10.3 Reshaped

General Summary

Day 95

The carnage settles, leaving Preesha breathing but still in rough shape. Bran turns to Will and says “It’s time to return to the shade. We’re here to help,” to his shocked face.   Naturally, the entire band of Severed is shocked at Bran’s very human bond with the Empress. Still, my Fatespinner defends my vision of unification to the group and eventually they accept it. Will addresses me as “my lady” and asks if it would be possible to reunite everyone with the shade. It takes all day - Will first and then all the others. He takes back his name - Willow, and every single one is in tears when they first step into the shadows. Despite our exhaustion, Alder guides each of them back into the shadows and steps with them. These are the first of the Recovered. I hope it is enough to make a dent in the anger of the Severed as a whole.   Later in the evening Hella and Kadia slip away upstream to fish. I take some time with Knotrael, who asks to serve in my house until he is reunited with Doraal. I gladly accept - it will be like having a piece of my brother at my side again. And his wise counsel is invaluable right now, as I decide how to approach the Severed.   “Anything that has been shaped to act a certain way can be reshaped,” he tells me. But the leaders may be beyond help. He has warned me of this twice but I’m still determined to see it through. If I leave anyone behind it will because they fought to get away from me, not because I gave up on them.   Late into the night, we sing together. How many years has it been since a fae and an elf sang together by firelight? As everyone else drifts off to sleep, I steal away into the quiet and sob to myself in relief. So many impossibilities are coming together, and I can barely dare to hope that it will all work out. Like the shadow that he is, Alder creeps up on me and settles a blanket around my shoulders before slipping away again.

Day 96

Alder and I take a morning shadow step together, as we often do. It’s treasured time for me. Makes me think about how often I must have done this with the rest of my family - quiet mornings with Mistress, time in the garden with Doraal, waking with Lyssa’s head on my shoulder, the smell of Dal cooking, and Thalien singing to himself. My lives are converging. Maybe one day I’ll just have one life, unified.   We talk about Alder’s place in that one, unified life. Seeing Knotrael with me yesterday made him realize how clear and simple that role might be - at my side and guarding my flank. For Alder, it’s more complex. A shadow is not a fixed thing. He’s here to be whatever I need. I envelope him in a hug. Right now what I need is someone to talk to about the Severed and the Recovered.   There are several paths they could take - they could return to the Keep with us, return to whatever lives they held before, continue operating autonomously here on their own, join Nidrae….maybe even join the Weaver’s village to learn about the good of humanity.   But Willow, their leader, is at a crossroads. He held an identity built on hate and hurt that doesn't exist anymore. Alder tells me that they spoke last night about Willow’s desire to atone for his actions in some way, perhaps by sacrificing himself to the human village they had just attacked. An honourable but idiotic idea. People often muse about heroes being either brave or stupid and I can see why. Thankfully Alder talked him out of that. Between him and Bran, I trust that Willow can be guided back onto a productive path.   It does raise the issue of how we will approach the leaders of the Severed. If Willow can’t entirely be trusted not to do something rash and sacrificial, it makes it much harder to approach them.   I had hoped to make a formal audience and speak sense to them, but from what Knotrael has told me it seems like that would be unwise. Alder and I are in agreement: We can pick off their hunting parties as they are sent out, weakening the support structure of the organization. Then, we can try to turn each of their leaders one at a time. It’s the plan of an assassin.   In the meantime, we need to leave Preesha somewhere safe, and some of the more wounded members of the Recovered. They need to learn about how good humans can be, and the Weaver’s village will be perfect.   When we return to camp, Bran and Knotrael are missing. Apparently Bran wanted to check on the village and Knotrael went along to….protect him. I need fewer heroes and more thoughtful, careful wizards around me! I send Camellia after them and turn my mind elsewhere for the time being.   Willow believes that the best route to dealing with the Severed will be to confront the leaders directly, to persuade them and then use their influence to handle the others. Again, the bravery is admirable. The practicality is less so. Instead, I tell him that we will be picking off their hunting parties   He seems frustrated, in a way that a soldier would be. I’m about to explain the heavy responsibility of commanding an army of people whose lives you need to spend carefully, when Alder does it for me. And he persuades Willow to agree to the Weaver’s village as well.   Finally, Bran and Knotrael return with Camellia...and a supply-laden mule which Bran evidently purchased from the devastated people of the village. All is well, and Knotrael reassures me that he accompanied Bran more for the conversation than for any illusion of protection.