"Dominica! Where are you hiding?" I heard my mother shout from the castle. I stayed as quiet as a mouse in my perch in the bushy pine tree as I peered around the corner of the trunk, watching her appear in the doorway searching for me. She took a few steps out of the doorway and started scouting the various pine trees in the forest surrounding the keep.

She sighed, exasperated, and shouted, "You scared Clara and Nadia beyond belief with that charade you pulled. Stealing pig's blood from the butcher and making a mess out of your bathing chamber? Really?" I put a hand over my mouth to stifle a giggle, and her gaze quickly snapped in my direction. I ducked behind the trunk, out of her line of sight, hopefully. Not quickly enough, as she shouted, "Princess Dominica Najma Astorian, if you do not come down from that godsforsaken pine tree in the next thirty seconds, I will come up there and drag you down myself! Trust me, you do not want me climbing up there after you." I remembered the last time she climbed a tree after yelling at me to come down—I went to bed without supper and was forced to sit inside all day while my brothers went to the lake for the day.

I waited a second, weighing the consequences I would face if I didn’t climb down against seeing my father at tonight’s ball. "No! I don’t want to go!" I said, deciding to bear the consequences if it meant skipping out on the ball—and seeing my father. I heard branches snapping as her footsteps neared my tree. "I know you don’t want to see your father, Domi," my mother said softly, appearing right below me. She was gazing up at me with a knowing look in her eyes when she continued, "But you need to come down and start to get ready for the ball. We have some very special guests in attendance tonight, and your father is expecting everyone to be on their best behavior."

I knew what this meant—any step out of line meant worse than going to bed hungry and missing out on a day at the lake. I sighed and began making my way down the tree, my mother keeping a careful eye on me as I descended the twenty feet I climbed. I jumped the last few feet and landed right before my mother. She took in my dirty, bloodstained clothes, mud-covered boots, and disheveled hair and laughed softly, shaking her head. Her jet-black locks swayed with her movement as her deep green eyes sparkled and cheeks dimpled with a smile. "Come now, let’s get you cleaned up and sparkling, like the little star that you are," she said to me as she pushed a stray piece of hair behind my ear and took my hand in hers.

image [https://imgur.com/a/4gfFvLn.jpg]

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image [AI Generated]"Who are these special guests that he wants to impress?" I asked my mom. She began to guide us back into the castle and said, "Well, you know that Roman, your father's sorcerer advisor, passed away not too long ago?" Of course, I remembered Roman; he was kind and would make little horses and rabbits out of water for me whenever he was dispatched by my father to Astoria doing whatever he does for my father. I looked up and said, "Of course, I do, mother, what of it?"

She guided me through the doorway when she responded, "Well, Arcsas has dispatched another sorcerer to act as advisor—actually, he was hand-selected by your father." We continued to walk along the long corridor to the front of the castle. "Is he nice? Have you met him yet? I thought you said that there were more special guests. Who else is comi—" I started, but then she cut me off and grabbed me by my arm as she turned me around to face her. "Dominica, please do not start with the questions, just know that you will need to be on your best behavior. Your father and his new advisor will be watching very closely. And not just you, your brothers as well," she said, looking at me with a very serious expression.

I kept silent; my mother was still holding my arm as we continued down the corridor, glancing down at me with that same expression every few steps. She guided us into the servant stairwell. She continued up the stairs when I said, "What are we doing here? We never tak—" She cut me off as turned me around to face her, and knelt down in front of me. She started, "Domi, listen to me very carefully, we—I need you to be careful. This man, your father's new sorcerer, his name is Darius, I do not trust him. I cannot see what the future holds. I don’t know if I’ll be able to protect you. So even while I am here and will always be here, you need to start to think, my ibina."

There was fear and sadness interlaced with every word; her eyes blazed into mine as she scanned my face, beholding my reaction. She cupped my face in her hands as she saw confusion and fear line my expression. Her expression softened, and her face became a mask of calm and warmth. Tears began to well in my eyes and when the first one dropped she swiftly whipped it away with her thumb. "Mama, are you okay? Are we going to be okay? What about Ari and Luca?" I asked, my voice cracking halfway through.

"Oh, Domi, I just want you and your brothers to be safe. You three are and will always be my priority," she said, pulling me and hugging me tightly. She continued in her native language, Waidani, "Without you three, I am nothing. I am your mother first, and I will do everything in my power to ensure my babies are safe." She pulled back and gazed at me, assessing. She asked, "Understand, ibina?"

I nodded timidly, and said, "Yes, mama."