Vignette 14 – That Bird is a Floozy
The Merchant Ship 'Angel's Wing', Mid Afternoon, 1 hour out of Goug
"I think I just heard squawking." Ramza said to Ladd.
The two of them and Alicia were sitting on a couple of large coils of rope on the deck. Mustadio and Lavian were still hanging over the edge of the boat, a few feet away, stomachs empty now, but apparently trying, unsuccessfully, to make them even emptier.
"Yeah, I thought I heard something too, and it sounded like that night in Zaland. You don't think?..."
"I think it was Boco. You know that stable-hand at Lionel said she got out of her stall and they found her in the Cardinal's black cock-bird's instead, the morning we left. He said she was rubbing necks with the black and that they were preening and and he saw them grooming each other's tail feathers. That's typical post-mating behaviour. And the timing would be about right."
"Oh hell! That means that we're going to have to stay in Warjilis tomorrow night, rather than heading out to Lionel, as soon as possible. And you only just found a buyer for Tyche, this morning!" Ladd said. It was notable that neither of them was rushing to be the one to discover that they definitely had another egg to deal with.
"Once those two started feeding the fish, the moment we left harbour, we were always going to have to stay overnight." Alicia said, nodding towards the grey-looking twosome at the railing, who kept refusing any help. "That puking pair aren't going to feel miraculously one hundred percent well once we get them back onto dry land. They'll need a few hours rest and then plenty to eat and drink – Lavian can't even keep water down right now! They have to be fighting fit in case we run into anything dangerous on the way to Lionel."
"It probably only loses us two or three hours of daylight, since we aren't due into Warjilis until about this time tomorrow." Ramza said, he shrugged. "And we can't do anything else. I suppose I'd better go down to the hold and see if it really is an egg." He got up and went over to the nearest hatch, quickly disappearing down the ladder to the deck below.
Ladd glanced over at Alicia and noticed that she was biting her lip and looking thoughtful. He didn't want to disturb her thoughts, so instead he looked over at Lavian and Mustadio, wondering whether to try offering them assistance down to their bunks again. Eventually Alicia spoke.
"Ladd, everyone but me seems to be taking it for granted that the Cardinal will have taken Ovelia and Agrias hostage in order to make us give them the Holy Stone, but... surely... he's a Cardinal. A Senior Churchman like him simply wouldn't do something like that... surely? This whole thing could just be a mix-up. For all we know the Cardinal will have Baert in custody when we get there."
Ladd looked at her, remembering that she had practically dragged Lavian to church with her immediately after breakfast that morning, and had orchestrated the women all attending church in Zaland and Lionel too. He thought Alicia was probably genuinely devout and he didn't want to upset or insult her. On the other hand, there seemed little chance that there had been a mistake about this.
"I don't know, Liss. I don't think... the evidence seems pretty damning. Just try not to get your hopes up... that's all. You were the one who pointed out that it was suspicious that the Cardinal didn't send the company of knights, he promised, after us, the morning we left Lionel, after all."
Ramza re-emerged onto deck.
"Yes an egg, black-tinged shell, this time, so we can be pretty sure it was the Cardinal's bird. It's a shame, given that they fetch a pretty penny, but that's no indication that the chick will be a black. I suppose the problem is that Boco is such a bright bird - we've all seen that she can work most knots free by pecking at them and then pulling on her tether, so if she wants to get out of her stall and 'cuddle up' with a male when she's put into a stable, she will."
"We're just going to have to face it," Ladd said solemnly, "that the bird is a floozy!"
"'fraid so." Ramza said in an equally grave tone, before grinning at his friend. "It isn't all bad, I suppose, I got a decent price for little Tyche. That got us an extra gun, so now we can have Mustadio doing his thing and a gun-fighting chemist too, if strategy dictates that we need both.
"Probably time I had a go at Orations too, and I thought I could use a gun for that too. You know, I think I might be quite good at them, they're not so unlike the yells and calls my father taught me, after all."
Ladd turned to Alicia with a sarcastic grin.
"Ooh, Ramza being good at a new technique – there's a novelty." She smiled a little and rolled her eyes.
"I get no respect for leading this team; don't know why I bother." Ramza grumbled, a smile playing around the corners of his mouth.
He looked over at Alicia – she was usually more than willing to join in their banter, but so far, she'd made almost no contribution.
"What's wrong, Lady Alicia?" He asked.
