Jessamine!

“So what happened to the Caduceus is dangerous, Lina?” You clench your hand into a fist. You want to pull her down and give her a noogie until she stops being silly. Unfortunately, while she’s holding that, she might, oh, turn your hands into pillows or something. “Look at yourself! You are this close to becoming the next Wicked Queen!”

She really does. She has the helpless princess purring in her clutches, the flowing gown, the impossible beauty and the dangerous fragility of her happiness. Your sister is this close to losing herself to the story, and you won’t let that happen! You can’t!

“Put it down, or I’ll make you put it down!”

***

Dandy!

It’s hard to say whether the words echoing in your head or the dragon nuzzling your shoulder bring you back to yourself. Maybe it’s both, it was always both. You groan and squeeze your eyes shut tighter, too exhausted to look. Nope, not going to look.

But self-deception and blindness are ultimately disguises that we drape upon the truth in order to avoid it. What kind of princess runs away from the truth of her self? The silly kind, is what. With a groan, you sit up, your wet hair flopping into your face. Ack. Plfft.

On the one hand, Alina’s going mad with power, but if she won’t listen to her sister, she most definitely won’t listen to you, and that’s not what Adila’s hoping you’ll fix. No, it isn’t. She wants you to save her namesake and the wicked queen herself.

A princess’s work is never done.

You wade over to them through the rain and kneel beside the two, to listen, to offer a helping word when it is needed.

***

Adila I!

“You abandoned me! You betrayed me, locked me away, and you stopped caring about your responsibility when I won your war! And all I wanted was... you said we were supposed to win the war... save Hyperborea... I believed in you, Addy...”

Her voice is thick and choked with tears. The Felorian hands her a hyacinth-patterned handkerchief and Euphie loudly blows her nose for an exceedingly long time. The Felorian pats Euphie on the back, making noises as if soothing a horse, and then looks at you with eyes like glittering stones.

“I think Eupheria’s owed your thoughts from the heart, ma’am,” the Felorian says, with the gentleness of earth trickling down onto your tomb. “Tell her what you should have told her back then.”

"Lose me? You're not going to lose me, I'm right here! Don't worry, Kazelia, it's me! I'm in control! I'm the one who's-- nngh!"

Pressure. Pressure pressure pressure! Building up inside her head! It hurts! Oh, Kazelia, it hurts so much! Create! Sculpt, paint over the canvas! There's so much to do, what do you want? What do you want?

Alina is blazing with the light of creation. In her hand lies infinite possibility. All of the hurts of the world are fixable, all the hurts that plague Hyperborea can be wiped away with just one hand. Not with hard work and sacrifice and responsibility, but just one hand! She never has to feel guilty anymore! Nobody's going to look at her and judge silently, ever again! She can fix... everything!

She can make it so Shazari gets a happy life and a prosperous kingdom and never has to deal with the after effects of having needed to descend inside the Snake Husband to save Jedad. She won't have to say she's sorry for failing to get hold of the Heart before it was too late, and happiness would follow.

She can wash clean the incense of Askaia and pluck every bad dream of kidnappings and poisonous shadow arrows out of the heads of the gentle cats who live there, shape new and even greater glass towers to float across the island as a sign of Forever Friendship and pluck Summerveil from out of her memories and put it at the base of Big Hill where it belongs, sparkling and bright and as full of love as it is of ripe strawberry bushes for little girls to hide their practice ribbons in.

She can purge all the rot from Feloria, reweave the great walls of their cities and fill their gardens with more beautiful flowers than even they've seen to beautify their work, make even the harvest crops grow in prettily and perfectly and all by themselves so that the people will have more time for singing and dancing and making beautiful things as their hearts move them! And all of this for free! She could pluck Diana from the sky if she wanted and set her back in the school she loves so much to foster her power and someday be Alina's greatest advisor.

And there'd be time for tea and gossip while she thawed the ice in Mommy's heart! She'd put on the grandest of shows and right at the end show her Momma and get to watch the two of them reunite for the first time since she was smaller than small, and make it so it wouldn't even be awkward that Momma left in the first place. Everyone could forget, and love her, and be loved by her, and each and every one of them could blow and shape the most beautiful glass sculptures to rival even the Heart Tree of Argossa, a place where Alina could watch over the world and keep fixing things if they broke or making them even better as she realized how she might.

Illumina would heal in a day. She'd rebuild Castle Thessia and wash away all of Oberon's horrid corruption from the rooms he'd warped beyond recognition. And without even stopping to rest, she'd fix the towns, move the rivers so they'd flow better, put every house back just the way it was... no! Make them better! Give every person in Illumina their own stately mansion! No! A castle of their own! And there would be music and rain every single day and it would be the most wonderful, magical place that anyone could ever dream of! So wonderful the whole world would want to move there!

And it would... and it would... and it would!

"...J-Jess?" Alina's wide smile falters. Her wings shiver through with sudden strain, "What are you? I-I mean, how did you get here? Why are-- make me? But I..."

It's such an easy thing, you know. Make her happy. All she wants is for Alina to look at herself, just look at herself, just look at herself! The Caduceus throbs in her hand. The waters on the floor draw together and rise up in an inverted waterfall that sprays its gift back down to everyone all over again. But where the stream rushes strongest, just next to Alina, the water runs smooth and crystal clear: a more perfect mirror than any you could make by hand if you had a thousand years to learn the craft. And she looks. Just to make Jessamine happy, Alina looks at her perfect body.

Why is she crying? Her face is so beautiful. Her lights are so dazzling. Her arms and legs are so powerful. Her body is shaped as if from water itself. Everything is perfect. Better than perfect. And she's... and she's... not... Alina. Not Alina anymore.

