ALL NOVEL 55. Disquieted
"I think I'd like another glass of wine please, Tegan." Kelly stated in a slightly haughty tone.
I stood up and curtsied, "Yes mistress."
There was a little extra sway in my hips as I took her glass out to the kitchen. I refilled it with white wine, nice and cold from the fridge then I checked that my maid uniform was straight and my cleavage was on full display. Finally I returned to the dining room.
I stood across the table opposite Kelly and made a show of bending at the waist as I leaned over to place her glass down on the table before her, and made sure to jiggle slightly as I gave her a good look down my dress. Then I sat down again to continue my dinner.
"Thank you Tegan," Kelly stated with a slight smile.
"You're welcome, mistress." I was fighting to suppress a grin now.
Keira finally let out a loud snort-laugh. "You two are completely ridiculous, you know?"
I couldn't hold back and I giggled as well, "Hey, it's all in good fun."
Kelly managed to stay in character, she kept a mostly-dignified look on her face as she quietly sipped her wine.
It started out a couple weeks ago as a one-off tease, but somehow it became a weekly thing. Sunday nights I'd dress up in my maid outfit and make a nice dinner for the three of us, then try to stay in character as Kelly's meek submissive little servant-girl.
Once upon a time I'd have been mortified at the thought of Keira seeing me prance around in my maid costume acting subby for her sister. Now it was all just part of the fun.
I guess in a way it was like acting, or role-play. For a few hours each Sunday I got to stop being Lady Tegan Vale of Clann Brádaigh, and I wasn't Tegan Vale the unemployed two-time college dropout either. I was just Tegan, Kelly's cute subby maid. I didn't have any big responsibilities, the only way I could disappoint anyone was if I spilled the wine or burnt the food. And it was fun. So why not?
When we were all done with the main course I cleared the table and put away the leftovers, then brought out dessert. We had pumpkin pie and whipped cream. I cheated though, the pie was from the Farmers Market and the whipped-cream was in a can. It was still tasty, and I had fun serving it up for my mistress and her sister.
After the three of us finished eating I cleaned up and did the dishes while Kelly and Keira sat in the living-room and watched TV.
I didn't even mind doing the washing up. Partially it was just me staying in-character, but it also made me feel useful. Less of a failure. Like, I could cook and clean and I did all those domestic things around the house. Whether I pretended to be a maid or a house-wife, it was one of the few things I hadn't given up on, one of the few things I actually accomplished that made a difference. Even if it only mattered to the three of us who lived here.
When everything was cleaned and put away and the kitchen was tidied up I turned out the light then went and joined the twins on the sofa. I cuddled up close against my girlfriend and relaxed while the two of them watched some movie or whatever.
Eventually it got late, we were all tired, and the twins had classes in the morning. The TV was turned off, the lights out, and we all went upstairs together. Keira disappeared into her bedroom while Kelly and I retreated into ours.
Soon enough we were both undressed and cuddled up together other under the big duvet. With our fun out of the way I wound up lost in thought again. My mind drifted back to lunch on Thursday with mom.
"Hey babe," Kelly asked softly. "What's on your mind?"
I cuddled up a little closer against her and shrugged. "Oh... I was just thinking about something. About my mom."
"Which one?"
"Human mom," I replied. "You know she's been getting under my skin lately, right?"
"Yeah, I know." Kelly sighed. "What was it this time?"
"Uh," I hesitated. "Ok, so when I had lunch with her the other day? I got a little tired of her attitude, and I straight-up asked if she was jealous or envious of me. Like, in particular about how I look younger, and I'm going to keep looking younger."
That led to another sigh from my girlfriend. "How'd that go?"
"Not great," I admitted. "And I uh, kind of mentioned that if she wanted, I could use magic to make her young again. Or change anything else she wanted about herself."
"You what?!" Kelly sat up and stared at me, eyes wide.
I cringed slightly, "I didn't think that would be a big deal. Why is that a big deal?"
She slowly lay back down again, "You know she'd have to move? Change her name, start over somewhere else?"
"Yeah I know," I nodded. "I told her that too. I also told her to talk to dad, like if she was serious I told her to talk it over with him."
Kelly was quiet for a minute or two, then frowned. "You know that sort of spell has a really bad reputation right? You know the sort of stuff it's usually used for, and the kind of fae who tend to use it. Not exactly the kind of thing you should be suggesting to your mother, Tegan."
"I know Kelly, I remember all that stuff you told me." I shrugged again. "It's just a spell, it's a tool. Whether it's good or evil depends on what you do with it."
After a few seconds I added, "And the sort of stuff you're talking about, they usually combined it with some pretty nasty mind-magic. There's no way in heck I'd even mention that stuff to my parents, let alone use it."
