Marks of the New Era

Chapter 4.4

Since they were born, it had always been expected that both would rule Genzo when the time came, now with the news that the lost princess had finally returned, everyone believed that they would continue with the original plan.

Safiya wasn't so sure.

When she was a child she had no issues with sharing the responsibility but after everything she had gone through she had a lot of doubts, would the people really accept a mercenary as their queen? She knew that the citizens could be really harsh with the royals.

She had been planning a new strategy with her brother and in that small moment everything exploded.

"You will be a great queen sister" Tai said confidently "There is no doubt"

He was surprised when her only response was silence "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to be queen" She bluntly said.

"...what?"

"Be honest with me brother, do you really think the people will be happy having me, a mercenary, as the new queen?" Her stare was cold and almost expressionless.

"W-Where did those thoughts came from?, of course they will"

"How can you be so sure? You don't even know if YOU'LL be able to rule the kingdom, you know the tradition, no one with a facial scar can be king"

"T-That is different" He didn't thought things would take this direction "But are you really going to let one doubt stop you?"

"IT'S NOT ONLY ONE DOUBT!" She didn't mean to scream but she felt that Tai was ignoring her "I'm not a queen, I don't have the capacities to rule and my attitude is the farthest thing from what people expect"

"You can learn how to rule, and your attitude makes you be you" He tried to reason with her "You shouldn't let your insecurities stop you"

"Well look who's talking!" Things started taking a worse path "Coming from the one who keeps secrets without even relaying on his family!"

"At least I'm not neglecting my responsibilities!" He tried to maintain his cool, but he also had a lot of things inside "And I believe I can keep things to myself!"

"Not when it's clearly tormenting you!!" She snarled "Why can't you tell us? You don't trust us?"

"I-I do, I really trust you" Was he so sure? "But you wouldn't understand"

"Maybe I would if you just told me" That was the final straw for him.

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I WENT THROUGHT" He screamed "AND IT'S NOT YOUR BUSSINESS"

"...You changed" She said in shock "You're not the brother I remembered"

"No I'm not" He started walking towards the outside "And I will never be"

The sudden silence did nothing to take her out of her thoughts, it was clear that Tai was keeping a lot of things inside, but if he didn't want to talk, what could she do to help him?

She knew neither of them were in the best emotional position but some of his words were stuck on her head "At least I'm not neglecting my responsibilities" was she really neglecting her duty as ruler?, was she letting others decide for her?

Her questions were interrupted when Takevu peeked her head towards the tent.

"Safiya? Can I come in?"

"Y-Yeah come"

"Are you okay? I heard screaming" Takevu asked.

"... Tai and I had an argument and it got out of control, I'm worried about him, it's dangerous to go out at night"

"Don't worry, it's not the first time he's done it"

"What do you mean?"

Takevu looked out of the window before answering "You already know Tai isn't the best at letting out his feelings, sometimes he gets so overwhelmed he tries to run away, so it's not uncommon for him to wander around at this hour"

"Takevu, tell me the truth, is Tai hiding something from me?"

"*Sigh* Tai is going to kill me, yes he is, he told us to keep quiet, promising he would tell you when he was ready"

"It must be something serious if he wants to hide me from it"

"Believe me, it is, but something is bugging me, I just have the feeling that it isn't the only secret he's keeping to himself, there must be things he won't tell anyone, not even us"

Takevu continued "At the end of the day, the only thing you can do is wait for him to come back and sort this out"

"Alright, thank you for telling me"

She didn't know what to think, Tai had been clearly hiding a lot of things not only from her, but also from his siblings, that was a fact, but what really bothered her is what type of things he knew for him to refuse telling even the closest people to him.