A/N: Here we go I guess. Welcome to Fantastic Plants and Why Gren Hides Them. Hopefully this fic won't be too long. This is Pre-Dragon Prince, and Amaya and Gren are a tad OOC?
Normally, Amaya didn't resort to such shallow methods, skulking around behind pillars of the palace as she watched her right-hand man converse with other troops. She couldn't help it. She hadn't been allowed in Gren's room for over a week which typically wasn't a big deal, but he got very flustered very quickly whenever she'd try to kick down his door. What was he hiding?
If she squinted, Amaya could make out the conversation on the soldiers' lips, though it was choppy.
"She's pretty tender, she needs special treatment," Gren said, smiling.
The other soldier laughed. "Those kinds usually are pretty difficult to deal with, but I'm surprised you took her on even though it's been a while since you dealt with this."
'This' what? Amaya shuffled closer.
"So Antionette's a bit of a handful, but I just keep her in the dark and feed her and she's fine."
The blood drained out of Amaya's face. Gren was keeping a woman in his room? Why did he feel like he had to hide her? It sounded like she was in trouble too. Being confined in a soldier's quarters all day every day without proper exposure to the outside could be harmful and dangerous to someone's mental and physical state.
Despite the initial shock of a woman being captive in Gren's room, Amaya felt frustrated at her lack of knowledge on this Antionette girl. She'd figure out who she was. Giving up on their conversation that had moved onto other topics, Amaya left the soldiers to consult the Soldier Directory in the library. Maybe that would give her some clues.
The librarian didn't bother hiding her surprise as Amaya stormed into the royal library. She rarely made an appearance in the grand collection of rooms, but this was something she wasn't sure she'd be able to figure out herself. I need the Soldier Directory, Amaya signed to the still-stunned old woman perched behind the entrance desk.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're saying." She mumbled, awkwardly enough that Amaya could barely make out the words on her lips.
Exasperated, the general rolled her eyes and sighed in an overly-dramatic fashion. She motioned for a quill and parchment. Flustered, the woman fumbled for what Amaya had requested and in a typical Amaya-scrawl, she wrote Soldier Directory.
"O-oh," the woman stuttered, and thinking that Amaya couldn't read her mouth, she stole the quill and parchment from her, writing directions.
As it would be, the directory was in the most inconvenient place, furthest away from most of the books and stored high on a shelf in a storage sort of room. Must not have been used a lot, as it was written in once every year for new and deceased soldiers, upgraded ranks, and soldiers that were being trained. Figures that the book Amaya needed most was in such a location when solving the mystery of Gren's secret girlfriend was crucial to the moment. And she couldn't even guarantee if Antionette was a soldier or not.
The smell of dusty books assaulted her nose as she turned down a cramped hallway of bookshelves stuffed with ancient texts. Her nose itched and in response, she sneezed, but a few people poked their heads around the corners of the shelves. It felt big, but maybe it was loud too. She looked up for a moment, eyes off of her warpath to lock with Commander Gren, her right-hand-man and mystery-girlfriend-secret-keeper.
Amaya!, he signed, rather excitedly. He skipped towards her, like a boy, stopping directly in front of her. What are you looking for? You're not usually in the library.
It doesn't concern you, she motioned, curtly. His face fell and she almost felt bad, but then remembered his secret.
What's wrong? Is everything okay?
She hated how concerned he was, standing all close in front of her with his earthy and fresh smell, like the outdoors, and his gentle signs even though there was no intonation. This cramped space made her face redden though she didn't want it to and she shoved her way past him, continuing on her mission.
Maybe I wouldn't be mad at you if you weren't keeping secrets from me, she wanted to say, but didn't. She could've asked him right there about his secret girlfriend hidden away in his room (how did two people even fit on a single bed anyways?), but she'd rather figure it out herself or have him tell her without her prompts.
Eventually, Amaya found her way through the maze of bookshelves to the storage room buried behind the other bookshelves in the library, filled with official, but dated, royal documents. Using the key the librarian had given her, she turned it in the lock and swung the door open. It wasn't too hard to find, especially with a title as bold and swirly as it was stamped onto the spine of the book. She hefted the thick volume onto the table in the middle of the office that was drowning in dusty maps and dried-out quills. Something about Aaravos was scrawled on the corner of a map, but the rest of the paper had been ripped off.
Carelessly, she pushed the maps to the floor, only to create a whirlwind of more dust. To her annoyance, she sneezed three more times. As she flipped through the directory, she had found a few Antionettes that had deceased decades ago, but unless her best friend was secretly in seances or believed in the undead, she didn't think he was seeing one of those Antionettes. Just as she was about to flip to the more recent years of the directory, a freckled hand was placed on the table beside the book. Gren's hand. In a flash, Amaya slammed the book closed before he could read it.
What are you doing here? She was flustered, embarrassed at being caught. When she had turned around to face him, she realized how close he was leaning into her, hand still on the table. Had he not gotten on her nerves, her heart would've been pounding at the proximity.
I heard you sneeze. He looked as if he were on the verge of laughing out loud.
How'd you find me here?
He shrugged. I've been in here before. He snuck a glance at the title of the work on the table. Gren grinned. The Soldier Directory? I read that sometimes.
Was that how he found the room so well? Amaya once prided herself on being a general that could easily read directions, maps, and track things or people down (not as well as Corvus, though), but having her commander find this room in a flash made her grind her teeth. Why was he irking her so much all of the sudden? Just because of his secret? What's so interesting about the Soldier Directory that makes you read it?
Gren flushed suddenly, caught off guard. What had she stumbled upon? Nothing interesting, it's nothing, nothing, don't worry. His eyes were darting back and forth. Gren was so good at lying. He stepped backwards, rubbing the back of his neck.
Definitely lying, she thought. She knew him so well. His lying habits were scratching his nose and rubbing the back of his neck. Along with just being suspicious and nervous and lying poorly.
You're hiding something, she grinned. Amaya sat on the edge of the table with her arms crossed, waiting for him to confess.
Even in the dim light from the room she could tell his face was reddening. What? I'm not hiding anything. He tried to keep his facial expressions neutral, but his dark eyebrows were furrowed. He looked handsome in that moment, rosy cheeks and eyebrows that were drawn together. His fists were clenched as if he were prepared for a fight. It doesn't matter. I have to go. He turned and left as he had said.
Once the door closed behind him, Amaya frowned. How serious was his secret that he was keeping it from her? Did he not trust her anymore? Had she done anything to make him not trust her? Maybe he was done with their friendship and had found someone else he could share it with. Someone he could love.
Amaya tongued her cheek. Trivial. All her thoughts were trivial. He was seeing someone else and hiding it from her, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
Corvus only affirmed her assumptions about being too caught up in Gren's life outside of the palace. You want me to spy on him? His look was one of slight disgust.
Maybe it was foolish and clingy of her to ask, but it was worth a shot. He's hiding something from me, and I just want you to monitor where he goes and who he talks with.
Why can't you do that?, Corvus asked, and it was obvious he was starting to become bored with the conversation.
Because he'll suspect me. He'll see me easily and you're way better at tracking people than I am. Amaya grinned inwardly. Way to amp up his ego.
She could tell Corvus was surveying his options, wondering whether or not to listen to her. If he didn't, she'd have to pull out the 'general' card which she wasn't fond of using when it meant abusing her power. What had to be done had to be done. I guess I could… Corvus muttered weakly after a few moments.
Amaya beamed. I knew I could trust you.
A/N: Stay tuned.