by s. Behr
Lance answered with a smirk. “Football, but you probably still call it soccer being on this continent. I am sure your archives have retained the name incorrectly all these years.”
“Who cares about the name? It’s a ball, two goals. How many players?” Siri retorted with confidence.
“Let’s keep it friendly. Six, plus a goalie,” Lance said, grinning. I remembered his unit moved as one with exactly the same number he offered. That was not by accident.
“Very well, seven per side, no tricks, just good, old-fashioned sport. Like in ancient times,” Siri finished with a huge grin.
“Yes, while the adults discuss global diplomacy, let’s see if we can bring back some other old traditions. There was once a world cup champion for soccer, right?” Lance said.
“That is correct. Then it is settled. Tomorrow on the western terrace outside this ballroom. With your permission, of course, Princess Violet,” Siri said deferring to me.
Surprised they remembered I was still there, I stumbled over my words as I checked the schedule on my bracelet. “Um… Tomorrow’s not good, it looks like we have a full day scheduled, but the day after there are a few free hours after lunch.” I hoped that would be enough time for them to think it through and call it off.
“Consider it scheduled,” Siri said.
Leo approached us, escorting Lily. The last time I had seen a grin on her face that wide, she had just viewed a video of the Asher Princes shirtless at the beach.
“I look forward to it,” Lance said. “I have taken up enough of your time, Your Highness. It has been a great pleasure.” He kissed my fingers, nodded to the others, and bowed out, vanishing into the crowd and leaving me wondering what he was up to as I stared after him.
“What did you get yourself into this time, Siri?” Leo asked, eyeing the younger prince in a way only an older brother could.
“Only trying to bring the world together,” Siri said innocently.
I yawned, covering my mouth. “It’s been quite the day. I believe I’m turning into a pumpkin and seeing how tomorrow is shaping up to be a long one, I think it’s best I get some rest.”
“Oh, poppy seeds,” Lily exclaimed. “It’s early. The dance has just gotten good.” She grinned at the brothers.
All around me were beautiful, happy faces. I could see the array of royalty sprinkled around, surrounded by circles of people. I hadn’t realized just how much my parents had sheltered me until that the moment, and I couldn’t help but feel a little grateful. I preferred the quiet of the Archives to a night like this, and tomorrow I had a very special mission, and could not be late.
I hugged Lily and whispered in her ear, “You have fun for the both of us. I need to get out of these shoes.”
She eyed me, eyebrow raised, and shook her head. “Okay, just this once. I’ll see you tomorrow. Oh, and I talked to the Queen.” She looked between the three of us and clarified, “Her mom, not yours.” They smiled and stepped back slightly to give us some room.
“Oh, Violet, do you really have to go?”
“It’s been an exhausting few weeks. I’m still playing catch up.” I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth, recalling everything I had learned. “I think I just need a tiny break. Besides, you have both of the Asher Princes waiting for you.”
“I think they’re waiting for you. But, if you’re going home, then it’s my duty to make sure they aren’t mauled by those Venus flytraps over there.” She shrugged at Aspen and Nyssa, who seemed ready to make their move.
“Well, you will do a better job of protecting them than I ever could. Have fun.”
She eyed the wall of princesses. “I almost forgot. I had your mom sync our schedules. She said that she had it that way originally, but someone must have rearranged them. Anyway, it’s fixed now, and you won’t have to go into battle without me.” She smiled.
It was so good to see her. My social shield and fierce protector. I hugged her one more time, and turned back to the two princes still chatting away. Well, more like Siri chatting and Leo laughing in all the right places.
“Goodnight everyone. It’s been an enchanting evening.” I curtsied, ready to make my exit when Siri pulled me onto the dance floor just as Aspen made her move.
“Not so fast. My brother and the human got a spin around the dance floor, twice I might add, with the elusive Princess of Neyr. I’m afraid I would regret it forever if I didn’t take my chance while I had it right in front of me.”
Once again, I found myself being flung around. This Prince of Phoenix was clearly certain of his dancing abilities. I didn’t recognize the dance, but with Siri, I had no cause for worry. He twirled me about and pulled me in with perfect timing. Anyone who didn’t know me would have believed I knew what I was doing.
“What would possess you to challenge them?” I asked.
“Nothing brings the world together like a little friendly competition.” He smirked.
“And that’s your goal, to bring the world together?”
“Of course. Isn’t that the answer any proper prince would give?” His famous lopsided grin appeared.
“I’m getting the feeling being a proper prince might be a stretch for you,” I said, turning and catching a glimpse of Leo on the sidelines. Lily was on his arm standing her ground as the two princesses chattered away at him. All while Leo stared at this brother with an expression of concern.
“It’s just a friendly game. Seriously, what harm can it do?” Siri asked. He spun me a final time and dipped to kiss my fingers.
“Well, that depends on how friendly they really are.”
He gave me a knowing grin. “That was remarkable, Princess Violet. I knew there was more to you than your press corps allowed into the feeds. I am honored for the chance to dance with Neyr’s Princess. I feel like I have waited my whole life to meet you,” he said, holding his arm out to escort me off the floor.
