This is an AU fanfiction in two parts. This is part one, "Raise the Bloodied Banner"; the second part will be published separately as "The Flight of the Eagle". Don't expect fast updates, as this is a secondary FF to The First Servant.

The premise: It is the year 1792. Lelouch and Nunnally Lamperouge, runaway children of a Spanish noble, and Venetian courtesan Cecilia Cuzzoni get entangled in the terrors of the French Revolution.

Warning ahead: In this fic, three interconnected plotlines will collide. The chapters will each be told from the Point of View of one of the (now) three main characters, in the following order: Lelouch - Cecilia / C.C. - Nunnally. Cecilia will be introduced only later, though.

Disclaimer: Code Geass is not mine. I have taken loose inspiration from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, and the historical figure of Agustina of Aragon. Historical characters will appear in loads, with a focus on Napoleon Bonaparte and Sir Arthur Wellesley in the second part.

Main Pairings: Lelouch x C.C. x Mao

Main Characters: Lelouch, Nunnally, C.C. ("Cecilia Cuzzoni")

Bibliography: The research for this fanfiction will be thorough and far-reaching. For now, the main sources are Wikipedia, Stanford University's ORBIS for an approximation of travel times, Lord Norwich's A History of Venice, Volker Hunecke's Napoleon - Das Scheitern eines guten Diktators and some books about the French Revolution I couldn't be bothered to remember.

Reviews are appreciated and will be responded to. I prefer a well-written review to a dozen faves.

What We Cling To

First Part:

Raise the Bloodied Banner

"A revolution is an idea that has found its bayonets."

– Napoleon

On Wings of Angels

Near Cadiz, March 1792

Frizzling, the candle ignited, bathing the room in warm orange light.

Lelouch put back the tinderbox in his coat's inside pocket, then placed the candle in the lantern. Remembering to take with him the saddlebag and the small pile of clothing he had prepared, he then pressed down the door handle, stepped out to the hallway and, careful not to make a single noise, closed it again.

He took a deep breath, then a smile slid on his face. So far, this was going well.

Slowly he tiptoed along the corridor, passing the door to his father's apartments. One of the floorboards creaked – Lelouch held his breath, halting.

No reaction from inside. His father was fast asleep … thank God.

His smile widened as he continued to the next door and stealthily entered Nunnally's chamber. He didn't bother to knock – she was sleeping, anyway.

Quietly, he set the lantern down on the bedside table as he used the rare opportunity to watch his sister in her sleep.

She looked so peaceful in his candle's light – curled up in the sheets, her chest slowly rising and falling. He leaned in to brush aside a strand of hair falling into her face. A somewhat mischievous smile played around her lips.

For a short moment, he almost regretted what he was about to do – even though it was certainly a chance not to be missed, as she would agree.

Snapping out of his silent adoration, he gently shook her bared shoulder. "Hey," he whispered, "Wake up …"

His sister shifted a little, then her eyes slowly flattered open. She stifled a yawn, looking up at him from sleepy eyes. "Brother …," she mumbled, "What …"

Lelouch gently put a finger on her lips, silencing her. "We need to be quiet," he explained.

She gave him a curious look.

"We're leaving," he then said.

At once Nunnally was wide awake. "Where to?," she whispered, sitting up in her bed. The sheet slid down a little.

Lelouch responded with a smirk as he handed her the pile of clothing he had prepared for her. "Put this on."

Beaming, Nunnally jumped out of bed and hurried behind the folding screen in her bedchamber's corner to change. "What time is it, anyway?," she quietly asked over the rustling of cloth. "So we're not going to the opera."

He chuckled. "Keep guessing."

There was a short pause. "Ah … that's boys' clothing …" His sister giggled behind the screen. "So … the harbour?"

"As if I'd ever take you to such a place," he commented. The harbour of nearby Cadiz certainly was no place for a young lady, and even less for his sister. "Say, where do you keep your jewellery? Anyway, think farther."

