Even So, I am The Hero: 4/4 (Completed)

Even So, I am The Hero: 4/4

…

Interlude: Taline, The Imperial Princess

…

Whispers abounded across the land of the Hero.

The first and only Paladin of the Goddess of Death was out there now, fighting against the machinations of the Demon Lord, with forces of followers of Death supporting him.

Father felt no small amount of fury at the situation.

It had been the perfect moment to increase the value of my hand.

“They walk armies through my lands, they take offerings from my people, and accept donations from my lords, yet they still refuse.” We were in his study. Himself and I. Tea was served on a small table between two sofas. This was his private study and its walls were covered in books. Outside of royal uniform, he wore robes and wore spectacles. He looked like a scholar, yet was every bit of the ruler that was expected to be. Perhaps even more. “Taline, how goes your research. I’ve found nothing from my sections of study.”

Father had tried to bring the rest of my siblings in. To guide them on the path of knowledge and wisdom, as well as to assist him in his rule. Unfortunately, they found the pageantry and the traditions of noble life more to their liking. He allowed them to do as they wished. None of them knew that they already lost the chance to sit upon the throne.

“Unfortunately, I bring only grave tidings from my own research, Father. The Church of the Goddess of the Death is without reproach in our records. If we are to find any weakness, it will be from our shadows observing them.” Father scowled at my words, but it was not aimed at me. His was a tempestuous temper hidden beneath a veil of wisdom. It mixed with his convictions to form a white-hot drive when sufficiently enraged. Being denied his devised, optimal path only gave him greater resolve. “Father, I also believe that it would be better to chase after him and find him, rather than go through them, if the shadows we’ve sent bring no results.”

He grunted once more at my words… and I was ready to hear him respond.

Then, he grunted again, and his hand went to his chest as he cried out in pain.

I moved swiftly to his aid, while calling for help.

But for a moment, as I crossed the room to tend to him, in the shadows I thought I saw I hooded figure holding a dim lamp in one hand and a scythe in the other.

…

The physicians told me that Father would survive, and the cause of his pain and injury was immense pressure. Given his age and the stresses upon him, it was only to be expected that his heart was under immense strain.

But the sight of that figure in the shadows of his office told me that there was more to the matter.

So, I went to the chapel of our palace.

There, past all the altars, my feet took me to the one I knew I needed to visit.

The Goddess of Death was a figure covered in a hooded cloak. One hand held a lantern to guide souls to what came after Death. The other carried what many called a scythe. Some called it a spear. They were both correct. The Goddess of Death encouraged her followers to be industrious. To live full and productive lives devoted to building things that would be left after their passing. Left alone and unthreatened, her devotees would cultivate the lands, build workshops, and improve the lands with public works for those who came after.

But if threatened, all of it is used for war to terrifying effect.

Already, the forces of the Goddess of Death moved against the monsters of the land and against the rise of the new Demon Lord.

But their silence towards our lands was deafening.

All other nations received missives besides our own.

Now, after my father suffered a failure of his body, the Goddess of Death appeared in my vision.

I knew what I needed to do.

Before the altar of the Goddess of Death, I discarded my fineries and prostrated myself before her with complete humility in my heart.

“Oh, Goddess of Death, I beseech you. Grant me the chance for penance.” My mind was awhirl. It always was, but I smothered it as much as I could. I focused on the gravity of the situation, the coolness of the marble beneath me, and the coldness of the air. Any thought of conspiracy or contrivance, I drove away. This was not the place for it. “I am unworthy, but I beg of you for the chance at redemption.”

All light faded from all the other altars.

My senses, refined from the moment they could be refined, felt the weight of divinity.

No.

The weight of the divinity’s gaze.

That alone made it difficult to breathe, and every instinct screamed for me to run.

The eldest and most powerful of the gods was before me.

I awaited judgement… and I received it along with the reason for it.

My father’s machinations have doomed our nation, and I must move to overcome it.

“Sell that.” I told the shocked, silent servants who followed me into the hall. They witnessed all that happened, but I had ignored them. The jewelry and silk were but weights that would burden us. “Honored sister of Death, please—

The kindly old woman gave a small bow, while she gave me the habit. I donned it and found it well fitted… and the concealment it offered a great comfort.

Still, though, I would have to remain a princess for some time still.

“Call upon the ministers and clerks. Father’s actions have cursed our nation. We must move to overcome it now.” The eyes of guards and servants widened at my words, while my mind raced. My father’s error was going to cost our lands dearly. I knew not the exact reason, but the Goddess of Death did not move without reason. “Measures of austerity must take place, while the frontier fortresses are garrisoned. I want auditors on our stockpiles of food and material.”

I spoke, and my peerage moved, while I walked through the halls.

Some would say that to be punished for what did not happen was cruel.

I say that it is a miracle that we were given this chance to make amends, because the Chosen Hero used his rightful reward to return.

Father always moved with the intention of making the most of any matter. He stated that it was the only way to ensure our continued hold over the nation. We needed power, influence, and wealth in immense amounts to curtail the strength of our vassals. To that end, he aimed to have my hand promised to the Hero, and when his star began to fall, he took away our support and my hand in marriage.

What happened to our nation at that time?

What if the Hero did not choose to return after defeating the chosen champions of the dark gods?

A land of misery abandoned by the gods. Swarmed by monsters and abandoned by the clergy. Father’s decision would have resulted in ruin and desolation. The gods are good, but they are not fools. When they give power to one to save others, they expect their chosen to be supported… not used.

After giving many orders, I reached the clinic where my father was, and ordered the doors closed.

