By the time noon rolled around the next day, I was seriously considering my life choices. Maybe some other ones wouldn’t have led me to the pounding headache that was attacking my brain, making my thoughts feel sluggish and sending stabs of pain through my mind. Damn mental defense training. Damn Mior.

I straightened up and wiped the grimace off my face before I opened the door to the meeting room Mother wanted to see me in. It was one I’d been to often enough in the past, and a quick glance showed it hadn’t changed. Although Mother was sitting at the head of the conference table alone, only a few guards beside the door outside.

When I came in, she looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “Take a seat, Nari. You look stressed.”

I shrugged and sat down, leaning back in my chair. “Just feeling all the training. I think Mior was miffed that you started without them, and decided to try and outdo you.”

Mother looked like she was trying not to smile. “That wasn’t my intention.”

“Eh, it’s probably for the best. Their style is different than yours.” I frowned as I had a sudden thought. “Maybe visualization just isn’t their thing, or because of the differences between humans and spirits, they approach it differently.”

Mior certainly didn’t give me nearly as many pointers on it as Mother did. They included my connection to Rijoko in the lessons and brought some qi into it, but didn’t give me many tips on actually building those defenses. Though I felt like I had improved considerably in the training the spirit had forced on me all morning.

Mother made a noncommittal sound and turned to a few sheets of paper that were suddenly lying on the conference table. I realized she was probably aware of those differences and may have done it on purpose. Oh well.

“I asked Mior to train Tenira and the others as well,” I continued to change the subject. “They refused, saying they didn’t want to teach the whole clan. Since most go through soul journeys.” I shrugged. “I guess I can see that.”

“I’ll arrange for additional training for them,” Mother assured me before I could even ask.

I smiled thankfully, then looked around the room. We were still alone here, although Mother had mentioned a meeting, and it sounded like this would be one of the regular ones. Maybe others were coming later, and she wanted to talk to me first?

“Did you want to talk to me privately?” I asked.

Mother looked up and sat up straighter, stacking the papers again. The angle was awkward so I had trouble reading what was written on them, but the one on top looked official. The letters were drawn artfully, with the first ones bigger than the rest and a few flourishes. Same for the signature. Maybe it was official correspondence.

“Over the last few weeks, rumors about you have started to spread,” Mother said, tapping her finger on the table. “One rumor especially. That you’re a spirit-child of a Greater Spirit. Most often, Rijoko, the Moon.”

I made a face, but nodded. That was to be expected, I’d even seen it before. “Are you using that for PR?”

Mother hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. “A bit, yes. I think Kariva is gently encouraging those rumors, although she hasn’t said much.”

“Well, I guess now that the cat is out of the storage ring, we may as well take advantage of it,” I said, sighing. “It’s not like we can keep it quiet anymore, our enemies already know. Just don’t milk it too badly?”

Mother cleared her throat. “That was my thought as well. However, it may have had a few consequences I haven’t taken taken into account well enough. Namely, the rumors have spread beyond the Empire. People in the other parts of the Earth Continent are already talking about it, and it seems to make the rounds in the Dominion. But the governments of other nations have better sources of information and more to go on. I wouldn’t be surprised if they heard something from spirits, actually.”

I sat up straighter. I hadn’t considered that. I glanced at the paper on the table again, seeing it in a new light. “Go on, hit me with it.”

“The Kingdom of Terbekteri.” Mother frowned a little. “You remember that proposal I told you about months ago?”

“Of course. Don’t tell me they’re back in force?”

“To be honest, I feel a bit bad even talking to you about this.” Mother tapped her fingers on the table again and frowned at the papers. “But yes, they’ve renewed their proposal. The king seems quite insistent now.”

I frowned as I recalled the details. “Weren’t you working something out so only one of their proposed marriages went through, with one of our distant cousins taking the plunge?”

“That was the idea, and the negotiations were going well.” Mother raised an eyebrow pointedly. “Until someone awakened their bloodline and people learned there was a daughter of a Greater Spirit running around. That way, and with your absurdly fast rise, it’s almost certain you’ll inherit, and it would mean a greater bond between them and us. Perhaps they also considered the new technology.”

“So, what, I brought it on myself?” I sighed. “Do you really want to arrange such a marriage for me?”

