A Lotus-Scented Breeze
Avina Garamond
Chapter 11 – Journey
Sephiroth carried Vincent into his private bath. The water was still warm from when the servants lit fires from the lower floors underneath the bath. Sephiroth walked in by the carved marble steps and sat on one of the steps, immersing himself in the water. He continued to hold Vincent in his arms. Vincent hissed as the water hit his sore body.
"Are you alright?" Sephiroth asked. Vincent nodded, holding Sephiroth. He felt a little like a child, cradled in Sephiroth's arms like so. But he did not have the strength to move anymore. The sex sapped him of his energy and he felt tired. He looked Sephiroth's soft smile.
"Do you want to sleep?" Sephiroth asked.
"I think so... Its so early..." Vincent said. He nuzzled Sephiroth's chest lightly. "That was amazing..." Sephiroth chuckled.
"So were you." He called up his servants to bring oil and scrapers. The servants brought the items and seeing Sephiroth with his harem boy, quietly brought them to the edge of the bath and left. Sephiroth kissed Vincent sweetly and took him off his lap. He poured oil onto Vincent's arms and scraped it off while Vincent watched curiously. It was so odd... to wash oneself this way. Sephiroth asked him to sit higher on the steps and Vincent moved up, feeling relieved that the warmth of the water relaxed his body and it didn't feel so sore anymore.
Sephiroth continued to wash him in this manner, moving him away from the water since one washed with oil only above water. Sephiroth explained this to him a little offhandedly and Vincent only payed attention offhandedly as well. Both spent the ritual gazing at each other. Sephiroth handed the sickle to Vincent after rinsing it and sat on the marble steps next to him. Vincent hesitantly started to clean Sephiroth in the same manner, flinching whenever he cut Sephiroth by accident. Sephiroth showed no displeasure at being cut however and Vincent mumbled soft apologies that Sephiroth silenced with tiny kisses.
They spent a little time swimming in the bath. Vincent couldn't deny that he enjoyed Sephiroth's warm embrace and swam up to him to be enveloped in strong arms.
"You came up to my bedroom earlier," Sephiroth started. "Why?" With that, Vincent jumped.
"The letter!" he exclaimed. "I'd forgotten! I received a letter from Ling Shi Wen!" He started for the door but Sephiroth caught his wrist.
"Shhh. Calm down. What did it say?"
"He found my Imperial armor and a gift from Mother. He'll bring it to the appointed place at the appointed time it said... And... he wants me to lead the front lines of the Saahalian army." Sephiroth nodded.
"You'll rest now. Come night I'll wake you and you'll leave for the Torkain Oasis, alright?"
"Tonight?" Vincent asked. Sephiroth nodded.
"You'll reach Torkain Oasis by mid-morning. There you can rest until the heat passes and ride another day to the outskirts of Saahal."
"But... won't you come with me?" Vincent asked softly. Sephiroth shook his head.
"I can't disappear from Quarassies," he said. "I'll have someone take you there. You won't be lost." Vincent nodded. Sephiroth pulled himself out of the water. He called his servants who toweled him off with thick pieces of cloth and dressed him. Vincent left the pool as well but unlike Sephiroth, tried to avoid the servants and dried himself off. Sephiroth only chuckled. The servants gave Vincent a plain cloth to wear around his waist. Sephiroth told him to lay on his bed.
Vincent descended on the furs. They were soft, but a little too warm. He curled into the cooler silks. Sephiroth smiled and had a few of his servants bring ostrich feather fans and wave cool air on Vincent's body.
"Sleep," he told Vincent. Vincent nodded and closed his eyes. Sephiroth went out of the bedroom into the main hall, feeling much better. He momentarily forgot the wars, the troubles, Nessus, everyone and everything. He sat on his golden throne, dozing in the warm afternoon air. His servants noticed the change and shut the palace gates to the merchants, letting the king relax...
Saran peeked into the king's bed chamber. Vincent was sleeping on Sephiroth's bed, a soft smile on his face. His drying hair was sticking up in clumps, waving in the breeze the ostrich feather fans created. His previous robe was on a pile of furs in a corner, crumpled and moist. Saran giggled. The king was asleep with just as nice a smile in the throne hall, also wearing different attire. It wasn't hard to put two and two together.
Sephiroth was true to his word. He woke Vincent while the sun was just beginning to set. The sky was a brilliant red and Sephiroth seemed to glow in Vincent's sleepy eyes.
Sephiroth had Vincent stretch to get rid of some of the soreness and eat as well. A dark figure snuck into the room.
"Vincent. Meet Raz. He's one of our spies. He'll take you where you need to go." Vincent nodded. Raz handed Vincent a long black cloth. A servant took one end of the cloth and started to wrap Vincent in it. Vincent was baffled.
"What is this?" he asked.
"Disguise," Sephiroth said simply. The servant finished wrapping up Vincent.
"Won't it be hot?"
"You'll find that it can become rather cool at night," Sephiroth said. He turned to Raz. "The stables have been left open." Raz nodded. Sephiroth turned back to Vincent.
"You'll leave when the sun sets. First eat. I dare say Raz doesn't believe in food rations." Raz gave a dark smirk. Vincent edged over to the platter of food in a servant's arms. He ate what he could while Sephiroth explained something to Raz. He couldn't hear, but what Sephiroth was telling him was important.
"Vincent will meet with the commander of the front lines of the Saahalian army. Make sure he doesn't leave with them! Watch and make sure there are no assassination attempts at Vincent's life. Be able to recognize this Ling Shi Wen in case he is playing Saahal's side. Report to Ferren whenever you can. Ferren will send me messengers daily, we have agreed." Raz nodded at each order stated.
