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Beautiful Stone in my chest,
Emotions are always expressed;
A bird who soon left the nest,
Greeted by a royal test.
- Endellion Amaryllis
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As I passed the giant gates, seeing the quiet and tired nods of the knights, only now did I notice that the air around carried a heaviness upon it. Only when I arrived at the kingdom itself did I feel it in the wind's touch on my face, and can see it in the way the leaves on the trees droop and shiver. The birds around sing a sorrowful song, as if their very souls are weeping. But I don't know what it is that weighs us all down, or what awaits me as soon as I soon enter the Queen’s throne room. All I know is that a certain weight has been added to my shoulders. And I must carry this burden with grace and dignity, as a proper lady-in-waiting of the Queen must.
Relax, Endellion… Calm yourself. This is just going to be like one of those meetings with her. It couldn’t be that worse today, right?... Right? I thought to myself quietly, but as I began to walk in the hallways, the feeling of uneasiness became heavier and contradicted that thought, like something terrible is about to happen.
Then, it wasn’t for long when I could feel my heart sink as soon as I realized that the heavy feeling earlier was right, when I began to hear loud yells of that very familiar voice from that Brutal Bear, Haco, through the doors of the throne room.
"What do you mean we shouldn’t kill them yet?!" he shouted at someone, but that person seemed to have whispered their response to him, before he soon shouted once more. "Keeping them alive is all just a waste of time! We should just end their misery so there won't be any other problems we’ll be having in the future!"
He seemed to be that desperate to want us dead. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the one who came up with the title of the ‘Bloody Traitor’ in the first place... I sighed at the thought. It seems that I will be directly involved in whatever it is that is about to unfold with the people inside of that room. I then took a deep breath, braced myself for what was about to come next and opened the door…
"And look who finally showed up!" Haco said out loud as he looked at me with his arms wide open. "What took you so long to get back here? But I must say, you’re lucky enough that the Queen isn’t here yet, and we could discuss certain… things..."
Looking around the throne room without moving where I stood, I could only see Haco, and Head General Valerio were there. And unfortunately, he was telling the truth that the Queen wasn’t present at the moment. This is not going to be good.
I took a deep breath, then forced a small smile, and waved my hand slightly. I greeted, "G-Good morning to you two, General Haco and Head General Valerio…"
The two just quietly stared at me with both having different expressions on their faces. Haco, who was looking at me with disbelief, and Head General Valerio with his usual stern, and cold expression. Not long after, I noticed him soon slowly making his way towards me. As soon as he stopped at my right side, he placed his hand on my shoulder, leaned down a bit and whispered something in my ear…
And upon hearing what he whispered, I was frozen from where I stood…
"...You’ve already done enough things to make a lot of matters worse… So if you don’t want any of it to happen to you or to him... Then keep your mouth shut… Understood?" were the last words he told me before soon leaving the throne room.
Even after hearing the doors closing quite loudly behind me, my breathing was a little heavy now as I was still silently standing still, holding tightly on both of my hands while keeping my head lowered. Was he truly serious about what he told me just now of what he will do to us, or was he just trying to scare me with threats?
"Awww! What’s wrong, little lady?" Haco said, standing now in front of me. "I may disagree with most of the choices he’s been making most of the time, but it seems that whatever he told you to shut up is something that’s working right now."
"You two… won’t be able to get away with any of it..." I said under my breath before lifting my head to look at him. "The Queen will know what you’ve all done!"
"The Queen?" he repeated with a prideful smirk on his face. "Her powers are just truly weak— too weak even— to make any kind of good decisions for this kingdom at all! And I very highly doubt that she’s even that strong— or would even dare to lift a finger to punish me or the Head General himself… So… Endellion…"
"Come closer or if you dare touch me, and I won’t hesitate to fight you back!"
He laughed out loud. "Oh? Fight me back?" he said mockingly and crossed his arms. "You’re the same as your dear older brother... A coward! Someone who joins the other side— to the enemy’s side— to find temporary peace and happiness, even if it costs your pride, and will be painted as a traitor to your own kingdom… And that was one of the reasons why you haven’t come back here, wasn’t it, Endellion?"
