87. Decided

I was relaxing on our bed when the twins finally returned. They'd gone to check on their grandfather about an hour ago, to see how she was settling in. I'd offered to go with them of course but Kelly convinced me it wasn't worth the strain on my leg going up all those stairs just for a ten minute visit.

"So how'd it go?" I asked as they came in.

"Not bad," Kelly replied. "It was a bit awkward at first but I think we figured something out. Then Keira tried something that may have helped."

I frowned, that just left me with a dozen more questions than I had to start with. I looked back and forth between them and asked, "Oh? How so?"

Kelly sat on the edge of the bed to my left, Keira sat on the edge of the bed to my right.

"So at first she was just terrified of us," Keira explained. "Like she was actually shaking. We talked to her a bit, and neither of us were even saying anything threatening? Then Kelly figured out what was going on."

The other twin took up the story, "It's how her mind was manifesting those desires. Probably based on her own experience, like she's always been an evil bastard and quick to punish people? So instead of just wanting to be good and wanting to stay out of trouble like Keira intended, she was terrified of being bad and terrified of getting in trouble. Basically scared of upsetting us or anyone else, because she figured if anyone was upset they'd lash out at her."

I sighed as that sank in. I wasn't comfortable with this stuff to begin with, now hearing how it was actually playing out left me even more uneasy. Before I could comment though, Keira spoke up again.

"So I kind of took what Kelly said, and turned it around. I made a few little compliments, like praised her for stuff she'd done, and it seemed to completely change her attitude. Kelly said it was about positive motivation instead of negative? Like praise her for doing the right thing, she enjoys the praise, and that motivates her to do the right thing again."

Kelly continued, "Grandfather probably hadn't had much experience with that in the past, so she was doing the right thing because she was afraid she'd be punished otherwise. Keira started by giving her some positive encouragement, and I think if we just keep doing that it'll quickly build momentum."

"How so?" I asked with a frown. "Like what sort of stuff are you praising her for?"

Keira smiled, "When we arrived she was already dressed in a skirt and blouse. They'd given her some boys clothes but she put them by the door. And she actually asked for a hairbrush, she wanted to take care of her long hair rather than cut it off? So I complimented her on the clothes, and her hair. I think it really helped."

I frowned as I thought that through. Then I looked at Kelly again and asked, "So if I compliment her when she does 'the right thing', you figure that'll help her in the long run?"

She nodded, "I think so. It probably won't happen right away, but it'll help towards eventually rehabilitating her I think."

"Ok," I sighed. "I'm still not comfortable with any of this, but I'll keep it in mind."

The three of us relaxed a little more for now. I'd already done that tracking spell again and confirmed my father remained unharmed in the Ceallaigh dungeon. I wasn't really looking forward to more conflict, but I figured I could maybe avoid too much trouble if I mounted a night-time magical rescue mission.

I was daydreaming about that when we had an unexpected knock at the door. One of the young butlers stepped in and announced, "Lady Maeve requests the three of you join her in the study."

We all looked at each other, then got up out of bed and filed out together to go see what my mother wanted.

She was seated at the table near the fireplace, frowning at a sheet of parchment in her hands. Some drinks had already been served and were waiting for us as me and the twins took our seats.

Maeve finally looked up at us and announced, "A courier arrived this afternoon, bearing a reply from Oisín Ceallaigh."

"Good news I hope?" I asked. "Connor is still alive and well in their dungeon."

Maeve frowned, "Let's say it's not bad news. Oisín acknowledged my explanation, but without proof of Lord Aengus's involvement, my words are worth very little. And the fact that captain Eamon was one of my men means I am still responsible to some extent. The Brádaigh livery worn by the assassins wasn't fake or stolen, they were legitimate uniforms, which Eamon had access to."

I sighed, and Kelly asked "So what's Oisín have to say? What's the next move?"

Mother replied, "He has offered to release Connor, if I pay him a ransom of five hundred pounds of gold."

That sent a chill through me, and left my stomach feeling cold and heavy. It seemed a huge sum of money, though offhand I wasn't actually sure how much it would be worth. More than I could imagine, anyways.

"What are you going to do?" Keira asked. "Tegan could still go and teleport Connor out for free..."

My mother shook her head, "I have decided I will pay the ransom."

All three of us were staring at her now as I asked "How long will it take to raise the money? How long till it gets there, and Connor gets back here?"

"It will put a strain on my treasury," Maeve stated, "But I already have the gold. Tomorrow at dawn, lieutenant Gaelen will set out with a column of three dozen soldiers to deliver the ransom and collect my husband."

She added, "It should take less than a month for them to return with Connor. Perhaps as quickly as three weeks, they will not be making it an easy relaxing trip."

I immediately volunteered "I'll go with them. I can help make sure Connor gets back here safely. And I'll make sure this isn't some kind of trap."

