Riding through the night, a tired but happy party reached the city as the sun was rising above some low clouds in the east. "Good timing." said Gracia, looking at the clouds. "Looks like rain. Well we'll be safely inside by then." In short order they had reached the gates. Horns sounded and there was no challenge as the riders swept up through the gates, which stood open to them. In little time after that, they had reached the courtyard and, while the captain of the guard saw to the stabling of the horses, and billeting of the troops that came with them, Gracia, with Arthur in her arms, led Lina, Amilia, Zel, and Sylphiel towards the steps to the great hall. Suddenly she gave a little squeal and rushed up the steps towards the palace. She was met there by the King and Prince Erik who were rushing out to meet them. Gracia found herself swept off her feet by strong, loving arms and for several seconds she just floated, secure in his arms, lips locked together in a kiss that spoke to the world of great passion that was between the two lovers. Finally she was slowly, reluctantly even, returned to the ground. Some private "I love you's" were exchanged, then Gracia got back to business.
"Success my Lord! The West will not attack, and they might even man the western wall at the high pass. And look! A special visitor! My very own sister Amilia!" The King turned a charming and welcoming smile on Amilia and bowed. "Greetings and welcome to our humble kingdom Lady of the West! I hope we will make your stay here as pleasant as possible, war footing or no." Amilia giggled a bit and bowed in reply and said "Thank you, my Lord the King, it is already pleasant! I am grateful to you for making my sister so happy and sending her back to us, regardless of the circumstances." The King smiled warmly, then turned and greeted the other arrivals.
"Ah, the lovely Lady Lina, you have returned to grace us with your presence, good! Now maybe I can learn a bit about this "old friend" my wife wanted to hide from. I found that strange, but, she usually has her reasons." "Oh, I'm sure you'll end up knowing more than you want to, Your Majesty!" Lina replied with a grin. "And the Lord Zelgadiss! Welcome back, may we not have to hustle you about like we did the last two times." Zel bowed in greeting. "But, who is this?" spoke up Prince Erik, as he gazed upon Sylphiel. "Yes," said the King, "that was going to be my next question too." "Ah, now this is Lady Sylphiel." responded the Queen. "A friend of Lina's it seems, and a visionary too. She met us as we left Seirune claiming a vision had told her to come to Westhold. Lina was happy with her claim as were my sister and Lord Zelgadiss, so here she is." Sylphiel turned he eyes away from Prince Erik and bowed to the King and Queen. "Well, marvelous! And be welcome Lady." said the King bowing back.
"So, how did it go while I was away?" asked Gracia. The King became serious. "We were attacked." he said quietly. "Assassins. Shadow Warriors I think." "Who was hurt?" asked a concerned Gracia. "Well, you were." was the reply. "Huh?" said Lina. "Oh no, who, how bad?" asked the Queen, clearly upset. "Your main double is in the infirmary with a bad slash, one of the other's broke an arm, and another, was, I'm so sorry, killed." Gracia gasped and burst into tears. She handed Arthur to his father and said "I must go to them." "Are they injured?" spoke up Sylphiel. "I am a healer and a white sorceress don't forget! Let me come." "We all can heal, we are all going!" said Amilia with a stamp of finality. Even as they spoke they ran off, mainly because Gracia didn't wait.
A quick dash and they were at the infirmary. Gracia arrived first and went to the bed of the injured woman who was her obvious body double. She took her hand, tears streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry." she said. The woman in the bed smiled at her, and said in a very Gracia like voice "Hey, it's okay, I knew the danger, don't cry for me, I'm getting better." Another, smaller woman, with red hair, was sitting beside the bed, holding the first woman's other hand. She was bent over it, holding it for all it was worth when the crew rushed in. "By the Gods!" said Amilia, "She really does look like you!" The woman in the bed looked away from Gracia and looked, stared even, at Amilia. She gave a weak smile and said "It's little Amy-Amy, isn't it?" using an old childhood name Gracia used to use on her sister.
Amilia gasped. "You prepared her well big sister. She's just like you." she said, surprised a body double would know even childhood nicknames. "She IS me..." said Gracia, quietly. "Eh? What's that mean?" asked Lina walking up to the foot of the bed. The other redhaired woman looked up and over, and said "Lina?" in a quiet voice. Lina thought her heart would stop. The small woman was so like her in face and form. The rest of the room marveled at it too. "Wha-what's going on?" quavered Lina. "It's like looking into a mirror!" "You are" replied Gracia. "Well that's cryptic." muttered Zel, as confused as the rest. Then Lina got it. She gave a little shriek and said in a trembling voice "You mean, you mean, these are our mirror doubles from, from, the magic mirror?" "Yes." said Gracia as she continued to hold the hand of her double and stroke the woman's hair.
