Nightmares

It was already late by the time Ahsch and Avery got back to the Odestag suites. Late enough that Ahsch didn't question when his wife announced - in a very subdued tone - that she was going to bed right away, and left Ahsch and the girls to talk in one of the smaller living rooms. Mahat had already seen the entire evening play out through her Master's eyes, but the two spent a while catching Ariin up on the happenings.

The three then turned their focus on the principle issue of the night: Fauna. After taking another look at the half-covered painting on their way back into the suites, Ahsch was pretty sure that the late Pavel's widow had worn the same dress from the painting to the Ball - they were the same distinct color of green, assuming the painter's accuracy, which would explain why the dress had caught at his memory earlier.

Much of the trio's discussion went around the royal woman's goals. It was clear she was opposed to Avery on principle, likely due to the Lord Odestag's involvement - however accidental - in Miri's ****. That Fauna actively blamed Avery and was clearly trying to stir up trouble was of... questionable reason - after all, Avery had been a child; how would she have known where to get poison, and what possible motive would she have had?

Still, the facts were that Fauan seemed to hate Avery, which made it odd that she had approached Ahsch in such a friendly manner. And the 'warning' she had given him regarding his wife? Just passing strange, since Ahsch had gone into the marriage with open eyes.

"She clearly doesn't truly know - or understand - your reasons for marrying Avery," Ariin said. "The way she phrased things, it almost seems like she pities you? Like you're clearly just some country bumpkin, out of his league and being played for a fool by your wife."

"I find it odd how she described Avery," Mahat said. "'Creature' seems a very... deliberate term to use. Like she sees Avery as nothing more than a beast."

"If she honestly believes that Avery killed Miri on purpose, I could see why," Ahsch replied. "After all, what kind of beast of a child kills their brother in cold blood? But I just... I struggle to believe that anyone could honestly believe that a kid got their hands on poison as potent as the report said, then took a sip of it before passing it on. She was sick for days after Miri's ****!"

"Some people are just crazy," Ariin said.

"Some people might have been trying to kill a different child," Mahat mused. The twins looked over in surprise. "Think about it," the familiar said, "the tea was poisoned, that's a given. But it was tea that was meant for Avery. Unless there's some convoluted logic at play where the poisoner _knew _Avery wouldn't drink it, and _knew _she would give it to Miri, and _knew _Miri would drink it all..." she shrugged. "It's hard to see anything other than someone not knowing Avery's taste in tea and trying to poison her, not Miri."

"But why would anyone want to poison Avery?" Ahsch asked. Then he paused. "Correction, why would anyone want to poison Avery as a child - after seeing her irritate royals with their own rules and hearing some about how petty they can be..." he shook his head.

"What if... what if Fauna already hated Avery?" Ariin suggested. "She called her a 'creature' after all, and while we could just say it's another word for beast, that's a little bit of a strange thing to call her. It's like she doesn't recognize Avery as a person."

The trio thought about it for a little longer, but between them, they didn't know enough about Fauna, Avery, or their shared history to come up with anything definitive. Stymied for answers, they went their separate ways, taking care of a few more personal tasks before going to bed.

It was several hours later that Ahsch, unable to sleep due to his ruminations, was startled from his chair in his office by the sound of terrified screaming. Bolting out the door, he quickly located the source - Avery's bedroom. He entered tense, prepared for a fight, but instead found his wife sitting upright in bed, her eyes closed as she babbled pleas for mercy and apologies, tears streaming down her face, before she suddenly collapsed backwards, wincing and tossing in bed.

Rushing to her side, Ahsch panicked over what to do before deciding to try Dreamweave. Clearly Avery wasn't hurt, and he knew his wife wouldn't want to be seen in such a state. But maybe he could help her with his magic. Those were his thoughts has he knelt down beside her bed, one hand over hers as he started to burn through his Mana.

The dream - or rather nightmare - she was currently caught in was a chaotic, confusing jumble of scenes and sounds, coming too fast for Ahsch to parse properly. And all irrelevant, considering his next steps were to weave together something good, something soothing for his wife. At first he simply smoothed away the nightmare, leaving a haze of pleasant feelings and peace behind, but such an ephemeral thing would quickly be brushed aside by the mind's own demons.

Thinking quickly, he tried to recall the things that made his wife happy, at peace. He was startled to find that he was hard-pressed to find answers. When was the last time he could think of Avery being well and truly happy? Or at peace?

Perhaps... there had been a glimmer of something like that when she had been interacting with his numerous younger siblings?

Course decided, he threw together a dream. He kept things vague, not wanting to give away that he had been there, but working with her subconscious, he wove avatars of what her family could have been, had Pavel been as fecund as Noeh. Populating her dream with a half-dozen sisters and her recollection of Miri was surprisingly difficult, her mind resistant to such ideas, likely due to only ever having one brother in reality; regressing her dream-avatar back to her youth was much easier. For a setting... he pulled a beautiful, peaceful glade from the mundane forests surrounding Sarvas, with a pond and some makeshift play-areas made from the trees.

Work complete, Ahsch made to pull back and leave, but found that the nightmare he had freed his wife from still lurked in the corners of her sleeping mind, too powerful to be banished permanently without help. Setting his jaw, Ahsch stood and fetched a chair from the corner of the room, made himself as comfortable as he could beside Avery, then took her hand again and settled in for the long haul, patrolling the bounds of her dream to keep out the nightmare while she slept peacefully.