Pain cut through my gut like my worst menstrual cramps times a hundred. I grabbed my stomach and hissed out one breath after another. I’d been floating around Manannan’s place with Daire. Something cut me and red light spilled out. That spot throbbed under my shirt. Blood hadn’t spurted everywhere and my arms weren’t a sticky red mess. The nerves all over that area still burned.

“Do you think my sire as High King will allow any of us to experience Eire again?” Rio’s voice came from down the hall. “It will be no better than if Bodb Derg had never stepped down.”

“You are still of his bloodline,” another woman said. “What you propose is attractive. What concerns me is your disloyalty to your kin. What sort of fealty would you show your people if in power?”

“My ‘kin’ are only beholden to themselves. I never had allegiance to them and never will.”

I drowned out the debate and lifted up my blanket, then my shirt. How much of a mess was my midsection? My stomach had its same old rolls and stretch marks. The Spear hadn’t made any cut. Not even a bruise. Why did it hurt so much?

I cringed as I pushed myself up. I had to see Daire. He could fix this before Rio noticed.

“They sealed the walls. He kept us safe,” the other woman said.

“That single action condemned how many others to slaughter?” Rio’s intensity built. “Even so, over a thousand years have passed since we vanished. Humans have discounted us to mere children’s stories.”

“You want to change that?”

“I want to use it.”

I managed to scoot up the wall until I got to my feet. “Hey!”

“What’s that noise?” the stranger asked.

“My human companion, one moment.” Rio turned away from the mirror. “I hope your nap was restful, Maya. Is something the matter?”

“Nothing big. Had a bad dream.” I shrugged and winced when my stomach flared. “You’re busy. I’ll get out of your hair and head over to visit you-know-who.”

Rio clenched her jaw as she glanced between the mirror and me. She couldn’t have been at the conversation for more than a couple hours with how long Daire and I had been gone. She turned an apologetic smile on the woman. “Might we continue this spirited debate another time?”

“Is something amiss with your changeling?” The stranger asked with a lilt of curiosity.

“Perhaps. I must check for myself.”

“You may see now and return straightaway. No need to disrupt the scry anymore than that.”

“She is my guest.” Rio set her hands behind her back and twisted them around each other. “I would be a poor host to leave her unattended.”

“And I would be a poor vassal to her majesty Cliona to not report that you will make a poor High Queen for making me wait unnecessarily.” The mirror’s light blinked off.

“You didn’t have to hang up on her.” I threw the blanket off me and gritted my teeth as more pain spiked through my stomach.

“This is more than a nightmare.” Rio sped to the cot and patted around my forehead with the back of her hand. “You’re feverish. Lay back.”

“I’m…fine.” I groaned as she pushed on my chest. My whole abdomen hurt too much to resist and I fell into my pillow. I couldn’t even fake fine. What had that spear done to me?

“I knew you should have eaten something earlier.” Rio gathered her particles into a dark gray ball and slipped it under my neck. The smooth metal felt amazing, like a cold soda can on a hot day. “I cannot think of anything else that could cause this unless someone slipped a hex on you.”

“I’m just really hungry. That’s it.” The candles set into the walls blurred together. Each wave of pain sharpened in the quiet. I had to keep her talking. “How’d you get…so good at playing nurse, huh?”

“I trained under my aunt for a time before Bodb demanded I stop.” Rio left me for the magical food cupboard nearby and pulled a steaming bowl out of it. Onions, beans, and chicken stock hit my nose as she came back. “Brigid taught me what I know of healing arts and fighting.”

“I remember her. Nice but intense.”

“Our lesson earlier was modeled after her style.” Rio scooped the back of my head higher and spooned broth to my mouth. “Go on.”

“I can…feed myself.”

“You cannot even sit up.” The spoon stayed put. “Cease being mule-headed and allow me to serve you.”

“Abuela shoved food at me when I got sick too.” I slurped the soup up, focusing on the smell, on Rio’s pampering. “You fuss worse.”

