Rain And Revelations

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So Sweet designed ponies....as if I didn´t have enough horses already.

And natural looking doesn´t mean non-magical...

“Nice to see you, sister”, he spoke. “Or should I say…traitoress.”

The sentence still resonated in everyone´s ears, as they sat around the kitchen table, all with a cup of steaming tea in front of them. Hannah had been staring at Aydan for a few seconds, had then looked at her colleagues before releasing a sigh that could only mean one thing: surrender. She had invited them all in, had even called Rebecca and Floréan in, stating that there were ´some things that needed to be explained´.

It was obvious that she did not know where to begin, and so Aydan was the first one to speak.

“With all the magical beings living on these grounds, I trust you are aware of the fact that there are other realms as well out there.”

Becky nodded; she thought of her friends Julienne, Sophie and Nathalie; of creatures like Meara, Kelpies and Icogans, and of the stories her great-grandmother had told her when she and her brother had been children. The old lady had already been in her eighties back then when she spoke about glowing rings in the woods that lead into another world and the Moon being a goddess and horses who could speak and magic being real…Rebecca´s mother had blamed it on her granny´s age, but the lady was convinced those things were real. She claimed being the descendants of some priestresses, leading her daughter to say she must have had too much Cornish folklore for breakfast.

“The young woman you know as Hannah is named Eana in the place we come from”, he went on. “Our people don´t really have a common name. Our society is divided up into clans, each with a clan leader. They keep order in their own district of the big realm, but all have to obey the orders of the royal family.”

He paused and took a sip of tea.

“Usually our appearance gives a hint to where we come from. We are originally from the North, therefore our hair is pale to white. Fair hair is rare in the South, and blue eyes rare in the East. So my sister does not have a skin condition – this is our common excuse.”

Floréan was silent. He wasn´t sure whether to believe this stranger or not…then again his story seemed too crazy to be a lie. Jack was more open, and far more curious.

“So what kind of people are you?”, he asked.

Aydan observed him for a while.  “In Éire they used to call us Tuatha Dé Danann, but we go by many names, depending on where we live…our brothers and sisters born from seafoam have a different name. You should know them…you have the sea in your eyes.”

“No way. You guys are fairies?!”

Hannah rolled her eyes. “Don´t even think about asking me if I have wings, idiot.”

Aydan chuckled. “She doesn´t. Some of us do have wings, though they won´t show them to mortals. The tiny beings you are picturing are related to us. They often help Mother Nature, together with the forest animals, and they are particularly curious.”

So what about that traitor thing?”, Rebecca asked.

“I left home, or better: I fled”, Hannah began. “There had been tensions between the different clans. The crown is passed on from parents to firstborn child, but the King elects the new Clan head with the help of his ministers. The idea behind it is to eliminate the possibility of having one family ruling a region with an iron fist. Now it has been brought to the court´s attention that in some realms, there had been several members of the same family in a row who were being chosen as Clan head. It has been revealed that several of the ministers had been bribed to influence their vote. Our father is a member of the Minister Council, and he was amongst those who discovered the bribery.”

Aydan went on.

“Father received death threats, but not only for himself, but also for his children. As a member of the Council, Father has direct protection from the King and was able to stay guarded within the palace walls, but we two…civilians are not allowed to enter the castle unless they are Council members, knights, mages or priestresses. I had just finished my formation as a knight and had begun my mage formation, but Eana was still a few moons too young to start either a knight or a priestress formation…so Father sent her off into this realm to seek shelter. This caused his enemies to call her a traitoress to the crown, which she is not.”

“He just loves to tease me with it.”

Rebecca took a long sip of tea and reflected over what she had just heard.

“There´s one thing I don´t understand”, she said. “You´ve heard the stories about Mudigero and the Selkies. You´ve met some of them. You know the horses. Why didn´t you tell me?”

“I…I don´t know”, she began. “Maybe there is still that fear that no one will believe me, because we are but stories in your world. I know it might be irrational in this case…but I also didn´t want to run the risk of being discovered by someone who shouldn´t know I´m here.”

They were interrupted by loud neighing. It had started to rain as soon as they had entered the main building, and most of the horses weren´t on the pasture anymore – except for those two, a huge silver blue roan and a mighty bay roan.

“These are our horses”, Aydan spoke. “The fair haired one is Levi, my steed, and the other one belongs to Eana. His name is Farlan. We call them Réalta, which means ´star´ in our language, as legend says they are born from stardust. They will stay here as long as we are here, but they are able to feed and water themselves, and we will groom them, so you needn´t worry.”

“Aydan”, Hannah spoke on. “Why…I mean you know I am hiding here, so what possessed you to come here?”

Aydan´s eyes glazed over. He put down his cup, breathed silently and cleared his throat before he began to speak.

“We need you to come home. Not immediately, but soon. The King is dead, the Queen and her children are in the dungeons, alongside with our father. War is imminent, and they intend to break the Supreme Law and use magic in battle, which would influence every other realm as well, also this one. Master Aurenor and Lady Korealis are building up a resistance force. You have been one of the best spell casters during our school days, and they would like you to join us during the battle to bring the Queen back onto the throne an restore peace before too much damage has been done. I don´t know who Lady Korealis has chosen to complete your priestress formation, but I am here to teach you swordmanship.”