Chapter Two
Mirrors
“Do you think it’s possible? Two of them, right under our very noses?”
“It seems unlikely,” Vera said, still holding the two children by the collar. “Do you want to take a closer look?”
“Might not be the worst idea. I’d hate to lose track of them. It’s a big city.” Aesling’s voice, once a scary and unknown thing, was now the most natural thing in the world. It drifted gently through Vera’s thoughts. In theory, she could answer the nature spirit simply by thinking back at her, but she’d found that she was sometimes more comfortable speaking out loud. Sure, it made her seem eccentric, but her reputation was already… unorthodox.
“Who are you talking to?” the girl asked. She had a mess of curly black hair that was put up in a messy bun, and her jaw jutted forward defiantly. Vera smiled at her.
“Myself,” she said, lying. “How long have you two had green eyes like that?” The two kids looked at each other in shock. Okay, that was interesting. They didn’t even know. That meant it was a recent development, surely.
“That’s what I was thinking,” Aesling mused. “Which fits in with what we’ve seen.”
“Hmm,” Vera said. “Anyone else here who might have suddenly developed—” She was cut off by two grown men trying to inconspicuously drag a fiercely resisting boy through the peristyle. “Please hold on,” she told the two kids in front of her and let them go. The boy immediately made to run, until Vera held up a finger. “Aesling,” she said internally. “A signal, please.”
The boy’s eyes grew wide when he looked at hers. Vera felt the ever so subtle waft of magic that would have made the color of her eyes a light up just a little, a green as bright as their own. “What…” he said, but he didn’t run. Vera nodded approvingly and then strode towards the two men.
“Hold, please,” she said. The two diacons seemed ready to argue at first, until they realized who was talking to them. Being Queen definitely had its advantages. They didn’t let go of the boy, though. She wanted to tell them to unhand him, but the way he was trying to wriggle free, she worried he’d scurry away at the first chance. “What’s your name?” she asked. The boy looked at her with the kind of distrust she expected and, honestly, would hope for coming from a child his age. He looked past her at his friends and kept his mouth shut. Vera smiled and rolled her eyes. “Any of the adults here will probably just tell us, you know. But we’d rather you tell us.” She lowered her voice. “In case they got it wrong.”
He glared for a moment, then relaxed a little. “Selico,” he said. Vera pursed her lips. Good. Strong name. Definitely a kid from Coalis. She looked at the two men, and then turned around to look at the godsmaiden who stood a little forlornly on the side.
“Legima, correct?” Vera asked. The woman nodded. “Legima, we would like to have all three of these children brought to the Palace gates at your earliest convenience.” She hated using the royal ‘we’ but she’d noticed people actually listened more when she did. “Let them pack whatever belongings they like. And if there’s anything that seems out of the ordinary, bring that, too.” The woman’s eyes looked like they were going to bulge out of her head, but she didn’t protest, just nodded again, demurely.
Immediately, the other two tried to sprint off, but two other diacons had grabbed them by the upper arm. Vera was worried their arms were going to dislocate. “You can’t buy us!” the boy yelled.
“She’s going to eat us!” the girl yelled. The consternation had drawn attention from nearby. More and more doors opened and little faces peered through. “Rise up! Don’t let her eat children!” Vera rubbed the bridge of her nose. She’d gained something of a reputation. Nothing warranted, of course. She took a step forward, and addressed the children as much as anyone else who just happened to be listening.
“I’m not even going to acknowledge that bit,” she said, dropping the royalty for a moment “but I’d like to… Address the worries you might have.” She stepped closer to the children. “Do you know what happened to the other children that have been brought to the Palace?”
The girl immediately raised her voice. “I know! You a—”
“I didn’t eat anyone!” Vera said, rolling her eyes. “They were always brought home, safely.” She felt Aesling chuckling in the back of her head. She looked over at Selico. “Can you put him with the others, please?” she asked the diacons. There was some awkward shuffling.
“Arguing with a child seems like a productive use of our time, don’t you think?”
“Oh hush, you,” Vera said. “No, I didn’t eat them. I just have some questions.” She looked at their eyes again, still as vibrant as they had been before. Even Vera’s eyes were never that bright. “Maybe there’s a few tests I’d like to run,” she mumbled.
“They don’t come back right,” the boy said. “Maybe not all of them, but some of them don’t come back right. And then they go back willingly.” He looked up at her with a quiet rage. “Whatever it is you do to them, it breaks them, doesn’t it?”
“I don’t do anything to them, ch— Okay, what’s your name? I’m not calling you ‘child’.”
“Roja,” he said. “That’s Maria.” The girl looked deeply offended at having her name shared, but didn’t say anything. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
“You’re wrong,” Vera said. “I don’t break anyone. I just have some questions. The answers are hard for them to deal with. Everyone gets to go home, but I offer more help if asked. Some people want that extra help. Most people don’t.”
“What kind of help?” Roja asked snidely. Vera shrugged.
“That’s up to them, and not something I’m going to explain here and now.” She straightened her back. “Besides, that’s not even why I’d like the three of you to come by. That’s a different matter entirely. Although I might as well run the process by you while you’re there.” She mulled things over in her head. “Ash, do you think there’s a quicker way for testing magic? We’ve never had this many in one go.”
