RISE, RED AS THE DAWN.

February 2nd - Happy Birthday, Shade Barrow

A/N: This year, not fun edit-making but the finalization of the fic of pure self indulgence I laboured in love for 7 months. It was a marvellous joy, based on two old shit posts of mine (x y)  I now offer to share to celebrate Shade’s birthday. (How much I enjoyed this, seven years after Glass Sword, shows me how much this character and couple still mean to me. Maybe I can believe in lasting love after all. For them.)

5504 words, it is long

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Off-Duty

The rain pounded a rhythm on the makeshift balcony roof both irritating and comfortable. The first because of its dissonance with the ball’s music wafting up, the latter as the sound was certainly more homely than the howls of the storm ruling the skies of the Monfort capital for the last days. It was its own kind of uplifting, despite the wetness and still dark horizon, that Shade gave up keeping Clara indoors and set up their picnic on the balcony. The light at least was shining in a warm red from the gathered night lights beside them, reflecting the colour of the rain protection foils above. To keep them dry, Shade had scavenged umbrellas, wires and canvas and fumbled them into the resemblance of a roof through some risky ledge gymnastics relying on his teleporting ability to save him in case of falling. He hoped the same ability made him fast enough to grab Clara should her constant, curious skygazing lead her to lean too far over the ledge. In fact, he didn’t trust on teleporting alone when it came to her, as he was too nervous to leave her out of his sight for a second too long and eat in peace.

May 13th - Happy Birthday, Diana Farley

Farley looks severe, with her twisting facial scar and blue eyes to pierce any armour. It suits. I understand why Shade loved her.

February 2nd - Happy Birthday, Shade Barrow

“I’ve got two spotters waiting on you.”

“They must not be very good.” Again, that smile. Another would think Shade Barrow was warm, open, always laughing. But there’s a chill beneath all that. An iron cold. “I came the usual way.”

Sneering, I pat his jacket. “Did you now?”

I must be like the colonel when I assemble my team. I am their captain, their commander, and I must be perfect. No room for mistakes and no hesitation. Forward at all costs. Rise, red as the dawn.

@redqueenetwork mission 07 l underrated characters

K I L O R N W A R R E N

“‘why give him a choice at all? you said yourself, we need everyone we can get. if this nix guy is half of what you are, we can’t afford to let him go.’

the answer is so simple, and it cuts me to bone.

Red Queen Modern AU

Despite the apparent stress and worries, Shade looks so happy, on top of it all. He has a cool girlfriend, lives with her in their own flat, has a job, attends college and now has a baby to take care of as well. All of him screams “responsible adult” at me.            

🎅From the Calore - Barrow family🥂

“Two months ago, she told me not to wait. Her voice broke when she said it, broke like my heart when I heard it. I wouldn’t have minded her leaving if she’d done it without telling me that. Don’t wait. The implication was clear. Move on, if you want. To someone else, if you want. It stung then as it stings now. I could never fathom saying such a thing to a person I loved and needed. Not to her.”

This is my gift for @evangelineartemiasamos! It’s about Farley, Eve, and some others having their first Christmas in Montfort. Sorry for the lateness and the multiple parts, I had a busy week but I promise the others are coming soon. Hope you enjoy and that everyone had/has a happy holiday season!

Diana Farley December, 321 NE (Two months after Fire Light) *AU where Shade is still alive*

The bar is nearly full even at this time of day, when the falling sun is just beginning to tinge the horizon pink, the mountains beyond Ascendant in stark contrast to the painted sky. It’s open to the elements despite it being December, and I shiver in my jacket, my breath puffing in the dimming light. The cold metal barstool doesn’t help matters. Above, the string lights will be coming on soon, and I’ll be thankful for the greater visibility. Anyone could be in that jostling crowd, and I’m acutely aware of the weapons on my person: the pistol in my waistband, the tiny knives in my left boot and collar sheath.

“You’re down a blade today, General.” 

