To Rule The Zones, 12/?.
Title: To Rule The Zones (Edge of Dawn Sequel)
Author: Eustacia Vye
Author's e-mail: eustacia_vye28@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: The Wizard of Oz belongs to Frank Baum and all of the modifications belong to SciFi.
Rating: NC-17 for language and lovingly rendered sex.
Pairing: DG/Cain, Azkadellia/OMCx2
Warnings: This takes place after the SciFi movie and after my story "The Edge of Dawn." This does refer to events occurring within that story, so you need to read that one first.
Summary: DG wanted to start a war with Lurlaine in the Mirror Zone. Little did she realize that it would lead to a war in the OZ as well...
Prior chapters can be found here.
Hey, look at that. Some more smut in this chapter...
The blockade proceeds apace, my Queen, General Minge reported with a bow. Our forces are keeping the Others from reaching landfall, and they are also effectively keeping any allies from reaching Green Harbor with supplies by sea. We also patrol the borders between the different counties, and trade routes have dried up.
DG wanted to be horrified by what Glitch had inadvertently ordered Ronsard to do, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Siba was going to torture innocent farmers, creating ravenous monsters out of them. It seemed only natural that his army of mercenaries would suffer the fate they would have so callously meted out to innocents.
Still, it bothered her that it didn't horrify her. Was this what it meant to be in charge? Was this what ruling was all about? Seeing people as mere numbers and names and judging who were acceptable losses while she remained safe?
Thank you, DG told Minge with a nod. Please extend these thanks to your forces, and to continue the blockade. Do you have need of any further supplies?
Minge laughed heartily. As shadows, we need none. That was worked into our very essence by the spellwork laid upon us all those years ago. What we need, we will take from your enemy. It is only right to do so, and not tax your supplies further. Your people need them.
DG tried not to think of the hapless farmers caught in Green Harbor, or the merchants and miners in Ruby Gulch and Caronet. The people hadn't asked for this war, hadn't asked for a blockade to stop up all the trade routes and starve them out.
But she nodded and smiled at Minge, and let him return to Green Harbor. Cain and Tasi would be coming in to report soon. She was in her official receiving suite, collecting information and directing others where to go on a map. She was in no danger, but also had no idea what was happening in the rest of the Zone.
Was she losing touch? Or just second guessing herself because she was nervous?
She looked up when Cain and Tasi entered her sitting room. She liked the way Cain looked in his General's uniform, even if he had grumbled about "useless frippery" at the time. Her parents had said that he at least looked like someone who would have made a proper proposal, even if the public was unaware of it. DG was glad that they were not pressing that point; she had spent her entire morning avoiding an argument with her mother over colors for a wedding scheme.
"Please say you have good news," she said with a half smile.
"If by good news you mean no one died, I have plenty of good news for you," Cain replied.
Tasi frowned at him, lips compressed into a thin line. "My Queen, the city holds firm. There are spies, however. How shall we proceed?"
"Spies?" DG echoed dumbly. "Who? How do you know?"
Cain and Tasi exchanged glances. Tasi nodded at Cain, indicating that he should broach this topic. "Deeg, some of the palace guard are being implicated in this. You had set up the rotation schedule for the city gates." DG nodded, indicating that she remembered doing the task. "There have been two of the palace guard in particular that we have concerns about. They follow their directions to the letter, but what they report is different from what happens."
DG felt her blood run cold. She had thought perhaps Tasi was sending Shadow Brigade members to double the ranks of guards. She hadn't thought they were second guessing and spying on other members of her team. "How is it different?"
Cain could tell that DG was uncomfortable with this. She liked to think the best of people, liked to think that she could effect reasonable changes. It had to be awful to consider that some of her allies were actually trying to harm her cause.
"There have been people trying to cross the gates under cover of night. Some of them are farmers or shopkeepers that escaped the counties before the blockade went into effect. Some of them are mercenaries that were hired and sent out. Some we think are privateers seeking an opportunity to make a profit. The palace guards at the gate entrances usually catch them and send them into detainment so that the tin men can question them and figure out what to do next." Cain paused, taking in her earnest expression. "With the two guards we're concerned about, they've let the farmers and shopkeepers be put into detainment for processing. The mercenaries and privateers are let through. There's not even a bribe being offered."
