Young Writers Society

I tried splitting it up into two chapters because I was deluded and hoped that might make it better, but it really needs to be condensed into one chapter and just... whittled down into something stronger. But like. Also, I am a brat and I'm like, "BUT EVERYTHING IS IMPORTANT!!!" Though um... it really isn't. So I need to get over myself and just... rewrite it probably. Make it better.

The problem is, the family situation of Solea is... really strange. I tried to make the birthday party where it's introduced. Clearly, this is not going to work. I need to focus that chapter on what is important.

What is important? Um... good question.

- Uclepidies and his gift is important.
- The relationship between Solea and Alainna.
- The introduction of Archondid is important.
- Sergius's absence is important.
- The Conqueror's parents' absence is important.

Honestly, I'm tempted to rewrite it like...

- Solea comes in with the paper written for Alainna, feeling guilty about yelling at Alainna in the previous chapter.
- Alainna comes to Solea, dismisses Solea's attempt at apologizing as meaningless, grabs the paper, and directs her to distract Theron and her Black Swan uncles who are coming in, since Alainna would rather talk with the White Swans.
- Solea asks Alainna if all the White Swans are coming, worrying about Sergius's appearance, and Alainna is like, lol I don't care, which makes Solea even more nervous.
- The uncles are rude to Solea, but they reveal to her that Sergius is not coming, nor are the Conquerors' parents, which relieves Solea.
- When they show off the presents that they brought, Alainna comes over and they offer to give her their gifts.
- Alainna opens presents and things proceed as they did in the chapter.

So like... this would be reframed entirely with Alainna and Solea's relationship being the focus of it. It would also highlight the absences at the party a little more, which is important because Sergius is a super important character for this story.

- SO MANY WORDS BEING TRIMMED.

- Dialogue is being rewritten to be smarter and tighter.

- Some of the random character inconsistencies that become very much apparent in later books are rewritten.

- Some of the new scenes are great and I'm really excited about the way the story is progressing.

- I'm finding a bunch of plotholes that need to be addressed, but...

- I don't have ~time~ to sit down and write because Baby is getting more mobile but he still wants to be held forever, so it is a STRUGGLE.

- All the random medical emergencies that have happened... like, the worst is over but the healing part has just begun. >.>

“I’m sorry for losing my temper at you earlier during Frenzy,” Solea said, fidgeting nervously. “It was wrong of me to yell at you like that. I’m sorry.” Then, biting her tongue hard, she forced herself to curtsy to Alainna. “Here is the homework that you wanted.”

Alainna snatched the papers Solea presented and glared at Solea. “What’s wrong with you?” she hissed, glancing around. “If the headmistress finds out you wrote my papers, we’ll get in trouble!”

Solea froze and glanced around.

“Stop looking suspicious!” Alainna ordered. “Here! You’re supposed to be my handmaid, aren’t you? Why don’t you do something useful?”

Solea grew red and bit her tongue hard. “What would you like me to do?”

“Go distract Theron!”

Solea raised an eyebrow. “Do you mean my father?”

Alainna nodded, scowling and pointing to Theron, who was sitting by himself, drinking a cup of wine quietly. “He keeps distracting my mother. It's annoying.”

As if to prove Alainna's point, Francine, Alainna’s mother, suddenly stopped by the table and said something to Theron, though they were too far away to hear what she said. At her words, Theron’s face lit up in a smile.

“See?” Alainna said. “He's distracting her again!”

Solea glared at Alainna. “Why, my father is just talking to your mother because he is her husband! Why shouldn't he talk with her?”

“Because it's my birthday and I want to spend time with my mother without sharing her with him,” Alainna snapped. “Now go over to them and tell my mother that I am not sure where the White Swans are hiding and that I would like her to introduce me.”

“You need your mother to meet the White Swans?” Solea said in disbelief. “I thought you were the Lady! Couldn't you introduce yourself to them without her help?”

“Just do what I said!” Alainna said impatiently.

Solea gestured to Alainna. “Alainna wants your help. She says she wants you to introduce her to the White Swans.”

Francine scowled. “Haven't I done enough for this party already? I've organized most of it! Besides, I don't even know most of the White Swans, save for you two and Sergius, and I'm not so sure I even like Sergius.”

