Burrow

Bemere and Kaylie worked their

way to the bottom of the valley. There was a trumpeting from above them and Bemere looked up to see a large shape circling high above them.

"He's laughing at me," Kaylie said.

"Because you're walking?"

The human woman snorted as the trumpeting laughter echoed again. "It's a long story."

"I understand completely," Bemere assured her.

The gryphon soared ahead of them, disappearing behind one of the ridges.

"Part of my reading lately has been the tales of the ancient serah," Kaylie said. "May I ask which of the immortal lineages you belong to? If you are willing to discuss it, of course."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the Plenilune don't have any. Rather, our serah are elected by their peers. It's not a very interesting story, I'm afraid. When did you become a Cloud Ghost?"

"At the end of this past Short-Sun. At first, I was a crofter's daughter, then an unwilling recruit for my laird's recent expedition. He's the one they call Mad MacGregor."

Bemere glanced at her. "I recently heard tales of an army..."

"If these tales ended very badly, that was probably us," Kaylie said, her tone oddly cheerful. "But that's not a very interesting story, I'm afraid."

Bemere's laughter caught the attention of a pair of Plaflakhi. They had been studying the armor of one of the fallen but straightened up and moved to meet them. As they approached, Bemere saw that it was a male and female. They were close to twice her size, with bodies that looked far bulkier and muscular. Instead of the armored plates of the earlier warriors, these two were wearing only the padded gambesons worn under such armor. And instead of weapons, there were what looked like armored books on their belts.

"I see you, Cloud Ghost Witness," the bluish skinned man rumbled.

"I see you, Champion of Law" Kaylie answered. "Shall I bare my neck?"

"While I would view it with appreciation, there is no need," he chuckled with a sound like stones falling into a barrel. "We were there when you swore the Witness oath.

"You wear the patterns of an envoy," the other Plaflakhi said to Bemere. "I would bid you a proper welcome, but your colors are unfamiliar."

She bowed slightly to the imposing woman towering over her. "I am an envoy of the Selenic Court and the Eye of our Lady of Grace."

Both giants studied her, fascinated.

"An actual Plenilune Fae," the male said. "Your presence here is a surprise and is most welcome. If you'd allow us the honor, we will accompany you."

"Thank you," Kaylie said, relief in her voice. "Being an armed human woman is likely to be...complicated just now."

There were more deep chuckles and the four of them walked toward the mouth of a cave. A stone archway had been carved into the rock and several more Plaflakhi were standing watch around the captured humans. Their packs of Lesser Spiderkin prowled between the clusters of prisoners and Bemere noticed that the female soldiers had been separated out into their own group.

"As you see, the dross can only bring greater glory to the shining gem," the male said as they passed under the arch.

Kaylie gave him an odd look and the female Plaflakhi laughed.

"Donag and I are both quite taken with your flame-color hair," she told Kaylie. "I am named Gruni and we serve the mother as knowledge finders."

"It is Gruni that is taken with the coppery perfection of your hair," Donag said. "As I said, I admire the curve of your neck and shoulder."

Bemere kept her face blank, but she hadn't been expecting this kind of familiarity. Everything she'd read and heard of the Plaflakhi had painted them as somber denizens of the far deeps, cheerless and cold. But these two sounded almost...flirtatious.

The cave was a large chamber, roughly oblong. There were three tunnels leading in different directions and a group of prisoners was just disappearing down the largest passage as they entered. In the middle of the chamber, a plinth of the living rock had been carved smooth and a figure was sitting cross-legged on a large cushion, wax tablets scattered around him.

He looked up and Bemere was briefly surprised. First she had the thought that she'd somehow run into one of her own people, although she'd never met anyone with pale eyes like his. In return, his eyes first widened in surprise and then narrowed. He stood, and his hair, the same Raven-black as her own, and captured in a multitude of ornamented braids, jingled faintly as fanned out over his shoulders. It revealed ears as pointed as her own, but he looked less Plenilune now, taller and thinner with skin far lighter than her own.

"And what is this?" he hissed. "A follower of the

whore

queen?"

"I am Plenilune," Bemere said, realizing what he was.

"I am not surprised. Are there more of you Moon sluts coming, or were you the only camp follower?"

