Chapter 28
Sonic wished he had been shot with another fucking arrow or something. Lying comatose for a week was so much more manageable than having to sit, lethargic and locked in a cage.
He didn't know what had happened after meeting Shadow in the glen; didn't know how much time had passed. It felt like it took ages for the ringing in his head to finally go quiet. He fell in and out of sleep without moving, registering information in bits and pieces between each period of unconsciousness: his feet were shackled beyond recognition in impossibly heavy steel. He was in the dungeon. His ring was missing from around his neck.
Then, one - day? Night? He had no idea - the purple cat appeared before his cell, tray of gray gruel in hand.
Sonic watched her and blinked until he felt awake, really awake, for the first time since he had fought Shadow.
She unlocked his cell door and pushed it open.
"Do you recognize me?" she asked from the entrance. Her voice was devoid of interest, and she knelt to set the bowl of mush on the floor without even looking at him.
"Of course," Sonic said, confused by her question. His throat was painfully dry. He wet his lips and coughed from where he lay splayed against the wall. "Blaze, right?"
The woman paused. Her eyes flew up to study him, her gaze suddenly intense. He winced. Her golden stare was too bright in the engulfing dark of the dungeon.
"That's correct," she said slowly.
A small wind fluttered through the cell, sending dirt and straw skittering between the steel bars. The fur on the back of Sonic's neck stood up.
Blaze set her tray down and stood, holding up a closed fist.
"Come closer," she said. Her voice was quiet and silken, like the dark itself.
Sonic did his best to get up and do as she said. He had to shuffle forward awkwardly on his knees to work around the metal shackles that swallowed his feet and ankles entirely. His head ached with the effort it took to move.
"That's not going to be fun," he said under his breath, trying in vain to stand.
"Look at me," said the woman.
He stopped his shuffling and looked up out of curiosity. Blaze opened her palm, and a flame sprang forth like it had been hidden behind her closed fingers the whole time.
Sonic retreated from it - small as the light was, the warmth still made his head ring.
"Ah," said Blaze with the hint of a frown. "Your pupils - they changed. You really do remember me, then? And keep your voice low - there are still guards at the end of the hall."
"Yeah, I remember," Sonic said. He held up a hand to shield his eyes from the light. "Why do you keep asking?"
"You had… an unfortunate concussion," she explained. "I've been here several times over the past three days and you were hardly even lucid. Until now, that is."
"Oh," Sonic said.
He felt his disappointment as heavy as the metal on his feet. He had done it again - disappeared again. He had quite literally started a riot, and left everyone else to deal with the consequences alone. What a pathetic mess he was, and what a pathetic mess he had made.
"Do not waste your time punishing yourself," Blaze warned, as if she could read his every thought even in the dark. "Now that you're awake, there are others in the castle who will be all too happy to do the beating for you."
"Right, not exactly the Kingdom's darling, am I?" Sonic asked. Somehow, finding the energy to crack a joke still cost him nothing.
"You laugh," Blaze said in a low voice, "but if you stay here much longer, I fear you'll soon be wishing for unconsciousness again."
Sonic's hand flew to his tender right shoulder. It still twinged with pain - just like his head did. Just like his back, his chest, his hand did. He was so tired of his body aching. Frustration like a fever turned his blood hot. He had to be better by now; had to quit leaving the world behind. All he wanted, for the first time in his life, was to stay and work through all the hard, messy shit he had stirred up. Of course, the world loved nothing more than to deny him his desires.
"Well, I'm awake now," he said with resolve. "And I'm useful for more than just taking a beating. So what's the plan? What can I do?"
Blaze's expression changed subtly. Her eyes twinkled and the corner of her lip pulled up.
"Nothing," she said calmly.
"Nothing," Sonic repeated. His brow furrowed, annoyed by her immediate, almost amused refusal to tell him anything. "What do you mean nothing? There's got to be a breakout plan. Unless -"
His blood ran cold as he realized just how bad the ruin at the camp could have been. He had no idea - he'd been blissfully half-conscious while his friends, Shadow, Amy all fought for their lives. Was there nothing he could do because they had already been lost? He tried to stand up but fell back to his knees.
"Tails, Knuckles -" he interrupted himself "- Are they down here too? Are they alive?"
"They are safe," Blaze said. "They, along with several others from the camp, have taken up residence at my house."
She didn't sound entirely thrilled by the arrangement.
"Thank Gaia," Sonic said, sitting back on his heels. "So… if they're okay, there is a plan then, right? It's not so hard to bust someone out of here - given the right circumstances."
Blaze's gaze flicked to somewhere over his shoulder so fast he might have missed it were her eyes not so bright, then she turned to leave the cell. Sonic tried to follow her to no avail.
"I don't have infinite time," she said as she closed the loud iron door on him and locked it again. "But you must understand, Sonic, that this is nothing like Silver's situation."
She gripped onto the bars and leaned forward, her tone distant and diplomatic.
"Silver was no one - a small-time thief practically sitting outside the night before his execution, waiting for you to pick him up," she said. "But you… You are the Kingdom's worst enemy. Your execution is to be… much, much more public."
"How do you figure?" Sonic asked. He felt a sudden chill run down his spine. Not nervous, but apprehensive.
Blaze ignored him and continued, her voice low and urgent.
"There are plans," she said. "Trust that there are. Your desire to be proactive is admirable, but in truth, the best thing you can do for us is… nothing. You have no power, you are under constant surveillance. You have forfeited your ability to 'do' anything - so, again, I urge you simply to wait. Trust us. Trust the people who can do something."
Sonic pressed his lips together, unsatisfied with her answer.
"Fine," he said eventually. "As long as I get to the Tournament, I'll do what you need me to do."
"Take this time to heal," she said. "To think about what's best for everyone - for Amy. That is how you can help us."
Sonic nodded and fell back onto the ground, pulling himself back to lean against a wall with a dramatic, angry sigh. It was wet, and cold, and surprisingly slimy against his fur. Something about how Blaze was speaking didn't sit right in his stomach. She was picking around words - telling him something without saying it. He wasn't smart enough to decipher it.
"Rest," Blaze said, and stood to leave. "Eat."
She gave her last command with singular urgency, gesturing down at the bowl of gruel. The word stuck in Sonic's head, but the bowl and meal were the last thing on his mind.
"All will be made clear soon," she promised.
