Zeth sat with Astrys up in the forest clearing. She lay on her back, gazing at the stars, as he sat nearby, leaning against a tree trunk.
“Do you rember the exact ti I was summoned?” she asked, that signature inscrutable look on her face betraying no emotion.
“...No, unfortunately I don’t,” he responded. “But it was around this ti. I guess we just wait. And if you disappear…”
She nodded. “...Then I disappear.”
He stared at her. “How do you deal with it?”
“With what?”
“This. All of this. I an, you’re facing your mortality, right? You might die soon. Don’t you have unfinished business? Stuff you wish you did? And you’ve basically been imprisoned here with for the past twenty-four hours while you’re forced to grapple with all of that. How co you aren’t freaking out?”
She looked up into the sky for a mont, but eventually, she said, “This little period of ti that I’ve spent stuck in your realm…I didn’t see it as a prison. It was more of a vacation.”
He scoffed, smiling slightly. “Y’know, I always wondered why other demons haven’t felt that sa way, actually. It certainly sounds a lot worse where you’re from.”
“Not like that,” she said, shaking her head. “Not the environnt. It is nice to not have to worry as much about the threats of my ho, but it’s…unnerving, in a certain way, being up here. Safer, yes, but less comfortable. Perhaps that is simply because I’m not as used to this place. But my feelings are more specific to , and my life. I don’t want to die. I truly don’t. But if I am to fade away…Now would be a good ti for it to happen. I would not want to return to my life, after recent events.”
“Recent events?”
She seed to think for a mont, then subtly shook her head. “Nevermind.”
“You seem reluctant to share about your life,” Zeth said. “I’ve kind of suspected this from the beginning, but…You’re not a soldier, are you? You were lying about your circumstances when we first t. Can you at least tell what’s really going on that’ll kill you when you return?”
She sighed. “I was lying, though not about what you think. I am being held in a prison cell right now, and I will be executed by enemy forces the mont I return. And I am a soldier.”
“Then what wasn’t true about your story?”
Once again, a mont passed where she just silently stared at the stars. It dragged on for so long, Zeth wondered if she’d ever answer his question. But eventually she said, “Perhaps it would be good to pass on my own perspective of my life’s story, if at least to a single person. I’ve long since relegated myself to living out the story that other people wrote out for . I wonder, then, if the one I ended up writing for myself is worth anything at all.”
He looked at her, unsure what all of that ant. “I’m listening.”
For the first ti since coming to the surface, Astrys looked away from the sky and glanced over at Zeth. “When I ca here, I told you that I hail from the Thylmoor Kingdom. Really, I was surprised, after you learned of my na, that you did not put the obvious pieces together. But I suppose those pieces are only obvious to one who knows of the context.”
“Your na?”
“My full na is Astrys Thylmoor, first sergeant of the second army of the Thylmoor Kingdom.”
“You’re a sergeant? And, wait, you’re nad after the kingdom you co from?”
“It may be more accurate to say the kingdom was nad after —even if I did co after. My father is the king.”
Zeth stared at her. “You’re a princess? I’m talking to royalty right now?”
He suddenly felt very self-conscious of the state he’d been forcing her to live in thus far, wondering what kind of a palace she must’ve been coming here from.
“Yes,” she said, “though not a very good one, considering the battle I co from. I led my soldiers to die. Perhaps I could make excuses—the enemy was more inford of the terrain, making use of a pack of void trees to the north as cover for a contingent of artillery bown that decimated our backrank. Our forces were slightly less nurous, and less well-equipped going in. But the leader of an army is to bla when that army is wiped out. And if the kingdom falls because of my mistakes…”
Zeth nodded. “You’ll be held accountable.”
“I won’t be held accountable,” she snapped. “I am accountable. At least if I die now, I will not have to hold this mory in my mind for long. I understand it is cowardly of , but I’ve never deluded myself into believing I am brave. I simply wish for the torture to end. I never wanted to be a sergeant. I never wanted to fight. The more I think about it, the more I believe my executors will be doing a favor.”
“You didn’t want to fight? Why did you, then? I would’ve thought a princess, out of anyone alive, would be able to live without having to go fight on the frontlines of a war.”
