Roughly 300 Years Ago

Calixte had a whole week after the last lesson to weigh heavily on his mind. He did not know why; it was just two lines of an unfinished poem, but somehow, the queen's silent response to his lacklustre feedback consumed his thoughts. Perhaps he should have said more? Showing anyone something you have created and putting your heart into requires vulnerability and trust; Calixte himself had felt this anytime he shared his failed composed songs with his family. Queen Violette must have been disappointed that he had barely said anything after working up all that nerve.

There was also the fact that it was on a subject that was perhaps considered personal, falling in love. Just thinking about it caused a twinge of envy inside Calixte's stomach. He so desperately wanted to know that feeling, and hearing the queen's poem made it all worse, that he might be perhaps the only person ever to experience it and that something was wrong with him.

These thoughts lingered until the next lesson. As he waited for Queen Violette to arrive, Calixte sat absently on the piano chair and, on a whim, played 'Love is Always Eternal When With You', one of the pieces that the queen performed for her Grade One exam. The piece was about the first feelings of love, but the notes sounded hollow and empty when he played it. He wondered if the queen could now play it after she could write that poem.

Then, Calixte's thoughts turned to King Osmond, wondering how Queen Violette could love him due to his hatred for anything of the arts, though perhaps Calixte was biased. It seemed they were similar in their dislike for parties and socialising; maybe that was it. But then again, Calixte did not understand love himself, and his one meeting with King Osmond could not paint his whole character; he felt ashamed for even judging him like that; he had never done that before. Calixte assumed King Osmond must be lovely, perhaps a bit frosty towards strangers.

Regardless of whoever the poem was written for, Calixte was just happy that Queen Violette was happy in the blossoming of love. He remembered when he had first met her and how stern and almost cold her demeanour was, then it softened and brightened lesson by lesson. Soon, he could see past the crown, the titles, and that mask and saw a person that just needed something fun and light-hearted in her life from the weight and responsibilities of a crown. Calixte was proud to have introduced music into Violette's life. Just hearing her laugh and determination and passion lifted Calixte's spirits; every week, he would wait expectantly for their lesson.

As his mind soon drifted back into reality and out of his consuming thoughts, Calixte realised that the song sounded different now. He had been playing 'Love is Always Eternal When With You' absently as he had been contemplating. At such a low level of a piece in its simplicity, Calixte could easily play it with barely a thought, and yet now he found himself missing notes; timings slightly off; playing either too quietly, too timidly or too loudly. He fumbled and hesitated on each note, but the sounds created were not ear-splitting or terrible but sweet and sincere. All of Calixte's thoughts and feelings from before poured into the song, a melancholy melody, both joyful and giddy, whilst there was an underlying sense of pain, doubt, and fear.

Once he finished the song, Calixte let the last note linger and fade, hoping it would last for eternity.

"That was beautiful, Barbeau," said a voice.

Calixte jolted and turned to see Queen Violette standing by the entrance to the ballroom.

"Your Majesty!" Calixte stumbled to his feet, catching the piano seat before knocking it over.

"You managed to play the song finally," said Queen Violette. She approached and stood on the other side of the grand piano.

"Yes," Calixte mumbled, staring at the piano, his gloved hands hesitating above the keys. "I suppose I did." He frowned, wondering how. What had changed?

The queen glanced away, her gloved hands resting on the grand piano in tight fists. "Do you have someone special in your life now, Lord Barbeau?" She paused, her voice sounding strained. "I suppose you must have been thinking about them while playing."

"I was thinking about you," said Calixte.

The words just fell out of Calixte's mouth without a thought, and it took him a moment to realise what he had just said.

He jolted to his feet. "I apologise, Your Majesty! I-" His hand clutched his chest, gasping for breath as his heart uncontrollably thumped. "I..." Overwhelmed, Calixte turned and rushed to the other side of the ballroom, about to open the door.

"Calixte!" Violette called.

Calixte hesitated, then sucked in a quick breath. "What I said was inappropriate, and I apologise, Your Majesty." He did not turn around, too scared to face Violette. But some of him wanted to see her, but he fought against that temptation. What he was doing was wrong, yet hearing her call him by his first name was... He shook his head. He had to put a stop to this before it got worse.

"I will excuse myself from being Your Majesty's tutor," he continued, almost unable to speak those words. "I-"

"Were you being truthful before?" asked Violette. "About you thinking of me when you were playing?"

