CW: Past descriptions of rape and assault. Implied torture. Execution.
Azaria and Dora are relaxing on a sofa in the flat that she's kept since she moved out from her parents homes. The Romcom that they're watching providing a backdrop to the intimacy that they are sharing while the babies are sleeping. That is until the TV starts to fizz and dies before either of them are able to turn it off. Sighing, Dora waves a hand and the front door opens to reveal the Honoured Elder.
"Please come in Elder, but if you wake the babies you're taking care of them."
"Apologies for stopping by unannounced Clan Lady, however we need to convene a meeting of Elders that includes the Clan Lord."
Azaria searches his face for something, "What is so urgent that you have not taken care to reign in your magic?"
The Elder pulls a memory from his head, "I have here a Human History that the Hearth Mistress compiled and gave to Karen before going hunting to get her anger under control. Spine Wolves, Fae Dragons, and Hydra are on her list. That would be cause enough, view the history and then you will understand."
Azaria doesn't hesitate before she takes the memory and views it herself, her expression becoming darker as the memory progresses.
"Can you give me a hint about what's going on?"
"Only that it involves children."
"Given that you're here, I take it that it's not British children."
"You would be correct, it's somewhere called the Ottoman Empire."
"Oh that creepy place. Dad's been there on business. He said that you never see any women around, ever. Well, unless you go to the area where the shopkeepers and other low-level workers live. Also, absolutely nobody who lives there has a bad thing to say about the Empire. After he went there the first time he point blank banned both me and mum from ever going to an area controlled by them. Thinking about it, the only part of the Empire where there's any unrest is Greece. They've always had a larger than normal mug… mundane-born population, and something happened around 20 years ago that got them all riled up, and they started rebelling from the Empire. No one knows what happened as the empire controls the media there. Though one of the Magi could probably find someone to ask, that doesn't work out so well for the normal witch or wizard." She drops into her street accent, "Before you ask, I ain't a Magi, don't want the split loyalties causing problems with the wife iffin ya understand."
Azaria comes out of the memory and shoves it into Dora's face, "Watch."
"Woah, woah, at least let me take it off ya finger why don't ya."
Remembering that she's not angry with her bonded mate, Azaria pulls her finger back so that she can take the memory. She then spends the time Dora is viewing the memory bringing her anger back under control.
When Dora comes out the memory she looks unsettled but not the same way that the two Sidhe do.
"So what's the deal with this? I mean I know it's bad, and problematic, but there seems to be something more going on here."
The Elder bows his head, "There is a History that is only shown to the Clan Lord and the Elder Council. But is it the one History that all Elders are given to hold themselves. I'm sorry that I cannot show you the memory, but you are not even an adult in our society. We recently discovered that Petunia didn't have the skills to cope with what she needed to do with her guise of Hela. Because of this the Elder council ruled that all humans that are adopted into the clan have to be treated as adolescents until they have been taught, and we judge them ready to take their oaths as an adult. We have made the error a History that we are sharing with the nearby clans and courts."
Tonks puts her head back and stares at the ceiling, "OK, so there's something in your past that was so bad that as a species you have decided that it must never be forgotten. But it's something that's restricted to Elders. This is also a hot button topic about children, and I would guess oaths that they take. Given that you don't allow your children to make any oaths, and you've developed ways to remove oaths from people it almost certainly has to involve oaths. My guess would be that back when Hogwarts was still young and Selene was last walking around, something started subverting your people by tricking your children into making an oath towards it. This then lead to a bloody war that decimated your people, and probably also put them at odds with other peoples of the Dream. So now you all have this deep-seated need to protect children from being exploited by their own magic through the usage of oaths.
"Am I close?"
"You have just shown why you are considered an adult here, even though you don't have the full skill set that we need adults of the clan to have. We still can't show you the History, our own oaths prevent it."
"OK, let me call Dad and see if we can get him to translate the memory in a pensive."
Getting up, she tries the phone, and huffs in disgust, "You've managed to kill the phone too. Give me a sec."
Rooting through a cupboard she pulls out an old rotary phone and plugs it into the phone line and tries again. A brief conversation later, and they grab the babies and Dora takes them all to her parents house. It doesn't take long for Ted to translate the oaths in the Pensive with Azaria and the Honoured Elder.