Just then a third Gracia walked in from the back room and stopped and stared. Mirror Gracia looked over at her and smiled and said "Kali, honey, it's okay! Look, it's mommy's twin! And she brought her friend, Auntie Lina's twin sister, who is also called Lina." "That's right precious!" beamed the mirror Lina, holding out her arms to the third Gracia. Kali Gracia looked a bit stunned then slowly shuffled over to Mirror Lina and got a hug. She looked rather like a child for all that she had the form of Queen Gracia. Then she said in a quiet way, staring at Gracia and Lina very much like a child "Mommy's twin? Auntie Lina's twin?" Mirror Lina murmured as if soothing a frightened little girl "Yes, they've come to visit us and see what wonderful big girls you are all becoming." "Not Sati" said the girl like Gracia. "Sati's gone..." "Yes baby, Sati's gone." murmured a sad Mirror Lina. "But all the rest of you are still here and we can still love her, that's what's important." "I love Sati, Auntie Lina" Mirror Lina continued to cuddle the girl, or what ever she was. Lina walked out in shock. What was going on? The others followed, equally perplexed. In a minute Gracia joined them, still visibly shaken. "Let me explain." she said.
"When I stopped being so immature, I thought over my life, and I remembered them. You remember we didn't know what to do with them? So we just left them to their own devices?" Lina nodded. Gracia went on "It took awhile, but I located our Mirrors on an isolated mountainside. Life had been cruel to them Lina, they never had our toughness, for all that they have our magical powers. They could never be cruel to anyone even if they were being hurt, or abused. And they were. They were driven from pillar to post, beaten, robbed, and abused, even taking the fall for some of our stunts Lina. Finally they went into a high mountain plain and made the best living they could, eaking out a living by their own hands, on the edge of starvation. They are vegetarians, they can't even kill animals, even fish, for food, so you can imagine how hard it was to grow enough food in a short summered, rocky, mountainous place. We finally found them, and they almost ran away, but they were persuaded to let me talk to them first, and I was able to apologise and make peace. Oh Lina, they have been through a lot, but because of their creation they remain meek and forgiving."
"I was able to move them to a place in Westhold, still in the mountains that they love, but with a better climate, more water, and richer soil. I was even able to get them to accept a small flock of chickens without a rooster, on the excuse of providing fertilizer. They couldn't figure out howcome the eggs wouldn't hatch, until we explained about the lack of a rooster. Then they were willing to do what I hoped they would do and they added the eggs to their diet, since they weren't going to become chicks anyway, and I think it has helped, that and the fact they can grow much better crops where they are now. Soon they were healthy and I was able to interest them in another project. You see, as I was looking for our Mirrors I started getting reports back about the other me's." "Diol's clones!" gasped Lina. "That explains the other look alike!"
"Clones?" said the others in various states of shock and disbelief. A very brief recounting of Lina and Naga's adventures with the chimera making wizard Diol then followed, with a promise to tell the tale in full later. The others quieted down so Gracia could finish. "I found all ten of them Lina. We gave them away something like pets you remember, to what we thought were good homes. But we didn't look carefully enough in some cases. Some homes were good, but they were only pets, just as if we really did do your joke about leaving them in a box beside the road for some kid to find. But most were shabbily treated. Underfed, treated worse than animals, some were bed slaves! Thank the gods Diol made them sterile." Lina put her hands to her mouth in horror, it had never occured to her that might be an issue for the clones. "Others were worked to exhaustion, and one was beaten and abused daily for sport. Those people found out what sport was!" Gracia said with a sudden dangerous fierceness that made the others, even Lina shudder with fright.
Gracia went on. "It was horrible. With a combination of money and magic I collected them together again and brought them to the mountain where our Mirrors are. You see, here's the problem. Diol was able to make ten copies of me, and accellerate their growth to make them the same age as me, physically, but inside they were new born babies! As long as they were under his control they could do somethings, but when we freed them they were little babies in full grown womens bodies! Oh they could laugh like me after a fashion, and do mechanical things like eat and walk, but they couldn't talk, they couldn't think. They were real babies inside, and we didn't see it back then. Oh Lina, they are at best seven years old now, and depending on their past they are in various states of developement. The worst was poor, poor, Sati, she was the one so badly beaten and abused every day. She never had a night go by where she could sleep in peace without nightmares, and she could hardly speak, although she was slowly healing. Oh gods! I hope she is in peace now! Poor thing, let her sleep be undisturbed..."
