Chapter 40:

Chapter 40: Rituals are of utmost importance for the shadows are long and they hide many things

Eldar were not made for civilization, this is what I have come to realize as I lived among them.

We were made for two things, one purpose granted to us by our own evolution and another granted to us by the Old Ones and not a single one of them had anything to do with building civilizations and the only reason we can keep them running is ritual.

Asuryan sets the rules of the game we call civilization but it is Gea that ensure we play it and Hoec which enforces it, for their duties are the creation of rituals and their enforcement and we need that nonsense to pretend we're anything but artist souls running on war-machine bodies.

It is why Gea is not as popular as Asuryan or Khaine or Isha or even Cegorach, for it's her duty to ensure that we form empires and almost nobody can be bothered to care for that nonsense and those that do are very very weird, and few people would bother giving them the time of day if they weren't the ones responsible for teaching you how to dance, or how to prank people with it. It should be obvious that Eldar like that very much, and so she's generally speaking accepted and well received by most that are sane.

Hoec on the other hand? He and his ilk are pricks as I'm currently finding out.

"Your princely blessing has been used Bessar Agail." A monotone voice materialized in my mind.

It had no gender, no age or any emotion for it was song that was devoid of what made song song.

A shadow materialized in front of my table and it materialized, turning a shadow into something resembling what my memories called a Mandrake, if always covered in thins shadows that obscured its body, and it sat on the white cushion across my red one, and we were only separated by a table with a teapot and two tea cups that I got to filling with tea.

It was not a Mandrake however, for the thing in front of me was no Scrap species, but a Follower of Hoec and the little bastard knew what I was and treated the princely blessing of the farseer as something that I should feel bad for losing.

The little shit also started pouring his own tea before I could get to the teapot , for he materialized with his hand around it and treated me as if I was a delinquent and a poor host for not serving a guest and coworker that I was expecting with tea and instead having him serve himself.

"You are an incredibly annoying bastard follower of Hoec, especially when you probably know why I summoned you here." I replied.

I took the teapot from his hands with my hands and finished pouring him some myself as I rose up and poured both of us some mint tea. I needed some to calm me down because I was too twitchy.

He looked at me, his midnight black skin only made more disturbing by his eyes which were just featureless spheres made out of Wraithbone. He at least had the decency to not fight me in my own house and wait for me to finish pouring him tea and he drank a bit of it and thanked me in song before speaking.

"I thank you for the tea Bessar Agail, and unfortunately I do not know what need you have of me, for your wards prevent our seers from seeing as we should." The not quite Eldar thing said.

His speech matched his song, for it was devoid of life, joy and any discernible features.

"They're still not good enough then, as you wouldn't have had this problem if you stopped using farseers and went for more appropriate methods of divination." I replied vocally with annoyance coloring my speech.

I refuse to consider farseers normal anymore, for they are an abomination we'll need to put down one day.

"They came first my host, but I know of your kind and I know you won't consider otherwise." He replied blandly.

I gave him an ugly look, for he was leaving the tea to cool, meaning we won't get to the reason for this conversation any time soon. I do not have the time for this nonsense, for I have been busy and I continue to be busy and I do not have the time to waste.

Citizenship in the Empire came with many perks, chief among them being the ability to order Maton around and to benefit from its many institutions but it also came with the caveat that the people of my wives were now subjected to said institutions as well, and the most pertinent one was the institutions and rituals related to Apprenticeships and crafts.

The most annoying thing about them was that I did not know the requirements for Mastery and taking Apprentices for most of them and of those that I did know few have the ability to take in Students or Apprentices, meaning that I had to convince a lot of people to rescind the Master-Apprentice bonds or cease their teaching endeavors until I can confirm that they can teach others that are not their children and I can't do any of that before this prick finishes his tea.

Lammor gave me a lot of room of maneuver with his blessing, and allowed my wives to give birth to citizens while maintaining their forms and for that I have granted him his life and not interfered with his passage or swore to hunt down the creature down to kill it later. It also allowed the sirens to do the same or make mistakes that won't get them killed until they learned the proper rituals and I have been run ragged trying to help them so.

He is still a farseer, so I won't be swearing a debt to him for that, but I will grant him the same offer we gave farseers before their rebellion, agree to have your mind wiped and I promise I'll find him a home he can be safe and loved in after and I'll even be generous and make sure it's going to stay safe after I drop him there.

