Season 8: Brave Shine

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The ballroom was empty this time – the Queen had requested Merla meet her in the same manor ballroom that had been the site of her exile months ago. An ominous start. The lavishly decorated room seemed even more vast now, in part due to the lack of people blocking up the space and also because Titania stood in the centre of it in one of the smallest forms Merla had ever seen her in, her own height in fact. Her mother turned to face her as she entered, eyes meeting at the same level for one of few times in their life. Still in armour, with golden hair flowing down her back freely, framing a face that looked like the sun shone eternally upon it, the similarities between the Summer Queen and Merla Copperkettle were never more striking. Despite the armour, the privacy of the situation and her stature denoted some manner of almost intangible vulnerability. The distant rumble of thunder though, spoke of the volatility of the conversation to come.

“Tell me it wasn’t you, Merla,” Titania said, softly. “Tell me I did not bring you back into my house only to be betrayed so swiftly.”

Merla feels something within constrict, twisting into a knot at the expression on Titania’s face. She takes a deep breath.

“You speak of Lady Alanaya, yes?” Merla asks calmly, her voice laced with slight remorse. Her gaze is steady as she looks into her Mother’s eyes.

“Of the coloratura who disappeared within the hour of your unexpected arrival at the domain of the Amber Duchess, yes,” she replied abruptly.

“It was not me who helped her, Femaer,” Merla says with calm conviction. The ghost of a humourless smile twists her lips as she shakes her head. “I was not even aware that she was there…”

Titania’s head cocked to the side, “So you claim coincidence? That you had nothing to do with this?”

Merla could not lie, not to her Mother. But she did not want to lose her either, not after everything she has gone through. The stories we tell ourselves, the things we do to protect the ones we love can end up hurting them even more, despite our best intentions. She has seen it happen before and Merla knows it could happen again, in this very moment.

That is why, with a cool wave of certainty, the Daughter of Summer understands what she must do.

Soft light feet bring her towards her Mother, the tension coursing through Titania making her hard to approach. But that doesn’t stop her. Like the last time they were in the grand ballroom, Merla shows no fear, no doubt, nothing but love for the person in front of her. She stops but a few feet away.

“I made a promise to my friend, Elias, to help them free their mother. When the call came, I answered, for a word once given cannot be broken. I did not have a hand in Lady Alanaya’s disappearance directly. As I said, I did not know she was there when Ser Baine and I visited the Court of Glory…” Merla hesitates for a beat, “It was only when we returned to the Material Plane that Elias told me who it was, and I felt…” A pained expression twists her calm beauty and suddenly she cannot stop the torrent of words or the tears that spring to her eyes. “I felt lost and confused, betrayed by my friend and myself, ashamed at what I had done. I didn’t know, I didn’t realise until it was too late – I was being used again.”

A sob wracks Merla’s entire body. It takes everything in her to stay standing up straight, but not once does she look away from her Mother. If there was anyone else in the room, they would hear the most heartbreaking melody emanating from her, but it is only the two of them. The song Titania hears is filled with rumbling low notes, all the way up to high, crying ones. There is anger, frustration, bittersweet regret, but also yearning, worry – but not for herself – and the unmistakable theme that Queen Titania knows so well as the love in Merla’s heart.

“I had only just gotten you back when this happened and now I fear-” tears stream down her face like rivers of starlight, “I fear for you, Femaer. I worry about the Balance in the Feywild. I- I don’t want to see you turn into the villain they all are saying you are becoming. I know you better than most, but they do not. I love you, I love this Court and its people, and I don’t want to lose you because of this or any other reason. There are so many things, so many threads, pulling me, pulling you, pulling us all in so many directions and I-”

Her Mother’s arms were around her suddenly, and holding her tight. Halfling-sized arms, holding her as she weeps, comforting her as Merla realised Titania had never really done as she grew up. As Queen she had always been at arms length, but now her arms surround Merla completely, and Titania was singing softly – comforting her with gentle, resonant tones that Merla knew so well. She had heard them all her life in the Court, though never from the Queen’s own mouth. Merla closes her eyes, relaxing into the endless warmth of her Mother’s encircling arms.

After a long minute or more of the two embracing, Titania withdrew and held Merla in front of her, tears also on her own face.

