//------------------------------// // Chapter 9. // Story: The Desert Prince // by Sparky Brony //------------------------------// I join Ghaliya as we canter switfly through the castle, It’s quite quickly that I realize that our destination is the throne room. A glance back shows me that Dawn is walking with us. I’m guessing that she’s curious as to who was the force that ended up with her being hired to get Ghaliya. The palace servant stops and bows before the open doors to the throne room. As we get through the doors, I stop in my tracks. Sargon is there along with a horse covered in robes much like mine, though they are wearing hobbles on their forelegs, restraining them to bow before the dais. “Ahh, that was quick!” The Padishah exclaims from his throne, his happy smile finds Ghaliya quickly. “I have reviewed the evidence presented. I would hope that you want to hear my determination.” “Uncle, who is this horse?” She stops as she sees the horse restrained before the Padishah. She stops, a single hoof lifted. “You are familiar, who are you?” The horse lifts his head. “I don’t need to explain myself to a mare.” I look at him. Before I say anything, Kaspar leans forward. “You do, however, have to explain yourself to me.” He turns his head to look at Ghaliya. “Sargon’s thief-takers were able to track the transactions back to a group you probably know quite well, Banu As-Sawarim. This is Hammurabi of Banu Nasheed.” Ghaliya’s eyes widen in recognition. She whirls on the restrained horse. “You? You pay for me to be abducted? You put our whole caravan's lives in danger. All because…” Banu Nasheed looks up at her, venom in his eyes. “You are one to talk. You, who SHOULD be settled down with a stallion, not running caravans and costing me profits. It is the profits of stallion-operated businesses that keep our trade alive.” He turns to look up at the Padishah. “You would support her, one who throws our customs out like manure. One who trods on our ways and beliefs, those ways that have kept us safe for over a thousand years. And you would think to punish us? Punish me? For doing what you decree and keeping the old ways alive? For teaching her a lesson about the real world. That her playing stallion has real costs and repercussions. Our ways can not be discarded! That she belongs with a true stallion like…” Kaspar looks infinitely sad for a long moment. He stomps a hoof down. “Silence. I will not be lectured by the likes of you.” He glances quickly at Ghaliya before directing his ire at the restrained stallion. “Mares do not exist solely to satisfy your desires and to provide you with heirs. Many decades ago, that may have been the case. But life, like everything else, evolved. The Great War of the Sands was the end result of that line of thinking. Your grandfather can tell you again about the chaos because one mare was not allowed to take a place. For good or ill, mares are a tilth to stallions, different but our equals. Your clan will have to adjust to the times. I have made my decision.” Hammurabi peers intently at Padishah Kaspar. “What?” “The sentence for orchestrating the abduction and imprisonment of a member of the Royal Family, as well as providing material assistance to a fire djinn, is death.” He struggles forward, only to stop at the sharp steel held to his neck by the guard. “You can’t do this!” He shouts. “How am I to be executed for my crime, while the pony mercenary who did the deed gets off?” “A hundred lashes and a heavy fine is hardly getting off. But what you did, you didn’t have the balls to do it yourself, you contracted out your ire, you spent gold to get a group of mercenaries to do your dirty work. While the merc treated her ethically, and repented and apologized for her actions. You stand here, trying to justify what you did before me. Falling back on traditions that are better left in the dust of the past to justify your hatred. I’m sorry, but had you shown even an ounce of contrition, I might have found it permissible for your sentence to be lessened. But as it is, you shall meet your maker before the sun sets tonight.” He looks at his guard. “Take him away.” The cries of the horse swiftly fade into the distance as several guards work to pull him from the throne room. Kaspar watches as the heavy doors finally muffle the panicked screams of the horse. I look down at Dawn, who is standing there, she’s lost several shades of her own color as she trembles a bit. Kaspar comes up to me. “The mystery is solved.” He looks back at the door for a long moment. “It’s quite upsetting that an upstanding member of the trade guilds has seen fit to do such actions.” He stops and notices Dawn’s plight. “Is there something the matter, child?” She reaches up with a hoof and touches her neck. “I could have just as easily ended up the same as him, couldn’t I?” That gets a rich laugh from Kaspar. “Not after Ghaliya spoke to me on your behalf. Though your actions, coming in without being dragged in. Admitting your fault and accepting the consequences of your