Amber - 13 (Patreon)

My fingers brushed along the leaves of the moonleaf I'd planted in my garden. It was still weaker than it should be but it had some of the characteristic glow it had held back in the Blackwald. Tying it together with the willow I used for touching upon the Dream during meditation had succeeded, at least to some degree; only time would tell if it could manage without me babying it with Astral magic or if it would ever grow to the radiance the others had shown.

It could well be that it was a magic thirsty plant and away from the leyline that ran beneath the Blackwald and Tal'Doren it wouldn't ever be able to flourish in the way I wanted it to.

"Good enough for now," It'd have to manage without me for a while since it was time to catch up with Celestine and the others. Frazzle and Rosa would still be here, to keep the house, and I needed to check up on them before I left but that was it.

Leaving my garden behind I made my way to the workshop. Even without my magic, it was easy enough to tell where Frazzle was, what with the sluices open and the wheel turning to power whatever she was working on at the moment. The dry spell still hadn't let up in the slightest and meant that the watercourse, and the reserve cistern, were filling slowly; there were maybe four or five hours of proper power available each day.

Not really an issue, but it did mean the workshop wasn't usable all the time.

Inside Frazzle was smoothing out a metal cylinder on the lathe, sending small shavings of steel flying into a mana barrier she had erected between herself and the machine. The first thing she had done was upgrade it, my original lathe was only capable of working wood before; utterly insufficient for a proper workshop, in her words. It was certainly going to be useful but there was no way I could've made it on my own.

The frame might've been sturdy enough to handle the forces being put on it, and the waterwheel powerful enough to drive it, but the cutting tools to shave away at steel like she wanted needed to be enchanted. Or made of materials that were hard to acquire in Gilneas; it wasn't like we were swimming in Arcanite or even Mithril around here.

Rosa was sat inside as well, out of the way of any debris and focusing on keeping a small pair of mage lights moving in stead circles in front of her. They kept flickering and wobbling, and each little instability drew a measure of frustration onto her face.

"Hello Frazzle," I called out over the sound of metal being shorn away. "I'll be leaving soon."

She waved a three-fingered hand, holding up one to ask me to wait. After a moment she pulled away the tool and reached to stop the lathe running, and then yanked the rope that controlled the sluices with a magical tug. Slowly the sounds faded.

"Is it that time already?" She asked, grabbing a cloth to polish the tool she'd been using. "You don't have to worry! I won't rearrange things." She glanced around, a smile pulling at her lips. "Too much, anyway. I should have some progress done on that sewing machine you sketched out by the time you come back! It's clever."

"Good to hear." I'd figured out the stitch needed, and mocked up a way to do it manually, but hadn't gotten anywhere with automating it yet. Too many other things to be working on for the moment; for her as well as me. Though I wouldn't begrudge her tinkering time as it was clear Frazzle did it to unwind. "You're still fine organising my route?" For handling the harvest it was clear I was going to be the biggest single contributor, solely due to my mana reserves, which meant I needed to be efficient about it.

Couldn't do it alone, we still needed everyone else, but the less time I spent moving to tiny places with little agriculture or on the road going from one place to another the better.

She waved a hand dismissively. "No, no! Not at all! I've mapped out the biggest agricultural centres already, and while you're gone Lorna Can fly me out to a few of them. I'll be able to teleport you around to the major centres, don't you worry!" She beamed up at me. "Darius had all the information I needed. It'll be done when you get back. And don't worry about Rosaline either, I'll make sure she's looked after and kept busy. No reason not to teach her while we're both here!"

Rosa looked up as she heard her name, her concentration wavering. I could see the moment she lost focus as the Arcane magic she was wielding pulled away from her, no longer constrained by her will and seeking something to ground into.

Frazzle noticed as well, and before the energy could do more than singe Rosa's palms she had struck it with a pulse and dispersed it into the air. The electric tang of the arcane mixed strangely with the warm and enveloping magic of Nature that normally suffused my home.

"What did I say about getting distracted?" Frazzle said, putting her hands on her hips and staring at Rosa.