“This isn’t my choice.” Mother scowled at me. “Like I said, I didn’t even want to bring it up. But we’re talking about the fate of the Empire here. Terbekteri doesn’t want to settle for anything less now, and we could really use this alliance. We have the Dominion rattling their sabers south of us, and even trying to intimidate what other trade partners we have. The Kingdom has signaled that they’re willing to put more on the table, forming an actual alliance, perhaps even with military aid.” Her expression softened a bit. “I’ve had people investigate, and their tenth prince really doesn’t seem half bad. Besides, he’s going to come here and become one of your spouses.”

I crossed my arms behind my head and took a moment to pout. Then I sighed. “Okay, I guess. Let me see if I understand this correctly. He’ll come to this court, and will be my consort. So, it’s not going to be a monogamous pairing?”

Mother nodded. “Of course. You’ll be able to have more consorts if you want, or take other lovers. That’s the tacit assumption. He’ll just be your first spouse.”

“Then we won’t need to have much to do with each other, right? Actually, I guess I wouldn’t even need to have sex with him if I don’t want to.”

“People would prefer if you do, but I’m certainly not going to force you. They want this marriage; for all I care, you can just let him live here and never see him again.”

I shrugged and tilted my chair back. “Then I can hardly refuse, can I? Alright. I’m in, just don’t expect me to send out cards.”

Mother blinked. “Well, that went easier than I expected. Are you sure?”

I made a face at her. “Like you said, this is about the Empire’s future. I may not like the way this works, but it’s an important political thing. I’m responsible enough to care about that. It’s probably the least I can do for all the privilege I get as a princess. Like we established, it’s not much of a sacrifice.”

“That’s my girl. I’m glad you understand. And I’m sure this alliance will be more than worth it.” She smirked a little. “I also wasn’t kidding about the prince being handsome.”

I rolled my eyes again, but I couldn’t help but return her smile. It felt good to hear Mother praise me, to feel like she appreciated me. I paused at that thought, considering my reaction more closely. I get the feeling that didn’t happen often, before. Or maybe I’m just overthinking things.

Mother turned away and flicked her hand, opening the door to the room. Almost on cue, the first people started arriving.

I sat up straighter and tried to put my game face on, but I was still preoccupied thinking about this less than romantic proposal and what it meant. Mother started the meeting quickly, but luckily didn’t dwell on the topic, instead turning to some logistical issue regarding the coastal regions. We expected intercontinental trade to pick up after this alliance, and she clearly wanted to be prepared for it. Personally, I was a bit glad that it would take time to work out all the details and complete the negotiations. I’d be happy to leave those to Mother.

The meeting dragged on, while I struggled to pay attention. It was mostly consumed by boring topics, the sort that didn’t seem all that important but that I knew I had to be familiar with. After all, I might need to reorganize political entities, or influence or control the currency, or set standards on working conditions in new fields.

Though I suspected Mother had been some sort of businesswoman, or worked in finance, before. She appeared to know a lot about this and a few concepts seemed suspiciously similar to what I’d learned in school, not that I’d ever been interested in economics. But I was pretty sure investment banking and fonds shouldn’t be much of a thing here. Though, she wasn’t the first transmigrator and maybe I shouldn’t assume the Empire would be stuck in mercantilism.

After a few hours, the meeting finally concluded. I was one of the first people to stand up, bowing to Mother and taking off before she could find more things to talk to me about.

Once outside the meeting room, I paused for a moment, unsure what I wanted to do. There were a lot of options, from refining my techniques to visiting the city. I caught myself wishing Tenira was here, so I could talk to her. Then again, I didn’t really want to talk to her about me getting married. The thought made me grimace, and I set off at a quick pace.

I wound up at the library, grabbing several books. I’d also taken along the ones Suaki had lent me, and needed to look through them more. I didn’t like how little I knew or understood about the spirits and their little feud involving me. I needed to be more proactive, and for that, information would be helpful.

I’d only been reading for a few minutes before I was interrupted by Al stumbling through the door. He looked a bit pale and wore a frown. That lightened when he saw me. “Nari, I think that mental defense training might have been a mistake. Mior is no fun. Can you fire them?”

I chuckled and shook my head. “I know how you feel. We’ll just have to get through it. Did you make progress?”

“You’re not getting out that easily.” Aston followed Al in and took up a guard position. His voice sounded like it had sort of merged with Mior’s, again. “Alaster performed well enough. He might be less work than you, Little Light.”

