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Chapter 85: Conor Returns

Nathanial and Geoff were just climbing out of the shower when Den knocked on the door. Nathanial wrapped a towel around his waist and opened it.

The dark grey Wolf smiled at him and said, "Conor just called; he's ready for you to fetch him." Den went to turn away to let them dry off, but Nathanial quickly cast the fur-drying spell on Geoff and himself. Den shook his head. "Handy spell. How was your workout?"

Nathanial and Geoff walked to Geoff's room as Nathanial answered. "Pretty good. It's a little tighter in that room than I'd like; I think it's even smaller than the one Geoff has in Nova Scotia."

Geoff shrugged. "It is. There are several workout rooms down in the caves, so we didn't really dedicate many resources to this one. Most of us have different schedules too, so we don't get in each others' way."

Den stopped outside their door. "We'll be waiting in the living room for you."

"Okay. Tell Conor I'll just open the portal in its usual spot between Geoff's and Faelen's rooms in a few minutes."

Den nodded his understanding and trotted downstairs.

Once they got dressed Nathanial went down to the room by the teleporter. He focused his magic and opened the portal, smiling in triumph. He could still barely believe he was able to cross the Atlantic on a whim like this, and not just him, but any number of people he wanted. Conor and Dirk quickly walked through.

Conor hugged Nathanial. "Good afternoon, Son. How was your first evening in Ireland?" He stepped back to let Dirk greet the pup, too.

Nathanial wasn't sure how to answer the question. He didn't think their day was much better than his, judging by how much bone Dirk was wearing, or the tension in Conor's muscles. "Uh...exciting? Um, eventful would work, too."

Conor's face fell. "Gods. You ran into Rolph again? Didn't I warn you...?" He trailed off and shook his head before sighing. "Let's go say hi to everyone else and then get the story. We still have to have that talk with Da, too." He rubbed his temples. "I can't wait for Monday."

Nathanial closed the portal. "He already knows. Err, knew. We, um, well... He was baiting us, trying to get us to confirm it. He got us angry and it slipped out. He knows Geoff doesn't want to be an alpha, too. He was actually madder about that than Geoff dating me."

Conor groaned and walked into the hall. He froze when he saw all the rubble. "Nathanial? Did you attack Da?"

"N-No. He, um, did that when he stormed off. Liam calmed him down right after. He didn't say... Well, Liam talked with him, but the alpha didn't say anything to us while he was mad. It...wasn't bad, really. I didn't attack him, or him me."

The tension visibly drained out of Conor. "Good." They went upstairs without saying anything else.

Once the greetings were done they all sat down. Gwen was off playing in her room, but Avery, Alpha McDougal, Den, Geoff, Liam, and Faelen were waiting. Faelen poured some tea for Conor and Dirk.

Conor seemed perfectly relaxed, but Nathanial could sense that there was a lot of tension in his muscles. The Water Elemental looked at his father. "You were right. They wanted to talk to me about the thwarted attack on their airplane. I convinced most of them to wait and not start trouble, but there were a few chiefs in Manitoba and Saskatchewan that were still 'beating the war drums,' as it were. The word of a forming schism was the deciding factor, but they still want this to be pushed hard to the Arcane Society by the Spirits globally. I agree on that. I'd like to see if we can get the alphas of Ireland here this week, Wednesday or Thursday if possible, to discuss this."

Alpha McDougal tugged the tuft of fur on his chin, seemingly deep in thought. "No, it will have to wait until Friday. I have important matters to take care of Tuesday till Thursday evening."

Conor frowned. "Important? What could be more important than this? We're talking about the attempted assassination of thirty-one Spirit leaders by the Knights! The Society has to step in to put an end to their activities. Even by last night before I left they were calling the clans across the States. If the Society doesn't make a very public and timely show of disciplining the Knights, North America will explode! The more pressure we can put on them quickly, the more likely it is they'll listen to us. I've already sent word to my contacts with the Fey and the Sea-Folk."

Nathanial tilted his head at that. He'd only heard stories about the Sea-Folk. He wondered if they were the half-fish/half-Fey people or the ones that could change into feral seals. Selkies, if he remembered correctly. The first ones were...Mer-Folk. And 'mer' was French for 'sea,' so those must be the ones. 'Cool.'

Alpha McDougal growled and the nearly perpetual scowl on his face deepened. "The Knights better damned well pay -- in blood -- for this. Do you think I just sat here twiddling my thumbs waiting for you to get back, Conor? I've already talked to all of the clans in the Isles via a quick conference call this morning and sent word to the Continental clans, too. I've also phoned the Irish representative in the Society. But I have a football match to watch on Wednesday and a dinner to attend, too."

