The Return
“Anchor to port!”
A fisherman’s call rings out as waves slap against the boat. Sparkling gold flickers across the ocean surface as the setting sun retires below the horizon. Livia looks up from her vantage point at the stern and focuses on the harbor of the Meridian Empire coming into view. She hears the captain’s hand whistle call out to sea—a common means of communication among the fishermen of the Mooring Isle, the provincial island they are returning from. Livia rests her chin on a tanned arm, grimacing at the thought of what her stepmother will say about her recent exploits and disappearance.
The captain, a brawny middle aged man with kind eyes, comes up from behind her and smirks. “It’s just about time for the stowaways to go home.” Livia lets out a sigh and cups her hands, letting out a whistle of her own.
The captain nods approvingly. “You’ve been practicing.”
Livia smiles. “If I’m ever to become a captain, I’ll need to know the ropes.”
He gives her an apologetic look. “You would have made a fine captain.” Livia’s smile falters as she watches the pier draw near, thinking about the unspoken words between them.
Your life is already decided for.
Livia thanks the fishermen as she hops off the boat, her sea legs making the ground feel unsteady beneath her. She pulls out her hair from under a plain cap and shakes it, feeling the hardened coat of salt and sighs once again.
I’m definitely going to need a bath before Narissa sees me.
Once at the end of the pier, Livia gazes to the left to see the aetherium mining caves, known as the Aetherium Abyss, as it gives off an eerie blue glow against the encroaching darkness. Rickety wooden structures that function as living quarters for the workers and their families that moved out from underground line the perimeter. She wonders what it must be like for those who still live within the caves, constantly surrounded by the subtle blue light. Guards around the mouth stand alert, ensuring no one enters or leaves at this hour. To her right, an officer suddenly catches her attention, waving at her with a mix of relief and discomfort.
“Your grace,” He calls, “the Monarch has been expecting you.”
Livia rolls her eyes but approaches him, knowing that it’s time to come back to reality and face her family.
“I did tell my father I would likely disappear for some time.”
The guard hesitates.
“The Consort has given me orders to take you to her upon your return.”
Livia tenses at the mention of her stepmother and wonders if today will be the day she finally darts into the Abyss and never comes back.
“When were these orders given?”
“Two days ago.”
Livia straightens and tries to look less uneasy than she feels.
“Very well. But can we take the long way back? I’d love to get one last look of the Empire before she kills me.”
The officer attempts to conceal his annoyance as he waves at a stalled steamcar to go ahead without them. Livia takes the lead as they head up the hill, automobiles and pedestrians chaotically streaming in all directions. The Meridian Empire, both city and province, was as lively as ever.
Livia kept a distance and was pleased to notice that the officer was attracting more attention than she was, relishing in the fact that her common clothes gave no indication of her class. The sun set and streetlights took its place, casting their glow on the paths below. Livia watches as a man with a handlebar mustache flipped a store sign to close. She turns towards the sound of chattering middle-aged women hovering over the baker’s counter, no doubt waiting for the last batch to be set out before the ovens are turned off.
I wish I could trade places with any of them, if just for the next hour, Livia muses.
The bustling and tightly packed streets became sparse as they approached the High Meridian Stronghold - an estate for the upper class of the Meridian Empire circled around the Monarchy castle where her family lived.
As they drew nearer, Livia inwardly groaned upon seeing Narissa, her stepmother and Consort to the Monarch, waiting in the garden. Narissa’s thin lips drew even thinner as she pursed them in Livia’s direction. The officer announces Livia’s return and bows.
“Thank you, that will be all. You may leave us,” Disdain drips like honey from her lips. The officer salutes and scurries off. Narissa looks down at Verona and wrinkles her slender nose with a sour expression.
“You smell of fish.”
“Well I did come back with the fishermen.”
“Honestly Livia, I don’t understand,” Narissa sighs, her blonde hair staying unnaturally still as she shakes her head, “you have been given every opportunity to become a proper Heir, every opportunity to flourish under the crown, and yet you insist on playing the poor man.”
She looks down at Livia, taking in her scrawny frame and stature.
“Perhaps it can’t be helped, it is a part of your blood after all.”
The mood in the air shifts at the implication. Her stepmother had a bad habit of throwing Livia’s heritage from her mother’s side in her face, especially when her father wasn’t around to disapprove. She didn’t understand why they went through this charade, because beneath all the disapproval and contempt, Livia sensed her stepmother harbored a deeper hatred for her than she let on.
