Our People Lie Here

19- Armor Skin

    I didn't want to use it with Lilian, because they would know I was a threat. I molded the Silver into my skin and left my helmet normal. I was in no pain and felt lighter than ever. I looked down at my body. I looked at Brian who was in shock. He laughed. He molded his armor onto his body. "A woman", he said, looking down at my now revealed breasts. Dammit. I jumped in the air and landed down with my sword right on his shoulder. It didn't leave a single dent. "Don't you know Goldens are stronger when the sun is out"? It was sunset, I just had to hold him off until I'd be stronger. I chased him and hit him multiple times with my sword. We hit each other at the same time, making each other fall. I fell on him. "You know, maybe in another life this could've been a thing. Sadly I'm taken though", he laughed. I got up and punched the eye slits on his helmet. I got up and looked at the dent I left. He molded it right back to normal.

    I ran father down the road and listened as he chased behind me. I sensed he was aiming for my back so I jumped. I landed right on the tip of his sword. I flipped off of it and landed behind him. "Woah", I thought. I could never do something like that before. Just as I prepared to hit him, the sun finished setting. When the hit connected, he flew all the way down the road. I could feel it setting in, the mania. My feet lifted from the ground as I stared down at him. I was floating? I had no other thoughts but, "Kill him". Midnight blue dust started to cloud around me as I approached him. I sawed and stabbed at his armor until his chest plate shattered. His whole chest was revealed and it would be a clean stab through. I raised my sword and got ready to stab him through the heart. Yet, through his eye slits, I saw something unusual. Blonde hair? Only peasants had blond hair.

    I used my sword to knock their helmet off. I watched it roll away and looked back at them. The mania in me quickly turned into despair as I saw... it wasn't prince Brian. It was Dukein. I took my helmet off and threw it on the ground. By now, townsfolk had gathered around to watch the fight. "A silver royal, and the golden prince", people whispered. "Duke... I thought- I thought you couldn't control gold", I gasped. "Ginno... it's a lot to explain. But- It's been you this whole time", tears welled up in his eyes. I didn't know what to do. Kill him, or let him live? Betray my country... or my heart? I looked him up and down, I assume he saw my confusion. "What... what's going on", I cried. He let go of his sword and stood up. "Just follow my lead", he said, wiping his eyes. He got down on one knee and hung his head. "E te manumalo. You win", he said. 

    Tears started to run down my face. "What're you doing"? "You've won... now go before more enforcement gets here". I ran off and went to the manor. Hours later, everyone arrived. "What happened Ginno"? "I won... but it was Prince Duke I was fighting. And my helmet came off". Everyone was in shock. "He knows it was you! We have to get you out of the kingdom-". "Prince Duke and I are together. We've been dating for 3 months". Everyone went back silent. Armona came and sat on the couch next to me. "We're gonna figure this out". The next day, I had to face Duke. He approached me ever so slowly. "Does he have more guards than usual? Why does he look angry", I thought as my heart raced. He stopped right in front of me, looking down at me with the sternest eyes. Then his eyes softened. "Hi Ginno", he smiled. I looked at the guards behind him.

    Then I looked back at him. "What about-"? "Must we take our leave"? He smiled at the people in the bar before we left. I slowly got in the carriage, making sure there were no traps or anything. "Are we gonna talk about yesterday", I whispered. "How about we wait until later", he smiled. I kept my head down the whole ride. I kept feeling as if I was about to be punished. We got to the castle and everyone stared at me as I followed Duke to his room. "Had they always stared at me like that", I thought. We got to his room and he closed and locked the doors behind us. "So... you were the Silver chariot this whole time", he asked, looking away from me. "For someone who knows me so well, I thought you would have known", I chuckled. "Why didn't you say something", he asked. "What was I supposed to say, hi Dukein I just broke the law today"? "I thought you couldn't control silver". "I couldn't... but a lot has happened". 

    He sighed. "I thought you couldn't control gold". "Well, a lot has happened to me too". I sighed and sat on the bed. He slowly walked to me. "If you had known it was me in that suit... would you still have killed me"? "Did I kill you last night", I looked up at him. "I'm sure it would've been hard to do that. Judging how around 20 people saw your face and could now report you. How long have you been planning all this? You have to have some sort of plan behind fighting a random golden knight". "I'm taking my country back... and no one or nothing will stop me. And I know that it means a lot of issues for us, but I think-". "I agree... you do deserve your country back".