The dress was a green velvet extravaganza, ordered from Milan by the late Empress. At twelve years old, Slaine wore it like a hedge. Clad in jewellery, perfume and make-up, as well as a fiery blush, she shuffled out of the closet to her Prince. He softly whistled and applauded.
"You look ravishing, Miss Troyard. A true Lady of Vers."
"Thank you for your kindness." The blush pushed deeper into snow white cheeks, "Perhaps one day I'll be able to wear such finery."
"Yes. On the day there is true peace, between Terra and Vers, I'd like to hold a grand ball, beside a lake and a forest. There will be, (what do you call them?) boats and swans, food from Terra, and fireworks like the southern aurora of Vers. All Terra and Vers will be there, in the splendour of friendship–and I think you, Slaine, will be the fairest of them all! Now, why are you smiling? Does it sound an extravagant dream?"
"…no dream, Highness. A salvation, worthy of a prince! A future I might devote my heart and soul to, if I could ever be of service to your dreams…"
"Oh, Slaine. Nobody believes in peace here, except for you."
"I believe in…my Prince…" Then Slaine broke from his eyes, and stumbled back, "…I do believe the fairest lady of all should be your future wife and princess."
Prince Asseylum shifted uncomfortably, in his father's out-sized red jacket. Then he innocently gazed over Slaine's face, until she had to cling to a dresser for support.
"Well, yes…but good looks don't only come with rank, don't you know? Real beauty comes with goodness. And hope."
"And Love, your Highness. Whoever your princess may be…I know in my heart she will love you."
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The dress was shining white silk, with a full skirt and lacy sleeves. Unmistakably, a dress for a Princess. Three days after she killed Count Marylcian, Slaine found herself facing a trembling Prince, and the dress. Lemerius tried to go down on one knee; he would have landed on hands and knees if she hadn't caught him.
"Highness. I am here."
"Slaine. My beautiful Countess. When you were almost lost, in Africa, I saw the truth. I could rule over Vers, with your strength at my side–over a kingdom of plenty, where none will suffer like us for their birth! Without you, I couldn't even live on. You've suffered and fought too long, Slaine. Please, let me protect you. Please. Be my princess."
"I…"
"I know. My brother still has your heart. I can only offer myself, Crown Prince of Vers, and all I could ever have to give. That I might simply ask you, Countess Slaine Saazbaum-Troyard…for your hand."
After Slaine's duel, Prince Lemerius had sallied out in the royal Olympus Kataphrakt, destroying the UFE Parnossos Base. One shot, without resistance, but it was the first battlefield action of Prince Asseylum Vers Allusia. The prince who would unite the 37 Clans, in a new victorious empire (Slaine understood) couldn't be overshadowed in valour by his fiancée.
She hadn't worn a dress since Mars; the memories still made her breath fail. Now, for a kingdom, and her Prince's dream of peace, she would stand in a white dress beside this innocent boy. Silent and devoted. As fair a Princess as powder and a veil could make of her scars.
What use was strength, when battles to shake the Earth would not wake her Prince? What did her childhood dreams matter, when his dream could live on only in lies? No Miracles. She would do whatever she must.
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"Well. Here's to Sergeant John Humeray of Springfield, Virginia."
"We took it back for him, didn't we? Kampai, Lieutenant. And thank you."
Magbaredge and Marito clinked their coffees, and drank. They stared out together, over the ruins of New Orleans.
Refugees were already trickling back to their city with the dawn, even as ranks of Areions edged closer to Castle Selkanis. With their Count dead, his soldiers had no retreat or defence, but had met all surrender demands with silence–evidently preferring futile death over surrender to Terrans.
The river was stinking with debris, but Areions scorched by the Solis were already being hauled off. Someone in the distance was singing;
They have laid down their lives on this bloody battlefield,
Shouting the battlecry of freedom.
Their motto was resistance, to tyrants they'd not yield,
Shout, shout the battlecry of freedom!
Dixie forever! Land of the free!
Down with the redcoats, and up with UE…
Kei sat alone, at the heart of it all. After the night attack on the Solis, planned for months with every resource the UFE could spare, all fighters had been ordered to rest. Fresh pilots were preparing to assault the Castle. No one had a thing for her to do, and her eye was agony. She could envision a cloud of equations bursting her skull like a hive.
