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had once been.  
    Dammit.  Who are you?   I received no response, but didn't expect to.  The owner was somewhere else, and Dardennes was speaking in raised tones now, enough to pull me out of my head.
    "The Light Fae recognize the position of both Ben and Jayne as the Father and Mother.  There is no need to rehash that argument or situation here today.  Certainly, Maléna, if you wish to challenge their positions in our community, that is your right."  He gave the group a knowing half-smile.  "I wouldn't necessarily recommend that, but if you so wish, I would be happy to preside over an official, sanctioned challenge.  I'm sure Ben and Jayne would be happy to accommodate your wishes."  He raised an eyebrow at us.
    "Absolutely," said Ben, staring Maléna down.
    "Uhhh ... yeah.  I guess," I said, not feeling nearly as confident in my ability to take that mean bitch out as Ben apparently did.
    "Set it up," she said to Dardennes, never taking her eyes from Ben.
    Oh great.  Something to look forward to.  A death match.  I could sense Aidan looking at me, so I glanced over and caught him smiling with barely contained laughter.  I kicked him to get him to quit it.  Pretty soon he was going to get dragged into the fight, if Maléna saw him cracking up over her getting her panties in a bunch.
    "Moving on then," said Dardennes, clearing his voice, remaining completely professional.  "Jayne, you are going to speak to Maggie for us.  We ask that you determine, if you can, the legend to which Torrie referred and possibly the location from which the orcs and demon have entered our realm."
    "And how they're doing it," added a witch.  "It's not just a doorway.  There has to be some magic involved."
    "Quite right," said Dardennes, nodding his head.  He looked around the table.  "Anyone else?"
    "Maybe she could ask her to do some scrying," suggested a green elf.
    Several of the witches hissed and glared at him, moving around in an agitated way.
    "Hush your mouth, green elf!" growled Red.  "Do not encourage such deviant behavior!"
    My eyes widened.  Deviant behavior?  What the hell is scrying and why does a green elf want me to do it with Maggie?   I shivered involuntarily, wondering what the heck it could be.  Whatever it was, no one here liked it, especially the witches.
    "No.  I'm sorry, ..." Dardennes looked at the green elf expectantly.  "Forgive me ... I don't yet know everyone's name..."
    "Thaddeus."
    "Thank you, Thaddeus.  No, Thaddeus, I don't think that is such a good idea.  Scrying has long been frowned upon by our Light Fae witches, and it appears the Dark Fae witches agree.  I believe this is a stone we should leave unturned ."
    Thaddeus shrugged.  "Why leave stones unturned?  We're fighting battles with demons here."
    I was with Thaddeus, unless it involved me doing something nasty with Maggie.  I raised my hand.
    Everyone else ignored me, since taking turns speaking wasn't really a fae thing, but Dardennes had learned that this generally meant I wanted to say something, so he gestured in my direction.  "Jayne?"
    "What's scrying?"
    Maléna snorted and rolled her eyes, immediately making me want to slap her.  She was so smug, I was almost looking forward to this challenge match now.  But I knew I was going to have to go into total Rocky mode and train-up so I could whoop her ass sideways.  She would be no easy win.  I gritted my teeth together to keep from saying anything.
    Ben leaned down and said quietly, "Scrying is looking into the future, basically."
    "Whoa," I said, my voice filled with awe, "Maggie can do that?"
    "Yes," said Ben, turning his attention back to Dardennes.
    "Any other suggestions?" the silver elf asked.
    No one said anything, probably too worried about sounding stupid like Thaddeus and me.  He didn't look affected by it, but if I were him, I'd feel like an amateur.  They all acted like scrying was a seriously bad idea.
    Dardennes nodded at me.  "You have your work cut