At the Center of the Rose Aida comes to a convocation of all the surviving Le’enle, to present her radical and potentially explosive plan for breeding the species back to healthy numbers. Uncertain and apprehensive, she clutches the handwritten book containing the plan’s details and seeks comfort from the members of the Compass Rose, the Le’enle’s four ruling monarchs. In her usual guise as a white lioness, Distant Song, empress of the east, representing justice—and whom Aida now calls “Mother”—holds the winged girl’s hand and speaks soothingly. Aida looks to Argent Star, old emperor of the north, personifying truth—whom she calls “Father”—as he approaches, last to arrive. Silent Chain, recently seated emperor of the west, and knowledge—with whom Aida has fallen in love—hovers protectively, a hand on her shoulder. Behind, Kithless Day, empress of the south, embodying love, watches with some concern. (The viewpoint of the picture is from the northeast.) Aida herself wears bells on her tail and wrist, a token of her relationship with Silent Chain, who has a tendency to bedeck women in bells. He wears a leather baldric bearing a compass rose emblem and embossed with roses, the (unseen) sword it supports indicating his own willingness to defend her. Around the raised dias on which they all stand, the other Le’enle press close, stirring restlessly, waiting to hear why they have been called together in what seems to Aida’s eye to be a French Gothic cathedral. The perspective of the architecture is greatly distorted—a bit of artistic license imposed by the limited size of the paper. Oddly, though, it resulted in pillars behind Distant and Silent and arches behind Kithless, Aida, and Argent. I was sure it must be deeply symbolic; Maggie opined that the arches represent untapped, unknown potential, and the pillars represent the strength and support those characters provide Aida. I’ll go with that. I’m very proud of this piece; Maggie awarded it a high accolade and “Zjonni” and Gerald Perkins both commented that it was one of my best works. Ω

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