Mother didn't leave her room very often. Not for food, not for rest, and certainly not for social contact. Miriel was pretty sure she would have starved to death already if she hadn't come every day to feed her.
The only time her mother ever left her room was when she ran out of ink or writing quills. It was a little annoying, especially when she disappeared before Miriel could eat with her. Annoying, but not awful. Miriel was used to it, and she could usually figure out when it was going to happen.
Which was why it was so strange when Miriel pushed open the door to find a full inkwell sitting on her mother's desk, her mother herself nowhere in sight.
Now, Miriel was not a girl who worried a lot. Whenever something bad happened, there was always a reason why. This was just like the time she'd mistook the rats in the hall for a ghost, or the time she'd thought the cloak on her bedpost was a monster trying to eat her. Surely there was no need to worry.
"Mother?" she said.
All she heard was silence.
Turning around, Miriel poked her head out the door to scan the hall. "Mother?" she said again.
She still received no response.
So she wasn't in her room, and she wasn't anywhere nearby. That would be fine, but the stationary closet was just around the corner, and if she wasn't there...
Where was she?
Closing the door behind her, Miriel did the only thing she knew to do in the situation: she set her tray beside her, and she sat down to wait.
As the servants passed by her, a few stopped to give her odd looks. Miriel ignored them. They weren't her mother. When her mother returned, they would eat together, and her mother would teach her all about–
An odd scrap of blue passed her vision. Miriel looked up just in time to see her mother stride past, a bundle of quills gripped tightly within her arms.
Miriel looked at her, then looked back at the door. As her mother disappeared around the corner, she frowned. The door to her room was clearly next to her. Why would she miss it?
Unless something was wrong.
Jumping to her feet, her food forgotten for the moment, Miriel took off after her.
"Mother," she said as soon as she'd caught up, "what is the matter?"
Her mother didn't reply, clearly too wrapped up in her thoughts to hear her. Whatever it was, it must have been bad.
Miriel decided to stay quiet. Her mother didn't like it when people interrupted her thoughts, after all.
Not that anyone else cared. Turning corners, walking through courtyards, wherever she and her mother went, people stopped to watch. When they passed, they whispered to each other, as if her mother was a strange animal out of her cage.
Miriel thought it was rude of them, but she didn't question her mother, not until they stopped at a balcony looking out into the city.
Overhead, the sun scorched the deck with its blinding light. Mother hated the sun, so much so that the other children incorrectly believed she was some sort of creature of the night, yet this time she stepped out without so much as a second thought.
Miriel trailed after her to the ledge. As her mother peered over it, Miriel pulled herself higher to do the same. A large crowd had gathered in the square just down the road and stood upon a wooden platform in the middle, a chocolate-haired woman Miriel recognized as the Captain of the Pegasus Knights reached out over the townsfolk, her voice muffled by the distance.
Even so, Miriel had seen enough of these to know what it was.
"Mother, why are they holding an execution? Does this have something to do with Uncle Alabaster?" she asked. She looked to her mother for answers, but her mother's eyes were dead set on the courtyard below.
"No. Not him," she muttered.
Confused, Miriel followed her gaze to what as very clearly a woman standing just behind the platform, her arms tied behind her back. Long strands of blue hair blocked her face from view, but Miriel thought she could still make out large splotches on her coat.
"It can't be him," her mother mumbled again. "Too much of her blood. Too close to her line." She paused. "Unless..."
"Unless what?" Miriel asked, only growing more confused by the second.
"Unless unless..."
Suddenly, her mother fell silent. The corners of her lips clawed their way up the side of her face inch by inch, and her lips peeled back into a smile.
In her arms, her bundle of quills broke in two.
"Hah. Ha ha ha." Her mother took a step back from the ledge, grinning from ear to ear. "Insanity," she whispered. "Absolutely ludicrous. Simone, you've finally lost it, you gullible little girl. Ha ha. And to think, for a moment, he could have won. To think..."
"Mother, what's wrong? You're not making any sense!"
Her mother giggled once more, and without warning, her legs snapped like twigs beneath her weight.
Miriel's eyes flew wide, her mouth hanging open. Fear held her heart in its crushing grip, holding her in place at the sight of her mother lying motionless on the floor.
