"SHE WHATT??"
One of the higher council members boomed at Marco, the sound echoing off the throne room walls.
"That is the highest form of disrespect to His Highness, the king."
Another added.
"You did nothing to stop her, and instead just...did what she said?"
Marco remained still, his jaw tense. Was there really anything Marco- no, quite literally anyone- could have done to make her change her mind?
"I explained the-"
"There is nothing the commander could have done to stop Her Highness, Iris."
Kaede interjected, smooth and composed. He looked the same age as Iris, and as annoyingly calm as ever.
"Blaming him or punishing him will not be of any good. They, Iris and Marco, are both members of the higher council. Scolding him like a child is simply beneath us."
That shut everyone up real quick.
Kaede glanced toward the king who had been silently observing the chaos. "And to add on that, there's only the four of us here. The rest must be informed too. I suggest a proper meeting where we will address the issue. If it is alright with you, your highness." He bowed.
The king nodded in agreement.
Marco let out a sigh of relief.
Earlier after Iris dismissed him, he came straight to the throne room to inform him of what Iris had done. Unknown to him, the king was not alone. And since he had already walked in, he had to come up with something. But immediately, one of them asked,
"Is it Iris again?"
He, in the presence of the king had no choice but to tell them what really happened.
Luckily, Kaede who was as close to Iris as he was, was present, and he completely understood the situation Marco was in. He had been in similar situations before because of the same reason: Iris.
"We have to stop her from doing things like this just because she is a princess, or just because she is the strongest." One retorted. "This has to-"
"Kaede said all concerns will be addressed in the meeting. This is not the time. If you have anything to say, save it for the meeting." The king stated. "Leave. All of you"
They bowed deeply and walked out of the room one by one. After they all left, the king let out a deep, tired sigh that screamed 'father of a menace'. His one and only problematic daughter was at it again. It was no secret, he favored her, a little bit too much. She was his favorite in any way you could think about. No one could understand why that was so, because to Iris, the king was just someone she just shared a name and blood with. And she showed it.
A lot of people thought it is because she is the only daughter. The only daughter after six sons.
Others thought it was because Iris was the strongest and most powerful in existence.
A few thought it was because she was born from a woman whom he really fell in love with, and not a political pawn.
But only he knew why he loves Iris so much.
He knew Iris had been in trouble a lot of times and he mostly found ways to wriggle her out of it. Since even though he was king, whatever the council decided was final. This time it could be her worst punishment ever….
She has to talk to her. Would she even give a care if he summoned her? No, she would probably ignore him, just like she always did.
Maybe…just maybe, if Carmella, her mother, was alive, things would have been different between them….
.
.
.
"You owe me one. Or two. I'll decide."
"I didn't ask for your help."
"Exactly. Curse my generous nature."
Marco sighed and turned to walk away from Kaede.
In as much as Kaede was really close with the princess, Marco never really liked him. For one reason, he covered for her a lot….a lot more than he should. In Marco's perspective, a wrong is a wrong, no matter who committed it and under what circumstances. To him, the dynamic between Kaede and Iris was just wrong.
The feeling was mutual though.
Kaede hated Marco with all his guts. Too young. Too righteous. Too...irritating. First, he became a commander at a very young age. There is no way he takes order from someone who's as old as his children would be if he had them. Another main reason was the fact that Marco would always pick the truth, law and punishment even when it came to Iris. If they are really friends as they claim, shouldn't he always stand up for her? As a commander of the royal army, he is highly ranked in the council. So, his opinion is extremely vital when making decisions. So….why won't he use that influence for his best friend Iris?
"You are going to punish Iris right?"
He said flipping his long, lustrous, silky, sky blue hair dramatically.
Marco looked at him in utter disgust. What was he playing at?
"I'm not seducing you commander. You are not my type." He said with a smirk. "On serious matters, this is the third time we are having an emergency meeting because of her. You better get ready to defend her in front of the council. I mean, it's just to prove your friendship and loyalty."
That didn't make much sense to Marco. Why would he defend someone who did a mistake just because they are friends? Is that...how friendship really works?
"You look so confused, you poor thing! "
Marco turned to leave once more, completely ignoring Kaede and begging the gods to take Kaede away from him. He never really made sense in his perspective anyway.
Kaede looked infuriated, how dare he ignore him.
"Okay okay fine. Let's not talk about Iris anymore. The new trainees coming in…."
This was the only thing that they could at least get along while talking about. He had a lot of information he had to give the commander, since he had been out with the first prince for two weeks. As a highly ranked officer. He thought this was the right thing to do.
.
.
.
.
The city was bustling with so many people doing a lot of different things. This was a sight like no other. Clean streets, a market with fresh food and vegetables, well-dressed kids walking around with their well dressed parents, horses and chariots on the road, the bright sun blessing the land!! How were all these people just living through all this luxury without constantly thanking the gods for these….blessings? this was the first time she could actually walked through the streets with them like she was one of them. HUH. Maybe everything really does happen for a reason. To think she only came here because she assassinated someone.
She wished Melda and Jess would have lived long enough to see what the city looked like. Thinking of Melda made her hurt twist in pain. But she quickly brushed away, turning to the guy that wretched royal had instructed to take care of her, and do something else, whatever the hell she said.
"Hey. We've been walkin' forever. Aren't we there yet? I'm tired." she whined.