DG caught the skirt of her dress in her hands and had to make an effort to unclench the fabric. "And they're well liked, aren't they? Otherwise you'd already be dealing with them without coming to me first."
"Prominent enough to be an issue," Cain affirmed, nodding. "They were guards since before you were even born, so they command a lot of respect. The other guards will know they've gone missing from the rotations."
"Unless I come up with a good enough excuse for it," DG murmured, looking over them.
"So how do we proceed?" Tasi prompted when the other two fell silent.
"Take them off the gates," DG said slowly. "I can't trust them around any of my family or any strategic locations. They can train the new wave of guards I'm about to recruit for."
Tasi nodded, smiling grimly. "That is necessary, and keeps them closely guarded themselves."
Cain reached out and grasped DG's hand in his. "See? You have a solution."
"We need to not only watch them, though, but we need to find out more about them. If they're really doing this, we need to know why they've turned against our family."
Cain nodded. "We'll have to use some of Tasi's people. Our own might be biased based on the respect for these two."
DG looked at Tasi, nodding. "Do it. We need to be sure of everyone we're working with right now. I can't afford to be thinking that everything's okay and have bombs go off again."
"Want me to stay with you?" Cain asked gently.
DG shook her head. "I have a lesson with Ine'che and Ataio soon. Maybe I'll get them to start it early and take my mind off of this."
"Sorry, Deeg," Cain murmured.
"Not your fault," she replied, leaning in for a kiss. She kept her eyes closed as they kissed, and for a fraction longer. She could almost feel the imprint of his lips over hers still lingering if she kept her eyes closed. But she opened them after a moment, and stood back up to indicate that they could leave. "I'll see you later, Wyatt." She nodded at Tasi. "Thank you for your discretion with this, Tasi."
"But of course, my Queen. We are here to protect you in all of your endeavors."
DG waited until after they left her sitting room. She wanted to hit something. Or run. If only she had her motorcycle, or could disappear somewhere for a while. But after her last attempt to run away and disappear, she didn't dare try something like that again. It would be a disaster if she did that and it backfired in her face again.
Even worse, Ine'che was nowhere to be found, and Midnight said that Ataio wanted to be alone all day. It looked like her magic lesson was canceled for the day.
Disgruntled, DG went off in search of the head of the palace guard. It was high time she learned some self defense. That ought to burn off some of her frustration.
For her part, Ine'che had remembered the lesson. But Ataio had found her walking in the castle corridors early that morning and led her into a hidden one he had found. Once there, he pushed her up against the wall and his mouth had descended over hers. Since their flight, Ataio had approached her daily. Ine'che hadn't been entirely sure why he would want to, but it was a new experience for her. She was wanted, and he had such joy in making love to her in the way of humans. Ine'che kissed him back, arms looping around his shoulders. She was learning how he liked to be touched, what made him gasp or sigh in pleasure. She didn't want to ask when he would tire of her, when he would be bored enough to return things to the way that they used to be. She wanted the illusion for the moment that the affair could be long term.
Ataio licked her neck, sending shivers through her, and his hands palmed her breasts through the dress she wore. Ine'che ran her nails along his shoulders, hearing his breath catch. He pressed his teeth against her pulse point, and she tilted her head slightly.
"This is the time," he murmured against the skin of her neck. Before she could ask him what he meant, he lifted the skirts to her dress. Ataio dropped his trousers and lifted her so that she needed to wrap her legs around his waist to keep her balance.
"What do you mean?" she gasped as he pushed into her waiting body. She grasped hold of his arms and turned her head as he kissed his way up her neck. She tightened her legs around his waist, drawing him deeper inside of her. She couldn't help but making mewling sounds of pleasure as he drove into her. Ine'che curled around his body as best as she could, clinging to him for balance, as if the entire world was shifting around her. She hadn't known how this could feel in human form before Ataio, and he made every fiber of her being shatter with his touch. Her nails dug into his shoulders as she came, clenching down even tighter around him.
Ataio kissed her mouth, tongue sliding in to stroke hers. He didn't answer her question until after he had spilled into her, after he leaned against her panting. "Isn't it phase?"
Ine'che stilled, then looked at him in dawning horror. "What?"
"Now you will never be alone," he murmured.
Ine'che thought her heart stopped in her chest. Had she even heard him correctly?
