Briar's Ascension

Briar spun as she sped through the bitter air, causing the dim early spring morning to spiral into a rainbow of colors around her. The dull mortal world faded away behind her, and the spinning colors broke to a field of blooming flowers, with patches of her namesake growing all around it, guarding the helpless blooms from the outside world. As she flew on, the tiny buds grew and grew, becoming flower, bushes, trees, and finally, a towering red flower bloom at the center of it all, dozens of smaller faeries buzzing around it and leaving it to tend to the field surrounding it. The seat of the Bloom Court. The home of her most beloved Queen.

She flew to the giant rose and began darting in between its petals. The spaces in between the layered petals wove around like hallways, with occasional openings allowing access deeper down. Briar could have flown the path with her eyes closed, if not for all the faeries flying around in here with her. A stunt for another time. She flitted on, layer after layer, until finally coming to the center. The edges of the innermost petal towered far into the sky, closing at a point to keep the room closed off from the outside. A green throne grew in the center of the room, with the fae queen atop it, buzzing to several smaller faeries floating around her. After a few moments, she caught sight of Briar and waved them away, the small faeries scattering to the edges of the flowery throne room. Briar finally landed to take a deep bow before her queen, before flying up to face her, careful to stay lower than she sat.

Had the Queen been standing, she would stand two or three heads taller than Briar, leaving her imposing even while sitting back on her throne. A small crown of vines was woven into her hair that grew far longer than any other faerie could manage without ruining their ability to fly. Her purple eyes looked down to Briar expectantly as she smiled.

"My dear Commander Briar, what brings you here so early?"

Briar returned a far wider grin, "My Queen, I bring the news of another fallen arm of the Moon Court. The witch... Commander Hazel has retreated back to the seat of their court. You will have your full power any day now!"

"Has she now? It would seem that Commander Briar has done the same. Perhaps she is not the victor she thinks she is?" Her smiled remained, taking out some of the sting of her accusation.

"I—She—I wanted to be sure to tell you myself." She planted her fists on her hips. "You have a battalion now holding an ex-Moon stronghold, that is a victory even if her commander has gone to claim further, or convene with her Queen."

She laughed lightly. "Easy, Briar. Your efforts are most appreciated. I, and the Court of course, owe you so much, and..." The queen's wings flittered silently and she flew around Briar. Briar held her breath as the queen looked down to her. "And I believe we will be able to return your devotion soon enough." She sank back into her throne as Briar's grin grew.

"You mean it, Milii?"

The queen's smile vanished. There was a buzz at the edges of the room.

"M...my Queen." Briar stammered. The queen's smile returned.

"If your results continue to be as superb as they have been, perhaps, you will even earn the right to use that name again."

"Yes, my Queen! I shall get back to the Moon Court at once! It will be the fastest spring they have ever seen!" She bowed in the air, then tore off out of the red room.

Briar marveled at the field surrounding the Bloom Court buzzing with hundreds, possibly thousands of faeries. She'd never seen this many in one place before. Even the most crowded battles of the fae were never fought by more than a few dozen, and even the current queen's coronation had not been so attended. Certainly there was something more than an early spring causing this, but she wasn't sure what yet. She fidgeted with a rose bloom in her hair that her queen had insisted she wore as proof of her swift victory over the Moon Court. Briar had a number of Moon trophies she had offered to wear instead, but if her queen wanted a rose, she would get a rose.

Many faeries flocked to her to see the new Bloom Court Commander, asking questions of her victories and her queen, both she was eager to discuss, until after some time when a male faerie about half her height flew up to her.

"Commander Briar, miss, the Queen requests your presence." She made a small noise that earned her a strange look before taking off towards the towering rose at the center of the blooming field.

The Queen was spending a rare day outside her towering rose of the Bloom Court. She flitted lightly in the air, flanked on her left and right with a number of other faeries, each slightly larger than Briar, and, strangely, wearing a rose just as Briar was. Smaller male faeries buzzed around, waiting on the line of faeries.

"You see," the Queen said to her entourage. "Is she not a perfect fit?" A grin beaming with confidence, and trying to hide a touch of embarrassment, met the stares of the other faeries inspecting the commander. There were some murmurs that Briar wasn't paying much attention to over the voice of her Queen. "Of course, it will be unfortunate to take such a fine commander away from her post, but I'm sure we will be able to figure something out."

"Take me away?" Briar questioned, "I don't intend to leave, my Queen."