Once they're done Ted shakes his head, "Dromada love, I need you to read this transcript and see this memory. This is why the Ottomans are creepy, and I won't let you go there. I bet it's also why the muggleborn in Greece are revolting, I would imagine that they found out accidentally and survived to spread the word.
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As Azaria and Dora arrive in the clan lands with their children in tow, Tonks turns to her wife, "You know, I had hoped we wouldn't need to do this until our babies were ready to go to Hogwarts. Now we're going to have to spend most of our time here rather than on Earth."
"I know love, but I couldn't leave you behind and it was either do that or bring them with us. After all, as Clan Lord it is my duty to speak on behalf of the clan with other clans. Which is something I feel we are going to need to do."
"I know, doesn't mean I have to like it."
"Why don't you find the Trio and show them the babies. I bet Harry goes girl immediately."
"No bet."
The time they spend in the clan is peaceful and relaxing, though the realisation that breast feeding is the only economical way of raising their babies now is a hard pill to swallow for Dora. She knows that they're going to need to travel from clan to clan soon, so the time is even more valuable to her. All they are waiting on is the Lore Master to craft two new Histories.
The first is the interactions and alliances that the clan has made since Petunia was kidnapped and Azaria was exiled, including the adoptions of people from Earth. It is also going to show how children, using the Sidhe definition, can be safely brought to the Sidhe realm regardless of if they have magic or not. It includes a map of the earth and an explanation of where Britain is.
The second is the reason why the first needs to be made, this one shows the Hearth Mistress removing each oath from newest to oldest, followed by a translation of what she finds. This also includes a map and explains where the non-magical countries are as well as the magical ottoman empire.
Their first stop is going to be to the Briar Thorn clan lands in the hope that Mánus and Sally will be willing to submit a History of her bonding and survival. Luckily enough they are still a clan as the Ex Titania was able to reconnect their Heart Room, and the Winter Court returned a few more clan members including an Elder. The fact that there are only 20 or so members of a once strong clan is a tragedy.
If Dora had her way, she'd be taking the Trio as well as Petunia, but it doesn't look like that's going to be possible, as their Sidhe parents have objected on the grounds that they shouldn't be kept away from Earth for that long. They do have Elder Petunia along for the ride, as well as her father, Seaghdh.
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The Hearth Mistress returns to Hogwarts with 3 Hydras, 4 Fae Dragons, and 6 Spine Wolves in tow. Her clothing has seen better days, though the fierce smile on her face and the pristine sword show that it was time well spent for her.
"Hogwarts, I wish to speak with my Clan Lord where may I find him?"
"Him?"
"Azaria, according to custom the leader of a clan is always a Lord regardless of their genitalia."
"They and the Honoured Elder returned to the clan for a meeting of Elders, Tonks wasn't happy about needing to take the babies with them."
"Thank you, how's Tansu doing?"
"See for yourself, she's still in the Sanctury." Hogwarts waves dismissively further into her home.
The Hearth Mistress heads further in to the Sanctury following the vague impression she has of Tansu. When she finds her Tansu looks an absolute wreck.
"Tansu." She says softly, "What's wrong?"
"I betrayed them, and now I can't go home again."
"You didn't betray anyone. You were asked to make an oath to your father as a child. From there every following oath stripped you of your ability to consent to. How old were you when your father took you for ice cream and the park?"
Tansu sniffs, "6, I was 6. It was my birthday."
"Would you ever let one of your daughters go with their father knowing what you know now?"
"No!"
"Why not?"
"I'd want them to have choices."
"Why?"
"So they could be happy."
"Does this mean that you weren't happy?"
"I had no choice but to be happy."
"Didn't you just say you wanted your daughters to be happy?"
"I did, but not that sort of happy. I want them to be able to do what they want and be happy doing so."
"So if you couldn't do what you wanted, how did you betray anyone?"
"I didn't become a warlock and return to my family."
"Did you want to be a warlock?"
"I… I don't know. Why don't I know?"
"Because you were enslaved as a child, by your own unwitting hand. Your mind is now your own but you haven't developed your own sense of self yet."
"I want to talk to my mother."
"Does she speak English?"
"No, she was mother before she could be chosen for other duties."
