The footsteps climbing her tower stairs were armored, but not nearly as heavy as Wain's. Moongrum must have something to report. "Elva, pray, assist Arista in the library." The second of her handmaidens, a full figured woman with bright eyes, bowed swiftly before making her way out of Ranni's study.
Moongrum's silvered armor flashed in the afternoon sun as he knelt in greeting. "My princess, I've tidings."
Ranni nodded. "Proceed."
"Tanya captured yet another tarnished. They were attempting to infiltrate the manor. Should she place them with the others, my lady?" Tanya was the third of the Carian knights that had made their way to Ranni's home after Owain had captured the academy.
The princess straightened her seat; there were yet machinations that Owain could not know of. Plans and plots for future strength that her beloved's righteous sensibility would disapprove of. "Aye, Moongrum. Let no others see thee."
Lord Moongrum, ever stalwart, only nodded before departing. Ranni steepled her fingers, she was doing what needed to be done. Her Sunbeam had promised to guide her out of this suffocating dark, but she could not leave it wholly quite yet. He would forgive her, she was sure. His heart was softer than he showed, and he loved her more than anything else. Yes, he would forgive her for the horrors she was set to commit.
Nothing would stop her from touching him with fingers that could feel him, breathing him in with lungs that strained, kissing him with lips that could taste! Owain could try and shoulder the blame of the shattering all he wanted, but Ranni would right the wrongs that were rightfully hers.
He would forgive her, she could not live otherwise.
The princess closed her eyes tight, trying to steady her spiraling mind. She must not focus on the lack of sensations, or the yawning chasm that was detachment from this doll; Ranni needed to remain centered. It was a task that became all the more difficult when both Blaidd and Owain were afar from home.
Her hysteria hitched as she felt a familiar presence in the space before her. Ranni supposed it was high time they had this talk, better now than when Owain returned home. She mimicked breathing out slowly. "Come out, little sister. I know thou'rt there."
Melina's small form shimmered into shape before her desk, face cast down. "Are you angry?"
Ranni tried to keep the scowl from her soul's expression. "Yes, that it has taken thee this long to seek me."
"I was afraid." Melina's voice was softer than she remembered.
The princess wished she possessed even a small amount of little Miquella's gentleness. "Of what?
"Your disdain. My mind is withered, I yet seek my purpose." Her little sister's lone eye flicked up to meet hers.
Ranni's interest was piqued. "Purpose?"
Melina frowned. "Why was I burned? What did my mother plan for me? Something inside pulls me ever to the Erd Tree." She looked out Ranni's tower windows at the golden tree that shimmered on the horizon.
Ranni scoffed. "And pulls my sentinel along with thee, I know of thy accord."
Melina once more lowered her gaze. "Are you angry?"
Ranni bit back a more scathing reply. "Yes; though I know he need go to Leyndell eventually, I'd rather he stay here." She uncurled the hands that had furled into tight fists.
"Morgott needs him."
The princess stood, frustrated. Too many pulled Owain away from her. "I need him, Mother needs him, thou need him. Too much weight on his shoulders. Even he is not strong enough to bear it all."
They stared at each other in silence for several heavy beats. "I consider him more of a father than the one we share." There is was, the reason Ranni had ever struggled to resent her father's later children. Owain's love for them softened her own hard resentment, even if she did not intend it.
She lowered her voice, reminding herself that Melina was hardly out of childhood, barely sixty, before she'd been stolen from the palace. "The Radagon thou knewest and the one that resided in Caria are vastly different."
Melina took a few tentative steps forward, looking at her shyly. "I would miss you terribly. I'd wait so eagerly for the times you would come to visit. You hid your engagement to Owain very poorly." She dared to laugh softly.
Ranni allowed herself to smile, Melina was certainly not wrong on that count. "After so long, most anything is hard to keep secret."
"I have too many, even from myself." Melina's face was pained, she reminded Ranni of when Owain struggled to recall his own memories.
Her hands twitched awkwardly for a breath before, after too many cold years, she enfolded her younger sibling in her arms. Ranni was likely one of the only beings alive that could actually touch her. "Look at us, little sister. Both burned and bodiless, what a pair."
Melina huffed out a small laugh, voice catching. "You, at least, have that puppet."
"Not for long, if Owain's plan succeeds." Ranni caressed the younger princess' ethereal hair.
"I hope dearly that it does, elder sister." Melina had always been too selfless, too self sacrificing. Even with a great sorceress before her, she would not ask the question they both knew burned in her throat.
Ranni reared back to regard her younger sibling warmly. "Wouldst thou still seek out thine great purpose, should thee have a body of thy own?"
Melina stared in shock. "Could-could you do that?"
