Returning to the palace

Candace took them to various locations in the forest with different forms of insect wildlife. The first such location they visited was under a large rock. Nadia had to lift the rock for them but she was hesitant to go near the bugs. Cally had gotten used to it however. Nadia didn't want to damage her big sister image.

With some significant internal encouragement, Nadia walked close to the rock and examined it. She tried not to think about the many legs and creepy reflective carapace that she would find under it. With a small heave Nadia lifted the boulder. It was slightly larger than she was but she managed to lift it all the same. Her strength was slightly inhuman.

People like this existed from time to time and Lilith had studied them. She still didn't know anything. They had no similarities. To be more specific they had nothing that they all shared. Some sort of common trait or defining feature to help her identify them. Lilith couldn't find one.

Moving on from the topic, Lilith could hear the reactions to the rock's underside. "Wow so many insects!" Exclaimed Cally. She sounded shocked, a little scared and very excited. Lilith could hear her footsteps patter against the ground as she approached Nadia's position.

Felis followed suit with significantly lighter feet. Lilith saw Cally grab something from the floor though she couldn't see the object. "Found one!" She exclaimed.

"What are you going to do with that?" Nadia asked puzzled from slightly above Cally. The girl was making jabbing motions with her hand and clearly holding something.

"I'm going to prank the insects of course. We just met each other. I have to introduce myself." Cally said with a grin in her voice. She jabbed slightly more forcefully. Whatever she was using must've been hitting the insects.

"Hehe. Maybe I can lead them into a maze? Can they escape from rivers?" She asked innocently. Lilith now had an idea what Cally was doing. Before she could stop her however she heard Cally cry out in slight pain and the sound of something dropping to the floor nearby.

"Ow!" complained Cally. "What was that for?!" She indignantly shouted. She was now lying on the ground rubbing her arm.

"You don't poke the crawlies. These creatures are trying to live their lives and you shouldn't interrupt them. I showed you this to observe. You shouldn't be playing with them like toys." Scolded Candace.

"Crawlies? But that hurt my hand! You could've just asked!" Cally protested.

"I agree, that was more violent than it should have been." Stated Nadia coolly. She clearly wasn't happy.

"What happened?" Lilith asked wanting to stop the situation from spiralling.

"Cally was poking the insects with a stick and Candace Violently ripped it from her hands. Now the insect is climbing all over her hand. I admit Cally was being cruel but that was excessive." Nadia explained still with a hint of chill to her voice.

Candace was whispering something that Lilith couldn't make out. She was presumably talking to the bug. She spoke up a moment later however. When she did, her voice bubbled with disguised anger. "This is a ground beetle. See the grooves on the wing casings, they're a lovely blue and black colour. They often like to eat worms, snails and even some of their insect brethren. To try and prevent that, I tend to feed them Earthworms from my wormery. That is the creature you just attempted to traumatise."

"They were favourites of mine when I started you see." Candace added afterwards her anger cooling.

"They don't fly away even if you startle them. Your prodding would annoy them but they wouldn't escape it. What you were doing is akin to forcing a human to run. They can but they don't want to. Some of the poor things just stood there and endured your assault." Before the others could comment on what she said Candace continued.

"I know you are a child but please be careful. I do not want to bring harm to the poor things. I am the reason you're here. I won't be the reason their lives are uprooted." Candace defended herself. She then stayed quiet.

Silence enveloped the area for some time. Lilith didn't know what everyone was thinking. She didn't know what their expressions looked like. She could guess though.

Nadia was likely not happy. Lilith could imagine the icy glare directed at Candace. She put her family above all else and hurting the twins for insects wouldn't register with her. Candace likely hadn't changed her expression much. She wasn't very expressive even when she tried to be. She likely did feel guilty but she wouldn't show it. That would make things worse.

The twins though. Thankfully Lilith could see their expressions. She didn't know what she was expecting. But Cally looked torn. A mix of guilt and fear were on her face. Whether that was fear at what she'd done or the fact she was scared of Candace, Lilith didn't know. Felis was looking away. He wouldn't look the problem in the eye.

