Chapter Text
“Who are you and what are you doing in our village!?”
Phil turns to look at Anne, eyes huge like plates.
Anne turns to look at him, very serious. “Your Majesty, I will go and see what’s going on. Please wait for me here.”
“No! It must be a representative from the village. We need to enter Greenstad to get Da— Sir Howell proper medical care. I’ll come with you and you can explain our mission to them. I am the figurehead of this whole mission,” Phil says. He wants to get Dan into Greenstad as fast as possible and this seems like the best way to do it.
“But your identity—” Anne starts. Phil stops her by raising his hand.
“It’s okay, this is a dire situation. The villagers should know what's best for them since they are living under His Highness’ rule.”
Anne looks at him, clenching her jaw. Phil doesn’t back down, he needs to get Dan into the village as fast as possible.
“Fine. What do you want to say to them?” Anne says, sighing in defeat.
Phil gives the assassin a slight smile. He explains how Anne should respond to the questions and pulls the veil over his face. The villager shouts again at the entourage, demanding for them to identify themselves. Anne opens the carriage door and helps Phil down.
“We are here sent by His Highness, Gregorie Astley! We have brought healers, food and medicine for the people of this village. We have Princess Fiona of the house Lester with us to represent the imperial family! She wants to have an audience with the leader of your village,” Anne says with a loud voice. Phil stands behind her, hands clasped together in front of his skirt.
The villager looks at them, measuring them with his gaze. “We don’t have a leader here. We don’t wish to get help from the capital. Tell His Highness that he has done enough!”
Phil had known that the villagers would not receive their arrival well, but he has to get through to them if he wants to save Dan and his mother. He glances at Anne, hoping for her to choose her words carefully.
“Princess Fiona wants to meet a representative from your village and talk with them one on one. We have an injured knight with us and he needs medical facilities as soon as possible. Please don’t turn her away,” Anne says, softening her voice and scaling back the authoritative tone.
The villager looks slightly shaken now, maybe he has sympathy for the injured as his own village has been ravaged by an awful disease.
“We don’t have a leader, many have died and fled. There are mostly women, children and the elderly left here. What can we do for you?”
“Who has the highest rank? How about the wife of the highest officer?” Anne says, challenging the villager to see if he can find an excuse.
The villager glances back and sighs. “Fine. Follow me— but only you and the Princess. I’ll take you to the wife of the highest officer. She is sick and weak though, you can’t stay for long.”
“Thank you,” Anne says and signals for Phil to follow her. He takes uncertain steps, thinking about Dan and his health. He needs to convince the villagers to let the group enter. In the capital he had not anticipated the grudge of the commoners to be so deep. He had underestimated the danger and put Dan in harm’s way. There’s a painful twinge in his heart, whispering at him about his failures.
Anne and Phil walk behind the villager through the village gate, followed by dozens of suspicious eyes. Phil had truly underestimated the hatred people hold for the imperial family. No matter what his personal feelings toward the situation is, these people see him as part of the system that had abandoned them when they needed the most help.
Anne keeps an eye on him, making sure that no person lunges at him unexpectedly. Thankfully it seems like the villagers are just as exhausted as they are suspicious of them— no one seems to have the energy to show any aggression toward them. It’s both a relief and let down for Phil. If the people showed more anger, it would reassure him that they are healthy enough to resist.
Finally the group arrives at a reasonably sized house— not big or small in the regular people standard. A house made out of wood with some nice carvings framing the windows, the kind that Phil wouldn’t mind living in after leaving the capital.
“Here, she is weak. Please don’t strain her more,” the villager says as he opens the door.
Anne nods at the man and pulls Phil behind her into the house. Phil is amazed at the coziness of the interior— a few paintings, but mostly a simple house with barely anything that doesn’t have practical use. In the middle of the room there’s a middle aged woman sitting on the floor, supported by a large pillow under her knees. She is wrapped in a blanket and— looks familiar. Brown eyes, like most people in the south tend to have, a head full of mid length, curly brown hair with streaks of gray.
