The Long Road Ch22
May. 1st, 2012 05:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lothinielflowermaidenWarnings: Any warnings from previous chapters could still apply, and there is some stuff in this chapter that could be interpreted as suicidal thoughts.
Chapter Twenty-two
As soon as the rest of the family had realized that something was seriously wrong with Norway, they had taken him to the hospital. Once there, Norway had been taken back into the examination area—his status and the apparent seriousness of his condition determining that he was given immediate attention. The rest of the family was left in the waiting area to await news on his condition. And this time, more than any of the previous times, they were dreading what that news might be.
The day wore on, and by mid-afternoon still one had come to talk to them. They had seen some government officials arrive earlier, but they weren't sure what that fact told them about Norway's condition. And the length of time they had been left to wait was giving them plenty of time to imagine the worst.
Surely, though, considering where they were, there would have been some sign if the worst had happened. And yet, they were worried that it might be too late—that any chance they might have to save Norway was gone.
Finally the doctor came out into the waiting area and asked them to accompany him to the room where their previous conversations had all taken place. Once there, he did not make them wait any longer.
"I'm sorry to have made you wait so long, but we've been having trouble figuring out exactly what's wrong with Haldor. He appears to be in some kind of comatose state, but we cannot find a physical cause for his condition—it is not related to the malnutrition. And it also does not seem to be caused by a national incident—as the government is not aware of anything that could have put him in this state."
"Will he be alright?"
"I don't know. He could come out of this state on his own and have no ill-effects from it, or he could stay like this indefinitely. There is also a chance that his condition could continue to deteriorate, but everything possible is going to be done to prevent that." Anticipating the question that they were probably about to ask, he said, "In a few moments, I will have you taken back to see him. First though, I have some questions I need to ask you about what happened this morning. This morning, when you were trying to wake him up, before you brought him in here, did any of you grab his arm at any point?"
"No. We were careful not to do anything like that, because he has reacted badly to being touched before." Of course, none of them wanted to tell the doctor any more than that, as it was really Norway's secret to reveal or not, depending on what he chose. However, they were a little worried that Scandia might have something to do with Norway's current condition, in which case, it might become necessary to say something.
"During the examination, I noticed that Haldor had a bruise on his upper arm," the doctor said. "It looks almost like someone grabbed hold of his arm in order to restrain him. Do you have any idea how he could have gotten that, if none of you grabbed his arm?"
The rest of the family all had a pretty strong suspicion what was going on—that it had something to do with the nightmares Norway had been having. And they all knew about the hand-shaped bruise Norway had had on his shoulder the previous summer, although only one of them had actually seen the bruise. Given the way that Norway reacted to having his shoulder touched, they suspected that Scandia may have frequently used that method to restrain him. Adding in the fact that Norway had implied that he had been hurt in a previous dream, they believed that Scandia had somehow caused the bruise. But they did not tell the doctor this, knowing how hard to believe that scenario would be. Unless they were sure that was what was going, they did not want to be the ones to reveal Norway's secret.
"I may need to question you about this further, but for now, I will take you to see Haldor," the doctor said, after it became clear they weren't going to answer. "You need to be prepared for his condition before you see him, though. He is hooked up to several monitors, and we are giving him nutrients through an IV. If he remains in this state for much longer, he will be put on a feeding tube, but at the moment there is some disagreement as to just what level of supportive care Haldor should be given."
The doctor's words could not fully prepare them for seeing Norway. Although they had known something was seriously wrong when they brought him in, nothing could have prepared them for seeing him in this condition. Even knowing the machines surrounding the bed were monitors rather than life support did not make the sight of Norway lying so still in the hospital bed any easier to bear. If anything, it made the rest of the family even more aware of what they were afraid would happen—that they would lose him.
For a few moments, none of them said anything or went any further into the room. The only sound came from some of the monitors.
Denmark was the first to enter the room, and approach the bed. He took hold of Norway's hand, being careful not to disturb any of the monitors.
The others followed a few moments later, but none of them made any attempt to touch Norway.
"You can stay in here with him for a little while," the doctor said. "You'll have to leave at the end of visiting hours, though, at least today. Later, we may make an exception to that rule, to make sure that Haldor won't be alone—especially since you seem to be the only ones who actually know what's going on with him."
With that, they were left alone with Norway, and they all took up stations around the bed. None of them were quite sure what they could do. They didn't even know if Norway was aware of their presence at all, or if he would hear if they talked to him.
