Author's Note: If you're curious, I have a new story up. It's called Masquerade, and it features every possible pairing you can think of... including my biggest fear (BalthierxFran) as well as some fairly unheard of pairings (FranxAshe). :)

I'm curious, does anyone look at the lyrics I post at the beginning of each chapter? I try to relate them to the story. This one refers to how Ashe kissed Basch on his bedroom balcony.


C A R N I V O R E

Chapter Eleven: The Rage Subsides


In starlit nights I saw you

So cruelly you kissed me

Your lips a magic world

Your sky all hung with jewels

-The Killing Moon


Ashe was in one her many office rooms, sitting at a desk like table as she furiously read through and filled out various paperwork. Her travels to Archadia within the last week had left her behind in many of her duties, and she decided to take out her anger by doing as much work as possible. She exerted herself for a good two hours after leaving the Sandsea pub, choosing to skip lunch in order to keep working. She usually left the doors open while she worked- she hated feeling isolated from the outside world. This time, however, she wished she had left them closed. For a quick knock on the doorframe and a respectful bow from Basch left a bitter taste in her mouth.

She hardly looked at him when he stood in the doorway. Instead, she released a sigh and motioned him with her non-writing hand to enter. He did as she commanded, and she glanced up at him only when he was in front of her desk. She looked up slowly, as if it was a horrible inconvenience for her.

His nose looked swollen. She frowned slightly.

"Majesty," he spoke quietly.

"Did you need something?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow and pretending to be bored.

The corners of his mouth turned downwards. "You requested me to meet with you."

"Ah, yes," she said as if suddenly remembering. She dropped her pen to the table, leaned back in her chair, and sized him up. "It has been decided that you will stay here- in the castle- until further notice. You are under our protection until we can find this Gallus character."

He tilted his head to the side. "Understood..." He hesitated, seeming to be surprised that she had nothing more to say. After all, she had been nothing but words with him recently. "Will that be all?"

"Dismissed," she said coldly.

She watched him hesitate where he stood, then he clasped his hands behind his back and waited.

"Go ahead," he said softly. "Ask."

He's a cunning bastard, isn't he? she thought, but he is right. She wanted to know why he and Balthier fought. It was driving her insane.

"Why?" she inquired, her utter confusion and disappointment escaping through her voice.

He took a deep breath, but then his voice caught in his throat. Barely did a noise emerge before he thought better and closed his mouth again. His brow furrowed and he looked away.

"Is this over... my relationship with him?" There was pain in her tone.

He looked up at her, his face filled with regret. She sighed and bit her lower lip. Releasing a low chuckle, she shook her head and looked down at her lap.

"Please understand," she began, looking back to him with a stern expression on her pretty face. "I... I want you, but you have made it wholly apparent that you do not harbor the same feelings for me as I do for you. ...What else can I do but move on?"

He shook his head faintly but did not speak. Again he opened his mouth as if to say something but then hurriedly closed it.

Ashe nodded, more to herself than to him. He does not want you, she convinced herself. He never did; he never will. It is time to move on.

"As I thought," she finished with a tired, blank smile. "Dismissed."

Withdrawing the pen from the table back to her hand, she lowered her head over the mountain of papers before her and continued her work once more. By the time she looked back up, he was gone, having slipped silently away while her heart ached inside her.


Basch was bored.

He wasn't at all used to being cooped up without any kind of duty. He always had something to do. Now without any rhyme or reason to be in Dalmasca, Basch felt entirely lost. And so the evening found him in the Estersands, attacking various big game in order to solve his boredom.

As the sand stung his eyes, he found that he was disappointed in his skills. He hadn't done much fighting since putting Ashe back on the throne, and so his ability with the sword was quite rusty. He figured he would take this "house arrest" as an opportunity to get back all that he had lost battle wise.

He sniffled and gently probed at his aching nose. He figured Balthier had broken it; it was swollen and extremely painful to the touch. As guilty and disgusted that he felt about attacking his younger rival, he sincerely hoped he had delivered hard enough blows to make Balthier piss blood for the next week. In fact, Basch took much of his aggression towards Balthier out on the creatures he fought that evening.

Most of the aggression he was feeling, however, was directed at himself.

He was infuriated with himself about how he had been behaving. Yes, Larsa was dead- he had failed at being a protector- but it was no reason to drink heavily and attack old allies in the local tavern. But, aside from his issues with Balthier, he was heavily bothered about the situation with Ashe.

Even he could no longer declare that he was completely without feelings for the Queen of Dalmasca.

As much of a jerk that Balthier was, he had been right. Basch would never have been so angry if had not felt something for Ashe. Disappointed, sure, but not angry. Not jealous. His heart wouldn't have felt torn had he not felt something for her.

When she had confessed her feelings to him, he had only dismissed it as a silly schoolgirl's crush. Now, he thrived on the very thought of her love for him.

Quickly, he shook himself mentally. He bitterly thought, It matters not if she loves you. Your duty is to the throne, and having romantic feelings for the Queen will only compromise your judgment, let alone her honor as well as yours.

He gripped his blade tighter in his right hand.

You are near old enough to be her father.

That thought troubled him greatly. Countless times in the past he had seen Vossler prey on girls Ashe's age, and even though Basch had generally overlooked his comrade's lust for young women, he had found it disgusting.

That is, until now. Now he felt longing intertwined with the feeling of disgust. He cursed the Gods for placing something so beautiful and perfect before him but just beyond his reach. He couldn't believe how positively frustrating it was to feel such things for a woman. It was no matter. He couldn't have her, no matter how much she wanted him or how much he wanted her. It would go against anything he had ever learned. It would go against his very being.

