I wished I could have seen it as he described, rather than the wasteland I’d seen.
“How long has it been like this?” Ethan asked.
“Not very long,” Liam said as he opened another door that lead into a large gathering room. He glanced back at us. “A year or two in this world.”
The room was a flurry of activity. Deaghlan sat at one end in a large chair set up on a dais. A line of people stood waiting for their turn to speak with him. He looked like a true king, oddly enough, listening to what the people had to say. His face lacked the utter boredom and disdain it usually held. He looked genuinely concerned with what was going on.
Aodhan stood at the head of a large, round table. Four men stood around the table, watching as he pointed at a map. And by his side was Niamh.
I caught Liam’s eye and he looked just as surprised as me to see Aodhan and Niamh working together. Niamh’s head jerked up and she gave us a smile so small, it was just a slight twitch of her lips.
A girl approached the table carrying a tray of silver handled mugs. Niamh smiled at her and took two, handing one to Aodhan.
“What kind of alternate reality have we entered?” I asked Liam with wide eyes.
He didn’t say anything, just smirked as we walked toward the table. Aodhan looked up and gave us one of his rare grins.
“Good to see you, old friend,” he said, clapping Liam on the back.
“Things are going well here, I take it?” Liam asked, returning the gesture.
Niamh nodded and took a sip from her mug. “Quite well. Aodhan is keeping Father busy. I haven’t seen him this way since —” she faltered. “Not in a long time.”
“I can’t take the credit for that,” Aodhan said. “The people aren’t so afraid now they know something is being done to help them. Deaghlan has really stepped up. I wouldn’t believe it if I weren’t seeing it with my own eyes.”
“Me either,” I said, glancing back to where Deaghlan sat nodding at something a woman was saying to him.
“What did my mother have to say after I left?” Niamh asked.
“Well, you saw the vision of the Stone of Destiny?” I asked.
She nodded and ushered us into the corner of the room where we could have privacy. Aodhan angled his body toward me, paying attention.
“Just like Samantha told us, Aoife is planning a binding ceremony. It’ll be done on Halloween at the Stone of Destiny.”
“She’ll draw power from the stone,” Aodhan said quietly, nodding.
“Right,” I said. “Our plan is to go there tonight. We’ll get there just in time for the Fire Festival of Samhain.”
Aodhan rubbed his jaw. “How do you plan on stopping her?”
“Well,” I said drawing in my bottom lip. “Liam is going to approach her while Ethan and I sneak up from behind. Ethan’s going to use steel chains to hold her while I grab her necklace.”
Niamh nodded. “That sounds like a good plan. Just be sure to stay out of her sight before she begins.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” Aodhan said, nodding. “The whole plan could fall through if she sees you too soon.”
“Agreed,” I said.
“We saw lots getting done on our way here,” Liam said.
Niamh slid a hesitant glance at Aodhan. “Yes. It’s a work in progress, but at least things are moving forward.”
“What’s going to happen when the land is restored? Will Saoirse seal the portals?” I asked.
“Well,” Niamh said. “That’s difficult to say. From what she’s told us, I’m sure she’ll seal at least one or two of them.”
“I’d like to know how you brought on such a change in Deaghlan,” I said to Aodhan.
He shrugged, his hands going up to smooth his cropped hair. “It’s like I said, once he pulled his head out last night, people felt like they could come to him with things they’d been too afraid to speak to Aoife about. It’s been an interesting day, to say the least.”
“Mother knew what she was doing, sending Aodhan here,” Niamh said.
Aodhan chuckled. “If she’d asked Deaghlan to take care of this problem directly, the outcome would have been different. Saoirse is very subtle.”
I thought about that for a second. Aodhan was right. If Saoirse had asked Deaghlan, he would have avoided it. By asking Aodhan, it was like lighting a fire directly under Deaghlan. How that must have burned him.
“Ciarán and Samantha will be coming here at some point this evening,” Liam said. “Samantha wants to be there when we go to Tara.”
Niamh’s brow furrowed. She looked at Liam and I could tell they were having a telepathic conversation.