A Meeting with Nymuae (13 Jun 2002) Alice secretly meets with her friend in the garden.

Queen Seraph spent a few more hours answering Alice's questions on the state of Mirari, until the blond child's curiosity gave way to quiet contemplation of all that she had learned. Afterwards, Alice carefully crafted a letter to send to all of her friends. With the Queen at her side, late that night the two went to the Palace's aerie. They sent two copies of the true letter. One went North, to Nymuae's Spire, in care of a white dove. The second was entrusted to Ryland of Avarre, a crow from the House of October. Ryland recognized Alice immediately, and remembered her fondly even before she gave him another cookie. He sped West, instructed to seek both Lady Redmane and the Lord Explorer.

Since that evening, Alice has spent a few relatively quiet days at the Palace, attending on Queen Seraph with the other ladies-in-waiting. Lords and Ladies come before the Queen daily, asking for this or that to be granted them. Many requests are simply for aid -- assistance in feeding a village near the Golden Woods, whose food stores were raided by bandits, men to defend September's border against the threat of trolls, arms to supply December's folk against incursions by ice goblins. Others are more political. October came to press his suit against Lord April's status as Heir, and the Queen was sad but sympathetic to his cause. She told him of November's request for a hearing in two weeks' time, and promised that his voice would be heard then, too. October betrayed no recognition of Alice during the meeting, but his handmaiden, Yseult, winked at her once when no one was watching them.

Grimmer were visits from Lady May and Lord February, both of whom pressed the Queen to honor April's claim to the throne and see him crowned. They insinuated, as Lord April had, that the Queen had selfish motives in preventing the ascension. The Queen kept her temper with them, but when Lord February left, she heaved a great sigh. "At least I am spared March's protests for now -- he is overseeing the defense of Spring's lands." Lord August sent a message supporting April's wish, as well, but he at least made no accusations against the Queen. Still, Seraph was disturbed by the news. "The Houses of Summer and Winter had been reluctant to declare their allegiance overtly, one way or another ... it is frightening to see them rally now to my brother's cause."

In her free time, Alice has practiced a little of glamour, using Kuon as both tutor and test audience. She has not seen the Queen privately since that night -- Seraph being reluctant to draw any further attention to her secret daughter. Kuon, in human form, explained the theory and principles of glamour to Alice, but he's no expert on the subject. So far, she has stuck to the basics, either trying to be inconspicuous or impressive. Kuon is easier to impress in canine form, and easier to slip past in human form, but even her best efforts haven't given her an unqualified success at either yet.

Late one night, Alice wakes to a strange glow in her room, emanating from the amulet Nymuae gave her. It feels warm, almost hot, against her chest. When she touches it, she feels a tug in her mind, a sudden urge to go into the Palace's gardens. As if from a great distance, she hears the sorceress calling her name.

Servant's Bedroom, Palace of All Seasons
It is morning, and light peeks through the heart-shaped hole in the shutters, the frosting on the windowpane turning the sunlight to a pale white. From the musky smell that hovers in the small room, the stables are not far away.

Letting her hand rest upon the amulet, Alice tries to think of what the signal means. She tries to calm her heart against the worry of ill tidings and hope for good news. Maybe Lady Nymuae and the rest of her friends met with great success and wanted to tell her all about it. Whatever it might be, it seems urgent -- she didn't think Lady Nymuae would contact her otherwise. So quietly she dresses as quickly as she can in something fairly plain and fetches a hooded cloak to hide from the weather as well as prying eyes.

Kuon, curled by the door, lifts his head and whines as he hears Alice fumbling about for her clothes.

After she's ready, Alice walks over to Kuon and kneels down beside him so that she might whisper, "The amulet Rebecca gave me is warm and I think I'm supposed to go outside now."

The dog gives another little whine, but nods and licks her cheek. He nuzzles her, then stands aside to let her pass.

The little girl muffles a giggle at the lick before beaming at the canine. "I'm going to the Palace gardens," she adds. "I shan't be long, I hope! Bye!" And with that she quietly moves to slip out of the room.

Cul-de-sac in the Palace Gardens
A tete-a-tete nook, complete with a pair of elegant garden chairs designed side-by-side but facing each other, at just the right distance and angle for a whispered conversation. Snow piles on the sides of the walkways in white drifts, but has been cleared from the chairs and the path. Moonlight streams through the statues and bare trees, casting twisted black shadows all around.

