Midlife Blues - Victoria Danann Page 0,50

on hind legs, facing each other. Unfortunately for me, that’s the last thing I would remember clearly.

Maeve emerged looking pissed as an Irish fae queen could be. She made me feel every bit as unwelcome as intended.

Niall stepped out from behind her and said, “This way.”

Maeve and Deirmid fell in behind him. Next were Killian and Kagan, Keir behind me and the rest in random order.

I have vague impressions of visiting the mound, but my humanity is subject to the fae’s brainwave scramble. My vague impressions were as follows. Though you’d naturally expect a fairy mound to be dark as a cave, it is not. The interior is lit by some force that defies reality. It looks like sunlight, but softer. Bright but diffused. What I remember is light, gardens with perfect shiny leaves, flowers that are bigger and more vibrant, buildings that blend into the surroundings so that your eye might pass right over them.

At the end of the tour, I had to ask the others what transpired.

“The kelpie was held in a stall no bigger than twelve by twelve. Since she received no exercise and was prevented from changing forms by the spelled halter, her hooves have been neglected and grown so that they appear deformed. She’s malnourished.”

“I feed her!” Niall said loudly. He’d been standing off to the side, listening.

Lochlan turned to the younger prince. “Perhaps she didn’t like what you brought. Perhaps she chose not to eat because she’s pining. Whatever the reason, her ribs and hip bones are far too prominent.”

I turned to Dudley for his assessment and knew it wasn’t good. “What did you learn, Master Dudley?”

“She’s gone quite mad from the torture of being restrained and from not being able to change form and care for her own health, Magistrate. I can’t maintain a connection with her for long because her thought patterns are grossly distorted.” With an accusing look at Niall and an accusing tone, he said, “It’s probable that her condition is irrevocable. And that creates a dilemma. If we release her, she’ll surely live a very long time, sane or not. She’ll create a lot of chaos while bringing unwanted attention to magic kind. If we don’t release her, we’d be trading places with Niall. We might make conditions somewhat more tolerable, but would nonetheless be holding all kelpies prisoner.”

“New boss, same as old boss.”

“What?”

“Um, sorry. It’s a saying that originated with American slave culture. Not our finest moment.” I was grasping for straws. “Do the kelpies have a leader?”

Dudley hesitated. “Of sorts.”

“An individual empowered to speak for the collective and bargain?”

“You want to make a deal with kelpies?”

In spite of the gravity of the situation and Dudley’s disgust with the Irish royal fae for allowing this to happen, he laughed. “I don’t think anybody knows the answer to that question.”

“Well, can you open a channel to him or her?”

“A channel?” Dudley cocked his head.

“She’s asking if you can communicate with the leader,” Keir supplied.

I supposed he was the authority on Rita and my official interpreter.

“Well, that’s easy enough,” Dudley said. “All we have to do is ask the prince who would be king of kelpies to summon the real king.”

We all looked at Niall, who crossed his arms over his chest.

“Niall, summon the kelpie that Dudley needs to speak with,” I said.

He stood motionless, looking defiant for a few beats, until Deirmid gave him a little shove from behind. Apparently, the family was beginning to grasp that there could be consequences to many for the bad behavior of just one. The queen had brought unwanted exposure of her realm on her subjects by being overly indulgent and permissive with her fatherless son.

Niall dropped his arms and said, “Come forth, former king of kelpies.”

Almost instantly there was a big splash of water in the river. All eyes turned that direction.

An enormous dappled white-and-gray stallion with black eyes lunged out of the water, onto the bank and began running toward us. He was the size and shape of a charger. If I hadn’t known how malevolent kelpies are, I might’ve said he was beautiful in a fearsome sort of way. He neighed and shook his head in anger, but was restrained from causing us harm because Niall had control of him. The kelpie made no secret that he despised Niall.

When Dudley began to communicate with the magnificent beast, the kelpie jerked his head in Dudley’s direction.

“He says his name is Keiron. And he doesn’t like us.”

Who could blame him? I thought,