Chapter 153: Epilogue

My teleport spell brought me directly into the large luxurious bedroom. The bed would have been a little too obvious but there was a fancy-looking chais-longe by the window, and I picked that as a good place to wait. I sat down there, then lay back and got a good decadent lounge going on as I waited.

I wound up getting a little bored, but that's the risk when you want to surprise someone. It was sunset when I got here and as I waited it went from dusk to dark out. After another twenty minutes I was starting to think about getting up to go look for her, when the door finally opened.

She stepped into the room, then stopped in her tracks when she saw me.

"Lady Tegan, you know how much it annoys my staff when you bypass all my security and let yourself into my private chambers."

I grinned, "Yes your majesty, I know. But you know I hate pomp and ceremony."

Áine rolled her eyes but she couldn't suppress her own grin. She moved to a corner of the room and gave the bell-cord a tug.

It took only moments for a servant to come calling at the door, and the queen told her "We require some refreshments. Some light snacks, a bottle of wine and a bottle of mead."

The maid curtseyed and hurried off, while Áine moved to join me. I straightened up so there was room for her, and she settled onto the chais beside me.

"I assume this is an unofficial visit," she commented. "Actually, here you are in my private chambers without either of your wives about. Does this mean I finally have a chance to win your hand?"

I shook my head, "I'm sorry your majesty, my hand and my heart still belong to Kelly and Keira."

She pouted, "I will have to settle for the rest of you. How long will you be staying?"

"You have me to yourself for about a week?" I replied. "They'll be along at some point, they're both taking care of business on Earth. They know I'm here though, so they'll come looking for me when they've finished up over there."

The queen grinned, "I shall make the most of it."

We cut out the flirting when the maid returned, she came in and set a tray of food and drinks down on a side table then quietly left again.

Once she was gone, Áine got up and poured us both drinks. "Unofficial visit or not, what news have you from Earth? How are relations with the humans?"

I thanked her as she handed me the glass of mead, then replied "The government still wants to keep our existence secret, their official stance is there's no such thing as fae or magic. They're paranoid about how the public will react if they find out about fae. Mind you it's the worst-kept secret around. There's loads of media reports, probably a quarter of the population already believes we exist. Some of their movies and tv shows even depict fae characters now and then."

I added, "My estate there has been designated as the official fae embassy, which means the government considers it to be fae territory. That makes it 'legally' part of Otherworld rather than Earth. But it's all still secret, so there's no signs or public awareness."

She asked, "What does that mean for you and your staff?"

"The secret-but-not-really situation doesn't affect us. I've been very strict with my staff that they're not to reveal themselves as fae to any of the locals," I replied. "The legal stuff just means my estate and my staff fall under fae law rather than human law. Which means whatever happens on my property is my own business. I think it also means I'm except from human laws even on human territory? Not that I worry about their laws anyways. As you know most fae over there don't bother too much with human rules."

The queen nodded, "Yes I've heard some fae consider Earth to be a lawless world. I don't imagine it would do for you to flaunt their rules too much though while we're trying to establish positive relations with them."

I agreed, "Yeah I'm not going to go around jeopardizing things. I'll try and be good. Mostly."

She sipped her wine and commented, "Instead you're here flaunting our rules and traditions. You know how much it annoys the captain of my royal guard that you just come and go as you please."

I smirked, "I know. He rubbed me the wrong way when we first met, so I'm going to keep doing it specifically to aggravate him."

Áine rolled her eyes, "Tegan my coronation was over fifty years ago. How long do you plan to hold that grudge?"

"We'll see," I replied then sipped my drink. "Back to the topic of Earth, one thing I'm worried about is sooner or later the humans are going to figure out I'm the one who brought pixies over there. Some people don't mind them, but I've seen reports calling them an infestation and referring to them as an invasive species."

The queen frowned, "What does that mean? Are they going to try and eradicate them?"

"Oh Gods I hope not," I sighed. "That won't end well for anyone. The 'invasive species' thing just means pixies aren't native to Earth and they have no natural predators there? Humans only use that term to talk about animals or plants, so they're being intentionally rude using it to refer to pixies. I mean, by their own definition humans are an invasive species. Anyways, I've been talking with Queen Petunia and Monarch Merryweather, I've asked them to try and rein in their children's troops. If pixies weren't such mischievous pests they wouldn't annoy the humans, then the humans wouldn't have an excuse to want to get rid of them. And like I said, some humans like them."

Áine looked thoughtful, then finally shrugged. "Whatever happens, that is happily not my concern. Pixies aren't my subjects, and the ones who've made Earth their home don't even answer to King Nettlesting as far as I know."

She changed the subject, "Have you any news from the Southern Marches? How are things with Clann Brádaigh?"

I drained my glass and shrugged, "Things are good? The marches are peaceful. Well, mostly peaceful. If you catch my mom on a good day everything is fine and all is well with the world. On a bad day, she's convinced I'm trying to drive her to an early grave and working to turn my little sister against her specifically and all of Otherworld in general."

The queen slapped my arm, "Surely it's not that bad Tegan. I've met your mother, and I met your sister two or three decades ago. As I recall she's a wonderful little girl."

