Soneanna's Story

This wasn't going to be easy. Soneanna was about to face her aunt over the incident that happened three days ago. She hadn't seen her aunt in a few days, which wasn't normal, so under the cover of just a normal visit, she was going to bring up what happened. She hadn't watched the execution herself. The violence of it all seemed so wrong. She had heard that the man had begged for his life, and somewhere deep inside Soneanna, she felt sorry for the man, even if he'd caused her friend to go missing which resulted in her wings been taken.

Been related to the Matriarch though gave her a bit more leniency to speak her mind though, and hopefully she could do it tactfully and without causing her aunt to want to chop her head off for treason. Normally Soneanna wouldn't mention such things or go against what had been done, but some people had been talking where she worked and not all of it was good for Avantia.

A person led her to the room where her aunt was getting a massage. She smiled as the woman looked happy and at peace, something she hadn't looked like in a long time, since Shanthi went missing and even after she was found. She hadn't looked like this until she'd taken that man's head.

"Hello, Aunt. I figured that I was long overdue a visit to you." She smiled, taking a seat near the woman. "How have you been?" It was a stupid question probably, but she still asked all the same.

"Soneanna," Avantia replied with a note of pleasant surprise as the voice of her niece roused her from her thoughts.

The young avorian woman that had been working over Avantia's back stepped back as the older woman moved to sit up.

"Give us a minute?" Avantia asked the young woman who bowed gracefully and left the pair to talk.

Avantia was retying the laces of her blouse around the back of her neck as she stood from the table.

"I'm doing better," she answered to Soneanna. "Thank you. How's your sister doing?" she asked.

It hadn't yet occurred to Avantia that her niece was here for anything more than pleasantries. Avantia had always maintained close and amiable relations with her family.

Soneanna smiled at her aunt. "I'm glad to hear that you're doing better." She answered. "Meli is good. She's gone out to help with that crash that happened just outside of Jincai. She said it will help people knowing that the royals are willing to dig in and help. Plus, we both know that she knows how to fix people up, all those years practicing medicine." She told her. "She sends her wishes to you and Shanthi though and she apologises for not been able to come and see the both of you before she left."

And now onto the hard part.

"I've been working a lot with the poor lately. Very busy down there and it's gotten very chaotic too in the last few weeks. I was helping Meli with the medicine. While she's gone I'm going to continue helping down there. At the moment they're understaffed and with Meli gone they're struggling. It's the least I can do."

She paused a little taking a deep breath for courage. "There is a lot of talk down there about the execution. A few people think you went too far and should have at least shown the man mercy." At least that way she wasn't voicing what she thought just yet. "How is Shanthi doing? Resting I hope."

"Shanthi is doing better," Avantia replied. She sighed softly. "And you, is this how you feel as well?" she asked.

It would seem Soneanna's efforts to be subtle had failed to fool her aunt. No, Avantia knew well that her niece wouldn't have come all the way here just to voice someone elses words.

She made her way to the large double door windows that led to one of the many balconies situated throughout the palace. She opened them both to let some fresh air in while she awaited a response from her niece. It was a pleasant enough day out, and the noon day sun added a warmth to the crisp mountain air.

Avantia saw right through her. It was probably better to have just stated what she thought right away instead of trying to be subtle about it. She should have known that she couldn't fool her aunt. "I didn't watch the execution but I heard that the man had begged for mercy." She avoided answering her aunt's question for a little longer while she tried to think exactly how to put what she wanted to say without causing trouble or offending. She was glad at this point that she was not the Matriarch. Though, if she had been it never would have gone that far in the first place.

Soneanna had a soft heart. She was too soft and too timid. She didn't like making decisions and that showed with the fact that she wasn't married yet. She wasn't even with a man and there were no signs that she'd even been looking at any in particular. She was glad that if Avantia didn't produce an heir, her sister was next in line, not her.

"I don't know what I would have done, had I been in your position. I don't know what to think of it all really. It happened so fast. But I wonder if he deserved the death he got. Maybe I'm too soft. I just hope that this doesn't start unwanted trouble." Again, Soneanna decided to dodge the true question that had been asked for now while she thought over how she actually felt about the whole thing.