"I won't and you would be wise to do the same, and I do have to ask how many heads are there now around the star?" I mockingly asked.

"There are 200 heads now Master of Murderous Medicine, you can find this answer yourself if you can bother to ask a Maton." He replied.

I could only hope I annoyed the bastard for each head has to be put around the star by hand for it is a task all Followers of Hoec have to do and that cannot be given to the Maton for I have specifically asked for it.

"Royal Orders prevent me I'm afraid. No subject of my wife or any of her family members is to ever make use of Maton in her territory or on any planet she holds any territory in." I replied with the same annoyance I hoped to inflict on him.

Royal Orders are the only orders from mortals I have to follow, for my wife is that which Eldar call royalty and that granted her a lot of power over both Mortals and the Followers of the Divine, powers she can only half-way call on me for I am her husband and her equal in certain circumstances. I still have to abide by the order for it does not interfere in my duties or my status, despite how useful the Maton are.

He sighed as he heard it and finally started properly drinking his tea.

"It is quite good tea my host, may I get a refill?" The bastard said after he drank half of it.

I refilled it a smile on my lips and a curse on my soul.

'If this how you wish to play bastard, fine for two can play this game.' I thought with a sneer as I refilled his teacup.

I didn't even get to touch mine yet as propriety prevented me from starting to drink before him.

"Naturally honored guest, albeit our meeting will have to be shorter than anticipated lest my child throw a tantrum from my lack of presence, for you know how children are." I said with a kind smile and laughing eyes.

One heartbeat his teacup was filled with steaming tea and the next it was empty and I slowly started to sip from mine.

Mint tea truly was relaxing, for it reminded me of home, but it seems my guest did not agree if his impatience and fear he sang for all to hear were anything to go by.

'Now who's in a rush?' I thought and gave him a smug look.

Waves of annoyance hit me and I finished my tea faster than I should have for I was once again in a hurry.

"What do you want Master of Despair, Deceit, Planning and Treachery and Lies?" The now very scared thing asked.

Telling someone you're planning to get Slaanesh to scream in your face and kick the shit out of the general area you're in tends to make people very scared to be near you I suppose.

I picked the very large book that stood near me and handed it to him and he took it and started reading it.

"Nothing much Blade of the Endless Roads, I need a list of all the rituals involved in the crafts written there and the rituals required for taking in Apprentices and Students for all of them in triplicate, as well as knowledge of whether anything in there is considered or not considered part of an accepted craft." I replied.

He looked it over and skimmed the contents of the book and it did not take him long before answering.

"You could get these from leaving for a world that allows you to use the Maton and returning." He said as he continued reading the book

"I actually can't, for the tantrum already started and I can delay it hitting me by pretending I can't hear it for only so long before it'll make things worse and I am, as usually, behind schedule in my preparations. If I leave this world it starts immediately upon entering the Webway." I replied.

I felt terror again and it was very sweet indeed, especially when the man, and it was a man I think, would have pissed himself if he was capable of it.

He closed the book and it disappeared in a dark mist.

"You'll have them in one week, I thank you for the warning and I'll tell so to the others to leave this world, is there anything else that you wish to know?" He asked now very glad that he would not have to be in the blast radius.

I considered it and sighed, for while I would not do as my siblings wished of me that doesn't mean I couldn't make their jobs easier when they did do what I couldn't.

"I need the location of the former House of my Divine on this world, for my siblings wish to refurbish it back into functionality once we've finished our conclave on this world." I kindly asked.

"Have you finally lost your gods damned minds?" He asked calmly but did not say no.

It was a normal reaction, one that I and my younger siblings had as well upon hearing what my other siblings wished to do.

"Yes, and even I do not wish to do so, but my siblings insist that it is important and as an Older Brother it is my duty to assist them when able." I replied.

He bowed with his hands on his knees and begged me to reconsider.

"Please reconsider!" He asked of me, his previous false lack of emotion long gone.

Waves of despair rolled off him as he asked, for he asked what I wished my siblings and I would also ask is we could. I felt the shadow of pity for the man, even as I had to crush his hopes that his pleas would convince me.

"Not my choice to do so I'm afraid, as I wouldn't do it myself if I had a choice in the matter, and if my wife finds out it will turn into a Royal Order." I denied and preempted his next course of action.

