As the panic of Jacob's adventure subsided, the next two days passed in peace, albeit some anxiety over Jacob while his personal guard, Oscar, was on full shifts again. However, the peace came to an end as a messenger arrived to the throne room on the third day announcing, "Queen Eya has arrived. Her ship is docking as we speak."
"Thank you," Essa forced her smile as James squeezed her hand in encouragement. "I will go out to meet her," she said and stood. The walk out of the palace felt long and painful, her mind racing as she composed herself. By the time she arrived, Eya's ship was docked and the ship door open.
"Sister!" Eya greeted as she stepped out, lifting her hand in greeting as their eyes locked. Essa offered a wave and Eya strode forward in response, pulling her into a hug. "It's been too long, dear sister."
"I know. I did send messages to you on multiple occasions, Eya," Essa reminded her, pulling back and gesturing for her to follow. Eya hooked her arm around hers casually and the sisters began to make their way inside.
"You know what it takes to rule a kingdom. And I have the biggest planet under my care, which in turn has to watch the other planets too. Not to mention it is a planet that has never been ruled by a woman in all its existence. It has robbed me of a lot of my time," Eya dismissed Essa's words with a wave of her hand.
"I can tell."
"No need for snide remarks, Essa. There was a time where we were inseparable."
"There was, but your quest for power and blood ended that."
"I see you have been harboring ill will towards my decisions." Eya stopped them in their walk, stepping in front of Essa and turning to face her. "I did all of this for us. For you. Do you not have a throne to sit upon? A better life for your son? Does my daughter want for anything in life?" Eya shook her head. "No, she does not! Our name is feared and revered throughout the galaxy, our legacy set in stone. I have secured our children's future. What more could you ask for? What more could we want?"
"A family. A family that sees each other. A family that shares their biggest moments in life together. A family like mother raised us to be!" Essa moved past her, seizing her arm to drag her back into a walk without looking her in the eye.
"I see, dear sister. For that, I suppose I am truly sorry. Sometimes there are sacrifices one must make in order to be in the position I am. I aim to do better and be better. It is why I came. Let's not hold onto the past. We can't change what's been done and what had to be done, but we can be in the future together." Eya tugged Essa to a stop again, her words left to hang in the air for a moment.
Essa watched the woman she called an older sister, who she'd seen do great atrocities. Fear battled familial love, hope against reason. How far dare she believe her sister? Still, she held her hands out, a soft, genuine smile forming at her lips. "Alright."
Eya grabbed Essa, yanking her into a tight hug. Her arms squeezed around Essa's waist, no words spoken as she bent her head against her sister's neck.
"Good gods, Eya! You're going to kill me if you squeeze any tighter!" Essa laughed and Eya finally released her with her own chuckles.
"Come, let's not waste any more time and get you sent to a room," Essa insisted, the smile still playing on her face.
"Mother!" Jacob's voice came across the hall as the boy careened around a corner, sliding to a stop in front of the sisters. "Oh. Hello?" His head tilted in curiosity at the sight of Eya.
"You must be Jacob," Eya greeted him. The boy squinted before extending his hand and straightening his body, Eya shaking it with an amused laugh.
"That's me! And who are you?" he asked curiously.
"Queen Eya of the Mother Planet, your aunt," Essa said.
"Ohhhh. I don't really know much about you," Jacob admitted, oblivious to Essa's groan at his big mouth.
"We'll have to change that now, won't we? We have many years to catch up on," Eya offered. Jacob looked her over before shrugging with a nod.
"There will be plenty of time for that later," Essa encouraged, shooing Jacob off with her hand.
The boy puffed out his chest, mouth opening to protest but a sudden clearing of the throat coming from behind stopped him. Oscar stood calmly at the corner, arms crossed as tired, dark brown eyes took the boy in.
"I apologize for his interruption, your majesty. It seems he is finding a new game of seeing if he can make me run." Oscar glared at Jacob. A huge grin was thrown at the guard causing his face to soften. "I have not been broken yet. I will take him out of your hair."
Jacob went to protest again, but a stern look from mother and guard brought silence, along with an added look towards the throne room spurning him to release a huff and follow Oscar away.
Essa turned back to her sister and seized her hands. "My men will take you to your room and you can settle in. You must be tired from your trip. We can fetch you when dinner is ready."
"Thank you, that would be perfect," Eya complimented. Essa gestured to a nearby guard and Eya followed.
The moment Eya was out of sight, Essa released a small sigh of relief and rolled her shoulders. Her head began to throb softly, but she pushed it aside, making a quick time to return to James.
As soon as she entered the throne room, she found James pacing. He came to a stop at the sight of her and rushed over, seizing her shoulders and pulling her in for a kiss. After a quick look over to assure himself she was alright, he found words.
"How did it go? Does she seem in a good mood, or does she want something?"
"I-" Essa paused, her brows furrowing. "I don't know. She apologized, James. It seemed genuine and for a split moment, it felt as though the Eya I knew before everything happened was there. I didn't see the same things we did but I don't know if I trust her yet."
