The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

A.E. Zero. (Anno Ericson) Hearthhold Ericson. Alliance Headquarters. Lakeside.

“Fifteen moons ago the rulers of this place risked everything to preserve us, the Familydoms Thomson and Michelson, before we even knew we needed preserving. Nine moons ago the rulers of this place, the then brand new Hearthhold Ericson, gave their all to preserve not just us, but everyone here. Ironically not just us their allies, but those we thought to be their and our enemies, enemies that we now know they considered mere opponents.” Land Mother Thomson said, projecting to the gathered rulers of the member states of the still forming Ericson Alliance.

Scores of rulers, Land Mothers, Housemothers, Clan Mothers, Kings, Queens, and royalty of every sort gathered here on the shores of Lake Ericson as equals. As she spoke, she surveyed the crowd, being sure to include the former Land Mother Kallows, Lady Kilsin, currently acting as ambassador until the now Magic-less lands could decide what they wanted to do with themselves. The crowd also included the newly chosen representatives of the few Kallows Magists that remained, acknowledging that they no longer considered themselves Kallows. What they will be in the long run is unknown. In the meantime, the Hearthhold Emel has pledged them help and support so they can, as the Emel have done, decide for themselves what they want.

“Opponents that we discovered were to be saved as best they could. They were not the enemies we expected to be dealt with as all enemies should be.” Land Mother Michelson went on without skipping a beat, “As said, bare moons before Gahalia and Massoon, mere moons before they gave their all; they risked it. They risked their all to preserve just us, the Familydoms Thomson and Michelson. This place, the Hearthhold Ericson, was their reward. It was taken from our own lands, ripped from the narrow border we shared to show each other and prove to the world that we never need fear each other again.”

“We gifted this land.” Land Mother Thomson resumed gesturing around them as they traded off speaking, “We named it the Hearthhold Ericson. It, and its people who chose to remain, were given as reward and in recognition of their deeds and our debts. They, the Hearthholders as we named them, did not stop there however. They did not stop trying to help us, trying to preserve us. They drew us together. They used our debt to them to force what they knew had to happen. Though we didn’t understand the threat they saw then, we do now, and we are thankful beyond words for all that they have done.”

“They are gone now. We know not where. The Legents will say nothing of them, but their legacy remains and shall remain. It is more than this fledgling alliance however. It is the idea that we are better off as friends than as enemies. Thanks to them we have Heirs now that we know are strong enough to face the future.” The Mothers went on, pointing to the daughter barely standing beside Brenhar, and the twins in carriers beside Muren. Their words also implied the promise of children for Nicole of Dest and Sien the Hearthmother from their chosen men, Tagoni and Micah, when they came of age.

“We gather here today to ensure that their legacy carries on, that their memories are preserved. We gather to ensure that their wishes are honored, and that we never forget all of those whose sacrifices played their parts in enabling us all to be saved.” They finished and looked at the youngest attendant, a boy of eleven carrying a regimental standard.

“First, we call the Ladies Sinda and Sandy forward.”

“What?” Sinda asked, puzzled. She was surprised as much by the summons as the title. They were ushered forward.

“We, The Mothers Thomson and Michelson, as the bequesters of this land, name you, in your own right, in your own names, and as appointed by the Hearth daughter herself, the regents ... Ericson.”

“You have proven yourselves by fixing a flaw in our schools. You have ensured that the art of Humbling will be taught to one and all. A thing we should have seen to ourselves. A lesson we should have learned on our own.”

“Us?” The girls ask as one. Both stand stunned. The last year had been hard on them, forcing them to lean on Kandra for advice and moral support as they have learned their new place in this new world they helped forge. For most of their own lives they had been with Lisa, who is gone. Now they draw attention that they don’t want from those in power and from those who want that attention for themselves. The expectation that one or both would take up the mantle Lisa left behind has left them without a center, confused. They have no idea what comes next, only that events continue to march onward into the future.

