Vol 5 Chapter 7 (2/2)

”My lord,” Orba suddenly spoke after having listened in silence to the end of the story. He had been considering Marilène's situation.

”What?”

”Then Lady Marilène was protecting the country?”

”That is right.”

”And she became Greygun's queen because having someone near him to temper his tyranny would prevent the people from suffering even more.”

”Yes. Yes, that is also correct,” the old man's voice had gradually become tinged with sadness. ”We feigned to hate each other in order to encourage the rumour that the last direct member of the Helio royal bloodline still had considerable influence. Even when she wished me good health, it appeared like the wicked Marilène was being insincere. So that the people would welcome Rogier when he someday returned as a legitimate heir to Helio.”

There probably hadn't been any time for Hardross and Marilène to agree to cooperate. Both had silently decided to stage their play. Because of that, Hardross had spent his days feeling vexed. It wasn't Marilène, Jallah or Greygun that he hated. What he hated was his own powerlessness which left him unable to protect the country except by pus.h.i.+ng his son's wife into becoming a criminal.

”With the threat from the west drawing ever closer, she thought that we couldn't afford any more internal divisions and so set Jallah up as king. She thought that we couldn't give Garda's army the power to make every decision concerning Helio and so she made Greygun king. She is a clever woman. Too clever. If she had just been a little more foolish, if she had merely been beautiful, she would have been remembered as a queen who had tragically been toyed with by those in power.”

The rumour that she had allied herself with Cherik to take over the country was untrue. Marilène had probably had doubts when Jallah happily hired Greygun, but suspecting that her older brother Yamka II was tied to Garda was surely something that she would never have imagined.

Outside, the noise was at its height. The soldiers and populace were headed towards the women's quarters. Watching the situation from the corner of his eye, Orba felt an urgent sense of restlessness.

”The queen is...”

”I know,” Hardross interrupted him, ”she will have predicted this. That once Rogier returned to Helio she would be executed as the queen who had betrayed her country. In that way, she will have protected the power of Helio's royal family. Such is the woman she is.”

Ridiculous. The muscles in Orba's arms and shoulders stiffened as he tightly clenched his fists without realising he was doing it. Why would she go so far to protect Helio, to protect the royal family? Although she had worried for the country more than anyone else, she would be executed by the people and would forevermore be remembered in infamy.

Words came floating up from the depths of Orba's memories.

We were –

Born into royalty. It is our duty to devote ourselves to the country's affairs.

In Seirin Valley, that girl, Garbera's third princess Vileena Owell, had spoken those words to Orba who was pretending to be Gil Mephius.

It is our duty to quell personal joy or personal will. It’s only to be expected from people who are praised for their n.o.ble blood.

At that time, Orba had heard it only as the self-aggrandising of a person in power. Nothing but a way to justify the special privileges and luxurious existence of those who freely manipulated the lives and fates of the people.

And yet – there was one who was about to accomplish that duty. Even as she was being spat on by the people, even as the n.o.bles reviled her as a temptress who sold out her own country, even as the soldiers drove her to the scaffold with their spears, Marilène would proudly embrace death.

And she would do so with her eyes wide open and a smile on her lips.

Why was it that for Orba, that image overlapped with that of a girl whose platinum hair flowed down her back? He was sure that had she have been in the same situation, that girl would have chosen that same path.

Orba remained standing as though at a complete loss. Staring at his own shadow as it stretched out from between the gap in the door, dyed in the colours of the morning light.

Part 3

When Marilène's figure appeared in the street, the crowd suddenly went wild.

The smiles that stretched across their faces were the exact opposite of normal smiles as they were filled with hatred. Soldiers armed with spears stood on either side of Marilène and as was made to walk with a rope tied around her hands. The soldiers had done that of their own volition, spurred on by the crowd. Although the queen's native country of Cherik had reached out to Garda, the king had not officially declared that the alliance was broken as there no longer was a king.

But n.o.body stopped it. There were some people there with discernment but they judged that before the people went out to meet the new king, they should discharge all the pus that had stagnated within them.

Yes, this is fine, Marilène inwardly acquiesced.

The pain and anguish from King Elargon's death had given rise to anger and hatred. The royal family was supposed to protect the people. When they failed to achieve that, they fell. According to the natural way of things, Helio's royal family should have disappeared from the pages of history.

Marilène however had deliberately gone against that. Since she had married into it from another country, she believed that she had to defend Helio's royal family. She believed it was fine if the brunt of the soldiers' feelings, they who protected the people and the royalty, was turned against her.

Something came flying and hit Marilène's head.

It smelled nasty. Rotten fruit. After one person had hurled it, a large number of others followed suit. Marilène had always been conscious of appearances and liked to dress up. Her expensive clothes became filthy and a foul stench rose from her beautifully arranged hair.

”Stop it!” She cried as her hair grew dishevelled. ”What did I do? Spare me. I'll give you anything, just spare my life!”

It was unsightly, how she pleaded for her life.

