The Nascent Diplomat

Cover art for "The Nascent Diplomat" by Pia Foxhall

"*I am your loyal subject, I will do whatever you wish me to do. Isn’t that all you wanted? I am your Mage and your dog and your creature to send about when you wish not to do such work yourself. And I do it all. What more do you want from me? That I should grovel at your feet for the privilege?*"
―Gwyn ap Nudd[[**The Nascent Diplomat**, Chapter 1]]
***The Nascent Diplomat*** is a *Fae Tales Verse AU*, and part 3 of *The Lone Wolf (series)*.

## Summary

Augus is summoned by the Unseelie King of the fae to test out his hand at being a diplomat with a secretive, cave-dwelling race of fae known as the vench. He is sent to the remote region of Aethelwaters to strike up a trade deal, with the King's Mage and executioner - Gwyn ap Nudd - as his bodyguard. They come face to face with a closed culture largely unreceptive to newcomers, initiations to test their merit, an unusual way of feeding, and pitfalls and traps at every turn. Will it drive the shaky foundation between Gwyn and Augus further apart? Or bring them together?

## Characters

*See: List of The Nascent Diplomat characters*

*The Nascent Diplomat* contains a large cast of characters, but focuses on Gwyn ap Nudd and Augus Each Uisge, along with the Raven Prince, a number of Unseelie Court fae, and a large cast of vench.

## Locations

#### Aethelwaters

Aethelwaters has three seasons: warm-time, hot-time, and the cold. 'Dring warm-time, the monsoons come', and the Radula are kept busy ensuring the vench's safety, and they take in fewer visiters.

Outside Aethelwaters, the land was humid, and filled with 'razor sharp rocks tower[ing] between thick trees with emerald green leaves, draped with vines and flowering lianas.' In Aethelwaters, the vench lived in an underground metropolis. 'There were some weak protective shields nearby, though they were more like triggers just to let whoever made them know that someone was approaching. There was innate magic in the rocks and plants and water'. The ground was made of 'deep, grey-blue rock . . . covered in damp from the humidity, very slippery in places. . . . Mosses, lichens and liverworts grew everywhere. Tiny orchids put forth fragile, delicate blossoms with flowers no bigger than Gwyn’s little fingernail. The place smelled green and earthy'. Augus noted that the 'wilderness' was tended and grew valuable plant species. Deeper into Aethelwaters, the 'trees became taller and were further apart, their canopies dense and interlocked, tall rocks sometimes growing through the trunks like spears, which didn’t seem to stop the trees at all. The rocks beneath their feet grew worn away in some sections, eroded by maybe hundreds or thousands of years of footsteps. Beneath the slippery surface, a rougher rock emerged, glittering bits of mica drawing them towards a wider road.'

The entrance to the vench's city began with 'ledges that weren’t quite stairs, descending down. Here, vines grew thickly along the walls, some flowering in pale white and pink, as delicate as the orchids above. They had an odd scent to them . . . The humidity grew denser, the sound of crashing water came from nearby, the first of what would be many waterfalls. . . . Soon, they descended into a fully enclosed cave with a high ceiling, lights coming from torches set in the wall, aglow with bubbles of yellow and blue. Gwyn sensed magic in all of them. None of it was School of the Staff magic, but those were magelights. . . . Eventually their descent down evened out onto low, flat stone surrounded by a slightly wider cave, more of those bubble lights in small alcoves in the cave walls. The lights had the effect of picking out the metallic and iridescent pigments in the [vench's] mottles and hair, making them shimmer and shine. The air was humid and lukewarm, despite the waterfalls'.

The area where Augus and Gwyn's rooms were located was 'down another long corridor . . . The corridor had doors coming off it at irregular intervals. They were made of bamboo, and here the echoing was even worse than before. It had to be unnaturally amplified.'

In the area where Kimerrin lives, 'the doors to individual caverns were marked with golden runes. Gwyn could feel the magic on all of them.' Kimmerin's room was darker than Gwyn and Augus', and contained what 'looked like a nest of moss and cushions and blankets at one end of the room'.

The forest near the vench's home was humid, and populated by various animals, animal shifters (including badger shifters), small fairies, and dryads. The area where the to-ahl resided was overgrown and thick, musty, 'and smelled of the sweet rot of decay'. There were 'tassels of what looked like glimmering pale brown and shimmery green streamers [of skin] here and there. Broken, ancient bones [were] strewn about the place.'

The vench have dryrooms they use to dry out certain items, 'but only certain vench can spend time in them.'

Deeper in the cave system there are crystals growing along the walls and veins of minerals that gleam. Gwyn is pretty sure amanysium - a seemingly rare mineral - is one of those that grow there. Tiny black toads with white and silvery eyes live there. There is a healing space down here, including a large, open, humid cavern, which 'gleamed a golden-yellow from subtle magelights. In one area, a large shallow pool of water that steamed. There were no other vench here, but the place shimmered with magic.' There are chambers on the side of the larger cavern. At least one of them contains magelights, 'a giant nest of lichen, as well as a cot, and a small waterfall on one side of the room that entered into a small pool that must have drained most of the water away. It wasn’t big enough for anyone to step underneath. There were metal and stone basins near the waterfall, along with folded towels and what looked like gauze.'

Mirrors are apparently uncommon in Aethelwaters.

In a cave section particularly full of magic, there were what 'looked like glass and metal mosaics started to appear, colourful and catching the phosphorescent light of fungi and the small glowing creatures that lived in Aethelwaters’ caves. They were in the shape of diamonds, brightly coloured in yellow or green or blue or white.' There were also some in violet and dull pink. 'They drew the eye in and were full of magic.' In this area, there is a cavern, with a stone door 'covered in a starburst of diamond tessellation.' Inside were 'magelights in a network of diamond grids all around the cave walls and the cave ceiling.' The room was filled with tables of fabric being cut into diamonds for cloaks. At least one cloak 'had diamonds of five colours instead of the three mandated by the School of the Staff. Its diamonds were light green, dark green, yellow, a shining gold that could have been the metal itself except for the way it crumpled and bent like cloth, and a strong white.' Temsen said that the cavern contains the cloaks of those who have passed on.

#### Ashran Stables

Near the ashran stables, which are seemingly deep in Splannet territory, 'the floor beneath their feet matted thickly with a strange springy moss. They came to a large door marked with a yellow-green sigil.' Beyond the door, the ground was warmer, and the corridors were narrower and darker. 'The phosphorescence here was less bright, the uneven path dimmer. . . . The smells of cooking and stewing increased. The oddly rancid scent of fermentation overlaid with a thick odour of caramelised sweetness, the astringence of greens or herbs. As they kept walking, Gwyn felt the magic levels increase in the walls. Abruptly they turned hostile and he almost stumbled. Magic embedded in the floors, the ceilings, the rocks all around them, and Gwyn could feel that the magic didn’t want him here, and that it was somehow alert and watching him, like a dog that sat with a preternatural calm by a fence.' There was a large wooden door to the stables themselves, opening to a 'a cylindrical chamber with broad ledges that spiralled upwards to a pale spot in the distant ceiling – what must have been the sky, Gwyn realised. It was so far up that even the night sky looked bright. A cool breeze flowed down and clung to the slippery, rocky floors beneath his feet. A smell of buttery sweetness permeated the space. And all along ledges, pressed closely to the walls were' the ashran.

