A Hard Won Peace (Skeith & Kolath)

Fiora slowly woke out of her dreams which she would go to her grave before admitting to. She had never been one to suppress what she was feeling but ever since she had come to be married she didn't know if she could trust her own feelings any more. Finding the bed empty was a little disappointing to her but she pushed that thought away, especially since she had made it clear that Cinder wasn't welcome in her bed. She regretted a lot of things that she had said in anger but now wasn't the time to dwell on them.

Getting up she went back to her room through the still open door and grabbing some clothes she changed into a long tunic and pants underneath. Over the top of it all she slipped a light shawl all in the colors of her family. Going to the balcony she looked out on the practice field and smiled glad she could still read people somewhat. Cinder was out there working on her routine. Fiora nodded carefully before heading down out of their room to the main audience chamber.

Finding both the king and queen there she motioned for the queens attention and since the matter before the king didn't need her help the queen came over. "Yes dear, is there something I can do for you?" Fiora nodded slowly blushing, "I was hoping to meet with a few of the castle seamstresses before we left, both mine and Cinder's clothes are made for our lands not for our new home." The queen nodded slowly before clapping her hands. "I will have them come to your room and bring options for the new royal colors."

Fiora thanked the queen and grabbing a page sent a message to Cinder to come back to her room when she had a few moments. They would be leaving soon but she thought this wouldn't take very long and it would be good not to be showing the same colors as the two rival kingdoms. Cinder would find her in Cinder's room with several sets of cloth and colors out and half a dozen seamstresses around talking about the merits of each option.

Cinder had only just finished her training exercises when the messenger arrived. She returned her sword to its scabbard before turning to face the young servant. The message was brief, and to be honest, Cinder wasn't sure what to expect. Fiora could be back to her aggressive self from earlier the previous day and could be looking for a fight, or she could be looking to discuss something important, perhaps pertinent to the last night's events. She sighed quietly, producing a few coins for the young page, before heading back to her room. She took a moment to look about the courtyard. She appreciated the alien beauty of the trees and hoped that they would be in abundance wherever they were headed. Hopefully the land had not been scorched by war.

When she entered the room she was not prepared to be discussing clothing. Fashion had always been the furthest thing from her mind. Though the black and red of her uniform was threatening even it wasn't associated with her homeland. She unbelted her sword, setting against the wall as she approached. "I understand you needed to see me?" She asked quietly, looking between the seamstresses, than to the fabrics and back to Fiora. "I suppose we're to establish our new attire then?" She recognized the significance, these colors would find their way onto their flags, their military uniforms, and their personal attire.

Fiora looked up at Cinder a little bit of a pleading look in her eyes. She hadn't thought to have so many people offering so many different opinions on what their new colors should be. She had to agree with the ladies that she saw the merits of all of them but not one of them seemed to fit what she had been thinking. Knowing that he opinion had been skewed by the years living in her parents land, and always expecting to keep that set of house colors for her whole life. The thought now of changing it was scaring her more then she thought it should.

"Ah Cinder please come over here." She didn't finish that thought with 'and save me' though he eyes seemed to be saying it. She held up a few combinations of colors, one was brown white and red, another green blue and white, finally the third was brown green and gold. From the look on her face none of them impressed Fiora. Her family's colors were red orange and gold the color of the phoenix's wings. But she couldn't pick those because they were for one of the countries the two of them were leaving behind, the colors that she had picked out were as far from those as she could get but she really didn't care for them. She was lost and needed some help in thinking thing through.

Cinder examined the color combinations she was shown admittedly none of them made her very comfortable. She knew that the black and red of her homeland would be unacceptable, but it was still difficult to think about replacing it. The black of scales and the red of fire symbolized everything about being a dragon. To step away from that was almost heart wrenching. "As our two nations now stand as one, or will in time, it seems wise to find something that honors both while praising neither. Perhaps a green as base, supported by red as a secondary, and gold as a trim?" She offered. "To be honest, these things are beyond my realm of expertise."

