Splintered Time

MY NAME IS ARSHES MEGANE AND I AM IMMORTAL. When the Council of Mages brings charges of selfishness and incompetence, the Guardians refute them. Yet their actions have already splintered Time, creating both allies and enemies. Now there is a magic school under siege, with a principal who should not exist, and an old adversary with a dangerous fragment he should not possess. Gods and demons, mortals and aliens, magic and technology – the threats come from all sides, and the Guardians will need all their ingenuity to keep Time from unravelling. When faced with the consequences of their past and future actions, they begin to wonder: Were the Council mages right? This is the story of The Salvation of Tempestria, as told by an immortal girl from the future using an Illegal Time Intervention to save the world…or possibly end it.

Chapter 1 You are cordially invited to the Wedding of Catriona Redfletching and Dreya the Dark. The place is, of course, the Black Tower. The time is about a year since they returned from the past. My name is Arshes Megane, and I am your humble commentator. You might consider a commentator a rather odd thing to have at a wedding, gentle reader, but in this case, trust me, it’s not. They called it a private ceremony. None of them could possibly know that was far from true. To the people of my age, thanks to recreational time travel, this wedding has become one of the most witnessed events in history, and there are commentaries galore. We even studied it at college, which, as you can imagine was a strange experience for me. It was presented as ‘the first official joint ceremony involving the Original Three since the formation of the Guardianship’. Can you believe that? (Apparently, a betrothal isn’t ‘official’, so it doesn’t count.) My essay on the subject was entitled, ‘A Lesson in How to Spectacularly Miss the Point, or How to Make a Lesson Truly Academic.’ (And yes, gentle reader, I got marked down for that, too – you’re starting to see the pattern, aren’t you?) This wedding was about two people declaring their love and commitment to each other. It was about a friendship for the ages. It was about including their alien friends and helping them feel wanted after the Guardians had inadvertently abandoned them for more than two years. Ossian Miach Kaidool was there, too, standing tall, towering above all. He had missed their betrothal as he had been wandering around Alloria, trying to come to terms with Daelen’s death and his own continued existence. The Guardians had no way to find and contact him at such short notice. The wedding, by contrast, was planned, so it was about making him feel relevant. It was about this handful of people coming together not despite their differences, but because of them. Though they didn’t know it, these events were also about their uninvited guest, Princess Zarinda of Ainderbury, who looked on from her favourite spot. These days, she was putting her talents to good use, having set up a healing centre for animals and Faery alike. Humans, too, in principle, but in practice, they were seldom allowed inside the Sylfranian border, so it almost didn’t apply. At eighteen, Zarinda would be seen as a young adult by human standards but was still considered a child by the traditional Sylfranian Faery Folk. In less than three years, she would turn twenty-one, which would mark the end of her childhood. Less than three years of relative freedom and it would be her turn to marry, she knew. Only her marriage wouldn’t be for love, but for closer political ties with the Quarthonian Faery. Unless her dream came true and Dreya swooped in to save her because she ‘needed’ her. Given today’s events, that dream seemed more absurd than ever. Watching the loving couple exchange their vows, gentle reader, the Faery princess could have no idea of the role she would play in their future... ...or mine. Dreya could sense her, of course, but saw no point in banishing her. She had witnessed their betrothal, so in a way, it seemed only fitting that she should see this, too. The wedding was about all these things, and probably more besides, but it had nothing, absolutely nothing to do with them as Guardians. Honestly, I sometimes think I’m the only person in the world, other than Aunt Mandalee, who can see her, Aunt Dreya and my mother, in any way other than through the lens of the Guardianship. ***** The weather around the Black Tower that day was bright and sunny – Cat made sure of it. Dreya had chosen a human custom for their betrothal. For their wedding, Catriona wanted something a little more Faery. “Is it ready?” she prompted Mandalee. Her friend pulled something out of, of all things, a pocket dimension. “I’ve been practising,” she said in response to Catriona’s quizzical look. “Well, none of us ended up naked, so you’re up on my early attempts,” Cat admitted. Mandalee handed her a garland of flowers – red, white, and black – their stems bound together into a two-foot-long strip. The two Chetsuans didn’t know what was going on, but judging by Dreya’s reaction, she clearly recognised it. Standing beside her fiancée, Catriona took Dreya’s left hand in her right. “Dreya,” she began, “you have let me get close to you in ways no-one ever has before. You’ve shown me the woman underneath the robes…” Shyleen, by Mandalee’s side like her feline shadow, as always, making sure only her literal soulmate could hear, quipped, ‘If your pocket dimension magic had gone wrong, we might all have seen it.’ Mandalee had to suppress a smile. “…but I know there’s so much more,” Catriona continued, uninterrupted. “Every time I think I know what to expect from you, you do something unexpected. You told me I mean more to you than your magic, and I know what it cost you to say that. In return, I want to say this: I once told you that my Crystal Mage Staff was more important to me than our friendship. My obsession with my staff may have faded in recent times, but I’m sure there is more to learn about it. Still, no matter what mysteries still surround its existence and whatever functions it may yet have, its most vital role is already achieved.” She glanced over at Mandalee. “It has gained me the best friend I could ever have,” she returned her focus to Dreya, “and a love I never imagined I would find.” Addressing the Champion of the Gods for a moment, she surmised, “Michael, I assume you’ve been around long enough to know Faery wedding customs?” “Although I’ve never before had the privilege of being invited to one, I do know what they entail, yes,” he confirmed. Cat acknowledged that with a nod. “For the sake of our two Chetsuan friends, then, let me explain that in Faery tradition, when two