We would only have a moment to dash across the throne room when the time came. Bodb crashed through the top of his obsidian prison, shattering the layers upon layers of earth heaped on him. Aengus readied another spell while Father sent his power back into the fissure. Aunt Brigid filled her mouth with fresh red flame. With them so focused on continuing their battle, we could slip by, even if I had to drag Maya most of the way.

I turned to my companion. “There’s our chance. Be ready to—”

Maya rammed into me. My sister’s very familiar power seared into my side.

I yelped like an injured hound and reeled back. The entire left side of my tunic was blackened. More red burns throbbed under the charred fabric as smoke rose from that side of my face. I lost my grip on Mother.

Maya moved with the stilted agility of a marionette under the fingers of a master puppeteer when she slung her arm around Mother. While her eyes showed apology, regret even, the rest of her snatched her prey into Riona’s aura. A group of the specks clustered within Maya’s palm into a rough knife. She brought it to Mother’s neck.

Riona’s silhouette rose behind her changeling just before her aura obscured all of them in its black mist.

“Let her go!” I charged into the field. The solid barrier I hit ate through the rest of my sleeve on impact. “She’s done nothing to you. Leave her be!”

Father turned from piling more boulders that Bodb would smash through. His attention darted to me, then settled on the mass of Riona’s power. Anyone could pick out Mother’s bright gown in that darkness, and how Maya’s shape held something to her neck. His immense stones fell to the room’s new ditch as Father released them. “Aengus, the changeling has Etain. Behind you!”

Aengus whipped around toward me standing helpless outside Riona’s barrier. His innate glow brightened to its full potential and stretched into swirling spell knots and lines of Ogham that laid in wait.

He directed them to the Dagda’s club that Bodb swung with such fervor. It turned against its wielder and slammed across his chest. Bodb flew back as his weapon pinned him high against the nearest wall. He writhed against the club, but Aengus’ spellwork held firm.

While such a position made Bodb an ideal target for the oncoming blaze my aunt sent his way, the flames deflected against a sudden warding glyph. They looped over her head and fell upon her rather than her higher ranked brother. Brigid cut through the blast with a strike of her hammer. Only then did she notice Riona’s presence.

“Clever, using the changeling as a walking loophole to your oaths. But if you truly intended her to kill Etain, you wouldn’t have waited so long for us to pause our skirmish.” Aengus searched behind Mother and Maya for the source of the swirling shadows around them. “You have our undivided attention, little vixen.”

“You would do well to watch your tongue, kin-slayer. If no one interferes, either my companion’s hand will kill Etain or Bodb’s sleep will.” Riona’s voice filled the room, sounding much stronger than her weakened condition. “Won’t you explain for our audience?”

“Well the knife needs no explanation.” Aengus raised a quizzical, near mocking brow at my half-sister. “As for Bodb’s power, it is upon you, but you are far from asleep.”

“That’s enough banter, Aengus.” Father turned his stern glower on his youngest brother and former foster son.

“Her power is countering Bodb’s enchantment by feeding on the mortal,” I said in a rush. “We won’t have much longer until it starts to drain Mother.”

“Very good, little Daire.” Rio’s particles thinned around Maya and Mother. The caster herself stayed concealed. “Do peer closer if you aren’t convinced.”

“I shall.” Aunt Brigid moved in front of Aengus, blocking Riona’s view of him. It was the wisest course since he was more likely to provoke her ire than encourage negotiation. “Daire’s assessment is accurate. The changeling’s life energy is nearly spent.”

“Yes, and Maya is still young, on the cusp of her prime.” Rio’s field clamped back around Maya and Mother like a shark’s jaws on a bleeding seal. “Think of what exposure will do to a woman as aged as Midir’s pet?”

Father walked up and took his place beside Brigid. He clutched the pommel of his sheathed sword. “What is your business, Fomor-touched?”

“The removal of this curse and the safety of my human companion and I until Samhain Eve. All of you are to pledge the same oaths that I made to Bodb concerning this family for both Maya and me. None of you will trespass on my lands. Bodb in particular must additionally vow not to come near us. The same goes for the use of any intermediaries to bring us any harm or take either of us against our will. In return, Maya will not kill your waif.”

“And you’ll return Etain to me,” Father added.

“Of course,” Riona said, the devious smile plain in her honey-sweet tone. “What kind of competitor would I be if I didn’t allow you time to play with your toy before I crush you?”

When Riona said “competitor” it should have given me a triumphant reassurance. I couldn’t muster it under those circumstances.

Stolen novel; please report.

“No, he can’t have me!” Mother grabbed for the knife and tugged it toward her neck. Maya’s arm stayed stiff against Mother’s attempts. The woman still thrashed so much that it was only a matter of time before she managed to impale herself. “I won’t go back. Kill me!”

I rammed against the barrier again. It only succeeded in roasting my wounded shoulder darker. Hovering on the edge of the particles afforded me a better view of Maya and Riona than the rest of my family. My sister seemed to support herself against her changeling, her hunched posture shuddering. In the stairwell I had sensed a thread of Maya’s energy through the toxic aura. Nothing emanated from her now. The only force keeping her upright was her mistress’ power.

“I… I give my oath.” I knelt, too desperate to consider that Father was watching. Mother’s well being was worth more than avoiding his scorn.

“You have my oath as well.” Father looked between his siblings. “What say you?”

“Your terms reek of vengeance and lack balance.” Brigid crossed her arms over her chest. “Release Etain and allow us to remove the sleep upon you. Then we can negotiate new terms as a family, something fair to you.”

