Heavy Lies The Crown: Chapter Fourteen
by Starrify
I throw my hands to you and run away;
it's so cold, so dangerous that I can't stay.
Tonight I take your life and throw it far away.
The aftermath should have constituted of more demonstrations, the expected violence that comes from such riots, and the inevitable bloodshed which the adults have consistently warned her of.
But in its place was silence.
Cagalli watched as the audience began to disappear, to walk slowly back to their families, their homes—to the only comfort they have. But she, where was she to go? Where was her family, where was her home? What comfort did she have left in this world after her father had been murdered before her very eyes?
There is Kira and Athrun. You have them—
She has nothing to her name. She has no leverage over Yuna or anyone else. She is no queen.
"I suppose this is what you get for trusting me," Yuna mocked as he put a hand to her shoulder. It surprised her that she didn't flinch—was she that defeated? "I had warned you—"
"You warned me of nothing!" she cried, lashing out at him. "You told me you were going to bring me to him, not to his execution!"
At a loss of words, Cagalli still could not bring herself to stand; her knees still too weak to bear the weight of everything she had just seen. From the stage, she continued to watch as people left with blank expressions, defeated countenances—the same she must be mirroring on her face, she guessed.
"How can they just leave? That was their king engulfed in flames, murdered in front of them. Did they not respect or love him?"
"Perhaps, Princess, this is their way of showing their respect," Yuna shrugged, moving to kneel in front of her. "Or because this is human nature. Once it is ingrained in one's mind of the death of another, then that other thing or person is dead no matter how many times they die again."
She realized there was a truth in his words. "They believed my father died at the siege five years ago."
"And they have mourned enough already, see?" Yuna grabbed her under her arms and lifted the despondent blonde up to her feet. Her people continued to leave. "Now, we need to go."
Cagalli let Yuna carry her weight. She could not sense anything—not the wind blowing in her face, not the stench of burnt flesh, not the echoing cries of her father's suffering; and most certainly not the heavy weight the small tiara brought down on her head.
"Where?" she asked, shivering. "Where can I go?"
"Well, your father is dead now," Yuna said plainly, smiling at the younger girl in an attempt to cheer her up even slightly. "There is no one else to rule the kingdom, is there? "
"But that girl…"
"Oh, of course." Yuna looked ahead and signaled to two knights in front of them. He ran a hand down and back up the length of her arm and grinned to himself at the thought of the Princess belonging to him. "It's all taken care of, I assure you."
The Princess nodded, still very much dumbstruck, and let Yuna lead her off the stage and into the carriage they used to get to Heliopolis Square.
"Cagalli," Yuna cooed as he put a hand over hers. She looked into his eyes, noting they were a blue far from the comforting green she needed at the moment. "I'll take care of you."
They had run back to the orphanage as soon as they arrived at the center of Heliopolis. They had only seen little but it was enough for them to know that they were not safe in the audience; especially not as in their entourage was the Prince of Plant.
Back in the safety of the large wooden house, they contemplated silently to themselves the consequences of what they had just witnessed.
"The King is dead," Kira finally spoke up. The King had always been kind to him and to the other children of the orphanage; he had allowed the Princess to mingle with them, after all. And it must have been hard for the King to meet with Kira and see the former Queen in him. Kira could not imagine what his sister must be going through. "And Cagalli…"
Athrun could still hear her cries ringing in his ears.
"Father, no!"
He clenched his fists and shook with anger. He so badly wanted to hit something, to release all his tension; redirect all his frustration elsewhere. And worse, he felt terrible that he had left Cagalli weeping on the stage by herself—but of course she was not truly alone; around her were more than three dozen guards and that purple-haired sorry excuse for a man.
And then there was Lord Djibiril.
"So we finally have confirmation of his presence," Dearka said with a low whistle. His eyes darted to the corner of the room where the brown-haired girl—what was her name again? Miriallia?—sat quietly with her thin arms around her even thinner frame. "What are we to do?"
"Shiho and Lacus should be on the trade route by now," Yzak quipped, running a hand through his white tresses after he shook his head and messed up his perfectly combed hair. "Lacus must be uncomfortable but she will deal with it—she knows, after all, how important it is that they intercept whatever army my mother sends."
"What are we to do indeed?" Nicol sighed and gave in to the tiredness of his legs from their running. "Now that their king is dead, the Princess can rightfully be the Queen. But with the impostor we had met in the castle, we cannot be too sure of what will happen next."
"I know what will happen next," Athrun said, his voice, surprisingly, calm. "Cagalli will return to the castle and they would have disposed of the impostor—after all, she had played her role. The coronation will take place at the end of the week and immediately after the coronation is her…"
"Wedding," Nicol finished for Athrun.
"Wedding," Athrun repeated with a frustrated sigh of his own. "She's getting married to that freak."
"That freak, as you would call him, is the son of the Usurper, Unato Seiran," Sai explained. "But Unato has not appeared ever since the impostor took over, so our best guess is that his son probably had a hand in his undoing."
Mu stood in a corner of his own, observing as these children were deciding their next plan of action. He groaned and began to massage his temples. He didn't want these young people fighting and choosing the fate of their nations, but as of the moment they had no one else on their side—at least, none that they knew of in Orb.
"And what of the soldiers King Allster has promised?" Athrun turned to the blond captain. "What do you think their role should be?"
"If you kids are planning something, then I would suggest you do it at Cagalli's wedding,"Mu suggested after some thinking. "The castle will be more vulnerable then because most of the guards will be at Haumea Temple. Kisaka can tell us the most probable locations Djibiril's men will be stationed at and from there we can weaken their defenses and get into the castle and await their arrival."
