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Trinity
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When we woke the next morning we got ready for breakfast with Valerian. I wanted to catch Roisin ahead of time so she didn't start making breakfast, and thankfully, I caught her just as she was about to go into the kitchen.
"Roisin." She stopped and looked at me with those pretty flowered eyes of hers.
"Yes, my lady?" She bowed a little when she saw me. "What can I do for yeh, miss?" She slipped into an accent then that I couldn't quite place.
"Not all of us need breakfast. Many of us won't be eating here this morning. We'll be back for lunch I do believe, but we're having breakfast with Valerian."
"Huh?" She gasped at those words. "The Queen's brother? Queen Trinity, are you sure that you want to do that? He can be quite harsh at times."
"I think we will be fine. He was quite pleasant last night, afterall, we are his garpháistí." I saw Roisin's eyes go wide with shock.
"Truly? I didn't think that he had any family. Not since his son passed on." She was smiling happily, obviously she thought the continuation of his line was a good thing.
"Yes, he had a son before he passed away; however, no one knew of it. Valerian, or rather Athair mór, asked us to come and have breakfast with him this morning. While we're here, we want to get to know more about our Fae side. I think it will help us in the future."
"Aye, my lady, I believe that will be for the best as well. I am truly happy for you. You found your family, and it was the Prince no less."
Her words made me pause for a moment. I was descended from a Fae Prince. I was royalty no matter how you looked at me. What the hell? Why was fate playing such a major hand in my development? And what did this mean moving forward?
I thought about that the entire way to Athair mór's family domain. It was a house just like the one that we were staying in, but it's rooms were much larger since it had a lot fewer rooms. The parlor that we entered was much bigger than I expected for a man that was living alone.
I could tell he had prepared for our arrival though. He had taken Gloriana's, or rather Aunt Glory's, example of baby proofing and prepared a space that would be perfect for putting the little ones for while we talked. He even had four Fae versions of a highchair brought in. The chairs in question looked like they were fashioned from flowers and vines and were actually really cute.
"Welcome my clann [1], thank you all for coming today." Athair mór had his servants prepare a breakfast feast for us. Everyone sat down around a large blue marble table that looked like it was an ocean wave trapped in glass. It was beautiful and mesmerizing.
"Athair mór, I was wondering, could you tell us what the Yule celebration actually is? I have heard of them before, but I don't know if they are the same here."
"Ahh, yes, we celebrate things differently than the old Paegan holidays. Here, in the lands of magic, we don't just celebrate winter, we celebrate magic." He looked like his face lit up; it was like he might be looking forward to the celebration for the first time in a long time.
"So, what do we do? How do we celebrate it?" Noah, ever the diplomat, asked this before I could.
"The opening ceremony is tonight. There will be a banquet that every Fae is invited to. It will be a glorious outdoor banquet under the light of the stars. From there we celebrate the main types of magic before we get to sub types. The three of them are Light, Nature, and Water, the three things that life needs to survive. Light magic encompasses everything from sunlight to fire, to even the absence of light. No matter how different they may seem, darkness is a form of light magic; it is just the inverse of it. Nature magic can be anything that has to do with the land: plants, rocks, trees, all of it. Water magic is a little loose in its definition as well. Water can be rain, oceans, streams, ice, and even the wind oddly enough. The Fae are a little confused when it comes to these things, huh?" He chuckled and then continued. "Unless you are in the desert where there is very little water, the air around you has water in it. So, for that matter the air and wind type magics fall under water magic."
"Huh, I never thought about it that way." Carter was grinning as he listened to the explanation.
"Wait a minute. Trinity, do you think that your affinity for wind and ice magic is due to your fae lineage?" Grandfather caught the connection before any of us had.
"It is possible, I would think it would mean something anyway."
"Your magic specialties lie in my domain?" The grin on Athair mór's face was kind of adorable.
"Yes, they have long been my strongest styles of magic, even though I can use every element. My wolf even becomes an ice wolf." I tried not to blush under his excited gaze.
"I would love to see that sometime. I have not seen a werewolf in animal form for quite some time. I would love to see all of your wolf forms. I think it would be wise for me to see them since we are family." He was looking a little sheepish, like he thought that perhaps he was asking for too much.
"I think that would be good too, Athair mór." Dad agreed, clearly trying to make the man feel less awkward. "That way you will recognize us if the need were to arise, and we were fighting or something in our other form."
"Yes, exactly." He grinned, glad to have the excuse provided for him.
We talked for a while longer while the children played. Athair mór played with the children some more, but he also helped us to understand more about the Yule schedule. There would be four days devoted to each element, and during that time each household was to prepare a gift for the Gods and Goddesses that the Fae either worshipped or descended from. After each set of the four days, there was a day devoted to the Royal Fae of that element complete with a banquet, and then there was a ball the next day.
During the four day celebrations, there were festivities and gift exchanges with loved ones. The entire thing was a giant party to be had for nearly a month. It sounded nice, interesting, and exhausting.
[1] Clann is an Irish word for family, meaning more to do with children. My clann would then be my children.