"Only a part of me can get distracted while the rest stays focused." She mumbled dutifully, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. "It's hard." She whined, "I can do the numbers and make the magic move but how am I supposed to do that when I'm not even looking like you do?"

I moved to take her hands, healing away the faint burns that the discharge had given her. "Practice, practice, and more practice. Until it becomes second nature." I spun a strand of starlight into an orb and set it floating around my head without a gesture or chanting. "Even I had to practise, the Astral's closer and it took me a long time, years even before I could draw and use it at the same time. To make it concentrated enough to be used as a weapon. Do the small things until you can do them with your eyes closed, then you can focus on doing the bigger things"

Smiling at her I ruffled her dark hair. "You'll get there. So long as you don't give up, you'll get there."

Rosa pouted at me, her eyes narrowed. I wished she liked me as much as Emma did... but she didn't. It wasn't the dislike she'd had of me before, with me having offered her the path to becoming a mage, but our relationship still wasn't close.

"While Gwyneth's experiences aren't the same as what you are going through, and she is showing off unnecessarily, her sentiment is correct," Frazzle said, a flick of her wrist bursting my astral light into nothing but raw magic, adding to the tangle of flavours in the air. "Walking is a complicated process. You don't simply lift a leg to take a step, you contract muscles and relax others, moving parts and pieces, a thousand little actions. But you learned how when you were young and now don't even have to think about it."

She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. "Some are lucky enough that utilising magic is second nature. Utterly intuitive. People like us?" Frazzle reached out, taking Rosa's hand. "We have to learn the hard way. By doing it until we don't have to think about casting spells anymore than we have to think about walking." She grinned widely, "You can walk and talk at the same time, can't you?"

Rosa scowled. "Of course I can!"

"Then, I assure you, you can learn to do this as well." Frazzle chirped happily, pulling the younger – and taller – girl to her feet.

It was amusing seeing Frazzle, who was barely three foot tall, take on the role of adult and teacher for someone so much younger yet a full foot taller than her but she was doing well. Better than I thought she would at first.

"I trust that you'll be fine here with Frazzle?" I asked Rosa.

She didn't look away from Frazzle, determination to succeed on her face, but after a moment she nodded. "I will. I'm not a baby."

"Then I'll leave you in her care," I said, then remembered something Lorna had mentioned last night. "Oh, Lord Crowley has invited you both to dinner this weekend. He wishes to get to know the mage he now has on his payroll, and to discuss some of the ways you might be of assistance now that you're living here."

Frazzle looked down at her clothes, the simple set I had made for her to replace the single set she had run all the way to Gilneas in, and winced. "I'm hardly... ah, well. I'm sure I can manage something!"

I left them as Frazzle started muttering about how to craft an illusion to give her the appearance of a proper mage during their meeting, and how she would do it for both herself and Rosa since she was to be an apprentice of a Kirin Tor mage and should look the part. It seemed Myriam had lost her chance to pick up an apprentice.

Their discussion did give me an idea, though. I knew how to give one person a vision... but sharing it with more would be very, very useful for what was coming.

-oOoOo-

Donovan chirped softly as I helped Lorna brush down his feathers, scratching at his sore spots and massaging his aching wings – soothing away what I could with magic and the rest with my hands. He had struggled to carry all three of us this far, even with us travelling light – my bag was stuffed with as many books as I could fit, but otherwise, we had very little – he needed constant reinforcement to keep up with our weight but the stubborn bird had refused to slow down much. Determined to get us to the Blackwald on time. In a few years, he'd be fully grown, the size of his father, but he wasn't there yet.

It wouldn't be much longer before he started being interested in finding a mate either; we had brought him to see his family in the Ember Hills pride a few times but he hadn't been that interested in them. He'd stuck close to Lorna and only chirped curiously at them, keeping his distance.

"Feeling better?" I asked, easing off on my magic.

He chirped again, begging me to continue, but I rolled my eyes at him and scratched at his eye ridges instead. I could tell when he was faking and wasn't feeling anything anymore.

Little attention seeker that he was.

"Food's ready!" Vivi called from our campfire.

