Chapter 12

The Castellan didn't come to get us until early that evening. We had heard Master Fiacha arrive sometime earlier, and had changed clothes to meet him. I had donned the fancy Master Wizard's robe that I had gotten from Eogham's apartment. Sunshine wore the green dress from there also, but not the jewelry this time. I had lowered the wards at the entrance from the stairwell before the Castellan arrived, as there was no need to alert them to just how powerful I was -- yet.

"Master Fiacha has returned and will see you in his chamber before the evening meal," he told us after recovering from seeing how we were dressed. We were then led up to the fourth floor. I had closed my wards after we had passed through them.

This level was apparently Master Fiacha's private chamber. There was a screen wall separating it from the stairwell entry. It was not as fancy as the wall at Glenquin Castle, but just as sturdy. We were told to enter after the Castellan knocked and announced us, then told us to enter. I noticed that there were no wards in the wall at this time.

The chamber that we entered had plastered walls above a wainscoted lower section. There was again a large fireplace in the side wall with a more deeply carved mantle above it, plus there was more and better furniture as well as better rugs on the floor than the chamber that we had waited in. The copper tub in one corner near the fireplace immediately caught Sunshine's eye. The Castellan had not followed us into the chamber.

Master Fiacha was a man of middle age, overweight and going bald. While presently seated, I estimated that he couldn't be over five feet five inches tall when standing. It wasn't until we were much closer to Master Fiacha that he reacted, and then to Sunshine rather than me.

"You!!" he stammered in shock on getting a closer look at her. Apparently he had poor eyesight.

"What? How did you... !?" he gasped again in surprise.

"What have you done with my Sister's body?" Sunshine demanded in a harsh voice.

"There ... there were two of you!?" he demanded still in shock, but was preparing to cast a defensive spell of some sort. I added the Magic from my left hand to the glyph for the freeze spell in my right hand which I had started as soon as the confrontation began. It stopped Master Fiacha instantly.

"I think it would be better if you allowed me to handle this," I told Sunshine, who was still upset.

"But ... but Rose!!" she started before breaking down in tears, the anger replaced by sorrow. I took her in my arms to comfort her.

"I will find out what happened to Rose, and punish him for whatever he has done to her," I assured her. Sunshine continued to sob in my arms for a time.

"All right," she finally agreed with a sigh.

"Here!" I said producing a handkerchief. "Clean yourself up some. There is no need for him to see how upset you were," I told her. After a couple of minutes, she was much better. I had used the time to cast my wards around us before canceling the freeze spell on Master Fiacha.

He finished his spell on being released and watched in horror as it splashed against my wards with no effect at all. He was preparing to cast another spell when I spoke.

"Your puny spells are useless, as Master Eogham discovered while I was at Glenquin," I told him.

"They said that Eogham sent you here with a message," he managed to get out, still in shock at the failure of his spell.

"That was what I told them to gain entry here. I'm afraid it's a lie. Eogham didn't send me, and won't be sending anyone else," I told him.

"What have you done to Eogham? Is ... is he dead!?" the fat Wizard asked in fear.

"Oh no, he is quite alive at present. He is entertaining the 'Tree of Life'," I told him.

"The 'Tree of Life' is only a legend. How can he be entertaining a legend?" he demanded, sure of his facts.

"I implanted the last seed of the 'Tree of Life' in him two days ago. He and It are now enclosed in a defensive shell while the tree grows," I told him. Fiacha had turned pale on hearing this.

"What ... what do you want of me?" he asked in fear with a faltering voice.

"I want to know two things," I told him.

"First: where is the body of the Mage girl that you received from Eogham?"

"The girl?" he asked, almost as if he didn't understand.

"Yes, her name is Rose and she is the twin Sister of my Wife-To-Be Sunshine," I told him. There was surprise on the face of Master Fiacha, as well as on Sunshine's face, at these words.

"I ... I no longer have the body. I gave it to Lochlan Mac Con, the Master of Castle Dyster," he told me in a trembling voice.

"She was alive when you received her body. Is she still alive?" I demanded, as the fat man slid lower in his chair.

"She was under a preservation spell. I thought that I could heal her, but every time I reduced the strength of the spell to attempt to work on her she would get a little worse, but she was still alive when I gave her to Lochlan," he confessed in fear, trying to appear innocent. I was about to press him about his involvement with the group trying to bring back the old gods of the Picts when there was a knock on the door in the screen wall.

"The evening meal is ready, my lord," the Castellan announced in a loud voice. Fiacha was ready to answer him, but I signaled him to be quiet.

"Tell him that you will be dining with your guests in your chamber, and to have all of our meals brought in here. The rest of them can eat as usual," I instructed him in a low voice. He gave the instructions just as I had told him.

"Very well, my lord," the Castellan answered. "It will be but a few minutes to make the arrangements." The Castellan then left, and I turned back to Master Fiacha.