She looked over at Zeth again, this ti gazing at him with an utterly baffled expression. “What in the world do you an?”
“What do you an, what do I an? You’re royalty. You would’ve got every bit of money and leverage you could ask for, growing up. I’m not trying to tell you your life is easy, but wouldn’t you have a lot more opportunity to choose your role in life? Go into art, or politics, or whatever it is you dread of?”
Astrys stared at him like she had so many things to say, she didn’t know where to start. “...I suspect our two realms may have two different systems of royalty. Why, exactly, would a princess from your world be given infinite opportunity like that?”
“Well, you’re the daughter of the king, right? Wouldn’t the king want to ensure his kids have a good life? If he has a decent number of children, say three or four, then he’d ensure they’re all educated, well-raised, and ready to inherit the throne when he dies. Otherwise, the next in line has a chance of being so random kid with no education or experience. Sounds like it’d be pretty bad if that happened.”
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At his words, she nodded slowly. “I see the origin of our misunderstanding. You said a typical number of children a king may have would be three or four?”
“Yeah.”
“I am four hundred and ninth in line for the throne of the Thylmoor Kingdom.”
Zeth blinked. “What, like, lineage gets passed to older cousins first, or sothing?”
“No. I have several hundred siblings. The vast majority of us have different mothers—but our father is the sa king.”
“...Ah. So he does a lot of sleeping around then, I guess.”
“That is simply the way a king is expected to act. One might say that, compared to your realm’s approach, we follow a more ‘quantity over quality’ philosophy. The king has children with whatever won he feels may birth worthy offspring, and every one of them is eligible to take the throne.”
“Why would you do things like that, though? If the oldest kid gets the throne, what’s the point of having your hundredth? They’ll never get a chance.”
“That would be another difference between our systems, it seems. Our decision of who takes the throne is not based on seniority. The king keeps a list ranking every single one of his children. In the event of his death, number one takes it. If they die before they have children, it goes to number two, and so on.”
“Ah. So you’re not the four hundred and ninth birthed—you’re the four hundred and ninth on this…list of favorites?”
She nodded. “Technically, nobody is ant to know the order of this list until the king dies, but…Well, I would imagine your realm has the sa politicking royals that mine does. Word gets around. Though, one of your assumptions was incorrect: I am both in four hundred and ninth place, and four hundred and ninth born.”
“Oh. That’s a weird coincidence.”
“Hardly. I have four hundred and eight siblings.”
“...Oh. So, you’re the youngest, and you’re dead last, is what you an.”
Astrys’s face was somber. “Precisely. I was never good at these political gas. My youngest sibling is still several years older than ; most of our father’s children were sired within the span of just a few years, as he was attempting to grow a batch of possible successors while touring across the land, looking for anyone exceptional to raise an exceptional child.”
“Wait, so, the king went around, having hundreds of kids during a short ti, finished that, and then years later went and had you, and just you? Why?”
“Most of my siblings’ mothers are nobles with far-reaching connections, military strategists, prolific poets, or heroic soldiers with stories of saving countless lives in battle. My father chose them so that they might pass the blood that allowed them to do their great deeds onto their children, to ensure the throne is taken by soone worthy. My mother was a high-end prostitute. I feel that her occupation speaks for itself in explaining how I ca to be.”
“Ah.”
“There are a few mbers of ‘royalty’ like with every generation of heirs. Most of the ti, we are seen as scuff marks on the good na of whichever monarch sired us. However, my mother saw as a blessing. A mont to finally move up in the world and take the spot in the lilight she so desperately desired. Having a princess for a daughter…Birthing a child of the king is one of the most common dreams among girls where I co from. One of the only ways anyone alive can turn into soone important. However, the truth is, that only happens if the king intentionally sires a child with you. In her case, the treatnt she received left her wanting.”
“I see. Um, I’m sorry about that. But how does that lead to becoming a military sergeant against your own will?”
