And more angst... But this is the last Part of this Chapter. Then we move on to Chapter 6... Tomorrow. I'm done for today.

Also, don't kill me. -runs to hide just in case-

"I'm not Kairi, love. I'm not telepathic." -Dark

Chapter 5.7 – Lady of the Lake
Part 38

Dark's POV

I'd only ever heard a silence this loud once. The night the Monolith of Syal exploded, when I realized Kairi was gone, Danté was gone, and Gnome was free.

Right now, I almost wished I was back in that gods-forsaken clearing.

Because I wanted to strangle at least half of these men.

I didn't have to look at Natalia to know that she was horrified by what she'd just been told. Didn't have to look at Asch to know that he was enraged by this.

Didn't need a mirror to see just how thin a slit my right eye's pupil had become.

Natalia finally seemed to recover from the shock, and I reached out and snagged her sleeve, a silent request for her not to do something she'd regret. She paused, glanced back at me, and I growled. "Go to Sorylle."

Thank any deity that was listening that Natalia understood the order. Because if I didn't get her out of here now, one of us was going to do something stupid.

Asch took a deep breath and turned to the Council. "I hope you're not expecting an immediate answer." His statement came out calm, but I could hear the undertones of anger and disgust.

Alpine closed his eyes. "The Princess has a week to decide. We cannot allow any longer than that."

Asch nodded, glanced at me, and then left, probably to find something to kill. Arm in a sling or not, he was pissed, and probably enough to disregard the healers' orders.

I led Natalia away, noting Sorylle pacing back and forth just outside the building, and did something I'd probably regret later.

Natalia squeaked when I picked her up and put her on Sorylle's back.

"Go!" I snarled.

Sorylle didn't even stop to argue, just took off, Natalia holding on for dear life.

Judging from her wide eyes, she probably had a feeling I was about to do something stupid.

Much as I wanted to simply kill the Council and be done with it, I wouldn't.

That didn't mean I wasn't going to rip them a new hole.

The noblemen who made up the Kimlascan Advisory Council jumped when I stormed back into the room, and the moment they realized I was alone, their shocked—and in more than a few cases, fearful—expressions turned to outright glares.

I growled, a low, threatening sound that meant nothing, and was simply a warning. "Since it's quite obvious I'm not going to be getting anywhere regardless of Natalia's choice, I see no reason to watch my tongue right now," I started. "You're all a lot of fucking idiots."

Oh good. Now they're mostly horrified and disgusted. Let's see if I can't drag some of that terror back out now.

"You're also damn lucky that I love Natalia. If she chooses to marry another man, then so be it. I will stay by her side as her guard, her confidante, her friend. And the only reason why I'm not falling back on my original profession and slaughtering all of you right now is because there is no way in hell I could bear to stand beside her with that much blood on my hands knowing full well I didn't kill you for the sole reason of making the money I needed to survive!"

Yup. That did the trick. Completely terrified.

"Natalia was raised a princess, raised to lead, and has done a damn good job of taking care of her people thus far. And if you think I'm not willing to stand by her side, to help her, if you think I'm not capable of caring for the citizens of Kimlasca myself, you're all fools." I stopped, took a deep breath, and leveled my mismatched glare on every last one of them, one at a time. "I'm not going to waste my time asking you to reconsider. You've already made up your minds. But if Gnome himself can't talk me into leaving Natalia's side, you don't stand a chance. Whether you like it or not, and regardless of Natalia's decision, you're stuck with me."

I turned and stormed out again, wondering idly how many of them had just realized exactly why King Ingobert had kept me around after actually meeting me.

You don't mess with a trained killer.

I took off at a sprint, racing through Eldrant and then the fortress surrounding it in my search for Natalia and Sorylle.

Eraia ran at my feet, looking proud as could be, and though I wasn't entirely sure why, I got the feeling it had to do with my little outburst.

In hindsight, outright cursing at the Council and calling them all idiots probably wasn't my brightest idea to date. But they'd always grated on my nerves before, and this... this was the last straw.

Eraia led me straight to Sorylle and Natalia, and the moment they came into view, Natalia ran over to me. "Dark! What did you do?!"

