"You've got to be kidding." Kieran said, sending a disdainful look towards Branwen.
He thought she would send one right back given her dislike of him but instead she just ignored him and continued talking to her grandmother. "We are going back to Boston to finish our year and give an air of compliance and then we are going to approach the coven directly."
Kieran threw his hands up and turned to pace from his spot at the window to the shelf behind him and back again. He couldn't understand this death wish she seemed to have. He knew Catherine didn't want them going back but instead of saying anything she just sat in her chair and heard them out.
They were all gathered around the study, almost ironically in a kind of coven-like circle. Nathan and Pogue were also standing while the others sat but nobody but Branwen spoke. How unsurprising was that. Maybe she was more like her mother than they thought.
"We will obviously have spells and fail-safes set up but we are going to separate ourselves and make it appear as if this last attack has split us up. We will go about our lives as usual, focusing on school. Let the coven think that they might not have won us back yet but we are no longer acting against them."
"You don't think they might be a little past letting you go?" Kieran asked. He wasn't surprised that Aria shot him a dirty look but he was surprised that Branwen actually turned to speak to him without lashing out.
"I think that there will be tests or attempts from the coven to get at us but I also think that running back to them will be just as suspicious."
"Because they know how stubborn you are?"
"Because they know how much Aria and I have worked for our education, even before leaving the coven. You can call it stubborn, I call it dedication."
He could see in her eyes that she still despised him. But she was also calm and cold and, despite her barb, was not going to let herself get out of control angry the way he seemed to be. Telling himself he needed to calm down, Kieran turned and began pacing again.
"Have you thought about the consequences of the wedding being called off?" Catherine asked. "I know that it soothed them and their attacks for a short while."
"When I cancelled everything," Nathan said, "I didn't say anything about it being a ruse. I'm sure the coven suspects it, but it could easily also look as if Branwen couldn't go through with it because of her feelings for Pogue."
At his words the room went silent. Kieran was confused at first but as he watched Pogue and Branwen he seemed to understand. Pogue watched her out of the corner of his eye but Branwen just remained forward, her eyes on her grandmother with a deceptively strong look of bored unconcern. Clearly the feelings that were so obvious to everyone else were being avoided by those who actually felt them. Which explained more why Pogue hadn't visited comatose Branwen.
"So why would they believe she would just altogether leave him and walk away from it all?" Catherine asked, breaking up the awkwardness.
"Because," Branwen stated, "as Kieran mentioned, I'm stubborn. My mother, of all people, knows that. She will assume that I will remove myself from their lives to protect them."
"But why would he remove himself from yours?"
There was a pause before Caleb spoke. "Pogue can be proud and stubborn sometimes. We think that if they are paying attention, they know that finding out about Branwen keeping secrets from him was very upsetting and would cause him to pull away."
"Kind of the opposite of how things happened with his last girlfriend." Catherine said, stunning them all with her knowledge of them.
Kieran was surprised that Branwen actually flinched. He was beginning to think she really was a statue.
"So to recap," Catherine said, drawing all the eyes back to her, "your plan is to go back to Boston, separately, act like the band isn't getting back together, hope that your disassociation with each other will keep you safe, and continue with this smoke screen for the next two and a half months until you are done school. And then what? Just go back and announce that you are friends and try and advocate for them?" If that didn't show Catherine's disapproval, he next words did. "I might as well bury you beside your father now."
Kieran was surprised Branwen didn't visibly bristle. He knew Catherine could be difficult and harsh but she wasn't usually so mean. She was a very caring person. It seemed she had reached a limit with Branwen, though. Maybe they were just too much alike.
"No, actually," Branwen said, refolding her hands in her lap before looking back at Catherine, "Nathan can't come back with us if we are going to keep up appearances. He's going back home to use his influence and connections to try and garner support."
Catherine raised her eyebrow in that way Kieran hated. The way that seemed to say, "Yes child, tell me your cute little story". "And you don't think all this garnering is going to draw attention?"
"I can be very subtle." Nathan said with a little edge to his voice.
"Don't tell me about subtle, child. The world has thought me to be dead for years."
Coming forward Nathan nodded. "It's true. Which is something many people have been very upset about."
Catherine eyed him suspiciously. Clearly, like Kieran, she sensed a wind up. "Is that so?"
