happened to everyone?’
‘Many were lost before me. I suspect that what you ask is what has happened. I confess I do not know – a sad admission for a queen. I must confer with my son and my council.’ As if on cue, Tuan showed up with four confused Pookas in bathrobes. They bowed to their queen. ‘If you will excuse us, Conor, we have pressing business.’
‘Sure,’ I said and then added, ‘Hey, would anybody mind if I took a bath?’
It’s such a drag to put on dirty clothes after a bath but I had no choice. After almost cooking myself in a bathtub that heated water with the same gold wire system that the kettle used, I re-donned my clothes and smelled pretty much the same as before.
When I arrived downstairs Tuan escorted me to a pair of doors that led to the Queen’s council room. There were raised voices on the other side that I couldn’t quite understand and then I heard the Queen’s voice silence them all. Even if I couldn’t hear the exact words the meaning was quite clear – the Queen had decided and that was that. Tuan gave me an embarrassed look.
‘Don’t worry about it,’ I whispered, ‘I’ve got a pretty tough mom too.’
His smile was interrupted by the opening of the doors. Inside the chamber there were a dozen or so people. Most looked compos mentis but a few still had that abandoned-puppy look. Tuan introduced me in that formal royal court manner that I dislike but have gotten used to: ‘Queen Rhiannon, honourable council members, I give you Prince Conor of Duir.’
I did all the proper bowing and scraping and was then invited to sit.
‘Prince Conor,’ Queen Rhiannon spoke, ‘we thank you for your gift.’
‘Seeing your need, Your Highness, I can assure you that you and your people will have first priority to any fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.’ I thought I was being magnanimous and princely but my statement was greeted by what I can only describe as grumbling. I racked my brains to think what I said wrong. ‘Of course I can only speak until someone chooses the major Rune of Hazel but I will ensure that the new head of th House of Cull will know of your need.’
Well, if my first statement was a mistake, this was a blunder of Titanic proportions. The entire council was on their feet and shouting. The Queen raised a hand to silence them, to no avail. Their accents were so thick and they were speaking so fast, I couldn’t figure out what they were shouting about.
Queen Rhiannon was forced to stand. ‘Silence!’ she hissed and the council did as they were told. ‘Prince Tuan has recommended that Conor be deemed barush.’
‘Prince Tuan is not a member of this council,’ a robed woman in the front said.
‘And you are not Queen,’ Rhiannon said with a voice that almost made me drop to my knees and thank the gods that I was not that woman. The Queen regained a bit of her composure but when she spoke again her voice was still as sharp as a razor. ‘While you splashed in your pool Tuan ensured you were not bear-food.’
‘But tradition, Your Highness…’ the woman said, this time with much more contrition in her voice.
‘If I had followed tradition – we would all be lost.’
One of the council members banged the arm of his chair with his fist in a signal of agreement. Others slowly joined him and soon the entire council was banging their chairs, even the chastised woman.
Queen Rhiannon gestured for Tuan to stand next to her. He looked confused.
‘Prince Tuan, I, Rhiannon of Ailm, in recognition of your service to the Pinelands, salute you.’ She stood and bowed the lowest bow I have ever seen a queen make. When she came back upright there were tears in her eyes. ‘I am so very proud of you, my son.’
Tuan’s eyes glistened as he embraced his mother and the entire council rose as one and bowed. They stayed that way until Tuan returned the salute.
‘Take your place among the council, Prince Tuan.’
Tuan whipped his head towards his mother in disbelief. She nodded to him and the council resumed their chair banging again until the stunned Tuan took his seat.
Queen Rhiannon sat smiling for a while waiting for Tuan to get a grip on himself. For a moment she looked more like a mother than a queen. Finally she said, ‘Councillor Tuan.’ It took Tuan a micro-second to realise that she was addressing him. ‘Earlier you proposed that Prince Conor should be anointed as barush. Do you still feel this way?’
‘I do, Your Highness.’
‘Do any council members object?’ The lady in the front row that made the stink before had a furtive look around but said nothing. ‘Very well, Tuan, would you please bring The Elements? It seems my clerk is still grazing somewhere.’ I liked this queen. Anybody that can crack a joke at a time like this is my kind of monarch. ‘Prince Conor, you have been chosen for the honour of barush. Do you know what this means?’
I hadn’t the faintest idea. I assumed it was a good thing but at that moment it occurred to me that barush might mean lunch and they were all going to turn into lions and eat me. ‘No, ma’am, I don’t.’
‘Barush mce Conor, iend. It is the highest honour we bestow on a non-Pooka. There have been very few – but one was your grandfather Liam.’
Tuan entered pushing a rolling table that had three bowls on it. Queen Rhiannon stood and walked towards me. I began to rise but Rhiannon motioned for me to remain seated. She stood in front of me and asked to see my hands, which she took and turned palm up. ‘Baruch like all friendship carries no rules or limits. Do you accept?’
‘I would be honoured.’
‘Then Conor, Son of Hazel and Oak, in the name of the Pookas of The Land’ – she placed dirt from one of the bowls onto my hand – ‘and of the rivers and lakes’ – she splashed water from another bowl onto the dirt in my palm and smeared it into mud. ‘And of the sky,’ she said, bringing my hands up close to her face and blowing on them. Then she grabbed a handful of salt from the last remaining bowl and mixed it into the water. She stirred it with her hand then dribbled saltwater onto my palms, ‘And in the memory of our sisters and brothers lost to the sea – I name you: barush.’ She reached inside her robe and produced a coin-sized gold disc attached to a loop of gold wire no bigger than a bracelet. As she reached up the loop of gold wire expanded and she placed the medallion around my neck. Then she pushed my palms together as if in prayer and kissed me on both cheeks. In my ear she whispered, ‘Lord Liam would have been very proud.’
With the pomp and circumstance done Queen Rhiannon announced, ‘We have been asleep too long – there is work to do.’ She instructed some councillors to house the rest of my party and ordered others to whip up some hazelnut potion to try to revive the herbivore Pookas that were inside the wall. The carnivores without, they wisely decided to leave until daylight.
Tuan led me to the guest wing. As we walked I patted him on the back. ‘You are a Pooka hero.’
He blushed and looked embarrassed that anyone would even think such a thing. If he had been a cowboy he would have said, ‘Aw shucks.’
‘Really,’ I said, ‘you were the only one that didn’t get lost and you’re the only Pooka anybody has ever heard of that can change into more than one animal. You’re like a super-Pooka. We should get you a tee-shirt with a big P painted on the front.’
‘You are very kind…’ Then Tuan’s ears began to stretch and fur-up. He had to turn away and compose himself to stop from transforming into some creature. ‘Sorry, Prince Conor, I sometimes change when I get emotional.’
‘Don’t worry about it and it’s just Conor, OK.’
‘You are very kind, Conor, but things are not as they seem.’
‘Oh yeah, so what am I missing?’
Tuan paused and I thought he was about to tell me. It was obviously something important but then he looked over his shoulder and said, ‘I am very busy. I must help round up some lost bunnies.’
‘Of course, Councillor Tuan,’ I said with a smile. He blushed again – this guy was cute.
‘Just Tuan, OK?’ he said.
Chapter Twenty-Two
