Series: Suikoden V
Prompt: Expectations.
Summary: AU, He had things to tell her, the timing was never right and it certainly wasn't when he killed her.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize.
Rating: T
Genre: Romance/Tragedy/Angst.
Pairings: One-sided Georg Prime x Arshtat Falenas.
Warnings: Nothing.
Georg didn't care much about anything nor did he pay much attention to things he wasn't interested in. He certainly didn't expect anything from life.
When his best friend came to visit him after participating in some grand game, he was mildly surprised to see guards flanking the man like was some sort of royalty. He wondered was his friend trying to get him to bail him out of jail for whatever offense he'd done. He snorted, if Ferid did, then he'd come to the wrong place.
He was about to slam the door shut when he heard one of the guards murmur, "The future King lives here with this sort of shady person?"
He was stunned and more than a touch interested. "Future king?" he echoed, unable to believe his ears until Ferid sat him down and started explaining things. And when he agreed (Ferid forced his hand, using his authority as king) to go with his best friend, he hadn't expected many things.
He hadn't expected to fall in love.
With the Queen of Falena no less, Ferid's wife.
But he had and he had to suck it up and hope he fell out of love soon enough. He didn't; if anything, he fell more and more in love with her. He felt slightly bad when he misused Ferid's trust in him to get closer to Arshtat. Whenever Ferid wasn't around and Arshtat needed a bodyguard, he was always the first person to volunteer.
It was a fortunate thing that Georg could hide his feelings well, else, he didn't know what sort of scandal would arise.
When Arshtat had children, he treated them as his own and dare he say it, he loved them probably as much as Arshtat and Ferid did.
He expected great things out of the Prince, he expected the Princess to be a great Queen like her mother before her. When Ferid revealed his plan to Georg, he expected many things to go wrong. But for once in his life, he expected the most powerful woman in the world, Arshtat, to set things right, put those Godwins in their places but things didn't go as he expected.
He had many things to tell her, only one mattered such as his feelings but the time was never right. And oh the irony, the time only came, when finally, she could stop to listen to him was when he'd slain her.
He'd slain his Queen—in more ways than one.
He hadn't expected this even though he knew this was the back-up plan. Truthfully, he should've expected it the moment Arshtat started changing. The moment she bore the Sun Rune, she stopped aging as it granted her immortality. She'd changed from a gentle and kind queen to a stern and ruthless one.
He expected his feelings to change because she was barely the person he loved anymore. No, the Arshtat he loved was still there. It was the only reason he still remained in the castle. If not for Arshtat, then for Ferid and the youngsters in the castle he'd become so damn fond of.
From Arshtat's death, he'd expected many things to happen to him and it pained Georg to see the Queen's most precious people trust him and defend him blindingly when he had truly been the one to do the deed. Miakis was right in hating and mistrusting him.
He wasn't angry at her nor did he expected to be forgiven soon.
But he also knew she was the only one alive to bear witness to his true feelings and why he still kept fighting. It hadn't taken her long to spill the whole story to the Prince instead of the short version she'd told the others in the war room. Georg was actually glad when the Prince, the son of the woman he'd loved and still do, confronted him.
But there were no disgust in his eyes, merely curiosity. "Did you really love her?" was the first question out of the boy's mouth and Georg understood immediately.
"Yes."
The Prince smiled, and Georg thought he saw Arshtat superimposed over him and damn did it hurt. "I see..." the Prince's eyes turned contemplative, as he reached for the doorknob, twisting it and opening it a crack wide. "I suppose it's not bad to fall in love with someone. I'm just glad you didn't act up on it because it would've brought havoc to our family..." he shot him an apologetic look. "You know what I mean right?"
"I do."
"I'm glad she was loved by someone like you." Before Georg can inquire upon it, the Prince left.
He didn't expect the Prince to come back anytime soon. He expected Sialeeds to come interrogate him but she never did and never will, as she too, like her older sister did before her, passed on. He saw someone he loved die again and when her hair was let down, when Sialeeds face was finally peaceful and lack of the frowns and scowls and stress lines, he saw just how much she looked like Arshtat.
He had so many things he wanted to say to her, to them, but he never got the chance.
And he never expected to be able to do so ever.