The Princess' Procession

"A princess of purity will never marry the Prince of Darkness."

That was the sentence that sealed the fate of the maid-turned-princess Rache.

Airie, Aurania's Princess, the pride of the kingdom, the beautiful young woman whom all loved, insisted that Rache would marry the Prince of Sidera.

Why?

"You will be the first to die if you dare speak a word of this to Prince Donncahd."

"This is your responsibility now as a stand-in member of the royal family. A duty that must be fulfilled at any cost. Or else, our nation of Aurania will burn to ash."

Because Rache looked too much like Airie, that was the reason.

There wasn't any deeper reason.

It was convenience.

Selfishness.

The people in Auberon's Edge were far from perfect. They were morally complex, caught up in political machinations, and looking out for themselves.

But Auberon's Edge was set after King Donncahd's conquest had begun, during a desperate time where everyone had no choice or chance but to live for themselves.

This was before all that.

So.

Rache couldn't help but be caught off guard.

This wasn't how it happened in Auberon's Edge.

Did...

Princess Airie always have this personality?

In the story, she seemed to genuinely care for her nation.

She'd been dead, long gone, but all the story had talked about what a gentle, sweet, kind person she'd been.

An innocent lamb devoured by the wolf.

She'd always seemed a tragic figure.

Maybe she still was.

Forced into a marriage she hated, knew would be her death, only to meet a grisly end anyway.

As Rache stood in front of the full-length mirror, Rache struggled to feel sympathy.

She just couldn't anymore.

Her heart ached as the other servants helped dress her.

She'd not expected Airie to be this sort of person.

How was she supposed to react to that?

The maid's outfit was pulled away and the princess' finest robes were fitted onto her.

She would wear Airie's colors. Her symbols and signs of royalty.

Her crown was placed on her head.

Her hands were sheathed in white gloves.

She stared at herself in the mirror and wondered who was staring back.

She didn't even feel like she recognized herself.

And she'd barely started recognizing the face in the mirror as it was.

Princess Airie stared back at her in the mirror, with eyes full of hopeless, powerless despair.

Laine would have comforted her. She would have reassured Rache, eased her doubts and fears and sorrows.

Laine would have run away with her to safety.

...Would Laine understand, when she was banished?

Or would she think she'd been abandoned.

Would she curse Rache as the days passed and she was executed, betrayed and forgotten, along with the rest of the doomed nation of Aurania?

...It hurt.

And for a long moment.

More than a moment.

For a time she couldn't calculate, she almost let herself be consumed, to collapse in despair, self pity, and simply...

Lay herself down and wait to die.

--Her gaze caught the cold, calculating one of Airie.

...No.

She straightened her shoulders.

Airie was sending her to die.

To suffer.

To make sacrifices for this nation that Airie refused to do.

But if the princess herself wouldn't do it?

Then why should she?

She lifted her chin, and turned her gaze back to the 'princess' in the mirror, expression hardening.

She'd marry the prince.

She'd protect Aurania, for the sake of Laine.

But she wouldn't die.

That much.

She would not do.

"...Now that." Airie spoke suddenly, approaching her. "Is the look of a princess. Go. The prince awaits his bride."

She was ushered from the room, and through the hallways, where soldiers saluted and greeted her, calling her Princess Airie.

"Long may she reign!" One cheered, and Rache could only stare.

These men...

They truly believed they were about to witness a future queen.

She felt a little sick.

Rache found herself wishing she could escape, but she didn't have the energy to fight off the guards, not just yet.

She would have to accept this cruel twist of fate.

It was what it was.

She had no power as a simple maid, no way to fight Airie's whims and stand up for herself.

But Queen Airie of Sidera.

She would not die so easily.

"Prepare the horses, the carriage. Now!"

A servant called out.

Rache stumbled out of the castle, blinking against the light.

Aurania's palace was beautiful.

Towering and elegant, surrounded by gorgeous gardens and sprawling lawns.

"The princess is to go to Sidera, she is to marry the prince."

Servants, soldiers and nobles alike murmured to each other.

"The alliance between Sidera and Aurania is as good as finished. There is no escaping that union. It is for the best. Together our nations will surely prosper."

She swallowed as she walked, leaning on the guards more with every step, as her body threatened to give out.

It was easy to give herself affirmations and cling to defiance when she wasn't faced with the danger.

But every step toward the carriage - toward Donncahd's camp just outside the city - gnawed at the pit of her stomach, the fear and anxiety bleeding through her defiance.

After all, didn't it loop back around?

She wasn't scared when she was certain of her death, but now she'd decided to fight it, to resist, and that meant...

Only a madwoman wouldn't be terrified.

"Hail Princess Airie!" Another servant shouted, face glowing with excitement.

Airie had been right, it seemed.

Even the people who should know better didn't notice the difference at a glance.

She really did look that much like the princess.

Her hand shook as she gripped the guard's arm. She pressed her lips together.

For Laine's sake, she had to maintain the facade. She couldn't let anyone see.

No matter what else.

She had to do that much.

Laine...

Was...

Rache's gaze snapped up from the crowd suddenly.

Laine stood stock still.

Facing her.

As the servants, knights, and peasants in the procession waved their arms and cheered, Laine stood still.

Rache found herself meeting Laine's gaze.

For just a moment-

She saw the kind maid's eyes grow wide with a sudden, dawning horror.

And then the guard next to Rache 'helped' her into the carriage.