The amulet leads the little girl to this corner of the deserted gardens, where a woman rests in the chair facing out of the cul-de-sac. Her face is shadowed when Alice turns down the path, but she rises and speaks with the voice that had called to the girl from her dreams. "Alice," she says, warmly.

Across from the mysterious woman Alice stands huddled beneath her cloak. Her own face lies shadowed as well but the little girl lacks the height and the features to look particularly mysterious. Her golden locks stray from the olds of the hood down her shoulders and her inquisitive eyes peer at the other at the end of the cul-de-sac. "Rebecca?" she whispers curiously. "I can't see you very well."

"Of course." She gestures with her left hand, and a will-o'-wisp glow lights there, enough to illuminate her face and banish some of the shadows from the nook. The face of the Sorceress Nymuae is revealed -- pale-skinned,with high cheekbones and a sharply delineated jaw line, framed by black hair -- only the green eyes reminiscent of Rebecca. "It is I, Nymuae."

"Oh!" Alice exclaims quietly, much relieved. She places a hand on her chest and exhales, not exactly having known what to expect in these dark times. Now that herfriend has been revealed she feels more comfortable about approaching, which she does so slowly. "It is nice to see you again, Lady Nymuae, though I did not expect you to come so soon."

Nymuae reaches out to embrace her. "I wish that better news had brought me hence. I cannot tarry long -- I have only paused here before I continue to the South. I must move swiftly, for terrible things are afoot. The Sorcerer-King of the Ice Goblins has returned to them, and even now he gathers his power to strike at the Winter lands. If he gains a foothold there ... "

Alice reaches out and hugs her friend warmly and tightly. She has been away from all her friends for a while now and though the time in the Palace has been wonderful it has also been quite harsh. It gladdens her heart to see Lady Nymuae now, even amongst ill tidings. "I'll make sure she knows," she tells her friend.

"That is well. If thou see any of Winter's nobles, tell them their trouble is worse than they imagined. Tell them what I told thee. I would stay to see to it myself -- but, fah, I have no taste to be drawn again into their political squabbling." Nymuae makes a face that reminds Alice of Rebecca, when she talked about Boris and his "friends."

The little girl's face wrinkles, too. "Oh, no, and I can't think to blame you for that. They are awful. The news is not fair, and she is weary with so many claims. The Houses of Summer and Winter seem to be united in their wish for Lord April to ascend the throne, but you know my mind on that from my letter. Though it is not passing strange that those Houses are so strong in their wish when they have been so ... oh, yes, reluctant to declare their allegiances. At least not in an open fashion," Alice offers quietly.

The sorceress waves a hand, dismissing the idea. "They dispute legalities and spout nonsense while the land withers. I have little use for any of them." Her voice softens as she changes topics, continuing, "How dost thou fare, my young friend?"

Alice looks up a bit more to give her friend another smile and in doing so almost casts her cloak hood back. She quickly reaches to stop it from falling, however, not wishing to show her face and being really rather cold. "I would be very well if not for all this sadness." The girl bites her lip and looks off back towards the Palace for a moment as she speaks. "I want to help more, but ... it's very complicated. I'm not sure the answers can be found wholly in Mirari. And she might do well with your council. I worry for her greatly."

Nymuae pats the girl's cheek in affection. "Thou has ever been kind-hearted and compassionate. Thou dost more than thou knowst, only by being at hand." Her green eyes unfocus briefly, then she shakes her head. "Would that I could tell thee things will improve, but even I cannot read what will come to pass, in these uncertain times. If only Thomas were not such a stubborn, headstrong man! We are scattered to the four winds, our strength squandered in separation, when we ought to be together. Pray that Agatha will reach him in time."

Her eyes widening, Alice returns her gaze to Nymuae and asks quite hesitantly, "What is Lord Thomas doing? Nary a word had been spoken of him until Lord April said that he would return for the council. Nor of Agatha, or any other of our friends. At least not to here. To me. Until now." She leans her head against the sorceress's hand and looks small, like one who's showing signs of a heavy burden she will not set aside.

"He's gone West, Alice. He says to find the Lord Protector, but I fear he's truly in search of the Jack again. He failed once, when he understood Mirari far more clearly than he does now." She shakes her head. "But he is proud, too proud. He will never admit that he needs help, or that there are things he cannot do alone. No, he will hare off on his own. I fear even Redmane will not be able to stop him from doing something foolish." The sorceress sighs deeply. "I cannot allow myself to be too distracted, however. I have perils of my own ahead of me."

