Chapter 92: Chapter 92
With one final kiss, Henry and Rima walked out of the room and to the courtyard together, his hand grabbing hers, reaching the large patio where he was meant to deliver his speech, he noticed it was already crowded, His generals and some nobles, the least useless ones, including Eren’s brother, as well as Andrea and few of Rima's lieutenants, Nara and Dahlia, everyone stood there waiting for him, His sister wore a beautiful emerald dress that was both simple and elegant, her hair was combed neatly showing her beauty and grace, the girl by her side though was dressed in black as usual, her hair shining like a moonless summer and her eyes cold.
Why would the people love that thing? Henry asked himself, why would anyone love such a cold emotionless thing?!
"My dear citizens, Thank you all for coming, I understand that your hearts are filled with doubt and uncertainty towards me, Especially with the misfortunes our kingdom had suffered in the past two years, But even with such doubt and uncertainty you decided to come to hear me today, I dare consider this as a sign of your everlasting trust and for your trust, I'm very thankful." The patio was built in a way to magnify one's voice, and once Henry took the necessary breaths he needed, he began talking, his strong voice sounding stronger, reaching everyone’s ears, The people were somehow overtaken by their young king's decision to talk to them, they didn't expect it from the reckless king who left to fight the Gods alongside the demons while leaving their kingdom so vulnerable, It was not very common for a king to make a speech, not by himself at least, The previous king never talked to them, not that he had any reason to, his reign was peaceful and prosperous, unlike his son who took extreme decisions the moment he took the throne, Nevertheless, they were touched by his attempt to approach them, or at least, that was what the black-haired girl made them believe.
"I asked you to come and hear me out because I believe you deserve the truth, and not from anyone, From me, Both your king and servant, After all it was me who gave the orders to head toward the center where our true enemies were, many followed me, and only few returned, I know they were your sons, your brothers, your fathers and your friends, They were mine too, they meant all of that to me as well, Thus I feel it in my heart, the pain of losing them, I am very sorry, for your loss which is mine as well, Those brave men will be remembered, all of them, and from now on until the end of time, I name this day the Taghit's martyrs day, a candle would be lighten for each one of our brave soldiers who gave their lives so all of us can live, I would be honored to recite their names each year, all of them, their families will not be forgotten and would be taken care of, with menstrual aides, I consider myself a brother to all of those who followed me so I ask their families to consider me as their son and never hesitate to ask for help if you ever need it."
"As for why those brave soldiers lost their lives, I said it before it was to save all of our lives, Many think I went to this war by choice, True, but I had to choose between marching to war or waiting for death, The Gods we spent thousands of years worshipping were not what we thought, They were not the rightful and merciful Gods we knew them to be, No, instead they were thieves, Stealing our life force and using us a living shield against the demons they wronged long ago, using us as weapons, It was hard to believe for me as well, But then..." Henry looked at Rima who walked by his side in her silky weight robe and confident but gentle smile.
"But then, I met the lady standing here by my side, who is also known as Rima, The ice queen from the frozen edge, When we met we were two rulers looking for what was best for our people, she wanted to eliminate the curse upon her people and herself before the Gods killed them all, I was trying to protect my people from the increasing demons' attacks, To anyone else, we sound like bitter enemies, So how did we end up being allies instead? It was for survival, when both our lives were threatened, we joined forces to defeat our common enemy, It was then when we realized we don't have to be foes, humans and demons can find peace with each other, I did not only find peace with Rima, I also found love...".
Everyone gasped at the king's revelation while he stared lovingly at a blushing Rima, He planned to keep their relationship a secret at first but he couldn't hide it anymore, he knew this revelation would probably cost him heavily as the people would accuse him of following his heart blindly and fulfilling the ice queen's desires, it was stupid but looking at Rima in her white robe and brown curls staring at him with that shy loving smile gracing her slightly swollen lips from their previous kissing, he couldn't help but feel like an idiot in love, he had missed her so much and he wanted to have her as his for good as soon as possible...
Behind them different pairs of eyes were sending different kinds of emotions, Nara's eyes were overflowing with happiness, Andrea's eyes were bored, almost disgusted, the guards looked at them in surprise while one pair of rainy eyes, even though their owner's face remained expressionless, were shooting angry daggers at the ice queen's head.
"I heard the story from the ice queen, about the life of a demon, how things ended up the way they are to them, the reason they hunt humans down, it was hard to believe so I looked for the truth from the holy council, and it was confirmed, The Gods were actually the real enemies, and if you think things stopped here then you are wrong, they planned to annihilate us all, kill every one of us, human or demon, young or old, good or bad, woman or man, all of us, That is why I joined the demons in this war, It saddens me to say that some of our enemies are still out there, but we have won, we broke the curse upon the demons and destroyed the shrine that used to absorb our life force, our people can coexist now, humans can walk freely any time they want, and meet a demon but instead of being scared he can just say hello and go on his way, without fear, our people can learn from each other and support each other in the upcoming wars, if you doubt my words ask the soldiers that came back with me, I'm sure some of you have heard how we were at our strongest together, humans and demons fighting together and protecting each other, All I ask of you is for more trust, and I promise you that you will see what I see, A brighter future, for all of us."