Gracia broke down again and was comforted, unexpectedly, by the King, who had been standing quietly behind the group all this time. "Let it out love." he said quietly, coming up to her and putting his free arm around her, his other arm still holding their cherished son. Gracia had a small weep, then continued. "The Mirrors are everything we aren't, Lina. They have a patience and a meekness that we never will have. They were happy to become mothers to this poor brood of misfits. And they are doing a wonderful job of raising them to be good girls. They are learning to talk, to read and write, do their numbers. They are a bit young yet for their history, but they make up for it by genuinely playing for the first time in their lives, and having little girl squabbles, and they are becoming a family of sisters."
Lina shook her head in horrified amazement at this story then asked "Why were they here?" The King took up the tale. Speaking softly, with a strong note of regret in his voice he said "It was due to our slackness during the years of peace. We had not provided for a body double to play the Queen, because we never needed one. Then the news of the war broke quickly and we hatched our half baked scheme to send my beloved to her father to enlist his support in reassuring the west that we were no threat, and hopefully get them to be aware of the danger so they would guard the gate of the narrow pass." He then explained that it had to be Gracia, no other ambasador could so quickly establish trustworthy credentials, but, to help her get there safely, they needed to distract the enemy and make them think the Queen was still in residence. The only convincing body doubles available were the Mirror Gracia and the Clones. Mirror Gracia, being able to understand the danger, was willing to help, but Lina's arrival had complicated things, so it was decided to bring the Mirror Lina down too and try to pretend she was staying at the palace to make secret negotiations while the real Lina went with "Grace" to Seirune. Arthur couldn't be separated from his mother, partly because his mother wouldn't hear of it, and partly because it seemed actually safer, so he was sent on the trip too. Meanwhile, Mirror Gracia put on a good show, and as a result there were several attacks on the keep by Shadow Warriors and other assassins.
"That partly explains why you didn't have to cut through them like a hedge row" the King said. "It was still a near thing" commented Zel quietly. "I suspect it was, Lord Zelgadiss," said the King "and I await your report at a convenient time. But first I will finish our tale, then it is time to change and bathe, then food and rest." He went on to detail how, with so many attempts it wasn't surprising one got through. Three assassins broke in, but it took nine other suicidal ones to make a distraction. One attacked the King, but made the mistake of coming at him with the "Queen" between them, and as a result he slashed the poor Mirror in her belly. A glancing blow designed to move her out of the way, she collapsed onto the sword and entangled it long enough for the King to grab the killer by his head and separate his neck from his skull, using his bare hands as a hangman would use a noose. A sharp crack and it was over, except for a lot of yelling for the guards and a doctor. But two other Shadow Warriors were loose in the keep and they got into the back rooms. With Mirror Lina and Mirror Gracia busy at the palace the Clones had to be brought too, the poor things could not take care of themselves, and had not learned to trust enough for someone else to watch them. So they were in the inner rooms, cared for, but out of sight.
Anyway the two murderers broke into side by side rooms. The one room had the now injured Clone named Lakshmi in it and she was quick enough to scream and try to run away. As a result she got hit in the arm with the back of a sword and it was broken, but no worse injuries, as the guards were there quickly and the assassin tried to leave. He ended up getting cornered on the wall of the keep, not without first doing in a couple of the guards, then, seeing no escape, pulled a knife from his belt and stabbed himself to death. The other assasin broke into the room with poor Sati who must have thought she was about to be abused again and could only have frozen too terrified to do anything. The swordsman must have thought he had the Queen, and shoved his sword into her heart. At least it had been mercifully quick. The killer then tried to get away but first a well placed arrow slowed him down, then when he turned to fight a well thrown axe had split his skull, and the invasion was over, leaving a dreadful aftermath. Fortunately, it turned out that Prince Erik had always had an interest in healing and was the Royal surgeon. He issued orders, gave drugs to calm the distraught, called upon the white wizards to use what magic they had and then sewed the Mirror Queen back together.
"You can do that?" gasped an excited Sylphiel, who, until this point had been cringing in the background like the others as the tale of dread unfolded. "I didn't know you could heal wounds like that without magic!" "You can do that?" said an equally startled Prince Erik. "Lady, um, Sylphiel? In our country we have no magic that strong I'm afraid, though if the Royal Sorceress had been able to be here she might have changed that. No, we often have to heal by rebuilding."
