ahead. To my great relief, the rainclouds which had been lingering for the past few weeks had finally moved on, giving us the first real look at blue sky in a long time. The road we took was muddy under the horses’ hooves, and the chain mail of the Dagda’s guard jangled and clinked in an all too familiar rhythm. As we headed for the dolmarehn which had taken us to Erintara before, I couldn’t help but think of the last time we’d traveled this same road.
Cade and I had just made our relationship official. Well, as official as it could get, and I’d been struggling against the extra wealth of magic Cernunnos had gifted me. And we’d been heading into the capital city to convene with my mother and all the other Tuatha De. It’d been the first time I had ever met them, and we’d gathered together to discuss the impending threat of the Morrigan. We didn’t have to worry about the Morrigan any longer, but that nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach just wouldn’t go away. The goddess of war and strife had been destroyed, but was she really gone?
Cade only gave a slight shake of his head when I voiced my concerns aloud. He put on a warm smile as well, but there was something brewing in his eyes, and I could sense an undercurrent of unease simmering below the surface that matched my own. As much as he tried to reassure me my worries were unfounded, I couldn’t help but think he felt the same way I did.
“Let’s worry about the immediate for now, Meghan,” he murmured over the snorting and chuffing of the horses’ hooves.
“And that is?” I pressed.
“Informing Danua and her entire court of our wedding plans.”
I groaned and let my head fall back. I had almost forgotten about the special role I played as the high queen’s daughter. No nice, small wedding ceremony for me. Danua would insist on having the event in Erintara with every single last citizen of Eile in attendance. Cade was right, I had other things to worry about right now that I knew for certain would be taking place in the near future.
When Cade asked me what was wrong, I told him.
He chuckled and shook his head, that strange aura from earlier replaced with genuine amusement. “It is your wedding, Meghan. And mine. Danua will just have to accept our wishes. If you want a small ceremony at Luathara, that is what you’ll get.”
I cast him an annoyed look. “That’s easy for you to say.”
And then, I thought of something else. I furrowed my brow, wondering if I had been so self-absorbed the last several weeks I’d forgotten I wasn’t the only one getting married. A flood of guilt washed over me.
“But, is that what you want, Cade? I haven’t even considered that maybe you would like a big celebration and that you’ve been keeping quiet for my sake.”
Cade made a face and shook his head. “Oh no, I’m with you, Meghan. A small ceremony at Luathara will be perfect. And that’s what we’ll get. Don’t worry.”
He picked up my hand and kissed the back of it. For the next several minutes, Lasair and Speirling walked side by side with the Dagda falling back to join us. We spoke of frivolous things: the beauty of the countryside in spring, the names of the many villages which dotted the main roads running through Carnogh, the heaping piles of white clouds filling the deep azure sky like mounds of whipped cream. Eventually, we came upon the giant dolmarehn that would take us to our final destination, passing through as one large group. The portal spilled our small party out onto a wooded hillside which overlooked Erintara Castle and the lush, green landscape that surrounded it. Between the trunks of the trees, I could make out the endless blue expanse of Lake Ohll, its shimmering surface reminding me of the Pacific Ocean back home in Arroyo Grande.
“Shall we continue forth?” the Dagda asked, nudging the flanks of his great blond horse.
Already his guard was moving out, taking their places ahead of us with a few falling back to keep an eye out for possible trouble. Not that we were really expecting any, but the Tuatha De never traveled without a small entourage to discourage any foolhardy outlaws hoping to earn a few easy coins.
The countryside was much different from the last time I had traveled this way, I noticed. Instead of hosting the earthy golds, russets and crimsons of autumn, the rolling landscape was lush with greens and pastels. The fruit trees that had boasted scarlet apples before now displayed branches overburdened with blossoms of blush and white. The fields turned for crops resembled those in the Dagda’s realm, but the hills and vales in the distance were painted with the soft yellow of buttercups, the showy blue of what might be lupins, and a variety of several other shades of pink and crimson. So many small wildflowers I had yet to learn the names of. The air was heavy with the scent of blossoms, and a warm breeze carried the lovely melody of songbirds and the fresh rush of the creeks and brooks flowing from the hills.
