Chapter 140: 139. Expounded

I slowly drifted awake and took a deep breath. My eyes opened a crack and I smiled as I let out a contented sigh.

Kelly and Keira were cuddled up on either side of me. We were in our huge bed in our room in the castle. Our bed was warm and comfy, sunshine was pouring in through the windows, things seemed quiet and peaceful. My headache was gone, and apart from being really hungry I felt pretty good.

Still, I knew I was in for another lecture or two once my girlfriends woke up. I'd already endured one in my sleep, delivered by my great-grandmother.

I also knew at some point I'd have to talk with my mom. I had a feeling there'd be a lot of questions I'd be expected to answer. For now, I just relaxed and enjoyed the peace and quiet as I cuddled with the gorgeous redheads on either side of me.

That lasted another ten or twelve minutes, then Kelly started to wake first. She stirred, her eyes fluttered open, and as soon as she realized I was awake and smiling at her she gave me a smack on the arm.

"Ow!" I protested. "What was that for?"

Kelly kissed me then stated "You had us so worried!"

Before I could respond I got a smack on the other arm, followed by a kiss from Keira.

"Nobody knew what was wrong with you!" she said with a frown. "Muireann couldn't figure it out, she said it had something to do with your aura being messed up."

"Sorry," I pouted as I rubbed both my arms. "I didn't mean to scare everyone. I didn't know I was going to pass out or whatever. But I'm fine, I probably just needed a bit of rest after all the stress and everything yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Kelly gave me a look. "Babe you've been out cold for three days!"

My eyes widened and I cringed a bit. "Oh. Sorry. I'm fine though, so don't worry."

They both exchanged a glance then Kelly asked, "So do you know what happened to you? Why'd you black out? How do you know you're ok now?"

I rolled my eyes, "Ok, so apparently I'm 'not a goddess' after all, and channelling the entire world's magic through me was a 'foolish dangerous stunt' and I'm 'not allowed' to do it anymore."

The twins both frowned and Kelly asked, "What do you mean, not allowed? Who's not allowing you?"

"While I was unconscious I wound up back at the smaller Duma Dé and Taralynn gave me a big lecture," I explained. "But I'm pretty sure at least half the stuff she was telling me came straight from her father."

They both looked confused as Keira asked, "Who's her father?"

I blushed slightly and replied, "He's called The Dagda."

"Who?" Keira asked, looking even more confused.

My blush grew a little brighter and I replied quietly, "He's um, the king of the Gods..."

Kelly and Keira both responded in stereo as they demanded "What?!"

I cringed, "Yeah. It's a long story."

"Then you better start talking babe," Kelly stated.

Keira added, "You can't just drop that on us and expect us to let it go!"

I sighed, "Can we get breakfast first? I'm starving."

Kelly got out of bed and tugged the bell cord, then when a maid responded she asked her to bring us breakfast.

As we waited, Keira and I got up as well and the three of us put on nightshirts for now. We wound up sitting at the table together as I started relaying the story about Saoirse, and her pilgrimage to Duma Dé.

I paused for a minute or two when breakfast was brought in, then after the maid left again I continued talking as we ate.

Kelly and Keira both listened quietly as I told them about Saoirse's encounter with Ruad Rofhessa, and how that was one of The Dagda's names or guises or whatever. Finally I told them how Saoirse was expecting a son to save the clann but was surprised to have a daughter instead. And how she named the girl Taralynn as a reference to the 'hill' where the girl was conceived, and to the father being from the stars or the heavens.

I finished off saying, "He was there at the royal Duma when we confronted the king. Merryweather said that Duma was 'home' to both The Dagda and The Morrigan, both of them were there watching."

Keira looked surprised, "They were? How do you know?"

"I saw them," I replied. "The Dagda was the tall druid-looking 'mage' with the cloak and hood, who wound up standing at the north edge of the plateau. And The Morrigan was the three crows who sat at the south edge of the plateau. She also appeared as a tall woman in a black gown towards the end. Didn't you notice them?"

Kelly and Keira looked at each other then both shook their heads. Kelly said "We didn't see them."

I was a little surprised, "Really? Merryweather pointed out the crows. And Siobhan pointed out the mage."

The twins shook their heads again, and Keira said "I don't remember that at all."

"Huh," I frowned. "I wonder if Siobhan and Merryweather remember? I'll have to ask them."

Kelly was staring at me again and asked "Anyways so you're actually descended from a God? For real?"

I blushed again, "I mean, I'm four or five generations removed... It's like, The Dagda, then Taralynn, then Aisling, then my mom, then me. It's not like I'm half God or anything like that."

"Says the girl who switched off the entire planet's magic then took away the sun," Keira said with a smirk.

Kelly pointed out, "You got Taralynn's gift babe. Maybe you've inherited more from The Dagda than you think."

Before I could respond to that she added, "I guess that means I have to stop teasing you about being part pixie."

This time I both blushed and cringed. "Well actually..."

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Kelly and Keira both stared at me wide-eyed, then Kelly half-demanded "Wait what? Really?"

Keira added, "How?!"

I grimaced and told them what else I learned from Taralynn last night.

"According to the legends, The Morrigan is a jealous wife. The Dagda cheated on her in the past, and the stories say he's used various tricks to hide his infidelity. So to try and hide the fact that he was Taralynn's father, when she was conceived he had some of her looks come from a nearby pixie instead of himself. That's how she got the violet hair and the aqua blue eyes."

