Disclaimer: Tenkuu no Escaflowne is property of Bandai and Sunrise, all rights reserved. I am in no way affiliated with these companies, and am not making a profit by writing this novel. Any similarities between my work and that of any other fan-author is purely coincidental. "Dare You To Move" song lyrics are property of Switchfoot, all rights reserved.
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"Broken" - Chapter 10: Welcome To the Resistance
By The Last Princess of Hyrule
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"Welcome to the fallout,
Welcome to resistance,
The tension is here,
Tension is here,
Between who you are,
And who you could be,
Between how it is,
And how it should be . . ."
-Switchfoot, "Dare You To Move"
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/./Oh, gods, this is so boring. Get me out of here././
/I'm really bored, too. Millerna's parties aren't that fun./
/./Then let's go././
/But I want to dance./
/./Then find someone to dance with././
/I want to dance with you./
Dilandau laughed. /./That's stupid././
/Thanks for the support./
/./Anytime././
Celena sighed, leaning her head against her hand. He could be so nonchalant sometimes. Well, all of the time, when she thought about it. He really didn't know anything about chivalry, even after all the time she spent with Allen. Surely he would have picked something up from her brother, but Dilandau wouldn't know chivalry if it hit him in the face. However that worked. Celena was about to pursue this point when she looked up to see Folken coming toward her, returning from the dance floor.
"What happened out there?" she asked as he sat down across from her. "Why did you stop dancing? And where's Hitomi?"
"She's dancing with Van." Folken picked up his half empty wine glass and looked down into it.
/./Oooooooh, competition././
Celena ignored Dilandau and frowned. "What happened to that important stuff he said he had to do?"
Folken swirled the wine. "Maybe he finished it."
/./Yeah, right././
"Well, why did you let him dance with Hitomi?"
"He wanted to." Folken smiled at her. "What are you so worked up about? It's only a dance."
/./And it means absolutely nothing. Just keep telling yourself that, Folken././
"But what if he steals her away?" The concern painted on Celena's face was genuine.
Folken laughed, maybe a little too hard. "That's ridiculous."
/./Ha! He's nervous! He's actually nervous/./
/Dilandau! Would you shut up/
/./He can't hear me././
/No, but I can. Give it a rest./
"Well, don't lose heart," Celena said with a smile. Folken took a sip of wine and gave her an confused look, but didn't say anything.
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Hitomi and Van followed the pattern of the other dancers across the dance floor, spinning through the waltz flawlessly. "Hitomi," said Van. "I'm glad you're back." There was an edge to his words, and almost hesitant feel that Hitomi had never heard from him before. "I meant to tell you earlier, but I never really got the chance."
Never got the chance? What is he talking about? He's been seeing me all dayhe's had plenty of chances. Hitomi refrained from pointing this out, even though she was genuinely curious why he was suddenly acting so nice. "Thank you," she replied instead. They passed a few bars of music in silence, then Hitomi couldn't hold back anymore. "When I first got here, I thought you might be mad at me for some reason."
Van looked confused and smiled. "No. Why?"
Okay, this is starting to get weird. "You were acting really cold."
Van didn't answer. The final quiet bars of the music drifted in a gentle echo across the hall, and their dance came to a halt. A hushed, trance-like silence fell over the Hall, the dancers captivated for a moment by the magic of the piece. Before the spell had completely faded and the minstrels could begin a new song, a single, slow, reverberating applause broke the silence.
"Brilliant, brilliant."
The attentions of every person in the Great Hall turned to the voice that had spoken. A tall man dressed in coarse, brown-hued clothing clapped his massive hands together as he walked in through a set of double doors near where the troupe was performing. "It's been a long time since I've heard 'Waltz of the Atlantis Borne' performed so well by a troupe that wasn't Fanelian. Yes, yes, wonderful."
Eries stood up from where she was sitting by her father. "Excuse me, sir, but if you're going to make a disturbance, I'll have to ask that you leave."
The tall man looked somewhat hurt, but only for show. "You mean I wasn't invited? How strange, because tonight I was told King Aston was going to be fulfilling a promise to someone important. This is such a once in a lifetime opportunity that I simply couldn't miss it."
Eries's eyes narrowed. "That kind of talk will not be tolerated in this Hall, and especially not this night. Kindly take your quarrels elsewhere until you can make proper arrangements to meet with the King another time."
"Ah, Princess Eries." The tall man stepped toward her, arms outstretched in a gesture of friendship. "Surely you can't deny me this one simple request. Especially not when it's of no loss to you or your great assets."
Allen stepped up behind the man from out of the crowded dance floor, his hand on the hilt of his sword. "It will be of a loss to you if you chose to stay and harass Her Majesty."
The tall man whirled around, the taunting gone from his gaze, looking Allen up and down with in detest. "The Knights Caeli, the Royal Family's lapdogs." He scoffed. "Stand down, dog, and let a real man of honor speak."
