I slammed down my empty glass with a little more force than I intended, then demanded "Why didn't anyone tell me about this stuff before? I could have been enjoying mead the past six years!"

"It's good, yes?" Merryweather grinned up at me. The pixie was holding a thimble full of the sweet amber liquid like it was a giant mug as they sat cross-legged in the middle of the table.

Kelly cautioned me, "Just remember to pace yourself babe. You don't want to get drunk before you see your parents."

"Yeah I know," I sighed. Then I picked up the pitcher and poured myself a second glass.

I was trying not to let it show, but as soon as the crisis was over I had a serious attack of guilt and nerves. I just murdered a man, and even though he made it pretty easy to hate him I still felt bad about it.

I didn't really want to get drunk, but I did want to dull my senses a little and maybe let the memory of that violent death get a little blurred.

All seven of us were in the study. We were all sitting around one of the tables and we'd had an early dinner brought to us here. I hadn't seen my parents yet but Gaelen released them from the dungeon, along with seneschal Owen. The captain told me my parents wanted to spend some time in their private chambers, to get cleaned up before seeing us. And he assured me my folks were both ok.

Colm was still out in the courtyard, under guard. He'd been disarmed and I personally locked the shackles on his wrists. I'd be sending him off at dusk, but first I needed to write a letter to the king. I didn't trust the knight to deliver a verbal message without embellishing it in one way or another.

I wasn't actually eating that much but the others were enjoying their meal, and the wine and mead. As the others ate, I looked around the table and asked "So how much time do you think I should give the king? The Duma Dé where we're going to meet him is about thirty leagues away from the royal palace."

"We covered forty leagues in a week," Padraig pointed out. "We could do thirty leagues in about five days I think?"

Laoise scoffed, "Royalty won't move anywhere near as fast as we did."

Siobhan agreed, "If you're sending Colm back tonight, maybe the king will get your message tomorrow. Maybe not till the day after. Then it could take him another day or two to make a decision and start planning. He won't be travelling light as we did, he'll be bringing porters, servants, and at the very least some sort of honour guard."

Her sister nodded in agreement, "Once they're actually moving it might take them a week to cover that range."

Kelly pointed out, "Our first trip to Duma Dé took us about eight days didn't it? And that was pretty comfortable for some of us."

I asked, "So how about I offer him two weeks from today? That's seven days to dither around, and seven days to actually get there."

Siobhan and Laoise seemed to be the most knowledgable on this subject so I was looking to the two of them for their feedback.

The tall blonde thought it over, then nodded "I think that's a good number, m'lady. It's reasonable and realistic, but it's also soon enough that it doesn't leave much room for delays and distractions. It would show you're serious and you expect him to take you seriously too."

Laoise pointed out, "Just because you want him there in two weeks doesn't mean he'll actually do it though. He could drag his feet and delay things. He might not even show up at all. Or he could send soldiers, while he waits at his palace."

I nodded, "Good point. I'll try and phrase it like a personal challenge or something maybe? Or just make it clear I'll speak only to him, any lackeys he sends in his place won't be returning intact."

"Tegan?" Keira asked. "What's your plan for getting the seven of us there on time? I'm assuming magic will be involved, it's something like a five or six-week journey on horseback to get to the royal palace."

I smiled, "Yes, magic will be involved. We'll go early, just incase. I want to be there long before the king or any of his scouts turn up. We'll pack food for a week or so, and plan to arrive four days early. That should give us lots of time to talk with the local pixie troop and enlist their help."

Siobhan and Padraig both looked a little uneasy with that idea.

After a few moments, Siobhan asked "What if they refuse to help?"

I smiled and nodded to Merryweather who was just drinking the last few drops of their mead, "I'm quite confident our friend here will convince them. They're our pixie ambassador."

Two small purple eyes opened wide as Merryweather stared up at me. Their expression was a mix of shock and confusion.

"After all, that's why they accompanied us. Isn't that right, Merryweather?" I was trying not to smirk as I added, "I mean, I know you didn't just run away from your troop so you could join us on some big exciting adventure."

Now the wide purple eyes were joined bright red cheeks, as the tiny enby coughed and sputtered. They finally settled down and nodded, "Yes, very right Lady Tegan. Pixie ambassador, that's me."

Almost everyone was grinning now as they all looked at our little diplomat. Merryweather tried to look proud and dignified, and especially tried not to look like they wanted to sink into the table and hide.

Siobhan just nodded slowly and asked, "And on the off-chance that doesn't work, what's our back-up plan?"

I replied, "Bribery. We'll be bringing a lot of mead and sweets with us. We'll share that with the pixies either out of friendship and gratitude, or as payment or bribery. One way or another though, we'll get their help and we'll give them what they want."

"That'll work too," Merryweather said with a grin.

Merryweather and I both got ourselves some more mead, and the others continued enjoying their meal.

"So in two weeks we'll be challenging the king himself, at one of the Duma Dé," Laoise said. "You mentioned we'll be there four days early. That gives us about ten days to get there. How long do you figure we'll be on the road?"

"Like I said, I'll get us there with magic," I replied. "I don't imagine it'll take us more than an hour to get there. So we have about ten days to rest, relax, and prepare. Then we'll travel at dawn, and when we get there we'll set up camp and make friends with the local pixies."

Keira asked, "What about horses? I assume you're going to get us there by going through the veil? Take us out at the meadow in the southern forest, then back in somewhere near the Duma? How close can you get us to it?"

