Summary: When the princess runs away a war begins in which all sides want her dead or as a weapon. But Kari's heart is torn between her freedom and doing the right thing. With dangers at every turn the time to choose draws close and she's not ready.
Disclaimer: I do not own digimon, its characters, or anything relating the the franchise.
Chapter 3 – To Despair
A few weeks had passed since Kari had been told of her betrothal to the Imprecatian prince and her spirit had been broken because of the arrack on Gatomon. She was watched constantly unless in her private rooms and whenever they had to travel outside of the palace walls, even if only to the front step to compare the colour of banners to be hung on the day, Gatomon was taken from her as collateral, meaning if she did anything she shouldn't then Gatomon would pay.
At first it seemed surreal but the sounds of the servants rushing around the place to make sure everything was in order for the prince's impending visit beat into her that it was happening and soon. Gatomon tried to cheer her depressed human up and tried to ebb the guilt she felt about what happened to her but it was to no avail and was too dreading the wedding.
The prince of the Imprecatians was visiting with his father to see if Kari would make a suitable bride for him, which unfortunately for Kari she was. All tales of her recent escape attempt had been a closely guarded secret of the palace on pain of death to anyone spreading rumours and the rest of her skills were attractive to any potential suitor.
She was heir to the prosperous kingdom in the world, talented in the arts, sciences, weaponry, and she was beautiful. Her Elvin blood was highly prized because the Elves were one of the most respected races of people due to their intelligence, grace, and beauty. There was always a lingering bitterness because of her situation.
There were times when she could almost believe she was free and she treasured those memories above all others. She had befriended a kitchen boy, much to her father's disapproval but allowed the friendship to continue in hopes that his heir would be dissuaded to attempt to run away.
He was a year older than her and had the blondest hair she had ever seen, like the elves of the south. He had azure eyes that were full of interest and compassion and she always thought that they seemed to glow, as they were so bright. His digimon partner was a Tokomon. Gatomon, who was a Nyaromon at the time, had made friends with Tokomon quite quickly and would laugh and play together all the time.
They were good friends – best friends – and she trusted him completely. She trusted in him so much that one day she confided in him that she was going to try and escape the next day, just after the sun had set. She had warned him to make sure he wasn't at the palace because her father might blame him otherwise. She was concerned for his safety.
He wished her luck and told her about one of the servants' passageways hidden behind the portrait of her great-grandfather. He told her that it leads to the servants' garden and if she climbed the wall she would find herself in the orchard.
She had beamed her thanks to him and kissed his cheek friendlily, before running off with Nyaromon. The next day, just before sunset, there was a knock on her door. When she opened it there was nobody there, only a small package of brown paper tied together with string. She picked it up and carefully closed the door behind her.
Nyaromon had asked her what it was and she answered that she didn't know. She had placed the package on her bed and lifted her dress up slightly and pulled out a dagger from her silk anklet.
She cut through the string and the paper fell away, revealing a small silver hand mirror. It looked old and beaten but also loved and cared for. She picked up the mirror and a small piece of paper fell out. She picked it up and read the wobbly words with care, so not to mistake it for anything else.
Princess Kari, this may be useful in seeing who's around the corners. Good Luck.
She had smiled, knowing who had given her the mirror and silently thanked them.
She failed in her escape attempt that night, just like she always did, and when her father found out he decided her friendship with the boy was no longer beneficiary and fired the boy at once, sending him away. Kari never saw him again and regretted that she never learnt his true name.
He had always been Takumi to her because of a fairy story where a boy named Takumi helped free a wood nymph from iron bars and she thanked him by giving him a protective amulet and it reminded her of how she first met him.
She had been making an escape attempt and he saw guards coming down the marble corridors but instead of alerting the guards to her presence, like he should have done, he signalled to her to turn around as guards were coming. For that single action the king could have had his head if he ever found out.
The next day she ordered the boy up to her room to serve her breakfast but when he got there she gave him an amulet to protect him for trying to help free her, as she feared what her father would do to him if he ever learnt that the boy had helped her.
It reminded her of the story and so she had called him Takumi and, as he was only a kitchen boy and she was a princess, he couldn't object and allowed her to call him it. When she was younger and still naïve to the world around her for the most part she had a tendency to boss people around before realising she was becoming just like her father after Takumi was sent away.
