AN: Thank you to all who has reviewed, read, favourited or followed this story. Very much appreciated! So sorry for the long delay in updates. Been busy with the new year and new semester, moving into a new apartment (that sadly has no internet) and a fair bit of writer's block. I have an idea where I want to go, but I was struggling with how to get there.
Disclaimer : I do not own the Fable universe or the characters contained within it.
Chapter 10 : An unexpected reunion
"Ben, are you ready?" Celeste knocked on the captain's door with more force than was probably necessary. He hadn't shown up at the gate around the time they'd established and she'd gone to the inn to find him. Finally the captain emerged wearing the server shirt and pants Page had procured somehow. Celeste herself was wearing a simple red dress and apron.
"Sorry for making you wait, Princess. Let us be off then," he said with a smile, even though he looked a bit distracted.
"May I ask why you were late, Captain?" she asked rather sharply as they walked to Millfields. She'd stood waiting for almost an hour according to the sundial and she was more than a tad irritated.
Ben gave a slight shrug and Celeste felt annoyance rear up at him. "I said I was sorry, Princess. Time got away from me. A girl was getting roughed up in the alley and I helped her," Ben said simply, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.
Celeste immediately felt an embarrassed wave of heat colouring her face, but she tried to hide it by looking in the opposite direction. Walter was constantly telling her to be more assertive. "I understand, Captain, but I'd appreciate it if you had gotten a message to me earlier," she settled for saying.
The captain let out an irritated sigh. "It's not my job to detail every hour to you, Princess. I made an oath to protect the citizens of Albion and I wasn't about to sit by while something happened. I was late, alright, but we're on our way now," he grit out and they continued their walk in silence, both of them seething slightly.
By the time that they reached the mansion, the party was already in full swing. Ben and Celeste made their way through the throng of people inside. There were so many serving staff that it was actually quite simple to take a tray and enter the ballroom.
"Do you have any idea where to look for the blacksmith?" Celeste whispered to Ben. From what she could see in the ballroom alone, there were more than a few corridors leading to who knew how many rooms.
"Not to sound pedantic, but how about the lower areas? A dungeon is the most likely place to look," Ben snapped back quietly.
Celeste frowned, but forced a smile on her face when one of the partygoers came to take one of the pastries form her tray. As the rather rotund man waddled away, she shot a glare in Ben's direction. "And which way would that be?"
Ben rolled his eyes discreetly at her as if the answer was the simplest thing in the world. "Just follow me, but try not to look as if you're on my tail."
When they were well on their way down a couple of dark corridors, Celeste took a deep breath and pulled Ben to a stop.
"Is something bothering you, Ben? You were the one who asked to come along and you're acting as though I'm the one who's intruding," she rushed out angrily, looking him right in the eye. "Because this might not be important to you, but it sure as hell is important to me."
Ben's frown deepened with every word she spoke until he yanked his arm out of her hold. "Listen, Princess. While you were off saving cats from trees, I was doing things that actually helped people. Don't dare insinuate that I don't care!"
Celeste reeled back slightly at his rough tone before frowning herself. "That isn't what I meant, Ben. I just-I needed to do this on my own and then you barge in on this whole thing and now you're being a…a…the male offspring of a female dog!"
Ben looked at her strangely for a few moments before bursting out laughing. "Did you just try to call me a son of a bitch?" The humour was quickly joined by disbelief. "Why didn't you just come out and say it?"
Celeste felt another wave of embarrassment and she knew she was probably as red as her dress, which coupled with her crimson hair probably meant that she looked like she was on fire. "I've just never had cause to call someone that, alright! You just made me so angry!"
"Well, Princess, I'm sorry that I drove you to such lengths," he said sincerely, smiling widely. Ben's previous mood disappeared seemingly immediately as he clapped her on the shoulder. "Can we talk about this later? We can't exactly waltz around here for too long before we're caught out." He started marching down the hall and she had to dash to catch up.
For some strange reason, Ben knew the mansion well enough to quickly lead her to the dark rooms underground. She made a mental note to ask him about it later.