Another Count dead, a country freed. Would it end the war? It might. Or the next battle might, or the next one–if her mind could resist collapse that long.
Would Inko and Yuki smile like those ragged American kids, when they saw Shinawara again? She would not; Shinawara was a ruin. If her sister, her friends and her Prince were on the battlefield, then that was the ruin she could call home.
Asseylum. The boy who spoke of peace like indomitable certainty. She had to find him. The odds were towering–she would bring them down. She would find him. Even if she could not imagine what would come from it. Because she believed in numbers and logic, not fairytales.
"My sister barely speaks to me." She whispered, "Why do you feel like another part of myself?"
She stared at her hands, and thought of the silver pendant. Did Slaine Troyard feel this lonely all the time? How was it that she lived on…?
"Ensign! The mess hall shuts in thirty minutes."
For a moment, Kei gathered her resolve; then she turned to face her sister.
"That can wait, Officer Kaizuka. In last night's operation, you deliberately exposed yourself to the enemy."
"I had to distract the Solis." Her eyes were fierce, "I did what I had to."
"The laser that clipped your arm could have fried the Duecalion. Yuki. I felt…terrible. Please. Do not recklessly expose yourself, unless no other option exists!"
There were no tears or embraces. No spoken apology. Yuki signed, then smiled.
"Come on, Kei. Let's get lunch together."
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Hours before the speech announcing their engagement, Prince Lemerius summoned Slaine to his suite. She found him torn between fury and tears.
"My love. Before you ask, this isn't about America. This is the moment to rally the Clans against our ascendant enemies, for a new leader to bring victory from defeat–I know that. I only don't know who that leader could be!"
"Highness, what do you mean?"
"It seems news of our engagement has leaked. All the Counts that might support us have written, applauding me lavishly for the destruction of Parnossos. And praising your victories, more than lavishly. With a hint every paragraph at what disaster Vers would risk if anything removed you from battle! In plain English they will only support their Prince as a war leader, if you retain military command."
Slaine fell to her knees. Seized Lemerius' trembling fist in her hands.
"Forgive me, Highness!"
"Slaine, I could never blame you, it's these cursed Counts! They respected my brother! Crown Prince Asseylum Vers Allusia. I took his face, I gave them their war, and they still do not respect me!"
"The nobles are selfish and arrogant. Prince Asseylum spoke for peace with Earth, for years–they never had true respect for him, and now–"
"–now, their Prince is a cripple. That's it isn't it?"
Slaine lowered her eyes. Lemerius took some time to express his full opinion of the Versian nobility, making up in imagination for his limited vocabulary. Then he wept and cursed himself. Slaine held his hand and told him none of it was true.
"Your Highness. Perhaps I must serve you as a warrior…not your Princess. A supportive, feminine bride, connected among the nobility, could be of far more use, if we could only ensure her silence. But please, don't set your heart on a thing like me. It's enough simply to know I have a place in your heart..."
Lemerius knew, that instant–his mother had said the same words, once. To the Emperor who used her, and imprisoned her with her child.
"NO! Let them call me a child, or princess, but you will be my wife, Slaine. Nothing less."
Occasionally, Slaine glimpsed her beloved Asseylum in his brother's face. But as he laid all self and pride at her feet, Lemerius shone with light that was only his.
"You'll simply have to stay on the battlefield, in command of our forces." Lemerius still spoke to her, "A warrior Princess, as you really are…I suppose I always knew it. I could never address Vers, and talk about carving a kingdom from the Earth, without your victories and strength. I simply had a dream that I might protect you. One day. Somehow…."
Hesitantly, Slaine stood up. Then she kissed Lemerius on the mouth.
He was soft and warm as heaped red roses. He responded, and her trigger never stirred–the moment of peace was only gone too soon.
"My Prince. Thank you."
Slaine didn't know why she felt shaken. She'd known, before offering to break their engagement, that the words would only make Lemerius cling to her. No rank beneath Empress of Vers held the security and power that she needed. For her Prince's dream, for every Harklight and Lemerius his empire birthed. To save the world from the fires of war, by any means.
Then Lemerius was sat before all of Vers, proclaiming the new kingdom he would rule on Earth. He was Crown Prince Asseylum Vers Allusia. Conqueror of Old Humanity. His father's heir.