“Thankfully, Sergius is not coming,” Eurodities said dryly. “From what I've heard, he found someone else to murder and so he's busy doing that instead.”

Solea grew pale.

Archondid glanced at Solea and frowned. “Don't joke about that right now, love,” he murmured to Eurodities.

“Who's joking?” Eurodities snapped. “Sergius is a murderer! Surely that is not up for debate? He would have happily murdered Solea a couple of years ago, had we not intervened.”

“He is only trying to stop the next Conqueror,” Archondid said tiredly.

Eurodities sniffed. “You’re being far too generous with him, considering that he hasn't stopped a Conqueror. If anybody deserves credit for stopping a Conqueror, it’s me! After all, I pushed the first one into a cursed lake full of acid until she dissolved — and she deserved it too! But Sergius? He simply murders people.”

“Well, let's not talk about Sergius during the Lady’s birthday anyway,” Archondid amended.

“Or dissolving people in cursed lakes,” Theron added, frowning.

Solea went to slip into a seat next to Theron, only to realize Uclepidies — her real father, she thought bitterly — was already curled up in it.

Solea turned bright red.

“Here,” Francine said quickly, getting up. “You can sit where I was sitting. I have to leave to help Alainna anyway.”

Francine quickly stood next to her.

Solea stepped back, only to realize by the hurt look on Francine's face that her stepmother had intended to hug her. “I'm sorry,” Solea stammered.

“No, it's all right,” Francine. said quickly, though she still looked upset. “I'll see you later.” Then, before Solea could figure out what to say, Francine hurried away with Eurodities and Archondid.

Solea watched Francine leave, frustrated. Then, before she could stop herself, she blurted out, “Does Francine hate me?”

Theron arched his eyebrow. “Why would Francine hate you?”

Solea shrugged. Then, when her father — her human father, she thought grimly, glancing at Uclepidies, who was still curled up in the chair — still kept his eyebrow raised, she shrugged again. “When we first met, she knew me as this happy, little girl and she loved me for it. Then everything changed. And now—”

Solea stopped abruptly.

Theron took a sip of wine. “Francine is very much aware that little girls grow up into women,” he said gently. “Both you and Alainna had to grow up quickly, thanks to circumstances beyond your control. She doesn't hate you for that.”

“But—”

“Francine doesn't hate you,” Theron said firmly. “She's still getting used to this whole situation. It's hard enough to get used to being a stepmother. But with your sister being the Lady, everything has changed. She is still trying to figure out everything, just like you are.”

“Is she even my stepmother anymore, since you aren't even my real father?” Solea asked Theron, glancing at Uclepidies, who hadn't moved, aside from shuddering from pain.

At her words, Uclepidies looked up and blinked at her.

Theron smiled. “You may be a Black Swan’s daughter, but legally, I'm still your father, whether you like it or not!”

Solea couldn't run fast enough. “Eurodities!” Solea cried, laughing. She sprang toward Eurodities, expecting Eurodities to catch her, just as Eurodities had done when she was a little girl. But instead of Eurodities catching her, Solea knocked Eurodities off her feet.

“Solea!” Eurodities said, laughing as she lay sprawled out on the floor. “You're supposed to hiss a warning before you strike!” She tried to get up and then gasped, clutching her shoulder.

“Sorry,” Solea said quickly, scrambling up and extending a hand toward Eurodities. “I didn't mean to hurt you. I thought you would catch me!”

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” Eurodities declared, taking Solea’s hand and standing up. “My shoulder just hurts because that's where a Conqueror stabbed me. Though, maybe you shouldn't attack me again. You've grown a lot since I last saw you at Celebration!”

“Besides, it's not very ladylike,” her stepmother, Francine, said, frowning.

Solea blushed and straightened out her dress, feeling self-conscious. But before she could respond, Archondid laughed and said, “And this is even less ladylike!” Then, before Solea could prepare, he picked her up and spun her around, as if she were a doll.

Solea squealed. “Stop, stop!” she cried laughing. Then, when Archondid set her down again, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheeks.

“Watch out, Eurodities will get jealous,” Archondid said, laughing more. Then he glanced around, grinning. “Does the headmistress look mad enough?”

