Royal Reboot: Level up, Your Majesty!

Melissa ordered a bottle of sweet, sparkling Moscato rosé. She had a sweet tooth and the self-control of a… of a…

While Natalia searched for the right metaphor, Melissa watched the pale pink fizz climb her flute and took a long sip. "You're judging me, Red. Not so silently."

"I did not."

"Uh huh." The doctor took another sip. Anyway, Melissa absolutely had no self-control, okay? Most of her drink choices were the kind that helped dentists build holiday homes.

Worse, Natalia was no better. It took all of her willpower to say no to desserts, which she repeatedly did right before ordering a tasting platter.

Or two.
For two.

Moving on. Why hadn't they ordered any dessert tonight?

Melissa went on with her story from back when she was a resident doctor. The warm glow of the firelight softened her features and painted her eyes a brighter blue. Red suited her, Natalia thought, then froze.

The thought snapped her out of staring.

Luckily, Melissa didn't notice. "You should have seen the nurse's face when she realised the resident she'd been bullying for months was the hospital director's daughter," she snickered, already a little pink.

"How did she not know?" Natalia wrapped her hands round her hot chocolate. Steam fogged her crimson side fringe. She didn't drink with Melissa in public. Still officially a minor.

"I used my mother's maiden name. Didn't want any special treatment."

That was one of the admirable things about Melissa. She put effort into hating nepotism. Even as a genius with highly Gifted genes, she never truly relaxed. Seeing her at ease now, even a little, was actually quite nice.

"So… justice?" Natalia asked, hopeful.

Melissa swirled the glass. "HR did the paperwork."

"Justice," Natalia decided, and Melissa's smile softened.

"Imagine if I were powerless."

"The nurse would still have been fired."

"No, not that." Melissa waved a hand. "The nurse is a minor inconvenience. Learning experience, character growth, blah blah. Or so people who annoy me keep saying."

"Your parents."

"My parents. Anyway, if I were powerless, I might not even be a resident staring down a simple bully," Melissa said, frowning at her bubbles. "I might end up being one of his people."

Politics wasn't her thing, but the weird dreams had pushed Natalia into late-night rabbit holes of doomscrolling. "The Van Nassaus?"

Melissa glanced at the lovey-dovey couples tangled up on the circular lounge across the firepit. "They are late," she muttered. "Probably taking a pit stop making out."

"What? Who?"

"Never mind. Yes, them. The Van Nassaus collect highly Gifted people. Lots of organisations do, so that part isn't strange."

"Then what is?" Natalia practically inhaled the hot chocolate and ignored Melissa's judgy smirk. Chocolate was Natalia's favourite, all right? And this restaurant made a decent cup.

"Kingdoms rise and fall, Red. Except one. Too neat, isn't it? No one really knows why. But there's a rumour among the Elite that Ares likes to collect… outliers."

"Why the sudden outlier talk?"

Melissa lifted her chin and curled her fingers. "This weather. Legends say it's a boundary breaker." She poured a measure and offered it across. "Anyway, try?"

Natalia was still stuck on boundaries and took the glass without thinking and knocked it back in one ill-advised go.

The Moscato hit like a car.

"What the hell, Mel?" She lowered her voice. "I am not allowed to drink in public."

"We're celebrating." Melissa propped her chin on her palm and raised her own glass.

"Celebrating wha—"

"Mind if we join you?" A familiar, amused voice arrived with the cold and the smell of lavender and something more complex.

Eydis stood there in a long black coat that turned heads without trying. Beside her, Astra wore a deep blue, elegant silk jacket which was a touch too summery for winter. Even the resort's luxury looked suddenly ordinary in their company.

"Ah… yes, I mean, no." Natalia scooted over. The lounge was starting to gather a crowd now that the restaurant had closed. People had already been sneaking looks because Melissa was famous enough to generate whispers. Now there were no whispers.

There was ogling.

Eydis smirked, though her eyes showed she disliked the attention. She stepped closer, dipped her head, and murmured to Natalia, "I think there's a way we can have some privacy. Will you help us?"

Natalia met Eydis's expectant amber gaze, mind racing.

Her? Of all people? People gathered here for warmth, right? So what if she pulled the ambient heat away and kept it in a small pocket around their corner?

With that thought she carried on. The air within their circle stayed warm. Beyond it, the far corners abruptly cooled. Breath smoked. Couples began to shiver and sneeze, then rose to move indoors.

But there was always someone who liked trouble.