Well, she can fix that! She just has to make herself more Alina! She can keep the fixes and the power and the everything, she just has to draw out more Alina-ness to show overtop so that everybody will stop worrying. S-so... that's all she... yeah. She'll just. Yes. She'll focus on her most essential self, and that will fix everything before she fixes everything else.

In the waterfall mirror, another form materializes next to the radiant and perfect Story Queen Alina. And it's not her most essential self either, but the shape of her as a young Princess-Promised again. Just a kid. The one who turned up in that reflecting pool all those lifetimes ago when she had a terrible choice to make about what lights could shine where. The young Alina looks at her grown up self and shakes her head sadly.

"Poor Eupheria," she says wistfully, "She had to hold that awful thing for so long. Waaaaaaay longer than you, Lina. How many Euphies do you think she had time to make to cover over herself before you showed up?"

"But! But I!"

"You know what I think? I think she needs a hug. You and her both. Can your stick give hugs?"

The waterfall loses shape. It breaks apart, and everywhere fresh water surges up to people's knees. Alina's wings sparkle brilliantly as she softly drops down from the air. She's still clutching Rita tightly, and she's still clutching the Caduceus even tighter. There's a strain on her face that looks almost like it's hurting her as she looks into the eyes of the only two people in the room who have been brave enough to ask her to be less than More.

She shivers.

"I don't, I don't want to be weak. I don't want to be cold. I don't want to go back. I don't want to be the short one, the useless one, the one who ruined everything! I... I don't want to feel broken anymore! Can't you... don't you want me to... I, nngh!"

Her wet hair and her crown are weighing down her neck. Alina bows her head, and sniffled while nobody can see her face. Her impossibly perfect legs are shaking as she clutches her shining fingers tightly around the staff.

"I... I can't! Please, I," she looks up again and half reaches out her hand before drawing it back again in haste, "Help me! I don't know what to do! Help me!"

Adila I!

“You abandoned me! You betrayed me, locked me away, and you stopped caring about your responsibility when I won your war! And all I wanted was... you said we were supposed to win the war... save Hyperborea... I believed in you, Addy...”

Her voice is thick and choked with tears. The Felorian hands her a hyacinth-patterned handkerchief and Euphie loudly blows her nose for an exceedingly long time. The Felorian pats Euphie on the back, making noises as if soothing a horse, and then looks at you with eyes like glittering stones.

“I think Eupheria’s owed your thoughts from the heart, ma’am,” the Felorian says, with the gentleness of earth trickling down onto your tomb. “Tell her what you should have told her back then.”

Thoughts from the heart? Easy to do. Her being here, now, meant that every hard choice she'd made, every ruthless sacrifice, had been for nothing. She'd played dirty and still lost. Her life seemed so pathetic knowing that she hadn't even succeeded. All her justifications had washed out of her along with her tears, and her voice is heavy with self-contempt.

"I don't love you, Eupheria. I don't love anyone - I don't even understand it. I don't see what other people see in romance. I can't see beauty, kisses leave me cold, and it makes me feel like a monster trapped in a world that doesn't belong to me."

But the Felorian's eyes weren't looking for that. They maintained that same, steady, soul-searching gaze just as steadily and for the first time, fixed under that implacable gaze, Princess Adila finally understood why her successor treated her with such respect.

"But - I do care for you. More than anything, in ways I don't understand. When you're happy you illuminate everything around you, you can take the light of the world and filter it through your heart and make everything seem beautiful in ways I never expected. When I was with you I could see a different kind of me, and for the first time I felt something. I'd traveled through so many wars and dark hollows, I'd taken my people across the borders of possibility to search for a home, and every time I saw you that's where I felt I was. You know how I used to yawn all the time -" she realized even as she started that confession that it was so silly, mundane, minor it didn't fit at all but she couldn't stop the words as they awkwardly fell from her, more vulnerable than she'd ever been, "- it's because I'd never smiled before I met you, and it made my face hurt, so I kept yawning to stretch my mouth..."

"I was happy then, Eupheria. I dragged the war out because anything I changed might have risked that feeling. I deliberately dragged it out, building castles, talking about the long game, making it into a siege. I didn't know what the feeling was and I didn't know how to preserve it so I tried to freeze the moment in time. But then you went looking for a way to break the stalemate I'd so carefully crafted... and you did it. You became something terrifying, Euphie. You were going to rip my mask off and realize how hollow my heart was. You'd see all the lies for what they were. And since you were already cursing anyone who came between us, the thought of your wrath when you learned the truth terrified me. So I told myself that my feelings were a weakness. That this world wasn't any better than the others, that you were just a new and even more frightening kind of monster, and I needed to fight just like I'd fought everything else. Cruel and ruthless and treasonous. Not for you, any more, but for the world you cared for..."

"But it turned out that was a lie too. I've betrayed my strategy again. A plan hundreds of years in the making... thrown away because once again, I just don't want this moment to end."

Kazelia's sudden hug feels like being wrapped in a fluffy blanket after a long, hard day. She might be soaked through from the rain and the waterfall, she might still be a little cold, but the joy radiating from her is so strong that it overcomes everything else. Eupheria's sudden defeat was a whooping, singing triumph. Alina's landing is relief so thick that it seems for a moment as though Kazelia would collapse entirely if she were not leaning into Alina for support.