He soon stepped forward. "And you know what happens to traitors… Right?"
As he slowly began approaching me, I began to slowly walk back until I heard the doors behind me suddenly opened wide. Noticing a lot of knights who began to walk past me at both of my sides before I soon accidentally fell back into someone’s arms. Looking up and clearing a bit of my blurry vision, my gaze soon met… hers.
"Are you alright, El?" she asked in a calm tone. "You seemed very frightened."
I blinked twice in surprise as to see her to be able to catch me in time, before soon carefully standing back up properly. "I-I’m sorry if you had to see that."
"Accidents happen at times… You do not need to apologize for it." she said.
I sighed in relief before looking at the direction she was looking. Seeing now the knights who are now standing on both sides of the room, while there are also some of those who are kneeling on their knees with their arms tied on their backs. I then looked back at her as she looked back at me, quickly reminding me what I was supposed to be doing at that moment.
With a small smile, I said with a proper bow, "Greetings to Her Highness."
"Greetings to Her Highness." The rest of the people in the room followed.
"Her Highness… G-Greetings to Her Highness." Haco said, stuttering a bit.
"You said my powers are too weak… to make any decision." she quickly said.
As I turned my head to look at Haco, he immediately shook his head multiple times. "No no no— No, Your Highness. I never said that— I… I didn’t know that you would come here today... But please, for the sake of the kingdom’s reputation—"
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"For the sake of the kingdom’s reputation?" she repeated in a calm manner, raising an eyebrow. "I heard that you were accusing Lady Endellion of colluding with the enemy kingdom just now... Or have you already forgotten about that too?"
"I-I was talking nonsense! Nonsense…" Haco said, keeping his head lowered.
She became silent, but her cold and serious gaze seemed to have continued staring down at him. And as soon as I noticed how the cyan stone attached in her necklace was glowing a bit brighter, I already knew what she was doing and tried not to think or have anything in my mind, even if I wasn’t the one she’s targeting.
"I would be more forgiving and let this little incident slip this time…" she paused then sighed as her gaze became more serious and cold as she looked at Haco. "...But you ran your mouth on us, which is worse, so this—" she raised her hand slowly before quickly lowering it, causing General Haco to fall violently on one knee against the floor. "—is for your defiance against me... This—" she did it again, much faster this time, causing him to fall on his other knee as well, coughing blood from the pain. "—is for the impulsive killing of messengers and the ambush that you led... And finally—" she raised her hand high this time, making him float in mid-air for a moment, "—is for the assaults you and your men conducted on my people behind my back over the years!" before slamming him down one last time.
He was shaking as he slowly tried to lift himself up. "Y-Your Highness… Mercy… Please, I may have led the first reckless attack, but the ambush and recent attack on the village— I-I was just… I was just following the orders of Head General Valerio! He was the one who fought against the Bloody Traitor and almost killed the guy until Lady Endellion came to stop the fight! Please, you have to believe me!"
The Queen’s eyes widened in surprise as the room suddenly got colder than before, and clenched both of her hands behind her back then took a deep breath.
"... Head General Valerio?" she repeated. "Ah, I see now… So that is his true reason for not showing up early today, the very reason why a lot of my men have gone missing for three weeks now, and even went so far as to use the leader and the people of the Invincible Wing Tribe for such recklessness. And Endellion..." She slowly turned her head to face me. "...From your eyes alone, I could easily tell that there is something else that they were doing that I am not aware of... Am I wrong?"
I kept my head lowered as I continued being silent. I already know and aware of what would happen in any of the choices that I’ll be making right now, if I told her the truth about what Valerio did to Alessio and bringing him here, he would be mad at me or worse, but even I don’t say it out loud, she may have to use her stone to forcefully get it somewhere from my mind instead, and both will get mad at me.
