Allison looked at herself in her dressing mirror. She felt strange in her school uniform. The material felt rough on her skin after months of wearing lavish dresses made of fabric smoother than silk. She straightened her tie and put her hair in a ponytail using the ruby hairclip. She couldn’t believe she actually missed wearing dresses.

Queen Aryna had taught her many important lessons about being a noblewoman. She had told Allison a true noblewoman always dressed impeccably. No matter what she was wearing, she should always ensure it was fit right and that she wore it right. Skirts should not be wrinkled. Bras and underwear should never be seen under clothes. Everything should be just so. Anything less and it could be seen as lazy, or worse, an insult to other nobles.

She also said that a noblewoman never slouched. There had been so much about posture. According to the Qual’sa ideals of nobility posture was near the top of the list. Anger was a weakness that could be exploited, so it was best to not be angry, but failing that, never show it. Of course there were the rules about cosmetics. Always use them, never overdo them, they are always best when people do not realize they are cosmetics and always use them to make yourself look more ethereal. There were a million other things. She had used the portable makeup kit that Queen Aryna had provided her to add just a hint of awesome to her face. Allison stood up straight, arms back. She nodded to her reflection. She might have put a little bit more effort into her looks this morning.

Eighteen months was a long time to dissect every part of her first actual kiss with Tyler. Had she been too drooly? Did he even want to kiss her? Had she sexually assaulted him? Would he still be interested after all this time? Given their family’s shared history was it even appropriate? She had lost an aunt, uncle and cousin in the Mar’s attack, he had basically lost everyone except his mom, dad and sister when the Tritan dome was destroyed. All of these and countless more had run through her head and to say Queen Aryna was one of the worst people to give relationship advice would be an understatement. Allison was just the slightest bit nervous about her return to school.

She had grown accustomed to waking up early to prepare for the day. Life as a noblewoman in the Qual’sa court took very extensive preparation every morning. Her mother was drinking her first coffee and reading the news. It was almost seven in the morning. This time of the year the colony was still shrouded in darkness until eight-thirty in the morning. Apiyo didn’t look up from her tablet when she spoke.

“Good morning, Aryna.”

Allison blinked at her mother.

“If she hears that she might be insulted.”

Apiyo looked up from her tablet.

“Allison, you’re up early, is everything okay?”

Allison nodded.

“Yes. What is for breakfast?”

Apiyo finished her coffee with a gulp.

“Well, that choice usually goes to the first one out here, so what are we having?”

Allison bit her lower lip and thought about it.

“I’ll just see what fruit and veggies we have.”

Allison started pulling out the makings of a vegetarian breakfast. Most of it was fruit. Her mother put down her tablet. She looked Allison up and down.

“Who are you and where is my daughter?”

Allison had just taken a bite out of an apple and was chewing it she gave her mom a confused look.

“What?”

Apiyo pointed at the vegetarian plate Allison had prepared.

“You don’t eat fresh anything. Are you feeling alright? You’ve been acting strangely. Is that makeup?”

Her mother got closer and took a better look. Allison swallowed her third bite of the apple while shrugging.

“Yeah. I mean yes.”

Apiyo put her hands on her hips. Allison realized she’d answered yeah then corrected herself with yes in the Qual’sa language.

“You’re the one being weird mom, I’m going to go eat in my room so I can be around less crazy people.”

She picked up her plate and took another bite of her apple. She vanished into her room and spent an hour going over her tablet trying to remember what she was taking in her various classes. She barely remembered what they were learning. Her military training was really going to suck. Only God or the Dark Mother could help her come cheerleading practice. She was going to be the worst. She was starting to regret her decision to stay in the past so long. Aryna knocked on Allison’s doorframe. Allison spun her chair to look at her.

“Good morning.”

Aryna scanned Allison over with her magenta eyes. Allison was having trouble seperating her friend from her mother, or progenitor… whatever Queen Aryna was to Aryna. She’d known Queen Aryna for far longer than she had known Aryna. Queen Aryna had taught Allison another very valuable skill, something she could have learned from no one else. How to use her latent telepathy to cause static in her mind to prevent it from being read or interfered with.

“Allison, are you alright?”

Allison didn’t meet her friends gaze, to Aryna, only a day had passed, and yesterday she could have sensed Allison’s confusion and her hesitance, but now, she could sense Allison was there, but not her thoughts, or emotions.

