Disclaimer: All non-original characters are property of SEGA or their respective creators.
18. After This, Our Exile
Had she ever woken up so late before?
That was the question Zoë asked herself as she gazed out the window of her room in the Blackthorn Inn, marveling at how high the sun hung in the sky over Lethra. She couldn't seem to recall a time in her life she'd slept in past dawn.
Not as a cub, being shooed into the street to play by her harried mother. Nor as an urchin, always trying to keep one step ahead of Cilgarren's officious street wardens. Nor as a slave, hurrying out of the prince's bedchamber to be in the kitchens in time for breakfast.
"You're awake?"
Jolted out of her reverie, Zoë turned from the window to see Prince Miles of Cambria sitting up in bed.
"Only for a little while," she said smilingly.
Miles tossed back the bedcovers, stretched, and padded over to the window.
"Didn't feel like waking me?" he cooed, touching noses with Zoë.
The vixen smirked. "I did try."
A breeze blew in through the window as they kissed. Miles pulled her close.
"How did you sleep?" he asked.
She grimaced. He frowned.
"That badly?" said the prince, "It, uh, wasn't my tails again, was it?"
Zoë stifled a giggle. "Nothing like that. I just…couldn't seem to stop thinking."
"What about?"
The vixen glanced down at their smooth stomachs pressed flat against each other. "Is your father really going to believe me about the cub?"
"Us, you mean."
Zoë looked up. "Hmm?"
"You're not going to be telling him by yourself," said Miles, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand, "The question you should be asking is 'Will he believe us?'"
The vixen smiled weakly. "Will that really make much difference?"
"To my mother it will."
Zoë blinked. In all her nocturnal ruminations, lying awake in his arms after bouts of mutual passion, Queen Rosemary had never once entered her thoughts.
"But…it won't be the queen's decision to make—"
Miles cut her off with a kiss.
"Do you think my grandmother's daughter is going to let some stuffy protocol get in her way?"
Just then, a rolling ululation rent the air outside. The startled Zoë hugged her prince tighter.
"That'll be where Styx and Morain got to," wheezed Miles.
Easing her embrace, Zoë rested her muzzle on his shoulder. "Am I going to have to get used to that?"
Miles chuckled. "Only if you planned on joining the Company."
The vixen snickered into his shoulder. She could scarcely imagine a fox in Cambria more ill-suited to serve in the Jade Forest Company, the band of warriors captained by Fiona. She got nervous enough chopping carrots.
"So…should we—"
Knock-knock!
The undressed lovers both looked to the door. The handle was turning. Zoë hid behind Miles, who covered himself with his tails.
"Miles?" said Yojana, thrusting her head around the half-open door, "Are you out of that bed yet?"
The elderly vixen made a show of surveying the room with her cloudy cataract-stricken eyes.
"Yes, grandmother," said Miles, letting his tails drop.
Behind him, Zoë giggled into the fur on the nape of his neck.
"Good," said Yojana, "Then you can rouse that Erinian lay-about."
Miles frowned. "Can't Fiona handle that?"
"Fifi? That darling slept in my room last night, sound as a cub. Why should she—"
The elderly vixen paused.
"Ah…that," she muttered, "Well, Fifi didn't feel the need to explain herself and I have no intention of asking her. He's your 'brother'. You deal with him."
"Y-yes, grandmother."
There was more giggling from Zoë.
"Umm, where is he?"
"Next door," said Yojana, "Be quick about it. As much as it warms my heart to hear someone take Morain to task—"
An indistinct yell from down in the yard interrupted her. She sighed.
"Your angry badger friend is scaring the children."
Then, she was gone. She didn't close the door. Miles strode across the room, grabbed the handle, and opened it wider.
"M-Miles?" Zoë piped up.
"This can't wait," he said, stepping out onto the landing.
The vixen stood motionless, staring at the open door. The noise of Miles banging on Sonic's door alternated with snatches of Styx's tirade coming through the window.
Slam!
"Miles?" she called out.
Crossing her arms across her chest, she ran to the door, not even glancing at the pile of clothes at the foot of the bed. She couldn't see Miles on the landing. Biting her lip, she scampered out of their room and into Sonic's.
Inside, the Prince of Erinia was sprawled naked on his back on a still-made bed. A book lay open on his chest, and a goblet lay on its side near his left hand. A dry puddle of sloeberry wine stained the bedcovers.
"Damn it," murmured Miles, surveying the scene, "Why'd he have to pick today?"
"Is he alright?" asked Zoë, padding over to his side.
"Probably," sighed the fox, eyeing an uncorked clay flask on a side-table, "I just hope he asked Raymond for that."
