THE STEPS I TOOK [PK]

[Zaerie 3747]

 

 

 

 

THE STEPS I TOOK

 

Exiting the town hall in the dark, Aleksandra sighed, she flung the satchel over her shoulder and clung the stack of papers against her chest. She let the heavy door shut behind her with a thump, walking to the left of the town hall, through Rosebud Square, and through the underpass of the Stafyr manor. She wondered if she would ever get used to walking into it, instead of passing it to the Alimar manor, to Maya, a kitchen making pies, and the one place she felt truly welcome, no matter her past. She glanced around at the other side of the tunnel briefly, spotting a figure, though ignoring it to dig into a satchel pocket for her keys. The man did not ignore her.

 

The figure went into step behind her, barely out of the passage. He took a quick pace to catch up to her as he nearly tripped over her skirt, though he wrapped his arm around her head, cupping his hand over her mouth. Aleksandra’s eyes would go wide, her papers dropping and scattering in a cold breeze, the carefully scribed papers scraping dirt and puddles– ruined. His other hand reached around, sinking the length of his knife into her midriff and pulling Aleksandra closer to him. She flailed desperately to push him away as he removed the dagger, only to embed it into her again and again.

 

The figure recoiled quickly, leaving his knife in Aleksandra’s stomach; a light heading down Kingsway road. He ducked down the tunnel, disappearing onto the Reza docks, and into the night. The light picked up its pace as Maya heard Aleksandra’s gasps and cries, sinking to the ground as she clutched her own stomach. “Ma- Maya!” she gasped out, “Hektor, Viktoria, what if they see–” 

 

“Shh,” Maya muttered to her as she fell to her knees all the same, her hands shaking as she grasped her friend and tugged her up onto her lap. She rested her head there, attempting at the slightest bit of composure as she brushed away strands of Aleksandra’s onyx locks from her forehead. “Look at me, look at me.” There were tears welling within her eyes but she blinked quick enough to try and keep them at bay. And as Aleksandra’s gaze started to wander down at her fatal wounds, Maya reached a hand to bring her chin up, “I’d reminiscence on childhood memories, but I don’t believe we’ve had the best of luck with those.”

 

Aleksandra would grow a labored, but faint smile, glancing down once again periodically but then attempted her best to look to Maya. “Niet, we really haven’t.” she’d grimace as a wave of pain hit her again, seizing up but trying to smile for her cousin. “I’d say that it’s been the opposite of lucky.”

 

“But,” Maya could no longer keep back the tears she had been trying to withhold, “You always were so strong throughout all of it. Even as a little girl, you had a fire in you that no one could stomp out.” She reached out her gloved hand to wipe away Aleksandra’s tears, letting her own stream down her cheeks. “You still have that fire in you now, you know.”

 

“I should probably confess, May-” she would grimace again taking a shaky breath, struggling to get out the words, “It’s been a lie. How could either of us know what to do? We never had anyone to teach us.”

 

“We had each other, Aleks’,” Maya replied as the corners of her lips slighted upwards. She readjusted her hold upon Aleksandra, lifting her head a little to where she could see just above all the architecture of the city and settle her gaze on the stars. But Aleksandra turned to look at her friend instead. Words became too difficult to work out properly anymore as she slowly succumbed to the wounds. “You have been my friend, my sister, my confidant. But you have also been through hell, and you deserve peace, Aleks’. No one deserves it more than you.”

 

 

---

 

The sky would be a soft pink and orange, with puffy, yet calming clouds painted with delicate colours. Aleksandra would stand within the clean room, clutching her arms to herself as she paced back and forth. She’d pause for a moment, at the window out looking that perfect sunset, but more so at the evergreen forest that moved peacefully in the calm breeze. She swung out the window, allowing that breeze to engulf her for a moment.

 

She turned on her heel, beginning to rearrange the furniture, and put a pot of water on to boil. Before her, were two red armchairs with embroidered pillows sitting next to each other, with a wooden table inbetween, facing out that open window. Aleksandra would sit in the left chair, setting down her teacup next to her, its pair sitting next to the empty chair with an unopened bottle of Carrion Black. She wrapped a soft blanket around her shoulders and opened a book in her lap.

 

Princess Aleksandra Mariya Stafyr nee Alimar would sit in that red armchair, sipping her tea and reading books, watching over her family and friends, with a seat and cup ready for the day she would see her cousin, Maya, again.

 

ALEKSANDRA MARIYA STAFYR

4TH OF SIGISMUNDS END, 1735 - 9TH OF AMBER COLD, 1760

 

 

[Eryane 3698]

[ Music ]

 

---

 

Although it was dark outside, light still shone upon the waters of Lake Milena. It glimmered and flickered as the Queen Mother of Haense stared across it, holding the lengths of her fur coat as she stood in the night’s cold breeze. In previous circumstances, she might’ve retreated to the palace walls and sought solace within her quieted chambers. Beyond the walls of the Haeseni city was the only place Maya found that she could breathe then, just at the lake’s edge. 

 

“Otto?” Her own voice sounded distant as she called out the name of the Lord Regent, stumbling into the chapel as mass proceeded on. She was covered in blood, not of her own, but of her friend’s. Her hands were trembling and a numbness overcame her as she crossed through the pews to where the regent was within. “We need to speak– immediately.” People about her knelt as they were blessed, and ‘amen’ was echoed about. 

