Author's Notes: Thank you all for the very kind words. I'm doing much better now and just wanted to let you all know how much I cherish your support and encouragement.
This was supposed to be the final chapter in this fanfic, and I'm honestly amazed at how many of you have stuck with me this long. From the bottom of my heart, I just want to say thank you. Your reviews, follows, and favorites are the highlights of my day.
I've decided to extend this story by at least two more chapters. I'm still debating whether I will write an epilogue, but I guess that depends on how much time I need to tie things up properly. I have an idea for another Barbara x Tartaglia fanfic, but it will probably be a while before I can post it since I'm currently working on two other short Genshin Fanfics. I'm still mapping out the plot for the Barbara x Tartaglia.
Chapter Thirty: Idol
"I am your lover's friend," the intruder states, his silky smile spreading as he bows deeply. "Pulcinella, number five of the eleven harbingers."
"M-m-my l-lover?!" Barbara squeaks, suddenly hyper-aware of how small and defenseless she is lying in bed. She shifts into a sitting position, not daring to take her eyes of the stranger's smirking visage.
"Lovely," the Harbinger sighs. "Yours is a soft and elegant beauty. It's no wonder my dear colleague was helpless to resist you."
"I'm sorry I don't understand," the songstress informs him quietly.
"My dear, I am here on urgent business and haven't the time nor patience to indulge your silly little game," he cautions, his eyes narrowing visibly before falling to her stomach.
Barbara's eyes widen as she instinctively yanks her covers towards her chin, shielding her physique from further scrutiny.
"P-p-please l-leave me alone," the Deaconess pleads, her bright blue eyes wide and fearful as she desperately fights back tears. "I don't want any trouble."
"But I hear that congratulations are in order," Pulcinella taunts, a mocking smile stretching his thin lips now.
"W-wha-what?!"
"Dear Ajax's growing up so fast. Never knew he had much of an interest in settling down and starting a family of his own," the Fifth Harbinger chuckles, shaking his head incredulously as he shifts his head to study somewhere in the dark expanse of her bed-chamber.
"Who are you?" Barbara asks, her voice thick with fear and uncertainty.
While she had no reason to doubt the stranger's identity, the calculating twinkle in his striking gold eyes as they study her sends shivers running down her spine.
She admittedly knew very little of the Fatui Harbingers, however, even she had enough sense to suspect that meeting three in quick succession was far from coincidental when most people went their entire lives without ever encountering a single one. His presence, while disconcerting, was not nearly as disdainful as Signora's nor was it as welcoming as Ajax's. While the Fifth Harbinger's frame radiated an uncommon physical prowess, Barbara knew to fear the cunning twist in his smirk and the silky lilt of his tone.
"I've already told you," Pulcinella sighs. "My name is Pulcinella, and I am the Fifth Harbinger. Perhaps you doubt my identity? How may I put you at ease?"
"H-how…w-wh-what do y-you wan-want from me?"
"From you?" He repeats, tilting his head to the side as if pretending to give her words some thought. "Nothing…more and nothing less than to hold you to the very vow you once swore to my comrade—your beloved."
"Wh-what?!"
"Did you not once promise your beloved that you would wrest him from the Tsaritsa's clutches by joining the Fatui?" The Fifth Harbinger queries with a mirthless chuckle. "Or was that simply puppy love?"
"I d-don't understand," Barbara croaks, blinking blankly as she desperately tries to discern how exactly the Harbinger had discovered her conversation with Ajax back at Liyue Harbor. "How did you—?"
"Walls have ears, Miss Pegg," Pulcinella informs her bluntly. "You will do well to remember this as a Fatui operative."
"No, no you don't understand," the songstress protests, shaking her head. "I told Ajax already that I changed my mind. I can't join him in the forest. I can't become a harbinger."
"What makes you say that?"
"The Fatui's methods are vile and cruel," the Deaconess replies, defiance flashing in her pale blue eyes as she holds the Harbinger's gaze. "I will not help any organization that thrives on killing people and destroying countless lives."
"I see," the Fifth Harbinger sighs as he moves to study the framed photographs atop her dresser. "And yet you still love a man who revels in being the eye of the storm."
"I-I h-he…he wasn't always like that," the songstress protests.
"What if I told you that our organization was not always as it is now?" Pulcinella states simply, a hint of regret lacing his words.
"What do you mean?" Barbara asks, clenching her fist to her heart.
"When I first joined the Tsaritsa had not yet set out to capture the six gnoses," he replies, crossing his arms as he turns to face her now. "She had sworn to rip down the thrones of Celestia but back then, she had insisted on doing so without harming the innocent."
