Iris sat in the room she'd been given and brushed out her long red hair. She took slow, even strokes through the curly tresses until they were silky soft waves. She set the brush down on the vanity and sighed at her reflection. The dress that the royals of Fried had loaned her was beautiful, and it felt good to wear a dress again after so long. Strange, but good. The neckline of the dress scooped low enough so that part of her injury could be seen. She picked up the powder on the vanity and patted at it again, but the bruising refused to be covered completely. She put the powder down, admitting defeat, and grabbed her cane, leaning on it heavily as she stood.
Her knee was mending, albeit slowly, but it was mending. She walked out of her room and into the halls of Freid's castle. She limped with her cane down to the throne room and was greeted kindly as she sat on a chair in the room to wait.
Today she would finally see her brother again.
After capturing Dilandau and the other slayers, the soldiers and helped Iris back to the castle, explaining that someone on the wall had indeed recognized her as the princess of the destroyed Rolowen that day of the attack. The General had been informed of her situation as a hostage of Zaibach and had sent a search party out for her.
Iris didn't bother to fill them in on the obvious holes in their theory.
Finding Dilandau and his slayers had just been a mere coincidence of the search, though the king thought it a happy one, and Iris wasn't so sure how she felt. She was happy to be free of Zaibach, of course, but hated the fact that her friends were imprisoned in the dungeon. Dilandau was kept in a different part of the castle in a drug-induced sleep, and had been kept in that condition for two days now.
Iris had informed the king about her brother's situation, and they had made a deal with Zaibach. Iris's brother for their slayers and the Captain.
Eric was to be delivered today, and Iris was nervous and excited about it. Suddenly, the doors of the throne room were opened, and four Zaibach guards entered, all surrounding a little boy. Iris leaned on her cane and stood, tears springing to her eyes when she glimpsed her brother.
Eric looked around the room warily. When he spotted Iris, he was shocked at first, then relief washed through his body like cool water. She wasn't in a Dragonslayer uniform. She must have only done that so that she could trap them here. He grinned and tried to run for Iris.
When Iris saw him smile at her, all her fears were washed away as her tears cascaded down her face with relief. But when he tried to run to his big sister, the guards grabbed him and stopped him.
"Not so fast, junior." The guard looked up at the king. "Our men?" he questioned.
"They are being escorted here as we speak." The king smiled.
"Unhand him!" Iris demanded when she saw Eric wince at the hard grip the guard had on his arm.
"Not until we see the Slayers and Captain Albatou." The guard demanded, pulling Eric back into the middle of their little group.
Eric frowned and looked at Iris. She smiled at him encouragingly. "It's alright, Eric. Just a bit longer."
The doors to the throne room opened again, and the slayers were marched in one by one, with a guard behind each of them.
The Zaibach narrowed his eyes. "You're short one slayer, and where is Captain Albatou?"
Eric grew tired of waiting, and since the guard's grip on his arm had unknowingly lessened, he decided that he wanted to see his older sister now, not later. He made a run for it, tossing his little arms open. "Iris!" he squealed with delight.
Iris's eyes went wide when she saw him run towards her. "Eric, no!"
"Now," the king said, and archers loosed their crossbow arrows at the four Zaibach guards, killing each of them before they even had time to reach for their blades. The Dragonslayers struggled in protest, and were each rewarded with the hilt of a sword in their backs, knocking them all unconscious as the guards carried out their king's plan to the letter.
"Iris!" Eric cried out in alarm and buried his head in his sister's shoulder as Iris leaned down to pull him into her arms protectively.
"It's alright, Eric." She cooed, stroking his hair and turning away from the bloody scene.
"You did it!" Eric said, his voice muffled with tears and Iris's shoulder. "You said you'd payback Zaibach for what they did and you did it! You caught all the slayers and that bad Dilandau-guy! I knew you would do it, and I'm sorry for being mad at you. I just didn't understand that you had it all planned out. I'm sorry!" Eric began crying harder and tightening his little arms around her.
