"The Blightlands are a terror we have never before faced, and this terror requires innovative solutions and every hand on deck from the highest Lightholder to the lowest Pullatus. But if we are successful, we will never face this terror again. Therefore, by the power invested in me by the Princeps Worldholder, every capital city of every provincia is hereby ordered to immediately establish a Collegium Pullatorum as a place of shelter, education, and workforce training to aid the Princeps Worldholder in our common campaign against the Blightlands."

--Legate Merula Nocticola,
Legatus of Pullati Affairs

*~*~*~*

Unable to believe his ears, Domi laughed without humor at his brother. "I'm sorry. Did you just say you want me to marry the girl you just got pregnant?"

"Yes." Daedalus looked calm, like he had not just asked the most outrageous thing Domi had ever heard.

"Marry Edera."

"Yes."

Domi tugged at his hair, discovering for the first time that other people did it when they felt a headache forming. "Are you seriously so ready to just give her up to another man?" He doubted Dae and Edera loved each other but was his twin so indifferent to her that he was willing to just toss a girl around like a hot potato?

"I care about her," Dae said, easing some of his worries but replacing them with confusion. "Of course I do not want her to wed another. Nor do I wish to place this burden on your shoulders. But I believe it is the best option for all of us."

"The best option?" At the rate he was going, he was going to tug all his hair out at the roots. "How the hell is it the best option for me to wed your pregnant lover? Have you even asked Edera about this?"

He probably hadn't. If Dae had, Edera would probably have cut him even without ranking high enough to use promenia against him.

"Edera will obey a royal order."

For a moment Domi just stared, horrified. It took a couple of tries to get his sputtering voice to finally snap, "I'm not going to order her to marry me, Daedalus. Or to marry anyone!" He shook his head. "What's wrong with you?"

His twin didn't even look ashamed. Daedalus waved a hand like he had not just suggested something so messed up. "Fine, then we shall ask her. Explain to her. I am sure she will agree."

"Explain it to me," Domi scoffed. "Because I can't wrap my head around why I should agree to this absurd idea, let alone why Edera of all people would want to." She'd gut him again if she could.

Daedalus shrugged, managing to make the gesture look elegant as always. "You two would not have to be intimate. She is already with child. If you wed swiftly, the world will believe the babe is yours."

"Babe? You seem to be forgetting something." At his twin's steady look he hissed, "You have twins, Daedalus. Twins."

"We shall have to hide one." Now his brother sounded uneasy. "She can live here in Provincia Sicarii. With me."

Well, that was better than killing her or ditching her out on the street like their parents had done. But there was still a big problem. "Suppressed?" His stomach churned at the idea of some little kid, his niece, going through the same thing he had. He'd been sick from infancy. Nearly died several times. The little girl would be safer with Dae than living in poverty, but still. She'd have to be carefully watched, but at least she'd have lifeholders around to help her if she got hurt or sick.

He was surprised to find himself envying an unborn child. But it wasn't her fault the Eternal Radiance was giving her a better chance than Domi had been given. At least--

"Yes, until we find a solution to the resonance. She and her sister must be suppressed anyway, as I was."

That drew him out of his glum thoughts. "As you were? When were you suppressed?"

Daedalus blinked at the question. "For the first six years of my life. It is a precaution taken with every Principis Heres. Small children cannot survive a Trellis transfer." He nibbled his lip. "My daughters will be at risk until six to ten years old, until their prometariums are developed enough the Trellis would not kill them."

Eternal Radiance, it was all just too much to take in. His head throbbed, and Solitude was sounding more and more appealing every second.

"Fine," he grumbled, massaging his forehead. "So that's the brilliant plan? Edera weds me, pops out your kids, we hide one with you, and I assume I then raise the other as my kid?"

"Yes."

"And hope no one finds out."

"Yes."

"And if I refuse?" He didn't want to be a father yet. Or a husband, even a fake one. But now there were two little girls to worry about. They deserved a future.

Still though, he wanted to know all his options.

