It is said that dreams are sometimes a way your mind is trying to figure out things. It tries to put them in some organized order, or simply while dreaming a person can deal with things worrying him or her the most. In the weirdest way your hazy mind is trying to make sense out of something, usually using things troubling you, of which you weren't even aware of, since it lurked somewhere deep in your subconsciousness.
Lena didn't know when she dozed off, the last thing she remembered was arguing with that stubborn mule, who dared to threaten her and even carried her princess-style. Between one yawn and another she undoubtedly had to fall asleep somehow. The next day she didn't remember much from her troubled dreams, only that everything was suddenly coming forward. Random thoughts, images, conclusions she wasn't even aware of before. The never-ending kaleidoscope of faces, clouded events and the truth behind her heritage finally made some crazy sense.
In a way, it was as if a dam broke and she wasn't able to feign ignorance anymore…
Truth be told, she was shocked and mostly scared.
Scared of herself…
Lena desperately wanted to believe in Chun Hei's words, but a small part of her, the voice of her inner sarcasm usually helping her to stay sane in the biggest bloodbaths, constantly whispered what a nice and convenient coincidence it would be if things indeed turned out the way the old nanny described them to be.
It turned out that Lena was far too cynical for her own good and peace of her mind apparently…
The fact she was somehow 'related' to Eleanor brought Ley chills. It was one thing to take over the throne and give a hand in the demise of the former sovereign, and completely other to have a closer connection to the woman, almost literally at that.
Lena didn't like the queen almost intuitively, from the very first moment she saw her. Her instincts and distant warning of Hans, the former rebel whose father hid Lucien and her under his roof, that Eleanor was nothing like the benevolent warm young sovereign she tried to pose as, didn't allow Ley to lower her guard. Then there was a brief glare here, some veiled scowl there she caught sometimes with the corner of her eye, and the big finale, the clothes the queen purposely choose, probably to embarrass Lena, who at that point was supposed to be a guy forced to dress far too girly.
It seemed that for some reason Eleanor also instinctively tried to get rid of Ley, though it could be as well her maliciousness coming forward, for all Lena knew.
It was bizarre to think that this woman in a way killed her… (or should she say him?) once, in the past. It was almost as confusing as the fact that Ley was born as a boy first, and only then ended up as a girl, mostly because of Eleanor herself. To say Lena was troubled with her 'two' lives was quite an understatement.
On one level it was as if Lena was observing the life of someone else and not her, and perhaps it was much healthier to keep these two identities of her separated, otherwise she'd end up mad.
Even Lena had her limitations…
On the other hand, as crazy as it sounded, finally everything was making sense.
That of course forced her to question her own sexuality, which without saying was in equal parts unnerving and confusing, not to mention eerie. She consoled herself with the conclusion, that surely little babies learn about differences of sexes much later, so the fact she was born as a boy first shouldn't have much influence on her current self, tomboy or not. There was also the upbringing, which formed her personality and she still was shocked about this paradox of the century as a 'former' tiny male in 'current' female body was raised as a boy in the end…
That alone was bringing a heavy headache.
She lived as a woman for over twenty years, surely that gave more impact than several days as a boy, no?!
The worst part was, that so many people witnessed these visions together with her. People she'd rather prefer to keep in the dark... Lena felt exposed, almost naked, which goes without saying that she hated it the most. She rarely opened up to anyone, and now, a few people accidentally saw more than she was ready to face on her own, forget about telling it to anyone.
Thankfully, so many things happened that nobody had enough time not only to digest what they learnt but to ask her unnerving questions. Apart from Lena's doubt just how she was 'revived' and if she took someone's 'place', she'd rather babysit Bran for entire week, than face anyone at the moment, especially since they probably would have doubts of their own.
As childish as this instinctive reaction was, Lena knew it was a mere wishful thinking on her part, completely unreal in the current situation. She was painfully aware she won't be able to avoid the Leone, especially the Triad, though the hell would sooner freeze than she'd allow Maeve to get in any proximity to her head at the moment, if ever!
The entire night Lena was tossing from side to side, bombarded by her chaotic thoughts and worries. In the end, even as she woke up she didn't feel any calmer or refreshed.
If she ever got drunk and had a hangover (the incident with Eleanor's wine she didn't count since it was poisoned) it surely would feel like how she was faring at the moment…
The question thrown at her in the audience hall came back with a doubled force.
…Just WHAT are you?...
Indeed, even she has no bloody idea…
"I don't believe it…."
"I warned you…"
"I thought you were joking!"
Cid finally graced sulking Ley with a slightly uninterested gaze while folding his arms stubbornly, "I told you already, you can get out of the bed once you walk the entire corridor without supporting yourself on anything, living things included. I assure you the walls are sturdy enough even without you propping them up every few steps. They won't crumble suddenly only because you're not there…"
The exotic woman glared at him from under her fringe petulantly, once again ushered back in her bed. In her wildest dreams she never expected to be grounded, for crying out loud at age of twenty, by someone who wasn't even her parent at that. True, she flunked the 'corridor test' since she was far from rested and strangely lethargic if not alarmingly exhausted, but even so..!
So what if she was able to fool them with a nonchalant expression, if the actual 'physical' test was too much for her? It was one thing to act normal, and completely another to stagger like some drunkard through a goddamn corridor all alone under a hawkish gaze that missed nothing.
Lena didn't even try to protest that he was unnerving her while examining her every move, every stumble and step, figuring that he won't listen to her in his current 'martial mode', clearly still holding a grudge that 'once again' she tried to hide something from them.
Her weak protest that a girl needs her privacy was promptly ignored, if not sneered at, while Cid announced that since she has no common sense it's only natural for him to look out for her, even by going against her foolish at times requests. It was truly unnerving how that man could change once someone pissed him off…
"Cid…" Lena nevertheless tried to reason with him, "I'm sorry for this… erm… unfortunate omission on my part, I truly am…"
The sharp eyes narrowed almost sardonically, "Oh, are you now? The same as when you tried to find a way to chase after Dimitri despite the destroyed bridge?"
"…W-Well…"
"Or perhaps the same as you omitted these strange dreams plaguing you as Hugh was trying to reunite with you?"
"…I don't think it's…"
"Still no? Oh, I know! How about when you, of course completely accidentally, 'forgot' to mention this connection to the king of Tamir, as you were absorbing his wounds?"
"H-hey! It's not like..!"
"LEY…" the man leaned closer, nearly looming over the fidgeting woman, who was becoming rapidly uncomfortable with each second, "You are a hopeless case of loner, who doesn't know how to depend on others, and seeing your unusual upbringing, I can even understand this, but..!" he raised his palm cutting off her next objection, "You are not alone anymore, whenever you like it or not. And that means, that people would do things THEY consider good for you, ignoring your protests…"
"But I have a bloody audience tomorrow! I have a country to rule, thanks to your machinations, by the way! I don't have time for lying in bed! Ugh! I'm done playing this 'scolding' game, get out of my way!" she decisively tried to get out of the bed, but was effortlessly pushed back by one strong yet gentle hand, the testament just how weak she was nowadays.
"You are not going anywhere precisely because you have a meeting tomorrow. You have to regain your strength, which means you have to take a nice nap here…"
Eric glanced back and forth between his baby girl and this young Kabul knight who surprisingly was a tough opponent even for her. Judging by slightly surprised if not wary glances shot under the man's address by his closest companions, it was rare for him to lose his cool like that.
