"I'm sorry?"
"I want to cancel the execution." Emmeryn put on her best scowl, the same one she'd seen father use time and time again to get what he wanted.
Most people got mad. They shouted, they scowled back.
Captain Madeline raised an eyebrow.
Emmeryn wavered, but just a tiny bit. "I know you must have worked hard on this," she said, pointing to a raised wooden platform behind the captain, "but we don't need it anymore."
"Oh, Naga dammit," Emmeryn heard a soldier groan behind her, followed by a heavy wooden thunk.
Captain Madeline looked over her shoulder. "I'd be a little more careful with that if I were you," she called out. "Our carpenter is a picky man, and he gets quite fussy if we bring him damaged wares if you can catch my meaning. We wouldn't want any more delays to this execution, would we?"
"You can't!" When she noticed everyone's eyes on her, she shrank back. "I mean, you don't have to."
There was a pause. The soldier looked between Captain Madeline and her, before he shrugged, picked up the wooden planks lying at his feet, and continued on.
The pegasus knight's armor rustled as she knelt down beside Emmeryn, a hand on her knee. "Your Grace," she said, "can I have a word?"
"You may?"
"Ah... Well... How do I explain this..." Captain Madeline stopped. She glanced up at the sky, adjusted the hand resting on her knee, and hummed. "You're not too old for stories, are you?"
"I don't think so?"
"Oh. Good." Captain Madeline gave a small laugh. "My son says he's too old for stories. It's nice to know girls take longer to outgrow them. In any case, I'd like to tell you a story."
"A story? About what?" Emmeryn asked.
Captain Madeline frowned. "What's it about? Well... I'm not going to say it, but it's about you."
Emmeryn tilted her head. "Huh?"
"Yes, it's about you and your father. I know now might not be the best time to speak of him, especially with how soon he'd just passed, so I'm not going to mention him either. He was Exalt for the longest time, though, and for good reason too. He showed he had the strength to lead his people to victory, so they listened to him."
"You, on the other hand, have yet to prove your worth. You haven't had a chance yet, so that's okay. You're quite the youthful spirit, and... let's just say the others are a little more than reluctant to respect your rule."
"What?"
Emmeryn yelped as Captain Madeline put a hand to her shoulder. "It can be quite the challenge to wrap your mind around it, so I'll try to simplify it as best I can. You see, there was a girl–"
"No," Emmeryn cut her off before she could go on what was sure to be another lengthy tangent. "You already told me all about that."
"I did?" Captain Madeline frowned. "Oh. It would seem I have."
"Everyone loves my father, I get it. Why, though, must we carry out this execution?"
The captain's armor rustled again. To Emmeryn's confusion, her face shifted into an unsure look. A worried look, even.
"I'm sure your father has brought you to his hearings, has he not?" When Emmeryn nodded, she continued, "Then you must have noticed how empty the throne room was yesterday."
Emmeryn blinked. She hadn't noticed, but now that she'd mentioned it, the lords and ladies who so often populated the sidelines had been strangely absent.
"Maybe it was time for their lunch?" Even as the words left her mouth, she knew it was a poor excuse.
Captain Madeline didn't seem to fault her for that. "Your Grace, your hearings are quite important events. Missing something like that without an excuse is sure to anger the Exalt."
"But I'm not mad at them."
"Maybe not. But they don't know that, do that?"
Emmeryn clenched her fists. She didn't want her people to know her as the Exalt who got mad at every little thing. Her father had told her that was bad, but if no one else knew... Well, that frustrated her to no end.
"So do they want to make me mad?" she asked.
Captain Madeline shook her head. "No, not exactly. They simply won't care if you get mad. With your fa–" A cough. "With someone as young as you on the throne, everyone will try to steal it out from under you if you can't prove to them that you can keep it."
"They would want to steal it? But why?" This was always how things were supposed to go, wasn't it? She was supposed to rule over everyone, and everyone was supposed to listen to what she said. To think that anyone would try to change that, to take it away, it was unimaginable.
"I'm afraid not everyone can be as understanding and exemplary as you, Your Grace." Captain Madeline's lips quirked up, the first time she'd ever seen them do so. "By executing this traitor, you will show your people that you are not a child to be fooled and toyed with. No one would dare attempt to take your kingdom from you."
As much as Emmeryn hated to admit, the offer was tempting. She never wanted her siblings to find out about the execution, but if the only other option was to lose everything they'd always had before...
They would blame her for sure. Maybe they would be horrified of her choice now, but at least they could still live happy lives.
Right?
"Do you see why we cannot keep the execution away?" Captain Madeline asked.
Emmeryn opened her mouth to reply when she heard footsteps come from behind her. She looked back, and her face brightened the second she saw who it was.
"Your Grace!" Tomas said, walking briskly across the courtyard to meet her. The red-haired nobleman followed him, a teapot and a pair of teacups nested on the platter in his hands. "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you." His eyes narrowed as he glanced up at Captain Madeline. "I'd like to know what you are doing with her."
Sensing the hostility between them, Emmeryn stepped forward. "Tomas!" she said. "Is there anything you need?"
