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Chapter 11: Earthly Ties

Madame Suliman sat back from her intense scrutiny of her crystal globe. Apart from the crystal's faintly blue glow her rooms were lit only by a single candle, and that too was far away. She was alone, and angry.

This was far from what she'd had in mind, though she perhaps had only herself to thank. Ultimately cosmic energies were unpredictable, even if they seemed constant for a time - and 'unpredictable' was what she had received. It seemed a poor return on investment for all the work she'd done on the Captain and ĺde both. Her curse on the former hadn't been strong enough, evidently. Howl's meddling hadn't helped yet again. And ĺde...somehow ĺde had had agency beyond her imprisonment.

Now that they'd managed to begin ĺde's restoration process, it was only a matter of time before they returned to the palace to confront her. Although Madame Suliman had currently exhausted her supply of henchmen and, by association, much of her magic reserves to otherwise defend herself, she did have at least one advantage - time. The restoration would take at least a few hours if not a day, which would give her time to not only rest and restore herself, but to form a plan and possibly arrange a backup plan with the still-oblivious royal family. The remaining unpredictable elements were the possible continued involvement of Howl Pendragon and whether she could resume siphoning ĺde's strength to supplement her own.

If I am defeated, and live...if I must leave the palace, where will I go? There's nowhere. ĺde's purpose… She took a breath, admitted it to herself: was not just to sustain my magic, my hold. She's the closest to a true 'Daughter Suliman' I will ever have.

Madame Suliman breathed deeply in, out. Instead of merely waving a hand like she normally did, she rang a small silver bell to summon one of her pages that guarded her door. "Prepare the royal family," she said tiredly.

ĺde felt herself wandering through a fog ever so slowly, searching. Underfoot were the soft tones of grass and meadowflowers, and the ground rose. Although she had only been here once and despite the veils of fog that she passed though, she remembered this place, and was as happy that she remembered it as she was at the memory itself. She picked up her skirt and made her way to the crest of the hill and the higher she climbed, the stronger and more herself she felt. The fog dissipated.

Two things were different this time. First, was that dawn was breaking on the horizon beyond the forest spread below her. Second, was that this time it was she who arrived at Tristan, his father's pride of ten lions lazen at his feet.

"I was sent to find you," he said, echoing her.

They smiled at one another, and as they took one another's hands the air was flooded with light - ĺde could not rightly say if it came from the sun or within her. She felt herself sinking back into her physical body.

ĺde's eyes eased open, and gradually focused on the physical world she had come home to at last. It was twilight, and she was on her back on the glacier in the Iron Valley. The faces of Tristan and two others - a wizard, from the feel of it, and a woman - were above her and took on expressions of relief.

No, Howl and Sophie Pendragon, remember? another part of her reminded.

She smiled at Tristan but felt too tired to do anything more - she couldn't remember ever having felt tired. His eyes were watering, and when he gathered her into his arms she felt her own tears rising, too.

"We should get out of the elements," she heard Sophie say, though her voice was muffled. Someone helped wrap her bare body in something - a cloak or blanket, maybe.

Tristan stood, carrying her despite the fact that it seemed he could barely move himself. He had his mouth pressed to her crown and she felt so grateful for that, too. Everything became hazy - instead ĺde became preoccupied with the flow of magic she could feel in her body. The strongest symbiotic exchange had once been between her and Madame Suliman; that link was still there, but it was slowly but surely being overpowered by the one she'd had all along with the Captain without realizing. She could see three magical channels in her mind's eye: gleaming brighter and brighter on and off with their heartbeats was the largest one between her and Tristan, while two other channels stretched far away out of sight to Madame Suliman and Prince Edward, the former maybe half the size of the one she shared with Tristan and the latter maybe half that still.

I must restore the little prince, ĺde realized guiltily as she remembered what she'd done. His family will not think to look for a fish.

