A Truly British Christmas

Chapter Five

"I-I suppose I could tell you...

I was running... but I wasn't me, I was someone else..."

Hoisting her skirt above her ankles, the young woman sprinted for her life, desperately trying not to slip in the thick snow, which fell rapidly at her feet. She was tired and only too aware of the mind-numbing pain of the gaping wound in her arm, which screamed at her to stop, to take a rest.. Regardless, she ran, fire-red hair flying across her pale face, tears of agony streaming from her eyes.

A crunching of snow, accompanied by the whinnying of horses echoed in the distance, a warning that the end was near. The sounds grew louder and louder, branches audibly snapping under the pressure of the oncoming cavalry. Desperate, she willed herself to run on, praying that her legs wouldn't give up now, but she had no more strength within her to summon to the task. Falling to her knees, the woman swept her hair from her eyes, finally turning around to face her fate, truly defeated for the first time in her life.

"It's over, Rose." a man, who appeared to be in his early thirties, chuckled, navy-blue suit now wet with sleet as he climbed from his horse's back, laughing at the state of the woman kneeling involuntarily before him.

"Father, no!" came a cry from behind the pair, as a boy - no older than fifteen - slid from his own horse, rushed across the winter forest and grabbed onto his father's arm, pleading with his eyes.

"England, I'm sorry. The law - my law - states that any county that attempts mutiny shall be left at my mercy. She has betrayed me twice now. She has left me no choice." Laughing a bitter, high laugh, the man drew his sword from its scabbard...

"And then you woke me up." UK finished, glancing up at her sister.

"Hmm..." Wales muttered, "A county? But, they haven't been people in years..."

"Y-You don't think it was real, do you?" UK stuttered, heart pounding wildly.

"I didn't think so at first, but England... He's said things about his father that match that-"

"His father? Isn't he ours too? Is he the one I never met that North talks about?"

"No, we're only half-siblings," Wales corrected. "England, me and Scott share a mother, but England's father is someone else entirely. North is England's full sibling though, and so are you."

"How did I not know that?!" Brit exclaimed, staring up at Wales, who now hovered above her, grinning awkwardly.

"There didn't seem much point in telling you."

"But it's my DNA and you didn't even think-"

"Scott will have Anglo with him in a minute. Tell him this too, ok? He's the only one that could know what was real." With that, Wales left, closing the door behind her.

***

"It happened," England nodded slowly, colour draining from his face as Brit recited her tale. "She was one of three counties that rebelled against my father's land-ownership laws. Thing was, she'd helped in a rebellion's planning a year before and my father wasn't a forgiving man..."

"She had a human name," Brit blurted out suddenly, "Rose. Why?"

"The counties all did. They preferred it that way, I don't know why... Maybe you should rest, Brit, I need to talk with the others about this."