"Of course The Morrigan wasn't so easily fooled, and when Taralynn's gift with magic manifested The Morrigan knew her husband was responsible. In her anger she put a curse on our family. She made it so the deception that hid the infidelity gets stronger with each generation. Taralynn was as tall as you two. Aisling was several inches shorter. My mom's tiny. I'm not any smaller than my mom, but I guess I got the sweet-tooth instead?"

I finished with a sigh, "And if I have a kid, it'll affect her too. Maybe she'll wind up even smaller than me and my mother, or maybe the curse will come out in some other way."

The twins' expressions shifted as I spoke, from shock to amusement, but in the end they both looked serious.

"I'm sorry Tegan," Kelly said quietly. "It was fun to tease you about that, but now I realize this is actually serious and kind of scary."

"It's ok Kelly," I shrugged. "It doesn't change much, to be honest. I'm still me, same person I was last week or last year or whatever. It just answers some questions."

I took a deep breath then sighed, "And honestly, the other curse is a lot more disturbing."

The twins looked at each other, then Keira asked warily "What other curse?"

I sighed again, "The Dagda's price for helping Saoirse in the first place. No leader of Clann Brádaigh will ever meet their grand-child. Saoirse died before Aisling was born. Taralynn died before my mom was born. Aisling died before I was born. And my mom will die before either me or my sister have a kid of our own."

"Aisling was killed before she passed all this information on to my mom," I added. "I got all this from Taralynn last night, while I was unconscious."

Kelly and Keira were both silent. They looked shocked and upset, and I couldn't blame them. I felt the same when Taralynn told me.

Finally Kelly asked, "Can anything be done? Are there any options?"

I shook my head, "All we can do is hold off as long as we can? Mom will be over eight hundred by the time I'm five hundred. Same with my little sister. Past six hundred though it gets a lot harder to have kids, from what I understand? But if neither of us has a child at all, then the family line ends."

I sighed again, "That's the price Saoirse agreed to pay. Her own parents were already dead when she made the deal, but she knew full well she had to die before her own child would be a mother. She was willing to do that to keep the Clann alive."

"Damn," Keira shook her head slowly. "And Maeve doesn't know this?"

"Taralynn said Aisling died before she could tell my mom all our family secrets. I don't even know if mom knows about Saoirse."

Kelly stated, "You have to tell her, Tegan."

"I will," I agreed. "Not right away though. I'll wait a year or two at least. Till after my sister's born and things are quiet and settled down."

Kelly nodded, "Ok babe, that sounds like a good idea to be honest."

We'd all finished eating by now, and I drained my glass of juice then asked, "So hows the rest of our sept doing? And was it my imagination, or did Princess Petunia follow us here?"

Keira grinned, "Petunia is very much here. She and Merryweather have been causing a bit of a fuss throughout the castle."

That didn't sound good, I cringed slightly and asked, "How so?"

Kelly rolled her eyes, "Just being mischievous little pests. Imagine a pair of curious horny teenagers, who can also fly and turn invisible. They aren't doing anything terrible, but they're sneaking into places they're not supposed to be, startling people, and generally acting like unsupervised teens."

"Of course nobody wants to try and discipline them," Keira added. "Partially out of their fear of pixies in general, but also out of fear of you. Since Merryweather's part of your sept and they're a friend of yours."

I groaned a little, "Great. That means it's up to me to put my foot down and act like the parent or whatever."

"Sorry cutie," Keira grinned. "You're the leader of our sept though, so it's your responsibility."

I sighed but asked, "What about the others? Siobhan, Laoise, Padraig? All ok?"

Kelly answered, "They're all fine. They're on 'leave' I guess? Gaelen is still Maeve's captain of the guard. Siobhan and Padraig haven't returned to their duties. And Laoise hasn't gone back to whatever her regular routine is either. All three have been given rooms in the visitors wing of the castle, they're being treated as VIPs."

"Thats a little confusing," I said with a frown. "I don't really know what to make of that?"

I'd assumed Siobhan would either get her old job back, or maybe she'd be demoted to Lieutenant or something. Same with Padraig, I thought he'd just return to his duties as a guard here. I didn't actually know what Laoise did before, but I was pretty sure she didn't actually work in the castle. Treating them like VIPs was nice, but I had no idea what it meant for them in the long run.

Keira suggested, "You can ask your mom. I'm sure you'll be spending all afternoon filling her in on the details."

"Yeah," I groaned. "Didn't you lot fill her in on everything while I was unconscious?"

I added with a cheeky grin, "I mean, that was the plan right? I slept while everyone else did the debriefing."

That earned me two more smacks on the arms, and Kelly stated "Babe you need to take this seriously. You deposed the king and killed the prince. You put Áine on the throne. You've single-handedly upended the whole political landscape of Otherworld. There's going to be fallout, and your mom's probably going to have to deal with it while we're on Earth."

I pouted, "This better not lead to even more trouble down the road. What else can I do to convince people to leave us alone?"

Even Keira was serious this time, "Kelly's right, Tegan. You need to grow up a bit and take some responsibility."

Between the two of them I was reminded of what Taralynn told me earlier, about acting like a petulant child. I blushed but nodded, "Sorry Kelly, sorry Keira. You're right."

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