Journal Entry 11.02 - Aja Dreams of Winter

Aja has a rather disturbing dream connected to her father.

After a long day of working to attempt the formulae necessary to make Hursing’s Rune, Aja finally had to retire for the day. She had been working on a single process for the last eleven hours, skipping meals, trying to decipher the strange notation that Hursing used in his notebooks.
They were so close, she could just feel it. So close that she just couldn’t let go. It wasn’t until Dame Imokan, who had only been looking over other aspects of the formulae for a few hours finally told her that she needed to rest and eat. If she didn’t she wouldn’t get anywhere. “A well rested and well fed mind is many times more effective, Aja. Go and get something to eat and some sleep. Tackle this in the morning.”
Surprised that she still wasn’t hungry, possibly from how exhausted she was once she started to make her way to her quarters, she stopped by the kitchen only to pick up a single piece of fresh fruit.
Once back in her room, even though her head was slightly hurting from lack of sleep and exhaustion, she couldn’t let one of the sets of symbols go. It just didn’t make sense – the order Hursing was prescribing would just cause the spell work to collapse.
Unable to really sleep yet, she decides maybe its time for another reading. She sets up her candles and sits in the floor. She notes that Gigi is already asleep, curled up tight next to her neck. He must be exhausted also, because he was dreaming something fitful and shaking slightly. Before starting the read, she begins to meditate some, going through the mantras necessary to get her mind clear for a reading. Too many distractions can easily muddle the intent of the cards. Normally she doesn’t have this much trouble, but with being tired her thoughts are definitely a little hazy this evening.
After a few moments, as she is about ready to draw the first card, she hears a slight rap at her door. Aja looks up, then sees that she was obviously too tired to even lock the door – the latch is wide open.
“Greetings – come in,” she says, not wishing to move, comfortable sitting where she is at. For some reason she was expecting Kinsi, or maybe Dame Imokan. It is neither.
The lady who enters quickly looks around the room before staring down at Aja with her piercing blue eyes, focusing intently on her. At first Aja can’t quite place her though she looks vaguely familiar – then she recalls, its been six years. Lady Gralais Crillimus is standing before her in a white fully sleeved dress.
“Greetings Airling – I have received word that you are possibly seeking me out and looking for information. Would this be true?”
Aja nods yes and begins to get up to properly greeting her guest when Lady Gralais waves for her to stay put, “Stay put, you appear comfortable kneeling before your reading circle. As I am intruding, you are being more than gracious in entertaining me already. I would hate to disrupt your current position.” She says this with enough authority that Aja remains in her meditating pose.
Aja, still feeling tired, but now a little more alert asks, “How did you find me? I was not aware that you were friends, or at least allies, with Dame Imokan or Lord Clemotayse.”
“I am far more influential than you imagine. I have actually been watching you with interest for some time. Those days six years ago have not left my memory in the slightest. I have knowledge which you will need, knowledge that couldn’t wait for your return to Vat Street. So that we can be of better service to each other – please ask your questions. Then I will answer to my utmost ability, imparting unto you what I believe is most pertinent.”
Aja feels some urgency in Lady Gralais’s words and she starts to think of just what questions she needs to ask. “I knew you and your family were influential here in Chrailis, but I did not know if you would have any insight into the complexities of the various Fey factions nearabouts. I hope my sending to you was not remiss. It is a great palliative to me that you would go to such effort to seek me out, although I admit I worry about the direness of the situation that you were willing to do so.”
