AUTHOR'S NOTE: First Fire Emblem fic, so please do forgive any errors if you find them. I haven't yet finished Awakening. :P So, basically what this is. In the first support conversation you unlock between Robin and Gaius, Robin mentions that he discovered Gaius had been branded a criminal. I wondered about this, and as I'm a sadistic author I decided it was fanfiction material. I'm so cruel, I know. XD probably been done already, but whatevs. Just enjoy. :) Now, onto the story.
"Gaius? What's that funny-looking mark on your shoulder?"
The innocent-sounding enquiry of the Ylissean princess, the youngest of the Lowell siblings, was not unexpected by the orange-haired thief. She had, after all, never had any reason or opportunity to have seen the strange mark before. Tonight was the first time, since they had confessed their feelings of love for each other, that they had decided to sleep together. Lissa had given a simple reason for wanting to do so, stating that it was a particularly chilly night and that she was too cold in her own bed, but Gaius knew it was much more than just that.
He paused. He didn't particularly want to recount the tale of how the brand had got there, but he didn't want to say no to his beloved princess, either...
Taking a deep breath, he said to the small, slight woman beside him, "Okay, okay. Do you really wanna know the truth, Princess?"
Lissa nodded eagerly. "Go on. Please."
Gaius took her hand in his, holding it firmly yet gently, as he began.
"It all started when an old pal of mine requested my help..."
The jangle of the guard's keys and the loud click of the matching one in the lock cut through the eerie silence of the cold, dark dungeon cell. A metallic, harsh creaking noise echoed off the stone walls, jolting the imprisoned Ylissean thief wide awake.
The congealed blood on the side of his face, coupled with the unpleasant feeling of the rusty chains rubbing his skin raw, were already enough to convince Gaius of his bleak situation. But now, as he beheld the sight before him - three Plegian guards stood outside the open door of his cell, keys in hand - there could be no doubt in his mind that the day had come.
The day of reckoning.
The day that he would finally pay for his criminal wrongdoings.
Just the very thought of that - of what possible fate awaited beyond his prison - caused the thief's heart to quicken its normally steady pace. The rapid thumping sound pervaded his whole body at the prospect, until it seemed to echo off the walls of his damp, dismal cell.
Pretend that they're only going to give you the finest cakes and sweet wine in the kingdom, he thought. After all, you have run out...
"It's time to pay the price, young man," the Captain of the Guard snarled, as the other two entered the cell, the corresponding keys to the chain locks in hand. "And you sure as Hell won't be paying it in sugar."
The pair of guards within the cell laughed out loud at their leader's remark, as he gestured to the damp stone floor. It was littered with countless sweet wrappers, of various types, and grains of sugar. Not surprising, considering their prisoner's penchant for anything sweet.
"What did you think? I've run out, haven't I?" was Gaius' brazen reply.
Perhaps too brazen. The next thing he knew, one of the guards had delivered a swift blow to the side of his face. The sour taste of blood - his blood - filled his mouth.
"Shut your mouth, boy," the offending guard growled at the thief, "or it'll be much worse next time."
"See if I care."
The guards didn't need any more persuasion. Acting quickly, with a look on their faces that could only be described as hostile, they unlocked the heavy iron chains that had Gaius bound to the wall. They fell against the rough stone with a loud clank, a harsh sound that did little to calm the thief's nerves.
"Grab hold of him," was the harsh order of the head guard, who stood outside the cell, arms folded sternly. "Tight. Don't give the scoundrel an opportunity to escape."
The feeling of tension in Gaius' muscles, no doubt a result of the time spent restrained in an uncomfortable stress position, quickly gave way to pain as his arms, now free of their shackles, were roughly wrestled behind his back. A pair of rusted iron handcuffs was swiftly locked around his wrists, which only caused the painfully scraped skin to hurt even more.
With their prisoner now restrained once again, the guards grabbed hold of Gaius' upper arms. Their fingers dug hard into his flesh, so hard that he was sure that there would be bruises there when he next checked. Just another way for them to add insult to injury.
Gaius, my lad, he thought, as he was roughly led - dragged, really - out of the cell, there'll be no sweet-talking you out of this one...
It took less than five minutes for them to reach the main floor of the Plegian castle, and consequently the room where the Mad King Gangrel held his court. A short, wide corridor, which ended in two tall, imposing mahogany doors, faced them.