“Very,” Theron said wryly, but he was smiling. “Though, she won't dare approach you. She's terrified of Black Swans.”

Eurodities sighed. “Very well! I suppose we can help introduce you and Alainna to the White Swans. Though, there are only six other White Swans here, besides us, since Sergius is away and Moira and Tiziano aren't coming.”

“Moira and Tiziano?” Francine asked uncertainly.

Eurodities nodded, adding “They're better known as the parents of the first Conqueror.”

"Oh," Francine said uncomfortably. "Perhaps it's better that they didn't come."

Archondid only shrugged. "They're just White Swans. They're not Conquerors. There's nothing particularly evil about either of them. They were just terrible parents. When they found out about their daughter's crimes, they were horrified, just like everyone else."

“They don't go to many social functions anymore, especially Tiziano," Eurodities added. "The Black Swans have a claim against him since he ran away from his apology. So he can't face them again without facing their justice.”

Francine nodded, frowning. “So just six White Swans are coming to the party whom I haven't already met?”

“Well, there are hundreds of other White Swans that my siblings adopted and magically transformed into White Swans, until the Oracle put a stop to that,” Eurodities amended. “But, since it's the Lady's birthday party, we chose to only invite the Lady's children. And there's only eleven of us White Swans.”

Francine frowned more. “But didn't the Lady give birth to twelve Black Swans and twelve White Swans?”

Eurodities's face grew steely. “The first Conqueror destroyed my sister, Cynasi. That’s why I destroyed the first Conqueror. So there's only eleven of us now.”

“Oh,” Francine said, squirming uncomfortably.

YAYYYY you've been doing so much revising, Snoink!! so proud of you you are over a third of the way through April !! you got thissssssssss

When I first wrote this story, the idea was that Solea feels stifled by being under her sister's tyranny and Cyrus is like... one of the first people who actually stands up to Alainna and so she honestly admires him for that. Which in turn inspires Solea to stand up to Alainna and Alainna's tyranny... and tyranny in general.

...or at least that's what I conceptualized in my head.

But like, when I reread it, it's not clear that Cyrus actually stands up to Alainna? Like, there's one time where he calls on Solea before Alainna. And then after the first class, Alainna reluctantly gives him a chance. But like. He doesn't really do anything else. And Solea doesn't really stand up to Alainna. They mostly talk and work things out. Which is good, but also there needs to be a flashpoint where Solea just goes, "ENOUGH!!!!" and Alainna learns to respect her.

So... why not change that and have Cyrus stand up against Alainna?

One of the things that my readers were aghast about was Alainna's cheating. So I figured I would have Cyrus stand up against her that way, lol.

“Class is dismissed!” Cyrus said cheerfully. “Though, may the Lady and her handmaid stay after class?”

“Again?” Alainna snapped. “But we didn't do anything this time!”

Cyrus ignored her and began to sort through his papers from the in-class assignment. When the other girls had left, he gestured to come closer to the desk. “Are these your papers that you wrote for me today?” he asked politely when they stepped forward.

Alainna looked annoyed. “Of course.”

“Thank you for clarifying that for me,” Cyrus said. He picked up Solea’s paper. “You have very nice handwriting. Very distinct handwriting. Tell me, who taught you how to write?”

“My godparents,” Solea said, glancing back at Archondid, who was watching them quietly. “They taught me as soon as I could hold a quill.”

“I see.” Cyrus nodded to Alainna’s paper. “And you, my Lady! Who taught you how to write?”

“Madam Burl,” Alainna said, looking even more annoyed. She glared at Solea. “Unlike some people, I wasn't born with Swan godparents.”

Solea blushed.

“That's fine!” Cyrus said, looking over Alainna’s paper approvingly. “I heard that you joined this school only four years ago. If you only started learning then, you've advanced a lot!”

Suddenly, Alainna looked pleased. “You think so?”

Cyrus smiled. “Of course! Learning a different language as a small child is easier, but it's not the only way to learn. I find that people who have to learn a different language when they're older often advance quicker than those who are born with it being a native tongue.”

Alainna suddenly frowned. “Like you with our language?”

Cyrus laughed. “Exactly! As I said before, I knew a little bit of your language growing up. But I've learned so much more after moving to your country!”

