Aedan Calahan and the Silver Hand

Chapter 17

A full day passed and Aedan still did not feel like a king. He felt...bloated and sleepy, from copious amounts of sausage and pie, as well as practice that morning and night.

Then came afternoon's practice. One for the books. Apparently, the morning practice was "light work" to get the blood flowing, as Laguna put it. Initially, she tried to kill them for two hours straight, mainly by interchanging combat and precision drills. When practice was about to end, she did the unthinkable to Aedan—she brought in a "friend."

A Rowan sixth year in the form and shape of a purple wolf.

Luckily for Aedan, his initial reaction to seeing the wolf was a great surge of fear that rooted him on the spot. That was lucky because he could have screamed or done some other cowardly act that drew attention to him.

Laguna forced them to defend against Jenny the wolf for a solid hour before ending practice. Aedan learned a valuable lesson then: not all transmigration animals were the same—Jenny was slower and smaller than Virido's massive wolf. In fact, Jenny's wolf was kind of cuddly looking, like a big dog.

Cuddly and kind looking enough that when she returned to human form, he slipped her a note, one to be delivered as soon as she got back to her quarters.

Even after an exhausting day, Aedan was throwing on his slacks, preparing to go back to the Mana Wells.

"You can't be serious," Shannon said.

For once Dirik wasn't there, and that was a great blessing because the boys could talk openly about Aedan's peculiar situation.

"Listen, Aedan," Shannon continued, throwing his legs over his bunk. "It's one thing to get caught sneaking out at night. It's a whole other beast to get caught sneaking out at night and being the reincarnation of King Nuada, which is exactly what will happen if a poet catches you entering Danu's Garden."

"You're right," Aedan agreed. "Good thing I'm not the reincarnation of King Nuada."

"Aedan—"

"Yes, exactly, my name is Aedan. Ae-dan."

"Why do you want to go back so soon?" Callum asked. "What do you expect your mum to be doing late at night, other than sleeping? She's an old lady—that's all they do is sleep."

"My mom is not an old lady. She's thirty."

"Ancient."

"Plus," Aedan continued, "it's good to see her healthy and whole. She looked better than the last time I saw her."

That was true. When Aedan scried her over the holidays, her health had transformed since he left her in Dublin. He scried her again sometime late February and her skin was rosy and flushed now, when before, even on her best day, it was pale and flaky. Last night, she looked how he remembered her when he was a child. Full of life and warm joy. He had to see her again.

"You're on your own this time," Shannon said, throwing his head against the pillow. "I need sleep."

Callum grunted in agreement.

"Goodnight, mortals," Aedan mocked, and left before they could say anything.

Aedan wasn't alone when he entered Danu's Garden. He immediately took a seat beside her.

"Tell Jenny I said thanks," Aedan said.

"Okay," Holly said, smiling.

Always smiling, Aedan thought.