The sudden injury was more apparent to me now after feeling the weight of divinity upon my back.

The gods have abandoned my father, and if nothing was done, then they would abandon the whole nation.

“Taline, what are you wearing—

I knew him and his convictions.

I knew him enough to know that he would try to escape his fate, to horde power, and to find some other means.

Because, in the end, I knew my father was a selfish man who did not act for the good of our rule.

He acted because he delighted in being Emperor and having so much power.

So, before he could speak another word, I struck at his temple and at his mind. My palm barely connected with his skull, and wouldn’t even leave a mark on his skin, but the damage was immediate.

His eyes drooped, his facial muscles went slack, and drool dripped from his mouth.

With one, single strike I trapped him in his own mind.

In the depths of his gaze, I saw emotion.

Betrayal, confusion, and rage.

I closed his eyes with a hand and laid him back to rest, while placing a hand on his head to make sure that the wound healed in a manner that it would not be detected.

He will not be able to open his own eyes, and he will not be able to hear, feel, nor taste.

All that he will have his own thoughts and body until he perished.

“The king has fallen to eternal slumber.” I told my retainers, and they nodded tersely at my words. “This is the only way to ensure this nation survives the trial of penance we now walk. He will only worsen it.”

I searched my retainers for any who would object.

Two of their number were wavering.

One I knew would betray me.

Worse than I hoped, but better than I feared.

I closed my eyes and steadied myself.

The path that lay ahead of us may break our nation, but I would do my utmost to prevent it.

…

The sound of her footsteps was too familiar for me to mistake.

“Hes, there’s someone nearby. Someone strong.” Clara took note of my teacher’s strength and lack of declaration as a sign of ill intent. Before her hands could turn into claws, I raised my hand her way. “Hes?”

“It's someone that I know. Someone from another life.” Clara was taken aback, her eyes narrowed, but she nodded tersely and lowered her hands. My teacher should not be here, in the southern lands where the sun always shone and the sands glittered beneath its gaze. We were searching a ruin for an artifact that the Demon Lord could not have. The opposite of the frigid north where my teacher should be. “Someone who would not be here without the Goddess’s intervention.”

I reached for the Goddess’s symbol hanging from my neck.

Warmth flowed forth the icon into my hand, and my fear abated.

Her confidence was all it took for me to be sated.

“I believe she is here as an ally.” I spoke and peered through the long, dark, and ancient hall. The dark shadows behind us were pierced by my teacher’s visage. Sharp-eyed and with silver hair, the familiar visage of my teacher appeared. A phantom pain over my chest came alive with rage, but I held fast. The sensation of burning from within and without as I fell into a deep crevasse… it threatened to overcome me. I withstood it. I spoke in her people’s tongue. “Greetings! My name is Heston and my companion is Clara. We are in these ruins to find a fel artifact that cannot fall into the hands of the great foe!”

My teacher was silent as she came forward. She was clad in desert robes that flowed around her form. Frost hung upon her hip. A too-long rapier of star-metal that she used to practice the Falling Form. She would descend into the thickest concentration of foes and unleash her blade in mid-air. A storm of falling slashes imbued with magic. To an outside, it would look like a wild flurry, but I knew from all my lessons and having watched her fight that no strike would be wasted, and each one would find its mark with effortless grace.

With that effortless grace and silence, she extended her hand out toward me with palm up.

My heart thundered at the familiar moment, and I offered her my hand.

Her gaze was calm and composed, while her thumbs drifted across the calluses on my hands.

“You have trained well since our parting.” Her gaze raised and she looked at me, while I lowered my hand. Someway and somehow, the moment where her blade went through my chest felt as though it never happened. My teacher was here. The last one to leave me to my journey. No. Perhaps… the one who never wished to leave. “But there is much for you to learn still. I will join you in this journey.”

I opened my mouth to accept and thank her, but no words would leave me.

It felt unreal.

Until Clara nudged me by the side.

“Do not be daft. Accept her tutelage. This one’s power is without question.” Like a hammer smashing through the illusion holding my tongue, Claria spoke. This was my new life. My granted wish after succeeding in defeating the Demon Lord. Here and now, my teacher was before me once again, never having pierced my chest with her blade and taken my blade from me. Clara was here. Someone I never met in my previous life. “What are you waiting for?”

I found my tongue and did my best to suppress the ridiculous smile forming on my lips as joy bubbled up my chest.

“I accept. I will do my utmost to succeed you as a student.” They were words I said once before, but now they felt new. Bowing my head, my teacher returned my bow, and when I raised it she was already walking forward. I couldn’t help but laugh. “My teacher, please let me go first.”

“A wielder of swords my always be at the front.”

I did laugh at the familiar words.

“Not when there are traps ahead.” My words were the same, and she went still before slowly nodding, and looking my way. She did not walk towards me. Not relinquishing her current place, but not going further. It was only the slight twitch of her ears that told me of her true embarrassment. “Thank you, I shall lead.”

“Hmph, I’ll leave the two of you to the front. I shall unleash true power whilst you two ply trade with sharpened metal.”

“Clara, please be mindful of your power, otherwise you will collapse the ruin upon us.”

“…I had no such intentions!”

“If the ruin collapses, I will simply cut through the falling rubble above us.”

“That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard! You can’t cut through that!”

“If your ‘true power’ cannot blast through falling rubble, it is lesser than my blade.”

The two began to bicker as I knew they would, and I could only shake my head as I began to move forward.

The smile on my face refusing to fade as I did.

I clasped a hand over my Goddess’s icon and gave her thanks as my journey began once more.