"Alright, alright," he said, waving her off. "Just… next time you see her, tell Amy -"
He stopped. Tell her what, he wondered? Everything that came to mind felt… embarrassingly inadequate. And what did his words matter coming from the mouth of the Blaze anyway? If he could not look her in the eyes and assure her that he'd spend every waking minute - and every unwaking minute - thinking of her until they were together again, then it didn't quite feel as real and true a statement as he knew it to be.
No, best to wait and tell her everything himself - a thought that made him sincerely miserable. He had no idea how to speak words so saccharine and sincere without feeling like an incompetent fool. Words, feelings; they drowned him. They were so severely out of his depth. Nevertheless, she deserved to have them from him. She needed them from him.
"Never mind," Sonic said with an annoyed wave of his hand. "I… wouldn't know what to tell her, honestly. But… I guess I have time to figure it out."
He tried to smile like he had made a joke. Like he wasn't terrified at the thought of never being able to articulate what it felt like to be in love with someone. With someone like Amy.
Blaze didn't appear to be persuaded.
"Very well," she said. "I will let her majesty know that… you're healing."
She turned to go, taking the only warmth in the entire dungeon with her in the palm of her hand.
"Until next time," she said. Her voice echoed through the dungeon long after she had been swallowed by its darkness.
Sonic sat and waited for as long as he could.
How madness-making it was to sit in the dark, thinking, or napping, or humming, passing time in as many ways as he possibly knew how to pass time, only to look up and wonder if no time had passed at all. There was no sun in the dungeon. No way to mark the seconds, or the days, or the hours.
He plucked at his iron shackles incessantly. He picked rocks from the dirt to try and wedge them between the metal. He braided straw together to form a cord thick enough to insert in the key hole. He grumbled and groaned and muttered to himself about what a mess he had made as he tried in vain to work around the locks.
Once, he opened his mouth intent on practicing - intent on diving in and trying to learn how to swim amidst all the words he wanted to say but didn't know how to. He conjured her face in his mind and bade his feelings to his lips.
I love you. He sat with the phrase on the tip of his tongue, feeling strangely like a fool. Feeling like an embarrassed, stupid, inadequate fool.
Just as he took a sharp breath in to speak, metal scraped audibly across the floor.
Sonic's head snapped up and he jumped; a boy caught with his finger in the dessert.
His full food bowl inched to the side and wobbled in a circle until it stilled. He likely wouldn't have noticed the slight change if he hadn't first heard it.
As the tin bowl came to a full stop, Sonic saw the corner of a slip paper peeking out from underneath it. He pulled himself forward, not sure if its existence was a fluke, a hallucination, or an omen. He unfolded the small half-sheet of paper and held it an inch away from his face, his heart picking up pace as he strained to read it.
It was a leaflet, sealed by the King's signet. A royal decree.
His Highness the sovereign King of the Rose decrees that he shall grant such favors as those that follow upon the noble bearing the title "Champion" at the Tournament's conclusion:
1. The Tournament winner shall be blessed by the hand of her Majesty, Princess Amelia in marriage, and thereupon the title of Crown Prince.
Tournament winner shall execute how he sees fit - on behalf of his Highness the King - the criminal, now in the Kingdom's possession, who has been charged for the following: ultimate treason against Princess, King, and nation.
Sonic read the decree again, and then once more just to be sure he was reading correctly. The criminal, he realized, must be him. He was to be executed by the Champion, and Amy was to be wed to them. Somehow, in the days that he had been concussed, they had both become prizes.
Now, if they were both to survive, Amy was the only person who could win the Tournament. He was stunned, once again, by the sheer power of her love. The number of times she had saved him - and saved him by explicitly placing the burden of his life on her shoulders - had just doubled. He put a hand to his head, feeling dizzy.
He turned the page over, hoping for more. He'd take anything - a hint about their plans, information on his friends, a kind word, a whiff of her perfume -
His heart leapt. There was writing on the other side, written in familiar, scrawling handwriting.
Words written just for him filled up the entire page.
For when you wake,
I'm sorry. I know I gambled your life, but the closer we get to the end, the more I know that this is one bet I won't be able to go through with. I know you wouldn't want to leave, but I promised myself I would never hurt you again, so I have to make sure you won't be there. Now, if I lose the Tournament, at least I'll rest knowing that your safety is guaranteed. Wait for me, Sonic. I'll come to you when it's over, and when I do, I'll tell you the tale of the Tournament.
And… if you wait and I don't ever arrive… Pretend that I am and always was a tale. I want you to remember me as you would your favorite story. Tell it to others, write it down, revisit it often, but don't regret that it ended. That's just what stories do.
Consider my story yours, Sonic. I want you to tell it, so that it ends however you please.
I love you. I love you in a way that makes wanting feel like needing. I love you in a way that makes forgiveness feel irritatingly simple. I love you in a way that feels… eternal. If this is a tale; if we are a story, then let these be the last words of it and let them be true:
I love you.
He was overwhelmed with feeling. He crumpled the paper in his hands as he tried to keep his breathing calm, then panicked and tried to smooth it back out.
Chaos, he just wanted to see her. He was desperate to see her. She had an embarrassment of ways to describe her feelings in such specific, gorgeous, terrifying words. And he hadn't even told her he loved her; had only kissed her once. The decree in his hands all but sealed her fate, and he'd be damned if he let her face it alone. He'd be damned if their story ended without getting to say those three words back to her, the words she deserved to hear more than anyone in the world.
They were going to break him out - take him somewhere where he couldn't get to the Tournament. Blaze had said there was a plan, but he felt sure now, he didn't want it. He wouldn't go.
He was Amy's second, and he would not be removed from play. Not again. Months ago, he had promised her he would be there for her if she wanted it. Now, he would be there for her because he wanted it. If standing by her side meant feeling the sting of rope around his neck, he would brave it just as she had braved it for him.
He just needed to know when they would attempt to break him out, and foil their plan as safely as he could. He scanned the letter again, searching for clues.
'For when he woke' - that was the bit that puzzled him. And there was Blaze's expression - she clearly hadn't expected him to be well so soon. What was he supposed to make of her command to eat, to search the place where she knew the letter sat waiting? And when he hadn't done that… what of the moving bowl?
Sonic's muscles tensed painfully and he looked up from the letter, realizing quite suddenly that the whole time he had been waiting and thinking, the hair on the back of his neck had not settled down.