At that moment, it was impossible for Gaius to see it as anything but the room where criminals, like he, were tried - and where their fate was consequently sealed.
Where his fate would be sealed.
There was just no knowing what punishment would be dished out to him. A fine, torture, quite possibly even death...
It was safe to say that Gaius, the usually cool, calm and collected Ylissean thief, was by now more than a little apprehensive of the impending situation. The cold, unfeeling glares of the royal guards, posted on either side of the court room entrance, seemed to pierce right into his bones as the heavy wooden doors creaked open. He would not have entered the dreaded room, the room in which it would be decided if he lived or died, if it were not for the stern hands of the guards pressed firmly to his shoulders, forcing him forward.
The Mad King Gangrel himself was seated on an ornate throne of polished, dark-coloured wood, at the opposite end of the chamber. To his left, on an equally resplendent throne, sat the Queen Aversa, clad entirely in black, looking every bit as menacing as her King. Both, Gaius could see, wore expressions as hard as steel, as cold as ice.
It was clear that, whatever fate he faced, a harsh sentence would be dealt without hesitation.
Forcing Gaius to his knees, the trio of royal guards came to a halt at the far end of the room. The Captain of the Guard, in respect, bowed down before his King and Queen.
"Your Majesties ," he said, "I've brought you Gaius, your prisoner, as you ordered."
"Wonderful," the Mad King purred. "Thank you, Captain."
The King stared down at the orange-haired thief, evidently expecting him, too, to bow, just as everyone else present had. The thief knew everyone present was probably watching him, this rebellious fool who dared defy their monarch. He could almost feel their eyes boring into him, pressuring him to reciprocate.
As if he'd show such a gesture of allegiance!
Yeah, right.
A firm hand on the back of his neck changed his mind. The next thing the thief knew, his face had made cold, unwanted contact with the unforgiving stone floor, as he was forced into submission. Pain lanced though his lower jaw as he tried hard to fight back the cry of agony that rose within him.
He wouldn't show them any signs of pain, he decided. It was important that he kept his cool, even in this instance.
Obediently, though more from fighting the acute pain than allegiance to the King, he kept his head bowed down.
"That's how you treat the King, arrogant whelp," he heard one of the guards growl, from behind him.
"Aww, was the little pup never taught how to treat his rulers?" the Queen mocked, without a shred of pity in her voice. "How pitiful."
Oh, how Gaius would have loved to strangle that woman there and then!
"Obviously not," was King Gangrel's hushed reply. Then, in a louder voice, "Gaius."
The Ylissean thief swallowed. Assuming it was safe to raise his head, he boldly looked the King in the eye at the sound of his name.
"What?" The thief boldly answered, in a flippant tone.
The wrong thing to do, obviously. At this utterance, Gaius again felt the unrelenting steely hand of the guard on the back of his neck, violently forcing his head down.
The mocking laughter of the King and Queen resounded throughout the high-ceilinged chamber.
"Hmm, definitely never taught respect for royalty, the poor little thing," Queen Aversa concluded, smirking at her husband.
"That shall be put right very shortly, don't you worry," was the reply. "The cretinous whelp will learn the error of his ways soon enough, and if he doesn't, well, I'm sure I've got a bland wall somewhere that needs decorating with the crimson of a criminal's blood."
The Mad King turned his attention back to the shackled criminal before him, a look that hovered between anger and mild amusement in his face.
"Gaius," he once again addressed the thief, in an authoritative tone, "I believe you have been brought here found guilty of several counts of theft. Am I correct?"
Gaius, struggling to get free of the iron grip that restrained him, let out a vaguely amused snort.
"Nope. It's all lies."
He really couldn't have cared less if he once again aroused the wrath - or amusement - of the King and Queen. What happened before the final verdict really didn't matter to him there and then.
Cold reality hit him - literally - as his already aching jaw collided with the cold stone floor once again.
Unable to resist, with his face and upper body too close to the floor for comfort, all Gaius could do was listen as the King continued his lecture.
"Oh, is that really the case? If it was, you wouldn't quite possibly be facing the inviting prospect of being strung up on the castle walls, would you?"
That's it, the thief thought grimly, his already pounding heart quickening. If that's what's in store for me, I'm doomed...