We were headed back to the group that had gathered around Leo—almost all of them royalty—some I recognized, others I couldn’t quite remember. But, it was Lily who had my focus. She was perfectly at home in the crowd of courtiers.
Before we reached Leo and Lily, I managed to convince Siri that the night full of dancing had triggered a relapsing ache in my shoulder and that I needed to seek my mother out for some relief. With a bow, he acquiesced, and I was finally free. I kept my head low. When the doors to the lift closed, I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I had been holding.
I made it back to my room, Jane and I both relieved that the day was over. As I got ready for bed, I pulled Hailey from a hidden pocket in my gown while swirls of fabric still danced in my mind.
I didn’t know how Lance and Kai had managed to switch. Those human brothers were still a mystery. I didn’t know why the Asher brothers seemed to take notice of me now. It was the last thing I wanted, but now I wasn’t sure how I would be able to forget.
I skimmed through my schedule as I listened to Hailey hum the songs we had danced to. She twirled her digital hair as I described every detail of what everyone wore, the food, and even the sunset.
We talked about the night for nearly as long as we had been at the ball. She was changing, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. But tomorrow was the day I had been waiting for. I pulled the covers over me and turned down the lights.
In the quiet dark, I nibbled on my lip, thinking about the match that Siri had challenged Lance to. I didn’t know why, but it gave me a sinking feeling as if Neyr had become a three-dimensional chessboard and it was a game I didn’t know how to play.
“Queen Eva Amplifien, confirmed,” the com announced. The sound of the door opening was muffled by the fluffy layers of sheets on my bed. Jane stared at me with wide eyes under the blankets, pleased with herself at how good she was at this new game of hiding under the covers.
“I know you are awake, Violet,” my mother said.
Her footsteps fell in rhythm with the clink of ice on a tray I didn’t have to see to know sh
e carried. It was a familiar sound; one I had heard almost every summer day of my life. This morning was different. This was the first time she had brought me my serum since I’d learned my chocolate was drizzled with more than just berries and whipped cream.
I pushed the covers back as Jane shot up, striking her best good morning pose. If she tried to be any cuter, she would probably burst. Despite my determination to be angry at my mother, Jane knew exactly what she was doing. With her pink tongue hanging out, I caved, and a laugh escaped me.
“Good morning Jane,” my mother said to the happy kit, as she set a tray on the table and removed a bowlful of treats made especially for the growing, spoiled fox who acted as if she had been born to be royalty.
“Traitor,” I jeered at Jane as she jumped off the bed and over to her bowl of food.
On the table next to my mother was a new addition to my breakfast tray. An aerosol syringe sitting innocently beside the cup of berries doused in chocolate with a little extra whipped cream. The sight of it made my stomach churn.
“Double dosing?” I bristled.
“No more games, Violet.” Her voice was heavy. “The chocolate is simply chocolate, the way you like it. I didn’t see the need for pretense any longer.” She set the table as if it were any other morning, pulling out a chair and waiting for me to join her.
I sat in my bed, arms folded across my chest. “And if I choose not to?”
“That has not been discussed because you gave the High King your word. Do you want to go back on that simply because this morning it is me instead of Healer River delivering the serum? Is this really the time you want to make your stand?”
My chest burned, and I wanted to scream. Scream at her for everything she had done. Scream about everything her choice had put me through. But she stood there, a waif of the woman I had always admired and despite everything I still loved her. She was my mother. Seeing her like this, I knew how much this weighed on her. She was the picture of exhaustion. The optimism and hope she had always inspired in others were replaced by a mask of grief, and even though I had every reason to hate her, it broke my heart.
Sulking for a minute longer in my bed, though I did not forgive her, I did realize that today was not her call. King Lindstrom had ordered this, and if I wanted it to change, I would have to take it up with him.
“Please, Violet, don’t make this harder than it has to be,” she begged. While my heart had thawed a degree or two, I couldn’t stop myself from throwing back the covers and stomping across the room. And just in case she didn’t get the point, I flung myself into the chair to punctuate my feelings.
My mother settled into hers as gracefully as a six-month expectant mother could. I picked up the cup of chocolate and pulled the spoon out that was coated with cream and a blueberry.
“It is safe,” she declared before I could even ask. “We will do the aerosol injection when you are ready.”
I eyed the white tube sitting on the table. The sight of it made me sick. I pushed the spoon back into the cup and set it on the table.
My mother stared at the uneaten cup of chocolate with glassy eyes. “I am sorry, Violet. I don’t know what to do. This is not how I imagined you would find out, or how we would discover what you could do,” she said, her tone laced with sorrow.
“How did you think it would go, Mother? By the way, Violet, you almost killed the future King of Phoenix when you were a baby, so I had to poison you your entire life. And because of that, you almost killed your father, but you are gifted with abilities the likes with which we have never seen. Oh, and when we get the time, we will figure out how to use it. Is that what you were thinking?”
She took a long, slow breath. “No. We were going to visit your Grandmother Annika in Elderden and begin your training there, where it is safe. Then when we got things sorted, bring you home.”
I scoffed. “You thought it would be that simple?”
