Fiona drew a deep breath, looked first at Bracken, and then turned her green eyes to Sunny. "In the ancient texts, even older than written history, the Dannan has had a role in protecting and shaping this land."
"Read book!" Bracken said his dark eyes flashing challengingly at Fiona.
Sunny sat up straighter and looked from Bracken to Fiona. "There's a book?"
"Baro dook book!" Bracken said then chuckled to himself, feeling clever for having made a rhyme, "Dook book; dook book!"
"Be a dear and fetch the book, you know where it is," Fiona said.
Bracken jumped down from his perch and loped off to the house, then with the agility of a spider monkey, scaled the side of the drainpipe and disappeared around the side to where there was an open window. Fiona looked over at Sunny, "You're taking Bracken's appearance well."
Sunny smiled caustically at Fiona and then glanced in the direction Bracken had gone. "I'm not sure why, all this is so insane, Aunt Fiona!"
Fiona rolled her eyes heavenward then wagged a finger at the young woman, "You haven't heard the whole story yet. It gets better!"
Bracken reappeared on the roof near the drainpipe; he carried a thick leather-bound book with leather straps and brass buckles securing it. He tucked it under his arm and used his feet and a free hand to slide down the drainpipe. With a pleased smile, he handed the book up to Fiona.
She unbuckled the leather straps and opened the book carefully. She located the ribbon bookmark and pulled it open where it marked the page she wanted.
"This is from the book of ages," Fiona replied. "It's divided into three parts. The first part is the Leabhar Gahbala or the Book of Invasions. The second part is the Dinnshenchas the history of places."
"And the third part?" Sunny asked.
"The third part is about the Dannan sept and the great migration back to Nu'Ada," Fiona told her. "I'm going to read bits and parts from the last of the history of places and then about the migration – that has to do with the Dannan sept."
"Nu'Ada," Sunny repeated the name. "Where is that?"
"All in good time," Fiona replied.
Sunny frowned but did not say anything more. She looked down at her sketchbook on the table and picked it up. She looked over at Fiona, then to the Watcher who was climbing back up to his perch on her knapsack. Everything had suddenly taken on an air of a horrific fantasy and Sunny felt that she should, at the very least, document what was happening. The only way she knew – sketch the creature! She poised her pencil over the blank page, made her first stroke, and began to capture the Watcher on the page.
"Now then; every Dannan woman has a 'gift', it can be to calm and disarm a tense situation," Fiona replied, "It can also stir to action, even provoke violence."
"Every Dannan woman has a gift?" Sunny wanted to know.
"To a degree," Fiona replied. "When used to the positive, we can calm the anxious, console the bereaved, and calm the enraged. Unfortunately, we can also attract people who latch on and feed on that same power for their benefit."
Sunny nodded, she knew exactly who had latched on to her and fed mercilessly. If she had only known what was happening, she could have possibly prevented all the heartache she had endured. "Mama has this 'gift' too, doesn't she?"
"Of sorts," Fiona said, "Her gift is of persuasion, it isn't strong unless she is in physical contact. Most of our gifts are strongest when we have physical contact."
"What is your gift, Aunt Fiona?" Sunny asked.
"I can blur painful memories and soothe those in pain." Fiona sighed, "I have not employed the gift more than a dozen times since becoming the Dannan."
"And my gift?" Sunny asked, "How can I find out what my gift is?"
"Perhaps your gift is one of empathy?" Fiona suggested. "My mother, I believe was an empath. She could feel the pain and illness in those she cared for. That's how she could mix and dispense cures so accurately."
Sunny looked over at Bracken and then to Fiona. This was way more than she had ever bargained for! She frowned suddenly. "Aunt Fiona, if Mama knew about all this why did she ever agree to send me here? Did she think that I wouldn't feel anything? That I wouldn't see anything? That the people here in Ballencoo wouldn't expect anything from me?"
Fiona shrugged her shoulders and clutched the leather-bound book to her chest. "I don't think Maire thought about anything but how to bring you out of your sadness. She was so upset that night she called me. She did not know what to do, so she sent you here – to me. I thought I could shield you from this," Fiona indicated the book she sat in her lap and nodded at Bracken. "It is a lot to take in and absorb."