Her reason only caught up with her body a second later. Her legs were the first to move, bending down so her arms could reach for her mother's side. Then her lungs took in a shuddering breath, forcing her heart to start again until, at last, words began to form in her mouth.
"Help!" she cried out. "Somebody help!"
In the halls behind her, she could hear the servants who had heard her call rushing out. As they gathered around to lift her mother in their arms, by accident, Miriel glanced back over to the courtyard.
No one down there had seen anything at all, too focused on the pegasus knight captain to even notice her. That is, no one but the girl with the blue hair.
Miriel could feel her gaze on her and only her. Almost as if she knew something Miriel didn't.
The servants could not have dragged her back inside fast enough.
Lucina could feel everyone's eyes on her. No matter where she looked, someone was watching her. The people in the crowd, the few knights stationed around them, even the castle itself looming in the distance, all of them staring at her, judging her.
Some looked at her in curiosity, others in anger. A few regarded her in fear.
She tore her eyes away quickly. What they thought of her didn't matter, she tried to tell herself. They had no idea what she had been through, what this was all for.
Vaguely she was aware of the pegasus knight captain speaking on the stage. Though she had her fair share of attention, most of it was on the captain.
Surely no one would notice if she slid the blade hidden in her sleeve into her hand.
Trying not to wince at the pain of metal cutting into her skin, Lucina started to furiously saw away at the ropes binding her hands together. She didn't have time to take it slow, not like she did with the cell bars. Her time was running out, and if they saw her now, well, she would be dead either way.
"–bring the prisoner down to the block!"
Lucina froze. For a moment, she feared she might have been caught, but when she looked up at her, the pegasus knight's eyes were on the executioner behind her.
"Don't look at me, it was a last-minute decision," the pegasus knight captain hissed.
Lucina heard the executioner grunt. Her fingers closed around the knife as he dragged her to her feet, and he began to lead her forward.
The pegasus knight captain stepped down from the platform as they approached, and as she walked past, Lucina caught her muttering, "Now where in Ylisse has Helena run off to now?"
Once she was sure she was out of sight, Lucina continued to cut at her bindings. As more and more people turned to look at her, she prayed to Naga none of them would happen to glance down at her hands.
There was no cry of alarm. No one so much as made a peep over the dull droning of the crowd, even as they neared the stage. Lucina's hands worked faster with each step. She tried to keep her eyes as far away from her hands as possible, when she noticed the metal glint of an arrowhead perched over the crowd aimed at the pegasus knight captain's back.
"Look out!"
Her body moved on her own. Without thinking, Lucina threw herself in front of the arrow's path. The executioner growled, dragged along with her, and the knife fell from her hands.
But the arrow never came.
"What…" Lucina's eyes widened, and she quickly realized everyone's eyes were now focused on her. If they weren't looking before, they were now. With all this attention, there could be no more hiding the knife at her feet.
The executioner didn't so much as give her a word before he continued to pull her along.
Lucina tried not to cry out in despair, regretting her mistake immediately. She had no reason to save the pegasus knight captain. She didn't even know who she was, so what would she care if she took an arrow to the back?
She was so stupid. Her friends had always told her that her tendency to rush headfirst into action without a second thought would get her killed, and as the executioner forced her down against the chopping block, it finally hit her that her mistake had just cost her her life.
Turning to face the side, Lucina caught Emmeryn's gaze by chance, the captain and the red-haired nobleman from before by her side, Falchion strapped to her hip. She saw Emmeryn's eyes widen, saw the conflict that flashed within them. In the end, Emmeryn turned away, leaving Lucina to her fate alone.
No.
No, Lucina had not come all this way just to die by her grandfather's executioner. Even as the executioner grabbed his axe, she struggled in his grasp. No matter how hopeless it seemed, no matter how tired she was, giving up was not an option. She would escape, or she would die trying.
This would not be the end.
She would change fate.
The axe raised, blade gleaming in the afternoon sun. Lucina clenched her eyes shut.
Thunk.
Steel clattered over the cobblestone. Before her, the crowd gasped in surprise. Surprise quickly morphed into terrified screams, and Lucina opened her eyes just in time to see a volley of arrows rain down upon the courtyard, striking against the floor, the walls around them, and the few unlucky civilians standing in their way.