She continued staring down at me as the silence went on for a bit while before I soon heard her sighing in a tired tone and said, "If you are afraid to speak up because of getting punished by the Head General or by anyone else later, you do not need to worry about it, I will make sure they are going to be punished instead… But if there is truly nothing else of worthy to be noted of their more misbehavior—"
"Head General Valerio threatened to kill me and the Bloody Traitor— my older brother Alessio— earlier if I told you anything of what I heard earlier this morning!!!"
After shouting those words out loud and as quickly as I was able to, silence filled the room, but so was the coldness and aggressive wind began to slowly form around her as I could sense her powers were increasing. We all noticed as well that windows’ panes made slow cracking sounds from the wind’s strong impact before I looked back at her again as she asked, in the calmest tone she was able to manage, "Endellion… Could you… kindly repeat that in a slow and proper manner this time?"
My hands. They were cold and shaking out of fear for a short moment before I clenched them together, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath to calm myself. Remember what she taught you, Endellion. Calm yourself. Collect and organize your thoughts before opening your mouth. I thought with my head lowered, and my face staring down at the floor. I took another deep breath, slowly opened my eyes.
"It is true… of what General Haco said about Head General Valerio’s actions… He did lead the ambush and the recent attack on one of the villages of the enemy kingdom, and it was for the reason of trying to kill my older brother, the Bloody Traitor… Alessio…" I lowered my head even more as I continued. "And I know that I shouldn’t have left the kingdom without your permission or your command, and I instead should have told you about their plans when I overheard about it before they left, just like what happened earlier this morning— but out of worries as to what would happen to my older brother, I had to take my leave as quickly as I was able to. I suppose I tried to do the same thing again earlier, my sincere apologies…"
There was a short moment of silence once again before hearing the echoing sounds of her footsteps could be heard all around, the wind around us had slowly calmed down, and not long after… I felt her gentle hand on the back of my head.
"Lift up your head now and look at me…" I heard her saying before I opened my eyes and slowly lifted my head to look at her. Seeing her now serious yet calm expression on her face. "Even until now. Even after all the several years I’ve trained, taught, and disciplined you, I suppose I cannot truly stop you from following your heart, especially when it comes to… family matters such as that." she said as she shook her head slowly before sighing. "I will forgive you for your recklessness this time… And I hope now that you’ve learned your lesson, you would tell me any such matters that involve disobedience, or plans that are being made behind my back."
She then turned her head to look at General Haco who was still kneeling on the floor, still badly injured. "And remember to not let anyone else threaten you to be silent about what you heard, or what you’ve seen that is truly unforgivable, or such actions that are breaking the laws of this kingdom… Do you understand, El?"
I lowered my head as I responded, "Yes, Your Highness… I… I understand."
"Good… As for the captured Bloody Traitor..." her gaze met with the two guardsmen who were standing by the doors. "Tell them to bring him to one of our guest rooms. And any questions, doubts, or disobedience the other men may have or will do upon seeing it happening, bring them to me, especially Head General Valerio Kono, and I will be very, very glad to answer them all... Is that understood?"
"Yes, Your Highness!" the two guardsmen said in synchronization, and with not even a bit of hesitation in their tone before leaving the room quickly.
"Now, if there’s nothing else that is at most or worthy of importance to be discussed here, excluding General Haco and his men, the rest of you may take your leave now…" she said as she began to slowly make her way back to her throne and sat down with her hand on her chin. "... As for anything else that will be heard or will happen in this throne room after you take your leave here, they will all strictly only stay here, and will be none of your business or concerns to be worried about."
Upon hearing the last sentences she said, I stopped and turned around to look at her only to be greeted by the doors closing in front of me. I know that it was not our business, and we shouldn’t care that they, even Head General Valerio, will be punished by her personally, But did I truly do the right thing earlier? Hmm?