Outraged Lena gaped at Cid's naughty tone, as if he already won the argument, "I'm your Queen, you asshole!" she finally snapped, "You won't send me for bloody afternoon nap! I'm not five years old, goddammit!"
One brow arched sardonically, "Oh, really? Then why are you behaving like one at the moment? You failed my simple test, remember?" he shrugged nonchalantly, completely ignoring her hot glare, "Since you ARE my Queen, I have to do everything in my power to ensure your safety and health, which I am doing right NOW, besides," he glanced at his fingernails distractedly to finally look down his nose at her, "Why is that you try to use the title you hate so much whenever you think it would help you, I wonder? Surely, you don't think it would change my mind, hmm?"
Exhausted Ley flopped down on her pillows and pinched the base of her nose tiredly, "What has gotten into you, huh?" she muttered under her nose.
"We are simply worried about you…" Sharris chimed in hesitantly, "Is that really so wrong?"
Lena cringed guiltily and glanced at frowning Sean and silent Michael huddled together in the corner of her room, not once teasing each other. Finally, the woman sighed heavily and reluctantly mumbled, "It's not wrong… and you are right that I'm not used to anyone taking care of me since early in my childhood the roles were quickly switched in our home, and it was me who had to look out for mum," she sighed heavily in resignation, "I promise I'll work on this, but what I said is also true. You can't ground me especially when I have important matters to attend to…"
"And that simple promise is supposed to convince me?" Cid snorted, "As if! You are a hopeless 'repeater'… We went through similar discussions several times already and you still learnt nothing from them…"
"I really mean it this time!" Lena hotly objected, noticing her faux-pas only as the words left her lips.
"Ohh? Did you just say 'this time'? So in the past you only wanted to change the topic and move on?"
This time Ley wisely kept her mouth firmly shut not to put her foot in it.
"It doesn't matter," the Kabul knight sighed tiredly, "I suppose it's improvement you included Sharris in your scheme this time, but that doesn't change the fact you tried to hide your true condition from us…"
"I already apologized…" Lena muttered under her nose morosely, "What else do you want from me, huh?"
Cid folded his arms daringly, "Prove it."
"Huh? Prove?" the exotic woman frowned and massaged her aching temples "I'm sorry, ok? I'll listen to you next time, I promise…"
Suddenly the knight smirked as if he was waiting for these special words, "You will listen to me, huh? Very well," he turned to Michael and nodded at the door, "Let her in…"
Confused Lena knitted her brows worriedly, alarmed by a strange gleam in the hawkish eyes. "H-hey..? What are you..?!" the moment the silver-haired man opened the door and she saw just whom he allowed to enter, she nearly sprang from the bed, her upper lip curled up in warning, "What the hell is she doing here?!"
"There is no need for such an aggressive reaction, believe me, I'd rather be anywhere but here considering our last meeting…" Maeve grimaced quickly followed by suspiciously silent Gideon.
"I asked you a damn question!" Ley promptly ignored the female and glared at the certain knight.
"You said, you'd listen to me… Well, I say 'call'," he shrugged nonchalantly.
Before Lena could muster some coherent answer over her fury and a small pang of fear because of what occurred the last time when the white-haired beauty touched her, Eric hesitantly cleared his throat, "My child, this physical weakness isn't natural. You aren't injured anymore since that small Maria healed you, and yet you are rapidly losing your strength, let her examine you…"
"I will not allow her to touch me!" a slightly panicked Ley tried to roll on the other side of bed, as far from the Leone as possible but was stopped by a mocking comment.
"Uh-hu? Cold feet? And here a second ago you so feverishly promised me something…" Cid folded his arms and snorted at the back of Lena who froze at this comment.
Painfully, slowly the woman glanced over her shoulder, one leg already on the floor and hissed, "I don't want anyone to get into my head once again, surely you can understand this desire for a little bit of privacy, huh?!"
Maeve waved her hand dismissively, "Oh, dear! Don't be so dramatic, and trust me, I don't want to be sucked into someone's memories ever again. The idea to feel someone's death once again give me chills!"
That confused Lena even more, "Then why the heck are you here?" she frowned in a complete puzzlement at the woman, temporarily forgetting about her escape plan.
The Leone cocked her head and shot a slightly annoyed glare at Cid. "I was asked to examine your aura, preferably without entering your mind and memories, since Gideon suspects that the reason for your current state is that your body and mind have shuttered themselves in this protective 'cocoon' and that it happened for a reason too."
"I just think, that normally our body give us signals whenever something is wrong, like pain, fever and so on…" the Prophet shrugged uncomfortably, "Since your body is all healed, then the cause must be something else, and unfortunately, neither Maria nor me can handle it…"
Ley bit her lower lip thoughtfully, small cogs turning in her head. To tell the truth, the fact that she failed a simple physical test, a short walk at that, was in equal parts humiliating as it was alarming. She hated to be so weak and was scared since she didn't understand just why she was not getting better at all. To say that she was stressed was quite an understatement, and it's not like she had time for being sick…
She reluctantly glanced at Maeve who was already slightly irritated. "Just how do you want to proceed with this 'examination' of yours?"
Her four friends and Eric relaxed a little. They expected they'd have to tie her to the bed in the worst case scenario. Cid even asked the Aran king to come and use his persuasive talents, thinking probably about the 'puppy eyes'. It turned out, Ley had to be really troubled by her condition if she stopped and actually asked this question.
"When I entered your mind I saw the bluish cocoon you were huddled into," the Leone sat in the armchair next to Eric. "I know what I am supposed to look for in order to examine your state. I have no intention to get any deeper and considering how it ended the last time I touched it, I'd rather not repeat this experience."
"You speak in riddles. Explain what you intend to do…" it was Lena's turn to be slightly irritated with this tiptoeing.
"I will hold your hand while you try to relax and close your eyes and then I'll peek inside to see the state of that thing within you."
"That's all?" the black eyes narrowed suspiciously.
Maeve sighed heavily and folded her arms almost angrily, "Do I have to swear or sign in blood some kind of contract?"
Lena scowled at her reluctantly, "Nah… I don't think that would be necessary…"
"Then, do you agree?" Cid arched his brow daringly at her, almost challenging her if not slightly mocking that she'd chicken out in the last moment.
Ley muttered under her nose something crude about nosy bastards and crawled back in the middle of the bed. "Proceed," she defiantly scowled at everyone for good measure and extended her hand towards the Leone sitting next to her bed.
If Maeve herself wasn't as reluctant to repeat this 'connection' herself, then perhaps she'd even find this defiance cute. But as the things were, deep down the Leone dreaded that she'd lose control over her abilities once again and end up dragged inside.
Apparently, as Lena noticed her lack of enthusiasm she cheered up considerably, and smirked at her despite the fact that she herself was duped into this examination in the first place. The moment Maeve took her hand with Gideon practically breathing down her neck, the exotic woman dutifully closed her eyes and tried to relax. The Leone shook her head slightly amused by this bravado and followed her steps closing her own eyes, her eyelids covering a slight golden gleam.
