Neva got up from her bed and without a moment's notice set off towards the bath. Then she got dressed and also worked upon her hair, which had been styled by the maid. when she was styling the hair of Neva, saw her and spoke thus: "Princess Neva… this may sound strange, but may I ask you one thing?"
Neva responded with a voice as innocent as her years: "Eilie… you know I am your friend; you may ask me anything… Well, actually, anything except the reason I wander the city at night and all the time."
Eilie replied, smiling a little: "Okay, this… I saw you playing with Loris a lot, so I took a guess."
Neva replied with a blush and a giggle: "I'll get you executed if you speak one word!"
Eilie answered sneeringly: "Aah, dear queen, I don't want to die; I am not even married yet."
Neva went on: "You're three decades old; nobody would take you as a wife though you're extremely beautiful, except for my dad; he enjoys adding to his collection."
Eilie asked with a laugh: "Ten years old? You know a lot for a kid."
"You might call it puberty" Neva said, twirling her hair with a smile.
"Your dad would marry whom you described," a voice emerged from the door carrying the smell of death. That was the voice of Mira.
"Wh-we were just kidding, Your Majesty," stuttered Eilie, shaking with terror.
"Indeed, Mother, I would think Eilie would be tough competition for you. I mean, she might steal Father from you; you need to tighten up your defenses."
Eilie was shocked, and a drop fell from her eye as if she had been pronounced guilty of a capital offence. All she could manage to say was, "Shut up, little shit! I'll kill you before I'm executed!"
Mira answered: "Strengthening my defenses… Do you want me to kill her?"
Eilie's spirit departed her physical body, and her final thoughts were: "That's it. I hope I die in peace… Dammit. I hope I marry a strong, muscular, handsome, tall man… I hope he's handsome and tall… Oh what do I do now? I'm going to die. Lord, please deliver me!"
Mira took a step forward and lifted her hands: "Execution is a great idea."
A long silence, and Eilie continued thinking: "God, rescue me?? … I've never addressed God once during my life, and now I'm pleading with Him. What a b;tch I am!"
Then Neva erupted into laughter, followed by the laughter of Mira. After this, Mira spoke: "We joke… I am unable to kill you; you are not yet married."
Not thinking, Eilie threw herself down, then lifted her arms up towards the heavens, exclaiming: "How forgiving you are, my God!"
While Mira and her daughter were dying of laughter.
Then Mira departed, saying the following: "I'll be waiting downstairs."
While Eilie was braiding Neva's hair for the third time, Neva said: "What did you want to ask me?"
"Ah, forget it."
"Would you like me to have you executed?"
"okay...Queen Mira's a nice person. But still,she's the only one from this palace which you fear, though your dad is the strongest man from the Five Kingdoms; he's the King."
Neva smiled and answered: "Don't get a wrong impression. I love my mom dearly, and I am not afraid of her. I just consider her to be the ideal human, and I don't wish to let her down."
"That's beautiful, my princess. I hope you always stay like this with your mother."
Then she completed her hair styling and came downstairs.
The palace was a work of art: sparkling mosaic floors illustrated with animals and legendary beings, walls painted with bright colors, and imposing columns of white marble. Light streamed down from the ceiling and bounced off transparent pools of water, creating golden ripples in the corridors. Incense and flowers filled the air, and the soft sound of running water followed each pace. At the other end loomed the throne room with its tall ceiling and gold-inlaid walls, upon which the highly polished throne loomed as the sign of superiority and authority.
When Neva came, she saw her mom talking with the advisors, and the issue appeared grave. Neva approached her mom and stood while waiting for them to finish the consultation. Neva also asked: "Everything okay?"
Her mom responded quietly,but slightly anxiously: "It seems as though wed need to put the trip off until later tonight."
Neva had been depressed but had agreed with her mom as well:"Okay, Mother."
"You're an obedient girl… thank you."
Then,Neva climbed the stairs stealthily, but when she passed the corner of the stairs, she took off running: "Thank you, world!"
She entered her room and collapsed onto the bed: "How beautiful my bed is. The rest of the day I shall spend sleeping." And immediately fell asleep.
Five hours later, Eilie burst into the room: "Princess, wake up! The Queen is here!"
Neva jumped up quickly, washed her face, and came downstairs.
Going down the staircase, she saw Mira waiting for her: "Hello, my child. How did your day go?"