"If you somehow die," Daedalus said, voice slow and face stiff and grave, "I shall likely die with you. Or the reverse. And if we die without you having acknowledged one of my daughters as your own--as my own, for you rule in my name--there will be no Princeps Worldholder to inherit the Trellis after us."

Domi frowned. "But your daughters--"

"One would be suppressed, invisible to the Trellis, and the other would be registered as the daughter of a worldholder in Provincia Sicarii named Domi. And I would still not be able to keep both with me without putting them at risk. If you do not take one, I--" He gulped, paling. "--I-I do not know who to trust to take the other."

Domi swallowed. One would likely have to be given to strangers, anonymous and suppressed, with no awareness of whose child she was or why her parents didn't want her. Like he had been.

"I will ask Edera," he said quietly, and as relief made Dae's shoulders sag, he went on with a glare, "but we've got to tell Edera the truth. You know that, right? Right now, before I start Solitude, so she can decide with all the facts. I'll host." Or he would if he could figure out how to make a decent Caeles space for them to gather. "And if she agrees--"

"If she agrees, you will have helped preserve the world's future, and my children's," Daedalus said. "You have no idea how grateful I am to you right now."

"Yeah," Domi sighed, and added dryly, "and I'm sure Edera will see it just like that, too."

<>

Edera did not know whether to be excited or terrified. Warm flutters of anticipation filled her belly one moment, followed by dread like a heavy, chill stone.

She and Mi--she had started calling fake-Domi "Mi" in her mind because calling him Domi was just too strange--had been summoned to an immediate confidential Caeles conference with the Princeps Worldholder.

"What does he want?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from trembling as she flicked aside a pink curl that refused to stay in place. She needed to look nice for this, but there had been no time to get ready. Mi had torn her from her studies before supper, and now they sat together at a table in the conservatory commons. She would have to concentrate extra hard on looking appropriate within the Caeles.

"We shall just have to see," Mi said, his voice tight and quiet.

She narrowed her eyes at him--he knew something--but he only turned away.

Edera bit her lip as she waited for the bells to chime in her mind, signaling the Princeps was ready to receive them. What did the royal want? He ruled all worldholders, but she was a lifeholder and he could not possibly know of the worldholder babes within her. Could he?

No, he could not. Not unless Mi had told him, but why would the boy report something like that to a Princeps?

She felt a little of the fear bleed out of her. The summons must be about something else. She just could not fathom what it would be.

Three quiet bells reverberated between her ears, and with them the senses of Trellis-bearer and vast power and royal command. She shivered as she turned her attention to it, drew a deep breath, and accepted the summons.

The Caeles space that unfolded around her brought a frown to her face. Hazy and drifting like clouds, thick gray mists slowly resolved into indistinct shapes a young child could have done a better job visualizing. Something like a pillar. A box--no, a potted plant--atop something that was maybe a table. The vague sense of smooth hardness beneath her feet. A raised platform--ah, a dais. A familiar dais.

She blinked. And with recognition her mind began contributing additional details to the mindscape, painting the space. Glossy tan marble. Softly burbling fountains. Cyan night-side plants atop the low tables.

Why was the Princeps Worldholder having them meet in Edera's father's domus? When had the royal ever even visited Provincia Sicarii and seen Cerasus's salutatio hall?

She heard a soft footstep behind her and she turned. And stared.

"Domi?" She blushed, remembering that Mi was standing right next to her and she wasn't supposed to know he had a twin. "I mean--"

"Hello, Edera," the Pullatus-turned-Lightholder said. A sour note tightened his voice and his face strained into a smile that fell far short of his eyes. "Fancy meeting you here."

Edera glanced from one boy to the other, smirking. They really were both quite pretty. "I knew you were twins!"

Domi, the real Domi, only rubbed the back of his neck, while his brother stilled, biting his lip. "Erm, yeah. Sorry for not telling you, but we--"

"So is Domi even your real name?" she cut in, crossing her arms and eying him. She liked him far better with the long hair. His brother wore the shorn hair more favorably though, which confused her, as they were identical. A more even trim perhaps? Or maybe just a difference in their bearing.