Jessamine is right there with her and follows the same cue, joining the hug wordlessly. It's almost a mirror of Jessamine's miracle in Jedad, but Kazelia isn't standing off to the side keeping guard this time, she's right there with everyone. They hold Alina tightly, gently, wordlessly, for as long as it's possible to hold a breath. And then...no this isn't like the series of thefts earlier. This isn't the moment where Jess takes advantage of vulnerability to grab the Cadeuceus or Kazelia magically yanks it from a relaxed hand. This is the moment where Kazelia lets out her breath and smiles and looks Alina right in the eyes. "I'm so glad you stayed. I'm so glad. You're not weak, Alina. You're strong. You're so strong. The strongest princess here. Stronger than anyone! You were strong enough to take the Caduceus and strong enough to ask for help giving it up."

Kazelia draws her cloak over it, over Alina's arm. She's still holding it, but for a moment nobody can see anything but the shape of the staff beneath the dark silver birch of the soaking wet Argossian fabric. Maybe it's imagination, but maybe for a moment that makes things easier, makes the Caduceus a little bit more quiet in Alina's mind as it's hidden beneath something made of the great tree that marks the very center of Hyperborea and whose roots reach beneath them, even here. Kazelia leans her head into Alina. "I can't promise you'll never be cold or that things won't be hard. But...knowing what that feels like is what sweetens the joys of the world. Knowing pain is how we grow and gain wisdom. When I...when I said I admired you in the hot springs in Alvonia..." Kazelia blushes at bringing this up in front of Jessamine but presses on, "...um, I didn't really understand you then. But I do now. You're strong because you hurt so much. Because you keep pressing on and never give up even though you're hurting so much. That's why, that's why I know you're going to do something no princess has ever done and let go of the Caduceus. Then we're going to wrap it up here and find a way to make it safe so nobody else has to go through this again. How does that sound?"

Eupheria!

Caddy buzzes faintly beneath your fingers. Even with the cloak between the two of you, even with Adila holding you close, even with your great-granddaughter holding your best friend... it’s all you can do not to desperately unwrap him and hold him close and tell him it’s not his fault. It’s like telling a freshly-glazed porcelain pug you don’t love it. He’s so confused and distressed and all he wanted to do was give you what you wanted.

You bite your lip so hard you see stars for a moment. It would be so easy. You’ve been the Wicked Queen for so long. Can you be anything else?

You look up and meet Alina’s pretty green eyes. They’re just like yours. The changes she made faded away after she let Caddy go, washed away in the rain. (For the most part. Her conjured lights punched through a window and whistled away.) Around her, her lights glow, especially her Gold. It darted to her the second she let go of Caddy. Your own neons glow back, nuzzling your neck and shoulders. (What were their original colors? You still don’t remember. Little steps.)

“Alright,” Alina says. “I need you to... no, I mean I'd like you... please. It's time to put all this away, ok? The Labyrinth and the Bazaar can't be the same thing anymore. So please, help me fix this. Let's pull the two apart, and let the people have their lives back."

Things shift. There’s a sound like grinding, and a feeling like all of you are falling. The light in the windows goes out. You’re all underneath, now, like those silly Devils, and the Bazaar’s probably above.

You lick your lips.

“Caddy,” you say, your voice hoarse, “we want you to play hide and seek. Hide as deep in this Labyrinth as you can, and don’t let anybody find you. That’s how you win.” Your voice threatens to crack. You’re sorry, Caddy. Of course he just wanted to help. You know that. You think about laughter and running and ready-or-not as hard as you can, and feel Caddy trying to understand.

“And when people come to try and find you,” you add, blurting the words out so that you can’t choke them back, “I know you’ll want to give them what they want, but you have to do it sneakily, okay? Otherwise you’ll lose the game! You can, you can change the Labyrinth around them until you understand what they want, and then you should give them a chance to get it! Just please, please don’t give up! I believe in you!”

Before you can succumb to temptation, you jerk your hands away. Caddy’s whispers fall silent for the first time in forever, and you bury yourself in Adila. She holds you. For once... she holds you.

When you finally let yourself look back, Caddy is gone.

***

Diana!

You can tell when Oberon is coming. Frost makes its way along your protective charms and a shiver runs down your spine, as it always does when he is near.

You’ve bought as much time for Alina as you can. Lying to Oberon is like running a marathon down a tightwire. It’s never been a question of if you’d eventually fall, but when. Still, he’s seemed to believe your excuses, how your spells will be ready once he has the Caduceus, how you are close to being able to safely lower the wards that protect Argossa.

When the door to your sanctum swings silently open, you curtsey and lower your gaze. “Your majesty.”

“It is time, Diana.” A chill grips you. He did get the Caduceus. It’s time for you to unleash your plan. “Come with—“

You activate the runes sewn into your shirt sleeves and barrage him with meaningless illusion, a disorienting party trick. By the time he recovers, you should be away. You grab your broom and dart past him, abandoning everything in that nasty magical laboratory Azora Howl helped you set up.

And to your credit?

You almost make it out.

Alina!

It’s late morning, and the room is full of the smell of Eupheria making pancakes in the attached mini kitchen. The shawl wrapped around your shoulders is peacock green, which clashes with your violet silk pajamas. You’re perched on the arm of a plush chair with a mug of iced sweet tea in your hands.

Welcome back to the House of Hospitality.

“So now that he’s lost all of his kids,” Jess is saying, lying on the couch with her head in Momma’s lap, “and he failed to get the Caduceus... he’s out of cards to play, right? So you should wait. Let me go back home and rally some of the pegasus riders, bring some more princesses back, and when we show up at his creepy jungle lair, it won’t matter how many awful things he can turn into.”

“I doubt he remained,” Momma says thoughtfully. “If I were him, I would have gone to ground the minute I saw Alina take the Caduceus. If he has any sense, he’s a moth hiding in a tree, or a snake curled up in a log right now.”