Ataio slid from her limp grasp and settled her back onto her feet. He rearranged their clothing, then tucked her hair back into place as if nothing had happened. Ine'che stood there dumbly, staring at him with her mouth still parted in horrible surprise. He took one of her hands in his, almost as if in pity for her shock. "You'll have to make a decision regarding which form you'll take, of course."
"I... I have to go," Ine'che stammered, pulling her hand away. She had thought this was a nice diversion, something to occupy her time and keep her from feeling lonely. Ataio was old, a Belen Tasilth, a creature from which magic flowed. She was just a wyvern, even if she had been a princess among her kind. She had assumed that he would grow bored with her, that he would simply stop paying attention and she would be alone again.
If he was right, and she had no reason to think he would lie to her about this, then she was going to be a mother. She was a shapeshifting wyvern that had never had a completed phase, never clutched an egg, never given birth in human form. She would have to decide what form to take for the duration of the event, and she would have to decide soon. Shifting forms while still with child could destroy it.
Ine'che stumbled toward DG's suite. She wasn't really aware of her surroundings, wasn't aware of what Ataio looked like when she left. She felt numb, as if this couldn't possibly be real. It was too soon to feel the presence of a child, but Ataio was made of pure magic. He would know if something had happened. He wouldn't lie to her about this, just as he hadn't lied about his interest in their flight. He was honest about his boredom and his curiosity regarding mortals. Though Ine'che was an old, old creature by human standards, she was still a child compared to Ataio. He would exist as long as magic did, long after Ine'che's bones dissolved into magic dust.
DG wasn't in her suite, and Ine'che didn't know where else to turn. She was an outsider in these lands, and she only vaguely knew DG's other friends. Her chest felt tight and it almost seemed as though she wasn't in complete control of her own body anymore.
Wyverns clutched eggs and raised young in a large community, taking to the sky and the hunt and the flight as soon as the musculature matured. Then when the wyvern child was physically mature, it could be taught to shift. It only took about eight human annuals for that, but there was no community to raise a wyvern in. Ine'che was alone, and she couldn't count on Ataio to shift into a wyvern for long. This place held human mortals, and she could always remain in this form. She would then grow large with a child in the human way, and would have to birth one in the human way, and care for it in the human way. She would have to wait until the child was older to even begin to explain shapeshifting, to even begin to teach it about her people.
The shadows shifted, and Ataio stepped out of them. Ine'che looked at him helplessly, not sure if she should say something to him.
He sat beside her and picked up one of DG's sketchbooks. She had drawn various palace figures, Ozma, Lurlaine and various people she had met in the Mirror Zone. Even Ine'che had been drawn, in both of her forms.
"I thought you would be pleased," he murmured, looking at the sketch of Ine'che's wyvern form.
"I don't know what I am," Ine'che replied numbly. She had long ago given up on the idea of an egg of her own. Her chosen mate was wonderful, but could never outfly her. He wouldn't have been able to sire offspring. She had known that, had accepted it before his involvement in the war that killed him along with the rest of her people. She had already mourned the idea.
Ataio pushed her hair away from her face. "Do you want this? Or is it a burden?"
She shut her eyes. "I don't know."
He pressed his lips against her temple, and she could feel his breath warm along her skin. "I will stay with you, no matter your decision."
"Why?"
His fingers curled around her wrist, the pads of his fingertips soft against her pulse point. It almost reminded her of claws against scales, and it was a comforting gesture. She softened against his touch, then met his gaze.
"It's better to be lost in these lands together, isn't it?" he asked quietly.
"Are we lost, then?" Ine'che asked, not sure what she was trying to ask.
He seemed to take her question seriously, then nodded slowly. "I don't want to rule, I don't want involvement in their affairs. I grow tired of the petty squabbles of the creatures of this world. But you are neither of these things, and that's worth looking after."
Ine'che wasn't sure if it was fair to say she was terrified of the thought of being a mother, of birthing or clutching some creature that wasn't completely wyvern, but something new and strange. It probably wasn't fair; his other child had been Titania, and she hadn't been some demented creature. But then, Lurlaine was also of his line, and that bore some thinking about as well. How could she ever hope to be enough?
She had only days to make her decision, or her immobility would make the decision for her.
He traced the inside of her wrist, the inside of her forearm. She shivered at the touch, at the reminder of other things he had done with her. Ine'che turned slowly to look at him, as if she was moving through a fog. Ataio kissed her softly, then rose. "I will leave you time to think, Ybred Ine'che. I will abide whatever decision you make."
