(AUGUST 24, 2158)

The morning air broke with an electrical current across Frederick’s skin. The hair on his body was standing at attention with a sudden chill of peculiarity. Something felt...off.

He followed his morning routine monotonously. His clothes felt awkward on his body and there was a general displeasure he saw in himself through the mirror. There was pure reluctance and near-rebellion on his head as his hair refused to fall into its usual style. He sighed in defeat as he hoped to comfort his irritable morning with the voice of his lovely sister.

Frederick checked his personal terminal for the morning message Karin usually left him. There wasn’t one today.

An aggravated grin took hold of his face before all the frustration was released at once with the thought that days like this would be inevitable.

There will be plenty more mornings like this, he thought.

Frederick’s eyes darted to the door in anticipation of the knocking that came shortly after. He wasn’t the only one with a routine, after all.

“Frederick?” came the voice.

“Come in, Serana,” Frederick said mechanically.

“Good morning, Frederick,” Serana said as she entered his room gracefully.

“Mhmm,” Frederick mumbled back, not agreeing with her words in the slightest.

“You missed a button,” Serana said with a curious expression and grabbing his shirt forcefully to fix the error.

“Right...thanks,” he said.

“Come along now,” Serana pressed almost unnaturally. “Father wants us to join him for breakfast.”

“Oh? That’s an unusual request…” Frederick said. He thought back at how the King seemed to avoid him and his questions with a zealous fervor.

If the problem wasn’t spoken of, was there really a problem? But surely the King knew he would be thoroughly aggressive with his inquisition...right?

Frederick didn’t have much time to ponder this diplomatic strategy before arriving in the dining hall where the King and his youngest daughter Amelia sat, waiting for them.

“Ah, Prince Frederick! Glad to have you join us this fine morning!” the King said in a revel.

The King’s tone was quite different from the slightly-off feeling Frederick had awoken too.

It must just be me, Frederick thought.

“We’re glad you invited us for breakfast, Father,” Serana spoke first.

“Of course, of course!” the King exclaimed. “I would invite you more often, but I’ve heard that you have been enjoying your mornings together and didn’t want to impose too much, haha!”

He gave Frederick a sly wink that settled uncomfortably in his stomach. This was nothing but a game, and the four of them were all aware of it. Frederick didn’t even feel the need to correct the King’s insinuating words. There was only energy to be lost from any of this.

“There must be something you wish to discuss with Frederick if you knowingly stole my morning away from him,” Serana said playfully. Had those words been said in any other manner, one might expect them to be a vicious poison.

Frederick felt a wave of gratitude to Serana for delivering him into such a convenient spot in the conversation.

“Now, now, there’s nothing wrong with joining the family once in a while, it’s a healthy ritual,” Frederick said in the least chiding way he could. He smiled at Serana to show his gratitude, hoping she would recognize that he was truly grateful. She understood.

The King watched Frederick as he sat across from him with intrigue slowly sipping from his morning beverage. A faint alcohol wafted from the cup with a strong sting of sweetness and licorice.

“As my lovely daughter suggests, I did have a reason for asking you to join me, Frederick,” the King said in between eating his meal.

Frederick helped himself to the food in front of him, hoping to join in the farce that was exhibited plainly at this table.

“It’s a simple request,” the King continued.

“A simple request is hardly a request at all, my Lord,” Frederick replied.

“Indeed,” the King replied.

A moment of silence came as the four of them had their mouths full and could not disgrace the conversation with slovenly impatience.

“Perhaps you’ve already heard from Colonel Leonhardt,” the King continued, “but we are to receive a diplomatic envoy tomorrow from the Deslin-Farros Principality. I hear you are acquainted with their King.”

“Not personally, my Lord,” Frederick replied. He almost corrected the King that he had heard about the envoy elsewhere, namely, his younger sister. His personal communication with Karin was becoming a privilege he took for granted. Knowledge he shouldn’t have was bound to slip out one of these days.

“I know of him only through the marriage of my older sister,” Frederick added, “I’ve never met him.”

“Be that as it may,” the King said unwaveringly, “I would appreciate it if you would join us at the meeting tomorrow. Even the smallest connection between you two should warrant friendlier talks.”