Hogwarts appears beside them and speaks in Sidhe, "I know what you're thinking, and you can't bring them here. Tansu had a tracking charm on her, which I removed when she came to the Sanctury. It's likely that the other women would have the same. We cannot afford to start a war with the Ottoman Empire, as the loss of life on their side would be catastrophic."
"And it would expose the new Magi to the ugly reality sooner than they're ready for?"
Hogwarts sighs, "Yes, it's one thing to react and defend yourself or others. This sort of war wouldn't be like that. It would be a one-sided slaughter, and as it stands they'd have to kill everyone over the age of 8 to ensure that the worst of those oaths were purged rather than festering to come back in a couple of generations."
"We know, we know very well the cost involved."
"Which one was it? Describe it please?"
"It was an evil cloud-like entity. When it took physical form it was an enormous mass that extrudes black tentacles, slime-dripping mouths, and short, writing goat legs."
"I heard about her, she was a little before my time. However, she was the end of the Egyptian Pantheon. Gilgamesh told me about that battle and the elves that were accompanied by abominations that the mortals needed to keep at bay while their Gods fought her." She barks a laugh, "It seems like every pantheon was ended by one of those, Sumerians, Mesopotamians, several generations of Indian, Chinese, and American. All wiped out in one incursion or another. Do what you must, but remember, I prefer to save lives than take them."
"If you have some iron bands I'll take them and seek sanctuary for them at one of the local courts."
Switching back to English the Hearth Mistress looks back to Tansu, "Child, I can take you to see your mother. If I do, my own moral code would require that I remove the oaths from all of the people present."
"You can't do that, they'd be killed."
"I could take them to seek sanctuary with a group of my people, where they could grow up again without those oaths."
"I… I don't know, I just want to see my mother."
"Do you know how to teleport child?"
"Teleport?"
Hogwarts interjects, "Apparate."
"Ah, yes. I know. I was taught for this."
"I want you to think about your home the way you'd do it for apparate. Then bring it to the front of your mind so that it's really clear. When I place my forehead against yours, I want you to push it out of your forehead into mine."
Tansu does that and the Hearth Mistress blinks back tears at the sudden headache she's gained, "Well done child, that was very well done for a first attempt. As soon as we can return to earth, I will take you to see your mother." She sighs, "We can then see about getting you all a new childhood where you can actually grow up."
Tansu frowns, "How do I get a new childhood?"
"You'll see child, you'll see."
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The Hearth Mistress watches the coming and goings of the Harem that Tansu calls home. A brief touch of her magic told her that each and every one of the women here were bound by oaths that had a similar feel to the ones she released from Tansu. She looks down at Tansu, who is sleeping in her arms after she tried to go to her mother. The lightest touch into her dreams shows that her personality has regressed to the last time it had anything approaching free will. Her own oaths won't countenance leaving these women here like this. But neither can she free them from their oaths without ensuring their welfare. By the time they'd arrived, the dream itself had already been and gone here.
She watches as one of the men comes in to talk to Tansu's mother, a feather light touch on his magic shows that he also has oaths stretching back to his childhood, but they're not twisting and snarling his magic the way they are for the women. Biting back a snarl, she hardens her heart, the entire household will be taken with her, and she will seek sanctuary for the women and children. The men, the men will be left to the justice of whatever court she finds.
When the afternoon arrives, a robed woman is let into the Harem and once the door is closed she bars it and disrobes. Another brief touch shows her that it's not just this family that is afflicted by the same pattern of oaths. Discretely snipping a tassel off of one if the pillows, she carefully imbues it with a sample of the new woman's magic before pocketing it. She smiles as her presence continues to go unnoticed. The Human method of viewing your magic does indeed have it's perks, even if it's less natural to use it that way.
As the women start to go to sleep one by one, the slightest touch of magic sends them deeper and ensures that they'll stay there. Once the last one is asleep, she places Tansu with them and moves out into the rest of the house, carefully dismantling the spells that are littered throughout the corridors and doorways. One by one she knocks out each of the men until she reaches the Father's room. There she hears a female giggle and squeal of pleasure along with a masculine grunt. She waits patiently until he climaxes before she knocks both of them out.
Once she's transported all of the men into the Harem, she checks the woman for any oaths. To her surprise she only finds a few, one of which shows frequent signs of renewal. Stopping to think for a while, she extracts a little water from the woman's body and causes the pressure in the brain to increase slightly before she looks out of one of the windows, then transports her to a distant rooftop with all of her stuff.
