Your Country's Free

A Fanfic for Jugdral Holiday Exchange 2017

Shanan's hand traces the patterns on the castle's walls as he walks.

It's been twenty years.

He had been able to dismiss his guards, but Ulster and Larcei still follow behind him.

"I can't believe Grannvale hasn't completely ruined the place," says Ulster.

"Only because they needed somewhere to live while they starved everyone in Isaach," Larcei says, sniffing. Shanan recalls that Danan's two younger sons had pursued her, and while they did not personally commit atrocities, they had been complicit in them.

Yes, Seliph and the rest of their allies at the time had conquered the castle after Prince Johan was killed. Mana, Dimna, Radney, and Roddelvan had worked with the local people to ensure that the castle did not fall to Grannvale again.

Shanan hadn't been there when his homeland was freed.

He's not sure if it was worse to flee Isaach or to live in his fatherland as fugitive.

"There you are, handsome!" Patty turns a corner in front of him.

He wasn't expecting to see his wife of all people while he soaked in his memories. "How did you find us, Patty?"

"What sort of thief would I be if I couldn't easily explore a castle?" She grins. "Sorry, former thief. Reformed and all that. I suppose this stuff is mine too, right?"

"Larcei and I do have some claim to Isaach," Ulster observes. "Our father was a Chalphy knight, but he was the younger son of a count. Our inheritance from him is meager at best. And you also inherited your father's lands in Sophara, right?"

Larcei scowls playfully at her brother. "When did you become so greedy?"

"I'm just making a point!"

Shanan steps between the two. His cousins tease each other often, but time and time again friendly debates would become quarrels. "That's enough, you two."

Larcei turns to look at him. "You don't have to scold us like we're children, Shanan."

He sighs. "Why don't the two of you go on ahead? Your mother's favorite place to nap was in a courtyard not that far ahead of us."

The twins bid them farewell, leaving Shanan with Patty. She stares at him thoughtfully.

"What is it, Patty?"

"I was wondering if part of the reason you married me is because my father was from Sophara. I'm sure that's good for your rule, right?"

This is the last sort of conversation I could picture myself having with her. "It certainly doesn't hurt that you father hailed from Isaach, Patty, but that's not why I married you."

She bats her eyes at him. "Oh? Then why did you marry me then, my king?"

Shanan groans. "Patty..."

She laughs. "You're so easy to tease sometimes."

+++++++++

"Try to sleep, Shanan." Her nephew is like a garment torn from its stiches. She expects that she doesn't look much better.

They are hidden underneath a blanket in a cart. Maricle had commissioned a group of his most trusted retainers to spirit away the pair to the northwestern edge of the mountains.

From there, it is up to her to find a way to keep Shanan safe.

She was only five years old when Shanan was born, and since her sister-in-law had died in childbirth, she had taken it upon herself at an early age to be aunt, sister, and mother in one. Their nurses would gossip while she sat on the floor with Shanan, his babbling like music to her ears. When he was older, she would take him to watch Maricle train. She would race around the castle with him on her back, avoiding the servants who would beg her to "please stay still for just a moment, Princess!"