Frayed Knots

by FountainPenguin

"It's not my problem if you're embarrassed, Anti-Cosmo," H.P. said as I hugged my shoulders. He scratched his chin. "Hm. I suppose there's no help for it. If you honestly and truly want to wear a hat, then you'll have to secure a high position of power so no one ever dares to say anything about it that's negative in the least." (Written August 2016 - Ongoing)

23. Age-Old Story

A/N - This chapter parallels the Origin of the Pixies chapters "Playing With the Big Kids" and "What Karma Is"

(Posted January 8, 2019)

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Age-Old Story

In which we wrap up Julius's childhood over the course of many years

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In the end, Mr. Whimsifinado, Anti-Fergus, and their respective runaway pixies were detained. My wands were not returned to me that evening, nor the next, nor the next after that. Unless I wished to return to Anti-Fairy World without them, I was effectively grounded.

Juandissimo was kind enough to open his home to me, which was at least some comfort. He lived in a sort of… boarding house not far from the Eros Nest, where he introduced me first to a large, scowling drake with incredibly red hair and a face full of freckles (his step-father?) and then to his actual father: a thin, dark-eyed drake who always slumped a bit forward as though exhausted by the weight of existing. Jean and Luis Magnifico. I longed to question the bloke about the genie who had granted him his triple offspring, but Juandissimo's unspoken signals in the energy field warned against it. For once, I held my tongue.

"Julius Anti-Lunifly," I introduced myself that first evening, careful to make the Fairy greeting with my hands. "I work with Juandissimo at the Eros Nest."

"An anti-fairy?" Jean asked sceptically, sizing me up. I straightened my wings.

"Yes, drake. The Triplets took a liking to me." Well… two of the three, anyway.

Jean's eyes flicked away from me. Instead, they locked on the fairy slipping down the corridor towards the kitchen. He cocked his head. "Luis? Where are you going?"

Luis paused, then turned back to face him. "I thought… I might begin supper, señor?"

"Your offspring is fully capable of doing that. You have a job to do." Jean pointed down the corridor he and Luis had emerged from. "Now, plant your tail end in that bed and stay there until we're finished."

Juandissimo flinched, although I think I was the only one who noticed.

"Sí, Señor Reddinski," Luis mumbled, and scurried off as instructed. Before following, Jean fixed his eyes on me again.

"You may stay here a few nights until you get your wand back, Julius. Luis' child will show you where you can sleep and which washroom you can use. He knows his way around. Don't pester me with questions he can easily answer. Blow out the candles before you fall sleep. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," I said, running mental calculations regarding his family name. Jean grunted and retreated back along the corridor. The door slammed shut. With a shudder, Juandissimo floated into the kitchen and began to pull food from the cupboards.

"Well," I said, hanging my coat by the door, "your parents seem, um… loving."

Juandissimo gave me a strange sideways look, clutching a can of tuna in one hand. "My parents?"

"Yes, they've raised a fine drake, so I'm certain there's a very… healthy relationship between them. It's good. They're good."

"Oh," he said, still looking confused.

Upon my return to work, Dm. Charite summoned me back to the control room. "The report on Vesuvius and Krakatoa," she said, handing me a piece of parchment. I glanced over it, reading the names of their relatives and the hormones that were of interest to the Eroses. When I reached the bottom of the paper, I was beside myself with glee. Two words were printed plainly there: Fertile arrow.

"Oh, smashing! So they'll have little candles, then?"

"Maybe." The same cryptic reply she'd given me earlier. "The arrow was fertile, as many are, but it's no guarantee Krakatoa's litter will survive to birth."

"But of course they will! I have faith in you, Dm. Charite." Still smiling at the report, I settled back on the sofa and began to copy some notes myself.

About two hours into my work, the crystal ball on the low table beside me began to swirl with grey mist. I blinked and looked at it. Then over my shoulder at Dm. Charite.

"Answer it, Julius," she said, obviously sensing the magic in the air even though she wasn't looking. She shot another arrow through a nearby screen. "Asher normally does it, but you're filling in for him. Only heads of state and Council members have the serial number to contact that ball, so it's sure to be important."

Er… All right, then. If that's what she wished of me. I set my quill aside and rubbed the crystal until the mists within it cleared up to reveal a drakian face with distinctly straight-cut, squarish features and a wide, rounded nose. I pricked up my ears. Mr. Whimsifinado? He no longer wore the ragged clothes I remembered from nine months ago. He dressed in a smooth grey suit, his large hat tugged low enough over his head that his cowlicks and fuzzy sideburns were the only part of his hair that I could see. He stared at me, blank-faced, then flipped his hands over so his palms faced the ceiling.

"Uh, what? Isn't this the Eros line?"

"Oh." Because I was an anti-fairy. I smoothed the front of my shirt. "So sorry. Yes, I'm running communication for the Triplets today. Can I help you?"

His eyelids lowered slightly, which turned his look of confusion quickly to a look of boredom and resignation. His fingers came together in a steeple beneath his chin. "This is the Head Pixie. May I speak to whichever Eros Triplet is awake and not performing their shift? Charite, right? It's important."

I paused. The term 'Head Pixie' didn't ring any bells, but I didn't have to ask to figure out that he must be the pixie race's equivalent of the High Count. I wondered if the cherubs had stripped him of his title while he stayed in the Nest, or if he'd only ascended to the position in the last few days. Then I wondered if Mister's father had been Head Pixie before him, and if the Eroses hadn't released him with the rest of the pixies. Perhaps he'd inherited the position by default…

In any case, I nodded and left to find Drk. Ludell. He was only a corridor over, giving his nephews a strict reprimand on confronting danger unsupervised, while they hung their heads. Drk. Cupid didn't look well. A blot of black had swollen on his neck, and traces of dark liquid ran across his skin in patterns like veins. He stood on the floor while his younger brothers remained airborne, staring at his feet and saying nothing. Not even 'Yes, sir.'

When I mentioned the name 'Head Pixie,' Drk. Ludell shot for the control room. The young triplets took one look at me and scrambled off in the other direction. That left me alone with a few moments to myself.

I wonder…

If I moved quickly, Dm. Charite wouldn't even notice that I'd gone. I reached automatically for my wand, only to find my sheath empty. Right. So I flew along the employee access corridors instead, until I reached the one behind the pixie enclosure. Not finding any sign of a breeding cabin, I flew to one of the lower metal platforms and searched for this mysterious drake from there. I turned up nothing. Not even their signature species identifier of rustling paper in the energy field.

Hmm.

That afternoon, Drk. Ludell returned the wands Anti-Fergus had stolen from me, and I was able to poof home at last. When I materialised outside the gate, I was assaulted at once by half a dozen voices and easily a dozen arms.

"Happy Winter Turn!" my crechemates cried, rubbing their heads against mine. My jaw fell open.

"What? Is that today? I… I'd hoped to join the decorating committee."

Mona giggled and motioned for Ashley to come forward. "Holiday havoc hardly hails yet. We realise it's traditional to keep presents below the trellis until after suppertime, but we just couldn't wait. You'll see."

My friends pressed close around me. Puzzled but intrigued, I removed the lid from the simple crate to reveal a small black animal with a dash of white across her chest. Two wispy Fairy wings fluttered at her shoulders. A golden crown floated between her ears. I gasped, hands flying to my mouth. The crate's lid thudded to the grass.

"A kitten!"

"Cat sith," clarified the cat sith, indicating her crown with her forepaw. She leapt from the box and landed on Anti-Kanin's shoulder, tail waving. At her firm clarification, my eyes flicked up and down her lanky form.

"Oh. Er… I'm terribly sorry. I didn't realise. I mean, with no offense intended, you are a bit small and short-haired for a traditional cat sith."

"I'll grow quite large with all the souls I'll devour before adulthood," she assured me, springing from Anti-Kanin's shoulder to mine.

"With all the what you what?" Harold asked, reeling back his head. "I thought that was a Daoist myth."

The cat sith laughed a purring laugh, flicking her tail back and forth. Her forepaw moved to the white patch on her chest. "Oh, it's merely a metaphor. Hello, Julius. My name is Jasmine. I'm a certified emotion-linker, and I'm here to be your soothing companion for as long as you should require my services. Dr. Applespark sent me to comfort you whenever you feel anxious. Hm! I'd like to see old Whimsifi-nada manage that." Between licks across the pink bean-shaped pads on the underside of her paw, she muttered, "The drugs he prescribes may be ethically sourced these days, but his worldviews certainly aren't, let me tell you."

"Uh…" Harold pointed a claw at Jasmine's crown, shuffling two steps backward. "Did anyone else hear her say she devours souls?"

"Only metaphorically," I said, pressing my clasped hands to my mouth. I couldn't hold back my delight a moment longer. Imagine- a companion animal of my very own! Oh, I'd always longed to have one! Unable to resist, I took her in my arms and buried my nose in the spiked fur at the back of her neck. Jasmine relaxed in my arms like a puddle, a low purr vibrating her entire form.

Mona slipped her hands in her pockets. "I know you weren't sure about another Fairy therapist, but when this Holly Applespark dame called Anti-Elina and asked if you'd be interested in a personal comfort specialist, how could we refuse?"

My eyes welled up with tears. I threw my free arm around Mona and pressed my forehead against hers. "Thank you. Thank you. I love her already."

Harold flung up his hands, the gaping sleeves of his robe dropping to his shoulders. "Am I seriously the only one concerned about this?"

Jasmine twisted to peer at him over her shoulder. "Listen," she said, "it's a metaphor."

And that was the end of his complaining.

My friends allowed me the afternoon alone with Jasmine, so we might sit on Sunnie's blue footbridge in the rear garden and get to know one another better. She instructed that I kneel while she groomed my face with her tongue, and by the time she'd finished, I felt peacefully safe. Cradling her against my shoulder, I entered the Castle and flew up the stairs to the third floor.

"Help!" I heard before I even reached the landing. The voice was young and desperate. I blinked and peered down the corridor. To my surprise, a young pixie stood in front of my study door, caught beneath the sprig of mistletoe I'd hung up a mere week before. After setting Jasmine down, I stopped in front of the child and folded my arms behind my back.