While Lorna and I had been tending to Donovan Vivi had set about making camp. It wasn't like we needed much, there had been a spot of rain yesterday... for about two hours before it had cleared up, and it hadn't even been heavy rain. There wasn't going to be any more tonight and the weather was still seasonally warm.

I had a thin blanket I'd sleep under because it felt weird not to, and I wasn't sleeping in my clothes, but that was it.

"Be there in a second," I said back, swatting Donovan on the beak lightly as he protested at me letting up my scratching. "We've got to eat and sleep too; I'll pamper you more when we land tomorrow."

Lorna let out a short laugh, not a snort but not quite a giggle either. "You're bad at saying no to him, Gwen." She said as she offered a hand to help me to my feet. "I worry how he would've turned out if you'd kept him."

I huffed, taking her hand and letting her pull me up. "It's not like I make sure he gets rabbit every time he goes on a long flight like you do, I just reward him when he helps carry me somewhere." I linked arms with Lorna and smiled at her as we walked over to the fire. "Same way I make sure you know I appreciate it too."

For a moment Lorna was quiet, her face pensive. Then she sighed.

"Don' all set for tomorrow?" Vivi asked before I could ask Lorna what was wrong.

The gryphon chirped affirmatively as he stretched his wings.

"Should be," Lorna said, pulling away from me and sitting down across the fire.

After a moment of looking after her, wondering what was wrong, I settled in beside Vivi and grabbed a skewer from the fire; roasted vegetables and smoked meat on skewers were hardly the fare any of us were used to back home, but in my opinion, it beat eating fruit and nuts day in and day out. Delicious as they might be for a while they were murder on the gut, and sometimes murder on the waistline.

Felt silly to worry about that sometimes, to worry about my vanity, but there were plenty of non-vain reasons to consider keeping myself in good health important.

And I'd probably try to throttle someone who said I shouldn't at least attempt to take care of my hair.

"Didn't burn them this time," I said, looking over my skewer with false scepticism. "Much." I took a bite; could've done with more seasoning in my horribly spice-addicted opinion, but it was still fine.

"I made sure not to burn them at all!" Vivi protested, then started examining hers closely. " This one's fine, you can–" She saw that I was still eating away and pouted, letting out a soft whine. "Hey! That's not fair, I only messed up the first time!"

"They were charcoal black," I said, jabbing my skewer in her direction as I grinned. "That's more than a mess up."

"I'd never cooked before, it's not like anyone showed me how." She grumbled, muttering something inaudible about her mother under her breath. "I learned and it's fine, right?"

I hummed as I finished off my skewer and grabbed a second. "You've certainly gotten better. Although, you did remember I packed pepper, didn't you?"

Vivi mumbled something I didn't quite catch.

"What was that?"

She glared at the ground, her cheeks growing pink. "I said, I couldn't find it in your–"

"Gwen?" Lorna interrupted, her voice stiff. The oddness of it drew both of our attention. "What is it in the future you saw that has you and father so worried?"

What? I stared at Lorna with my mouth open, taking a moment to process what she said. She knew? Since when?

Had Darius decided to tell her after all? He didn't tell me he was going to tell her! It didn't seem likely, he still was in protective father mode. It probably wasn't him. She wasn't stupid by any means, and our behaviour was odd enough that she had to know something was up, but where on earth did she– had Frazzle told her? I'd never seen the two of them alone together, Frazzle was always in my workshop and Lorna hadn't come around much.

She'd met her when I introduced the gnome to Darius, but I didn't see when she would've had the chance. Celestine? I couldn't see my teacher divulging it to someone she didn't know, she wasn't the most open of people, to begin with.

"What?" Vivi said, giving voice to the confusion we were both feeling.

I licked my lips as I met Lorna's eyes. She was... out of patience, I knew she'd been frustrated but she was more unhappy about this than I'd thought.

"When did you find out?" I asked quietly.

"Father had me carrying letters all across Gilneas." She said, and I tilted my head at her. It didn't seem in character for her to read her father's mail, and I was fairly sure he wouldn't have out-and-out said it in a letter either. "That's what told me that he was worried about something, but it was what I heard at Silverlaine Keep that let me understand. A Plague and a Tide of Death; you knew what would happen in Stratholme, didn't you? About the undead."

