“Fine, Mila, but this is the only story I will tell you tonight,” the father said with a smile, “Five hundred years ago, before the empire even existed, this planet was called Monde. It was filled with humans who were just beginning to learn about the wonders of space.”
“So there were no spaceships?” Mila interjected, her wide eyes looking to her father.
“There were, but they couldn’t go as far,” Varin explained, “Anyways,
people were just beginning to explore space, and expeditions would
be made to learn all that they could about the star system. One day,
two people were aboard a research vessel when they discovered a
tiny capsule floating in the middle of space. They collected it and
brought it back to the planet.”
“Why did they do that?” the child questioned.
“Well, little Varina, they saw that there were unknown letters written on it that they couldn’t identify. They knew that it was special,” the father continued.
“Does that mean that it came from aliens, Papa?” Mila interrogated, trying to answer every question she had about the story.
“Probably, they could never trace exactly where the capsule was from or how it got there, but on it read ‘ut Systema Stella Nova,
ex curam Terram.’”
“Did they know what it said?” the girl asked.
Varin spoke, “No, not until much later. When they ended the expedition, they brought the pod to their council. They opened it, and were shocked with what they saw. There was a single book, filled with text and artwork and photographs depicting this perfect world- alabaster buildings, beautiful people, marble sculptures. It was a culture so pure, so flawless. Slowly, the council decoded the language
of these distant people.”
“What happened when they solved the language?” Mila softly asked, her voice growing more tired.
“They decided the book’s contents were so beautiful that they would base their own culture after it, and with years and years of work, the planet became Stella Nova Prime, and the council eased into reforming the government. Imperator Priamus was elected as Emperor, and-” Varin stopped as he realized his daughter was asleep. Rising from his spot beside his daughter's bed, he pressed a panel on the wall of her room, dimming the lights to a dark navy glow.
“Bonum Noxem, mea dulce filia,” he whispered, leaving the room. As he left, he grabbed a small token from his pocket, eyeing the symbol of the laurel-wrapped crest. ‘Ut Imperia Stella Nova’ it read in small silver letters; for the Stella Nova Empire.