After a while, Athrun agreed to the plan.
"I'm not happy about this," Kira stated with a solemn stare to everyone else in the room. "Cagalli's happiness is at stake here. Above that, her safety is definitely compromised."
"The latter is not true," Mu cut in. "She is safer in the confines of the castle than anywhere else in Orb. To risk her life is to risk the people—and Djibiril, whatever his intentions are, need the citizens of Orb. If I were to make a comparison, I'd say Cagalli is his trump card."
"But if she's going to marry Yuna—!"
Athrun, unlike his best friend, kept his composure.
"If we wait until the end of the wedding ceremony for their return, it would be too late, wouldn't it?" the blue-haired prince asked rhetorically. "We need a way to rescue her before that."
"But is there?" Nicol looked up to one of his close friends from the floor where he sat. He had never seen Athrun this desperate ever since the death of Queen Lenore, and even then he was more resigned, accepting of the fate his mother was granted as a consequence of the war. "Perhaps it is also for the Princess's safety that we wait until after the end of the ceremony."
Dearka was the only one to notice the petite brunette girl leave the room. He made a move to follow her, but one sharp look from Yzak was enough to freeze him in place.
"I agree," the tanned blond said uneasily. "They wouldn't expect us to be in the castle, I'm sure."
"So we have a plan, then?" Athrun asked everyone in the room. The Prince looked to each person and after receiving a confirmatory nod from everyone, he sat down, more tired than what ten training sessions could beat out of him. "We shall storm into the castle at the end of the week, during Cagalli's wedding; and we shall await their return to rescue Cagalli and finally dispose of Djibiril."
Djibiril walked through the foreboding doors of the Athha castle and the first thing he saw were fallen soldiers and their blood spilled on the once-pristine tiles.
"My Lord!" a knight-errant ran to him and bowed. "The delegates from Plant are not in their rooms. And Lady Stellar has—"
Before the young man could speak anymore, Djibiril unsheathed his own sword and quickly put it through the knight-errant's throat.
"Your silence on the matter is most appreciated," he spat out as the man's body fell onto the floor with the others. He stepped over the body and wiped the dirt of his boots onto the man's garments and walked on.
His niece was most bothersome; Djibiril mused to himself, and no doubt had escaped either into the city or out of Orb. The poor orphan girl, Stellar must be terribly frightened to have guards make an attempt at her life once more—except now, all of her training kicked in and she disposed of all of the men he sent instead of them disposing her.
"I want these bodies cleared up in one minute!" he shouted to the servants filed in a line to welcome him. "Else all of you will join them."
"Yes, my lord!"
The young servants began to pull the bodies out; others took out buckets and cloths to clean up the red stains on the floor. The youngest of them all was a girl of only twelve years, and she could not help but cry at the cruelty he had just witnessed.
"Now, why are you making that noise, child?" Djibiril turned his attention to the small brown-haired girl. "Is there a reason you are bothering me with a sound akin to that of a pig being cut up?"
The other servants paused to watch, but resumed their work once they saw Djibiril not looking kindly upon them.
"Well, child?"
"He was my brother, my lord," the little girl blurted as she continued to shed noisy tears. "You had just killed my brother."
"Is that so?" And for a moment, Djibiril looked kind. "Would you rather join him?"
And the little girl cried even more, kneeling down in front of the white-haired man in her tattered rags as clothes as she wept. Djibiril's sword was poised over the child's head, ready to strike down at any moment. The other servants turned away, unable to speak up for the little girl, unable to watch the cruelty of the man they were serving unwillingly.
"Lord Djibiril! Please, we have a guest."
The white-haired lord replaced his sword back in its sheath after seeing the Princess arrive.
"Princess!"
The servants all put down their cleaning apparatuses and knelt. Djibiril frowned, but then put on a semblance of a smile for the blonde girl.
"Welcome back, Yuna Roma Seiran," Djibiril said welcomingly. "And to you as well, Princess Cagalli Yula Athha; welcome back to Orb."
"You were about to strike that child," Cagalli spoke softly, trying to find her voice against the man she recognized to be cruel, whose intentions were to bring destruction upon their lands. "Weren't you?'
"And so what if I was?"
"Their lives are no longer yours to take, my Lord," she said, staring him down as ice blue met warm gold. "They are my people and murder is an offense the laws of Orb do not look kindly upon. As you are in my kingdom, it would do you well to remember that."
"If that is so, Your Highness, then I shall oblige," Djibiril replied smoothly with a slight bow. "However it would be best for you to know that you are still ultimately at my mercy."
"I will not forget." Cagalli answered back as defiantly as her voice can handle, but still it was nothing compared to the natural coldness that Lord Djibiril so easily bore. So that was the man Athrun had told her about; the man that was part of Blue Cosmos, the cult that wanted to destroy Plant for reasons no one else will ever understand. He was the man who wanted to bring chaos and destruction to the three kingdoms, to leave everything in ruins.
She eyed him cautiously as Djibiril exited the receiving hall of the castle—of her castle. She had been too caught up, too tense to have even realized that she was actually back.
"Princess!" She turned around after she heard the most familiar and comforting voice. "Welcome home!"
Cagalli's smile did not reach up to her ears, but at least it was something.
"It's nice to be back," she replied affectionately; and then her tone declined in warmth as she turned around again. "Yuna, leave me be."
