She Will Be Loved-A Vignette
Rated: PG
Author: The Flower Girl
He stopped just outside the city, pulling his cloak over his face. Better to not draw any unwanted attention to him. He surveyed the surroundings before making his way towards the capital.
All roads seemed to lead to Seillune for Zelgadiss Graywords. No matter what quest he was on, he always seemed to end up at the palace.
'I doubt my cure is here', he muttered to himself, passing the guards at the gate. 'Why do I always end up here?"
Zelgadiss had been wandering alone, looking for his cure for about three years now. He was amazed how time changed events, Lina and Gourry finally stopped being stupid and admitted how they felt ('but we're not settling down or anything,' Lina wrote in a recent letter, Amelia's bracelet she had given him when they parted had been reduced to nothing more than a shiny blue stone with frayed pink fabric on its ends. He slipped his hand into his pocket and thumbed the etching- her pentagram was still there. He blushed at the thought of Amelia. It had been a long time since he had last seen her.
"She's eighteen now, isn't she?" he asked to no one in particular.
"Who is?" a passerby asked.
"Um, no one," he stammered, before walking on.
"Ya can't fool me son," the man said, stepping forward. "You were thinking about someone, now weren't ya?"
"Really sir, it's nothing."
He just wanted to leave, he wasn't even sure why he was here to begin with.
"Someone you were thinking about is eighteen. Perhaps that's why you are here; to see this girl." The man smiled. "What's her name?"
"Ame-Amelia," Zelgadiss stammered.
"Oh! Isn't that wonderful!" the man remarked. "She shares the same name as our princess! Is she just as lovely?"
"She is," Zelgadiss muttered.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I don't mean to be keeping you."
The man stepped aside, allowing Zelgadiss to pass. Sighing, he went back to thinking. Someone had to look for his cure, he told himself. Maybe Seillune had some old books he could look through.
He exhaled and proceeded through the square.
Amelia set her pen down next to a pile of official papers she hadn't even begun to make a dent in. She was bored. Part of her yearned for adventure; it had been so long since she had seen Lina and the others. She wondered how Zelgadiss was doing, and if he still remembered her.
A knock on her door disrupted her thoughts.
"Who is it?"
Nothing.
"Enter?"
At her command, a sandy-haired messenger entered and knelt before her.
"I have a letter for you Miss Amelia."
She turned to face the messenger, stray wisps of hair falling into her eyes.
"Does it say where it's from?" she asked him.
"No miss, there is no return address."
"Thank you Henry," she took the letter from him. "That will be all."
She waited for the door to close. Latching the door behind her, she left her sitting room. She looked for the familiar scrawl, seeing it, she plopped into the velvet fainting couch she acquired from her mother and ripped open the envelope.
"Dear Amelia," the letter began. "I apologize for not keeping in contact as I promised. I was in the south (looking for a cure), and not able to write you. As fate would have it, I will be in Atlas City for a few weeks and I was wondering if you were still in Seillune. If you are, I look forward to seeing you. If not, I hope to hear from you.
Zelgadiss"
"He'll be in Seillune?' she wondered, mostly to the silent room.
:"That's wonderful!" she exclaimed, louder than she expected. She laughed and covered her mouth. Excitedly, she turned on her heel and called for her father.
Phil looked up from his chess game. Did Amelia just call? He listened again, and hearing nothing, shrugged and turned back to his game.
It came again. He jumped, dropping a pawn. It hit the marble floor with a loud thud and rolled for a few minutes before stopping at the fireplace.
"Daddy!" Amelia called, running down the hall at full force. She had to give him the good news! Where was he? She called again.
"Daddy?"
"Amelia!"
Phil's big voice boomed through the palace. It sounded like Amelia was in trouble. He had to find her! He rounded the corner. The calling seemed to get louder. He called again.
"Daddy?" she called, trying to make out his figure in the dark hall. Funny, she never noticed it being that dark before, she'd have to ask someone to refill the gas lamps. Not finding him, she ran as fast as her legs could carry her, she didn't want to lose him. She ran full-force into him, and fell backwards.
"Amelia? Daughter! Are you alright?"
