One of the puzzling aspects I suppose for readers of the first book (or not) may be why the lions kept insisting on the use of magic being a shared responsibility.

If one considers magic constrained in some ways by the strength of its user, then having two somehow share the “burden” of a task makes sense.  Nothing hard to accept here.

But magic isn’t simply brute force power. And so far, in this world, even things that “aren’t alive” seem to be temperamental and particular as to how they wish to be used. (The lions, you could argue wanted a pair of champions who worked together a certain way or shared a bond.)

In this installment, one of the things Selva recalls (without beating it over your heads as it’s not essential to enjoying the conversation that happens) is that our dear trouble-making lions invoked a clause — or a prophecy — or some kind of “guidance” as it were in Chapter 25.

Lif and Lifprasir:
Draw from the stones and the wood from which you sprang–
From the guardians of this land and
Through the earth filled with fallen stars.
Lie with the lions and the lambs.
Restore those broken ties.
Weave our thousands into strands of light
to be reborn after night.

As I explained in some final notes to book 1, Lif and Liprasir come from end-world/rebirth myth of the Nordic lineage. I have, in passing, been acquainted with Yggdrasil and these two figures were linked to the survival of humankind in one story I ran across. 

Selva (Ilva) was given insight into what the lions thought or believed about who would ultimately be their foretold helper/champion (via Edmund in Chapter  30) . She realized that their initial hope had been for herself and the current lord of the estate to carry that responsibility. However, it had not been possible to do at that point because of the state of their relationship. This was never about raw power on their part but what “proof” they had to offer of their worthiness to unleash the power that lay underneath the estate.

I suppose the elves that made this place were preventing something they didn’t want from happening by putting in a condition for “a waking” to rely on at least two magic users (with a bit of cheating from four lions and some friends).

But with respect to that one little clause — it’s hard to say whether that role is permanently Elanore and Edmund’s.  

The general waking of magic upon the estate has gradually changed its inhabitants as well as the way the things work upon it. Shifting plans, shifting rules… I guess we’ll see. 

 

Sadly there is no time to draw anything this week. I am using my spare time to rework stuff from book 1.  I am really shooting for the paper copy to become available to all of you in June (maybe May if all goes well).

But if I had the chance to, you’d see something like this:

Small Edmund teething on the leg of his would-be father (who has given him horribly boring tasks to do).

Such an action would probably be well-deserved. Bad wolf!