Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“Ivote we imprison Conlan and let him see how he likes it,” Braan suggests to the groans of Aodhan and Aislan.
“I already told you it won’t be that easy. Someone would let him out; all of Fuinseog loves him,” Aodhan argued.
“I vote we visit the other provinces and get him kicked out of the council, that will lower his influence,” Aislan suggested.
“We don’t have the time to journey to 12 different provinces and convince them to vote out Conlan. We would need 7 of the 13 to side with us to get a majority vote.” Braan rubbed his chin, while staring at the map on the table.
After a quick catch-up, the five of them immediately began debating strategies for what they should do next and how they could get Sierra back to the human world.
Unfortunately, the entrance to the human world was in the forest on land that belonged to Fuinseog, though it was likely they could go through Darach, a neighboring province, to get there without being detected by Conlan.
The problem was that Conlan likely had the entrance guarded 24/7, knowing Sierra would need to use it at some point.
Additionally, leaving wouldn’t really solve the problem, because as long as Conlan lived, he had unlimited resources to come after Sierra again and again, and there was no way she and Aodhan could always be on their guard.
Plus, Sierra didn’t like the idea of putting the innocent lives of her family and coworkers at risk by returning to her former life without resolving the problem completely.
The problem was that they either had to get rid of Conlan, or at least get him voted off the panel that made decisions for Sidhe, because then someone else could try and convince the panel that keeping a human prisoner wouldn’t solve their problem.
They could also try to solve the diminishing magic problem, but Aodhan was convinced that there was no problem—it was simply time and interbreeding taking its course—which is why he preferred not to try that route since it wasn’t an immediate solution.
Also, Sierra wasn’t really sure what was waiting for her in the human world at this point.
She’d been gone for over a week, and the police had been contacted, meaning her sudden reappearance would raise questions she couldn’t answer.
Not to mention that she was behind in her classes now and would likely spend a month trying to get her master’s back on track.
Basically, there was no easy solution beyond hiding out in the treehouse and ignoring the rest of the world, which they couldn’t do forever.
“Why don’t we at least try to find the prophecy your dad is convinced Sierra is a part of, to see if we can prove him wrong?” Kaye suggested, for what was at least the third time.
Sierra had stayed mostly quiet, not knowing enough about Sidhe and its inhabitants to know how they could help.
“And then what? Risk that we somehow convince him to take a different human? The vision of the seer has him convinced that Sierra is the answer,” Aislan shot back.
“Maybe you could try to just talk to him about it, Aodhan?” Sierra suggested, the entire table falling quiet in shock before breaking out in laughter.
“Everyone knows you can’t talk to Conlan about anything.” Braan rolled his eyes.
“Fine,” Sierra conceded. “But I think we should at least split up so we can pursue two solutions at the same time or visit multiple provinces if we are truly trying to turn the vote against him.”
“I agree,” Kaye piped up, winking at Sierra from across the table.
“Wait.” Aislan pinched the bridge of his nose. “I just thought of something. What if we visit the seer again?”
“In hopes of what solution?” Aodhan grumbled.
“That maybe she could tell us more about why Sierra was seen as a solution in the first place? Maybe she could even clear things up for Conlan.”
Sierra leaned her elbows on the table, placing her head in her hands. Something was niggling at the back of her mind, like she should have an idea of a solution, but she couldn’t get it to become clear in her mind.
“Maybe. Or maybe if Sierra is the solution, she knows how,” Kaye added.
“Yeah, and what if she says killing Sierra is the only solution?” Braan said, before slapping a hand over his mouth.
So quick that her human eyes couldn’t follow, Aodhan had Braan in a headlock, and his face was turning purple. “Don’t you dare say those words in the same sentence ever again, do you understand me?” he demanded.
Braan was unable to speak, but he managed a feeble nod and a tap on Aodhan’s arm, which must have been a sufficient enough agreement for Aodhan, because he released him. Kaye immediately stood to check on her husband.
Sitting back in his chair, Aodhan placed his palms flat on the table.
“Here’s what we’re going to do. Sierra and I will go to visit the seer.
Maybe she does know something that can help us.
” He paused, making eye contact with the other three before continuing, “In the meantime, the three of you will do some reconnaissance to find out what prophecy it is that Conlan thinks he is fulfilling with Sierra’s blood. Okay?”
They nodded in unison.
“Then we will meet back here and decide our next move. At least then, we will have more information and be able to choose our next move more wisely.”
“That’s a good plan,” Aislan conceded.
“I know,” Aodhan smirked. “You three can decide when you are leaving. Sierra and I will head out at first light.”
Sierra glanced at the window, grimacing as she realized that daylight was likely only an hour or two away at this point.
“After we visit the seer, we will meet you wherever you go. Then hopefully we can either implement a solution, or make a plan for convincing Conlan that Sierra isn’t the answer.”
Aodhan rose from the table. “In the meantime, Sierra and I both need to get what sleep we can.” He points at the table. “Leave a note with the name of where you intend to go when you leave, just in case you don’t make it back.” Aislan nods solemnly in agreement.
Without another word, Aodhan pulled Sierra back into the room, closing the door behind them and pressing her up against it, placing a searing kiss on her lips. “As much as I am aching to take you again, we really do need some sleep before we begin our journey.”
Right on cue, Sierra yawned. “You’re right.”
Making her way over to the bed, Sierra undid the cord belt, allowing the leggings to fall to the floor before sliding into bed. Aodhan slipped off his shirt before doing the same, pulling Sierra into his side so she could rest her head on his chest.
“Sleep well. See you in a few hours,” he murmured into her hair.
“You too,” Sierra replied, before drifting off to sleep.