Shattered Moonstone

Today had been a very strange day for Fae, not saying it was bad by any means but definitely up there as one of her oddest days for sure.

It had all started last night when her husband had, finally, brought home that adorable Cemi that he is always going on about; sure he may have been complaining about her most of the time but Fae knew Alagos, and no one can talk about another person that much without wanting to sleep with them. it had gotten so bad at one point that Remi had actually gotten jealous of the other woman without having even met her, so Fae was fairly confident that he had brought Cemi home for… well, what else would you bring a coworker home for? Certainly not a “secret meeting” you didn’t want anyone to hear, really their household has over a dozen people living in it!

Yes, most of them aren’t home a majority of the time, but that was beside the point. 

Not to mention that… strangeness from last night, it was like Fae was a hundred years old again, not that age had slowed her down too much; thinking back on it now with a clear head it's possible they had actually been discussing that very phenomenon. How was she supposed to know that it was affecting the whole city though? As a botanist who dabbles in alchemy it would hardly be the first time she had accidentally dosed herself with an aphrodisiac so she had just assumed that she had broken a vile in her lab again and was suffering some minor side effects that she had planned on surprising Alagos with when he got home.

But then he had shown up with an adorably flustered little woman and Fae couldn’t help herself, it was just harmless flirting… At first, then she came in and the poor woman was hyperventilating, and Alagos was trying to soothe her, for all that he could manage.

Fae loved her husband, there was no doubt about that in her mind, but there was a reason she was their family unit’s care giver. Sure, most families don’t have a designated caregiver instead trusting their children to either a local priest or, in the case of a city this big, one of the neighborhood care takers while the adults worked during the day. 

It just so happens that Fae’s work can be handled at home and is safe… enough to manage while watching over the children; she did keep the more dangerous plants in Sphagnum lab which is in the more industrial part of town. Besides, she loved caring for the little ones so if that meant putting her work on hold for a few years here or there it really wasn’t that big of a loss to her; and with three other providers in the house they didn’t really need her to be bringing money especially since Alagos was a chairman they had more than enough saving for her to work as a caregiver. It helped the community too, given their neighborhood caretaker was getting up there in years and sometimes couldn’t handle all the little ones at once and someone needed to pick up the slack.

Fae had a way with people, she always had, it was one of the reasons she had taken up the mantle of caregiver in their family; and it wasn’t just for the little ones. Hells most of the time she was consoling Remi, for a woman who still works as a city guard and could likely take most active soldiers in a straight up fight you would think she would be more… secure with herself; but she’s wound tighter than the vines of the great tree itself despite Fae continuously telling her she’s going to worry herself into a early grave at this rate. 

That’s what she had been working on the night before, a sleep tonic for Remi, not an aphrodisiac… that whole batch is probably wasted by now, she really should have checked on it when she woke up; wait if she didn’t check on the batch that means she didn’t go into her lab… that also means she didn’t take her medication this morning no wonder she was so forgetful! Well, it's too late now she will just have to make do and hopefully remember to take it in the morning… or when Sphagnum came home and reminded her, she could go for a few days without it; she did make it to nearly a hundred and fifty before they had even figured out she needed medication anyways.

So, when Fae had come into poor Cemi hyperventilating she had tried to console the woman and in a way she did succeed; it's hardly her fault that the adorable little woman had… well, thrown herself at Alagos and Fae, which when Remi came home turned into a very productive bonding experience. Really, Cemi should be more confident in herself, sure it had clearly been a while for the woman but the things she could do with just a little earth magic! Just thinking about it made Fae’s knees weak, and the fact Alagos had been able to walk today was a blessing in and of itself! He is made of sterner stuff though. Remi had been more than happy to experiment with it; so much so Fae actually needed to drink a potion this morning… She had been in her lab this morning! 

Wait, if she had gone into her lab why didn’t she take her medication… Did she take her medication? Damn it, she should have bought that calendar when she had the chance. It doesn’t matter, she will just take it in the morning and everything will be fine, she can even have one of the little ones remind her; good thing she never lost track of the children at the very least. It helped that they always seemed to be around whenever she was at home! Such good kids, they were never out of earshot, it really seemed like they were always just around the corner as if waiting for her; she didn’t understand why the others had such a hard time keeping track of them! All Fae ever needed to do was call out and the whole herd would come running to her! 

They think she doesn’t know that they are watching out for her, get lost in the house one time and no one ever forgets… ok, twice, but it was a very big house, and Alagos had that extension added… and she was in the neighbors kitchen when they found her. In her defense she was looking for sugar and the neighbors were out as well; it had worked out though because as it turned out Fae hadn’t needed sugar, someone had just put it back in the wrong place and now it's always right where she left it so in the end she won.

