Disclaimer: The recognizable characters appearing in this story are © Kazuki Akane, all rights reserved. They are used without permission and for entertainment purposes only. The author of this story is making no profit. Neither infringement upon nor challenge to the rights of the copyright holders is intended; nor should any be inferred.
The Tears That Won't Fall
Coronation
Grand Duke Chid Zar Freyd sat on his throne in the recently finished throne room of Nishant Palace in Godhashim and listened to the various ministers, or rather tried to listen.
He usually was more attentive while holding court, but stress and strange dreams had caused him to lose a great deal of much needed sleep.
His Prime Minister, Adaj, noticed Chid hide a yawn behind his hand and slowly nod off before he interrupted the minister of finance's latest petition.
"His Majesty the Duke is exhausted, we will conclude business not attended to in this session in two weeks."
"That isn't soon enough Prime Minister!" The minister of finance squeaked.
Chid jerked awake at the shrill sound of the finance minister's voice. He blinked, shook his head and smoothed one of the feather hairpins that held the crown in place on his head. "What did you say?" His voice barked out.
The finance minister gasped and stuttered out, "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I can see Adaj was correct. I will make this petition at the next meeting."
The rest of the ministers spoke in agreement.
"Very well, this meeting is adjourned. I will meet with you again in two weeks time."
"May Ahur'atta bless the steps of Freyd." The ministers said in unison before they filed out of the throne room quickly.
They knew Chid was a good ruler with a good mind and disposition. But when Chid was overly fatigued, he tended to let his temper make decisions more than his good sense.
"Are you nervous?" Adaj asked as Chid rose from the throne.
"About what?" Chid yawned.
"Your birthday celebration and formal coronation. Is that why you haven't slept?" Adaj drolled as he opened the side door that lead to Chid's private residence in the palace.
"No, I have no worries about that." Chid stretched before he stepped through the door and into the gardens. "I still have the blood of Freyd in me. Eniki is certain I will pass the final test, despite the circumstances."
"That I am." Eniki, the Placktu, said as he rose from behind a bed of roses.
The young priest was only a few years older than Chid, but he held the wisdom and memories of all the Placktu priests that came before.
Usually, when the spirit of Placktu entered the new priest, the priest gave up his old name.
Eniki didn't, partially because he felt it was impractical, and partially because of what happened the day the doppleganger killed the former Placktu.
Wings sprouted from Eniki's back when the Placktu spirit entered his body, exposing his Draconian blood. Several monks were aghast and wanted to deny Eniki his rightful place.
The monks at the monastery had no clue how far back in Eniki's lineage a Draconian had mated with a human. Eniki's lineage was well documented for several generations, with no hint of a Draconian anywhere within the records.
Eniki breathed in the scent of the blossom he had picked. "You were claimed by Duke Mahad as legitimate. Furthermore, your mother's grandmother was a blood princess of Freyd, the only one left of the true bloodline other than Duke Mahad. The second instance is what makes you the rightful heir by blood despite ..."
"I didn't call for you to make a visit." Chid groaned at the young priest as he shrugged out of his red court outer robes and gold cincture of station and handed them to a waiting servant.
"I know. I had a dream that you needed me, so I came." Eniki smiled. "And don't tell me you are only dreaming of the grace of the dancing girls from your harem."
"So you have had the strange dreams too?" Chid yawned. "The strange lights in the sky?"
"No. I only know that you have had very troubling dreams. Has the Queen of Fanalia been filling you head with strange thoughts again?"
Chid harrumphed. "No. I haven't spoken to Queen Hitomi in months. She's too busy preparing for the birth of her second child."
"She certainly is a strange one." Eniki chuckled.
"Of course." Adaj sighed. "What else would you expect from a girl who mysteriously came from the Mystic Moon, returned there, then came back here years later spouting all kinds of educated nonsense about college doctorates and ecosystems."
"It doesn't sound like nonsense to me." Chid slowly unpinned the feathers from his topknot so he could take the crown off. He placed the feathered pins on a tray held out by another servant as he spoke. "The Mystic Moon and Gaia to have sympathetic connections in key areas. So, some things that harm one planet harms the other as well. Her findings are well documented."
"Bah." Adaj snorted. "She sounds like one of those Zaibach sorcerers when she starts lecturing publicly on her theories."
"Enough Adaj. She's nothing like a Zaibach sorcerer." Chid's face grew red as he tossed the crown across the garden rather than putting it on the tray with the hairpins. "I don't want to be reminded of Zaibach sorcerers, do you understand? Remember when I was seven and captured by a group of renegade sorcerers while you cowered in fear? They wanted me to become Dornkirk's successor, and return their fallen empire by altering my fate."