Nobody with sense would allow us to do what we planned on doing on their world and only the Divine or Royalty could get us to stop doing it and the only Royalty within reach that is not a follower of the New Divine is my wife and she would order me to follow the recommendations of my siblings and the Divine also can't help him.

He slumped and his emotions were once again hidden from me.

"Is the plan working at least?" He pleaded.

I knew what he asked me and I could not tell him the full truth and so I told him what good news I could.

"A cure exists now, this world and one other will serve as incubators for it and will be a part of numerous funnels meant to allow for distribution during the evacuations." I answered.

It was the only part of our long term plans that was going as planned, no it was going better than planned as a matter of fact, and it was the only bit of good news I could give for Slaanesh was winning the war in the shadows between us and her cults and the Phoenix King and the Everqueen of Crones who all wished for her to be born.

The Empire of Ten Million Suns is in an active civil war fought in the shadows, only kept from escalating into an actual shooting war we would lose by Gea and Hoec's followers enforcing ritual with extreme prejudice. They try their best to ensure that the last shred of legitimacy the Phoenix King holds prevents him from burning the worlds of those that do not wish for the New Divine to be born. And those few of us that could still act were losing, and losing badly and if we fully lost before we could implement our plans or Slaanesh was born then we're down to the last contingencies we'll have to implement after our deaths and we destroyed our own souls to prevent Slaanesh from learning of them.

The only ones that could act freely from among the followers of the Divine and the various institutions of the Empire were the Damned, for most of our royalty were fervent followers of the New Divine and we could not act against them openly, and so we had to rely on deniable assets of which the Followers of Hoeth were one of the last two organizations standing and only the followers of Cegorach could assist us openly, for they exist to prank the New Divine. And if that kills her then that's fine for Death means little to an Eldar when it comes from another Eldar and so it is excusable by Divine Decree if done properly and within Divine Duties and Rituals.

The overwhelming majority of the Empire wished for the birth to happen, and so the Divine could not interfere unless it was by Divine Decree and for that we couldn't just make a new Decree, as too many old Decrees covered all possible angles for them to intervene. So we had to pass the threshold for rescinding old decrees if we wished to properly Murder Slaanesh before she was born and our God-Killers for after she is born keep refusing to act as they should, so they have become unreliable if not downright hostile to our plans.

The man in front of me knew not of any of this, for while he was a prick he did not need to know that things are getting that much worse by the day, not when we finally have a possible breakthrough and so I hid things from him.

He sighed in relief, when he should have been crying tears of despair but that is fine, for I would do the same if I knew not what I did and I long since ran out of tears so I couldn't do what I wished to either

"I will provide the knowledge you seek with the rest of the manuscripts, but I do wish to be immunized myself." He offered gratefully.

"Get married and love the one you get married with with all your heart and soul and make sure they will love you as well, for you need a lot of love in your mind, body and soul to survive the Immunization as there are two treatments, one that grants ' Slight Resistance' to the disease that I can grant you easily enough, and another that requires your soul to be inundated with love or have someone prevent you from killing yourself for enough time for the treatment to stick and neither I or the only other Master of my Murderous Medicine have the means to keep a Follower of Hoec from killing themselves. You are to go to my fellow Masters of Murderous Medicine Making when you and your siblings have done as I said in case I die, for they are the only ones that can give you 'Immunity'." I answered.

He considered what I said and realized what my words meant, for he knows my craft and how it kills people that try to pry too deeply into it.

"I will do so damned one, and I thank you for the generous offer." He said and bowed again.

"I appreciate it, now please hurry, for I have little time to waste and even less to bother with the screaming of children and I need to do so." I answered.

He bowed and vanished as he was already in the Webway by the time he finished bowing.

I dared not use my gifts beyond the simplest possible usage until I had finished my preparations, for even using my gift to sing to another could now trigger the Tantrum in full and if I could not pretend I do not hear it then I would have to face it and facing it right now meant death.

I pressed the button from beneath the table and it rang a small bell to inform my Skin Walker servants to come and clean the tea set and put it away.

"Please put it away and inform some of your shamans to come meet me, including your two former heroes that still live, I have delayed this meeting for long enough." I informed the two women that entered and they told me that they would do so.

I've had to learn the language of the skin-walkers to communicate with them, for I could no longer use song to do so for at least a few years while we make preparations.

