Kobolds, Sylphs, Salamanders, Undines… they are all the same to me. I don't care for any of them. What interests me is in this court.
See, it's the best kept public secret that princess Cybelia, Lord's daughter, is sick with Lapis. And where there is sick royalty, there is someone with a big budget to spend on finding that mystical cure.
Next day I see her for the first time as I train. She passes the gardens with her handmaidens, idly chatting with them. I wonder what they might even be talking about. Weather?
"Hey rookie, focus!" Aspen yells at me. Oro has managed to surge from above, not giving up on drilling me with his sword, but I simply do a flip and make sure that I've thrown dirt into his eyes. He yells from surprise and pain and just falls down like a dead bird.
"That's the princess?" I point finger at her.
"Shh! It's rude to point fingers!" Kora blushes. It's like her tongue has twisted into a knot the moment she saw the Princess and is now trying to hide that fact. "I mean… that's just uncouth!"
"Yeah yeah. I am just looking at who I'm supposed to protect."
The Princess looks radiant indeed, dressed in whites and pinks, with a silk blouse hanging off her shoulders, her pink wings radiant… but I can immediately see they're weak and too small to fly. They don't produce enough fairy dust.
She could either be ill or another changeling. Her skin is quite pale. Possibly one of the human children who were smothered by fairy dust the moment they were brought to Vilaria to take place of the abandoned fae their parents decided to give away. I never knew that Lapis could affect them as well.
I feel a sting of kinship. Then immediately chase that thought out of my head. I shouldn't be sympathizing with her. The fact that she is here means that someone else was packaged as a nice little bundle and left in front of a random family's doors. Well, I am on the side of my fae brethren.
"Oh she is beautiful, isn't she?" Oro finally picks himself up off the floor.
"Not my type," I say. But then again, not like I have much time for romance. Besides, what's the use of dating a dead fae walking?
"They say Lord Udvar of the Autumn court is courting her," Kora says. "He's been showering her with gifts. She keeps rejecting them."
"Does she now? Seems like the birdie here still has a chance then."
Oro laughs and doesn't detect the sarcasm in my voice.
"And who's that?" This time instead of a finger I point my blade towards another Leptira coming her way.
"You mean Prince Tasht?" Vatra leans on my shoulder. "Oh, he is handsome."
He doesn't resemble his sister that much, though I can notice certain similarities. They share the dark hair just like their father and pink wings, though his are more developed than hers. Fae will often choose to take human babes who are similar to their own kin, which might be the case here. But it's hard to tell.
"I assume he's the heir to the Lord title?" I ask.
"Actually, it's the Princess," Kora says.
"She? Isn't she sick?"
"Well, it's Lord's decision. She is older, after all."
There is some kind of devotion in Kora's voice that intrigues me. Well I can be a gossipy chat-box too from time to time. "And what does the court have to say for that?"
"I dunno, I think the Prince should get the place. He is strong. She is weak." Vatra shrugs. I finally brush her off my shoulder.
"Strength isn't the only quality the leader should have," Kora says, getting flustered. "What about wisdom?"
"Don't care about that Dryad crap. How will she defend her court if enemies come to her doors?"
"Why would there even be enemies? Who are those enemies?" I jump in. I want to hear more.
"Well, the Unseelie Court, for example. Or the Kobolds."
"Oh that's just xenophobic," Kora rolls her eyes and moves away.
I shrug. I've known some nice Kobolds during my times. Tough crowd, though very skilled with their hands. Wouldn't go so far to throw my hand in fire for them, though. But then again, I suppose I wouldn't do that for anyone.
As I said. They're all annoying.
Kobolds lurk in their caves, Sylphs think they've drank all the wits of the world and are unreachable with their sky cities, Undine are drunks and have no care for anything because, similarly to Sylphs, nobody can even step a food in their underwater kingdom. Lunarie see themselves as above all of us because of their connection to the Seelie court, rusalke live in their ice kingdom… I could go on and on. With mothimers I have personal qualms.
I guess Salamanders can be okay. I enjoy their fighting spirit. But they are also cocky, just like Vatra. Which suits me as long as it isn't weaponized against me, the way she seems to do it.
"They seem on good terms." I point at the Prince bowing to the Princess.
"Oh, hardly. That greeting is so stiff and impersonal." Kora covers her mouth in disgust. "I don't trust him at all."
"Hey, hey. The Prince is working hard finding the cure for Lapis." Aspen lands near us. "Are you all done gawking at the royal family? Can you get moving?" He points his spear at us and urges us to finally get back to the training at hand.
Still, I stare a bit longer at the pair of siblings, thinking about things.
What an interesting family.