FAMILY MATTERS
A.N.: Yes, I am baaack!And I'm so so so so so so (okay, just image an infinite number of so's) sorry for the lack of updating. My plot bunnies apparently went off on a five-ish month cruise and didn't inform me of their travel plans. Anyway, here is the newest (extra long-ish) chapter. Now, excuse me while I go hide behind Trick's bar. A.N. 2: Also, sorry about any cooky characterization, I'm a little rusty with this. "Llywth-huh?" Bo responded, her eyebrows raising in a questioning look at the bartender. They nearly shot to her hairline however when, instead of answering, Trick merely bent forward in a short, but respectful bow towards Kira. Opening her mouth to ask what he was doing, she paused as she felt Lauren's hand on her arm. Out of the corner of her eye, the succubus saw the human mimicking the former Blood King's gesture and almost jumped out of her skin when the screech of wood against wood sounded behind her. She glanced over her shoulder in time to see the Ash's guard had risen to his feet and was likewise paying Kira a deep bow. "O-kay," she let out in a disturbed breath, turning back to her friends. "Someone want to tell me what's going on? Guys? Dyson?" The shifter was the only other person in the room (minus Kira) who had yet to move. Again, rather than give Bo a straight answer, he instead replaced his expression of stunned disbelief with what Kenzi had once affectionately refered to as his "cop face". Pulling himself up to his full height, he began to incline his head towards Kira, still keeping his eyes on the young woman. "Oh, please don't!" the female shifter groaned suddenly, holding a hand out to stop him."You're only embarrassing yourself." Her eyes made a quick scan of the room. "Seriously, people, the bowing is completely unnecessary." She fixed her gaze on Trick, scowling at him as if the whole episode was his fault. Straightening, the Fae elder returned her scowl with a frown of his own. "I take it if the Cysgodi are present then my hunch was right?" he said, sounding weary of the answer. "Well, if your hunch was that the Bracelet of Nodens was recently stolen from your museum, then I'd say you're in the right ballpark," Kira responded sarcastically, crossing her arms tightly across her chest. Trick closed his eyes and let out a half-exasperated, half-concerned sigh. The sound seemed to drain the previous tension from the room; but left an almost tangible sense of dread in its wake. "Seriously, could someone please tell me what's going on?" Bo interjected, feeling the shift in atmosphere and not liking being kept out of the loop. Four sets of eyes immediately snapped in her direction, with a fifth pair gazing briefly at her before returning their attention to the glass in front of them. "I'm sorry, Bo," Lauren said, seeming to shake herself out of the collective stupor first. "You wouldn't know about the Cysgodi would you?" Not for the first time, the doctor found herself surprised by how easy it had recently become for her to forget just how little of the Fae world Bo actually knew. Despite her unaligned status, Bo often acted as though she'd navigated the divide between the sides her whole life. Of course, it didn't help that Lauren was aware of a growing respect for the succubus among the Fae without much political or supernatural power on either side. "A bit of an understatement there, doc," Bo replied teasingly, "So what's a Cyso-what's-it? Offering the other woman a tight, apologetic smile, Lauren explained, " Cysgodi. They're a clan. Or rather a clan within a clan..or, clans. It's-" "Something not to be discussed in public," Trick interrupted suddenly, shooting Lauren a warning look. The doctor returned it with a momentarily confused one of her own. Then, pursing her lips in consideration, she nodded. "You're right," she agreed. Immediately, she felt Bo tense beside her. "I promise I'll explain to you downstairs, Bo," Trick continued quickly, attempting to circumvent the young woman's outburst. "But there are too many potential ears around here." Bo's eyes shifted in the direction of the Ash's guard. The man took another swig of his beer, making no move to acknowledge her attention. Trick sighed and shook his head. "Not him," he said exasperatingly before calling out to the guard, "Your silence is called for, Blood-sworn." "By my oath," the guard mumbled, raising his glass in salute. Trick nodded in satisfaction. Turning to Bo and Lauren, he smirked at the equal looks of surprise across both women's faces. "What?" he asked innocently. "I told you I have my sources in the Ash's