"I have some musin' about such a plan. Owain will not approve but I have ever been at odds with his sense of justice." Ranni kept the guilt from her faces.
They'd planned to have their wedding here, at The Church of Vows. Ranni had thought it would be a grand gesture of the renewed unification of Tree and Moon. His betrothed had planned such an elaborate ceremony, had spent decades preparing it to be the biggest event of the century. As Owain walked slowly through the crumbling stone archway, he tried not to dwell on what could have been.
The church was a shambling thing compared to its old glory, it was not even fit to house Pastor Miriel, despite the elder being's insistence. If Owain had it his way, the massive tortoise and all the refugees that yet lingered here would be safely moved to Caria Manor. He well knew though, that faith was a stubborn thing.
The tortoise's dark eyes shone as the sentinel neared him, Owain lifted his visor. "Hello there, young Owain. When I received your letter, I was quite surprised."
Owain bowed swiftly. "I apologize for withholding the matter from you, I hope you'll yet grant me your forgiveness and assistance."
Pastor Miriel ambled to a covered bookshelf, floating several tombs to a nearby table. "You've no need to even ask, lord. I've sourced a few texts that we might find useful, is Queen Rennala…hale?" His wispy voice was hesitant. Owain frowned.
It had taken him a week to organize his forces enough that he felt comfortable departing on the fortnight's journey to the great church. Ranni had not sounded optimistic when last she apprised him of mother's condition. "Her mind is yet fractured, the progress we once made all but lost."
It always unnerved Owain how the pastor's gaze seemed to see through him to all the secrets he held in his heart. Miriel was a truly ancient being, he made Owain feel like naught but a babe. "I've a few ideas on how to aid the young queen. These years since the shattering have left me with time enough to ponder my past failures."
Pastor Miriel was too benevolent, Owain could hardly let the tortoise blame himself for Owain's great failings. "If there is any to blame-"
The pastor interrupted him by snapping shut one of the texts and floating them into a neat stack. "There is more than enough guilt to go around, child. Let us look instead to the future."
"Yes, wise one." Owain was suitably chastised.
The great tortoise released a weary sigh. "I do not know of a spell like the one young princess Ranni seeks."
Owain tried to hide his disappointment, but the sinking feeling in his chest made it difficult. "I see."
"I do know of a tonic we might use to alleviate the queen's madness, at least for a time. I have toiled over its creation for years."
"Truly? I will make for Caria as-"
"I said might, lord." a thick envelope landed atop the proffered stack of books. "Here is a list of ingredients I believe we will need, as well as all of my own notes. Show these to the princess while I make the journey to your manor, that we might begin as swiftly as possible."
Could they truly aid mother Rennala? Ranni would be overjoyed! "Aye, pastor. The company of sentinels I journeyed here with will guard you on your way, I have also prepared a carriage for your use. Sentinel Wolfram will remain here, to guard your flock."
"Let us pray that we might find a way forward. I shall see you soon, young Owain." The tortoise smiled. Owain made for the manor at once, this was the most hopeful he'd felt in weeks!
It was never a good sign when she looked at him like that, eyes darkened with terrible resolve. "This will work, but it will cost."
He set about tidying his princess' desk. "What price must we pay?"
Her voice was soft, but edged with steel. "Not us; mother. This concoction will hide her memories from her, with my magic to guide it, of any of her life after my father left."
"Even before the shattering, Ranni…that is many decades." Owain misliked the intensity of her gaze,
"'Tis the only way! We need her at her peak, the madness that stole her mind with mine father's departure ruined her!" Spindling frost crept across the floor from her feet and her illusion flickered.
He took her small hands in his own, careful not to squeeze too tight. "I do not disagree, dear heart. Only, what shall we say when she demands to see Lord Radagon; or your lord brothers? How do we explain your present state? Would not the discovery of what transpired break her once more?" His breath frosted as the air grew yet colder.
"I do not know! Rely not only upon me! Thinkest for thyself, Owain!" A freezing wind ripped through her quarters before he swiftly wrapped her in his embrace. Her illusion finally fell away, to reveal the fragile doll and glowing soul behind.
All four of her hands gripped his middle fiercely and the cold began to lessen. "Queen Rennala is shrewd above all, if we explain that we can not reveal to her the history she has lost; mayhaps she will listen."
Ranni released him, her faces forlorn; her voice a breaking whisper. "I can not-I can not bear this any longer, Wain. This doll is a prison unfathomable."
He smiled gently down at her, "And we will free you from it, Starlight."
Owain went about sourcing the ingredients for the potion with mighty zeal. The sentinel gathered all on the pastor's list save one ingredient that he knew the great tortoise carried with him; celestial dew. Pastor Miriel was a ponderous traveler and arrived a full moon after their conversation. Not a moment too soon as his princess was growing ever more impatient.