She walked closer to where the fabrics were laid out, standing beside Fiora as she examined them. "Perhaps also, a red or pale gold as a dominant with red or pale gold and black serving as secondaries?" While she never would have imagined it, the idea of a banner reflecting a gold or red phoenix and a black dragon in unison seemed an obvious selection for a nation's flag.

Fiora listened closely to what Cinder had to say and then looked at the colors she was suggesting closely. Now that it was in front of her it made perfect sense and that was obviously what their country should fly as their banner. She brushed aside all the other colors and started to work quickly over them deciding which would work out as best for the foreground and which two as supporting. It didn't take long, before they had it just like Cinder had suggested, red as background with a pale gold as a middle and the black final as top most.

Happy with herself Fiora grabbed a paper and some drawing chalk before heading out of their rooms. It had come time that they were off to their new home. They had to get there before one of their families tried to occupy the castle ruins that was to be their home. It wasn't just the two of them but rather a large group leaving and it had been most the morning getting them all together. Masons and soldiers for defense and rebuilding the walls and castle. There were many people living near the castle that they would be able to gather most subjects but there were some that were coming with them to stay those that wished an adventure and the struggle of starting a new kingdom.

Cinder was pleased to see that her suggestion met Fiora's approval, and chose to simply watch silently as she worked over the fabric to find which combination would work best. A small smile teased her lips as she took a hold of paper and chalk and disappeared from the room. She turned to face the seamstresses and bowed her head to them in gratitude. "Thank you all for your time and your suggestions." She then turned and began preparing what little belongings she had brought with her for the trip. When she did finally exit the large hollowed out tree that had served as their temporary abode, she took a moment to look about at the forest one more time. Though her stay here was brief, she would miss the shade of the canopy of leaves and the exotic sounds and smells of the forest. She approached a carriage, climbing in when the door was opened for her. The action had her taken aback, but she would have to get used to people waiting on her, at least in some regard. She settled into her seat, waiting for Fiora to join her.

When the carriage was finally underway and their journey had begun, Cinder released a deep sigh. She leaned her sword against the carriage wall and gazed out the window. Now that they were actually moving forward, it seemed as though it were all really happening. The reality of it sinking in slightly. Everything would change from here. Friends would become enemies, and enemies would become friends. She loved a good challenge, but this was something beyond that. This was a feat that would take no small amount of cunning, bravery, or cooperation. She could only hope that Fiora and herself were up to the task.

It was a good two days travel from the kingdom that was supporting them in this to what was to be their kingdom. Fiora spent most of the first day lost in what she had begun in her rooms before they had left. She was working on a design for their shared coat of arms. Using the colors of chalk that the two of them had agreed on she worked to craft something that would speak of both their join heritage. She wasn't meaning to leave poor Cinder alone with her own thoughts for company but Fiora had a bad habit of getting caught up in projects she started.

It wasn't till their noon meal that day when the stopped that she realized how bad of company she had been being. So afterwards she worked at trying to engage in conversation with her partner. After another hour of travel after noon she moved over to join Cinder on her side of the carriage holding up a few sheets of paper. "Have a look. I was thinking about not just our colors, which thank you for your help this morning. But also about our coat of arms, I took your idea of combining our colors and applied it here. What do you think?"

The papers had three variations of the same theme. One mean for the tunic of a guardsmen or soldier, another their shield and finally for the flag itself. The shield was interesting as it held the blood red back drop with a pure black dragon in the mid ground its wings spanning out covering a good part of the shield almost like it was protecting the golden phoenix that was in the fore ground. The flag held the phoenix with a blaze of fire trailing behind it intertwining with the dragons tail as the two flew side by side. The tunic was much like the shield only the dragon's wings were more in a shield shape with its head above the shield of the wings again seeming to protect the golden phoenix.

Cinder had remained quiet for much of the trip. She was slowly growing more and more overwhelmed as she tried to put together a mental checklist of everything they had to accomplish. She was certain that the castle and surrounding city would need some serious repair. She would have to reach out to her fellow dragon riders in a hope of recruiting them, even more so to see her own dragon delivered. An internal fear persisted that her parents would kill her dragon in an effort to punish her.