Aja gives brief pause, and seeing permission to continue in her guest's eyes, follows with, "Without wishing to presume upon your connections to and knowledge of the Fey Court, know you any reason why they -- the Winter Court, in particular -- would have taken such an interest in a Sylph Druid who has dedicated himself to the preservation of the Quirkwoods? Surely his generosity of spirit over these many years should accord him some level of respect?"
Looking a little distant, Lady Gralais then responds with, "How would you define respect? Therein lies some of the answer. Taking care of something, altering its life cycle implies ownership. Ownership or stewardship. In the great dream, ownership is all that really matters."
"Rendering a service is tantamount to entering a binding agreement, as altering the natural course of cause and effect grants responsibility."
"Respect matters little as everything is in the moment for almost every denizen or it is an eternal reckoning with no in between for the most powerful."
"The land inside the Quirk Woods is a borderland between two distinct and sometimes perverse realities. A druid is an ambassador of Torya and not always welcome at the boundary, yet necessary for the rulers of the Lucid Dream if they are at all to entreat with the gods of a world barely fathomed."
"What is dream to you is real, and what is real to you is dream."
Aja appears to consider this, her brows knitted in frustrated thought. She idly passes her painted deck from one hand to the other before asking, "So you're saying that my father's previous three centuries of service to the goddess Torya are of little merit to the Fey within the Lucid Dream. If that is so, why allow him the boon of trading places with his sister? What did she do anyway? Is she, at least, trying to secure his freedom?"
Lady Gralais continues, "Everything is about status and power. His sister has been in service of Winter for longer than your dad has been alive. She made a few missteps in traversing the political landscape. In this case, sometimes what happens isn't what it seems. The goal was to get your dad bound to Winter, not to punish your aunt though she deserved some censure for her actions. She refused some very reasonable requests. And to my knowledge, she is not trying to secure his freedom. Am I answering your questions to your expectations?"
Aja stares up at Lady Gralais, her features guileless as she says "I lived in the Quirk Woods for 85 years, and I haven't known any of this. You seem to speak as someone with first hand experience. Are you Fey yourself?"
Lady Gralais offers vague clarification in saying, "Sylphs due to their association with the boundary regions are often listed as Fey similar to Nymphs and Dryads. Are you Fey because others perceive and label you as such? Therein will lie my answer."
"You certainly speak as though Fey," Aja mutters to herself, clearly annoyed. "So the Fey may not view their conscription of my father as the theft it seems to me. And perhaps his genie-kin blood will keep him from being torn to pieces like some wayward orcish merchant who ignores the warding stones along the border. Fey heritage or no, I should not want to lose my Da to their labyrinthine politics. Dame Imokan seemed to think he has been tasked to serve at the Court of Envy and Grandeur. Have you heard the same?"
With her browed furled, she then stares at Aja as she answers. "I have knowledge that this is possible. If so, he is still a servant of Winter. As a visitor in another land, that offers a certain level of protection. It is perilous in that the Court of Delusion will tempt him often in hopes of compromising his loyalties." - Lady Gralais pauses - "Again I ask, Am I answering your questions to your expectations?"
Aja cocks her head at the peculiar formality of this -- now twice asked -- question. Casually, as if she had already been intending thus, she flips three cards onto the floor, trying to recall as many details about the Lady Gralais as she can.

