“As would the Dragons. The Crown of Oberon is not the only dangerous treasure that is locked away or presumed lost. If someone has discovered a way to find them, that could be very dangerous for everyone.” Aldona said. “Hopefully this is restricted to the crown. Perhaps some idiot wrote about the crown going to the Guardians, and that record has been found.”
“I think that the Fae and the Guardians should look into who in Oberon’s court knew what had happened to the crown. Maybe we will get a name and be able to work from there.”
“Oh, the Archivists are going to love this,” Devra said.
“This will keep them busy for ages!” Sean grinned.
“Not for too long, I hope,” Lord Avran said. “If there is more to come, I would rather be aware of it sooner rather than later, so that we can be prepared.” He looked around at the rest of the Fae Council members. “Let us confer on the sentencing of these two.” The council moved off a little way. After a few minutes of heated discussion, with much hand waving and the occasional raised voice, they returned. Lord Avran addressed the gathering.
“Clarice Thorndike, as you have been raised in the human realm, you will be stripped of all your Gifts and magical talents and handed over to the Supernatural Oversight Council for sentencing in this realm. Ciaran will remove your Gifts before you go.”
Clarice looked horror-struck. “But you said it wasn’t my fault! That I was being controlled! That’s not fair!”
“Your idea of fair is rather skewed, I am afraid. Be grateful we are not handing you over to the Caseys for punishment. Or the Guardians.” Lord Avran turned to Faith.
“Faith, you will also be stripped of all Gifts, talents and magical abilities. You will be returned to the Fae realm, where you will remain for the rest of your natural life. We will find a place for you where we can keep a strict eye on you. You will no longer be able to travel between realms, nor will you have any personal freedom. I think perhaps working as a servant will do for a start.” He turned to Lady Janessa.
“Lady Janessa, do you think you could find a household that would take her in some menial capacity? One where she will be made to learn her place, and will have no opportunity to bully or attempt to control anyone?”
“Are we leaving the woman her voice?”
“Since we are taking away all of her Gifts, I believe it will be safe to do so.”
“Well, that will make it harder. I will see what I can do.”
“The Sluagh will take her, if the Lady Janessa is unable to find a suitable post,” Gavin, the Sluagh representative to the council, smiled. The smile did not reach his eyes. “We would be happy to have a Sidhe servant to do our bidding.”
Faith gasped and paled. Clarice cried even harder. The Sluagh were the nightmares of Faerie. Faith would not survive if they sent her to live with the Sluagh. Several of the fae types in the Sluagh ate Sidhe flesh, considering it quite a delicacy. Others resented the beautiful Sidhe and used them as disposable playthings. They were not kind.
“I am sure I can find a place to take her,” Lady Janessa said grimly. She looked at Faith. “Just you remember, my girl, that we can send you to the Sluagh at anytime, should your first posting not work out.”
Faith had sunk down onto the ground. She was shaking.
“My Lord Avran, do you want me to alter any memories, or just take all magical talent?” Ciaran asked.
“Leave the memories. I want them to remember everything. We may find we need to examen them again at some future date, when we have a better idea of what is happening. And Faith needs to remember what the consequence of unacceptable behavior will be. The Sluagh will be waiting.”
Ciaran nodded. He focused on Faith first, searching her mind and taking great care to get every scrap of Mage and Elemental Gift, all magical ability that he could find, and burning it away. When he was done with Faith, he took a breath and turned to Clarice, repeating the process.
Lord Avran looked around. “I believe we are finished here.” He nodded to the guards. Luc dispelled the fire cage, and the guards grabbed Faith by her arms and lifted her between them. The Council bowed to the Caseys and their friends, and disappeared, taking Faith with them.
Tony and Chief Kenny, who had come at Brendan’s request, took charge of Clarice.
“We will keep her in a cell at the station until the S.O.C. can send a team to pick her up,” Chief Kenny said. “I believe they will be quite quick in doing so.” They marched her around the house to the car Tony had ready and waiting.
Everyone left looked at each other.
“I feel as if we really got very few answers,” Rosalie said.
“I feel the same,” Celine agreed. There were quite a few nods.
“I still don’t get what the end game could be. Did someone just want to cause chaos?” Theo asked.
“I don’t know, son,” Luc replied. “I believe that we should all stay on our guard. We will continue with our plans for the Academy and be prepared for anything. That’s all that we can do until we have something more to go on.” He glanced around at everyone gathered there.
“Well, I’m hungry. Let’s eat,” Devra said, jumping to her feet. Aldona swatted at the back of her head.
Celine grinned and headed for the kitchen. It was always best to feed a hungry Dragon as soon as possible. There was no one better suited to doing that than a Kitchen Witch.
29
Marissa had expected to feel relieved once the crisis was over and Faith and Clarice were taken care of. She did, to a point. The immediate pressure was off. But they still didn’t know who was really behind it all, and what their objective was. General chaos, world domination, something else? Would they stop now, or was something new coming? Marissa felt as if she still couldn’t relax completely. There was an itch between her shoulder blades that she couldn’t quite scratch. It felt as if she were being watched.