When awareness returned, Norway had no idea where he was. He was still surrounded by darkness, but now he was lying on some kind of hard surface. The last thing he remembered was being on that path, and Scandia showing up. Then there was nothing but darkness.
Somehow he knew that he had been brought deeper into whatever this place was—so deep that he might not be able to find his way back. For a little while, he wondered if there was even anything to go back to—or if this place was some kind of afterlife. After all, that would make sense if Scandia had brought him here.
Eventually, he dismissed the worry. After all, he could feel some soreness in his arm from where Scandia had been holding him, and that told him that he was probably still alive. He just had no idea how to get out of this place.
And he did not know how soon Scandia might return, but he knew he would not be left alone indefinitely. He did not think that Scandia would have gone to the trouble of bringing him here just to leave him alone somewhere and not do anything to him.
He wondered if his family had discovered he was in trouble yet, and although he did not like to think it, he also wondered if Scandia had been right and they wouldn't care. Before, he had been able to push that thought away, but now that doubt had returned. Although he did not want to admit it, he was afraid of what might happen, and it made things worse to think that his family might have abandoned him.
He had no sense of how much time had passed while he had been unaware, and even now he had no idea how much time was passing. At this point he did not even know if time had any meaning in this place, but he suspected that the longer he stayed here the less his chances of being able to leave.
An indeterminate amount of time later, he heard footsteps, and Scandia appeared out of the darkness.
"It was easier than I thought it would be to bring you here," Scandia said. "I guess you're even weaker than I realized. But then, I've known since you were born that you would be nothing but a weakling."
Norway didn't need his father to tell him how weak he was. The fact that he had never been able to stand up to his father made that perfectly clear. But he couldn't even remember when the whole thing had started—what little he could remember of his childhood was after the abuse had started. He knew that there were probably memories that he had blocked out, in addition to the ones that he did remember, as most of his childhood was a blank spot in his memory.
Scandia was still talking. "I hoped you would outgrow it, but the first night after I brought you to live with me you wouldn't stop crying because you wanted to be back with your brothers. That was when I knew you would never amount to anything."
Norway had only been three years old in human years when he had gone to live with his father. He did not remember having lived with his brothers until he was older, and he did not remember having missed them.
He was still on the ground where he had woken up, not having found the strength to move before Scandia had appeared, and now Scandia came and stood over him. Looking up at his father, Norway braced himself for what he knew was about to happen.
The other Nordics had stayed with Norway for a little over an hour before they had been told to leave. They had gotten used to being able to stay with him all the time, so it was very difficult for them to leave him—especially considering his current condition.
The next morning, they had gone back as early as they could as they were anxious to find out if there had been any change in Norway's condition during the night. They had to wait for a little while before the doctor came out to lead them back to the room where their conversations always took place.
As soon as they were all settled in that room, the doctor filled them on what was going on with Norway's condition. "Haldor is still unconscious, and he seems to be getting weaker. He also has a couple of new bruises on his shoulders—it looks almost as if someone may have been holding him down, but no one was in his room at the time. At this point, if you know something about what is going on with Haldor, I think you need to tell me. His life may depend on it."
For a few moments none of them spoke. They still weren't sure whether they should tell a human any of this, but eventually, they began to tell a shortened version of what was going on. They told about Scandia, and what little they knew of the abuse, as well as of the dreams that Norway had had. The only major piece of information they left out was the fact that Iceland was Norway's child, because that at least was something that humans should not be allowed to know about. Once they had finished the recounting, silence fell again.
The doctor seemed to take a few moments to think about what had just been revealed before speaking. "As difficult as all that seems to be to believe, it does match with some of the information we've managed to find out. It might also explain why Haldor has been so reluctant to answer our questions. He must have told Birger, and then Birger accused him of being irrational. That might explain why he ran away, too, as the one time he apparently tried to tell someone the truth, he was accused of being crazy—although I have to say parts of the story do seem crazy. Would you be willing to repeat this information to someone from the government as well? They should know about the danger that Haldor might be in."
"We really shouldn't have even told you anything, as it is something that Haldor didn't want anyone to know about. He didn't even tell us, we found out when we caught his father in the act," Finland said.
Truthfully, none of them thought there was much that the government could be to do to protect Norway—he was already trapped someplace where Scandia was obviously able to hurt him. And, no one could reach him there, at least not without some kind of magical help, which none of them had access to. Norway was the only one in the family with that kind of magic, and he was the one who needed help—help that none of them could give him.