“I’m fine.”

Aryna inched closer.

“You do not sound like you believe that. I sense a division between us. I do not want it to turn into a canyon.”

Allison touched her Dark Mother pendant. It granted her minor comfort. Now she understood why her aunt kept her worn silver crucifix around her neck.

“I need time. I… can’t share myself with you like we have. I just can’t. You have seen enough. Suffered enough. I will not share this burden. I cannot. You are my sister. We are meant to be sisters, we always were. I just… the time is not right.”

Aryna was in arms reach of Allison by now.

“What happened to you?”

Allison sighed.

“Something wonderful and something terrible. I saw the vilest being you can imagine. A monster wearing a beautiful skin. Then I was in paradise. It was contentment and bliss. I belonged there, but it was a memory a beautiful memory… a dream that I had to wake up from. It will fade like a dream; I just need time.”

Aryna looked into Allison’s eyes.

“You carry my burdens, let me help you with yours.”

Allison sighed; She did not want to see her friend’s… sister’s face when she found out the truth of her origins. Allison stood up and touched Aryna’s upper arms.

“Time. I’m going to go sit with mom and Robin. I’m going to have some tea, come on.”

Breakfast was a quiet affair. Eventually they went to school. Allison and Aryna rode in silence. Allison wrapped her fingers around the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles turned white. She sat there staring at the school doors. Aryna eventually reached over and touched Allison’s forearm gently.

“We should go inside or we will be late.”

Allison blurted out.

“The last time I saw Tyler I lip-kissed him.”

Aryna laughed musically.

“That was why he was so anxious yesterday. He kept looking at your empty seat. Oh, I thought you two had a fight. He looked so happy at his locker. We should go in; He will be excited to see you I am sure.”

Allison sighed.

“Aryna, I was in… do you know what time dilation is?”

Aryna nodded.

“Yes, we learned about that in science. Gravity slows time and relative velocity.”

Allison bit her lower lip.

“I wasn’t at the embassy yesterday; I was on a mission and I… for you it was sixteen hours, for me it was almost eighteen months.”

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Aryna’s eyes filled with sympathy.

“No wonder you have been acting so strangely. You must be eager to get back to school, to Tyler.”

Allison rubbed her hands on the steering wheel.

“Eighteen months is a lot of time to overanalyze a kiss. I barely remember what we were studying in class. I’m going to mess up school and mom is going to… she will be very upset when she gets my exam marks. There is so much to catch up on and I don’t know where to start.”

Aryna patted Allison’s forearm.

“My sister, my mother would tell me in times of existential dread, all we can do is the next right thing. I believe the next right thing to do this morning is to turn the truck off.”

Allison smiled at Aryna. Queen Aryna had given her the same advice when Allison had some challenges on Qual’sa.

“I know I would have liked your mother.”

Allison turned the truck off and the pair went into the school. It felt strange to be back for Allison. As she walked deeper into the school the familiar scents and sounds made it feel more real. She identified the problem she was having, Qual’sa felt more real than here. Tyler was once again blocking her access to her locker because he was taking forever trying to get his schoolbag closed. She tapped her painted black nails on her locker.

“Hey slowpoke.”

Tyler dropped his bag and looked up.

“You’re back!”

Allison put a finger on her lips.

“I didn’t really go anywhere… so about uh… last night… err the night before last.”

Tyler reached down for his bag and shoved his locker shut after stuffing the contents in with his foot. He tried to lean on the bank of lockers and look cool but he almost fell.

“It was no big deal.”

Allison rubbed the back of her neck and looked down at the floor.

“Yeah, no big deal. I slipped and we got close. It happened.”

Tyler nodded.

“Right.”

Allison got rid of her coat and got her stuff together for religion. Tyler walked beside her quietly. Today Allison did not have her tablet clutched to her chest like she usually did. She had it hooked in her fingers at her side. She had her head held high. Sister Silra hushed everyone after the announcements finished and addressed the class.

