A Date With Faet

"It'll be ok cutie," Keira said confidently as the three of us left my mother's private chambers. "She'll be fine."

Kelly agreed, "You're not asking her to do anything she hasn't already done countless times before. If anything this is just a nodd to her past exploits."

"I know," I replied quietly. "I still don't like it, and I'm still not convinced this was the only option."

Kelly reminded me, "I don't think your mother was going to budge any further. You did a good job talking her down as far as you did, you know? Don't kick yourself babe, you did really well standing up for your ideals, and standing up for her."

As we passed a servant in the corridor I gestured to him, "Would you please find my daughter and let her know I need to see her in my private chambers?"

The steward bowed, "Of course m'lady, right away."

Kelly and Keira and I continued walking back to our rooms while the young man hurried off to locate Elise.

I sighed, "I still don't feel great about it. But I'm sure you're right, it'll probably be a non-issue."

Kelly wrapped an arm around my shoulders while Keira wound hers around my waist, and they both gave me a gentle squeeze as the three of us walked. My arms slipped around both their waists, and I responded with a little squeeze back.

When the three of us got to our rooms we all took seats around the small table by the window to wait there for Elise.

I was still uneasy about the whole thing, but I reminded myself I was doing this to keep the peace with my mother.

My wives and I talked a bit more while we waited, they both continued to assure me this was the best course of action given the situation my mother presented. It took about a half hour before there was finally a knock at our door.

A moment after that it swung open and Elise stepped in. Willow was flitting around in the air nearby, but she settled down on my girl's shoulder. I was almost surprised Saoirse didn't come too.

My daughter and my little sister had been almost inseparable right from the start, and since I discovered the pixie sneaking around five years ago she'd joined the other two. Now all three of them were very much partners in crime.

"You wanted to see me?" Elise asked. In a slightly anxious voice she added, "I'm not in trouble again, am I?"

I couldn't help smiling at her. Almost eight years had passed since I adopted her, and she still managed to find or cause trouble on a regular basis. I almost wondered if she'd ever grow out of this tiny fae gremlin stage. And to be honest, I secretly hoped she wouldn't. She certainly hadn't grown much in other ways over the years.

Elise was fifty-seven now, turning fifty-eight next month, and she ought to look about sixteen years old to human eyes. But the Morrigan's curse hit her even harder than myself, my girl stood just four-foot-five. She hadn't grown any taller in the past eight years, but she had started to fill out. If you looked past her tiny size, she had the curves and body shape of a girl partway through her teen years.

It was a stark contrast to Saoirse, who was fast approaching her sixteenth birthday and was almost as tall as my wives. She hadn't stopped growing yet either, there was every chance by the time she hit her first century she'd be taller than Kelly and Keira. Elise was positively tiny by comparison, though fortunately that didn't seem to bother her at all.

My girl definitely took after me when it came to clothes. As usual she was wearing one of her Earth-inspired outfits. Today it was dark blue trews styled to look like jeans and a tight green blouse in the shape of a t-shirt, with soft leather shoes that were the fae equivalent of sneakers.

I finally turned my thoughts back to the matter at hand. "No hon, you aren't in trouble. I need to talk to you about Queen Áine's Midsummer Ball."

Elise rolled her eyes and made a face, "Me and Willow and Saoirse have all spent countless hours being fitted for those ridiculous dresses! I already said I'd wear the stupid thing, but I won't be happy about it."

My wives and I all had to conceal some smirks. My girl hated pomp and ceremony as much as I did, maybe even more. However, it wasn't the silly outfits I needed to discuss.

"Willow?" I addressed the pixie on my daughter's shoulder.

The tiny girl obviously wasn't expecting to be part of the conversation, she startled slightly but asked, "Yes Lady Tegan?"

"My wives and I actually need to speak with Elise in private. Would you mind excusing us? We won't be long, I'm sure Elise will come find you as soon as we're done here."

The pixie seemed a little wary, so was my daughter. They were both obviously wondering if Elise was in trouble after all. Still, Willow knew better than to argue the point.

She whispered something to my girl then flitted up into the air. After bowing slightly to the twins and I, she turned and flew back to the door. Elise followed, she opened the door to let Willow out then closed it again behind her.

I blinked my sight on and watched for a few moments to make sure we didn't have an invisible pixie sneaking back in with us, while Elise moved back to me and my wives.

Elise gave me a wary look and asked, "So if I'm not in trouble and we're not talking about the silly dresses, what's going on?"

"The queen's Midsummer Ball is a very important gala event hon," I replied. "There's going to be a lot of high-ranking noble families there, and I know you'll be on your best behaviour..."

I actually had to struggle to keep a straight face, while Elise bit her lip and tried not to smirk. We all knew she'd find a way to stir up trouble, if there was any trouble to be had.

Once we'd both stopped fighting grins I continued, "I know you've already met several of Queen Áine's courtiers and a few other nobles from around the realm, but there will be some other people there that I need to talk to you about. Lord Sean ó Faoláin, Marquis of Conchobhair is going to be there, along with his son Colin ó Faoláin."

Elise's expression slowly shifted through confusion before settling on a frown.

"Aren't the ó Faoláin's our enemies?" she asked in a confused voice. "They're the ones who had you kidnapped and cursed grampa, right?"

