Of Peace and War
Chapter Four: Fortuna Non Mutat Genus
A/N: Well, as anyone that's read my profile lately should know, I won't be writing fics for much longer (well, the break won't be permanent, at least I hope it won't be). A couple of my fics are being discontinued, but this is one that I'll be finishing up before I leave. Anyway, it's snowing here (Gosh, it's April!) and it's super cold...
But for actual notes about the story, I just went through and fixed all the mistakes I could find (the first chapter had me laughing so hard, there were so many mistakes). The chapter title for this one honestly doesn't fit it very well either (at least it won't make sense as of right now), but I couldn't find a proper one. Anyway, enjoy!
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Awaking from her slumber, the woman pulled her blanket tighter around her body, attempting to block out some of the cold air. She shivered. It wasn't supposed to be this cold in Serenes, was it? She buried herself farther under the covers but the shivering sensation still wouldn't go away.
Yawning, she opened her eyes. Glancing around the room, she realized that she was no longer in Serenes, but Castle Fayre instead.
Hm, that's odd... When did I get here? Better yet, how did I get here?
She shook the thoughts out of her head when she noticed a dark-haired man sleeping in the chair over in the corner.
That's it! It was that woman that brought me here! Esmera, if I recall correctly.
The duke was shivering just as much as she, if not more. Quickly, she placed her bare feet upon the cool stone floor and walked over to where he was sitting, the blanket now in her arms.
Wrapping the cover around his upper body, she sighed in admiration. She ran her fingers across his face, startled by how cold he actually was. She pulled her hand away, out of fear of waking him. But as she did so, the duke reached out and grabbed a hold of her fingers.
The man opened his eyes to see her shocked expression. They stared at each other for a moment, his green orbs meeting her blue ones. The man then got up and walked over to the open window, slamming the wooden shutters closed. Lucia's eyes followed him as he settled back in his chair.
"I suppose that's why it was so cold in here."
She was surprised by the coldness in his own words.
Well, I suppose I did wake him up...
Remembering what she had just done, she mentally scolded herself. To actually disturb a member of the royal family? What was she thinking?
"I hadn't meant to wake you, Milord," she eyed him nervously.
"It's...nothing. I'd rather have you wake me up than for you to not be here at all."
Renning sighed as the woman shivered again.
"Come here."
She stared at him in confusion for a moment before she caught on. The woman then walked over to him and almost happily curled up in his lap. He wrapped the blanket around both of them and she rested her head against his chest.
She couldn't help but feel content as he held her tight and ran his fingers through her hair, practically lovingly if she did say so herself. But an ugly fact chose her moment of pleasure to remind her that this shouldn't be happening--they had better things to worry about, after all.
She had so many questions floating around in her mind, and they needed to be answered--now.
"Renning?"
"Hm?"
"What's so special about my necklace that Esmera would kill me for it?"
Her lord sighed before staring into her eyes.
"You want the truth?"
"Of course, I can handle it after all."
"Alright then..."
He sighed again before beginning.
--
Elincia sighed in frustration, slamming her report down on the desk in front of her. Turning to the man seated next to her, she shook her head.
"Lord Tibarn, what are we going to do? Without Begnion and Daein on our side, we're at a clear disadvantage!"
He took the emerald-haired queen's hands in his own, still a bit startled by her sudden violent act, and noticed how tiny and frail they looked compared to his own. He shook his own head before answering her previously asked question.
"Elincia, they said they are hoping to remain neutral. They never said that they would fight for Renning. You're just worrying too much, everything's going to be fine."
"How can you say that? For all we know, my uncle could be gathering forces as we speak! Who knows, he could even get Goldoa on his side!"
"Now, please remember, Milady... King Kurthnaga's a sensible laguz. I don't think he'd side with a traitor so easily."
"But...is my uncle honestly a traitor? The throne was his, and...I just don't know. I have no right to--"
"--Elincia, this throne is rightfully yours," he said, gesturing to the overly-decorated chair she sat in before continuing. "You worked hard to get to where you are now, and I'm not going to let you give up after all that's happened. Got it?"
"Y-Yes, of course. You're right, Milord Tibarn...we can't give up now. The fate of Crimea, the happiness of her people, depends on our deeds."
He smiled at her queenly and clearly well-spoken words.
"Well said, Milady. Well said."
--
"Ena, get back here right this instant!"
The pink-haired laguz ignored her king's demand and kept walking through Castle Goldoa's outer grounds. The man shook his head in annoyance as he ran to catch up to the female dragon.
"Ena, please listen to me..." he pleaded, still panting and trying to catch his breath from chasing after her.
"Your Majesty, I'm sorry, but this is something that I must do. Neither you nor anyone else can change my mind."
The black dragon could see the tears forming in her eyes. She looked at him with such sadness, and yet, with so much determination...
"I see. Do what you must, but if you insist on leaving, take Nasir and Gareth with you. They should be more than enough protection for you, correct?"
"Of course. Thank you, Your Highness. Your kindness is beyond comparison. Now by your leave..."
The woman turned to walk away, but her king's soft voice called after her.
"Oh, and one more thing, Ena."
"Hm?"
"Bring my nephew back to Goldoa. Safe, that is."
She smiled.
"Whatever you say, King Kurth."
--
"My necklace can do that?!"
The swordmaster was stunned by the tale her commander had just told her.
"Yes, I'm afraid so."
The woman stared at the knight in shock. He couldn't speak the truth...it wasn't possible for her silly little trinket to hold so much power...it wasn't even imaginable!
"Then...why would you give something so valuable, something with so much power, to a little girl? Surely you knew of it's power when you gave it to me as a birthday gift."
"Of course I knew. Don't you see? No one would have suspected someone so young, so innocent, to have something with the power to destroy so many lives."
"Yes, but...what do we do now? If Esmera has it, then can't she..."
"I'm afraid that she can. But as long as we don't allow things to get out of hand, everything should be fine. If she doesn't have enough strength to harness its powers, she can't use it."
"But with the power of a dragon...isn't that enough?"
"Lyle's only a boy. He can't have that much power."
Lucia shook her head.
"Milord, with all due respect, I think there's one little thing you're forgetting."
"Which would be?"
She stared at him in disbelief. Her love interest was a smart man, but what was he thinking? Then again, she supposed that he hadn't been around, or at least not capable of understanding, during the Mad King's War. He hadn't done nearly as much research as she on the dragon tribes either; she was sure of that.
"He's the prince of Goldoa. Obviously he has more power than other dragons. Since he's a child, that means that his energy is just stored in his body, waiting to be released! If Esmera can find a way to tap into that power, if she can find a way to harness it, it will be more powerful than any other weapon!
"If that's not enough, that woman can use him to lure other dragons to use for her evil deeds!"
"Y-You're right... If we allow her to do that, Tellius could be...destroyed."
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A/N: I know this isn't that long or that great, but it's a filler chapter from when Lucia was captured until we actually find out what the necklace can be used for (plus I still need to get back into the mood of this story). Honestly, the necklace idea isn't all that original, but I hadn't known this at the time I started writing the fic. I could have discontinued this, but I felt that it was one of the stories that actually had some potential.
Anyway, the next chapter should be more exciting (there'll be quite a few battle scenes), plus there may even be appearances from more characters--there'll at least be more parts for characters that have been mentioned but haven't done much as of right now. Hopefully I'll have that up soon (which is incredibly likely since I'm working extra hard to finish my fics up before I lose complete interest in them altogether).
Also, a little hint for the next chapter...it's going to be called "De mortuis nil nisi bonum," so if you can figure out what that means, you may get an idea of the whole necklace thing.