"Oh trust me, Lady Sylphiel can do that with her magic." piped up Lina. "But you are right. I remember from the time we fought Darkstar that people who had been outside the mazoku shield were weaker in magic than we who were inside. Anyway, a few years ago I was fighting a powerful magician named Copy Rezo who was a kind of a clone of another great magician called Rezo the Red Priest." "Not to be confused with good!" piped up Zel. "Uh, yeah" said Lina, "it was the original Rezo who turned Zel here from a man to a chimera with a spell, but anyway, in the fight with the copy I got stabbed in the chest near the heart. It was touch and go but Sylphiel here dragged me to a spot where the magic was very strong and brought me back practically from the dead. I was literally about to fall off the razor's edge when she got me back, just in time. Even if she did bang my head on the cave wall." "Eh, he, he, Miss Lina, that was an accident..." sweatdropped a nervous and shy Sylphiel. "Ha, it's okay, I know." said Lina with a smile. "I'm just teasing you. But you did save me, no doubt about it!"
"Wow!" said Prince Erik "What's the scar like?" "Huh?" asked Lina. "What scar." "She could heal you without a scar?" Prince Erik asked as well. "My stichery can save lives, but I can't stop scars from forming." "Oh?" asked Sylphiel in her turn. "Does the poor Mirror Queen have a scar then?" "Well, it's still too fresh to have scarred yet" replied Prince Erik "it's only about a week and a half old. Still, it will form one. And the Queen is only getting well enough now to eat fully, her bowel was nicked and we had to let that heal." "Oh, that long?" said Sylphiel. "Magic works best if the wound is fresh, with time it becomes harder to heal. Still, if the wound is neat, and the bowel not too badly nicked I may be able to help still." "Well, I would be honoured, great lady of the healing arts, if you would try, and even more honoured if you would allow me to become a pupil of yours!" resonded Erik "Errr, well, I don't mind teaching but I'm not great, and by the way, by birth I am a commoner, not a Lady..." said Sylphiel, obviously shy but appreciating the attention. Lina slapped the taller black haired girl on the shoulder and said "Don't be so modest and go show him." With that Sylphiel and the Prince went back into the room where the Mirror Queen was abed.
Lina turned back to Gracia who was clamer now and had taken her son back in a loving protective hug, and said "Well, this has been a tale and a half, but thank you for looking out for them Gracia, you are right, we never dreamed anything like all that would happen to them." "Well, it was the only decent thing to do I suppose." replied Gracia, "Even if there are those who make cracks about the only King with a harem of 12 wives who are really only one wife." she smirked at her husband. The King smiled and replied "Ah, back to the bad jokes, I'm glad your feeling better. I have missed you." Gracia smiled back, looking deeply into his eyes and replied "Missed you too."
There was a soft "Ohh" from the next room, followed by a happy Lina like squeal from Mirror Lina, a "Wow" from Prince Erik, and a "Mom's better!" from the Kali Gracia clone. A happy Mirror Gracia suddenly bounded into the room and said "Well, look at that!" as she tried to show the fully healed wound site without being immodest doing so. Gracia said to her "You have performed above all duty my beloved Mirror lady. You have but to name your reward." "But you have done so much already, my Lady the Queen." replied the Mirror. "Think of it as a gift." Gracia replied in her turn. "Well then, food, for one thing!I'm hungry!" laughed the Mirror Gracia, "And if you could, after the war, persuade the Lady who healed me to teach me and improve my healing arts I would be grateful. I think those of our Clones that will eventually be able to go out into the world will do well with a skill they can live by, and healing should be something they can do. But I need to learn more than I know right now." "Well, I'd be more than happy to!" replied Sylphiel from the doorway where she was standing, "Only of course this horrible war must get over with first." "Of course." responded Mirror Gracia. "I meant when things were calm again." "Yes." said Sylphiel.
"Well, sounds like you got your second wish!" said the King. "Now, follow me and we will grant the first one as well, and eat!" After a brief pause to dress the Mirror Gracia and send the Clone Gracia back to play with her sisters they walked to the dining room. "What do you eat here?" asked Amilia. "I don't imagine you have much access to seafood." "No" replied her sister. "We have to bring it in on ice and that is only possible in the winter, so things like sashimi are rare specialty dishes here. However, we do have fresh water fish, including a delicassy we don't have back home called "trout". And there is beef and chicken and even a bit of pork, and other meats, and then they do all sorts of wonders with vegetables and fruits, including a whole world of berries and things that don't grow in our warmer climate, but rather up on the mountains. I will admit they don't have grape culture here, though there are wild grapes, so I think Lina is in a position, if she invests right, to make a bit on the grape, rasin, and wine trade from Zefielia to Westhold. Mind you I did get a bit of the trade going already as I introduced brandy and wine to the kingdom, er, but that's another story. But there is a native fermented beverage called Mead, for those who wish to drink, and it is made of honey! Depending on how it is made it can be something like a beer or something like a wine. It was tasty, as I remember, but I am just as happy to say I no longer drink it."