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I grinned, "She was. But I've been filling her head with stories of Earth and of equality and women's rights. And for her fiftieth birthday I brought her some Earth clothes, and introduced her to the kind of music and shows teens her age are into over there. Now she's refusing to wear dresses, she's sticking to jeans and t-shirts, and playing the loud human pop-music I brought her. I'm pretty sure I've completely destroyed any plans mom had of raising Saoirse to be a 'prim and proper young lady'. I've probably ruined her for any arranged marriages Maeve had in mind too."

Áine refreshed both our drinks then shook her head "My goodness Tegan you really are an evil little gremlin. I'm surprised you haven't stolen your sister away for a visit to the human world yet."

"Oh, I will. Not yet though," I replied. "I think mom would actually kill me if I did that now. But maybe after her eightieth birthday. Once she knows a little more about how to defend herself, then I think we'll have a little sisterly vacation to the human world."

I changed the subject and asked, "Enough of my news, how about you? Anything new going on here?"

"Ugh," she frowned. "Nothing new or interesting. Every year that passes without me taking a husband the courtiers grow more restless and anxious. I'm not even three hundred years old, yet they fear if I don't wed soon the royal family will end with me."

She added, "It's a problem I never expected to have. I always thought the burden of producing heirs would remain squarely on my brother's shoulders."

I grimaced, "Sorry I kind of made that your problem."

"Not your fault Tegan," she replied. "I mean, you did cremate him on the spot, but it's not your fault he was stupid enough to anger a Demi-Goddess."

I clarified, "I'm not sorry I roasted him, but I'm sorry it's put that burden on you. What are you going to do about an heir? You told me you didn't want a husband."

Áine scowled, "Of course I don't want a husband, you already know that story. I don't want a man, I want you Tegan. I know I can't have you, but I'd settle for you giving me a child. And before you try and protest, I know full well what you're capable of with your magic. I have no doubt you could give me a child this very evening if you wanted."

I sighed, "It's not a question of what I want. We've already discussed this, you know about the curse. I'm bound by forces even greater than myself, Áine. Anyways even if I could give you a child, odds are she'd be a tiny purple-haired gremlin like me. You might satisfy your court for a few decades, but she'd just drive them all crazy and eventually topple the kingdom or something."

Áine suppressed a laugh, "I'd almost like to see how that plays out, to be honest. Just to see the looks on some of their faces. But very well Tegan, I'll drop that subject. For now. Tell me, what are your wives are up to? What business has them tied up on Earth? Not that I'm complaining mind you, it's a rare treat to actually have my consort to myself."

"Keira's acting as a sort of unofficial fae cultural representative, and she also works with some local museums. She was invited over to an archaeological dig in Ireland that has special significance for us. I'm not sure if you remember Siobhan, but she's a professor at the university in Dublin now? That's a large city on Earth. She's been researching ancient fae influence on Earth, and last summer her team uncovered what may be a Duma Dé over there. Siobhan invited Keira to go have a look at what they found."

"That sounds very interesting indeed," Áine replied. "Was Kelly involved in that too? Or is she up to something else?"

After a sip of mead I replied, "Something else. She has a practice in the city where she helps fae and part-fae on Earth. She also works with their little sister Kaitlyn, and she stayed on Earth to help there. Katie's opened a private non-profit gender clinic, she's basically offering free magic transitions for any trans humans who want them. Kelly's helping handle the government and media attention."

"How can she offer that sort of service, without revealing the presence of fae and magic to the humans?"

I grimaced, "Yeah that's pretty much the challenge. Katie's been doing this in secret for decades now, but she said she can't reach enough people by word of mouth. She needed to make it public and get it out there so everyone who needs this would know about it. At first the media ignored her and assumed it was some sort of a joke or something?"

I continued, "After a few people took her up on the offer and shared their results the media jumped on her and the government started to freak out. Kaitlyn insists she has to help people, she says she has to use her magic for good and helping trans folks is important to her. Negotiation isn't exactly Kelly's thing, but she knows how people work, how they think and stuff? So she's advocating for Katie and trying to help everyone figure out a way to let Kaitlyn do her thing without officially revealing the existence of fae to the world at large."

I added, "Kaitlyn got a degree in chemistry ages ago, and she's combining that human chemistry knowledge with her magic skills, to try and invent a potion that she could distribute. That way she can help people who can't physically come to her clinic. And it might make it easier to maintain the cover-up, if they can come up with a non-magical explanation for how it all works. Maybe call it next-generation hormone therapy, or nanobots, or say it's some sort of genetic thing? Humans love their tech."

"Hmm," Áine responded. "It sounds like there's quite a lot going on over there. That leads me to wonder why you decided to come and visit me now?"

"Honestly, I needed a break." I blushed, "My wives are both busy, Seneschal Laoise has my mansion and estate running like clockwork, Captain Padraig keeps my security detail in top form. If I stayed home I'd either be in the way, or I'd be swamped with boring meetings and paperwork. I needed a vacation."

She rolled her eyes, "So you came to Otherworld, snuck into the royal palace, into my bedroom, and what? You plan on hiding here?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "At least until my wives come looking for me."

Áine glanced around then asked "Where are your belongings? Didn't you bring a pack? Do you even have a change of clothes with you?"

I drained my second glass and smirked, "Why would I need clothes? I don't plan on leaving your bed. Or I suppose we can get up to take meals, but I certainly don't plan on leaving your private chambers."

She rolled her eyes again, but she was smiling too. Áine drained the last of her wine and said, "Well then my consort, I believe you're overdressed."

I grinned as I stood up and started to strip, "Yes your majesty."

~ The End ~

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