The Games for Nihon (BOOK THREE)

Chapter 7 - Dynasties

 Amidst the confusion and the explanations and the disbelief, Sofia realized several things at once.

First, families were a wide-sprawled thing, they moved and multiplied like seeds flying through the air, being dropped here and there. There would be one part of a family that tried hard to remain close, to always keep the others in sight and not let go, and there would be another part of that same family that vanished, was forgotten and reappeared someplace else. Was that still family? Yes. And no.

Second, the Kingdoms of Nihon were an artificial construct. The way that Sofia had started to experience them, and the way people talked about them, was that they were separate from each other, different from each other, even incompatible with each other. People acted as if there was a definitive line between one kingdom and the next, like the river between Nihon and the Other Side. But people crossed these lines. People even crossed the river. Sofia had gone into Nihon, and before that, Orì had come to the Other Side. Apparently, Mr Borrealis had gone back and forth. People like Inaan and his parents moved around all but freely. And the Queen of Dorian and the Queen of Shazar were somehow related, even though they were supposed to be as far removed from each other as possible.

Third, there was so much about Orì's life that Sofia didn't know, and it seemed like there was much that Orì herself was not aware of. Was it that she had been lied to, or that things had been withheld from her? Or was one's knowledge of oneself always incomplete? Were all of them walking around half-blind, and was that a good thing, or a bad thing, or just the way things were?

Looking at Rostopan-Ur, Sofia could barely withhold a smirk. She only did so out of politeness and because she was in the presence of a queen. Despite herself, something like that still made an impression on her.

Rostopan-Ur was trying hard to keep his expression in check. He almost succeeded, but the lines on his face were giving him away, flaring angrily like a too-fast heartbeat. Apparently, Sofia thought, he had realized a few things too. But unlike her, he didn't like to receive new information or to change his views of the world.

The things that Rostopan-Ur had realized were:

First, that obnoxious, arrogant little girl was related to his queen. His queen whose dynasty was recorded twenty-one generations back. Three more than his.

Second, the absence or presence of lines didn't say anything about the importance of a person and how they were to be treated, after all.

Third, that if he clung to his worldviews, he would have to show Orì as much deference as he did his queen. And that, if he didn't manage to do that, his world and all his dearly held views and values would come crumbling down around him.

No, it was not a good day for Rostopan-Ur.

"I guess your mother doesn't talk much about her wider family," Queen Adehe said, chuckling. "She used to - a lot even - a long time ago. But she has changed her tune."

"Changed her tune?"

Queen Adehe smiled at Orì's perplexity.

"Strange, no? That a person as stubborn as she is capable of completely changing her mind. I haven't yet been able to decide if that means she is open-minded, or still narrow-minded but unreliable. She's a tornado, your mother. But sometimes things grow in her wake."

"Grow in her wake?" Orì seemed only capable of repeating bits of what Queen Adehe was saying. Her brain was overflowing with memories, both forgotten and wrongly held, and she was trying to adjust things so that they made sense again.

Queen Adehe tilted her head and looked at Orì. There was something like compassion in her expression, but beyond that, she was also absorbing information. It made Sofia want to give Orì a kick to snap her out of it. She was giving away too much. Sofia didn't know what exactly, and also, Queen Adehe seemed nice enough. But they were here as guests, they had a mission, even if it wasn't their own. And potentially, they were nothing but playthings between powerful people with goals of their own.