"Yes" said the King. "Now we are a family of tea, what was the word again beloved? Oh, totallers, teas totallers, he, he. But we never drank much alcohol anyway and I for one don't miss it." "Yes, there's another trade to invest in." Gracia went on. "They have many fine herbal teas here, including a plant called mint that is second to none for a stimulating herbal tea, but the traditional teas we drink are also not known here. I can see a good trade going both ways." By this time they were seated and the servants were begining to pass around the food. Lina liked the custom they had here of offering the dish and letting the diner take as much or as little as he or she wanted, rather than getting a plate of food with someone elses ideal amount set for you. The small talk continued for awhile and Lina had a good chance to observe the crew. Her Mirror double was also at the table, very quiet and delicate, eating like a bird. Lina was a bit self concious about her big portions, even though she knew she had to eat a lot if she was to have strength for her magic, it was a trade off to being magical in the first place. She was sitting close to her Mirror double and decided to talk with the woman.
"So, errrr, um, Lina!" she said. Mirror Lina looked over and smiled. "Hello Lina!" she said happily. "Yeah, so, I'm curious, what are we? Sisters?" asked Lina "I have no idea, but if you want we can be..." was the reply. "Okay, I guess. So, what's it like being me, only, um, you know, not being me?" Lina asked her Mirror twin. "More impossible questions, Lina? I can't answer that one either, I'm afraid, I have come to finally think of myself as someone apart from you even though I am bound to you in so many ways." said the Mirror girl. "Maybe if we compared notes on a point by point basis?" she added. "Yes, well, that might work." said Lina. "Okay, where to start? You have all my powers and my memories, but you have the exact opposite of my personality, is that right?" Lina asked "So I have heard, being that is how the mirror is supposed to work, but I only really know what I feel about myself." Mirror Lina replied. "Ummm, okay. How do you feel about, oh, uh, well, lets start with basic things. Do you like food? I mean I love it. I know you are vegetarian, but do you like eating?" the original asked. The copy replied " I like filling my stomach when I have hunger, but I don't have your ability, nor the desire, to consume the vast quantities you do. But why would I? I barely use my magic, and don't wear out my reserves the way you do. Oh, I remember how it was when you did it before I became me, but I don't do it here. You see, I just can't go to the black side of magic, I just can't do it, and you never learned much white magic. If Miss Sylphiel, I think her name was that, is able to teach us some of her magic we will certainly use more, and maybe we will need bigger feasts."
"Right!" said Lina slapping her forehead. "I met Sylphiel after you and I were long separated. You wouldn't know her. I have to remember what you knew when you were made. And you have had separate adventures since we parted. I hear some of them were not nice." "No, no, some weren't" said Mirror Lina in a subdued voice. Then she brightened and said "But they weren't all bad either. Even before we met Her Majesty and accepted her offer we did have fun. It was just that we could never convince anyone we weren't you and sometimes it really got scary. But, even though we knew how, we could never bring ourselves to defend ourselves. No fireballs from this Lina. Well, once in awhile to get a camp fire going, ha, ha, ha!" Lina noticed that when her double laughed she had a pleasant ringing sort of laugh, rather than the somewhat strident notes Lina hit. She shook her head, boy this girl had to be the closest person on earth to her, yet she was so different.
"So I take it you can't be persuaded to come down from your mountain to help with the war?" she asked. "No, this is about all we can manage I'm afraid. We can't even bring ourselves to make golems to rebuild fortification walls, our reversed feelings get in the way and we shut down. We may become better with time, but not fast enough for this war I'm afraid. The only reason we could come down to do this business was because we could look at it as saving the life of a baby and a Lady. And it cost us plenty for doing it." The Mirror sighed deeply with sorrow and regret. "We will miss Sita for the rest of our lives, and mourn her."
"As is right for a parent who has to bury a child" sighed Lina in return, sorry that the clone had been killed. "I hope when I have babies of my own I never have to do that, not ever. Do you want babies, Lina?" she asked her Mirror double. The girl thought a minute then said "No, no I don't. I am perfectly happy with the clones, but whereas you want a man and children I want none of that." "Oh." said Lina. "If you don't mind my asking do you want, uh, you know..." She looked over to Mirror Naga and then blushed. Mirror Lina gave her a puzzled look for a minute, then suddenly brightened up and laughed again. "No Lina, it's more direct than that. You want love and sex and babies, I want the kind of love we all need to survive, yes, but nothing physical. And being celibate is where my heart is at, my Gracia's the same way. And why not? The original sure wanted babies, even back then when we were made her clock was ticking loudly, she just got drunk and ignored it, because she was afraid of men, and herself." "Yes, she definitely has changed from when I knew her last too." said Lina.