I shook my head "We won't need horses. I suppose we could borrow some to get us to the meadow, or we can just teleport there. Yes we're using the veil to get us there. Not just close, I can get us directly to the Duma. We'll arrive right ontop of it."

"Babe?" Kelly asked with a frown. "How will we get back home afterwards? Or are you saying the veil is thin at that particular Duma Dé?"

I smiled, "I don't want to reveal all the secrets just yet. I suppose I'm asking you all to trust me on this. And bear in mind, the Duma Dé are special places after all."

Merryweather was grinning again as they had another gulp of mead. They already knew the answers of course, they were there with me when I learned the truth about the Duma Dé from Taralynn.

Everyone was pretty much finished eating when my mother came into the study. She was wearing a long loose dress. I noticed her hair was a bit damp, I assumed she'd had a bath and gotten cleaned up after her time in the dungeon. She looked ok, I didn't see any evidence she'd been hurt or anything.

We all got to our feet, Siobhan Laoise and Padraig all bowed.

"At ease," my mother said, "Relax, take your seats. Except you, Tegan."

She motioned me to sit with her at the table off to the left. I poured her a glass of juice, then I moved to sit with her.

"Are you ok?" I asked her quietly. "They didn't hurt you at all did they? Is everything ok with the baby?"

My mom accepted the juice and replied "I'm fine now Tegan. Muireann checked me and made sure nothing was wrong. As for being mistreated, I'm not very happy about spending two weeks in my own dungeon. But I'll live."

I sighed, "I'm sorry about that. I didn't realize one of the knights was a mage. He told us he'd been monitoring you, since he knew I'd be shielded."

She just nodded, then replied "Captain Gaelen told me what became of Sir Niall. What do you intend to do with Sir Colm?"

I explained, "I'm going to write up a letter to the king, then send Colm back to the palace to deliver it."

Mom sighed, "You know there's no longer any chance of a peaceful resolution?"

"I know," I replied quietly. "I've been avoiding that fact and hiding from it for two years. But you've been telling me, Kelly and Keira have been telling me, and now Taralynn has told me. I have to stand up and fight for what I think is right. I'm sorry I didn't listen to any of you before. I'm sorry my childish behaviour led to you and dad being treated as criminals."

She watched me for a few moments, then asked "So you spoke with your great-grandmother again? Another prophetic dream?"

I shook my head, "I was awake this time. And I wasn't hallucinating, someone else witnessed it."

"I assume that was one of your girlfriends?" she asked. "Kelly, or Keira?"

That made me grin but I shook my head again, "Neither in fact. I made friends with one of the pixies."

I glanced over at the other table and asked, "Merryweather? Would you come here for a moment please?"

The look on my mother's face was priceless as the pixie buzzed over and landed on my shoulder. They were a little wobbly in the air, and had to hang on to my hair to keep their balance. I had to suppress a grin, I figured two thimbles-full of mead was about their limit.

"Mother, I present Tempest Merryweather. And Merryweather, I present Lady Maeve, leader of Clann Brádaigh and Countess of Cathasaigh."

The tiny drunk pixie bowed deeply and nearly toppled over. Their hold on my hair kept them on their feet, if only just.

My mom was staring wide-eyed as she just nodded slightly, "Hello Tempest Merryweather..."

After a few awkward moments mother got to her feet again and said, "I'll leave you to it, Tegan. I believe you have a letter you need to write."

"Thanks mother," I replied as she made her way back out. Then I looked at the little passenger on my shoulder and suggested, "I think two thimbles is enough for you, my friend. I hope pixies don't get hangovers."

Merryweather just giggled as they took flight, and wobbled back to the table with the others. I suppressed a smirk, then got myself some parchment and a pen and ink.

• • • • •

It was about five or ten minutes before dusk when I walked back out of the castle. Colm was sitting on the ground in the middle of the courtyard, watched by four of our guards. His hands were shackled behind his back and his sword and dagger were gone.

"On your feet Colm," I said as I approached. "Time to send you home."

He glared at me as he struggled awkwardly to his feet. "How do you plan on doing that?"

I ignored his question as I stood before him. I had my letter in hand, the parchment was folded up and sealed with a blob of wax.

As I tucked it inside his jacket I said, "This is for the king, see that he gets it."

Then I teleported him to the meadow in the southern forest. I followed a moment later, and started walking around till I found where the veil was thinnest.

Colm watched in surprise and asked, "You're going to take me yourself? You'll be arrested the moment we arrive."

When I found the spot I looked at him and asked in a pointed tone, "You think anyone else will have more luck than you and Niall did?"

That shut him up for now. I motioned him to me, and got a firm grip on his arm as I cast the spell.

I pulled the two of us out through the veil, then pushed back into Otherworld again about two hundred leagues north at the waypoint nearest the royal palace. I got the information about this spot from my mother's courier. I also knew about the guards who were stationed here, and I was ready for them.

I hit them all with paralysis spells, then told Colm "They'll thaw in about a half hour. Make sure the king gets my letter."

He was still disoriented but he slowly turned and asked, "Where do you think you're going? You're stuck here till dawn."

I smiled, "I'm going back home. It's still dusk, remember?"

As far as I knew the only reason nobody else ever did this was because the spell was too tiring, and it took too long for most people to get over the dizziness. But I didn't have to recover, and I had all the power in the world. So there was no reason why I couldn't make two jumps in a row.

Colm stood there staring at me in surprise as I cast the spell again, then slipped back out through the veil.

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