Chapter 32

Kellen's narrative continues:

The sun was shining on a clear and calm day when we arose only a little late on Thursday morning, the 3rd of July. The remnants of yesterday's storm were long gone, all but the mud in those streets and byways that were unpaved. The swans and their broods had even returned to the river and could be seen through our window. We all cleaned up before dressing and going down to eat. We were in the hotel's dining area having breakfast later when both Sisters suddenly sat up in alarm.

"Someone with a powerful Talent has arrived in Sligo!" a surprised Airmid told me. I immediately sent out my senses. I hadn't checked since yesterday afternoon, as I hadn't expected Ken to arrive after dark, or early today. I thought that I would sense him if he were that close.

I instantly located the familiar feel of his Talent and was sure that he could also sense mine and possibly that of the Sisters also. I could also sense that he was on his way here having landed at the quay a short time ago. He had obviously arrived by ship and not land, which would be why I hadn't sensed him yesterday. He had still been too far away.

"That is my Cousin Ken," I told the twins. "Let's finish eating. He will be here soon." We were waiting in the lobby a short time later when Ken came through the door. To my surprise, he was alone. He was dressed in a plain Master Wizard's robe, and appeared slightly thinner than I remembered him being when we parted in Dublin. Verbal greetings weren't necessary between us. We shook hands and hugged each other, as we each slapped the other on the back while grinning like idiots.

"I know! I'm late. Sorry!" Ken said after a few seconds, as he turned to look at the Mac Sweeney Sisters a few feet away, who were staring at both of us in shock and amazement.

"You're twins!" Almha said finally.

"Ken, these are the Mac Sweeney Sisters. I met them outside of Letterkenny," I told him before turning to the Sisters.

"We aren't twins, but our Mothers are twins, and they married brothers, whose Mothers are twins also. That's why we look so much alike," I told them.

"Hi, I'm Kennard," Ken said, as he reached out to shake hands with each Sister. The eyes of all three of them widened as they sensed the others Talent directly.

"It's very nice to meet you ladies," Ken told them with a smile.

"It's nice to meet you also," the Sisters returned.

"Did you find anyone?" I asked Ken right after that, since he was alone.

"Yes! I did, but they don't do well on sea voyages. Do you have a room here? We need to talk, but not out here," he told us, looking around the lobby at those who were staring at us, some in interest and others in amazement.

"Yes, we have a room on the second floor," I told him, and led the way up to our room. Once inside, I could sense Ken checking the wards before he cast a silence spell and wove it into the wards.

"Has something serious happened?" I asked when he finished.

"Yes, it has, and I don't want anyone to hear what I am about to tell you. There may be some of their people here already," Ken told us in a very serious voice, before adding, "Have a seat. This will require a little time to explain." He then gave us a quick explanation of the events that had taken place at Glenquin Castle and around the rest of Limerick. We were all surprised at what we heard, and what he was planning to do to finish it.

"Damn, Ken! I thought that we had some adventures here, but yours exceeded what we went through," I told him on hearing the outline of what had happened, and what he intended to do yet.

"When will we meet these ladies of yours?" Airmid asked after a short silence.

"I promised Sunshine and Rose that I would bring all of you back with me when I returned to get them," Ken told us.

"And will we do this by transferring there?" Almha asked in an unsure voice.

"Yes, it isn't really that far," Ken assured us. "Only around a hundred miles or so, as the crow flies."

"It would require weeks to travel that far by horse," Airmid said, "and it would certainly be more than a hundred miles."

"That's why we are going to transfer. We'll be there in a second or so," Ken assured her.

"Are your ladies in Limerick?" I asked, as he hadn't covered their location.

"No, they are staying with their Mother and step father at Dyster O'Dea Castle in County Clare," Ken told us.

"Dyster O'Dea? You said that they were from Glenquin Castle!" Almha injected.

"The story is a little complicated, but their Mother wound up married to the Chief of Clan O'Dea. They have a very comfortable Manor House with a huge bawn around it," Ken informed us.

"We need to change clothes and pack," Airmid told us. "You two go and check on the horses, and the cart while we change."

"We'll cancel the wards and spell around the room before we join you in the stable," Almha added, as the Sisters got up and began collecting their belongings. Ken just looked at me with a questioning expression on his face at these remarks.

"They are doing very well with their Magic studies," I told him. "The explanation is a little complicated. We can go over it later at Castle O'Dea."

"That will work. I'm sure that your ladies will want to meet Sunshine and Rose, and hear all of our story also," Ken told me, as we prepared to leave for the stable. I left the room key with the Sisters.

In the lobby, I informed the person at the counter that we would be checking out in a few minutes before we left for the stable. My horse was very glad to see me, as he was anxious to be out of the stall that he had been put in. He quickly accepted Ken after he touched him and soothed his jitters. The mare was not anxious to leave the stable. She knew that the roads would still be muddy after yesterday's rain, and she preferred to eat the grain that they had here instead. The cart was quite a surprise to Ken, and I could see that he had questions about it.

"It's a part of the long story," I told him before returning to the lobby to pay the bill for our stay here while Ken saddled my horse, and saw to the cart being readied by the stablemen.

The twins arrived in the lobby just as I finished paying our bill, and we turned in the key to the room before joining Ken outside the stable.

"Where do you want to do the transfer?" he asked, as we approached.

"We haven't seen a lot of Sligo since arriving. We arrived late on Tuesday, and it rained all of yesterday," I told him. "Why don't we ask the stablemen?"

"Is there a large open area near here?" I asked the man watching us from inside the stable.

"There is the Fair Grounds out Wine Street after it becomes Knappagh Road," he told us. "Are you going to cast a spell there?" he asked in a worried voice.

