Originally I was planning to write Mylas' citizen recruitment quest in his mother's point of view. I got this instead.
I named her Medea because it sounded like a good idea at the time.
Anyway, content warning for implied magical mind control.
Stick to the Script And Other Stories
By Bilbo-sama
Everything's Fine
The Pillars so far sounded mostly reasonable. No harming or killing people. No spreading disease.
Well…the capital is on an island (this is the only island we have, muttered a voice in her head). If something infectious arrived, it would spread fast before anyone got the thought of retreating to the depths where the more traditional Hydropolitans (most definitely) live.
Tall and high places such as the towers and the balconies around them being forbidden to the general public is an odd thing to ban but Medea supposed you can't be royalty without some eccentricity.
The human woman next to her looked down at the infant in her arms and muttered, "That's one less thing to worry about when you figure out how to crawl."
Medea smiled enviously. If only this law was around when Mylas was a babe…
"…And the final Pillar," began Queen Nerea solemnly, "love is forbidden."
Medea's gasp joined the chorus around her. How could she forbid such a thing?
(It has to be done)
Her edict finished, the Queen retreated to the palace. The Archon followed her with an unreadable expression on his face. Perhaps he could convince his oldest friend to listen to reason.
Unfortunately, the final Pillar wasn't struck down. It did, however, get an amendment several days later to grant legal immunity to women who had become pregnant before the new laws were announced.
Archon Leander Aristides looked rather frazzled when he announced the amendment. He must not have been consulted before Her Majesty made the new laws official.
Mylas tugged on Medea's hand, alerting his mother that he was bored and wanted to go home. Fortunately, the Archon was close to finishing his speech so the crowd will be dispersing soon.
As mother and son walked home, Medea was suddenly aware that something was watching her. She stopped and turned her head to the left.
The Great Eye loomed over the city. Medea stared at it in fright. It stared back with indifference.
(It was always active. Don't you remember?)
She felt herself calm down. Oh. Of course. The Eye was only scanning for outside threats in this direction. To keep Hydropolis safe.
"Mother?" called Mylas who noticed that she had stopped following him and so he was walking towards her in concern.
"I was just thinking of checking the market for dinner ideas tonight," Medea replied.
"Oh," her son brightened, "can we have flounder?"
"Of course," she nodded. The two of them headed to the marketplace, the Eye's presence forgotten.