Neva replied proudly: "It was productive!" It seemed to Neva that sleeping was a form of exercise.
Then they emerged into the vastness of the Third Kingdom.
The Third Kingdom was an architectural wonder based on a Greco-Hellenistic theme: great marble columns encircled the structures, spacious balconies topped by drooping gardens from which scented flowers and plants fell, as well as giant statues of legendary beings. The streets were paved with white marble, and the strains of ancient music filled the air, mingling with the cheers of rejoicing crowds. The aroma of roses blended with expensive perfumes filled the air, and golden candies and bizarre drinks with glittering bubbles were hawked.
In the center of the main square stood the"Great Telescope," a stone statue of a woman holding the dome of the sky in her hands, her shining eyes emitting a faint light.
Neva and her mother ascended the steps of the square, and all the people before them stepped aside as if by command in regal silence.
As they ascended the square, they would face the Telescope, which had been solely opened for the royals to use.
Neva read it through and sighed deeply.
Before her eyes appeared indescribable scenes of worlds.There, in a place with no known location, strange creatures floated:
• A glassy sea creature, as transparent as a large drop of water, slow-moving vortices turning inside it like unblinking eyes.
• A broken stone creature, half shattered and half solid, moving slowly, each step generating a vibrational wave that cracked the void.
• A shape like a curtain of shadows, writhing slowly, with minute particles fluttering around it as if they were torn letters.
Neva breathed in wonder, "They. they appear like the beings from the paintings from the palace."
Her mum smiled serenely and said:
"The rEmanants.Commoners can form contracts with them. They provide them with power for a fee."
Neva raised her head and askedcraftily:
"are these a weak emanats or a strong ones"
She answered her mother with an inscrutable tone:
"Okay… they all start the same place, and each emanant has strengths as well as flaws. "
Neva replies: "Does all that mean all emanants are equal?"
It all depends how you cultivate it.
Neva stated as if she were asking :"But we happen to have an advantage as we're a royal family."
Mira replies: "Actually, no. There exist plenty of kings who by no means developed their existence."
She also turns her haid : "look they r gonna play the theater ,we will finish this later."
When it was evening, the mother brought Neva into the royal theater, which would shortly come alive with the great play.
The royal audience sat in the elaborate boxes,and the curtain rose.
The play had begun by recounting how the First King of the Five Kingdoms had come into the world, albeit in a sardonic comic tone.
The actor for the First King came dressed in ridiculously expensive-looking royal regalia, his crown huge enough he could not turn his head easily, and his speaking voice completely cartoonish.
A bizarre being with a dark book walked in, dressed in the longest black robes with a face hidden behind an impossibly grinning mask.
The first scene opened with the King speaking to himself, lamenting of his afflictions:
"Ah, what a king I am! I don't even recall the bread tax anymore, and all my counselors are idiots! What am I to do?!"
The Emanant came slowly and spoke with a voice all too smooth:
"I am the answer to all your problems.just sign."
The King faked a moment of hesitation, overplaying his fright, turning towards the audience and remarking with a ridiculous expression: "Huh? Does this cover the taxes as well?!"
The audience laughed.
The King held out his heart from his hands in a highly dramatized gesture, waving it up high as one would wave a fruit, and signed the agreement.
Abruptly, the King's body lit up with a preposterous golden glow, and the accompanying sound effects made eerie bubblings and whistles.
All the other kings of the kingdoms bowed in a funny way, each falling to the ground in a different manner.
The king of the First Kingdom, the greatest clown of all, crawled around on the ground feigning submission, when he sprang up shrieking:
"You have betrayed me!!" He attempted to stab the First King with a gigantic dagger shaped like a plaything for children. It became a slapstick fray, as the players staggered, fell, and dodged absurdly. The fight ended when the King of the First Kingdom fell after he had tripped over his own cloak. First King was proclaimed king of the Five Kingdoms to the tune of side-splitting royal music, and the actor raised his voice declaring in a jeering tone: "I am the ruler of light and shadows!" The curtain came down amidst applause and laughter from the audience. Neva whispered to her mother calmly: "What is this silly play?All I understood is that contracts are everything in life. If you progress by dealing with a powerful being, you just win." Her mother responded by smiling slightly and with a nebulous expression: "Contracts are only the beginning.The smarter one is the one who drafts the terms." He stood in silence before her, but Neva looked at the stage. Then she said: "Do I Have an Emanant?"