"Only a moment of your time. Alone." Tearing his eyes from Captain Madeline, Tomas smiled at her.
Emmeryn opened her mouth to accept, only to catch a meaningful look from Captain Madeline from over her shoulder. She wanted an answer.
All she could think of was how she didn't have one.
"Do my people not love me?" she asked Tomas.
"Of course they love you."
"Do they really?"
"Yes! They absolutely adore you. Just ask anyone else, and they'll tell you they'd be prepared to defend you from those dastardly Plegians at a moment's notice."
She relaxed. Slowly, a relieved smile began to worm its way back into her own face. "Thank you, Tomas," she said. Turning to Captain Madeline, she bowed her head. "And to you as well, captain, for your concern, but I don't believe an execution will be necessary."
Captain Madeline's brows pulled down into a frown. "Your Grace, I must ask you to reconsider," she said. "If you rescind the execution, your people will take it as a sign of weakness. They will revolt."
"I... don't think they will. Will they?" Emmeryn looked to Tomas for help.
He only sneered at Captain Madeline. "Of course you would tell her that," he said. "Hoping to scare you, though I assume I taught you well enough to see through her lies?"
"Ironic," the red-haired nobleman muttered from behind Tomas.
Emmeryn looked over at him, surprised to hear him speak. She wasn't the only one to notice; Tomas looked too, though his expression was a lot less friendly.
"Do you have anything you would like to share, butler?"
The red-haired nobleman glanced away, frowning. "No, sir. I apologize for speaking out of line. I only serve tea."
"Just as I thought. It would be unwise to forget your place." Tomas looked satisfied with that answer. Emmeryn was not, though.
Stepping forward, she asked, "Is there truly nothing you have to say?"
"It is nothing of value," the butler replied. "Forgive me, I simply spoke out of place."
"Even so, I would like to hear what you have to say." She could still remember how conflicted he'd seemed as he finished preparing her bed. Maybe it was silly of her, but whatever words had been on the tip of his tongue then, she hoped to hear now.
"Your Grace," Tomas said, and his face morphed into a confused expression. "What are you doing? You don't need to lend an ear to his word."
"Please, Tomas. I would like to know."
"But he's just a butler. Surely anything someone like him says holds little intellectual merit."
"Even so, I want to know."
"Your Grace, I must insist you give this a second thought."
Emmeryn moved to say something in return, but Captain Madeline beat her to it.
"Her Grace gave you an order. I'd advise against ignoring it. After all, it would be unwise to forget your place, as I'm sure you'd agree."
Tomas had no reply to that.
Without Tomas' protests, Emmeryn turned to the nobleman. "Do you think my people do not love me?"
"I'm not sure what to tell you."
"Tell me the truth, please. My siblings' lives could depend on it."
Sighing, the nobleman said, "Among the staff, no one is quite sure what to think. Everyone is waiting to see what you will do."
"Which is exactly why you must go through with this execution," Captain Madeline said, and she crossed her arms. "The longer you wait, the more time anyone with a plot against you can sway the hearts of your people."
"No!" The noble's outburst surprised them all.
The flat line the captain's mouth had been set into faltered. "No?"
Instead of shrinking away, he stepped toward her, a challenge held within a clenched fist. "That is exactly why you must not go through with the execution."
"And why not, good sir?"
"Because it's wrong. No ordinary girl her age should have to condemn someone to death."
"But she is no ordinary girl her age, is she? She is the Exalt. Her people cannot see her as weak, or as someone afraid to serve a cold platter of justice to those who deserve it."
"There is strength in stopping an execution as well, strength in forgiveness and grace."
"That's not how Exalt Alabaster did it."
"Then Exalt Alabaster was wrong."
Emmeryn saw Captain Madeline's eyes narrow. Tomas whispered something to her, grabbing her arm, but whatever it was, she didn't hear.
"That is no way to speak of the Exalt!" Captain Madeline said. "The dead deserve nothing but our respect, especially a man as great as him."
"Great?" the nobleman scoffed. "He was a tyrant who cowed you all into submission."
"Could I tyrant rouse as many people to his side as he did?"
"Through force, yes."
"That sounds nothing like the Exalt Alabaster I knew of my whole life."
"It's how I knew him in the years I spent in his service."
"And who are you to claim such things?"
The man stepped back to take a bow. "Lord Bartholomew, at your service," he said.
"Lord Bartholomew?" Captain Madeline huffed. "I remember you now. You're the steward the Exalt brought in just before the Plegians attacked. What do you know about the Exalt? You've not been here for five years, and you think you can claim him as some cruel oppressor?"
"I've worked for him long enough to know that, yes."
And suddenly, all eyes returned to Emmeryn, and she flinched.
"Your Grace," Lord Bartholomew said, scowling back at Captain Madeline. "I must implore you to cancel the execution. Aligning yourself with your father will only lead to disaster."
"On the contrary," Captain Madeline replied. "This execution is what your father would have wanted. It is justice for his death. You must not falter in your decision."
Emmeryn stepped back, overwhelmed by the barrage of words. Helplessly, she looked back to Tomas for guidance. What do I do? She tried to say with her gaze.
