There’s a lot to like here. I know that Kanir changed her appearance because she was ready for something new but I found her choice to have meaning. With her mother’s immanent arrival she chooses a winter theme for herself and her garden. That could mean a couple of things (that are vastly different) or nothing at all but I found it to be very interesting. Also chariots and pegasi! The future is more fantastic than I knew.

Exactly my thoughts, Robert! Do they have mind reading in the future too?

This future may be more fantastic, but it is also far more decadent. Plenty of style, very little substance.

Who’s Gwint ? ;) Wow August, this is really good. (Not that I’m surprised.) The pomp and flair is very much your style of writing, but in a sci-fi setting it’s really neat! From the start, I imagined a “queen bee” sort of analogy with this one and was not disappointed throughout.

The approach you’ve taken in the other stories, focusing on pivotal historical moments, makes me wonder who Kanir and Gwint are going to turn out to be.

This reminds me a bit of a Robert Silverburg story I read a while back. It’s nice groundwork for a larger universe.

Hmm, a strange future. It scares me, I have to say. Definitely more of an opening than a stand-alone story.