Chapter Text
Map of the Continent
“Open the gates!”
Ochako could barely hold back her sigh of relief upon hearing the gatekeeper’s shout. The end of their three-week-long journey could not come soon enough.
The carriage had not yet come to its brief halt at the steadily opening gates when Ochako’s ladies-in-waiting had begun chatting excitedly. Really, the compartment had been filled with their continuous gossip as soon as they had caught sight of the Palace from afar.
Soon, Ochako’s carriage, alongside the entire accompanying procession, continued forward, through the gates, entering the vast expanse of the Palace Grounds.
Truth be told, Ochako herself was impressed, almost stunned by the grandeur of the Bastel Imperial Palace. She'd always thought nothing was more beautiful than her own Iridescent Castle, with its expansive windows, tall towers, and lush gardens – mainly since the Imperial Palace was located in the capital city centre. How grand could it possibly be in comparison when squeezed between other buildings? Besides, she'd never been there herself, so as far as she was concerned, it couldn't be as great.
Her parents had been invited once when she was a child, before the Soulless War began. Upon their return, her mother had described in great detail how magnificent everything was, how every room was adorned with gold and silver, and how every noble in the castle was at least as wealthy as they were in their own small kingdom.
Her father never forgave her mother for that comparison.
But this time around, it was Ochako who had received the invitation. Her parents were long dead, and the entire empire eagerly awaited the Mage Queen's arrival for the one-month-long celebratory banquet. Although Ochako was no fool. She knew very well Emperor Aizawa still viewed her and her queendom as potential threats. To him, the sooner he could marry her off to a member of his court and swallow her queendom into his empire, the better.
This invitation was nothing more than a welcoming party, mixed with a quiet warning.
“Your Majesty!”
Startled, Ochako forced her memories away and smiled towards Mina. Her lady-in-waiting almost jumped in excitement, her nose and hands glued to the carriage window.
“Your Majesty, look! They shaped each tree like cherubins!”
“I cannot tell if it’s beautiful or over-the-top,” Kyouka commented, but for all her indifference, her eyes still sparkled with wonder. “Goodness gracious, the rumours were true, the marble really is encrusted with precious stones.”
“Maybe I’ll convince my Lord husband to gift me a few,” Mina snickered, making Kyouka chortle in turn, but not before she playfully smacked her arm.
Ochako chuckled with them, her eyes following Mina’s soulmark as it spread on her wrists and hands, seeming almost as excited as she was.
Per usual, the cluster of small red blades twirled incessantly, spreading as far as they could and running up and down her hands, as if they were trying to will her out of the carriage. Some blades even reached as high as her neck, peppering her skin with their glint.
Unlike the vast majority of people across the world, Mina had been lucky enough to meet her soulmate when she was still a child. The day Sir Eijirou Kirishima entered the Iridescent Castle as a page, their soulmarks became frantic, and while the small boy looked like he had been struck by lightning, Mina had been overjoyed. She stared and stared at his skin, following eagerly a sleek pink string that draped itself on him like cobwebs – a fragment of her soul, living under his skin.
“It was fate,” she claimed repeatedly each time she had the opportunity to tell of her soul-bonding ceremony. “We both descend from ancient forest elves, my blood sings to him, as his does to mine. The old earth gods weaved the threads of our lives together when our souls were but specks in the infinite universe, I know it in my heart!”
As per tradition, they were immediately taken to the temple to seal their bond before the gods. Although it had all been great fun at the time, they’d grown to understand how heavy such a bond weighed in their lives. Sir Kirishima, in particular, being low-born and orphaned, had to fight to prove his worth to Mina’s parents through sweat, blood and tears.
From time to time, Ochako would feel a sharp pang of jealousy deep in her heart when she’d catch them smiling at each other, their soulmark neatly regrouping on the side of their bodies closest to each other. No matter the hardships, they still made each other happy, and when they were finally old enough to marry, their joy grew tenfold.
And for a long time, Ochako had hoped someone like that would show up for her too. When the war started and food became scarce, when her parents were executed for treason, when she and her mentor had to flee her castle to save her life; so many situations where she’d quietly prayed to the gods to send her soulmate to save her. She’d spend hours, kneeling beside her beds, her cheeks wet with tears as she begged the heavens to send a saviour her way.
But no saviour ever came. In the end, she was the one who had to shoulder the burden of fighting off the enemy that was pillaging and destroying her lands.
Beneath the layers of clothes she wore, she felt Raiu slowly but anxiously swirl on her chest, wrapping her entire torso and shoulders. A small smile stretched Ochako’s lips at the sensation of her own soulmark vibrating quietly against her skin. She could easily imagine the large dark clouds spread across her skin, fire bolts crackling in silence, and the grey and black dragon camouflaging in the middle.
