Brothers

Adair returned to the princess and found her sitting in her room with Frost and Doyle present. She smiled when she saw him, and Adair could have sworn it was the sweetest smile he had seen in many ages.

"Is everything all right?" she asked, the slight frown on his face when he entered the room not going unnoticed. She held her hand out to him.

"There is talk you will bring Aisling with you to the Seelie court," Adair rplied and dropped to one knee before her. Touching her hands seemed the most wonderful thing to him. When was the last time he had held a woman's hands?

"Only those the princess has welcomed to her bed can join her," Frost spoke up and looked down his regal nose at the other man. He disapproved of her taking Aisling to her bed; he was a strong spell caster, and there had been a time when only one other sidhe could have equaled him in magic, Barinthus.

"I understand that," Adair replied, not wanting to anger one of the princess' favorites. "But you know who he was before the weirding spells. My brother was one of the most powerful of the sidhe."

It was Merry's turn to frown now. "Aisling is your brother?" She had not known that.

"Yes, my princess. My mother is Morrigan. His mother is Boann. We share the same father," Adair explained. Looking up at Doyle, he asked, "You remember the Dagda, don't you?"

Doyle, who had been expecting this, stood with his arms folded across his breast and said, "Yes, I remember him....and your brother from back then. He tried to avoid politics if he could."

"Indeed," Adair agreed. "But all were welcome at the Brugh. He never turned anyone away although our brother Midir was the most inhospitable sidhe alive."

"I remember, but we can't live in the past," Doyle informed him. "Things change."

"You are speaking to one who knows that as well as you," Adair reminded him. "I was there when Taranis took the court away from Findvarr." Turning back to the princess, he said, "My princess, return Aisling's powers to him the way you have done the others, and he will be an allie of such power. People forget he was a great warrior."

"His claim was made against Unseelies," Merry reminded him. "Thousands slain, I know my history."

"Another time and place, your majesty," Adair countered. "The Unseelies were a different people then." Fearing he was talking her out of it, he said, "Princess, Aisling would be a loyal allie...as loyal as your men. In his power he is formidable. EVen now he was one of the few Ravens who does not don armour. I was banned for defending him at the Seelie court. It broke his heart to see my here. He was always the one who took care of others. Let me bring him to you."

Merry sighed. Her affection for Adair was genuine, and his love for his brother was real. "VEry well, I will speak with him."

"Now, my princess?"

"Very well, now."

Adair kissed her hands and jumped up. "Thank-you."

Finding Aisling was not that easy. He liked to keep moving as a way to avoid the queen, not that he could avoid her for long if she decided she needed him. Keeping him alive had been her joke on Taranis after the taking of the mounds. The sidhe, Seelie and Unseelie, had had to work together to free the mounds of their former inhabitants. Aisling had been the head of Taranis' guard, the Fionna. Named for the ancient Irish warriors, Taranis had found it a delightful joke to put Aisling at their head. Aisling, who in his past life, had been a friend and sometimes an enemy of them. Taking the Seelie mound was what caused it to recognize him. Taranis had imprisoned his captain before anyone was aware of what had happened, and in the middle of the night, Uar handed Aisling over to Frost and Doyle. After Andais made sure he understood what was expected and not expected of him, Aisling donned the veil that hid his face and the glamour that made his eyes, his beautiful eyes, so unattractive.

Fearing the princess would get tired of waiting for his return, Adair picked up his pace. Aisling had to be somewhere. Deep in the bowels of the sith, he found his brother sitting in a cool dark place that opened on a cavern and another tunnel. It was an old route to the Seelie mound, now in disuse and dangerous.

"The princess wants to see you," Adair said quickly. "Come, we can't keep her waiting."

"No," Aisling said with a heavy sigh.

"Yes," Adair countered and sat beside him. "This is your chance to get your powers back, to reclaim your throne...your throne Aisling. Edain is over there."

"She's forgotten me by now," he said ruefully.

"Even so, Taranis must be put in his place. Come with me to the princess. Please. Many of us are still counting on you."

Aisling looked away. "You shouldn't have. I'll just let you down again."

"No. Come, the princess' time is short."

"Adair..."

"You must set things right!" Adair snapped. "You must get back over there and set things straight."