The King frowned, immediately conflicted. He didn’t like the idea. Those walls had been built to prevent people from finding ways to cross over the bridge or cheat their way inside the Capital. If they broke some of it, they might be opening a large breach into a lot more troubles later.
He looked around. Sadly, right now, there was no other solution on the table. The water was rising fast, and all the people in front of them were in danger. Perhaps a couple more hours and the water would start swallowing people, and getting inside the buildings. They had to do something while they could, or there would be no way to calm the furious crowd, and that would be a much more pressing issue. His eyes met with those of the terrified children, clinging to their parents and crying loudly. He had once been as helpless as them. He had been scared of dying, of hunger, of the cold. He had been scared for his mother, and his younger brothers, and watched helplessly as they were taken away by disease.
Ashen took a deep breath, and turned around, staring at the large closed doors. Taking down the wall, even a portion of it, would take too long, but they could win time before that. He glanced back at the crowd, and his dark eyes darkened.
“I’m going to open the doors,” he said, “...but no one shall come in.”
Immediately, a concert of protests started loudly. People had been waiting for days, weeks, and even months for those doors to open for them and their families. Now, the King was going to open them, but they couldn’t cross, even in such a situation? This was too much. The shouts at the King got louder, but Ashen wouldn’t budge. He stared at the crowd, with his dark eyes, not afraid. Cessilia wasn’t as confident. His popularity was already not what it once was, and now, it was almost a provocation to open those doors and trust these people not to force their way through. The only thing scarier than a natural disaster was an angry mob. Ashen was facing hundreds of people, and this time, no one could help him. This was not a situation that a dragon, brute force, or money could solve. Cessilia couldn’t step in, either, which made her feel even more sorry for him. But those people were Ashen’s people. She was still only a foreign princess.
“You can’t keep us here! We’re all going to die!” the angry crowd roared. “Let us through!”
“No,” Ashen retorted, calm but loudly, “or do you people want another civil war?”
Those last two words calmed them almost instantly. There wasn’t a single person here who had forgotten the nightmare before the White King rose to his seat. Some were hesitant, or doubtful, the cold and anger making them lose part of their rationality, but many knew their current situation would come to pass if they waited, perhaps in a matter of hours. They all knew a civil war could last much, much longer than that.
“...There’s really nothing ready to welcome you in the Inner Capital,” Ashen continued, “but we are bringing the basic necessities to you. If you force your way in, not only will you not get anything, but people might die in meaningless fights.
“Who says you’ll help us?!” someone shouted. “You’ve been keeping us out of the Capital for so long!”
“I’ve been doing what I can!” Ashen roared back. “...And I know it’s not enough. But right now, this is what it is. I swear we’ll do what we can and save everyone we can. I’ll do anything I need to.”
The crowd hesitated, but before anyone could protest again, a large man made his way to the front. His large frame was intimidating, and he was standing half a head above everyone else, with a large beard and small eyes, which were riveted on the King. He was carrying a large ax too, although his apron seemed to indicate he was some sort of blacksmith, not a fighter. He stepped forward, detaching himself from the crowd to face Ashen, his bushy eyebrows knitted together.
“I remember a boy who once stood with us,” he said, his loud voice reaching everyone. “Back then, there was a bad king in this castle and war everywhere. My family was scared, like everyone. I lost two brothers, my sisters-in-law, and four of my nephews and nieces to that bad King. Not many people were brave enough to fight the King’s soldiers, but there was a boy who did. That boy was brave, as brave as any man I’ve met.”
He was standing, tall as a mountain, and staring very seriously at Ashen. From the odd accent in his voice and the strange hairdo with feathers braided in his hair, Cessilia suspected he belonged to one of the smaller families. He had a few people standing behind him and glancing at him as if he was their leader of some sort, and a young girl was standing behind his leg. In fact, as her eyes kept going around, Cessilia noticed several more groups of people who seemed to have similar distinctive traits from the others. Some of them had tattoos of little black dots and lines on their bodies, including their faces, or scarifying marks. Others had unique hairstyles or unique kinds of jewelry. So many people belonged to families she hadn’t heard of before...
“Is there... anything left of that boy we trusted?” asked the man. “I won’t follow a greedy and cruel king. But I will listen to that boy once more.”
Cessilia turned her eyes to Ashen. He looked a bit surprised to be reminded of his past in such a way, but after all, it hadn’t been so long for those people since the seemingly dead Prince had come back to take his tyrant father down from the Eastern Kingdom’s throne. For those people, the memories of his battles and honesty were still fresh enough to give him the benefit of the doubt, and thanks to that bearded man, even those who had forgotten were now reminded of this.
Ashen took a deep breath and stepped back, not away from the man, but closer to the doors.
“...I am that boy. And I am your King. Now, whether you agree with me or not...”
