SEASON 2 CHAPTER 2:
Smoke rose into the air as people scattered in all directions in an attempt to find shelter from the unknown assailant. Princess Henrietta's guard gathered around the Princess to ensure her safety, drawing cavalry swords and a variety of ranged weapons including crossbows, flintlock pistols, and throwing daggers.
As the smoke passed, the guards quickly identified the source of the explosion, or so they thought, and closed around the suspect – an unconscious and heavily charred Saito, spread out on the ground from the concussive blow. In a frenzy of machine-like efficiency, they dismounted and quickly captured Saito, detaining him and rushing after Henrietta's speeding carriage.
Louise stood in shock, her jaw dropped as Saito disappeared around the corner. "You've gotta be kidding me!" she growled, recovering from her shock as she gripped at her hair in frustration.
"Well," Kirche managed through a fit of laughter. "Looks like we'll be spending the afternoon bailing him out of jail now, I suppose."
"It's not funny!" Louise roared, stamping her foot. "He was staring at the princess, which is absolutely unacceptable. Even more so than staring at you!"
"Chill out, Louise. It's his nature. Not much we can do for now, except go talk to Queen Henrietta and explain. Otherwise, Saito will be treated as an attempted murderer and tried for treason. That's the death penalty, for sure."
"Yeah, I don't think you want him dead just yet," Tails added.
The four began to make their way among the streets, mostly deserted as people slowly began to re-emerge from hiding. Tails could see many heads peeking out of windows in shops and homes, retreating when he made eye contact with any one face. "I wonder if that calls off the events for the day," he thought, his stomach grumbling. "I really wanted to see if we could get some good food at the stalls since we missed breakfast ages ago…"
Working their way through the city, Tails and the others arrived at the main gates to the castle grounds. The heavy wrought-iron gates were sealed shut, staffed by a couple of burly, halbert-wielding guards in heavy armor. One of the two guards also had a short square of fabric mounted over his armor, decorated with several colorful badges.
"We need to see queen Henrietta!" Louise declared, fearlessly stepping up to the armed guards.
"No one enters or leaves until we ensure the queen is safe," the badgeless guard replied. "Once we have the situation under control, then we can permit you to visit her, if she approves of it."
"No, we need to speak with the queen now! The one you have wasn't to blame, it was my accident that caused the explosion," Louise pleaded. Suddenly, she stopped to correct herself, rolling her eyes at whatever thought passed through her brain. "Well… actually, it wasn't an accident, and he deserved it, but… whatever, I know queen Henrietta personally, so we need to speak with her so Saito won't be tried."
"You know the boy that was captured?" the guard with the badges asked.
Louise nodded, sighing. "Yes, that idiot is my familiar. If you're the guard captain," she said, nodding to the man's set of awards on his chest, "then we need to speak to the Queen as soon as possible, before anyone jumps to conclusions and kills him."
"Very well. George, accompany our guests," the guard captain said, turning to his companion. The other knight turned to open the gate, escorting the four into the castle's depths.
Climbing the sets of stairs to the throne room, they found the room mostly unoccupied. Only a few of the queen's guard remained in the room, including a few of the female knights that had hauled Saito away.
"Excuse me," Louise asked one of the female cavalrymen. "Where is Queen Henrietta?"
"She's downstairs in the dungeon, meeting with the prisoner we took," she replied. "If George accompanies you, you are welcome to meet her. You four are the students decorated in the war a week and a half ago, correct?"
"We are," Kirche stated, pride starting to creep into her voice. "Thanks for your assistance. George, do you mind?"
"Not at all, Miss. Right this way," George replied. He opened the throne room door and led the way back down the stairs, winding through the seemingly endless corridors of the castle. Finally, the group made it down to the subterranean dungeons where Saito was supposedly being held amongst the few other prisoners. Down the torch-lit corridor, another female cavalrywoman stood in front of the door, flintlock handgun drawn and low at the ready.
"Four here to see the Queen," George said, giving his fellow knight a brief salute. "Four of the five decorated students from the war to see her, specifically."
The cavalrywoman nodded and gave a short knock on the door. "One moment more, Agnès," came a reply through the heavy steel door, who Tails recognized to be Henrietta. The group waited for a few moments more, before Ring decided to break the silence.
"Oh man, Saito, you crazy, desperate man," Ring said, letting out a laugh. It took a moment before Louise put two and two together, spurring her into action. The cavalrywoman Henrietta called Agnès quickly cleared the path of the pink-haired ball of rage, who threw the door open with uncanny strength. Tails braced for impact as Louise entered the cell with her wand at the ready, thoroughly expecting a massive shockwave of air to roll down the hall, sweeping everyone away; for once, however, this wasn't the case. He took a few steps forward and peeked into the cell to see Louise kneeling in front of a surprised Saito, giving him a hug. The Queen sat on her knees next to Saito, watching Louise's unusually warm embrace with a note of disappointment, almost sadness, in her eyes.
"George," Queen Henrietta stated, bringing the knight to attention. "Tell the guards to stand down. This morning was an accident. Agnès and I will escort our guests."
"Very well, your Majesty," George stated, giving her a quick salute before hiking back down the hall. The sound of his armor clattering as he ran echoed through the stone halls, until the sound of the dungeon door slamming shut brought on the eerie silence of the cells.
"I'm sorry about what happened this afternoon, your Majesty," Louise stated. "It was entirely my fault, an attempt at punishing Saito for his incorrigible behavior gone wrong."
Henrietta stood up and dusted off her dress. "Louise, just because I've become queen doesn't mean I want you to treat me any differently than before," she said, taking Louise's hand. "None of this queen buisness. We're friends, remember? Also, think nothing of this morning, I completely understand. Although I don't think Saito's as 'incorrigible' as you may think," she added with a short giggle.
"Thank you, Henrietta. We should head back to the Academy. I'm sure afternoon classes will be starting soon," Louise stated, giving Henrietta a final hug. Saito got to his feet and dusted himself off, slowly edging his way to the door. Louise suddenly locked on to Saito, giving him a potent death glare. "Don't think you've escaped punishment for what you did. When we get back to the Academy, you're really in for it."
Saito nodded miserably, embarrassed at being called out in front of the queen. Henrietta released Louise, obviously blushing at the remark but secretly smiling at the backhanded compliment. Exiting the cell, the group walked in awkward silence as they made their way through the dungeon and back up to the main gate of the castle grounds.
"I hope you have a safe journey back," Henrietta said. "Please come back and visit any time!"
"We will! Thanks again for keeping Saito safe," Kirche replied.
When the group got out of earshot of the Queen, Louise shot Kirche a dirty look. "What does Saito mean to you? He's my familiar."
"Doesn't mean he's not worth being around. You should know that," Kirche said, giving Louise a shrug and a sly smile.
"What does that mean?" Louise asked, starting to get mad again.
"It means exactly what it means, word for word. Figure it out, Louise," Kirche stated, her temper rising a bit.
Tails butted in, physically pushing himself between the two girls. "Hey, let's not get angry at each other before we get stuck together in the carriage," he said.
As the two girls continued to bicker, Tabitha silently took lead of the group, heading off in the direction where she had instructed the driver to wait in advance. Approaching the carriage where it waited at the street's edge, the carriage driver snapped out of his nap and hopped down from his bench to hold the door for his guests. When everyone was boarded and seated, he closed the door and hopped up onto his bench, giving the reins a short snap to spur the twin horses on home toward the Academy.