 

“Eh? In a moment, niece, I must speak to the Pontiff and the Bishop after this mass here.” The bishop of Haense went about calling for people to rise and be blessed, although it was more like a faint echo to her. All of her senses seemed to have numbed. She briefly saw a flash of her son in the crowd of people who were packed into the place of prayer, causing her to turn a little further away from the majority of the gathering. She couldn’t have him see her like this.

 

“Aleksandra is dead. Murdered, in the streets. Stabbed to death. I took her back to the palace .. but she’s gone.” The words came out in a hoarse voice, as she could barely manage to get them out. The entirety of the attendants within the chapel joined in a simultaneous amen, although some of those who were seated around where Maya stood listened into her hushed conversation.

 

It was silent, with only several insects and birds thrumming. Never before had she felt so alone, without her closest confidant to be there to comfort her or idly joke about their misfortunes. She was not her sister, but she might as well have been. Maya gripped either side of her pelt and tugged it closer as tears began to stream down, although her eyes were already puffy and reddened from the previous occurrences of that particular day.

 

All the way down the seemingly endless winding steps was the morgue of St. Michael’s Hospital. In the arms of the Surgeon General was a lifeless Aleksandra, which brought a sickening feeling to Maya’s stomach every time she glanced at the corpse. Doctor Demaris rested the body within one of the morgue’s boxes. “Right,” she had said after doing so, “To inform the guards–”

 

“I’d like to stay down here for a little, if that is fine.” Her gaze hadn’t left the box that Aleksandra was settled within. “I don’t want to leave her.”

 

The Surgeon General nodded to her as she exited the morgue and furthermore to places unknown to Maya. Her breathing hitched from its regular patterns to hyperventilating. She collapsed to her knees as she could no longer stand upright; not at the sight that was before her.  

 

“I’ll miss you, Aleks’,” she muttered as she closed her eyes, exhaling out a breath. She could almost see all of the times that they laughed, gossiped, or clung to each other for support when they had no one else. But when she opened her eyes again, she was still at the edge of Lake Milena by herself. “But you do deserve peace. You’ve always deserved it.” Maya brought her gaze upwards, pressed two fingers to her lips, and lifted them high up to the night sky.

[AndrewTech 3334]

“Oh no... You too, Aleksandra?” The late King Andrik IV’s eyes would widen as he comes to a halt in his daily routine in the Seven Skies, taking note of her presence through the window from below.

 

“A shame, my dear cousin... Truly a shame. I’m saddened to see you here so soon.” 

Biting at his lip, Andrik could only imagine what Maya was going through in the realm of the living. She had already lost so many... To lose her closet friend and confident would no doubt weigh heavily upon her soul. He would pray for her tonight from the Seven Skies, perhaps with his little sister.

 

Letting out a deep sigh, Andrik continues to speak.

 

“While Tiberius Barrow and Otto Sigmar were fighting the last days of the war, you did a truly admirable job of managing the home front with my wife. You beautified my city and undertook so many countless projects to better the lives of the Haeseni people following my death. You have done so much for my kingdom, and I am proud to call you a true Crow. GOD knows that you deserve this lovely reprieve.”

 

Pausing for a moment, he adds, “But... You’ll forgive me when I say that I hope that chair remains empty for a while longer! I do believe that it’s intended occupant still has a purpose in the realm of the living.”

 

=======================================

 

Sir Konrad Stafyr simply sighs as he hears of the news of Alekandra’s death. Ordering a nice, big vat of Carrion Black from the Crow’s Hearth Inn, he begins to start toward the Stafyr manor with the intent of comforting his cousin, the young Count of Nenzing, and his children.

[Legoboy7984 3155]

Stefan Vyronov sighs upon the news.

“In life there comes death. Today Haense has lost a wonderful noble lady. She was a great Maer and had a brighter future ahead of her. May she rest in peace and be welcomed to the seven skies.”

[garentoft 9265]

“One of the most promising politicians I have ever met. It is a shame she was taken from us so soon, I had hoped to work with her in the future.” The weary Lauritz signs the Lorraine Cross, before proceeding to push through the rest of his work.

[moosehunter123 1081]

Reserved

[MikoMonster 1396]

Amelya Valeriya quietly crawled through the wall into her sister’s neighboring room, pulling her from the bed and leading her across the blacony and through the window of her other triplet. Together, the three settled onto the dandelion-toned comforter upon the middle triplet’s bed. The three sat, so identical yet so different, each curled with their hands folded upon their knees.
 

”We’ll miss you, Auntie Aleks.” stated one of the dark haired princesses, her fingers fidgeting at her skirt’s hem.

 

”Da.” answered another, ”Rest easy in the Seven Skies.”
 

At that, the airy room fell silent save for the rustling of the open window’s curtains in the breeze. The three slight figures upon the mattress simply sat, mourning the loss of their mother’s closest friend. 

[Ivoreyy 2303]

Alexandria welcomes Aleksandra with a wide smile to the small place in the Seven Skies in which those fallen Hanseni had made their home.

 

Though she still didn’t understand much of what went on in the world below- and never would, she knew that Aleksandra deserved the pure light of the seven.

 

For she had told Alexandria’s story when many didn’t.