Frederick hesitated at the King’s words, wondering why he should be allowed into a diplomatic meeting he had no business being at.

“I hear he hasn’t yet met his wife, your sister,” the King continued. “And yet, they’ve already crowned her Queen of the Principality.”

“Strange customs to be sure,” Frederick replied. “Deslin-Farros has a more trusting attitude toward succession than most.”

“Though, were it not for such odd ways, they would be without a ruler at home, no?” Serana chimed in.

“That’s correct my dear,” the King replied. “It seems to have worked out in their favor this time around, though. Whether the new Queen has the trust of the people already is something else entirely.”

Frederick envisaged his sister Vaela stepping off the airship, breathing in the cold air for a moment, before ordering the enactment of several life-changing policies. He knew she could and would do such a thing without hesitation and unless her cadre of recipients were all female, they would likely follow through with such orders.

“I doubt my sister will have any trouble finding the right people to wrap around her finger,” Frederick said. “The Principality will be in adequate hands until it’s King returns.”

“Sounds like we should make it a point to inform the young King tomorrow just what it is he’ll be getting into when he returns!” the King said jovially. He laughed and quickly cleared a portion of food off his plate.

“Of course,” the King added, “I’ll have to ask that you remain in the palace for the duration of his visit...security threats are bound to arise and I would prefer to not overwhelm the commanders with needless daytime excursions.”

Frederick caught the distaste the King had of him being outside the plaza yesterday, and Serana made no attempt to hide her shame that she likely lied about being allowed out.

“Of course, my Lord,” Frederick said reluctantly, “I understand the concern.”

He lied out loud, and there wasn’t a person at the table who didn’t realize it. From every perspective, it was clear that Frederick was being put on a tighter leash than before. Frederick thought it likely that Leonhardt was being completely swamped right about now in a mess of security details.

“Well, then,” the King proclaimed to Frederick as he rose from his seat, “why don’t you take my daughters into the plaza for some air while you’re still able. It’s going to be a long week, I imagine.”

It was a sour consolation in Frederick’s opinion. He had wanted to say something rather than sit meekly in agreement but nothing had aligned itself properly in the conversation and things were still feeling a bit off.

“I’d be glad to join the two of you,” Amelia said rather suddenly.

Frederick had almost forgotten what her voice had sounded like and the startling nature of her innocent look took him by surprise.

“We’d love for you to join us, Amelia,” Serana said. “Why don’t we give ourselves a few minutes to enjoy the rest of the morning and then grace the Citizens with a walk through the plaza.”

“That sounds fine,” Frederick responded. His hand grabbed instinctively for the Mag-rifle he kept on him at the sound of the word Citizens, but there was nothing nearby. He tried not to take it as too much of an omen that he had forgotten to grab his cherished weapon, and instead excused himself briefly to rectify the situation.

Am I growing lazy, he wondered to himself.

***

“Commander, what’s the meaning of this?” Lieutenant Colonel Leonhardt asked. “There are two security details missing from the palace grounds for tomorrow’s meeting.”

“New orders from the King, Colonel,” said the City Commander. “He believes the threat to the palace is far less severe than that to the open plaza outside, and therefore, wishes for the security of the Citizens to take priority.”

“Priority for the Citizens?” mimicked Leonhardt. “It’s hardly possible to establish whether the people in this City are, in fact, Citizens.”

“That’s merely a problem for you and your soldiers of the North,” the City Commander retorted. “Rest assured, Colonel, if you feel strongly about having more security at the Palace for tomorrow, the King has no issues with you stationing your men there.”

“That’s only half the problem,” Leonhardt said, his eyes turned savage with intent. “You and I both know this city is full of…aberrations. They need to be dealt with.”

“They have been deemed Citizens by our King and the military forces of the Principality,” the Commander responded. “It is not your duty to be inquisitive on the nature of our people.”

“Am I to understand that the King is aware of the mixtures in his own city?” Leonhardt asked. His rising emotions were sundered through the straining sternness of his face.

“Are you implying that our King is unaware of the happenings in his own city?” the Commander asked. “Or are you suggesting he isn’t capable of seeing such things that are obvious to you?”
“If it were either of those,” Leonhardt started, “it would be a rather simple matter to correct.”

