A constant reminder

Of where I can find her;

A light that might give up the way.

"Reminder" | Mumford and Sons

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I led Kinsley up the steps to my manor. Oranges and deep yellows occupied the sky. Kinsley pulled her hand up to her face and examined it. I had taken her to the hospital wing of the palace and applied medical aid. She frowned at the bandaged hand.

"Starting to feel numb?" I asked.

"Wondering if I should be more pissed at myself for punching a damn brick wall, or if I should be more pissed at Talin for making me pissed." She dropped her hand and met my gaze. "But yeah, it feels numb."

I placed my hand on her back. "Let's go in and make you comfortable, then."

I opened the door for her at the top of the steps.

A crying baby greeted my ears, as did a groaning Seb. Kinsley and I glanced to each other before following the sounds. We stopped at the door to the library. Fawkes stood and rocked her crying child. Seb glared disdainfully at the tiny human that made so much noise.

"Oh, you're back." Fawkes offered a kind smile to the two of us.

I stepped forth with a charming smile. "Allow me." I opened my arms for the child. Fawkes wasted no time in handing over the baby. I settled the little child into a crook in my arm and rocker her.

Fawkes glanced to Kinsley. "So, you've returned." Kinsley nodded in turn, and Fawkes grinned. "I was hoping you would. I designed a weapon I think you may like. Finished it up yesterday." Fawkes drifted to the side of the room, where a black bag lied.

The black haired woman withdrew a sword from the bag and handed it to Kinsley. It was made of a lightweight metal; from what I could gather. The blade and hilt were odd. The hilt had no leather bindings and was created of the same material as the blade. Strips of the metallic alloys aligned themselves down the blade.

"What do you think?" she asked.

Kinsley twirled the weapon, and glanced to me then to Fawkes. "It's light."

"Press the button near the hilt, within reach of your index finger."

Kinsley pressed it. The sword's metal strips flung up and expanded into a strung metal bow. Kinsley's eyes widened, and her mouth gaped. Even my features widened in surprise.

"How—why—wh—" Kinsley breathed and stared at Fawkes in disbelief. "Why make me a weapon?"

"You're one of us." Fawkes smiled. "Now, General Highwind said I can't let you use that weapon unsupervised. Or rather, you can only use it on the training grounds or on missions. I hope you understand."

Kinsley nodded and gazed at the weapon again. "Fawkes, it's wonderful."

Fawkes' eyes twinkled. "So glad you like it. To be on the favoring side of The Shadow—and of a Nectarhine—is truly an honor."

I cocked an eyebrow. There's no way she heard of what happened in the throne room yet. Kinsley fidgeted on her feet. "You know of my surname?"

She nodded. "I have ears everywhere." Fawkes dropped her gaze, and her cheeks tinted red. "Overheard you and your brother."

Kinsley studied Fawkes. "You knew, and you didn't say anything? To anyone?"

"Personally," said Fawkes, gathering the courage to look Kinsley in the eye, "I don't think the emperor should know everything. You don't kill, nor have you caused any grave atrocities to him. You stole. That's it. I'm a lowly tech geek anyway. Who cares what I have to say?"

Kinsley handed the sword back over to Fawkes. "Fuck them, then." She shook her head and dropped down to pet Seb. "Iedolas knows my surname now, thanks to Lieutenant Stick-up-his-ass."

"Be mindful of the child," I said.

"Wait—Talin?" asked Fawkes. "But he and Alec are—" she glanced to me, and I nodded. She ran her fingers through her hair in a sigh. "Well, that's a predicament." She walked over to me and took the sleeping child. "I'll leave you two to it. Seb was a… delight to be around."

Seb grunted and turned his head away from her. I walked Fawkes to the door and opened it.

"I know about the two of you, obviously," Fawkes said. I scratched my neck. Figured. "She must make you pretty happy." She rocked the baby in her arms. "To stay alongside her for three months, Ardyn," she smiled and shook her head. "Yeah, you're one smitten little kitten."

I frowned. "I'm no kitten."

She giggled. "Of course not. At least now, I won't have to worry about you when you disappear for a while. I know that she'll take care of you."

"I am a grown man, Fawkes. I'm capable of caring for myself."

"Mhm. Keep telling yourself that, you reckless little bastard."

I cocked an eyebrow. "How has your tongue been fairing you with the child around?"

"She'll be fine." She hugged my side. She walked down two steps and stopped. "Oh, also—Veronica stopped by. Not too happy I was house sitting, honestly," she said through a dark grin. "She dropped off some flowers for you. I took the liberty of discarding them into the trash."

"You've done me a great service, Fawkes."