"I wish I was as brave as Agatha, or as quick as Simon. Then maybe I could go save Tommy," confides the little girl. "But, nay, I'm glad I came here too. I think it was important, and I learned a lot. Not only about Mirari but about us, too, and what Mirari really needs. The Year cycle should stop -- it must! And I'm trying to find a way to do that. But it is difficult. I wonder how long the Lords of the Houses will wait, and Lord April I do not trust. Even despite Simon being his page. Would, well ..." She glances ather sorceress friend in consideration. "You could look to him and see if he is what he claims to be. Too strange has he acted! Even she says so, and I fear he is not as he seems. Or is even controlled."

"Lord April? An imposter?" The Lady Sorceress raises one eyebrow. "I cannot credit it. The court thaumaturge is a competent woman -- she should be able to detect any such illusion. Why dost thou think otherwise?"

"He is ill mannered to her majesty, and has drawn further from her heart as time goes on. He is almost cruel! I do understand his want to aid all Mirari with a new Year but it would seem to me, like parts of a game, that were the Year's End to try to hurt Mirari then this push his lordship favors can only lead to that end. One broken Rule, or another! And a great deal of arguing. I hear it daily, you see. She has confided that he is strange to her now, and that she does not know him. I have seen the looks in his eyes and I am afraid of him. It is also a feeling that I have all is not right with his lordship." As she relates about the lord, she draws her cloak closer to herself as if warding off a sudden cold. "The Year's End is thought to be a cunning illusionist beyond the ken of most."

The Lady Sorceress goes still, and after Alice's final words, the garden is silent save for the whispering of the winter breeze. At length, the sorceress speaks. "This possibility goes far beyond the worst that I might have suspected of any of the Houses. If the Year's End is Lord April -- t'would be the undoing of us all." She clenches and unclenches her fists, her green eyes unfocused, full of thoughts.

"T'would be the very direction of the crown were it to pass on under force of persuasion or ... or worse. I cannot help but fear it is so, and I do not think myself without reason. And so may Rules stand to be broken I wonder if it was not intended," says Alice as she watchers her friend's face. After a quiet moment she adds, hesitantly, "I had even thought to put myself forward, but that will avail us not, and truly I do not want it save to help our Mirari! It is a heavy thing."

"Nothing would be worse than seeing the Destroyer crowned. Nothing the Lords could dream of, in their darkest nightmares, would rival that. I thought they, as petty fools as they are, could not be so imbecilic as that ... But ... " She trails off. "The threat of the Sorcerer King is real. I have seen it. I have seen his armies. If I do not go, the ice goblins will devastate the southern realms. I know it."

"Then I shall see to Lord April," says Alice, not at all sounding as one at ease. "Though I would do better with an Optikon. But perhaps a trap, yes, like I learned from Lord Thomas and Agatha."

"I have the Optikon with me," the Sorceress says, slowly. "Though what good it will do you without the means to develop the truths it captures, I cannot say. If Lord April is the Destroyer -- but that is only an if." She looks pained.

"He will not venture on to holy ground?" offers the blonde as a finish to the sorceress's sentence.

"No, he would not," Nymuae answers. "Not unless the ground had been defiled first." She screws her face up in thought.

"Perhaps were she to call a meeting with her brother, in private, to the royal chapel?" suggests Alice. "I do not know why I didn't think of it sooner! Perhaps with Agatha and Tommy off, I have had to think in their place."

"A fair enough plan to test thy suspicions," Nymuae agrees. "I will leave thee the Optikon, as well. Even if thou canst not, on thy own, divine the answers it gives, thou mayst find Lord April fears to have his image captured by it." She produces the Optikon from a pouch at her side, and offers it to Alice. "An thou dost gain proof he is the Destroyer, thou must summon me, immediately. Do not delay! There is no greater threat to Mirari than that one! Should all the ice goblins of the world o'errun this country, it would be a better fate than to see the Destroyer crowned."

"Yes," agrees Alice. "I will do so." She reaches out and accepts the Optikon which she holds carefully with both hands beneath her cloak. "There is another matter as well which I have come to think of as strange. What of Simon? I wish to trust him, I do and have, but I know him not. In my search for knowledge that might help Mirari I have noted a number of links from the Year's End to House January o'er the Years. Lord April is suspected, and Simon does walk with him. Simon is not as he appears, and yet why if he were always with his lordship would he have shown the colors of House January within the image of the Optikon? The Rabbit, plain as Dawn. Though I freely admit I have heard little of all our ventures since we went our own ways."