A/N And we have arrived as the end children. While it saddens us to wrap this up, I think Regina (@elane-in-the-shadows) and I are super happy with it. Here is the final letter to wrap up the epilogue that we decided we knew how to write better than Victoria.

v. Kilorn

[Editors note, Gabriel Jacos: While this letter was written ten years ago, Coriane and Shade Barrow Calore have agreed to share it to preserve it. For context, this letter was written some three weeks after the fourth attempt to kidnap them failed in the year they announced their abdication from their father’s birthright. For more information on the topic of Calore abdication, see section: treaties N/M ii to v v. GJA/. Both were moved to a remote location with their parents known only to very close family. For this reason, there are no omissions in the letter and there is little more to be said other than the few words they asked to be shared: it is their favorite letter that their uncle wrote to them, and he was right about their mother cheating at cards. For further reading on the topic of the Dancing War, see section: letters EITS i to LV v. GJA/]

                                               November 30 345

Cori and Shade, 

I hope this letter finds you safe, and while I applaud both of you on your ability to drive your dad up a wall (a pass time that I really enjoyed too when I was younger), I do ask that you try to refrain from making your parents decide that the front lines are easier to handle than you two. For starters, the cabin roof is not a spring board for you two to practice jumping off of, and the woods out back are not a place for you to practice creating infernos Cori. I know how boring it can be to sit around under protective custody, but just know that we all miss you both very much. My office isn’t the same without you two running around playing your games, and distracting me with your laughter. Hopefully all of this blows over soon and you two can be back in time to celebrate the holidays, or at least your birthday, Cori. Your grandmother is already preparing, and she’s counting you and your parents in for dinner. And yes, Shade, I did remember to remind to your grandmother that you hate vegetables. She has promised to include something different for you (although I can’t make any promises on whether or not your mom forces you to eat some). 

I’m sure your parents will want a break from you trouble makers when you get back, so I assume I’ll have to shoulder the burden of keeping you little demons under control. While I’ll be pretty busy handling the treaty with the Prairie fiefdoms and reviewing or implementing whatever crazy battle plans your parents come up with, I’m sure we’ll still have plenty of time to wander the gardens on the grounds. Carmadon has been tending to the patch of lavender your planted with him, Cori, and you’ll be pleased to know that it’s doing very well given the storms we’ve had lately. I plan to restock the pond once it thaws too, so hopefully we can spend some time feeding the fish and the ducks in the spring if you two promise not to terrorize them again. I doubt that will happen though. You two know how to terrorize things more than your parents do. 

Speaking of your parents, I heard you two have been asking more and more about your namesakes… and about the past. Cori, I heard that you snooped around in your dad’s office and found a stack of letters addressed to his brother who you’ve never met, and only got caught because you put a paperweight back in the wrong place (which is a very small error for someone your age and you should be prepared for a recruitment letter from Elane Haven… I may have mentioned the story to her). 

While it’s not my business to share with you the entire story, I can say that much of what occurred left very profound impacts on your parents and the rest of the people you know. Many of us were not always close or willing to share a room with each other. In fact, only recently has your mother been able to speak with Ptolemus Samos for longer than ten seconds.  And while your parents probably celebrated the day both of you displayed your abilities, there is still a deep fear about what occurred in the past to people like you. Norta was not always the States, and people like us did not always enjoy the freedoms we do now. I’ve heard your mom tell you both numerous times to count your blessings, and I have also heard your dad tell you not to joke about wanting to kill each other, and they’re right to say those things. While you might not have understood why they both get so nervous when you joke like that, you have to know that they are still healing all these years later. I didn’t want to be morbid in this letter, given what happened a month ago, but as you two get older and grow up, I feel as if you need to be reminded of what we all fought for. Your mother and father both lost brothers to the war, as you now know, but the extent of that loss probably has not been shared with you two.  I encourage you to ask them about those people, but be prepared to hear things you might not like. We all did bad things to survive and hurt a lot of people to get to where we are today. You two are certainly a blessing with everything that has happened in our lives, but one that could never have occurred twenty years ago. 