"Washing table, second drawer," Nunnally replied without thinking. "Hmm," she then made. "Farther, you say …" A moment later she had to suppress a delighted squeal. "D…don't tell me …"

"We're leaving," Lelouch gently ended her sentence. "Everything's prepared – we're leaving, Nunna. Never to return."

There was a long moment of silence. Anxiously he looked up. He noticed his hands were shaking.

He had long planned this night – had prepared everything they would possibly need. He had, over the course of the last two months, planned three separate travel routes, and painstakingly spread false leads for a fourth one. He'd gathered information from people who had done the same journey and had taken care of the financial side of their endeavour.

And of course the clothes he had just handed Nunnally were tailored to measure.

What he hadn't planned for, however, was the small, but horrifying chance that Nunnally would refuse. It had been on his mind, of course, but he had done his best to ignore it. Well, he couldn't do that now –

"Brother …," Nunnally whispered, her voice quivering a little. His eyes widened.

He had no idea what he would do …

Slowly, his sister stepped out from behind the folding screen, now fully dressed. In the candlelight, her eyes glistered, wet with tears, but she was beaming. Nunnally took a few insecure steps towards him, then pulled him into a deep hug. "Thank you," she quietly said, "I … I'm so glad …"

Greatly relieved, Lelouch returned the embrace. With this, the last obstacle had been overcome – now, nothing could go wrong any more.

After a moment, Nunnally broke the embrace and took a few steps backwards, grinning. "How do I look?"

He couldn't help but chuckle at this. The clothes he had picked out for her suited her well – she was wearing a man's shirt, a buff waistcoat cut at the waist, complete with white neckband and cravat, light buff riding breeches and black leather boots. Over her arm she carried a dark blue tailcoat, and, in her hand, a tricorne of the same colour.

"Marvellous," he commented. "If you hide your hair under the hat, you'll look just like a boy." That was no empty flattery – his sister's figure still being so boyish, he doubted anyone would recognise her for a woman. The close-fitted waistcoat would hide any trace of her budding breasts to even the most alert observer. She also looked even more adorable than usual.

She blushed a little, then quickly put on the coat. Lelouch turned back to her washing table. His sister didn't own much jewellery, and most of it she had inherited from their mother, who in turn had brought it with her from France. "Is there anything you want to keep for yourself?," he asked.

Nunnally was kneeling on the floor, reaching for something under her bed. "Ah, no," she absent-mindedly said. "They're nice, but I don't need them. It's not as if they actually held any memories … Jewels never really suited mother." Lelouch nodded and began to stuff the gems in one of the saddlebags.

Then his sister apparently found what she had been looking for and rose to her feet. From below the bed she had produced an old-fashioned, basket-hilted rapier in a leathern scabbard. Nunnally hesitated, looking up at him. "It's mother's …," she quietly noted, though an explanation was unnecessary. "Do you think … I might …?"

Solemnly, he nodded. "She wanted you to have it," he whispered in return. "It is only fair for you to keep it." Then a smile returned to his face. "You're right. This really fits mother better than her jewellery."

Positively beaming, Nunnally nodded, then quickly reached inside her coat to fasten it to her side.

Lelouch's eyes widened in horror. This … hadn't been what he had meant. While he had no problem with her keeping their mother's sword, the thought of his beloved little sister actually wearing it …

Wearing it would encourage her to use it, sooner or later. Not that he had any doubts about her – for a woman – exceptional capabilities, and of course he was armed himself and would protect her with his life, and yet …

Perhaps it was just that he didn't like to see his sister playing with sharp – or, God forbid, phallic – objects.

But there was nothing he could reasonably do about it, seeing that it made her disguise as a young gentleman even more believable. So he merely sighed, and took a step towards her. "… very well then. Just … be careful with it, alright?"

Nunnally rolled her eyes, but she nodded. Quickly she tied back her long, flowing hair, then put on the tricorne. Lelouch leaned in to gently brush aside a loose strand of hair. "How do you feel?"

