The Twin Moons of Jupiter

SHOCK

                                                                                    E L L E A 

    Shock feels like ice, Ellea thought. 

    It feels like the frigid winters of Mercury. 

    They visited once. The Mercurian delegation consisted of the fierce warrior queen and her group of consorts. Men and women alike catered to every need of the queen but never spoke aloud in court. 

    It was then Ellea realized how fortunate she was to have parents who cared about her. She had a place in court if she had wanted it. She was loved, respected, and admired by the masses. Even though she never did anything other than smile and wave.  The responsibility seemed better suited to Lyra anyways, and there were so many pretty dresses to be seen in public. 

    The Queen of Mercury did not appear indifferent, but she was burdened with the heavy knowledge of a kingdom under the solitary rule of its singular monarch. There were no children in court that day; just empty promises and boring trade meetings. Lyra—who had usually accompanied her on these events—had stayed home (much to his dismay) for charity events involving orphaned boys who could birth like him. 

     Ellea had slipped away from her flock of ladies maids and wandered as far as a passage into the cold. 

    The cold was instant. 

    The weather on Jupiter was fairly consistent. The many moons allowed for an almost constant cover of rain, but it was usually always warm. The Red Desert was her favorite vacation spot. She loved to lay in the scorching sand and allow the showers to cool her heated skin. She tanned much more easily than her siblings. Callora’s olive-toned brown skin and black hair weren’t the only features she had inherited. They shared dark eyes and sharp jawlines, with cheekbones that sat high on their faces, and equally calm dispositions in the face of frustration. 

    When Ellea walked into the Mercurian cold she felt it in her chest first. It spread outwards until it reached the tips of her extremities and it nestled evenly in the space behind her stomach. The icy winds whipped the train of her gown back and forth and the onslaught of sharp snow made it difficult to see. She whipped around for the door but couldn’t see past the blanket of white in front of her. A small shriek escaped her lips. 

    “Pylah! Corine! Drina!” Ellea shouted the names of her maids. She knew it was useless, not only did they remain in the palace but they would not have been able to hear her over the weather. Ellea spun in a circle before collapsing on the ground. She had not walked too far and surely they would search for the Princess of Jupiter?

    She buried her hands underneath the coverage of her many skirts, shuddering and shaking from the cold.

    “A lilac blooms under a yellow sun,” she began to sing. “That stays in the sky for hours of fun, and when it's dark, Ganymede springs high, 79 moons to light your night.” 

    The old nursery rhyme gave her a small bit of comfort, and something to keep her fear at bay. 

    It was difficult to tell time under the strangely foreign Mercurian sky but she knew some time had to have passed. 

       Suddenly there were footsteps. The unmistakable sound of crunching snow under a boot. 

    Hello little bird,” came the voice of Queen Violante. 

    At first, Ellea thought she was hallucinating until she looked up and gazed at the Queen’s blue face and large coat. 

    “Why you alone in snow? Papa is looking you,” a thickly accented voice said in the broken form of the common tongue. 

    “Q-q-q-ueen V-Violante?” Ellea managed to ask. 

    “Tiny birdie is cold?” 

    Ellea nodded. 

      Queen  Violante took off her white-fur shawl and draped it across Ellea’s shoulders. 

    The blue-skinned Queen carried the cold girl and brought her into the castle where the maid Drina stood wringing her hands and King Callora instantly began to fret over his daughter. 

    Ellea never forgot that feeling of cold shock, of fear, and in the very moment where Lyra had fainted atop the broken pieces of what used to be an antique vase that familiar panic gripped her chest. 

    A husband was to be expected. She liked men, found them attractive and useful. She had no issues deferring to the rule of someone else as long as she could keep her pearls and her gossip under the high arches of the palace’s sunroom. She had known she would marry, and she had always been a filial daughter, but it seemed so soon. She was not ready to put away her childish things. 21 cycles around the sun seemed not long enough to enjoy her youth. 

    After Lyra collapsed Cosmo Goros rushed him to the medic bay with Quen Novak close behind. She was forced to wait with Corax in an empty hallway. Soldiers from the vanguard came and went. Those who were able assisted in finding various palace personnel among the rubble. 

    King Callora finally approached. He looked more tired than Ellea had noticed him being. His eyes were sorrowful and the wrinkles that lined his face seemed deeper than ever before. 

       When did her father grow old?

    “Children,” he said with a sigh. “We need to finish our talk.” 

    “Father! Ly—”

    “Ellea. Hush,” Callora snapped. “Corax is my new heir.” 

    Ellea immediately looked at her younger brother. He was already taller than the twins so she had to look up. Had she never noticed him either?

    “We have found two wealthy suitors from Terra.” 

    “Terra?” Corax’s lips curled with a sneer. “What do they call it? Ah! Earth.” 

    “. . . and mine?” Ellea asked. “This suitor from Terra that you and Lord Pymor have acquired for me? What is his name? His occupation? Are we to abandon all courting rituals? Is he to live here in the palace?” 

    “What’s left of the palace,” Corax said. 

    King Callora pinched the bridge of his nose. 

    “His name is Benton Irynwulfe, he is a creature of the moon,” her father said. 

    A creature of the moon? Werewolf. Lycanthropy, the Terrans called it. Ellea knew of the species that roamed the Terran world. She had been forced to study the different planets in their solar system. She knew the rituals and the holidays, had learned all the customs and even sampled traditional cuisine. None of that knowledge made this new information any easier to swallow. 

    Corax interrupted before she could respond. 

    “Lyra? Is his suitor also a creature of the moon?” Corax asked. 

    Their father shook his head. 

    “He is a creature of the night. They’re both very powerful men and with them comes their armies, and a fighting chance to win the war.” 

    A fighting chance to win the war? She was being sold off like livestock so the Saturnites could be defeated? Was there any love to be had in her life? 

    “Thank you for choosing the best suitor for my marriage, Father. I must attend Lyra,” Ellea said. She gathered her skirts and quickly walked away.