#### Augus and Gwyn's rooms

Augus and Gwyn's room is on the outskirts of the main part of the vench metropolis. The entrance to Augus and Gwyn's rooms was 'a large, circular bamboo door. This one had a small carved basket outside of it covered with a cloth that also looked like it was made of bamboo or hemp fibres.' Past it was 'a second door set a few inches behind it' seemingly 'made from feather down and spiderweb and maybe bark', beyond which was 'a place that seemed much warmer and drier', and the second door blocked sound. 'Mosses and lichens had been dried and pressed or glued to the walls and ceiling to provide sound-proofing. Woven tapestries that looked as though they’d been made from dyed vines were hung around the walls, depicting pleasing symmetrical shapes, curves and circles in shades of green and gold, ivory and brown. The floor was soft, covered in a kind of moss that seemed to absorb the water from their feet and bounce back once they stepped off it. Three other rooms branched off the central space. One had a large bed, the second was a bathroom with a real thermal spring, Gwyn sensed out the same magic he felt everywhere, but it wasn’t concentrated in the spring, which meant that was no more doctored than anything else, and the third room was bare of most furniture, but had a few large cushions and pillows, and was more softly lit than the other rooms. . . . All of the furniture looked soft and comfortable. Even the tables had little places where moss or plants grew, as though one could rest their head there, or their arm. It was a place designed for physical comfort.'

The room filled with cushions was the intimacy room. Gwyn took to sleeping there, since it was near the door, and so he didn't have to share a bed with Augus.

The thermal spring 'was filled with minerals and bubbled pleasantly'.

#### Council room

The 'doorway they stopped before was glittery and bright with mica. It shone in green and dark green, brown and gold and silver, Gwyn realised these were the colours of all the different vench clans.' It was relatively small, and 'within was only a small circular stone table'. There were five chairs, and the 'chairs had long stone backs, with cushioning that looked soft and possibly stuffed with the same dense, comfortable moss in the mattress back in their room.' The center of the table was 'inlaid with a different kind of stone.'

#### Gwyn's room

Gwyn's new room is located in a different corridor than the one he and Augus shared. The room was smaller than the shared rooms, 'but still had a comfortable, large bathroom.'

#### The lake

The vench brought Augus to a lake and karst forest in Aethelwaters for him to restore himself while he was in Aethelwaters. It is deep in Aethelwaters, but a sinkhole in the ceiling allows access to the sky. Trees around the lake grow up through the hole. The lake is large and deep. 'Bats wheeled above, what looked like small animals made the leaves move in the understorey. The air here was drier than any other place in Aethelwaters.' Inside the lake were 'little fish that may not have existed nowhere else in the world. There were water plants clinging to the sides of the rock face. [Augus] found algae and crystal formations and stalagmites from a time when the lake hadn’t been here at all.' Augus noted it was a thermal spring.

#### Mealsong room

The room 'where all the clans came together to share food, and touch, and sing to one another' was in a 'huge cavern'.

#### Unseelie Court

The Raven Prince's principle office was 'a mess of papers and books and quills and ink and the reek of old inks gone rancid and never cleaned away'. There was an upholstered chair that Gwyn usually occupied when speaking with the Raven Prince. The Raven Prince kept a room at the Court for when Gwyn stayed at the Court, though Gwyn didn't consider it a home. It had a bed. When Gwyn was last in it on-page, he blew a hole in the one of the walls in anger at the Raven Prince's punishment and the assignment.

The kitchens are 'long and connected' and have at least one 'long wooden rack on the ceiling' filled with sausages, and at least one 'trestle table' where fae can sit and eat.

The dungeons are located in a great oak tree, and have a spiraling staircase leading down.

## The vench

#### General

The vench are 'a species of Unseelie fae in the far reaches of Aethelwaters, who have access to some of the best underground mines for specific minerals'. According to Augus, they're quick to exploit weaknesses in trading partners. They live in freshwater caves in underground cities, where they are 'nearly entirely self-sufficient.' They do not quite have the same concept of hierarchy as overworld fae do, but they do not consider the Raven Prince to be their ruling monarch, as they have their own 'great realm.'

The Raven Prince referred to them as 'frog fae', though they look more humanoid than that moniker, and walk around nude. Their body temperature runs cooler than than even Augus'.

They are born from eggs, and many vench do not know who their parents are. Vench are not affiliated with a specific clan at birth, 'and are cared for by nearly everyone. Over time, they feel an affiliation to a certain clan, and eventually their skin and eye colour will change and mirror the clan they love most. After that, they will be accepted into the clan and given a formal clan name.' Joining a clan is called 'hiving' into a clan.

#### Clans

The vench have seven clans:

* Crystalik - the Crystliks 'have your back'. They are kept at arm's length from most vench society, since they choose to travel apart, as merchants, and the vench worry about pollution from the outside world. The merchant status gives them unique privileges, but also takes some away that they might otherwise have in vench society. Crytilk 'hold counsel with many Crystlik to make a determining before they choose to leave Aethelwaters' as it is not an easy decision to make.
* Ebemia - the Ebemia preferred that the vench remain a closed society. ‘The Ebemia are also very good healers, but they will not work at all with non-vench.' No specific Ebemia have currently been introduced and named in the story, but some did attend the test of intimacy, and one offered intimacy to Kimerrin, though they were ignored.
* Kithkalkith - the Kithkalkith are particularly sensitive to pollution, and typically keep their own clan. Gwyn noted that Kithkalkith generally 'aren’t supposed to speak with their voices.'
* Moston
* Ohlo Ohlo - the Ohlo Ohlo preferred that the vench remain a closed society. The Ohlo Ohlo are more dependent on frequent touch than other clans. Temsen said that singing was a form of intimacy, at least for him, and at least with other Ohlo Ohlo. The Ohlo Ohlo are generally known as singers among the vench, and often sang instead of physically eating. They were also secretive, even from other vench.
* Radula - the Radula 'organise accommodations'. They're often tasked with escorting other fae. During the transition to warm-time, they are busy with 'river and water maintenance' and 'change the way the waters flow.'
* Splannet - the Splannet work with different food sources, such as sweetgrain, which require delicate and careful hands, and the ashran. They are also the vench storytellers. 'Feasting and storytelling goes together among the vench. [They] tell stories too while [they] hull grain, and [they] tell stories to [their] bread, to make it happy as it rises. [They] fill it with stories, and it gets big and soft, because the right stories soften living things and make them open to growth.' They are in charge of fetching food, as well. When Gwyn returned to Aethelwaters with jerky, the Splannet kept some (without asking) to try and replicate the process. Although vench 'rarely wore clothing, sometimes they felt like donning robes', which is part of why they use needles that never rust.

Temsen noted that not all of Aethelwaters is humid.

What the vench do with mining the minerals in Aethelwaters is private, and something they kept from Gwyn - and perhaps Augus - when asked.

Vench mostly seem to have a first and last name. Their first name is their clan name, while their second name is their individual name. Anyone unclanned calls themselves 'Vench'. The vench allowed Augus and Gwyn to refer to the vench by their individual names.