"So, what happened?" The Deaconess asks, arching an eyebrow inquisitively.
"Corruption," Pulcinella seethes. "In the early days, our organization suffered immense losses and as our ranks dwindled, so too did morale. Her Majesty's heart could not bear to lose any more treasured comrades and so she sought only those whose strength or ambitions would preserve them. Naturally, a few bad apples slipped through the cracks and remained unchecked long enough to fester and infect our comrades until the Fatui became unrecognizable."
"So, if what you're telling me is true and you're trying to restore the Fatui then doesn't that involve getting rid of people like Ajax?"
"Precisely," Pulcinella admits with a pleasant smile. "Which is where you come in."
"He'll never leave," Barbara informs him with a dejected shrug. "No matter how hard I beg him to. He loves killing too much."
"Do you really believe that he would refuse you in your condition?" The Fifth Harbinger queries, arching an eyebrow in bemusement as he considers her.
"I do," she replies. "Even if he doesn't, he won't really change anything. He might pretend to leave at first for my sake, but I know him. He'll find an excuse to hang on to work behind the scenes killing and destroying behind my back."
"You really think so?" Pulcinella presses.
"I know so."
"I wonder," he sighs, shaking his head. "Did you ever figure out why his vision came to you?"
Barbara parts her lips to respond but catches herself before she can vocalize the first syllable. The ominous feeling from before returns as her gaze shifts to study her lover's vision. Despite her best efforts to conceal her distress from the Harbinger's hawkish gaze, Barbara could not suppress the weight of despair crushing every inch of her ribcage. When she returns to meet the Fifth Harbinger's eyes, they are watching her carefully, almost daring her to voice the one query she had yearned to know.
"Why has it come to me?" She asks at last, her voice soft and low as she watches the Harbinger's lips curl.
"Why don't you ask it? Celestia knows it's been dying to tell you since it arrived."
She turns her attention once more to the glowing hydro vision sitting atop her bedside table and releases a soft sigh. It releases a light pulse of its master's soothing aura in her direction, as if searching or reaching for something. She closes her eyes and begins to reach for it before remembering Lisa's words from before and catching herself.
"You b-brought i-it to me," she declares flushing slightly as she turns to face the Fifth Harbinger. "T-to d-deceive me."
"You don't truly believe that," Pulcinella scoffs.
"You came all this way to convince me to become a harbinger but that doesn't help me get Ajax back."
"Becoming a harbinger would be your ultimate goal, however, I believe that you will start off as a lower-ranked informant slipping information about the Church's inner workings to the Tsaritsa."
"I'm s-s-sorry but I can't do th-that!" Barbara shoots back, clenching her fist to her chest. "Every member of my family has dedicated their lives to serving the Church. I cannot betray my homeland like that."
"Tell me, what do you think will happen once her Majesty acquires the remaining gnoses?" Pulcinella asks, a sneer curling the corner of his mouth. "Do you think she will simply leave the remaining six nations to go about their business? Do you think the other nations have not already learned of the Tsaritsa's goal and begun to mobilize their forces against us?"
"Mondstadt will be safe," Barbara insists, a sense of pride swelling as she is reminded of her dearest friends and older sister fighting to protect their beloved homeland from the Abyss Order and Fatui. "The Knights of Favonius is united and stronger than ever under the guidance of my sister and Grand Master Varka. They and the other knights will defend Mondstadt and its people with their lives and we at the Church will support and aid them."
"And what of your beloved Ajax?" The Fifth Harbinger's sneer widens as she exhales sharply. "Who will protect him."
"A-A-Ajax i-is s-strong," the Deaconess shoots back as her confidence finally shatters. "He c-c-can t-take care of himself."
"Is that so?" The Harbinger chuckles. "My sources tell me that you were the one who saved him when he was poisoned back in Liyue. I wonder whatever became of his would-be assassin."
"T-th-they w-weren't c-caught?!" The songstress gasps covering her mouth in horror as the Fifth Harbinger lets out a low chuckle.
So much had happened since they first met that fateful night that the Deaconess had never bothered to determine how exactly the Eleventh Harbinger had gotten poisoned in the first place. Dread weighs heavily against her ribcage as she remembers just how close Ajax had been to losing his life that night. She remembers the trail of scars marring his flesh—the harrowing testament of the true dangers of her lover's duties as a harbinger.
"I assure you they were not," Pulcinella informs her, a wicked glint evident in his eyes as he lowers his voice into a purr. "Your beloved Ajax has many enemies both without and within the Fatui. Whatever assassin was bold enough to poison a harbinger will never accept failure."
"But what if he does leave for my sake," Barbara asks fighting back tears now as she buries her face into her hands. "What about his family? Would the Tsaritsa not target them to punish him?"