"I'm sorry, Duke Chid. I spoke out of turn."
"Go, I'm certain there are things you would rather do than spend time listening to two much younger men brag about women they plan to meet at my birthday festival."
"Eniki's a monk." Adaj frowned.
Eniki smiled and shook his head slowly. "Placktu does not oppose the company of women, as long as it is only practiced in moderation. Like Freyd, I must eventually have an heir. The reason my head is not shaved yet is because I don't have one. You are aware that the former Placktu was my grandfather?"
"Point taken. I will see you at the evening meal, Duke Chid, Eniki." Adaj bowed and followed the path to where his palace office sat.
"Poor Adaj. Having to put up with me for sixteen years. It still seems like yesterday I could hear him bellow, 'I'm a records clerk not a nursemaid!' at the top of his lungs."
"Enough about Adaj." Eniki smiled and motioned for Chid to walk with him through the gardens. "Tell me about the strange dreams that keep you awake all night."
Chid sighed. "Not much to tell. I see several bolts of lightning, in hues of blue purple and red, followed by several small bursts of fire. A ball of flame falls from the sky and shapes itself into a human figure as it lands. In a fierce voice, much like my father, Majad's voice was when he was upset, it tells me to take what is mine. The figure is so frightening, I instantly wake. When I try to go back to sleep, the dream simply repeats."
"Very ominous." Eniki sighed. "I will prepare myself and meditate at the foot of your bed tonight. Hopefully I can help you sort this out. Do you think it has to do with the coronation rites or the lost treasure sword."
Chid shook his head. "I don't think so." He paced to keep himself from relaxing enough to get sleepy again. "I wonder if it has anything to do with the restoration? So far, everything has seemed to go smoothly. Even the refugees from the various countries of former Zaibach haven't caused that many problems. There has only been one floating fortress cross into our borders of late, and it is owned by our ally from the renewed country of Hakkona."
"What about the strange nomads that have been coming out of the south desert, the sandsea, over the past couple of years?"
Chis shook his head. "Other than crude muttering about prophecies from their winged gods, dancing women who cause strife in marriages, petty theft and some minor brawling, they haven't been a problem either. Most of them end up on the road to Fanalia once they fill their bellies."
Eniki sat on a stone bench and tapped his right index finger to his lips. "Perhaps it has to do with other matters that needs to be settled after your birthday. Among those, your marital status."
Chid stopped in his tracks and crossed his arms as he stood next to Eniki. He regally tilted up his chin and refused to look at his friend and spiritual advisor.
"I'll be twenty-one. I have plenty of time to choose a wife. I'm stuck in the palace more than I'd like right now as it is. A wife would only make me spend more time here instead of surveying my kingdom like I should. The laws state that I need not choose a wife until I'm thirty."
Eniki rolled his eyes. "That doesn't mean offers from noble families all over Gaia won't start pouring in after your birthday celebration. I wouldn't doubt that several will show up to the various banquets and such with their daughters in tow for you to sample."
"I don't want a wife!" Chid turned to Eniki and barked.
Eniki held his hands up, "Alright, so be it. Seems you need to get some sleep sooner rather than later. I'll go to the bathing chamber and do a quick purification while you prepare for a nap."
"It's too hot to sleep. Besides, I have both sword and melef practice this afternoon. I need to make a good show of it at the tournament."
"The kohl on you eyes isn't hiding the dark circles. Cancel practice. You need sleep." Eniki growled.
"You have no right to speak to me like that!" Chid growled back. "I'm the Duke of Freyd"
"And I'm Placktu, of whom your rule holds little to no sway over."
"You don't understand. Do you realize who is going to be competing?"
"Let me guess. Allen Schezar."
Chid's face withered as he took a deep breath. "No. He's checking on a gem mine for High Prince Dryden. Word from the workers stopped abruptly six months ago and Allen is the only one Dryden trusts to do the job right."
"Then it's Celena Schezar."
Chid smiled smugly and nodded as his mind flashed back to three years ago.
His aunt Milerna had finally gotten tired of traveling all over as a mercy doctor. She didn't mind helping or teaching basic healing skills to the less fortunate. She was weary from seeing the harm Zaibach had done to the small countries they had suppressed. She was also tired of chasing Allen Schezar only to find him seducing other women.
On many of Milerna's medical mercy trips, Dryden had joined her, with his nose sniffing out undiscovered riches along the way.
Milerna got to know her former husband much better than she had expected to. Despite everything, he really loved her.