'Most vench do not speak the common fae tongue, and some speak no language in voice at all. [They] do not appreciate visitors unless [they] have need of something valuable they might offer [the vench].' The vench are very tactile, communicate largely by touch, and feed on intimacy. They are a very private people. Intimacy that can feed them can come in sexual and nonsexual forms, including 'joke-sharing, singing, meal-sharing . . . Any intimate, connected energy shared in communal spaces could be eaten.' Augus noted that vench appear to be 'far more sensitive to changes in mood' because they fed on intimacy. Even fetching 'food for another' is considered a form of intimacy. 'In this community, if a vench doesn’t want to be touched, they decline or withdraw their invitation. Often, if they’re skin-touching, they automatically know when someone doesn’t like what is happening.'

The vench can make chirping noises, trills, and 'broad double-notes' and/or use sign language to communicate outside of touch. They can also make a low hissing sound, which appears to be 'some kind of pleasure or laughter.' They do not read as other fae do, particularly given they can communicate through touchspeak. They do, however, keep some books, story-scrolls, and weavings.

The vench have songs that play throughout the day to signal certain times, including Wakesong, which signals that Augus and Gwyn are to remain in their rooms; Mealsong, for the communal meal; and Evesong, for Augus and Gwyn to 'talk trade deals.' The vench also have a system that uses echo beetles to communicate. They're 'very sturdy and resilient . . . When you need to let someone know that you are entering their home, cave, or clan and there is a door' you place the beetle beside the door, and otherwise can carry them in your pocket. 'There are echo beetles in everyone’s chambers. They will be silent until they sense this echo beetle outside. This is how you know someone will be at your doors, and how others will know you are at theirs. It is very rude to enter without chiming the echo beetles first.'

The vench experience pollution when they spend too much time away from the members of their clan. They sicken and grow weak. Alone-sickness occurs when a vench is overly isolated or chooses to be away from other clan members. According to Enris, 'it can be worsened by those with very lively minds. Even those in firm clans who are always belonging, even they can feel moments of Alone-sickness, because their minds can imagine it. What it is to be alone.' Sometimes 'if a clan member loses enough contact or intimacy, they’ll fall back to more neutral vench colouring.' Since touch for vench is a form of feeding, and they gain more from touching other vench, touching a non-vench is a form of starvation. 'Vench who are alone-sick can no longer think or function properly until the alone-sickness is remedied', which tends to involve spending time with their clan.

#### Food

During Mealsong, 'all the clans came together to share food, and touch, and sing to one another'. Although the vench are easily intimate with each other, intercourse is less common during Mealsong, because it 'required more effort than simple touch or food-sharing, and sometimes it made digestion harder'.

Their food choices tend towards vegetarian, and Augus noted that 'they don't seem to favour any meat.' Honey bars were uncommon, and not offered at the Mealsongs Augus attended. They gather the food at a buffet arranged on different stones. White 'foods were all starchy and filling'. Two of the stones contain food 'hunted from an animal' and eggs. They also offer red and green algae, though it's possible the red algae is exclusive to vench, and not given to outsiders, or offered outside Mealsong, since Bracken and/or the Splannet would not let Augus take some to Gwyn. Some of their other foods included 'starchy root buns, [and] leaves that contained steamed meats for the few vench that ate them'. Much of their food is doctored with aphrodisiacs. They have a rule at Mealsong to never 'leave the platters empty and try not to favour.’

Taking food from Mealsong is uncommon, but 'it is not an offense. 'Most vench are comfortably full after Mealsong, and can fetch their own food throughout the day, or make requests of the Splannet, and do not fear going without. All of [them] are equal. We all have equal access to food, including the foods [they] most like. Even the Crystlik may request foods that remind them of the above.' Speaking of vexing subjects at Mealsong is considered offensive.

They have a ritual at mealtime that involved breaking buns into halves and exchanging them with peers. 'The idea is that your bread should always be made of the bread of others. Even vench that don’t want bread will take some, just to enjoy the exchange.'

#### Magic

A large number of the vench were born with magic, but 'almost never train it beyond folk magic'. They didn't care for Mages because Mages slaughtered vench 'throughout their history for not attending the School of the Staff and showing no interest in it, to the point of rudeness and disrespect.' Although the vench are known for wearing 'false motleys', for which the School of the Staff ordains any such person be killed, but it was the School of the Staff who stole the concept of 'motleys' from the vench, and erased the history. 'A long time ago . . . A Crystlik vench determined to become a mage at the School of the Staff. They were successful, and for their graduation, they decided they would make their robe there. Being vench, they shared their knowledge and techniques, for it is a form of intimacy to teach and to be receptive to learning.’ The story has been changed depending on the telling, but the vench were ultimately killed for sharing their heritage, and for it being stolen and claimed by others. Temsen noted that the number of colors used can mean something, but it's not fixed: each robe has its own meaning to its owner, though it can mean 'the number of magical specialities', or 'the number of promises', the latter of which is similar to oaths.

Gwyn thought of the vench's magic as bees or 'underwater insects, the kind that would swim for him and burrow into his skin and bones.' They also have layered magic unlike anything Gwyn had seen, even in the School of the Staff, from centuries of vench putting their magic into their home for protection. They particularly focus on blending magic with others, which is different from what the School of the Staff teachers. Odayi noted that vench 'magic is normally very gentle.' Temsen noted that vench 'magic is stronger together than it is apart. There are still strong individuals, but it is never a single ward that protects the whole.' Gwyn also noted that the vench are 'exceptional healers, after all, even without their healing magic to help people. They had herbs, they knew wortcunning.' Temsen is able to sense Gwyn's exhaustion through his magic. The vench can also use wayfinding magic, which seems to involve enchanting objects to help someone find their way to a specific location.

Although vench healing magic is strong, some diseases are stronger: during the year Moston Wirth hatched, a rotting illness was viscious. As it was living, and vench magic is not designed to kill, it was difficult to deal with. It was so bad that it killed many in their eggs, unlike it had ever done before, and the vench moved their hatchery away from the poison. Things became better after that. Any vench with mottles like Wirth's were affected by the rotting, as these are scars.

Temsen noted that magic is universal.

#### The ashran

The ashran are giant bee-like creatures which are sacred to the vench, and provide sugar and sometimes warmth. They have 'vestigial wings. . . . They were banded in black and gold, impossibly fuzzy, and from the rear of their abdomens they grew what looked like a backward curving horn with a glimmer of clear fluid at the tips of some of them.' The ashran have personalities of their own, and need to be coaxed to give up their honey-like nectar. They need to be milked in a way similar to cows, though it involves stroking the ashran's horn. The tube the nectar emerges from has 'little horizontal ridges along it.' The magic to protect them is the strongest of the known magic in the vench metropolis, and a non-vench being allowed to visit them is a particularly rare honor.

Vench 'believed animals had a right to be grumpy or bad-tempered just as fae did.'

## The Test of Intimacy

The vench required Augus and Gwyn to undergo a test of intimacy before they were allowed to interact more with vench culture outside their rooms, particularly to participate in Mealsong. Enris explained that 'the intimacy need not be with each other, it can be performed alone, or you may seek intimacy with one of us. Many of us would be willing, and if you extend your hand like this…’ Enris extended one hand gracefully, palm up, long, dark green fingers pointing down. ‘Especially towards a particular vench, we will come and offer intimacy. . . . Trust is built through intimacy,’ Enris said. ‘Though some will not wish to build trust, and therefore will not extend intimacy.' Enris also noted that intimacy cannot be forced.

