Regiphobia

The Note

After what felt like days but was really only an hour or two, they were given the all-clear to go back upstairs. Guards went first, followed by less important nobles, and last was the royal family, Goda included. Gabe lifted him up as if he weighed nothing, carrying him up the stairs. Goda latched his arms around the other's neck, still feeling terrible, inside and out. He closed his eyes, already wanting to forget the day behind them. He slowly drifted off to sleep to the chorus of footsteps around him.

Arial made it out of the safe room, looking around a bit. The castle was a mess, but it was slowly getting picked up. The guards around her were trying to escort her to her room before she could see the mess. There were pools of blood, but no one was around. Not anymore, at least. She just hoped not too many people were hurt. She let herself be lead off, sighing silently and closing herself off in her room. She leaned back against the door, swallowing back a sob. It would have been silent. It was all too silent.

She slid down against the door, ending in a curled up sitting position. She wrapped her arms around her knees and hid her face in them, hiding her tears. She sat there, completely soundless, and cried until the water stopped coming. The silence was slowly becoming deafening to her. She wanted to scream, to make any scrap of noise to free herself, but she couldn't do it. She stood up, walking to her bathroom and turning on the water. She washed off her makeup, then just let the water keep running. It was something, at least. She listened like it was music, closing her eyes.

She eventually heard a knock on her door. She turned off the water and opened it slightly. It was that guard again. José Cazado.

Jose watched as the queen pulled open her door. She had washed off her makeup, but somehow she was still just as beautiful. He pushed away that thought as soon as it arrived. "Your Majesty, I was sent to check up on you. How are your injuries?"

'Alright,' Arial signed quickly. José looked over her face. She'd tried to hide it, and she'd done surprisingly well, but she'd been crying before he arrived.

"Good," José said. He thought about asking why she'd been crying, but decided against it.

Arial was still for a moment before signing, 'Is everyone OK?'

"There were several injuries, but all of the guards survived," José nodded.

'And the rebels?'

That one surprised him a little more. Though, he supposed it shouldn't have. "Their death and injury counts have yet to be determined."

Arial gave a slightly shaky nod. They were both still and silent for a moment before she signed, 'Is there anything else?'

"No, ma'am," José said. He gave a quick, polite nod before walking off.

José remembered his total from just a few hours before. Forty-four. Forty-four bullets. Forty-four lives he'd taken.

He kept his eyes forward, looking for someone in particular. He walked dutifully through the halls, having a general idea where he would be. Sure enough, José found his brother.

"Juan," he said to get the other's attention, quickly catching up to him.

"Hey hermangran!" Juan grinned, looking slightly up at him, "What's up?"

"Before you got Goda, did you kill anyone?" José asked bluntly. Juan's smile fell.

"No, I didn't. You're... how many?" Juan asked.

"Forty-four," he said, not looking over at his brother. With the lack of a response, José didn't need to look to know what face he was making. Worry, probably. With a hint of guilt. "I'm going to go."

"José, wai-" Juan was cut off when he walked off, not pausing to hear what he had to say. He started towards the bathrooms, pulling out a small pocket knife.

Meanwhile, Goda woke up in his bed. He blinked away the tiredness resting in his eyes and sat up slowly, running a hand through his hair. How long had he slept? Hopefully not too long. He slipped out of bed, grabbing his crutches. He started out of his room and across the hall to Arial's. He knocked quickly. She pulled the door open, smiling when she saw him. She moved out of the way so he could enter. The two sat on the edge of her bed. Once they were settled in, Goda looked up at her.

"You OK?" he asked, looking at her wrapped up arm.

'Yes, I'm alright,' Arial signed in response, still smiling at him.

Goda furrowed his brow. Something was off. "Are you OK?"

'I just said yes,' she responded, looking over his face, 'Why?'

"You just... n-nevermind," he sighed. He was probably slightly delirious from the panic attack and headache and being so damn tired. He bit his lip, looking down at his lap.

'How are you doing?' Arial signed when he eventually looked back up.

"As OK as I c-can be after all that," Goda admitted, looking around the room as he spoke, "Anxious, exhausted, hurting, but alive. So th-that's good."

'That is good, I guess,' Arial responded. They talked idly for a short while, just trying to keep their minds off of earlier. After that, Goda was on his way out, going back to his room to sleep some more. He desperately needed it.

Arial, meanwhile, had an idea. She wrote up a short note, then read over it. It didn't sound quite right, so she balled it up, threw it away, and wrote another. Then another. And another, another, and eventually her trash can was full and she was finally happy with the note she wrote. She smiled, a little more genuinely than before, and moved to her vanity. She started putting on makeup again. That didn't take too long, but she'd still have to wait. She'd overheard one of her guards earlier saying that the palace wouldn't be cleaned up enough for people to leave their rooms until dinner.

Her lunch was delivered to her room. She wondered if Goda was eating as she took the tray with a nod and a warm smile. She shut her door, the smile mostly falling. Sitting down on the edge of her bed, she sighed. That day had been awful. How many guards were hurt? How many citizens died? Why did they attack? How did they get in? There were too many questions and not a single answer.

She ate her lunch and thought for a while. He note was folded neatly on her desk. She just hoped this would work, since she was flying home early the next day. She finished her meal, leaving the tray on her dresser to put away later. She knew there were servants being paid to do that for her, but she didn't want to make their jobs any harder than they already were.

She waited around in her room until a guard came around to say it was alright to come out. She smiled and thanked him before quickly grabbing her note and leaving her room. She made sure to get her tray and drop that off first. She then started looking for José, trailed by her two personal guards. She looked around a few floors, then found him patrolling the first one. She stopped to try and stop the butterflies in her stomach, then walked over to him.

José glanced around and saw Arial walking towards him. She had a light blush on her cheeks as she approached. "Your Majesty," he greeted, then watched her hands.

'Hey José. I just wanted to...' her blush got a little pinker as she stilled her hands and held out her note. He blinked, hesitating before taking it. She then signed something along the lines of 'Thanks, goodbye,' quickly and walked off. When she rounded the corner and was out of sight, her blush got much, much worse. José looked down at the note, pocketing it and start towards his room. He slipped inside. Juan was already asleep, having taken an early shift that morning. Thank god.

Jose sat on his bed and opened the note. Her handwriting was very neat and a sort of pseudo-cursive.

Dear José,

I know you're a guard and I probably shouldn't be doing this, but I really like you and I don't want to leave and never talk to you again.

Love, Arial.

Below that was an address he could send letters to and a number he could call. He read the note over and over and over again. A royal had just given him her number. A royal of a distant country who had only known him for less than two days. A royal who didn't seem to care how scary he made himself look. A royal he felt his heart beat faster for.

A royal who needed to stay the hell away from him if she didn't want to get hurt.