The long hair made Domi look like a languorous rake, brooding and mysterious, while his twin looked noble and upright. "Dominulus seemed a bit fake." After all, who would actually name a child "little lord"? She grinned. Perhaps he really was a spy or assassin. "Like a secret alias, or a--"

"Edera," Mi cut in, a warning note in his voice.

"What?"

"You need to address him..." The boy shook his head. She wondered which one was older. Mi seemed more cultured, but Domi more worldly. "Well, just look at his name in the Compendium. I do not think that you will believe me, otherwise."

She frowned. "What? Why?"

"Just do as I ask. Please."

Shrugging, she shifted her attention to the shimmering promenia and then, summoning the Compendium with a tug of will, studied Domi's face. Gazing at the warm brown eyes and olive features, she filled her mind with her sense of him. Fierce and goofy. Sweet and sarcastic. And just a touch dangerous as she recalled his voice snapping, "Or I'll break her neck." Pushing that last away, she radiated her desire to know who he was toward the Compendium. And it answered.

Knowledge blossomed within her mind like a memory surfacing. First, an honorific, laden with the sense of metallic leaves, no a laurel crown, and royal magnificence.

Basilicus.

Then, a name. A long name, longer than even her own royal name, borne by vast flaming wings trailing obsidian, platinum, gold, and copper sparks.

Daedalus Adurere Viarius alta Cercitis Saltuosus Astricus Nitidus Penna Igneae Verita Adurere.

Finally, a title, bright with supreme imperial nobility and heavy with some unfathomable molten weight.

Princeps Worldholder.

She shook her head, curiosity and surprise alike welling up within her. "Very funny, Domi. How did you get the Compendium to show your name like that?" He was hopeless with promenia, unless he'd been faking incompetence, but she didn't know even skilled Lightholders who could manage such a thing.

Mi cleared his throat as Domi looked at the other boy uncertainly. Yes, Mi must be the older brother. "His name looks like that because the Trellis cannot tell me and Domi apart."

Edera frowned, brow furrowing. Mother always said to compose her face, but her brows kind of looked like caterpillars when she did such, and she liked it. She'd never be beautiful but knew she could be cute. "You?" she asked, unable to fathom what he was going on about. "But you're..."

She studied him as everything slowly started to catch up to her. Domi's sudden advances in rank. The troubles with the Trellis. Her lifeholder lessons, about the ancient Calamity of the Twins and why Lightholders and Princeps Worldholders especially must never be twins. The hidden, regal twin who had switched places with Domi in secrecy and come to Urbs Hostiae. Her father's strange deference to the boy.

"Edera," Domi said quietly, "I'd like you to meet Daedalus Adurere." The boy chuckled as, speechless, she gaped at him, unable to bring herself to even look at the other boy, the boy waiting silent and still as a statue. The boy she had bedded. The boy who had seen her naked and planted his children within her. "Yeah, that Adurere."

"I don't understand," she whispered, at last tearing her eyes away from Domi to Daedalus. "You are the Princeps Worldholder?" She shook her head, questions crowding her mind. Why the farce? Why had he bedded her without telling her who he was? What did this mean for her? Eternal Radiance, what did it mean for her daughters? "But Basilicus, how... what..." She did not even know where to begin.

"That is a long story," Daedalus said, his voice gentle. He glanced at his twin, who at least had the good grace to look embarrassed by the deception. "But you should call him Basilicus, not me. Domi rules in truth now, even if in my name. The Eternal Radiance gave him the Trellis to bear."

She could feel the blood draining from her face. Domi carried the Trellis? The untrained Pullatus? Eyes devour, no wonder the sky had fallen three weeks ago and now sparkled like a shaken bottle of champagne about to explode.

Domi smiled sheepishly at whatever look she was giving him. She had no idea what it was doing; her face felt kind of cold and numb. "Believe me, I know," he said, voice dry. "Now imagine how I feel."