“Well, it is the last day before final exams for the semester. As you all know there is no exam for religion, just a final essay which you can use whatever resources you require to write. It is accepted by most that the being that saved my planet was the Dark Mother. It is accepted that she sacrificed herself to stop the great deceiver from bringing about a universe ending apocalypse. What we do not know and may never know for certain is: who she really was in her mortal life. She was mortal, she had mortal failings, she felt pain, she felt joy, she felt love. It is widely believed that Enid Aurelius was the mortal form of the Dark Mother. The essay for this final is: Who was Enid Aurelius? You may focus on just what we know historically, her life history, her actions as the Empress of Eternal Night, her mortal failings, or her writings under the guise of our school’s namesake, Saint Sarah of Savia. The primary body of the essay should be done in the academic style. The second part will consist of your personal feelings on what you discovered and how it changes your relationship with the Dark Mother. Essays are due in one week, marks will be ready with your exam marks the following Monday, you may go to the library to begin research or prepare for your finals as you see fit. See you in two weeks for the new semester.”

Everyone seemed a bit shocked, but they started filing out towards the library. Trixie sat down across from Allison.

“You look delicious.”

Allison looked around for someone to save her from this uncomfortable situation but instead of heading straight to a seat Aryna and Tyler had started by trying to find resources for their essay. Books weren’t really a thing, they were for special things like say, the Dark Mother’s kids’ bible Allison had given Robin, but, mostly books took the form of tablets with paper white backgrounds and text that you would withdraw from a library. Her rescue came in the form she had not imagined. The giant who had tried to bully her. She was over that by the end of the two-week cheerleading suspension, she’d enjoyed her vacation from it. Now a year and a half later, at least by her reckoning she didn’t even remember his name.

“Excuse me, Lieutenant. Ma’am. I just wanted to say sorry for doing what I did. It was wrong and I learned my lesson.”

Allison stood up.

“It’s just Allison, and I am sorry I lost my temper. Your behavior towards me is no excuse for my actions. Is your collarbone alright?”

He nodded.

“I uh, also wanted to say thank you for what you did for us.”

Allison bowed her head slightly; She was still accustomed to the social niceties of the Qual’sa court.

“You don’t need to thank me, just be better.”

He nodded. Allison looked at Trixie.

“Sorry, I need to go call someone.”

Trixie looked disappointed. Allison found a deserted corner of the library, then she called Eyre. Her sister answered the call. She regretted her decision immediately when she saw the look on Eyre’s face.

“I have so much to say to you, and I can say none of it right now. I assure you; We will have a very detailed discussion about your last few days the next time you’re on Earth. I’ve already started making arrangements for what you and your Aunt Maria discussed. So, is this a social call, do you need something, or have done something else catastrophic?”

Allison had not realized Eyre would know anything about her mishap.

“I have to write an essay on Enid, I was hoping you could tell me some stuff about her.”

Eyre raised one of her delicate auburn eyebrows.

“How much time do you have? Are we going to air family dirty laundry or are we going to keep this inspirational?”

Allison bit her lower lip.

“Did you and Enid not get along?”

Eyre tapped her stylus on her lips.

“I don’t know many mothers and daughters that have perfect relationships, hon, we had our issues. We were very different people. I usually try to discuss things before beheading people, mom, was the opposite. Mom was an artist; Her art was death. Don’t get me wrong, she never enjoyed killing people, she was just really good at it. She had a very low tolerance for, pardon my language, bullshit and she was a vampire enforcer for the council and our grandfather. Vampires are generally arrogant to a fault, so given mom’s temperament, she ended up killing a lot of vampires. Most just called her the reaper, because for most of her life if she showed up, someone was going to die. Even the hint she’d been called into a city would send vampires running or underground. I doubt that is what your teacher wants you to write. What is the topic specifically?”

Allison sighed. The more she learned about her biological mother, the more glad she was that she was adopted.

“What was her childhood like?”

Eyre frowned.

“Hon, you never need to know that. I wish I didn’t.”

Allison was now very curious.

“It couldn’t be that bad.”

Eyre shook her head.

