A/N: So, I'm writing about Fiona for the reasons stated in the summary. I don't really like Fiona that much, but the idea entered my head and would not leave me be, so here it is, a character overhaul. Don't kill me because I am awful at titles, please.
Oh, for the font challenged:
Lines in italics are Fiona's thoughts.
Random words in italics are for emphasis.
Fiona's POV
Another fantastic day in Begnion subjugated Marado, I thought bitterly as I rode through the city. Jarod had requested an audience with me, and I was in no position to deny him.
A Begnion soldier suddenly started yelling about how assembling was forbidden at a cluster of my people who had gathered haphazardly around a well across the square from me. One of my citizens asked a question, and the soldier struck him through with a spear.
"Can I really have just seen that?" I spat venomously. I was seconds away from riding my charger right over the offending soldier, but Jarod's voice stayed me.
"Lady Fiona, the self-proclaimed Liberation Army is on the march. Marado's army has been ordered to deploy with us."
"Understood, General. We will prepare immediately. But I need to address your soldiers' conduct-"
"A new war is afoot." Jarod interrupted, "You never answered Ashnard's call to arms in the last one. You have a reputation for ruling wisely. Don't endanger your people by hurling ugly accusations at my soldiers. I trust I needn't worry that you'll fail to answer the empire's call." He knew I had no choice but to accept his orders, and he obviously reveled in my stuck position.
"I will not lie to you." I held my head high as I spoke from my charger's back, "My people are proud citizens of Daein, and some agree with these so-called liberators. However, I will not lead my people into danger over ridiculous rumors of some unknown orphan prince."
"I'm glad to hear it." Jarod smirked insincerely as I nudged my charger forwards.
There was much to be done if we were to move out with Begnion.
"Milady, what do they want from us?" my second asked me as I approached him.
"The lives of our soldiers, of course." I tossed my head angrily.
"Will we answer?" He looked hopeful.
"We must." I spat through gritted teeth, watching his face fall. "We have no other option. We do not have the manpower to repulse a direct attack from Begnion, which would undoubtedly come if we were to refuse to answer."
"Couldn't we join the Liberation Army?" Hope glimmered once more in his eyes.
"No. I will not risk my people to the cause of a rumor. They will have to show me that they are capable of beating the Begnion dogs out of the country before I even consider joining them. As it stands now, I think this 'Liberation Army' will fall at the first real battle it faces."
"But what if they do not? What if they win?" He tried once more to sway my decision.
"Then it will be too late," I bared my teeth in a humorless smile, "they will already have killed us."
He bowed his head, understanding the heavy choice on my hands.
"I know you act for the best of our people, Milady. I will be behind you, whatever happens."
"I count on you, Captain. Come. There is much to be done before we ride."
I leaned my charger into a trot, my second at my hip, and began the many preparations.
All of my knights were spread out before me. I sat tall and proud atop my charger. Maradans learn to ride almost before we can walk, and we spend the majority of our lives atop our horses. A man who speaks from the ground is rarely given any consequence, but he who speaks from the saddle is listened to. So it was that I prepared to speak to my people from my charger.
"Knights of Marado, comrades, listen to me!" I raised my lance, and a hush fell over the gathered crowd.
"Today, we ride for war! We do not go because we chose to do so; we do so because we must!" I began to pace my charger before my force. "Perhaps your hearts are mutinous; I know that many of you would rather ride under the banner of the Liberation Army! Perhaps you are filled with trepidation; I know that none of you want to die for a cause you do not uphold; a cause that you even oppose! But I ask you this; is the preservation of your State not a worthy cause? Would you rather watch your comrades slaughtered in the streets while Begnion soldiers destroy your homesteads? Would you rather watch the dogs of Begnion glut themselves on the blood of your children and your parents; your husbands and wives? Would you watch them take your horses and break them for their own clumsy use? Would you watch them erase the proud history of free Marado, who has never been conquered, while you lay in the road, pierced through and drowning in a pool of the blood of your friends?" I nudged my charger into a trot. "Do you think of the glory of a final stand, a small force against a massive army, a last spark of defiance against injustice? I say this to you; there is no glory in foolishness! What would be accomplished by defiance now? Nothing! I tell you, nothing! We would be stamped out, and remembered only as those who failed!" I quickened the pace of my charger again. "But I tell you this also! We will not go along with Begnion in blind obedience! That would also be nothing but defeat! We will bide our time; and when the time is right, we will turn and strike Begnion! We will humiliate them as they have humiliated us! We will slaughter them as they have slaughtered us! We will pay back to them what they have given to us tenfold! We will show them what happens to those who try to take the freedom of Marado!" I pushed my charger into a full canter back and forth in front of my army. "I say to you, in following Begnion to battle now, we are not submitting! No! It is the first step in our defiance! Today, we ride for war! But it is not for Begnion we fight! Today, we ride for our families! Today, we ride for our comrades! Today, we ride for freedom! Today, we ride for Marado!" I stopped my charger in the center of the line I had been riding and raised my spear. "For Marado!"