"Oh, Eric," Iris sighed, placing her cheek on his head and holding him tight. Should she just let well enough alone and let him just believe that about her? Could she lie to him like that? 'Not now,' Iris told herself. 'I can deal with that later. Right now I have my brother back and that is all that matters in the world.'
That wasn't exactly true, she knew, as a part of her mind was forever with Dilandau.
"I'm tired, Iris. They wouldn't let me sleep last night." Eric said, leaning on Iris.
"Well I know just the place where we can take care of that problem." Iris said, and leaned on her cane to stand.
"Is it a warm comfy bed?" Eric asked, smiling sleepily up at her. "Cuz I haven't had one of those in a while. Those cots on the fortress were not soft at all."
"It's a wonderfully soft bed with hundreds of pillows and a soft down comforter." Iris said, grabbing his hand in her left and her cane in her right.
Eric yawned and noticed her cane. "Are you hurt, Iris?" he asked, looking up at her.
"Just a little bit, Eric. You needn't worry. This way," Iris said as she led him through the doors and out into the hall. Before she left, she turned to the king and bowed as deep as her leg would allow. "Thank you, your majesty. Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart. You have no idea what it means to me to have my brother back safe."
"You're welcome, child." The king nodded his head to her and smiled, pleased with her actions.
Iris tucked Eric into her bed, and smiled down at him. "Warm and comfy?" she asked.
"The comfiest." Eric yawned. "Sing to me, Iris. Please."
"Alright." Iris began a lullaby that her mother had taught her. She sang softly to Eric and soothingly brushed her fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes, smiling slightly as sleep took his hand and pulled him down into its endless depths.
"Hush now, my baby. Be still, love, don't cry. Sleep as you're rocked by the stream.
Sleep and remember my river lullaby, and I'll be with you when you dream.
Drift on a river that flows through my arms. Drift as I'm singing to you.
I see you smiling so peaceful and calm. Holding you I'm smiling too.
Here in my arms, safe from all harm…holding you I'm smiling too…."***
Iris curled around her brother and fell fast asleep beside him, holding his little body close to hers and promising to never let go again.
***This lullaby is not an original. It is a version of the one sung in the movie "The Prince of Egypt". I thought it was a sweet and wonderful lullaby and would work well here. I don't own anything that has to do with "The Prince of Egypt", however, and recommend that you all see it if you haven't. It's a beautiful movie.
~*~*~*~
Gatti paced in his cell, mad as all hell. He kicked the bars with his foot and swore loudly.
"Damn it, Gatti, if you don't sit down and just fucking relax I'm going to knock you out cold." Dalet growled, nursing a rather large cut on his lip and chin.
"This is all her fault. It's all that goddamned princess's fault." Gatti said, placing his back against the bars and sliding down into a sitting position.
"Leave it alone, Gatti," Miguel sad quietly, absently rubbing the bruise on the back of his head.
"She lures Dilandau-sama away from us and distracts him while her precious heroes from Freid come and ambush the shit out of us. Never would have happened if Dilandau-sama had been there. He'd have heard them coming a mile away." Gatti picked up a small pebble that lay on the floor and threw it savagely against the cell wall opposite of him.
"Well he wasn't there, was he? So get over it and quit your bitching." Guimel said as the pebble that Gatti had thrown bounced into his lap.
"He wasn't there because of her. Everything has gone all wrong since she's been here. I wish Folken had walked in a moment later-"
"Gatti! For the love of Gaea, shut your mouth!" Miguel snapped his head up, his eyes tossing daggers towards Gatti.
"You gonna shut it for me then, Miguel?" Gatti taunted dangerously.
"If you keep it up, then yes I suppose I'll have to."
"How noble of you, Labariel. Protecting the princess's honor, are you? Forget about what you owe to Dilandau-sama?"
That's all it took. Miguel launched himself at Gatti and forced him up by grabbing his jacket. He pushed him up against the bars, with his forearm against Gatti's throat, and his other hand immobilizing Gatti by pushing on the pressure point on top of his collarbone with his thumb. (Do I know if this is a real pressure point? No, I just know it hurts like hell to push there real hard, try it…carefully, of course)
Gatti grunted and struggled, and Miguel brought his face close. "Don't ever question my loyalties to Dilandau-sama? Get me? Not ever."