I growled. "Less than I wanted to. Relax, they're all still alive."

Eraia made a few whir-clicks that took me a moment to translate. Once I had, I chuckled a bit. "Apparently scared a few of them enough they lost their bladders."

Natalia looked torn between disgust, exasperation, and amusement.

She finally settled on scared, and that just brought my anger, which I'd just started getting under control, back up again.

"...Dark..."

"I told Gnome this, and the Council, and I'll say it again now," I started. Natalia looked up at me in surprise. "I'm not leaving your side. If that means I have to be your bodyguard for the rest of my life while you share your quarters with another man, so be it."

Glistening hazel eyes stared at me for a few minutes before Natalia's head fell, tears finally slipping down her cheeks.

"What do I do?"

I shook my head. "That's not my place to decide," I said. I stepped forward enough to hug her. "I can't make this decision for you. Neither can Asch. All I can do is promise that I'll never leave your side, regardless of what you choose."

Natalia leaned forward until I was supporting her weight, and finally let herself cry.

Because both options would break her heart in some way.

She'd either have to give up her throne, her country, her people, all of whom were counting on her in these dark times...

Or she'd have to give up the man she loved.

For Natalia, the choice was a difficult one, heartbreak on both sides, and it had come out of nowhere.

To be honest... My anger wasn't for myself. I wasn't angry because the Council was forcing me to have to possibly let her marry someone else. And I sure as hell didn't care about the throne. I was angry at them for forcing this on Natalia.

I'd honestly not been surprised. Because I'd been expecting them to block me from marrying Natalia at every turn. I wasn't a prince, wasn't nobility. I wasn't even all that high up in the military. And I was an assassin, and a replica at that.

None of this bothered me... But I knew it was all just more obstacles between me and Natalia.

I had hoped to marry her one day. But ten years of struggling to survive when I was hunted by my original had taught me to be realistic. I knew I hadn't stood a chance.

Which was probably the worst part of it.

Gnome had spoken like I hadn't understood that this could happen. Like I didn't have a clue that I was out of my league.

And that... that was why I hadn't fallen for his bait. I knew all too well that I wouldn't be able to keep Natalia to myself.

Natalia sniffed as she pulled away, starting to get the waterworks under control again. "How can they ask this of us?" she murmured.

I shook my head. "I'm not Kairi, love. I'm not telepathic."

Natalia slumped back into me again. "I don't know what to do..."

I thought it was obvious. Still, it's her choice to make... "Tell you what. Why don't we go and clear out monsters for a bit?" Natalia looked up at me, completely baffled. "You're upset. I'm... still pretty angry, honestly. Let's take it out on the monsters, and then deal with the jerks on the Council later. They gave us a week."

Natalia offered up a small smile that faded just as fast as it had come before she nodded.

I glanced over at Eraia, who immediately started padding off.

Sorylle, Natalia, and I followed her.

The first room we found was rather sparsely populated, but it gave Natalia a chance to get into the right mindset. The second room was packed.

Sorylle, Eraia and I had worked out something of a pattern when we'd been out here before, but it changed now slightly with the addition of a long-range fighter. For one thing, Natalia couldn't see Eraia, so I had her aim one way while Eraia played around elsewhere.

Sorylle's main job, initially, was making sure nothing got inside Natalia's guard. I needed something to kill myself, after all.

But it wasn't long before I found my anger drained away and my mind drifting to Natalia's safety as I fought.

So Sorylle and I switched places, with her all-out attacking and me guarding Natalia's back.

I lost track of the time as we fought our way through the fortress. The initial slaughtering turned into a competition to see who could kill the most monsters, complete with friendly banter back and forth in both the human and liger tongues.

Natalia's skill with the liger language had come a very long way from the day I'd met her, and as we wandered up a staircase, Natalia and Sorylle teasing each other, I couldn't help but smile, because she'd become amazingly fluent in it.

The first thing that caught my attention at the top of the stairs was the wind. It was very windy up here...

And then I realized where 'up here' was, and Natalia's gasp was my next warning before I looked out over the ocean.

I couldn't help the smile that took over my expression, and my eyes slid away from the amazing sight of the ocean so far below us.