Sunny nodded and pointed to the book. "You were about to tell me."
Fiona nodded and opened the book to the section she wanted to read. She flipped several pages ahead then back to the place she held with her index finger. She began to read: "In ancient Irish mythology there were four groups of people who invaded the land that would become Ireland." She looked up at Sunny, "But the history books and the fables do not tell of the people who came here first. What is dismissed as folk tales and legends is written here in the Book of Ages as fact. Some of it will sound fantastic, but you must understand it as a factual accounting."
Sunny nodded slowly then looked aside at Bracken, "I sure can't deny what's sitting in front of me, Aunt Fiona, but I also can't grasp all or how any of this is happening."
"That's understandable," Fiona replied. "It's a lot to take in, but if you keep an open mind it will begin to make sense."
Sunny picked up another cookie from the plate. As she had it halfway to her lips, she noticed Bracken staring hard at the ginger snap in her fingers. She paused then sighed, handing it over to him. She took another for herself.
Fiona smiled as she remembered how they had been together so many years ago when they had first met.
Fiona began by explaining basic terms and identifying people to Sunny. "Many times, the book refers to the first people of the land. They are the ancient ones; those who came here even before the first settlers of Ireland."
"Where did they come from?" Sunny asked, glancing at Fiona and then at Bracken as she continued to sketch the creature.
"Well," Fiona said casting her free hand into the air indicating vagueness. "It's said the first people arrived in great ocean boats through an eye that opened and allowed their ships to sail into this world," Fiona shrugged lightly. "I believe it must have been an opening from someplace unknown into this place. All that is known is that these Ancient Ones were great magical people."
"Se'Saair baro dook!" Bracken declared and folded his arms over his grass-stained tunic.
Sunny frowned over her sketch pad at Bracken then looked over at Fiona who translated, "Baro dook means big magic," She nodded over at Bracken, "But we're getting a little ahead of ourselves;" She opened the book again and ran her finger down until she found her place to begin reading. "Let's start at the beginning,"
"There were the first people of the world. It is the time after the great flood when all has been destroyed and everything is born anew. Born to the first people of the world was Se'Saair. When she is grown, she becomes a great medicine woman and tribal leader. She leads the tribe across the great sea through the eye to settle by the river. There is peace among the first people of the world."
"The next tribe to arrive in the world is the Partholan. They came overland from the far-away Baelen'ka mountains."
"That is where our town of Ballencoo took its name." Fiona injected glancing over at Sunny who nodded slightly as she began to listen to Fiona's narrative and abandoned her sketch.
"Born to the Partholan is Finn Tanyan. Finn Tanyan is Ard Ri, the first king. He and his tribesmen come by way of the land and make settlements. They all live in peace along the river beside the first people of the world. The tribesmen of the Partholan travel freely between the new land they call Arwyn and the homeland, Nu'Ada. There is peace for a thousand generations among all the people.
"Then there is a great war in Nu'Ada between the tribes of Ne'Media and the Partholan. A band of Ne'Median refugees escape the war and come through the great eye, and they settle many leagues away near the Great Ocean. These people are strange and different and stay away from all the others. It is this way for another thousand generations."
"Others come; called Fir Bolgs they come to the land, and they name it Ireland. Because these people are different even from the Partholan and the first people of the world, there is unrest and skirmishes between all the inhabitants over possession of the land."
Fiona looked up from the book and drew a deep breath. "What comes next is the Dannan's role."
"And why grandmother ran away?" Sunny said.
"Aye," Fiona replied. "This first part was to tell you how the first people came to Ireland and settled and then the arrival of the Partholan, then left to return to their home of Nu'Ada."
"Why did they come here to begin with?" Sunny asked.
"I think they came simply because they had discovered a new world to settle and it was lush and untouched, and they could begin their lives anew," Fiona replied. "Many came to escape the Ne'Medians who were trying to enslave all the people of Nu'Ada and Arwyn."
