Of Fate and Freedom

Chapter Five

The first few minutes of the meeting were a blur to me. Truthfully, it was a bit boring and what I assume most international meetings are like: formal welcome, schedule of proceedings, and a roll call. I start to tune back in when Beta Nessa begins calling on members of the Limikkin Council; they're from a somewhat newly established area and I've never seen a larger and more ethnically diverse Council before. I know quite a few Limikkish conriocht from OA, but for some reason it still surprises me to see so many different kinds of people all from the same place. I took an elective on human wars with Moira last semester, and I remember learning about the one they had with their own people a couple of centuries ago. As my mind is just beginning to wander again, one name in particular is called -- Elder Merideth Andilet -- and Moira suddenly reaches back out to me through the bond.

That's Emmet's grandmother! They're from a clan in Limikkin called Teja. He talks about her all the time. I didn't realize she'd be here! Should I introduce myself later?

The irony of her question makes me almost laugh out loud at this. We could possibly die in two weeks, so, naturally, my sister is worried about her love life. You've been dating for six months and he hasn't been home in almost two years, so she probably doesn't even know you exist, I shoot back at her.

She's literally here for a meeting about us. I'm pretty sure she does, Moira retorts as she rolls her eyes.

I just shake my head and tune back in to Beta Nessa, who's finally moved on to the Ossorian Great Elders.

"Elder Eahbe Sheehan, of the Altra Clan?" she calls out, and a woman who couldn't be more than fifty years old raises her hand in the corner of my eye. I remember Isleen telling me earlier while she was helping me get ready that Elder Sheehan's daughter, Edna, had finally mated and just completed her Rite a few weeks ago, and remind myself that I have a lot of catching up to do to become reacquainted with who's who in Ossory.

I suddenly realize the faint buzz of indistinct conversation from around the room has died down. I had been deep in my own thoughts and didn't hear the next name that was called. Like clockwork, Beta Nessa repeats herself. "Elder Edana Kane, of the Ceallach Clan?"

The man I'd run into when I first arrived on base -- Niall, I remember -- speaks up from directly behind me, and I nearly jump out of my skin. "Beta McCarthy, our Elder passed away in the fall and our Alpha was unable to attend these proceedings. I am Niall Kane, son of Alpha Sloane Kane of the Ceallach Clan, and the only appropriate substitute to represent our clan at this time. As such, my mother and Alpha sends her regards and has appointed me as her liaison for the time being. I am humbled to be in the presence of so many esteemed Great Elders, and I hope that my attendance will be of no issue moving forward."

As Beta Nessa nods in understanding and types something into her laptop -- I assume just making note of his name -- I look over to Mother, who has her piercing gaze fixed above my head at Niall. She has a look in her eyes that I can't quite place, so I tune back into the familial bond to gauge what she's thinking - something that I've only done once before in my life.

...that she would be so stubborn as to blatantly refuse her duty as an Alpha with no Elder and send some boy who knows next to nothing about this Clan or what it's like to be an Al-

My mother's gaze darts to me, visibly annoyed, as she pushes me out of the bond. She's one of very few conroicht who despises the bond, and rarely even uses it to communicate with Father, let alone her daughters or anyone else in the clan. She sees it as an invasion of privacy, but I remember feeling her presence in the back of my mind during the first few months after Moira and I had moved to OA.

"Elder Keriann Doyle of the Darach Clan?" Beta Nessa continues on, calling on the remaining nine Great Elders of Ossory. When she finishes, she sits back down at her place by my mother's side. The chatter in the room dies back down as Mother stands up, and the slightest feeling of dread starts to creep inside of my mind. As if sensing as much, Moira reaches for my hand, giving it a small squeeze.

"Thank you, Beta McCarthy, and I want to again welcome you all to Northern Ossory. I appreciate your sense of urgency in this matter," Mother begins. "As you are all now aware, my daughters have been Sealed four months before their 23rd birthdays. As an Alpha, I am concerned about the future of my Clan. As a mother, I can tell you all that I am scared of losing my girls, my babies. To add to these already unprecedented events, the next full moon will be a lunar eclipse in only two weeks. We all know that very few conroicht who face Transfiguration during a lunar eclipse are able to complete the process, but I have never known of a conroicht sealed so soon that survived. I know of one that was a member of the Darach Clan. Elder Doyle, do you have any information on this young man?