"That's good," murmured the vixen, backing away, "Then I guess I'll—"
Miles caught her by the wrist.
"Stay," he said.
She blinked. "Why?"
"Because I can't guarantee I won't do something I might regret."
The vixen's eyes widened as she nodded. Covering herself with her hands, she watched Miles grab Sonic's ankles and haul him onto the floor.
"Huh?" the hedgehog groaned.
Half-opening one eye, he found a furry foot standing on his chest.
"What happened last night?" demanded Miles.
The hedgehog snorted dismissively. "What do you care?"
The fox dropped his haunches.
"I care because it usually takes simultaneous incursions to keep you and Fiona out of the same bed!" he snarled, "What happened?"
"It was…just a fight."
"Remind of the last fight you two didn't work out the same night."
Avoiding his brother's glare, the hedgehog sat up, leaning against the bedframe. He said nothing.
Amid the standoff, curiosity drew Zoë towards the book lying open on the floor. Both pages were inked. The writing on the left meant nothing to her, but on the right, there was a line-drawing of an armored hedgehog with a huge two-handed sword facing down a dragon.
Spellbound, she crouched down, running her fingertips over the crisp parchment. "Is…is this supposed to be you, my prince?"
Blindsided by the interruption, both princes looked dumbly at her. Picking the book up, she shuffled over and placed it upon Sonic's lap.
"Is this drawing of you?" she asked.
The hedgehog glanced at the picture.
"It's…what she thinks I am," he mumbled.
"She?"
"His daughter," said Miles curtly.
"She's Ashura's daughter!" snapped Sonic.
The fox's nostrils flared. "How can you still keep—"
"Miles!" Zoë cut in, deploying the tone she used to keep rowdy young slaves in line, "Calm down. Please."
She knelt beside Sonic.
"I never learned to read, my prince," she said, pointing to the page of artfully-rendered text, "Could you tell me what those words say?"
The hedgehog recited the verse without once consulting the book:
Ironclad with sword blade bright, the Blue Prince journeyed unto fight;
A flame-tongued wyrm in Dulcimia fair, deep in the depths of her lair;
Sharp of tooth and hard of scale, it seemed his foe may yet prevail;
But glory the Blue Prince did attain, and thus did peace in Dulcimia reign.
"The…Blue Prince?" said Zoë.
Sonic sighed wearily. "A bard's invention. If I couldn't be at court, my father insisted Decibella had to know me somehow."
"Decibella?" said the vixen airily, "Such a pretty name."
"It was my grandmother's."
"And Ashura is…?"
"My wife."
Miles snatched the book off the hedgehog's lap. "What's this got to do with you and Fiona fighting?"
Sonic breathed his heaviest sigh yet. "Today is Bella's enseatment."
Noticing her fiancé's fist clench, Zoë dealt him a light slap. Miles huffed.
"Why in Cosmo's name are you here and not there?" he asked levelly.
Sonic looked at him aghast. "I…I can't go near that Seat again."
"Seat?" asked Zoë, "What seat?"
жЖж
Ancient hinges creaked as the shutter on the cell door was wrenched open. An auburn chipmunk appeared behind the rusty grille, her face framed by the cheek-guards of an iron helmet.
"It's time, Shadow," she said, unbolting the door.
Watching the door swing open, the black hedgehog stayed put on the straw at the back of the gloomy cell. His wrists were manacled. Separate chains linked both cuffs to an iron collar around his neck. His bonds were all he wore.
"Should I fetch a cloak, Serjeant Salina?" asked a coyote, peering at the prisoner over the chipmunk's shoulder.
"We were told to bring him as he was found," said Salina, stepping inside the cell, "Shadow?"
The hedgehog eluded her gaze. She sighed.
"Shadow, I won't ask again. If we have to drag you out of here, we will."
"Drag me where?" muttered Shadow.
"In your position? I'd ask to be taken straight to the moat—"
"Enough, Antonin!" snapped Salina, shooting a glare at the coyote, "King Melodeon sent us."
Shadow raised his head. He looked at the chipmunk with the eyes of a hedgehog half his twenty years. "Is…will Amaranth there?"
Salina gripped the pommel of the sword at her hip. "Why not come and see?"
Shadow dropped his head. Straw rustled as he rose unsteadily to his feet.
"Thank you, Shadow."
The guards marched him out of Tesiphon Castle's dungeon at spearpoint. The jangle of chains echoed around the vaulted hallways as he trudged along. He kept his head down, avoiding the stares of passing servants and courtiers, relying on Salina's stern commands to steer him. He didn't know the castle nearly well enough to guess their destination.
