Midlife Blues - Victoria Danann Page 0,48

missing would be your personal witness of where and how she’s been kept.”

“Which is crucial to the bureau’s case against Niall.”

“Yes. But releasing Keaira, and all kelpies, while sending a stern message about future behavior would still be a fine day’s work.”

I sighed. “I hate compromise.”

Lochlan’s mouth twitched. “I would have guessed as much.”

“Should I set a time for parties to meet at the fairy mound entrance?”

Lochlan glanced at his watch. “One o’clock? That gives you time for a nice flight and a new lunch. You need your sustenance.”

“You’re the next best thing to a mom, Solicitor. Make a note on the Merle thing. I want him sought out for an answer to this question so that there is no question going forward. I’ll probably never need to exercise the right to storm the castle, but future magistrates might.”

Lochlan nodded.

I straightened and faced the court.

“The parties as forenamed will meet at the mound entrance at one o’clock, where we will be admitted and shown to the facilities where the kelpie is housed.”

“Objection,” Deirmid stood.

“What’s your objection, Prince?” I asked.

“The defendant does no’ have the authority to agree to admission to the mound.”

“Who does?”

Deirmid looked perplexed by that question. “The, em, queen.”

“Is the queen subject to the orders and rulings of this court?”

“Well, yes…” Deirmid began, but whatever argument he’d had in mind when he began that sentence was abandoned before he reached the end.

“Then what’s the problem? The queen is here. She’s aware of what’s expected. The court requires admission to the mound and that you, the defendant, personally escort us to the facility in which the kelpie is held.” With every second that passed without the queen asserting refusal to let us in, a little tension left my body. “Everyone meet at the entrance at one o’clock. Master Dudley.”

He stood. “Yes, Magistrate.”

“We require you to accompany us and render your services. Do you need transportation?”

“No, Your Honor. I’m here with a colleague who can take gravity or leave it.”

I smirked. It was clear to me that Dudley was a character.

“Court is adjourned until tomorrow morning.”

I banged my gavel and headed for chambers as Hengest was demanding the congregation of fae rise. When it was clear that the crowd would disperse uneventfully, Keir shifted to bipod form. As I passed him, I said, “Your brothers are welcome to join us in chambers.”

I was disrobing, literally, when the guest sephalians filed in behind Keir. “Kagan. Killian,” I said nodding at each. I could tell them apart partly by the way they dressed and partly by facial expression. One wore a permanent scowl. One wore a permanent smile. “Thank you for your assistance today.”

To Keir, I said, “I know it’s more trouble for you to fly during the daytime, but it can’t be helped.” The sephalian had the ability to disguise himself for day travel so that he would appear near invisible to human eyes if spotted. Through experimentation, we’d learned that what I called the blurry bubble extended to me when I was with Keir. We’d also learned that the magic that kept him warm in any temperature also extended to me. I couldn’t imagine how cold it would feel to experience English, late October air rushing past at those speeds.

“We need to go home for the rig,” he said. “If we leave right away, we’ll have time to go to O’Doole’s for lunch. They have a Guinness beef stew that you’ll never forget. Bread pudding with Irish whiskey sauce.”

I smiled thinking I might just skip the stew, the pudding, the sauce, and go for the Irish whiskey by itself. “Okay.” To my clerk, I said, “Looks like we dodged a controversy.”

“That was fortunate for everyone concerned.”

“You want to come to O’Doole’s or meet us there?”

“Thank you for the kind invitation. I’ll beg off and meet you there.”

“Okay. Do we need Sprigley? I’m not going to push our luck and insist that we make a recording inside the mound. Unless she knows shorthand…”

“I believe that she can take notes in a version of shorthand so that she can recreate the entirety of what transpires at a later time.”

“That’s convenient for us.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Jurisprudence and Jackassery

Three incredibly gorgeous and identical (more or less) sephalians walk into a busy Irish pub at lunchtime in two-legged form. It’s not a joke. Guess what happens next?

I could imagine why the three of them would rarely if ever be seen together in a very public, very human place. Everybody stopped and stared at them like they