I am Maelisaandii, the second-born daughter of the royal family of Gallinore, of the Hapes Consortium. I have no doubt that my flight from the cluster will be chronicled in the histories as the desperate final move of a scheming power monger. The reasons for this memoir are unclear to me even as I write it, as the likelihood of its propagation is slim. And, too, I know in my soul that I have done no wrong, save perhaps being born in the wrong place among my sisters. However, write it I do, and perhaps someone will find some amusement in it in the future.
There is a legend among my people, of Mazikeen, the Blight Mother. Thousands of years ago, she ruled for fifty years, every one of them bringing pain and suffering to the people of Gallinore. It was rumored she worshipped a dark power, pulling people from the streets to be victims in her unholy rituals. She never seemed to age, and it appeared she would not die until an army of angry citizens finally rallied against her. Mazikeen was deep in her final pledge to evil as the triumphant cries of angry raiders reached the chamber, and finished it just as the mob swarmed in to end her. Standing in a bath of the blood of second-born girl-children, she cut her own throat and sealed her spirit to the bowels of the palace. There she lurks, and when a Queen of sufficient power takes the throne she returns and claims her soul. A few hundred years ago, there was a Queen who, it was told, had the power to heal the sick. She would move among her people, and in the wake of her touch their ailments would vanish. The Blight Mother returned and possessed her, turning her gift on its head. A plague came then, and reduced the population of the planet by almost half.
But that is a version of the story not widely told on Gallinore. My people do not believe the legend to be true, and instead credit some unknown natural pathogen for the plague. Until recently, I myself did not believe the story of Mazikeen to be anything more than fable.
It is odd, though, that they do not believe, for there is a remnant of the legend engraved in our culture. It is believed that the second-born daughter of every family is always delivered under a malevolent star, and grows up nursing dreams of revenge against her family for some unspecified wrong. This tradition is not connected to the myth, not in the collective minds of the people. It simply exists, and the group of us live under constant suspicion of treachery.
I grew up alone, ignored by all the members of my family save my brothers. We shared a bond, superficial thought it was, of being traditionally discarded, I for my position and they for their sex. Beyond the royal training I was required to endure, I was left to my own devices. I was not discontented – the intrigues of the palace held no interest for me and I was happy to distance myself from it. And until a year ago, I would have ascribed the story of the Blight Mother to nothing more than myth along with the rest of my people. No longer.
My mother, the queen, fell ill and it seemed to most that she would not live to see the next lunar cycle. Months passed while we waited for her to leave us, and then a series of events fell into place that shocked us all. My older sister, Palell, died during a meeting of state officials. It was completely sudden, literally without cause. Our physicians were mystified – it was as though she dropped dead from nothing more than breathing. The following day, I was summoned to the Royal audience chamber. Being the second-born, I had never entered that room. It was cavernous. My mother beckoned me closer, telling me that I would be the one to ascend the throne. This was unprecedented – generally speaking, if the firstborn daughter dies the second is assassinated as a matter of course and the third takes the throne. I approached her in puzzlement – and reaching close enough to see her I realized that it was Blight standing before me. Understand, my mother was a wasted form last I saw her, desiccated from her illness. When she called me, I saw her whole again, but not alone. Something was with her, glittering behind her eyes, occupying the same space. I did not know why, but it wanted me to be the ruler. It seemed to be that it would claim my soul. And so I ran. I fled the chamber, and went directly to my older brother. I begged him, blind with fear, to get me off-planet any way he could. He assented, and engineered a kidnapping that took us both far from the Cluster. To support us on our way, I removed a few of the most mature Gallinorian rainbow gems from the treasury. No doubt there are tales of the murderous second-born thief already spreading over the planet. The future, for me, is completely uncertain. Perhaps this asteroid before us will hold a path for me to take.
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