![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
k_a_webb“Why do you say that?” Peric asked, even though he wasn’t certain it was a question Meriwether could answer.
“Sometimes I just feel like I’m around an old soul, but with you it’s the look you get in your eyes when you’re asking questions about the worlds and the Webs.” Meriwether tilted his head, studying Peric again. “If you have lived more than one life there’s something about you that makes me think you’ve lived all of them, and spent all of your time as a spirit, on Quiar. You seem very grounded and you’re a mouse…” Sighing, Meriwether shook his head. “There’s something about the more magical races here that makes me think that anyone who has incarnated as one of them has lived more than one life, so they’ve had a chance to learn how to deal with the magic they have.”
“Do you think Sini would have lived more than one life?”
“I’m sure she has, although, from the way she was speaking early, I don’t think she’s as Quiaran as you are. There’s something that makes me think now that she’s probably lived on other worlds, as well as travelled the Web, but when I last talked to her about maybe finding out about her past lives she wasn’t comfortable with the idea. She might have changed her mind after meeting Lucille though.”
“How about Lucille?”
“She’s a Moonjumper and a true Moonjumper at that, so she will have lived lives before. It’s one of the reason the worlds chose them. When she lives her next life she’ll probably be like me and be able to remember her previous lives, although that doesn’t always happen.”
Peric nodded. “Why can you remember your past lives? Is there something special about you that you haven’t mentioned?”
“That’s a question I don’t have an answer for. I have theories and I think the most likely one is that I was fae in my first life. Most of the people I’ve met who have been able to remember their past lives have either been fae in one life or a Moonjumper, and some have even been both.” Meriwether picked up another nut out of the bowl, looking thoughtful. “I couldn’t tell you why being fae has an effect on whether you can remember your past lives or not…” He stopped for a moment, as though he’d just thought of something. “All of the fae I met have been fae who had magic, so maybe it has something to do with the magic the fae have.” He shrugged. “I just don’t know and I don’t think it’s something I’ll ever know for certain, even though I’d love to. The more I learn about the races, the worlds, and the Web the more I want to know.”
“I feel the same way.” Peric smiled at Meriwether. “Being able to learn from both you and Lucille is going to be wonderful, because you’ll both have very different points of view, especially as you’ve seen different worlds at different times. Athare must be very different now to how it was when you first arrived.”
“From what I’ve heard it it. I haven’t been there for centuries, because I left it behind after my first life and decided to make the most of my chance to travel, and when I was there I lived in the main city. Back then it was slowly growing, as the races we’d put on the other continents were slowly making their way to the city, thinking that was somewhere they could really make lives for themselves, but they were really disappointed when they found out how little the fae really cared about helping them. Each of the races built little settlements on the outskirts of the city, until Riordan managed to convince the Council that more needed to be done, and the fae started making the city into a real city. The majority of the fae were already hiding away by that point, so they didn’t have a say in anything, even though they really wanted one.”
“Did you ever travel the Web when you were fae?”
Meriwether smiled. “I wasn’t suppose to, but I did. I got to know a couple of the Walkers really well and they taught me about the natural doors, although I did have to promise them that I wouldn’t tell the Council what I knew, which was something I was happy to do because the fae wouldn’t have been pleased to find out what I was doing. One of the closest doors took me to Gaelom and I that was somewhere I really grew to love. That’s probably why I ended up living on Gaelom a few times, even though it wasn’t always technically Gaelom, because the other Gaeloms were all named by the races who lived on them.”
“Do the races of Gaelom know about the other Gaeloms?”
“Some do and some don’t, but it’s the majority that don’t. The races that do are often those who are known for their Moonjumpers, although even then the amount of knowledge differs by the town and where the nearest door led to.”
“What was Emrys really like?”
“Emrys always had a stronger connection to Athare than any of the rest of us did and he was the one who told Mab that Athare had come to terms with what they were planning on doing. Of course I only found that out during a life I spent with Mab when we were both living on Pendragon. It was nice to have someone fae to talk to and I got to know someone who had been my Queen in a way I never thought was possible. Even though I was always angry with her as one of the fae, being able to let go of all those feelings and become an inhabitant of the Web meant that I finally understood why she made the decisions she did.” Meriwether shook his head. “I’m sorry, Peric, you asked about Emrys and I went off on another tangent.”
