Roses, Violets
Summary: Mitsuhide is being pursued. Kiki is amused. Zen, not so much. OneShot- The Second Prince and his aides, the summer before. Complete in five parts.
Warning: -
Set: Story-unrelated.
Disclaimer: Standards apply.
A/N: Status (three months after reading ch. 92): still crying.
i. White Lilies
It is summer.
The violet wisteria is climbing over every window sill and every pillar of the castle. The heat is only somewhat mellowed by the cool breeze the winds carry up from the harbor; it rustles the flags and banners adorned with Clarines' coat of arms and makes the tapestries with the Wistalia's sigils flutter. It is a hot summer, sweltering and humid. Occasional relief comes in form of abrupt thunder storms and lightning flashing across the sky; already, two small fishing fleets were caught by surprise but made it home just so. It is the summer of your eighteenth year, just so, and you are irritable and itchy within the confines of the castle, restless and weary with something you cannot name and do not want to attempt to. Also, restless with the desperate need to hide just that. Because these stupid knights of yours – one of them, especially – is too kind and too naïve and too annoying and way too perceptive.
"Zen."
At the whispered reminder, you throw the man who is standing two steps behind you a furious glance, but you do close your mouth.
In a long row before you – that would, actually, be before your royal brother, Prince Izana, crown prince of Clarines, but he is absent and you are the only one left – stands the newest batch of knights, freshly graduated. They hail from all parts of the country: there is the dark green color of the Order of Celeg, and the muted blue of the Knights of Firidan. It mingles with the striped white-and-black of the Order of the Cross, mixes with the red of the Gressidarians. They are kneeling, the future knights, while the Head of the Council of Lords reads off the scroll; welcoming them to the castle and into Clarines' knighthood and preparing them to take their oath.
Your eyes are fixed on someone you have just spied in the long row of kneeling knights-to-be, and you do not dare move in fear that it might disappear. That it might be a fata morgana, short-lived and illusory. You are so thrown you turn your head minutely in Mitsuhide's direction and whisper, without moving your lips: "She's a woman!"
The snort that comes in response comes from your other side, though, so quiet you almost miss it. Then you realize the source, and the implications of your outburst.
"Sorry, Kiki," you whisper. "I know there are female knights. I was just… surprised."
Indeed.
Kneeling among the knights is a woman, clearly distinguishable by her long, dark-brown and curly hair and her clear features. She has green eyes.
Beautiful.
The Lord Councilor calls the knights' names, one after the other. You wait, almost holding your breath, until –
"Thalia Namassos, do you swear…"
Here, it begins.
It is summer.
That means the castle is bursting. Bursting with activities, with new soldiers, with the familiar change-of-the-guards. There is Visitor's Day, the annual opening of certain parts of the castle for the public. And Zen is busy as ever, energetic as ever; but it is a nervous kind of energy. You have been with him for three years now. You have known this prince for three years and what feels like an eternity and he is ever unable to sit still; escaping the long-winded council meetings and running from desk duty and preferring inspections over evening galas. But this summer it is especially difficult.
This summer is different.
You did grow up with certain conceptions towards gender, but you never felt it separated men and women enough to discriminate against either. In the one-and-a-half years that Kiki has been your partner, you have come to appreciate the calm, quietly strong woman at your side. She is as loyal and dedicated as you are, and you are beginning to trust her with Zen's life, too. So seeing a female knight on the training ground, even if it is not your partner, is no cause for you to feel anything else than mild curiosity.
"Good morning, Knight Rouen" she greets you, fist-to-chest, as is befitting for a newly inducted knight. She is two years younger than you are. You know because she is the source of the current palace gossip and you have made it your personal quest to always know about the gossip – in case it affects the second prince. You do have learned enough from the past (and from past experience) that it is never wrong to know who spends his time in the castle and could catch the prince's eye. Technically, it is a Sisyphean task, there is a steady change in the castle, soldiers and knights coming and going, servants and maids shifting and leaving. But you remember a different time, another summer, two boys meeting after hours and in the darkness. The summer that ended in tears and a resolution, and with you vowing to stay with this boy whatever might come.
"Good morning, Knight Namassos," you reply. She just seems to have finished some warm-up exercises and appears relaxed and calm. Unlike you, who shed your order's colors when you became Zen's knight, she wears the deep-green, familiar badge. Thalia Namassos is famous for two things: she is the first female knight in generations, and is Celeg's first female knight. "How are things at the garrison?"
