Crimson and Gold

The entire way from the scholar’s house to the Royal Palace, Saria kept repeating in her head everything she had learned. She didn’t have high hopes for this visit, but she ended up discovering valuable information.

Though she didn’t have complete certainty, her gut feeling was telling her that the prophecy they had been after this whole time really came from the mysterious ‘Kirke’. Sadly, Tally’s master couldn’t offer her more information on the person.

‘Kirke’ had been somewhat of an elusive character in history, only confirmed to have existed through their prophecies. The scholar still debated whether the person in question was a man or a woman.

Saria thought focusing on finding out the actual contents of the prophecy would be their next step, however, once she repeated everything she found out to Lysandra, the Princess disagreed.

“There’s no need,” she said, pacing around the shrine of Astesis in the Palace. “What the prophecy is about doesn’t matter. What matters is that Loukios is interested in it and wants me dead because of it.”

Saria sat on the polished stone bench with a slight frown. “Don’t you want to know what it says? What if it really is about you?”

Lysandra stopped pacing and faced her lover with a hint of amusement in her eyes. “Don’t tell me you believe in this sort of thing?”

“You don’t?”

For someone so spiritual, the Princess’ sudden skepticism towards prophecies was unexpected.

“Well…” the Princess joined Saria on the bench. “For starters, Kirke and her prophecies are dated around twenty thousand years before the current era. Whatever they talked about had, most likely, already happened.”

Seeing that Saria opened her mouth to protest, Lysandra continued. “But if we assume they are still relevant, then it’s very unlikely they refer to me. My father isn’t the first descendant of Aelius to lead the Empire, nor will he be the last.”

While the Empire didn’t specifically require the Emperor to be of divine lineage, the candidates carrying the Golden Flame were still preferred.

“Even if, and it’s a big ‘if’, Ažiž were to really be reborn from me, then it’s going to be the most anticlimactic apocalypse in the history of mankind,” Lysandra laughed mockingly.

Saria didn’t quite follow. “Why do you say that?”

“I have no magic, remember?” the Princess gave her a jab with her elbow. “Nothing. Not even a drop. If a fire demon is reborn in my body, then it will be an achievement if she lights up a match with the power of her will, let alone destroying the world.”

There was some truth to what Lysandra was saying, but Saria still didn’t feel fully convinced.

“Alright, if you say so,” she said, leaning against the cool marbled column behind her. The doubts in her heart, however, were written all over her face.

The Princess took her hand, caressing the soft skin with her thumb, and sighed. “We don’t even know if what the prophecy says is true or if the interpretations are correct,” she started reassuring her lover once more.

“Take Ebreza and Ažiž, for example. Both of them are worshiped in Sumad as part of their Fire Pantheon. Even Shahriz only ever mentions them in a very neutral manner. For all we know, it’s just a bunch of scholars misinterpreting things that happened thousands of years ago.”

After listening to what the Princess had to say about the matter, Saria’s worries lessened, and she could finally let go. “I didn’t know you were also so versed in ancient history and foreign religions. Even the scholar didn’t know many of those things.”

Pride flickered in Lysandra’s eyes as she nonchalantly leaned against the marbled railing behind the bench and prepped her chin. “That’s because for all the knowledge those scholars have, they lack some wits.”

“Quite the harsh words, Your Highness,” Saria commented, raising her eyebrows.

“How else should I call someone willfully ignorant?” Lysandra rebutted. “They build their theories, spend years coming up with the most absurd explanation, all while ignoring everything that doesn’t fit their imagination.

The Princess squeezed Saria’s hand, feeling a pinch of annoyance welling up within her. “Did you know that they refuse to study any text that doesn’t come from an Aelian author?” she asked, flabbergasted.

“I read them. I studied both Shahrezi and Sumadian historical texts in their respective languages. The stories they describe don’t exactly match what our domestic scholars claim. No wonder they refuse to give them proper attention. It could actually show that our great Sun-King wasn’t so great at all…”

While the Princess was fuming over the sloppiness in the Aelian academical circles, Saria’s attention was caught by something else.

“You know both Shahrezi and Sumadi to such a degree?” she asked, thoroughly impressed.

