All conversation stopped as the girl scanned the room. Her flowing brown hair extended to her lower back and her golden-brown eyes seemed to sparkly as she blinked. Celestea smiled and started to say, “Shiv, your sister has…”

Shiviria rolled her eyes and cut her mother off. “Great!”

Without waiting for a reply, she spun on her heel and ran off, leaving the door open. As we watched her go, a man’s voice called after her. “Where are you going, munchkin?”

Celestea huffed as the man with the thick mustache from our dream stepped into the cabin. It was Kalli’s father. He locked eyes with his wife before scanning the room and discovering Kalli. “Can it truly be…?”

“Yes.” Celestea sighed breathlessly. “Kalliphae has returned to us.”

The man stroked his mustache. “As the man said she would. And who is this? A relative of the savior?”

I was startled as all eyes turned to me. “Um, oh. Yeah, I’m Melvin.”

The man nodded appreciatively. “It would appear that your, um father did us a great service? We are forever in your debt.”

Kalli was staring at the open door. “Where did my sister go?”

“The castle.” Her mother said in an exasperated tone. “Her father made her a treehouse and she likes to go up there when she wants to be alone. She will return when she is ready.”

“I think I’d like to speak with her,” Kalli said, beginning to walk toward the door.

“But your father…” Celestea began. “He just got here.”

Kalli held up a hand to stop any further discussion. “I am well aware of that. However, my sister seemed upset and I’d like to go introduce myself properly. I am sure that father won’t mind waiting. Melvin can keep the two of you entertained in my absence.”

We all gaped at her as she strode through the door. Before she left she flashed me a wink. Sorry, Mel. How about you tell them about the empire. I am sure that will keep them occupied.

I was confused. Not only was Kalli acting strangely proper but she also wanted me to drop a bomb on her parents. Shrugging, I decided to just go with it. They were Kalli’s parents after all. I sent her a message of reassurance before I began.

Don’t worry. I got this.

Deciding to pick up the story in the same tone that Kalli was using, I introduced myself again. “So, as I said, my name is Melvin Murphy and I am the emperor of Meltopia. For those of you who have been out of the loop, that is the land formerly known as Celestea. Kalli is my empress and together we saved the empire from a plague that was threatening to wipe them out. So far, we have also invited trolls, goblins, orcs, dwarves, and gnomes across the northern border. We are currently in a conflict with the Kingdom of Dabia.”

The man looked like he wanted to speak so I paused, waiting for him. He cleared his throat and played with his beard nervously. “Did you just say empress? What exactly is your relationship with my daughter?”

Of all the things for him to have an issue with, he chose the most basic one to latch onto. I knew about the kind of relationships that boyfriends had with their girlfriend’s father, but I had never expected to find myself dealing with it. I fidgeted as the man did his best to look intimidating. Until I inspected him, that was.

Name

Charles Celestea

Class

Former King Consort

Level

3

Affection Level

Suspicious

I suddenly became aware of the fact that I was staring at him with my mouth hanging open, so I continued. “How are you fifty-four levels lower than your wife? I expected you to be some kind of warrior king.”

He cleared his throat in a grunt, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “Everyone knows that it’s the queen that has real power in Celestea. It is and always has been my duty to support her. I am strong enough though as you will find out if you lay a finger on Kalliphae!”

I had mixed emotions about the man. On the one hand, he loved Kalli almost as much as I did but on the other, I wanted to show him the difference between us. Before I could say anything, he stomped over to the pot that Celestea had served us from and began making a plate.

The queen, for her part, was content to stay silent and let her husband deal with me. Since he wasn’t saying anything, I decided to see what Kalli was up to.

She stood beneath a tree with a crude wooden fort in its branches about fifteen feet off of the ground. While there was a trap door at the bottom, there did not seem to be any visible ladder.

Kalli looked up at her sister, who was looking back through a window. Kalli’s dress had transformed into a jumper. “You know, I can easily climb this tree. Just because you removed the ladder doesn’t mean I can’t get in.”

“I’d like to see you try that, princess!” Shiviria yelled back, doing a good Kalli impersonation when she stuck her tongue out.

I was surprised by how much the two sisters were alike. Kalli didn’t waste any more words and mounted the trunk of the tree, shimmying her way up.

“Melvin?” Charles’ voice brought me back to the cabin. “How long have you been on Gaia?”

Apparently, Celestea had filled him in on my background while I was zoning out. “I’m not sure. I think it’s been a couple of months at least. We’ve been so busy, it’s hard to keep track.”

In my mind’s eye, I noticed Kali had made it up to the treehouse. Rather than climbing in the window, she perched on a branch and knocked lightly on the wood frame. Her sister huffed. “Okay, fine. You can come in.”

Kalli nimbly hopped through the window, landing gently in front of the girl. Shiviria gasped for a moment before folding her arms. “Well, you made it up. What do you want?”

Kalli sat in front of her. “I have a sister! This is so exciting!”

