Chapter 104

Oberon’s appearance and speech was the final nail in the coffin of Oonagh’s claim to be ruler of the Sidhe. The Daoine Sidhe were forced to commit to fighting a retreat in the few areas in which they retained control. Those that they did hold though were held strongly and with an iron fist. They did manage to hold onto a few of the fortresses including Niðavellir as well as the ancient Sidhe capital of Keldravan. Elsewhere though the lands reverted to the throne of house Skarlett and there were long lines of noble Sidhe turning up to swear allegiance to Verenestra, as well as a good many begging for a divorce. The worst of the abusers naturally moved to closer alignment with Oonagh. They had nailed their colours to the mast and would not have found a welcome in Verenestra’s court under any circumstances. The one major issue that was left was Oonagh’s ability to mentally dominate most of the Sidhe with whom she came into proximity. Her powers were simply frightening as Oberon was prepared to attest, though, unless she was specifically present, the effect wore off within time. Within the Council of the Wise there was feverish activity amongst the Mages to come up with a counter to this. We believed sooner or later Oonagh herself would demand a parlay and we really weren’t sure who was and who wasn’t immune. Even the Seers were somewhat cautious.

One bit of good news was my friend Talshish had his suit approved to court Serice, the younger daughter of First Sword of the Morning Ghurran. Plus I finally got Talshish to explain why he was always without fail, save by royalty called First Sword of the Morning. Seems his family earned the title almost in Sidhe pre-history by leading a suicidal charge against a rival king, thus enabling Oonagh’s sires to unite the nation and lead them to the conquest of all. Ghurran was immensely proud of the title, even if it was a bit of a liability in the current situation and insisted upon it being used by various protocols that the Sidhe adhered to.

“It’s just pure vanity, friend John,” Talshish said with a grin as he introduced Serice to us.

“He even makes us use it,” Serice chuckled.

“You’re kidding?” I said somewhat amazed and getting a shake of the head in return.

“He does, though at the moment he’s busy trying to sort out the mess my brothers and older sister are in since their return from fighting for Oonagh,” Serice replied.

“Talshish told me what they said. I rather doubt Verenestra or William will be terribly forgiving,” I commented with a shrug.

“Nor I, but I doubt she’ll have them killed out of hand as my father fears,” Serice chuckled. “But it keeps him occupied and allows Talshish and me to explore the possibilities of partnership openly.”

“You seem very comfortable together,” I nodded.

“Eight thousand years of knowing someone will do that,” Talshish replied.

“Long time to wait,” I acknowledged.

“Only to be wed,” Serice answered with a blush as did Talshish.

“Ah ... fair enough,” I chuckled.

“I did tell you, John,” Talshish added.

“That you did, friend Talshish. That you did.”

“Anyhow, Mage William has told him he will pardon them if Serice and I were permitted to wed. Naturally he jumped at the chance,” Talshish explained.

“Hope you got that in writing, the wedding part that is,” I chuckled.

“I certainly did,” Serice said with a laugh. “Normally a Sidhe’s word is their bond ... well to other Sidhe in the old days, but my father has a reputation of twisting words to strain credulity at times.”

“Well, I’ll expect an invite to the wedding; all of those who went to Niðavellir will,” I added.

“I would be proud to have my friends attend,” Talshish replied in formal tones as Serice also silently acknowledged the affirmation.

“The honour would be ours,” I replied.

“Until then,” Talshish stated as I noticed Mage Xi approaching.

I then had to put up with Mage Xi and her merry band of healers going through my memories again from various directions as they tried to compose an accurate description of the effects of spontaneous emergence with regards to Jukar.

“Well, we know what happens; but still not the how,” Xi sighed after the interrogation ended.

“Can you duplicate it?” I asked out of curiosity.

“I rather doubt it, plus Adsila has confirmed the Seer view that it might take a long period of extended study,” she replied.

“Well, it’s more than you knew two years ago,” I shrugged.

“That’s true. But if anything, that’s just made it more frustrating. Though that’s no reflection on you, John. You observed everything that occurred that a medical Mage would have,” she admitted.

“I have some ideas on the subject, though my Mage will not permit experimentation until after this war,” I replied.

“I’ll ask her for permission to attend if you do decide to experiment,” she nodded. “Though for the life of me I cannot see how you can do it.”

“People can’t see how I do my regeneration trick, but it works,” I chuckled.

