Chapter 35

"Near Banbridge town, in the County Down
One evening last July
Down a bóithrín green came a sweet cailín
And she smiled as she passed me by.
She looked so neat in her two bare feet
To the sheen of her nut-brown hair
Such a coaxing elf, I'd to shake myself
To make sure I was standing there."

Riona absently sang as she prepared her meal over the fire. Five or six millennia in Arda and she still preferred her own country's folk songs, though since coming to arda the lyric about a 'coaxing elf' had vastly amused her.

Around her the sun set over peaceful hills, her voice and song carrying on the wind for miles around.

XXX

A mixture of elves and maia sat and watched the dark brown haired maia stand as he watched the image of his red-haired wife sing and cook, melancholy in his face. This was the first time in millenia the couple had been separated. The last time had been that short, dreadful period after he had delivered Riona and Daffyd to the Valar immediately after their arrival in Valinor and he'd almost worn a hole in the carpet then.

The younger generation, who had been careful to make sure Riona never ran into anything too dangerous, watched on helplessly, wishing they could do more than simply reassure him as to Riona's safety.

Neither elves nor maia present noticed Mandos and Irmo also watching on with expressions mixed between pleasure and anticipation. It was about time something should happen at it was somewhat ironic that a new theme incorporated itself into the song of Eru at the call of another theme, a song of another world.

XXX

The group of warriors trotted forward, eager to get to their resting point but too tired to go much faster. The leader suddenly straightened and paled. The others promptly reigned in slightly to stare at their darkest haired member and the twelve year old boy that rode with them touched the rider's arm, frowning up at his guardian.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Do you hear that song?" The boy frowned and listened.

"Just about, I cannot hear it well enough, I had not even noticed it until you pointed it out. What of it?"

"Its a song I never thought to hear again, not unless I sung it or passed it on. Its a song of my homeland." Without warning, the leader urged their horse forward and the company rushed to follow the flowing deep mahogany coloured hair, the redish shades flashing in the setting sun as its owner galloped on at full speed in the direction of the faint singing.

As they closed in on the noise, it was clear that the singer had found the place they had been planning to stop and already set up camp. Their leader called a halt just before they reached the spot and before whoever was there would see them. The boy beside her raised an eyebrow as her saw a single finger pressed to his guardian's lips. Once everyone in the party had got the hint to be silent their leader drew in a deep breath and began singing.

"Of all the money ere I had,

I spent it in good company

and all the harm I ev'r done,

Alas it was to none but me..."

To the rest of the party's surprise the lines were returned.

"And all I've done for want of wit,

To memory now I can't recall..."

Both their leader and the mysterious singer then joined their voices together in the refrain, the entire company not noticing, as interested in the singing that they were, that the source of the second voice was moving.

"So fill to me the parting Glass,

Good night and joy be to you all!"

They all suddenly looked up at the overhang that made the area good for camping to see a tall lady with bright red-auburn hair dressed in leggings, tunic and an odd fitted leather jerkin with a sword at her hip and full archery gear strapped to her back. The lady was wearing an amused smile as she looked down at the company and specifically their leader.

"So its Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann then?" She asked with a very familiar lilting accent that they had heard only on one person before.

Their leader gave a joyful squeal, dismounted and was up on the ridge hugging the other woman enthusiastically before her company had any chance to register what was going on.

"Riona! How on earth can you be so flippant?" She asked, still grinning like a loon.

"Because I'm never not flippant?" Rosie attempted to poke the other lady, laughing.

"Honestly, you disappeared more than five years ago in the weirdest way possible, no evidence of, well anything, and Daffyd does exactly the same at exactly the same time and all you can come up with to say to your baby sister is a flipping song lyric?"

"Yup! Though I have to say your time line and mine vary rather. Mine has it closer to six thousand years ago. Oh, and Daffyd is safe, well and probably fussing over his latest great grandchild. It seems to be his favourite hobby." Rosie had drawn back to frown at her.

"What, how the hell could it have been six thousand years?" Riona looked over at the confused company and boy.

"Shall we go sit round the fire? I've got the starts of a stew on and I think your friends over there will look less like a bunch of lemons." Rosie sniggered. Her generally blond company looked at the two in utter bafflement.

