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Francine felt a few loose strands of her black hair drape down by her ears, eventually cutting off down by her shoulders, but due to the fact she had her head bowed,and her hair tied up into a high pony with a royal pin to keep it in place, she didn’t have to feel the weight of all hair on her shoulder. She already had her fathers- the kings glare on her. And as if to mock her, she had also still been in mourning. She really didn’t need much more weight pushed onto her, and she really didn't want anyone getting in her way of her plan. Not even the brother she once had.
Recently, one of the guards, Sonar if she recalled the name correctly, ended up to be a spy. This, which as you can assume, didn't end well. The prince, Williams Charles, who was next in line to be elected for one of the kings, had been the assassinated. Though this loss had made all of the nation go into panic, nothing could compare to the dread Francine had felt. She had locked herself in her room, refusing to see anyone.This was her brother after all. Though she had reasons behind this, a plan out for revenge. She remembers the last time she saw her brother, he had been practicing his aim, using nothing but a bow even though the Nation was rich enough to have guns.
Francine squinted her eyes, trying to get used to the change of lighting from the sun blaring into them. Though, they focused quickly due to her lace eye covering. With her eyes, still only half focused, she noticed a familiar figure in the distance. Tall, with a strong build. She immediately knew who it was.
“Hey, Will! What are you doing?” Francine asked, surprising her brother before stepping out from the castle's corridor.
She would always spy on her brother while he was training.That or she had just been there by coincidence which was very unlikely because, for some odd reason, she had grown to love the art of combat, which was weird considering she was female, and a princess.
He smirked and glanced at her quickly before turning back to aim the bow.
“Training, like I always am. Shouldn’t you be going to your little–tea drinking class?”
As he said this, he changed his voice from his normal deep and scratchy voice, to one that sounded like it was hiding a laugh behind it. She watched as his lips tugged into a wide smile, pulling focus from his aim. She knew that that was not a laugh of mockery, but a laugh of pure love for his sister. After all, they had grown considerably close these past years. Due to the war between the Nation, and Empire.
Francine gave a smirk, before tilting her head downwards, letting her hair fall forward to block her face. She let a giggle slip out, hoping the ground wouldn't betray her and let William hear her laugh. She quickly raised her head to avoid suspicion before speaking again.
“Right! I totally forgot about that! Oh my… Last time I checked I believe I was doing just fine in it though, so I believe it would be agreeable if I were to skip one day.” She said, playing along with the joke.
She watched as her brother aimed another shot, (and inevitably missed) before sighing and putting the bow to rest in its barrel where all the other bows resided. He sat down on one of the many wooden benches that were throughout the training grounds. Ten in total, last time Francine counted. Francine slipped next to him, crossing her leg as she sat, her lace leg covering folding with her movement. William looked at her and let out a soft sincere smile, one that he rarely showed, unless he’s with her.
“You know it’s unorderly to miss class, and a princess should always follow orders. Especially you. You’re putting yourself in danger when you don’t follow them.”
He said the last part with more finality than expected. Staying as a reminder of the war that was going on between the Nation and the Empire. Though it’s not like she cared for the war. It wasn’t exactly scary, except for the fact that her brother was leading a mainstream troop. He was a good target to get rid of. It would set back the Nation quite a bit if he was lost. And It was likely to happen, she was probably going to lose him soon.
But she blocked that last part out, leaving it as a blur in her mind. Thinking about it only made her sick. The thought of losing her brother. She sighed before she looked back to her brother's eyes. Letting her Chocolate eyes meet his pale cheek that was still damp with sweat from training all day. She watched the way his face relaxed from the wind that blew in his brown locks. This could be the last time that she sees him. He did have a mission today. He was supposed to lead a group into an Empire camp and raid their supplies. They were bound to be put in danger with a mission like that.
“I don’t understand why you have to lead the troops. Couldn’t someone else do it?”
He eyed her, before flattening his lips.
.
“You know that there’s an active war. I’m their best soldier and this is a dangerous mission,” He said sternly before switching to a more amused face “What are you worried about me?”
Francine punched him on the arm lightly before laughing to herself, making sure to keep quiet so the other trainees wouldn’t hear her.
“Well truthfully, yes. You’re a good target for them,” Francine looked at the ground, letting her normally straight face fall into one of sorrow. “You know… I’ve been thinking. Why don’t you teach me some? It would be fun, and doesn’t come with any downsides!”
