Mynara

"I am Mynara Peltier, daughter of Ygritte Green." The woman looked quite similar to the vibrant Ygritte, though there were differences in the mouth and facial structure, hints of her father shining through. "I am a member of the ruling council of Siren, the capital of Aquinon. Ten years ago, Aquinon underwent a coup d'etat. My uncles and their families and their council were attacked and executed by a militant group of rebels who insisted the country would be better with democracy, rather than the 'tyrannical rulers' to whom we were subjected."

The image shimmered, revealing a decade-younger version of the woman with Ygritte's blonde hair, though less of the hardness of her mother. "I came to Siren from the capital of Kevran at age twenty, the year 3023. I caused something of a scandal. I was supposed to become an intern and aide for my uncles and the council. Instead, I ran off with a kitchen employee in my uncle's household, thinking myself to be in love. As it turns out, I had been seduced because of my close relationship with the leaders of Aquinon."

"I found myself unwillingly drawn into the rebel group that would eventually overthrow my uncles and execute them. I had to act as though I agreed with them, and hated my family, otherwise I, too, would have faced execution. I spent the two years leading up to the coup in a seedy part of Siren City, so close to my family and yet unable to go to them. I was under surveillance, and unable to contact my family at any point from my disappearance up to the day the coup occurred."

"The coup took place in late autumn of 3025, and the rebel faction established their government shortly thereafter. A very wealthy backer of the rebel group had, effectively, bought off Aquinon's high-ranking generals and army corps. During the confusion, I managed to take advantage of the communication waves and contact my mother back in Kevran. She agreed not to raise Kevran's armies, but instead enlisted me as a spy and a secret agent, behind enemy lines. There were a lot of angry words about my up and running away with some idiot no one knew, but that was less important in the grand scheme of things."

"I kept my captors convinced of my unerring belief in their cause, all the while secretly working to learn the feelings of the people of Siren. In truth, my uncles, and the presidency in general, had been an effective form of leadership for the city and for the country as a whole. There were, as there always are, terrible leaders in the past, but the death of my uncles had been both a shock and a painful loss for many citizens, who had appreciated and celebrated my family's name."

"As a result, many were actively working against the new leadership, and thus my job became infinitely easier." The woman grinned, shrugging slightly.

"Over the course of three years, I helped establish several loyalist groups, and also discovered my cousin, the heir to the presidency, had survived. We started the warfare in the streets of Siren herself. Rebels clashed against loyalists, and the rebels were quickly overwhelmed. I led the charge in several of these clashes, masked in a bodysuit that hid my identity so that I could continue to gather information from inside the rebel camp. The day for reclamation was coming, though, and soon I would no longer need to hide."

"For another year, I worked as a spy in the rebel camp. By then, the rebels knew there was a mole in their organization, and eyes were beginning to turn toward me, only because I shared blood with the deceased rulers." A small laugh escaped Mynara. "I was outed in another street brawl. My helmet was knocked off, and I encountered the very man who had seduced me from my family so many years before. He fled before I could stop him, but I did not resume my spy activities after that."

"Another year passed, and in 3030, the restoration finally happened. While we had been skirmishing in the streets for several years, we had finally regained the loyalty of Aquinon's army. The common belief is that the soldiers had been quitting in droves to join the loyalists, and the rebel money paying off the generals had dried up. Whatever the reason, the rebel army was overthrown. On October 4th, 3030, my cousin Ewan Green retook the presidency. He assigned me to the council, and we have since reestablished the government of Aquinon, and have restored the country, and the city, to former glory."

The little girl bit her bottom lip, then glanced over at the tour guide again, and then back at the hologram as it shut off. "So...she wasn't the president?"

The tour guide smiled. "No. But she didn't have to be to make a huge difference in the way Siren, and Aquinon, were ruled."

The girl considered this for a moment, fidgeting for a bit before she gave a slight nod. "So she fought in street wars and spied on her enemies...and helped reestablish the presidency..." She trailed off thoughtfully, then giggled. "I wonder if her mother, Ygritte, gave her training in how to be awesome."

The tour guide laughed out loud at the thought, shaking his head. "I wouldn't doubt it."

The little girl jumped to her feet and headed toward the fourth hologram cell the tour guide had shown her. He trailed behind her, knowing by this point that he shouldn't bother talking once she got settled in front of the image.

"My name is Laoghaire MacKenzie..."

Author's Note: This story is a retelling of the Princess Mayblossom. I made, as with the other stories, a lot of changes in my retelling. The original story is sort of like a Sleeping Beauty story, with a baby girl blessed by fairies, but the wicked fairy who wasn't invited to the party curses her. Instead of being cursed to death/sleep, however, Mayblossom is forced to stay hidden away in a tower for the first twenty years of her life. She leaves her tower four days early, and of course terrible things happen as a result. She runs away with the ambassador of a foreign country, who is supposed to take her back to his country so she can marry the king. When she runs away, she discovers that the ambassador whom she thinks herself so deeply in love with is actually cruel, and now that they are away from the comforts of society, he doesn't want much to do with her. Eventually, the ambassador is killed in trying to kill Mayblossom, and she is rescued and goes on to marry her king and live happily ever after.

This retelling, as I said, is vastly different from that story. I did include the "scandal" of Mynara running away with an employee in the president's household, and instead of the cruelty that Mayblossom faced at the hands of her beloved, Mynara finds herself trapped by a rebel group and forced to play along unless she wants to lose her own life. The trials and tribulations that Mayblossom faces in the original story are represented in this retelling by Mynara's job as a spy and secret agent, and in her rallying of the loyalists to fight in the streets for their cause. In the end, she does live "happily ever after" in her own way. This story is bringing the focus of diplomatic activities back to the city of Siren itself, instead of focusing on the larger scale conflicts between Aquinon and Kevran.

Story Title: The Princess Mayblossom

Book Title: The Red Fairy Book

Book Author: Andrew Lang

Year Published: 1890

Web Source: Sacred Texts

Images:

Cyberpunk Girl, Web Source: Beonarri's Deviant Art