Fire Rises

Meet the Parents

As we all sat down to dinner everyone wanted to debrief over the day. We had just begun discussing the second hardest kingdom to convince of the day: the Fourth Kingdom. King William was no older than I and, therefore, hadn’t seen even an inkling of evil in person. He didn’t believe it was possible for someone outside of the Dark Place to be so wicked. 

As we discussed amongst ourselves the impromptu philosophy lesson we had imparted on the young king, the doors to the dining room swung open. King Richard and Queen Nova froze just beyond the doorway, apparently shocked to find the small unofficial council Maverick had assembled- perhaps more shocked to see of who the small gathering was composed. The queen’s eyes landed on me and didn’t make any move to look away.

Ah, good. A game I’m familiar with. You want a staring contest, Queen? Well then you’re going down, b***h. I grimaced at my internal smack talk. It’s probably not nice to call your true love’s mother a b***h. I ignored that thought and instead directed all of my energy into winning this contest. I locked my eyes on hers, daring to her to blink first.

Maverick stood at the head of the grand marble table, earnestly inviting his parents to join us. “Mother, Father, please come meet our guests.” We had all gathered around him at the far end of the expansive dining room. 

Upon entering the hall, natural light poured in through the impressive amount of open air windows. The space had been washed in the same hues of shimmering, vivacious golds as the rest of the castle. The whole castle was subsumed in the aroma of spring, and this room was no exception. I wasn’t even sure what springtime was. I certainly wasn't sure of it's scent, but I knew that’s what this palace smelled like. 

As the sun began setting, the bristling of golds had calmed to nothing more than a light brindle of tawny faucets, making way for shades of orange, pinks, purples, and blues that now flickered along the walls. The whole room had transformed from sunshine to sunset. It really was spectacular.

Maverick’s words had registered in my head, but I didn’t take my eyes away from his mother’s. The king led Queen Nova slowly towards the table, but she never once blinked.

A worthy opponent. I would be honored to consider such a talent as my family.

“This is Clara, she used to work in Prince Charming’s castle, but she is going to be staying with us for a while.” I really wanted to see the king’s reaction to this discussion, but it wasn’t worth losing my little game with the queen. “This is Ari, she is from the Dark Place. She single handedly won over Genie today. He even granted her the ability of spatial manipulation, like us!”

“How do you do?” From the corner of my eye, I could see Ari smile broadly at the king and queen. 

“Well, Miss Ari. Anyone worthy of the Genie’s approval and gifts is certainly worthy of ours.” The king gave her a smile of true acceptance, before turning his attention back to his son. 

Maverick continued. “This is-”

“Hello, I’m Lucian. Word on the street is that we’re going to be neighbors. Well- Clara and I will be your neighbors. No need for worry, this angel is sure to keep me from any trouble.” 

“Hmm, is that so? You look familiar...” The king sounded thoughtful, but not terrified like most people were when they first met my brother. Lucian allowed a- what I'm sure he thought was fetching- broad smile stretch across his face, leaving each one of his dagger like teeth on display. The king eyed my brother from head to toe and then back again, but never once let fear creep into his expression. The king was curious; but afraid, he was not.

“That is because he is Eve’s brother. You both remember Eve. She is…” Either his thought didn't reach spoken completion or my mind conceded to listening, but, no matter what the cause, I didn't hear the rest of the story. He took my hand in his and brushed my knuckles against his lips. The gesture provoked a deep blush to stain my cheeks, but I continued to return Queen Nova's stare.

“Ah, we thought that may be the case.” My eyes snapped to the king upon his revelation. Unfortunately in doing so, I forfeited the staring contest.

Ah damnit. Edge? Where are you? Did I leave you in the Dark Place. A shiver snaked down the backside of my torso, coiling around my spine at the thought of returning just for something so trivial as my pettiness. Who needs an edge when you've got sprawling oceans and land?  So. Much. Land. Suck it, Dark Place. Eve 1, Dark Place 0.

