"I'm so proud of her," I smiled up at Aron. "Aren't you?"
Aron and I stood on Icicle Hall's highest balcony overlooking the expansive royal gardens as we watched the kids' hovercraft approach slowly from the distance, flanked by three guards and a half-asleep Raliyel in a spacious chair. Just the previous day, Swan had called to let me know that she was bringing a friend over the the holidays- yes, a friend! Someone she could share her burdens with- someone who would help her combat the bullies. I couldn't help but feel immensely thankful for the mysterious girl who had taken interest in my daughter; perhaps, some good had come of the Academy deaths. Perhaps they had shifted the IAYN student body's focus away from tormenting a half-Rhenan girl.
"Eh," he shrugged in that typical, careless, Flame-warrior way of his. "I was never worried about her. She may be half Arystenn, but she's half Faerlen too: a Faerlen never faces failure, only delayed success."
"That is the Rhenan way," Raliyel beamed, gesturing lazily with her left hand. "We are a civilization far more ancient than Lessaenes with values rooted far deeper- we always find a way." The elderly woman leaned back in her chair, taking a deep breath in through her nose as she closed her worn eyes.
"Good morning Aunt Viviana!" Lillae chirped as the hovercraft docked on the side of the balcony, tethering itself to the railing via several suction cups. The crown princess skipped out of the craft, closely followed by a slightly less upbeat Zaliana.
"And if it isn't the malevolent Arystenn-Valior duo," Raliyel remarked sourly. "There's always a malevolent Arystenn-Valior duo."
"Raliyel!" Aron warned, crossing his arms. "Stop living in the past. They're just kids."
"Right," Raliyel sighed, still glaring suspiciously at the two seventeen-year-olds.
"Hey Mom." Swan exited the craft, smiling weakly. Behind her was a lanky girl dressed in a nondescript black sweater and plum slacks. She regarded me with a cool, methodical gaze that conveyed a depth one didn't often see in Glaissean teenagers.
"Hello Swan- and you must be Nemesis," I nodded at the girl as she elegantly stepped onto the balcony beside Swan.
"It's an honor, Princess Viviana," Nemesis bowed her head.
I smiled. "Well, we won't waste any more of your time. Swan, why don't you show her around? I'll send for a maid to get your things."
It hadn't been a minute since the four girls filed through the latticed glass door into the palace when I noticed the mortified expression on Raliyel's face. Her fingers tightly gripped the armrests of her iron chair and her bottom lip quivered as she knitted her graying eyebrows, staring at the door with deadly concentration.
"...Raliyel?" I whispered, beginning to feel a little scared. I had never seen the gentle old woman in such an intense mood- in fact, now that I thought about it, I had never really seen her do anything but tell fabulous stories and give the royal children junk food: a typical sweet grandma. So why was she looking at that door like she wanted to smash it down?
"I understand," she replied, her voice eerily deep and slow. "The Lights, the Academy murders, the Auraview drama- I knew this could only be their work and now my suspicions are confirmed!"
"What? Whose work?" Aron's hands formed fists at his sides.
Raliyel only chuckled. "I was Queen Saralee's right hand. I know an Iceheart when I see one," she cut her eyes over at the door.
"You mean...Nemesis?" I stared at her in disbelief.
Raliyel brought her hands together over the button of her light red sweater. "I see Saralee in her, Viviana, just as I see Saralee in you. But her inner Saralee is much wilder than yours- constantly in 'let's destroy a planet' mode."
"And you gathered all of this...from seeing her once?" Aron raised an eyebrow. "Now you're starting to sound like a weird Mystic."
"The Icehearts ruled Lessaenes for three hundred years- a solid third of Imperial history. Regimes like that don't just disappear overnigh-"
"You know what?" I interrupted, raising my arms into the air before the conversation could continue on a downward spiral. "I think that we've all been irreversibly affected by our past, and that's okay. It's okay to admit that we think about it and even to talk about it, but it's not okay to let it affect our kids. They're a new generation- the first to be completely free from Icehearts and oppression, the first to grow up in a truly egalitarian world, and we have no right to take that away from them."
"With all due respect, Viviana, an Iceheart plot is unfolding right under your nose and you're talking about your daughter's fragile emotions," Raliyel said darkly.
"Or, maybe, Swan is finally getting to have a normal childhood!" I exclaimed. "Yes, Nemesis doesn't look like the typical Glaissean girl. Yes, she doesn't talk or dress like the typical Glaissean girl, but have you seen a typical Glaissean girl? Maybe that's a good thing! If anything, her differences will lead to a closer friendship with Swan- they certainly don't mean she's an Iceheart!"
"Think what you will," Raliyel sniffed, the wrinkles around her eyes folding around the edges. " There was a time when I could've acted on a hunch as strong as this, but now, my role is no more than that of a helpful friend. I have said all that I have to say...just know that the outcome of this lies entirely in your hands, but in the very near future, that may not be the case."