Rifiuto: Non Miriena
A/N: Written: 2015, Found: 2018- Licia
"It turns out, that Ever After has been abusing trade with not only Vispen, but possibly the whole of the Seven Kingdoms. My parents sent me as an envoy. I told them I'd stop by Ever After High and get in touch with you. They've already let your father know, Raven, and he's having the treasurer look through Marberly's accounts for any signs of abuse. Your parents know too, Miks."
"How do we stop it?" Mika asked, as he worked on pulling up the video chat on his laptop. Cleo shrugged. The trio had moved the conversation to Mika's dorm, and were currently in the process of patching not only his parents, but Raven's father and Mira, as well as the other houses into the video call.
"The question is, can we?" Raven asked, getting off the bed and proceeding to pace, a ball of amethyst rolling between her hands. "If Ever After has been doing this for years, and getting away with it, that means they're good at it. Especially to go this long without being caught."
"Fifty-eight years." Cleo and Raven turned, as Mika turned the laptop towards them. His parents, Raven's father and Mira, Cleo's parents, Laia and her parents, as well as the royals of the other kingdoms faces popped up on the various screens in the video chat. "Ever After has been pulling this stunt for the last fifty-eight years." Her father said.
"Longer than most of the current rulers have been alive." Mira added. "Certainly longer all of us." Cleo shared a glance with Raven, the ball of flame disappearing as she parted her hands to place them on her hips. "Longer than our parents, too."
"Probably back to our grandparents." Laia replied, from her place between her parents on the screen. The King and Queen of Hestiv shared a glance, knowing what their daughter said was true.
"From what we can figure, my great-grandfather refused talks with Ever After about trade, and when my grandfather took the throne, the first thing he did was enter talks with Ever After." Pál said, as his son rolled his eyes, getting up.
"Of course, Great-Grandfather Csaba would enter talks with the enemy! That's no surprise, Father! He was an evil, evil man! And they call Raven's mother evil!" Mika replied, speaking directly to his parents on the screen. Pál's gaze darkened.
"Don't you go raising your voice, Mikalos Artegis! It's not my fault-"
"I'm not saying it is! I'm saying-"
"Mikalos!" Raven hurried to him, stepping between him and the video feed, reaching up to take his face in her hands. "Hey, shh. Calm, my husband. Easy. I know you're frustrated-"
"It's just... we've been duped by this disgusting country for the last fifty-eight years, and probably because my great-grandfather got it into his head to encourage trade between Ever After and the rest of the Seven Kingdoms! I'll be amazed if it's discovered none of them have gone bankrupt!" She gently stroked her fingers through his sandy hair, keeping his gaze on her, until she was certain he'd calmed down.
"That's the one good thing, none of the kingdoms have, thank Goddess." Queen Takelia of Andorilia replied; the former princess of Minlex was a known whiz at mathematics, and had often been the one the others of the houses called on to look over the books and check the math. She glanced at her husband, who sighed.
"I don't understand." Raven turned back to them. "Agrona wouldn't have allowed Marberly to enter into agreements without tightening the reigns on Ever After. She led her armies into battle against Palmarneae when Csaba tried to overthrow her to take Marberly; the other five kingdoms came to her defense and fought beside her. She tried to stop the slaughter of Palmarneae's gypsies; she only managed to save the princess." She recalled, remembering what Madame Yaga had told her the semester before. Mika raised an eyebrow at his wife, arms crossed over his chest. She had some major explaining to do, for he'd never even heard of that. How would she? "She was smarter than that-"
"But her husband's brother was the financial adviser." Her father replied. "And he had an axe to grind."
Raven furrowed a brow. "What axe?"
King Riain sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. "Garsenta was originally Agrona's intended." Raven let her eyes roll heavenward as she racked her brain for any remembrance of the name. "She fell in love with his brother, and refused the betrothal set up for her and Garsenta when they were children. She insisted that if she were to marry either of the Vispen princes, it would be Frenduc."
Raven furrowed a brow. She knew of Grandfather Frenduc only from photographs; there was never any mention of him- not that that was unusual, as the Marberly royal family tree was dominated by queens and princesses, the men just tended to... fade away. Unless they were her father, of course. But he was the exception. "I... I have no memory-"
"Frenduc died before you were born, blackbird." Her father replied. "Agrona's health was failing, and she died not long after you turned a year."
"I don't understand. What does Great-Uncle Garsenta have to do with trade and Ever After?" Cleo cut in; he, like Raven, had only seen photographs of Frenduc and Garsenta, his great-uncles. Though that was the connection between the families- and partially why a marriage between Raven and Cleo would have never worked. They were too much like brother and sister for there to be any true romantic love between them. Besides, it was increasingly evident by now that Raven and Mika's temperaments were more suited to each other, which meant their marriage would be strong, and last for many years to come.
"Garsenta resented the fact that Agrona chose Frenduc over him; when his brother asked him to become the treasurer for Marberly, he readily agreed, probably figuring he could get to Agrona and make her see reason. When she refused, he entered into trade talks with Ever After, worked up an agreement, presented a water-down version to Agrona and Frenduc, and then had them somehow implement the more lax agreement into law-"
"Bait and switch." Pál replied and Riain nodded. "And by then, Csaba had already agreed to trade with Ever After, and talked the other kingdoms into it-"
"For the 'good of the kingdoms', most likely." Cleo replied from his seat in Mika's desk chair. The young Palmarneae prince sighed, moving and perching on the window ledge. Raven joined him, sliding her arms around his neck as she inserted herself between his legs. He wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her close.