"Quite. Branwen actually brought it up when we were talking last night, but if you pay enough attention you will notice a pattern that anyone who steps too far out of line, challenges coven laws, or, Gods forbid, leaves the coven life, seems to experience a lot of heartache. Whether it's general misfortune or actual calamity, things start to go wrong for them. For several years there has been a lot of whispering about misuse of authority. It all stated when you left. After all, if the Descendant walks away, something must be wrong. Throughout my travels I have spoken with many people who worry that their lives can be in jeopardy from the slightest of infractions. It wouldn't be that hard to continue the conversation into things like ongoing punishments and false condemnation of innocents."
Kieran leaned back against the window. He had to admit that he, too, had heard similar comments when he was traveling for Catherine. People were more and more upset about rules that were made up for much more stoic times which bound the hands of people now. The world was, metaphorically, a much larger place now. Yet there was still a law that didn't permit you to travel more than a certain distance from your coven's region for more than a couple days without head coven approval. That could really restrict the contact you had with the people you cared about when some families spanned covens and continents.
"You want to inspire anarchy?" Catherine asked in an incredulous tone. "Do you realize the problems that could create? No offence, but much larger problems. You could be trading a coven's residual curse for all out war. Which, in case you didn't think about the consequences, could lead to the outing of the entire magical world. You could take us right back to the Witch Trials, except that this time it would begin with us hanging each other."
"Instead of just allowing our governing body to burn us alive in our houses?" Aria asked. When everyone turned to look at her she blushed a little, which Kieran tried not to find beautifully adorable but his mind was a little too split in directions at the moment to resist. "I get that you're worried about the consequences and you're not wrong. We would have to be very smart about how we did things, but you can't just close your eyes and pretend there weren't reasons you left in the first place. There must have been. There was when we left."
She looked at Branwen and, surprisingly, Kieran before back at Catherine. "I get that it is the job of our laws to protect us and keep our secrets safe, but the way the coven's council system was set up is out of date. The way the world, our world, has progressed needs to be adapted to. The original aristocracy doesn't work anymore. And mostly because it's starting to become a dictatorship! There is no division of power or opportunity for feedback and modernization. It's to the point where we're all required to bend to the beliefs and rules of the head coven and to question that is punishable by death!"
It had never been said that you die if you question the laws of the head coven but it did seem to happen that way. Because those who questioned their ways usually left and those who left died. Kieran had to admit that they may actually have a point. He had his own reasons to be bitter and angry with the coven, but even putting those aside, outside of basic technological advances and medical improvements, there had been very little evolution to the coven hierarchy, functionality, laws and even how they were implemented and carried out. Some laws could even be said to border on archaic.
"And what to do you think is going to happen when you accuse the head coven of being homicidal and tyrannical?" Catherine asked, looking at Aria as if her notions were childish and laughable. "You think they're just going to say, you know what, you're right. We're just going to hand over all the power and let you children decide what to do and how to govern the whole magical community?"
"We're not children." Nathan said.
"Could have fooled me." Catherine said, getting up and heading for the door.
Branwen also stood and turned to her grandmother's receding back. "We do not need your permission." Catherine stopped at the threshold but didn't turn around. Taking another step towards her, Branwen continued. "We may be children to you, and that's fine, because we don't need your respect or approval. But you do not get to treat us like we don't have a point or reason to fight. You may believe it a losing battle but there was something that made you walk away. And there was also something that made you hide yourself. I told myself when I was done with school I would find you but even I doubted you were out there to be found. The part of you that made you leave and walk away from your family, to stay away for so long, that part must know that things in the coven are wrong and need to be fixed. Do not scoff at us and dust our views aside just because our chances are slim or our methods are not what you would try. Because you aren't. And any self-notion you have that tells you otherwise is a lie."
After a few moments of heavy silence, Catherine turned and looked at her granddaughter. Her face was a mask Kieran wouldn't be able to read on his best day. All she said was, "You're all going to get yourselves killed. I wonder how many others you'll take down with you."
She turned to leave again and just before she rounded the corner, Branwen said, "And when we all die I wonder how many years you will spend in this house of self-exile, wondering if you could have made a difference."
"Hey." Nathan said, stepping into the study where Branwen was sitting by herself. It had been a couple hours since the throw down and most of their party was either packing their things or avoiding everyone else.
Nobody really knew how to feel about it all. Catherine had raised some good points and made them face the sacrifice they could be making and yet they all were forced to realize they were willing to make it. They had a cause and it was a good one. A worthy one. Consequences be damned.
Branwen turned and gave him a little smile. It was obvious she was still easily tired and with the drama this morning, probably more than a little stressed. "Can I ask you a loaded question?"
