EX Chapter 4 - And Larila

"Princess, I bring urgent news."

Young Feana had learned to look forward to the future. It was a given that tomorrow would be wonderful, as would every day to follow.

"Neau? What is it? It's not like you to enter without so much as a knock."
"The king of Lann is dead! The city has been overtaken by rebels."
"What!? What happened? Explain!"

Her unusually nervous advisor, Neau, informed her that the king of Lann had been slain by a noble faction. The reason? They uncovered a nefarious plot: Lann's King was intending to assassinate the royal family of Yve.

"Now, Princess. You must go into hiding!"
"Hiding? Why? I don't understand..."
"The assassins may have already been sent. It's of utmost importance that you come with me and-"

Feana slapped her advisor's hand aside. "Nonsense!"
The princess was uncharacteristically blunt. Normally, she lived with composure and kindness, but the idea of keeping up that kind of performance had long since slipped her mind.

"I must speak to Father at once!"

With little regard for her own life, the young lady stormed out of the room.

That which was in the past was always meant to be. Feana would seek to ensure this.
The tomorrow that was planned, even through this tragedy, will still arrive, in time.
Feana knew that only one person in all of Larila could treat her like a normal person. She knew that only one person in all of Larila could treat Vio the way she did.
Apart, they were titles; together, they were people.
To continue on as nothing more than a princess, in a world where the name "Feana" would never be spoken, was not an outcome she was willing to accept.

◇ ◇ ◇

Feana recalled a day when the sky blessed her with rain. She always loved the sight of the gardens when rainclouds hid Soon from sight.
She had no need for that sun. The sense of life she felt on a rainy night came from the ground, not from a distant light.

With a black umbrella in hand, the young girl stepped outside. The maids were used to her oddities and had learned to equip her well. Gloves, boots, a coat, a cape, a muffler. The more layers, the better.
The princess accepted their gifts of overprotection with understanding and words of appreciation. She was always so good; it was only fair that she was allowed to explore when the weather suited her preferences, even if said preferences were unconventional to most.

In the rain, each flower looked different. To Feana, it was as if the leaves, the petals, and the plants were finally showing their true selves. When Soon shone, they had to look their best, but when given a reprieve from the god's light, the gardens could finally rest.
She was so smitten by the sight that she didn't notice the sound of footsteps nearing her.

"Excuse me. What are you doing?"
"Hmm?"

Feana's attention shifted to the stranger. There, a polite young boy in formal wear stood, his appearance unusual to her. Beneath a white umbrella, his black hair was eye-catching. A boy who looked this way could not be of Yve, and yet, he spoke the language perfectly. At such a young age?
To the princess, that could only mean one thing...

"Pfft, hahahaha!"

Or maybe not. She had surmised he was a royal, but that impression was ruined when the boy burst out into laughter. A lack of composure does not suit one of royal blood.

"Wh- What!?"

She remained unaware of her own lack of composure in response.

"No, I'm sorry, it's just... Hahahaha!"
"Did you travel to these lands solely to offend Yve's Princess?"
"Why are you... haha... wearing so much?"

That question gave her pause. Feana found a nearby puddle and glanced at her reflection. There, she saw her own face, covered by a bonnet, a hood, a muffler, a coat, and all of that tucked under an umbrella.
Certainly, it was a ridiculous sight. She couldn't help but laugh at her own image.

To be laughed at, and to share that laughter, was something she had never experienced until that day.
To have a friend she could lower her guard around... That's what this fateful meeting became.
If only the sun in the sky had remained hidden forever.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Princess, stop!"

Though the castle may have been eerily empty, a single standing guard yet tried to prevent Feana from entering the throne room. His attempts were in vain; none would get in her way this day.

"Father, I-!"

The throne room was silent. Nervousness began to set in. She immediately made her way to her chambers.
"Fren!" she called. "Agin!" To this, the two present guards saluted

"Agin, gather the others. Fren, stay with me."
"Yes, Princess!"

The guard named Agin made a hasty exit. The remaining guard, the older of the two, became wary.
"Is something the matter, Princess?" the older man asked.
Before answering, Feana had an important question to ask. "Where's Neau?" Her advisor was still here when she left, but he hadn't chased after her.
"Neau? I'm not sure..." Fren looked around, scanning the room. "Should I look for him?"

"No. Let's just hope he's safe."

In time, six guards responded to Feana's call. Fren, Agin, Miv, Gart, Jus, and Tsa. In their journey to her chambers, they had noticed what was wrong.
The castle was impossibly empty.

Agin had found a few other guards stationed at the bridge, but they were hesitant to leave their stations.
Miv had seen the barracks empty of troops.
Tsa had seen parents bidding children farewell.

The army had been mobilised, the royal family had vanished, and nothing had been reported to the castle.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Jus, what have you learned?"

It had been over a week without change. The princess and her guards had attempted to excuse the situation to the castle's many employees, but without a force of stationed guards throughout the castle, it was far too risky for Feana to reach everyone.
She relied on word of mouth to spread her carefully crafted excuses, but the chain of whispers would slowly strip each excuse of its nuance, and the staff were beginning to feel uncertain.

In the meantime, her most energetic guard with a passion for information gathering, Jus, had been sent to scope out Lann.
She reported the painful truth...

Yve had joined with the rebels and a bought army to march against Lann, believing that Vio had murdered his own father to claim the throne.
The rebellion failed to advance. With limited resources to work with, the bought army abandoned the fight, and Yve followed shortly after, handing the victory to Lann.

"So Vio is safe?"
"Correct."
"Were Mother and Father present?"
"...they were not."

Feana's curiosity made way for silence. The two most important questions on her mind had been asked, and without them to focus on, her thoughts were filled with nothing but doubt.

"There is one other thing, but... It's not very good news."
"What is it?"
"I'm not sure about this, but the people of Lann sounded eager to fight back."
"Against... Yve?"
"King Vio killed all of the rebels publicly, and now they're demanding the heads of the royal family of Yve."

The compulsion to reject this possibility took hold of Feana immediately, and yet, she couldn't help but wonder...
Is this why Mother and Father were nowhere to be seen?

◇ ◇ ◇

In the night, Princess Feana awoke to the sound of clashing blades. She was no longer in bed, but a cramped space. Beside Feana, her guard Jus motioned for her to remain silent.

The tense minutes passed until, eventually, a calming voice called out.

"Is the princess safe?"
"She's okay. Is that all of them, Tsa?"
"For now, but Miv and Gart are still fighting outside."

It was clear to all that the castle was no longer safe. The assassins, wearing the colours of Lann, had lacked the skills for the job, yet they were uncomfortably close to succeeding through sheer numbers alone. It was unlikely that these would be the last of them.
Surrounded by the two battle-hardened ladies, the princess began her escape.

A small passage around the perimeter of the castle led the trio to the snowfields beyond. In the night, a storm had begun. It was plain luck, but such a snowstorm was the perfect weather to conceal Feana's escape.
But before bidding a hasty farewell to the city of Yve, the trio would become a duo.

"The others will be an unorganised mess without me."

That was the excuse Jus gave, but her dishonesty had always shown on her face, and it did that day.
Preparing food for such a sudden escape—one that leads out into barren lands—was hard enough; gathering enough food for three people would be impossible.
Who could tell how long Feana would have to stay in hiding? One less guard meant one more day of potential life for the princess, so long as she remained safe from Lann's forces.
Tsa, the strongest of the six, would have to be enough.

And so, two souls would walk out into a snowstorm, prepared to die and desperate to live.
But the children of Yve were born in the snow.

This storm would not kill Yve's princess, but raise their queen.