Broken But Unburnt

Chapter 9 - Gisella

Chapter 9: Gisella

Palace of the Centauri Throne: Kingdom of Karil

Gisella did not feel any better as she stormed back into the palace, dripping water on the marble floors for the second time that week.

When things are out of control, focus on what you can control.

Hann was the one who had told her. He had claimed it would help. He was wrong.

"Hann!" Gisella shouted angrily as she tore through the royal residences to the king's chambers.

King Maurin was dead. Everyone knew it from the moment his heart burst on that dais just days ago. But no one was saying it. Plans were being made for succession quietly and in corners but no one was ready to announce the king's death yet. No one was ready to announce the success of the assassination.

Gisella hadn't seen Hann since that day but she hadn't seen the king's body either. The rumor was it was being held in his rooms. Logic dictated that Hann would be beside him. In death as he was in life. That was the sort of honor that Elric Hann abided by. But she needed to speak with him. Now.

"Hann!" she screamed again as she turned the corner and found guards on either side of the king's chambers.

She faltered for a moment, hesitating at the end of the hall as she looked over the guards to find that they weren't anyone she knew. And she thought she knew all of Hann's guards.

"I need to speak with him," she told them when she finally did approach, raising her chin and jutting it out toward the king's chambers behind them. They exchanged a look, seemingly confused. "I'm sorry. Was I not clear? Open the doors now!"

They just stared at her. Furious, she opened her mouth to shout at them again but was interrupted by the groaning of the ancient hinges as the enormous wooden doors creaked open to reveal a man she had never seen before in the dark blue uniform signifying high ranking military. He took his time looking her over. She did the same in the time he allowed. He was young, very young, perhaps only a few years older than her. He had dark stubble at his sharp chin and along his chiseled cheekbones that grew into a close cropped wave of brown hair atop his head. His eyes were a deep brown that examined her with a wisdom that made his age difficult to guess. But from the lack of lines in his face and the youth of his muscled form, she could tell he was young.

"Who are you?" she snapped, growing impatient with the lengthening silence.

"The Captain of the Guards," he replied. "Who are you?"

She blinked at him.

"General Elric Hann serves as the Captain of the Guards," she told him.

"Not anymore. I'll ask again. Who are you?"

She pushed past him and stormed into the king's bedchamber on the other side. Both guards at the door and another pair of them inside all pulled out their swords but the self proclaimed Captain held up a hand and they stood at ease.

Gisella strode over to the man laying upon the huge bed on the opposite side of the room. Maurin looked peaceful in death, more so than he ever had in life. He was smiling the same smile he'd had when he spoke of her mother just days before. Gisella wondered if he was with her now. She reached down and took his hand in hers. With her other hand, she clenched her fist and tried to feel some faint pulse, something, anything that she could amplify. She knew he was dead but she just couldn't believe it. So she had to try to bring him back. Even if that had never worked for her before.

"I have witnesses who say you called out to the general just before the king collapsed," the "Captain" said.

Gisella kept her focus on the king, feeling her way through the invisible rhythm of life for that signature note that was entirely his, feeling the absence of it like a hole in her heart.

"Did you get her?" she asked, her voice cracking ever so slightly as she did. "Did you get the assassin?"

"The girl in the green dress," he said and she nodded. "No. We did not. That girl who so deftly felled our king with the flick of her wrist managed to flick that same wrist two more times and now we're short two guards and she's in the wind.""

Gisella cursed. She felt the guilt washing over her like a wave. She should have seen that coming. She should have known that the girl who killed the king with her thoughts and a simple gesture would have no trouble killing her two captors as well. She should have warned them about the magic, should have taken her to the dungeons herself. But then, someone may have gotten to the prince. And besides, magic wasn't a secret that she was exactly willing to tell anyway. Though it seemed as though this strange captain was neither surprised nor impressed with this sudden proof of its existence.

The "Captain" looked from her to Maurin and back again.

"You're the assassin, aren't you?" he asked. She didn't respond so he said her name. "Gisella Verlice."

She whirled on him, trying not to appear too affected by the fact that he knew her name and what she really was here in the palace. She peered at the guards behind him but they merely stared ahead as if they hadn't heard him. She knew they had though and she felt her rage boil to the surface. Then her gaze flicked back to him. He was only a few inches away from her once she had turned on him, his lips curled into a smirk, pleased with himself at having so easily sussed out her identity. Handsome, he may be, but he had asshole marked all over him.

"Where's the general?" Gisella snapped.

He shrugged and made some dismissive wave as if the matter was of no consequence.

"He's been relieved of his duties," the man told her. Gisella stared at him, jaw dropped in shock.

"Relieved of his duties?" she gaped. "He's the highest ranking member of the Karilish military."

"Tasked with protecting the King. He failed."

"But–"

"He's gone. I'm here now."

Gisella narrowed her gaze at him in new examination.

"How old are you?" She asked, slowly.

"Old enough to be a captain," he quipped in response. "Though I imagine there are many who would not share in that belief."

"How did you know about me?"

"I always hoped we'd meet, Gisella Verlice," he told her, knowingly. "I just wish it didn't have to be like this."

Gisella wasn't sure what that meant. In fact, she hadn't truly known what anything he'd said had meant since the moment they'd met. But he seemed to know her, or at least know of her, in a way that only two other people ever had. The King and the General. Perhaps her secret was not as well-guarded as she had thought.

She looked back over her shoulder at Maurin and frowned. She couldn't help him, not now. He was gone and there was no bringing him back. Elric was gone too. Where, she didn't know. Maybe it didn't matter. Everything was changing and all she could do was what she had always done. Hold on tight and hope she didn't get crushed under the weight of a new monarchy.

"It's Gis," she told the Captain, so quietly she wasn't sure if he had actually heard her or not. "Call me Gis."

"Gis," he repeated with a warm smile so in contrast with the man whose shoes he was filling. "Would you care to attend me in service of our new king?"

She blinked, taking a moment to understand what the Captain was asking her. Nicolas. He would be crowned king now. He would succeed his father and take his throne. They would be making arrangements for it already, a coronation alongside a funeral as it had always been done before. But this was Gisella's first time and she wasn't ready to let go of the former king yet. Especially not for his pompous ass of a son.

"No," she replied. "I think I'll stay here for a bit if that's alright."

There was nothing that Gisella hated more than appearing weak or vulnerable. Especially in front of a man whose authority might prove to be something she would need to content with later on. But she needed time alone with the king enough to set aside her pride, if even for a moment, and she hoped he had enough humanity within him to understand that and not bring it up to use against her later.

For now, he nodded and left her, alone with her king, to attend to the new one.

And Gisella bowed her head over Maurin and prayed for the first time in ten years.