“Look Allison, I’ll tell you anything else you want to know about her, but I will never discuss what her childhood was like with you. Whatever you imagine it was like, I assure you it was a lot worse. What I can tell you is, she was raised in Scotland, she was what the Roman’s called a pict, she was the daughter of a powerful chieftain. If it had been the Middle Ages, he would have been a king. He controlled a large part of Scotland. Her mother died in childbirth. She was raised by a woman named Lilith, yes, the Lilith from the Dark Mother’s book, the first woman created by God. She had two milk mothers, the first she wouldn’t tell me anything about, just that she left the boy who was raised as her brother and had a daughter who had made the blanket she loved as a child. Our biological grandfather was turned into a vampire, and he is still around but I’ve very clearly told him not to contact me, I believe I was clear that none of her children want him in their lives. And if he reaches out to you, you tell me or Aunt Maria immediately I don’t care where you are, or what you are doing. He is not to be trusted. Something happened when mom was eleven or twelve and she went to live with Aunt Maria and her family.”

Allison felt sick in the pit of her stomach. Worse than she imagined? No contact with her Grandfather? It could only mean one thing. The marks on her back…

“Did he do what I think he did?”

Eyre smiled.

“Don’t worry about it, it was long ago, and she is gone. Her pain is gone. So, let’s talk about something else, like, I bet you didn’t know she was a pirate for twenty years.”

Allison smiled at that.

“What?”

Eyre laughed.

“They called her the Red Scourge, usually just Red. She sailed out of Port Royal. She had three ships, and she was very successful.”

“Why would she choose piracy? Isn’t that like the worst thing a vampire could do? The sun, blood…”

Eyre put her stylus down.

“Mom despised slavery. So, she targeted slave traders specifically, freeing who she could, stealing what they got paid to help the slaves she freed. Call her the Dread Pirate Robinhood. She always pretended to hate everyone. Say mortals disgusted her, but she sure put a heck of a lot of effort into saving them. Anyway… she and some of her crew told me a lot of her stories. I’ll share some.”

Eyre related many tales of her mother’s exploits on the high seas. Allison recorded the whole conversation, so she had something to share if Sister Silra wanted to see her sources. Allison was enraptured. She was still sure she probably wouldn’t want to have a relationship with Enid, but she was a formidable woman. It was getting close to her next class and Eyre still had a lot of stories. Allison had to cut her short, they said goodbye and Allison headed off to class.

Allison and Aryna went to pick up Robin together. They had gotten off school early so they had to wait for a while. Allison was studying for her math exam. Aryna was reading one of the history books she’d withdrawn from the school library.

“Did you know your mother was a fighter pilot too? It says here she was a Medal of Honor recipient, that was the highest award the government could give her at the time. She shot down twenty-two planes in one mission and she landed her jet on the aircraft carrier with so much damage it should not have been able to fly, let alone land. So very interesting how much we inherit from our parents.”

Allison glanced at Aryna.

“She’s not my mother, she was an egg doner. I’m a pilot because my dad was a pilot and so was my babu. She had nothing to do with it.”

Aryna glanced at Allison.

“I am sorry, I did not mean to upset you.”

Allison sighed.

“She was a complicated person. I learned today that she killed a lot of people. I just don’t think we’re that much alike. She was an ancient vampire by the time she was flying jets anyway, she probably could fling the enemy jets out of the sky with her mind.”

Aryna nodded.

“Did you know she was also something called a pediatric surgeon, I had to look up the meaning, it meant she specialized in healing children. She saved the lives of thousands of children. She was world renowned for her skills.”

Allison’s lips slipped into a slight smile.

“I didn’t know that.”

Aryna nodded.

“I try very hard not to judge someone, or a situation until I know all sides.”

Allison was looking over a formula and spoke without realizing what she was saying out loud.

“Your mother liked to harp on that a lot.”

Aryna’s head quirk to the side.

“Did I share that memory with you?”

Allison looked out of the windshield.

“You must of, I wouldn’t know it otherwise, right?”

Aryna closed her eyes.

“No, I have never shared that memory with you. Maybe you saw it when I was having issues controlling myself. But yes, she loved to say it and teach me it. She would tell me about disputes she was helping meditate and then would ask me who was in the wrong. She’d make me ask her questions. Then when I made my choice, she’d tell me why I was wrong.”

Allison nodded again.

“Oh God I hated when she did that.”

Allison’s hand went to her mouth then she corrected herself.

“I meant, I bet you hated when she did that.”

Aryna narrowed her eyes.

“You are being deceptive. Please tell me the truth.”

They were interrupted when Robin appeared beside the pickup with Oozie. Aryna got out to let them in. She was very quiet on the ride home.