“He’s not like that,” Jess says, frowning. “He doesn’t believe he can lose. Right, Lina?”

***

Kazelia!

The answer to so who talks first is Ninian.

“Crazy, huh?” She looks at you, then at Azora, then at you. She’s got her hair up in a bun today, and is wearing — of all the things — navy blue overalls. “The three of us on the same team!”

What nobody at the table has breached yet is whose team, exactly, it is. Azora is studiously not looking at you, sawing through a sausage with surgical precision, her fork and knife moving on their own.

She’s going to try and take your spot on the team. She has to be in the spotlight. You know that and she knows that. So the question really is...

Who makes the first move?

***

Adila!

“I am proud of all of you,” Adila I says, softly. It’s the first sign of honest, unguarded emotion she’s shown in her whole speech thus far. “And I know I will be proud of all of you for as long as you stand by the tenets and ideals of the Watch. As our founder... I hereby dissolve the Watch, taking its arsenal into my custody with the intent of dissolution or concealment within the Labyrinth. You are, one and all, freed of the Bronze.” She hesitates, a moment, and you see the twitch of her lips. “I would dismiss you, but I have given up that right. Do as you see fit. That is all.”

The parade ground erupts into quiet, frantic conversation. Already some of the younger recruits are swinging their packs onto their shoulders and heading out for the gates, but most are clinging around the Old Bastards.

Who approaches you, looking for support, Princess Adila Formerly Of The Watch?

Adila!

“I am proud of all of you,” Adila I says, softly. It’s the first sign of honest, unguarded emotion she’s shown in her whole speech thus far. “And I know I will be proud of all of you for as long as you stand by the tenets and ideals of the Watch. As our founder... I hereby dissolve the Watch, taking its arsenal into my custody with the intent of dissolution or concealment within the Labyrinth. You are, one and all, freed of the Bronze.” She hesitates, a moment, and you see the twitch of her lips. “I would dismiss you, but I have given up that right. Do as you see fit. That is all.”

The parade ground erupts into quiet, frantic conversation. Already some of the younger recruits are swinging their packs onto their shoulders and heading out for the gates, but most are clinging around the Old Bastards.

Who approaches you, looking for support, Princess Adila Formerly Of The Watch?

Her crest is no longer soft brown - it's vibrant orange, slashed through with tiger stripes. Her wing interiors are the same. She's like a butterfly - drab and unremarkable when folded, but colours of danger and wonder when she reveals herself. One of the many, many little pieces of paint and polish and beauty she'd hidden away in her house for a special occasion.

Today's special occasion was that she felt pretty.

It was silly, but that kept her together through the hammer blow. Her heart had been through so much these last few weeks that she didn't know what else she might take refuge in. There was Emotion rippling around inside her, not anything that could be crudely expressed as joy or sorrow or any other single name, but everything, flowing into everything else - a heart full to bursting with every possible emotion. And now this. The end of duty, community, future. She felt like she might tear in half. She looks up at the sky with wide and watering eyes and feelings roll through her like a storm. She doesn't see anyone around her.

But she keeps standing. Despite everything that's gone wrong something went right today, and even if it didn't seem like nearly as much it meant that there was a part of her that was okay and wouldn't break even if everything else did. She cries, as she's done so much recently, but it doesn't feel quite like falling.

"Yeah, crazy. Beyond my wildest dreams." Kazelia smiles and cuts herself a slice of her own sausage, which she eats with a little couscous and butter. It's delicious, hearty fare, spiced with a bit of chili from the Bazaar and it makes her feel alive as she swallows it. She looks at Azora, studiously not looking back at her. "You know one thing I love about Hyperborea? It's got competition but it's not about competition the way that our lives used to be. With Father, it always felt like we had to compete, there was that fear that if you weren't the best, or weren't doing enough, you'd be abandoned. I always worried that all the nice things I wanted would go to somebody else if I didn't make him proud. Here though, it's not like that. There are contests, sure. Princesses compete to see who's fastest or strongest, who's the most graceful or the best craftswoman. But if you're not those things, they don't mock you or ridicule you. Instead they help you find the things you are good at and the things that make your heart fill with light and a smile creep onto your face. I'd forgotten that I love to sing and dance before I came here."

Kazelia takes another bite. Chews, swallows, takes a drink of some spiced wine to go with it. Then she looks at Ninian, not Azora. Starting the conversation first. "what do you think you want to do, Nins?"

If they were talking about literally anything else, this would be a perfect morning. Alina closes her eyes (they feel so soft now! It's weird! Had she forgotten what they felt like, or were they really different than before?) and takes a dainty sip of sweet and refreshing tea. Her neck knows nothing but the pleasures of this shawl and her nose, which is dainty and refined and not a twitchy pink button thank you very much, breathes in nothing but the smell of pancakes. Her ears are the only things reminding her not to try and slip inside this moment forever.

"Hmmmm." Alina half sighs, half muses.

There's been so much crying, lately. And all of it the very best kind. When she'd steeled her heart and left home again, all she'd meant to do was stop an evil maniac from getting his hands on the staff of creation. She'd hoped she'd be able to learn something about a medicine that might cure her mother, after rescuing Dandy maybe, but never, even if you gave her her life to live twenty times over, would she had guessed she'd find anything this good. It was a lot off her mind. More than she deserved. Seeing Jess in Momma's lap, this time while she's old enough to properly hold onto the memory, is almost too much for her heart to hold. When everything's over... she's going to paint this, she decides. No making that mistake again. She'll paint Momma and Mommy and both of her sisters, all together and with so much love, they'll have to put it in a gallery. It'll be her first real masterpiece.

