Though this man was only a few years older than she was, Renise couldn't help but think on how heavy his footsteps were.
They rung as he made his way purposefully inside, as though the weight of the kingdom was on his every movement. His cloak billowed behind him, while his princely regalia of enchanted steel glittered to the moonlight filtering in through the cracked, open windows.
A portrait of not just a prince, but a crown prince.
Even as he took in the absurd sight of all of Lady Lucina's turncloaks piled up, his handsome eyes gave no indication that he was seeing anything other than a pile of parchment on his desk.
Perhaps this was all it really was to him.
At once, Renise understood that if Lady Lucina had seen the callous boredom in this man's face, she would never have contrived to undermine his authority.
Indeed, when the Crown Prince's gaze took in the barren hall, of portraits ripped from walls and curtains torn from windows, she knew, and she understood.
Those were eyes recalling pieces of memories.
Remembering where things should be.
He has been in this hall before. And not just once.
Suddenly, her father's canniness was no longer as astute as it appeared.
She dared not believe it. Yet here was the Crown Prince, present in her hall, barely hours gone since Lady Lucina's takeover …
And now he was walking directly towards her.
Renise could barely keep her thoughts in check.
“Lady Renise,” said Crown Prince Roland, his voice calm, polite and low enough that he was nothing but murmur to the guards only a few steps from him. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I offer my sincerest regrets as to what happened to your mother and father, and swear that I will do all within my power to see their eyes open to the waking world once again.”
Renise's body moved before her brain did. She lowered herself in a curtsey, her eyes to the ground as she offered her reply.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
After a moment, she ceased to curtsey and looked up. The prince nodded.
“I came here expecting to see Lady Lucina in the midst of celebrating her high crimes against your House. I see instead that she is toiling in a pit of her own retainers, if that is indeed her hair I spy covered in such vibrant colours. Would you please explain what has occurred in the hours since her betrayal?”
“It was ...”
Renise turned, suddenly remembering the two most important people here.
… The two who were here.
Gone.
They were gone.
On the floor, only a very off-colour mess remained. The only evidence that a clockwork doll had been here, pampering a girl whose dignity would remain secure so long as Renise chose never to mention the sight of her matching even the worst of what was happening in the pile nearby.
Close to her, a strong breeze rushed through one of the open windows.
“It was ...”
“Yes?”
Renise paused, remembering Coppelia's words.
But what is more … she remembered the princely eyes of the girl who had stepped in through a giant hole in the wall, moonlight streaming past her shoulders.
Just as it did the actual prince before her, whose features matched with startling degree the girl who'd now vanished with the proficiency of a cat darting into an alley.
The realisation, the recognition … it struck her like a slap out of the blue.
But not as much as the confusion
That hit her like a bundle of bricks.
Question marks filled up her mind as she considered the very real possibility that she'd just been saved, first from a dryad, and secondly from Lady Lucina Tolent, by the famously reclusive Third Princess of Tirea. A girl said to be so fleeting that not even her own servants knew her face.
And now in front of her was her brother, the Crown Prince, who himself had been missing from the streets of his own Royal Capital for months.
She reconciled these two facts together.
And after heavy consideration, drew on one conclusion—
She had absolutely no idea what was going on.
What were the royal family doing?! Why was Juliette pretending to be an adventurer?! Why was the Crown Prince now in her hall?! Why was the princess now not in her hall?!
What schemes upon schemes were this family embroiled in, which now not only resulted in the forfeiture of the Tolents of all their status, but also the demise of the two oldest criminal enterprises in Reitzlake?!
How had this family come together to so thoroughly and decisively secure such a victory against such old, entrenched foes?
Still, the Crown Prince awaited her reply.
Renise had no idea what to say.
What did he want to hear? What was the correct thing to say? Was she to discuss Juliette's exploits with her brother? Was her identity supposed to be kept hidden even to him? Did he know, but wish her to pretend otherwise? Or was there some other reply he wished to hear her speak instead?
Renise was paralysed by indecision.
“An … An Adventurer, Your Highness. And a clockwork doll. I believe the adventurer's name was …”
She hesitated.
Only when she saw the wisdom glinting in the Crown Prince's eyes did she come to a decision.
Surely, even Juliette's brother would know if she was tearing down buildings in the middle of the royal capital?
“Juliette,” she said at last. “Her name was Juliette.”
“Oh? … How curious. I happen to have a sister by that name.”
The prince chuckled, his smile telling everything.