Nathanial felt his stomach plunge and his chest tighten at the reminder. He had no idea what he could make. The leader of the richest fucking Spirit clan in the world was coming over to eat his cooking. It was like the...the queen inviting herself over for dinner! That would be an easier dinner to deal with since he wasn't dating Prince William!

Geoff took his paw and squeezed it. "Relax, pup. Just cook like you normally do. It'll be fine. You don't even have to worry about making it all fancy, either. Grandda isn't fussed about that."

"B-But I'm better at fancy meals! If he doesn't like fancy stuff then I have no idea what to make! Uh, pizza? No, no, no. That's no better than Kraft Dinner! Bloody hells." He stopped when he noticed everyone was looking at them. "Oh...fluff and stuff!"

Conor's brow was creased in concern. "Are you going to be okay, Nathanial? You look...tense."

Tense? Tense?! That was an understatement, like saying the Confederation Bridge was just a bridge or Mount Everest was a-a hill or something! Tense! What to make? What to make?!

He felt himself get pulled into Geoff. Those strong arms wrapped around him and held him close to Geoff's shoulder. He could hear Geoff's heartbeat and feel his chest rise and fall with every breath. Geoff felt a little stressed, too, but far less than he was. Nathanial noticed his own heart rate slow somewhat, becoming more in time with Geoff's, so he concentrated on matching his breathing, too.

Liam answered Conor for him. "He is on vacation, Conor-san. He gave us a scare while we broke our fast this afternoon, so I have told him that he is to relax as much as possible today. We will deal with the teleporter later this evening. Now that we have undone all the work of the last hour and more, let us quickly deal with the unpleasant subjects. Alpha McDougal wishes to visit us this week. He will attend a soccer game, meet the Markses and have a meal with them, see the school, and otherwise play tourist. The matter of the meeting you have just returned from is of no current concern to Nathanial and may be discussed at some other time. If there is something he should know, speak to him on it later. Alpha McDougal is aware of the relationship between Nathanial and Geoff; it has been dealt with. Also, Alpha McDougal has approved of Aoife bearing Geoff's children." Avery choked on her tea, but Liam kept talking. "Aoife has agreed to do so and will speak to you on this matter some time today. Which is for the best, as she is in her fertile period."

Geoff's arms tightened around Nathanial. The teen Wolf's voice was choked with fear. "A-And me?"

Liam went to answer, but he was cut off by Avery. "What? What are you talking about? Children? Geoff? He's still a pup! He can't become a father!"

Alpha McDougal's deep voice stopped her from saying anything else. "He's not a pup anymore, Avery. If he wants any chance of publicly coming out, he'd best show that he can be gay and do his duty to the clan. The O'Conalls, the ones descended from Lorena, are strong, and Aoife is willing. She'll also keep this quiet until the time is right. This is an almost ideal way out of our problem. If she's fertile now we'd be fools to delay."

Nathanial rubbed Geoff's back and tried to calm him down. Geoff was shaking violently in his arms now -- a complete reversal from just moments ago. Nathanial whispered to him, "Shh. You won't do this alone. I'm here. It won't stop you from doing whatever you need, or want, to do. This is just an easy way of doing what eventually needs to be done. You'll be a father, but you don't need to be a da if you don't want to. I'll be the dad and you can be the uncle if you want. I love taking care of pups." He tilted his head in thought. "Are you actually against becoming a dad or does the thought of it just scare you? If you really don't want to, maybe we can look at something else, even if you are basically a prince and have to continue the royal line."

Geoff just whimpered.

Nathanial could see Liam's eyes twinkling as he added his two cents to the main conversation: "That's true, Luke. The lad's not a pup, and if his count is high it could be years, if not decades, before they're synchronized again. 'Tis not something to risk over some sense of nostalgia. On a purely practical side, it's too great a risk not to take advantage of having the Dark Elemental siring as many pups as possible. The Spirits are rapidly losing ground to the other beings in population size. 'Tis even worse than when I first joined the Clan. During my last Season's visit to London, I estimated there to be two thousand fully trained Knights with a few small cruisers in the Woolwich Dockyards. There are rumours they're bringing in a new battleship from America disguised as a steamer for the Red Star Line. We need more Elementals to deal with their hostility. On the emotional side, it's the only way Nathanial and Geoff can be together. It'll be a big help if Nathanial can be seen as a caring figure, doting on the pups sired by his mate."