He stared directly at Francine, letting his face go into one of disbelief.
“Absoloutely not, that’s outrageous. A princess learning how to fight? It’s not necessary. I deny that offer.”
She stared at him for a second before speaking out again. “That wasn’t an offer, it was a command.” She said jokingly, attempting to lighten up the mood.
“I don’t take commands from a princess.” He said, harsher than Francine was expecting.
She looked at him, and he stared right back before standing up and beginning to walk to the exit of the training grounds.
“I was only joking, Will! Come on? Why won’t you train me?”
He looked back at her and rolled his eyes while grumbling something Francine couldn’t decipher. “Because a princess doesn’t know how to fight. You would do better being married off for the Nation”
Francine blinked a few times, feeling a pit in her stomach begin to devour her from the inside out. “What..? I thought that you were against dad marrying me off?”
“Well, he’s talked me into believing the truth. You’re going to be married off and there’s nothing else to it.”
The pit got deeper. She felt her eyes begin to sting and her throat to burn. She hesitated before starting, “you’re not the William I know.”
“I am, you just don’t want to accept that fact.”
She stood up, taking her dress in hand feeling the fabric taut between her fingers. Noticing that her knuckles were turning white from the pure intensity of her grasp, she eased her grip. She felt a stream of warmth fall down her face. Silence strung through them before Francine finally shattered it, shattering her soul in the process.
“Well then, maybe I never needed to know you in the first place.” She said, letting venom roll off of her tongue.
He grimaced at that. He was about to say something else but Francine ran off to her corridor before he could even finish.
That was the last thing she said to him.The last thing she said before he was sent out on that mission.
The last thing she said to him before he was assassinated.
She kept her head bowed as she talked to her father. It was basic honor and respect in the Nation to bow to the king while speaking, even if you were related to him.
“So you’re telling me that you’re sending yourself out to the warzone to prove to the people that the kings are worthy?” The king said, with a deep voice that scared those who hadn’t heard it before.
“Yes father.”
He groaned with obvious annoyance, and possible disbelief before replying, “this is outrageous. A princess going to war? I will not let you go this way. You would be of more use to the Nation by being married off.”
That last part stung deeper than intended. Almost tearing the stitching from the pit she sealed away years ago. Though the stitching was only half complete knowing that his murderer was still out there, living while he was 6 feet underground.
“I’ve already signed up, father. They need soldiers out there and I believe I’m worthy. Even if I am a princess-”
“You’re female. That’s the problem.”
She felt the stitching unravel. She sucked it up and pulled the string tighter, hoping it would stay closed.
“I understand. But my application has already been approved.”
He glared into her head since he couldn’t see her eyes while she kept her head bowed. Even so, she still felt his gaze burn through her head straight into the deepest part of her mind that she has had hidden ever since she found out William died.
“Fine,” the king's voice boomed throughout the room.”If you wish to get yourself killed on the battlefield then be my guest. But just know that when I hear the news that you’re dead, I will not feel remorse, for it will not be fate that killed you, but your own stupidity.”
Francine looked up at her father. Seeing his black hair and beard cover his face. With green eyes that had been darker than his. A sharp jawline complimented it all. Francine nodded before running to her room and quickly shutting the heavy door behind her.
If Francine knew one thing, it was that her father had almost no honor for her, or women in general. Truthfully she was only half royalty. Her father had been attracted to one of the British servants and the servant hadn’t reciprocated those feelings, but of course, her father didn’t care. When he found out she was pregnant he stayed and waited for the baby to be born. When he found out he was having a daughter, there was no joy on his face. There was no emotion except for the usual cold,stern look on his face. The same one that Francine had adopted following the death of her brother. After Francine was born, he threw the servant to the dungeons to rot. Hoping that she would never see the light of day again. And well, she never did. Francine didn’t even get to know her name, and the king refuses to tell her to this day. Saying that it was unimportant, and a woman doesn’t matter enough to be known.
The day after the discussion with her father. A group of soldiers showed up to the castle to retrieve Francine to join the war. She didn’t know if she was ever going to see the castle again, let alone the garden that she worked so hard on just to help the family's image. But she definitely knew one thing. She had lied, she wasn’t going to war to prove that the kings were worthy of leadership in the Nation, but to get revenge for the person she will still mourn till the day she dies. She was out for Sonar.