“Yes. You were appointed and have acted honorably as the Stewards Ericson. We recognize Lisa’s intent and honor it as you have honored your own duties. We welcome you.” The Land mothers Michelson and Thomson said in unison. The next half bell passes in a frenzy of introductions as Sinda and Sandy officially meet the people who are now their peers. The strangest and yet most welcome introduction, however, is the eleven year old boy who carries the standard made for the Ghost Legion of Camden. He is Yen’s voice in matters of the alliance, he is also the only person here more alone than Sinda and Sandy feel inside.

“Next.” King Dest said, speaking up from the crowd, “I am declaring the pass at Camden, the place where the Lady Yen of the Emel made her stand, where she remains, as her place. It is to be kept by her so long as she remains, whether that be years, or generations. With this standard being the mark of her chosen voice, to be passed on as she wills it.”

The next while passes with various things brought up and voted on. Official membership in the alliance grows as backroom agreements are dragged into the light of day. Two full bells pass as the business of fully getting the alliance running is started.

“There is one last thing to be done.” Brenhar said as the meeting was starting to break up.

“We must, have decided ... that we must do something none of us wants to do.” Sien said speaking up.

“Something to ensure the past cannot repeat.” Nicole said holding up three collars like they all used to wear. Murmurs and hisses play across the crowd for those gathered here know what those represent. They know what this costs these women, and no one hesitates to call Nicole and Sien women in their own rights. Of age or not, they have proven themselves and no one doubts it.

“This is done by our own will.”

“It is an offering of commitment.”

“It is an oath.” Brenhar shouted as they each took one collar and placed it about their own necks, locking them into place in unison. “An oath so you know that you are safe from us. You know that the power we wield cannot be turned against you ... again”

“An oath that we can never again be as were.” Nicole and Sien said as one, thinking of Yen and wishing she were here to share this. “An oath that the past can never repeat. That we can never be as we once were. An oath that we shall teach our children better, and the means to ensure it.”

“Consort?” Hearth Father Emel, Micah, asked.

“Agreed, Tagoni?” Lucas, the Consort Michelson said next.

“Speaking as the alliance general I agree.” Tagoni shouted as each of the three held up their hands and then snapped their fingers in unison.

“What?” Brenhar, Nicole and Sien gasped as their collars simply fell off.

“You are not animals. We don’t accept the need.” Lucas shouts for all to hear.

“ We don’t accept the collars. We are with you by choice.” Tagoni continued.

“You can stay with us by choice, or not at all.” Micah stated flatly. The anger and disgust in his tone and body language tells those listening these are not the words of the Hearthfather Emel. They fairly shout that these are the words of the Bloodlord Micah.

“The Kimer and the Vale, no better and no worse than any of you, live without those vile devices, so can you. As we trust they will use their power wisely, we trust you will use your power wisely. You know better. As we trust they will teach power wisely, so to do we trust you will.” Micah finishes in the tone of a judge passing sentence. Claps, shouts, boos and hisses compete until a consensus is reached. The crowd is finally happy with the outcome. These men and these women are moving in sync, neither ahead nor behind, but side by side. The sync wars are over, hopefully forever this time.

“You could be out there you know.” Legent Alice said, startling Kandra as she watched the proceedings from a high balcony. “You should be. Without the help you provided Nicole, telling her things from the Hearthson’s own thoughts, she could not have done what she did, could not have saved so many, and would have died in the attempt.”

“No I can’t, and I shouldn’t be. If I hadn’t done what I did, he might not, no, couldn’t have struck the way he did. If I hadn’t interfered, hadn’t given part of myself to him, Nicole wouldn’t have needed to do what she did.” She answered sadly as she looked at her own belly, bulging just like Brenhar’s and Muren’s had.

“If you hadn’t, they would have had to fight after advancing through the fire of all those guns. It would have been a blood bath, only death would have ruled the day. With the two armies caught between a virtual forest of fake Blood Queens and the power of the Vale daughters being let out to play for the first time, no victory could have truly been claimed when all was done. You prevented that.”

“I know, but I still don’t feel like I really helped. I can’t face them right now. I am not like them. I am alone.”

“So is Muren.” Legent Alice reminds her.

“She has Terl.”

“He is just a thing.”