She waved a hand at Briar, "Not leave, of course not. Just elevate you to your proper station. We've never had one remain a commander, but," she looked to the faeries around her, "we may be able to make an exception for such an exceptional one. Details for another day. For now, stay, eat, and of course, listen. If you are going to be a true commander, or greater, there is a lot to learn."

"Stay, where, exactly?" Briar asked, accepting a flower filled with some unusual liquid in it from one of the buzzing males. The Queen smiled and gestured next to her, which Briar eagerly flitted to, while still careful to keep her flight below the head of her Queen.

"If I may ask, who are these other fae? They seem...important though I've never seen them before."

"A lot to learn," she repeated. "In their own way, they too are queens of the Bloom Court."

"But you're the Que—" one of Briar's hands snapped to her mouth as she realized she was interrupting her Queen. She did not seem to mind, and continued.

"Indeed, I am the Queen. But the Bloom Court, all the Courts, truly, have grown larger than a single queen can handle. There are many other meadows holding many faeries of the Bloom Court, though many have only arrived here on this very day, to celebrate your success. Should you remain a commander, you will become well acquainted with them, and their own, not quite as accomplished, commanders."

"Why would I not remain a commander?"

"As I said, only to elevate you to your proper position, should you prove worthy of it, which we will find before you know it..."

Briar uneasily flitted into her Queen's chamber. In the days since the celebration of the Bloom Court, she had heard nothing from her, but had suddenly been summoned after the silence. "You wanted to see me, my Queen?"

"Of course, Briar." She flew down from her towering throne and Briar froze. The Queen did not come down to meet anyone. As the Queen circled around her, Briar noticed the Queen felt... shorter. It must have just been due to her descent. "It seems you are coming up as well as we thought." She set a gentle hand on Briar's shoulder. "I know you were worried about losing your hard-earned rank as commander, and you may put that fear to rest, you should be quite capable of performing both duties."

"I always knew there was something special about us, and I'm so glad you could finally prove it about yourself as well." Briar's heart hammered as she looked up to her old friend expectantly. "Every spring, all the hives of the Bloom Court search for potential new queens, like those you met at the Spring Celebration."

"And, like you."

"Almost. I was chosen to take the place of the Queen before me after her death. Most are chosen to create their own hives, to expand the Bloom Court beyond the reach of one Queen. Briar, you have proven yourself as the next to take this honor!" She threw up her arms in a great flourish befitting the honor she conferred. But as she looked back down to Briar she found only confusion. "Briar?"

Fragment of words came from the faerie before she finally managed "Another hive? But, you, they're never here. You...You want me to leave?" Her breathing sped up as she tried to put together a sentence.

"It is not a matter of want. It is your duty to the hive, and the greatest honor that can be bestowed by the Bloom Court!" The softness in the fae queen's face was fading.

"I don't want it!" Briar shouted. "I want—" She had cut herself off. She'd been doing it for so long.

"You will retain any commander role you wish to keep," the fae queen said sharply. "I have gone to great lengths to ensure you would have the support to do both. You will have all you want, and you will fulfill your duty."

Briar shook her head. "No, I want... I want Milii back," she whispered.

There was a buzzing at the edges of the throne room. The fae queen ascended above Briar and stared her old friend down coldly. "What did you say?"

Briar stared back. All fear left her voice as she repeated, "I want Milii back!"

"Guards!" she roared. Dozens of the smaller male faeries surged from the walls of the throne room. Briar could fight off most of them. She couldn't fight off all of them. Her wings fired, taking her back to the weaving halls of the rose castle. Briar could fly the halls with her eyes closed, or so blurry she couldn't see straight. Crossbow bolts fired as she exploded out of the rose. They'd never hit her. She taught them all they knew. The rows of flowers in the faerie world ran together into lines of red and green. As she fled the meadow, the lines changed to spiraling rainbows around her. The Bloom Court vanished, and was replaced by the mortal world as she flew further and further away.

The sounds of other faeries and crossbows had disappeared too, so she eventually allowed herself to slow down and take stock of her surroundings. The land beneath her was wrong. It wasn't the spring she had brought to the mortal world. Grass and trees grew, but she was surrounded by barren and cracked, even scorched land. She slowed and looked around her, trying to find something she remembered from her attacks within the mortal world. Everything was wrong. Was she in Moon territory? Her breathing became panicked again. She had made too big a mistake this time.

Briar turned and tried to fly back. She needed to go back. She could apologize. She could try. She could face whatever punishment Milii would give her. She spun, but the rainbows didn't fill her vision. She flew and spun and flew and spun, but the faerie world refused to let her in.

Her wings faltered and she allowed herself to land. Tears fell to the cracked ground below her.