always and forever is forever young
your shadow on the pavement, the dark side of the sun
It took a minimum of three divine beings to create the multi-sensory illusion in the Northern Palace of Amarna, but it was worth it.

Despite the glamour of the Amarna period, tourists rarely visited the heretic’s lost city since it had been entirely reduced to rubble and ruin. It took a strong imagination to be able to recreate an image of the city – or three powerful fairies with divinity. The Northern Palace had been the base of the Star Chamber ever since its inception, offered to Aura by its owner, Princess Meritaten, when the latter had mused aloud about the need for a court room. Although the base of the Council of Originals had long since moved into the cliffs for security and privacy purposes, the Star Chamber met so infrequently that, thousands of years after its destruction, the Northern Palace was still used to house it. On the rare occasion when an original fairy was accused of breaking Council law and the Star Chamber was called into action, the jury made the outlandish and extravagant decision to magically regenerate the Northern Palace.

The illusion was deliberately both full and partial, able to be touched by every sense but identifiably an illusion for every sense. Semi-transparent, it bore the faint aromas and distant sounds of life. While it did feel solid to a light touch, a harder nudge would send one’s fingers directly through it. The Star Chamber met in the very centre of the symmetrical palace in an open courtyard ringed with tall, slender columns patterned with hieroglyphs. The majority of the courtyard was taken up by a low basin filled with clean blue water. The court of the Star Chamber met over the top of it, desks and chairs hovering an inch over the surface of the water. The entire illusion proudly displayed a mastery of both ancient architectural achievements and modern magical techniques.

While it took only three deities to maintain the illusion, all present would ‘chip in’ to preserve the energy and brainpower of the group. At the back of his mind, Mallos could feel the spell gradually tugging at his energy reserves.

Retaining the use of the Northern Palace, and magically restoring it to its former grandeur, starkly highlighted just how much the original fairies had numerically depleted. Gwythr and Xephyr were absent, the latter still too ill to move and the former still holed up on Shyllipa Major. Of those who remained, both Rhaegar and Mallos were on trial, facing the judge’s bench from opposite sides of the room. That only left Tsi as the very reluctant High Judge and Allianah, Charlton, Khasekhemwy, Lorraine and Zed as the jury members. Considering the original fairies had once numbered twenty-five, the court ‘room’ had never looked so empty.

Tsi cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. This was the eleventh time the court had met for this case so far; the previous ten times had been to review evidence and listen to the statements and debates. Tsi looked no more at ease now in his temporary role as Acting High Judge than he had when Zed had resigned in protest, forcing him to take the job on. He deliberately avoided his best friend’s eye from the jury box.

“Is there any last-minute evidence to review?” He asked, getting straight to the point. If they were going to spend the afternoon arguing in circles, there was no sense in beating around the bush at this point in the proceedings.

Mallos just shrugged. He’d already said everything he could say in as charming and persuasive a tone as he was capable of. Rhaegar didn’t respond.

“Any closing statements before the jury deliberate?” Tsi asked, a ray of hope creeping into his voice. Maybe this would all be over sooner than they thought after all.

Those hopes were dashed when a voice Mallos knew only too well replied from somewhere behind him. “That depends on who’s allowed to speak.”

Mallos whipped around so fast that he got a crick in his neck. He rubbed it furiously as a familiar figure stepped out from behind one of the painted columns, recognisable in spite of – or perhaps because of – her chilling new wardrobe. The newcomer was swathed in pale, icy-blue robes which were loose-fitting and floated slightly as she walked. Over the top of the robes, a silver-and-blue star symbol hung from a fine silver chain around her neck. Her right hand gripped a thin, black-handled scythe with a sharp metal blade.

Aura swept her hood back, smiling the little smile she did when one corner of her mouth rose slightly higher than the other. The court fell silent.

Then chaos ensued.

It took a little time to settle everything down. Zed had to be sent to retrieve Rhaegar, who had simply walked out as soon as he recovered from the shock. Charlton managed to restore Khasekhemwy from a dead faint by fanning him and sprinkling a few drops of water on his face. Tsi managed to straighten up after being bent over double with his hands on his knees for several minutes, breathing deeply.

While the others sorted themselves out, Aura took Mallos to one side, wrapped her arms around him and gave him a tight hug.

“I’m sorry I didn’t recognise you,” she whispered.

Mallos hugged her back instinctively, his brain not quite caught up with the events. His skin tingled, his heart beating a little faster than usual.

When all the deities were present, conscious and listening, Aura explained to them about her new role as the Guide of the Dead and how it meant she could cross between Life and Death. There were some exclaims and a few more hugs. Surprisingly, one of those hugs was from Allianah.

“You know, I prayed for guidance with this case,” Charlton mused. “Thank the Lord.”

For once, no one berated him.