Aja is certain that this is not the Lady Gralais which she remembers. That Lady Gralais was somewhat lofty in attitude and not always the brightest, at least Aja didn't take her as a great intellectual. She was more concerned with her looks and status than she was with abstract concepts. So with her slight air of being better than those around her, she was still very genuine with the care and appreciation she had expressed at the time toward Aja for her aid.
Aja flips the cards casually. And as she focuses, she remembered something else, Lady Gralais had big round eyes - that were dark brown. Not the striking blue which was looking intently at her as Lady Gralais says with an almost sardonic voice, "Now - isn't this a peculiar read."
Aja looks down and is momentarily confused. All three cards are face down. Then she notices that she is holding the deck upside down. She has never done that before. The top card on what would otherwise be the bottom of the deck is the Rogue of Dragons.
Aja's breath catches and she is momentarily stunned. Calmly, Lady Gralais kneels down and reaches forth to turn the three cards over. Two of Books. She then turns over The Artist. And finally Ace of Dragon.
"Peculiar indeed." Not once does she look down at the cards as she flips them, her eyes stayed locked on Aja the entire time.
Slightly off balance, especially from feeling an immediacy emanating from the cards, Aja does her best to still her face to calm, eyes sliding off the storm-shaped brooch to meet “Lady Gralais”’ gaze. “Why do they want my father specifically? Isn’t one Geniekin as good as the next? Why not conscript my Aunt instead, if the fault were hers?”
Lady Gralais stars at her intently for a long moment. "It appears some questions may remain questions." She pauses again in thought. "For a while longer, at least. I hope I can be of greater assistance than my failed attempts today next time we meet. I will be making my leave now. And you need to take care of your bat, he is shivering." Aja noticed that Gigi is still tucked tightly to her neck. He is shivering a little more than before. When she looks down at him she sees his eyes are wide open as he looks at Lady Gralais. There is alarm and possibly a little fear in his little eyes.
Aja shoots to her feet, one hand covering her familiar’s head protectively and the other quickly making the orison needed to cast Defensive Shock. Her body suddenly alive with electricity, she backs up against the stone wall of the guest chamber, oblivious to the sparks that singe the rich carpet at her feet. “Then take your leave, servant of Storms! I know not why the forces of three Fey Courts have conspired to enslave my father, but I WILL see him freed!”
Lady Gralais gives a malicious grin, "Yes - that is a good showing of spirit. Best to save that for the waking world where you will need it, Aja. Despite your show of bad manners, my desires to aid you have not waned. But know this, what is Winter's is seldom surrendered without much cost." She turns and leaves - disappearing and fading into a white mist as she crosses the threshold of the door.
Aja catches her breath and breathes deep. Something is bumping against the side of her head.
Blinking, she wakes up - Gigi is bumping his head up against her cheek. She can feel the side of her face where he as scratched her a few times, "Aja - wake up. Aja - wake up. please. Please, wake up." Gigi is frantic and obviously scared.
Looking around, Aja finds she is sitting on the floor, her unspun deck still in her hands. Two of the candles are burning low, the others are out. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she notices that her breath is fogging up in the air. The room is chilled and everything is covered in rime.
Starting to stand up, Aja realizes she has been in a kneeling position for way to long - her legs are asleep. As she stretches them out in an attempt to get the circulation going - there is a slight rap at the door. From the other side she hears a slight feminine voice, "Mistress Aja? Mistress Aja? I know it's late but you have a visitor. A Lady Crillimus is in the foyer to see you. I said you were retired for the night, yet she insisted. I asked Dame Imokan and she said you wouldn't mind being bothered by an old friend."
Nursing her scratched cheek, Aja snatches up her carved quarterstaff from where it is resting in the corner, proffering its twisted copper hoop to Gigi, who assumes his accustomed perch. She then opens the door, offers a queasy-looking smile, and follows the maidservant downstairs.
Lord Clemotayse’s parlor is as richly appointed as the rest of his sprawling townhouse, with thick, brocaded fabric framing twelve-foot windows that look out onto the cobblestone courtyard with its massive stone plinths and meticulously shaped hedges. As Aja enters, she sees the Lady Gralais standing by the hearth at the far end of the room, her petite but shapely form backlit by the fire burning therein. After Aja’s recent dreams of ice and cold, it is a noticeable contrast.