"Ah," I glanced down at my lap. "William Silverlaine?"

"Yes," She said curtly.

"Gwen?" Vivi asked, "What's Lorna saying?"

"I've known the future for a long time now," I said, ripping the bandaid off. They were my friends. The only person I trusted more was Celestine, and the only other person I trusted as much was Heather. And as much as I felt she would support me, I wasn't going to burden her with it. She was happy living a simple life and wouldn't enjoy being dragged into the wider world at all. "Before I met you. Before I entered your father's service. He asked me not to tell you, to not–"

"To not shatter my innocence, or to burden me, I'm sure," Lorna said bitterly, her face pulled into a frustrated scowl. "I am sick and tired of being left in the dark. Of being pushed out of meetings and discussions because–"

"Hey!" Vivi jumped to her feet, speaking up in protest. "It's not Gwen's fault–"

"I know that!" Lorna snapped at Vivi, then pulled back and took a breath before looking at me again. "I know that. I don't blame you for obeying, it's father's doing. Your place to follow his orders But I'm his heir, I'm a woman grown, I'm not a child he needs to protect anymore!" Her face scrunched up frustratedly. "And I'm your friend. Don't I deserve to know? Or was I just a way for you to reach my father?"

Vivi stepped around the fire, brandishing her skewer at Lorna. "You take that back, Gwen's–"

"She's right," I said, my stomach churning as I bunched up my skirt in my hands. "I did use Lorna's offer, her friendship, to get to Darius. And he knows it." I took a breath, steeling my nerves and met Lorna's gaze. "I don't regret doing it, you've been a great friend Lorna, but I had ulterior motives from the start. If you don't forgive me... then fine. That's the price I have to pay."

I would hate to lose her, I would hate to see her turn against me. It would hurt, it would hurt a lot to have someone that close to me change her position. But I had done what I did and I wasn't going to lie about it.

She stared at me, looking for something in my gaze. My heart thundered in my ears and I felt like I was going to be sick.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Vivi looking at me with utter disbelief on her face, which only made things worse in its own way. I loved them both dearly but... if I had to I'd throw them both away to keep going forward, to try and help mitigate the war.

I didn't want to. But I would do it.

"Okay," Lorna said, nodding her head. "What is it that makes my father so worried?"

It took a moment to register that it wasn't an accusation or a condemnation but a question instead.

"There's a lot," I said, dropping my gaze down into the fire. "Do you... want to know what we've been planning, or what we are afraid of first?"

"Just start from the beginning, like you told him." She said, then sighed at Vivi who hadn't stopped brandishing the skewer. "Oh, settle down Vivi. I'm not going to blame her for keeping this secret, and..." She closed her eyes. "And I am used to those who use me to reach my father."

The words stung but I didn't protest against them.

"Still not fair," Vivi said, crossing her arms as she plopped down next to me. After a moment she grabbed my hand and smiled. "It doesn't make a difference to me! It... I guess it explains a lot? You knowing the future. But it doesn't change things."

I snorted at her words, knowing just how wrong they were. But my belly unclenched a little anyway, warming as my fingers interlaced with hers. Not every bit of worry was gone, but... some of it was. "It changes everything, Vivi. We aren't going to be at peace much longer. Any of us." I met Lorna's gaze again, the questioning glint and quirk of her brow, and sighed. "Okay, many of these things have... already happened. They're what convinced Darius I was telling the truth, why Frazzle made her way into Gilneas to find me, and it all began with the Plague..."

-oOoOo-

Donovan set down at the very edge of the Blackwald, not far from where I had called Lorna and Donovan to pick me up from six months ago. The landmarks were the same and the forest was... not inviting, but different. A feeling of warmth in the air that didn't solely come from the beating rays of the sun, an invigorating pulse of life and energy that reverberated from deep within the forest – still wild, still untamed, still unwelcoming of intruders... but so very different from the dormancy and dim awareness I felt during the winter.

Lorna stayed atop Donovan as Vivi and I slid from his back, her face still pulled into the pensive frown she had worn since I told them all I knew last night. It had been many hours of storytelling, of questions asked and answered, and with no small amount of shock on their part.

