Lady Spring left the cave mouth, and said the words that signified the ending and the beginning.
“My Best Friend is dead. She died so that I, Lady Spring, might live.”
------------------------------
Within the Courts, Spring is the only one that requires a Nap to keep Lady Spring refreshed. Lord Summer and Lady Autumn have their own methods for sustaining leadership, and Lord Winter has never changed in all the Ages; Lady Spring, as well, is maintained as the one and only Lady Spring, yet she requires what some outside of the Courts might see as a ritual.
It involves gathering Courage from the Summer Courtlands, obtaining Laws from Autumn’s lands, and Wisdom from within the mountains of Winter. In times past, it was a perilous process, due to the Age of Conflict and Ages of Seasons; the Nap required Lady Spring to prove she was everything that she said she was: the best of the Spring Court. She would have to sneak through the Summer Court, without being caught. She would have to negotiate a favorable trade from the Autumn Court. And, perhaps most perilous of all, uncover secrets from the Winter Court.
There were physical elements to this as well: a cocoon is crafted from Blood Roses, Boreal Roses, and Marigold Roses, and Lady Spring is reborn wearing Violet Roses. So each time a Nap was needed, it was a test of spirit, body, and mind. Each time was a great trial upon Lady Spring, but being in charge of all of the Spring Courtlands puts a great strain upon the Lady of the Eastern Season. Some speculate that this is the exchange: power for a price. Several of what non-Aeldir would call ‘decades’ of absolute, unquestioning obedience from all within Spring, before the Nap must be completed again.
Had the Courts not come together, once and for all, with the Shattering of the Rose Throne and the binding of the Demesne, the Nap would likely remain a continued tribulation, rife with dangers. Yet, Lady Spring, in the form of Kellianth Beagen, had ended that all. With her clever ways, she had successfully maneuvered all the other Courts into aligning their interests, and now, they were no longer four divided in struggle, but one Rose Court, united in purpose. So
this time, as the Nap called to Lady Spring, Kellianth did not have to toil through troubles.
She still followed the ritual, but it was more of a procession. She ‘snuck’ past the Summer Courtlands, by making little to no fuss about her passing, stopping only to pick some Blood Roses from along a well-known merchant path; she was careful to come in to contact with no one, so as to avoid whatever illness was occurring there. From there, she had a pleasant conversation with Aunty Cynel, concerning the favorable trade of certain technologies being developed around the world, and left with a flourishing smile towards Lady Autumn. After which, rather than steal knowledge from the mountains of the Winter Court, she went directly to Lord Winter, and engaged in a lengthy discourse about curing the illness, and listened to his opinions on how the Old Gods would be able to help.
Kellianth Beagen, wise ruler of the Spring Courtlands for the formation of the Rose Court, then returned home to the purple forests of Glaw Novo. Under the hills near Caer Bolbereta, there is a cavern specifically for the Nap. The ritual was typically a private thing; before, it had had to be, as if any of the other conflicting Courts knew it was going to happen, then that could be construed as a possible time of weakness within Spring.
This time, however, there were many Spring Girls, a few delegates from Tir Xungla, and there was a small party from the Primus Imperium; a research group, here at Lady Spring’s request to look into the slow speed of blood flow that Aeldir had compared to other races, led by the diplomat Symerra Navus. There was even a few curious People of Twilight, Gesh, and one rather confused Warven who had taken the wrong ship when trying to find his way home to Aawino. Several Spring Boys held spears, and formed an honor guard’s pathway into the cavern.
From the ancient oaks that were Caer Bolbereta’s four giant pillars, two figures walked their way down to the awaiting congregation. The one in the lead was tiny; even for a Spring Girl, Lady Kellianth’s figure had always been small. Her orange-red hair shone in the sunlight, and the ornamental wings upon her back were an affectation of hers that few had been able to duplicate. Her smile was infectious, and she darted back and forth along the path, full of energy, as more and more Spring Court members popped up from behind trees to start cheering for her.