"So, help him protect them," Pulcinella replies matter-of-factly. "When you join the Fatui you will surely rise up in the ranks quickly. Her Majesty has much use for someone of your talent and stature. Take advantage of every assignment she gives you. Pay attention and learn as much as you can about the Tsaritsa's inner circle. Of the eleven there are three harbingers who her Majesty favors above all others—Piero the First, Signora the Eighth, and Colombina the Third. Follow their lead and be sure that you do everything to gain her trust and favor. While her Majesty rewards us harbingers equally, those three enjoy certain privileges the rest of us do not."
Barbara lowers her frame to hug her knees, allowing her bangs to conceal the streaks of tears trailing down her eyes. While she was quite certain of her feelings for the Eleventh Harbinger, she did not know if she had it in her to forsake her vows to Mondstadt. She did not know if she could falsely vow allegiance to another archon while working secretly to purge the Fatui of the Tsaritsa's chosen agents. She did not know if she could live with the person she became if she joined him.
Even if by some miracle she managed to dissuade her lover from killing and maiming for the Tsaritsa's sake, how could she stop his colleagues and subordinates from doing so in his stead? How could she turn away from the Fatui's unspeakable cruelty and misdeeds?
"I'm sorry," she croaks at last, pausing to collect herself. "But I can't join him there. There has to be another way to get him out."
"I assure you if that were true then I would have never darkened your doorstep," Pulcinella sighs softly as he moves to her side.
Barbara is startled by the light press of his large fingers against her back and turns to shoot him a bemused frown as she meets his gaze. The Fifth Harbinger mumbles an apology as he holds out a cup of water. The songstress thanks him and accepts the drink without thinking, tipping the cup to her lips with trembling hands. A sudden stillness overcomes her as a tingling sensation spreads from her core to her limbs, filling her with a soothing warmth that calms her nerves.
"Thank you but I'll be leaving for Snezhnaya in a few days," she explains quietly as he receives the goblet and places it atop her bedside table. "I'll find Ajax and tell him about the baby. He will choose to remain. He will probably marry Signora..." She trails off, suddenly overcome with emotion at the thought of Ajax wedding his ruthless colleague.
But they are all ruthless. All of them. She assures herself. Him too. He would not be in the Fatui if he wasn't.
"Do you know why her Majesty ordered him to marry Signora?" When the Deaconess slowly shakes her head, the Fifth Harbinger replies. "Control. Childe is one of the few harbingers that truly mystifies her Majesty. While his motives are clear, his desires have proven more elusive. As you know, your beloved is a deeply impulsive creature, easily swayed and distracted by his every whim and passion. The Tsaritsa means to tame those passions. To mold him into subservience. She believed his rank and delusion would shackle his true nature like it has so many others, but it only emboldened him. She seeks to remedy that by foisting Signora on him."
"Then if the Tsaritsa has already made up her mind, what am I to do?" Barbara blurts before catching herself. Her query rings foolish even to her own ears.
"Force her Majesty's hand," he informs her bluntly. "Let her see with her own eyes that the Eleventh Harbinger answers only to you."
"H-h-how?!" The Deaconess cries out, beside herself with worry and frustration as she shakes her head. "He won't even listen to me. I've begged him, pleaded with him. But he never listens. He just does whatever he wants."
"Are you not the descendant of Lady Gunnhildr the Beloved? Did your ancestor not wrest the crown from Mondstadt's oppressor and place it upon his successor's head? When mighty Decarabian refused to heed reason, did she not strip him of his armor and leave him naked for his enemies?"
"I don't…I don't…understand…"
"Your voice," Pulcinella states quietly. Amber eyes alight with awe. "You used it once to ensnare the Eleventh Harbinger. Use it now to unshackle him."
Barbara opens and closes her mind several times as her brain struggles to make sense of his words. She recalls that fateful night aboard the Alcor when the Eleventh Harbinger had whisked her away at the conclusion of her performance. His powerful arms had pressed her close to his side as he had guided her through the crowd of clamoring fans. Even with the excitement of her performance she had sensed his desire right then and there and remembered relishing the sincerity of his attention.
That very night he had confessed his feelings for her and ignited the flames of desire within her. She recalls the warmth of his hands as they had swept over every inch of her body, stroking and kneading her pliant curves into submission as he thrust into her quivering form with wanton disregard.
Flushing deeply, Barbara clears her throat as she remembers that the Fifth Harbinger was still lingering nearby, watching her expectantly. But when she turns to address him, he notices his large back slipping through her balcony door. As she is about to call out to him, he turns to face her once more.
