So that explained why she wasn’t there this time... Cessilia felt a huge weight lifted off her heart. She hadn’t even realized how dark and ugly the veil of jealousy was on her feelings for Ashen, but just then, it felt like something had finally come off. She took a deep breath, a bit heavier than she had thought, and looked at him, as if under a new light.

“...I understand,” she muttered. “Th-thank you for t-talking to her.”

“Don’t thank me.” He shook his head. “I knew this should have been dealt with... a while ago. Perhaps I was also feeling sorry toward Jisel for... using her.”

She could understand Ashen wasn’t feeling good about suddenly ditching the woman who had been by his side for a while, but Cessilia couldn’t feel sorry for his mistress. She had a hunch that Jisel had used him at least as much as he had used her... and things wouldn’t be settled so easily, either. From what she had seen, Jisel was not one to let go easily.

Still, Cessilia shook her head. She didn’t have time to worry and get mad about her rival once again. She took Ashen’s hand off her cheek and stepped down.

“Sorry, b-but I have t-to go,” she said. “I’ll see you later t-tonight.”

After one last look at him, she quickly turned around, about to go down the stairs again. However, before she could take more than two steps down, Ashen’s hand grabbed her arm, holding her back with a worried expression.

“Wait, where are you going? Why are you headed downstairs?”

“Outside. T-to help the people b-behind the walls. The rain won’t s-stop until t-tonight, and Nana said they risk b-being flooded over there. P-people might get sick without p-proper shelter.”

“No, Cessilia, you...”

Ashen was about to say something, most likely to stop her from going out in this horrid weather, but just then, his eyes met Cessi’s. The determination in her striking green irises made him swallow whatever he was going to say. He frowned slightly, having some inner conflict, and then he sighed, his shoulders going down a bit.

“Fine. ...I’ll come with you.”

“B-but the castle...”

“It’s not like it’s going to fall just because I’m not sitting on my throne for a few hours. I’m coming with you.”

Cessilia hesitated, but something warm appeared in her heart, slightly glad and relieved. She nodded, happily.

“Alright. Let’s g-go.”

They went down the stairs side by side, and just as Nupia had promised, horses were waiting downstairs. Ashen called his own, a very large, black steed, and they left the castle grounds a couple of minutes later.

It didn’t take more than a few minutes for them and their mounts to be drenched. The rain was so heavy they could barely see ahead, and they couldn’t have the horses go faster than a trot, in case they’d slip or hit someone. There was no one out, though; everyone was probably cautiously staying indoors. The water was dripping down the dark cobblestone, and just like Nana had described, was going down the streets to fall into the riverbed. There was still a lot, however, and some narrower streets seemed to have turned into little rivers, when it wasn’t deep puddles filling an intersection.

Finally, they arrived at the wall, and with just one glance at Ashen’s white hair, the soldiers stepped aside, opening the door for them. They crossed the empty bridge without an issue, but Cessilia could finally take a good look at the situation. Naptunie was right again. The few holes in the walls’ lower half were like heavy waterfalls, releasing a continuous large stream of water into the river. The waterflow was so dense that the holes were clearly not enough. Cessilia glanced further, and there were smaller waterfalls coming from further along the coast, on both sides of the bridge’s end, naturally dug beneath the wall as the soil became saturated with water. Luckily, the rocks in the layers beneath wouldn’t collapse, but this meant the ground on the other side already had too much water...

They reached the next door, but as they yelled for the soldiers to open, it took longer for anyone to respond. After a while, Ashen got down from his horse, and went to bang at the door. To their surprise, it opened, but a heavy flow of water came out of it, like a valve had just opened. Cessilia anxiously watched it cover up to the horses’ ankles and Ashen’s. They exchanged a glance, both shocked, but it was even worse on the other side. The soldiers tried to let them through, but the crowd of people trying to get to the bridge was making things difficult. They had to open the doors very briefly, and once they got to the other side, Cessilia really took hold of the utter and complete chaos. The brief opening of the door and the water that had been flushed on the bridge wasn’t enough. Hundreds of people were gathered, shouting at the soldiers to let them through, water up to their knees for some. The Royal Guards, five times more than usual, were barely keeping the protesters away from the doors thanks to their weapons and the archers on top of the wall, threatening to shoot any trespassers down. Moreover, the crowd was angry, but most of them were families. There were a lot of children crying, even those carried by their parents, and some that couldn’t be had water up to their waist. Cessilia’s heart dropped. This was worse than they had thought.

“Cessi!”

