“When I was very little…I would stop crying whenever you did this. Though I’m sure you don’t remember…”
What am I doing? This is the man who killed the dragon, she wondered. But she knew this feeling so intimately that it hurt.
The pain of losing family.
She couldn’t abandon someone feeling the same pain right in front of her.
“I don’t recall having combed your hair… No, I have no memories of being young at all.”
“Even without your memory… Brother, we…” She trailed off there.
Her next words just wouldn’t come out of her mouth.
She thought, If there were no ill feelings in our family, then we could share this pain and overcome it.
She wanted to console Sigurd in his sadness, but the words just wouldn’t leave her lips.
Instead, Brunhild continued to comb his hair, hoping to stop the tears of his heart from flowing.
The preparations for Richard’s funeral began right away. Sigurd kept the fact that Richard had tried to kill him from everyone except Brunhild. He didn’t want to sully Richard’s honor.
It would take a few days of getting ready to put on a proper funeral. Richard’s body was embalmed and beautified to prevent decay and make him presentable.
The preparations were completed, and the day of the funeral arrived.
Brunhild and Sigurd went to the coffin holding Richard’s body to deliver their final farewell to their friend.
But then something strange happened.
They opened the coffin to find that Richard’s corpse had vanished. It was completely empty.
This was so bizarre the two of them were struck speechless. They immediately began a search for the body, but their efforts bore no fruit. The person supervising the funeral was adamant that Richard had been inside the coffin the day before.
At Brunhild’s side, Sigurd muttered, “He may have been alive.”
That’s impossible, Brunhild thought. No one could have survived that long with a gaping hole in their chest. Yet she was unable to deny her brother’s absurd suggestion. Someone dear to her had died, and his corpse had vanished, so she did want to believe he might be alive.
Besides, her brother would surely know better than her that there was no doubt Richard had died. Sigurd was the one who had killed him after all.
So there was no need for Brunhild to expressly deny his remark.
The funeral was put on hold. Without a body, there would be no ceremony.
Brunhild was worried Sigurd would be depressed over being unable to hold a funeral. But the only time he grieved openly was the night of the day Richard had betrayed him. The very next day, Sigurd went back to his usual confident self and returned to his duties as a ruler. But that didn’t mean that he had put all his feelings behind him. He was simply the king, and he couldn’t show weakness in front of his subjects.
Time passed, and Richard’s body still didn’t turn up. Meanwhile, the day of a different event was approaching.
Their wedding ceremony.
Brunhild was finally going to become Sigurd’s wife.
On the day of the ceremony, Brunhild changed into the traditional bridal attire and waited in her chambers for the wedding to start.
She felt no reluctance at the prospect of becoming her brother’s bride. She was not simply resigned to her fate. Rather, she no longer loathed him the way she once had.
The door to her quarters opened. She figured a servant was coming to get her. The wedding was to be held at the temple atop a hill, so she assumed the coachman had come for her.
But it wasn’t the coachman. It was none other than Sigurd.
“Brother?”
He didn’t move from the doorway. His eyes were locked on hers.
“What is it?” she asked.
He said, “There’s something I want to tell you before we are wed. It will be a little long, but hear me out.”
Brunhild was confused but nodded. Now that she thought about it, her brother scarcely came to her to talk.
“I am a Child of God. There has been no member of the royal family in the past century who has been able to control the Power as well as I can. My power could even be compared to that of the First Queen… But there is one ability I was never able to acquire.”
Sigurd gazed at Brunhild’s lips and said, “The voice.”
This made her think back to the voice the First Queen was said to possess. The First Queen’s powers had been the greatest of all generations, and her voice had been special. The words she spoke were “God’s Command” and were said to be capable of bending all creatures to her will.
“I sought a way to acquire that voice. I wanted to surpass the First Queen. Power alone was the proof of my existence. I felt the stronger I became, the more certain of my identity I would become.”
With no memories, all her brother had to rely on was the Power of God.
