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Post by Mr Spock on Jul 17, 2013 9:06:22 GMT
Taylor's eyes lit up as Emily began to push the now damp dressing gown off her shoulders.
"You were always better at telling them than I was, Genny," she said, not looking up as she folded the now discarded dressing gown by the fire and presented Taylor with the new pyjamas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Keira wordlessly wrapped her arms around Link again. This whole thing was impossible to believe.
"How are you here?" She whispered, staring up at the imposing castle.
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Post by Taya on Jul 17, 2013 13:20:26 GMT
"I was never gone. I was always here" Link said glancing around the castle with mixed feelings of her home and prison for the past two years. She kissed Keira's temple and wrapped her arm around her, rubbing Keira's arm with her hand more for her own courage than to comfort her young cousin. "Come on, I only want to do this once and everyone is waiting."
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Genny gave Emily a questioning look, but went ahead anyway.
"Sit with your mama" Genny said as she passed out the mugs. "Once upon a time there was a little girl, just like you. Then one day she learned she could do things other children couldn't. She could do magick."
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Post by Mr Spock on Jul 25, 2013 14:19:57 GMT
Emily and Taylor, both in fresh pyjamas, sat and watched Genny speak with their steaming mugs in hand. Taylor, too enthralled to speak, watched avidly, where Emily placed her mug down and then began braiding her daughter's damp long hair.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Keira smiled and then frowned, remembering her earlier fear.
"Is everyone okay? What happened? Why now? Is Ian-" she cut herself off again as they walked, not expecting his presence, knowing he had walked away from this.
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Post by Taya on Jul 25, 2013 15:25:03 GMT
Genny continued the fairy tale version of Ariana's and Emily's stories with talks of evil queens and faery princesses. She ended the tale with The princess turned queen marrying her true love, a simply gardener.
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"Everyone was physically fine when I left them. Nothing terrible has happened except for bad judgement." Link explained just before they walked into the great hall. What they found was chaos.
Kendra screamed as Tylir socked Ian in the eye. Ian charged him, grabbing Tylir around the waist and flipping him over on to his back. James did nothing to stop the two from fighting while Kendra did nothing but beg them to stop.
Link let the doors slam shut behind them and added a little extra echo to the hall. All four turned towards Link and Kiera in a moment of utter silence. Then everyone started talking at once.
"I tried to stop them." "What the hell is going on?" "Where's Emily?" "She can't be here."
"Sit down all of you before you frighten poor Kendra and she miscarries!" Link snapped at them. Kendra gave her a small grateful smile as everyone took a seat. With a wave of her hand, link summoned two ice packs and handed them to her friend/rival and her brother. "Children all of you."
"You're hardly in a position to be scolding." James said his eyes on Kiera.
"True. But this hardly the time for fighting. And just so everyone understands, I will tell my story at my own pace. Emily has more pressing business and will most likely be here in the morning. And finally, this is my home and ALL of my family is welcome."
"There are laws..."
"That I now have the power to overrule. And I do." Link said firmly, "but we'll get to that. Keira go sit down with the others this will take a bit."
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Post by Mr Spock on Jul 25, 2013 16:38:05 GMT
Keira gave Link a thin smile, glancing only briefly at Ian, the person in the room who should've made her feel safest, before taking a seat and sitting tentatively on the edge of it, looking at her shoes poking out of the bottom of her pyjama trousers.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"And THEN what happened?" asked Taylor insistently, causing Emily to jump and fall out of the haze she'd entered into. Her heart sunk. It was a perfect fairy tale up until that point. And then came the rest.
For the first time since the evening had started Emily began to think of the rest of her family and the thought nauseated her. She could see the betrayal already and it stung her to her heart. Where before she had been convinced they'd understand, now she remembered in every detail why she had chosen to hide this.
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Post by Taya on Jul 25, 2013 20:07:04 GMT
"Plenty." Genny said smiling and resisting the urge to gather the child into her own arms. "Soon the beautiful faery queen was given a most precious gift. She learned she was to have a child. But the evil witch of the elves learned of the queen's happiness and knew she had to destroy it. For you see, there was a prophecy that someday a child would be born that could unite the realms. The witch thought that the baby the queen would have would be that child. So in order to protect her own throne the Evil witch made her intentions known to the faery queen.