The sun set. Sephiroth wished Vincent luck. Vincent nodded and followed Raz. Raz saddled up two horses.
"These are the fastest, sturdiest runners in Quarassies," he said. "Mount up." Vincent swung himself into saddle. Raz nodded and turned his horse into the depths of the stables. Vincent followed him, wondering why go this way. Raz took his horse through the tack room... and into the desert. Vincent gasped. The stables had an exit of or Quarassies? Raz instantly went to a gallop and Vincent followed him. Sand flew into the hot desert air after them.
As they rode, Vincent noticed the steadily plummeting temperature. He was starting to shiver and the horses had to be rode at a canter instead of a gallop so that they wouldn't sweat and catch the chills. Still, Raz rode on and Vincent followed.
The hot sun glared down upon them as Vincent looked into the distance. Was there a green speck there? Or was he imagining it? Raz continued to gallop forward. Vincent was tired... so tired...
Vincent awoke to cold water. He gasped and choked and pounded on the water's surface. He glared at Raz who laughed.
"Drink," he instructed. Vincent was about to shoot back a reply when he realized he couldn't even speak, his mouth was so dry. He looked around. Raz had dunked him into a pool of sorts. It was very shallow and the sand tickled Vincent's feet. The water trickled into the pool down a rock face. Vincent squinted through the bright light. The bright droplets hid a rather large crevice in the rock. Vincent turned to Raz.
"You didn't drink," Raz sad, filling their water-skins Vincent went up to the miniature waterfall and gathered the water in his cupped hands. He swirled the first sips in his mouth before spitting them out, cleaning his mouth from the dust. Then he drank. The water was stone-cold and refreshing and even made Vincent's teeth chatter. Raz laughed.
"Come out and dry up," he instructed. Vincent took a few more gulps of water and came on shore. Raz, immune to the desert heat, even in full black garb was brushing the sand off the horses.
"We have a sandstorm coming soon," Raz told Vincent offhandedly. He nodded into the distance where dust was rising up. "Welcome to Torkain Oasis. The Haven in the Sea of Sand." Vincent smiled.
"Where's Quarassies?" he asked. Raz pointed at the sandstorm. "From over there. We're lucky. The storm will wipe out our tracks."
"Did the storm hit Quarassies?" Vincent asked with some concern.
"Unlikely," Raz said. He said nothing else to Vincent's disappointment. The hot sun dried Vincent out soon enough.
"Mount up," Raz said. Vincent looked at him baffled.
"I thought we were supposed to stay here?" Raz looked at him. "And what? I planned to stay in the shelter behind the falls but obviously we have a sandstorm heading our way."
"We won't outrun a sandstorm," Vincent protested.
"Shut up and mount your horse," Raz snapped. He mounted his. Vincent jumped. How dare this lowlife snap at him?!
"First tell me where we are going," he said.
"Torkain village. We didn't want to go there in case of spies, but rather be spied upon than dead," Raz said. "Mount up." Vincent mounted his horse and galloped after Raz. They reached the small village with the sandstorm catching up. The horses ran into a barn-like house, their riders still clinging onto them. Raz jumped off his horse and shut the door of the house, barricading it from the inside. The inside was full of horses, all nervously standing in a corner. Vincent got off his horse.
"Raz?"
"Stay there. This village is supported enough. We'll be alright here," Raz said. He walked to Vincent. "Come on. You'll get trampled there." Vincent followed Raz to the end of the barn. Close to the wall was a tack repair table. Raz sat under it and Vincent followed suit. Now that he was leaning on the wall, he realized that the structure wasn't made of wood, but of brick. He looked at Raz questioningly.
"Torkain doesn't have wood. It imports it from Qwair. Imports also a lot of brick. Most of Torkain is made of brick because its so cheap. Torkain pays for it in sandstone. Its supported by trade." Vincent nodded. The horses jumped and neighed.
"It'll be dusty here," Raz said and closed his eyes. He breathed through his cloth. Vincent followed suit again. Soon, he heard the sandstorm blow into the building. It made a lot of noise as wind hurtled pounds of sand at the fragile brick. The temperature in the little house skyrocketed as hot sand was dumped onto the brick, transferring warmth to the inside of the enclosure. Ten minutes later, it was over. Vincent looked up. The dust was settling. Raz looked at him and smiled.
"You aged about fifty years," he said. Vincent shook his head. Fine brick powder created a cloud above his head as it dislodged from his hair.
"Come, we're going back to the Oasis," Raz said, getting up.
"Why?" Vincent croaked. "Aren't we fine here?"
"And if Torkain has spies? We'd best be out of here," Raz said. He pulled their horses out of the mess of animals and removed his barricade from the door. Vincent took the horses outside. He looked around the village. No one had moved yet, except for a tiny monkey crawling down a lone palm tree. He mounted his horse. Raz soon appeared and swung himself into saddle. He tied an ostrich feather broom to Vincent's horse's tail. They walked out of the village, keeping their trails hidden.
Vincent rested at the oasis while Raz was busy cleaning sand out of the pool. His stomach grumbled miserably. Vincent lay on the rock in the crevice on the other side of the waterfall. Now that he had a few hours to himself... he couldn't forget how sore he was. The sex had left his entire body aching. He drank from his water-skin and went to sleep on the cool stone. He suddenly wished for Sephiroth. Instead of the king to wrap his arms around, he curled around his tiny water-skin as he went to sleep. He only had a few hours until he was to be up again, riding hard toward Saahal.
Author's Note: Dear Kuro explained to me the difference between Highness and Majesty, something that the Internet refused to tell me. Thank you Kuro, and I will correct this stuff soon.... Sorry everyone. .-. Also, thank you Lord Makura: Without the guilt-trip you sent me, this wouldn't have been updated as quickly as this. *huggles*