Siobhan was keeping us to the same pace as we made our way back south again. The weather got nicer once we were in the woods and further away from Duma Dé, so we had sunshine and clear skies rather than the dull grey overcast.

We were about halfway home now, it was four days since we left the Duma. I figured we'd probably emerge from the forest some time tomorrow, back out onto the rolling grassland.

It was getting near dusk when we happened upon a small stream, and Siobhan had us stop there for the night.

By now me and the twins were pretty well-versed in the whole camping and travelling thing. It really had been a crash-course after all. One other achievement I was especially proud of was I'd finally mastered the art of getting into the saddle unaided. After almost six years I didn't need a boost anymore when mounting my horse.

Working together we had camp completely set up in under an hour. The horses were all taken care of, the two tents set up, a small campfire was burning, and Laoise was working on dinner.

While me and the twins and Padraig went out into the woods to gather up some more firewood, Merryweather hung around Laoise and watched her cook. And Siobhan just sort of stayed near her sister, to guard our camp and the horses.

I wasn't sure if she was still expecting trouble from our newest friend or if she was worried we'd run into other fae out here in the woods. I didn't think the pixie was any danger though. Taralynn seemed to trust the pixies just fine, and that was good enough for me.

Finally we all settled down around the campfire while Laoise prepared the meal. As she cooked, she commented "We're going to have to start rationing the food I think. We're running low on pretty much everything."

"Well don't look at me," Merryweather joked. "It's not my fault."

The pixie hadn't eaten so much as a grain of rice. We offered to share our food with them but they declined, and instead they went off at night to hunt while we slept. So while we all sat around and ate dinner they just picked a friendly shoulder to sit on. So far their favourites seemed to be me and Laoise, though they'd spent some time riding on Keira's shoulder a day or two ago.

Padraig offered, "I could try and get us some fresh meat? It's a bit of a gamble though, we'd lose a day while I was hunting, and if I wasn't successful that would leave us worse off than before."

Siobhan nodded slowly, "I was thinking the same thing. Might be better to just keep moving. Even if it means the last day we have to go hungry, at least we'll be fed when we reach the castle."

Dinner tonight was the same as every night the past nine or ten days, boiled salted meat and rice or barley. And I was confident breakfast in the morning would be the same as we'd had every morning since the third day, more boiled salted meat in porridge.

It was filling but by now it was also very boring, and it wasn't terribly satisfying. I was just about sick of the watery wine too. I was almost tempted to jump back to Earth for a few days just to get some hard lemonade, and maybe pick up some sushi.

The captain pulled me out of my reverie as she asked, "Tegan how are you planning to handle our return? Padraig and Laoise and I can just ride up to the main gates, but if any of you three try that you'll be spotted."

After a moment she added, "I'm not sure how anyone will handle er, Merryweather there either."

I sighed and set my bowl aside for now. "I guess it's as good a time as any to talk about this. I know you've all been curious what happened up on top of Duma Dé, what sort of guidance or advice I got. I appreciate that nobody's pried about it."

I looked at Siobhan, then Padraig, then Laoise, and said "Before I go on, I have to warn you three. Kelly and Keira and I are already fugitives, we're already wanted." I glanced at the pixie who was on Laoise's shoulder, "And Merryweather, correct me if I'm wrong but you don't really consider yourself a subject of King Cathal right? You don't have to worry about your standing in fae society?"

"That's right Lady Tegan," they replied with a nodd. "Pixies don't care about fae laws or fae kings, we do our own thing and we mostly keep to ourselves."

"Thanks, that's what I thought."

I addressed the other three fae again, "So before I answer your question Siobhan I have to warn you three up front. You can either stick with me and see this through to the end, or we can part ways before we reach the castle. If you choose the latter, I won't say another word about my plans. I appreciate all your help in getting me to Duma Dé and back. You can return to the castle, hopefully return to your positions and jobs and lives there, and that will be the end of it."

I paused for breath and for effect, then continued "However, if you want to stay with me and see this through, I'm warning you up front you will probably become fugitives as well. If everything goes as planned then in the end it won't matter, and you'll all be very well rewarded. If not, we might all wind up dead. I know I'm not doing a good job selling this, but that's all I can say till you've decided if you're in or out."

Keira asked with a grin, "How come you're not giving me and Kelly a choice?"

I knew she was teasing but I didn't smile. I just gave her a serious look and replied, "You two are already in, whether you like it or not. You're already wanted. Unfortunately I can't offer you a choice."

Everyone was quiet for a bit after that. The three soldiers all had thoughtful looks on their faces and I figured they were considering my words.