The children were back at school. Marissa and Theo were back at work at the clinic. Everything was back to normal. Except for that feeling of waiting for the next shoe to drop. Marissa sighed and sat back from the client files she was updating. Marjorie stuck her head in the door.
“Hey, Marissa. I’m going over to Cooke’s for lunch. Would you like to come with me?”
“Yeah, thank you. I’m having a hard time focusing today. Maybe a walk will do me good.” Marissa stood and grabbed her bag.
They stepped out of the clinic, turning the corner onto Mane Street. They strolled slowly in the direction of the market, enjoying the warm sunshine on their faces. Marissa closed her eyes for a moment and tilted her face towards the sun. Marjorie noted the slight smile on Rissa’s face.
“How is your family handling the aftermath of the Clarice and Faith thing?” Marjorie asked.
“Theo’s glad that it’s all over, at least the direct attack on him and his grandparents. Malia’s caught up with Tony’s Pack and building their new home on Pack lands. The kids talked about it pretty constantly for a week or so. Now they are pretty much back to normal. We all still train every evening and on the weekends. Grandpa Luc insists on it.”
“How are the plans for the expansion to the Academy coming?”
“Ciaran and Siofra brought in a Fae architect they know. They are building an enormous weapons and combat training gym, as well as an outside obstacle course, on the Academy grounds. Some of Tony’s Wolves are helping with that. Siofra is also overseeing additional class rooms for Fae magic training, and Devra is overseeing those for Dragon magic training. I guess there are other families of Dragon descent like ours. She is going to actively seek them out and ask them to come train whatever Gifts they might have here.”
“This will have an enormous impact on the community, all of these extra people coming to town. How is housing being handled?”
“The Academy is building dorms and family housing on their grounds. Some people will live here in town, I would guess. Headmistress Hemenway has already spoken to the Mayor, and notices have gone out to all o
f the local businesses. Mariellen is excited, because of the new inventory she will be carrying, and the extra business it will bring to Curiosity. The restaurants, the market, the bakery and the ice cream shop will all do very well out of it too, I think.”
“I contacted your cousin Suzette last week,” Marjorie said. “She was excited to get the offer. She is coming down for an interview on Friday.”
“Yeah, she called Mom yesterday. She’s going to stay with us for the weekend. Have you put out job postings everywhere else yet?”
“Yes, I sent them off this weekend. I think we will buy the cottage next to the clinic to expand into. We will keep the physical healing where we are now and move the mental healing into the cottage. You can make it really homey and comforting for your clients that way. I think we should hire another mind-healer to back you up. I would like you to be a part of that hiring process. What do you think?”
“That would be great, thank you. I appreciate it. It will be nice to have the help.”
They turned into Cooke’s, waving at Mr. Cooke as they headed for the hot food bar in the back.
“The Academy is going to hire a school counselor and healer as well.”
“I’d say that is an excellent idea. It will be cool to have so many healers around. I miss the discussions we used to have in college.”
“It will be nice. I agree.”
Rissa and Marjorie ordered their food, including take aways for Theo and Samantha, the clinic receptionist. They took their food to an open table and sat.
“How are you holding up?” Marjorie asked.
“I’m okay, I think. I still feel as if I am being watched, though. I have this itch between my shoulder blades and under my skin, like something big is still coming. I guess I’m dreaming at night, instead of getting a good night’s sleep, but I don’t remember the dreams. That’s not normal for me. I usually have lucid dreams. I keep a dream journal, because it helps me with my work and my own mental health. I haven’t been able to write in the morning for a while now.”
“Would you consider scheduling yourself a few sessions with a mind-healer? After all, your whole family just went through something quite stressful. Plus discovering ties to Fae, Dragons, unknown powers, novel ways of training, increased physical training. I’m not surprised that you are having trouble sleeping.”
“I’ve already made plans to go have a weekend in the City with my friend Valerie. We graduated together. I am going to see one of my mentors from school for a session.”
“That’s a brilliant idea. I am really glad to hear that. When are you going?”
“Next weekend. I want to be here for Suzette’s interview this weekend.”
“Great. Hopefully by then we will have had some additional applicants for our newly open positions, both in physical and mind healing.”
“That would be great.”
Marjorie and Marissa finished their lunch and cleared their table. They stopped at The Baker’s Delight next door for dessert on the way back to the clinic. Marissa felt much more optimistic after her talk with Marjorie. Maybe things would actually be okay.
Celine placed the last bowl of steamed vegetables on the table. The group was still eating outside for most meals, as the weather was still pleasant. The rainy season hadn’t kicked in yet. It seemed to be starting later and running longer each year. The cycles were shifting, Brendan said. It seemed to happen every thirty years or so. The group was much smaller now, as the Fae and Aldona had returned to their homes. Devra, Declan and Sean had left to handle some Guardian business, but were expected back to help with training shortly. Devra was also using her travels to find teachers and student for the new program, as were the Fae. Siofra was expected back with new plant specimens for her business venture with Brendan soon. Rosalie and Paul had returned to France the previous week as well. Luc was staying on to help with the plans for the Academy, though he would be going home this week to see Grandma Marthe and bring her up to date on everything. He would be back after a week’s visit home.