It turned out that the only thing which changed was that both of them weren't dragged anywhere, and instead Maeve saw a glowing halo around Ley's body. In the past, during their first encounter, she couldn't enter her mind because Lena had a strange golden barrier blocking anyone from barging in. The second time, when Maeve was actually allowed to examine the Child of the Prophecy, the girl was huddled inside the bluish cocoon of sorts, as if deeply asleep. And now…
"This is weird… but at least I can guess why you are exhausted all the time lately," the Leone released Ley's wrist and fought not to rub her hand in her skirts, a little unnerved.
"Why do I have impression I won't like the answer?" Lena wrinkled her nose, her companions and hopeless case of a dotting father leaning closer.
"Because you are quite sharp despite your sheer stubbornness?" Maeve tried to joke, though even in her ears it sounded as a rather lame way to gain more time.
"Spill it out," Lena braced herself for the worst, a little relieved that no more visions appeared.
"During our first meeting I mentioned the golden protection inside you," the white-haired beauty twined her fingers nervously on her lap. "Later, just as that small girl was describing, you indeed were huddled in some blue sphere…"
"That we know already, stop beating around the bush…" Eric muttered in exasperation.
"Well… If I was to describe it," Maeve glanced at Gideon discreetly, "I would say that NOW these two protective barriers are fighting for supremacy within your body…"
"What..?!" Sharris and Sean exclaimed while Lena gaped at the Leone mutely.
"Khm!" the fair-haired woman cleared her throat uncomfortably, "Maybe I used a wrong word, I apologize. To sum it up, it looks like your two inherited powers are trying to merge into one. Perhaps we shouldn't have awakened you, practically in the middle of this process. If I were to guess, the bluish light comes from my tribe since it manifested as the dome, while the golden one might be connected to what that nanny has, probably, from your 'last' mother's side…"
"Wait! Just wait a bloody moment!" Lena finally conquered her surprise and raised her hand in the air, stopping the female from continuing. "Apart from this weird description about 'last' mother, are you trying to tell me, that since I'm a hybrid of two races, these powers have chosen to 'merge' NOW? What the hell were they doing during the last twenty years?!"
Maeve pouted, a little peeved to be the recipient of this accusation. "How the heck am I supposed to know? As far as we know, you are the first 'cure' that avoided its fate and survived. Every single one of your predecessors died in the end, and frankly speaking, I doubt there ever was one forced to be born 'twice', judging by the grumbling of those two creatures…"
Gideon furrowed his brows worriedly. "So we interrupted something by waking Ley up prematurely and now it's taking its toll by draining her?"
"The good news is that I don't think it's lethal, only exhausting," the woman shrugged, "Though I have no idea how long she was supposed to sleep, so the process would end safely."
"Oi! I am still here…" Lena muttered, frustrated that Leone would start talking over her head, completely dismissing her.
"Then what should we do? Ley can't stay so weak, especially not now, while the danger is still lurking around…" Michael rubbed his chin thoughtfully, slightly relieved that Ley didn't seem in any danger, at least not from her own body.
"I could always use my ability to force her mind to shut down and return to this deep, apparently healing, sleep..." Maeve pondered aloud.
"Over my dead body you will use your powers on me!" Ley growled menacingly, ready to jump out of the bed if needed.
"Well, then we still have a less invasive, more traditional method," the white-haired woman tilted her head sideways.
"Meaning?" bristled Lena was so completely focused on Maeve that she didn't notice a silent exchange between Cid and Michael over her head.
At a decisive nod of the Kabul knight Gideon sighed heavily, already sensing an upcoming headache.
"Ley," Cid pushed her back on her pillow. "It looks like you have to take your afternoon nap in the end," he fought really hard not to grin, "The fastest way for you to regain your full strength and attend to your matters would be through accelerating this strange 'merging' or whatever it is…"
"Uh-hu… But you see… the thing is, that I DON'T feel like SLEEPING," Lena accented every word slowly as if she was talking to some retard.
The unaffected knight nodded in agreement confusing the wary woman even more. She expected another argument and found none. "Indeed, that I see… And I can roughly guess you won't allow Lady Maeve to 'sing' you a lullaby?"
"The hell….!"
"Ok, you don't have to glare at me or finish this eloquent statement," Cid quickly cut off another warning growl. "That's why I asked Sir Gideon to prepare a sleeping concoction for you…"
"You planned this!" outraged Lena would have surged from the bed if he didn't stop her yet again. Really, this pushing down was getting old!
"Oh, but of course I knew I would have to find another solution in case you rebelled once again. Surely you don't think you're the only one with the monopoly for scheming, hmm?"
Lena folded her arms over her chest defiantly and… sulked. "I don't like taking medicine! Especially one tampering with my senses," she pointedly ignored a small vial put on her night table.
Eric tried to reason with his daughter, "My child, be reasonable… the sooner you sleep this 'merging' through, the sooner you'll regain your full strength…"
"No! God only knows what you put in this poor excuse of a medicine in this era! Eleanor experimented on me plenty in this regard, thank you very much!"
The Aran king was preparing his ultimate weapon, the 'puppy eyes', when Cid swiftly opened the vial, caught Lena's nose, abruptly tilted her head backwards and poured the entire contents down her throat. The moment she tried to sputter it outside he firmly closed his hand over her mouth forcing her to swallow most of it.
The silence afterwards was deafening…
The other three companions gaped openly at the normally tolerant man, with immeasurable patience, totally flabbergasted by this entire scene. Eric's jaw was doing everything in its might to reach his lap, his 'persuasive' technique completely unneeded. Shocked Gideon nearly dropped a small pouch he was rummaging in, and as for Maeve, even her ability didn't sense that coming.
Once Cid decided Ley swallowed enough he released her and noticing the stunned people only shrugged nonchalantly, "What? That was much faster…"
"Y-you..!" Lena dried her lips with the back of her hand, her eyes comically huge in her face, far too dumbfounded to feel angry, "What the hell was that?!" or maybe not too shocked?
"That, my dear Queen" the knight loomed over her "Is what you reap if you try to lie to me ever again about such an important matter. Since my verbal warnings seemed to fall on deaf ears, then I thought a short presentation was called for, don't you agree?"
Eric finally managed to overcome his own surprise and listened to the gruff warnings of the certain Kabul, who instead of a subject or even a friend, behaved more like an older brother, scolding his wayward sibling…
True to Gideon's words, the medicine lulled still fuming Lena into sleep within mere moments, her heated tirade slurring until she completely dozed off. She was securely tucked in by Sharris and Maeve, while Eric warned the Aran bodyguards to let inside only people from the closest circle.
Thanks to the appearance of the Kabul Queen the day before, they didn't have to fend off more nobles or plead Marry to cease with her strikes for the time being. Only the inner circle knew about the rushed 'treatment' of Ley and the probable reason behind her weakened state right after the forced awakening. Since nobody could figure out a better way to deal with this problem, they decided to experiment with the 'nap' in hope that one day of rest would allow Ley to function more normally during the planned feast.
Hyun-min and Ian were supposed to return to the palace in the evening. One Jegger sent by them reported that they probably found the remnants of the strange symbol Eric mentioned. Since they found one, they figured that more could have survived the explosion and were looking if indeed all 'runes' were identical as the king remembered them to be.
In the meantime, Sir Wulf, this time without any protests, took over the reins of power, and was preparing the feast and dealing with the consequences of the explosion. Cid, very satisfied with himself, was helping the old lord in the name of the Queen, just as she appointed the two of them in case of her absence.
In the rush of preparations and addressing the fallout of the accident during the coronation there was one person, who was desperately trying to not follow Lena's steps with forced treatment.