She leaned against the window as a lone tear ran down her face, as she remembered her lost friend. She regretted never learning his name. She couldn't find him even if she wanted to. Gatomon walked over to her and put a paw on her back, "You're thinking about him again." It wasn't a question; it was a statement. She nodded; Sometimes Kari was surprised about how well her partner knew her.
She heard a knocking at the door and quickly wiped her tear away, before it opened and her mother's face appeared from behind the doorframe, "Prince Feroc will be arriving soon. You will need to put on one of your best gowns ready for the official meeting. You must wear the family colours. You shall be polite and speak only when spoken to."
"I'm not a child. I'm nearly sixteen and have my own opinions," she complained, strength she didn't have anymore when confronting her father coming through.
"You're right. You are almost sixteen and a married princess does not have her own opinions. She supports those of her husband. You're to be married in three weeks time. You should start getting yourself used to the idea," she said curtly, "I shall send in the handmaids to help you get ready then you shall remain here into you are summoned for dinner."
With that she left the room and Kari had a few minutes to mask her emotions before three of her handmaids came in. Her head handmaid wore a pleated grey skirt and a white blouse. Her face, although pretty, was nothing special. The two less senior handmaid wore the same white blouse and grey trousers.
It was socially acceptable for women to wear trousers and many did, but to the upper class it was a mortifying thought for any women of their social standing to wear trousers. It was unheard of – except for weapons training outfits and also in those kingdoms where princesses were expected to fight, as a dress would be highly inappropriate to go to battle in – trousers made much more sense.
Kari was envious of those princesses who could fight. She was a skilled warrior but only for a few hours each day. She was allowed to train because her father thought it would impress other kingdoms, so her skills were really just for show. She would never see the light of a battlefield rolling ahead of her or feel the adrenalin as she prepared to fight for her kingdom.
No. She was in the palace having to play the timid little princess, just one more reason she felt imprisoned. These thoughts ran through her head, as the handmaid rushed around, layering her up with fine cloth, silks and satin and pendants and broaches, until she looked stunning in the Kamiya family colours of pale blue and silver.
She looked at herself in the mirror and a single tear ran down her cheek. She was a shadow of her former self, broken.
Mai, the head handmaid noticed this and cooed, "Awe, she's so happy she's crying," before leaving Kari alone in the room.
"Kari," whispered Gatomon sadly.
"Look at me Gatomon," Kari said looking in the mirror, "I look in the mirror and I hate what I see. I'm weak. I'm so weak. I've just … given up."
"But Kari, you have been fighting."
"There's nothing left I can do …"
Kari looked down at the colours she was wearing. She hated them. They were nice enough but she would always link them to the reason she was trapped. She was a Kamiya and as such there were rules and restrictions everywhere in her life. Had she been born a peasant she would have been free to come and go as she pleased.
Her favourite colours were browns, greens and reds. They had meanings to her too. Freedom, life and power, but it was not the power over a person, she knew what damage that could do now. She would never find Takumi now because she had power over him. The power she admired was that over your own destiny.
Those colours helped her feel safe. She had them incorporated into her training outfit because of this, which consisted of a top, a cloak and her only pair of trousers. If she could have, she would have worn it to the meeting just to feel the safety that it offered but no … she would wear the colours of imprisonment to the meeting that would decide if she was to be married. It was really just a formality now.
Gatomon watched helplessly as Kari became so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even hear the sound of the trumpets as the Imprecatians arrived. "It'll work out."
Kari shook her head. "I've caused so much harm, Gatomon. What if I'm not meant to be happy?"
"Don't be stupid, Kari."
Kari gave a rueful smile as there was a knock at the door and a servant informed her that dinner was to be served.
Kari sighed and picked up her crown and exited her room with Gatomon at her side. She was positive that if Gatomon hadn't been there then she wouldn't have been able to leave the room.
As she stepped out the door she kept her face emotionless and tried to do the same with her heart. If she was to survive the night then she had to cut off all emotions. She needed to be the epitome of an ice princess. Four guards, all who had a Bearmon as their partners, escorted her down the marble hallway, one in each direction of her and Gatomon.
As they walked past an odd shape, taller than herself, covered in a cloth being moved through the halls. Everything grew slow and Kari felt her senses suddenly heighten. She could hear the separate breaths of each guard and each digimon and see a strand of hair falling as she took another step and she could feel each separate heartbeat. Drums echoed distantly in time with her heartbeats.
