Tuatha's Children By Bert McKenzie Copyright 2011
Chapter 17
Jeff looked up at Scott, not sure how to react to what he was just told. The consort to the king of Tuatha just told him he wasn't welcome back in the one place where he could be human. He had risked his life as well as the life of his lover. He had returned to the human world and become a vampire again in order to save the adopted son of the king and his consort, and now that consort told him not to return. He just sat in stunned silence.
"What are you saying?" Willow asked. He was sitting beside his lover and had heard Scott's comment. Jeff might be shocked into silence, but Willow was angry. He had begun to feel that Tuatha might be his home. His father had been a full blooded fairy and had come from the magical land. He was a half breed, but his fairy blood called to him and he felt at home in the mystical kingdom. And now he was told that his lover wasn't welcome. "How can you say that after all he has done for you?"
Scott quickly sat down opposite them. "Listen to me for a minute. It isn't that I'm not grateful for all you have done. I think of you as part of my family now. Of course I want you back, but I'm concerned..."
"Because he's a vampire?" Willow interrupted. "You know that once he crosses into Tuatha he will become human again."
"That's just it. I'm not sure he will," Scott said. "I had a long talk with Alex before I came back. He is worried about the transformation. You see, he's been through something very like this. He says you get a second chance, but not a third."
"Yes, he told me that," Jeff nodded. "He said he couldn't come back here to the human world or he would die."
"Alex contracted AIDS before he ever came to Tuatha," Scott explained. "In our land his disease progressed and he died. He was allowed to come back to life by some very powerful magic. One of the conditions was that he had to make one trip to the human world and back, but only one, and then he would get his second chance at life. But if he comes back to the human world again, he will have to return to the afterlife. He'll die."
"What has that got to do with Jeff?" Willow asked, totally confused.
"Alex thinks that the transformation magic that allowed Jeff to become a human again when he came to our world is similar to the magic that brought him to life. Alex thinks that like him, Jeff was given a second chance at life. But in returning to the human world, Jeff again became a vampire. Now if he returns to Tuatha, he'll just die. As Alex said, the magic gives you a second chance, but not a third."
"But he's just guessing at all this," Willow protested. "He doesn't know. He wasn't a vampire. His situation is nothing like Jeff's."
"It is exactly like Jeff's," Robin said. He had heard the conversation and come back to speak with them. "Magic is magic. There are laws and rules. You cannot bend those rules any more than you can bend your rules of ... what is it called here?"
"Physics," Scott supplied.
"Just so. Now I know why my love was so quiet and so sad on his return here. I thought it was because of leaving our son behind in our homeland, but now I see it was for the burden he carried. He knew he must tell you this."
"But you don't know..." Willow continued.
"No, we don't know," Scott agreed. "But are you willing to take a chance with his life? If he crosses into Tuatha and dies, we can't rush him back. Remember how we worried that when Jeff came back to the human world he might become a 200 year old human? We worried that all his years would catch up with him and he'd turn to dust? What if that happens now?"
Willow turned to his lover with tears in his eyes, and then collapsed on his chest and began to sob. Jeff patted him on the back. He was too stunned to have much of a reaction of his own, so he comforted his lover.
"We shall consult the wizard. He may know, or have a solution," Robin said. "I shall not banish you on such a tenuous theory."
"I'm so sorry, Jeff," Scott apologized. "We talked you into coming back here to help us out and now I feel like we've trapped you."
"It was my choice," Jeff said quietly. "Besides, if I have to stay a vampire, I'll just make the most of it. Life isn't all that bad. There are only a few things I have to give up, but look what I have in return." He glanced down at his lover in his arms.
The plane touched down in London, refueled and then was on its way to New York. A number of hours later they were coming in for a landing at JFK. It was early morning, the sun just coming up as they left the airport. Craig had a special car waiting to pick them up and they hurried to an apartment that Jeff kept in the city. They pulled into an underground garage and up to a parking stall.
"Mr. Jefferson," an older black man said with a smile. "Welcome home, sir."
Jeff got out of the car and gave the man a hug. "Willie, it is so good to see you again."
"Are you going to be staying long?" Then he turned to see the others climbing out of the town car. "And Mr. Craig and Mr. Willow. It's good to see you boys."
