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Dear Diary,

It has been fun getting ready for winter break, one last class and then finals. Not too much time to run, but lots of study. I've really been making Major Dragon work to help me study. She has been a good sport, but seems tired.

"Class, read your assignments and remember, next lesson we will discuss succession, such as it is, and winter readings for next semester. We will also discuss the course of study for the next semester." "Glad to see you again for your last class of this year, before finals and the winter break. I thought I'd talk about succession. I know. It is a sore subject for some of you, a strange one for others. To begin with, who knows why Elves rarely have heirs? Parakile? Good, trust a dwarf, of sorts, to know about elves. Right answer, elves don't die in the normal course of things and so they don't need heirs in the usual fashion. To the extent that they do die, the children of their bodies are usually the least likely to have the means or the influence or the ability to do anything about it -- assuming they can't bring the lost ones back to life and haven't been killed themselves. Now, what about Shalgathi? Ahh, yes, sister's daughters. Anyone know why it isn't sister's sons? Of course, Drggg, it is because they tend to eat the males of their own lines, much like praying mantis do. You might also hear them called Cephbrancites and Cepbrancia though Shalgath and Shalgathi are the more common names. None on campus this semester, not since the last one got eaten on a visit home. How about the true dwarves? Of course, Tindalasse. Yes, dwarves all do tend to give into their compulsions as they grow older, so around five or six hundred years of age they are swallowed up in the craft or tecton that has embraced them, more and more living for the jewelry or weapons or buildings or other crafted thing that has always been their calling. They often pick a younger brother's son as their heir, or a cousin, as the younger brother's son's often pick as their heirs the grandsons of the one who picked them. Dwarvish leaders are always at their peaks. Snow dwarves? Well, they are really a race of men who lives somewhat like dwarves, with slightly longer lifespans than normal men. They have heirs as most men do. Oh yes, that means that for many races being the son or daughter of a king or prince or duke does not mean a title of your own (though elvish kings call their sons princes and their daughters altessas after the old style), though such do have the benefit of the best of resources, family connections and a chance to get a head start on life if they prove out to be worthy as friends. On the other hand, they must outgrow being remembered as children. Makes for an interesting blend. Now, lets discuss classic heirship and descent." "Ah glad to see you hear for your final. I've decided that if anyone can come up with a good speculation as an attempt to answer the question "What does it mean that the the Rukh "favors" the Bitter King, they can take a pass on the final, with extra credit if they can intelligently discus the rumors about why the "favor" statements are always made when her companion is not around." "Yes. What a question. What if you can't speculate, but you know the real answer, will that do? Forgive an old man a chance to smile. The entire Sidhe Court doesn't know the answer, I was just going to allow anyone who could show a good understanding of dynamics and the local situations a chance to pass on the boredom of the final." "But I know the real answer, I thought everyone did.  If that doesn't count, I'll just take the final, I've been studying hard. But I know the answer." Sheesh, I should have kept quiet. I didn't realize that no one got the point. I could feel Tindalasse's eyes (and oh, what eyes) staring at me, as if I'd held the secrets of the universe away from him. "Uh ... [I've never seen the prof for this class at a loss for words, boy that was strange], um, well, go ahead and tell us and I'll let you know if you can pass on the final." "Well, just like my mom, the Rukh doesn't have much use for elves. Heck, when the last Bitter King, the Basalisk King cast that curse, she was all for breaking it the old fashioned way, even if it meant eating half the elves in the new world. Of the various pretenders, she would mostly just as soon have eaten them as had to deal with them interrupting the countryside. But, her husband likes the current Bitter King and sort of like a Christmas present, the Rukh has decided to lend the Bitter King her favor "for as long as it takes." You know, the usual. Any open enemy of his she will consume, any hidden foe who strikes the Bitter King down will feel her vengence, any time she thinks of it she will lend him her aid or the benefit of the spoils and trophies of war. For at least the next twenty or thirty years, probably longer. I know, all the elvish tabloids make it out like she is having an affair behind my guardian's back or something. Since she is his familiar, that would be kind of hard, but since her husband decided that the current Bitter King is worthy, and I'm not explaining that, the Rukh has decided to favor him. Its a game the two are playing, kind of like how she saved the neighbor of the one-eyed king. I thought it was obvious. In her mind, he is the only one of the evish sidhe she has met recently that she doesn't feel like eating, and it makes her husband happy to see the Bitter King prosper, so she has decided to favor him in the old fashion. The Lightwalker is my guardian, so I favor the Bitter King too, though I'm not out looking for enemies of his to kill and eat.  After all, I'm just a freshman in college. <smile shyly>. That answer the question?" "Well. You mean it isn't a joke or a secret affair, or some sort of hidden bargain he made or some terrible price he agreed to pay or an ancient debt he conjured up or a heroic burden or some sort of obligation or the ancient exchange of three favors? I'll be."   Suddenly the class all had questions. I could see Tindalasse had relaxed, though he had looked pretty pale when I got started. People had the dumbest comments.  How would I know what the Bitter King's wife looks like [does he have a wife? I don't know] or if Amber has a crush on Tindalasse [I never knew there were rumors that he was secretly pledged to marry her in return for support -- I could tell by watching him that he had actually been worrying about that] -- as if I'd tell if I did know. Or what about the blue colored female warrior who was seven feet tall with feet of stone and who had threatened to slay all of his enemies. I'd never heard of that one either [though Wolfie read some minds while that was going on and let me know that is the tabloid version of me!]. And what about the ancient warrior armed in ice who rescued Tindalasse, is that part of the favor story?  Well at least that explains why no one in class connected me with the lectures about the Bitter King. Since our only field trips were to things like Albertsons and a football game, it was all the better.  "<smile>" "No, that's not the story of the rescue. No, I don't know the answers to the questions in the tabloids, though I suspect that if they asked the Rukh some of them, she might eat them. And no, I don't know what [Ducks] is doing with "the Hetari. No, I don't want to guess."   "<smile> Enough. Ok students, that is enough. She is just a kid they've sent to college, though I guess her answer is probably more than enough to justify letting her skip the final."