She'd remained silent during the break for food, only acknowledging the world around her when she felt Fiora come to sit down beside her. "I'm sorry?" She responded when she first spoke up. Though as soon as she saw the concepts on the pages, she took them gently before looking over them. "These are better than I could have imagined." She said after a moment. "You've got a gift for this sort of thing." She said as she returned the pages to her.

Fiora felt bad as she realized that she broke Cinder out of a stream of thoughts. She knew how overwhelming all this was as she was having her own problems dealing with everything that needed to be done. She sighed deeply as Cinder too the drawings and looked them over. In her mind she kicked herself for focusing on such little things as they didn't really make anything better. All it did was serve to distract her from larger things that needed to be done. She smiled as Cinder complimented her work and nodded.

"I am sorry...I just..." she sighed again shaking her head before looking to her partner. "All this is just so big I need to do something to get a hold of it. I am so scared of messing everything up that I just feel that these little things I know I can do, and at least that's one less thing that needs done." She sighed putting the drawing over on the other seat sighing, "I'm sorry I know they aren't important things." She was still kicking herself for wasting so much time on something that really didn't matter in the long run.

Cinder listened carefully when Fiora spoke, her apology causing her to furrow her brow with sympathy for a brief moment. She reached over, placing her hand over Fiora's. "There's no reason to apologize. This isn't a waste of time. It's important. The people will need a banner to rally behind, and the soldiers will need a tunic to fill." She lowered her gaze after a moment, releasing a deep sigh. "I'm terrified as well, even if I don't seem it. I've been a soldier and nothing more until only yesterday. The prospect of reigning a fledgling kingdom, and possibly fighting former allies... I've never faced an obstacle that I could not confront with my sword. Knowing how little my training will do for me now, frightens me greatly." She looked up again after a moment. "If we can trust and hold true to each other, I'm certain we can succeed. We have to."

"It's a big undertaking. But looking at all as one objective will not make it any easier. One step at a time. We must trust to our allies, and tackle this in smaller objectives. In a way, by focusing on our colors and such, you've already started us in that direction. One last thing for us to have to worry about, and one step closer to success." She spoke softly, trying to reassure her new wife.

Fiora was terrified knowing the strength of her father's forces and wondering how they would be able to stand against them. Let alone if Cinder's parents joined with them, the combined forces of Draconia and Phoenicia coming down on their small band was not something that she looked forward too. The two of them would probably be killed as traitors and any that supported them would be rounded up and put to the sword also. She smiled at Cinder's praise finding herself blushing slightly and had to turn away as she tried to regain her composure.

After a few moment she turned back brushing a tear from her eye. "Thank you Cinder. That means a lot coming from you." And it did she was shocked how much she already relied on Cinder's opinion she was after all the only other one that Fiora could be sure was on her side. Other's might say it and mean in good times, or be meaning to trick them. But Fiora and Cinder had already chosen to give up their lives, everything they had known, just for peace, Fiora knew she could trust her life to Cinder's care. "We are facing all this..." she paused looking at Cinder, "With only a near stranger at our side." She nodded as the sun was just starting toward the horizon twilight still hours away. "Let's change that...Ask me anything I know I can trust you with my life...there is little I will hold back from you."

Cinder's brow furrowed with concern when she saw Fiora brush a tear away from her face. Cinder was surprised by Fiora's offer to divulge more details about herself. It seemed obvious that they would have to learn more about each other if they were going to trust one another and live with one another, but what was there to ask? How could Cinder ask about Fiora's life or childhood without Marcus becoming a topic of conversation? She looked down at her lap for several moments, trying to think about what she could ask.

She reached over, placing her hand over Fiora's softly. She looked up at her after thinking of at least something she could ask. "Knowing you better is extremely important, but I'm not certain what to ask. Maybe you could share a bit about your home with me? What was life like before... All this?" She asked hesitantly. "Anything you enjoyed doing with your free time?" She felt awkward, like a teenager on her first date, tip toeing to avoid offending the other.

