Thursday, July 19th ( 18, Mizami, Dies Reis, L.S.L 10041 )
Mizarmonie woke to the quiet morning. The sun had not even begun to crest so that she could see the lavish walls of her room as she took in the black stillness. She lay entangled with her Den. Dawn was approaching, and she didn’t want to get up.
Miza loved their unconventional family. While nesting was traditionally something only reserved for the Goddess Incarnate and her consorts within their mateship, Miza’s Nest included the extended family her consorts already had before their bond snapped into place. They had brought the ancient practice of Dens. The action of nesting provided safety and warm comfort as they slept.
Nesting also had proved to strengthen the bonds amongst their “little” family as they navigated building the relationships in the Den their way rather than according to how the Imperial House Council demanded they live. As Miza and her youthful wisdom had explained to Donte three years ago, when it was just the four of them, they were each other’s people. They were supposed to love each other, but love looks different and comes in different ways.
Despite relishing the warmth and the electric buzz of being surrounded by those she loved, Miza’s discipline won out. She slowly detangled herself from two of her Nestmates, crawling around several other sleeping bodies, and crept into her changing room to put on her morning workout clothes. Compression capris, sports bra, and running shoes. She grabbed her workout pack and quietly slipped out of their residence without waking anyone in the large two-story apartment. As she made the long trek from their third-floor residence, Miza was deep in thought.
They had heard so many assumptions in Lestania about the perversion of their family since the mate bond was triggered four months ago, based solely on the conjecture surrounding the last Goddess Incarnate 400 years prior. Being the host of the Goddess herself, she was slowly remembering her past lives, and she knew for a fact that the Clergy put out that propaganda against Leana to support the whims of the imperial family all of those years ago. The purpose of the Goddess’s Den was lost to the people over the last four centuries, so as Mizarmonie’s mates were revealed, many opinions concerning their ages, genders, marital statuses, and classes were made known based on how the Clergy had presented the Godess’s Nest in scripture and lore.
“Thank you, Alivar, for making my life harder even in death.”
Aside from her deep love of Liero, nothing in the lore was accurate. Based on the little that Mizarmonie had reviewed since the awakening, she could see subtle changes that erased key details. Simply put, the Goddess Leana’s Nest, the Primi Consortiu, had ten people in it. Leana and her mates. All but Liero were erased from the history of Leana’s children.
Some of her mates had partners and children before pledging themselves as her chevaliers and consorts, thus creating the first Den that was protected and cherished by the Goddess herself even after Leana’s children were born. The only thing that saved face is that Mizarmonie had become a beloved princess in Lestanaia, and her Den lived in the Academy hidden in the human realm, so many would argue that the rumors were just that. There was nothing the Nest could do about the beliefs that others had about something divined and built into the structure of the Guardian Realm itself, even if Lestanians had chosen to ignore their heritage. It wasn’t time to deal with it yet.
The Provincial Palace, colloquially called the Academy, was smaller, of course, than the Verdant Palace, where the Imperial family resided on the isle of Lestania, but it was just as grand. Leana had used the location itself for thousands of years as a go-between for her realm and the humans, but the Academy itself had been standing for just over 400 years. It was a massive mid-16th-century structure with heavy French influence in the architecture that easily housed 500 people.
The Academy was the current operating base of the Lestanian faction system. Miza had lived here most of her life to keep her out of her father’s way. As she walked the halls, she was reminded that the imperial family had failed to protect the fragile balance of the Guardian Realm, and her Nest had so many obstacles to fight. Rather than just heading a Faction and being a member of the imperial family, as the new heir to Lestania and the Goddess Incarnate, she was in charge of the Academy, but what it now was made her sick.
Pausing outside the kitchen doors, she took a moment to compose herself. Put on her happy face. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and held it in before releasing it.
“We’ve got this.” She whispered to herself before walking into the kitchen with a smile on her face.
“High Majesty,” Cook said with a bow as Miza entered the kitchen, “I hope you slept well.”
“Yes, thank you.” She responded, picking up the fork laid by a heaping plate of fresh fruit salad. Delicately taking a bite of pear, she took out her phone to check the email that she used for diplomatic relations. Under an assumed name, of course. Can you imagine how some of her business partners outside of her realm would react if they discovered that she was a child in their eyes?
“Are you excited about your party tomorrow? You only get to turn 13 once.” Cook interrupted her reading as the kind older woman winked at her as she sat her smoothie next to the bowl and returned to preparing the royals’ breakfast. The other staff members were quietly preparing breakfast for the rest of the Academy’s residents, working as if their princess was not there.
She gave Cook a sad smile but said nothing. Like most of the long-term staff, Cook knew whether or not she would speak on what was bothering her. They felt sorry for the young girl who had so much on her shoulders, knowing that they themselves would have buckled beneath the pressure of being the youngest daughter of the imperial family even before the line of succession changed to Miza from her eldest brother. Miza picked up the protein bar and smoothie and headed to the elevator that would take her to the sub-level training hall.
Miza wasn’t ready to rise.
Her birthday was in two days, and she just wanted to be—to live a normal life like an ordinary teenage girl. Her father long ago had said he would make it happen, but that was before she was the heir. Now, she was preparing for her Rising—her accession into adulthood, and there were no plans for her to leave to experience the life she had asked for. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
The spring festival had ruined that for her when Leana finally decided to reveal that Miza was her reincarnation. She had a duty and mission now. Before, atleast her leaving was just simply an argument about a new duchess and royal daughter being vulnerable, but now Miza was the next ruler. It looked like she was losing even the smallest amount of control over her life that she had held onto. That Donte had fought so hard for her to maintain.
“Thursday.” She muttered with a sigh.
