Tales of the Ice Harpy from Glacia

So, I'm currently in Virginia, about to attend wizard college starting tomorrow. Would have mentioned this sooner and turned my kids into animals again for it, but all my prep time got eaten up by food poisoning. So last minute announcement and last minute class, sorry!

I'll be returning from Magischola on Sunday and then on Monday I'm whisked away to Cape Cod for a week. There is supposed to be wi-fi there, but also sunshine and beaches, so my availability will be spotty and unpredictable. I'm not animaling anyone so I play haphazardly, but SP is gonna be the name of the game!

Now I'm off to bed because they serve breakfast at the ungodly hour of 7:30 and I need to be there to keep an eye on freshmen to see who I should suggest recruiting to our House.

Bye!

For the first time this semester, Karla had found her way to her office. Things were hectic back in Glacia as they prepared to head to Ebon Rih as part of her service to the Dark Court and Karla had exercised her royal prerogative to come to the island in order to prepare for her class next semester.

...By which she meant 'read a bunch of romance novels, pretend to take notes, and let her tea steep until it was undrinkable because she was caught up in the action.' She'd finally given in and started reading the Angelica Demesnes novels and was blowing through them at a ridiculous rate.

"I want to go to Fandom, dammit!" Karla and Warren were arguing again. This had been happening more and more often as the temperature climbed, the humidity set in, and the baby they were still referring to as Nommy stubbornly remained where he was. Kayla had been more than a week late; it looked like her brother was going to try to beat that record. Why had Karla been cursed with such stubborn children? "Dammit, Warren, I wasn't asking for permission, I was informing you of my plans!"

No, really, she had no idea where they got it from.

Warren flared his wings, glad the molt had come and gone so that gesture was back to being intimidating, rather than pathetic. Not that Karla had ever been particularly intimidated by it. "It's spring," he growled. "And you still don't have Craft. Fandom's dangerous in the spring and I'm not going to have you trapped on the island while Portalocity sits on its thumbs during another crisis! A crisis you won't have Craft for!"

He understood that she was going stir-crazy in the estate; the last few weeks of carrying Kayla had been hard for her as well and she often felt suffocated by the overenthusiastic protection of the Court. But just because she was impatient to get away and see their friends again did not make it a good idea.

"Call Raven!" Karla snapped, hands on her hips. "She'll want to come with me anyway! And if Portalocity bails on us, she can bring me home!"

"Right, because a trip through the Netherverse is always a great--"

"Call Raven!" Karla's hands moved from her hips to her stomach.

"Karla, I'm really not comfortable--"

"No," she said, face going pale and breath hitching up. "I mean, call Raven. Your son had decided he doesn't want to visit the island today either."

Warren gaped at Karla for a second before his brain finished parsing what she meant. "Right!" he said, sweeping her up into his arms to run to the birthing chamber. Karla would have protested, but if this time went like last, she'd get plenty of walking in before this was all over with.

[For the empath, please! NFB for distance]

Anytime there was an overnight trip to the island these days, it was traditional for people who'd been given a key stayed over in Dite's Suite. During reunion weekend, there were several such people--and all their friends--but while that meant that sleeping quarters were a bit cramped, it reminded Karla of the giant slumber parties she used to throw in the dorms, roughly a million years ago. And it was good to be able to look around and see so many people she loved in one place.

Other than her meeting with Ino later, Karla had no plans for the day. She'd probably go out and make one last round of the island, though she was loathe to disturb Kayla from where she was playing quietly in her playpen. Hmm, maybe she could just see how many people she could get to visit the room instead. The Arms had excellent room service, after all, and food plus friends equaled a party.

[For anyone who thinks they stayed in Dite's Suite and anyone else who is inclined to visit and/or thinks they'd get an invite from Karla. Soo...basically anybody, good job me. SP is loved and late pings welcomed! I DON'T WANT TO SAY GOODBYE TO ANYONE YET]

"So this is Riada," Karla said, looking around at the village Lucivar had chosen to call his own. "It looks happy. Prosperous. Familiar, too, but I can't figure out why."

"Agio's not far from here," Jaenelle said, lacing her fingers through Karla's own. "It was a Rihlander village, just like this one. Only landen, rather than Blood."