After the… extensive bonding exercise from last night this morning had started out great. She had been sore, but to wake up to Cemi and Alagos flirting in the bed had been adorable. But the two of them had rushed off right after Remi had growled at them; she had never been a morning person which is surprising because she was actually the best cuddler in the house. Probably something to do with those big strong arms of hers, she wasn’t as powerful as Alagos but she was sold muscle where he bolsters himself with magic. 

After the two of them had left, her day was normal for a while, she woken the little ones up shortly after, got them fed and was about to sit down for their evening lessons when Alagos and Cemi returned… and that’s where everything went sideways.

They had come back a bit frazzled if Fae had to describe it, and Alagos had suggested that the older kids take the little ones out for the day. That wasn’t too odd in and of itself, Fae often had the older kids care for the little ones if they weren’t busy and she had things to take care of (if all else fails she could drop them off with the neighborhood care takers, but she didn’t like doing that on short notice as they already had their hands full).

Once the little ones were out of the house Fae learned that the delegation from the Empire of Crown was going to be visiting their home of all places. She had known Cemi is the chairman of foreign affairs so it was no surprise that she would be personally handling the delegation, but why had they chosen their home of all places for the meeting… she didn’t know. 

She did learn that poor Cemi, as adorable as she is, could best be described as a bunny in a bear's den. She was surprised that the smaller woman didn’t vibrate with all the nervous energy she exuded. Fae had been swept up in the preparations and had needed to all but force the other woman to sit down and take a breath, she was just meeting with some humans after all; Fae doubted they would care if the room was spotless or that the plant in the window had blocked the light, really were humans that high strung?

She had never met a human before… or anyone from another race for that matter, having been born in the western part of Felnnor by the sea Fae had only traveled to the Great tree for her mandatory service and given her… particular situation along with her skills she had been a rear guard in the city itself and spent all her time working in the field hospital by the training yard. 

Thankfully the war had started after her service lest she would have likely been sent to eastern or southern lines, not that she herself would have ever seen combat as an alchemist; she was far more useful in the back lines even if she knew that. 

But having lived in the shadow of the great tree for a vast majority of her life Fae had never had the opportunity to meet anyone who was not of elven decent, and half elves are rare here; other than Cemi, Fae isn’t even sure she had meet anyone else with a mixed bloodline like that. Or, more likely, she had but the other person hadn’t shared that information. Fae would never fault someone for their lineage, of course, but many others don’t share her sensibilities on such matters.

All of that to say she had been excited to finally meet someone… who wasn’t an elf. It’s such a rare opportunity, and since the delegation arrived a few days ago it's all anyone had talked about! She had been questioned by several of their neighbors since they knew Alagos had been seen with the delegation on the day they arrived so they had thought that maybe Fae had known something about them. They had been wrong of course; Alagos works all day and when he comes home the last thing she wanted to do was pester him about work; he gets enough of that from Remi and most of the time he can’t tell them anyway. 

She had been disappointed that once the delegation had arrived they had been whisked away into the prepared “meeting” room nearly immediately; she had only been introduced because she had prepared tea and snacks for the meeting. So, she did get to “meet” the humans but… well it wasn’t what she thought it would be.

First thing that stuck out to her was… well for a “delegation” from the far nation of Crown it seemed small. Only four people, and of the four only… two were human? She supposed the little one with the tail could have been human but from what she knew humans looked most like elves so that seemed unlikely; not to mention the little one spoke perfect elven unlike the two humans. 

The second thing was, aside from the elf in their group, they were all small. Tiny in fact, no bigger than an elven child. Had Crown sent children? If that was the case Fae herself would have a strong opposition to this alliance! She will need to talk to her husband about it, or maybe Cemi if given the chance? 

While talking to Remi about that very thing in the hall, she had definitely not been trying to eavesdrop; the small girl had nearly run her over, Fae had to catch the girl to keep her from toppling! For a race with a tail, she didn’t seem steady on her feet at all; swaying as she walked and drifting from side to side. If Fae or Remi didn’t stop her she was certain the little one would have just wandered into oncoming passerbys, and that’s not to mention her tail that lashed about. It had to just be pure luck that it hadn’t hit either of them yet, though it had been close several times now. 

Fae was certain that this was a child. She couldn’t be anything else, she had that… innocent wonder about everything they passed, and no qualms with asking about things that caught her eye just like their own little ones. So, despite her reservation about the age of the delegation Fae had to admit it was nice, walking through town with Remi and a little one. It had been so long since they had been able to do anything like this, not to mention watching Remi interact with a child was always fun. 

