"Because," princess Wahida said to her assistant, "It's my eighteenth birthday and I don't want to be stuck in some dowdy church ceremony.  I'm the oldest princess so my word should be law!"  At least Wahida was the oldest princess that she knew of.  She had a younger sister, a few years younger than Wahida, that she'd met once or twice.  It was odd, they didn't allow the sisters to speak with each other for some reason.  And only last year Wahida had found out that her mother, the eternal queen Kuraga the Magi, she of limitless power, had another daughter a few years ago.  It made Wahida wonder if there were other princesses beside her.  Wahida had known about the oldest princess, Miraka, but that bitch had vanished almost five years ago, making Wahida the princess of note.<br/><br/>"Your word is law," the servant said with head bowed till her chin touched her chest, "except when your mother's dictates say otherwise."  The dowdy maid actually shivered when mentioning Wahida's mother, everyone was so terrified of her for some reason.  Wahida never understood that, certainly her mother was powerful, and cold, but so what?  But the maid was right, there was no such thing as defying Queen Kuraga.  So Wahida put on the dress and followed the maid to the temple.  There the preists made a big deal about her being a full woman now and the good of her sacrifices for the good of the country and blah blah blah blah.<br/><br/>Wahida tuned them out but followed them through the temple.  Her eyebrows rose as they went into the catacombs, and she was outright surprised as they went deeper, into dusty corridors so far beneath the temple that Wahida thought they might be trying to dig into the fairy world.  Finally they opened into a grand chamber.  There several priests chanted around a stone archway.  But even more confusing, was her mother.  Reclining on a stone altar and completely naked.  Her mother's body flawless, and looking not much older than Wahida's herself seemed to almost shine in the pale light of the torches.   But what was going on exactly?<br/><br/>