James Galloway - The Tower of Sorcery

"Yes," Miranda agreed calmly. "You have class in about an hour, Highess," she reminded.

"Already?" she said plaintively. "I guess so. We'd better sneak back to our rooms. Please get started on this as soon as you can, Miranda. It's important."

"I will be grouchy today," Allia said as she sat up. "I can do without sleep, but it always puts me on edge."

"Then stay away from me," Tarrin said absently. Allia glared at him, then laughed. "I should get going too," he added. "I have no idea what they'll want me to do today. I'm in limbo until they decide how to go about training me."

"You should go, Highness," Miranda said calmly. "I'll pack up the books and organize the scrolls. You go and get ready for class."

"I-yes, yes," she agreed. "We have to keep up appearances. I have no doubt that my veneer as the Brat is already starting to show thin. If I'm not careful, my secret will be out. Is it safe to leave?"

Miranda nodded. "I have people keeping the other people away."

"Good. Come on, Allia. I think we could use a bath before class."

"Yes, a night's work does tend to linger," Allia said. "Coming, brother?"

"In a minute," he said. "I'll help Miranda pack things. No reason leaving her with all the work, and I don't have to be somewhere."

"Alright. I'll see you tonight?" Keritanima asked.

"Of course," he smiled.

Keritanima and Allia filed out, chatting warmly with each other. Those two had really came together.

Miranda knew precisely how to arrange the books so that they had a very logical order, and she directed Tarrin as they put them all back in the chests. Tarrin had a strange feeling that Miranda had something to say. That was why he remained behind. The cheeky, almost criminally cute mink Wikuni was an enigma to Tarrin, and something about her struck at him on a level that he couldn't understand. It was almost like a kin-closeness, though it was not the same feeling he had had with Allia, or Dar, or even Keritanima. Miranda was different. Very different. But he had no idea why, or how he knew. It was as if he was instinctually drawn to her.

"You're staring at me," Miranda said with that cheeky smile.

"I am?" he asked. "Sorry. I'm just trying to figure something out."

"What?"

"You," he replied. "Keritanima absolutely adores you, but she doesn't seem to treat you that well. Why do you stay?"

"She treats me much better than you'll ever understand, Tarrin," she replied calmly. "If you're wondering why I ended up with these tasks, remember that I am her maid, after all. It's my job to do things for her. Did she control herself in the cathedral?"

"She stayed to her plan," he replied calmly, setting a stack of books into a chest and closing it. "It went very smoothly. I was surprised."

"I think you two are a good influence on her," Miranda said smoothly. "She's usually much more erratic. Brilliant, but erratic."

"How long have you been her maid?"

"For six years," she said. "I was only a girl when I was put in her service. They felt that if she had a maid her own age, it would help her. She was a very…lonely girl. It had to do with her situation."

"She never talks about that," Tarrin said, taking another book from her. "Would you?"

"It's very simple, Tarrin," she replied, stacking a few books and handing them to him. "Everyone that she liked was killed."

"What?"

"You don't understand Royal politics," she said calmly. "When Keritanima was young, she was second in line for the throne. She had one ahead of her and two behind. Keritanima showed the most promise at that age. She was much smarter than Jenawalani and Veranika, and Sabakimara was smarter than them, but still wasn't quite as smart as Keritanima. Sabakimara feared Keritanima. A great deal. She felt that her younger sister may either kill her, or the noble houses would have Sabakimara killed so that a more effective queen could take the throne. At the tender age of nine, she tried to have Keritanima killed."

Tarrin gaped at her.

"Does that help you understand what growing up in the palace was like?" she asked calmly. "As soon as Keritanima could understand things, she was started in the training to be a prospective queen. She learned from her father, and few are as nasty and underhanded as Damon Eram. Damon hates everyone, even his own children. If not for the need to continue the line, he would have had them all killed at birth. The infighting between the daughters is almost legendary in Wikuna," she sighed. "Each of the four of them were trying very hard to kill off the other three. After all, a lone heir is a guaranteed heir. Keritanima wasn't as savage as her sisters. She never tried to kill them, she just evaded their assassins, because she had this twisted idea that they could be a family. Anyway, after a couple of years, it became apparent that Sabakimara wasn't going to kill her sister, so she started a terror campaign instead. Every single one of Keritanima's friends died. All of them. Anyone who showed even the most remote affection for her was killed."

"Goddess," Tarrin breathed.

Miranda nodded. "It almost worked. Keritanima was driven almost to the edge of madness, but then they gave me to her. I rather liked her, and I was someone that she could talk to."

"Why didn't Damon Eram stop it?" Tarrin asked.

"Because he doesn't care," she replied sadly. "Damon Eram's only rule to his daughters is not to try anything to him. As far as he's concerned, they can kill each other off. At least until there are only two. If only one were left, then she would start eying the throne, and he wouldn't tolerate that. I honestly believe that if there was only one daughter left, Damon Eram would try to kill her."

"That's horrible !" Tarrin gasped. A family at war with itself? Tarrin's close family was the only reason he was still alive! Without them, he had no idea what he would do. How could a family hate each other so much? It struck him on many levels, for the Cat's need to protect the young also felt shocked and violated by such brutal behavior.

"Yes, but that's politics in Wikuna," she said calmly. "We pretend to be more civilized than the humans, but in many ways, we're more barbaric than the Plainrunners of Valkar. It wasn't long after that that Keritanima started sneaking out of the palace, and fell in with Ulfan and the thieves of Wikuna. They taught her how to protect herself, and she taught alot of it to me. That's when the Brat Princess was born. Everyone in Wikuna remembers when Keritanima was a bright, intelligent, serious young girl who showed tremendous promise as a potential queen, but they think that what was done to her left her the way she is now. Sometimes, I almost believe it myself. She doesn't let on, but what happened to her has left her very scarred."

"I had an idea that her childhood was harsh, but that's brutal," Tarrin said, pitying his sister. "She won't talk about it. And now I know why."

Miranda nodded, handing him another stack of books. "She's good. Too good. Now everyone in Wikuna honestly believes that she's been left slow by her ordeal, and that she's not fit to rule. Just about everyone in a position of power in Wikuna has tried to kill her, because she's the heir apparent, and they don't want a damaged monarch on the throne. Even her own father has tried to kill her. But she's still alive, and that drives them wild."

"Her own father ?"

"He thinks she's weak," Miranda said bluntly. "He thinks that a real Eram wouldn't have been affected by something as silly as love and friendship. Damon Eram goes through the motions of trying to mold her for the throne, but he really wants to get rid of her. That's half of what sending her here was about. It was an attempt to root her out of the very secure power base they think I've built around her, to leave her open and exposed and easier to get at. I've already eliminated about ten assassins sent to kill her. Jervis, poor soul, he has the task of rooting out assassins that the man who sent him to do the job is sending in the first place."