Chapter One: The Fall of a Queen
"What were you doing down there?" she asks.
"I was…" I can feel my face grow red beneath her stare. "I'm sorry, Mother, but I have this feeling that something is wrong in Ivalice."
"So you snuck down there because you had a feeling?" she spat. Her dressing gown of white lace and pink silk shakes in frustration as she paces back and forth in front of me. She walks past me towards the windows and opens them up into the night. She steps out onto the small terrace, beckoning me to follow her. I hesitate. Finally, I step forward onto the terrace. I turn towards her and she looks at me, her light blue eyes tired and stressed from the day's events. "Will you tell me what you were doing down in the Garamsythe Waterways, please?" I breathe. The night's air is cool and there is a light fragrance of lilac and lavender from the Garden.
"Alright," I say, meeting her gaze. "Nev and I…"
"Lis, why are we down here?" asked Nev. Her voice was tired. I had dragged Nev out of bed at midnight and we had been down here since. Her brownish red rabbit ears hung low in exhaustion. "I'm so tired, Lis."
"I just need a few more water samples," I replied, ignoring her groans of protest. I knelt down near the edge of a walk way and looked into the blue-green water. I grabbed a small glass vial out of my knapsack and labeled it "Number 3". I dipped it into the water and waited for it to fill. Nev stamped her feet in immature frustration. I ignored her heavy sighs and pulled up the vial. Reaching back into my knapsack, I pull a small bottle marked "Mist". In the bottle, swirls of milky smoke licked the sides, creating shapes of colored spirals. I opened the bottle, removing the dropper and letting a few puffs of smoke into the water. Instantly, the water turned black. I placed both bottles back into my knapsack and got up, my knees soaked through.
"Did you see that?" I asked Nev. She was sitting against the wall, controlling the water around her.
"See what?" She sat up, dropping her hands so that the water splashed around her.
"The water turned black; I'm not crazy, there is something going on!" Nev's left ear twitched. "Um, Nev, what's wrong?" Her black eyes glazed over. I got closer to her. My hand instinctively clutched the handle of my dagger. Whenever Nev's left ear twitched, it meant danger was near; that was the Viera in her.
"Flan…" she whispered.
"Flan?" She sat up, her eyes focused again. She scrambled to her feet and we took off towards the entrance of the Royal Palace, Nev in front of me. Before long, I could hear the Flan behind us. I took a quick glance back; it was a bright yellow with a brown moss across what would have been its skull and covering its body were small black spots. It was growling, gaining speed. When I looked back, I smashed into the back of Nev who had stopped. In front of us, three Flans were blocking our path back into the castle. I pushed myself back against Nev and pulled the dagger from my side.
"It's cornered us!" Nev screamed beneath her hands.
"Don't panic, Nev. We'll be okay."
"But we're only 15! There's so much left to do!"
"Oh, don't be so dramatic!" Nev was sobbing behind me; I could feel her shoulders shudder against my own. The Flans were getting closer, the black spots becoming more visible. They weren't just spots, but vein like structures spread across the yellow goo. I elbowed Nev in the back. "Look at the Flans! The black spots are the same color as the water!" Nev looked around, her eyes blurred with tears.
"I don't care," she retorted. "Listen!" Coming down the stairs were Royal Guards, Judge Stark at the head of them.
"Stay where you are girls!" he called. "We're coming!" The Flans turned towards them, seeing the new intruders as a bigger threat. Nev fell to the ground, cowering, covering her long ears with her hands. I grabbed her arms, my pale skin a shock against her dark complexion.
"Get up!" I pulled at her arm, but she wouldn't budge. "Please, Nev, get up!" Before I knew it, the Flan behind us had shot forward, knocking me down and over the edge into the dark waters. I floundered for a second before Nev had gotten the courage to get up and pull me from the waters. When back on the ledge, we ran towards the stairs and up towards the door leading into the Royal Stores. We reached the last step and nudged the small door open, breaking free into a room that spelled of spice and wine. We sat down near a barrel marked "Ale" and tried to catch our breath. A moment later, Judge Stark and his men came up from the sewers. Without saying a word, he grabbed Nev and me by our arms and dragged us up to our separate rooms.