Sunny felt her heart skip a beat and she put her hand up to her throat as icy fingers of fear clawed at her stomach. Fiona flipped to another section toward the middle of the great book and continued reading as she found the passage. "The numbers of first people of the world grew smaller with each passing generation. Soon they joined the tribes of the Partholan, and some went to the Fir Bolgs, and many others were lost forever in time."
"What was left of the ancient ones came to be known as the Tuatha De Dannan. It was said the Tuatha De Dannan had the same fabulous magical powers and could speak to the spirits of the ancient ones."
"Baro dook?" Sunny guessed.
Bracken nodded his large basset hound eyes wide with awe, "Aye, big, biggest magic of all time!"
"From the first people comes a woman called Eyru and she is the Dannan. When Eyru appears, there has been a terrible war over the possession of the land. The Fir Bolgs and the Partholan are united against the Ne'Medians. The Fir Bolg tribe is all but decimated for they have no weapons of magic to use against the Ne'Medians. Many of the Partholan are killed as well for the magic of the Ne'Medians is powerful. Eyru watches as many people die in the battles. Her powers are overwhelmed by all the suffering of the people. She decides to go to each chieftain of the Partholan, the Fir Bolgs, and even the Ne'Medians to parlay for peace; but nothing will move the warring chieftains, and they continue to war on one another."
"There is but one way for peace to come, Eyru must strike a deal with the most ancient one. But the cost of peace will be a heavy one. This price required is called a 'geis' or bond of destiny."
" The ancient one's heart is moved by Eyru's plea, and she accepts Eyru's sacrifice. Eyru makes the geis that beginning with herself until the end of time, she and all her first daughters will be bound to the land, ensuring everlasting peace. For as long as there is a first daughter promised to the land, the peace will be kept. Eyru did ask one favor of the ancient one; that she and all first daughters should be able to pass through the Arch freely in times of need, and that those of the Dannan clan and any allied to the clan, could freely pass during the spring and summer equinoxes."
"And so, the ancient one having accepted the price, opened the great eye, and the Ne'Medians were cast back to the lands whence they came; barred forever to never enter into this world again."
"And the Partholan?" Sunny asked. "What happened to them in their world?"
"As I understand," Fiona began, "The Ne'Medians continued to wage war against the people of the Partholan. So, the descendants of Finn Tanyan return to Nu'Ada and the final battle between the armies of the Ne'Medians and Partholan in Nu'Ada finally brings peace."
"Here in Ireland, the times of the ancient ones became lost in legend and myth. For as long as there is one who keeps the geis, there will be peace."
"Our family?" Sunny murmured.
"It has been this way since the beginning of time," Fiona said softly.
"And grandmother was the first to break the geis," Sunny said, "That can't be good— "
"I assumed the role as Dannan," Fiona said, "I am not as strong as a first daughter would be, but I have pledged myself to fill the place until ---"
"But when grandmother died, mama was the first daughter – she should have come," Sunny sat forward, interrupting Fiona, "That wasn't right!"
"Maire should have come home – but she did not." Nicodemus Fury stepped into the light, Bracken jumped down from his perch on Sunny's knapsack and ducked under her chair, dragging the canvas bag with him. Fury sat down and crossed his legs. He plucked one of the cookies from the tray and nodded at Fiona. "You make the finest snaps, Fiona."
Fiona nodded to him, "You are kind, Nicodemus."
He angled a dark smoldering look over at Sunny, "So you now understand the role of the Dannan?"
Sunny felt Bracken's trembling body pressing against her calf and she reached down and patted his dirty shoulder. Both Bracken and Fury noted the gesture, Bracken with a quick smile and Fury with a quirk of a brow.
"I was just finishing," Fiona replied and buckled the book and laid it on the table next to her glass. "It is a lot to take in."
Sunny studied Fury for a long moment, that strange double image floated over him then disappeared. She dropped her gaze to the thick book Fiona had set on the table. She pointed to it "Are you part of the Partholan?" Sunny asked Fury.
"In a manner of speaking," Nicodemus responded.