"We will do so our liege." The older one said as she walked on bladed feet that started to slowly melt.

She could still blunt the edge and turn the feet into bony protrusions that allow for walking on solid surfaces but only barely for I doubt she had more than four or five years of life in her.

'I'll have to find how to get them to live longer too.' I thought with a grimace.

They barely reached 70 as they were, and from what they have told me anything above 30 is considered old by the standards of their people, and if they are to be useful they need to be old enough to learn to be so properly, but that was for later as now I have other more important things to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"My dear queen-wife, our husband continues to refuse to sing, do you know what causes this?" I asked the love of my life.

Our husband had stopped singing a month ago and now he had lost the princely blessing of Lammor to talk to a follower of Hoec face to face and he refused to tell us why when pressed.

"No Cuhacta Iamara, I do not know what keeps Bessar Agail from singing or hearing our song." She sang back.

I immediately dropped that line on inquiry, for we have decided that when one uses the name of their spouses in song that danger is afoot if we are to continue. Our husband instructed us on such measures and it seems that while she does might not know either, she has figured out that whatever it is is too dangerous to speak of.

Our husband has taught us much of how to avoid detection and how to act when in danger and despite being coiled around one another with our babes feeding on our breasts and surrounded by the blades of our Lord-Husband and deep within the greatest defenses our people could conjure, just mentioning the fact our husband has stopped singing is enough to put our lives in danger.

I did not shiver, for to shiver would put me in more danger ,for the Divine would no longer pretend it does not see us if we act too openly, for the defenses of our husband have been breached by the Pantheon already and so while they pretend to not see what goes inside of them, it is known to us that they now see us.

"No matter then, it is probably just a continuation of his pranks with the Skin Walkers." I replied and hid my uncertainty.

It was an easy excuse to give, for our husband was actually pranking us with them still, as he had managed to spread the rumor he was a Skin Walker holding hidden knowledge that keeps the Maton away and it is why he took the Skin Walkers as his people.

It was nonsense, for our god rewards loyalty and all the creatures needed to do to avoid being fed to the fish by us is for our husband to take them under his wing, for my wife is royalty of the Sirens and he is Eldar and his ways are not ours, and so he can get away with keeping useless things and they useless now and it matters not.

"Most likely, and it is annoying how effective it is." She replied.

We were standing on our bed, our lower halves coiled around one another as our husband still hadn't decided to come sleep. It has been a month since he last did so too.

Our babies continue to be adorable bundles of joy as they had just finished eating and now prepare to sleep their adorable little eyes trying to decide if they should remain open or close.

A whisper, reached us, and it was addressed to my wife and I knew it came from the Skin Walker shamans for it sang in their soul-speech even if I could not hear it.

"Our husband has fallen asleep as he was instructing his shamans on how to deal with old souls, my love could you please go to look after him?" My love sang.

I was already slowly uncoiling to look after him but I would not let this go unanswered.

"You just want to spend more time with our children." I replied.

"Royal prerogative my love, I get to adore my babies while my servants go deal with my troubles." She cheekily hit back.

"Royal prerogative will not keep you company when I have work to do and you have to deal with scheming noble ladies my love." I sang back to her as I let my first-born in her arms.

'Hopefully there will be more to come after him.' I thought as I looked at my baby boy and at his silver hair and blue eyes.

My wife kissed me gently on the lips as I left our children in her care and I returned it and our souls became two halves of one, for she loved me and this was the only way to prevent the Divine from hearing our words.

'Our husband is delaying the tantrum for it has started a month ago, we have two years to prepare, help him as much as you can for my hands are tied.' One half sang to the other and the connection broke.

I left our sheets and got dressed from my child rearing nightgown with a window for my breasts to my formal armor which I sang on me from its stand. My armor covered my entire body, both the eldar upper body and siren lower half in segmented plate and as I was not going to war only my blonde hair and face remained uncovered by the bone white armor.

I sent a song to the twin Blades my husband left us to stay with my wife and our young babes, for they need more protection than I do for now. They made no comment on it, but followed my order.

I kissed the soul of the love of my wife and that of my now sleeping babes and left the Royal bedroom to reach my husband and it did not take long for me to find him, for he was surrounded by his vassals as they had known this would come and had prepared him his sleeping arrangements in the conference room.

He slept in one of the conference rooms he prepared for important meetings and I could see that the Skin Walkers have made a bed sheet for him and that he rests now.