compound. Unfortunately, Lauren," his smirk faded to a sympathetic grimace, "I'm sorry but it would probably be best if you return to there immediately. If the Cysgodi have business in town..." "You don't want Lachlan becoming suspicious," she finished for him. Trick nodded. "Now wait just a second," Bo started, "If she..." "Bo." Lauren gently gripped the succubus' elbow and added placatingly, "It's okay." "No it's not," Bo argued. Looking at her, Lauren could see the storm brewing in the other woman's dark eyes; but could tell in the set of her shoulders the fight was already over. "Well, no, it isn't," Lauren decided to agree with her. Reaching up she gave Bo's shoulder a gentle squeeze and lied. "But it will be." She refused to acknowledge the sharp twinge of her ever-present guilt as a glimmer of hope flashed in the Fae woman's eyes. For the second time in her life, Lauren had found herself reacting instead of planning and was now stuck between a rock and a hard place. The renewal of her quest for Nadia had filled her with so much hope she'd dived in too quickly without properly setting her feelings in order. Wherever this road led, Lauren knew there would be no way through it without causing herself and, at least, one of the two most important women in her life pain. All thoughts of what lay ahead, however, were instantly silenced as Bo pulled her into one more tight hug. "I'll get in to see you as soon as I can," Bo promised softly in her ear so as not to be overheard. She could sense the Ash's guard approaching from behind and fought down the urge to deck him. Giving Lauren one more tight squeeze, she let her go. The others, no doubt urged along by Trick, were already moving towards the basement lair. "Try..." Lauren's voice was hesitant even as she tried to infuse some humor in the comment. "Try not to take too long." "It's quite simple actually," said Kira, her legs swinging loosely from her perch on the back table. Bo had come town to find her comfortably situated in the back of Trick's lair, practically oblivious the serious looks being given her by the room's other occupants "I, and my family, are the guardians of the Arm na Déithe." "And those would be?" Bo asked, crossing her arms in her best skeptical stance. Kira smiled brightly in response before looking over her shoulder at the books behind her. "May I?" she waved her hand at one stack in particular, glancing at Trick for permission "Yes, please," the Blood King responded, his frown deepening thoughtfully. Rummaging through the stack quickly, Kira picked up a medium-sized text bound in rusty-brown leather. "I'm assuming you're already aware of the war that divide the light and the dark," she continued, tossing the book to Bo. "The tales of the Blood King and all that." Bo nodded, cracking open the book's cover. A brightly colored, full-page illustration drew her attention so that she almost missed Kira explain, "...What hardly ever gets put in the story books anymore is the Blood King's almost-defeat at the hands of the Dark's first general..." "His what?" Bo's eyes snapped up to Kira before flickering unconsciously over to Trick. The Fae elder gave no indication of acknowledging Kira's claims about his old title nor did he move to refute them. Instead, Bo noticed he was frowning pensively at the young shifter; almost as if he were trying to figure her out. A quick glance at Dyson told her he was as unaffected by the other woman's statements as Trick. Looking back to Kira, she saw the shifter was giving her a faintly smug grin. "His almost-defeat," Kira repeated. "The knight-in-question's name has been lost to legend unfortunately." She paused to lean over and examine the illustration in Bo's hands. "I never quite understood why. The story's actually pretty interesting. A PR nightmare for the Blood King, of course..." "Ahem," Trick cleared his throat irritably. Kira jumped slightly, turning to him with a startled expression. He gave her a disapproving look as he demanded. "Do you minding moving on?" "Right. Anyway," Kira waved a hand over the illustration. "What did get passed on was the Llywth Cysgodi, the clan among the clans. The legend goes that this Dark knight traveled the Earth on the eave of battle with the Blood King and gathered for himself seven weapons..." "The Arm na Déithe," interjected Dyson. Kira leveled a brief glare at him for interrupting before she continued, "Seven weapons: the Ring of Llyr, the Cauldron of Dagda, the Cloak of Donn, the Spear of Lugh, the Shield of Nemain, the Sword of Nuada, and, of course, the Bracelet of Noden." "Wait. All of those are weapons?" Bo