Alainna picked up her in-class paper and looked at her writing, pleased. “And you think it's good?”

“Of course!” Cyrus said, grinning. “I can teach you to be even better, of course, but it looks like you already have a solid foundation.”

Alainna beamed. “Thank you!”

“Now tell me, are these also your papers?” Cyrus pulled out two papers from his satchel and put them in front of both girls. Immediately, Solea began to sweat. They were dialogue exercises from Madam Burl’s class.

Both were written in Solea’s handwriting.

Cyrus watched them carefully. “Before she left, I asked Madam Burl if she could give me writing samples from all our students. So she gave me your homework that she still had. I was surprised to see how similar your writing styles were. And now I am surprised to see how different Alainna’s actual handwriting is after an in-class writing assignment.”

Solea swallowed hard. In a weak voice, she said, “I can explain.” Then she stopped, realizing that she couldn't explain anything. Not without getting either herself in trouble. She shot a desperate look at Alainna.

Alainna gritted her teeth and eyed Cyrus warily. “What do you want?”

“I want you to do your own work,” Cyrus said firmly. “I understand how frustrating it is to learn a language. But you need to try.” He nodded to Solea. “I don’t want to see Solea’s writing when I open your letter. I want to see your writing. Do you understand?”

Alainna glared at him. “Are you threatening me?”

Cyrus bowed politely to her. “My goal as your teacher is to help you find your voice. Not threaten you! Last time we met, you gave me your word as the Lady that you would allow me to teach you. So let me teach you! Write a response back to me using your own words without your handmaid's help. That will be enough.”

Alainna glowered at Cyrus. “And now you don't even want Solea to help me?”

“No, I do not,” Cyrus said firmly. “If you need help, Archondid and I are happy to arrange a tutoring session with you. But I do not want Solea to help you with your homework any longer. Furthermore, if I find out that you've been bullying Solea to do your homework again, I will happily report you to the headmistress for cheating.”

"But I'm the Lady!" Alainna protested. "You can't do that to me!"

"I don't want to do that," Cyrus declared. "But if you continue to cheat, I will. I have no tolerance for petty tyrants who abuse their power on those who serve them. Do you understand?"

Alainna turned to Sergius, frustrated.

“Are you hoping that you can find an ally in me?” Sergius said, raising his eyebrow. “Because you won't. I told you in the beginning that your manners are abhorrent and that you need to learn the language. So learn it! Solea is your handmaid, not your slave. Do your own work.”

“I have a question for you,” Alainna said, coming into Solea's room.

Solea eyed Alainna warily. “What's your question?”

“I need help translating something for Cyrus’s class.”

Solea's eyes narrowed. “Cyrus told me not to help you with your homework.”

“Cyrus has been unable to spare any tutoring sessions for me as of late,” Alainna retorted. “Trust me, I asked! But Cyrus just says he's too ill to tutor and told me to go to Sergius for help, and Sergius is even worse! So that's why I'm coming to you.” She dumped her bag on Solea’s desk and brought out a letter in Cyrus's handwriting. Then she brought out a golden tube.

“What's that?” Solea asked, frowning.

“Part of the prophecy,” Alainna said. “I told you that Cyrus and I were arguing about the prophecy, didn't I?” She unscrewed the cap and brought out a scroll.
“The handwriting is smudged in a particular spot and I can't decipher it.”

Solea blinked at the scroll and examined it. It was hard to read, even for Solea. The script was styled in an old-fashioned, highly embellished way. Solea could read it, but she had to concentrate on the words. “You can understand this?”

Alainna blushed. “Well, not exactly. But I can recognize the letters and a couple words.” She pointed to a word and grinned. “See, I recognize this word! It says Diamea. And this word says Lady. So, if I follow the words, usually I can figure out which sentences to translate. So it's just a matter of looking up a bunch of words. But then there's this word that's smudged and I'm not sure what it begins with so I can't look it up. And it's hard for me to understand it in context. So I was hoping you might help me figure out the smudged word.”

“All right,” Solea said. “That sounds fair! As long as you don't make me write your paper.”

Sergius glared at Cyrus, then stood up and looked around the classroom. “Stand up if you personally know an important Swan.”