“Not that I can think of. Much as the children might dislike it, we’re going to have to keep experimenting until we’ve locked the process down. It’s not like there’s an established system in place,” Aesling said. Vera nodded.
“So, Roja, Maria, Selico, I’ll see you all at the Palace soon.”
“Can we say no?” Roja asked. Vera smirked.
“No,” she said, “I don’t think so. I am the Queen after all.” Maria struggled a bit again, and Vera put her hands on her hips and cocked her head. “Just like I think there’s no way for me to reassure any of you that I’m not going to do anything nefarious.” The two kids glared at her again, and again their green eyes stuck out to her. “So you really didn’t have green eyes before?” she asked. They shook their heads. “Fascinating,” Vera said.
“Queen Vera!” A voice from behind her had her sigh. She took a deep breath before turning around to face the man. Galladio was fiercely loyal, a stickler for rules, and extremely protective. Vera still couldn’t tell if she loved or loathed him, even after five years. “King Clarus has been worried about you.”
“No, he hasn’t, Galladio,” Vera said with a little smile. “Clarus trusts me, and he trusts my judgment. You’re allowed to just tell me you’re worried, you know.” The older man looked at her. His head had been shaved and gleamed in the afternoon sun. She wondered sometimes if the top of his head ever got sunburn. His thin lips tightened into a flat line.
“Yes, your Majesty,” he said. “In that case, I am worried about you. You can not simply go wandering off on your own through the…” he paused for a moment, trying to find a diplomatic way to phrase his thoughts. “The more hazardous districts.”
“Oh, for the love of the Saints,” Vera said, “I can defend myself, Galladio, or did you forget?” That seemed to have rattled the advisor a bit. It wasn’t a secret, of course, that Vera had been there when the Cavean had assaulted the Capital. Coalis was well defended, its walls high, but that hadn’t mattered against the might of a creature like that. And then she’d shown up, with Clarus and her three companions. Most people didn’t know she’d been the one to defeat it, though. Everyone assumed it had been her husband, and she’d been happy to let that rumor spread.
“Very well,” Galladio said. “Regardless, you mustn’t go off on your own like this. If there are matters of state that need attention—”
“Then Clarus will be more than qualified to deal with them,” Vera interrupted slyly. “He does happen to be King, after all. You worry too much, Galladio.”
“If you’ll forgive the impropriety, you do not worry enough, your Highness.” He looked at the children. “More of your… wards?”
“Maybe,” Vera said. “Or maybe something else. But guests all the same.”
“Understood, your highness,” Galladio nodded. Despite his reservations, he did always end up doing as she asked. One of the most difficult things to adjust to at first had been the fact that people just… did as she told them to. She was used to having to bargain for things, or explain herself. But as Queen Vera, there was no need for that. Her word was law, and that was… extremely strange. The little girl she had once been balked at the idea. But it was also useful, especially if she wanted to help people.
“So, Legima?” she turned back to the godsmaiden. “We can provide you with compensation for any difficulty. The children should be home soon enough, but in case they aren’t, please notify any relations that they’ll be staying at the Palace.”
“I… That is very kind, your Highness,” Legima said with a curtsy. While it was not a very good curtsy, it was better than anything Vera had ever managed. Galladio nodded at her, indicating such compensations would not be discussed by the Queen herself.
“So, I think that’s all, then!” Vera said cheerfully. “I didn’t think this little trip would be that productive,” she told Aesling. “Three! That doubles it!”
“Yes, it’s strange,” Aesling said. “Something’s changing, Vera. Magic doesn’t naturally occur in… well, Humans. And you lot tend not to respond well to having it put inside you.”
“Don’t remind me,” Vera sighed, and stepped towards Roja and Maria again. “Listen, the two of you. Please, try not to run before you’re brought to the Palace. Whatever you two were up to — no, I’m not going to pretend I didn’t notice — doesn’t matter. You won’t be punished. And if everything goes well, you’ll be free to stay at the Palace for as long as you like. But you won’t have to.”
The three kids looked at her, their eyes betraying the kind of wariness usually reserved for logs drifting towards you, against the current. “And if we don’t want to?” Maria asked
“You’ll just get to go home,” Vera shrugged. She looked around. “Although I suppose this place could do with a bit more funding. I’ll have to talk to Clarus about that.” She ignored Legima almost fainting.
“Oh, wow,” Roja said snidely. “Going home to the orphanage. Your Highness is too kind.” He was practically growling. How old was he? Fourteen? Maybe? Clearly had been forced to grow up too quickly. But that also meant that, when the Cavean had come to the city, he’d been roughly her age when…
“A lot can happen, even when you come from nothing,” Vera said.
“Lady, our parents are dead,” Maria said. The Selico boy cast his eyes down. That was probably one to keep an eye on, then. “It’s easy for you to say.”
“Oh, so you three don’t know?” Vera said, and her face split into a wide grin. “Do I have some stories to tell you.”
So many stories
I have a lot!
“Oh, so you three don’t know?” Vera said, and her face split into a wide grin. “Do I have some stories to tell you.”
She's gonna traumatize the poor things
Story time!