Days 81-83 (59th-61st together)

Day 81 (59th together):
I awoke with something tickling my senses. It was still dark, but the moon was bright. Vanity also sensed it. As we extended ourselves, I felt a warmth that was friendly but unfamiliar. Finally, I located the source. Behind a tree, I saw movement. Cautiously, I approached. There, behind the tree, was a woman who's beauty took my breath.
Before I could ask, she pointed at Vanity and said, "You are bound to my granddaughter. Welcome to the land of her birth."
"The Faerie Queen," I whispered, moving to bow.
She stopped me, "You have no cause to bow before me. We are kin. Why do you think Vanity sung to you? Also, why do you think the entities who are the swords were once of races other than human? Even Baracabas was not fully human nor have any of the sisters been totally human. Let Alice search your bloodlines, then you will see what I mean. Callie is your best friend as the dwarfs are friends with us.
"But this is not why I am here. I bring news. Maalicus is not fully human even though he thinks he is. That is part of the reason he wants the swords so badly. After you get to the palace, call for Mars-in-Leo. He will come because of Wrath. A small sliver is still in his leg. It binds him to you and you to him. It does not hurt him in any way nor can it be removed. He has knowledge to determine Maalicus' heritage that Alice cannot discern. I must go now, child. The Men stir and I cannot be seen by them yet. Fare thee well, daughter of the sword, and best wishes."
She kissed me on the forehead, turned, and vanished into the foliage. I stood there, looking at the place where she vanished until a hand on my shoulder returned my attention to the human world. I turned to look Callie in the eye. She said nothing, verbally or mentally, to me, but her face showed concern. I smiled and took her hand. With the slightest of nods from years of friendship, we returned to camp to gather our things. I said nothing to anyone about our visitor. We got ourselves ready and on the road by sunrise. As we rode, I mentally asked Alice to trace my bloodline. She squinted and stared. Her expression of complete surprise was so innocent, I had to laugh. The men gave me sideways glances. My sisters asked. Both Alice and I told them as one.
"She has/I have faerie blood."
The others were just as surprised. I, then, informed them of our early morning visitor. Questions bombarded me. Finally, I bade them to stop. I recounted the entire encounter.
"Let me get this straight," Lisa started, " we all have non-human ancestors and part of the reason we are with the sword we have is that the entities who became the swords are the same race as our ancestor. Since I am with Gluttony, I am part elf?"
"Yes, both Lisa and Alice are part elf. I am part faerie, Callie is part dwarf, Sarah is part fey of some type, Gretta is part leprechaun, and Anna is part..."
"Gnome," Sloth responded, "specifically brownie."
"Are you sure?" Gretta asked.
"Alice can confirm it for all of us. With a mirror, she can find the elf she has in her bloodline," I told them all.
There was silence for a long time. Callie broke it with her question.
"The piece of Wrath in Leo doesn't hurt him?"
"She insisted he was in no pain from it. You can check. Through Wrath, you can talk to Leo."
Callie concentrated. I felt her shock when she connected with Leo. While I could not hear what they said, Callie's emotions indicated he confirmed his lack of pain. She relayed that he would meet us at the palace after we got there.
Alice wondered, "Why can't I see Maalicus' heritage? I've traced the bloodlines of dead people, fey, and other races. Even if he isn't human, I should be able to see it."
"I can't tell you. She just said we needed Leo to find out."
We rode is silence for a while. Around mid-day, we stopped to eat and rest. Kendar noted our silence and preoccupied looks. He asked and, having been honest with him since the beginning, we told him everything. He went pale and sat on a stump. Lehand, having heard nearly all of what we told Kendar, was also pale, but recovered quickly. Lehand brought Jerome over to get his educated opinion. Jerome fainted. Kendar regained his composure as we tended to Jerome.
"I do not know have much more I can take. The longer I am with you, the less I am certain of the world I live in. First, you all are legend in the flesh. Second, a being out of the oldest of tales speaks with you like old friends. And, now, you tell me a dragon will arrive at the palace for a consultation? My world use to be so simple. I don't know what to think anymore."
I could see his shell cracks growing wider than ever. A whisper of wind tugged at my senses. Vanity resonated to let me know she had felt it, too. We went to Kendar and looked him in the eye.
"Release these past teachings. Let the shell fall."
He spoke without sound, "I am afraid."
"I am here. No harm will come to you, I promise."
He took a deep breath. Looking into my eyes and holding my hands, he let the cracks he had been holding closed by sheer will grow and fracture even more. With a shudder, the shell fell away. His glow, however, did not diminish. It got brighter. We were far enough from the others that only I and Vanity witnesses the twin tears roll down his face.
Again, soundlessly, he spoke, "Thank you."
I said nothing, just nodded and smiled. We rejoined the others. My sisters could sense Kendar's change and they smiled, too. Lehand perceived a difference, but didn't know what it was. Jerome woke up. Once he was steady, we got back in the saddle and underway. Even Kendar's horse reacted to his change. The horse walked taller and nearly pranced. It was a good thing to see.
Lehand informed us we would see the palace well before reaching it. We, again, slept under the stars.


