Chapter 63: 62. Dictated

The food and dishes had been removed and that book was back on the shelf, and Siobhan had been dismissed. Maeve and the twins and I remained in the study to continue our discussion over drinks.

"I'm not making any promises, mother." I stated. "I'll meet the prisoners and talk to them. Maybe my reputation will be enough. But I'm not touching the mind-magic, and I'm not doing any other nasty stuff just to get information out of some people I've never met before."

Maeve sighed, "Do what you can, and we'll talk again afterwards."

Kelly suggested, "Before we do that, what else do we know? Or what else can we figure out? I mean, if someone's pushing for war, there has to be a reason for that. If there was a war between you and the Ceallaighs, who benefits?"

"No-one," Maeve frowned. "There's no-one else around who stands to gain. It would destabilize the entire region and cost thousands of lives. That was the reason I never went to war with Eileen after she took my husband and child."

"There's nobody else in the region who'd come pick up the pieces?" Keira asked.

Maeve shook her head, "None that I can think of."

Kelly got up and went to one of the other bookcases. She returned with a large geographical tome, and set it out on the table in front of us. She opened it up and quickly found what she wanted. It was a map of the area, with three counties occupying what looked like a peninsula.

"So we're here," she pointed to a spot in the northern half of the middle region. "County Cathasaigh is the large county the middle. County Conchobhair is that one to the west, and County Donnghaile is the smaller one to the east."

Keira asked, "Where are the Ceallaighs at?"

Maeve pointed to the north west of Donnghaile, "Oisín's stronghold is there."

I glanced at Maeve, "Do they rule the county, like you're in charge of Cathasaigh?"

"No," she shook her head. "There is no count or countess of Donnghaile. There was once, but that family died out about seven centuries ago, the last count died without any heirs. Since then, County Donnghaile has been controlled and protected by a coalition of lesser noble families. The Ceallaighs are the strongest though."

After a moment she added, "Had Connor and I not wed, his union with Eileen would have elevated both their families, and it's possible a Ceallaigh would have eventually been granted control of the county."

I gestured to the land on the west, "What about that? Who's in charge of Conchobhair?"

"Conchobhair is controlled by a Marquess, Lord Aengus ó Faoláin." Maeve replied. "In my mother's day he was a strong man, but he's old now. He just passed his millennium not long ago. Rumours have it his mind is feeble."

Keira asked, "If he's that old, what about his family? He must have heirs or something?"

Maeve nodded, "He has two sons." She frowned for a few moments as she thought to recall their names. "Sean ó Faoláin is the eldest, he would be in his seventh century now I believe. And the younger one, Caleb ó Faoláin, would be in his sixth century."

Keira pressed, "And you don't think they'd be a potential threat?"

Maeve shook her head, "From what I've been told, they are much more interested in squabbling and sparring with each other over their potential inheritance, than worrying about politics in the rest of the region."

We all stared at the map for a while longer, then Keira said "Ok, so to the west there's a county with a potentially weak leader, but there's two sons eager to secure their inheritance. To the east is a small county with no leader, just a group of nobles who've agreed to work together. And in the middle is you," she nodded towards Maeve. "You've got the biggest chunk, and from the sound of it, yours is the strongest?"

"Correct," Maeve nodded. "The three together are referred to as the Southern Marches. The three counties form the southern-most part of the realm, and it is our duty to keep the southern border secure."

Kelly asked, "Isn't it all just coastline?" She gestured to the blank area at the south of the map. "I thought this was all empty ocean or something. Isn't this a peninsula sticking out into the sea?"

Maeve shook her head, "Not a peninsula, it is an isthmus. There is sea to the east and west, but Cathasaigh is a land-locked county. Most maps don't bother to include it, but there is another continent to the south. We call it the wildlands. There are fae there, and there are other things. It's not a kingdom though, there's no organization, no leadership, no armies. Occasionally there are raiding parties, or there were before we established our defences."

She explained, "My responsibility as Countess is to hold the southern border. I have a line of strongholds and castles to keep watch, and to resist any raids or incursions from the south. The same is true for our neighbours to either side. Together our three counties secure the southern border of the realm."

Now things were starting to make sense to me, and I knew Kelly and Keira could see it as well.

I stated, "So you have a county to the west that may soon face a leadership struggle, a strong county in the middle, and a coalition to the east. War between you and the Ceallaighs would distract both you and them, and they'd probably pull the rest of their coalition into the fight against you. Whether or not either side pulls troops away from the border, you'd still be distracted."

"War between you and the Ceallaighs would leave both Cathasaigh and Donnghaile weak," Kelly agreed. "It would leave the marches vulnerable to attack from the south."

Maeve shook her head, "As I said there is no kingdom there, no army, no organization. There is nothing there that could invade the marches, let alone the rest of the realm."

"And yet there's enough of a threat that these three counties have defences along the border," Keira pointed out. "Strongholds and castles, you said."

"Yes, to stop incursions." Maeve replied. "Marauders, raiding parties. They would come into the county and attack villages and towns. They'd cause destruction, they'd steal, kill fae, then they'd leave again."

Keira shrugged, "It's still a credible threat, enough that you've invested in a line of defences to keep the border secure."