Phil knows her. He doesn’t, but he could never mistake her for anyone else. He would recognize someone that’s half of Dan— or rather of whom Dan is half of. This must be Dan’s mother based on her features and presence. Phil’s heart starts beating faster out of excitement— she would let them bring Dan into the village certainly.
“I’m glad you agreed to meet us. We came from the capital to bring relief to your village. This is Princess Fiona from the imperial harem. She wanted to travel with us to show her sincerity and care for the people,” Anne explains.
The woman remains silent, instead she closes her eyes. There’s a weird tension in the air.
“Care?” The woman says finally in a thin voice. It makes Phil’s heart hurt. He knows how he looks like to her— a sheltered princess traveling to the common people to entertain herself and feel like she is a good person. It makes Phil feel ashamed and Anne looks slightly frozen for a moment, at a loss for words.
“Please don’t write her off like this. She has pure intentions and brought many healers with her. Please let us in to help,” Anne says, getting slightly desperate.
The woman eyes her suspiciously until her eyes finally land on Phil. He isn’t sure what to make of her studious eyes.
“Healers? We have seen those healers here. Without a treatment your healers can do nothing to cure ruby death. We—” the woman says, pulling her sleeve down. Phil manages to see a glimpse of an angry, red looking patch of skin on her wrist. “We are not going to get better with your healers or food. We are abandoned in favor of the capital.”
“But—” Anne starts, but she’s interrupted by the sick woman.
“But? If your princess is truly as sincere as you say she is, let me talk with her. Alone,” the woman says, her eyes steadily on Phil. He turns to look at Anne. They hadn’t talked about this kind of scenario and what to do.
“Alone? Please, she is the Princess—” Anne starts, but Phil is one step ahead. He places his hand on Anne’s arm and shakes his head. Anne has to let Phil do this. In fact, this situation might go in his favor if he plays his cards right. Anne looks at him with questions in her eyes, but Phil reassures her by squeezing her arm slightly. Anne sighs and nods.
“Fine. Her Majesty has agreed to talk with you. I shall wait outside. If anything happens to her, I swear none of you will make it to tomorrow,” Anne says as she backs away toward the door. The woman half smirks at her but doesn’t say anything.
For a moment the room is completely silent. Phil isn’t sure what the right move is to get the best outcome. He looks at the woman, Dan’s mother, and tries to read her face through the veil. She coughs, letting her mask slip. Suddenly she looks like who she truly is— a tired and sick woman that has been given too much to carry.
“Princess, why are you here? I’m not an unreasonable person, but the situation here is already hard. Do you know how upsetting it is for us when the capital sends us “help” that ends up not being helpful at all. Do you think we don’t know that you have the cure inside the city walls but refuse to give it to us?”
Phil’s chest feels tighter as Dan’s mother speaks. He knows these things to be facts, but on the outside it looks like he is part of the system, on the side of the imperial family. When Phil doesn’t answer, the woman’s face shifts into one of frustration.
“You come into my home, trying to bring my people “relief” to appeal to His Highness? Why should I allow your entourage into the village? The people here won’t look kindly upon you.”
Phil knows that he has no choice, he draws in a deep breath and lifts the veil off his face. The woman’s eyes widen as she sees Phil’s face for the first time properly.
“My name is Phil, officially known as Princess Fiona of the North. I have come here to give the villagers some supplies, officially, that is. Please let us in, my personal guard, Sir Daniel Howell was hurt during the travels, he needs medical care,” Phil says. The woman looks immediately alarmed when Dan’s name is mentioned, confirming Phil’s suspicions of her identity.
“Dan— where is he?” she asks frantically, already half way up from her seat on the pillow.
“Please, let me explain first. He was assigned as my guard on the way here. Some villagers attacked us on the road and he protected me. We have healers with us, so he is stable for now, but I think our healers would have better facilities in the village to treat him,” Phil says carefully. He still has things to discuss with Dan’s mother.