Fiona looked down at her hands. Sunny caught the look of distrust in Fiona, but also there was something else – fear! Fiona was wary of Fury! Sunny frowned at Fury. "Either you are or you're not!"
He angled a sharp look at Sunny. No one dared to speak to him in the way the girl did! His anger flared up but immediately was snuffed out as he was also aroused by her defiance. As he battled with the conflicting emotions, Fiona shot a warning look at Sunny. "Manners, Sunny!"
Sunny folded her arms over her chest. "Sorry!"
He looked at her and let a faint smile touch his mouth. He knew she was not the least bit apologetic! He admired the fiery temper, and it excited him in ways that made his pulse race. "The more important question is why the power is manifesting in the girl, even while you are the Dannan."
"She is the first daughter," Fiona said. "Even Maire felt the stirrings ---"
"Not to the degree this one has," Fury said, with a flick of an eloquent hand toward Sunny.
"Would you mind not talking about me as if I were not here?" Sunny snapped at Fury. "I'm sitting right here!"
Fiona raised a warning finger at Sunny for being rude. "I have not explained everything fully to Sunny," Fiona told Nicodemus. "I do not think it is necessary. Sunny will go back to her own life. There is no danger to anyone while she remains here on this side."
"This side?" Sunny questioned.
"This side of the Arch," Fury replied.
Sunny felt her scalp begin to prickle, feeling a keen electrical current crawling in her head. She shook her head.
Fury instantly saw the pain Sunny experienced on her face. He looked at Fiona, "Release her memories, Fiona!"
"What memories?" Sunny wanted to know.
"Release her memories!" Nicodemus told Fiona. His black gaze was fierce as he continued to study Sunny.
In her agitation, Sunny was entirely flummoxed by everything that was explained, and then seeing the truth in front of her continued to confuse her. "Wait a minute! Are you saying the Ballencoo Arch is some kind of portal? To another world!" Sunny surmised, "That's not possible!"
Nicodemus looked over at Fiona. "Release her memories!" He told her. Fiona sighed heavily and then with a flick of her hand at Sunny, she undid everything she had laid in place to blur Sunny's memories.
Sunny sat back in her chair, shaking her head in confusion as everything came flooding back to her. She closed her eyes and leaned forward clutching her head as a screaming pain shot through her head. "I – I don't understand any of this!" Sunny muttered, then lifted her head and looked sharply at Nicodemus. "And you? Who are you? What are you!"
Nicodemus frowned at her. He did not answer – he could not answer! He wondered if she had the power to penetrate his glamor. If she could see his true self would she reveal it to Fiona? Would she even know what was happening?
Sunny got to her feet, ready to turn and run, but then where would she go? She sat down again. "Why in hell did she send me here? I'm a first daughter, why did she send me here?"
"To heal!" Fiona declared. "You needed to heal, that is why you are here! For no other reason. You were never to discover—"
Sunny glared at them both. "What? The truth? That's why everyone is so jumpy around me. They think either I've returned to take the place my grandmother and mother rejected or reject it like they did?"
"It's a decision you do not need to make, Sunny!" Fiona told her emphatically. "Not now! Not ever, if you decide!"
Sunny scoffed. "I don't have much of a choice here, Aunt Fiona," Sunny replied. "What happens when you are no longer able to be the Dannan?"
"The geis cannot be broken," Nicodemus said.
Sunny was feeling trapped and was still very confused, "Then I'd say it was probably the worst thing Mama ever did, sending me here! Surely she must have considered that I would 'feel' something."
"I think she may have thought that you would have recovered sufficiently to return home without ever having had the stirrings?" Fiona suggested.
"Wait a minute," Sunny interjected with a sardonic smile thrown over at Fury, "I should not have been able to do what I did," Sunny mused. "And no one can figure out what or why it happened?"
"That is correct," Fury responded, returning her grin with a wry smile and a raised eyebrow. "You have not been awakened," Fury said, "Fiona retains her powers, so you should not be able to tap into your powers at all.
"Yet here I am tapping into the something," Sunny quipped. "Is there any kind of something written down somewhere that at least hints at what might be happening?"
"Nothing," Nicodemus responded.