"I was," replied Calixte. Before this day, he would never have thought it, but as soon as he had admitted it out loud, he finally realised that it was true and he had never been so sure about something before in his life. And the only way he knew that could stop it, to make everything right, was to leave.

Calixte pulled the door open, his feet hesitating to step over the edge and out of the ballroom.

"The poem I wrote," said Violette. "It was about you."

Calixte froze, his hand still holding the door handle. "It was not about the king?"

"No," Violette chuckled. "I was... I was trying to confess that day, but perhaps I should have been more direct with my feelings. But, unfortunately, you did not seem to pick up on it."

"Yes, I am a bit dense when it comes to things like these." Calixte closed the door and stepped away. His heart continued to thump against his chest, but it was no longer painful. "This is wrong. You are a queen, and I'm-"

"Please, Calixte," said Violette softly. "I do not care about such things."

"But you are married!" Calixte turned around and glanced down at the floor. "To the king no less."

"I do not love him. I am not sure if I even consider him a friend."

"How? You are married."

"It was an arranged marriage, Calixte." Violette bowed her head. "Our country was weak, still recovering from the plague and the war. We needed allies, so I was married off to King Osmond after he heard about my abilities." She paused and raised her head. "I am to bear his children with the same magic power as mine."

"You are still married." Calixte shook his head. "This is still inappropriate."

"Calixte..." Violette stepped forward, her gloved hand still resting on the piano. "King Osmond has his concubines. We understand that our marriage is just political, and we can be with others if we choose."

Calixte's arm clutched around his waist.

"We can be together, Calixte," continued Violette. "But I understand if you do not wish to if you still find it inappropriate or uncomfortable." She looked down. "I know that it is not an ideal relationship to be in. We cannot marry nor can I bear you children; it would all be secret outside the castle."

Calixte continued to remain silent, his eyes on the floor.

Violette straightened her back, her demeanour returning to her more regal posture. "I would still very much like you to keep teaching me piano. But if you feel uncomfortable continuing, that is fine, and you have the right to feel that way."

Raising his head, Calixte walked back over to the grand piano. "I still want to be by your side if you will have me." He took off a glove and offered his bare hand out.

Violette removed one of her gloves, then let Calixte gently kiss it.

Still holding Violette's hand, Calixte said, "I am- I am very much new to this."

"As am I," said Violette as she squeezed Calixte's ungloved hand.

"I do not know what to do."

"I believe we can do anything we would like."

"What would Your Majesty like?"

Violette giggled. "Well, for starters, I would very much like it if you called me by my first name when we are alone." She glanced around at the empty ballroom and hushed, " I believe we are alone right now."

"Very well... Violette."

For a long moment, they stood in contented silence, holding hands.

"I think we came here for a lesson?" Violette laughed.

"Ah, yes!" said Calixte. "We are, aren't we?"

They both sat down at the grand piano, and by Violette's request, they began the lesson by playing 'Love Is Always Eternal When With You', and Calixte wondered if this was how the piece was meant to be played.

Day: 1250

A few days had passed since Princess Alfreda had fired her three servants, and with each day that passed, Lili's firm belief that she would be hired back dwindled. To distract herself from her unemployment, Lili focused on constructing more houses and working out blueprints for better defences around the camp, discussing the details with Corinna, Dex, and Bruno, who used to work in a hardware shop.

Lili was worried it would be awkward between her and Corinna because she left the night before, but they both remained their ever-professional selves, too absorbed in their work to think about that night. Or perhaps Corinna wasn't offended that Lili didn't stay?

"Well, materials and labour are certainly not an issue," said Bruno. "It's just a matter of how wide do we want to build the defences? How big are we planning on making the camp?"

"Knowing Corinna, she'll want to build a whole city sooner or later," Dex chuckled.

Corinna gave a guilty smile, then wrote on her whiteboard, 'communal areas'.

"Like what?" asked Bruno.

'Eating hall, toilets, baths, showers, storage facilities', Corinna listed, about to add more when Dex stopped her.

"Let's be realistic to start with," he said. "Don't get too over-excited. Let's focus on the necessities and plan where the remaining houses go."

"We just have two left, and there's plenty of room," said Bruno. He looked to Lili. "Where would you recommend we place the border?"

Lili frowned, concentrating on the detailed map Corinna had made to scale, having measured everything out. "We don't want it too close need room for expansion and space to fight intruders and not damage any infrastructures. Also, room to set up additional defences."

"More fences?"

"Ballistas, trenches, spike traps-"

"You know how to make all of those!" Bruno gasped in excitement.

