The Announcement

Amante had gone over her script at least a dozen times as the afternoon dragged on. Her advisors had already sent out notices for the evening’s announcement, and Amante’s nerves were steadily increasing.

She returned to her quarters, which had been carefully cleaned so that every surface—other than the mirror—seemed to glisten, after lunch with the council. She hardly spared the rest of the room a glance, making a beeline for the mirror. She focused on the familiar sharp, dark energy that emitted from it.

Underlanders had the unusual ability to tap into the energies around them. They could even control these energies, or at least change their direction for a brief moment. The power surges in the cavern, caused by the generators, were hidden from Overlanders’ prying scanners by the Keepers. Keepers had been trained to tap into the energies and redirect them to prevent them from reaching the surface.

As Amante focused on the dark energy, the red mist from before began to emerge from the mirror. Denara’s form rose up from it, gazing down at the young queen.

“Denara, we must talk,” Amante said, swallowing hard.

“Of course, about the terms of our arrangement, and about your growing concerns.” Denara waved a translucent red hand.

“T-terms?” Amante stammered.

“Yes, dear. Terms. Last night, you wanted my help, didn’t you?”

“Well… yes. I do want your help. But what are the costs of gaining your help?”

“Oh, no real cost. At least, not at first. If I’m going to help you, I’m going to need to be able to stay out of this mirror for longer. In order to do that, I need a host,” Denara purred.

Amante blinked, her face falling. “A host? Are you going to have to possess me or something?”

“No, no, darling! I wouldn’t possess you. I just need to rest inside your mind, your soul. Your actions would be yours entirely,” Denara assured her.

The queen was still uncertain. “I don’t understand. Rest inside my soul?”

Denara smiled patiently, though she was anything but patient. “Yes, we’d share bodies for a bit. Though, at day’s end, I could return to the mirror. You see, I am a spirit. I have no body of my own. Therefore, in order to leave this room, or even be visible for large amounts of time, I must have a living host to share a body with.”

Amante mulled this over. “You said there is no cost… at first?”

The spirit shrugged. “Some people can be… sensitive… to becoming a spirit’s host. Some are driven into madness. Of course, if I sense that is happening to you, I would not hesitate to return to the mirror,” she said silkily.

Taking a deep breath, Amante took on a determined expression. “Whatever it takes, as long as my people have a bright future ahead.”

Denara smiled widely, which had a rather eerie effect. “I suppose we must first discern if you are a suitable host. It shouldn’t hurt at all—you shouldn’t feel anything if it works. If it doesn’t work… the side effects can vary. You might feel a strange tickle, or a sharp pain.”

“O-okay. I trust you’ve done this before?”

“Not really, no. I’ve only been told or witnessed these things—I learned from another spirit who recently passed to the next life, for their unfinished business was finished.”

“WHAT?!” Amante gasped incredulously. Was Denara serious?

“Don’t worry! I’ve seen and heard enough to know what I’m doing,” the spirit said soothingly.

“Alright. Alright, we’ll do this. And if it works, you’ll help me get my people to the surface?”

“Of course. I shall do everything in my power.”

“Then I’m ready.” The young queen closed her eyes.

Denara made a huffing sound, as if annoyed, and then suddenly there was a curious sensation deep inside Amante’s chest. It felt like a mixture of frigid ice and raging fire. When she opened her eyes, Denara was gone.

“Did it work?” she wondered aloud.

Of course it worked! What else would’ve happened? Denara’s voice came like a thought in the queen’s mind, but in the spirit’s silky tone.

“You might’ve gone back into the mirror? Or been… destroyed?”

“Pffft! Destroyed? Not likely, no. Spirits can’t be destroyed unless the thing they haunt is destroyed, and since you are now my host, you’d also have to be killed in order for me to pass on,” Denara snorted. Her voice was now real again, not just a whisper in Amante’s head. A strand of the red mist coiled before the queen, taking the form of a King Cobra.

Amante stared in surprise. “You can turn into a snake?”

“No,” Denara said flatly, “but I can use this excess mist that trails me to form what I wish, and then speak through it. For the time being, I shall be your ‘pet’ snake.”

The mist seemed to grow less translucent. It now had the illusion of being a real snake, with dark scales that reminded Amante of dried blood.

“I think you have an announcement in… about an hour?” Denara reminded her, tongue flicking in and out.

“Oh! Right.” Amante snatched up the script from off her bed and read it again:

Citizens of Mubrisia, I stand before you with the hopes that you will listen to my words, and heed them. For generations we’ve lived safely underground, hidden from the Overlanders. Now, as our numbers increase, our space decreases. We are trapped in this cold prison, and it’s only a matter of time before resources run out. It is with a heavy heart I say this, knowing that it may be our only option to avoid the inevitable civil war that would be caused by lack of space and resources. Every day, scouting trips to the surface bring back less and less Overland food. We’ve almost reached the Western Wall of this cavern…

“Is that really the best you can do?” Denara asked, eyeing the piece of paper.