His eyes raked over every inch of his dark cell. He turned around, still seated on the ground, searching for a sign that he wasn't crazy. The metal bowl of food… the breeze… It had to be -
A puff of hot breath, barely perceptible but definitely there, dissipated into the air from a dark corner.
"Espio?" Sonic said quietly.
A pair of narrow golden eyes appeared in the dark.
"You're supposed to be out cold," Espio said in his smooth, quiet voice.
"Well," Sonic said with a shrug and an apologetic smile. "You know I don't like to make things easy."
Shadow watched Amy like a hawk in the three days after her return to the castle. A silent, impenetrably grumpy hawk. The intensity of his rancor ebbed and flowed, but his perma-cold refusal to speak to her - outside of necessity - never wavered. They did not train. They did not talk. They did not exchange loaded glances.
Within three days, the decree was made. Heralds spread the word in a practiced swarm, and the Kingdom was soon abuzz with the news.
The Princess was home, the master thief had been caught, and the future Champion of the Rose Kingdom would win both as a prize at the Tournament in little more than a week.
The event was unprecedented, and so was the response. The entire Kingdom thrummed with anxious excitement. Colorful banners decorated every inch of every village. Bets of exceedingly unwise amounts were placed on certain competing Lords. Gossip flowed from ladies gathered around water-wells. Everyone held their breath to see who their next King would be - not that anyone believed it really mattered. The Kings of recent past had been passive; removed and complacent. Champion or not, a nobleman was a nobleman. Once in a comfy seat of power, few could be bothered to get up and involve themselves in the messy lives of the lower class.
Still, there was a small but strong sect of the nation that refused to take their bets off of Sir Shadow. Wives and husbands argued good-naturedly across dinner tables about the practicality and possibility of a lowly knight ever becoming King. Wives thought it romantic and hopeful, husbands dismissed it as a foolish dream, but all secretly hoped that it could be true. Sir Shadow was a well-known name, a symbol of strength, and a layman. In the best case scenario for many a citizen, the people of the Rose Kingdom would suddenly find themselves ruled by a man who had not been born a noble, but had instead made a name for himself. A man who worked with fearsome resolve - a man like them.
Everyone prepared to make a pilgrimage to the castle city for the Tournament, intent on getting a seat to the most exciting event they'd witness in their lifetime.
Amy spent her days in the castle library. Shadow would not train her, and she was still recovering, so she studied fighting forms and battle strategy in silence for hours and hours to keep her mind from wandering back to the night of the ball and her time at the camp. Shadow circled her with crushing attention while she read, careful to keep her from slipping away to the dungeon.
They were there, in the quiet library, when the decree landed in his hand for the first time. His sharp inhale and sudden stillness pulled Amy from her book.
His face… she would never forget the look on his face.
He turned from the courier, clutching the decree in his hand, slow and stunned and furious.
"This was your plan?" he asked in a heated whisper. "Make it impossible for me to win?"
Amy was so shocked he was speaking to her, that she didn't know what he was talking about until he all but slammed the decree on her study table.
"What are you -?" she asked, grabbing for the parchment.
Shadow recoiled from her, then seemed to remember where he was and who he was with. His reaction had been so strong that he had forgotten himself with her - and in a public space, too. He shoved the decree forward, turning his back on her, and kept his eyes on the library stacks.
"Shadow," Amy gasped as she read the paper that was both her damnation and her deliverance. "Listen - I didn't… This decree, it's…"
She wanted to be there for him. She understood where his anger came from, but she was so aflutter that her father had done exactly as she had wanted him to that her guilt felt dull by comparison. Her stomach twisted with excitement. The pieces were in place.
"You must know," she whispered, with every intention of explaining everything to him delicately, "that this decree - everything - it's… It's not about you."
Her statement came out with more force than she would have liked, but she couldn't help it. She spoke the truth.
"I made this happen," she said quietly, looking around to make sure they weren't being listened to. "I bet myself on the Tournament so my father couldn't wiggle his way out of ceding the throne to me when I win. And you know he would have tried, Shadow. Any other way, and he would have. Now the whole nation knows - the next Champion will, by law, be the King."
"So you must know… it's not about you," she said again, shaking the parchment at him even though he wasn't facing her. "I was - I am - alone in the dark. A dead woman. I'm clawing my way out of my own grave, trying to forget what happened to me in that camp and what's waiting for me in that arena. This decree is my way out. This is what I had to do for the Kingdom. And you think I did this because of you? To take you out of the running?"
She shook her head sadly and stood, placing the decree in her book to keep her page, and snapped it shut. She walked up to stand at his back, speaking quietly and directly into his ear.
"Do your worst, Shadow," she said. "Because I promise - with or without this decree - I will win. I hurt you, I get that, but what you choose to do in our fight… that's your responsibility. I don't want to lose you. Please, don't make me lose you over this."
Shadow caught his breath. He turned his head, unsure what to say to her and even more unsure what to feel, but she was already headed for the library door.
Amy hurried to her room, book under her arm, surprised at how emotional she felt after speaking those words aloud. She didn't know if she could actually win against Shadow - if that was a promise she could keep. Shadow was the better, more experienced fighter, that was an irrefutable fact. But, with the decree in place, there was one other irrefutable fact: she could not lose. She would win, or she would die.
And so would Sonic. That was the part of the plan that she couldn't cope with. That was the part of the plan that plagued her.
She had known that she couldn't risk his life the very second her father had said it in the foyer. She schemed with her growing network to get him out - away from the castle and the Tournament before he was awake enough to protest. She wrote out countless drafts of letters before finally settling on one and sending it down into the dungeon with Blaze, so that it would travel back with his body. Waiting for when he woke.
She sat, on the eve of their slap-dash breakout attempt, sipping tea with Rouge in her room as the sun set, waiting and listening for the signs of their friends' arrival.
"I don't know what to do about him," Amy grumbled, blowing the steam from the surface of her drink.
"Sonic?" Rouge asked, her eyes flicking over to the balcony door.
"Shadow," Amy corrected. She didn't particularly want to talk about Sonic - not with Rouge, at least. Rouge was perceptive, but too blunt. Things with Sonic were fragile enough as it was.
Rouge set her cup down and leaned back, throwing her arms out along the back of her chair.
"It's so like knights to get this bent out of shape over something as flimsy as 'honor'," she said with a dramatic sigh. "I say let him pout. The more off-balance he is, the better for you when your fight rolls around."
"You don't think it's a bad thing that he's got… feelings to work through out there?" Amy asked. "In the arena?"
