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“You don’t want to be queen, do you?”
The young Miqo’te girl sighed, and shook her head, staring down at her shoes, “Grandfather wants me to, but no, I don’t want to rule.”
“But why not, Katsum? A ruler gets to do whatever they wan, whenever they want,” The boy spoke with wonder in his voice, with a blind fascination of a crown, “That’s what you’ve always wanted, right? Just to do whatever you want whenever-”
“A ruler is a servant to its people, Criston. It’s not freedom to do whatever, its a responsibility to lead the kingdom to a better future and keep everyone safe.” The young Hyur boy went silent and turned back to look out at the sky and the water with her. Katsum was quiet too, her eyes trained on the sea and the horizon beyond.
“So...it’s freedom then that you want…?” Criston asked after a few minutes, “Freeodm from...what exactly?”
“From responsibilities I feel I am not ready for...from things I “must” do rather than want to do.”
“Hah, said every heiress and princess ever,” She glared at him and he faltered a little, “Sorry…that was rude of me...”
She didn’t answer and just turned back to the waves. Behind them, the festival was continuing on just as joyous as before, the laughter and the merriment of the kingdom of the coming of a new ruler, the one the dragon in the necklace would choose, was almost deafening in the quiet of the night. There was no joy in Katsum’s heart, only fear of the unknown, worry of what was to come. Fear that it would be her and she would be thrown into the lair of a beast she did not know how to control or handle.
“Wait! I’ve got it!” Criston’s outburst startled her as he turned to face her again, a broad grin on his face, “Make a bargain with me.”
Bewildered and confused, she asked, “What?”
“You don’t want to be a ruler, but I can be, and when I’m ruler...I-I can make you my queen!”
“Huh…? Is this some odd way of saying you…?”
“What!? N-No...just...just listen! Ok? If I am the chosen king, I hold the responsibility of leading the people and the kingdom. Anyone I chose to stand beside me doesn’t have to worry about all of that, yes?”
She narrowed her eyes in thought, “I suppose…?”
“Then make this deal with me: Tomorrow when we come to offer a pact to the dragon, don’t offer your hand.”
“What?”
“Don’t offer a pact. You can’t become ruler if you don’t offer your hand.” Her eyes grew wide, but he continued, “What I’ll do is offer a pact and surely, the dragon will choose me. And when he does, I’ll make you my queen...and you can have that freedom that you’ve always wanted. The freedom to go and explore this island and maybe even beyond the horizon if you wanted. Beyond the storms and the raging sea to worlds we can only dream of and hear stories about. We’ll be happy together forever and ever, and never have to worry about anything. What do you say to that?”
Katsum was speechless, a thousand thoughts buzzing through her head as she tried to picture what he was saying. To not offer her hand and pact meant she couldn’t be made queen, that made sense. And even then, he was right of course. Who else would the dragon choose but Criston? He was the best of the heirs of the four houses, the strongest, the bravest, the most cunning. Of course the dragon would choose him, so why was she worried?
A look of relief came over her face and she smiled at him, fluttering her eyes playfully, “Very well, Ser Criston. I accept your bargain and shall be your queen. I shall take it as a declaration of your love as well.”
Criston sputtered, “T-That’s not...I mean i-it’s not wrong but...AHH! Kat, why!?”
She laughed so loudly, it matched the sounds of the festival noise, a happy sound of being set free from her worries and fears. Yes, she would agree with this, and her wanderlust could be set free and charted forth with this.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
“You broke your promise, Katsum.”
“No! No, I didn’t! I was only trying to stop you and Jonath from fighting in front of the people over the crown! I reached out only to-”
“It doesn’t matter what you reached out for! You still reached out and the dragon chose you! You took what you said you didn’t want. You took my dream from me!”
Katsum is speechless, tears rolling down her face, but Criston’s angry expression does not falter this time.
“Well done, stupid girl. Now you’ll never be free. Serves you right for breaking your promise.” He turned away from her, but stopped to add, “Don’t ever speak to me again, your majesty. We’re no longer friends.”
And he left her there in tears, wondering why and what she had done to deserve this...
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Katsum reached up and ran her fingers over the necklace of Draic, the necklace where Raihogg’s being resided, the dragon who had chosen her to be queen. Even now, as she sat in a place far from her island, amidst the snow and ice of Coerthas in the Ishgardian nation, she still knew one thing to be true.
“I never broke my promise, Criston,” She whispers in the silence, “But I have new promises now...and they far outweigh anything you ever offered me.”