Fawkes took her leave, and I returned to the library to find Kinsley with several books propped open.

I leaned against the doorframe. "Nervous, are you?"

"No," she lied.

I approached her and placed my hands on her shoulders. I leaned over to see what she was reading. More of General Highwind's bestiaries. "Anymore discrepancies?"

"Just started," she mumbled.

My hands moved along her shoulders, massaging her tight muscles.

She pulled away from my hands. "I'm not in the mood, Ardyn."

I rested my hands on my hips. How could she not be in the mood when it's with someone like me?

I reached in front of her and closed her book. "I hope you're still not upset about our earlier conversation."

"And what if I am?"

"Stop fretting over it. Your brother will be fine." I sighed and picked her up. She sat on my arms with her legs around me, glaring at me with her arms crossed—not at all happy of me handling her. "You need rest," I said.

"Not tired."

"You're still recovering from the poison." We entered my bedroom.

"No, I'm not. I already said that—"

"Yes, yes, yes," I said, agitation flittered on my features. I threw her on the bed. "Poisons have little effect on your body."

I walked over to my closet and rummaged through a box. I grabbed a metal object. When I walked back out, I smiled darkly. She remained on the bed. I hid the item behind my back.

"What's that?" Kinsley pointed with a deepening frown. I advanced on her and swept her shirt off in one motion. "Ardyn—"

I pushed her back—gently— and pinned her down. "Here is what's going to happen. I'm going to pleasure you, and you're damn well going to like it." I fiddled with the metal object I retrieved from the closet. I snapped it together and cuffed her to the headboard.

I sat on top of her stomach with her chained body beneath me. Oh, the things I could do. She bit her lip as she glanced up to me. I grinned.

I maneuvered off her body and unzipped her jeans. I slipped them off as she fiddled with the cuffs. Just accept your fate, my dear.

I kissed up her leg, finally taking my time on her thigh. Her body fidgeted under the pressure of my lips. She inhaled deeply in the beginnings of a pleasure filled moan, but she cut it off with a clutch of her hand. I frowned and fixated on her face. The cuffs laid off the bed in the floor.

"You didn't honestly think those could hold me down, did you?" she asked with a devilish little smirk.

I crawled atop her. "If we don't do this the easy way," I said above her, "then I suppose I will have to be rather rough with you."

I removed her hand from her mouth and pinned her wrists. I pressed my mouth to hers. "I have waited long enough to hear my name on your lips, my dear. If it takes me tying you down to hear it, then so be it."

Red tinted her cheeks. "Ardyn—"

My deep chuckled cut her off. "No, no, my dear." I inched closer to her ear. "I mean for you to scream my name."

She gaped at me for several seconds. A dark essence overtook her features as she smirked up to me. "And you think you can make me lose all control with just your tongue?"

"And you think I can't?"

My knee snuck in between her legs and pressed against her pelvis. She bit her lip, obviously withholding a moan of pleasure. My smile grew.

"Oh, darling, I'll make you eat those words." I reached over the bed and picked up the cuffs. "Now, if you will." I cuffed her again. "I just need to make sure you're not holding back."

I discarded my cloak, vest, and shirt. My trousers and her scarf remained. I tugged at her undergarments and paused with a wicked grin. "My, my," I whispered. Her cheeks tinted a darker shade.

Her light blue underwear was several shades darker in the center, where the material was against her pelvic area. She fidgeted under my gaze as I observed her barren body. I dropped her underwear to the side.

My upper torso slipped between her legs, and I shifted down. I kissed her thigh as my fingers etched more up her leg.

"As much as I want to hear my name from your lips, I'd simply love to see how long you'll last under my tongue, darling. Let's see just how strong your resolve is."

The sun stood high in the sky and beat down on us below. I followed behind Lieutenant Stick-up-his-ass with Kinsley trailing beside me. Alec brought up the end of our little party. Each of us rode chocobos. My chocobo flittered and hesitated for a moment. The others also committed to this action.

Talin pulled his chocobo to a halt, and we all followed suit. We all dismounted. Kinsley studied each chocobo.

"What exactly are we here for?" she asked.

"This a retrieval mission. You do not require any more facts than that."

"The hell I don't," she retorted.

I'm fairly certain that they both sent daggers at each other with their eyes.

"I am the leader of this mission—"

"Chocobos are fiercely loyal creatures. For them to show reluctance in resuming should tell you that this is a terrible idea."

"And that is why we are here. The most qualified," he said promptly. He turned and continued into the forest.

"More like the most expendable," she muttered and kicked a small twig.