Ladd grimaced at him and Ramza wondered if that meant he shouldn't have asked.
"You're all so sure that the Cardinal's part of some wicked plot, aren't you?" She asked, eyes suddenly showing a sheen of tears. Ramza opened his mouth and then shut it again. He thought for another few moments before he began to speak.
"I hope you're right, that we walk up to Lionel Castle Gates and all our fears are allayed. But yes, I think that Baert's words didn't leave much room for interpretation; the Cardinal's involved. Even if you're right, my Lady, we have to prepare ourselves for the worst, so we have to assume that he is part of this 'wicked plot', until that's proven wrong. Perhaps it will be; that would be the best outcome for everyone." He thought about it for a moment more, while she chewed her lip and didn't respond.
"Lady Alicia?" He said gently. Speaking slowly, he chose his words carefully. "Churchmen, are just that. They're part of the Church but, ultimately, they're just men. Please don't fool yourself into believing that they can't be just as corrupt and dishonourable as any other men, even if their faith ought to help them to resist those baser... traits. The Cardinal could have chosen to live his faith and not to take part in this plot, but I think he's chosen the opposite.
"I'm sorry, I know that your strong faith makes this all difficult, but please don't confuse religious allegiance for incorruptible goodness. If it helps, I was brought up to revere the Church too, but I realise now that I have to be realistic, and acknowledge that there's a difference between Saints and real people, and I'm pretty sure that the Cardinal's no Saint."
Saying that was harder than Alicia knew. Though Ramza had never met the man before, he was aware that the Cardinal had been an old comrade of his father's. The man had led the Order of the Eastern Sky for a short time before turning to the Church and, in leaving, caused that Order to disband and its men to be absorbed by the other two existing Orders. He had a vague impression that his father had counted the man a friend, though not necessarily a close one.
It shouldn't bother him, that old friends of his father turned out to be corrupt and dishonourable, not after the eye-opening revelations about his own brothers, but this sort of thing niggled away at him, deep inside. It subtly reinforced jaded feelings of deep cynicism that he would have liked not to have had to experience and that he thought were counter-productive for... well... life, in general.
"Lady Alicia, once we get to Lionel, assuming we aren't proven wrong about Delacroix's involvement, you will fight, won't you? I know you're devout, but..." She cut him off, her voice icy.
"I'm a Lionsguard, Ramza, and if you are right – and you probably are, I admit – my princess is in terrible danger; you shouldn't even need to ask!"
The Cardinal's Palace, Lionel, Mid-Afternoon
Though it was still relatively warm for the time of year, the weather had finally broken with frequent, heavy showers keeping them inside. Ovelia hadn't even been able to inflict a morning of aimless wandering on Agrias, just to see her reaction. So they were, not to put too fine a point on it, moping about indoors, and had been for most of the day.
Agrias was at the clavichord, attempting to pick out a piece that was a little too complicated for her sight-reading skill and every fifteen or twenty seconds Ovelia would hear a misplayed note, followed by a brief hesitation and, often, a muttered swearword. Interestingly, Agrias had chosen, without prompting, to wear a dress today – an unheard of novelty while she was on duty. Her sword was propped against the clavichord, but that was the only indication of her status as a guard.
Ovelia laid down her embroidery. She must have been spending too much time in Agrias' company because she was seeing even less use for the fancy sewing than usual – it didn't seem to achieve anything, so why was she bothering?
"Agrias, I'm thinking about clawing my own eyes out, just for something to do!" She said, rising and going to the window, looking for something – anything – to distract herself. "At least at Orbonne I had my studies and books to read and... Ooh, come and look, I think he's proposing to her!" She had spotted a Griffin Knight – she vaguely recognised him as one of the more senior officers – walking under the cover of the cloisters with a girl, a few moments before, and now he had dropped to one knee in front of her, holding one of her hands between both of his.
"Hmm, really? Who?" Agrias said, rising from the keyboard without much enthusiasm.
"Look, over there." Ovelia pointed, she had dropped her voice, almost as if she thought the couple might be able to hear them.
Agrias saw that, indeed, there was a courting couple in one corner of the covered arcade that ran around the edge of the cloister. The man wore wizard's robes rather than armour – probably a Spellblade, Agrias thought, she gathered that there were a couple amongst the officers – and was on one knee in front of a tall woman with long hair, worn loose. As she watched, the woman bent down and kissed him lightly on the lips. The man came to his feet and took her in his arms, then lifted her off the ground and swung her around with an exuberant show of what she could only assume was joy at his acceptance.