"Well, well, well. It appears my little trap has caught a little mouse. Don't you know better than to wander Anti-Fairy World this time of year without peering up at the ceiling as you go?"

"I'm stuck," he sobbed, pounding against the walls of an invisible cage. "I can't leave."

I sighed and took my hands from behind me. "All right. Let me help. What's your name?"

"C-Caudwell… Rice ran up here, and I didn't want him to get lost, s-so I followed him…"

I crouched on my heels and held out my left hand, palm up. Sniffling, Caudwell lay his on top, palm down. I made eye contact with him. "Now, this is how you escape a mistletoe trap. I say aloud, I like you as a friend." Then, clasping his fingers, I rotated our hands so they were reversed, with mine palm-down on his. "Allow this hex to end."

The sound of a lock clicking open shimmered through the energy field. The pixie stumbled forward, then realised he'd managed to escape. He shot inside my study without pausing to thank me, his wings kicking up a low buzz behind him. I shook my head and waited inevitably for him to run out again. When he did, he was holding a scruffy grey cù sith in his arms. I'd never seen such a small cù sith before, with eyes, head, and wings too big for the rest of its body. Its tail pressed down between its hind legs. Jasmine hissed and slid behind my feet. Caudwell ran directly beneath the mistletoe trap, hit the invisible wall again, and bounced back on the floor. When he looked about in alarm, I clenched my eyelids shut and suppressed a sigh.

"Let's try this again. This time, I shall explain. Do you see this plant?" I gestured upwards with a wave of my hand. "This is mistletoe. Mistletoe is a fascinating parasite because its berries operate as a symbol of bad luck while its leaves operate as one of good, making it the only charm in the business of luck and karma with loyalties which never fluctuate. Its position as a symbol of neutrality remains constant, whether one believes in its abilities or not, so we Anti-Fairies are not harmed by the aura it produces. In addition to being a lucky charm, mistletoe is also a symbol of fertility, and I'm interested in its amorous properties because…"

I trailed off, my hand still hanging in the air. I hardly noticed when the cù sith muttered the rhyme to cancel the hex and Caudwell scampered from his cell. There, on the floor of my study, lay the vial containing Ilisa's sperm and the canister containing Juandissimo's eggs. Outside of their frozen bubble. Split open and spilled.

I screeched. It's a wonder the whole castle didn't hear it and come poofing. Diving into my study and falling to my knees, I scraped what precious little remained of either canister towards me, dying liquid pooling in my hands. I looked about for some place to store what I'd saved, and in desperation, bubbled the feeble amount of liquid anew and stored it inside the empty chamber in my forehead, where once I had held Liloei. Jasmine pressed fearfully against my side.

"I-it was an accident," said the cù sith, stepping towards me.

I wouldn't hear it. Whipping around, I tore my wand from my sheath and chased after the fleeing beast. His paws scrambled for purchase on stone, and he yipped the entire way down the hall.

"BRING YOUR SORRY TAIL BACK HERE, YOU FILTHY MUTT! I'LL RIP OFF YOUR PELT AND USE IT TO LINE MY PILLOWCASE, AFTER I STUFF A PILLOW WITH YOUR STILL-WRITHING INNARDS AND TIE IT SHUT WITH THE CORDS OF YOUR FAGIGGLY GLAND, DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

"Calming breaths," Jasmine shrieked, clinging to my shoulder with her forepaws, the rest of her body flapping behind me like a flag.

Upon reaching the first floor of the Castle, the cù sith flew right to the door of the camarilla court's dining room and scratched his paws against it. If the sorry sap who'd let him upstairs was in there, then I intended to give him a piece of my mind. Without hesitation, I whipped out my wand and blew the whole door up with a blast of yellow magic. CRACK! The backlash sent both me and the cù sith flying back into the half-wall created by the staircase. Jasmine scrambled to maintain a hold on my shoulder, her black fur now sprinkled with wood shavings and spiked like a brush-hog's. By the time the smoke and dust cleared away, I had hopped back to my feet, clenching the wriggling mutt beneath my arm. I shouted something unintelligible even to me… and stopped.

Oh, you have to be yanking my wing.

At the far end of the camarilla's dining room, Mr. Whimsifinado, or the Head Pixie, or whatever he called himself, sat at the head of the table with his hands wrapped over the edge so only his fingertips pressed against the top. What I could make out of his expression from across the room was blank, but the flickering buzz of his wings against his chair despite the fact that he was sitting down placed his mood somewhere between interested and uneased. Good smoke, that chap moves about fast, doesn't he? In less than a week, he'd moved out of the Eros Nest, contacted me from a distant scry bowl, and now he was here?What did he do all day? Divine my future location and race me to it just to watch me squirm?

Anti-Bryndin sat in the seat of second-most honour at the Head Pixie's left. Clearly, the Head must be at karmic equilibrium. I wondered if he'd already offered the High Count his karmic blessing, or if that was yet to come. Thank Rhoswen I hadn't interrupted that pretty little scene…

"Oh," I squeaked, letting go of the rascally cù sith (He wasted no time in scurrying under the dining table). I covered my mouth and shrank into my wings. "You have… company."

"This is the truth," Anti-Bryndin said, with eerie calm. His half-lidded eyes sized me up where I stood, trembling, in the doorway. He lifted a spoonful of soup to his lips.

My ears caught on imaginary fire. Of course he had company. I'd found a young pixie wandering the Castle, so a simple matter of deduction could have predicted the Head Pixie himself would be here, and if he was here at suppertime, then of course he would be in the camarilla's front dining room rather than the great hall.

Jasmine leaned her body against my head, and frankly, her reassuring presence was all that granted me power to speak. "Please don't let coin sith into my study," I whimpered, and fled the dining room without waiting to hear the reply. I didn't even return upstairs. Instead, I tore through the Castle corridors, rushing through assorted reading and card rooms, and finally stopped in the building's rear to lean forward and clutch my knees.

"Oh gods," I choked out. My tail twitched. My hands slid up my arms to my shoulders, and I squeezed myself in a hug while dropping to my knees. "I'm going to be punished for this. And my mother's sure to hear word soon, so then I shall be punished again. And then my crechemates shall tease me, and I'll never be considered a desirable drake, and Mona will leave me, and-"

Jasmine rested her forepaw against my head, just beneath my ear. She said nothing, only listened while I spiralled into frantic nerves, but the gentle thrum of her purr tracing through my skin eventually soothed me into silence. I pulled the cat sith into my lap and clutched her close, rubbing my cheek into her petal-soft fur.

I avoided the Head Pixie and his brood to the best of my abilities for the rest of the evening- which, once Anti-Bryndin assigned me to nymphsitting duty so he might give the Head a tour of the Castle, wasn't very well at all. He'd brought nine pixies with him to the Castle. I looked at Jasmine and Mona, who both looked back at me.

"I'll watch the puppy," Mona volunteered.

"Eh…" The cù sith, sitting on his haunches, tilted his forepaw back and forth in the air. "I'm into Anti-Fairies, and you're not my type, sweetums."

With that settled, Jasmine and I gathered up the nine young pixies who were visiting us for Winter Turn and herded them all out into the courtyard. I kept them entertained by playing a game of "Race to fetch the weeds I describe," which was a brilliant way to catch up on my chores, if I do say so myself.

Perhaps an hour into our game, my ears detected approaching wingbeats, tiny pawsteps, and the jingle of a certain metal star charm, and swivelled back. "You're really good at entertaining kids for a juvenile," the Head Pixie said, coming up behind me. I noticed the undersized cù sith padding after him, nearly swallowed by the long grass. Mona wasn't with them. I straightened up, folding my arms behind my head as Jasmine faced the cù sith with a hiss.

"Oh, you know what they say. Nine's a handful, ninety's an armful, wot?"

He arched just one eyebrow above his glasses. "Ten."

"Ten?" Did he say he'd brought ten pixies to the Castle today? My mind flashed back to the last time I'd seen the group gathered in front of me, just a moment ago. "I… counted nine."

The Head Pixie tilted his head very slightly. "Behind you."

Puzzled, I glanced over my shoulder, and promptly leapt out of my skin. Literally… fae can do those sorts of silly things, sometimes. "Ah!" There, hovering low behind me, wings beating in absolute silence, offering me a scraggly weed, was an owl-eyed pixie with ghostly pale skin. "I did not hear you coming, child." In my defence, Jasmine and the Head Pixie's mutt were growling at one another, and that affected my detection abilities.

The Head Pixie, it turned out, had arrived at the Castle by flying carpet. As he and I shepherded the children onto it, I glanced at the young pixie's silent wings. My eyebrows shot up. His wings weren't shaped quite like those of his brethren, which were naturally ragged instead of smooth-cut like his. Someone had artificially clipped the traditional pixie squareness into an unnatural rounded shape. A distinctly will o' the wisp shape. Who would have access or authority-?

… Dm. Venus. This was the clumsy pixie nymph from the Eros Nest enclosure.

But why would she do such a thing? To grant the child incredibly silent flight for no discernible reason? To make his wings more aesthetically appealing so she might show him off to her Alien friends, even though in doing so she'd be presenting an inaccurate neotype of their species? Or…

My eyes rotated over to the Head Pixie, who was continually picking up one pixie and sitting him down on the flying carpet, even though the pixie would repeatedly get up and walk off it again. After I'd left the pixies to observe the genies, Juandissimo had informed me that the Head Pixie had begun "acting rashly and injuring his drones to the point the Triplets moved him to solitary confinement for a time." Had Dm. Venus threatened the child to scare his caretaker back into line? Fairy wings lacked the nerves to feel pain, but artfully clipping them would be an effective warning…

"Anti-Bryndin seems neat," the Head Pixie said, oblivious of my fixation with the little pixie.

"What?" I muttered. The cù sith (the Head Pixie called him Rice) had made a move towards Jasmine, which she responded to with a slash of claws. It only seemed to amuse him, and he took to chasing her among the hedges and statues in the courtyard in a lazy, teasing way. "Oh, yes, he makes a fine High Count. We all think so- Anti-Elina especially, of course."

