The Butterfly Effect

“…Then I gathered the ashes and we found the next clue,” Lydia finished. She showed Andrew the vial of phoenix ashes and gestured to the rest of the stuff they came back with.

He gave everything a thoughtful glance before saying, “Good job, all four of you. Where are you going next?”

“We’ve got to head to Palus.”

“The mountains, eh? You know I’ve always been partial to them, with Mount Bainly and everything. I’d say it’s pretty good timing, too. It shouldn’t be as cold now that it’s summer. With any hope and luck you won't run into any problems at all.”

Diana, however, was in earshot of his comment and decided to add, “With any hope and luck you’re stuck there for a little while. You weren’t gone long enough the first time, maybe we’ll finally have some peace and quiet without you.”

Elena, also nearby, hissed, “Mom…”

“Come on, dear, you know you don’t mean it,” Andrew sighed.

“Do I? I thought I was being rather honest.” Diana then walked away before anyone else could say anything against her.

Andrew looked at Lydia and said, “Don’t let that get to you. She’s been grumpier than usual today.”

“It’s nothing different from the past twenty-three years,” she mumbled. “And it’s not going to get any better. I’ve learned to live with it… kinda.” She noticed the twins coming into the room then leaving again and, even quieter, added, “Maybe one day she’d leave them alone, too…”

…

They’d just gotten there and spent a single night in a Palus village when they woke up to an unfortunate sight.

“Who decided that there should be blizzards in the middle of freaking summer?” Lydia moaned, staring out the window as if her dismay might melt all the snow away. “I hate mountains. It’s always cold and snowing…”

None of the boys seemed nearly as upset as she did. Tim even thoughtfully reminded her, “At least we can afford some delays.”

“I know, but…” She sighed. “The more time we spend here the less time we have for everything else.”

He then took the opportunity to add, “I told you we should’ve brought the snow-melter.”

“And then we would’ve set half the rest of the town on fire,” she pointed out. “You’re not bringing that thing anywhere until you figure out how to not destroy everything else around it.”

“It isn’t so bad,” Henry remarked, mostly ignoring them. “It looks like everyone else is trying to make the best of it.”

She turned around to see that the rest of the inn’s visitors had gathered in the main room. A small group had pressured one of their members to step up to the piano, soon filling the room with a peppy tune; it seemed that friends and strangers alike took to dancing with each other, doing what they could to bide the time. Henry, if not just caught up in the moment, dragged his brothers along to join them. She still watched, though, observing all of the crowd before she noticed a rather anxious-looking pair.

Lydia walked over to them. At the very least, maybe she could get them to relax enough to enjoy the moment. “The snow’s keeping everyone from doing what they’re here for, huh?”

The man absently nodded and said, “Yes…” The girl beside him hardly seemed to acknowledge her.

“Since we’re all here, there’s no point in leaving without learning something new.” Lydia held her hand out. “I’m Lydia.”

“Leon,” the man said slowly as he shook her hand. “This is my niece, Nadia. You’ll have to excuse her, it’s been a while since we’ve been in Palus and we left on… less than favorable terms.” Nadia only really stared at her, but her eyes did eventually wander to the others dancing.

“Do you want to join them? Look, those three are my sons Tim, Henry, and Tavin.” Lydia pointed them out. “I swear they’re nice and they won’t mind if you’d like to join them.”

Leon gently nudged Nadia. “It’ll be fine; none of them are here. I’ll be right here if you need me.” Then, slowly, she nodded and went to join the boys. Leon turned his attention to Lydia when he asked, “You’re a Stone, aren’t you?”

With a confident laugh, she replied, “Do you know of any other Lydias with three sons, one of them with the same name as the prince?”

“Well, honestly, I thought you only had one…” he mumbled. “I suppose I must’ve been wrong, though. I grew up around these mountains so I’m not too familiar with the Mikkel territory nobles. The prince was the only one that would be important to us all the way up here.” He shook his head. “Anyway, what brings the three of you here?”

“We’re trying to find a river that doesn’t flow into the Lake. We know where it is but, well, then we all got snowed in and here we are.” She shrugged. “What about the two of you?”

He gave a nervous glance around the room and gave his story cautiously. “We’re both from Palus but left last year after some… family problems. Neither of us really want to be back but Mx. Enebish encouraged us to return to sort through some more things with Nadia’s parents.”

“Enebish… they’re one of Lady Enuolare’s kids, aren’t they?” The name rang a bell, at least… even if she was almost certain it wasn’t since they were from a noble house.

“Mhm.”

“When did you meet them?”

“Shortly before we moved. Some things happened that they were able to help with, including letting me take custody of Nadia,” he sighed. “I’d rather keep her as far away from her parents as possible, but she didn’t want to be alone and Mx. Enebish promised to watch over her in case things get messy. Honestly the only reason I think she’s been so willing to go is to see them again…”

It took her a moment to figure out what to say before, finally, deciding on, “Well, good luck. Family drama always sucks.”

“Perhaps talking with Mx. Enebish won’t be the only good thing to come out of this,” he mused. She followed his gaze to see the four kids getting along well; Nadia’s previously worried expression turned into a carefree smile. “I think that’s the most I’ve seen her smile in a while.”

“Maybe all she needed was someone a little closer to her age,” Lydia remarked, “and people who have no idea who she is.”

He observed them for a little while longer. “Your boys all seem rather close to each other, too. But those two both look older than Prince Tavin.”

“There’s eight years between them. Honestly I’m not even sure how it happened and I was there for all of it. I think… part of it is just because they had each other more than anyone else. Tim and Henry weren’t around their older relatives—by then most of my cousins were scattered across Seothia. They were six when my sister started having kids and even then my mom liked pointing out the stuff that her kids had that the twins didn’t. Then Tavin’s still got prince stuff to do. He knows the estate’s a kinda-quiet place he can go if he needs some time away from the rest of it. It probably doesn’t hurt that Tim and Henry have gotten really good at scaring Natheniel off so he doesn’t bug Tavin.”

“I hope that Nadia will be able to have someone like that one day… It’s just the two of us and the cat she insisted on adopting. She’s hardly ever been around kids her age and it didn’t get any better after we moved. There’s… a fair bit of rumors regarding what happened to her. Not many of the kids seem to want or are allowed to interact with her, and the few that do reminds her of what she left.”

“I don’t suppose you happened to move anywhere near Lelishara?”

“It’s actually only a couple hours away from the capital.”

“The Stone Estate isn’t far, either,” Lydia pointed out with a grin. “Nadia’s welcome anytime if she wants to come. Even if Tavin’s not there, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind a break.” After all, it looked like she got along with him the best.

Leon just stared before giving a grateful smile. “Thank you. I think Nadia will be glad to hear the offer. And… good luck on whatever you’re here to do. I don’t exactly understand how you’ve found a river that doesn’t flow into the Lake, but it’s probably safe to assume it’s not a simple stroll.”

She shrugged. “It might be, but we won’t really know until then. I don't think it's going to be any worse than what it sounds like the two of you are doing. Take care of yourselves and, speaking as a noble, don’t be afraid to use your connections to the higher ups.”

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind but I’m afraid who we’ll be seeing doesn't exactly care for Lady Enuolare or the king…”