In Dreams I Lie

Chapter Six: How a Kingdom Falls

The crowns. Oh god. Each kingdom has one. Two thousand years ago, North, South, East, and West didn't exist. We were all united, or so I am told, under one banner, under one kingdom, Feruniel. The king had four sons. Originally, they lived peacefully, but then each one wanted power for himself. Ferunial split, and the wars began.

But power was not the only reason Ferunial fell. There was also Arcana and the crowns. The crowns of invincibilty. They grant protection to each kingdom. If the Northern king seeks to strip us of them...

A spike in the voices catches my attention and pushed shocks my thoughs back. In my panic, I have lost track of the conversation.

"Do you believe the spies are already here, Ammon?" My mother's voice is soft and fearful.

"We don't know, your highness," Ammon responds. "We are acting as if they are. It never hurts to be cautious."

"Should I inform the princesses?" Koen asks.

I listen intently for the answer. I desperately want them not to tell Sansori. She will lose herself within worry. But to keep it from us flirts dangerously with the line of lies. Falsehood by omission. Not to mention the extravagant things they will have to make up to hide it. The spies have never kept things from me before this. Sansori, yes. But not me. That would be the easiest way. Tell me, but not Sansori. They know I will not tell her.

At long last, my father answers my unspoken question. "No. Not yet. I do not want this to come in the way of their marriages." Damn him, my father. Of all the time I have spent trying to make myself seem like more than the fragile princess, here he is not worrying over my safety, though that would only be mildly better, he's worrying about my marriage. The irrational portion of me wants to burst into the room and defend my honor. But I don't. After all, I have larger problems than my father's stunted views of me.

Slowly, I pry myself out from the listening hole. My feet tingle from sitting on them for too long, and my dress, hair and skin looks a mess, covered in dirt and soot. I will have to clean myself before I return to the council chamber. Slowly, I pick up my heels and begin to pad once again across the stone and to my chambers.

I stop before the door. It is heavy, thick ashwood, it takes a key to open and a good, loud shove to get it to move. Will it be enough to block a Northern spy from entering? I would think not. The key is weighty, just like the door. It hangs around my neck, down the front of my dress. I always keep it there. I like my privacy. I take it and use it to unlock my door.

When I enter the room, it is almost as dark and cold as it was when I left in the morning. The window has not been opened, so the air falls still. The curtains open, letting a small stream of sunlight in, but not enough to fully illuminate every corner. The only furniture is the bed, sided by a small rickety table and the cushions on the window seat. I fiddle for a second with the lantern on the mantle waiting for the the oil wick to catch from the match I just lit. Most people use magic to light their rooms. Sansori just floats fireballs around. Every month or so, they catch something on fire, and Sansori has to write an apology letter to our parents.

I finish the trip to my table and fish the tiny mirror I keep hidden in it's single drawer. I don't look as bad as I thought I did. Good. Jerlla would usually be the one to clean me up, and I don't have her here to help me. I have lost my trust in her. Taking a moment, I rub the ash off my hands. What do I do? I cannot let them take Sansori. The parent's see her as my protector more often then not, at least in court matters. But as much as Sansori tries to plaster a steely expression on her face, she can't handle the real world. An image flashed through my mind and my hands go to my temples. I don't want to see his face, not now. I don't want to remember how Sansori shook, how my mind went blank, totally, irrevocably blank. And then when I opened my eyes... Sansori still has nightmares about him hurting her. She froze, and despite her fire, could not do anything to stop him. She is still a child at heart; she still cries at the thought of dead birds and skinned knees. She refused to lift a hand, to get revenge, to appreciate that not some people are evil. People like the monster I try not to become. Not to say that Sansori isn't a brilliant politician, or that the aura of self assuredness that surrounds her is fake. She is just woefully naive. Sansori is a daisy; Sansori is the baby dear. I would sink to the pits of hell and never return in order to keep her that way. 

I cannot let her be taken I know that much. A plan begins to form in my mind. They are only taking one princess. I will go. I will go and Sansori will remain. It makes sense after all. I can handle what comes my way, the benefit of the cynical heart that beats in my chest. I will defend myself, I will make sure that they will hurt me and not my sister. And if they take us both? I will break the barriers and let my magic come out. But it will not come to that. I will not let it.