Introduction:
"Did not!" Aidan shouted angrily.
"Did so!" Aine spat back. The two turned to their best friend in exasperation. "Tell him I'm right, Leo!"
"But neither of you . . ." Leopold began timidly.
"Leave him out of this," Aidan yelled as he placed both hands on his sister's shoulders and shoved her harshly. "He's not the one being stupid!'
Aine snarled and shoved her twin brother back in the same manner. Aidan growled and smacked at his sister's arm. Aine shrieked and kicked at her brother's shin. Leopold whimpered and glanced uncomfortably at the door. Their parents, all four of them, were away on a very dangerous assignment for the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. Before Red and Elizabeth Broom along with Abraham and Nuala Sapien left for the mission, they had headed to Newgrange in Ireland to leave their children in the care of the only being equipped to watch over them. Leopold was more familiar with their sitter than the twins, but that would not make this any more comfortable for the timid sea-elf.
He sighed heavily and walked quickly to the door as the squabble continued. He had to put an end to this, but he would need outside help in doing so. The two half demons growled and threw their fists and legs at one another. As they fell to the floor in their battle, the intensity and frequency of the blows increased. Aidan reached out and grabbed hold of Aine's long, black braid and yanked on it as hard as he could while slamming a hand harshly into his sister's forehead. Aine cried and closed her eyes, throwing her fist firmly into her brother's jaw. Aidan began crying and tried to throw his sister to the side.
"What in heaven's name do you think you are doing?!" a loud, angry, and very important voice demanded from the doorway. The twins froze, sobbing as they watched as their caretaker approached angrily. They scooted away from one another as Prince Nuada Silverlance, the king of the magical realm, and Leopold's uncle, stormed over to them. "What happened?"
The two sat upright, sniffing and whimpering as the prince folded his arms and stared down at them harshly.
"It . . . wasn't . . . my . . . fault," Aidan said between gasps and sniffs. "Aine's . . . being . . . mean."
Nuada sighed and reached down to take both of the children by the arm. As he lifted the half demon twins into the air, he noticed a large bruise forming on the girl-child's forehead. She sniffed and closed her eyes tightly, doing her best not to cry as loudly as her brother. The prince frowned and sat down in a nearby chair, taking the one girl into his lap and looking at the bruise more carefully. Leopold came and meekly stood beside Aidan who stared angrily at his sister and the elf. Aine winced as Nuada placed a hand over the growing bruise. The prince closed his eyes and breathed deeply, willing the wound to heal. Leopold turned to Aidan and frowned.
"Now you've done it," the sea-elf hissed in a whisper. Aidan turned and glared at his pseudo-cousin. "We're all going to be in trouble."
"Me? You're the one that didn't tell her to be quiet when I did," Aidan replied in a harsh whisper. "It's your fault we're in trouble."
"Leopold is neither at fault nor in any form of trouble other than being connected on an intimate level with a brother and sister who can't seem to get along," Nuada announced as he removed his hand from Aine's head and looked into the girl's eyes. "It is both brother and sister at fault when a fight breaks out between them." He reached forward and softly smoothed a lock of the girl's hair away. "Neither is usually innocent and both are usually harmed in any case."
"How would you know?" Aine asked softly. She wiped a final tear away from her eyes and leaned into the elf, wrapping her arms around him for comfort. He sighed and looked over at his nephew with a smirk. "How would you know what this is like?"
"It just so happens that I have a sister, a twin sister. Leopold's mother, Nuala, is my other half." He shifted the girl to one side of his lap and gestured for the two boys to come and sit near them. Leopold looked at Aidan and smiled brightly. "And as it would also happen, there was a time when she and I fought like nothing else."
Leopold took a seat on the floor in front of his uncle and looked toward Aidan until the boy did the same. The sea-elf looked as excited as a child about to receive a gift. He leaned over to his friend and whispered excitedly. "When my uncle tells a story, it's always incredible," he whispered. Aidan frowned and folded his arms angrily as he situated himself on the floor. "You and mother used to fight?"
"Nearly all the time," Nuada replied.
"She probably kept bothering you until you couldn't take another minute," Aidan huffed.
The prince fixed his eyes directly on the half demon and grinned. "As a matter of fact, Nuala was usually the initiator of our conflicts and was usually the first to get physical," he added. "It was not until I was close to finding my warrior's title that she and I both discovered how much we loved each other and how much our fighting got in the way of it."
Aidan and Aine both perked up at this. Their mother had said to them over and over again when having to stop the fighting that someday they would realize just how much they loved and needed each other. Had the mother of Nuada and Nuala said the very same thing? More importantly, how had it come to be true? The two grew very silent and fixed their attention fully on the prince as Leopold made himself comfortable and readied to hear another wonderful story from his family's past.
"Now, let me see," Nuada said looking toward the ceiling as he remembered his past. "Ah, yes. I was about your age as matter of fact, Leopold. I believe you already know, my nephew, that my title is Silverlance. However, I think there are few that know that what actually gave me my title was not silver at all. It was a golden sword. A golden sword give to me by a most unusual creature."