Chapter 63: Game Changers

Lilly woke up the next morning with Arthur dead asleep at her side, the light shining through the windows on his back. She smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek before getting out of bed and dressing in a red version of her summer gunslinger outfit. After brushing her hair, braiding it, taking a dose of dramamine for her nausea and grabbing her weapons, she left the room and went straight to the nursery. Aisling was in there getting the babies up.

"Good morning, m'lady," Aisling said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Aisling," Lilly replied before smirking at her children. "Hello, little ones."

"Mummy," Aoífe said, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

"Mum," Junior bumbled.

Lilly gave them both kisses on their heads before grabbing Aoífe and changing her diaper cloth and clothes. Aisling tended to Arthur Junior. She was just so happy to be home, although she knew it would be short lived. She still had to track down Carman and Dubh and kill them both. Aisling and Lilly brought the children downstairs to eat breakfast. Lilly ate hers quickly before she had to go out and start training.

"Okay, wee ones. Ya better behave yourselves for Nanny Aisling, okay?" Lilly said before kissing them and walking out of the dining room.

Lilly left the house and walked across the gravel to the front yard, surveying the training grounds. It had truly expanded in her absence. Tents were all over the place and men, and even some women, were in groups training. Yelling and weapons clanking together filled the air as she walked through. The smell of fire permeated her nostrils and she grinned as she ambled over to the largest tent where Sadie and Charles were.

"Hey Sadie, Charles," she greeted. "How are things?"

"Things are good. You want a look at the reports?" Sadie asked.

"Sure."

Sadie handed Lilly a stack of papers and Lilly started reading them. "Hmm, you guys sure have been busy while I've been away."

Sadie took a sip of coffee. "Mmhmm, but it seems to be under control. Reports have been coming in from all over Ireland about werewolves but it looks like other nobles have started training grounds as well to follow your example."

"That's good. And how have our immortal trainers been getting along?"

"Excellent. The Morrigan has been coming by every once in a while to check on us."

"Good. Guess I better get started on training people. Any idea where I should start?"

"Well, I'm good with knives but you're way better," Sadie replied. "Let's get a group set up."

The three exited the tent to go round up some men.

X=X

Arthur groaned awake and rolled over, not finding Lilly in the bed. He sighed and got up before dressing in his summer gunslinger outfit. He left the room and peeked in the nursery, not finding the babies there, so he shut the door and headed downstairs to the dining room. Aoífe and Arthur Jr. were sitting with Tilly and Aisling eating their breakfast.

"Good morning," he said to everyone present.

"Daddy!" the twins yelled with excited faces.

"Good morning, Arthur," Tilly said.

"Good morning, m'lord," Aisling said.

Arthur chuckled as he kissed his children's foreheads. "What you kids havin' for breakfast?"

"Porridge and milk," Aisling replied.

"Mmm, well it sure smells good."

Arthur Jr. took a spoonful of porridge and held it up to his daddy's face. Arthur Sr. took a bite and made an "mmm" sound before swallowing. It was then that Breena exited the kitchen and gave Arthur a small curtsy.

"M'lord, would you like some breakfast?" she asked.

"Sure," he replied.

He sat down at the head of the table as Breena went back into the kitchen. Shortly afterwards, she came back out with a plate full of a traditional Irish breakfast. Arthur ate quickly while talking to Tilly and Aisling about what they were going to be doing that day.

"Well, Tilly and I were going to take the children horseback riding today," Aisling answered.

Arthur raised a brow. "By yourselves?"

"We ain't goin' very far, Arthur," Tilly said.

He shook his head. "I don't care. You girls ain't goin' alone. I'm comin' with."

"Well, alright," Tilly said.

"Let me go tell Lilly that I'm gonna be out with you," Arthur said, taking a bite of his breakfast before standing from his chair.