Up here, with her blonde hair and white, blue, and green dress being tossed by the wind... She looked amazing. More than that... "Beautiful."

"It is, isn't it?"

I couldn't help but chuckle, taking the three steps forward to stand by her side. I didn't hesitate to wrap my arm around her waist. "Yes, the ocean's pretty, but it's not what I was talking about."

Natalia's cheeks turned a bright pink, and I smiled and pulled her a little closer. She leaned into my side, eyes drifting toward the sky. "I know it's selfish... But... I almost wish we could stay up here forever."

"Why can't you?"

Natalia and I reacted, weapons out and twirling, before either of us realized just who, or technically, what, was hovering behind us.

We hadn't heard the hum of her wings because of the wind, but the three-foot-tall girl with the insect wings, dark tan, and brightly colored hair and eyes couldn't be anyone but Sylph.

Sylph, who was holding her hands up and babbling an apology.

I sighed and put the White Lotus chakrams away, Natalia doing the same after a moment.

"You really shouldn't sneak up on people. It's amazing Shadow hasn't gotten his replica body killed doing something like that yet," Natalia said tiredly.

Sylph giggled. "Sorry? It's just the humans inside Eldrant all act scared of me, but you guys came all the way out here, so..."

Natalia's irritation was melting away at an amazing pace.

I couldn't really blame her. Sylph reminded me of Flick... albeit, a slightly less destruction-inclined Flick.

Sylph managed a mid-air backflip. "So? Why not stay up here? I mean, I get humans don't live very long, but still..."

Natalia sighed. "Sylph... Have you been paying much attention to what's been happening on the ground?"

Sylph shook her head. "Not really. Shadow asked me to guard Eldrant, so that's what I'm doing, mostly, in between looking for dragons. Oh, and trying to break up Undine's blizzard, which isn't working all that great because she's still fuelling it. Where in the world did she get the notion that that was a good idea? Bad enough there's that weird warm spot up in Sylvana that I still can't figure out—"

"Undine did more than the blizzard," I said quickly, getting the feeling Sylph would just keep talking if I didn't speak up. "Her actions just before unleashing that blizzard killed Natalia's father... the king of Kimlasca."

Natalia's head dropped. "And now the Council won't let me take the throne unless I'm engaged to a Kimlascan nobleman... If I want to marry Dark, I have to abdicate."

Sylph suddenly froze... Well, most of her. Her wings kept her aloft, but the rest of her stayed very, very still.

Mismatching pink and purple eyes slid over to me. "And you?"

I frowned and tilted my head to the side. "And me, what?"

"What do you think about it?"

I shrugged. "I love her, but it's Natalia's decision. Husband or bodyguard, I'll stand by her regardless. They can't force me to leave." I stopped and shook my head, glancing at Natalia before looking back to Sylph. "To be honest... Natalia's out of my league. A guy like me... I'll be happy just to be able to keep her as a friend."

The worry and fear etched across Sylph's face faded, a proud grin taking its place as she giggled. "Ya know... You might just prove Gnome wrong yet."

She then took off into the air, twisting and twirling around as she danced in the wind, and I smiled at the sight.

Natalia hummed. "I wonder what that was about..."

I shook my head. Because I was starting to get the feeling I knew. "They've seen a love story like ours before," I said. I walked back over to her and slipped my arm around her waist again. "It's not going to end the same way, though. I promise you that much."

Natalia looked up at me for a long few moments before her eyes drifted out over the water again, locking on the faint but ominous clouds on the horizon that were actually the blizzard around Baticul.

I knew, even before she spoke up, that she'd made up her mind. I could see it in that stubborn slant to her eyebrows, the way she held her chin a little higher.

"Dark... Sylph, if you can still hear us... Thank you both. Because I know what I need to do, now," Natalia said.

I nodded, pulling her a bit closer.

Better enjoy what time I had left with her...

Natalia smiled.

Fun Fact: ...This chapter. I was a bit stuck. Dark and Natalia got up to the top of Eldrant and... didn't want to do anything but stand there. So Sylph volunteered to help by startling the both of them... and then having a conversation.

On an added note, yes, Sylph heard Natalia just then.