"Um," she went on. "What about" and here she gulped, even turning a bit blue, "our sister?" "Luna? She just wants a sincere apology I think." said the Mirror. "You planning to make peace with her someday? If you do can I beg a really big favour? Can I meet her sometime? I have all these deep memories of a lady I have never actually met in my whole life." "I mean to try" said Lina, "And if I can arrange it I will certainly will bring the two of you together. You aren't afraid of her are you?" "No, I guess I'm not, not like you, dear Lina." said the Mirror.
And so the rest of the late breakfast went, till it blended into an early lunch. The two Lina's talked and at the end of it they were even friends of a sort. They both realised they had so much that had started out in common, but which was no longer so, that they would never be close companions on the road of life, but they also knew they had a bond that they wanted to retain, and would, as long as they lived. Lina had to admit that if someone had told her this day would come back when the Mirrors were first made she'd have fireballed first and not bothered to ask questions afterwards, so sure she would have been the teller was a wierdo, a freak, and a liar. But here it was. Life was strange. Oh well.
Finally the meal ended, and the hall began to return to normal. The Mirrors disappeared to get the clones ready to go home, the King and Queen also disappeared, and even Sylphiel seemed rather busy discussing matters of medicine and white magic with Prince Erik, who managed to escort her to one of the gardens to take the air as it were. Lina found herself with Zel and Amilia. They gathered some final delicassies off the table, and snagged a pot of tea. They made their way to another garden to fill up the corners and discuss the tremendous events of the past few weeks. They settled into a gazebo to talk just as Gracia's predicted rain began to fall, tinkling softly and musically on the earth. Lina's first statement was "Wow! What a month I'm having! I lose my fiancee even before we make it official, then I find old friends I hadn't seen for awhile and they take me on an adventure to a part of the world I have never seen before in my life. Once there I get drawn in to a dangerous, wild scheme to take the two second most important people in the kingdom, the secret, veiled Queen, and her son, the heir to the throne, on a hiking tour in order to make peace with another kingdom, Seirune. On the way we get attacked by enemies I have never met before, and enemies that I have, then we get driven into the woods, onto some cliffs and up in the air. Finally we make it to Seirune and there I find the mystery person I have been guarding is both an old friend and an old enemy, and the missing Crowned Princess of Seirune, and Amilia's sister, as well as the above mentioned fact she is the Queen of Westhold, Mother of the Heir, and the Royal Sorceress! So then I get to swim around in way too much emotional overload, then we find out there is a war like we've never seen before about to decend upon us. Naturally I get roped into helping..." "Oh like you didn't volunteer!" smiled Amilia. "Roped! Roped I say!" said Lina in reply, but with a smile. "Then we go on a trip through Zefielia where I get to make a fool of myself over some little kid with red hair, finally we get here and who it there to greet me but my very own Mirror double, and eleven other Nagas! No, I'm sorry, ten other Naga's..." she ended, a bit subdued. Zel and Amilia nodded and smiled appropriately at Lina's comments.
When she got to the end Amilia perked up with "You know Lina, you have never said that much about your adventures with my sister, back when she was "Naga the Serpent", sorry, "White Serpent". Won't you please tell us about the Mirrors and the clones?" "Yes" added Zel, "and although I've heard the official story I wouldn't mind a first hand recounting of what it was like to be the power source for a golem, especially one as cute as Piku-Piku-Lina -Chan!" Lina's eyes flashed for a second and she snarled "How'd you like to start by getting a free sample of the Dragon Slave I used to end the fight?" However, her two friends knew her too well and simply laughed good naturedly. Lina smiled back and said "Well, okay, but just a couple of tales for now, or we will be here till long after the war." With that she explained all they had asked to know about. When she was done the others two were amazed. Amilia's eyes just about bugged out of her head and Zelgadis seemed like he wasn't able to decide whether to be amazed or to laugh out loud. "My sister did all that?" Amilia asked. "Er, um, it's hard to believe that a Princess could do all that, it's er,..." "Undignified?" offered Zel helpfully. "Unjust? Bizzare? Wierd? Crazy?" "Yeah, yeah..." said Amilia with a sigh, even as she whacked Zel's arm for being so bold. Then she wished she hadn't, as her hand really, really stung. "Sorry" said Zel, "but you have to remember what my flesh is made of..." "Yeah, yeah..." sighed Amilia again.