actions, the regret you wore for all to see. They speak to a moral of character, something I prize quite well. My errant niece has shown it since she was but a filly. Ki, in the short time he’s been here, has as well. Sargon, for all of his flaws, has shown good character himself. And you, little pony, have within you the strength that will serve you well.” He stops, looking at her. “While he was being interrogated before you arrived. He tried to shift the blame. His actions continue to hurt our relations with a true ally.” He looks sidelong at me. “With somecreature that might be our only hope in these times coming.” He turns to face the expansive windows looking out into a peaceful garden, the Padishah looks up. "Can't you feel it? Can't you taste it on the wind? Change is coming. Mark my words. The winds of change are blowing, and risk burying us all in the sands of time." I shake my head. “All I know is the name, Hammurabi of the Banu Nasheed. Who is he?” Ghaliya supplies the answer. “The Winds Lions are a wealthy company run by the patriarch of the Banu As-Sawarim; they own the water rights of a great oasis and used that money to buy into the trading guild, decades ago, they were a small clan that scratched a living off rocks in the deep desert. They say magic was used to get them that oasis and the wealth associated with it. Rumor has it they have a magic guild, House of Starry Wisdom.” She stops and looks at me. “In the last few years, they have been fierce competitors. Let's look under their tents and see what we can find." “Not so fast, my wild one,” Kaspar says gently, getting Ghaliya to turn and look at him, “You are not an investigator, you are not a thief-taker. Leave that to those who’s job it is to investigate. If we find more were involved, they will be punished.” Ghaliya huffs as she looks at me, then back at the Padishah. “More beheadings?” He actually barks a short laugh. “Oh, goodness no. One death is enough for this, any co-conspirators would probably have similar punishments to your new pony friend here.” I find myself breathing a sigh of relief. Though part of me wants to argue, to save that horse’s life. I find myself immensely torn. For what happened to Ghaliya, because of his money, my ire towards him demands his life but the law does not. For traffickings with powerful djinn, that is what has truly bought his death. But the thought of taking that life turns my stomach, far worse than having to witness what Dawn went through. I must have been too focused inward, Ghaliya moves up next to me. “Do not worry Ki, I’ll not insist you join me for the execution.” I look at her, feeling my ears droop, I take a deep breath before shaking my head slowly, “Are you sure? I can be there to support you if you need.” “She will have all the support she needs, pony.” Sargon’s voice impinges on my thoughts, I look over at him, his sneer takes in both of us. “Well, wife. I will happily join you to witness the death of this traitor.” He looks pointedly at me. “As you can see, I was not the one to orchestrate this abomination.” He stops for a moment, a sad look passing over his face. “I’ll not expect an apology from you for your unfounded accusations.” As he was speaking, I could feel Ghaliya’s anger spike, though she keeps her temper in check. “I’m not your wife yet, Sargon.” She mutters almost too quietly to hear. She shakes her head. “Thank you, Sargon, for your diligent work to uncover the horses who betrayed my caravan and me. I will join you in witnessing the punishment of Banu Nasheed.” She walks slowly as he leads her away. I’m about to turn back to go when he turns his head to look back at me. The greasy smile on his face gets my wings to extend a bit, I steel myself and trot to catch up with them. “Ki, you don’t have to.” I look at Ghaliya. “Yes, I do.” I find myself sighing as I follow them through the palace, and way too quickly, we are again in the balcony overlooking the traitor’s court. I glance down at the pole that Dawn had been strapped to, but it’s not the only thing in this courtyard. I’m guessing other implements of punishment are here. But none of them seem to be in use. As we watch, the doomed horse is dragged out into the court by ropes wrapped around his barrel and neck. He’s fighting them wildly, though the guards seem to be used to these kinds of antics. The ropes are swiftly secured with him bound to the flagstones. One more horse comes out, a wicked looking sword scabbarded on his barrel. My ears flinch back as the bound horse starts to scream. I flinch as the sword is brought out. I glance quickly at Ghaliya before returning my attention to the drama unfolding below. The horse has put his head as hard as he could to the side, making a clean cut impossible. Ghaliya and Sargon both yell, "Coward! Can you not even end this life with a drop of courage!?" The executioner yanks the head back into position and immobilizes it with rope. After a quick reading from a scroll, intoning the charges for all present. He then lifts the