Somethin' like Summertime

Lucie was pacing the length of his “office”, pausing every few steps to glare at the Centurion. “I need you to find out when – if – what the Chosen are planning to try to stop me at the Ring.”

“I already know the answer,” Alec answered, rolling his eyes. “They will be where you will be. By now they must know about the deadline, as long as your sisters are not complete simpletons, and I can guarantee that they will be there.”

“How can you be so confident in this?” Lucie demanded. “You have been – what is the phrase? A day late and a dollar short every single time. How can you be so sure that they will try to stop me?”

“Because I know them,” Alec answered simply. “Neither will allow the possibility of you messing up their secure little lives.” His anger flared. “And I have gotten you the information you demanded. It is not my fault that you have arrived late or have otherwise been unsuccessful. You underestimated them. I do not suggest continuing on that path.”

“You will watch your tone, Centurion,” Lucie bellowed. “I demand respect.”

“You earn respect,” Alec shot back. “Besides, what are you going to do to me? Not kill me? You get fear. Not respect.”

Lucie thought a moment and burst out laughing. “Fear works. Just remember, Centurion, I can make your life more miserable than it already is.”

“Any day that I wake up alive is already more miserable than the last,” Alec said wearily.

Lucie snapped his fingers, and Longinus’ spear appeared in his hands. “You should at the very least feign respect should you wish to taste the steel of this weapon,” he sneered.

“I may be a fool, but have no illusion that you will fulfill your end of our bargain.”

“Then why continue to serve? Never mind,” Lucie waved his hand as if swatting a fly. The spear disappeared, and Alec’s face fell. “It matters not why you serve, only that you do. If you are wrong, if the Chosen are not present, you will suffer greatly.”

“They will be there,” Alec insisted. “I would wager my death on it.”

* * * * *

“Still nothing?” Richie asked as he met Jon in the hall outside his office.

“Nada.” Jon answered with a shake of his head. “Where the fuck are they?”

They had been searching for Fiona and Morganna for the past three hours. They had started with a full house and grounds search when they’d first realized the fey were missing, then had followed it up with a quick search every half hour or so just to make sure they hadn’t reappeared.

“I’m starting to get worried,” Jon announced as if Richie hadn’t already determined that. The two of them strode into Jon’s office, Richie taking a seat on the plush leather couch and Jon leaning back against his desk.

“Yeah, me too.” Richie paused, then asked, “Do you think their...”

Jon interrupted him. “Don’t say it. That is NOT an option.” His voice was full of conviction, as if just saying it could make it so.

Richie rolled his eyes. It was just like Jon to think that he could control even the Devil himself with just his strength of will. He was just about to point that out when first Fiona then Morganna entered the room.

Jon took one step toward them, and at the same time Richie stood up from the couch, both saying, “Where the fuck have you been?”

Both women looked offended at having been yelled at. “Not that it is any of your concern,” Fiona began, “but we were answering a summons.”

“A summons from who?” Jon demanded.

“I don’t like your tone.” Fiona glared at him.

In his mind, Richie saw Fiona slamming Jon up against the wall with a wave of her hand and jumped between them. “We were worried, Fee.”

Morganna moved to stand at Richie’s side, laying a small hand on his shoulder. “Our mother called us, and we went to speak with her.”

With hands at her waist, Richie pulled her in close. “Is everything okay?”

Jon stepped around the two of them and glared at Richie. “That’s all you’re gonna ask?” He spun to face Fiona. “I, for one, am sick and fucking tired of getting our information one little tidbit at a fucking time.”

“Really?” Richie asked, with a shake of his head. “Now? You lasted longer than I thought you would.”

Jon ignored him. “Spill it, Fee. I want to know everything that you know.”

“Everything?” she chuckled, softly. “Mortal, your mind couldn’t hold all the knowledge in mine.”

Her name was a growled warning on Jon’s lips.

Richie opened his mouth to again play peacemaker, but it was Morganna who spoke first. “Sister, I think it’s only fair.”

“It is forbidden to tell them everything,” Fiona defended.

Morganna rolled her eyes. “And that’s the rule you wish to obey?”