It appeared that Freya had no intention to leave her wayward father alone, and just as she was acting aloof and uninterested thus far, now she decided to 'take-proper-care-of-his-health', for his own good naturally…
Eric had no idea that he, the king of a great nation, would end up running like some thief from the very daughter he wanted to reconcile with for so many years. Oh, it appeared, they 'reconciled' all right, at least since the explosion. That was a great change, still warming his heart and making him smile under his nose like some utter idiot (not that he cared about that part). All was great, everybody was safe and sound, and if not for the dramatic events that caused the sudden change of his baby's heart, then it could be said he was even truly happy.
That is until his daughter started treating him like some invalid.
The cane he somehow 'swallowed', and in truth, his broken leg didn't hurt so much while using it, not to mention he could move around alone with it. That naturally could be a nice change, if he was 'allowed' to freely walk whenever he damn wanted. It turned out, his children got a strong fright after recent incident and now, the three of them somehow ganged up on him. True, his sons weren't as stubborn, only were trying to push his butt on every possible seat whenever the opportunity arrived, but even that he would have swallowed with only a slight protest...
What he couldn't accept was a constant frown of Freya, who was checking every few moments if he wasn't tired, constantly hinting that since Sigfrid temporarily took over his duties while dealing with nobles (and no, the strangling incident had absolutely nothing to do with it) then perhaps her father would feel better after a proper rest.
Considering in what he took part early in the morning, when they somehow forced Lena to recuperate 'properly', he knew he was unreasonable if not slightly hypocritical while making decisions about his health, but even so…
But he was too damn old and stubborn to change himself now, and besides, his health had absolutely nothing to do with the health of his babies! This was this, and that was that. And besides, it's only a broken bone, perhaps nothing more than a mere fracture…
…Yup, I'm the hypocrite of the year…
The scary thing was that no matter where he wandered off to in order to breathe more freely without this suffocating constant fretting about the state of his health, it looked like Freya could find him without fail. In the end, desperate for some privacy and blessed silence without lectures about the consequences of wrongly mended bones he bumped into familiar bluish orbs while skulking in one corridor, as he waited for his red-haired dotting daughter to pass him by…
The moment the king sighed in relief as Freya walked briskly past his current hideout, he thought he heard something. As he glanced over his shoulder, his brow furrowed with confusion he saw a glimpse of two familiar shining blue orbs bouncing in the adjoining corridor. At first he thought he saw something wrong, but as he peeked there warily, the merrily bouncing spheres froze and in a slight burst of light changed into the certain twins who run towards him happily, despite his rushed warning to stay quiet.
It wasn't as if they possessed a physical body (yet), but the sovereign remembered vividly that he could feel their 'weight' somehow. That's probably why he instinctively froze and braced himself for pain as each child hugged his one knee, peering up at him with smiling faces so similar to each other. It wasn't as bad as if they were true kids, nevertheless Eric hissed in pain as the arms of the little girl closed around his injured leg.
The confused creature stopped grinning up at him the moment she noticed his strained expression, and frowned at him in return, reluctantly releasing him as if not sure what caused this unexpected grimace. The man warily looked around and sighed in relief that they were all alone. Since he couldn't kneel Eric only leaned down slightly and murmured in hushed voice in effort to not to attract unwanted attention, while stroking their shiny heads.
"Little ones, what are you doing here?"
The children cocked their heads in the same manner in confusion. Then, the boy started tugging at the leg of his pants, thankfully the good one, in the direction of the hidden passages.
"Huh? You like them too? I guess you will inherit that from your mother," suddenly Eric paled as he imagined how that blasted Triad would be overjoyed to meet his babies. In panic he ushered them into the path he knew about, and started lecturing that they should beware of certain three Leones, and bouncing inside the castle full of foreign guests wasn't the brightest idea of theirs, no matter why they came to Sevia.
The small girl was still frowning at the king who didn't seem to have any problems as her brother was tugging at his leg, while on the other one he had this weird thingy. She sulked slightly, and only as she was few steps behind them did the monarch notice her strange mood. He stopped ushering them away from the view of outsiders and whispered, "Oh, my little hummingbird, it's not like I didn't miss you too…" still glancing if they didn't have unwanted gawkers, with a herculean effort he leaned down and picked her up, "You see, grandpa has little 'ouch' there…" he slowly followed the exited male twin, briefly wondering just where the heck was he guiding them to. Eric really hoped that they didn't have a habit of peeking inside Leone's quarters. He seriously didn't know what to do if they had one.
The girl cuddled closer to him slightly intrigued by the hushed clack of his cane and cocked her head, her locks cascading on one side, her face the epitome of puzzlement.
As the king was trying to explain someone who didn't possess a physical body yet, that once gained, the body could be damaged accidentally and had to be 'repaired', which usually took some time, they entered another corridor and before Eric knew where he was, the boy disappeared in the wall.
"Well, duh! I can't do that, you know?" the sovereign grimaced as his leg was reminding about itself in quite a painful way.
Hearing his comment and connecting it with the fact he didn't follow steps of her brother, the girl tugged at the king's collar and pointed at one brick at his left. Once Eric warily pushed it, the hidden door opened with a crack and he saw that they ended up in Lena's room, though through a passage even she had no idea about.
The little boy crawled up her bed somehow and was deeply frowning at the fact she didn't react once he hugged her.
"Erm…" the Aran distractedly brushed away a big spider web from his arm while trying to return his kaftan to a more presentable state and commented, "Don't wake up your mommy, she has to sleep for now…"
Both children frowned and glanced at him intensively, as if demanding an answer.
Eric sat with a sigh of relief in the armchair next to the bed he occupied not so long ago and straightened his aching leg more comfortably. "I don't know why, but you can't play with her at the moment, she has to heal…"
The small boy scowled in irritation, as if deciding that since he doesn't like the answer then he can ignore it. The king would have snorted since the expression was the same one Lena wore when she refused the medicine right before Cid poured it in her anyway, if not for the fact that the kid started glowing slightly stronger.
"Oi! Bad, bad boy! Mommy is tired, I said don't wake her up!"
He was about to try to grab for the grandson, when a small hand tugged at his beard. Irritated king glanced down briefly at the owner of the tiny palm and was met with two almond-shaped curious eyes. The girl touched his cheek and repeated the scene when he was desperately trying to explain term 'ouch' and then she flashed him an image of Lena lying on the bed. One delicate brow arched up, as if questioning whenever her mother too had an 'ouch'.
Relieved Eric nodded, "Yes, she has. That's why she has to regain her strength and sleep and you can't play with her at the moment. See? She is pale and has dark circles under her eyes and…" his voice trailed off as right before his eyes the dark circles were slowly disappearing, his baby girl's complexion was returning to a more healthy shade, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks, all that under an intense stare of the focused boy and his warm glow.
"Well…" the Aran king cleared his throat uncomfortably seeing how a being who wasn't even born yet was clearly interfering with the world of mortals, some frigging balance or not, "It's good she seems more rested, but I have to warn both of you, that I'd rather you didn't do that to unknown people," suddenly Eric grimaced worriedly, "And if you see strange creatures with long hair who speak through a buzzing noise, run away! Is that clear? Do not play with them! I mean it!" he warned the twins hotly, feverishly praying that they'd never encounter those dreadful beings.