"And this is where you found me," I say, turning away from my mother. She places a hand over her mouth, chuckling softly to herself.
"You are so much like your father," she says in a whisper hoping that I won't hear it. I walk back into my room; my damp clothes make me shiver in the cool night air. She follows me, closing the door behind her. "So you and Nev must have heard the conference this morning, then?" I'm still not facing her. I can't face her.
"Yes, we overheard," I say. "And I heard the one before that and the one before that." I know her eyes have narrowed. I can feel it.
"Ah, I see."
"I've been conducting experiments on the water, the soil, the air, and all my results come back… black. Mother, there is definitely something wrong in Ivalice. I'm not sure what, but if you let me talk to the Royal Scientists I'm sure we can figure it out."
"Give me your knapsack." She holds out her hand. I look at her startled.
"You can't be serious, mother! It has all my research in it, all my tests." She steps closer to me.
"Elisabet B'nargin Dalmasca Bunansa, you are a Princess of Dalmasca, you will obey your mother! Now give me your knapsack." I break her gaze, tears fighting to break through. I slowly take the knapsack off and hand it to her. She takes it and walks towards the door. She looks back at me and smiles weakly. "I'm sorry, Elisabet, but you are not allowed into Rabanastre without supervision. You will go to your lessons with Penelo and then come back to your room." I turn towards her, my eyes stinging with tears.
"But there is something wrong with Ivalice! You know it, I know it, Nev knows it!" My hands are clutched at my sides, my face burning with anger. "Why don't you do anything? You're a Queen! You have power! Help Dalmasca!" She turns towards me and sighs.
"My mind is made up, Elisabet." I scream at her and before I know it, I send a picture frame at her head. She stops it using her magic, glaring at me. "Act like a Princess, a Young Lady!"
"I am not a Princess! I am an inventor, a scientist, and anything else that's more productive then a Princess!" There is a knock at the door. My mother composes herself and opens it. Behind the door, Judge Stark is standing there.
"Is there a problem, Queen Ashelia?" he asks. "I heard yelling." She composes herself and looks towards Judge Stark. She smiles.
"No, no, everything is fine," she says. She looks back at me and nods. I stare, my face blank and unchanging. "You are going to Giza Plains with me tomorrow to commemorate the opening of the Sunstone Harvest." With that, she leaves the room and I am left alone. I go to the vanity and sit down. In the mirror, my make-up has been smeared down my cheeks and my hair is still dripping. I take a handkerchief from my drawer. It is off-white, stained, and has lace that surrounds the edges and a B engraved in red thread. It is the only thing left of my father. I use it to wipe the water from my hair and the make-up from my face and replace it back in the drawer.
There's a twinkling sound near my bed; the bell connected to Nev's room is ringing. I smile and walk over to it, pulling the string and opening the vent. "Nev," I call, "what happened to you?"
"My sentence is the same as yours," she says, her voice tinted with the twinge of metal.
"She's such a… a…"
"Lis, stop. Don't say anything about your mother." I sigh.
"She just doesn't understand how I feel. There is something wrong with the Mist in Ivalice. It's almost like its tainted. If my father were here, he'd have let me investigate more!" Nev laughs.
"You don't even know your father! He's been gone since the day you were born."
"Yes and your parents died." I clasp a hand over my mouth; the words leave before I can stop myself. There is silence on the other side of the vent and then I hear a heavy sigh. Before she can start talking, I speak up first. "I'm sorry, Nev, I didn't mean it. I know it's not easy being the only one of-"
"My kind? How do we even know what my kind is? I am a Viera born outside the Wood; I can hear the Earth, yet I have lost all innocence a Viera has. I age like a human. I feel regret like a human." I hear the vent close. I have made her upset. I close the vent as well and get up onto the bed. I speak to the air.