Nathanial guessed that stuff about London was Lowell talking about things that happened in the eighteen hundreds. It got confusing when Liam's past lives forgot when they were.

Geoff choked out, again, "What about me? Am I...f-fert...?"

Liam smiled. "Ah, relax, lad. Being a da isn't that bad. Aoife will deal with all the hard parts anyway, while you finish school. Think it over; she'll be fertile for two more days. Possibly three." Liam's smile faltered for a moment. "My daughter, my sweet little girl, will be a good..." He cut off. Liam's eyes got misty and lost focus. "She was so tiny, but even then her ears were adorably large. Now, here we are talking about her having pups."

Den gently reminded him, "It's been well over a hundred years, Poppy. Aunt Aoife needs to look at having pups soon; you said so yourself."

Avery's voice was bitter. "How do you think I feel, Sensei? Geoff just turned sixteen! I can't believe you'd force him to do this at his age. Rolph doesn't have pups yet. He hasn't even tried!"

Nathanial pulled Geoff up with him as he stood. "Let's go for a walk and let them talk." Faelen jumped to his hindpaws, instantly on guard. "Calm down, Faelen. I'm not going to try to get into a third fight with Rolph."

Conor arched an eyebrow. "Third? You ran into Rolph again last night? Ares spare us, is the village intact?"

Nathanial blushed and looked down as he nodded. "Y-Yeah. Um, ask the alpha. I think Geoff and I need to calm down a bit." Geoff still looked haunted as he stared blankly at the far wall.

Conor's expression softened. "Okay, but Dirk is going with you three. Think it over, Geoff. It worked well for Dirk; just look at Faelen."

Dirk looked a little surprised, but stood up as well and moved ahead of the pups into the hall.

Alpha McDougal addressed Avery. "I'm not forcing Geoff to do anything...yet. Rolph will be married within five years, before he turns fifty, as the law requires for all Elementals. I have to double-check the wording, but I'm pretty sure there's a loophole that'd allow Geoff to marry someone he knows can't bear him pups if he already has some. That caveat was provided in case a 'wife' was infertile, but I think it'll apply here."

Liam's face fell as he said, "I will go see Muireann shortly." His forlorn expression shifted to impassive as he watched Faelen leave. "I may not be back before you return."

Faelen paused but nodded. "I'll see you after, then. Try... You still don't have a lot of chi, and it's really unbalanced. Don't get..." He grimaced and shrugged his shoulders. "You know."

It looked like he was trying not to be overprotective, but Nathanial thought his concern was really sweet. Nathanial was pretty sure there was a lot Faelen wanted to say, but knew Liam didn't like being fussed over in front of other people.

Liam's tail started to wag slowly, and a small, tender smile crossed his muzzle. "Indeed. I do know, my love. I will try not to exert myself unduly. Keep watch over your charge and yourself. Now, be off."

Nathanial let Dirk take the lead and strode out into the partly cloudy afternoon.

---

Liam followed Luke down into the caves. He was wearing Ciaran's suit again and carrying the small bundle that held Muiry's gift... Gifts. "Luke, how is she? I know my beautiful girl can be venomous when she's riled, but she's been confined for a week."

Luke snorted. "She's beautiful, but she can be a real shrew, Lowell. She had lots of suitors from what I understand, but Torcan ended up divorcing her because she was so mean. She hasn't had any suitors in decades, despite her looks."

Liam sighed. "Such a pity. I wonder what changed her. She was always capable of fits and bouts of distemper, but she could also be very kind and patient. She spent almost the whole time with me when I was dying. I'd hoped she would've become a nurse; she never had any interest in traditional Chinese medicine, but she was always very good at helping me take care of people."

"I'd never heard you were a healer, Lowell."

"No, probably not. I didn't do much healing. I was focused on business and clan matters when I wasn't spending time with my children. That's while I was even here. Still, I ended up helping people once or twice a month, and she was always there with me." Liam sighed and then reluctantly added, "When I let her. She never could keep a secret and that's a very bad trait to have as a nurse."

"Huh, yeah. Yeah, it is. She hasn't gotten any better about that, which is why I'm in a bind. She has information damning to too many people for me to just let her go, but she hasn't actually done anything deserving of punishment. I don't want to sentence someone to death before they commit a crime, but once the crime is done the clan will be ripped apart. I can't even just tell her to keep quiet and trust her to do that."

