#But ploughing ahead with the other chapters regardless

[the-busy-ghost]

Medal awarded to local adult, university graduate, who finally understands long division

[silentprincess17]

Sometimes Things Have To Get Worse Before They Get Better

This is essentially a darker, heavier alternate take on Memory #7 - Blades of the Yiga. I wanted to write a fic with a competent Yiga Clan. (Yes you read that right). It is very angsty in the beginning and then becomes fluffy (hence the title!)

Summary: Link and Zelda have returned from Vah Naboris with Urbosa and have spent the night in Kara Kara Bazaar Inn. Link wakes up and finds her missing.

Cue the angst.

This story is complete and I will post each chapter daily on here but you can read the whole thing on AO3

Rating: Mature (Graphic descriptions of violence) Pairing: Link/Zelda (Zelink) Characters: Link, Zelda, The Yiga Clan, Master Kohga Trigger warnings for this chapter: Descriptions of blood, wounds and death. Also: there is a spoiler for one of the side quests in AOC (one of the things Link does for Zelda) and it's in the third paragraph before the last one so it's nearly at the end.

Read Chapter 1

Chapter 2: Ambushed

Link ran, sprinting through the sand, his boots coughing up a flurry of grains, sword already pulled out in his hand, pulsing as it recognised his anxiety.

A ball of fear erupted in his chest, and suddenly Link found his mouth dry and unable to swallow. He couldn’t deny it to himself then, it wasn’t just duty that motivated his actions. Hell, this-this need to protect her… It felt like something he’d always done, an innate instinct. Something deeper than his vows as her Knight tied him to her, probably something to do with his past lives, but he didn’t know how to explain it, and really, it scared him, sometimes, this urge that he had little control over. A lot of things scared him about the sword actually, and he wondered just how separate he truly was from it sometimes.

Despite running flat out, he was still a considerable distance away, but even from here, he could tell, it wasn’t looking good. She had run, valiantly, but there were two of them up ahead of her, he couldn’t make out just yet what Yiga Clan member they were, but he could see the Yiga Foot soldier behind her. And crap, she’d slipped and fallen, and Farore, just – just a few more seconds and he’d make it.

Please, please, please.

His heart thundered in his chest; his hands icy cold, clammy around the handle of his sword.

The three Yiga Foot soldiers approached her, okay, okay, this wasn’t good, no, they had Vicious Sickles, but he had the Sword That Seals The Darkness, and what better definition of darkness than the Yiga Clan, he would make it- and

Spirits

Three Yiga Blademaster’s poofed into existence beside the Foot soldiers, and together they slashed their windcleavers, aimed at his Princess’s throat.

NO.

Link jumped, sliced the first Foot Soldier in the chest, blood spurting outwards and he nimbly twisted to avoid it landing on him, and then aimed for the first Blademaster. Just before his blade hit that idiot’s neck, the other two began to laugh. The sickening Yiga Clan laugh that was so incredibly patronising, and Link was already feeling bad enough this morning and he had little patience left.

“Not so fast, Hero.” The Blademaster in the centre clicked his fingers and another three appeared behind the Princess, all of them pointing the tips of their windcleavers at her neck.

Holy Hylia. There were now 5 blades aimed at her, one of them pressed closed enough that she couldn’t swallow without fear of drawing blood. And he couldn’t bring himself to actually look at her, the one glance he’d had would forever scar him, she looked downright petrified. The sight made his blood boil, the sword glowed blue, but he had to be logical.

It wouldn’t do to attack the one whose neck was under his sword only for the other five to behead the Princess. Yes, he was fast. Yes, he was blessed with rapid reflexes. But even he recognised it would be impossible to eliminate all five without one of them harming the Princess before he finished. It would take seconds for them to nick her carotid artery, whilst he needed to slice through five necks. This would have been so much easier if she wasn’t in the middle of the fray. A simple charged sword attack aimed in the air would have exterminated the lot. He also couldn’t help but curse himself because he’d been an idiot and forgotten his bow, he hadn’t picked it up in all the rush of Zelda disappearing and now he severely regretted it. What he wouldn’t have done for a few electric arrows right now. He would have shocked the life out of them with all their metal weaponry.

“There’s too many of us, Hero, with too many swords at the ready to behead this pretty little blond thing. We only really have an issue with her Royal Holiness here, for she supposedly holds the power to seal away our God.” He laughed, “Although she isn’t that Holy, is she, eh boys?”