"If it makes you feel better, Nev, we're in the same boat." I undress, letting the blankets caress my skin. Staring at the ceiling, I fume over tomorrow's events. I will have to be up in the morning, dressed to please, and brought to the middle of nowhere. As mad as I am, I'm happy to get out of the castle for a few hours. On this these thoughts, I fall asleep.
I wake up to sunlight burning my eyes. "Wake up, wake up!" I know instantly who it is, my tutor, mentor, and aunt, Penelo. Her and my mother were old friends and when my mother had found out she was pregnant with me, she enlisted her to become my nanny. Since then, I had grown up knowing her as my aunt, along with my mother's other friends from long, forgotten days.
"Go away, Penelo!" I say, throwing a pillow at her. She catches the pillow and places it back on the bed.
"Lis, you are going to Giza this morning. Get up." She continues to open the curtains, humming softly to herself. I put my face into the pillow.
"I'm naked."
"And I've changed your diapers." She grabs my hands and pulls me from the bed. The room is warm from the sunlight. She hands me a small tub full of soapy water with a washcloth. I wipe myself down and then place my head into the tub so that Penelo can wash my hair. I hate this treatment and assure her that I can do it myself, but she insists and I give up protesting. At the vanity, my light blonde hair is put into a long braid down my back and my icy blue eyes are lined in black. I am dressed in a white tunic drawn at the waist with a black belt that holds my small dagger. My legs are dressed in black tights with black, knee-length boots. I wear the ring of my grandfather.
"You look good." I give Penelo a weak smile. She continues. "We will have to skip breakfast, so I stole you a muffin from the kitchen." She tosses it to me while walking towards the door. I follow her out to the hall, reaching for my knapsack, before realizing my mother had confiscated it. In the hall, we are greeted by Nev and aunt Fran. Fran had, in some strange way, adopted Nev as her own, since both had lost great connection to the Wood. I run towards my aunt and give her a hug. She is startled, but returns the hug awkwardly.
"It is good to see you, Elisabet," she says. "You have grown into such a fine, young lady. But I hear you are causing trouble for Nevlyn." My cheeks glow red. Nev looks away.
"I'm sorry, Fran," I reply. "I can't do anything without my best friend." I smile at Nev. She smiles back. In a small way, I feel I have made up for last night.
"I will have to spend more time watching over you, since I am no longer doing thievery tricks." She laughs and then stops abruptly, putting her serious face back on. "We must hurry. We're going to Giza today."
"You're coming with us, Nev, Fran?"
"Yes, we are." I link my arm with Nev and we walk down the hall. She is dressed in tight, leather pants with heels like Fran's; a white shirt is covered by a red vest, left open to reveal the leather straps underneath; around her wrists she wears metal bands engraved with Protection charms.
Outside the castle, two carriages await. Both are black with white veils covering the windows and Dalmasca's flags hung across the back. The carriages are being drawn by yellow chocobos covered in metallic armor. They ruffle their feathers impatiently. I can see my mother's silhouette in the first carriage along with Judge Stark and two unimportant officers. My mother waves and I ignore her, dragging Nev to the nearest carriage; Fran and Penelo follow. Once in the carriages, we begin moving.
"How far is it to the Nomad Village?" I ask.
"It isn't far past South Gate. We should only take an hour at most to get there," answers Penelo. She turns back to Fran and continues their catching up. I turn to Nev.
"I wonder who'll be there," I muse. "I heard my mother talking about this ceremony a few weeks ago. I hear Emperor Larsa and Marquis Ondore IV will be there."
"What about the Prince of Rozarria?" asks Nev.
"Oh, I'm sure he will be there too! All heads of the Royal Families will be there, I believe." When we pass the gate, I remove the veil to look out the window. The desert is golden and hot under the sun. Among the dust from the carriage and the brittle looking grass, Giza bunnies hop along, playing tag with each other. Nev is filing her long nails; Fran and Penelo are deep in conversations about the late Vayne Solidor. I turn to Nev and embrace her in a quick hug. She is startled, but returns it. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" she asks, putting her file back into her shoe.