“Always the kindly voice of reason, Brigid.” Riona’s confident glamour over her voice held, despite how she swayed against Maya. “Alas, you cannot speak for your brothers or undo the damage they have wrought. My terms stand.”

“Is this gamble worth your girl’s life?” Aunt Brigid tried.

“That depends. Is your stubborn diplomacy worth breaking Midir’s spirit?” Riona countered. “What about little Daire’s?”

My aunt met Father’s pleading eyes and glanced to me on my knees. Brigid had done so much to support her kin after the walls closed and took us all in like ailing chicks. She had counseled Bodb and served as his diplomat while Tir Na Nog settled. When Aengus isolated himself for years, failing to find a way to resurrect all those the Aos Si had lost, Brigid assisted him to make sure nothing went awry. It was her alone that took pity on her estranged niece and taught her how to control her explosive power over iron. Then Mother’s condition worsened to its present state. Brigid left her great oak in Cill Dara to care for Father and I as much as Mother. If there was anything she could do to preserve her family, she would.

“Mark me. This will not end well for you, Storm-Child.” Brigid let her arms drop to her sides. “I will submit.”

“I suppose that means I will too.” Aengus sighed, running his fingers through his mess of wispy hair.

“That leaves one.” Riona turned up to Bodb.

“I forbid you running and refuse these outrageous, unfair demands.” Bodb sneered and hawked a great heap of phlegm down at his former lover. The spittle landed on her barrier, sizzling and steaming away on contact. “All I have to do is wait for your magic to run out of victims to be rid of the remaining humans in the realm. Then I may send you back to your slumber of penance. I see no reason to cooperate.”

“So you’ll let our dalliances ruin the tenuous relationship you have with your successor?” Riona’s aura shifted, clustering more around its master. Maya’s true weakness began to show as my sister’s control slackened. My friend’s frail grip trembled. Mother flailed against her captor with renewed vigor. The tip of the knife nicked her cheek. “Would Midir think your legacy so precious after it cost him his only love?”

“Brother, whatever quarrel you have with her, settle it later,” Father begged. “Remove the sleep and surrender to the oath-taking.”

I could only watch on. If I spoke up, Bodb might dismiss me for my age, my status, or the part I played in carrying Riona from the prison. According to his knowledge I wouldn’t even live past Samhain. He hadn’t listened to Aunt Brigid. Father and Aengus were my only hope.

“You don’t know what you ask, Midir,” Bodb protested.

“Haven’t you taken enough family from me already?” Father’s voice cracked as he shouted the plea. “Have I not been loyal? Leave me my wife!”

“This is only until Samhain.” Aengus lowered his hand and his spell faded from around the club. Bodb landed on his feet, and the ground rumbled as he caught his weapon in both hands. “Let her have this time to play politics, then you may resume the feud after the election. Whatever this is about can wait that long.”

Riona’s breathing shifted, becoming labored and wheezing. Maya’s eyes fluttered and her body seemed to hang there rather than stand of its own volition. No, not again.

“Maya, stay awake!” I cupped my hands around my mouth so she might hear me better through the mist’s droning. She didn’t respond.

Mother stopped her violent writhing and went still. She assessed Maya’s languid state and began pulling her arm from the girl’s grasp.

“So you’d have me play the fool to her ploy, Midir?” Bodb watched on as Riona’s dark aura faded from near black to deep slate gray.

“If you stall any further, I refuse to replace you.” Father pointed to Riona as she grinned, to Maya’s sallow complexion, to Mother as she worked to free herself. “Take the sleep from my forsaken bastard and swear to her terms. And so help me, if Etain dies because of your refusal, I will see that whatever intimacy you seem to have with the Fomor-touched comes to light. I will learn your secret and see that our siblings help me spread it.”

Aengus offered Bodb a helpless shrug and an apologetic smile. Everyone knew that his supreme loyalties were with Father because of the bonds the two had forged over their lifetimes. Brigid lifted her chin and acknowledged the threat, even though she didn’t offer a spoken promise to see it through.

“Very well.” Bodb dragged the Dagda’s Club behind him as he stepped over what was left of the ruined furniture and passed through the mounts of stone leftover from Father’s attacks. Black streaks stained the walls overhead from Brigid’s onslaught. He approached the edge of Riona’s barrier and thrust the club into my sister’s aura. The ancient weapon crackled, it’s wood peeling away as my sister’s power ate at it bit by bit. Bodb tapped the crown of Riona’s head with the round end.

The knife in Maya’s hand dissolved right as Mother reached for it. Maya herself stumbled back, her flesh returning to its natural dusky shade. She caught Riona before either of them collapsed and hiked my sister’s arm over her shoulder.

Mother whipped around and buried her fingers in Maya’s shirt. New tear trails painted streaks in her cheeks, mixing with her bleeding cut. “Don’t make me go back. It’s always dark and I get so confused. They never let me outside. He won’t let me see my daughter or tell me where she is.”

I submitted myself first, staying knelt before Riona and repeating the oaths she recited. Each member of our family followed suit and awaited her satisfaction before moving on. While Riona’s ploy had saved herself and my accomplice, the means to her end had too high a price. Her meddling was a bad omen for the future of my plans. I couldn’t afford such an unpredictable complication, yet I needed it.

Maya handled Riona with a gentle attention one would give someone they cherished. She seemed to have a noble heart, earnest and eager to help when she could. It must have been her pity that inspired such care. That was how I convinced myself to ignore the ominous signs that made my gut twist.