Ehran was ensconced on one of the couches. He wore his usual black, a habit that I found a trifle an- noying. As though wearing black made you some- how more imposing, or cool, or serious. Though it did contrast nicely with his white hair and cold blue eyes. We made eye contact, but I couldn't tell what he was thinking. It was as though our meeting the other day had never taken place.
Sean Laverty was perched on the arm of one of the chairs. Unlike the other men, he was clean- shaven. His eyes were clear leaf-green, his hair au- burn. I knew he was against the technological leanings of the Tir. Of the group, his garb was the simplest. A T-shirt and jeans with a jacket thrown on tqp. In one earlobe he wore a dangling silver dragon. I wondered what Lofwyr made of that.
Sitting in the chair was Jenna Ni-Fairra. She was whispering something to Laverty as I approached the group.
"Sean, Jenna," I said.
"Aina," they replied in unison. I wondered for a moment if they were joined at the hip.
"Did anyone miss me?" came a voice behind me. An all too familiar voice. I turned. Alachia. She glided over to Jenna and kissed her cheek. They were remarkably alike. Except for the coloring, they could have been twins. Where Alachia's hair was deep red, Jenna's was platinum blond. Alachia's eyes were clear sapphire blue; Jenna's emerald green. But the face was the same. Delicate and fey. Unearthly beauty. What a bore.:
"Why must you wear these things?" asked Alachia, grabbing Jenna's black leather jacket and giving it a shake. "Upstairs I know you have a closet full of…"
Jenna gave her a hard look, and Alachia laughed it off. "A mother's prerogative," she said lightly. She glanced around the room. "Well, it looks as if we're almost all here."
Just then there was the sound of raised voices coming down the hall. We all turned. In a moment, the doors flew open. Aithne burst in with the Paladin guard hot on his heels. They tried to slow him down, but he thrust one hand up behind him and they flew back into the hall.
"What the hell were you thinking of with those/ damn roses?" said Aithne. "Alachia, if this is youir sick idea of a jok-"
Then he saw me.
His face had been flushed. Now it went white.
"What the frag is she doing here?" he asked. His voice was cold. Utterly devoid of emotion.
"Isn't it the nicest surprise?" said Alachia, coming up next to him and tucking her arm in his. "Aina asked Lugh to call a meeting of the Council. And he agreed." She leaned against Aithne and beamed at me.
I wanted to throttle her.
"I'm leaving," he said. "There is nothing that woman can say that will interest me in the least."
He swung around and headed toward the door.
"You'd best not go," said Surehand. "I would look unfavorably upon it."
Aithne stopped, then turned again, slowly.
"And what is that supposed to be?" Aithne asked. "A threat?"
"No," replied Surehand. "I don't want you to let old personal matters hinder your judgment of these events. If you leave, you give tacit approval to any- thing we decide."
"Not if I leave under protest."
"The result will be the same. We will make a de- cision, and you will have to live with it."
Aithne glared at Surehand for a long moment.
"Very well. This woman," he said, pointing at me, "is a treacherous bitch and nothing she says can be trusted."
"So much for the impartial hearing," murmured Caimbeul.
"Your taste in companions leaves much to be de- sired," Aithne said to Caimbeul.
"People in glass houses," replied Caimbeul, look- ing pointedly at Alachia. Aithne glanced down and saw she was still attached to his arm. He jerked his arm away and stalked to one of the large arm chairs, where he flung himself down.
"All right," he said. "What's this all about?"
"Aina," said Lugh. "If you please."
Caimbeul gave me a little pat on the back, ther went and took a seat on the couch next to Ehran They began a subtle war of who could sprawl on tht couch most. Aithne refused to look at me, while Jenna and Sean whispered and giggled.
"As you all know," I began, "the magical forces have been on an upsurge for the past fifty or so years. Many of the old ways have returned, though there have been some unforeseen changes due to the technological state of this cycle. But that is neither here nor there.
"In the past, great surges of magic have drawn the Enemy to this place. The Therans solved this by leading the world into the darkness of the kaers for five hundred years. But we all know the prices paid for those choices."
I paused for a moment and glanced around the room. Ehran's expression was carefully blank. Caimbeui gave me a little wink. Alachia yawned and looked bored.
"There have been two serious encounters with the Enemy in past months," I said. "Caimbeui defeated them on the metaplanes. Then, more recently, he told me about the encounter on Maui where the En- emy actually managed to get through a portal opened by kahunas of a tribe there during one of their blood rituals."
"Did he say he actually drove them back?" asked Ehran. "Aina, you know how he likes to take credit for things he had nothing to do with."
"I don't recall you being there," said Caim- beui.
"News travels fast. Harlequin," said Ehran. "You always were a braggart."
"Would you both just stop," I said. I paced a bit.
This was why I avoided them. All this petty bicker- ing. We'd been in and out of each other's lives for so long that everyone knew each other's sore spots. Where to poke and prod. And yet, we still kept com- ing together again.
"Who did what isn't important," I said. "The point is, the Enemy is coming back. And they're coming too soon. This world isn't ready. Its peo- ple don't understand a damn thing about what's happening. And we certainly haven't prepared them."
"What do you think the Tir is?" asked Alachia. "We're creating a place where the strong will sur- vive."
"You mean where the elves will survive and ev- eryone else on the planet can shift for themselves," I said.
"What's wrong with that?" asked Jenna, ever her mother's daughter.
"Well, if you don't mind billions of innocent peo- ple suffering unimaginable deaths," I said.
"Innocent blood has never bothered you before," interjected Aithne.
I looked at him and narrowed my eyes. As though his loss had been greater than mine.
– "Things change," I said at last. "So do people. Most people. But this is all beside the point. This isn't some academic discussion. I believe that one of the Enemy is already here. I don't know how he managed to come across. Perhaps in Maui. Or may- be there is another point of entry. All I know is that he is here."
There was a hush for a moment, then everyone began to ask questions. Lugh called for them to calm down.
"How do you know it's the Enemy?" Lugh asked.
"He has contacted me," I said. "First, there were dreams. Then I received a telecom communication. Two nights ago he attacked us in our hotel room here in Portland."
"What do you know about this. Harlequin?" asked Surehand.
"Just what Aina has told you. You know about the events in Maui," he said. This surprised me. I didn't know he'd told them about Maui. "I was there when the call came to Aina's place in Scotland. And I was there when it attacked us in the hotel room."
"Perhaps it's just one," said Sean. "It would be easy enough to deal with."