A Date With Faet

"Babe? Are you sure you're ok?" Kelly asked as the three of us ate breakfast. "You've been kind of quiet since we woke up this morning."

Keira added, "And what do you keep looking at? It's like you're staring off into space or something."

The three of us were still in our room, sat at our table by the windows. As usual Kelly was on my left and Keira was to my right. They were facing each other across the table, while I was looking towards the window. I wasn't staring out the window though. I was watching the filament of gold light that stretched between them, that connected their auras together.

It had been there since I woke up this morning, and I had a strong suspicion it'd been around for nearly two weeks now. Since about Samhain, in fact. I hadn't been able to see their auras till this morning so I couldn't be sure, but intuition told me this was a side-effect of my gift to them. Like their bodies being completely physically identical now, I had a feeling this link between them was a result of my spell.

I was watching it because it routinely flickered and vibrated. At first I thought it was unstable but now I was positive they were using it to communicate. The activity usually happened before and after one or the other spoke, though it also happened at other times.

"Babe?" Kelly asked again. "You still there?"

I finally looked at her and smiled, "I'm here Kelly. Sorry, I was just thinking."

Keira asked, "Everything's ok though? Kelly's right, you've seemed a little uh, off this morning."

"Not a bad 'off' though," Kelly quickly added. "You actually seem less tense, and a bit happier. At least when you're not looking distracted."

I had a bite of pastry then washed it down with my favourite juice as I thought it over. Then I decided to tell them.

"Early this morning I went back to Duma Dé, and met with Aisling and Taralynn. We had an interesting conversation, and I guess I learned some things. About them, and about myself."

The twins glanced at each other, and the gold filament between them flickered and buzzed.

"What are you two saying?" I asked, with a slight smile on my lips. "You're talking about me, right?"

They both gave me a slightly shocked, slightly guilty look.

Kelly shook her head, "We didn't say anything, babe."

I was still smiling as I reached out and let my fingers move through the air along their link. I couldn't feel anything there of course, it wasn't a solid, physical thing. As I did this I said, "I can see the link between you. Your auras are connected, and it looks like a little golden thread. When you're talking with each other it sort of flickers and vibrates like a guitar-string."

Both of them stared at me with wide eyes, their mouths hanging open in shock.

Keira was the first to recover, "How long have you known?"

I shook my head, "I've only been able to see it since I woke up this morning. After meeting with my ancestors. I doubt that's a coincidence."

After a moment I added, "I don't think it was a dream either, though I'm sure I was asleep for it. I don't know what it was. A vision maybe, or some kind of astral projection? Whatever. It wasn't just a dream, I'm sure of that."

Kelly sighed, "We didn't mean to keep it from you, but we didn't want to upset you. Especially after everything you said the other night back on Earth."

"It happened when you made us fully fae," Keira explained. "Along with the physical changes and us becoming completely the same? We discovered it the morning after. We could uh, kind of hear each other's thoughts and feel each other's sensations and emotions."

Kelly added, "It wasn't instant, like once we discovered it we had to practice and figure it out. How to use it better, and how to turn it off when we wanted as well."

I had another bite of pastry while they were talking, then finally nodded "Like Colm's legends after all. You can communicate, share thoughts and emotions. I imagine that would let you pretend to be each other almost perfectly. And you can act in unison, since you can coordinate behind the scenes."

They both looked uneasy, and Kelly asked "You aren't upset? On Earth you sounded really worried that you'd done something wrong to us..."

"I thought I'd done something bad to you both," I sighed. "But now I understand better. And you already told me it was a gift, and I guess now I can see why. You aren't being forced together or loosing your individuality. You've got a new tool, a new skill and you're experimenting, practicing, and learning how to use it."

They were both quiet for a few moments after that, though they looked happy to know I wasn't upset.

Keira finally asked, "So you met with the great Taralynn herself? What did she and Aisling tell you?"

"They told me it wasn't luck or random chance that I wound up with Taralynn's gift," I replied quietly. "Taralynn gave it to me herself, because she trusted me not to misuse or abuse it. And she said as a child of two worlds, Earth and Otherworld, I'd earned two souls. One human and one fae, because I honoured both worlds rather than turning my back on one or the other. And when I asked them what I should do next, she said I should follow my heart."

The two redheads looked at each other again, and once more I could tell they were talking. I just smiled and had another drink of juice.

"So what does your heart say we should do next?" Kelly asked.

My smile faded and I set the empty glass down. "We're going to do what Keira suggested. We're going to find your grandfather, and we're going to stop him."

Both their auras grew darker. Keira nodded once, "Good. I think he's the biggest threat right now. He's the most dangerous, and unpredictable."

Kelly asked "What if Maeve disagrees? What if she wants to go after Aengus first?"

I shrugged, "She has soldiers, she has sir Colm. She can go after Aengus if she wants. Keenan is my priority."