"Someone from the government is going to have to be told, regardless," the doctor said. "It might be possible to ensure that the information does not go past a select group, but I am obligated to inform them about what is going on with Haldor."
That was after all the standard procedure. Any physical problems that affected the nations had to be reported to the government, and the cause was also to be reported, if known. In this case, though, the situation really was something that the government probably shouldn't get involved in. After all, the one time they had been involved, things hadn't exactly gone that well. But there were no usable objections really to the government being informed about what was going on, other than that it just didn't seem like the right thing to do.
The rest of the family never did speak to Norway's government about what was going on, although they did learn some of what had happened when the situation had been reported. It turned out that their story matched what Norway had told Birger, and was in fact the reason Birger had accused him of being irrational. And, once it had been revealed that he had known the truth and dismissed it, Birger had ended up in even more trouble. There were apparently some people who wanted him to be held at least partially responsible if Norway did not survive.
As days passed, and Norway's condition remained unchanged, the rules about how much time his family was allowed to spend with him were relaxed slightly. They were allowed to stay at the hospital with him as much as they wanted, as long as they left the room when they were asked to, and did not let it be generally known that the rules were being bent for them. There seemed to be a belief that their presence increased the chances that Norway would recover, and it was the standing order that anything that increased Norway's chances of surviving was to be done.
The other Nordics spent as much time with Norway as the hospital staff allowed them to. On the second day, they had started talking to him, in the hope that they might be able to reach him. Although they tried not to say it, what they all really wanted to say was to beg him to survive—to come back to them.
Despite everything that was being done to help him, Norway continued to get weaker with every day that passed, and he remained comatose.
Although the other Nordics weren't told how serious Norway's condition really was, they could tell just by seeing the increase in the amount of machines in the room. It wasn't until a week had passed that they were told just how serious the situation had become.
They were summoned back to the same room where they always talked to the doctor, and before they entered the room they saw a couple of people that they recognized as government workers leaving.
"Sit down," the doctor said, as soon as they had entered the room. "There's something I need to tell you that isn't going to be easy for you to hear."
For several weeks now, they had been dreading being told something, and now they realized that was what they were probably about to be told. So, they weren't very surprised by what the doctor told them a few moments later.
"You probably already know that Haldor's condition has been deteriorating," he told them. "We have been doing everything we can to save him but he has continued to get weaker. At this point, if his condition does not stabilize, he might not survive the next few days. We can delay that by putting him on life support, but it will be up to the government whether or not that is done. At this point, they aren't sure they want Haldor to end up dependent on machines to live—they feel that he wouldn't want that."
"How much time to do you think he has?"
"It could happen as soon as tonight, but I doubt he has more than a couple of days left, at the most."
"But he was supposed to have more time," Iceland said. He hadn't actually intended to say that out loud, but finding out that so little time might be left was something he wasn't ready for. There was supposed to have been more time—this was nowhere near the end of the summer. He wasn't ready to lose the person who meant more to him than anyone else.
In fact, it was only early July. Only a little less than a year ago they had learned that Scandia would be visiting them. The events that had set in motion was something the whole family kept coming back, and trying to figure out if there was something they could have done differently. If only they had noticed that Norway seemed to be afraid of Scandia. If only they had noticed what was going on sooner—and had acted to stop it sooner. And it went on from there. If they hadn't left Norway alone after everything had been revealed—if they had found him sooner after he had run away—if they had gotten him medical help as soon as they found him—if they hadn't taken him to the World Meeting in January—if they had managed to avoid being sent away or if they had tried harder to keep in touch with Norway—if they had gotten him away from Birger sooner after April's world meeting. There were all kinds of things that they could think of to have done to stop the situation from reaching this point, but it was all hindsight. There was nothing left they could do now, except hope for a miracle.
"I said he wouldn't survive past the end of the summer," the doctor corrected. "And I did say that Haldor might start to develop potentially serious complications around this time. There is still some hope that his condition might stabilize, but since there is no physical cause for his condition, there is nothing I can do to treat it. All I can do is try to keep him alive as long as possible. The four of you probably have the best chance of being able to reach him and bring him out of this state. But I wanted you to be prepared for what might happen, and to remember that if things reach the point where a decision needs to be made, the decision will be up to the government."
