Chapter Text
Running from her own Kingdom was not how she expected her day to end. The red-haired female was breathing heavily, her breath not wanting to catch up with her as she hid among the trees. " This can't be happening ." She muttered to herself, raising one of her shaking hands to her head, and the other wrapping around her abdomen. " Mama, I'm scared ..." She cried, eyes shutting tightly as she heard voices approaching, signaling that the guards were closing in on her. She still couldn't believe the events that were happening. How did such a joyous day turn into a mission to avoid death?
"Find the Child! Kill her the moment you see her!" The lead guard shouted to his men as some ventured further into the forest with the lieutenant, and the rest stayed with the Captain in search of the ex-Princess. Mama! Please help me! I can't do this alone! She shouted inside of her head, knowing that there was nobody who could help her now.
"Sir, I've found her!"
A guard stood beneath her, looking up into the tree where she resided. No no no. Those were the only words running through her mind as the guards surrounded the underside of the tree. Sadly, the former Princess didn't notice that the Princess that she was sat upon, was beginning to break from the weight of the child. "Don't just stand there! Get her down!" The Captain shouted, raising his sword in anger at the young female.
"I'd kill you myself if the King didn't want that satisfaction." He yelled, the young girl covering her ears as she cried out in fear. There was no need to hide her cries anymore, she had been spotted, and she was to be killed. "Don't let her escape!" Guards yelled out to each other, as if I could even get away she thought to herself, the will to run away slowly fading from her body. There was nothing she could do to stop them, she had no training in the field of Fighting like her brother and father, she didn't know how to hold a weapon even if it was to save her life.
4 hours Earlier
"Mama!" The thirteen year old, red-haired female called out, running to a taller woman who stood getting her dress fixed by the handmaiden. The young girl had already had her own fixed by her own handmaidens.
"Nova! What are you doing here, Mon Amour ?" The woman asked, looking at the younger with love and pride in her eyes. Bright blue eyes looked into her own hazel ones. The young girl, Nova, could do nothing but giggle at her mother, who never wasted a chance in calling her children something in French, her mother language. Nova loved that about her mother, despite being born in another country and Kingdom, and her husband trying to force her to forget her mother language, her mother stayed rebellious to an extent as she only ever used it with her son and daughter, both who could speak the language fluently from a young age thanks to her teaching them in private. Also the handmaidens, but they were sworn to secrecy by the queen, and at the risk of losing their positions.
"You ditched your handmaidens again didn't you, Mon petit fauteur de troubles ?" The Queen giggled, shaking her head at her youngest child. Her daughter did nothing but look up at her mother with 'innocent' eyes and shrugging her small shoulders. Scoffing in disbelief, the Queen took her child's hand as the Handmaiden's finish the last few details on her dress, and placed the crown upon her head.
"You know that you are not to leave the handmaidens, especially during an event such as the one going on today. You could have gotten in serious trouble had your father found you wandering the building without someone." Her mother scolded her softly, although the older woman knows the feeling of not wanting to be followed due to the possessiveness of the King.
Nova rolled her eyes, and with a huff looked up at her mother. "Mama, you know that I can not stand walking with my Handmaidens." Nova retorted, speaking about the young females that oversaw her dressing, and everyday activities. "All they ever do when we arrive in the throne room is kiss up to Father, and they tend to Flirt with Timothy. It disgusts me, truly it does," She finished, shivering at the thought of the maiden's looking at her brother like he was a prize that they could win, "and half of them only listen to any of us because we are the Royal Family." She glared at the Handmaidens that were looking at the two royals as they talked.
"Nova, I know you care for your brother, but you--" Queen Isabella was cut off by a knock to the door. "Your Highness Merrick, the Celebration is to begin soon." The voice of the lead guard cut through the conversation between the mother and daughter duo. "Yes, Yes, we will be there soon Alfred." The Queen called to the guard, shooing the Handmaidens away as she led her child to the door.
