It took about four hours of marriage for Slaine and I to experience the first quarrel of our lives. I had dragged him onto the dancefloor again for another waltz; but barely had time to say he had been wonderful, before my Prince slipped away again to talk with Count Orga.
Our duty to Vers had to come first. I knew that better than he did. He just looked so happy about it. I'd never seen that beaming, innocent smile since we were children. Indeed, I'd barely seen my fiancée for two weeks together since before the war. Violence and politics were always dividing us. But Slaine was always among the cheering crowds and loyal soldiers that came second after me in his heart. I was left hidden away in his castles and bunkers, alone with my fear.
It would take one bomb, one unguarded hour, and Slaine might never return to me. Like poor Inaho-San, slip away forever. How could he leave me alone and smile like that, unless he still didn't know how I felt?
"Slaine? Pardon my interruption. No one but you and I have talked to Count and Countess Mazuurek all evening." Slaine glanced across the ballroom at the Mazuureks‒the handsome young Count and his slim, dark-eyed new bride in a modest red gown. Stood in a desert of empty floor, and doing their best to appear unperturbed. "They might as well be riding the Scandia!"
"My Princess…I'm sorry. Could you possibly ask Eddelritto, or some other ladies…?"
"I would gladly assist‒if the Ortygia could make a clone to greet that fellow in my place!" Count Orga bellowed with laughter. I saw Slaine smile politely, and then I got furious.
"I'm deeply disappointed in you, Slaine! How could you allow this, at our wedding, when their case is so alike to ours? The Countess told me she met her husband when Mazuurek saved her from assault by three of his soldiers. He spent a year courting her with poetry, rebuilding her hometown, and finding her lost little brother, before she saw him as more than an invader. Moreover, she's a charming, intelligent woman! How can you see her shunned for being a Terran, and go about yourself conversing freely with all?"
"...the Countess Mazuurek is a Versian citizen, Princess, as am I. But I'm afraid change doesn't happen overnight. And I promise I've talked of nothing but state affairs all evening. My duty to the people of Vers‒"
"‒Countess Mazuurek even broke with her people and family, for the sake of love. I doubt I myself could show such strength…but I have dreamt of it."
The colour drained from Slaine's face. I would have given a kingdom to take my words back.
"Highness!" Eddelritto whispered, "You mean…you liked Prince Slaine before he was a noble?"
The rumour was already drifting across the ballroom‒another page in our fairytale. But Slaine knew that, before the war, I'd only ever seen him as a friend.
It was Inaho I'd dreamt of giving everything up for. My royal duty, grandfather and my people. For a flying ship and the boy who had my heart. Who could have guarded it from anything.
I couldn't have done it. But I couldn't believe it was wrong to hold such feelings inside me, until they burst out in my loving husband's face. I could hardly believe how much I'd hurt him.
"Count," Slaine turned to him stiffly, "If you would order Sir Despard, Sir Yacoym and Baroness Tritz to talk with the Mazuureks for ten minutes each, I would take it as a favour. Please excuse me, Princess," Slaine lowered his voice, "I haven't yet persuaded Count Orga that enslaving the hundreds of rebel prisoners in his territory is preferable to publicly impaling them."
Eddelritto gasped. For a moment, the room swam around me. I knew Slaine was always working for the future peace of our dreams. He never failed to reassure me; it was coming. But he barely ever spoke to me of his endless conferences with the Orbital Knights. And now I knew why.
"But…the war is over! Barely ended, true, but it must give way to peace!"
"Before Vers, the Terrans never knew peace, Highness," Orga grated, "The miserable dogs have fangs; they've murdered our comrades for long enough. They must be broken by fear, or cleansed from your glorious kingdom, so Vers may finally have peace."
Thirty years ago, Count Orga and thousands more had put away all race, religion and culture that had divided earth, to build their brave new Mars from Aldnoah and hope. I could see the strength of that dream in his eyes; hear it in his level voice‒but how had all Grandfather's dreams given birth to this?
All distress over my careless words to Slaine had to be pushed to one side, along with all my fear that an untended, unprecedented disharmony might alter our relationship forever. My white knight had been fighting to save lives. I wanted to beg his forgiveness. But I needed to fight beside him; it was my duty.
