"We're sorry Lady Tegan," Merryweather stated.

Petunia added nervously, "We meant no disrespect, and we didn't mean to upset anyone."

The two were standing before me on the table while I sat in one of the chairs. Merryweather was sort of standing in front, while Petunia was almost half-hidden behind their back. She actually seemed rather shy, and ontop of that I got the feeling she was scared of me.

Kelly and Keira were both sitting on the edge of our bed where they could watch and listen, but they wouldn't interfere. This was me doing my 'official leadership' thing, such as it was.

We were in our room, I'd asked the two pixies to join us here so we could talk in private. Finding them turned out to be fairly easy, I just had to scry for them. They were the only two pixies in the castle after all. And once I'd located them, I used a telepathy spell to order Merryweather to report to my room and to bring Princess Petunia with them.

I really wasn't very good at the whole leadership and discipline thing, at least not in this sort of situation. It was even harder since Merryweather was a friend. And while I didn't know Petunia very well at all, I knew she and Merryweather were close. And of course she was royalty.

"You aren't in any kind of trouble," I stated, "So you don't have to be worried about that. But if you continue popping up where you shouldn't be and startling or disrupting the castle staff, you will wind up in trouble. And you'll bring dishonour to yourselves and my sept."

Merryweather apologized again, "Sorry Lady Tegan. When we were here before, I didn't really get a chance to explore the castle at all since Siobhan kept us so busy. Now we've nothing to do, and Petunia and I have never been in a place as big as this so we wanted to explore the whole thing."

I nodded, "I understand. And like I said, you aren't in trouble. But if you keep it up, you will be. Ok?"

The two pixies nodded quietly.

With that out of the way, I moved on to the next topic.

"Princess Petunia, I know you wanted to come along with Merryweather but we need to get you back home. I'm sure your family misses you and they're probably worried about you. And both me and my mother want to stay on King Greenleaf's good side, neither of us wants your father thinking I've abducted you. We don't want a war with your troop."

As I talked her eyes got bigger and her expression turned into a deep sad pout. I swear I hadn't seen a pout like that since Kelly used to weaponize her pout against me way back when.

The tiny princess replied, "My family know where I am Lady Tegan. Before I snuck away I told Rosebud where I was going, and she promised to tell my parents after we were all gone. So they'll know you didn't steal me away, they'll know I'm safe with you and Merryweather."

That surprised me a little, but I wasn't quite sold yet. "May I ask how old you are, Princess Petunia? Are you of age?"

I figured if she was still considered a child, I'd have to take her back home regardless. If she was an adult then maybe not. On the other hand, she was a princess and I couldn't imagine any royal family being ok with one of their daughters just running off like that.

Petunia blushed slightly and replied, "I'm forty!...almost."

She stood up tall and added "But I'm old enough to make my own decisions! And I decided to come with Merryweather! And you."

I sighed, then looked at the little enby. "We also have to talk about that. Merryweather, my girlfriends and I will be returning to Earth very soon. It's possible the rest of my sept will be going there as well. Fae look enough like humans we can blend in, but... There's no way for pixies to blend in. And there's less magic on Earth, I don't know if that might affect you in any way."

A thoughtful frown settled on their face, but in the end they set their shoulders and stated "If your sept is going to Earth, then I am going with you. I stand with you Lady Tegan, and follow wherever you lead."

After a moment they added with a hopeful smile, "Especially if you're leading us to the land of the bubbly lemonade and the maple nectar. And I recall talk of introducing me to some delight known as a 'waffle'?"

Petunia moved closer to the enby and slipped her arm around their waist and added, "And I'm going with Merryweather. So I will come to Earth too!"

I glanced at Kelly and Keira, they both shrugged as they watched.

"Ok," I finally sighed as I looked back at the pixies. "We'll take you two to Earth, for a little while at least. A probationary visit, to see how it goes."

Two little purple eyes and two little pink ones lit up as both pixies smiled happily.

"Thank you Lady Tegan!" Merryweather stated. "You won't regret it!"

I tried not to facepalm as the phrase 'famous last words' crossed my mind.

• • • • •

Siobhan, Laoise, and Padraig were all silent as they sat across from the twins and I. Merryweather and Petunia were sitting on the mantle over the fireplace watching quietly.

We'd commandeered the study again so I could meet with my little sept, and deliver the news that we were returning to Earth tomorrow. None of them would be forced or ordered to accompany us there, but they were welcome to come. And I explained they wouldn't actually have too many duties, mostly helping me and my girlfriends continue our training with sword and bow, at a relaxed pace. Like maybe one day a week or something.

I also relayed what my mother had said, regarding Siobhan and Padraig. That they could resume duties here, but in Siobhan's case it would be at a demoted rank. And I passed on her concerns, that they both might be dissatisfied with those duties after their experiences of the past several weeks.

I didn't actually know what Laoise's life was like before she and her sister joined me. I knew she was forced to retire from her career as a guard because of her injury, but had no idea what she'd done since then.

The three fae all had thoughtful looks on their faces as my words sank in.

After a minute or so, it was Laoise who spoke up first.

"Lady Tegan, I'd be honoured to accompany you to Earth. I can never repay you for all you've done for me, but I'm honoured to serve in your guard, or as a tutor. I'd even be happy to continue cooking meals for you, though I assume you already have a servant handling that at your Earth estate."