"I greet you vassals of my husband, is he well?" I sang curtly at them.

Few of them could sing, and even fewer could follow complex speech and so I had to simplify things.

"Yes my lady, we have prepared him a bedroll and have sealed this room from all but his family to allow him to rest unbothered." One of the shamans replied.

I did not bother learning their names, they die to soon to bother and they are my husband's to bother with.

"Thank you for looking after him." I sang and they bowed but otherwise remained silent.

I looked over him and I could see dark circles under his eyes, for he has not rested in a month. He has not slept and he has barely eaten or drank in that time as talked with the artisans of our people and he ensured they would not get themselves killed for failing to meet the new rituals they had to follow that they knew not of, as they were no longer beasts but citizens of a mighty Empire and its citizens must follow proper ritual or the followers of Hoec can and will kill them for breaking them too much.

Some still died for there are 15 million of us now but only hundreds as opposed to hundreds of thousands.

I kissed him on his forehead and made sure he tucked in well before rising back and looking at his vassals.

"Inform your leaders and martial minds to prepare themselves for a conference, for while the Lord-Husband of Rites, Plotting and Madness may be your liege I am the Lady-Wife of War and Warriors and we have plans to review and make and as long as you live with us you will have to plan with us how to defend our realm." I told them.

The creatures that were clumsier than us on dry land bowed and sang to me that they will do so.

The only one of us that could do as she wished in front of Mortals was my queen-wife, for she was queen and thus answered only to the Divine and her peers while my Lord-Husband and I were her spouses so we could act only within the positions she granted us.

My husband took the responsibility of Rites to prevent our people from being killed by the Followers of Hoec for being too deviant from the Rites Dictated by Gea, for it is those rites that prevent the Phoenix King from glassing the worlds of all the followers of the Old Gods in his service of the New Divine, and if any culture in the Empire grows too deviant from them then it will be purged to buy The Empire more time. Plotting was given to him for he is a damned follower of a dead Divine which plots with greater frequency than one breathes and thus it was his natural position and Madness was given to him by my wife, for he is truly and irreversibly Mad and Madness is Divine for all Divine are Mad and yet he is madder than them in our eyes still, and he is so for it is from his love of us that we have gained safety from that which hunts and eats us.

My responsibilities are far simpler in comparison, for I wage war and ensure my warriors are prepared for it and so I need to ensure all my warriors, be they Siren, Skin Walkers or even Eldar stand ready to meet our enemies, and it is a much simpler duty than Madness and a lot simpler than overseeing rites.

I went through the hallways to the War Room and sat at the head of a very large oval table on a red cushion and I took the time to look upon the room as my warriors and planners gathered in.

The room would have been ostentatious more than a decade ago for it was filled with holo-displays of various forms and were filled with knowledge coming from our listening posts and sent through psychic relays and translated by psy-craft and song-keepers into something useful. Even the table had it's own holo-display and it showed the still filling sea that is slowly becoming the seat of our power as we dig and make our fortresses as the sea level rises.

Slowly as the minutes passed my warriors, be they siren, skin walkers and even the few Eldar which had sworn themselves to my siblings in law that would lead our Eldar complements joined in one by one with the last one to come being Marsa who despite the best attempts by her wives still hadn't gotten impregnated by any of her triplets, for they love playing their games of love.

I doubt she wished for it at all, as that would mean she had to stay and not leave but it did not stop her wives from trying, for she like her brother could not openly deny those she loved and the triplets loved their wives.

"We greet you Lady-Wife of War and Warriors and we stand ready to ensure the death of our foes." The gathered said as one in both voice and song if they were able.

The only ones that did not do so in song were the Skin Walkers but I respected them a lot more than the Eldar, for at least I knew they were loyal for if they weren't I knew my husband would not save them from feeding the fish.

"I greet you too my warriors, for we are here to discuss matters of war, for our seat has been cleansed of vermin and soon the real conflicts will start, for with few exceptions our people are now gathered in a single area and thus easier to hit, especially now when the vermin know there is a war to fight. Skin Walkers, tell me of your preparations and ask your questions." I responded and ordered.

The Skin Walker had the easiest tasks and so them reporting should be fast and whatever questions they did ask, would not be held against them and thus would allow for those that would follow to have any of their 'foolish' questions asked and answered in advance. I knew this system, my husband implemented it and informed me of it that he created it so that Skin Walkers have a purpose that is actually appreciated by the leadership of my other forces.