Lili shook her head. "Trenches and spike traps are easy enough. Everything else, like ballista, we'll have to work out through trial and error." She glanced at Corinna, the woman excitedly beaming at such an ambitious project. "We also need to consider that there are monsters out there of immense size and strength. So we need defences for anything we can imagine."

Discussing other parameters they needed to meet, Lili finally recommended where to begin the border defence, though she knew it would be replaced and expanded in time.

Lili spent hours lining the border with small rocks, so consumed in the task that she was startled as someone cleared their throat to gain her attention. She turned around to find Ivette.

"You didn't come for lunch, dear," said Ivette. "Did you not hear the bell out here?"

"No, I guess not," said Lili. "It's alright; I can survive until dinner-"

"You skipped both lunch and dinner yesterday."

Did she? Lili paused, trying to remember how many meals she had eaten lately. She would skip a meal only so that others could eat. But of course, food was not an issue anymore, no shortage with the two groups' stock combined. So how could she forget something so important?

That was when it clicked. She always got her own food when she was getting Princess Alfreda's. Now that the princess was getting her own food, Lili's schedule was thrown out of the window, and she forgot to eat all together.

"I forgot," mumbled Lili, placing another stone on the ground. "It's okay; I'll be fine-"

"No, you won't! Oscar noticed and saved you a portion. Now, you'll come over and-"

"Stop telling me what to do!" snapped Lili. "You're not my mother! I'm not your child! I'm not Harmony! What, am I her replacement?"

Ivette went quiet.

Lili's throat went dry, seeing Ivette's smile break and the elderly woman unable to look at her directly.

"I'm sorry if that is how you felt," mumbled Ivette. "I was not treating you like Harmony's replacement, but I'll stop bothering you if that is what you want. I want to ensure that everyone is looking after themselves. But you are an adult and can choose when you want to eat; I will stop needling you."

Lili's arms closed around herself. "No, I..." she swallowed. "I'm sorry, I-"

"No, I know." Ivette forced a smile. "Actually, it makes me happy that you've grown a bit of a backbone, no longer just obeying what everyone says."

Lili bowed her head, wondering when was the last time she had disobeyed an order. "But I did not have to yell and give into my anger and frustration," she said, returning to her professional and formal tone and disciplined posture. "I wish to make amends-"

"Oh, give over!" Ivette rolled her eyes. "You were making so much progress!" She steered herself in her wheelchair and began moving back to the centre of the camp. "Your lunch will be there if you so choose to take it! If not, we'll save it for dinner!"

Lili took a long breath, pausing to continue her work for a while as she considered, then left to get her lunch.

After retrieving it, she sat down, attempting to finish it quickly as she guiltily watched everyone else work. Lili saw on the other side of the camp; Princess Alfreda was assisting in making bricks, using her fire demon mask to heat them up. But what surprised Lili was that the princess remained and helped mould and place the bricks, too, instead of just sitting on a chair until she was needed again. She was actually... working... though she was clumsy and slow and constantly expressed her frustration when she got something wrong or if her clothes got dirty.

Lili shrunk away as she thought the princess caught her gaze, and Lili turned herself away, finding it difficult to eat. But she forced herself to take small and slow bites, promising that she should start looking after herself better for the first time in her life.

"Eat!" Lili heard Ivette's voice bark and saw that Corinna was also being forced to have her lunch which she forgot, the same as Lili.

Corinna made a lot of pouting faces, wanting to continue in her current construction project before reluctantly obeying and retrieving a portion from Oscar. She spotted Lili also eating and smiled, joining her on the grass.

Lili stiffened. Without work to focus on, the thoughts of the night before came back, the doubting questionings on their relationship. "Were you also told off for not eating?" she asked, forcing herself to speak as the silence was suffocating.

Corinna nodded, silently giggling. 'Always forget when working', she wrote.

"Me too," said Lili, then added quietly, "I only remember if I'm also getting someone else's food."

After Corinna took another bite, she wrote, 'we get each others' food'.

"We get each others' meals?" Lili considered for a moment. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I can remember to feed someone else over myself."

Corinna offered her hand, mouthing the word 'deal'.

Lili shook it. "Deal."

They then returned to eating, and the doubt from before crawled back inside Lili's mind.

She glanced at Corinna, wondering what the woman thought of her; what was she to her?

Did she want no-strings-attached sex?

Did she want something more?

A relationship?

And did she only want that because she wanted a replacement for Harmony?

Corinna kept choosing to talk and sit with Lili, so at the very least; she still wanted to be friends.