“So.” Aura wedged her scythe into the illusion of water beneath their feet and leant against it, her eyes glittering. Those piercing, bright blue eyes had been unnerving enough when she was alive, but now they watched the world from an otherwise greyscale face. The effect was such that Mallos had a difficult time looking her in the face. “Demigods.”

The hairs on the back of Mallos’ neck stood up on end and his breathing felt distinctly more shallow.

“What I don’t understand,” Aura continued, “is how it’s taken you all eleven meetings with this case. Eleven! Didn’t you establish how outdated this law was in the first one?”

There was a pause in which a few of the deities exchanged glances. Mallos felt his breathing come a little easier.

“Outdated?” Lorraine puzzled. “Darling, you made this law.”

“Outdated and ironic then.” Aura corrected herself. “Since I don’t get to vote now to repeal this law because I was expelled from the council for ‘breaking’ it.”

A couple of the jury members shifted slightly where they stood. ‘Upholding the law laid down by Aura’ and ‘upholding traditions’ had both been strong themes among the arguments which stood against Mallos and Rhaegar.

“Outdated because events have proven that the law doesn’t work.” Aura proceeded calmly. “I was expelled from the Council because Gwythr created Poppy. Mallos was punished for having children too, even though he was incarcerated at the time. The law stipulates that punishments should befall the original who is the biological parent of the child, rather than the original who committed the crime.” She spun her scythe thoughtfully. The blade caught the light and reflected across the still water beneath them. “Also outdated because the law was written, at least partially, on the premise that original fairies would not make good parents. Mallos has proven that isn’t true.”

Some of the tightness in Mallos’ chest had been easing the more Aura talked. As she delivered that final line, that tightness was replaced entirely by a warm internal glow.

“Isn’t that subjective?” Allianah asked a little sharply, shooting Mallos an unkind look.

“You don’t have statements from his family testifying?” Aura raised an eyebrow. “Does the subjective view of anyone other than his family count when determining how good a parent he is?”

“Yes… and no, I suppose not.” Allianah muttered.

“Rhaegar hid his son to protect him too.” Lorraine put forward, shooting Gar a wink and a little smile.

“That’s only one reason why the law was originally made,” Tsi pointed out grimly. “And whether you still support it or not, it is still an ancient tradition.”

“Not all ancient traditions are good.” Aura turned her penetrating blue eyes and a smile on him. “Where would we be today if, say, gay rights activists hadn’t challenged tradition?” Tsi dropped his eyes to the floor. Aura turned hers on Allianah and quirked an eyebrow. “Or women’s rights activists?” She glanced at Zed. “Black rights activists? I don’t know about you, but I remember history, and not all that romantically.”

Silence filled the chamber. Aura let it drag on for an uncomfortably long time.

“But hey, feel free to ignore me.” She shrugged. “I’m only dead and not even on the Council anyway. I’m sure you’ll all make the right choice with the future of these children hanging in the balance.”

She picked up her scythe, hopped off the water basin and strolled through the pylons which led to the first court room. Silence filled the Star Chamber. After that, it took them less than an hour to come to a decision, complete all the formalities, and dismiss the members. Mallos left through the pylons at the first available opportunity and found his friend outside by the main entranceway, leaning against the illusion of the palace wall. She stood up straight when she saw him, lifting her eyebrows in question. Mallos grabbed her and pulled her into the second hug of the day.

“It went well, then?” Aura asked, hugging him back.

“You genius, you.” Mallos muttered, pulling her as close as he could. The powerful sun shone brightly down on the two of them, reflecting off Aura’s silvery-white hair. “You just came back and… fixed everything.”

“All in a day’s work.” Aura gave a muffled laugh and pulled back a little. “I love you too, but even dead people don’t function well if they’re crushed. So? What did they decide on?”

It had been a unanimous vote, in the end. Full pardons for everyone who had committed the crime, including Rhaegar, Mallos and Aura. The law itself had been repealed in full. Demigods were no longer illegal; deities were no longer prohibited from starting families. Mallos could return to Shaman with one less weight on his shoulders.

Aura sighed in relief. “Proof that the Council is capable of seeing sense once in a while. Go on, then.” She poked him in the rib. “I believe your lady friend had her baby while you were here tied up in all of this. Go and meet your daughter. I’ll find you for a catch-up soon.”

She moved to step away, but Mallos reached out and took her by the wrist. His grip was gentle, barely touching, but it stopped her instantly anyway. This time he was able to meet her eyes, which didn’t feel quite so unnerving anymore.

“Definitely soon?” He asked quietly. She stood up on tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

“Death couldn’t keep me away,” she promised. She tugged her wrist away, twisted her scythe and vanished.


i can feel you in the silence saying, “let forever be,
love, and only love, will set you free.”