Wicked Steps

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.

"The blood of the wretched lizard guards the land beyond your territory," her Fairy Godmother would unhelpfully explain, and any further elaboration offered only Adaban's ancient hi온라인카지노게임 and more questions than were answered.

Adaba had existed for longer than Xutia had, though why such a stable Empire had never expended Northward was only ever explained by referencing that 'wretched lizard' whose blood still somehow guarded Xutia. Delving into it only revealed that the wretched lizard was an entity so cursed and reviled by the Fairies that it had no other name but 'wretched lizard'. At its earliest incarnation, Xutia had some great guardian lizard that lay its very life into protecting the boundaries of the fledgling nation. Now that they've expanded past those original borders, Emberlee wondered if that protection was considered revoked. But if that'd been the case, her own Fairy Godmother would likely have unimpeded range. So only the new borders were unprotected by this wretched lizard, and her Fairy Godmother claimed to not know whether it had a connection to the Vapours or not. Emberlee would have to wait and witness in action whether or not the Imperial expansion allowed the Vapours to roam a wider range. The newly Xutian and formerly Traimorian citizens had never before been Blessed or seen the terrible reality of a Vapour's passage, and every week Father wrote of the steady expansion into Guita. Sooner or later Emberlee would have an answer on whether or not the new map boundaries would affect older magics.

In more human matters, Emberlee found herself inevitably drawn into the new Emperor's games. His Imperial Majesty Andrion had announced the growth and change of several families, and his scheming was even more tactical than Emberlee's theorizing had anticipated. The Roblee March was being given the chance to maintain its status and pay off its debts by ceding all its established territories and moving to the new Northern border. It was not a boon to be given governance over war-claimed, drought-ravaged lands filled with newly acquired citizens but as any other option would decrease the Family's status Emberlee wasn't surprised they took it. Her paternal Grandfather's Mihal March was given a significant portion of the former Roblee's territories but in turn, was forced to cede some of their southern territories to herself. Despite making no overt move to curry favour, the Ortega March was being expanded. Like herself, it seemed Emperor Andrion felt Father's deeds as General had earned him ample reward, so now despite the cold relations between Mihal and Ortega, Emberlee officially owned what was once Mihal Manor, her Father's childhood home.

And her clever, scheming Uncle, found himself promoted as expected. The Earldom of Grunberg was now the Marquisate of Grunberg, and like the Roblees, found itself moved North to newly claimed Lands. Emberlee was already the official contact for Ababa and Xutia to communicate through, and Emperor Andrion had deliberately expanded her territories to face the Dudian Confederation as well. The Houcain Kingdom had been swallowed by the Confederation a few years earlier, so the Dudian capital was closer to either Roblee or Mihal Marches but there was still the possibility to have Emberlee appointed their point of contact too. It was not a burden of authority Emberlee wanted, and if he were to insist on burdening her with such an honour, Emberlee would leverage a Duchy out of it herself. The Ortega March was already more profitable than the Monske Duchy was, the only real difference was the right for a Duke to keep a standing army. Ortega had Knights but as a defensive guard, not an army. As a Duke she'd have smaller Noble families as her vassals, instead of being a vassal house to a Duchy.

But it would be a lot of work to upgrade to a Dukedom. and Emberlee just wanted to take care of the March and its people as her Mother had before her. It wasn't that she lacked ambition, Emberlee simply knew herself well enough to realize that she enjoyed the simpler life of a Marchioness over the more politically involved life of a Duchess. Give her the loyalty of a powerful Army and put her in the political world where a needless war of expansion was approved, and Emberlee would come to political conflict with those that'd wanted the war simply for glory. The official word for that was treason, so it was far better for Emberlee and her March to stay unambitious.

Sadly, Emberlee had been considering all the political changes based on a rational person making them in good taste. But Emperor Andrion had married his Stussican Princess in defiance of the Royal Mourning he'd initiated, so it should have occurred to Emberlee that he'd continue to act tasteless as long as he gained from it. Shortly before her sixteenth birthday, Emberlee received the damned gold-sealed missive outlining her March's expansion, and immediately after her sixteenth birthday, she received another. But the second imperial missive held terrible contents.