"But—"
"I said leave!" she demanded, her voice rising unexpectedly. Cagalli brought her hand up to cover her mouth, watching the little girl she had just defended become terrified again. After taking deep breaths to calm and steady her beating heart, she replaced her hand back to her side. "Please, Yuna."
"Fine. I shall return tomorrow, then," he said, so smugly—and oh, how she hated him still. "For luncheon. And then we shall practice for the traditional wedding ceremonial dances."
"Just leave already," she repeated, feeling the migraine from being exposed to Yuna for so long. "Else I will call the guards upon you."
"Alright," Yuna grumbled. He was incensed at how erratic her behavior was—but then, what was he expecting: for her to simply be resigned to the death of her most loved one? "Manna, please make sure Your Highness eats something. I'm afraid she hasn't eaten in two days and that she is due to collapse soon."
"Yes, milord."
Manna and the rest of the servants bowed or curtseyed as Yuna took his leave. Immediately after the doors closed, Manna ordered the little girl to call for the cook to create something for their princess, who did look pale and sickly.
"My father is dead," Cagalli whispered as she choked back another session of wallowing in her despondent thoughts. "He is dead."
Yuna's words still echo in her mind. Once it is ingrained in one's mind of the death of another, then that other thing or person is dead no matter how many times they die again. Her father had just died in front of her. But then, wasn't Yuna right when he said that after one had died, it doesn't matter how many times they will die again? To Cagalli, Uzumi Nara Athha died five years ago—sacrificed his life so she could live hers. She denied everything she had just witnessed; she did not watch him die; he did not burn in front of her eyes.
"Your Highness?" Manna walked uneasily to the younger girl—now woman, who she had served since she was merely a babe. "Cagalli?"
The princess's tears could not stop falling.
"My father died, Manna!" She collapsed on the floor, and the collective gasps of the servants reverberated in the receiving hall. "And I feel as though I died along with him."
"Hush now," the old maid comforted the young lady she considered to be her surrogate daughter. "All will be better."
"Father is dead," Cagalli repeated as Manna continued to cradle her head. "He is dead…"
"But your hope should not!" Manna countered, taking out a handkerchief to wipe away the tears of the young woman. As she did so, she made a waving motion to the other servants, signaling them to get a move on and clean up the rest of the stains on the floor before their princess saw and became more upset. "Your father will never truly leave you. His love for you is without compare."
"What life had he left me with? I am to marry a terrible man, and am to inherit a land soon to become a battlefield! Countless lives will be lost—and for what purpose? To satisfy that Djibiril's bloodlust! And there is nothing I can do; no power I can yield that will make everything stop. I am alone, Manna, and I have lost everything."
"You have not lost everything, child," Manna reminded, supporting Cagalli's weight so that she could stand once more. "But if you are gone, then Orb has lost everything. You have me, you have your loyal servants; and you have your brother, Kira; and that young Prince who seems to be very much taken with you."
"Athrun?" Her face showed a different emotion, a more panicked expression than her melancholic countenance just a few seconds ago. "He is a guest of this castle! Where is he—"
"He's not here, Princess."
"What do you mean? He has to be here!"
"Most likely he and his men had also seen the execution of your father at Heliopolis and are afraid to return—and for good reason, too, because Djibiril placed orders to have them thrown in the dungeons."
"Athrun is not here," Cagalli repeated. "He is safe?"
"He is somewhere in Heliopolis, Your Highness," Manna answered, guiding her to the grand dining area where her fresh meal awaited. "He is a smart boy; I'm sure he will find a way to evade Djibiril's men."
"I need to leave—"
"You will do no such thing!" Manna warned in a loud whisper. "You cannot leave this castle; not without Djibiril or Yuna's permission."
"But I have to warn Athrun—" Cagalli did not finish her sentence for she had fainted, her hollow cheeks showing just how she had starved herself in the past few days. Manna called for the other servants to assist her, to call for the doctors who will oversee the exhausted child.
The old lady looked down upon her surrogate daughter, the poor princess who had to bear the weight of an entire kingdom, of the heavy crown soon to be placed upon her small head; and felt nothing but pity.
After a day of travelling nonstop, Lacus and Shiho finally bumped into a sizeable army of a thousand men—and the flag they had raised, bearing the coat of arms of the house of Joule let the two female nobles have no doubt as to who those men were all loyal to.
"I am Lady Shiho of the noble house of Hahnenfuss, betrothed of Sir Yzak of the noble house of Joule," she proclaimed, her voice deep and loud for all the men on the trade route to hear. "And by my name, I order you all to stop whatever quest you are undertaking!"
The small army halted in their tracks, the final echoes of the cadence of their marches disappearing into the thick forests to their left side. Shiho remained on her horse, trying to look as dignified as possible. She had never found speaking in front of a large crowd to be an easy task—how much more a crowd of men who could easily overpower her, even if she was a renowned red knight?
"I wish to speak with whoever Lady Ezalia assigned to be captain of this operation."
"That'd be me, my lady."
A blond man urged his light brown horse forward. Shiho squinted, trying to place the familiar looking mercenary, but ultimately could not recall his name.
"Sir Heine!" Lacus called from behind Shiho. "How nice it is to see you again."
"Lady Lacus!" Heine, of the smaller house of Westenfluss, beamed back at the pink-haired noble. "I was afraid that, after the release of the search warrants for you, I'd never see you again."
"There are search warrants for Lacus?" Shiho interrupted, now more worried for her dear friend. "Then you cannot return to Plant."
"That is what I've been telling Athrun and the others, but none of them would listen," Lacus said with a pout. "I've nowhere to go."