“True, yet he is also the only one more hollow than I feel without Charles, but he is still more than I have. My memories of him help, but I still feel like that part of him I offered didn’t all come back to me when they left or whatever they did. Sinda and Sandy have told me I can stay here as long as I want.”

“Have you told them about your pregnancy?” Legent Alice asked guiding the conversation away from the pain and hollowness in Kandra’s words.

“They know. They knew the moment I started showing. It never crossed their minds this isn’t Charles’ of course, who else’s could it be after all? Just ask Brenhar if you want a clue.”

“Yet you have told no one.”

“Neither have Sinda or Sandy, and they won’t.” Kandra said wistfully, “They know what would happen if others knew there was another child of the Hearthson around. Especially one not held and bound by treaty and Familydom’s willing to do anything it takes to keep. Madness, pure madness.”

“You haven’t opened the puzzle box that Nicole passed on to you.” Legent Alice said pointing to the box visible in a shelf of the book podium in Kandra’s private study as a way gently changing a painful subject yet again.

“Not interested, that is for the future.” Kandra shrugged dismissively.

“That is another’s fate?” Legent Alice asked teasingly.

“We are each our own fate Legent. This is mine.” Kandra replied, hugging herself while watching the crowds, “Yet unlike them, I can at least say I made my own, and on purpose, for whatever that means now. I thought my eyes were open. I thought I was seeing. I was wrong, but at least I tried to make my fate my own. That is more than they can say, and it is a greater burden than they have as well.”

“There is always tomorrow.” Legent Alice said smiling. “We can all be more than we were. We can all carve out a better fate if we really want to, and if we have the will.”

“As was once said, more or less.” Kandra replied, half smiling sadly as she watched the crowd. “Life is my death ground, empire and Alliance are my strong grounds, and I shall show the world no more of the weak ground I once was.”

While Lucas, Micah, Tagoni and their partners continued to have adventures of their own. Pleasure and pain brought by theirs and other’s actions as they grew into their new lives and roles. The era of the Hearthson closes here, though the adventures of Charles and Lisa do not.

The cycle of life goes on though, some of the same things happening again, only differently each time. Sometimes those differences are small, sometimes they are big, other times they are huge. In the eyes of the Legents, life takes time to happen. This is the next step in their eyes, the next flap of the butterfly’s wings, the next step of life on our journey back from the edge of extinction, the only way to escape the abyss.

A.E. Six Sixty One. Lake Residence of the Regents Ericson.

“In the beginning no one really knows what happened, how it began.” The young man says in his best, though still high pitched unbroken voice. He is practicing his presentation in front of his Mirror with only the two of them for an audience. Yearning for the time when he matures so his voice will deepen to sound, to his own ears at least, like someone to be taken seriously, not the squeaky child he hears from himself now, he keeps practicing his delivery.

“We know it began with Lisa Ericson, daughter of the Consort Thomson and a migrant mine worker. It was no affair. It was affirmment of life, for she was conceived not in a bed, not in a tryst, but in the depths of a mine.” He continued, carefully pacing his words as he tried to stand up just a little talle than the four-fifths fathom he stood. “A mine neither could leave because the earth itself shook, sealing them within for all of time they at first believed, though they learned better.”

“What started as mutual comfort in the face of death became something more. If not for a happenstance that left more supplies near them than normal, they would have perished. Instead, over two moons later they were found alive.” He went on unsmiling as he tried for a more solemn delivery that his voice made impossible.

“Though many others had perished, they lived. She also bore a reminder of their time together, a child, their daughter. That child would soon be his only reminder, for the worker, though she lived to bear the child, died bringing it, her, Lisa, into the world.” He continued while watching himself in the mirror as he spoke. Disappointment that his high cheek bones carried no regal bearing, and wouldn’t until he began to fill out as he matured, just as his father had, and his father had before him, marked a family trait he detested. Just as he hated his family tendency to mature late, he also regretted that like his father and his before him, and those before, he had no brothers or sisters. Family on his mothers side was far away in her homeland. Here though, no cousins, no aunts, no uncles, no blood, just the honorarys among the other servants, blood of the regents and councilors of the Ericson Alliance that came and went.

