Mrs. Henderson's Boarding-House, Oxford, England, 1876 (Sunday, Fandom-Time) (NFB)
Several facts had suggested themselves to Alice, in somewhat rapid succession after her epiphany a few short days ago. (That being, that she was, in fact, carrying Leto's child, although she had yet to take any test which confirmed it. She didn't need to; somehow, she knew.)
The facts were thus.
Firstly, she had rather definitely destroyed the sanctity of that timeline that she had been trying her hardest to protect. Lady Ghanima had said that her life with Leto would have no children, that Leto could no longer have them. The conception must have pre-dated that, somehow. More importantly, Ghanima's Leto didn't have a child, which meant ... which meant that this was a rather immense sort of mistake.
Leto couldn't know. She would be introducing paradox. In fact, the fewer people to know, the better.
The second fact was, quite simply, that she could no longer stay in Wonderland. Leto had been deep in a spice trance, the night he had come to her; some of that could have affected her. Must have affected the child created.
Was that enough Spice to risk the child becoming Pre-Born? She couldn't go to Arrakis, not even if paradox were not a concern. The Spice was in the very air, there. And Wonderland ... the walls of reality were startlingly thin.
She had no prejudices against the Pre-Born, but she knew that Leto and Ghanima themselves were an exception, and not the rule; that many, many of the Pre-Born succumbed to madness and Abomination. And when you considered that Alice herself had a history of insanity ... it was entirely too much to place upon one child.
No Arrakis, then, and no Wonderland. Fandom would be safe, but ran the risk of exposure, of breaking that paradox wide open.
Which left Oxford. She could reclaim her home, and raise the child herself. She had a little money put away.
What she had not expected was the state of her home. She knew the fire had been intense; she did not realize that the ruins would be entirely uninhabitable.
A visit with the lawyers had revealed worse news. She was the sole survivor of her parents' estate, but what had not burned in the fire had gone to pay for her care, at the Asylum. They had never been wealthy, but she had hoped there might be some small amount of money left.
What she had, then, was what she had saved from her time in Fandom, which she had wisely converted into pounds (and thank heavens, as American dollars from a century in the future would have raised considerable eyebrows). And her wits. And a child on the way.
She had found a kind lady who had rooms to let, and had paid for a month in advance. And that had made clear to her exactly how dire her finances were. And her prospects, for the future. She could work as a seamstress, only she'd been far too impatient all her life to be any good at it. There was little else open to her, or that she might be qualified for, either.
She could think of one avenue which might help. One person -- she no longer called him friend -- whom she could trust, that she might ask for assistance. Who did, in fact, owe her, so far as she could see.
Tomorrow, then. Tomorrow she would seek out Charles.
(OOC: establishing what is going on with alice, zomg, as she has a few bumps to work through before she arrives back on the island. nfi, nfb, but ooc is love.)
The facts were thus.
Firstly, she had rather definitely destroyed the sanctity of that timeline that she had been trying her hardest to protect. Lady Ghanima had said that her life with Leto would have no children, that Leto could no longer have them. The conception must have pre-dated that, somehow. More importantly, Ghanima's Leto didn't have a child, which meant ... which meant that this was a rather immense sort of mistake.
Leto couldn't know. She would be introducing paradox. In fact, the fewer people to know, the better.
The second fact was, quite simply, that she could no longer stay in Wonderland. Leto had been deep in a spice trance, the night he had come to her; some of that could have affected her. Must have affected the child created.
Was that enough Spice to risk the child becoming Pre-Born? She couldn't go to Arrakis, not even if paradox were not a concern. The Spice was in the very air, there. And Wonderland ... the walls of reality were startlingly thin.
She had no prejudices against the Pre-Born, but she knew that Leto and Ghanima themselves were an exception, and not the rule; that many, many of the Pre-Born succumbed to madness and Abomination. And when you considered that Alice herself had a history of insanity ... it was entirely too much to place upon one child.
No Arrakis, then, and no Wonderland. Fandom would be safe, but ran the risk of exposure, of breaking that paradox wide open.
Which left Oxford. She could reclaim her home, and raise the child herself. She had a little money put away.
What she had not expected was the state of her home. She knew the fire had been intense; she did not realize that the ruins would be entirely uninhabitable.
A visit with the lawyers had revealed worse news. She was the sole survivor of her parents' estate, but what had not burned in the fire had gone to pay for her care, at the Asylum. They had never been wealthy, but she had hoped there might be some small amount of money left.
What she had, then, was what she had saved from her time in Fandom, which she had wisely converted into pounds (and thank heavens, as American dollars from a century in the future would have raised considerable eyebrows). And her wits. And a child on the way.
She had found a kind lady who had rooms to let, and had paid for a month in advance. And that had made clear to her exactly how dire her finances were. And her prospects, for the future. She could work as a seamstress, only she'd been far too impatient all her life to be any good at it. There was little else open to her, or that she might be qualified for, either.
She could think of one avenue which might help. One person -- she no longer called him friend -- whom she could trust, that she might ask for assistance. Who did, in fact, owe her, so far as she could see.
Tomorrow, then. Tomorrow she would seek out Charles.
(OOC: establishing what is going on with alice, zomg, as she has a few bumps to work through before she arrives back on the island. nfi, nfb, but ooc is love.)