“That’s true. It will be interesting to see what you can do that we simply don’t understand,” she said with a smile before leading her group off to a private office.

“John, we need to go. There’s been an incident on Loegria,” Morgana stated as she stuck her head around the medical office door.

“Yes, my Mage,” I replied as I scrambled to the door. “Do we know what?”

“Olmer’s been assassinated. Someone called Rakona is being accused, though our MAGES group say she didn’t; even if all the physical evidence says she did,” Morgana replied as she permitted me to form a frameless portal to Kurukshetra.

From the main entrance to Kurukshetra Morgana and I hurried to the other portal to make our way to Loegria.

“Dorry must be devastated,” I said unhappily.

“She is. She’s being comforted by Jahrna and Morgeen. She got Brianna to get Rowenna to call us in as the authorities are stumped by the case. They believe the MAGES group, but have to hold Rakona as the evidence against her is undeniable,” Morgana explained.

“Time mirror,” I said.

“Yes, John. As Assassin Prime I’m the only one who can sanction the use of one, save for Simon and Julia, who will be meeting us there,” Morgana acknowledged.

“Well, you’re the only experienced investigator amongst them, so I expect you’ll lead the way, my Mage,” I replied.

“That’s the thinking, yes,” Morgana nodded as we stepped through the portal to Loegria.

Journeywoman Mage Valeria was on duty that afternoon for Rowenna and she greeted us warmly and sent us through to meet Rowenna, Simon and Julia, all of whom looked both pale and shocked.

“Did you ask Jude?” Simon asked.

“Yes, he said he couldn’t. This is one of those things that must be,” Morgana replied looking slightly downcast.

“Understandable,” Simon nodded. “It was worth asking though.”

“What killed him?” I asked.

“A nannite bullet from close range,” Julia replied. “Problem is, Rakona was the only other person in the room and we know she didn’t do it, though the gun has her fingerprints and DNA on it from when she stupidly picked it up afterwards. Tasha read her to know this, though the poor woman is as distraught as Dorry and can’t answer questions ... well, spoken ones that is.”

“When can we see her and the crime scene?” Morgana asked.

“We were just waiting for you to get here,” Simon replied.

Rather than wait for a taxi, we ported directly to the office where Olmer had been killed. It was being kept clear by the MAGES group who had allowed the local law enforcement do their work. Journeywoman Mage Tasha greeted us at the door along with her husband Mage Gregoriy who had set up a series of wards around the room to prevent us being disturbed and observed.

“It was a private policy meeting,” Tasha explained, looking absolutely miserable. “They’d had them on a regular basis for a couple of years now. Normally Ekaterina and I just do our work at the desks outside, we don’t listen in, though we scan the surrounding buildings just in case, but, there was no warning, just Rakona screaming.”

“We’ll set up a temporal mirror and examine the scene. We’d appreciate your input as there’s no sound,” Morgana replied after a moment’s thought.

“Of course, Mages,” Tasha replied with a formal bow.

As ever it took a while to set up the mirror, though with three High Mages doing the calculations, not as long as I would have taken. What we saw had us frowning, a gun simply appeared in Rakona’s hand, fired, then dropped at her feet. As Olmer collapsed, she then reached down to pick it up as Tasha and Ekaterina burst into the room.

“I need to see Rakona now,” Morgana requested. “I’m hoping she’s wearing the same clothes.”

“She’s under sedation. Mage Brianna is with her,” Tasha replied, leading us out of the room.

“Any ideas, my Mage? Other than it possibly being another Mage?” I asked.

“That’s what it looks like. However, they do have tricks with science here that often defy description, from our point of view,” Morgana replied.

“Tasha or Ekaterina would have detected a teleport,” I agreed. “Not necessarily where from, just it’s appearance.”

“True. Only a Seer could have done a hidden teleport and it wouldn’t be a Seer as they are rarely here and I’ve already checked. There wasn’t one here at the time,” Morgana said thoughtfully.

“I had Benjamin check Tasha and Ekaterina. There were no gaps in their memories,” Rowenna added.

“I may want to use the mirror again after I examine Rakona,” Morgana nodded.

“Any ideas, Morgana,” Simon asked.

“A couple, nothing firm as yet, Simon,” she replied, obviously deep in thought.

Rakona was a rather striking woman in her late thirties, though at the moment she was huddled up, semi-conscious in an almost foetal position on a couch with Brianna seated at her side.