She grimaced, "Yeah I'd hope not! Anyways you don't even know those sorts of spells."
We both lay quietly, and after a few seconds she frowned at me. "Tegan you don't know any mind magic, do you?"
I sighed. "After what happened to Amy, I read a few books on the subject. I thought, maybe if her memories were just hidden, we could restore them? And I also thought it would be a good idea to know what those sorts of spells looked like, incase we ever come up against people who're using them."
Kelly sighed as well. "I take it you didn't find anything that would help Amy?"
"No," I shook my head slowly. "Her memories weren't hidden, they were gone."
She shook her head, "I understand you wanted to try and help, but I'm not happy you learned that stuff. I've told you, mind control is dark. And it's a slippery slope."
"I know Kelly and I swear I'd never use it. I promise, I only read up on it to see if I could help Amy, and so I'd know how to defend against that stuff."
We were both quiet again for a minute or two.
"I wish we could find whoever did that to Amy," Kelly whispered.
"Me too Kelly," I whispered back.
That seemed to be the end of our talk, and the two of us just quietly cuddled up together.
Kelly drifted off fairly soon after that, but I couldn't sleep yet. I was still thinking, and wound up laying awake while my mind stayed active.
Our conversation reminded me of the suspicions I had about Amy, and I decided to add that to the list of things I'd discuss with Maeve when I saw her at the end of the month.
There was only one person I could think of who knew that Amy was aware of the twins' part-fae heritage, who knew Keira and Amy had broken up, that Keira had moved in with Kelly and me, and who was highly motivated to ensure the twins' secret wasn't revealed.
And while I wasn't entirely sure if Kelsey could work that kind of magic herself, I knew her father Keenan certainly could.
I'd had questions about the twins' grandfather for three years now. I still hadn't met the man, he'd made himself scarce and seemed to go out of his way to avoid me. But I knew he spent most of his time on Earth, he'd been living here for over a century now. And I knew that most fae who willingly chose to live here tended not to be the nicest sorts of people.
If the fae thought in human terms, specifically white European colonialist human terms, Earth's a world full of violent primitive backward natives. Everything here was slightly tainted, slightly worse than it was in Otherworld. And there wasn't enough of anything here the fae valued, so we never bothered to invade and take over. And granted the humans had guns and rockets and all that sort of stuff, but the fae had magic, a highly organized society, and the ability to make long-term plans. If we ever decided we wanted the Earth, we could pretty much stroll in and take it.
So why would some fae choose to live here?
The number one reason was so they could feel superior. Fae lived ten times longer and a lot of us had magic. Someone who was a nobody in Otherworld could come to Earth and set themselves up like a little mini-baron or something. They could come to Earth and go slumming with the natives, they could treat humans as disposable, and use magic to get out of any trouble they might find themselves in.
The other main reason for fae to stay here was exile, usually self-exile. For fae who were on the run, hiding out from the law, trying to escape their past, whatever, Earth was a good place to hide. There was no fae law here, and fae usually considered themselves above human laws. And again, they used magic and ruthlessness to get themselves out of any human trouble they might find themselves in.
Of course not every fae could work magic. Of those who could, some were stronger, some were weaker. Most exiles here tended to have weak magic. Enough that they could mess with humans, but not enough to keep themselves safe on Otherworld. That's why they exiled themselves here.
Being able to cross worlds was a rare skill even among the stronger fae mages, and I knew Keenan had that talent. He sometimes worked as a courier, transporting packages, letters, and even people back and forth between Earth and Otherworld. That meant he was a fairly strong mage. And the fact that he travelled back and forth to Otherworld meant he wasn't an exile, he wasn't hiding here. Which meant he lived here by choice.
Kelly told me once, all Keenan really had going for him was his skill with magic. He'd come from a peasant-class background and the best he could hope for in Otherworld was to work as a mage for some other rich fae. On Earth he could be someone special and important, he could profit from his talent without having to serve anyone but himself.
Of course to be fair, I lived on Earth by choice too. I was here because the woman I loved lived here. Maybe that was true for Keenan too, but there was a reason I wasn't prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. That reason's name was Liam ó Catháin.
Liam was the man who betrayed my fae parents, delivered a curse to my father, kidnapped me from my mother, messed up my life and left me hidden on Earth as a changeling. And somehow he knew Kelly's grandfather.
It was all circumstantial of course, I had no proof of anything. But as long as Keenan kept avoiding me, and kept avoiding his grand-daughters while they were living with me, I was going to be suspicious of the man.
And if I ever had the chance to speak with Liam again, I'd have some very specific questions for him, about the nature of his relationship with my girlfriend's grandfather.