Nalesh had been standing by the outer door in his guard armor for the majority of the time. As Avantia opened the balcony though he moved around the perimeter of the room quietly towards the balcony. He kept his eyes to the floor until he reached the balcony trying to remain as unobtrusive as he possibly could.

As being part of the Matriarch's Guard he knew his duties and with everything going on after the execution was keeping him on edge. He moved past the two before stopping just outside the balcony to take a look around and once satisfied there were no obvious threats he stood just on the other side of the door has he had on the other side of the room.

"Shanthi was one of the lucky ones," Avantia replied with a shake of her head. "How many women were taken that never found their way home again. How many of them died in brothels to neglect and disease," she asked. Her expression softened though when she looked to Soneanna and she sighed. "Come, why don't you stay the night," she offered by way of changing the topic to something less troubling. "I'll have a guest room setup for you."

Before Soneanna could offer an answer though, the door to the room opened to admit an attendant. The woman bowed apologetically.

"Pardon the interruption, Matriarch, but there's something that I thought you would want to hear," she told Avantia.

"What is it?" Avantia asked.

"There's a situation down in La'ita Hara. A foreign woman, and two of ours are riling up the people about the execution the other day."

Avantia rubbed at the bridge of her nose. "How many?"

"Fifty, sixty people maybe?" the young woman replied. "They're getting really agitated out there."

"Are the police aware?"

"I don't believe so."

"Nalesh?" Avantia called to the nearby guard. "Inform the police of what's going on, and see that they have the ring leaders arrested. Take ten of the royal guard to help the police disband the rest."

Nalesh moved inside when the attendant arrived and looked up as Avantia called upon him. Things didn't sounds pretty out there but he expected that an execution of this nature wouldn't be without repercussions. He bowed low. "At your command Matriarch." He said.

Bringing himself up from the bow he briskly walked out of the room to go find some members of the guard to travel with him to La'ita Hara.

In the grand halls of the Volarian Palace, the sound of footsteps echoed through the walls as the young Taiyou prince moved through. He kept his hands clasped behind his back as he moved through to find Avantia.

The Royal Guard likely figured him as another Taiyou diplomat, or perhaps knew his true identity as the crown prince of the Taiyou Empire.

"Ah, Matriarch, I thought I would find you here." The Prince said with a smile.

Avantia seemed somewhat surprised at Shimizu's arrival.

"We'll discuss this further later," she told Soneanna before she gestured for Shimizu to join her as she departed the room, leaving her niece to mull over the situation as Avantia figuratively brushed her aside for the time being.

"I had thought you departed back to Niihama already," she told him. "I apologize for not extending my gratitude to you in person, but it has been a trying time, as you know. The Taiyou's support was invaluable. Thank you. We won't forget it."

After been dismissed by her aunt, Soneanna decided she wanted to check out the chaos for herself. Despite things getting heated down in La'ita Hara, she didn't believe that she'd be the target of any danger and now here she was, watching a woman and two others been surprisingly vocal about it all. She carefully moved herself to the front of the crowd to watch.

"People of Volaria soon won't get their trials. Maybe this is the start of injustice. Where public beheadings become a common thing for every person whether they are guilty or not! Why hasn't this stage been taken down?" She heard the leading female shout, as she looked around the crowd.

She frowned wondering if her aunt would really be like that. Surely this was just a one of thing, no matter how much she disagreed with the whole thing.

"Oh look, one of the royals has appeared." Miley suddenly shouted.

Soneanna looked up only to realise that too her horror, everyone was now looking at her. Miley knew who she was.

"Come on up, Royal. After all, you are the niece of the Matriarch, am I right?"

"I'd rather stand down here." Soneanna replied.

"No, no. I insist." Miley smirked. Two people that were in agreement with Miley grabbed Soneanna's arms bringing her up onto the stage. She wasn't afraid that they'd do something bad as retribution, but she wasn't going to lie, she was concerned.

"What do you think about what happened here?" Miley asked.

Soneanna stayed silent.

