20 years prior
The queen lightly rocked against her favored rocking chair, light brown sandals lightly bobbing against the dirt. She raised a free hand to brush a soft lock of brass hair from her eyes back behind the ivory ear that was covered in tiny tattoos of crystals. She had taken quite a long time to get each right on her own. Their many colors lacked only that of her eyes, which were the most gemlike green eyes. Her face had a sharp beauty, angular in the chin and eyes but soft along her cheeks and slightly longer nose. It held the scar she had gained the day she married Hadeon, right along nose, almost like a purposeful carving.
She lowered her hand back down to the back of her son as the black lace and cotton fabric of her wide cuffed sundress laid over him. She smiled gingerly at the sleeping head of her little Edan. His brass hair laid a little long these days as he has grown fond of letting it. He had such a gentle face and a precious expression when he would pout to her that she dare not question it. He favored her so much in his face these days before puberty would surely give him the gruff of his father.
She sighed tenderly at how he tuckered himself out again, smiling at the way he would his practice sword and ask every guard their name. He had even made a friend out of a rather loud young boy, but the two were inseparable from the jump. She had found them in a month alone since meeting, raiding the storehouses to get the soldiers extra ale. He had such a warm heart that it left her hopeful for once at their future. A fine lady indeed would be the only one acceptable, even if she lacked the title of lady when Edan found her. She would remedy that quickly.
She had wondered for a little if her son had tastes lying elsewhere when he began playing with the soldiers more, but he seemed happy to dabble among all of them, not just the men. He had his father's arm, but he certainly garnered her passion for smiles. She would often take long walks in the ornate garden she had begun having constructed, teaching him about all the flowers and their uses. She did hope he listened, though he seemed to often gaze upward. So she had bought him a new telescope from the mediteranean area, supposedly made by quite the inventor. It had a lovely brass case, but the lenses were all finely made crystals that let one almost seem the planets when they peeked out of the dark ether winds. She relished those nights, showing him the constellations and teaching him how to read them for when he went abroad. She even tried to teach him a little divining, but the headaches always ruined his concentration.
Aelfrun was goddessborne before she even knew the word, and twice as hot as any man when it came to debating. Most loved to shout, but Aelfrun had her father's talent for a powerful voice and speechcraft. She could weave words in a clean, crisp, and soft tone already for such a small child. She had dumbfounded their librarian on a few matters, much to the laughter of the two. Macha had laughed for quite a while at Badb's flustered expression.
Her eyes briefly glanced up as she heard boots along the grass. The blossoming garden that filled the courtyard had flowers already from France and Ireland, her homelands by blood. She hoped to fill its circled groves of tiny white gold fences with flowers from across the entire world. Aelfrun had nearly demanded that she put in some water lilies and a pond as soon as possible. Edan had agreed, only because there was a flower he hoped for as well that thrived near water. He had seen it in one of her herbalogy books, Agapanthus. She hated having to break his heart and tell him that the flower needed a warm and humid space. It couldn't survive in England. He had settled for getting one of his own to pot, which was set in his room by the window with a small bowl of water beside it. He had suggested the sunlight would help keep the air near the flower wet and humid. He even used his magic to heat the bowl on rainy or cloudy days by hand. He had a minor affinity already for the flame.
"Your majesty." A guard started as he bowed, flanked by a pair of others. Each wore the simple plate of standard castle guardsman with minimal rounded helmets. They each held long halberds in their dominant hands. "You are needed in the Scholarium."
...
The queen rarely set foot within the Scholarium. Many of its mages and members were arrogant to the point of hubris. She did consider acting a little as divine justice, but she figured they'd likely turn themselves into frogs before they did any serious damage. Those who didn't likely had the self-control they needed.
The room was bursting with swirling magic overhead. Spells and theorums swirling in bouncing arcs of colorful, spiraling trails that formed shapes like weapons or letters as they trailed. Some moved slowly, others rapidly, changing the nature of the spell in such a simple manner. They made a picture almost like a galaxy of its own swirling lights. Only skilled eyes could peek out the fine details of it all.
The room was covered wall to wall in symbols along the floor, long since turned to pure gold by the alchemists ever researching how to keep the kingdom's coffers packed and medicines stores filled. Several tables littered with their popping beakers and assorted equipment, some scientific, some magical, some downright daft. The tables were cut black stone, polished, and coated with an apourous resin to ensure they didn't contaminate any experiments and were easier to clean. They were scattered about on wheeled legs, moved as each needed space, or grew annoyed by the sounds of another.
Most dressed as one could expect. Thick robes of aged colors and coats over laiden with pockets filled with pens or paper leafs. Most wore glasses, either for lack of vision or to enhance their own with magnifiers. It often smelled a bit too unseemly for the queen in here, as well. The stains on many of those coats told her few had left in likely days. The study took time, but so did personal hygiene. She would need to talk with Hadeon about that soon.
"Your majesty!" rushed over a smaller man. He had a rustic beard of the northern nordics, kept tightly braided at the base. He was bold with a well-oiled head and big blue eyes that seemed to dart toward every little spec to observe it. His brown robe and yellow coat gave him a slightly natural energy, like a little mushroom almost. He even had the complexion of one of their stalks.
"Hello, Doctor Skuld." She gave him a warm smile. He smelled like old book paper and dusty shelves, but thankfully, nothing else. A well-kept man, at least.