The people laughed, jeering at her. The soldiers had a hard time holding them back as they seemed about to leap forward at any moment. The stones and fruit that were thrown bounced off the soldiers' armour and the soldiers' faces showed their concern. Fanned by ma.s.s hysteria, the crowds' feelings showed no signs of abating. The battle with Garda's army in which their family members were killed, the loss of their lovers, the pillaging of their homes under Greygun's oppression, they were convinced that all of it was Marilène's doing. Realising that even they were about to be swallowed up by it, the soldiers lost their composure.

”Move, move!”

The surging crowd parted in two from the back. Upon looking to see, they saw the garb of the mounted Royal Guards who rode on horseback fully armed, wearing a sleeveless blue outergarment over their armour. The Guards in this case consisted of a singlehorseman who scattered the people left and right with his spear as he drew up.

”I have a message from Lord Hardross,” the guardsman spoke loudly. He had his visor down so that the area below his eyes and nose could barely be seen. ”He says that he will be responsible for the punishment meted out to Marilène, the witch who tricked Helio into falling into chaos. Get up.”

When the authority of Helio's royal family was put forward, the people seemed to be in a mood to accept it and the huge wave of murderous intent receded somewhat. However it was in the expectation that the royal family would have Marilène's head cut off.

In and of itself, Marilène's fate had not changed.

And soon enough,

”Doing it here will do well enough,” said the royal guardsman and he got Marilène to kneel in the middle of intersecting streets. ”I will now proceed with the execution of the treacherous Queen Marilène.”

Marilène heard the guardsman's voice as though it were coming from very far away. In reality, it was her own heart which was in place far from there. Was it already twelve years ago? When Helio and Cherik fought over the rights to Lake Soma. As proof that the two countries were sheathing their blades and joining in a peace agreement, Cherik's Princess Marilène was going to marry into Helio. She was fourteen years old at the time.

As the carriage jolted its way along the road, Marilène had been filled with unease. The princess was by nature shy and deeply devout, and often secluded herself in the Dragon G.o.ds temple. Would it really be possible to get along well with Helio, which had been an enemy country? What would marriage to a man whose face she had never even seen be like...

The carriage came to a hill which commanded an unbroken view of Lake Soma to its left. That day, it had been cloudy all morning but the clouds had suddenly parted and light had shone through.

Even now, Marilène had not forgotten the sight of the light scattered over the surface of the lake.

”Whoa,” the coachman had raised his voice in surprise. The attendants and escorting guards had been equally taken aback.

Accompanied by only a handful of attendants, Hardross Helio was coming towards them from the opposite slope. Marilène's father, who had gone in order to attend the wedding ceremony and who had been jolting along in a different carriage, had gone out to meet him.

”Well now, King Hardross. I certainly didn't expect you to come this far out.”

”Ah well, my impatience got the better of me. May I meet the bride?”

Marilène had been brought out of the carriage to meet the person who would become her father-in-law for the first time on that hill. Almost dizzy from nervousness, she had been prompted to make her greetings. King Hardross had simply smiled with his eyes.

”Ah, what a lovely princess. I would like to welcome the princess on behalf of the people of Helio.” He had been in high spirits and had added,

”That's right, your marriage to my son Elargon will mean peace for the area around Lake Soma. Then when you bear a child, let us call it Soma as a prayer for eternal peace between our two countries.”

He had spoken a little too hastily and the bride's face had turned bright red.

I, even though she had sunk to her knees on the cold paving stones, something like a faint smile appeared on Marilène's lips, I knew nothing of my bridegroom's face or his voice or his character. But still, when back then I saw King Hardross look so happy, I thought that I would surely be able to love that father's child. I thought that I too would surely be able to love the country that that king loved.

A sword glittered at the nape of her neck. Marilène held her breath and stole a glance at the rows of faces watching intently.

My beloved people.

My beloved King Elargon.

The guardsman lifted his sword overhead in a rush of air. Marilène closed her eyes.

My beloved... Helio.

May you prosper forever along with father-in-law, along with Helio's royal family...

Then,

Just as she felt the back of her neck grow cold, something fell with a thud on to the street.

The raised sword itself.

There was not a single drop of blood. Clasped in the guardsman's hand was something that could have been mistaken for fine cloth as it glittered in the early morning light. Marilène's hair. He had cut it off with a single stroke of his sword.

”With this, the wicked Marilène's relations.h.i.+p with Helio's royal family is utterly severed,” the guard announced. ”From here on, she may go to Cherik or to Garda's side or wherever she pleases to live out the remainder of her wretched life - so says Lord Hardross.”

”That's...”

Marilène looked up in amazement while the people started an uproar that seemed to give voice to their innermost feelings.

”His lords.h.i.+p is too lenient!”

”Is he going to pretend not to see our anguish?”

”Please cut off her head!”

When they saw the colour of madness once more creep into the people's eyes, the soldiers escorting Marilène reflexively stood with their spears at the ready.

”Indeed, Queen Marilène has died.”

A booming voice reverberated over the people's heads. The guardsman raised his hand and Marilène's l.u.s.trous hair fell from his open palm and was carried away by the wind.