"Oh, so the royal decides not to be vocal about her aunt. Tight lipped and sticking up for a murderer!" Miley grinned.

"I'm not sticking up for a murderer. I never said anything. It doesn't matter if it was right or wrong now, the matter is over. The man is dead."

"Did he deserve to die? If you were in her shoes, would you have done the same thing, Soneanna?"

Again she was silent, but this time only for a moment. "I wouldn't have let it gone that far to begin with, or I would have given him mercy when he cried for it." She admitted.

"And there you have it." Miley shouted. "Even her own niece thinks she's a murderer!"

"I didn't say that! I said there are better ways to go about it than how it played out. And there are better ways to go about this then riling people up like you are!"

Miley just laughed and shook her head. "Your aunt is a murderer. And this time we're not going to stand by and let her get away with her actions. For every action there is a consequence. She will have to justify her reasons for killing that man without a fair trial for all to hear and all to judge. Shanthi deserves justice, but she deserves it from the right person, not the wrong. That man begged for mercy. He didn't know he had even come here to die. We have rights and his was ignored, whether he was guilty or not."

Soneanna looked down to see a crowd of locals starting to get physical that were disagreeing with each other. This woman had caused quite the stir.

Miley's decision to physically drag Soneanna up onto the stage had been gasoline to the fire. To physically accost a member of the royal family was nothing short of treasonous. The gathered crowd was furious, but those that were favoring Soneanna's words were beginning to amass at the base of the stage to create a barrier of bodies to keep the outraged crowd at bay.

People were shouting and shoving at each other, and it seemed a physical confrontation was inevitable.

Large shadows passed overhead, announcing the arrival of Avantia's royal guard. Given their capacity for flight, they had arrived ahead of the police who were pushing their way through the crowds further down the street to reach the scene of commotion.

It was Ambar who spotted out Soneanna being held up on stage before the crowd of onlookers. "Shit. This is about to turn into a riot. We need to get her out of there."

The police were closing in on the location, but it would be a few minutes yet before they reached the scene of chaos. It was hard to say who was in more danger at the moment. Soneanna, or Miley.

"Come on, we'll keep the crowds back until the police arrive," he told those with him as he furled his wings and dropped for the stage below.

He alighted upon its edge in a crouch with his vishtafa held loosely in one hand. He didn't rise, and his eyes swept the crowd almost daring them to set foot on that stage.

Nalesh was flying with the guard and looked down at the scene below seemed worse than he had expected. Following Ambar Nalesh Dropped to the stage, Vishtafa in hand he landed in a crouch before standing up.

"Disperse Return to your homes!" Nalesh shouted aloud to the crowd. He knew he had orders to have the leaders arrested but he decided that the other civilians deserved one chance.

Once he spoke he turned his back on the crowd toward Miley. "Release the Lady Soneanna at once." He said giving Miley a stern glare.

Miley wasn't surprised then the Royal Guard appeared. "Oh look. They're here to chop off our heads too. Where's the one that did the beheading last time? I mean he might as well show up to hack the heads of the rest of us!" She called out, smirking. "See. They're here to arrest us and then behead us!"

Soneanna frowned as Miley continued and the royal guard showed up. This was bad. Really bad. And when her aunt found out she was caught up in the middle of it...

She was interrupted by Nalesh speaking to Miley and turned her head to look. The girl stood there looking at the man for a minute before bursting out into laughter. "I'm not even holding your Lady. How can I let her go when I'm not holding her?" The woman turned to the crowd. "You hear that? He wants me to let her go? I'm not even holding her and he's trying to twist this into me holding one of the royal family members hostage? Was I the one that forced her up here? I asked her up here. Other people merely helped her up."

Miley then frowned. "They want to make it look like I'm holding her hostage so that they can arrest me and behead me. Well let it be known that I did not hold her hostage! You are all witnesses today!" The crowd was getting rowdier, mainly the ones that were with Avantia, and the thought of holding a royal hostage.

Soneanna had had enough though. "Stop it! Stop this nonsense. I'm not been held hostage. Stop the violence! I'm sick of this! A man died up here. I get that it probably wasn't the right thing my aunt did, but we can't change that. Now stop with this nonsense and maybe we can sort it out." She was trying her best to reason with them.

