Chapter 20

I hated to interrupt the Sisters' fun, but it was getting late in the day, and we needed to come to a consensus on what was to be done.

"Would you ladies like to leave here with me?" I asked when they took a little break after exploring the room.

"Leave?" they both thought in my mind.

"Yes, go somewhere else with me."

"We had never considered that we could go somewhere else!" Airmid said in surprise.

"How would we do that?" Almha asked.

"I can use my Magic to transfer us to Letterkenny after stopping to get my horse," I told them.

"You have a horse?" they asked in my mind, intrigued. "We have heard of horses, but don't know what they are like. They are supposed to have four feet. How do they do that?" I pictured a horse in my mind so they could see it in theirs.

"A curious looking creature," they both replied.

"Would you like to leave here?" I asked them again, and saw a frown cross their faces.

"When we looked out the window, it was so large out there. We aren't sure that we can get used to all of that space. Our room here seemed large before when we were blind, but seems small now that we can see it. It's all so confusing. Where would we go? What would we do?" Airmid asked somewhat frightened.

"How would we eat? Would we have to wear clothing like you do?"Almha asked.

"Ah ... yes! You would definitely need to wear clothes. Young ladies are not allowed to go around naked displaying their charms, and both of you have considerable charms," I told them with a smile.

"Where would we get these clothes?" Airmid asked. "Would they be like yours?"

"They could be like mine, or you could choose to wear the clothes that most women wear. The robe I have on is that of an Apprentice Wizard. I am wearing it because being young, it is easier when I travel for me to pass as an Apprentice than as the Master Wizard that I am. Also fewer people pay attention to Apprentices," I told them.

"Could ... could we try the robe on ... to ... to see what it is like?" Almha asked hesitantly.

"Certainly," I told them, and removed the robe that I was wearing. I had my jeans and a T-shirt on under it. "I have another robe in my backpack," I told them as I retrieved it.

"What are those marking on your arms?" Airmid asked on seeing my bared arms.

"Those are the vines and leaves of an Earth Mage. I am an Earth Mage in addition to being a Wizard," I informed them.

"What is an Earth Mage? We know nothing of them!" Almha wanted to know.

"An Earth Mage uses Green Magic, the Magic of plants and growing things, to ensure that crops and trees are growing correctly. They can also heal animals and people of some maladies," I told them, but obviously hadn't covered everything that we could do.

"When you teach us Magic, will we be Earth Mages too?" Airmid asked in an unsure tone.

"No, one must be born an Earth Mage, and most Earth Mages are women. There are only my Cousin Ken and I who are both Wizards and Earth Mages. It is a very rare combination," I told them as I held the robes up to them, and it was instantly apparent that they would be too large for the Sisters.

"Just a second," I told them, and used the shrinkage spell on both robes. "Go ahead and put them on. They will fit you once you have them on."

"You used your Magic," Airmid said before taking the robe.

"Yes. It was a spell to make the robes fit each of you," I admitted, as they examined the robes and figured out how to put them on.

"You can do that?" Almha asked in surprise.

"There are spells to do many things," I told them.

"Can we learn them?" both sisters asked excitedly.

"Of course. You both have very large, powerful Talents. I'll have the 'Book of Dreams' start to teach you as soon as we are away from here," I assured them.

"Yes, Magic! Can it teach us to talk?" Airmid asked.

"It can help, but it will take practice, actual speaking, to learn to speak well," I told the disappointed Sisters.

"Prac... !" they tried to say, but it didn't come out very well.

"Practice!" I repeated.

"Prac... !!" they tried again, unsuccessfully.

"Prac tice!" I told them again enunciating each syllable for them. After a few more tries they were doing fairly well on that one word.

"Talking is very hard on the ... throat!" Almha told me after they had finished.

"Would you like some water to drink?" I asked before realizing that they didn't have anything to put water in. "Cup your hands like this," I told them and showed them. When they did, I filled their hands with water which really startled the Sisters, and they dropped it on the floor.

"I'll do that again, but you must drink the water quickly," I told them. They weren't surprised this time, and managed to drink at least part of the water.

"Thank you," both said with wet hands and faces.

"Has it gotten warmer in here?" Almha asked after they had dried their hands and faces on the small towel that I had in my backpack.

"No, it's the robes. They keep your body heat in, and that makes you feel warmer," I told them.

"That might be fine for the cold time, but I'm not so sure about now," Airmid told me, and then stopped. Both Sisters froze in place for a few seconds then.

"The Master is coming. We can sense his approach," they told me in fear. "What can we do? He will be very unhappy about you being here, and that we can now see and hear."

"I will handle the Master, as you call him," I told them. I also had reached out with my senses and detected the other Talent that was coming this way along with another who had no Talent. The Master's Talent wasn't that strong. I quickly moved over to the bed with the Sisters and lowered my wards in the door while drawing them up around the three of us.

A minute or so later we could hear the locks on the door being opened and removed. The door, which was a tight fit in its frame, was then pushed open with a screech of protest from the wood, and two men entered the room. The first was a little shorter than I am with long brown hair and brown eyes. He appeared to be a good bit heavier than I was in his Master's robe. He was the minor Talent that I had sensed previously. He appeared to be in his late thirties or early forties.