Shiho shook her head. She hadn't signed up for having to decide what was best for Lacus—sure, she had to learn how to decide if she wanted to take over her father's seat at the Supreme Council one day, but that was years from now. She didn't expect to have to make such grave decisions now.
"If you head up to the Alliance, it'll be better for you," she finally said. "You can pawn off that necklace of yours and find work as a performer, I'm sure."
"Shiho, I don't intend to let them fight alone," Lacus argued. "I am not to be cast away. I am not as helpless as they make me to be. You are a woman; you understand what I mean."
"I understand, Lacus," Shiho replied, a headache forming on her temples. "But I also understand that they all want you to be safe, as far away from the battlefield as possible. Athrun needs you alive; he plans to have a rebellion against his father in Plant after everything in Orb is settled, and he needs you to be there to be his adviser."
"Athrun didn't inform me of such a plan."
"Well, I am telling you of it now. You need to head north and stay put until everything is better."
"But it'll take a week of travel to get to Copernicus. It'll be the end of Cagalli's coronation ceremony by then."
"I just need you to stay put, Lacus." Shiho then look to Heine. "I need at least three of your men to accompany Lady Lacus to Copernicus."
Heine raised a brow. He had watched the two ladies argue back and forth for a few minutes and it would seem that the outcome was that Lacus was going to travel up to the North.
"Whatever you wish for, my lady," Heine answered. "And if any harm befalls Lady Lacus, I will personally take responsibility."
"I will be the one to personally oversee your punishment should Lacus' safety be compromised in any way," Shiho said through gritted teeth. "Ultimately it is Prince Athrun who asks of this, so you better pick wisely."
"Of course," Heine replied with his ever charming smile. Many a woman has fallen for his charms back in the kingdom; and he was known for being a heartbreaker back in Martius where he served under the house of Joule. "I owe much to the Clynes. What had happened to Lord Siegel was an injustice, and I wish for not the same fate to befall upon Lady Lacus."
"Then it would seem that we have reached an understanding." Shiho finally felt a great weight leave her shoulders. While she didn't want to think of Lacus as a burden, she had a greater mission to fulfill. "Now, I cannot allow your troop to move forward."
"And why is that so, my lady?" Heine asked. "We have been given explicit orders from Lady Ezalia to head unto Orb and offer our assistance to the Prince to take down the man who had burned down Junius City during the war."
"Djibiril," Lacus inputted. "His name is Djibiril."
"Yes, Lady Ezalia briefed us of who he is," Heine said solemnly, looking down on the ground. "I lost my older sister in the same fire which killed Queen Lenore. She was one of the Queen's maidservants."
"I am very sorry for your loss, Sir Heine," Lacus offered her condolences. "Then you must know of the cruelties the man is capable of."
"Indeed, I do; which is why I volunteered to lead this quest." Heine jumped off his steed, and his polished leather boots finally met the dusty ground of the trade route. "I want to avenge my sister's killer."
Heine walked his way to the horse of the two ladies and offered his hand to help them down.
"A messenger named Shinn spoke with Lady Ezalia. He carried Lord Yzak's crest, which granted him an audience with the lady."
"Yes, Yzak had sent him," Shiho confirmed. "Yzak is also a rash idiot."
Lacus nodded to Heine, who put his hands on the noble's thin waist to carry her down. Shiho, on the other hand, not being as ladylike as the other noble, simply stepped onto the stirrup of her saddle and jumped off by herself.
"You would not let me help you, Lady Shiho?"
"I'd prefer it if you called me Sir Shiho instead."
"But it is improper!"
"What is improper is you not respecting my wish to be called Sir."
"Oh, don't mind her," Lacus cut in with a dainty laugh. "She's just cranky from riding nonstop for a day."
"It would seem so." Heine agreed, giving a chuckle of his own. Any other woman would swoon over the sound of his deep laughter, but not the two noblewomen whose hearts already belonged to other men. Heine turned around to face his men, who all immediately stood at attention. "We shall set up camp for tonight. We have two new guests, Ladies Shiho Hahnenfuss and Lacus Clyne. We all know of the injustice behind the death of Lord Siegel, and I trust you all to focus only on our mission. Lady Shiho is the fiancée of Lord Yzak and therefore the next Lady of the House. She will give us our next operative. For now, you all can rest."
The men passed the message along till the end of their formation. Afterward, they broke out into groups, some setting up their tents and the others beginning to gather firewood before it became too dark in the forest. As soon as his tent was set up, Heine invited Lacus and Shiho in to further discuss what their next plan of action was.
"There are more guards out on patrol tonight," Sai said over the dinner table. The younger children had already eaten their share and were now upstairs preparing for their slumber with Caridad and Malchio. Meanwhile, the teenagers and the adults stayed downstairs to continue discussing their plan of action. "It means they are searching for someone."
"They've yet to knock on our door," Miriallia said, her voice timid but getting louder every time she spoke up. "They've probably ruled out the orphanage as a possible hiding spot for whatever fugitive they're looking for because we're full."
"You don't say," Dearka quipped, stretching his arms over his head. They had been sleeping on small mats on the living room floor—which was more comfortable than the trade route, but still; Dearka had wished for an opportunity to sleep in an actual bed. "But I suppose this is better than having to rot in the dungeons of the castle."
"That's where we'd be right now if we stayed there," Nicol agreed. "If Djibiril brought the Princess back to the castle, then of course he'd want to also get rid of those who had interacted with his fake princess."