The Head Pixie leaned back on his heels, slipping his hands into his pockets. "So, which of his wives is the one he married on purpose, and which is the one he makes babies with?"

My ears went stiff. Very slowly, I rotated them around. "Excuse me?"

He glanced over at me. "I've just always wondered. It's not something we really talk about on our side of the Barrier. So? Which is which?"

I picked up a nymph in a hexagonal exoskeleton who kept chewing on my foot with intent to devour. "Sir, I hope you realise that I am coming from a humble place. Before I answer that question, might I… offer you some advice that I think would benefit you as you familiarise yourself with Anti-Fairy culture?"

The Head Pixie tilted his head towards his left shoulder. "If you think this is the right time for it. Shoot me."

I hoped that "Shoot" was synonymous with "Proceed."

Oh, gods. Was this the right time for it? Someone had to talk to him before we were all too mortified stiff to keel over. I cleared my throat and brushed my hair behind one ear.

"Right, yes. Of course. Head Pixie, do you know what my name is?"

"We were never formally introduced."

Oof.

"I gave you a tour when you visited Sugarslew just before you bought it out," I prompted, wincing as the nymph's gums discovered my ear.

A spark of recognition flickered in his eyes. "Right. Wait. Wait. I know this." He snapped his fingers. "Yes. You're Anti-Cosmo. My first drone was named Cosmo. That's easy to remember."

Oh. Smashing, that. I decided to try a different approach.

"I've noticed that you call your nephew Mister by a different name when addressing him than you do when introducing him."

"Which one?"

"What?"

He stared at me. Fierce. Guarded. Unblinking. "All my pixies. They're all named Mister. Which one are you referring to?"

"I thought…" I blinked, pressing a knuckle inside the mouth of the chewing nymph. "What? They're all named what?"

"They're all named Mister," he said again. "I taught them to introduce themselves as 'Mr.' for specific reasons."

"Oh. So we might have a point in common after all. Good. Now, is there a certain age in Pixie culture where young pixies are forever after referred to specifically by their second name, instead of Mister?" I'd read once that in Refracted culture, most children were addressed simply as "Son" and "Daughter," and one's partner as either "Dear Husband" or "Dear Wife." Since so many Refracts grew up without knowing the name of their hosting counterpart, names were not all that important in their society. Perhaps "Mister" was what Pixies called their nymphs in a similar fashion.

The Head Pixie thought about my question for a moment, then put out his foot to trip Rice as he raced by. The cù sith went sprawling face-first in the dirt, his rump in the air. "Mmm… Nope. I call my pixies by whichever name I want when I feel like it."

Well, this was going everywhere except the direction I'd intended. I took my hand from the nymph (who groped for it and made little "Ah- ah- ah!" noises) and pinched the bridge of my nose. "All right. Well. Surely you can think of certain distinct situations in Pixie culture" - I made a point of emphasizing the word 'culture" - "when it would be appropriate to address a pixie as strictly one name or the other. Something tied integrally to the etiquette traditions of your culture, when you absolutely wouldn't want a mistake made."

"Of course. When I want to single one pixie out, I refer to him by his given surname." He watched Jasmine leap a rock to a statue and land upon my shoulder. "When I want the attention of all my pixies in the plural form, or when I require a task done but don't care who does it so long as it's done right, I shout for Mister and assign the job to the first one who comes running. They're not that bright, so they always come running."

"So… Mister is a title?"

"Sure. But it's also the name on all their legal birth records in the Eros Nest."

What? I brought two fingers to my temple, careful not to knock Jasmine off. She'd just sat and begun to lick her paws. "Forgive me for speaking so forwardly, sir. But, is there a reason why Pixies chose to go that route, and name all nymphs Mister for life instead of using the word as a temporary title?"

The Head Pixie thought for a second again. Then he lifted his shoulders very slightly and closed his eyes. I had the distinct impression that he chose to roll them behind his lids. "It's funny. It allows me to maintain a professional distance from my kin. I don't want to be accused of nepotism."

Not only that, but it was bound to win him an award for Most Committed Drones one of these days, too.

I supposed I was the last one who should be saying anything about his cultural naming traditions that might offend him, seeing as I so craved respect from him. My fingers slid to cover my eyes. The nymph progressed to chewing on the long curls of my hair. "All right. Well. As an Anti-Fairy under the age of 150,000, it's appropriate to address me by my private name, Julius. Not as Anti-Cosmo. I haven't earned the right to use that name yet. And, once I-"

"Why?"

"Beg your humble pardon?"

The Head Pixie stared at me. "Why do you have to 'earn' the right to use your own name? What do you do besides just hitting the age of 150,000?"

I sighed. "It's our custom. And when I do come of age, then everyone is expected to refer to me as Anti-Cosmo, and only my most intimate partners are allowed to refer to me by my private name. And it should only be in private. Sometimes it slips out, but it's supposed to be a private thing."

"Hmm." He looked up at the sky. "I always thought you Anti-Fairies were supposed to switch to using your real names after you learned them. I always wondered why it took so long for most of you to figure those out."

"Julius is my real name," I somehow managed to say without grinding my teeth. My hands tightened around the nymph. I pulled him from my head and put him down on the flying carpet. I took Jasmine in my arms instead and hugged her to my chest. "It's my private one. I'll use my anti-name in public once I'm 150,000. Until then, please call me Julius. It's considered polite to ask all Anti-Fairies with whom you interact how you ought to address them, rather than making your own assumptions about their age."

"By the time I see you again, your name will be Anti-Cosmo," he said evasively. "So, back to Anti-Bryndin's wives. Which one is which?"

Okay. Okay. Shifting Jasmine to my other side, I drew my wand from my sheath and tapped it against my leg. "All right, then. Why do you want to know?"

The Head Pixie looked at me again. "Because I'm honestly curious about Anti-Fairy culture."

My wand about snapped in my hand right then. Oh. My. Stars. A lump of magic welled up in my throat, but I managed to smooth it down before I lost my temper. Somehow. Somehow. I inhaled through my nose and exhaled between my fangs.

"Anti-Bryndin selected Anti-Elina as his High Countess because of her brilliance and dedication not only to him, but to all our people. Marriage strengthens the bond between them. It's because of their marriage that he is permitted to call her by her private name. Such is the level of intimacy expected between the High Count and Countess. His second wife, Anti-Zoe, is the counterpart of the damsel whom Swanee-Bryndin is currently paired up with. Anti-Bryndin takes care of her out of respect for his counterpart, and marriage was the best way to do that. Winslow, the heir to the High Count seat, resulted from the union between the two of them. My mother, Anti-Florensa, is Anti-Bryndin's primary bodyguard. And… that's why they're married, I suppose. My father never wanted to, so… When Anti-Bryndin asked, she said yes."

The Head Pixie considered my words, counting off points with flicks of his fingers. When he finished, the face he looked at me with was nothing short of perplexed. "Wait. Anti-Florensa is your mother? What does that make you?"

"A noble, of course." I gestured towards my green eyes for emphasis. "I am living here in the Castle, after all."

"Why were you working at that one chocolate factory when we first met?"

My forehead creased. "I needed work. Why do you ask?"

"Because you're a noble. That's kind of weird. Okay. Wait." He lifted one finger. "Let's take this from the top. What species is Anti-Zoe?"

"Anti-korrigan."

The Head Pixie scratched the spiky hair around his ear. "Interesting… In that case, according to the Fairy legal system, you would actually be heir to the High Count seat right now."

A chill trickled down my spine. I tightened my grip on Jasmine's flank. "What?"

"Better believe it. Anti-Bryndin only has three wives, right?"

I didn't even know how to answer that. Fortunately, he didn't wait for me.

"High Countess Anti-Elina is an anti-goblin. This Anti-Zoe person is an anti-korrigan. So among the three, your mother is the only common anti-fairy."

"Yes," I said, more hesitantly.

"Well, in the Fairy legal system, if Anti-Bryndin married your mother, that makes you his adopted son. Legally, you would be considered one of his heirs. Korrigans and goblins are both lower on the social ladder than common fairies are. Your mother outranks them, so as her son, you would be next in line for the High Count seat. Anti-Phillip would only inherit after you."

He meant Winslow. I shook my head, pushing his cù sith away with my foot. "Well, I have an older brother. Anti-Robin. He's… estranged now, and I haven't seen him for millennia, but I imagine he would have to come first."

"Oh. Then you'd inherit after Anti-Phillip. Sorry, dude. That's a rot. But, you're still a prince to me. I think it's interesting to think about how much would change if we swapped legal systems, don't you?" When the Head Pixie looked at me again, it seemed to be with a new layer of respect in his eyes. Flustered, I averted my gaze and fought the cooling in my cheeks.

His comment bit into my skin regardless. Was that really true? In an alternate reality, would I be next in line to inherit the High Count seat? I mean, my brother did flee home, which technically meant he'd renounced his inheritance… So if we still lived in the time before the war, when Anti-Fairies had used the Fairy legal system, would I really be the next…?

I shook my head. Hard. Then I brushed my hands down my shirt. There was no point in dwelling on what could have been. We may have used their system once, but not anymore. We Anti-Fairies may have… altered our law… just before my birth, but that didn't change a thing.

You would be next in line for the High Count seat.

I almost laughed aloud. Me, High Count someday? Haha! How absurd! I mean, certainly I was the most qualified drake for the position, having attended so much school and being brilliant for as long as I have, and of course every child daydreams of lording such power over everyone else, but I could never be a leader! After all, I'd never overseen any ceremonies or attended Council meetings or spoken with ambassadors or had any of the experiences Winslow… had been… handed… just because… he was… reincarnated in a different… body… than… me…

A lump formed at the base of my throat. I turned away from the Head Pixie, wiping the end of my sleeve across my eyes. Stupid, stupid. I wasn't going to be bitter about this. It was pointless to cry over what could have been. All that mattered was the life I was living now.

"Oh," said the Head Pixie, leaning his weight to one side. He nodded slowly in understanding. "Anti-Fairy World only made the switch recently. Anti-Ember only had one kid. You're the first generation the new law affects. Wow. Talk about bad luck."

"Never mind," I said, forcing a smile. I pressed back my ears. "I, um… I was going to talk to you about something."