My mental victory came to halt as the queen spoke. “We could tell there was something going on in the throne room of Far, Far Away but you both acted too casual, so we weren’t sure. Usually when people find their true love they can’t keep their hands off of each other!” She giggled slightly, but didn’t seem to be particularly amused.

“There were some… complications we had to sort out, first.” Maverick glanced down at me as he spoke.

The king wasn't yet interested in discussing his son's newfound love; not when there was such compelling company around his dinner table. “Hm, you two don’t look like brother and sister.” He words weren't intended to offend, but both mine and Lucian’s eyes flashed in unison.

The king chuckled lowly but didn’t flinch. “Alright, I stand corrected. Evie, my dear, I hope you are worthy of my son. He’s one of the good ones.” The king’s words reflected a concern I’d been having since the moment I laid eyes on Maverick. I wasn’t sure I was deserving of someone so wonderful. Thankfully for me, my brother was far more confident in my constitution than I.

His words came so strongly, I almost believed them myself. “I hope your son is worthy of my sister.” Lucian snapped back to the king. His eyes softly glowed, but he seemed under control. “She is worthy of only the very best so I hope your son is the best of the best, because Eve is pretty smitten with him.”

What the hell is ‘smitten?’ It must have been a good thing, because the queen’s face relaxed into a soft smile. She still had faint worry lines between her brows, but Lucian’s words caused her shoulders to relax and a faint look of acceptance to toy at her eyes. 

Lucian’s words put someone at ease? That’s a first.

“Ah, a family man! I can appreciate a man that speaks so highly of his sister.” The king gave Lucian a curt nod. “So, what brings you all to our lovely kingdom this evening?”

We all looked at one another, before realization quickly dawned. It needed to be me who spilled the beans to these two. I had to earn not only their trust, but also their respect. I wasn’t going to accomplish that by hiding behind Maverick my entire life.

“Well-” I launched into the tale of the secret darkness brewing within the kingdom of Far, Far Away. The king and queen sat in silence as they absorbed the new and shocking information. When I finally reached the end of the speech I leaned back in my chair, awaiting their responses. 

The queen was the first to speak. “Prince Charbroiled, you say?”

“Well, or Prince Charrr-ming. We were supposed to revisit nicknames at dinner.” Ari chimed in.

Laughter sputtered from the king. He had one of those contagious laughs that caused tremors within your own soul whether you found the matter funny or not. This was one of those matters we all already found funny so the king's laughter quickly sent us each to battle, fighting our own snickering fits. The queen covered her mouth- clearly mirthfulness at someone else's dismemberment, no matter how vile that individual may be, is unacceptable for a queen-, but her quivering shoulders betrayed her efforts to shroud her amusement.

She cleared her throat to hide a giggle as she spoke. “If I know my son- which I think I do- I assume there is some sort of plan in place.” The queen raised her eyebrows at Maverick, finally shaking all reminisce of humor.

“Of course I have a plan!”

“How fortunate we are! Your son has favored us with scores of plans!” Clara rolled her eyes at just how many plans we’d already run through in such a short period of time.

“We’re on plan C. No! Wait, plan D! C.5 maybe?” Lucian racked his brain as he tried to sort through all the curveballs we’d already navigated around. Maverick interjected before Lucian could fully work it out.

“It doesn’t matter. As long as they keep plotting we’ll keep planning. We spent the day spreading word to the other kingdoms so everyone will be alert and not fall under the same spell.”

Ari spoke next, letting both her fists fall to the table emphasizing her determination. “Don’t you worry your majesties! I didn’t come all the way above the Dark Place just to deal with the same bullshit. We won’t stop until this realm is as peaceful as I always imagined it to be, damnit!” Her dreads shook slightly, but her determination stood firm.

The king seemed surprised, but not unbelieving in Ari’s confidence. “You mentioned these two are going to move into Maeve’s old castle and Eve will obviously be living here. Where does that leave this little spitfire?” 

“I’ll be going to the boarding school. I know that Prince Charming's intentions were amiss when he brought us to this realm, but I really believe in the initiative he has set up. I want to do anything I can to keep it going and help the kids thrive in this world.”