“I searched for ways to obtain God’s Command and discovered that dragon in the process. It was weak, as far as dragons went, but it made use of God’s Command to protect its island. I took it by surprise and burned its throat. Then I caught it and brought it back to the kingdom. The rest is as you know.”
After being taken to the kingdom, the dragon had undergone torturous experimentation. Brunhild finally knew what those experiments had been about. The researchers had been trying to extract God’s Command.
“That dragon was capable of bequeathing God’s Command to another if it so wished. But no matter how I tormented it, the dragon would not relinquish the power, saying it would die before handing it over to someone with a heart as ugly as mine. In the end…that voice came to reside in your throat.”
Brunhild touched her throat.
“Now you know. If you voice something as a command, any creature will follow you. Even me.”
Brunhild was startled. Suddenly, she understood everything Sigurd was trying to say.
“I cancel our marriage.”
Brunhild silently listened to her brother’s words.
“I don’t regret having killed your dragon. The creature was attacking a village and killing people. It was my duty to defeat it as a dragonslaying king, but…,” Sigurd said, “…I now understand your feelings a little. And so, in this moment and this moment alone, I will break my convictions and say to you”—he looked her straight in the eye—“I’m sorry for having killed your family.”
When Brunhild heard those words, she felt the last vestiges of the ill will she held for her brother melt away.
I’m sorry.
What simple words of apology.
But…
I see, I…
I’ve always wanted him to say that.
Sigurd approached Brunhild and melted the chain of the crimson necklace with his Thunder, then removed the jewelry. Now, even if she was to use God’s Command, she would not be punished for it.
“Go wherever you wish. You are free.”
With God’s Command, she could resist Sigurd even if he had a change of heart the next moment and tried to capture her.
Sigurd turned his back to her. As he was about to leave, Brunhild said, “I haven’t forgotten my sorrow over the dragon. Or my anger toward you. I’ll carry both until I die.”
“I’m sure.”
“But…,” she continued, “we should let bygones be bygones.” There was no more accusation in her tone. “Will you make a grave?”
Her question brought Sigurd to a halt.
“If you can do that, I’ll let go of my resentments,” she said.
Sigurd’s eyes widened. “What did you just say?”
“I’m saying I’ll forgive you.”
Not in her wildest dreams could she have thought the day would come when she would offer to forgive Sigurd.
“You’re contradicting yourself…”
“Indeed. I can’t forget my sadness or hatred. While I’ll carry those feelings with me forever, that won’t stop me from forgiving you.”
Sigurd listened attentively to what Brunhild said, then replied, “I’ll make a grave—if that’s what you wish.”
“Thank you, Brother.” Next, she said, “Well then, hurry and change into your wedding clothing. The carriage is coming.”
Hearing that, Sigurd got the most foolish look on his face. It was the first time she’d ever seen him with such an expression. “What are you talking about? You’re a free woman.”
“I’m free, so I’m going to do as I please. As you are now…I wouldn’t mind living with you.”
That was why Brunhild steeled herself and said the words, “We’re already family.”
Before long, the carriage came, and the two of them headed to the temple.
Brunhild and Sigurd kissed before the marriage altar as the spectators threw flowers to the heavens, and a pleasant storm of scattering blossoms filled the temple. Brunhild was happy. If only Richard were there, too, then everything would have been perfect. Surely, he would have acknowledged their union and celebrated them.
That night, the two of them were united as husband and wife.
Feeling her husband’s love with her whole body, Brunhild was enveloped with a sense of contentment. But in his embrace, she happened to realize something strange.
Even though they were siblings, she didn’t find touching him or being touched unpleasant in the slightest.
Now that she thought about it, this had always been the case—even when he had first kissed her and when they had kissed at the altar.
There had been a time when she’d felt repulsed by Sigurd as a person, but not once had she ever felt disgust toward him because he was her brother.
No matter how intimately they touched, Brunhild never felt any of the disgust for Sigurd that she would toward a blood relative.