(Part 1)

Following a brief nap of about an hour, and even as her daughter was still engaged in excited discussions with Leia on refined manners, Mirani resolved to invite herself to her fellow consort's gardens to try and unburden herself mentally. The 'mind games', she felt, were about to be played in new, considerably-more-complex areas... and with luck, sooner than she would dare expect.

Might Vestra, that 'religious wench', not know how better to handle this kind of round-the-clock stress?

On the other hand, it so happened that Vestra--in the light of her own string of experiences, including that of the previous night with Urdin--also wanted to better reflect on her next steps; and as she headed to those same gardens, it crossed her mind that perhaps her scheming counterpart might just be the right individual to relate things to.

The queens' encounter, therefore, while a surprise for each, was a relief of sorts for both; being seated as they were on separate benches.

"Well, well." Mama Viper whistled. "How long has it been since we got the chance to settle matters just between ourselves, eh, Ves? No kids to niggle us 'round, nor to prevent whatever else that might otherwise need to be let out..."

"I concur," came Vestra's smiling reply. "I feel we have had so many chances before today to talk our problems out during any of those 'family' dinners; but in retrospect, we hadn't been acting like family at all. Instead, we merely listened to what our lord husband had had to say... and not once, as I recall, did he show that he cared that much for anything immediately beyond governance!"

"Now, don't overreact. We knew he meant well: that same decent governance helps us finish whatever needs to be done up 'til now, don't ya think."

"Be that as it may... look, it still holds true! Now that I think of it, even during that explanation of events up north, he only mentioned that the city of Nasria 'is still ours'. Listen to that! No mention of casualties, even projected ones; nor of how Mustafa, young as he is, must have taken great pains to defend it in the first place; nor, heck, even how hard it must've been for him to reconcile such contrasting views--in strategy, beliefs and so much else--with the Dragoness lass... so much so that their conjoined forces might then coordinate said defense successfully. Urdin seems to care only for the results; far less so for how it might have been achieved!"

"As so many other leaders so often do, dear," Mira reminded her, "and the longer they remain leaders, chances are, the worse it'd develop... but such is how things are supposed to work for this age, and we can only hope the next one might turn out better--short of full-force dethronement, which, oh, by the way, I had had the honor to witness. Front row."

"Mirani!"

"Bygones be bygones. Have ya tried pointin' that out to him, though--this lack of concern for how things might be achieved?"

Vestra moved to the same bench as that of Mirani's before actually replying.

"I tried! Just yesterday, we were discussing on how the next holder for the office of vazir is to be determined. Our husband laid out three names, one of them currently in the army ranks..."

"A second. Why are you letting me know of this now?"

"I'd like to see if the Amir's reasoning could, in your opinion, be accepted in the first place."

Mira sighed. "Naive as ever; ya don't bother suspecting in the least that I might be fomenting schemes o' my own as we speak... Very well, continue."

"As I was saying: this candidate, name of Ebrahim, is currently in the army ranks as an aspiring logistician. I tried to point out that our army officers are supposed to be apolitical, else it may come to pass that the rank and file should view important positions--or, worse, key ones--within the government of this Amirate as 'rightly' belonging to at least one of their own. Where, I implore you, would that have left us?!"

Mama Viper pursed her own lip. "And how did our lovely warrior-husband respond?"

"He maintained that it was proper, seeing how he himself--one from the ranks--could have ended up at the very top rung of the ladder."

"Is that also how positions of trust is to be determined in our faith?"

Vestra paused. "Now, faith-wise... in choosing delegates, one is enjoined to decide from amongst suitable candidates, chosen in the first place owing to uprightness in morality, strict adherence to Allah, and competence in their respective fields regardless of their backgrounds."

"Then Urdin is not entirely wrong," Mira observed. "This shortlist had been assembled and drawn up, I would assume, on those same bases of merits and competence--'course that campaigning freak's gonna scoff at yer objections and still call himself benign!"

"...Whose side are you on, exactly?"