She didn't care a fig for how he felt. His stupid brother had knocked her up without bothering to tell her who he was or what she might be getting herself into by being intimate with him. And he had let her discuss the possibility of marriage or a formal liaison as lovers with her like he cared about her enough to have a future with her. Her belly churned with hurt, but she covered it with anger. Anger was easier to bear.

She glared from one twin to the other. "Tell me everything."

Ten minutes later she found herself staring at the brothers in dismayed shock. A strange desire to laugh hysterically in their faces bubbled up. The irony would be delicious if it involved anyone else. She'd wanted to bag herself a marriage proposal that would let her escape a boring future as a provincial praetor. And now she had one that would get her out of one dull domus and locked away in just a bigger, grander version of the same.

"So," she said, shoving an inappropriate giggle down. Or maybe the desire to cackle was appropriate? What was even normal in a situation like this? "I carry the next Princeps Worldholder and, you know, a spare heir. You--" She jabbed a finger at Daedalus, then jerked it to his twin. "--want me to marry him. But I would really be marrying you because Domi's pretending to be you. And you two want me to suppress my younger babe and hope no one will notice that their little Basiluculus has an identical, what, royal servant running about the palace?"

"Almost." Daedalus cleared his throat, wincing in discomfort as he considered his next words and then spoke with slow care. "Our younger daughter would come live with me in Provincia Sicarii." Panic pricked deep at that and she already found herself shaking her head hard. "You and Domi would raise her older sister at the palace."

"No," she snapped. "Absolutely not. I won't be separated from one of my daughters." She'd wanted to be a mother her whole life. Dreamt of it. This was a year or two earlier than she'd expected, but still. There was no way she was going to give one of her children away, even to the child's father. Not if she'd be so far away.

"If you want her to live," Daedalus said, his voice gentle but firm, "you must." He glanced at his twin. "Our mother had to do the same for us."

"I survived only because she was willing to let me go," Domi said quietly.

"But," Daedalus added as Edera's lip started to wobble, "we shall find a way to solve the resonance and ensure you have them both in your life again as soon as possible."

"And you." She would not have chosen him if she'd known the truth. Nor his brother. Being cooped up in the onyx palace wasn't how she'd envisioned her future. But if she had to marry a husband, she wanted a husband. Someone in her life, not merely legally bound to her and united only by a shared child. And it sounded like he was willing to give that to her. One day.

Daedalus's expression softened. "Yes. If we solve the resonance, I shall regain the Trellis and reign once more under my own name. Then you will be married to me in truth."

"If you want to marry him," Domi cut in, giving his twin a stern look. Then he paused. "Me." He scratched the back of his neck. "Me pretending to be him. We're not going to force you into anything."

"What other choice do I have?" she asked, unsure whether to feel bitter or relieved.

"Many," Domi said. "But good choices? I don't see any." He tilted his head. "Do you?"

"No," she said quietly.

Daedalus nodded. "Then let us make the most of the situation before us," he said gently. "We have two little girls to protect. And I believe there can be a good future for us, as well."

"But which us?" she asked, looking from one boy to the other. She would be legally wed to Daedalus, and perhaps one day in truth if the resonance could be sorted out, but until then she would have to live with Domi and pretend to be his wife.

"All of us," Domi answered firmly. "We'll find a way for all of us to come out of this alive and happy." His lip quirked. "One day, we'll look back at all this and laugh about the time I faked being Princeps and you faked being my wife. It'll be a fun story to tell your daughters. Alright?"

"A-alright," Edera agreed.

<>

"All right, Nepos, the light sedative Princeps Buccina ordered. Just a little of this, under the tongue." Hedera scooped a glowing lavender sludge onto a small spoon and handed it to Domi, nodding in satisfaction as he did as he was told.

A flavor like rotten lemon peel exploded under his tongue and he grimaced as his eyes started to water, but held the spoon in place.

She chuckled at his expression. "I know, it is bitter. Hold it in your mouth until you can't stand the flavor anymore, then swallow."