"Probably. That tends to be a common conversation topic."

"Yes, quite. I, um…" My hand pinched the fluff of my chest beneath my shirt. "Look here, old chap. I… mm. How do I put this… Ah, I appreciate the commentary you bring to every conversation, as I do find your insights rather fascinating, but on occasion, I, er, worry that the Fairy styles of communication are too direct for us, and… My people are rather sensitive to those they haven't yet closely bonded with, you see, and I worry that if you continue speaking up so forwardly here at the Castle, you, um… might offend someone without meaning to."

My own words stung the roof of my mouth, but the Head Pixie didn't even appear phased by my critique. "I'll believe that," he said, tilting his head. "I basically never think about anything I say until it pops out. Well. Thanks. That is the most tactful way I have ever been slayed before. I'll keep that in mind."

My forehead crinkled. "'Slayed'?"

"It's a modern slang term. It means 'put in my place.' 'Corrected.' 'Told off.' The younger generation use it. All the time. Every day."

"Ah."

He shook his head in disbelief and, finally, shut the growling cù sith up with a soft prod to the ribs. "Get with the times, dude."

We loaded his straying pixies on the flying carpet one last time, and while the Head Pixie exchanged parting words with Anti-Bryndin, I recounted them to assure myself we'd gotten them all (That little owl-eyed one was terribly slippery). At last the Head returned and lifted the carpet into the air. I waved them off, and stayed a moment to watch them go. Once the carpet became a speck in the sky, I folded my arms and sighed.

You would be next in line for the High Count seat.

No use wondering about it now. I hugged Jasmine to my chest and flew inside the Castle again, turning through this hall and that one, this den and that.

You would be next in line…

"Anti-Bryndin," I suddenly squeaked, swerving to the side so as not to fly into him. He was holding a small grey box with a black lid, staring at a secret passage door and obviously waiting for someone to open it for him. Curiously, Anti-Buster wasn't around to do so. I remained startled for a moment, then hardened my gaze. "High Count, I've been trapped wandless in Fairy World for days, and I attempted to contact your crystal ball multiple times. I'd hoped you might send help for me, or perhaps provide the funds for a long-distance teleportation."

I did not include the words, You picked up. You said you'd come yourself. You never showed.

Anti-Bryndin looked at me for a few seconds. Then recognition lit his eyes. "Ah, yes! So sorry, Julius. Something came up that day. An emergency thing." He rubbed one of his chimera horns between the pads of his thumb and forefinger and put out his tongue. "The Head Pixie, he was coronated to be Head Pixie then. I had to go and represent the Anti-Fairies at the Lia Fáil, which is the singing Stone of Destiny in the land of Inis Fáil, which is an Earthside place. The sun is not to set on the Stone while a seat among fae ambassadors is open on the Council. I was called, and I could not deny the law. Even if I am very great and full with power."

"Oh." I floated after him as he moved along the corridor, taking the long way around to his office. Lowering my chin to Jasmine's fur, I said, "Well, all right, I suppose that's fair. May I ask what's in the curious Fairy World box, High Count?"

Anti-Bryndin paused at the end of the hall. He glanced to the left. Then to the right. Then he turned around to me. "I should not show you," he said, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "but you can look if you will tell no one."

"Of course." I leaned forward as he eased off the black lid. Two ice candles, one tall and thick and one short and thin, rolled to the front of the box when he tipped it forward. Both were grey, and the patterns up and down their sides were generally squares and hexagons. I furrowed my brow.

"Mourning candles? For the pixies?"

Anti-Bryndin nodded. He pointed to the larger candle. "Head Pixie." His claw moved to the second. "Pixie marquess." Then he replaced the lid. The box went under his arm. "They are new. Not for playing with. Only for dead people. This is good-bye."

He flew around the corner with a hum. "Oh," I said, watching him go. My core flickered in my head, sinking lower. Burning colourful mourning candles to honour the dead was an Anti-Fairy custom. Both the High Count and High Countess kept dozens of them tucked away in their office closets unless they were in use. Once a mourner lit such a candle with their wand, social protocol prevented them from leaving the room until they chose to blow it out, and thus allowed the lingering spirit to progress to their next incarnation free of guilt, they having been granted peace and assurance by the living who mourned them.

The only reason Anti-Bryndin would bring fresh mourning candles back to the Castle was if he had burned the previous ones. The former Head Pixie, perhaps Mr. Whimsifinado's brother… Mister's father… Had he died? Had Mr. Whimsifinado engaged him in gyne combat and killed him the way he'd killed Mickey? Or had he passed somewhere in the depths of the Eros Nest, imprisoned there much as I had been long ago?

"He never flew free again," I murmured, and stayed in the corridor twisting and untwisting the cap of my wand, thinking about that for a long while.

Mona and I made pilgrimage to the Soil Temple the following week. I'd seen sketches of the place before, of course, but I… I'd never seen it from this side before. I knew the place from its back way, far off in Fairy World and both blocked and guarded now. No written sign declared the Temple's identity, but two bronze statues of donkeys - one sleeping, one alert - knelt on either side of the dark… gaping… cave. Two acolytes stood near them, wearing the expected brown, white, and black robes. I hovered at the entrance, staring into the depths of the mountain. It wasn't called the Soil Temple without reason. Twis' Temple was not as smooth and polished as a river stone, as Sunnie's sacred house had been in Faeheim. All was dirt. All was dry. All was ancient.

Mona squeezed my hand. "Does it feel faintly familiar?"

"They rebuilt this place after the collapse, you know. Right here. This is the same entrance. They didn't move it. It happened right here. The tunnel mouth collapsed. Right here, Mona. That's where I died." I floated there, biting my lip. Then I turned around. "Feel free to go in if you want to. I'd like to stay outside."

She blinked. "After we came all this way?"

"Yes, thank you. I just wanted to see the accursed place again. From the outside."

"Try?" she asked, pulling on my arm. Instant guilt flooded my cheeks. Twis was to Mona what Sunnie was to me: The guardian of her birth year. It was only natural that she feel a closer kinship to him than the other zodiac spirits, and here I was, holding her back with my burdensome fears.

So I swallowed… and made my way inside.

"I'm thinking I may quit my internship at the Nest," I told Mona a moment later as we walked the thin tunnel path towards the Temple's rear. The Ilisa in me wasn't fond of the environment, but I'd insisted on making our way to the worship rooms. I had to prove I could. And I was doing all right, I think. Mona's hand was in mine. I clenched her claws more tightly. "I really hate to leave it, because I do love the work itself, but lately it's the principle of the matter that I've been struggling with. The Eroses, I've found, treat even the Fairykind much like simple animals. And, well…" I tipped my head. "I don't wish to support that anymore. I loathe working for someone I don't like, you know what I mean?"

Mona trailed her gaze along the floor. To either side, the ruddy rock wall we stood upon dropped away into a deep, dark abyss. We walked a narrow rocky path along the centre, which was a shadowy trail illuminated only on occasion by pale blue stones that glowed near our feet. All was quiet now. Apart from the restless Temple guardians drifting like ghosts through the silence around us, we were alone. She asked, "Now, what's nearly next?"

"Hm? Well, now that Dm. Charite has inadvertently nudged my research-oriented mind in a new direction, that's it, isn't it? We Anti-Fairies can bear children after all, she said… All it will take now is a bit of planning on my part, along with some clever secrecy to prevent some cruel fellow from taking undue credit for my work, but I can handle it all on my own from here. I've learned the secrets I came for, and I require the Triplets' teachings no longer."

"Regarding your retirement, will they let you live with Lohai again?"

"Oh, Lohai will be all right. I have positive relations with Juandissimo and Dm. Charite, and I'm certain one or the other will send for me when the time comes for her to breed." I tilted back my head, and sighed. The ceiling was terribly low. The stalactites had grown back. I didn't like them, and shut my eyes as we went on. Still holding Mona's hand, I brought it to my heart. "It's terribly strange. I expected to miss her more. I cared for her for thousands of years, but I suppose part of me always knew the day of letting her go would come, in all its dear bittersweetness. I'm glad of it. She's better off living with professional caretakers and other genies than me and that cramped little box I've kept her in, I'm sure. She's really outgrown it anyway… Perhaps I am very young, and not yet ready to raise a child for good, even being as brilliant as I am."

Mona pressed her nose to the base of my ear. I slowed my pace. Her eyelashes fluttered against my fur. "Mm… Stop stressing yourself so ceaselessly silly, sweetie. Even if you don't succeed in securing a precious pup of our own, my counterpart still may have a nymph someday, so we'll be able to raise-"

"But I want my own pups, Mona. Our pups. Remember?" When she didn't respond, I scoffed and pulled her along again. Moving forward helped me focus on our destination, rather than the ancient memories I held of this place. "Darling, please. It needs to be discussed. My research is everything to me. Fatherhood is everything to me." Turning on my heel, I gripped her shoulders very tight. "Do I have your full support behind my intentions?"

Mona cast her eyes downward. She smoothed her dark skirts. "I do dearly respect your dreams, Julius. But I will request, if you truly do believe you can bring a child of our own to life, that you hold off that pursuit until you return from traveling with your bachelor colony. I do hope you still plan to lead one when you come of age…"

"Oh, pooh. You know I can't commit to that, Mona. I'd have to leave school, and I've come so very far! No, no, the nomadic life is not for me, thank you."

"You at least have to sweep the land for a century," she argued, tugging on my arm. "It's traditional."

I pulled my hand back and gripped it with the other. "I'm hardly a traditional bloke, dear."

Mona frowned. "Flying with a bachelor colony is a rite of passage for drakes. As a damsel, I'll never have the true experience. If you won't do it for yourself, will you let me live it through the stories you bring home?"

"I'd rather maintain access to my study, but thank you kindly."

"All drakes leave their birth colonies when they become adults. It's- it's part of our biology!"

"As is seasonal torpor, yet I see no one crying out for us to disband our colony system and return to our old ways of living in our counterparts' homes side by side. We're more than simple bats."

She tried a different tactic. "My friends will gossip if you don't. They'll see me as selfish, as though I begged you not to leave me long. My mother's colony will scoff. They'll say I'm unfaithful to the nature spirits, unwilling to sacrifice all I'm asked to. It's seen as shameful."

