143. Elegized

"Hey cutie, how're you doing?" Keira asked as she slipped an arm around my waist.

I had another deep sip of my hard lemonade then shrugged, "I'm fine. I'll be fine."

Kelly leaned over and gave me a kiss and whispered, "For what it's worth babe, I think it was the best choice. I mean, there weren't any really good options? But I think that was the least harmful way to handle it."

After another swig of my drink I shrugged again and said "I guess."

It was evening now, and we found out this morning that today was Sunday. After the three of us wrapped up our visit with MacRae we did some shopping in town. We visited the grocery store then the liquor store, then teleported back home.

Jumping from here to Toronto, to a location I'd never been before wasn't easy or terribly smart but I didn't feel like taking a bus, and using a ride-share or a cab seemed like a bad idea considering what I was up to.

So I teleported to a place I knew in the city, and from there made a few smaller but riskier jumps till I got to the house of the detective's boss. It was a big posh place in an expensive part of the city. Kelly and Keira tracked me through our rings and joined me there, and the three of us paid the province's top cop a visit.

After that we came back home again. The last person on our list was a government minister, but it would take us a little more time to locate and deal with him. We knew who he was and even found out where he lived, but he was off on vacation at the moment so we had to wait till he got back.

With the dirty work done for now, me and my girlfriends spent the rest of the day helping our guests get comfortable and showing them around the property. Siobhan Laoise and Padraig already took their gear over to the cottage. Rather than squeeze everyone into our home for the first little while, they decided to just move in there from the start.

We'd had it built with the idea that we might be housing fae guests. It wasn't terribly luxurious but it was comfortable. There were three bedrooms and a bathroom on the upper floor, and on the ground floor there was one more bedroom, another bathroom, and a good-sized open-concept living-room-kitchen area. There was even a small storage-laundry room over there too.

When the electricity was back on me and the twins would show them all the modern conveniences like lights and the TV and so on, and how to use all the appliances.

The power would be back on some time tomorrow, so we wouldn't have to wait too long. In the mean-time we were doing ok without.

The eight of us were in the back-yard now having a quiet, somewhat relaxing evening. I showed Laoise how the bbq worked then she and I made dinner for everyone. Merryweather, Petunia, Kelly and I were drinking hard lemonade while everyone else enjoyed wine. They had fae wine, and they also sampled some local wine we bought this morning.

We were sitting around the fire-pit now, and had a small fire burning there for the ambience.

All of us were somewhat quiet this evening, and I wasn't sure if that was because everyone was feeling it, or if it was just me bringing the mood down for everyone else.

I was a little melancholy, and as I finished my second hard lemonade I found myself lost in thought.

Next month would mark my six-year anniversary of being me. It was July second today, my faeversary would be August eleventh. That was the fateful night Kelly accidentally hatched my changeling egg. And my trans egg too for that matter. I couldn't even remember what I was doing six years ago from right now. At the time I thought I was a guy, thought I was a human. I knew nothing of the fae or Otherworld or magic.

Then my whole life changed in an instant. The first week was almost a blur, with so much happening around me and it was all out of my control. Then Kelly started teaching me fae stuff, and magic. Things almost settled down. Then three months later we wound up in Otherworld. I found out I was the daughter of a countess, great-granddaughter of the most powerful fae mage ever, and realized I'd inherited her gift.

As I learned what I was capable of, what sorts of things I could do, I knew it would be too easy to abuse it. So I made myself some promises, set myself some rules. Established lines I wouldn't cross.

Kelly and I had a crazy adventure together, and I made a name for myself as the next great fae mage after Taralynn. That was also my first experience with death. Witnessing it, unintentionally causing it, and almost experiencing it first-hand.

Then three years later me and Kelly and Keira were all drawn into another ordeal. And that's when I broke my first rule, crossed my first line. I used mind-reading magic for the first time, and just like Kelly said it was a slippery slope. I went from using it reluctantly and under protest, to using it almost casually. It became just another tool.

Last month I broke another of my rules when I killed Sir Niall. And a couple weeks later I did it again, I killed Prince Odhran and a couple of the king's mages. The first time left me feeling bad, the second time I felt almost nothing. It wasn't something I did lightly, but I worried it was now just another tool in my toolbox.

And today I finally broke the last of my rules, crossed the last of my lines. I used mind control and memory manipulation spells on three humans. I really didn't want to do it, but like Kelly said it was the least-harmful option. I knew she was right, I'd been thinking about the problem for weeks.

Detective MacRae might have been an asshole, but he didn't do anything bad enough for me to kill him. Nor did he pose enough of a threat in the future to justify killing him. But I had to do something, I needed to ensure he'd leave us alone.

Keira had another suggestion, what she called the 'Liam option'. It was the same thing she'd wanted for Kaitlyn, and in that case the punishment sort of fit some of the crimes. For MacRae though, no. It would have got him off our backs, it would have ended his career, and he'd have still been alive. But it wasn't right.

The last option was to mess with his mind. The fact that Kelly endorsed that choice was a little surprising, she spent the first three years teaching me how wrong and evil it was. But I figured she thought it through and came to the same conclusion as me. It wasn't worth killing the guy, and doing some sort of life-changing transformation wouldn't have been much better.