Rouge shrugged.
"Don't you have feelings to work through out there?" she countered. "Besides, you can't explain someone's feelings to them - they're feelings. They're felt. They aren't reasonable, that's the whole thing about them. If it takes a fight for him to figure out his feelings, then that's what it takes."
"I just… don't want him to think I'm a coward," Amy confessed. "He's my best friend."
"Honey," Rouge said with scoff, "if he thinks you're a coward because of one little decree, then he's dumber than I thought. When you stand in front of him in that arena - head held high - he'll see. You know you're not a coward. Act like it, and he'll see it too."
Amy laughed despite herself. "Thanks," she said with a smile. "You… make things seem so straightforward."
"Well," Rouge said, taking a cookie from a tray and waving it around as she spoke, "I have the privilege of distance. Perspective. You know what's so fun about being a dressmaker?"
Amy shook her head.
"You swoop in," Rouge said dramatically, "you steal all the credit for that one, exquisite moment of glory, and then… you leave! No treason, no espionage - just fashion."
Rouge popped the little cookie in her mouth, swallowed, and raised her teacup in a toast.
"Just fashion," she said again with mock reverence.
Amy smiled and raised her cup, too. "That's not always quite true, though, is it?" she asked with a twinkle in her eye. "That it's all just fashion, I mean?"
Rouge raised her eyebrows as she took a long sip of her tea, and slammed her cup down with a grin.
"Darling," she said with a pointed look, "if you think you're the only woman in the world to ever lose her good, Gaia-given common sense over a handsome thief, then you still have much to learn about the world."
Amy nodded with a quiet smile.
"Well, I'm glad you stayed," she said. "Even if just to run a message to the crew at Blaze's house yesterday."
"Not at all," Rouge said with a wave. "That was just a bonus. I'm really here because your true moment of exquisite glory hasn't come yet. I'll wait until the Tournament to steal the credit for that and then I'm out of here."
There was a loud boom out in the courtyard. Amy flinched harder at the sound than she would have liked.
She stood, strode to her balcony doors, and pressed her hands to the glass panes, watching in awe at the colors erupting and fizzling in great arcs in the sky. At her party, she hadn't been fortunate enough to be conscious during the fireworks display. Pity. It was a spectacular view.
Her heart lurched for what could have been.
Shadow burst through the door behind her, but Amy didn't turn to him. She was too busy watching the guards under her balcony mobilize and run off into the castle grounds.
"I'll be fine," she said, still standing with her back to him so he couldn't watch the slow, devious smile spreading across her face. "Go, do what you must."
"Do not move," he commanded.
Amy nodded. She could agree to that. She suspected she wouldn't have to move even an inch to get exactly what she wanted.
Espio melted out of the shadows and took form, clad in his usual black and plum mercenary gear.
"It's time to go," he said. "We have minutes to do this, if we're lucky."
He knelt by Sonic's feet, pulling tiny lockpicks and rusted tools out from under his cloak to begin work on the shackles.
"Woah, woah -" Sonic did his best to put distance between them. "I'm not going, Espio. Amy needs - "
"Like hell you're not going," Espio snapped. "Quiet, so I can concentrate."
"I'm serious -"
"No, you're not," he said calmly, still working the locks. "If you were being serious, you'd have listened to Blaze and thought about what's best for everyone, and for Amy. If you were being serious, you'd recognize that what's best is to disappear. Tails and Knuckles are upstairs, Silver's outside, Blaze already risked herself again to deliver that note today - this is your only chance to be safe. You read the Princess' letter - this is her dying wish -"
"She's not dying," Sonic snapped, recoiling at how casually Espio predicted her doom.
Espio spared him a pitying glance.
"Think of the odds, Sonic," he said. "Think of how many worlds there are where this goes badly for us and for the Kingdom. She has asked you to stay away for the duration of the Tournament, and we're going to grant her that wish. Think about what's right."
"I'm not doing what's right anymore," Sonic protested. "I'm doing what I want."
"I'm not leaving without you," Espio warned. "Blaze and Silver are building a home and a shop together with our help. It'll be our safehouse if…"
"If we have to go down fighting?" Sonic finished.
Espio nodded, perhaps the wiser of the two for not speaking the possibility of war into existence.
"We've helped them raise the walls of their new quarters, stockpile rations, make weapons - and Vector does the cooking," he said. "This is where you'll stay until the Tournament is over."
Sonic's heart fell. It sounded so close to paradise. A home in the making somewhere in the countryside, lovingly helmed by Silver and Blaze. All his friends. But the woman he loved wouldn't be there. Without her…
Escaping wasn't worth it if there would be no uninterrupted practice for a week. If they couldn't tease each other and fight until she was undefeatable. If they couldn't share one bed, two chairs, a hearth, and the long, painful conversations that he was finally ready to face down. Escaping wasn't worth it if they couldn't take a stumbling, frightening walk through the ruins of a love that they had burnt down, moving towards a new one that they could sustain, together. The thought of doing the work - talking through every bad choice he had made - made him wince, but it also set his heart racing. The challenge was almost delicious. With her fighting by his side, they could make it through the war to the other side. He knew that. She had promised him that so long ago.
So he wasn't going. At the safehouse, they would trap him. They'd keep him from her. He'd fight every single one of his friends if he had to, if it meant keeping his promise to Amy - if it meant being there for her, victory or defeat.
One of Sonic's shackles clicked open. Down the hall, the door to the dungeons creaked and the sounds of armor ricocheted between the walls.
"Guards," Sonic said. He put his hands on Espio's shoulders and shook him. "Do you have ink?"
"You have to get them to open the cell door," Espio said, ignoring him. "I can do the rest from there. I'll lift a key, then we'll sneak out through a hidden passage -"
"Stop, Espio -" Sonic shook him again.
"What?" Espio hissed incredulously.
"Ink," he demanded.
Wordlessly, Espio pulled a small vial from his cloak and went back to working on the second shackle. Sonic uncorked it and dipped the thinnest lockpick he could find inside, pulling out the decree with Amy's letter on it.
For a few brief seconds, both men worked in furious quiet - Espio at the locks, and Sonic at Amy's letter. His green eyes scraped through every inch of the page as desecrated her sacred words, scribbling circles like a madman.
"Give this to her," he said, shoving the decree into Espio's hand. "When the cell door is open, that's when you go. Don't hesitate - they only bring food for one down here and I'm not sharing."
