Scotland x Reader ~The Vox Maiden~ 4

Chapter 4

“Vox Maiden,” the girl repeated with a mild distaste to the sound of her title. “What am I?”

“It’s not so much what,” Allistor said. “Rather, it’s who.”

The girl did not look like she had the slightest clue what he meant.

“This is why I didn’t want to tell you about this,” the traveler sighed. “You wouldn’t understand, and it won’t do you any good to know.”

“Why not?” the girl asked.

Allistor held up a hand. “What did I say about asking questions?”

Once again, the girl remained silent.

“My youngest brother was the one who actually told me about you,” he continued. “When I first met you, I wanted to find the key to your cage. While I was away from you, I had asked around about whether or not anyone knew about a big cage holding a girl inside.” He chuckled. “Some people thought I was crazy for thinking like that, and I can’t blame them. It turns out only a select few are able to hear your songs let alone know who you are. You see, to others, your songs fall on deaf ears—

“Hey! Now before you ask,” he quickly snapped as he saw the girls mouth open, “the reason I’m able to hear your voice is because I’m part of the bloodline of the family that keeps you guarded. It turns out my family is like your royal keepers.” He furrowed his eyebrows. “I was supposed to be next in line until I left. My youngest brother—his name is Arthur—said that the others weren’t fit to take up the job. Neither was he.

“So, the rascal became bookkeeper. It’s a boring job. All he does is read about the patterns in your songs and your existence. As interesting as it sounds, you weren’t born like normal people; you just came to be. My family’s been keeping you in the cage ever since—to keep you safe from the world.

“The Vox Maiden has the power to keep the world alive. If she stops singing for an extended period of time, the heart of the world will stop beating, and everything that she has ever sung about or wished for will crumble to ruin.

“You have sung about the sun, the stars, the oceans and rivers…and of me… If you stop singing, everything you have sung about will disappear.”

This made the girl flinch and her eyes widen.

“It’s harder this way,” Allistor sighed. “There’s also the fact that whatever you sing about will also be able to come into existence.” He spread his arm over the river. “Who knows? This river may not have been here until you made that song about it. Perhaps during the night, there weren’t so many stars as there are now. It could be that you brought them here.”

“And what about you?” the girl asked ignoring Allistor’s previous mentioning of interrupting him.

“I merely am,” he said. “The thing is, we don’t know what will happen. You have been locked inside that cage for as long as you could remember. You have never been this close to a human being before so you couldn’t have sung about him or her. But then again…that might be one of the reasons you were kept a secret.”

The girl remained listening.

“If you are found and used in the wrong ways, whoever uses you can have the power to rule the world—perhaps even the entire universe. That is why you are dangerous. You must never stray from the right path.”

It was then that Allistor noticed the girl was about to explode from wanting to ask questions.

“You may ask questions now,” he said.

“…If I am so dangerous, why is it that you took me out?” she first asked.

“Because as predicted, you began to sing about me. Whatever you desire, you sing about. If I wasn’t here for you, you would continue to sing about me. You would forget to sing about everything else you’d need to keep alive. Since you have been in the presence of another human being—that being me—you will have perished if you stayed in the cage. Now, you require human company. That is why you can’t help but miss me when I leave.”

The girl clenched her fist around Allistor’s tunic. “These people who are looking for me…are they all bad?”

Allistor paused. His brother had not been specific, but he was instructed to never allow the Vox Maiden to fall into the ownership of another human being. The world was their enemy.

“Yes,” he said. “There will be people who will want to hurt you. They might even want to hurt me to get to you. Whatever happens, they will not stop until they have you.”

“They will never stop?”

“Never.”

“Then why do we continue?”

“Because that is your wish. You at least deserve to see that places you have sung about, correct?”

“B-But, if you are hurt…”

Allistor smiled. “Don’t worry about me. My only job is to keep you safe. As for the world…that remains up to you. So now you know.”

The girl looked up at the sky, her eyes filled with a different light. With him being taller than her, Allistor could see the concern on her face.

“How big is the world?” she asked.

“Bigger than the ocean. It’s so big that you would never be able to see its end. It has none.”

Then, she placed her hand on her throat. “And I keep something that big alive?”

“Yes. It’s a big responsibility, yet if you do things the right way, it’s not as hard as you’d think.”

“Allistor…”

“Yes?”

“I’m scared…”

“Ah, hell…” He placed his hand on her shoulder and pulled her close to him. “It’s alright. You won’t have to worry about anything. I’ll make sure you’re safe.”

“Promise…?” she whispered.