"Before I leave, I must congratulate you. You will be an amazing mother. I am sure of it."
She parts her lips to respond but is silenced by the sudden rush of air as he vanishes into the night.
"Thank you all for coming," the acting Grand Master greets the room as Kaeya shuts the door of the Angel's Share cellar behind him. "I appreciate you all taking the time to come here tonight."
Beside her Barbara turns to watch the Cavalry Captain. He acknowledges her with a polite nod as he moves to join the Chief Alchemist leaning against the far wall.
"Of course," Albedo and Kaeya reply in unison.
"While it really shouldn't have to be said," Diluc Ragnvindr says, pausing to acknowledge each person in turn. "I'll say it anyways. What we discuss in this room does not leave this circle."
"Aww, what good are secrets if we can't share them?" The Cavalry Captain teases with a dry chuckle.
The redhaired vintner shifts to give his brother a withering glare.
"This isn't funny, Kaeya," Diluc snaps. "What we're about to discuss implicates millions of lives. We must not take any chances."
"I imagine it has something to do with the Eleventh Harbinger?" Albedo asks Barbara before Kaeya can respond.
"It does," the Deaconess admits quietly. "I'm pregnant with his child."
The Chief Alchemist's hands drop to his side at this as his teal eyes study her for any sign of amusement or deception. Finding none, he turns instead to the acting Grand Master and frowns when he notices the deeply concerned scowl marring her features.
"How far along are you?" Kaeya asks, all traces of his earlier amusement completely forgotten.
"About three months now," Lisa informs him. "The Eleventh Harbinger is not aware of this and while we would prefer to keep it that way for as long as possible, he does have a right to know about his child."
"That will be entirely up to Barbara," the Dandelion Knight says, placing an assuring hand on her younger sister's shoulder. "When she's ready I will accompany her to inform him."
"Am I correct to presume that no one outside this room knows about this?" Albedo asks.
"Si-sister R-Rosaria might suspect something but I haven't told her yet," Barbara replies.
"Do you want to keep it?" The Chief Alchemist asks as he turns to hold her gaze.
Barbara inhales sharply as Albedo watches her calmly, a blond eyebrow arched expectantly as he awaits her response.
"I-I-a"
"Just say the word. It would be very little trouble," he assures her tonelessly. "While my research focuses more on creating life, I have discovered several potions that c—"
"She's not getting rid of it," Diluc snaps, cutting off the smaller man with a low growl.
"I don't understand," Albedo admits, blinking slowly as he turns to address the Ragnvindr heir. "Why would she keep something that the Fatui would only use against her and her family?"
"Because we're going to use it against them," Kaeya states matter-of-factly as he turns once more to catch Barbara's gaze.
Diluc opens his mouth to protest but falls silent when he notices the look between his brother and the Deaconess.
"Hold on a minute, if I didn't know any better Kaeya I'd think you seemed almost pleased about this," the tycoon accuses, crossing his arms as he turns to face his brother.
"Then I suppose it's a good thing you do know better," Kaeya returns with a soft chortle.
"How long have you known about their relationship, Kaeya?"
"Is that really necessary?" Lisa asks with an awkward chuckle.
"Yes, Lisa it is," Diluc snaps back as he moves to join Jean. "At first I wasn't surprised that the Knights of Favonius seemed oblivious of the Eleventh Harbinger's interest in Barbara and simply chalked it up to good old-fashioned incompetence. But now that I think of it, there's no way all of you missed the warning signs."
"If you've got something to say Lucy spit it out," Kaeya challenges with a condescending smirk.
"Don't call me that!"
"Calm down guys, please," Jean implores the brothers as she and Lisa move between them.
"Well?" Albedo asks softly, teal eyes focused on the songstress as he approaches her. "Do you want to keep it? Just say the word and I would brew you a potion that will dissolve it. You don't have to decide right now. But do think about it."
"A child is a precious gift, Mr. Albedo," Barbara gasps, clutching her hand to her chest as her other hand flies to cradle her growing belly.
"Does he deserve it?" The Chief Alchemist presses, teal eyes watching her carefully. "Having a child with a harbinger would draw unwanted scrutiny upon your family."
"I know," Barbara sighs. "Tha-thank you f-f-for your concern. But I've made up my mind. I'm keeping the baby and telling its father."
"Then what?" Diluc asks, his features hardening. "You don't honestly expect the Eleventh Harbinger to leave the Fatui, do you?"
"I don't," Barbara admits, as she turns to give him a small smile. "Which is why I've decided to keep my promise."
"Offer? What offer?" Jean asks, thoroughly confused.
"During the Lantern Rite Festival, I promised him that I would join the Fatui since he wouldn't leave them. You know a-as a d-double agent."
