44.1 Thanks to You

General Summary

Day 742

We have been travelling for five days when Thalien calls me into the Dreaming. He is changed - midnight blue-purple wings with slow-moving stars and constellations and bright, shining eyes. As he spins and clumsily flies about me to show off his wings, I have to laugh with pure happiness. He is magnificent, and I'm so proud of him.   This marks the end of his fatespinning as well. The magic of stars is different - more like far-seeing than fate-seeing. Still, it suits him. He quietly tells me that he's been working on the magic for manifesting in the Waking world but he still may never be able to do it for more than ten minutes.   I've won. He can't reach fate anymore and he never even saw what I have been working on for him. Finally - I feel like I can tell him that he will rejoin us in the world of the living. It is worth having held the secret for so long (nearly a year) to see the astonishment and tearful happiness across his face as he wraps me in a tight embrace.  

When I am out of the Dreaming...I am going to woo you again.

  I have to laugh at this - the wooing has already happened. I have half a mind to drag him back to the ruins of Whitewater and dig out the glass ring I made for him in my first month on this side. Our time in the Dreaming fades into real sleep, eventually.  

Day 743

In the morning, I can finally ask some practical questions about bringing Thalien back. They are relevant now, since we are so close I can taste it. Magdalena says we will probably have to reconstitute a weaker physical form for him at first, and we can tinker with it over time when we have a better idea of how it all works. Celestial Fae only live 400 years, but his elvish nature will probably warp that just like my elf and fae lineages have combined into something incredibly long-lived. We won't know for sure until we try, but even 400 years would be plenty of time to find a solution.   That night, Lyssa joins me. Apparently Thalien paid her a visit as well.   Looking back at Thalien's past, Lyssa says she always wondered if he threw himself into the work on this side of the Barrier as a consolation or escape from not being able to get the thing that would have made him happiest. It's a sombre thought, but one that doesn't seem nearly so important anymore. Even Thalien didn't care to speculate.  

Now that you're the Imperator, are you intending to bring elves back to trees and wings?

  A good question, and one I have been considering. There are elves who belong with the trees (and Dal is handling it) and I would not force any elf to keep oaths that don't feel right anymore. But I won't be specifically trying to connect all elves with trees anytime in the near future. It is a long-term thought, and one that will probably come to fruition.   She wants to know if she, too, should be trying to connect with trees as a way to grow closer to me or further our goals. She doesn't need the wings, but so many of my family are becoming close to fae that it might be right for her too. Unfortunately I haven't heard of any lightning fae...but maybe when Drifting Seeds comes back, I could see her as any of those cycles. Truthfully, I think it's quite sweet and funny that she has asked me. Obviously, I will not tell her what do, though I do think it is good to have 'just elves' close to me. After all, I have plenty of 'just fae' too. Or maybe she will find some lightning dragon who will be completely taken with her, as anyone should be.   The seige on the Domain is progressing as expected, and will hopefully be steady enough for Lyssa to step back in the Spring. She'll start preparing Randall for command, even though it will be sad to leave him there while she leaves. By now, it's an ache we are all very familiar with.   She will also dedicate some thinking to how to manage potential demon attacks out of the Barrier, though I haven't received word from any of my border cities about them. It's best to be cautious, and the ideas may come in handy if the Collective breaches the Barrier as well.