Beside her, Kaylie looked worried. Above them, the large pair of Plafakhi stared at enraged figure in amazement. Even a group of Plaflakhi warriors that was emerging from below stopped and gaped at the furious elf in astonishment as he shrieked and raved.

"Reader, have you gone mad?" Gruni asked. "Or are you blinded? That is the coat of a royal envoy!"

"Royal? Royal? They have no queen, just a succession of slatternly gashes. Yes, yes, I see the pattern but that is only a Plenilune spy. They are so in love with that human filth, ask it how many of them it spread its legs for! She can answer on her way to the cells!"

"I fear your diagnosis is correct, Gruni," one of the warriors rumbled. "An unfortunate time for one of the Reader's fits. You are taking the Witness and this envoy to the matriarch?"

"Indeed," the Plaflakhi woman said.

"Donag, can you spare a moment to explain all of this excitement?"

"I'll meet you back here," Donag said to Gruni and she thumped his shoulder before leading them to large tunnel. Behind them, they could hear the angry elf sputtering. Kaylie stayed at Bemere's side as they started down the gently sloping passage. Gruni led the way down in embarrassed silence.

Bemere looked around curiously as they descended lower. The floor, walls, and ceiling were a light grey, formed out of a seamless whole that had a slight sheen, resembling fired clay more than anything else. The ceiling arched high overhead, allowing the Plaflakhi to walk comfortably upright. It was brighter than she'd imagined it would be, and a slight breeze blew against their faces with hints of a scent she'd never encountered before, spicy and sweet.

"He is the Reader of Law, and an advisor for the old queen," Gruni finally said. "I beg your forgiveness. His grief has made him rather erratic lately."

"Please don't worry over it," Bemere said. "I've never met one of the Aphostic Fae before, I didn't realize they were still so upset about the shared history between our people."

"War?" Kaylie asked.

Bemere chuckled. "Quite the opposite. The Selenic Grace of the time was discovered to be having an affair with her lord's cousin, if I remember correctly. He had supporters in the court that protested the betrayal, protests turned to anger, and they abandoned the homelands soon after."

"It was that much of a scandal?" Kaylie asked.

Bemere shrugged. "I don't see why it would be. Neither her lord, nor his cousin, were part of the protests and as I remember, both remained in her court after the departure. Though, now that I am recalling the story, it may have been a cousin of the Selenic Grace. Even among the fae, this is the distant past and would probably have been forgotten long ago, if the incident hadn't been the creation of the Aphostic."

"He has an oddly...passionate view of history," Kaylie said.

"Indeed. Imagine if you were angry about Halia Ghan's choice of mistresses."

"I don't even know who Halia Ghan is," Kaylie said and Gruni chuckled.

"You illustrate my point perfectly," Bemere said. "He was the first ruler of what became the Grassland Empire."

The tunnel ended, opening out into a larger space and Bemere gaped in wonder as she saw the Understone for the first time. They had emerged into an immense space carved out beneath the mountains. The stone glowed with a dim reddish light, revealing that the far side wall was at least a bowshot wide away. One either side, the gallery stretched further than she could see and in the dim red glow above them, splashes of brighter lights marked terraces and balconies carved into the walls. They stretched as far as she could see, almost like the night sky, somewhere far above.

Finally, Bemere noticed that Gruni and Kaylie had stopped and were waiting for her.

"Apologies," she said, catching up. "That is an amazing sight."

Gruni looked around as they walked. "It is my home and quite beautiful, but I will say that it is modest compared to the great burrows to our north."

"If you are ever able, go to see the Night Father's Portal," Kaylie said.

"That

is truly stupendous," Gruni agreed.

There was movement on the walls around them and Bemere looked closer to see collections of Gnomes working at some task or another. As they walked along, there were whistles of greeting that Gruni answered with a deep thrumming sound. There was high pitched laughter in reply.

Beside them, a constant flow of wide wagons rolled along, pulled by Lesser Spiderkin, under the close eyes of gnomish teamsters. Through the long procession, Greater Spiderkin moved quickly around and through the rumbling carts, chittering back and forth with the Gnomish teamsters.

The Greater Spiderkin only superficially resembled their Lesser cousins. These were two or three times as large, and where the Lessers somewhat resembled a six-legged wolf, the form of the Greater Spiderkin was closer to an actual spider. Their wide lower bodies were propelled by eight muscular limbs and where a true spider's mouthparts would have been, a torso with head and shoulders, as well as two more arms, emerged. There were myths of centaurs, people who were half horse, half human and the Greater Spiderkin reminded her of those storybook pictures, albeit with more limbs and far more menacing.