With the executioner's weight no longer keeping her down, Lucina craned her neck over to see Emmeryn rush to the fallen man's side, an arrow buried in his shoulder. The pegasus knight captain and the guards scrambled to assemble before her with their weapons drawn, Lucina momentarily forgotten.
As the crowd thinned in its panicked frenzy, who else would step through but a familiar man in green, his own regiment of knights by his side, twice as large as Emmeryn's own guard.
"Tomas!" Emmeryn cried. "What is the meaning of this?"
From the shock clear on her face, it was obvious she hadn't listened to a word Lucina had said. Tomas had, though, if the furious look he was directing at her was any indication, and for a moment, Lucina felt a twinge of guilt for it.
Because of her, he had ended up turning against her years too early.
"I'm so sorry, Your Grace," he spat in reply. "I never wanted it to come to this, but this halidom needs direction if we are to continue to stand our ground against Plegia, direction only I can provide."
"Tomas, please!" Emmeryn begged. "I don't want to fight. Don't do this."
The man scoffed. "I have no other choice. Your father never listened to a word I said. I thought I might have trained you to be wiser, but it seems if I want to have my way, drastic measures must be taken."
Emmeryn shook her head vigorously. "No, you're wrong! If you had just told me, I would have listened!"
"Not with her at your ear." With a sneer, Tomas leveled an accusing finger at the pegasus knight captain.
His knights charged forward with a roar.
Emmeryn's eyes widened as Tomas's soldiers rushed toward them. Their weapons shone wickedly in the sun, each and every one of them capable of killing someone as the people holding them yelled out for her blood.
"Guards!" Captain Madeline barked. "Protect the Exalt!"
A wall of shields rose before them to meet the advancing line of knights. Steel struck against steel with a horrible screech, and the square erupted into chaos. Blades thrown in every direction. Men and women crying out as steel swords and lances found their mark between gaps of armor.
Just seeing it made Emmeryn feel sick.
A rough hand caught her before she could fall, jolting her back to reality. Captain Madeline gave her an assuring pat on the shoulder, and she pushed her back toward Lord Bartholomew.
"You!" she said, leveling her gaze at the red-haired nobleman. "Grab her Grace and retreat into the streets."
Lord Bartholomew nodded, but as he reached for Emmeryn, she pulled away.
"What about the executioner?" she asked, and she glanced down at his fallen form in concern. "We can't just leave him here."
"The executioner?" Captain Madeline followed her gaze, and she made a sound when she saw him groaning at her feet.
Her shock was short-lived, and she barely made a sound as she dragged the larger man and hefted him over her shoulder.
"Come now," she said, and she nodded back to the street leading to the castle. "I'm not sure how much longer the royal guard can hold the line. We must make haste if we are to–"
"Arrows!" the prisoner blurted out.
The captain cursed and spun around. Another volley of arrows took to the sky from the courtyard. They rained down on the nights like hailstones, bouncing harmlessly of their thick armor. They didn't stop there, though, zipping past the knights and peppering the cobblestone like an ocean wave drawing closer with each passing second.
"Take cover!" Without another word, the captain threw herself and the prisoner behind one of the buildings. The nobleman followed, tucking Emmeryn into an alleyway behind him as a storm of arrows poured onto the street where they had been moments ago.
"Captain Madeline!" Emmeryn cried over the sounds of fighting. "W-what do we do?"
Captain Madeline gritted her teeth. Letting go of the prisoner, she poked her head out and glanced back down the street.
"They've got us badly outnumbered," she said. "I don't think the royal guard will be able to hold for much longer."
Fear squeezed Emmeryn's chest tight. "What?!"
"We'll never make it back to the castle in time, not while we're within range of their archers. Gods dammit, where are our own archers?"
"Tomas must have sent them away," the nobleman replied. "I thought it suspicious how much of the royal guard were being sent out on patrol."
"Why couldn't you have stopped them, then?"
"By the time I realized, it was far too late for me to do anything about it!"
"Please stop it!" Emmeryn shouted, and she stepped between them. "I don't want you to fight too!"
