The People of Magic

14

November, 27, 1915

The world is at large at war, we have just received word that the battle in Ctesiphon has brought danger to the Hanging Gardens Ancienthome and we are to soon expect Amytis and her people to arrive into the Valley. We have already received so many refugees into the Valley. What had initially been speculation is now clear that Morgana fights with the enemy as some sort of Magical purists claiming to be on the side of the Non-Magical though I do not understand to what end. More and more of the Magical kind seek the refuge of the mountains and over the past year we have not been able to make as many waves as we had hoped with our newly established Magical Council, the world at large is concerned with the mess it is embroiled in that the Magical world seems so inconsequential... the Shop has been providing the service we had hoped it would but it is still too new a concept, and we now wait – almost as if expecting the other shoe to drop before Morgana sets her sights upon the Valley and plunges us all into war... but we are prepared – and have been... Right now all that matters is that my daughter survives – if it is her granddaughter that will save us all, then there is hope yet.

Fairouza sighed and placed her pen down, since the gears of the world were set in motion she'd began writing what she could, writing down the history she knew would otherwise have been erased if none were there to take note of it. Her desk was littered with paperwork and letters, some from the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire himself.

The Empire was failing and she knew he was desperate for allies – it seemed the eyes of the west had turned upon the east and they all feared the fracture that would inevitably happen during this Great War. Freyja often had dreams of the world they knew ending, change being so great that it would change the entirety of the Muslim World.

Letting out a sigh she crossed her arms and looked out the window, the cottage and shop were no longer alone in the forest, and though they had tried everything they could to save the forest within the Valley it was all but gone and most of the trees relocated to the Ottoman Forest, she had even gone to protect the Hamadryad Ptelea only to find she had moved on. To Fairouza seeing this had deeply hurt her, but she had also known that in their quest to save their people she had to sacrifice much of the Valley. Their world was changing too quickly for her liking. It had been nearly a year since they'd begun taking people in and the Valley showed signs of this change. The Palace now held offices as the new center for the Magical Council – one yet without a Chancellor though Fairouza felt they were close in figuring out who it should be. With the arrival of many people many ideas and conflicts also arose.

Another point of contention had been Fairouza's child, at first it had been easy to hide her pregnancy – even well until her final weeks, but when she had vanished for a couple of days only to return with a newborn in her arms, many questions were asked and it was revealed that the father of her child was, in fact, Non-Magical. The threat of losing many purist allies was far too close yet they somehow managed to retain them.

The peace among them was fragile, the fact that they were still seen as the Leaders of the Valley allowed for factions of dissidents – and people following the Purist ideologies. Fairouza knew the only reason none made any motions against them was the fact that they had Laran on their side and many feared Laran.

Things had only continued to devolve in the world around them, it was terrifying – a war that they had no reason to be concerned with seemed to be growing ever closer and Stephen, as someone who was Non-Magical was constantly anxious awaiting to see what motion the United States would be taking.

She heard a 'MaaMaa' that drew her out of her musings, she turned and saw her daughter Fatima sitting up in her cot. She smiled, got up, and went over, "Good morning, sweet Fatima," she said softly and picked her up, the toddler chewing on her fist, she reached up to softly pull it away much to the chagrin of the child in her arms.