Finally it was Laoise who spoke up first. "I'm in. I'm honoured you'd even ask me, to be honest. But I'm in and I won't let you down."

"Me too," Padraig stated. "I already told you once m'lady, I'd follow you to the end of the world and back."

After Padraig, we all sort of looked at Siobhan to see what she'd say.

The captain had a thoughtful look on her face, but she looked at me and asked "Can I trust that you won't turn against Lady Maeve or the rest of the clann?"

"Of course," I nodded. "I'm going to do my best to not involve the clann at all, but I'd never turn against my parents regardless."

"All right then," Siobhan replied. "I'll see this through with you, Lady Tegan."

I smiled slightly and said "Thank you Siobhan, and Laoise, and Padraig. As of this moment, you are part of the Vale sept of Clann Brádaigh. You as well, Tempest Merryweather. At least until the dust settles, the seven of us are part of the clann, yet separate from it. Our actions will not reflect on my mother or Clann Brádaigh in general."

I added, "Considering Kelly and Keira and I are already 'outlaws', I think the Vale sept is going to be something of a renegade group for now."

The others stayed quiet. Some were slowly eating, others just staring at me. I saw some nods of agreement and some thoughtful looks among my tiny clann-within-the-clann.

While they finished their dinner, I opened my jacket pocket and pulled out the tightly wrapped bundle I'd been carrying since I climbed down from the Duma. Then I started to unroll it as they all watched.

Everyone was staring now with a look of surprise on their faces, except for Merryweather who had a wide smile on their face. They already knew what was coming.

It was a silk pennant, and it was similar but not identical to the Clann Brádaigh standard. It was a long skinny triangle, made up of three smaller aqua-blue triangles around one purple triangle. Where our clann pennant had one large black star in the centre, this one had four smaller black stars, one in each of the triangles.

As the flag was revealed, Siobhan commented "That's not a Brádaigh pennant."

I nodded to Siobhan, "You're right. This is my personal standard, though perhaps we'll adopt it as the Vale pennant."

Then I addressed everyone as I said "To answer the earlier question, we're going to return to the castle by riding up to the front gates with our banner flying proud. The king may not be happy with me, but we will not be treated as criminals on our own clann territory, and I will not skulk around hiding my face any longer."

Finally I asked, "Padraig, will you be my standard bearer?"

He was still staring at the pennant in my hands as he asked, "Where'd you get it? Have you been carrying that this whole trip?"

The pixie spoke up. They were still smiling widely as they said, "Lady Taralynn designed it, and my troop of pixies crafted it."

"Babe?" Kelly said quietly. "I get that you want to ride back home with the banner flying and all that, but what about the two knights? They're going to try and take us prisoner and haul us off to the king."

I stated, "They may try, but they won't succeed. I'm going to send them back to the royal court with a message. I will meet the king in person at the Duma Dé near his palace. It's some thirty leagues west of the palace, so we'll have to give him some time to get there. When he arrives though, the seven of us will already be there waiting for him."

For the next few minutes my companions were all silent as they stared at me.

Finally Laoise commented, "If he comes, he won't come alone. He'll bring soldiers, maybe even an army. And he'll have mages. What will you do once you're facing all of that?"

I replied calmly, "I will apologize to him for the disrespect I've shown him, and I will ask him to drop whatever charges he's placed against us. I will ask him to call off his agents making trouble for us on Earth, and I will ask him to forget any plans of me being part of his family and under his control. And I will ask him to absolve my mother and our clann of any wrongdoing, because my actions have always been my own responsibility. And finally, I will ask him to leave us all in peace."

"Ok," Keira said slowly. "And you know he's not going to agree to any of that, right? So what happens when he refuses all of your requests and tries to have us all thrown in chains. Or just orders us all killed on the spot?"

I took a deep breath and let out a long deep sigh. "Then I will crush him and his son. I will bring Cathal's reign to an end. I will make it clear to all of Otherworld that it's not worth it to try and mess with the great-granddaughter of Taralynn. And I will hope that Queen Áine will be a little more reasonable than her father was."

The others were all quiet again after that, but I could see in their expressions what they were thinking. It looked to be about one part 'probably going to die' and one part 'this is high treason'. And perhaps one part 'this is going to be epic'.

Everyone was quiet for several minutes this time, until finally Padraig was the one to break the silence.

He got to his feet and said with a wry grin, "I'll be back in a moment, Lady Tegan. I need to cut a pole so I can hold our banner high."

I smiled back at him, "Thank you Padraig."

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