She shrugged. "I guess I could get used to dressing like a boy. Those breeches are weird, though. They're rather tight on the legs, but loose around the groin, as if something were missing. Why's that?"

Lelouch flushed red at that question. He was immensely thankful for the flickering light of the candle – if she had seen him blush, she would certainly have pressed on just to tease him. And just how was he even supposed to explain … that?

"Er … I believe that's a story for some other time," he finally responded. "For now … let's leave."

Silently, his sister nodded. Carrying the saddlebags over his shoulder, Lelouch took the lantern and stealthily stepped out to the corridor. Nunnally quietly followed him.

They descended the stairs to ground level, then left the house through the kitchen garden. The stables were only about a hundred Castilian feet from the manor house and they hurried towards them. It was a starry, moonlit night, and so Lelouch blinded his lantern to avoid them being seen.

There were only half a dozen horses in the stables – there would have been place for thirty. Their father had sold their mother's mare Ganymede shortly after her death, leaving only the pair of coach horses, two old hacks that had used to help at ploughing the manor's little farmland, and the siblings' mounts. They weren't particularly well-bred, but they certainly did their job. Nunnally had named her mare Nemo and had chosen for Lelouch's black stallion the name Gawain, supposedly because the nephew of King Arthur was also called the "Maidens' Knight".

He couldn't quite see what she had meant by that.

The horses were already saddled, ready to leave. Lelouch quickly fastened the saddlebag to Gawain's saddle, then they unbound their horses and let them outside the stable. They mounted.

Lelouch looked at his sister. Nunnally's face was half hidden in her tricorne's shadow as she looked around. "It looks peaceful," she quietly said. He followed her gaze.

The country house of the Count of San Luis was a medieval manor house, adjusted many times as the manor itself was lost to more successful landholders. Consequently, it was a mix of many styles. There was an embattled tower of rough stones, the original part of the house, and much of the later additions had been built around it. When one of their ancestors had falsely believed to have made it big in New Spain, he had added two low, more luxurious wings to it. An attempt to evoke more stately homes had been made and had resulted in classicist colonnades. Most of the walls were overgrown with vines. "As if nothing had happened …"

He nodded. "It's beautiful," he agreed. "Just like before."

They remained for a while, silently watching the lifeless manor house in the moonshine. Then, Nunnally turned her horse. "Let's leave," she said. "There is nothing that's keeping us but mother's grave."

"And she would have wanted us to go," Lelouch agreed, smiling. "Let's leave."

Without another look back at their father's house, they turned and rode away.

In later years, Lelouch had often wished they had hesitated and turned back that night. Everything would have been different –

But they couldn't have. For months they had dreamt of this very night, had planned and plotted. How could they have stayed after their mother's death? What was there that could have kept them? Lelouch knew that, had they turned back that night, they would have cursed themselves for it.

And yet, if only they hadn't –

Their mother had been a strange lady. Born as the daughter of a marquis in the Auvergne region of France, Marianne de Lamperouge had for some reason married an impoverished Spanish count some twenty years ago. They had met only once before, when she had accompanied her father on a diplomatic mission to Madrid in 1771. In 1775 and 1778, respectively, their children had been born.

Within months, Lady Marianne – the new Countess of San Luis – was known to all Cadiz as a kind and generous, if eccentric woman. She had exactly four loves: her husband, the opera, breaking in new horses and fencing. The latter three she had passed on to her children, the first no one had ever understood.

Carlos Zapata, conde de San Luis, on the other hand, was a man as boring as his name. The heir of a long series of unfortunate fools in charge of the family's estates, he had through hard work and hard bargaining managed to turn around the helm and, if not stop, slow down the constant dwindling of their revenue. He was a man with no sense of humour worth mentioning and no love for unnecessary waste of money, and that category to him included almost everything that made his family's life enjoyable.

Lelouch had never known what his mother had found remarkable about his father or why she had fallen for him.

"You didn't tell me where we're going," Nunnally interrupted his thoughts. Not in a bad way – there was something about them that made him feel weak and helpless.

