Dublin Fosterling , livre ebook

Title Page
The Dublin Fosterling
Thomas Kennedy



Publisher Information
The Dublin Fosterling
Published in 2016 by
AG Books
www .agbooks.co.uk
an imprint of
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
Copyright © 2016 AG Books under exclusive licence from Thomas Kennedy
The right of Thomas Kennedy to be identified as the author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
The characters and situations in this book are entirely imaginary and bear no relation to any real person or actual happening.



Chapter One
Druid Lochlain was uneasy.
It seemed only yesterday that his predecessor, Wizard Drowe, had been sentenced to nine hundred and ninety-nine Earth years encased in glass and sent to the bottom of the ocean. They had chosen the Atlantic Ocean because it was cold enough but not too cold. Treason was a serious offence in Otherworld.
He had cast the runes while having breakfast and twice they had come up. All he had asked was whether his meeting with the Faerie Queen, unscheduled as it was, should be a cause of unease. This had added to his unease.
Druid Lochlain left his private quarters in the Royal Palace and made his way down through long corridors, sumptuously decorated in tasteful combinations using gold and emeralds and diamonds and various shades of the rainbow.
The meeting was to be in the annex to the green throne room where a number of nymphs would serve a breakfast fit for a queen.
This room was designated for use by the queen to dress for formal occasions in the throne room, but the queen also favoured it as a breakfast room. The view through the bay windows looked out over rolling lawns, decorated with flowers and shrubs and fountains and stretched over rolling green hills towards the far horizon.
The fact that she had asked for a breakfast meeting did not surprise him, as he knew it was her hair day. She’d have an appointment with her hairdresser, a fast-moving sprite with an eye for detail, later in the morning. Clearly, she had a problem she wanted passed on before she got into the serious business of her hair.
“Morning Majesty,” he said formally, slipping in past the guards on the door.
They appeared to ignore him, but watched him closely. They knew him well as he met the Faerie Queen formally several times a week on Otherworld business.
As the Queen’s First Minister, he was a well-respected and powerful figure and in addition to this he was a powerful Druid, rumoured in his distant past to have dabbled in the dark magic, something that was forbidden in the kingdom. However, the fact that he could do his own magic made all who dealt with him wary.
He was careful to await acknowledgement and to sit when indicated in the seat opposite.
The Engapmahc, the indestructible personal bodyguard of the Faerie Queen was standing tall and green on the right side of the table, regarding him with large wary but benign eyes. Nonetheless, as always, the Engapmahc made Druid Lochlain feel guilty of something he couldn’t quiet put his finger on. Was it the way he might look at him?
The Faerie Queen waved the Engapmahc away and before Druid Lochlain’s eyes, the creature shrank down to the size of a small green stone. The queen picked up his golden chain and wrapped it around her wrist with the green Engapmahc dangling like a small emerald. If danger threatened, he could resume his formidable and terrifying presence in an instant.
But the queen knew that the Engapmahc made people, even people as distinguished and powerful as Druid Lochlain, nervous and she preferred to keep her champion visible but in a non-intrusive way. Just as long as those in audience knew he was there and ready for anything untoward.
Pleasantries got them through the selection of breakfast and the silver service was left beside the table where they could serve themselves. Then they were alone, other than the discreet un-intrusive presence of the Engapmahc.
As the Faerie Queen served him a cup of lemon tea, Druid Lochlain got out his notebook. He made a point of writing down the instructions of the Faerie Queen because sometimes they were many. And sometimes she changed her mind.
“Agenda?” he asked.
The Faerie Queen poured herself a cup of tea and smiled.
“Something serious has come up,” she said.
“Yes?”
“The God of Love, recently deceased,” the Faerie Queen began.
“Killed by his son in combat,” Druid Lochlain interjected, having heard the palace gossip.
“Killed by accident by his son who is on a gap year in New York,” the Faerie Queen replied, a touch of reprimand in her tone. She did not approve of gossip when it came back to her through her First Minister. It was important that he at least knew the official version of everything.