They all broke out into laughter, and Link decided that was the best opportunity he was going to get. He stabbed the sword into the first Yiga Blademaster’s neck, a fountain of red erupted out, just as Link shoved his body towards one of the remaining Foot Soldiers, who got trapped underneath the sheer dying bulk of the man. He rolled, pulling the Princess down so she was out of direct range of those windcleavers, and then he unceremoniously chucked her towards the opening he’d just created. She seemed to get the message and started to run, whilst he began to dance with his sword.

Move one to the jugular vein, two to the heart plus some ribs, three a large spin attack against the last Foot Soldier and three Blademasters who lunged at him, but he only belatedly realised one of them didn’t have a weapon, had they used the sickle as a boomerang? He distantly felt a muscle spasm, but that didn’t distract him, no, he ploughed through with the movement, effectively plunging the sword through the layers of skin, muscle and fat, and he leapt out of the resulting crimson blood spray that blended in with their armour. He had to admit, even if he wasn’t comfortable with the whole context of the sword and the trauma of seeing everything they had gone through, it was a beautiful blade. The best he’d ever had the honour of wielding.

His focus was shattered, suddenly, as he heard a painfully familiar scream, was it a memory or – no. That was His Zelda. He belatedly realised the last Yiga Foot soldier hadn’t remained trapped. He’d chased after the Princess and he had three darts pressed her abdomen, hard enough that she was whimpering, with his sickle wrapped around her neck, the curved edge milliseconds from ending her life. She had one hand alternating between trying to claw the mask off the Yiga’s face to ineffectively grasping at his hand wielding the sickle, the other outstretched to him, and it broke him a little.

His heart ached, his pulse thundering hard in his ears, because she was too far away for him to jump to her, too far to do anything without a damn bow. The bodies that littered the floor, and the blood that coated the sand around him weren’t enough, the one that remained would kill her, before he could do anything. Of that he had no doubt.

“Lay down your sword. And you may leave with your life. We do not care for the Hero, you’re simply a vessel for the Hero’s spirit and even if we kill you, you’ll just come back in some other lowlife’s body. We only care for the supposedly High Priestess Hylian Princess Zelda and the Sword that Seals the Darkness. Without those two, Hyrule will be blessed by Calamity Ganon’s unbridled power!”

He hesitated, and in that one second another four Yiga Blademasters appeared behind him, “DO NOTHING Hero. Remember what position your darling Princess is in.” The Foot soldier tightened his hold on Zelda and pressed the blade deeper into her skin and it cut into her neck, causing a small line of blood to leak down the blade.

That was the tipping point, Link saw red, and howled, hurling the Master Sword so that it pierced that wretched mask, straight into the bastard’s eye, and swung down with gravity to cut through his face.

And he turned around to face those remaining Yiga Blademaster’s with his bare hands, but instead he smelt the familiar incense of cool saffilina, which rang alarm bells in his head, this was used as a sleeping drought. He couldn’t do much more than gasp before a towel was rammed into his face, and he struggled against it, but suddenly the smell became so much more concentrated. He blinked, trying his hardest not to breathe, but the haze that descended on his mind regardless meant it was far, far more potent than the one he’d made for Zelda.

All of a sudden, he felt disturbingly dizzy, his legs like jelly underneath him. His eyelids abruptly felt incredibly heavy- he closed his eyes almost unwittingly, and then struggled to open them again. He barely managed to open one flimsily, and he saw vague red shapes ensnaring his Princess and all he could do was fall to the floor on his knees, shameful that he’d failed her.

She was screaming his name, and all he could do was raise a pitiful arm out to her, before he succumbed, and all he saw was black.

[joaquinwhorres]

I HAVE to know what "the scene" was for The Fool! This is a matter of national security, thank you for your cooperation.

I’m taking you back to March 2007 back in my angsty secondary school years.

Before Deathly Hallows was released.

Before JK R*wling outed herself as trash.

Before I participated in any writers workshops or creative writing classes and developed all of my author-ly skills by taking part in Harry Potter roleplaying websites. 

The scene that drove me to write this fic is actually a scene that’s no longer in the fic because I got better at writing and realized the story was better without it. It’s the scene in which Wren kissed George--which originally was Fred.

It is too cringey for me to post the original, so I’ll post the most revised draft before I scrapped it (which is still cringey because it was written in 2015).

*Also, i just want to note that “the scene” that revived the story is actually coming in two chapters. I’ll mark it.