“I don’t know how my mother being from the Abyss correlates to me going out with the fishermen.”
Narissa waves a hand. “Miners, fishermen, laborers – they’re all the same. It’s dirty work. Work that perhaps you feel a calling to for certain reasons.”
Livia stares back at Narissa defiantly.
“Perhaps some of us have higher ambitions than sitting around here all day doing nothing.”
Narissa sneers, poised to deliver a biting retort, but is taken off guard by someone clearing their throat. They whip their heads around to see Livia’s father, the Monarch Oberon. Livia glances at Narissa, amazed that she’s able to look even paler as she stares at her husband, likely wondering how much of their conversation he had overheard. If he had heard anything, his cheerful expression didn’t let on.
“And my great sea captain has made her grand return!”
Livia smiles, relieved that someone is glad to see her back. Narissa looks at her husband reproachfully. “You spoil her too much. Letting her wander the streets is one thing, but having her gone for days at times, letting her hang out with whoever she wants to, it’s dangerous.”
Her face resumes its disapproving appearance, but her icy blue eyes bore into Livia’s as if to say ‘this isn’t over’.
“I think it’s good for her to get some fresh air with the common folk, I know I’ve had my fair share of adventures when I was her age,” Oberon says, giving Livia a wink.
Narissa grits her teeth and seethes, “Cordelia manages to keep herself busy here in the stronghold, visiting the city sparingly and always with notice. I never have to stay up into the night worried about where she is. Yet her older sister gallivants wherever she pleases, whenever she pleases, and is given no punishment? Tell me how it’s fair that the daughter who’d rather be on a fisherman’s boat deserves to be the next official Heir over the one who has proven herself dedicated to her studies and stays where she belongs.”
I’m sure this isn’t the first time this has been brought up, Livia muses.
“Each of my daughters have their own strengths, and weaknesses,” Oberon replies. His tone is light, but the look he gives Narissa tells her to drop the subject.
Narissa’s lips nearly disappear into her face as she turns pink with unbridled anger. “Yes, King Oberon. Apologies, I may have spoken out of turn.” With a slight curtsy, she turns on her heel and begins making her way back to the castle, her frilly, outdated dress puffing out behind her. Livia is taken aback by the hostility usually directed solely at her being fired in her father’s direction.
“Ah, she always becomes so formal when she’s upset with me,” Oberon says sheepishly.
Why do you always explain away her behavior? Livia wonders. “She really wants to live like the olden days, huh?”
“I know you two are always at odds, but please try to get along,” Oberon looks wistfully at his wife’s retreating figure, “her family was very… traditional.”
Standing side by side, their appearances couldn’t be more contrasting – Livia had inherited little from her father aside from his sapphire blue eyes, the hallmark of the Meridian Monarchy and Livia’s saving grace as a legitimate Heir. Oberon’s tall stature could fill a room, and his golden hair shone like a permanent crown. Livia, in contrast, was the smallest in her family by a long shot. Her half-sister was four years younger, yet already surpassed her in height. She had wondered in the past if the disdain from her father’s parents would have been lessened if she looked more like them. They had died some time ago, but the feeling of being considered an outsider never left, only aiding her desire to explore outside the castle every chance she got. Livia absentmindedly picks at her dark brown hair, frowning as she feels the knots that formed from being whipped around at sea.
“She thinks she’s better than everyone.” Livia tries to appear unbothered, but her insecurity seeps through her voice despite her efforts.
What if I really don’t belong here? Would I make a good Monarch?
As if reading her thoughts, Oberon smiles down at his daughter and assures, “You will be a great Monarch when the day comes.” Livia looks up at him in surprise.
“It’s the fact that you have such an interest in the common people that would make you a good leader for the province.” He goes on, “The Meridian Empire is the last monarchy in the country, and so we have a bad habit of overlooking some of our constituents.” Oberon hesitates, as if to say more on the topic, but is interrupted by a chirping sound from inside his coat. He pulls out a silver pocket watch shaped like a sitting sparrow with an encrusted sapphire for an eye. A metal beak mechanically opens and closes with the alarm as it marks the hour.
“Ah, dinner should be served relatively soon!” He clicks the winding crown and puts it away.
“Isn’t it later than usual for dinner?”
“I’ve been having it pushed back a couple hours since we didn’t know when to be expecting you.”
Livia suddenly feels a sense of guilt that her family had taken to later evening meals the days she was gone.