James rubbed her back. "It seems like a large change, but perhaps, perhaps time has mellowed her and we can finally find some peace; the whole galaxy can."
"That's a stretch," Essa snorted. "But perhaps the distance has made her realize that family does bear a little more weight than power sometimes. She'll join us for dinner. I think we'll find out then." She nodded to herself, thoughtful as she ran ideas through her mind.
"If you think so, I will trust your judgement."
"Wonderful. Let's grab a nap too, shall we? We'll need the energy."
With James's agreement, the royals went to their room to rest and prepare their energy for dinner. Their sleep guided them through the afternoon, and as evening began to set, preparations were put in place for dinner. Essa ordered a large, hot dinner reminiscent of her childhood from the cooks, and had the dining room decorated simply but nicely.
When everything was in place and dinner ready, a messenger was sent to announce dinner to Eya. Essa and James settled at the table with Jacob between them.
"Good evening," Eya announced herself, entering the dining room and sitting down across from Essa.
"It's good to have you join us!" Essa insisted. Dinner was brought out and served to everyone, general chatter ensuing. Warm memories were brought up and shared, often interrupted by Jacob's need to tell one of his stories as well. Laughter followed and the group seemed like quite the family.
As plates started to empty, Essa cleared her throat. "Eya, could I ask you something?"
Eya nodded, finishing her last bite as she did.
"Now?" James whispered, his look at Essa incredulous. "I don't think it's the right time."
"Right time, you say? Now I'm intrigued." Eya wiped the side of her mouth and setting down the cloth. "Please, ask sister."
"It's about the deal we have in place," Essa started.
"Oh?"
"The deal we have barely gives our planet any profit. The amount you take is heading towards crippling us if we were to ever have a bad year or something were to go wrong. You know Potara is the weakest of the planets, and we don't make enough to make advances to catch up to the technology and times of the others. If we can just restructure the deal and lower the rate by fifteen percent, it would help," Essa shared, a small spark of hope lighting in her eyes.
"Oh James, James, James." Eya turned her attention to him. "You can't even speak for yourself and get my sister to speak for you? Coward! Do not make my sister do your bidding!"
"Eya-"
"That is Queen Eya to you," she snapped at James.
"Sister, there is no need to speak to him like that. It is a deal I wanted as well, and we both discussed," Essa defended as she stiffened.
"And yet, little sister, you were the only one who spoke up."
"Because I chose to bring up the conversation now! Did you not hear him even question doing it now? This is unrelated to James! As your sister and the queen of a struggling planet, I am asking you to help take care of us by lowering the percentage!"
"I think I am done with dinner," Eya scoffed and stood.
"Eya! I don't think what we're asking is unreasonable, just consider it!"
"No."
"No? What do you mean no?" Essa stood as well, crossing her arms.
"Did I say it in a way you couldn't understand? I stand by my answer. We may be family, but you both have tried to use the love I have for you to exploit a weak spot."
"Are you kidding me?" Essa scoffed. "You are taking this the wrong way!"
"I am taking it the only way it should be taken. When ruling a large and powerful kingdom, you learn to put emotion aside, even for family. I cannot bend even the slightest bit and put what I've built in jeopardy when that is what is protecting you. I believe the deal is fair and it is the only deal you will ever get."
Silence hung before Essa shook her head. "It's always you and your power. To think I thought you'd actually chosen to care about family again." She gestured in the air and began to walk towards the door. "But oh no! The great and powerful Eya must exploit even the smallest planet when her rich planet already has everything it needs. I can't believe you're my sister, sometimes! You are not the sister I grew up with!"
"Nor are you! I will be gone in morning, I can assure you," Eya snapped, shoving past Essa and leaving the room before she could.
James made a quick signal for Oscar to come near, the guard bending his head close to the king's mouth. "Take Jacob to the kitchens for dessert and then bring him back to his room."
Oscar gave a short nod before walking over to Jacob. "Shall we get dessert, my young prince?" Oscar kept a straight face as Jacob's mouth lit up into a grin. The guard chuckled and waved for the prince to follow as the boy leapt from his chair and dashed past in excitement.
"Do you think that was smart?" James asked Essa.
Essa stood in the doorway and turned to look at James, her eyes narrowing. "Don't start with me, James. If she found that as an attack, she hasn't changed at all."
"Perhaps you hit a sore spot. We should have waited for that conversation."
"For when, James? For when? When she was in a better mood? When she was in a worse mood? There was no better time! And if that set her off, maybe she's a danger to have here!"
"And now she's angry, Essa! Angry at us! We can't afford her wrath, and we can't risk Jacob over this!"
Essa turned her head away, looking back down the empty hall as her jaw tightened. She said nothing and James sighed. He walked over, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"Listen. Maybe you were right. Maybe she hasn't changed at all. I just wish you'd told me the plan first. I'm sorry," he apologized. Essa's shoulder relaxed beneath his touch and she leaned back into him, her eyes closing.
"I'm sorry, too. I actually thought... I mean, it was a test too, but I actually thought she'd realize I was just asking for some help as her sister. I actually thought she'd changed enough to have an open mind."
"I know. I know." He kissed her head.