“Spoken like a true princess. Are you sure you are a witch and not a princess?” The queen eyed Ari up and down. Her curiosity was genuine.

“Yes ma’am. I'm definitely not a princess. I'm a witch. Though, I’m still trying to figure out how to even be a witch. So far I’m not having much luck. I haven't successfully done a single spell! Right now, I’m just Ari.”

The king waved his arms, wiping away the words, already wanting to diminish any self-doubt he saw in our small friend. “Well, ‘Just Ari,’ you are always welcome here. All of you are. You all remind me so much of us when we were younger. Do you remember, my love? Fighting off the bad guys; good triumphing over evil.”

“No dear, I was asleep for most of that, remember? The curse...”

“Ha! That’s right! Well at least you all have a solid team to work with! Back in my day all I had was a sword-”

“Father, can we please not do this?” 

“Nonsense, my boy! Everyone loves a good story!” Maverick groaned as the king launched into the full tale of how he had defeated my mother and gotten his true love back. It was a beautiful tale, but the man had an affinity for accounting for even the most minute detail. Like, literally every single one. Every. Single. Excruciating. Detail.

Finally, an hour into the story, Lucian had had enough. “Hey! That’s my mother you’re talking about!” My brother's words bellowed from across the table. The room went silent, all attention nervously turned to Lucian. He playfully tossed his hands in the air before saying, “Just a joke, guys! Everyone calm down. Honestly Richard, how did you do it? Eve and I have both taken our fair share of shots at her, but all that ever earned us was severe…” He paused, remembering the mixed company we were amongst, “... time outs.”

“I had the right motivation.” The king gingerly took the queen's hand in his and rubbed his thumb across her knuckles, dreamily looking into her eyes. For second, it felt as if he was sufficiently distracted, until he abruptly broke their moment, to turn back to us. “Imagine, Nova! Maeve’s kids are sitting at our dinner table! And I like them! I never thought I’d see the day!”

“Hey! Ari, what was the deal with the Ice Queen earlier? She kept looking at you like she knew you.” Clara’s words reminded me, and apparently the others, of the peculiar fixation Queen Eira seemed to have with Ari.

Ari shrugged her shoulders. “Who knows? Maybe my mother threatened her before? Doesn't seem that farfetched.” She stuffed some food into her mouth.

“Ah, I have heard about the unfortunate passing of that young lady's parents. Those girls were so young. I know it was at sea so possibly…” The king’s thoughts trailed off.

“Well, nevermind that, dear. We are not here to dwell on the past. I want to hear more about your plans for integrating the children into the school. I'd truly love to help in any way that I can.” The queen leaned forward, honestly intrigued in the process.

Ari’s face lit up as she began prattling off her ever pullulating ideas on how to improve the world. “I’ve only spoken with Genie and Amari briefly, but I think we should really bring more children beyond the Dark Place sooner rather than later. I understand the methodology behind staggering them, but I know those two can handle more at a time. I've seen how flawlessly they manage the children and I can't stand to leave more children in the realm of darkness longer than they absolutely have to be. I have some ideas for a series of life-skill courses that would-” I was amazed at how much thought she had already put into this. She continued explaining her innovations on integrating older descendants eventually, too, and of course how to remove infants as quickly as possible to save them from the horrors. I had off-handedly recommended removing the babies, but Ari had a well thought out five-point plan of how to transfer the idea into functional practice. She belonged in this role. She was going to do great things.

The sun continued to set and as it did the aesthetic of the room continued to shift with it. We were now fully surrounded by shades of black, deep purple, and deep blues. Small diamonds shimmered and shined above us. A very full moon glowed so brightly there was still plenty of light to see. So much good energy flowed around this palace. Everything was beautiful, special, unique. This was what I had imagined life beyond the Dark Place to be like. We had a lot of work to do before everyday could be this magical. For now, I sipped my decaf tea and tried to just enjoy the moment.