"We'll be leaving again this evening," Jeff said as the Robin, Scott and Rood climbed out of the car. "But I expect we'll be back in a few days to stay for a good long while."
"That's good to hear," the older man beamed. "Willie will take care of you. You just leave it all to me." He then escorted the group to the elevators and smiled as he saw them into the compartment, reaching in and pushing the button for the penthouse."
The doors opened and the group stepped out into a small lobby. Craig stepped to the door of Jeff's apartment, opening it and letting the group in. Craig's staff had prepared the place for their arrival, stocking the kitchen with blood for Jeff and a supply of vegetarian fair for Willow and their guests. There were fresh flowers around the apartment and the drapes were open over the tall windows showing the magnificent view of the city. "This is a great view," Scott said, looking out the window.
"You can see the Statue of Liberty from the bedroom," Willow replied.
"But such big windows with the sun?"
"Special glass that keeps out the UV rays which are what causes the problems," Willow answered.
Meanwhile Craig had stepped behind the bar that separated the kitchen from the living room/dining area and began to prepare some lunch for everyone. Willow joined him and they quickly set the table with a fresh salad, some bread and an assortment of cheeses, and a fresh bottle of blood for Jeff. Everyone sat down to a late morning meal. Craig called his fianc‚ after lunch while Scott took a nap and the fairies and Jeff sat in the living room discussing their plans.
"We have left Casseldra and Jennifer in the dwelling that houses our entrance to Tuatha," Robin explained. "When your friend has finished speaking with his lady, we shall have him talk with them. Casseldra will have her father meet us in this world and perhaps he may have an answer to some of our questions."
Jeff shook his head. "I'm not sure I want to get my hopes up if I'm just going to be disappointed."
"Let us find what answers we can before making decisions," Robin replied.
Soon Craig was off the phone and excused himself. He was going to hurry home to spend some time with Angela before meeting them at La Guardia Airport that evening. Before he left he made a call and connected Robin with Jennifer and Casseldra in Illinois. Casseldra agreed to speak with her father and get him to do some research. He would meet them in the human world when they arrived in the early morning hours that next day.
The day passed slowly and finally the sun dropped behind the horizon. The friends again took the elevator back to the underground garage where Willie had a car waiting for them. Their driver took them to La Guardia and the met Craig and Angela, his fianc‚. She had come to see them off. She was an attractive blonde with a stylish air to her, but greeted them all like old friends. She hugged Jeff and thanked him for keeping her husband-to-be safe in all their many adventures. "I understand you are to be Craig's best man. I am so happy. He talks about you all the time." Jeff grinned and thanked her for her understanding, letting her loved one travel all over the world to help him out of his many situations. They then boarded a private jet and took off for Illinois.
The men arrived at the old Victorian house in the early morning hours and were greeted at the door by Jennifer. She led them into the drawing room where Casseldra sat trying to mollify her grumpy father. He did not like to be at anyone's beck and call, but realized that when the king made a command he had to obey. The last place he wanted to be was the human world, but here he sat in a human dwelling, waiting to talk with a night walker.
"Old father, it's good to see you again," Rood said with a cheery smile. He and the wizard did not get along at all. Rood had often teased and goaded the little fairy.
Elnar looked up at the captain of the guard. "I see you are still alive. I had hoped perhaps the night walker would have eaten you."
"Now you know fairies are poison to night walkers," Rood replied.
"And eliminated two problems at once," Elnar continued.
Robin sat in a chair opposite the wizard while the others arranged themselves about the room. Jeff and Willow stood side by side near the door. Jeff affected a pose of indifferent interest, trying his best to look as though he didn't care what the wizard had to say. "Lord wizard," Robin began. "I know your daughter has given you our questions. Lord Jefferson is honored among our people and has gone to great lengths to provide service to the throne. All this he undertook as a personal favor to me and thereby to all of Tuatha in rescuing the crown prince, Roon. We would prefer he return to the land and be one of our kingdom. But we are concerned that this might not be possible. What can you tell us?"
The little wizard looked from the king to the vampire. He squirmed in his chair, and then began his explanation. "When the night walker was transformed from a human to a night walker, everyone in this world believed he had died. In reality his vibrational energy had simply slowed down to a point where he appeared to be dead. If you examine the body of a night walker, it is alive; it just has such a slow rate of vibration that the skin feels cold to the touch. The lungs don't need to breathe in the same rate as a normal living man. Even his heart beats, but that beating is so slowed that it swells to full then contracts again at a rate of perhaps one beat per lunar cycle if that often."
