The World Walkers: Athare: Ianto: Talking to Mab
Like all of the creators Ianto felt the weight of being in charge of making at least one of the worlds, because no one knew how much magic Athare had. Their new home could have enough for them to live there for years, decades, centuries, or even millennia, like Kalinia, or there might not be enough for them to get through the next few days. Of course it didn’t help that everyone was still feeling the effects of what had happened before, so they might not know until it was too late that there was no magic left in the core of the world they’d chosen, and that was something no one liked to think about. Unfortunately it was something they couldn’t stop thinking about. Due to the elders’ belief that nothing was wrong, that things would sort themselves out, especially as Willow’s fae had left. it was almost too late when they did the same.
Mab had apologised for trusting her elders. Unlike some of the other creators Ianto had accepted the apology for what it was, because Mab was young in comparison to her old elders, and she had accepted their wisdom, as she truly believed that they knew more than she did. If she hadn’t things might have been different, but she had grown up in a royal family. Her mother and grandmother had both been Queen before her. They were the reason she had stood for election herself and why she’d thought the way she had, but she’d left them on Kalinia because they couldn’t accept that their home was really going to die. He could still see the pain in her eyes when she thought no one was looking at her.
Ianto, no matter how hard he tried to stop himself, often found himself watching Mab. She’d been through so much and he couldn’t help thinking that she wasn’t getting the support she needed from the family that had travelled with her. He knew she wanted to become a part of the work they were doing, even though most of the creators still weren’t certain of her, but he decided it was time to let go of the past - otherwise they were never going to move on from what happened on Kalinia. Most of his family were still clinging to the old ways, not knowing what else to do, but he wasn’t like them and that was why he’d accepted the most terrifying job he could imagine doing.
“Your Majesty?” Ianto said, as he made his way over to where she was sitting, busily scribbling in a notebook. “Do you still want to be a part of this?”
As she looked at him, her eyes emotionless, he wondered if she’d made the right decision, but then she smiled. “Yes, I do, Ianto.” The relief iin her voice was obvious. “I know I made mistakes before and I want to do what I can to atone for them, even though I know that nothing I do can ever be enough. The choices I made then… I should have listened to Willow. She was the only sensible one.”
Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.