Chapter 106: 105. Expostulated

I held my breath as I sighted carefully down the shaft, then when I was ready I let it go.

The slap of the string was followed a second later by the thwack of my arrow striking the target.

"Yes!" I grinned triumphantly.

Kelly smiled, "That's not bad, babe. Now just do that nineteen more times."

It was the first Saturday of May and the weather was finally nice enough that we could resume our backyard archery practice. We had a target set up at the back of the yard, opposite the gazebo. It was a pile of straw bales, with some plywood at the back. There was also a large net behind that to catch any stray arrows, and that came in handy quite a bit at first. It took me a while to really get the hang of the whole thing.

Now I thought I was doing pretty good. My first shot in months and it was just outside the bulls-eye, and we were standing about fifty meters from the target.

Keira went next, and of course she easily showed me up by nailing her target almost dead-centre. Kelly was almost as good. To be fair they had about a decade's worth of experience compared to my year and a half.

We originally got the idea a couple years back, we'd talked about bringing some bows home from Otherworld. In the end we decided against it. Fae longbows were well-made and absolutely deadly in the right hands, but they required a lot of skill and training to use. And they required a lot of muscle to draw them correctly.

I just didn't have the upper-body strength to do it. Even Kelly and Keira struggled with them at long range.

So we found a local shop that specialized in archery gear, and all three of us got kitted out with bows that worked best for our requirements. Kelly and Keira had larger bows with heavier draws that suited them. And I had a smaller bow with a lighter draw, but it was something I could use reliably and safely.

Rather than the fancy compound bows with the pulleys and wheels, all three of us opted for simpler recurves. They even disassembled for transport, so we could fit them in backpacks. We also got ourselves a bunch of modern carbon-fibre arrows, and found a machinist to make us a bunch of custom 'practice points' that were basically bodkin tips that fit the modern arrows.

Of course I hoped to never wind up in a situation where I needed to use my bow, or my sword, or even a knife in any sort of combat. I'd always be more comfortable using magic and trying to defuse a situation rather than resorting to lethal force. But these were all skills I was supposed to have, and it was honestly kind of fun doing the archery practice.

As the three of us continued shooting, I asked "So this is maybe a tough question, but after you've both graduated what do you think about heading back to Otherworld with me? I figure I should finally go see what the king wants, meet him in person and stuff."

Keira and Kelly both turned to look at me.

"Are you sure babe?" Kelly asked. "I mean, we all know what he wants is to get you to marry into his family. Then he'll probably want you to stay there at his palace."

I sighed, "Yeah, from that perspective I guess we know what he wants. But that's not going to happen. I figured I should meet him and maybe I can explain to him in person how that isn't a possibility."

Keira pointed out, "He might also want to toss you in his dungeon for a while. I got the feeling from what your mother said, that he was getting pretty annoyed with you for ignoring his invitation then disobeying his orders."

"Maybe," I sighed again. "I don't want the three of us to wind up permanently exiled though."

We shot a few more arrows, then Kelly said "I agree, it would be nice to be able to visit our clann again. I miss the festivals, and I miss being able to just visit and spend time with Maeve and Connor. I think you need to consider some worst-case scenarios though babe. Like Keira said, maybe he's going to want to toss you in a cell for a while. Or maybe he's going to insist you marry one of his kids. He might try to insist you have to stay at his palace, or at least stay over there. Instead of being exiled to Earth, you could wind up trapped in Otherworld."

Keira added, "I think you basically need to decide up front what you're willing to do, Tegan. If there's anything you're willing to compromise on. And if not, are you willing to fight the king? That could pit you against all of Otherworld, and maybe drag Maeve and Connor into it with you. Otherwise you may as well just stay here. No point making the situation worse if you aren't going to follow-through or if you don't have any plan to make things better."

I shot my last couple arrows but they were well off the target. I was stressed and uptight again and it reflected in my lousy aim.

"You're right," I finally conceded. "I don't really want to go to war with the king, I don't want to drag our clann into a war with the rest of Otherworld. My mom and dad already have to deal with a couple of the king's men watching over their shoulders all the time, that's bad enough. And I'm not prepared to give up my life here, I'm sure not going to move into the royal palace and live under the king's thumb."

"What about marrying the princess?" Kelly asked. "Maybe if you did that, under the terms that she had to come live with you rather than you living with her, that would be enough to placate the king?"

I shook my head, "I don't want to marry some stranger. She's something like two hundred years old? There'd be absolutely nothing in common between us. She's spent two centuries raised as a princess, steeped in fae nobility. She'd never have even visited Earth, probably hasn't even travelled much in Otherworld."

"Political marriages are never about compatibility," Keira pointed out. "You get to know her afterwards. Maybe you become friends with her. Or maybe you just act civil around each other when there's important guests visiting but otherwise live completely separate lives."