"Perhaps you should speak with Count Mazuurek, Orga, and inquire why his territory in Arabia is the most peaceful on earth, while your lands in Russia have seen one uprising follow another!"
The Count stared at me, huge hands twitching. Then he strode towards Count Mazuurek, and not in a friendly manner at all. Slaine and I exchanged desperate looks, and hurried after. Eddelritto watched from a distance.
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"Highnesses!" Mazuurek grinned and bowed to us, "Compliments of the happy day, and might I say that you look beautiful, Princess? Prince Slaine, have you found time to read that book I lent you?" Slaine's work had not allowed him to do so, "A pity. Earth has thoughts and expressions more precious than her oil or mines; though nothing so precious as you, Fatima." His Countess swatted him lightly, and curtsied. "Count Orga‒?"
Orga growled out the question I had prompted. Mazuurek swallowed, and smiled nervously.
"Well…Terran children aren't cheerfully greeting me in the street as yet, but I can say that we trust each other. I've sworn to leave their religious matters alone, and we impose on them as little as possible. They understand the resources we extract are a fair price for their security. And they know I've made an effort to understand them."
"You mean gone native?" Orga put a lot of venom into two words.
"By putting on a headdress, then reading the Koran and Rubaïyat through twice?" Countess Mazuurek quipped over her drink, "Thankfully, it takes more than that!" Mazuurek took his wife's arm with a smile.
"Fatima thinks rather less of Terran culture than I do. In spite of the war, she felt that Versian rationalism, social unity and gender equality were even worth marrying a chap like me. With continued peace, I hope for many more brave, noble people to join and strengthen our beloved Vers. We've even discussed a plan with Prince Slaine for Terrans to learn our ways on Mars itself."
"Initially they would be sent as labourers rather than visiting as students," Slaine cut in over Orga's response, "And the security situation would prevent it for some time. But I believe nothing would teach them Martian discipline better than survival in the Martian climate."
Orga glowered at Mazuurek. He looked ready to knock him down, but finally turned to Slaine.
"Your highness…I believe you were born by a miracle, with a Versian spirit. Old humanity cannot accept Versian discipline or honour. I was born on Terra; I've studied their history, rather than their poetry. Unlike this young fool, I understand them. They're a pack of murderous beasts that never change. They only insinuate themselves into higher cultures, with the aid of degenerate traitors, to drag Vers itself down to their verminous level!"
"Count Orga!" Slaine snapped, "Moderate your words!"
"If you are, in fact, referring to my wife, Orga," Mazuurek squared his shoulders, "Then I must demand satisfa‒"
"No, thank you for your honesty, Count Orga," Fatima Mazuurek put a hand on her husband's jacket, eyes smouldering quietly, "You are free to air your rather gloomy opinion of Vers' future. Your own insinuation that my husband is a traitor to Holy Vers, however, you will retract or prove."
"Certainly!" Orga smiled nastily, "The security situation in your territory is a joke, Mazuurek. Any Terran slave labourer escaping from properly-managed lands flees to Arabia. Rebels and terrorists shelter there, preparing to endanger Versian lives in neighbouring territory! Lives lost because of your treasonable laxness! Why else does Count Pherring's Near Eastern territory have more outrages than any other?"
"Perhaps because he flattened Jerusalem? I think the locals considered it somewhat sacred."
"Be careful, woman! I believe I could have your husband stripped of his Peerage, and send you back to the street‒"
Mazuurek surged forward; for his sake, I was glad Slaine stepped between them.
"Enough of this! Mazuurek is loyal, Orga, but you are right about his territory. Count Mazuurek. I order you to have your borders tightened, and all terrorists within them rooted out. Otherwise security duties, or even the territory itself, will be given to others. I would tell your Terran friends about it, and see how they respond."
"Highness. My apologies, Count." Mazuurek bowed. Orga grinned triumphantly, as Slaine ushered him away. I stared after them in shock. Then I realised that Mazuupek was smiling. "Don't worry, Highness. Your husband…is quite a smart man."
"I'm sorry?"
"What happens when I tell my Terran friends King Abdullah‒a charming man‒and President Houthi, that they could be ruled by Orga or Pherring instead of me? Their own military will dig up any terrorists, and police their borders more efficiently than I could. I'll keep their trust, and Orga will even feel obliged to Prince Slaine, for apparently taking his side." Indeed, the Count appeared to be laughing happily with Slaine over the issue of his prisoners.