Once she's ready to leave, she frowns as she realises that there are more people than she has bands. Frowning she casts her magic gently through the house looking for the tell tale snarls the indicate iron. She's almost ready to start tearing cabinets apart when she finds a large amount under the house. Jumping into an open space near by she stills as she realises that she's in a prison of some kind. There seems to be a mixture of non-magical male and female humans here, with the males chained naked to the walls, and the women chained in compromising positions on various things around the room. Screwing her emotions down to deal with later, she unchains all of them, and carefully moves those that can still be saved up to the Harem along with the chains. She roughly manacles the men using the same chains as the people she found in the prison area. Carefully she places an iron band on the wrists of the magical women.
Carefully extending her magic around all of the humans she waits until the dream opens up before taking them all out of the deep desert. Pausing to catch her breath and release the constraints she has on her magic, she expands her magic out again before pulling all of them to the Sidhe World. As she goes deeper she casts her senses out looking for dangers to both her and her charges. It is simple enough to drive off the few predators she finds in the lesser fae realms, though complicated by the need to keep pulling the humans with her.
As she hoped, she doesn't arrive inside a court's holdings, as that would have lead to a fight she couldn't win. Finding the traces of a court beacon isn't hard, and there's one closer than she'd expected. Jumping with this many people and associated iron is hard, but she perseveres, and safely lands outside a court she doesn't recognise. Moving down the paved path she sits cross-legged in front of the party and places her sword on the floor in front of her.
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It doesn't take long for an enforcer to head out from the Court and stop within easy shouting distance. Taking in her posture and the fact that she has placed her sword on the ground he sheaths his own sword and takes up a similar position in front of her.
The enforcer bows his head slightly, "Hail traveller, what business do you have that requires the customs of sanctuary to be observed."
"I am the Hearth Mistress of the Yewglisten clan, I wish to speak with your Hearth Mistress in Parlay or be directed to a court in this area," she indicates an area back where she arrived, "that has a Hearth Mistress."
"Honoured Hearth Mistress, we do not have a Hearth Mistress of our own. Allow me to share the History of the Star Bound court, they have a Hearth Mistress."
"Thank you enforcer, I would be grateful."
Standing she steps over her sword and inclines her forehead. Seeing that she's observing the customs the enforcer stands and passes over the memory of where she is to jump to. With a glance to the human stock on the ground behind her, he sighs at the loss of good breeding stock but the customs must be observed, lest their clan be declared oath breakers. Turning, he returns to the court to report the traveller.
Moving back to her position in the centre of the group she again spreads her magic out and makes a jump to the court beacon. When she arrives she staggers to one side before catching herself. Carefully picking her way towards the court, she sits down in the same position as before and meditates while waiting for a representative to arrive.
It takes less time than she's like for an enforcer of the court to approach her. Tiredly she opens her eyes.
Like before the enforcer bows her head, "Hail traveller, what business do you have that requires the customs of sanctuary to be observed?"
At least this time is was asked as a question rather than a statement, "I am the Hearth Mistress of the Yewglisten clan, I wish to speak with your Hearth Mistress in Parlay or be directed to a court in this area that has a Hearth Mistress."
"I will return and request our Hearth Mistress. Is there any urgency to this request?"
"We need to work on human timescales for the moment. My apologies in advance for the rush, however my charges cannot wait for the customary times."
Startled the enforcer takes in the humans behind the Hearth Mistress, "I will relay that, though you will need to prove that you're an Elder."
"That I can do."
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The Star Bound court's Hearth Mistress arrives quickly, as it's only just nightfall when she arrives. There are also a dozen enforcers, and what feels like the Oberon.
The Oberon sits in front of her, "Traveller, what need to you have of Sanctuary?"
"Oberon, I wish to share a History to show that I am an Elder of my clan. Once I am done I wish to share Histories with your Hearth Mistress, this will show why I seek sanctuary for those behind me."
"Very well."
Again she stands and steps over her sword before inclining her forehead. The Oberon places his forehead against hers and she shows him the memory of the temptation of Temptation of Children. The Oberon steps back sharply, and in a raw voice says, "Why that History?"
"I have three histories to show your Hearth Mistress, if he chooses to let you view those histories you will have your answer."