“The workers loss was a bitter pill for him to swallow to swallow, and he cherished that child as the reminder she was of the bond they had shared. This child was adopted into the Clan Thomson, its worth attested by its father already being their chosen consort, and by the strength of its mother to bring life into the world amidst the promise of death.” He resumed after a grief ridden pause born of feelings he lacked the words to define.

“That child became the third Heir Thomson, then a new title created especially for her, though of course normal now. An intelligent child, she grew bored with school, though her studies seldom seemed to suffer based on her tests in and out of school. But she bore a hollowness underneath it all, a dark yawning chasm she hid as much from herself as from the world.”

“Her father died before she entered school, so she went almost alone, with only her two maids, children of the clan she went to live with when the capitol became more than she could bear after her father went. They were more her companions really, there to help hold that loneliness and that hollowness far enough away from her to live her life.”

“The next player was Charles. No one knows his family name anymore. It is buried, lost in the mists of time. Though also an intelligent child, little set him apart, aside from being a fifth born. A fifth born child is common now in the waste lands to the east, the former Kallows, home of the Amish.”

“However, at that time, a fifth born was so rare that words cannot describe it. There were at that time less than a thousand fourth born children on the whole of the world. There were only a few fifth born children, at most perhaps half a dozen, with not even a rumor of a sixth anywhere.”

“Only a few percent of women bore more than two children, only a few percent of those bore more than three, and only a few percent of those bore more than four. So, by the time you reach five, there are not enough people in the world to have more than a few. They are mere anomalies on the scale of populations, a statistic that serves only to remind those that look, that we don’t know everything.”

“So far, so good.” The Mirror granted grudgingly, reluctance obvious in its tone.

“Lisa and Charles fought in the dance of wills, and something changed in that fight. The world changed in some small, indescribable way. However, none knew it at the time, not even Lisa and Charles. They fought again later, and something more changed.”

“Unable to fight him again after that, the Third Heir used weapons unknown to him to wage a war he didn’t understand. She waged a war using words, perceptions and reputations, she made him larger than life to keep herself from being seen as smaller than life.”

“That war of words brought him face to face with Brenhar of Michelson. It also brought the Third Heir face to face with herself. The events leading up to the wars Sync wars almost starting again are written of aplenty, and there is nothing I could add to what is so well chronicled.”

“What came next, the war to stop the Sync wars, nearly failed. It was failing and would have failed, but an unlikely hero emerged. Battling his own demons, the recently elevated, untested and unsure Hearth Father Emel, took upon himself his real title and mantle as the Blood Lord Emel.”

“In a manner oddly undocumented,” Carl said with half grin trying to imagine the moment, “he defied the will of the Legents by restoring the Lady Nicole’s Magic. This enabled her to use ancient forbidden knowledge to turn aside the chaos fog that was the Hearthson’s weapon of choice for cleansing the land when he finally came apart.”

“Even with that knowledge, and the power it brought, she could not stop it. She could only deflect it, and even that just barely. She saved the alliance armies, but there was nothing even she could do for the Kallows when he took their Magic from them. He did not just take their magic however, he ripped it from the very land. He left it a magic-less place, and it remains so even today.”

“What became of the Hearthholders after that is unknown. They have not been seen since. Sightings happened in the old Kallows for a while after the war, but eventually the Legents broke their traditional silence to spoke on the matter. They told us that the woman and servant wandering the now magicless lands of the former Kallows healing people of their of injuries and disease were not the Hearthholders. Rumors abounded of sightings all over the world for decades, but no one credits them as more than the loose words of drunken men and women needing hope or wanting to seem more than they are.”

“In A.E. one, the first regents Ericson were seated. The Ladies Sinda and Sandy, appointed Stewards of Ericson until the return of the Hearthholders, are still seated today in the form of their descendants as the Regents Ericson.”

“The lands of the former Kallows, along with all but a few of their ruling clan, the Kilsin, were depowered in the abortive Sync war resumption. These lands were named the Kallows reservation, now known mostly as the home of the Amish. It is a hellish place according to most who visit, a mixture of Techist devices and limited constantly failing Magic. Sickness, malnutrition and disease run rampant, but they breed easily.”

