It was the last day before Prince Donncahd arrived.
Princess Airie would depart in two more days.
If she were to be saved, it would have to be today.
Rache sighed and glanced out the window.
"It's a beautiful day out..." She murmured.
In her previous life, she'd always found herself spending the nice days inside. It was like she felt a magnetic pull to the indoors.
She couldn't quite understand it.
"The weather's lovely, dear. The sun's so warm and bright, and there's hardly a cloud in the sky. Do you want to go out, hm? If you do, just let me know, and we can have a nice picnic."
Rache smiled at her, and patted her hand.
"Thank you, Laine. But if it's okay, do you think...I could walk inside just for a bit?"
She just.
Needed to think.
It was too easy to just run off with Laine, to let this city burn for the sake of 'plot'.
But she deserved...
No, the people deserved that she look into their eyes.
To walk through and look at the people who would die.
She needed to see them before she decided their fate so coldly. Like this was just some book and not a thousand innocent lives.
Laine nodded. "Of course. Walk slowly, mind you. Just take it one step at a time. No rush, mm?"
She gently stroked Rache's hair, and then left to get something.
Rache took a deep breath.
Then, slowly, she got up out of bed and paced slowly.
"Here you go dear." Laine had returned with a shawl, which she wrapped around Rache's shoulders. "Now. If you get even a little bit tired, promise me that you'll turn back or at least call for me?"
Rache smiled and reached up to touch Laine's cheek. "You're incredibly kind. Don't worry. I think I'm strong enough for this."
"Just remember to be careful." She smiled and squeezed Rache's shoulder softly. "You've already made so much progress. It would be a shame if you lost it by pushing yourself too hard."
"You can scold me all day if I collapse. Deal?"
Laine sniffed. "That would have happened even if you didn't offer, dear."
But there was smile in her eyes.
Rache grinned and turned, walking out of the room and down the hallway.
It was getting later in the day, and so it seemed there weren't many people around.
Which was the opposite of the point.
That was fine.
She really wasn't lying to Laine. She was feeling strong enough to walk for a while.
So she could go a bit further to actually find someone, and not just say 'well I tried!'.
When she suddenly heard footsteps from nearby, she nearly jumped, but relaxed a moment later.
It was probably just another servant.
Except.
"You." A strong voice behind her spoke. "Stop."
Rache paused, glancing to the side.
It was a soldier, and the man grabbed her arm and whirled her to face him.
"You. Princess Airie demands your presence."
"What-?!"
"Hush."
The guard wrenched her into his side.
She gasped, but her voice caught in her throat in fear.
"She demands your presence. Right. Now. Move."
Rache's heart began to pound.
"Ah-?"
The guard pressed a finger to her lips, and the heat of his skin sent a shiver of fear through her body.
She immediately fell silent.
He tugged her forward, and Rache stumbled after him.
This wasn't what she'd planned. Why was the world forcing a confrontation between her and Airie?!
She hadn't decided yet if she was going to intervene!
What was going on??
Rache didn't have the luxury to panic about it, because she was being shoved into a small room - surely not the actual Princess'?
Yet.
Standing on the other end of the room was a work of art.
Like a snow crystal come to light. She stood out against the darkness of the room so much it was almost as if she gave off light.
She walked and Rache almost believed she could hear bells tinkling.
"...Stunning." Airie mumbled, as she walked up closer. "It really is like looking in a mirror. I'd heard a maid speak of you...but I hadn't thought it could be this extreme."
"Ah... P-Pardon?"
Airie's voice was a soft, delicate whisper.
The voice of a princess.
Rache almost felt like she wasn't worthy of even hearing such a sound.
Airie touched Rache's chin, and lifted it.
"...Hm. It's uncanny. When I was younger, I often wished I'd been born as a commoner. To be free. Perhaps that wish has manifested itself in this..."
She shook her head, and stroked Rache's pale hair.
Rache felt the hair on the back of her neck rise.
Her spine tingled.
"And such a well formed body, too. A touch frail, but I suppose that is the cost of the Quickening. Hm. Were you royalty your condition would have been stable like mine."
Airie cupped Rache's cheek. "Your eyes are slightly different, and you carry the stench of death, but it will do."
It will do?
...Wait.
Wait!!
Rache blinked, and struggled to make sense of what the woman was saying.
"W-What?"
"It's a pleasure to meet you, though I suppose there is no point to proper introductions." Airie smiled.
It was an enchanting smile.
If her head weren't spinning from dizziness and confusion, she might have swooned a little.
"I have a duty that only you can fulfill, little maid. Be honored."
Rache's eyes widened."I-I? What?"
Duty?
What could a princess, just about to leave for a new life in another land - one she couldn't know would be short - want with a maid on death's door?
"Listen carefully. My father wishes to forge an alliance with Sidera that will tie our lands together for generations to come."
Airie smiled and turned her eyes to the wall. "And for that to happen, they demand the hand of the only unmarried female heir."
Rache nodded slowly. "That...is what I heard."
The soft lilac of Airie's eyes sharpened and she flicked her gaze back to Rache in a snap.
But she didn't do further to scold her. Instead, she continued as if Rache hadn't spoken at all.
"The Prince of Sidera...he is a beast. A monster. The most vile of creatures. A man filled up with the black ooze of evil and violence until there is nothing left but that."
A part of Rache.
A very inappropriate one.
Wanted to argue that Donncahd was actually a more nuanced character than that, who had his own sort of honor, who could sometimes be an ally to Altoran even though he was the primary antagonist...
But.
An Auranian was. The last person she should say that to. Even if they didn't know why that was yet.
"Were his hands to touch my skin, it would be stained black." She glanced down at her arm, as if her dramatic speech could somehow manifest just by saying it.
"Marrying him would be no different than marrying an animal."
"Uh-"
She...
Wasn't following.
This was kind of the thing she'd thought about telling Airie to convince the princess not to marry him, but the princess was saying it on her own.
And to a maid...?
Why her and not a noblewoman?
"Y-Your highness, p-pardon me, but-"
She didn't mean to stutter, but the stress and confusion was not doing wonders for her body.
"Nevertheless." Airie said, her sweet and melodic voice cutting through Rache's own.
"An alliance must be had. Prince Donncahd must have a bride. There is no avoiding it."
She waved a hand. "But a princess of purity will never marry the prince of darkness. And so. You shall take my place instead."