Remi was… not a caregiver; not that she couldn’t care for a child, but it was like watching a bear try to pick a flower. She just didn’t know how to handle a child and she was clearly nervous about saying or doing the wrong thing. She had grabbed the girls arm to keep her from being run over by a carrier and after berating the man for not watching where he was going, Remi had fussed over the girl for nearly five minutes as if she was made of glass. Remi probably would have tried to carry the child if Fae hadn’t stepped in to spare the girl who was… confused as to why Remi had grabbed her in the first place. like she didn’t see the full-grown elven man that nearly ran her over. 

The longer she was around this child the stranger the girl was, muttering to herself constantly in what Fae assumed was the human language; and when she spoke to the two of them it was… strange. She knew Elven, she spoke it clearly like a native, but she was completely oblivious about the elven people. Fae assumed she had been taught the language as she was part of being with the delegation, but why would they teach her the language and not about the people themselves? How could she not know that metal was scarce in their nation and not very popular among their people, and jewelry wasn’t just rare in Flennor, in the shadow of the great tree it was nonexistent; not that Fae had it in her to crush the little ones hopes, but finding a ring in the city was a fool’s errand. 

But the little one had smiled up at her and Fae couldn’t tell her that, the girl's smile was… Fae would not fault the girl, it wasn’t her fault her teeth were strange… and unnerving… she was just a child, for all Fae knew maybe her teeth were completely normal for her people! She was cute in that way all children were, and once she had grown Fae was confident this girl would be attractive with her pale skin and ruby red eyes, she could grow into quite the beauty even by elven standards! Sure, her teeth were sharp, and she didn’t seem to blink properly… or at all that Fae had seen… ok the girl was strange, she was ghostly pail and her unblinking stare with those blood red eyes sent shivers down Fae’s spine! 

She could overlook the tail, a lot of races had tails from what she had been told and though it was odd it wasn’t anything compared to that smile! When the girl smiled it was far too wide to be natural, her face splitting to reveal those dagger-like teeth. Fae had seen a shark’s mouth before, she had grown up on the coast after all, and that was the only thing she could compare it to and even that didn’t do it justice. Unlike a shark’s teeth this girl's smile had no gaps in it, as if to simply sheer off anything unfortunate enough to wind up in her mouth, and there were rows of teeth; Fae had seen it when the girl spoke, teeth behind teeth leading to darkness.

But she was a child. Fae could put that all aside, she would treat her just as she would any child! and even if she was a full grown woman, Fae would not be one of those people who judged someone by their race; so what if whatever this girl was had strange teeth and a unnerving stare, that was not her fault and as far as she could tell this girl was completely harmless! Innocent and full of wonder, so what if she wasn’t an elf she would grow into a fine woman that much is clear even now. After all, she was already bilingual, and traveled across the world; she clearly had the wanderlust and desire to learn to maybe even become a scholar someday. 

Fae hoped that this girl in particular would come back to Felnnor someday in the future so she could see just how much she achieved. She had introduced herself as Hecatolite Lapidary, Fae would need to remember that name; it shouldn’t be too hard given its uniqueness. Why other races had two names was… beyond her, the obsession with blood lines and families was odd for an elf. It wasn’t that Elves didn’t care for their own families, but the concept of a surname was… strange. 

When they had stopped to eat Fae had nearly lost her nerves. It had taken everything she had to look away and ask Remi to go get more kebabs when the girl started to eat the stick! The hard wood stick that when she had accidentally bitten herself had caused her jaw to rattle, and the girl had bitten straight through it as if that was the most normal thing in the world!

Fae had been concerned the girl was going to hurt herself, clearly she was starving if she was going to eat even the wooden stick… right? It must have been a very long journey and maybe they hadn’t brought enough money to buy perversions? Again, if that were true Fae would really need to talk to Cemi about this alliance, if this Empire of Crown used children and didn’t provide them enough provisions for the travel… her assumptions were laid to rest a moment later, right next to her own appetite. 

Fae wasn’t a big woman, but she was easily twice the size of this girl; and the kebabs were filling! She could only eat two, maybe three if she had been hungry but even then, she would have given part of the third one to Remi; but this girl… she was on her fourth, stick and all, and given the way she is eyeing the one Remi had brought back for herself… just where did she put all that food? 

Fae winced as she heard the loud crunching from beside her, the sound of splintering wood not fitting the contented hum that came from the girl as she tapped away on the world screen she had summoned. 

