Chapter 56 – The Queen’s Show

Every table was guessing what the Queen would show besides my own. We knew better than to predict. Mother beat into all of us at a young age to not speculate what her shows would contain. Our focus was on the mundane: weather, dress style, colors, and whether women should start wearing pants again—things you can easily control so the harems don't bring up the forbidden topic. A short harmony among my competing sisters. If just one person slips up, everyone will be punished.

Mother ignored our silly conversations. Instead, her focus was on helping Irlo eat, slowly cutting her meat into bite-sized pieces for the young dragon. Something we all eyed jealously. There are benefits to how she raised us, but every child wants to be pampered a bit. We all know she loves us, even with her shit schemes against me; if I asked, she would say she loved me, and it would be the truth.

My sisters and I were born and raised during a war. We were trained to pay back the nine months Mother wasn't able to fight her best. Eldest was trained to fully replace her, rest just for strength it seems. I didn't participate in the war, and there hasn't been another since. All that training for nothing, and now she wishes to take away the purpose I came up with for myself. Whatever, tonight will be fun now that Mother is taking the stage.

"Mommy! I'm full!" shouts Irlo, half her plate still covered with food. They always give the young princesses too much to eat; none of us finished our portions till we were at least six.

"Ok, honey. Let me wipe your face, and then we can go do our dance. Ok," the Queen responds. Irlo gives her a small smile, letting one of the most powerful women in the world wipe her tiny mouth clean. Does Grandma know about this? Please don't have both of them treat Irlo like this. She'd win the throne by default as her older sisters die of envy.

Mother makes her walk this time. As the band starts up again, they both go to the center of the room. It isn't much of a partner dance; the size difference is too great for that. Instead, it is a bunch of strange movements.

It's meant to be a training dance to help kids learn balance. Over the years, it's morphed into nothing of the sort: arms flail, strange shuffles, and just a set of movements.

Most think the kids have slowly forced it to change over the years to the embarrassing state it is in now. Almost everyone here knows it and has participated in the dance before. If you don't teach your kid the dance, others will, and instead of doing it with a one-year-old, you'll do it with a two-year-old.

Mother always seemed to have fun doing the funny gestures with us, and right now is no different. Both have large smiles covering their faces as the crowd watches. Everyone tries getting in the last few bites; when the dance ends, so does dinner.

It ends with both giving a short bow, the only time a Queen bows to her subjects. We all stand and clap; dinner is done, so we start to join the two on the dance floor, ready to dance the time away till the Queen takes the stage for her show. I quickly make my way to my time mage, Ioelena. Her three classes give her a wonderful bust that she's showing off tonight. Her small amount of pixie blood gave her fun pink strands of hair in her otherwise normal brown for a wood elf. Standard tan skin, her ears coming to an even sharper point than mine.

"Would you join me for the next dance?" I ask, extending my hand to the mage.

"Of course, dear," her smile lights up. It's a slow dance, giving us spare breath to talk. I casually lead her around the dance floor with a soft sway, avoiding the many couples dancing and chatting around us.

"Your pixie blood. Does it give you more than just pretty highlights?" I ask once the rhythm settles.

"Not much; it's been a while since it was added to my family. My spells will occasionally have a little trick added to them. Something as simple as untying a shoe or loosening a dress a bit. Rarely it can turn a sword into a stick. A great bonus, but not something that happens regularly enough to count on in a fight. The worst is that it also happens when casting on my friends, but they are much more likely to have a beneficial trick applied to them," she explains, "Like their sword being shifted slightly, letting them slip past their opponent's guard."

"I see; the friendly fire element is dangerous. But the rarity and helpful nature make it worth using still. Have you tried finding a pixie to help you with it? Or a different circulation pattern?" I ask. I know she's tried, but I want to know what she has tried. The royal family has access to a lot of strange methods, and maybe she has a hint as to which one will help control this side effect.

"Pixies just laugh and curse us. Saying we don't deserve to know," her face darkening at the thought. "I don't think they even know how to do it themselves. They just always use their magic to play tricks, so they don't have to try and control it for any real purpose. A few ancestors have tried different patterns but they always fail, causing harm to her body with no effect on the magic. At this point, they only pass down the working method, trying to keep the dangerous patterns out of our heads."

"You should request that they give you the failed methods and what happened. The royal family may have a method that works. Having the failed methods would make it easier to find."

"I'll ask, but they are a bit set in their ways. More than a few were mad I joined your harem, saying the firstborn must take over the family. My half-sister is better suited for that position, yet they wanted me thrown in it due to 'the ways.'" She shakes her head to make clear her thoughts. "So don't hold your breath. I'll have to do a lot of convincing to get what little they likely have."

"Yes, we're all very familiar with how families make their terrible decisions. I can be patient; I just want you to have full confidence and control over your magic."