"Good grief, it's freezing all of a sudden," a woman near the edge of Natalia's pocket slurred, giving her beer bottle a lazy swirl. Her smirk widened as she eyed Astra. "Could use a bit of your heat, babe. Come squeeze in."

"Tempting." Eydis leaned in until her hair tickled Astra's cheek. "What do you think, babe?"

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Astra slid a hand from the small of Eydis's back up to her neck, fingers settling lightly at the base of her throat. Everyone froze, including Eydis.

"I don't share," she said curtly, eyes still on Eydis. "Try the bar."

"But the bar is—"

"Across the lake," Astra said, finally meeting the woman's gaze before flicking an icy look past her shoulder. "Would you like some assistance?"

The temperature seemed to drop even further. The woman blanched, shivered, then quickly left, dragging her friends with her.

"Babe?" Astra asked Eydis, astonishment and amusement tugging faintly at her mouth.

"I only borrowed it," Eydis said, amber eyes laughing.

"Do it again sometime." Astra leaned to Eydis's ear and, forgetting Melissa and Natalia with suspicious convenience, whispered, "I like it when you get possessive, babe."

Eydis blinked, her smug charm evaporated immediately. She turned and murmured something that made Astra's lashes flutter.

Natalia's mouth dropped. "I liked it better when you both talked about politics."

Melissa face-planted into her hands. "Not only are you late, but also PDA, and also hello, how are you, nice to see you. Did you forget we exist?"

"Late?" Natalia asked.

Eydis tilted her head back to them. "My apologies. We were caught up."

"I knew it," Melissa grumbled.

"No. I don't think you do." Astra set down a beautifully decorated pink box on the sofa and lifted the lid. A birthday cake waited inside, glossy with chocolate. On top sat an assortment of truffles and citrus slices.

"Astra told me eighteen is an important milestone, and that you might enjoy something sweet," Eydis said. "Something chocolatey."

"Eighteen?" Natalia repeated, then checked out her phone. "Oh…"

Melissa leaned across, blue hair slipping over Natalia's shoulder, and pressed a candle shaped like the number eighteen into the surface. "Eighteen years and twenty minutes, actually."

Natalia's face heated at the closeness. Her heart did something similar for other reasons. She looked at Astra. "How do you know I like chocolate?"

Astra's eyes flicked upward, almost sheepish.

Natalia couldn't help but grin. Maybe it was the Moscato talking, but she decided to play with fire. "Astra. How do you know?"

Astra looked conflicted. "I observe people, sometimes."

"Really?" Natalia's eyebrows rose. Astra, observing her?

Eydis slid her hands to Astra's shoulders, smile bright and mischievous. "Go on. Tell her."

Astra sighed like honesty was a tiny thorn. "Your sweet tooth concerned me, Natalia, so I noticed."

Melissa puffed a laugh. Astra angled a look. "Yours too."

Melissa's wounded pout was so performative that Natalia collapsed into giggles. She laughed until her eyes stung and until her breath hiccuped.

"Oh wow. Thank you. I… I don't know what to say." Her face stayed rebelliously warm. Possibly the alcohol. Possibly everything.

"Care to light your own candle, Natalia?" Melissa asked.

The dream from earlier should have spoiled this. But when Natalia looked from Astra to Eydis to Melissa, she thought that even if the strange thing happened again, it would be all right.

Because she wasn't standing there all by herself.

She exhaled slowly, let the warmth gather in her palm, and touched it to the wick.

Golden light flowered. Her vision blurred, the firelight or something else. She had never used her power on anything this ordinary, and yet in this small circle, ordinary felt like a gift.

Companions. Friends. The words rested in her chest and stayed and misted her vision once again.

Melissa's hand found hers and squeezed. "Happy birthday, crybaby."

Eydis sat down next to her. "Crybaby? Accurate. My shirt agrees."

Astra's sigh turned affectionate. "And out of everything, that is your focus."

Natalia laughed or cried, she wasn't sure which. For a moment, everything felt too much and she could hardly breathe.

Melissa's smile gentled. "Make a wish."

Natalia did. She closed her eyes and blew the candle out. The scent of wax and chocolate lingered in the air.

The four of them chatted in private, now that the other guests had already left. When Natalia looked up at the dark sky, pricked with stars, she siphoned the firepit's glow away and let the starlight dominate instead.

When the night deepened and even the lights across town gave up, Natalia scraped up the last crumbs of the cake, very pointedly not meeting Astra's discreetly horrified stare.

"I mean, it's rude not to finish a gift, you know," she said defensively through a mouthful.

"I wasn't saying anything," Astra replied mildly, though her eyes lingered on the shiny silver cake board.