blade in an arc over the head to bring it crashing down. With a great sweep of the sword, his head tumbles from his body. I only get a glimpse of the blood flowing before I flinch back. “Too much for your tender stomach, pony?” Sargon says with a sneer. I gulp. “My first execution. I truly hope it was a just one.” He rolls his eyes as he turns to direct his attention at the executioner, who cleans his sword on the robes of the now deceased horse before re-sheathing it. He bows to us before heading back into the palace. Sargon snorts loudly, “Come, wife. We must talk.” He looks at me. “Alone.” I take a step before Ghaliya’s voice stops me. “It’s okay, Ki. I will see you later.” I look at both of them for a long moment, though Ghaliya’s eyes are pleading with me. I finally nod and turn away. I do have more training to do. *** The courtyard we are training in is actually quite beautiful, trees are growing high into the air, patches of lush green grass along with a small artificial stream running through it. Dawn balances on a single forehoof, her voice calm and steady. “Telekinesis is the most basic ability of a unicorn. Most can do quite a bit with it, even if it’s not their cutie mark. Though those with cutie marks related to telekinesis can do feats that would boggle your mind. You’ve used it enough so far, it’s second nature to you, right?” “Yeah.” “And as an alicorn, you’ve barely scratched the surface of what you can do with your mind, manipulating the world around you. You can see the flow, the magic, from you to whatever you touch with it, right?” “I can,” I say softly. Indeed, the small statue that I’m levitating is covered in the green glow of my aura, but I can see more of it, a soft flow of energy from me to it. “Nopony else, except for some very exceptional mages, can see those flows in anypony other than themselves. That energy you see is your magical essence. It is within you, and by your actions, by you using your energy, you extend it from your body, from your horn, to the object you are affecting. That flow is what connects you to the object. It is what lets you know the nature of what you are touching. You are not physically touching the statue, but to your senses, your magical senses, you are reaching out and touching it as much as if you extended a hoof or a wing to touch it. Do you understand that?” I cock my head to the side and tap a hoof on the ground, “I thought you weren’t going to be doing foal’s lessons with me, Dawn.” She snorts. “Are you thick in the head, Ki? I’m not teaching you spells, I’m teaching you magic, what makes those spells up. With the knowledge of the magic, the power that suffuses the entire world, you can not only use spells, you can build upon your knowledge, you can go beyond simply learning by rote. The Saddelians, for all their pomp, pride, and violence, appetite for gold, have little appetite to learn beyond what has been taught to their forefathers." She stamps. "They would be content for this realm to be mired here a thousand years, all their sciences built to lead to the conclusions reached by dead horses now dust and bleached bones. Anyway, there is symmetry to the flow.” Her voice gets dreamy. “There is strength, more energy than your horn could ever hope to channel, and it’s all a part of our world, you are one of those who can not only tap into that energy, but you can feel what that power is, what it means. Okay, now for the fifth object, let’s see... I want you to pick up some of the water.” My eyes bulge as I reach out to touch the water with my magic. The water seems to absorb the energy. I frown and concentrate, I need to pick up the water. With everything else I’m holding, dividing the flows of magic is getting easier, but the water is defying my attempts. Her laugh is rich. “Water, or any liquid really, is hard to pick up, because it doesn’t have a defined form. Right now it’s flowing, so picking out the specific water you want to pick up is nearly impossible. You have to think outside of the box, Ki. The water you are thinking of as you try to reach is already rushing towards the drain. Oh, KI, STOP!” I open my eyes at her shout, unaware that I had closed them. The entire contents of the stream are now hovering over our heads. In my shock, I lose the void and my horn quiets, the rocks and statue that I was holding clatter to the ground. Followed moments later by hundreds of gallons of water splashing down. The impact of the water forces Dawn to collapses to all four hooves before glaring at me from between the sodden strands of her mane. Blowing a strand of wet mane out of her face she slowly shakes her head before closing her eyes. Puffing her cheeks out, she shakes her body hard, water flinging everywhere, causing a small shower of rain for some distance. She gathers some of her mane in her hooves, looking balefully at me as she tries to arrange the mustard yellow waves into something somewhat presentable. “Umm, my bad?” I say innocently, taking a step back. She sits down on the flagstones