“They are able to get pregnant nine years earlier, on average, than the women of other lands and then deliver a child in just nine or ten moons. It is not unusual for them to have as many as seven children, though due to conditions in the reservation, only three or four typically make it to adulthood. The exception is the Amish who manage to get five or six to adulthood. It is suspected that these ages and times are not an accident since they happen to match the birth of Brenhar’s child exactly.”

“Food, medical supplies and other necessaries are sent in every year. Distribution is handled by the Amish who, despite lacking Magic, don’t seem to suffer anything like the hardships the others that remain do.”

“The long term relief effort was begun by Lady Sien of Emel in A.E. two when it became obvious the Kallows weren’t going to recover their Magic. The price they pay is pioneers. Each year dozens to hundreds leave the reservation to settle areas wanting new blood or simply needing labor.”

“Hearthmother Sien acted on the theory that the descendants of the Kallows could have Magic if they left the reservation, and it proved correct. She also predicted the consequences of travelling there to have children. It is easy to get pregnant, but if you leave to soon, in less than five moons, the child self aborts. Those that remain prefer the simpler life style, but they breed enough they still have plenty of voluntary pioneers.”

“The Lady Sien, Hearthmother Emel, bore three children to Micah, living another gross of years, passing in A.E. one forty five. She was followed by Micah five years after that. A score of years later the Lady Nicole, so essential to all our survival, passed as well. She was followed by her husband, General Tagoni, only two years later. Several Legents attended both of their funerals, and their husbands’ as well.”

“Land Mother Brenhar, one of only a handful to be called by her name instead of her land title, died the year after Nicole, with Land Father Lucas three moons later. Several Legents attending each of their funerals as well.”

“In A.E. one forty nine, the Ladies Sinda and Sandy passed within days of each other, drawing several Legents for their combined funeral. Finally, in two oh three, the Lady Kandra went as well. Unmarried, she bore only a single child in all her years. Though she had a number of liaisons over the years and many hopeful paramours, she neither partnered nor married, and never had a long term relationship after the Hearthson.”

“And?” The Mirror prompted.

“That leaves, left rather, the Lady Yen, the holder of the pass at Camden. She remains. No one knows how many children she has nurtured over the years, how many she has sheltered, how many she has saved that no one else could have gotten through to.”

“She is Lady Yen of Camden, and please tell me you have more than that for your presentation.” The Mirror pleaded.

“Of course I do.” He replied, sounding falsely offended, and old game between them.

“Then please, if you are going to waste your remaining time doing the wrong thing, do accomplish something with it, even if it is the wrong something.”

“Yes Mirror.” The boy laughed. Had the boy been able to feel what the mirror felt, he would have known that mirror had once belonged to another boy bearing a semblance of his name. He was an unremarkable boy born into a working class family. He was another boy who rehearsed presentations when he should have been doing other things.

“On with it.”

“Of course. The funeral of Lady Kandra was unique in several aspects. She was the last of those who bore the touch of the Hearthson firsthand. It also drew eleven Legents...”

“And?” The mirror prompted after a dozen hearts.

“And that was the last time anyone saw the Legents.” The boy concluded, thudding to a stop as his words fell flat.

“The information content is decent, but could be better.” The Mirror told him, “Your conclusions are valid as far as they go, however you do not truly cover new ground, merely retell what is known or strongly suspected, though somewhat differently.”

“I know, but this stuff is boring. Who cares? I know I’ll have to know this for history classes, if I can make it into Centerversity that is.”

“Not all young men distract themselves from the Dance of wills like this you know, but there have been some.”

“I don’t want to do that. I hate the dance. It’s not right.”

“Why?” The Mirror asked, concerned.

“I don’t want anyone who doesn’t want me.”

“I’ve heard that before, rather, another of me did and passed it on.”

“Really? Who?”

“You just quoted Micah the First.”

“I what?”

“You just quoted Micah the First when he decided to walk away from Emel just before the fall of Massoon.”

“Wow, him walk away? Why?” He asked shocked.

