Chapter 39

We had not been prepared for the appearance of the chest containing the Treasure of the Firbolg Kings, when it appeared on the stage in front of us along with the Eternal Flame after Grandfather Aengus asked his question. Everyone in the front rows of seats were staring at the contents of the chest, and those farther back were standing, so they could see what was in the chest. A murmur soon started as to what it was, and how much it was worth. Everyone was interrupted in their conjecture by the voice of the Eternal Flame.

"That was an excellent question, but the reason that the Treasure wasn't needed will soon become apparent," the Eternal Flame told them in less volume than its usual thunderous voice. "Because of the actions of Kennard and Kellen, there was no need for the use of the Treasure. When Kennard removed Eogham from participating with the others by imprisoning him in a defensive shell, he removed their most powerful Summoner. By eliminating his support people after that, he insured that there would be no attempt to rescue Eogham for a later try to recall the old gods of the Picts.

"By rescuing the Mac Sweeney Sisters, Kellen made sure that Cahir, their second Summoner, was not powerful enough to summon the old gods by himself. Cahir was a bumbler in any event, and promptly eliminated himself. However, there was still the possibility that Cahir's supporters could have regain control of the Mac Sweeney Sisters and use their power, in an attempt by Congal to summon the old gods again.

"When the Sisters eliminated Cahir's supporters near Ballyshannon, they also eliminated the need to use the Treasure of the Firbolg Kings to help to stop the other Wizards. They had in effect reduced the remaining members of the group to no more than neutered boars. Still dangerous, but with no chance of success.

"On Carrowkeel that night, the four of them eliminated Congal's supporting Wizards while the ghosts of the Wizards of Old eliminated Congal himself. The closing of the Otherworld there was just a minor detail after that," the Eternal Flame told everyone. There was much talk after the people in the audience heard this.

After those in the audience had been talking about this for a minute or so, in the time between one heartbeat and the next, I noticed that time had not just slowed down, but that it was actually standing still. There was no talking to be heard, and no one moved. The only ones aware of this appeared to be our twins, Kell and myself. The Eternal Flame then spoke to us alone.

"When you go to the Otherworld here, take the Crowns, the Rings of Office, and the Short Sword in the chest with you. The ones who possess them will be considered Kings by those in the Otherworld. It will not be necessary to take more than one or two of the gold coins with you. Leave the rest at my altar until you have need of the money, although you may need a coin or two to purchase rings for your Wives.

"Leave the Crowns, Rings, and Swords to be displayed at the museum in the Otherworld, but make it absolutely clear to them that they are strictly on loan to them, and that you may reclaim them at any time they are needed," the Eternal Flame told us before turning serious.

"You may have until Sunday, the 17th of August, here in this Reality, plus whatever time you spend in the Otherworld, where time is slowed considerably. On Monday, the 18th of August, I will return, and will transport all of you to the Third Reality to join your Brothers, Sisters, and Cousins in the fight there to remove the British from North America. When that is accomplished, I will return all of you in time for you to begin college, and for the others to return to their high school studies. Wear warm clothing, as it is very cold there presently," the Eternal Flame told us, and in the next heartbeat, time resumed its normal course, and we could hear the discussions taking place among those in the audience again.

"Goodbye for now," the Eternal Flame said to everyone after a few seconds, and winked out of existence, taking the now closed chest with the Treasure of the Firbolg Kings with him, all but the three thick gold coins that now lay on the front of the stage. Kell and I bent down and picked them up. We each pocketed one, and I handed the third one to my Dad.

"We would like you to check on what these are worth," I told him, as I handed the coin to my shocked Dad.

Around us, there was still much discussion going on about what the Eternal Flame had said, and how it related to our stories. It seemed that those stories were now accepted as facts, and not just some story, which might have been open to doubt, that they heard from other members of the clan.

Our Wives; yes, we would have to really start thinking of them as that now, moved up against us for comfort, after what we had all heard. It was very late by now, and everyone soon started to disperse. We all transferred back to my Parents' house.

"Now do you see why we didn't want to go into all of that last night?" Kell asked our Fathers.

"Yes, without the entire story, it would have been easy to draw the wrong conclusions," Uncle Pat admitted.

"We will need to get all four of your ladies started on their Magic studies, so they can be accredited. It shouldn't be hard for the O'Hallinan Sisters since they are Mages, and Clare and Cathleen can certify them up through Master's rank. For Senior Master, they would still need to be certified by those in the Otherworld as well as Clare and Cathleen," Dad told us.

"It's the Mac Sweeney Sisters that we are concerned about. They need to buckle down and concentrate on their studies. With their kind of power, they need to learn control of their Magic and themselves," Uncle Pat told us earnestly. "They could be dangerous otherwise."

"You can all talk about that in the morning," Mother Shannon told us after that. "It's time to go to bed now. It's certainly well past my bedtime," she finished before leading Dad and his other Wives upstairs. The rest of us left also.

"We need to talk tomorrow about what the Eternal Flame told us in private tonight," I told Kell and our Wives, as we walked back to the houses that we were using. I had an arm around Sunshine and Rose both as we walked.

"Yes, especially about this time limit," Kell agreed. His Wives were pressed against him as mine were against me.

"It doesn't appear that we will be given a choice," Sunshine added.

"No, that isn't how the Eternal Flame works. When It wants you to do something, it will get done whether you want to do it, or not. Somehow, it will work out that you wind up doing it," I told her, as we neared our house.

We went straight to bed and to sleep after a little hugging and kissing. We had all had a long tiring day.

In the morning following breakfast at Kell's Parents' house, we all returned to the house that Sunshine, Rose, and I were using to make plans.