"Nothing harmful. We just going to cast a transfer spell," Ken told the man which surprised him.

"Thank you for the information," Airmid told him, as I helped her up into the cart. Almha was already in the cart, as Ken had helped her up into it.

Ken and I walked on either side of my horse, and the Sisters followed behind us in the cart. It was a bit more than a half mile out to the fairgrounds which was a large open field off the left side of the road. We took a dirt path out into the grass covered field. I tied my horse to the cart and Ken and I helped the Sisters down. After forming a circle around the horses and cart, Ken cast the transfer spell drawing power from all of us before adding the Magic to the glyph that he had traced in the air. We all vanished from the field near Sligo Town.

We instantly reappeared inside a large bawn at what I could only presume was Dyster O'Dea Castle. Men came rushing from the entry tower at our appearance, but soon slowed to a walk.

"Welcome back, Master O'Connell," the one, who appeared to be in charge, said to me in recognition. I just pointed to Ken on the other side of our circle. Those approaching us reacted with shock at the sight of the two of us.

"This is my Cousin Kellen and his future Wives," Ken told them with a smile.

"Why, you're as alike as twins!" the leader, an older man and apparently the Sergeant of the Guard, said after looking closely at both of us. "Except for your eyes, and even twins sometimes have different eye colors," he added.

Others had also appeared by now, drawn by the guards charge toward us. At the Sergeant's direction, two men led our horses and the cart toward the stable. The twins quickly called our possessions to themselves before the cart had gone very far. This also surprised Ken.

"Yes, I would say that they are very accomplished in the use of Magic," he told me before two red haired young women threw themselves at him, hugging and kissing him with great fervor. It was a little time before they took notice of the rest of us standing there. The Mac Sweeney Sisters had moved over next to me and were smiling at the antics of the other women.

"Thank goodness you're back!" the first one said to Ken when she had released him.

"We were so worried about you!" the second one said when they came up for air. Ken appeared to be a bit embarrassed by all of this attention.

"This is Greine, who is called Sunshine," he told us indicating the first young woman on recovering. "And this is her Sister, Rose," he finished, indicating the second young woman.

"This is my Cousin Kellen and the Mac Sweeney Sisters," he told his women.

"Hi!" I said before turning to the twins, or I should say MY twins. "This is Airmid and Almha," I added indicating each of them.

"Hello!" both of Kens ladies said to us while looking closely at me and then at the Mac Sweeney Sisters.

"You could be Ken's twin!" Sunshine said in surprise, as her Sister shook her head in agreement. By this time we had been joined by a number of other people. Sunshine brought over an older woman who closely resembles her and her Sister.

"This is our Mother, Meaveen -- Lady O'Dea, and her other children," Sunshine told us, and pointed to three youngsters, a boy and two cute little girls.

"Are you a Mage too?" the youngest girl asked, approaching to look at me closely.

"Yes, I am," I assured her, and pushed up my right sleeve to show her. She also pushed up her sleeves revealing the light outline of vines and leaves there.

"Are your Sisters Mages, too?" she asked in a curious little voice pointing at the twins.

"These ladies will be my Wives shortly, but they aren't Mages. They are Sorceresses. Mages are very special people, and there aren't many of us," I told her.

"Yes, I know!" she assured me solemnly. "Our older Sisters have told us that."

"We should all go inside," Lady O'Dea suggested. "I'll have a room readied for you and you can leave your things there. There is an open room across the hallway from Kennard's room," she finished before we all turned and proceeded toward the Manor House.

Upstairs, we were invited into the room that Ken and his Wives shared. The Mac Sweeney Sisters stopped in their tracks as soon as we entered the room.

"You have a tub!!" Airmid said in shock.

"Yes, Ken brought it here from Glenquin Castle," Sunshine told her.

"We haven't had a bath in days!" Almha exclaimed in disgust. "The places where we stopped didn't have tubs."

"Would you like to bathe now?" Rose asked.

"Yes!" both Airmis and Almha exclaimed before looking toward me.

"Go ahead!" I told them. "I'll draw water and heat it for you," I added.

"We can do that now," Airmid told me, as water appeared in the tub and began to heat.

"We should all take a bath!" Almha announced after that.

"Yes, let's!" Rose agreed before all four women turned to look at Ken and me.

"You two can bathe when we are finished," they all said together, as Sunshine and Rose made shooing motions with their hands.

"I guess we know when we aren't wanted," Ken said with a smile and a shrug, as we left the room, and the door was closed behind us.

"Well, at least it appears that they will be getting along together," Ken said, as we went into the room across the hall. There were servants there preparing the room for us, and we left there also, not wanting to interrupt them. Ken led me down to the receiving room on the first floor after that.

This room was more impressive than the other rooms that I had seen so far in the Manor House. This isn't to say that the other rooms weren't very nice, but this room was meant to impress guests, and it certainly did. There was a fine walnut wainscot with a fancy top molding all the way around the room. The walls above it were painted a light beige with plaster molding in a deeper beige and gold about six inches below the plastered ceiling which was white. There were two wing-back chairs in addition to a fine eight-legged settle with an upholstered seat and four caned panels on the back plus a caned panel below the arms at each end. There were also two armchairs and four side-chairs in the same style as the settle. The wing-back chairs and the settle were grouped around a pedestal table in the center of the room while the other chairs were currently spread out around the walls of the room. There was a sideboard table that held decanters of various liquid refreshments, and an Irish harp as well as a larger conventional harp. The room was lighted by a chandelier with four Magic-powered lamps that hung from the twelve foot high ceiling over the pedestal table.