Chapter Text
Marcy Wu awoke the same way she did most days, slumped over her workbench while surrounded by schematics for the various projects she’d been working on. A sheet of writing parchment stuck to Marcy’s cheek as she lifted her head up off the table and she groggily reached up to retrieve it.
Oh right, she’d been up late last night drafting a reply to her parents’ most recent letter from Earth. She must have fell asleep at some point and the still wet ink had made it stick to her face. Marcy inwardly chided herself, already imagining what Sasha or Anne would have to say about her staying up so late if they were here right now.
“Marcy?” A hand rubbed soothing circles into the small of her back.
“Oh!” Still half asleep, Marcy gave a small jerk in her seat when she realized that someone had been standing behind her this entire time.
Marcy whipped her head around to face them, but immediately relaxed when her eyes came to rest on the familiar face of the aqua-marine colored newt standing over her. She wore one of her favorite dresses, marble white with ocean blue accents and puffy sleeves, as well as her beloved shawl around her shoulders with an amber colored brooch holding it all together.
“Olivia!” Not even taking the time to stand, Marcy threw her arms around the lady in question. The hug was all engulfing, making Olivia’s attempt to reciprocate a tad bit difficult, but not impossible.
“Good morning, Marcy. I’m sorry for giving you such a start, but I wanted to come by and make sure that you were feeling up to participating in today’s festivities.”
At this, Marcy’s face lit up. “Of course! It took some shuffling around and a couple of late nights, but I’ve got my schedule totally cleared for the next few days.” She bashfully moved a lock of long, black hair behind her ear. “And thanks for, y’know, waking me up. It would’ve been super lame if I was still sleeping when Anne and Sasha got here.”
“Please, think nothing of it. I merely thought that I heard the distinct snoring of a grubhog whilst passing by your workshop and chose to investigate.” Olivia extended an arm to help Marcy up, which she took in silent gratitude.
“Oh c’mon, there’s no way my snoring sounds that bad. You should hear the way Anne-” Marcy’s knees buckled underneath her and she hissed in pain. Olivia, strong despite what her small stature might indicate, held her aloft while the human braced herself against the workbench.
“I’ve got you, dear. Marcy, do you need your crutches? I don’t see your chair, but I could certainly retrieve it from your room.”
Marcy shook her head. “No, no, it’s fine. I’m alright. I just need my, uhm, my suit for today. I was making a couple of modifications to it yesterday; can you grab it from other there?” She vaguely gestured to the other side of the room, but Olivia quickly took stock of the area and located it.
As she left Marcy to gather it, the human let out a deep sigh. “You know, you really don’t have to do all this. Coming by to check on me, helping me get my stuff, I’ve got it all covered. It’s no big deal.”
Olivia gave a light chuckle. “A queen’s duty is to provide aide to all her subjects. From the frogs of Frog Valley to all the toads living in the Towers, and certainly her own Royal Artificer.” With her back turned, the queen pursed her lips firmly together as she picked up the ‘suit’ she had sought after. “That duty goes doubly so for my friends, of which you most certainly are.”
“Aww thanks, Olivia.” Marcy watched as Olivia brought the suit back into view and dutifully handed it off to her. “And thank you twice, seriously!”
The full bodysuit was black in color and absolutely devoid of any particular intricacies or embellishments. It was practical, no need to make a fashion statement with something that was never going to see the light of day from underneath Marcy’s clothes. Its purpose was simply to reduce chronic pain and strengthen her body in order to allow her to move about freely without the need for a mobility aid.
Marcy didn’t wear it often. She’d originally reverse-engineered a previous version of it from the bodysuit that The Core had her wearing while she recovered in a tank of healing minerals and other medicinal goop native to Amphibia. The design had simply stuck, with Marcy too preoccupied with actually getting it to function to care about how it looked, even if its eerily familiar design did make her reluctant to wear it most days. Today was special though, and she didn’t want anything taking her mind off of it.
“Alright, now I’ve just gotta put it on.” Marcy lifted her gaze up from the suit and spun her index finger around. “Queen? You mind doing a turn?”
“Oh, of course.” Olivia promptly spun around, allowing Marcy the privacy needed to take off her artificer gear and slip into the suit. While she waited, her eyes wandered around the cluttered workspace and passed over a number of familiar inventions. A craftswoman and a scientist she was not, even Olivia knew the purpose of a select few contraptions around the room.