The second man was larger -- much larger. At well over six feet tall and very broad, he probably weighed over two hundred and fifty pounds. He was carrying a bucket of water in one large hand, and a bucket with food and bowls in the other. Both men stopped just inside the door.

"Who are you and how did you get in here? There were no arrivals announced today," the Wizard demanded in a harsh voice.

"I arrived unannounced. I was drawn here by these young ladies' Talents," I told him. His eyes widened at this news, and he shifted his gaze to the Sisters standing behind me.

"How did you get those robes?" he demanded angrily, pointing a finger at them.

"I gave them the robes to cover themselves with," I told him.

"How dare you come in here and do that without so much as asking permission to enter. I'll teach you to show respect for your elders, you young ... young whatever you are!!" he shouted at me, just now noticing my leaves and vines which were glowing now. He cast a spell that hit my wards and just splashed against them before vanishing with no effect. Seeing this happen was a great shock to the Wizard who shortly turned to the larger man.

"Throw him out of here and off the estate!" the Wizard ordered. The larger man started forward without even setting the buckets down.

"Don't hurt him," Airmid pleaded in my mind. "He has always been kind to us when he fed us." While he couldn't get through my wards, the question was what to do with him. He was large enough to take up a lot of space in the room, even frozen in place. The obvious solution was to send him somewhere else, but where? He had almost reached my wards by the time I had decided. I cast the transfer spell and sent him to the Market Square in Letterkenny. At best it would take him several hours to make his way back here and an even longer time in the dark.

The buckets that he was carrying had swung wildly as he advanced, and some water had slopped out of the one onto the floor, and a bowl had fallen from the other one. The Master was shocked when his man suddenly disappeared, buckets and all.

"What have you done to Donough?" he demanded angrily.

"I sent him to the Market Square in Letterkenny. He should be able to make his way back here by sometime tomorrow," I told him loudly so the Sisters would be sure to hear it and understand that I hadn't hurt him. I had undoubtedly frightened and confused him, but he was uninjured.

"No one could possibly do that," the Master told me with a sneer, as he prepared to cast another more powerful spell, but I had played around long enough, and cast a freeze spell that stopped him in his tracks. I also had the Mac Sweeney Sisters to deal with now, as they too were upset.

"The man, Donough, had our food with him. What will we have to eat now?" they asked in concern in my mind.

"We will find other food to eat after I deal with the Master here," I told them.

"What are you going to do with him?" they both asked.

"I believe that I will leave him locked in this room while we look for something to eat and some more clothing. I'm sure that we can also find somewhere to spend the night here. We'll leave in the morning," I told them.

"We can do that!?" they both asked in my mind.

"I feel certain that we can work something out," I assured them with a grin, as I turned back to the Master. I used my Power Beams to lift him and moved him to the corner of the room furthest from the door before canceling the freeze spell. He was so shocked to see where he was when he became aware again that the spell that he was casting dissolved without being completed.

"What are you doing?" he demanded hotly.

"We are leaving. You will remain here, locked in this room. I have cast my wards in the walls, floor and ceiling. Do NOT attempt to use any Magic in here after I leave. The results could be fatal to you. I will decide what to do with you before we depart in the morning," I informed him.

"You think that you have won for now. We will see how long that lasts," he told me with a sneer.

"Remember what I said about NOT using Magic inside these wards. You won't like the results if you try it," I warned him again, as we moved out of the room. The heavy door swung shut behind us, and the locks which had been locked, opened as I touched them. I locked the door in place with them.

"How can you do that?" the Sisters asked on seeing me open the locks. "We know that the Master always keeps the key with him so no one else can open the door."

"Locks have never been a problem for the O'Connells. Even my Great Grandmothers never had a problem with them," I told them, as we proceeded down the hall to soon be met by a woman in a very expensive dress.

"Who are you?" she asked in surprise on seeing us.

"I am Kellan O'Connell, and these are the Mac Sweeney sisters," I told her indicating the two girls with me.

"So, you have freed the pair that Cahir has had locked in that room for so long. May I assume that you are a Wizard also? A very powerful Wizard?" she asked in an amused voice.

"Yes, I am a Wizard, but it didn't require much power to overcome your Husband. You don't seem all that upset about that," I told her.

"No, I'm not. My Husband only married me to try to gain control of my lands, O'Donnell lands, that have been in our clan for over a thousand years," she told us.

"You are an O'Donnell then?" I asked.

"A close Cousin," she answered in a musical voice. "I am Caoilinn O'Doherty. Lady Cordelia O'Donnell was my several times removed Great Aunt," she told us. I, of course, recognized the name having just heard the story about her Aunt that morning. Lady Caoilinn was as tall as her Husband, but considerably lighter. Her hair was a lighter color also.

"What are your intentions," she asked next, somewhat defensively.

"The Mac Sweeney Sisters and I only wish to remain here for the night. We will leave in the morning and bother you no more," I told her.

"That is easily enough arranged. What of my Husband?" she asked, but didn't seem too concerned about his fate.

"That is undecided at present. He should not have imprisoned these girls or taken advantage of them and their Talents. I must consider what to do about that," I told her.

"The last two years have been hell. Since my Husband and his cronies started those girls on sex everyone here has been in a constant state of arousal. Before that, when they were younger, the atmosphere was always either gleeful or dismal depending on what they were feeling. Their attitude has always affected the people here. We won't be sorry to see you remove them," she told me.