(Since there's some time left I'm gonna update today as well but there will be the promised chapter on Sunday, just as promised.)
I think I broke my friends.
After all they were staring at Eren for a few solid minutes now with gaping mouths and pale faces. Except Mikasa who had finished burying their mom by now.
"Guys...?", Eren asked insecure. "You okay there?"
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?", Ymir yelled and Eren rushed to her side to get her to quieten down a bit. "You are the motherfucking prince of Eldia?"
"Only the second-born so please shut up or we'll have more problems coming."
"Well, can't say I'm surprised.", Jean snorted. "With that arrogant ass of yours."
"Talk for yourself, horseface."
Eren crossed his arms and for the first time since he had shut up his friends with the truth about his heritage he appeared to be more than just apprehensive and even a bit scared.
"So...you are not angry at me?"
"Why? You gonna throw us in the dungeons then?", Jean asked with a crooked grin.
"You wanna risk it, horseface?"
"Pick your battles wisely, suicidal bastard."
"And how would you know about wisdom?"
"Guys.", Mikasa stopped their bickering. "We should get going. The night is long and we have to find some place to sleep and a plan to survive in order to do anything about the situation."
"You knew, right?", Armin asked, sounding a tad hurt and Eren couldn't blame him for it. He would probably be furious if one of his friends had kept such a great secret from him. He would make it up one day.
Mikasa nodded, not providing any insight on how he had told her. Eren wasn't going to either.
With lips pressed into a thin line he knelt in front of his mother's grave, touching the earth there for one last time.
"Ich habe dich so sehr geliebt, Mama. Ich werde dich stolz machen, das verspreche ich dir. [I have loved you so much, mom. I will make you proud, that I promise you.]"
"Woah, great. The suicidal bastard is bilingual. Any more surprises today?"
"Maybe if you look into a pond you will finally realize you are a horse. But other than that I think that's it for the day.", Eren countered and stood up. He wanted to turn around but hesitated. There was one last thing he could do for his mother.
He closed his eyes and made a fist with his right hand. Solemnly he tapped the left side of his chest twice with his hand and then reached up to the sky, two of his fingers outstretched, the others angled.
The formal way to say goodbye to the dead.
A ritual he had learnt from his older brother once, since his father hadn't cared to show it to him.
"May you find rest above us, mom.", he whispered raspy and dared to tug his lips up into a soft smile.
Only then did he turn around and followed his friends who were waiting at the first trees of the forest. Mikasa regarded him with a compassionate nod.
"Let's go.", Eren said. "We have a long way ahead of us."
- - -
5 months later - Palace of Eldia
Cold walls reflected the heartless aura of King Grisha. His chin was propped up on his clenched fist, moving it's fingers in uneasiness.
"What do you mean 'they escaped'?", he bellowed and the soldier bowed to him with a tremor in his scared voice: "Forgive me, Your Majesty! We did everything we could but..."
The king raised his other hand with a annoyed scoff.
"Spare me your useless words. If I wanted to hear your pathetic excuses, I would have asked for them, don't you think?"
The soldier, completely unsettled by the King, dared to look back at his comrades who were all kneeling behind him on one knee and ignored the pleading spark in the young man's eyes.
Sighing King Grisha gestured them to leave him alone. They all hurried out of the throne room as if they were being hunted by deadly creatures.
"Why haven't I put them in the stocks again?", he asked the only man left in the room without sparing him so much as an exasperated glance.
"Because Your Majesty knows better than to waste any resources in a time of war.", the man answered, his onyx hair hidden under the cap that was part of the military uniform he was wearing. Not only the medals on it showed his position but also the emotionless mimic of the general.
The King laughed a rare, humorless laugh.
"Always honest and upright, aren't you? General Ackerman? Not even the escape of war prisoners can change that attitude of yours."
A clatter could be heard from one of the corners of the noble hall and King Grisha looked up from the general, only to frown at the blond servant boy who hastily tried to gather the utensils he had dropped onto the floor.
"Useless pack...", the King mumbled, his concentration already elsewhere. "Get out!"
The boy bowed to the king, hiding his expression underneath his hair. Silently backing out of the room the guards let him out of the hall, not noticing the smirk that danced across his lips, torn open by the temperatures.
"Wait!"
The king's shout startled the guards. The servant boy halted in his movements abruptly, not facing the king.
"Turn around.", Grisha ordered and General Ackerman watched how the blond servant boy looked over his shoulder. He caught a glimpse of emerald green eyes but then his vision changed and they were plainly brown.
"Who are you?", the king snapped at him harshly which drew not even a bit of a reaction out of the servant.
He crossed his arms behind his back, utensils between his fingers and lowered his head a bit more, bowing to the king in the smuggest way possible without risking getting thrown into jail.
"I am a simple servant, my Lord."
"Since when do you work here? For me?"
The answer came a tick too late but neither the general nor the King noticed right away and a second later they were too late to.
Glancing up under his eyelashes the boy answered: "I have worked here for a few weeks now, my Lord."
The king frowned.
Something about that boy seemed awfully familiar to him. But he couldn't put his finger on what was putting him off about the appearance of him.
"What is your name?"
The servant raised his head in a sheepish way only the servant knew to be fake.
"My name is Faris. I am from a city far away and have come to serve Your Majesty."
Apparently satisfied with the answer the king nodded and gestured him that he was allowed to leave.
Oh father, the boy thought, smirking when he lowered his straightened posture into a bow. You don't even know who's coming for you. You should have killed me the night mom fled with me. Before I got to know Mikasa and Armin. Before I had something to fight for.
He left the throne room.
Left the king.
Left the general.
His put-on smile disappeared as soon as the doors fell shut behind him and he strode through the corridors he had tried to get familiar with. Fury was hidden behind the brown contacts and the prickling want for revenge spurred him on with every step on the enemy's territory.
Just you wait for it, father. I will make you regret every scar on my body that you are responsible for.
YOU ARE READING
Coming for your heart
Fanfiction|| Book 1 || Eren Yaeger had to flee from his home when he was only six years old. With his mother and his adopted sister he tries to forget anything related to the King and the secrets they left behind. Many years later war comes for Eldia and Er...
