Druid Fox Chapter 27

Druid Fox Chapter 27

Inner Circle

Sunday, after lunch

The Inner Circle excused themselves and took their drinks into the library. When the door closed, Luke faced his friends.

“Fox, I’ve been thinking about becoming Ri ruirech. Educate me on how it works. I wanted to wait three weeks before we swear fealty. Javier needs to finish acclimating first. Three magics at once might kill him. Then Isabell and Eli would kill me.” Luke grinned, and Javier grimaced.

“Not much of a pack if Artie and I are all that’s left. I agree. Javier needs some breathing room, and unless I miss my guess, we may have reached the limits of your ability to accept pack submission magic yesterday as well.” Fox noted, and Luke nodded his affirmation of that conclusion.

“Three weeks isn’t necessary. Oath swearing won’t grant you magic the way pack submission did. It will feel a bit like a constriction. It’s binding on both parties. I swear fealty to you and in exchange, you offer protection to me and mine. It isn’t tight. If pack members were in danger, the Druid magic would force you to act, but it wouldn’t choose the method of your action,” Fox explained.

“Once you accept the position and accept an oath of fealty, the magic will recognize you as the embodiment of the title, and it will bind you. Then because you’re bonded and a king, I can teach you to use the Druid magic. Technically, it won’t be yours. You’ll simply be able to wield it.” Fox offered the magic he always intended to give Luke.

“So you’re saying Druid magic is separate from who we are. We’ll just have access to it and then have to learn how to use it,” Javier mused aloud.

“Exactly so.” Fox smiled at Javier’s quick understanding.

“Wait, why does the magic force you to act specifically toward Artie?” Luke asked, puzzled while trying to integrate what Fox had explained before with what Fox had shared about the magic.

“Artie was an oath breaker whose sin would have killed her king. As Ruiri, I punished her for her mistake. For the crime, I sentenced her and executed that punishment. Oathbreaker is punishable in only two ways, death or service. Artie swears both fealty and service oaths in retribution for her crimes if she wishes to remain alive and sane. I deleted certain aspects of the explanation to Eli and Isabell at your request.”

Fox explained the situation. Javier grinned, and Luke smiled, appreciating Fox’s enlightenment.

“So the oaths we’d swear are like the one Artie swore the first time. Say Javier broke the oath. Would I have to kill him?” Luke asked, trying to understand it.

“No, you could pass judgment, strip him of his lands, titles, and substance, then sentence him to a life as your servant. If he wished to live, he’d then have to swear fealty and service to you every year or the magic would take his life by your hand or his own.”

Fox stated it starkly. Not having lived it, his friends needed to have it explained.

“So if I screw it up, I lose out being Ruiri, give up my house, my truck, my bank accounts, and serve Luke as a personal assistant forever, or I die. Okay, I can live with that.” Javier summed it up and accepted it. It was Luke who would chew on it.

“Would he still be able to be the pack’s beta?” Luke asked.

“No, it would strip away all titles and offices. It would override shifter magic. Luke, that won’t happen. The only reason it happened with Artie was because the shifter magic broke her mind. It was my fault. That’s why her service to me still depends on my protection for her. Because I was responsible for her crime, I paid part of the penalty. Each time she swears fealty and service, she binds me to her as her protector and her executioner.”

Fox tried to clear up the misconceptions.

“How does the ceremony work?” Luke asked, changing the subject when he heard the sadness creep into Fox’s voice.

“I cut my hands across the palms with a dagger, and hand it to you. I kneel in front of you, palms up in supplication. You slice your right palm with the dagger and exchange the white staff for the sword. I pledge my loyalty, my sword arm, and my fealty to you. Fealty just means that I recognize you as my rightful Overlord. I name you Ri ruirech.” Fox shrugged.

“If my oath is true, you would place a sword in my right hand, then place the crown on my head and a ring on my left-hand middle finger. You would drop your right hand with the palm cut to my shoulder and name me Ruiri. I would rise and take my place as your man at arms, and you would exchange the sword for the white staff as I would become your sword. If my oath were false, you would use the sword to take my head and destroy your enemy.” Fox explained the ceremony.

“Wait, there was no sword involved in the story you related about Artie.” Luke narrowed his eyes on Fox. Javier just laughed.

Fox raised an eyebrow at Luke’s naivety.

“Do you question my sword’s ability to dominate a woman?” Fox shifted himself in his pants for dramatic effect. Javier chuckled again as Luke laughed.

“So, do we have a sword?” Luke asked as they all sobered.

Javier shrugged.

“No time like the present.”