As in her earlier dream, Lady Gralais is dressed in a long white gown that rustles audibly as she turns to face Aja, her hands moving to unconsciously smooth already flawless skirts. The cut of the dress is starkly similar to the one before, although the spiral-shaped diamond brooch is missing, and the bodice of the dress is studded with hundreds of small pearls. She feels Gigi’s tiny claws dig into her scalp from where he has positioned himself to get a better look.

As Aja steps closer, she sees that Lady Gralais’ eyes are, once again, their customary brown and are as wide she remembers from years gone by, giving her the perpetually startled look that has no doubt attracted many a suitor, including the recently deceased Lord Gralais. She feels Gigi’s claws relax, and Aja lets out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. She wonders at Gigi’s reaction and makes a note to ask him about it later.

The two women smile at each other in greeting, and Aja is surprised as Lady Gralais takes her hands, looking her up and down and pausing to study her face.

“Amazing! You haven’t aged a day!” the Lady Gralais exclaims.

At her first greeting, Aja thinks she hears Gigi mutter to himself, “Phew! That voice always scare Gigi.” She hasn’t the chance to ask him about this because the Lady Gralais is still talking animatedly.

“You know, I recently learned that the Sylph are long-lived, like Elves and Dwarves. There was a merchant at last year’s Festival of the Dragon. He actually sold me this bodice – wanted far more than was reasonable, but still less than I was willing to pay!” Lady Gralais pauses to laugh at her own joke, and she continues, “Anyway, among the items he had for sale was a long necklace of hollow glass beads, each a finger’s width and in all the different colors of blue you have ever seen a sky.

“Each bead seemed to have its own weather; can you imagine? Some were clear as a summer sky, others filled with fluffy white clouds that moved from one side to the other, and still others filled with tiny gray stormclouds that flashed angrily with lightning. Recognizing a woman of discerning taste, he offered to sell me the necklace for the price of a country estate. Not that I minded the cost, but I was forced to point out the impracticality of the piece: it had hundreds of beads joined by silver, making it several feet too long for a woman to loop more than just a few times around her neck without drawing attention away from – er, well – you know where we ladies prefer men’s attention!”

She winks and laughs again and, before Aja can interject, continues breathlessly, “Well, he explained that this necklace was a rare treasure, given by an Elven lord to his Sylph wife upon her birthday, each bead representing a year of her life. And that’s why there were three hundred of them! Can you imagine? If I were her, I think I would have preferred to have married a human male, probably a few. Being married for more than a hundred years? That would be awful!” she appears to think a moment, “Of course, the piece was very valuable and had to have been made with magic, so I imagine her Elven lord was quite rich. And probably handsome – if one could get past the ears, of course.”

She finally notices Aja staring at her wide-eyed and mistakes the meaning of her expression. “Oh but don’t worry! You’re still young, aren’t you? I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to find a rich Elven lord or your first of several human husbands! Just make sure that whoever he is, he’s wealthy enough to make you a dowager gift at least as lovely as that necklace.” Aja sees that Lady Gralais has one hand to her chest, absently fondling one of the pearls on her bodice as if in memory of the necklace she had declined to purchase, no doubt in part due to its exorbitant cost. Lady Gralais was well off but, with the recent death of her first husband, wouldn’t be trading country estates for jewels anytime soon.

“Er … “ Aja isn’t sure how to politely change the subject, but she knows she doesn’t have any interest in discussing her matrimonial plans, or lack thereof. Lady Gralais looks distractedly past Aja, one hand moving to smooth her hair, “Speaking of which, is Lord Clemotayse about? I understand his wife has been suffering a bit of a cough lately… These drapes really are lovely, aren’t they?” She gestures at the expensive, brocaded curtains framing the parlor windows. “I think I would probably have gone with cornflower blue embroidery, though; despite the name, royal blue is quite last season. Oh and have you noticed that the legs of that side table don’t complement the tea service…?”

Aja realizes that if she doesn’t say something soon, Lady Gralais will probably redecorate the whole of Lord – and Lady – Clemotayse’s parlor.

“You come with news of my father?” she finally manages to interject.

Lady Gralais looks startled, forced to abandon her critique of the fabric used to upholster the parlor’s sofa pillows. “Of course! Sorry, I do tend to go on. At least, that’s what my husband Cyric said before he died.”

“I’m sorry—“ Aja begins.

“Yes, yes. Very sad. He was, after all, a good father to our daughter Suruminque.”

“Suruminque?” asks Aja, startled, “But that means –“

“Wind-kissed in Elvish, yes! Because she wasn’t breathing when she was born, and then you kissed her mouth, and she took her first breath.” Aja blushes, flattered that the Lady Gralais would have named her daughter after her and embarrassed by her low opinion of the lady’s apparent lack of social graces.

Oblivious to her reaction, Lady Gralais continues, “Your Elvish is excellent, by the way! I remember that you speak several languages. I can’t imagine how dreadful that would have been, being forced to learn all those different words, over and over again!”

Aja hears Gigi chuckle in her ear, “Yes, Lady big fan of Aja!”

