As Norumi, Haolong, and Satsuki walked up to the dais, Mordecai rose from his throne and stepped down to greet his daughter with a warm embrace. "Hello, Norumi. I should have realized that it would be easier for you to meet us on this side and that you would be a princess of the court too."

  She hugged him back tightly and replied, "I'm gd I see you like this now, even if it came with a plicated price."

  When Mordecai stepped back, Kazue and Moriko briefly but tightly embraorumi as well. He then spoke to Satsuki and Haolong. "To plete the formal introdus, I am Lord Mordecai, King of the realm," he ignored Satsuki rolling her eyes upward briefly, "this is my wife Lady Kazue, Queen of the realm, my wife Lady Moriko, Queen of the realm, Lady Carmil, Princess of the realm, and Lady Fuyuko, Princess of the realm." Mordecai saw Satsuki's brow quirk up at Carmil's name, but he ighat too.

  "Lord Haolong," he said, "We would like to formally reize you as husband and sort of Our daughter, Lady Norumi, and as such We reize you as a prince of Our realm." He felt that e snap into pce with satisfa. Haolong's e was still thihan Norumi's, but it was there.

  Haolong bowed as a small smile cracked his wooden face. "Thank you, Lord Mordecai. I suppose 'Father' would teically be appropriate, but then I would o call these two beautiful young women 'Mother', and I do not think that would do."

  With those formalities taken care of, Norumi and Haolong were no longer simple guests; they were part of this realm too even if it was not their home. Now for Satsuki.

  Mordecai ined his head toward her and said, "Lady Satsuki, you are a wele and huest. I am happy to see that you are well." As much of a headache as he anticipated having over her visit, Mordecai had to admit that he was still gd to see her again.

  She pursed her lips thoughtfully before replying, "Darling, that's sweet. I holy wasn't quite sure what reception I would get now that you have two young wives to yourself." She smirked at him before looking at the queens.

  "Lady Kazue, Lady Moriko, it is a delight to meet you. When there is time, I think we should enjoy a cup of tea together, with just the three of us, yes? Mm, Lady 'Carmil', is it? Well, you must have taken on the hhly for it to be such a part of you, so I will abide by that. I await dear Sylphine's rea with anticipation. Lady Fuyuko, well, you're a tall one, but cute too."

  Satsuki walked along to greet each of them, and she smiled up at the slightly flustered Fuyuko. "Oni bloodlines mixed with ly bloodlines old enough for the curse to fade, yes? An adorable bination I admit. Oh, and it seems Mordi has been helpi your potential to qui, excellent! A mix like yours is slower to awaken than others. But so much more be doh it, if you maintain trol. Now," she turned back around and walked toward Mordecai, "Luv, I think I need you to expin something to me."

  Gesturing toward the three thrones, Satsuki asked, "Why is your thro the one in the ter? I admit it's cute to see Lady Kazue fnked by her two taller spouses, but Darling, even with your restraint I tell you are clearly the stro, and you are certainly the, mm, most senior. It seems off for you to be at the end like that."

  He shook his head as he smiled and replied, "Tsuki, life is not just about power, you know that. The start of this realm is our dungeon, and our dungeon started first as simply Kazue's. This is her home first and foremost, and I will not do anything to ge that. I am trying to be muindful in this sed ce at life."

  "More mindful?" Satsuki asked incredulously. "My dear Mordecai, there is such a thing as going too far you know. Oh, but that is the issue, isn't it? You did go too far, just the other way. Tsk. Well, not the time and pce I suppose. We talk more about that ter. Oh! Yes, we should be exging tokens and everything, shouldn't we? Let me begin. I have something perfect for the occasion. I've been doing some traveling and have e across the most iing things. For now, I've brought you neckces."

  She pulled the neckces out one by one from her sleeve to put the jewelry on each of them.