The world is still changing, and people are still growing (even me and your parents). I know you both have gotten angry with them for returning to the front numerous times once you were older, but you have to understand that they are still desperately trying to make the world a safer, better place for you two to grow up in. We all are. We want you and your cousins to have better lives than we did. We want you to have the chance to be kinder and more naïve than we were. We don’t want you to have to fight wars that don’t belong to you, or to have enemies because their parents were our enemies. We want you to be able to walk down the street without having to look over your shoulders like we did and still do at times. We want you to be happier than we were. 

I know this is a lot to digest, and I’m sure you’re more than little uncomfortable. But that is okay. As your Uncle Julian has told you numerous times: the past and the truth must make us uncomfortable if we are to change the future. There’s a reason that quote was in my first official address. My hope, and your parents’ hope, is that the wars end before you’re both adults. That way you don’t have to think about entering the military, although I have been told not to discourage either of you from wanting to do that, you’re supposed to be completely free to make that choice. But once again, we want you to be able to make a choice. 

Now that I got all of that mushy gushy stuff out of the way that I know you’re both making faces at while you read, I do have some advice for you as your favorite uncle.

1. If you do plan to jump off the cabin roof, make sure you have enough snow to fall into (4-5 feet should do the trick), don’t pack it though, keep it loose and try to avoid any icy patches. 

2. Your father is terrible at protecting his left side, so if you want to get him (and kick his butt) during a snow ball fight, I recommend sneaking up on his left. 

3. If you really want your mother to not be mad at you for jumping off the cabin roof, give her a kiss on the cheek and remind her that she used to jump off your grandparents’ porch with me when we were your age.

4. If you’re going to play wrestle, no biting, or scratching. Shade, don’t pull on your sister’s hair, and Cori try to refrain from pummeling your brother into the ground.

5. No abilities in the house. Wait for your parents to supervise you please. (Shade I heard you and your mother had a good time making thunder snow the other week, don’t try it on your own unless you want a beating from her that will keep you from sitting down for a month)

6. If you two do decide to ignore #5 go someplace where you parents won’t see you and have a really, really good lie planned for when they find you. 

7. When your dad says he’s busy, he’s secretly crying for help and distraction. I recommend dragging him outside to play or putting on your best begging faces. Maximum amount of bothering should get him to move. 

8. Ask your dad to play “the game”. It involves all the lights being off and being as quiet as possible. You two normally struggle with that but I’d like to hear how it goes.  

9. Your mother cheats at card games.  Always cheek her sleeves before and during playing. 

10. Don’t tell them I told you to do any of this. 

I’m going to keep missing you two the entire time you’re away. I can’t wait to see you again. Don’t grow more than a few inches while you’re gone (this is directed mostly at you, Shade.)

Give each other a hug for me (squeeze twice just like I do). I love you both.  

Part I / Part II / Part III

A/N: Part 4 of the accurate epilogue of Broken Throne we deserved, decoded by @lilyharvord and me, because we all need some fun after the angst and Jon’s bullshit! And who’s better to throw shade than:   

iv. Evangeline

[Editor’s note: The original of this strongly ciphered and redacted letter remains in Montfort’s military archives. Apparently, the addressees only withheld from destroying the letter after reading because of this secure coding and, along with the author, agreed to preserve it in compliance with non-disclosure agreements. This version of the letter was provided for reading by persons with security clearance. It was decoded and edited by the secret service officer and current archivist, Gabriel Jacos. They decided to add in annotations in case of missing context or blotted out text but refrained from other explanatory notes to maintain its epistolary character. For further reading on the topic of the dancing war, see section: letters EITS i to LV v. GJA/]

March 13th 331

Hello Spark-hearts,

[or Mare and Cal],

I hope this unannounced letter doesn’t give you a heart attack. To avoid that, I took care not to pick my most exquisite stationery – as certain someones [from the Silver Session]  are prone to – although I figure your stress base line has risen lately either way, which, thanks to Rose [Samos], I can relate to.