"It would seem that we've nowhere to go." Athrun didn't have an appetite, and so barely ate the food set in front of him. Caridad made amazing mashed sweet potatoes, but he just didn't have the stomach to consume anything. Kira had been throwing him concerned glances all evening, but the Prince simply shrugged his best friend off. "We've all been thrown out of our homes; become orphans, lost in the world."
"The Princess lost her father this morning. Lacus, too; just the other day," Yzak recounted. "But at least we've our parents in Plant, still."
"Do we?" Athrun asked, looking up from his plate. "Perhaps you three do, but not me. I lost my father the day my mother died. As far as I know, I've been orphaned since the end of the war."
"Now, now," Mu cut in, offering a smile. "You kids are going into a dark conversation. If you kids give into the darkness now, then there'd be no hope for a brighter tomorrow. We need you kids to keep the faith; else everything will truly be lost."
Nicol nodded in agreement. They had all been moping—and they were doing so out of empathy; especially Athrun, who felt for the Princess more than anyone else among them. Kira, on the other hand, seemed more uplifted than the rest of them. Nicol knew it was because he didn't want to see anyone else sad and therefore was trying to be happy—if not for his own sake, then definitely for his sister.
"King Uzumi was a kind man," Kira began, trying to smile. "He'd often allow Cagalli to visit us in the orphanage."
"To be fair, I think she enjoyed our company more than she did with that Seiran kid," Sai said with a chuckle, remembering their childhood days. "He was a brat."
"But Cagalli is going to marry him." Miriallia remembered how Yuna would bully them; mock them of their status as orphans. She hated him, but probably not as much as Cagalli does. "What a terrible fate."
Athrun could no longer bear imagining Cagalli with someone else, especially someone they defined to be a terror. He didn't want to imagine her being tortured at his hands—or worse, for her to actually be enjoying his company. He didn't want to imagine Cagalli because the more he tried to do so, the more he began to forget how she looked like, how she had felt. He didn't want to imagine—he wanted to actually be with her.
He stood up and walked out of the dining area. He could feel everyone else's eyes on him, but he paid them no heed. He needed to breathe as he felt suffocated among his peers, and so he took his cloak and went out of the front door. Putting the hood over his head as to not be easily recognized, the Prince began to walk down the street.
In the past week he had spent in Orb, Athrun would look up at the stars every night on his balcony. He had enjoyed the view and the ocean breeze that would pass every now and then. And he would often wonder if Cagalli was also out there in Orb, looking up at the stars; wishing she'd be back to her true home.
Now as he looked up at the constellations, he wondered if Cagalli was now in her room in the castle, if she was now looking up at the stars and wondering where he was just as he used to wonder about her—just as he still does.
Athrun stopped in his tracks as he saw another cloaked figure run through the intersection a good fifteen meters ahead of him. And then, he saw three men chase the figure. He recognized them as the guards Sai said are patrolling the city. His heart sped up, thinking it might be Cagalli who escaped and tried to lose the guards as she returned to the orphanage.
He stayed in place, unable to move his legs. If that was Cagalli, what would he tell her? What words need be spoken between them? What would he do? He wondered some more in the middle of the street, of the endless possibilities that could be if that girl was Cagalli—perhaps the lack of food was making him a bit dull. But then when he heard the familiar sound of swords clashing, he ran as fast as he could, taking out the hidden dagger behind his left boot.
But when he rounded the corner, he did not expect the three guards to all be lying lifeless on the floor. Athrun brought his eyes up to see the cloaked stranger holding a sword in his—or her—hand, ready to strike at Athrun if need be. The dark was not a place where one could easily be recognized, even if the two had already met previously.
Athrun took a cautious step forward as he brought down the hood of his cloak down.
"Hey," he said in a whisper. "I'm not going to hurt you."
His voice brought recognition to the other cloaked figure.
"Athrun…"
The other person fell and Athrun rushed to their side. The first thing he felt was the wetness on his hands, the unmistakable stench of blood staining through the fabric of the person's cloak. Athrun could now feel his heart in his throat. He couldn't watch Cagalli almost die again like he did before in the trade route—
The person's cloak fell down and blonde hair spilled over her shoulders. Athrun brought his hand up to hold her neck, and when she opened her eyes to meet his, instead of the warm amber he was expecting, he saw violet.
"You…!"
"Help me," Stellar cried, holding in the pain of her cut up flesh. "Please. He wants to kill me…"
Athrun had to bite his tongue to not lash at her there and then. He wanted to kill her. She had partially caused Cagalli's suffering. And while he kept it to himself as he was a guest in the castle, now that they were outside the bounds of courtesy, he could easily let her die.
But of course he wouldn't.
Taking a deep breath, he took her legs with one arm and supported her back with the other. The orphanage was less than a hundred meters away; surely she'd survive till then.
"Why are you here?" he asked her through gritted teeth. "Why aren't you in your castle?"
Stellar coughed up blood. "The same reason you aren't there."
"Your uncle has kicked you out, hasn't he?"
"How did you know that Lord Djibiril is my uncle?"
"Shinn," he answered simply. "Shinn warned us of you."
"Shinn!" Stellar seemed to react better at the sound of the young boy's name. "I—I ran trying to look for Shinn. Shinn said he'd protect me, that he'd help me. I have nowhere else to go. Where is Shinn?"
Athrun groaned. This young girl seemed to be infatuated with the black-haired boy. But then she coughed up blood again, and he tried to fasten his pace while not agitating her open wound too much.