"Come let us go to the throne room, I expect your brother to be excited to see you after not being able to do much other than studying the last couple of months." Queen Isabella said, knowing that her youngest child will be ecstatic about seeing her brother. Nova definitely was. Nova doesn't get to see her brother a lot besides meal times because he's always either training, studying, or helping their father in political activities in Astrya and foreign Kingdoms. This was one of her only chances of seeing him before his responsibilities became even greater, so she is not going to miss this chance.
Walking into the Throne room, felt wonderous if you have never seen it before. The room itself was quite wide, easily holding the majority of the Astrya villagers, and some foreign royals and guards. The ceilings seemed infinite to Nova every time she walked into the room, everything felt so much larger than what it actually is. There, standing by the throne's were the King and Prince. The King was a stoic man, never liking when someone tried to come between his plans for the future of his Kingdom. The man stood tall and proud, icy blue eyes piercing into anyone he talked to, and honey blonde hair tousled, not at all how you would think the King's hair would seem. The Prince, Timothy, similarly to his father, stood tall and proud, but who wouldn't when you were being Crowned as the Future King. Timothy shared the same hair color as their father, the striking honey blonde hair standing out against the bright blues and whites of his outfit. His Hazel eyes resembled their mothers, as he stared into his father's eyes, just as focused in the conversation at hand.
"Timothy!" Nova called out to her older brother, letting go of her mother's hand and running towards the Eighteen year old Prince. "Nova!" The raven haired Prince grinned, pulling his younger sister into a tight hug now that she was close enough for it. "How have you been Nova?" He whispered to her, placing one of his hands on the back of her head, as he moved it in a comforting way for her.
"I'm doing better now that I got to see you again, even if only for a few hours.'' She whispered back, not wanting the hug to end, but knowing her father was glaring at the two as she pulled away turning to the oldest male in the Room. King Alios growled as his daughter looked at him, curtseying as though she just remembered that he was there. "Father." She stated, looking into the angered blue optics, almost matching her own.
"You'll do well to remember to acknowledge your King first when he is present." King Alios looked down the bridge of his nose at his daughter. "Yes father." She whispered, bowing her head in submission. No matter what she did, it was never good enough for her father. It was always something about her not speaking with him first, or not speaking fast enough.
"Enough of this," The Queen said, giving her husband a look. "Let us go to the throne's guest will start coming in soon." She motioned to the throne seat on the opposite end of the room away from the door. The tallest two sat the King and Queen, the Crowned Prince was to sit to the Right of the King, and the Princess to the left of the Queen.
5 minutes until blast
The celebration was in full swing, guests of all ages, color, and gender moved around the Throne Room, mingling amongst each other with the latest gossip, and the latest threats of war, this was mainly done by the King's of the foreign Kingdom's and King Alios. The Throne room was a burst of energy, as people laughed, danced, ate, and drank. The only thing bringing the Prince and Princess down was the constant royals who came up to them in hopes of getting them to convince their parents into an arranged marriage with the children of the other Royals children. Timothy would simply scoff and take his sister's hand in his, and lead her away from the royals who would shout after them. The two walked back to the Thrones after Alfred came and collected them as it was time for the Crowning. Nova released the hand of her brother, and moved to stand next to her mother, a look of pride in her eyes, knowing that her brother would do great things for the Kingdom after he became King. The King motioned for one of his servants to bring the Crown forward.
"Attention Villagers, and Esteemed Royals!" The King announced, voice booming through the crowd, as it went quiet. "We are gathered here today to not only honor, but to celebrate my son, Timothy Merrick as we crown him as the Future King of Astrya should I pass!" He called, cheers erupting from the villagers, and Nova and their mother clapping in the background.
"My son," The King said, looking his son in the eyes, "Do you swear on the holy spirit and our lord and savior Jesus Christ to rule justly, and without fear?” The King looked down upon his son as the other kneeled. “I swear on the Holy Spirit and our lord and savior Jesus Christ that I will rule justly, and without fear.” Timothy finished, as his father took the crown from one of the servants. “Then I now bestow upon you the title as the official Crown Prince of the Astrya Kingdom!”