They both looked like they were about to question that, so I added "Three years ago when we were at Duma Dé, I didn't declare myself 'daughter of Maeve'. I announced to the world, and the Gods and Goddesses that I was 'great-granddaughter of Taralynn'. Meeting with her this morning reaffirmed that in my mind. My mother is a good woman, but I don't answer to her. Like I said last night, my first loyalty is to the three of us. And Taralynn confirmed that when she told me to follow my heart."

Kelly smiled, "And we're your heart, because you love us?"

"I love you both, yes." I smiled back. There was more to it than that, but I decided not to give them the full answer though. Not yet at least.

Kelly was thoughtful and compassionate, and she worried about ideals and ethics and morals. I felt like of the three of us, she was our conscience. Keira was pragmatic and practical, but she was also passionate and emotional at times. To me, she represented our heart.

It was an oversimplification of course, analogies always were. But for now, I was ready to follow Keira's advice on who we needed to confront next. At the same time I was confident Kelly wouldn't let us do anything too terrible or immoral along the way.

Finally I stood up, "So if you're both finished eating, let's get dressed and go tell Maeve what our plans are. Then we'll get started."

An hour later the three of us were in the study with my mother. And as Kelly feared, my fae-mom wasn't ready yet to endorse my decision about going after Keenan. I wound up telling Maeve about my early-morning encounter with my ancestors, that Taralynn's advice was to follow my heart.

For a moment she looked uncertain, then mother seemed to dismiss the story. "Tegan I'm sure it was an interesting dream, but you can't truly believe you somehow travelled back to Duma Dé in your sleep, or that the spirits of my mother and grandmother were really there. And it does seem convenient that they told you what you wanted to hear."

I shrugged, "It wasn't all good news, it wasn't all stuff I wanted to hear. Taralynn told me she gave me this gift because she knew I wouldn't abuse it. I thought it was just random chance or luck that I wound up with it. Now I know it was yet another person making choices about my fate and using me for their own purposes. She stuck me with a lifetime of responsibility, of always having to be worried about others trying to manipulate me, use me, or just plain trying to kill me, because I've got her gift."

I added, "And it can't be coincidence that as soon as I woke up from a meeting with Aisling and Taralynn, I found I can suddenly see everyone's auras. I'm going to need to learn how to turn this off or something because it's distracting."

Maeve's aura was primarily pink, though there were streaks of red and blue in it, and some darker flecks around the edges. The maid who'd served us breakfast this morning had a yellowish aura. All the people we passed between our room and the study had different colours, different patterns. So far shades of red, blue, and yellow or gold had been the most common, though I'd also spotted some purples and oranges. The only person's aura I hadn't see was my own.

My fae-mom stared at me for a few moments, once again at a loss for words.

I decided to change the subject, "What options do you have for dealing with Lord Aengus?"

Maeve sighed, "I would rather not confront him on the battlefield. I'm sure we'd win, especially with you at my side Tegan. But the price would be high. In terms of lives, and time, and money."

She shook her head and continued, "The traditional and accepted course of action in this sort of situation would be to simply have him assassinated. I could hire some skilled killers to infiltrate his castle and arrange an early end to him. Either subtly or not, it would depend whether or not I wanted his family to know I'd done it."

I'm sure she could tell by the look on my face what I thought of that. Not only was I uncomfortable with the concept for what it was, I was also shocked and upset that it was actually considered a normal and accepted political move.

"Unfortunately as happy as it would make me to see the man who ordered my mother's death meet a similar fate, I need him alive for now. I need him to confess to ordering the death of Aodhan Ceallaigh. With Eamon dead, Lord Aengus is the best chance I have of clearing our name with the Ceallaighs and securing the release of my husband. Assuming Connor still lives."

I thought that over, then finally said "I can't help you with Lord Aengus. Not right now. I suggest mother that you and sir Colm discuss that matter. Perhaps the knight has some suggestions or can propose some alternate solutions. Maybe he can convince the king to intervene on your behalf with the Ceallaighs or something."

She frowned, "And you intend to pursue Keenan, with or without my approval?"

"Yes," I replied. "As long as he's free, everyone I love is in jeopardy. Both here and on Earth. Once Keenan is out of the way, I'll turn my attention on Connor."

I thought it over for a few moments, then decided "If Connor is alive, I'll just go get him and bring him home."

"Just like that?" Maeve asked, sounding skeptical. "How would you propose to do that?"

"I don't know the specifics yet," I shrugged. "But I'll simply go to the Ceallaigh stronghold, teleport in and get him, teleport us both out, then bring him home. I'll try not to hurt anyone. And we'll still need some way to placate Oisín, so a confession from Aengus would still be desirable. But you and Connor have suffered enough. I want to see you both happy and safe."

Maeve was quiet again for a few moments as she thought all that through.

Finally she got to her feet and said, "So be it. As it seems I have no say in the matter, I'll leave you three to deal with Keenan ó Conghaile. I will meet with sir Colm to discuss what options we may have with Lord Aengus."

She moved for the door, but paused before she left.

"Be careful. If your quarry is as dangerous as you've said, he will not be easy to kill. You may be powerful Tegan, but you are still inexperienced."