Unity of the Divided

Invitation

Existing since the beginning, being the beginning, it fills you with a sense of invincibility. I am the creator of the land and seas, skies and stars. My history is filled by experiences common and rare to a point where some would call me greedy in the collection of lives I've lived. But that invincibility I once revelled in now appears as a temporary distractor from the sorrowful truths of existence.

Footsteps behind me bounce off the grey stone walls and into my ears, each slap of urgency creating a blank splatter in my thoughts until nothing remains. I draw my purple eyed gaze from the view of Cretixs, my Kingdom, that I was absentmindedly admiring and cast a glance over my bare shoulder, white locks shifting at the turn of my head.

"My queen, a letter."

The servant comes to a hasty stop before me, the folded crisp white sheet shaking slightly in his hands as he presents it to me, head bowed, a slight smile on his lips.

"Thank you, Stephan," I say, taking the letter from his gentle hold.

His eyes gleam in excitement as they dart between mine and the letter, his hands clasped behind his rigid back, but his fingers are interlocking in fidget. At twelve he appears to have mastered posture but not emotion control.

A boy who's just started his duties to my home, the youngest of the Ashton family, a bloodline without ability. For centuries their generations have aided Orition palace. His mother, Freya, my head cook, her mother Irelline, a brilliant horticulturalist, and a multitude of sisters fill various roles.

I cast my eyes down to the letter I hold between delicate hands as I hesitate in opening it, despite knowing its contents. The usual dread it inspires fills my stomach – even with knowing it comes at the same date every ten years.

Staring hard enough to set it alight is what I'm hoping will happen as I tap it rhythmically against my left thumb. Unfortunately, that's not an ability I possess. Sighing, I unfold it, now is as good a time as any. Running my fingers across the slight raise in the paper where a golden emblem is engraved I stare at my invitation from the council.

Your kingdom is invited to the resource divider, turn eight
A representative must be present at unifier at the dawn of next Mon to signify your acceptance

I take the words in quickly; nothing changes apart from the turn.

Join us in support of equality among the people
At the event of the decade

I mentally eye roll at that last bit, not wanting Stephan to see my mocking of unifier. The place where the council reside and host the Resource Divider every ten years, the land of those who make and enforce the laws preventing war between the six Kingdoms.

"It'll be an honour to walk you to the leaving point, my queen," he beams, straight teeth shining against freckled cheeks and brown hair.

Maybe I'll send him instead, since he's so eager.

No Crea, stop it, that'd be such cruelty and he doesn't understand the true importance of the event. Partially my fault, since I choose to tell only the good stories when I've returned the past seven times.

"That would make me most pleased," I smile at him with warmth, purple eyes squinting as I validate his kindness of the offer. It's good that the young be raised kind, since the world has gone without it for so long.

We walk side by side we stroll through my palace made of smooth, light grey stone and decorated with creamy white roses, vibrant, strong scented lavender and dark green ivy. His company, although not requested, is nice. He's overflowing with questions too, so I see this as a prevention of his self-combustion by interest.

"Who do you think will come from the other kingdoms?"

"I suspect their rulers will represent as usual; they are the obvious choice considering they're most powerful."

Simple logic really, Kingdom rulers and royalty receive their position because their abilities are the greatest, no different to Cretixs. Also, rulers do in fact choose to represent their kingdom in most turns, so it has become expected.

The four deciders call for the best because our ranking decides the quantity of resources each Kingdom receives. Shameful really, that some cannot reign in their greed and so we live under the council's control.

"I've heard whisper that Nen will be absent this year," he says quickly in a hushed manner, brown eyes darting around in search of anyone who might've heard.

"If true, he will be missed."

I grind my teeth at my lie. The whisper is true, I spoke with him myself. The ruler of Watille, kingdom of water. Such a hateful old man, I'm surprised he even told me. When I heard Creallians whispering about it during afternoon tea last week I had written immediately. Being attuned to the gossip among my people is an important part of leadership I say.

"They might be taking a similar approach to Imalan," Stephan suggests.

I hum in response, not wishing to discuss details of other kingdoms. If he's right however, I might need to bring this up with Nelio, the head of my strategy board. I start fiddling with my just past shoulder length white hair at the thought. After three turns the king of Imalan, Kingdom of Animals, stopped appearing at the divide, sending a highly trained warrior instead. We came to know him as Leonard, a name well-fitting with his lion form.

As expected this left Imalan with a representative holding little ability, an unpopular strategy as ability is one of the four bases assigned randomly to a decider. But that was a sacrifice they were willing to make for almost guaranteed high ranking in the decider based on physicality.

But with kingdoms not knowing which base - ability, physicality, intelligence, and socialisation - will be for which decider until they reach unifier it is a risky approach.

My feet stop as we reach the front entrance to the palace, tall dark wooden doors open wide in a gesture of welcome. My home is as much mine as it is the peoples, that's why I allocated the third floor to living quarters for those in need, not all can afford a Creallian who's ability is in infrastructure to come along and make them a house.

I look down at Stephan and ruffle his hair with a slight smile then send him out to the garden outside of the doors where his grandmother is working, I watch him hastily make his way down the grand stone steps then hear his feet crunching on gravel. My eyes sweep across freshly cut, waist high hedges of vibrant green that mark the outlines of the gravel pathways. Trickling water from the four rock fountains mixed with chirping birds makes for a calming melody as I admire the beauty of my land.

The setting sun makes this a perfect picture of the serene view, marking the drawing close of an early summer's day. I hope somewhere someone is capturing the sight on a canvas so I can hang it on the wall.

From this height I have the luxury of seeing the sun rise and set as well as being watchful over the bustling lives of my people, the Creallians, thankful that their noise doesn't reach the top of these grassy slopes. It's certainly an exercise to reach Orition palace but once you're here, the ache of breathlessness is worth it.

Irelline's eyes on me draws my attention, I catch her glancing at the letter I hold at my side that I've been tapping against my white floor length dress. I see the sadness in her expression, but it quickly dissipates as we lock eyes, smiling warmly at me instead. She knows me well enough not only to sense something's wrong but to also not ask me about it. For that I am grateful.