"What about refugees from other territories?" Fatima asked.
"I'll make sure they let them in. And they won't want to leave Arabia, so Orga will never know. We'll grow closer to the Arabians, instead of occupying them and creating another warzone. "
"And my old homeland will effectively be run by the same corrupt, sexist theocracy," Fatima muttered, finishing her drink. "Why did you even bother invading us?"
"Dearest, I understand; the flaws of Terran society grieve me too. But without an Aldnoah magic wand, real change can't be imposed on a people from outside. We can only help Arabia to change itself, by patient talk and understanding."
"Beautifully put, Count Mazuurek," I favoured him with a brilliant smile, and then glanced down at my clasped hands "I only fear that Versian society may also have its faults…"
"You don't say?"
Fatima spoke with such heavy irony, I was quite alarmed.
"I'm sorry, Countess. I had no idea until just now that so many lives were still in danger‒"
"Mazuurek, darling, I need to‒what do you say?‒powder my nose. Please excuse me." Fatima seized my arm, "Princess, could I have a word in private?"
Then she all but dragged me at an irresistible pace towards the restrooms. Mazuurek stared after us. Then he turned to a Baroness who had proved willing to greet him now his wife was gone.
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"I'll get right to the point, Princess. If you're offended by the idea of Terrans being worked to death as slaves, or killed as terrorists without warning, everywhere on earth and every day‒then you and your husband must be the ones to change that!"
"Everywhere?" My back was against the sinks; I felt unable to escape Fatima's piercing eyes and voice.
"North America and Japan have no one left to kill. South-East Asia, India and East Africa have Counts like my husband. The rest have been piling up bodies since the first Armistice broke down. You really should know this. Can't you ask your wonderful Prince?"
"...I believe it causes him pain to talk of such matters with me. He's quite sensitive‒" Fatima went very close to my face and said something coarse in Arabic, "He is not responsible for such cruelty! As my husband, he works and fights for me, to end the violence‒"
"Really? He's the highest-ranked leader on Earth, why hasn't he? Why can't you?"
"I'm sorry…but the Orbital Knights have complete authority over their territories. Slaine and I couldn't run the entire world on our own. We do all we can...I'm sorry it's not enough. I'm truly sorry for..."
"Don't be sorry. Change your powers so you can do enough! Change anything you need to. Vers doesn't have faults, it has gaping integral flaws; you know that. And the only way we can change them, as my dear husband said, is from the inside."
"I…thought you supported Vers!"
"I do support Vers. They're the winners. The UFE is going to be a fascist garrison state; Arabia hasn't learnt anything worthwhile in two thousand years. It's only been thirty years since men went to Mars. Miraculous Aldnoah, a new dawn for mankind, unifying colonists of a dozen nations and faiths...the birth of Vers was more like the birth of a new religion. With no scriptures, or living gods; after thirty years, I believe Vers is still in its cradle. Ripe for change. You can give it peace, social justice, freedom of expression, everything Old Humanity never had. Or you can leave it to fanatics like Orga. But I won't."
"Do you… really love Mazuurek?"
"Yes. He's a really sweet man. But what is love compared to the fate of the world? If it would be better for earth, I might cut his throat in bed."
She smiled, half-seriously. She looked beautiful, strong and every bit as savage as Orga had painted her. I replied in a whisper.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Someone had to. You obviously you care about Vers and Terra; you just need to use the strength you have. In your position, in this world, you really need to. If you think it would be better for earth, you could even report my words to your father-in-law, and I'd be disappeared."
Fatima Mazuurek glided out of the restroom silently. I stayed quite still where I was.
I trusted Slaine. I had promised to trust him, let him face the world's horrors in my place. As my knight, as my husband; it was an iron cord of our bond. But had I sacrificed my duty, my human responsibility, to that love we'd had? Was there something more I had to do?
I recalled as well that I had sacrificed our relationship for my duty too, by talking with the Mazuureks instead of begging Slaine's forgiveness. I'd reminded him that I had cared for Inaho. I'd always been his perfect, gracious Princess. But next time he looked on me, would it be with colder eyes?
I had to find Slaine. I didn't yet know what I would say to him when I did.