...No, not like that. She'll need to paint Eupheria, too. And figure out what to do with her in general. Get her away from this place for a while, for starters. Too much pain here. Too many memories. Too much temptation. Maybe keep her busy? Hm, but what court positions would be open? Maybe... she'd talk to Mom about inventing a new one. Royal, uh... Joybringer? The Lady of Smiles? Eh, it's a work in progress. Alina's fingers brush over her shawl and she turns her head just enough to watch her great-grandmother cooking. She can't keep the smile inside of her, or the tiny sigh of relief. She's so lucky. Alina Cascade is the luckiest girl in Hyperborea. She takes another sip of tea.

"Jess is right, he's not scared of me. He probably never will be. And he must be out of moves by now, right? It'd be nice to... rest for a little while. I feel like I haven't slept since Argossa. But... is it really ok? What if he doesn't stay still? I wouldn't sit around waiting for me if I were him."

She purses her lips. And then her stomach growls indelicately. Pancakes. Pancakes are an essential part of any strategy meeting. Does Eupheria make them with chocolate chips?

Adila!

A hand, gentle. A legacy, observed. The Captain stands with you, Adila. She’s there, leaning on her walking-stick, and she’s resting her hand on your wing.

“You did good, Adila,” she says. That’s... it’s equivalent to her setting off fireworks and throwing you a parade.

“You’re still a princess to me,” Juniper Blue pipes up, on the other side of you. Like that’s what is breaking your heart! The idea that you might no longer be a princess, not that your family has just officially been dissolved, its ultimate purpose fulfilled.

***

Kazelia!

“How should she know?” Azora’s tone is clipped and frosty. Of course she’s prickling; she was the one who was always winning. It’s only natural she’d be upset by the idea of having the board leveled. Might as well kick her last remaining footstool out from under her. “She lost the one thing that made her special.

Ninian cringes and clamps down on her answer. Instead she lowers her head and shovels peppered egg into her mouth. Azora looks at you, frostily, right in your star-streaked eyes.

“Why didn’t your eyes change?” It’s as much accusation as question. And... oh. She doesn’t know. She doesn’t know. You admitted that you let Mother into your heart back during Eupheria’s invasive introductions, but she hasn’t let herself come to terms with what that means. She doesn’t know why your Mother accepted your heart, and she doesn’t know how much you’ve grown since you left home.

***

Alina!

Euphie makes them with fruit! It’s anyone’s guess which one you’ll bite into; she mixed a bunch of them into the batter, berries and diced apples and lemons and peaches and strawberries! Most of the bites, it works. Sometimes, the flavor’s odd and off-kilter: like her, not sitting down, flitting around the table and trying to deal with the uncertainty of not being able to command you to say how you felt about them.

“Eupheria,” Momma tries, and gets drowned under a wave of “no no it’s fine just tell me what you think aren’t they just so sweet and I wanted the flavor to be kind of you know voom wow kaboosh and I haven’t done this in like forever but how hard is it to make pancakes like really they’re impossible to mess up I didn’t mess up right?”

Without Caddy, she’s not the ringmaster anymore. She’s a desperate clown with a mouth full of patter and a heart full of need.

It amused Kazelia in light of the last adventure that the first thing that came to her head was the analysis. Her eyes hadn't changed because she had absorbed Mother into herself and she was infused with the energy of the void, the essence of what made a Rider and why travel between the stars was so dangerous. It wasn't something that could just be gone, it was already nothing, even its absence was something. Eupheria's curses had been really good that way. Bringing out a little piece of what was inside people, playing it up, making it take over every other part of them. She wondered, for a very brief moment, if Alina wanted to be a cat sometimes. Maybe she'd ask later, that would be fun.

This wasn't the time for that kind of theory though. That wasn't what Azora was really asking. Kazelia looked at her with those starry eyes. "Azora, my eyes didn't change because Mother and I agreed to stay together. She's right here with me. She's seeing the world through my heart. I've done a lot since we've been apart. I've felt things that I didn't think I could ever feel again." She puts her hand on Azora's, a gentle touch. It's not like a Rider's, it has that Rider chill but an odd warmth to it too, not frigid like a normal Rider, but rather like a spring breeze over a melted river. And under that, Azora's hand is warm, full of life that she hasn't had in so many ages uncounted that she forgot what she's feeling. She, more than any of the others had wanted to forget.

Kazelia turns to Ninian, hand still on Azora's. "Let her answer. There's a whole world out here, and I'm guessing you might have a few ideas." Kazelia turns her Ninian as she's speaking, addressing her with a warm smile. "What do you think you'd like to do Nins? It doesn't have to be something you're sure about, and don't worry if it's a little embarrassing, we won't judge, not even Azora."

Adila!

A hand, gentle. A legacy, observed. The Captain stands with you, Adila. She’s there, leaning on her walking-stick, and she’s resting her hand on your wing.

“You did good, Adila,” she says. That’s... it’s equivalent to her setting off fireworks and throwing you a parade.

“You’re still a princess to me,” Juniper Blue pipes up, on the other side of you. Like that’s what is breaking your heart! The idea that you might no longer be a princess, not that your family has just officially been dissolved, its ultimate purpose fulfilled.

+Thank you, Captain. Thank you, everyone, thank...+ Adila blinked her eyes and looked around. Her thoughts were so raw right now that they had carried much further than she'd expected them to and everyone was looking at her. The Captain. Juniper Blue.

For a moment she hesitated. The Watch didn't normally go in for emotional displays much - quiet words aside and notices put up on boards rather than dramatic speeches. Even their disbanding had followed that quiet, precise, professional logic. Adila I's spirit had suffused everything right up until the final moment. An attitude of deeds over words, quiet acceptance and comradeship and the shared satisfaction of work well done. She admired it, the restraint and control, but the colours in her crest told her it was okay to express her own heart as well.