A wave of applause rose among the attendants, Henry knew that most of the people were still far away from fully believing him and trusting him, especially after the hot revelation about his relationship with the ice queen, but he knew his words had some effect on the attendants, and after saluting his people for the last time, he turned around to leave the patio, as his throat burned and needed hydration, with Rima's hand in his and his sister smiling brightly at him...
Once they were out of sight, Nara rushed toward the couple not even trying nor bothering to hide her happiness and excitement, she liked the girl named Rima before even exchanging a single word with her, The ice queen, unlike her name indicated, was radiating warmth, she noticed how relaxed her brother was once she was close to him, he was obviously charmed by her but not in a bad way, No, Nara thought, and she felt the same way about him, she looked at him so purely like he is the only person in the world, they were in love, truly and deeply in love, The young princess who was born into a one sided love marriage, the one who's seen fake love in the eyes of those who wanted to use her heart in order to take the throne, knew the moment she saw those two looking at each other’s' eyes that what they had was true love, and she was happy for her brother, love was something everyone craved but not everyone had, she knew that for a fact since she never fell in love herself.
Henry and Rima walked to an almost jumping Nara, Stars of happiness were visible in her eyes, she engulfed her brother in a hug before turning to a smiling Rima, Taking her hands and squeezing them gently while smiling and showering the ice queen with endless friendliness.
"I am so happy to finally meet you, my brother told me so much about you, I am almost jealous, But very, very happy for both of you...".
Henry looked at them smiling from ear to ear himself, he was thrilled for the fact that the only two women he cared for in the world accepted each other easily and got along, like sisters, Nara with her excessive friendliness looked like a younger sister to the more composed and mature Rima who wasn't any less friendly but more reversed, He loved these two, he thought to himself, even with everything he lost, he was still happy, very happy he missed the murderous look pointed to his beloved.
Rima on the other hand had much sharper instincts, feeling the animosity directed towards her, she glanced at the girl with hideous scars on her fair skin, she thought she was mistaken at first but there was no doubt now that she focused her attention on the girl for few seconds, the killing intent was evident in her eyes, but that wasn't all, Rima thought, There was something camouflaged under that expressionless face of hers, something bestial and dangerous, like a volcano raging under the ground without anyone's notice.
How can a small girl like herself deliver such a deathly gaze, one which made her, the ice queen, fear for her life.
Both Henry and Nara noticed the weird gaze exchange between the ice queen and the black-haired girl, Nara, clearing her throat and hoping to knock some sense into her rude advisor’s head, took the task of introducing the two before the situation became more awkward.
"Sister Rima, allow me to introduce you to my friend, my most trusted advisor, and my personal knightess, Dahlia Black."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Dahlia, I must say I am impressed with your status, Both an advisor and a knightess, truly Impressive." Rima tried to sound as gentle as possible without being sloppy, it would be a lie to say that she liked the girl, on contrary, she was wary of her, the girl's expression didn't change a bit by Rima's words and instead, she started walking toward her, when she was standing right in front of the ice queen, who almost took a step back, feeling intimidated by the black-haired girl, the last opened her mouth.
"The pleasure is all mine, my lady, I’ve heard so many great things about you as well, And I wish to hear more, May I add you that you are a remarkable example for women? A warrior and a leader" Rima almost smiled at the girl’s words, for they held so much respect and acknowledgment even when her voice was calm and monotoned, nevertheless, the girl was still a threat, but before she could step away, the girl wrapped her arms around her.
The weird girl was...Hugging her?!
Rima wasn't the only one who was taken by surprise, Both Henry and Nara were, Especially Nara who never got a hug from her so-called friend, knightess, advisor, except the times when she was calming her down, but never out of affection, she never even saw her smile, Not understanding why her friend would act that way, she presumed it was out of admiration, After all, The ice queen was a remarkable person according to her brother, an example to a woman like Dahlia who had the fire of a warrior inside of her.
While both Henry and Nara reached the same conclusion about the weird behavior of the weirder girl, Rima listened carefully to the words whispered for only her to hear, she tried to hide her shock, and barely stopped her body from trembling at the dangerously low voice of the black-haired girl as her hug became unbearably suffocating, it was both painful and paralyzing, like being pressed between two panels loaded with thousands of tiny needles, Rima didn't know what happened to her, Nor what kind of force the girl possessed to make her have that effect on her, the words slowly sank in her head, low yet powerful, leaving no room for doubt that the girl meant every single one of them.
"If you dare to even think about hurting them, in any way your rotten demon self can think of, I WILL DESTROY YOU...".