Rest assured I don’t know where you are as well as you don’t know my location. It’s better this way for everyone involved lest sensitive intelligence falls into the wrong hands. Any information in this letter I didn’t keep obscured enough in your opinion, however, was safely delivered by the hands of [Elane,] the real mistress of obscurity and her agents, a.k.a. my wife whom I trust with everything.

As blissed as I am by her, a bliss I wish – and expect – for you as well, it was a similar honour to learn about the news causing your absence from our mutual fatherly friend[s] [Dane and Carmadon]. I understand your discretion. I know how [the Silver Session] … [they can hunt] … their likes can be. Though it was only a matter of time until it was relayed to me, to be honest. After all, I’ve been a vital supporter of [Dane’s] for a long time, not least since I’ve taken up on your former tasks [of recruiting allies and eliminating identifying threats in Prairie]. Quite the difference between covert [agent] and representative [diplomat] but, you know. I’m perfect for either job.

But no offense. Let’s not talk about who’s the most effective at playing divide and conquer. You have your methods and contacts, as I have my own foes and friends [among the warladies, warlords and raiders of Prairie]. They [– our homes, our countries, our people –] are more to me than a game. To move beyond friends and foes, I am ready to break [Prairie’s fiefdoms], if necessary, as well as to melt and reforge this world. It’s as true for our former and new home countries as for those that oppose us – or could be our allies. It’s about protecting what’s most important and that, you and I understand, right now, very well.

In the end, I shouldn’t be surprised by your choice. I could see it coming. How fond [Cal] is of little ones, and not just of their idea, no, he’s actually great with – almost – every [child]. Even the shy rose [Samos]!

You, [Mare,] on the other hand … it demanded more sophisticated perception but perceive I did. You, as well as I, have fought teeth and claws to protect our families and, forgotten gods, at what damage have we fought each other, too. Yet look where we have gotten. A miracle, but one we ought to keep alive. It let me get here, with my love, and it let me be friends with your sister as well. You can mark this down, but she showed me a lot I haven’t known. That includes, among other things, your fierce love for [your niece] whom my family has wronged, as well as an astonishing bout of sisterly pride for your heroism and compassion. Did she ever tell you that, I wonder? Well, she hasn’t admonished me not to tell you.

I wish you the best, even as we’re apart. I am happy for you, although I’m not happy at all about what we miss. Especially I, as I was robbed of celebrating the [baby’s] arrival. I couldn’t even take a look [at her] … As you didn’t see the outfit – and the fine presents shaped by my own two hands – I had ready.

That can’t stand, of course. Be certain I’ll further increase my efforts to end these unsatisfying situations [in Prairie and with the Silver Session] and until then, I’ll use every free minute I’m not preoccupied with perils and schemes to plan another great party for your two idiots…elopers.

So do not dare to tie any knots before consulting

[Evangeline Samos of Montfort]

A/N: Part 3 of the accurate epilogue of Broken Throne because once again, Regina and I are bitter that Victoria did not give us the closure we want. This letter while burned to almost a crisp was saved by me and @elane-in-the-shadows.  Part I / Part II 

iii. Cal 

                                         December 10th 330

Maven,

It’s been a while since I wrote to you or visited you. I hope you don’t mind. Things have been busier these past few years. I honestly don’t remember the last time I got a full night’s rest. Even now, I’m writing to you at 3 in the morning because I can’t sleep.  Mare’s going to kill me too. She already has a hard time sleeping because of the baby. She doesn’t waste time blaming me for that. Funny enough, I don’t mind her teasing about it. The fact that it is even happening makes me feel like I could make electricity myself.