Some minutes later the company, boy and two red heads were round an extended fire as they adjusted the stew to be big enough for eleven people. Once everything was done and they just had to wait for the food to cook, Rosie moved to introduce her company.

"Everybody, the lady is my older sister Riona, that would be sibling four out of five total – yes Irish people have big families too. The Daffyd I mentioned earlier is the son of our oldest brother who moved out country. Riona, the kid is Eorl, Son of Leod, his Dad sent him off with us to get his metaphorical feet wet. I'm willing to bet its because mine is the only company with a shield maiden and his Mum thinks I'd be able to prevent this lot corrupting her son somewhat." She paused as Riona burst out laughing. "What' so funny?"

"The concept that anyone thinks any member of my family would prevent corruption of the young." Rosie looked baffled.

"And why is that funny?"

"You are talking to the person guilty of corrupting the entirety of the elfin royalty and spent three thousand years pranking Manwë." Rosie stared at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Pardon? Did you just say you spent three thousand years pranking the lord of the Valar?" Riona gave her sister a broad, cheesy grin. "Why?" Riona shrugged.

"He stole my daughter." Rosie stared at her. "The valar wanted spies in the elfin realms that wouldn't be noticed so nicked mine and Daffyd's kids and dumped them just outside two elfin realms to be found and adopted by elves there, Lord Elrond in the case of my daughter. I swore I'd make his life a living hell until my daughter was returned to me and since that took until the end of the second age, that was the time I spent pranking him." Rosie blinked.

"Well that seems fair enough. What did the rest of the valar think?"

"Varda was in on it, Irmo helped us out, he showed us how to keep in contact and things like that. I think Mandos was on our side, the others generally I don't know other than they seemed to find the pranks amusing. I think Yavanna was a bit pissed about it, the kidnapping that is, though, because Daffyd's wife is one of hers." Rosie and the assorted men stared at her.

"You generally live in Valinor, don't you?" Riona nodded. "How are you here then? And for that matter, I thought only immortals could go there."

"Yes, I do live in Valinor, Eru turned me and Daffyd into Maia as a wedding present for me since I married a Maia. We're aligned with Eru and he told me to come to Arda to find you so I came to Arda and bugger any laws of the Valar, not that I didn't do that anyway." Rosie stared at her.

"You're a maia?"

"You didn't think I looked this young after a few thousand years did you? Eru gave Daffyd and I immortality as a wedding present when I married Eönwë. He evidently didn't think it was fair on my husband to live his entire immortal life with only a few decades with his wife and equally for me to watch my only blood family age and die." Rosie was blinking at her in shock.

"I don't know which of those statements to address first, the one where you blithely state you are a maia like it is nothing, that ERU – the one true god who bares a lot of resemblance to the Christian god – was the one to make you one, that Eru of all people gave you a wedding present or that he did it at your wedding to the Leader of the Celestial Army. I'm not sure whether I've lost it, you've lost it, whether its all actually true and life is incredibly weird or whether I'm dreaming all this." Riona winced. She had forgotten that her sister had a delayed panic response. It was evidently beginning to sink in. If Riona wasn't careful she'd most likely have tears to deal with later.

"I can answer that if you want, and once I have, I have one hell of a story to tell you..."

XXX

In Valinor there were celebrations. Maybe Riona would be coming home soon, was the general thought, right until Elrond made a very good point.

"If Riona is the older, more mature sister, what do you think her little sister is going to be like? Will Arda survive both of them?" Thranduil groaned despairing whilst elsewhere in Valinor the Lords of Souls were cracking up laughing and, had they been from Riona's world, they would have high-fived.

It was a good job Eru had decided not to tell anyone exactly who was responsible for this new twist. There were most likely a number of immortal beings who would have something to say about it.

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AN: I highly recommend the High Kings versions of the two songs in this though if you want the version of Star of the County Down I know best search for 'micamac' (that is the band name - star of the county down should be fairly near the top of the list) on youtube. That is a very good but slightly odd one since it is sung by a Breton folk band and thus is sung with a french rather than an Irish accent but it is a favourite of mine all the same.