Miley once again laughed. "What? Sort this out by lopping off my head and hiding the truth like your aunt. I don't think so! They're out to kill us for voicing our opinions!" Miley shouted.

Ambar scowled. "Lady, I think that crowd is the one that wants your head, not us. So might I suggest you shut your yap for five fucking minutes?"

Ira landed along with the other guards, planting his glaive on the ground and casting his eyes around. "That's enough," he stated calmly, "Nobody is going to be executed. But you are endangering yourself and others by holding this protest in such a manner - you're starting a riot."

He offered a hand to Soneanna, "Come on, cousin. You should get out of here before things get any worse. I'll escort you back home, or somewhere else if you wish. There is a time and a place to speak your piece on such matters, and here, in the presence of an angry mob is not either."

As the commotion gathered around the small platform where Josh had previously been decapitated. The young woman that seemed to be causing quite a stir attracted the attention of another figure among the crowd.

The auburn haired Legata moved swiftly through the assembled throng of people, flanked by Legionaries on either side, who shoved people aside with their shields and special batons.

"What is this travesty!?" The Legata called out, pointing up to Miley.

"Cease this at once! You're disturbing the peace!"

The blonde woman in the crowd stood, completely still, with her eyes up at the avorians who had joined the stage. She did not join the commotion that the crowd was making, no; she was far too busy scoping out the guards. Her eyes landed upon one certain, young avorian guard. She tilted her head to the side at him, and her lips pursed curiously.

Just before the legionaries joined them, she had targeted him specially, but not at all did she move. The excitement already called on from the situation would suddenly... be a bit more than exciting.

Perhaps a bit more than angering. Adrenaline-pumping.

Arjuna was furious with the crowd that was present. How dare they speak out against Avantia. He then caught sight of Soneanna being held held by one of the ringleaders on stage. His anger had reached it’s limits, and before he could even try to hold back, he swiftly advanced toward the man.

“You dare lay your hands on a woman like that!” Arjuna shouted at the man as he butted him in the stomach with the back end of his Vishtafa. The man collapsed to his knees and clutched his chest as he gasped for air. “And a member of the Royal Family at that!” Arjuna added as he brought the haft of his spear down onto the man’s back, putting him all the way down on the ground. Arjuna then activated the electricity in his weapon, and electrocuted the man. “That should teach you not to speak out against your Matriarch,” he spat before finally regaining control of himself. He deactivated his Vishtafa and scowled at the other people on the stage. He was disgusted with all of them.

"Shit, Arjuna!" Ambar hissed. "Was that fucking necessary?" he bit out.

This was going to look great in tomorrow's paper. Up ahead the police were pushing their way through the crowds as they shoved their way closer to the stage.

The Legata had finally made her way over to Arjuna and Ambar as one of the Protestors that was screaming against Josh's Execution shouted out, pointing towards Livia.

"Murderer!" He screamed, and then lunged at her, only to have one of the Argosian Legionaries clock him square in between the eyes with the hilt of his sheathed Gladius.

"What the hell is going on?" Livia asked, her Legionaries shoving people aside to clear room for the Police.

A shrouded figure drifted through the mob like a phantom as the chaos in the square escalated. His face was concealed in a dark hood, revealing only the faint glimmer of two pale eyes that shunned the sunlight. Baelin stood in the center of the crowd and gradually stretched out his hands to feel the chaos and strife flow through his fingers. Rage. Hatred. Fear. Heresy. A euphoric smile spread across the prophet's face.

It was time to spread the message.

A message of blood.

Miley's attention was turned to Ambar and she grinned. "You think I care? It'll prove my point because it'll be her supports that take my head, it'll just show how heartless and uncaring Volaria is now. How brutal of a nation it's become and I'll request it on live tv too, just like you did right here to that poor man." She spoke up, nothing seemed to close Miley's mouth.

