Heart of Dorkness

Bane Ten - Understanding

“Mom?” Valeria asked as she slipped into the room. It was one of those rooms adjoining the library, with another balcony (her mom really liked big scenic balconies) overlooking the exterior of the castle.

Luciana stood by a lectern next to a large stained-glass window that depicted her (as a huge dragon for some reason) breathing purple fire onto some castle. Semper was next to her, standing very close.

Maybe it was just Esme putting ideas in her head, but Valeria couldn’t help but notice how close to each other they were.

“Hello, Valeria,” Luciana said. “I hope I’m not interrupting your time with Felix and Esme too much?”

“No? We were just, uh, reading.” In reality they had spent the morning gossiping about this and that while playing a game where they hit a ball Felix tossed up with bolts of magic. Felix kept making the ball twitch out of the way with bursts of wind magic. So far they had destroyed six balls and she was about to resort to making a small ball-shaped monster that they could hit instead.

Felix and Valeria both agreed that it should explode on impact, but Esme was being all reasonable about it.

“Just studying, you know,” Valeria said.

“Good, good,” her mom said. “But remember to take regular breaks for physical activity. Maybe go on long walks with Felix, she enjoys that kind of thing, doesn’t she?”

Valeria nodded slowly. It wasn’t wrong, but the way mom said it... it was a bit weird. Was she nervous about something? “So, uh, what’s the book?” Valeria asked.

“This? It’s a somewhat embellished historical account of... what I would call a squabble between the gods,” Luciana said.

“The proper name for it is the War of the Lilies,” Semper said. “A fourteen year conflict between three nations. Iaria, what’s now Adrana, and the Free Nation of Endoraga, though at the time those were mostly composed of a few small nation-states flying under an allied banner.”

“I think I’ve heard of that one,” Valeria mentioned. “That was a long time ago.”

“A few centuries back,” Luciana said dismissively. “The history books are filled with reasons why the war began, but it can all be traced back to a singular meeting of the pantheon.”

“Oh?” Valeria asked. This was sounding like the fun sort of gossip.

“Oh yes. It was Lantern, wasn’t it?” Luciana asked Semper.

Semper sniffed. “Don’t pretend like you were there, Luciana. I do recall being the one to relay everything to you.”

“What did Lantern do?” Valeria asked.

“Her domain is centred around the pursuit of knowledge, the creation of new things, and to some degree, the independence and growth of those who worship her. These things are fine, though progress will always be met with some conflict. The issue is that she had some very specific thoughts on how the relationships of mortals should be conducted.”

“Only between opposite genders, and only with the goal of procreating,” Semper said. “Very prudish and entirely stupid. Alehandro had a fit when she tried to pass some laws in Iaria that would... limit his own domain over true love.”

“Okay,” Valeria said.

“Semper and I, of course, objected to Lantern’s ideas as well,” Mom said. “We believe that love should be love, as long as both sides are able and willing.”

“Uh,” Valeria said. I glanced between the two, then I felt the blood rushing to my face. Was Esme right?! Was this mom telling me that she and Semper...

“Are you well?” Luciana asked.

Valeria nodded. “I’m fine,” she said. “Uh, is that all you wanted to tell me?”

“Yes, I suppose it is,” her mom said. She smiled. “Now, how about you go back to spending time with your friends. If you want, I could even give one of your friends some lessons so that you can spend more time with the other. Wouldn’t Esme just love some personalised lessons, Semper?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Semper said. “Perhaps I could teach Felix some things too, of course, give you more time to spend alone, with Esme.”

“Okay, that’s nice. Uh, you two... have a good afternoon, I guess.”

Valeria walked out of the room with a little wave. She didn’t want to run out, but she moved quick enough anyway.

She didn’t close the door when she left though, not entirely. She stood behind it, ears peeled and face still steaming.

“She took that well,” Semper said.

“My daughter can be clever, on occasion,” Luciana said.

“I do hope she understands. You want her to be comfortable with all of this, right?”

“Yes, of course. But she’s Valeria, I doubt she’d be upset in either case. She’d just do whatever she wants.”

Valeria ran off before they could notice that she was listening in.

Mom and Semper were in... some sort of relationship. And Mom was worried that she wouldn’t approve?

Valeria froze, feet sliding on the polished floor until she came to a full stop. What was she doing? Was she really going to run back to Esme and Felix to tell them after Mom just told her all that? No, that wasn’t right.

She ran back into the room, both Mom and Semper glancing up as she barged in. Valeria took a deep breath, then charged across the room and tackled Mom around the chest in as big and tight a hug as she could manage. “I love you lots, okay?” she said.

“Yes, I’m aware,” Mom said.

Valeria gave her a bit more of a squeeze. “Okay, good. Thanks Mom!” Then she ran off again.

Her daughterly duties were done. She could get back to gossipping with her friends.

“Girls!” Valeria said as she found my friends in a corner of the library that they’d made our own. Felix glanced down (or technically it was up, but she was currently sitting with her back on the floor and her legs up on a couch) and Esme shifted in her big couch. “I just talked to Mom.”

“Yes, we know,” Esme said. “That’s why you went off. What did she say?”

“I think Mom and Semper really are an item,” she said.

Esme’s book clapped shut. She hadn’t even put a bookmark in it! “You’ve confirmed it then?”

“Definitely,” she said.

“So, what do you wanna do about it?” Felix asked. She was still very upside down. “Because from where I’m sitting, I don’t think it matters much.”

“Of course it matters,” Esme said.

“Yeah, it matters a bunch,” Valeria said.

Felix sorta-shrugged. “I don’t see that it does, really. So your Mom, who’s the scary but-not-really-that-scary Goddess of Darkness really likes the only other god that kinda shares her gimmick. Seems pretty simple to me.”

Valeria puffed my cheeks out. “It’s not that simple. Mom never told me she felt that way about anyone! Do you know how long it took before she said that she loved me? I had to love her back a whole lot for a long time before she said it.”

“Wait, are you envious?” Esme asked.

“No I’m not,” she said.

“Oh, well, now it’s interesting,” Felix said.

She put her hands on her hips and straightened her back, like Mom did when she was being intimidating. “I am not envious of the goddess Semper.” Valeria said.

“Even though she’s been your mom’s friend for a long time and may or might not be all romantic with her?” Felix asked.

“You know, it would be really easy to stomp you when you’re all laid out on the floor like that,” she growled.

Felix grinned up at me. “You wouldn’t.”

“It’s alright if you're nervous,” Esme said. “You love your mother a lot and she might love someone else. It doesn’t mean she willstop loving you.”

Valeria crossed her arms. “I suppose there’s some merit there.”

“Yeah,” Felix said. “I love the both of you. Even if sometimes one of you can be a bit of a pain.”

“You’re a pain,” she snapped back.

“Yeah,” Esme agreed. “You’re the pain in our rears, not the other way around.”

Felix shoved herself away from the couch, then turned onto all fours so she could stand up. “Well, I think you’re both pains! Esme’s too stuffy, and Valeria’s a bit dumb. Doesn’t mean I don’t love the both of you.”

My cheeks warmed up again. They were doing that a lot lately. “I’m not dumb!” she said.

“Just a bit, sometimes. I don’t mind,” Felix said.

Things devolved into a civilised discussion which soon involved thrown cushions and a bit of tusseling on the library floor until the girls heard one of the book-shelving monsters passing by. Then they ran off before anyone could witness them doing anything they shouldn’t in the library.

The argument, of course, only continued as they navigated over to the kitchens for a midday snack.

***