The Commander glared at Leonhardt with an understanding of his words. It was an implication of disobedience, corruption at worst.

“Perhaps we’ve instigated each other too much, Colonel,” the Commander stated.

“It appears that way,” Leonhardt agreed. His concerns weren’t quelled, but he was at least certain now that there was a conspiracy underway.

“I don’t need to explain what would happen to you or this city if my men or the prince were to come under harm, do I?” Leonhardt asked.

“It’s in our interest to keep them safe as well,” the Commander replied with a phony smile.

“I’ll pull my men from the exterior lines around the wall, then,” Leonhardt conceded.

“We’ll still leave Legionnaires stationed atop the walls and guarding the gates of course, there’s no need for concern,” the Commander said.

“Do you really know what it means should something happen at tomorrow’s arrival?” Leonhardt asked in earnest.

There was a breath of cynicism accompanying Leonhardt’s words. The Commander was replete with such nature and afforded the Colonel no satisfaction.

“All too well, Colonel,” the Commander replied without hesitation.

Leonhardt stared sternly at the emotionless face in front of him, feeling a sincerely insidious response emanating from the man before him.

“I’ll be pulling my men from the walls, and taking the palace, then,” Leonhardt repeated. He had hoped to evoke a miniscule fear in the Commander with his imprecise wording. He could so very easily take control of the city with the forces he had, and it was being offered to him freely, it seemed.

“Do what you feel is best, Colonel,” the Commander replied.

Leonhardt hesitated at the indifference of the response.

Could he be worried over nothing? Or was there really nothing he could do to stop whatever treacherous plans were put in place?

“Very well,” Leonhardt said. “Your Legionnaires better be prepared for the lack of presence that mine leave…”

“We’ve gotten along without them before,” the Commander responded.

The words were cold and abrasive, not an unusual phenomenon in military etiquette, but Leonhardt couldn’t help but feel an immense pain of anxiety for tomorrow’s events.

Maybe I should issue a purge order tonight, Leonhardt thought. I could have this man’s head by dawn and have the city in complete chaos by the time our airships were back in the skies toward our Principality…

The Colonel shook his head of such thoughts, knowing that such an order was tantamount to executing a coup. That kind of tactic was not for him to decide, he was loyal to his Principality, after all.

“If it calms your fears, Colonel,” the Commander said before leaving, “there will be full stations at the Molecular Barriers. Nothing will harm or damage them. I’m sure our interests are at least in the same place there.”

“No, I don’t think that calms me even a little…” Leonhardt replied.

***

The palace halls were dark and void of its already scarce inhabitants. Frederick slowly walked alone up and down the corridors. He was unable to sleep. His usual message from Karin had not been waiting for him like he had anticipated. The unavoidable thought as to why forms of personal communication had been wiped out after the Alliance war were all too clear. Only a few weeks, and he might already say he was addicted to the prospect of receiving a message from afar. A hungry adrenaline kept him from settling down, expecting a fix that it wouldn’t be getting this evening.

“Is that,” Frederick began as he saw a figure walking the halls too, “Amelia?”

“Oh, hello, Frederick,” replied the girl. “I didn’t expect to see anyone tonight.”

“Do you wander at night, often?” Frederick asked.

“Once in a while, yes,” she replied.

As he approached the girl, her figure reflected the sister he had on his mind.

“Is something bothering you tonight?” Amelia asked.

“Can’t sleep,” Frederick replied. Suddenly his eyes remembered the heaviness to end the day. He yawned in spite of the words he had just spoken.

“Is that so,” Amelia stifled a laugh behind her hand at the contradiction.

“Hmm, that was inevitable, wasn’t it,” Frederick stated.

“Are you tired enough now?” Amelia asked with the faintest of smiles.

“Not yet,” he replied. “My body just felt a little spiteful towards me…though, I’m not sure why…”

“Would you like to join me for a little?” Amelia asked. “I’ll show you something quite nice for nights like this.”

“Okay, why not?” he replied.

Amelia beckoned him to follow. She walked at a reasonable pace and Frederick did his best to follow in the darkness of the night. Their excursion led them up one of the palace’s far towers, winding up the narrow staircase to the balcony at the top.

