[Lauchenoiria]

Royal Palace, Zongongia

Carmen Robinson always wore gloves these days. Regardless of the weather, regardless of if she was indoors or out. She even slept in them. Anyone familiar with Kerlian policies would understand why; but among those ignorant of the consequences of the Kerlian Civil War, rumours spread that she was scared of touching males and that’s why she wore them while she was in Zongongia.

She also moved slowly. She’d spent almost a year in the Restricted Region. Some scars would not ever heal; both physical and mental. Sometimes when she moved, pain would just shoot through her joints for seemingly no reason. And she had nightmares. Her room was carpeted, but there were two rugs, one on top of the other, next to her bed for when she fell out of it while panicking in the night.

Very few prisoners sent to the Restricted Region made it out alive. After the ordeal of it; Carmen sometimes wondered if that wasn’t a blessing in disguise. Was it even possible for someone to recover from this? Or was life after just prolonging the suffering in the form of memories? She no longer knew.

“Mum!” came Imogen’s voice as the door opened again. “Natasha’s out horse riding with that prince again. I thought you said you’d talk to her?”

“Good morning, Imogen,” Carmen said from where she sat, near her bed. It took her a while in the morning before she was brave enough to venture far. Imogen had grown up since they had parted on that fateful March morning in 2021. She was now eleven, and very angry at being exiled from Kerlile. The idea of her sister hanging out with the Crown Prince of Zongongia angered her greatly.

“Well? Did you speak to her?” Imogen demanded again.

“No, Imogen,” Carmen sighed. “Your sister is eighteen now. She is an adult, and can make her own choices about who to ride horses with.”

“Horses stink anyway,” Imogen grumbled, sitting down on Carmen’s bed. “And one of the boys told me I belonged in the kitchen again!”

“They’re only saying that to wind you up. They don’t really believe it.”

“Are you so sure? And besides, it’s still clearly misogynistic behaviour!” Imogen whined. A Kerlian child could talk about ‘misogyny’ and ‘patriarchy’ by the time they started school. The other kids her age in Zongongia were less familiar with the terms.

“Which, while annoying, is not a crime here,” her mother pointed out.

“Well it should be!” Imogen shouted, standing up. “Why’d you do all this stupid reform business anyway? Men are CLEARLY still evil!”

Imogen kicked the bedpost and then stormed out of the room, slamming the (old, very heavy, and nearly twice her size) door behind her. Carmen sighed and made herself stand up and try to go after her very angry daughter. But by the time Carmen had got to the door, Imogen was out of sight.

*

“You’re much better at this than you were when you came here,” shouted Kristofer at Natasha as they raced their horses along the mountain track.

“You’re a good teacher!” she shouted back, laughing as she pulled considerably ahead of him.

Once it transpired that Natasha did not know how to ride a horse, Prince Kristofer had decided to teach her. They’d started lessons every other day, first in barns and enclosed fields, and then when Natasha became more confident, he showed her the mountain trails he loved so much. Over this, they had bonded – this, and many evenings drinking and making fun of the other noble teens.

Natasha spurred her horse on as they began to approach the line of hedges they’d designated as the finish line. At the last possible second, however, Kristofer appeared as if out of nowhere and passed her to finish first.

“Come on! How do you do that?” Natasha groaned, while catching her breath. “Every time!”

“A magician never reveals his secrets,” Kristofer said, grinning. “Anyway, we should get back. Aren’t your Kerlian co-conspirators arriving today?”

“Xia is, yes. Olivia and Reena are still in the hospital, and Rosemary and Carolyn returned to Kerlile yesterday,” Natasha sighed. “Which was foolish, but they never listen to my advice. I am, after all, the youngest.”

“Well, I managed to talk Dad into telling the Prime Minister that they could stay here for as long as they like,” the Crown Prince said. “From what I heard, the Prime Minister wasn’t happy about it, so I would advise you to refrain from attacking Kerlile while here.”

“You do realise starting a civil war is the last thing we want?” Natasha pointed out. Kristofer grinned in response, indicating he was trying to wind her up. She rolled her eyes.

“Do you think Councillor Arnott and the Greenwood heir will be safe?” Kristofer asked as they began riding back to the palace.

“Rosemary probably will be,” Natasha replied. “None of them want to harm another Councillor after the whole thing with my mother. It sets a bad precedent. Carolyn, I’m not so sure of. Her mother will probably beat her at minimum.”

“Rocks, I’ll never understand Kerlile,” Kristofer said, shaking his head.

“We’ll find out,” Natasha said. “One way or the other, and probably sooner than any of us would like.”

The prince shook his head once more at the chaos of Kerlian politics, and they rode in comfortable silence back to the palace. Now, clearly, was not the right time to ask the question he truly wanted to know the answer to.