"That was Lord Aengus," I explained. "He was Sean's father, but he passed away about twenty years ago. Apparently Lord Sean has become a lot more mature since taking his father's place. According to the queen, he's been making overtures for peace and reconciliations between his family and our clann."

After a few moments my girl finally asked "Ok? What does this have to do with me?"

I grimaced and replied "First off I want to make sure you know not to try any pranks or stir up any trouble around Lord Sean or his son. Lady Maeve has already been corresponding with Queen Áine and Lord Sean, and there's a chance we could bring an end to a two-hundred-year quarrel between the ó Faoláin family and Clann Brádaigh."

Elise started to protest her innocence but I cut her off, "I know you haven't done anything yet hon. I'm telling you this so you know not to do anything when we're at the ball. Above and beyond not causing trouble, I have a favour to ask you."

I took a deep breath then came out with it. "Young Colin is only seventeen years older than yourself. Your grandmother and I would like you to spend some time with him at the ball. Talk to him, get to know him. Maybe even dance with him?"

Her expression shifted back to a frown and she asked, "Why would I want to do that?"

This was the hard part. It took two days of arguing with my mom to get to this point. She wanted to just offer my girl up as a bargaining chip, she would have made arrangements for Elise to marry Colin as soon as the two of them were both of age. Needless to say, there was no way in the world I'd let that happen. My mother married for love and so did I. Nobody was going to deny my daughter that right. But after two days, this was the compromise mom and I finally agreed on. Get Elise to meet Colin, see if they'd be friends, and hope for the best.

I kept my expression neutral as I replied, "Lady Maeve and I are hoping perhaps you and Colin might become friends. Perhaps the two of you would meet each other again, at other official functions. Maybe in time you'll become more than friends..."

Compromise or not the words still left a bad taste in my mouth. And it was clear my little girl wasn't any happier hearing them than I was saying them.

She scowled, "So you're trying to set me up with some guy because of politics? Then what, you think if I spend a night dancing with him at a royal ball I'm going to fall in love? What next, you'll expect me to marry him? That's never going to happen! Never mind the fact this guy's granddad messed with my family and our whole clann, I'm not into guys!"

I winced and sighed, "I'm not asking you to marry anyone Elise. I'm just asking you to spend some time with him. Get to know him. Dance with him, talk with him. You never know, he might be a nice person."

"No," she stated, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm not into guys! I'm not going to dance with a guy, I'm not going to spend time getting to know him. If you have to try setting me up with someone, at least have the decency to set me up with a girl!"

I frowned as I asked her, "What do you mean you aren't into guys? You came out to me as bi. I know you've been with guys before."

My girl looked shocked as she stared at me. "Mom what are you talking about? I'm still just a kid, I've never been with anyone! And I'm not bi! I only like girls, same as you!"

"Elise," I sighed, but stopped myself for a moment. What I was about to say was not for outside ears, and I cast a detection spell to make sure there was nobody else in the vicinity.

Once I was certain there was no-one else around but the four of us I continued quietly, "Hon I appreciate you haven't been with anyone since I adopted you. I'm not talking about the last seven years. I mean before that. I know you don't like to talk about your past but it's just the four of us here and we all know the truth. When you and I went to college together, you came out as bi. You were with loads of guys, and girls. And like I said, I'm not asking you to marry anyone. I'm just asking you to give Colin ó Faoláin a chance."

Her expression shifted from shocked to horrified. She shook her head and said in a half-whisper, "That wasn't me. That's not me. I'm Elise Brádaigh, I'm your daughter. I'm just a kid. I've never been to college, and I've never been with anyone, ever!"

The whole situation was hard enough as it was. I already felt bad just asking her to do this, but now she was leaning even harder into her 'daughter-mode' act. And for almost eight years she and I both pretty much lived that non-stop. But I knew she wouldn't have forgotten the truth any more than I had.

"Elise we're alone here ok?" I stated. "You don't need to maintain the act, there's nobody else listening in."

Now ontop of the horror she looked betrayed, in fact she actually looked nauseous. There were tears in her eyes as she whispered, "You think I'm acting? This is me! I'm not... I'm not whoever you think I am!"

I could tell she was fighting back tears, and she suddenly turned and dashed for the door. She swung it open then ran off down the hall. I called out but she was already gone.

Keira commented with a frown, "Well that didn't go well. She's really committed to her 'young fae teen' performance."

"No," I sighed, "It didn't go well at all. I guess I better go after her."

Kelly stated softly, "No babe."

I looked to my left, and the expression on my wife's face left me feeling anxious. Kelly looked somewhere between shocked and worried.

"Kelly?" I asked her nervously, "What's wrong?"

She got to her feet as she replied, "I need to speak with Elise, and I need to do it alone. Keira, stay out of my head until I'm finished. Tegan, don't interrupt and please don't interfere."

From her tone I knew better than to try arguing with my wife. Her reaction had me worried though, and I asked, "Kelly tell me what's wrong?"

She paused on her way to the door, "I'm not sure yet. I have a suspicion, but I can't discuss it with either of you until I've spoken with Elise."

She refused to say anything else, and with that she left our chambers and set off after my little girl.