It seemed wrong somehow, that someone so old would have to bow to her decision. But she nodded at him, absurdly grateful. "Thank you."
Ataio's lips quirked into a smile. "Don't thank me yet. It's not an easy task ahead of us, is it?"
Raise an egg alone or an infant among strangers. No, neither option was easy.
***
Oliver looked out across the farmlands he had been voted to help guide. He felt sick inside, even if he had nothing to do with the decision to set the mutated mercenaries on Green Harbor. He heard the dirt shifting behind him, and didn't even bother to turn around to meet Glitch's gaze. "You don't agree with what happened, do you?"
"No," Oliver replied, trying to catch the shifting shadows that were present at the edge of their territory. "Death shouldn't be some kind of easy answer."
"I don't think it is," Glitch replied easily. "But there was a lesson to learn for all of us there, don't you think?"
"What?" he asked, brows furrowing in confusion.
"Each side believes we're right and the other is wrong. It's troubling to think of the lengths we'd go to in order to prove ourselves right."
"Is this supposed to be a comforting thought?" Oliver asked incredulously.
"No." Glitch shrugged and looked at the farmer. "War is evil. It will always be evil. But it is sometimes a necessary evil, and we're trying to make sure it goes quickly."
"Shouldn't there be mercy involved?" Oliver asked, looking at the shifting shades of black.
"Would you show mercy on someone that destroyed your family?"
Oliver was disturbed by the question; he didn't know how to answer it, even though he knew what he should say. He had been raised with the teachings of the land, did the weekly Meetings and Offerings. He was a devout man, and tried to be a good leader and father. But he knew the question that Glitch was asking, and he didn't know how to answer it.
Glitch didn't look pleased by Oliver's discomfort. "Terrible things happen sometimes," he said, looking out onto the shadows as well. Oliver caught sight of the zipper along his skull, knew it for the punishment it was. "The people are part of the royal family. DG really believes that, really came to learn that. I know she would want to be sure her family is safe." Glitch looked at Oliver and smiled. "I don't remember my family anymore. It got lost when they took out half of my brain, and it can't be found again. Do you think that's better or worse for this?"
Oliver couldn't answer that, either. He couldn't imagine a world where he was alone and without family, without the support and trials they offered.
Glitch sighed. "I don't know, either. But we do the best we can, don't we? And we all hope that it turns out okay in the end."
"You're philosophical for a headcase," Oliver commented, not sure what else to say.
"Am I?" Glitch smiled faintly. "I can't remember what I used to be very well. I was brilliant, I know. The main Advisor to the Queen. Now I'm lucky if she remembers me. I'm lucky if I even remember myself sometimes. I glitch, miss things."
Empathy hadn't been completely removed. Oliver wondered what the fate of Green Harbor would have been if it had been.
"Maybe it's better this way," Oliver told him, voice quiet. "You don't have to remember how it used to be, before everything went wrong."
"Oh, I remember that. Sometimes. Isn't that what we're fighting for?"
Oliver didn't have an answer for that question, either, and simply stared out into the dark.
***
Raw looked at the shifting shadows outside the farmlands. "The blockade is complete. We are not needed here in such numbers."
Ronsard stirred from the wall. "You see something, then?"
"Our friends have pain," Raw replied simply. "Sometimes it is best to be near them."
The troll solidified. "I could withdraw some of our men, send them back to the city, if that's where they need to be. The Queen said to follow your orders. And that of Glitch."
Raw startled, then realized he meant DG, not the Queen that Raw thought of by that title. "The city has guard enough. The west lies locked in shadow. There is not much else here at the moment but to wait for the end to come."
Ronsard nodded. "I've done my share of waiting, Viewer. It doesn't get easier with time."
Raw nodded unhappily. "I didn't think it did."
"Cheer up," Ronsard said with a toothy grin, reaching for one of the fruits in the basket on the table. He took a bite into a particularly juicy piece, letting it run down his chin. "This waiting is still better than being on a front line in active battle. This is tension, but this isn't tending to an open wound or hearing the screams of the dying." His gaze was dark and hollow. "Trust me on this, Viewer. Waiting is better than that."
"Your friends in the other place, then..."
"They will be on the front lines," Ronsard replied shortly. "They will bleed, they will die, they will scream. We will not."
