-Victoria-
"Mom?" I whispered, tears welling in my eyes.
She turned to face me, a smile filling her face as her own eyes became tearful.
"Oh, Vic!" She said, "It's so good to see you."
"It's so strange," I said, "You look like a ghost."
"Focus more energy into the crystal," She instructed me, "It will make the connection stronger."
I held the crystal closer to my heart, focusing as much energy as I could into it. Wishing with everything I had that I could just hug my mom. A hand cupped my cheek. I looked up into the smiling face of my mother.
"I'm so proud of what you've done." She says and I throw my arms around her.
"I've missed you so much." I said.
We settled on the end of my bed. I clung to her hand like a life line.
"It's been so strange here," I told her, "To learn that there's this whole world running right next to the one I grew up on. That magic was real."
"It is quite the shock." She sympathized.
"And then the school. The politics. The drama." I sighed.
"One thing I definitely don't miss about court," She laughed, "All the drama and ass kissing."
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, "Why didn't you try to come back?"
"I did try," She admitted, "When you were three, I left you with a sitter and had Zekora come get me. She took me to neutral land, right outside Pelmora. They appeared in less than a minute. I'm thankful for Zekora's speed. Their spells barely missed us."
"How'd they find you?" My eyes filled with concern.
"A trace of some sort." She told me, "Zekora and I have tried every method we could to break it but we never did."
"How do you know it hasn't faded with time?"
"We test it, at least once a year." That answer took me by surprise.
"That makes no sense." I said, "I would've noticed you disappearing. Or Zekora being around the house."
"When you were young it was easy, you could be sleeping or just too young to remember," She informed me, "Once you got older, there was always some sleepover or trip with friends that I could count on."
"So you knew it was dangerous to come back," I explained, trying to make sense of it, "But you let me come here."
"Yes but I was mostly positive that no harm would come to you when you arrived." She said.
"Mostly positive?" I looked at her like she had just spoken a foreign language.
"Zekora and I needed more data on the trace," She suddenly became very interested in the floor, "So she put you into a deep sleep and brought you to the same place her and I had landed before."
"What!?"
"You were never in any danger," She tried to assure me with a guilty smile, "Zekora would've brought you back if there had been any danger."
"When did she bring me back?" I crossed my arms.
"An hour later." She reluctantly confessed.
"Mom!" My arms flew back to my sides.
"She just wanted to be thorough," She said standing up to hide her guilt, "She also felt it would be a good idea to show you your home land."
"I thought I was asleep." I said with a dead pan voice.
"She may have gotten distracted." She added.
I gave a breathy laugh. A question came to mind.
"Why didn't Zekora bring me here?" I asked, "To my father?"
"You wouldn't have survived in court," She told me, "Not without me or my family to keep you safe."
"Your family?"
"Well our family," She said, a sad smile taking over her face, "We served in the palace for generations. My father served the King and my mother served the Queen. Just as my father's parents did before. And I knew I was suppose to be your father's servant for as long as I can remember."
"And you guys fell in love." I said with a smile.
"Not part of the plan, I can assure you," She laughed, "They thought I was going to be a boy. After all for generations, the King and his servant were always born within weeks of each other. Always a set of boys who eventually become inseparable."
"It must have been quite a shock." I tried to empathize.
"A lot of eyes started watching me after that," She told me, her eyes going distant for a second before snapping back, "But I resolved to become the best and I was. And of course the two born after me were both boys."
"You have siblings?" I asked.
"Yes," She laughed, "The two younger boys and the one older one. She-"
Before she could finish her sentence the door opened. Suni was there carrying an over filled tray.
"Sorry for the delay, Your Highness." She said, still having not looked into the room, "His Majesty was practically breathing down the throats of the cooks making the task of retrieving dinner a trail."
When she finally got herself together, she froze not far into the room. She gasped, hands flying to cover her mouth as the food fell to the floor with a smash. Stepping right in the mess, she rushed forward pulling my mom into a tight embrace which was returned.
"Malleas!" Suni cried, "I can't believe it's you. I never thought I'd see you again."
"Oh, Suni." My mom cried, "I've missed you so much."