Both children reluctantly nodded, though probably they didn't understand a half of what he was talking about. As he was distracted while trying to convey the best he could just why these creatures were 'bad', small hand crept closer to his injured knee and before he knew what was happening, the girl started shining as concentrated as her twin a second ago.
Eric felt a strange surge of warmth entering his tender leg and instinctively shut his eyes, waiting for a pang of pain, but it never came. Instead, the monarch felt oddly refreshed, the stress he wasn't even aware of, which accumulated from the moment he noticed the unnerving scribbles of the supposed vandals in the temple leaving him. The sensation was similar to a long relaxing bath with a glass of good wine and nice oils.
And the pain disappeared without a trace…
Startled by this revelation he glanced down at his leg, wondering if it still was there, attached to his body, and then crooked it experimentally.
"I'll be damned…" Eric mumbled in shock, "Even Maria couldn't mend the broken limb, and only was able to quicken the healing…" as he glanced at the small girl he saw a shy expression, as if she wasn't sure if she did a good thing or not.
Before the smiling king could reassure her, he heard familiar muffled voices on the other side of the door. He quickly put the girl next to her brother, tossed his kaftan on them. Then he strode towards the door yanking them open, carefully hiding the children, who were giggling silently and probably thinking that it all was another game.
It was hard to tell who was more stunned, the guards who didn't see their king entering the room at all, or the Patriarch and Maeve at his side.
"What are you doing here?" Eric filled the slight opening with his entire frame, praying silently that the babies wouldn't decide to greet the guests too.
The woman frowned in puzzlement, "I came to check on Ley's condition…"
The Patriarch could swear the Aran gritted his teeth in irritation and muttered something similar to a curse under his nose, too quietly for them to tell for sure. Suddenly Eric grabbed the leader of Leone by the clasps of his shirt and dragged him inside, "I have an important matter to discuss with you," he hissed through his forcefully smiling teeth and announced, "My dear Lady Maeve, come to check on my daughter in an hour, goodbye!" and then after shooting a warning glare to his guards he shut the door in the woman's dumbfounded face.
"What the devil you think you are doing, you stubborn mule..?!" the Patriarch finally managed to release himself and growled at the king who locked the door for good measure and only then sighed in relief.
Eric was about to explain when his kaftan on the bed moved on its own causing the Patriarch to blench and after a while two curious faces peeked from under it, eager to play again.
"What the..?!" Leone's head snapped back to the torn king, who was rubbing his chin thoughtfully and wondering just how much he could tell the man. Suddenly the Patriarch's eyes widened, "You walk around normally without your cane! Why on earth are these creatures here?! I don't care that they appear to look like small children! What if they did something to my granddaughter?!"
Hearing his agitated tone the children froze and quickly crawled back under the caftan, huddling near Lena's hip.
"Don't you dare to call my grandbabies like that, you thick-headed moron! You are scaring them!" the Aran snapped right back.
The flabbergasted Leone moved his mouth several times, but no words came out. Finally he croaked in a hushed tone "What did you just say..?!"
Eric bit his lower lip in indecision, but once he saw that his kaftan was trembling slightly he glared at the stunned Patriarch for good measure, and effortlessly strode towards the bed. "Now, now… the bad senile greybeard is sorry," he crooned soothingly as he sat next to the bundle. One small hand appeared and the pair of doubtful eyes peeked at the king from under the safe cover. "He really is," the sovereign glanced over his shoulder and pointedly arched his brow.
The Patriarch cleared his throat and crept closer hesitantly, "Erm… hello there..? We met at the riverbank once…" he hissed at Eric with the corner of his mouth, "And in case your eyes stopped working I have no beard at all…"
Another hand appeared and the second pair of eyes peeked.
"If you don't get figurative speech, then I can't help you, you old geezer," the king muttered jokingly and smiled reassuringly at the children while whispering conspiratorially, "He's not as bad as he seems…"
"Do I have to remind you that my senses are sharper than yours and I hear that?"
"Oh, shut it! And don't you dare to open that door. I don't want your Triad near my babies…"
"I know you are idiotically fond of small children, but this is too much even for you… What are these creatures doing here?"
Eric finally managed to lure both rascals on his lap and reluctantly eyed the frowning Leone, "What are they doing here, you ask? I guess they came to pay a visit to their mommy sleeping over there, you imbecile… to think you still don't get it even though you see their faces up so close now… Really, are your eyes for decoration only..?"
Several minutes later the Patriarch gazed almost hungrily at small half-transparent children illuminated with their own inner light, curiously peering at him from the safety of Eric's arms. It was almost funny, that only now as the Aran mocked him, the Leone finally saw certain similarities in the features of these beings to the woman sleeping soundly behind them.
Before, the leader didn't pay them too much attention, not to mention he didn't spend too much time with them, certainly not as much as the Aran king. While the girl had long cascade of curly hair, the boy's were straight. Both of them had almond-shaped eyes, their features were almost identical, but the male twin had his own jewel in the middle of his forehead.
A jewel in the shape of a tear drop…
"How the hell we didn't notice it before?!" finally the Leone whispered in awed tone, a small part of him slightly jealous that the babies seemed to trust Eric so much and him so little.
"Well, if that would lighten your mood, until this small lady over here didn't enlighten me, then I too didn't connect them to Lena. It all begun with us thinking that they were some victims of Eleanor while in reality, neither of them was born yet."
"But Ley..?"
"She doesn't know and I'd like to keep it that way. Mayhap she grew more accustomed to the little ones compared to the past, but I don't want to endanger the birth of these two because we scared her away somehow."
"But do you know who..?"
Eric grimaced slightly and glanced at the curly head of the small girl currently playing with his pockets, "Do you really think that if I knew for certain who the father is, or more like will be, I'd have been testing them like this?"
Suddenly the last odd (well, more than usual) behaviour of the Aran made sense, "So you can't tell me 'who'?" the Patriarch inquired in a hushed tone, as if he was afraid to startle the twins.
"The only thing I know for sure, that it's none of my sons, young Laoudian or Cid, as for the rest?" the monarch shrugged, "You try to guess…"
The Leone rubbed his chin slowly, his eyes glued to the shining beings, who were behaving like any other children, despite all that glowing. "Did you try to ask Gideon?"
Eric froze, "I'll be damned! I never thought about him!" abruptly the Aran grimaced, "Nah, it's not like I could march and ask him just like that without causing unwanted attention… besides the guy could have always lie to me…" he shot a warning glare at the other man. "I don't want any of the Triad near them, is that clear? As you can see these little ones are already ignoring this entire bullshit about the balance by freely interfering here and now, that is if they even understand it all. They even somehow reached Hugh from other dimension, and if what your tribesmen said is true, there weren't children like them in this world yet, just like their mother is a first of their kind."
The Patriarch glanced at the sleeping woman, who looked much better than before and if he was to believe the king, it was all doing of her own children who were yet to be born. Dear God, what a mess…
"Who else knows?"
"Only Granny, thought I ought to get some medal for keeping quiet about this as I had the urge to announce it to the entire world…" Eric chuckled, though it was still questionable whenever he joked or nor. Probably, the latter.
Suddenly both children froze as if they heard something and eyed regretfully the present people.
"You wandered here without permission, huh?" the king guessed and wagged his finger in warning "I'm happy you came and helped your mommy and me to get better, but you can't make my Zara worry, is that clear?"
Two heads nodded as the beings glanced through the window briefly.