There were the hastily drawn plans and miniature prototypes for the air purifiers that aided in filtering and getting rid of the smog that had once plagued Amphibia towards the end of Andrias’ reign. She recognized a jar of what looked like tiny marbles but was actually a collection of highly advanced water decontamination filters. Simply dropped into any hazardous body of water, they could purify it to within safe drinking levels in less than a day - give or take depending on the actual size.
Lastly, she spied the familiar dark green chassis that belonged to the model of Frobots that now spent their days reseeding and tending to the continued enrichment of Amphibia’s vast forests. The first time one of these specially designed Frobots had stepped into her court and displayed its horticultural abilities, she’d nearly broke out into tears. Partly for the pure joy it had brought her, as well as what it meant for the rehabilitation of Amphibia’s ecosystem.
“Alrighty, you can turn around now!”
Reminiscing for only a moment longer, Olivia promptly turned around and greeted Marcy with a smile.
“So what do you think?” Marcy stretched her arms high above her head, working out any lingering stiffness in her bones and aches in her joints.
“Very dashing,” Olivia replied.
“Not bad, huh? Wanna see me pick up this table?” She put two hands on one edge of her workbench.
“Ah, perhaps not.” Olivia waved her hands in front of herself, trying to dissuade Marcy from any abrupt displays of strength.
“Aww, c’mon. I’ve got the strength of ten toads in this thing, even Sasha was impressed!”
“I don’t doubt your ingenuity, Marcy, but I believe there are more important issues at hand.” Olivia stepped forward and rubbed a pristine handkerchief she had manifested from somewhere across Marcy’s cheek. “For example, you need a bath. You have parchment ink all over your face. What would your partners say if they were to return home and see you in such a state?”
Marcy just chuckled as she looked at the dirtied fabric in Olivia’s hand. “They’d probably get onto me for being so clumsy, then we’d laugh about it like always.”
Olivia opened her mouth, seeming to want to protest, but instead just gave her own quiet bout of laughter. “It’s amazing what stays the same, even after ten years, isn’t it?”
“Even more amazing is all the things that do change.” Marcy quipped, before wrapping Olivia up in another hug. “I’ll go and get cleaned up, then I’ll meet you in the throne room, okay?”
“That sounds wonderful.” With Marcy awake and soon to be on her way, Queen Olivia bid her farewell and returned to her earlier task of triple checking the preparations for the day’s celebration.
Effortlessly slipping her artificer garb back on over her bodysuit, Marcy locked up her workshop and went out into the hallway to begin making her way up to her bedroom. When she did, Marcy was greeted by the sight of clear blue skies and the sound of music drifting in from the city below.
Stepping out onto a balcony conveniently tied into the hall, she marveled at all of that which awaited her. Down in the kingdom of Newtopia, up-beat ballads swelled, amphibious revelers filled the street, and banners denoting each of the three major factions of Amphibia waved high in the breeze. When the wind blew just right, Marcy was almost positive she could catch a whiff of her favorite food emanating from far below - beetleburgers!
Although tempted, Olivia’s reminder that she needed to get cleaned up before the ceremony today still remained fresh in her mind and Marcy, albeit somewhat reluctantly, walked back inside the hallway and started the brief trek to her bedroom.
Along the way, she only stopped once more to spare a lingering glance to an exquisitely weaved tapestry hanging up on the wall. The hanging had been commissioned shortly after Olivia’s ascendancy to the throne in the wake of Andrias’ imprisonment deep below in the castle’s dungeon.
It was the three of them at their full power, overflowing with calamity energy and standing over the broken remains of The Core’s spider-like helmet on Amphibia’s moon. Their shining auras flared brightly against the black background of space, warding off the once encroaching darkness that threatened to extinguish everything.
It was a pretty picture, Marcy thought.
Too bad it was all a lie.
After that, it was a straight shot to her bedroom without any further distractions. Her room in the castle had changed fairly little over the years all things said. Various maps and some videogame posters from Earth were pinned to the walls and most of her books that once laid in piles stacked on the floor had been moved to a dark wooden bookshelf against the wall. By the window, an assortment of cacti and different potted flowers bathed in the sunlight that streamed in.
It was ‘comfortably cluttered’ as she liked to call it whenever one of her girlfriends visited her room.