Raw didn't think either location was a good place to be.
***
***
Author: Eustacia Vye
Author's e-mail: eustacia_vye28@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: The Wizard of Oz belongs to Frank Baum and all of the modifications belong to SciFi.
Rating: NC-17 for language and lovingly rendered sex.
Pairing: DG/Cain, Azkadellia/OMCx2
Warnings: This takes place after the SciFi movie and after my story "The Edge of Dawn." This does refer to events occurring within that story, so you need to read that one first.
Summary: DG wanted to start a war with Lurlaine in the Mirror Zone. Little did she realize that it would lead to a war in the OZ as well...
Prior chapters can be found here.
Hey, look at that. Some more smut in this chapter...
The blockade proceeds apace, my Queen, General Minge reported with a bow. Our forces are keeping the Others from reaching landfall, and they are also effectively keeping any allies from reaching Green Harbor with supplies by sea. We also patrol the borders between the different counties, and trade routes have dried up.
DG wanted to be horrified by what Glitch had inadvertently ordered Ronsard to do, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Siba was going to torture innocent farmers, creating ravenous monsters out of them. It seemed only natural that his army of mercenaries would suffer the fate they would have so callously meted out to innocents.
Still, it bothered her that it didn't horrify her. Was this what it meant to be in charge? Was this what ruling was all about? Seeing people as mere numbers and names and judging who were acceptable losses while she remained safe?
Thank you, DG told Minge with a nod. Please extend these thanks to your forces, and to continue the blockade. Do you have need of any further supplies?
Minge laughed heartily. As shadows, we need none. That was worked into our very essence by the spellwork laid upon us all those years ago. What we need, we will take from your enemy. It is only right to do so, and not tax your supplies further. Your people need them.
DG tried not to think of the hapless farmers caught in Green Harbor, or the merchants and miners in Ruby Gulch and Caronet. The people hadn't asked for this war, hadn't asked for a blockade to stop up all the trade routes and starve them out.
But she nodded and smiled at Minge, and let him return to Green Harbor. Cain and Tasi would be coming in to report soon. She was in her official receiving suite, collecting information and directing others where to go on a map. She was in no danger, but also had no idea what was happening in the rest of the Zone.
Was she losing touch? Or just second guessing herself because she was nervous?
She looked up when Cain and Tasi entered her sitting room. She liked the way Cain looked in his General's uniform, even if he had grumbled about "useless frippery" at the time. Her parents had said that he at least looked like someone who would have made a proper proposal, even if the public was unaware of it. DG was glad that they were not pressing that point; she had spent her entire morning avoiding an argument with her mother over colors for a wedding scheme.
"Please say you have good news," she said with a half smile.
"If by good news you mean no one died, I have plenty of good news for you," Cain replied.
Tasi frowned at him, lips compressed into a thin line. "My Queen, the city holds firm. There are spies, however. How shall we proceed?"
"Spies?" DG echoed dumbly. "Who? How do you know?"
Cain and Tasi exchanged glances. Tasi nodded at Cain, indicating that he should broach this topic. "Deeg, some of the palace guard are being implicated in this. You had set up the rotation schedule for the city gates." DG nodded, indicating that she remembered doing the task. "There have been two of the palace guard in particular that we have concerns about. They follow their directions to the letter, but what they report is different from what happens."
DG felt her blood run cold. She had thought perhaps Tasi was sending Shadow Brigade members to double the ranks of guards. She hadn't thought they were second guessing and spying on other members of her team. "How is it different?"
Cain could tell that DG was uncomfortable with this. She liked to think the best of people, liked to think that she could effect reasonable changes. It had to be awful to consider that some of her allies were actually trying to harm her cause.
"There have been people trying to cross the gates under cover of night. Some of them are farmers or shopkeepers that escaped the counties before the blockade went into effect. Some of them are mercenaries that were hired and sent out. Some we think are privateers seeking an opportunity to make a profit. The palace guards at the gate entrances usually catch them and send them into detainment so that the tin men can question them and figure out what to do next." Cain paused, taking in her earnest expression. "With the two guards we're concerned about, they've let the farmers and shopkeepers be put into detainment for processing. The mercenaries and privateers are let through. There's not even a bribe being offered."
DG caught the skirt of her dress in her hands and had to make an effort to unclench the fabric. "And they're well liked, aren't they? Otherwise you'd already be dealing with them without coming to me first."