"My apologies Hearth Mistress. She is indeed an elder."
Conjuring three crystal vials, she starts to extract three Histories, "This is a method that we learnt from the humans that live in a court called Britian in the deep desert. You just need to take the wisp onto your finger and treat it like any History. The first History is the adoption of Alexia into our clan. The second is the bonding of Sally. The last History, the last history is Tansu's", she indicates Tansu sleeping on the floor, "You will need to view it to understand, I think you will then know why I'm here."
The Star Bound Court's Hearth Mistress takes the first vial and after a few tries pulls the memory onto his finger. Holding it up to his forehead he views the memory quickly. The second is done just as fast. The third takes far longer, and he is shaking by the time it's finished.
As he takes his finger down, she nods gravely, "The other women with the loose iron bands on their wrists are the same if you wish to check."
He nods, and hurries over from one to another, briefly touching each of them. Once he's done, he looks up at her, "Why are these ones unbound?"
She shakes her head and pulls her memory of the previous day from her head, "I have not made this a History yet, but it will help you understand. They were non-magical when I found them."
He carefully takes the memory and views it, while he's doing so she takes the tassel out of her pocket. As he opens his eyes she deposits the tassel into his hand.
"I... Thank you, how did you know?"
"Just because I can't deal with it, doesn't mean I don't want to."
"Oberon, you may view all four of these Histories Mistress Yewglisten has given us. But only with your Titania and your children with you. Enforcers, take the men in manacles to a prison cell, everyone else is to be an Honoured guest until they are blood adopted into one of the clans that make up the court. Mistress Yewglisten, I wish to open my home to you, Tansu and her mother."
"Thank you Mistress Star Bound. May I suggest that your Elders treat them as children, as that is what they are once the oaths are unbound. Children with an adults memories."
"I will advise our Elders and have them woken and treated tonight."
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Tansu wakes up lying on a cushioned floor, as she sits up she sees her mother sleeping nearby.
"Mother!" She calls as she scrambles over to her.
"Tansu, I need to keep her asleep until I've spoken to you."
Tansu turns to look at the Hearth Mistress, and notes that there is a man standing next to her. Remembering that she's not supposed to be around strange men, she looks for somewhere to hide.
"It's OK Tansu, he's the Hearth Mistress of the Star Bound Court."
"But he's a man."
Mistress Yewglisten winces, "We're not human. In English Hearth Mistress translates something like, 'Person that tends to be female that looks after the hearts and souls of' it is then implied if its a family, clan, or court. If there's more than one of us, we would be referred to as Mistress and our clan or court name. So, here I'm Mistress Yewglisten, and he is Mistress Star Bound."
"So he's not a man?"
"Not in that sense, no. Tansu, I need you to translate to your mother for me, as I don't speak her tongue."
"Turkish." Tansu supplies.
"I don't speak Turkish, and Mistress Star Bound doesn't speak English. Can you do that for me?" - Tansu nods, "Also, you are both wearing an iron bracelet. This is to keep you safe on my world as the magic is too high for you to survive if you're not wearing it. I'm going to wake your mother up now."
The pair of them watched a very heartfelt reunion that was conducted entirely in Turkish. Once they stopped talking, Mistress Yewglisten clapped politely.
"Child, we found that Tansu, your child, had many oaths binding her from when she was a human child. We have unbound those oaths from her magic, which is why she is behaving like she is. We cannot leave you with those same oaths, so Mistress Star Bound will remove them with you. All of you will find that you have a new home and family here, and will have a chance to grow to adulthood again."
Once Tansu finishes talking Mistress Star Bound starts walking forward as the woman speaks, "Thank you for freeing my daughter. I'm afraid I must decline your offer of freeing me though."
Mistress Yewglisten smiles a sad smile, and says nothing as her counterpart gently holds her in his magic and gently takes her hand. While that is going on, Tansu comes over and hugs her, "Hearth Mistress, if we have to have a new family, can you be our mother?"
"I," Her voice catches in her throat before she can deny the request, "I cannot deny you as I am responsible for your condition. So if your mother wishes the same, I will blood adopt both of you. If not, you should go with her new family."
"I will, I promise."
She sighs as she touches her forehead to remove that tangle, "You shouldn't make promises unless you really, really mean them, and you really understand what that promise will mean for you. Can you try to remember the feeling you felt when you made that promise."
