One True Queen: A Wings of Fire fanfiction

15.

Way

I'm so tired from flying all day, I forgot my parents were supposed to call, so I could talk with my siblings--until the mirror starts buzzing on the floor of my small canvas tent. (Since I'm the one who wanted to use it, Gaze says it's my job to look after it now.) I set down the scroll I was reading, and tap at it haphazardly--that is how you're supposed to accept a call on this thing, right?

"Hi, honey!" Mom says affectionately, her reflection replacing mine.

"Way!" Eclipse cries out excitedly. "You're okay. Oh my gosh, I have so much to catch you up on—I was Queen-regent for a few days while Mom and Dad were sick, did they tell you that? I was like... Sunrise, send a memo to the secretary on the fourth floor to up the education budget! Actually, schools aren't open right now, and we don't have any secretaries. But, you know."

"Oh! That's so cool! I wish I could have seen that."

"Me too," Eclipse admits.

"She was awesome," Nebula says proudly. "She got to wear a crown and this super fancy cape, and then we had a fancy dinner to celebrate afterwards."

"Yes, you were so brave, and Mom and I are so proud of you," Dad says, pulling Eclipse into his wings.

"Dad..." Eclipse mumbles, a little embarrassed.

"Oh! I was hanging out in the library this afternoon, while you were all at the fancy public forum, and I found these." Nebula holds up a pile of old, yellowed newspapers.

"Oh my gosh, is that—" Mom grabs one of them, leafing through the pages. "Wow. This feels like it was a hundred years ago..."

"Clearsight and Darkstalker talk marriage secrets, future dragonets, and their rise to fame," Nebula reads, eyes twinkling.

"Oh! I remember this!" Dad nudges Mom. "I think. You were twenty minutes late, 'cause you got held up at that meeting, remember?"

Mom smiles. "Oh, yeah. I do remember that. Wow."

"Are you a Darkstalker or a Clearsight? Oh, it's a personality quiz!" Eclipse grins. "Nebula, this is so cool, I can't believe Allknowing didn't have this stuff destroyed. I'm gonna fill it out." She grabs some ink off our parents' nightstand. "If you could have a power, what would it be, or what power do you have... hmmm... I feel like I'd be a good mind-reader, I don't know."

Nebula keeps reading from the article. "I met with Darkstalker and Clearsight, the Night Kingdom's favourite couple, at their new home, about a half-hour flight from the castle, in the foothills of the Night Kingdom... blah blah blah, come on, where do we get the interview... Oh! Here it is! Okay."

When asked about any plans to start a family, Darkstalker smiles, putting a wing around his fiancée. He gives her a quick kiss, and she leans into his shoulder.

Darkstalker: We've always wanted to have a family together when we're a little bit older. We already have names picked out for our dragonets: Eclipse, Shadowhunter, Fierceclaws..."

Clearsight: That's what he thinks, there are no futures where I let him name our dragonet Fierceclaws. It's so contrived! Everyone names their kid fierce-something. I want our kids to have unique names, without them being unpronounceable or too out there. So they never have to, like, share a class with someone with the same name as them.

Darkstalker: All right, sweetheart.

"I can't believe you had names for us. Even then," Eclipse says, tilting her head at them.