"For everything; I never meant to get you in trouble. I just-" She stops me and shakes her head.
"Don't worry about it. If I didn't get in trouble with you, I'd lead a very boring life." I smile at this and grab her hand. We hold hands, talking the rest of the way. After what seems like hours, even though I have been assured by Penelo it is only nine in the morning, I hear loud, festive music coming from the Nomad village. I stick my head out the window and see the entrance to the village. It is a small village, crowded with the Nobility and others that have managed to get themselves out here for the ceremony. The cockatrice corral has been removed for the day, a large canvas tent put up in its place. It bares the royal flags and is open to the elements. The carriages stop. The door is opened by Judge Stark. I step past him and walk out into the dust of the crowd. Nev soon catches up and we make our way to the Royal tent. We merge with the other Nobility; the crowd becomes stuffy when my mother enters it. People want her attention; she is looked at with admiration and treated with an air of kindness that she blushes when being helped out of the carriage. I notice her for the first time. Her skin is paler than usual and she has dark bags under eyes. I contribute this to the previous night. I wave at her and she waves back. I do not forgive her, but we are in public, and all in all, I love her with all my heart.
Nev taps me on the shoulder and points towards the large podium that has been erected towards the back of the village. All the Royals are there; Captain Basch stands next to Emperor Larsa who holds the hand of his tiny two year old, Lamant. They scan the crowd. Seventeen years has weighed heavy on Basch; his face is wrinkled around his eyes and mouth and his hair has lost all its blonde luster, replaced with a silvery grey. Standing next to them is the Prince of Rozarria. I don't know his name, the Rozarrian Kingdom preferring to deal with its own matter rather than become an international power. He is alone, except for a small women that stands behind him. She is holding his things. The aura around him is of arrogance. Beneath his dark sunglasses, I can imagine his eyes sneering at the crowd. He is only here because his father rallied for peace with Dalmasca before his death. I look away from the podium. The Marquis is not here yet. A voice from the crowd emerges. "Is that my little girl?" I look and find my Uncle Vaan coming towards me and Nev. He is part of Larsa's air fleet, terms of a bargain when he was caught looting Vayne's tomb for gold. His armor is bulky and cold, but his hug is warm none-the-less.
"It's so good to see you," he says beaming at me. "How long has it been?"
"Too long," I reply. I smile back. He turns to Nev.
"And how is my other little girl?" He pulls her into a hug.
"I'm fine, Uncle Vaan," she replies.
"I wish I could stay to talk more, but I must make my rounds. I have been put on security for today. Tomorrow, I may go back into the skies." He waves and walks away. In the distance, a horn is blown and the crowd falls silent. We look towards the podium and I see my mother walking forward.
"Welcome!" she says, her arms stretched out towards the crowd as if she were going to give it a well-deserved hug. Her voice is loud, but it shakes as she speaks. "Welcome! I am so happy to be here, commemorating our 17th year of peace. The Sunstone has brought us closer, all of us using it in trade and magic." She coughs. Penelo moves forward, whispering something into her ear. I see my mother mouth I'm fine and continue with her speech. "I'm so sorry. As I was saying, it has been seventeen years since the ending of a meaningless war." She coughs again, harder this time. Then, I see it. She has blood on her hand. In surprise, she stares at it and Fran takes her by the arm, pulling her off the podium towards the Royal tent. Penelo follows along with Captain Basch, Larsa, and Vaan. People begin to whisper among themselves. The Prince of Rozarria scoffs and walks off stage back to a small airship. I push myself through the crowd and get up onto the podium. In the background, I hear the airship take off, the wind it creates pushing my hair loose from its braid. Nev is behind me, supporting me. I have never addressed a crowd. My throat grows dry and my palms grow clammy. Finally, the wind dies down and I am face to face with a silent crowd.