He left the house and surveyed the grounds, a light breeze hitting him and wafting through his hair. It was getting long again. He needed a hair cut. As he rubbed his scruff, he ambled around looking for his wife. He eventually found her with Sadie and they were both showing students how to throw knives at a figure made of hay. He chuckled in approval before approaching them both.

"Ladies," he mumbled softly in his western drawl.

The women turned around and smiled at him. "Arthur," they both said.

"Lilly, I'm gonna go with Aisling and Tilly to take the kids horseback ridin'," he explained.

"Ooooh, that sounds like fun," Lilly remarked. "Just don't wander off too far."

"Of course."

A sound came from behind Arthur and he turned to see a man with goat legs. "Oh. Uh...Cernunnos, right?" Arthur asked.

"Yes," the god replied. "I would like to join you."

Both Lilly and Sadie raised their brows in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes. I have...grown fond of your children."

Sadie grinned. "I knew they'd grow on you," she said.

Arthur was shocked to see the god's cheeks turn bright red. "Alright, you can tag along." He turned to Lilly and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. "I'll be back later, mo stór."

"Okay, mo chuisle," Lilly answered with a kiss to his cheek.

Arthur turned to Cernunnos. "I'll meet you by the stables. Uh," he looked down at the god's hooves. "Do you got a horse, or...?" Cernunnos shook his head. "Well, we got plenty to spare, I think."

"He can take Liath if he wants," Lilly offered.

"Thank you," Cernunnos said.

Arthur jogged back to the house to finish breakfast with the kids, then he informed them that one of the immortals would be joining them today. Once that was done, he wandered out to the stables with the girls and the children, Cernunnos waiting for them with Liath already saddled up. He took a look at Rose and grinned, walking up to her and stroking her muzzle.

"I missed you, girl," he whispered.

Rose knickered in appreciation and nuzzled Arthur's face, making him laugh.

"It's so good to see that you got your memory back, Arthur," Tilly remarked.

"Yep," Arthur replied.

Once the girls had their horses saddled up and had the kids on their saddles, the posse wandered out of the stables and trotted off the property into the nearby valley. The kids were having a blast, squealing with joy and urging everyone to go faster. Arthur sprung from a trot to a gallop and the group followed.

X=X

The days went by quickly and soon it was into summer. The crops were plentiful, new baby animals were growing into their strides, they'd hired more staff for both the farm and the household, and Lilly and Arthur had purchased some female Arabian horses from Galway. One was black, one was gray, and one was red chestnut. The black and gray were absolute sweethearts, but the red chestnut had somewhat of a fiery disposition. Lilly fell in love with her right away and named her Phoenix.

As the staff helped bring the horses to the stables, The Count perked up his ears. It was as if he knew what was going on. Lilly chuckled and scratched his cheek.

"Yes, you're gonna have your pick, Count," she cooed. "And next year we're gonna have little baby Arabian foals running around."

Arthur laughed. "Don't forget the Ardennes/Thoroughbred hybrid we're gonna have, too," he mentioned.

Lilly strut over to Rose who had mated with Liath almost a month ago. "Yes, we won't forget about your little chiseler, too."

Rose snorted softly into Lilly's hand and Arthur hugged Lilly from behind, stroking her little swollen belly. "And our little chiseler, as well?"

Lilly giggled. "Yes, he or she will be a fine addition to the Morgan name." She lifted her husband's hands and kissed them tenderly.

Arthur's lips caressed her earlobe softly. "Ar chóir dúinn dul go dtí an seomra leapa?" [Should we go to the bedroom?]

"Is smaoineamh den scoth é sin," she purred. [That is an excellent idea.]

Just as they were leaving the stables hand in hand, Adair came flying up to them and landed in front of them.

"Hey, Adair. What's the report?" Lilly asked.

Adair sighed in defeat. "Nothing. I haven't been able to locate Carman anywhere."