She stood at his side, unflinching in jacket, boots and scars of war. Her Prince's fiancé. The partner in conquest that she truly was. A warrior Princess to bring victory and justice. She would not fail her people of Vers, not one.
Except the pure fount of her life and joy–the Prince her bitterest strivings could only fail and betray. She had cut down her angel. What was left, but to rule in hell?
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"It was you who told the Counts about the engagement, and the dress, was it not, Sir Harklight?"
"I can hide nothing from you, Milady. I thought it the best course of action."
"It was, but you exceeded your authority. Have a care that you don't go too far, someday."
"Thank you, my Lady."
Harklight bowed his head. As an engaged woman, the Countess couldn't be so familiar with him, or employ him as a bodyservant. Significant as his knighthood was, for himself and the whole Versian Third Class, he felt gladdest that it let him to continue as Slaine's aide.
"This is your steed," Slaine stopped at the feet of the Herschel, "You may customise it any way you see fit."
"Perhaps with a seatbelt, my Lady? And an escape pod?" Slaine very briefly smiled.
"Of course. And do the same for the Tharsis, if time permits before I ride out again."
In Slaine's office, Harklight reported on her new situation. Count Barouhcruz, the late Saazbaum's vassal, had already offered his allegiance.
"He seems to believe that the Prince's fiancée and military commander will also command Activation Rights in future."
"So he took the Prince's hints. An especially pliant vow of loyalty–we will have to watch him."
"Rafia, Zebrin, Orga, Count Massingherry and Countess Hauksbey have sent messages leaving their support in no doubt. And Count Mazuurek willsupport you, or be pilloried for ingratitude. Morale has never been higher, since Novosibirisk, even with the fall of Castle Selkanis. Vers has a purpose, and a hope."
Harklight paused. It concerned him that his Lady looked so grim, at this moment of triumph. At least there were no false smiles, now.
"Count Selkanis was no loss. An arrogant individualist who believed no Terrans could ever defeat him. He would never have accepted me; the new Vers we are making has no place for such as he."
"Milady?"
"The royalist and conservative factions may be silent now, but they will oppose me. Please prepare a list of those we can safely denounce, in the Crown Prince's name, and strip of their knighthoods. Well, Sir Harklight? Too underhand for you?"
"My Lady…I simply didn't realise your resolve…"
And Harklight could barely hide how much he loved it. He burned to shake the selfish nobility that had crushed his people and his family. And his beautiful warrior, who stood to crush them in turn, looked to him! How wonderful she was…
"Good. To show the strength of unity, we must also launch a new offensive. Our adherents control two-thirds of Africa, the Russian heartland, Saudi Arabia (somewhat) and part of the subcontinent. The Counts still fighting for China will not support us. Siberia is well-defended and worthless land…Western Europe is too weak to show our strength. The offensive will be aimed at Central Asia. Inform Count Orga, Count Massingherry, and Countess Hauksbey that they are to demonstrate their loyalty."
"Certainly, my Lady. How about Count Zebrin and Countess Rafia?"
"They would be more reliable…but they're tied down in the conquest of central Africa, after my last excursion. Three Orbital Knights, to join up all our territories, seize key resources and smash a major Terran strongpoint. A new kingdom will expand from Central Asia, across the whole Earth. And it will be different from what went before, Sir Harklight."
Harklight waited, but his mistress had no more to say. He left her brooding intently over wars of the future. The battles in her mind.
As blue eyes, under glass, drifted open. Edward gasped, and started running towards Countess Slaine Saazbaum-Troyard, Princess Consort presumptive.
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"…the doctor said his Highness could be awake in days! It's a miracle–the Prince of Vers is truly blessed by the heavens! I'm sorry, it's just so… "
Edward fell silent. Slaine still gazed at her Prince's pure white face.
"Harklight? Do you think you could make me a dress? Not in white; black and red. And please…find me a mask."
"Milady."
Harklight bowed, and left her at the Prince's bedside. The offensive on Earth was already arranged. If it was his Lady's will, he would make the dress.
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"My brother's condition has worsened? I…I suppose it was inevitable. I'm sorry. We were raised apart, destined to oppose each other...but I know he was the best of men. He lived a life full with honour and regard. He fought for the future of Vers, as her Prince. I wish I had known him, to mourn him more deeply–though of course I still hope for his full recovery."