“Understood,” Druid Lochlain replied, picking up on her tone.
“A note will go out on this to all personnel including the ghouls of Underworld once the God Danu agrees the text of a statement.”
“Understood,” Druid Lochlain said.
He felt, though he didn’t add, that it was unfortunate that the need to agree a text meant that the announcement was behind the rumour machine.
Everyone knew that Danu, Goddess Queen of the Tuatha de Danann, who occupied the region known as Tir na nOg, in the vast realms of Otherworld, was the mother of Oengus, who was the son of Oengus, the now deceased God of Love of everything other than power and money.
The new heir to the title, Oengus, currently aged sixteen, had to serve an apprenticeship until he was of age at twenty-one. And he was expected to spend a gap year on Earth getting familiar with the human condition.
In the meantime, there was no one tasked with the job of God of Love. Druid Lochlain wondered if this was the cause of this meeting but he waited to hear what the queen had on her mind.
“Public Explanations Department will pass the draft by you when we have heads of agreement,” she added.
“Good,” Druid Lochlain said with a smile, pleased he was being included in the loop.
“There are collateral matters,” the queen continued.
Druid Lochlain listened attentively. He knew the Faerie Queen liked it when he appeared to listen attentively.
“Collateral damage?” he prompted.
“You got it in one,” the Faerie Queen said with satisfaction. She liked her First Minister to be up with the game without having to spell out everything.
“The former God of Love was a bit of a lad,” the Faerie Queen said with a twinkle in her eye.
“A legacy issue?” Druid Lochlain guessed.
“Right again, you are on form today Druid Lochlain,” the Faerie Queen said approvingly.
Druid Lochlain gave a smile.
“Danu has a concern.”
“When a Goddess has a concern we must listen.”
“She thinks there may be a bastard child.”
“Majesty, surely not a child of a God and a humankind?”
“Right again, Druid Lochlain.”
“Majesty, how is this our problem?”
“Good point. However, bear in mind the nature of the kingdom of Tir na nOg.”
“The land of the young,” Druid Lochlain translated the ancient name.
“Exactly, except for the curse,” the Faerie Queen pointed out.
“Should a citizen of the Land of the Young ever set foot on Earthly soil, unless he or she is a God, he or she will age immediately to the equivalent Earth years since their birth,” Druid Lochlain offered.
“And as you know this could be thousands of years, resulting in death from immediate old age.”
“It’s a long time since it was decided to separate Otherworld from Earth world,” Druid Lochlain said.
There was a tinge of longing in his remark. He sometimes missed the old days when he practiced as a Druid on the rocky, wind and rain swept expanse of the Burren in the West of Ireland. The wind, the rain, the fresh air, the seasons, it all seemed so long ago and far away.
“I blame the industrial revolution,’ the Faerie Queen said, adding, “and then when humans became hi-tech, it was decided to let them alone for a few millennia on the basis that if they did not destroy the planet or themselves, they might at that stage be able to take their place as a mature civilisation amongst the realms of the universe.”
“Indeed, they must find their own destiny,” Druid Lochlain said, in acceptance of Otherworld agreed foreign policy.
“Collateral matters?” Druid Lochlain prompted as the queen passed him the toast and jam.
She liked to play mother on these occasions, as she had developed a soft spot for Druid Lochlain. Ever since his cat, Venus, was banished to Earth, Druid Lochlain had seemed lonely and he was not good at making friends.
Of course, he was a formidable First Minister and this might have contributed to the sense of loneliness she sensed in him from time to time. However, his cat had been too clever by half and she would not trust the two of them together for a moment without them getting up to mischief of a political kind.
If Lochlain was lonely, the Queen knew that she as a monarch could have no real friends, only associates with interests in common. It was not by accident that she had ruled for so long. But she liked Lochlain.
“Yes, as I was saying, the deceased Oengus was a bit of a lad. He produced a child of an Earth mother.”
“A potential successor?” Druid Lochlain wondered.
“No, his son Oengus is the successor. He is a God born of Gods. Assuming he gets to be of age. They want to keep him o