She wore a dress of purple roses, and every cheer of her name made her grin even wider. She looked back at the other figure: more somber and reserved, the taller Spring Girl, Aleuta, Best Friend to Lady Spring. Aleuta wore a dress of white silk, tied back with a sash of gold that seemed to have come from the stem of a Violet Rose. She was a quiet contrast to the lively Lady Kellianth. Taller then the Lady, with blonde hair, straight and somber, that hung loose around her shoulders, she was quite physically different from the wild haired red head. Alueta's head was bowed and looking at the ground, as though deep in thought.
She looked, in a word, sad.
Aleuta carried with her the petals of all four types of Roses found within Tir Amser, and she kept her focus on walking forward, her face a mask of emotions. She struggled to contain them, but as they approached the mouth of the cavern itself, she looked right at the delegates from Primus, and Symerra Navus would swear to any whom asked her that the Girl from Spring had tears welling in her eyes; behind them, though, a great strength of purpose shone bright.
Kellianth Beagen stopped before entering the cave, and waved her hands at the honor guard. Whispering something to them, the two Boys closest to the cave mouth dropped their spears, and bent down. Lady Kellianth stepped upon their shoulders, and she was raised high enough so that the gathering crowd might see her. The cheers and cries fell silent, as the little red head in the purple dressed raised a single hand imperiously.
She began to speak,
“You honor me all greatly by showing for such a trifle as this! As ever, only I and my Best Friend shall enter the cavern. As ever, I have spoken with my Best Friend, and explained all that she must do. Please: give her your thanks. She has come a long way to be where she is today.”
There was a cheer, and Aleuta found herself raised high by more Spring Boys, so that she was aloft beside Lady Spring. The crowd again quieted down, and Kellianth looked at her, as though waiting for Aleuta to speak. She did so, her voice choked with emotion,
“I am happy to have been your Best Friend, Lady. It was a great honor to be chosen, and now, as you require, I shall go and do my duty.”
Lady Spring smiled at her, and as though they had been gauging Kellianth’s reaction, the crowd of Spring Court Aeldir cheered again. Lady Spring allowed the cheering to continue, but she motioned to the Boys to be let down. They placed both her and Aleuta down carefully, and then, Lady Kellianth locked her arm into the crook of her Best Friend’s and together, they entered the cavern.
The crowd continued to cheer for a while, but eventually, the cheering died down, and turned into a milling, muttering group.
The wayward Warven looked around, and asked,
“Were that all o’it?”
A Spring Girl chuckled, and answered him,
“No, sir Warven, there will be more. Sometimes, it is just a few moments. The longest was two days. Most times, though, it is as simple as an hour or so.”
“And then what happens?” asked a curious Gesh.
“Lady Spring steps out.” The Spring Girl answered.
“And what of,” Symerra Navus of Primus began, though she had heard from her Queen some of it,
“the Best Friend?”
The Spring Girl looked upon the human woman, and with a smirk, said,
“She is left in the past.”
------------------------------
Inside the cavern, Kellianth lost a little of the bounce in her step. She walked carefully ahead, and said wistfully,
“I still remember the way. You remember Beagen, don’t you, Alueta?”
“Yes Lady.” Kellianth didn’t look back, but her current Best Friend sounded morose when speaking of her former Best Friend.
“I wonder what she would have thought about the Rose Courts, whole again. In my opinion, she wasn’t forward thinking enough. I had to gather all the needed things for the Nap myself, without her help. Though, I do have to hand it to her; she upset Grandpop Balor so much, he was willing to listen to the idea of a unified court,” running her hands along the cavern walls, Kellianth grinned,
“once she was gone.”
They came into a wide, almost ovular cave, with a dusty floor, and little else. Roots of some great tree broke through the walls. There was no other entrance except for the small crack that both Kellianth and Alueta squeezed into. There had been little light as they walked through the cavern, but upon entering the cave proper, in the back there was a holder for a torch; the fire did not blaze, though. The torch had been replaced with a Xungla Crystal. It shone brightly, and made the place seem… warm, even without the fire.
“It’s the little things, you know. I added that Crystal yesterday.” Kellianth grinned, looking at it.