"Prominent enough to be an issue," Cain affirmed, nodding. "They were guards since before you were even born, so they command a lot of respect. The other guards will know they've gone missing from the rotations."
"Unless I come up with a good enough excuse for it," DG murmured, looking over them.
"So how do we proceed?" Tasi prompted when the other two fell silent.
"Take them off the gates," DG said slowly. "I can't trust them around any of my family or any strategic locations. They can train the new wave of guards I'm about to recruit for."
Tasi nodded, smiling grimly. "That is necessary, and keeps them closely guarded themselves."
Cain reached out and grasped DG's hand in his. "See? You have a solution."
"We need to not only watch them, though, but we need to find out more about them. If they're really doing this, we need to know why they've turned against our family."
Cain nodded. "We'll have to use some of Tasi's people. Our own might be biased based on the respect for these two."
DG looked at Tasi, nodding. "Do it. We need to be sure of everyone we're working with right now. I can't afford to be thinking that everything's okay and have bombs go off again."
"Want me to stay with you?" Cain asked gently.
DG shook her head. "I have a lesson with Ine'che and Ataio soon. Maybe I'll get them to start it early and take my mind off of this."
"Sorry, Deeg," Cain murmured.
"Not your fault," she replied, leaning in for a kiss. She kept her eyes closed as they kissed, and for a fraction longer. She could almost feel the imprint of his lips over hers still lingering if she kept her eyes closed. But she opened them after a moment, and stood back up to indicate that they could leave. "I'll see you later, Wyatt." She nodded at Tasi. "Thank you for your discretion with this, Tasi."
"But of course, my Queen. We are here to protect you in all of your endeavors."
DG waited until after they left her sitting room. She wanted to hit something. Or run. If only she had her motorcycle, or could disappear somewhere for a while. But after her last attempt to run away and disappear, she didn't dare try something like that again. It would be a disaster if she did that and it backfired in her face again.
Even worse, Ine'che was nowhere to be found, and Midnight said that Ataio wanted to be alone all day. It looked like her magic lesson was canceled for the day.
Disgruntled, DG went off in search of the head of the palace guard. It was high time she learned some self defense. That ought to burn off some of her frustration.
For her part, Ine'che had remembered the lesson. But Ataio had found her walking in the castle corridors early that morning and led her into a hidden one he had found. Once there, he pushed her up against the wall and his mouth had descended over hers. Since their flight, Ataio had approached her daily. Ine'che hadn't been entirely sure why he would want to, but it was a new experience for her. She was wanted, and he had such joy in making love to her in the way of humans. Ine'che kissed him back, arms looping around his shoulders. She was learning how he liked to be touched, what made him gasp or sigh in pleasure. She didn't want to ask when he would tire of her, when he would be bored enough to return things to the way that they used to be. She wanted the illusion for the moment that the affair could be long term.
Ataio licked her neck, sending shivers through her, and his hands palmed her breasts through the dress she wore. Ine'che ran her nails along his shoulders, hearing his breath catch. He pressed his teeth against her pulse point, and she tilted her head slightly.
"This is the time," he murmured against the skin of her neck. Before she could ask him what he meant, he lifted the skirts to her dress. Ataio dropped his trousers and lifted her so that she needed to wrap her legs around his waist to keep her balance.
"What do you mean?" she gasped as he pushed into her waiting body. She grasped hold of his arms and turned her head as he kissed his way up her neck. She tightened her legs around his waist, drawing him deeper inside of her. She couldn't help but making mewling sounds of pleasure as he drove into her. Ine'che curled around his body as best as she could, clinging to him for balance, as if the entire world was shifting around her. She hadn't known how this could feel in human form before Ataio, and he made every fiber of her being shatter with his touch. Her nails dug into his shoulders as she came, clenching down even tighter around him.
Ataio kissed her mouth, tongue sliding in to stroke hers. He didn't answer her question until after he had spilled into her, after he leaned against her panting. "Isn't it phase?"
Ine'che stilled, then looked at him in dawning horror. "What?"
"Now you will never be alone," he murmured.
Ine'che thought her heart stopped in her chest. Had she even heard him correctly?
