“The FAE’s court of four?” Lia echoed the last words Ormo had spoken.

“Our leadership.” He smiled amicably.

“Why?”

“Let’s just say, the spring captain has a unique perspective.” He took the whiskey bottle and put it back in the shelf behind the bar. “Anyways. I think we’re out of Fornax’s grasp. It’s only a matter of time until our mages have recovered enough that we can continue on our journey.” Ormo looked at them expectantly, and Lia realized that she hadn’t finished her glass. She drank it all at once and put it back on the counter. Orphelia put hers back without drinking from it. Her friend still looked pale. She definitely had to ask her when they had a moment alone.

Ormo took both glasses, dumped the contents of Orphelia’s and put them upside down in the sink. “Can you give me a bit of liquid mana?”

Lia rolled her eyes, but quickly tapped his arm. A moment later, Ormo put two clean looking glasses back on the shelf. “Let’s go.”

The pirate captain left the bar. As Orphelia got up, Lia whispered into her ear: “Are you okay?”

Her friend shook her head.

“What happened?”

“It was looking at me,” Orphelia whispered. “It told me I can’t escape …”

Lia didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t even ask anyone without revealing Orphelia’s secret. The only thing she could do, was to take Orphelia in her arms. “You can escape, and you will,” she whispered reassuringly. “I’ll help you escape.” Her friend shivered in her arms, and Lia was almost sure, she heard her sob.

“What’s the matter? Why haven’t you …” Ormo saw them and sighed. “Come to the bridge when you feel better. I don’t think Fornax has ever killed any donar, so you can rest easy now. We really have escaped his grasp.” Ormo turned around and left.

“Then …” Orphelia still shook in her harms. “… why doesn’t it feel like that?”

“I don’t know … I don’t know …” Lia kept holding onto her friend for what felt like an eternity.

“All hand, prepare for hyper space,” a voice said through the communications system. Lia and Orphelia didn’t move. Safe in the ship, they didn’t even feel or see the effects of hyper space, so they didn’t even notice when exactly they entered.

After a few more minutes, Orphelia straightened. “It’s okay. I’m fine now. Thank you.”

Lia took a step back, but kept both hands on Orphelia’s shoulders. “Are you sure?” At least some color had returned to her face.

“Yeah. Let’s see, where we are going.” Her friend turned toward the exit and lead the way. Lia bit her lower lip and followed her through the corridors of the Lagrange. She wondered whether the queen had gotten a similar message or whether Orphelia’s situation was unique. It probably didn’t matter. They wouldn’t return to Fornax’s Grave. They’d meet the FAE’s court of four, and then … maybe, they could find a way back to the academy.

Orphelia walked at a brisk pace, forcing Lia to hurry. She only slowed down, when they reached the door to the bridge. It hissed open and both of them stepped into the central room of the ship. The HTVs were off, once again, indicating that they were still in hyper space.

“Good timing,” Ormo said, turning to them, “we’ll reach EDEN in just under a minute.”

Somehow, the atmosphere was tense. Almost as if everyone suspected that the empire was still on their tail. No one said a word, and that minute lasted an eternity.

“Returning to normal space.” The announcement came suddenly, and the HTVs flickered to life. The darkness of space was almost everywhere around them, with one very bright star in the distance. After approaching that star for another eternity, Lia recognized EDEN. The bright crystal surrounded by three slowly rotating rings.

“Welcome to EDEN, our home.” Ormo still sounded somewhat tense, probably because the empire could still follow them.

The Lagrange approached the station very slowly, but the more time passed, the more the tension seemed to lift from the crew, as well as the captain.

EDEN itself kept growing in front of them, the station far larger than Lia thought. It rivaled the Crystal Citadel in size, if it wasn’t even larger. Could they really have built it just by being privateers? Sanctioned pirates? It must’ve taken decades to build that.

The inside of the three rings were showing different colors, sections that were blue, others that were green, and some gray, as if she was looking at rings, made of the surface of a planet, sliced up and bent into these contraptions. The light of the sun was reflected and refracted by the crystal, bathing the rings in a plethora of colors.

Were the pirates just living in the rings? Or were there facilities in the large crystal as well?

Seeing the crystal thrust another question on her. “Why is a large crystalline structure in all the space stations?” she murmured aloud.

“Now that you mention it,” Orphelia added, and continued the line of thought: “The Crystal Citadel is literally built out of a crystal, there was a large crystal tree in the main dome of Foresteri, and even EDEN has a large Crystal at its core.”