"So what, I'm some kind of freak!" Sunny responded sharply.
"No," Fury returned, "Something that we are not aware of has heightened your powers. We need to discover what that might be."
"But you're still no closer to finding out what happened," Sunny said, then looked to Fiona. "What more do I need to know about the geis?"
"You need not make any decision," Fiona told her. "I needed to tell you what you could be facing should you accept."
"That's what is so frustrating!" Sunny declared. "There is no decision to make! There is no choice!"
"You're wrong," Fiona told her. "You have a choice to accept or return home."
Sunny folded her arms over her chest and glared at Fiona. "And run out leaving you with the burden?"
"It is no burden, Siobhan," Fiona said quietly but firmly. "I gladly accepted the geis from my mother when she grew too weak to continue. I am not as strong as Colleen would have been, but the geis is fulfilled and there is no danger."
Sunny looked around her, nothing was normal now! The idyllic surroundings were alien and topsy-turvy!
"I understand why they both ran away," Fiona said and glanced over at Fury. "The sacrifice made to honor the geis is that you are honor-bound first to the geis. To serve the people, to serve the land, to serve a greater calling – you belong to the geis."
Sunny looked at Fiona in horrified confusion then reached over and began packing up her drawing pads, She shoved them into her knapsack. "I'm going to be rude, but I don't give a damn right now – I need to get away from all this!" She flapped the top of her knapsack over, got to her feet, and glared over at Fury, "I've got a lot to think about."
Fury watched as Sunny walked off toward the back of the house. "She needs training."
"She will not be here long enough to train," Fiona replied.
"And what if Siobhan wants something different?" Nicodemus asked.
Fiona shook her head sadly and looked down at her hands that were clasped tightly together in her lap. "I do not know what happens."
As Sunny rounded the corner of the house, she flipped the flap of the knapsack up and looked down at Bracken. He scowled at her, muttering under his breath. She set the bag down on the porch and pulled her boots off. Bracken crawled out and scurried up the latticework to the second floor and disappeared into an open window.
Sunny entered the kitchen and passed through the hall to the staircase. She paused at the bottom of the stairs and glanced up spotting Bracken sitting on the top landing. "Don't you dare get on my bed!" she said in a loud whisper, "You're dirty!"
Bracken chuckled and scurried off toward Sunny's bedroom. Sunny scowled, knowing the creature was probably doing exactly what she had told him not to do! She hurried up the stairs and opened her bedroom door to find Bracken perched on her bedside table. She tossed her knapsack on the floor next to her bed and sat down looking critically at the creature.
Sunny threw her legs over to the other side of the bed and went to the window that looked down on the small patio. Fury and Fiona were deep in discussion. "Who the hell is he!" Sunny growled. "I don't trust him! He is not who everyone thinks he is!"
Bracken chortled and scrambled up to the window next to Sunny. "You see different Fury? He Da'ark trickster!"
"What do you see when you look at him?" Sunny asked.
"Not say!" Bracken told her and peered out the window where Fiona and Fury sat talking.
Sunny turned away and plopped down on the bed folding her arms over her chest, "Are there a lot of watchers out in the woods?"
Bracken mimicked her posture and folded his spindly arms over his chest, cocking his head to one side, "Watchers watch."
"And report back to whom?"
Bracken's eyes widened and his mouth bowed up in an expression of conspiratorial glee. "Watchers watch all."
"Yeah, yeah," Sunny grumbled at him. "You said that. But who do the watchers report to?"
"When you go to Nu'Ada?" Bracken asked.
"I don't think anyone wants me to go traipsing off on my own," Sunny replied. "Everyone seems to think it's too dangerous."
"Aye," Bracken said sagely, "Much danger; but much fun!"
"Well, from what I saw of those daemons there's more danger than fun," Sunny told him. "So, tell me, who do you report to?" Sunny asked again. "If you are watching and seeing all -- who do you tell about what you see?"
He tilted his head to one side in thought for a moment. "I tell you!" He jumped down from the window and put a hand on her knee, stretching up on his toes to look up at her. "I watch and tell you."