Soneanna frowned as she glanced at the crowd and heard her cousin speak. She would have moved but one of the men was still holding onto her arm. And at the same time she wanted to stay and see out this whole thing. She wanted to help and dissolve the situation in some way. But with Miley opening her big mouth, she didn't think she would be able to calm the people down. And even now she was laughing and making matters worse.

"Oh go on, go home. Run away from this and your responsibilities like your aunt has. Like the Matriarch has. I mean, she sent her royal guard and hasn't come herself to explain her actions. No. So go home. Prove to us all that you're not willing to suffer the consequences!"

Soneanna looked at her cousin. Maybe if she stayed things could calm down. She could help things calm down.

"Ira, I think... maybe I should stay a little longer, just to try and calm things down. They're not going to come up on the stage. I'm okay. I just... maybe it's best that there is a royal here..."

"Dawww, the royal thinks it's best that she stays. What an honor it is that she feels like she should stay."

"I'm not staying for you. I want my people at peace. I might not be Matriarch but as the niece I feel like I should stay to help keep the peace." She told the woman.

Their attention was once again turned to someone else who was shouting at Miley. "Just remember it wasn't me that disturbed the peace!" She shouted at the woman. "I did not give the orders to behead that man. When Avantia decided to go ahead and behead him without a trial, without evidence, without defense and in public not even telling the man that he was about to die, she disturbed the peace. Not me."

Again, in all the chaos, their attention was taken back to Soneanna when she screamed at the sudden violence used with the man that had previously been holding her.

"LOOK!" Miley shouted. "They're using violence! That man made no threatening movements. He did nothing and the royal guard savagely attacked him. And when one of the Legionaries clocked another, it just gave Miley for fuel for her fire that she was building. "See! All of them! Savages and corrupt! Avantia has given orders to beat us all if we do not cooperate. Do we really want to live in a nation of no freedom or free-will? Do we want to witness more beheadings of people that could be innocent? WE CANNOT ACCEPT THIS!"

Soneanna frowned as the crowd got even wilder for different reasons. This wasn't going to be good. She wasn't a person that was made to lead, or speak to people, but she had to do something.

"Please, stop this madness." She called out to the crowd. "There are better ways to deal with this! We don't want to end up getting violent and hurting more people unnecessarily!"

The Argosian Legate put her hands briefly on her hips as she stared at Miley. "You don't know that." She said flatly. "You don't know the specifics of the case or how his punishment was decided. You're here disturbing the peace and disrespecting the culture of another country." She said, narrowing her eyes.

"This kind of behavior would get you scourged on Argos!" She called out. "So put a stop to this madness before someone gets hurt." She demanded.

Miley frowned at the Legate, her expression challenging. "And why don't we know anything? Because there was no trial. There was no options to find out what happened. There was no media coverage until he was brought here to die! I'm disturbing the peace that was already disturbed from the beheading. We deserve the truth. We deserve to know that if we ever find ourselves in trouble, that we'll have a fair trial first and not just be judged and punished."

And then another thought occurred to her. "The man that died up here wasn't even avorian. He wasn't even from here. What's to say that Volaria hasn't disrespected the country he's from. What about his rights? I don't care if you disapprove of my behaviour. I'm standing up for what is right for all people, Avorian's and others."

The Legate scowled. "You want to know the truth!?" She called out. "Josh was tried In Absentia by an international tribunal, under the laws of the AXIS Cooperation Forces. The evidence was weighed along with his defense, and he was found guilty of the crime by an international jury of AXIS Delegates." Livia explained.

Miley laughed. "You want me to believe that bullshit. Where is the evidence? Show us evidence of this!"

"Available to the public, all you had to do was ask, but you didn't think to do that did you?" She said, laughing. "Why don't you come to Argos and spout off like this? You want to yammer on about rights? Disturbing the peace; twenty lashes with a flagrum, speaking out against the monarch? You could have your tongue cut out and be crucified for your actions." She spat.

"You're nothing but a profligate, dissolute!" Livia shouted

"You've got no evidence to show. Shanthi deserves justice for what was done to her. Something like that should of had nationwide coverage. We should have seen and heard what Joshua had done to her. But it was all kept under wraps until that day. That only means one thing. That there is something to hide! Something we're not been told! Or that the Matriarch went against all rules and laws because of her personal involvement."