“What would you have me say? ‘Hey, fellow Underlanders. Let’s go to war against the Overlanders so we can take their land’?” Amante glared at the snake, slightly unnerved at hearing Denara’s familiar voice coming from the serpent’s mouth.

“Of course not, silly girl. Let me give you some pointers, though,” Denara suggested.

For the next thirty minutes, Amante sat on the edge of her bed listening to Snake-Denara. Her mind felt quieter now, and the butterflies of nerves had settled down to an occasional flutter.

“They’ll be expecting you out there soon,” said the spirit in a soft tone.

“I know. Are you going to stay with me as a snake? Or are you just going to be in my head?”

“I’ll be in your head. A snake would draw too much attention, especially if they overheard me whispering something to you. Shall we make our way out? I’m sure all of your mighty advisors are waiting for you.” Denara’s tone turned mocking when she spoke of the advisors. Amante gave her a sharp look.

“I suppose…” she sighed, glancing at the door.

“Well then, let’s not keep them in suspense!” The snake faded, and the tendril of red mist wrapped itself around Amante’s wrist before disappearing.

To change, to a metamorphosis, Denara whispered in the queen’s mind.

Amante stood, brushing a strand of her dark red hair from her pale face, and opened the door. She strode purposefully through the halls until she arrived at the upper Grand Room. A fake, chilly breeze swept through from the large balcony.

“Your Highness!” Tani called out, bowing her head. She stood with two other Advisors, Merrin and Phineas. A fourth Underlander, whom Amante did not recognize, was standing just behind them.

“Muvyeht, Tani, Merrin, Phineas,” Amante dipped her head at each one. Her gaze then focused on the stranger, who looked to be hardly older than herself. “And who might this be?”

“Your Highness.” He bowed his head low, his shaggy black hair falling into his piercing silver eyes. “I’m Alastor. Alastor Verré.”

His grandfather killed me! Denara muttered indignantly into Amante’s thoughts.

“Ah. A descendant of a murderer, then?” The words slipped out of Amante’s mouth before she could stop them.

Alastor’s pale face was tinged with pink, and his expression turned to one of barely concealed rage. “Forgive me for being so blunt, your majesty, but I think my grandfather did us all a favor. We’d all be dead by now if he hadn’t done what he did.”

“So you’re justifying murder?” Amante inquired coldly.

“I’m not saying what he did was right, but what he did might have just saved us all. Queen Denara would’ve had us fight the Overlanders, which is suicide.” Alastor shook his head, his fists clenched.

The three advisors had stepped away and seemed to be in a deep discussion about the rare imported shrimp, so Amante could see no help coming from them. She wasn’t even sure what had gotten into her, to respond so coldly to the boy.

“Look, I’m sorry. I just hope you don’t follow in your grandfather’s footsteps after tonight. You seem like a nice guy,” Amante muttered.

“What do you mean ‘after tonight’?” Alastor looked puzzled. “You’re not going to suggest we go to war too, are you?”

“I wouldn’t if I didn’t think we had no choice. You’ll see what I mean, when I make the announcement.” The young queen stepped past him, ready to leave the conversation. She strode over to a couple of High-Standing Underlanders, who were enjoying the fresh fruit. Amante was feeling rather guilty, and she regretted saying what she’d said about the boy’s grandfather. She’d been too quick to defend Denara, and she hadn’t even considered asking him why he’d come to the palace in the first place… or how.

Perhaps it had been Tani who arranged it, or Merrin. Neither of them had seemed bothered by his presence. Phineas, however, had looked rather irritated, as if he’d been opposed to some scheme but dragged along anyway.

Suppressing sudden thoughts of paranoia, she walked toward the balcony. Her steps were elegant and graceful, the orange and black dress swished as she walked. The artificial breeze caused the fake butterflies on her dress to flutter as if alive.

“Citizens of Mubrisia,” Amante spoke in a loud, clear, authoritative tone. A circular object hovered before her—the Underlanders’ equivalent of a camera. “I stand before you in hopes that you will hear my voice and heed it. Times are growing trying as this cavern we call home begins to feel smaller and smaller. Resources are depleting. I have a potential solution to this problem, but it is one many of you would consider ‘suicide.’ However, I’m seeing only two options at the end of the line. We can all die down here in this cold, confined space, or we can feel the sunlight for once in our lives as we die fighting for our freedom.” She paused, letting her words sink into the listening viewers. The crowd underneath the balcony was mostly silent, except for a few jeers.

Keep going. They need to be convinced, Denara spoke into Amante’s thoughts.

The queen took a deep breath. “I want you to know that I do not make this announcement lightly. If there were any other way, I would choose it instead. But Overlanders are greedy, cruel creatures that would be afraid of us, and in fear they would attack. Peaceful interactions are wishful thinking. Of course, we do have two options, which is why I shall have you all vote. Freedom? Or continued confinement? This vote ends in two weeks. Thank you for hearing me, dear fellow Underlanders.”

Amante stepped back from the balcony, and the circular object clicked off. As she retreated into the interior of the palace, she caught sight of Alastor.

The look he gave her sent shivers down her spine.