Hattie and Morgan were in the middle of breakfast at a table in the army camp when they saw Frances and Timur walk towards them, hand in hand, holding onto trays with food.
“Morning, Frances, Your Highness, did you get some good news,” said Hattie, dipping her head. She studied the pair’s matching smiles. “Ah, never mind. Sorry for asking—” there was a touch on her hand and the half-troll glanced at Morgan. The harpy-troll was staring not at Frances and Timur’s face, but at their hands and cloaks. Frances wore a diamond ring on her left hand, usually on her index finger. This time it’d moved to her left hand. As for Timur, he wore a polished steel ring on the same finger. He was also wearing Frances’s white mage’s cloak trimmed with gold.
Frances winced. “Morgan, I…I’m sorry we didn’t tell you sooner—”
“No, it’s fine. Really.” Morgan forced a smile. “Frances, I knew you were going to get married to Uncle. I just…” The harpy-troll blinked and wiped her eyes. “Huh, nothing’s really going to change really.”
Coming around the table, Frances sat next to Morgan, wrapping her in a tight hug. “But it is different. Some things will change and it’s alright to be worried about it.”
Nodding slowly, Morgan returned Frances’s embrace. “Thank you…mom.” She turned to Timur, watching as her uncle sighed with relief. She remembered all the times the troll had read her stories and the letters he wrote. The trips they’d gone on and how he’d protected her at Kwent. “I guess I can finally start calling you dad.”
The pair’s gaze widened and they exchanged a glance. Frances’s gaze was knowing and Timur’s was shocked.
“I told you, dear.”
“I know. I…” wiping his eyes, Timur walked over and embraced them both.
Hattie watched from her seat, smiling brightly, dabbing her tears with her finger.
Eventually, Morgan squirmed and so they let go and sat back down. “So, what’s the plan?” she asked.
“We want you both to leave, but I don’t think you want to,” said Frances.
“No, but…I agree I will stay farther away,” said Morgan, her gaze dropping to the table. She glanced at Hattie, who was eating her bread and cheese. Her friend…crush? Well, they hadn’t talked much about Neria being alive yesterday. Hattie had just told her one simple thing that now rang in her head.
“Hattie, I’m… I’m sorry,” said Morgan.
Hattie frowned. “For what?”
“For being so selfish. I mean, you told me yesterday that if you had the chance to talk to your mom, you’d do so in a heartbeat. I…I kept being scared and indecisive without even thinking about your feelings.” Morgan swallowed. “Frances, I’d like to talk to my mom.”
Hattie blinked. “You don’t have to do it on my account, Morgan. I…you didn’t hurt me.”
“Maybe, but it’s still stupid how I’m not talking to her, even when we’re all in so much danger. So…before this next battle, Dad, Mom, I’d like to talk to Neria.”
Frances and Timur exchanged a look. Morgan wasn’t sure how to read it, but she could see her uncle—Dad, clench his teeth. She could also see Frances close her eyes and nod before she turned back to Morgan.
“Alright, but just to warn you, Morgan, this is going to be quite a surprise.”
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Morgan paced back and forth across the small room she was waiting in. Nobody was sure what the original purpose of this room had been. It’d tucked along the corner of the palace courtyard, a bedroom-sized chamber with a single doorway and two windows. There was no furniture, so a rough-hewn table and two chairs had been brought in and the doorway had been replaced.
What did her mom look like? Had she survived with injuries? What did Frances mean when she mentioned that this was going to be a surprise? Morgan rubbed her temples, trying to calm herself down before she had a thought.
“Any suggestions, Lightbreaker?”
I’m afraid this is a first for me, Master.
“Really? Haven’t you been around well, forever?” Morgan asked.
I’ve been around for a long time, but I haven’t seen everything*. I can definitely say that you’re right to be nervous, though. Relations between people are complicated.*
The harpy-troll looked down at the wand in her hand and took a deep breath. “Lightbreaker, I know you chose me for some reason, but…I’m still going to need time to get used to you. Getting to know you. I’m sorry but I know we’re not as close as Frances and Ivy’s Sting.”