Right, I should probably catch you up on what’s happened. To be honest, a lot of it is fuzzy for me. Since my promotion two years ago, I’ve spent more time on the front lines dealing with the Lakelanders than I have in my lifetime. Your ex-wfie is more of a pain in the ass than I ever thought possible. Like you, she’s a brilliant strategist. I think… given time you two might have found kindred spirits within each other. And while this whole dance between the States and the Lakelands has been exhausting, the good news is that Iris hasn’t had the chance to throw me in any more bays. Mare probably wouldn’t think that joke is funny, but I’m sure you will.

Anyway, four months ago Mare wrote to me telling me to ask for a leave of absence. That she needed me to come back to Montfort because it was urgent. It took more convincing than I would have liked to get that leave. Sometimes I miss being a prince, for the sole reason that if I needed something I didn’t have to wait for people to sit around debating about it, it was just done. But that’s beside the point. When I got back to Montfort, Mare had a, let’s just call it a surprise for me because I can’t think of anything else to call it. A gift? It certainly didn’t feel like it at first. I think all the blood drained from my face when she told me. We argued about it. It’s honestly the first fight we’ve had in a long time, but she won. She always does, as you know. I retired my uniform and she retired hers and we bought a little apartment near her parents’ town house. She wants them close when the baby is born. I get that. I would want my family there too. I wish you could be here. I think you’d be surprised how strong she already is. The other day Mare made me feel how hard she was kicking and it was one of the strangest things I’ve ever experienced. How can something so small kick that hard? She’s going to be a force of nature; I know she will be. Mare’s her mother after all. I can’t even begin to tell you how strange it is to write that. To think that in a few weeks she’s going to be here. 

Mare agreed to let me name her, as long as she gets to name the next one. She had her fingers crossed for a boy. She wants to name any son we have after her brother. I think I’m going to name our daughter after my mother though. Coriane Barrow Calore sounds pretty doesn’t it? But I may just be biased. 

At first, I wanted to drop my name and just keep Mare’s, but she insisted we keep both. Our family line is as much a part of my daughter’s legacy as it is mine. Removing our name would be like trying to erase the past. We’re trying to correct it though. I’d say so far we’re doing a decent job. Notra is on track finally, and Evangeline has been hard at work as an ambassador with both the Lakelands and Prairie. We’re both desperately trying to fix the mistakes our ancestors made.

And I guess I’m writing to you tonight because of that. I can’t sleep. I can’t sleep because all I can think about it that family name. Our father’s name, and ours. Looking back on everything, I realize now what you went through, what you must have felt like. I can’t sleep because I’m terrified of repeating our father’s mistakes. He made so many. I didn’t realize it until Mare told me she was pregnant and I started thinking about my own childhood. I’m terrified that I’ll somehow show my daughter that she doesn’t matter to me, that there is something or someone who comes before her. What if she sees what I do and what I am, and wants to follow in my footsteps? What if she does that because she feels like she has to? I don’t want her to struggle like I did. I don’t want her to think she is duty bound to a fate because of me or because of Mare. You would know what to say. You always knew exactly what to say.

And I guess I also was hoping you could… endow some of your speech ability on me to write another letter to the Silver Session. You handled them all so well as king, (better than I ever could have hoped too) and I wish I had half of your political sense, just because it would make my life so much easier. You always had such politic ways of telling people to go screw themselves. I need a way to say that right now that doesn’t turn a bunch of cranky, old, irritating silvers into more of a political threat.