"Of course I am Daddy!" she said, standing and brushing herself off. "I was trying to get your attention. I got another letter. Zelgadiss will be staying here a few days while he's searching for his cure in Atlas City. He'll be here any minute!"
No sooner had the words escaped her lips than another messenger, blue-haired this time knelt before her.
"Excuse me miss, a mysterious man has been spotted outside the palace. We think he's someone you know."
"That's him!" she said, smiling. "Thank you Matthew!"
Wanting to get there before the rest of the guards spotted him, she grabbed the white pony from the stable and trotted out to meet him…or tried.
She grimaced when she sat down. She hadn't ridden this pony since she was little and she could tell; her feet touched the ground to the point where she could add her two legs to the pony and make it go faster.
Sighing, she dismounted the pony and walked out to the square to meet him, skirt rustling around her ankles.
Reaching the square, the princess groaned; Zelgadiss seemed to be in some sort of disagreement with the guards.
'If he stopped wearing that damned cloak, he wouldn't have this problem,' she thought.
She sighed again, stepping in.
"Excuse me, is there a problem here?" she asked, sounding more official than Zelgadiss remembered.
The guard sputtered something and fell to one knee.
"Can someone tell me what this is all about?" Amelia asked, mostly of the guard.
"Well, one of my men said he spotted this man just outside the palace walls."
"And what made you think he was a threat to the City of Seillune?" Amelia asked again, putting on her best business face.
"Ummm…" the guard paused, choosing his words carefully. He remembered what happened the last time he wouldn't let that redhead through. He had never seen the princess that angry. He didn't want to experience that again.
"We just thought he looked suspicious," he finally said.
Amelia began to say something when she was abruptly cut off.
"ZELGADISS! WELCOME!"
The guard gave a look of panic at the sight of the Crown Prince. Now he suddenly remembered talk of a chimera friend of the princess. If she got that upset about that sorceress/swordsman pair, she get even more upset about this fellow-it was rumored that they had been very intimate on occasion, but who could believe the gossips anyway?
"Hello, Your Highness," Zelgadiss said.
"Won't you come in?" Phil asked, moving away from the door and motioning with his arm to enter.
He looked at Amelia, she smiled, and blushed a little. Gods, she was beautiful. Those three years had been good to her.
She stood in the square, confident, and met his sapphire gaze with her own. He found himself drinking up her beauty. She was wearing a pale blue satin dress that rested off her shoulders and fit her torso nicely- almost too nicely, he noticed. Her hair was longer now and was pulled up into a loose bun, allowing wisps of purple-black hair to fall into her beautiful eyes. Diamond earrings hung from her ears, giving the painful reminder that very little was left of the girl he remembered.
"May I be your escort?" he asked, giving her his arm.
"Yes," she said, still smiling. "You may."
Together, they walked arm and arm into the palace he would soon call his home. Somewhere, and old man smiled knowingly.
"So, Zelgadiss," Phil started. "Amelia tells me you've traveled back to Atlas City to see if they have a cure."
Zelgadiss was seated uncomfortably on the other side of the enormous banquet table of the great hall of the Crown Prince Philonel el de Seillune. Zelgadiss secretly wondered if the prince had invested in that table only after Lina and Gourry had started "dropping by."
He sipped his coffee.
"Yes, I've been writing Amelia letters since we parted ways after Darkstar."
"That's what she's been telling me."
Amelia beamed.
"But, why did you stop by Seillune if you're going to Atlas City? It is a little out of your way."
Zelgadiss blushed so violently, blood flow to his legs was cut off. How could he tell Phil he loved his daughter?
"I thought Amelia would like to see me. And I'd like to talk about some things."
Phil's eyes widened for a minute, and he smiled.
"That's great! You two have a lot to talk about."
He smiled and went back to his meal.
Amelia fell into her fainting couch, confused. Things were happening faster than she could imagine. Zelgadiss back, to talk? That can't be right. He usually never wanted to talk. She sighed, and waited for the knock she didn't think would come.
Zelgadiss paced back and forth in his apartment. This wasn't how he planned his meeting to work out. He was expecting to be easier-he had forgotten she'd age.
