[ 03 - CHAPTER THREE ]

― harbinger of sorrow ―

"Cygnus?" Titania erupted, her eyes flitting over her surroundings as she made sure no one was eavesdropping on her conversation with Orion. "Brother, have you gone mad?"

Orion's brow furrowed, and his words bled with exasperation when he next spoke. "No, I am almost certain I have not gone mad. Why would you think that?"

He was making an effort to be patient with Titania, as he highly enjoyed her company, but enduring her interrogatory behavior was proving itself to be trying. From the moment he'd mentioned the conquest he was planning, she hadn't ceased her questions about who he'd be attacking, how he'd be attacking them, and everything in between. The only thing she'd said in the past ten minutes that Orion was appreciative of was that she was willing to help.

"Cygnus is known for its strength in warfare, Orion, and-"

"As is Saros," Orion interrupted, his calm tone of voice contrasting the many lingering frustrations he felt.

"Yes," she responded, leaning forward as she tried to match Orion's pace. "But the force of all our armies combined could not compare to the force of their one. We would not be proving anything to father and the court if we returned empty-handed with half of our soldiers dead."

Orion slowed to a stop in front of his large, iron-wrought office doors. He had to strain to pull them open due to their weight, but the struggle he had to face every time he opened them was easy to overlook when he recalled why they were that way. The iron material they were made of, when combined with the added layers of damping compounds, successfully prevented all sorts of sounds from travelling through the walls of his office. Soundproof barriers were something Orion considered to be a necessity when discussing things like war strategies and political affairs.

Orion waited for the doors to close behind Titania before he gave her a response in his typical matter-of-fact manner. "And that is exactly why we won't be facing Cygnus' army head-on. With the right plan our two militia will be able to take them by surprise, and it will be nothing to storm their capital and come out victorious, with another planet under our belts nonetheless."

"Hold on," Titania said, her eyebrow arching in disconcertment. "Did you just say 'our two militia'? I was unaware you were going to include my soldiers in this...this suicidal attack of yours."

The eldest Atlas sibling sighed, his jaw clenching as he did so. He'd just had to endure the entire court's skeptical and cynical attitudes, and it was becoming perturbing to have his sister question his actions as well. Rather than responding to her worried sentiments, he kept his lips sealed and continued flipping through the innumerable pages of battle plans and attack formations that lie on his desk.

He knew exactly what he was looking for. In fact, he was certain he didn't even need to look at his desired attack plan for reference. He knew the formation like the back of his hand - the only reason he was searching for it was because it would console Titania and her fretful concerns, especially if she could have a tangible record of the plan Orion was following.

"Why do you want to annex Cygnus so badly?" Titania asked, her unwavering voice breaking the brief silence. Orion had to give it to her. Though she was obviously troubled by his intent to invade Cygnus, she hid her it well, and Orion wouldn't have been able to tell how worried she was if he didn't know her so well.

Titania took a moment to think over her next words before she continued. "Why not attack a smaller planet, so we'll have better chances of coming out on top? Why would you choose to face unnecessary risks?"

Orion huffed. "I'm looking for a copy of one of my battle plans so I can show you what I have in mind. Then you'll see that I am not as crazy as I sound."

Orion began searching through his many plans at a quicker pace, and a grin donned his face when he found what he had been looking for. He gestured for Titania to take a seat at his desk and followed suit once he'd placed the correct plan on top of the others.

Titania's eyes were narrow as she scrutinized the layout of Orion's handpicked battle strategy. As her brother has hoped, seeing the complete plan helped to settle her nerves. Orion knew it would have that effect on her. Where he was impulsive and tended to act on emotion, Titania was a logician to her core. It was unsettling to her if she didn't know exactly what was going on, how things were going to happen, and whether or not plans of attack had a good chance of ending well, and it was an acquired skill of Orion's to know how to play on those aspects of her personality.

However, even though Titania's concern had lessened a great deal, the tension in the room had not completely dissipated. Titania glanced up at her erratic brother, trying to decide whether she should try to stop him from attacking Cygnus or swallow her unease and help ensure that his plan would succeed. Orion was a hard character to read, and though she loved him with her whole heart, she had trouble trusting him when he was angry like he was. He let his emotions get to his head, and that was when he became the most dangerous.