"Or branded, or flogged, or blinded, or disfigured..." came Aversa's cold response, as she mused the endless possibilities of what to do with their prisoner. "Anything that would have a lasting effect."
The cackling laughter of the King soon followed. From his uncomfortable, restrained position, it sounded all the more menacing to Gaius.
"Those are good ideas," the Mad King purred. "Death would be far too immediate. Should we try out one of those instead?"
Oh, please. No...
"I'd rather you didn't, you know."
Even the merciless hold of the guard that had him held firm against the cruel, cold floor couldn't stop the thief from making his opinions heard. If his life - or means of death - was being debated there and then, well...
"Your opinions do not matter here, wretched dog," the offending guard growled, his grip on the thief's neck tightening uncomfortably. "You're paying the price, whether you like it or not."
"Ahem."
A hush fell over the vast room. To Gaius, it was almost painfully deafening.
"I still haven't got an answer, boy. Am I correct in saying that you have committed several acts of robbery during your lifetime?"
What to say to that... if he said no a second time, he could be sure that they would devise a swift punishment for him on the spot. And probably kill him later, merely for fun, knowing the alarming Plegian fondness for blood and death...
Gaius let out a defeated sigh. Straining against the hand closed tightly on the back of his neck, daring to look at the King before him, he calmly answered, "Yep."
He swallowed, knowing he had now sealed his fate.
"Very good. You're obviously cool with the possible prospect of torture and agony, hmm? Poor thing," the Queen mocked, in a pseudo-pitiful voice.
King Gangrel looked sternly at the thief. "Is there anything you'd like to say before I announce your sentence?"
"Not counting requests for extra sugar, of course," the Queen added, gleefully.
Gaius knew that now, more than ever, and in spite of his burning hatred for the corrupt Plegian rulers, he had to be strong. A cool, collected demeanour could aid him in a tough situation such as this. But now, he was presented with a golden opportunity - to tell his superiors that he was not in the wrong. He was not fully accountable for what had passed.
"The crime wasn't my fault," Gaius declared, bravely. "I was just doing a favour for a friend. Punish him, not me, and then let me go free."
As soon as he had uttered those words, he knew he would regret it. Suddenly they sounded pathetic in the dominating, vaulted room. Deep within his being, he wasn't sure that the corrupt rulers would buy his excuse.
Not this time.
"Oh, you're such a bad liar," the Queen sneered. "Everyone knows what you did. You really did allow your sweet tooth to get the better of you, didn't you? If I cared any more, removing it would seem appealing."
Queen Aversa chuckled at her remark, causing Gaius to bristle.
"It is exactly as you say, my Queen," the King affirmed. "You really shouldn't have gone back and raided the pantry for some extra sugar, if you knew you would pay dearly for it. But you did, I believe, and thus, you committed the crime. Now you're going to pay," the King responded. Not giving Gaius another chance to appeal the decision, he rose, and announced in a loud voice, "Enough talking. Gaius, I hereby condemn you to punishment by branding immediately following this meeting. May you live with the consequences of your actions all your life, and may everyone now take positive delight in knowing what you've done. May your suffering, immediate or otherwise, be prolonged. Perhaps then you'll learn not to pinch others' sweets."
"If that's how it is to be," the Queen concurred, "so be it."
Gaius was profoundly stunned. The King and Queen's harsh, affirmative words caused a wave of shock to flood his stiff body, consuming his very being. Even as the guards he so viciously despised roughly hauled him to his feet, and began shoving him in the direction of the doors, he could feel nothing but the numbness that only sheer shock could give. At the same time, though, it was a huge relief for him to know that he would live another day...
Calm down, he thought to himself. It's not as if you've been condemned to death. You can take it.
As the guards dragged him back through the heavy wooden doors, he heard the mocking laughter of the King and Queen once again.
"Gaius, dear boy," Queen Aversa trilled, gleefully, "do have fun down there. I sincerely hope it hurts."
These cruel words, along with the harsh, taunting laughter of the King and Queen, were the last things Gaius heard before the arched doors were closed behind him.