My ears quivered, but only briefly. I shook my head. "Mona, do recall that when you stay with the Anti-Coppertalon colony, you are intended to hold yourself above the rumours and gossip of the common people. What a foreign colony has to say regarding my humble, lowly self hardly concerns me at the moment. I have more crucial ventures to devote my attention to."

"… What if I want you to go?"

"Oh," I said, slightly narrowing my eyes. I straightened my wings. "You want me to be the first drake of our cohort to form a new colony, so that I might be its leader. You wish for me to make you my queen."

"I wouldn't refuse."

"Why? My colony would be small, so the title offers you no power. It won't be like the High Countess position."

"Because I want to warn you with reminders of what's important, and be your reason to not cave under pressure. When you come of age, Anti-Bryndin will drive you out- with or without a nearby bachelor colony for you to join." The fur around her neck fluffed up. She stared down at me with her jaw set. "He drove your brother out. Teresa told my mum, and she told me. A creche father cares for all the pups in his colony because their biological ones aren't supposed to be here. If he didn't lead the royal colony, Anti-Bryndin wouldn't permit any males beyond Anti-Buster at all. Anti-Bryndin allows the camarilla court to stay, at least, but my mums' colony's creche father drives out all but his follower drake. Don't you delight in dutifully departing on your own terms, decorated in days' worth of supplies?"

"Mona," I said, puzzled. "Why is this so important to you?"

Mona clenched her eyes shut. "All drakes too passive to leave their birth colony grow up to be servants! It's like this across all of Anti-Fairy World! You're either a leader, or you lick the dirt off your creche father's toes. 'Follower drake' is just a fancy title for a servant in charge of lower servants. Is that the future you want? Is… is that what you want for my future? And for our pups?"

"My father was a servant," I said, touching my hand to my chest. My wings (though grounded by the Temple's power) beat uncertainly as my nerves regarding our conversation and my anxieties regarding our location both swelled up. "I take personal offense at your inherent disgust for the position."

"Everyone's father was a servant, unless they were born the creche father's own. My own father has served as a fruit forager his whole life, and guess how many times I've had the chance to see him!"

… She had two mums. And with the honey-lock driving his brain, he wouldn't have made any time for his daughter whenever he came to visit Anti-Penny. I lowered my gaze.

"I don't want that for our pups, Julius," Mona pressed, hugging her arms. "I want you to be a father they can be proud of. If you want to research, then research… but make yourself a leader first."

In the darkness to either side of us, where the grey mists swirled, a golden shape flickered and vanished again. I glanced at it briefly, then fixed my attention back on Mona. If we didn't keep moving, those wispy sentinels might grow bold enough to approach. Twis was not a social deity, and it was said that lost souls who had yet to reincarnate were often drawn to this place, passing their afterlives in service as his guardians. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that I myself had served many centuries here until I'd been reborn. Perhaps my father was here now, stripped of his memories, spending his days shooing rebellious children out of the shadows and back on the lit path… If he truly was as goody-goody as my mother had always insisted, then after a life of serving others, it's unlikely he'd have been assertive enough to push his way to the front of the reincarnation sign-up line.

The entire Temple ambiance prickled constantly at the back of my neck, but I bit my lip and maintained my composure. "Come on," I said to Mona, motioning with my hand. "Let's hurry along. And… I'll think about organising a bachelor colony, and seizing the role of leader. I promise."

Mona stuffed her hands in her amauti pockets and leaned forward as we went. "I bathe myself every morning without fail, no matter how early, just the way you like me to. I always intend to wear clothing which interests your enjoying eyes each eon. What do you do to make yourself desirable for me, Julius?"

"For you?" I asked, puzzled. I quickened my pace, keeping my fingers threaded in hers. My eyes darted to the drop on our left, where a few rogue spirits were bobbing some ways across the misty pit, watching in silence. "Whatever do you mean by that? You're a Soil damsel, submissive to me in every way. You are meant to please me, not the other way around. What's all this about altering who I am? Why, the very idea is sacrilegious, for it spits upon our belief in soulmates and destiny!"

Her jaw dropped open. "Do you think drakes are the only folk who fantasize of far-off futures?" Mona pulled back her hand then, so I dropped it and glanced at her sideways.

"How do you mean?"

"Your research lights you up," she said, bringing her hands to her breast. She stepped a bit closer. "Which is why I worry. What if I won't? Not anymore. Not for nearly long enough. Am I undesirable?"

"Absolutely not," I assured her, stepping close to meet her halfway. "Have you not seen the way Electro perks up when you float into the room? Or how Winslow and Tumble shift terribly close to us at roost? Why, I've caught even Noon leaning back to watch your hips pass on days he's come to visit! What greater sign of desire is there than to have the drakes who wish to claim you drooling on your heels?"

Mona exhaled through her nose, her effervescence glittering blue in the glow of the rocks. "Julius, we don't typically… talk tons anymore, like we tried to a thousand years ago. We haven't shared long kisses by the window alcove in centuries, or bundled beside each other on the balcony benches… or snuggled sleepily sometimes in your study. I miss that. I don't want to lose you."

"Lose me?" I found the very thought intriguing. As her despair grew, I took her in a gentle embrace and drew her body against my own, so our lower halves brushed together through our clothes (More or less… Height differences are irritating). "My dear, I returned to you from a genie's lamp. I don't forget you when I'm away at school. I still speak with you despite the time I spend at the Eros Nest. Don't I always come back? Don't you trust me to uphold the oath I swore before the spirits, when I took you as my betrothed that night of the new year long ago? I should hope you consider me honourable after all the time you've known me."

"Do you love me?" she asked, placing her chin atop my head.

"Yes, of course. I shouldn't stay on with you if I didn't." As I'd just reminded her, I was a gentledrake of honour. And as an honourable fellow, it was not my intention to ever leave her comfortless. Did she not understand that? Perhaps I'd been unclear.

Mona bit her lower lip, pressing her chest against mine. With a quick flick, she pulled the woollen hood of her amauti up over her ears. "I have no interest in other drakes. Double for damsels. You're my destined dear. I want you to be the only one I kiss. I want you to be the only one who ever sings to me at roost." Softer, "And I long for you to feel the same way…"

"Mona?" I searched her face with mounting concern. "Forgive any offense, but from your tone, I wonder… Have… you ever engaged in sociosexual behaviour with anyone aside from me before?"

When she shook her head, it was with subtle pride. My stomach twisted. Uncertainly, I placed my hands beneath her wings and pulled her tighter to my body. The touch of cool fur beneath cloth didn't soothe my anxieties as much as I'd been hoping.

"You want monogamy…"

"My deepest dream is for every whit of it."

I bit my knuckle. "Oh dear. So, your grand plan is that we'll be wholly engaged with one another our entire lives, then? Erm… Mona, I… never knew you were interested in that sort of thing…" Even as I said it, I realised with horror all the opportunities she intended to deprive me of, faster than a handful of seeping mud dripping through my claws. All the giggling damsels, all the playful drakes, all my colonymates, all the strangers, all the celebrities… Sucking in my breath, flicking my ear, I sent a soft prayer skyward requesting that the spirits sprinkle a bit more sense in her poor head.

Surely they'd take my side in this debate. While there was no one I desired more than Mona at the moment, I still wanted to keep all offers open for the future. During my long treks to the Eros Nest and back each week, I'd entertained so many secret fantasies. Every one bloomed with the thrill of dangerous spontaneity, of passion striking just one of a pair at the least opportune moments while the other is left with no choice but to follow their lead… a syrupy sweet damsel with fiery sunset hair and brilliantly wide wings sitting skirtless and cross-legged upon a chair without noticing what she was showing underneath until I casually tipped her off… a dear drakefriend slipping silently up behind me while I was dressing - undressed himself - and clapping a hand to my mouth before I could yelp, then whisking me into the shadows and pressing me so close, so close, showering my neck with kisses but at the same time straining to reach my stomach pouch, all while never letting my squirming self go… I dreamed of singing in the rain… and most of all, I often found myself daydreaming of a long-beloved partner whose simultaneous teasing talk and pleasured squeals would morph into panicked whines while I laughingly pinned their shoulders to the…

Mm… Perhaps I won't finish voicing that one. In any case, I had my wants. I had my needs. I valued creativity, adventure, and new experiences, and if Mona's "wildest" kisses were anything to go by, she was hardly my first choice to confess my secret hopes to. Not if I expected them to be fulfilled, anyway.

No. If I ever wished to be happy, I needed choices available on a very frequent basis. At this rate, lifelong monogamy was not. an. option.

Mona gazed down at me, lips parted in cold calculation. In a swift, sharp movement, she slipped her hands behind my back and forced me somehow closer to her, too, flattening my cheek to her collarbone. "There's a lot you don't know about me and my interests. I want you to call me desirable. If you do love me, will you kiss me as you cared to a thousand years ago?"

"Here?" I asked, straining so I could get a better look at the other half of the chamber with my good eye. As far as living visitors to the Temple, we were the only ones on our segment of the long walking path, but we'd begun to attract a growing crowd of spectating specters hovering above the foggy drop. "I'm hardly in the mood for it."

"Here," she said. "They can watch us."

"All right…" I rolled each of my jacket sleeves to my elbows in turn, then pushed the heel of my hand up through my hair in an attempt to make it stick back. Smothering my hesitations, I placed one arm across my waist and bowed. I stretched the other hand to Mona. "May I, my dear?"

"You may."

I initiated gently, holding her lower lip in both of mine. My hands slid up her arms to her shoulders, then down again as I stepped closer. Mona half-stepped away, much to my surprise. I paused, recalculating for a simple second. Did she intend to resist me? How very… uncommon for an Anti-Fairy. Well, colour me intrigued. So I followed, tightening my grip on her forearms in warning that if she denied me again, I should have to turn fiercer.

Only… we strayed too near the edge of the path, somehow. Mona's foot slipped back in a loose place. She lost her balance with a gasp. I went after her. We tumbled down the rocks in tandem, plunging into the abyss. It didn't drop us far- merely to the black sand below the layers of mist. My head thunked against hers more than once.