"Simon? Is with Lord April?" She frowns. "But Thomas's letter specified that Simon was with him. Unless --" Nymuae's eyes light briefly. "Of course. Lord April has the true Simon with him. Thomas's is the imposter. April's imposter." She clenches a fist. "I pray we are o'er fearful, my dear friend, in suspecting what thou dost of Lord April. If it is true, than Thomas is even greater peril than I suspected."

"Oh no," exclaims Alice a bit too loudly. She bites her lip and shakes her head as if trying to calm herself, then as she seems to relax she says, "But indeed this Simon knew me not, though perhaps that isn't hard to figure. For I did try to conceal myself not knowing his designs or his intentions. I do trust his heart, but I do not trust Lord April."

"Two imposter Simons would seem hard to credit." Nymuae shakes her head. "Perhaps thou shouldst investigate this Simon. See if he is the boy we knew, or some other pawn yet in the game. As he is close to Lord April, it would be well to know his mind. If he is yet on our side, he would be a useful ally. If his mind has turned from us, 'tis better we know that now than later."

To this Alice nods slowly. She bites her lip again as she considers this unexpected event and then offers, "He spoke to us, and I am willing to believe he is our Simon. Only that Lord April's words had reached him and he believed in what his lordship said -- but his belief was truly to heart! He wished to help Mirari and believed that aiding Lord April was the best way to do so. But I am uncertain; I had only spoken with him for a brief time. I will see if I might find out more. I do think that perhaps he is afraid of his lordship as I am."

"The Lords of the Houses sell their causes with golden tongues, all of them. I would not blame Simon o'ermuch if he believed a glib lie or half-truth." Her words carry a tang of bitterness. "Yet, if he believed the good that Lord April promises, then all the more reason to open his eyes to the potential of evil. If Lord April is an imposter," she reminds herself. "Too many ifs." The sorceress glances skywards, at the moon.

"It is very complicated," Alice agrees. The little blonde follows her friend's gaze up to watch the moon and by its heavenly visage she is reminded of another matter that is on her mind. "I have discovered, I think, another magic of the mirror that is not of words and History. Do you have it with you Lady Sorceress?"

"Lady Angelique's mirror?" Nymuae responds. "No. I fear I have not had time to unlock its secrets, and thought it prudent to leave it in safety at the Spire. What use dost thou have for it?"

"Aw, a shame. But why," Alice removes her right hand and flattens it so the sorceress can see her palm. Then with her other hand which holds the Optikon, she taps the palm with a finger, "the tapestries of the court did show it. For the mirror does not reflect all that peers in to it, but dragons' breath, and maybe more." She draws the finger away and wiggles it and the rest, showing something striking a surface and rebounding away. Then she tucks her hands around the Optikon again and lets them sink back in to the folds of her cloak.

The sorceress nods. "It is a potent tool, and ever has been. But I have an arsenal of my own at my disposal, and one I am better trained to use. Still, for thy sake, I would that I had brought it with me. Thou might have need of it. At least it cannot fall into the hands of our enemies, where it is now."

Again the girl nods. "Yes, I had thought to hold it for the sake of the Palace. But you are right, it is safe where it is," she agrees. "Have you heard at all that there is any link between House January and our current worries of the Year's End? The Lord of Year's End might well be Lord Eoin, and I hope a name such as that helps you. Also I wonder if you have heard any manner in which the cycle of Years might end?"

"Lord Eoin ... " She reflects. "Ah, the first Lord of January. That ... was a long time ago. Yes. I see the connection. The cycle of Years?" Nymuae shakes her head. "Only that ending the Destroyer promises, if he were to ascend the throne and put an end to all things."

"I cannot think that is what His Majesty wanted. I can't." The little girl hugs the Optikon to herself quite before she realizes she's doing it. Were she able to carry him her doll would have provided for a much more comfortable source of ease. She is now however strong and does little in hugging the poor replacement for a stuffed unicorn save make herself sore. She breathes a sigh and turns her eyes out to the building snow. "'Rules can be changed, by those with the mind to.' I do wonder if that is a rule we can change, and if the change does not lie in the world where dreams are born. Not where dreams live and breathe."

"What dost thou mean?" The sorceress looks at Alice with fresh curiosity.

Alice blinks for a moment as if caught in the middle of some thought and not wholly expecting to have been listened to. She looks up from the snow to her friend and elaborates, reciting thus:

"In the Lands Beyond, where fresh dreams are born,
The King may answer find, though hope forlorn,
Anything can be broken, then forged anew,
Rules can be changed, by those with the mind to."