"Sunshine and I will stand over by the fireplace. You will remain in your seat. If you warn the guards, you will die before I kill them. Do you understand me?" I demanded, as I moved Sunshine and myself over by the fireplace and called up my wards again.

A few minutes later, there was another knock at the door. Fiacha told them to enter. The Castellan held the door open while several men and a woman entered carrying dishes, a couple of kettles and a large pitcher of ale. They set it all out on the table there and returned through the door that the Castellan was still holding open. He had been looking first at us and then at his Master questioningly.

"Will that be all, my lord?" he asked.

"Yes, that's all for now," Master Fiacha answered. There was sweat on his brow from the tension. The Castellan exited the chamber, still with an unnatural look on his face, as if he suspected that something was wrong but had no proof. I immediately expanded the wards that I was using to cover the walls, floor and ceiling of the room.

"Very good, Master Fiacha. Let us have our meal now," I told him, and we all moved over to the table. I easily called all of the knives left there for the meal to me before we reached the table.

"I'll keep these. I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself," I told Fiacha, as we took our seats. I helped Sunshine with hers, but Fiacha just fell into his.

The meal wasn't bad, and the ale was at least drinkable if not great. When we finished our meal, I again took up my questioning of Fiacha there at the table.

"Before we were interrupted, I was about to ask if you are a part of the group of Wizards trying to bring back the old gods of the Picts," I told him. As soon as he heard my question, Fiacha turned very pale and began to quake.

"How ... how do you even know about that? It's our most closely guarded secret," he asked in fear.

"Master Eogham confessed it to me and his Castellan in a fit of rage after I stopped and eliminated the wolves that he had Summoned to attack the Castle Glenquin Village," I told him.

"You actually... !" he started, but stopped in shock at the very thought.

"But ... but why would he do that?" he finally asked in confusion.

"Because I had him imprisoned in his own dungeon," I told him.

"But surely he could get out of there," Fiacha said with confidence.

"Not past the wards that I had cast in the walls, floor and ceiling he couldn't," I told him, before adding, "The exact same wards that are now in the walls, floor, and ceiling of this chamber."

"But ... but how could you do that? I felt no use of a powerful spell," he asked in confusion, not believing what I had said.

"You didn't feel it because yours is a very limited Talent, and I used spells that your Talent couldn't detect," I told him. "Oh yes, don't try to use any Magic in here with those wards in effect. You won't like the results," I warned him before continuing.

"You haven't answered my second question, but from your reaction to hearing it, I can guess that the answer is yes. Therefore, you can consider yourself under house arrest. You will be unable to leave this chamber. They may bring you food and take out dishes and other non-living things, but you or any other living organism will be unable to pass through the wards. To try to do so would be fatal," I warned him.

"We will leave you now to consider your failings. We will be leaving in the morning to see Master Lochlan. Someone will come to take you to be tried in a few weeks," I told him, as Sunshine and I rose, joined hands, and I transferred us to our own chamber for the night.

Sunshine immediately came into my arms when we appeared in our chamber. She was shaking and sobbing. I sent soothing thoughts to her mind to try to ease her anguish.

"At least her body was still alive when it left here. Maybe she will still be all right," she whispered in a sad voice after a time.

We prepared for bed shortly after that. The bed here was very comfortable and Sunshine had been cuddled up to me for a while when she suddenly sat up with a strange look on her face, and looked down at me.

"Did you mean what you said in the other chamber?" she asked in confusion.

"Said about what?" I asked. "I said a lot of things. Please be more specific," I asked.

"What ... what you said about you, and me, and ... and marriage!!" she finally managed to get out in a questioning voice.

"Of course! I want to marry you, and Rose also if we can save her," I told her. The look on Sunshine's face was one of pure amazement.

"You're sure of this?" she asked after a time.

"Yes, certainly. I've been sure of it since the day that we met," I told her.

"But you never... ! she started and stopped. "Oh yes, my Ken, I would love to marry you," she whispered, as the tears began, and she threw herself at me. We hugged and kissed for a long time after that before finally falling asleep for the night with Sunshine cuddled up against me. I saw the 'Book of Dreams' appear next to the bed before I turned out the Magic-powered light.

The 'Book of Dreams' was gone when we awoke in the morning, but sunlight was flooding into the chamber through the east facing window. No breakfast was delivered, but we still had some of the food left that Cook had prepared for us when we left Glenquin several days ago. I had used a preservation spell on it to keep it fresh, and we ate some of that. I also still had most of the food that I had purchased in Dublin in my backpack, so we wouldn't starve. Dublin certainly seemed like a long time ago.

After breakfast, I called up enough water for Sunshine and me to clean up with before we dressed for the day. We also packed all of our belongings before I called the Castellan to confront him with the facts of Master Fiacha incarceration. He soon arrived, but with two guardsmen.

"What have you done to Master Fiacha?" he demanded in an angry growl.