I am aware and I’m aware much of this is my fault. You should know, though, that you are certainly not the worst person to wield me. I am quite satisfied with you, even though I have been far more surprised than before. The wand paused and Morgan felt a warm note of affirmation. I’ve been forced to change, which is new and strange, but perhaps it is not all bad.
Morgan patted the white wand with a smile. “That’s good. I do hope we continue to get along.”
Before your mother arrives, I think I ought to tell you why I chose you.
Morgan froze and swallowed. “Go on.”
To be perfectly honest, I go mostly by what you’d call, ‘a gut feeling.’
“Huh?”
Many Alavari and human hands have wielded me for good mostly and treated me well. But I have not always agreed with them or wanted to do what they wanted to do. Rather than fight them, I’ve come to accept my lot in the world and that sometimes I may allow the wrong person to wield me.
The harpy-troll sat down, staring at her wand. “So it’s not something specific. You just feel it?”
There are some traits I try to avoid. For example, I decided I did not want to be your now-mother’s wand. Oh, I do say that Frances tempted me dearly. On the surface, she was everything I didn’t want in a wielder. She was vulnerable, fearful, and broken, scarred by her past, and loathing who she was with every fiber of her being. Yet, just beyond that, there was steel, an inner core of goodness, a fire to protect others from being hurt and the will to push forward no matter how she felt about herself or the situation. I wanted that, but I knew that there was no way she would trust me. I figured that Spellbinder, now Ivy’s Sting, who I’d briefly communed with in Edana’s attempts to get her to communicate, would be a better fit.
“You suggested Edana to give Frances Ivy’s Sting?” Morgan squawked.
I merely informed Frances that there would be a better wand out there for her, knowing she’d tell Edana what I told her.
The harpy-troll arched an eyebrow at her wand. “You put Spellbinder in the hands of a traumatised fourteen-year-old?”
Hmm, you have a point, but can you disagree with the result? The two have saved one another more times than anybody can count.
Morgan groaned. “No, I can’t and I suppose I have you to thank then, indirectly, for my rescue. So…thanks.”
You’re welcome, Master. I will try to be more conscientious of the moral quandries of my decision-making in the future.
“That’s all I can ask I suppose.” Morgan tucked Lightbreaker into her pocket as she saw a harpy with a familiar-looking plumage land on the courtyard and start to walk over. “Oh, Renia! It’s good to see you. Did Frances ask you to come?”
The auburn-haired harpy paused just beyond the doorjamb and smiled warmly. “It’s good to see you back safe and sound, Morgan. And yes, she did.”
Morgan sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “Seriously, I told Mom I was going to be alright with meeting my birth mother alone. She didn’t need to send someone to watch over me.”
Renia pursed her lips and stepped over the doorway. Morgan’s eyes followed the harpy as she stepped past her and walked to the chair. With her tawny wings, she pulled the chair aside and sat down.
“Renia, I’m fine, truly. I don’t need anybody to be here with me. Besides, where’s my mother going to sit?” Morgan finally met Renia’s gaze and froze. The harpy’s eyes were moist and her shoulders were sagging.
“Renia? What’s wrong?” The princess whispered. She walked slowly back to the chair, sitting down in it. Something inside her warned her that she was going to need to. Her clawed feet were already feeling unsteady.
Renia met Morgan’s eye and stammered, “Morgan…I’m sorry. I…Frances warned me. She told me I should tell you the truth and I refused. I didn’t think you should know I was alive. I…I was so wrong—”
“Wait stop. This…this has to be a mistake. Renia—” Morgan froze. “Renia. Neria. Oh my fucking God I am such an idiot.”
“No you’re not, Morgan. I…I was the fool.”
Morgan shook her head. She wasn’t crying. She was too shocked, too thunderstruck. She couldn’t help but stare at her counsellor, her birth mother, knowing what she was saying was true and yet unable to accept it.
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“How did I not recognize you? You look like me! Fucking hell. That explains so much. That explains why Frances wanted me to go to counselling with you. That explains why you seemed so…sad sometimes. No wonder you never thought I was a monster. You…” Morgan clamped her hands over her mouth. “You don’t think I’m a monster, do you?”