The woman relaxes slightly and sits back down, her full attention on Phil. “Why are you here? You must know that Daniel is my son since you brought him up like this. You know that I have no choice but to allow you to enter the village now, right? Did you do this on purpose?”
Phil needs to choose his words carefully— this is an unexpected situation for him. Revealing too much might put Dan’s family in danger. “On purpose? Please don’t think so lowly of me,” Phil says, rummaging through his pouch. He pulls out a little bottle of blue liquid from there. “Look, I managed to get a few portions of the cure from His Highness. Take it as a token of my sincerity.”
Dan’s mother’s eyes sharpen as she looks at the object in Phil’s hands. She must be suspicious of him as a member of the imperial family. She reaches her hand out and grabs the bottle. “How am I supposed to believe what you are saying? No one outside the capital has been able to get their hands on this. What’s the catch?”
Phil looks at his hands on his lap as the image of the Emperor leaning closer to his ear, his breath tickling the back of his ear, flashes behind his eyes making him shiver in disgust. “I did everything to get it. Please don’t waste my efforts, this medicine came with a heavy price.” Phil looks at the woman’s brown eyes seriously, trying to convey the weight of the conversation. She looks perplexed, perhaps confused on why Phil did such a thing.
“What is your goal, Your Majesty? No one has been able to get the cure to the people before this. How am I supposed to decide who gets to have it?” She says. Phil feels dread filling his stomach— he hates lying by omission just as much as other types of lying. He hadn’t considered that Dan might have inherited his sense of duty and self-sacrificial nature from his mother.
“I know you don’t respect me as a part of the imperial family, I wouldn’t either but— but, I worked really hard to get that medicine so that you could get cured. I really can’t afford for you not to take it. Give the other portions to the sickest ones, or children. But please, I beg of you, take the first portion yourself,” Phil says as sincerely as he can. Healing Dan’s mother had been the whole point of this journey.
The woman looks at him, shocked. Then she looks down at the bottle of medicine, her thoughts running probably all over the place. “I don’t understand. I don’t know you at all, why are you doing this?”
Phil offers her a small smile, not being able to explain everything properly. “I guess I don’t even know your name yet. What should I call you?”
“I’m Yvette of the Howell house. My husband is in the imperial court, serving His Highness, and my son—” Yvette says, but her voice dies down as she remembers that Phil already knows that Dan is actually her son. She looks at Phil, frowning slightly.
“Yes. I somewhat know your son in the capital,” Phil confirms. Yvette nods slightly, putting the pieces together in her head.
“Why are you doing all this then? To help your knight? You don’t want to see Daniel get sad because of my passing? You do know that I am unofficially in charge of the village during this calamity, how would it look like if I took one of the few potions you brought here? ” Yvette says.
Phil isn’t sure which question he should answer. It seems best to ignore the parts about his relationship to Dan, just in case. His priority is to get Yvette to drink the potion. “That’s why you should drink the potion. Look, there are still people here that are relying on you. If you perish, their spirits will go down too. They need someone to lead them in this time of crisis. I promise you that I’m investigating ruby death with all my limited power in the capital. If you just hang on a little longer, I will find a way to help you.”
Yvette looks at him, her face softening up. “You really seem to like Daniel, working so hard to get me to take this medicine.”
Phil can feel his cheeks getting warmer and tilts his face down. Lying really doesn't come naturally to him. He clears his throat. “So please, just take it. We’ll bring Dan here so that the healers can treat him better. He’ll be glad to see you in better health when he wakes up.”
Yvette looks at him, like she wants to say something, but decides against it at the last moment. “Fine. I’ll drink the potion. I’ll discuss with the other elders about who to give the rest of it to.”
Phil smiles in relief. He had been panicking internally, not confident in his ability to withstand conflict. Now everything seems to be heading in the right direction, starting with getting Dan’s mother cured and getting Dan into the village.
“Thank you, Yvette. I’ll head back out and make sure they bring Dan here, this is your house, right?”
