It turned out there was one place I could go to walk and clear my head. I teleported myself out into the western forest. And I came alone because I was hoping for some quiet time to think, rather than simply repeating the same stressful conversations in a different location.

I was still in Earth clothes, I had my jeans, a t-shirt, my spring jacket, and hiking boots. I was wearing my sword, but left my bow behind.

The dense trees and brush made it more of a hike than a walk, and made it hard to let my mind wander as I had to stay focused on the terrain around me. After an hour or so of fighting my way through the thick woods, I happened upon a small stream, and spotted a little beach of pebbles on the far side.

I wound up sitting down there. The idea was to try and clear my head, meditate or whatever. To let the gentle sound of the creek wash away some of my stress.

Yesterday evening the twins and I teleported back down to my mother's private chambers. We had dinner with my parents in their private dining room. My dad was happy to see me of course, and worried for all of us. He wasn't much help in terms of coming up with ideas or figuring out solutions, but I appreciated his kind, gentle concern.

My small size and my looks and my name all came from my mother, but I had a feeling I got my kindness and my compassion from my dad.

After dinner Kelly and Keira and I teleported back to our room for the night. We were back with my folks again for breakfast this morning, then back to our room again afterwards.

I already hated it.

I almost thought we'd be better off back on Earth. At least there we had the run of our house and our property. Here we were stuck in one room, albeit a big luxurious room, and only allowed out for meals. We could do better than that on Earth, visit with Elise or even pop out to Cape Breton for a day here and there and stay with Sue and Kaitlyn.

And I wasn't getting anywhere in terms of figuring out what to do. I kept circling around the same handful of options, and none of them were palatable to me. Give up and be the king's prisoner and his daughter-in-law, go to war with the king, use my gift to defeat or destroy the king some other way, and / or return to Earth and use my gift to mess with a bunch of humans.

Keira's advice was to use my magic and crush the king and his son. Kelly wasn't as enthusiastic about it, but she was leaning in that direction too. And both twins felt the same about handling things on Earth. My parents were careful not to suggest or endorse any particular plan of action regarding our challenges here. I was sure they were staying out of it for their own protection. The twins and I were absolutely talking treason and my mother was already in a precarious position just knowing we were considering this stuff.

On the other hand mom did support the idea of going back to Earth and doing whatever was necessary to sort things out with the human authorities.

To make matters worse, we were on limited time here. We had less than a day left before we had to leave the castle like me and the twins agreed up front. So I really needed to make a decision today about where we were going next. Either back to Earth, or somewhere else in Otherworld.

I'm not sure how long I sat there, as I continued circling around the same options over and over. In the end, I decided what I needed most was some guidance. I needed to talk to someone I could trust, who could bring an outside perspective to the problem.

I felt awkward doing this but I closed my eyes and tried to relax. Then I whispered, "Taralynn, Aisling, I don't know if you can hear me. I prayed to you once before, when I was at a crossroad and had no clear path ahead of me. You spoke to me and gave me some guidance then. I could really use that again now. Maybe even more than last time. I don't know what to do, where to go, how to proceed. I'm afraid I'm going to be forced to break some of my own rules again, but I don't want to do that. I don't see any other option though. Please help me. Thank you."

Afterwards I sat there quietly for a while longer, before I finally got to my feet. I focused on my girlfriends, and teleported myself back to our room in the castle.

Kelly was laying on the bed, Keira lounging in a chair. They were both dressed in casual comfy clothes, matching t-shirts and yoga pants. When I returned they both got up and moved to my sides to give me a hug.

Kelly asked, "How was the walk?"

"Did you come to any decisions?" Keira asked.

I shook my head, "No decisions yet. No progress at all, I guess. And it wasn't so much a walk as a hike. I forgot how thick those woods are."

"So what do you want to do now?" Kelly asked.

"Actually I was thinking about taking a nap," I said as I gave them both an apologetic look. "I kind of tired myself out a little, and my leg's not happy after all that."

I wasn't exactly being honest with them. My leg was a bit unhappy but the real reason I wanted a nap was I hoped to hear from my great-grandmother. Last time she appeared to me in my sleep, I was hoping that would happen again now that I'd tried to contact her.

"Ok babe," Kelly said. She gave me a kiss and added, "Me and Keira will keep quiet."