They turned down another passage, leaving the busy throng behind them. In the sudden quiet, Bemere heard a faint susurration from all around her and looked around again.

"That's the burrow's Think," Kaylie said. "All the sounds and voices from the rooms and passages all around us, mixed together as it echoes through all the passages."

"That is the oddest thing about the bright lands," Gruni said. "I cannot imagine life without the Think. How else can life be guided properly?"

They walked along until they reached a canal. A richly appointed barge was waiting for them, Aphostic elves were in the bow and stern, holding it in place with long poles. They stepped aboard and sat on low couches. The poles pushed the barge away from the pier and into the current. Once they had entered the flow, the bargemen had little to do, beyond occasionally nudging the craft one way or another to keep it on course.

After roughly half an hour, the barge was poled out of the current and came to rest against another dock with barely a thump. The arch in front of them was much grander than anything else Bemere had seen, figures and scenes carved into the stone from floor to peak and back down again.

Waiting for them was another Aphostic elf. Like the one in the entry portal, she could have been a cousin of Bemere's, although the color of her eyes would have been considered uncanny in the homelands. Her enticing beauty was made even stronger by her clothing; a gauzy white bandeau skirt wrapped around her waist with a strip of the same translucent cloth wrapped around her breasts. She didn't wear jewelry but had an intricate tattoo that curled around her left collarbone before disappearing under the gauze wrapped around her chest.

"Mistress Anniak, I'm glad we're not too late," the Plaflakhi woman said. "I am bringing you a surprise from the roof. Do please notice that she's an envoy before you speak."

"Am I now a barbarian?" the raven-haired beauty teased. "I can read heraldry you know."

Gruni's voice stayed serious. "And you'll remember our honored Witness, from the Cloud Ghosts?"

"I only cast the glyphs at the swearing ceremony, sweetest. What has gone wrong, that you are asking these things?"

"Then you weren't aware that the Reader was at the Hawseward gate? He was the one to greet our Plenilune guest and his behavior was...alarming."

"Great Father of Darkness," the woman murmured. She turned to face Bemere and bowed gracefully, nearly touching her forehead to her knees. "Honored guest, I beg you, on behalf of my Lady, to allow me a chance to redress for whatever offense was offered. He serves as the Reader of Law and should not have been the one to greet you."

"I wouldn't dream of holding either of you responsible," Bemere said, trying hard to keep a flirtatious tone out of her voice. Since the excitement of battle had been fading, her lust had been steadily building and the courtier made it sing even more strongly. Bemere dug her fingernails into her palms, struggling to push it back down so she could concentrate.

The woman straightened, smiling slightly. "You are most gracious, serah. Do you carry a sigil?"

Bemere offered the silver brooch from her collar and the other elf took it and examined it. Her eyebrows went up for a moment as she interacted with the latent magic within the identity jewel. Finally, she handed it back and then moved her hands as though she was braiding invisible cords. There was a brief warmth and a glowing glyph formed above Bemere's head.

"Serah Bemere Abchenel, beloved of the Great Silver Lady, honored one of the Selenic Court, as both honored guest and the physical manifestation of her Selenic Grace, I grant you the right and benefice of our burrow, the protection of our gates, bound only by the respect of the joyfully welcomed guest."

Bemere bowed slightly in return and the glyph broke into glowing embers that fell around her shoulders as they faded away.

"Gruni, you have my gratitude for escorting the serah. Are you joining us?"

"Not yet. Donag stayed above with the Reader."

"Then I'll see you this evening."

"Yes, you will." Gruni turned and bowed to Bemere and Kaylie. "Small friends, I enjoyed your company and wish you the festival's blessing of golden times."

Kylie and Bemere returned her bow and the Plaflakhi woman went back the direction they'd come.

"Serah Gwyenth was just arriving inside," Anniak said to Kaylie. "Mistress Kaylie, she asked that you join her before I present Serah Bemere to the matriarch."

"I'll leave you in Mistress Anniak's capable hands then," Kaylie said. "This passage leads to the chambers?"

