Crown

Mēre Hūra Tolī-One Month Later

The palace was ripe with excitement. It had been a month since the events of the ball and all the servants in the palace knew of what was happening today. Cheng had planned something special for Astrid. Everyone had gathered in the gardens. Sora stood beside Illya, nervously biting his nail. Illya and Raehar had told him about their visions for the past month and now all three of them watched worriedly. The servants looked on in confusion, assuming that they were just worried about Astrid's response, but even that didn't make sense because they all believed that she liked Cheng very much.

Astrid was in her room. Her smile spread from ear to ear as she read the letter in her hands. a knock at her door pulled her attention away from the letter.

"Princess, Lord Cheng had requested your presence in the gardens."

Her smile faltered slightly as she stood up.
"What does he want?" She asked the maid.

"I was just told to ask for your presence Princess."

Astrid huffed and walked out. She followed the maid to the garden, where she found that many of the palace's inhabitants were giddily scurrying around the garden grounds. She continued along the path behind the maid. The maid lead her to an opening where she spotted her family along with everyone else. At the end of a long flowery path was Cheng. She walked up to him, cocking an eyebrow.

"What's this about?" She asked.

Cheng took her hands and smiled.

"Princess, we've been exchanging words for a month now. I feel as though we've gotten quite close over this past month. During my stay here in Solaria, you've made me feel very welcomed and happy. You know about my feelings for you. I'm afraid that I can no longer contain them."

He brought her closer. "Astrid, will you please do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

Her jaw dropped and she felt her chest tighten in panic. She hadn't expected him to propose to her so soon. Her mouth opened and closed. She was unsure of what to say or how to act. Cheng looked at her expectantly, eagerly awaiting the "yes" he was positive she was going to give him. Astrid looked down at her hands in his and then back up at him. As she stared into his eyes, she noticed that they were a completely different shade of blue that seemed as though they were almost glowing. Her brows knitted and she tilted her head, wondering if his eyes had always looked like that. It unnerved her to say the least. She didn't know why but her gut was telling her that something was amiss and her gut was hardly ever wrong.

"No..." She stated simply.

Surprised faces filled the garden and Cheng looked like he was frozen. Illya turned around to look at the sky behind them. She watched it expectantly. What she was so heavily anticipating came soaring through the sky like a bullet. Her foresight was indeed handy, but it never did prepare her for the events that followed. Cheng had not stayed stunned for long. In fact, when he snapped out of the initial shock of rejection, his grip on Astrid tightened. His fingers dug into her skin, creating red imprints on Astrid's wrists that would jo doubt bruise. Astrid flinched and instinctively tried to pull her hands away but Cheng was too strong. Since he wouldn't let go, she took a step back, ready to send him flying across the garden.

"What do you mean no! Is it that man again? He's been gone for a month and you still think about him? Why am I not good enough?"

Astrid was taken aback by Cheng's uncharacteristic rage. She hadn't even said anything, yet he came to his own conclusions and a conclusion that was for her, not at all something she had even thought of. She was honestly a bit confused as to why he was bringing this up all of a sudden, but that confusion didn't last long. Cheng's eyes really began to glow. When it did, Sora ripped his daughter away from Cheng and pushed her behind himself.

"That man was right. All of you...just want to laugh at me...vile, jealous creatures that destroy love...."

Little did he know that those would be his last words as an arrow came blazing through the sky, only to pierce him right in the heart. The arrow that had lodged itself into his back emitted an otherworldly glow. The white glow around it began to pulsate as his heart began to fail and his blood ran cold as his eyes widened in horror. The colour drained from Tah Min's face and she and Astrid, ran to Cheng's side. Astrid wrapped her hands around him as he fell to his knees. The glow in his eyes faded away right as the arrow had hit him and he looked up at Astrid with an apologetic look of realization.

"Brother! Oh Gods! It's going to be fine! You're going to be fine! Please be okay!" Tah Min cried.

"I'm....sorry..."

"Shut up Cheng!" Yelled Astrid.

She carefully pulled the arrow out and placed her hand on the wound. Her hand lit up as she began trying to heal him. Unfortunately, she wasn't very skilled in that particular area, so she looked to someone who she knew was. Astrid sat with him in her hands, eyes wide with panic and blood streaming down her hands, staining her clothes. She looked to her mother for help but Illya closed her eyes and looked away. With clenched fists, Illya glanced at Raehar, who had the same guilty expression she did.

"I'm sorry Sea Star...I'm sorry it had to be this way." Said Illya.

Astrid looked back at the arrow she had pulled from Cheng's back. She immediately recognized it as the arrow she shot from the Prophet, the night of Nikiro and Tobi's welcome into Solaria. She slowly brought her attention back to Cheng, who was still smiling up at her.

"You...you're the person Henaer corrupted? You're the person they're using to try and destroy us?"

"I'm...sorry" Cheng repeated.

The arrow had continued to pulse, despite being removed from its target. The pulsing began to quicken and everyone knew he didn't have much time left.

"My feelings were true...but that man...planted doubts in my head...he brought out the worst...in me. Sorry sister. Sorry, Astrid. I love you both so much..." Cheng felt his lungs burning up as he struggled to take in enough air to speak. "Henaer's lover....sold information to the Sindarian witch....she knows....she...knows..."

Cheng's eyes clouded over. His vacant gaze and pale face that was unmistakably the look of a man touched by death's cold embrace, was what he left them with. Tah Min let go of her brother. Ea knelt down beside her and wrapped his arms around the mourning woman as she choked out sobs that filled the air with unbearable sorrow. With his dying breath, he pointed towards Illya. All eyes shifted to the now mildly irritated Empress and Sora instinctively grabbed her.

"What? What do they know?" Asked Ri-is worriedly.

Sora and Illya looked at each other, her heart rapidly beating in her chest as her hands slowly drifted down to clutch the fabric around her stomach.

****Author's Note****

Aaaaand there it is. If you feel bad for Cheng or you're just curious to know what Naera knows, how about leaving a comment and vote! And if you think you know what the big secret is, leave it in the comments and find out if you're right next update. If you have a question that you would like answered by any of the characters, be sure to head on to Agu-Teasers where you can leave a comment with your question for it to be answered by them! Want to revisit a specific chapter/arc? Check out Crown Directory for a list of story arcs. Thanks for reading!