“He had decided that he wasn’t Hearth Father material, and definitely not Blood Lord material.”

“No, not Micah, he was the strongest of the males that married into the Emel.”

“He wasn’t always a Blood Lord.”

“Are they still out there?” The boy pleaded, suddenly changing the subject.

“The Legents?” The Mirror asked with the patience only a Mirror could show to a question repeated so often, “Yes, rather, I believe so.”

“After four hundred and sixty years?”

“Four hundred and sixty two, but yes, I believe they are.”

“What are they like?”

“I’ve told you, they are just like anyone else.”

“Are they really from before?”

“Yes, they not only predate the Kallows reservation, Ericson, The Yemel, The Emel, The Blood Lords, and the sync wars; they predate the fall itself.”

“Why did they leave?”

“I don’t think they did.” The Mirror answered, and you could hear it smile.

“Why aren’t they around then?”

“I think they are, and I think they are waiting. Next you will ask for what, and I still don’t know.”

“Oh.” He answered, realizing a little of how often he has had this conversation already. “Do I have to go to the dance?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“So you can learn to control your Magic.”

“I can control it, what I have of it that is.”

“You are an Ericson, you will do fine.”

“I’m not a real Ericson, other than maybe from the Lady Kandra, and I can’t even prove that, I just have what father and grandfather say, when they bother to come around anymore that is. I don’t have a single high born ancestor. I know they only call me an Ericson because we have been here so long. I don’t feel like I will do fine either. I just know I am going to disappoint them when they finally get done with the negotiations with the lands below the pamic divide. I know they have to go ... and I know they don’t mean to abandon me here, but I hardly ever see them anymore. I feel like a failure, like I’m failing them already somehow.”

“Why?”

“Almost all the girls are stronger than I am...” The boy frowned, “In Magic that is.”

“It is fine Carl. That is the way of it.”

“I know. Girls have more Magic than boys. I can make shields and I can do motion, but fire and light and water, they confuse me. They don’t feel right.”

“It is alright Carl.” The old woman dressed as a maid heard the Mirror explaining and she smiled. With a grin, she went on with her job. She has no worries for the boy starting Centerversity in the fall. He has no real idea who he is, and that is the way it is supposed to be. He has no clue whom he really competes with here, learning the Dance of Wills and Humbling, from both sides of course. He dances and duels as his ancestors have for two dozen generations, with the heirs and first blood of Thomson, Kimer, Emel, and Michelson itself. They are the top of the top of the most powerful family lines in the whole of the world, and the boy sometimes holds his own. He has even won a few times.

A.E. Six Seventy. Centerversity

“Do I have to do the dance again?” Carl asked the mirror with dwindling patience.

“Yes.” The Mirror answered, “It is part of your standing in school, in reality no less important than your actual grades. You know that.”

“But I hate the dance, it doesn’t feel right.”

“What doesn’t feel right?”

“Using them, taking advantage like that.”

“Do they hesitate to use you? Do they complain when you use them?”

“No.” Carl admitted glumly, unnerved by how pleasant some of those memories were.

“You feel you won unfairly then?”

“No.” He admitted glumly, “And I know my view of power was skewed by the company I kept, but it still doesn’t feel right. Few here have any chance against me. Even my former playmates have begun to lose more frequently as my education has advanced and I have learned.”

“So?”

“So? So why should I use them for my pleasure like they are things instead of people just because I can do what they can’t?”

“They can in fact do everything you can, and parts of it better.”

“Then why do I keep winning?” Carl demanded, knowing there is no answer he will like.

“How do you win? Do you cheat?”

“No, of course not.” Carl groused, “They keep being predictable. They make it easy to figure out what they will do. They make it so simple to be ready, waiting.”

“Have you considered...” The young woman, one of the myriad of Familydom Thomson girls, heard the Mirror ask just before she passed from hearing. The conversation went with other things she has heard, things oddly enough she and many of the girls of the founding states of the alliance have been told to watch out for. To be aware of them happening, and to report if they did. Yet oddly, to never discuss them with each other, and to never mention them to anyone else.

