Day 4 of Midwinter, Nightfall

Lower City, Gorias

Annwn

It was night, but beyond that, I had lost all track of time. If I had to guess, I’d say it was before midnight, but I hadn’t seen a watch, clock, or calendar since I had arrived, so who knew? The Otherworldians (a name I just made up) didn’t seem to care about hours. The day and night had four parts: Sunrise, Midday, Sunset, and Nightfall.

Morias had told me that day and year tracking in the Otherworld was also completely different. For instance, years never truly began or ended. They flowed together in a constant wheel.

Apparently, each season had at least three moon cycles: first, mid, and last. During a season that happened to have four moon cycles, it was: first, mid, blue, and last.

Based on where we were in winter and how many days since the last new moon, I was pretty sure today was Day 4 of Midwinter. Morias had said the year had something to do with major astronomical events, but by that point, I had lost interest in the science lesson.

For me, it just felt like Christmas Eve, maybe a bit after 10:00pm. Before long, I suspected I would lose track of my home time standards.

It seemed that after Sunset was the time Roo truly came alive. We snuck away from the castle through a secret passage in the wall, so that we didn’t have to check in with anyone. I felt a bit nervous about the whole thing, as it was the first time I’d been out in public without either Morias or Fí. I’d come to rely on them.

Ruadan told me the others had spent most of the day resting or in council with Brigid. If he was to be believed, Fí would be leaving shortly to try to find The Dagda. I would be going with Roo to begin my “training.” If that was true, then it seemed like I should be fine enjoying an evening on the town with him. It would be perfectly safe, right?

We ended up practically running through the town. Though there were certainly less people out at that time of night than there were during the day, it seemed that Gorias was a city that didn’t sleep.

“I know a great spot,” Roo told me as we weaved in and out of the crowds of people. I didn’t have any trouble keeping up with him, but I also wasn’t quite as nimble running around people.

“Excuse me…” I said, stumbling into someone. “Where exactly are we going?”

“Just a tavern…” Roo let his words hang there, like there were more to say and he was letting the anticipation build. He did that a lot.

After another 20 minutes or so of hustling through the city, we came to a part of town that I would label as “having potential.” There were less people there, and those that were walking around carried their weapons openly. I reached back and felt for the dagger in my belt. At least I had a weapon now.

“Tell me something.” We had finally slowed to a walk. “How did you manage to confuse my Rings of Identification?”

“I’ll tell you what. I’ll answer your question if you answer one of mine.”

I thought for a minute. “That seems fair.”

Ruadan stepped closer. He kept his voice low as we walked. “But I want to go first.”

“Fine.”

“How did you do that thing with the fire in the meeting room?” I thought back to earlier in the day when Brigid had created the wall of flames between Fí and the Queen's Guard. There had been a sudden flare-up, of sorts, nearest to me. Has it really been me that created it? I wondered if it had something to do with my new boon, “Control Energy.”

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I shrugged, unsure. “I didn’t realize. Maybe it is because of a boon I have… whatever that is.”

“A boon is a magical ability you receive once you have a certain amount of experience.” Ruadan looked thoughtful. “But I don’t think you used your boon in the hall. I would have been able to tell.”

“That’s not how it works for me. My boons usually show up before I actually do something to earn them.”

“That is interesting.” He gave me that crooked smirk of his. “I have only ever seen that in one other person.”

I had little interest in how my boons were given to me. It was my turn to solve a mystery that had been on my mind. “Now answer my question. How did you manage to confuse my Rings of Identification?”

“Because I am mysterioussssss.” Roo threw his hands in the air. The combination of his voice and the hand gesture gave the impression that he had just done a magic trick for a group of children.

“That’s not an answer.”

“Sure it is. You didn’t say that you had to like my answer, just that I HAD to answer.” He continued walking, gradually slowing his pace to stop in front of a doorway with all manner of smoke and lights pouring out. “We are here.”

I could tell right away this was the kind of place that didn’t need bouncers. The front door was wide open. Next to the door was a large, painted sign of a busty fairy (though she didn’t look anything like Fíadan). The fairy stood behind a sign that said “UNSEELIE” in large capital letters.

“What kind of place is this?”

“The kind you need,” Roo said, clapping his hand on my shoulder. “Disregard the other sign by the door… it will be fine.”

I looked to the side to see another large sign with the words “No changelings!”

He repeated his words as he walked through the front door, as if giving himself a pep talk. “It will be fine… probably…”

By now, I was pretty convinced Ruadan was a changeling, but I couldn’t say for sure because he had somehow negated the magic of my Rings.

We entered, and I got an immediate Mos Eisley feeling. Not everyone turned and looked at us, but it felt like the whole place was facing the entrance. Whoever built this tavern clearly didn’t like having their back to the door. Some customers looked up. Some pointed. But most just carried on with what they were doing, completely ignoring us.

At the far side of the bar was a stage area. Above the stage floated four Fae women. They were small, like Fíadan, but appeared to be made of translucent sparkles. They had no wings, but floated in a beautiful dance with each other. As they moved, they trailed wisps of themselves that sparkled and melded into the others.

“Sprites,” Ruadan said when he saw me staring. “Beautiful, aren’t they? They are elementals… or that is what you would probably call them. Earth, air, fire, and water. But no Captain Planet.” He winked at me. “I would pay to see him.” That Earth television reference was enough to break my attention away from the women on stage.

Roo walked to the bar and sat down. The people on either side of him moved away immediately. The bartender scowled at him and gave me a hostile look. I hovered behind Ruadan, unsure whether I should sit or not.

“Come on, man.” Roo pointed at the now open seat next to him. “We have to get you some liquid confidence before you make your move.”

“What?” I sat down, much to the obvious irritation of the bartender.

“A Fey Fizz for me… floating not poured. And something strong for my friend here.” Roo pointed at me. He leaned in over the bar and rather loudly whispered, “I think your mustache frightens him.” The bartender scowled, but moved off to start preparing the drinks.

“You’re going to get us killed.” I looked around nervously. There were definitely pockets of people clustering and glaring in our direction.

“Nonsense, my good man.” Roo seemed completely uninterested in what was going on around us.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this place.”

Without looking away from the bartender mixing our drinks, Roo calmly asked, “Why? Is it the three men with the daggers behind you to the left… or the four men to my right that are passing something back and forth underneath the bar?”

I had identified both groups of hostile people, but I hadn’t noticed any of those specifics. I immediately tensed. “Should we go?”

Ruadan finally turned to look at me and placed two objects on the counter. “Here is the dagger Meat Hands was palming behind you. And this is the potion that Mist-for-Brains to my right were planning to toss on us.”

There was some confusion around us as the men from each group appeared to be looking around for something. Had Ruadan somehow just pickpocketed both group of men without even moving?

Roo gave me a very devilish smile. It was the same kind of smile the Grinch made on Christmas Eve, when he decided to steal all of the presents down in Whoville… how fitting, I thought.

The bartender placed the drinks on the bar, then seemed to notice the items on the bar in front of Ruadan. His eyes went wide as he saw the potion more closely.

Roo nodded to the man. “It seems your patrons wish to do us harm.” He moved slowly, his left hand tracing the shape of the potion. Then he quickly clutched it. “We are obliged to preemptively defend ourselves. I would back up if I were you.”

The rest seemed to happen in slow motion. Realizing what was about to happen, the bartender ducked out of sight behind the bar. Ruadan turned to his right, wound up like a baseball pitcher, and threw the potion at the men still looking for it. I put my back to Roo, turned around and faced the three men with my new dagger drawn.

Then all hell broke loose.