"Around this corner, Shadow," said Salina.
Obeying, he glanced up. He would've halted, if not for the spear-tip grazing his quills. There was literally daylight at the end of this particular passageway. He felt his heart in his mouth. He'd expected to be dealt with quietly in some shadowy side-chamber. Not…there.
They emerged into a narrow grassy courtyard, walled off from the rest of the castle's inner bailey. A limestone cylinder of a building stood in the middle of the courtyard. The path to its only door was lined with hedgehogs, upholstered in velvets, silks and other finery.
These were the flower of Erinia's nobility, come to Tesiphon Castle to witness the betrothal ceremony of Prince Sonic and the lady Amaranth. It would have marked the lady's formal entry into the royal family, permitting her and the prince to get a head-start on populating the royal nursery while their wedding plans were finalized.
Thanks to Shadow, that ceremony had been cancelled. Apparently, he was to be the spectacle instead.
It took a gentle prod from Antonin's spear to keep him moving towards the murmuring mob. This time, he kept his chin up. He knew most of the onlookers well enough to not care what they thought of him. The handful of his fellow nobles he did respect had had the decency to stay away.
"Serjeant!" bellowed the male chipmunk guarding the limestone building's door, "Explain yourself!"
Shadow choked slightly as Antonin grabbed his iron collar.
"Explain what, Captain?" asked Salina, stepping in front of the hedgehog.
"Why is your prisoner not shackled?"
"It didn't seem expedient to—"
"Expediency be damned, Serjeant! You're here to save lives, not time. See to it."
"Yes, father," mumbled Salina, dropping to her knees to chain Shadow's ankles together.
"Better," grunted the captain, "Now, you will escort him inside. Guardsman Antonin, get the door."
With a salute, the coyote went on ahead, warding off gawking hedgehogs with his spear-butt. Salina drew her sword and turned to Shadow.
"Go as slowly as you need to," she whispered.
The hedgehog murmured his thanks and shuffled forward, keeping his eyes fixed on the building's narrow wooden door. A set of merchant's scales were engraved in the limestone above the entrance. The Celestial Scales, they were called, or so his younger sister told him.
She'd become somewhat obsessed with the House of Balance in recent years. Of particular fascination were the tales of peculiar punishments meted out to other Erinians in his position. From what he could remember, their offences were always of a more outlandish nature than…well, what he'd done. Maybe that was cause for hope.
"After you," said Antonin, opening the door for him.
The portal was just the right height and width for a single adult hedgehog to pass through. Shadow proceeded inside.
"Sh-Sh-Shadow?"
The quavering voice stopped him in his tracks. Across the semicircular chamber — whose walls were draped with hangings depicting symbols from the Comhartha — a pair of eyes stared at him. They belonged to a hedgehog with fur as black as his own, but with quills that were green where his were red.
"A-Ashura?" he whimpered.
He'd last seen those glassy blue eyes peering through a crack in his bedchamber door that morning. The fifteen-year-old had picked his lock, desperate to tell him about how the whole castle was in an uproar over the sudden disappearance of the lady Amaranth. In doing so, she'd found the lady Amaranth.
"Come away," said Baroness Penumbra, covering her daughter's eyes with a flowing velvet sleeve.
His mother avoided making eye-contact as she ushered Ashura away, leaving Baron Mephiles to glower at their immobile son. Shadow knew that look in those piercing green eyes: disappointment. His father rarely looked at him any other way. For the first time in a long time, however, it felt deserved.
"Move, Shadow," whispered Salina harshly.
In his haste to obey, he forgot about his shackled ankles. He fell forwards, landing on his hands and knees. Over in the corner, Ashura broke down in her mother's arms. Unsure he could muster the composure to walk upright, he put his head down and began to crawl.
"Forgive me, my lord," said Salina, rushing to block Mephiles' way as his son passed within kicking range, "We've kept the king waiting quite long enough."
Chains rattled as Shadow scrambled past the chipmunk. With his sister's sobs ringing in his ears, he slapped on the door at the back of the chamber like a desperate urchin caught in a rainstorm. It creaked opened to reveal a magenta hedgehog with flowing quills draped over the shoulders of her amber gown.
"C-Countess?" stammered Shadow.
"Well, if it isn't my Amie's secret admirer," she sneered.
Pinching Shadow's ears, she dragged him through the door. The chamber beyond was scarcely bigger than his cell, and almost as gloomy. Shadow landed face-down on the stone floor with a clank.
"Welcome, Shadow."