+Thank you, everyone+ thought Princess Adila in her first and last speech to the Watch. +We were all called here for different reasons. Some of you joined for pay, or the sense of order in your lives, or to protect the community you loved. Some of you were like me, raised by the Watch because there was no one else to care for you. Some of you have served for weeks, others for lifetimes. I don't know what's in your heart here, at this ending... if it feels like you did all you came to do, or if you feel like..."

Her thought trailed off into her own confused tangle of emotions again. She blinked her eyes clear.

+I don't know what I should do... how I should feel...+ she thought. +But I know how I feel about each of you. The furthest, most distant of you who I've never spoken to, I see and think of safety. When I walk through the dark and see your outline in the fire, my heart eases and my pace slows because there stands a unknown friend who'll raise their spear and stand besides me against any peril. I don't know all of you, but I know that I could trust any of you with my life. So remember that, when we see each other again... remember that this is a person who is worthy of trust.+

"I love these so much!"

Alina sets her fork down, beaming like the dawn. She glances briefly around the table and, uh oh, there's Momma making one of those 'I know you mean well, but...' faces, and Jess (who is very clearly in the middle of trying to swallow a bit of appleberry lembanana) is actively trying to get her foot far enough under the table to kick her in the shin. And Euphie is, well... it's tough to get a read on Euphie. Nervous excited frantic desperate hopeful hurt betrayed. If she's anything, she's a wild animal that's gotten too used to being chased off by villagers, and now that her leg's caught in a trap she doesn't know what to do about the person reaching toward her with the upturned hand and the gentle whispers. Alina picks the fork back up and waves it enthusiastically.

"No, I mean it! Of course the pancakes themselves are warm and fluffy and wonderful, that goes without saying, but there's also these little pockets of, mmmm... I'm not sure what? But it's like these little gooey bombs of sweetness and I want to learn to make mine like this someday!"

That's something of a lie, of course. Alina's been around kitchens long enough to know that what she's tasting are little pockets of uncooked batter. There's too much fruit in here, and the excess juices and imbalanced mixing meant they cooked unevenly, and the outside lied to Euphie about how done they really were. But, it turns out? Warm, uncooked pancake batter is delicious. And when it's just in little pockets like this... oh gosh. Maybe this is how they should be made.

"Plus, they're fun! They're so fun, actually. Like a game! I never know what the flavor is going to be until I put it in my mouth! For instance... mmph! Thish? Rhh strrbrrh ish shoooo good! But it's even better when I find a gross one, because now there's strategy! Can you guess which forkful is which? Do you spread it out and hope to end with a good bite? Do you try to find all the penalty bites at once? Are you a coward who covers the entire plate with syrup, Jessamine? I've never had anything like this before."

When she smiles at Eupheria, it's with the same look in her eyes she had when she complimented the Wicked Queen's puppetry. And maybe that's enough to get the wild animal to let the wandering princess get close enough to free her from the trap.

Kazelia!

“I want to be a hairdresser,” Ninian chirps. “Or a general beautician, I guess, but I want hair to be my specialty. Look like a whole new person or your money back!” She closes her eyes and bounces her hair with the air of a satisfied Jedadi matron.

And that makes sense, too. After having her ability to shapeshift denied her... of course she’d want to share her expertise, her eye for appearances, to be as close to her old self as she could. She’d never be the chaos-sowing shapeshifter again, but at least she could still make others change.

Azora makes a very judgy sound. And right after you said she wouldn’t! Just because she’s accepted she’s essential and needs to help you take down your father doesn’t mean she’s on Hyperborea’s side yet, any more than Asteria was. Is. She’s probably whipping some helpless villagers into shape right now.

But dealing with a rogue princess? That’s the sort of thing you can do after your father is stopped. Then you can focus on things like “make sure Azora doesn’t become a wicked queen” and “stop Asteria from creating a kingdom under her wicked heel” and even “find a place for your people.”

Now there’s a question. Where are the Riders going to go? Ilumina probably doesn’t want to take them in, after all...

“That’s beneath you,” Azora says, rolling her eyes. “You are a princess, not a peasant.” Ninian looks to you, only not cringing away because she knows you’ll stand up for her.

***

Adila!

”For she’s a jolly good dragon, for she’s a jolly good dragon, for she’s a jolly good draaaaaagon, which nobody can deny!”

This isn’t officially a Watch event. It can’t be! The Watch doesn’t exist any more! Adila I said so herself!

This is just a bunch of people who happened to wander into one of the Watch’s favorite taverns together and ordered everything off the menu. This is a spontaneous party for people with a raggedy hole in their heart and badges stuffed in pockets and memories. Lots and lots of memories.

People rotate from table to table as takes their fancy, eat whatever’s in front of them, go looking for tables that ordered their favorites, fill each other’s glasses, and sing. No one’s in charge of the singing; someone just picks a new one after the last one peters out, and if you want to sing it, you join in.

But at your table? You’re trying not to radiate bashfulness as the Watch sings the Good Dragon song. Part of you even suspects this is tactical; the Captain has been pressing you hard, and may be hoping that by flustering you, you’ll be willing to accept an ill-advised deal from her.

You must remain strong.

Two sheep for one silk is a terrible deal, and you are not going to aid and abet her in getting the Most Princesses score chit.

***

Alina!

Euphie’s laughter is a ridiculous high-pitched giggle-snort, and her noogie suggests that, while she’s over the moon with happiness, she still noticed your sneaky critique. Momma tenses for a moment when she sees Euphie wrap her arms around you, but just for a moment. Maybe it’ll be a long road for Euphie to find her redemption... but you have every confidence that one day, she’ll have earned everyone’s trust again. One day.