The intimacy room had 'a circular bamboo door wide enough for four people, and then an inner webbed door that opened into a large, circular room with a similar layout to the intimacy room in Augus and Gwyn’s lodging. But unlike that room, this one was much larger, with many cushions, blankets and pillows by the walls, where at least fifteen vench sat or knelt. Wirth and Vale were already there, Wirth draped over Vale’s lap, eyes half-open as Vale stroked their back languidly. The room smelled musky, but also green and fresh, and in the back of his nose, Augus picked up similar chemical plant signatures from the vials he’d tested earlier and felt a sense of dismay' as the air was filled with aphrodesiacs, which Gwyn would not deal well with.

At the start of the test, Augus knelt at the centre of the room, where there was a large water jug, towels, and other assistive items. Augus asked the audience for advice on how to begin, and Kimerrin was patronizing to him, signing in a water fae sign language, '*Are you so unused to intimacy that you do not know how to begin without someone holding your hand? Our sources had suggested differently. How incredibly disappointing.*' Augus then partially disrobed and offered intimacy with Kimerrin, but Kimerrin declined. Augus then made an invitation to Enris, who accepted.

Gwyn remained where he was while Augus performed, kneeling on the ground, and staring at a point on the floor, stiff and terrified. 'Gwyn’s energy in the room was like a discordant hum, cutting into the harmony he was creating with Enris, the harmonies the other vench were creating around them.'

Enris said that Augus' actions demonstrated understanding of the vench, and Enris seemed pleased.

After a time, Kimerrin rose and stated that Augus had passed the test and could join the other vench at Mealsong. After dismissing Augus' response, Kimerrin went to Gwyn, and mockingly signed, '*You have not passed the test of intimacy* . . . *You may wait beyond this room until we are done sharing in our intimacy, and then you will be escorted back to your lodging, where you will remain until your companion has completed his diplomatic work.*’ Kimerrin turned to Augus. ‘*Does he need a translator?*'

Gwyn replied in the same sign language that he understood, thanked the vench for the opportunity, and agreed to wait. He then stood and left, avoiding eye contact.

## The council meeting for Gwyn to remain with the vench

After Gwyn shared his understanding of 'intimacy', as well as the concepts of sexual assault and child abuse to Kimerrin after fighting the to-ahl, Kimerrin was badly injured. This caused the vench to meet and come to a decision to have another council 'to talk about the conditions upon which Gwyn ap Nudd will be permitted to stay within the vench living spaces', and that agreement on the conditions had to be unanimous, and if they were not, Gwyn would be ejected, and the trade talks might also end. Odayi, Temsen, and Augus escorted Gwyn to the council room, where Bracken waited for them. 'Odayi sat next to Bracken, and Temsen and Augus sat on either side of Gwyn in the remaining seats.' (The order was: Bracken>Temsen>Gwyn>Augus>Odayi).

During council meetings, the vench place their arms across the table and touch hands, so that they can 'remember each other’s shape and nerves, so as not to harm or chafe against them.' This meant their hands met in the center. Bracken clasped Temsen's hand during the meeting.

Temsen advocated for both Kimerrin and Gwyn, as Kimerrin could not be present, and Temsen was the closest to Gwyn among the vench. He related that Kimerrin was gravely injured from what they learned, and chose to not share it, to avoid harming others in the same way.

Odayi berated Gwyn for being ungenerous and closed off, while Temsen noted that Gwyn had tried with the sweetgrain and the ashran, and demonstrated 'care and carefulness.' Odayi acknowledged that, while noting that she stood by her earlier words, and that Gwyn brought knowledge into their closed community which harmed the vench. When Gwyn noted that he did not want to come to Aethelwaters, Bracken questioned him on *why* he came. Temsen noted that the vench's magic injured Gwyn, and without that harm, Kimerrin might not have been injured in the first place. Odayi acknowledged that Gwyn should have been assessed for his alone-sickness earlier, and that vanquishing the to-ahl meant something. Bracken noted that vanquishing the to-ahl did not excuse everything else.

The council ultimately agreed on a few conditions:

* Temsen: 'Gwyn’s magic has been severely wounded and will not recover properly without a vench who understands the nature of that wounding, which was caused by vench magic that has concentrated over time. He should not be sent home – unless he wishes to go – without time spent to assess those wounds with a possible treatment plan offered. If he is favourable, this could be an expression of intimacy, for it requires a vench like myself to examine his magic, and you have seen how he struggles even with this.'
* Temsen: 'To send Gwyn back to the Unseelie Court, where there is no intimacy there for him, or none that is healthy, while his magic is wounded, is irresponsible within our culture. We should seek to find ways to protect ourselves while taking responsibility for the crimes we have also committed.'
* Bracken: 'Gwyn ap Nudd is not to be alone with any of us again, not like before, knowing the wound that Kimerrin received.' Temsen and Odayi wished and were granted the right to be exempt from this condition.
* Temsen: 'simply accepting healing from one of us will be seen as willingness to engage with intimacy.'
* Augus: 'a willingness on Gwyn's behalf to engage in intimacy with [Augus] – especially where vench might notice or witness – should be considered as worthy as Gwyn engaging with the vench.'

Augus pointed out the issue of Gwyn not being able to talk about certain things, or risk harming the vench culture. Odayi noted that it might be possible for him to discuss difficult things in safer ways, as it 'is not the vench way to make people hide their pain, and that [they needed] to make Gwyn do this at the moment…[sat] uneasily with [her].' She agreed to think on it.

If Gwyn accepted the conditions, Gwyn could remain with the vench, 'and even come more deeply into vench culture, but [he] must show more willingness to engage with intimacy.' They wanted his trust, while acknowledging the injury their ancestors had given him, but also that they wished to repair the damage.

All parties - including Gwyn - agreed to the conditions, and Odayi noted that they would meet 'again in two weeks and redress and revise as necessary.'