By my colors I miss you. It comes at me like a wave sometimes. I’ll just be walking or sitting and then it’s there and I feel like I can’t breathe. You left a hole that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to close. The other night, I realized your birthday was coming up. You would have been 28 this year. I realized that while Mare and I were walking back from dinner. When she asked me why I got so quiet, I told her the truth. She was quiet for a long time too, then she asked me if we would tell our children about you. I don’t know if you want me to. Or which person I should talk about. A part of me didn’t believe the last thing you told me. I know that the boy who used to stay up until ungodly hours playing chess with me was in there somewhere. I know that the brother who used to joke with me and play along with my terrible lies I told to get out of trouble was in there. I know the young man that was braver than I ever could be was in there somewhere. I wish I could have found him. I wish I could have saved you. Maven I have never regretted anything more than the fact that I turned a blind eye to your suffering or what your mother did to you. Maybe you’d be here with me today if I hadn’t. Maybe you would get to hold your niece. Or maybe, maybe she wouldn’t even be here. To be honest, I don’t know. I learned a long time ago that playing the what if game just hurts more.

I hope you are at peace. I hope you are resting and that you somehow do get these letters. I hope you know that even at the end, you were my brother, and I loved you. I still do. I’ll come visit you soon, maybe after Coriane is born. Although I’ll probably be even busier then. I suppose I’ll just have to write in the meantime.

As always, your brother, 

Cal

A/N: The second part of the accurate epilogue of Broken Throne (because Victoria did not give us the closure we deserved and wtf did the walking fortune cookie get the write it? (Rude)), decoded by @elane-in-the-shadows and myself. (((: Fine part 1 here

ii. Mare

                                               August 17th 330

Farley,

I think that Clara might like my room on the base more than yours. She says she likes the view of the pond. Which is good, because she’s been asking Kilorn to take her out to swim almost every day. He says she caught a fish the other day. I don’t really believe him, but he insists. She’ll probably write to you about it. She’ll probably also mention our… failed attempt at cooking chicken. No one was harmed in the process. She might exaggerate what happened. Your daughter is more dramatic than Evangeline. She misses you though, more than anything. She says my hugs aren’t the same, but they’re “okay enough”. I know Ada is supposed to have her right now, because I was supposed to leave for the front a week ago, but… something came up, so I’ll be watching Clara until you get back from your location.  

On one hand, I feel bad using the same envelope as your daughter to send you my letter, but I really don’t want to walk all the way across the base and get a second envelope just to send this. Besides, I know Clara’s letter will be secure, so mine will also. And security and discretion is sort of important right now. 

Clara has no idea what’s happening with me, although I think she’s starting to figure it out. She unfortunately inherited Shade’s observations skills which means I have no secrets anymore. At least, no secrets between the two of us. I don’t think that’s bad though. I was tired of secrets a long time ago. I guess that is also why I feel such a desperate need to tell someone this. I should probably write to Cal, but his location is NOT secure right now, which is probably why he hasn’t written to me. I’m going to have to wait until he gets back from the front to tell him. I don’t know how long that will be either, which means I have to tell you. I guess I thought you would understand. Please just… I need advice. I know you’d probably tell me to figure it out on my own, but you’ve always had a knack for thinking your way out of tough situations. 

I wish I’d figured it out sooner. I think I knew for a while, I just didn’t want to think about it. If I was right, it would make life stupidly complicated. Being around Clara these past few weeks has sort of changed everything though. And while a part of me is (this sounds so stupid) happy… I’m scared too. The minute I saw the results, I had half a mind to find a healer and get a procedure, to just get rid of it. How can I justify bringing something so fragile into the world? But then it moved, I thought I imagined it, but then it did it again… and Farley I couldn’t. If that’s selfish of me, I don’t know. 

Of all the times for this, now is really not the best. But for you, it wasn’t the best time either and you got through it. You stayed with the war effort, but the more I think about it, the more I think I need to leave the front completely. While I have nothing against how you raise your daughter, the way Clara looks whenever someone knocks on the door makes my stomach clench and my throat burn. I know she’s just waiting for news that you’re never coming back. Especially after the whole Tiraxes deal fell through last year and we didn’t hear from you until you returned a week later. I don’t want… I don’t want my child to have that fear. I don’t want them to be looking out the window wondering when I’ll be home or if Cal is ever going to come back. I dont need want that for her them it her. I can’t believe that I wrote that. But some part of me fluttered when I did. Forgotten gods I hope I haven’t messed her up. I was just at the front a month ago. She was there, she was there with me and I was running directly into the line of fire. I’m glad I didn’t know then though. I would have made a mistake. I know I would have. 