He hadn't realized she'd be so beautiful. He sighed and examined himself in the mirror-it was going to be harder to catch up on the times and not let the feelings that occasionally bubbled up within him show.
Zelgadiss hadn't planned on coming back to Seillune, but it made it hard to forget when Amelia presented him with her bracelet and an address.
"In case you ever get lonely," she told him with a smile and a quick hug,
He had mumbled something about not feeling lonely, but soon he found himself missing her voice and began what would become a three-year correspondence.
"We're just going to talk," he told his reflection, straightening the tie of the suit Phil had presented him with shortly after dinner.
"If you're out walking with Amelia, you'll need something different than your traveling clothes."
His words echoed through chimera's head. 'Out walking? What was Phil thinking?'
He sighed and stepped back from the mirror. He did have to admit the suit fit very well. It was sharply cut, accenting his shoulders and creating acute lines that otherwise wouldn't have existed. He smiled. He didn't realize he could look this good in his current condition. He buttoned his jacket and left his apartment.
The knock on the door startled Amelia. She looked up from her book. She didn't actually think he'd show up. Placing her book on the couch, she smiled and opened the door.
She was greeted by a very flustered chimera who, upon seeing her, smiled meekly.
"Hello, Zelgadiss. You look nice."
"Thanks…it's your father's…I think," he said, crimson residing a little.
She smiled, mostly to herself, and shut the door behind her.
"Let's talk. The garden is beautiful at this time of the night, if you want to talk out there."
Zelgadiss walked next to her, mind still reeling-his mind was used to large amounts of angst, he couldn't deal with all these new emotions that suddenly just appeared overnight.
'What do I say to her? Hi Amelia, it's good to see you? Maybe I'll just let her do the talking.'
He groaned.
"I'm so glad you came back when you did," the princess started, after entering the garden, green muslin rustling beneath her voice. "Since your last letter I've had princes from everywhere inside the barrier asking for my hand; it seems everyone wants a royal tie to Seillune."
She stopped for a moment, staring at rose bush. She exhaled and went on.
"I suppose I should have just dropped all my silly excuses, but I couldn't possibly marry them. I wanted love, they just wanted Seillune. And I wanted you to come back. The Council told me to give up on you, that I couldn't marry you even if you did come back, but Daddy kept pressuring the to drop the silly rule and let me marry whomever I chose. I told him you were coming back. He wants me to marry you, to hell with everyone else!"
She threw her arms around him, embracing him passionately and kissing him fiercely. He staggered back from the momentum of it. He stood there for a moment, stunned, before closing his arms around her.
Somewhere in the bushes, a figure stirred. He had waited for an opportunity such as this! They didn't quite look like the people he was told to find, but it was worth a shot!
"Lina Inverse, I have found you at last!" he yelled, jumping through the thorny bushes, interrupting the embrace.
Amelia pulled away with the force of a Dragon Slave. A look of shock appeared on both the princess and the bandit.
"Wait, you're not her!" he screeched, realizing all too soon his mistake.
"You're right, I'm not," she replied calmly.
"But I'll kill you anyway!" the bandit yelled again, interrupting her. "The Princess of Seillune's head will be a pretty fortune! I'll be rich and it'll all be thanks to you!" he grinned evilly and turned to Zelgadiss.
"And don't think about stopping me either! I'm sure there's not much you can do that can stop me!"
The shaman sighed and flicked his wrists, muttering 'fireball', leaving the psychotic bandit left to nothing more than a smoldering mess.
"My, what a lovely tea party," the bandit muttered, before passing out.
The princess and the shaman breathed a sigh of relieve and smiled.
"So what did you want to talk to me about, Mister Zelgadiss?" she asked him, taking his hand.
"I originally had no intent of returning to Seillune, but, try as I might, I couldn't forget you. I thought the Atlas City excuse would be a great reason to come back."
He turned to face her, once again meeting her gaze with his.
"Amelia, I didn't come back for my cure, I came back for you."
Her eyes widened.
"And maybe we can search for my cure together."
He lifted her face to his, while they stood in a silent embrace among the moon and rose bushes, with only their love to guide them.
end transmission