Allen's eyes narrowed, and he gripped his sword tightly, but did not draw. "So speak, if you have something so important to say. But watch your words."
The smirk returned to the tall man's visage. He turned back to Eries. "I see no expense has been spared to rebuild the palace, and it was made top priority, too." He gazed around the Great Hall for effect. "So, now that your own home is back to normal, will you be so kind as to devote some of your precious attention to helping your people?"
"Now you're out of line." Allen grabbed the man, but he wrenched out of the knight's grip and shoved him away.
"Moore!" he called. "Time to do this thing right!"
Suddenly, both double doors burst open again, and a rush of people came in, all of them dressed in different colors and styles proclaiming them from all different walks of life, but all of them were armed and looked disheveled.
"Sansom, you idiot!" A bearded man all in black ran up to the tall man. "This was not the way it was supposed to happen."
"No, it wasn't." Sansom shouted these words toward Eries and King Aston. "But how many things have happened the way these people promised the past few months?" He thrust an accusing finger at the royals. Grabbing the sword from Moore's grip, he strode up to the table at which they were sitting, and slammed the tip of the blade into the King's plate, splattering food everywhere.
"You've done it this time, Sansom," Moore snarled, but Sansom paid no attention. He was glaring at Aston, and completely ignoring his comrade's pessimism.
"The time for talking is drawing to a close," Sansom warned the King in a low voice. "If you want to avoid trouble, maybe you should stop breaking your promises and try to listen to your people. Didn't you hear them screaming only a month ago when Zaibach burned down their homes and slaughtered their families? Don't you see them suffering now outside in the streets while you clench the money that could save them in your tight fist? Feh." He spat.
"Guards! Seize these men!" Eries ordered.
The Royal Asturian Guard, which had been standing along the walls and keeping watch over the banquet, dashed out of the shadow's at Eries's request.
"Wait, Sister!" called Millerna, pushing her way through the dancers to where she stood in the center of everything, hoping her presence at least would keep things from going too far. "These men should be allowed to speak."
"They should pick a better time and place to bring up their issues," said Eries, throwing a menacing glare at the younger princess. "Stand down, Millerna, you don't know what you're talking about. This is out of your hands alone." Her attention turned back to the guards. "Take them all to the dungeons for treason and attempted assassination."
Sansom wrenched his sword out of the table and swung it around into Eries's face. "Not so fast, Princess Eries. Just outside those big windows, the rest of my men are waiting for my signal to attack. We've got you outnumbered. However, I'm a decent man, and I'm willing to walk away from here without doing anything, as long as you're willing to do a few things for me."
Eries narrowed her eyes. "What?"
"Tomorrow morning, you, your father, and Princess Millerna here will meet with me and Moore in this room, and you will listen to the requests of the citizens of Palas."
Eries pursed her lips, but remained silent.
"That can be arranged," King Aston said slowly. "This time, I hope you can give some realistic requests instead of the bullshit you tried to feed me last time."
"Have I ever let you down?" Sansom intoned, baring his teeth in a dangerous-looking smile. "Now, let my men walk away from here free, and we should be done for the night."
Aston nodded. "Very well. They can go."
"All right, then. Everyone, back off." Sansom whipped his sword away from Eries with a flashy twirl and lowered it to his side. He turned around to watch the mismatched band of rebels lower their weapons and walk warily out of the Great Hall under the suspicious gaze of the Royal Guard. When they were all out, Sansom looked back at Aston, grabbed a piece of food from his plate, and popped it in his mouth. "Great party. I'm looking forward to dropping in on the next one if things don't work out."
Aston's mouth twisted in a small smile. "I don't think you need to worry about a next time." He snapped his fingers, and a few guards leapt forward to grab Sansom before he had any idea he had been double-timed. They swiped the sword out of his hand and had him restrained immediately. "Please take our guest to his new stay room. I'm sure he'll find it much more pleasant than the cold, damp street."
"What the hell!" Sansom struggled against his captors. "Aston, breaking your promises already? I should have known better than to trust you."
"I upheld everything I promised. I let your men go, and I'm willing to meet with you and your friend tomorrow if you show up. I never said I wouldn't throw you in the dungeon."
"Bastard!" Sansom wrenched his body back and forth as the guards shoved him roughly out of the room. "Someday your lies are going to come back around to you, and then you'll know how we're suffering!"
"Shut your mouth!" One of the guards slapped him upside the head with his sword's hilt.
But nothing could silence the rebel leader now. "Lady Hitomi!" he called. "If you're here at this banquet in your honor, I hope you know how many people are dying in the streets because the money that could have built them homes out of the winter cold was spent on the fancy pastries you ate here instead! Lend us your power! Help us save the people you descended from heaven to preserve!"
The guards forced him outside, but his cries could still be heard all the way down the corridor. The Great Hall was left in silence for a minute as everyone's attention turned slowly to Hitomi, who was caught up wishing fervently that she would be taken away, too.
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TO BE CONTINUED . . .
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