Emperor Andrion had decided to 'gift' her Father with a new wife.

Specifically, Emperor Andrion had selected and had Father married in absentia to a Stussican Countess. It was already legalized, the contents of the package an in-depth guarantee from his Imperial Majesty that her new stepmother had no legal claims to the Ortega March despite being her Father's new wife.

It was only as Emberlee poured herself a sifter of Uncle's favourite brandy that her Fairy Godmother decided to speak up. "You seem agitated Child, a storm of emotions without direction. Use this event as you would any other, claim it to your own needs."

"Emperor Andrion married my Father off to a Stussican Countess. I know nothing of this woman, other than what my liege," she put a sarcastic tone to the title, "has deigned to tell me," she looked at the provided information. "My new stepmother is Jimena Piklaani, mother to adult daughters Deirdre and Ainsley, twins. Her previous husband was significantly older and seemed to have died of heart failure, and she'd lived quietly wit her daughters in the County until now."

"So why the long exile for them to your lands?" Her Fairy asked the same question she was wondering.

The Ortega March was the farthest point from Stussica, either Countess Jimena had earned a severe punishment or there were unknown factors at play. Likely it would be a mix of both, but it'd be up to Emberlee to discover the truth of it regardless.

She couldn't resist taunting her Fairy Godmother with it either, "I guess I'll have to shine a light on the matter," thus far they'd made minimal progress expanding their powers beyond the most basic functions.

Fairy tales told of wonders, light-bringers, shadow singers, marvel makers, and all the plethora of Fairy magics. Emberlee and her Fairy Godmother could pass messages to Oberon via the mirror, but her Fairy seemed bound to her in a far more literal sense than it should have been. She could not summon the light of the sun to reveal all. Somehow her powers of light were even more of a lie than the illusions were.

"I may not be able to learn all you seek to know, but you'd be wise to utilize what is available," Emberlee no longer felt a flurry of grief wherever her Fairy Godmother perfectly emulated her Mother.

The Emperor's letter listed everything the new wife was bringing with her, from the lowliest basket up to the servants sent to tend to her needs. Despite the war stripping Xutia of its surplus and resources, the Ortega March still had enough to avoid rationing. It had been the loss of personnel that had been so devastating, after the epidemic ended there never seemed to be enough hands to get all the work done on time. Her new stepmother and stepsisters would be arriving with their maids, a butter, a Paige, and a retainer for the carriage. Nine strangers coming to make their home in her March, not including the escort guards who would be absorbed into her knights and would be tested by her Father upon his return. But that still meant nine people to incorporate into her home in less than four months, several of which were all too likely spies. It would be up to Emberlee to determine whether those spies were watching her or her stepmother.

"I need to know why she was selected, and why all the way here?" It helped to list out the things she needed, "Emperor Andrion must be expecting me to beg for more information after providing me with so little," Emberlee smiled at her Fairy Godmother. "I can't compel a creature to find information for me, nor can I use Fairy magic to step through a Mirror and search for myself. How would you say I should solve this issue?"

"I believe we should attempt a trial Child, and it may provide us with a better understanding of our limited powers," the reflection vanished from the Mirror, ha voice issuing from the moonstone pendant.

"Convince me, " Emberlee was willing to listen.

"The tears of the Danan are powerful in their own right, and you being gifted one should have been enough to allow us to wild Fairy magic together. You should be able to enter the mirror with me by this point and yet we are limited," having the voice come from the necklace almost made it feel like she was talking to her memories. "The summoning ritual worked without interference so there is a factor missing now."

"Blood and moonlight?" Emberlee guessed, still grateful for the limited use even that would allow.

"We shall try both, and if those fail we can find a solution together Child, just as we shall endure the addition of a new step-family." Emberlee made a slight face as she walked out into her night garden.

The Manor had been decorated with a greater number of reflective items, inside and out, and even the flowers were gleaming in the moonlight from all the glassware she'd incorporated. If nothing else, Emberlee's access to a Fairy Godmother had fundamentally changed the glassmaker guild's value. Ortega was producing stained glass at the right time to dominate the market after the Emperor's wedding gifts from Adaba were revealed. All Nobles wanted one but Emperor Andrion was being selective in gifting them out, so there was a demand for anything similar. Ortega stained glass set hand mirrors were suddenly all the rage along with fully stained glass windows.