I smiled, "Thank you Laoise. And we have no servants on Earth. Actually I do most of the cooking for Kelly and Keira and myself."

That led to a lot of surprised expressions around the table.

Padraig spoke next, "I said I'd follow you to the end of the world and back Lady Tegan. I'm not sure if another world counts as the end or not, but I will follow you there too. I know nothing of the place but I'm eager to learn."

"Thank you Padraig," I gave him a smile as well.

My smile faded though as I added, "It is a very different place, with very different customs. I have a feeling we'll be spending a while teaching you all how to fit in there, but the biggest things to keep in mind are we won't be wearing weapons in public, and we don't address each other by titles. We'll also have to figure out exactly what you'll be doing, so you aren't bored all day long."

Padraig and Laoise both nodded quietly, they both seemed to understand it was going to be a very different adventure than the kinds we'd been on so far.

Siobhan had remained silent so far, and she still had a thoughtful look on her face. She was looking at her sister now rather than me or the twins.

Laoise looked back at her and her expression became sort of serious and compassionate. She said quietly, "You don't have to come if you're not comfortable, Siobhan. I don't need you to look after me anymore."

The brunette glanced at me then looked back at her sister and added, "I mean seriously, does anyone believe Lady Tegan really needs us as guards? If anything she'll be keeping me and Padraig safe, not the other way around."

I blushed a little at that, while Kelly and Keira both smirked.

Laoise was still looking at Siobhan as she said, "You can go and follow your own dream now, sister. You're free now of all your obligations."

Siobhan was quiet for another minute or two. Finally she looked at me and asked, "Lady Tegan, if I accompany you now but change my mind later, would you allow me to return to Otherworld?"

"Of course," I replied. "We'll all be coming back for Lughnasadh, so our first trip to Earth will only be for a couple weeks. But if you decided you didn't want to stay, I'd be happy to bring you back here at any time."

The tall blonde bowed her head slightly, "Thank you m'lady. I will accompany you until Lughnasadh, then I will make my mind up whether or not to stay after that."

"Understood," I stated. "Thank you Siobhan."

Then I glanced around at the others and added, "That goes for all of you. Laoise, Padraig, Merryweather, Petunia. If Earth doesn't work out for you, you may return to Otherworld. I won't hold any of you to some sort of obligation to remain with me."

They all nodded quietly, but for the moment all but Siobhan seemed confident they'd stay with me.

Kelly took over, "We'll be heading over at dawn tomorrow morning. So we'll meet up in the castle courtyard some fifteen minutes before sunrise, and teleport to the south meadow. Like Tegan said, we'll be there a few weeks so pack what you think you'll need."

Keira added, "You might want to pack some food and drink, a couple days' worth should be enough. Our uh, property is under a sort of siege or embargo and food's a bit of an issue. Though I expect Lady Tegan's going to take care of that problem as soon as we're back."

Siobhan asked, "Should we be preparing for combat when we arrive?"

"No," I stated. "It's not the sort of siege where there's an army outside our walls. And it's something Kelly and Keira and I will be handling with magic. There will not be any combat at all, and I doubt you'll even see any of our enemies."

"Very well," the captain nodded slightly. "I imagine we'll all need a great deal of education, to understand the culture and ways of the humans."

Laoise asked, "I understand they speak a different language there? That's something else we'll need to learn."

"Right," I nodded. "They speak several languages on Earth, but where we're going there's just one that's used most often."

I looked at Siobhan again and asked, "When Kelly and I were brought here the very first time, we were given enchanted necklaces that allowed us to speak and understand fae. Do you know where those necklaces came from? Do you know if we could get similar necklaces, enchanted so you could all speak English?"

Before the captain could respond Kelly spoke up, "Can't you do that yourself babe?"

"Yeah," Keira added, "Isn't that what the jewelry-making course was for?"

I grimaced, "Sure, but if someone else has already made them, that'd be a lot easier. And those sound like complicated enchantments, I have no idea how long it would take for me to do that."

Siobhan replied, "You would have to ask Lady Maeve. She procured the necklaces that you and Lady Kelly wore six years ago."

After a moment she added, "Though I imagine if she has something enchanted to allow fae to speak Human, she would have given it to the tutors who lived with you last year?"

"Right," I sighed. "They didn't have anything like that."

Kelly nodded, "They picked up some English while they were with us, but they didn't have any magical knowledge of the language."

"They also weren't really trying?" Keira pointed out. "They never left the property, they didn't go into town with us or anything like that. They just stayed in the cottage or hung around the property, and did sword lessons with us a few times a week."

I sighed "Ok. So either I have to come up with enchanted jewelry, or we'll all be teaching you English the hard way."

Laoise asked, "M'lady, how long did it take you to learn fae? If I may ask."

"About a year before I could maintain a conversation," I replied. "Kelly actually knew it pretty well to begin with, and we just worked at it every day at home."

Keira gestured at the bookcases around us, "Surely there's a spell in one of these books that would let you do it? I can't believe The Great and Powerful Tegan Vale wouldn't come up with a way for her loyal sept to learn a new language in a hurry."

I rolled my eyes, "We'll see."

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