Midlife Blues - Victoria Danann Page 0,47

to a misbehaving dog. She seemed to be laboring under the impression that Keir and his brothers were under command, but their purpose transcended their creation. In short, she’d overperformed and done too good a job.

“Queen Maeve,” I said, “you will sit down and be quiet or you will be removed from the courtroom.”

I gathered from her incredulous glare that no one had ever put limits on her behavior before. That’s right, sweetie. We’re on my turf now and the enforcers work for me.

When she didn’t immediately sit, Keir shifted and began prowling toward the Irish gallery. Taking that as a cue, Kagan and Killian leapt from the mezzanine simultaneously and changed form before softly landing. The three sephalians fanned out across the front of the room because of the enormity of their size. A more breathtaking spectacle, or show of force, was never beheld by human or magic kind.

The shock on Maeve’s face was priceless, and she owed a debt of gratitude to the relative sitting next to her who grabbed and pulled her down so that she sat down harder than intended.

Keir stood watching intensely for a few beats, tufted tail moving hypnotically, a menacing focus concentrated on Maeve. When he was satisfied that she was both quiet and seated, he retreated, but none of the sephalians reclaimed his two-legged form.

“Prince,” I said to Deirmid in my sternest tone, “please instruct the defendant that he is bound to abide by my ruling, whether he likes the outcome or not, and that additional challenges could prejudice the court so that the penalty is worse than it might’ve been otherwise.”

Without looking Niall in the face, Deirmid put his hand on his brother’s shoulder and shoved him into the chair. “He understands, Magistrate.”

“Good,” I said. “Let’s not suffer any more disturbance. As I was saying, the question of whether or not the kelpie will remain in captivity is decided. She will be freed after being examined by the bureau’s ethologist. What is yet to be decided is how the court will deal with the younger prince. In order to make a determination of damages, and to get a clear picture of this event, we’re going to recess and reconvene at the site of the kelpie’s internment. Court staff, parties to the suit, and Master Dudley will personally view the kelpie and the environment in which she’s being held so as to assess her condition.

“Unless otherwise notified, court will reconvene as scheduled tomorrow morning when my decision will be rendered.”

Leaning over to Lochlan, I said, “Do all the parties have a means to transport to the scene quickly?”

“Yes. We all have access to fast transportation. But…”

“But?”

“No human, not even a magistrate, has been given access to the Irish fairy mound in hundreds of years. Human time.”

“So, is that a problem?”

“I… If the demand has a direct bearing on the case, I don’t think they can refuse you.”

“You don’t think?”

“If the queen doesn’t refuse you entrance, we’ve got no problem. If she does, we can try to find a scholarly authority who takes our point of view. But even then, nobody has ever tried to force entrance to a mound before.”

Geez. And I’m only three and a half days into the new job.

“I guess I should have consulted with you before I made proclamations I might not be able to keep.”

“There is one other thing.”

“What?”

“We could mount a search for Merle the Mathemagician. It could take a while to find him, but he is the author of our legal system and, therefore, the final word. If it comes to it, we could threaten that, if pressed to those lengths only to gain clarification of what we believe to be true, we will bring suit against Queen Maeve for attempting to interfere with the legal process. No reason to believe that would work because, well, you’ve met her. But it’s something to try.”

“When you say it could take a while to find Merle, how long would that be?”

With a shrug, he said, “Until Yuletide Court Meet.” I drew back in surprise, having not expected him to say anything near two months. Observing my reaction, he added, “The world is mostly water.”

“That doesn’t work, Lochlan. In that length of time, according to Dudley, the kelpie could be dead. We have to reach a solution.”

“Compromise?”

“What’s your idea?”

“Order Niall to deliver the kelpie to the mound entrance. There’d be no time for hijinks and Dudley would be able to examine her condition. The only information you’d be