"With all due respect that is one of the most preposterous things I've ever heard," Diluc snaps, clenching his fists as they fall to his side. When he notices Kaeya's calm demeanor his temper flares as a pulse of pyro energy flies to his fingertips. "You. You put her up to this, didn't you?"
"I don't understand. What's going on?" Lisa asks, slightly alarmed.
"Diluc? Calm down alright?" Jean pleads as she presses a gloved hand into her lover's chest. "Let's talk about this."
"We are talking," the winery tycoon shoots back hotly. "Your sister isn't listening. This is the Fatui we're talking about here. These are powerful people who commit the most heinous crimes at the behest of an archon. We know that they're after the gnoses. We don't need a double agent risking their life to tell us what we already know."
"Then how about risking our lives to find out what we don't already know?" Kaeya challenges coldly. "Or are you content with fumbling blindly in the dark?"
"For your information I have been investigating the Fatui for the past five years," Diluc retorts.
"And yet we are no closer to understanding how and why delusions are made," Kaeya scoffs. "If I remember correctly, you lost father's delusion before we even had a chance to study it properly."
"Five years ago," Albedo mutters as he strokes his chin with a contemplative frown. "It could be nothing but wasn't that around the time the Eleventh Harbinger was promoted?"
"I believe so," Lisa replies. "Why? Do you think it has something to do with Diluc's activities against the Fatui?"
"It might be a stretch, but I don't think the Eleventh Harbinger's promotion around that time was coincidental," the Chief Alchemist surmises. "From what we know, the ten other harbingers favor blackmail and subterfuge to advance their interests. This has clearly served them well and yet just as the Fatui started ramping up their activities in Teyvat, the Tsaritsa promoted a battle-hardened warrior with a hydro vision to the rank of harbinger. The only way that makes sense is if they were trying to insure against someone interfering in their activities."
"You think the Tsaritsa promoted him because of me?" Diluc asks calming down.
"It makes sense if the Tsaritsa did not want to risk anything going wrong," Lisa muses. "If that's the case, then that makes things even more dangerous for Barbara."
"What do you mean?" The songstress asks, thoroughly confused.
"Think about it. If he was trying to keep an eye on Diluc and the Knights of Favonius, a relationship with you would be the easiest and most efficient way," Albedo explains.
"N-no y-you don't understand," Barbara protests earnestly, shaking her head. "A-Ajax c-cares for me."
"Just because he cares about you doesn't mean he's above using you," Diluc informs her with a pitying sigh. "People lie and deceive their loved ones all the time."
"If it makes you feel any better, he tried to get close to Lumine too when they first met in Liyue Harbor," Albedo adds. "He approached her and revealed himself as a harbinger then kept popping up every now and then helping her out while secretly using her to advance his goals. Luckily, she and Paimon had kept their guards up around him and were able to face him when he revealed his true colors."
Overcome with emotion, Barbara shakes her head valiantly as she reaches up to cover her ears with both hands. But the Dandelion Knight's hands gently nudge her fingers away, prompting the songstress to meet her older sister's gaze.
"You need to hear this, Barbara," Jean states simply. "Please."
"You have to understand, Barbara," Diluc says, pinching the bridge of his nose in exhaustion. "The Fatui are the type of people to prey on others. They do it so frequently it becomes second nature to them. Normal people like you and I have almost no way of seeing through their lies which is why you must never let them in. People forget that just because the Fatui do evil things doesn't make them any more different than the rest of us. Anyone who makes a habit out of destroying others' lives can never be trusted. Ever."
The Dandelion Knight pulls the trembling Deaconess into her arms, rocking her back and forth as she offers murmured words of comfort and assurance. The tightness in Barbara's chest grows as she clings to her older sister, burying her tear-streaked face into the softness of her sister's chest. She hears someone mutter something to Diluc in agreement but is far too distraught to pay attention as the heat of humiliation threatens to overwhelm her.
She remembers her conversation with Pulcinella the night before and wonders how so much of what had made sense then now appeared to be a farce. A cheap ploy to control and deceive her.
But why? Why me? What's so special about me?
While she had been understandably wary of the Fifth Harbinger's motives for visiting her, she had not seen through his lies because deep down inside part of her wanted to believe them. Deep down inside, she despaired at the thought of losing Ajax to either death, the darkness, or Signora. She wanted him in ways that frightened and unsettled her.
His face had filled every waking thought ever since that fateful night when she had nursed him back to life. Late at night when all was still, she lay awake in bed replaying those frantic moments of bliss when all the world had fallen away as he had entered her. Sometimes, she helped his phantom hands along with her own, pulling and plunging her fingers into her writhing frame. When those moments passed, she consoled herself by remembering that she was one day closer to seeing him again.
