Castles Crumbling • Hananene

(1) I used to be great.

Nene paced in her room, nervously sweating. She was terrified of what could only be the consequences of her own actions. She'd let all her subjects down this time. Who could ever forgive her? A knock comes at the door. Aoi, someone she'd trusted for a very long time.
    "Yashiro. It's time to face them all." She says, colder in tone than she had ever experienced from him. Nene swallows hard, nodding.
     Following Aoi down the corridors, she looked like a wreck and was ready to be treated like one.
     Was it really her fault that she'd wanted to be wed that badly? That she yearned for Teru Minamoto, despite her arrangements? Lost in thought as always, Nene realizes she's at the front gates from overhead.  There's no backing out of this now, she tells herself.
Though, despite this being an announcement to the subjects of her kingdom, it quickly turned into a prosecution of herself.
    "You've gone against everything you were raised to be!" One angry villager yells at her.
    "Can you imagine how that poor boy feels? Being rejected for his brother?" Another gossips through the crowd.
    Nene felt as if the walls around her were closing in. What could she possibly say to appease everyone? No one will be satisfied.
    "I... I'm sorry. I don't want to marry Kou Minamoto. I've loved Teru my whole life. I want him to know. I know it's wrong, and I'm sorry. I truly believe Teru will help me lead you all much more proficiently."
    The crowd erupts in madness. Nene spots someone especially who is giving her a scorching expression. Presumably someone from the Minamoto's empire, with bright pink hair, and more anger in his face than she knew was humanely possible.
     Feeling defeated, she retreats back inside. Aoi is right behind her, grabbing Nene's hand- and clearly not very happy either. "Nene. You can't run away from your problems forever, you know better than that."
   Aoi had been around the kingdom since around the time Nene had been 12 years old, as they became closer friends she'd been invited into the castle. Aoi was very popular among people whenever she'd been out and about- Nene almost thought that she and Aoi should have switched places. Maybe if they did, none of this would have happened.
     "Aoi, I just can't. I can't do what they want me to this time."
     "Kou's a wonderful boy, Nene. He'll treat you well, and be an excellent head from the castle."
     Nene rips her hand out of Aoi's grasp. "You can't tell me what to do! Kou might be wonderful, perfect even! But... I'm not in love with him."
    "Nene Yashiro. When will you ever listen to what's good for you?" Aoi exclaims, chasing Nene down the hallways.
    Nene reaches the door to her bedroom before Aoi can. "When will you ever keep your mind where it's supposed to be? Mind your place in this castle, Aoi Akane!" She says before slamming her bedroom door behind her. Leaving Aoi shattered and alone.
  ——-
     A knock at the castle gates. Aoi could not believe the audacity, they should know that the kingdom was off-limits right now. She didn't have the patience for this, anyway. Nene had torn her to shreds verbally.
      Disregarding her personal feelings, she walks towards the entrance to the castle elegantly. What she sees at the front gates is a shock.
     A ginger boy stands, looking furious as he stands in the rain holding a scroll of paper.
Akane. Akane Aoi?!
How could the boy that Aoi grew up with have possibly found her out? That the poor girl living among the villagers made her way through the ranks in the castle, more over how did he make his way to being a knight for the Minamoto's?
"Miss, Hiroshi Minamoto requires an escort of the princess to be sent to our kingdom immediately." He says bluntly, unable to see Aoi from behind the shadows of the night.
Taken aback, she wonders what to do. She had to go, the rest of the kingdom was in shambles. Nene was livid with her. "Er- Yes. Give me a moment to prepare for the journey, Akane."
"How do you know my name?" He questions in a cold tone, again.
"Lucky guess," Aoi says before hiding back further into the darkness and grabbing a hooded cloak.
—--
Akane quickly notices that the escort he had ordered to come with him was being very mysterious. Hiding her face, speaking in rushed whispers, and already knowing his first name without being told. Just who could this young woman be?
He holds out his hand to her, helping her into the horse-drawn carriage. The ride there stays very quiet until Akane picks up on the scent of flowers on the girl sitting across from him. "Bluebells?" He questions.

Aoi nearly jumps. Did he catch on already? "Yes, I love floral scents."

"That reminds me of a girl I grew up with." He leans into his hand, looking lovelorn. "Ao- She was the best thing to ever happen to me."

"Was..? What happened to her?" Aoi asks as if she doesn't know the way this story ended.

"She disappeared without a trace one day." His expression looks grim now, "Her entire family was gone, not a piece of their belongings left behind. It devastated me."

Aoi fidgets with the cape of the cloak, running it between her fingers. The guilt was overwhelming. Would he ever understand why she made the choices she had to make? No, he couldn't know.
    
"We've arrived," Akane says, all before Aoi can even conjure up a fake reply.

Aoi follows him to the Minamoto castle gates, where Akane knocks heavily. A ginger-blonde-haired girl is seen from overhead. Aoi knew her, this must be Tiara. The youngest Minamoto sibling of the three. "Announce yourselves, I demand to know the escort who speaks on behalf of the morbid princess!"
Akane turns to side-eye Aoi. "You cannot hide any longer. We're already here."

Aoi stutters for a moment, before pulling her hood down- revealing her long dark blue locks of hair. She turns back to Akane. His jaw was practically on the ground. "A-Ao-chan?" He whispers breathily.
"Name yourself." Tiara sighs, sounding angry.
"Aoi of Yashiro's kingdom." She smiles faintly at Akane.

"Very well, come inside. Both of you."

Akane wondered just how he would explain to Teru, the charming prince of the three siblings- that the girl he had so vividly described from his childhood was not only here, alive and real, but she was to speak on behalf of the traitorous Yashiro Nene. He felt a pit in his stomach. This wasn't going to end well, would it?