“Someone must. If you had your way, you would break yourself to pieces.”

“Would you do this if—” Another spasm cut me off and I curled up, hugging my stomach tight.

“Hush and eat.” Rio waited until my cramp passed and gave me more soup. “Let me tell you what it is like to learn under the fierce but nurturing Brigid of Cill Dara…”

The food and Rio’s voice helped take the worst of the edge off the Spear’s effects. I laid there and soaked it up. I let myself finish my own dangerous question: would she do this if she was there all the time? After taking care of other people at home for so long, I liked somebody else doing it to me for a change. I could let myself be protected and vulnerable. It felt right with her. I didn’t want to lose that, did I?

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

She talked me through the worst of the pain until my fever broke and sweat drenched my neck and arms. The mirrors in the hallway pulled at her attention as I managed to sit up on my own. The sheltered bubble she made for me popped as I let her get back to them. I hobbled to Daire’s mirror and focused on putting one foot in front of the other. The ache flared with every step without Rio’s soothing presence to take it away.

* * *

I slid through Daire’s mirror and my tight repression broke. The pain swelled worse than before, and I doubled over. Daire rushed up and helped me toward his bed.

“It hurts.” I groaned as I fell into the mattress.

“Lay back.” Daire lifted my shirt hem up and showed my pudgy stomach to the world. He patted around. Wherever he touched, warm comfort numbed the pain. “Aunt Brigid would be the best person for this, but I’m not sure how to explain the wound without arousing suspicion.”

Daire trailed off and got quiet all of a sudden as he ran his thumb over my lowest rib. His cheeks went pink and he flinched away. Was his head going somewhere it shouldn’t? I doubted that. He’d teased me for looking “boyish and unkempt” plenty of times. His type was a lot thinner and a lot longer than me. Did he notice something else?

“Dammit Daire, what’s wrong with me?” I asked, dreading the worst.

“Nothing of too much import that I can tell.” Daire wiped his palm on his shirt and swiped his sleeve across his forehead. Maybe using his magic had made him tired and his face hot like after intense exercise. “Your essence seems weakened. I’ve done what I can to dull the symptoms.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I pulled my shirt back down and tried sitting up. The tingling sensation Daire left heated up, and that was better than twisting cramps.

“Every being has a certain…life energy to them. In theory, that is what a dream-state draws upon in order to exist outside the body,” Daire explained. “My aunt could explain it so much better, as well as better predict the ramifications.”

“Your aunt could also tattle to Manannan about what she saw.” I grunted as I rubbed my stomach on reflex. “Am I going to die because of this? If not, how long ‘til it goes away?”

“The only way the Spear would kill you is if it struck your core points.” Daire touched my forehead, my neck, and just above my heart. He could’ve pointed that out on his own body as easy as mine. “I have no way of knowing when it will mend itself, but it seems superficial. It should heal on its own.”

“As long as I’m not dying.” I sighed as a fresh dose of guilt resurfaced. Usually I went to Rio for medical issues. “Rio’s still talking with somebody in a mirror. As long as I’m here, let’s make a plan for next time. She’s probably going to visit Manannan’s daughter and her wife next. They’re southern, right?”

“Yes. It’s good you paid attention to my lectures. Perhaps there’s hope for you yet,” Daire said, back to teasing. Falling back into that routine helped my overactive conscience calm down. “Let’s see if you can make a streak of it. Do you remember which artifact she possesses?”

“Mannanan was north. He had the Spear.” I bit my lip as I counted off the treasures on my fingers. The Stone was stuck in one place, so that was last. That left either the Sword or the Cauldron. “She’s got the…Cauldron?”