“Yes Lissa.” Head Mistress Bree of the Centerversity asked of the student sitting before her.

“I have never understood why you and so many adults worry about Carl, he is completely unremarkable in so many ways. Strong yes, but he has practiced with us all his life.”

“The cover is not the book.”

“As you say.” Lissa agreed, not understanding at all, “But I was tasked to watch for certain things, to tell you or my Clan or House or Land Mothers if I saw them.”

“And?”

“There is a chance that the twins Kimer, Maryn and Malyn, are going to challenge Carl, and I don’t think they mean to do it in the dance since they can’t seem to win there.”

“We knew this, or something like it anyway, would happen soon.” Mistress Bree said with a smile as she sat back in her chair evaluating Lissa, “We’ve been expecting it for half a dozen generations in fact. It seems to be behind schedule for reasons we don’t understand.”

“You’ve been expecting? For generations? Behind schedule?”

“Yes poor child, all of those, and more.” She smiled sadly in reply with a deep sigh, “All of those, and many many more.”

“Now what?”

“Now you get to decide.”

“Decide what?”

“You are a Thomson. This is your affair. You have new classes now.”

“Because I’m a Thomson? I do? Why?” She asked, alarmed.

“Because. You will delay the Kimer by any means necessary.” Mistress Bree ordered, “In fact you will Mirror your Land Mother to tell her what I said to do.”

“Why?”

“She will explain.”

“Yes Head Mistress.” Lissa replied, rising.

“Are you sure of all this?” Land Mother Thomson asked almost calmly a bell later.

“Yes Land Mother, it is all as I have described.” Lissa replied keeping her own calm despite the cracks showing in her Land Mother’s.

“Then you will intercept them. You will delay them, but never let them suspect you are doing so. It is just over two fort nights until winter fort, delay them at least that long. We will talk then.”

“Yes Land Mother.” Lissa replied nervously, hoping her mask of calm was doing better than her Land Mother’s was. After all, it couldn’t have been doing much worse.

“Mothers?” Lissa asked as she entered a large, empty conference room overlooking the lake in the Ericson Alliance capital. The Ericson alliance leaders are the defacto rulers of most of the continent.

Though they took pains to keep that hand light, where they can’t keep it invisible, the truth remains and all those at or near the top know it. More than anything else they act more as guidance counselors or attendants and messengers that ensure communication always happens. This helps keep the alliance peaceful and together.

“You could say that.” A Woman, an obvious highly ranking Lady said, entering from the patio area.

“You could also say a lot more.” A man said, entering through another door.

“What?” Lissa asked for she recognizes the man, he is King Dest.

“And I am the Lady Emel.” The woman said as though she had heard Lissa’s thoughts.

“Hearth Mother?” Lissa asked in reply, getting worried. The Emel don’t get involved in much beyond their borders without a very good reason, yet here is the Hearth Mother at the same time as King Dest.

“Welcome Third Heir Thomson.” Land Mother Michelson says, entering from a side door.

“What?” Lissa asked, startled.

“You are now a part of things previously beyond your station.” Land Mother Thomson said, entering next.

“I am what?” Lissa asked as more people entered: Kings, Queens, Land Mothers, House Mothers, their Consorts, and finally, the current regents Ericson, each greeting Lissa in turn, most by name.

“You have replaced your second cousin Breanna as Third Heir, we will be announcing it formally before school resumes.”

“Why?”

“We, well, we and our predecessors that is.” Land Mother Thomson said sadly, “Have known this day was coming. It is running late and we had come to hope it might not happen at all.”

“What?”

“There are secrets within secrets.” Hearth Mother Emel said gravely, “Layers of truth and untruth, and you must now learn them all.”

“What? Why?” Lissa asked getting scared. She knows what this is, an Ericson alliance council meeting, a full council. Only one has been called in all her years, and that was to welcome a new head of state when the previous King Dest had stepped down in favor of his son.

“Why are we here? Why are you here? Or why is a mere sixth year the center of a full alliance council meeting?” Someone asked, giving voice to Lissa’s worries.

“Ok.” Lissa agrees as her stomach does something she has only felt a few times in her life.