That wasn't something they had really needed to be told, but they didn't like being reminded of it. They didn't like the fact that it may come to a point where they would have no say in what happened to Norway. Not only did it remind them of how powerless they really were to save a member of their family, but it reminded them of the fact that they could easily be sent away again and not be allowed to be with Norway for what little time might be left. In some ways, the thought that they might be denied a chance to say goodbye was worse than the fact that they might lose him.
Norway still did not know how much time was passing, but sometimes it seemed like he had been here forever. And he had gotten used to a routine, although it was still not enough to give him a sense of the passage of time. He would be left alone for a while, and then Scandia would come. Some of the times Scandia would just say things to him—things about how he was a freak who never should have been born, and how he was a burden to the rest of his family and they would be glad to be rid of him. Other times though, the encounters were of a much more physical nature, and those were the worst of all. It was too much like when he had been younger, and had actually lived with Scandia.
Sometimes, when he was alone, Norway would close his eyes and try to will himself to wake up. But, when he opened his eyes again, he was still trapped in this same place, and he began to believe that he would never be free again. That he would spend eternity trapped here and at the mercy of his father.
The more time passed, the clearer his surroundings became. What at first had been nothing but darkness gradually began to look like a room. And slowly things began to grow clearer until it was apparent that there was a door along one wall. A window above the door let some light into the room. Beyond that, there was no other way in or out of the room.
During one of the times he had been alone, Norway had tried to open the door, only to find it locked. That made it very clear to him that there would be no escape unless Scandia wanted to let him go.
Most of the time he was alone, Norway didn't do anything. He just tried to prepare himself for what Scandia might do. Sometimes, it was all he could do to block out the pain of the assaults, and he did not even have the energy to prepare himself for the next encounter.
His attention was drawn by the sound of the door opening, and he braced himself as Scandia entered the room.
"Well, your family might not have given up on you yet, but your people have. Your government has told the staff at the hospital to let you die."
"They wouldn't do that." He might believe that his family would give up on him, but he couldn't believe that his government would. But then he remembered what had happened when he tried to tell Birger what was going on, and realized that Scandia might be telling the truth—although he wondered how his father could know what was going on outside this place.
"Maybe they're hoping to get a representative that isn't so weak," Scandia said. "After all, you aren't doing them much good right now. It will be better for everyone to be rid of you."
Norway didn't want to listen to what his father was telling him, but the more times he was told the same thing, the harder it became to ignore and the more he began to believe it. He did not want to stay here under his father's control, but he was not sure anyone cared about whether he did survive. Maybe it would be better to give up and stop trying to find a way back. That way he couldn't be a burden to anyone anymore.
After their meeting with the doctor, the rest of the family had returned to Norway's room. Now that it had actually been pointed out to them, they could see just how bad his condition was. When they looked at him lying there surrounded by all of those monitors and other equipment, they could believe they he really might be dying. And none of them wanted to believe it—none of them were ready to lose him.
They all entered the room, and took up stations around the bed to resume their vigil. None of them wanted to leave Norway right now, not when he might only have a few hours left before the end. Although they may have run out of ways to prevent the outcome all of them had dreaded, there was still one thing they could do. They could stay with him until the end came—or at least as long as they were allowed to be with him. If they could not save his life, they could at least make sure that he did not die alone.
But still they hoped that it might come to that—that he still might survive somehow.
Scandia was still saying much the same things he had been saying for the past . . . however long he had been in the room. Norway was no longer able to block out his father's words at all, and worse he was starting to believe them. He had never been strong enough to stop his father and for the past several months he really had been a burden to everyone. If he didn't find a way back, then his family would be free to go on with their own lives. Even if they really cared about him, they should be able to move on.
With that thought, he gave up on trying to find a way out and resigned himself to being stuck here forever. Even if he could go back, there was no longer any reason to—Scandia had been right about that.
As he thought that, the room became completely clear. What little darkness had remained was now gone.
Scandia seemed to sense his victory, and he gestured towards the door. "If you have finally come to realize the truth, then there is only one step left. You just need to go through that door, and you will no longer be a burden to anyone."
It was almost silent in the room, the only sound came from the monitors. It had only been a few minutes since they had resumed their vigil, and for once none of them said anything. As long as they could hear those sounds, they knew that Norway was still alive.
After a few more minutes had passed, an alarm went off on one of the monitors.
"Nor!"
"Bróðir!"
Those exclamations were almost simultaneous.