"Ah," he made, hence thankful for the distraction, "How about you guess?"

She giggled. "We're leaving Andalusia, I suppose, and we're riding northwards. So … Madrid?"

Lelouch smirked. "Yes, yes, and no. Think farther."

"On the other hand, this is the road to Seville … and from there we could ride eastwards, to the coast …"

He nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"And then … north again … Paris?"

"Definitely not. I'd prefer not to spend too much time in France, seeing how unstable it is right now. Think farther …"

"So we'll pass through France …," Nunnally whispered. They were riding knee-to-knee. "So … is it Italy? Milan? Rome? Venice?"

"And farther still!"

His sister gasped for breath. Her eyes widened. "Brother …," she weakly said.

Without so much as looking at her he knew what she was thinking. He could vividly imagine her eyes lighting up, her rosy cheeks reddening, her breath quickening.

"Yes," Lelouch firmly said, as always taking new strength in her happiness. "We're going to Vienna, Nunnally. The city of music …"

Wordlessly, his sister leaned in to kiss his cheek.

The journey by land to Vienna would take about 55 days. It would have taken only half the time to take a ship to Rome or Venice and continue from there, and would also have spared them the need to go through French territory – but it would also have cost more money than they could spare, even if they successfully sold the jewels.

Instead, they rode northwards to Seville, partially to divert possible followers of their actual destination, then followed the road to Valencia. From there, they followed the Mediterranean coastline north to Barcelona, and further north towards France.

They kept expenses low. Favoured by the weather, they usually slept outside the city walls, wrapped in their overcoats, instead of inns. This way, they had to spend only a few Reales each day on food.

That night they had spent outside of Figueres, a small town about 9 leagues north of Girona, just south of the border to France. The siblings had left at sunrise, riding further north. Perpignan was another 10 leagues from Figueres, which meant they would take 10 to 11 hours, not counting breaks. They had crossed the border around midday.

The rough Pyrenean mountains gradually became more gentle the farther north they got.

At dusk, they rested by a narrow brook. Lelouch led the horses to the water, a few feet upstream Nunnally knelt down to drink.

He, however, couldn't let down his guard. Resting his hand on his smallsword's hilt, he looked around on the forest clearing.

They had not seen a single other traveller on the road from the border. While that meant they were not being followed, it greatly irritated him – there had to be a reason for the lack of travellers. A peasant on the way back from the market, perhaps, or even a smuggler, would have eased his worries, but there were none.

What had happened here?

Nunnally turned to look up at him, frowning. "Are … aren't you thirsty, brother?"

He forced himself to smile as he handed her the reins of the horses and in her place knelt by the brook. Of course, she was right – he was thirsty, having ridden for hours. Still …

Oh, well. They'd made it through all of Spain without a problem, and at least there hadn't been any suspicious individuals on the road today. Pausing to drink wouldn't hurt.

As he leaned down to scoop some water with his hands, Nunnally sat in the lush grass next to him. She had used the opportunity to let down her hair. "You're so tense," she gently noted. "Don't be. We're in France! We've already travelled half the way to Vienna! And we've had no problems so far, have we?"

Lelouch smiled. "Ah, well … I guess you're right. I'm sorry."

His sister returned the smile, lying back in the grass. It was warm in the afternoon sun.

"I'm glad," she quietly said. "Because we're together all the time. It feels like it's always been like this … As if Cadiz was nothing more than a dream. As if the road is all there is to life."

There was a long pause. A light breeze ran through the treetops; birdsong and the brook's purling filled the air. "It's so peaceful," Lelouch whispered. "Like the Revolution had never happened …"

"Brother? … Let's promise that we'll always stay together."

Solemnly, he nodded. "I promise." There was nothing he would rather do. He would never let go off his sister, no matter what happened …

Nunnally's response was interrupted by a male voice, rough and angry, shouting in French:

"You there! Stay where you are!"

That was the opening. The next chapter will begin the plot proper. Please review.