The black hedgehog looked up. King Melodeon of Erinia stood over him, resplendent in a robe of red brocade, embroidered with gold thread. His indigo quills were folded beneath a gold crown studded with Arkadian emeralds.
"Do you know where you are?"
"The House of Balance, my king," said Shadow, glancing about the chamber as he shifted onto his knees.
Tapestries hung on the walls either side of him. To his left, the pink face of Lumina favored him with a warm smile. To his right, the pupiless sapphire eyes of Void stared impassively.
These two gods were said to embody all that was light and dark in the mortal universe. Tradition held that Erinian rulers should seek to moderate between these conflicting forces when weighing their judgements upon the Mercy Seat.
That unassuming chair, crudely hewn from stone, stood behind the king, lit by a shaft of sunlight shining through a hole in the ceiling. At present, It was occupied by Prince Sonic, looking deeply ill at ease in a brocade robe and a gold diadem that was slightly askew.
"Where is Amaranth, my king?" asked Shadow meekly.
"Far away from you," snapped the magenta hedgehog.
"Rhodanthe, please," said Melodeon mildly, turning his gaze on Shadow, "Your poor sister has told us all I care to hear regarding what you did last night. You're here to tell us why."
Just then, the door creaked open.
"Apologies, my king," said a sheepish Salina as she slipped inside.
"Well, Shadow?" demanded Countess Rhodanthe, "Why did you seduce my daughter?"
The word made him wince. Seduce? He hadn't 'seduced' Amaranth. He wouldn't know how to 'seduce' anyone. He'd simply told her how he felt…and for how long. Ever since that afternoon when she, a maiden of twelve, approached him and Ashura under an acacia tree in the castle's gardens, during one of the king's seasonal feasts.
She'd been curious to know why he wasn't fawning over the visiting Prince Sonic like the other boys. He'd been too shy to answer (he didn't much care for stories about horse-riding foxes with souls in their tails), so Ashura answered for him. That'd set the pattern for the next six years, both at subsequent feasts and in the letters the girls exchanged in between. Until last night, that is.
Last night, he'd found Amaranth under that same acacia tree, stealing a quiet moment to herself before tomorrow's festivities. It was where they should've parted. But they hadn't. They couldn't.
"I…didn't seduce her, my lady," he said weakly.
Rhodanthe inhaled sharply. Salina placed a restraining hand on the countess's arm.
"Were you or were you not found naked in bed with my son's bride this morning, Shadow?" said Melodeon sternly.
The black hedgehog bowed his head. "I was, my king."
"Then cease your quibbling. I fear you haven't quite grasped what is at stake for you here. While the serjeant was conducting you from the dungeon, I had your father in here appealing for your execution."
"My king!" blurted Rhodanthe, "You can't seriously be…Mephiles is entitled to his anger but he can't wash this away with blood!"
"You're appealing to the wrong hedgehog, Countess," said Melodeon, turning to the Mercy Seat, "What say you, son?"
Prince Sonic sat up, belatedly straightening his gold diadem. He peered down at the trembling prisoner.
"You never answered my father's question, Shadow," he said, "Why did you do it?"
"I did it…"
He paused. Blinking back tears, he composed himself as best he could.
"I did it because Amaranth deserves better," he mumbled.
"Better?" said Melodeon, "Than what?"
"Than him!" spat Shadow, stabbing a finger at Sonic, "Him and the hollow existence she'd live here, tending his kingdom like a gardener while he's off butchering defenseless foxes and whatever Trogglodytes are supposed to be! She could so much mo—ugh!"
The king's boot silenced him.
"If you want to die today, boy, you're going the right way about it."
Melodeon turned his stony glare back to the Mercy Seat.
"Well, son, you have your answer. What say you?"
The blue hedgehog stiffened. He gripped the stone chair's armrests so hard, his arms shook.
"I…"
Shadow dared to look up. He saw the look in the prince's eyes. They were as scared as each other.
"This isn't right!"
Sonic fled the Mercy Seat. He ran to the tapestry of Lumina, grabbed two handfuls of the kindly goddess's smiling face, and tore it off the wall. As it fell, Rhodanthe gasped.
"Amie?" she breathed, staring at her daughter tucked inside the alcove behind where the tapestry had hung.
"H-hello, Ma," said the cerise hedgehog, wrapped in a thin blanket.
Her glistening green eyes darted about the chamber. Finally, they found their mark. Dropping the blanket, pushed past Sonic, and fell to her knees beside Shadow. Cupping a hand under his chin, she urged his head up and took it in her arms.
"I'm here, Shadow," she whispered into his ear, pressing his cheek to her chest, "I heard everything, I…I'm here."
