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Theocratic-Monarchy: SunSide
23rd Day of Month 6, Year 1628 DG
“You have five minutes,” Saila reminds her. “Then I come in.”
Unisa nods. “I understand.”
The young human places a quivering hand on the Theater door, pushes it open, and steps into the chamber with a long inhale.
The eight hundred-year-old faerie monarch stands before a wall of glass, arms folded behind his back. Unisa wonders how much of the carnage is visible from this elevation. When she steps forth, his pointed, turquoise ears perk up, but he doesn’t turn to face her.
“The day has come, Saila,” he says, coolly. “You might try to take my life, but it won’t be easy.”
The MegaFather stands taller than Unisa imagined he would. But a towering presence doesn’t equate to an intimidating one. As it does for the Prime, knowledge empowers the king who keeps his kingdom in the dark, not his stature.
Unisa reminds herself that, at the moment, she knows more than he does.
“I’m not Saila,” she responds, matching his even tone.
He turns to her and raises an eyebrow. “You’re not.” He notices her wings and his eyes widen. “Our fugitive Librarian.”
Unisa nods and a wide smile stretches across his lips.
“What will you tell the Prime about Alba’s death?”
Unisa considers his question carefully, bouncing it around in her mind until she decides to answer honestly. “I’m not entirely sure.”
“Fair.” He saunters toward a stage-like platform in the center of the room. “And what is your name?”
“Unisa.”
He takes a seat behind the ore desk and folds his hands tightly upon it. “Are you here to surrender, Unisa?”
Unisa takes a deep breath before she responds. “No. I’ve come to persuade you to surrender.”
His finger rises to stroke his chin, as his eyes narrow. “Well, that is interesting. I can’t imagine this was Saila’s idea.”
Unisa shakes her head. “It was mine.”
He nods. “And what makes you think you can persuade me? Is it because we are so similar?”
Unisa’s expression betrays her dismay. “We are not similar.”
He leans forward and raises an eyebrow. “Aren’t we, Unisa? I’ve spent my entire life protecting and preserving the history of my ancestors. My dynasty. As a Librarian, haven’t you done the same?”
Unisa’s heart sinks. He’s right.
He rises to his feet and steps around the ore desk. “You may think I'm a monster. A demon. But I can assure you, Unisa, putting on a tunic every morning, you spread the same rot in this world that I do. We are both a chalice, holding the same poison, allowing the world to sip from us.”
His heavy feet drop down from the platform, stepping closer to Unisa. “Tell me again how different we are.”
Unisa steels herself and shoves his taunts to the back of her mind. “I can tell you what makes us different. I know where your wife is, and you don’t.”
The MegaFather scoffs. “I don’t have a wife.”
“Not anymore. But you did. Didn’t you, Red-Lo?”
Neither the MegaFather’s posture, nor his overall demeanor change at the mention of his name. He simply gazes upon the Librarian quizzically. “I believe you may have your history confused. Red-Lo was my ancestor.”
Unisa doesn’t let her gaze waver. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a piece of paper, stepping forward until the gap between them is eliminated and she’s staring up at the faerie. He calmly takes it from her.
“Hay-Ro sends his greetings.”
As he reads the letter, Unisa walks toward the glass wall.
“You mustn’t believe everything you read, Unisa,” he says after he’s finished.
Unisa, facing the MegaFather from the window, fails to restrain a chuckle. “I wish I had learned that a long, long time ago. I’ve believed everything I’ve read, everything I’ve been told, for my entire life. Ironically, that letter is now the only thing I believe.”
She keeps her eyes locked on him as she utters her next words. “I know the truth, Red-Lo. Confess, and I’ll tell you where Drof-Fa is.”
The MegaFather’s demeanor deteriorates radically. All smugness dries like a dewdrop in the desert. His eyes narrow and his jaw tightens.
“Do not say her name. She has long since died. Alone—somewhere I could never find her.”
Unisa shakes her head. “She lives, Red-Lo. She was cursed with the same immortality with which you were blessed.”
He shakes his head and grits his teeth. “Impossible.”
“She told me everything. How you begged the Sprites to spare her. You’re right, they hid her away from you. But they also made it so she could not die.”