interrupted, sounding puzzled. "More or less," Kira replied, "Arm na Déithe roughly translates to 'weapons of the gods'. Each item is said to be imbued with magical properties: health, invincibility, and such. The Cloak of Donn, for instance, is said to give the wearer invisibility like the human legend of Hades' cloak. The point is, alone the items make a warrior difficult to defeat. If all seven are combined in the hands of someone worthy, then defeat is impossible." "I take it this knight," Bo asked, glancing one last time at the illustration. The figure, emblazoned in armor of gold and bronze, glared up at her from the page holding a sword dripping in what she recognized as troll's blood. Despite the brightness of his armor and features, the sword illuminated the all to familiar savagery burning in the knight's eyes. "-wasn't worthy then?" "Oh, he was," Kira responded, her lips peeling back in an almost feral smile, "That was the problem. Legend has it the members of his own family, my family, the Light in fear for their king and the Dark out of jealousy, called a truce among their kin and during battle smuggled away crucial pieces of his...collection before literally shooting him in the back. When the Blood King finally regained victory and heard of their...indescretion, he granted them amnesty on the condition that as a clan they be forever sworn to prevent the rise of such power again." "Because of that," Bo jumped a little at the sound of Trick's voice. The older Fae stepped between her and Kira. "The Llywth Cysgodi live as members among the remaining clans and maintain...certain privileges to assist them with their task." "What kind of privileges?" asked Bo, looking suspiciously between the two. "Free reign to go where we please," remarked Kira. "Contact with other Cysgodi members on either side without needing proper channels, asylum when-" "I get the point," Bo held up a hand to stop her. "You're basically free Fae." "Whenever the weapons are concerned," Kira agreed with a shrug. The two women stared at each other for a moment as the weight of the information cooked in the air between them. On one hand, Bo could now understand why Kira had been so vague about herself. Given the reactions of both Dyson, Trick, and Lauren, the story she'd been told, and her experiences with Fae lore so far (secrecy and deception being the go-to first line of defense for Fae tradition), it was even conceivable the shifter was even telling her the truth now. Still, it didn't stop an unusually strong feeling of betrayal from wrapping itself into a tight pit at the bottom of her stomach "Does your clan have any clue to who staged the robbery then?" Dyson asked, breaking the silence and bringing the conversation back to topic. Bo and Trick turned to him then back to Kira. "There are a few leads," replied the other wolf, unconsciously making a nervous shift in her seat. Dyson's eyes narrowed at the odd behavior. Looking over at Trick, he noted the other man had noticed it as well. "I was investigating my...my cousin's notes when Bo grabbed me." Bo's heart automatically clenched at Kira's stutter. At the mention of the murdered guard, the other woman's shoulders deflated suddenly and; for the briefest moment, the succubus could see the hurt in her eyes as clear as day. Just as quickly, the emotion was shoved back; locked behind a hard, almost defiant expression. "In any case, I'm sorry for my earlier deception Way-Keeper," she finished,"but as you now understand it was necessary." She looked at Dyson and begrudgingly added. "I've also been informed to...allow you to continue your investigation, Detective. As long as you're aware the perpetrators of the crime will be dealt with by us." Dyson stiffened at the challenge. Before he could answer it, however, Trick interjected, "Would it be too much to suggest possibly pooling our resources together?" Ignoring Dyson's perturbed glare, he added. "If this is a case of someone trying to re-gather the Arm na Déithe, you could use all the help you can get." Rather then appear offended, Kira beamed at him in relief. "I'll have to check with some fellow family members in the area," she replied. "But since you've already uncovered who I am... Well, let's just say I could use the back up. Maybe you can come with me tomorrow to check out one of Ariel's sources?" She looked at Bo with an uneasy earnest as she asked. Returning the expression with a cold one of her own, Bo considered her options for moment before letting out a faint sigh. "I'll think about it," she said.
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