  Mordecai's neckce sisted of 'beads' of dark-colored metal alloys in different odd polygonal shapes. Kazue's had several metal beads that were loosely strung and floated away from each other without a hint of magic. Moriko's neckce was made of strands of a few different white metals woven into a braided 'rope' and studded with different 'crystals' of metal, some of which had a multicolored sheen. Carmil's neckce was a string of perfectly round and brightly colored pearls. Fuyuko's neckce was a of different steel alloys and a small pendant with a fractal pattern of tiny crystals.

  They looked odd and there was excuse to not wear them for the rest of the day. Fuyuko's retty at least while Moriko and Kazue merely had slightly odd-looking neckces, but Mordecai had to suffer with an ugly, ky piece while Carmil was burdened with gaudy colors that did not fit her aesthetic to an almost ical degree.

  At the same time, Mordecai and Kazue had to work hard to not react to the flood of information that came with receiving these gifts. Metals that they'd never identified before were now present in rge enough quantities to be analyzed properly. Other metals they had only known as pos of various gems. Several new alloys, some with the new metals. The floating beads were, for their size, incredibly powerful lodestones.

  The pearls were mostly real, but they were also obviously artificially induced with irritants and dyes in trolled circumstao produce these perfectly round and colored pearls. Nor were all of them geed by oysters, based on the variations in the base material. The ohat were not real were the small ones he csp, and these were made of some very iing anipounds. The slight fws in all of these reinforced their impression that there was no magivolved.

  Even Fuyuko's neckce was filled with unknowns. Every single crystal was o Mordecai, and he retty certain there was no natural geological process that would create any of them. This gave rise to the question of how they were possibly made without the aid of magic.

  The mischievous smile on Satsuki's face made it clear that she knew what she'd done, both good and bad. The price of having to wear these gaudy neckces for the rest of the day was worth it, but there was no way for their uests to uand how valuable these neckces really were.

  Once Mordecai could pull his attention back from the flood of new informatiourned Satsuki's smile.

  "I'm afraid We only have this single small gem to gift iurn," Mordecai said in a very sweet tone. Satsuki watched him warily as he brought out a small wooden box with an interior lining of bck velvet. led in that bck velvet lining was a bzingly bright opal of fiery red.

  She examihe gem curiously as she asked, "A fire opal? It's very pretty... wait." Her eyes widened in surprise and she said, "No, it's Dwarven Opalfire. Oh, Mordecai, you've outdone yourself. When did you get it?" She sighed and closed the box. "No, never mind, we talk about it ter. Thank you, I wasn't expeg you to have something so magnifit. Now my fun little presents look so cheap, even if you know the real value. A point for you."

  "A point?" Kazue asked.

  "Yes, Dear. Now's not the time to get into all the tawdry details, but suffice it to say that Mordecai and I have always been good at poking at each other. Your husband is a good man, but, well, that's why I feel pelled to mess with him. " Satsuki curtsied lightly and said, "I think that it is time I let my daughter and son-in-w present their gifts, and I shall retire to the feast."

  As Satsuki left the dais, Norumi g Haolong. "As I told you, they just ot exist in the same space for long. The two of them are always tearing at each other in subtle or not-so-subtle ways." Haolong just looked bemused at the situation.

  "Now," Norumi said as she focused on Kazue, "I believe the crystal tree is your work, Lady Kazue?"

  Kazue the question. "Yes, mostly. Why?"

  "Well, we have a gift for you, but it's not so tangible as my mifts. I assume that they are more valuable to you than they look to others?"

  "Rather," Kazue muttered.

  Moriko sighed and said, "I'm only getting a little bit of the information you two are w on, and it's already overwhelming. I knew I wasn't made to be an alchemist, no matter how much my parents had hoped otherwise."

  Norumi tinued with, "ift is a sort of blessing, but it seemed best to ask for your permission first, as we would be giving our blessing to your crystal tree, though I have to admit for all that I tell it is alive, it is very strange. So I am not certain if the blessing will take."