"Well, whoever they are, I hope they'll be very happy." Agrias said quietly. "They certainly look it, right now." The two had begun to kiss. She glanced over at Ovelia who, with her elbows on the window-ledge, had her chin propped in her hands. The princess had a faraway look in her eyes.
"I know princesses aren't allowed romance – we just get politically sound alliances – but I suppose there's nothing wrong with day-dreaming, is there?" She said wistfully, once she noticed Agrias watching her.
"That goes for almost anyone noble-born, you know." Agrias said gently. "I wouldn't expect to be allowed to pick a husband for myself, either." She accepted that as a fact of life, even if she didn't like it.
Ovelia, mercurial as ever, changed topic abruptly.
"I like her clothes. They're terribly fashionable. Do you think I could get a dressmaker to make me something like that?" She nodded towards the blonde woman who was still being enthusiastically kissed.
"The skirt and the belt, yes, the blouse, definitely not. You aren't meant for wearing those loose, off-the-shoulder styles, Ovelia... neither am I for that matter."
"Why not? Like I said, they're terribly fashionable."
"Look at her figure and now look at yours, or mine. If either of us tried it, we'd quickly end up with that blouse around our waist. Lavian could wear it and look good in it, but she's far better endowed in the chest region than either of us, so on her it would have something to keep it up, but on either of us, it would just end up with us exposing far more than we intended!"
"No romance and no fashionable clothes. Nothing but disappointment and boredom, in fact." Ovelia said, sounding atypically morose.
"I was thinking about arranging for you to have some extra guards, while I go into town tomorrow morning. I can't do anything about you not being able to wear off-the-shoulder dresses, but I might be able to pick up some things to help with the boredom. Some new non-ecclesiastical books was the first thing I thought of, what else would you like me to get?"
"Ooh, can I come with you? Pleeease?" Ovelia asked, straightening up and actually bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet in her enthusiasm at the thought of leaving the Castle's grounds.
"I... I want to say yes... but you can't, Ovelia. I'm sorry. Your safety..." Agrias put her arm around the other girl's shoulder and shepherding her over to the small escritoire at the other side of the room.
"Why don't we sit down and make a list of all the things I can get, while I'm in town, to stop us being quite so bored?" Agrias said, hoping to distract Ovelia, who, for a moment, had seemed quite close to crying. If she had cried, Agrias would hardly have blamed her – and to think that, until the last few days, she'd always thought that 'bored to tears' was merely a saying.
Author's Note
I've kept this fairly short and simple, since the next one is going to have a lot going on!
The Order of the Eastern Sky is mentioned as the organisation that Gaffgarion was originally part of (in fics, I've seen a few references to him leading the Order, but I can't find any evidence for that. The game says Gaffgarion was 'a Division Commander', which suggests to me that he commanded a section of it, but not the whole Order). I don't think I'm making too big a leap by saying it no longer exists - if there's a third Order extant, they're being remarkably quiet on the whole civil war/political front.
It kind of makes sense to me that if a third (smaller?) Order existed it might be disbanded if its leader abandoned it, especially if this was shortly after one of its Division Commanders had been dismissed for dishonourable conduct, which probably reflected badly on the whole Order. Delacroix as its leader makes some sense, in a way, too – for him to have a history as a famous war hero he has to have served for a number of years in the army. To then leave the army and manage to claw his way up the Church's hierarchy to Cardinal, he has to have some serious political clout. So whoever he was, before going into the Church, he has to have been an important, influential man.
It also gives me an answer to a question the game always left me with - if Gaffgarion is Dycedarg's 'ever-faithful man' (as he puts it) why is he given so much responsibility by the Cardinal? Presumably there were members of the Lionel Griffin Knights who could have staged a mock-execution and led the defence at the castle gates (or one of the Templars, since Folmarv's in Lionel). However, if Gaffgarion was at one time an effective, if brutal, lieutenant to Delacroix, during the war, then it makes sense for Gaffgarion to be trusted to be in charge of these tasks. So there you go – insta-back-story for Cardinal Delacroix and the defunct Order of the Eastern Sky and I'm happy because I've managed to make it semi-logical!
Spot the early cameo appearances – I hope everyone recognised them – though it's totally unimportant if you didn't. Oh, and do you want to take a wild guess at what might happen when Agrias leaves Ovelia alone tomorrow?