Yvette hums in confirmation. “I’m glad to know that my son has someone that cares for him to this extent in the capital,” she says. Her face gets more serious. “I just hope that your affection toward him doesn’t become a hindrance to his life and safety. Some things are better to be kept in your heart, so as not to endanger the people you love.”
Phil stops and looks at Yvette. He gets her message nice and clear, even though it hurts to hear. He nods quickly before he pulls the veil over his face and turns to leave.
After meeting Yvette, everything proceeds quickly— Das is allowed into the village and into his mother’s house. The healers get to make the knight comfortable and use their best methods to help the wound heal. The issue? Dan isn’t waking up. Phil sends Anne many times a day to ask about Dan as Sylvie had warned him about visiting him too frequently under the watchful eye of the other guards.
Instead of falling into despair, Phil decides to use the time he has for good. He takes part in the relief efforts, joins the healers to meet the sick. He wants to understand the extent of the catastrophe in order to contextualize it in his mind. As much as he wants to run away from the capital, he wants to also help the people that are suffering through ruby death.
To Phil’s great relief, Yvette and three other people, including a pregnant woman, take the cure and start getting better. Seeing this, the villagers finally get a strand of hope that had been cut off months ago.
The people seem surprised when Phil joins the healers and the people that distribute food for the people. The children of the village seem to be fascinated by the veil he is wearing, one being brave enough to pull it lightly.
“Ha! I got it—” the child shouts while pulling the delicate fabric. Phil is faster than the kid, somehow. He manages to keep the piece of fabric over his face successfully eliciting giggles and disappointed huffs from the children. Phil places his hand gently on the shoulder of the child and shakes his head to scold him.
“I thought I got it! I heard from my sister that the Princess of the North is the most beautiful girl in the world! His Highness fell in love with her at first sight and proposed to her immediately. I wanted to see her face!”
Phil almost can’t believe how far the gossip of his identity has travelled and gained an almost mythical essence.
“Yes! I think the Princess of the North is the most gracious princess ever! She came all the way here to help us. She isn’t even scared of touching us! All the other people that came treated us like dirt and avoided us at all cost. But the Princess held my hand when I met her for the first time,” another boy says excitedly. Phil is amused by this conversation that’s taking place in front of him like he isn’t there.
The children start playing tag out of nowhere, giggling and running around the yard. Phil looks at them with a sense of nostalgia that he doesn’t experience often— two little boys playing together just like he used to do with his brother in the North. Before the adult responsibilities and the ugliness of the world tarnished their innocence.
Sylvie is sitting with him, sorting the supplies that they brought from the capital. Phil feels oddly at ease with her even though she has caused a lot of trouble for him. Maybe Phil would have run away with Dan if it wasn’t for her. The thought of a house by the sea makes his heart hurt a little.
There’s also another feeling in his chest— relief. As much as Phil had wanted to flee everything, the villagers have made him realize another thing— his responsibility. As much as he had wanted to avoid his royal duties, now that he is aware of the injustice and corruption in the imperial palace he can’t turn a blind eye to the people’s suffering. He feels responsible for making sure that the Emperor can’t abandon these people when he has all the resources in the palace to help them.
His heart is being torn into two pieces— on the one hand he can’t wait to leave the palace with Dan and live a free life and on the other he can’t imagine abandoning the people whose blight he has seen up close.
“I see how you look at them, Your Majesty,” Sylvie says.
Phil turns to look at her, suddenly being pulled from his thoughts. “Like what? You can’t even see my face.”
Sylvie smirks. “You might think that I’m cold and mean for how I talked to you in Bergensburg. I trust my eyes and what I see, you love Sir Howell, yet you can’t bring yourself to abandon these people, right?”
Phil is silent for a moment and looks at the giggling children playing in the yard once more. Is he really this easy to read? “You are wrong,” he says simply.
“Oh, now you want to deny it. You can say whatever you want, I have already seen through you and how you feel about Sir Howell, Your Majesty,” Sylvie says while fluffing a blanket in the emergency supply pile.
“I don’t think that you are cold or mean, that’s what I meant,” Phil corrects Sylvie with a small voice. Sylvie freezes in her spot and drops the blanket, like she can’t believe what she is hearing.