## Quotations

* 'He sensed that Augus was shocked at the way Gwyn spoke to the Raven Prince and he didn’t care. He loved his King. But he hated him too. And when Gwyn was walking into a scheme, he hated him *most*.'
* To Gwyn: 'Then you can spend the next few minutes failing to see anything at all,’ the Raven Prince said, ‘and maybe a lateral form of knowledge will come to you instead.'
* The Raven Prince: 'Gwyn, you are not to direct the proceedings. The diplomacy and all choices regarding it fall solely to Augus. You can observe, and you can learn their culture and their language, but if I hear tell that you sought to interfere in the diplomatic proceedings at all, I will be angry.'
* 'The Raven Prince was silent for a long time. Long enough that Gwyn almost opened his eyes to look at him, but he resisted the urge. Sometimes that was all his King waited for, and Gwyn didn’t want to give him what he wanted, even as he ached for the Raven Prince to be happy and pleased with him. It seemed increasingly impossible, the older he got.'
* 'You grow angrier with me over time, not less,’ the Raven Prince said. ‘You may not believe me when I say that I’m trying, Gwyn ap Nudd, but I do not enjoy when you look upon me with as mean a spirit as you do.'
* 'A pall simmered heavily in the room. The Raven Prince was disappointed in him, but also melancholic, and Gwyn hated it. He hated that he couldn’t fix it, he hated that he couldn’t please him the way he used to. As years passed, the shape of him grew more caustic, more callous, and he had less patience for the people around him.'
* 'Are you angry at him?’ Gwyn said, refusing to back up any further in his room, and taken aback at how forthright Augus was being on the matter. ‘There’s no reason to be. I was being rude, and he responded. It might seem severe to you, but we are two powerful fae, and I confess I do not listen to mild rebuke.'
* 'Gwyn found himself reluctant to make Augus forget about him, even though it was never comfortable having him close.'
* Gwyn: 'He’d met plenty of strange and unusual and even hostile fae on his travels, he was practiced at dealing with them. In fact, he was quite skilled at it when no one from the Court was watching and judging him. But this wasn’t like that.'
* Moston Bracken to Augus and Gwyn: 'We will not pretend we aren’t wary. It’s not our way to deceive like other fae, even other Unseelie fae. We have the luxury of being happy as we are, with each other, and there is very little we need from the outside world. But you have been very polite so far, even if you are wearing a lot of clothing.'
* Gwyn: 'He wasn’t even sure what intimacy *meant*.'
* Gwyn, watching Augus: 'He looked back at Gwyn with an expression that the Raven Prince sometimes directed at him. It was doubt. A lack of faith. Augus didn’t think Gwyn could do this. Gwyn wasn’t sure he could do this either.'
* 'I have eyes and ears,’ Augus said. ‘I am able to deduce.'
* 'Do their jibes about you being a Mage bother you?’ Augus asked eventually. ‘No,’ Gwyn said, and that at least seemed honest. ‘The Raven Prince makes them himself. But also they are right to be defensive. They have been treated deplorably, and it is already generous that they have allowed me to come. I think it’s a bad decision, I think I’m a terrible candidate. I appreciate that they have no reason to trust or even like me.'
* Augus to Gwyn: 'Whatever happens, I will be here, and I have intervened on your behalf before and would do so again.'
* Kimerrin, on Gwyn: '*Master Mages don’t belong here,*’ they signed. . . . '*But,*’ Kimerrin signed speculatively, ‘*there is more to him than one first sees.*'
* 'Gwyn had known immediately that he was going to fail the test. What shocked him was how agonising it had been to watch Augus find all of it so easy. . . . Gwyn wondered if Augus had ever been coltishly awkward in his life, or if he was just born automatically knowing how to love and celebrate his body.'
* To Augus: 'I’m not going to pass a test of intimacy,’ Gwyn said, smiling bitterly. ‘I’m not like these people, I’m not like you. I don’t share intimacy with anyone. Of any kind. I prefer to eat alone. I prefer to do everything alone. There’s nothing I could have done that they would have believed.'
* To Gwyn: 'I don’t really find anyone unattractive,’ Augus said plainly. ‘It tends to be personality that sours my interest.'
* Gwyn: 'It hadn’t been hard to simply excuse himself. He suspected Kithkalkith Kimerrin wanted the drama of a Master Mage saying he was above such things, but Gwyn had felt so small. He hadn’t felt so acutely like that since the last time he’d been cornered by Oxcillian. And he resented feeling the same now. Especially when nothing untoward had happened to him.'
* Gwyn: 'He knew intimacy was basic and easy for them. He knew the vench lived and breathed it. That wasn’t a test they manufactured out of nothing, it wasn’t something they did just to haze or initiate the foreigners. It wasn’t anything like some of the things Gwyn had gone through at the School of the Staff, to prove repeatedly that he deserved to be there like everyone else, and not just because he was a student of the Raven Prince.'
* Augus: 'I’m surprised at how quickly you gave up.’ ‘Really?’ Gwyn said, laughing sharply. ‘*Really?* Then you’re a fool.'
* 'Augus has explained to us that you didn’t think yourself above our intimacy, during the test,’ Wirth said, watching Gwyn curiously. ‘And I am inclined to agree. Kithkalkith Kimerrin is concerned that you have not been trying to leave your chambers even to share meals with Augus. There is no one with you at all. You have been alone for days.’ Gwyn wasn’t surprised that they’d interpreted his attitude as superiority. Nearly everyone did. It came in handy. But the fact that they were questioning it and replacing it with this instead felt far more threatening.'
* To Gwyn: 'I wasn’t certain before,’ Wirth said. ‘But you are afraid. You have chosen the Alone, over intimacy.'
* 'normally Gwyn would never hesitate to share food with anyone from any culture. But after the past few days, after the test of intimacy, he didn’t want to force himself through another humiliation that Augus would pass competently. He found himself feeling unusually trapped, and so horribly small. His fingers curled as his hands began to ache and throb for no reason.'
* 'Are you trying to find a way to get me to pass a test of intimacy?’ Gwyn said incredulously. ‘Why even try? They’re not wrong. I don’t belong here. The Raven Prince should never have…’ Gwyn trailed off and looked at the vench, aware that he couldn’t say anything against his King. Not here. Not now. ‘The Raven Prince sadly overestimated my abilities,’ Gwyn said finally. Much easier to throw himself before the spear instead of anyone else. ‘You yourself know that he did. But you are well-suited to getting to know the vench, and for as long as things are going well, I am happy to stay here.'
* Gwyn to Wirth: 'There are the animals in the forests. One is never alone in a forest.'
* Gwyn: 'There was no way to tell Augus that loneliness was preferable over being hurt again.'
* To Gwyn: 'You know what?’ Augus said finally, standing up. ‘If you’ve been so completely, irrevocably damaged, then that’s that, isn’t it? I didn’t realise you were so weak, but here you are, proving that not even basic intimacy is something you can handle, basic conversation, even. No wonder the Raven Prince despairs of you. Perhaps you’d be happier in a kennel than among fae company.'
* Gwyn to Augus: 'I allow that I’ve been damaged by the past. I have never professed to be strong. I know better than anyone that I’m not capable of basic intimacy. I probably would be happier in a kennel than among fae company. The Raven Prince hasn’t always despaired of me, but of late, he despairs of me more.'
* To Gwyn: 'You are capable of basic intimacy,’ Augus said finally. ‘To say that you weren’t at all was cruel. You broke bread with us, you cooperate and are trying not to be hostile, you behave as a guest, never asking for more than you are given, and with a politeness that I know doesn’t always come easily to you. I treated you like you were useless, but I can see how you are trying. Even those grains, they are hard to hull, Gwyn. I tried a couple myself. It must have taken you all night.'