I pulled a face. “Was it too much to hope Aston’s tact would come out on top?” I closed my book and frowned at my guard-cum-spirit relative. When did my life get so weird? “Anything I should be aware of? What’s going on with Rijoko and Jideia?”

“Just the usual,” Aston-Mior replied. They were standing in a more relaxed way, but still obviously guarding against trouble. “Anyway, we’ve heard congratulations are in order?”

I sighed. “Don’t bother. Besides, it’s going to take a while to sort everything out.”

“Wait, I haven’t heard anything,” Al spoke up, looking at me curiously. “Did you master a technique or something?”

I rested my head in my hands, resisting the temptation to glare at the suspiciously well informed possession duo. They may have genuinely wanted to offer congratulations. After a moment, I looked back up and told Al what that was about in a few words. It wasn’t like it was a secret, or anything I should find embarrassing, even if I did.

It took a few moments for him to stop chuckling, which I spent studiously looking for the next book to read. A collection of historical tales and fables with commentary and attempts to contextualize them geographically and archaeologically caught my attention. And ignoring him might have helped Al get off his high horse sooner.

“I fail to see what’s so funny about it,” I grumbled into the book. “Just wait. If you annoy me enough, maybe I’ll arrange to have you marry some ugly old woman at some point.”

I looked up to see Al grinning. “Mother’s not going to let you do that. Empty threats.”

“I can wait until I’m Empress. My revenge will be all the sweeter for having stewed so long.” I steepled my fingers and chuckled. “Beg for mercy now, and I may make it an ugly old man instead.”

That made Al blush slightly. He glanced at Aston/Mior, then back to me. “Nari, that’s a little …”

I straightened up. “Sorry if I went too far. “

“No, it’s okay, I started it.” Al ambled closer, taking a seat in front of the table I was sitting at. “Anything interesting you’re working on?”

I pushed one of the books over to him. “That’s a collection of fairy tales and childrens’ stories. You might find it interesting. There’s lots of pretty pictures, and even vocabulary help and lots of explanations.”

He pushed it back and rolled his eyes. “How could I take those away from you? You’ll need it more than I do.”

I chuckled and turned back to my book. He fell silent as well and grabbed one of the other books. For the next few minutes, we read in companionable silence. I was almost surprised to see Aston still standing there when I looked up once.

I frowned, glancing at the page of my book again, although I’d just read and memorized it. This might be interesting. I looked back up to him. “Mior, you lived through a lot of the events passed on as myths, right?”

Aston straightened up, and his aura shifted a little. Mior’s telepathic voice answered me. ‘Some of them, yes. Although it’s not like I was there to see all or even many of them.’

I nodded. “Still, you must know a lot. How much of the what’s in the myths and legends is true?”

They walked closer a few steps, Aston’s face thoughtful. ‘It varies. As you probably know, there are often many different versions of such legends. Most of them are based on truth. Sometimes, one of the versions of a tale will be what actually happened. Other times, all of them might be somewhat wrong. Those of religious significance tend to be the most well preserved, although there might be some substantial bias in them as well.’

I smiled. ‘Thanks.’ For a moment, I considered pressing further. But I didn’t know how Mior might react to what I was considering, and I didn’t really want to share it with them in any case.

Just then, the door opened slightly, and I put the book down as I saw my little sister poking her head in. Xiaodan looked hesitant.

“Little An!” I smiled and stood up. “I was just going to ask Al if he wanted to play some football. Soccer, to be clear. Do you want to join us? The more the better it’ll go.” I wasn’t going to tell her the game really needed more than that.

Xiaodan stepped into the room, returning my smile. “Soccer? I don’t know that game.”

“Then Mother failed in instilling some proper cultural values and knowledge,” I said with a straight face but a bit of teasing in my tone. “It’s probably Earth’s most popular game. Are you coming, Al?”

He rolled his eyes but closed his book. “Do I have a choice, or are you going to drag me along anyway?”

“Yes.” I put his book back onto the pile and then walked off.

Aston showed a hint of a smile before he quickly returned to an expressionless mask. Al grumbled under his breath but followed along. With the smile on Xiaodan’s face, I knew he wouldn’t be able to resist, anyway.

We quickly headed to a sheltered courtyard, the books forgotten, while I sent a guard to get us a ball. As we walked, I considered that I might get some of my siblings’ friends to join us, as well. Although spending time with just the two of them might be better.