Lysandra looked at her, puzzled. “Of course I do. My mother spoke to me in Shahrezi exclusively, and I learned Sumadi out of boredom. My father also had me learn Ra-sa, because a pharaoh was interested in marrying me once, Aísleth and Zami were for practical reasons. The Empire has a lot of dealings with Faolán and Zomiria, after all.”

Saria grinned from ear to ear. “My woman is truly impressive,” she declared, full of pride and love.

The Princess stared at her, slightly dumbfounded.

“You’re realizing this only now?” she teased.

“Of course not! I’ve known since the day I met you.” Saria scooted closer to her lover and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “I like learning new things about you, though.”

“Even something so trivial?”

“Even the smallest tiniest.”

“Alright.” The Princess flicked her hair and straightened her chest. “Since you find such minor things impressive, then listen to this… I used to be an expert at climbing trees,” Lysandra said with so much pride in her voice that it bordered on hubris.

Saria really wanted to laugh, but forced herself to remain serious. “No way! How scandalous!” she exclaimed in a feigned outrage.

“I know. I was quite the character when I was little,” the Princess admitted, sounding—again—awfully close to boasting. “Always climbing trees, fighting with boys, wanting to learn the same things my brother was learning. I really hated being the dainty little princess everyone wanted me to be,” she said, sending her woman a meaningful look.

“I wanted to be the mighty warrior who saves the beautiful maiden from a tall tower.”

“You know… If you really want, then I don’t mind switching rooms. You can feel like a mighty warrior climbing a tall tower to save your beauty from oppression, while climbing through the balcony,” Saria purred.

Naturally, the Princess saw through this shoddy plan right away.

“No, thank you. As an older and smarter Lysandra, I now appreciate the benefits of being the maiden. I’ll leave the climbing to you, my brave warrior maiden,” she said with the sweetest smile.

Saria clicked her tongue. “I have to make sure our house has only one floor. And a big tree next to it, in case Your Highness feels like showing off your amazing skills in front of your maiden.”

The smile on Lysandra’s face froze immediately.

“Our house?” she repeated in surprise.

“Well… Yes?” Saria hesitated.

“After all, we will move out of the Palace one day, no? I mean, I can’t imagine sharing the roof with Loukios once he becomes the next emperor…” she scratched her cheek awkwardly. “So I thought we could buy a house somewhere far away from him, where it would be just the two of us.”

In Saria’s mind, this had always been the plan. It was true, she never consulted it with Lysandra, but she always assumed she would want it too. Seeing her reaction, however, left her a little worried.

Fortunately, Lysandra noticed her troubled expression and quickly cleared up the misunderstanding. “I didn’t know you were also having these thoughts.”

“You too?”

Lysandra nodded. “Sometimes I close my eyes and imagine how nice it would be if we could just pack our things and leave somewhere far. And we could have a nice little cottage just to ourselves.”

“A little cottage sounds nice.” Saria’s eyes lit up with the purest joy. “I hope it will have some space for a garden. I always wanted to grow my own fruits and vegetables.”

“Mm… Garden sounds good,” the Princess hummed. “It will be good for growing alchemy ingredients.”

“You’re planning to continue alchemy?”

“Of course. Even if we grow most of our food on our own, we will need money anyway.”

Food and shelter were only the most basic needs for every human. Even if they lived far away from others, there would be worries like sickness or repairs. Their friends would probably visit from time to time, and vice versa, so they would need money for travel and accommodation.

Even simpler things like visiting a local fair or donating to a temple still required money.

“There are plenty of villages that still don’t have access to a healer or even a physician, so it would be a secure trade,” she added.

Saria listened to her with full attention. “You’re right. Then I guess I could do some odd jobs here and there. Maybe sell some of the things we grow in the garden,” she said after giving it some thought.

Lysandra didn’t even notice at what point the ‘if’ turned to ‘when’, but she was very happy about it. She was happy that Saria wanted it as much as she did. She was happy that they could sit like this and make all of those plans, discuss all of the little details about the life they were both dreaming of.

It made her determined to make this dream a reality. No matter what it would take, she would do it.

“Sounds like a plan,” the Princess whispered. Her golden eyes were shimmering happily, looking just like the stars on the night sky above them.

“Mhm. Sounds like a plan.” Saria closed the distance between them and pulled Lysandra in a deep, unhurried kiss.

“One day, it will be just you and me. Just the two of us in our cozy little cottage,” she whispered against her lover’s lips.

“One day…”

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