Alice nods and then smiles out to the snow covered garden, though her smile is faint. "The land where dreams are born -- it seems plain to me, that is the mortal realm. Mirari must then be the land of dreams. I think that one makes the other. There is no dream land without dreamers, and there is no happiness without dreams. Or so I have thought. I think much of the prophecies now."

"Who told thee this riddle?" Nymuae asks. "I have not heard it before, and yet it seems somehow familiar."

Again the blonde blinks. This time because she did not expect Lady Nymuae not to know a prophecy she knew. "It is Lady Raven's prophecy, Lady Sorceress. From the time when his majesty departed Mirari. Perhaps indeed the reason. And I would think his majesty sees now what that prophecy means, though it comforts him not. 'Just a story' ... but stories are important, too, as are dreams," she explains.

The Lady Sorceress looks annoyed. "Yes, of course. The Oracle's prophecy. Now I recall it." She steeples her fingers. "Ainigton is a dreary, mundane place. The answers to Mirari's troubles, there?" Nymuae makes another face, then schools her expression back to a dignified one.

"Do not hate Ainigton, Lady Sorceress," offers Alice as she turns back to face her friend. "Did you not say that a place can have a soul? And did not the Optikon show that Ainigton and Mirari share much the same soul? Dreams cannot be without the dreamers." She smiles a little, then even giggles softly. "I think that makes us dreams, or dreams and dreamers, even though you m'lady are of old and I am fae. And remember that Elinor sought there too, as did His Majesty. The truth cannot be contested -- if of course it is the truth. And indeed we did imagine much that came to be. Or always was. Perhaps the link goes both ways. But I think both are important."

The sorceress has a sour look on her face, but at length, she concedes the point. "The Optikon cannot lie, and it did show Mirari in Ainigton," she admits grudgingly. "But if the King went to look for an answer to Mirari's ills, I wish he would hurry and find it. I grow weary of this constant struggle. This is not what I would dream of."

"Nor I. Or perhaps we did, in a fashion, for doesn't every story have a foe?" The little blonde girl smiles again as faint as she had before. "I do believe he found an answer, if not the answer His Majesty was looking for. If you walk out of a dream, and find you are but a story, would it not seem odd? Or I may well see the matter wrong. But the sadness, I saw. I had wondered if I should not seek His Majesty again, but what do I say, Lady Nymuae? These dreams continue at a heavy price! Like Archons, verily, to rule for a Year."

"Break the Rules," Nymuae says, a little smile on her face.

She smiles a little more at that. "Yes. And it seems we may well have to now. But not lightly, oh no. And we would not be the only ones to try. Lord April seeks to break a Rule himself. For Rules are the fabric of Mirari and tearing that fabric may harm it. And the how of it, too, I wonder at. Perhaps if not here in Mirari, then there in the land where dreams are born," Alice offers hopefully.

"Food for thought," Nymuae admits. "But for now, I have concerns that press too urgently upon me for me to keep chasing shadows and possibilities. I must continue to reach the South ere moonset, or I will be too late. Thou must be mine eyes and ears here, my friend. Be wary and vigilant, and think on all that I have told thee." She pauses, then adds, "And on what thou hast said, as well. Thou ... may find an answer that I have not had time to see."

Alice beams, unwilling to leave her friend with a look of sadness on her face, however light it might be. "I will do my best," she tells her friend. And with that she gives the sorceress a careful hug and steps back away where she curtsies. "I too should go. I must find a way to speak with Her Majesty and warn her of the dangers to the Winter lands. Go well. Believe in what is good and joyful -- and in happy endings!"

The sorceress nods in answer. She shakes her left hand, and the will-o'-wisp of light extinguishes. Shadows fall back into place. Then she chants words of power, and the shadows engulf where she stood. In an instant, the Lady Sorceress is gone.

With the sorceress gone, the little girl stands in the empty garden, upon still white snow. Alone again she cannot help but feel a sense of smallness return to her. The feeling of the whole world -- worlds -- and their problems dwarf one little girl. But she comforts herself in knowing that she is not alone, and that the worlds are precious and beautiful. If she can, she thinks, she will help them all she can. And with that in mind she whirls around and hurries off down the way with much on her mind and much left for her to do.

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This site serves as a chronicle of sessions in an online roleplaying campaign moderated by Conrad "Lynx" Wong and May "Rowan" Wasserman. The contents of this site are (c) 2001, 2002 by Conrad Wong and May Wasserman except where stated otherwise. Despite the "children's fantasy" theme of this campaign, this site is not intended for young readership, due to mild language and violence.