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k_a_webb“If all the fae had chosen to live within the warded settlements that would have been simple enough to do,” Lucille said, as she suddenly understood part of the reason the settlements had been created. “The problem was that the creators, and some others, chose to stay living with the created races, instead of hiding away, which meant that it was impossible, in the end, to hide the choices that you had made. Give it a couple of generations and the fae wouldn’t have remembered that they were involved in the creation of the Web, but fortunately they didn’t get what they wanted.”
Meriwether nodded. “That does sound like the fae.” He sighed. “Occasionally I wish I’d never been one of them, because then I wouldn’t feel the guilt I do for being part of such a selfish race, but if I hadn’t I wouldn’t be here now, having a chance to teach you about them, or about the other races I’d been a part of. Maybe, if you chose to go through the ritual and remember a past life, you’ll find that you lived on the same world as me, only at a different time or as part of one of the other races, and then you’ll be able to teach me about that as well as about the other Webs. Since the day I chose to stay outside the settlements I have seen myself as a teacher, because I was a part of something so unusual that we never believed in could happen, and then I lived other lives on other worlds at times when it wasn’t normal to see a Moonjumper, although it’s seems likely that there were some around.
“When we first met Tegan we thought of her as the first Moonjumper, even though she probably wasn’t, because she was the only one we knew about, and during the decade that followed the other worlds of the Web knew very little about them… although there were probably towns and villages who had their own Moonjumper or Moonjumpers, so they had an understand of what they were, but they didn’t know what we were planning on using them for. At least until the rest of the fae started getting worried that we couldn’t possibly keep the Moonjumpers under our control.” He shook his head. “They should never have tried to control them. That was what caused the problems to begin with and when the Moonjumpers started rebelling, knowing they should be doing something more than just watching what was happening, the fae made it worse by making more rules.
“For those of us who understood the Moonjumpers it wasn’t a surprise when the time came that the fae decided they were too hard to control, but at the same time they didn’t want to lose what had become a great asset. Without the Moonjumpers we would have been in the dark about many of the worlds and I think it was then that the fae realised that maybe it was actually better for them to know what was happening on all the worlds of the Web, instead of attempting to bury their heads in the sand, even though, from what I know of the fae who came to the Council meetings, not everyone knows about the Web. It’s still something they hide from those who don’t need to know about it, so it’s going to be a shock when the wards finally come down.”
“There are stories told about what’s outside the settlements. I know from talking to settlement fae who have left it all behind, even though they weren’t entirely certain what they were going to come across when they made the transition, and I think they were pleasantly relieved to find that a city was close enough to the settlements that they could find someone to help them. Even though the majority of people hate the Council and the fae for what they’ve done they don’t show any malice towards any young fae who choses to make a life for themselves outside of one of the settlements, although it takes a little while for people to let their shields down.” Lucille bit her lip. “Once they become a part of the city, if they chose to stay, they even get warned about the days when groups of settlement fae visit the market for supplies, so they won’t be in the wrong place at the wrong time, as we have seen settlement fae dragged back to where they ‘belong’. When that happens they don’t often return, because after that they’re watched much more closely.”
“Do they tell stories of the Web?”
“No, not of the Web, because that is beyond their imagination, Merry, and that isn’t unusual. There are other worlds where there are whole cities that know nothing of the Web, which is something I think needs to be changed, but that’s not going to happen any time soon.” Lucille shrugged. “All of the stories are about Athare. Once the fae find out about the Web, about the other worlds, they often plan how their going to explore it. I’ve helped several of them plan a safe route, telling them where they shouldn’t go and where they’re likely to meet friendly races, occasionally even using Leolin’s maps to find them doors that will take them to worlds I probably shouldn’t send them, but none of them have ever betrayed my trust. Normally I do make sure I know them before I start telling them about the natural doors and other things that I probably shouldn’t mention.”
“I’m glad that they haven’t, but, as I’m sure you know, you do need to be careful. Any one of them could have been a spy for the fae council, looking for information that they can use again the Moonjumpers’ Council, and if they find out anything about the natural doors, or about magics that they’ve never been told exist, they will do everything they can to take control of everything.”
“As far as I can remember I’ve only come across two of those spies. One visited the Council building when I was doing some work in the library, before I found out that I was a true Moonjumper, and started asking me all these questions about what I was studying. I think he was waiting for me to say something about the natural doors, but I didn’t even know they existed back then. The second one… well, I met her after I finished my studies, just before I travelled to Kniroch for the first time, and she said she was interested in becoming a Moonjumper, so she wanted to know more about what I’d been doing. When I showed her all of my tattoos and told her I’d been studying since I was nine she looked at me as though I was some sort of interesting insect, which was when I was certain what she was.” Lucille smiled. “So I took her to the library that’s open to the public, showed her everything she would need to know about Athare in order to pass the first exam, and her face went white. I can still remember the respect in her eyes when she realised I had done all that work for every single world in the Web. Now I see her on a semi-regular basis, because she wants to learn about the Web, but she doesn’t have the time to be able to actually become a Moonjumper.
“The longer we know each other the more she opens up about her life within the settlements and I can’t help feeling sorry for her, but I never tell her more than I should, because I will never trust her. Maybe, if the wards do fail the way Quiar believes they will, things will be different, and I’ll be able to show her Leolin’s maps, tell her about the natural doors, true Moonjumpers, and magics that have evolved on the worlds, but until then I have to keep secrets from her. She does know a little about my life. I couldn’t keep everything from her and she was very sympathetic when I told her about finding my aunt on Kniroch, although I didn’t mention that my cousin can travel to all five of the sibling worlds, because then I’ll be under suspicion. I know that happens – if someone is found to be a natural then their siblings, their children, anyone at all related to them, will be watched very closely to make certain that they aren’t a natural either. To the fae it won’t matter that I can already go to any world, because they’ll know I can go to worlds that they have no control over.”
“Like Kniroch’s sibling worlds and the worlds that were lost during the creation of the Web.”
“Exactly. So, even though I’ve done so much to help them, I’m still dangerous, because they don’t have as much control over me as they want to.” Lucille sighed. “I hate having to keep secrets from as many people as I do, but I really don’t have any other choice.”
Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.