Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Maids of Silva ❯ Chapter 13 ( Chapter 13 )

The Maids of Silva
Chapter Thirteen
By Goldberry



The Faerie King stood silently beside his throne, one hand against
the carved wood and ivory that made up the back of the ornate chair.
The throne itself resembled little of its namesake, simply a
beautifully made piece of furniture sitting casually under the breezy
shade of the largest oak tree in the forest. He barely noticed the
feel of it beneath his fingers, his icy blue eyes locked on some far
off thing beyond the horizon, his mind bent on age old memories. His
body was completely still as he stood there, the eternal spring
breezes tangling in his long white-blonde hair as the branches of the
oak swept low to brush his head in greeting. It was a posture he had
taken many times before and anyone that glimpsed him would have
looked right past him, their eyes slipping by before realizing they
weren't alone. It was often that way. He thought perhaps he might be
more spirit than flesh now, his existence waxing and waning with the
moon and tides. It was not uncomfortable, for even a half-life is
still a life, and above all things, faeries cherished the living.

He could feel them out there, not inside his head as it should have
been, but their presences were still clear to him. He loved them, as
he had loved her, but it hurt to be too close to them. His pain would
be theirs, and their pain would be his. It had been too much at the
beginning, every fairy's anguish at the loss of their queen pouring
into his own raw and bleeding heart until he had almost gone mad with
grief. It had been then that he had put the Heart away, fearing to
wear it until he could master himself. It had been many years since
then and he had changed, perhaps for better, perhaps for worse. Even
now he wasn't sure why he had thought of it except that he had had a
peculiar feeling all day, a sort of restlessness that resided in his
soul. The forest seemed to feel it too, every leaf, flower, and
creature heart-singing to him of a disturbance in the wood. Oddly,
though, none of his own subjects had come to tell him news of such a
change, and they would have for he was still king, if a silent and
wrathful one. As much as he might have wished it otherwise, they
seemed to love him all the more for the simple fact that he was
theirs.

Yes, and they were his as well.

Breathing out quietly, he let his hand drop from the empty throne
knowing he had already made his decision. Lifting his right arm
outwards, palm up, he looked into empty air and called it forth. A
slight shimmering and his ancient birthright, the crown of kings came
into being inches above his hand. It hovered there, the pearl colored
circlet adorned with engraved vines that framed a large rainbow-hued
opal.

The Heart of Faerie.

Almost his hand didn't shake when he plucked it from midair. Almost
he didn't stiffen as he placed it on his head. As it settled over his
brows he immediately felt the rush of invisible power fill him and a
window opened in his mind. Thoughts and emotions came to him and he
flipped through them like so many pages in a book, re-establishing
the long lost contact with every fairy still within his borders. They
felt him at once and their joy was almost painful in its intensity,
but he didn't allow himself to dwell on it, instead focusing on
stretching his awareness to its limits. He had to know how far his
will could stretch.

Unbeknownst to him, Catherine Silvereyes, as she was called, entered
his glade with light steps as he reasserted control. She had served
the queen long ago and served him still, knowing his moods almost as
well as Lucrezia had. She was not surprised to find him wearing the
Heart, she had felt his touch as all the others had and had come to
welcome back her king. Seeing him still lost to the power of the
crown, she kneeled before him and waited, head bowed. After a moment,
he made a low sound in his throat, perhaps of pain or anger or both,
and when she looked up he had come back to himself, the eyes behind
the mask blazing.

"Rise, Catherine," he said, his voice hoarse, "Your brother comes."

On the heels of his words there was a flurry of motion at the
opposite end of the meadow and Catherine had just slipped between it
and her king with Trowa came bursting through the canopy, a bundle
thrown over his shoulder. His face was drawn and pale as he came into
view and a dash of crimson on his leg made her gash. She rushed
forward as he landed, his legs giving out and sending him down on one
knee as what Catherine had took to be a bundle suddenly righted
itself and resolved into a woman.

A human woman.

There was a roaring in her head like the wind through some great
cavern and without looking she knew Zechs had pulled Epyon from its
sheath on his back, the sword he had practiced with in the light of
vengeance every day since the queen's death. Connected to him once
again through the heart she knew what he meant to do and so obviously
did Trowa. He staggered to his feet and pushed the woman behind him
where she immediately prostrated herself upon seeing the Faerie King.
There was no time for words for suddenly faeries were everywhere, a
mass of them appearing from the direction Trowa had come from, all
with arrows nocked to longbows, every deadly steel point aimed at her
brother.

Silence fell.

But the vast roar of rage in her head did not lessen. The aim of the
arrows did not change. Zechs spoke and his words cracked like ice.

"Explain this."

Trowa met his king's gaze steadily though Catherine could see by the
sweat that appeared on his forehead that it took everything he had to
do so. She clasped her hands together and willed him energy. Her
brother went straight to the point.

"My king, Quatre has been wounded and taken." Arrows wavered as gasps
filled the air but Zechs nodded curtly and Catherine realized he had
already known. The Heart had told him. "The huntress has come at last
and this woman knows a truth that you must hear. I have heard it
myself and I believe her. I ask only that you let her speak."

Epyon gleamed like white fire in the sunlight. "You ask much," the
king replied heavily but his hard blue gaze fell on the woman and she
hunched as if burdened by an unseen weight. Catherine held her
breath.

"Speak then, mortal, but beware, my patience grows thin."

Tension eased slightly and bow strings slackened, prompting Catherine
to hurry to her brother's side, slipping an arm around his shoulder
to keep weight off his injured leg.

"Yes, lord," the woman answered breathlessly and proceeded to tell
them a story that left Catherine with a scream trapped somewhere in
her throat. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't be. All this time…

"That is why I have come, Highness," the woman said, her words
rushing over each other as if afraid she might be stuck down at any
moment. "Not to cause you pain but to offer hope. I am a descendant
of Yulian and as your queen helped my ancestor long ago, I return her
grace. The queen lives and bade me come to you and lead you back to
her side."

The woman, Sally, huddled inward as she finished and Catherine looked
to Zechs, tears springing to her silver eyes at the war of emotions
she found there.

"There is only one way to prove the truth of your words," he said
after a moment, his own voice having lost all strength. "Look at me."

The woman flinched and the faeries murmured but Catherine shushed
them as Sally slowly raised her head, clear eyes meeting the gaze of
the Faerie King. Zechs drew in a harsh breath and with stilted
movement, raised his free hand and slowly took off the mask he had
lost himself behind so long ago. The warrior faeries fell to their
knees and Catherine would have if she hadn't been supporting Trowa,
as it was all the air rushed from her lungs and she looked upon the
handsome face of her king, almost blinded by the power of him. It was
amazing that the human girl was not blasted to ashes where she knelt
in the grass.

But most amazing of all was their beloved king bending slightly
before the human and offering her his hand as he dropped the silver
mask to the forest floor. Sally took it in her own, allowing Zechs to
draw her to her feet where she stood staring at him as if she seen
something that would be etched in her mind's eye forever.

For his part, Zechs seemed to be filled with some sort of radiance,
as if the human's words had unlocked something almost dead within him
and brought it back to full health. The queen was alive.

"Welcome to my wood, daughter of Yulian," he said strongly and the
faeries rose to their feet once more. "Now, take me to my queen. It's
time to end this."


TBC…