[b]Adila![/b]

One of the clocks begins to chime. One, two, three, sharp silvery tones. For a moment, it's the only sound in the whole world. Everyone stops breathing, the dust stops settling, even the night wind stills. Then the hymn begins. Not an Igniter hymn; this is the sound of Palatine piety, rising from nearby roofs, from windows, as one of the new clocks (peeking out from under a budding branch) sings its song. Four, five, six.

The song rises from throats like tongues of fire. Do you join them, Adila? Seven, eight, nine. Each of the old clocks is gone. This new tree of time... it is the ship, each part changed, but still the same. It is the turning point of time. And despite this, despite the overturning of prophecy, the wiping clean of the slate... has the great work changed at all?

That's for you to decide, as it is for everyone in the Bazaar.

***

[b]Alina![/b]

"As I seem to remember," Rhyza says, squatting down to look you in the face, her grin only visible in the delighted squint of her eyes, "you needed me to help look after Jedad. But now that Shazari's back, well, does that mean that your orders are over, or do you need me to follow her orders now more than ever?" She tilts your head up with one (1) finger. She could tie you up right now with a bit of brittle cobweb and you'd still be helpless, wouldn't you? "Maybe what you really need is for me to keep your cover to avoid foiling your brilliant plan, which requires you to pretend to be Shazari's prisoner and soon to be... well, I don't want to spoil the surprise. Let's just say she has [i]plans[/i] for you, too."

The finger lowers, and traces its way down your collarbone to the divot in your top, where she puts the gentlest pressure on it. Enough to remind you that she [i]could[/i] pull it down. "I know I'm just a simple mercenary," she purrs. "Please explain what you want me to do, your highness~"

She's probably going to free you-- and insist you tie her up so that it looks like you escaped on your own-- but right now? Right now she's luxuriating in the fluorescent blush coming off your face, and the flustered, incoherent noises escaping around the knot.

***

[b]Kazelia![/b]

[i]"I left my kitten lying here,
a-lying here, a-lying here,
I left my kitten lying here
to fetch the wild weed..."[/i]

Rita's voice is soft and quavering, a reminder of how small and dainty a princess she is (and isn't Alina lucky for dating one of the few princesses smaller than her?), but it's still soothing. If you close your eyes, you could almost imagine that you're in one of those cozy little Askaian homes, all the way back at the beginning, and there's Askaian chai on the windowsill and the sun is warm and the incense brings strange fancies, and the day's all yours to lose.

[i]"I've found the little otter's track,
the otter's track, the otter's track,
I've found the little otter's track,
but where's my little kitten, o?"[/i]

You don't need to worry about anything right now. Rita's in charge, and she'll treat you with all the love and care that a Hyperborean princess deserves. Somewhere deep inside you, your Mother stirs and radiates contentment; here, here is the Truth, wrapped up in the cat princess's lilting lullaby. You don't feel cold at all, and falling stars tickle their way down your back with every brush.

[i]"I found the trail of the mountain mist,
the mountain mist, the mountain mist,
I found the trail of the mountain mist,
but where's my little kitten, o?"[/i]

When you drift off to sleep in the puddle of sunshine, what dreams wait for you in your Mother's arms?

[i]"Here's my little kitten found,
my kitten found, my kitten found,
here's my little kitten found,
safe and warm at home~"[/i]