My mother shook her head, "I appreciate the offer Tegan, but there is something else I want you to do instead."

I knew from the tone of her voice I wasn't going to like the answer, but I asked "Ok, what would that be?"

She kept her eyes on me as she replied, "I want you to go to county Conchobhair, to castle Faoláin. I want you to seize Lord Aengus, and bring him to me alive."

She continued, "You said you could do this to rescue Connor, that you could teleport into the Ceallaigh stronghold and teleport your father out and bring him home. That's what I want you to do, but bring me Aengus ó Faoláin instead."

I felt a cold weight in my stomach again. "Why? What's the point of dragging him here?"

Maeve stated, "Once he's warming a cot in my dungeon, I'll ransom him back to his sons and recover my gold."

That actually left me speechless for a few moments. I'd been expecting her to say something about justice, something about making him pay for his crimes against our family. Instead it all just felt so mercenary.

She just literally wanted to be reimbursed for having to spend five hundred pounds of gold to get her husband out of jail. Like she was paying Connor's bail, and since it was Aengus's treachery that landed Connor in a cell to begin with, Maeve wanted the ó Faoláin's to foot the bill.

I was still processing this when Kelly spoke up. "What if his sons don't want to pay the ransom?"

Keira added, "They might be happy to leave him with you, then they take over the county without him."

My mother wore a grim smile as she responded, "They're still squabbling over who'll actually get the inheritance. They need their father to make that choice. They'll both be eager to pay up, they'll both want to be seen as the loyal son who coughed up the gold to earn their father's freedom."

I finally recovered my voice and pointed out, "The thing is I can track Connor because he's my father. I don't have a link to Aengus. I don't even really know what he looks like or where to find him."

"I understand Tegan," mother replied. "However you have in your possession a prisoner who's met the man more than once, who probably knows him well. I believe your prisoner can supply you with the information you require."

I sighed and glanced back and forth at the twins. "I guess you're right... Keenan's worked with Aengus for at least three decades. She may have even been involved from the start, over a century ago."

Still, I wasn't happy about it and Maeve could tell.

"I'm not going to order you to do this Tegan," she said. "But I am asking."

I thought that over for a few moments then asked, "And if I decide not to? What then?"

Maeve took a deep breath then replied, "I will invade Conchobhair and seize as much of the most-valuable parts of the county as I can reliably hold. I will recover my gold through means of land and taxes. I'll expect all three of you to be at my side when I invade, of course. And if the war goes favourably, we will lay siege to castle Faoláin itself. With your help Tegan we will bring the castle to its knees. Lord Aengus and his sons will be put to the sword, and county Conchobhair will become part of my holdings."

By the time she finished, my mouth was dry and I'm sure my face was pale. There was nothing in her tone or expression to suggest she was joking, or that this was mere idle talk. She seemed deadly serious about launching a full-scale war on her neighbour. I still remembered her estimates of what such a war might cost. I could imagine it might take ten years, with a death toll in the thousands.

Kelly and Keira both looked as pale as I felt, and their eyes were wide. They weren't looking at me or Maeve, both were just staring at random points on the table. I was sure I knew what they were thinking. This was a downside of being part of Clann Brádaigh. If the clann leader declared war you were kind of obligated to help.

I let out a long sigh and frowned. "That's not really much of a choice, mother. So I can 'choose' to go and kidnap someone and bring him back here to toss in your dungeon. Or I can 'choose' not to, and we wind up in a decade-long war that'll result in who knows how many deaths."

Mother kept her eyes on me. She looked confident and calm, as she stated "Such are the sorts of decisions you'll one day face when you're countess, Tegan. Sometimes you have to make difficult choices. And sometimes there aren't any good options."

I leaned back in my chair and sighed again. My thoughts drifted back to Duma Dé, and I recalled that Taralynn said Maeve lacked willpower and presence of mind. It kind of felt like my mother was starting to improve in those areas. I hoped wherever my great-grandmother was that she'd at least be proud of Maeve for taking charge of things. Including taking charge of her wayward daughter.

Maeve was still watching me, and she added "I could relieve you of the responsibility of choice and make one or the other options an order, Tegan. But you've already indicated that you won't follow those. So now you have a choice, and you will decide."

I leaned forward and picked up my glass of juice and drank a few gulps, then I set it back down and stated "Fine. I'll go and get you Lord Aengus. I'm sure I'll need at least a couple days to prepare first, before I even have a clue how long it'll take or how to get where I'm going."

"Thank you Tegan," mother gave me a satisfied smile. "I assume your girlfriends will accompany you as always, the three of you seem all but inseparable. Once you have a better idea of how you'll accomplish the task, let me know how many soldiers you'll require to accompany you."

I just nodded slightly, "Fine. We can talk again tomorrow over dinner. I'm going to need to discuss this with Kelly and Keira, then I imagine we'll have some conversations with their grandfather."

Maeve continued to smile, "Very good."

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