"The Commander sends his greetings," she tells you, and one of her delicate brows slips past her hairline. "Pardon me asking, but is he angry with you?"
The memory is vivid and warm, and you laugh. "Is he still? I think he was unhappy I decided to leave with Prince Izana, three years ago."
Thalia laughs, too. She has a pretty laugh. "So the Crown Prince stole the future vice commander. The Commander does know how to hold his grudges." She throws you a sidelong glance from beneath her lashes at you and straightens. "Sir Mitsuhide, I heard a lot about Celeg's best knight since Sir Arthurius the Brave. Would you care to spar with me?"
It is natural to smile for you. "And I heard a lot about Celeg's best lady knight. I would be honored to cross swords with you."
It is summer.
On the Eastern plains, where your family's mansion is located, summer is wet and cool, as opposed to the same season in Wistalia. Years of cool rain and grey, cloudy sky have taught you to love the sun, and the humid heat of the coast is welcome. Your skin burns easily – but you enjoy the heat and the warmth, and summer has become your favorite season.
You have come to know the Second Prince well in the almost two years that you have come to serve as his knight. Two years since they rescued you – he and Mitsuhide – and you still have not yet found the words to tell them how much that means to you. This summer, Mitsuhide is exactly like he always is, and Zen is irritated and bored by hours of work spent behind a desk. So when he drops his pens and stacks the papers, impatiently, you go along, thank him for his work and follow him out of the office and into the shadowy corridors of Wistalia Castle. This place has become a home for you, more than perhaps Evergreen Manor ever was. But maybe that was because your home was permanently filled by your father's shadow. Zen walks through the corridors aimlessly, greeting guards and servants alike, stopping to chat, sometimes just passing by with a nod and a wave. When you reach a balcony he stands at the open banister, his face in the wind, and looks down at the gardens below longingly.
"Are you going to jump and run?" You ask.
It startles him enough to have him huff a small laugh. "Before you came to the palace, I would have done it without a second thought."
"You still can."
His grin grows and he shakes his head affectionately. You have startled him out of his dark thoughts for a moment and it makes you feel relief, even if it will not last. "Nah. Mitsuhide used to follow me anywhere, and then, you came. I cannot have my knights jump out of windows and over balcony railings, how would that reflect on me?"
You feel the smirk tug at your lips. "I see."
Zen's smile vanishes. He sighs again and leans onto his elbows. "The palace has such large windows and open balconies, and yet it feels like a prison, sometimes."
There is a lot that can be said in such a situation. You have learned to remain silent, to listen first. And to answer only then.
"Are you unhappy, Zen?"
"No." He shakes his head and shrugs at the same time. You think he feels unsure, or torn, dissatisfied in some inexplicable way. And as if he is angry at the same time – angry at himself. "I do not mind being the second prince. This is a good life I am leading, in a good place."
It is a struggle you understand only too clearly. You could tell him – tell him about your father, fill in the blanks you left when you first discussed the terms of your stay at the castle and in his services. Five years. Still more than three years left, and somehow – it feels like it is not enough, never will be. You could tell him you understand. But sometimes, people have to find their own path.
"Would you care for a spar?"
He lights up almost visibly, shooting a grin at you, and the spot of your heart that is reserved for him warms in amused fondness. "I am going to beat you this time."
It makes you smile: Zen's endless enthusiasm, his boundless optimism. His refusal to be bitter at something he yet has to understand.
"You do anyway, half of the time."
Since you came to the castle, you have sparred with Mitsuhide almost every day. You are almost as good as he is by now – almost. That, in extension, means that in a fight with Zen, your chances are fifty to fifty. You will never have the strength both your partner and your liege lord possess. But what you lack in strength, you make up in speed, and it is the main reason why you can easily hold your own against the prince. Mitsuhide – Mitsuhide is different.
"Let's go to the knight's training area."
Mitsuhide would let it slide, probably, but you are not him. Then, again, his way of teasing Zen is far more effective, because it comes at such unexpected times.
"Do you want to meet the lady knight of Celeg?"
He blushes, stutters. He is precious, that way, innocent as he is, despite – or maybe precisely because of? – his age and upbringing. He makes you smile.
"I just want to talk to her!"
For that alone, you would serve him with your whole heart.