Twenty minutes of non-stop moving. Miza sat down to stretch, twisting her body to warm up her muscles. Her watch beeped at 5 A.M, and she pushed the button on the countdown and got to work in quick succession, completing jumping jacks, high knees for each leg, sidekicks, squats, crunches, and pushups with weights. Exhausted, she started a slow jog onto the track to wind down. As her feet hit the ground, she repeated to herself.
“I will be the best. I’ll make Papa proud.”
Miza didn’t fully understand why it mattered so much to her that he was proud. She knew his feelings about her. His disappointment was palpable. It was a heavy shroud that she and her twin brother wore. Mav was the ‘dumb queer’ who refused to live up to his duty as an imperial prince. Too soft. Too weak. Not enough of a man who had raised several warriors. And she? She was a murderer in their father’s eyes.
She knew who she was born to be and couldn’t deny it even though she wanted to. During the Spring Festival, it became apparent. She was losing a battle to be herself. The distance between her and her father had slowly closed since her confirmation into the priesthood, but she still could see the anger in his eyes when he looked at her.
He resented her for existing, and she resented him for not being her father. Donnie was always good to her. She adored him. He left her father''s service for her, but she still hated her father for treating her less.
Coming back to the starting point, she grabbed her bag and drank the last of her smoothie, alternating sips and bites of the protein bar as she made her way to the Eminentia Taniere—her two-story residence nestled into the middle of the Provincial Palace. Various den-mates were still asleep as she re-entered the Nest, so she quietly slipped into the bathroom to shower for the day. As the hot water warmed her skin, she thought about what she needed to do that day.
Her secretary, Jamie, had announced that her father would be returning from Lestania. He had a meeting in D.C. early next week but needed to consult her before her birthday festivities began. She supposed she would have to fit that into her schedule, but she really just needed a moment to breathe. But her thoughts immediately dispersed when she felt Valon’s presence outside the shower. She turned off the water and stuck her hand outside the stall for the towel that she quickly wrapped around her to keep the chill at bay.
“Miza, you know better than to leave without one of us.” He said, leaning down to kiss her cheek.
“Am I not safe in my own home? Can I not defend myself?” She smirked, turning to kiss him lightly on his cheek, requiring him to lean down for her to reach. “You worry too much. You’ve been with me for 13 years, Valon, since my birth, and you don’t believe I can protect myself?” Her face scrunched in distaste at the idea. He laughed, of course. Forever a tease.
“Perhaps it’s my wise years.” He said dryly.
“You are only 23, Val; I don’t know if wise is the word I would use. Overprotective, love-struck fool.” She pressed her lips to his arm. She could hear the Den stirring as noises throughout their residence could be heard as the denblings that had stayed last night to Nest quickly dispersed to their rooms as the chevalier of Miza’s Nest started their day.
“Lovestruck? Yes, and I will deny it to all others as requested. Overprotective? Yes. It is my duty. But never a fool. We are blood-bonded, and I am your consort above all others. We both know it. Remember who you are.” He snapped.
Miza gazed at him. “You are hiding something from me, V.” She said, approaching him to caress his face. “I don’t know what it is, and I assume you have a reason, but don’t be afraid for me.” She stared into his eyes and smiled sadly, then walked away.
She set the boundary. She needed to maintain it. She had begged for a life similar to a typical “American” teen. She was trying to get her father to agree that it was possible and to allow her to leave. Temporarily, but still, she wanted this adventure. That even meant pushing the marriage that she and Valon had both become comfortable with over the years. About a year ago, they stopped pretending to be only platonic but had agreed that no one outside the Den would know in hopes of winning her battle with her father to push the marriage back and let her go on her little adventure. They appeared to be a favored princess and the head of her guard to everyone else, but in the privacy of the den, they fought to find equilibrium in her having the childhood she craved and the life she was raised to expect.
The day she was born, an alliance between the Lavine Clan and the Imperial Family was drawn up using their children as collateral. At ten years old, Valon left his home to live with his newborn fiance. She and Val always agreed they would stay friends because she wanted to go to a real school outside the veil, like her human mother. She didn’t just want to be a royal and follow her duty.
Miza didn’t understand why they wanted her to marry so young. The Imperial House Council had, at several points over the years, pushed them to marry and solidify the alliance early due to how close she and Valon were. What did they expect, making her grow up with her fiance and a guardian raising her?
“Good morning.” She sang out as she disappeared into the wardrobe to dress. Black skinny jeans, red crop, a ‘leather’ jacket, and boots. She stared at the young girl staring back at her. Saturday was the day she was supposed to leave the childhood she was fighting for behind. She and her den would step towards a future as she claimed the crown as an official heir. She was running out of time and had no idea how to persuade her father to let her do the one thing she wanted, even if it seemed pointless to everyone else.
“Someone is in a bad mood,” Justin teased, opening his arms to her. She fell into him, burying her face in his chest. She looked up at him.
“Justin, I’m not ready to deal with him yet. It’s one thing to know your father thinks you murdered his wife but to hear him actually say it. I just don’t know if I’m ready to deal with this.” Miza whined.
“Don’t take it to heart. We know it’s not your fault, so don’t let it bother you. The second Queen Consort was an amazing woman. Her loss hit this kingdom hard, but no one but your father sees it that way. It is simply his grief. She was the love of his life. He brought her to Lestiania, and he promised to open our borders. It broke something that was already darkening his soul. ” Justin took her hand and guided her out of the bedroom to the suite''s common room where many of his denblings were waiting. “So, seeing that none of us have assignments, I thought we should take Miza to the watering hole for a bit. Relax our minds. What do you say, Donnie? Val?”
“Alex, on our way down to breakfast, let Cook know we will be out for lunch and need a picnic for the den. I’m starved. Let’s eat.” Justin instructed his Nestmate.