It was neat to plan for Christmas. Tindalasse helped me do a little shopping, so did Major Dragon, though she knows there is some surprise coming for Christmas. Tindalasse has been more relaxed around me ever since the classroom discussion. He's finally had the nerve to ask some questions about the Rukh -- and about Amber. He kind of thinks she is cute, and now that he realizes he doesn't have to marry her or something, he had a few questions. As for my not-so-secret-service person, Major Dragon thinks her Christmas surprise is unpleasant, but she has been forcing herself to not take it personally. She doesn't seem that serious about it, so I think I'll just surprise her.

Dear Diary,

Its a little later, after I eavesdropped on a telephone call and Major Dragon. After that, I couldn't wait, so I gave the Major her present early. I didn't realize that her feelings had been so hurt that I was going to make an example out of her over the lawacore. Guess her boss didn't tell her much, because I overheard her talking about it, well crying with a friend, and her saying "but I thought we were becoming friends." All her boss had told her was that she was going to have to put up with things and that the brass knew about it (why the brass is important, rather than the king or the bush or something else, I don't know).

She cried when she realized what was really happening, but they were happy tears. She loved the scarf (though I didn't tell her about the magic) and the bracelet just left her speechless, especially when Teal dropped by and made a comment about it and told her she had to keep it, that the secretary had written special orders. I asked him if it was a brass secretary and he just looked at me. What do I know, I figured that the secretary of the marines had to have some relationship to the brass and the bush. Anyway, when Teal made his comment, I guess that is when she realized the tennis bracelet was "real" instead of the jargoon they make everything out of (not that I don't like jargoon, even the artificial stuff they call zirconium, but diamonds just seemed nicer).

We are friends again.

Fun stuff. While Ducks is off to the wars, Tindalasse has the time off. Some of the Elves celebrate the Christos, some keep themselves outside (you can guess which, basically all the elves who don't want to grow up or who have decided to grow up the wrong way and think that they will avoid judgment somehow). I can't imagine not being overjoyed to live after he has come, but elves are elves. Anyway, Tindalasse's family does, but the court does not.

Not to mention, while he and his dad are closer than most elves, a visit once every couple-three years (outside of official court functions where he is just part of the scenery) fills them up and they remain connected in their dreams. I don't pretend to understand it all, but Tindalasse is coming. So is Parakyle. He says he can't leave us alone with one of those elves. Not to mention, his father may have been the prince of the people, but while he was gone, that place was taken. Rather than cause trouble by pressing a claim, he has taken a different route. Given the Rukh names him as one of her wards, you can tell that if he pushed, they'd fold, but things are going well and he loved his Uncle, which means he loves his Uncle's grandchildren who claim the princeship now.

So, Amber and Ari and Tinda and Kyle and Wolfie and I are all going for a visit to the seashore. I'm excited about it.
.

Probably a good thing we went to the beach in Baja California. I was worried about how safe the beach would be through the gate, and the sea elves have a well protected area that is a favorite for sidhe vacations, so we went down there. When we arrived, Amber threw up a lightwall and I got ready to change into a swim suit, when Ari caught my arm. "Indigo, do you have true sight?" Of course I said yes. "Can you see through that wall?" Of course I said "of course" and turned bright red. We changed into swim suits in a cabana. Not that any of the guys would have looked, but, well, you know. It was fun to swim. I'm not sure I trust the water or the ocean in the other realm, but it was a lot of fun here.

Ari told me about an adventure they had in the school. Seems like there are a lot of neat things in the buildings and in Switzerland. They met some of the iron dwarves of the deep mountains and some of the gold gnomes. They've learned a lot and had some great fun. Ari says it was like a treasure hunt cleaning out spriggins and redcaps in the mountains and in an abandoned mine.
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Time to talk about presents. I got the na-pavase. Ari got a riding skirt. It is like baggy pants or a divided skirt or a full skirt, depending on how she wants it to look. It has some neat magic and she wears it with her spirit shirt and an embroidered jacket that she has. The jacket is just pretty, not a lot of magic, but it makes a great outfit. We gave each other ear rings and they are neat. They all match, and we are going to wear them when Ari's school has their presentation ball. I get to go to, and we've decided to draft Wolfie, though he doesn't know it yet. Major Dragon gave me a collection of books by a George Mylonas about Mycenae. It was a sweet gift from her. We decided to give Teal a joint gift -- a shaft of marble from Atlantis. We won't tell him what it is or where it came from and it should keep him thinking. I even gave Wolfie a gift -- some running shoes and some gauntlets. He gave me a sleeping bag and a collection of three tokens he had saved when he had cleaned out some rock trolls from an old cave when visiting what had been his home. It was nice to see three of Ceres tokens, though I was never one for the farming life. We had a lot of fun exchanging presents on twelfth night and in going to the Swiss church near-by. Then it was time to show Amber and Ari and Tindalasse and Kyle the world behind the gate. Jean and Marie weren't really interested, they wanted to take a trip to Italy to see how much things had changed since they had last been there, but the rest of us were game for some time exploring. But it sure had been fun to have a Christmas in the Swiss mountains with my friends. Almost everyone from the school had gone home, but it did not seem empty with all of us there.

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