Book One - Epilogue

“I understand the prince’s concern, I truly do… but I think it sets a dangerous precedent to suggest that he can claim when one of our Sisters has fallen, especially when she is both the Royal Dawnmother and, at least according to the Dawngem, uncorrupted.”
“Sister Chandra makes a good point. Please, who else shares it?”
Dawnmother Superior Liana, the sitting head of the Grand Sanctum in Graham’s Rest—and one of the few women in the kingdom whose authority technically matched that of the Royal Dawnmother herself—looked around the large, round table at the Council of Dawnmothers.
There was hesitation that came from her request, but just shy of half the hands were lifted. Liana took note of these, marking them in her interface before gesturing for them to lower.
“Have we heard from the Royal Dawnmother?” Liana asked, searching the room and finding one of the Sisters-in-Waiting. “There was word she’d sent a messenger-hawk, has it arrived, Miss Twyla?”
“We have been keeping one person on watch at the Rookery, I can go and check if you’d like Dawnmother,” Twyla said, her head bowed respectfully.
“With haste, Miss Twyla,” Liana said, and the young girl went scurrying for the door, her hands pulling the slightly too long robe up to ensure she didn’t trip.
Once the Sister-in-Waiting had left, Liana turned and briefly made eye contact with each member of the council. Each Sister who had earned their place had done so by the will of Dawn and Liana—now approaching her eightieth year—valued each and every one of their opinions.
“We are living in interesting times, Sisters. A few short months ago, when Dawnmother Juliet sent Sister Gwendoline to North’s Edge, I was positive we were sitting on the precipice of calamity. The Fates’ prophecy, the Tale of Dusk and Dawn, has been our guiding principle since the inception of the Church and to have it called into such question… for the Stranger to not only claim to be the Lord of Dusk… but to also claim non-aggression… Believers of Dawn will no doubt raise questions that our traditions don’t explain.”
“Then how do we answer them?” Sister Fallon asked, her brow pinching enough that the wrinkles on her forehead doubled. “Is this not just a trick of Dusk? The Lord has patience, does he not? Who’s to say this isn’t just a tactic meant to eliminate Dawn’s Chosen?”
“And should we not be concerned that the Royal Dawnmother chose to stay in this territory the Lord of Dusk has stolen after Frederick left?” Sister Veronica asked, bringing up the one question Liana knew several of the Dawnmothers had privately voiced concerns about.
Sister Veronica was the youngest of the Dawnmothers, and she was also the youngest child of King Dawnmere. While that might have left most rankled about her taking a seat on the council at only five-and-twenty, Liana trusted Dawn, and she had no doubt the Dawngem wouldn’t have chosen her if Veronica didn’t deserve her place.
“She stayed to establish a foothold for the Church of Dawn. What true Lord of Dusk would allow that to happen in his territory?” Sister Chandra contested, and there were more than a few murmurs that came from that.
The Dawnmothers didn’t talk over each other and they certainly didn’t go out of their way to belittle each other’s theories. Not at the Council Table at least. The Dawnmothers each had the kind of patience and open minds required to interpret Dawn, and that left them more than capable of calmly discussing this rather serious crisis of faith.
“Could it be that the Stranger is being puppeted? That, as Sister Fallon suggests, this is all a trick? Would it be wise for us to allow a Church of Dawn to open when we’d have to root a new fragment of the Dawngem there? We’d be giving Dusk a direct line to corrupt Dawn itself,” Sister Helena argued.
“If Dusk could defeat Dawn so easily, how would Prince Frederick have been able to leave once the land had succumbed to it? If that’s what even happened. I am with Sister Chandra. The Tale makes the Lord of Dusk’s position on Dawn clear. For him, Dawn’s eradication should be the only option. He wouldn’t open himself up to threat by allowing a fragment of the Dawngem to linger anywhere near him,” Sister Olliena offered in a timid voice, looking to Chandra sitting next to her almost for support.
Liana had her own thoughts of course, but her predecessor had taught her well. It wasn’t her place to shape the thoughts of the council in any way other than offering them the place to discuss them. She would of course vocalize her thoughts as needed, and guide the conversation to keep it on track in the event that the Council did start talking in circles… but she’d learned the benefits of staying her tongue until all the facts and opinions had been presented.
Her ears perked up, the sound of rushing footsteps coming from the stairwell more than enough to interrupt the conversation long before Liana had to.