"You were thinking it."

"Totally," Melissa agreed.

Astra sighed again. "Only that I should've bought a bigger one."

Eydis grinned, watching their exchange with soft eyes. When her gaze caught the faint halo of mist circling them where warm air met cold, she said, "You've been keeping the warmth for us for some time. Are you tired from holding it?"

Tired? Natalia felt completely fine. One thing she had begun to notice was that her mana never seemed to run out.

She shook her head. Melissa's expression had turned thoughtful. Natalia was about to say more when something wet touched her skin.

A single pale flake spun down, then another.

"Snowfall," Natalia gasped.

"Good timing," Melissa breathed out, shoulders easing. "Just… as expected."

"Boundary-breaker luck." Eydis's voice had gone low and strange.

"You heard our conversation?" Melissa asked.

Eydis lifted a shoulder, offering nothing more.

Natalia stepped out of the warm circle and held out a hand, marvelling at the snow and the way the flakes drifted like pale flowers, each different from the next.

When she turned back, Eydis was still seated, her elbow resting on the back cushion, her cheek leaning against her knuckles. It was not wonder that curved her mouth.

The smile was enigmatic, as if the falling snow were performing for her.

In the heights of Aoraki, less than an hour by air from Queenstown, the weather shifted violently. Snow streaked sideways in a blinding storm.

A tall woman in dark gear stood on the ridge beside a lanky, middle-aged man with a white buzz cut. Two more men waited behind them, both ordinary-looking, fitting for spotters meant to blend in. They shivered, then forced themselves upright.

Ngū and the buzz-cut man, Huka, however, remained unaffected. Her braids lay neat down her back, untouched by the gusts that scoured the slope and by the rotor wash spinning overhead. She lifted her face and let flakes settle on her skin.

"Aoraki watches us, protects us like an ancestor. And yet here we are, doing this," she said quietly. "Trampling on his sacred body."

Snow spiralled along Huka's fingers. "We all know what happens if we stop."

The helicopter wobbled high above before skilfully toeing in on the crest. A tall, tanned man climbed out.

"Evening, sir," the spotters called.

"Is Orion not with you, Taika?" Ngū asked without turning.

Taika came to a stop beside Ngū and Huka, leaving no footprints behind him. "She is en route from LA. Do we need her? The three of us can handle this."

Ngū's gaze sharpened. "Are you afraid of her?"

"She's… intense."

"Tell me if you think it is a problem." She took out her phone and pinched the screen wider. The footage showed a redhead sitting on the snow between two other women. A shallow cut on her leg sealed shut in the span of a blink.

Taika stared at the blue-haired woman. "That's Doctor Melissa Le Bleu. Isn't that expected of her?"

"Between the doc and me, who is stronger?" Ngū asked.

"Well, she isn't one of us Children, but that's because she's untouchable, not because she—"

"Children?" Ngū scoffed. Her brown eyes bleached white. She lifted her hand. The wind died at once. The helicopter's rotor wash steadied. Snow within a wide circle lost its drift and fell straight down.

"What the hell?" Huka snarled and flexed his fingers. The storm leaned toward him. Ngū's eyes brightened, and Huka coughed blood. His pull on the blizzard buckled as if a hand had closed over his mouth.

Outside the stillness the storm swelled, the pressure field adjusting. Far across the range, more than a hundred kilometres away, a summit instantly vanished under fresh white, as if snow had been lifted from one place and laid upon another.

"Too noisy," she said softly to Taika. "I could not hear you. What did you say?"

Taika reached for his Gift and found only stillness. He clenched his jaw. Point taken. "You are stronger, e rangatira."

"The flow must never be stopped," Huka snarled at Ngū.

"I know what it keeps asleep, e hoa. A brief pause will cause no harm. With our special guests here, it's better to let the weather seem natural, isn't it?" A dull thump answered her and travelled through the snowpack.

Ngū sighed. Her eyes darkened back to brown. The pull returned to Huka's hands.

Taika raised his voice over the returning gusts. "Why do we need to be discreet around them?"

"See this." She zoomed the clip until a silver-haired woman whose beauty was frankly, otherworldly, filled the screen. Taika let out a low whistle before he could stop himself.

Ngū's glare shut him up. She played the clip. For a heartbeat the screen flashed gold.

Taika's eyebrows rose. "Did you activate your power?"

"I did. And still…" Ngū growled. "Find everything you can about her. Orion will ask first, and you know what happens when you don't have answers."

"Understood." Taika's voice faded as he did, vanishing into the blizzard.