Disclaimer: Trinity Blood and its characters do not belong to me. This fanfic consists of monologues by the characters at their most alone. Not in chronological order. May contain spoilers for the anime. Rated for potential dark and mature themes.
I have referred to Mirka Fortuna in an earlier installment as steel cloaked in silk… please read and review if she is really like this.
Mirka: Steel in Silk
When the wind blows across the sea
Hear this song and remember
Soon you will be home with me
Once upon a December
I take care to ensure the veil sits securely on my head. It will never do to have my identity exposed during the procession. The visitation by the pale-haired man earlier has unsettled me. How had he slipped in through Baybars' guard? When I brought it up to her, she only laughed and assured me everything was alright. The visitor meant us no harm. I am worried. Somewhere out there, my only grandchild is alone, hunted by the Empire… You try telling me not to worry. I recall the day she chose Ion for the mission…
"WHAT? But he is only a child!" No, not Ion, he is too inexperienced for such a hazardous mission…
"Relax, Mirka. Ion will not be alone. Barvon will be accompanying him." She took my hands in hers and looked up into my eyes. "You know he has to grow up someday, we all do."
I thought Radu could be trusted. I was so wrong. Our sources in Cartago notified us regarding the recent developments there. My poor Ion, wounded, foully betrayed by his childhood friend and forced to throw himself on the mercies of Terrans, a race he considers inferior. Our Empress assigned the Duchess of Kiev to protect Ion and the emissaries from the Vatican. Will Astaroshe be sufficient to protect my grandchild against further harm? She is forever careering from one disaster to another with her quick temper. And Ion had slipped out to seek Mimar, and to chance upon his murder… this is really too much for one so young…
I want my grandson home and safe.
I hear the fanfare. Time for the old charade. I never dreamed I would one day be attending my own funeral. Guess what? That's exactly what today's procession is about. The Empress will pay her respects to late Head of the Secret Service. I see Suleyman and Radu standing off to the side. Murderers and traitors! How dare they even show their faces today? They should be impaled on stakes and left to dry in the sun, like a historical Romanian prince was fond of doing to traitors. They have not the least shred of remorse about what happened last night.
Naturally, the true Empress was never in any real danger physically. The shock was mostly emotional. She was shaking like a leaf when she got back and not from the cold of the seawater either. Suleyman, you broke our mother's heart. I clench my fists helplessly. Not now, Mirka. I shelve my fantasies about inflicting a suitably long drawn out punishment on them.
As imperiously as I can in my condition, I walk to the carriage and get onto it. Baybars bellows out the order to move out. With a dreadful slowness, the procession crawls out onto the streets. Where is Astaroshe? Her absence has been noted and raised many whispers in the morning assembly. I want Ion back home with me. Soon, Mirka, soon. I try to soothe my fears. I allow my mind to drift into the past as I look out through the snowy whiteness of my veil.
He came into my care as a month-old infant on a cold December day. Loyal Mimar brought him from Warsaw where my daughter Iona had been living after she left home. That day was bitterly cold. Snow fell in heavy flurries. My servant was half-frozen when he stumbled in. The baby in the pathetic bundle of rags he cradled so pale and still, I thought it was already dead. I simply took it out of its sodden rags, wrapped it in warm blankets and held the poor thing close until it started bawling.
Don't ask me when Iona married or who she married. I was too caught up with work to pay any attention to my only child. We parted on very bad terms and she took off without a backwards glance. When the trouble started in Warsaw, I sent my Terran servant there to get my daughter to safety. When he found her, Iona was mortally wounded by a silver bullet. She lived only long enough to hand the baby in her arms to Mimar. She never even told us the name of her child.
