General Summary
Day 173
In the morning Alder joins me. The innkeeper has done a remarkable job with our bedrooms and he wonders aloud to me if this is what humans could be like without their racism. Or is it a trap? This place seems too good to be true and someone has to be paranoid about it. He remarks that he misses having Knotrael around to be a visible intimidating presence while Alder watched from the shadows.
As we head downstairs I’m excited to see Camellia speaking with another fae, presumably the one staying in the Spring room. They are much younger and as they turn to see me I can see the fear and hostility written plainly across their face, their hand going to a dagger at their side. I raise my hands slowly as Camellia calms them.
“You are oathsworn? You swear to your Empress that you mean us no harm?” the young fae demands as I approach. They calm a little when I agree but Alder and I clearly make them deeply uncomfortable.
His name is Nidet and he is a sort of fae who holds the memories of old songs as though he lived them himself. Camellia tells us that they are called Raaita and that they used to be extraordinarily rare. Nidet tells us that more and more young fae are waking with these memories of battles against dwarves, elves, and seawalkers with many arms. Most older fae nowadays haven’t heard these songs and they don’t believe in this brutal version of history. Nidet looks troubled as we continue to speak and excuses themself abruptly, though not before we agree to have dinner together and speak later.
Camellia tells us that she’s never seen a Raaita that intense before. They are consumed by a past that is not their own and that usually makes them confusing and lost. How do you lead a new life when your memories are of things long gone and unchangeable?
And particularly for Nidet, how do you tell a dead man not to be afraid anymore?
Bran remarks that Nidet’s thread is more like a tangled bag of yarn than anything.
With this on my mind I meet Amytri for a late lunch at a restaurant atop a massive tower. We dine surrounded by a rooftop garden along with an elderly human woman who he introduces as his granddaughter, Stella.
The food is exquisite and we have an animated discussion about magic, the history of the town, and how he hopes I’ll stay and lecture at the university sometime soon. He says it’s a wonderful place to spend a winter...the next time I have an entire winter free.
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