Twyla came rushing through the door, robes hiked up entirely too far, with another frazzled looking Sister-in-Waiting on her heels. The new arrival made no attempt at decorum, instead scurrying across the room and stopping by Liana’s chair. The girl bowed low, her hands outstretched with a wax-sealed scroll–the mark of the Royal Dawnmother–atop them.
“Dawnmother, my apologies! Sister Gwendoline’s hawk arrived while I had been… um… occupied… in the privy. I hadn’t seen the message because the hawk had been nested in with Sister Veronica’s in the upper wing. I should have been checking more thoroughly, especially after my brief absence.”
Sister Veronica perked up ever so slightly, but knew better than to say something when the Dawnmother Superior was already occupied. Liana reached forward, taking the scroll carefully, then smiled at the Sister-in-Waiting.
“I’ve missed many a message because of the privy. It happens to the best of us and I’d challenge any among us to say they hadn’t lost something in that rookery,” Liana said, then turned her attention to the letter. She slid a nail under the wax, popping it free before unrolling it, only for the barest of scowls to pass over her features. She vocalized the smallest, quietest of complaints… really just for herself, though she couldn’t swear the Sister-in-Waiting hadn’t heard her. “How many times have I told that woman I can’t stand this handwriting?”
Liana reached to the side, grabbing for a pair of spectacles she had to use when dealing with actual messages and part of her wished the system allowed for some form of assistance with her failing eyesight. But, it didn’t, and she’d just have to make do.
“I will now read the Royal Dawnmother’s report in its entirety. Quiet shall be observed until its completion, then discussion will continue,” Liana said, reciting the overly formal statement used for these situations. The Dawnmothers all nodded, simultaneously clasping their hands and resting them atop the table as they stared her way.
“Council. By now, I am sure Prince Frederick has returned to Graham’s Rest and reported the events that have happened here in Danwood, and I am equally sure you have many questions on why I did not return with him. I pray that this report offers you some answers, and I shall place myself in front of the council at first chance to answer any others that I can. If there is anything I can ask of you, it’s that you consider my statement just as you would any others that you all so graciously oversee.
“I have seen much that has shaken my faith and yet I have seen just as much to strengthen it. To answer what I believe is the most important question, yes, I have seen the Lord of Dusk with my own eyes. The system has granted the title. The Stranger, a man named Corbin, has claimed it. While I will not claim to know him well, I have spoken with him, and I have seen the mark he has left on this community. I have both seen and sensed Dusk within him and yet, I have also seen Dawn’s Light within him.
“I do not know what to make of that… or what to make of his stated desire to have nothing to do with the Tale of Dusk and Dawn. I can only speak to the things I have witnessed.
“At the request of the townspeople, I offered my services to bring a new life into Dawn. I was welcomed with grace and I was allowed to witness a community as it blossomed. I’ve resided within the town for several weeks now, and though the settlement has been claimed by the Lord of Dusk, though Dawn’s Chosen looked at the peace I see here and claimed it to be corrupted… my Dawngem has remained unblemished.
“I have no doubt that Prince Frederick is Dawn’s Chosen… but I would be neglecting my duties to Dawn if I kept my fear of his interpretations of the Tale to myself. To that end… I make three requests of the Council.
“First, I ask you send a delegation here to Danwood, where I am currently constructing a Sanctum to act as the center of this new branch of the Church. This will allow us to not only prevent system-mandated war, but also keep an eye on the Lord of Dusk and the town he has fostered. While Corbin has claimed to me a desire for peace, I would also be neglecting my duties if I took him at his word.
“Second, I ask that the members of the Council make a standing request within the system to stay any offensive action against Neverdusk pending the completion of a deeper investigation into Corbin by our Church. He has made multiple statements that suggest a familiarity with me that I cannot properly explain, and I have been told by at least one local that he believes his role is something inevitable, regardless of how he approaches it.
“And finally, though I know I must make a vocal report of these events to the Council, I ask leave of my duties, a stay of that report, and permission to journey to the Fates’ Sanctum atop Dawn’s Peak when I’ve been relieved by your chosen delegation. I seek to hear the Tale from them directly… and to ask them about the truths I’ve seen. I am aware of the hazards of this journey and do not ask this lightly.
“I await your response by hawk. Rise with Dawn, Sisters. For Dusk is near.”
Liana set the scroll down, then lowered her spectacles alongside it. She took a second, letting it sit with her while the others did the same. After a few minutes passed in silence, Liana took in the rest of the Dawnmothers, all of whom were already looking to her.
“Okay… let’s discuss.”