Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Your majesty? Might I be allowed to speak with you for a moment, sir?”

Ky didn’t recognize the man at a glance, but he was sure the name would come to him if he were allowed to think. He was not.

“What are you- “ he found himself being nudged along to a quieter corner of the room. Though the space wasn’t crowded by any means, the man seemed insistent on privacy. Ky could only assume this was a matter of high importance.

“I would have come with you,” he said, doffing his sleeve with a frown. “There was no need for that.”

“For- ? Oh, yes, sire, my apologies.”

“What is so important, then?” Aha, he was sure he recognized the man now, someone from the information department. They had been seeing a lot of work as of late. Everyone was, but through a combination of the G4 complications and the absorption of the Assassin’s Guild, what Illyria knew and who was allowed to know what had shifted significantly in a very short amount of time. It was little surprise the poor man appeared so frazzled.

Ky did his best to wait patiently. Still, after long enough, he started chewing on the inside of his lip. “I’m certain this is very important, but I have many priorities to handle. If you find it too difficult to communicate, could I possibly recommend gathering your thoughts and writing them down?”

“I-I’m sorry, sir- !” The man cleared his throat. “Well, as was requested, when the agents of the former Assassin’s Guild were absorbed into Illyria’s ranks, they had their medical information taken and put on file.”

He looked to his leader for approval. Ky gestured for him to continue. “Due to their unknown background, and very little data available through the Guild’s records, the doctors thought it would be a good choice to run some more intensive tests- trying to see if they have any genetic predispositions to certain illnesses. That, and given what we know about the Guild’s operations, we wanted to see if there was any possible chance any of them might still have living relatives they could try and reconnect with, now that the Guild is defunct.”

Ky nodded along. “I suppose all of that seems perfectly reasonable, as long as all of the agents consented to it.” Everything sounded up to board, how did this involve him? Sure, as a reigning monarch, a lot of people defaulted to him when it came to anything regarding authority, but the information department handled delicate data. They should have been well trained enough to not make such a choice unless it was necessary. Just a slip-up, then?

“I’m afraid it’s a bit more complex than that, sir.” The man wrung his hands together with such ferocity that Ky wondered if he was trying to start a fire.

“Then clarify.”

“The results found nothing of interest with Mr. Zato. Miss Millia, however…erm, well, your majesty, that’s exactly why I’m here.”

One eyebrow slowly rose. “If it’s important medical information, shouldn’t that go to the castle doctors, first? Or better yet, to Miss Rage herself?”

“No, sir, no, that isn’t…”

This was swiftly getting on his nerves. Ky tried to be a patient fellow, but he had his limits. He couldn’t just stand around all day. “Then clarify. I’m not simply going to be able to guess.”

“Let me just say now, sir, there’s a chance that it’s entirely a fluke, the med techs are doing a second analysis just to be sure- “

“Whatever it is, there’s nothing to be so nervous about.” Ky attempted to placate the man, at the very least in hopes of having this conversation end up somewhere before the year ended. “What is it? I’d like to know what your team found.”

“Miss Rage, well…her genetic makeup is almost identical to yours. While the exact nature of your connection can’t be 100% confirmed, logistically, that overlap would indicate-”

“What? You…you’re saying she and I are siblings?”

“Our preliminary results indicate that, yes.”

Were he a weaker man, his jaw would have dropped. Ky was nothing short of flummoxed. Baffled, befuddled, dumbfounded. That wasn’t the sort of information you could just drop on someone and half them take calmly. Externally, he remained the perfect image of refined calm, but internally, he found himself suddenly lost.

“Though like I said, we aren’t irrefutably certain, but the fact that there’s such an overlap…”

‘You have a sister,’ his mind cried to him.

’Don’t say that for certain. He said he wasn’t sure.’

’He wouldn’t tell you if there wasn’t a chance of it being true.’ It insisted back. ’I know you want to believe it.’