"Thank you… for doing what you did earlier. For speaking out…" one of the knights said as he placed his hand on my shoulder. "...A lot of us are afraid to speak out to anyone or even to the Queen herself— about how General Haco has been treating us throughout the years. His very unfair punishments, his very strict and pure brutality of training he all put us through… we barely survived or even lived…"
My eyes widened as I listened, and once I turned my head to look at them, I could see it in their eyes, both the feeling of relief and sorrow, tears they’re trying to stop from falling. It’s truly heartbreaking and almost brought me to tears as well.
"Thanks to you, he finally received his punishment… Even if it wouldn’t bring back the friends, family, and the other innocent lives we’ve lost because of him, we’re sure that their souls will be at peace now..." the knight added, tightening his grip on my shoulder for a short moment before letting go.
"My apologies if a knight like me, and the rest of us would be showing weakness in front of you, Lady El. But I think we shouldn’t waste any more time… who knows what will happen to him..."
"Hmm... If I’m right about the man you’re referring to, do you perhaps know which of the guest rooms he was taken to?...And if it’s not a bother, could you take me there?" I asked, and the knight nodded his head to me quickly in response.
"It’s no bother to help you at all, Lady El. And it’s the least thing we could do for you after what you just did for the rest of us here. Though…" he paused before looking at the other knights with him. "If there’s some of you here who are in need to go back to your positions on guard or your training, then you are free to go back. But please do stay quiet about what we just witnessed today, and if you ever walked past the Head General on your way back, try to not make eye contact..."
The rest or most of the knights, with determined looks on their faces, nodded their heads quietly before we soon went our separate ways in the hallway. With the same knight from earlier who is now leading the way, and a couple of them who are now walking beside me, as if they were protecting me.
"You seemed to have quite the leadership skills..." I said, smiling a little, hoping to lessen the heavy ambiance. "...Are you planning to be a General one day?"
The knight hesitated for a little minute before responding with, "I appreciate you for the praise, Lady El... Despite how I may not think that I have such talents or that I even deserve such a high position, yet... A lot of us agreed that, if we were fortunate enough to have or be in that position— believe it or not— we would much prefer working and fighting harder for this kingdom and for its ruler, if you were the one who would be on the throne, if that day ever comes… But for now at least..."
He soon came to a stop while standing next to a door, where he grabbed and turned the doorknob then carefully opened the door of the room. "...Let us help you with any problems you might encounter in the future. It’s… the least we can do."
As he stepped to the side, I soon carefully walked into the room and looked around. Seeing the white walls and brown tiled floorings that shines, and reflects the sunlight that were coming through from the two wide opened windows. A fireplace and long wooden table on the right side of the room, then soon looking at the left side, there I see a small brown table with a vase of white roses, and the giant bed where I found him lying, sleeping peacefully, making me sighed in relief.
"Thank you so much for bringing me here to see him." I said, smiling at them. "And even if you may think that what you just did wasn’t enough, for me it is, and I’m very thankful for that. I truly appreciate and value everything you’ve done for me so far… You may take your leave now, and thank you, once again, sir Knight…"
The Knight was surprised and seemed to want to say something more, but instead smiled a little before bowing down, "Thank you, m’lady… And please, do not hesitate to call us if you need help or if you are in trouble. We can assure you that we won’t hesitate to come to assist and even protect you as soon as possible."
They shortly left and shut the doors behind them after I gave them a head nod in return. Before turning to face the unconscious man in the bed, my smile gradually disappeared. I approached him quietly and sat down by his bedside while holding his cold hand tenderly. My eyes started to water once again as I struggled to hold back the tears, and refrain from thinking too much about the worst-case possibilities of what would happen to him if he still wouldn’t wake up, or what the others, or the tyrant Head General, Valerio, would do to him if I ever left his side.
"If you could hear me, it’s me, Endellion... I’m here now, Alessio." I said, gently caressing his head gently with my other hand. "...And I won't stop now, not when we already made it this far, and not until I’m sure that you’re truly back to us…" I added, soon closing my eyes and lying down my head on the bed from exhaustion.
"Just please… stay strong, and wait for a little longer for me, won’t you, Al?"
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