Giving her a quizzical look, he took a seat beside her on the couch and nodded.
"Do you think I brought this on all of us." She shrugged her shoulders. "I know it's for the whole magical community, but do you think I'm the catalyst? If it weren't for me, would the world have been able to just continue on without all the problems?"
Nathan hadn't seen Branwen so unsure of herself since they were young. "Of course not." He shook his head at her look of disbelief. "Branwen, this didn't just start. Like I said before, I've heard whispers of tension and unease since your grandmother left. People are unhappy with how things are being handled and those in power are refusing to listen to the people they are supposed to be protecting."
Nodding, Branwen looked down at her hands and sighed. "Maybe. But I shouldn't have involved the guys."
"You really think their lives would be better had you not been in them? Continuing to go through like without knowing the truth? You think Caleb would even be alive in a couple years if you and Aria were not around to make the effort? Do you really think they would choose that?"
She was quiet for a couple minutes before giving a big sigh. "Sorry for getting all deep on you after the morning we had."
Smiling, Nathan wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "What more than drama and depth can a man expect on his fake wedding day?"
Giving a little laugh she stretched her legs out on the ottoman in front of them and looked at her watch. "Yes, if all this coma drama hadn't happened, we'd be fake married right now."
"You smile when you say that but you were ready to kill me a week ago."
She gave him a look he found hard to read. Almost like she was trying to read him but not looking at him at the same time. "Up until a week ago it was hard to find the person I cared about back then. You have to know you're a difficult person to put up with when you put on that effortlessly superior façade of yours."
And the façade as she called it was excellent armor for keeping people from getting as close as she had. One day he would have to try again but for now he was happy with the person he needed to be for his coven. As long as she still remembered the person he truly was underneath. He would need her to remember that so she could remind him in case things got really dark in this upcoming 'war'.
"What are you going to do?"
Kieran jumped at Catherine's voice behind him. He knew he should have went back to his rooms where she wouldn't come find him, but he had been unable to leave so he had taken refuge on the lower patio. It was chilly but refreshing in a way too.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
She raised her browns and walked around to sit on the bench in front of him. "You don't think I know you well enough to sense your inner thoughts. A very large part of you agrees with them and their initiative. You are torn."
"I'm not allowed to be torn. That was our agreement." He said that a little more bitterly that he had intended.
"Kieran, when we made our agreement, you were new to your banishment from the coven, searching for a purpose and cause to dedicate yourself and your anger to. I may have asked for your complete fealty and obedience but even I knew there would come a time when you would have to pick up a banner of your own and follow your own path. You're far too young to be of one attitude for the rest of your life. Take that from someone who has seen a few more decades than you have."
He understood what she was saying but when he had agreed to her terms he truly had intended to dedicate his life to her cause. He had thought he was doing the right thing when the coven had offered him the bounty on Branwen's father, Evan Argall. Kieran had been told that it was their ways that were at stake. He hadn't realized they had set someone to watch him. When he caught his target and Evan explained his purpose and what he was trying to do, Kieran was going to let him go. He was going to use his contact to help Evan get away. But the coven's watcher had caught them first.
Kieran had been sentence for not only helping Evan but also breaking his contract with the coven and betraying their safety. He, too, had been used as an example. Stripped of his powers, Kieran was cast out without any of his possessions or an opportunity to defend or explain himself to his friends.
Catherine had found him only a couple short weeks later and had given him a purpose and hope. He would be able to use magic again. And he could use it to help Catherine protect those who were victimized by the coven. At the time that had been one of the best possible ideas Kieran could have imagined. Before she had really even asked, his loyalties and dedication had been hers.
She was right though. Now his heart was split. He believed in what she wanted to do, but it was slow and often felt like they were waiting for all the bad to happen so they could pick up the pieces and try to put them back together. What they others were suggesting was to stop the machine before it broke things further. It was proactive and, despite its daunting probabilities, was a chance at making things better permanently.
But what help could he really be? He had no powers. "It doesn't matter." He said, shaking his head. "How much use can an exiled and magic-less witch be to their cause?"
Giving him a soft smile, Catherine took his hand and led him inside. She went through the storage room where moving the shelves along the back wall revealed her vault door. Opening it she disappeared inside and came back out carrying a small black box. After closing the vault back up she turned and handed Kieran the box.
"If you wish to go, take this with you. It will most definitely be less power than you are used to but it won't leave you defenseless."