"Yes mistress, this one Macrzing will answer, our guard posts continue to be built and our patrols go through the rivers and scour them for threats. We create easy to spot corridors for any would be spy to take, so that those more experienced know where the threats will come from.

This stratagem has proven wildly successful with over 39 spies caught in the last month as they tried to infiltrate our lines. No other meaningful reports, except the fact that your and your Lord-Husbands orders in regards to your children continue to be followed." The skin walker reported.

I nodded at that and I was proud of them, for while it was difficult to find them duties they could fulfill well I have managed to do so by exploiting the one thing all eldar feel, and that is their feelings of superiority over others, for if one feeds those feelings just right they won't notice the knives in the dark until they're dead.

"I am glad to hear it, now ask your questions for it is obvious you have many." I praised kindly.

They could not hide their songs and while the warriors were more disciplined than the civilians they could not control their song or the volume at which they sang as they were barely even aware of it.

Another one spoke this time as the one that did so previously nodded at him.

'They've picked the order to speak in already.' I thought fondly.

They knew I hated wasting time so they prepared well ahead of time and I knew this for they could not discuss in song and in secret from me and yet they did not need to speak to decide the order.

"Mistress, how is the ice melting so soon? It should be taking months, if not years, until the ice melted but it took days." She asked.

"Special payloads made by a prince many ages ago, he created special constructs that would teleport pieces of glaciers from one part of the world to another, then it would melt them far faster than normal, which combined with our plasma bombs created a giant tidal wave that not only moved more ice to crash on Eldar settlements but also allowed the floods to start in earnest." I revealed.

I felt that this was a question everyone in attendance had, for their own projections did not fit reality, for reality was manufactured and the prince in question a plot of the followers of Cegorach-as-he-used-to-be to allow us to conquer this world.

The other four representatives had similar questions that were easy to answers as they related primarily to logistical issues or questions as to why the current situation is as it is, but the first Skin Walkers that spoke also had a question that was far more interesting.

"Mistress, will the original flooding plans be implemented?" Macrzing asked simply.

He spoke of the plans that would cleanse this world of Eldar life in days and I could feel the rest of the audience listening far more closely now.

"No, the Divine have sent us enough portents that they do not wish for us to implement it, but we have options that will guarantee our victory that are almost as destructive, if a bit slower." I answered slightly annoyed.

Said portents were revealed to me by the family of my husband and they were simple in nature. No single siren that can easily learn my husband's craft exists, if my husband wishes to continue his plans he needs to ensure that enough Eldar continue to exist on this world that can learn it. It was annoying but easily worked around.

"We thank you for answering our questions Mistress of War." The six Skin Walkers tried and failed to say as one as they bowed

They were too offbeat to pull it off by Eldar standards but they would do.

The eldar at the table had little to say or ask, for their duties were light as none trusted them yet, and I doubt I'll ever not look at them with disdain, for no Siren noble girl born before our Unification ever could despite what my husband is trying to do.

We've prepared our own mothers for the cults to eat one too many times for his plans to work, and the clans broke too many of our hopes for us to ever fully trust them but the new generations might have a chance at harmony with our cousins. All I could grant them is cold indifference and even that is difficult.

It was the turn of my sister in law to speak.

"The fortifications continue as planned, I do wish to know if my brother has told you why he stopped singing. I have heard the rumors and he is not responding to our songs." She asked.

I realized the triplets can't check for themselves why, for they have their own duties and they are not the target of the tantrum or the kick, it is only my husband.

"Bessar Agail has not shared it, but I assume a mix of his duties and children had something to do with this Marsa Saddbas." I replied.

She just nodded at that but the lack of song on her part made me realize that she has understood the message and she did not wish for others to know that she is either scared or grieves. The tantrum was coming and Bessar was the only one the New Divine targeted in her Wrath and that meant that he is now all but dead for the New Divine wishes him dead personally and to my knowledge this has not happened before.

'I sincerely hope you can find a way to survive husband, for I do not wish your children to be raised without a father.' I sang to myself as the war meeting dragged on and we prepared to coordinate troop movements for the new settlements that are already being built.

My siren warriors had a lot of things to reveal to me as well as ask of me, which is why I left them for last.