But you still have to deal with what she left behind.

When you slip outside to run a quick errand — what was it, exactly? — you notice one of the huge, hulking glass centaurs in the garden. It’s being talked at by Shazari, who looks resplendent in a gold-and-emerald robe, her hair beaded with fat tears of gold, her nail extensions the color of the sun at dusk.

“...and my vizier will issue the passes when you deliver to him this seal.” She passes the centaur a gaudy royal seal shaped like the snake-husband curled in on himself, reaching deep into his palm to let him hold it safely despite his fingers like knives. It lowers its head and forelegs in a bow, and then slowly makes its stately way through the garden. Phew! If you’re very quiet—

“We should talk, Cascade.”

Oh, fiddlesticks. That’s her Danger Voice. Maybe you might be able to run for it? No good, she knows where you sleep. She’s making no move to come to you, expecting that you’ll crawl over to her; the way she stands almost makes the thought of her approaching you ridiculous. Other people approach her.

"Oh! It's... it's you. Didn't see you there, haha... ha."

Alina winces. This isn't fair! It's not! She brought her gorgeous regalia all the way to Jedad, you know, and somehow that little... rrrgh, the Princess of Jedad manages to catch her in a clashing shawl/pajamas combo! She was only popping out to gather some fresh leaves for tea, you know! The odds of this happening are basically zero!

But it happened! It's happened twice in a row now! Somehow, Shazari's managed to find her while she's in her radiant, most absolutely resplendent best while Alina's... not. The unfairness of it all flashes across her face without her meaning for it too, and she stiffens awkwardly.

Hastily, she smooths out her hair with both hands (sighing when it floofs anyway), tries to rub the sleep from her eyes, checks the corners of her mouth for stray bits of pancake, then draws herself dramatically to her full height. Which is about up to Shazari's shoulders. Her face flushes deeply, but she doesn't look away. Deep breaths, in and out, in and out. She pulls every bit of regal bearing she's ever had inside of her, or at least that she can manage in pajamas, and clears her throat with a dainty 'ahem'.

She doesn't move an inch, but she does smile so politely that both of her mothers probably feel a tingle of pride shoot up their spines at the same time. She follows it up with a perfectly delicate curtsy. From right where she's standing.

"You're right, there's much we should discuss. I was just about to make some fresh tea; would you care to join me? With lemon cakes, naturally."

Adila!

”For she’s a jolly good dragon, for she’s a jolly good dragon, for she’s a jolly good draaaaaagon, which nobody can deny!”

This isn’t officially a Watch event. It can’t be! The Watch doesn’t exist any more! Adila I said so herself!

This is just a bunch of people who happened to wander into one of the Watch’s favorite taverns together and ordered everything off the menu. This is a spontaneous party for people with a raggedy hole in their heart and badges stuffed in pockets and memories. Lots and lots of memories.

People rotate from table to table as takes their fancy, eat whatever’s in front of them, go looking for tables that ordered their favorites, fill each other’s glasses, and sing. No one’s in charge of the singing; someone just picks a new one after the last one peters out, and if you want to sing it, you join in.

But at your table? You’re trying not to radiate bashfulness as the Watch sings the Good Dragon song. Part of you even suspects this is tactical; the Captain has been pressing you hard, and may be hoping that by flustering you, you’ll be willing to accept an ill-advised deal from her.

You must remain strong.

Two sheep for one silk is a terrible deal, and you are not going to aid and abet her in getting the Most Princesses score chit.

There was one positive effect of having spent time as a dog.

Adila smiled her coldest smile. +Why negotiate,+ she thought, glittering light pushing the Robber piece into the Captain's pastures, +when I can simply take what I need?+

Her heart is as hard as Rider-ice. She has known what it was to stand on the brink of betraying everything she ever stood for in exchange for a pat and a good-girl. She has known what it is to have no willpower. And now that she has the choice she shall not make those mistakes again, not for all the singing of all the Watch.

There's no hesitation in her heart this time, no fear. The last time she stood before the Captain like this and accused her of being a shape-shifter she'd felt like she was to die, that the worst would come, that her life would end. She'd had secrets then. Her mind had been tangled and incoherent. And now she was as she was at her best; precise, predatory and soon to be Queen of the Sheep.

"I think that's a great idea!" Kazelia says, honestly enthusiastic. Ninian as a hairdresser just seems incredibly right somehow. The logic made sense and Kazelia felt like Ninian would love meeting people and learning about what they felt made them beautiful. It was honestly exciting! "And, although I think our sister delivered her point too critically, I think Azora does have a good point that we're all still princesses. I'm sure that wherever you go, Ninian, people will look to you to be a leader and to help them solve their local problems, whether they're rampaging beasts that need taming, natural disasters, or a few local criminals that need some help. I'm sure you'll be up to the task of being a hairdresser and a local princess. Maybe you can even go to Feloria and study some new magic during your free time, I bet that would help with creative styles too!"

Unspoken: perhaps some Riders could go with Ninian too. Feloria has a lot of space, a small group might be welcome there. Kazelia isn't certain that there needs to be a new, separate Rider Queendom. It might be better if they spread out, small groups going one place and another, learning about different cultures and places in Hyperborea. Maybe they could have some kind of meeting once a year, like a pilgrimage to Argossa to share what they've learned and meet with Ourania to help become a more normal part of Argossa. Her mind is whirring, but for the moment she's not offering any of this because she's focused on Ninian and on Azora. Trying to help them see how its possible to relate and even to be critical without being so mean.

Alina!