The three of them took the rest of the afternoon to hash things out and even to wander the grounds and the Hall, mostly to stay out of the rain. They found that it had started out as a simple hall, a sort of a long, single room house, with the King's throne at one end, raised on a platform, and small rooms off the sides with some out buildings for kitchens etcetra. Over the centuries people had built on and there were other wings attached to the original hall. The most intriguing of all was the tower reserved for the use of the Royal Sorcerer. It was about twenty feet around and about sixty feet high. It was build of solid stone and had a rather elaborate basement with little rooms for use as labs. There were also libraries. Lina was drooling over the books, but alas, they were securely locked up. There was a small main room for meetings. On the floor there was a jumble of some magical lines. It looked like a mess, but Lina knew there would be a way of activating only the lines you wanted so that they formed different patterns. The top of the tower was actually set up for use as an astronomical, or perhaps astrological observatory, and had such a wide view of the surrounding country side it was also useful, when not needed by the sorceress, as a watch tower, as the toops stationed there were evidence of. Lina was amazed, Naga had surely landed a plum of a job, even if she had never gotten to the throne. Then she found the small but comfortable bedroom that Naga must have slept in. Attached to it was a small kitchen and dining room with a view over a small herb garden.
Lina looked over the rows of plants and noticed most of them were cullinary or healing. Well, well, the the royal magic person was well set up, but in a bit of a cloistered way, oh well, better to study with. No wonder Naga went after the King, Lina didn't think she'd like to be cooped up in here very long. Still, someone was obviously doing the gardening, and Lina wondered if they had hired another sorcerer yet, or if there was an apprentice that she hadn't met yet somewhere around. Finally the do it yourself tour ended as the supper bell was ringing. Lina and the others made their way back to the hall and took the places set for them at the great table. The King and Queen entered and took their places at the head of the table.
Lina was a bit shocked to see that Queen Gracia really looked the part, now that she was rested and had had a chance to freshen up. Lina felt she was out of her league in her old friend's presence. For some reason this bothered her, but not in the way she had thought it might. She wasn't jealous of Naga's success in life, nor did she wish to have the same, only, somehow, it meant her friend had changed for all that she was still Naga. Sigh. It must be what a mother feels when the babies grow up, it is wonderful, but it isn't what there once was. "Snap out of it girl," she thought to herself "You knew it wouldn't stay that way forever. After all, I haven't stayed the same. But that's what's bothering me isn't it? Too much change, all at once." She sighed in a melancholy way, then snapped herself out of it and settled down to enjoy the meal.
A lot of the talk was about small things, about the trip, even some amazement and praise for the trip to Seirune in the first place and the quick wit of Lina and Zel in flying the Queen. Naga made the usual jokes that seemed on the surface to down play the effort, or at least Lina's effort, yet somehow, underneath it all there was a base of gratitude that Lina could see behind the bravado. Oh well, Gracia was different, that was all there was to that, so Lina smiled at the jokes at her expence and made the best of it. Food wise of course, the cooks had done what they could to outdo themselves from lunch. The setting was more formal, although not anywhere near to ballroom manners. Lina was served time and again and no servant looked in anyway put off by the amount she ate. Mind you, she had eaten a big lunch and rested all afternoon with her friends, she didn't eat as much as she might have under other circumstances. In fact, she was tired more than hungry and longed for a bed and not to be woken too early in the morning, for a change. After the meal there was some music and entertainment, songs and poety and even some comic relief acted out, but it was as if the hosts knew how tired the guests would be and after a short while to let the food settle it was announced that the guests would be shown to their rooms. Lina and the girls ended up being shown to their rooms by Gracia herself. Lina again found herself shaking her head. Most Queens had servants for this, but Gracia seemed to be keen on playing the hostess herself. Maybe it was something she learned on the road after she left Seirune. Or maybe she just hadn't had enough of her friends and her sister yet. Oh well...
The layout was that of a long narrow hall that ran off from the main hall. Apparently this was the women's wing and on the opposite side of the building was the men's wing. Well, nothing original there. The basement suites were where the servants slept and the ground story where Lina was being put up was for guests or important people. Lina recognised the room she had stayed at on the first visit, but Gracia led her past it. Lina remembered her tour and realised that at the end of the hall the doors that led out led towards the clusters of buildings used for laundries and kitchens, butteries and store rooms. Things traditionally thought of as women's work. Now the ground plan made more sense. The women slept near to where they worked, out one end of the hall and they prepared the meals, or what ever, out the other end and they were in the Great Hall to serve it. She remembered the men's wing would empy out at the stables, the forges, the armouries, and such like, the places men usually worked, again with access to the Hall as well. Behind were the private quarters of the King and Queen, really just a walled in acre or so, but a place to keep the world out and take the crown off and be human. And next to that had been the sorceresses tower that had intrigued her, and beyond that was the hospital. Of course there were other areas farther away too, like guardrooms and barracks, gardeners' sheds and way in the back the carefully tended garbage pit. Had to have one of those. Well houses were on the property too, water was of vital importance especially if they were ever besieged. It really was a small self contained facility.
