A Matter for Magic [MadEmperor, Imperfect_M]

[DragonSong]

"Oh, right, of course. You're very manly," Kiara huffed at him, rolling her eyes. She gave him a quick squeeze around the shoulders before standing.

"Well...suppose we'd best meet up with Kit, let him know what's been going on." She'd been able to reach the edge of the city the night before, just long enough to contact the dragon and briefly explain the situation, but they hadn't been able to stay in contact long.

[MadEmperor]

Once they had received the medicine, they left to check in with Kit.


"So that's the long and short of it. I'm stuck like this unless a miracle happens."

He managed a small grin. "But, hey, enchanted sword worth more coin than everything I've ever owned put together."

[DragonSong]

Kit snorted, tucking his tail primly around his front paws where he sat in the field they'd called him to not too far from the city gates.

"Well." He looked between the two humans. "That's...rough."

Kiara sighed and leaned against his flank. Her lips were pursed, a thoughtful frown on her face as looked out over the horizon.

"A miracle..."

[MadEmperor]

Grav watched her face for a second before he got the impression that she was having a specific idea. He was intrigued. "What? Do you actually know of something?"

While he didn't want to get his hopes up, he was eager to hear any way out of situation. It didn't matter how outlandish it might be.

[DragonSong]

"Maybe..." She bit her lip. "Maybe. It's...an old story. A story even to faeries. I don't remember all the details but..."

She sighed and pressed the heel of her hand into her eye. "Fuck. I think we need to go to the library."

Kit snorted. "The library. As in...?"

"Yep." She popped the "p", glancing over to Grav. "How do you feel about another jaunt through the Fae Realms?"

[MadEmperor]

Grav looked at her like she had lost her mind. "Again? But I thought you hated it there. I can't ask you to owe the fae anything."

He didn't push back with much enthusiasm. He was willing to try almost anything to avoid becoming... whatever it was he was becoming.

[DragonSong]

"I don't hate it there, exactly." She sighed. "I hate the Courts. I hate the bullshit politics; you'd think the Fae would be beyond that sort of thing, but—no, sorry, not the point."

She shoved away from Kit's flank and dusted off her breeches. "Bedsides, doesn't matter how I feel—the book we need is in a faerie library. It's not actually in any particular Court, thank gods; hopefully we'll be able to just sorta...pop in."

After a pause, she admitted sourly, "Besides, I already owe them something, according to my grandfather. This won't add all that substantially to the pile."

[MadEmperor]

"Good. As long as we don't--" He paused for a moment, then shot her a look of worried annoyance at being left out of the loop.  "You owe him what, exactly?"

[DragonSong]

"Er..."

Kit snorted, giving her a look that was oddly similar to Grav's expression. "Kia..." the dragon said slowly. "What exactly happened in that audience with your grandfather?"

"Listen, it's--okay, things were sorta happening quickly, it wasn't exactly priority to mention--"

"Kia."

She groaned, rubbing at her temples. "Alright, alright, it's just...well, bullshit faerie politics. My grandfather--the Autumn King offered to make me part of the Court. Y'know. Officially. But it comes with a catch because of course it does, so I asked for some time to think about it." She blew out an exasperated breath through her lips. "Not accepting that kind of "offer" right away is already an insult--I'm basically already on the hook just for asking for the three months to consider it."

[MadEmperor]

His mind latched onto the undisclosed "catch" and wouldn't let go. He could hardly believe she was still trying to downplay things. "What sort of catch? Is it what happens when you say yes, or when you say no?"

"And please stop walking on eggshells with me. I'm a big boy."

[DragonSong]

"I'm not walking on eggshells!" she protested quickly. "But we obviously had bigger things to deal with! For all we knew you were dying, I couldn't just—"

To her complete horror, she realized her throat was growing tight. She tsked and looked away quickly, trying to swipe at her eyes as subtly as possible.

"It's...sort of a catch either way," she admitted with another sigh. She sort of just...sank to the ground, as though standing was suddenly too much work. Head in one hand, she muttered, "If I stay here, if I stay human, my—my magic is going to burn me out. It could be in a few years, it could be in decades, but it'll happen eventually."

Kit snorted, jerking his head back. He'd known her magical condition was more serious than she'd wanted to believe, but...

"But if I take the offer, if I let them make me part of the Court..." She glared at her feet. "My grandfather doesn't actually give a damn about me. He just wants another bargaining chip. I think he's planning to marry me off to another court."

[MadEmperor]

Grav was speechless. He knew her magic was more than her body could handle, but he didn't--he didn't think it was going to kill her whether she used it or not.

"And you can't just, I dunno, not use it?"

[DragonSong]

She shrugged balefully. "I can. That'll probably buy me some time—but I don't know how much."

Kit made a soft whimpering noise he'd never made around Grav before and ducked his head to nuzzle her shoulder. She patted his nose and tried to smile at both of them.

"But listen, the Fae aren't great with, y'know, time. I probably have a good few decades, my father is just paranoid."

[MadEmperor]

Grav was dubious, but he didn't press her further. He hoped, for her sake, that she was right. So he kept the conversation moving. "So, how long will it take us to reach this library?"

"And how will even find the info we're looking for without owing a faerie a favor?"

[DragonSong]

"A few days? Give or take." She shrugged. "Honestly it mostly depends on how quickly we can find a natural gateway—I don't want to risk using the amulet again, my father knows when I do. As for the favor..."

She shrugged again and scuffed a foot over the ground. "I know the book we need. Da—he took me a few times. The library is one of the few truly neutral  places in the faerie realm. As long as we follow the rules, we should be able to look at the book we need."

[MadEmperor]

"That's a relief. I'd hate to know the kinds of favors they ask." Grav nodded. "But, uhh... how exactly do we go about finding one of these natural gateways? Do you know? Or do we have to go two libraries?"

[DragonSong]

"I know how to get there." She pushed herself to her feet with a low groan and stretched her arms up over her head. "There's a number of ways—we just need to find the most convenient one."

She pursed her lips, considering. "A mushroom circle would probably be quickest—and it helps to try the crossing at dawn or dusk."

[MadEmperor]

Grav scanned the horizon for a forest. "It looks like most of the trees around have been chopped down for building materials. And how do we even find a mushroom circle on purpose? Unless..." He looked at her curiously. "Unless you're saying you know where one is?"

[DragonSong]

"I know the likely places to fine one," she replied with another shrug. "We'll have better luck in the highlands--if we fly, we can be there by sundown, or at least close. Assuming you're up for it?"

She glanced to Kit at the last, and the dragon responded with a huff and a nod. "Of course."

[MadEmperor]

The flight to the highlands filled Grav with new wonder. With his enhanced eyes, he could see better, farther, and just more.

"Whoah... Was the world always this big?" He was gazing at everything with wide eyes and a wider grin.