One of the rooms housed a few cells and sure enough, a man was sitting against the walls, his head on his knees. A chain ran from the shackles around his wrists to the wall above him.
"Hey," Ben called softly. When the man still didn't move, Ben called out a bit louder. "Hey, mate! You alive?"
The man looked up, clearly startled. Almost every inch of his body was covered in dirt and scratches and he looked dead tired. The only clear feature Celeste could make out were his hazel eyes that were almost luminous in the dimly lit room.
"Page sent us," Celeste said gently, nearing the door. "Are you hurt?"
The man stared at her for a moment before speaking. "No," the man replied hoarsely. Even the simple word seemed to cause him excruciating pain.
Ben opened the cell door with a key he'd procured from somewhere and Celeste quickly teleported to the Sanctuary to fetch a water skin.
When she returned to the dank cell, she carefully knelt by the man's side before lifting the skin to his chapped lips. The man drank greedily, but coughed up most of it. The next time, he sipped slowly and looked at her gratefully.
"Thank you," he rasped. His eyes met hers again and they seemed to light up the tiniest bit. "Celeste? Is…is that you?"
Celeste pulled back in surprise and tried to think from where the man would know her. She hadn't been the most social person when she was still living at the castle and she definitely didn't meet him after she left.
A boy about her age with large hazel eyes peered at her from next to his father. The young princess glanced shyly at him from where she was clutching her mother's hand and the boy carefully returned her careful smile with one of his own.
"Percy?" she asked, the shock evident in her tone. He was the absolute last person she expected to see, especially chained up in some dungeon. "What…what are you doing here?"
A weary smile pulled on his dry lips. "And here I thought this was an organised rescue," he joked weakly. "Do mind letting me down? I arms have been numb for a while now."
"Look, as glad as I am about this seeming reunion, can we hurry this up? We need to get out of here," Ben interrupted, sounding almost irritated.
Celeste was still slightly shell-shocked, but she managed a nod. Both she and Ben tried to pull Percy to his feet as carefully as they could. As they lifted him, Celeste couldn't help but notice how strong his arm muscles had become compared to the skinny twigs they'd been before.
Well, that happens when you don't see someone for ten years, she thought. She couldn't even believe that he'd recognised her.
"I don't think we'll be able to get him out of here without being seen," Ben said, interrupting her thoughts. "Can you do that disappearing thing with more than yourself?"
"I've never tried," she replied. "But we'll see. Just…hold on."
Fortunately, when she finally worked up the courage to open her eyes, they were all standing in the center room of the Sanctuary.
"My lady, who is this?" Jasper asked, concern written on his wrinkled face.
"Let us just let him rest in the dressing room, Jasper," Celeste interrupted quickly. "I think he's alright, he just needs to rest."
They managed to get the almost unconscious prisoner to the chaise lounge and carefully lowered him down.
"Jasper can you get the first aid supplies?"
"Captain Finn, would you mind helping me?" Ben gave a small nod and he and Jasper quickly left the room. Celeste opened her mouth to object to her leaving her alone with Percy, but instead started to carefully check for major injuries, all the way ignoring Percy's searching gaze. She could feel the blush already creeping up her neck due to his scrutiny.
"Is there any place in particular that's hurt?" she asked when her search came up clean. Ben and Jasper had returned by this time so she brought herself to meet his gaze.
"Nothing life-threatening," he answered wearily. His eyes looked to be getting heavy and they fluttered a few times. "Just…tired…"
Jasper gently pushed the princess out of the way and pulled out a rag and a small bottle that she recognised as antiseptic. Celeste had noticed that while Percy was mostly fine, his wrists had been chafed raw from the shackles.
"Jasper's extremely good with treating injuries," she said with a gentle smile. "He's had plenty of practice. I have a tendency to run into…dangerous situations."
Percy looked significantly more awake at her words. "You?" he asked, his tone riddled with disbelief.
"Is it that unbelievable?" she asked and crossed her arms and frowned playfully at him. "I don't know how long you were locked up, but I am Albion's new Hero, mister."