Things had been quiet for weeks, no signs of werewolf attacks or anything of the sort. Adair had been scouring the whole country for weeks and still, there was nothing. It made Lilly on edge, like it was the calm before the storm. Even her visions, as well as The Morrigan's, had not been any help. It was like everything about Carman was being blocked. It had all the gods worried, but everyone pressed on to train anyway.

"I don't like this," Lilly said with a frown. "She has to be planning something big."

"I agree," Adair concurred. "I think we should hold a meeting for our next move."

Lilly gave the goddess a nod. "Tell everyone to come to the war room. I'll be there shortly."

Adair flapped her wings and flew into the air. The couple watched her go and Arthur and Lilly walked to the house. After grabbing some salted meat and pickles, Lilly chomped on the food as they made their way to the war room. It was basically an extra study that they'd renovated into a room with a giant map of Ireland on a table in the middle of the room. When they got in there, all the gods and goddesses were standing around the massive table.

"Thank you all for joining me," Lilly said beside her husband. "Now, Adair has searched the whole country for Carman, her remaining son Dubh and her army and hasn't found squat. Do any of you have any ideas where they might be?"

"From what we know of her, Carman prefers the privacy of the mountains," Lugh offered. "Perhaps we should have more than one individual search the mountain ranges."

"That's like lookin' for a needle in a haystack," Arthur pointed out.

Lugh grunted and smirked, eyeballing Arthur before turning to him. "We're gods, Sasanach. Finding needles in haystacks is what we do."

Lilly arched a brow, feeling a little irritated. "Did you just call my husband a Sasanach?"

Lugh chuckled. "He is American. And, well," Lugh jerked his head to the side, "I know how you mortals are about your countries of origin."

Lilly crossed her arms before chomping down on a pickle, her teeth crunching away as she chewed and faced Lugh's direction. "And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

Lugh scoffed. "Are you getting another mood swing?"

Adair puckered in her lips and slowly turned away from the group as if she knew full well was about to happen. The other gods stood motionless like statues and Arthur's eyes went wide as Lilly took a few steps forward, making a soft chuckle. She twisted her head a bit, slapped her hand on Lugh's shoulder and grinned before gripping his head and slamming it down on the map table. Lugh's head made a loud "thonk" and Lilly yanked him back up by his hair as the rest of the group jolted and took a step back.

"I get it, yer new tah this band of rag tag heroes," Lilly whispered ferociously as Lugh squinted his eyes shut and hissed, baring his white teeth. "So I'm going tah let this little incident slide. But the next time ya disrespect my husband or me, I will not be as feckin' nice as I am right now. Ya get me, Lugh?"

Lugh suddenly barked with laughter. "I knew I liked you," he sighed.

Lilly raised her eyebrows as she looked at the smirking god. "What the hell? Was that like a test or something?"

Lugh laughed again and shook his head. "No. I just like making you angry."

Lilly rolled her eyes and removed her grip from Lugh's hair. Arthur shook his head with a chuckle. The immortal stood up straight and rubbed his fingers through his blonde locks. "Yer a real shite, ya know that?" Lilly pointed out in a shrilly voice.

Adair cleared her throat to get everyone's attention as she made her way back to the map table. "Anyway, I might have a suggestion."

Lilly nodded. "Let's hear it."

Adair pivoted her hip whole folding her arms across her chest, staring down at the map of Ireland and the surrounding waters. "As Lugh pointed out, gods are naturals at finding things. However, we are also experts at hiding things."

Lilly squinted her eyes. "Okay, and?"

"So how the hell is she hiding? Look, I know her. Or..." Adair groaned and leaned her hands on the table, glaring down at the map. "I knew her. I knew her before she went down this dark path. And her powers were nowhere near the level that they are now," Adair continued.

Lilly raised a brow. Oh, that was a very interesting thought. "You think someone is helping her with that."

Adair nodded. "I do." She looked back up at Lilly. "I think it's a god."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Hey guys! I know it's been SOOOOOO LONG since I've updated, I'm sorry. I had a huuuge writer's block going on and my life has been pretty busy, so...anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!