“Anyway, about your father!” she says, suddenly seeming to remember Aja’s earlier question. “I’m afraid I don’t know anything about the Fey. They have always seemed awfully flighty and – dare I say vain – to me. I’m not sure what your father and his sister did to become mixed up with them, but it sounds quite tragic, like that one play where two beautiful youths wander into the Quirkwood, and the boy gets kidnapped by the Queen of Storms and the girl gets murdered by a jealous satyr…” She trails off, noticing Aja’s brows knotted in what might be consternation before clearing her throat and continuing, “Then again, perhaps if you could make introductions between me and Dame Imokan – or
perhaps Lord Clemotayse? We could put our heads together and leverage our collective knowledge to help you come up with a solution.”

Aja smiles wryly, thinking about what uses Dame Imokan would find for the Lady Gralais. She imagined Dame Imokan setting the Lady Gralais to polish her silver service to a mirror shine in the hopes of distracting her long enough to allow her to actually accomplish something productive.

Realizing that there is little more to learn from the Lady Gralais, Aja says tiredly, “I thank you for the great kindness you have extended coming here today. I’m afraid Dame Imokan is quite involved in her research at the moment and isn’t up for a social call, but I am sure Lady Clemotayse would not mind if you stayed overnight and would be happy to entertain you for dinner this evening. You could tell us both about your ideas for the parlor.” Aja sees Lady Gralais blanche at this offer. Having enough grace to not want to seem rude, however, she accepts Aja’s offer and allows herself to be lead away to one of the townhome’s many guest chambers to ready herself before dinner.

Once she has gone, Aja sighs and turns to stare into the fireplace, absently gesturing at her shoulder for Gigi to allow himself to be petted. He eagerly does so, leaning into her palm and making the chirrups she finds so comforting. Remembering his earlier reaction, she asks, “Why did you seem nervous about the Lady Gralais? Did you share my dream about the woman with the spiral-shaped brooch?”

Gigi stops chirruping, wrapping one wing around her hand to still it before answering, “Gigi not nervous. Why Aja nervous? Lady no hurt Aja. Hurt Gigi’s head though. Hurt Aja’s head?”


Aja smiles at this observation, however simplified, “Yes. Lady Gralais is generous of spirit and word. I think the loss of her late husband has caused her to revert somewhat to her more girlish tendencies. I will have to warn Graykar to wear his more threadbare tunic to dinner tonight, lest she mistake him for a lord.” She tries to imagine the Lady Gralais’ reaction if Urik were to decide to join them for dinner and giggles in amusement. She doubts any dowager gift would be lovely, expensive, or magical enough to make that match happen.

She presses a fist to her mouth to stifle a yawn, prompting Gigi to hop off of her shoulder and flutter before her. He is backlit by the fireplace, causing his form to be outlined in fire and shadowing his tiny face.

“Aja need sleep. Aja fall over. Too sleepy to fly. Fall in fire. Gigi knows.”

She thinks she can see him nodding sagely and wonders if he’s speaking from experience.

“I can’t sleep, yet,” Aja complains, “I don’t want to miss Lady Gralais trying to awkwardly flirt with Lord Clemotayse – a man twice her age – at his own wife’s table. Or maybe she’ll decide Morvion’s elvish ears aren’t a dealbreaker and set her sights on him instead. I’m sure he would be delighted to entertain her interests at dinner.”

“No. Too much Shadow, that one. Gigi knows.”

Aja nods in agreement, a gesture which quickly turns into another yawn. She eyes the sofa against the window, whose cushions appear to her eye to be the perfect shade of olive green and not at all in need of re-tasselling as Lady Gralais had suggested. Perhaps a quick nap before dinner wouldn’t hurt. She settles down on the couch and is asleep before Gigi can drag a green velvet throw on top of her.
The next morning, Gigi denies any actual knowledge of the dream - he seems to have an aversion to even talking about it. Aja doesn't think he is overtly lying, however he knows something. He possibly knows what was in the room while not actually witnessing the dream. His statement about hating that voice keeps coming back to her - what voice - and what is his source of familiarity.

I walked into your dream

And now I have forgotten how to dream my own dream

You are the clever one aren't you

- Tori Amos