"Just making sure…Miguel," Gatti gasped, having trouble breathing because Miguel's forearm was squeezing his esophagus shut. "It's hard to tell…with you…sneaking around with her…at night. Tell me, Miguel…is she that much of a slut?" Gatti grinned at the pale rage in Miguel's face before shoving him off with his foot. Miguel fell back and Gatti pounced on him, turning him onto his stomach and locking his arms painfully behind him. "I wondered as much when she tried to sneak into my bunk at night," he whispered in Miguel's ear, laughing when Miguel tried in vain to buck him off. "She begged me for it, Miguel. Something about how you just couldn't please her?" Gatti laughed again as Miguel screamed at him to shut up.
Dalet and Guimel grabbed hold of Gatti and dragged him off of Miguel. Chesta grabbed onto Miguel when he immediately sprung up and went after Gatti's blood.
"Knock it off, both of you! This is ridiculous. It isn't getting us anywhere and it won't prove anything." Chesta said, letting go of his hold on Miguel's arm and shoving him back against the cell wall. "Grow up and get your priorities straight! Dilandau-sama and Viole are laying up there somewhere totally defenseless. I mean, who knows if Viole is still alive, and I don't even want to think about what they may do to Dilandau-sama while he's half out of it because of those damn drugs? They may decide to torture him, or kill him for that matter!" all the other slayers winced a bit at this. "You both need to get your heads out of your asses and think of someone else other then yourselves for a change. You need to work together so that we can save Dilandau-sama! Gods!" Chesta sighed in frustration as he ended his little rant, and the other slayers just stared at him.
"He's absolutely right. Now both of you, shake hands and forget about the damn female, please?" Dalet said, shaking his head and mumbling things about 'this is why everyone should have a Y chromosome....',
Refina scoffed at that. "Oh, right. That would make the world a wonderful place to live," she sneered, sarcasm dripping from her mouth. This earned her a few harsh glances, but Refina merely smiled sweetly and blew them each a kiss.
Miguel glared at Gatti, and Gatti stared back just as harshly. Gatti was the first to submit. "To hell with this, let's just get on with it." He stuck his hand out, not quite looking Miguel in the eye.
Miguel scowled and grabbed Gatti's hand. They shook once, very quickly, then dropped each other's hands as if the other was a leper.
"Good. Now both of you sit and lets think of a way to get ourselves out of this mess." Chesta said quietly.
"Well, we could always-" Dalet began, rather loudly.
Refina cuffed him upside his head. "Hush up, you idiot! Your marvelous plan won't do us a bit of good if every prison guard hears it,"
Dalet rubbed his head and stuck out his tongue at Refina.
"You do that again and I'll bite it off," she threatened.
Dalet wiggled his eyebrows at her. "You promise?"
Refina rolled her eyes, elbowing him in the gut rather ferociously. She leaned in to listen to the plan Chesta and Gatti were discussing as Dalet rubbed his sore ribs and followed suit.
~*~*~
Thick, sticky, black tar. Surely that is what it was. Like in the tar pits of Basram, Dilandau thought. It surrounded his legs and arms, making it impossible to move his appendages. Pound and pounds of sand held his head down, and his eyes must have been stitched shut. A weight was on his chest, something heavy, he could barely breathe.
Dilandau felt he must have been buried alive. He couldn't breathe, couldn't move, it was all very infuriating to him.
And frightening. Though he'd be six feet under for real before he'd ever admit that.
Dilandau couldn't hold his thoughts together. The memory of what had happened was there, it was somewhere in the black void of his thoughts, and just when he'd thought he'd reached it, it would flutter away as his conscious mind decided to fail him again.
Echoes, echoes all around him. Blotches of colors hovering around him at times, only to echo for a bit them waver off. Dilandau also wondered, during this time, if he'd finally lost his mind, for he truly felt himself to be in a state of delirium.
His mind told him to stop fighting the feeling, to just ride this experience out and let it take him to wherever it would. To let it take control.
Fuck that.