Fiora realized when Cinder took so long that she had opened something that could cause them both pain. She didn't know what to ask herself so how could she tell Cinder anything if she didn't know what to say. Sighing she shook her head her long copper red locks bouncing around her cheeks. "I'm sorry that was...well... " she sighed before gently taking Cinder's hand holding it gently in one of her own soft delicate hands.

Looking down at the hand she held she wondered for a moment lightly rubbing her fingers over the calluses that came from working with a sword. Smiling slightly at the suggestion of starting to share their childhoods Fiora nodded. "That's a good idea...keeps us safe for now." She knew there were subjects they would need to talk about that would bring at least her to a fiery outburst just because of the emotions but for now something safe and childhood sounded good.

Her emerald green eyes smiled as she thought back to before the war. It had been going on for many years and she had been very young when it started. "My home..." she paused before correcting herself, "My old home, well it was a wonderful place. Before the war my parents were nothing but the most caring and loving couple." She sighed thinking over how that had changed, the stress of the war had led both her parents into the arms of other people and her mom even now was pregnant with a bastard. Her curls brush her cheeks again as she shakes those thoughts clear, "My brother's and I would spend hours playing in the fire caves that dot the hill country not far from the castle." She smiled memories flooding her, she realized she should share them at least to some extent. "I would spend hours more even by myself just dancing in the fires. Didn't even occur to me that they didn't seem hot to me, till my parents caught me and knew I was blessed by the phoenix."

Cinder could hardly help but smile, even if only faintly as she heard her speak of her childhood. It brought her some degree of happiness to hear that Fiora had, in fact, enjoyed a childhood before their worlds caught fire. Though it made her realize that having enjoyed a normal life, must have made losing it so much harder. Hearing her talk of dancing in fire brought a quizzical expression to her face. "Such an event would be certain to cement anyone's faith, I'm certain." What must it have been like, to be favored by a God in such a way? Was it a curse? To know that no matter how much the world around you burned, you would remain untouched to watch? She shook her head free of her dark imaginings before looking back up to her.

Cinder breathed out a quiet sigh, as she realized it was her turn to speak. "Draconia is a noble place, with proud citizens, but we are a warrior state." She thought back on her childhood with some degree of remorse before continuing. "I was born the younger of two children. Not wanting me to have any delusions of grandeur, I was raised away from my family, and trained a soldier. Any visits I made to the palace were awkward, my parents making it clear that my being there was an inconvenience. Save for my time with..." She paused as the memories surfaced, wincing at the brief flash of her brother's death. "With my brother, Ash. He didn't see me as a challenge. Only as family."

"Any games I may have played were masked attempts to instruct me in tactics and swordplay. I did not have servants to wait on me, rather instructors to tutor me, and a single Wyvern to serve as my steed." A warm smile came to her lips as she remembered her dragon. "She was imprinted on me at birth, and we were raised together. I've never known a truer friend."

Looking over at her partner Fiora felt her heart open to the girl. She looked over listening intently as Cinder allowed her a glimpse into what had been her life. The way that her parents had treated her seemed like heaven in comparison to what had been Cinder's lot in life. Rubbing her hand up Cinder's arm in what she hoped was a reassuring gesture she smiled nodding as she listened to the rest of the story. It was good to hear that she at least had one friend from all this.

Hearing about the Wyvern Cinder tilted her head, she had to push down the first reaction of disgust at such a foul creature. It wasn't allowed to be her view anymore, and she had never really made her own view on them just having accepted her families view. She bit her own lip thoughtfully before striking out on a path. "Are you wanting your Wyvern to come live with us?" she looked a bit doubtful and hopeful at the same time know sure which one she really wanted to have happen.

Thinking for another moment she seems to finally come to a decision. "Cinder..." she paused before looking like she had to steal herself before continuing. "I need to tell you something. I...I am the reason the war started." She bit her lip waiting a moment before continuing, "You see...being touched by the phoenix well it went to my parents heads...they felt they were destined to be the rulers of fire...and well hard to be that with a kingdom that has dragons not far away." She sighed looking down, "All these deaths are my fault..."