So I decided on mind magic. MacRae and his mistress had no memories of me and the twins visiting them this morning. Instead, the detective remembered being ordered to close the case immediately. He also felt a strong sense of guilt over abusing his authority, and in the next few days he'd submit his resignation and quit police work entirely. That guilt would also lead him to come clean with his wife about cheating on her.

With MacRae's boss, I really had no other options. He hadn't done anything wrong, he was just doing his job. And killing him or making him disappear wouldn't have helped us anyways. I needed him to order everyone else involved to drop the investigation, turn our electricity back on, stop spying on us, and just leave us all alone.

So like MacRae, he had no memory of myself and the twins visiting him this afternoon. And when I was done with him, he knew the investigation needed to be called off and he was convinced that the three of us were innocent. He sent the emails and made some calls this afternoon, and that was that.

I also learned from him as much as I could from him about the minister, the guy in charge of the office of the Attorney General. I was positive that's where it all started. I expected I'd find the guy was manipulated by one of the king's mages or something. But he was out of the country until the tenth, on vacation with his family. Once he was back, I'd pay him a visit and probably wind up using more mind-magic to tie up that last loose end.

I worried it was going to get easier every time, and it would wind up being just another tool like everything else.

So tonight I was quiet and I was drinking. I didn't feel guilty, I just felt uneasy.

As I opened a third hard lemonade, Siobhan spoke up.

"Lady Tegan, what will our schedule be for the next few days? Now that your urgent business has been taken care of?"

I figured she could tell I needed a distraction, something else to think about.

After a swig of lemonade I replied, "Tomorrow we'll continue helping all of you get settled in and comfortable. Electricity should be back on at some point, so we can start teaching you how the modern Earth stuff works. Then in a day or two we'll have to take you all shopping, get you some Earth clothes so you'll fit in better."

I thought for a moment, then looked at my girlfriends and said "I'll go buy us a car tomorrow. I also have to get myself a new phone. Then once power's back on I guess you two will want to contact your profs and start making arrangements."

Kelly nodded, "I'm a little worried what they'll have to say about our absence this time. And if the police contacted them at all."

Keira shrugged, "It'll be fine. Even if there's some awkward questions, we'll be fine."

"I also need to get in touch with Elise and Susan," I said. "To let them know we're back and things are ok now."

Keira stated "And we need to go out east to visit granddad."

Kelly nodded, "Sooner rather than later, but we know there's pressing stuff here to deal with first."

"Right," I sighed as I thought that over, then started sort of making a list in my head. "Tomorrow we get a car, phone, electricity. Make some calls and emails. Tuesday we take our guests shopping for clothes, continue helping them get settled and comfortable. Maybe leave Wednesday open for whatever comes up after the phone calls and emails, and think about Thursday or Friday to go out east?"

The twins glanced at each other, then Kelly nodded "Ok babe."

Keira added, "When you're talking with Susan, don't tell her we're coming. We're going to drop in on them without warning, so granddad can't get ready or stage anything. Or hide any incriminating evidence. Or better still, don't talk to Susan at all before we drop in."

I sighed. "Just promise me you're not going to hurt Kaitlyn? Please promise me this is just a fact-finding mission?"

They exchanged another look, then Kelly replied "We promise not to do anything without telling you first. We're not..."

She hesitated, then finished "We're not going out there looking to attack her or whatever. But you know what she's capable of, you know what she's done in the past. Having access to that kind of power again just seems like a really bad idea."

"I know," I sighed again. "I don't think she's like that anymore though. And Sue's convinced she's not like that."

I frowned slightly and had another gulp of my drink as a thought crossed my mind. I decided not to mention it, but it was only this morning Keira was advocating I do something to the detective that Kaitlyn would have done in the past. And Kelly endorsed the use of mind magic, which was another of Kaitlyn's old tricks. Of course the difference was Kaitlyn did those things for her own benefit or to line her pockets, in our case it was self-preservation.

Finally I looked back at Siobhan, "Sorry I kind of got off-track there. Kelly and Keira and I still have a number of important things to take care of. But in the mean-time, we'll continue helping you all settle in tomorrow. In a day or two we'll get you some Earth clothes."

"What about us?" Merryweather asked.

They were a little tipsy, and Petunia looked even more so. I wasn't even sure she'd be able to fly back into the house at this point.

I apologized, "I'm still trying to figure that out, sorry. I think for now you and Petunia can stay in the main house with me and the twins. We'll figure out a space for you that you're both comfortable... I guess you'll have to educate us a little on your needs?"

Laoise drained her glass and teased, "I think right now Petunia's needs involve a bed and a good night's sleep."

"Not a bad idea for all of us," Padraig suggested. "It's been a long day, and for our sept-leader I think it's been a stressful one?"

Petunia didn't respond to Laoise's tease, she was sitting slumped against Merryweather. She might have already been asleep, in fact.

I smiled slightly, "Thanks Padraig, I think you're right."

After we all finished our drinks, our three fae guests made their way back to the cottage. Merryweather got Petunia up and the pair of them wound up riding on my shoulder as me and the twins went into the house. I left the pixies on the recliner in the living-room, then headed upstairs with my girlfriends.

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