the Fierce & the LintKing's Amber Bits

I do not like dealing with families in their misfortune. I am not the type who would assist refugees, yet I was bound by honour, by responsibility, duty, to help these make their way from the dying lands. Even as we walked, stumbling against the sudden mouldering green that would spring up against our paths, I found myself carrying more than any one man should bear: children.

Over the horizon lay a paradise I didn't understand. Sun-browned and dirty, we crossed the mountains a step at a time, and I delivered the children unto the new world. We dove into the chill of the clean waters, and watched as the day dawned. I could not rest.

I returned to our quarters via Trump. Our last standing against the strange green, hidden in vines of Robin's planting. Paige rested there, Conner at her knee. Conner was busy sketching some sort of flowchart. Twin children (Hymn and Herne, if you must know their names) sleeping in a basket behind Paige offered her no worries.

The vision of beauty sat over a number of cards that were carelessly strewn in a pile on the floor beneath her. I wandered in, taking a moment, and sitting down on the floor near her.

"Flip three cards over," she told me.

I reached out and casually batted at the cards.

The first was a golden wheel, something between a lasso and fire. I did not recognize it, save that the art was ornate and it worked too hard to be threatening. The second was cooler, a scene of a snowstorm in the mountains, yet everything seemed at rest. The third was a unicorn, drinking at a silver pond.

"What do you want?" Paige asked, pointing at the third card.

"Introduce me," I said. I looked at the first and second cards, and noticed there were unicorns in those as well. The first, she was caught in the firey bridle. The second, she was looking through the snowflakes, tossing them lightly aside with her horn.

"Are you sure?" Paige asked, holding the card up.

"Never. But what is life without taking risks?" I glanced at the children.

"Safer," she said, and she echoed my glance, if you could call it that.

"They have their protectors," I said, standing up. My hand may have wandered to my knife. Conner smiled a grim smile as he looked at me.

Paige nodded. "They are safe in dreams," she says. "But the dream flowers bloom in fire." She hands me the first card. "You want to meet her? She is immune to the poison of dragons, and she loves to bathe in cool, clear water."

I laughed. "And when will you be ready to leave?"

"The castle has not yet fallen, love. I want to be here until the end." She stood up and kissed me.

I froze. I could not breathe.

I had to let her go. There were duties...after all.