… Everything except whether he knew or not that this was the same Juliette that was his sister, whether he needed or should know, and whether or not he knew and was playing the game of knows but pretended not to know that Renise should also somehow know or not know.
Renise was deeply, deeply confused.
“Yes, Your Highness. I … I, um, believe that the Third Princess is quite renowned for never leaving the Royal Villa … ?”
“Quite so. I do wish to see her again. But please continue, my lady. What did this adventurer with my sister's namesake do?”
Renise stared.
And still—
She had absolutely no idea what was happening!
“She and her companion heard my pleas as I fled the streets,” she said slowly and deliberately, waiting for a sign that she could speak openly about Juliette's identity. “They came at once to oust Lady Lucina from my father's seat.”
“And how well they've done that. Even the chair was not spared. Yet even for adventurers, to assault the home of nobility will raise a storm greater than the one they've caused. The guild will be in peril.”
“... It is only because I told them the truth.”
Crown Prince Roland nodded. He did not miss a beat.
“Then you will accept the fate that I must render unto your House, Lady Renise.”
“I will.”
The young woman held herself straighter, taller. She looked into the Crown Prince's eyes without faltering. She would accept his judgement. And he would accept hers.
“Though first, I would like to note that your presence has been lacking as of late, Your Highness.”
Her eyes glanced at the Tolent underlings crawling on the ground.
Soldiers had approached now, hands to their face and not their weapons. More hung back, knowing what to do, but waited to be told explicitly before they were willing to actually proceed.
She knew she had no right to chastise him. This was the same prince that her family had been undermining all their lives. The hypocrisy of it was unforgivable.
And yet she wished that somehow, he could still have prevented the madness that had occurred this night. It was the Crown Prince's perceived weakness that had allowed Lucina Tolent to make such an open grab for power.
“It has,” he admitted, with a practiced tone of guilt. “I have been too delayed. Not only tonight. But for many nights. A delay that allowed the War of the Streets to go unabated, until the Thieves Guild was destroyed and the Dancing Rat slain. Understand that although I have been unseen, I was not uninvolved in your fight. One that required your father's keen wisdom.”
Renise nodded.
“You have been working together.”
“That would imply an equal partnership. It was not. It was a truce. One during which your father suffered far greater than I did. And it was a price he was willing to accept for the sake of the Thieves Guild's demise.”
Renise gestured towards Lady Lucina, whose bedraggled form was only now being pulled from the main body of the bedlam. She looked pitiful, her dress and hair destroyed, her eyes having aged centuries in seconds.
And yet to still be able to see the colour of her vomit running down her chin was more than what she deserved.
“He was ever honourable,” said Crown Prince Roland. “For a smuggler. More so than the Lady of House Tolent. Neither he nor I expected Lady Lucina to make her move so swiftly. A tragic error. We both underplayed our hands too greatly. To betray one's allies at a victory banquet was more ruthless than I believed her capable of.”
“A tragic error ...” replied Renise, enunciating each word as though she were biting down a lemon. “And yet here you are, with the Thieves Guild destroyed, the Smugglers Guild destroyed, and both House Rimeaux and House Tolent in your custody.”
“This is not the victory I wanted,” said the Crown Prince, not denying that it was such. “Though unequal, my arrangement with your father was one which would have benefited the realm greatly, had he not succumbed to Lady Lucina's cruelty. He was, after all, a patriot in his own heart.”
“The flag of Tirea never hung within these walls, Your Highness.”
“Perhaps not. But the flag of the common people did.”
The Crown Prince looked towards a portrait strewn on the ground.
It was of a nameless smuggler dressed in a simple tunic. Despite it all, his painting remained unharmed.
He turned his eyes back towards Renise. His demeanour shifted, his expression graver.
“... Now, Lady Renise, my truce with the Smuggler King has come to an end. House Rimeaux has betrayed the kingdom. The profiteering of the Smugglers Guild has resulted in lawlessness, fear and death to reign within our capital. You now represent your father's legacy. Are you prepared for the judgement I must render upon you and your House?”
“I am.”
Renise clenched her fist.
“But first, there is something I must do. Please excuse me, Your Highness.”
She strode past the guards, who failed to turn in time as she swept directly for the figure of Lady Lucina. She struggled to rise even as two guards held her. Both utilised only one arm as they kept themselves as far away as they could from the woman they were helping to carry.
Lady Lucina lifted her head as Renise approached. Spite filled her eyes. And then fear as Renise promptly punched her in the face.
She turned to face the Crown Prince, now ready for her judgement.