Then, with the echoing knocks on the great door of the banquet hall, she felt herself lurch suddenly back into normality.
"Announcing crown princess Hikari Mitsuko Umika Kamiya, daughter of King Susumu Hiroki Kamiya of Amara," came a rather loud voice of a rather small man stood at the foot of the door.
All eyes at the long turned to her and Gatomon, as she glided gracefully across and automatically took her place at the end of the table to the left her mother, with Gatomon sitting next to her.
As she had suspected, the King of the Imprecatians had the seat to the right hand of her father. The king was a rather large man. He had several fat layers folded over his belt. He was at least seven foot high and his nose protruded a long way over his face and his family colours of navy blue and orange did nothing for his complexion of boils and pimples.
She felt disgusted just looking at him but she hid that disgust well, until he smiled at her with yellow and black teeth sticking out at random angles, making her look quickly down at her food. It was not in hers or Gatomon's best interest to stare at the king.
When she looked up she saw the prince, watching her from the left of her father. He wasn't just watching her, he was examining her to see if she would make a suitable bride, but he wasn't the only one doing the examining. She was looking at him closely. He was around seven foot tall, he was very strong looking and apart from that she couldn't pick out any features that you would call handsome. His face was slightly distorted and he had large bulging eyes, which bulged even more as he looked at her, and he had inherited a greenish tinge to his skin from his orgle ancestors.
She smiled politely at him and when he smiled back she noticed he was missing several of them, also how sharp and serrated they were. He obviously had a lot of orgle blood in him, which meant he was likely to be vicious and stupid. The expression on his face matched her impression that he wasn't going to be very bright, however the Imprecatios nation was very influential and had many natural resources, especially ones that Amara lacked.
She silently went through dinner, whilst the two kings and the prince talked loudly. They were getting on well – a bad sign for Kari. If she wasn't what they wanted they would have been angrily complaining about her father wasting their time. It was obvious that she was everything they had been expecting and more.
It was only towards the end of the meal any of them actually addressed. It turned out to be the Imprecatian king who spoke first, "So princess, what do you think of my son?"
Her father looked at Kari with pleading eyes. He knew that she would never lie to someone so important but he was desperate for her not to insult the Imprecatians. He also had a short temper with her these days.
"He's just what I imagined," Kari said truthfully, politely smiling at the king.
Her father's eyes darkened angrily at her but turned to see if her answer would satisfy his guest.
The king chuckled, "Yes, he really is quite something."
"Yes, he is," Kari agreed.
It was only at the end of the meal the Imprecatians officially agreed to the wedding.
Her fate was sealed.
She felt Gatomon take her hand under the table. Her digimon knew she needed comforting and she was grateful her digimon had been allowed to the dinner, especially as there were no others.
King Mortius clapped his hands and several servants entered carrying a large object covered in a sheet of cloth. It was the same thing she had passed in the hall before everything slowed down and her senses enhanced.
"A gift," he said, "For the future queen of Imprecatios." The servants pulled back the cloth revealing a beautiful mirror but it wasn't the mirror she was focusing on but the king's words. 'The future queen of Imprecatios.' Those words made her feel sick to her stomach. It made everything sound so final/
It was only later, when admiring the mirror in her room with her mother, that she would learn the importance of the gift.
Kari wasn't a vain girl and because of that she only used a mirror when necessary, partially because of how she felt and what she saw when she looked in a mirror – a girl not following her dream, slowing being defeated by the hopelessness of her situation.
"The carvings in the wood are exquisite," commented the queen.
"Indeed," agreed Kari dully.
She ran her finger across the mirror and the strange sensation of everything slowing down returned and she could hear the steady beating of drums in her head, growing louder and faster and as they did the mirror before her transformed into a swirling mist. Faster and faster went the drums in her head, until they suddenly stopped.
Now in the frames of the mirror she could see a forest stretching out into the distance, as if the mirror was a door into another world. Kari was aware of her mother commenting on the beautiful carving again, seemingly unaware of what Kari could see.
She felt the energy suddenly leave her and fell unconscious to the floor, slightly aware of her mother and Gatomon screaming and the guards rushing in before everything went black and silent.