“This place has always been so… gloomy. I like to think that adding something new each time I’ve come in here was the right thing to do. I drew a flower on the wall below the torch, the first time I was here. I think I shall add a butterfly.”
Without looking back, she walked straight towards the crystal, and right below it, on a tree root, was the depiction of a happy, bloomed flower, carved many years ago. Drawing a long, sharp dagger, Kellianth began to cut into the wood. It was a simple few moments of work, but soon a grand looking butterfly was next to the flower.
Kellianth turned, her work complete, knife still in hand. Looking around the cave, she marveled at the history inside, knowing that the cavern and cave dated back to the Age of Beginning. Interrupting her musings, she heard the choked sound of a sob, and turned her attentions to Aleuta. The Girl was crying.
“I don’t… I don’t want to do this. Please, don’t make me do this, Kelli.” Aleuta used the nickname she had been given permission to say, when they were alone. The Girl wept openly, no longer able to hold the emotions in check. Tears were beginning to stain her silk dress.
“Shhhh… shhhh…” Moving over to the taller girl, Kelli tucked the knife away, and hugged her. She just held on to her Best Friend for a few moments, neither of them saying anything.
After a while, Aleuta stopped crying, and hugged the smaller Aeldier back. Kellianth spoke up, softly, still holding on,
“You think I want to? With Beagen, it was so… easy. Oh, before the end there was maneuvering, and subtle hints and dreadful rumors, but eventually, I led her down here, and she resigned herself to it. One quick thrust, and that was all. I walked out, refreshed. Days later, Lord Winter agreed to meet with myself and the other Seasons. The way I see it, it was the first piece to fall, and all because of Beagen’s sacrifice.”
“But with you? This shall be difficult.” Kellianth stepped away from the hug, and pulled the dagger out again. She stepped out of the clothes she wore, including the wings on her back, and put them all aside.
“Mustn’t let those get dirty.”
She held out the dagger towards Aleuta.
“It’s time. Do you… do you wish to do it yourself, or…?”
“I can’t. I just… oh, Kelli, I can’t. This isn’t… I mean, I’m just not ready.” Tears welled up in Aleuta’s eyes again. Kellianth let her cry. She knew the Girl well enough. They
both knew this had to happen.
“You know that the Nap must occur. It keeps the Court happy. It is a tradition dating all the way back to the Age of Woe. Lady Spring must be maintained.” She watched her Best Friend continue to cry again, and sighed,
“Being Lady Spring never has afforded me the ability to always do things when I’m ready.”
“This time, though… this time I can wait. Take as long as you need.” Though she was naked, Kellianth felt no chill. She never knew why, but she always loved this cave. It had really been the beginning of everything. In a way, it always would be, she supposed. She grinned.
Aleuta couldn’t help it. Kelli always had an infectious grin. Even though her white dress was now tear stained, she was smiling.
“You’re mean sometimes, you know.”
“I know.” If Kellianth felt insulted, she didn’t show it.
“And obtuse. War always comes with casualties. And impulsive! The other Seasons weren’t the only one annoyed by your insistence of surprising them with unusual ideas.”
“Being Lady Spring means being impulsive sometimes. Leaps in the illogical often lead to leaps in the logical. You have me, though, on the war thing.” Kelli tapped her lips with the flat of the dagger.
“The other Seasonal Leaders don’t fully trust you.”
“The feeling was always mutual.”
“And really? Aunty? Cousin? Grandpop?”
“You should have seen their faces when I said it the first time.” Kellianth giggled.
“They are… old words. Titles, in some ways. No one uses them anymore. They should. There is a certain power in those ties. I wish I could have seen how Aunty Cynel looked when she verified it. I’m reasonably certain that Cousin Drustan wanted to kill something.”
“Doesn’t he always?”
“Not… not recently.”
“The illness.”
“Yes.” The both went quiet for a while again. After a while, Kellianth sighed, and said,
“But there will be time for that later. That, those blasted Crystals, that infernal disappearing island, the two girls – one red, one white – and much much more. Aunty has been… too quiet, of late. Cousin Drustan and his new lady are likely up to something. And…”
“Lord Winter.” Aleuta finished. Nothing else needed to be said. Kellianth nodded.