"I can."
"Once you are able to remember that feeling and stop it when it happens without you meaning for it to, then you are ready to become and adolescent."
"Why?"
"For humans, promises are easy to make and then forget about. Which is why they have special promises called oaths, which are promises they make deliberately with their magic. For us, we have so much more magic that those promises are easy to make and can affect your life forever. Because of this we need to be very careful about what promises we make. Part of growing up is learning how to recognise the accidental promises before they cause problems. After all, if you promised your pet cat that it would stay with you for the rest of your life, it could kill you when it dies of old age or someone kills it."
"Why are they so easy to make?"
"Magic is all about intent, as a human child you didn't have enough magic available to you that your whimsical but serious declarations could affect you that way. The same is true for Sidhe children until they're old enough to hold a conversation. After that their magic starts reacting more in line with their thoughts and continues through till their first magical maturity. When I adopt you I don't know where you will be in your physical development, but I wish you to have time as a child to learn about your new life without any responsibilities. As this is something you had stolen from you before."
It didn't take long after that before Tansu's mother came out of the process of removing her oaths. When she did she looked shaky, but more composed than Tansu had been. There is a quick exchange in Turkish between the two of them, before Tansu sits beside her in a hug.
"My mother wants to know if her sister wife Nuray is here too."
After translating that for Mistress Star Bound, Mistress Yewglisten creates a sheet of parchment along with a quill and ink, "If your mother can read and write, and her sister wife can too, can she write a message for her and we will find her and have here escorted here."
She writes a note, and then gestures for another sheet of parchment, "My mother says that she'd like to write a letter for any of the other women that are here. Also her name is Ege. She thanks you for her freedom."
Another exchange in Turkish leads to Tansu crying into Ege's shoulder again. Mistress Yewglisten moves over to them carefully before sitting down on the other side of Tansu and stroking her back.
"Child, what's wrong?"
Through sniffs, and sniffles Tansu manages to get out, "The woman I forgot, she was my birth mother. My mother's second sister wife. Her refusal reacted badly with one of her oaths and left her new person."
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The Oberon of the Star Bound Court stands on a low dais with his Titania by his side, holding his hand. He looks out over the assembled court with a sombre expression. The full council of Elders is arrayed in front of him in an exceedingly rare display of solidarity. Especially after only a few days, the reason for it draws his eyes, and anger. A motley collection of humans standing in the challenge circle along with a Sidhe from a distant clan. Only his Titania squeezing his hand prevents him from smiting the men where they stand. Taking a deep breath he steps forward with his Titania, memories of losing his first Titania and their children so long ago threatening to overwhelm him.
"Clans of Court Star Bound, the human women standing in front of you are children of our clan. Long ago we as a people suffered a great tragedy, one so great that it cost us most of our children and nearly all of our clans and courts. As a race we constructed a history of the event, and decided that every Elder of every court, clan, and family must hold this memory so that it can never come to pass again. We also learnt the feel of oaths in our children's magic, and taught them to recognise and control that feeling, while also freeing them from the oaths that all children make innocently.
"Even the practice of leaving changelings was a way to give a child a better life. The Hearth Mistress of the Yewglisten clan came across one such child. A Human child who had their innocence of the world used against them by the person that was supposed to care for them and bring them up to be complete people that can contribute to their society. This child was lead into slavery by oaths given innocently to her father, one step at a time. This elder took the child back to their home and found that the child wasn't an isolated individual, every female child in the house was afflicted the same way, even the child's mother. At great risk to herself and her charges she brought the entire household to an unknown territory trusting in our traditions to both keep herself and her charges alive.
"Would the Elders that treated these women please speak about what you found."
Mistress Star Bound steps forward and speaks about the oaths that bound both Ege and Nuray, and just how young they both were when they took the first oaths. Once he finishes five other Elders step forward and give very similar stories.
"Tansu would you please come forward with your mothers and Mistress Yewglisten."
He can't help but smile as he sees that Tansu is so caught up in translating for the other humans that she doesn't realise that she is to go up until Ege pushes her forward.
"Tansu, I am told that you asked Mistress Yewglisten to be your Sidhe mother. She agreed as long as your mother chose her as well. Will you tell me what the decision was?"
