Spoiler: Kellianth Beagan, Lady Spring; An Introduction
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Kellianth Beagan was - as a point of incontestable fact - adorable. Though the Aeldir had nothing like a dictionary, Kellianth was surely the picture of the word ‘adorable’. And also ‘cute’, ‘darling’, and ‘sweet’. This was a good thing, for, had Kellianth known what a dictionary was, she would have accepted no less than four words with her picture next to them. She would have demanded more, if any of the other Aeldir Court leaders had four pictures or more on them, but that was just a facet of nature, and not due to any greed or envy on her part; when you are so fantastically warm and cuddly that you put bunnies to shame, how could you possibly have greed or envy?
Other people were supposed to covet you, not the other way around. After all, Kellianth Beagan was not just adorable, she was the most adorable of all of the Spring Court Aeldir, which made her the most adorable Aeldir in all of Tir Amser. Her ‘auntie’ Cynel, Lady Autumn, may be the most beautiful, her ‘cousin’ Drustan – Lord Summer - may be the most strong, and her ‘grandpop’ Balor of the Winter Court may be the most wise – when Kellianth didn’t feel like being any of these things, she was willing to admit that her counterparts had their merits – but she was the most adorable, cutest, cuddliest, sweetest, precious, perfect princess. True, she wasn’t called a princess, formally. Kellianth was just ‘Lady Spring’, a title of which she felt was appropriate.
She had other titles. Her Royal Butterflyness. Maiden of the East. Cutest of the Cute (well deserved, that one). Matriarch of the New. Kellianth had heard a distasteful rumor that some disreputable and terrible meanies also called her ‘The Little Terror’, which was simply hurtful. She wasn’t that little! Sure, she was smaller than other Aeldir, but that’s only because she was the embodiment of all young Aeldir.
Aeldir life cycle was… a curiosity. Kellianth thought about it quite a bit. Every time she had to take a Nap, which was different than just sleeping for the night. Mostly, when Kellianth was considering the life cycle, it was due to the unfairness of her having to take Naps. Aunty Cynel, Cousin Drustan, and Granpop Balor didn’t need Naps. Kellianth, though, did. Once every twenty years or so, Lady Spring had to travel around Tir Amser, gathering strength from Summer, peace from Autumn, and wisdom from Winter.
If Kellianth didn’t take a Nap, she’d get very sluggish and tired and stop being so composed and cute. She couldn’t bear the thought of it, so was quite pleased that she’d just finished her latest Nap and was feeling super fantastic again! It had been so easy, this time, thanks to the Pledge. No longer would she have to sneak through the other courts. She had made it a procession, a formal visit; everyone else knew it was for her Nap, but they were ever so polite and even Cousin Drustan didn’t so much as snarl at her, which was impressive. He really was trying to make the Pledge work, which was truly promising.
And it was soooo much more fun to spy on them in front of their faces. Kellianth had quite enjoyed it. Their courts had so many hidey holes that they didn’t know about, and the Spring Court had been… making sure that no outsiders knew about them, by checking them frequently.
It was a game, really. To the Spring Court, it was the game. Like hide and seek. Except the rules were that no one was seeking you, and if someone was, you lost the game. Lady Spring’s girls talked about their favorite hiding places in Tir Amser all the time in the privacy of Glaw Novo – the Spring Courtlands – and Kellianth knew where all the bestest best spots were.
Twenty years ago, she’d had to. The struggle between the Courts for the Rose Throne was a messy, icky thing. Kellianth had desperately needed a Nap, though. She knew it, and the other Courts knew it. They had been waiting for it, in fact. It was an adventure and a half to go around to all of the Courts, and she’d nearly been caught several times. Wise old Grandpop Balor had been the closest in trapping her, but she was ever so clever herself, and she’d smiled her cutest cute smile at him – to show there were no hard feelings – as she made her escape.
That whole senseless violence was over with, though. Never again would Aeldir fight Aeldir. Never again would those who didn’t play the game well enough, and were caught in someone else’s Courtlands, find themselves slain. True ‘the game’ was supposed to stop, but the Spring Court were the best players at it. And it wasn’t like they were there to find out the secrets of the Aeldir – they knew most of those already anyways – but after so many years of doing something, and staying alive by knowing things rather than fighting, Kellianth didn’t have it in her heart to tell her girls to stop completely.
And really, it was following the Pledge. The Spring Court was protecting the other courts, not spying on them. It was ‘the game’, but with Glaw Novo rules, just spread to all of Tir Amser. Glaw Novo rules were less about finding hiding places for yourself, but finding hiding places to make sure no one else was in them. Some of the other Courts, during the struggle for the Rose Throne, had tried to find out what Kellianth knew or didn’t know, but she already knew what they thought they knew, so she always made them think she knew more or less what they didn’t know so that what they thought they knew wasn’t actually what they really knew. It had been great fun! Glaw Novo always was aware of other Courts trying to play ‘the game’ like the Spring Court, but Spring Aeldir were the best. Even silly boys of the Spring Court could spot someone trying to spy on Kellianth or one of her girls.
You paid them no mind, and just reported it to a superior when the time was right. During the whole Rose Throne conflict, the spy would find themselves with misinformation if they were lucky… and if they weren’t, well, Kellianth would send her regrets to the appropriate Court. She never liked doing that, so was ever so pleased that the whole affair was over and done with.
And now the conflict was over! The Pledge was made! All of Tir Amser was in agreement; Tir Amser belonged to the Aeldir… all of them. And the rest of the world was now open to explore! There was so much off the island that Kellianth was looking forward to hearing about, and so were the rest of her girls. Of course, they’d send boys first, in case it was dangerous. But once the way was clear, there were so many spots that they could play the game in. So many new people to play it against!
Kellianth had heard rumors that there was even a whole race of non-Aeldir things – lesser creatures, she was told, but Kellianth couldn’t be so sure yet – that wore masks. All the time! Imagine how funny that was! And there were other rumors too. Cat things that were as big as bears and walked on two legs. Ugly creatures too, though Kellianth hoped to avoid those. Things that look like Aeldir, but were not. They had round ears. They aged too quickly, died easily, and it seemed that many thought that boys were better than girls. Lady Spring was looking forward to proving those lesser creatures (anyone who thought that way must be a lesser being) wrong. Boys had their uses, but they were icky, constantly dirty, and other than as guards, didn’t really belong inside Glaw Novo.
Still… so many new things to see! To do! And no more nasty wars against Cousin Drustan, Auntie Cynel, or Grandpop Balor. Oh, what fun Kellianth would have!