Remi seemed more interested in the magical terminal than the girl, but Fae wasn’t a mage or scholar so though the floating slab of stone was pretty, she… was unimpressed. It seemed like a lot for something that could be replaced by a notepad, and Fae doubted it was easy to summon it. Maybe the girl had an enchanted item? That would explain how was able to call such a big thing at will like that, and she was able to communicate with her sister through it. thinking back when she had looked through the window all three of the other members of the delegation had one of these terminals floating beside them, could they all have an item that let them summon it?

That could be useful, being able to communicate with just her family would be a blessing in itself! When most of the young ones have grown it’s rare for her to get to speak to them, and her own family for that matter? When was the last time she had spoken to her parents? It was thirty or so years ago when Fae had gone to her sister's first union ceremony? Not that they had come for either of Fae’s unions; but they had their own work to take care of, so she understood. Maybe they could take a trip to her village sometime, her family hasn’t even met Sphagnum and he would love it there. 

Remi had thought it was too quiet when she accompanied Fae to the ceremony, but that was no surprise; she was born in the shadow of the great tree after all. Though she had been thankful Remi had agreed to go, she was not going to show up to her younger sister’s union alone after all and Alagos had been inspecting the eastern border when the message came so the company had been nice.

Fae glanced at the stoic woman beside her, smiling softly at the memory of traveling with her. it wasn’t the first time the two had spent time together or anything like that, but it was the first trip they had taken just the two of them and they had bonded during it. there was no need for them to perform a union ceremony given they are both bonded to Alagos, but Fae had considered it after the trip but that something for later.

Remi cleared her throat, “Fae,” she whispered, gesturing to the small girl who sat on her other side. “She is asking you a question.”

Fae started; she had been ignoring the girl as she ate; she wouldn’t fault the girl for her race but that didn’t mean she was comfortable watching her eat. “Oh,” she turned back to the girl with a smile, meaning not to grimace as the girl gnawed on the stick of yet another kabab. “I am sorry little one, I was just…”

The small girl giggled, cutting Fae off as she pumped her eyebrows. “Gazing lovingly at your...” the small girl furrowed her brow as if thinking, giving Fae enough time to glance at Remi who was pointedly not looking at Fae, a tell tale sign she was blushing. “If you’re both married to All-goose… then what are you to each other?”

That was an odd question, even ignoring the young woman's refusal to pronounce their husband’s name properly. “Well, by all technicality we aren’t anything to one another.” Fae answered, placing a hand on Remi’s she smiled. “Or at the very least there is no label for two people who are in a union with the same person. I would like to think the two of us are close friends, for now.” Fae couldn’t help but tease Remi as she felt the other woman’s hand tensing under her own.

“But if you’re not family then… what if something happened to All-goose?” Hecatolite asked, seeming not to notice Remi’s sudden tension.

“Well,” Fae shrugged, “if something happened to Alagos then as his first wife Remi would inherit his belongings; I could, as the second wife, claim some things for myself along with any children that I birthed but in the eyes of the council Remi and I aren’t bonded. We could go our separate ways as heads of our own family units; unless, of course, we performed a union ourselves.” Remi’s ears turned red as Fae squeezed her hand, she couldn’t help but smile as she looked at the back of Remi’s head, the other woman suddenly very interested in the other side of the street.

The young woman scratched at her neck as she cocked her head, “but… don’t you have another husband…” she shook her head, “ok, can you explain elven courtship to me? It’s a lot different than human marriages,” she took the stick out of her mouth and tapped on the terminal with it, clearing the floating screen as she whispered under her breath, “take notes, I don’t want to mess this up.” She looked up at Fae pointing the stick at her before realizing that was rude and shoving it back into her mouth, quickly eating it with a crunch. Swallowing, she began asking questions rapidly until Fae had been forced to hold up a hand to stop her.

Fae shook her head, needing to think for a second. she pointed to the terminal; the screen now filled with a block of text that she assumed was the girl’s questions. “slow down little one, if you ask so many questions at once how will you know what answers go where?” she giggled to herself realizing that her own words were being transcribed onto the screen. Maybe it would be more useful than a notepad after all, if she could just set it to record conversations like that it would certainly be nice to have in the lab?

The small woman glanced at the terminal before sighing, “stupid box.” She hissed, the words appearing on the bottom of the text, before slapping the terminal with her hand causing it to clear, “you know that isn’t what I meant,” she tapped the terminal with a… since when did she have those wicked looking claws? “don’t think I won’t break you just because of Eryl, now do it right.” Fae flinched as the girl dug the single clawed finger into the stone terminal, dragging it across the screen with a horrid sound that caused even Remi to jump. 