Great, so that’s why Narissa was so adamant to see me back here again.
Oberon begins making his way back to the castle but pauses, looking over his shoulder to see Livia unmoving. “I know the food on the Mooring Isle is delicious, but if I recall, the pastries in the Empire were said to be, and I quote, ‘the best in all of Aquamara’ by a certain someone.”
Livia relaxes a bit and laughs, “I said that when I was six! I haven’t even been to half the provinces in the country, so it may be a slightly biased opinion.”
Oberon returns her smile. “Well, we can contend it’s better than the pastries on the Mooring Isle. Now let’s join the others; I’m sure Cordelia will be happy to see you.”
“I’ll be happy to see her as well,” Livia admits, glancing up at the castle to see the light in her sister’s study emanating from the window. I hope she isn’t working herself too hard.
Turning back towards her father, Livia adds, “Let me freshen up before I join you all for dinner. It won’t be long, so please don’t feel the need to wait for me.”
Oberon gives her a reproachful look. “Be quick–we have a lot to discuss about your upcoming coronation.” Livia knows what he really means: You can’t put this off any longer.
“Of course,” Livia bows to her father to excuse herself, “I will be as quick as my return to the castle.”
Oberon snorts at her sardonic remark and waves a hand to dismiss her. Livia’s smile drops as soon as she turns away, her anxiety jittering at the looming responsibilities to come. Her coronation was in two days. In two days she will have to face the upper class of the Meridian Empire as she swears her loyalty to the province and commitment as future leader representing the Meridian Empire on the counsel. If only I was the second born, she thinks to herself bitterly. The Meridian Empire’s tradition of the first born being crowned official to the throne has been long standing, and unless Livia is deemed absolutely unfit to rule, there was no avoiding it. Disappearing from the castle for extended periods of time, however, did not seem to deter Monarch Oberon from committing Livia to her birthright.
Livia jogs back to her quarters to bathe. Her hair was starting to resemble a rat’s nest, and she begrudgingly conceded that her clothes had a lingering fishy odor. If only I stayed at the Isle two more days… Livia ponders as she draws her tub. She had wondered while gone on the Mooring Isle if her father was worried, if he thought she had run away. However his jovial disposition seemed to have been unfettered, which left Livia agitated.
He could have pretended to be concerned, or even upset.
The water is pleasantly soothing as the heat penetrates her sore muscles. Livia sighs, wishing she could relish the warmth a little longer, but quickly begins to wash so as not to keep her family waiting. Cordelia would surely have heard of Livia’s return by now. I wonder if Cordelia was worried. Livia suddenly feels a tinge of regret at not thinking beforehand about what may have been running through her sister’s mind. Livia was known to disappear for extended periods, and even for days wasn’t unheard of, but to do it so close to the coronation was a brash decision. “I told her I’d be back though,” Livia mumbles to herself. She scrubs the salt and grime from her body and soaks her hair enough to a presentable appearance then quickly changes into a sapphire blue tunic and black trousers. Her stepmother may prefer antique floor length gowns, but Livia was a bigger fan of comfort and practicality.
The grand hall is both impressive and foreboding as Livia’s footsteps echo across the tall ceilings and vast space, her hair still dripping from the bath. At the end of the hall two guards bow to her and open the large double doors to the dining hall. She is both dismayed and unsurprised to see everyone else already seated. Cordelia looks up from her position perched next to her mother and stares back at Livia with eyes that mirror her own.
“Livia, you’re home!”
Livia grins at her sister as she takes the seat opposite of her, dinner thankfully having just been put in front of them. “I told you I would be back.”
Cordelia pouts, her blonde curls mimicking her mothers but with a livelier bounce. “I didn’t think you wouldn’t, but you could have come home sooner! You missed the science fair, and I won second place, you know.” Cordelia was only thirteen, but Livia could tell her gangly figure would fill out to replicate Narissa’s willowy appearance. She looked so much like her mother, and yet her interests and mind was very much that of an inventor, despite Narissa’s best efforts to have her become a lady of the court in the traditional sense. Livia had wondered, with her freedom to choose, if Cordelia would move to the Thalassia province in the future, the technology hub of the country and where inventive minds tended to gather.
Livia kicks herself for being so caught up in worrying that she had forgotten about the provincial science fair. It was created as an opportunity for young minds across the Meridian Empire to become inspired by the fast paced innovation happening across the land, and something Cordelia talked about nonstop when it was first announced.
