It felt like a rush jumping over the railing and landing on a dragon that hadn’t been there a second ago. The free fall towards the water and then the sudden stop when their feet landed on Moira’s back. Ian was quite sure that without their magic-enhanced agility that would haven’t worked without a hitch. And a part of him felt for Moira who had to brave their impact with her back, dragon resilience or not. The three of them settled completely ignoring the arrows flying past them, as they were all way off.

  ‘They should take archery lessons.’, Tora mumbled which got her a rumbling laugh from her best friend. ‘That tickles if you laugh while we are sitting on you.’, Faolan laughed.

  ‘What did you expect. You are sitting on my thorax. And as far as I know one always produces vibrations when making sounds. You should know, that sound travels like waves through the air. Similar to the waves a stone thrown into still water creates. And for that to happen we need a form of vibration for the air to move.’, Moira grumbled in an excited tone beneath them, completely demystifying the experience of riding a dragon.

  Tora buried her face in her hands and grumbled ‘There she goes. Just don’t ask her about magic theory or physics as she calls it. She will chew your ear off given the chance.’

  Ian frowned ‘Why should I want to stop her? It’s very interesting. I never even thought about it. But maybe if we understood better how things work, we could use it our advantage. Maybe even adjust the way we are using magic according to the principles we find.’

  ‘Oh no, don’t tell me we have another researcher among us.’, Tora complained throwing her hands up in mock exasperation. Which turned into the real deal when she shared a look with Faolan as Ian and Moira went on talking about the phenomena they had watched in nature.

  Those coupled with Ian’s instinctive knowledge about the sea and the veil had them occupied for hours. The conversation grew more and more complex to the point where Tora and Faolan who were more practical oriented in nature did even want to participate anymore.

  Like that nearly twelve hours passed without the young dragon tiering and making a good pace the whole way through. The sun had risen, shone and set above the ever-moving sea beneath them when they spotted a familiar silhouette at the horizon, familiar at least to Ian who had steadily guided them through the sky, following his internal compass. The Feodora. They had finally reached her. Ian smiled relievedly.

  After spotting her it was only a matter of minutes to reach the ship.

  Moira had slowed down for that last part of the journey, unwilling to spook the mighty prince of the Sidhe beneath them. Dragons were not especially well-liked by the Sidhe, red dragons even less than most. As a result, the vessel beneath them positively hummed with magic when his uncle readied it for a fight.

  Ian who was acutely aware of the defence mechanisms the Feodora had, even without Sean and Ron interfering hastily said ‘Take me down to about 15meters. Then I will jump off and talk to my uncle no need for a fight among allies.’

  ‘Upon that, we can agree. I must say I am not particularly keen on encountering whatever he is hatching there.’, Moira agreed and lowered herself into a position where Ian could easily jump off and land abord.

  The young High Sidhe landed elegantly on his feet in front of his uncle and Ron who had taken on defensive stands upon seeing the manoeuvre the dragon flew. Their eyes widened and the tension left their postures as Ian said ‘Long time no see. Is it possible for my allies to land? Without being skewered?’ Ron laughed and gripped Ian pulling into a bearhug, whilst Sean waved the dragon to land. ‘Far too long, kiddo.’, the Kelpie said holding Ian at arm’s length studying his appearance.

  ‘It seems you have quite the story to tell. It seems you have the habit of encountering interesting people.’, Sean agreed when he saw Moira taking her High Sidhe form. Ian’s three friends made their way over smiling.

  ‘So, it seems. Meet Moira de Dun Scaich, Tora, second princess of the demon realm and Faolan of the green oak, my sworn knight.’, Ian introduced his companions.

  ‘It seems like you have gotten yourself a dog. Let’s see if he is worthy to stay by your side.’, Ron snorted derisively seeing the green in Faolan’s hair.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Faolan snarled showing off his Cu Sidhe fangs, ‘I am no more a mere dog than you are a horse.’

  ‘At least he has guts. The rest will be remediable.’, Ron grinned displaying his own fangs, nodding in approval as the younger knight didn’t shrink back.

  ‘He will be in your care.’, Sean decided seeing his right-hand-man keen on training his nephew’s.

  Then leaving the two Fey to their posturing he waved Ian and the two guests to follow him into his cabin. Faolan called ‘Hey, don’t leave me to this maniac!’

