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Chapter Two: A Reason for Fear
Compared to Alexandria, Lindblum was quite peaceful. Most of the nobles had gone to Alexandria for the duration of the festival, so Regent Cid had been left in peace. Due to his current hex-induced condition, he would not be making an appearance at the festival this year, even though it was Princess Garnet's sixteenth birthday. He needed to be behind the scenes, working on something much more important.
"No. Father, it has to be tonight. I overheard his conversation with Queen Brahne a few minutes ago, and the research I've done while in Alexandria does confirm that the eidolons inside of Princess Garnet will awaken before morning. I don't believe that either will waste time."
"This would be so much easier if you could transport people besides yourself with that teleportation magic that your mother taught you."
"Hmm. I feel that a hex reversal spell would be even more useful right now."
Regent Cid laughed. "Oh, you've seen worse and you know it. But still, this one really does take the cake…"
"Father, did you do something to deserve it…"
"Uh," Regent Cid coughed. "Kuja, you know how your mother can be sometimes. I suspect she was in this sort of whimsical mood when she brought you home ten years ago."
"Really…? There wasn't anything? Nothing involving anyone who isn't your wife?"
Kuja rolled his eyes impatiently. He knew he was right; he knew that Regent Cid had been having an affair. Again. Not that there was anything he could do about it.
Regent Cid looked at his silver-haired adopted son. "It will be tonight, then. I'll send a message to my men in Tantalus; I can't risk having you seen talking to them."
Only an idiot wouldn't notice that he was trying to change the subject, but Kuja decided to let it go. A part of the reason Queen Hildegarde had adopted him was to curb Cid's habit of wandering, apart from the more widely-spread story that she could sense his magic ability from several blocks away. He didn't change anything, and he had been sent off to study magic in Alexandria when he was of age. Six years later, it still felt like failure.
"I can only imagine what the princess will feel like. Everyone will be fighting over her, and she won't even know why. She wasn't ever told that she isn't the Queen's original daughter," Kuja said quietly. "She doesn't know that it will be because she's from the tribe of summoners."
"But you'll be there," Cid told him. "She fancies you, you know."
Kuja gave Cid a blank-faced stare. He wanted to say: 'unlike you, I have something called a sense of decency.' But this was his father he was talking to, and he didn't know if he hated his father's philandering more than he loved his adopted parents.
"I know. She tries not to be obvious, but…"
"But you're too busy wasting your time on General Beatrix. She seems to dislike you more than the amount one can usually overcome for the sake of love."
Kuja decided that this conversation had outlived its purpose, and was now over.
"Speaking of not being obvious, I should go before I'm missed. Wish me luck, Father. I only have the balance of power on this continent and the lives of thousands weighing on my shoulders tonight," Kuja smiled wryly. Then he closed his eyes, and disappeared in a ribbon of blue light.
When he opened his eyes, he stared at the floor of his room in the castle Alexandria. "What in the name of the crown…?" he breathed. His room had been ransacked. The papers he kept inside his desk, particularly, had been haphazardly strewn across the floor.
He bent down, and in a subdued panic he tried to put them in order again. He didn't really own anything of value, although he supposed that a few of his spellbooks might fetch a nice price since they were from the Alexandria royal library. But they were all still here; they hadn't even been touched. No, whoever had done this was looking for something different. Something in his papers?
Because they're so interesting, Kuja mused sardonically. They were notes, scribbles of magic that he had come up with. Most of them, frankly, were completely frivolous doodles that a mage of his latent ability should be ashamed of.
He heard a sharp rap on his door and didn't even look up as he called out, "Come in."
"What happened here? Did a wind spell get out of control?"
Kuja looked up. "Captain Steiner," he said in greeting. "Ah, no, actually. I came in here and found it like this. You're just in time; it seems that whoever did this has already left."
"That's odd."
"Yes, very," Kuja replied distractedly as he sorted everything into order. He wished that Captain Steiner would state the reason he was here and go. Then he noticed that out of everything, something was missing after all. "That's strange," Kuja muttered.
"What's strange?" Captain Steiner demanded.
The notes from the time he had created Vivi were gone. "Some of my notes are missing," Kuja explained. "Why would anyone take them?"
Captain Steiner shrugged. "Especially when they could take something like this instead," he commented and lifted up a sheathed weapon to the light. The jewels encrusted into the hilt sparkled in the sun. "It would sell better at Treno than your research, anyways."
Kuja had forgotten about that weapon; he never carried even a small knife on him. "Are you suggesting that the auction houses there acquire their pieces through less than above-the-table means?" he chuckled.
Captain Steiner didn't seem to get that it was a joke. "Of course not," he said gruffly. "We found the Princess, by the way. So if you'll excuse me," he said, and then returned the weapon to its place on the dusty shelf and went on his way.
"Well, if that wasn't strange," Kuja said to himself, his gaze lingering on the closed door while he thought. Without knowing quite why, he took the weapon that Captain Steiner had picked up, and slipped it into his belt where his robes would conceal it.
Clouds had gathered on the horizon when he went outside later that afternoon; he didn't think it would rain that night, but perhaps rain clouds that had wandered over from Burmecia would cast the sky gray by morning.
"Tonight," Kuja murmured to himself drearily as he passed under the trees. He didn't even hear the footsteps behind him, and jumped slightly when he heard someone call to him.
