Cora was awakened with a jolt early into the morning by her personal guards. The Knights had broken down Maren's door after hearing sounds of struggle. They found her crying out into the night, sobbing. And no matter what they did, she would not awaken.
One of her guards had heard something similar from Cora's guards several nights earlier and decided to awaken her without alarming the palace. Cora rushed to her side without a second thought, but Maren wouldn't awaken, even at her touch.
Cora was petrified with fear and didn't know what to do. She didn't know much about this strange looking memory stone or what would happen if Maren didn't awaken naturally. She had them call Thirteen and Twelve.
When the Court Members arrived at the room, the scene was sheer panic.
"I think it's the stone!" Cora had cried, the light from the stone bathed her face in violet. "We found it in the rivers that day Maren fainted. It's some kind of memory stone! It lets us see visions in our dreams!"
Twelve's eyes widened, her blue light gleaming in the night. She glided across the room calmly, reached her hand under the pillow and pulled out the gleaming stone.
Maren gasped, suddenly awakened. Her eyelids were heavy and her vision unfocused and drowsy but she was awake.
"Maren!" Cora cupped her face and brushed the hair away from her forehead. "You're okay now. It's okay."
Cora held Maren in place, wondering how the hell she'd missed this. She'd known Maren had the stone. She'd known she was using it. But she hadn't realized how reckless Maren had been. She hadn't considered that using the damn thing every night could take a toll on her.
Cora held Maren, guilt twisting in her chest.
If only I'd taken the stone, she thought. If only I'd been brave enough to face those monsters again.
"Everyone out!" Thirteen shouted behind her, shooing the Knights out of the room.
Thirteen turned and Cora could feel her eyes at her back like daggers.
"Cora," she scolded. "What in the bloody hell is going on? What's wrong with Maren?"
Cora grimaced, and released Maren who still rustled in her sleep. She turned, hanging her feet off Maren's bed. She faced them, eyeing Twelve who gazed at her, expressionless.
Twelve held the stone up to her face, examining it.
"This is no memory stone," She muttered.
After the Knights had left the room, Thirteen put her hands on her hips, ignoring the girls. "Go on."
"Fuck the stone!" Cora yelled, turning her face back. "We need to help Maren!"
"Spare me the theatrics, Cora. Maren is a Starblessed," Twelve said plainly, investigating the stone between her fingers. "She will be fine. If a regular person used this however…oh the effects would be irreversible."
"Get to the point, Abigail," Thirteen replied, referring to Twelve.
"This is a Dreamstone," Twelve announced, almost entranced. "I've only seen one other in my lifetime. It's old, illegal magic."
Cora's eyes widened, and she whipped around to face Twelve. "We didn't know what it was!
"I know, darling." Twelve replied, shooting her an irritated glare. "It's not like we're going to have you arrested, but you must know that this is not a toy! This is serious magic."
Twelve held the stone out, steady on the surface of her palm.
"A memory stone can transfer minor knowledge from one person to another. For example, if you wanted to know a foreign language. They're rare and difficult to make, even for a trained, permitted artificer. A Dreamstone however..."
She paused, her eyes darkening as she gazed at the stone.
"Back in my day, these, alongside magic, had long been disbanded. But when I was a child, there were more remnants of magic than there are today."
Twelve locked eyes with Cora, and closed the stone in her fist.
"But that's a story for another time. For now, I'm keeping the stone."
Thirteen nodded and the two of them began to move out of the room.
Cora blinked.
She looked down at Maren who was starting to wake from her trance-like state. Then, she looked back at them.
"You can't! We need that!" She called out.
Thirteen stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face Cora.
"Princess, I don't believe you understand exactly what you're dealing with," she said with a scowl. "This is not some memory stone made with good intentions. This is dark magic. This is could do goddess knows what if you use it for too long. You both have been wildly irresponsible lately. I've heard reports of how you've been getting on but now I see why."
Cora stared daggers at Thirteen but deep down, she knew there was some truth in it. The stone had helped them learn about what was really going on in the Empire. Had they not had the dreams, the night of the ball would have been the first they'd heard of it all. And more importantly, they might not have become as close as they had.
"Take care of Maren for the rest of the night. Watch her," Thirteen finished. "And tomorrow after the Trial starts, we will discuss it further."
Then, they left the room without another word.
Cora breathed heavily, her chest rising and falling as she gazed at the broken doors where Twelve and Thirteen had left them.
She hated to admit it but they were right.
Maren had been reckless.
She had been reckless.
And worse, they were dishonest with the Court Members who'd treated them like family all these years. Leaders who guided them, and taught them. She knew at the very least they should have told Twelve and Thirteen, but everything had happened so fast.
Cora turned, gazing down at Maren who blinked, waking up.
Her gut twisted.
