Note: Relatively hastily edited, since I was taking years to do it the very careful way.

May 4 ’03 – I just fixed it up a bit ‘cause I realised I had made Aldene be off on the scout and then suddenly Raegan was looking at her, though I hadn’t said she’d returned. So… Yeah. Fixed…I think lol Anymore problems please lemme know.

In Flight

Velin’Sedimend (Moonstone)

It was only when Raegan awoke to the smell of roasting rabbit that she realised she had not dreamed at all during her short sleep. On the one hand she was relieved, yet in another she was disappointed – she would have liked to have the opportunity to confront the old man again.

As she opened her eyes and stared up at the tree branches overhead, she recalled some of one of her visions. You are heading in the right direction, the old man had said. If ever you cease to do so, you will know it. The notion of travelling blindly, going wherever her feet happened to take her, went against everything she had learned in her life. When one ventured out into the world they left with a plan, at least some vague idea of where they were heading. This was one of those moments where she felt as if she stood on the brink of madness, and wondered what had possessed her to follow the old man’s advice. But as ever she remembered that it was not just his advice she followed, but also her own instincts. She recalled all too vividly the first vision she had had, of bodies strung up in the town squares and heaped in doorways. Coupled with that, the old man’s words had made enough sense for her to act upon them. Even if she sometimes had her doubts, she would always be driven by the memory of what she had witnessed in that first vision.

She realised that she could hear Braxus and Aldene speaking in quiet tones very nearby. When she lay still and breathed quietly she could make out most of what was being said. It seemed they were reminiscing about old times. Well, Braxus was anyway – Aldene seemed to stay quiet most of the time, aside from when she uttered something indecipherable, and Braxus seemed quite happy with the arrangement.

Raegan moved her head slightly to the side so that she could see the two of them. They didn’t pay her any attention, either because they didn’t realise she was awake or did not care.

“…And it was not so bad,” Braxus was saying, “except that he had already promised Iylara the last dance.” He chuckled, shaking his head as he leaned closer over the food he was preparing. Aldene was crouched opposite him, also concentrating on the task at hand. One might think she wasn’t listening to the man at all – one who hadn’t spent any amount of time with her, at least. Raegan had a feeling the woman heard anything and everything that reached her ears, and even some things that should not have.

“Sometimes I wonder how my mother kept her hair so free of grey,” Braxus muttered. “It seems strange now, even thinking of him. I do not know him anymore, not even where he is. What I wouldn’t give to look upon his face. I suppose he might be a different man, now. It has been so long.”

Aldene indicated for him to pass her a small container that rested beside him, and he interrupted his own activity long enough to do so almost unthinkingly. All the while he continued speaking.

“You knew Dayen. Did you not think him notorious?”

Aldene shrugged. “One either is or isn’t notorious. What I think will not change the facts.”

“Very well,” Braxus said, sounding as if he were conceding. The chatter was confusing Raegan, but she remained where she lay, feeling relaxed yet watchful. “A bad choice of words. But he did cause trouble, that’s undeniable.”

Aldene looked up at him briefly. “You and he both.”

Braxus nodded. “Of course. I never claimed he was the only scoundrel.”

For a few moments neither said anything, and then Braxus said, “This is all but ready. What are you doing with that rabbit?”

And the insights into Braxus’s Beljurien past ceased. Now he and Aldene simply set about making the finishing touches on their food preparation. Raegan felt it was safe to sit up now, and as she did Aldene glanced at her, a knowing look in her dark eyes. She knew I was awake the whole time, Raegan realised. Somehow she knew this for a fact, even though Aldene hadn’t said a thing.

Braxus turned to regard her and said, “Ah, you are with us. Our food is just about ready. Come and sit by the fire.” Raegan did so.

For a while after dinner Raegan and Braxus sat in one another’s company, silent. Aldene had gone off to scout, although Raegan was beginning to suspect the woman needed a lot of solitude, and that was why she often disappeared like this. The woman’s absences didn’t concern her, since she always came back eventually. Besides, it was not as if Raegan depended on the warrior – or Braxus – for anything. That was why she was comfortable with threatening to leave them. If she had to do so in the end, her plans would not collapse into ruins, even if she would always wonder what might have been.