A handful of girls stood up.

Sergius looked around the class, annoyed. “Everyone should be standing up since you know me!”

All the girls stood up hesitantly.

“How many people can claim more than just a mere acquaintance with me?” Sergius prompted.

Everyone sat down.

Sergius looked frustrated. “Lady, you are my mother! You should be standing up.”

“Sorry,” Alainna muttered reluctantly, standing up.

One of the things Alainna can do is rub feet. That could be her job. She would absolutely hate this job, but she could absolutely do it.

It was here that Uclepidies hesitated. Once more, he looked at Theron.

Theron stepped closer to the table. “Uclepidies requests to speak to you about this gift.” When Alainna hesitated, Theron added, “It’s not as bad as a gift as you think. It’s quite precious to him. He gave it to his wife once, you know. She used to wear it all the time. She was comforted by its touch.”

As soon as Solea heard those words, she felt as if she had been kicked. The cloak had once belonged to her mother? And Uclepidies was giving it away to Alainna? Even the thought made her dizzy. And, even though the cloak looked hideous, suddenly she wanted the cloak more than ever.

Alainna looked at the cloak in disgust. “Uclepidies gave this to his wife?” she asked incredulously. “Solea’s mother? The one who is dead?”

“Yes.”

“And she wore this cloak?”

“Yes.”

Alainna wrinkled her nose and looked at the cloak in disgust. “I had heard rumors that your wife went insane at the end, but I didn’t believe it until now. She wore this rag?”

“Here,” Solea said, getting up. “I will give you the brooch if you let me keep the cloak. The cloak belonged to my mother, after all. But I can use another brooch just as easily, and you can have Diamea’s feather. It’s more of a gift for the Lady, after all.” She walked to the cloak, unpinned the brooch, and tried to hand it to Alainna.

But Alainna shook her head when Solea tried to hand it to her. “It’s yours,” she said miserably. “They go together, remember? That’s what Uclepidies said.”

“But—”

Alainna shook her head. “If you want to give me both, I will take them both, but I will not separate the gift.”

Solea looked at the cloak. “It’s the only thing that I have of hers,” she muttered.

Alainna scowled. “The only thing?”

Solea nodded, feeling dizzy. Then she said, “You know how everyone said my mother went crazy before she died?”

Alainna grimaced. “I’ve heard rumors.”

Solea swallowed hard. “When my mother was pregnant with me, she got really sick,” she muttered. “She thought people were watching her through the things she owned, so she gave away nearly everything she owned.”

Alainna stared at Solea. “Everything?

Solea nodded numbly. “She got rid of all her jewelry, save for her wedding ring, because she thought her jewelry might hurt her. She even gave away her clothes and wore Theron’s clothes instead. Then, when she had me, the little things she owned, like her towels and linens, were destroyed after she bled out on them.”

Alainna looked aghast. “So you don’t have anything from your mother?”

Solea shrugged. “I have some wooden spoons that she used for cooking and Uclepidies has her wedding ring. But I thought everything else had been destroyed.”

“Until Uclepidies brought out the cloak?” Alainna suggested.

Solea nodded. “Until Uclepidies brought out the cloak.”

Alainna’s face softened. “Then keep the cloak. Perhaps you were meant to have it after all.”

“Uclepidies hid the fact that I was his daughter to Cyrus,” Solea pointed out grimly. “So Uclepidies hid the truth too.”

“That’s different,” Francine snapped. “That’s only because of his history with the Conqueror. Your mother is his first wife reborn, remember? And the Conqueror — the first Conqueror, that is — was not very nice to his first wife at all. The Conqueror was apparently terrified of Uclepidies’s child rising up against her and causing the death of the Conquerors. So your father has plenty of reason to hide your existence from the Conqueror now and you mustn’t be cruel to him for doing so.”

Solea turned completely white. “What?” she cried. “He had a wife before? My mother is his first wife reborn?” Even the idea seemed crazy. Solea was used to the idea of the Lady or Diamea being reborn. They were gods! If they wanted to be reborn, then Solea had no doubt it could happen. But her mother? That was different!

