Chapter 9

                                        

                                              
Emberlee gratefully left the capital as swiftly as possible after the unexpectedly childish Imperial Princess' salon party. Uncle Albert had taken her brusque recounting of the event with an amused smile and a glass of brandy. He intended to stay in the capital and gather information with so many nobles lingering. She did warn him about her theory regarding the cross-border spouse seeking amongst nobles over the next few years, trying to probe and see if he was planning something similar as part of promoting himself from Earl to Count or Marquis. He neither confirmed nor denied his intentions merely agreed that her theory was likely to happen.
The trip back to her March was gloriously rapid compared to her departure, with no fragile mirrors to be cautious for. And she took the opportunity at night to question her Fairy Godmother about the current breadth and depth of her powers, and how they were to go about increasing them. As with her Blessing, it was a matter of practice, of consciously trying to do something that was otherwise passively instinctive. One breathes naturally, but can temporarily control the action; at least until the body takes over again as an act of self-preservation. So too, Emberlee's ability to actively use her Fairy Godmother's powers was limited, at least until she trained herself up to greater use. And she got reluctant confirmation from her Fairy Godmother that a Fairy's powers were limited to nighttime.
"Had you never heard the phrase 'wish upon a star?" Her Fairy Godmother's disembodied voice teased from the moonstone pendant, "There are natural constraints, even for Fairy magic; first contact requires the full moon, any magics cast will be shattered by the death of the day so be wary of midnight, and what has been done cannot be undone." 
It sounded so simple, but even once home Emberlee found mastering the task at hand difficult. Utilizing her Blessing was far easier, a simple matter of using her own Will to compel small creatures into her bidding. Spiders had been her first successful retainers, useful for crafting tasks as she'd discovered but less so for other endeavours. Birds made marvellous messengers, and Emberlee had found the corvids to be smart enough to almost talk to her, but they couldn't go inside buildings for her. That's where the bane of a homeowner became her boon; the rats that scurried around could get anywhere and were strong enough to do things on her behalf. Her Fairy Godmother had been right in that she'd failed to compel any creature that had a strong sense of self, though that seemed to be an individual measure more than a species-based one. 
"A Fairy uses light and illusion, air and darkness," her Fairy Godmother instructed one night while  Emberlee reviewed the endless documentation required to keep her March cared for. 
"And how do we build light, illusions, air, and darkness into Power?" she knew her Fairy Godmother was as eager to improve as she was. 
"By wielding them well, Child of mine," it still hurt to hear such affectionate terms in her Mother's voice but know it was a farce. Fairies couldn't tell a direct lie, but this one certainly didn't mind wearing one for a face. 
Emberlee smiled lightly as she contemplated how one could wield incorporeal things, though truthfully there was little difference between illusion and the social manipulations Nobility required. A Fairy couldn't lie but they used illusions to beguile, Emberlee did much the same as she manipulated the information the spies in her March had to report. Likewise, she weirded darkness by communicating with Oberon via Fairy Godparent instead of letters that could be intercepted or counterfeited. Lies and obfuscation were powers she'd learned long before trying to master Fairy magics.
"Light and air, we'll start with those," Emberlee declared, curious to see what her equivalents would be.
"As you Will it, Child of mine," her Fairy Godmother encouraged. 
It all revolved around Mirrors, more exactly the reflections capable of being shown on them. At first Emberlee's Fairy could only use the Mirrors around her, in the same space she was. As Father's letters from the ever-changing frontline came in slowly, Emberlee strove to gain the air her Fairy Godmother promised. Air, and the distance between that it covered, would give her the ability to send and receive word quickly, and maybe even see his face for the first time in years. She hadn't dared share the existence of her Fairy Godmother via letter to a war zone, but despite the efforts of both Fairy and Child they remained restricted to Emberlee's March. All those perfect Mirrors were delivered to the Capital and her Fairy Godmother couldn't use a single one. Within the boundaries of Ortega, Emberlee could use still water to see and hear her Fairy by the end of the summer, but one step beyond those bounds and they were limited to the spaces Emberlee was within.