LITMIR.BIZ

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and some sort of tea that woke me right up.

      ‘I imagine you have met my travelling companions,’ I said to my parents.

      ‘Essa and I had a lot to talk about,’ Mom said. ‘I knew her brother well.’

      ‘And Araf’s father and I go way back,’ Dad said.

      ‘Have you been properly introduced to Cousin Fergal?’

      ‘Cousin Fergal?’ Mom looked surprised.

      ‘Haven’t you told them yet?’

      ‘No,’ Fergal said, ‘I was waiting for you.’

      ‘OK then, Mom, you know that protection spell you put on me – the one that only works on relatives?’

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘Well, it worked when Fergal tried to stab me.’

      Mom shot an angry glance at Fergal. ‘Why were you trying to stab my son?’

      ‘Whoa, Mom! It’s alright, it was an accident.’

      She looked me in the eyes, then dropped her shoulders and asked Fergal, ‘Who are your parents?’

      ‘That’s just it. I don’t know. I was hoping you could tell me.’

      Fergal told Deirdre the story of his upbringing. When he finished, Mom said, ‘Well, I don’t know of any Banshees in my line. Yours?’

      Dad shook his head.

      ‘I’d like to find out myself,’ Mom said. ‘Perhaps I could perform a Shadowcasting.’

      ‘I’d be interested in seeing that,’ said a voice close to my back.

      I turned to see Aunt Nieve standing behind me – a knife in her hand.

SEVENTEEN

      THE DRUID TABLE

      I leaped to my feet and reached for my sword, as did my companions, but none of us had our weapons with us. Fergal cocked his arm a couple of times trying to bring out a nonexistent Banshee blade. I grabbed a fork from the table and brandished it as menacingly as one can with tableware. Essa and Araf were the only sensible ones – when they realised they had no banta sticks, they each ripped a leg off the table. As food and plates crashed to my feet, I slipped on some fruit and fell backwards onto the semi-legless table.

      Nieve smiled and took a step forward. Araf, Essa and Fergal came to my defence, standing between me and my evil aunt. Fergal was holding a silver serving tray in front of him as a shield.

      Dad and Mom quickly came between us.

      ‘Whoa!’ Dad said, putting his hand up in front of him. He was smiling a little. ‘Nieve is on our side.’

      ‘What? What do you mean – our side? This is the woman who tried to kill me with a spear and she shot you with an arrow, Dad. Remember?’

      ‘It’s true,’ Mom said, ‘Nieve is a friend.’

      I stood up, still brandishing my fork. ‘The last time we were all together you two were trying to kill each other.’

      ‘Yes,’ Mom said, ‘but after you escaped, we nursed your father’s wound together and then we talked. We hadn’t talked since my banishment. We had a lot to say.’

      Araf and Essa lowered their table legs but I was unconvinced. I continued to wield my cutlery.

      Mom went on. ‘I was consumed with the want of revenge. Truemagic could not tell me who had destroyed my home, so I sought out the Fili and the secret of Shadowmagic. That’s when I met Fand. Together, we learned that Shadowmagic was not evil – it was like any other power. The evil came from the person who wielded it. She taught me the wisdom of the Fili and it changed me. I have never used Shadowmagic to find out who killed my father and my tutors. The hate would corrupt me and the magic.’

      ‘What does this have to do with her?’ I said, pointing my fork at Nieve.

      It was Nieve’s turn to speak. Her voice was soft. It surprised me. I had never heard it without venom. ‘I am an old woman and thought myself wiser than I really was. I was set in my ways. When your mother learned forbidden lore and produced the son of the one-handed prince – I thought it was my duty to stop her. I now see it was wrong to blame Shadowmagic for the Fili war – it was Maeve who was to blame.’

      I looked over to Fand. She lowered her eyes.

      ‘What about the son of the one-handed prince stuff?’ I said.

      ‘Ona’s divinations should not be ignored,’ Nieve replied, ‘but your mother has convinced me that there are other paths than the one I have been travelling.’

      ‘You mean the kill Conor path?’ I said.

      ‘Yes,’ she said, and sounded sincere.

      ‘I was never a big fan of that road.’

      Nieve smiled. ‘Nor was I, Conor. You will never know how much it pained me.’

      ‘So how come you are coming at me with a knife?’

      She glanced down at her hand and looked surprised to see she was actually holding a knife. ‘Oh, I was just in the kitchen. I came in to see if I could slice some bread for anyone.’

      Dad cracked up at this. ‘Are you going to lower your fork, son, or are you going to eat your aunt?’

      I looked at the pathetic weapon in my hand and smiled. ‘So we start over?’

      ‘I would like that,’ Nieve said.

      ‘OK. Hi, I’m Conor – Oisin and Deirdre’s kid.’ I extended my hand.

      ‘I am very happy to meet you, Conor. I am Nieve, your father’s older sister and your aunt.’

      She shook my hand and smiled. You know, when Nieve smiles she doesn’t look so scary at all. Saying that, I wasn’t ready to hug her.

      ‘Can I have my table legs back?’ came a quiet voice on the other side of the room. It was Fand.

      ‘Oh gods,’ Araf said, ‘I am sorry.’ Araf lifted the table with one hand and tried to put the leg back – without much success.

      ‘Do not worry, Araf. The Druid Table has been broken before. In years to come I will point out the repairs and tell how the lord of the Imps tore off the leg to protect his friend.’

      ‘The Druid Table?’ I said.

      ‘Most of the Fili were killed in the war,’ Dad said. ‘The few survivors hid in this forest. The rest became mortals and travelled to the Real World. Irish history remembers them as the Druids.’

      ‘I remember you telling me about the Druids when I was young, you told me no one knew where they came from.’

      ‘I lied. I knew.’

      ‘You lied about a lot of things, didn’t you, Dad.’

      ‘I did, and I am sorry.’

      ‘So are you finally going to tell me the truth about how you lost your hand?’

      ‘Ah, that’s a great story!’ Fergal yelped. ‘You see, Oisin and Cialtie were having a …’

      ‘You know how my dad lost his hand?’

      ‘Of course, everybody knows that story.’

      ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

      ‘You never asked. I can’t believe you haven’t

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