“You really mean that? I was really mean to you earlier.”
Phil huffs and shakes his head. “No. You really care about the Empire, I admire that about you. I think you like me more than you let in on too. Your advice changed the trajectory of my life, which I resented at first, but now I’m thankful for having seen the true suffering of the people. I just feel really powerless,” Phil says.
Sylvie turns to look at him with a surprised expression. “Powerless? Your Majesty is the chosen spouse of His Highness. Do you have any idea how much power comes with your status? I have even heard that Her Highness the Queen Dowager adores you. Your Majesty, you hold more power in your hands than you can even imagine.”
Phil looks at Sylvie, not quite sure if he should believe the words she is saying. Sylvie doesn't know how His Highness truly is, very few people do. “I don’t feel powerful.”
Sylvie clicks her tongue. “You got His Highness to send you here. Do you have any idea how tightly he watches over the harem, most of them haven’t been outside the capital once after entering the palace. You are clearly special to him in some way.”
Special is one way to put it. Phil knows that His Highness wants him totally and is willing to do very unlikely things to make him bend to his will. It’s a dangerous game to play.
“I know. It scares me,” Phil admits quietly. His hands are slightly shaking, thinking about His Highness’ breath near his neck. He had technically promised to marry him without putting up a fight, but there’s no world in which Phil would do that.
Sylvie looks at him and frowns, maybe she is finally realizing how much of a difficult situation Phil has found himself in. “Your Majesty, you aren’t alone in the palace. If you play the game of power well, there’s nothing you can’t achieve.” Phil isn’t sure how true these words are, but at least hearing them makes him feel better. Like someone trusts him more than he himself does.
“I don’t know how to even begin to do that. I feel like every step there is going to lead to a trap and get me killed,” Phil admits.
“His Highness won’t kill you easily because he has invested a lot in you. If I were you, I’d start with Her Highness the Queen Dowager. She holds power over the nobles and elders in the imperial court. His Highness is strong, but his influence is susceptible to the pressure from the court. He needs to please the powers that be in order to keep his position. If you want to help the people, appeal to Her Highness,” Sylvie says.
Phil thinks about it for a moment. The Queen Dowager had indeed been very friendly with him and even took his side when it came to His Highness. There’s a chance that she might sympathize with the people in this case if Phil presents his case well to her.
“Thank you Sylvie. You really made me feel better,” Phil says quietly.
That evening Phil can’t sleep, he turns around in his bed restlessly, thinking about his talk with Sylvie, His Highness, the people of the village and Dan. Always Dan. He thinks he will go insane if he doesn’t see Dan right at that moment. In a moment of impulse, Phil sits up from his bed and looks around. Everyone seems to be asleep.
He climbs out of the bed and wraps himself in a coat and scarf. Dressed as a man, the others would think he’s a guard, not the princess in case he gets caught. That’s enough of a reason for him to accept the risk of getting caught. Phil opens the window carefully and jumps out of the room. He lands on his bum in a very typical Phil fashion. Thankfully there’s no one around to witness his lack of athleticism.
Phil makes his way toward Yvette’s house quietly. Thankfully there’s no one outside to keep guard between the houses. Only his door is being guarded by an overworked poor fellow that had probably fallen asleep. Dan would be furious if he knew, the thought makes Phil smile sadly.
Finally he reaches Yvette’s house and carefully approaches the front door. He isn’t much of a spy nor can he effectively sneak around. His need to see Dan overwrites Phil’s logic in this case. He decides to believe in the cover of the night and that Yvette should be asleep.
Dan is laid down on the floor of the general living space, supported by a nice futon. He looks so peaceful sleeping there, and just as dashing as always. If Phil didn’t know, he’d think that Dan is just sleeping.
Phil walks carefully over to Dan and lowers himself onto his knees. Immediately he grabs Dan’s hand and presses the back of it onto his own cheek— he needs to feel Dan close after days of barely catching a glimpse of him.