So her new step-family was coming into a Manor that had expanded its territories, increased its economic value, and was in peaceful relations with the foreign neighbour across the border. She could see why a widow would accept being relocated to such a place, but why now so long after her husband has passed? But that was likely far more complicated a question than would readily be answered by the involved parties. Given her nature and upbringing, Emberlee wanted to be prepared for the worst but anticipate the best. She may not trust her new step-family at all, but that didn't mean she couldn't be kind to them.

After all, she could always stop being kind.

"Do you intend to share my presence with the newcomers?" the query came as Emberlee sat on a stone bench, listening to the night noises and watching as the moon rose higher overhead.

"Unlikely, there is still too much about them and this marriage that I do not know about," because it involved Stussican nobles, their Emperor likely played a part in it too.

She'd deliberately tried to avoid being dragged into the active politics of her nation, and yet even though her March was as far from Stussica as Xutian land could be she was being played as a pawn in some Imperial game. The fact that Father hadn't gotten a letter to her before the wedding decrees from his Imperial Majesty warned that if it had been long planned it had been rapidly executed without his knowhow. It leant weight to this being about helping Stussica out as Xutia was still a new Empire, but Emberlee couldn't surmise what benefit was gained by sending this Countess and her daughters here.

"What are your instincts telling you?" Her Fairy Godmother urged.

"That it is not a coincidence that my Emperor has a Stussican bride and now so too does his General. I don't think it's about my March at all," Emberlee vastly enjoyed being able to sound out her thoughts with someone that couldn't betray her. "But I also think it has something to do with Stussica. I wish I could speak through the reflection with your Fairy Magic, and seek my Uncle's counsel."

She'd said it offhandedly, almost sarcastically, because despite living in a world full of magic Emberlee didn't believe wishes came true. And maybe because she was sitting in moonlight talking to her Fairy Godmother; it worked.

The glass wind chime nearby gave off a discordant tone, and Emberlee felt like she was going to throw up. "Speak Child, and be Heard," her Fairy Godmother instructed with a commanding tone.

"Uncle Albert?" Emberlee approached the glass wind chime, seeing a blurry reflection in it that was not the night garden she was in.

"Firecracker?" Her Uncle sounded as if she'd roused him from sleep, concern in his drowsy tone.

"In the mirror Uncle, I have found the method to communicate thus," Emberlee could feel the life draining out of her, exhaustion turning her fingertips cold as her very heartbeat seemed to provide the energy to talk across an Empire. She could see a vaguely moving reflection in the wind chime that she assumed to be her Uncle's, "I've received word that Father has been married to a Stussican Countess named Jimena Piklaani at the Emperor's decree. I need to know why, and who I'm dealing with." Thankfully she didn't have to elaborate, he was astute enough to understand her motivations.

Silence on his end wasn't alarming, but assessing. "If you ever decide to abscond from being a Marchioness, I could turn this newest talent of yours into very profitable espionage," his promise wasn't insulting or dishonest. He was speaking to her as the master of Ivy House and not her Uncle.

"I need next to discover if it is usable with Father in Guita," she wasn't certain if being aware that a Fairy could speak through Mirrors and reflections was required for it to work. Then again, her own belief hadn't been required to facilitate today's conversation.

"Send one of your birds to me and I'll return to you a file on your new stepmother," Uncle Albert switched back to an easier-to-complete task.

"I'll send the crows, and I'll update you with any news," the edges of her vision were graying out, and Emberlee couldn't hear her Uncle's reply through the ringing in her ears.

Whatever spell she'd cast to connect to her Uncle broke before she did, the cessation of that deadening almost as shocking as a bucket of ice water to the face. She'd trained to physical exhaustion before and knew the signs, but the cause still left her staggered.

"It seems, my Child, that you need to truly Wish it for the magic to work," her Fairy Godmother's voice sounded as wearied as she felt.

Emberlee almost collapsed in her garden, an easy target for any enemy that could attack. Luckily none were prowling the night garden, and Emberlee was given the time needed to pull herself together and return to her room.

It was a beginning, at least.