I actually had to agree with the lieutenant. Between Talin and Kinsley alone, they were a true force of nature. One above and beyond talented in close combat, the other in distant combat. Alec was a trained medic, and I—well, I can bring countries to their knees.

We came to a large rock formation that wrapped around in a circle. It was quiet here, quite peaceful actually. There was a crevice between the rocks, and Talin adjusted his body and moved into it.

"Follow me," he said.

"You're signing your death if you go through there."

He turned towards her. "Oh, honestly woman, can you just simply follow orders?"

"I am no pet. Just take a moment and listen." He gave a look of protest, but she held up her hand to silence him. There were no sounds of birds, nor animals nearby. "Nothing."

"Should I present you with an award of hypersensitive ears?"

"It means that whatever you're after, it's in there. And going by the reactions of the chocobos, it's not very pleasant. I'm assuming something rather massive, then?"

"Your powers of deductions are riveting," he said sarcastically and not at all impressed. Hidden deep in that sarcasm, however, I knew he didn't expect her to piece it together.

She rolled her eyes. "What I'm getting at is we can't go through there. We should find another entrance, one slightly larger. If the most misfortune happens, we'll all have to cram into this one crevice. Which is a rather tight fit, I presume?" She smirked at Talin, who was scrunched in the cave and not looking at all comfortable.

"It is good enough," he persisted.

"Sure, it's good enough to probably save two lives—possibly three, but the fourth will not make it. I'm sure no one will even blink if that fourth is me, but what if you're the one trying to be the valiant hero, eh Talin? You're most likely to be the fourth one to go through the crevice, and I highly doubt you'll make it."

I hid a smile.

Talin hesitated in his protest. She made a valid point, and Talin was aware of it. He slowly crawled out of the crevice. He wasn't a person of shame, though. His eyes glared through her, challenging any part of her to piss him off in some other way.

I slipped between the two with a wave of my hand. "I think it best to split and search for another way in, do you think, Lieutenant?"

He dropped his gaze and nodded. "We'll split. I'll go with her—"

"Ah, Lieutenant, I highly urge to digress. At this rate, you will end up thrusting your sword through her." He clenched and unclenched his hand. "She and I will take the right, you and Alec take the left, yes?"

"Chancellor, I'm warning you, don't give me a reason to have to hunt you down."

I cocked my head with a smile. "Why, whatever do you mean?"

He sighed but didn't continue. He motioned to Alec, and the two imperials travelled to the left. Kinsley and I made our way to the right.

"Never thought I would miss a chocobo bearing me," I said.

"This is a mistake," she said.

"Hmm?"

"What kind of retrieval mission is this?" she asked, but she didn't meet my eyes. She travelled several yards ahead of me.

"Not even I am fully aware of the details," I lied.

"Why should I be expected to follow one man's orders? He could have gotten us all killed with that damned crevice of his."

"And that is why you are here."

"No, I'm only some pawn that the emperor wishes to throw away when the time comes. I mean nothing to the imperials." She climbed over a rock and offered her hand. I took hold of it, and she hoisted me up. "How do they expect me to offer my insights if information is withheld?"

I lightly grazed her arm. "If anything, they expect you to think quickly on your feet to help in avoiding disasters."

"I can only do so much."

My cellphone vibrated, and I clicked it. "Yes?" I stopped, and Kinsley kept walking.

"We found a cave over here. You guys find anything?" It was Alec.

Kinsley stopped and waved me over. "Think we just found one," I said. It was narrow for a cave, but still wide enough for she and I to walk through shoulder to shoulder.

"Lieutenant Talin wishes to remind you of what we're after," Alec said.

I closed the phone and gazed into the cave. "Now we continue with the utmost caution," I said.

Kinsley pulled out her bow and nocked an arrow. We moved into the cave together. The cave was dry, but the air was cool on my skin. We turned on our flashlights and moved forward. She moved cautiously, and she would stop and listen when anything made a noise in the cave. I showed caution… for the most part, anyway.

We breached the end of the cave, and a heavy mist hung around the clearing. A large, clear pond occupied the center and was barely visible through the fog.

"What are we looking for?" she asked.

"You're not looking for anything. Leave the searching to Alec and the lieutenant. We are here as a distraction, if necessary."

She slowly left the sanctuary of the cave. She travelled against the rock wall that surrounded the clearing. Trees and bushes offered cover from any predators. The rock wall wrapped around the entire area, almost making a bowl out of the pond.

She stopped and held up her hand, signaling me to stop. She pointed into the fog where a deep breathing sound resided from.

And there it was.

A monster that stood six men high while on all fours. Its fur and skin took on a deep violet hue that almost appeared black. A set of magnificent horns erected proudly atop the creature's head. His snout hosted many large, sharp teeth.