* Augus to Gwyn: 'I can see why the vench don’t have much to do with us, honestly. We must seem…very unevolved to them. Intimacy is another sense of theirs, and it’s one we struggle to have at times, and will never achieve to the same degree.'
* Augus to Gwyn: 'You’re interesting. Though now I wonder if you’re tired of people finding you interesting.'
* To Augus: 'A member of the Splannet took me to milk their bees,’ Gwyn said.'
* Gwyn to Odayi: 'some of us cannot help the appetite we were born with.'
* Gwyn: 'His fingers twitched, he remembered Taronis, and wished bizarrely that the Raven Prince would be there to say that it was all on purpose. It was all engineered to be this way and Gwyn had somehow done well and he wasn’t a monster for his rudeness.'
* To Kimerrin: 'You’ve harmed, injured and paralysed an Inner Court member of the Unseelie Court because he *slipped*,’ Augus said, his voice low and dangerous.'
* Gwyn: 'Fae didn’t like those who cannibalised others. It was stigmatised and with good reason. Sometimes he let the Raven Prince watch him, mostly out of spite, to sneer when the Raven Prince expressed some self-satisfied disgust with owning such a psychopomp in the first place. But otherwise feeding was wholly private.'
* To Gwyn: 'Why do you treat me like I am a to-ahl?’ Kimerrin said, their voice softer than before. ‘We do not hunt fae, and we do not hurt them. We keep to ourselves. We want nothing to do with others, unless they want something to do with us, and even then, we are the ones most likely to be hurt. I do not understand you. Do you not understand vench?' Gwyn wanted to point out that his magic was going to take a long time to recover from an attack that hadn’t even been directed at him by a single vench.'
* Gwyn: 'I do not believe in trust.' 'But you trust Augus?’ Kimerrin said. Now they sounded uncertain. ‘I don’t,’ Gwyn said. ‘I just trust him more…than before. I trust that I can kill him before he hurts me.'
* 'Why does the King of the Unseelie fae like you?’ Kimerrin said. ‘He doesn’t,’ Gwyn said, laughing weakly. ‘He doesn’t like me at all.'
* Gwyn: 'How stupid it was, to miss his King and his mentor at a moment like this. It wasn’t like they were friends, or even family really, despite Gwyn knowing nothing else except for that brief flash of his biological mother’s hatred.'
* Unknown (possibly Odayi or Temsen) to Bracken: 'Perhaps the only one who could kill the to-ahl was one who is alonesick like the to-ahl was.’ ‘The to-ahl was pretty happy, actually,’ Gwyn mumbled. ‘Until today, anyway.'
* Augus: 'I have tried explaining to some of you the situation that we are in, and I know you struggle to understand, but you have to accept that what you are seeing now you cannot simply bypass by telling Gwyn in many different ways that you’re trying to help. He does not believe you. He will take every offer of assistance in bad faith. He knows no other way.'
* To Augus about the to-ahl: 'It didn’t bite me,’ Gwyn said. That seemed important. ‘I bit it.'
* Gwyn to Augus: 'I didn’t tell Kimerrin his name. Just… It was a few sentences. That’s all. I was tired of them trying to convince me that intimacy was good. So, I told them the truth.'
* 'My friend,’ Odayi said to Augus, ‘you are not helping. Here, come sit down. I know you are worried for him, and he will not let you help him. Come, waterhorse, come and sit down.'
* '*I don’t feel lonely*, Gwyn thought, as a feeling exactly like loneliness overcame him. He was jealous of them, sitting together, all of them getting something from one another. He thought of telling Temsen and Odayi exactly what he’d told Kimerrin. He thought if he could injure Kimerrin that way, he could injure all of them with those words, and then they wouldn’t get to have their annoying, pure little community anymore. If he couldn’t have it, they couldn’t either. The thought stuck in his mind, ringing discordantly until he realised it was a bitter and mean-spirited thing to think.'
* 'He can’t find me like this,’ Gwyn said, and realised that Augus wouldn’t understand what he meant. ‘Not- Not the King, but Oxcillian. He cannot.' . . . 'I can’t go back,’ Gwyn rasped. ‘The Raven Prince cannot see me like this.'
* 'Augus grasped his forearm and pulled him forcibly towards the bed with a surprisingly strong grip. ‘Don’t touch me,’ Gwyn hissed. ‘Shut up,’ Augus snapped. ‘Now isn’t the time to decide that laying upon the floor in a humid cave is the best place for your wounds to heal. It doesn’t do to piss off healers, Gwyn.'
* 'Because you never bothered to learn anything about us,’ Odayi said, staring at [Gwyn] without blinking. ‘Because you never bothered to meet us halfway, with our offers of intimacy. Because you assumed your state of being mattered above all of ours, and came here, an alien to our culture, and assumed superiority to us.' . . . 'And yet,’ Temsen said, ‘Gwyn visited the ashran and sorted our grains, and did both with care and carefulness.'
* Gwyn: 'But he couldn’t measure the wrongness of what Oxcillian had done by feeling vindicated at Kimerrin’s harm.'
* To Augus about Gwyn: 'I don’t like it,’ Bracken snapped. ‘He should already be able to be intimate with you! Just *having* someone here who is so alone-sick is dangerous to us. He has already made *Kimerrin* alone-sick! It is *contagious*. He shows no intention to improve!' . . . 'He is already trying, Moston Bracken,’ Odayi said. ‘He is trying right now.'
* To Gwyn: ‘Who do you hope to benefit by lying?’ Temsen said, with an honesty that Augus wouldn’t have found out of place in one of his own rooms, with a client. Except . . . Temsen simply knelt there and stared at Gwyn directly. ‘It does not benefit me, for I am your healer. And it doesn’t benefit you, for you will not be able to heal at your best without enough food. So why lie?’
* To Temsen and Augus about Gwyn: ‘I don’t understand all of the talking?’ Enris said, in a mixture of innocence and sharpness which Augus had come to expect from him when he had something to say. Radula Enris had a way of being sweet until he suddenly needed to interject, and he’d come to understand why Wirth and Bracken valued his company so much. ‘Everyone is talking at him? And no one is touching him?’
* ‘How does it feel?’ Augus asked after a couple of minutes had passed. Gwyn hadn’t looked away from Augus’ forearms, and while his touch had firmed up, it still remained gentle. Augus didn’t think his preference was to be rough at all, even though he could be callous or reckless when he was angry. ‘Meaningful,’ Gwyn said quietly.
* Augus: 'Is that the only way you get to like things? You exchange being hurt and wounded for something worthwhile?’ ‘Is there another way to live?’ Gwyn said, thinking of what prices he’d paid to be a Master Mage, to be the Raven Prince’s ward, and now to be spending time here, among the vench.'
* Kimerrin to Gwyn: ‘I’m sorry. I am sorry. I cannot stop being myself. And whatever you think I am, it is awful.’
* To Gwyn: ‘It is that I wish I had been there,’ Kimerrin said haltingly, like they were searching for the words. ‘It is that I wish I had been the one to know that this could happen, and either stop it, or lay arms on you when you needed soothing. I do not like having this knowledge. Not of what happened. Not of what fae up there do to each other. Not of my own urges to…mend what cannot be mended. We are not accustomed to feeling helpless.’
* To Gwyn: ‘I don’t want to talk to you,’ Kimerrin said, sulky now. ‘Every time I open my mouth around you, you get injured.’
* Augus to Temsen, about Gwyn: 'He is already more open. He is starting from a place so terribly closed.'
* Temsen to Augus, about Gwyn: ‘He is like a storm in our caves. Like a storm, he does not know how dangerous he is. He knows some of his lightning, but not all of it. He strikes even when he doesn’t intend it. The others say he is like a poison in the water. I’ll allow there’s some truth to that as well.’
* To Augus, about Gwyn: ‘I would do much more if he let me,’ Temsen said'.
* To Augus: ‘I didn’t think it would be so hard to be here,’ Gwyn said. ‘Everyone is…kind, even Kimerrin, in their way. Letting me return. Trying to understand me better. It is confounding. Even you. Confounding.’
* The Raven Prince to Gwyn: ‘It could have killed you,’ the Raven Prince bit out. ‘It could still kill you. You’re bleeding magic. I cannot see a way to stop it without making the wound worse. They set a *bomb* off inside you.’
* The Raven Prince to Gwyn: ‘You living without magic is like asking a bird to live without the sky.’