My army raised their own weapons. "For Marado!" They shouted in unison.
"Let us ride!" I turned my charger and galloped for the city gate, my army streaming behind me.
Once the city had lost itself in the horizon, we settled down into a trot we could keep up all day. We did not have too far to ride to Terin, and I was glad for that. I don't need my soldiers to lose heart during a long ride towards a battle they didn't want to fight. I don't need anyone deserting, and goddess knows I don't need anyone defecting to the Liberation Army.
Oh, goddess, help me do the right thing.
"Lady Fiona." My second appeared at my hip.
"Yes, Captain?"
"That was a good speech you gave this morning. The soldiers have a sense of purpose now."
I sighed in relief.
"I'm glad I was able to do at least that much."
"Milady..." he trailed off.
"What is it, Captain?"
He hesitated again.
"Captain, please don't keep secrets from me. Now, of all times, I need to know what is troubling you."
"Of course, Milady, I'm sorry, it's just, well, you meant what you said didn't you?" He finally met my eyes with his.
"I would not lie to my people." I glared at him coldly.
He flinched and dropped his eyes as he realized what he had implied.
"I apologize, Milady, I didn't mean to call you a liar. I wanted to know if you had formed any plans in that direction as of yet. I am sorry-"
"No, no, don't be sorry. I overreacted myself. I know that you will always back me in everything. It is I who should apologize to you. But to answer your question, no, I do not yet have any plans for rebellion against Begnion. So far they have showed no chinks in their armor. But no enemy is invincible. We will strike back eventually."
He looked at me shrewdly before responding.
"You don't think that we will strike back during this generation."
I glanced around, making sure no one was listening to us before replying.
"No, Captain," I smiled sadly, "I do not think that we will have an opportunity in this generation. Begnion is a mighty adversary. It will take until they become sloppy in their dealings with Marado before we will be able to break away."
He nodded, his features settling into an expression of determination and resolve.
"We will wait, then. We will teach our children of the glory and honor of freedom. We will school them well in the art of war. Though our generation may be doomed to slavery, our children will reclaim the freedom of Marado."
"Yes. Marado will not die. Not if I have anything to say about it."
"As always, Milady, I am right behind you."
"As always, Captain, I will be counting on you."
We arrived at Terin, and I ordered my people to set up camp away from the Begnion camp. I myself went to report to the general in charge here, leaving my second in charge at the camp.
I rode through the Begnion camp and found the general drinking ale with his officers around a fire.
Ale? On the eve of battle? Are these men touched in the head?
I bit my tongue. I must give off the impression of perfect obedience. For the future of my people.
"General Laverton?" I questioned.
"That would be me, pretty missy. What do you want me for?" Laverton leered at me.
I clenched my jaw so hard I thought my teeth would crack.
How dare he act that way! Does he have no shred of decency?
"I am Lady Fiona, Steward of Marado. Marado is here and ready for activity."
"Why are you still up on that horse? Dismount, pretty missy."
I stared at him in shock. In Marado, only slaves were ever commanded to dismount. It was the ultimate humiliation for any citizen.
"What was that?" I asked sharply. Maybe I had just heard him wrong.
"Dismount," Laverton actually put effort into making it a command this time.
I quivered with anger for a moment, suppressing the urge to trample him with my charger and take my army across the river in search of the Liberation Army.
Laverton misinterpreted my quiver as fear.
"Don't worry, pretty missy, no one's gonna hurt you. We are all allies here, aren't we?"
"I suppose so," I forced out, managing to sound breathy and intimidated. I forced my leg to swing over the back of my charger and come down to the ground. I reluctantly freed my other toe from the stirrup and turned around to face Laverton. Now that I was on the ground, he towered over me.
"There," he grinned, "that wasn't so bad, was it, pretty girl?" He reached out and took my chin between his fingers.
My bones turned to iron, and I glared at him for all I was worth.
He only laughed at me.
"I've got a feisty one here, boys!" He grinned widely.
I was itching to punch him in the nose, and maybe gouge his eyes while I was at it.
