Chapter 1: Pretending

A/N: Shoutout to followmetoyourdoom for her assistance in beta-ing and suggestions, as well as margoteve and the rest of the Discord chat! Thank you guys for your support!


Her parents named her after the rainbow, and the name fit her well. Iris was a blissfully happy girl, having lived her six years without a care bigger than a thimble.

Of course, thimbles are considerably larger to a six-year-old.

"But why can't Talia come sooner?" she asked at breakfast. "Auriana's family'll already be gone by the time she comes back."

Her father smiled. "I'm sorry, Iris, but you know, royals can't always go wherever they want, whenever they want. Talia's parents have urgent matters to attend to at home before they can return for another visit."

Iris grew weary of the phrase "urgent matters." In her experience, it usually meant boring grown-up business specifically invented to keep her and her friends from being together.

"It's not fair." She sighed.

He patted her soft pink hair. "Life often isn't, my sweet. But you can play with your other friends, can't you?"

Iris brightened. That was very true, and she still had the whole morning to play with them before she had to start her lessons. She began eating in earnest.

"What's the business, anyway?" she asked offhandedly.

The silence that answered her made her pause and look up.

Her parents usually liked it when she showed an interest in politics. They'd often remark that it was important for a Crown Princess to do so.

Instead, they seemed to be exchanging significant looks.

"...Nothing very important, dear heart." Her mother smiled reassuringly.

The king coughed. "Yes, just some trade deals between Xeris and Calix. Nothing serious."

"Oh." Iris tilted her head, picking up something off in their manner but unable to decode it. "Ok, then."

Her parents breathed twin sighs of relief when Iris returned her attention to her food. They didn't want her to see the weight on their shoulders, the concern in their eyes.

She didn't need to know the "trade deals" were really about the shared research into and storage of weapons and magic. Or that all the kingdoms were holding their breath. She didn't need to worry her beautiful head about these things. Not yet.

She has a lifetime to worry, the Queen thought, gazing at her. Let her be a child, for now.


After breakfast, it was a quick dash from the dining room to the courtyard. She was pleased to see that one of her friends was already there."

"Auriana!" she called, waving. "I'm here!"

Auriana was bouncing up and down on her heels, hyperactive as always and more than ready to start the game. She looked up and smiled when she heard Iris coming.

"There you are!" She laughed. "We've been here forever, already!"

Her bright orange hair was loose; she'd probably lost her hair ribbon again. She lost more of those than Iris could count. And she could count all the way to 100, so it must have been an unimaginable amount.

"Sorry, Auri! I had to eat breakfast!" Iris stopped to catch her breath. "...Where're the others?"

"They forgot our swords. They said they'd be right back."

Even as she spoke a pair of magenta haired children appeared from an archway and hurried over.

"Yay, Iris is here!" Mephisto grinned. "See, Prax, she didn't forget us!"

His sister crossed her arms. "I didn't say she did! I just said maybe she was busy!"

Iris grabbed her best friends in a hug, much to Praxina's feigned annoyance. "I'm never too busy for you guys!"

The twins would hardly have recognized their younger selves. Mephisto was an inch shorter than Praxina and kept his bangs in a little ponytail to keep them out of his eyes. Praxina wore her long hair tied to the side.

The biggest difference was their eyes.

Mephisto's were the green of rolling down a grassy hillside, full of innocent mischief instead of malice, quiet courage instead of fear, and incredible kindness instead of greed.

Praxina's were the the azure of soaring through a cloudless sky, and they sparked with sass, instead of cynicism. They had none of her future cruelty, and only a slight, harmless form of her ambition.

They were only eight years old and knew nothing yet of heartbreak or regret.

Iris remembered her sad news and sobered. "Talia can't come back until at least next month."

Auriana's face fell. "Aw, I'll be home way before then."

"At least we won't have to argue about who gets to play the queen," Praxina said.

"But the games with two queens are the most fun!" Auriana insisted. "We get to switch sides and do sneaky secret stuff! Besides, Prax, don't you miss Talia?"

"No! Well... yes." Praxina looked away. "...I like her and everything, but she can be so bossy! And really stubborn!"

Mephisto snorted. "Wow, I don't know anybody else like that!"

She pouted at her brother. "Papa says knights aren't supposed to be sarcastic, Mephisto!"

"We aren't playing, yet!" He stuck his tongue out at her.

"Ok, cut it out, you guys!" Iris interrupted, giggling. "We don't have a lot of time!"

"Right, sorry. Here's the swords." Mephisto handed out the wooden swords he'd been carrying under his arm. They were each painted the favorite color of their owner.

"Um, Praxina?" Auriana fluttered her eyelids at her. "Can I have your extra ribbon?"

Praxina sighed and pulled a purple ribbon from her pocket. "You'd better not lose it, again. Mama thinks I've suddenly gone scatterbrained."

Auriana laughed and tied her hair into a bouncy little ponytail. "I won't! Thanks!"

With everything settled, they went to take their places. Praxina sat herself upon the stone bench they had designated as her throne and instantly adopted a queenly persona. Iris hurried to the raised dais that they used as a tower. Auriana and Mephisto stood on the sidelines and waited for their cues.

Praxina stood and called, "Good knight, I, uh, beseech you! Come forth!"

Mephisto ran over and kneeled before her with only the barest hint of a smirk. "What is your bidding, my queen?"