Renia reached out with her wings until she could touch Morgan’s shoulders. “That thought never entered my mind. I…I wanted to tell you so many times, but I couldn’t. I could only reassure you that your feelings were valid but that you needed to rethink who you were.”
Morgan smiled. “That helped. That really did.” She wiped her eyes with her hand. “Renia…I heard a little about why you didn’t tell me but I need to hear it from you. I also need to know why…” The harpy-troll swallowed. “Why did you push for Frances to adopt me?”
The harpy pulled back, looking down at the table, her eyes screwed shut. Morgan swallowed. “I…I can’t figure it out. You…you care about me. You would never have agreed to be my counsellor if you didn’t. You love me and you wanted the best for me, so why all of this? Why didn’t you just come back? I know there are safety issues—”
“That wasn’t it,” Renia murmured.
“Then what was it?” Morgan croaked. “What made you give me up? Was it really the fact you had to? That you couldn’t ever see me again after Teutobal died?”
Renia wiped her eyes with her wing and nodded once. “I hoped to see you again one day. But I knew that as long as your grandfather was alive, there was no way. I had…nothing and I couldn’t go anywhere but Erlenberg and well, I made a mess of that when I got there.” The harpy bowed her head. “I…I’m sorry. If I was a little stronger if I was a bit more brave, maybe I could have done something, but as the years passed, I lost hope. It’s…it doesn’t excuse what I did. I just didn’t know how else to live.”
Morgan buried her face in her hands. “Well, in your defense, there wasn’t any way you could have met me or say that you were alive. Thorgoth really would have killed you. I…damnit. This sucks.” Resting her hands back on the table, Morgan met her birth mother’s watery gaze. I…I can guess why you pushed me and Frances towards each other. I was in a horrible place. I don’t think I could have taken the shock of knowing you were alive.”
“That’s…that’s very mature of you, dear,” Renia stammered, smiling now.
For some reason, perhaps it was just how in flux she felt, Morgan giggled. “Thanks, but why Frances? How did you know?”
“I didn’t.” Renia sighed. “At least, I didn’t know for sure.”
“What do you mean?”
“I…I didn’t think I was the one you needed then, dear. I’d given up all hope of seeing you again and when we finally found you, I didn’t know what to think but just be glad that you were safe. But to be a mother again? I was terrified and that’s not even accounting for your magical gifts.” Morgan winced, only for Renia to gently reach across the table again to touch her cheek. “They are gifts, dear. And that didn’t scare me. If I thought I could help you, I would have stayed, even if you might have hurt me. But if you did hurt me, then what? I don’t have the magic to protect myself from being hurt by your gifts. If that happened, how would you feel? Would anything I could have said helped at all?”
“No. It wouldn’t have,” Morgan whispered. “I would have blamed myself, got frustrated, and that might have just led me to hurt you more, and…that cycle would have just continued.”
“I was thinking the same thing. So I…I came up with a plan. You needed family, so that meant Timur. He took care of you when I couldn’t and you saw him as a father figure that you would trust and feel safe with. Conveniently, he was dating a powerful mage whom I trusted. I also knew that this mage was kind and nurturing. She had also been hurt similarly to you were, and would be able to speak to you, to relate to you in a way I could never do so.” Renia smiled. “It had to be Frances to take care of you, Morgan. I don’t think there could have been anybody else.”
Morgan swallowed. “But that would mean…I mean, did you know?”
Renia shook her head. “I didn’t and at that time, I’d given up. I…thought the only way to take care of you was to stay away. Frances refused and because she insisted I be involved in your care, I realized that there could be another way forward. In my own way, I’d be involved in your life and be your mother. Frances, could become your caretaker and yes, your mother in a way that I could no longer be.”
“But aren’t you jealous?” Morgan didn’t want her mother to be jealous. She didn’t seem to be but if she was, then the happiness she had…
Thankfully, the harpy only gently rubbed the tip of her wing against her shoulder. “Of course, I’m a little jealous and I’m a little annoyed that she couldn’t stop you from going after your uncle. But look at you. Look at how happy you are now. Look at how you’ve grown and matured. If it weren’t for Frances, you wouldn’t be here.”