* Gwyn to the Raven Prince: ‘This was a game to you from the beginning. Amusing, poorly researched, and trite from the moment you assigned me as a *bodyguard* to travel to a place where you fully understood I’d not be allowed to properly utilise my magic in order for the mission to be successful. I should have known you’d find a way to deflect blame, after you turned diplomacy into *this. . . .* Augus is acquitting himself well . . . Very well. He has more knowledge now than any book you’ve ever owned on the vench. And, additionally, much of the information you had us study was simply wrong. But you cannot pretend to regret this…’ He gestured to his own torso, before standing. ‘There was a reason you yourself did not go on this assignment.’ ‘You may accuse me of many things, Gwyn ap Nudd, but you may not accuse me of orchestrating this injury.’ ‘Then find a way to desist with your own accusations. I don’t need to stay here. I may return to the vench at any time. Or my own cabin.’
* ‘What use to me are you now?’ the Raven Prince said. ‘What use to you have I ever been?’ Gwyn said . . . Gwyn smiled bitterly. ‘Don’t answer,’ he said. ‘I know why you took me in, the only value I ever had to you. Of course you’d only now consider this wound as the loss of an *asset.’*
* Gwyn: 'He wondered if he’d been blind all his life. Was he wrong to think they had some kind of connection? Was he really just a function? An extension of the Raven Prince’s skills, so that when the Raven Prince couldn’t attend some troublesome, magical chore, he could send his ward to do it. Wasn’t that exactly what had happened when the Raven Prince had sent him to the vench?'
* Gwyn: 'It was like he could feel Kimerrin and Temsen there, it was as though, in that moment, Augus was sitting on the bed next to him and focusing on him instead of the Raven Prince. Even Odayi was there, watching quietly, grimly. And of course none of them were there, but he could return to them.'
* Temsen to Gwyn: ‘What should we envy? We truly have everything we need here. And the very little we don’t, we can trade for. It is why we find the Raven Prince’s interest so…curious. Nothing about us has changed in such a long time, and we are not a needful race, beyond needing intimacy, which we can provide for each other. I suppose if I had to imagine something I wanted to experience more of, it is the experience I’m having right now, with you. Learning about other fae is so interesting!’
* Augus about the Raven Prince: '‘Then he is a coward.’ ‘Do not talk about my King that way,’ Gwyn said. ‘Your King too.’ ‘A cowardly raven,’ Augus said.'
* Gwyn: ‘And now I am back here again. With you.’ ‘With me,’ Augus said, his eyes closing. ‘How terrible. What a disgrace. How will you ever bear it?’ ‘How indeed.’ ‘With your usual lack of grace and aplomb’.
* Augus: ‘Oxcillian is dead, Gwyn ap Nudd. May that come to mean something to you, in the days and weeks that follow.’
* 'Augus could use his compulsions whenever he wanted, Gwyn had not yet learned a defence to them, and his understanding from the Raven Prince was that learning a defence against compulsions was often more trouble than it was worth. But that was before Gwyn had ever met a waterhorse like Augus.'
* 'Temsen looked at Gwyn for a long time. ‘I do not wish to judge those around you, for I am vench and have never lived in the above, but the more I learn of this world you live in, the more I do not want anything to do with it. It is like someone stripped your hands to the bone.’ ‘Yes,’ Gwyn said, smiling wryly. ‘That’s exactly what happened.’‘For what crime?’ ‘Trespass,’ Gwyn said. ‘In all fairness, the vench have done worse to me.’
* '‘Why would you take his word over mine?’ the Raven Prince cried out. ‘How could you believe I would let *that* happen to you?’ . . . ‘Because you did,’ Gwyn said finally.'
* To the Raven Prince: ‘I left the Court because [Oxcillian] lived there.’ . . . ‘I also hated the Court environment,’ Gwyn added. ‘Courtiers regularly told me that you’d get bored of me, and from my perspective, that was indeed what had happened. I had no recourse but to leave.’
* Gwyn to Augus about the Raven Prince: ‘He’s had to live with me all his life! This is difficult for him.’
* Gwyn to Augus: 'I am beginning to think the only reason others have not given up on me is because they’re either too afraid of me, or they haven’t known me long enough yet. I cannot… I can’t stand it.’
* Augus to Gwyn: ‘It’s not all or nothing. It grows like a lotus plant. It may not flower yet, but it’s there all the same. You sleep next to me. You’ve trusted Temsen to lay his magic alongside yours. That’s momentous. I’m not sure I could easily to do the same, even with the vench. You cannot be a perfect fae, for there’s no such thing. Even your vaunted King is not perfect, Gwyn, far from it when it comes to being a father. You cannot perfectly trust. You *especially* cannot do it after Oxcillian. It’s a miracle you offer it to us at all. . . . But also, for all that you can be frustrating, you still try . . . Even when you wish nothing more than to die, you sort the grains for the vench and try to do it as best as you can. I know you see all your flaws, but you see nothing more than that, only your strength in magic. And now that’s wounded, you see no strengths. I see many.’’
* To Gwyn, about Augus: ‘I do not pretend to understand his vocation,’ the Raven Prince said, his voice softening. ‘But I do know that when Seelie and Unseelie fae of all kinds visit a single Each Uisge, and they go away claiming to be healed or transformed, and they do not hate or try to kill him, he may have something that allows him to understand diversity and those that should be other to him.’
* ‘Imagine then,’ Augus said, ‘instead of living in a state of constant assumed superiority, you simply envisioned what it might be like to live without any ability to touchspeak with anyone ever again. All you have left are words, gestures, sometimes scents. You never truly understand what your loved ones are thinking, what your friends are thinking, what your family is thinking. They never truly understand you. All intimacy happens with large spaces of emptiness, lack of knowledge, uncertainty, guessing, and if you ask directly what is happening, you are not guaranteed an honest answer, or any answer at all. Imagine what it is like, to never be fully known or perceived, and to then still trust when all your ground is shaky, to dare to feel safe when there is no true safety? It requires a strength you couldn’t fathom. . . . I used to think the vench had incredible strength to be so open with each other, but you’ve literally never known another way of being. Understandably, you’d view anything else as lesser, because you’d see the constant deception, the shame, the difficulty that other fae go through. But none of us were born with your touchspeak ability. I’m tired of you insulting fae simply because they’re not vench. It’s disappointing, Temsen.’
* Augus to Temsen: 'I cannot pick and choose the things I require most for my survival. I don’t know which of these are more important.’
* ‘I cannot truly apologise for all of the Mages,’ Gwyn said. Temsen stiffened against him. ‘But I wish I could, and I am sorry on their behalf for what was stolen from you, and how you have all been punished for their crimes. I am sorry that I participated in that theft simply by supporting their teachings, and sorry for how many thousands of years you have been hurt. I am ashamed of my school.’
* To Gwyn about the Raven Prince: ‘No one would ever say he’s failed the Unseelie fae,’ Augus said, ‘but he’s failed you. Over and over again.’
* ‘It is a thing to be proud of, that you made the decision to come at all, that you tried a compulsion,’ Temsen said, his voice careful but still sure. ‘There is no true failure here today, Gwyn ap Nudd. You are very brave, even in the midst of alone-sickness.’
* [Gwyn]: ‘No. I think I’ve always been tired. At least, for most of my life.’ [Augus]: ‘Yes, well, but then you’ve always been in pain, and pain is a tiring thing.'
* Augus to Gwyn: ‘Then we can run away. You can escape into the human realm and become a baker.’
* To Augus: ‘It’s petty and cruel of me,’ Gwyn said. ‘I may not be ugly inside like Oxcillian, but I am still ugly inside.’
* Augus to Gwyn: ‘I do not need to be masterful at something to understand concepts'.