I took a deep breath, letting it all soak into my senses and breathe life back into my well of glamour. Lasair danced beneath me, whickering and tossing his head. I laughed at his antics, reaching down and scratching his neck. Speirling gave him a curious look, as well as the other horses in the Dagda’s guard, and the jovial Tuatha De himself barked with laughter.
“There is something about springtime in Eile that gets the magic flowing in your veins,” he proclaimed, with a glint to his eye.
When Erintara Castle and its pristine city, standing proud and resplendent atop the tallest hill overlooking Lake Ohll, rose into my immediate view, I sighed, a mixture of emotions welling up in my heart. I was eager to see my biological mother again, even if we were still working on our somewhat tenuous relationship. I had hated Danua at first. Her cold callousness during our initial meetings had discouraged any desire to build a relationship on my part. Cade had told me the queen needed to put forth such a persona because of who she was, but it had taken me awhile to realize that much of that aloofness had been a shield of sorts. Danua had been forced to give up her two young children in order to keep them safe. I hadn’t liked her decisions and hadn’t understood them at first, but I had begun to realize it’d been her only choice at the time and she’d done it out of love.
I heaved a great breath, shaking those thoughts from my head. At least I didn’t have to worry about her reaction to my engagement to Cade. According to my husband-to-be, Danua had been the one who suggested it in the first place. I smiled. That had been another bone of contention between us. She had not liked my association with Cade. Now that the Morrigan was gone, and Cade being a large part of the reason for that particular outcome, she had warmed up a little more toward him. I hoped the growing bond between the three of us would only strengthen in time.
It was closer to evening than midday when we finally made it through the city and reached the castle proper. Many well-groomed stable hands greeted us in the courtyard and took the horses, leading them off to be pampered and fed. Fergus and Meridian, who had been traveling along the outskirts of our party, joined the horses as they headed toward Erintara’s stables.
You know where to find me, I sent to my spirit guide.
Yes. Castle, she returned, winging her way around the stone walls of the fortress.
The Dagda’s guard parted ways with us as well, joining the queen’s soldiers at the courtyard entrance as they were returning to the barracks after a day spent sparring
and keeping the peace in the city below. Cade, the Dagda and I were led through the massive halls of Erintara as the servants who had greeted us at the doors searched for my mother. We found Danua in her throne room in the midst of listening to two Faelorehn men arguing over something I suspected had to do with a botched business agreement. The high queen looked immensely bored, but as soon as she saw us, she sat up straight in that smooth manner of hers and grinned a little. The gesture, although quite miniscule compared to most smiles, warmed my heart. She was glad to see me.
“Gentlemen,” she said, her strong voice carrying over the bickering tones of the two men, “your complaints will have to wait.”
They both stopped mid-argument, their faces stunned as they blinked up at her. I noticed that although they were clearly not part of my mother’s court, they were dressed in the rich style and fabrics of wealthy men. I had a feeling they were used to being treated on an equal standing with the nobility of Erintara.
“But, your majesty,” one man, the one dressed in red and violet with pale blond hair, began.
Danua held up a hand and cast him a sharp look. I almost cringed. I had been on the receiving end of that look before. The man opened his mouth, saying nothing, then closed it quickly.
“My daughter has just arrived, and she takes precedence over your pointless squabbling. Gharret,” she snapped shortly, turning to the other, darker-haired man, “you shorted Lochlainn two barrels of barley. You must make up for it in some other way.”
“Your majesty!” the man named Gharret protested.
But Danua stood up then, her gaze narrowing as the room cooled slightly.