  His lord simply shrugged, grinned ‘I am sure Ron won’t eat you. Not right now at least.’ And followed behind his uncle, happy not to be on the receiving end of Ron’s enthusiasms for once. Not that he had any illusions that Faolan would make him pay when they next trained, but it was worth it. And he had the feeling, that the training Ron would make Faolan go through would include fighting as a Cu Sidhe.

  Entering the cabin felt like coming home and Ian felt relieve settling into his core releasing a figuratively breathe he didn’t even know he had held the entire time. His shoulders sank a little.

  ‘So, you found the first of two missing Sidhe princesses. The wrong one if you ask our family head, but still.’, Sean said to Ian, looking at Moira and went on ‘And then you flew on her back to meet me before our time runs out. With the missing second princess of the demon realm. But that’s not all. You recruited one of the order’s special knights, who are highly trained as spies and knights, as your vassal. And he happens to be carrying an old powerful fey bloodline with the potential to become not only to become a very fierce warrior but outright awakened as a Cu Sidhe upon swearing an oath no one in the mortal realm should know anymore.’ The captain shook his head in amusement. ‘Well done, nephew. I guess if there was a chance for my hair to turn grey, you would be the reason.’, he laughed whole-heartedly before turning seriously, only now speaking to Moira and Tora for the first time. ‘As for you, princesses, welcome abord. Don’t expect court etiquette. We are now just as many royals as commoners on this ship and everybody travelling with us is expected to do their share. Abord this ship my word followed by Ron’s and then Ian’s is law, if you are not satisfied with this arrangement, you may leave at any time. Tonight, we will cross through the veil and head for Tír na nóg. My father has called and both Ian and me are oath-bound to go there as fast as possible but the-day-after-tomorrow at latest.’, the sidhe prince nodded as if to underline his words and then reached behind him where glasses of wine and water had appeared, next to what appeared to be a freshly baked loaf of bread. Placing the tray between them he offered ‘Take my drink and food as a sign of thanks and hospitability.’

  ‘We, Moira de Dun Scaich and Tora, second princess of the demon realm, accept the rules and the hospitability offered.’, Tora answered as both her and Moira took glasses of water, Ian and Sean did the same. To fulfil his role as part of the host’s family he went and stood beside his uncle as they raised their glasses and let the old magic of the ancient ritual settle in.

  ‘Okay, now that all formalities are out of the way, let us sit down and tell me about your time with the zealots. For I don’t believe, that Ron will be ready vetting your knight for quite some time. And I am far too selfish to wait for them to finish before I get the news.’, Sean grinned at Ian, again at least partially ignoring the women. Ian looked at them and registered, that they were not surprised or angered by that behaviour. Maybe it was the norm. And Ian had the distinctive feeling that this was about the relevance of insiders and outsiders in Sidhe families. A concept his uncle had tried to teach him earlier, but without a real example it had been hard to grasp.

  The game of Sidhe politics had to be played, at least to some degree. That meant, when royalty met, the vassals waited outside. And new vassals were vetted by experienced ones. And the order in which the host spoke to the people present declared their rank. Ian as a family-member was higher ranked compared to foreign in his uncle’s court, the Feodora. And Tora and Moira had accepted the rules with a smile, for they were not rigged against them. ‘A fair and loyal man, this Sean Mac Lir. A rare gem amongst High Sidhe. No wonder he would rather sail the seas than dwell amongst royalty. And he seems to love his nephew, even if he hasn’t known him for a long time.’, Moira thought when she watched Ian vividly regale the tale of his stay with the order. The young sidhe didn’t exaggerate the tale, but rather used many descriptive elements in his tale. The look on Faolan’s face when he first disappeared due to his emerging veil power. The atmosphere of the cells they were held in. It was a thoughtful tale. And Moira felt that it was a good thing, that they had met. Ian had what she held in high regards when it came to friends. Sean’s eyes shone excitedly and he laughed whenever he got the chance. Something that brought joy to Ian, who loved to tell tales that were both true and could make people happy.

  After a while a widely grinning Ron and a battered but also grinning Faolan entered, followed by the human part of the crew. The sailors looked decidedly pale… as if they had seen something monstrous.

  Since the rest of the human crew had been sat ashore every was in the know, so it seemed like the Sidhe had given up pretences. With a snap of Sean’s fingers, the room’s outlet changed from the study, they entered, into a dining-room they all fit in. Ian was surprised as Sean had explained such shenanigans were mostly reserved for when they were in the Sidhe. Did his uncle want to brag? Or was it simply because they were crossing over later that day, so that there was no need to ration the ship’s magic anymore. Maybe a bit of both. Ian smiled; it didn’t matter. He was home.