24.6 Future Empress

General Summary

Day 404

I wake fully rested despite the night party in the Dreaming. These trees were watching over me, I know. Magdalena hugs me before we return to camp and I revel in it. I still feel like I've won the affection of some mistrustful wild creature.   Back with the rest of my family I find Dal looking mildly put out at being left out of the morning cooking. He is altogether shocked at Lyssa's excellent campfire cooking and Alder's baking. Even Camellia preens a little at being the tea brewer to the future Empress (this earns her a look of shock from Dal and mild discomfort from me). I'm extending someone else's Empire here and I have no intention of ruling it. I am simply holding the position until the Empress can reach here, much like Alder is holding a research chair position until I can come home....though I have no intention of letting him give it up when...I grimace at the idea that the Empress might simply decide that I'm doing a perfectly could job and do not need to be relieved from my position.   As I settle down with Dal he clings a little more than usual and I am happy to indulge. For all I intend to tease him about being captured for years and then lying to me about it, I have no doubt that he and Thalien were right to let me think him dead for so long. My presence in this place would have meant something completely different if I hadn't had time to find Camellia, then Magdalena, then become fae myself. I would not have understood the Grove or what had been done to it.   Speaking of which, we still have a long day of pseudo-political work ahead of us. I explain to the family what I know about Yneir and why she might pose a danger, particularly to...well...most of us. Bran seems especially concerned at her fate magic; sometimes conversations between Fatespinners can be dangerous if there are misunderstandings. It's generally best to say as little as possible particularly because it seems like she's quite strong, having drawn both Dal and me towards a path.   And with that I turn Bran over to Magdalena, who seems to adopt a familiar cold imperiousness for him. He laughs and tells her to stop acting like she's going to eat him, which throws her off a bit. I hope she softens up a little...I certainly haven't cultivated an atmosphere of fear and respect amongst these people.   The rest of the family subsides into conversation and good-natured teasing at our benched chef. Despite the ordeal he's been through he is still full of incredibly precise and thought-provoking questions and observations. For one, he thinks I'm happier here because I've had the space I needed to expand my family like I hadn't at home. For someone who has been free for a single day, it's an incredibly insightful observation. He knows me well.   But of course, I have my own surprises for him as well. As we tease Tira and Knotrael and Alder about their fledgling relationship Tira comments that if she ever needs parenting advice she'll just ask me, since I already have a son. Poor Dal gets to hear about Liliales as well.   And finally Magdalena returns with Bran and the two of us set out with Tira to go have a talk with Yneir and then continue into the village.   Unsurprisingly Yneir is waiting for us outside the Grove and is delighted to see Bran. She rushes right up to him and spouts some nonsense about expecting their wedding to be next midsummer's day, addressing him as husband. It's revolting. Bran wanted me here for this conversation because he thought that a strong thread would help him ground himself and I am happy to intercede.  

  You consider yourself a crow, yes? A crow who likes to collect shiny objects for herself? Consider this, crow. You have now met a dragon who also collects shiny things, and it would be wise for you not to touch things that are already claimed.

  She pouts but backs off a little and Bran points out that perhaps he will get married in midsummer and if she is polite he might even invite her, but she will be a guest and not the bride.   The ensuing conversation is just as frustrating as I'd expected. She intends to stay here and help all the remaining lost people let go of their hatred and move on. She intends to return home in a decade or two but until then she's happy here. Remarkably we are in agreement that wickedness can be polished out of people with enough effort; it seems that she is willing to put in more effort than I am, in this case.   But poor Bran, she still wants something from. At the very least she wants to stay in touch and make sure that the two of them don't inadvertently tug on one another's work. Professional courtesy amongst Fatespinners, I suppose. Still she entwines his arms around her and I have to pry her out of them and interpose myself between them.  

You wanted to be friends, didn't you, Yneir? You must already know that you are rapidly making an enemy.

  The infuriating woman simpers at me and addresses me as 'Empress' and I have to assume from her grasp on fate that she knows how closely she is flirting with the line between life and death. We leave her with her promise to not get in our way. I'm not confident she'll keep it but it is better than nothing.   When we depart Bran is extremely unsettled. His thread has been tangled with hers for a long time and he doesn't even know who tangled them - perhaps she did, or maybe someone else. Her touch on fate is not delicate.   And still, our work here is not finished. We gather up the witches and I tell them the same story I told Wen. Like her, they are horrified and realize that what they've done has violated and plundered people. One of them notes that if the trees were to exact the same vengeance she wishes upon those who have violated her, her life would be a better forfeit.  

We've taken blood from you and inflicted pain. I know it wasn't a gift or offering.

  To start, I have Camellia supervise them in gathering up all the Grove wood tools they have stolen. It gives Bran and I enough time to return to Magdalena to make our final judgement.   Bran saw that all of them have lives that do not need to end. They are all bright and hopeful and if they are given place, purpose, and meaning they will flourish. As maddening as it is for both of us, Yneir has done a good job with them and the best thing would be for them to be separate from the outside world for a time, with no new witches coming or going. To me it seems obvious - let them sleep for a season. Or ten years, perhaps?  

If they sleep for ten years it becomes complicated...this place would become something sacred but there's a price. The crow would fly if it takes ten years.

  She is genuinely well-intentioned and probably won't cause calamity elsewhere but...it's a risk. I think of all the places I might send her and see what comes of it - the other side of the sea, to Amytri, to Drakken, to Gedrin and the Village of Lost People...any of them might inspire huge change in the world. I think it would not be a bad thing to set her loose.   But the prompt here is whatever works out the brightest future for the fae, I remind Bran. With her permission he takes Magdalena's hand to connect to the future of the fae and I see seasons, heavens, days and nights pass in his eyes as he watches. Then gradually it seems like he starts slipping away and I can see the trees on the other side of him as he fades. When I grab his other hand he jolts out of the vision and stumbles back into solidity, staring at Magdalena, who glares back defiantly.   "You could have warned me!" he snaps at her, and she ignores it.   If they sleep for ten years it leads to a future where there are fae everywhere. Every city, every town, even across the sea. This is the future we choose, and so all of these witches will become Celestial Fae.  

I can't look at her fate again; it's too dangerous for me. Following her thread is like throwing yourself over a waterfall and into rapids. Thalien once told me of Fatespinners who would throw themselves into a river of time, sacrificing their lives so they would appear again in time when their working was needed. They would think nothing of dying if it meant being able to access things they would otherwise not live to see. It made them cold, seeing the workings as pieces in a puzzle and not the movements of people. He told me it would take someone with incredibly powerful fate to drag someone into time itself like that.   Her current pulled me out so far into the future that it was nearly unimaginable. No matter where I looked I saw your thread travelling alongside hers and it felt like sometime out there in the distant future you might need me...and it was hard to resist.   Heiassa, you need to be careful. You'll travel together for so long and right now it seems like she might need you more than you need her but there will come a time when you need her more.

  The exhaustion settles around me again. This morning Dal asked if it was hard having my feet in two worlds and I said no - this feels like exactly where I am supposed to be. It still feels that way...just...harder. I feel guilty but I am eager to be alone for a while. Knowing that my family will keep itself safe and continue working is all the assurance I need to get lost in my own work for a while.