"No," I spluttered, kneeling up. The fog was so thick down here, and no glowing blue crystals marked our way. I could barely make out the red of the sharp rocks we were supposed to remain on. "We're not supposed to leave the path… This is Twis' private realm down here. He embodies the Temple, so we are essentially walking upon his chest now like tiny fleas-"

Mona only murmured and locked her arms around my neck. Despite my protests, she pulled my face down to hers. I tried again.

"Mona, we- We left the path! Should we be caught by someone with an identity and voice, we'll be in horrendous trouble!"

She ignored me. Her kisses were fierce and freezing, so I awkwardly surrendered to them with a shrug of my wings. Just for a moment, mind. After several soft exchanges, soothing one another's stress in the patient, gentle way of our people, we sat up together. Mona drew back, but no farther than she had to. She fell against me, gently sighing, and rested her chin atop my head again.

"Oh, Julius… I could never leave you long. Each night you're away, I fantasize of your every sliding step, your every whipping wing. Let's not forget, we were surely soulmates in our lives before." Her hands slid along my wings, curling to rest at the crooks of the elbows. Her talons tightened. She brought her body to mine again. Her shirt had become a bit folded (and I was incredibly aware of the slit running up her exposed stomach). "Forgive my foolish fretting. You are my soulmate, and I shall strive to steady my senseless suspicions. I trust in Tarrow. And in you."

"Darling," I warned, kissing her jaw, "the Temple guardians are growing more curious the longer we're down here. Let's put this conversation off until another day, hm?"

"Oh. Oh." She turned her face away. I could feel the cold of her blush against my forehead. Her claws reached behind my neck, snagging in the back of my working jacket. Her effervescence left her stronger now, the faint cloud of stale, glittering magic growing larger until it swirled in spirals from her mouth and nose. "If you dearly desire me, you'll dare to delight me now, dishing dangerous kisses without restraint. You'll demand I undress so you might touch my hips bare, and- and when you finish such explorations, you'll dare demand I tear yours from you in pursuit of precious passion. Publicly. Unabashed." Mona's pale, ghostly pink wings flicked forward, wrapping beneath mine in a loose half-bundle, which I did not complete by mirroring the gesture (for my curiosity compelled me to stay still). She softly gasped, gripping me tight. "I long to watch your wrenching wings, which wildly writhe without withholding pleasure… I dream of your whispers flowing across my ears. I desire all of that someday, when we come of age. I desire such satisfaction solely with you. Do you realise that?"

Frankly, I chuckled behind my fingertips. "Come now, my sweet slice of fruit- don't talk tosh. Everyone knows damsels don't fantasize of intimate play. That's why I'm so fascinated by drakes!"

Mona did not speak. She shivered against me, quietly. I cocked my head, idly sliding my thumb across her stomach, but she leaned away and her shirt slipped back into place.

"Darling, do you trust me?"

Her eyes flickered low again, followed by a lump. "More than most, my man."

"Is it not true that Tarrow betrothed us when we were young?"

"I suppose…"

Hearing this, I embraced her firmly, running my hands down her shoulders until they reached her elbows, then her wrists. I dropped them to her lap. "Then that's all that matters. Let us worry not over the future at the moment, and let's live our happy lives in harmony instead, just as we are fated to."

We began to stand and pull our askew clothing back into place. "Then you'll lead your colony?" she asked.

"As I said, I will consider it." Stretching up to push her frizzy hair behind her ear with two claws, I kissed her softly again. "But darling, I've already lived a lifetime taking orders against my will. If our relationship is going to last forever, then there is one simple thing you must understand."

She was still tugging at the band of her skirt. "Oh?"

On my tiptoes, my arms around her neck, Mona bending just a bit so I could reach, I leaned my mouth against her ear.

"My dear, my beloved, my sweet crown jewel in this wretched world… Should the day ever come when I am expected to accept a damsel's advice" - I pinched her fur more tightly, my voice sliding to a snarl - "you'd sooner catch me kissing a brownie's arse."

Mona looked away, huffing softly through her tight fangs. I released her, smiling thinly, and flicked a dismissive hand. "Anyway, you said you bathe every morning in an attempt to impress me. I hadn't noticed. If you truly did care to make your physical appearance more desirable to me, you'd find a way to keep your hair from frizzing up as such, hm? No offense, dear, but no crow would ever nest in there, lest she forget her way out again. Come along now, if you've finished remaking yourself somewhat presentable for the public eye." Twisting on my heel, I beckoned for Mona to follow. "We're nearly to the worship rooms, and now we have an irritating rock wall to climb back to the path. Do keep up."

Mona's hand snaked out and snatched my wrist. I blinked at the rock wall in front of me, but she pulled me around to face her.

"Who wants the privacy of a worship room?" she asked.

"I thought we'd brought an offering…? Did we not wish to pray?"

Using one wing, she gestured to the dark sand around us. "What's wrong with remaining here?"

"Don't tell me you intend to extend our kissing session," I said, stepping away. "Not here. Let's not forget, Twis can see us anywhere we go within these walls. Unless something incredibly interesting is going on elsewhere in the Temple, chances are we're the centre of his attention."

"I hope so," she murmured, and pressed her lips to mine again. Eh? Was she serious? I leaned backwards, my monocle slipping from my eye. With a shake of my head, I chose not to correct it. Instead, I returned her delightful sentiment. Wispy spirits in all five colours of the Fairy rainbow circled curiously round about us as time went on, but though they came close enough to prod our bodies with illusionary fingertips, they did not interfere.

We never did make it to the worship rooms that day, but I say… it's harder to feel any closer to the spirits than when you feel assured they're watching, wot?

Technically speaking, I suppose the kisses Mona and I exchanged while tumbling in the Temple's sacred sands were an illicit behaviour, but something about the whole thing ignited a hunger in me… I realised then that I liked the thrilling pressure that someone might walk up and scold us for our passions. I rather enjoyed playing dangerously in front of the lost souls, even though I doubt their simple minds understood what they had witnessed beyond recognising that two Anti-Fairies had fallen from the lit path above. I suppose… I just liked showing off. As we left the Temple, sheepish and giggling, I paused to glance over my shoulder at that gaping entrance where I had died so long ago.

I'll return one day, I decided, sweeping my tongue around my lips. Once upon a time, Temple, you killed a dame who felt helpless as she died. So when I am older, someday, somehow, I am going to make the most passionate love inside your walls and leave signs behind to prove to those who come after me that I did. And I shall come prepared with defence spells and trickeries to protect myself, even from the power of nature spirits, so YOU shall be the one who's powerless to halt fate then.

"Julius?"

I shook my head. "Coming, dear!"

Centuries passed, then millennia, then tens of them. I applied to skip the remainder of my years at upper school and progress straight to the Fairy Academy, but they rejected me, and I plunged into a time of melancholy that seemed to last forever. Whenever I came home from school, Mona nagged me to get my colony organized. I took it all without complaint, quietly amassing personal funds from working at the Eros Nest. Some went to personal wants like my new eighteen-drawered desk (with Ilisa's sperm and Juandissimo's remaining eggs tucked away in the back of one) while I splurged other funds on magic usage or gifts for Mona.

I participated in Zodii ceremonies, and made time to visit the Water Temple on a regular basis. I painted portraits and landscapes. I sketched. I formed a close friendship with Jasmine (who read my emotions very well, thank you), and on days when I felt particularly humble, I visited with the therapist Holly Applespark. Charming dame. I almost didn't hate her.

I attended a few weddings, a few funerals, and made more time for my friends. I mastered fidchell, cricket, and croquet. I alternated between my research and reading for fun. I greeted the Head Pixie each time he visited the Blue Castle, and looked after his young pixies whenever I was asked to. I struggled to rekindle my long-broken friendship with Electro, and never grew any more fond of his irritating voice or dreadful humour. I spoke with Ashley about my mother and his. I ate white chocolate every time its presence graced my path. I chatted with, teased, and nearly preened another gyne at school, although he bailed out the morning of.

And… I finally received word from Dm. Charite herself that Lohai had come of age to breed. They planned to do so within the week, and would I like to sit in the control room and see the screens?

Of course, I was thrilled to pieces to have the chance to visit her again, for the cherubs had refused me so many times that I had given up asking. But when I arrived at the Nest on the day in question, I found Lohai in a small, sterile chamber, brow bent, her eyes prepared to kill.

"Where were you all this time?" she screamed, pounding her fists against the glass wall.

I frowned. "'All this time?' How do you mean? I haven't been gone long. Lohai, dear. I believe you may be overreacting. It was only 20,000 years. I doubt you even missed me."

"20,000?!" she shrieked. Her tail lashed across the polished floor. "I've transitioned from childhood to the prime years of my life. How does 20,000 years mean nothing to you, Papa? If I can keep calling you 'Papa.'"

"Mm… Don't forget that I am in school. I work two jobs these days - three if you count my commission work - and must balance my research and the attention I give my betrothed on top of that." Sighing, I placed my palms against hers, albeit on the other side of the glass pane. "I missed you every day, my sweet."

"You never came."

"I'm truly sorry, Lohai. I tried to the utmost of my abilities for centuries, but the cherubs insisted. Oh, just look how you've turned out. Such long, beautiful purple hair… Your mother would be delighted. A shining tail, a plump and healthy body…" Folding my arms, I leaned my shoulder against the window. "You've become a fine doe, Lohai, daughter of Liloei. I'm certain the Eros Nest fed, socialized, and exercised you better than I ever could have. I see they've brought you earrings, too. You're lovely. The buck they've selected for you will be a blessed bloke indeed."

Lohai hesitated, her hands sliding down the glass. "He's so old."

"Vesuvius? Yes, I realise that. Shame none of Krakatoa's young bucks survived their first few months. I'd hoped they would." I gazed at her eyes, blinking slowly. "I know it's tough to face your worries, but remember this: Dm. Venus kept you away from me out of stubborn rage, but it's Dm. Charite who decides where pregnant specimens will be transferred. She's taught me what she knows of raising genies, and promised that the moment you've been impregnated, you could come home with me. Then I shall raise you, and look after your candles too. Your worries will all be over soon."