“It could be worse. It could still be the Age of Conflict.”
“Have you… have you decided on a name?”
“For what? The new Age?”
“I meant… after. But yes. The new Age as well.”
“Ah. Well. After. That comes… after. Tradition is easy to follow, though. One does not have to, but... it is easier.” Kellianth shrugged, and scratched at her shoulder with her free hand. She realized that there was something there. A Gold Stem. She had forgotten to take it off, and did so, setting it down near her dress before returning to the center of the cave.
“As for the Age… yes. I’ve thought about it a lot, these past few ‘years’ – I love that word, by the way – and I think we should call it the Age of Expansion.”
“That’s… very fitting.”
“Better than the other suggestions! Do you know, I actually caught a historian trying to call it the Age of Conquest? Fool! If that got out, especially to our enemies, you might as well call it the Age of Poorly Thought Out Public Choices. Expansion is better. And more truthful. After all, we haven’t conquered everything.”
The two of them locked eyes with each other, and shared some private joke, before they burst into giggles and both said at the same time,
“Yet!”
Wiping away tears – of laughter – Kellianth came up to hug Aleuta again.
“Seriously, though, conquest is making it so difficult to make friends. True friends. Like you have been.”
“And you to me, Kelli.” Aleuta hugged back, and, with a shake of her head, let out a deep sigh. This time, she was the one to pull away, and disrobed.
“All right. I’m ready.”
“You have the rose petals?”
“Yes.”
Holding out the weapon before her, Kellianth asked,
“And you know what you must do?”
“Yes.” Aleuta came to stand before her friend, and accepted the dagger.
“Do you… do you really need to watch?”
“Do you want me to?”
“No. I… I don’t think…” Aleuta calmed herself.
“This is hard enough with your eyes upon me.”
Kellianth nodded, and turned away. Silence returned to the cave.
The quiet was broken by Aleuta’s wracking sob. So sharp was the edge, the bite of the weapon had made no sound at all. Blood pooled within the cave, and soaked the dusty floor. Kellianth turned, and reached out to her, her smile not quite as wide, her infectious grin holding less mirth as each second passed.
Touching Aleuta’s face for the last time, Kellianth said softly in the silence,
“Thank you.”
------------------------------
Lady Spring stood up, and gathered her clothing. She left behind the wings; they were the past. She needed to look forward. The Gold Stem, though, she tugged onto her upper arm. She left the dagger. She didn’t want to touch it anymore.
She used the rose petals as they needed to be used, stopped the blood, and dressed the body. She gathered her now dead friend in her arms, and looked around the cave. She decided she hated this place. She wouldn’t come here again for as long as she could help it.
Squeezing through the opening was harder, carrying the body as she was. She managed, and soon walked through the cavern, the way etched into her memory. Pausing only to get her emotions under control and wipe away any lingering tears, she was out, back in the sunlight of the purple forest of Glaw Novo.
People began to cheer as they saw her. Her purple dress did not fit well. It had been made for someone shorter; someone smaller. She could have worn the white silk, but though Lady Spring was meant to look forward, there were some traditions that needed to be followed. Lady Spring is reborn wearing Violet Roses.
Her blond hair, straight and somber, hung loose around her shoulders. She lay the corpse down before her, and according to tradition, stepped over it; careful not to step
on it, as that was a completely different message. She was leaving the past behind, not rejecting it. The cheering quieted, and when it was no more, she spoke,
“I am Lady Spring, Aleuta Kellianth. In this, the Age of Expansion, I am made anew. I am refreshed.”
Aleuta did not look back. She wouldn’t look at the red headed girl behind her. She wouldn’t look at the legend that had been born Ages before she had. She wouldn’t look at the Spring Girl that had spent those Ages and more maneuvering pieces into place to not only unify the Courts, but
sunder the Rose Throne. She wouldn’t look at Kellianth's body. She couldn’t.
She had cried enough already today. She had to look forward. She was Lady Spring now.
So she said the words that signified the ending and the beginning.
“My Best Friend is dead. She died so that I, Lady Spring, might live.”