“You have made yourself part of events by witnessing them setting themselves in motion.”

“What events?” She asked exasperated as the world starts slowing down. She knows that feeling, it is what happens in a fight, not the simple ones of the dance, but the real ones, the ones where people get hurt in training, or killed. Her instincts were telling her she was in a fight, yet she saw no one to fight and nothing to fight about. Yet she knows in her gut she is in more danger than she has ever been in her life.

“You have a good mind.” Land Mother Michelson states flatly, “Now use it.”

“Oh sweet Chaos, Order take me.” Lissa gasped as she began to comprehend how far over her head she was.

“Your Mother guessed based on your sisters and your cousins.” Land Mother Thomson says with a bitter smile.

“This has all happened before.” Clan mother Emel says.

“And it shall all happen again.” Hearth Mother and Blood Queen Emel finishes.

“Two dozen generations change nothing.” The Regents Ericson say in stereo.

“You’re regents.” Lissa whispers her mind begins to open, as things begin to correlate, “You could take the throne, either of you.”

“And why not?” They ask in stereo.

“Oh, my...” Lissa pants as she realizes the answer to that question, “Sweet Order help me.”

“And?”

“The rumors...Kandra.”

“And?”

“The Alliance...It is not to keep the world out.” Lissa states.

“Therefore?”

“It is to keep something in.”

“Keep what in?”

“The undiluted line.” Lissa whispers panting, but from the looks on everyone’s faces she may as well have shouted aloud what they already knew. “You have a descendant of the Hearthson here with undiluted blood. One untouched or nearly so, undiluted, unlike our lines. They are here and ... and they have always married from outside so they remain free. His mind, it has to be a boy, it has to be a boy.”

“And?”

“Carl.” Lissa stated flatly as events fell into place.

“For twenty three generations we have tried to ensure that only a single child, always a male, was begat of that line, unbroken.” One of the Regents Ericson tells her.

“Lady Kandra set the rules, we merely follow them.” The other continued.

“Yet despite their best efforts.” An old woman dressed as a maid says entering, “Despite everything they could do, twins happened every six generations, always a boy and a girl, so they all knew this day was coming. Then this time he was born alone.”

“Ellen.” Hearth Mother Emel asked in a worried tone, “What are you doing out of bed?”

“Attending to Fate child.” The old woman laughed with a cough. Lissa cringed hearing that, no one referred to a Hearth Mother as a child, yet the old woman, a maid here if Lissa remembered correctly, had gotten a smile in reply, not anger.

“Are you sure?” Hearth Mother Emel asked as one would an equal.

“Yes, my great great great great nephew is going to be the one. I am sorry.”

“Is there time?” Someone asked, Lissa didn’t know who, but she also didn’t need to, the statement alone weighed enough to bury her, the implications even more.

“No.”

“Time for what?” Lissa asked as a hollowness began eating her from the inside. They were speaking to the Maid as an equal, the head of a state, Chaos only knew what that meant, and she feared she would know soon.

“Can we intercept it? Stop it?”

“No.” Ellen repeats sadly, “You may try to tame the beast, of course, since it is already in motion, but do not try to cage it. That does not work.”

“We know.”

“Know what?” Lissa shouts angrily, as surprised as everyone else to hear herself.

“Come child.” Ellen says moving toward the inner doors of the room lit by rising sun, the doors if rumor is true, of Lady Kandra’s private study. Warded in some way that defied words, in some way that defied all description. The wards turned all comers, and had for many generations.

“Where?” Lissa asked as Ellen doesn’t slow while approaching the doors, ignoring the wards.

“For a history lesson.” The old woman says as the wards part at her approach and then the doors open for her of their own accord.

“Chaos.” Lissa whispered in fear for those wards and those doors, the ones enclosing what she plainly sees really was the private study of the Lady Kandra, have not opened in living memory. Yet she could feel the wards part in a friendly manner, welcoming the old woman as a friend. Meanwhile the now open doors exposed the small room behind them. In that room is a book podium with a large book on it and a table with an ornate wooden box. The old woman stood there beckoning her onward.