In the weeks following their return from the Core-infested moon, the three of them had been inseparable, absolutely refusing to leave each other’s side. They took their meals together, slept together, stalked down the castle’s hallways as if they were a single entity. When one of them had to use the bathroom, the other two kept watch right outside - as if waiting for some unknowable enemy to strike. These practices brought them safety and comfort, so they held onto them even now.
Queen Olivia had been understanding of their needs and had requisitioned them a room large enough for the trio to comfortably reside in together: a wardrobe big enough for all their clothes, plenty of floor space, and a bed fit for multiple queens. They each had their own private quarters, of course, but rarely did they spend any time apart when their schedules allowed.
Marcy had it the easiest, relatively speaking. Most of her time was spent in Amphibia devising new inventions and providing infrastructure for the continent. If needed, she could always put off a project or two for a week to make time for Sasha and Anne.
Sasha’s campaigns, however, were more difficult to get away from. Usually on a specified date months in advance or only after attaining a particularly valuable strategic foothold was she permitted to take a brief leave from the battlefield and return to Amphibia.
Anne’s schedule was even more erratic. The cataloguing of distant dimensions and faraway worlds - as well as their resources - was a time-consuming task. In a single month, she might have logged a dozen different worlds and their significance to Amphibia or have only made her way across one. It all depended on what she encountered when journeying to these dimensions.
Marcy could already feel the soft, plush pillows of their shared bedroom resting under her head as she finished drying her hair and began running a brush through it. With her bath complete, Marcy began laying out the clothes she wanted to wear for the day.
An olive-green tunic and grey pants to go over her bodysuit, a pair of dark brown boots that Anne had gifted her last year for her birthday, and one of Sasha’s old leather jackets with Captain Grimes’ symbol carefully painted on the left shoulder in white paint. The jacket was only a little big on her, likely part of the reason why Sasha didn’t complain when she unceremoniously swiped it from her and started wearing it around, but that was fine.
She was only in the bathroom for a moment to drop her hairbrush off beside the sink, but a second was all it took for her eyes to unconsciously flick towards the mirror and catch sight of the scar that ran the length of the center of her chest. The pain had long since faded, but the scar itself still burned an angry white against her skin.
Her movements were slow after that, methodically pulling on her clothes as she replayed the image of staring at herself in the mirror over and over again in her mind’s eye. By the time Marcy had regained her composure through a combination of deep breaths and rubbing the warm leather of Sasha’s jacket between her fingers, she was already fully dressed, and someone was knocking on the door. Probably had been for a while now.
On knees that still felt awfully weak, Marcy answered and smiled kindly at the little Frobot that awaited her. The butler model Frobots had originally been created by Andrias sometime after his gaining of the music box, but Marcy found his design to be a little intimidating. Instead, the ones she created were much smaller and generally easier on the eyes. Hard steel edges gave way to a sleek black and white tuxedo paint job and a jovial smile permanently etched into its face.
“Master Wu! Delightful, I’m so glad you answered,” The Butlerbot chirped. “I was sent by Queen Olivia to alert you that General Waybright and Envoy Boonchuy will be arriving soon. Would you like for me to escort you to the throne room?”
“No worries, little bud, I’ll head there right now.” She slipped out of her bedroom and shut the door behind her. For a few moments, Marcy thought she could feel the Butlerbot’s eyes still staring at her as she started down the hallway but found that it was already walking in the opposite direction when she turned back around to check. She tried once again to shake off whatever lingering anxiety had been plaguing her since the mirror incident and kept on moving.
The path to the castle throne room was one already well traveled by Marcy long before the reign of Queen Olivia. As she walked through the threshold of the expansive hall, two Frobot guards greeted her with silent nods and closed the massive doors behind her after she entered. They stood just outside, prepared to usher away any visitors wandering the castle or seeking an audience with the Queen.
“Marcy!” Olivia cheerfully greeted her. At the foot of the steps that led up to her throne, a tiny portal the size of a dinner plate floated in midair. It was a deep scarlet in color and its faint edges wavered like heat floating off asphalt on a hot Summer’s day.
“You’re just in time,” Olivia continued. “I believe Sasha will be joining us momentarily, her portal is simply waiting for your response. Oh my, look at you. She’ll be so happy to see you.”
“Thanks, Olivia. I’ll help get this end of the portal stabilized.” Marcy swiftly approached the inter-dimensional gateway and raised her hand towards it. With her palm facing the portal and fingers splayed wide, she felt her emerald aura materialize around her as she began boosting its power with her own.