I named the little one after his mother. He resembled her a good deal. I was a bit disappointed the baby's a boy. The Fortuna line had always been a matriarchal one due to the special burden entrusted to its daughters for centuries. Also, a little granddaughter to lavish all the attention I neglected to give my daughter on would be nice. I have not decided how I am going to let Ion in on the big secret about the Empress and the duty of the Fortuna heirs. Somehow, I don't think he would like the idea of cross-dressing…
It was always Grandmama and Ion, until I got the Barvon boy to be his companion. It was better for Ion to have a playmate his age. Maybe I have sheltered him too much. I have to admit, Ion was a bit sulky when he received the orders to contact the cardinal. It took a lot of coaxing before he would leave for Cartago. Ion always had a poor opinion of Terrans.
Who could blame him, considering Terrans probably killed his mother? However, I have spoken with him about this on many occasions. There are good Terrans, like Mimar who risked his life to save him, just as there are bad Methuselahs who defy our Empress' will. Still, he never had much patience with poor Mimar or the Terrans we employed in the mansion. On hindsight, there were times I really ought to have bent him over my knee and spanked him. Guess they were right about me spoiling him.
"An eye for an eye makes everyone blind, Mirka," She told me on the many occasions she gave out lenient sentences to those pathetic rebels my people flushed out of the woodwork. The Empress is a wise one, indeed. I respect her enough to put aside whatever grudges I may harbour over my daughter's death… if anything should happen to Ion, will I be able to do the same?
"RADU!" A rage-crazed voice broke my reverie. No! I froze as the drama unfolds before me. Baybars shouts orders as the procession halts. I can only watch in silence as Ion's futile attack on Radu is thwarted. Ion, you shouldn't have done that. Stay hidden and safe. It is too late for that. Is Astaroshe with him? No, he is alone. Where is that girl? Radu incapacitates Ion and forces him to the ground. No, no, no…Stop, I want to scream but my voice is paralysed.
Radu is readying his sword for the death blow. There is a brief exchange of words, Is Radu mocking him? Ion retorts angrily but I fail to hear his words. He glares at his soon-to-be executioner without flinching. A flash of silver… NO! I nearly leap to my feet. Only the years of iron discipline kept me seated. He missed? Ion is still alive. The sword only grazed him. I can't believe my eyes. At that range… was it some prick of his conscience? Ion appears as confused as I am.
"Your Excellency!" A red-haired girl is running towards the commotion. The Vatican's emissary? The guards intercept her. Ion tries to run to her aid but is intercepted by Radu. He can't fight. If he resists, he will be killed. Someone must help them. The Empress' voice. My voice. I take a deep breath and speak in the altered voice I use as her double.
"Enough!" Everyone freezes. "Take them back to the palace. I will question them, personally…" I stress the last word. My heart is thumping wildly. Ion, hang on.
"Yes, your majesty." As they always do, they bow before me, Radu included. He tries to protest and I silence him with a thinly-veiled threat. "Any problems, Luxor?" He backs off.
Ion is screaming, trying to stop me from continuing to the mausoleum. Quiet! Hold your tongue. Every word you speak places you in danger! I wince inside as a guard dealt him a forceful punch to the stomach. My beloved grandson goes limp and quiet. The guards take my unconscious grandchild and the girl into custody. Baybars bellows the order to continue. I must see this charade through for our plan to succeed. I force myself to look ahead and away from the prisoners.
Hang on… no matter what happens, stay alive…
Author's Notes:
The song at the start is taken from the animated movie Anastasia. Ion does not appear to have any family aside from his grandmother and he appears very close to her. She's the first person he wants to see when he returned to Byzantinum. Most grandparents dote on their grandchildren. In fact, there are many instances where seemingly feeble old folks find the strength and courage to take on dangerous animals or people threatening their grandkids.
The Romanian prince Mirka was referring to is an actual historical figure and supposedly the inspiration for Bram Stroker's Dracula, Vlad, the Impaler, or Dracula (Son of the Devil) as he is known to his foes. He's a Romanian folk hero even though he has a reputation for cruelty. I let the Fortuna line be a matriarchal one, given the nature of Mirka's royal duties as Seth's double.
I read from Wikipedia that in the novel, her character is quite different from the one in the anime. She is also known as the Keeper of the Secret History.