"Thank you for your worry, prin.." a little cough tries to cover up her mistake, "dear."

"Good for catching yourself, but do try to remember fully."

Slowly, I made my way through the house, fiancées first, then the servants. Fifteen girls were left when the music finally stopped. The mages had to start taking breaks while the warriors showed off their stamina. Irlo, long since getting tired, was asleep in the Queen's lap. The Queen had a small smile as she watched the nobles dance, some of her wives sitting with her talking about some hidden topic.

After the music stopped echoing in the hall, she paused for a few seconds before carefully handing Irlo to her second wife, the one who had let Isda sit at the table. Mother then stood up and addressed her subjects again.

"Thank you all for enjoying the music. Most of my daughters weren't able to have such prosperous times to grow up in. Moments like these just weren't possible, I'm happy to have a chance to oversee one. As I promised, I'll be giving the closing show. The floor will need to be replaced. The stands have been put up; please follow the maid's directions to where to sit."

Most of my girls were in a block together already; a small group was resting off to the side. I gathered the group, hoping Mother would let us sit together for this show. They don't have any stupid rules about the need to keep the royal family together. Honestly, I don't even know if the Queen was supposed to give a show during a birthday. Not that anyone would tell her to stop. Even the pure warriors who couldn't gain much from the show wouldn't stop it. Any magic or ability at the highest of levels was a beauty to watch.

Alzi's type of magic would be the one exception to that. I think a public display of her magic would end quite poorly for all involved. But behind a closed door... well, I've heard the stories, and even Mother seems to want a bit of that.

The maids do their best to move the crowd off the dance floor and into the stands put up during the dances. The faster everyone gets off the floor, the quicker they can start putting the protective formation in place. I can see that families seem to be the main grouping, so I shouldn't be separated. She may just spite me and place my family in the back. I'll have to deal with it. I need to appear with my house, or it'll look like I think they are weak and worthless.

I push my way to the front, my house following. The crowd splits for a princess, letting us move easily forward to the maids directing the seating. Getting to the front, the maids look over my house a few times, trying to decide what to do. Did Mother change her plans, or were they making up the positions as they went?

"Princess Elora, your house can follow me. We'll seat you all together this way," one finally says, noticing my angry face. I made sure not to go to Mother's personal maids so I would have some power to argue with them if needed. Based on the looks they were throwing around I picked correctly.

We follow her to an alright place—not the front like most of my sisters, but close enough that I can't complain without looking extremely petty. Mother is pushing me as far as she can. I wonder if we were meant to be in the back row if I went to her maids. My fiancées take the seats next to me in a random order, which will be solidified after the wedding. Servants similarly take a random order. Another thing to settle after the wedding.

The dance floor has been cleared, letting the mages quickly set up the spells and formations needed. Mother is still waiting with Irlo back in her arms. Half the guests are still moving to their seats. Most are getting spots in the back row now. The duchess and Princess are all seated now. Each family quiets down as they find their seat, patiently waiting for the grand show.

The mages give their work one last check before signaling the completion of the formation. Gently, Mother wakes up Irlo, not letting the little girl miss her showing off to her subjects. Once the little girl wipes the sleep from her eyes, the Queen puts her down in the mini-throne and gracefully walks onto the stage with every eye watching.

We feel her circulate her mana, purifying it in a heartbeat, launching a white-hot flame across the room, a full forty feet. Suddenly, the front turns and shapes into a true dragon's head, with four horns atop its head. It twirls up, and a few blue whisker-like streams form as it opens its mouth to let out a true roar. The grand ballroom shakes from the sound. Mother lets another column out, and a blue dragon of the same size gets created, spiraling into the first growing white whiskers.

The two spiraled each other, creating a large column around the Queen. With each pass, they start going faster and faster until they're a blur of white and blue. Shooting off to the side, they turn back to let out a large breath of rainbow fire over the Queen's head. In a joust, they charge each other. The flames shrinking their bodies to nothing in the middle.

The only sound at the end was the little Princess clapping; the rest were too stunned to talk. All trying to piece together the mana control. At least three different fires controlled at once, white, blue, and rainbow? Did that count as one or many? The stamina to keep that much with such fine control for so long. Seeing a new kind of fire if the rainbow fire is truly just one type.

What is the inspiration?

Did Alzi help her figure out the rainbow fire? I didn't want to get pregnant fast, but if I could unlock that, I'd let her planned maids go first. Aurora is skilled, and if she feels she can learn something from a pregnancy, I will join her. Showing that you can still do some work while pregnant is an important skill. Alzi just needs to learn some constraints.

"Everyone, it is getting a bit late for the Princess, so we'll have to end it here. Thank you all for coming; I hope you had a fun time and enjoyed the show!"

Everyone, still a little shocked, started to funnel out, trying to figure out how she got rainbow fire.