Lia ran through the corridors of the station and back into the central garden. She stopped for a moment and looked back. Miss Joy had followed her.
“Wait! Lia! This vaccination is important!”
Immediately Lia ran and turned into the alley that led to the student imperi dormitory – she had forgotten its name – before ducking behind some of the flowerbeds. Her pulse ran and she waited.
She heard the medical impera arrive at the central well and slow down.
“Lia Selena Eo,” she called out. “Do you really want to lose your mana pools? Your chance at being a mage?”
Lia squeezed her eyes shut. She didn’t want to lose anything, but she knew she would if she got that shot. All she could do at the moment was hope that Ludwig could get the vaccinations stopped.
“With your large mana quantities, you could even die from that virus!” The medical impera’s shoes clacked on the floor. Lia pressed herself closer against the marble of the flowerbed and tried to slow her breathing.
“Lia. Please. This is important. It just takes five minutes and won’t inconvenience you at all.” The clacks got a bit quieter. Miss Joy moved away from her.
Lia sighed and waited until she couldn’t hear her shoes anymore. Only then did she raise and clean her robes. There were a few grey splotches on it, but she didn’t dare return to her former room to change. Instead she walked to the only place where she could be safe for a while.
She didn’t get far, as there were two big burly men in front of Orphelia’s new house. They had crossed their arms and stared stoically straight ahead.
“I want to see Orphelia,” she told them, but neither even reacted to her presence. “Orphelia is waiting for me,” she tried.
One of them moved his eyes to look at her. “Princess Orphelia.” He stared at her for a moment, then continued staring straight ahead.
“Talk to Orphelia-”
“Princess Orphelia.”
“Okay.” Lia ground her teeth. “Talk to Princess Orphelia. I am her personal donar. She needs me!”
“The way you look, you’re not a royal donar. Now scram!”
Lia stared at him with an open mouth. She was so stunned by his comment that she didn’t move. And then she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“There you are.” Miss Joy had somehow caught up to her. Lia wasn’t at all happy to see her. “I’m not going to let you die on my watch, just because you are stubborn.”
“Princess Orphelia needs me,” she tried again.
“Princess Orphelia can wait until you’ve gotten your shot!” Miss Joy forced her to turn around. “It is mandatory for all donar on the Crystal Citadel!”
Lia turned around and tried to channel Ludwig. “Miss Joy. I am not getting that one vaccination.”
Miss Joy looked her in the eyes, and somehow also managed to channel Ludwig. “Fine. Then I have no other choice but to send you home. I can’t have you endanger your life, or that of the princess.” With that she turned around and started to walk away, only to be stopped by the approaching principal.
“Ah, Doctor Joy.” Arthur P. Rose smiled at her, his arms wide open. “You got my message already.”
“Your message?” The medical impera sounded taken aback.
“Yes. I wanted you to see the princess. She’s developed this nasty rash on her arms.” He lowered his hands and turned to the side. There was another man behind him, a head shorter than the principal with short already graying hair. “I also wanted to introduce you to Doctor Robert Deimos. He’s the uncle of our new princess and also a molecular biologist.”
“Since you’re here, Miss Joy.” Lia felt relief as she heard Ludwig’s voice. “I wanted to ask you to suspend vaccinating any more donar.”
“I … wait. What?”
“I am sure you heard me,” Ludwig answered. “I think it is best if you suspend vaccinating anyone with that new vaccine for a while.”
“But why?”
“I think it’s strange that there’s supposedly a virus that only infects donar. A virus that strives on magic.”
“The blue death is a well documented case of a disease that infects only donar. It could be eradicated with the help of vaccines.”
“I am aware. I am also aware that the blue death was a bacterial infection. Bacteria are alive and can therefore interact with magic. But this is supposed to be a virus, and those are usually not alive.” Lia’s eyes widened as Ludwig discussed medical knowledge on par with the medical Impera. It felt a bit as if she had underestimated him.
“We can ask the expert on molecular mana biology.” Ludwig turned to Orphelia’s uncle. “What’s your assessment of the situation?”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“I haven’t really followed the news,” he answered and rubbed his chin. Then he looked away from Ludwig and up to the fake sky. “That virus is supposed to thrive on mana or something similar, right? This means that it has to attack the mitochondria of a donar as they are the ones releasing mana.”
Lia felt his gaze on her, and when she tried to meet his, he quickly looked away.
“The virus would need to have spike proteins that would allow it to enter a cell and then the mitochondria itself.” He sighed and lowered his hand. “I’m not saying it’s impossible, but highly improbable. I can’t really make an informed decision without reading the papers regarding the virus as well as the vaccine.” He shook his head and put his hands in his pockets. “Maybe it’s better to listen to Mr. van Ragd for now, unless you’ve read the studies yourself?”
Lia could almost hear Miss Joy’s frown, as she answered: “No, I haven’t. I didn’t have the time. The doses were delivered with an order to quickly immunize the donar against the virus. It had the highest priority because the Crystal Citadel is a trade hub with a teleporter array. I trusted the empire on this.”
“I think the imperial medical society has yet to release a statement themselves,” Ludwig added.
“Very well. I’ll consult the studies myself, after I had a look at the princess.”
“Perfect.” The principal clapped once. “Now, shall we get going?” He didn’t wait for their reply and walked past them. The brutes immediately stepped out of the way and he entered the building.