with an audible squish, putting both her hooves to either side of her temples, “Gotta remember, Dawn, he’s an alicorn.” She blinks a few times. “You know, you were actually were supposed to fail until I inform you to form a field with your magic in the shape of a cup, and use that to pick up the water, because you make a vessel with air, with your magic, then you can pick it up. But nooooooooo, you can’t do that. You have to be a bloody alicorn and pick up the whole bloody Celestia damned stream!" I lift up a drenched hoof, my robes are cold against my body, a few moments work with my magic has the robes landing in a sodden mess next to a tree. “Sorry, I’ll try and fail better next time.” She looks at the water puddling all around the courtyard and then at the stream as whatever source there is starts refilling the channel cut into the stones. She shakes her head. “It’s okay, Ki.” She says with a sigh. She turns and looks at me. “You seem to have a fairly good grasp at working with things outside of you. Unicorn foals can sometimes take years to truly understand their magic, and how to affect the world around them. Until then, they pretty much just spark.” She shakes her head ruefully. “Don’t worry about failure, Ki, It is a serious part of learning.” She brings a hoof up to her chin. “Okay, we’ve established that you’ve got the strength, let’s see how you can affect you.” “Huh?” She gins. “Did you not notice that I didn’t use magic to dry myself off. Oh, it’s possible, and yes, I can. But affecting yourself is quite a bit harder than affecting the world around you.” Her horn lights and she brings up a hoof. The water soaking into her blue coat rapidly beads and rolls off of her onto the ground. “That is the basis of learning teleportation. How to affect yourself, your body, you.” I look at my own hoof, my horn lighting, only to get a yelp from the blue unicorn. “Wait! I can appreciate a desire to learn! But without training, you could rip your hide right off your bones!” I slam my hoof back to the ground quickly. Trying and failing to look innocent. She stalks up to me. “For something like removing or donning your robes, you are putting the clothing on you, but you are not affecting you, you are placing something around yourself, and you will notice that doing so is rather hard, and requires a lot of concentration, am I right?” I nod. She reaches up and touches my foreleg. “You aren’t covering yourself with teleportation, you are taking your essence, your magical self, from one place to another. I’m not going to teach you the old way, winking, it’s rather violent by today’s standards, and I really don’t want to see you puking your guts out today.” She smiles. “Okay, this is going to be different. But the easiest way for you to understand a good teleport is to have a teacher teleport with you. Are you ready?” “For what?” She rolls her eyes and grabs my hoof. Her horn lights and suddenly we are across the courtyard. Dizziness slams into me and I stagger a few paces. “Woah.” “It’s different, isn’t it?” She smirks. “Did you feel the weave? Did you feel how I determined what was our destination?” I cock my head to the side, thinking furiously. “I think so, but it’s so complex. And you form that weave within you?” “Within your horn, Ki. It is the center of your magic, the instrument that focuses and channels your magic. But it’s not where the magic originates, the power, the magic, is everywhere. Your horn gathers that energy, that is how you use it. But for teleporting, I could go for hours, explaining the magical formula, how much energy it takes to go fifty feet versus fifty miles, what it means when you add another body, or multiple bodies to the teleport. And with years of study, you could finally do a small teleportation yourself. Or, I could…” She again takes my foreleg and her horn flares brightly. I look around, we are on the veranda above the courtyard. I paw the white stone. She grins. “Did you feel it that time?” I nod. I could feel the energy from her horn as it enfolded both of us. “Or you could teach me by doing,” I say softly. I know what that felt like. I can do that. I reach out a hoof, only to have her dance away quickly. “Oh, I don’t feel like being turned inside out by a teleporter trying his first jump. Go yourself.” I look down into the courtyard. As I concentrate, I can hear her voice in my ear. “You see where you want to be, this is simple, just line of sight, the least taxing of teleportation. You see the flagstone you want your hooves to appear on, you are there, all you need to do is unleash that energy. Feel it gather in your horn. Good, you have your magic, you don’t reach out, you reach within. You felt the weave, your instincts will guide you to form it. Now pull, pull on the magic all around, it is yours to command, it has more power, more strength than you will ever have, but it must be guided by you, you are the intelligence controlling it. And go!” At her last shout, I pull on the magic, it’s definitely a different