Faery are wed, the best friend of each party binds their hands together with a garland of flowers. In this case, I believe it’s safe to say we share the same best friend?” Dreya nodded in confirmation. “Therefore, it falls to Mandalee alone. The flowers symbolise the conferring of Nature’s blessing, the kiss of Blessed Alycia, on our commitment to each other. The binding, which will keep us connected for the whole day, symbolises our desire to never stray from each other. That this action is taken by a friend, symbolises that the support of those we care about reinforces our love.” To further involve the others, the garland was wrapped around a flexible metal wire mesh from Sara’s Lavosian technology. A component of her higher planar energy detector that still stubbornly refused to work. Jessica had grown the flowers with her druid magic. Like her sister, she had contributed without really understanding, until now. Mandalee had attached her one remaining sapphire earring from her shopping trip with Daelen and Cat on Earth, so it dangled down between their wrists, further symbolising her joining them together. Michael imbued the tiny sapphire jewel with a sliver of his own power so that it glowed. “Dreya, is it your wish that our friend, Mandalee, should bind us in love, helping us to strengthen our bond as we prepare to take the next step in our journey through life together and marry?” “Yes, Catriona,” Dreya answered. “I wish it with all my heart.” Mandalee stepped forward, the garland strip in her hands. “Although,” the sorceress added, “for this to be completely official and legally binding, Mandalee, I suppose you ought to use my full given name.” Naturally, Catriona already knew, but everyone else shared the same puzzled look. “Dreya isn’t your real name?” Mandalee wondered. “My chosen name is like your body, Mandalee,” Dreya offered, cryptically. “Beautiful, strong and completely awesome?” she suggested with a grin. Everyone laughed but Dreya shook her head. “No, I mean it’s real, and it’s me, it’s just not the one I was born with.” Mandalee nodded her understanding. “And if any of you ever use it outside this ceremony, I’ll turn you all into toads, or something.” Dreya accepted their word to keep it to themselves. As for Zarinda, as a Sylfranian Faery royal, Dreya would have been astonished if she didn’t know already, so she just came out and said it. “Andreyanka.” “Wow!” Sara exclaimed, pulling a face. “That so doesn’t suit you at all.” “Not remotely,” Mandalee agreed. ‘And I thought ‘Pryshia’ was precious.’ Shyleen remarked. “Yeah,” Jessica put in, “I can totally see why you pared it back to Dreya. I mean, it’s just so fussy and frilly around the edges. It sounds like…” she trailed off, trying to think how to finish the sentence. Michael finished it for her. “It sounds like a Faery princess.” “Exactly!” Jessica cried, the others nodding and murmuring in agreement. “Good call, Mickey!” “Don’t call me Mickey!” he grumbled. “Well, a Faery princess was exactly what my parents wanted me to be,” Dreya explained. “If they’d had their way, I would have been married long before now to someone I barely knew. All to raise their status and supposedly protect me. Instead, I learned to provide my own protection and status. That choice led me to take this Black Tower, and then one day, this troublesome half-Faery druid girl I’d heard about came looking for a library.” Taking Catriona’s hand, she gazed into her eyes and told her, “I still remember that day. The magic you used to ‘challenge’ me was unlike anything I’d seen before. With your strength, your confidence, your wit…” with a smile, she indicated the three colour roses framing her door, “…and your flowers, you filled my garden, my home and my life with a joy that was infectious. My library, my home, and my heart were yours from that day to this, and I vow in the future, too. A future I wish to share with you and,” she added, placing her free hand on her fiancée’s belly, “whoever the amazing person growing inside you might be. I give you both all that I am, all that I have, for as close to forever as our fates will allow.” To her friend, she concluded, “So yes, please Mandalee, bless our marriage and bind us together.” “Catriona and Andreyanka,” Mandalee began, taking care not to trip over the unfamiliar name, “when I first saw you two together, I was…” she hesitated, “…sceptical to say the least.” Both Dreya and Cat flashed a smile at that. “But now, I couldn’t feel prouder or more privileged to be the one to help you symbolise the promise you are making here today.” She wrapped the garland strip around Dreya and Cat’s clasped hands in an intricate pattern, and sealed it with a little magic from Shyleen, preventing them from letting go of each other until the next day. (In practice, gentle reader, they would be unbound occasionally, so they could see to certain private bodily functions alone, but immediately afterwards, Mandalee would re-bind them.) “With this binding, I give you both my blessing and my love, as your chosen friend, so that you may go forward in your relationship, and begin your journey into the marriage you both wish for. Congratulations to you both.” She gave each a kiss on the cheek, and then the happy couple shared a deeper kiss with each other, while everyone showered them with a flurry of rose petals. When her supply was exhausted, Jessica had to sit down and let the tears flow. She just couldn’t hold back the flood any longer. “That’s it, I’m done!” she declared. “I can’t handle any more emotions for at least a week!” “Really, guys,” Sara sniffled, only slightly more composed. “Thank you so much for letting us be a part of this private ceremony. I’ve never seen anything more amazing.” “Seconded!” Michael boomed, striding forward and shaking their free hands. When he stepped aside, the two lovers each held their free arm wide, and Sara hauled her sister to her feet so they could both be enfolded in their embrace. Finally, Shyleen rubbed bodily against them with a loud purr. The happy couple reached down and stroked the leopard, conveying their appreciation. The rest of the afternoon was consumed by eating and drinking. Mandalee decided that since Catriona was, somehow, still pregnant, it was her solemn duty to drink her share as well as her own and consequently got very drunk. They even portalled over to Zarinda with a selection plate. After Zarinda had gone home, the evening was filled with music and dancing. Then, when night fell, and all their guests had gone, leaving Cat and Dreya alone… …Well, what happened after that, gentle reader, is between the two of them and protected by the highest of privacy ratings. Use your imagination.