He watches as Tansu has a spirited conversation with Mistress Yewglisten, who then leans down to whisper into her ear. A broad smile crosses his face when Tansu says "They said ceirw."
A muffled laugh travels around the court as the statement reminds them of so many children that make similar mistakes with the difference between that word and the word for a formal yes. He conjures a sheet of parchment that holds the oaths that he will require the Hearth Mistress to make before he allows the adoption to take place. There is plenty of space between each oath for her to write a translation.
"I would ask that you translate these for the humans so that they understand what you are promising. As you are an Elder and a Hearth Mistress in addition to that, I must also ask you to take the last oath before I can allow the adoption to take place." He raises his voice to address the humans, "Before one of us is allowed to adopt a child they need to take an oath that they will raise the child as if it was their own and teach them our customs and traditions. As Mistress Yewglisten is also an Elder of her clan, she will be required to take an additional oath to put her adopted children before her oaths as an elder until they have taken their oaths of adulthood. Those of you who were prisoners will also have a place in our court, we will assign you surrogate parents. If, once you can speak and understand our language, you wish for them to be your adopted family you will be able to request it of both your family and the court. I'm sorry that we cannot allow you to return to your homes, when you were brought here you were all dying. Just by coming here you developed the same magic that we use. If we allowed you to return before you were able to use that magic, it would be like allowing a small child to run around with a sharp sword. Eventually, you would harm yourself or the people around you without realising. We will be putting the men of the household to inquisition before they can succumb to iron-sickness. Those that have done nothing against our laws except those things driven by their own oaths will be freed and brought into the clan like these women are. The others will have their restraints removed."
Tansu tugs his clothes and says something in both English and Turkish. Mistress Yewglisten translates for her, "Tansu asks if you could do her father before her adoption just in case she can't be here afterwards."
The Oberon looks to his Titania who nods before moving to the Challenge Circle. After having the man pointed out, she levitates him into the air above the court and projects an illusion around the ceiling. She then dives into his mind and finds each oath he's made, starting from the most recent, and displays the memory of the oath been taken above him, and each memory that the oath is connected to arrayed around him. There is an oath of service to the Emperor, an oath of secrecy to the same. Oaths of marriage to each of his three wives, along with memories of nights spent with whores after the third wife had to be sent away, with the justification that he is protecting the other two wives from the same fate. Then they start to arrive at oaths that were taken in his youth or as a child, these are linked to each of the oaths that Tansu had to take growing up, and a baby boy that he threw from a cliff for some reason. Ege bursts into tears when she sees that scene. Finally there is a single oath that he takes as a child that is linked to 5 other oaths he took before he came of age.
"By our laws and customs, this man cannot be held guilty for those crimes we have just seen. Our Titiana will now go through each of his memories crimes will be shown around him as before. All of these crimes will have been committed with no influence from his oaths. While there are infamous courts amongst our peoples, such as the Seelie and Unseelie courts, where our customs have been eroded so much that other sentients are seen as animals and can be treated as such. Our court has never sunk that low and never will."
This time she starts at the beginning of his life and moves forward, images flickering above him as if a fast forward view of his life. When the first memory is removed to be shown around him, he has left home already and is perusing a job with their enforcers. He goes out drunk with a few friends and finds some non-magical homeless people and uses banishers on them with the others. Similar scenes are pulled out one by one, until he goes out on his own and sees a foreign woman wearing a modest skirt and blouse walking the street. Silencing her, he binds her with magic before dragging her behind a repelling charm and raping her. Once he's done he erases her memory and after a brief cleaning charm leaves her there.
From there a pattern emerges that shows that he is a kind and caring man if you're magical. But to those without magic he is a sociopathic monster. Tansu buries her head in her mothers shoulder rather than continuing to watch, as she had hoped that she would be able to have her father as well.
Finally, there are scenes with the prisoners that were brought to the court. The Titania steps back, tears streaming down her face before she walks over to the ex-prisoners, then in broken Turkish she makes an oath, "I have seen what he put you through. I swear that as long as I am Titiana you and your children will always have a home here. We will help you to heal from what has been done to you."
As she makes her way back to her Oberon he says, "We can all see this mans crimes, are there any here that believe that enough of them have sufficient doubt to require direct questioning."
One of the ex-prisoners calls out, "I'd like to know why."