Fearing for her child's life the princess was hidden away by the person the queen trusted most. Then she told her husband and her kingdom that the baby had died. The evil witch believed the story and the child was safe, but queen was forever sad, Except for when she wished on the evening star and let herself have hope that someday the long lost princess would be returned to her and the evil witch would finally be defeated."
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Kendra reached a hand over and patted Kiera's arm. She always loved the little girl, but Ian had wanted to cut all ties in the name of their unborn child.
"I want to start by apologizing for the pain I put you through. It was unfair but inevitable. Several years ago I made a decision to take on the role as high priestess of the realms. I started putting a plan into place that would let me dedicate my life to this cause in an exchange for a favor. The downside of that deal was longevity. But that was what I had asked for. In order to keep my plans a secret, I was going to have to die at some point. The fires provided the perfect cover without any questions. So I left my father's locket in the ash and disappeared."
"I still don't understand even the need for the secrecy." James said frowning. "Wouldn't you want to spend as much time with Ian, Keira and Emily as possible before you lost them?"
"I am charged with protecting something very precious and very secret. It would be better if all the realms thought me dead. No one would be watching my comings and goings. No spies." James face went dark as he realized who she was really hiding from.
"If you were scared of her you could have come to me." He informed her.
"What I am protecting is to precious to take any chance with." She shook her head sadly. "I just hope you can forgive me." Her voice cracked and she tried not to cry.
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Post by Mr Spock on Jul 26, 2013 12:53:41 GMT
"And THEN what happened?" Taylor asked insistently, punctuating her sentence with a long yawn. Emily smiled faintly and stroked her daughter's now braided hair.
"I think that story was long enough, little one. It is well past time for you to be asleep."
She lifted Taylor off her lap and then stood, glancing at Genny.
"I'm sure Aunt Genny can find somewhere for you to sleep whilst I take care of something important, okay?"
~~~~~~~~~~~
Keira glanced at Kendra, trying to ease herself out of what was going to swiftly become an argument. She then glanced at the door and raised an eyebrow. Just as long as Kendra knew they could both leave the room.
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Post by Taya on Jul 26, 2013 17:39:20 GMT
Kendra shook her head.at Keira and took the next most logical question, since she was the only one without emotional ties.
"If what you're guarding is so important, then why have you come forward now? Why not continue to let us think you were dead?"
"Because I couldn't let my brother believe that magick destroyed his family. Ian, I am so sorry for the pain you went through that awful day." Ian's face was a mix of pain and anger, fighting with the joy of having his sister back. Link knelt next to him and took his hand. "I just had to stop you from making a huge mistake. In life, family is the most important thing. You can't just give that up out of fear of the future."
"Clearly, family is not everything to you." Ian muttered darkly as he reclaimed his hand and stood over his sister. Link had known it was going to be bad, but it didn't stop the pain. "We're leaving. Now."
"No!" Link snapped standing up, a fierceness in her eyes that Ian knew to be just like their mother's. "No one is leaving until I say so. Not until all of this is fixed."
"That's not likely to happen anytime soon." James said from where he sat. "You know I never understood the anger your father held on to when it came to Jade's lies. The betrayal that took him so long to forgive. I do now and I know he would be so disappointed in you."
"I will not let you bait me." Link said sharply. "My father never knew me and I never knew him, so it doesn't matter. If he had really cared he would have stood by Mom."
"Link. Dad stayed with Mom through everything." Ian said a bit of his anger forgotten in his confusion. Link sighed and looked at Ian sadly.
"Ian, Logan was my step-father. My real father was your namesake."
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Genny gathered the child up in her arms and gave Emily a nod.
"Be careful." Was all she said before taking Taylor into the back room and tucking her into a pallet. The room was filled with herbs and various flora hanging from the rafters just like in the main room, but this room was a bit smaller with just enough space for a large pallet and a table with a basin. As she sat next to Taylor and snuggled down with her, Genny conjured a small wolf plush toy with golden eyes and gave it to her.
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