"Oh, I just need a moment of your time," Shazari says, playing the reverse card, absolutely adamant on not moving from where she stands. "I feel we need to discuss your actions while I was... indisposed." Oh. Oh, boy. She's talking about the crown jewels, isn't she? She's totally talking about them. Your options here are to scamper away and induce her to hunt you down, or to try and think of something clever while verbally dueling with her. And you probably can evade her! It's not like you haven't done it before, after all! And it's not like she'd try to hold your family hostage to... wait, would she be that petty? She's tapping her foot! Quick! Make a decision!

***

Adila!

Several very lucky rolls of 8 later, you have muscled everyone out of the running and claimed the crown of Queen of Konkon. There is applause! There is pats! And as your fellow ex-Watch members cycle to different tables, the Captain nods, once, in respect.

"Well done," she says. Then: "What do you plan to do now?" Her one eye is keen in the low light of the bar, and she doesn't plan to take any prisoners or accept any feeble attempts to answer evasively. How unfair that she is so composed, so calm! Her life's work is circling down the drain and she's acting like you just defeated a triple Princess incursion!

What does she know that you don't??

***

Kazelia!

"And what do you intend to do, Kazelia?" Azora's tone is frosty, but you sense, for a moment, a chance to maybe possibly make a small crack in her armor of ice. If you have an answer that makes her believe you do have a plan for what you'll do after your father is deposed and you bring the machinery of invasion to a shuddering, crashing halt, condemning your people to a simple, even pastoral life in Hyperborea, then she might allow herself the indulgence of envisioning, even if for but a moment, her own place in that new world.

You do have one, don't you? Surely your ambitions don't solely end with your father... well, there's a second question. What do you think will happen to your father? He won't stop. He won't be swayed through argument that maybe he should give up and learn to live a simple life here. He wants. He wants and he wants and he will never be satisfied until he has claimed every last beautiful thing in this world. How can you protect your new home from him? How will you?

Did she just? Did she really just? That's not fair! That's cheating! That's... ooooh, darn it. Alina's good and stuck now. If she consents and walks over she's handing Shazari the upper hand for the rest of this little encounter. If she escapes, even if it's the most graceful and memorable escape in their long history together, she'll still be the loser stuck outside the House of Hospitality in her pajamas that she didn't even pick out herself. To say nothing of the... you know, the other problems with that option. Plus, that's playing right into Shazari's impressions of her! She... long term, Alina, long term. Darn it. Darn it! She's so good, that Shazari! When did she get this good?

...Thinking about it, she probably should not have written that letter the last time she was here. That's why this is happening right now, definitely. If she'd simply not written anything and quietly slipped away into the night, everything would be fine right now.

Well, no. The letter needed to be written. The guilt would have eaten her alive if she hadn't. But she shouldn't have given it to Tashanna! Letting anybody see it was the real mistake. If she'd just written it and burned it, everything would be fine right now.

Well, no. Again. She needed to write it and she needed to give it to someone who was definitely going to hand it to Shazari. What would be the point in writing it just for herself? The real problem was the tone she struck. She probably shouldn't have sounded quite so... triumphant. You know, so taunting. If she'd been more polite and conciliatory, explained that this had been for Jessamine's sake and nothing more, maybe Shazari would have understood. She'd be playing less viciously right now, at least. Right?

But, well. It's just... at the time? Alina really thought that when Shazari finally managed to find her way out of that giant snake, she'd appreciate things feeling normal for a few seconds more than any other thing Alina could give her. That's why Tashii got the long letter telling her how brave and beautiful she was and not to give up on herself just because of what happened with Helya, and Shazari got the one that was pretty much just the princessly equivalent of 'Haha, got your jewels, loser! Come get me!'

She's paying for it now, she thinks bitterly. Nuts. Pear on a lemon cake. The only play she's got left is to try being the bigger princess. Metaphorically. Sh-shut up!

Alina swallows and does her best to at least make sure her shawl is on perfectly straight before anything else. When she walks over, it's at least with the kind of easy grace she's so well known for. If she's got to play a losing hand, if nothing else she'll look amazing doing it. A princess must always be beautiful. She smiles.

"Well, if you're sure," she says mildly. She hopes it's mildly, anyway, "But I insist you come by tonight anyway. It's been so long since we've seen each other, it would be a shame to waste this chance on trifles."

Adila!

Several very lucky rolls of 8 later, you have muscled everyone out of the running and claimed the crown of Queen of Konkon. There is applause! There is pats! And as your fellow ex-Watch members cycle to different tables, the Captain nods, once, in respect.

"Well done," she says. Then: "What do you plan to do now?" Her one eye is keen in the low light of the bar, and she doesn't plan to take any prisoners or accept any feeble attempts to answer evasively. How unfair that she is so composed, so calm! Her life's work is circling down the drain and she's acting like you just defeated a triple Princess incursion!

What does she know that you don't??

Even new, improved, badass, Adila can't stop from shivering a little at getting two well-dones from the Captain in a single day. Perhaps that's a sign that the Captain is getting emotional too? She'd really like to think it was because the Captain was now giving her the Look and it felt like she was on trial - aah! Focus!

But why should she focus? There wasn't any reason to try and get her emotions under control in a moment like this. There was no urgency, no need to make a decision all in a rush. +I have no idea,+ thought Princess Adila. +I don't... I don't know. I haven't even figured out today yet, let alone tomorrow.+ She could think of things but saying them might make them true and she wasn't ready for that yet. So instead she just absently scratched the image of the Watch's badge on the table; the shield and crossed spears that she now knew were the hands of a clock, and her badge number underneath as a signature. +How about you? You must have had a retirement planned.+