People. My people.People like me.
The scent of blood trips sweetly through the breeze while Eggbert—the leader of the crimson gremlins—and the rest of the swarm work under my and Alexios’s instruction to set the foundation of avillage. A town! A bustling thoroughfare, lined with homes, commerce, recreation!
Young, newly evolved fae are almost always filled with wonder and searching. Ambition drives them toward creativity. Creativity sparks interests and motivations. The unknown laid out before them poses infinite possibilities, and they reach for those ideas, no longer trapped in a cage of limitation.
Thus begins the search for purpose and worth, but unlike when I felt the shift and entered into the wonder alone, they have what I did not—community, support,people like them.
Sighing deeply, Alexios stretches as he wanders up to me, muttering, “This…is going to drive Cael to drink.”
Beaming, I say, “Cael already drinks.” I gasp. “Do you think once homes are built and the infrastructure for our government is laid, we should invite him over in good graces—king to prince? It shall be an extension of a branch of olives!”
Alexios’s lip curls, disgust rioting. “Olives.”
I wave off his distaste. “It’s a human expression.”
“The expression isextend an olive branch, and it does not meangloat to someone who is already on the edge of a mental break.”
Oh? Pity.
The flutteryblazingaroma of my darling, my love, my heart, my life, mysoulpirouettes through the air, and I turn in a whirl toward my mate. “Love.”
Joy traipses off her at the very sight of me, but an undercurrent ofsomething elsecatches my attention in the bliss.
Abandoning Alexios to deal with his olive hatred alone, I meet her further up the road, nearer to the Desolate Caverns whence she’s come. I reach for her arms and brace myself near her. “What’s amiss, my angel?”
“There was a woman…a spider? A spider woman?”
“Yes.” I brighten, light as…as…asa feather. “The jorogumo.” I laugh, indulge in a swift kiss. “You found her! I’m delighted! She rarely makes her presence known. Tell me, did she accept your offering of a name? Has the fog cleared for her now, too?” I extend my senses beyond my dear sweet dove. “Where is she?”
“That’s just it. I’m not sure that the fog lifted. She’s with Zahra right now, in the woods still. I named her Anansi, after a legend Zahra suggested, and she changed. Her…spider…half? It turned into normal legs, and she grew more sets of human-like arms. I swear something in her eyes cleared, but she’s not saying anything. She still seems confused. More aware. But…not aware enough?”
“Oh, darling. Worry not. Spider fae are nocturnal, shy, and often over stimulated. There is quite a difference between what she is now and what she was. Before, she rested among the higher beast fae, capable of some awareness for the sake of trickery, but prone to act on thoughtless instinct. Now, she no doubt can piece together her own will and choices that hopefully will contradict her tendency to murder men for sport and food. Regardless what she wishes to accomplish in her life, the spider fae are attuned to the merest vibrations, and speaking can even be too much for them beyond a word at a time. I take it you don’tknow sign language?” Sweeping her around, I head up the path then veer off toward the woods.
“No, I don’t.”
“As the catalyst for evolution, your magic sparks rebirth in the fae that change. It carries with it an amount of knowledge—your knowledge—to spur the change. Evolution, as far as I’ve been able to decode, is the moment when a faerie’s knowledge presses on the limits of their capabilities and overflows. This can happen naturally, through ages and microchoices, or—as we’ve recently learned—through meddling of some kind. You feed the lesser fae—who could vanish into the wind at a moment’s notice—and the beast fae—who exist on instinct alone—to bursting. If they accept what you give them, then they tumble into a larger pool. There’s nothing wrong with Anansi. She changed, so she accepted your gift. Now we must accept her as she is. Let us see if we can’t discover how best to accommodate her as the horizons of her world expand.”
After instructing Zahra to get Anansi settled in a dark corner of my palace where she can take in the gloriousnewmore gradually, I go with Danielle into the bowels of the Desolate Caverns, whereby roughly half the goblins accept new names and grow larger than me to stand as hobs, with the occasional ogre, and even abugbearor two among them.
Once we’ve sent them to meet with Alexios and determine how they’d like to incorporate thepreviouslyDesolate Caverns into homesteads that connect with the rest of the rising infrastructure of our kingdom, I pause my delirious elation to realize…
My mate is exhausted.
Teetering beside me in the caverns I’m keeping lit with magic, she rests against my shoulder and takes a labored breath.
“Mine, are you well?” I inquire. She has still been dealing with her bleeding, but every time I’ve suggested she rest, she hasrevolted. Perhaps I have pushed her too far, allowed her to take on too much?
A sleepy little sound leaves her. “This is…incredible.” She hugs me.Hugsme. Arms wrapping around my body, she dwells on me for support and comfort, and I haveneverin my life been this happy. Her meek voice murmurs, “It’s a lot, though. Using powers I don’t even really understand is somewhat draining.” She yawns. “I think it’s time for lunch. Will you make me lunch, Castor?”
“Of course, my feather. Anything you want. It is likely time for everyone to break for the noonday meal anyway. I am grateful for Eggbert’s expertise in divvying the necessary workloads among the crimson gremlins. I do believe I shall need to study more on how I might be able to cultivate the resources we require here. Given that it’s summer, we are well-positioned to learn how to take advantage of an autumn crop. I shall take to researching crop rotation and make sure the land is broken correctly… I shall also need to find a way to fabricate sun or split the clouds over that slice of land… I want a life of peace and ease and excess for my people, so they never need to worry.” My heart flitters. “Soourpeople never need to go without.” I dapple a kiss or ten against her forehead. “You have done so well today, my precious girl. So, so well. It is due time now that I spoil you.”
“Ugh.” She buries her face against me, hiding her forehead from my perusal. “I can’t believe I named a man with the deepest voice I have ever heardEggbert.AndI just misgendered some of the goblins. I’d not exactly call thatdoing well.”
I would call effectively exercising abilities she hardly understands in rapid succession doing far more thanwell, but—sure—if we’re going to be mean to ourselves… “Eggbert doesn’t care, and Billy doesn’t seem to mind that you misgendered her. As one of our esteemed bugbears, I do bet she’s got a full beard and looks well and good just like a Billy.”
My enchanting soulmate groans. “She is actually so pretty, Castor. No beard.Giant, sure, and more muscle than I’ve seen any human man have, but her eyes are so, so pretty, and her smile says, ‘I’m a Lacy, or a Faela,’ and yet? I named herBilly. She’s got these rich, dark curls that just poureverywhere. And. I. Named. Her.Billy.”
“If Billy does not mind, I do not understand why you have to.”
