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remained. "I cannot believe& " she turned angrily back to Etain. "How could you do such a thing to me? I trusted you! You
poisoned me, manipulated me& caused all of us so much pain& "
Etain said nothing.
"So why was it different this time?" Noire asked again.
Gael frowned in thought, idly running his fingers along Noire's cheek, through his hair, down to his throat and back again to
his cheek. "Chaos," he said. "There was a preponderance of chaos this time; the threads of fate that forced the cycle of
tragedy began to fray& "
"Bands of chaos, threaded with strands of fate." Etain said, voice faint but somehow still carrying to all who were gathered
around her. "Once, we chose to let chaos rule this world we created, to let our children make their own decisions. Still, we
could not completely get rid of order - fate, destiny, all such things are the result of order. Somewhere along the way,
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destiny fell so that my brother and sister would each fall in love with one of our children. I detested it, could not bear it. We
were meant to be together& so I tried to rewrite fate, to control it myself. What is the point of being a god otherwise? We
gave up the greater portion of our power, but we did not give up all of it. I tried to shape the fate that spilled from chaos
according to my own desires. I failed. Have been failing. Always I come so close, only to be forced to start over. I suppose I
was always destined to someday be thwarted.
Freddie stroked Verenne's hair, holding her close, brow furrowed in thought, eyes seeing things that few others in the room
could. "It might have gone on longer& except that we were the last to return. With the return of the Storm Dragons, the
balance of chaos and order once more shifted back to chaos's favor. They are the strongest, the closest to chaos - if not for
their return, I do not think it would have been as possible for the rest of us. With the Firebird reclaiming his powers over
rebirth& and the Basilisk so recently returned& " She closed her eyes, as if sensing or feeling something. "Your chances of
success nearly vanished, Etain. You must have known this."
"I couldn't give up," Etain said, staring at her hands. "Don't you see that? You're mine. We were always meant to love and
cherish our children, to care for the land that is ours, but we were always supposed to do it together& in every way
together."
"We were together," Gael replied sadly, hand tightening in Noire's hair. "You are the one who has ruined any chance of us
remaining so. I, at least, can hardly stand the sight of you& "
Freddie nodded in agreement.
"So we're not going to vanish now?" Seraphin asked.
Etain looked up, smiling faintly, the expression holding something of the Queen everyone had loved and adored for so long.
"No, nor did you ever. I am not completely cruel& the Beasts always killed themselves, or each other. I used the last of my
power, in every life, to erase that knowledge from the minds of the people, made them think the Beasts had simply
vanished. It was enough of a burden to bear that the gods had killed each other."
"Why would we do that?" Matti asked. "It is true we do not get along& More than once I have wanted to pitch Rodrigue into
the pond. Never have I wanted to kill him, though."
Rodrigue rolled his eyes, but a faint smile tugged at his lips. "The feeling is mutual."
Matilda shot him a look, then turned back to Etain. "I do not understand why we would do such awful things to each other."
Etain sighed softly, smoothing the wrinkled fabric of her dress. "It is not entirely the fault of the Beasts that they clash, nor is
it the fault of my children that they fight so amongst themselves& " She tilted her head back to stare up at the ceiling, eyes
fastened on the shining, painted sun. "We three fell apart, for various reasons. In every life, for different reasons, we were
afraid to completely trust each other even as we swore we always would. That mistrust spread down through our children,
for we are the center that holds Verde together& I am the harmony, and I have been in disharmony for a long time. That
spread like a poison to my siblings, down to the Beasts, down to the people& "
"The Beasts are tied irrevocably to their Guardians. When we lost control here in the Ceremony chamber, the anger, the
hate& all of it spread out, as would any strong emotion. The assault led the Beasts, over and over again, to fall into the
same tragedy as we. If not for events today changing so drastically from the past& "
"We would have killed each other, or ourselves," Herve said. "I cannot fathom it."
Further questions were cut off as Verenne stirred in Freddie's arms.
"You're awake," Freddie said with a smile, relief plain on her face. "I was starting to think perhaps I'd been too late."
Verenne stared, blinked, then slowly sat up, tugging herself free of Freddie's hold. "You& you look like yourself again,
Freddie. Except your eyes& but they look& better& " she said softly, reaching out to touch tentative fingers to Freddie's
cheek, the corner of her eye. "I& what happened?"
Freddie chuckled. "You lost your temper, dearest. Got in a good hit, but I'm afraid she one-upped you."
Turning her head, Verenne's gaze landed on the Queen and fury filled her face. "You-"
Catching her as Verenne started to stand, Freddie caught held her close for a moment before reluctantly letting go. "It's
over, dearest. Finished. Etain will not be poisoning anyone anymore."
"What happened? How long have I been unconscious? My head is killing me."
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"Much has happened, dearest."
Verenne stared at her. "Three times now. Three times you have called me that. In the span of two minutes. Freddie, you
haven't called me that in over nine months."
"I'm no longer poisoned. I know who I love."
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Dobre pomysły nie mają przeszłości, mają tylko przyszłość. Robert Mallet
De minimis - o najmniejszych rzeczach.
Dobroć jest ważniejsza niż mądrość, a uznanie tej prawdy to pierwszy krok do mądrości. Theodore Isaac Rubin
Dobro to tylko to, co szlachetne, zło to tylko to, co haniebne.
Dla człowieka nie tylko świat otaczający jest zagadką; jest on nią sam dla siebie. I z obu tajemnic bardziej dręczącą wydaje się ta druga. Antoni Kępiński (1918-1972)
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