Keepers of the Moon

Chapter 3. Great opportunities (2)

I had my face buried in my hands, trying to drown out the buzzing voices in the room. I needed time to think. Sean cursed under his breath.

‘Are you positive that this list is real?’ He ran his hands over the piece of paper in front of him. Lady McCulloch was still standing. ‘Of course I am sure. King Domhnall gave me this list himself! He wasn’t shouting out with glee either,’ she scowled, hands on her hips and her face distorted with tension.

Maev was standing near the window, silently mulling over the news. I could almost feel the fear radiating from her. For her this news, that King Einar and his son would be guests on the anniversary gala, had a much bigger impact than for the rest of us. Her father was deployed close to our border and everything he send back was always sorrowful. More and more troops were on the move, pressing through the thick forests, occasionally even passing into our land. Sometimes it came to fighting, most of the times the troops returned. They were testing us out and we didn’t dare push back. If war ensued, Meav’s father would be on the frontline.

‘This is an opportunity.’ My voice was barely a whisper, yet the room fell instantly silent. Meav turned around and revealed a face twisted with anger.

‘How is this an opportunity? How does he even dare to come here? This is the celebration of a union, a celebration of allies. Einar is not an ally, he is the enemy! He should be stopped! How dare King Domhnall let him inside our castle! Your castle. I can’t believe you are even saying this!’

I slowly stood up, pushing some of the fear and anger from this room. It was not a show of power, merely just to ensure that my words would be heard and that a civilised debate was possible. Sir Macintosh gave a small and wry smile. Maev and Lady McCulloch both let out a shaky sigh. My eyes found Maev’s fearful face.

‘We – I – can get close to him, I can read him. Maybe I can find a weakness or an opportunity to convince him we’re still his allies. Maybe, just maybe, he will listen. Maybe we can show him what once was. There is also a chance that he can provide us with a solution to keep the peace. We can also show that the bond with our other allies is still strong and that when King Einar decides to proceed with war, Caledonia won’t be the only one he has to deal with. The chances of all this are very small, but at least it is one.’

Sir Macintosh nodded approvingly, Lady McCulloch still looked unsure. Meav however was still mad, though decided to remain silent.

‘Spit it out, lass. We’re all equal here.’ My words somehow seemed to calm her down onto a level where we could have a constructive conversation. Just to be sure I kept slightly pushing away some of the tension in the room. Sir Macintosh seemed to be the only one who actively noticed this, he was therefore also much less likely to be affected. He however almost never let his emotions take the upper hand.

‘I understand what you are saying, I really do, but still. How can we be okay with that monster stepping foot on holy ground? What if he is not here to celebrate? He will get close to King Domhnall, what if he convinces him to give up? Or worse, what if he kills him?’

‘I doubt that he will hurt King Domhnall inside his own castle, surrounded by security and by our allies. King Einar wouldn’t leave here alive. That being said, you are right to question his motives.’ Sir Macintosh’s words were calm and reasonable. Maev nodded and her heartbeat slowed down.

‘Domhnall needs to be shadowed at all times during the gala to prevent Einar from playing games. He can never be alone with him, under any circumstances. If we take turns, we should be able to do this without drawing suspicion from either Einar or Domhnall.’

‘I’ll up the security, put in extra agents around the ballroom. I also need extra people at every entrance. There will be personnel on the tower and around the grounds. If you will excuse me I will start instructing the secret service and security. I’ll also pull in some Ghaelach just for good measure.’ With these words Macintosh left the conference room and the three of us remained silent for a long time.

I could feel the nerves running through my body and I could see the opportunity unfolding itself in front of me. Einar just handed us the best cards of the deck. This didn’t mean we could win, but it did mean we still had a fighting chance.

‘Maev I need you to keep up good appearances of this place. I need it clean and polished. Dig up some of the old tapestries and paintings, emphasize on family and unification. The history of this place needs to be seen. It was here before Nordlys even existed and it will be here after. I will instruct the staff that King Einar and his son will be coming to join us in our celebrations and that he is to be treated with the respect a King deserves. I will also instruct them on how to talk to him and how he will try to manipulate us. Lady McCulloch, inform King Domhnall that we accept this list and that all necessary preparations will be in order. I’ll see that the underground escape route is also cleared if the need to flee arises.’

‘We have an underground escape route?’ Meav looked at me incredulous, though her curiosity spiked. Even through all the stress, the adventurer in her was still calling. Oh, how Ben would love this! If he could only see past his own nose.

‘Yes we do, though I doubt that it is still open, we can go there tomorrow to see if we can prepare it for the upcoming gala.’ She smiled at the foresight of digging into a secrete passage. ‘I’ll take Ben also, he loves this kind of stuff.’ Meav’s eyes seemed to light up even more and she left the room in a much better mood than when she came in. Lady McCulloch gave a short curtsy and then left me alone with my thoughts.

It was still very early in the morning, yet I felt completely drained. The strain of the endless meetings where I had to deal with endless political games and economic disasters was getting to me. All I wanted to do was sleep, but things had to be done. There was a massive party to be arranged and I was starting to think that we needed to let Domhnall know about my existence. Not to give him an ultimatum, but to reassure him that he was not doing this all alone. I could help him stand against King Einar.

I rubbed my hands against my temples and slowly stood up. The more I thought about it, the more sense it made, I was however not looking forward to the conversation, Domhnall was already fighting to remain in power, if I came to him with the words that I was the High-Queen of Keltia he would feel even more out of control. This was however something he needed to get over, because if peace were to prevail, he needed all the help he could get.

With a throbbing headache I slid out of the room and headed for the exit. I was in dire need of a swim. To my great misfortune however I ran into Ben who seemed very pleased with himself. Before he even opened his mouth I could already tell I wasn’t going to get my much needed rest after all.