Lohai lowered her head. "Perhaps this is my home now."

"Now, now, dear, I understand you're cross with me… But I've come for you now, so perhaps we can let bygones be bygones, hm?" I tilted my head. "I know you may be hesitant and frightened, but you and I will get through this together, and preserve your species in the process. I'll be watching you the whole time from the screens in the control room. If that Vesuvius troubles you, just yell for me and I shall pop over in a flash. There are sound recorders. I'll hear you."

"Okay…"

Dm. Ludell transferred Lohai from her travel bag into a canister which would pop open in ten minutes' time. This, he gave to a nearby cherub, who flew off to deposit it in a chute that normally delivered food and enrichment to the Nest's genies. Anxiously, I took my place on the control room's couch, notebook in hand, to witness the event unfold.

Shortly after Lohai emerged from her time-operated canister, the two genies in the enclosure noticed her. Krakatoa observed silently from her place in the tree limbs, green tail winding around a branch. Vesuvius, however, drifted very near Lohai and hovered there, his head inquisitively to one side.

"A rose-tail?"

Lohai dropped her gaze and rubbed her arm. "Yes, sir."

My hands gripped my knees. Vesuvius circled her from a wingspan away, his tongue poking out from the left side of his lips. "Well, aren't you a pretty thing?"

Lohai turned around, following his movements with her head. "These are my natural looks, sir. I only make an effort for those who truly catch my fancy."

"Calling me 'Sir?' I like that." He chuckled, almost purring, with his purple tail twisting and twirling in loops at its tip. "Though, it's not a very effective way of keeping me off, is it?"

"Oh, so you're a gentlebuck too, are you?"

Vesuvius winked and folded his arms behind his head. His bare chest protruded. "Not in the traditional sense."

At that, Lohai snorted. "Then we're both lucky my father didn't raise me to be a traditional doe."

"Ooh, I like you." The end of his tail probed innocently against hers before it found a hold. Vesuvius twirled the two together in a loose knot. "What say we continue this conversation in a more scenic location?"

Lohai's shoulders started to relax. She studied their tails, twitching her tip, and then held out her hand to him with the palm turned down. "What say we do?"

I'd hoped he'd kiss the back of Lohai's wrist and sweep her off her metaphorical feet. But, Vesuvius simply grabbed her forearm and yanked her towards the opposite end of the enclosure, behind a screen of boulders and yellow desert plants. Lohai laughed, though whether from nerves or delight, I couldn't tell. They vanished, but the glow of her tail identified their location. Krakatoa yawned and turned her face away, settling down to nap. Bright flashes of colour flickered along the edges of the rocks, and I heard soft noises of tentative exploration from our excitable couple already. I pressed one knuckle to my lips. That certainly hadn't taken long. I'd expected them to at least make proper introductions.

I suppose I was the last one who ought to judge such things. I rotated the viewing angle around to the more… energetic side of the rocks, and Dm. Charite released an arrow through the screen. It hit Lohai in the place her thigh would be, though she and Vesuvius were so busy rubbing heads that they didn't notice.

Their brief courtship rapidly progressed to bodies coiling and constricting, and then to mating. I stayed the whole time, glancing at them occasionally as I paged through several texts and scrolls that detailed the nature of the honey-lock. When after several hours the two genies slithered sluggishly apart, they sunned themselves atop the red rocks. Vesuvius sprawled on his back, making obscene gestures at the camera. Lohai lay curled on her side, her head buried in her arms so I couldn't see her face. I didn't like the way her shoulders shook.

Dm. Charite dismissed me, so I hurried down with one of the cherubs to the genie enclosure. Through the glass, I could see her trembling harder now, so I begged the cherub let me rush to see her. At first he was reluctant, but I… persuaded him to the point that he allowed it. With the press of a button, he let me in through a few airlocked doors which transitioned me inside the "lamp" of the three genies. Vesuvius and Krakatoa both snapped to attention when I came through the door, but I ignored them and flew across the chamber to Lohai's side.

"Lohai? It's your papa. I'm here now. Are you all right? Forgive me for not arriving earlier. It seemed you were doing fine."

Lohai lifted her head, her thick purple hair falling across her eyes. Vesuvius had torn most of it from her usual pegasustail.

"… Let's get you home." I scooped my arms beneath her back and lifted her with care. Lohai pressed her forehead to my neck, and I gently kissed her hair. Vesuvius watched in cat-like silence. I said nothing at all to him, but when I turned around, my hackles stood on end. Krakatoa had left her tree. She floated between me and the door, her hand resting on his knob.

"Excuse me," I said, walking towards her anyway. "I need to get through."

"Hmm… What do you think, Vesy?" Krakatoa lay a single finger to her cheek and looked me up and down. "He'd make a handsome genie buck, wouldn't he? At least for a few hours."

"Or a pretty blue doe," Vesuvius said from behind. I heard him snaking towards me through the grass, and my ears twitched back. Regardless, I clutched Lohai tight, staring at the green-tailed genie hard.

"I have no business with you, Krakatoa. Let me through."

"Oh, poxrot," she sighed, leaning both her shoulders against the door behind her. "Don't I get to have a little fun? It's been so dull in here, with only that brute for company."

Lohai tightened her grip on my shirt. My fur bristled. I bared my fangs and extended my wings in full. "Excuse us. I'd like to pass through."

Something hard and fast slapped my rear end. I leapt forward. Vesuvius? I whirled around to glare at him, and he grabbed my face in his hands. His teeth spread in a wicked grin. "The mother of my eldest candle made a request of you, fur-face. Don't you know how to treat a doe?"

I kicked him in the stomach without batting an eye, only for Krakatoa to wrap her arms around my torso and draw me against her body. My head fit perfectly between her uncovered breasts, but I didn't allow it to stay for long. I poofed several wingspans to her left, and was just patting myself on the back when I realised my mistake.

"Oh no."

Lohai hadn't poofed along with me. She landed in the prickly grass, startled and shaking. Krakatoa and Vesuvius leered over her, their tails slithering forward to grip hers…

"No!" I launched myself forward, but with a snap of her fingers, Krakatoa summoned inky black chains from the wall that grabbed my limbs and yanked me back. Vesuvius snapped his, and both my wands appeared in his hand.

"Perhaps I'll take a turn with her," Krakatoa laughed, and reached for Lohai's hand.

"Leave her alone," I yelped, tugging at my chains. Before the two does could touch, the chamber door behind them slid open. Dm. Venus floated out, her bow drawn.

"Let them go, you filthy djinn."

"Aw…" Krakatoa twirled a curl of black hair around her finger. "We were only playing, boss. We haven't had a new stimulus to entertain us for years."

Vesuvius, however, spat in the grass. "Fleck off, scrawny-butt. Even in our en lamp state, we're a trillion times closer to god-like powers than you'll ever be."

Before he even finished, Dm. Venus fired an arrow directly between his eyes. It hit. Vesuvius rolled backwards, hissing in pain and holding his face. I gasped. So did Krakatoa. Releasing both Lohai and I instantly, she flashed to Vesuvius' side and wrapped herself around him, guarding him like a mother ursa. My chains fell away. I dropped to my knees in the grass. Dm. Venus sniffed, turned her back on the genies, and lowered her bow in the same movement. Krakatoa made no move to seek revenge, and only bent her head to nuzzle her whimpering mate's face.

"Leave," Dm. Venus said to me as she walked towards the chamber door, not looking my way. I grabbed my fallen wands and sheathed them both, then rushed to Lohai's side. The uncertain Thank you rested on my lips, but I didn't dare voice it. Lohai clung to me in silence, her tail winding around my arm.

Once the three of us were in the transition chamber, I lowered Lohai to the floor and cradled her head in my hands. Before I could even speak, she burst into tears.

"I tried to be brave for you! But Papa, he was weird. He was old and gross and I- I…"

I lay my finger against her cheek and swallowed hard. "Oh there, there, Lohai… I'm so sorry you had to do that. We won't turn to him again. Should you ever wish to have another litter, I shall seek you out a buck who better meets your qualifications. I swear it."

She wiped her hand across her face. "May I have some cloths? I wish to wash myself off."

I searched my pockets and found my handkerchief, which I gave her. Dm. Venus was tapping her foot, so we wasted no more time than that. Lohai crawled into her travel bag. I zipped it shut and stood. Dm. Venus tapped the exit code into the panel by the door, then pointed for me to step into the hall. Without speaking, I did. Lohai and I went home to the Castle, and I did not return to work again.

The five years of Lohai's pregnancy were dreadfully long ones. Though her belly remained flat for some time, she lost her ability to float as though weighed down by the litter inside, and she slithered through the soil in her tank the way a serpent does. In the early days she dehydrated rapidly as the water she drank was moved to her inner stores, but as the years went by and one particular segment of her body swelled, she stopped drinking altogether. Stopped eating too, evidently content to survive off her own body fat for years to come.

I'd given Lohai small plants and a plastic dome to hide in, but she rejected them, and paced in anxious circles until Mona had the idea to give her an enormous quilt. She loved it so much, she vanished beneath it and wouldn't come out again even if you called for her. Even when I crouched low and strained to see beneath the fabric's edge, I could only make out Lohai lying very still, her glowing eyes wide and wild like a frightened creature. Silent. Unmoving. You wouldn't have known she was there at all if you didn't, erm… know she was there. I was in my study more than I was out of it, hovering over her every spare moment until she snapped at me to, ah… Well, to remove myself. Let's put it that way, ahaha…

"You're certainly chipper this morning," Mona observed when she caught me in the hall one Naming Day's eve. Jasmine sat at her feet, chewing unhappily at her shoulder. Around her neck, the cat sith wore a collar of green and white bells.

"Ah, can you blame me?" Grabbing Mona, I swung her in two circles and laughed aloud. "In spirit, I'm going to be a father again! Oh, think of it! Soon enough I'll be raising baby genies once more! How delightful! This time, I shall be even better at it than I was with Lohai."

Mona couldn't help but chuckle at my enthusiasm too. When I released her hands, she set them to her waist. "You really can't wait until we have a pup of our own, can you?"