"We just got out of the castle-"
She paused and clutched her chest dramatically.
"Well, I am a very delicate woman. I might pass out by the time we get there. My feeble dainty legs can't support my even smaller frame. Ooohhh my dainty-WHY ARE YOU IGNORING MEEEE-!!"
"We are almost there. Stop whining."
"Where is there exactly?" she said as she continued walking.
"Military trainee recruitment. Orders from her highness ."
"OOOOOOOOH....Do I kill people?"
"No you protect the people."
"By…killing people?"
He sighed and sped up to escape the nonsense. So rude of him
In no less than five minutes they got to a large field flooded with people her age. Saying their goodbyes. Families saying their final goodbyes to their daughters and sons who chose to devote their hearts to their kingdom. So much love and pride. Gross. Why were there so many people anyway? What is there to love about this kingdom that had a lot of these kids coming to train and join the army? She figured, they both had different histories. The disadvantaged….no, desperately surviving…no the neglected people who she lives with, lived with, in the underground would definitely never fight to protect this filthy kingdom.
Who were they protecting anyway? She scoffed. As much as she can remember, she had always lived among the people who needed protection more than anyone, she never saw any guardians coming to at least offer protection. When the dragon raid happened years back, no one came to save them. Underground, no one ever protected them.
So what exactly was the point of all these people training anyway?
She will never understand people.
But sure, let's pretend it's noble
"...hey!!"
She got startled.
She was not listening.
"W-what?"
"We are here." He turned to the woman infront of them "The princess directly instructed me to bring her to you?"
The woman let out a deep frustrated sigh "Another one? Does she want to start her own army? That damned princess!!"
Another one? Eli wondered to herself.
Did she just send people to join the army just because she felt like it? And just how many did she send here?
The man who led Eli here excused himself.
Eli looked at the woman in front of her. She was strange. She had sky blue hair that barely touched her shoulders. But gorgeous. Damn. She really wished she had colored hair at least. Black was the most average and boring hair color you could have in this kingdom. Something that was even more strange, was on her face. Two thin, rims of something transparent that rested gently on her nose.
"What in the rotting hells is that on your face?"
The woman blinked, clearly confused.
"Either a weapon…or something used to cast a spell? By looking at me? You are gonna...blink fire? Blink me to my death huh?"
"They are spectacles!! Gods!! Where is that damned princess finding you people?!"
"sp-spec...you willingly strapped a transparent thing to your face and decided it's normal?"
The woman popped a few veins and gritted her teeth. She calmed her nerves reminding herself that Iris sent these two unexposed degenerates to her. And she had to handle them with care or Iris would- Only the gods know what she'll do to her. The thoughts of it gave her chills.
"I…am going to take down your details." She said as a scroll appeared before her. "name and symbols?"
Eli thought for a while.
"Eliara. I can't read or write."
She looked at her with a shocked look. "You can't write your name?"
"Yeeea. Never cared to know. Or you know, had the chance to either"
Lillianne's soul visibly left her body.
'broken people...Iris keeps collecting broken people...'
Where did Iris get her?
'And all she ever does...is send her collection of broken people to me!!!' she thought to herself.
She sighed deeply. She was not ready for all of this especially since she just arrived from a really tired reconnaissance. Well, life away from Iris was worth living while it lasted.
She scribbled something on the scroll and fixed her glasses.
"How old are you?"
"O-old? Like…a-age? Okay. Let's see…" she started counting her fingers. "Melda told me I'm somewhere between…one, two, three, fourrrrrrr, nineeeee?? Wait, no. eigh- ten! Wait ten is supposed to be my other tiny finger…so what number is this?"
Lillianne fumed as Eli tried to figure out her age.
"…oh wait…I've never known my age. Mel- my younger sister made up an age for me…i think...but I can't remember what it w-"
"YOU. CAN'T. BE. SERIOUS."
"I actually I'm-"
"ENOUGH. That's enough…that's all I can handle. Just behind this training grounds, is where you'll be staying as a trainee. Everything will be provided. I'll talk to her highness about you."
"Whatever….."
She said strolling off.
'Sweet! free stuff and a place to stay? And all i gotta do is just fight or whatever? Probably?' She strolled across the training field as excitement slightly brewed inside of her.
Slightly. Because this wasn't genuine happiness. She had officially lost everyone she had ever loved. Even Melda. What does she live for now?
When she got to the building where she assumed the trainees were to live there- because she didn't care to ask around, she believed in instinct more than people- she thought it would be better if she got a room first, if they were sectioned into rooms and get comfortable, then she would mark it as her territory and kill- no, fight off- whoever came to her space.
She had never seen storey buildings before so the whole concept of floors above other floors intrigues her. It looked scary. She loved it.
And thus, as the abnormal person she is, she crawled up to the top most floor like a spider, so easily, and crashed through the glass window and into the room there.
"Woohoooo! Now this is exciting!! I like this. Empty. MINE!! No one elses"
Looking around in the room, there were four beds- two double deckers.
So she has to share with three other people? Hell no. she's gonna break them and leave one lower bunk. She thought to herself with a grin.
With one kick she broke one bed in half. Just as she was about to break the other one, the door was opened.
She quickly froze in position, but was ready to blame a mosquito for the damage caused.
But before she could looked up, her breath caught
"Y-you….."
"Eliara?"