She was suddenly aware of a presence beside her, and whipped her head about. She saw Braxus crouched there, holding something out to her. It was a bulky object clothed in black silken fabric, and the way he handled it suggested it held high value for him. He seemed to care for it as if it were a child of his.

“What is this?” Raegan asked.

“The object you have been hounding me about,” Braxus said wearily.

Even as she fastened her gaze upon the cloth-covered object, she heard someone approaching the camp, and knew Aldene had returned. Evidently she had decided a long scout this evening was not in order.

Unable to take her attention off the object in Braxus’s hand long enough to acknowledge Aldene, Raegan said softly, “Remove the cloth.” She had tried to make it sound like a request even though it was actually a command, but didn’t think she had succeeded. Besides, Braxus had gone this far towards revealing his secret, and she saw no reason why he would back down now. As she watched he slipped the object out from under the cloth, taking care every step of the way. A shining glassy sphere was soon revealed, and Raegan recognised the pride with which Braxus held it. As she studied it she thought, He cannot be blamed for being proud. Or at least possessive.

“A dimend!” she exclaimed, gazing in wonder at the dark sphere threaded with shimmering swirls of silver. The sphere completely filled Braxus’s cupped hands. Oh, how it gleamed!

She said, “How and where in ten rained weeks did you get your hands on that thing?”

Aldene took a seat nearby, balancing keenly on a log and poking a stick at the dying fire. She didn’t look once towards Braxus and Raegan, but it was clear she was aware of what was going on.

Braxus’s cheeks had flushed a slight shade of pink and he shrugged. Raegan waited, staring straight at him. “Well?”

“I… It is mine. I found it, and I will keep it,” he said, frowning down at the sphere. Raegan nodded slowly, glancing at Aldene. The blademaiden was gazing out at the countryside, but even from this angle Raegan saw traces of amusement on her face. Perhaps it was only her imagination.

Braxus had started to cover the sphere again, but Raegan wasn’t having a bar of it. “Found it?” she inquired casually. “I see. Did you know that nobody has made a dimend since Willard Anarran walked the earth?”

Braxus shifted. “No I didn’t. This one was a gift. A gift to me.”

“A gift, was it? Which queen has taken you as her courtier, then? Come now, and be honest. You made a good start in that respect; why not finish well also? If you did steal this treasure… Let me just say that nobody will hear it from me.”

He was watching her suspiciously and she didn’t bother to hide her interest in what he had shown to her. Her mind raced at a thousand leagues a minute.

“I do hope you won’t mind if I study it?” she asked. “I could learn so much!”

Aldene’s attention had now returned, and she was watching Braxus with interest, clearly wondering how he would react. Braxus looked increasingly uncomfortable, but there was something else in his eyes now – a gleam of barely concealed excitement. Raegan smiled inwardly. She had him where she wanted him now.

Braxus nodded and said, “I have already learned some basic things about the…dimend.” Undoubtedly he had known it as a moonstone, as most Avelonians did. Dimend was the technical term for it. “If you look into it, you can see for leagues around. Every living object, be it a horse and cart or a stray goat. As long as it’s a reasonable size, that is. If there are many objects I can focus in on one and learn more about it – to the finest detail.”

“So you consulted the dimend back in the city,” Raegan mused, not letting him know that all he had just told her about his treasure she had already known. She didn’t want him to stop talking yet.

He nodded. “Yes. I knew not only that we were in danger but that our…I won’t say enemies, because really they were not there for us… In any case, they were from the–”

“The north,” Raegan interrupted. “I remember. What else have you learned?” She was itching to get her fingers on the dimend, but she was restraining herself as she saw fit. One day she would have it, if only for a short time, but for the moment she could survive without it – she thought.

He shrugged. “Not much, actually. I did find out, quite by accident I assure you, that this thing does not break.” He hefted the sphere pointedly. Raegan winced.

“Even so, you could have damaged it,” she admonished. “I suppose only time will tell if you have. In any case, perhaps I can tell you a little more about the object you hold – it is quite a wonder, possibly more so than you could imagine.”