The pit inside of Lili's stomach panged. She knew that the only way to find out was to ask.

"Corinna?" Lili began, almost faltering as she saw Corinna smile at her attentively. "What exactly do you want from our relationship?" Lili's throat almost closed up. "Do you want to keep sleeping with each other, or are you also seeking a relationship?"

Corinna paused momentarily, startled by the question, then quickly scribbled something on her whiteboard.

But Lili didn't want to know the answer until she knew something else. So before Corinna could finish and show her writing, Lili continued, "and am I just a rebound for Harmony?"

Corinna froze momentarily, then looked at Lili almost like she was angry. She was about to erase her whiteboard, then considered for a moment as she showed Lili what she had written before mentioning Harmony.

'Are you leaving the Abyss with Calanthe?' Lili read.

Of course, how could Lili have forgotten? Trying to discuss where their relationship was going if Corinna did not know if Lili was leaving anytime soon.

And then Lili remembered how Corinna hesitated in asking Harmony out initially because Harmony was so dead set on escaping the Eternal Abyss and would leave her behind.

And she did leave her behind, even if it wasn't her intention. They were supposed to escape together.

"I've thought more on it," Lili began slowly, seeing the fierceness behind Corinna's eyes. "And I'm not going to pledge my allegiance to a queen that would cast off her sister like that. Though I may no longer be Her Highness' guard, I still believe that she was treated unjustly. She did not try to usurp the crown, but her sister was so delusional and paranoid..." Lili shook her head. "I will not bow my head to her." She looked to Corinna and hushed, "so, I'm going to stay here in the Abyss..."

Corinna nodded, looked to her whiteboard, erased her writing, and then wrote, 'you're not replacing her'. She mouthed the words 'I promise'.

Lili recognised that the anger and fierceness in her eyes were not malicious, but rather it was hurt that she somehow had made Lili feel this way, a seriousness to prove her wrong.

"Sorry, I," Lili swallowed. "I had to make sure-"

Corinna placed a prosthetic hand on Lili's, smiling softly.

Lili smiled slightly, glancing away as she asked, "I was wondering, then, if you would like to go on a date after dinner? We could..." she paused, trying to think of what the Eternal Abyss had in terms of date activities. "We could go for a walk?"

Corinna nodded, grinning.

"Yeah?" Lili asked.

Corinna nodded again, silently snorting at Lili's stiffness.

"Then, it's a date."

*

Cori almost called the whole thing off after she found out what the tradition was. 

Why did royalty have to have so much pomp and circumstance? What part of any of this required such grand gestures? Why can't I simply ask in private?

However, Queen Corinna was eventually persuaded by her advisers that all of these traditions were necessary as it would be seen as a massive insult to any royalty without a certain level of reverence.

Once the special guest of honour had arrived in the main ballroom, a chorus of trumpets announced the arrival, ascending louder and louder, bursting into a glorious and triumphant melody. Violins joined in, the swelling of strings lingering as mages conjured up illusions of flowers and musical notes in the air.

Queen Corinna descended the staircase, her cousin Sophia following behind, who was practically skipping down in glee and excitement.

Once she reached the bottom, the queen knelt on one knee, bowing her head.

The music faded, the last trumpet finishing with a flourish.

"Her Majesty, Queen Corinna IX!" announced the last trumpeter. "Hereby expresses Her wish to offer Your Highness Her hand in marriage!"

There was a long deathly silence.

Queen Corinna kept her head bowed, only able to see the ground and a pair of shoes before her. All she could hear was her heavy breathing, her heart racing only amplified with her mask on. Why hadn't he answered yet?

Everyone in the ballroom watched Prince Elis as he stood perfectly still, almost like a statue.

"I..." Elis swallowed. "Sorry, I need to think about this," he stuttered, before promptly turning and leaving the ballroom, his footsteps echoing on the marble floor, the door shutting reverberating, causing the queen to jolt.

All of the servants and musicians were silent, remaining at their stations as they glanced at their monarch still knelt on one knee.

Queen Corinna remained in that position for a while, and as the reality soon settled in, she slowly stood up.

"Cori..." Sophia hushed, hesitant to reach out and comfort her cousin. "I'm sure that he-"

"I want to be alone, please," the queen only managed to mumble out as she walked out of the other ballroom exit.

Finally, we have a cover for the third book...

It was made by my friend Jamie, what do you all think?

I wanted to change the looks of the covers; the first two covers will eventually be changed to match this one.