A Princess Without Fear

"Ah... I was told it was all right to take a walk."

I didn't even sense her presence.

That was strange. His senses were usually even sharper after a seizure. Carion let the tension ease from his brow.

"It's rather early."

"I've always been an early riser."

Without a word, Carion turned on his heel and walked away. Rhea hurried after him.

"Your Highness!"

Just as she nearly caught up, he stopped and turned, and the two of them came within a breath of colliding. Carion caught her wrist as she stumbled backward.

Once she had her balance, an awkward silence settled between them. He released her and asked,

"...I heard Zephyros has two princesses. Which one are you?"

"I'm the only princess of Zephyros."

"That's not what I was told."

"I'm the only one now."

The information Carion had about the Kingdom of Zephyros was several years old. What happened in the meantime?

"I need this walk to myself. I'd like you to leave me to it."

"...Yes. I won't disturb you."

After she left the inner courtyard, Carion looked back. He stared down at his own hand, clenching it, then opening it again.

What had that feeling been?

The moment he had caught her wrist, a cool, refreshing energy had wrapped around his entire body, and his breathing had eased as if a vice had been loosened from his chest. Had it all been his imagination?

Carion crushed the impulse to go after her that instant and take hold of her again.

The Zephyros kingdom's delegation arrived at Echo Fortress in Poema, one of the garrisons in the Empire's northeast. They entered the fortress quietly, accompanied by the Commander-in-Chief's personal guard, who had come a considerable distance to meet them.

Only a few members of the delegation were shown to the residence to see Rhea.

"Princess!"

"Penny!"

The two women threw their arms around each other, sharing the joy of reunion.

"You've had a hard time of it, Penny. This is the first time you've left the kingdom and come this far, isn't it?"

"Never mind my hardship — you're the one who's never done anything like this, Princess."

"Hmm? Ah... that's right. It's a first for me, too."

"You're all right, aren't you? You didn't run into any trouble coming all this way alone?"

"I'm perfectly healthy, and I've been doing well here. I left you a letter saying you didn't need to worry about me."

"You think a single letter is enough? I thought I was going to burn up with worry the entire way here!"

Rhea soothed Penny as the complaints poured out of her, then turned toward Kasim. Looking at him — he seemed to have aged a decade in the time she had been gone — she felt a pang of guilt.

Kasim let out a deep sigh.

"I can only thank the gods that I find you unharmed, Princess. If you cannot bear the sight of me, please ask His Majesty to have me dismissed. I would rather retire in disgrace than commit the disloyalty of failing to protect you."

"What are you talking about? You are the sword and shield of our royal house and our kingdom. Do you have any idea how much I trust and depend on you? I only dared to do what I did because I trusted you."

"At least you have the self-awareness to call it 'what you did.' That is a genuine relief."

Rhea smiled brightly and linked her arm through Kasim's, just as she had as a child. He tried to remain stern, but his expression had already softened.

"Princess. Was the important matter that required you to come to Poema first resolved?"

"Ah, well..."

Rhea smiled, a little sheepish.

"It's still in progress. I'm sorry. For acting on my own."

"His Majesty has entrusted this entire diplomatic mission to you, Princess. We are here only to follow."

If not for Rhea, the Kingdom of Zephyros would have fallen in the most wretched way imaginable. That was why Kasim had no objection whatsoever to her serving as the head of a delegation whose mission would decide the kingdom's fate.

"Kasim. I need your help with something."

"You need only say the word."

"Please request an audience with His Highness the Prince and arrange a meeting. But I'll be going to that meeting alone."

Carion headed to the council room with only his three closest aides. The Zephyros delegation had requested an audience, so he would have to meet them at least once.

But today would be the first time and the last.

"The moment the audience is over, assign a few soldiers and send the entire delegation on to the capital."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The instant he opened the council room door, Carion froze.

A silken breeze brushed across his face and was gone.

Déjà vu flickered through him. He had experienced something very like this, and recently. As he had then, he turned his head to follow the direction of the wind.

His brow twitched.

Where his gaze landed, the princess of Zephyros was waiting. She had been sitting alone at the table, and now she rose.