Cally would though. She was the first to speak. "Sorry. I know it was mean. I'm very sorry miss pluto." Her apology was sincere even if she was trembling slightly as she spoke. Lilith could see the fear and hesitation overtake the guilt on her face. At least she wasn't thinking about it.

Lilith heard an expelling of air from beside her. "You have already heard my own apology. I do believe we were both at fault here and I will try to be more gentle in the future." Candace replied.

"That's it? You're simply going to apologise and move o-" Nadia started to say but Lilith shushed her. She walked up to where she believed Nadia was and reached for her with a hand. Upon finding Nadia, her hand travelled up to the girl's ear. Lilith leaned her head in closer and whispered.

"Both parties are in agreement with this arrangement. Let this go if only for the sake of the twins. I'm sure you can censure Candy in private if you feel you must." Lilith thought she heard Nadia shake her head but she couldn't quite tell. Likely realising this she whispered back.

"Fine." Then she turned to the others raising her voice.

"Can I put this rock down now!"

Candace continued to explain all sorts of different bugs to the twins. First she explained all the species under this particular rock including: The common pill woodlouse(Even going so far as to mention the similar millipede with a few more legs), the garlic snail that was eaten by the beetle as soon as it caught it, The great grey slug which met a similar fate at different hands and her personal favourite the woodlouse spider with it's massive fangs. For it's size anyway.

Once she was done she explained less common finds under rocks like these as well as some technical terms Nadia and Cally had zoned out. She also moved on to other locations and explained all sorts of bugs they saw as they walked away from the rock. Their characteristics, habitat and rarity. Her knowledge on the 'crawlies' was truly extensive.

They only noticed it got dark because Lilith had a very good grasp of where the shadows around her were. So when she realised there wasn't much light left, she informed the others and Candace only realised as much once it was pointed out to her. She decided to head home after that.

The royals decided to follow her example and head back. The twins' smiles were infectious as the twins had found something that made the forest more interesting than it was before. 'That should give them something else to do here while we figure out where we should take them next' Lilith thought as Nadia lead the twins to the carriage by the hand.

Eobard had parked the carriage just outside the forest. He was both their guard and their carriage driver meaning he stayed exactly where he was. He had once come with them into the forest just in case but was quickly lost by the twins. They didn't like having him babysit.

They all embarked on the carriage and told Eobard to head for the palace. During the ride, Lilith listened to the twins' new perspective on the forest. Candace had taught them about the various types of insects commonly living there. She had also suggested they find the ways they interact with the plants on their own.

A log isn't just a log any more, it's a treasure trove filled with things they couldn't even imagine. They excitedly chatted about all the types of insects they were yet to see and what they would look like or some cool features they think insects should or could have. They also talked about the plant interactions and possible ways to use this in gardening.

Lilith animatedly participated in the discussion. She would offer theories of her own on the interactions with plants. Whenever the twins asked a question, she used the knowledge Candace had taught her to answer it. She couldn't give them a list of all the helpful insects but she could tell them the common ones.

Nadia meanwhile stewed over the trip. This was a reminder of what she was fighting for. What she treasured most in this world. Even if the twins were talking about creatures with hairy legs and poisonous fangs as though they were the best thing in the world. Nadia had to fight a grimace but she was also nursing a smile. A common occurrence on this trip.

It was a little bit of a long ride back to the palace but luckily they made it back at a reasonable time. It was very much night now but at least there would still be people awake and the guards at the gate hadn't quite changed shift yet. They'd still have to deal with guards at the end of their shift and utterly exhausted. At least those guards would inform the emperor that they made it back in their shift.

They ran into Graham and Aaron the two guards that were there when they left and told them that they had returned and to go through the procedures they needed to confirm that was the case. "Your highnesses looked like you had fun today." Mused Graham to Felis and Cally as he was checking them back into the palace.

"Yeah. We met Bug lady. Lots of fun crawlies." Stated Felis more emphatically than usual for him. Cally just nodded along. She was getting tired and more than nodding along, she was practically nodding off.