"Do whatever you must," he said.
Emmeryn glanced between both the captain and the nobleman. Captain Madeline's brown eyes held strong, firm resolve steeling her expression, while Lord Bartholomew's red eyes burned with a fiery passion. Neither was willing to back down, not without her own words.
Taking a deep breath, Emmeryn made a choice.
"Hello Frederick."
Lifting his gaze from the street he'd been looking down, Frederick found himself staring up at a familiar blue-haired girl.
"Oh, hello Miss Phila," he said. "What are you doing here?"
"Your mother sent me to bring you to the dining hall," she replied. "It's time for lunch."
Frederick frowned. "I thought she said she would send Miss Helena."
"Helena? Oh, she was, but she couldn't find her, so she sent me instead." Phila gave him half a smile. "Sorry about that."
"It's fine." Looking away, Frederick added, "Tell mother I'm going to be late."
"Why?"
"I'm not hungry."
"Oh? Found something more important to attend to?" Leaning up against the window beside him, Phila followed his gaze to the raised wooden platform standing just outside the castle walls. At the center, a gallows loomed over a low wooden bench.
"They're almost finished repairing it," Frederick filled her in.
"So I've heard," Phila replied, adjusting her place on the wall. "They say the execution will be held tomorrow. The day after, at the latest."
"Tomorrow? That's slow. Why does it take a whole week for them to finish fixing up this old thing? They should have been done the day the Exalt gave the order."
Phila motioned down to a tiny shop below them, planks stacked just outside the door, a hooded man leaning up against them. "Well, you know Mister Gregor. He's very picky." She stopped to shoot Frederick a cheeky grin. "A lot like you."
Frederick made a face at that. "I don't like cabbages, that's all."
"Frederick, you know cabbages are good for you."
"But they taste so bad!"
Phila chuckled. "If you think that's bad, just wait until you join the Royal Guard."
"What's in the Royal Guard?"
"Sorry. It's not my place to tell." She said that, but the smile slowly spreading across her face told him it was probably something bad.
He looked away with a huff. It was better to stop talking there than to risk saying anything else.
His stomach disagreed, if the way it growled was any indication. Frederick glared down at it, hoping that Phila hadn't heard, but her raised eyebrow dashed that.
"Not hungry, eh?"
"I'm not!" he said.
Again, his stomach told him he definitely was with another growl.
"Alright," Phila said, turning herself to face him. "What's wrong? You don't like missing out on lunch."
"Mother does."
Phila blinked. "The captain?"
"Yes." Frederick knew it wasn't polite to scowl, but he couldn't help himself. "Ever since the Exalt said there was going to be an execution, mother has hardly left her side at all."
"Well," Phila waved her hands in front of him aimlessly, "the Exalt is rather new. She needs all the help she can get, especially with the execution coming up."
"But I need her too!"
"I'm not saying you don't. She probably knows that too. She's just been... busy. That's all." Placing a firm hand on his shoulder, Phila looked at him, smiled, and said, "I promise, once this is all over, everything will go back to normal."
"You really think so?"
"Of course."
Frederick smiled back, feeling a little better with her words. This was only for now. Like Phila had said, as soon as the execution was over, he would have his mother back.
"Hey! Be careful!" someone yelled behind them.
Frederick and Phila turned to look just in time to see a blonde woman stumble into view. Just around the corner, they heard giggling, followed by a chorus of "Sorry miss!"
The woman shook her head with a sigh. When she turned and spotted them, though, her face lit up, and she quickly made her way over.
"Freddy! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" she said brightly. "And Phila? What are you doing here?"
"Oh, Helena," Phila replied, ducking her head. "Captain Madeline sent me to fetch Frederick when she couldn't find you. Sorry."
Helena waved her aside. "It's not your fault, kid." She paused, before adding, "I just passed the prince and princess back there. Do you know what's got them so excited?"
"No, I'm afraid not," Phila said.
"Me too," Frederick added. "And I come here every day."
Helena hummed, shrugging after a second. "Eh. I suppose if you don't know, you don't know." She paused. "Say, what do you two say to heading back to the dining hall for some lunch?"
Frederick looked at Phila. Phila only nodded back. An unspoken message passed between them, comforting Frederick and pushing him forward.
"I'll come," he said at last.
"That's a relief. Hey, maybe if we get there before lunch is halfway done, the captain will forget I went missing. What do you think, Freddy?"
"She won't. My mother never forgets."
And a week and a half later, I finally have something to upload. Some more things get put into play, and hey, Frederick makes an appearance too! I felt like some bits were a bit ham-fisted, but sometimes ham-fisted is the only way to get something across, y'know.
Updating this on Saturday won't be a permanent thing. I just decided to switch up the days which I worked on this fic because I wanted to work on something else on Monday and Tuesday. That's all there is to the story, this isn't a version of me from an alternate reality where I update Mama Lucina on Saturdays instead of Tuesdays. We'll probably get back to our regularly scheduled programming in another week and a half because I don't think I'll get anything done by next Tuesday.
Until next time, I wish you all well, and stay safe!