The floating terminal flashed a bright yellow before it displayed the words, “Elven courtship and unions” in flowing elvish text. The girl narrowed her eyes before nodding and turning back to Fae with a smile, “sorry, the boxes think they are smart.” She said and Fae noticed the words were not added to the screen. “so, where were we… oh, yeah, so elves call marriage a union?” she asked and the words appeared. “If one wanted to ask an elf to… form a union, how would they do that? Humans use rings, but,” she pointedly looked at Fae’s hand that was still holding onto Remi’s, “I am guessing you don’t do that?” 

Fae nodded slowly, If she had to guess this girl was at the age that someone would be curious about such things, and Fae had no problems explaining it; but how much should she explain? If the girl asked, she would explain the flowers and pollen, after all from what Fae knew all races did it basically the same way and she had a lot of experience explaining it to their children. But she also doubted things like unions were the same across all races… was that why she had been looking for a ring?  

She had said she didn’t want to mess it up… did she have a little crush on someone? That’s adorable! Hopefully she isn’t one of those painfully short-lived races, those unions are always so sad when Fae hears about them. They aren’t common here, but it’s not unheard of; she had even heard that it’s becoming more common along the border or was before the war started. 

Though most elves wouldn’t form a union with member of another race if for no other reason than the difference in lifespan, even if one ignored the social stigma from some of the more uptight elves; hopefully this young girls feeling aren’t unrequited, or at the very least the other person lets her down easily.

“no, elves don’t use rings,” she explained, “courtship is something that takes a lot of time, getting to know one another and being sure you want to be bound to the other person. It is not something to take lightly, and should only be done once you are sure you love the other person…” 

The young woman nodded along but Fae noticed the terminal hadn’t recorded anything but the “elves don’t use rings.” Fae had a feeling she was missing something, furrowing her brow she pressed on confused on what exactly the terminal was recording as time went on; neither it nor the girl seemed interested in anything other than the actual process itself. The fact the terminal only took very sparse notes bothered Fae, it didn’t record any of the important information about finding the right person or being sure you loved them, instead focusing on the ceremony itself as if that was more important than the emotion behind the act.

But still, Fae pressed on. She was asked to explain it, and that is exactly what she would do. “Once you're certain you wish to form a union with another person it is rather simple. One of the two will ask the other. Traditionally they would speak to the other family first, normally their parents but that isn’t carved in stone…”

Surprisingly Remi interjected, “Sphagnum had asked Alagos and me if we would give our blessings before asking you.” 

Fae paused, “he did?” She looked back just in time to see Remi shrug. She hadn’t known that, in fact she was the one to ask him. She did ask Alagos and Remi if they were ok with it but in the end Fae was the one who brokered the union. “but… I am the one who asked him? When did he ask you?”

“about a month after you did.” Remi shrugged, “he asked us and two days later you announced your union.” She smirked, actually smirked at Fae as she said it. “Alagos was sure he would beat you too it, even bet me Sphagnum would ask first. you know the two of them picked out a union gift together, that apron he gave you on your anniversary?” she teased, “you know, the one you never wear. I told them they should have gone with the engraved sheers, but men will be men.”

Fae couldn’t help but sigh, Sphagnum had never told her he had planned on asking and… “well, my gift was much better anyway.” And she wasn’t wrong, the pot of rare glow moss had been… difficult to acquire, in fact it’s the reason it took Fae a month to ask him after talking to Remi and Alagos… “wait a second, you helped me get the glow moss? You knew I had planned on asking him the moment it arrived, why didn’t you say anything?”

Remi chuckled, “because…” she smirked again, “I wanted to see if he would actually beat you to it. and… well you were both so excited to surprise each other, it felt wrong to ruin it.” Fae couldn’t be mad at Remi, deep down she knew the other woman was a romantic at heart; and she wasn’t wrong, there was no way to tell either of them without ruining the surprise. But the smirking, and the way Remi said it bothered her.

Fae didn’t particularly enjoy being made a spectacle of, nor did she much care for being in a race she didn’t know about. Narrowing her eyes, Fae gripped Remi’s hand tighter, “I see. Well, thanks for finally telling me Ramila, it is a rather cute story, isn’t it?” that had gotten the other woman’s attention. “And the fact you had won this… little bet with Alagos had nothing to do with it?” Remi’s blush from earlier was gone now, even the girl’s tail had stopped moving for the first time since Fae had met her as she watched the two of them. 

Fae… knew she was odd, she always had been and she was not ashamed of who she was. She was a very open woman who always tried to enjoy life to its fullest! But one thing Fae didn’t like was being laughed at, being made fun of. She knew she was clumsy and forgetful at times, and if she didn’t take her medication she was spacy but she was proud. 