"See," Azalea's mother continued, a tad gentler, "whether or not our rank and file would succumb to the very kind of event that you saw fit to ramble about just now, and horrific as it might turn to be if they should, it is still a thing of the future... yes, and we need that vazir-holder now. Things might yet turn for the better, like with myself, and you've seen that first thing. Is hope for the better on a daily basis not part of our religious teachings also?"

"Oh, true..."

Mirani laughed. "Now I don't mean to insist here, Ves... but before ya see fit to point a blaming finger to our husband or anyone else, if there's anything I think you might wanna start working with for yaself--it's trust."

Vestra could not be more surprised. "That's-!"

"-One of the topmost values of our religion. Weird comin' from me, I know. No thanks to havin' been exposed for decades to my fouler self back in the days, sure. Heck, your own firstborn has proven himself quite able to cooperate with a non-believer, from the look of things; why be so iffy on this future vazir, whom you hardly even know? Ain't too nice to start a working relationship that way with anyone, I'll give ya that much."

"That's what Lady Alista hinted too." Urdin's first spouse sighed after some thought. "So you think... I ought to let this logistician fellow remain in the race?"

"Yeah, let him run on... and should he--or any others--be destined to win it, put some trust on 'em. Vazirs will have advisers, and I can assure you--they shall not be appreciated for giving misdirected advice in the first place."

"Is that also what you have told Azalea, I wonder?"

Mira allowed herself a side-smile. "That little rascal? Quick to sniff faults and extraordinarily bold of tongue still, but yeah, she's learning. She has to; ain't got too long 'fore princes of distant lands should start beating themselves silly for her, no? Your Lei's got a damn-nicer headstart there, gotta say."

"And what of Dastra? He's not... being mistreated again, is he?"

"If you're not mistaking discipline for abuse, then no. He's seeing to his studies and training as any good kid should. He is the youngest, though, and we've got Mu and Rashid who've been showing distinct military passions, takin' after their old man... Wonder what field Das might be inclined to play in; might ask him that sometime. How long have we 'fore Mu shall be here, again?"

"Oh, that... Eight more days, give or take."

"Eight more days," Mama Viper repeated, "before his life might be coming under threat yet again."

Vestra blinked. "What do you mean?"

It was then that this well-meaning mother was given to understand that good old Yasnar's passing-on might not have been natural; that his demise had been accompanied by at least one more; and that whoever had gotten away with such foul acts might find themselves more than fortunate, were they to get wind that all that stood in their way of committing far worse crimes were a 'mere' bedridden crown prince.

By the time Mira was done with this narration, her counterpart had risen from her seat, breathing hard with furious shock.

"You..." Vestra pointed a stiff finger. "Just now you tried to tell me to trust, Mira, and this is the very next thing you let me in on?!"

"Oh? Would ya have felt any better were I to just let him share that geezer's fate?"

"Listen!" She grabbed Mama Viper by the shoulders and made her rise. "In Mu's case, this will not be the first time that his very life will have been put in line, know that?! He's been deeply affected the first time, I can tell. In this instance... he's already fortunate enough to have gotten away from a months-long siege with his life, and he's said to be ill. Were you to let him know that he would not be safe even at home..!"

"The very reason, Ves," Mama Viper rejoined, with little outward signs of alarm, "why I'm asking you to learn to trust... me, in this case. I have an idea who would try to get to him, and I'm quite confident about not letting this happen ever again with resources currently in my disposal; resources that you might not even wish to believe that I have. Thing is, you are his mother--you decide if you'd want my help in this, and if so, I may have my own terms... by which you must then abide for this counter-attempt to work as well as might be hoped. Sound good?"

The grip on Mirani's shoulders loosened a fraction. "What guarantee do I have that you and whoever this malcontent may be, might not be in cahoots instead? In which case, Mu would not be the only one in danger, but Rashid and Leia as well!"

Ah, ha, Mama Viper mused mentally. Learning already!

"Let's just say I have something that said malcontent just would not want to go along with for very long."

"Not like you're the only one who can help me here, for that matter; there's still Urdin."