Despite her efforts to hide it, Cinder could tell that her mentioning being close to a dragon bothered Fiora. Though she could see that she was trying to change her feelings about it. "If I had it my way, I would very much so like to have her by my side again. Though I fear my parents would see her killed in order to hurt me." She lowered her head in solemn thought for several moments before she heard her name. She raised her gaze to listen to Fiora. Her eyes widened at her explanation. Her story made sense, though when she blamed herself, her brow furrowed with concern. Had this been a guilt she had carried with her for most of her life?

"Fiora... No... Don't blame yourself." She shook her head softly. "It was your parents' warmongering. I'm certain it was simply an excuse. Remember that it was one of your own kin who made an attempt on your life last night. Besides, it would have only been a matter of time before my own decided to go to war. As I said, Draconia is a warrior state." She leaned closer to Fiora, reaching up to place her hand on her cheek, cupping it gently. "Listen to me. You may have been the catalyst in this situation. But the war was inevitable. Who struck first isn't important anymore. Only that it's over." She placed a gentle kiss on Fiora's forehead before pulling away a little.

Fiora shivered slightly with repressed sobs trying not to let her weakness show. She tried to smile as Cinder spoke trying to reassure her. She failed badly as the moving of her facial muscles allowed the tears to start flowing. She collapsed a bit against Cinder as she nodded trying to accept that others were as much to blame for everything. There was only one problem at the end of the war she hadn't just decided to fight she had accepted that she was to blame and that this was the phoenix's will for her life. She had embraced the fury of the fire and turned it on her enemies showing the power that she had for a long time held back. For the first time the Phoenicia troops had not just held against a equal force but were winning.

She looked back up at Cinder sitting back from the one that was to be her partner in life. "I know...but...after..." her tears were starting to come back for a different reason. "I'm sorry...I don't think I can talk about that yet." She was meaning the loss of her love Marcus to Cinder's own battalion if not the she-prince herself. Reach a hand up she brushed the tears back pushing the concern for Cinder's dear friend to the forefront of her emotions. "I hope that is not the case Cinder, I hope and pray that your friend is still alive and had the sense to avoid your parents or has remained protected from them. I mean...aren't dragons something that riders protect even if not their own?"

When Fiora's tears began to fall, Cinder felt a knot in her throat. Her sorrow was so genuine and real, knowing that on at least some level, she might have been responsible for part of that cut her deep. She had long ago been taught to not think of any enemy as human, and to think of them as faceless. With the war now over, the humanity of those that had been lost was an all too real pain that she cared. Almost as though their blood only added to the weight of her sword. She wanted to hold Fiora and help her through her grief, but there were no words she could say, and no amount of apologies would make it right. She reached forward, hoping to brush away Fiora's tears, but retracted her hand just as quickly.

She nodded softly when Fiora explained she wasn't ready to talk about Marcus yet. When she turned the conversation back to Cinder's dragon, she cast her eyes downward. "High dragons are wise and intelligent beyond measure. They are the gods to whom we offer tribute and praise. Wyverns, or lesser dragons, are intelligent enough, but are only slightly more intelligent than a horse. She will know something is wrong and that I have not returned, but I fear she will not sense the danger." Her hands tightened into fists. "Ordinarily yes. Riders protect their dragons with more fervor than their own lives. But, considering how quickly your people would send an assassin to kill the one who bares their God's blessing, I fear that my people's beliefs might also be compromised by anger and false patriotism."

"I realize how strange my loyalty and love for this creature may seem. As I'm certain they are only monsters in your eyes, but she is the closest thing to real family I've ever experienced. With my brother gone, she's all I have left." She raised her gaze, trying to choke back her own sorrow and doing so with some success, considering her life as a soldier and a commander. "The riders who would have been loyal to me, were killed in the final confrontation of the war. My battalion is no more. The riders who remain respected me once, but might think me a traitor now. I can only pray that she escapes, or is loosed by someone who still shows me compassion."