Fox rose and went to the closet. He took down a cloth and laid it on the desk. He unwrapped it. An ancient, beautiful sword and a sharp, matching dagger appeared. Fox then pulled out two pouches, which he opened and emptied the sword beside the sword. He took out another cloth and unrolled a pure white staff.

“I shipped these here before we left California,” Fox explained.

“I stole the sword after the last Ri ruirech died. It’s ceremonial, but sharp and deadly.”

He held up a ring from the ones he removed from the larger leather pouch. They were heavy, old gold and masculine.

“These were the rings of the Ri ruirech and his six ruiri.”

He held up one of the smaller rings with precious gems set into the bands.

“These were the rings of the Ri bannach, the queens of the Ruiri.”

He handed the stave to Luke. “This is the foireann bhana, the white staff of office symbolizing the authority of the Ri ruirech. I left the crowns with their fallen owners. I thought perhaps the next Ruiri would be crownless and throneless, acting as guardians of the realm more so than rulers of different clans. The two rings I hold belong to myself and Artie. I claimed them back from my clan at the death of my successor and his wife. I have not worn mine since I abdicated, and Artie has never worn hers.”

Fox picked up a pair of rings and handed them to Luke and then another pair, which he offered to Javier.

They passed down the ones you have, Luke, to the next Ri ruirech and his queen for generations. The ones Javier has belonged to my closest ally and his queen. They were the only people outside of my family who ever knew the real reason I abdicated my throne. I would like to see these restored to men and women who are worthy of them. Bestowing them to Council Members and Inner Circle’s Ruiri seemed like the best choice. Symbols of the office if you like.“ Fox was offering to repurpose a part of his past to further the structure of the pack.

“Name the retreat, Draoithe. It fits. The Druid Pack will live there. The castle has to be something. We can mark the university and the art gallery with an awen, build a stone circle in the clearing on the hill overlooking the lake, and spiral on the letterhead. I see the vision.” Javier proposed.

Fox smiled. Luke nodded.

“Draoithe then, and we’ll become the Druid pack.” Luke bought into the lore as much as Javier.

“I ordered the swords and staves for the Ruiri, along with the practice pieces. Mine is in storage and will arrive sometime this week along with the rest of the boxes of items Artie and I’ve collected over the centuries. The library at the university will have some museum pieces, along with books, parchments, manuscripts, and scrolls. Draoithe will be an interesting place.”

Fox’s eyes lit up as he spoke of his treasures. Luke and Javier smiled at him.

“I swear I’m going to buy you gold horn-rimmed glasses and make you wear them at the university. You’d look just like a stuffy old professor then.”

Luke teased his old friend. Javier laughed at the mental image.

“Thank God Artie understands me,” Fox grumbled.

Luke loved books, but Javier was more a man of action. He’d prefer to listen to the story than read it.

“We should build a circle of stones to practice both kinds of magic. It’s unnecessary to swear the oath, but would make it simpler. We’ll need the swords, though.” Fox was musing out loud.

“No robes,” Javier and Luke both said at the same time.

“Yes, I agree. We left the Middle Ages behind. We’d look ridiculous. No robes, no crowns.” Fox said, dismissing the idea.

“What about Saturday before the Run? We can even include the women with the rings if you like. They’re rather important. An unbonded man couldn’t be a Druid. He has to have found his lifemate to anchor himself to the world of the living. Maybe if we’re the Druid pack, we should mix the Druid business with the pack’s business. If you become Druid shifters, then you won’t be able to separate the two. It would subvert the Druid magic to protecting the pack, but it would become part of your talents as leaders as it is for me.”

Fox was rambling a bit. It was unfamiliar territory for them. Working it out was important.

“Saturday, before the Run. I agree with including women. We need to build the ceremony. If we add more Ruiri, we need to know how it works. And it gets repeated every Winter Solstice, so if we ritualize it, we won’t screw it up. That way, I’m less likely to have to behead anyone. “

“I’ll discuss it with Artie first and see what she thinks about adding sorcery, and when we come up with a proposal, we will present it at an informal meeting of the Council after dinner this week,” Fox said.

“Sounds good. Javier, I’ll oversee Draoithe this week. I want you to rest. The Mennonites will be there for the next few weeks, anyway. Grimes won’t be on site until they finish. Well, the fencers are still there, but only around the edges. Relax and enjoy Isabell’s company.” Luke ordered his beta.

As the meeting broke up, Javier asked Fox about his tailor. He might as well build his wardrobe for his new career. Fox handed business cards to Javier and Luke with the tailor’s information.

Luke had to agree. Suits were going to become a necessity. He noted the tailor employed seamstresses and made women’s clothes as well.

Good. All the Ri bannach should look the part as well. It was time to look like kings and queens.

Thank you for your support! Welcome to the dream… Sincerely, -OK

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