The Way We Fall

Chapter 160 (Dual)

Roche hadn't known that there was an antechamber to the throne room, but apparently there was because she and Tigris were in it. Beyond the heavy, engraved wooden doors was a crowd of murmuring nobles, all standing and waiting for the princess.

Roche adjusted the back of the gown, pulling the thick, ribbony laces taut. The fabric was silken against her skin.

"Are you ready?" she murmured. The words were sticky on her tongue, as if they didn't want to be said.

Tigris kept her gaze forward on the double doors ahead of her. The princess' face was perfectly passive. Roche noticed she held herself perfectly still, like a statue. When she didn't reply, Roche circled in front of her.

"Tigris?" she called, just a bit louder. The princess kept staring forward, her face far paler than it normally was.

"I've been prepared for this moment for my entire life," Tigris murmured, her green eyes fractured with torturous thought, "I should be ready. This... this is my destiny."

Roche remained quiet, weaving Tigris' pale hair back in the style she'd been instructed to.

"Did you know," she said after a beat, feeling Tigris begin to shake beneath her touch, "That before the Faultless Kingdom and before all of the Dark Ages, there were hundreds of kingdoms in this world?"

Tigris rippled beneath her touch in surprise.

"Hundreds?" she whispered. Roche nodded, twining a pearly jewel into a strand of hair.

"Hundreds," she confirmed, "Each of them ruled a different way. Some had kings and queens. Some had knights that ruled. Some had groups of leaders that inherited the titles while others had groups of chosen leaders. Leaders chosen by the people."

Tigris blinked, her green eyes going unfocused. "Chosen by the people," she repeated quietly, "I've only heard of such a thing from my history scholars."

"And yet, before the Dark Ages, that was one of the most common types of rulers." Roche informed her, her mind already turning back to the hundreds of books she'd read on the concept, "They championed so many different things. Freedom. Community. Money. Individuality. It was such a beautiful mess."

"It... it sounds complicated."

"It was," Roche agreed, the words slightly musical, "But the people had more choice than they ever had. They had voices. All of them, even if it wasn't perfect. Oh, it certainly wasn't perfect."

"Voices for all," Tigris mused aloud, pursing her lips pensively, "It sounds like a dream."

"And yet," Roche continued, "All of those nations, all of those different rulers, failed to save their people from the Dark Ages. The collectives of leaders fought with one another, too slow to make the decision to save their kingdoms. The kings and queens were too isolated, too corrupt. The rest were stuck in between or too resigned to do anything but watch the world fall."

Tigris blinked. Her eyes glistened. "So that's it then," she murmured, "There is no way to rule. It's damned either way."

"No, Tigris," Roche said, coming in front of her lady, "The only mistake all those rulers made was forgetting their duty."

"To rule?"

"To love," Roche corrected, "No one can rule without love. The heart isn't meant to be alone."

Tigris' eyes closed, her lengthy lashes brushing her cheeks. Roche could see a tear suspended on those lashes, poised to fall.

"Perhaps... perhaps that's how it was meant to be for all the other kings and queens. But my family has harmed its people far too much to do that." she hesitated, her face open and vulnerable as she met Roche's eyes, "I've always dreamed of what that collective did. I've always dreamed of all of my people having a voice. Even the ones who are not my people. After everything that's happened... I don't know if there's another way I can rule properly. At least not without defying my heart."