Eric softened and leaned closer to whisper, "One short visit sometime would be nice… but that will be our little secret, hmm?"
The children beamed at him immediately.
"Do not talk with strangers. Do not appear in front of people you don't know. Avoid weird beings with buzzing voice at all cost. Understood?"
The twins glanced at each other, cocked their heads curiously, but in the end finally nodded in consent.
"Off you go! Hug your granny from me…"
The Leone was glancing back and forth between Eric who stood in front of two mystical creatures with his hands akimbo and was actually lecturing them. The moment the king mentioned his respects, the Patriarch froze, "Is she..?" he swallowed with a considerable trouble, "Is my daughter somewhere there?"
The Aran grimaced slightly and rubbed his neck uncomfortably. "I do not know, I didn't see her. I only met my Zara once. As I understood, she's trying to look after these two rascals so they won't get into trouble… but who knows? These two kids sure are a handful…"
The other man's shoulders sagged slightly in an evident disappointment, even though he was desperately trying to hide it, when he felt that something tugged at his robes. As he warily glanced down, he saw both creatures gazing up at him shyly, standing the closest they ever been to him. After the kids exchanged worried glance, the little girl reached out her small hand to him.
"She wants to show you something…" Eric observed and decisively pushed hesitant Leone between shoulder blades so he'd finally kneel on the children's level.
The moment the tiny palm touched a cold cheek of the wary man, he saw a small hill warmed by the summer sun. He felt a nice breeze and could smell various flowers blooming in the meadow below him.
Under a huge oak he noticed a woman with a straw hat covering most of her raven strands, immersed in some book, sitting on the blue blanket. She briefly raised her black eyes from the reading and shook her head good-naturedly at a certain blond chasing after giggling twins running through the flowery lea.
With a resigned sigh and well-hidden grin the female otherwise known as Zara put her book aside, stood up and moments later caught the shining girl, as the other woman managed to grab the giggling boy. Both women glanced at each other while shaking their heads in exasperation at overjoyed rascals and hand in hand returned under the tree, each of them with one kid on her hip.
Zara holding the girl, Ariana tickling the boy…
The men blinked several times as the vision vanished and only then did Eric notice that the children were holding hands and the boy touched his knee at some point, as if connecting the four of them for a moment.
"H-how..?! How is this possible that they..?" the Patriarch rasped, temporarily overflowing with various emotions, relief probably the most prominent of them.
The Aran king stroked hesitant rascals, who warily glanced at the Leone, not knowing if they would end up scolded or not, "They can't speak yet, but somehow they understand us. Maybe this is somehow connected to the powers Zara had as Chun Hei finally confessed? I don't know. All in all, sometimes they try to talk through shown images, like they do now," he sternly scowled at the shining creatures. "But you can't do this to strangers, I hope that is crystal clear?"
Two glowing beings reluctantly nodded yet again and then with the last hug and a shy wave of the hand to the Leone they danced to the window, only to turn into bluish orbs and float outside in the direction of the Yucca River.
The stunned Patriarch gaped at their disappearing forms and back at Eric who was adjusting Lena's duvet as if nothing happened, "They even have similar form as her! Though the Child of the Prophecy was a golden orb at some point!"
"Duh!" the king snorted mockingly, "But of course they are similar to each other since she is their mother, you senile idiot…"
The Leone started pacing in irritation, and finally exploded, "I want to know 'who' dammit! I have more personal reasons to know..!" abruptly he swirled on his heel and strode decisively towards the door. In the last moment he glanced over his shoulder and arched a brow at the frowning monarch, "Aren't you coming?"
"Where? And I think we agreed to not to babble about it to anyone…"
"I happen to have sudden urge to have a chat with our dear prophet…" the Leone flashed the other man a wolfish grin, "And it would be much harder for him to lie to the leader of his tribe, you know..?"
He didn't have to repeat himself twice.
"Slow down you bloody fool!"
"I was dying to know for a quite while already!"
"That doesn't mean you can storm through the corridors like that! For crying out aloud! At least limp, you imbecile!"
"Limp? Ahh! Yes, sorry, sorry…"
Reluctantly the Aran king slowed down and started dragging his thus injured leg theatrically, heavily supporting himself on the blasted cane. Since they didn't know how to explain his miraculous recovery to the others, not without alarming them unnecessarily, they figured out to keep quiet for the time being, and that is until they'd get some desired answers.
"Now you are overdoing it…"
"Are you ever pleased?"
"Oh, shut it!"
Gideon was making some notes about his latest medical experiment, highly satisfied that his medicine was so fast, working even on Ley, when after one quick knock the door to his alcove was abruptly opened. The startled man nearly dropped his writing, but thankfully he didn't make any smudge with the ink.
"Your Majesties? It's a surprise… What can I do for you? Is there some problem with your leg, Sire?"
Eric froze for a moment but quickly covered his slip with a reluctant shake of the head, "No, this is not the reason why we are here…" as they unceremoniously took seats without asking their host for permission, he hesitantly glanced at the other man, not sure just how to proceed with his burning question.
"Gideon…" the Patriarch joined his fingers in a triangle and glanced over it at the strangely fidgeting man, "I wanted to ask you if perhaps you saw something connected to the danger surrounding our newly crowned Queen. Sure we have some clues, but only now it occurred to us that it might not be enough…"
"Believe me, Sire, if I had known, I would have never endangered Maria in this fashion…" the prophet glanced suspiciously at the duo and shrugged, "You know very well that my prophetical gift isn't as handy as the others. Unfortunately, I don't know everything, far from that. Sometimes I can see a random glimpse of the future, but nothing sure since in its essence the future is unstable…"
"And yet you gambled and asked my son to separate Ley from her companions, so she'd end up travelling all alone with the Tamirian…"
"W-well… the key word is 'gamble', Sire…" Gideon was looking everywhere but at the frowning men, "I had a vague impression that by separating them, Ley and the young king would get to know each other better, and that perhaps would result as breaking up the engagement between Kabul and Tamir…"
"He played a matchmaker?" Eric scowled, "Why is this the first time I'm hearing about it?"
"It slipped my mind," the Patriarch shrugged nonchalantly and gazed at the squirming younger man, "And yet, this gamble succeeded with separating Eleanor and Lucien Winclef. A coincidence?"
Now the Leone was positively looking for an opening to escape.
The leader leaned closer and casually asked, "Tell me, what else did you see?"
"Nothing, really… The future was covered with Eleanor's shadow, I couldn't see anything past her death as the only way for any future for us…"
The light eyes narrowed thoughtfully, "She's dead, so nothing should be blocking your gift anymore…"
Gideon averted his eyes and muttered under his nose some invective, "Sires, believe me, it's hard to make anything out of hazy visions. Usually, they make sense much later, if there is any. True I had a hunch about the possibility of potential feelings of the king of Tamir towards the Child of the Prophecy given certain circumstances, but as I said many times before, humans have their own free will and that's precisely why the future is so hard to predict with utmost certainty."
Frustrated Eric ignored the Patriarch's warning glare and cut to the chase, "So, let's say… you don't happen to have any 'hunches' just who might be the best suited man to make my baby girl happy?"
Gideon turned his confused eyes to the monarch, his expression the epitome of bewilderment, "Your Majesty, even if there was a 'hunch', do you really believe that Ley would docilely follow it? I never met a person with such a strong personality like this young woman has. Believe me, when it comes to her, nothing is sure and if I would try to have a look, I'd end up with a heavy headache because of that constant kaleidoscope of possibilities, since they change so fast, every few seconds."