Cheers erupted from the crowd as the Crown was placed upon his head. Nova and her mother grinned at each other, hugging each other for the joyous occasion. “Now let us-” The King was cut off by the over alarming sounds of an explosion rang throughout the Palace, ten seconds later another explosion went off this time within the walls of the throne room causing people to go flying from the blast. Smoke and shrapnel from the blast was still falling and spreading through the throne room, Nova sat up on her knees, coughing as she squinted through the dust and rubble.
“Mama? Timothy?” She called out, as she saw others gathering around each other and helping pull others up to their feet. “Nova!” She heard a male voice yell, she looked over and saw her father and Timothy walking over to the younger girl. She ran over to them, grasping the two men in a hug as she looked up at them. “Where’s mother?”
The two men looked at each other before looking down at the younger. “We don’t know, we are still looking for her Nova.” Timothy said, as he took her hand into his, and began leading her through the throne room. As the small family of three moved around, Nova’s foot knocked against something causing her to stumble slightly. She looked down, noticing a hand sticking out from under a pile of rubble. Nova screamed, her father and brother noticing quickly as they saw her staring at something under the rubble. By this time, the smoke had cleared and the villagers and visiting royals were finally able to see the chaos that had happened. The walls closest to the thrones were completely gone, parts of the ceilings were gone from the multiple blasts. Soldiers gathered around the royal family as they began lifting the debris off whoever was under it. Terror racked through the bodies of the King and his children, his heart knowing who was most likely under the rubble. Once all of it was gone, Nova couldn’t do anything but fall to the ground, her face horror stricken by what they saw. Her mother, who she was happily laughing with not a few moments earlier, was now bloodied and beaten up from the blast, her body basically crushed because of the weight of the rubble that resided there. Nova couldn’t help but vomit, unable to stomach the sight in front of her. The King looked away, tears pooling in his eyes. “Lieutenant Marlowe, you and a few men take the body away, prepare it for a proper burial.” The Lieutenant nodded, as he and a group of five guards gathered the deceased queen and took away the body.
“Captain Alfred, take the rest of the guards, and search the grounds for any clues of the culprit. Once found, bring it to me.” The King commanded, making his way to the group of royals and villagers. “Return to your homes, I want none of you to step foot inside the Kingdom again until we find out who is responsible for this tyranny, and the moment I find out, if it was any of you, there will be war.” The King finished, clearly not leaving room for any royals or villagers to defend themselves. The crowd dispersed, some of the royals leavin angry at being accused of killing the queen and planning attacks on the Kingdom of Astrya.
Nova stood with her brother off to the side, her mind still not comprehending that someone wanted her mother dead, or even the entirety of the Merrick family. “Your Majesty!” A guard cried out, rushing into the room, papers flopping around in his hands. “You need to look through this…” He huffed, out of breath from his run to the destroyed throne room. The King snatched the papers from the guards hand, looking through them furiously. The King noticed something about the writing that was on the paper. “Where did you find this?” The King asked, looking eerily calm for the situation. “In…” The guard sighed, looking over at the royal children with sadness resting in his eyes. “In Princess Nova’s room, Your Majesty.” Nova’s head shot up after hearing about the location of the papers.
“I would never plan to harm my family, especially my mother!” Nova defended herself, knowing that she had nothing to do with her mother’s demise. “You’ll do well to–” She was cut off by her father walking over and grabbing her arm, pulling her alongside him as his hands clenched the papers. “It’s your writing Nova.” The King looked down the bridge of his nose at her. “You planned the murder of your own mother, and from what I gather from these papers, you planned to do the same to your brother and I.” His normally icy blue eyes, looking even colder. Nova couldn’t believe it, her father actually believed that she would plan to kill her family? “What motive would I have?!” She cried out, looking at her brother with fear in her eyes as he was being held back by the guards that had found the papers.
“Power, you wouldn’t have a claim to the throne of Astrya because of your brother and I. You hoped that someone would be framed for the death of your mother, and then plot the “accidents” that would end your brother and I for good, so that you can have the crown.” Nova couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Does her father really believe that she would do that for the sake of the crown? She would rather die before anything happens to her family. “You're insane.” She seethed, anger now rising in her. “No! You're The reason that Isabella is dead, you will not see the light of day again.”