Tessandra ran to her from across the crowd, effortlessly pushing people out of the way to get to her. Sabael was right behind her, not in his soldier uniform but with his large sword on his back, soaked to the bone despite his raincoat. Cessilia threw her shoes to Nupia, and ran to get to her cousin, grabbing Tessa’s cold hand.

“It’s complete hell,” she said in one breath, wiping the water off her face. “The guards didn’t want to listen to us, but Naptunie is amazing. She negotiated with some inns to let the older people stay inside!”

“Our siblings and cousins are spreading the word to our tribe,” nodded Sabael. “We also have two of our uncles and one aunt here, they are trying to make people stay calm, and talking to more shop owners and residents to get help.”

His eyes quickly went to the King, surprised to see him there, but a bit relieved as well. Ashen and Cessilia exchanged a look.

“Ishira will c-come soon,” said Cessilia. “We need t-to set a tent outside to d-distribute warm tea and food, so people will stay c-calm a bit longer.”

Tessandra nodded, and turned to Sabael.

“Let’s find the largest, biggest pot we can,” she said. “I’ll go ask around if anyone has a tent that we could use, or perhaps we can set it up in front of someone’s shop.”

“Got it.”

Tessandra quickly turned to Cessilia again.

“Nana is in the first inn on the second street!” she shouted, covering the downpour and loud crowd.

“I’ll g-go see her!”

Tessandra nodded, and she and Sabael turned around, running back to the habitations to find what they needed. Cessilia turned to Ashen.

“I’ll stay here,” he said. “Things will get much worse if all those people get inside the Capital or even take the doors down. People won’t dare to break the door as long as I’m here.”

Just as he said that, a rock suddenly hit his temple.

He grimaced, and glared back at the crowd, but whoever had done that was staying quiet and hidden under the King’s annoyed glare. However, it was clear he wasn’t too popular. Many people were glaring back, if not looking at him with terrified eyes.

“Let us through!” a woman screamed. “Our children are terrified and drenched! We’re going to be flooded!”

“There won’t be a better place to shelter yourself in the Capital,” shouted Ashen, calmly but loud enough for the crowd to hear despite the downpour. “There are too many of you, and we don’t have time to allocate everyone somewhere!”

“You liar! You’re keeping us out while you nobles stay comfortably inside in your palaces!”

Many more people shouted at him, similar things and furious accusations, but Ashen didn’t flinch. Cessilia’s heart hurt for him, but the King was incredibly calm and composed. After a while, the crowd calmed down by itself. People weren’t less angry, but they were slowly realizing who was standing in front of them, just as drenched and cold as they were, and not turning away from their insults. The King was still there, looking more human than ever, his wet, white hair stuck to his face and his hot breath releasing little clouds of mist.

“I’m sorry,” he suddenly said.

His words were followed by a shocked silence. Some people exchanged glances, as if to check they weren’t the only ones to have heard this. The King was apologizing to them? It was baffling enough to make everyone calm down, although many whispers went rampant through the crowd.

Ashen sighed and pushed his wet hair out of his face.

“...I’ll do my best to save my people,” he said, water dripping down his chin, “but I need you all to listen to me. To us, for the time being. I promise I’ll do what I can to help you all.”

Cessilia was staring at him, an indescribable feeling of pride in her heart. It was the first time she was seeing Ashen interact with his people, with the common folk, and he was nothing like he was with the Clan Leaders and nobles. He was drenched, his shoulders low and cold, but he had never looked more magnificent in her eyes. This was the real Ashen, the Ashen who had grown up in the streets of Aestara and fought to free them from his father’s tyranny.

In front of them, the crowd seemed at a loss of what to do, exchanging whispers between them and sending doubtful glances to their monarch. Cessilia stepped forward.

“We are b-bringing tea and food,” she said in a loud voice, “b-but no one will get anything if we c-can’t distribute them. P-please be patient a little b-bit longer!”

She glanced around to see if anyone was going to protest, but the mention of warm food and drinks sparked a light of hope in many eyes. The King himself had come, and the situation was looking much brighter now, so the crowd had ceased to protest for a short while.

The rain itself wasn’t going to kill these people. They were scared of drowning or getting sick. The solution to the second problem was on the way, but the first one was the priority for now. There was way too much water starting to flood the streets of the Outer Capital. Soon, not even the buildings would be safe, the water was going to start getting in. Cessilia looked around, trying to find a solution. The ground was slightly inclined toward the river and the edge where the walls had been erected. That was the main problem. Because the water couldn’t be evacuated naturally, the whole area was turning into a reservoir. Cessilia frowned and turned to Ashen.

“We have to t-tear down the wall.”