Solea stared at Francine, wondering if Francine might tell her it was just a terrible joke. But Francine only nodded, adding, “That's why your mother went strange at the end of her life. She got her memories back when she reunited with Uclepidies. Apparently, her first life was during the reign of the first Conqueror, so when she got her memories back, she became very disoriented and paranoid since she thought the first Conqueror was still in charge. I hear she even threw out all her jewelry because she was afraid her necklaces would burn her.”

Solea thought of the strange necklace that Uclepidies gave Alainna and grew white. “Was his first wife a queen?” she asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

“I'm not sure,” Francine said, frowning. She glanced at Solea, suddenly looking embarrassed. “I might have gotten some of the details of the story wrong. He’s only told it to me once, so I might have misspoken. In any case, you can’t blame him for trying to hide you from the Conqueror now.”

“He’s never told me that story before,” Solea said, her voice only a squeak.

Francine looked confused. “Never?”

Solea blushed and felt very small. “Never.”

“Oh.” Suddenly Francine looked guilty. “Well, I am sure he would have told you eventually.”

During the carriage ride to the hearing... I really like what I wrote but also it kind of gets esoteric and away from the plot so I think I should rewrite it with a more plot-focus, if that makes sense. A lot of the dialogues are simply monologues that Solea rarely interacts with and I think it would be so much better if it were rewritten to be more Solea-centric.

- Solea gets frustrated with Tiziano simply telling her the etiquette. It is boring, she realizes that she's going to forget it anyway, and she is starting to feel genuinely panicked.

- Since Solea knows that Tiziano is a prophet, she asks him what he predicts will happen at the hearing. Tiziano would probably go, "But I told you already," and then Solea will be like, "NO. Tell me what Cyrus will do." But Tiziano doesn't know because there's a fork in the branch. So he'll tell Solea what he thinks Tiziano will do, based on what he knows about Conquerors. Then he'll redirect it to Uclepidies because Uclepidies is the guy who deals with that sort of stuff.

- Since Uclepidies has already admitted to Solea that there's a prophecy that Solea will end up killing the Conquerors, Solea would ask him about that. Like... is this the time? But Uclepidies wouldn't know. Instead he would point out that the future is really confusing and that prophecies usually don't turn out the way that anyone expects them to. Then he would tell Solea the story of Lorella, her first sister, and what happened to her. Solea grows even more panicked.

- Solea should inquire if it would be better to run away. But Tiziano would assure her that this would be the worst path and tell her a little more about his story.

- When Solea realizes how impossible everything is, that's when she'll rant about Diamea, haha.

But all this is good because 1) Uclepidies becomes known as a prophet earlier than... Book 2? I think that's when it comes out. And his gift of prophecy is explained before Book 3. 2) Ellie's story gets a chance to develop before it's brought up again. 3) Solea gets more agency this way and you can see her struggle with the conflict. Right now, she's a little too passive.

Each of the relatives advocates for a path. Sergius, of course, advocates for the worst path. But really, his reasoning isn't so bad and I think it would be best to flesh out his character by explaining his reasoning better. He is a reader. He knows that this is the path that Cyrus absolutely does not want to take. He knows that Cyrus thinks of Solea. He knows that there's a chance, albeit a small one, that Cyrus would refuse to follow through on this path if Solea were to choose it. So he suggests for Solea to pick it to call his bluff. Then, when they ask him, "But what if he follows through?" that's when he sounds very cold and callous...

“I have a question for you,” Alainna said, coming into Solea's room.

Solea eyed Alainna warily. “What's your question?”

“I need help translating something from one of Cyrus’s letters.”

Solea's eyes narrowed. “Cyrus told me not to help you with your homework. He told me to tell you to arrange tutoring sessions with him instead.”

Alainna snorted. “Cyrus has been unable to spare any tutoring sessions for me as of late,” she retorted. “Trust me, I asked! I even went over to his room and knocked on the door to see if he could answer a quick question. But Archondid answered the door and sent me away.”

Solea stared at Alainna in disbelief. “You went to Cyrus’s room?” Then, when Alainna suddenly blushed, Solea scowled. “You know where Cyrus is staying?”

Alainna shrugged. “The headmistress told me. She said that she would allow me there for private tutoring sessions in the sitting room in his suite, if I needed them, since she knows that I am the Lady and won’t push for anything wrong. Besides, since Archondid stays with him, he acts as our chaperone, so there’s nothing inappropriate. All she asked for is me not to tell the other girls about where he is since otherwise they wouldn’t give him a moment’s rest.”