"I feel like I've missed something." I said, causing the two to split.
"Oh, Your Highness," Suni said wiping tears from her eyes, "I'm so sorry about the mess. Let me just clean this up."
"Suni you stay right there." My mother said, grabbing her by the arm.
"Malleas?" She looked at my mom curiously.
"Victoria, Suni is my older sister who I haven't seen in over 18 years," My mom explained, "Kindly clean the mess so I can talk to her for a moment."
"Yeah, of course," I said still in a bit of shock, "I can't believe the person my father told to serve me is my Aunt."
"The mess, Victoria." My mother prompted me again.
"Right." I said with a sheepish smile.
My mom led her sister into the bathroom. I took in the mess on the ground. There was a spell that Zekora had taught the class one day. It allowed you to restore an object to its original state. An advanced spell used for investigating.
I began the spell, the sigil forming and energy flowing towards the items. Before it could reach however, the spell fizzled out. I sighed in frustration. I needed to pull more magic forward to use the spell.
I reached deep inside but instead of finding my own magic, I was pulled deeper. Through my feet and into the foundations of the palace. I found a wealth of power there. Tugging on it until it came up into my body.
The spell casted in an instant. The pieces of glass and food on the floor reassembling perfectly and landing softly on the nearby table. I released the spell and my connection to the other magic snapped, taking my breath away.
My mother and Aunt came flying through the bathroom doors, a look of concern on both their faces.
"What did you do?" My mother asked.
"I fixed the tray." I told her, still struggling to catch my breath.
"You drew on the palace's magic." My mother said.
"I will go stall the King," Aunt Suni said, heading towards the door, "Finish your conversation quickly."
"What's going on?" I asked my mom.
"Your father would have felt you drawing on the palace's magic." She informed me, "He'll come to see why. It would be bad for him to see me."
"Why?"
"Well not bad for you or even me, but for-" She explained.
"Zekora." I finished.
"That crystal you have is very rare and hard to find." She told me, "I don't even think there's any left in the royal vault. It took Zekora many years to track the set we have down."
"He'll wonder why Zekora didn't give it to him." I speculated.
"Yes," She looked serious, "And why she still refuses to take him to me."
"Maybe he could help." I proposed.
"Your father is powerful, with massive reserves of power," She explained, "But his magical knowledge is only average. That's why he has advisors and people like Zekora who are very well researched in magic to help him."
"So you're just going to stay away." I said.
"For now, yes." Her face became sad.
"What am I going to do?" I questioned, "I'm lost. I have no idea how to be a princess and every person who gives me advice just makes me feel worse."
"My dear, you know everything you need to," She told me pulling me into a hug, "I raised you knowing, someday, you may return here and take your place in court. You know how to be kind but not get walked all over. You know when to empathize and when to call someone out. You know right from wrong and that is more than can be said about many of the nobles here."
"Then why do I feel so scared to make the wrong move?" I asked her.
"Because you still feel like you don't belong," She said pulling back from the hug, "But I can assure you, you belong here. This is what you were born to be. Find confidence in yourself through your friends and trust your gut. I know you'll make the right decision."
"I really missed you, mom." I whispered, tears filling my eyes.
"I missed you too, love." She kissed my head, "Write more often. If Zekora is good at anything it's delivering a letter."
I laughed at that, backing away out of my mother's arms. A commotion outside the door caught our attention. Before either of us could react, the door swung open.
"Your Majesty wait!" I heard Aunt Suni yell.
There is the door was my father. He stared at my mother in shock. My mother looked heartbroken.
"Malleas?" He whispered, not believing what he was seeing.
"Udel." My mother said back, tears appearing in her eyes once again.
In that moment, the crystal in my hand became white hot. With a yelp, I released it, letting it drop to the floor. As it connected, it shattered and my mother disappeared. My father stared at the spot that my mother was just occupying and then to the shards on the ground. Anger rapidly took over his face.
"Zekora!" He shouted down the hall.
That was the last thing I heard as ringing filled my ears and darkness began to take over my vision. The room spun and I dropped. I barely made out the concern faces of Suni and my father rushing towards me. All I could think was how nice it was to see my mom again