But more than that, her thoughts turned to her erstwhile mother. Swift on the heels of the memory of Prince Edward transforming into a koi was the memory of the reason she'd done so to begin with - her distress at the overheard conversation between Madame Suliman and the Captain, wherein she'd learnt what she was. The ensuing confrontation, the trap, the shattering into fragments of herself, the weakness, the truth…

She had the Captain capture me, and then cast a spell of amnesia on us both so we would forget the whole thing. All so she could use my strength as her own. Now she wants the Captain...Tristan...dead. ĺde could feel the curse Madame Suliman had placed on him, like jagged stone piercing the fine silk of his aura. I can remove it, once my strength is back, but ultimately it means nothing if Mother - no, Madame Suliman - remains in power.

Light and warmth broke over them, suddenly. ĺde realized they were entering a house. A coarse voice greeted them and ĺde glanced in its direction, at the same time recognizing the magical energy of a fellow star - a fire spirit, appropriately stoking the fire in the hearth. She also recognized the pure, bright mortal energy that all young children had, like Prince Edward's. A young boy, with an older adolescent boy, stood from a game in front of the hearth.

"Markl, thank you so much, again," said Sophie, "but could you take Morgan into our bedroom for a few minutes? Quickly now."

Tristan had turned them both, ĺde assumed to hide her nakedness from young eyes. She heard a couple of whines but, ultimately, soft bare footsteps retreating as bade. The warmth grew as Tristan brought her closer to the fire. Sophie began rushing about, muttering about finding something suitable for a star to wear; ĺde wanted to reassure her but did not have her voice back yet.

"So this is the infamous Miss Suliman, the Witch of the Waters," said the star in the hearth. "Looks like you were successful, Captain! Just in the nick of time, too."

Tristan knelt down with ĺde and accepted another blanket from Howl, wrapping ĺde in it. "Indeed," he said, coughing.

"I've never met an ice varietal before," said the star in the hearth with a mock-haughty tone. ĺde took the hint and lifted her head to look at it. The face in the flame was smirking at her, but not unkindly.

"ĺde, this is Calcifer," Tristan said softly. "He's here because…"

"I contracted with Howl," Calcifer finished for him. "Originally. Just like you contracted with Madame Suliman - or was it the Captain? So confusing - originally. Have to say it's nice to have some kin around here."

ĺde smiled, nodded. It was, in a way. It was nice to not feel like the only one on earth, though she'd been aware, via Madame Suliman, of how Howl had bolstered his own magic - even if it had never been possible for her to realize she was under the same circumstances. She'd also forgotten what it was like to feel the company of fellow stars. Even now, at this mundane level, she could feel their similar energies reaching out testily and tickling each other, bolstering one another without being absorbed like light being reflected infinitely between two mirrors. Despite being contained in physical forms, they could be reminded of their inner natures.

This thought reminded ĺde of the confrontation on the glacier with her final visage - the heart of her. A heart that was meant to be untouchable by any mortal, no matter the contracts or the magic or the trickery - there was only one way they could. She could still feel the impression of Tristan's hand around her heart even now.

ĺde focused on Calcifer, and then on Howl nearby, realizing something. That's why we stay. Truly. Because we let them in, and they touch us. And when they do, we choose to stay. It's stronger than any contract. She looked up at Tristan. It is indeed a kind of falling. Because we love them.

He noticed her looking and met her eyes. He looked different than she had known him - his face had softened, even though the curse's hold was still managing to age him well beyond his years. His smile was kinder than the smirk she had been so accustomed to seeing throughout their acquaintance - what felt like another life. How long ago it seemed that they had spoken in the rooftop courtyard that night, or that they had made a poor attempt of a waltz the night of the Spring Flush! His eyes had been a rich brown then, to be sure, but now she was amazed by how much more she could see in them.

Sophie returned, and Tristan at last released her so that she could be helped into a borrowed dress. Despite gaining clothes, ĺde already felt a little colder without his embrace.

"How are you feeling, Captain?" Howl asked him.

"Happy," said Tristan as he looked over his shoulder at her, then seemed to realize what he said and cleared his throat, "Better. Not completely myself, of course, but the curse's effects seem to be abating."

"I wonder why that could be," Sophie said under her breath with a smile as she helped ĺde sit on the armchair and laced up the back of the navy blue dress.