The men glanced at each other in exasperation, slightly deflated by the outcome since the prophet seemed honestly frustrated with this situation and his inability to 'see'.
The younger Leone shrugged, "I suppose everything is up to Ley in the end, as usual... Unfortunately, I'm afraid I cannot help you in this matter… oh? And, Your Majesty? I see you feel much better… You are not in pain anymore?"
At his innocent observation, the men suddenly tensed and quickly excused themselves. Only as the door finally closed did Gideon exhale in relief. That was a close one, and good heavens! The guy owed him a big time for fooling the old sharks…
Lena felt warm and comfortable in her bed. The mattress was soft, the scattered pillows fluffy… Whoever invented a bed, knew what he was doing and deserved a Nobel Prize as far as she was concerned…
Suddenly the person at her side started tossing chaotically, probably still deep in sleep, or more like in nightmare, judging by his strained expression and quick movements under his eyelids. The woman was still sleepy, her mind quite hazy, but even so she forced her limbs to cooperate and shook the man's arm.
"Oi! Wake up! Michael, did you have a nightmare?"
At her touch the silver-haired man suddenly surged to sitting position breathing heavily, sweat covering his trembling back as he hid his face in the shaking hands.
"Look at all this sweat," Lena frowned worriedly, still slightly groggy, "Must have been some nightmare…"
Hearing her concerned voice, Michael's head snapped to her, his eyes huge in his face, his jaw positively sagging, as if he saw a ghost.
Lena frowned, "What? Why are you staring at me like that?" she looked around and noticed that she was still in her room, though the bed was twice its previous size, and more importantly, she was sharing it with the flabbergasted Sevian, naked from waist up as far as she could see. Damn, another frigging vision?! What the hell did Gideon give me this time?! Some blasted funny mushrooms?!
Stunned Michael abruptly flopped back down on the bed and muttered hotly under his nose in a decisive tone, covering his eyes with his arm, "This must be a dream…"
Outraged Lena glared at him, "Why do you say that?!" she was about to point out that if anyone is fake, then it's him, not her. And besides, as the fruit of her imagination who the hell is he to doubt her, his creator's, existence?!
Well, she really was about to lecture her wayward vivid imagination, but before she could open her mouth again Michael suddenly rolled up on top of her, successfully pining her down with his bigger body, completely stunning her.
"Nevermind…" he whispered his pupils strangely dilated, expression somehow focused and fierce at the same time, as if his life was depending on what was about to happen, "Dream, or an illusion, it doesn't matter as long as I don't wake up," his thumb delicately brushed her lips as if to stop shocked Ley from saying any more, and he leaned closer, his lips hovering just above her half-parted ones, "Anyways, something like this… I know it would never happen…" and before dumbfounded Lena, who just now noticed that both of them didn't have a stitch of clothes on, could gather her scattered wits, he kissed her passionately, taking away her breath.
To say the woman was frozen by his brazen and unusual behaviour would be an understatement of the millennia. She was still desperately trying to make some sense out of this ridiculous situation when she felt the expert fingers caressing her bosom, confusing her mind even more with pleasant sensations.
Dazed Lena was stunned by a strange aggressiveness of Michael, who thus far not even once showed this kind of face to her. She saw similar expression on Lucien. Once she caught it with the corner of her eye in Shine as she was babysitting Bran. Even Sigfrid's eyes flashed in the same way during their first, rather unfortunate, meeting.
But reserved Michael..?!
Even during their acting at the banquet she felt secure by his side, knowing he won't cross a certain line, and now? Now she was desperately struggling to form some coherent thought, despite a slow trail of kisses he traced down her throat, collarbone and down between her alarmingly aching breasts, towards her navel…
And God, the guy knew what to do with this clever tongue of his, if she still couldn't force her suddenly dry mouth to cooperate and form even a weak protest. He was gentle and at the same time oddly desperate, though why she of all people was having a wet dream about her friend and companion bogged her mind to no end. Even with Lucien they were at least clothed, goddammit!
She finally managed to open her mouth to give him, or more like herself, a good dose of lecturing when the blasted man kissed her even lower than her navel, his warm breath caressing her taut belly. Lena instinctively grabbed a handful of his silver strands, briefly grateful they were so long and thus still within the reach of her trembling fingers, and yanked at them, forcing Michael's head to snap up.
And then both of them froze, breathing heavily as if they just ran a marathon…
For the first time in her life a simple truth hammered into flustered Lena, as she was fighting reactions of her own treacherous body.
For the first time she had to face a simple fact that Michael was a man too, just like the other of her 'male pains' in the butt…
The silver-haired man grinned to her mischievously from ear to ear, like some little boy who got the biggest present in his entire life, and with unnerving dark predatory gleam suddenly dove even lower, as if in spite of her mute warning.
Lena reflexively jack-knifed as his lips touched a part of her that should have never been kissed and then…
Then she painfully fell off the bed on her butt, once again in her own real alcove, her sheets hopelessly tangling her limbs, the duvet slowly falling on top of her overheated, spinning head.
The loud thud from Ley's room alarmed Sharris who yanked the door quickly and seeing the empty bed exclaimed, "Leey?! Where are you?!"
The black eyes huge as saucers peeked over the line of the bed, the blanket covering the woman's head, "Nothing! Nothing happened! I simply fell off the bed, that's all!"
The female archer sighed in relief and only now noticed that she still held the tray with the late dinner, so she put it on the night stand, "What on earth happened? Are you all right?"
Lena surged to her feet with her usual grace and quickly strode to the adjoining room, briefly glad she listened to the Head Dressmaker and left the dressing room unchanged. "I'm all right, my butt is only slightly sore…"
Sharris frowned at the scarlet profile of her friend, "Don't you have a fever or something? Your face is all red..?"
"I'm all right, I was just surprised to wake up in this fashion…"
"Well, it certainly was quite a unique wake-up call."
Lena grabbed the first pants and kaftan at hand, not even paying attention if they matched and muttered under her nose cryptically, "You have NO idea, Sharris… None!" and disappeared inside the other room, nearly slamming the door behind her.
Michael and Cid were discussing some matters with Daniel when two females stormed inside the alcove, or more like one was running away and a certain petite blond was chasing after the other one. "Ley! You are hiding something from us again! Did something happen?"
"Nothing happened!" Lena snapped through her gritted teeth at the persistent girl, "I fell off the bed, big deal! My butt is sore that's all…"
The initial happiness that the 'treatment' succeeded and the woman seemed like her old self was immediately blown away by the last comment.
"What does she mean by this, Ley?" Cid folded his arms, his pose alarmingly similar to the one just before he 'helped' with subduing Lena.
The infuriated woman swirled on her heel to give him piece of her mind about pouring the medicine down her throat against her will, when she noticed frowning Michael next to the perplexed Jegger, and froze. She'd be damned before she'd utter a word about what she just dreamt about. And the worst thing was, that when she finally cooled down and was able to think again, she remembered these few words the guy said to her.
He accused her of being his dream, his illusion…
And that made her wonder if perhaps it was the same as with Lucien, when it turned out that they truly met through a dream once before.