“They were right about you all along, child. You’re more dangerous to me than any I have encountered in a long time. The idea that you had betrayed me for truth this time was… excruciating. You were Oathbound, Merla. Of course you had to help. Using words to deceive and to bind is our oldest trick, you know this.” She laughed, and her arms dropped, breathing a deep sigh of relief.

“Do not give your word away so easily to a Fey, daughter, I thought I had taught you better. These are turbulent times, threads pull at us all, but you are a daughter of the Summer Court, and we move where we intend to. Me? A villain? Please, Morinn may try and twist purpose and meaning, may seek to ensnare you, and will likely convince many in the Feywild – she is the better orator, but I know who I am.”

“Who are ‘they?’ Who has been saying I am a danger to you?” Merla asks, brow furrowing under her circlet. “That I would betray you?”

Titania was surprised. “I thought by this point you knew the full circumstances of your arrival into my court, with your encounters with the cabal and their purpose for you? You were found with inauspicious omens around you, pointed largely at my destruction, you know this, yes?”

Merla hesitantly nods, a shadow of those dark memories in her eyes before she pushes them away again.

“There are some – not many – who held that these omens ought to be heeded,” Titania continues. “Not that you would necessarily betray me, but that you posed a danger. You hear my song naturally, and this was immediately a concern, but I chose to keep you close instead. I believe I made the right choice, though these events have shown me that, in a fashion to make talespinners laugh, love is a vulnerability all of its own.”

She pauses, chuckling. “You have bested the plans of both the Unseelie Courts and of the Raven Queen, and now the Snow Queen and her ilk seek to use you against me still. I do not feel your friendship with this Elias continues to serve you well. I would never suggest Courts should not interrelate, but you do not want to be used again.”

“I have already told Elias I cannot in good conscience help them if it’s to the benefit of the Winter Court,” Merla says softly. “But they were there beside me, fighting against the Unseelie Fey…” She thinks for a moment, about what they are doing and the budding alliance between Winter, Twilight, Autumn, Spirits and Witching.

“Femaer,” she reaches for her Mother’s hand and it is so strange, seeing it be the same size as hers. Merla feels the strength in Titania’s fingers, the ages she has spent holding a blade, and imagines all the times her Mother has had to hold the grip as she swung her sword at foe after foe. The same hands that held her so close just now, like any true mother would…

“Femaer, you know as well as I words have weight in the Feywild. I have learned the importance of not giving away mine so easily. What Queen Morinn says is turning others to listen. I do not want to cause more strife for our people, or for our cousins in the other courts.” Merla pauses. “But I also think we should use words of our own. Sing them a song they cannot ignore. Actions and Song working in tandem, to show the Folk we are here for them, as proven by what we did, together, against Ulorian.”

Titania nodded thoughtfully. “Build as we conquer. Consolidate as we go, and spread the joy of Summer. It is a slower process, but it is stronger in the long run – and certainly counters some of the propaganda from Winter. We only have a few moons to act though before the overfey is decided upon.”

She frowns, then snaps her fingers. “Revels. I need my Master of Revels – whatever happened to him, Merla? You said he needed to recover. Is he fit for duty?”

“Kruxeral is still recovering, though his strength returns to him, day by day,” Merla says, trying to sound hopeful. “He is not the same fey as he was two moons ago, before he was trapped in a magical slumber from helping me defeat the Black Heart Cabal. When he awoke it became clear he had suffered some kind of severe memory loss.” Her expression shifts between pained longing and resigned acceptance. “I am doing my best to help Kruxeral but it has been hard on him. There are a lot of gaps in what he remembers…”

“Well I wish him a swift recovery,” the Queen replied. “Perhaps leading some revelry would revive him further, but I will leave that with you to speak to him about. You too have a command over stories and words second to none, daughter. I have given you an army, but it’s not too late to change your assignment if you think you would be better suited to spreading the love of Summer more than expanding its borders.” She waved a hand. “It’s flexible yet. But it is a plan I shall pursue regardless. I have resources enough for both fronts.”

Merla blinks in surprise. “You would not think less of me if I said I wanted to spread the love of Summer instead of leading the army you gifted me?”