“I guess you would’ve learned it in hyper space studies at the Crystal Academy.” Ormo turned to them. “Crystals are a highly ordered substance. Their atoms are placed in a lattice with periodically recurring patterns. That order is affecting hyperspace, making it easier for any ship traveling through it to leave at more consistent points. It allows us to place hyperspace beacons far closer to the actual station than we can do it at planets or moons.”

Lia stared at EDEN. So the explanation was far simpler than she thought.

They watched in silence as they approached the station. It was massive. Maybe not as massive as the Crystal Citadel, but still huge. When they finally approached the lowest of the three rings, the bridge came to live. “Lagrange to EDEN, requesting permission to dock.”

“Permission granted. Please use dock Iota. The rest of the court is already waiting for you.”

Ormo smiled at the answer. “Understood. Lagrange out.” The captain slowly rose from his chair. “Dock at port Iota, then take some time off. I’ll be taking our guests to meet the rest of the court. I believe this might take a few hours.”

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There was no answer from the crew, but she could see all of them nodding silently.

The captain nodded as well, then left the bridge. Lia and Orphelia followed him, after exchanging another look.

***

The three of them entered the lower ring of the station together. It was the third space station Lia set foot on, and it had another distinct style to it. After entering an elevator, they emerged in a large building with tables, chairs and a counter. A man standing behind it smiled at them.

"Welcome back, Summer Captain," the man said. "The court is waiting."

"I know already, thank you." Ormo then turned to them. "Please follow me."

They left the building and Lia slowed down, mouth agape. Finally she stopped, staring at the sky above. There was a blue sky above with what looked like a perpetual aurora. Bands painted in the colors of the rainbow glittered above them. It was what had first drawn her gaze, but the rest of the station was as breathtaking: Vast fields, and plantages that were only cut off by some metal railings in the distance.

"We try to be self-sufficient," Ormo explained, as he led the way through the fields and plantages consisting of fruit trees. "The lower and the upper ring are both dedicated to producing food, while the central ring is the residential one."

Seeing all the fields made Lia feel homesick. She wanted to see her parents again, maybe even help on the fields. They must be worried sick about her right now. There had to be a way to let them know that she was okay. She'd have to ask Ormo about it.

"Please, come," the captain said to her. She hadn't even realized that she had stopped once again. Orphelia put an arm on her shoulders and they continued to follow Ormo. They left the plantage and walked toward a tube at the edge of the ring. It was a fairly long trek through it to the middle ring, where they emerged in a city. A skyscraper seemed to reach up to the aurora above.

Ormo headed straight for the tallest building. It was built in a style she knew from old pictures of earth. Maybe that, and the coming meeting with the FAE's court of four made the approach daunting. At least she wasn't alone and Orphelia was with her, squeezing her shoulders.

"Thank you," she whispered to her friend. She was very glad, that Orphelia was with her right now. That she hadn't given in to her jealousy. The thought alone made her feel bad.

The inside of the building was paved with gleaming marble. A few marble pillars seemed to hold the upper floors of the building.

"Ah, the Summer Captain has arrived." Another man greeted them. He looked a bit older than Ormo, with white hair and a white beard, clad in a black suit. "The rest of the court is waiting in the meeting room on the uppermost level."

"Thank you, Blackvine." Ormo nodded to the man and led them to an elevator in the back. It reminded her of her first day at the Crystal Academy, when Ludwig had brought her to the Academy level on the Crystal Citadel. This elevator was far less transparent, and she could only see glimpses of the floors they passed by.

Their platform slowed some time later, when they had reached the top of the building. Lia at least thought that it was the top of the building. When they exited, she could see over the city, curving toward her - or rather the crystal up above - in the distance.

She once again wondered, how the pirates could've built all this.

"Impressed?" a strangely familiar female voice asked. As Lia turned around, she looked at a woman dressed in green robes. What looked like lianas was braided into her hair, and a green mask hid her eyes. Lia only managed to nod. "You're probably asking yourself how that's possible." And Lia nodded. "I guess you'll find out soon enough."

"Spring Captain," Ormo greeted the other person.

"Summer Captain." The woman nodded. "We've been waiting. Come on in." She led the way through two large, wooden double doors. A round table stood in the center, with four chairs dispersed in equal distances around it. Two chairs were occupied. There was a woman with white hair and white clothing, and a man with brown hair and clothing. Both were wearing masks.