Though this man was only a few years older than she was, Renise couldn't help but think on how heavy his footsteps were.
They rung as he made his way purposefully inside, as though the weight of the kingdom was on his every movement. His cloak billowed behind him, while his princely regalia of enchanted steel glittered to the moonlight filtering in through the cracked, open windows.
A portrait of not just a prince, but a crown prince.
Even as he took in the absurd sight of all of Lady Lucina's turncloaks piled up, his handsome eyes gave no indication that he was seeing anything other than a pile of parchment on his desk.
Perhaps this was all it really was to him.
At once, Renise understood that if Lady Lucina had seen the callous boredom in this man's face, she would never have contrived to undermine his authority.
Indeed, when the Crown Prince's gaze took in the barren hall, of portraits ripped from walls and curtains torn from windows, she knew, and she understood.
Those were eyes recalling pieces of memories.
Remembering where things should be.
He has been in this hall before. And not just once.
Suddenly, her father's canniness was no longer as astute as it appeared.
She dared not believe it. Yet here was the Crown Prince, present in her hall, barely hours gone since Lady Lucina's takeover …
And now he was walking directly towards her.
Renise could barely keep her thoughts in check.
“Lady Renise,” said Crown Prince Roland, his voice calm, polite and low enough that he was nothing but murmur to the guards only a few steps from him. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I offer my sincerest regrets as to what happened to your mother and father, and swear that I will do all within my power to see their eyes open to the waking world once again.”
Renise's body moved before her brain did. She lowered herself in a curtsey, her eyes to the ground as she offered her reply.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
After a moment, she ceased to curtsey and looked up. The prince nodded.
“I came here expecting to see Lady Lucina in the midst of celebrating her high crimes against your House. I see instead that she is toiling in a pit of her own retainers, if that is indeed her hair I spy covered in such vibrant colours. Would you please explain what has occurred in the hours since her betrayal?”
“It was ...”
Renise turned, suddenly remembering the two most important people here.
… The two who were here.
Gone.
They were gone.
On the floor, only a very off-colour mess remained. The only evidence that a clockwork doll had been here, pampering a girl whose dignity would remain secure so long as Renise chose never to mention the sight of her matching even the worst of what was happening in the pile nearby.
Close to her, a strong breeze rushed through one of the open windows.
“It was ...”
“Yes?”
Renise paused, remembering Coppelia's words.
But what is more … she remembered the princely eyes of the girl who had stepped in through a giant hole in the wall, moonlight streaming past her shoulders.
Just as it did the actual prince before her, whose features matched with startling degree the girl who'd now vanished with the proficiency of a cat darting into an alley.
The realisation, the recognition … it struck her like a slap out of the blue.
But not as much as the confusion
That hit her like a bundle of bricks.
Question marks filled up her mind as she considered the very real possibility that she'd just been saved, first from a dryad, and secondly from Lady Lucina Tolent, by the famously reclusive Third Princess of Tirea. A girl said to be so fleeting that not even her own servants knew her face.
And now in front of her was her brother, the Crown Prince, who himself had been missing from the streets of his own Royal Capital for months.
She reconciled these two facts together.
And after heavy consideration, drew on one conclusion—
She had absolutely no idea what was going on.
What were the royal family doing?! Why was Juliette pretending to be an adventurer?! Why was the Crown Prince now in her hall?! Why was the princess now not in her hall?!
What schemes upon schemes were this family embroiled in, which now not only resulted in the forfeiture of the Tolents of all their status, but also the demise of the two oldest criminal enterprises in Reitzlake?!
How had this family come together to so thoroughly and decisively secure such a victory against such old, entrenched foes?
Still, the Crown Prince awaited her reply.
Renise had no idea what to say.
What did he want to hear? What was the correct thing to say? Was she to discuss Juliette's exploits with her brother? Was her identity supposed to be kept hidden even to him? Did he know, but wish her to pretend otherwise? Or was there some other reply he wished to hear her speak instead?
Renise was paralysed by indecision.
“An … An Adventurer, Your Highness. And a clockwork doll. I believe the adventurer's name was …”
She hesitated.
Only when she saw the wisdom glinting in the Crown Prince's eyes did she come to a decision.
Surely, even Juliette's brother would know if she was tearing down buildings in the middle of the royal capital?
“Juliette,” she said at last. “Her name was Juliette.”
“Oh? … How curious. I happen to have a sister by that name.”
The prince chuckled, his smile telling everything.