"I have the most exciting news. Oh yes, yes. Excititing! No, that's too many repetitions of the syllable. Oh, now I've gone and ruined my emphaticals!" The man seemed to phewy either the air or his own tongue, she couldn't quite be sure, but he waved his hands and gave her another smile. He thought faster than he spoke, and this often led to vocal jams. The queen never found it annoying, nor did she think anyone should. What was an extra second or two or your day for another to collect their thoughts?
"Do you now Doctor?"
"Yes! follow me!" He shouted with much enthusiasm as he turned on his little brown shoes and ran as best he could down the Scholarium towards a table in its center.
There sat a model of the entire world, as best their estimates could measure. Detailed ridges and vast oceans painted a glittering blue sphere just milimeters over the central crtystal itself. It glowed beautifully out of a finely carved shard of amethyst that had been painstakingly excavated and drawn from a shaft below most of their deepest mines, and turned into a cornerstone of magic through the efforts of the scholars. An example of knowledge and the pursuit of it superceding blind weaponization, as many in the military had wanted to.
"We have discocoed- ahem, discovered something off the coast of your homeland." He fixed the seating of his coat with a little proud shuffle. "Something truly magnifificent."
"What might it be, Doctor Skuld?"
"We believe we have found the first clues to finding Avalon."
She stared at the man for a long and silent minute. Wide-eyed and shocked, he must surely have thought her in awe. Her mind was racing with the horrible things Hadeon could do if he actually managed to find a land brimming with such powerful magic. She could restrain his worst tendencies when kept to the pursuits of simple mages and men, but raw and powerful fae artifacts surely littered that island. That assumed no one still called its shores home, ripe for the chainmakers' cells.
The practice was a, thankfully, dying art, but she couldn't ever get him to completely let it go. He was too married to this philosophy of the greater whole, to mankind. He dreamed of uniting everyone and accepted the blood that would cost. Still, it often felt too eager. He had a lust for battle that had always troubled her. She just hoped it would be quenched soon. Time wore many stones down. This would surely cast oil on embers she was still stamping out.
"Now, Doctor." She gave him a smile. "Surely, you don't believe in those old fairytales?" He blushed, flustered with his rolls of paper.
"We-well, you seemed, I merely, wellell." He gulped, fixing his glasses. His aspirations dashed in a sentence.
"It's alright, Doctor Skuld. It's alright. Give me the research. I'll review it. If I think there's something more than storybooks, we can discuss moving to fund an expedition."
"Really?!"
"Yes," she circled the globe for a moment, fingers tracing over the ghostly glow of its oceans. "If there's real water to it, I'll be the first to talk about it with the king, but please dont get your hopes too high." She patted his should gently. He smiled, giving her a resolute nod.
"Yes, surely your Majesty." He assured her of his compliance.
"In the meantime, how about you exscavate a smaller spot for me. There is something that may be a little more real for certain."
He clapped energetically, padding his shoes at the thought. "Oh, happypy day!" He cheered. "Where shall be plying our craftaft??" He bounced from foot to foot with giddy amusement.
"A little town called Domremy."
...
The scholars made the voyage well enough as the treaties held for their purely scientific expedition. Skuld was rather unhappy to be in the boggier, humid climate, but he happily kept a high chin and big smile. Still, the place was rather dreary. Small family homes that housed too many under thatch brick and hay. He would admit, though. There was a warmth lingering in the people.
Most this far out wore mostly sour faces. Grim reminders of the poor conditions that such opulence asked and why he was glad to call King Hadeon his majesty. He had taken time to ensure every two families had a farm big enough to feed them and any who chose instead to populate their growing cities. Those who took that venture were being educated. Bit by bit, battling back the poverty of the old ways.
He walked from his carriage, traveling boots stomping lightly through muddy roads as he read over the missive he had been given. He was to find a pair of sisters. A Catherine, and a Jeanne. A pair of young Catholic girls was an odd pair to seek out, especially this far out from home, but she had been insistent that he make sure they were both alive and in good health.
He came to a smaller cottage as he noticed a girl outfront listening to her sister read from the Bible to her. He paused, smiling in respect to the passage. It was one of his favorites, and he often read it to his son Lynn. It was a rare thing to have faith in the Scholarium, but he had found a good fit for God just fine in the world. After all, why would he craft so many marvelous things and give life so many ways to change if it wasn't to be studied and enjoyed?
The smaller girl had cropped brown hair and a rather boyish expression and strong brown eyes. She had the rounded dirty apricot cheeks of a fieldworker. He briefly considered if she would be more fitting in a pair of trousers and a tunic in the fields. The other was more ladylike, longer, and more well kept hair for what she likely could do, with more vibrant blue eyes and the voice of an angel. The picture of a saint to be, and what better place to be born than in the depth of the people's home?
"Hellolo!" He greeted them cheerily, offering the warmest smile he could manage. The smaller girl stole a glance and then looked to the bible again. The elder one smiled, looking up at him.
"Good day, sir." She spoke in french. "What brings a fine man like you to our quarters?"
"Well, you see. The Queen of England herself has requested I see to you both coming home with me. I have funds for your parents and a good life for you both awaits." He clapped his hands happily.
"Mean to make us consorts?" The smaller one spoke slightly angrily.
"Oh, by the lord himself, no! The king is free of such taint." He assured them which eased the younger one. "No, she wishes you both to join a little project for young and faithful girls of hers."
"Project?"
"Oh yes. A big one."
"Hm..."
The younger one stood and approached. "I shall go, so long as it is in service to God." Skuld smiled more intensely. Just as the queen had said, even if he had expected the other girl.
She would make a fine saint indeed with that fire in her eyes. A good saint indeed.