Ludo Bagman was a pretty good commentator, but nothing could beat Fred and George's commentary on the commentary as well as the game. Wren attempted to watch along with her Omnioculars, playing with the dial to speed things up and slow them down, to read the various plays that were being made, but she soon found herself too engulfed with playing with the Omnioculars than actually watching the game. So, when her mother asked to borrow them, Wren gave them away without an argument.

Troy scored the first goal and immediately Wren grabbed George's shoulders, who she was sitting behind, and used them as leverage to jump up and down. He handled it well, only making a small comment about how he was unaware that he'd been turned into a springboard, to which Wren remarked that he was a rather good springboard and might consider it as a career should school not work out.

When Krum pulled a Wronski Feint on Lynch, however, Wren went completely ballistic and started using very foul language to describe both Krum and his mother. Of course, being as vocal as she was, and given the fact that the Bulgarian Minister of Magic was in the box, Wren's mother promptly began scolding her equally loudly, which caused Fred and George to oscillate between fits of rage of Krum and fits of laughter over Wren being admonished.

Things really began to spiral after that when Ireland was awarded a penalty after Zograf's stunt on Mullet, and that caused the Veela to angrily dance again which led the referee to act very strangely indeed, and he had to be knocked out of it by a Mediwizard. Things got very dicey from there when the referee attempted to send off the Veela from the field and Volkov and Vulchanov landed arguing with the ref. From there another penalty was awarded to Ireland, followed by two more penalties for a grand total of four, and that is when Wren got to witness one of the most amazing sites she'd ever seen. The Veela transformed into angry bird-like creatures and began to shoot fire from their hands in a fight against the leprechauns.

"Now, this is what Hogwarts is missing!" Fred called, and Wren laughed before noticing the Quaffle up in the air.

"Look! Moran's got it! He's going for it! He scores!" Wren now shook Fred's shoulders for good measure. She did not let go though because in the next minute Quigley broke Krum's nose with a bludger. "I BLOODY LOVE HIM!" She screamed, her hands digging into Fred's shoulders who flinched and attempted to move away. Wren released him and was surprised that her mother didn't scold her again, but she was too busy jumping up and down. "You boys learn to play like him, and I guarantee I'll marry you. I'll marry you on the spot," Wren said. "But until then he'll always be the best. I LOVE QUIGLEY," They didn't even try to look offended, they just laughed at her. And then Wren caught sight of Lynch. The Irish Seeker had gone into a dive and Krum wasn't too far behind.

"Go! Go! GO!" Wren screamed, grabbing Nora's arm and squeezing it. Nora's own fists were clenched as she waited in eager anticipation.

"Come on!" Fred and George leaned over the railing. Nora was now jumping up and down in anticipation. Lynch ploughed into the ground, and Krum rose up higher his fist held high with a glint of gold in between his fingers. Wren had no time to be upset.

"WE WON!!!" the twins yelled, hugging each other before doing a little dance.

"Ireland! Ireland!" Nora chanted as Wren pulled her into a hug. Wren could faintly hear Aunt Kathleen's flag, and Nora broke away to hug her mother. The twins turned around and Wren held out both her arms in excitement.

"We won!" she screamed before leaning over the chairs and grabbing George's face between her hands, pulling him into a kiss.

To be clear, it wasn't a full out snog. It was akin to a moment that any muggle would recognize from the movies, when a girl or guy says, "I could just kiss somebody!" and then goes ahead to kiss the person closest to him or her regardless of gender. It took until Wren pulled back and stared into George's surprised face that she was still holding between her hands for her to realize what had just happened. Quickly she let go, pushing past Nora and her parents, and over to her own mother, leaving George standing there next to Fred, probably absolutely clueless as to why a girl he'd only properly met a few hours ago had just kissed him. Wren felt absolutely mortified, but if she wanted to play it off as if nothing had happened, she couldn't acknowledge that anything out of the ordinary happened; she couldn't even apologize. Wren threw herself into her mother's arms upon reaching her, hugging her and kissing her on the cheek, and then moved over to her father who took her hands and spun her about. Wren stayed nestled between her two parents, a good distance away from Fred and George, as the players from Bulgaria filed into the box.

[imagine-loki]

A Warrior’s Life

TITLE: A Warrior’s Life

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter Thirty-Eight AUTHOR: wolfpawn ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Viking Loki coming to your village, raiding, and pillaging, before deciding there is something about you that intrigues him and deciding to take you back to Asgard with him. There, you are forced to learn a new life and language, and though you hate what has happened to you, you learn that Loki is not as bad as you think.

