#'Deer did you make lore out of how many times that pair wegged you?'

[sparkledeerfr]

Excerpts from Harper’s Diary

The story of what happened to two kids from a small house, as told by their lifelong butler/caretaker.

Warnings: Child death, death mentions (neither graphic).

My work with the Whitmore family has thus far been quite easy and enjoyable. One never knows when taking a new position how exactly things will work out, but I do like taking chances with smaller upstarts such as this.

That’s not technically true- Lady Mendoza apparently comes from an illustrious lineage, since fallen on hard times as such things are wont to do, looking to reclaim some position in society by marrying a man of good standing but with little wealth to his name. One of those families that likes to hide how close they are to bankruptcy. No doubt the in laws may come around should Mendoza succeed in righting the ship. The decision to settle south, right on the border of her home flight and Plague is a bit odd, but perhaps she intends to keep her head down and out of the way of more powerful houses.

I myself prefer staying back, helping where I can, seeing how things work out. They seem a good match, and both their backgrounds means they are more grateful for ‘the help’ than others of their peerage might be. At least they hardly seem the type to be angry should they find this diary.

---

A first nest! Of course Mendoza had the good sense to wait until they were fully settled, the prospects of money in place and some saved despite Regent’s (and such an odd name, perhaps his parents had always intended for him to be a placeholder? No matter) insistence on spending it on luxury items. Always need to keep up appearances with him.  

Due to my condition I stayed far away from the eggs, and will do so when they hatch. Young children are so susceptible to even the slightest change in magic, and should anyone find out about my ailment, should anything happen to the children, I know who will be blamed. The Lord and Lady might understand, being more educated, but the rumors always do start flying and it doesn’t take long for backwards notions to become ‘truth’.

‘Vampire’. Please. As though I’m some sort of blood drinking monster.

----

Sad news- it seems none of the children made it. There is a thought among the staff that being so close to Plague while not being of that flight themselves may have led to some problems, but no one knows for certain.

Mendoza of course is trying to keep a cheerful face and things running, though I can see the worry. I did do a little digging and searching- no foul play at least. Perhaps just poor luck. They’re both young and in good health, they can try again.

---

More sad news- only one child in the nest, and they did not even fully hatch. Next time I will be less cautious and try and find out more directly what is going on. It seems I can hardly make things worse.

---

The problem was more fully and quickly discovered than I expected, though again through sad means. The issue is not with disease, perhaps closer to a genetic fault, though not one of the usual ones: the children have a great overabundance of magic, simply too much to allow their mortal bodies to keep up.

The poor thing was oozing pink and red, pure concentrated energy right through her mouth and nose. She and her brother perished within two days.

At least...well at least I can be of service. Hopefully Mendoza will not take my suggestion poorly- offering to leech energy from children can come off as quite sinister.

---

Another singular child, one I kept close to and was there for his birth, the Lord and Lady eyeing me not with suspicion but a sort of worried hope. The birth seemed blessed from the start- a boy with strange Plague eyes and the spiral form of a distant relation. Incredibly lucky.

But of course I was considered lucky- the wildclaw boy from a wildclaw mother and a skydancer father. Strange dark eyes instead of whites. Lucky. Blessed. And cursed.

As I held the boy in my hands and a nurse wiped off the remains of the egg I realized- he was like me. There was no magic whatsoever. He would live but…

Did I somehow do this?

----

The boy is growing, and the parents do not seem to blame me in the slightest. In fact they seem well relieved, even if he’ll never be able to cast anything, even if he’ll have to leech energy from others to stay alive, even if it means he can never really be alone for long.

He is alive, they have a son and heir who is growing into a healthy young man. That’s all that matters to them, and they thank me for helping solve their ‘deficiencies’ (a thing said in private, a confession- poor things overly blame themselves).

They want another child, and they want me to keep close by again. I don’t have the heart to tell them no, nor to tell them what rumors will surely circulate in the future.

An essence ‘vampire’ noble. Well. At least he will be difficult to ignore.

---

Another singular egg, this time a girl, and this time with the ‘fault’ of the other children. She began coughing and shaking not long after being born, but with me around to leech some of it off she seems to have quieted into a more healthy baby. At least I can buy her time.

Her brother loves her already- they are hardly apart. Hopefully he will not lose her, and perhaps they can balance one another out.

Far too much and far too little. Perhaps there is such a thing as destiny.

---

They are both growing nicely, and one would hardly suspect that either of them have an ailment. The boy has taken to nobility quickly, though I must admit his attitude leaves something to be desired at times. He doesn’t have the patience or forgiveness of his parents, seems to have forgotten the hard work they put in to make sure he grew up wealthy and with a name.