“Not quite. South is Nuada’s Sword, otherwise known as the Sword of Light. I’m afraid you’ll lose marks for that.” Daire made a yard stick appear in his hand as he walked a line in front of me. His forehead had an extra layer of sweat, but he seemed to put up a good front for my sake. “Nuada is a crucial figure in Aos Si history, being the king who finally freed the Tuatha De Danann from slavery to the Fomor. He had an affinity for silver and even had an arm made of the substance for a short time. His sword was known for its enchanted silver blade that could cut through any substance without bending or breaking.”

“You have any pictures of this thing, Mrs. Daire?” I rested against a pillar holding his bed curtain. “I need to be able to spot it.”

“What must we do when we have a question?”

“Oh come on.”

“I will rap your knuckles with this.” Daire held up the stick and winked. “Unless you want me to change the game.”

“You wish.” I raised my hand.

“Yes, Miss Alvarez-Diaz?”

“Same question.”

“Based on legend, it should appear something like this.” The yardstick in Daire’s hand transformed to a short sword. The painted parts looked like a blonde man trying to hug somebody with his legs sticking out. The handle was wrapped in bright wire, giving the little guy a suit of armor. The rest of it stretched into a silver blade that curved into a leaf-shape at the end and glowed white. “This isn’t an exact replica, but it’s close enough for our purposes.”

“What about security?”

“That’s the mystery.” Daire ran the sword up his sleeve, and it vanished. “While Manannan kept the Spear on display, Cliona will keep her treasure hidden. Finvarra will also keep the Cauldron under heavier guard. I’ll have to see where he keeps it while I’m staying there.”

“Wait…you’re staying there now?”

“Yes. Father is trying to curry favor with those most likely to vote for Riona.”

“Then you can get it without waiting for Rio, right?” My stomach flipped when I thought about having to do that ghost thing again.

“The book specifically said a human must find them, though.” Daire rubbed his chin. “I could help in the flesh there. Us doing it in secret would be far better than you going with Riona.”

“What?” Was he serious? “Why?”

“He has a widely known taste for human women, whether they want him or not. Most likely he will want you in exchange for his vote.”

It shouldn’t surprise me there was another serial kidnapper roaming around Tir Na Nog. I shuddered thinking of that alternative to Rio. Her chain on my wrist rattled. If somebody like what Daire described had gotten a hold of me? I got luckier than I knew with her.

Daire narrowed his eyes at the chain. He bent within inches of it.

“Personal space.” I hid that arm out of sight behind my back. “What’s up?”

“Your arm.” Daire pointed around me at Rio’s bracelet. “Did Riona give that to you, or force it on you?”

“She gave it to me awhile ago.” I’d almost forgotten it was there. “It’s supposed to protect me. Technically it means I’m her changeling, but she doesn’t mean it like that.”

“I’m sure she meant it as both a warning to others and a token of her esteem.”

“Makes sense, I guess.” She’d been open about the other meaning behind giving me the chain, but it still tasted sour when I thought about it. I liked it too much to take it off, though. “This thing is iron, like her magic, so I can still use it as a weapon if worse comes to worse.”

“Only if you’re clever and no one pins your arm down before you can get to them.”

“I’ll deal with it when it happens.” I shook my head, clearing out the Rio thoughts making my insides messy. “Last thing: where did you stash the Spear?”

“Under your backside, for the moment.” Daire nudged the base of his bed with his foot.

“Seriously? I was joking when I said that.” I stood up and lifted his mattress away. A loose board stood out from the others and something glowed between its cracks. “That’s the first place somebody smart will look.”

“I know, I know, I need to find other arrangements.” Daire huffed as he plopped into his desk chair. “It’s difficult hiding something that powerful when I can’t use my magic to its full capacity.”

“You could at least bury them somewhere, make them work for it.” I set the mattress down.

“Bury it?” Daire jumped up and snapped his fingers. “Get the Spear. We must be hasty.” Daire reached around me and pulled up his mattress and the board under it. “Father is supposed to fetch me any time now.”

“What’s your big idea?” The Spear hummed as I picked it up. I leaned on it like a cane.

“You’ll see.” He grabbed me and tugged us through his mirror. “To the garden!”