Morgan was so relieved, she let out a weak giggle. “She really does have a saving people thing.”
“That she does.” Renia bit her lip and met her daughter’s eye. “Morgan, can I—”
Before Renia could finish, the harpy-troll had raced around the table and buried herself into her mother’s embrace.
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Overlooking the stepped levels of Kairon Aoun was what had been nicknamed “The Squat Tower.” This was a bit of a misnomer as it was the tallest building in the Kairon Aoun palace complex. Previously badly damaged from the fighting years ago and worn by age, new stone and rubble had been used to shore up the walls.
Queen Forowena, Frances, Edana, and several other commanders were atop the roof, viewing the city below. They’d been debating and thinking about the defenses that they were setting up and most importantly, thinking about how they could subvert them.
To Frances, they were probably the most formidable defenses she’d ever seen. More than a fifty pieces of field artillery and about the same number of swivel guns had been set up in the city. They’d been grouped in separate batteries along with more maneuverable ballista. Frances had found out that a network of bunkers and trench lines were being set up in the city to protect the troops manning the batteries and allow for ammunition to be transferred.
There were several concerns, though.
“Forowena, I understand that the entrance from the Greenway will channel the dragons and Thorgoth’s armies in, but what’s to stop them from flying through Athelda-Aoun?” Frances asked.
The queen pursed her lips. “Burning Athelda-Aoun wouldn’t help Thorgoth. Our army would still be here. The dragons could sit in the city and try to cut our supplies off but they’d be without supplies themselves and well, I don’t think Thorgoth would leave the dragons to garrison that city, especially when they’d be liable to ambush.”
“And flying the dragons through the Greenway to try to surprise us from behind would be pointless because we’d get warning from where they are coming from,” mused Severus. The knight and mage, previously Forowena’s longtime guard captain, now commanded her and Jerome’s Royal Guard.
The troll captain Aloudin narrowed his eyes at the Greenway Entrance. “The problem is that they outnumber us and they have dragons. Your Majesty, you and your husband brought fourteen thousand soldiers here, correct?”
“Yes, and our intelligence and Titania’s intelligence suggest that Thorgoth has gathered thirty thousand soldiers along with his six dragons. What are you getting at, Captain?” Forowena asked.
Aloudin gestured at the wide-stepped levels of the city. “If we can hold his army at the Greenway with our artillery, we will likely be fine, but if his troops start to pour through, the city’s size starts to work against us. It takes time to retreat to the upper levels and so we’d have to leave reserve troops stationed there, which will reduce the forces we have to face them.”
“That and we still don’t really have a counter to the dragons. The cannons may work at first, but they’re slow. We’ve deployed swivel guns nearby to try to offset the danger but they don’t have as great a range and the chance of friendly fire is high.”
The woman who’d spoken up was a centaur in Erlenberg navy blue by the name of Eloise. Frances had exchanged a brief smile with her before the meeting. They’d worked before and Frances trusted Eloise’s judgment. She had a point about the cannon.
Then, Edana coughed. Frances’s mother had arrived yesterday along with a group of Salpheron mages and other soldiers from Athelda-Aoun. “It’s for that reason we prioritised building up a trench network so our gunners can fire with impunity. Those dragons are our greatest threat. They will likely fly through and target our artillery batteries and command centres first, likely with harpy support.”
Gently nudging her mother with her elbow, Frances mirrored her Edana’s smile. “I suppose that’s where we’ll be mom? To provide additional support?”
“Yes. The biggest question is whether we’re gathering enough reinforcements—” Edana’s voice trailed off as her eyes were drawn to the different placement of the ring on Frances’s hand. “Frances why did you—Oh. Oh—did he—”
“I asked and he said yes.” Frances squeezed her mother’s hand. Her giddy heart taking in the beaming grin Edana now wore.
“I’m so happy for you. We’ll talk later, alright?” Edana whispered.
“Wait, what’s going on?” Forowena asked, arching an eyebrow.
Frances swallowed, crossing her arms on instinct. “Um, so…I’m engaged to Timur now.”