Did he just need more time to think this over? Was that it? Was this the sort of thing that even had a guide? It must have just been the shock. That’s why everything in the room looked blurry.

God dammit.

Were it true, the legal implications would be peculiar. Though Illyria was an elected monarchy, the titles those positions bestowed still closely resembled those passed by blood. He was First King, which made Dizzy First Queen by marriage, and Sin the prince and heir apparent; though on paper, things were a little more complicated than that. Illyria was still a pretty new nation, and the finer details of how the next generation of leadership would play out were still being worked through. Nonetheless, as it stood, that was where his family tree halted. He had no living family, Dizzy had no siblings, and Sin, likewise, was an only child.

If Millia truly was related to him by blood, it would make her an Illyrian princess. Not the first, thankfully, only so many jarring changes to the political system at a time. Leo’s elder sister Ariel was the first to hold the title (to Elphelt’s chagrin. It had been more difficult to explain to her that, disregarding the fact that she wasn’t even legally considered alive, her status as a clone of Aria brought up all sorts of confusing threads on how she and her sister were even related to the Kiskes)

God, forget the legal proceedings. He had a sister? It was almost too absurd a thought to entertain. Despite that, he couldn’t fully shoo the thought away as total nonsense. The war displaced thousands of families, tore mothers from children and siblings from one another. He didn’t…Ky couldn’t remember much about his family. A few snippets of his mother, but anything else were salvaged pieces of tattered remains. Anything before he joined the Holy Order was blurry at best. Could he have had a sister? Had he just forgotten? How could he forget something like that??

What a joke. It had to be a joke. It wasn’t a very funny one.

“I…”

Now he was the one tripping over his words. Christ, he couldn’t think like this. Ky managed the slightest amount of poise as he fled the room.

“I need some space to think.”

“Miss Rage.”

Millia looked up from her documents. Though she easily recognized the voice, the fact that it was speaking to her directly made her nearly do a double-take.

“King Kiske, now isn’t this odd? I’m surprised to see you in person.” She said, spending several moments to size the man up. “Is there something you needed?”

It seemed very strange to her that he would seek her out in specific, nor that he wouldn’t send an agent out in his stead. His presence puzzled her greatly, but she didn’t let it show on her face. From what she could tell, he wasn’t at ease, either. His expression was calm, but his posture was rigid, and his shoulders inched upward. Guild interrogations had given her insight on how to read body language.

Still, his unease managed to stay out of his voice. “I do, yes. Are you in the middle of something right now?”

“Always,” replied Millia. “But if you mean anything particularly time-sensitive, nothing is enough so that I can’t take a moment to talk.” And, ideally, briefly. Whatever this was, she hoped it would be quick enough that she could immediately return to her business. Conversations weren’t her strong suit.

Alas, not so. It took her a moment to realize Ky was gesturing for her to leave her seat, and a few moments more to comply. What in the world was he trying to do?

“If you could follow me, please?”

She had no reason to say no. Whether doing so was even an option anyway…she was speaking to one of the most powerful individuals in the world. Millia followed in silence. Ky paused to look over his shoulder several times during their short trip. Her footsteps were too quiet for him to notice.

He led her to a quieter part of the castle. The thought struck her that she hadn’t seen any other staff members in several minutes. It didn’t do well in calming her concerns. Angra uneasily swished against her leg, only calmed when she forced it to turn back into normal, innocuous hair.

After several more minutes of walking, Ky seemingly-randomly left the broad path of the hallway and into an alcove. Millia would have assumed that nobody had stepped foot in here in quite some time, if not for the steaming carafe and tray that had been set out.

Ky turned on his heels, gesturing to the little table. “Please, take a seat. Make yourself comfortable.”

That was a tall order, given the circumstances, but she made a good show of faking it. She tugged the waterfall of blonde hair over her shoulder to avoid pinning it under her when she sat. Ky made a similar motion, pulling aside the various layers of his robe before he could sit in a way that still looked questionably comfortable.