"Well," he leaned in close to my face. I refused to back away, so we were nose to nose while he said, "I can think of quite a few 'activities' that I would like you and me to perform alone together. My tent is right over there, if you'd like to step inside."
"I'm afraid I'll have to decline," I said in a voice that would have the bravest of my soldiers running for cover, "I must return and make sure my people are settling in well."
"That is a pity," he smirked, "if you find you have some free time, the offer stands."
"I must take my leave." I whirled around and vaulted back onto my charger.
"By your leave," I trotted away before he gave it.
I heard all of the men laughing at me as I nudged my charger into a canter. I didn't care at that point. I just wanted to get out of that terrible camp before I killed someone or started crying.
I was going at a full gallop by the time I arrived at the Marado camp. I slid my charger to a sudden halt in front of my tent, which someone, probably my second, had put up for me.
I slid off my charger and started crying. My second appeared and jumped off of his pace horse, catching me in a hug.
"Fiona! What did they do to you?" He was obviously shocked by my outburst. Hell, so was I.
"Auxili, it was terrible! They treated me like no more than a whore!" I sobbed into his shoulder. I was vaguely glad that he had taken off his armor before I had returned.
"It's ok now, Fiona, you're home. They can't touch you. I will keep you safe. They are nothing to you. They are like the desert jackals; their cruelty knows no bounds, but they are weak when faced by a strong warrior. They cannot touch you now, they cannot touch you," Auxili whispered comfortingly in my ear while he held me tightly and let me soak his shirt.
I had to force myself to calm down enough to tell him what had happened.
"Their 'General' Laverton refused to call me anything beside 'pretty missy,' or 'pretty girl,' he suggested we have sex, and he made me dismount in front of the whole camp!" I began sobbing uncontrollably again as I remembered how Laverton had humiliated me completely.
"He did what? He made you dismount? In front of the entire camp? The bastard," Auxili hissed dangerously, tightening his grip on me protectively. "I should ride there and trample him myself."
"No! Auxili, no, you cannot do that. It is only temporary. I am sure I am overreacting anyways. With any luck he will fall to the Liberation Army in battle soon! And if he does not, he will eliminate said army, and Begnion will leave us alone."
Auxili smirked humorlessly into my hair.
"And now I am not allowed to even defend the honor of my Lady, my Queen, my General."
"If I was any good at being general, I wouldn't need protection."
"You'd be surprised, Fiona, at how much good generals need to be protected."
I pulled back from Auxili after a moment more, though I kept my hands on his sides. He smiled softly at me and brushed a renegade strand of hair out of my eyes before letting his hands rest on my shoulders.
"You ok now?" He asked, searching my eyes for clues while I drew a shaky breath in and out.
"I'll be fine. Thank you, Auxili."
"Anytime," he hugged me again before stepping away fully.
"Did anything of note happen here while I was gone?" I wiped the last of my tears out of my eyes and stood strait again.
"Nothing to report, Milady," my second threw a salute as he straitened his own posture.
"I'm glad to hear it. You are dismissed, Captain." I gave my own salute before turning and beginning to untack my charger.
Someone, again, probably my second, had already taken care of my pace horse*, who was now cropping contentedly at some grass on the side of my tent.
I rubbed my charger down and brushed him, which calmed me all the way down.
"There you go, Fortis." I patted my charger's shoulder as I finished.
He snorted into my hair, then followed the example of my pace horse, Volucera, in eating grass.
I ducked into my tent and unbuckled all of my armor before falling onto my bedroll.
I would deal with Laverton better tomorrow. I will know what to expect. I will steel myself for the degradation.
I sighed and turned onto my side. I didn't want to go back at all. I wanted to ride back to Marado, load all of my people onto their horses, and go back to being desert nomads, as we were in our early history.
The people were attached to the land, however. They would never agree. The life of the nomad is difficult, as all of our soldiers know.
I must swallow my pride for my people, so that we may be proud generations from now. I must not let my selfishness ruin Marado.
I will be strong.
A/N: Well, there it is. The last ten lines or so are blah, but oh well. Overall I think it's ok. If you have a different opinion, I encourage you to share it in the reviews.
If you are concerned about the over usage of OCs, don't worry, there's not going to be a terrible amount, but Fiona is basically Queen of the Maradans, so she's going to have quite a few friends among the Maradans, though I'm mostly going to focus on her relationships with the in-game characters, because that's all that anyone cares about, right?
Anyways, tell me what I did wrong, so I can fix it for next time. Yes, I am going to be a review whore;)
Gunnr