“Ugh! I know.” Shiviria spat the words. “So I’ve been reminded my whole life. I have a perfect princess for a sister.”

Kalli shook her head gently. “Do you want to know the truth? I didn’t even know about that until this morning. I grew up in an orphanage where older boys pulled my hair and we never had enough food to eat. Oh, and I am far from perfect. Just ask Melvin.”

“Who’s Melvin?” The girl asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. “Is he your boyfriend?”

Kalli blushed and she leaned in conspiratorially. “Yes, he is. And he is being grilled by father as we speak, though I don’t think he’s paying attention.”

I laughed, earning a frown from the king.

Yeah, I’m totally not paying attention. Your dad’s just eating anyway.

Kalli giggled, causing Shiviria to frown as well. “What’s so funny?

“Oh, nothing much,” Kalli replied. “Mel just got in trouble with your father.”

“He’s your father too, you know.” The kid sighed, giving Kalli a puzzled look. “I’ve been so jealous of you my whole life. You’re all they ever talk about. Kalliphae this and Kalliphae that. How you were a perfect little princess and that I need to act more proper like you used to. Oh, and my favorite; Kalliphae will be back any day now, so we can’t go anywhere or live a normal life.”

“That must have been awful.” Kalli soothed her sister. “I’m so sorry that I caused that to happen. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”

Shiviria’s eyes widened, surprise evident on her face. “I don’t know. I doubt you can change the fact that our parents prefer you over me.”

Kalli reached out and pulled her sister into a hug. The kid did not resist. “How about I prefer you over them? I always dreamed about having a little sister. This is a dream come true.”

“What was it like?” Shiviria whispered, her face hidden by Kalli’s shoulder. “Living in the palace and having mother dote on you?”

Kalli sighed, running her fingers through her sister’s hair. “I wouldn’t know. I have no memory from back then. I was too little. My first memories aren’t pleasant. Mel is the first person who ever loved me.”

“Okay.” The girl squeaked in a voice that reminded me of Kalli. “I’ll be your sister.”

“Good,” Kalli whispered. “I’m so happy.”

Back in the cabin, I felt someone poking me. I looked up to see the king and queen towering over me. All I would do was reply. “Ow!”

Celestea leaned closer, staring at me. “You were doing that silent communication thing again, weren’t you?”

I grinned which caused them to scowl even more. Shaking my head to focus on the conversation around me, I said, “I’m sorry. Yes, I was with Kalli just now. Did you ask me something?”

Charles groaned, asking, “Did you hear a word I just said? I don’t care that you declared yourself The Emperor. The real world doesn’t work like that. There are protocols and…”

Celestea cut him off. “Oh, dear. Give it a rest. She loves him. It’s fine. What matters most is where we go next. We are a family again, after all.”

“You do realize that you were a family before we got here right? I asked, realizing that Shiviria had a point.

The king sat down across from me. “You cannot understand what it’s like until you’re a father yourself. Not that I’ve given you my blessing. It was agony being parted from our daughter all those years.”

“Why didn’t you go look for her?” I asked, still not understanding the reasoning.

Celestea gave me a long cold stare. “Who is he to you? The man that rescued us. Surely, you know him? Is it your father? Older brother? I would like to know why we were forced to stay out of her life all these years as well. We knew she was alive. He assured us of that much at least.”

“I don’t know who he is,” I confessed. “I never met my father and know very little about my sister. My mother is not awakened and didn’t spend much time with my father. Did you just take his word for it and never look for her?”

“He heavily implied that she would be lost to us if we did anything but wait,” Charles explained between bites of stew.

I drummed my fingers on the table. We were getting nowhere. Finally, I asked, “So, what’s next? Where will you go now that you know Kalli is alive?”

Charles puffed his chest up as he laid out his plan. “Now that we are a family again, I think we will head north and settle down in one of the villages. The people always loved us and should take us in.”

“The three of you should come stay at the castle.” I offered, slightly annoyed at the inference that Kalli was going to go with them.

“What castle?” Celestea asked, eyebrows raised. “Dabia?”

That did it. I put my foot in my mouth. It was Kalli’s call to make, not mine.

Can I tell them about the castle?

She was talking quietly with her sister. They’re going to find out sooner or later. You might as well tell them.

Taking a deep breath, I made the announcement. “I’m talking about Celestea. We revived it yesterday. The magic did respond…to Kalli.”

I wanted to say that she was the rightful heir but also didn’t want to peeve off potential future inlaws. Kalli choked back a laugh and said, Isn’t it a little early to be thinking of them as inlaws?

The queen’s reaction was more severe. She jumped to her feet, knocking over her chair in the process. “That’s impossible. We must go at once. If what you say is true, then that means the magic has returned. Charles!”

“Yes, dear,” Charles grunted, climbing to his feet and beginning to throw items in his satchel.

Celestea motioned me toward the door with a flick of her wrist. “Go collect my daughters.”

I stared in disbelief for a moment before deciding that must be how queens spoke. Then I decided to return the favor and wrapped my mana around myself.