[FIC} The Power of the Queen - Prologue

[black-rose.livejournal.com]

Title: The Power of the Queen
Author: the black rose blkros
Characters/Pairings: Marianne POV. Lelouch x Euphie, Suzaku x Euphie
Rating: PG/PG-13
Summary: Set just after CC's conversation with Marianne in episode 23 and continues.

The Power of the Queen

by the Black Rose

AN: This is based on the premise that people who are connected to the power of Geass - there's a place they go when they die, which explains how Lelouch's dead mother Marianne is speaking to CC throughout the show (revealed in ep 23).
Warnings: Spoilers up through episode 23. Angst. Deals with incestuous feelings between half-siblings. Please do NOT read if it will make you uncomfortable.
My thanks to any and all who will read this. Love, Rose

PS - Please forgive the Arthurian legend references(Mom, Geass started it!)
PPS - I've included a little preview for chapter 1 at the bottom. :)
PPPS - x-posted to lulu_euphie


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Prologue

I cannot imagine a greater torture for a mother to endure than to watch her child suffer. From the time I first realized there was a tiny being inside me, I wanted to protect you from all the evils and the pain of that world. A mother's love…

But I have watched you suffer, my son, all these empty years.

-

I was born Marianne Lamperouge, a common woman in a little faming town nestled between the Alps and the Auvergne mountains. Growing up within the Britannian territory known as the Rhone Valley, my mother taught me the duties I would assume as a farmer or rancher's wife one day – hoeing, planting, cooking. By the time I was ten, I could ride a horse, drive a tractor, cook a meal for twenty…The list went on.

As a Britannian citizen, I also attended school and received a solid education. This led me to discover a passion for classical literature. Then, it sent me far from home and even farther from the life my parents thought I should have lived. To college.

My education ended, or perhaps it truly began, with my marriage to Charles zi Britannia. I desired more than a common woman's life. And I believed someone intended for me to have more….

I was granted, around the time I turned fourteen years old, a very uncommon gift. One that eventually led me to become a queen. An empress. This gift, this power isn't mine. It doesn't belong to me or to anyone. But, it's a power you know by now, Lelouch.

I wish. Things change.

You command. People obey.

This power called Geass has a will all its own, my son. And as you've just witnessed with your own, horrified eyes on this day - this day that held so much hope, not just for Japan and its people, who I admit mean little to me. But for Nunally, for your friend, Suzaku. And most of all, for the hope she still held for you…

The power of Geass has no soul. No heart.

And as I watch you - with what's left of your kindness and your gentle nature writhing in agony - I wish for the thousandth time, your mother could be of some comfort to you.

But I cannot.

I can only wait, here, in this place they call Caerleon, as I have for the last seven years. Sharing in your torment. Waiting for your judgment.

And in the end, I don't know which would hurt you more. To believe that it is your power, your sin that killed the woman you love.

Or to know that…It was mine.

---

Preview of Chapter 1

Euphemia's mother, Bethany Valliere li Britannia, was a thin wisp of a woman with pale, delicate skin. We were, of course, rivals at court when your father and I first were married. And exact opposites from one another.

Bethany wore her light blond hair up in an elegant style. I let my dark curls tumble freely down my back.

She spoke in a soft, gentle tone. I was known, scourged even, by the court for laughing out loud and raising my voice to 'inappropriate' levels.

I never knew what Charles saw in her. She always seemed so frail, and as you are well aware, Lelouch, your father detests anything less than the strongest and the fittest. Midway through Bethany's pregnancy (her second) she was placed on permanent bed rest. While I still went for walks and continued to keep my gardens until almost the day you were born.

But Bethany had some things I could never have: position; wealth; power outside your father's influence. Her sons would have held a direct line to the throne. Had she given birth to any boys. Instead, Bethany had two daughters – Cornelia, who was four years old when I had you. And Euphemia. Born several months after you.

All these things, you already know, of course. But in the aftershocks of today's events, I feel the need to gather my thoughts and memories. I want to sort through this because I know the time of your ascension to this kingdom's throne grows near. And nearer still is having to face the judgment of the Queen.

Comments

[melrose10.livejournal.com]

Rose? Is this really you?

Lulu x Euphie? OMG!

And Suzaku x Euphie?

OMG, I so LOVE YOU.

And I love Marianne here. :P

[black-rose.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is me. ^___^

And yes, it's a Lulu/Euphie fic. This arc has a Lulu/Euphie storyline and a Suzaku/Euphie storyline. Different pieces are solely focused on different pairings. Wow, that sounded complex.

So, The Power of the Queen is an arc. This story, the main story is Lulu/Euphie with elements of Suza/Euphie and both Euphie x Suzaku and Euphie x Lelouch. MOST of the Lulu/Euphie part in this is set when they were kids. In fact 5 out of 6 chapters are set before Marianne's death as she reminisces while waiting for a specific event.

Then there are the side stories:

"In the Days I have left" is Lulu/Euphie from Lelouch's POV - set around episode 19 and beyond. It includes a lemon.

"Zero Consideration" is Suza/Euphie from Suzaku's POV (includes a lemon).

"Cereus" is Euphie x Lelouch and Euphie x Suzaku from Euphie's POV (much milder references to lemon-y sort of activities)

I'll stop boring you with more mundane details. I'm still working on the sequelish fic, but all the rest is rough drafted. I had to declare a winner in the love triangle by the end of Cereus, but depending on pairing preference, people can pick which pieces to read and be satisfied, I think.

*hugs* It's nice to be loved. Thanks for reading and thanks a ton for being interested in ficcy. It means a lot.

Love,
Rose