While the thought of becoming a mother still frightens and overwhelms her, she could hardly deny the joy she feels at the thought of sharing a child with him. Against her better judgment, she often found herself wondering how much of him their child would inherit. The same part of her that wanted to run away with him wanted so desperately for their children to inherit his rust-colored hair and piercing blue eyes. If only so that they would remind her of him whenever he was away.
Perhaps it was a dream. I must have made it all up. She wonders, shaking her head as she desperately tries to recall her conversation with the Fifth Harbinger. What sort of name is Pulcinella anyways?
Diluc was right. She had to move on. She could not join the Fatui. Not for Ajax's sake. She had a child to consider not to mention the untold suffering she would cause her family and friends by joining the very organization they risked their lives to thwart.
"I need to get her home," Jean informs the group after some time. "She's not feeling well."
"I'll follow you," Lisa offers. "I might have a potion or two to cheer her up."
"I'll continue investigating the vision's appearance," Albedo states, frowning deeply. "With any luck this phenomenon could be the key to learning the truth of this world."
"I'll head upstairs and see if Charles needs a hand," Diluc says as he moves to follow Jean. "Want me to help you hail a carriage while I'm up there?"
"Yes, please," Jean nods.
They exchange their goodbyes and are about to return to the tavern above when the cellar door flies open.
"Master Diluc," Charles cries out before pausing to catch his breath. "H-have you seen the acting Grand Master? Huffman says he can't find Mr. Albedo and she's not in her office."
"I'm here," the Dandelion Knight announces from the foot of the stairs where she was trailing behind the redhaired vintner. "Is something wrong?"
"Why is Huffman looking for me?" the Chief Alchemist wonders as he steps forward.
"M-Mr. A-Albedo! Pl-please come quick," Charles calls out. "Someone's been killed."
"Someone?!" Lisa and Jean chorus in shock.
Kaeya and Diluc hurry past the breathless bartender and slip through the door, intent on confronting Huffman for answers.
"Do you know who?" Albedo wonders.
"I'm not sure but it must be some Snezhnayan big shot," the bartender replies. "Apparently the entire Fatui delegation at the Grand Goth Hotel descended on the Knights of Favonius headquarters demanding answer."
"And you didn't catch a name?" Lisa asks as they emerge from the cellar.
"According to Huffman, some of the Fatui agents were referring to him as 'Lord Pulcinella'."
It's all my fault. Barbara assures herself dejectedly, averting her gaze from the gap between the Dawn Winery's second story guest bedroom window.
Even from this distance, the strain in her older sister's frame was evident as she mounts her horse to join the redhaired vintner on his evening ride to Springvale.
So much had changed in the miserable two months that had followed the Fifth Harbinger's shocking death that recounting the dizzying procession of events often left her disoriented.
The shock of Pulcinella's death had left her precious little time to gather her thoughts. And the past sixty days had the longest she had ever gone without seeing her older sister. While Barbara often went out of her way to visit the Dandelion Knight whenever the latter got carried away with work, she had done her best to stay out of Jean's way out of a sense of guilt.
News of the Fifth Harbinger's shocking demise in Mondstadt had spread throughout Teyvat like wildfire, attracting curious tourists, would-be sleuths, and incorrigible journalists from all over the continent. While no one could agree on exactly how he had died, everyone agreed that he had been murdered. And had the Tsaritsa herself not intervened, the exact cause of his demise would surely not have perished with him.
At first Barbara had discounted the first murmurs of the Tsaritsa's refusal of an autopsy as the sort of wild speculation her colleagues at the Cathedral picked up during their visits to the market square and shared on their way to vesper service. For why would the Eighth Harbinger forbid Albedo's to conduct an autopsy.
Surely the Tsaritsa would want to know how exactly one of her own harbingers died. She had reasoned to herself.
Barring an autopsy only ensured that the Fifth Harbinger's murder would remain unsolved. And yet that had been what the Tsaritsa and her favored envoy had done. When the Dandelion Knight had refused the Eighth Harbinger's demands to halt the autopsy, the Fair Lady had simply marched into the Knight of Favonius headquarters with an entourage of burly Fatui skirmishers and seized the Fifth Harbinger's body directly off the examination table.
When Master Diluc and Captain Kaeya received word of the standoff, they had hurried to assist the acting Grand Master only to arrive in time to watch Signora depart with her colleague's corpse. Alarmed by the probability of the Fair Lady fleeing the city with Pulcinella's body, Dandelion Knight had sealed the city and written to the Tsaritsa imploring her to recall Signora and allow the Knights' investigation to proceed unimpeded.
