House of Amarin

When Reyra was healthy enough to be escorted around the castle, she was reintroduced to the place where she grew up and built up her family. It was in the hopes it would jog her memories, and on the surface, it worked perfectly as she began recalling more and more events from the past. She spoke about the birth of her sons, about when they found Aurora before 'remembering' the day Lia was born. Sometimes, even Lia forgot that there was a really high chance she wasn't talking with her Mother but with a pretender. 

"How are you feeling?" Lia asked, sitting next to Reyra in the garden, watching the mountains afar, just the two of them.

"Much better! Physically, I am already completely healthy! I was thinking of getting a little practice in soon."

"And your head?"

"If you are asking about my memories, they are getting better every day! There are times when something pops in from out of nowhere, like when you suddenly remember something important. That can be a bit jarring, but everything is clear, you don't have to worry about me! You are already a big girl and will overtake me soon enough!"

"I am still pretty far away from that!" Lia laughed, and it was then that Aurora walked up to them. 

"Lia, a ship has arrived, and a student came down from it. Do you know about this? He was asking for you personally."

"Oh, yes!" With a yell, she suddenly stood up, grinning from ear to ear, "Wait here!"

"It isn't a boyfriend, is he?" Reyra asked, looking at Aurora, "If she got some ideas from Koa, I will complain into Parthorn's ears until they start bleeding."

"No, it didn't seem like it." Aurora wrote, chuckling and happy to see that Reyra was back to her usual self.

"Speaking of Koadriana, what about you? She already has a healthy little son with cute bunny ears! Where are my grandsons?! I am now thinking about asking this from Lauron, yet I fear he will introduce us to a handful of bastard offspring! What should I do then?!"

"Err..." It was the first time Aurora didn't know how to answer or what to write, looking back and forth between the walls of the castle, "We... didn't really think about it yet."

"Then start doing it! Use your head and not just for Sion's pleasure! The sooner, the better!"

"..."

"Don't ignore me!" Reyra scoffed, rolling her eyes with a half-smirk, "We have finally achieved peace! It is the best time to lay back and enjoy family! You will see! Regular people finally can get old and die in peace, no longer coming back to haunt their own families."

"It also gave rise to some weird cults and bandit groups..." Aurora added, turning a bit dark in the face. "We are dealing with a lot of those..."

"You can't help it! That will happen anyway! You can't root out people like that; for that, you would need to destroy the world! The best we can do is to rule over them!"

"Mother?" Aurora asked, raising an eyebrow, listening to Reyra's monologue.

"There needs to be a government within Meriath. I was thinking about this way before everything was settled. It came back to me not that long ago, and I have been ruminating over it every night. We have entered an entirely new Era. People will soon question why they need us, the Six when the Undead menace is no longer a danger to all!"

"I see... I never thought about it..."

"You see, people will want more freedom now that the danger has dissipated. We can't be seen as despots or people who are refusing to put down their swords and stop ruling over the masses! So, I do have an idea! I will have to tell the others about it soon!"

"How does it look? What would we do?" Aurora questioned her, interested in Reyra's idea, listening to her intently.

"It is simple! Give back freedom to the people now that evil has passed from our world! As the Six, we will retreat to our core region and become nothing but another kingdom, empire, or whatever! Those who follow us can join, but any subordinates who want to walk their own way must be allowed to do it!"

"Wouldn't that bring us into a chaotic era?" She quickly interjected, writing in the air hastily, "You said yourself, Mom! We can't weed out evil; what if some places turn to those ways?"

"We are still the Six!" She laughed, playfully knocking on her head, "We can police those zones! We just have to be consistent about it!"

"You just forgot to mention that most of these new kingdoms would be led by your bootlickers... heh!" The actual voice of Reyra harrumphed sarcastically, "You would control the world without anyone realizing it. Orchestrating conflicts when you need them and peace when you are happy... what a venomous bitch you are!"

Of course, Paman quickly ignored her words, watching Aurora look at her with a warm, happy light in her eyes, glad to have her Mother back. She was about to write something when Lia arrived back.

"Let me introduce you to Cael, my first official disciple!" She said proudly, clearly wanting to show Reyra her progress.

"It is an honor!" Cael answered, cupping his hands and bowing deeply.

"Oh? You accepted one? Finally! Now, you can be a real adult! Let me look at you!" Reyra clapped, standing up and watching Cael, who turned nervous in a heartbeat.

"Oh? This is the first time I have heard about it!" Aurora signed quickly, making Lia stick her tongue out.

"Now that you mention it, I need you for something else I failed to mention! Mom, can I leave Cael with you a little?"

"Sure, sure!" She laughed, clapping at the shoulder of the boy whom she only reached after tiptoeing.

"Thanks! I will be back quick, half an hour at best!" Lia smiled, hugging her before leaving with Aurora.