Karla nodded, looking out the window again. Perhaps she'd pick up a few more things while she was here, bring them home to Cora. The memory might hurt a bit, but she thought her adopted daughter would be pleased, too, to have something of her home from so long ago. "I'm surprised Lucivar decided to settle here," she said softly. "We were all too happy to kick the dust of Agio off our feet."

Dust hadn't been the only thing caked to the soles of their shoes. Not after Jaenelle had finished with the Jhinka.

"He didn't have much choice," Jaenelle said, a sad smile on her face. Her own thoughts mirroring Karla's, no doubt. "The valley that belongs to the Keep, Ebon Rih, isn't that big. Just a few scattered Blood and landen villages, and Doun, the largest city in the valley. But you can imagine how Lucivar felt about living in any city, I'm sure."

Karla snorted; a most undignified noise. "Considering his mother doesn't live all that far from here and yet he chooses to stay, it says a lot." She gave Jaenelle a sharp look. "How long has Marian been staying with her?" She didn't ask, Has Luthvian been completely horrible yet? which just went to prove that Karla was putting Mallory's diplomacy practice to work.

Jaenelle made a face. "I haven't heard anything to suggest anything other than Marian's settling in and healing up nicely."

"Then we're visiting because...?"

"Because just because I haven't heard anything to the contrary doesn't mean it's true."

"Aww, and here I thought you wanted to see Luthvian have to act like a gracious hostess to me."

"Well, there's always that, too," Jaenelle said, giving Karla a smile though her heart wasn't in it. "Who knows? Maybe we're worrying over nothing."

[Continuing the canon catchup for "Prince of Ebon Rih" by Anne Bishop, Chapter 6]

Jaenelle was not back in the Keep by the time Karla's portal returned, but Saetan was. "You got a letter, too?" she asked, giving her adopted uncle an exasperated smile.

"Indeed," he crooned, his eyes a frozen yellow, rather than their usual rich gold. "And I went to the Keep in Terreille before coming here. She wasn't there. When my Lady arrives, she will be in no doubt about how I feel about her entering enemy territory without even a single escort with her."

( Normally Karla might have challenged him... )

"Come find me when you're ready," Karla said, turning to head towards a Healing room and giving Jaenelle her space. "Take all the time you need." Just from the wounds Karla could see, she'd need all the time she could get for this Healing.

[NFI, NFB, OOC is AOK! Adapted from Chapter Three of "Prince of Ebon Rih" by Anne Bishop. Karla's barely even in this story, but why would I let something as little as THAT stop me!]

Karla's trip to the preserve during class had left her even more weary than before. She'd done what any Queen in her position would do--she'd sat down and poured her power into the land, trying to coax the life back into it. But it didn't matter how much power she sank into it--there'd be a moment of change, a ripple of green, and then nothing.

The entire trip had been stressful and fruitless, which was a winning combination all the way around.

With Kayla finally napping in her playpen--Jono was a lifesaver--Karla decided that she could afford a nap herself and curled up on the couch she'd had handwavily brought in back when she was pregnant. Just a short nap, no more than twenty minutes. Then a late lunch and then she and Kayla would go home. Whatever else was going on with the island could be handled by other people. People who didn't have teething four month olds who could feel the damage done to the island, for example.

But first, a nap. Definitely a nap...

[For one please and then open! Drac's thread NFB, please!]

"One more time," Karla said, massaging her temples and counting backwards from ten. "The rule is...?"

Morton and Julian glared at one another before sullenly reciting, "We don't get to fight over the baby."

"Especially...?" Karla couldn't believe that she had to go over this with them. Again.

"When we're holding the baby."

"What happens when we do?"

"We lose baby-holding privileges for the rest of the day," they intoned. With another dirty look at Julian, Morton stepped forward and handed Kayla to her mother. "He started it," he muttered, loud enough to be overheard.

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did n--"

"I swear by the Darkness, I will make it a whole week if the two of you don't stop bickering immediately!" Karla snapped, which caused Kayla to immediately begin fussing. Karla gave them both Look what you did! glares. "Shh, shh, shh, it's all right, baby girl," she soothed, jerking her chin towards the door so the idiot males she was stuck with knew to let themselves out. "Don't cry, little one, it's okay. Mommy's gotten rid of the morons." Karla sat on the rocking chair that Dinah had given them and gently rocked until Kayla settled down and fell back asleep. "Here's hoping the rest of your aunts and uncles know better," she said, since emails, texts, and other various kinds of notifications had gone out, apprising all and sundry that the estate was now open for visitors who wanted to meet Kayla. "Or that they all visit one at a time so no fights break out. Because this is apparently my life now. Refereeing squabbles over who gets to hold the baby." She pressed a kiss to Kayla's forehead. "Wanna see if Mommy and Daddy's high school friends are better at sharing than their Court?"