Without deigning to acknowledge the acting Grand Master's letters, the Tsaritsa had gone over her head and written personally to Grand Master Varka himself, warning him to order the acting Grand Master to stand down. Much to the chagrin of Kaeya and Diluc, the vaunted Knight of Boreas had honored the Tsaritsa's request, advising his subordinate to leave Signora be.
When news broke of the Grand Master's orders postponing Pulcinella's autopsy indefinitely, the normally reserved winery tycoon had issued a series of scathing public statements condemning the Grand Master's decision and demanding an explanation. When public sentiment began to rally behind the redhaired vintner, Barbara's father had personally written to Cardinal Calvin his instructions on how to counter the negative coverage through sermons.
While Lisa, Jean, and Kaeya had mostly kept their thoughts on to themselves, it was evident to their loved ones that the Grand Master's orders had deeply conflicted and disturbed them.
By the time tempers had cooled, the Eighth Harbinger had departed Mondstadt with her colleague's body, taking with her all hope of ever solving her colleague's murder. At first news of the harbingers' departure were regarded as simply rumors designed to conceal the investigation's actual findings and dissuade more foreigners from entering the city. While the acting Grand Master tried to quell the growing unrest, the rumored findings of Pulcinella's autopsy had only encouraged a spate of break-ins into the cathedral and the knights' headquarters. Naturally, this only created more work for the already overwhelmed knights and church staff the latter of which was eventually forced to commission local adventurers and hunters to guard the cathedral in shifts.
Even after the harbingers' departure from Mondstadt several Snezhnayan expatriates in Liyue and Mondstadt had gone out of their way to harass members of the Church and Knights of Favonius for answers. Ignoring the Tsaritsa's own hand in derailing the investigation, they had sent angry letters and death threats decrying the Knights' incompetence and personally hounding every single knight or sister they encountered in public. Barbara had been no exception and quickly drew the lion's share of scrutiny and criticism for her perceived complicity.
While the songstress was used to feeling trapped and overwhelmed by the unwanted attention of strangers, it was the first time she had ever encountered that much hostility from so many people at once. Her mood and appetite had suffered so greatly that Noelle and Lisa had to physically remove her to her father's cottage in Springvale.
But a particularly resourceful detective from Liyue Harbor had managed to track her down and had cornered her one afternoon while she had been tending to her father's garden. Badly shaken up by the encounter, Barbara had fled indoors and had refused to emerge or let anyone inside until Diluc had ridden from the Dawn Winery to whisk her back to his ancestral home where she had remained till this day, on the eve of her departure for Snezhnaya. But the damage had already been done. The reporter had seen enough of Barbara's swollen belly to deduce the exact state of her condition.
Against Jean and Barbara's protests Diluc had insisted on her remaining there while he personally moved to buy the reporter's silence. While the Deaconess would have wanted nothing more than to delay the inevitable indefinitely, she had decided to confess before the reporter could expose her. And so, she had written to her father, explaining in text what she would have rather conveyed in person. The wait for his response had been the most agonizing of her life but when it had come it had simply inquired about her health and when she planned to inform her mother.
Barbara had not realized how much weight his approval had lifted from her shoulders until the following morning when she had awoken in bed completely at peace with the world. Next, she had summoned her mother to the Dawn Winery and confessed her condition. Frederica Gunnhildr had been so stunned by the sight of her youngest child's growing stomach that she had pressed her own trembling hands directly onto her skin to confirm what her eyes and ears relayed. By the time she had recovered her senses, three weeks had passed, and the Cardinal of Daybreak had already returned to Mondstadt secretly.
Diluc Ragnvindr had welcomed Seamus Pegg into a neighboring guest room, allowing him and his former spouse to meet with the songstress. Barbara had been so overjoyed to see her father that she had rushed to greet him with a deep hug.
"Have you told its father?" the Cardinal had asked as he had finally released her. She had shaken her head in response and allowed the shadow of a frown to twist her lips for she knew what she needed to do but was loathe to broach the subject.
Since Pulcinella's death she had started many letters to the Eleventh Harbinger. Two she had actually finished, four remained incomplete, and only one had been reduced to ash. Every now and then she found herself reading the finished letters to herself and mulling over the unfinished missives whenever her thoughts returned to that fateful night when Pulcinella had stolen into her room.
While she had always known that the Fifth Harbinger's visit had not fallen merely to chance, she now recognized it for the desperate plea that it surely had been. If Pulcinella was to be believed, the Fatui's cruelty was not by design but a symptom of its recent corruption. If the Fifth Harbinger could have grown disillusioned with the Tsaritsa's ways, perhaps other harbingers had done so too.