feeling, instead of reaching out, I’m reaching within myself. I remember the weave, the feeling of the magic, the different flavors of the powers within that weave. I feel a surge within my horn and I let loose the power. Only to remain standing on the veranda, now with an instant migraine. I reach up and comfort my now aching horn and glance at Dawn. The grin on her face tells me she knows exactly how I feel. “Feels like you got dragged through a knot hole backwards, doesn’t it?” I nod. “Ouch.” She lights her horn and brings it close, cool energy washes over me. “There, you should be ready to try again.” My eyes widen as I can feel as though I’ve spent an afternoon lounging around, well rested and pain free. She smiles and nods her head a bit. I look back at my planned destination and open myself to my magic, my horn shines brightly before I unleash the pent-up energy. Only to remain on the veranda. I snort in irritation, directing my own baleful glare at her. “Don’t worry, Ki, nopony figures it out perfectly on the first try. Let’s go again.” Over the next few hours, she teleports me back and forth, then lets me try to teleport. My frustration grows as my hundredth attempt goes no better than the first. I pant softly, even though I’m not going anywhere, I am using a lot of energy. “Okay, again.” I stomp a hoof on the stone of the veranda. “No, not again. You keep saying I’ve got the weave right, but I can’t see it, only feel it. And every attempt ends up with a painful horn and I get more and more tired. How is this teaching?” She barks a short laugh. “If teleporting were easy, every unicorn would be able to do it. You do have the weave correctly. But did you not listen when I said that affecting yourself was harder than affecting the world around you?” “I did listen, but nothing seems to be helping!” I look down at her. “You wanted me to fail with picking up the water, do you want me to fail in this until you tell me the solution?” Her grin gets me to take a step back, my hackles raising. Finally she snorts, coming back to herself. “Ki, you are doing what unicorns do all the time when learning the difference between affecting the external and affecting the internal. There are two ways to learn to teleport, one is to spend years, several years, learning the specific formulae, to understand the basic differences involved here. Or, you can have one who has mastered the art, and yes, it’s an art, of teleportation show you how to do it. I am showing you, and you have learned the weave, the last fifteen or so were letter perfect with what I showed you for line of sight teleportation. But your basic problem is that you are trying to use it to move the world around you, not move you within the world. There is a big difference there, and once you figure it out, that difference will be night and day in your thinking. But in this case, you have to figure out the night, and nopony can teach you that. You must discover that difference yourself. I can only guide you. And I am.” I look at her, my frustration cooling. “So, you say it’s the difference between the external and the internal?” She nods. I turn back to look at the flagstone that has been frustratingly out of reach for me. Internal, not affecting the world around me, but affecting me. I glance down at my foreleg, I shift my wings a bit. I can feel my body, I can feel my magic, my connection to the amazing power all through the world. I need to get from here to there. My horn lights without me being fully aware of it and I gather the energy into my horn. Myself, my body, my mind, my thoughts, my feelings. All of those comprise what it is to be me. I don’t just want to move my body from here to there, I want to move me, everything that is me. My horn surges and my hooves land on the flagstone I was aiming for. I snort as I look at where my forehooves are standing. Then I look back up at the veranda, only to see a flash of energy before she impacts me, hugging me tightly. “I knew you could do it, Ki! I knew it!” She crows loudly. She releases me and dances a bit, a happy smile on her face before she again sits down before me. “Okay, did you feel the difference there?” I narrow my eyes, thinking furiously, then I nod, getting a happy smile from her. “See, you have opened a whole new world of magic, Ki. You’ll be able to transmogrify yourself and do a hundred other things that are completely different than what you can do to other things. I’m proud of you, Ki. You are going to be an exceptional mage.” I frown for a moment. “That was the easiest type of teleportation?” She nods, then she shrugs. “Well, winking is technically easier, because it’s more along the lines of affecting the world around you with you in it. Almost like a dimensional portal, I guess. But this way to teleport allows you to carry others with you easier, and the basic principals do carry over to longer distances.” She glances back up at the veranda. “Care to try again?” I grin at her. “Most definitely.” A few hours later we are interrupted by a loud