Day 82 (60th together):
The morning broke cool and a hint of rain could be tasted in the air. Kendar was cheery and the men followed his example. Lehand's shell was thinning but his glow remained strong. Jerome was slowly developing a glow, but it was still weak. Alice had confirmed all seven of our bloodlines. Sarah was part mermaid! She said it made sense as her father had told the nuns before he died that her mother's family were a sea faring lot. Callie reminded me that her father's family were "mountain folk", as her mother put it. Both Lisa and Alice recounted stories of a distant relative being "a stranger to the land". Gretta only remembered hearing about "puny" relatives on her mother's side. Anna could not recall either parent speaking of their ancestors. I told them of the story that a distant grandmother was a "princess". We were amused at how our families had glossed over any notion of non-human blood in our heritage.
After three hours in the saddle, Lehand yelled, "Behold! The palace ahead!"
A flag waved at the top of a hill. As we climbed, a tower grew under the flag. Then, more towers, each topped with a flag, appeared flanking the middle, tallest one. At the top of the hill, the palace rose majestically from the plains and city at its base. Even from this distance, it was huge! We were informed that it was still a day's ride away. It was our turn to be shocked. We watched both palace and city grow as we approached. Even at sunset, the city and palace were still on the distant horizon. We did not have to sleep outside. There was an area where a few inns and a fort here at what Lehand called the foot of the palace. The place we were staying, while full of military people, was much livelier than previous military inns. We were assigned a dorm-like room with tiered beds. It was nice.


Day 83 (61st together):
Horns woke us up. A soldier we didn't know barged into the room shouting for us to get up. Lisa snapped to her feet. The rest of us took a moment to figure out what was going on. He stopped in mid-yell. He looked around at the seven of us. Lisa realized what she had done and relaxed.
"You are not the new recruits?" he questioned us.
We all shook our heads, kind of puzzled.
He sort of shrank, "I am so sorry. My lieutenant sent me to rouse the new hands. I though you were they."
Vanity and I extended ourselves. "They are two doors down, away from the stairs. Two snore like cows giving birth."
He nodded, my sisters laughed. He apologized again and left. Since we were wide awake, we started getting dressed. Kendar and Lehand were surprised we were awake. We recounted our wake up call. Lehand was livid. He started to go find the man, but we stopped him. Letting him know we had no hard feelings toward the man, Lehand let it go. Going downstairs, we encountered the man and his recruits. They looked half asleep as they slung their gear over their shoulders and stumbled out the door. We saw the looks our guards gave them. Smiles as remembered emotions bounce between them let me know they felt for the new soldiers. We joined our guards and ate with them. One at a time, one of our guards would ask one of us about something only that sister could answer. Was a ring handed down authentic? Will my sword last another battle? Do I have noble ancestors? Why does my knee ache before a rain? Plus other questions. We finished eating and got ready to go.
Outside, the palace and city seemed even larger in the morning light. We saddled up and headed towards that massive structure. Silently, we asked Anna why it was so big and why the city was also huge.
"It is tradition for each ruler to add to the palace, leaving his or her mark long after their reign. Likewise, an area is built to the city to reflect the current ruler's taste and style, even their personality. Even unpopular rulers still have their sections of the city alive and thriving long after both they and their reigns are gone. Dynasties expand their families' work while usurpers and invaders start somewhere else entirely. The largest tower is the result of a seven generation dynasty. The flagpole was added by their conqueror to let all know their influence was over. That, too, became a tradition, to top your predecessor's work to indicate their end."
We listened to her explanation with interest. It did help us understand the reason behind its size and odd construction. As we got closer, the different styles and materials became more apparent. Slight color variations in the large tower spoke of the age of the stones. By mid-day, we were close enough for me to start feeling the totality of emotions emanating from this city. I warned Anna and Alice about the sheer force of the history of the city and its people. They acknowledged it had started pressing on them, too. We told the other four we were pulling our senses in to keep from being overwhelmed. They understood and we withdrew into ourselves. Like setting aside a great weight, the pressure ceased. None of the men seemed to notice any change. By evening, we finally entered the city. Our passage through the city caused the barest of ripples in the mass of people. Lights bloomed as darkness fell. The men indicated that magic powered these lights. We did not reach the palace until an hour after sunset. Guards and a valet met us at the door. Our mounts were taken by our guards. Kendar, Lehand, Markus, and Jerome went with us into the palace. Inside was just as huge as the outside. The valet informed us that we would meet His and Her Majesties in the morning. We were taken to a huge suite that was bigger than the house where I grew up. Even the four men were impressed. They chose beds towards the door and allowed us the ones toward the windows and balcony. Food was waiting on a large table for us. We had to ask about a few items that we didn't recognize. There was another valet who had a pen and paper who entered about half an hour after we had entered the room. He walked around, asking our names, titles, village of birth, and family names. Other than Alice and Lisa, none of us seven had any titles. Most of us had to spell our home villages names. Sarah gave the name of the convent, not remembering the name of her birth village. Except for Alice, our family names meant nothing to the valet. Once he had gotten everything down, he thanked us, told us to leave everything on the table as they would be gathered later, and left. We continued to eat and wondered about why he needed all of that information. A couple of hours later, two female servants entered and gathered the dirty dishes. We tried to speak with them, ask their names, just get one of them to talk. Nothing. In silence, they took the dishes and left. We talked for a while then decided it was time to go to bed.