Titania put a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “I watched you face Ulorian himself in combat. I know the warrior you are first-hand, and it was glorious to see. I am also old enough – gods am I old enough – to know that people work best where they want to be. You would do well as a commander, I have no doubts. But if you would rather pick up this task of showing the Feywild that Summer has more to it than violence then I would be overjoyed to have you represent us.”

She paused, and then shrugged. “We do violence well, though. I will always be a warrior queen, and I will use that to our advantage. But we are more than one thing, and that is the message you must tell.”

The Daughter of Summer looks at her Mother, taking in the radiance of everything their Court is, personified in one being. For so many years Merla has longed to be like Titania; strong, brave, the personification of strength, the embodiment of what it means to be of the Summer Court. It is as she is standing in the grand, open ballroom, the echoes of a Song she knows and loves so well rippling all around her that Merla sees how much of a reflection of Titania she truly is.

She takes her Mother’s hand from her shoulder, brings it to her lips where she kisses the fingers, then holds it clasped between them. A smile, resplendent and comforting, tender and spirited, and a mix of a dozen other things, spreads across her face.

“We are all more than we appear to be. Oceans deep and skies limitless could not contain all that we can be. I will gladly sing this song for you, Femaer. For us. For everyone.” Merla pauses and her expression softens. “It may be hard to see, but there is more that unites us than divides us.”

An equal smile broadened on Titania’s face, and she stepped back and began to walk into the middle of the room, still so vast to their twin small forms. “Then sing for me, Merla,” the Queen of Summer said, spinning slowly on one foot. “I wish to dance.”

Merla nods and even before she can begin to unlimber her harp from her side, there is a swell of music coming from all around her. The large ballroom picks it up, pushing it into a crescendo that bursts into brilliant light as her fingers dance across her harp. Sharp calling notes soar, dip and glide over the percussive sounds of drums and Merla watches as the Summer Queen begins to dance.

The Queen danced infrequently, but always with abandon, and this was no exception. She leapt about and flung her hair like she was dancing around a bonfire at night. It was wild and joyous, the dance of midsummer, heat and release. And there was a release here – tension flooded from the Queen and as much as there was a celebration of a new plan for the war, for countering the plans of the other courts lined up against them, there was another celebration here – one that shone out in the moment of dancing to Merla’s music while still remaining in this distinctly un-fey-like small form: My daughter didn’t betray me.

The Daughter of Summer began to sing,

        As the wish concealed in my hand faded
        All I saw was unending dream fly away

        In my heart was a memory
        As I stood at the end of an unknowing world
        And all I saw were possibilities

Merla cuts swirling circles with her feet, weaving through the trails of air in Titania’s wake as she sings, pulled in like gravity into the dance and before the refrain, she was abandoning her harp. The music no longer needed to come from an instrument. Mother and Daughter became the music by which Merla sang and together they danced, wild passion in every bend of their bodies, sweet, unbridled euphoria in every sweep of their arms.

        To protect what we hold dear is all we desire
        But then apart the Dark grows ever stronger
        We’ll take on everything
        To bring forth a new Light

        Brave shine
        Take my hand and I will guide you through the night
        Let our song heal your heart and save your life
        As desires balance on the edge
        There lies a wish that will surpass
        A dream that will last throughout time

        Our brave shine…

Titania and Merla, Mother and Daughter, Queen of Summer and Lady of Songs – all of those names, all of those titles fell away as they leaped and swerved, criss-crossed and twirled around each other, coming together to drift apart only to collide into a dance of two again. The song became a living thing that grew to burrow into the roots of the deep forest ceiling and reach across the vast starry sky in which they danced. It was the most connected the two had ever felt before and it was hard to tell where one of them ended and the other began. That was the purpose of this song; there was more that connected them all to each other than kept them apart.

After an hour, a minute, a day, an eon, it was impossible to tell for the song didn’t end it continued but its form was different now. It was on Merla’s skin, felt in Titania’s golden hair, caressing the air they breathed into their lungs…

It was a wonderful time, incredible in the deepest sense of the word. As she left though, Merla couldn’t help but think on her Mother’s final caution to her.

“We have seen deception in our own court, Merla. Do not be deceived again – many will try. You rely on your companions in dire situations frequently. Be careful who you place your trust in.”