Only moments passed before someone entered the room. This person was clearly part of the hospital staff, but was not the doctor they usually spoke to.
"You'll need to leave now," he told them, before turning his full attention to Norway. Several others entered the room, and the other Nordics were left to wait in the hallway while the people who had responded to the alarm worked to save Norway's life.
Norway hesitated for a moment, before standing and taking a couple of steps towards the door. Scandia stood aside and watched him, clearly pleased with his apparent victory.
When Norway was only half away across the room, he suddenly stopped and looked back in the other direction. He thought he had heard something, but there was no one in the room except for Scandia, and Norway did not know where the calls he thought he had heard had come, although he had recognized the voices. Still, he knew what he heard those calls, that he could not do this—he could not walk through the door if it meant ending his life. His family wouldn't want him to do that.
Some time passed, and neither of them moved. At least, though, Scandia crossed the room to stand by Norway's side, and grabbed his arm. "If you won't go on your own, then I'll have to make you. Either way, I'm doing what I should have done years ago."
Norway struggled to get away, but he was no match for his father, and he was being dragged closer to the door.
"Leave him alone," a woman's voice said from outside the door. "He doesn't belong here yet."
This was the first time someone else had shown up in one of these dreams, although Norway was no longer sure this was one of the usual dreams. He looked towards the door, trying to catch a glimpse of the speaker, but from where he was standing, he couldn't see anyone.
"This doesn't concern you," Scandia said, turning to look in the direction the voice had come from. As he did so, he released his grip on Norway's arm.
"He is my son, too," the woman said, making her identity clear with that statement. "I couldn't just do nothing and let you kill him. At least let him know the truth before you force him into this choice."
"He knows the truth. He is a freak who never should have been born, and he is nothing but a burden to anyone."
Norway once again tried a glimpse a glimpse of the speaker, especially now that he knew who she was. For as long as he could remember, he had been told that his mother's death was his fault, and he had wondered if she would have hated him the same way his father did. And now she was there, right on the other side of the door. And, she actually seemed to be trying to save him, or at least she did not seem to share Scandia's opinion of him. He took a couple of steps closer to the door, hoping to catch a glimpse of her.
"Nóregr, don't come any closer to the door!" she exclaimed. "I'll come in to talk to you in a minute."
After that warning, Norway stayed where he was. The certainty he had felt before was gone, but he still just wanted this all to be over. He didn't want to fight to go back just to be hurt again, but he did not want to spend eternity here with his father.
Scandia put his hand on Norway's shoulder, his grip as painfully tight as usual. However, when he spoke he still addressed the woman outside. "You will have plenty of time to talk to him once he is here for good."
"Let go of him." For the first time, she moved so she was visible in the doorway. She stayed outside the room, though.
It was the first time Norway had ever seen his mother, but he did not have a chance to really focus on her. He was too distracted by the tight grip that his father had on his shoulder. He was too afraid that his father would make another attempt to drag him out of the room.
Scandia did not let go. If anything his grip became tighter. "There's nothing you can do to stop me this time."
"You forget, you have no power beyond what you're drawing from Nóregr. I can stop you, and I am not going to let you kill my son." There seemed to be some kind of aura around her now that hadn't been visible at first.
Scandia actually let go and took a few steps away from Norway. Surprisingly, he actually seemed uncomfortable at first, but quickly masked it. "I'll give you a few minutes to talk to the little freak, but this isn't over. He's the only one who can end it, and he'll never be strong enough. I have power over him that you cannot break." With that Scandia walked out of the room, casting one last threatening look at Norway on his way out.
Now that Scandia was gone, the woman entered the room. She turned back towards the door and raised her hand towards it. A moment later, the doorway was filled with some kind of magic shield. "Move as far away from the door as you can, Nóregr. I can't block everything with the shield."
Norway did not immediately move back to the other side of the room. He was not sure if he could trust her, despite the fact that she seemed to be trying to help him.
This was the first opportunity he had really gotten to really look at her, and he didn't want to waste it. Even though he had never seen her before now, she still seemed familiar to him. He had been told before that he resembled his mother, and he could see the truth of that now, but when he looked closer he could also see a few things in her features that made him think of his older brothers.
She did not stop him from taking that moment, but after a few moments had passed, she said, "You need to get away from the door, Nóregr. You're in too much danger here, even with the shield."
This time he did as she had told him and went to stand by the far wall. "What's out here?" he asked, wondering what was so important about the door.
