“Rest, Tollon.” It’s Mia’s voice. This time I’m certain of it.
I open my eyes. I appear to be in the last quarters I occupied in the palace. Mia is looking at me with grave concern. When I try to sit up, she pushes me down. And slight though she is, she can easily do it. “Don’t get up. You don’t understand what’s happened to you.”
Mia’s been through this with Tollon before
(Credit: Wikipedia/Wellcome Images)
I stay still. Patiently, I say, “I was run through with a sword. I expect I suffered blood loss. So I should feel faint. What else?”
Mia doesn’t answer at first. Then she says it. “You died on the floor of the throne room, Tollon. You’re not really alive now, at least not in a human sense.”
I try to make sense out of that. I fail. “What does that mean?”
“Thessar kept you alive so you could help him and Frawkza to get Mrokitar to give up her intervention in human affairs. Once you succeeded, Thessar was willing to let you die.
“Frawkza was not, an unusual feeling which clearly disturbed her. War gods aren’t supposed to be caring of human lives, but Frawkza admired how you turned your back on Mrokitar. Said that demonstrated a true warrior’s temperament. So Frawkza and Thessar made a deal, with Mother Alesca’s participation. You’re now semi-divine, Tollon.”
Try again. “I hate to repeat myself, Mia, but what does that mean?”
Mia looks frustrated. “Isn’t it . . . oh, forget it. Your whole point with Mrokitar was that she didn’t fit into human society, right?”
I nod.
“Neither do you, anymore.”
I try to sit up, despite Mia. It feels like the world is turning beneath my feet. But I can. I look at Mia. And for the first time, I can truly see she is not human, that she is a fairy. How I can see that, I don’t know.
I’m semi-divine. That was what Mother Alesca said she was. Logically, “So Mother Alesca is no longer semi-divine?”
Mia brightens. “Exactly. She said she never wanted that status, and if it keeps you alive, at least it would do someone some good.”
I look at my hands. “I don’t feel any different.”
Mia sighs and gives me a sad look. “Remember how it took me time to understand that I was a fairy? You’re in a similar situation. It’s going to take time, Tollon. And the human body has to adjust when it becomes semi-divine. You need to take it easy, give yourself time to learn what you’ve become. And then you’ll need to figure out what that means.”
I’d explore this some more with Mia, but I start to feel very tired and confused. I feel Mia helping my lie down. I want to sleep.
Two thoughts nag at me, though. Mia says I don’t fit into human society anymore. And just what is going on while I’m lying here?
I try to wake up, to open my eyes. I feel Mia’s hand on me. Sleep. I stop struggling.
Sillyverse 