The three of us walked together to the targets to start collecting our arrows. I shook my head again "The whole concept is just too alien to me. The three of us are together. I love you two. Like you keep saying Keira, the three of us are already married in almost every way as it is. I can't see some stranger coming along and people thinking she takes precedence because there's some official ceremony."

I continued pulling my arrows from the target and dropping them back in my quiver as I added, "And I can't imagine some princess accepting that she's a distant second-place, while you two are the ones I actually love and adore. And anyways, none of this even takes your feelings into account. How would you two deal with that, if I had to go around staying I was married to some stranger and you two were just 'good friends'. Or I guess we could say you were still my girlfriends. Or mistresses."

"We get that it's weird babe," Kelly replied. "In Earth-terms at least. The fae don't seem too bothered about it. And I bet if you went back a few centuries, it wouldn't be that out of place here either. Except maybe the fact that we're all women."

With all the arrows retrieved, the three of us started walking together back to our shooting line.

Kelly continued, "Of course me and Keira would have some issues to work out. I almost think it might be easier for us if it was a purely political thing, like if you and the princess were just 'acquaintances' who lived separate lives and only appeared together for public functions? I think it'd be a lot harder on us if it actually developed into something further."

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Keira nodded, "Still, it's something we'd have to deal with. It's all moot though unless that's something you'd be prepared to do, to make the king happy. And assuming the king was content to leave it at that."

I was quiet for now as we all started shooting again. My aim was still off though, I was still uptight about the whole thing.

After a few more shots I sighed once more "I really don't know how to deal with the problem. It feels like there's no good answer, no solution that will let us all just live in peace."

"Sometimes that's how it works," Kelly replied. "Sometimes that's just life."

After a few more errant shots I let my shoulders slump. "This isn't working. I'm too stressed to actually focus on the training. If I keep shooting I'll just be reinforcing lousy habits."

Kelly and Keira both gave me a sympathetic look.

"Take a break Tegan," Keira suggested. "Try and relax and get your mind off the king and his demands."

"Yeah, ok." I moved back and had a seat at our picnic table, and watched as the twins continued shooting bullseyes.

It was harder though to relax, and harder still to try and get my mind off these problems. It still felt like an unsolvable puzzle. Or at least, a puzzle where the only solutions came in varying levels of unpleasantness.

The bottom line was the king wanted me to do a bunch of stuff I didn't want to do. He had all the political power and military might of Otherworld to back him up. He was also something like seven hundred and fifty years old, and had a lot of experience playing politics and getting his way. I was a twenty-eight year old changeling, but I also happened to be the most powerful mage the fae had seen since my great-grandmother died.

And I was positive that's why the king wanted me. He probably assumed I'd be easily controlled, or easily manipulated. I was young, inexperienced, and naive. He wanted me and my power under his thumb and at his command. And I wasn't going to let that happen.

I continued watching my two girlfriends nail the target shot after shot as I thought through the options again.

When they both finally sent their last arrows downrange I followed them back to the target to collect the handful I'd shot before giving up.

I commented, "I think I'll just put the whole idea on the back-burner again for now. I'm not in any hurry for a confrontation with the king. And I don't want to wind up fighting him, or dragging Clann Brádaigh into a war with him. We can just stay here on Earth for a few more years and see how it goes."

Keira gave me a smile and teased, "I was just thinking, if you completely crushed him with your magical might, maybe you could take over. Be the new queen or empress or something. Then folks would leave you alone."

I rolled my eyes, "I don't want to be queen or empress or whatever. And I don't want to kill anyone. If I did though, his son would get the job not me."

"I know Tegan," Keira replied. "I'm just kidding."

With all the arrows retrieved, the three of us started walking back towards the shooting line again.

Kelly suggested, "Let's call it a day for the archery. I have an idea that might help get your mind off things, help you relax."

Me and Keira both agreed to leave the shooting for another day.

We went back into the house and put our gear away, then I asked Kelly, "What's your idea to get me to unwind?"

She gave me a sly smile and said, "The first step is you go put on your maid outfit."

That brought a grin to Keira's face as well. She wasn't into the domme stuff like her sister, but she did enjoy watching Kelly boss me around. And sometimes she'd even play along.

I sighed, "I think I'm probably too uptight for even that to help."

"Well then," Kelly was still smiling at me, "Step two is you lower your defences and I employ a little magic to help distract you."

That caught me by surprise. It had been a few years since she'd last suggested playing with magic in the bedroom. A little smile formed on my lips as I thought it over.

I finally nodded, "Ok. I'll go get changed."

As I headed for the stairs, I grinned and added "I mean, yes mistress!"

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