“Violet, it is not as if I had many choices. I had no time. It was a miracle to me that I even found the formula for the serum. When I think of the alternative…” Her eyes squeezed shut as if she was trying to block out some distant memory. “No matter what you think, what we did was out of love for you. I knew the best place for you was here with us. Every other option was impossible for me to even fathom. Your abilities no matter how…” Her brows furrowed as if she searched for the right word. “The thought of losing even a day of your childhood…” A tear spilled over her cheek.
“I couldn’t take the idea of not being there for your first steps, your first taste of anything. I loved you from the moment I knew you existed, and I knew no one would ever care for you more than your father and I could. I was selfish. I know that. But you have to understand it was because if anything I loved you too much. If you are going to hate me for it, I can live with that because you are a wonderful person. More than I ever dreamed you could be. Whatever happens to me now, it will not change that.”
“You didn’t trust me enough with the truth,” I said. “Didn’t you think I could be more?”
I felt irreparably torn in two. I had never been short on love and attention. I always felt as if I came first, no matter what. I could never hate them for that. Still, every time I thought about what they did, another piece of me wilted and died. All of it filled me with anger. How long could I live with this toxic hate coursing through me? What would it take for me to forgive them? Was I even capable?
As if she could hear my thoughts, she said, “I was afraid. I was terrified I would lose the look of love in your eyes. The way you look at me now, it’s everything I feared you might feel, and I couldn’t. Every time I tried, I lied to myself and convinced myself it was the right thing, and we were going to work this out,” she finished, her voice soft and full of pain as another streak of tears fell from her tired eyes.
I picked up the cup of chocolate and took a begrudging bite. It was delicious, and I hated it.
“Let’s get it over with.” I took another bite, chomping a juicy strawberry as I set down the cup.
My mother picked up the syringe and took my wrist in her hand. Giving neither of us time to think about it, she pressed the button. A simple click, and the serum flowed in my veins. I would be as I had always known myself to be: powerless.
Another tear spilled down her cheek, and she set the syringe on the table. “Violet, I truly am sorry.”
Silently, I wished that I could tell her everything about the Ark, Hailey, the visions, the tree, and the fact that I had finally experienced the ease of conjuring water. The truth was I still loved her, but I no longer trusted her, and so it sat in my gut like a rock.
“What now?” I asked.
“Now, I have to go to another meeting.”
“With the Hg-1?” The need for information was enough to momentarily pause my feelings about the suppression.
“What else?” Her answer was filled with weariness.
“Why are they here? Truly?”
“It’s complicated.”
“This affects us all mother. You have kept the truth from me about so many things. I think I deserve to know.”
She gazed at me as if she was too tired to argue, and to my surprise, she started talking. “The Hg-1 Homeland is failing. The land is barren, crops are poor, they are barely able to sustain their cattle and feed animals, but their population is higher than ever. That, coupled with an ongoing war with the TSA—”
“The what?” I interrupted.
“Territories of the Southern Alliance. The nomad tribes that chose to stay free of Amera and Hg-1 at the time of the Divide. According to the Hg-1, they have organized, at least enough to name themselves. They had chosen what was left of ancient Australia and Africa as their territories, and being so close to the Hg-1, it has caused a lot of conflicts. Mostly over resources.”
“But it’s not our problem,” I pointed out.
“Not yet,” she murmured with a sigh. “But it could become ours too. The Hg-1 are here to seek aid.”
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br /> “Aid? How can we help them? After what they did, why would we want to?”
“That war was more than three hundred years ago. No one alive today had any choice in it. Ancestors on both sides kept it ugly. We have a chance to mend things finally, to heal this broken world. Should we turn our backs on that because our great, great, great, great grandparents could not find a peaceful solution? Millions of people are suffering, and we have the ability to help. What would you have us do?”
I sat back in my chair. My problems seemed tiny after that bombshell. “I suppose we should hear them out.”
“Despite the idea that they might want to enslave us and make use of our abilities?” she asked.
That was an old fear, and one of the reasons the two species of humans had broken apart.
“Do we know what they want? With millions of people suffering, isn’t it wrong to forget the reason we even exist today is because there was an idea that humans could be more, and do more to help each other?” I asked, wondering if both species of humans were capable of finding common ground. “But what about this TSA? Why haven’t we heard from them? Shouldn’t we know the whole story before we make any commitments?”
She smiled. “That is what will make you a great queen someday.”
I felt a lump in my throat as I studied a strawberry sitting on top of the cream. “Is there anything I can do to help?” I heard myself ask before my brain had a chance to agree with my mouth.
My mother’s head tilted. “You know part of our problem is we aren’t sure what to believe; our intel is mixed. The Ambassador’s children seem to have taken to you. Perhaps your friendship with them can shed some light on what kind of people they are. I have a feeling the younger Yzer knows more than he is letting on.”
“You want me to spy?” Coming from her, it felt wrong, even if it was what I was already trying to do.
But after last night, I thought about Penelope. She has done nothing to be put under a microscope. Still, I already knew they were hiding something. A Kai doppelganger by the name of Lance to be precise. Wrong or right, we needed the truth.