The Goddess of Death and Her Empress

Gallae appeared in Lena's room, and smiled down at the child. She levitated until she could stand on the bed, sat down cross legged, and gently touched her cheek.

"If I didn't freeze time, little one, you would die being exposed to me like this. My little seedling." She put her lips near Lena's ear.

"Kyrie is your future, Lena. Live, learn, and grow." She put her hand on Lena's middle, and smiled a bit. "Your seed is growing nicely. Just a sprout. Some day, maybe you'll be able to help Kyrie evolve too." Gallae, called the planet of calamity by ignorant sky watchers, was a completely unknown entity in the known pantheon of gods and goddesses. She disappeared and allowed time to resume.

As soon as Gallae disappeared, Rachael blinked and shivered.

"Hannah, did you feel something?" Rachael asked her.

"Yes, but no at the same time. I know it sounds weird, but it almost felt like the goddess, but infinitely more powerful." Hannah said, and shivered. "Maybe it was Kyrie's mother, Imera. She did just go visit."

"Maybe. I hope nothing is wrong." Both of Kyrie's servants failed to see the soft white light slowly dim in within the room. If Lena had pushed back the blanket, that dim light would have looked like a star in the night sky but much brighter as it was so close. The only reason for it to dim was that the light was absorbed by the child in the bed.

No one knew that Gallae was the reason for that light, and also the reason Lena even existed. Who was Gallae?

Like her epithets described her, the planet of calamity, the dawn of disaster, and the doom of the universe itself, these were only the words of people far too weak to understand who she really was.

Represented by a planet close to the sun, a planet barren of life, yet cloaked in destructive power, Gallae protected Imera from the worst of the sun's rays. Gallae also deflected large celestial bodies that strayed too close to the living planet, and watched over the galaxy in a quiet vigil.

Waiting for something foolish enough to try and harm her beloved creation, Imera.

* * *

"Kyrie! You came!" Lena said excitedly. Kyrie smiled gently at the eight year old girl, and sat on her bed. Lena sat beside her, and looked up at her excitedly.

"I never miss a year, little one." Kyrie said with a soft smile. Lena grinned. "How have your studies been going?"

"Good! Dad says I have a mind for business, and can help him at the shop now!" She said happily. "Mom and dad work so hard to make coin so we can live, but the king is getting a bit greedy." She said sadly.

"Oh?" Kyrie said. Rachael felt a shiver.

"He keeps demanding more taxes, and more precious items from dad! It's getting so bad that he can barely pay the rent on the shop. Dad is thinking of moving south, out of the kingdom, but the last merchant who tried was executed as a spy." Lena said sadly.

"Then you'll need to be careful, and cautious. Tell your father to keep a second set of account books, and skim a little off the inventories with each delivery. The stuff he skims is the stuff he keeps. When the king demands more, show the books that are altered, that way if he keeps pressuring for more, sell all the inventory, pay what is not skimmed, and close the shop. When you're not a merchant any longer, quietly leave." Lena thought for several minutes, and slowly nodded.

"It's a plan that could succeed as long as people don't talk, and the amounts are small enough not to be noticed." Lena said.

"It's also a fool on the throne, Lena." Kyrie said. "Does he plan to drain your entire livelihood away so that you can not do business? Very short sighted." She smiled and turned towards her.

"Now, where is my hug?" Lena slid into her embrace, and felt the familiar comfortable warmth on her ear. As she went to sleep, she heard a soft voice inside her mind.

'Endure as long as you can, little one. You are still so young, with so much life ahead of you.' Kyrie held the girl carefully while she sent a stream of red energy into her body.

'When you've lived, then I will take you home.'

* * *

Lena's parents were extremely careful. They followed her advice, and skimmed a little off the top of each shipment, and small silvers off each sale.

It didn't amount to much on each sale, as it was small enough to go unnoticed.  Many, if not all the merchants and the nobility were getting angrier and angrier under the yoke of such a greedy monarch.

He was such a fool that he actually believed his position was guaranteed by the gods, and he could do whatever he wanted just because he was the king. The foolish king refused to listen to counsel, and even went so far as to reduce the living wages of the soldiers that protected the palace, and the capital.

An army of barbarians from the north descended upon the capital city, while Lena's family fled to the south in the chaos.

Half the city had emptied when the first battle started at the northern gate.

* * *

"Goddess, her family is gone." Lydia reported to the one on the throne.

"Is she still being watched over?" Kyrie asked.

"Closely. A shadow sits on their carriage roof, while the guardians run along side, unseen by the occupants. Rachel runs ahead, holding the reins of the horses so the carriage is guided the entire way." Lydia said quietly.

Kyrie waved a hand and a nearby window flared to life.

* * *

"Don't be scared, Lena." Her mother said. "This was our chance to leave." Her father nodded.

"On your advice, we've managed to retain some of our wealth, and it is just enough to start over in one of the southern cities." He said, and though his words were sternly spoken, his eyes held a trace of a smile.

Lena nodded, but Kyrie could see the girl move her mouth, but not speak. She smiled as she read the words on her lips.

"You're welcome, little one."