Winsol had been going on now for several days. The family had just decamped from SaDiablo Hall in Dhemlan back home to Glacia to continue the festivities in their own home. There would be several more days of formal events, but this evening was just for family and close friends (specifically friends close enough to be family). The children were ( Read more... )

Karla sat in front of her loom, a tangled web taking shape in front of her, her eyes distant and unfocused, looking at the in between in the threads, where Craft danced and prophecy lay. An image danced in front of her, fuzzy and indistinct, but growing clearer with every thread she added. The Ebon-gray at her throat glowed with a soft inner light ( Read more... )

Karla had received a note. It had appeared on her desk with neither her Steward nor her maids certain how it had gotten there. The half-sheet of parchment had been folded into thirds and sealed with a few drops of black wax. She'd been a hesitant to open it, a hesitation that had only grown when she'd picked it up. There was a foreboding and a bone ( Read more... )

So, the past six days had been...( eventful )

Another day, another stupid Court function that Karla had to deal with. She wasn't even sure what this one was for; Lord Mallory was under strict instructions not to tell her unless it was for something important. Otherwise, he had to deal with her scandalized, "We're having a function for this?!?!" and no one--least of all Lord Mallory--wanted to ( Read more... )

It had been a long and miserable two weeks. Just ask anyone who had had the misfortune of dealing with their Queen. Karla was a terrible patient; somehow managing to be a tyrant even when she was coughing so hard she could barely speak. It was a good thing her nasty chest cold had also kept her asleep a great deal, or it was possible she would have ( Read more... )

It was a nice, lazy day in Balmia. Another day, another beautiful warm and--wait for it--balmy day. A flower-perfumed breeze blew through the palm trees, rustling the brightly-colored feathers of the tropical birds and sending a few of the very ripe citrus fruits falling to the ground, where they'd no doubt be gobbled up by any one of the exotic ( Read more... )

After a brief pit stop at the other island off the coast of San Francisco (look, Alcatraz loomed large in Karla's recollections; there was a lot of trauma associated there), Karla and the others made their way to Utopia--which, truth be told, probably should have been their first stop, consider how utterly ridiculous it looked. Was there some kind ( Read more... )

Beep. Beeeeeeeep

Normally, Karla could sleep right through her phone's text notification, especially if it came in the silvery light of pre-dawn on a night when Winsol celebrations had kept them awake until just a few hours before. Which wasn't to say that Karla could be generally counted upon to wake up for her phone, but it was even less likely ( Read more... )