… Everything except whether he knew or not that this was the same Juliette that was his sister, whether he needed or should know, and whether or not he knew and was playing the game of knows but pretended not to know that Renise should also somehow know or not know.
Renise was deeply, deeply confused.
“Yes, Your Highness. I … I, um, believe that the Third Princess is quite renowned for never leaving the Royal Villa … ?”
“Quite so. I do wish to see her again. But please continue, my lady. What did this adventurer with my sister's namesake do?”
Renise stared.
And still—
She had absolutely no idea what was happening!
“She and her companion heard my pleas as I fled the streets,” she said slowly and deliberately, waiting for a sign that she could speak openly about Juliette's identity. “They came at once to oust Lady Lucina from my father's seat.”
“And how well they've done that. Even the chair was not spared. Yet even for adventurers, to assault the home of nobility will raise a storm greater than the one they've caused. The guild will be in peril.”
“... It is only because I told them the truth.”
Crown Prince Roland nodded. He did not miss a beat.
“Then you will accept the fate that I must render unto your House, Lady Renise.”
“I will.”
The young woman held herself straighter, taller. She looked into the Crown Prince's eyes without faltering. She would accept his judgement. And he would accept hers.
“Though first, I would like to note that your presence has been lacking as of late, Your Highness.”
Her eyes glanced at the Tolent underlings crawling on the ground.
Soldiers had approached now, hands to their face and not their weapons. More hung back, knowing what to do, but waited to be told explicitly before they were willing to actually proceed.
She knew she had no right to chastise him. This was the same prince that her family had been undermining all their lives. The hypocrisy of it was unforgivable.
And yet she wished that somehow, he could still have prevented the madness that had occurred this night. It was the Crown Prince's perceived weakness that had allowed Lucina Tolent to make such an open grab for power.
“It has,” he admitted, with a practiced tone of guilt. “I have been too delayed. Not only tonight. But for many nights. A delay that allowed the War of the Streets to go unabated, until the Thieves Guild was destroyed and the Dancing Rat slain. Understand that although I have been unseen, I was not uninvolved in your fight. One that required your father's keen wisdom.”
Renise nodded.
“You have been working together.”
“That would imply an equal partnership. It was not. It was a truce. One during which your father suffered far greater than I did. And it was a price he was willing to accept for the sake of the Thieves Guild's demise.”
Renise gestured towards Lady Lucina, whose bedraggled form was only now being pulled from the main body of the bedlam. She looked pitiful, her dress and hair destroyed, her eyes having aged centuries in seconds.
And yet to still be able to see the colour of her vomit running down her chin was more than what she deserved.
“He was ever honourable,” said Crown Prince Roland. “For a smuggler. More so than the Lady of House Tolent. Neither he nor I expected Lady Lucina to make her move so swiftly. A tragic error. We both underplayed our hands too greatly. To betray one's allies at a victory banquet was more ruthless than I believed her capable of.”
“A tragic error ...” replied Renise, enunciating each word as though she were biting down a lemon. “And yet here you are, with the Thieves Guild destroyed, the Smugglers Guild destroyed, and both House Rimeaux and House Tolent in your custody.”
“This is not the victory I wanted,” said the Crown Prince, not denying that it was such. “Though unequal, my arrangement with your father was one which would have benefited the realm greatly, had he not succumbed to Lady Lucina's cruelty. He was, after all, a patriot in his own heart.”
“The flag of Tirea never hung within these walls, Your Highness.”
“Perhaps not. But the flag of the common people did.”
The Crown Prince looked towards a portrait strewn on the ground.
It was of a nameless smuggler dressed in a simple tunic. Despite it all, his painting remained unharmed.
He turned his eyes back towards Renise. His demeanour shifted, his expression graver.
“... Now, Lady Renise, my truce with the Smuggler King has come to an end. House Rimeaux has betrayed the kingdom. The profiteering of the Smugglers Guild has resulted in lawlessness, fear and death to reign within our capital. You now represent your father's legacy. Are you prepared for the judgement I must render upon you and your House?”
“I am.”
Renise clenched her fist.
“But first, there is something I must do. Please excuse me, Your Highness.”
She strode past the guards, who failed to turn in time as she swept directly for the figure of Lady Lucina. She struggled to rise even as two guards held her. Both utilised only one arm as they kept themselves as far away as they could from the woman they were helping to carry.
Lady Lucina lifted her head as Renise approached. Spite filled her eyes. And then fear as Renise promptly punched her in the face.
She turned to face the Crown Prince, now ready for her judgement.