“I have listened to the two of you argue all afternoon, and it has gotten you nowhere. I have heard enough to make a sound judgment. If you wish to bring your problems to my attention, then you must accept my decision. Now, be gone from my sight, so that I might greet my only daughter properly.”
The men lost their bluster then and quickly bowed their way out, casting me, Cade and the Dagda curious, yet irritated, glances as they left the room behind.
“Everyone else,” the queen announced, “is dismissed for the rest of the afternoon. Dairine, would you ask the kitchen staff to prepare tea for four? We will be in my study.”
A young lady in waiting curtseyed and disappeared through a side door. Once the room was cleared, Danua stepped down from her dais and approached us, her arms outstretched. I was a bit surprised to see her showing this level of welcome, but perhaps the reports from around the realm for the past few months had proven positive. Or, maybe it was that spring glamour in the air that had improved my mother’s usually icy mood.
“Meghan, it is good to see you, daughter. How have you fared since I last spoke with you?”
Although I hadn’t seen her since the Solstice celebration she’d held in winter, I had been making it a habit to write to her at least once every few weeks.
I smiled, clasping her fingers as she took my hands in hers. “Very well.”
My eyes turned toward Cade. He nodded his head once, knowing what I was asking him with just a look. Taking a deep breath, I turned back toward my mother and said, “And we have some good news, although I believe you already know what it is.”
She smiled brightly this time, a mischievous glint to her eye. She darted her gaze to my left wrist and then met my eyes again. “So, he finally worked up the nerve to ask you.”
It was a statement, not a question. Danua dropped my hands but took one arm and tucked it into her elbow, leading me away from the entrance of the throne room. Cade and the Dagda trailed behind us, starting up their own private conversation.
“I wondered how long it would take him after we spoke. When did he propose, exactly?” she wanted to know.
“Just before Imbolg,” I replied.
She laughed out loud and said, “Eager young man, your Cade.”
That comment warmed me far more than it should have. Not because my mother recognized Cade’s desire to commit to our relationship, but because of how happy she sounded at the prospect. I had no doubts about Cade’s loyalty, but knowing my mother was beginning to see that as well meant everything in the world to me.
As we moved through the door leading into her study, I leaned into Danua and rested my head on her shoulder. She stiffened at first, clearly unsure of how to respond to my sudden display of affection. “I’m glad you approve of Cade, Mother. I want us to be a family, and knowing you are happy to include Cade in that family means so much to me.”
Danua made a choked sound, but recovered quickly as she turned and ran her hand down my hair, the way a mother might soothe a young child. “I am ready to be a family again, Meghan,” she murmured, “and although I wasn’t sure about Cade in the beginning, I’d be proud to call him my son-in-law.”
Before our emotions could get the better of us, Danua pulled away from me and ushered us all into her study. After that, we had a nice, long conversation, filling one another in on what had been happening in our own parts of Eile during the latter half of winter. The tea arrived fifteen minutes later, after we managed to spread ourselves out amongst the collection of comfortable chairs in the room. Starving, since I hadn’t had much to eat that day, I quickly filled up a plate with finger sandwiches and pastries. Between bites of food and sips of tea, Cade and I relayed some of the highlights from our whirlwind visit to the mortal world and the Weald.
The rest of the evening was spent in this way, the four of us laughing and having an all-around good time. I had not liked Erintara so much before, but now that my mother wasn’t encompassed in that shell of invisible ice, I felt more comfortable and at ease.
We stayed in Danua’s study long into the evening hours and only sought our own quarters once we had run out of things to talk about. When the fire finally burned down to coals, Cade and I sought out our room, the same chamber we had shared the other times we’d visited this castle. We were so weary from the activities of the day that we fell asleep the moment we got settled into bed.