"We need to plan what we are going to do in light of what the Eternal Flame told us in private last night," I said to open the meeting.

"We need to get our own food and stop mooching off of our Parents," Kell suggested.

"But your Mothers love cooking for you. They miss all of their children terribly," Almha told us.

"Still, we need our own food, so we don't always need to go over there to eat," I said, agreeing with Kell.

"Clothes!" Sunshine said. "We want clothes of our own, not clothes borrowed from your Mothers, or Sisters." The other women all agreed with her on this.

"I think that our Fathers made it pretty clear that all of you ladies need to be studying Magic, so you can be tested when we go to the Otherworld," I told them.

"Yes, we will need to find time to study," Airmid and the others agreed, somewhat reluctantly.

"Which just leaves the subject of marriage," I said after a brief pause. I wasn't sure how that would be received by the others. The women all beamed at the suggestion, but Kell looked just a little reluctant.

"You aren't happy about marrying us?" Almha asked, immediately picking up on Kell's hesitation.

"It's not that!" he said defensively. "I just didn't think there would be any rush. You both know that I love you."

"The Eternal Flame gave us little choice. It will have to be before we leave, or after we return -- however long that may take. Also, do you expect to have time when we are in school?" I asked him.

"No, you're right, Ken," Kell said with a heavy exhale of breath. "It will need to be before we leave, but when?"

"We have basically, just over four weeks, plus whatever time we spend in the Otherworld. The women need to study Magic here, and probably in the Otherworld, so they can be tested before we leave. How does this sound," I asked, and paused for a second to organize my thoughts. "How about two weeks here before we go to the Otherworld and are married. Then another two weeks, or so in the Otherworld for our honeymoon where the Mac Sweeney Sisters will have direct access to the Library there to study before being tested. That will leave about two weeks here afterward to help with the crops, and maybe a little time to return to our Castles in the Other Reality for a quick visit to check on things there," I told them, laying out a quick plan off the top of my head.

"You left out one thing," Kell told us after I had finished. "Rings! We will need to get wedding rings before we are married."

"Yes, and that brings up another subject -- money! We will need money for the food, clothing, and those wedding rings," I told them.

"We both have some money in our accounts, plus we have those two gold coins in addition to the one that you gave your Dad last night to have appraised," Kell reminded me.

"Let's go to see Great Grandfather Mark after this, and see what he will allow us for the coins," I told Kell.

"We need to see if our Moms will take our Wives shopping for clothes and maybe food after that too," Kell added.

"We should go along if they are going to shop for food," I told him. The meeting broke up after that. The women all went to study, and Kell and I went to see Great Grandfather Mark. We appeared in the small parlor of our Great Grandparents' house. Great Grandmother Margie was there reading.

"Hello, boys! What can we do for you?" she asked, on seeing us.

"We need to see Great Grandfather Mark," I told her.

"He's in the study. He has been doing some writing lately. He's working on a new book," she told us, and led us over to the large parlor and the study behind it.

"Mark, Ken and Kell are here to see you," she called, as she opened the door.

"Come in," Great Grandfather called, as he rose from behind the desk in there. "What can I do for you boys?"

"We need to talk to you about money," Kell told him.

"Oh yes! You'll be getting married, won't you? That always calls for money. There are clothes to buy and, of course, rings," he said with a smile. "How much do you need?"

"We don't know, but we have these two gold coins," I told him, and Kell and I both handed him our coins. Grandfather Mark examined them very carefully.

"Are you having these appraised?" he asked in a stern voice.

"Yes, I gave one to Dad last night to have it appraised," I told him.

"These coins are quite heavy," he said, as he moved the small scale on the end of his desk over and placed the two coins on it.

"These two coins weigh just over four Troy ounces. With gold currently above $2,500 an ounce, that would be $10,000 just for the gold value of the coins, but I believe they may be worth considerably more than that based on the type of coins they are and their rarity. I'll hold these and give you $10,000 in advance. We'll see what they appraise for, and I'll give you the remainder of the money then, how's that?" he asked.

"Yes, that sounds fine, Grandfather," both Kell and I told him. He moved over to his computer then and transferred the money to our accounts. We could access it when needed with our bank cards.

"When are you planning on getting married?" he asked next.

"In a couple of weeks," we answered.

"So soon?" he asked, surprised.

"Yes," I answered, and then told him what the Eternal Flame had told us in private last night. He seemed a bit startled. "But please don't tell our Moms. They will panic if they know ahead of time," I told him.

"Things must be serious there if they need the six of you in addition to the others," he said, in a worried voice. "Don't worry though, I won't tell them, or Katie, or Margie either," he assured us before shaking hands with us. We quickly returned to our Parents' houses then, to see when our Moms could take our Wives shopping.

"Clare and Cathleen are busy at school tomorrow, but the rest of us can take your ladies shopping then," Mother Shannon told us.

"We'll lay on one of the small buses for the trip. Do you want to go with us?" Mother Sheena asked.

"That depends on where you are going," Kell told his Mother.

"We'll be looking at clothing for them of course, and probably some food for all of you also," she told him.

"Maybe we should go then. I'm not sure that they will know what to buy for us," I told her.

"And we wouldn't?" Mother Shannon asked, with a laugh.

"Hum ... yes, you would!" I admitted, sheepishly.

"So, just what is the real reason that you will you be going?" Mother Sheena asked, perceptively.

"Hum ... we ... ah ... need to buy them engagement and wedding rings!" Kell finally got out.

"We should have guessed!" Mother Shannon said, with a big smile.

"Have you set the date yet?" Mother Gretchen asked, as she joined us. She had heard the last part of the conversation.