Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne, nothing more to say.
Forgotten by Destiny
By Ryoko Porter
Part Two – Twelve Years Earlier
It had been six months since the departure of Hitomi back to the Mystic Moon. Not a long time at all, unless you were Van. The young king missed his lovely tarot card reader, and woman he had hoped to make his queen. He still hoped to do so, if only she came back.
However now Van was alone. Not completely alone of course, but alone enough. He wandered the halls that were being renovated smiling sadly at the memories they brought to him. He thought of all the years he had spent as a child-prince of Fanalia. The days he spent memorizing the maze of halls of the palace. Younger Merle chasing him, begging him to 'be careful'. The sight of his brother watching him with a slight smile, while working on his duties to the kingdom.
It all seemed so unreal though. Like some sort of copy of his life before Hitomi. His grief-ridden mind half expected to see his brother, and a doting Merle still was behind him.
It wasn't that Merle wasn't there for him. She was ready to serve him as she had for all these years. But since he'd left to bring Hitomi back, Merle had distanced herself from him. When she used to follow him, she now simply watched from a distance. When she used to fuss with great activity, she now quietly worked to keep him in whatever way he needed. She was now a generous young lady, her beauty growing a bit every day. She was changing to fit herself into the court that he now would head.
She was changing to fit his purposes, he realized. And it seemed that the city was realizing it too. Currently she was the only woman in the court, and though she was young, she brought a different perspective to it. She arranged bread to be made in the palace to be distributed to the peasants. And kept war-orphans in the unused rooms, until the orphanage was acceptable for them to live in. Merle also let farmers use the land that Van had given her so that she would have a title, and their only payment was to help with the poor in anyway they could.
All of her generosities made Van and herself popular with the subjects for her work to improve their lives. The people held her with great honor and pride. There were those that hoped that their king would choose her to be queen. But there was rumor of another woman, who when returned would take the ruling role. This of course concerned the people, due to the fact that they were happy. Life was still hard and many were poor, but Merle had managed to give hope to them like she had their king at one time. What would change if another took that role?
End Part 2.