No disbelief, for which I was thankful. But it was clear that Lorna was still processing, and that Vivi was scared.

My red-headed friend still had her arm around me and hadn't really let go of me since I started talking about some of the worse things I knew were coming – overnight she had crawled into my blanket and pulled one of my arms around her. I woke up a fair few times to her murmuring restlessly in her sleep, having a nightmare of sorts, which made me regret telling them in so much detail; neither of them had needed a detailed description of an Abomination.

I looked up at Lorna, my mouth open to ask, but we hadn't said anything since last night. Breakfast had been silent, and the flight the rest of the way here had been as well. I didn't know what to say.

Some part of me had wanted to tell them everything, even my reincarnation, but there hadn't been time. I covered the events that Gilneas would be facing, and what Darius and I were preparing for. What they needed to know, what Lorna deserved to know and was being kept away from before; they didn't need me wasting time telling them stories about things that didn't matter at all just so I could feel better myself.

Slowly Lorna unbuckled herself and dropped down next to me, looking me in the eye. Her gaze was evaluating and... worried. She opened her mouth to speak, closed it, and tried again. Still, no words came out.

Not that I could speak either, and Vivi still clung to my side. After a moment Lorna shook her head, sending her hair flying. Stepping forward she pulled me into a hug, resting her cheek atop my head, and let out a long and loud sigh.

"You..." She said, her voice trailing off. She frowned, opening her mouth to speak before aborting the attempt again.

"I understand," I said, squeezing her back and ignoring the awkwardness of where she had put me. My cheeks were surely burning already, but the embrace was soft and comforting anyway. "Think on things, but... I've never regretted choosing to become your friend. I never tried to bribe you, to manipulate you, I just..."

"Needed my father."

"Yeah, I did."

It was a chink in our friendship, but...

"I forgive you," Lorna said, drawing back and pulling my head up so she could look me dead in the eye. "This goes beyond someone trying to curry favour with my father. This goes beyond..." She bit her lip, worrying at it for a moment. It was alarmingly mesmerising from this–

Stupid brain, not now! This was an important moment.

She wasn't even trying to tease me and she was still teasing me. Stupid soft pink and so very kissable looking lips.

"This goes beyond petty politics. You went to my father to save lives, to try and... to try and save the world." She said, resting her hands on my shoulders. "You, Gwyneth Arevin, are my friend and a hero. I made the offer, I brought you to him, and I don't regret that one bit. Not now, not ever."

"Good!" Vivi said, squeezing my middle as she hugged me too. "If you want someone to be mad at, be mad at your father! We'll both be with you every step of the way, whether it's against these– these Scourge," There was a tremor of fear in Vivi's voice that I couldn't ignore, "Or the rebellion!" She let go, putting a hand on her sword and the other on her hip. "Someone has to keep you safe, and it may as well be me!"

I grinned at her. "My own knight in enchanted armour," I put a hand to my forehead and swooned, Lorna catching me as I slowly tilted over and fell.

While I fell into a giggling fit first, they both quickly followed me.

Looking up into Lorna's eyes, seeing the determination there that was hiding the flicker of anger at being kept in the dark for so long, I knew she would be having words with her father when she got home. Hopefully, with her more directly involved things would be a little easier.

Just before she was to take off, remounted on Donovan, I caught her sleeve. "Lorna?" I said, "In my room, my desk, in the third drawer on the left there is a manuscript. Part of my thoughts on how we might resolve the difference between the loyalists and the rebellion after the civil war. Can you look through it and make your own notes, your own thoughts? Before I present it to your father."

"Of course," She smiled warmly, her eyes lighting up as I actively brought her into my planning. "I'll have it done before you return."

I laughed. "You underestimate how much I write, Lorna! And how disorganised it is."

"I'll still do it!" She said, kicking Donovan lightly as I let go. In a few moments, they were away. Climbing into the sky and soaring in the distance.

"Save travels!" Vivi yelled after her, waving her arm.

"C'mon, we've got a while ahead of us still," I said as Lorna faded out of sight, grabbing Vivi's arm and dragging her towards the forest.