"But -"
"I have thought about what's best. I have to be there," Sonic said, and spun from his spot on the ground, hiding the ink and the tools in the hay and muck around him. "You might think my presence in that arena is a liability, and I think she could win without me, I do. But I know she can win with me. We stand a better chance together."
Espio snarled silently, looking supremely displeased to have waited in the dark a full day only to be foiled at the last moment. He disappeared into the shadows in the same instant a loud, striking figure appeared before the cell door.
Vivid red eyes stared at Sonic through the darkness. Shadow held up a small lantern, as still and cold as a statue, apprising his quarry.
"Have to be honest," Sonic said with an innocent smile, "I was hoping for a visit from someone… prettier. Red isn't quite the color I was expecting."
He sat back, the picture of calm. Authority returned to him. Lying, conniving, cunning - he was back in his element and all the happier for it. Something about the knight made him feel particularly belligerent.
Shadow set the lantern at his feet and put a hand on his sword.
"You think I am a fool," he said. His voice pierced through the dungeon, too loud, too sharp, too dangerous. "You think I'd be taken in by the same trick you used at the ball?"
The knight's tone rubbed Sonic the wrong way. He thought he was so above everything, so… right. Sonic's green eyes gleamed mischievously as his annoyance sharpened his mind back to an aching point.
"I think you're too eager to leave your charge," he said, tilting his head to the side. "If you're down here… who's up there, I wonder? With her?"
Shadow didn't acknowledge him. He was more than unfazed by the criminal's meager attempt to shake his confidence.
"She is not the target," he growled. "You are. And you will not get away from me a second time. Chaos strike me where I stand if I let you escape punishment for what you did to this Kingdom. To her. You don't deserve to be rescued by her - dragged around by her."
Sonic felt all of his green, ugly emotions rising in his throat. He knew he deserved nothing from Amy, but - what? Shadow did?
"You're a ray of sunshine, you know that?" he said with a broad smile, striking to wound. "It's no wonder Amy felt like she could be completely honest with you while you were away."
Shadow took one deep breath and curled his free hand into a fist. That was all he needed to contain his anger, keeping it carefully simmering just underneath his skin.
"You'll rot away or go mad down here, I'll see to that," he said darkly. "Whichever comes first."
The two men stared each other down through the iron bars. Sonic wanted to start another fight, wanted to bare his fangs and fight back. But he thought of Amy and what she needed. She didn't need another enemy, she didn't need more fighting. He sat back and threw his elbows over his knees with a shrug, using his irritation to power his nonchalance.
He nodded, lips pursed in a mockery of Shadow's own seriousness. "Fine by me," he said. "I don't want a rescue. I'm here to serve my time."
Even as he held up a hand to promise that he had no intention of leaving, Shadow glanced down pointedly at his open shackle. Espio had only managed to pop one before disappearing.
"I don't want a rescue," he insisted. "I'm here to stay. You can tell her that yourself, if you want."
He glanced around the cell and spoke louder and slower, defining his words sharply. He wanted Espio to memorize every single one of them.
"And tell her… that I trust her," he said, forcing the words to come. He crunched through what to say, the rusted machine of his mind and heart connected and operational for the first time in years. Slow and grating, the words came.
"Tell her that I refuse to run away from her and whatever future we're heading toward," he said. "I know she wants me to leave, but I want to follow her to the end - whatever end that may be. I'm her second. It's not up for debate - I have to see her one more time. If I don't see her again… I might not get the chance to tell her that I…I -"
Sonic glanced up and caught sight of Shadow's unfeeling stare. His ability to form the words stuttered to a halt under his cold, red eyes. He hated how the knight's scrutiny made him feel foolish; embarrassed.
"Well, don't tell her that last part," he muttered. "I need… to tell her that bit myself."
Shadow's eyes narrowed.
"You still claim to love her?" he asked.
Sonic's eyebrows shot up, his focus fully back on the knight.
"Yes," he said. At least that one word came easily and confidently.
Shadow scoffed aloud and stepped toward the cell door. Every muscle in his body was tense. Every movement he made down to the slightest twitch in his brow reeked of power and purpose, pushed to the edge of his own control. Sonic knew it was all calculated to make him feel as small as possible. He didn't shrink back; didn't let Shadow dominate the space. He stared back, defiant, and more than a little bored with the bravado.
"Liar," Shadow spat out. "You took her because you wanted her. Not because you loved her."
Sonic's expression hardened. He was done being talked down to.
"Unlike you," he growled, "I'm not afraid to admit that I was wrong. I took her because… I didn't know how to love her. I still don't. But that's why I'm staying - I want to learn. Start over, and learn how she needs to be loved."
The cell door swung open loudly, and Shadow moved into the room to re-affix his chains. Sonic held his breath, watching for any sign of Espio.
The hay skittered across the cell door.
Shadow's ears perked.
"Shadow -" Sonic said loudly. He grabbed the man's shoulders and Shadow pulled his sword, pressing the blade across his chest to keep him back.
To Sonic's relief, the attention was back on him. He had wanted to distract the knight from the slight breeze, but there was something else, too. He had that irksome feeling of urgency again - the same feeling he had when first he knew he needed Shadow's help with the raid. Shadow was the last thing standing in Amy's way - he was the deciding factor in her victory.
Once again, Sonic realized that they needed him.
"You have to know -" Sonic began slowly, finding his footing in his idea "- that… she needs you just as much as she needs me. When she's out in that arena, we won't be able to look out for her like you can. We'll all be there to support her, on the sidelines or hidden in the crowd -"
He swallowed and tipped his head to the side "- or… in the… gallows. Point is, we'll be ready to help her as best we can. But there's only one person who will be out there with her, on the battlefield, and that's you. You will be in the best place to protect her once the Tournament starts."
Shadow sheathed his sword and returned to working on the shackles with a vengeance.
"You speak to me of protection?" he asked, clearly disgusted. "I have protected her far better than you ever have. Icame up with this plan - told her about the loophole, trained her. For most of my life and hers, I have protected her -"
"Then don't stop now," Sonic pleaded.
Shadow clicked the chains into place. Sonic could've sworn they were tighter - sharp, iron teeth sinking into his ankles. He prayed Espio had already left the dungeon; that he had done enough to make him realize how futile it was to try and get him to run away.
One golden eye peered out of the dark behind Shadow. Espio stood, eyebrow raised in a silent, final question. Sonic shook his head as subtly as he could.