The first thing Marcy saw on the other end was the inside of a large tent, likely acting as the General’s base of operations. The furniture - consisting of a number of tables, chairs, and heavy trunks - was simple, a mixture of Amphibian design and a few otherworldly looking pieces that must have been acquired since the campaign had begun.
And in the center of the portal’s view, was General Sasha Waybright. Her armor was a deep crimson and contrasted nicely against her flowing blonde hair. Behind the fur collar of her black cape, Marcy could see the ends of her twin silver and red blades slung across her back in an ‘X’.
Like the surface of a lake when a stone was cast, the portal rippled as Sasha leapt through and swept Marcy up into her arms. Her laughter filled the hall as she spun Marcy around in a large twirl, the scarlet portal dissipating behind her in a brilliant flash of light.
“MAR-MAR!” Sasha shouted.
“SASHY!” She threw her arms around Sasha’s neck. “Oooooh my Frog, it’s so good to see you again! It feels like forever.”
“Forever and a day.” Sasha finally set her down on her own two feet, hands still resting on her waist. “Now come here, I’ve been wanting to do this since the last time I left.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Standing on the tips of her toes, she met Sasha halfway and embraced her in a kiss they’d both been waiting months for.
For her part, Olivia waited quietly, not looking in their direction to allow them as much privacy as possible as they kissed in the middle of her throne room.
When she pulled away, Sasha was suddenly reminded of her presence and immediately straightened up. “Queen Olivia! Hi! Uh, where are my manners? I haven’t even said hello yet.”
“It’s quite alright, Sasha. I’ve grown accustomed to the…excitability of you and Anne upon returning to our fair kingdom, and to your girlfriend.” Olivia smiled knowingly.
“Speaking of,” Sasha produced a small letter from within the breastplate of her armor. “This is for you from General Yunan. I promised I’d deliver it first thing since she’s the one having to take over while I’m gone. She said she looks forward to seeing you soon.”
“Oh, thank you, dear.” Olivia took the letter and slipped it somewhere into the folds of her sleeves, intending to read it as soon as she was able. “I take it that means your latest reports from the field are to be confirmed, that the campaign on Suay is soon to be over?”
“That’s great news! That means you can stay in Amphibia for a while once everything’s taken care of.” Marcy beamed up at Sasha.
“I know! I was actually thinking that maybe we could-”
A slow, methodical clapping reverberated throughout the mostly empty throne room. Sasha barely had time to pinpoint the direction it was emanating from before a deep voice spoke.
“That is indeed tremendous news, General Waybright.” The voice boomed from the corner of the room, calm and even despite its volume. Out of the shadow of the throne, stepped a towering figure in dark armor. A dozen orange eyes shined from the massive helmet on its head, each and every one of them trained on the group.
“Even our most generous estimates did not expect you to be finished quite so early. Ten years and scores of planets later, you still find new ways to amaze us.” The giant bent one knee and bowed his head. “Welcome home, Heron’s Bane.”
“Dandrias.” Sasha curtly acknowledged him. As she faced him, Marcy took her hand and Queen Olivia came to stand at her side.
“Ahem,” Olivia cleared her throat, cooly regarding the fallen king. “Dandrias, I believe you were meant to wait below the castle until all three members of the trio were present to give you their reports. You realize the unnecessary danger you’ve placed yourself in by wandering above ground, correct?”
Even after becoming part of The Core, Dandrias’ laughter was just as boisterous as it had been in life. “My Queen, we assure you that the risk was calculated. Our eyes in the castle allowed us to slip past any wandering scholars or staff entirely undetected. We were the picture of stealth.”
Before Olivia could further protest, Dandrias turned all eyes on Sasha. “General, tell me, what of the native inhabitants of Suay? I trust they haven’t been giving you too much trouble?”
“None,” Sasha replied. Her voice held a twinge of annoyance, mixed with a kind of willful indifference. “We’ve successfully routed them at all points, forcing them to fall back to their capital city. It’s well fortified but nothing we haven’t broken through before.”
She shifted minutely on her feet, gaze flitting momentarily to where Olivia stood at her side. “General Yunan has taken command of our siege efforts in my stead. Upon my return, it should be a clean sweep.”
Dandrias stared at her, his countenance entirely devoid of emotion, then slapped his knee. “Wonderful, wonderful! That’s what we love to hear! Suay and its resources will be an invaluable credit to our world, especially as a manufacturing planet.”