“…I promise,” he replied, though this time, he could not be sure that he could live up to such a responsibility.

~~~~~

At the ocean’s edge in the white castle with towering spires, the royal seer had received a vision. There had been a cage and a songbird. For the longest time, the bird had remained tethered by the steel bars until another wild bird with brilliant red feathers had come to the cage. This red bird had undone the lock on the cage, and just like that, the songbird was free. However, the songbird’s freedom would not last. A great eagle had come and stole the songbird away. Under captivity again, the broken-hearted prisoner had perished—and the world with it.

The seer had to hurry. This had to be the vision they had been waiting for. They would have to act quickly. Who knew what calamity might fall upon the songbird and her escort?

“This isn’t good…” he mumbled to himself as he traveled briskly between the columns to the main hall. He would have to tell the king to hurry and send people to retrieve her. The Eagles may have already acted.

“Sir, I have a report!” he called out from across the hall as he slipped past the guards.

Unfortunately, the king was not present. The seer cursed himself for thinking he could have been actually attending to his duties. If he wasn’t on his throne, then he had to be in the back courtyard. So, without another moment to lose, he went on his way.

As expected, the king had taken off his heavy cape and had set aside his crown. He was busy commencing in swordplay among some of the lesser knights, a practice that his subjects admired.

“You’re getting blunt!” the king laughed. “How do you expect to defend yourself against the enemy if you can’t even swing a sword faster than me?”

The royal seer rolled his eyes. You arrogant fool. No one can swing a sword faster than you, and you know that.

“Sir, I have something to report,” he announced to his ruler and close friend.

Immediately after saying that, the king backed away from his opponent’s swing and held up his hand.

“Hold,” he said. “The seer has something to say?”

The seer nodded. “I prefer this be talked about in private, sir.”

The king’s smile faded. Whatever news couldn’t be announced in front of his subjects was nothing short of a serious matter.

“I’ll meet you in your chambers then,” he responded.

~~~~~

When all was said and done, the king had arrived at his loyal friend’s chambers. No one other than himself had ever been allowed to pass into his private quarters. There, they were always able to talk in private regardless of the subject.

“I’ve noticed you’ve moved from ‘Mathias’ to ‘sir,’” he smiled. “Are you ever going to call me ‘Your Highness,’ Lukas?”

The seer removed his hood and brushed back some of his loose bangs. “When I believe you are worthy of truly being called my king, then I will address you as such, Mathias,” he answered in a cold, distant voice.

The king laughed. “I don’t know whether to be upset or touched. It’s only harder for you because you’ve been my friend for as long as I can remember, but at the same time, I am the king.”

“That makes no difference to me,” Lukas snorted. “Now do you want to hear what I have to say or not? It’s rather urgent.”

“Have at it.”

Lukas blinked. “The Vox Maiden is loose.”

This was a rare moment. In all of his life, the seer rarely saw his friend at a loss for words. He always had something to say, something to lighten up the mood. All the same, it was hard to find a reason to be happy that the Vox Maiden had left her cage.

“What should we do?” the seer asked hoping to break his king’s awkward silence.

“We…” The king furrowed his eyebrows. “How long has it been?”

“I just received the vision only a few minutes ago, but I fear if we do not act quickly, the Eagles will get to her.”

“Ah, those blasted Eagles…” Mathias murmured. “So we can safely assume they are after her as well?”

“It’s worse than that,” Lukas replied. “I fear that they have already acted.”

The king clicked his tongue. He was irritated. As aloof and carefree as he was, he knew the crucial role the Vox Maiden played. Having his enemy capture her and use her for their own purposes was not going to end well.

“Do you know where they are?” he asked.

“They are actually headed here. I believe they are coming to the ocean.”

“To us, huh? Then I’m assuming she’s travelling downstream?”

The seer nearly made an amused expression. “You’re not as stupid as I sometimes imagine you to be.”

“I’m guessing that’s a ‘yes,’ then,” the king smiled. “I shall send some of our people upstream. They are faster than the Eagles. We might be able to get to her before they do.”

But before he could leave and give his subjects his orders, the seer stopped him.

“You forgot one important thing,” he said.

The king stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder.

“And what would that be?”

The seer narrowed his dark eyes. “I said ‘they,’ not ‘she.’ There is another person travelling with her.”

This made the king arch his eyebrows. “Really? Someone who doesn’t belong to royalty? Who?”

This time, a once-in-a-moon expression appeared on the cold, stoic seer’s lips. He was smiling.

“Would you believe it?” he chuckled. “It’s a Fowl.”