The servants open the lids of their platters to reveal a honey glazed roast lying atop an assortment of veggies. “Congratulations! What was your project on again? Properties of aetherium?” Livia bites off a large chunk of her roast with her teeth, awarding her a disapproving look from Narissa.
“All the projects were on the properties of aetherium, but my focus was on its luminescence longevity.” Cordelia’s eyes light up like they usually do when she’s talking about science. Livia tries to keep up with her enthusiasm, however her preferences in reading and learning material tends to be myths and adventure novels.
“The professors were impressed by my collection–did you know the oldest aetherium we have on hand is 100 years old?” Cordelia’s expression is thoughtful as she rolls the peas on her plate with a fork. “I bet it would have gotten first place if I had older ones. The work supported my theory, but I couldn’t completely prove my hypothesis with the sample ages I had on hand.”
Narissa scoffs. “Why on earth would we keep old crystals around that only decrease in value?” Her expression slightly softens at Cordelia’s dejected expression. “I’m sure your project taught your classmates something interesting though. I’m surprised you didn’t get first place!”
“Who got first place first place?” Livia asked.
“Zita.” Cordelia’s attempt to appear aloof faltered; her disappointment was written plainly across her face. “Her project was on the aetherium mining process. She was able to create miniature replicas of the larger mining tools and machinery within the mines. She has a cousin that works as a mechanic, so he was able to help her.”
Narissa stiffens and looks up. “Someone in your class has family that lives in the Abyss?”
Oberon, sensing the tension, tries to mediate. “There is nothing inherently wrong about that, is there? I’m sure Zita’s family has worked hard to get her a position in Cordelia’s school.”
Livia looks up confused. “I thought none of the mechanics or miners live in the Abyss anymore?”
“Anymore,” Narissa spits out. “They might as well though with how long they stay down there. I’m sure they still frequent the same degenerate places they had before we gave them homes in the Empire.”
Livia tries her hardest not to glare at Narissa to keep the peace for Oberon’s sake. It’s not like those homes are in the best of condition, she thinks, remembering the shabby wooden shacks that lined the sides of the Abyss.
“Zita and her family are not from the Abyss, her family works a mechanic shop where they sell spare parts to the miners. Her cousin does work within the inner city, so he knows a thing or two about engineering.” Cordelia squirms uncomfortably as she tries to defend her classmate.
“Ah, I see,” Narissa doesn’t attempt to hide her relief. “I can’t imagine much good would come of opening the schools for them.” She pauses and side-eyes Livia who pretends not to notice. “After all, I’m sure the subjects would be much too advance, and who knows what supplies would be pocketed for loose change.”
Livia’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment as the jab turned personal. She hadn’t excelled in the same subjects as Cordelia. The assumption that everyone from the Abyss was a thief permeated throughout the Empire as well.
“That’s enough, Narissa,” Oberon interjected, his tone unusually agitated. He often overlooked his wife’s classist opinions and attitude, but at times surprised Livia when he held his ground.
“The people of the Abyss are integral to the Meridian Empire,” he continued firmly. “Who would you propose replace them in the aetherium mines? They are resilient and deserving of the same opportunities as any other citizen of our Empire, including our schools. Those mines practically paid for them anyway.”
Narissa stares at Oberon. A deafening silence follows his response until Livia speaks up to change the subject. “Um, so what’s this about the coronation we need to discuss?” When did these arguments become so frequent?
“Yes, the coronation! We need to discuss the passage you’d like to read from the Book of Beginnings for your reflection.” Oberon looks relieved to have a distraction from the previous conversation.
Livia grimaces. “Can I tell you tomorrow? I still haven’t decided.”
“You have until noon at the latest, or I will be picking the passage for you.” Oberon looks up as dessert platters enter the room. “Ah, and I think I mentioned something earlier about our pastries!”
Livia contemplates her future as the servants open the platter lids and the smell of butter and cinnamon wafts through the air. Oberon is gesturing widely as he describes the banquet and decorations while Cordelia smiles and listens intently.
A wave of uneasiness washes over Livia as she turns to her left and sees Narissa sitting quietly and staring intensely at her, not a hint of affection to be felt.
Livia wishes she was back on the Mooring Isles, or back in the town square where buskers are sure to still be playing outside the taverns and restaurants. She even wishes to be in the Aetherium Abyss to see if the rumors were true.
Only two more days. Two more days and I can disappear again. Deep down though, Livia knows that after her official debut her traveling .