"He returned to Plant to deliver a message." Once they were a good five meters away from the orphanage, Athrun yelled out, "Kira!"
And immediately the door swung open, revealing his best friend and his loyal companions. They all ran to him, swords in hand, but then they returned their weapons back in their sheaths once they saw that he was not in any danger.
"Athrun?" Kira called out as he was the first to approach him. "Who is this?"
"The Princess." He looked down with cold eyes at the small, shivering figure in his arms. "And she's dying."
Yuna was taking a walk out in the gardens of his estate when he saw Djibiril in the veranda with his cat. The white-haired man had looked even more sinister under the pale moonlight; and Yuna felt goosebumps rise from his skin as he felt fear wash over him. He had witnessed the man threaten a poor innocent child and almost mercilessly kill the young one had he not stepped in. He had done so under the pretense of courtesy for Cagalli, but really he was not that selfless. Yuna feared the trauma of seeing a beheaded child; watching his father decay in the dungeons was hard enough.
But Yuna needed Djibiril. He needed Djibiril in order to get what he wanted, to get Cagalli. And Djibiril needed him for whatever resources in Orb he required for his mission. They had a symbiotic relationship. While they could not stand each other, they acknowledged that they would not be able to meet their goals without the other.
"Well." Djibiril stood from the marble bench and bowed mockingly. "To what do I owe the visit of the future king regent of Orb?"
"You know well that I don't want the title or power that comes with marrying Cagalli."
"Of course, of course," Djibiril said haughtily. "You want her love."
"You say it as though you mock me, my Lord."
"As though I mock you? I am outright mocking you, young Seiran!" Djibiril had his pale lips in a smile, and while Yuna could feel his anger boiling and threatening to spill over, he still feared for whatever cruelties Djibiril was capable of doing with no guilt whatsoever. "Love is weakness. Love is nothing compared to what power can offer. Love is an ideal for children who have no sense of reality."
Yuna clenched his fists.
"Perhaps, my Lord," he agreed nonchalantly, putting up a front that he was not afraid. "But that doesn't stop people from loving, does it?"
"No, it does not." Djibiril observed the younger man, who maintained his poise, who could easily fit into politics with his appearance. But Djibiril would not be easily fooled—Yuna would run away crying for his mother if Djibiril made a move to strike at him. "Love can be easily mistaken for strength, after all. The illusion it possesses fools everyone, makes them want to be consumed by it."
"You speak as though you know much of love."
"I was a fool to it once," Djibiril admitted; which in turn surprised Yuna that the white-haired man was saying something about himself. "But perhaps not the love you feel for your precious princess. Eros. You feel for that little girl, no? But I had wanted something else once, when I was younger, more naïve. Like you, young Seiran."
Yuna did not speak as he could not think of what to reply to the older man.
"Sadly, though, bastards are unloved by their fathers, shunned by their fathers' wives. They've no family to care for them, to give them the love every child yearns." Djibiril said this with no emotion; he had years to instill this in his head, after all, and he had taught himself not to be affected by the lack of affection in his formative years. "And so bastards become like this, like me." He pointed to himself, laughing maniacally. "They want to kill everyone and deny the world the love that they were also denied."
"The Blue Cosmos." Yuna tried to remember the history lessons he was given by his many tutors. Djibiril was a member of the renowned cult which began the war, he reminded himself. "Is that the basis of the Blue Cosmos?"
"Are you dull?" Djibiril answered back, obviously irritated at the lack of knowledge the younger man was showing. "King Muruta Azrael was our leader. He was no bastard now, was he?"
"I mean to ask if Blue Cosmos aimed to deny the world of love." Yuna could feel the sweat rolling off the side of his face despite the cool breeze of the night. He was both nervous and terrified of whatever consequences asking Djibiril such things could bring. "I understand that the Alliance is full of many cults, as opposed to Orb which is centered on one goddess and Plant who ask blessings from many deities. The Alliance on the other hand doesn't have a centralized religion and have different cults instead."
"And your point is?"
"That religion in the Alliance is most elusive. There are no documents about the beliefs of the many cults—at least, none that are made public."
"Indeed."
"I wish to learn of Blue Cosmos."
"And for what reason?"
"I don't know."
"Haven't you heard the saying, Yuna?" Djibiril's black cat pounced onto the bench and purred. "Curiosity killed the cat."
There came a gush of wind, and the tall bushes that flanked the area rustled as it fought the movement of the air—but then to fight it was to break. Nature has attested to this for millions of year, and only a select few plants were smart enough to know this. A bamboo which swayed with the wind survived, and Yuna knew that to fight Djibiril was to lose.
"There are no public records of the cults because the price of knowledge is steep. You have to be part of Blue Cosmos to truly know what Blue Cosmos is," Djibiril finished explaining, his thin lips quirking on one side in a grin. "Tell me again, young Seiran. Do you wish to pay the price?"
The saying goes that every morning was a symbol of new beginnings—as the sun would rise again from the depths of the night, a new day would start anew; another day to bring in more opportunities. It is human, after all, to strive to be better, to uplift themselves from whatever their situation may be.
The girl said her name was Stellar. She had spent her childhood learning to become a princess, but all that was quickly taken away from her when the war came. She was innocent, unknowing of her father's involvement in the cult which wanted to destroy the lives of others. After her father died in the war, the people from the Alliance quickly destroyed what remained of the once royal house of Azrael. Her mother had been publicly executed; her older brother killed in the siege of their castle. Stellar would have died on the same night, too, if her bastard uncle hadn't saved and taken her away.