"My daughter, the fair Princess Iris, has been cursed by a dark sorceress-"

"Uh, wait," Mephisto whispered loudly, "are you gonna be the sorceress, or Auriana?"

They looked at Auriana, who nodded enthusiastically.

Praxina often doubled as the villain of their game because she enjoyed it, and was honestly pretty scary when she chose to be, but the queen needed to be present later in the story. Auriana didn't mind filling in. She just liked playing the game, regardless of her role in the story, and thus was often cast a variety of roles. Spys, merchants, thieves, extraneous nobles, and yes, even dark sorceresses. Mephisto usually did the same if a knight wasn't needed. He especially got a kick out of playing dashing rogues.

Iris was almost always a princess, or another lady of nobility. Everyone agreed the role suited her best, and they almost always needed such a character. Besides, her attempts at evil laughter were completely unconvincing.

Satisfied that their villain was confirmed, the twins snapped back into character.

"Princess Iris has been cursed by a dark sorceress, and is trapped in a lonely tower, unable to escape until, um, a quest is completed. You, sir knight, must bring... a gem from the highest point of Dragon Mountain!" She pointed dramatically to a fountain on the far side of the courtyard.

Mephisto nodded solemnly. "It shall be done at once, your majesty!" He stood and began sprinting towards the fountain.

Iris sighed loudly as he passed her dias. He slowed, catching on.

"Are you the cursed princess, Iris?" he called over to her.

"I am, yes!" She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead in a mock swoon. "Woe is I! Trapped in this tower, all alone! How I long to escape!"

"Worry not, fair maiden, I shall free you!" Mephisto proclaimed, then added in a stage whisper, "Should we fall in love now?"

Iris thought for a moment. "...No, we just met. Wait until you come back with the gem thing."

Mephisto shot her a thumbs up and continued dashing towards the imaginary mountain.

Auriana suddenly stepped in front of him, adopting an elderly warble. "Excuse me, young man, but can you help an old lady in need?"

Mephisto narrowed his eyes at her, wondering if this was meant to be the sorceress in disguise. "...Perhaps."

"I am very old, and I need someone to help me get my cart out of the mud." She gestured to the right, indicating the location of this cart.

Mephisto was suspicious, but decided he wanted to see where this was going. He made a show of pushing the nonexistent cart until it was unstuck.

"There you are, ma'am."

Auriana smiled and spun around, making a "woosh, woosh, whoosh!" sound with her mouth, then stood before him with a regal air. "Thank you, sir knight. I am the good entrantress, and to repay you for your kindness, I will help with your quest!" She pointed to the fountain. "The gem you seek is inside a dragon's cave! You're gonna have to sneak past it without waking it up!" She mimed pulling something from behind her back. "These shoes of sneaking will help you!"

Mephisto raised an eyebrow at her.

"I know, we just used the shoes of sneaking last time," Auriana whispered apologetically. "But I can't think of anything else."

"I could always just slay the dragon."

"No! No slaying things, Mephisto! We talked about this!"

He crossed his arms. "Talia lets me slay things!"

Auriana hummed angrily under her breath. "Well, I don't like it! The dragon didn't do anything to you!"

Iris coughed loudly, drawing their attention. She and Praxina gave them stern looks from their respective places.

Mephisto gave an exaggerated sigh. "Ok, fine, no slaying. Give me the sneaky shoes." He held his hand out.

Auriana dropped the imaginary shoes into his hand and he took a moment to put them on his feet.

"Go now, good knight! Before it is... too late..." she said ominously as she backed away, then hid behind a large urn.

Unsettled by the vague but inevitable nature of this warning, Mephisto continued until he was a few feet from the fountain.

It was a large fixture even by adult standards, so it dwarfed the children. Three massive granite pegasi surrounded a pedestal, which shot water into the air from various spouts disguised as flowers. Upon the pedestal stood a tall marble woman, a queen with long flowing hair, surrounded by elaborate swirls and patterns of transparent pink crystal representing her magic. The water was magically filtered with every pass, and it sparkled brilliantly in the morning sun.

They'd been told not to play on it, but they always figured that rule was up for interpretation. For example, they interpreted it to mean they couldn't climb any higher than the pegasi. Because, honestly, the pegasi weren't that high, and the delicate crystal didn't start until the woman's feet. Even Iris, the biggest stickler for following the rules, agreed this was a perfectly logical compromise. Still, they felt there was no need to complicate the issue by asking. Grown-ups could be very unreasonable, sometimes.

Mephisto began creeping on tiptoe as he neared the pretend dragon's cave. The girls watched with baited breath, worried the dragon would hear him.

He jumped up onto the edge of the fountain's pool easily, having done it hundreds of times before. He leapt up, grabbed onto one of the pegasi's manes, and hoisted himself onto its back. As surefooted as he was on the smooth polished granite, he felt confident enough to tiptoe across the wet stone.

The gem was, as always, imaginary. Even so, the tension in the air was palatable as he bent to pick it up, lightly touching the pegasus's wing for balance. He held up the invisible object for the girls to see, then began tiptoeing back across.

He realized too late he was getting cocky.

The toe of his boot lost traction on the slick stone. His stomach dropped as his foot slipped and his legs went out from under him.

The girls looked on in shock as Mephisto plummeted towards the hard stone edge of the fountain.