Isla

“Isla Phell. It would be a pleasure if you would honor me with a dance,” the prince said, and my breath caught in my throat.

I was already exhausted from so many people coming up to us. Sean did his best to keep them away, but all of them stared at me and him, some managed to say their peace despite Sean’s interference. He was a bit rude to them, but I was too tired and nervous to be worried about how nice he was to people we didn’t even know. Now I had to get up, walk over to the Prince, and have every eye on me as we danced. I stood, trying to keep my legs from shaking, and made my way over to him.

My stomach dropped when I saw his face, but I wasn’t sure why. Wren was not intimidating, despite being a fairly tall and broad person.His face was too soft looking, the easy smile on his face giving him the look of a naive child, especially since it was mixed with an unbridled confusion. I could almost see the questions he wanted to ask floating in the air above his head, and I did my best not to laugh. He was a prince, supposedly one of the most graceful people in the kingdom, but the look on his face was ridiculous. Even so, the tight nervousness I felt didn’t go away.

When I finally reached him, he took my hand in his. Sean and I had practiced dancing many times, and he was always better than me at it, but I at least knew where to start. Still, my other hand shook as I placed it on his shoulder. The Princess asked for Sean as soon as Wren and I touched, and I could hear the two of them making their way to the center of the room. As soon as the two of them met up, the music began, and we started to dance.

It was only a few seconds before Wren began asking questions. “I can’t believe it,” he whispered. “There’s more of us. Do you know how we ended up here? Wait, are you from a different, different world? Do you have any special powers? Are we all having some kind of shared dream that’s lasted for thirteen years in the dream world? Do you know how we ended up here? Why were we reincarnated?”

“I–” I stuttered, bombarded by his questions. I ended up tripping over my own feet from the distraction, but Wren caught me and quickly moved back into the dance like I hadn;t made a mistake at all. I silently thanked him, then focused on getting the steps right before answering him. “No, none of that,” I finally said.

“Oh,” he responded, looking slightly disappointed. “Then what do you know?”

“I was hoping to ask you that.”

He frowned. “Really? I–we don’t know anything. Just that we were born and knew everything already. I’ve tried to talk to Mae about our memories, but she says she’s only seen a few. Nothing else has really happened to us, until you two, of course.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “You’re the Prince of the entire kingdom. Surely you know something.”

Wren shrugged and gave a sheepish smile. “Sorry to disappoint, I guess.”

“I was certain that was the reason you spoke to me at the Mage’s Event,” I told him, “At least I was until I saw your reaction to Sean’s question.”

“Ah– ahem,” Wren coughed. “No. I… um… I came up to you for another reason. You looked uncomfortable around all those people and I thought… ahem… nothing. I just wanted to help.”

“I– I see.”

“So do you and your brother know anything about reincarnation?”

“No. Sean says there’s some kind of weird thing with Nex, but I don’t really understand it. We– I was hoping to learn more from you two, but it seems it’s a dead end.”

We danced in silence after that, Wren occasionally starting to say something, then stopping. I focused on my steps, trying to think of anything else to say or ask. Wren finally broke the silence, asking, “Why don’t we share some of the memories we have from our past lives?”

“What? What will that do?”

He shrugged, “Maybe it will reveal something we have in common. Maybe the four of us were reincarnated for a specific reason. Plus, it wouldn’t hurt to get to know each other better.”

I stared up at him, chewing on my lip slightly. His face was red, probably from the dancing. We had been at it for a while now, and we were supposed to continue for a whole hour. I quickly stared back down at my feet “That– okay, but you go first.”

Wren’s confident smile returned. “Okay, so most of mine have to do with running.”

Confused, I stared up at him. “What were you running from?”

He chuckled. “No, I was running to something. I guess I played a lot of sports. I remember playing basketball, soccer, and football. Most of the memories have to do with me running though. Some of them are so clear that I swear I can feel the wind pushing against me as I imagine it. It’s such a good feeling.”

