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Chapter 38

Queen Uonaidh's Dungeon, Alfheim

Quinn woke from a restful sleep in a cell down deep in in the Queen's dungeon. Predictably, the death of one of their own during harvest festival had caused a massive uproar. He counted himself lucky that the guards hadn't killed him out of hand. He didn't much care either way. He had abandoned any thoughts of survival the minute he had pulled the ring out of his pocket.

He waited to see how the cards played out. Quinn despised politics not because he didn't understand it he actually did, his tutors had been quite adamant that he at least had an appreciation for the subtle nuances of effective governing. He was a black and white person living life in the gray area of necessity seemed exhausting.

As a result, when Lady Iris showed up with two servants and cart with breakfast, he wasn't surprised.

"Lachlan Quinn, did you have to take the head of that disgusting being in the center of the sacred bower. You are truly a barbarian."

"My Lady, the timing seemed appropriate and I found that in your land many creatures can survive even the most grievous of woundings. The troll women trained me to take no chances. I have not heard of any that can survive having their head removed."

She frowned.

"None the less, some restraint or at least some subtlety would have been nice. No matter, what is done is done. My queen has graciously decided to let you go on your way."

Quinn allowed himself an inward smile. They acknowledged a debt. He had done their dirty work removing the renegade Daoine. A political mess had been deftly avoided. As distasteful as it was for them to admit, a debt was due.

He quickly moved to collect. It was never a good thing to be a debtor or creditor with the Sidhe.

"Very well, my lady I will leave at once. Before I go, I ask a boon. I would speak to the Patriarch of the Drygioni Brotherhood. Can you arrange a meeting?"

She frowned. "Keeper, you push too far. My Queen will not tolerate any more adventures in her realm."

Quinn gave her a steady look. "My Lady, I do the bidding of the Vísdómur. I do not wish to disturb your land any further. I have not gone after the architect of this whole debacle, the Prince. The fate of the Prince is in your hands. I have no desire to start a war with the Brotherhood, I have a boon to ask of them.

"Very well. I will arrange it.

Quinn had just finished his breakfast when a cowled figure approached his cell. Quinn stood.

"You wished to talk?" the figure spoke perfect English. "As far as I know we have no business with you, human."

"You do not Patriarch. I asked to see you because I have a request. You hold a child hostage; I wish to bring him back to his mother."

The figure gave an amused chuckle. "You do not lack boldness. Why should I agree to such a thing."

"I know you are a practical being. As I see it, you have two choices, assassin. Bring me the boy. Hale and hearty. I will owe you a favor. Resist and I will come and take him. Whichever you choose, I will leave this realm with the boy."

"Your arrogance has no bounds, Shadow Walker. What are the limits of this favor?"

"Ilyrana, the Exarch of Forge Rbhus you know me too well not to know what I will and will not do for you."

If the Patriarch was surprised that he knew what very few beings knew--her identity, she didn't not show it.

Very well, I will make that bargain. The child will be here shortly and you can go. Our land will be glad to see the last of you."

The boy was tall for his species with tousled black hair and his mother's lavender eyes. He appeared to be nine or ten years old. Quinn had no idea what his real age was. His captivity didn't seem to have harmed him physically anyway. His eyes were clear, so as far as Quinn could tell he hadn't been spelled. He was curious about the boy's father but restrained himself. It was clearly none of his business.

He followed Quinn quietly enough, although Quinn could see he was bursting with questions.

Quinn relented, "Your mother sent me to pick you up, by the way what is your name?"

"Elron, Master. Are we really going to my mother?"

Yes, we are. Come along. Let us see if the Queen will let the Lady Iris speed our journey."

Chapter 39

The Fremont District,

Seattle Washington

The Lady Iris's magic shifted Quinn and the boy to Elizabeth's Fremont carriage house in what Quinn always thought of as a star trek transporter style. They arrived in full winter with six inches of snow on the ground. The boy reached down and grabbed a hand full then looked up two Quinn confused. Apparently, he'd never seen snow before.

"It's called snow," Quinn whistle clicked in low alfar. It's frozen water, similar to ice. It sometimes snows here during this realm's rainy season."

The boy nodded his eyes wide with wonder and tasted it.

"Come on, lad let us see who is here."

Quinn knocked. Then after waiting several beats for someone to answer, he opened it and led the boy in. He could hear sounds of a furious debate—several feminine voices all talking at once in another room just off the hallway where they were standing. Quinn took a moment to admire the precision of the white oak wainscoting, then he and the boy walked to the other room. The four women were so deep in the middle of their argument that they didn't notice Quinn and the boy watching them bemusedly from the doorway.

The boy's cry silenced them.

"Mama?"

There was a shriek and a sobbing Wraith rushed to him and swept him up while the others clustered around him.

