"Y/n wait!" Historia giggled as you dragged her arm through the castle gardens.
"Hurry up Tori I want you to see this!"
You were practically dragging Historia through the gardens as birds tweeted and the wind blew throughout one of the hottest days of the year. The king had allowed you both to wear less formal garments and play considering the heat, only if you both promised not to get too far from the castle walls.
"Y/n were getting too far away!"
"We'll be fine he doesn't have to know," you looked around for a second before continuing to run."Look look there it is!" You frantically pointed at a wild horse.
"Woah!"
"Be quiet you'll scare it away!" You whisper-yelled to your sister.
The horse was all white with a long mane and tail with brown eyes that almost looked black.
"I wanna pet him!" Historia again said loudly and giggled, putting her hand in her face.
"Do you have no filter, Tori?" You rolled your eyes at your naive sister's actions.
The both of you began to hear sounds of clicks coming from down the road, some coming up it, causing the horse to run away as you both looked at each other and pouted. As they got closer you and your sister ran to find cover behind a bush.
"Mr. Magath, charitable of you to come here I see you brought the calvary."
You peeked over the bushes to see who was talking. A man with no hair and fair skin sat upon a horse. Accompanied by him were 3 other Eldian soldiers holding guns. 'Mr. Pyxis' you thought.
Magath cleared his throat. "It's commander."
"We're not in a battle right now, what's the use?" Pyxis made a wheezy laugh and threw his hands up in defense.
"Why are they here?" Tori whispered to you as she looked back and forth from you to Magath. She moved uncomfortably, shifting around in the grass causing Magath and Pyxis to look your way.
"Tori I swear to god stop moving," you whispered only quiet enough for her to hear.
The soldiers all stopped in their conversations, one pulling his horse closer to the bush to investigate. You ducked your head down and pushed Tori's head down so forcefully there was no chance you didn't hurt her.
"Probably just a rabbit." One of the Eldian soldiers remarked.
"Anyways," Pyxis coughed ending in a wheeze. "We needa' find a way to work together on this. We're more alike than you think you know."
" I'm afraid there's no way to compromise. You killed our commander." His voice was grainy at the end, making him sound more angry than he already looked.
Historia covered her mouth and looked at you after hearing him say 'killed'.
"But Pyxis is the good guy right?" Historia whispered as her voice broke at the end. Her eyes began to water.
"I'm sure it was in self-defense Tori it's okay." You slightly hugged her and then turned your attention back to the two commanders.
Magath's eyebrow twitched. Tension was growing between the two as you tried to calm your brain from thinking about the worst outcomes of this situation. You were young at the time but old enough to know the possibilities. If someone was killed Historia would have that trauma till the day she died. Even if no one died and it was only attempted, seeing someone shot isn't an easy thing to witness.
"Well, it seems you've got your priorities set straight." Pyxis raised an eyebrow as the Eldian soldiers placed their fingers on the triggers of their guns. "I was hoping we could come to an understanding considering it was in self-defense commander."
"Afraid not."
The two stared at each other for what seemed like hours before they turned their horses to the side. You could hear whispers coming from Magath and his soldiers before Magath turned his horse around.
"Give my regards to the devil?"
You frantically ducked down, trying your hardest to cover Historia's eyes as quickly as you could. The promise made that day of a civil conversation was broken in an instant.
Pixis' body hit the ground. As did the three other Eldian soldiers.
Historia scrambled to get your hands off her eyes, once she did, she regretted it. Pixis' laid there. Bullet through his head and lifeless eyes open. Starring at the both of you. Historia gasped as you covered her mouth.
You knew if they saw you they'd kill you. Or worse, they'd take you and your sister hostage.
"Should I signal the others commander." One of the soldiers asked.
"Yes, make it fast I want this castle ransacked. If were unable to kill the king, find the princesses. He cares about em' so much he'd sacrifice his reign for em'."
One marleyan soldier lit the tip of an arrow on fire, drawing his bow and launching it into the air. You were only 11 at the time but you knew very well what this meant.
The sudden sound of galloping became louder and louder as Eldian soldiers finally came to investigate the 4 mysterious shots on castle grounds.
"Princess Historia, Princess Y/n, what are you doing out here you could get killed." Two Eldian soldiers came from behind you both.
"I just wanted to show her a wild horse that was all I swear!" Tears began to prick your eyes as the Marleyan soldier's galloping became closer and closer.
"This wasn't your fault Princess, we must go now." One of the soldiers grabbed you with one arm and hoisted you up on his hip while the other grabbed Historia and did the same.
The soldiers took you both down into the crypts along with the other women such as your maids and cooks.
The battle for the Castle of Eldia would end in Eldian victory. Magath and a few other soldiers managed to slip by and fall back, leaving 126 Marleyan soldiers to die. A lot of which did. Some ended their own lives; too stifled in their own pride to let themselves be taken prisoner.
Some gave up and surrendered to a life of working for the palace as maids, some even were required to join the military.
By the end, 39 of those soldiers died. 15 killing themselves while the other 24 died in battle. The other 87 soldiers were taken prisoner; forced to work as stable hands and stewards until the Eldian empire decided they weren't of use to them anymore.
That was the first time you ever saw the true realities of war. You had grown up without a single reminder of how dark the world could be. Brains do silly things to protect itself; luckily Historia doesn't remember that day much at all—it's blocked out, forgotten.That day remains an example of how a day could go from perfect to terrifying in a matter of minutes.