"What have you seen out there, Bracken?" She asked him.
"The comings and goings," Bracken said.
"And the daemons?"
"No," Bracken replied. "But someone watches you."
"Okay, the watchers watch me, and so does every Tom, Dick, and Daemon!"
Bracken chortled at her joke and nodded. "You special puzzle piece! Fun to watch!"
Sunny grunted at that statement and got up to look once again down at the Fury and her Aunt Fiona in the garden. "I'm a puzzle piece that doesn't fit!"
"Fury not like watchers," Bracken muttered. "Watchers not like Fury much either."
"Because the Watchers haven't picked a side?" Sunny asked, "Or because you haven't picked the Partholan side?"
"Fury all Da'ark and full of fight," Bracken said, "Watchers watch, not fight!"
"But if anyone asks you about the comings and goings – you tell," Sunny replied.
"Watchers, watch," Bracken replied.
"Uh-huh, Watchers, watch," Sunny murmured to herself. She stood up and joined Bracken at the window once again. As she stood there looking down at them in the garden she watched as Fury got to his feet, bowed, and walked into the forest. "Was there something between Aunt Fiona and Fury?" she looked over at Bracken as he peered down at them from the windowsill.
Bracken grumbled something and pointed out toward a point Sunny could not see. "Orion go to Thornefield," Bracken said, "He not like it there."
"What's not to like at Thornefield?" Sunny asked. "It's lovely there."
Bracken grunted and turned away. "Hungry need sweet!"
Sunny scowled at the creature. "You've already eaten all my peppermints feeding that sweet tooth of yours!"
Bracken showed all his lethal-looking teeth in a ghastly grin, "Many sweet tooths!"
Sunny eyed him and his fangs warily, "I'll say!" She opened the trunk at the end of her bed where she had stored many of her things. There was a bag of Hershey's Kisses her mother had given her, but she had not opened them. She pulled the bag open and handed it to Bracken, "Here these ought to do the trick."
Bracken reached his hand in and drew out a single candy and examined the silver-wrapped chocolate then was about to pop it wrapper and all into his mouth. Sunny snatched it from his fingers. He scowled at her, his mouth curling back to show his teeth. A low wet growl buzzed in his throat.
"Don't you growl at me," Sunny scolded then held the candy up in front of his face, "You have to unwrap it," She told him, pulling the tiny white paper with pale blue lettering and silver foil wrapper away, "See? The chocolate is inside."
Bracken opened his mouth, and she popped the morsel into the maw of teeth he presented. He chewed and smacked his lips appreciatively. "Good, sweet!"
Sunny chuckled, "Yeah, well don't eat too many, they'll give you a belly ache!"
He looked at the bag then reached in and drew out two more silver foil-wrapped candies and handed the bag to Sunny. "You keep until I need more sweets for tooths!"
She dropped the bag into the trunk and closed it with a thump. "You know where they are now." Bracken climbed back to the bedside table and began to carefully unwrap the candy then popped it into his mouth and put the wrapper into a pocket of the homespun shirt he wore. "I'm going down to help Aunt Fiona clean up and get ready for supper, and don't get on my bed!"
Bracken chortled and watched as she left the room. He looked over at her bed for a moment then turned and hopped out the window and into the trees.
Downstairs, Sunny walked into the kitchen and Fiona looked very sad. "Aunt Fiona, I almost want you to take away these last few days," As Fiona looked hopeful Sunny scoffed lightly and shook her head, "But no; we can't stuff the genie back into the bottle he has too many teeth! You're going to have to tell me everything so that when the time comes, I'll be ready."
Fiona nodded silently. "I know, dear. One day, but not for a very long time."
Nicodemus had gotten no further than the edge of the forest when he felt compelled to return to Laurel Cottage. Now that Sunny's memories were back, he was presented with a problem. The girl was smart, and it would not take her long to figure out his 'glamor'. He employed the ability to stop the curious and their questions. He could not understand how she could see past his 'glamor' to his true self. She seemed to be able to see his true self from the moment they met. How?