"I understand that you want to prove the king and his court of fools wrong, I really do," Titania began, treading lightly with her word choice to avoid angering her brother more. "But how do I know you're doing this to prove yourself to them and that you're not acting out of defiance?"

Orion smiled in an attempt to lighten Titania's mood, and even tried to make her smile by joking, "I'm offended that you would think me to be so foolish."

Titania allowed herself a brief laugh, but it was one that neglected to reach her eyes, no matter how sincere she tried to make it seem. "I'm just worried, Orion. It seems really dangerous, and for what? A childish jab at the court?"

"You seemed so eager to help when I first suggested we infiltrate another planet," Orion retorted, his lingering smile falling off of his face.

"Yes, but that was before I knew you were planning an assault Cygnus, of all places!"

Orion tried not to wince at Titania's sharp rise in tone. She was growing irritated, and Orion couldn't tell why. He wasn't forcing her to participate in his conquest, by any means. As a matter of fact, she had volunteered her assistance to him when they'd left the courtroom, and had proceeded to accompany him to his office after. And yet, as Orion revealed more facets of his plan to her, her speech continued to grow shorter and her lips continued to press together more tightly.

"Titania, look at me," he insisted, rising from his seat to walk up to her. He placed his calloused hands on her shoulders, brushed a stray piece of hair out of her face, and made sure his dark brown eyes were staring directly into hers as he spoke, "When have I ever lost a battle?"

Deafening silence resounded throughout the compact room, and Orion took the silence as permission to continue appealing to his sister. "Listen, if you're worried that the surprise approach won't work, I understand. But I'd still like to have your soldiers fighting beside mine. If I promised you that we would flee at the first sign of overwhelming danger, would you consider bringing your army into this?"

Titania took a deep breath, presumably weighing her options before giving an answer. Moments passed before she finally responded, her voice sounding forceful and demanding as she declared, "If I bring my army into this, you must promise me that. No exceptions - as soon as it looks like the whole 'element-of-surprise' thing won't work, we pull our soldiers out of the battlefield and leave, no questions asked. And if you break your promise, I swear to you, I will wreak so much havoc upon you that you will wish you had never been born."

Orion couldn't help but smile. Yes, his sister's unabating threat had been slightly terrifying, but at least she'd agreed to help. And for that, Orion was exceedingly grateful. Without the assistance of her army, he would have no chance of conquering Cygnus, even if he put his best battle formations into use.

"Well, then, I promise," he said, his crooked grin growing in its exuberance.

As he glided across the room to his communications system, his lips moving quickly as he ordered his second in command to ready his and Titania's armies, he didn't notice Titania's watchful gaze observing his every move. She was frightened. Fearful for the lives of her soldiers. And it was taking every etiquette lesson she'd learned to hide that from Orion. Her brother was lashing out like a child who'd just been reprimanded, and it made Titania's blood run cold to see how detached and overconfident he was acting.

She still wasn't sure why she'd agreed to his deranged plan. There were too many risks involved, too many lives that could be lost. But it seemed Titania still couldn't say 'no' to her older brother. She admired him too much, like a little girl admired their teenage idol, and it was coming back to bite her. As Orion ordered their troops to ready themselves, she realized she could do nothing but pray that Orion's promise would hold true when the time for battle came upon them.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Sorry this chapter was kind of short(and, yikes, unedited), but the next chapter should be much longer, so hopefully that will make up for it. Though it was somewhat uneventful, I personally enjoyed writing it because it sheds some more light on the relationship between Titania and Orion. Also, I just planned out the rest of Act One, and I just thought it should be known that everything goes downhill from hereon out(hence the chapter's title). Anyway, I've seen some people do a question at the end of each chapter, so I figured I'd give that a shot(as seen below).

Q: OBVIOUSLY, ORION'S CONQUEST WILL GO WRONG, BUT HOW EXACTLY DO YOU THINK THAT WILL HAPPEN?