Espio gave him a withering frown, and the golden eye disappeared.
Shadow stood and left the cell. "Do not concern yourself with me and my motives," he said, locking the door in place and picking up his lantern to go. "You know nothing of who I am."
"Really?" Sonic called.
He didn't quite know why he stopped the knight. Something hadn't been said - not properly, anyway. Shadow thought he was different from him - so much better than him - but Tails had tried to save him from himself once before. If he had listened back then, perhaps he might not have broken Amy's heart. He would be a selfish idiot if he didn't at least try and stop Shadow from making a similar mistake.
"I don't think you're half as complicated as you like to think you are," he said, sure his words wouldn't land with the man. But at least he would have said them. Saying them while he still could - that was what mattered. "You know - I sacrificed my love for her to satisfy my own feelings, once, too."
Shadow stilled. For the first time since he entered the dungeon, he hesitated.
"You're so obsessed with punishing everyone who lets you down that you're starting to punish yourself . But it's not too late for you," Sonic pleaded. "Don't make the same mistake I did. Don't sacrifice her to satisfy your own bruised ego. Some people… Some people are worth forgiving."
Shadow let the silence linger, his body tensed. Then he turned back toward the cell, lunging to grab hold of the bars, his eyes ablaze with indignation.
"And you," he said, "are not half so special as you think you are."
His mind on fire with retribution, he spoke damning words; words he would later wish he could take back when they kept him from falling asleep.
"She might have chosen you as her second," he growled. "She might even love you. But when she is so far from you - out there on the battlefield - and you can't reach her in time to save her from all of the people who will want to see her dead… I hope you will learn what it means to feel truly powerless. As powerless as I felt when you took her that night. I hope - that in the face of death - you will learn that even you are nothing and no one."
The fireworks exploded with slow, intentional power far from the balcony, punctuating the night with bursts of color and sound. Amy watched the ivy draping down her balcony shiver and shake under the weight of something massive.
She grinned. Knuckles' great, spiked hands appeared over her railing. The big man pulled himself up with some effort. Tails landed on the balcony without so much as a stumble and scurried to help haul his friend the rest of the way over. She couldn't hear them, but she watched with affection as Knuckles shouted something at Tails and waved him away with annoyance.
The two thieves turned toward her, and Amy threw open the door to her room. Tails smiled a smile so heavy with emotion that she thought he might actually be frowning. Knuckles stood tall and crossed his arms to mask his heavy breathing.
"I cannot believe I have been to this death trap of a castle not once, not twice, but three times in the last three months," he grumbled. "If we survive past next week, I refuse to come back here. I'm packing up. I'm done with monarchs forev-"
Amy barreled into them, embracing them both as hard as she could.
"You have no idea how happy I am that you're alright," she sighed, taking a deep breath between them. They smelled clean and earthy. They looked better, too. Less haggard.
"Likewise," Tails chuckled.
She pulled away and took a sharp breath. She hadn't seen either of them since the raid in the camp. She was happy, of course, that they were fine, but hugging them still felt bittersweet.
"Not going to say hello, are we?" Rouge called from inside Amy's room.
Knuckles disentangled himself from them conspicuously fast. Amy shot Tails an amused look. Rouge had told her about the few flings she'd had with Knuckles, but watching her formidable friend turn into a puddle in real time fascinated her.
"Right - uh, hello," he said gruffly.
Rouge stood from her chair, emerging from the shadows of the room smiling a self-assured smile. She put a hand to her heart as she approached them.
"My, my," she said, enjoying her little melodrama immensely. "I've never heard a more romantic 'hello' in all my life - you truly have the heart of a poet, Knuckie."
Amy all but laughed aloud, sure she was grinning like a fool. Tails snickered.
"Stop that," Knuckles snapped at no one in particular - though Amy suspected it was meant for all three of them.
"Now, now, be nice," Rouge scolded, wiggling her fingers at Knuckles in a teasing sort of diminutive. She ushered them into the room and closed the balcony door behind them. "There will be plenty of time to fight later, I promise."
Knuckles sputtered and bickered back quietly, his cheeks nearly as red as his fur.
Under the cover of their arguing, Tails pulled Amy aside gently.
"Are you… alright?" he asked.
Amy froze for a moment. She hadn't stopped to think about herself since the first day back from the camp - that endless day of numbness. But Tails asked his question with soft intention; with the knowledge that it was too simple a question, clearly ready to bear the weight of a complicated answer.
"I'm… different," she said truthfully. "Not alright. Different."
Tails nodded. His nose twitched and the corners of his mouth turned down.
"I -"
"Different is not bad, Tails," Amy said before he could offer her an apology. The time for apologies had died. If she had to swallow another apology, she might get sick to her stomach again. "Different is just… different."
The young man nodded and turned his head away from her to wipe innocently at his nose.
"How long do you think he'll take?" Knuckles asked, breaking into their moment.
Amy looked up and saw him trying to shake Rouge off of his arm. She couldn't help but smile.
"You're sure we can trust him?" she asked. "Espio?"
She pulled at her fingers anxiously. She had wanted to go down to the dungeon herself, at first. The letter Rouge had brought back from Tails all but forbid her from doing that, and off of Shadow's reaction when the fireworks started, she knew that Tails had been right.
He exchanged a glance with Knuckles, who shrugged.
"Not much choice," he said, and crossed his arms.
"- But he's an expert," Tails hurried to explain, trying to reassure her. "He's as discreet as they come, and he owes us one."
He placed a hand on Amy's, stopping her from tearing at her skin and nail beds.
"We'll find a way to get him tonight," he said. "We have to. With this decree…"
Amy winced.
"Right, sorry about that," she said. "I had to make sure I would be crowned at the end of the Tournament. But once Sonic is out of the picture, I'll be alright. He's the last big obstacle."
"By my estimations," Tails said, gently correcting her, "we still have Shadow to contend with. When I stared him down in the glen -" he shivered.
"He's a non-issue," Amy said. "My father already told me that Shadow can't win. He isn't a noble."
Tails sucked in a breath and spoke softly, like a parent breaking her bad news.
"You think that the King won't change his mind about that once he sees that his only options are his daughter, who is actively usurping him, or a beloved knight who everyone in town wants to win anyway?" he asked.
His question struck her. She truly, honestly hadn't thought about a world where - if given the choice between a layman or his daughter - her father would not pick her.
"He might still back me," Amy said, heartbroken to find she was unable to convince herself. "I'm his daughter."