He steps aggressively toward her, rage in his eyes.
Unisa continues as he walks. “She told me about your agreement. Trading the essences of your offspring for the chance to live on, generation after generation, in their bodies.”
He stops walking and his eyes widen. “How is this possible?”
“It’s possible because I’ve learned not to believe everything I read—not to idolize powerful people, because they only want one thing: to keep their power.”
“Tell me! How do you know?”
“Drof-Fa told me. You still have your connection to the Sprites, but she doesn’t. She’s connected to you.”
The MegaFather steps backward, as if Unisa has physically pushed him. “No.”
“Yes. Eight hundred years, Red-Lo. Every thought, every experience, she has lived with you.” Unisa lowers her volume but hardens her tone. “Every single time you attempted to create new offspring, bringing someone into your bed who wasn’t your wife, she was watching you.”
He reaches the steps of the platform and falls backward onto them. “No, no, no.”
Unisa walks toward him, her chin held high. “She watched you slaughter the igni and become the Ore Monger. Surrender your offspring to the Sprites. Terrorize the Doruh. Assassinate the Members of the Assembly and the Alphocracy of MoonSide.”
“Take me to her,” he begs in a whisper. “Where is she?”
She reaches him and maintains eye contact. “She doesn’t want to see you. You disgust her.” She scoffs. “You disgust me, too. Your life story resonated with me. Generations of Librarians hailed you as a hero. We taught the world about your bravery and sacrifice, while you tarnished Drof-Fa’s legacy. How could you? You claim to love her. What kind of love is that?”
His volume erupts. “I have held the throne for centuries...for her!” His fist comes down and rattles the room. “I will annihilate you for questioning my love for her.”
“Do it. I’m the only one who knows where she is. Kill me, and you’ll truly never see her again.”
His jaw falls and he sits quietly for so long, staring at the ground, Unisa thinks the suns might have risen while she was waiting for him to speak.
“Immortality is nothing but loneliness and exhaustion, Unisa. Consider how quickly the years start to flow in a lifetime, and imagine the blur that these past decades and centuries have been for me. I would change it if I could. I would save my child, and Drof-Fa, and I would die in a warm bed together, knowing our legacy was safe.”
He raises his eyes and Unisa sees them moisten.
“Drof-Fa is the only reason my fingers have been so tightly wound around this kingdom, generation after generation. Had I let the Sprites raze it, her death would’ve been for nothing.” He makes a final, desperate plea. “I’ve ached for her every day, Unisa. If she’s alive, please, take me to her.”
“Perhaps, one day, I will,” Unisa says, dangling the carrot before the horse, “but for now, you have to surrender to Saila’s custody.”
The Ore Monger scoffs. “Why? Because you think I’ll help you prepare for the Sprites and the Three Deaths? Unisa, you have no idea what they are capable of. The Sprites will build their kingdom atop our ashes. You think you’re winning this competition, but you don’t even know who you’re competing with.”
His warning rattles her heart against her chest. What if he’s right? What if the danger is too great?
And then her thoughts unbury a young MoonSidian boy who, in the face of danger, became a lamb and fought back.
“Have you ever been to MoonSide, Red-Lo? I have. I saw children playing. Amongst brutal blades and wicked walls, children were laughing.”
The MegaFather raises an eyebrow. “I’m not sure I understand your point.”
“My point is that we enter this world imbued with resilience. Let the Sprites come; they also don’t know who they’re competing with.”
Red-Lo shakes his head. “It won’t end the way this conversation has. Words are not weapons that can be used against them. They will not yield for discourse. You will have to bathe your hands in blood to defeat them. Are you ready for that?”
Unisa hesitates. She heard it from Alba first, then Naina, and now from Red-Lo. Violence will one day inevitably be the solution.
But that day is not today.
“I can tell you another way in which we’re different, Red-Lo. You’ve allowed the world to sip from you, knowing the poison you held. I just found out recently, but I’m willing to shatter myself if it means saving the world another taste. Can you say you would do the same?”
The MegaFather smiles and looks past her, at his kingdom beyond the window wall. “Bring Saila in. I’m ready for it all to end.”
His smile fades and he meets Unisa’s gaze. “If you’ll take me to my wife.”