Unlike many soulmarks, Raiu abhorred showing itself on any exposed part of her skin. The only moments it felt safe enough to reveal itself were either when Ochako was curled beneath her covers at night, immersed in her bath, or when her anger rose to the point of fury – a rare occurrence.
Which was fine by her. The society they lived in was ruthless toward women when it came to soulmarks. She’d heard her mother, nursemaid and maids repeat countless times how undignified it was for a lady to let herself be so overwhelmed by her emotions that her soulmark would ricochet across her skin like a loose cannon. Mina, for one, had been punished more often than Ochako could recall for how freely her soulmark behaved.
Ironically, it was also considered a woman’s fault if her soulmate’s soulmark misbehaved. Since it was a fragment of their own soul living under their soulmate’s skin – an echo – women were expected to show enough modesty and calm so it didn’t splash in all directions on their partner's skin.
In this aspect, Raiu’s shyness was a blessing in disguise. Her parents and maids always complimented how well-behaved her soulmark was, and as she grew up and became of age to be married, Raiu stayed so well-hidden that rumours spread that Queen Ochako was soulless. And while it still frightened those who believed the gods had cursed soulless people, Ochako’s high status was mouth-watering enough to bring countless prospects to her castle. After all, a soulless queen was a queen no one could snatch for themselves.
Of course, she’d wondered what her soulmate would look like, more often than she was willing to admit. Her father used to tease her and tell her they must be the most boring person walking the continent for their soul echo to be a hidden dragon and a heap of slow, grey and black clouds that always remained hidden beneath her clothes. Her mother would tell her they must be quiet and wise, maybe a monk or a priest.
Both prospects bored and appalled Ochako to no end. She definitely couldn't picture herself standing all day long in a library, waiting for her soulmate to finish reading a pile of books. But then the war came and devastated everything she knew and loved, and she found herself wishing for the peace and quiet Raiu always provided.
But no one ever came.
In the end, few people knew what her soulmark looked like – or that she had one at all. Lady Mina and Lady Kyouka had witnessed with great wonder as Raiu nervously tried to hide from their prying eyes when the three of them bathed together. Once, they’d almost choked with laughter when Raiu found nowhere else to hide but between her buttcheeks.
And when Lady Himiko’s troops trapped an entire city before casting a spell that boiled them alive, Ochako’s fury had been such that Raiu had covered her from head to toe, the clouds black as ink, fire bolts detonating all over her skin. In their midst, the usually hidden dragon had grown twice its size, its grey and black scales turning orange and red as it set itself ablaze. Her wizard mentor had even wondered if maybe she’d encountered her soulmate on the battlefield.
However, there were hardly any survivors left to spread the word.
And so, Raiu remained a well-kept secret. One that only existed to comfort and reassure her in the dead of the night, when the ghosts of her life kept her from sleeping.
Shaking her head, Ochako tried to dissipate her dark thoughts and pressed her hand against her chest. Immediately, she felt Raiu slowly retract and swirl at the contact, as if to hold her hand.
You coward, she thought with a mocking smirk, you could simply travel to my hand instead of hiding away.
Kyouka whistled quietly, forgetting any attempt to look unimpressed.
“I think their west wing is twice the size of the Iridescent Castle.” She blinked multiple times, her mouth agape. “My Queen, whoever your husband will be, you must ask him for a hefty dowry so we can expand your castle upon our return.”
“It is the Bastellan Empire, Lady Kyouka, not the Oroquiar Queendom,” Mina reminded her, still glued to the window. “In their tradition, women pay the dowry.”
“Can they not compromise?” Kyouka replied, rolling her eyes. “Oh well, you should find yourself a princess then, my Queen.”
Ochako remained silent.
Normally, she’d have eagerly chatted with her friends, but today her throat was tied tight. The stakes were exceptionally high for her and her queendom, and she knew that the slightest misstep could be their undoing.
Eventually, the carriage and their procession stopped in front of the wide stairs leading to the Imperial Palace. Guards and servants already waited for them, standing in perfect lines. On top of the stairs, Emperor Aizawa stood, clad in his impeccable long black cape, lined with black fox fur. Next to him, his son and heir glanced down at Ochako’s carriage with impassive eyes.
Prince Shinsou, the light and hope of the empire, fierce warrior and saviour of the empire’s southern lands – and, a long time ago, Ochako’s lover.
Ochako steeled her nerves and swallowed her fears. Her ladies-in-waiting sat up straight, removing any sign of over-excitement from their faces, and the three waited quietly for the call.
They didn’t wait long.
“From the Oroquiar Queendom, her Royal Highness, Queen Ochako of House Uraraka!”