A Moment for Mother and Son
By Suzume
A gift for Saishuu, by way of Suikosantaredux
"Luca, why don't you sit down?" his mother said in her soft voice. The question was really a command, breathed like the rustling of leaves. Where Agares laid down a heavy hand, Sara convinced you that this action was what you had wanted to do all along.
The rambunctious prince scrambled to his mother's side, sitting down cross-legged. He was cautious not to step on the flowing folds of her pale pink dress that spread around her like a puddle where it reached the ground. He leaned his hands on his knees and looked at his mother's patient countenance. She was forever asking him to stand still, speak more softly, or sit down. It was fine to run about outdoors, or train fiercely with General Cunningham, but inside, one was to use an indoor voice.
"Let's read a story," the queen suggested. She already had a slim volume at her side. Clearly she had been ready to quiet her son with this tale since before he entered the room.
"What's the story called?" Luca inquired. He hoped it was not one he'd heard before. He preferred to be surprised. He had little patience for a tale told many times before.
"The Sleeping Princess," Sara read. She turned the book around so the prince could see the illustration beneath the title. It showed a girl with long, red hair sleeping in a castle surrounded by rosebushes.
"Are there going to be exciting parts in it? It doesn't sound like it. Sounds like a girls' story," Luca pestered.
"Give it a chance, Luca," his mother encouraged. She brushed several locks of straight, black hair back over her shoulder. "It's not entirely dull. It has magic in it. And I happen to like this story a lot."
The boy relaxed, slumping somewhat. He nodded, encouraging her to begin the story. He had decided to listen without any further fuss.
"A long time ago in a kingdom to the north lived a king and queen who had no children. They prayed very hard and sent large donations to Crystal Valley so the Harmonian priests would pray for them too."
The queen in the story had curly, reddish-brown hair, quite unlike his mother, but Luca could not help but think the king looked rather like his father. Even the way his brow was wrinkled with concern seemed akin to Agares' worried face.
"At first it seemed like nothing would be of any use, but at last a daughter was born. Her parents were overjoyed and named her Jillia. They threw an enormous party to celebrate and invited the royals of all the neighboring kingdoms."
The party scene was familiar to Luca as well. There were usually few other children at such gathering and he was forced to dress up in itchy clothing and uncomfortable shoes and told many times to behave himself.
"But the king did not invite anyone from Harmonia. He felt the money he had sent them had been a waste and that the Harmonians had done nothing to grant his wish."
"Was this before Highland was around, or did my ancestors go to the party?" Luca could not help but inquire.
"I don't know," Sara admitted, "Perhaps they did." (That was assuming the story was true of course. Luca was growing up, but the queen was still reluctant to tell him outright that the story was most likely fictional.)
"If the Harmonians then were as sour as Ambassador T'Rainfellour they must've been mad," the dark-haired boy snickered.
"They were angry," his mother continued. "The Chief Priest called on his mighty rune to weave a curse as punishment. The first time Princess Jillia laid eyes on a Harmonian emblem she would fall into a deep sleep with only one means of awakening- the touch of a Harmonian who loved her."
"This posed quite a problem for the king and queen because there were many in their kingdom who came from Harmonia or followed its faith. If they outlawed these things completely, there would certainly be a full-scale invasion. They settled by banning all Harmonian images from the palace and keeping their daughter carefully sheltered."
"Princess Jillia grew up to be an intelligent, well-mannered young lady. However, her parents could not keep safe forever. One day she caught one of the pages clutching a pendant and demanded to see it, for despite her parents' warnings, she did not fully believe that she had been cursed. Knowing few Harmonians, she did not understand their vengeful ways. The boy opened his hand at the sight of the circle emblem, the princess immediately fell asleep."
"The Harmonians are strong allies, huh?" Luca commented. He was getting the feeling that the moral of the story was that it was better to be friends with, than enemies of, Harmonia.
"We're descended from Harmonians. Good King Maroux was born in Crystal Valley," Sara smiled.
"The king and queen were distraught. All their efforts had been for naught. And because they had kept all Harmonian things hidden from the princess' sight they were certain that no Harmonian could even have known her, let alone loved her."
"The princess was placed on her bed where she was examined by numerous doctors and rune sages, but they all came to the same conclusion that there was nothing they could do to help her. The power of the Circle Rune was far beyond anything they had ever experienced. Three years passed and Jillia's parents despaired, certain that their beloved daughter would never awaken. They lifted the bans on Harmonian symbols and Harmonians gradually began to work in the palace again."
"If only they had had a son instead of a daughter," Luca thought. A son wouldn't have been so curious about such a stupid thing. Of course, the chief priest was probably smart enough to come up with a different curse to put on a son.
"Another year passed. The king and queen were uncertain about the future of their nation. They were too old now to hope to have any more children. With no obvious heir, they feared their deaths would start a civil war."
Sarah turned the page again and her voice gained a hint of excitement as she proceeded.
"Around this time the head of the guards reported that a man employed at the castle as a scribe was often seen gazing at the tower where the princess lay. At first the king was displeased with this report, but then it occurred to him that this young man might be in love with his daughter. If only he were Harmonian he might be able to help her. The youth was initially reluctant to confess, but in the end he admitted that he had kept his Harmonian heritage secret for years to keep working in the palace after the bans were enforced. He had loved the princess for years, watching her from a distance and speaking with her in the library on several occasions before she fell asleep."
Luca's mother sighed a little at the scribe's sentiment.
"Why'd these stories always have some part about love in them?" the prince wondered.
"The king and queen allowed the young man to see their sleeping daughter. His eyes lit up as he gazed upon Jillia."
"'She is just how I remember her,' he gasped. He cautiously reached out and touched the princess' hand."
"She yawned and sat up, unaware of how low she had slept. 'Mother, Father, why are you looking at me like I've been gone for months?""
Sara paused and eyed her son, "You know, if you'd been a girl we'd have named you Jillia."
Luca made a gagging nose.
"Jillia's parents explained to their daughter what had happened. The princess was a bit alarmed over how many things she had missed while asleep, but when she learned the Harmonian youth had awakened her, she smiled and blushed."
The illustration showed the flushed princess along with her rather bemused-looking parents. The princess' expression reminded Luca of his mother. She too was modest and sweet.
"The young man became an honorary member of the royal family and several months later he and Princess Jillia were wed with many approving Harmonian dignitaries attending the ceremony. And they lived happily together for the rest of their lives."
The book, a compilation of stories, continued on to another tale on the next page, but Sara closed it there and set the book aside. "My father gave me this book as a present when I was a little girl," she told her son.
Luca could not imagine his mother as a girl. She was fairly young, but she was his mother. She was an adult, like his father and General Cunningham.
"Did you like the story?"
"It was okay," he thought, "Too girly for my tastes. No fighting, no monsters; the young man wasn't even given a name." But even a boy like Luca could tell that this book, and this story in particular, meant something to his mother. So because he loved her, he answered, "Yeah, I did like it."