thump on the flagstones of the yard. Geurina folds her wings against her body and huffs, her tail thrashing as she walks up to me. "Here!" She growls and shoves a book at me. "Huh? Wha?" I take a step back, reflexively lighting my horn to pick up the book. "Its a book I found, talks about an alicorn princess who was drugged by a prince, poisoned to fall in love with him. Turns out it seems to be a common thing." Turning, she snarls almost hitting me with her tail. "Geurina, what’s going on?" I ask taking a step back. "I was making another delivery and I heard all about you... I didn't think you had it in you to be another Saddelian warlord complete with a harem." Trotting over, Dawn blinks, "Um, are you okay?" "Oh, you poor thing, I wish I had known sooner, I would have been able to scrounge enough up to buy you myself, save you from having to..." Shuddering, she looks back at me. "With that." "What?" Dawn blinks, looking at me confused. "Having to bed with that... Male..." She huffs and sits hugging the little unicorn protectively. "Ki actually saved my life, and then he and Ghaliya both procured me from the Padishah's household after a few days of waiting for courtesy. I have lain in bed, but have not been mistreated. Actually, he's not that bad, there's a certain safety, a warmth in his wings." Giggling, Dawn smiles. "I feel like I'm sleeping beside my father." "Oh, that makes it so much worse!" The griffin pats the unicorn, "Taking advantage of an innocent mare like that, you... you... Egg stealer." I sit down and cover my muzzle, groaning, "Geurina, what have you heard?" "That you bought this poor innocent little mare, as a slave, and bedded her. Used her. Took advantage of her innocence and..." The look of fire in Geurina's eyes is only matched by her tail lashing side to side, her talons digging into the ground as she seethes in anger. "Oh my heroine!" Dawn says with a big smile directed at me. "Not funny," I say and pout, sitting down, my ears drooping. "What right do YOU have to act dejected," Geurina asks firmly, crossing her forelegs. "Simple, I never had sex with her." I say. "We never did...it." "But but but... The servers said..." Dawn giggles softly, "Its cultural, the horses here expect it. We never said we had sex, I just slept beside him. I am a strong daughter of Equestria who makes her living with powder and shot on the sands; having to put up with perfunctory mountings would be far from the worst thing I have experienced. And should he ask, I would do so willingly, immediately. He's actually really safe to sleep with, doesn't toss or turn, doesn't kick, doesn't wing slam you into a wall, and best of all, doesn't snore." I glance between the two of them. "I figured letting them think it, would keep her safe from abuse," I sigh."The whole…thing…just turns my stomach though, its not... who I am inside. I couldn't sleep with someone whom I don't love... In that way..." "Ki, you're too kind; the Padishah is a softy behind closed doors. He never forced himself on me, I chose to enjoy his embrace and his bed, and therein he was adequately excellent, far from a brute who considers us breeding stock." She's blushing and shuffling her hindquarters. Dawn claps her forehooves together. “Alright, now that Guerina is here. Pick her up with her magic.” My eyes widen as I swiftly comply, Guerina squawking as she lifts into the air. Not doing as Dawn says has a tendency to make my life harder. "Like this?" "Yes, exactly. Before too long we'll be able to move off of magic to musket and sword." *** I stumble through the palace. I’m starving. I know where the kitchens are, and I hobble my way through. Any horse wouldn’t be blamed if I had been imbibing the local rakiya. I feel like I am beyond exhausted. I thought that the grand vizier was an evil taskmaster, but he should learn at Dawn’s hooves if he wants to be truly evil. I stumble to my knees and stay there for a moment, breathing heavily. After dozens of teleports and starting to teach me how to compensate for variables when it comes to longer range teleportation, she decided to test my fine control. She had created a flame of pure magic tied off the flow in a closed loop. She said that tying off process is similar to how magical items are imbued with a permanent magical field. This little flame made everything else I had done today pale in comparison. I had to unweave it, barely being able to see the threads, having to discern them by feel. My first attempt had the weave fall apart and explode in my face, blackening me with soot from singed hairs. Dawn and I both went for a bath after that so we didn't walk around looking like char. It was not enough to be dangerous, but enough to cause me to flinch due to how loud it was. Every time, she reestablished the flame, giving me instructions the whole time. All I had to do was unweave a weave. And its so much harder than I could ever believe. Touching my magic to them was like grabbing a greased live eel, they squirmed and fought my untying as though