Chapter 134: 133. Elaborated

"You know babe, in all our trips to Otherworld over the years we've never met anyone else with purple hair? I mean, other than your mom. Then yesterday we met Queen Paisley and Princess Lavender, two pixies with purple hair."

"So?" I asked as I turned to look at Kelly. She and Keira and I were standing at the top of the Duma, at the centre of the circular plateau.

It was around noon of our second day here, and so far things had gone almost perfectly. King Greenleaf and the local pixies were friendly, they absolutely loved the gifts we brought them, and they agreed to inform us if they saw any other fae approaching. The seven of us were welcome to explore the Duma as long as we stayed respectful of the place, and today we were doing just that.

Siobhan, Laoise, and Padraig were atop the Duma with me and the twins, though we weren't all in a group together. Padraig was by himself near the edge of the plateau to the north-west. As far as I knew he was just enjoying the view as he sort of wandered slowly along the perimeter.

The captain and her sister were together, they were sitting on the ground at the edge of the plateau facing south. I wasn't sure if they were enjoying the view or if there was something else they were up to. I wouldn't pry but I almost wondered if this was a spiritual experience for them. Although it may have been something as simple as facing south since that's the direction of home.

Merryweather wasn't up here with us because I'd ordered that at least one of us had to remain with our camp. I didn't really have a good reason for it, but it felt like the right thing to do and nobody questioned me. For today our pixie ambassador stayed with the camp to do guard duty.

They weren't alone though, Princess Petunia turned up in camp to visit. As the rest of us started climbing up the Duma I could hear the two pixies talking as they sat side-by-side atop one of the tents. It might have been nothing, but of all Greenleaf's children Petunia was closest in age to Merryweather.

Kelly continued, "I asked Merryweather this morning, they said purple is a fairly common hair colour among pixies. Their own dad has purple hair, apparently. They also said pixies' hair comes in all sorts of different colours. But 'normal' fae hair colours like blonde, brown, black, are almost unheard of in pixies."

I frowned, "Ok? Where are you going with this?"

She smiled, "I'm just saying, it's another piece of evidence towards my 'Tegan is part pixie' theory. You're tiny, you like sweets, you have pixie-hair..."

Keira grinned and added "You know cutie, even your eyes are a little pixie-like. That aqua-blue shade is kind of unusual among fae, but I bet it fits right in among the pixies."

I was blushing hard by that point, and half-muttered "I'm sure there must be a clann rule about not bullying your sept-leader."

Both twins giggled, then they leaned in and kissed me on the cheeks.

Kelly added, "Sorry babe. You know I'm just teasing."

"I'm pretty sure there isn't any way for a fae and a pixie to uh, you know." Keira said with a smile. "I mean, just from a physics or mechanical point of view, never mind the biology. On the other hand, there's magic so who knows?"

Kelly and I both rolled our eyes. I was about to respond when I suddenly felt a lurch in my stomach. Ever since my second meeting with Taralynn I'd been wondering where our purple hair came from. And why my mother and I were so small.

I knew Taralynn's father was a God, and her gift for magic came from him but as far as I could tell none of her looks came from him. As Ruad Rofhessa he was described as having red hair. She might have got her height from him, she was as tall as the twins, but Aisling was a few inches shorter, and my mom and I were tiny by comparison.

Suddenly I couldn't shake the idea that somehow a pixie was involved between the god and Saoirse. It hit me Kelly could actually be right, Maybe I really was part-pixie.

"Hey babe?" Kelly said. She sounded concerned now. "Are you ok? You know we're just teasing, right? I didn't mean to upset you."

I realized my face had gone pale, but I tried to laugh it off with them. I grinned and asked, "And what if I was part-pixie? Would your love for me be diminished?"

"Not at all," she replied, then gave me another kiss.

Keira gave me a sly smile and asked "Does that mean there's a tiny little secret in your family history? If there is I think you need to share. You're keeping enough secrets as it is."

I knew she was still teasing but I got serious again. "I'm sorry I'm still keeping secrets from you both. Like I said yesterday though, I don't know what I'm allowed to share. Taralynn told me things, and some of them she was clear I had to keep secret. Other things, not so much."

"We understand babe," Kelly replied. "We want to help, but we can't really do much when we don't know what you're up to."

"I know," I sighed. "Like I told you and the others a few days ago back at the castle, I'll be relying on you two for shield spells, and to keep an eye out for trouble when we're facing the king."

I added, "When it comes down to it and I'm actually challenging the king, I have to do that alone. And until he gets here, I'm afraid it's going to be pretty boring for all of you."

Keira asked, "Boring for us, but not for you?"

I nodded, "Yes. I need to study the Duma, I need to understand it better."

She frowned, "What do you mean, understand it?"

"It's the legends," I replied. "Places become legendary for a reason. I need to figure that out, I need to understand it. That's all I can say right now though. I'm sorry."