* * *
For the next few days, the Tuatha De trickled into the royal city. The Dagda had been the first to arrive with Cade and me, then the next day Lugh and Epona made their grand entrance. The city was abuzz with excitement as the other kings and queens of Eile made their way to Danua’s court. I recognized everyone from the few meetings the high queen had called before the war with the Morrigan, but I couldn’t remember all their names. Besides my mother, the Dagda and Lugh, I knew Epona, Goibniu, Nuadu and Cernunnos, of course.
The god of the Wild was the last to arrive, and I made an effort to keep my distance from him. Cade was still concerned Cernunnos’s glamour might seduce me, and I already had a strange history with the antlered god. Before the war with the Morrigan, he’d given me all his glamour to help defeat our common enemy, but it had been wrapped up in a geis, and I had not been able to speak about it with anyone. Fortunately, it all worked out in the end. Still, I gave him a wide berth, only nodding and smiling politely and speaking to him if common courtesy required it. Someday, I hoped, Cernunnos and I would be able to look back on our strange alliance and laugh, but not today. The memories of that terrible ordeal were still too fresh.
The evening after everyone arrived, we gathered together in the great dining hall. The Dagda explained that since this was just a general meeting to report how the other realms of Eile were faring after the Morrigan’s fall, a formal assembly wasn’t necessary.
“Most of us will be leaving in the morning,” he commented, as we headed toward the dining hall, “but I’m guessing you’d like to stay an extra day or two?”
I glanced up at Cade, a question in my eyes. He merely shrugged. “It’s up to you, Meghan. And we do not need you to escort us, Dagda, if you wish to return home.”
The Dagda grumbled something about taking care of his foster son and soon-to-be foster daughter no matter how long we wished to stay in this overly-clean city of stone and insufferable formal manners. As always with thi
s particular Tuatha De, I laughed.
Two of the castle staff opened the tall doors for us, and we were shown to our seats. As before, the three of us sat near the head of the table with Danua. I spotted Nuadu’s son, Bowen, at the other end of the great room. I waved across the table with a smile, and he returned the gesture. Cade lifted a brow at me, a bemused look on his face.
“What?” I asked, feeling somewhat chastened.
“Nothing,” he said, lacing his fingers with mine and planting a kiss on the top of my head. “Glad to see you consider Bowen a friend, even if it might prick a little at my pride.”
I snorted and shoved at him playfully. “Caedehn MacRoich, you fool. Don’t you know I fell in love with you the moment I saw you?”
His eyes sparked, and he sat up a little straighter, a smug smile on his face. “Really?”
I tilted my head to the side and quirked my lips, thinking about it for a moment. “Well, maybe not immediately after I saw you, but definitely after you rescued me in your Trans Am.”
I smiled sweetly at him, and he laughed, drawing my mother’s attention. Fortunately, the tension of an impending war was not looming on the horizon, and she took our antics with nothing more than a curious look and a slight quirk to her mouth.
The meal was a very pleasant affair with all the Tuatha De reporting to the high queen that their realms appeared peaceful and free of any dark influence. Although there were occasional faelah sightings, the evil creatures were easily and swiftly dispatched, and their occurrences seemed to be diminishing. Cade and I also made an official announcement regarding our upcoming bonding ceremony, in which all the Tuatha De present cheered and wished us their congratulations and their hopes to make it to the wedding come May.
Despite this positive news, however, I couldn’t help but feel a dark undercurrent permeating the room, growing farther outward the longer we sat there. Glancing up from my meal, I quickly cast my eyes over the entire hall. Everyone appeared to be in good spirits, laughing and conversing and enjoying the delicious food and drinking mead freely from their goblets. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this was a joyful dinner party to celebrate an ongoing peace and the upcoming union of the high queen’s daughter and her husband-to-be. But that was just on the surface. Beneath it all, that dark vibe hummed like an underground chorus of deep voices. As subtly as I could, I sent my awareness out, trying to discover if this unspoken feeling resonated with Cade. To my relief, it didn’t. If there was any tension in him or his glamour at all, it was in reaction to my careful consideration.
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