Lina was musing on this when they came to a lovely room with a large bed in it made of obviously exotic and quite likely expensive woods. It had a large bed room and a small sitting/all purpose room. A big closet too. This room was given over to Sylphiel who was very polite, but who obviously was squeeling in delight inside. It was a pretty room. It was better than the one Lina had been in first time and that room had seemed very nice too. Well, obviously they were more important now, so the fancy rooms were being opened up, he, he.
After Sylphiel was settled in the other two were taken a little farther up. Amilia was next and was given a bright room full of white filmy curtains and silver coloured metal. A bit gaudy maybe, but it suited her somehow. "A room fit for a Princess!" she thought. She also had a multi room apartment and joked about having to do her own room over in Seirune after this. "Was this room meant for an important lady?" she asked? "Oh yes, a very important lady indeed!" replied Gracia with a pleasant tone in her voice, and a straight face. But Lina noted something odd in her eyes. A mystery! Well, they'd find out soon enough!
When Amilia was settled it was Lina's turn. Gracia took her to the final room and just befoe she opened the door gave Lina a wink and said in a conspiritorial tone "Some times friendship is thicker than blood!" With that she opened the door to what was the most oppulent, bt Westhold standards, room in the whole building. It was hugh! It had the same large bedroom with a large comfortable brass four poster bed. The design was simple enough but that was done to show off the curtains and the wall hangings to advantage. The room was very feminine in its layout but spoke quietly of luxury and comfort beyong compare. Lina gave an avaricious giggle and headed in. She noticed this room had a separate kitchen and sitting area, two big closets, and wonder of wonders! In the back was a hugh hot tub. It was yellow and shiny and Lina noted the brass had been shone till it appeared golden. "WOW,wow,wow,wow,wow!" was all she could say. Gracia explained that they could heat the tub and it would work something like a hot spring. "Oh Naga!" said Lina, little stars going around in her eyes. "We haven't tubbed together for so long!" You know, you are right!" said Gracia. "Let's grab the other two and get to it!" enthused Lina. "Well, it'll take time to fill and heat things" said Gracia with a laugh at Lina's enthusiasm. "Let's make a date! How about tommorrow night!" "Perfect!" said Lina.
The small redhead proceeded to dance through the rest of the rooms. There was a big looking glass for brushing out the hair and Lina suddenly realised how disheveled and sleepy she looked. Unable to help it she yawned and said "Nuts! I really am tired, you're right Gracia. Thank you for this treat, I shall sleep well tonight!" "I'm glad!" said Gracia in return. "Oh and don't be disturbed by the servants. They will be stocking the washing room with fresh linen in the morning and waiting for you to wake up so they can bring the hot water and breakfast and anything else you might desire." Okay, I won't!" said Lina. Gracia then said goodnight and Lina sighed happily as she prepared to settle.
Someone had set out a simple night gown in approximatly her size. It had the same simple decorations that Lina had noted and admired on Queen Grace's dress when they were walking to Seirune. It was very pretty, and very feminine. Lina realised that this was a part of life she had rather been missing up till now, the dainty and feminine side of things that she as a girl was entitled to enjoy. Not that she had ever felt masculine or anything, but her ordinary "business clothes" had a certain no nonsense get down to business style to them that didn't come across in the same way as a light filmy feminine gown did. Lina wondered at the material. She didn't think she had ever seen it before. It was soft and shimmering, yet obviously strong. The threads were spun so fine it was hard to think human hands could do it. It was beautiful.
Lina heard a clink in the other room and froze for a second. When nothing happened she went into the bath room where the noise had come from and confronted a startled maid who had simply been bringing in some wash water and supplies. Lina chuckled, and when the girl had left, Lina cleaned herself and brushed her hair, wearing the gown and feeling papmered. It had been a very long time since life had let her feel so good. "Now if only jellyfish for brains will come back into the picture everything would be perfect." Lina thought. "Oh, and the million man army would just turn around and march away." She shook her head sadly and thought to herself how unfair life could be. There was so much beauty and luxury in the world, enough for all to share, and here she was on the verge of a war started by those who wanted more. She shook her head sadly then forced herself to banish all unhappy thoughts. Tonight she was sleeping on a big beautiful bed and was going to have one of her best sleeps ever and nothing was going to prevent that. And with that, she hopped into bed, puffed out the candle, and did precisely that.