## Trivia

* If a Mage from the School of the Staff 'ever saw a fae of any kind wearing a Mage’s motley, who wasn’t a Master Mage, [the Mage] was to kill them outright without waiting for any excuse.' Healing is also a separate school at the School of the Staff, and healer is not considered an elite position.
* The Raven Prince's innate powers are language-based.
* Augus noted that 'many waterfae couldn’t talk, especially underwater', so they sometimes relied on sign language for communication, and there are many different dialects.
* The Raven Prince often teased Gwyn for brooding, though Gwyn noted that the Raven Prince *also* brooded.
* Augus struggled with the humidity in Aethelwaters, since it's not something he enjoys, particularly as a waterhorse.
* Iliavin was 'a vine with a mild aphrodisiac property when chewed and eaten that could be concentrated into a potent paste.' The vine was common in the vench's cave network, and they used it in some of their aphrodisiacs and/or wares.
* Gwyn 'almost never shared meals with the Raven Prince, who was a fussy, picky eater and preferred to eat on his own, or even on the wing, flying to where Gwyn could never follow him.'
* Gwyn's parents 'hated [him] for existing, for being Unseelie.'
* Gwyn spoke with other psychopomps in the past, since he wondered who designated him to be one, and why. The others had never thought of it, and thought him strange for asking. The Raven Prince noted that most 'fae have an inability to consider the upper worlds or under worlds properly. They cannot properly consider gods or even the existence of psychopomps. There is something here,’ the Raven Prince said, pointing to his mind, his black eyes flashing. ‘It stops them from giving it due thought.' The inability to grapple with their lands of the dead made other fae uneasy around Gwyn, even when he wasn't hunting.
* When Gwyn killed something using his light, he forged a connection with them, and learned a great deal about them. 'The connection was mutual. Gwyn knew they always saw something of him as well, though he was never sure what they saw, because he couldn’t stop this process once it began. He could only see what he took, feel it, experience it, because he was pulling their lifeforce from their body. And they could only know him because their very being passed through him, and picked up messages along the way.'
* 'Most fae bodies decayed quickly'.
* Augus calls Gwyn a 'dhampir' at one point. 'In Balkans folklore, dhampirs . . . are creatures that are the result of a union between a vampire and a mortal human.' Male dhampirs 'of paternal vampire descent could see invisible vampires and practice sorcery, often starting careers as vampire hunters, which would be practiced for generations from father to son.' Supposedly, 'dhampyres have the powers of both humans and vampires: they can sense a supernatural creature within a specified distance, have acute sense of sight and hearing, have regenerating abilities, immortality, walk in sunlight (which led to the adoption of the sobriquet "Daywalker"), also eat like a human, dhampyres can also control animals and can be used to destroy vampires.'
* The Raven Prince keeps it a secret that both his mother and father are still alive.
* Augus and Gwyn are the first visitors the vench have had in Aethelwaters during warm-time and hot-time.
* Fanimation of Gwyn as a baby with the Raven Prince by Fluister.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf. Archive of Our Own,* 27 October 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/107173974. Chapter 25.
2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf*. *Archive of Our Own*, 5 June 2020. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/59296228#workskin. Chapter 2.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf*. *Archive of Our Own*, 17 October 2021. https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/86011981. Chapter 13.
4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf*. *Archive of Our Own*, 17 May 2021. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/77502671#workskin. Chapter 8.
5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf. Archive of Our Own,* 24 January 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/91376590. Chapter 16.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf. Archive of Our Own,* 22 February 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/93074755. Chapter 17.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 7.9 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf. Archive of Our Own,* 23 March 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/94679038. Chapter 18.
8. ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf*. *Archive of Our Own*, 18 January 2021. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/70716210. Chapter 6.
9. ↑ 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 9.12 9.13 9.14 9.15 9.16 9.17 9.18 9.19 9.20 9.21 9.22 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf*. *Archive of Our Own*, 10 October 2020. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/65752231. Chapter 3.
10. ↑ 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 10.11 10.12 10.13 10.14 10.15 10.16 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf*. *Archive of Our Own*, 20 November 2020.https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/67626353. Chapter 4.
11. ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 11.12 11.13 11.14 11.15 11.16 11.17 11.18 11.19 11.20 11.21 11.22 11.23 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf*. *Archive of Our Own*, 21 July 2021. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/81186568#workskin. Chapter 10.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf. Archive of Our Own,* 22 July 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/101415984. Chapter 22.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf. Archive of Our Own,* 28 August 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/103634166. Chapter 23.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf. Archive of Our Own,* 22 November 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/108598669. Chapter 26.
15. ↑ 15.00 15.01 15.02 15.03 15.04 15.05 15.06 15.07 15.08 15.09 15.10 15.11 15.12 15.13 15.14 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf*. *Archive of Our Own*, 17 November 2021. https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/87650029. Chapter 14.
16. ↑ 16.00 16.01 16.02 16.03 16.04 16.05 16.06 16.07 16.08 16.09 16.10 16.11 16.12 16.13 16.14 16.15 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf*. *Archive of Our Own*, 13 May 2020. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/58185805. Chapter 1.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf. Archive of Our Own,* 12 December 2021. https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/88910962. Chapter 15.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf*. *Archive of Our Own*, 22 August 2021. https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/82986205. Chapter 11.
19. ↑ 19.00 19.01 19.02 19.03 19.04 19.05 19.06 19.07 19.08 19.09 19.10 19.11 19.12 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf*. *Archive of Our Own*, 15 April 2021. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/75723281. Chapter 7.
20. ↑ 20.00 20.01 20.02 20.03 20.04 20.05 20.06 20.07 20.08 20.09 20.10 20.11 20.12 20.13 20.14 20.15 20.16 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf*. *Archive of Our Own*, 20 December 2020. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/69060375. Chapter 5.
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf*. *Archive of Our Own*, 22 September 2021. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/84326890. Chapter 12.
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf. Archive of Our Own,* 25 December 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/110214655. Chapter 27.
23. ↑ 23.00 23.01 23.02 23.03 23.04 23.05 23.06 23.07 23.08 23.09 23.10 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf*. *Archive of Our Own*, 11 June 2021. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/78937585#workskin. Chapter 9.
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf. Archive of Our Own,* 23 April 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/96412971. Chapter 19.
25. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf. Archive of Our Own,* 23 May 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/98007009. Chapter 20.
26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf. Archive of Our Own,* 20 June 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/99562011. Chapter 21.
27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf. Archive of Our Own,* 26 September 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/105302406. Chapter 24.
28. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Nascent Diplomat.” *The Lone Wolf. Archive of Our Own,* 22 January 2023. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162271/chapters/111816025. Chapter 28.
29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 "Dhampir". Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhampir. Accessed 24 January 2022.