Fiona rolled her eyes at her sister. “Fine.” She motioned to the couch with one hand and to Jon’s desk chair with the other. “You might want to take a seat, this is a lengthy explanation.”

Once Jon and Richie had taken their seats, Fiona began to explain about the battle to come. “The prophecy states that after the dawn of a new millennium, there will come to pass several natural and man-made disasters. All of them have happened.” She gave them a moment to digest that information. “There is one more final sign. The awakening of The King.”

“The King?” Jon asked. “What has Elvis got to do with this?”

Fiona frowned at him. “I meant Arthur.”

“For Lucie to begin his reign, he must first awaken Arthur,” Morganna explained.

“And then slay him,” Fiona added solemnly.

Richie and Jon shared a look. “And that’s what you want us to stop.” Jon had no problem stating the obvious.

“Aye, that is your destiny,” Fiona told them with a nod.

She went on to explain the hierarchy of the Fey, telling them of her and Morganna’s mother and the other three guardians. At that point, Richie was the one to point out that the two sisters were in fact Fey royalty. Morganna had been the one to nod at him in answer, while Fiona went on with her explanation.

“You already know that Stonehenge is in fact the gateway to Avalon. The doorway can only be opened by one of the four guardians.” Fiona was speaking faster, the farther into her explanation that she got. There was a certain reverence to her tone that reminded Jon of a preacher at his pulpit. “There is only two times in the course of a year that another Fey can open the portal. The summer and winter solstice.”

“Why would another need to open the portal?” Richie asked.

“To have any form of communication with the guardians.” It was Morganna that answered him. She quickly explained the complicated procedure that Fiona had to go through just to call her from Avalon and bring her to the human realm. “No one else is able to open the portal as a safeguard. However, a way to contact the guardians was also needed. So, the times of the solstices were used. Lucie will try to open the portal to Avalon at the time of the solstice, so that he can awaken Arthur.”

“The summer solstice isn’t until tomorrow,” Jon pointed out, as he stood from his chair. “That means we have until then to plot and plan.”

Richie nodded in agreement, as he stood up as well. “We need to have a plan, then get a good night’s rest before we take on Lucie tomorrow.” He had moved to stand next to Jon as he spoke.

“The solstice is tonight,” Fiona corrected them, but neither man seemed to hear her.

The men continued to talk, having tuned the sisters out. Morganna looked at Fiona in exasperation. “Some things never change. Men still think that women are chattel, and easily ignored.”

Fiona rolled her eyes and looked toward the ceiling with a sigh. She looked back at the men and narrowed her eyes. Slowly she raised her chin, and the guys lifted slowly off the floor. Morganna grinned thinking the two men would soon remember they weren’t alone in the room.

However, Jon and Richie continued their discussion, only getting louder as they tried to talk over one another. Morganna groaned. “Sister, do something. We are running out of time.”

Fiona grimaced. “This always seemed to work for Jon in the past.” She placed her first finger and her thumb in her mouth and let out a piercing whistle.

Immediately, the men quit talking and looked in her direction. It took them only a second to realize they were floating a good three feet off the floor.

“Fuck,” Jon swore. “Put us down, Fee.”

Morganna put her hand on her sister’s arm to stop her. “Will you pay attention?”

When the men gave them terse nods, Fiona lowered them gently to the floor.

“The solstice is tonight,” Fiona tried again.

Jon looked at her with a frown. “No. Today is the 20th of June. Everyone knows the solstice is the 21st.”

“Humans,” Morganna said the one word with something akin to disgust.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Richie demanded.

“She means,” Fiona began, “that humans celebrate the solstice as one day, but the actual solstice is a moment in time, lasting merely a minute and happening at a different time every year. That is a built in safeguard to make it harder for Lucie to get it right on the dot. You could consult star charts to see that I’m telling you the truth if you feel you must.”

“And this year the solstice is tonight. It will happen at one minute before midnight in what you call universal time,” Morganna told them. “Which by the way is also one of the signs in the prophecy. That the solstice doesn’t happen on it’s normal day, that is.”

“Universal time?” Jon asked, “You mean Greenwich Mean Time?”

“Yes,” Fiona answered.

Jon glanced at his watch. “Shit, we’re wasting time.”