A Clover and a Bee

It’s the first day of spring, but the island is still covered in snow and ice. And even though it’s slowly melting in the afternoon sun, the snow sucks any warmth out of the air, driving most sims to stay indoors if possible.

Luna is nearly done with her twenty-fifth book. She can hardly believe that she has written this many. At the beginning of her career, a chapter could take her days to write. Now she can finish a book in a couple of sittings. The book--titled The Queen’s Gambit --is loosely based on Bastian’s quest to find his daughter. Luna had to fill in a lot of gaps, but she managed to cobble together a strong plot based on her brief conversations with the mage as well as what Lark told her later about seemingly prescient dreams she had experienced. She was surprised when she learned that her daughter dreamed about Dom and Bastian’s adventures in the fae realm. Luna sometimes wonders if there’s something special about Lark, something otherworldly like there is about Elysia. But Lark appears to be nothing but normal other than her brief brush with the fantastical and ethereal. Despite the plot holes Luna clumsily covered and the strange motivations on the part of the novel’s antagonist, The ...

Sheba has been very lethargic recently, worryingly so. She sleeps constantly, and moving seems to strain her. Quentin--her de facto caretaker, despite Sheba’s obvious preference for Lark--has started to grapple with the idea she might need to be put down soon. Thus, he isn’t surprised when one night, Sheba begins to moan and pant. This is it , he thinks grimly, I guess I should call the vet.  

Everyone stares at Lark, waiting for her to speak. It’s the most powerful she has ever felt. She could draw this out for as long as she wants. But she won’t. She opens her mouth to speak: “Her name is--” “Wait,” Dom says quickly, “Don’t tell us. Not until we’re ready to go.”