“Ah,” I said tentatively. “I don’t really get it. Running is just running.”

“It’s more the goal than the running itself. Knowing that I’m headed towards something, that I’m making progress, is just a comforting feeling. When you run, you’re moving. It’s better than standing still.”

“I guess I understand,” I answered him.

I still didn’t fully, though. What was the purpose of running other than to get away from something? It sounded nice though, the way he put it.

“So, what about you?” Wren asked.

I looked back up at him, doing my best to not mess up any of the steps of the dance, and started to speak. I didn’t have a lot of memories from my past life, and those that I did were very hazy. I could remember a door, and knocking on it, as well as a street that I crossed regularly. I told him about everything that I could remember, Soon the topic of reincarnation just fell away from my mind. I still wanted to know more. Why was I here? What is the purpose of it? But, for now, I just let all the questions go, and danced.

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Titus Phell

The wine tasted terrible. It was sour, and the flavor was hardly anything to be proud of. Yet, Lord Vine gorged himself on it just a few seats down. He was laughing heartily, surely showing off something he had just recently purchased. Many Lords and Ladies gathered around him, filling their cup and speaking to him like his family was still a Great House. I grit my teeth and finished my drink. That’s all I had to do, at least for a little while. Just swallow it all down.

I’d already had several meetings with the Lord of House Vine. His son, Lord Victor Vine, was a pleasant young man, very respectable, far different from his father. He would make a good husband for Isla, but, of course, there were plenty of obstacles to overcome. Lord Vine was too soft on his children. He assured them that they would be allowed to choose who they marry. It was an idiotic practice. Children had no idea what was good for them, and always ended up making the wrong choice. I scowled at my cup, thinking far too hard on something I just wanted to cast aside.

I had conceded to Lord Vine that allowing some children to do what they want could result in fortune. His daughter, Lady Kella, was proof of that, but it was a rarity, and not one to be relied on. Lord Vine waved me off, and let the decision fall to Victor. The young man knew how to treat his betters with respect, but he was as dull as his father. He’d refused the marriage, saying Isla was far too young for him. I assured him they wouldn’t be married until she came of age, just engaged, but he still denied me. It was foolish. The deal was far in favor of House Vine, and yet he had refused me. That was the very problem I was trying to think through when Lord Rediff announced it was time for the Twin’s Dance.

The old man walked up, his pride at being the host of this event not even veiled as an arrogant smile crossed his lips. I wanted to laugh. He was the Head of a Great House, yet he enjoyed playing servant. He announced the start of the dance, then gave a flourishing bow to the King and his children. I ignored it all, so much so that I couldn’t even taste the filth in my cup anymore, pondering how I should convince Victor. I could have him meet Isla. She looked proper, and I could make sure her handmaidens fixed any issues before the meeting. Her beauty might sway him. That was the idea I was tossing in my head when I heard the Prince say my name.

I was shaken out of my own head and stared at the young boy with wide eyes, spilling a small bit of my wine as my jaw fell slack. He had said my name. Or, my family name, I supposed, but it was mine nonetheless. Still, that made no sense. Had some of the branch families arrived despite me commanding them not too? Had the Prince called out to one of them? The thought made me furious, but I didn’t get a chance to feel angry. Everything, my emotions, my thoughts, even my plans, fell away when Isla stood. She made her way over to the Prince taking his hand and slowly walking to the middle of the ballroom with him. I felt just as I had when my daughter had run away from home, complete and utterly astonished.

I glanced down at the boy to my side. Sean was grinning, his face an open book of arrogance. I had spent years training myself to not show any emotion, and had kept my face straight, despite my surprise, but the boy must have seen what he wanted, because his smile only grew when he looked up at me. Had he done this? No, it wasn’t possible. He was a child, and the Prince had shown interest in Isla at the Mage’s Event. I’d thought nothing of it, considering how their interaction had ended according to Mage Cyrus, but perhaps she made a better impression than I thought. Then, when I was certain that this stroke of fortune was just a mix of the Prince’s interest in Isla and a bit of good luck, the Princess said my name again.