He knew that voice, and it was with a subtle and annoyed frown that he turned around. It was the blond-haired player.
"Sorry," the player grinned sheepishly. "Guess mages really are nervous types. You ever torch someone by mistake?"
Kuja glowered. "I practice white magic. How can I help you…"
"White magic, huh? Could've had me fooled." Some sort of realization seemed to connect behind the player's eyes. "Oh! You must be the Princess Garnet's tutor, then. My name's Zidane. Pleasure to meet you."
After an awkward second, Kuja decided he had better shake the player's hand. "Kuja," he replied.
"Interesting name," Zidane commented. "So you studied at the University of Alexandria—" he said as he studied something glinting in his palm.
Kuja looked at him in barefaced shock. "That's my ring!"
"Sorry, couldn't help myself. So what's your house, if you studied at that posh place?" Zidane asked casually, and dropped the ring in Kuja's outstretched palm.
"I'm not part of a house," Kuja said delicately as he returned the ring to his right hand, and then decided it would be safer in his inside coat pocket. "I'm from Lindblum. Queen Hildegarde gave me the test that nobles take for magic aptitude, and when I was old enough, she sent me here to Alexandria."
"So what, Queen Hildegarde just plucked you from your parents and sent you off?"
Kuja glared at him, and then turned back to the fountain. "Street children couldn't exactly pay for the white magic to protect them from disease that winter. She found me dying in the slums. If you're really a player, then you're not so far removed from that part of town that the story should be unfamiliar to you."
That seemed to knock sense into him. "I… I'm sorry," Zidane said quietly. "But that really bad one would have been ten years ago, right? Did your parents die during that, or…"
"Why is this of any interest to you?" Kuja turned around and stared Zidane in the face. "I've seen the Queen grant you audience, more audience than a player should receive." Kuja didn't add that he had also heard what had passed during these conversations. "Who are you?"
And that made Zidane smile. "Like I said, my name's Zidane. Zidane Tribal. I'm just a player. You seemed interesting, so I wanted to chat. Are you coming to the play tonight? I heard it's the queen's favorite."
"Of course," Kuja lied. Then he spotted Captain Steiner and General Beatrix behind Zidane.
"Really?" Captain Steiner asked as he nudged Zidane aside. "Because I've heard differently. Kuja, you're under arrest for plotting against the crown with Alexandria's enemy, Lindblum."
"What?!" Kuja demanded. How could Captain Steiner have been smart enough to figure it out? Not that Lindblum was Alexandria's enemy—that part was new.
"Found evidence in your room when I dropped in," Captain Steiner said smugly. Which Kuja knew was a lie; who would be stupid enough to actually leave evidence?
General Beatrix looked at Captain Steiner. "Since when are Lindblum and Alexandria enemies? I haven't heard anything about this. Captain Steiner, is this your version of a joke? It's a very poor one. Kuja, if you'll excuse us, I'm going to have a word with the captain—"
"General Beatrix, stand down."
"You can't order me to stand down, Captain. You, civilian. You have no business here. You should make yourself scarce."
Zidane nodded. "Yes, ma'am," and began to walk away. But he looked over his shoulder and met Kuja's eyes, and smirked just as Captain Steiner pulled out an official seal with Queen Brahne's signature on it.
And Kuja's face paled even though it seemed like it couldn't go any closer to porcelain. The person who had stolen his papers had also planted that evidence. Someone—not Captain Steiner—actually knew what was going on.
"Kuja, I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding," General Beatrix told him as the world snapped back into focus. "Just go along with this for now and things will clear up soon enough. You're the princess' tutor, for goodness' sake. You're not exactly out of favor with the queen."
Maybe, maybe not.
He couldn't wait for tonight, Kuja realized. He had to take the princess out of Alexandria at this very moment. "Sorry, Beatrix," he said, and disappeared in a ribbon of blue light.
Captain Steiner had mentioned that they had found the princess. If she were anywhere today, she would be in her rooms. So his destination was her suite. He found her already dressed for tonight, but she had nodded off in a chair.
She woke up and rubbed her eyes. "Kuja, what are you doing here?" she said, her voice still thick from her nap.
Kuja didn't immediately speak. He had been planning on drugging Princess Garnet, but there was hardly time for subtlety now. "We're leaving Alexandria. Right now. Change into something less noticeable, take the pendant with you."
"But—Kuja, you aren't making any sense. Has something happened to you? Are you all right?"
"There's no time! Your life is in danger, Princess."
Princess Garnet stood up. "Then we'll call my guard."
The faith that royals had in each other and in the people they armed baffled him. "Princess," Kuja said quietly, "your guard just tried to arrest me for treason. Can you guess why they would do something ridiculous like that…? You've seen that blond-haired young man around the castle lately, haven't you?"
Zidane. The one who seemed a little too interested in Kuja's past, the one who knew too much about the summoners and the eidolons that Princess Garnet carried. The thief who stole his ring. Suddenly, Kuja thought of his missing notes, and everything came together.
Vivi popped his head into the room from the far door. "Kuja, what's going on?"
Kuja smiled with worry in his eyes as Vivi latched himself onto Kuja's boot. "Vivi, we're going on a short adventure. Don't worry, you're coming too."