Athrun could not blame the poor girl for wanting to become a queen. It was every little girl's dream—how much more of a girl who actually was of royal blood?
He stared at the clothed figure on the table in front of him. Did she really deserve to die? She begged not to be taken to the hospice for her uncle would have had men recognize her and kill her on the spot. But was it right for them to listen to her wishes when it clearly was not in her best intentions?
She had died shivering from the shock of her wound. She had died calling out to her mother, a Lady Loussier. She had died wishing she could have done everything better.
"But I have played my part," she whispered after she had narrated her life story to them. "And in doing so I have hurt many. All I can do now is to ask for your forgiveness."
Athrun could not handle talking to Cagalli's impostor, not because she had done them a great disservice, but because he could not help but imagine that it was truly Cagalli dying in front of him. He had paced in the living room, frustrated that there was another life he could not help. Yzak had been sitting on one of the chairs across him.
"I cannot handle all the emotions in the other room," he said roughly as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I agreed to join this mission to help my kingdom, not to talk to some dying little girl."
"But she was nice to us in the castle, don't you remember?" Dearka asked his closest friend. "Cagalli or Stellar—whoever she really is—I don't think she could easily fake being nice. Have you tried doing so?"
"What's the point? She had already admitted to it," Yzak retorted. "She had played her part."
Miriallia and Sai made sure the children didn't wander downstairs, while Caridad and Malchio stayed by the girl's side. Caridad and Kira both tried their best to keep the girl awake and used whatever medicine they had in their stores in order to ease her pain, but they had neither the advanced techniques a proper healer would know nor the advanced medicines like in Plant. In the end, there was nothing they could do to save Stellar.
Malchio listened to the girl's dying words and said that Haumea will accept her into her kingdom, granting the young blonde the last grace she would receive.
"It is a few more hours till dawn breaks once more," Yzak pointed out. "If we are to return her body with the other soldiers on the street, we should do so now."
"No," Kira argued back, glaring at the white-haired noble.
"No?"
"It is tradition here in Orb for the dead to be burned at sea," Kisaka explained, avoiding a fight to commence between the two boys. "It is believed that Haumea was from the sea, brought water upon the land and made it fertile. That's why we have that tradition: to return our lives to the one who had granted it."
"I'll help." Nicol immediately volunteered. "I had genuinely enjoyed her company as I played for her back in the castle. She was a nice girl and she deserves a proper ritual, despite the role she was forced into by her uncle."
"She was a trained assassin!" Yzak reminded them aggressively. "She killed soldiers in order to escape the castle. She probably killed innocents as well!"
"No one emerges from a war unscathed," Nicol answered back calmly. "No one comes out pure as well. Not even children."
Yzak could feel his tick growing. Everyone around him, he thought, were complete idiots. Did they not know that they had bigger problems to face? That there was an oncoming war and what were they doing? Arguing over burying a girl who has lost her significance?
"I will take no part in this," Yzak finally harrumphed and walked out of the small room. Dearka looked at the others apologetically in behalf of his friend and chased after the short-tempered Joule heir. Athrun watched as his friends left, sighing at how helpless Yzak could be.
"What he doesn't realize is that if one life doesn't matter, then none do." Mu had kept quiet until that point. He shook his head disapprovingly and finally stood from his chair. He looked to Kisaka, who was taking Cagalli's disappearance harder than even Kira, and then nodded. Then, he turned again to the teenagers. "You kids may be one of the best trained warriors of Plant, but you still have not experienced war as a soldier. About ten years ago, we fought believing that you kids should never have to kill others and to lose those you love."
"We can cast her off to sea by the Southern cliffs," Kisaka inputted. He felt the same as Athrun; every time he looked at Stellar, he only imagined that it was Cagalli laying there dead. "She may have been the daughter of a mad man, but we all know better than to judge a person by the mistakes of their father."
Caridad nodded, remembering how she had lost her husband to that war. She shared a look with Kira, who knew what his mother was thinking. Kira made a step to approach her, but she held out a hand to stop him.
"She's also a victim of this new war," Caridad spoke gently, glancing at the cloth which covered the dead girl. As she was dying, Stellar confided that she wished she had a mother who cared for her as she grew up; Caridad could not help but pity the young girl. "And I fear this is only the beginning."
Cagalli sat in her bath, letting the hot water soak her skin. She was tired—not just physically, but emotionally she was drained as well. It was like she was numb to the world around her. Her brain was telling her that the water was too hot, that staying any longer in this bath would be bad for her—but ultimately she could not will herself to leave, afraid of other things which could hurt her outside of the confines of her small room.
There were people who wanted to hurt her. Djibiril was on top of that list right now, but then there was also Athrun's father she had to worry about. The war Athrun had said was going to come to Orb. And Djibiril had been preparing all this time, training the military of Orb and draining the land of its resources in order to fund all of his expenditures.
It was all a mess—how was she, a girl of eighteen, going to fix everything? How did anyone expect her to act as a queen when she knew nothing?
"I'll take care of you."
She thought of Yuna—surely he knew something. Surely he could help her rule Orb, and push Djibiril and his men away. She'd agree to marry him if it was her father's last wish. She could forget all about love, because love was weakness. It was an ideal she could have wished for once upon a time, but she could not afford to spare her feelings when her land was soon to be ravaged.
Love, she thought bitterly as she hugged her legs closer to her body, could she find it one day in Yuna?
"I'll protect you."
But then what of Athrun? What of everything they had gone through together; him saving her life, again and again? Did she not owe him her life, her love? Could she deny that she felt nothing for the boy who made her so happy?
