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Natla was treading carefully on the limestone tiles, creeping along a wall at the back of a lavish, sprawling mansion. So far, it seemed no-one had noticed her, meaning that she had successfully reprogrammed the sensors to ignore her. She doubted she wouldn’t have been swarmed if anyone knew of her presence here. Really, messing a little with the security systems the last time she had been here was rather genius of her, if she could say so herself.
She finally reached a door. Fairly small, unassuming, intended for servants. Nothing like the humongous golden doors of the front entrance. Not that she didn’t appreciate the finer things in life, no-one could certainly accuse her of that. But she needed stealth now. Letting herself in with a key, she slowly, softly let the door fall closed.
“Natla!”
Natla almost jumped out of her skin at the suppressed, but still quite loud shout, and whirled around, only for a pair of thin arms to encircle her waist and squeeze tightly. Looking down she could see a very familiar blond head buried below her chest.
“Heqat,” she chuckled, then glanced up to see another girl, old enough to have already reached her adult height, and with hair just as fair as her sister’s and Natla’s. “Hin,” Natla smiled ruefully at her, “and I though I was being so careful.”
Hin, with her arms crossed, took a step forward and raised one eyebrow. “You were, but me and Heqat weren’t waiting for the sensors to tell us you are here.”
“We knew you’d come when you had the time,” Heqat tilted her head back, “and that you’d try to avoid Paccha and Urpus.”
At the mention of her parents, Natla grimaced. “I’d like to, for at least a little longer. Well, if anyone had to discover my presence, I’m glad it’s my favourite cousins.”
Heqat finally released her but instantly took her hand and started dragging her towards a door at the right side of the room, “And because you’re also our favourite cousin, we know all your favourite secret paths.”
“I should have realized,” Natla lamented theatrically as she let herself be pulled forwards, and Hin’s ringing laugh followed her into the door. “And I assume you knowing when I was free was thanks to another beloved cousin?”
“Yep!” Heqat admitted happily.
Figured. Natla supposed something like that wasn’t a royal secret. Still, it was reassuring that said other cousin knew to disclose such information only to Hin and Heqat.
Many small rooms and servant passages later – while avoiding actual servants – they emerged in a richly decorated hallway of limestone and gold, only to quickly slip into the nearest door, Heqat’s room.
“Now that we have our privacy...” the six-year-old announced in a tone she must have heard from one of the adults. She couldn’t hold it though because she immediately grinned and threw her hands up: “Congratulations, you’re a queen! Oh, I got a present for you!”
“Thank you?” Natla watched her little cousin, bemused, as the little girl flitted around the room, lifting books and toys and scrolls, searching for the promised gift.
“Please accept my congratulations as well, Queen Natla,” Hin bowed her head slightly. It was far from the pomp owed to the members of the Triumvirate, but still more formal than Hin had ever acted towards her in private.
“Please tell me you aren’t going to treat me differently now,” Natla pleaded instead of thanks, discomfort making her skin crawl, “you are two people I couldn’t stand it from.”
“I haven’t planned on it, as long as we aren’t in public,” Hin shook her head with a smile. “But I thought at least one proper acknowledgement of your station was needed.”
Natla hummed, impressed, staring at Hin. “Interesting. You see, Qualopec and Hetri did something similar, just after my coronation. They formally congratulated me, calling me by my new title exactly once before dropping it. They said that as there was no acknowledgement of the new ruler by the remaining ones as part of the coronation ceremony, they thought it appropriate to do it at least afterwards.” Then she sighed. “I think you would have made a great queen, Hin. I took that opportunity from you.”
“Why?” Heqat poked her head from behind a plush seat, where she was currently searching. “Isn’t Hetri really old? She will probably die soon.”
“Heqat!” Hin hissed, scandalized, but couldn’t hide an embarrassed laugh in her voice, especially as Natla nearly choked with suppressed laughter. Ah, the blunt innocence of children.
“What?” Heqat puffed up her cheeks. “She is!”
“Queen Hetri is very old,” Natla agreed, “but there can’t be more than one member of any family in the Triumvirate at the same time.”
“Why?” Heqat asked again.
“It’s a law, you see,” Hin sat down on the seat that Heqat was kneeling behind. “So that one family doesn’t have too much power.”
Heqat’s forehead creased in intense thought, forgetting her search for now. “But… Qualopec is a king?”
“Yes, but he’s only distantly related to us, not the same family in the eyes of law,” Natla explained and finally sat on another empty seat, figuring out that they will stay here for a while, at least until Heqat finally found the present. “There are laws about how large that distance must be, otherwise we might have had a problem. Noble families are all related in some way. If we looked deep enough, we would find a familial connection to Hetri as well.”