"The state of the palace and Madame Suliman still concern me, though," Tristan added.

"She'll be weak after all that mess we went through," said Howl. "Not to mention, you are replacing the bond she has with Miss Suliman. She'll have limited options."

"Which could be good, could be bad," said Calcifer.

"But we need to make a move as soon as we can," said Howl. "Once Miss Suliman has rested, of course."

ĺde only realized that she was reaching for Tristan when he suddenly walked back over to her and took the hand held out to him. She felt better, warmer. She wished she could speak.

"Miss Suliman - " Sophie began, stopped herself.

ĺde looked at her inquisitively.

Sophie smiled, "First, I'm sure you probably don't want to be called that any longer, am I right?"

ĺde hadn't considered this, but nodded in surprise.

"Then, Miss ĺde, I know you've just recently rejoined us, but - do you think you're able to remove the curse on the Captain?" Sophie asked.

ĺde squeezed Tristan's hand a little harder. She opened her mouth to speak, willing her throat to open too. It took a few tries and crackles, but at last she was able to whisper, "In time."

ĺde woke a few hours later - woke! from a true sleep! - in the bunk beneath the Pendragons' stairs at the sound of Tristan coughing. She'd fallen asleep to the sounds of murmured conversation and at some point, someone had moved her from the armchair to the bed. Already - even from what she guessed to be only a couple of hours' rest - she felt stronger, more herself. Her true self, complete with memory and emotion and life, was coming back to her piece by piece, hour by hour.

Tristan was sitting in the armchair now in front of the low fire; there was no sign of Calcifer. He coughed again.

"Captain," she said quietly, sympathetically, as the coughing continued despite his attempts to stifle it with water and his hand.

Her voice startled him, as if he'd forgotten she was there. "Now I've woken you," he grumbled to himself, "I'm sorry."

She reached for him again. "Let me."

Tristan hesitated, looking at her hand. "You should save your strength for yourself."

After considering various responses, ĺde settled on simply correcting herself from earlier. "Tristan," she said, letting a slight plea into her voice.

His eyes rose in surprise to meet hers. She smiled to reassure him. After a moment he rose from the chair and came to sit beside her on the edge of the bed. She cupped her palm and though she had to concentrate more than normal, its lines eventually glowed and water emerged, glimmering with her magic.

"I cannot break the curse yet, but I can soothe it," she said slowly, her voice as dry as his skin. "Drink."

Tristan seemed uncertain but did as she asked, cupping her upraised hand with his own to steady it and gently lowering his mouth. She angled her wrist and tipped it, kept the water flowing from her as he sipped tentatively. It did not take much for the rasping noise in his chest to abate or for the wrinkles in his skin to grow lighter then disappear. After a minute or so he drew back and she did not press, enchanted instead by the way he brushed a stray drop from the corner of his mouth with his thumb. He did not look at her.

He is imperfect, and beautiful. He is earthly. He is all that is good. He is my champion, my fortune and my rest. After a few moments of quiet, ĺde said, "Thank you for finding me."

Tristan shook his head, but it did not seem to be at her words because another moment passed before he said, "I dreamt of you. You were calling to me. But I think...before any of this happened, you had been calling to me all along - or I was calling to you, it's hard to tell the difference, now. Maybe even before you came to the palace. Maybe even before I left home." At last he looked up at her. "ĺde, you found me. And the truth..."

ĺde held her breath.

Tristan swallowed, resettled, squared his shoulders for courage. "The truth is, I never want to be parted from you again."

ĺde felt her face grow warm and she smiled broadly, amazedly. A thousand new things that she couldn't name clamored in her chest. Her hands shook as they rose, caressed his face, smoothed his hair, ran over his smile as though she were blind and learning him for the first time. "Then we will not be parted," she whispered. "By anyone, or anything. You are my one."

Tristan huffed a laugh and looked at his lap in embarrassment. She found the shyness endearing, and pulled him forward and kissed him. They were shaking, and she found it wonderful. All of it was wonderful.