"These are the winter and the autumn captain respectively," the spring captain explained and walked to the table, taking one of the free chairs. "When the court of four meets with outsiders, we're usually wearing masks, as our privacy is very important." The two other captains nodded slightly.

Ormo nodded as well and took the last free seat. "Please, come. You can sit at my side," he said and two more chairs rose from the floor. "You're my guests, after all."

"You probably wonder why Ormo has arranged a meeting with us," the Spring Captain said. "It was because I asked him to."

"Because you also want access to my time mana," Lia discerned dryly.

"Indeed," the Spring Captain answered. "But in contrast to the Summer Captain, I am in a position to see far more than him." She reached up to her mask and removed it. Suddenly, Lia stared into eyes that she had seen before, that she had even adored at times.

"Lilian Saggitarius," Orphelia whispered, identifying the Spring Captain of the FAE's Court of Four as the former queen.

Lia had recognized her as well, but her mind reeled. “How? Why?” she stuttered while looking at the delicate face of the woman that once ruled the empire.

“Politics,” Lilian answered and leaned back. “You probably won’t believe, how often there are political players that oppose my agenda. I can’t oppose them openly, because I need their support and resources. A ruler is nothing without the people that keep the empire running. The privateers keep the balance by diminishing some of their power.”

“In return, some of our policies are looked upon more favorably. Although the big changes have yet to come,” the woman in white clothing – the winter captain – added.

“The FAE believe in equality. That’s why our court of four is made up of an impero – me, a donar, the winter captain, a normal human, the fall captain, and lilian here, as the one that encompasses all aspects of magic.” Omor leaned back on his chair. “Her parents had introduced her to us as their mother’s replacement. They thought Amir would take the throne, and taught him – until the magic test showed that he had no mana pools himself.”

“It broke the balance, and I think Amir never recovered from the blow, when he was disowned.” Lillian sighed. “But enough about the past. This is about what’s to come.” The former queen straightened in her seat. Suddenly she had a different aura. She seemed more dignified, commanding. “Will you help me shape the future?”

Lia bit her lower lip and looked at Orphelia. Somehow she wasn’t sure how to react, or how to even feel. She was in front of the former queen. The one that had worked countless magical wonders on HTV. The one that had made her want to become a mage herself. It was a bit as if she stood in front of her idol. And her idol asked her to help them. Part of her was squealing in the back of her mind, making it hard to hear her own thoughts. Another part of her was the disillusioned donar, who had had to almost kill Ludwig to get him to recognize her wishes. Maybe, just maybe, right here, and now, she had a chance to change things. Orphelia nodded slightly, and Lia turned back to the queen.

“What does the future entail?” she asked.

“If you seek true equality between imperi and donar, then I can’t promise you that,” the queen answered in a somber tone. “I have drafted legislation that puts everyone on one footing, something I already promised the FAE to introduce.” She shook her head. “It won’t change the attitude of the people over night, and I fear that it might result in a civil war.”

“She’s citing that fear for years,” the winter captain said. “I’ve only voted for her plan to get you, because I know that it will be worse under Amir.”

“Things won’t change for us normal people under either,” the fall captain added and shrugged. “We’ve been promised jam the next day countless times already, but all we’ve been given were fruits we had to grow ourselves.”

Lillian glared at the two pirates that were still masked. When she turned back to them, she took a deep breath. “I’ve seen the future several times, and until now, it always resulted in civil war.” She shook her head. “I’ve been unable to change the future. Maybe I’ve not tried hard enough …”

“Then let’s try harder,” Orphelia said and offered her hand. The queen smiled and shook it.

Lia smiled herself, until she noticed how Orphelia blinked, and seemed to freeze slightly.

“Thank you. That means a lot to me,” Lilian answered, then offered her hand to Lia as well.

Lia hesitated slightly, then took the hand herself.

I just told your friend that I know her secret. The queen’s voice echoed strangely in her head. With her talents, she’ll be considered a princess, and has a lot more sway than she realizes. You two can change the empire, I’m sure of it. Lia froze as well. I don’t think it’s wise to announce her status to everyone here, so please play along. I’ll talk to you more in private later.

The queen let go of her hand, and Lia lowered it far slower than she probably should have. She almost felt Omor narrowing his gaze.

“Will you help me? Us?” the queen asked again, and Lia nodded as if on autopilot.