The King pulled her towards the opening of the palace. Throwing her to the guards that stood there. “Take her to the village, and gather the villagers, there will be an execution tonight.” The King growled, glowering at his daughter once more before turning and saying something to the guards and Prince. “No no!” At that point, the doors were shut and the guards pulled the princess alongside them. “Let me go! I didn’t do anything to deserve this!” She cried, anger dissipating as fear overtook her. She was going to die. She was going to be killed, and it’s gonna be because someone framed her for this disaster.
Eventually they arrived at the village, villagers surrounded the execution platform as they watched in horror their Princess being pushed onto the platform. “Today, we bring forth former Princess Nova Merrick, Daughter of the King and Queen of Astrya! The King is charging her with treason against the Kingdom, and for the planned murder of our royal Highness Queen Isabella.” The guard yelled over the conversing crowd. Shock ran through the townspeople, and then anger took its place. Shouts rang out against the former royal as she struggled against the guards.
Nova glared at the crowd and bent her head down, biting the hand of the guard that held her, causing him to release her enough where she could turn and kick him in the groin causing for complete freedom. The younger girl ran for the forest, knowing that for a few moments she would be able to disappear. Nova turned her head, seeing the guards running after her, Alfred being the leader among them. “Don’t lose sight of her!” She heard him cry as she pushed her legs harder while running. She soon found a tree that had enough coverage by the leaves that there was potentially no way the guards would see her. Nova scurried up the tree, curling up as close to the tree as possible.
“Search the area! Don’t let her escape.” Alfred called out, as the guards began their search. As if I would be able to escape, the young redhead girl muffled her sobs with her hands. Mama! Please help me! I can't do this alone! She shouted inside of her head, knowing that there was nobody who could help her now.
"Sir, I've found her!"
A guard stood beneath her, looking up into the tree where she resided. No no no. Those were the only words running through her mind as the guards surrounded the underside of the tree. Sadly, the former Princess didn't notice that the Princess that she was sat upon, was beginning to break from the weight of the child. "Don't just stand there! Get her down!" The Captain shouted, raising his sword in anger at the young female. Nova needed to leave, she needed to escape somehow. A loud crack resounded in her ears as she looked down, seeing the branch was fixing to break. Oh no… The red-head fell, a yell escaping her throat as she plummeted down from the tree. “”Get her!” The Captain yelled as the guards rushed her, she scrambled up from the ground, ending up being trapped and pinned against the tree. This was it, there wasn’t any reason for her to continue trying to fight when she was outnumbered. There was nothing she could do to stop them, she had no training in the field of Fighting like her brother and father, she didn't know how to hold a weapon even if it was to save her life. She closed her eyes, preparing for something to happen. That is until she felt a rush of wind go behind her and swords clashing. She opened her eyes, and saw a tall man with black hair, a stubble on his face. He was in combat with Alfred, and was holding his own relatively well. “It seems you haven’t lost your skills Montgomery,” Alfred growled as the two kept clashing swords. “Too bad you won’t survive th—” He didn’t finish his monolog as he looked around, seeing the guards that were with him were dead. “I think I will win this time, Morin.” The Montgomery guy said, smirking as he nodded his head.
“Now go, tell your king that he has made a grave mistake in his actions of trying to kill the Princess.” He turned after seeing the guard scamper off from the small group. “Are you okay Milady?” The man asked, taking the girl's hand into his and kneeling. “It is an honor to meet you, but I apologize it wasn’t in better terms.” He gave her a soft smile. “Come, we can give you food and somewhere warm for the night.” He said, stepping away from the Princess. “What do you say?” He held his other hand out for her to take. “Do you trust me?” The girl thought for a moment before nodding. This man had saved her from her own royal guards, who believed her to be the conspirator against the family. “Please…” She stuck her own hand into his own. The man smiled, leading the former royal into her new life.