"Um…" I can't do this. I try to back out, but Nev pushes me forward, her eyes assuring me that I'm okay. I breathe. "My name is Elisabet B'nargin Dalmasca Bunansa. On behalf of my mother, Queen Ashelia, I would like to invite you to join in on our celebration. Eat, drink… be merry." I turn to walk away, but Nev stares at me. I have to continue. I turn back. "Um, this celebration is to remember what we lost and what we gained back. We are to remember what is important to us… to our families. So, I ask you this: Do you wish to celebrate peace and the coming of kingdoms?" The crowd looks confused. I leave the stage, embarrassed. Nev is behind me, holding in her laughter. There are a few claps from the crowd, but mostly buzzing from the whispers of my failed attempt at "crowd arousal." As Nev and I enter the tent, the music strikes up again and the crowd begins to buzz happily with talk of food, drink, and what's to come from the ceremony.
In the tent, everyone surrounds my mother while a doctor is there checking her over. Vaan is holding Penelo as she sobs into his shoulder. The last I saw Penelo cry like this was when Vaan was sentenced to death for looting the tomb of a well-known King; he managed to escape his sentence, of course, leaving him and Penelo a few more years of blissful marriage. My mother notices me and beckons me closer. The ring of people around her part and I step forward. She looks tired and has blood dried on her bottom lip. She takes my hand and says nothing. I say nothing. The doctor sits up. He looks at me; his eyes are full of concern. "I'm sorry," he says, "but your mother is very sick."
"What is it, doctor?" asks Vaan.
"Well, that's the problem, I don't know."
"You mean, you have never seen something like this?" This time Fran speaks. She gets closer to my mother, a protective hand on her shoulder.
"We have. It has been happening all over Ivalice; the lungs fill with blood and mucus, the body starts to deteriorate, and black spots appear on the skin, until finally, the person dies of complete exhaustion. This has even been seen on the animals. It's almost as if the very life of the person is consumed." My mind is blank. Nev elbows me.
"It's just like last night, isn't it?" she asks. I look at her confused, but then remember the previous night; the water in the Garamsythe Waterway had turned black when exposed to "tainted Mist". Could the Mist be causing the unexplained illness? I explained what I think could be a problem to the doctor. He looks up me and smiles. I'm not sure why he smiles, but when he does I grow angry. He is not taking me seriously.
"We have been studying the Mist and yes, levels of abnormality have risen in the past two years, but I highly doubt it is behind the sickness that has enveloped our country." He turns towards Vaan, Penelo, and the others. "I believe we are dealing with a mutated version of the plague. It is airborne, yes, but only strikes those that seem to be worn down with stress." Nev looks at me.
"The plague epidemic was three years ago," says my mother, her voice weak. "How could it have risen now?"
"The plague will always be there," he says, "and it is our job to find ways of curing it or at least, breaking its barriers down so that we may attack it at its source." I let go of my mother's hand. My eyes are stinging with tears, but I will not let them see me cry. "The best thing we can do for you, Queen Ashelia, is give you plenty of rest." I leave the tent, Nev at my heels. Out among the festivities, I find a place atop a rock and sit down. Nev follows; she locks her arm with mine and we both cry our fears softly to each other.
A few moments later, we calm down. Around us the ceremony has continued to prosper, growing larger and larger with people continuing to arrive. We can see everything from where we are sitting on the rock. Nev taps my shoulder and points down towards the tent. Outside the tent, a dark hooded figure is lurking around the back. We continue to watch as Fran opens the back curtain and speaks into the figure's ear. The figure hangs its head, like it's sad, and shakes Fran's hand in thanks. It merges with the crowd. I slide off the rock and run towards the crowd. I can't see the hooded figure anywhere. Nev shows up behind me.
"What are you doing?" she asks, turning me towards her. I shake my head.
"Nothing," I say. My heart is racing and my head is clouded with questions. I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around and see Fran behind me.
"You're mother wishes to see you," she says. I nod and follow her back to the tent.