Legend of Ransera

"I never had even an elf's lifetime to consider for myself before," she admitted. "I have no idea how my concept of time or relationship will alter as those years march ever on. Assuming I survive." Her smile might not seem correct for the thought, but the path of ascension had not proven easy or without pitfalls. Perhaps she had a bit of the fatalist to her hiding behind soft smiles and careful words.

At some point, though, she would cease to be human or Avialæ, and would be Mortasi entire. Whatever form she took, personality she wore, she was going to change. If she could give Phocion immortality as an elf, well, perhaps he would be like his long gone forebears or perhaps he would be something new, but eventually, she thought, the centuries would set him apart from his more mortal brethren.

It was a philosophical point to consider.

"Ah..." She wondered whether she had the power to reach out and live in the flesh of someone who held sufficient faith in her, and she wondered, "I would be curious to know what that was like for you and for your cousin, if it were not too private an experience."

As for Kaus, "My brother is already impressed with you. Thinking of you as a possible brother-in-law would take some adjustment in perspective, but I don't see any reason he would be dismayed. Even know with our differing stations, I have a difficult time hiding my feelings from him, though. He will be most concerned with how you make me feel. If you make me happy, he will be happy. But I am certain he would want to befriend you. There is an element of... hm... transitive feeling... with us? If I love you, he will love you. Not necessarily in the same way." She smiled. "But too much of our hearts are conjoined for there not to be... hm... echoes.

"Our brother Aquilios is the heir. He has already wed and had a child. The succession isn't threatened. His were always the greater responsibilities, but I think that Kaus and I were raised at least somewhat as you and yours... we had to find our niche, how we would serve our family, our people. He is a doughty warrior and a capable mage. As such, he had no trouble taking up sparring with Raithen. But he is also a poet. You might share similar intellectual passions. So, an opera, a fight... I think we will be more interested in the martial art than the blood sport.

"But we are both interested in your arts and culture, and it would behoove us to know them better."

"I would not be surprised if She left echoes of Herself behind," she mused. "Even We are bound by the Forms and Laws laid down by the Great Gods. If She so chose, She could leave nothing of Herself behind, but I shouldn't be surprised if She wanted to make you more and more Her creature over time."

The word creature might have sounded strange coming from Kala. She still saw mortals as her equals in most things, if not immediately apparent potential.

"I should like to meet Shæoth." But she only mused for a moment, and then flashed him a smile. She was already realizing she had more control over her physical form than she had before, and she had thought it would be nice to be the mother of twins knowing what it was like to be a twin.

"I will, and I suppose at some point you will have to come back to Kalzasi and, eventually, Starfall. I will not ask you to come north during the colder seasons. I wouldn't want you to be miserable." She hummed thoughtfully to herself, running down some list of possible venues or events to share with him.

"Before I return, I can speak to one of your travelers and give them a key to open gates directly into the Cintamani Pavilion. That way, you could visit without having the Kalzasern court aware of your presence. Fewer diplomatic demands on your time." She paused. "Have you ever had a vacation?" She smiled, imagining him reading on a chaise longue by the pool, taking the sun and the air and the time to relax and do whatever he wanted to do, even if her presence was neither desired no required in that moment.

"I would hazard to guess that you are one of Her favorites," she said with a smile. While she wouldn't think to criticize Varvara's manner with her Chosen, she enjoyed the personal closeness with her Silver Wings. It wasn't quite so profound as her bond with Kaus, but those bonds were newer, too. She didn't push, though; Phocion's relationship with his Goddess was his.

"I would not be surprised," she said of Shæoth. "The other demigods of Kalzasi are Drægir, while I am not. Perhaps that and the fact that I am a twin were why your twinned pantheon deigned to treat with me. Even I do not know why Mother Kaos chose me." She could only prove the Great Goddess correct. "Perhaps I should seek Him out. I know not my own limits, though. I am becoming a being of chaos, but does that mean I should fly into the eye of a miststorm to seek a handful of prismatorium?"

For a moment, she wondered whether her divine power might enable her to give Phocion wings, temporarily even, so she could teach him to fly. That would be something few potential wives could give him.

"Thank you, I am quite comfortable. I know how to dress for Solunarium now." Her wings made her largely immune to cold, and she had long ago learned to stoke or bank the Fire within her to keep herself content within her environment.

"We are in accordance there. To my mind, people should only see the tip of the iceberg where relationships are concerned. The vast majority ought to lie beneath the surface of the sea. I don't know that I have a fitting metaphor for a prince of the desert, but you are erudite and I suppose it still holds."