Countryhumans Oneshots

Bonds & Bruises

Éire was upset but not surprised to learn that Aontas na Corónach wanted to kill the New England Confederation. She had pushed and pushed against his power before, challenging him in a way few of the colonies chose to do. It was all in the name of her people, a feeling Éire knew well, but Aontas na Corónach refused to accept that.

He never accepted anything that challenged him.

And, of course, Éire got the blame for it. Aontas na Corónach was so unfathomably stuck in his mindset of being a flawless parent and empire that the idea that he could have driven his own granddaughter against him was unthinkable to him that he needed someone to blame.

And just like his grandfather before him, Aontas na Corónach found that blaming Éire was the best solution to all his problems.

"What did you do to my granddaughter?" Aontas na Corónach asked as he shoved Éire into his room (a generous term, if Éire was being honest with himself). His eyes were wild and angry, and if Éire weren't concerned with preserving his life for his people, he would have commented on the madness in Aontas na Corónach's eyes.

"I did nothing to her. I have barely spoken to her," Éire said. Aontas na Corónach gritted his teeth, flaming anger in his eyes, and Éire knew that if he had lion features like his grandfather, he would be growling at Éire. The chains of their bond that were always so present on Éire began to grow more and more real, turning from the light pressure of shackles on his wrists to the feeling of real shackles, cool metal on his wrists.

Aontas na Corónach was furious now because it wasn't just those shackles becoming more real, but the feeling of new chains appearing, wrapping around his ankles and neck, slowly drawing tighter.

Aontas na Corónach clicked his tongue before he made a movement with his hand, like he was pulling something towards him, and Éire felt the chains around his neck tighten as he was pulled towards Aontas na Corónach, a sharp jerk on his neck that briefly stole the air from his lungs. He tried to fight them, but the chains felt heavy, and he could begin to feel Aontas na Corónach's influence tugging at the corners of his mind, slowly pushing everything away.

"Cut it out," Éire said, head growing fuzzy from the foreign presence. Aontas na Corónach's control left his mind, but the heavy, ever-tightening chains had already brought him to his knees.

"I'm not doing anything," Aontas na Corónach said, his voice full of fake ignorance, pretending as if he didn't know what he was doing. Éire lifted his head, glaring up at the man who had made all of his pain worse.

"I didn't say anything," Éire protested before biting down a hiss of pain as the chains seemed to become sharper, cutting into his skin. It was so overwhelmingly strong that he almost forgot that it wasn't real, just a feeling that manifested their relationship—Éire's role as Aontas na Corónach's little colony.

"She wouldn't have turned against me otherwise," Aontas na Corónach said. Éire laughed.

"You have far too much faith in me. All of them think I am savage because of what you have said about me. Do you think they will believe a savage over you, the great Aontas na Corónach?" he asked before his breath was stolen from him and the shackle on his neck tightened some more. For something that wasn't real, it was so painfully present.

"Playing dumb will not help you. As a colony, you are more intelligent than most of the savages that belong to you, and my grandaughter's new behavior bears all the markings that your sinful drivel has corrupted her soul," Aontas na Corónach said.

Éire wasn't focusing on the empire's words anymore, so preoccupied with the lack of air entering his lungs, falling onto his side as his fingers scratched against his neck, trying to pull off chains that didn't exist.

Black spots began to dance in his vision, and Éire bit down a sob. He hated showing weakness in front of Aontas na Corónach, as the man would seize the opportunity, attacking it again and again until he had worn you down into a blank slate for him to build back up in his image.

Éire would die before giving up who he was for Aontas na Corónach and Sasana.

No matter how hard the bond squeezed at him, forever reminding him that he had lost his nationhood and had become tied to them, forever reminding him that society expected his role to be a submissive, docile, and obedient follower who did everything that Aontas na Corónach requested of him.

Éire didn't give a damn what society expected of him.

The chains around his next loosened, and Éire sucked in a breath, grateful for the air that flooded his lungs, blinking some tears out of his eyes.

Aontas na Corónach must have realized what was happening and pulled back. No one knew if pain inflicted through the bond could kill, as Aontas na Corónach's was a unique kind of bond. Sasana's had been different. It wasn't chains that constricted his movement and breathing, even if it had still been controlling.

It was more like water, cold and dark and deep, that made you feel like you were drowning in the darkness if you did something he didn't like. But even that feeling of drowning hadn't stolen his breath the way Aontas na Corónach's bond did because it was always a feeling, always something that wasn't physical, just an ocean in which England captained the only ship, and if you weren't on board, you were left to swim.

Sasana's could feel nice sometimes as well; on the rare occasions they were on speaking terms, when the bond pulled Éire out of the water and had him beside him on the ship.

Diúcacht na Normainne's bond had also felt different. Like Sasana's, it was like water, but less a ship and the dark ocean and more a violent current that surrounded you and pulled you under.

Éire wasn't sure how Diúcacht na Normainne's felt when you were on good terms, as he had never been close enough to that woman to know. She didn't get along with most people, though, only Sasana, who would have followed her into Hell itself.

Sometimes, Éire wondered if Sasana was being pulled under by that current as well.

Éire hated both bonds then, but now, after experiencing Aontas na Corónach's bond, he wished for it back. Sasana's hurt hurt him, but it still allowed him to be a person and gave him some degree of autonomy.

Aontas na Corónach's bond seemed intent on having absolute control over everyone it connected him with.

Éire hated it more than anything.