"The passage on your left will be a shorter path, Honored Witness. I'll take the longer route with the serah and we will walk slowly."

Kaylie nodded to Bemere before hurrying down the indicated hallway. Anniak motioned to Bemere and they continued down the ornate passage. As she followed the Aphostic elf, Bemere had to force her attention away from the graceful sway of the woman's hips. It was both relief and regret when the passage widened enough to allow them to walk side-by-side. As she rehearsed the flowery words of greeting in her mind, there was a loud clatter and the sound of thumping feet ahead of them. Anniak stopped and stepped into one of the small alcoves carved into the stone.

"The guards are changing shifts," she explained. "We'll be out their way here."

In the close confines of the alcove Bemere could smell the woman's perfume and the spicy scent was maddening. She dug her nails into her palms again, forcing down the urge to take the other woman in her arms. As the noise of the marching clatter got louder, Bemere saw a group of Greater Spiderkin, bristling with armor and weapons march past their alcove. Trying to speak was impossible but the noise quickly faded away as they entered one of the passages. She looked back and saw that Anniak was looking closely at her. Bemere didn't know if it was just her licentious, traitorous imagination, but it appeared that the Aphostic's nipples had hardened under her chest wrap. With some effort, Bemere locked her gaze on the woman's face.

"I believe we can proceed," Anniak said, stepping back into the passage. "You have come at a joyous time as our matriarch will implant her chikkur soon, the ones you call Greater Spiderkin. Creating the seed of new life is a sacred task and our matriarch is closely surrounded by very protective courtiers. Therefore, when I present you, I ask that you stay beside me rather than going forward to make your manners as you might do normally."

"I understand, thank you. And I regret that my intrusion has interrupted such an important event. If she is indisposed..."

Anniak smiled. "You are most gracious, but she is eager to speak with you."

The Matriarchs' Chamber was at

the terminus of the passage. The carved surfaces became more pronounced, and for Bemere, it became uncomfortably suggestive somehow. The ruddy stone had been carved and polished so smooth that it nearly begged to be touched. The surface felt like warm silk under her fingertips. Rounded protrusions that encircled the tunnel had been carved at regular intervals. It gave the feeling of being inside the throat of a great animal. She felt her lower stomach warmly tense at the thought that it might represent a different, far more interesting passage. She caught herself dragging her fingertips over the silky stone and pulled her hand back.

Oh, for...how can architecture possibly be erotic? I will never travel when I'm in season again.

A circular ring of reddish light appeared at the end of the curving tunnel and Anniak led her into an oval chamber shaped into a low dome. Like the walls of the passageways, arches and ribs had been carved into the stone and the entire space shone, as though it were ceramic instead of the reddish stone. In the center, there was a large heap of cushions with a large figure seated in the middle. Spiderkin and Aphostic Fae were gathered around a large figure and she saw Gwyenth and Kaylie there. Bemere saw the High elf say something to the matriarch. Khivu's courtiers looked curiously at her for a moment before their attention shifted back grooming their matriarch.

Khivu Ataphalis rose to feet, stretching luxuriously. She was larger than any of the other Spiderkin that Bemere had seen so far, almost as large as one of the Plaflakhi. The rear of her body called to mind a sleek hunting arachnid, rather than a one of the more bulbous web spinners. The forepart of her body resembled a bipedal person, from the hips up. The muscular torso was covered by a hauberk made up of fine silver links arranged in circular patterns. It ended at her elbows and Bemere saw that her skin was somewhat darker than the other Spiderkin she'd seen so far. Khivu's face was dominated by her large eyes, almond shaped and completely black. Her hair was completely white and long, as evidenced by the thick braid hung over her shoulder. Bemere thought she was quite beautiful, if somewhat intimidating.

"Beloved mother, I come with a guest," Anniak said. "Allow to present Her Grace, Adelobermerlyn Mayarind Abchenel, Eye of Her Selenic Grace, Serah and Champion of the Silver, Addenhai 'na Terres of the Plenilune lands..."

As she waited for the ridiculous recitations of titles to end, Bemere had to admit that Anniak was better at this than Cal and Madeline's herald had been. She shied away from the memories of their last night together and forced herself to pay attention.

"Welcome to my burrow, Your Grace," Khivu Ataphalis said, bowing as gracefully as if it had been a dance.