"Ok babe," Kelly said. "I'm sure you'll have an easier time studying it without me and Keira distracting you. We'll leave you to it."

I gave them both a warm smile, "Thanks Kelly, thanks Keira."

They each gave me another kiss, then the two of them walked off to the eastern side of the plateau while I stayed in the centre.

Alone now, I sat down on the ground and switched on my sight and my magical sense. To start with I stared down at the Duma, as if staring harder might somehow let me see inside it, or let me see its magical workings. That didn't really get me anywhere though.

Next I tried just staring at the air around me, and up into the sky above me. I let my eyes go unfocused and tried to pay more attention to my magical sense, but I still couldn't find what I was looking for.

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Finally I lay down and stretched out flat on my back in the middle of the Duma. I closed my eyes and just let my mind start to wander while I kept my magical sense active. I suppose it was sort of like a combination of meditation and magic. I wasn't even sure what I was looking for exactly. It was one of those situations where I assumed I'd know it when I saw it, but until then I couldn't even begin to identify it.

I quickly lost track of time, but I probably didn't doze off. I have no idea how long it took, but when it happened it sort of happened all at once. Like those hidden-image pictures where you have to stare at them just right before the image reveals itself, the Duma kept its secrets until I inspected it from just the right angle. Then the information was suddenly revealed to me.

For just a brief moment it felt like a shock of energy going through me, like my body had been connected to a high-voltage line. Rather than being painful or destructive though, it was invigorating, energizing.

I quickly pulled my mind back from it and a smile formed on my lips. I sat up, then got to my feet.

Taralynn told me what the Duma Dé were, and now I understood how they worked. And with that knowledge, I was already putting together a plan that I knew the king would not be able to counter.

• • • • •

The seven of us were back in our camp, watching as Laoise prepared dinner. We had fresh food for another day or so, then it would be back to the salted preserved meats.

Merryweather still didn't eat with us, but they sat with us while we ate. I didn't actually know what pixies ate, and it seemed like there wasn't much around here to hunt. Kelly was gently teasing the tiny enby about spending the day with Princess Petunia instead of guarding the camp.

"I wasn't ignoring the camp," they protested. They had a deep blush as they said "I did both! I can talk and keep watch at the same time!"

I smiled, "She's just teasing you Merryweather. Don't let her get to you. She was teasing me earlier, I suppose it's your turn now."

They were still blushing, but before they could respond Siobhan spoke up. "Heads up. Might be trouble."

We all looked, in time to see two points of light coming down the hill at high speed. They streaked into our camp and through, then sort of twisted around and back into the camp then finally resolved into a pair of pixies.

"Hello Nettlesting, Petunia," I greeted them. "Is something wrong?"

They both hovered in the air in front of me. Prince Nettlesting faced me, while his sister looked around till she spotted Merryweather then smiled at them.

"Lady Tegan, my father asked me to inform you that we have spied six riders approaching from the east on horseback."

All of us were on alert with that news. Siobhan got to her feet, "I'll go around the Duma and check them out. Six on horseback wouldn't include the king, but it could be a scouting party."

"Thank you Nettlesting," I told the pixie, then nodded to Siobhan "Please be careful and don't go too far."

Their news delivered, the two local pixies started flying back up the Duma. Merryweather watched them go with a wistful look on their face.

The captain took her bow with her as she moved quickly and quietly away from us. She set off heading south around the Duma while the rest of us stayed in camp and we quickly lost sight of her.

There was a tension in the air now. The smiles and relaxed attitudes were gone, things were potentially about to get serious.

Laoise continued cooking dinner, but I could see she was worried for her sister.

About a half hour later the food was ready and Laoise started serving it up. She kept a portion warm for her sister of course. We all just started eating when Merryweather announced, "There's Captain Siobhan."

The tall blonde captain looked fine, and she wasn't moving in any hurry as she made her way back to the camp. Her expression was hard to decipher. About the only thing I was confident about was something happened.

"I kept dinner warm for you," Laoise said as Siobhan rejoined us.

"Thanks," she replied, then she addressed me. "They were six knights of the realm scouting ahead of the king. Three are setting up camp on the west side of the Duma, the other three have turned to ride back to report back to the king. They said King Cathal and his retinue will arrive in four or five days."

Laoise scoffed, "Late, just like I said."

"Thank you Siobhan," I replied. "You spoke with them?"

She nodded, "Three were riding around the Duma, they were looking for our camp. I intercepted them and we exchanged words."

I thanked her again, then commented "At least we know the king is coming. And now we know when we can expect him."

The others agreed quietly.

"We'll need to stay on guard now," Siobhan pointed out. "With three knights camped on the other side of the Duma we can assume we're being watched. They may have other plans too."

"I'll talk to our friends," Merryweather said as they fluttered up into the air. "The knights might be watching us, but pixies are definitely watching them."

With that, they blurred into invisibility as they raced up towards the top of the Duma.

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