Robin nodded. "This has been explained to us before," he said.
"When the night walker stepped into our land, he was rapidly taken to a faster vibrational rate. He once again had the vibration of other humans in our land. This means he would again breathe normally and need to ingest more substantial food. In short, he would appear to be a normal human being. When the night walker returned to this land which has a slower vibration rate than our land, he again fell back into the rate of his previous life. He again became a night walker."
The little wizard paused and looked around the room, then indicated Scott and Jennifer. "Normal humans, when they come to Tuatha, really change not in their vibrational rates. They speed not up to our world in the same manner as has the night walker. They seem to still be human, which explains why they retain more of their animalistic natures and not the higher natures of a true Tuathan."
"Let us not be insulting our human friends," Rood cautioned, but Robin waved his hand to hush his guard.
"Since they change not at that intimate level, they are able to come and go between worlds. We too change not as much. We are able to come and go between worlds. But some changes are much more intrinsic. The change of the night walker for example is a much greater change. His first change occurred when he became a night walker. A great transformation took place when he became human in Tuatha. Going back to his world slowed him back to the condition of a night walker again. I would expect that he has experienced some difficulty in this return. I would imagine that his turning into a night walker again was not a natural or pleasant experience." The wizard looked at Jeff with a raised eyebrow.
"You are correct," he admitted. "It did seem a much rougher change than the first time I become a vampire."
"And I would also expect that he has experienced a few other symptoms of that difficult transition. Perhaps he has felt sluggish, or has not bounced back as quickly from any physical difficulty he has had."
Willow looked alarmed. "You did have those problems," he said. "But we thought it was just because the UV rays were more intense in Colorado because of the higher altitude."
"I know not what a UV ray is, but he would be able to recover less quickly from some detrimental effects since his latest transformation." The little wizard smiled, grateful that his theory had been proven. Of course this facial expression only angered the rest of the group since he seemed happy at Jeff's expense.
"Lord wizard," Robin said, catching everyone's attention. "Our question is what will be the result of our friend returning to Tuatha?"
All eyes turned to Elnar in curiosity, hope and fear. The little man in the enveloping blue robes sat for a moment in thought before speaking. "As it appears that my previous theories have been supported by fact, then I must assume that my theories are following the course of logic." He looked directly at Jeff. "Your body has slowed. It was speeded up the first time and then dropped down again. If you were a sturdier being, like one of us," he indicated the fairies, "you might survive another such transition. But as you started out with a human body, I fear it would not hold together for another such change. If you return to Tuatha, your physical body will try to speed up again and it will simply fly apart. It will be as if you are burning up from the inside out and in a very short time you will cease to exist. We shall not need flashweed for your funeral as you will decompose so rapidly there will be little left but to sweep up the ash." He again smiled at his analysis of the situation.
Willow fell onto Jeff's chest, sobbing. Several of the others in the room also expressed their disappointment and concern. Rood however looked over at the little wizard, sitting on the oversized chair with a big grin on his face and grew angry. He reached over and smacked the little man firmly on the back of his head, all but knocking him out of the chair. Rood felt satisfied that the expression on the wizard's face was now appropriate as the little man showed anger and pain, along with the rest of the room.
"Then that settles the matter," Robin said as he slowly rose from where he was sitting. "You are hereby banned from Tuatha. I shall not have my friend and one who has rendered our whole kingdom such a great service burn up and decompose because of our land. However, you shall be awarded our highest honor and should you ever have need of any service or object that anyone from our kingdom can supply, you need only send your partner with the request and we shall immediately comply. Of that you have my word as high king, and you shall always have my friendship and loyalty." Robin stepped over to where Jeff sat, still holding his lover, and Robin knelt before him, bowing his head and offering his right hand in pledge of faith.
As the group dispersed, some time later, Jennifer spoke quietly to Scott, then found Craig and took him aside as well. Willow and Jeff were sitting on the comfortable furniture out on the wide veranda that surrounded the front and south side of the house, quietly talking when Craig, Jennifer, Scott and Robin stepped out. "We'd like to speak with you for a moment," Jennifer began as the others took seats or leaned against the porch rail. "Craig said you have an apartment in New York, but that your house had burned down not too long ago, that you don't really have a home."