When he was done, he spat into his hands until she gave him a stern look that abruptly reminded him of her son. "That's the grossest thing I've ever tasted," he grumbled, slouching down into his bedsheets even though he wasn't tired. Not after just secretly getting engaged. "And I've eaten some pretty nasty stuff. Can't you just use promenia?"

"Do not shorten your words," she reminded him, earning a sigh, then patted his hand. "We must never use promenia when alternatives exist. Most of us cannot make more as you can."

"I can't--cannot. Not yet. Peritia says replenishing promenia is one of my jobs, but Valens has not taught me how to do it yet."

"Yes, it is an essential duty--" He sensed a 'but' coming with her indulgent nod and wasn't disappointed. "--but one that will just have to wait until you are ready. My son says you are impure but that your forgeholder lineage may be a boon in this endeavor later."

Valens said that? Valens whined about his second lineage nonstop and the burden of eventually having to train a second set of sorcerous skills. "Why?"

"Forgeholders can make promenia artifacts using promenia keyed by other lineages, Nepos." She smiled. "When you learn to make promenia, perhaps your little friend can help you figure out how to make something with the magic of both your lineages that replenishes promenia."

"You know about Radix?" The other Pullatus preferred to keep their intellect hidden. There were benefits to being underestimated.

"Your foster mother told me. Radix showed her a preliminary sketch of the artifact you asked them to create. The one for the Pullati workers?"

Radix had sketched it out already? "That one would dissolve rogue promenia," he said, wondering again at how fast the other kid worked. Warmth filled him as he was reminded again of how brilliant they were. "It would not make new promenia."

"Yes, but perhaps another artifact could be crafted to create promenia. Who knows? I do not pretend to understand such things, but Radix and Aix are hard at work on it."

"Together?" Domi asked. Eternal Radiance, he would give anything to see Aix's face when the Pullatus showed the old man the hodge podge of random stuff they had cobbled together on their bedroom floor. Only it probably wouldn't look random at all to the teacher.

"Aix values creative intelligence," Herera said, and Domi snorted at the understatement. "He scooped Radix right up as his personal secretary, at least for now." She smiled. "But they may become the first Pyrrhaei to study at the Seminarium Luminosum."

That was probably supposed to be impressive, but Domi had no idea what she was talking about. "The what?"

"The conservatory shared by the five royal curias. Aix's and Arbita's students have been transferred there now that they're--we're--all part of Penna Igneae for the time being. Aix has Radix assisting with clean-up in the work halls, record keeping, and the like, but is considering enrolling them."

Domi frowned in confusion. "But Radix is Pyrrhaei," he pointed out. "They can't go to a Lightholder school. I'm not even ready to be a conservatory student yet and I have magic."

"A great deal of magic," Hedera chuckled. "But Radix is a Pyrrhaei who is learning to make and use magical artifacts and is very interested in the inner workings of promenia." Her face sobered. "We face a crisis, Nepos. Merula and Aix are pulling in every resource they can find. That includes your little friend."

Domi swallowed, shaking his head as he took it all in. "So much is happening so fast. I only appointed Ma three days ago."

"Aix tells me she is an able organizer. I was surprised, but I trust his judgment." Hedera's lips curled. "Though at the pace she's working, I half expect her to take over the world by next week."

"Eternal Radiance," Domi groaned, "don't let Comitas or anyone hear you say that." He plucked at a silvery thread on his black coverlet. "Everyone is already suspicious of Ma and grumbling about her acting above her station. It's like they forget that the world is about to end if we don't solve the Blightlands." He shook his head. "Rank shouldn't matter so much when we have something so big we've got to deal with."

"The Eternal Radiance created rank for a reason, Nepos," Hedera said, her voice oh-so-reasonable even as her words made him grit his teeth. "But I believe the Divine Light is creative in how it makes use of each class. I for one applaud your idea." She nodded firmly, amber eyes narrowed. "Pullati have lazed around far too long and this is an excellent way to make them productive members of society at last. And who better than a Pullati leader to organize the effort? Do you know she's put in an order to build a Pullati Collegium in every major city? Homeless people and destitute children will be housed and trained for this work."