She knew she couldn't blame this on time or how fast everything had been. Maren was reckless, but at least she had Cora's back. Maren didn't protect herself — she couldn't. Between all their private, intimate meetings, making sure Cora was okay, the dreaming and all their duties for the trials, how could she focus on her own wellbeing?
She couldn't, Cora thought, wincing. That was supposed to be my job and I couldn't see it through my own selfishness.
"Cora?" Maren called, her voice groggy.
Cora sat back on the bed and pulled her on her back.
"What's going on?" Maren asked, resting her head on Cora's shoulder.
"You had a bad dream," she answered, gripping Maren's thighs, securing her. "Hold on tight. We're going to stay in my room tonight."
Maren tightened her arms around Cora's shoulders, leaning into her hair. "Okay…"
Cora blushed softly, and tried her best to push the feeling away. Maren was exhausted and needed help. So Cora did not think of it. She focused on the hallway in front of her, and not the soft, plush feel of the base of Maren's thighs or the way she smelled of lavender soap.
Instead, she focused on the clanking of the guards' armor behind them, and not the gentle snoring that escaped Maren's lips. She did not fantasize about sharing a bed for the night, or how Maren would feel pressed against her in the morning.
No, Cora did not think of any of that.
***
As the two Court Members made their way down the hall, the soles of their slippers clacked softly against the ground.
"What do you make of it, Abigail?" Thirteen asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"They 'found it in the river'" Twelve scoffed sarcastically. "Seems likely."
Her brows furrowed and she bit her lip. Twelve turned her face to Thirteen, lifted a single finger to her lips and shook her head.
Thirteen understood instantly.
Someone was listening.
But from where? She didn't know.
They made their way down the shadowed halls and entered Twelve's room. She made a beeline for her trunk that she'd shoved under the bed.
"For once I don't think you're crazy for carrying that around with you." Thirteen muttered.
Twelve couldn't reply with her usual grin. She kept her mouth shut in a tight line as she pulled it out from under the bed and unlocked its hatches.
Inside, items illuminated, bathing the room in a soft glow. The items weren't bright, but instead were alight with the soft hue of magic - like oil on water or a light rainbow in the sky.
She pulled a piece of fabric out of the trunk and wrapped it tightly around the stone. As soon as she could no longer feel its magic pull, she shoved it back inside, locked it up with the rest of her forbidden trinkets, disappearing beneath the shadows of her bed.
"What happened?" Thirteen asked.
Twelve's mouth tightened in a grim line.
"It had the stench of magic all over it. Not like the usual Dreamstone — not that there's anything usual about them. I've only encountered one other in my life and it didn't feel like that at all. There's something more to that stone. I doubt the girls found it by coincidence. Someone's puppeteering in the shadows and I'll bet my life it's got something to do with the Stranger Selma mentioned. He's got the Queen of Forsyth wrapped around his slimy finger. "
Thirteen was silent for a moment before responding, "You have the most experience with magic casters. What do we do?"
Twelve sighed. "Nothing. For now. We have to wait until he shows himself. Until someone makes a mistake."
"And if nobody does?" Thirteen asked, her arms wrapped tightly in front of her.
Twelve shook her head.
"Then we rely on Lady Raine and the Darkwood legacy," she sighed. "Perhaps sheltering the girls was not wise. If they knew how to use their power…"
"Perhaps but taking the stone from them was wise," Thirteen said, collapsing onto Twelve's vanity seat. "They may be made of magic but they aren't impenetrable. And we don't want to repeat our mistakes like with Princess Eliana."
Twelve sighed again, relaxing onto her bed.
Yes, she remembered her mistakes vividly with the previous Queen.
She gazed at Thirteen. "One thing I've learned from our predecessors is that magic often makes one think they're above the laws of nature…until they're met with its cruel reality. It's our job to make sure the Princesses don't overestimate themselves. Especially Cora. We haven't told them yet about the fate of the Ruby Queens."
Thirteen frowned, "You show concern for Cora, but Princess Maren seems almost more reckless than her."
"Well I've never dealt with more than one Princess at a time," Twelve said, exasperated. "Those two are a handful. One minute they're fighting and you look away for a moment and the next, they're acting like forlorn lovers!"
Thirteen smirked, and both women broke out in a giggle.
"I'm glad I have you here, Abigail," Thirteen said. "I know it looks like I run the show but…your guidance is what keeps me sane."
Twelve smirked. "Don't get too used to it! I can't be expected to live that much longer. This is my third entirely new group of Star Children. The fact that I've lived this long is a miracle alone."
"Don't say that," Thirteen grimaced. "We need you — now more than ever."
"You're not the first who's said that to me," Twelve responded, a wistful look in her eye. "But this is the first time I've felt like you may truly be the last."
She leaned forward on the bed, gazing seriously at Thirteen. "You are far more capable than you believe, Orla. More than any other Starchild I've known."
Thirteen's gaze dropped to the floor, "I doubt that sometimes."
Twelve smiled, leaning back. "We all do."