they had a will of their own. I laboriously get back to my hooves, it’s a short walk left to make it into the great kitchens on the lowest ground level of the palace. I stop to look around at the dozens of horses working. Being near sundown, the horses seem to be cleaning up after the last meal of the day. One horse, quite a bit more portly than most that I’ve seen, waddles over to me. “You aren’t supposed to be here.” He calls out, then he slows. “Wait a moment, you are the pony alicorn? Ki?” I nod, lifting a wing. “The one and only.” He tsks. “Well, you are in luck, Mistress Ghaliya has informed us that you would be needing some extra meals today. I’ll have somehorse bring you up your food. You just head back up to your rooms, and your food will be ready quickly.” I nod and turn around, then I stop. A flat of sweet rolls is sitting there, being iced by one of the other horses. I glance back at the head chef, who had turned away, and light my horn. The horse working on the rolls gapes as two of them float up, one of them directly into my mouth. I smile at her around my mouthful as I head from the kitchen. It’s a slow walk, but as I get to my rooms, another horse is pulling up with a rolling cart. “Good evening, Prince, your meal is ready.” The two rolls are nothing but a pleasant memory as my nostrils inhale the delicious aromas. I gesture and she pushes the door open for me. With practiced moves, she’s got several plates set out on the table. I grin before I sit down before the veritable feast before my eyes. There is no way I can eat all of this. A knock on my door gains my attention. I look down, taking the last of the rolls and blotting it on the excellent broth from the vegetable stew before shoving it down my throat. I look down, my belly is a bit distended from the massive meal I had just eaten. The knock repeats, breaking me from my thoughts. “Hold on!” I call out as I struggle to my hooves. That quickly, I feel like a new stallion. I trot over to the door, my tail swishing happily. I reach out with my magic to pull the door open, then I stop. “Ghaliya!” She looks…vulnerable is the only word I could apply to that. I reach out a hoof. “Are you okay?” “Can I come in?” I blink a few times, then I scuttle back. “Of course, you are always welcome.” She walks in slowly, hesitantly. As I close the door, I look at her. “So, a productive talk with Sargon?” She nods, seemingly distracted. She walks through the sitting room to where I was just eating. She inspects the platters and plates. “You probably ate enough for three horses.” She tilts her head. “And doesn’t look like enough left to interest a finch.” She turns around to face me. “Yes, I had a very productive talk with Sargon. We talked about the future, what I will be doing with my life.” I suppress the urge to sigh. I’ve been told many times how things are going to happen. Just some part of me simply doesn’t want to accept those plans. She chews her lower lip for a long moment. Finally, she takes a deep breath. “I want to get married. But I don’t want to settle down and be a brood mare. Though I’ll admit, the thought of foals is not abhorrent to me.” Bright spots of color appear at her cheeks. I cock my head as she continues. “I plan to keep my business, I make a lot of money. I’m very good at what I do. Farris doesn’t hold a candle to my negotiation skills. I enjoy the negotiation, I enjoy the deal. I will not be giving that up under any circumstance.” “Ghaliya, why are you…” She overrides me. “Hadi is another issue here. I know he’s not mine, I did not go through the pain of foalbirth with him. But I am his mother in every way that matters. He’s got several more years to stay close to me before he’s ready to strike out on his own. And I’m going to support him wherever he needs it, do you understand me?” “Of course I unders…” “I have decided that I will marry, but it will not be for convenience, or duty. My uncle will have to understand. I am not some slave to be auctioned to the highest bidder, and my husband doesn’t have to be richer than I am. In fact, my husband can depend upon me for all the support he needs.” She stops and looks at me. “My husband can be the one to stay home, to play with Hadi and raise any other foals. We don’t have to follow all of the traditions. My uncle has been very open minded, he’s allowed things under his time that were unheard of in our culture, in our lives. Even now, with the reforms following the last of the Absent Heir Wars, hearts are slow to change. I really do think he will welcome my husband, and he will respect my decision.” My heart is fluttering in my chest. “That’s wonderful. Sargon is a lucky stallion. I wish you well.” Saying those words feel as though I’m tearing out my insides. She blinks a few times, then she shakes her head so hard her ears flop. Then she smiles gently. “You idiot, I’m not marrying Sargon. I let him know that in no uncertain terms. I will pay him back his dowry with my own profits. I want to get married, not to Sargon, but to you.”