Thora woke up, shaking. She'd fallen back asleep and had another bad dream. Now, Lidy was poking her.
"Thora? Where are we?"
"The Reef," Thora said. "It's an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This is where Mama lived before she met Daddy."
"Is Daddy here?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Thora swallowed. "He had to help his Ghost with something. I don't know when he'll be back."
"Oh. Where's Mama?"
"She went to talk to the lady who's in charge of the Reef. Queen Mara."
"A Queen! Are there any princesses?" "Yeah, I think there's two little princesses."
"Really?" Lidy squealed. "How old are they?"
"Ten and six, and a little Prince who's five."
"They're just our age! Can we meet them?"
Thora put her hands on Lidy's shoulders and turned her around to look in the mirror. Lidy stared at herself, blinking. "You're a princess," Thora said, "And so am I, and Cal is a prince."
"Really?"
"I think so!" Lidy looked confused, so Thora explained, "Mama said Daddy used to be the brother of the Queen. I think that means he's a prince. And we're princesses."
"Wow!" Lidy twirled around, waving her arms. "I'd rather be a fairy. But I guess being a princess would still be fun."
"Did you bring your wings?"
"Yeah!"
Lidy pulled her wire and mesh wings from her bag, as well as her favorite fairy dress. Daddy had brought it for her and said it was just for pretend and that he'd found it at a toy store, because Lidy loved fairies. He'd said the same thing about the princess dresses he'd gotten Thora, but maybe those weren't for pretend. And [i]Princess[/i] had been his nickname for her. Fairies were silly, and they weren't real, but princesses were, and they were [i]cool.[/i] She remembered the Queen in her dream. The Queen didn't wear a dress. She wore robes and furs and ornate armor. She was a [i]warrior[/i] Queen. Maybe Thora could be a warrior princess and learn to fight with a gun.
She heard the door open and Mama come into the kitchen. Lidy rushed out, pulling her fairy dress over her head, yelling, "Mama, Thora says I'm a princess!"
Mama laughed. "I'm not exactly sure if that's how they'll see it but yes, by blood, you are technically a princess, I suppose. Good news- I'm allowed to stay here and work here again!"
"Here?"
"No, they're moving us to somewhere where Daddy used to live. Go ahead and grab your bags- It's a lot bigger and nicer."
"Because Daddy was a prince!" Lidy straightened her wings.
"No!" Mama shook her head. "Sorry. No. He wasn't. The Queen had a twin brother named Uldren, and he was a prince, but he died. After that a Ghost brought him back as a guardian, and, well- that's your dad. But he left this life behind. He isn't the Prince anymore."
"Then why'd we come back?"
"Because I had a life here too, a life I didn't want to leave."
"Oh." Thora turned away. She didn't understand. All of her life she had thought Mama and Daddy were perfect for each other and that nothing bad would happen. Even though she knew it would, she had never really believed it until it did. And now they weren't perfect and Mama didn't want to be with him anymore, she wanted to go back to before she met Daddy. But what about Thora and Lidy and Cal? None of them would be alive if Mama hadn't married Daddy. Did she think that was a mistake? Did she wish they weren't alive? Maybe she did. But maybe she didn't- after all, if she didn't want them, she could have left them to the monsters, just like Daddy did, and forgotten all about them and had her nice life back. Maybe she still loved them, she just didn't love Daddy. Thora didn't want to think about it anymore. She went back to the room where she'd woken up to wake up Cal.
"Cal," she whispered, smoothing his hair back, away from his chubby face. "Wake up, little guy. We're leaving."
"Again?" He muttered sleepily, rolling over.
"We're going to a better place this time, little guy. Come on." She tugged him up into her arms, carrying him out into the living room. He wrapped his arms around her neck and rested his head on her shoulder, still snoring a little. Thora felt a fierce affection for him. He needed her, his big sister, to protect him and help him. And Thora would never leave and hurt him. Or Lidy. Ever. Not like how Daddy had left them.
"Thank you, Thora," Mama said, taking Cal in her arms and kissing his forehead. "Will you help me with his bag?"
"Yeah." Thora and Lidy went and got their little bags. Thora tried not to think about the dream she'd had of the monsters burning her home. The life, the family she'd had was really gone and she'd never get it back. This little bag was all she owned. She forced herself to think happy thoughts. Picture Daddy coming back to them. She couldn't cry, she had to be strong, for Lidy and Cal.
"Come on," she said bravely, to her little sister. "We're going somewhere awesome."