***
Lucille stood in front of the stall owned by the aardvark, which was much busier than Adva’s stall, and did her best to look as though she was just perusing the wares. It gave her a chance to work out what she was going to say to him, because she wasn’t certain how to bring up the subject when he didn’t appear to be selling any charms. Then he pulled three out from somewhere behind the stall and gave them to a couple of mice who were waiting patiently, who both thanked him in such a way that she couldn’t help thinking that he was a charm maker as well as seller, but wanted to keep that information to himself.
“Good morning, Moonjumper,” the aardvark said, making her jump.
“Good morning. I was sent here by Adva.”
The aardvark nodded. “We talked about what your arrival might mean for us yesterday and Adva said she’d only send you to me if she was certain that you were going to do your best for Quiar.” He looked at her in such a way that she felt as though he was seeing everything that was going through her mind. “Even though we don’t technically need a Moonjumper having someone like you to speak up for us if things do happen is something that will relieve a lot of people. We know how we’re viewed by the majority of the other worlds and I don’t doubt that the Council might, some day, decide we shouldn’t exist.”
“I promise you that if that ever happens I’ll do my best to put a stop to their plans, even if it means I need to destroy the doors that lead to Larnach.” Lucille wasn’t certain exactly how she’d do that, but she knew she would if the Council ever made such a decision. “The natural doors will mean that you always have me as your Moonjumper.”
“Thank you.” The aardvark smiled. “We need someone here to help us with our problems, especially now that we’re dealing with the counterfeits.”
“Adva mentioned that you were suffering because of the counterfeits.”
“We all are, but the only way I’m managing to make any money at all if by making my own charms, which…” He trailed off, sighing. “If I had a choice I’d be buying my charms, because having to make charms when I get back from working a full morning on the stall is affecting me really badly, and I know that the counterfeiters will come after me if they find out what I’m doing, so I can only sell them to the people I really trust. Like Adva.” He glanced in the direction of Adva’s stall. “I have no idea what I’d do if I didn’t have Adva there to help me, because I have a family to look after, and my wife was injured by one of the counterfeits, so she can’t work.”
Nodding, Lucille realised there was one thing that might help the people affected by the counterfeits, especially those who’d been injured. “How many children do you have?”
“Three. My eldest was planning on doing some travelling, but I don’t think that’s going to be possible now. She keeps saying she should put the family first, and I’m so grateful to her for wanting to, even though I so badly want her to put herself first. I hate that the counterfeiters have taken my little girl’s chance at travelling.”
“Where was she planning on going?”
“I managed to get her a permit to travel to Kniroch. It’s one of the worlds I know they won’t have a problem with her form, because there are animal races on the sibling worlds, but it’s the tattoo that’s going to cost the money. Until this happened I had plenty saved and ready, but that’s all gone.”
“I can help with that. Kniroch is one of my worlds and I know a tattooist who’ll help me out, so we can take her via one of the hidden doors, especially as there’s a direct route from Kniroch to Larnach that way. Then you can sell on the permit and make some money from it, so the Council won’t be worried that you’re hoarding it.”
“That’s not legal.” The aardvark grinned. “I never imagined a Moonjumper would come up with an illegal way to help my daughter travel the way she wants to.”
Lucille couldn’t help grinning back. “Some rules are meant to be bent and when it comes to someone who is interested in travelling I don’t mind helping. There are a couple of other worlds she might like if she’s interested in travelling to Kniroch, so maybe you could get her to visit me in the bed and breakfast for a chat.”
“I’ll do just that. Being able to let her travel would make my wife much happier, because our daughter once wanted to become a Council Moonjumper and we had to tell her that it just wasn’t possible.”
“That’s something I want to change, if I can, because I don’t think the discrimination against Quiar is fair.” Lucille shrugged. “I don’t know if it’s going to be possible, because it’s the fae who are against the more animalistic races being permitted on Athare, but I will do my best, especially as I think there are some things we can learn from you that we couldn’t learn from any of the other worlds.”
“If it happens there will be a lot of Quiarans who would apply, but none of us really think it will ever happen. We’re so used to being looked down on by the fae, the Council, and the other Moonjumpers, that we’re used to it. Very few of us thought you would be different, so you’re a very nice surprise.”
“Not all the Moonjumpers think the same way as the Council does.” Lucille shrugged. “The problem is the fact we’re taught by people who discriminate against you, which makes it hard for any Moonjumper to accept the races of Quiar, even though they happily accept the races of Kniroch’s sibling worlds.”
Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Feedback
Date: 2013-05-28 03:39 am (UTC)That should say "supposed" above.
>>any money at all if by making my own charms<<
That should say "is" above.