Jeff just looked up at her, but Willow was the one who spoke. "We had hoped that Tuatha would provide a home for us. I guess we were wrong."
"Well, I had a thought. Once upon a time Scott had owned this house. But then he moved to Tuatha with his lover. Well, when he went there, he was declared legally dead and his house came to me, so I legally own it. But over the last several years, it has been vacant because I've been living in Tuatha as well."
"This has been a matter of concern to us," Robin interjected. "You see, this dwelling sits on a nexus which tends to be where the two worlds join. Anyone from your world could come wandering into this unguarded dwelling and end up in our world. This has actually happened in the past. At those times we were extremely lucky, but it could have had serious consequences for both worlds."
"Robin really needs someone to guard the entrance to our world," Scott continued.
"And you could use a nice home," Jennifer added. "What I'm suggesting is you purchase my house."
Jeff looked at her in confusion. "You want me to buy your house? And live here as some sort of guard dog?"
"It's a nice house and would make someone a nice home. But it needs to be lived in. I can't do that if I'm living in Tuatha. And I obviously can't just sell it to anyone who might buy it off a real estate agent. How do we explain when a bunch of fairies come walking out of the closet upstairs?"
The thought of fairies coming out of the closet struck Willow as funny and he began to laugh. "This is quite serious," Robin said sternly. "We cannot have strangers occupying the gateway to Tuatha. And as you are part fairy, you would owe an allegiance to your estranged homeland." Willow sobered up quickly.
"I don't know," Jeff said.
"It would be your home," Jennifer returned. "I'm willing to sign the papers and Craig said your firm can draw them up quickly. We'd even be willing to pay you a small stipend to allow for access to the closet upstairs, and the tunnel in the back of the garage."
"Wait, there's a tunnel in the back of the garage?" Willow asked in surprise.
"This is a nice community, and it might be a good idea for you to have a home out here in the Midwest," Craig added.
Jeff could see that everyone was pushing for the same answer. He thought a moment. Why did he want to resist? Was he just being stubborn? It was a nice house and it would be great to have a place to settle down with his lover. And it couldn't hurt to do another favor for the fairies. After all his 'father-in-law' was one. He finally grinned and nodded his head. "Okay, you got yourself a guard dog."
"Oh, maybe we could really get a dog," Willow said excitedly.
"Not such a good idea," Jeff replied. "Dogs and cats tend to avoid vampires. They sense the differentness and the danger."
Craig smiled. "I'll get on the phone and get the papers drawn up. And in the meantime, you're all invited to a wedding."
"Wedding? Who is getting married?" Jennifer asked.
"He is," Jeff said, indicating Craig. "I'm afraid he's been putting it off because of all our little adventures. But Angela isn't going to wait forever."
"You know, there is a really nice back yard here with a rose garden and everything," Jennifer suggested. "Do you think your fianc‚ would be willing to come to Illinois to get married?"
"If she wishes, we can even have the reception in the great hall, just on the other side of the closet," Scott suggested, then looked to Robin for confirmation, who nodded with a smile.
"That might be a bit much for her," Craig replied. "I think it's going to be enough of a shock to have a group of fairies attending the wedding. But before we start planning on having it in the rose garden here, maybe we should ask the new homeowners."
"As your best man, what can I say?" Jeff replied with a grin and hugged his friend.
"Think you we could have a double ceremony?" Rood asked. Everyone looked at him in surprise. "There is a lady doctor in Tuatha that I have grown awfully fond of and I was just thinking..." He was suddenly surrounded by his friends, clapping him on the back in congratulations.
"So tell me, my friend. Who will be your best man?" Robin asked.
Rood smiled in his characteristic lopsided grin. "Well, there is this vampire in the land beyond the big sea. Think you he would make the journey?" They all roared with laughter at the thought of inviting Sidonio, Andre and some of the Italian vampires to a wedding in Illinois. The laughter and congratulations evolved into a party of sorts that lasted into the night, when suddenly Rood stood up with a strange look on his face.
"What's wrong?" Scott asked, noticing his expression.
"I just had a thought. Perhaps before we make many further plans I should ask Sharon if she wishes to bond with me." Every broke into laughter as Rood made a quick dash for the stairway and the magical closet above.