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I stated, "It doesn't have to be a real threat. It just has to be believable. If drawing us and the Ceallaighs into war left our two counties weak, then a threat emerged, it might appear that both counties are unable to hold their borders. That might be enough for Aengus or his two sons to step in and 'save the day'. They could offer to take charge of Cathasaigh, and perhaps Donnghaile as well."

Maeve stared at the map in silence for a few moments, then took a deep gulp of her drink. Finally she sighed, "I need more information. I need to know who those spies are working for, Tegan. I need to know if we are facing enemies to the south, or treachery from the west. If there is a true threat against the southern border, I will need to send word to the king."

Kelly and Keira were both looking at me, and I finally remembered the other news we had.

"Uh mother?" I looked back at Maeve. "Speaking of the king, we met one of his knights yesterday, on Earth."

I quickly filled her in on our visit from Colm Mac Cionaoith, knight of the realm.

Maeve sighed, then looked at me and stated, "Tegan, speak with Siobhan and have her take you to the two spies. I don't care what you do or how you do it, but you find out what they know. I'll expect answers when we speak at dinner." With that, she stood up and stalked out of the study, leaving the three of us alone.

That was the first time she'd ever given me a direct order, and it was followed by an obvious dismissal. There would be no more debate, no more discussion. I was still loath to use mind magic, but I knew my fae-mom was done indulging me on the subject. She wanted answers, and she expected me to deliver them.

"Fuck," Keira said softly after Maeve was gone. "I knew things were going to get serious after what happened on Sunday, but I never thought I'd get involved in an actual fae war."

I looked up at her and sighed, "I'm sorry Keira. If it's too much, I could take you back to Earth. After the Samhain festival, or whenever you want I guess." I looked at Kelly, "Same with you. You two don't need to be involved in all this."

"Screw that," Keira replied. "I'm staying, and I'll help where I can. Not that I expect there's much I can do. I can be Kelly's moral support. I'm sure she's going to be yours."

My girlfriend nodded in agreement, "I'm staying too, Tegan. I stuck with you through all the intrigue and adventure we went through when we first wound up here. I'm not leaving you alone now."

"Thanks you two," I gave them both a weak smile, before my expression became serious again. "I guess I have to go and speak with some prisoners."

Kelly sighed, "What are you going to do? You can't use those spells. And however you do it, if you get them to talk it's just going to convince Maeve to keep using you to get information out of people."

"What else can I do?" I asked, frowning. "You heard her. That wasn't a request, Kelly. And this isn't my human mom where I can just ignore her or avoid her."

I could tell Kelly was going to stay uptight about this, and honestly so was I. I didn't have a choice though.

Keira asked, "So what are the options? What's the least-awful way to achieve the goal?"

"What I did three years ago was basically like magical torture," I replied, though it made me feel sick saying it. "I did something awful to Liam, and threatened to make it much worse. That scared him into talking."

I sighed as I continued, "The mind magic Maeve was suggesting comes in two flavours. There's control or compulsion, to force someone to talk. Or mind reading, to just extract the information from them directly."

Kelly spoke up, "They're both dark as fuck, Tegan. Control or compulsion is as evil as it gets, and mind reading is an absolute violation."

"I know Kelly," I sighed again. "And I agree completely."

After a few moments, Keira said "Ok, well let's forget the control/compulsion stuff because it sounds like the worst option. If mind reading is painless and doesn't cause any damage, then it sounds to me like the most humane choice. Even if it is a violation. Otherwise we're left with the first option."

"Sis, you can't just reduce this to some kind of math problem!" Kelly stated angrily. "It's not that simple!"

Keira shrugged, "Why not? Sitting around arguing morality and ethics isn't going to get us the answer, Kelly. If Tegan refuses then what's Maeve going to do? She could toss all three of us in the dungeon. She could banish us back to Earth. She could have you and me tortured till Tegan does what she wants. Meanwhile there's people being hurt and killed. A Ceallaigh's been murdered, Connor's either imprisoned or dead, and you got shot. If we have a chance of figuring stuff out and helping save lives, I think we need to do that. Even if it means getting our hands a bit dirty."

I was quiet for now just watching and listening. It reminded me of cartoons where there was an angel and a devil on someone's shoulders, debating right and wrong. Keira was being practical and pragmatic, Kelly was touting ideals and morals.

The twins argued back and forth for a few more minutes, till I finally stood up and took off my jacket. I handed it to Kelly and asked, "Would you take that up to our room please Kelly? Keira, why don't you head up to your room as well. Both of you just relax, take it easy for a while."

As I was talking, I gave the bell-cord a tug. That would summon a servant, and I'd get them to summon captain Siobhan.

"What are you going to do?" Kelly asked.

I replied calmly, "I'm going to make some difficult decisions, then I'm going to go and speak with the prisoners."

Before either could comment I added, "I'm going to do it alone. I appreciate your help, and your concern. But in the end it's my responsibility, and my decision. And whatever happens, it'll be on my conscience."

Keira stood up, Kelly looked reluctant.

"Come on sis," Keira said quietly as she put a hand on Kelly's shoulder. "You heard her. She needs to go be Lady Tegan, and she doesn't need you and me distracting her."

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