Ataio slid from her limp grasp and settled her back onto her feet. He rearranged their clothing, then tucked her hair back into place as if nothing had happened. Ine'che stood there dumbly, staring at him with her mouth still parted in horrible surprise. He took one of her hands in his, almost as if in pity for her shock. "You'll have to make a decision regarding which form you'll take, of course."
"I... I have to go," Ine'che stammered, pulling her hand away. She had thought this was a nice diversion, something to occupy her time and keep her from feeling lonely. Ataio was old, a Belen Tasilth, a creature from which magic flowed. She was just a wyvern, even if she had been a princess among her kind. She had assumed that he would grow bored with her, that he would simply stop paying attention and she would be alone again.
If he was right, and she had no reason to think he would lie to her about this, then she was going to be a mother. She was a shapeshifting wyvern that had never had a completed phase, never clutched an egg, never given birth in human form. She would have to decide what form to take for the duration of the event, and she would have to decide soon. Shifting forms while still with child could destroy it.
Ine'che stumbled toward DG's suite. She wasn't really aware of her surroundings, wasn't aware of what Ataio looked like when she left. She felt numb, as if this couldn't possibly be real. It was too soon to feel the presence of a child, but Ataio was made of pure magic. He would know if something had happened. He wouldn't lie to her about this, just as he hadn't lied about his interest in their flight. He was honest about his boredom and his curiosity regarding mortals. Though Ine'che was an old, old creature by human standards, she was still a child compared to Ataio. He would exist as long as magic did, long after Ine'che's bones dissolved into magic dust.
DG wasn't in her suite, and Ine'che didn't know where else to turn. She was an outsider in these lands, and she only vaguely knew DG's other friends. Her chest felt tight and it almost seemed as though she wasn't in complete control of her own body anymore.
Wyverns clutched eggs and raised young in a large community, taking to the sky and the hunt and the flight as soon as the musculature matured. Then when the wyvern child was physically mature, it could be taught to shift. It only took about eight human annuals for that, but there was no community to raise a wyvern in. Ine'che was alone, and she couldn't count on Ataio to shift into a wyvern for long. This place held human mortals, and she could always remain in this form. She would then grow large with a child in the human way, and would have to birth one in the human way, and care for it in the human way. She would have to wait until the child was older to even begin to explain shapeshifting, to even begin to teach it about her people.
The shadows shifted, and Ataio stepped out of them. Ine'che looked at him helplessly, not sure if she should say something to him.
He sat beside her and picked up one of DG's sketchbooks. She had drawn various palace figures, Ozma, Lurlaine and various people she had met in the Mirror Zone. Even Ine'che had been drawn, in both of her forms.
"I thought you would be pleased," he murmured, looking at the sketch of Ine'che's wyvern form.
"I don't know what I am," Ine'che replied numbly. She had long ago given up on the idea of an egg of her own. Her chosen mate was wonderful, but could never outfly her. He wouldn't have been able to sire offspring. She had known that, had accepted it before his involvement in the war that killed him along with the rest of her people. She had already mourned the idea.
Ataio pushed her hair away from her face. "Do you want this? Or is it a burden?"
She shut her eyes. "I don't know."
He pressed his lips against her temple, and she could feel his breath warm along her skin. "I will stay with you, no matter your decision."
"Why?"
His fingers curled around her wrist, the pads of his fingertips soft against her pulse point. It almost reminded her of claws against scales, and it was a comforting gesture. She softened against his touch, then met his gaze.
"It's better to be lost in these lands together, isn't it?" he asked quietly.
"Are we lost, then?" Ine'che asked, not sure what she was trying to ask.
He seemed to take her question seriously, then nodded slowly. "I don't want to rule, I don't want involvement in their affairs. I grow tired of the petty squabbles of the creatures of this world. But you are neither of these things, and that's worth looking after."
Ine'che wasn't sure if it was fair to say she was terrified of the thought of being a mother, of birthing or clutching some creature that wasn't completely wyvern, but something new and strange. It probably wasn't fair; his other child had been Titania, and she hadn't been some demented creature. But then, Lurlaine was also of his line, and that bore some thinking about as well. How could she ever hope to be enough?
She had only days to make her decision, or her immobility would make the decision for her.
He traced the inside of her wrist, the inside of her forearm. She shivered at the touch, at the reminder of other things he had done with her. Ine'che turned slowly to look at him, as if she was moving through a fog. Ataio kissed her softly, then rose. "I will leave you time to think, Ybred Ine'che. I will abide whatever decision you make."
