The Two Tiaras (P/NK)

Princess Tehniyat's morning routine hadn't been much different than her cousin's, her handmaidens having bathed and dressed her appropriately to face the day ahead. Today however there was one exception, the older princess would finally call the newer one to pay her a visit in her customary place at the royal libraries. The princes had found the library to her liking enough to set up her work station among the books and there was no reason Princess Kanzaki couldn't find her way to Tehniyat.

She had last seen the golden haired child at her mother's funeral, a solemn affair that had left everyone subdued. Least because Queen Shiera had been too sick to attend and uncle Mervyn, the prime candidate to perform last rites, was now locked in chains in the Hoshi dungeons. It wasn't fair to the late princess but as Tehniyat and Kanzaki would both have to soon realize, things were about to get a lot more unfair in the City Blessed by the Stars.

Dressed in a muted royal purple gown with few trimmings as she hadn't planned on any visits today, Tehniyat awaited her cousin, the combination of grief and guilt sitting uncomfortably with the older princess. She didn't have siblings, and Kanzaki had never shown interest in wanting to be hers so this situation had high potential to turn awkward.

Kanzaki would be greeted by Tehniyat's personal guard at the door where she would leave her own guard behind before entering the library dappled in bright sunlight and cooled by a fresh, rare breeze streaming in through the open windows. As the child entered, Tehniyat did her best to produce a welcoming smile, the expression coming to her unnaturally and uncomfortably.

"God morrow, sweet cousin. How lovely to see you," she began, attempting a friendlier tone than she usually did considering who it was in her company. After all was said and done, Princess Kanzaki was still a child who had just lost her mother and Tehniyat could appreciate that at least.

It was obvious from the way the royal child took position in front of Tehniyat that she was not holding up as well as any of them liked to believe. The older princess could acknowledge that she was in part to blame for that. This meeting should have happened a lot sooner, preferably right after the funeral of Her Grace Kanzaki's lady mother. But Princess Tehniyat herself had not known what to do. Comforting words never came naturally to her and she had assumed someone would take care of the young princess.

Now she knew that the task couldn't be pushed on to someone, it was just her and Kanzaki now.

"May i please offer you an embrace?" the green eyed princess asked, the awkwardness clear in her voice as she held open her arms for her little cousin. It probably wasn't right but at least she would trying. Should Kanzaki accept and move to hug the older princess, Tehniyat would envelope the little girls in her arms, squeezing her comfortingly as she listened to whatever the young ninja had to say.

"I apologize... I should have come to you right after the funeral but... I'm afraid I don't have any younger siblings, or any siblings. And my own Lady Mother was far too preoccupied with court life to take an interest in me. So i neer learned what one does in such situations..." The admission was embarrassing but it was the truth.

"But that's no excuse. I've done you a great injustice and for that I can only hope you'll forgive me, dear cousin."

"There there," Tehniyat consoled her cousin, keeping her arms around the young princess as she sobbed out all her troubles. Still maintaining the embrace, the older Star guided the younger one to a seat, siting down herself and then gathering Kanzaki close to her. Tehniyat had never thought she would experience feelings of maternal protection yet as her cousin cried against her, the odd feeling manifesting in the royal treasurer was at least close to what Tehniyat imagined a mother or sister would feel.

Perhaps she could do this after all.

"We all need help," she murmured as the child cried. "Mayhaps the shortcoming in our upbringing is that we were never taught how to ask for it." Her words were true. Were she in Kanzaki's position, she too would have seen seeking help as a sign of weakness, an alien condition she wouldn't have known what to do with. But lately the older princess had learned that she needed help. She needed her personal guard, she needed Denkiteki and she now needed her cousin o be on the same side as her if they were to keep the oncoming chaos at bay.

"But I need you to be brave now, sweet child," she continued, releasing the young girl and reaching up to wipe the tears from the small princess's face. "I'm afraid we stand at the beginning of hard times, my dear. And I don't know if I should reveal to you the extent of our troubles but I feel I would be insulting you i I didn't. Do you think you could harden your heart to more bad news right now?"

All this as said as she still held on to Kanzaki's small hand, offering her what little comfort she could. Never had the princess missed her aunt Shiera more than she did now. The Queen had always known what to do. Tehiyat however was uncertain, so instead of making assumptions, she simply asked Kanzaki if she wanted to know the whole truth.

As the little princess admitted she could bear it, Tehniyat didn’t’ think to second guess at her cousin’s assurance, a feat she would learn later with experience and growing care for the younger Star. If Kanzaki said she could bear it, she probably could. Why state otherwise, after all? What Tehniyat did not realize however that Kanzaki was far younger than her, raised perhaps better than her and now frightened more than her too.

Though perhaps that would be hard to judge as the royal treasurer was also frightened. She just preferred to express it by retreating into her account scrolls. After all, there was little point in wasting nervous energy, or at least Tehniyat had previously thought so. Meeting Kanzaki was proving more enlightening than she had anticipated.

“The Queen, our beloved Aunt Shiera, is no more,” she stated as carefully as she could. “May her light shine eternally in the heavens,” She added, the traditional phrase spoken for any member of the royal family departed from this world. “She left us a few weeks before your Lady mother did but her passing was kept secret from us by the Queensguard.” A frown appeared on her face, the anger still evient though she could understand why the guards had done it.

I only found out two days ago and have been struggling with the decision to divulge this to you or not. In the end, I decided to ask you,” she stated honestly, simply. The princess wished though, that she could have stopped there, could have given Kanzaki time to mourn the death of their Queen. But these were hard times, and they were about to get harder still.

“Am I right in assuming I needn’t tell you what this means for… us?”

Tehniyat could see the understanding downing on her young cousin's face. The shock at the passing of their aunt, the anger at their guards, the grief finally settling in. And then the profound realization of what this meant for the two of them. Through it all, the older blonde held on to her cousin, offering what little comfort she could in the only way she knew how.

"It does indeed," she confirmed Kanzaki's unfinished thought. the older Star didn't need to know what the young one was about to say. They were trained to understand hierarchy and family history, lineage was in their blood. No matter where they were and what official title they held, each female of the royal family was a Princess, undisputed and regal, with her claim to the throne.

"I was told Lady Akihana did her best to save the Queen. She has a rather unique ability I've been informed, to bring people back from the dead. And yet this ability failed her when it came to our dear Aunt. The Queensguard rightly guessed that news of Her Grace's death would result in chaos across all of Haven... though i wished they had at least informed the family..." It was still an add feeling, this familial instinct inside her, but as she spoke more of it, Tehniyat found it growing stronger.

But the secret couldn't have been kept forever, and even if the people believe Her Grace to be alive, they know her time is neigh... And as a result, a disturbing trend of factions has made itself apparent in the city's tapestry. My informants tell me that there are people who endorse your right to the throne just as there are those who endorse mine... And it is only a matter of time before these factions get violent."