To sooth his dissatisfaction, Basch eyed a nasty looking fiend twenty yards before him. Raising his blade before his body, he sunk his body low and began to approach his new victim. The wolf-like creature spotted his advance and released a low warning growl, but this did not frighten away the ex-Knight. He grinned wickedly at his prey as he continued to slowly close in on the wolf.

Yet, much to Basch's surprise, the wolf let out a startled yelp. Turning, it raced away with its tail lodged between its hind legs. Curious to this new predicament, Basch stood up straight. Knowing that it had not been him that had scared away the creature, he turned around to see what was behind him.

Twenty or so men approached him. Each were dressed in expensive steel armor, equipped with long swords that were aimed at him. In the middle of these men walked a peasant looking man. The man, who couldn't have been older than twenty, had wavy chestnut colored hair that fell into his cold brown eyes.

Basch kept a battle stance as he addressed the supposed leader of the group. "You must be Gallus."

The man smirked, and his voice came out as icy as his eyes. "Ah, so I see that the late Larsa has spoken of me."

"You will not refer to him by his name," growled Basch defensively. He could feel the anger begin to swell inside his veins, boiling his blood. "You are the murderer of royalty, and for that you will hang."

Gallus' smirk remained strong. "Gabranth, please, there is no need for hostility. You must come with us immediately."

He thinks I am truly my brother.

"And should I refuse?" Basch demanded, narrowing his blue eyes.

The man lost all signs of his smile. He bared his teeth as he spoke. "Then you will leave me no choice but to have my men beat you until you reconsider. Would you prefer that ghastly scenario?"

Basch dug his booted feet deep into the sand as he raised his blade high. His voice was filled with courageousness: "You are welcome to try."

Gallus motioned to his men to continue their advance on the lone ex-knight. "Then you are welcome to fall."

Basch let them come, then began to defend himself.


The game was fun to Balthier. Secretly following the Queen through her well-guarded castle gave him a great sense of thrill. He was sly and quiet in his sneaking. He had to be in order to be such a successful sky pirate. But now the hour grew late as he followed the Queen towards her bedroom for the night. Still, she had no idea he followed her.

Balthier knew how obsessed he was becoming over Ashe, but he didn't care. He was completely addicted to her and had to have more of her. He wanted to touch her, to have her touch him. He wanted to grab her and never let her go. Even if he could just talk to her...

She said goodnight to the guards outside her door and went inside. Balthier watched from around the corner, wondering how he could sneak past the two guards. Grinning to himself, he decided to take the most direct route possible: he simply walked directly over to the guards, claiming that he had an appointment with her Highness.

The men knocked on the door in order to confirm the meeting. Ashe answered the door warily, eyeing Balthier heavily as the guards questioned his purpose.

"He is permitted inside," she told her guards. They nodded and stepped back, allowing Balthier entrance into Ashe's bedroom.

She closed the door behind them, shutting the guards out, and waited as he visually explored her room.

"Balthier," she asked, annoyance rich in her tone. "It is late. What is the meaning of this intrusion?"

Intrusion? He almost laughed at her choice of words. She was still mad at him for his afternoon fight with Basch, he knew, but that didn't stop him. Cockily, he strolled over to her, grabbing at her hands and forcing her arms around his waist. She went to pull back, but he forced his mouth onto hers and kissed her hard.

She kissed back.

He had expected her to push away, to slap him, to do anything but what she did. Pleasantly surprised, he drew her closer to him, all at once feeling completely at peace.

He had teased her relentlessly in the past week, torturing her with his cruel words, but at that moment none of it seemed to matter. He regretted every ill thing he had ever said to her. She moved her hands to his chest, attempting to unbuckle the straps which held on his vest. He slid his hands up her wrists and pulled her away. As much as he craved sex, he had to tell her something first.

"Ashe," he whispered, pulling his mouth from hers and looking her square in the eye. Confusion flooded her face.

"Before we-- I must tell you--"

His voice was interrupted, however, by the sound of loud knocking at her door. Spinning around, Ashe dashed away from Balthier and over to the door. As she opened the door, in came a blood splattered individual. Her guards followed the wounded man into her room.

"Majesty," one of the guards said. "We found him wondering the castle, moaning that he needed to speak with you."

The man suffered several slash marks to the face, chest, and back. As he collapsed to her marble floor, Ashe fell to her knees beside him. She touched his back, asking him his name and what happened to him.

"Your Highness," the man choked out, raising his face up to look at the Queen. "I was out in the Estersands when a group of men attacked a blonde haired man. They captured him and then spotted me. They sent me here to deliver you a message, Majesty."

"What message is that," questioned Ashe, narrowing her eyes into the strangers face.

"...'We have Gabranth, and if you want him to live, come promptly- alone- to the Feywood'." With that, the man choked something terrible, spasmed, then lay motionless on the floor.

Ashe stood slowly from the deceased figure. She did not grieve for the dead messanger. Her eyes were still narrowed, and she was clearly thinking hard. Turning sharply, she addressed the anxious Balthier, "This will have to wait until I return."

Balthier was exasperated. "Ashe, I cannot let you go alone."

She knew this as well as he did, and nodded to him. "Then I shall go first. Follow behind me, but keep distance. If you see me in trouble, please step in."

Without waiting to see if he would agree, Ashe stepped over the body on the floor and left her room.