A rapping on the door disturbed her from her thoughts, and Manna walked in with a large robe.
"Princess, it's time for you to eat your breakfast."
She nodded in response. When she woke up that morning, she had felt awful. Her head was pounding, her limbs all sore; and every time she attempted to speak, all that came out was a croaking sound. Slowly, she stood from her tub and let Manna wrap the robe around her. Manna brought out a smaller towel for her to dry her hair. Out of habit, she brought it down to her waist where her hair used to end, and then she reminded herself that she had cut it shorter with a blade just a few days ago.
"Is something the matter, Princess?"
Cagalli shook her head to say no.
"If that is the case, let me dress you. Lord Seiran will meet with you after you take your meal for you to begin practicing the ceremonial dances."
The blonde saw that there was an off-white dress laid out on her bed as Manna brought her in front of her dresser and a large looking glass. Another attendant entered her chambers and brought in the stool on which she was supposed to stand on as they dressed her.
She thought of it all to be unnecessary; Cagalli had dressed herself just fine in the forest. But still she allowed them to do their jobs. It was her duty as the next queen, after all, to let herself be treated as such and humor her subjects when need be.
"Make no mistake, Cagalli," Manna said comfortingly as she tied one of the laces on the back of her gown. The other attendant brushed her hair and put white silk ribbons to pull her hair back. "I will always be on your side, dear. I don't at all approve of the young Lord Seiran for you—not since you were children. I stayed in this castle after the siege and served under his father; Lord Unato and Lord Djibiril have killed countless of your men, slaughtered innocents, but I assure you that Yuna took no part of it."
Cagalli blinked her eyes in confusion at her former governess. What was she trying to say?
"He is not as kind as Prince Athrun, but he will not hurt you on purpose." Manna finished tying up all of the ribbons at the back and helped her down the stool. "He is not backing up Lord Djibiril out of his own volition. He might prove to be a good ally when the day comes."
The princess nodded, taking this new information in. Yuna may not be the best match for her, but perhaps he could still be useful.
Cagalli stared blankly at the looking glass, observing her reflection. Her dress was made of simple cotton for the warm weather in Orb; embroidered with large golden forget-me-nots on the hem. The sleeves ended just above her elbows, and around her waist was a thin silk pale blue ribbon. Her hair looked well-managed, and pulled back at the right places to make it look evenly cut. The lady in the mirror looked far from the wild bandit in the forest, as though she had entered a completely different world—except, this was supposed to be her world.
"Now that you're dressed, shall we head down?" Manna smiled at the princess, hoping to get her spirits up. "You've a long day ahead of you, my dear."
Shiho and Heine rode side by side as they led the thousand men back to Plant. Heine had noticed that the noblewoman had been fussing the whole morning ever since Lacus left with his men, and so wanted to help the frazzled lady to calm down before she did something rash.
"I can tell you are concerned for your friend," Heine said, gripping onto the reins of his horse. "But you should not worry. Alec Lad has a cousin who lives in Copernicus. Lady Lacus will be taken care of there."
"No, it is not that," Shiho sighed, furrowing her brows. "It's just that, I've been wondering. A thousand men passing by the capital will not simply escape the king's notice."
"We needed the clearance to leave the capital. Of course King Patrick knows of this mission."
Shiho sat in thought for a few minutes as they continued to ride on. It didn't seem to make sense. Athrun told them that his father intended for a war to break out, in order to exact his revenge on Blue Cosmos for killing his wife. King Zala was preparing for a war and was gathering troops in Zaft. Why, then, would he allow a separate private army to head onto Orb instead of operating under his mission?
And then she heard it: the cadence of marches behind the stampeding horses, the angry shouts of bannermen as they headed onto their mission. Shiho finally realized what she had felt was off the whole morning: Patrick Zala had allowed Ezalia Joule to send her own men before him as a test. They were to be pawns, sacrificed to be rid of the soldiers of Orb so that it would be easier for him to take over Orb's weakened defenses.
This was the war Patrick Zala wanted.
"Give way!" Heine shouted to his men, who immediately cleared to the side as the troops passed. Neither Heine nor Shiho had authority over Zaft and therefore would be simply trampled on if they stood their ground. They simply watched as the soldiers rushed forward on their horses, anxious to begin their conquest.
"That is at least five thousand men!" Shiho shouted in panic as the last of the soldiers passed. "That is enough to rival Djibiril's army stationed in Heliopolis!"
"What are we to do?" Heine asked the noblewoman as he ran a hand through his almost-orange hair. "Lady Shiho, you had the authority to stop our expedition, but neither of us wield power over the king's army."
Shiho knew this. And she finally understood what Lacus had been feeling this entire time: helpless. Orb was going to become a battlefield, and there was nothing she or anyone else could do now to stop it.
End of Chapter Fourteen
Notes: This chapter is so chaotic—I know, I know. But I hope the length somehow makes up for it. The next chapter will be more organized (I hope), but I'll still edit this in a few days, after my final exams. I wish I can excuse myself from lousy writing, but I cannot. If you guys can offer me feedback, it'd be very much appreciated. Especially now that I feel like I'm in a slump. :c
On another note, thank you to all those who had supported Flowers For A Ghost! And to those who began to read my new story, Darling So It Goes; thank you as well. It means a lot to me, really. :)
Song of the Chapter: Pretty Face by Soley
Special surprise! If you want an idea of chapter fifteen, just listen to the song Chasing Twisters by Delta Rae. ;)