This time, I had heard the name that came before it as well. Sean stood, but I kept my eyes away from him. He walked up to the Princess, following the other two to the center of the room, then began dancing as the music started. How was this possible? It was a greater stroke of fortune handed to me than anything else in my entire life, and I had no idea why. The boy had had no contact with the princess. It didn’t make any sense.

Sean’s grin resurfaced in my mind. He had done something. They had spent an extra moment speaking with the Royal Twins, and I was going to chastise them for that, but now, I didn’t know what to do. What could the two of them even have said to produce this result? I had no idea, and that terrified me. Sean and Isla were not hard to predict. Everything they did was expected, even things I didn’t want them to do. There was always a margin of error when it came to predicting children, it was in the nature of young people to do unpredictable things, but the two of them weren’t like that. This, however, was beyond anything I could have ever imagined. Not knowing what they could do next was unsettling.

I watched them dance, throwing around an idea of how they’d gotten so close to the Royal Twins, when a new thought crossed my mind. I still had no idea what the two of them had done, but I doubted it was more than anything half baked. It was, however, an incredibly powerful message. The other Lords and Ladies were all watching the Royal Twins and my grandchildren, who also happened to be twins, dance together. It was an extremely influential showing, and it would be remiss of me not to capitalize on it.

I stood as some of the young nobles started joining the pair of twins on the ballroom floor, making my way over to the raised area of the room, where the King was still seated. The man was resting his elbow on the side of his chair, his hand on one of his cheeks as he watched the dance with a small smile. When he saw me approaching, the smile fell away, replaced by a look of exhaustion. I could understand that, even sympathize with the man. Here he was, just trying to enjoy his children’s birthday, and I had come to interrupt. Though, he probably knew I would come to talk to him when the twins had called out for their partners. No doubt he thought it was some plot of mine. He waved me up with a hand and I joined him. There was no seat for me to take, so I simply stood beside him, and the two of us watched the dance.

It was quiet for a short while, until His Majesty finally spoke in a rough, grated voice. The voice of a tired old man. “What do you want?” he asked.

I gave him a smile as he stared up at me, then gestured lightly with my hand towards the crowd of dancing people. “They get along well, don’t they?”

The King was not an idiot, and he knew what I was getting at. He would have danced to the tune of my words in the past, but things had changed. He used to enjoy ceremony, veiling words and showing off his power and influence, but time, as well as the actions of others, had weathered his passion. Again, I could sympathize. I didn’t know what I would do if I lost my wife, especially if it was in the same way he lost his. His Majesty spoke frankly. “It seems they do. I suppose you have an offer for me then?”

“As you know, the roads that lead to the Northern Province are few, and filled with obstacles, such as damage and bandits. We both have lacked funds and manpower to do anything about it, but I happen to have a chance at a bit of fortune in the future. It would be a personal fortune, but I can finally focus on improving them… if given the proper motivation.”

The King looked absolutely apathetic, like he didn’t care whether there was any improvement to his kingdom at all. It had to be a mask. The Frosta family were the most powerful House outside of The City of Marble, and the Royal Families greatest allies since the birth of the kingdom. Having a better connection to them, as well as stronger trade routes to the north, was incredibly important. “So I get roads, and you get power and influence?”

“You’re children get companions. I know you understand what life can be like when you live it alone. They can become each other’s strength, like Lady Narissa was to you.”

That was a risk, but I had not gotten so far by taking none. This was an opportunity I may never get again, and I intended to use everything I could to take it. His Majesty’s eyes seemed to flare with life. “Queen Narissa,” the King said, his voice dripping with fury. I didn’t respond, keeping my face as passive as possible, and waited for him to continue. When he finally did, his voice returned to normal. “Make a choice. You can only have one.”

I wondered if my smile was just like Sean’s had been.