RATING: Mature

“It feels so wrong to be leaving you, especially when you are like this.” Loki frowned holding Maebh against him, his hand protectively on her stomach waiting to feel the child within move again.

“It is not your doing and you would not go if you had not been called upon to.” She sighed in return, not wanting to cry again at his leaving.

“I feel as though the Norns are playing games with me. I finally have a wife I love dearly, and then for her to become with child so desperately wanted, meaning said wife needs me but I must leave, there is no justice.” Maebh could not see his face, but she could hear the anger seeping into his voice.

“It is the duty of your station, think of what this journey could achieve, over a century of war could be ended, and you, integral to its happening.”

“But it will be Thor that will receive most of the recognition.” Loki countered bitterly. “Why should I sacrifice time with my wife and children to work on this only to be forgotten in it all?”

“Thor knows how important you are to any endeavours such as this, look how he trusts you more than any other, as he did on Vanaheim, how he made you his second in command, and not for you being his brother, but because he knows he can trust you. It is better to be trusted by he who will be king than to be concerning yourself what some fisherman thinks of your input.”

“You really were made to rule.” Loki smiled kissing her head. “Such a political mind.”

“I rather my fate this way thank you.” She gripped his hand in hers. “Ulaidh is too fickle and untrustworthy I have long learnt, here I only need to worry about trusting the sun to melt the ice after the snows, with you by my side.”

“Do you trust me when I say I will return?”

“I trust you will do all in your power to,” Maebh answered honestly. “Hmph!” she moaned as the child stretched in her. “I will never get used to such sensations.”

Loki smiled; the palm of his hand was placed right where its little foot pressed out against Maebh’s skin. “It is wonderful.” He sighed sadly before continuing. “I have barely gotten to feel it at all and now I have to leave, I will miss it.”

“When you return I will resemble a mare in my size.” Maebh groaned.

“What if I miss it? I could come home to a babe I did not help you through the most difficult time with.” Loki’s voice was low with concern.

“You would not be permitted to be with me while I birth regardless, so think more of arriving home safely. But also ensure you are not too lenient or too severe in hopes of achieving an early return.”

“Yes dear.” Loki mimicked his father’s tone he used when Frigga would lecture him in private, earning him a light elbow into the ribs.

“Better I more like your mother than you too like Odin.”

“Indeed.” Loki kissed her neck affectionately. “I will miss you more than words can express.”

“And I, you. And as much as I do not want to be away from your embrace, we better rise and break fast with Nafi.” Maebh almost felt the words catch in her throat as she spoke. She brought his hand to her lips and pressed them softly against it, before pushing herself up in a way that did not put strain on her stomach.

“Right,” Loki responded sadly, getting up and putting on a tunic and pants, making his way to the door so he could wake Nafi one last time before his departure.

“I’m awake.” The boy declared as his father entered his room.

“May I speak with you a moment?” Loki asked as he walked in. Nafi nodded and sat up in his bed. “I need you to continue your training as you have been doing while I am gone.” Loki began, Nafi nodded again. “But I also need you to…”

“Care for mother?” Nafi finished.

“Yes, she is getting quite heavy with the child; it seems so large in comparison to her smaller frame. And as the time comes closer to the child being born, she will find it harder to do the smallest of things.” Loki explained.

“I know already from Sif, I swear to help her however I can father.”

“You are a great young man, and should be very proud of yourself.” Loki smiled ruffling his hair. “Now come on, we need to get some food, I am leaving soon enough.” Nafi rose and threw on a tunic. “How come you were awake when I came in?”

“I do not think I have settled here yet,” Nafi admitted. “It feels odd.”

“It is far grander than our old home, and far more comfortable,” Loki commented.

“It still feels odd though, but I’ll get used to it, though I miss mother’s cooking.”

Loki laughed. “Aye, as do I, but you have to admit having more staff and letting Maebh relax has its advantages. She is spending more time with you and is able to care for herself and the child more. And perhaps when it is born, she and I can teach you to ride a horse.”

“Really?” Nafi could not control his excitement.

“Maybe, think of it as an incentive to continue your outstanding training and to not view your new sibling as Thodin views poor little Modi.” Loki smiled as they walked from the room to the dining quarters.

“Dare I ask what you two are discussing?” Maebh smiled from her seat, already sitting at the table.

“Only how great a brother Nafi will be,” Loki informed her as he sat at the head of the table next to Maebh, with Nafi sitting on the other side.

“That hardly needed stating.” She commented smiling at her son.