“Well, girls. Now that we have a little breathing space, we need to talk about that double handfasting you two wanted.” Celine beamed at her twin daughters. They looked at each other, then at their mates.
“To be honest, we’ve been so busy with the house and the Pack we haven’t really talked about it much,” Malia said.
“Well, you said that you wanted to do it sooner rather than later. You do realize that you will have friends and family from all over-and from other realms-that will expect to attend? There is no way you can keep this quiet. Imagine Grandmamma Rosalie’s wrath if it were immediate family only.” Malia and Marissa looked at each other in horror, while Tony and Theo winced.
“So. I suggest that we throw our annual Samhain party as usual, then have your hand fasting at Yule. It’s soon, but still gives everyone time to plan and make arrangements. How does that sound?”
Marissa and Malia looked at each other, then at their mates again. Everyone nodded.
“Good. Now, since Aldona and Grandmamma Rosalie have both offered to provide you with your dresses, I suggest that you leave that up to them. I think Aldona is quite strong enough to handle Mama’s tendency to overwhelm everyone into doing what she wants. You can talk to Aldona about what you want, and she will reign Mama in.” Celine paused.
“Now, Luna wants to bake your cakes. Have you thought about whether you each want your own, or will you have one huge one together? I would suggest you think about that, so that you can tell Luna as soon as possible. She will arrive a week early so you will have time to go ever designs and tastings with her before she creates what you decide on.”
“Your Irish grandparents and cousins will be coming as well,” Brendan said. “Mom is beyond excited, as you can imagine. I wasn’t sure about it before, but now I think that putting Granny Niamh in charge of the house was the best thing we ever did. We are going to have a lot of family running around for this. And Granny Niamh does love to be around her family. I am sure that she will handle it all admirably.”
A single red rose appeared on Brendan’s plate, and he felt a kiss drop onto the top of his head. A ghostly hand ruffled his hair. Brendan smiled. Celine looked smug.
“We can put people up in my house in town as well, if we need to,” Tony offered.
“Thank you, son,” Brendan replied.
“Now, I think that you all should plan your guest lists as soon as possible so that we can get invitations out. What kind of decorations would you like? Tony, is there anything special that is required during the ceremony from the Pack perspective?”
“No, just that they be there to witness it.”
“That’s good. This is going to be quite a large event. We will have to decide how we are going to arrange it. I wonder if Granny Niamh can expand the field as well as the house?”
Niamh materialized beside the table.
“I can expand the house and the land it sits on, but not the field or the orchard. It might be possible to get the Fae to help with that, just for the day? Unless you want to bind someone to the land, but I don’t know why that would be necessary permanently.”
“Thank You, Granny,” Celine said. “We will think about both of those options. As well as brainstorm for others.”
“Now, I will handle cooking for those staying at the house. I would appreciate help with the food for the actual reception, however,” Celine said. “So I would like you to think about what you would like. Then we can see about how we can get it.”
“Can we have a potluck reception?” Malia said.
“I would rather not leave that much to chance,” Celine replied.
“Mortals use this online sign-up service, where you can post options and everyone picks a dish to bring. So you know exactly who is bringing what, and how much.”
“Hmm, that’s an excellent idea. Let’s think about that. Thank you, dear. Have you thought about flowers? And your wreaths and bouquets? Who you would like to officiate? We need to hav
e all of this decided as soon as possible, since the date is so soon.”
“We will think about it, Mama. Lia, do you have time tomorrow? I don’t have any clients until after three. Maybe we could get together at the bakery around eleven and plan it out?” Marissa said. She turned to Tony and Theo. “Do you guys want to join us, or would you rather we bring you what we decide on for you to think about?”
Theo looked rather green. “I am perfectly happy to let you both talk about it and let us know about it later. I do have a client in the morning, so I wouldn’t be able to meet at eleven, anyway. I look forward to seeing what you come up with. I am happy to make suggestions based on what you decide, if you would like my input.”
“Of course I would! This is about both of us. I want you to be happy with it, too.”
“Rhi, I’d get handfasted in a mud pit if that was what you wanted, as long as it meant I got to be with you,” Theo kissed her.
Tony pulled Malia closer and kissed the top of her head.
“I have to work on Pack stuff in the morning, then I am on-shift at the police department in the afternoon. I can stop by on my way to work if you want me to, but I won’t be able to stay long. I agree with Theo-I would have the ceremony anywhere as long as it means I get to stay with you, Lia. I am happy to make suggestions and tell you what I think if you want me to.”
“Okay, then eleven at the bakery,” Malia said.
Marissa nodded. “I am going to go to town a little early to see Mariellen, so I will meet you there, Lia.”
“Okay. I can get a bit of work done in my studio first, then. I have a few fairy houses that are almost finished, and a canvas I’m working on. Oh, what about music? I mean, it’s us, so everyone will bring instruments. But what about music during the ceremony, and a dj for between sets? Can we even get a dj so close to the time? Don’t you have to book those guys months in advance?”
“Maybe Declan your cousin can handle that,” Brendan suggested.
Broken Bonds (Valerian's Cove Book 2) Page 22