My heart tells me to leave. That I need to go back to Montfort. That if I truly want this, then I have to be there for her. But my mind tells me it’s selfish. That I’m not thinking about the future and about the people like us who have suffered for years. But then I think about what she’ll be like, who she’ll be, and I suddenly have this desperate need to run under a rock and hide. I know the Session will hunt her down, and after all the attempts on Clara, I feel sick just thinking what they will do to get their hands on mine. 

I just don’t know what to do. I’d ask Cal but I know what his response will be. He’d tell me to go, and he’d come with me. But I can’t pull him away from the front either. We both make such a difference there at times. Is it selfish to do that? To take my family and run? I need your help. Please write as soon as you can.

Mare

PS: if the healer’s wrong and it’s a boy… I want to name him Shade. I hope you understand that… and are willing to give your blessing. If not, I understand.

A/N: The accurate epilogue of Broken Throne we deserved, decoded by @lilyharvord and me!  

i. Farley

September 25th 329

Dear Clara,

I’m sorry I can’t give you the time to talk with you about this in person and only leave you this letter as a reminder. I hope it’ll serve as that, at least. You can take it as a promise.

I’ve avoided making promises to you. No big ones, that is. I didn’t want to add broken promises to my list of shortcomings and misses, of which you never forget to remind me after I’ve been away. I’ll expect you to scold me if I make a promise only to break it. Clara, I am and have been willing to listen when my child needs to chide me. I wish you to trust me. I might be scary, but I never wish to scare you.

I’m sure there’ll be another lecture waiting for me when I return from Tiraxes, trying to convince its rulers to side with the Scarlet Guard and Montfort instead of joining the other remaining Silver monarchies. After years of stubborn indecisiveness, they should’ve realized by now the advantages and future we can offer. But I suppose minds of brick are a common trait among Silver monarchs, not just Calores. But I’ve gotten through to Cal, and I’ll get through to the Triarch of Tiraxes that it would be foolish not to join the Scarlet Guard if they want to keep their heads - and dignity, though I suspect the latter is of bigger import to them. Although Ada’s arguments will cut down their pride and refuses and if not, I’ll scare them until they see fit to agree.

Which means, I have every reason to be successful and return whole and healthy to you. I promise this.

That is why I’d also like to ask for a promise from you, Clara: Please don’t teleport on your own. Don’t try to follow me, don’t play tricks Mare and Cal, your grandparents or anyone else of your family (which includes Kilorn, obviously! They have my authority in my absence, so listen to them.).

I know you’ll understand. Even if you’re furiously waving this letter in your hand right now, as furious as you were on the base yesterday and … vanished. One moment, I told you we’d have to stay there instead of at home because of the rising threat of attacks, the next you protested and were gone.

Please. My heart stopped. My mind blanked and I had to think of your father who teleported one last time, right to his death. It didn’t make sense, to think of this, but the fear for you lived up all the same. Even as my heart warmed and beat again as I realized that you are like him.

Shade, your father, never had a trainer or teleporter companion. All he did, he’d mastered on his own, not even knowing how or why or if they were other Reds with abilities like him. He was brave. But you don’t have to be. You can ask other teleporters for advice and tutoring, like Arezzo (though you’ll have to wait for her to return with Ada, me and the rest of the team.) This is also a promise. We will train your ability, so you can use it safely. And for whatever you want.

This is what I want to give you, what I strive for in my efforts: That you can have a childhood now (no matter how difficult our lives are), but also a future you can choose, with the right and possibilities to be whatever you wish for.

I wish I could hug you right now,

Diana Farley

PS: I don’t like to live on the base instead of in our cozy house either, Dove. I’ll miss it, and your frequent “redecoration” attempts. I love you,

Mama