Fortunately, the behemoth had not seen us.

Her eyes widened in fear. She gripped her scarf on my neck and dragged me into the underbrush. The behemoth glanced toward our direction and sniffed. Seemingly bored, it yawned and walked toward the pond.

"A behemoth," she whispered viciously. "A damned behemoth."

She threw me towards the rock wall and into the dirt. She hunkered down next to me and watched as the creature drunk from the pond before moving farther north. She faced me and practically pinned me to the wall. She pointed an accusing, slender finger at my face.

"You knew about this, didn't you?" Her eye brows drew in, and her hair fell into her face. The only eye I could see was the blue one—you remember, I'm sure. It's the one that reminds you of drowning.

I smiled. "I was told to hold my tongue."

"If I had known about this, we could have taken extra precautions—brought fire and set traps, but—damn it."

"This is a stealth mission. We are not to engage the behemoth."

"On the off chance—the more probable chance—that one of you is spotted, we do not have the measures to take down such a beast."

"What part of not engaging an enemy do you not understand, I wonder?"

"I can walk through here, but you three are ringing dinner bells."

My eyes drifted to her lips, then to her neck, where her scarf no longer occupied. I met her eyes again. They were softer than before, but they flooded with fear.

I moved my hand to her lips and grazed my thumb over the bottom portion. "I do love it when you have top," I said.

Red tinted her cheeks, and she pulled away from my touch. "Ardyn, this is serious."

"I am being serious."

She grunted a small, "fuck you," and stood off the ground, offering me her hand without meeting my eyes. I accepted her hand and rose off the ground. I brushed a small kiss against her cheek.

"Maybe later."

She rolled her eyes and walked forward into hell. Every now and then, she paused and picked flowers. I didn't take her for a flower woman, but whatever makes her satisfied, I suppose.

She spotted a tree with a large knot on it and walked to it. I hoped she wasn't planning on climbing that monstrosity. On the contrary, she grabbed a broken stick and placed the collected flowers on the knot.

I approached her. "What are you doing?"

"Taking precautions," she said as she crushed the herbs. They turned to mush under the pressure, and she put the concoction on an arrow. "Shall we continue?" she asked.

She was collecting herbs? I glanced back at a few plants that were nearby. I shook my head. Not herbs that I knew of. She did, however, put the concoction on her arrow.

After walking warily through the partial forest, she stopped. I followed her gaze across the abyss. On the other side, the fog had lifted only a little, and the second portion of our party was placing items in a black bag. From this distance, the actual items were unclear.

My phone vibrated. "Yes?"

It was the lieutenant. "We've got them. Is she still in your sights?"

For good measure and for me to not be a liar, I looked over at her. She met my gaze with a curious expression.

"Find what they were looking for?" she asked.

I nodded. "Honestly, lieutenant, did you ever doubt me?"

He sighed through the phone. "The cave we came through is a tight fit. We should all leave through the same place, to not get separated."

"We can see you from here. Turn slightly to your left."

He did the action and paused.

Silence.

"Ah, I see you—and her. We'll be right over." Click.

"The lieutenant believes we should all leave through the same exit."

She nodded. Her eyes fixated on them. Her lips parted.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

She waved her arms wildly at them, in what seems like she was motioning them to return to the wall. The two idiot thought it a wonderful idea to cross the clearing.

I admit, that was rather ridiculous on their part. Even with the mist, it wouldn't be enough to hide from a behemoth. A deep growl came from the south, our right. Kinsley's eyes bulged for a mere moment, and then they changed to a determined expression.

"Go to the cave," she said and raced off.

The beast released a loud roar and broke from the edge of the trees on the other side. Its paws drummed against the ground in a sort of war song as it vaulted toward Alec and Talin. Alec, poor fellow, tripped.

The behemoth stopped before its helpless prey. It rose to full height on its hind legs and liberated a victorious war cry. Its mighty claw came down on top of the smaller human. In a white blur, Talin blocked the claw. He stood underneath the might of the creature with only his sword and willpower keeping the claws from tearing them apart.

The behemoth thought this humorous, apparently. A guttural laugh escaped the depths of his throat as he applied more pressure to the tiny human.

Kinsley stopped far to the left of the creature. She nocked an arrow and released in the blink of an eye. The arrow sliced the behemoth's eye. Such a hideous sound reverberated from the beast. He backed away from Alec and Talin.

Kinsley waved them away. "Get him out of here!"

Talin nearly hoisted Alec up in a run, and the two bounded towards me.

