For an answer, Lady Erin looked at Dahlia and simply nodded.
“Ah, thank you!” said Dahlia bowing.
“Don’t worry,” answered Erin, “It is the least I can do. But first, hmm, yeah. How much do you know about the eastern powers?”
“The powers? Like other kingdoms?” asked Dahlia.
“I guess in a way you could call them that,” said Erin, “Although it is not completely accurate.”
“Mm, I know that there are the Shards of Edrekhor at the east.” Said Dhalia looking at Lena who nodded in return.
“You mean the barbarian kingdoms.” Said Lane.
Erin looked at Lane raising an eyebrow.
“If I were you,” She said shaking her head, “I would be very careful with my words in the next days.”
“Careful? Of what? They still believe in gods!” Lena said furrowing her eyebrows.
“That they do. But it just so happens that the Queen, our Queen, is from those barbarian kingdoms.” Said Erin.
“What?” Asked Dhalia, “But, weren’t we at war with one of them?”
“Not just were,” Lane interrupted, “Father told me that The Kingdom’s Spear still keeps watching at that border. And Miss Joanna said that we only have peace because they are afraid of her.”
“Humph, you are clueless!” Said Erin, “The peace we have is only thanks to The Queen. You call them barbarians but have no idea of our history.”
“Then what do you know?” asked Lena, “If they are not barbarians why do they keep trying to steal our land? Why did they…?”
“Not all of them do,” said Dhalia as she grasped Lena’s hand, “Let’s hear first, please?”
Lena stopped, looking at Dhalia with a frown. At the side, Lane was staring at Erin clenching his fists.
“Please,” Dhalia repeated, and after looking at her for a moment, Lena took a deep breath and nodded in silence. Seeing that Lena agreed, Dhalia smiled and hugged her. “Thanks.” She said in Lena’s ear.
On the other side of the table, Lane shook his head and crossed his arms.
“Well?” he asked, “What is so good about… About them?”
“There are more shards than the one we are at war with.” Said Erin glaring at Lane in return. “To begin, the one in the northeast, Sorenkhor, is our ally. Your father fights by their side each winter’s end.”
“We don’t need them; The City Lord and father are more than enough to protect our town.”
“They may be, but what about the ones below? Or the farms behind it? Do you think they alone can cover the whole border?”
“We have the guards and volunteers!”
“Those are not enough Lane.” Cut Dhalia. “Let her talk.”
“I…” Lane bit his lip, looking at her, but stopped talking.
Once more, the teens stood there, looking wordlessly at each other until Dahlia broke the silence.
“If Uncle Lance didn’t trust them, he would not work with them.” She said looking at Lane, “There must be more to what the people say.”
“Fine,” He said, “But I still won’t trust them.”
Erin looked between Dahlia and Lane and scoffed before starting with her story again.
“As I was saying,” she said, “The shard at the northeast is our ally. And they not only help in winter’s end but also keeping an eye on our shared neighbor.”
She paused, looking at Lane, but this time he just pursed his lips.
“The one you likely hate is the easternmost one. The Novakhoria Republic.”, Erin continued, “They embrace everything the Edrekhorian Empire was. Meaning warmongering, religion, and ceaseless expansion. They are, however, but a shard of what the empire used to be, and so is their strength. Do not be mistaken, Lane, because even if it is just a part of their former glory, we still can’t face that alone.”
“Then why can’t they just push and take our land for themselves?” He retorted but stopped at Dahlia’s glare.
“Because there are more than two shards,” Erin said, “Beyond what you call the easternmost shard are others. Many of those have equal or greater might than that of our less civilized neighbor, and would not hesitate to take advantage of another clash among us.”
“You mean that The Queen is from one of those shards?” Asked Lena still hugging Dahlia.
“In a sense,” Erin said, “But in reality, she is from the Edrekhorian Empire. Our Queen is a direct descendant of the Empire’s ruling line.”
“You sure seem to know a lot for someone that short.” Said Lane.
“Humph, that’s an open secret among the ruling class of the capital. Practically every girl knows about my masters’ heritage.” Answered Erin while Lane snorted; “Besides, even if they didn’t know, the way he and the Queen look is a dead giveaway, so there is no point in hiding it.”
“The way they look?” asked Lena.
“Their hair is white, not blonde clear but completely white. And their eyes are grey.” Said Erin.
“But, isn’t that the devil on their myths?” asked Lane.
“No, the devil in khorian myths had white hair but his eyes had other colors,” said Lena, “blue wasn’t it?”
“Only in part of the stories,” said Erin, “In some, the eyes were blue, in others red, but in most of them they were just black. But never grey, because that is the color of their goddess.”
“You mean,” said Dahlia, “that they think the Queen is some kind of reincarnation of their goddess?”
“Some do, the ones at the church mostly,” answered Erin.
“Idiots,” Interrupted Lane. “They are following some god pretender and you still say they are not barbarians?”
“Do you think they are some bandits living in a cave? They conquered half of the continent before the empire shattered. And they did it by following that line. Still, with the shards at war with each other, some factions would follow our Queen to war with only a single word. And how can you blame them? Their methods work, much of what the people use in the kingdom comes from the Empire. Even the joke you call peace exists only because the Sorenkhor Federation would throw everything away and march in rage if anything happened to our Queen.”
“Wait!” said Dahlia, “Factions? If the Queen married into our kingdom she does not have a thing to do with the Shards anymore, much less any factions they may have.”
“Tell that to them,” said Dahlia shaking her head, “I, for one, would follow our Queen and my master to the end.”
“You?” asked Lena, “What do you mean you?”
“I…” But Erin stopped when she looked at Lena. The girl was pale, trembling, and staring at the Lady with her eyes wide.
“You are one of them!” Lena said, “You… How dare you? Let, let go, Dahlia!” Lena said trying to stand but Dahlia kept hugging her.
“It’s okay,” Dahlia said at her ear, “It’s okay, look at her, she is like us. Even her reveal is this winter.”
“She is right, Lena,” said Lane, “She is too young.”
And at that, Lena stopped struggling. Instead, she started sobbing in silence and hugged Dalia back. Erin looked confused between Lane and the girls but for a change, the boy only shook his head. After a moment, he looked at his sister and took a deep breath.
“Go on,” he finally said at Erin, “Tell us why the prince is having his reveal here? No matter how much we like it, this is still the border of the kingdom. Why did father and The City Lord react that way?”
Erin looked at him, He looks, tired, she thought. Then watching the sobbing girl, she stood up and bowed.
“I am sorry if I offended you,” She said at Lena without straightening, “I meant no harm and only spoke about my feelings. I believe in my master, and my Queen, wholeheartedly but not because of their lineage, but because of who they are, and what they do. I can tell you all you want, so please just listen first.”
Lena watched her, bowing down there, and felt that the already petite Lady looked even smaller. She is harmless, Lena thought, at that time she should have been a toddler, just like us. Feeling Dahlia’s arms around her tightening, Lena finally stopped sobbing.
“I… It’s not your fault,” Lena said, “I am sorry, please stand. I will listen.”
And so, Erin stood up to find a teary-eyed Lena hugging a tired Dahlia. As she sat down at the table, she peeked at Lane but he was not looking at her. Instead, the boy was looking at his sister, and his eyes were bright too.
“My master and my Queen,” Erin started once more, “They do not believe in the Khorian Gods, nor do they want war. But no matter how much I wish for it, that does not mean war does not want them.”