"Fine bet. Question is: will he act on it with the level of swiftness you'd come to expect?" Mirani rolled her eyes. "From experience... most likely... but only after considerable fuss; which the malcontents, if they're smart and I have reasons to believe that they are, could use as a distraction. We'd have one prince less by the time anything definite is agreed upon, and none to blame but ourselves."

"But... then... what should we do?"

Mira shrugged, and in doing so removed the pressure on her shoulders. "First off--do you agree to my help in this?"

"Sheesh, you're really driving a hard bargain here, Mira! But be it so; hard as I'm finding this still, I will trust you... if, in return, you can really help save Mustafa. Now--you mentioned something about terms. What are they?"

Mirani did not reply immediately, but looked around her. "Think this is still the proper place to discuss such things, Ves? Gettin' a bit sultry here-"

"Don't change the subject! Any place but here and we might have unwanted ears on tap; I figure you would not want that either, else why make the offer?"

"Fair point." Mama Viper gazed at the azure sky with a sigh. "First, naturally, I'd expect discretion. You need not let anyone in on this--not even that campaigning freak, mind--'til that scum's no more, for on this secrecy hinges our success. Second, keep a sharper eye on yer remaining whelps; Razin might get impatient. Third, without which the other two would not be possible--watch yer own back in the meantime. Good? Stay sharp, stay safe... and if you think that'd help: pray."

"Will do. But then, how will I know that the deed's been... performed?"

"You will. Talk to ya later~"

(Part 2)

As she made her way back to the palace, Vestra found herself mildly conflicted with her counterpart's new, seemingly contrasting advice.

"She wants me to trust, but hinted in the next breath that my remaining kids might be in danger, as their eldest brother had once been..."

Last time, she recalled, the attempt on Mu's life--foiled as it had been--had nevertheless resulted in the subjugation of Melvir, the capital of House Azam; the Husnirid Amirate's erstwhile contender for the Izurian throne.

What streak might this attempt score?

Some time after the conquest of Melvir had come to pass, it had reached this queen's attention that at one point the city's garrison had tried to surrender peacefully... but that her husband had not seen fit to listen to such 'tricks' and had instead allowed the siege to developed for quite some time.

One of the direct results of such a breach, it was rumored, was the forming-up among Melvir's populace (despite this city's later rechristening to 'Ardis') of bands of citizens who maintained that by refusing to accept offers of truce, the Amirate's legions had been little better than oppressors.

Their noise, however, was not quite sufficient as yet to cause serious disturbances in the Amirate's overall lines of defense.

But if things had looked quite normal on a campaign map, it had been far less so on more personal levels.

That nocturnal attempt by at least three Azamite catspaws had been intended to do away with just young Mustafa, as the new Amir's all-too-obvious heir... but a sudden impulse to 'relieve himself' along with his brother meant that Rashid had also been there--and although both princelings barely managed to come out of it with their lives, that particular incident had had contrasting impacts on each.

For Mustafa, it had instilled in him the feeling that 'backing off means losing'--almost literally. During this northern siege too, Vestra surmised, her firstborn must have fought with second-to-none personal valor to continue to secure what he saw as his objective, like any other 'good' commander would... though at what cost, the mother would rather not try to fathom.

Rashid had, conversely, been terrified since then at the notion of having to fight 'up close', hence his latter choice of archery as a means to hone his skill in arms; one that would not have required too much of close-quarter combat.

Squished between such views of her true siblings, Leia had tried walking what she termed 'a fine thread': she had taken to swordsplay, but also acted as a caregiver more than once. There was a scene, though, that Vestra had once came across, that try as she might, she could not quite forget.

This had taken place a bare week before Mu was supposed to take up his Nasrian posting as wali. Lei had begged for another swordplay session, to which Mu had nodded. Near the end of this session, however, the siblings had had a rift.

'What do you mean, I must discontinue this?' Lei had asked, exasperated but also in tears. "You well know this skill with arms could be of use, Akhi, to protect those we hold dear!'

'It isn't a lady's place to meddle with arms,' the prince had asserted. 'Fewer would ask how fiercely you could perform a side slash than how well you'd cook, for one."