"You won't be," Knuckles warned. His deep voice cut through their quiet debate. "The second you step onto that field, you won't be his daughter anymore. You'll be a threat."
Rouge shot him a disapproving look and reached for her before thinking better of it. Amy turned away, stung by the truth. She knew he was right, but something in her had still hoped that the King would change. That she'd be so spectacular on the battlefield his heart would finally turn in her favor.
But she didn't want to have to win his attention. Her father was the only person in the world with that title. There would be so many more Kings after him, but he had only one child and she, only one living parent. They were supposed to be a pair; were supposed to be connected by something deep in their blood - something that science and the cosmos could not define. They were family. Surely it mattered that he had been there every day of her life? Surely he would look at her, a Champion, and finally see her?
"You're right," Amy said, her voice thick in her throat. "If we don't plan for him to side with the other competitors, then we'll be caught off guard when he uses every trick in the rulebook to keep me from winning."
Tails grabbed her hand and squeezed it. She'd take the sympathy, as long as it was quiet and gentle.
"Is there a meal for all of the entrants the morning of? Or the water trough, maybe?" he asked hopefully. "We could sprinkle a small dose of non-lethal poison inside it - just to weaken everyone. Then you'll beat Shadow, no problem."
Amy grimaced. Something in her brain was nodding furiously along to Tails' idea. Logistically, playing dirty was playing smart. But it wasn't playing fair.
"He'll know," she said. "And I'll know. He's already convinced that I wagered the right to rule on this fight to rig it against him. I could never look him in the eye again if I won without honor."
"Maybe," Tails said quietly, "that's alright? He might… get over it one day, and if not, well - maybe it would be worth letting him go to make sure you survive?"
Amy looked Tails in the eyes and squeezed his hand back.
"No," she said kindly but firmly. "He's already so wounded by all of this. He's my best friend - and if he'sthe citizen's favorite going into the Tournament as you said… then I need his support to win over the people. Trust me, Tails, a Kingdom where he is not completely behind me is a Kingdom that will crumble, I know it."
She searched his eyes, sure he understood the unexpected, unbreakable bond that the universe sometimes wove between two people.
"You believe in me, right?" she asked. "If I wanted to go into it without cheating, without help… If I wanted to do it right - you believe that I can win it?"
"Of course," Tails said.
"Well, so does Shadow," Amy said. "I know with every beat of my heart that he believes in me, too."
She spoke the words and found that she knew them to be true. If her father would not pick her; would not see her… She believed that Shadow would. He was her family. Had been from the moment they were placed together as kids.
Tails sighed, and Amy smiled at her young friend.
"You know how it is," she said affectionately. "They can be idiots, but we still need them."
Tails looked unhappy, but he nodded all the same.
"You better not be talking about me," Knuckles said, arms crossed.
"Oh honey," Rouge drawled, tracing a finger up his arm, "of course they are."
Before Knuckles could snap at her, there was a quiet knock on the door. Like magic, it fell open just a crack. Golden light from the hallway slipped into the room and then was quickly shut out again as the door closed of its own accord.
Amy's heart stopped. She caught a glimpse of a shadow in the brief flash of light, but there was no one to be seen. Her eyes told her that the room was still empty save for her friends, but her body was prickly. She was immediately on edge, afraid like how she had been afraid every night in the camp, waiting for Scourge to explode into violence.
She held her hand out, a breath away from summoning her hammer, but Tails stopped her.
"It's alright," he said quietly. "This is him - Espio."
Amy kept her expression neutral as a mercenary materialized in her room. He was a lean chameleon, draped in dark clothes and shadow. He appraised her just as the thieves had done when they first met her; just as everyone did upon seeing her for the first time. She was no stranger to the eyes, roving only to valuate her. Deciding what kind of trouble she was worth.
She stood tall and met Espio's eyes with kind intensity, her pulse racing in anticipation.
"Sonic?" she asked.
The man took one elegant step forward and pulled a sheet of paper from inside his cloak like he was materializing it, too, out of the darkness.
"Apologies, madame," Espio said. He did not bow to her. "He had regained consciousness when Blaze and I went down this morning. He… refused to leave once he understood that we intended to keep him from the Tournament entirely. We have failed you."
Amy closed her eyes painfully. Knuckles put one strong hand on her shoulder.
"Idiot," he hissed under his breath. "Idiot…"
She held herself together despite the panic and took the paper from Espio without looking at it.
"You did not fail," she said kindly. "You risked your life for him, that is more than enough for me. Thank you for your effort."
Espio's eyes glimmered.
"He did say… many things," he said. "Forgive me if they are too bold coming from my lips, and not his."
Amy shook her head softly, still within arm's reach of the mercenary.
"Don't apologize," she said. "I… want to know."
Espio spoke in a voice that was smooth and cold. Though he recited Sonic's words with professional distance, his tone leant them a natural romanticism that made her cheeks flush.
"He believes you can win the Tournament alone," he said, "but he knows you can win it together. He said that he'd do anything to guarantee he can speak to you once more - that he is your second, and that he will stand by your side, because he promised and because he wants to."
Amy nodded slowly. Her heart didn't know whether to soar or sink. Sonic was awake, and he was staying. He would be at the Tournament. His life would be in so much danger, but… he was thinking about her. He wanted to speak to her - to be with her. She pocketed the note, trying not to be embarrassed about the words she knew he must have read.
She glanced at Tails, who looked more dejected than she did, and moved to look him in the eyes.
"I will protect him," she whispered. "I promise."
Tails nodded, but said nothing.
She looked up and around the room. Her friends all watched her, uncertain and nervous, too. They had failed. Sonic's presence at the Tournament doubled the odds that someone would not make it out of the arena alive.
She was just as afraid of the future as they were, but she squared her shoulders. She would be their Queen. She would be their Champion. It was her job to carry their hopes, their spirits on her shoulders. And she would not set them down until they were safe on the other side of the Tournament.
"We'll be alright," she said, looking at Rouge, Knuckles, Tails, and Espio in turn. "We made our attempt, and I thank you for your efforts. Getting Sonic out now may have been our first plan, but it was not our only one."
She stood tall, accepting the full weight of her words and her duty even as she spoke them.
"I will win the Tournament and ensure his release, or I will pay for my mistake with my life," she promised. "Winner or not, I put him in this position, and I bear the responsibility of his safety. I bear the responsibility of all of your safety."
Espio watched her with discerning eyes.