Pulling her mate into a hug the Titania sadly translates the question before answering it, "I can answer that, he didn't see you as people. You were just vermin to be played with or killed at his whim. The only reason he wasn't more overt is fear of a secrecy law."
The Oberon sighs, "Clear the circle. Enforcers, remove his manacles."
Mistress Yewglisten applies a silencing field to Tansu's head before her father starts to scream. She then places a comforting arm around Ege and Nuray before watching his death impassively. He screams for a long time as his magic forces it's way out of his body beyond any techniques he has to control it. His skin splits and tears like frozen pipes bursting, leaving his muscles and blood vessels visible to the court. Finally, blood leaks from his eyes and ears and his cries die down to nothing as he expires. All of the humans that watched are left looking shocked, and those that have iron on them check to ensure that it's still there and secure.
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Once the court has been cleaned up and the humans have regained their composure, the Oberon again stands in front of the three humans that will be adopted by Mistress Yewglisten. His Titania stands next to him, eyes still damp with tears. Taking Mistress Yewglistens hands in his own he takes her oaths.
"Hearth Mistress of the Yewglisten clan, do you swear to take these three as your own. To raise them as if you gave birth to them. To teach them our customs and traditions?"
"I do swear."
"Hearth Mistress of the Yewglisten clan, do you swear to put your childrens needs before your oaths as an Elder and Hearth Mistress until such time as they take their oaths of adulthood?"
"I do swear."
"Hearth Mistress of the Yewglisten clan, do you swear that if Tansu's birth mother is found, you will take her as your own child along with any children further children she may have, as you are these others."
Mistress Yewglisten thinks for a moment, "I Hearth Mistress of the Yewglisten clan swear that if Tansu's birth mother is found and wishes to join our family as my child with her sister wives, I will accept her with her children as I have accepted them, and raise them as I have sworn to raise them."
As the Oberon releases her hands, the Titania takes over speaking in broken Turkish, "You will be given blood adoption potion in moment. While potion working will remove iron, should allow you adapt to magic here. If not we put iron back on before too harmed, then take where no need iron. New mother will then slowly bring you back here as get used to new magic."
Ege steps forward, "I am the first wife, it is my duty to protect the other women. Let me go first so that they can see it work."
"But Mum," Tansu whines, "I don't want to lose you as well as Father."
"My beautiful child, I am your mother. It is my job to put myself in harms way if it will protect you. I don't need any oaths to tell me that. If it doesn't work it won't kill me, they will just know what to do to keep the rest of you safe."
Three potions are brought out in three shallow bowls on a golden tray. Taking one of the potions Mistress Yewglisten opens a vein on the back of her hand and allows a healthy amount to pour into the potion before she heals the wound. Turning to Ege, she holds out the potion.
"I don't want you to replace the iron until I start showing wounds." With that comment Ege drinks the potion in one go. When she lowers the bowl, Mistress Yewglisten takes the bowl and the iron band from her and fights her instincts to put it straight back on as she starts to scream.
As she writhes on the floor screaming in pain, her body seems to shrink in on itself as it changes. She goes from a human woman in her 40's to a young girl just entering her teens. Her fingernails dig halfmoon circles into her palms that heal almost as quickly as they're made. But there is no ripping or tearing of her skin. Eventually the changes finish, and her screams turn into sobs as her new mother easily scoops her up into a hug. As the memory of the pain is buried under the wave of endorphin like rush, her sobs slow and stop and she fights to stay awake.
Tapping her mother on the arm, she points to the floor. Once she is standing on the floor, she looks up at her new mother with eyes that look like a sunset, with the outer ring the red of the sky, and the inner ring the orange of the sun just about to dip below the horizon. Turning to the other women she forces a smile on her face.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. It's a little worse than giving birth, but quicker."
The other two adoptions go the same way, with Nuray appearing to be slightly older than Ege, while Tansu appears to be around the same as an 8 year old child. Their new mother takes them back to the house they used last night so that they can rest and sleep.
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A prostitute wakes up naked on a roof as the first rays of the sun hit her exposed skin. Sitting up groggily she clutches her head as she looks around and examines her surroundings. Spying her possessions she quickly dresses before she apparates home.
"Fuck, I got stiffed. At least he was nice enough to leave me with the memory of the sex."