“My love— how did this happen? Why haven’t you woken up?” Phil whispers against Dan’s warm hand. There’s no response, like he had expected. Still, Dan’s presence soothes the terrified part deep in Phil’s chest. The effect of Dan’s presence is undeniable— he can’t live without him.
“Dan, I’m scared. I don’t know what to do to help these people,” Phil whispers, tears stinging his eyes. Maybe if Dan was awake he could gather his thoughts and make sense of the situation he has found himself in.
“You know, everything I wanted to do was to leave the capital with you and to live in peace without the burden of my duty,” Phil continues, still shaping out in his mind what he is actually trying to say.
“But when I came here and talked with the people, it made me realize that I can’t escape it. I can’t unsee this suffering that we have witnessed. They have suffered so that we have been able to live in peace, in ignorance. But— the thing is, I don’t know what I can do. I talked with Sylvie and she seems to believe in me for some reason. I don’t think I have what it takes to make an actual difference. I’m running out of time though. The blood moon will be soon. I can’t marry His Highness, I really can’t.” Phil draws in a shuddering breath and wipes a tear off his face. The outpour of emotions had made him talk more than he had intended.
Dan doesn’t move at all. Phil hates seeing his love like this, he needs to feel Dan’s presence somehow, so he leans over Dan’s chest and presses his ear against his ribcage. Listening to the steady beats of Dan’s heart under his ribs calms Phil down. As long as Dan’s heart beats, Phil would be okay.
Thump thump thump thump
Phil closes his eyes and lets himself get lost in the comforting sound.
“One day, I promise you Dan, we’ll leave everything behind together and reach the sea. Your hair will dance with the wind, your cheeks will be painted in freckles and the sun will caress our skin. I don’t even know what the sea will look like, I’ve only seen it in paintings,” Phil whispers, as much to himself as to Dan.
He starts drawing shapes on Dan’s stomach with his index finger, hoping for a closer contact with him despite his unconscious state.
“I promised to marry His Highness in exchange for getting to come here. I hate this Dan. Please wake up and tell me what to do,” Phil whispers.
Then something happens— Dan stirs under Phil’s body. Immediately Phil lifts himself off Dan’s chest and looks at his face, elated.
“Hnnnhnn…” Dan makes a noise and scrunches his face slightly. He is waking up finally.
“Dan, my love, open your eyes. I’m here,” Phil whispers.
“Hnnn— Phil?” Dan says with a raspy tone. A huge weight is lifted off Phil’s chest as he hears Dan’s voice for the first time in days. He cups the knight’s face between his hands, to take a better look at his face and make sure that he is okay. Before Phil can stop himself, he presses half a dozen kisses on Dan’s mouth and cheeks, relieved to see him wake up.
“You are awake, my love,” Phil says between the kisses, elated and excited to see Dan’s brown eyes open once again.
“Where are we? Are you okay?” Dan asks, looking around the room.
“We are at your mother’s house in Greenstad. You got sick after getting stabbed. The healers think that the sword had some kind of a poison on it to make you weaker. But now you are going to be okay,” Phil says quietly, caressing Dan’s face between his hands. A slight stubble pricks Phil’s delicate fingers in the most pleasing way.
“Huh? I remember the cave and then—” Dan says but stops suddenly, looking at Phil with a bright red blush. Phil lowers his gaze after being reminded of the way they had lost themselves into the passion in the cave.
“Yes. You lost consciousness but I managed to ride the horse with you to bring you here,” Phil says, trying to get past the sensitive topic. Dan pushes himself up to a sitting position and pulls Phil into a hug needily.
“Thank Gods you are okay. I was tormented by nightmares the whole time I was asleep. Phil, I don’t know what I would have done if something happened to you,” Dan whispers into Phil’s ear. Phil relaxes into Dan’s embrace and buries his nose into the nook of his neck.
“What are you saying? I was worried sick over your injury. You aren’t allowed to do that ever again,” Phil whispers back.
“What’s going on here?”
Dan pulls away quickly, looking back at the figure standing in the room. Yvette.