Remi looked a little pale as she met Fae’s eyes, “Fae,” she said softly, “it was years ago now, and you know we didn’t mean…”

“It's fine,” Fae cut her off with a smile, “I know you two were just having fun.” 

“It’s not like that, Fae.” Remi said quickly, “we didn’t want to get in the way of your union, it was…” Remi’s eyes darted to the side causing Fae to glance over to see the girl sitting there quietly, her eyes locked on them with a curious look as she watched them intently.

Nodding, she muttered to herself, “no bets.” Much to Fae’s surprise the terminal added that to the list.

With a sigh Fae released Remi’s hand, this wasn’t the time or place. “we will have to talk about this later, when there aren’t little ears around.” She whispered to Remi before turning back to the girl who, without missing a beat, continued as if nothing happened.

“so, you said something about a gift? I mean an apron doesn’t sound like a very impressive marriage gift.” The girl asked and Fae shook her head.

“firstly, the union gift is something you buy for your perspective partner.” Fae sighed, “you present it to them when you ask to form a union, and it is supposed to represent how well you know the other person. A special gift catered to them, for example Alagos gave me an enchanted pot that will keep the soil in it moist as I often forget to water my plants.” She couldn’t help but smile as she recalled the small pot, “its not about how “impressive” the gift is, its about the thought and feeling behind it.” she pointedly looked at Remi who, understanding she was still in the dog house, quickly nodded. 

“That's true. When he asked me, he gave me a simple river stone.” For a moment Remi smiled as well as she told the story. “It had cost him nothing, but it was the story of how we met.” Fae urged her to continue, even if she was annoyed at Remi, she loved this story and it was a good example. “While we were both in basic training the recruits had been separated for a training exercise, a basic two squad survival scenario where one squad was escorting a person of interest, and the other was trying to capture them. I was part of the escort, and one night we came across a stream in the woods. Needless to say after being in the wilderness for a week me and the other recruits had been… more than eager to get a chance to wash up.” She chuckled, “it was not the best idea to strip off all my armor and jump in a river during a training exercise, but I was young and it was late. I figured it would be safe enough… until it wasn’t.” Remi leaned back on the bench, laughing quietly as she recounted the story. “so, while I was bathing that night I was rather surprised to find myself face to face with a young elven man knelt by the river filling his water skin. Doing the sensible thing, I picked up a river stone and flung it at him,” she snapped her arm out, mimicking the throw. “It was a perfect throw, and he was already stunned so… he went to the medical tent and I got to spend the next two days scrubbing armor. I can’t believe he kept the stone for all those years, he said something about it being lucky.” She chuckled as she shook her head, “damn fool nearly lost an eye and he still calls it his lucky stone, I think it’s on his desk in the council chambers.”

Fae giggled along with her, the stone in question was in fact on Alagos’s desk in his office, right next to a small petrified flower Fae had given him. “So you see little one, it's not about how impressive, or flashy the gift is. Now, not everyone has something like Remi’s stone but it is supposed to be something that shows your connection to the other person, your understanding of them. an apron may not be a flashy gift, but it is something I used every day and needed given how often I stain my clothes.” Fae couldn’t help but laugh a little as the small girl nodded seriously, her eyes darting to the terminal to be sure it was recording all of this. “elves don’t normally give gifts outside of their familys and even then its reserved for very special occasions and never given thoughtlessly. A ill thought out gift is… well insulting, it shows you don’t know the person very well, and could easily be misconstrued. You do not want someone to think you’re giving them a union gift only for them to not like or accept the gift; I’ve heard of elves who left their villages after such mix ups.” 

Remi nodded along with Fae’s explanation, “it’s almost worse than them accepting the gift and having to explain its not a union gift. Its best to simply avoid giving gifts outside of your family.” she added and Fae felt there was a story there she didn’t know. She will have to ask Remi about it later though.

The small girl; Hecatolite, Fae needed to really remember her name, nodded seriously. “ok, so that means… that wouldn’t have worked at all.” She grumbled as she crossed her arms. “Well shit. I guess I could just explain it really well… I mean they seem like they would understand,” she was getting annoyed, the plan had seemed simple but she really underestimated the weight of giving gifts in elven society; not to mention she didn’t know Cemi good enough to pick out a union gift! Well that and it seemed like a big deal, All-goose would have to do it himself for it to hold the meaning that it's supposed to. She sighed, “fine, I get it. make the gift very important, not so much expensive but important.” She tapped her tail on the ground as she shook her head, “so, what about the multiple unions? You’re both in a… union with All-goose, right?”