”As she is no longer queen and has lost the pride and the ability to call herself royalty, she will henceforth live a miserable life. There is no one in all of Tauran who does not already know of her crimes. She will live while being cursed and reviled. There can be no worse punishment for Marilène. For the people of Helio who endured without losing our pride even when we were crushed under heel by a vile tyrant, a woman such as this is less than a speck of dust in the pages of our history. Jallah and Greygun are both dead! Twice have we shown all of Tauran that Helio's justice will slam down the hammer of judgement when it needs to. Helio needs no further deaths, no further bloodshed.”

He continued to cry out exactly as though it were Hardross himself speaking. The people felt an indescribable sense of desolation and of the changing of the times and, as Marilène's hair drifted away into a sky bathed in the morning's glow, they remained silent.

”From here on, all of our military units will be sent the sweep our true enemy, Garda's army. We will win and return in triumph. I want you to pave the way for that. I want you to prepare liquor to quench the soldiers thirst and to arrange food to satisfy their hunger. And I want you to prepare songs and dances to give thanks for victory, I want us to rejoice together. People of Helio, at this time, that is by far more important. The likes of Marilène is not worth putting to the sword!”

When the man from the royal guards finished his speech, a shout of joy rose from all around him and, as though carried on a wave, was transmitted throughout Helio. Upon hearing that joyful clamour, even a person on the outside who was ignorant of the situation within would understand at once that Helio had been liberated and would raise their fist in glee.

Once the guardsman had made sure of what was happening, he ducked down on to one knee and peered into Marilène's face.

Why?

Disregarding the question in her eyes, he whispered in a voice that only Marilène could hear,

”You will find a carriage prepared for you before the gates. With it are several ladies' maids who requested to go with you. Cherik will be unsafe for a while so it would be best for you to conceal your lineage and hide in one of the surrounding villages for now. You will also have funds to take with you.”

”You are...,” Marilène was startled to see the eyes peeping out from behind the visor. Without breaking eye contact, the guardsman took a dagger out from his breast and cut the ropes around her hands with it.

”Now, be gone,” he bid her in a loud, harsh tone.

The former queen gazed at that nearby face for a moment then something like a smile appeared on her lips.

”As I thought, you are a man with interesting eyes.”

Rising unsteadily to her feet, she started to walk towards the gate. There were no more than a few dozen metres. But for Marilène, it was an enormously long distance. The people hurled invectives at her while parting to make way. One small child, probably to show his courage, trotted towards her and kicked her foot. With no more than that, the former queen faltered and almost stumbled, causing a torrent of laughter.

Only Orba, disguised as a Royal Guard and still on one knee, bowed his head in the direction of Marilène's back in the posture of a va.s.sal seeing her off.

Those in power had robbed Orba of all he possessed and he therefore hated all those in power. Right now however, he praised her name from the bottom of his heart.

You are a very great queen, Queen Marilène.

Even if her clothes were filthy, even if stones were thrown at her, as she shouldered her duty as one of the elect, she appeared so radiant as to be dazzling to Orba's eyes.

Marilène's honour, which had sunk to the ground, would one day be restored. The day would come when Hardross would reveal the truth. But when would that day be? How many years would it take before Hardross' tale became the truth and Marilène was universally praised? However it was, the former queen would surely once more pa.s.s through Helio's gates.

It had been a few minutes since Marilène's figure had disappeared from sight and Orba had stood up again when,

”Ah, it's Lord Lasvius!”

”Lord Lasvius”

Lasvius rode up to cheers from the crowd. He jumped off his horse and spoke to Orba.

”How did it go?”

Orba gave a nod.

”It all went according to Lord Hardross' wishes.”

”Oh, is that so? Yet I heard that rather than his lords.h.i.+p, the idea came from you.” Lasvius gave a faint smile as he surveyed Orba, dressed up as a Royal Guard. ”That appearance suits you,” he said. ”My men have gathered together Helio's soldiers. We don't have time to fine tune a reorganisation but - are you going too?”

”Yeah,” Orba nodded once more as if to say that it was obvious. He then looked at Lasvius. ”Your arm seems out of commission but will you be all right?”

”You talk like an aristocrat,” Lasvius grinned and showed his left arm which was held fixed by a splint. ”I'd beat up any subordinate who asked me that. It's not a question of being all right or not. As long as I'm on a dragon or a horse I'll be able to send enemy heads flying in the air.”

The sun was now so high that the outline of the castle ramparts blazed white.

”While we're at it, your face doesn't seem particularly infected.”

”Oh, I'm a spy for Garda.”

While they exchanged banter, Orba's heart was flying towards the battlefield.

What should I do?

Since achieving revenge against Oubary, he still didn't know the answer to that. But at least he could now see what his next step should be.

I'll bring Garda down.

Killing a single sorcerer might not be enough to halt the disturbances throughout the Tauran region. Indeed, once the common enemy was removed, it would probably return to its previous state of inter-city strife. And the ones who would suffer and lament would be the people.

Tauran has no king.

A king...

Orba's eyes shone in the morning light and seemed to glitter white.

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