“Speaking of, I sent down some sketches for several inventions I’ve been working on directed at the conservation of these types of planets. Have you had a chance to look them over yet?” Still holding Sasha’s hand, Marcy stepped into the conversation.
“We have. However, the amount of effort it would take to maintain such devices would hardly prove beneficial to our world. It is much more efficient to simply use the planet until it expires, then move our operations on to the next. This is the way our empire has operated for the past decade, as well as how it was ran for thousands of years in the past.”
“That may be true…” Marcy trailed off, trying to find the strength to push on despite Dandrias’ dismissal. It felt far away at first, but the sensation of Sasha squeezing her hand finally gave her the assurance she needed to dig her heels in and continue pressing.
“B-But we shouldn’t be complacent with the way things have been run in the past. It may take time and effort but wouldn’t conserving the planets we invade and doing more to ensure their continued existence be much more efficient in the long run compared to continuously ransacking new worlds?”
Dandrias sneered. “Ransacking-”
Marcy began counting off on her fingers. “The amount of waste created to manufacture more Frobots, the energy needlessly expended to create portals large enough to transport our armies, even the amount of wartime supplies that have to be sent through during the military occupation could all be better allocated for use here in Amphibia. Can any of this really be called efficient when better options are at our disposal?”
For a long stretch of time, nobody spoke at all. The throne room was silent, save for the sound of Dandrias rubbing at his chin. Finally, he spoke, slow and thoughtful.
“You…make a good many points. We should not be so quick to discount your ideas. We made you the Royal Artificer for a reason, after all. We will look over your blueprints again, but you should be prepared to clarify your ideas and expound upon their implementation.”
“Of course.” Marcy nodded her head, finally squeezing Sasha’s hand back in gratitude. “I can do that.”
Dandrias opened his mouth to say more, but it was at that moment when the eyes on the very peripheral of his mask snapped shut and his head instinctively jerked upward. “We are detecting a spike in calamity energy. Another portal will be opening momentarily.”
True to his calculations, a portal opened in front of the doors to the throne room. The portal itself was large - big enough for a single person to pass through without its power even needing to be amplified by another- and was colored a deep blue.
The world beyond the portal was dark and stormy, rancorous waves slammed against the gray rocks that made up what little shoreline could be spied through the portal. In just two large steps, a figure wrapped in a white hooded cloak stepped through and the portal to another world was gone.
“BOONCHUY!”
“ANNA BANANA!”
Sasha and Marcy ran at breakneck speed and pounced on the cloaked figure, playfully knocking her to the floor as the hood of her outfit slid off.
“Guys, guys, I’m happy to see you too, but you’re gonna be soaking wet if you keep hugging me with this thing on!” Despite her protests, Anne allowed herself to be enveloped in the warmth of their touch and her cheeks pecked with customary kisses from both of them.
“Here, let me just-” Her body flared with blue light as she summoned up a quick burst of energy. She shook her head and sent a few stray water droplets flying towards the floor. “There, all dry. Now I can say hello.”
“You have seaweed in your hair.” Sasha’s face scrunched up as she carefully pulled a string of slimy green algae from Anne’s hair. “I think some of it’s stuck in your braid.”
“Can I have it? I just love adding new inter-dimensional plants to my collection.”
“We know, Marcy.” Anne and Sasha said the same time, causing the trio to devolve into a fit of giggles on the floor.
“Such a touching reunion.” Dandrias commented from where he stood beside Queen Olivia, causing their celebration to be cut short.
“Oh, hey Dandrias.” Anne drawled. The trio stood back up from the floor as the former king bowed his head.
“As much as we hate to interrupt, we were hoping you might have something to give us as well.”
“Got it right here, dude.” Anne reached down to her side, where a large leather-bound tome was secured to her hip. With a few quick snaps, she released the heavy book from its confines and tossed it up into Dandrias’ waiting palm.
He held the book between his massive thumb and forefinger, carefully turning through the pages and devouring the information that lie within.
“Very intriguing. You’ve outdone yourself this time, Anne. Five new dimensions in just two months’ time is nothing to scoff at.” He flipped to the latest entry. “Ah, an ocean planet; lousy with carbon and full of non-advanced aquatic life. Easy pickings.” Dandrias’ chuckle grated on the ears of everyone around him.