“Hmm,” Heqat nodded thoughtfully, probably recounting all the aunts, uncles and cousins she had been meeting since she could remember. Then she leaned forward, lying her head in her sister’s lap. “Can commoners be rulers?”
“Haven’t you learnt that at school?” Hin asked in gentle disapproval, playing with Heqat’s hair.
“Maaaybe?”
“Of course they can, it’s just not very… common,” Natla smirked at her pun as Hin rolled her eyes.
“Do you have any prognosis on who the next ruler might be?” Hin asked and Heqat huffed at the boring topic, probably now that she knew it couldn’t be Hin, and went back to searching.
“You know the Triumvirate can’t influence people on who to vote for,” Natla said in a faux-stern tone.
Hin blinked innocently. “I’m just curious, I will decide for myself when the time comes.”
“I suppose there are several people on the council that show promise,” Natla sighed. “There’s Cazkhali, rather brusque when dealing with stupidity, but surprisingly good at diplomacy and cooperation when necessary. Then Relion, fairly consistent with opinions and never causes offense – though also never brings much novelty. On the other hand, with some interesting but almost too revolutionary ideas, there’s Ti-”
“Found it!” Heqat announced victoriously, emerging from under a table. She skipped over to Natla and gave her a little wrapped bundle. It was about the size of her fist and quite heavy.
“Alright, let’s see it then,” Natla took it, not having to pretend her curiosity. Hin was prone to finding rather than buying gifts, and Natla couldn’t help but wonder if she was being given a rock. It wouldn’t be the first one. But if Hin saw it fitting as a coronation gift, what could it be?
She unwrapped several layers of fabric and – oh, a rock after all!
Heqat was immediately in her face. “Do you like it??? I found it myself! I know there’s lots of gold around but this is the prettiest gold I’ve ever seen! Maybe it’s some really rare kind!”
Natla leaned to the side so she could actually see over Heqat’s head. “Well… that definitely isn’t gold.”
“What?” Heqat moved back just enough so she could look at it herself. “But… but it looks like it...”
“Kind of,” Natla weighed it in her hands. “But it’s a pyrite. It not as heavy but much harder. It’s also not a metal but a mineral. Not very rare or useful, I suppose you could start a fire with it if you hit it with something metallic to create some sparks-”
Hin coughed.
Natla looked up at the older girl, who nodded to her sister, so Natla redirected her sight accordingly.
Heqat’s lips were trembling, she was about to cry.
Natla quickly suppressed her fight or flight reflex. Alright, ignore that this is a child, take it as a diplomatic meeting. What to do? Mitigate the negatives, say something positive instead. That should be enough, right?
“But it’s very pretty!” Natla blurted out. “And pyrite might not be rare in nature, but with all the gold around here, it’s actually the rarer one of the two. And – and gold isn’t able to naturally create these crystals, you need to shape it yourself. Also if I remember, pyrite is used as decoration and in jewellery in some places.”
Was it enough? She would list more chemical properties, but Heqat probably wouldn’t appreciate those as much.
The girl was looking at her, unsure. Not crying yet, thank gods. “I wanted to give you something special...”
“Well, it’s definitely unique, no two pieces of the mineral will look exactly the same-”
Hin kicked her in the shin. Ouch.
“As I said, it’s really really pretty.” Natla hoped she kept the pleading tone out of her voice.
“And the fact that you gave it to her already makes it special,” Hin added, caressing Heqat’s cheek.
“Really?” Heqat asked sceptically, turning to Natla.
“Yes, yes definitely,” Natla nodded quickly. It wasn’t like she didn’t appreciate the gift, it was thoughtful of Heqat. She had merely corrected the wrong identification… “I will keep it in my chambers, in a place I can see it every day.” There was probably a place somewhere in there, between books, scrolls, computers and screwdrivers.
“But you won’t see it every day here,” Heqat accused, pursing her lips.
“Not Natla’s chambers here, but in the palace,” Hin explained before Natla could figure out where was the problem this time. Meetings and diplomatic talks somehow felt easier. “Remember, that is her new home.”
“Right,” Heqat sighed loudly, but she wasn’t about to cry anymore, instead she dramatically fell onto Natla’s lap with the upper half of her body. “You’re not home here now any longer.”
“I’ll still visit when I can,” Natla pulled lightly at a strand of the girl’s hair. “Can’t leave my fellow hay-heads on their own.”
“Hey,” Heqat slapped her on her ankle, because that was where her hands were currently hanging.
“What, are they not calling you that at school anymore?” Natla laughed.
“No, the teacher scolded the other children and said that it’s extremely rude when one of the Triumvirate has just as fair hair,” Heqat said, then straightened up – Natla narrowly avoiding being headbutted in the chin – and grinned. “So you actually stopped them!”
“You’re welcome,” Natla cocked one eyebrow. “The teacher has strange priorities though.”