Fae nodded, “we are. And I am in a union with Sphagnum. It's… not too complicated…” she cleared her throat as she started to explain.

Alagos is the head of the family unit, this was agreed upon by everyone and normally is the person who has the largest stake in the household. It’s typically the person with the highest social rank but it isn’t uncommon for it to be the more outgoing partner. In the case of several people, it shifts to the “center” of the unit as the person who brought everyone together.

After him it's Remi, who is his first wife. When they had formalized their union she legally became his beneficiary in terms of… well everything. If he were to die most everything would go to her, minus a small portion of money or sentimental items tied to Fae; but Remi would get his home and a vast majority of his holdings. 

Fae, as the second wife, has a few… claims to Alagos. This mainly pertains to the children of the house and a few other legal things Hecatolite really didn’t pay too much attention to. It quickly became clear that any union after the first was mainly a paper trail. 

As a larger household they paid more taxes, well until one factored in all their children (apparently elves give a hefty tax break to families that have kids). Yes, Fae was legally Alagos’s wife, but she had no claims to his estate. She would get a stipend if he died but aside from that if Alagos passed, she would be on her own.

Her husband, Sphagnum, is considered to be… a branch of Alagos’s family unit as long as Fae and Alagos are together, but not actually part of it. If it came to it, he would be considered part of Fae’s family only and if Fae and Alagos split (or either of them passed) he would leave with Fae or be on his own. 

Hecatolite had been confused on why one would bother going through a second union, but Fae had insisted that it wasn’t about the money or anything like that. She loved Alagos, and it was a natural step to form a union, not to mention if they were so inclined they had enough children to actually go out and settle a village if they wanted. That’s how Fae’s original village had started in fact, her ancestors along with another large family they had been close to had settled a fishing spot and it blossomed into a town; there is a tight regulation on doing such things (surprisingly, they understood genetics enough to know that inbreeding was not a good idea)… which thinking about it is probably why they are pushed to perform unions as Fae explained that each union has to be approved by the council (or a representative) after it is investigated to show an acceptable split in the lineage.

Hecatolite thought about it as Fae explained and came to a conclusion, Elves breed slowly so they are encouraged to try and have as many children as possible though there is a stigma about being a single parent. An easy way around that is to let people have multiple unions, a way to know who is breeding with who in the end, that along with a strong dose of family values and the importance of a family “unit” it made sense. Unions were born out of love and caring, and Hecatolite knew all too well it is possible to love more than one person and so did the elves, but there will always be problems so they solved that by adapting the more human “one partner” to a “first” partner and head of household.

Alagos and Remi were the pillars of the family, the ones who controlled the household legally. Now the entire household can come together and change who is the head or the first spouse, and if Remi passed or split from the family, Fae would take that spot. When boiled down, it’s all just legal jargon made from disputes in the past that have little influence on the house itself. Hecatolite felt that Remi really didn’t care about her position as first wife, and Fae didn’t seem bothered by it either; nor did either of them seem to mind Alagos being the head of their home.

Fae had even said that those distinctions were just on paper, and only mattered if one of them were to pass away. As it stands a household like theirs can only work if all people in the home care for one another and communicate where they stand. In the past it may have been different but as it stands now Remi as the first wife holds no power over Fae, and neither one of them are going to “bend a knee” to their husband even if he is the head of the house. They are a family, a cohesive unit that all love each other, and if any of them found another lover they would integrate them into the household.

Fae took a breath after explaining elven unions to Hecatolite, the small girl nodding along the entire time as the terminal beside her took notes. She didn’t know much about other races, but Fae did know that not many races practiced polygamy as openly as the elves did so she had expected more questions from the girl; instead she had just accepted it at face value. Even understanding that “unions”, though they had a heavy legal implication, was mainly about the person’s own feelings. All the red tape and approvals were just secondary, when all is said and done if you loved your partner none of that mattered; and Hecatolite seemed to understand that better than even some of her own children did.

When Fae had asked about it the small girl had winced, “well… communication is key and all that.” She looked away, “I really need to work on that.” She had whispered it, clearly not realizing that elven ears weren’t just for decoration. 

“your right, communication is very important in any relationship,” It wasn’t the first time the girl had made a comment like that, but Fae didn’t think it would be polite to press the matter; she did need to be reminded once that this girl was technically part of a foreign delegation by Remi. “You must always speak with your partners, be sure that everyone is on the same page.” She had looked at Remi as she spoke, missing the fact that Hecatolite had flinched as she spoke. “if Alagos and Remi hadn’t been accepting of Sphagnum, then I would never have entered a union with him. We would have talked it out first of course, but if in the end they didn’t approve then…” she let her words trail off with a shrug.