He smoothed the material in his lap. “Has the information department spoken to you much as of late?”

Millia shook her head. “No, not as of late. I haven’t heard from them since the medical division took samples.” A phantom sting made her guard the crook of her arm. “They said they would be looking into records from Russia once they had enough data to cross-reference.”

“Russia, yes. According to Guild records, that’s originally where your family was from?”

She gave him an odd look. “As far as I’ve been led to believe.”

“Have they always lived there?”

The odd look turned into a scrunched scowl. “I don’t know. The Guild ripped me from my family when I was six. I didn’t exactly have the time to ask.”

Ky winced, immediately taking note of the faux pas. “I see. I’m sorry, I hadn’t meant to bring back such unpleasant memories. I should have had a better sense of tact.”

“Indeed.” She pushed the chair back and moved to stand. “If that’s all you wanted to ask, then I will be heading back to work now- “

“Please,” Ky raised a hand. “If you could just view this as a casual conversation. This has nothing to do with Illyria or the former Guild. I simply wish to know more about you as an individual.”

While she still looked skeptic, Millia sat back down in her seat. “If you want, your majesty.”

“Just ‘Ky’ is fine. Casual, remember?”

“...Of course. Casual.” After a few moments’ hesitation, she took a scone. “Why me in particular?”

“I’ve heard that you have had a very complicated life, a very difficult one. I think it’s unfair that you should have to carry that burden alone.”

“Forgive me if I’m not particularly enthusiastic about dredging up those memories.”

“I understand. You don’t have to answer any questions you don’t want to.” Ky reached for the tea tray. He plucked a pair of delicate teacups from where they were situated by the pot’s base, like timid animals clustered around their mother’s legs. “Let’s speak of something a bit less severe.” The man offered her a plate of scones, one of which she took. “Do you like tea?”

Millia finished a nibble of scone before speaking again. “The Guild didn’t allow non-necessities, not for trainees. I’ve had it a few times as an adult. I never really developed a taste for coffee, but I don’t have trouble waking up, anyway.”

Something about that pleased him. Millia was a moment away from accusing him of enjoying her suffering, but he interrupted by pulling the lid off of the tea container. Metal clinked against porcelain from the spoon hitting its side. Ky scooped a few little piles of tea leaves into the empty cups and poured the steaming water on top of it. Ribbons of hot vapor swirled into the air.

“This kind is less for invigorating and more for relaxation. It shouldn’t make you jittery. Though I still have some sugar for it, if you’d like it. Milk as well, I take mine plain, but I wasn’t sure if you had a dislike for the bitterness.”

Millia noticed an aroma filling the air the longer the leaves steeped. Its peculiar smell brought an unexpected fogginess to her mind. A new accusation nearly fell from her lips, that this was some bizarre roundabout way of drugging her. Angra’s edges turned hard and sharp as soon as it sensed her distress.

“Is…is something wrong, Miss Rage?” Ky asked. He reached for the teacups. “Oh no, you aren’t allergic, are you? I should have asked- “

With so much time spent in the Guild’s confines, pinpointing her own emotions was something she hadn’t been taught as well as reading others’. It took much too long for her to realize what the sensation even was. Calm. It wasn’t a drug. Just as he’d said, it was relaxing.

“...This smells familiar.” Angra went limp again.

“Oh?” He looked between her and the cups, sliding one back toward her. “It’s chamomile. I’m quite fond of it. Are you?”

She wasn’t sure if she wanted to be anywhere near it. Almost mechanically, Millia took her cup, felt the warmth radiating through the side and against her hand. “I don’t know. I can’t remember having this before. I’m not sure. It’s just that something about it smells…”

“Like home?” The man offered.

When she met his gaze, Millia had a thought. Had his eyes always been such a distinct, icy color? The thought mixed with the smell and put a sudden, inexplicable sense of longing in the space between her ribs.

“...Yeah.” She took another deep inhale. “Like home.”