"I don't know anything," he admitted. "So much is happening without me." He was relieved he didn't have to do everything himself, but it made him nervous not knowing all that was happening if he was supposed to be responsible for it.

"You will be involved more later, when you are ready," she reassured him with a pat on the hand. "For now, you are hard at work at the most vital of tasks: learning to be a Princeps and control the Trellis. Trust the people around you to handle the rest for a time, hmm?"

He smiled, feeling a little of the tension bleed out of him. At least someone didn't think he had to know everything and be able to do everything all at once. "You're good at this. How come Valens didn't turn out more like you?"

Hedera brushed the hair from his forehead, and he tolerated it. She'd probably pat even Comitas's head, so it was hard to be annoyed. "Valens is his own person. All my children are their own unique selves. As are my grandchildren and each nepos, hmm?" She studied him for a moment, then sighed and rose to her feet from where she had been sitting perched on the edge of his too-large bed. "Now, what do you think about a walk in the garden while we wait for the medicine to take effect? Many beautiful night-side species thrive during Germinating."

He sat up and threw the coverlet aside. He wasn't tired at all. His body was jittery with nervous energy, and the Dimmed Trellis seemed to be winking at him over the secret he, Dae, and Edera shared. "Alright."

"Have you learned yet to use your prometus to warm yourself?" When he shook his head, she stepped up to his wardrobe. "A nice warm paenula for you, then." She passed over his heavy ceremonial paenulas, flicking the black-opal crusted one with a snort. "Not this one. I'm sure you hate it already."

"Yeah," he admitted, climbing out of bed, "and I can't walk in it without tripping." He stood still as she pulled one of Dae's warmer clivia-blue paenulas over his head and helped him into a pair of slippers, feeling like a dunce.

"Here you go. Come along."

He followed her out into the palace hall, ignoring the two Electi who fell in line behind them. As they stepped outside into the chill garden, he listened with one ear as she talked about the plants.

Glowing pink sol-blossoms, great for warding off day-side fungal infections.

Ghostly white and silver crystalline trees with sharp leaf-like protrusions that pealed like wind chimes in the breeze.

Curling wisps of hovering spores that pulsed with a faint lavender and rose glow and did nothing useful at all beyond looking pretty.

A shrub with silver-frosted cyan leaves.

The last caught his attention.

"Quellwort," Hedera murmured, running her fingertips over the leaves absently. She plucked one, handing it to him. "Feel the brittleness? These are one of the most recent night-side plants to start affecting the human body. They still taste quite bitter but are now effective at suppressing prometus. The body actually briefly stops producing prometus when this is consumed."

Domi stared at the herb in his hand. The flaky leaf was eerily familiar.

He suddenly remembered tea in the early morn, a strangely blank-eyed Sidus handing him a steaming mug. The pungent scent wafting from his fingers now had risen from the steam then. Crumbled leaf fragments, like the ones in his hand now, had brushed his lips, then his tongue. And then his prometus had been extinguished.

He'd woken in a heartbeat to find himself twelve hours and four thousand miles away from where he had just been, with Cercitus there to convince him to die to protect Daedalus.

Daedalus. Nothing had happened to Daedalus when Domi had been drugged with quellwort. The suppression had only affected him.

"Nepos?"

"Sorry," he said, slipping the leaf into his paenula pocket. He wasn't going to use it, of course. He'd learned his lesson. But he found himself relaxing just to know it was there. "You were saying?"

"You're a little distracted. I think the medicine must be taking effect, hmm? Let's get you inside and into bed before Fons comes hunting us down. Come along now." She nodded to the trailing Electi, smiling. "You too, Nepotes."

The pair shared a glance. "Did she just call us--"

"She calls everyone Nepos," the other starholder whispered. "Even the Princeps and Erus Comitas."

Domi smirked and, yawning, followed his avia out of the cold.