Her finger outstretched in warning, pointing at the Kabul knight swayed slightly, her cheeks colouring in pink, and as she studiously avoided a searching gaze of the Sevian, she snapped at Cid, "This is the last time you pulled this kind of stunt! I'm not bedridden anymore and I can kick your poor ass seven ways to Sunday, is that clear?!"
"And thanks to whom you are once again fuming and standing on your own two feet, hmm?" one dark brow arched daringly.
"That's irrelevant! You can't possibly use violence on your goddamn sovereign…"
"I used it on my stubborn friend, who simply doesn't know when to give in. As for my Queen, I still respect her…"
Lena opened her mouth and snapped it closed once again, her teeth gritting "Where is Maeve?"
"Why are you looking her?" Michael asked curiously while cocking his head, greatly relieved she was so lively.
The exotic woman glanced at his face briefly and then, as if fleeting, turned to Cid suddenly, slightly biting her lower lip in worry, "I need to ask her if this merging is already finished or not. Can you lead me to where she is at the moment?"
The Sevian pushed away from the table and strolled to them, "I can show you the way, she recently wandered out of the Leone quarters with her two companions and…"
Lena inched little closer to Cid and further away from the silver-haired man and without meeting his eyes she shrugged, "I'm sure you have something to attend to with Daniel, and knowing how Cid loves to spend time with the Jeggers, I'm sure he will be more than ready for a small break…"
Michael frowned, clearly puzzled by her strange behaviour, but before he could ask just what the hell did he do this time, Ley grabbed the bewildered knight under his elbow and dragged him towards the door, Sharris hot on their heels.
"Well..? What is it?"
"Apart from the fact I didn't expect you to wake up just yet?"
"Just tell me if I have to look out to not to faint again…"
Maeve lowered her hand and smothered a small wrinkle on her sleeve "I don't know how it happened so fast, but it looks like the process ended, and in a 'draw' at that… If I was to describe your aura now, it looks more like a blue marble with golden veins in it. I guess you found your inner balance at least…" one graceful shoulder shrugged slightly.
"Don't mention this forbidden word!" Lena growled under her nose, rubbing her wrist distractedly. She had a hard time dealing with Michael. Each moment she saw his silhouette or face, even from afar, the images from her vision came forward no matter how much she wanted to forget them. No more she could see him as a simple male friend, no different from Cid or Sean.
Ladies and gentlemen! Discovery of the century, Michael of Sevia happens to be a guy, no different from Lucien, Shine or Hyun-min! Ta-da! Applause!
Seriously, Lena's inner sarcasm was just asking to be decked… HARD.
Thankfully, the exotic woman managed to shake off her two companions, saying that she had to have some privacy, especially after what happened during the last time Maeve got involved. Playing on their guilt she managed to force them not to interfere during this examination, though that didn't mean they weren't waiting for her on the other side of the door (which was precisely what was happening at the moment).
Ley started pacing nervously, pondering if she should touch this topic or not. Finally she decided to gamble.
"Let's say…" she turned to the frowning Leone, "Let's say I have a nasty habit of meeting people through my dreams…" she folded her arms protectively over her chest, "What do I do to block it, so this kind of situation would not repeat?"
"What do you mean by this?" intrigued Maeve leaned closer.
"Well…" Lena hesitated briefly, "Apparently, I kind of conjured a vision through a dream and as a result, both involved parties remembered the same meeting later on in the real world, as if it truly happened…"
"How many times it happened?"
"Hypothetically speaking…" Ley started counting and decided to include 'shadowy' Hyun-min too, "It might have happened three times with three different people…" she bit her lower lip, "At least two of them confirmed that they shared the same dream with me…"
"What about the third one? You missed it…"
"I will NOT ask that person even if the hellhounds were chasing after me!"
"You know, you're not helping here?"
"I don't care! The bottom line is, that it looks like I'm doing it instinctively, and I'd prefer to learn how to control it, because otherwise my poor heart will not survive it…"
"I'll have to think about it. I never heard about something like this…"
"Whatever, just please keep it to yourself…"
Miriam was sipping her wine and grinning like a fool behind her cup as she saw Michael pass her by for the hundredth time, while pacing back and forth in agitation.
"…and you know what she did?! She's been constantly avoiding me. Whenever I called to her and she happened not to notice me beforehand, she nearly jumped out of her skin and practically run the other way in full speed, always with a carefully prepared excuse…"
The former courtesan hoped her idiotic smile wasn't too evident. Judging by the words of the frustrated man, Ley was studiously avoiding him, making sure he was never alone with her, and on top of that she would not explain what exactly he screwed up.
Miriam nearly sniggered at the density of her guardian angel. Whenever he was aware of it or not, precisely because Ley started avoiding him, some long neglected instinct told him to follow her with a doubled force. As a result, Ley was running away, while he was unconsciously chasing after her. In the courtesan's humble opinion this was the most healthy experience for him. Even as withdrawn person as him, he got somehow riled up, which paradoxically awakened his male pride.
To put it simply, if Miriam could find Ley at the moment, she'd have kissed her soundly for all to see. Whenever the Queen was aware of it or not, she forced Michael to take more action, just as the courtesan prayed he would, tough surely even she didn't expect just what would be the cause of this 'ignition'.
"..So I snapped! I admit it!" the Sevian fumed, completely unaware of a wide toothy smile of his companion, carefully hidden behind a goblet, "I managed to corner her somehow, and can you imagine what she said?!" Michael growled even now irked by this scene.
Just as Lena was about to use a hidden passage he managed to close her escape route with an outstretched arm and demanded some answers, while solemnly promising that he'd fix his mistake no matter what. When Ley once again averted her eyes, fed up with it he grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him.
"…And that's when she blurted in my goddamn face, nearly accusing me, that it's all my fault and that I'm a 'guy'! Can you believe it?! It was her who dressed herself in frigging male clothes to begin with! The nerve of hers! I never lied about my bloody gender, for Chrissake!" he raked in agitation his long silver strands, vividly remembering how he stood there like some utter idiot after hearing her accusation and didn't even notice an opening, which Ley naturally used in a blink of an eye, leaving him all alone in the shadowy corridor.
Miriam couldn't help herself and started giggling like a maniac, which naturally caused Michael to glare at her fiercely. It was the first time she saw him this flustered and frustrated, not to mention royally pissed off. The entire gamut of emotions just pouring out of him, all because of a certain young lady.
As the woman calmed down a little, she saluted to the scowling silver-haired man triumphantly, "My dear friend, you should celebrate!"
"The hell I should! What did I do to be treated like this, huh?!"
The courtesan stood up from the sofa and petted his rigid back in a weak effort to comfort him, though the fact she still sniggered didn't help much. "You should celebrate precisely because she's avoiding you. Besides, didn't she explain it?" at his confused gaze Miriam snorted uncontrollably, "My dear old friend, our Ley just started to see you as a MAN…"
Michael gaped at her openly, only to sputter, "She realized that now?!"
Miriam shook her head in exasperation seeing his flabbergasted expression. "Dear Lord, you are almost as dense as her! Unbelievable!" she leaned closer and stabbed him in the chest with her forefinger. "The woman Ley undoubtedly is, just started to see Michael as the man, now you get it?"
And with that last comment she left the stunned man in the room. She intended to find the prophet and ask him just what he had put in the medicine he gave Ley, a bottle of wine in her arms manifesting a resolute decision to reward the Leone for his efforts with a toast or two…