Braxus let the condescension roll right off him. “I wouldn’t object to that. Who could be a better tutor than one of your kind?”

She smirked at him, appreciating his good humour. “Who indeed.”

“Why are they called dimends?” Aldene asked suddenly, not sounding particularly interested in the answer but catching Raegan’s attention nonetheless. “I have always known them as moonstones.”

Raegan smiled. “The name moonstone is really quite pointless. That is what the technical name means – or is supposed to mean – as well. It is a long story.”

“Braxus and I are not going anywhere,” Aldene responded bluntly.

Raegan raised both eyebrows, and then nodded. “Very well. The intriguing story of the moonstone: the dimend, as we know it.”

Raegan told her companions how many years ago, when the moonstones had first been created, many names had been tossed around, but Anarran’s famed seeress helper, a woman by the name of Mirella Nivelle, had had the most influence over the famous Hademuur, and as a result she’d had great influence over the final choice of a name. Mirella had confessed in many times and places – even in her own memoirs – to being perpetually bedazzled by the moon, claiming the sight of it satisfied her more thoroughly than any man or woman ever could. It was perhaps no wonder then that the gemmed creations soon bore the name of velin’sedimend, or ‘moonstone’.

At several points over the years since the creation of the stones, their name had become shortened, first to velin’dimend, then vedimend, and finally to a simple dimend. Many still insisted on speaking the old title, particularly traditionalists who clung fiercely and proudly to the past, but these individuals grew fewer and farther between as time wore on. One day no doubt the moonstones would be referred to simply as diamonds, since that was a word that was very commonly known.

“This is all according to legend, of course,” Raegan murmured, having completed her rather hasty telling. She noticed that Aldene was staring at her blankly, and got the distinct impression the woman thought she was talking about matters too trivial to be of concern. It annoyed her a little, until she reminded herself that Braxus, at least, had asked to learn more. She was only granting his request. Raegan decided to ignore Aldene, and concluded, “We can never be entirely sure what we have learned is the truth. It is the way of the world.”

Aldene smiled dryly. “After all, history is created at all times – sometimes it is more a story than a selection of facts.”

Raegan nodded appreciatively. “Indeed, you make a good point, and it is one Saidor Jin must always keep in mind.” Not that I am a Saidor Jin, she thought to herself with a faint smile. “We must always wonder what is fact and what is fiction.”

“If it is so hard to tell,” Braxus said, “why do we even bother trying?”

Raegan had no answer to that except, “Simply because we might as well.” It didn’t seem to satisfy Braxus, but it was all she could give.

Braxus looked like he had the bit between his teeth, but when he spoke he did so calmly. “Sometimes I think fact has less value than fiction. Sometimes fiction is more entertaining…more comforting.”

“Such as when people demonise the likes of Senya Wrauper to feel better about themselves?” Raegan asked curiously.

Braxus shook his head. “Senya Wrauper was an incredibly disturbed man,” he said, “but that wasn’t what I meant. It doesn’t matter anyway. I’d like to know more about the dimend, if you wouldn’t mind.”

After a few moments of silence Raegan smiled thoughtfully,“Perhaps if you gave it to me, I could show you what it could do.”

Braxus looked protective. “Why not just tell me?”

“I’d rather gaze into it first, to divine the truths you’re hiding from me about how you got hold of it…”

Braxus’s eyes widened, and he looked a little less protective. “It can do that?”

“It can do many things…of which that is just one. In any case, I’ll tell you more about it tomorrow as we walk onwards. For now I am rather weary. The sooner we get to sleep, the sooner we can rise.”

Braxus smiled. “And tomorrow it is on towards Makramand.”

“City of Gold,” Aldene murmured, her expression strangely contemplative. “We’ll see just how golden it is when we get there.”

Raegan glanced briefly at Braxus with arched brows before stifling a yawn behind her hand and getting to her feet. She padded into the shadows beyond the fire and turned back to face the others at the last moment. “Until Merlin rises again.”

And she sank down into her blankets and slept.