"We need to leave. We have what we came for," said Talin.

"We should wait for her," I said.

"Our orders were to not engage! Leave her to her own measures."

"If I recall, a certain lieutenant ran up and blocked an attack to save a fellow imperial."

Talin's gaze didn't falter from mine. "She's not an imperial," he said slowly. "She was our enemy not too long ago. She is not my responsibility if she goes against orders."

"She did save your lives, nonetheless."

Kinsley backed away but never removed her eyes from the behemoth. She nocked another arrow, the one with the herbs encrusted on it. The creature finally tolerated the new pain in its eye. Crimson leaked from the new wound. He fixated on the small woman before him. For several seconds, he didn't move. Probably wondering how a pathetic weapon as a bow and arrow could cause him so much pain.

I unsheathed my weapon and stepped forward. Talin barred my path and glared down at me. "You will not go out there, Chancellor."

"And what will you do, lieutenant? Stop me? Cut me down, maybe?"

He sighed. "If anyone is going to help her," he turned and withdrew his longsword, "it will be me. Protect my squadron—or some nonsense like that."

The behemoth was approximately 70 meters from her. Talin circled to the side of the behemoth, but Kinsley held up her hand to stop him. Her eyes did not move from the beast as they glared into the abyss of each other's opponent. The behemoth snarled and ran toward her, but Kinsley did not attempt to run or hide. She just… stood there.

Now who's the one with the death wish?

She pulled an arrow to her anchor point, but she did not release. 50 meters…40…dear lord, 30 meters. It roared again, and she released the tension on the bow. The arrow soared straight into the beast's mouth.

It didn't even pause nor did it seem to be in pain. It swiped his massive paw at her. She dodged forward and ran underneath his legs. He stomped his hind legs, but she latched on to his tail.

He flicked his tail like a drunkard until she flew off and landed with a loud thud. She slid in the dirt from the momentum.

She crouched on a foot and knee and faced her adversary. Only, he stood still. Quite stiff, honestly. His eyelids drooped, and his body crashed into the earth. Deep breaths escaped his snout.

She jumped up and staggered forward from imbalance. She shook her head and ran towards us. "What the hell are you guys still doing here?"

She ran past us toward the cave. We raced after her. "What did you do?" asked Talin.

"Run first, questions later."

She breached the entrance to the cave and didn't look back to see if we were following. The cave passed in a blur of fast moving lights in the dark. She didn't slow down or stop at any point. Sunlight reached our eyes, and we exited the cave, but she just… kept running.

Since she has more knowledge about beasts, we followed her speed through the forest. She staggered to the side a few times, and it worried me. How hard had that behemoth thrown her?

She finally stopped when we arrived at the chocobos. All of us were having difficulties breathing after such a hard and long run, but since they are trained imperials, they recovered quickly.

"What was that all about?" asked Talin.

"Tell me what's in the bag, and I'll tell you." She untied her chocobo and glided to the top. We all did the same.

Talin hesitated, but relented. He took the black carrying bag from Alec and opened it. Vibrant red flowers greeted Kinsley's eyes, and she stared for a moment.

"Next time you need rare flowers, I know some less dangerous areas to get them."

"I held my end of the bargain. Now you."

The chocobos trotted almost in unison. Talin and Kinsley rode in the front, and Alec and I were in the back. My eyes kept looking to the bag.

"It was a simple sleeping herb. Has to be applied orally."

"Then why are we running?"

"I've never used it against a behemoth, for one; and two, I'm fairly certain that the bigger the beast, the quicker the effects wear off."

"Will it come after us?" piped Alec.

"Behemoths, even though large and vicious, are lethargic. They rarely hunt or track, even though they are fully equipped for such."

"So there's no reason for it to come after us?" asked Talin.

"For invading his territory and quickly leaving, no. If it were a female behemoth, that would be a different story. They track you in a radius to make sure you never come back to interfere with her cubs."

Alec's face fell. Kinsley offered a smile to him. "No reason to fret. That behemoth was male."

We traveled to the road after several minutes and dismounted the chocobos. My car was as shiny as ever. I took the driver's seat, of course, and Kinsley sat in the passenger's. Talin sat directly behind her, so he could "keep a better eye on her." I started the car, and it purred. That's my girl.

A roar echoed through the trees. A roar that could only belong to a behemoth.

"Woken up, has he?" I asked.

Kinsley looked at me. Fear flittered in her eyes. She fixated on Talin. "What the hell did you take?"

Talin glared back, unrelenting.

"Tell me," she said with a stern voice that sent chills down my spine. "That male behemoth is fucking tracking us now, and it has to do with whatever is in that bag."