Perhaps it is the children of other houses that he hangs around with at times influencing him. I must admit I also worry that he’s taken to his condition a little too well- yes, it can be used offensively, but he seems to consider himself better for having it. I worry that with no one (especially myself) around to watch him, he bullies others. Why ask for what you can take?

His sister on the other hand has thankfully gone in the other direction. She’s willful but kind, almost always outdoors with the animals, her nose in a book. You’d think she was a stable girl looking to up her station through education. They still balance one another out well, and hopefully will continue to do so.

---

The boy and girl had an awful falling out. It seems he thinks her wanting to seek education elsewhere, to teach somewhere, is a personal slight against him. I know she has been teaching others in private- she is a powerful creature when she chooses to be, a mix of Plague and Arcane- but actually leaving was a bridge too far for him.

I do not think this is pure selfishness on his part, whatever else I think of the boy. I believe he genuinely loves his sister and thought they would always be together. He is afraid to be alone.

---

There is something wrong, but I do not know what.

It started with the girl’s sigils- easily spotted glowing a reddish pink, popping up all over the manor. When asked, she responded that they were nothing and not to worry about it, but something in her voice and face were off. I wanted to trust her, and for her to trust me as she always had, so I left the matter alone, insisting that she could talk to me about anything.

But the situation has only gotten worse, they are near everywhere now, growing in size, scaring you half to death when you round a corner at night and see glowing runes nearly in your face. She looks worn as though from worry, lack of sleep, or both. She has taken to carrying a clock around with her, glancing at it at all hours of the day.

I have heard no rumors, no stirrings from nearby houses, no nosy cooks or housekeepers with an inkling of what is causing her to do this, as though she’s preparing for something. There are always casual threats of course, especially further to the south, but even with a smaller force such as we have it would be foolish for some band of raiders to attempt something.

Her brother has confronted her as well, so at least I can be assured that the blame for this does not lie with him.

---

I still do not know exactly what happened or why it occurred, but I will be writing in as much detail as I can lest I forget anything later.

She was tired, exhausted, sitting on a bench and drinking a near full glass of brandy and smoking a cigar. I knew that she had picked up the drinking habit heavily the prior week, but again did not know the reason why. She looked like she had been fighting something by herself- worry aging her to the point that she looked older than her brother.

I sat by her, determined again to at least attempt to get something out of her, but she surprised me by talking first. “I tried, Harper,” she said, staring ahead at nothing. “I’ve tried everything in all kinds of ways, but there’s no point. It ends the same way, so I’m going to at least save you and Ambros.”

“My love, what are you-” I started, completely unsure of what she was talking about, but knowing that she was no liar. Whatever this was, it was important, and true at least to her.

“Harper in two minutes you’re going to get Ambros and go out through the south door,” she said, reciting with a dead voice. “Two men are going to try and stop you from going forward. I need you to kill them and keep going, and you don’t stop, okay? You don’t stop for anything and you get my brother out of here.”

“And what about-”

“One minute fourty-five.”

“What about you?”

“I’m going to go north, and you’re not going to try and find me, not for a long time,” at this she looked at me, those eyes that could be mistaken for plague or arcane pink depending on the light devoid of their usual warmth.

“Love, what has caused this?”

“One minute,” she said, glancing down to the ever present clock. “I know you can do this, Harper, I’ve seen what you can do when you decide to stop putting a clamp on that ‘condition’ of yours. You’re the best to take care of Ambros. You can teach him.”

“When did you see me-”

“Again and again,” she said, standing and looking back to me. “You’re a good man, you know. Sorry I didn’t appreciate you more.”

“And you a good child,” I replied, not knowing what else to say.

There was an explosion, screaming, but she just looked down to that clock and then back to me.

I did as she asked.

---

The boy blames his sister now, for everything. I do not know what else to tell him aside from that I feel it is untrue. I do not know how to comfort him at the death of his parents, his house, his future. It's all ash, aside from me, and I hardly feel a worthy substitute but at least I can teach him how to survive.

I hope his sister is well. I hope I will see her again.

Somewhere in the southern Icefield…

...a man enters what used to be a barn, converted now into a small living space. He clicks on the light and a woman looks up from a glass covered desk, bleary eyed, hands around a clock. “Cake,” Ruthers says,  somewhere between a snap and a growl. “You were supposed to pick up that feed shipment hours ago.”

She stares at him, eyes half hidden by unkempt hair, her long since past caring at the state of it. “Whoops,” she replies, trying not to roll her eyes. “I’ll get it in a minute.”

“Once real winter starts-”

“I know, I know,” she says, waving a hand and looking back down at the clock. “Can’t go mistiming things.”