Keira kissed me as well and suggested, "Actually maybe Kelly and I can pop out there for some fresh air and stretch our legs too?"

Kelly agreed, and they both quickly put on more appropriate clothes. They took their bows as well as their swords, then they both teleported out to the waypoint there, as the starting point for their hike.

While they were getting dressed I got undressed, then gave them both a hug and kiss before they left. After they were gone, I slipped into bed and closed my eyes to try and sleep.

As I lay there I continued to think about Taralynn, as if I could somehow force a meeting to happen just by thinking about her and wanting it really hard.

I did eventually manage to drift off, but I didn't get another audience with my ancestors. I dreamt of Duma Dé, but that was about the only noteworthy thing that happened.

When Kelly and Keira returned I was awake again, but still laying in bed. I was frustrated, but I realized it was probably foolish of me to think I could just demand an audience with my ancestors.

"I hope you two enjoyed the woods more than I did," I commented as I sat up in bed.

Keira shrugged as she and Kelly set their weapons down in the corner, "It was ok. We did some hiking, and some talking."

"How was your nap?" Kelly asked. "Did it help any?"

I shook my head, "Not really."

Kelly looked a little concerned, but Keira just grinned and suggested "I can think of something else the three of us can do in bed that'll clear your mind for a while."

I smiled while Kelly rolled her eyes.

"Not a bad suggestion Keira," I replied. "But we're supposed to join my parents for dinner in an hour or two, and I'd rather not be all hot and bothered when we do that."

Keira pouted, "Tonight then? It'll be our last time in this great huge bed for a while, we promised to leave tomorrow morning."

"Maybe after dinner," I replied. Though from my tone I was sure she knew I wasn't really expecting my mood to improve by then.

The three of us ended up cuddling and relaxing until it was time. I got dressed again, and the three of us joined my parents in their private dining room.

I knew time was running out, we had to leave in the morning and I hadn't even decided yet where we were going. We could return to Earth, either to our home or someplace else. Maybe out east, we could check on Sue and make sure she was ok. Or go out west, we didn't really have any contacts or friends out there. Kelsey still lived out there as far as I knew, but we hadn't seen or heard from her in a few years.

Or we could stay in Otherworld and do... What? I had no idea.

As usual mother sat at one end of the table and I sat across from her at the opposite end. Kelly was to my left, Keira sat to my right. And dad sat beside Keira, on my mom's left. And as always the food was divine.

Conversation tonight was lacking though. None of us had anything new to say, we'd said it all yesterday. As the five of us ate, I wound up lost in thought.

My mind wandered back to my attempt to contact Taralynn. I figured I might hear from her tonight as I slept. My nap hadn't been successful but perhaps I wasn't asleep long enough. I dreamt of Duma Dé, maybe I needed to sleep longer for the rest of the dream to happen. Except the dream this afternoon wasn't even close to how it went a couple years ago.

When I met my ancestors that first time, I found myself suddenly atop the Duma. This afternoon I'd just dreamt of the Duma as if seeing it from a distance, sort of like the first time I saw it when we approached on horseback.

I was still thinking about that when my mother's voice brought me back to the dining table.

"Tegan?" she asked, "I said, have you decided yet where you'll be going tomorrow?"

I blinked at her a few times, and blushed as I realized I'd missed part of the conversation. I glanced around at the others. Dad was smiling, he knew I'd been caught daydreaming. Kelly looked concerned, she was probably worried I was getting overwhelmed again with stress. Keira just looked curious, she wanted to know the answer as much as my mom did.

For a few seconds I sat there just staring back at my mother. Then all at once it came to me. My nap wasn't a failure, it was a message after all.

"Yes," I nodded. "We're going to Duma Dé."

My answer caught all four of them by surprise. Kelly and Keira glanced at each other, mom frowned, dad looked slightly confused.

"Babe?" Kelly asked me. "Why there of all places?"

I took a deep breath then explained, "I need to talk with Taralynn. I need her guidance again. Last time she brought the Duma here to me while I slept. This time I have to go there in person."

The others were all quiet again for a few moments, until my mom spoke up. "You won't be making that voyage alone. None of you have enough travel experience here."

Her tone made it clear there'd be no room for argument. Not that I was planning to complain anyways, I knew we'd need help and I was actually hoping she'd send someone along with us.

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