Chapter Text
Ever since Mimicka was born, she knew she was the heir to her family’s kingdom. She was the youngest of four kids, yet as the first female child, she was set to be the next queen. Her family’s traditions predated her by generations. Her mother’s mother had upheld the same tradition. Queen Biella was the current regent alongside the king, King Eyre. Mick was a surprise, a gift to her family years after they had decided to stop trying for a female heir. Her brothers were years older than her but she still managed to create a bond.
Mimicka, currently six years old, stood tall next to her mother. She had been born into war, she had known nothing else besides this. The rebellion had been almost completely squandered at the time of her birth, in fact, her birth predated the King of Brightmoon’s death by only a month. King Micah’s death in the eyes of the rebellion had seemed to mark a divide. The alliances fell apart as kings and queens died, leading to the ascension of their children. Kingdoms withdrew quickly. Queen Biella felt vindicated as she had never even considered entering her kingdom in such an unreliable alliance.
As a child would, Mimicka had the urge to grab onto her mother’s hand and hide behind her. But that wouldn’t be appropriate for an heiress, no, a princess had to be better than that. Her mother was sure to show nothing but strength in Mimicka’s appearance and attitude. She was the future, her mother would tell her. Instead, she stood tall, shoulders back, chin up. It was just her and her mother.
The reason for this meeting was that there were a few kingdoms who needed to reestablish or wished to establish their trade agreements with the Kingdom of Protheius, Mimicka’s home. Queen Biella’s kingdom. Protheius was known for their ability to grow crops and livestock, which made them attractive for trade during a war where food and supplies dwindled each day. Currently, the kingdom of Snow was approaching the Queen.
“Queen Abiella, We thank you for hosting us this evening.” The Queen of Snow had bowed to her mother, Mimicka had actually forgotten the name of this queen. She was sure she had been told it several times over, but there was so much Mimicka felt she had to learn. She was too overwhelmed to be perfect.
“Of course, Queen Icyln. We very much value what you are able to share with Protheius.” Her mother always sounded so...diplomatic.
Queen Icyln gave a small smile, “Yes. I can’t remember a time where our two kingdoms didn’t negotiate some form of trade agreement…”
“If I do recall correctly, Our kingdom’s alliance predates both of our reigns.” Mimicka was starting to get bored, but her mother carried on.
“I’m sure you are correct.” Icyln shifted slightly, fixing her dress. The relationship between the two Queens was strictly professional at the moment, but Mimicka recalled stories of them both growing up together and enjoying each other’s company from her father. Mimicka hoped she wouldn’t have to act this boring with her friends when she got older.
“While it’s always a pleasure to see you, you have a little one to get back home to?” This Mimicka remembered. Her mother was referring to the fact that The Royal Family of Snows had a new addition! They had their first child, a daughter. She would be around a year old right now if Mimicka was remembering correctly.
“Yes, of course, I think I have signed everything I needed to in order to continue the arrangement. I shall see you again the same time next year then?” Queen Icyln gather her things and prepared for the trip back north.
“Yes, I will see you then. Before you leave, did you receive my… letter?” Mimicka looked up at her mother with furrowed brows, she didn’t know anything about a letter her mother would have sent. That was strange. When it came to negotiations and diplomacy, Mimicka was usually told everything. Every grueling detail. But there wasn’t any mention of a letter that she was told about.
Something about this mysterious letter must have been important because even the mention of it caused Icyln to tense up.
“Yes. I got your letter, I don’t think The Kingdom of Snows will withdraw from the rebellion any time soon.”
“Icyln, I implore you to reconsider. Things are getting dangerous, people are dying. People we know.”
“Isn’t that more reason to keep fighting?”
“It’s more a reason to pull back and work on protecting your home and your family.”
“And I am doing that by helping scrub Etheria clean of the threat that is the Horde.”
“The Horde isn’t something to bother with, Protheius has stayed neutral through everything and we have been flourishing. Our trade agreement is evidence of that!”
“Oh Please Biella, Don’t pretend you don’t bribe them to leave Protheius alone.”
“Think of your daughter, if you are there fighting and something happens who-”
“Don’t you dare bring Frosta up, That’s cold.”
