I hadn't been able to spend long with Irvin. My own duties preventing me from taking time to enjoy the changes that Cuan Sabhailte had made. It pleased me that the Sithern had bonded with my adopted son, pleased that he had healed, pleased that he now had a daughter of his own, and exceptionally delighted that my decision to banish him to Derva had paid off so well.

Each of my 'projects' was exceeding my expectation. I had made use of my position and the information shared with me by Tybalt, King of Cats, and his Oracle to manipulate events and people to advance the goals of the Sidhe people and help my friends and family. I would have done so no matter how it affected the individuals involved, Wynne, Irvin, Ryu, and Sieph deserved to find some sense of happiness.

I was delighted that my manipulation would provide them each with real benefits. For Wynne and Irvin, those benefits would help them to heal. I had tampered with events well enough that they could lay their demons to rest.

I had been most worried about Wynne. When Tybalt had come to me a decade ago and told me that Wynne's daughter was still alive, that she had been in Sleep safely ensconced in his realm, I had been furious.

I had demanded my own interview with the Oracle, and it was only then I came to a monumental realization. No matter my importance to the Sidhe, I was only one person. System and Fairy had their own agenda, and I would be best served by recognizing that I was just a cog in the wheel, one of many.

There were reasons Sieph was hidden. Reasons of paradox and fate. Once I was informed that it was Wynne herself that had made the arrangements, the Wynne that had just fought to a draw the goddess Tisiphone, I calmed down enough to consider the information rationally.

Tybalt hadn't kept Sieph from Wynne to be cruel, but to answer necessities' call. When he came to me a decade ago, he needed help to find a place and home that would accept a young woman that was already powerful in her domain of metal even before System ascension. A place where she wouldn't be considered a threat. A place where she could be safe. A place where she would be encouraged to embrace and increase her natural talents.

I had to call in a favor with Queen Wisteria of the Knockers to find a place where she could grow, but Sieph had been restored to Talahm. She had suffered nothing untoward from being kept in Sleep for a decade, and from what I had been told, gave little thought to the missing years and memories of her past life.

When it came time to form a group to send a party to Ijal, Sieph had been placed at the top of the list. Although the Oracle hadn't spoken of Ijal, she had hinted that Sieph would be instrumental in expanding the Tuatha de Danaan's influence. If Ijal could be claimed by the Sidhe, it would be the first extra-planetary expansion of our people.

Only now would mother and daughter be reunited, and now that the timeliness had converged and it had abated the risk of paradox, I could allow the meeting between the two women to take place. I would sit and have a frank discussion with Wynne about what I had known when I had known it, and why I had responded as I had. I hoped that now that she realized I had kept Sieph hidden because of her actions, she would behave reasonably and not hold my actions against me.

She was too good a friend to lose.

I wasn't sure how long before the two could be reunited, Ryu's last message to me had been only a few moments before he entered the dungeon they'd found. I'd tried sending him messages since, using the expanded social functions of System that had opened once he and his party began claiming the planet, but had gotten error messages that informed me he couldn't be contacted.

I could only assume it was a function of the chat feature, not allowing communication to happen once a party entered a dungeon. I didn't like it, but the longer it lasted, the more certain I was that Ryu and his party were conquering the dungeon well enough that they might actually claim Ijal soon.

I had thought it strange that they came across a dungeon so quickly. They had only been on the planet a few days, but when I summoned the Egyptian ambassador for an explanation, I found it was an idiosyncrasy of System.

It placed roadblocks in our path, tests, and hurdles that had to be navigated to claim a planet, but it also made adjustments so that the time constraints of six months could be met as long as a group was making an honest effort to satisfy System requirements.

It wouldn't make things easy for a party, Ryu and his team would have to earn the dungeon core, but it would streamline the process so that they could ignore external considerations, for the most part. There was no reason to spend months slogging across a planet to find a dungeon. The System was testing our ability to defeat and claim a core, not find one.

Events were coalescing, and I believed we were about to hit the final countdown before the three separate threads of fate crossed once more. Once Ryu had claimed the planet, I planned on installing Wynne as Queen. They had informed me that System would proscribe the group that claimed the dungeon core for a planet from serving as King. Instead, they would gain a Champion title, enough territory to establish an Earldom, and enough experience to hold and protect their new holdings.

Irvin was well established. He would be busy growing and ruling Cuan Sabhailte, raising his daughter, and if I was reading the messages the Aziza was sending, embarking on a romance with the Saanvi Patel, the Sidhe's first Changeling. But the World Tree that the Sithern had restored needed to be recreated.

I had already claimed two of the first harvest. One for Talahm, and one for Ijal. With Wynne, Irvin, and myself the Host standing as a bridge between Sithern and World Tree. I planned to expand that network and lay claim to the power, authority, and magic that each tree offered.

I did plan on having Wynne visit and staying at Cuan Sabhailte until they claimed Ijal. It would keep her busy and out of sight and allow her to establish a working relationship with Irvin and Ijal. Her actions on Rome had not come without cost. Mostly, her battle had increased the gravitas of Talahm and the Sidhe, the recordings of their fight released in their entirety. But for a few of the Pantheons that had tried to straddle the fence between Olympus, Asgard, and the Tuatha de Danaan, that neutrality was no longer possible.

The Senate was not happy when presented with the evidence of Caesar's overreach, or the fight between Wynne and Tisiphone. Olympus had been censured one again, and Zeus had been so furious he released a Divine lighting storm that required the other members of the Senate to defend against. The Senate was furious at his actions and banished Him from entering the chambers for a thousand years.

All and all, I thought we came out well. Olympus was surprised to find that a few of the Pantheons that they had assumed would advance their position had instead joined the Egyptians and mine to create a larger coalition in opposition.

The Senate wasn't evenly fractured, but we did not command enough of a plebiscite to force votes and discussions. And we could use that plebiscite to highlight how Olympus and Asgard were still attempting to influence and force concessions from the other Pantheons.

I assumed these actions were what Athena wished to discuss as I looked back at the letter I was holding. It had been hand-delivered today. Sealed behind so many restrictions that it was impossible to scry or spy past. She had even gone so far as to invest a touch of the Divine to make sure the letter remained private. It would only open to a Sidhe of my Rank.

She proffered an invitation in the letter, asking, almost begging for a meeting separate from a Senate committee.

She hadn't explained what she planned to discuss, but she had offered concessions and promises that made me believe that something momentous was happening. A storm was coming. Something that frightened or worried her.

That Loki was a signature to the letter online increased my curiosity. What were Olympus and Asgard up to now?