They fell silent as they walked through a larger cavern with a dozen Spirits working on repairing a fountain. There were several large lights in the ceiling providing artificial sunlight, allowing forty large fruit trees to grow.

Liam looked at them in amusement. "Ah, such wonders. I'd never thought I'd see trees growing down here. It was always such a smoky place, lad, with all those fires burning to provide warmth and light to these chilly caves. Now..." He waved his paw at the unripe peaches growing on the closest tree. "You've got fruit growing out of season one hundred sixty fathoms under the ground." He chuckled. "Tanai must've had fits when you planted trees down here."

Luke glanced at the workers, but they were still toiling away. His voice dropped to a muffled rumble. "Careful what you say. You aren't supposed to have been here before, remember? Or know Tanai that well." He snorted in amusement. "Yes, I did get an earful when I gave the order. It was Aoife's idea, but Aedan and Faeden made it work. The trees down here give more fruit than the ones aboveground."

Liam gave him a wry glance. "I know perfectly well how good Spirit hearing is, even exceptional ones like my boy. They couldn't hear me." They walked into the next tunnel. "Now, why are we taking the long route?"

"I thought you'd like to pay your respects." The tunnel was short and opened out into a large garden. Standing near the entrance, surrounded by four large rosebushes, was a life-sized statue of Ruarc McDougal.

Liam shook his head. "He's comparatively much taller than last I saw him. And much quieter." He walked up to the statue and put his paw on it. "Sleep well, my friend, and may Gaia's embrace give you the comfort you long sought." He patted the statue's arm. "No whisky? First time for everything." He looked out across the flower gardens, smiling sadly at the sight. There was a faint drone of bees, but no wind, no birdsong. The setting was somewhat appropriate for the previous alpha, but so wrong at the same time. It was the sound of a garden Ruarc had loved more than anything else about them. Gardens used to be the only place Ruarc wasn't driven to find solace in the bottom of a cup.

Luke waited a minute before clearing his throat. Liam nodded and followed the new alpha of the Cork Clan out of the subterranean garden.

They stopped in the O'Conalls' courtyard for a moment to let Liam try to settle his nerves. He glanced at the doors around him; part of him wished he could bring someone else with him for support.

Ciaran's door quietly opened and the drab Wolf slipped out. "Da."

"Ciaran."

"She won't be happy to see you."

"I know."

"She'll scream and throw things."

"I know."

"She won't... You know."

"I know." Liam knew Ciaran had been going to say that Muireann would not voluntarily listen to him.

"I don't..."

'Want to kill her,' Liam thought, finishing Ciaran's sentence in the privacy of his own head. Liam's heart felt as heavy as a millstone, and he could tell that Ciaran was in a similar state. He assumed he would share in the responsibility of carrying that duty, as if he were still Lowell and still a member of the Cork Clan. "Neither do I, but should she force it, one of us will have to do it. I could not ask Lorena to kill her daughter and neither she nor any of the others could do so quickly and painlessly. It is our duty as her kin and the clan's assassins to do such unpleasant tasks." Even Alpha McDougal looked uncomfortable.

Ciaran stood motionless, his face impassive, as he softly asked, "Have you had to do...this before, Da?"

"I have not had a child before, Ciaran. I have had orders to kill my lover, which is somewhat similar. It was... It still haunts me."

Alpha McDougal winced, but Ciaran just gave a quick nod. "I can imagine. Such is our duty."

Liam could feel the alpha's chi roil, oddly reminiscent of the way Geoff's often did. It was most fortunate that the Dark Elemental was not here, as he would find this conversation as unpleasant on both fronts: the subject and the resolve.

Alpha McDougal steeled himself. "O'Conall, as you will. The Ancient One has business to attend to."

Ciaran gave a shallow bow. "Sir. Da." He silently slipped back into his cave, closing the door behind him.

"You trained him well, Ancient One." Alpha McDougal knocked on the door, loudly. He raised his voice. "Muireann O'Conall."

There was no answer for a minute, but just as Alpha McDougal was about to knock again, Liam could sense her moving to the door. He raised his paw and the Wolf waited.

The lock clicked and the door slowly opened. Muireann peeked around the frame. She was wearing a dressing gown; it would have been rather fetching had it been unwrinkled and clean. Her fur was somewhat bedraggled and she had dark circles under her eyes, visible even through her fur. She did not appear to have been sleeping well, nor to have cared for herself properly in a few days.

Seeing his beautiful daughter in such a state caused a flood of memories to overwhelm Liam. He was momentarily stunned as he remembered his daughter in happier times...