Owain greeted the large procession at the manor gates. So many Tree Sentinels may have seemed overzealous to some, but Owain would take no chances. As the tortoise descended from his wagon, the commander lifted a hand in greeting. "Hail, noble pastor."
"Hail to you, young lord." Miriel nodded slowly.
The bustle of the manor that had stilled in curiosity at the tortoise's arrival; reignited with a frenzy as Owain and the pastor made their way to the rear gardens. Ranni waited for the pastor at the base of her tower, pacing at the entrance. "Greetings, my princess. I am overjoyed to see you again." Miriel called happily as he made his way up the steps with aching slowness.
"I greet thee, good pastor. I thank thee also, for thy aid and haste." Ranni's eyes slid to Owain's, he rushed to take her hand. The sentinel could feel she needed some solace for what was yet to come.
With their pleasantries exchanged, the group congregated in the large chamber that lay at the base of Ranni's rise. Mother Rennala lay nestled in a transported bed at the center of the room; two hand maidens tending to her.
When the final ingredient was proffered by the great tortoise, Ranni shooed Owain out the door. He acquiesced without contest, she tended to become overwrought when he crowded her during potion making. The tonic was prepared in but a few minutes.
"I wish for thee to administer the draught, Wain." Ranni placed the small phial in his hands. "I will await outside, call me when…when she is ready."
He gave her shaking hands a small squeeze. "Be not afeard, beloved."
She said nothing, only walking beside the departing handmaidens and Miriel as the tortoise descended the tower approach. Owain turned to the waiting queen, squaring his shoulders. He closed the large doors behind him.
Queen Rennala was still peacefully reclined on the central bed, he sat delicately on its edge. Owain studied the phial, turning the smooth glass in his fingers. It radiated Ranni's freezing magic, as well as Miriel's reassuring light. The sentinel shifted nearer to the queen, he'd dawdled long enough. With the utmost gentleness, he inclined Queen Rennala, pouring the tonic into parted lips.
Her fine brows knit, her lips pulled back in a half sneer; but her eyes remained shut. Long beats passed and Owain worried that perhaps the potion did not work, until Queen Rennala surged up from her back with a heaving gasp. Wild eyes searched frantically until they met his own. She said nothing but her slender hands reached for him, pulling him tightly to her embrace. "I am here, mother." Was all he said.
The monarch took many steadying breaths before pushing him lightly back. Owain startled, the queen's eyes held the sharpness of eld; the cunning and cutting of the Full Moon Queen. A cold hand rested on his jaw, an icy thumb caressed his cheekbone. "Thine countenance is far too changed since last we met, mine son. Tell me, what hast transpired."
They should have known better than to think they could so cleanly fool mother. He tried to speak but his throat was too dry, he swallowed heavily. Owain could not ruin this now. "Many things, great queen." At her scowl he cringed. "Mother. I…you see-" He breathed in slowly. "I must yet withhold many truths from you for reasons that I can not explain. What I will say is that Ranni and I need your aid quite desperately."
The muscles of her slim neck twitched, alas, she was already angry. "Didst Ranni bid you speak such drivel?" He looked away guiltily. "I see. Where is mine errant daughter? Odd that her consort is at my bedside and yet she is not." Owain cleared his throat, instinctual fear gripping him. The only other in all the lands between that could make him feel so very terrified was Lord Malekith.
He need be careful with his words now, lest the queen's fury spiral out of control. "She awaits outside, mother."
"Well? Call for her. I wouldst yet heareth from her own lips what aid need be rendered." Owain slowly captured the queen's hands in his own.
"Mother, please do not lose your equanimity with what I am to tell you." Cold sapphire eyes scorched into his own, the air in the large chamber was beginning to grow heavy with the pressure of magic. The weight of it felt as a wave about to crsh down upon him, "We h-have found a solution already, we only needed your wisdom and skill to enact it."
She frowned at his trembling fingers, "Out with it, Wain."
By the crucible, this woman scared him. "Ranni's fate has been freed from the fingers. She-" He choked on his words at Queen Rennala's furious expression. Oh no, he'd said the wrong thing.
"Ranni! To me!" The grand doors of the tower were blasted open and the Queen threw off her sheets.
Owain rushed after her. "Mother, wait! Please-"
He almost crashed into her back at her abrupt stop. Ranni stood waiting in the doorway, the spell of her former face shadowed. "I am here, mother."
Queen Rennala's eyes slowly widened; first in surprise then in abject horror. She lifted a halting hand, waving away Ranni's illusion. "Daughter, wh-what hast thou done?" The misery of the queen's voice was matched by the grief on the princess' face.