'Well what about Mother, then? She did learn to use weapons of almost any sort--compelled to, in fact, by our late grandmother Lady Ashara. Why wouldn't you fault her?'

'Hers were much harsher times, if those just-before-bedtime tales are to be believed,' came the reply. 'Back then women were actually offered as guarantees to procure something else. Heck, our mother too had been offered so that our father might then obtain enough provisions in resources and men, to in turn get him all the way here and secure ourselves a homeland! Women of those times would have had to be tenfold fiercer, I admit... but you, Leia, you're living in different times. We now stand united, Allah Be Praised; and as such, it might be best to start paying attention to social norms and etiquette--of which princesses like yourself will likely be looked upon and inquired more of.'

Lei had not been one to be put off so meekly. 'I am not your only sister, though; there's Azalea. Why have you not seen fit to remind her of all this?'

'She did not share the same womb as we had, to begin with. Her mother hailed from the line of a ruler who had been worsted. From such an experience, therefore, Mirani may have had different values for her own get--and those values, Lei, whatever they might be, are of little consequence to us. Do keep that well in mind.'

And she had, the present Vestra thought, yet these same princesses seem to have grown closer by the day despite such advice. Oh, dear Mu...

As riveting as such reflections could turn out to be, Vestra realized--as she neared the end of a fork in the corridor she had been walking through--that more realistic proposals ought to be taken into consideration: she had, for one thing, been warned by Mirani that her kids were under possible threats; should she heed that and warn them... and if so, how?

"Ah--Lady Vestra! Over here, please!"

Dastra's yell jolted Urdin's first consort back to the present--just in time to let her witness something very out of place.

Her second son was kneeling on the floor, weeping as he used one hand to clutch his temple, bleeding from a shallow dagger slash--while with the other, Rashid was holding just as persistently on to scraps of something. Dastra, directly beside this contrite figure, was still frantically trying to calm him.

The mother, for her part, did not pause to think; she rushed on to his side as fast as her silken dress would allow without tripping. Once there, and quite heedless of the blood smearing her garment as a result, she held him close in a kneeling embrace.

"Wh-what the..?! RASHID! Son, speak to me!"

Dastra did, swaying uncertainly as he still was from shock. "A... Someone dressed all in black tried to do us in, Vessy; beats me if I know from whence they came. Such agility... Big Bro Ras was carrying his bow, see, and he used it to block the incoming blows. The blackguard seemed to have thought better about finishing us at the sounds of your approach just now, but still-"

"They broke my bow!" the other prince screamed with more fury than pain from beneath his lady mother's bosom, and almost immediately looked up to her with a teary glare. "Same bow that I've gone so far to craft, Mom! Now I... I can no longer fight..."

"Shush, dear," Vestra countered. "You've done enough fight for one day, see? This wound needs tending to."

"This?" Rashid impulsively wiped more blood off his bump, and winced soon after. "A scratch..."

"Yer mom's got the right of this, Bro," Dastra suggested. "Rest. We'll try n' get to find out who that slimy blackguard is... later. Right now, though, ya'll need every ounce of strength ya can muster."

"Easy for you to say!" Rashid stormed back with such spite that Vestra found it prudent to hold him back. "Your weapon's far from broken, dang it, and that's not even self-made!"

Dastra, having seen worse storms, stood his ground.

"Self-made?" He snickered. "Don't be silly. Ya fashioned said bow with that artisan Vaarsan's aid, last I checked... as is proper, but still a mark short of the spirit o' that very term. 'Sides, I'd rather it be that weapon than yer sorry life."

"Come along, dear," Vestra prompted, and in doing so helping to narrowly avoid a second clash.

(Part 3)

Mirani took in the news of the most recent attempt, as related by her son, with cold rage. It was one of the rare moments when she was actually grateful for Azalea's absence, however temporary.

"That scorpion fancies itself strong 'nough to butt heads with a member of my line now, does it not?" she observed. "Even for a warning shot, they did not shirk from spillin' blood... How brazen."

"You... know who that blackguard could be, Mom?"

Mama Viper nodded. "Could say I do, but I thought the likes of ya should have no reason to... 'til now."