"Ever After has had their hand in our affairs for fifty-eight years." He growled, resting his head against the window. "And we never knew." Raven rested her head on his shoulder, before lifting it with a gasp as something clicked in her brain. He lifted his head, meeting her gaze. "Nevermore? You okay?"
"Queen."
"Huh?"
"Queen of Ever After. Who was Queen of Ever After?" The two princes shared a glance as Raven pulled away, going to the video chat. "Daddy! Do you know who was Queen of Ever After fifty-eight years ago? When this all started?"
Riain shook his head, watching his daughter's face fall on the screen. "I don't, Ravenna, I'm sorry."
Silence fell, before eventually Mika spoke up. "The original Snow White, I believe, was supposedly a young girl named Chione." Raven turned back to her husband. "I don't know the name of the woman who came before her, but I do know who the current Snow White is- her name is Ceridwen."
"Wait... the Snow White I met at the Legacy Day fiasco- the one who's my bitch of a roommate's mother- is named Ceridwen?" Mika nodded, and Raven laughed, before quickly covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm sorry, but... who names their child Ceridwen? And for that matter, Apple?"
"Apparently a woman named Ceridwen." Cleo replied as Raven chuckled. Mika snorted softly with a shake of his head.
"Sparrow, Duchess, Apple, Daring, Darling, Hopper," Mika quickly listed off a few names of the students who had classes with his wife, classes he taught- including a couple of Raven's close friends- to the strange looks of everyone else. "The parents who send their children to this school don't have any brains at all."
"They're fairy tale characters, my love, they're not supposed to have brains." Raven replied, crossing her arms over her chest and as her teeth slid out to snag her bottom lip.
"So if Apple is Raven's roommate, and her mother's name is Ceridwen, then it must have been her grandmother who put the trade laws into action-"
"But who was her grandmother?" Laia finished Mira's thought. A moment passed before Raven turned, grabbing her phone off the desk.
"Give me a minute, I think I might know how to figure this out."
"Without asking Apple?" Mira asked, and Raven turned to her best friend.
"My first week back, I had to put a silencing charm on that blonde bimbo. I only room with her because Headmaster Grimm won't allow me to stay with Mika-"
"Not that that stops you." Mika replied, as his wife waved it away. She quickly pulled up something on her phone, scrolling through it. "What are you looking at?" He and Cleo stood, both looking over her shoulder in interest. "Apple's... MyChapter page?"
"My- what?" Cleo asked and Raven nodded, stopping her scrolling.
"There it is." She glanced at both men in turn, a grin on her face before clearing her throat and reading in a fake falsetto. "'My name is Apple White, daughter of current Snow White, Ceridwen, and granddaughter of Nagamati. I come from a long, noble line of Snow Whites who have proudly kept the tradition of Snow White alive for centuries. We strive to follow our destiny and keep the legacy of the first, true Snow White alive. It's my mission in life to prove to everyone that I really am the fairest of them all.'" She giggled obnoxiously, and her husband shivered. "Goddess, that makes my throat hurt." She tossed her phone on the bed, reaching up to rub her throat.
"You did that way too well, Nevermore." Mika replied, starting a pot of tea. "Never do that again."
"I don't intend to, my love, don't worry." She replied, accepting the cup once he'd fixed it, as he handed one to Cleo as well.
"Why would she put that on her page?" Cleo asked, brow furrowing. Raven rolled her eyes.
"Because she's 'Apple White'. She has to make sure everyone knows exactly how important she is. It's disgusting." Raven made a face and Mira and Laia laughed; laughter that instantly stopped at glares from the others.
"Well, now we know who her grandmother was, who started all this- Nagamati." Takelia replied with a sigh. Raven nodded over her cup as silence settled. A moment passed, before Cleo spoke up.
"The question is, how to we stop it?" He shared a glance with the young couple, who both shrugged. "Can we?"
"It would take going back fifty-eight years to find the original trade agreements, and then undoing each clause and amendment piece by piece. It could take months or years before we finally get it all straightened out." Takelia said, as her husband reached out to rub her back reassuringly. Mika set down his mug, going to the computer.
"Taki, if you don't find me so forward," He stopped, at the stares from the others, and quickly cleared his throat. "Your Majesty," She held up a hand, silencing him.
"I'm only a few years older than you, Mikalos. Before Belari, I was Targyn's intended. You never need use rank on me, Miks." He blushed, as Raven and Cleo joined him. A moment passed before he spoke again.
"Taki, is there any way we can stop it? Freeze it before it continues?"
"You mean stop trade, Mika?" Raven asked, meeting her husband's gaze as she rested a hand on his shoulder. He sighed. Cleo crossed his arms, thinking.
"We would have to do it at the same time- the kingdoms. And be firm. Bring up the allegations of unfair trade laws and how Ever After is cutting corners. Present a list of grievances-"
"But would that cause a trade war? And would we be able to still trade with each other?" Laia asked as Raven shrugged.
"We should still be able to trade with each other; it's not the kingdoms who have done wrong, it's Ever After. They're the cause of... everything." Cleo watched his closest friend.
"Are you willing to do this, Raven? Possibly start a trade war with Ever After?"
"It's for the good of my kingdom, Cleo, the good of my people, and all our people. We're being hurt by this, and it needs to stop. And if we close ranks around each other, then no matter what tricks Ever After tries, she won't be able to do a damned thing about it. And maybe we can finally expel the beast once and for all."