A concert of congratulations and warm smiles met Frances, along with Igraine’s chortle and Aloudin’s firm handshake.
“You proposed? Oh, Ulric is going to win such a large pot,” Forowena giggled.
Edana sighed as Frances’s shook her head and tapped one hand against her forehead. “You had a betting pool. Of course, you had a betting pool.”
“Just to let you know, I did not participate,” said Edana raising both hands.
Igraine nudged her wife, a wicked grin making its way across her face. “Your mother was happy to theorize, though.”
“Igraine!” Edana whined.
Forowena clapped her hands, though she was having a hard time suppressing her smirk. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a war to run. Let’s return to the topic of hand.”
Frances nodded and swallowed down her mirth. “Pardon me, Forowena. I do have a question on that topic. Is there no way for us to collapse part of Kairon Aoun on top of Thorgoth’s forces? We are underground after all.”
Igraine shook her head, meeting Aloudin’s gaze. “The good captain and I explored that option with the best goblin and human miners, but the risks outweigh the benefits. The cavern’s ceiling and walls are very well-settled after hundreds of years. This is good because the cavern is stable, but it would take a massive effort or explosion to try to disrupt that stability and make a part of it collapse.”
Aloudin grimaced. “That and the effort to collapse a section of the city would bring more than we wanted down on our heads. All the rock above us is interconnected in many compacted layers. If we collapse a part of it, it’ll yank the rest with it. And collapsing Kairon Aoun isn’t an option. So much space was hollowed out here if the city collapsed, we might drop the mountain on top of us. There would be no way of reading how extensive the collapse would be.”
“So the best we can do is collapse all of our allied armies on top of Thorgoth. What do we have aside from the fourteen thousand here, sixteen thousand if we include the garrison from Athelda-Aoun?” Frances asked.
Forowena pursed her lips. “King Stephan is moving with ten thousand Lapanterian legionnaires from the south. They aim to arrive in two weeks.”
“Erlenberg will send five thousand more. They’ll be arriving in ten days,” said Eloise.
“Martin and Ginger have the Lightning Battalion, Erlenberg marines, and whatever forces they can recruit from Janize so at least fifteen thousand,” said Frances. She grimaced. “Unfortunately, because they have to make sure Erisdale is secure, we aren’t sure when they can move out.”
“Speaking of reinforcements, any update from Queen Titania?” Forowena asked.
“Her army’s dispersed to keep them from being scoured to death by the dragons. She stated she’ll send whatever help she can. General Antigones has also ordered boar cavalry and regular cavalry to harass and cut off Thorgoth’s supplies,” said Aloudin.
“Wouldn’t that put pressure on him to attack?” Edana asked.
“Yes, which is exactly what we want,” said Forowena. “We outnumber Thorgoth heavily. Strategically we have the advantage, it’s those dragons that are the wild card and that are going to swing any battle in his favor. But if we can kill enough of them before collapsing all our allied armies on top of his forces, then we might just win this battle.”
Eloise grumbled. “So I guess all we can do is just hold Thorgoth’s army here as best we can. How far is Thorgoth’s army from us?”
Aloudin pursed his lips. “Last our scouts hear, they are a little more than a week out—” An Erisdalian soldier ran up the stairs and saluted, drawing the eyes of those gathered. Forowena nodded to him and he ran up to the queen and whispered in her ear.
“Thank you. You’re dismissed.” The queen pursed her lips. “Scouts just came in, his main army just left Minairen which means about a week of travel. It's larger than we expected and yes, the dragons were spotted.”
Igraine grimaced. “How large?”
“Thirty-five thousand soldiers. Mostly infantry, though there is artillery and cavalry accompanying them. A significant harpy contingent is overwatching them as well. And yes, they counted six dragons.”
“We should inform Queen Titania and have her start concentrating her forces again,” said Edana.
“Good idea. Does anybody have any further questions on the plan, though?” Nobody replied. Everybody seemed quite deep in thought.
“If that’s the case, we’ll continue to fortify and build up our defenses. Let me know if you have any suggestions or concerns. Dismissed,” said Forowena.