Forbidden Chains
By: rainjewel
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Chid was bored. Not that being bored was anything extraordinarily different then usual. Chid had found that he had become bored and listless ever since the rebuilding of Freid had finished. Peace had settled over the land, and Chid, being the Prince of Freid, really had nothing to do. For as long as he could remember, conflict and its consequences had been a part of his life. At age 5, Zaibach had destroyed his country. It took Freid four rotations to reconstruct itself, and Chid had to repair himself as well. He had been working constantly, although he was barely a child. His brilliant young mind was talked about by all, and it had been in constant use. Then he learned how the gallant Caeli Knight Allen Schezar was his true father. It took him forever to deal with being a "love child." Sometimes, even though he didn't want to admit it to himself, he still had problems with his paternity. Now Chid lazily watched the city prosper. Freid had become the center for the making of guymelefs. The people made top-quality guymelefs, using the best traits of the legendary Escaflowne, and incorporating some of Zaibach's technology. Chid now had his own guymelef, Khorinae, which boasted some of Freid's greatest accomplishments. But now, even practicing in his guymelef wasn't fun anymore.
Since age nine, his days consisted of speech practice in the mornings, along with government relations. The only thing good about that class was the field trips to Asturia and Fanelia. Then there were table manners at noon, and sword fighting until twilight. The training was all great fun for a little while, but the poor boy's mind wasn't being stimulated anymore. Finally, he had gone to the Duke. On one nice, sunny day (the days were always sunny now) he had been at the breakfast table, and broached the subject of leaving his studies.
"Sir," he had said. "Isn't my schedule a little repetitive?" he asked. He never addressed the Duke as "Father" anymore, just "The Duke".
"What do you mean Chid?" asked the Duke.
"Well, every single day, it is the same old thing again and again, and it's getting extremely boring."
The Duke looked sternly at Chid and replied, "You think you've learned everything in 5 rotations? It took me 7 rotations to learn these things. Why do you think you can quit 2 rotations prematurely?"
Chid looked at him, square in the eye. The Prince had been tiring of this schedule for quite sometime, and was getting fairly annoyed at why the Duke couldn't understand.
"I want to start doing separate studies. Individual studies. Find an interest and learn everything there is to know about it. I want to go explore Gaea for myself. You take care of all the duties here in Freid, leaving me with nothing but my classes day after day. I can beat my teachers at everything now! If I had wanted to, I could have killed my Sword Instructor a rotation ago."
The two battled about the subject for a while longer, but Chid never got a definite answer. So, a rotation later, here he was. Sitting on the balcony in the twilight, watching the city and its people. He reminisced about all the lost arguments with the Duke on his studies, and his strictly controlled schedule. Here I am, he thought, 15 rotations old, an heir to the throne, and a toddler has more freedom then I do.
He wished he could be like his mother, Marlene. She was a free, rebellious spirit he was told. Unfortunately, honor and its burdens got her in the end. Married to a stranger rather then her true love, Allen Schezar.
Chid rebelled in small ways, such as having his hair rather long. Not long like Allen, but nice and floppy, like the King of Fanelia. He loved the unruliness of it. He remembered longing to dress and move like Van had when he had come to Freid 10 rotations ago. The images were hazy, but Chid remembered the freedom of the young King. Chid also dressed, as the Duke said, "like a ruffian". He wore a green leather vest that usually wasn't buttoned, open-fingered gloves (they had no purpose) and dark brown pants. His shoes were unlaced boots that he wore under his them. He also, just to really spite the Duke, had pierced his right ear and wore a small golden hoop earring.
Chid also played small, practical jokes on the Duke. He would remove the portraits from the great halls, and put them in strange places, placing them under tables, on top of the Palace Plants, and a couple in the fountain by the Grand Ballroom. Duke Mahad would be a little bewildered by waking up with his Great Aunt Usha's portrait in bed with him, but usually he'd laugh. Not anymore though. The Duke tired of Chid's jokes, and would glare at the Prince angrily when he discovered he was showering with a two-dimensional relative.
"Aaah," Chid sighed, remembering. Life was so miserable. He felt guilty being miserable, since he was a Prince, and life in Freid was so monotonously delightful. He leaned back on his wicker chair, and felt the warm summer breeze kiss his cheeks. His hair blew around his eyes, blocking out the lighted city below. He began to close his eyes, but quickly opened them when the door open behind him.
"Sir?" asked a timid voice. He turned around to look and see who it was. A small, slender cat girl walked towards him. She had long black hair, which contrasted sharply with her golden striped body. Her tail was curled very shyly. She was wearing a servant's uniform. Why is it, thought Chid, not answering, that Fanelians behold demi-people as equals, but Asturia and Freid cannot?
The cat girl slowed her steps and stopped, still very far away from him.