For the first few minutes, Cael stood there nervously, twisting the edge of his uniform, trying not to look at Reyra and only steal some glances occasionally.

"You can drop it, Kith. You are better than I expected, or is this the result of your defect?" The voice that came out of Reyra's mouth this time was devoid of most feelings, cold and calculating.

"Sect Master!" Cael answered with a stifled cry, going to his knees at once.

"I am surprised that you are still alive. Explain."

"I am alive because of what I have, Sect Master. I wasn't reporting because I was being closely watched! When the others confronted me, I already explained it to them!" With a quick movement of his hands, Cael brought a tiny piece of jade forward, presenting it to Reyra.

"..." After a bit of waiting, she took it from him in the end, scanning its contents, and she couldn't help but be surprised. "What a vile of insidious mutation of our teachings... Does she think she is our Founder? To change some core principles like this!"

"Please... be mindful of the strength of your voice, Sect Master..." Cael whispered softly. 

"Hah! Take that! My daughter knows more about your techniques than you! Bwahaha! I'm just sad that she has such a worthless disciple..." While Paman was listening to Reyra's incessant mockings, Cael couldn't help but notice that her fingers trembled, pinching the jade token so hard it cracked. 

"I will have even more information about her plans and have an inside role right next to Lia Amarin, Sect Master. I couldn't contact the Sect as I was being evaluated to become her disciple!"

"You are excused of your previous failure. When you have something to report, ensure she visits and brings you along. Got it?"

"Yes!"

"What about Erias? I expected him to visit, too."

"I know very little, but I overheard that he was exploring something at one of the cracking points on the continent. Sect Master... Are you thinking..."

"I can no longer exit this body, so I won't try changing my flesh. Although I have a good measure of strength returned to me, it is still not what I am used to. Erias's presence could cause problems, so he needs to be eliminated! I already have a plan to further our cause, and if he starts going against it, we can mark him as an enemy of the Realm.... Try to influence your new 'master' to not like my upcoming idea." She smiled, rubbing her chin, explaining the same idea to Cael that she told Aurora a moment before.

"You want to set up Erias and Lia Amarin as the enemies of the people?"

"It is an option, yes. It is not the only route I am looking at, but one that I would be happy to take! Work well, and you can also play the role of a disciple who chooses Meriath over his master!"

"I will do my best, Sect Master!"

"It will take time, so don't rush it, and for now, focus on getting close to her! Understood?"

Cael's answer was a deep bow, and he got back to his feet just in time as Lia returned, happily introducing him once again to her Mother, explaining how she discovered him and how promising he was compared to the others. 

"You disgust me... One day, you will eat your words, Paman! I will be there to laugh and accompany you to the abyss, mocking you all the way down!"

"Sure." She answered in her head, smiling at Lia, gently stroking 'her' daughter's head.

...

....

......

"Are you sure?" Lia asked, his tone barely able to mask her rage, listening to Cael's report in her room, standing on her balcony.

"Yes!" He answered firmly, kneeling, his head bowed towards Lia's back. "It was she who initiated the conversation, and these are her plans to the letter!"

"This is bad." Lakhmu's voice echoed from Lia's bracelet as they were all connected, listening to the reports.

"It would be, but not now, as we are in the know," Lia said, leaning on the stone railing, grinding her teeth. "But this is also an opportunity! Our biggest problem is not knowing who is a Golden Claw and who isn't!"

"True." The dragons agreed in tandem.

"Will you use this to bait them out?" Lucian asked, somewhat knowing what she was thinking about.

"That is what I thought about. I have trust in my Mother's soul to keep up... To hold out... But we are Amarins!" She sighed, saying with tangible pain in her voice, "Meriath comes first! We will let her idea be presented and see which forces and countries are causing troubles and who are proactive to announce that they no longer want to follow us or who turn hostile to us!"

"That is still only half of a solution." Lakhmu said plainly, "We can't make sure they are indeed being infiltrated; they may truly want independence and nothing else!"

"We can." It was Cael who spoke up suddenly, remaining in a kneeling position, "The two other spies in the Academy, the ones who came before you, Master." He continued, and when Lia didn't correct him, he got braver to finish his words. "Through them, you can contact Camyu and make her reveal who are spies and who aren't."

"We can't trust her!" Hajna repeated her favorite catchphrase, making Lia smile as she had already expected it to happen.

"And we won't!" she nodded, "We will take her deal; it is not like she has any other options! She is in a more desperate situation... We will get the names, and I will poach them one by one. If they are like Cael? They can truly survive. If they are like that fish? To the chopping block!"

"And if she no longer wants to work with us? Or try to play us?" Albert asked, and Lia's answer was straightforward.

"Doesn't matter. The moment Erias finds the entrance to their world, we will have them... I will keep my Mother busy here while we prepare an assault in secret! Make sure even I don't find out about it! When we eliminate their people on the surface, we can launch an invasion into their home before they disappear!"