"Oh hoh hoh~! Not just one pup, Mona darling." Grabbing her wrist, I yanked her towards me. "I wish for a whole bundle of them!" My mouth went to her neck, kissing fiercely. My arms slid beneath her wings, and I pressed her to the wall. "Three in my arms, four on my back, one in my pouch, one on my head, six or seven more running beneath your skirts-"

"Julius," she shrieked, collapsing in giggles, and I growled into her ear.

"I'll make a fine wife of you yet, woman. But for now, I shall merely chase you to the forest's edge, grab your fur in my fists, throw myself upon you, take your face in my hands and… Oh."

"What's wrong?"

"A-ah…" My cheeks cooled, and I shifted my attention up to Mona's face. She looked curious, and… perhaps a bit hurt that I had stopped my merry jesting. Jasmine reached up a forepaw to rest against my leg. My ears flipped back. "I, um… I see the ways of adulthood have come upon you sometime in the last few days."

"… Is that going to end this?"

"No, no, it's just…" Hissing through my fangs, I released her and took my elbow in my hand. "We… can't really play anymore. Until I come into my adulthood, it isn't allowed."

We stood an awkward moment, our wings both spread and low behind us. I couldn't help but notice how much wider Mona's wingspan was than mine now. And the pleasing roundness of her chest…

"You'll get taller once Fairy-Cosmo moults into his adult body," Mona said encouragingly. "You'll like that."

I glanced towards the nearest doorway, my throat closing over. "I'm sorry," I choked out, and after scooping up Jasmine, I fled without another word. Jasmine might have voiced a thought, but I wasn't listening. Rather, I found my mum patrolling the stretch of land between the woods and the Castle's gate. Good. I flew to them, wrapped my arms around them from behind, and clung to their back like the sorry sobbing child I was.

"Julius," they snapped, twisting to get a better look at me. Grabbing my leg, they pulled me in front of them. "Your betrothed came into her adulthood unusually early for an Anti-Fairy. Your own growth is progressing at a perfectly average rate. Stop salting the fields with your whiny tears and hike up your britches."

"Sh-she's going to leave me for another early-changing drake, a-and she's going to give herself to him, and I'm going to be her second choice-"

Mum whapped me between the ears with the end of their staff (Jasmine sprang back in alarm). When I fell silent and looked at them, holding my head, they threw their arms out to both sides. "There are other ways to please a damsel. By this point in your life, I should hope you've figured out how to use that long tongue. It serves more purposes than sipping nectar."

I squeaked, pressing my cheeks inward. "But- I can't! Mona, she's- grown. We can't kiss anymore, and we certainly can't progress to- to a further relationship at this time. Such things are nontraditional!"

"Only in public. I know you're smart enough to keep your big mouth shut."

"Mother," I wailed, curling my legs towards my chest. "I'm underage! This isn't behaviour you ought to condone! I'm not even allowed to be sociosexual with her anymore, and what if we have a fight, and what if I forget it's forbidden and I fall into my instincts, and what if we get caught, and what if Anti-Bryndin throws me out-"

They swung at me with their staff again, and I barely fooped to the side in time, near where Jasmine perched upon a stone statue's knee. "Don't you dare lose that dame, Julius. That's the only thing I can say."

I stared at her, huffing softly, then launched myself in the air and flew towards Luna's Landing. I didn't have a particular destination in mind, but I couldn't be near the Castle for the moment. I shoved away my tears with the flat of my hand, and spurred my wings ever faster.

I was barely 149,000. A Fairy could moult into his adult wings any time between the ages of 140,000 and 180,000, with society making a steady creep towards later years.

30,000 potential years without Mona's kisses? Could I live like that?

Soon enough, I found myself coasting over the ruins of the Anti-Eros tower, and I paused a moment to stare at the glowing green wall in the distance, which so harshly divided us from our Fairy kin.

"We really are their opposites," I muttered to myself, folding my arms so I might grip my shoulders. "I'd wager a Fairy wouldn't care if he was denied access to his lover's lips. Anti-Fairies breed all year round, but just a skip across the border, their people are only in heat a short while every several centuries… Then what? Do they just… live dumb, happy lives in their little married units with a partner they have no interest in singing to? Decade upon decade upon decade, never once desiring a lover's passionate touch upon bare skin? Where's the joy in that?" I sighed and clenched my upper arms more tightly. "Oh, I wonder if Fairy-Cosmo has yet kissed a damsel or drake. But I imagine the waiting game is so much easier for him."

Funny. Once upon a time, I as Ilisa would have begged for a break from kisses. Yet here I was a single incarnation later, a bratty child who never had enough…

… I think I'd have left my birth colony that day and never returned, if I hadn't had Lohai waiting for me. Jasmine too, I suppose.

If I didn't wish to engage in secret acts with Mona, and I didn't wish to go without affections for long, that left me with but one more option: Seek out a new romantic partner who'd yet to come into their grown body. And I could have- don't get me wrong. Between my large fang size and my brilliant brains, I was a prime target for smooching, despite my short stature and the lowness of my crown. Someone out there would have taken me had I asked, I'm sure.

But… I didn't want to take another partner. I wanted Mona. Mona understood me in a way no other creature did. We'd shared secret thoughts, and teased and fondled one another many a time. Though we'd yet to engage in the full measure of adult bonding acts, I knew I'd feel more comfortable doing so with her than I'd ever feel in a stranger's arms. My entire life, I'd planned to give myself to Mona first. She deserved that much.

So I wept a few pitiful tears, and resigned myself to wait. Fine. Since adult passions were off limits, and kisses upon the lips were socially unacceptable prior the first century of courtship, I'd throw myself into sociosexual exchanges with my peers whenever appropriate, and try to pretend our society's innocent touches meant something more…

On my way back to the Castle, I flew six loop-the-loops above Luna's Landing when all of a sudden, I noticed a small figure with golden, feathered wings and short, curly hair sitting on the domed roof of the Love Temple, her knees pulled to her chest. Breaking from my dive, I flew curiously on my belly to get a better look at her.

"Oh. It's you, friend." I wasn't sure calling her "Dame Artemis" on this plane would be appropriate. Stuffing my hands beneath my armpits, I said, "After I freed you from the Eros Nest, I thought you went back to the High Kingdom. Was the cheery moorland not to your satisfaction?"

Dame Artemis was still a child, even after these 20,000 years. She turned her head slightly, and lowered her knees so her feet dangled just a mite over the curve of the dome. Her arms remained folded, but only loosely. She wore silver robes instead of the typical purple or pink the dames of her species were known for. When I caught a good look at the dark circles around her eyes, I confess I did a double-take. For smoke's sake, she looked as though she hadn't slept for a decade!

"… I'm not being bad. I just came here to look."

I glanced at the city below us, its streets lined with glowing crystals. "Me too, really. May I keep you company?"

"Plenty of room."

The dome was slippery crystal, but I managed to sit beside her and lean back on my hands. I looked at the stars high above, and at the dark shadow of Plane 9 far above our heads, while Dame Artemis stared downward.

"So is this really where Ellie dropped the moon or something?" she asked.

"You mean Helena, the Bringer of Doom? Anti-Fairies believe so. I don't know about Refracts like you; your ilk tend to be Daoist. See the cliffs here around the city?" I traced a circle in the air, beginning at one point and sweeping in an arc halfway around. "Luna's Landing rests in a crater. According to legend, when Helena stole the second sun from Princess Eve, she carried it as high as she could, but it singed her gloveless hands, and she had to let it drop. Anti-Fairies believe she was here on Plane 8 when that happened, so this crater was the first place the moon touched as it plunged. Early settlers built an outpost at the very spot, and called it after the event."

"That little dent's too small to be made by the moon."

"Heh… I suppose. Perhaps it really is just a story. But if that's the case, one must ask oneself how a crater came to be in a landscape of clouds impervious to meteor strikes, hm?" I gave the child a longer sideways glance, studying the profile view I had of her face. Her nose was beak-like, her mouth a hard line. "That's a lovely necklace you have there."

Dame Artemis blinked and looked down. A sun-shaped pendant swung from a silver chain around her neck. She lifted it in her palm and clenched her teeth. "Yeeeeah… Not once you find out why I wear it."

"Oh? Steal it from an ancient tomb, did you? Take it from a hungry widow? Murder an innocent child? Sell your firstborn?"

She turned the pendant over in her hands, frowning further. "Something worse."

"…?"

Dame Artemis leaned back her head. "Well, actually two things worse. I kissed a damsel, and I punched a deity." Shrugging, she let it fall back against her chest. "I'm not sure which I'm being punished for, but it doesn't come off my neck now… Hee hee… Dame Artemis can't sleep anymore… The sun's too bright when she closes her eyes…"

I pulled my hands to my chest, curling in my arms, and leaned away. "You challenged a nature spirit in combat?"

She frowned and hugged her knees once again. "It wasn't really combat? She was being a real thorn in the tail feathers, so I smashed her in the jaw while she was talking forever and then walked off. But I'm almost positive I'm being punished for the kissing thing, not the punching. Kheh. It's dumb. Refracts aren't like Anti-Fairies. My people don't take well to dames who kiss other dames. Word got around, so Auntie had no choice but to throw me out… Can't join a flock of drakes, can't join a flock of damsels…" Dame Artemis slipped her pendant in her mouth and sucked on the golden points that represented the rays of the sun. I swung my hands down, palms facing.

"I feel like there were probably less drastic options you could have taken before you struck a powerful ancient being in the face."

"Heh," she said sleepily. "Fighting's the only language she understands, though… Pity… Maybe if it wasn't, I could charm her when I'm grown up. Gotta fight her… She doesn't listen if you don't… Golly, I'm so tired… I just want to sleep…"

I shook my head in disbelief. Leaving the strange child to her thoughts, I flew back to the Castle with the intent to bundle beside Ashley for a long night. As I went, I held my shoulders with tight hands. For a time I thought about children, then the development of Mona's body, and the amount of time I had left before Anti-Bryndin chased me from the colony, and what the Head Pixie had said about inheritance rights in the Fairy legal system, and when upon my return I found Jasmine waiting on the Castle's front steps, I told her with a growl that I'd thought about nothing at all.