For Those Below

“Ma’am?”

A curled ear twists around to face the voice’s direction. Head held high, brown eyes looking onwards at a non existent destination, Sakura continues walking at a slow pace. The servant is new to the palace, unaccustomed to the queen’s usual silences. She has done so much talking over the past weeks. Months. Her throat consistently, subtly ached, flesh cracked and dry, ready to split at the seams should another word be uttered. Opium infused honey remedies the situation, but only for so long. The help mare was uncomfortable -- that much Sakura could sense. A quiet, relaxed sigh scratch its way from her lungs: “What is it?”

“I…,” the mare paused, “I hope this isn’t out of line, your Highness.” She paused, waiting for an objection that never arrived. Tension rolled off the younger, lapping at the pegasus as if the emotion was a gentle wave coming ashore. “I was just wondering what it must be like to become a queen, especially to someone as handsome as the King!” Her pink nostrils blushed from embarrassment and Sakura could only chuckle. Looking at the help, she could see that the mare was more child than adult, barely past the age of thirteen. She had wanted to train to be a guard, but her frail body was too malnourished to handle the apprenticeship. Her parents had died in the earthquake, the poor thing had been taken in by one of the older maids, and Sakura’s heart broke at the thought. How many more had suffered just like this one?

“It’s wonderful.” Sakura smiled, slowing to a stop, though sadness tugged on her lips. It was wonderful, and she loved Hajime, she loved Breim. “You know, when I was your age, I had only met him once. It was in a room with so many other girls. We all wanted his attention and fought over him!” she laughed, recalling the happy, carefree memory. The girl laughed, too, exclaiming that she could never imagine the queen fighting anybody. “We were all so excited. I never thought it would actually be me to be picked as the heir’s bride. I had been ready to follow in my mother’s footsteps. But oh, by Argus, it is a privilege. I couldn’t ask for anything more. It’s all you could dream of.” Sakura couldn’t bring herself to rip away what innocence the child had left. It was all true, sure. Riches, exotic foods, beautiful clothes, power, a loving husband, an adoring country, all in the palm of her hand. But beneath the surface of prim and proper, Sakura dealt with the repercussions of saving a kirin foal over her own citizen, caused by a deadly earthquake. She never spoke of it. Shame kept her awake at night when a sleeping potion wouldn’t work. Her eyes would stare up at the city’s new skylight, watching the glow from the stars shine down on Nariah, wondering if her actions had caused the crystal to explode, to cause all this chaos. And now? She held two Kawaru citizens as prisoner and she wasn’t even sure why, though she told herself it was to prevent further harm from coming to the rest of Breim.

It was all so much. Her mother, poor Harumi, could have never predicted in what state Breim would be in, should her child become queen. Nobody had told either of them what it truly meant to be the wife of a king. For once, Sakura felt misplaced, but she would hide it. She had to be strong for Breim. For Hajime. For herself. She wondered if Hajime was suffering just as she was, and her heart broke a bit more.

A caw echoed down the corridor, yanking her from her thoughts, as Tsubasa announced his arrival. With a low chirp, he settled on the queen’s shoulders, ink black feathers glistening under the gemstone lighting. “Hello, Tsubasa,” the maid greeted, dipping her head in a quick bow. The devil bird mirrored it, much to the girl’s amusement. Once again, Sakura smiled. “Go ahead and go on, I think we can manage the walk back on our own. May Argus see you safe.” She sensed a wave of reluctance, but then the maid nodded, and began the journey back to her quarters. Sakura stood watch in the corridor until the help turned a corner. Her throat felt as if Ignacio himself had a grip on her, and all she wanted was to rest.

Yet she felt more determined than ever.