The captain and the nobleman paused. Exchanging glances, a silent message passed between them.
The nobleman let his shoulders fall with a sigh. "My apologies, now is not the time to be bickering."
"My apologies as well," the captain said. "Right now, our main priority should be to find a way to seek aid."
An alarmed shout came from one of the knights. The captain peeked out onto the street, before she reached back and shoved Emmeryn away.
"Get back!"
No sooner had the words left her lips, an axe swept across the entrance to the alleyway. It cut through the wooden beams supporting the buildings on either side. A great knight towered above them, his blue armor shining in the afternoon sun.
The bright red emblem shone brightly on his breast, depicting a pattern of swirls, one Emmeryn recognized immediately.
Captain Madeline reached down to her side. From a sheathe at her hip, she pulled out a dagger. Emmeryn watched as, with a cry, she charged at a man almost twice her size. His axe came down, only to meet nothing but air.
Bits of stone showered the street as the knight's axe crashed into the side of a house. Captain Madeline slid under his blow, and she thrust her dagger toward his back.
Her face impacted the back of an armored elbow with a crack. Emmeryn gasped as Captain Madeline fell, one hand to her jaw. The knight wrenched his axe free. He spun around and, without missing a beat, raised his axe again.
Emmeryn's hand fell to the sword at her side. She hadn't a clue how to use it, but she had to do something!
As it turned out, she didn't need to worry.
"Flux!"
A cloud of dark magic purple exploded over the back of his head. The knight's head jerked down. He grunted, more from the hit than from any real pain, but it was enough to send him stumbling forward. Right into the tip of the captain's waiting dagger.
There was a crunch. A spurt of blood. The captain tore her weapon out from beneath his helmet, and he collapsed into a heap beside them.
Seeing the growing pool of red beneath him, Emmeryn's hands flew to her mouth. Her lunch threatened to fly out. She had to distract herself, so she fixed her eyes on the crest he wore instead.
"House Redwind," she muttered, shaken. "I know that crest. These are House Redwind's soldiers. What are they doing here?"
"I'm sure Lord Reginus can give us an explanation after this, but right now, we have more pressing matters at hand." Sliding her dagger back into its sheathe, Captain Madeline yelled, "Men, fall back!"
She grabbed the prisoner again, dragging both her, Lord Bartholomew, and Emmeryn out onto the street. Once again, arrows took to the sky, but the captain pressed them up against the retreating knights, staying behind their cover.
Once the arrows stopped, and they had a moment to breathe, Captain Madeline turned to Lord Bartholomew. "You know magic?"
"I've dabbled."
"What tomes do you have on you?"
The nobleman huffed, patting down his pockets. "A flux tome, a fire tome, and a wind tome."
"Do you think you could boost me up on the roof with a wind spell? If I can get up there, I should be able to track down the nearest patrol."
That gave Lord Bartholomew a pause. He glanced up at the rooftops high above, and his eyes narrowed.
"I think I can," he said after a moment of thought, and from his robes, he produced a blue-green tome.
"Captain Madeline, wait!" Emmeryn said, and she grabbed at the captain's arm. "Don't go! We'll die without you!"
The captain hesitated. She shuffled her feet, and for a moment, she almost seemed uncomfortable. "You'll be safe," she said, and she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I won't be long, so... don't you worry about it."
Snapping her attention back to the nobleman, she said, "Blast me up."
"Right now?"
"Of course I mean right now. We haven't got time to dawdle like this!"
The captain jumped. The nobleman flung a blast of wind at her feet. Emmeryn kept her eyes on Captain Madeline as she flew over the rooftops. A few arrows whizzed past her, but Captain Madeline ducked and wove through them, and before Emmeryn could blink, she had disappeared.
Leaving Emmeryn alone with a battle raging on behind her, and the weight of everyone's lives in her hands.
I was planning on updating Saturday, but a combination of tech issues and me just not getting enough sleep pushed the chapter back a little.
Anyway, chapter 13. This is as far as the old version went, so hitting it again is quite the milestone. I'm hoping to have another chapter by Saturday, but if my computer decides it doesn't want that, well, c'est la vie.
Until then, I wish you all well, and stay safe!