"I don't care about Argos and their punishments. What I care about is our rights. I want to know what gave Avantia to pass up on all the rules and laws and behead the man. He didn't even know he was going to die! Not until he was up on this stage and prepared. Where were his rights?!" Miley shouted back, refusing to stand down on the whole thing. She was here to prove a point.

"And this ladies and gentlemen is the face of the Terran National Government!" Livia shouted, turning away from Miley. "Their Citizens trampling on your individual identities and culture! All in the name of their own percieved rights!" Livia shouted.

"It's all there! The Terrans send agents to disturb this great nation! To spread distrust and chaos!" She shouted. "These Terran Profligates don't care about your individual cultures! All they care about is making themselves look like your betters!" People had began to agree with the legate. It was then Livia grinned.

"Maybe I'll go to Aslund and start a riot, way to represent your nation, lady."

"This has nothing to do with me or that man being Terran! If he had been avorian, I would have still been up here questioning why it was done. I am a charity worker from Wing City. I came here over six months ago to help the poor. I have enjoyed my time here, mixing with everyone. I have both avorian and human friends. I have enjoyed being a part of your kind and peaceful nation. Right up until I saw the horror three days ago that had a man on this stage begging for his life on national television. Tell me everyone. If that had been your brother, father, uncle or friend up there with no warning whatsoever, would you all be standing here today agreeing with me, or still with your Matriarch?"

"Why not tell me, had Shanthi been your sister, your mother? Your Daughter?" Livia called out. "Shanthi deserved justice! Not only should Josh have been on that stage, but that Wastrel O'Leary, and Miles Hagan too!"

"Like I've always said. I want Shanthi to have justice. The right justice!"

"Justice is not causing chaos, i'm done with you, Profligate, speak to me again and I'll cut out your tongue." She snapped, before she turned to a pair of Legionaries. "Venite et eamus" She ordered, and then turned to leave.

The police were making good time through the crowd, and by now had arrived. Most of them were wading through copious amounts of people, so when there were displays of violence, the first to make his way up to the stage was the blue and silver winged officer who had been at the execution days before. With just a few flaps of his powerful wings he landed in front of Miley. He was easily bigger than an avorian in bulk.

"You're under arrest for disorderly conduct," he began, just as the other officers began their efforts to take control of the crowd.

Miley watched as the officers made their way towards the stage trying to disperse the crowd she'd created before glancing at the avorian that had landed on the stage suddenly annoucing that she was under arrest.

The girl was silent for a moment before suddenly bursting out into laughter. "He's going to arrest me! Oh no! Please help! I don't want my head chopped off." She laughed, her voice laced with sarcasm. "Is that what you're going to do, arrest me and chop off my head like the dirty avorian you are? Yes. I saw you here at the execution. You're as guilty as the others."

Miley finished with her tone full of disgust.

Tane's expression was like a rock. One of his hands snapped out to grab Miley's arm and turn her around. "If you could refrain from speaking, we'd all be grateful. Both the avorians and non-avoirians like you and I," he said, returning the sarcasm acidicly.

The woman in the red hood was looking at Tane now, though she was slowly backing up.

This was probably the most out-spoken Miley had ever been. She was usually the quiet girl that stood up for what was right by helping through charity work and other such events. For her to be up on stage carrying out a protest had taken guts, but after the execution she knew she couldn't just let things go on. Not after how brutal it had been.

So when she was suddenly grabbed and turned, Miley started to struggle. "Get your fucking hands off me, bastard." Her language turned vile as she tried to pull away only to hear him talking. "Fucking make me stop. Chop off my head if you want me to stop fucking talking."

She then turned to the crowd. "See! They're arresting me because I know the truth! I KNOW THE TRUTH!! They're corrupt. They killed an innocent man!" She started shouting out.

Tane was not going to have any of this. With his andrenaline pumping, he gripped Miley's arm more firmly and twisted it behind her back, tossing her to the floor where the blood from days ago still stained the stage.