“Lia, please follow as well,” Ludwig said as he went past her. “We have a lot to discuss and prepare since she declared you her personal donar.” Lia was sure that he had just said that for the bodyguards. Despite that, she could almost love him at this point, and hurried up to follow him. She noticed how they looked at each other, shrugged, and then went back to their positions just before the door closed behind them.
Orphelia’s new room was big. Easily four times their old room, and there were doors to even more rooms. A low glass table was in the middle of the room, with a couch and several armchairs around it. Steaming cups of tea stood on the table and Orphelia was drinking out of another. The arms of her friend were red.
Her friend put the cup down and stood. “Uncle!” She sounded genuinely happy to see him. He embraced her for a moment, then pushed her at arm’s length.
“How are you, my little grasshopper?”
“I’m okay. Mostly.” She started scratching her arms again.
“I never thought you’d be a princess one day.”
“May I see that rash?” interrupted Miss Joy the conversation, and Orphelia nodded, holding out her arms to the medical impera.
“Trust me, I didn’t want this role. But I had no other choice.”
“It’s okay.” He embraced her once more.
“Do you know what this is?” The principal approached Miss Joy, who answered with a sigh.
“It looks like an allergic reaction. Sometimes imperi reject certain kinds of mana, usually the rarer types they don’t have access to.”
“But she’s a princess that has proven that she has access to all the elements.”
Miss Joy sighed. “I read the report.” Then she shook her head. “I’ll get her an antihistamine and then we’ll see whether her symptoms improve.”
“Do that.” The medical impera nodded at the principal’s order and left. “May we sit?” he then addressed Orphelia.
“But of course. Please, sit down.” She returned to her chair, with the principal taking the second arm chair, while Ludwig and Doctor Deimos sat on the couch. Lia made her way to the couch and sat down carefully.
“Normally you’d have to stand behind the princess,” Ludwig informed her, “but we’re here to introduce you to all the finer details of court etiquette.”
Lia didn’t know whether she should thank or curse him at that moment, so she decided to just smile at him, showing a bit of both.
“Now, as you can imagine, we’re scrambling to prepare for the ceremony.” The principal pulled her attention to him. “Normally we should have more time, before the appearance of a new royal is announced publicly, but yours was somehow leaked to HNN.” He shook his head. “Now we have to get ready for the coronation in three days. After that, you’ll be Orphelia Saggitarius.”
“What will happen to my family?”
“For now, nothing. After your coronation? I guess it’s something you can decide. You can have them brought to New New Earth. Or you can fund them a more relaxed life on Deimos.”
“Can I … do something for them now? Just in case …”
“There is no need to worry, princess. You’ll be safe and secure here.” Arthur P. Rose smiled at Orphelia, who was nervously scratching her arms again. “Now, as for the ceremony itself. Your uncle has agreed to walk you down the aisle, and Lia will be right behind you.”
Lia gulped. She wouldn’t be right in the center of attention, but she would be very close to it.
“We’re having clothes prepared for the three of you,” the principal continued, “and we’re going to rehearse the steps and the things you have to say beforehand.”
From there, he launched into a long explanation on what their respective tasks would be during the ceremony. Orphelia had to, once again, demonstrate that she was both a donar and an impera. Amir would then acknowledge her and adopt her into the royal family.
Her uncle would give her to the Saggitarius for the sake of the empire, while Lia would have to pledge her undying loyalty to her lady. Then, with both their powers combined, they’d have to conjure the illusion of the night sky while lighting a new star within it.
“Any questions?”
Orphelia shook her head. Lia felt paralyzed. She didn’t have a large role to play, but having her pledge her loyalty to someone, even if it was her best friend, still sounded like a large ask.
“Good.” The principal clapped his hands. “Lia. We’ve prepared a new room for you. It’s on the upper floor. A staff member will move your belongings over.”
“I’ll show you to your room,” Ludwig said and rose. Lia looked for a moment at her friend.
“Go. We’ll talk later,” she promised. Lia nodded at her, then followed Ludwig up the stairs and stepped into a small hallway.
“Princess Orphelia’s bedroom is to the left,” Ludwig explained to her and went to one of the two doors opposite of it. He opened the door and Lia stepped into a lavishly decorated room. It wasn’t quite as long as the one in the dormitory, but it was wider. Even the bed was bigger, and she had a desk and a wardrobe all to herself. Then there were the two armchairs and the small table in the corner. She could have someone visit.
Ludwig cleared his throat. “To be honest, I wanted to talk to you in private.”
Lia turned around. “Why?”
“Because …” He grimaced. It seemed as if what he wanted to say caused him physical pain. “I’m at my wits end.”
“You’re what?”
“I don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve tried everything, and then you tell me out of the blue that the vaccination might have to do with the zombies, which seems to be a new lead. You … clearly have a perspective on things that I lack.”
Lia was speechless. What was happening to Ludwig of all people?
“Please. If you have any more insight, or any ideas, tell me.”
There was nothing she could do, for now. No new ideas. But she wanted to avoid that future as much as he did, so she refrained from giving a snippy answer. Instead she lowered her gaze. “I’ll think about it.”
“Please do. I’ll start evacuating non-essential personnel.” With that, he turned around, and Lia sat on one of the chairs, hiding her face in her hands. What should she do now? Somehow having Ludwig count on her made her only feel more pressure.
“Dad … What should I do now?” Lia suddenly jumped up. “Dad!” She had totally forgotten about her parents. She ran out of the room and down the stairs, hoping to catch them before they left.