Sunny was about to answer when she felt a presence in the room. She spun around. Standing in the doorway of the kitchen behind her was Fury. As he stood in the gloom of the hallway, his eyes were blazing quicksilver and for the time between heartbeats, he looked otherworldly and alien. He stepped into the kitchen light and assumed a normal visage.
Fiona started to rise from the kitchen chair, but Nicodemus stayed her with a flick of an eloquent hand. He pulled the chair out from the table and sat down, crossing one long lean leg over the other. He appraised Sunny who had moved to stand next to Fiona. "There is no need to regard me as an enemy."
"I don't," Sunny said.
Nicodemus laughed softly at her. "Yes, you do."
"I thought you were on the way back to the encampment," Fiona said. "What's brought you back?"
Sunny felt her cheeks flush in a kind of adolescent embarrassment, and she started to fling back an equally juvenile retort of, "I do not!" but remained silent.
He waved impatiently to an empty chair, "Sit, sit, sit!"
Sunny pulled the chair out, plunked down, folded her arms over her chest, and glowered at him. She studied him and saw only the older Nicodemus Fury sitting at the kitchen table.
"There is something I need to tell you," Nicodemus replied, his black glittering eyes regarding Sunny in amusement then looked back at Fiona. "Orion is a Pookah."
Fiona sat forward in her chair in alarm. "What?"
Nicodemus nodded and then angled a look over at Sunny. "Since this one has seemingly connected with Orion, I felt it best to let you know."
Fiona looked quickly at Sunny, then back to Nicodemus, "And yet, you still brought him?"
"I had no choice," Nicodemus said with a defiance that belied the air of confidence he assumed.
Fiona frowned at him. Sunny looked between the two of them, sensing there was something more than horse trading going on. Nicodemus looked over at Sunny and smiled. Sunny scoffed disbelievingly at him. How could he smile at her?
"There is always a choice!" Fiona growled.
"In this case, there was but one choice," Fury replied.
"What is a Pookah?" Sunny asked looking between the two that were continuing to glare at one another across the kitchen table.
Both Fury and Fiona looked at Sunny; each about to explain when there was a loud knocking at the kitchen door. Fiona rose and went to the door and looked out. She sighed in relief and opened it. "Tully, come in!"
Tully stepped in then stepped back out to scuff his boots on the mat he looked in and saw Fury. "Oi there!"
Fury nodded in his direction. Tully hesitated, looking between them all, "Why all the sparks?"
"What's a Pookah?" Sunny asked.
Tully chortled. "So, you told them about Orion?"
"Aye," Fury growled and leaned forward to rest his elbow on the table and rested his chin on a fist, "A mistake on my part!"
"You knew?" Fiona asked turning her ire on Tully.
He laughed good-naturedly, "That's why all those Fury stallions run around barefoot they all have a wee dash of Pookah blood in their veins."
Fiona frowned. Sunny scowled at them all. "I guess I'll have to ask Bracken."
As the words left her mouth the creature appeared at Sunny's knee. He looked up at her with his large basset-hound eyes. "Pookah is baro dook!"
Sunny smiled down at Bracken then glared over at Fury, "Big magic; okay but it still doesn't tell me what the hell a Pookah is!"
"It's a fierce beastie that cannot be ridden," Tully replied.
"Well, I saw several men riding these horses today," Sunny said. She looked sullenly at Fury, "Including you!"
"But not Orion," Fury replied. "Or any of his kind; any animal you saw being ridden is the product of a cross between a stallion like Orion and a Fury mare."
Fiona continued to frown at the men in her kitchen.
Tully sat down in the chair next to Sunny and leaned over to wink at Bracken. "I see you've introduced yourself to the lass."
Bracken winked back and showed all his teeth in a feral impression of a smile.
Tully jerked a thumb down at the creature and looked at Sunny, "I'd watch that one!"
Bracken giggled, ducked under Sunny's chair, and peered out between the rungs at Tully. "Watch a watcher?"
Tully chuckled. "So, what is all the furor about?"