The brother I never knew. The shining Prince I could never be. The hidden, silent body with no place left in this world…except the four souls who will know it when he dies.
"As do I, Highness." Slaine stood up, with downcast eyes, "I hope tomorrow brings better news…"
As she turned, Lemerius caught her wrist.
"I know you loved him. You don't have to be strong for me. I know what it is to be alone…please, Slaine, do not leave me…"
He pulled her closer, buried his face in her breasts. She ran a hand across his soft hair. Eyes merciless and miserable as a tiger in chains.
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The Kataphrakt was matt-black, smaller than an Areion, and armed only with two plasma-edged arm blades. It had gone through the UFE force sent to Quetta, without slowing down. The perfect description, Kei reflected. She watched it vanish in a ball of light, flash into view behind another Kat. Slice it from nave to chops.
"Is that possible?" Calm knew instantly, it was a stupid question.
"Evidently, it is." Kei looked up from her tablet, "It probably generates a stable wormhole." The video ended with shaky footage of bluejackets rounding up Pakistani civilians and gunning them down. The pilot who took the video had managed to flee with other survivors.
"And Count Massingherry has destroyed the base at Lucknow." Wolf Aresh commented. Kei pulled up the file on the Coronae Kataphrakt; an six-armed lion headed machine, bigger than any she'd faced. "No counterattack in India this year."
"This is probably connected to Slaine Troyard's actions. Multiple Counts, vying to outdo her, or gain her favour…I expect we'll be sent to Pakistan. I certainly hope so."
"Sure." Wolf stared out the window, "The Coronae is the tougher Kat."
"And it isn't targeting civilians."
The euphoria of New Orleans had vanished within days. But a glimpse of the heart beyond Kei's frown would always make Calm grin. Inko and Nina both had the same smile.
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Prince Asseylum Vers Allusia emerged from the sea of night, into the numb scrap of meat that was his flesh. His head hurt. Someone was calling him.
"Edward." Brightening eyes drifted over the page's jubilant face. Then to the lady kneeling beside him, in the dark gown. Trembling lips, sea-blue eyes filled with distress. Her face, white as the angel who had guarded his life.
"Highness…"
He raised a hand, towards her masked face. She carefully held it in her own.
"Miss Slaine Troyard…it is good to hear your voice once more."
"Oh–my Prince! So wonderful to be known by you! Such happiness…!"
"Oh, don't cry, my girl. How can I wipe your tears, beneath that mask? My own folly is to blame for this, I've no doubt. And I know you cared for me perfectly, Slaine Troyard. There is no one I'd rather see at my side but you, my kindest, most tender friend…oh, don't you start blubbing too, Edward. Come now, I'm not dead."
Slaine's bosom rose and fell with sobs of joy. Restraint forgotten, she pressed her lips all over Asseylum's hand. Edward blew his nose; then Slaine looked up, smiling, and he burst into tears again at the sight.
A faint knocking, deep in Asseylum's upended mind, implied some vital affair demanding his attention. But royal station was a tapestry of indispensable duties; all would have to be dispensed with, until he was somewhat recovered.
As Asseylum smiled back at Slaine, he pushed all such thoughts away. He would rest, as a patient, not a prince, trusting in his precious friends.
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"Slaine, my love? Is my brother's condition changed, at all?"
"I understand that the Prince is still unstable, Highness. His physicians still advise no visitors. It is most frustrating."
"Oh, I've noticed, dear Slaine. You seem in high spirits one moment, then black and brooding the next. You're bearing the heaviest load of us all…" Lemerius glided in his chair to Slaine's side. Ran his fingers through her hair, across her cheek. "Please, my love. Let the war fight itself for an hour. I…know I can ease your burden, help you forget the pain…"
"Thank you, Highness. But I must meet with Sir Harklight now. My apologies–"
"Slaine…can you not forget my brother? I thought I could bear it, if you didn't, but the truth is, I can't. I only want to raise you up, and bring you happiness. I lo–"
"I know, Highness. love is a joy and pain, that cannot be forgotten. I thank you for all you have given me, Highness. I will do all in return that I possibly can."
Slaine left the room. Lemerius remained. His hands didn't unclench for nearly half an hour.