"The afterlife for our kind. If you go out there, you won't be able to return to your world. And the longer you stay here, the more difficult it will be for you to leave. The shield on the door will buy some time, but there isn't much left. I'm going to try to help you, but in the end you'll have to determine your own survival."
The other Nordics had not been allowed to stay in the hall. Once they had been noticed, they had been banished to the waiting area. They had not been there for very long, but given what they were waiting to hear, it seemed like a very long time.
Eventually the doctor that they usually dealt with came out into the waiting area. "Haldor is still alive," he said, not making them wait any longer to know. "If you'll come with me to the other room, I'll update you on his condition."
He did not say anything until they were in the room where there was no chance that anyone would overhear them. And when he did start talking, what he said brought back the worry that had lessened when they had learned that Norway was still alive.
"Haldor came very close to dying. Thankfully we were able to save him and his condition seems to have stabilized somewhat. He is still in critical condition, but for the time being, his condition is no longer deteriorating. However, it is too soon to say whether his chances of survival have improved, and the longer he remains unconscious the less likely it becomes that he will make a full recovery."
"Can we see him?" After what had just happened, they all needed to see that Norway was still alive.
The doctor did not answer immediately, making them worry that the permission they had been given to spend as much time as they wanted with Norway was going to be withdrawn. Eventually, the doctor said, "You can visit him for a short time, but until his condition is less critical we are limiting him to two visitors at a time. We still feel that your presence may be the best thing for him, but if another crisis occurs, it will be easier to deal with if they are less people that need to be removed from the room, and the staff is going to be monitoring him much closer now, and that will be easier with less people in the room."
There wasn't much else said before they were shown back to Norway's room. They were all allowed to enter the room for a few minutes, just long enough to reassure themselves that Norway was still alive. Then Sweden and Finland had left, allowing the two members of the family that were closest to Norway to be the ones who remained with him.
Author's notes:
I know I said I would reveal what happened when Norway was born, and exactly how his mother died in this chapter, but the chapter was getting too long. I'm currently working on the scene that reveals that stuff, though, so it will definitely be in the next chapter. And the next chapter should be out in a couple of weeks, if I can get it ready by then.
I've got a few more explanatory notes for this chapter, which is the other reason I split the chapter due to length. The chapter was already nine full pages in Microsoft Word without my author's notes.
First all of all, I am intentionally having his mother use the oldest form of Norway's name that I was able to find, as way of showing how long it's been since she had any contact with the world outside of that afterlife area. Because her children were all so young when she died, she still thinks of them by the oldest forms of their names. (Which means that I need to find out the oldest names for the other two, so I can know how she would refer to them.)
Another problem I've run into was figuring out what exactly the mother's identity was. After trying to come up with some explanations that didn't work with what had already been written, I decided to stay with my original plan, even though it adds a slight crossover element of this story. And now, what I'm going to talk about is more behind the scenes stuff that came in in my planning, and I'm hoping won't make people dislike this story.
As anyone who looked at my profile (or just who has figured out my fanfiction.net user name) might realize, I'm a Lord of the Rings fan. And, because that is what is implied in the books, I tend to think of Arda (Middle Earth) as being Earth of the far distant past, so far in the past that it was even before the ancient nations existed. (And I also have a habit of always wanting to put all my fandoms in the same universe, even when I'm not actually writing about more than one.) So, before I started writing "Family Secrets", I played around with a family tree for the nations that would lead from the various cultures that appear in Lord of the Rings, up to the modern nations. But in order to do that, I needed to add in a few more ancients that might not actually appear in history books, because they are part of a secret history. And the mother was intended to be one of those.
When I realized that I was going to end up bringing the mother into this story, I tried to come up with another explanation for who she was. But everything I came up with seemed to contradict things that were written in "Family Secrets." Before I started writing "Family Secrets" I had written three pages worth of notes in my writing notebook about "Arda to Earth: A Brief History." "Family Secrets" was intended to use those notes, and that was always the background I imagined.
The crossover element is not going to be a big deal, other than some hints in the next chapter about magic having been more common at one point, and the fact that I might not come right out and say who the mother is (although that is partially so that readers can have their own beliefs about who she is). But I wanted to explain that I had done this, and hope that it doesn't make people stop liking my story.
Please review. As my long author's note may indicate, I'm a little nervous about taking this direction, and I would like to know that I'm not going to lose all my readers over this.
