=::= Castle Faoláin, Fourteen Months Ago =::=

"Things are moving backwards!" growled the old fae seated to Eamon's left, at the head of the table. The old man slammed his glass down on the table to punctuate his anger. "I've invested over a century into this, and I'm not getting any younger!"

There was no denying that. Lord Aengus had passed his millennium a couple decades ago. He was thin, nearly to the point of looking gaunt. His hair was white and almost wispy. He bore wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, but mostly across his brow. His attire was suitable for a man of his station of course. His clothes were made out of the most expensive silks, and were very well-made.

Normally the old fae wore a distant, almost vacant look on his face. It encouraged his family and any spies in his household to believe the rumours that his mind had grown feeble. Alone with people he trusted though, his eyes were alive with the fire and intellect of a man with unsatisfied ambitions. And right now, those eyes also burned with frustration.

Aengus turned his head left and right, glaring at both Eamon and the other man in turn.

Eamon was the youngest in attendance tonight. He'd just passed his fifth century. He was slim, attractive, strong. He was a military man, and kept himself in fighting form. He wasn't in uniform tonight of course. It wouldn't do for him to be caught anywhere in County Conchobhair wearing those colours, but it would have been especially out of place here in castle Faoláin. He was dressed in nondescript travel wear tonight.

The fae seated across from Eamon was tall and slim, and had a somewhat wiry build. He stood out due to his fiery red hair and bright blue-green eyes. He was nearly six hundred now, moving into middle age. And he was dressed in peculiar clothes that were common on Earth. He was no military man. He called himself a business man, but those at the table knew he was really just an opportunist. He'd been blessed with skill in magic, and he used that to amass wealth however he could, without respect to law or decency.

Eamon asked, "What has happened, lord? The news I've heard over the past two decades seemed very positive."

"Yes, finally it seemed we were getting somewhere! And yet once again we've been thwarted." the old fae scowled.

He took up his glass and drained it of wine, then started listing off all their efforts and all their failures.

"First we arranged the young Maeve Brádaigh to fall in love with that buffoon Connor ó Duinn, so she'd convince him to break his family's arrangements and incense the Ceallaighs. But no, the Ceallaighs wouldn't dare make a move against Clann Brádaigh. Then we had Lady Aisling killed, and her assassination should have been traced back to the Ceallaighs. But no, young Maeve didn't even realize her mother had been murdered! The girl was too overwhelmed, too grief-stricken, and too naive to even look into Aisling's death!"

The old man fixed his eyes on the tall redhead. "At long last it seemed we were getting somewhere, when you incited Eileen to finally make a move against Maeve. At least we had two entertaining decades, watching the young countess flounder while her husband and child were lost. But she was still too weak-willed to actually strike back at the Ceallaighs!"

With an angry sigh Aengus got to the end, "And now my spies in the Ceallaigh stronghold tell me there's a truce! Maeve's child has been recovered, and her husband has been restored! And she was willing to forgive Eileen and forget the whole thing ever happened!"

Aengus pointed a thin finger at the redhead, "You swore to me Maeve would never recover both husband and child! You guaranteed that at best, she must sacrifice one to save the other!"

Eamon looked back and forth between his two colleagues and asked, "But how has this happened? Last I heard Connor was roaming the forest, transformed into a violent beast by the curse. And the child was lost on Earth, disguised and hidden as a changeling."

The old fae scowled, "Spies tell me it was the girl! They say the spirit of Taralynn Brádaigh lives on in the child they call Teganvale. They say it was she who restored her father, and she's the one who brokered the truce with Eileen."

His scowl grew deeper as he stated, "And now Maeve and Oisín Ceallaigh are in talks to cement an alliance between their two houses! Teganvale Brádaigh is to marry Aodhan Ceallaigh once they both come of age!"

In a fit of anger Aengus flung his empty wine glass at the wall, "That cannot be allowed to happen!"

Eamon flinched as the glass shattered, but the redhead just sat back with a slight smile on his face.

"Lord, if I may make some observations?" the redhead sounded calm and confident. But then he always did. "The stories your spies tell you about the child Tegan Vale, they aren't true. I believe it far more likely that Eileen was simply in over her head. After all, do you really believe a babe barely past her second decade could truly wield magic like the stories claim?"

He shook his head and continued, "No. Let me tell you the truth, my friends. Tegan Vale is once again living on Earth. One of my granddaughters is keeping a very close watch on her. The girl is nothing. She's lame in her right leg, she requires healing magic every second day just to keep her standing. She ignores her fae heritage, lives among the humans, and I'm told she's barely able to work a handful of simple spells."

Finally he added, "As for Connor ó Duinn? I'm quite confident that was another of Eileen's blunders. She likely made some error when preparing the curse I taught her. Or it may have been the fault of her patsy Liam ó Catháin. He could have made some sort of mistake when he delivered the curse to Connor."

The redhead shook his head again and smiled, "I know for a fact it was not Tegan Vale who bested the beast. She lay nearly dead beneath it, when it was brought to a halt by an arrow loosed by Maeve's top soldier, captain Siobhan."

That news seemed to satisfy the Lord Aengus. A thoughtful look settled on his features as he sat back in his chair.

"So, what then is our next move?" Eamon asked as he looked back and forth between his companions.

After a few minutes, the old fae came to a decision.

"We've wasted over a hundred years already. I'm through waiting. I want the whole of the Southern Marches under my control, and I'm not prepared to leave it another century. The time for subtlety and delicate manoeuvres is past. I want war in the east, and I'm prepared to spill blood to get it."

Eamon sat to attention as Aengus turned towards him.

"Eamon," the old fae stated. "Hire some assassins, and outfit them in Brádaigh livery. Send them to the Ceallaigh's stronghold. Have them kill someone important, I don't care who. Make sure the murder is blamed on Maeve."

After a moment he added angrily, "And try again to get spies into castle Brádaigh! I don't care how you do it! Send better people, or recruit someone from within. We need to know what Maeve is up to!"

"Yes Lord Aengus," Eamon nodded, "It will be done."

The old fae turned his attention back to the redhead. "Keenan, you know where Teganvale can be found on Earth, and that is your playground. Have her killed, and make sure her death is attributed to the Ceallaighs."

The redhead sighed slightly, "It will be a shame to kill her. She is an attractive young thing. I have a dozen clients who'd each pay a small fortune to add her to their collection. Though to be honest I've actually thought about taking her for myself. It's been some five decades since I last had a plaything of my own, and a fae pet would last much longer than the human who entertained me previously."

He noted the scowl on the older man's face and smiled as he apologized, "Sorry, just some idle thought. Of course Lord Aengus, I will see to it personally. Tegan Vale will die, and the Ceallaighs will be blamed."

Finally satisfied, a smile formed on the old fae's lips. "Excellent. Eamon, Keenan, you are both more loyal and more capable than those two incompetent fools who call themselves my sons. When this is over, when Cathasaigh and Donnghaile have both fallen under my control, you men will be well rewarded. As promised, there will be property, estates, and titles for you both."

"Lord Keenan has a nice ring to it," the redhead smiled. "Not bad for the son of a peasant farmer. And an estate would be a nice surprise for my family."

Eamon smiled, "Indeed. 'Lord Eamon' sounds very good to me."

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