Niamh separated from the group, walked up to Quinn, slapped him then grabbed him into a fierce hug. "Where have you been, it's been months.'

"We thought you were dead." A tear faced Katherine joined in.

Quinn thought about jokingly repeating Samuel Clemons quote about his demise but thought better of it.

"Sometimes, time flows weirdly when you travel between realms. It's only been a couple of days for me. I've been rubbing elbows with the cream of Doaine Sidhe society," he said lightly. "What's been going on here."

Katrinka came running from the kitchen, "Daddy, Daddy." She leapt up into his arms.

His heart melted. He held her tightly.

"Can we go home now. I want to see my horse.

Quinn didn't notice the significant look that passed between the others.

He gave the little girl a kiss on the forehead and said, "Why don't we all sit down. What's been going on here."

Elisabeth took over and told how the two dragons had attacked the building in Eastmarket with dragon fire and how the area was devastated.

Nimah chimed in, "We stopped at Edie's before we left. Edie told us to tell you that the goblins had collected that little goblin's body. They inducted him into the clan as they promised and buried him with the ancestors. She said she adopted little Clover."

Once more thoughts of the cheerful little Klzyx's fate stabbed Quinn's conscience. He had so much to make amends for.

"What happened with you."

"Nothing much, the Daoine met his fate. I picked up the boy and they sent me here."

"What are you going to do about Oldtown?"

Quinn sighed. "Nothing. Oldtown's problems are not mine. The primary instigators of the troubles are undoubtedly the Vampires daughter Helen and the second of the Old Dragon's daughters, Daiyu. The succession chaos gave them the opportunity to seize power from their elders. The Prince aided and abetted them. Anyway, it's not my circus not my monkeys."

He looked at the four women. "Okay enough about that. What's going on with you four.

The three women turned to Elisabeth.

"Well you remember when we were in that room with those slave collars on?"

"Yes, they're called torcs. Go on."

Elisabeth impatiently waved off his correction. Well after my experience with the Daoine's mind controlling magic. We had to find some way to armor ourselves against it. So, we formed a Cyfamod. A coven or a sisterhood."

"Wow. What did the aunties have to say about that."

Katherine interjected, "They weren't happy. They banished us. It was a serious breach of the Accords. The Red Queens are probably coming to examine us."

"Why were you arguing?" Then Quinn started to laugh.

"Stop laughing," Niamh demanded. "Why are you laughing?"

"The bunch of you," Quinn kept laughing. "You can't decide who's the boss."

"It's our business not yours," Katherine said crisply. "Lan, there's something else. Kat was in that cell with us. She was caught up in Elizabeth's spell as well. She needs to stay with us."

Quinn's mind went blank. His stomach dropped as he tried to absorb the news. After a long minute he recovered.

"Of course, that makes perfect sense. Anyway, a guy like me has no business raising a little girl."

Katrinka was holding onto his neck crying bitterly.

Quinn pried her loose and handed her to Katherine. "It's okay honey. We can still visit and all when you come up to see your horse and visit Charlie."

He saw the sympathy in the three women's eyes and quickly turned away.

"I probably need to get going anyway and see about my truck. After all this time it probably got towed."

"It's out back," Elisabeth said handing him the keys. "That Kurt guy brought it here."

Quinn sat in his truck, shoulders slumped, amazed at how much change a few days had made to his life.

He whispered to himself, "improvise, adapt and overcome." He sighed. It was gonna take a while. He put the truck in gear and drove away.

Chapter 40

Northmarket District, Oldtown

The rooms in the rear of the Oracles Pawn Shop were vastly different from the clutter of the front.

All was peaceful here. The decor and ambiance would not have been out of place in a Zen Buddhist ashram.

The female, that all called the Oracle, regarded the rooms as the key to her long life.

When an emerald cloud of a being coalesced above her carefully raked white sand garden, she did as she always did when the White Lord of the Annwfn Realm came to visit.

She fell to her knees and bowed her head.

"Greetings, great lord."

"How goes your mission, daughter."

"The boy has triumphed. The thinning has been aborted. My sources say its creator has been dealt with. The dragon and his spawn buried the shamefulness of it beneath in a hundred feet of glassed salt-rock and rubble."

The shadowy being nodded.

"And my son?"

"He is damaged severely, my lord. I fear the Vísdómur have overtaxed him. He holds to his sanity by the thinnest of threads."

"He will be fine daughter. He is far stronger than he knows. Unfortunately, he is flawed, born soft with too much empathy from his mother's side. He must be hardened for the tasks to come. We must hammer his weakness into iron."

"As you will, great Lord. Does the time draw near when I may come home? This life drags on my soul."

"Soon my daughter," his rumbling voice was gentle. "Very soon"

Note from the Author:

I sure hope you enjoyed my story. I am working on book three which is titled "Keeper's Justice".