Tension hung in the room as Biella took a deep breath in, silence was the only thing in the room before Biella broke it moments later.
“Mimicka, dear, Please go fetch your brothers and tell them to get ready for Dinner.”
And with that Mimicka had been effectively booted from the conversation. She gave a small bow to Queen Icyln as she left and said her goodbyes which received a simple nod of acknowledgement from the Queens. She left the room with a bad feeling. It quickly dissolved with the relief she had- she could relax her shoulders and go find her brothers. No need to be this picture of respect and maturity. She felt a smile grow on her face as she ran through the halls, glad the dress she wore was loose enough to allow her to move quickly. She ran to Zaine’s room first but was disappointed that she didn’t find him there. She scrunched up her face, realizing she had no idea where any of her brothers would be. She could make guesses though.
Mimicka took off once more towards the living area of the palace, the part of the palace that felt like home; there weren’t many strangers or public people there. She zoomed past a few guards who did nothing to stop her. She started giggling as she felt her dress move around as she ran- it always struck her as silly to have to wear dresses when she wanted to run and play, but again, Family traditions. She came to a stop when she saw her oldest brother, Aldom, outside with her father. She walked over to a window, opening it and yelling down to the pair.
“Dinner will be ready soon!!” She shouted this down at them with volume that was surprising for a six-year-old.
Eyre looked up for a second, trying to find the source of the voice. He moved his hand so it was shielding his eyes from any light. He then smiled when he spotted his daughter.
“Thank you, Mimicka!” He shouted back.
Satisfied, Mimicak closed the window and started the search for her other two brothers. She didn’t have to look long before she found Zaine in the library. He seemed to be writing something down, even though he was the youngest of her brothers, Mimicka thought he was the smartest person alive.
“Zaine!!!” Mimicka jumped into the room to get his attention. Zaine immediately looked up, slightly shocked at the sudden interruption.
“Wh- You can’t just scream like that. You scared me to death!”
Mimicka, not even a bit remorseful, giggled wildly.
“You’re fine!! Mom said dinner was going to be ready soon and you need to get ready!”
Mimicka could already feel her spirits lifting since she had left the boring meeting.
“Will Queen Icyln be joining us?”
Shaking her head no, Mimicka responded. “No, I don’t think so. She and mom go into a fight.”
“A fight?”
“Yeah, they were yelling!”
“Really?”
“Yeah!!”
“Well, If Icyln is leaving you should tell Theo. He said he wanted to talk to her before she left.”
“Where is he?”
“I think he is in his room. He was grumpy that mom didn’t let him come to the meeting.”
“Thanks! See you at dinner.”
And once more, Mimicka was taking off down the halls. Her room was close to Theo’s so she knew where it was very well. She stopped at his door, trying to open it and noticing it was locked. She huffed and knocked.
“Theo! It’s me. Open up!” Mimicka pouted while staring at a closed door. She didn’t hear anything for a couple of seconds. Then she heard Theo go up and come to the door. He looked like he had been sulking for a while.
“What do you want, Mick?” He didn’t seem happy at all.
“Uh, Mom wanted me to tell you that Dinner was going to be ready soon-”
“I’m not coming to dinner tonight”
“You really think mom will let you skip?”
“Whatever. She can’t make me.” Theo crossed his arms and looked away from Mimicka.
“Okay…” She seemed a little confused about how to respond. “Well, Zaine said I should tell you that Icyln is getting ready to leave. He said you wanted to talk to her-”
“She’s leaving?” Theo sounded surprised.
“Yeah, negotiations are over and she and mom seemed to get into a little fight.”
“Oh god I hope she’s not gone yet,” Theo grabbed his jacket from his nightstand and ran out of his room, pushing past Mimicka. She stumbled back and watched him run off down the halls.
She was lost. What did a 12-year-old want to tell a Queen of a kingdom? Theo had always been a rather big fan of the rebellion, much to his mother’s disapproval. Maybe it had something to do with that?
She had given up on trying to figure out why Theo did what he did a long while ago. And on that note, she moved to her room and prepared for dinner.