Checkers's Resolution

The next day, the great hunting party came back. A great and fully expected announcement was made - that Princess Astra of the cadet branch of the House of Maia, had agreed to marry Lord Fredrigo of the House of d'Honaire. He would give up his claim to the Duchy of Suffex, but would be invested as a Prince of the Maia. The rough men wheeling clods of earth from the site of a building foundation were arguing over whether it was proper for the Aqualarian royal family to allow a barbaric duke from the North into its ranks. Weathered mistresses of the plains left their great herds of cattle to study, with general approval, a placard of heavy paper that had been brought in from the city. On it was printed the face of the new prince. Fat merchants of the Golden Road of Themsyscira devised ways to place a painted image of the royal couple on delicate ceramic cups, or medallions of shiny metal, while the more ambitious were mulling over ways to get one of the favored gentlemen or ladies of the court - if not Astra or Fred - to wear their silks, perfume, boots, or dancing slippers. The lean sergeants of the Aqualarian militia, in the privacy of their barracks, swapped gossip concerning the martial might of the new prince. But the greatest buzzing took place at the Royal Palace, always in the thick of the national gossip in any case, but now the gossip was a thousand-fold more exciting, with ten thousand picky questions and rumours about the dress, politics, hobbies, habits, religion, meal preferences, likely new friendships, nation, pet preferences, siblings, and horse of the new member of the royal family.

Within forty-eight hours, the future Prince Fred was in the basement of the archives, thankfully looking over the shoulders of the two souls in the Matriarchy who appeared not to consumed by the great event, and were not trying to wheedle something from him, be it something as benign as a nugget of information.

Checkers and the court archivist, Leo Argentum, were busy bringing to life the frozen thoughts of a poet that had been dust for five or six generations of man and Glider. Although Fred could not help much, this little shelter from the whirlwind of his life was much appreciated. Astra was a little jealous. It was not at all that she was angry with Fred for spending time in the quiet of the archive. It was because she was not in a position to take advantage of it herself, being much in demand by not only the public of Aqualaria, but also the Queen herself. She barely had fifteen waking minutes a day that she could call her own.

One day, Fred begged his leave, as he had a court function to attend, when Checkers motioned him aside. She said, "Fred, I have a secret to tell you."

Fred's heart skipped a beat. Checkers by not by her nature open, but he had noticed that she trusted him at times when she would not trust another human. He could easily imagine her carrying a number of secrets.

Leo left the room. Fred said, "We have been through a lot together. I am honoured that you are telling me a secret. It is nothing painful, I hope."

Checkers said, "Yes, in a way it is. But it is something that I want to do, and want to talk to you about it first. I really do want to stay for the wedding, and could live at the court of Themyscira forever - if I had a small town of my own kind living on the outskirts, and acclimated to mankind - without the habitual fear that a Glider feels when she sees a human being. That would be the best of worlds - and someday maybe it will happen. But I fear that I will be long dead by that time."

Fred said, "I understand. I know that you are leaving. I will miss you, but if you wish to leave early, I would be by no means offended."

Checkers said, "That means a lot to me. I think that the Queen has other ideas. And it is how I am going to leave that may be a problem for you. I am going to try to use the book." She placed special emphasis on the last two words, as if she were admitting that she was going to do something that was naughty, but something that she could not resist doing.

"Do you have a spell that will get you back to your homeland?"

"I think so. There is no way to be sure, but it is the most likely explanation. It appears to be a story that allows a weary traveler to visit her homeland. The duration of that time, and side effects - I honestly do not know. I would love to have you come along, but I do not think that would be the right thing to do given that you are starting a new life."

"I may come to wish that I had a reader of Old High Dolomite at some future point in my life, to allow me and Astra to escape the intrigues of the court. Although I have to admit that a part of my likes the attention." Fred sat down, and gently placed his arm around Checkers's shoulder. As frail as the Glider's hollow frame was, the muscles of her shoulder were solid - as they needed to be in order for her wings to work. "So when do you plan on leaving? And what would you do once you make it back?"

"I was thinking of saying the spell this week. I would be very busy trying to get the important things done, and would like to pack some important things to take with me. I cannot do everything that I hoped to do, unfortunately. I do not want to anger or offend the Queen - I hope that I may be welcome back some day."

"She should understand. And I would speak for you."

"Thank you, Fred. I have been considering asking the archivist to come along. If the spell is not a permanent one, then I might be able to do the Queen and Prince Consort a favour and allow him to pick up some knowledge of our land. I would also have an ambassador that could share the knowledge of this part of the world with my people, and let them know that Burchester and the Dolomite Range are not the world."

"Interesting thought. There is some danger for him if the spell goes awry, but he might be willing to accept it to see an unknown part of the world."

Checkers sighed, and changed topics. "It was the wedding announcement that made me decide, although I have been thinking about this for some time. I am twenty-six years old - and will be practically a stranger when I get back. I would be willing to go back over the sea and the land to go back home - but it took me nearly eight years to get here from there, and there were times that I was lucky. I cannot rely on that luck going back. And if it took me another eight, say, that would make me about thirty-four years. I would be an old lady, but just an inexperienced cadet as far as the other Gliders would see me. A cadet without any promise of a future."

"I would think, that as a dragon slayer, that you should be celebrated. But I can understand how you feel. If I were alone among many Gliders, I might find you all interesting, and even enjoyable, but without my kin, and without Astra, I would feel that a part of me was missing."

Checkers turned her head away, and started to sniffle a little. "I fear that I am going to feel that way no matter what happens. I will miss you, and Astra, and the Queen, and this world when I do go. I am going to feel incomplete no matter what I do. And you are needed here."

Fred sighed, "Yes. I have promises to keep here. I would not be able to make the journey east for a long while. Maybe not ever."

Checkers remained silent, looking at the ground. Then she looked up. "Well, as I said, maybe the spell can act as a sort of magic carpet between our two worlds. Where I can visit from time to time. But I do not trust that book - I may be close to understanding what this spell does, but I am sure that there will be other effects that I cannot guess at. I will not know until I try."

Fred said, "I will talk with Astra about this, and she may have some ideas to help. I know that she will not tell the Queen, if you are worried about that. Although she has a lot on her mind, I think that it will do her good not to hear about something not related to the wedding." He patted her gently on the shoulder, and then gently stroked her cheek. "I will give you what help I can."

Fred then stood up, and walked up the stairs and out of the archive.

1. Fred gets an opportunity to talk to Astra alone.
2. The Queen surprises Fred with a request.
3. Envoys from a strange land appear in court.

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