The Epic Misadventures of The Sun, Moon, and Stars

Shivani

I gasped and fell to one knee, head bowed.

"Oh, no need for such formality!" She chuckled. She was adorned head to toe in gold, even her hair. She radiated regality and light. She didn't seem at all like what I had thought. I remembered seeing her in parades as a teen. She was only a year older than me, just like Maria... Maria! Oh god, this is what she was talking about! What if they found her, is she alright? A thousand questions whirled through my brain.

"Um, your majesty, if I may... um ...why are you here?"

"Shivani!" my mom whispered, "Show some respect."

"Oh, Ma'am, please spare me the formalities." The Empress smiled, a rather warm and gentle smile, and turned to me. "If we could speak in private...?"

"Oh of course!" I turned around and tried to neaten up my room a bit, as the Empress came in and sat on my bed.

"Ms. Vishwanathan, um, I imagine you have no idea what I'm doing here?"

"Uh.... Not really, no." She laughed, a small, light and bright laugh.

"First of all, please call me Domina. I would really appreciate it."

"Secondly,... um, do you know anyone named Maria Santa Rita?"

My heart felt like it was about to burst. What did she want with Maria?

"Listen I know you're dating her. She always did attract the prettiest ones."
"I'm just.... What did she do?"

"Well, I don't know whether or not you knew, but... Maria is a Dionara. She's kind of like my sister, actually. I swear, this will all make more sense soon."

I tried to put on a look of shock and confusion.

"I-I don't understand?"

"During my cleansing, I was chosen. There were two other children chosen. One was YoGeni Birma, the Head of Defense of Vitrua. The other was Maria. The three of us were as close as people could've been. But she... she wasn't willing to follow orders, everytime she... she left. We told everyone that the third Dionara died tragically of an unknown illness."

"But what... what does that have to do with me?"

She swallows, like she's trying to fight back tears.

"Let's take a walk."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Imperial Palace is one of the most amazing pieces of architecture I have ever seen. Plated gold, with huge arches and pillars all around. The Empress almost seems to match, the way her golden gown, headdress and face paint shine on her dark skin, makes the whole room glow. You could practically see history unfolding before your eyes, the Awakening, the ancient Dionarae using the last of their strength to pull the world back together. I could even see the bricks move, as the daemons locked under the earth writhed, and shifted the wires that held our reality together. It was as if a hundred different realities had clashed together, and this was the last string holding them together, lest they fall into nothingness. As a former daemonic history student, I would've normally been about to burst with excitement at being invited into a living monument, had it not been for what Domina and I had been discussing.

"So..." She seemed almost as uncomfortable as I felt. I could feel a swarm of emotions flooding through me, anger, confusion, fear, dread. It felt as if a hundred hornets were trying to battle their way out of my brain.

"So?" I shook my head in disbelief. That's all she had to say? "What do you mean 'so'?"

When Domina looked at me, I could see a flash of pity in her eyes. I didn't need her pity.