He turned around and began pushing the doors. Those doors were large and heavy. They normally took a whole mechanism to be opened, and at least one man for each door. Yet, the King only had one hand pushing against each door. They saw him use all of his core, arm, and back muscles, struggle for half a second, and slowly, he opened the large doors. As predicted, the water went flowing out through the bridge’s arches, decreasing on the side they were standing on. Cessilia turned to the people, all stunned by the King’s strength, and bearing. She felt a little bit proud. Despite the situation, those people admired Ashen. Indeed, they knew what he had once done for this Kingdom, and weren’t ready quite yet to mob against him.
Once the doors were opened, Ashen turned around, his chest going up and down with his heavy breathing. He stared at the crowd as if daring them to defy him.
However, nobody moved. Many people had their eyes riveted on the bridge, but the anger from earlier had definitely been subdued. Instead, after a couple of seconds, some of those eyes lit up.
“Look!” exclaimed a young man.
From the other end of the bridge, people were advancing, heading toward this side. Cessilia ran to Ashen’s side, and quickly found relief. The Dorosef Tribe! She recognized a few of Nana’s cousins, who were braving the downpour to pull a large cart. Soon enough, they arrived, drenched, but looking around. The young woman she recognized from the Fish Market ran to them first.
“Lady Cessilia! Y-Your Majesty... We brought a lot of food! As much as we could prepare for now, but there is more coming! And we have ingredients to prepare more here too!”
“Th-thank you so much,” said Cessilia, relieved. “Let’s g-get you set up as soon as p-possible.”
“...Food?”
The little voice behind could have come from anyone, but the dozens of hungry eyes riveted on the cart meant the same thing: those people were starving. Cessilia was suddenly worried. Were they going to try and force their way to the cart now? She took a deep breath and stood in front of the cart.
“Yes. The D-Dorosef Tribe brought food, b-but please, be p-patient! We will find a way t-to distribute it t-to everyone!”
A few people ignored her and suddenly rushed toward the cart. Cessilia stepped back, panicking about what to do to stop all those people, but before she could even react, an ax suddenly swung through the air, brutally slamming into the ground.
“Stop it!” roared the man from earlier. “Didn’t you hear the lady? They will distribute the food! And there’s more coming! If you rush now, how many kids will starve because of you greedy bastards?! By the Galatian Tribe, if anyone else touches that cart, I’ll slice your greedy hands myself!”
Even the young girl by his side glared around as if to dare anyone to approach. His people were clearly siding with him, and now, the crowd didn’t dare come closer, instead looking like they actually felt a bit guilty for rushing.
“...We will b-be ready soon,” Cessilia promised.
She exchanged a quick glance with Ashen, who was still standing a few steps back in front of the doors. He nodded and crossed his arms. He wouldn’t move from there, to prevent the mob from trying to force their way into the Capital. The tall man sighed and turned to Cessilia. She was tall, but that man looked like a giant compared to most people. He brushed his hair.
“Come on, young lady, you should get all this to where we can distribute it soon. Words can’t hold hungry stomachs for long, and to be honest, everyone’s been starving for a while...”
“I will. Th-thank you.”
Not hesitating anymore, Cessilia quickly moved, guiding the people from the Dorosef Tribe to meet Nana at the first inn, just like Tessandra had said. Plus, her cousin was there, and they had found a tent large and strong enough to erect outside. Quickly, they had the Dorosef people borrow the inn’s kitchen and start making more buns, while Tessandra, Sabael, and Cessilia put the tent up outside, as close to the doors as they could while staying close to the inn. The crowd was now completely disinterested in the doors, glancing with hungry eyes at the large beignets that quickly appeared in their little stall.
“Everyone, get in line!” roared Ashen. “Families with children or pregnant women first!”
The people began moving, and despite a bit of uproar, no fight was instigated, everyone too tired to really attack each other. Soon enough, a clear line of people appeared, and those who tried to get in front were loudly told to go to the back. Under Cessilia’s orders, the triplets made sure the line was kept with the priority they had determined, and they began distributing the first beignets. They could smell in the air that more were already being prepared at the inn, and soon enough, two more carts arrived, the Dorosef cousins relaying each other to bring them back and forth with ingredients. Ishira arrived shortly after, bringing with her large bags of tea leaves and more people from her family to help. They couldn’t set up the tea outside, as there was no way to keep a fire going in this flood and downpour, but a pot was prepared inside someone’s shop, and they started donating warm tea with the beignets. Cessilia was impressed with how willing everyone was to help since they had arrived. Many people ought to have been too scared by the mob, but they were now opening their doors, offering some families with babies or infants to stay in, and lending their cups, glasses, and bowls for the tea distribution. Things were calming down slightly, but while handing beignets to people, Cessilia glanced around. People who had just filled their stomachs with a bit of warmth had no choice but to go back under the downpour after a quick stop under the tent. The people whose turn it was thanked her with trembling lips, wet to their bones, and their hands shaking. They needed another solution for that too...
“Lady Cessilia!”
She turned her head and spotted Lady Bastat arriving on a slim horse, followed by a few people. She jumped down and rushed to Cessilia’s side, noticing the line of people.
