The Endless Solvent

Adjacent to the dining hall was a small hallway that ended in stairs leading upwards to an elaborate office the Solaris and Lunaris used for private meetings. Caelis was ruled under the joint effort of the royal siblings.

As Trissel tells it, the kingdom had been blessed by fraternal twins, one male and one female, every generation for hundreds of years. This was achieved often at the cost of the Brilliance or Lunaris. Taurin’s betrothal to the Solaris and subsequent, immediate conception of the prince and princess was no less of a miracle. The effectiveness of having a pair of rulers for a kingdom has yet to reveal itself to Nilda as it seemed like the Solaris and Lunaris were constantly fighting. Officially it’s to celebrate the 'balanced nature' of having both the sun and moon rule the sky.

While the sun gives strength, warmth and life, the moon soothes, cools and guides those in the dark. Both celestial bodies are necessary for life and so Caelisians decided to worship them. Apparently that equates to forcing a brother and sister to share power and fight over which foreign officials to play nice with.

A thick wooden door that was lined with some sort of fabric inside provided near complete soundproofing so that the guards posted outside could not eavesdrop the constant and loud altercations between Caelis’s ruling siblings. Nilda strongly suspected the door does nothing to filter out the sounds.

“Do you have zero ability to at least pretend to be a politician?” the Lunaris screeched at her brother. “Real politicians in the real world don’t throw out important neighboring representatives by the collar!”

“And do you have zero loyalty to your own family?” the Solaris thundered back. “Did you not hear the vitriol coming out of that man’s mouth?”

The Lunaris snorted and gave Taurin, who was sitting on a chaise, a disdainful look. She then looked up at Nilda who was standing behind her mistress. Nilda returned the look coolly. “Family… right,” she muttered. “Your wife egged that man on. A drunk man. And she wanted to flaunt her precious Academy education like she was proving a point. Why don’t you keep the family in line for once, Solaris?”

“Explain to me how my wife defending herself against name calling means she’s out of line.”

“She’s the wife of the Solaris? She should know better? She should keep her temper down for the sake of the nation? Do I need to go on? One slight and you kick them out of the kingdom - brother, that type of reaction will make people wonder if what those emissaries are saying is true.”

“Do people even bother wondering if I’ve lain with Yscian?” Taurin spoke up. Gone were the days when Nilda needed to speak on her behalf. “Have you not looked at your nephew, Lunaris? He looks exactly like your brother.”

The Lunaris’ pretty face looked to struggle not to seem disgusted having to converse with Taurin. “That’s not the point. The point is that rumors are harmful for us, and a rumor that you’ve slept around will ruin us.”

“It’s funny how you’re more offended at the rumor that I’ve been with a Yscian man,” Taurin said delicately while rising from her seat. “And completely disregard how that emissary basically called Caelisians animals. May I remind you that you are of proud Caelisian heritage, sister. Oh dear…should I not remind you of that?”

The Lunaris’ face darkened in fury. Nilda saw the Solaris exchange a knowing look with his wife and Taurin bowed politely to both of them, then excused herself after giving an arbitrary apology.

The door didn’t fully shut before the ruling siblings launched into another fight - the usual one about how the Solaris is more inclined to make peace with their Yscian neighbors. It seemed like the Lunaris decided to ignore what Taurin said.

“Well that didn’t work,” Nilda muttered behind her as they made their way back to the resting chambers.

“Parts, nothing ever works with her,” Taurin replied. “It’s her hobby to argue. But it did feel good to poke at her self-hatred for once.”

“What was that?” Nilda fell in step next to her mistress. “Does the Lunaris really resent being Caelisian?”

“I guess,” Taurin shrugged. “Her alignment with Kuvan dignitaries, her reluctance to go anywhere near the easter border - Trissel once said that she probably envies me because I’m a full blooded Gaian. ”

“I thought she hated you because you bore the twin heirs within a year of getting here.”

“That too.”

“None of that is fair.”

Taurin stopped and turned to Nilda with a smile. “Since when did my little warrior handmaid care so much about fairness?”

“Since forever, Brilliance. I am the epitome of justice,” Nilda rolled her eyes.

Taurin laughed and they resumed walking. The twins, who had been with Rask after the banquet, spotted them and ran to them excitedly with questions like ‘are Papa and Auntie fighting?’ and ‘any sparring going on?’

“As if your Auntie would ever spar,” Taurin snorted. “Aren’t you two supposed to be in bed?”

As Taurin deftly ushered them towards their sleeping chambers, Nilda watched the twins come up with reasons on why they should be able to stay up later. They were loud and rowdy, the prince already with his mane of hair in disarray. Taurin gently dissuaded them and clasped their little hands together.

“Now go on, wash up and change. I’ll be there to read one story,” Taurin raised a finger to firmly indicate ‘one’ over the princess’s whining. “And then it’s off to sleep.”

The prince tugged on his sister’s hand and they reluctantly returned to their room for the maids to wash and change them. Nilda smiled as they disappeared round the corner, hand in hand, but the smile faded as she wondered if one day, many years from now, they would fight over useless things like politics and religion. When do siblings become enemies?

And in an uncanny way, Taurin always seemed to know what she was thinking. A familiar hand pat on the back of hers comforted her. “Don’t fret, governess Nilda,” Taurin said, eyes twinkling. “The twins have many more years before they truly grow up.”

There were only years left? Nilda half-smiled at her mistress. She had hoped the twins would have lifetimes of child-like happiness. Her own childhood had none of it as it was firmly overtaken by pain, unhappiness, and loneliness. What she wouldn’t do to spare those two of any of the three.