“Well, my mother was always a competitive person. She paid for bodily modifications to ensure she was the most attractive woman she could be for her line of work, and it paid off—clearly, considering the clientele she brought in. She was extrely ambitious. And, when the greatest competition in the kingdom suddenly had her own newborn daughter entered into it as a contestant, she wanted to win. She wanted to see the na of Astrys Thylmoor at number one of that list—number one in line for the throne. But I don’t believe she ever realized this was not a competition I could succeed in. It was a competition to win my father’s favor. And when you’re a living reminder of that ti he slept with an escort while too drunk to rember birth control, you begin with quite the disadvantage.”
Astrys sighed, staring upward.
“I forgive her, now. She just wanted to see her daughter happy. But she never quite realized that, while what she wanted to do would make her happy, it certainly wouldn’t help . She enrolled in the arts first, but I was never good at poetry, and my fingers are too fat for musical instrunts. Writing fiction never ca naturally to , either, and I never had the imagination for painting. Then she wanted to be the next child genius, more knowledgeable in a subject than most adults. All children of the king receive a yearly stipend to ensure they live at a minimum level of comfort, and while I was excluded from being considered a ‘real’ daughter of the Thylmoor na culturally, I was still on the king’s list, so my mother still got her money. And she educated in all she could, hiring tutors and buying books, hoping she could find a subject I excelled in. I did fine in most, but never amazing, and in order to beat all four hundred and eight of your siblings, you truly must be exceptional. Then it was sending off to balls, then it was teaching to play a few sports, then it was trying to fabricate a story of saving a group of children from dying after falling into the River of Fire. None of it worked, but I tried it all. I told myself it was just to keep her from getting mad, but perhaps I ended up truly believing that one day, sohow I could gain recognition. I could convince my father to move up at least one place in the list. But it never happened. So, eventually…”
“...You went into the military?”
“Yes. It was my mother’s last resort. Typically, the next ruler of our kingdom cos from children who had more refined upbringings than fighting in a war, but it was around this ti that the River Powers empire began attempting to invade our ho, and as our situation grew more and more dire, it beca more and more apparent that if anyone managed to actually defeat them and end the war, they would be lauded as a hero. She had no reason to believe I was the one for the job, but she certainly had reason to hope. So that was where I went next. I’ve spent many years fighting in battles, moving up the ranks of the military. I’ve led so many charges, the Levels I gained from slaughtering my brethren brought more power than many lower demons receive from doing summon work like this. I hated it. I always did. But I convinced myself that perhaps eventually, if I just did enough, the royal side of my family would accept as one of their own. I deluded myself. I deluded myself enough that when my mother died three years ago from a disease passed to her by one of her clients, I continued trying. I was too cowardly to admit I had wasted my life. And now I truly threw it away. To my siblings, I was a lesser demon trying to cheat her way into competing on their level. To my father, I was an embarrassing reminder of his mistakes. To my mother, I was a failure. Perhaps it is selfish, and weak, and cowardly of , but all I ever wanted was for soone to just…To not want anything of , or have any expectations. To love just for existing.”
Zeth nodded. Silence spread through the clearing once again. After a minute passed, he asked, “What do you think you would’ve done, if you had been born to a normal father and mother?”
She chuckled. “I have no idea. But working for you, simply following orders, doing what is the equivalent of manual labor, really…It was a nice change of pace. You have consistently had low expectations for my performance. You planned for my failures. Perhaps it was because you always expected to betray you, but still. I liked being around soone who didn’t care. So, thank you for that. For giving a final day of rest. Hopefully my death will be just as peaceful.”
But, as the ti passed, it beca more and more obvious that Astrys’s final mont would not be today. Because she never disappeared. They waited and waited, but she remained laying there on the ground. Eventually, Zeth realized that she’d fallen asleep in their ti spent silently waiting.
“Well,” he said to himself, sitting in the clearing, “I guess I have to get back to work, then. But at the very least, I should let you take so ti off.”
So he stood up, brushing himself off, and walked over to her. He slipped his arms beneath her red-skinned body, and strained his body to lift her up into a princess carry. Demons were rather large, and she was no exception, but he was just barely able to hold her in his arms as he walked back down into his base, gently lying her in his bed as he hoped he didn’t disturb her.
And then, once that was done, he looked back over at his partially-complete Empowernt Ritual. Astrys was sticking around—that had so pretty massive implications. But those were for later. For now, Zeth wanted to finish this up and claim his next Level.
So he got to work.
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