"Come closer, please," Chid said toward the girl. She looked familiar, probably one of the maids who cleaned his rooms or something. He'd seen her around for sure, but never spoken to her.
The cat girl took a few more steps. Chid beckoned for her to come closer still. She approached, slower then ever, and stopped, about 5 feet away from his chair.
"Your father, The Duke of-," she stammered. Her voice had a soothing bell-like tone, even though she was obviously nervous.
"It's okay, you don't have to tell me who he is," said Chid, cutting her off. Besides, he's not my father anyway, he thought bitterly. He hated all the formalities at the palace. He didn't see the point. However, the Prince realized how arrogant and sarcastic he sounded. The servant girl looked stricken. He tried to make up for his rudeness by smiling affably. "Sorry," he said, "I am very tired from my sword practice. I didn't mean to be rude." The words seemed to soothe the cat girl, and she continued.
"Well, your father, the Duke...sorry. The Duke would like to have a word with you in his bedroom," she smiled sheepishly, warmly. She was beginning to be more at ease, or so it appeared to Chid.
"The Duke would like to see me?" asked the Prince. The servant nodded. "Do you know why he called on me?" It seemed odd to Chid that the Duke would want him at this hour. The moons were already out, and dinner had been over for a long time.
"I'm sorry Your Majesty, but he didn't tell me," she looked apologetic.
"Alright, I'll go see him. Thanks for your message," Chid stood up from his delicate wicker chair. A fierce gust of warm wind blew just then, and skirted the chair right into the back of his knees, just strong enough to knock him off his feet. He fell backward into the chair, which tipped over onto its back. His head hit the back of the railing along the balcony.
"Yiee!" cried Chid, crashing backwards.
"Oh no!" The cat girl bounded over to Chid, who was on his back in the wicker chair.
The girl quickly brought the chair out from under Chid, and laid his legs down so that all the blood wouldn't flow to his head. His eyes were closed, and he appeared to be unconscious, but slowly his eyes opened.
"Do you hurt anywhere?" she asked. Every trace of meekness was gone from her voice.
"Just my pride," murmured Chid airily, "and my head...is it a bad thing if I'm seeing 20 images of you?"
"I really don't think that's a good thing," said the girl, smiling amusedly. Chid slowly sat up, his head in his hands
"Okay, I think that helped," he said, seeing a worried look erase the girl's smile. "Now there's only 10 of you...wait, just 5, now 2. Alright, now there's just one image of you."
"Well, I'm glad you're okay, sir," she smiled at his joke.
The girl rose to her feet, and put out one clawed, slightly furry hand. Her arm was steady, but her emerald eyes were questioning him, asking Chid if she was out of line. He saw something then, something in her eyes, something that had been cruelly caged. Chid felt himself connect with this strange girl.
Chid shook off the feeling and took the outstretched paw gratefully, and rose smoothly to his feet, his eyes on hers, trying to tell her that it was fine. When he stood he was slightly unsteady, and balanced himself by putting a hand on the cat girl's shoulder. He felt her tense at this unexpected touch. Chid considered squeezing her shoulder or hand in reassurance but decided against it, thinking she'd misunderstand his intentions. He released her shoulder, and then slipped his hand from her gentle grasp. He straightened, and looked down at her face.
"Sorry about that," Chid smiled at her, blushing. He felt really stupid, and now he had a headache. She smiled back and her cheeks turned faintly rosy. He could see her green eyes; they were sparkling with shyness.
"It's alright. Don't worry about it," she said. She was still grinning.
Simultaneously the pair began combing their hair and straightening their rumpled clothing. Chid started running his hands through his hair and the cat girl quickly drew her hair up into a nice little bun. Chid noticed that her hair had red streaks entwining with the black strands.
"Well, I suppose I should go answer the Duke," Chid said. The cat girl nodded and picked up the criminal chair.
"Thank you for your help...um...could I please inquire on your name?" Chid was kind of shocked at what he had just said. He'd just blurted it out spontaneously. What am I doing? The Duke had always told him not to mingle with servants. Chid didn't really agree with the rule, but he obeyed it. He felt, well, rebellious by asking her that question.
The cat girl quickly turned around and faced him. Chid saw her thinking, thoughts skittering across her mind only visible through the windows of her eyes. She had two options, one, tell her name to a monarch (which was against servant protocol), or two, displease the Prince (also against servant protocol).
"Akaro," she breathed. Chid stepped closer.
"Pardon?" he asked. The cat girl looked at him, and said her name again.
"Akaro," the name came out as a purr.
"Akaro, that's a beautiful name," Chid said. Odd name, but truly beautiful. He stood there, not knowing what to say. She already knew his name.
"Umm, shouldn't you answer your father?" said Akaro, she felt light-headed with her rule breaking, and she was feeling awkward.