Bracken broke into gales of laughter from under Sunny's kitchen chair and that set Sunny into a bout of giggles. Sunny laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes. Her laughter was infectious and even Fiona, Tully, and the taciturn Fury laughed. Sunny had not laughed like that in many months and it felt wonderful.
Fiona rose from the table, "Join us for dinner? I'm afraid it is to be a cold plate."
Tully clapped his hands together and briskly rubbed them together, "That sounds fine to me! I'll fetch the keg I got from Cluny!" He angled a look over at Nicodemus, "I also have a skin of the red from one of the Hobbs."
Fury nodded at Tully and looked to Fiona, "Have room for one more?"
Fiona nodded then looked to Sunny, "Be a dear and take the chicken from the icebox, we'll slice that, and I'll check the pantry."
Tully returned with the small keg over one shoulder and the wineskin slung over the other arm. Nicodemus took down the glass mugs from the glass cabinet and Fiona brought over two wineglasses and set them on the table near Nicodemus.
Sunny took the baked chicken from the icebox, went over to the counter, and began slicing the breast. Bracken climbed up on the counter to watch. Sunny cut one of the chicken legs free and handed it to him. He smiled and began to munch away, licking his fingers with relish.
Sunny sliced the white meat and placed it on a plate along with the rest of the chicken. Fiona prepared crisp lettuce and ripe tomato slices and bread and butter pickle slices. Sunny found a wedge of cheese in the pantry and began carving thin slices and put them on another small plate with a pot of whipped butter from the icebox.
Once everything had been prepared, Fiona and Sunny brought everything over to the table. Bracken leaped from the counter and crawled under Sunny's chair, but she frowned down at him. She got up and brought the tall kitchen stool to the table and set it between her chair and where Tully sat. She patted the seat, "Climb up here and sit properly," She told him.
Bracken frowned at her, pausing mid-bite of the chicken leg he was crunching on to get at the marrow. He looked over at Tully who was watching Nicodemus' reaction about sharing a table with a 'Watcher'. Sunny took a small plate and put the other chicken leg with a few slices of cheese. She took a slice of bread and spread a generous smear of butter over the slice. With her spoon, she daubed strawberry preserves on one half and set it on a napkin next to the plate. "Milk or ale?" she asked Bracken.
Bracken cautiously climbed up on the stool and looked around at the humans. When no one commented, he reached out and took the bread, and began munching quietly. "Milk," he murmured to Sunny.
Fiona poured the milk into a glass and set it next to the plate. Tully poured himself and Sunny a mug of Cluny's dark beer and everyone quietly fixed their plates.
"What is the trouble with Orion, anyway?" Tully asked in the ancient language as he assembled his plate.
Nicodemus sipped his wine thoughtfully then admiring the color as he swirled it in the bowl of the wine glass he looked over at Tully, "Some tribal something or other – Orion frequently gets into situations of that nature."
Sunny looked between the men she wasn't sure what they were saying, but she caught the word, 'Orion' and assumed they were talking about the beautiful stallion she had encountered earlier in the day.
"And you talk about the watchers," Fiona scoffed glancing at Bracken, "What kind of ally is Orion?"
Fury looked over at Bracken and shrugged, "Orion and his brothers are loyal to me."
"And those that remain uncommitted to you are under suspicion?" Fiona asked.
Sunny felt a tingling in her scalp, and she realized that she had understood the last thing Fiona had said, even though they had been conversing in a language she was not familiar with.
"There is usually a reason for being uncommitted," Sunny murmured and looked aside at Nicodemus.
Fury drained his glass and set it on the table. "Yes, there are usually valid reasons," He pulled a slice of bread into several pieces and buttered it. "But tonight, we shall put those reasons aside and enjoy the meal," He looked at Sunny, a faint smile touching the corners of his mouth, "Truce?"
Sunny smiled back, that was at least a beginning.
Tully refilled the wine glasses and topped off the beer in his and Sunny's mug and raised his mug in a toast, "Here's to hunky-punks and Pookahs; Cheers!"
Bracken dropped his chicken leg on his plate and lifted his glass of milk, "Cheers!" He drank deeply and then wiped the milk mustache away with the back of his hand and grinned at Sunny.