“Although, you know there’s no need for you to continue naming each world you come across. A simple numeric designation would work.” He held the book up closer to his myriad eyes and squinted in concentration. “Case in point, Kuh-lun? Khu-lun?” The syllables fell clumsily off his tongue.
“Khlụ̄̀n.” Anne corrected, drawing out the ‘u’. “And I’ll leave the numbers to Marcy since that’s more her thing. What’s the big deal if I want to keep naming them?” She stared up at Dandrias as his gaze shifted from the book to her, as if challenging him to push the issue.
After a tense moment, Dandrias sighed. “We would warn you against such sentimentality, but who are we to advise you on matters of the heart?” He tossed the tome back to Anne, who caught it with a single hand.
“We have our reports. Today is a day of celebration, commemorating the fall of Amphibia’s tyrannical king and the destruction of The Core.” Dandrias turned his back on the group and stalked back to the shadow of the throne. “We would be remiss in keeping the saviors of Amphibia out of the limelight they so rightfully deserve.” He disappeared down some rarely used corridor and his footfalls quickly faded from earshot.
“What a creep,” Sasha breathed out, staring daggers in the direction Dandrias had disappeared in. Her eyes softened when she turned back to Marcy. “You held your own against him pretty good, Mars. I’m proud of you for sticking up for your ideas.”
Marcy smiled up at her. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you here. Thanks for that.”
From behind, Anne wrapped her arms around Marcy’s midsection and rested her chin on her shoulder. “What are we congratulating you on again? You come up with another awesome invention while I was gone?”
“Oh, Anne! Dandrias said he’d look into some of the plans that I had for preservation efforts! Installing air and water purifiers on other planets, engaging in less destructive mining practices, the works!”
Anne nodded along. If anyone could convince Dandrias to do something, it would be Marcy. Either through her pure intelligence or her unwavering persistence, something she’d undoubtedly learned from the best. “And you think he’ll listen?”
“Of course. Dandrias is all about logic. Once I show him that it’s more effective to conserve the planets that we encounter rather than burn straight through them, he’ll start seeing things our way.”
Sasha shrugged, a smile pulling at her lips as she watched the way Marcy and Anne held onto each other. “You ask me, I think that guy’s still got a chip on his shoulder from where you beat him at flipwart back in the day.” Not wanting to pull the two of them apart, she settled for teasingly nudging Marcy with her elbow. “It would be nice though. Less planets to conquer and worlds to chase after means more time for us to spend together. No way am I gonna say no to that”
Queen Olivia approached the trio. “My thoughts exactly, Sasha. Speaking of, with all that business taken care of, you three are now free to do as you please. I’m certain you all have some catching up to do and I imagine you’ll want to head down to the city to partake in the festivities once you’ve all sufficiently rested up.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.” Anne unwrapped her arms from around Marcy’s sides and slid her hands into the waiting palms of her two girlfriends. “What about you guys?”
“Sure, but I could probably use a shower before we hit the town.” Sasha gave a final grin in the direction of Queen Olivia, mouthing a silent ‘Thank you!’ as she steered her partners towards the door.
“Yeah,” Marcy giggled. “You could also use a change out of that clunky armor.”
“But this is my coolest armor! I wore it for you guys!”
“Aww, that’s so sweet.” Anne circled the back of Sasha’s hand with her thumb. “It looks heavy though, don’t you wanna wear something a little lighter for going out?”
Olivia watched them as they left, the giant doors at the entrance of the throne room opening effortlessly at their touch. The echoes of their voices bouncing off the walls faded, and she was left alone.
Until a single orange eye opened from the amber brooch of her shawl.
“Those girls forget themselves.”
“They are young, Dandrias.” Olivia grasped the brooch with a single trembling hand. “They are simply rebellious, as all children are at one time or another.”
“Even the smallest tadpole must learn respect. We thought that was something you understood, Olivia. You were a lady long before we made you queen.”
It took all her years of training in etiquette and courtesy not to breathe out a tremendous sigh. “Have you considered Master Marcy’s plans?”
“There is some merit to the Artificer’s schemes. Her logic is, as always, infallible.” A thrum of whispers emanated from the brooch, before coalescing into a single voice. “However, concessions must be made. If our empire is to change its scope from conquest to conservation, then we will need to test the longevity of such a project.”
The orange light of the brooch dimmed, if only briefly, then grew in strength. “As a matter of fact, we already have the perfect world in mind.”