The same gloomy stone corridors he had seen earlier greeted the Ylissean thief as he, ruthlessly forced by the guards, was led down through them. Soon, they had descended the twisted flight of stairs that led to the dungeon, and turned the corner. This time, however, instead of stopping at his cell, and imprisoning him once more, they continued ahead, only coming to a halt outside yet another set of solid, imposing doors.
Gaius did not want to go in there. If that was where he was to be punished so cruelly... he didn't want to think about it.
"I'm not going in there," he declared, brazenly, as the Captain of the Guard unlocked the doors. "You can't make me."
The door before him opened with a deafening creak, which almost hurt as much as the cold, furious glare of the Captain then cast in his direction. As soon as the words had left his mouth, he felt the firm grip of the other two guards on his upper arms invariably tighten, almost to constriction levels.
"Face it, thief," the Captain snarled, as he strode confidently through the open door. "You're going in, whether you like it or not. And you're going to do it now."
Without further hesitation, the two other guards yanked hard on their prisoner's arms, causing him to stumble forward. He really did have no other choice.
The room that greeted Gaius was a small, square room with aging stone walls. A single, small window, positioned high on one wall, was the only source of light in the dim, dark chamber. Several black, iron chains, similar to those in his cell, lined the far wall. The most terrifying of all to the thief, however, was the large, ornate, open fireplace in the centre of the opposite wall. A selection of menacing-looking instruments, such as knives and pokers, hung around the mantel, just waiting to be used on a poor, unfortunate criminal like he.
Upon entering the cramped, slightly-lit chamber - and locking the doors behind them, Gaius noticed - he was brought to a sudden halt before the enormous fireplace. A roaring orange fire blazed in the hearth before them. He knew that it likely had little to do with providing a source of heat...
"There's really no hope of escape for you now, boy," the Captain snarled, walking away from the now securely-locked doors. "Even if you wanted to."
Smirking, he added, "If you're good and you behave yourself, you can have a lollipop."
Despite his cravings for sugar, Gaius knew there was little truth in that statement.
"I don't care," he replied, in a tone of defiance. "Just let me get out of this hell hole."
"Oh, you will get out," the Captain chuckled, "just with... something extra, on your body. Guards, restrain him."
At their leader's command, the other guards forced the apprehensive Ylissean thief to his knees. Again, Gaius felt the merciless, strong hold of his tormentors on his upper arms - at least, on one of them. The guard to his right instead rolled up the corresponding sleeve to above his right shoulder, exposing the thief's skin to the torture that awaited.
Just a few minutes, and you'll be free. No doubt in agony, but you'll be free...
The Captain of the Guard, wasting no more time, swiftly walked over to the intimidating fireplace beside them. All Gaius could do was watch, his heart pounding, as he scanned the rows of various terrifying tools. Eventually, after a very brief search, he had found what he was looking for.
A long, metal pole, with a solid iron "C" at the base - no doubt what would be used to indelibly, irreversibly mark him.
Gaius, as calm as he was trying to be, couldn't help but turn away as his tormentor plunged the instrument deep into the flaming coals, causing the end to glow red-hot.
With the heated iron in hand, the Captain calmly returned to the shackled thief.
"Oh, don't worry," he said, as he moved to Gaius' right, "this won't hurt one bit."
Brace yourself, Gaius.
As a further precaution - although it wasn't as if he could do anything in his current position, he thought - one of the guards again pressed an armoured hand to the thief's neck, roughly forcing his head down. Maybe that was better, though. At least then he wouldn't be able to see what was going on...
The Captain of the Guard, without further delay, took Gaius' arm in a firm hold, steadying the area to be branded. The next thing the thief knew, was the unpleasant heat of the heavy object close to his upper arm - soon followed by the hot metal ramming right into it. Hard. That feeling alone would have been bad enough already, but the sharp, burning feeling that accompanied it was downright unbearable.
Gritting his teeth together, it took all Gaius had in him not to let his pain show. But it was no easy task. The vile, acrid stench of burning flesh - his own burning flesh - filled the room, sickening him to his very core, as the scorching iron bit viciously into his skin.
That wasn't even the worst part. Gaius was fairly sure he knew why his dreadful punishment wasn't being kept brief. It appeared quite likely to him that his captors took positive delight in making sure he paid the price for his misdeeds, which almost hurt more than the sting and burn of the branding iron. Almost, but not quite. He felt certain that, at this point, nothing could have hurt more than the now-damaged skin of his upper right arm.