  "Oh," Kazue replied, "well, if you want to try, you may. I am willing to help if I , or perhaps my mother assist if you ? You might o e back to the mortal side with us if you want to do that though."

  "No, not even a druid is going to help much with the blessing of a dryad and a guardian spirit," Norumi said with a smile. "But thank you. It should work out well enough, even with your tree being made of living crystal."

  There was something about the way she was asking that bothered Mordecai. When she and Haolong turogether and started walking toward the crystal ttice of the roots, it finally came together for him. "Norumi," he called softly, "wait."

  All of them turo look at him curiously at his interruption.

  "I think I know what you have in mind. If you and your husband want to bless us that way, that's not something I turn down. Not from you. But, I think you should wait until spring."

  Norumi tilted her head quizzically, the purple flowers that made up her hair shifting with the movement. "Why is that? My uanding of your living crystal is that it does not folloarticur cycle, it shouldn't make a difference."

  "No," he replied, "but we have also received a different gift. A Yggdrasil leaf. Kazue is currently having it teo much like a cutting, which should work."

  "Oh," Norumi said and then fell silent for a long moment. "I see. Yes, by spring it might be strong enough to support ift healthily."

  "Wait," Carmil said, "a dryad's blessing, for a tree. With her husband along." She gnced up at the crystal tree and then back to Norumi. "I've not heard of any other dryads in your forest. Why now?"

  "That is both simple and plex," Norumi replied, "Because of the way I transformed, I am not bound to a tree, I am bound to my forest. So there is no way for another dryad to develop inside of the forest. Until now, any other tree I could reach seemed far too vulnerable. But here, with my father, I just ot imagine a better pce. Your tree may be made of living crystal, but it is tree-like enough in cept and fun that it should support a dryad's spirit, but a world tree sapling might be a better choice."

  "But," Moriko said, "I have no idea how oakes care of a baby dryad. Do we feed her? Or just water her? What are we supposed to do? You 't stay here and take care of her. Or you?"

  Kazue simply slumped ohroh a stunned expression.

  Even Fuyuko panicked a little at the thought. "A baby dryad. Your baby. Wait, if you're my sister now, would that make her my niece? I'd be an aunt? I don't know how to be an aunt."

  Norumi looked a little amused and she waited for them to calm down before she replied, "There is little o worry. If it works, then her spirit will slowly form ihe tree for years if not decades. She'll wake up wheime is right, and she'll know all the things her tree experienced while she was asleep. But it seems we have time to expihing before spring arrives. Oh, but what are your pns for the world tree sapling when it is ready to be moved? It will need a lot of spad I think it would pete with your crystal tree."

  This brought Kazue out of her daze and she replied, "We hadn't decided for sure, but I was thinking of maybe trying to get it to grow into and with the crystal tree like those 'mated' trees people sometimes grow together. I rather like the idea of having a tree that is crystal and wood and ected to Saraag, but I don't think any tree shy of a world tree could cope with the living crystal."

  It was quite the image to pte. And the idea of a dryad being born of a tree that art Yggdrysil and part living crystal, well, she would be uhat is for certain.

  Mordecai shook off that specution and focused ba his daughter and son-in-w. "Are you two certain this is what you want to give us as yift?" The gift wasn't really the dryad, who would be his spiritual grandchild. The gift was the trust involved irusting the dryad's future to them. Creating the potential for a new dryad was an iment of the older dryad's personal power. It teically did not require a mate to help, though a willing mate could certainly i a portion of their spiritual energy as well which could make it easier, as well as additionally shape the dryad and give her two parents. Dryads were very careful aive with what trees they blessed.

  "Yes Father, we discussed it at length already and are very certain. I 't imagine a better home for our first dryad child." Norumi replied.

  He nodded and said, "Very well then. The Azeria court will accept yift as a pledge to be fulfilled." Mordecai smiled and added, "Which means it is now time for us to give you ifts."

  Zagaroth