Kieran opened the box and looked down at the talisman inside. It was a gold and silver pendant on a long gold chain. It had tiny emeralds and rubies throughout its Celtic design. It had to be very old and, most likely, incredibly powerful. At least it would be for someone who had their own magic. But for him it would act like a short-life battery. It would allow him to do some magic, but would replenish itself at a fraction of the speed he had come to expect when sharing Catherine's magic.
He looked up at the woman who had been his only family since his exile and felt bad for wanting to leave her. "Are you telling me to go?"
She gave him a little smile and patted his face. "I'm telling you that you are free to follow where you feel you need to go. With my blessing."
The next morning everyone but Catherine was gathered outside, trying to pack their things in Nathan's joke of an over-priced matchbox car when Kieran walked out with his things. They didn't notice him at first, which was a talent that had helped him in all the jobs he had done in his life.
"It'll be a tight squeeze but it'll do." Nathan was saying as they were all looking at the small car. "It's only a day or so."
Kieran wanted to smile but knew he was already walking into a somewhat hostile situation and smiling probably wouldn't help. "Don't worry, it won't take that long."
They all turned to look at him and Aria, after a moment of shock, gave him a scowl. "Why are you going to be helpful for once?" She watched him walk down the steps of the front porch and then saw his bag. "You don't actually think you're coming with us?"
"If you retract the claws and be real nice I might let you come with me." Kieran said, throwing his kid gloves to the wind. It really wasn't his style anyway. "But to answer your question, I am joining your cause. I have my own contacts and figure I can probably help Nathan with his mission. I also figured it wouldn't be wise for you to all show up back in Boston together if you're supposed to have been separated."
Walking over to the side of the house, Kieran opened up the garage door on the small shed before turning back to them. They were all silent for a couple seconds before Caleb leaned towards Nathan and said, "He knows there's nothing there, right?"
"Yes I do, Danvers. But the nothing is exactly what makes it so special. So I figure, for appearance sake, the boys should probably look like they either never left Boston. Seeing as how their cars never left the city. What you're going to say you were doing, I don't know. The girls, obviously are coming back from some private hospital. And then Nathan should avoid Boston altogether. So…" Kieran went into the shed and pulled open the electrical panel to reveal the control board behind it. Punching in the location of the dorm for the boys, Kieran then turned back to the group.
Who stood there staring at him like he'd lost his mind.
"It's a portal shed." He told them. Clearly they had never seen a portal. It was extremely advanced magic. Pointing to the man door at the side, he elaborated. "When Mr. Danvers and Parry walk through that door over there, they will be walking in the door of their dorm. To the outside hallway the door won't be open but inside your dorm the door will open and you will be deposited. When you close the door, the link breaks and you would open it up to find the hallway again. After they go through I will to the same for the girls with their front door. Then I will put in the coordinates for Nathan's garage on the garage door and as he drives his car through it he will be pulling into his garage. Then I will close this door and head to my own destination."
They all continued to look at him like he'd grown another head but eventually Caleb shrugged. "What the hell." He said and walked over to the man door. Taking a deep breath, he twisted the knob and pushed it open. "Holy shit." He said, sticking his head in before looking back. "It is actually our dorm.
Everyone rushed over to see except Nathan. "I've heard of portal magic but never used one." He said, turning to look at Kieran. "I appreciate your help, by the way. Let me know if you need mine." Patting Kieran on the back, Nathan walked over and started lifting the bags back out of his car.
As the others went to grab their things, Branwen stopped beside him. He braced himself for her ire but was surprised when he didn't get any. "I know it's not really your fault, but that doesn't change how I feel about it." She said it very quietly and evenly.
"I understand." He replied. Because he did. It wasn't her fault that his powers got taken away but there was still a part of him that wanted to be angry at her for her mother's part in it. However, there was also a part of him that saw her grandmother in her and knew the potential for greatness she had. "I will do my best to help with what I can. Maybe then we can both get justice."
Without looking at him, she nodded and took a step forward before stopping again. This time she did look at him. "If at any point you need to regroup, we will have resources at our place. Just don't get caught."
She continued over to the others and they each took their turns going through the portals. Finally, when it was his turn, he set in his coordinates and opened the door. The fresh air rushed through the door at him and he took a deep full breath of it. As he stepped through, he thought about how nice it was to be home again, and the hell he was going to raise there.
Consequences be damned.
A/N: Two chapters in two days. Feels odd to post so often when I've been away so long. I hope you're all enjoying the new chapters. Please review! ;)