She and Dryden mutually decided to re-marry, but with the condition that she was coronated as the Queen, and he was recognized as her consort, not king to rule over her.
A guymelef tournament was part of the re-affirmation wedding celebrations, and Chid had entered the competition.
Chid lost the tournament to a guymelef pilot whose skills were extraordinary.
What surprised him the most was that the pilot was a woman, the younger sister of Allen Schezar, Celina.
Chid was very upset losing to a woman but his feelings quickly turned to fascination after he met her. More meetings over tea and sometimes a meal followed quickly.
Chid tried to make his feelings known, but Celena constantly changed the topic of conversation before Chid could say a word.
Under the moonlight on one of the Asturian palace terraces, Chid finally was able to voice his feelings.
Celena gave Chid a look of confusion as she made it very clear that she did not share the emotional attachment. To her, Chid was merely a friend.
"What do you think you are doing?" Milerna yelled as she walked in on the two. "You have no business having romantic notions towards her...."
When Chid argued, Milerna stopped him and revealed that Allen was Chid's biological father.
Chid was angry over the revelation. When the anger cooled, he felt depressed over the truth of his birth. Eniki's confirmation that Chid was still the rightful heir helped, but didn't resolve the wariness completely.
"You aren't still infatuated with Celena are you?" Eniki said, bringing Chid out of his musings.
"No, I realized quickly that it was a child's fascination with an older woman and her martial skills. This is the first time I will compete against her again. This time, I plan to win."
"Do you think your dreams might have something to do with the guymelef competition?"
"I don't think so. Unless the melef is a flier, they don't just fall from the sky. Plus, what fell in my dream was on fire. The melef would be a hunk of twisted metal with a dead body inside."
"Either way, you still should cancel your practice and take that nap. You won't be able to concentrate well enough to win the match if you don't get any sleep."
Chid yawned, the little spurt of anger made him more tired than he had been before the outburst.
"I suppose you are right." Chid waved to a servant to inform the sword master that he wasn't going to practice that day.
***
Chid smiled and waved to the crowd as his procession headed into the path through forest towards the pyramid known as Serkan Temple, where he would undergo the final test of succession.
He knew his thoughts should have been centered on the test of blood at the temple, but somehow his thoughts wandered back to his nightmare.
The two days in which Eniki sat at the foot of his bed in order to see Chid's dreams helped him sleep more restfully, but there was no answer to what the reoccurring dream could mean.
When he determined there was no use watching Chid's dream over and over again, Eniki returned to the Placktu temple in order take a day of seclusion to pray and ponder.
Chid took several deep breaths to calm his nerves as he climbed the stone steps alone to the top of the temple. Any misstep on the extremely steep incline of the central stair would cause him to plummet to the ground below.
More than one Duke Inherent had met his end at the bottom of the temple by tripping over his heavy ceremonial robes.
Chid gave a small sigh of relief as he stepped onto the top terrace.
As he entered the tiny chamber in front of him, he resisted the urge to wipe his damp brow.
The four monks in attendance waved him forward.
Chid held his hands palm up over the small altar. The two monks to his left and right made shallow slashes along his palms.
Chid fought not to wince from the sharp pain as he turned his hands over and placed them in the palm-shaped recesses nestled in the altar.
Blood flowed around his fingers in the hand-shaped pools as the altar faintly glowed.
When the glow receded, Chid lifted his hands and showed them to the priests, who nodded and smiled.
Chid's hands were healed with no trace of blood or scar upon them.
Chid smiled back to hide another sigh of relief.
The texts said that if a false heir put his hands upon the altar of the prophet Serkan, the king-maker, the wounds would fester, spread and kill the usurper.
Chid stepped out to the terrace of the temple, raised the sword of the first duke and shouted, "Freyd Prevails!" at the top of his lungs.
The crowd that had gathered at the foot of the temple erupted in shouts of praise.
Normally, the sword Chid drew would have been Freyd's royal treasure sword, but the sword disappeared during the Zaibach occupation. Constant searches for the sword had resulted in failure.
Chid wasn't worried about the deviation from the tradition, since it was the test of Serkan's altar that was important for the ceremony.
The monks took the less steep steps that ran parallel on either side of the central stair and held on to Chid to help him reach the bottom of the temple safely.
Eniki met Chid at the bottom of the steps, swatted him lightly with a soft horsehair whip and said a group of prayers.
As Eniki helped Chid onto the palanquin that waited, he whispered, "I saw the treasure sword held by a dragon in my vision,"
Chid nodded and smiled. At least the dream wasn't a prediction of disaster.