“And how, when the child is born, we can spend time teaching Nafi to ride.”

“Well we have two horses and stables that can hold many more, why not add one for Nafi, we may also need to get work ones, more fields to plough would take too great a toll on the two that we have.”

“My stallion could no more pull a plough as produce milk,” Loki commented.

“Well then, when you are gone, I am going to organising the getting of more horses,” Maebh stated matter-of-factly as she began to eat her food.

“Do I not get a say?”

Maebh leant over and kissed Loki on the cheek. “No.” She smiled at his indignant face. Nafi laughed as his food was served to him.

The meal was sedate, with no one saying very much. Loki looked at wife and son guiltily as he thought of having to leave them for so long. With Aslaug as his wife, he only even felt guilty for having to leave Nafi, but with Maebh, he was far more reluctant to leave at all, especially with the child she bore being so close to birthing at the expected time of his return. He looked at her stomach and swallowed hard, his guilt growing all the more as he thought about it.

“We will be fine.” Loki looked up at Maebh’s face. “We’ll be able to take care of ourselves.”

“I know you can, but I still do not have to like it.” he sighed. He rose from the table and walked back to their room. Slowly, Maebh got up and followed him.

When she entered, Loki was sitting on the side of the bed, preparing to change into his armour for the journey. “What if I never get to see our child? What if something happens, to it, or to me?”

“You cannot think like that, the worry will consume you.” Maebh walked over to him.

Loki found himself almost eye level with her stomach. He immediately placed his hand on it, willing the child to move. “I have yearned for all of this for so long.” He gently kissed the clothed mound. “I fear all that could go wrong.”

“You would be a fool not to, but it does not mean that that is what will happen, and it will not make this any easier.” Maebh kissed the top of his head as she threaded her fingers through his hair. “I will miss you no end.”

“And I you.” Loki rose and began to place his armour on himself, and even though it was not necessary, Maebh aided him, carefully tying each piece, ensuring all the fabric was creaseless as she tied the metal and leather overlayer upon it.

No sooner were they done when they heard the stablehand enter the home to tell them that Loki’s horse was readied. Loki sighed in resignation and the family walked out to the yard to say their farewells. Nafi gripped his father's legs tightly, as though fearful of letting go, Loki placed his hands on his shoulders. “I need you to be strong now, your mother needs you to be.” He stated, there was a slight shake in his voice, Nafi looked up at him and nodded, tears silently trickling down his face.

Then Loki turned to Maebh, taking her in his arms and kissed her with a ferocity that scared him, as though he was never to see her again. “Promise me you will do all you can to return.” She begged.

“I will return my love; these are peace talks, nothing else,” Loki replied unconvincingly. Maebh bit her lips, her cheeks stained with her tears and her eyes filled with fear. “Look after our children while I am gone.” He smiled holding her stomach between his hands. As though sensing something was occurring, the child gave a strong kick. Loki coughed a small laugh. “I cannot wait to meet this little one.” He rubbed where he had felt the kick.

“Your highness.” The family turned to see Hogun on his horse entering the yard. “Thor is seeking your immediate presence.”

Loki nodded sadly, mounting his horse. “I will see you both soon.”

“If you are delayed, what am I to call the child?” Maebh asked fretfully.

“We will discuss such matters upon my return; I will be home to name my child.” Loki smiled confidently. Maebh just bit her lips together and nodded. He turned to Hogun. “We better ride quickly, it would not do to delay the journey.” The warrior silently nodded his agreement and with one last look at his family, Loki turned the horse to the road ahead and kicked in his heals.

At the village, Loki watched as the boats were readied for their departure. He stared blankly ahead of him as he thought of his family. “Brother, you have arrived. We can make for our heading now. I will have your horse placed in my stables so you can make your way back to your home upon our return.” Thor smiled, Loki merely nodded solemnly. “It will not be long.” Thor yawned.

“I take it Modi is still crying a lot?”

“Every time Sif, Helga or mother leave him out of their arms,” Thor admitted.

“Well, I wish I had such a complaint. I mean it brother, if Ásvaldr is playing games with us, I will slay him for taking me away from my family at this time.” Loki swore.

“And I would happily hold him so you could do so. I know what this means for you Loki. How is she?”

“Do you think she would ever admit if she were struggling? Maebh refuses to show weakness even today. I know she will be fine, but I think she is more scared than she is letting on.”