"Who?" the kid prompted.

His mother mentioned a name. "Your sister will be aroused to hear it, that much is certain."

The princeling raised an eyebrow with a slight hint of amusement. "She will?"

"How did Ves take it?" Mama Viper prompted again.

"Nettled, at best. Good thing she didn't turn on me."

"Or I'd have turned on her, no buts. Ya hurt?"

"Only my pride. Ras came off worse--lost his weapon too."

Mirani tutted. "Weapons can be reforged afresh; lives cannot. Tamest bet he could hope to get away with, were that whelp to realize."

"Not everyone could be as icily calm as you, Mom."

"Same icy calm's gotten us this far, kid, never forget. Yer sister's findin' that out; ya better, as well. C'mere."

Thus prompted, Dastra cheerfully obliged and sat by his mother's side. Quite unlike his true sister, furthermore, this prince did not--this time--shy away from Mirani caressing his chestnut-brown hair in slow, deliberate strokes. "So... what now?"

"Now," Mama Viper rejoined, "we might get ourselves another ally yet. You did well to pass this on to me, runt, know that. Now you may sit back and watch how the rest of this merry mind game shall come to pass."

"That blackguard had not quite gotten what they must've come for, though." Dastra, in his turn, rested his head from the side near his mother's bosom. "They might wanna strike again."

"None decides to mess with a viper's pit that's not gonna get bitten, darling. Chances are, and as 'dutiful' as she fancies herself to be, that religious wench too must be comin' around to darn-similar insights."

***

"Hold still, now," Leia advised her brother while holding him in place, even as their mother got herself going on stitching the princeling's slash wound, trying to keep it small. Rashid had been given a thick piece of leather, angrily bitten into it, and now was sitting in sullen indignation.

"Such a blackguard in our midst..." The princess huffed. "So similar to what befell Akhi back then. Might it not be a coincidence that another should strike mere days before his supposed return, Mother?"

"There is no such thing as coincidence, Leia," came the firm reply. "Your second brother had been destined to survive, as had the first, Allah Be Praised. As heartwarming as it is, though, steps must be taken to prevent similar such occurrences."

"That much I know. Should we not... bring this to Father's attention, then?"

"I'd rather not, at this point," Vestra replied after some thought. "Wouldn't want to muddy his judgment with regards to who the proper vazir should be, will you?" She patted her son's head. "There goes, Ras, dear. Get some rest now."

Rashid took the saliva-smeared leather off his mouth, flinging it away. "Appreciated, Mom."

"Then..." Leia cut in, "how do you suppose you might prevent more of this?"

"I suppose," this queen rejoined, gazing at her children one after another, "we shall have to see if Mirani is as good as her word."

"Mirani?" Rashid protested. "The very woman you've been telling us to be wary of?"

"Believe it or not, dears, this kind of problem is well within her domains... plus, it's past time that we should consider ourselves more like a bigger family, wouldn't you say? That involves forgiving past ills and forming new expectations."

"But Mom-!"

"I have been so selfish in the deep-rooted belief that our religion's teachings and values stand supreme to those outside its reach, children," Vestra admitted as she rose, "so much so, that I have for so long neglected to comprehend that the Straight Path has also been envisaged to be a Rahmatan lil Alameen--Divine Blessing to the Realms. In prosperity we are enjoined to remain unassuming; in adversity, persevering. Mira and her lot are never our enemies to begin with, now I realize--they're friends who like wearing black. You and them have the same father, for that matter, so why not try and grow closer to them for our part?"

"Zalea has begun to take such moves," Lei remarked. "I wish her well."

"We all do, Sis," Rashid rejoined. "Akhi is coming home; this kind of unity might well be what he's been yearning to see out there. If we can really pull this off," he shrugged, "so much the better for all. Bow's still broken, though..."

Leia put a gentle hand on the boy's clenched one. "We'll mend it together, little brother... but in the meantime, do start learning to master your fears of closer encounters. That's about the only way for you to not be rendered so defenseless in the future. Take a couple lessons from Dastra, will you."