Salina took a tentative step towards the naked hedgehogs. Rhodanthe seized her arm.
"Touch her and you'll be sweeping your father's stables for the next moon, Serjeant."
In the same instant, Melodeon seized Sonic by his robe.
"What is that girl doing in this place?" the king hissed.
"Sh-she asked to be—"
"And you saw fit to oblige her?"
The prince wilted under the heat of his father's glare.
"Furlong may flout his own traditions at will. We do not. Remember that."
Pushing Sonic against the wall, the king crossed to the Mercy Seat and eased into it.
"Shadow, look at me," he commanded.
Still entwined in Amaranth's arms, the prisoner raised his head.
"You have brought dishonor upon your family like few hedgehogs I can recall. Despoiling a maiden destined to be queen? Openly airing your contempt for your future king in this sacred place? Such transgressions demand punishment."
Shadow felt Amaranth's embrace tighten.
"However, that punishment will not be death. You will be returned to the dungeon, and come dawn, Captain Maxim will escort you safely to our southern border with Agnia. You shall not return. Do so, and your father may yet have his way."
Chains rattled as the black hedgehog pressed his forehead to the stone floor. The king's gaze drifted to Amaranth.
"I had such very high hopes for you, Amaranth. Erinia has long had need of a wise queen. Alas, today has shown my hope were misplaced. Some will disagree, I'm sure, but what transpired last night was not solely a transgression on Shadow's part. You will join him in exile."
The cerise hedgehog prostrated herself in imitation of Shadow. Her mother gasped.
"My king—!"
Melodeon silenced the countess with a raised hand.
"Whatever virtues this boy may lack, Rhodanthe, chivalry is not one of them. It seems clear to me the girl was free to refuse him at any time, and yet…"
He sighed wearily.
"Serjeant, see to the prisoners."
"Yes, my king," said the chipmunk.
Shadow and Amaranth slowly rose to their feet. They unerringly held each other's gaze whilst Salina put Amaranth in chains. Sonic recovered the discarded blanket from the alcove, but Melodeon shot him a warning glance.
Once she'd secured the iron collar around Amaranth's neck, Salina led the exiles towards the door. Countess Rhodanthe blocked their way.
"Please, my lady, there will be time for—"
The magenta hedgehog advanced, knocking the chipmunk to the floor. She detached a pouch from her silver girdle and thrust it into her daughter's manacled hands.
"Ma?" whimpered Amaranth.
"You always were my little Lumina," cooed Rhodanthe, dabbing at the eighteen-year-old's eyes with her amber sleeve, "Never allow that to change, Amie, wherever you go."
"I won't, Ma," her daughter sniffled, "I promise."
жЖж
Zoë looked blanked at Sonic as he concluded his story.
"I'm not sure I understand, my prince," she said meekly.
The princes eyed her questioningly. She stiffened.
"I just mean, what Shadow and Amaranth did…how can you blame yourself for that?"
Sonic snorted softly. "I don't."
The vixen tilted her head. The hedgehog smiled faintly.
"So long as I was in that chair, I could have dealt out any punishment I fancied. Alternatively, I could've pardoned them."
He dropped his head, scratching the back of his neck.
"Ashura could still have her big brother and her best friend. Instead, she got me…all because I didn't have the guts to disappoint my father."
"But disappointing your daughter's no problem at all," sneered Miles.
Zoë shot the fox a disapproving glare. He ignored it.
"You said it's Decibella's enseatment, no?" he went on, "So the only hedgehog's backside occupying that chair will be hers, correct?"
"Correct," said Sonic guardedly.
"Then I've heard enough," snapped Miles, "Once we're back in Cilgarren, you're going to Tesiphon and telling Bella you're sorry if I have to tie you to a horse and take you there myself."
Pausing, he stood up. Zoë followed suit.
"In the meantime, whatever you said to upset Fiona: unsay it. You've seen my grandmother's condition. If this is the last time she and 'her darling Fifi' get to spend a day together, no brother of mine's going to spoil it for them. Understood?"
The speechless Sonic could only nod.
"Good. We'll see you downstairs."
Taking Zoë by the hand, Miles headed for the door.
"Miles?" murmured the vixen, glancing back over her shoulder as they made for the door, "Should we really just leave him?"
Sonic was still slumped on the floor by the bed, head in hands.
"He just needs a little while. Trust me."
With that, they stepped out onto the landing…slap-bang into Styx. The badger recoiled, looked the naked foxes up and down, and rolled her eyes.
"Trogg's balls," she muttered, weaving past them, "Get a room."
Needless to say, that second scene is one long "Ten years ago…" flashback.