He was glad when it was finally over.
After leaving the heavy metal instrument on his shoulder area for longer than was probably recommended, the worst of the intense, painful burning ceased as the Captain of the Guard pulled the tool away from the thief's arm. Now, the acute sting was replaced by a relentless throbbing sensation, a sensation that told Gaius that the mark would remain painfully hard to ignore in the days to come.
Whether he liked it or not, a reminder of his criminal activity would now be visible to anyone and everyone. Now everyone would know what he had done - carrying a "C", for criminal, on his body, there was no doubt that he would be seen as little but a common convict by the general populace.
"You're not going to live this one down, boy," the Captain of the Guard sneered, as he placed the considerably cooler, though still warm branding iron where it had hung beside the fireplace. "Perhaps that'll teach you not to carelessly filch others' property in future."
"I don't think so," was Gaius' slightly strained reply.
Expecting a violent rebuke, the thief was relieved when the Captain only let out an exasperated sigh in response.
"Even after all that agony? Very well," he evenly replied, as the other guards hauled their slightly shaken prisoner to his feet. "But I think you should be warned that if it happens again, a death sentence will be inevitable."
It wouldn't deter him from committing similar crimes in future - he had to make a living somehow, didn't he? - but Gaius decided he would heed the advice. He would just have to be more careful... and do his best to hide the indelible reminder from view.
"Do you need to know any more, Princess?"
Gaius studied the Ylissean princess' expression carefully. He could see that his story, the account of his terrible ordeal, had been told in perhaps a little too much detail for her liking. A look that hovered between horror and disgust was clearly visible in her fair features.
"No thanks, I'm good," was Lissa's meek reply. "That's more than I need to know, honestly."
The charming thief smirked. "So I take it you don't wanna know how it looked afterwards. Well, the mark may look fine and painless now, but trust me, you wouldn't have wanted to see it immediately after I had received it. Almost as soon as it had been burned into my skin, it grew very red and inflamed-looking, and blistered horribly. Even days and weeks later, it still hurt like hell."
Now Lissa really did look appalled. Even though her reaction amused him somewhat, there was part of Gaius that felt awful for making her feel that way.
"That's - that's horrible! Why would they put you through all that?"
The thief shrugged. "That's the law for you, Princess. You know how those Plegians can be when it comes to violence and death. They seem to like cruelty a bit too much for their own good. Could've been much worse though. I could have been killed, or at the very least ended up like my so-called "pal"."
The bubbly blonde princess snuggled in closer to Gaius, and gently traced the dark C-shaped brand on his upper arm. "Why? What happened to him after you were let free?"
The orange-haired thief chuckled quietly to himself as he remembered. "I decided to get back at him for causing me all that pain. I eventually got my revenge by framing him for a similar crime. Like me, he was caught for it. Unlike me, though, he didn't receive a branding as punishment. He got it much worse than that."
Gaius paused, for dramatic effect, waiting to see how his princess would take it.
"He got both of his hands cut off, instead."
"Ooh, that really is nasty," Lissa replied, sounding a little nauseated at the prospect. "You must have felt so lucky that it wasn't you."
The thief pulled the Ylissean princess closer to him, and gently ran a hand through her long, curly hair.
"Of course I felt lucky," he said softly, as he smiled warmly at her. "I still feel lucky. But you know what? I feel even luckier that I have the love of the sweetest princess in the entire kingdom."
Gently, sweetly, the thief placed a kiss on his beloved princess' forehead. She smiled, a genuine, bashful little smile of tenderness, and laid her head upon his chest.
"I'd never judge you based on a stupid little mark," she whispered. "I definitely won't tell Chrom about it, don't worry."
"Thank you," Gaius replied, in a low voice, as he gazed upon the tender young woman cuddled up against him. "It can be our little secret. Just between you and me."
He smiled to himself. How had he managed to secure the affection of such a lovely human being? Did he really deserve it, when all was said and done? He felt sure that no, he didn't deserve any sort of reward for his past behaviour.
But now, he finally had the opportunity to put that life behind him. He could not have been more grateful to Lissa for giving him that much.
"Good night, my sweet Princess," he whispered to her, as he held her close in a warm embrace.
"Good night," Lissa sleepily replied.