"Yes, dear, just a moment." A particularly ancient-looking woman to my left starts sifting through some papers in an old, ratty bag sitting at her feet. I remember Elder Keriann well from her frequent visits with my grandmother on base when I was young. I've always considered her to be a rather odd woman, but Grandmother says she's a "free spirit," which is hippie talk for... well, a hippie. Regardless, I don't think her brain has been firing on all cylinders for quite some time.

"Ah, yes, here he is,” she pipes back up. “Ronan Keir, it says here, was a Beta's son... hmm, Beta Laoise, from back in 1619. Our clan was small then, so there aren't a lot of records, but it looks like there were two -- oh, no, there were three -- other conroicht who had their Transfiguration on the same night, but they all were of appropriate age and completed the process. But Ronan... oh... oh, dear. Ronan began the process but was caught in a sort of limbo state and... well, he didn't survive the night. I'm sorry, Alpha Conall, but that's all the information I have... Oh, wait, I have a drawing here of how he loo-"

"That will not be necessary," Mother quickly cuts her off. "Thank you, Elder Doyle. I would like to open up the floor to anyone who has any knowledge of situations such as these. We will start at the back of the room and move down the rows to the front."

As quiet conversation re-emerges in the room, my brain is still trying to process one of the last things Elder Keriann said. Stuck in limbo? So we'd die looking like a grotesque mixture of wolf and human parts? It feels like this day is getting worse by the minute, and knowing we'll be stuck in this meeting for at least two more hours while the Elders try to figure out what's wrong with us makes things seem downright dismal at best.

As the Elders who've heard of premature Sealing speak up one at a time, the pit that's been in my stomach since this morning grows even more painful. Just yesterday I was forming a plan for my study hours and applying for a summer internship with my combat instructor at OA, and now I have no clue if I'll even make it to spring break. As each new Elder speaks up, their knowledge makes this situation look even more drastic. Not a single conroicht who's been Sealed early has survived their Transfiguration, and most Elders haven't even heard of this happening.

After about an hour, only the front two rows haven't spoken and Moira and I look at each other with fear and uncertainty pulsating through the bond. Out of the corner of my eye I see Niall raise his hand to speak, and Mother calls on him with obvious exasperation in her voice: "Yes, Mr. Kane?"

"With all due respect, Alpha Conall, why did you call a meeting of the Great Elder Council for this matter?" I whip my head around and stare him down, my eyes burning a hole in him with rage, as he continues nonchalantly. "By no means am I trying to be insensitive -- I'm deeply sorry that your daughters face what sounds to be a fatal endeavor -- but this isn't something that has greatly affected the conroight species as a whole. We've heard of, now, maybe eight cases in the past seventeen centuries? It's obviously exceedingly rare.

"Now, while I understand your concern for the future of your clan's leadership, there are safeguards in place for situations where there is no direct descendant to continue the Alpha line. I, personally, am acutely aware of such safeguards, as my mother will soon face this same process since I'm her only child. So, why not treat this as if your daughters faced any other mortal dangers that might end their lives too soon, such as a freak car accident? If they suffer the same fate as these other unlucky conriocht, then appoint a new Heir Alpha. Your line may not live on, but your clan will. Your duty as Alpha is to your clan first, if I'm not mistaken, and while I understand that you never foresaw the possibility of having to appoint a non-familial Heir Alpha since you have not one, but two daughters, you still have options to ensure that your clan will have apt leadership following the end of your tenure as Alpha of the Róisín clan."

My mother clears her throat before speaking. "Thank you, Mr. Kane, for your input," she almost snarls through gritted teeth. As she's speaking he looks down at me with a completely expressionless face and mouths "sorry," and after the continuous buildup of rage I felt as he was speaking, this final, unspoken word is the straw that broke the camel's back. I guess Moira sees that, because somewhere in the back of my mind I hear her say Oh, no, through the bond, seeming to know what I'm about to do.

"Yes, Mr. Kane," I sneer, my voice dripping with malice, "thank you for your 'input.' Now, allow me to give you a little 'input' of my own." Before anyone can stop me, I take off one of my heels and use the (rather sharp) heel of my stiletto to stab him in his thigh in one swift motion.