“Watch your step,” Amelia said with the experience of a cat on its routine nighttime prowls.

Frederick tripped once or twice, regardless of the advice he had been given. He marveled at Amelia’s memory to walk such steep and narrow stairs in the pitch black. He tripped again, and this time a hand grabbed out to him. Her hands were small and soft like Karin’s and he made no attempt at feeling ashamed to be guided by this girl. In fact, he may have even wished for it.

“We’re almost there,” Amelia said apologetically, now guiding him by hand up the last several feet of steps. They reached the top and stood out on the balcony landing.

The night was black and through patches of clouds, the twinkle of light shone down from the stars. The lights of the city were few and the loud chatter that usually echoed through the streets were nothing but a calm breeze.

“It’s certainly a better sight at night,” Frederick said. “I might actually enjoy living here if it stayed like this.”

“You really don’t like it here, then?” Amelia asked. There was no consideration in her voice.

“If you came from the city I did, would you?” asked Frederick.

“I’ve never been outside this city,” she responded.

“That’s right, I think Serana mentioned that before,” he said. “Do you like it here?”

“Not really,” Amelia said plainly, “Probably a little more than my sister, but that wouldn’t be saying much. Is your city really so different?”

“Quite different,” he replied. “The thing that stands out the most are the citizens, though…”

“You mean to say your citizens are better?” she asked. Amelia glanced at him with an almost indignant curiosity.

“Without question,” Frederick replied. There was no hesitation in his answer and no remorse for being so blunt. “I don’t think I could call even half of the people in this city, citizens…”

“Oh,” Amelia said with amusement. “So you can tell the difference?”

Frederick took his eyes away from the cityscape to give affront at such a claim. Amelia only laughed with childish charm at how easily she had riled him up.

“Well, I suppose any Royal could tell the difference,” she said, still giggling a little.

Frederick couldn’t help but break a slight grin, knowing full well he had reacted to her liking.

There was a short silence before Frederick deigned to continue his city comparison.

“Aside from the obvious discrepancy of citizenry between our cities, this place reeks of cultural death. The buildings look as though they once held charm to them, but have long forgotten for whom they used to charm. It’s unavoidable that the two are intertwined, but the thing that bothers me is the lack of acknowledgement of it…”

“I don’t know what to say to that, I’m afraid,” Amelia replied.

“Don’t worry too much over it,” Frederick said dismissively, “I’m probably just feeling a little homesick already.”

“I won’t worry about it, then,” Amelia said.

Amelia turned her attention straight up toward the sky, deliberately pondering her next words.

“The city does have nice parts to it; where the old buildings have been preserved and not taken over by the new freedoms of the people, the gatehouse at the docks, the royal park, the Guarded Library,” Amelia said. “Too much of the city is unnecessary and can be particularly revolting, though.”

“Yet you like the view from up here?” Frederick asked, noting her tacit support for his earlier statements.

“Not the city, no,” Amelia said, as she pointed straight up. Frederick tilted his head up in tandem with her, looking for the spectacle she was admiring.

A light-blue and green pulse cleared the sky like an ocean wave. Sometimes it rippled out of existence in a second, and sometimes it grew brighter from its supposed point of origin. The sight was enamoring, reeling one’s gaze in and never freeing slack. Frederick knew what it was he was looking at, he had found the light amusing once before in his early life.

“The light of the Molecular Barrier,” Frederick said. “It’s an amazing technological feat, isn’t it?”

He drew his gaze back toward Amelia. It was only now in the pulsing light he had attuned to that he noticed she was still dressed in her daywear.

“I suppose,” Amelia said. Her indifference captivated Frederick at once.

“What draws you toward looking at it then?” he asked.

“Knowing that once those lights stop pulsing, I’ll be free of this city,” she replied.

Frederick felt a chill run down his spine at the reckless answer he had received.

Could it be that she didn’t understand the dangers that came with what she wished? Or perhaps she was entirely counting on those dangers?

The silence of the night finally dominated their conversation and neither of them spoke another word. The two of them gazed intriguingly at the pulsing waves in the sky before parting ways, having both become sufficiently tired for bed. Amelia’s words never left Frederick’s mind as he put himself to bed. He was more awake now than ever, and he knew he would not get a restful night’s sleep.