My mama and papa are strange people, that’s at least what I’ve heard a lot. Which makes sense if they thought only their being together was strange. After all, it isn’t very common for ‘big fish’ like my father to marry foreigners. At least publicly, whatever that means.

 

My papa’s name is Faustin Polachade, and he’s a ‘gentleman’ who has lots and lots of land which makes him important. But since he doesn’t have a peerage, he’s not as important nor as powerful as Uncle Cyrille. When Duman takes over in the future, he’ll also be a gentleman and be expected to do gentlemanly things like… not work and… paperwork? I’m still not entirely sure what gentlemen are. But I do know that unlike a lot of gentlemen, papa went to study across the river in Salaq, which is where he met mama.

 

Mama’s name is Alara Ozdemir, which I think is a plenty prettier name than Faustin, and I’m also not entirely sure what her side of the family does, something in the king’s court or law I think. Since I’m not 16 yet, I’m not allowed to meet the male side of the family and I only know about my grandmother and aunties. From what I’ve been told, my grandmother, mama’s mama, is my grandfather’s 2nd official wife and mama’s his eldest daughter. Which is important, I think, at least to her. 

 

The story of how they met is still a mystery to me, Duman knows but won’t tell me anything. He always gets weird when I ask. Mama just giggles and Papa looks me straight in the eyes and says “It’s not important.”. Well, I have secrets too, so maybe it’s not bad that they have one of their own.

 

We have what’s called an ancestral estate, which means papa’s papa, and his papa, and whoever before that lived here too. It has a name because of that, Sun Grove. Since it gets a lot of sunlight and there’s an orchard on the land. When dad was a kid it was full of almond, lemon, and cherry trees. Recently they added peach trees that will have fruit by the time Duman’s back from Salaq.

 

I was walking through the orchard with mama, enjoying the good spring air that she said was good for growing girls. Everyone said I looked the most like mama, with both of us having black hair and similar eye shapes, but I got dad’s brown eyes instead of her silver ones. Today she was wearing a light pink dress with white and silver thread flower embroidery, a new one made out of silk textiles from out of Salaq. Grandpa always sent the best ones back here for her and me to use.

 

“Mama, how many wives does grandpa have?”

 

“Three. Technically, all of them are your grandmothers, but my mother is your Yuce Nene, so you only call the others' grandaunts when you meet them. Why do you ask?”

 

“Does that sort of thing cause a… succussi… sickness… suc-”

 

“Succession?”

 

“Yeah, a succession crisis!”

 

Mama let out a light hum, tipping her head to the side which exposed some dangly pearl earrings. “Only in houses that don’t have a firm hand, dear. Our Ozdemir isn’t one of them.”

 

I blinked at her. “How? I heard in history class that if there’s a lot of heirs, they end up fighting eventually.”

 

“Oh, your uncles fight all the time, surely. But we always make sure whoever is to become the Head is suitable, or at least the most suitable of the bunch.”

 

“How do you do that?”

 

“You’ll find out when you’re older, dear. Why did you become so curious about succession anyways?”

 

“Well…” I hesitated. The last time I tried to talk about my visions, I couldn’t speak for hours. I haven’t been willing to experiment with how much I could share for quite a while, but this was an opportunity to try. “I heard a story.”

 

“A story? What kind of story?” Mama was all ears, looking at me as we continued our stroll. I took a deep breath.

 

“I heard a story about a lady who married the brother of a… a viscount. But her husband got sick and died, leaving her with two children. She didn’t want to remarry so her family wouldn’t welcome her home and she moved in with her brother-in-law, the viscount, and his family. But then her sister-in-law got sick in the same way her husband had and died too. Then she married the viscount…”

 

Mama’s expression got darker the longer she listened to the story, but only in her eyes. They gained a sort of sharpness that didn’t fit with the silly, fun mama I knew. She was the mama only papa knew, or maybe not even him.

 

“Where did you hear this story?”

 

“I had a dream about it. But I think I read it in a book.”

 

Mama stopped walking for a moment, then pursed her lips and gave a sharp whistle. “Emel.”

 

“Yes, Metres?”

 

I hadn’t even noticed her appearing, mama’s lady’s maid. She’d been with her since she was 18, but I knew nothing about her. Just that she was very serious and only ever listened to what mama told her to do. Her dark blue hair was pinned in a tight bun with sticks in it while her pink eyes were angled down at the ground, not making eye contact.

 

“Investigate this. Immediately.”

 

“Of course, Metres.”

 

And just like magic, Emel was gone again. “Mama?”

 

Mama smiled and brushed my hair out with her fingers. “Worry not, my dear. Now that I think about it, you don’t have any hair accessories for Duman’s Menele ceremony, do you? I’ll have to order someone over for that. Oh, and some new dresses as well. What color do you think would be best? It’ll be summer so I’m thinking pastels will be best.”

 

“But, Emel-”

 

“Adalira.”

 

“... Yes, mama?”

 

Mama smiled and brushed my hair behind my ear gently. “Don’t think about it. It doesn’t matter any for you yet, okay?”

 

I nodded and mama’s smile got so bright it could’ve blinded and we went back to our walk, mama talking about what kind of clothes we should have for Duman’s ceremony.

 

I don’t know if I want to know what her family does.