It seemed wrong somehow, that someone so old would have to bow to her decision. But she nodded at him, absurdly grateful. "Thank you."
Ataio's lips quirked into a smile. "Don't thank me yet. It's not an easy task ahead of us, is it?"
Raise an egg alone or an infant among strangers. No, neither option was easy.
***
Oliver looked out across the farmlands he had been voted to help guide. He felt sick inside, even if he had nothing to do with the decision to set the mutated mercenaries on Green Harbor. He heard the dirt shifting behind him, and didn't even bother to turn around to meet Glitch's gaze. "You don't agree with what happened, do you?"
"No," Oliver replied, trying to catch the shifting shadows that were present at the edge of their territory. "Death shouldn't be some kind of easy answer."
"I don't think it is," Glitch replied easily. "But there was a lesson to learn for all of us there, don't you think?"
"What?" he asked, brows furrowing in confusion.
"Each side believes we're right and the other is wrong. It's troubling to think of the lengths we'd go to in order to prove ourselves right."
"Is this supposed to be a comforting thought?" Oliver asked incredulously.
"No." Glitch shrugged and looked at the farmer. "War is evil. It will always be evil. But it is sometimes a necessary evil, and we're trying to make sure it goes quickly."
"Shouldn't there be mercy involved?" Oliver asked, looking at the shifting shades of black.
"Would you show mercy on someone that destroyed your family?"
Oliver was disturbed by the question; he didn't know how to answer it, even though he knew what he should say. He had been raised with the teachings of the land, did the weekly Meetings and Offerings. He was a devout man, and tried to be a good leader and father. But he knew the question that Glitch was asking, and he didn't know how to answer it.
Glitch didn't look pleased by Oliver's discomfort. "Terrible things happen sometimes," he said, looking out onto the shadows as well. Oliver caught sight of the zipper along his skull, knew it for the punishment it was. "The people are part of the royal family. DG really believes that, really came to learn that. I know she would want to be sure her family is safe." Glitch looked at Oliver and smiled. "I don't remember my family anymore. It got lost when they took out half of my brain, and it can't be found again. Do you think that's better or worse for this?"
Oliver couldn't answer that, either. He couldn't imagine a world where he was alone and without family, without the support and trials they offered.
Glitch sighed. "I don't know, either. But we do the best we can, don't we? And we all hope that it turns out okay in the end."
"You're philosophical for a headcase," Oliver commented, not sure what else to say.
"Am I?" Glitch smiled faintly. "I can't remember what I used to be very well. I was brilliant, I know. The main Advisor to the Queen. Now I'm lucky if she remembers me. I'm lucky if I even remember myself sometimes. I glitch, miss things."
Empathy hadn't been completely removed. Oliver wondered what the fate of Green Harbor would have been if it had been.
"Maybe it's better this way," Oliver told him, voice quiet. "You don't have to remember how it used to be, before everything went wrong."
"Oh, I remember that. Sometimes. Isn't that what we're fighting for?"
Oliver didn't have an answer for that question, either, and simply stared out into the dark.
***
Raw looked at the shifting shadows outside the farmlands. "The blockade is complete. We are not needed here in such numbers."
Ronsard stirred from the wall. "You see something, then?"
"Our friends have pain," Raw replied simply. "Sometimes it is best to be near them."
The troll solidified. "I could withdraw some of our men, send them back to the city, if that's where they need to be. The Queen said to follow your orders. And that of Glitch."
Raw startled, then realized he meant DG, not the Queen that Raw thought of by that title. "The city has guard enough. The west lies locked in shadow. There is not much else here at the moment but to wait for the end to come."
Ronsard nodded. "I've done my share of waiting, Viewer. It doesn't get easier with time."
Raw nodded unhappily. "I didn't think it did."
"Cheer up," Ronsard said with a toothy grin, reaching for one of the fruits in the basket on the table. He took a bite into a particularly juicy piece, letting it run down his chin. "This waiting is still better than being on a front line in active battle. This is tension, but this isn't tending to an open wound or hearing the screams of the dying." His gaze was dark and hollow. "Trust me on this, Viewer. Waiting is better than that."
"Your friends in the other place, then..."
"They will be on the front lines," Ronsard replied shortly. "They will bleed, they will die, they will scream. We will not."
Raw didn't think either location was a good place to be.
***
***