"I don't expect any of you to attend the Tournament," she said. "I don't expect you to risk anything more for me. All I can do is give you what payment I can and wish you warmth and happiness in your new home. I hope that I'll join you there soon, in a Kingdom liberated from its own complacency."
Knuckles scoffed. "If Sonic's going to the Tournament, I'm going," he said.
"Same," Tails nodded.
Rouge threw an arm around Knuckles. "In for a penny, in for a pound."
Amy smiled and bowed to them, humbled by their love. "Take whatever you can tonight," she urged. "Blankets, gold, clothing… take everything you can carry and my love back to Blaze's house, and don't come back."
She set blankets in their hands and jewels in their pockets, then hugged Tails and Knuckles goodbye. As she opened the balcony door for them, Espio ambled away without a word, but Amy hurried to stop him.
"For Charmy," she said, and placed a small brown bag in his hand. "Rouge told me he… likes candy. Thank you again, for delivering Sonic's message."
Espio held the bag in his hand, his eyes intense on her.
"It… appears that I misjudged you," he said.
Amy tipped her head to the side in a silent question.
"I feel as though I owe you… an apology," he said, "for the role I may have played in your earlier misfortune."
She stiffened. If he meant the kidnapping, she couldn't afford to hear it. She couldn't afford to be dragged back into the numbness.
"Like I said," she said quickly, "no apologies necessary."
"I see." He nodded. "Later, then. When you're ready. Perhaps, after the Tournament - which I and my companions would be honored to witness."
He disappeared over the balcony. As Knuckles climbed over to follow him, Tails paused and turned to her one last time.
"I hate to leave you alone for a week," he said. "We could… try and meet still? Or I could come here?"
Amy shook her head and smiled at him. "We both know that's far too dangerous," she said. "But… I'll miss you, too."
He took a moment to gather his confidence, then stood tall and looked her in the eyes.
"Train hard, then," he ordered, trying to fill the shoes of a leader while theirs sat in the dungeon.
Amy nodded, her heart bolstered by his sweet spirit. "Of course," she said, mirroring his seriousness.
"Study until you know every rule by heart, work hard, keep your guard up," he lectured. "What matters is that you don't get rusty in the next week. And get plenty of sleep… if you need us, just send word."
"I will mom," she teased, then felt her heart clench.
He pressed his lips together, eyes shining.
"We'll be there. We'll all be there next week," he said. "You won't be alone."
Amy took a sharp breath and lunged for him, sweeping him up to kiss his cheek and squeeze him one last time. He'd let her borrow his heart so many times before, and she was so thankful for it. She sent him on his way without another word, afraid that if she said anything they might both begin to weep.
With Rouge's departure, she was alone in her room again.
She took a deep breath and moved to the hearth. It was too dark to read, but the paper from Sonic was burning a hole in her pocket. She lit a candle and sat in his chair.
The velvet cradled her, soft and warm. It was him, she convinced herself. He held her in his heart, even while he sat waiting for her in the dungeon. Days without him felt so lacking in life that her anger and regret became nothing compared to the deep, deep desire she had just to see him again.
She unfolded the paper, shocked to see her own words etched out or circled in turn. Bit by bit, she pieced his message together.
For when you wake,
I'm sorry. I know I gambled your life, but the closer we get to the end, the more I know that this is one bet I won't be able to go through with. I know you wouldn't want to leave, but I promised myself I would never hurt you again, so I have to make sure you won't be there. Now, if I lose the Tournament, at least I'll rest knowing that your safety is guaranteed. Wait for me, Sonic. I'll come to you when it's over, and when I do, I'll tell you the tale of the Tournament.
And… if you wait and I don't ever arrive… Pretend that I am and always was a tale. I want you to remember me as you would your favorite story. Tell it to others, write it down, revisit it often, but don't regret that it ended. That's just what stories do.
Consider my story yours, Sonic. I want you to tell it, so that it ends however you please.
I love you.I love you in a way that makes wanting feel like needing. I love you in a way that makes forgiveness feel irritatingly simple. I love you in a way that feels… eternal. If this is a tale; if we are a story, then let these be the last words of it and let them be true:
I love you.
She folded herself into bed and clutched the letter tight to her chest. She strained to hear the words Sonic had circled in his voice - she wished so desperately to hear him say them.
Secretly - horribly - she was so happy he had chosen to stay. She was elated. He wasn't going anywhere. He was finally, finally ready to fight.
The door to her room opened and closed. The sound of armor gave away Shadow, checking in on her. She didn't turn to him. She was too consumed by the words.
As the night grew deep around her, Amy sprang out of bed. She couldn't sleep - couldn't waste even a second. She heaved everything in her room out of the way as quietly as she could. She pushed the armchairs to the wall, rolled up the rug, and pulled her vanity into a corner.
When finally she had enough space, she took a deep breath and summoned her hammer. For the first time since leaving the camp, she held it in her hand. She looked over every inch of it, feeling the totality of it's weight as she hefted it over her shoulder and took a few timid practice swings.
Sonic's words powered her. When it was over… he was hers. He had circled those words - made her that promise. He wanted to tell her that he loved her.
Her swing grew more and more powerful with each thought of him, until the air whooshed around her and she was afraid that the sound of her hammer cutting through the night was too loud and would give her away.
In the center of her clear room, barefoot on the cold floor, she practiced. She moved through her fighting stances slowly. She did push-ups until the sweat dripped down her back.
The sun rose around her, and still she worked. As she stretched her arms overhead - as she flexed her muscles and gripped her hammer tight in her fingers - Amy returned to her own body. She felt her joints slide against each other, felt her heartbeat speed up and slow down, felt her lungs expand in her back.
For the next week, Amy hardly spoke a word. She spent her days studying in silence. At night, she locked her door and read her letter, pulling out Sonic's words and repeating them like they were one of history's great rallying speeches.
I won't leave, I promised I would be there. When it's over, I am yours. I want to tell you I love you. I want eternal love.
Then, she would tuck the letter under her pillow and practice until her legs shook.
She would win. In a week, she would win. And when she did, she would banish the numbness, banish the gray, banish the ghost of the Kingdom her father had sucked the soul out of. By the grace of Gaia, Amy would have it all and would accept no less. At the end of the Tournament, she would have her people, she would have her title, and she would have him.
Yes, she would be the one to finally make the stars align over the Rose Kingdom. She was ready for the battlefield. She was ready to die trying.