"Oh yes, quite," Chid edged his way toward the door and slipped through, throwing one last smile in Akaro's direction.
Akaro sat down in the wicker chair that was previously occupied by the Prince. She thought of his smile, wild hair, and charming manner. This brief event filled the cat girl with a little happiness, borne from the risks she had taken.
******
"You have to be joking!" Chid cried. He was practically trembling with rage and disgust. He couldn't believe his ears.
"Do not raise your voice!" shouted the Duke of Freid.
" I will not marry Nidia," said Chid, quieter then his last outburst, "that is gross and disgusting. I can't believe Dryden would agree to such a thing! What does Aunt Millerna say? She can't be so in love with him to let this happen. I won't let this happen! I—"
"Silence!" The Duke stared angrily at Chid. "In the monarchy, people marry within the family all the time, so as to keep the royal blood line."
"That happened a very long time ago! I refuse to marry my cousin. Have you gone mad? I would rather marry a dog then her! At least I wouldn't be marrying my blood! I swear to you, I will die first then marry Nidia. I won't put her through that."
With that comment, Chid stormed out of the room, his face on fire. He was so mad he couldn't even see straight. Share my life, my country, and...my bed with my cousin? Never! thought Chid. He was appalled that a man such as the Duke would think something like that would be okay! Chid had to sit down. His vision was blacking out. Why does he do these things? thought Chid. The accident, he thought bitterly. The accident had changed everything. Chid sat down, memories swamping him. He couldn't deal with this. He couldn't deal with marrying his cousin, and then memories of the Duke's near death. Unfortunately, the memories persisted. Chid remembered.
He remembered the man he believed to be his father drowning blood. Everyone thought he had died. He remembered a wounded warrior dragging what Chid thought to be the Duke's corpse. Chid remembered he had been screaming.
Later, advisor's from the Duke's panel had come to tell him that the Duke had survived. Chid had been puzzled at these words, but had obeyed. Later, the advisors came to him again and explained the situation. The Duke had come close to death, but they could save him. Unfortunately, they had to make sure everyone in Freid thought the Duke was dead, or Zaibach would continue the attack and destroy the kingdom. Chid understood it all, and he wanted to see the Duke, but advisors wouldn't let him. But Chid had sneaked in anyways, and had seen...
"NO!" yelled Chid, standing up. He shook his head. He wasn't going to remember. It was too painful.
He opened the door to his room. Green cloth covered the room. It was his favorite color. Chid was angry again. It didn't matter what had happened to the Duke before. He wasn't going to marry Nidia! He grabbed his clothes, a first aid kit, and then raced to the kitchen to steal some food. On a whim, he took a sheet of paper from the Duke's desk. He quickly wrote a note, and stole into the servant's wing. He tiptoed down the creaky hall.
Chid knew the room immediately. He had been here only once before, but he remembered it very clearly for some reason. He didn't understand why he did. It had been a rotation ago. He had found a small off-white apron in his room. It was slightly battered. He had gone from servant room to servant room, asking of whom the apron belonged to. No one would answer him, but finally he came to a room at the far end of the hall. He knocked on the thin door. Chid heard a chain rattle and the door lock detach. A curious and frightened striped face had peeked out.
"Is this yours? I found it in my room," he'd explained.
The girl had quickly whipped out her paw, and swiped it from his outstretched hand. The girl then had quickly shut the door in his face, whispering a breathless thank you.
This time Chid had gone to find a servant, he knew exactly where to look. Quickly he picked the lock and opened the door slightly. He saw the chain that was meant to keep visitors out tighten, right at his shoulders. Private little thing, aren't we?, he thought. He quickly reached up and hit it with the hilt of his sword, breaking it. It made a little *clink* noise, and then he opened the somewhat creaky door.
He looked inside the darkened room. He saw a small chest of drawers painted a moody black, but it could have been a dark green or blue, for Chid couldn't tell in this light. On top of the chest of drawers was a tall thick candle. Next to the chest was a bed. A small form was lying under a ratty quilt, airily purring. Akaro.
Chid crept closer to the bed. She was lying on her side, with her torso turned upwards. Her arms were outstretched to the sides, as if in offering. Her face was peaceful, no timidity anywhere. Her long silky black hair surrounded her like a veil. Chid once again felt a connection with her. It was incredibly hard to explain. It was as if Chid knew everything that was in her soul, and Akaro could understand everything about him.
The Prince reached down to place the scroll in her slightly curled hand. He let it drop in her outstretched paw, and gently clasped her hand around it. She let out a gasp, and Chid ducked below the bed. After a few minutes he peeked over the edge. Akaro was still asleep. Good. Chid needed to leave. He stood up to go, but paused and reached down to touch her hair. What am I doing?, he thought. He couldn't resist. The thick strands were as soft as corn silk. Slowly he slipped out the door, down the hallway, and out from the palace.