Could Ajax have been one of them? Was that why someone had gone through the trouble of poisoning him? She often wondered. And if he was how would she know?
Pulcinella had urged her to compel the Tsaritsa to leave Ajax to her. But she knew nothing of the Tsaritsa and so she did not know how. What hymns would she sing to melt the tyrant's heart? If Amos and Gunnhildr had failed to sway the archon they had both loved dearly all those years ago, what hope did she have to influence an archon she had never met?
Sleep had eluded her for several days as her thoughts wrestled with the futility of her endeavor. While she knew what she had to do, she lacked the courage and conviction to take the very first steps. Until seven days ago when Alice had returned to Mondstadt.
She had stolen into the Dawn Winery by moonlight and would have passed unnoticed had she not woken Barbara when she had laid her head atop the Deaconess' swollen belly.
"I'm sorry did I wake you?" Alice murmurs, the hint of a smile tugging her lips as she reaches to stroke the groggy songstress' cheek affectionately.
"A-A-Alice?!" Barbara exclaims, not daring to believe her eyes until the older woman scoots close enough to softly press a long finger against her lips. "It is you?"
"Indeed," Alice giggles as she embraces Barbara. Their attention falls to the space between them where the evidence of the Eleventh Harbinger's child lay bare beneath the fabric of her nightgown. "Oh, my darling, you've grown so much! Tell me, what have you been eating?!"
"Oh, Alice," Barbara sighs, shaking her head as she calmly lifts the Mage's palm and places it gentle atop her belly. "I'm not full. I'm pregnant."
"Well of course you are dear," Alice huffs as the songstress releases her hand. "Which is why I asked what have you been eating? When I was pregnant with little Klee, why I ate nothing but Sunsettias for almost two weeks. Gave me the runs! But no matter, my husband finally intervened and forced me to eat a more balanced diet. So, you'd better be careful not to neglect your diet, now."
"Yes, Alice," the Deaconess replies with a half-smile.
"What's wrong dear?" Alice asks, leaning forward to rest her forehead against the songstress' own as their eyes meet.
"I'm in love with a harbinger," Barbara summarizes. "He's asked me to join the Fatui. I don't really want to, but I know that if I don't…I'll lose him forever!"
At this, the Deaconess falls forward, wrapping her hands around the cooing mage as she sobs into her shoulder.
"There, there now," Alice soothes, rocking back and forth as she embraces the songstress' trembling form. "Was he the same one that Albedo wanted to kill back in February?"
Barbara considers her response before nodding.
"Al-Alice I'm frightened," the songstress confesses. "I don't want to lose him. But I'm so afraid."
"Come now, Barbara, this isn't you," the Mage tuts. "Where's that sweet girl who swore to become the perfect idol?"
"Alice, please," Barbara moans, her shoulders slumping visibly. "This is serious."
"So am I," Alice protests with an exaggerated huff. "You read the idol magazine I gave you, didn't you? What did it say?"
"It said that to be an idol I have to work hard to get people to like me and…and bring spiritual h-healing t-th-through by singing and dancing."
"I was on the Alcor when you performed," Alice informs her, a muted reverence alight in her golden eyes. "You were absolutely mesmerizing. Breathtaking! Your voice…those songs…they brought so much joy to every single person that heard you sing that day. I was there, I felt it. And I know he did too."
"Thank you, Alice. Truly. Hearing that from you…means the world to me."
"But this time the world is not enough, it seems," the Adventurer notes with a shrewd smile. "You want more."
"I want him to leave," Barbara confesses. "No. I want him to stop killing. But he enjoys it. He told me as much."
"Do you remember what I told you about the magic in music?" Alice queries, a knowing smile teasing the corners of her lips as she regards the Deaconess patiently.
"About how it reveals the true nature of a person's heart?" Barbara asks after some thought.
"Precisely," the Mage nods. "I saw the way he looked at you after your performance. The way he kissed you. That was the look of pure love."
"But I asked him to leave the Fatui that night and he refused," Barbara protests shaking her head.
"Perhaps he is bound to them by some oath," Alice shrugs. "Evil organizations like that sure do love to get their members to swear to do all sorts of nasty things. It wouldn't surprise me if the Tsaritsa did the same with the harbingers."
"So how do I reach him?" The songstress asks, a sigh heavy on her voice as her gaze falls to her swollen stomach. "I-I l-love h-him. B-but I do-don't want to join the Fatui."
Alice rises and moves to Barbara's writing desk where she rummages through the drawer until she discovers the stack of letters the songstress had written to her lover.
"You're an idol Barbara" the Mage informs her matter-of-factly. "It's time you start acting like one."