“She will have mother and Sif checking on her, and we will be home soon, wait and see.” Thor attempted to comfort his younger brother. Loki followed him onto the boat, severely sceptical of his brother’s promise. “At least she does not have to take a boat.” Loki laughed as he thought of Maebh’s aversion to the form of travel as they set said from their home. There was not a god he did not pray to for his safe return in the near future.

[zani-is-a-stan]

Suzani reads AF: Chapter 1 - Bee Stings

I’m reading AF and liveblogging my response. This is partly because RH’s books are so densely woven that I want to make sure I catch every detail I can on the first read. I pounded most of the other RotE books, and discovered an insane amount of details on my second and third read-throughs that I completely missed the first time. I’m also inventing reasons to slow down because i want to savor the fuck out of this book.

I will not be responding to any comments on these posts until I’ve finished the book - to save myself from spoilers.

And I just wrote a bunch of junk so that you could turn away before the spoilers in case you made it here by accident.

Spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk

Predictions based on chapter title: Bee attacks her kidnappers, or Bee is attacked by them.

Preface text - Something must have happened to make Chade so cautious. Or maybe it’s just that he wasn’t ever as irrational as Fitz imagined him to be. And now we know that stones exist that are not mapped and vice versa.

Apart from Dwalia and Vindeliar, and the man who fed Bee and Shun in the woods i don’t think we knew any names or identities of the kidnapping party before. Now that we’re officially being introduced to these two characters, Reppin and Alaria - one cruel, one submissive. I think this means we’re spending a little time with them. That’s a shame ... I was hoping Bee would have made it to Verity-as-Dragon, but it seems unlikely. Too easy, really, for Bee would have been instantly rescued.

“A bear will eat you.” Dwalia threatens. If that cranky bear with the bad tooth doesn’t show up and eat Dwalia, welll ... it’ll be another RobinHobbRedHerring (TM).

Bee is having some very vivid imagery of what wolves eat. I always assumed Fitz ate mice while when he and Nighteyes lived alone, but it was never described in this kind of detail before. Is it significant, or just an example of how Bee sees different details of the world than Fitz does?

HELL YEAH BEE you beat the shit out of Dwalia! THAT’s my girl!

And then we get this moment ... the kind that I love Hobb for. She snatches a broad, expansive, horrible real life experience and simmers it into a single phrase that tells everything of the horror and injustice of the expereince. She did it with Etta. She did it with Kennit. She’s does it with Fitz and Laurel and Shun. And now she says “I’d never been held in a painful way while a grown-up tried to deliver as much pain as she could, regardless of how it might injure me.”  And now, we, the readers, understand child abuse as we understood sex trafficking and narcissism following abuse, PTSD, rape, and social isolation.

Coultrie and Capra ... who are they? I was only able to find one name meaning online for Coultrie (it means ‘unpredictable’ and ‘appealing’, which sounds like it could possibly be bullshit, but you never know.) Capra basically means goat ... so it could mean 'butt-headed' or 'hungry’. ‘Coulter’ is the blade that cuts the ground ahead of a plough, which seems an exceedingly White word to use in the context of the duties of the Whites, but it’s also a stretch. Are they part of the four?

AHHHH! Kerf and Reppin can see the White that Beloved once was through the memories stored in the stones! She’s singing a mocking song at Reppin ... DOES THAT MEAN SHE WAS SINGING IN THE PAST KNOWING THAT HER WORDS WOULD REACH THESE PEOPLE SO MANY YEARS IN THE FUTURE? Of course it does. Elderling-past-life-Beloved was like the smartest person ever.

Alaria’s dream seems pretty clear cut: the nut is Bee, as she dreamed herself. She is attacked often, but only gets stronger, until the attacks are too much, and she is destroyed ... and with that destruction, comes Fitz to avenge and destroy all of Clerres.

VINDELIAR WAS GIVEN A POTION! Dragons blood for certain! He had to have been someone unSkilled, that she thought she could control, and gave him dragons blood to change him!

They are right on top of the old campsite the Bear chased the Farseer Five out of! Her other dad’s gloves are right there!

Bee finds an item from each of her parents in the snow! Her mother’s candle, Amber’s glove, and Fitz’s cylinder of something clearly important! But the item she chooses to take is the candle ... and a grey knit hat. Whose hat? So plain, I want to say that it’s Per’s. I feel this choice and that hat are going to be significant ...

Chapter Title recap: Bee attacked Dwalia, Reppin and Alleria, but not Kerf or Vindeliar. Are these the stings? Or is it that she was attacked by Dwalia and Reppin? Neither attacks win the conflict ... so maybe they’re all the stings ...