Selene

The child had not yet grown out of the wrinkles in its skin, nor the squint in its eyes. But yet, it was the most beautiful thing in the world to Channary. She hadn’t felt real love before this. She’d looked down upon it, calling it a conquest, a war. She’d never known what it really was.

Then her darling Selene had been born. Channary had finally known what real love was like when she looked at the little girl. That’s why she kept the child’s cradle in her quarters, instead of in a separate nursery. That was why she took care of the child herself, not allowing any nurse to change her diapers, calm her when she cried if Channary was there, or feed her. She wanted the baby to be all hers, no one else’s.

When the regolith poisoning started taking its toll on Channary, she survived it, instead of dying like everyone thought she would. She realized one true thing about what she had said about how love was a war: you fought for it. You fought through whatever was thrown at you for it. You had to, or it wasn’t real love. So she had fought through the regolith poisoning and survived, for Selene.

Queen Channary didn’t realize that surviving for Selene would be the worst thing that she could ever do to her. She didn’t realize, as she watched Selene grow into a toddler, that it would lead only to pain and destruction. How could she?

•

Levana watched the children play in their playhouse, her hands clutched behind her back. Today was the day. It had to be, and it was all going according to plan. She approached the playhouse and called up, “Winter! It’s time for your appointment.” Winter’s small, yet sickeningly adorable face appeared in the window of the playhouse, grinning when she saw Levana.

“Okay!” she shouted. With a quick goodbye to Selene, Winter skipped down the ladder onto the grass. She took Levana’s hand and hopped along. Levana glanced back to see Selene peeking out from the window, her brown hair chopped in neat bangs and her colorful day dress clashing against her somber expression. She waved meekly after them, and then disappeared back into the playhouse. Levana smiled, and walked back into the palace with Winter at her side.

•

“Your Highness!” came a call from the other side of Levana’s chambers as a thaumaturge stood in the doorway. His face looked frantic yet relieved, as though he was just happy he didn’t have bad news to bring Levana.

“Yes, what is it?” She said with a certain smugness as the thaumaturge dropped into a low bow, his black sleeves brushing the floor.

“Your Highness, a few minutes ago Princess Selene’s playhouse caught fire and burned to the ground, with her Highness’s maid inside. Her Majesty, Queen Channary, thought you might want to know.”

Levana feigned shock at the news. “Selene wasn’t inside, I presume?”

“No, your Highness.”

Those three words ruined Levana’s day.

“Her Highness had exited the playhouse without the knowledge of her maid shortly after Princess Winter left, to go seek a different playmate. The maid must have been trying to murder the princess, as she was the one who had started the fire.”

“So Princess Selene was completely unharmed.” Levana adjusted her glamour to conceal her fists clenched around the fabric of her gown.

“Yes, your Highness.”

“Good. That’s all that matters.”

Selene didn’t die. She had to have died. But she didn’t. Levana was disappointed, and frustrated. But already her brain was forming another strategy, another possibility, another circumstance. She was already plotting another way to kill her.