Remi reached out and rubbed Fae’s arm, smiling softly without a word as they gazed at each other.

Hecatolite for her part looked very uncomfortable, chewing at her bottom lip as she grumbled to herself before looking up at the sky. “fuck!” she exclaimed jumping up from their seat causing both women to jump, “shit, I need more time,” she hissed as she looked at the sun that was now well on its way to setting. 

It wasn’t setting yet, but if Fae had to guess it was well past noon and into evening now. “more time?” she asked, confused as the girl started digging in a bag on her hip.

“I need… something to enchant.” She said frantically, it was far too late for her to change her plan now. she would just have to enchant a random item at this point and… well All-goose is a big boy, and after speaking with Fae and Remi she was certain that he had all the support he needed… mostly, she was going to still make it to where only he or Cemi could use it.

 But it needed to be special, if she took anything away from all of this it's that elves put a lot of importance on gifts and this was going to be a gift from her as X47 to them. she couldn’t let it be a crappy gift, she may not like being a Deity, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to let herself look bad!

Fae and Remi watched as the young girl clearly panicked, her arms sinking into her bag up to her elbows as she searched for something. “that’s a bag of holding.” Fae muttered as she stared at the obscenely expensive item. She had seen them before, traders often had them to carry their goods but outside of that they were rare in Flennor. She had looked into buying one once and couldn’t justify the cost of the luxury item no matter how useful it would be to have even a small one.

The girl shrugged, still digging in the bag as she replied in the most casual tone. “Yeah, I have like a dozen of them.” she glanced up at Fae only to cock her head to the side, “do you want one?”

Fae’s head was spinning at that point, “a dozen? But they're so expensive…” she looked at Remi who was also gawking at the girl who just laughed.

“expensive? I made this, and they are really popular back home… well the storage rings are, bags kind of fell out of style,” she shook her head, muttering, “stupid rings never work for me though.” She hissed as she pulled a small… bag out of her bag? “Here we are, this one should work…” she shoved her entire head into the bag, only to violently jerk her head back. “aw, its full of glitter!” she exclaimed as she shook her head sending small sparkling flecks everywhere, her long white hair whipping around in a futile attempt to dislodge the sparkling red… glitter? Fae had no idea what glitter was but given the amount of it stuck to the girl it looked annoying. “here, as thanks for… well explaining all of that.” She tossed the bag to Fae who scrambled to catch the expensive item as the girl went back to digging in the one on her hip.

Fae stared at the item in her hands, “this… is a bag of holding?” she looked up at the girl who just grunted an affirmative, “I can't possibly…”

Her words were cut off as the girl finally found what she was looking for. “I guess I can use this.” She grumbled as she pulled what looked like half a deer’s skull from her bag, “I mean… I would rather not, but it’s special and should make a good gift…” she reluctantly admitted as she inspected the skull.

Remi let out a gasp as the shining crystal horn shone in the sunlight, “where did you get that?!” Remi asked, her eyes going wide as she recognized what the skull was.

“This?” the girl held the skull up, “a man made out of vines gave it to me in the forest,” she chuckled as she rolled the skull around in her hands, “he was nice, talked a lot; but I think he was lonely.” She shrugged before looking around, the terminal beside her flashing before either of them could speak.

“Hecatolite, I would advise leaving the city limits if you intend to… enchant that skull right now.” the terminal spoke in a low robotic voice, “the residual magical power will likely cause another panic if you attempt to do it here.”

The girl groaned as she glared at the terminal, “you’re… probably right,” she conceded. Every other time she had made an artifact, other than Alexa’s staff, she had caused an uproar; and the only reason the staff had been so smooth was because it was already an artifact that she had just changed a little bit.

The girl smiled at Fae and Remi, “well, thanks for everything! It was nice talking to you,” with that she bent her legs and Fae could briefly see thick dark veins appear before the girl simply vanished.

The air before them exploded in a spray of dirt, coating the two stunned women as their ears run from the booming sound of the girls' exit.

It took Fae nearly a minute to look back at Remi who was staring slack jawed at the sky, “just who the hell is that girl.” Remi muttered.

“she's… just a child… right?” Fae asked, still a bit stunned by what just happened. Looking down at the bag in her hands she shook her head, “I mean… right?”

Remi slowly shook her head. “No child would just casually be carrying that around.” It took Fae longer than she would like to admit to realize she was talking about the skull.

The two of them walked home in silence, Fae clutching the bag that she was definitely going to return to… someone, if not the girl she would give it to someone else in the delegation. And Remi dazed as she tried to piece together what she had seen.