"Your Highness. His Majesty the King of Zephyros has entrusted every aspect of this diplomatic mission to me. I am the delegation."

Carion glared at her with an expression of open discomfort, then walked in and sat down across from her. Cedric, his adjutant; Orbin, his intelligence officer; and Luke, his guard captain — who had entered with him — took positions at a suitable distance.

"I have only one thing to say to the representative of the Zephyros delegation. I will assign you an escort so that you may arrive safely at the Imperial capital."

"Will Your Highness be accompanying us?"

"I will not."

Carion answered at once. He had no intention of giving this princess any opening.

"Are you sincere in saying you will have no involvement whatsoever in Zephyros offering its banner to His Imperial Majesty?"

"I made my position perfectly clear to you, Princess, and I have no intention of reversing it."

"The Kingdom of Zephyros carries symbolic weight. Our becoming a vassal state would complete the glory of the great Empire. If Your Highness were to serve as mediator, it would be a tremendous achievement for you. Surely you understand that."

"I've said it clearly. Achieving merit is of no interest to me."

"Then please be precise. Are you saying you would rather forfeit that achievement than marry me?"

Carion flinched at the force in her voice.

And yet. He had no intention of earning merit. He did not want to catch the Emperor's eye, and he did not want attention. He had no attachment whatsoever even to his position as Commander-in-Chief of the Northeast. He had taken the post only because he knew that if he held nothing, they would come at him from every side, trying to tear him apart.

That was what it meant to be one of the Emperor's five princes, with no successor yet firmly decided.

All he had to do was answer her question with yes. It was the cleanest way to end this tiresome battle of nerves.

He knew that. And still the words caught in his throat.

He could not shake the memory of running into her in the inner courtyard at dawn. What had that strange sensation been? If he took hold of her arm again, would he understand?

"...It has nothing to do with marriage."

Rhea thought his words did not add up. He really doesn't want to earn merit? He says he has no interest in power, so why don't his words match his actions? He'd do the job well, after all.

Ten years from now, the Empire's northeastern region — as she knew it from the future — had been stably administered, unlike the southwest, which had seen rebellion after rebellion. In the Northeast, the Commander-in-Chief had been an object of reverence, quite apart from the eccentric nicknames the outside world had given him.

That was why Enoch, once he became Emperor, had killed him. Because the Commander-in-Chief of the Northeast's reputation had begun to show signs of threatening the Emperor's authority.

A sharp intake of breath. The three men standing behind the prince let out startled sounds before they could stop themselves.

"If Your Highness need only reach out your hand to take an achievement that's yours for the taking, does refusing it somehow satisfy your pride? Is this self-gratification?"

"Princess."

"If I join hands with another prince, whatever he gains, you lose. And it isn't only you who loses — it's the people who serve you as well. A man in the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Northeast is not a man alone. You ought to think of those whose fates are bound to yours."

Carion's voice turned frigid.

"You have no fear, Princess."

"I was told that for those who stand above others, three things are the worst. The first is a coward. The second is one who will not hear honest counsel."

Bang!

Carion slammed his hand down on the table and rose. He walked out of the council room, and Cedric quickly followed.

Orbin watched them go, thinking, That's unusual. For His Highness to react so emotionally.

Rhea let out a long sigh and pressed both hands to her forehead. Disheveled strands of hair slipped through her fingers.

Haa. I came to persuade him, and I only made him angrier.

"May I ask a question?"

Rhea lifted her head and turned her gaze to the particularly large man. Luke asked, without a shred of tact,

"Those three worst things. What's the third one?"

"Ah... well. I just said whatever came to mind. I suppose I should think of the last one, too..."

Orbin's face went blank with disbelief. Then he couldn't hold it in and let out a chuckle.

"May I ask something as well? Does His Highness the Prince have a lover?"

"Nothing of the sort."

Orbin started to mouth something at Luke, who had answered so readily, then simply shut his mouth.

"Ah! Then perhaps he prefers men?"

"Absolutely not!"

Orbin answered with a completely straight face.