sugar berry

[imeanforever]

Near a stream that pours off a high cliff and then snakes away is a garden, carefully tended, and a house, built of wood and stone and transmuted pearl. Fairies weed the plants. One is fixing the roof. A berrybush, hair atangle with spidery branches, is painting gold stripes onto her purple arms.

Comments

[infinitely_stranger]

Arcane closes his eyes.

It's hard to tell exactly when he falls asleep. It's not like he was doing much other than fly in a straight line to begin with. But his eyes are closed and the rippling movements of his wings are very regular.

[imeanforever]

She keeps up. She does not tug on his wings or tell him to wake up, just nibbles down her food supply and flies.

[infinitely_stranger]

About eight hours later, he opens his eyes and looks for Promise.

"Hello. Ready for fast-flight again?"

[imeanforever]

"Yes." She holds out her hand.

[infinitely_stranger]

Arcane takes her hand, and off they zoom. Fast-flight is fast.

[imeanforever]

"How hard is this spell to learn?"

[infinitely_stranger]

"One of the problems of having a direct harmonic sense is that it's very difficult in general for me to teach my spells to anyone. Fast-flight is one of the ones I haven't managed to translate. I might be able to translate a stripped-down version with fewer conveniences, but so far no one has expressed serious interest in being able to fly very rapidly while making a terrible racket that can be heard for miles in every direction, leaving behind a very obvious trail of disturbed air, and running out of breathable air in somewhere between one and six hours. Or about a minute if the spell didn't include an air bubble at all."

[imeanforever]

"It seems better than nothing under some potential circumstances, but admittedly not nearly so appealing."

[infinitely_stranger]

"If I ever come up with a teachable version of proper fast-flight, perhaps I'll find you and let you know."

[imeanforever]

"I'd just as soon the Queen never notice I exist. By the way."

[infinitely_stranger]

"I have no particular reason to mention you to her, except very incidentally in the course of describing what happened at Thorn's court if that comes up. She doesn't ask for detailed accounts of my travels, just for points of interest I may have discovered while I was out. 'So I took one of his vassals and deposited her out of his reach' will not provoke her curiosity."

[imeanforever]

"Okay."

[infinitely_stranger]

"Not wanting to come to the Queen's attention is a very reasonable preference."

[imeanforever]

"I mean. She's probably better than Thorn."

[infinitely_stranger]

"She is better than Thorn in many ways. But not wanting to belong to anyone's court is a very reasonable preference."

[imeanforever]

Nod, nod.

[infinitely_stranger]

Flying continues.

[imeanforever]

"Do you like being in the Queenscourt?"

[infinitely_stranger]

"Yes. There are plenty of advantages. I might also like being in no one's court, but if I had been in no one's court to start with I would currently be having much more trouble with Thorn. I appreciate the security of being the Queen's best sorcerer, and of expecting to continue being the Queen's best sorcerer for the forseeable future."

[imeanforever]

"Mm."

[infinitely_stranger]

"Mm?"

[imeanforever]

"I can probably avoid getting caught again. But I can - imagine the appeal in having somebody who can definitely retrieve me in case that probably falls through. But I don't think I can have all the things I want."

[infinitely_stranger]

"I could visit you once in a while on leave, and look for you if I don't see you in the forest," Arcane suggests. "Less definite than being a prominent member of the Queenscourt, but also doesn't involve coming to the Queen's attention unless she has to send someone to rescue me from someone I tried to rescue you from."

[imeanforever]

"I'd like that."

[infinitely_stranger]

"It won't be going far out of my way. I like overflying the Sapphire and Emerald Seas."