Solea frowned. “I thought Cyrus was staying somewhere off school property!”

“He was,” Alainna said, annoyed. “But when he got ill, the Swans convinced the headmistress to give him the suite next to her with Archondid as his roommate.”

Solea frowned more. “You would think that, if Cyrus really were that ill, Sergius might heal him. He is a White Swan, after all.”

“Never mind Cyrus!” Alainna snapped, taking off her bag and brought out some papers. “I need your help reading the letter that he wrote me.” Then she brought out three papers and spread them out on Solea’s desk. “This is his last letter that he sent to me. Do you see something strange about it?”

Solea stared at the papers in surprise. “Why, there’s a giant ink splotch on two of those papers! I’m surprised he didn’t rewrite them.”

“That’s what I thought,” Alainna said grimly. “But when I read his letter, they seemed to make sense, even with the major splotch on them. Which seemed funny to me. Every time I’ve spilled ink on my letters, I’ve had to rewrite at least part of it. But, even though he made a major splotch on his paper, he didn’t have to rewrite any of it. Furthermore, he didn’t reference the ink splotch in his letter at all.”

“May I take a look at the letter?” Solea said.

Alainna gestured toward the letters. “That’s why I brought it!”

*

Dear Alainna,

I recognize that your situation with your handmaid is more unique. From what I understand from the prophecy, the handmaid is generally either born as the Lady’s sister or is one of her best friends. Your relationship with Solea is a strange one. She is both your sister and not related to you. She is both your friend and your enemy.

Is it wrong for me to doubt that you could be the Lady when you have such a fragmented and disjointed relationship with the woman whom you recognize as your handmaid?

More than that, the handmaid generally is known to help out in the Lady’s desires. In my village, the Lady was once reborn there and there are still stories of their adventures that are recounted to this day.

*

Then Solea blinked. The next several paragraphs had been completely blotted out with black ink. Perhaps Solea might have believed that it was just a strange spill. But, just as Alainna said, the spill seemed too conveniently arranged to blog out a specific portion of the letter.

She flipped through the page to the last section that wasn't blotted out.

*

With that said, from the little interaction that I’ve seen from you and Solea together, there doesn’t seem to be that same sort of camaraderie between you and the handmaid. Your entire relationship seems utterly contrived to the point of disbelief.

Using the prophecies, how would you justify Solea being your handmaid?


Sincerely,
Cyrus

*

Solea blinked at the conclusion. “It's like there is an entire story that's missing!”

“It certainly seems like that,” Alainna said grimly. She gestured to the letter. “I asked Cyrus later about why his letter was so messy, but he only seemed confused. When I showed him the letter, his mouth just about dropped open. But before he could respond, Sergius told him that they needed to leave early that day and hurried him out. Then, the next day when I asked about it, Cyrus only apologized for his mistake and asked for the letter back so he could rewrite it.”

Solea frowned. “What does this mean?”

“Given how quickly Sergius hurried him out, I think Sergius altered Cyrus's letter by pouring ink over the parts he didn’t want me to read,” Alainna said grimly. “As much as I don't trust Cyrus, he seemed genuinely surprised by the ink blot. That's why I want you to help me read it.”

Solea bit her lip. “What would you like me to do?”

“If you tilt the letter like this near the candlelight, you can see his quill scratches,” Alainna explained, shifting the letter. “Because the language is so new to me, it just looks like scratch marks. But since you grew up with the language, I hoped that you might be able to make it the words that Cyrus wrote before Sergius blotted it all out.”

Solea took the letter and tilted it, squinting at it in the candlelight. “You're right!” she cried, grinning. “That's brilliant!”

Alainna beamed. “Can you make out any of the words?”

“I’m not sure,” Solea said, tilting the letter more. “It might take awhile to decipher. But I can make out a couple of letters!”

“Interesting,” Alainna said, frowning. “Can you decipher the rest?”

Solea nodded. “Give me tonight and I'll have the rest translated for you!”

“Excellent!” Alainna cried, standing up. “I knew I could count on you.”