[Open for folks what want to come and visit!]

Karla wanted nothing more than to lay back down. Her feet hurt. Her back hurt. Every single part of her hurt. But no, the Healer said that she had to walk around for a little while, that it would help the labor. Considering she had been in labor for hours already and had spent roughly three-quarters of that walking around the birthing room, she wasn't really seeing how it was 'helping.' But since no one would let her shiv the Healer, it looked like she was just going to keep walking. Probably until her feet fell off, because that was seemed likelier to happen than this child actually being born.

Apparently stubbornness was inherited through the distaff line. ( A little bundle of cusswords )

***

Sweat-soaked and exhausted, Karla smiled down at the little girl in her arms. Clean and wrapped up in one of the receiving blankets she'd gotten from her Uncle Priestly, her daughter lay peacefully, no sign of her earlier tears. "Look at her," Karla breathed, her heart so full she thought it might crack in two. "She's perfect. Utterly perfect."

"So…" Warren gave Karla a little, tentative smile. "We're calling her…?"

"Kayla," Karla said, looking up at him. "Don't you think?"

Warren looked so full of pride and happiness that it was entirely possible he might burst.

"Well," he said softly, "she's certainly not a Vasilia."

"Definitely not," Karla said, leaning against him while she continued to adore their daughter. "I think Kayla's the only name that will suit."

Beat. "...Now someone go find Jono and break those goddamn speakers."

[Co-written with the wonderful not_a_parakeet and amazing trigons_child! Snipped for length and cussing, no actual biology included! Shout out to all the real moms in game for going through this for realsies.]

It was Winsol! The first night had come and gone, celebrated in Dhemlan where they danced for the glory of Witch and made all the better because Witch was there. After that first night, the coven and boyos had returned to their home Territories to spend the rest of Winsol with their families and Courts, balancing the celebration of the holiday between politics and the people they cared for. In this, Karla was little different, save that her condition made it easier to say no to the endless whirl of aristo parties. She couldn't avoid all of them (some, like the ball for the Province Queens and another for the first few Circles of Court, the estate even hosted) and some events she attended with more pleasure than duty, but by the eighth evening of the holidays, she was pretty exhausted. The very thought of attending another event with strangers, no matter how well-intentioned, made her want to scream and see if she couldn't wedge herself under the bed in her chambers and not come out until spring.

Fortunately, however, such drastic measures were not necessary. Tonight, at least according to Fandom's calendar, was December 24th. And on years when Winsol and Christmas coincided, she declared that Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were for family. No politics, no stress, no visitors. Just two days alone with her nearest and dearest, both those who lived in Glacia with her and those who could be convinced to visit.

This year, at least, there were several, including Uncle Saetan. Jaenelle and Lucivar were spending the rest of Winsol traveling through the kindred Territories, so Karla had bullied invited Uncle Saetan to visit with them for the rest of the holidays so he wouldn't be lonely. Other invitations had gone out to the island, inviting old friends and new (including some of her students), to come and spend Christmas at the estate. The last thing Karla wanted was for anyone to have to spend Christmas alone.

Rather than anything grand and glorious, they'd decorated a large parlor (with a proper Christmas tree, instead of a Winsol tree, with nearby boxes filled the Christmas ornaments Karla had scavenged over the years, mismatched and gaudy and delightful, for people to hang if they wished), and had a cozy little celebration there. There was a roaring fire in the fireplace (along with chestnuts for roasting!), tureens of hot chocolate and mulled cider and eggnog, platters of food set up buffet style for people to nibble on when they were hungry and ignore when they were not, and a lot of relaxed, good-natured company.

Also, a pile of hideous holiday sweaters for people, if Karla could browbeat convince them to wear one.

[Open for anyone who thinks they might get an invite or wants one. Up now for the MOST EPIC of all SPs EVER; don't worry about tagging in late or vanishing for holiday stuff. S'all good.]