"Celeste, the last time I saw you, you weren't even allowed to wear trousers, let alone be part of any "dangerous situations." His retort was cut off when he winced at the touch of the antiseptic. "I thought you said he was good!"
"Please stop squirming, sir," Jasper said as he calmly continued to clean the damaged skin. "It'll be done in a few minutes."
"If you don't mind me asking...Where do you two know each other from?" It was unusual for Ben to be so quiet and Celeste had almost forgotten that he was there. He was still frowning slightly and his arms were crossed defensively in front of his chest. "All we know about this man is that he's Page's blacksmith. Are you some kind of prince in disguise or something? Because I can't imagine how a girl who was so sheltered growing up as her would know a blacksmith."
"My father forged most of the castle steel when her mother was queen and I'd go along to deliver his products. Shortly after her death…The king commissioned someone else and I didn't go to the castle again." Percy shot a glance in Celeste's direction and she felt another damnable flush colouring her face. She appreciated the fact that Percy didn't tell Ben the whole story. Up until he brought it up, Celeste had almost forgotten why they hadn't seen each other in so long.
Jasper finished the rest of his treatment in silence and soon the former captive's wrists were cleaned and bound with fresh bandages. Percy nodded off a few moments after answering Ben's question and the others left him in peace.
"I didn't know Mister Percival was still in Bowerstone," Jasper said when they were back in the central room. "Why didn't you tell me, my lady?"
"I didn't know until today." Celeste sank down onto one of the couches. "I was just as shocked to see him again."
Ben glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, still frowning slightly. "Can we trust him? Page might have used his services, but he was quite unharmed for someone who was captured."
"As he mentioned, I haven't seen him in years. The last time we…spoke…was a couple of years after my mother's death. But he was a sweet boy then and his father was a loyal and hardworking man." Celeste ran her fingers through her hair. "I want to believe that we can trust him."
Ben's frown lessened the tiniest bit. "Very well, Princess. I'm going to trust you on this, but it's not my fault if you find yourself locked up somewhere."
"What has gotten into you, Ben?" Celeste asked almost exasperatedly. Jasper seemingly caught the hint that there was an argument brewing between the two rebels and he casually slipped away to his room. "You've been in some sort of mood ever since we left Industrial."
"I was actually having a fine day until you knocked on my door, sweetheart. All you keep reminding me about today is how bloody naïve you are! How are you still alive after all this time?" Ben sat down on the armchair's arm rest and absentmindedly fiddled with a stray thread on the servant's uniform while looking at some point above her head.
"I keep forgetting you're actually twenty two-years old. You seem so damn young! A part of me is glad that with the way you grew up that you turned out so sweet compared to your crazy brother, but I keep expecting you to turn up dead with the way you keep trusting everyone you meet and the way you just…waltz around wielding your skinny sword and sparkly magic like some bloody fairy. Mercenaries, turncoats, rebels…Hell, I turned my back on the crown myself. I'm not telling you not to trust anyone, but I just…"
His blue eyes met her own dark ones and he let out an audible sigh. "Just be careful, alright? The world out there…it's rough. I don't want to see you getting hurt before getting that crown. Besides, Walter will have my head if something happened to you."
Celeste felt her heart soften at his words. In his own irritating way he actually cared about her and what happened to her. "Thank you, Ben. I truly appreciate it." She smiled shyly up at him and he returned it with a smirk of his own.
"Good." He got to his feet and cleared his throat awkwardly. "That couch looks more inviting than my bed at the headquarters, so I'm going to take a nap." He ruffled her hair affectionately and laughed loudly at the glare she shot him while she yanked her fingers through her now mussed hair.
"Arse," she muttered and he burst out laughing again.
"I heard that, Princess. We're making progress," he chuckled and turned towards the wall on the couch. "Soon you'll actually be able to call me a son of a bitch to my face."
Celeste rolled her eyes good-naturedly before turning over for a nap of her own, a smile on her lips.
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Sorry for the short chapter. I really wanted to get something out to you guys this weekend before I return to the craziness of real life.
I hope you enjoyed it and please let me know what you think!