Graham just put on an ambiguous smile and said "Oh, well isn't that lovely. I'll get this done quick so you two can head to bed. I'm sure you'll want to have some more fun tomorrow and you need your rest for that." He looked like a grandparent doting on his grandkids and if they weren't royalty he'd probably spoil them rotten.

Nadia could understand where he was coming from but once again her sense of duty hounded her. This was wrong. He shouldn't treat his lieges like this. They should be treated with more respect. At the same time she could hear the tenderness in his voice, see the soft smile on his lips. She recognised those expressions. She made them herself.

Ultimately Nadia decided to smile and let this pass. She had other matters to deal with. "Do you have those names memorised." Nadia asked coolly turning her attention to Aaron. The others had excluded them from proceedings so they could have this talk. Nadia wasn't going to waste it.

Aaron scowled like a kid given homework. "I'm an imperial star and they have me memorising names and doing paperwork." he grumbled quietly. "Couldn't I do more?"

Nadia ignored his complaints and stared him down coldly. He began reciting the names of all the important noble families starting with the planet families. Nadia checked each one against her own knowledge making sure all the details he gave her were correct. It wasn't just names he was giving her. She made him describe their appearances even the trades of the more well known families.

"Venus are a family of magicians. They focus on the more combat-viable forms of magic such as lightning, laser, healing and combustion. They are also experimenting with umm… I think it's ice and magma magic. Construction magic basically." Aaron explained.

Nadia noticed his fumble and considered scolding him for it. She was feeling good though. Despite the ups and downs of the trip she still had fun. Looking over the twins was enjoyable no matter the views Lilith espoused. She had relaxed and decided to let that slide. Lilith didn't.

"Ice and magma are temporary construct affinities. Venus is experimenting with taking a small number of these mages into their house because of a recent development in magic warfare. Developing a temporary fort then firing combustion or lightning magic from it's battlements." Lilith interjected. Nadia heard it was Lilith's achievement so she was likely proud of it.

"Still not wrong though am I?" He snarked back at Lilith. Nadia caught on to that though and was having none of it.

"Respect your liege. That is the second princess you're talking to." Nadia reminded in that same icy tone. A polite smile was slowly creeping onto her face. Aaron found that smile terrifying and decided not to argue back simply continuing with his explanation.

"Uranus is last right? Aren't they just the opposite of Venus? They work with all the magic that isn't used for battle. The 10 nature mages in the empire are under their jurisdiction right? Is that it?" He asked question after question. He seemed unsure about this family. All of the others had large roles in the empire and it's society.

Uranus was different. Their role was more behind the scenes. He still missed a few of their main trades however. "Incorrect. I cannot imagine how poorly you have remembered the other noble families if you cannot even guess the planet families' trades." Nadia warned.

"Uranus does recruit mages from the more peaceful magic types as a rule. Nature is not the only such magic type but I shall exclude that as specialised knowledge you do not yet have. Uranus however also engages in trade. The Uranus firm is the largest merchant company in the entire empire and it extends beyond it's borders. They work with Saturn on gathering information as well as the majority of their family taking up positions as finance ministers at some point." Nadia looked him in the eyes daring him to tell her she was wrong.

Aaron rose to the challenge however. "I think I'm doing pretty well. You only gave me a few hou-" His protest was cut short by Graham. He shouted from across the room so he could be heard over Aaron's loud shouting.

"All done. You can enter now!" Lilith waved her hand, gesturing Nadia to follow her. The twins had already started running into the hallway. Nadia narrowed her gaze at Aaron but chose not to push the matter today. She would do it later.

She walked behind her siblings and once inside they all separated and began their own pre-sleep checks. Nadia took the twins to their rooms and tucked them into bed before heading back to bed herself. She had some paperwork she needed to catch up on tomorrow. Best she sleep early.

Lilith had separated from them fairly early. Her room was the furthest because it was hard to find a room in the palace without windows. She left Nadia to take the twins to bed as she went to her own room.