“Maybe our hair colour will now become more popular, people will start dyeing their hair,” Hin tossed her head, letting her hair fly dramatically. A few strands stayed hanging in front of her face, contrasting with her darker skin.
“Or maybe more people with fair hair will be born naturally,” Natla mused. “If it happened with us, I’m sure more are coming. An interesting evolutionary step, but not exactly useful for humanity...”
“Can you leave the science for a moment?” Hin laughed.
“Hey, I was always a scientist first!” Natla pointed a finger at herself. “Shouldn’t have let my parents convince me to get a career in politics.”
“But you must like it, or you wouldn’t get this far,” Hin reasoned, now more serious.
“I guess,” Natla sighed. “Some of it. It’s pretty time consuming, ruling a country, who would have thought. And it’s been just over a month.”
“At least there’s three of you,” Heqat pointed out.
“Yeah, and we also have our lovely personal ai-”
The door slammed open: “Found you!”
“-des.”
“Hathulei is here!” Heqat announced rather needlessly and hurried to greet the newly arrived cousin. A much more distant cousin, but still part of their family.
And due to nepotism completely out of Natla’s hands, now also her personal royal aide.
Because too many members of Natla’s family were too invested in politics. Much more than her, certainly. How had her parents convinced her again that she was the right choice for a ruler? Oh right, that she would have influence over all aspects of the scientific community, funding, education, research focus… only she didn’t really have much time to work on anything hands-on herself, and wasn’t that just devastating?
Well, no sense in prolonging it and pretending Hathulei wasn’t really here. It was not like Natla disliked her, she was a rather pleasant, refreshingly honest company, but she didn’t let Natla shirk her responsibilities. Which was probably a good thing, but it didn’t feel like it.
Natla stood up and turned to the woman that had currently a little girl hanging from her neck. While Hathulei’s skin was only slightly darker than Heqat’s, her hair was dark, almost black, matching the majority or their family.
“Hathulei, what a surprise,” Natla exclaimed with a fake smile.
“I highly doubt so, Your Majesty,” Hathulei sank the toes of her metal legs into the small carpet by the door to keep her balance as Heqat held on firmly. “I was right to inform Hin and Heqat of your schedule, but today was supposed to be your day of rest, not family visits.”
“I am resting,” Natla plopped back into the seat.
“You haven’t slept in the last five days.”
“What???” Now that was both Hin and Heqat.
“I’m fine,” Natla drawled.
“As I was given the responsibility for your well-being by my overly pushy and well-connected father–“ refreshing honesty indeed “–I will do my best to fulfil my duties.” She narrowed her eyes. “So that you can fulfil your duties.”
“And people said I will get unending respect from everyone if I become part of the Triumvirate,” Natla mumbled. The complaint was only half-serious – annoying as this situation was, she was indeed getting absolute, subservient respect from pretty much anyone who wasn’t Qualopec, Hetri and the members of her family currently in this room. She couldn’t speak for the rest of the family as she hadn’t met them since the coronation.
Hathulei pursed her lips. “I assure you I won’t speak to you this way if other people could hear – with obvious exceptions.”
“It’s nice to be this exception,” Hin deadpanned, “but it would be nicer to know that you’re getting enough sleep.”
“Ugh fine, fine! I just wanted to see you girls. It’s not like one hour awake more will change much.”
“Natla, you should go to bed!” Heqat finally released Hathulei, now with a concerned look and her young face.
“Maybe I should take a nap here?” Natla smirked. She had thought of visiting her old room, just for sentimentality sake, and unless they decided to clear it out and turn it into a storage, it could also work well for some unplanned rest.
Hathulei leaned back to peer into the hallway. “I wouldn’t recommend it. I came through the front door and I don’t think it will take Paccha much longer to realize I might be here for work, not a simple visit. Unless you came here to see your parents too?”
“Gods no!” Natla sprang to her feet. “I’m not in the mood to deal with them now. Or anytime soon.”
“It would certainly delay your rest even further. Shall we go then,” Hathulei nodded over her shoulder.
“Sure, I’ll show you which paths should help us avoid them. Girls, be well, and thank you for the gift, Heqat,” Natla told them hurriedly as she moved to the door, waving the stone in her hand.
“If Paccha gets too close, throw it in the other way than you’re running to as a distraction!” Heqat called an advice after her.
“Maybe towards something metallic, some sparks and potential fire hazard could help distract her even more,” Hin added.
“I’d never,” Natla held the stone close, but they were all laughing as she waved them farewell. Hathulei was right on her heels when they slipped into the closest servant pathway.
“What kind of gift is that?” Hathulei asked as the hurried through the narrow passage.
“A gift much more precious than any gold,” Natla snorted, “no matter what science says.”