***
Chid made yet another insincere smile as another foreign noble pushed his daughter in front of him. He knew Eniki was right about nobles vying for a marriage alliance, but he hadn't thought that it would be as bad as it was.
Chid barely had time to lift his fork to his mouth before another noble brought his daughter to the head table and begged for an audience.
With his belly close to empty despite a full plate, Chid escaped to one of the side terraces with a full bottle of wine in one hand.
He took a swig straight from the bottle and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.
"You'd better slow down, or you will have a hangover for the tournament tomorrow."
Chid drew his sword in response to the male voice in the shadows. "So what of it? I'm still a better melef pilot drunk than most of them are sober."
"I suppose that's true." Allen Schezar chuckled as he stepped out of the shadow and held out his arms.
Allen was dressed in tattered and worn leathers. He looked more like some nefarious rouge than a noble knight.
Chid quickly sheathed his sword and set the bottle of wine down on the railing of the terrace. "I thought you wouldn't come." He rushed forward and hugged Allen tight.
"Why would I miss my only son's coronation? Even if I have to keep to the shadows to do so."
Long before Chid knew Allen was his biological father, he had thought of him as the father he wished he could have.
The stories Chid's mother had told him of Allen when he was little had instilled that faith.
Later, as Chid grew, Allen had always been there when he needed him most.
The small wrinkles around Allen's eyes was reflected in the moonlight.
The deep scar that ran from Allen's cheek across the upper bridge of his nose and ended above his right eye was clear to see as Allen stepped back to have a good look at his son.
Allen received that wicked scar when he rescued Chid from Zaibach rebel wizards. Somehow, it had enhanced his good looks rather than detracted from them.
"So, what do you think, old man?" Chid posed haughtily in the dim light.
"That you are cocky and rash as ever, just like I was at your age."
"And equally as popular with the women, which is why I'm out here alone rather than at my birthday banquet."
"I think it has more to do with the fathers of those women than the women themselves. There are quite a few beauties in there."
"And none that strikes my fancy enough to bother with."
Allen chuckled. "I keep forgetting you have well trained women in your harem."
"The women in the harem are there to entertain me in other ways besides warming my bed. They wouldn't be in my harem if they didn't have other talents." Chid grabbed the bottle of wine from the railing and motioned for Allen to follow. "Come, I had food from the banquet sent to my private chambers so I would have a chance to eat without being interrupted. There is plenty for both of us."
Allen nodded and followed. "I know they have other functions in your court. You are not the first in history to think of using his harem women in such a way."
"And what way is that?" Chid said in an amused tone.
"Never mind."
As Chid sat at the small table and started eating, Allen's face got a serious look.
"What is it?" Chid paused as he took a sip of wine.
"Seeing your coronation is not the only reason I'm here." Allen took a piece of paper from out of the pouch. "When me and my men went to check on the gem mine for Dryden, we found something very odd."
Chid took a look at the drawing on the paper and frowned. "This looks like part of the decoration on the Freyd treasure sword."
Allen nodded. "The mines were completely empty of workers. All were accounted for and safe, but refused to return to the mines, even for a raise in pay. The bodies of two young men dressed in what seemed to be skin from a small dragon were found. They didn't die trying to take over the mine. They were bound and their throats were cleanly cut. It seemed to be some sort of ritual sacrifice. Both had this tattooed on their left arm."
"Do you think they came from the Mystic Moon?"
Allen shook his head. "If anyone came from there, Van, Hitomi or your Placktu priest, Eniki would have immediately known. Dryden has been searching his archives to see if there is anything there that might bring light to this. One thing is for certain, the decoration being the same as on your treasure sword is no mistake."
Chid nodded. "I believe so as well."
Allen took a few more bites of food and stood to leave.
"Father?"
"I have to go before Adaj catches me here with you. You know the stink he always causes whenever I try to see you. I'm certain before long he will be here bellowing for you to rejoin the banquet."
"You're right." Chid sighed. "I wish there was a way I could be seen with you publicly."
"It will be alright." Allen banged his fist lightly on the table, "Now eat up, young man. It's certain that you will get nothing to eat in the banquet hall tonight once you return. Be careful in the tournament tomorrow. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you."
"I love you too, father. Take care of yourself."
Allen nodded and left.
Chid took a few bites before his appetite completely fled.
He studied the drawing on the paper as the visions from his nightmares filled the back of his mind.
"Is there a connection?" he wondered aloud.
***
Music in my head: Turkce (Oriental Remix) by Mustafa Sandal
Author's notes:
Ahur'atta- A version of the name Ahura Mazda, a middle eastern ancient god of both the sun and wisdom. I chose him because of the imagery shown in the anime.
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