Dilandau would never let anything else take control away from him. So he continued to fight, and finally, after days of fogginess and echoes, he broke through to the surface. His memories rushed back to him, he remembered his slayers being ambushed, and he remembered the Freid soldiers. So smug and cocky. He'd wipe those shit-faced grins off their faces soon enough. He remembered swimming, he remembered…Iris.
Iris.
New waves of emotion swept over him all at once, leaving him confused and lost in his thoughts again. He was furious with her, of course, for distracting him and letting him and his slayers be caught. But there were other feelings there as well. He knew they were new to his body, and he liked and loathed them at the same time. He hated they way she made him feel when she was near him, and he loved the surge of power he felt when it was he who made her proud face blush or cringe in fear. The feeling when she'd kissed him, when it hadn't been he in control…he'd panicked at first, knowing he wasn't in control, but then, the feeling, it had been so…
Dilandau shook his head and blinked open his eyes. No time for dealing with new feelings. Feelings were useless to him. Right now, he needed brains, and his was slowly breaking free of the drugs and returning to working order.
Dilandau gave no outward evidence of this, however. He stayed still, and let his eyes stay fixed and unfocused whenever they sent someone to check on him. Of course, the minute they tried to pump more of that drug in his arm he'd have to break his act, but until then, he wanted to listen, to learn, and to plan.
~*~*~*~
Iris awoke to a gentle shaking of her shoulder. She tried to slap the hand sleepily away, mumbling for two more minutes, when she heard a giggle.
"Iris, you have to wake up or you won't get any breakfast." Eric giggled as Iris tossed a pillow at him playfully.
"Why don't you be a good brother and bring me up something?" Iris mumbled into her pillow.
"I'm not your slave." Eric said, throwing the pillow back towards Iris. He was surprised however when her arm shot out and caught the pillow before it could hit her. Iris sat up and smiled at Eric, raising her eyebrow.
"You wanna bet?" Iris immediately jumped from the bed and pounced on Eric, tickling him without mercy. Eric went into fits of giggles and guffaws, trying to roll away from Iris the whole time.
The door to their room opened and an old maid stood in the doorway. She cleared her throat and looked at the two disapprovingly.
Iris and Eric stopped and looked up from their positions on the floor. Iris pushed her hair back out of her face and looked up at the maid as if everything was normal. "Yes?" Iris asked, still pinning Eric to the floor.
The maid raised her eyebrow and sniffed a great nostril at the two before continuing. "His majesty would like to speak with you both, if you could manage to make it down to breakfast," the maid added, sniffing at them again.
Iris smirked and rolled her eyes at Eric where the maid couldn't see. Eric erupted into another fit of laughs and had to clamp his hand over his mouth. "Oh, I see. Well, we will try our best to, um, manage our way down, madam. Right away."
"Will you be needing any assistance, then?" the old woman asked, not even looking at Iris, saying this not out of kindness, but out of habit.
"Oh, I don't think so. I'll think we'll manage. Can you manage?" she asked, looking down at Eric.
"I'll manage," he said, and smothered another giggle.
"You'll manage." She looked up at the maid. "He'll manage."
"Will you manage, then, Iris?" Eric asked, fighting for a straight face.
"I'll manage to manage."
"She'll manage."
Iris looked up and smiled sweetly at the maid. "We'll manage."
The maid heaved a great sigh and shut the door.
Iris and Eric collapsed in laughter.
~*~*~*~
Folken paced in his room, high above Gaea in the Vionne. His hand to his mouth, he swished back and forth across the dimly lit room in his long cape.
Betrayed. He figured that was exactly what Freid had planned, which is why he had sent four Zaibach guards whom had no family. Well, truth be told, he'd only planned on sending three, but one man had insisted on annoying the hell out of him. It was just lucky that he too turned out to have no family.
"Folken-sama? Perhaps if we attacked on the northern side of the city, sir. The palace is closest to the Southern side, and their defenses would be drawn away, leaving the castle under-guarded so that we could collect the dragonslayers and Captain Albatou." One of the Generals offered.
"If we attack, they'll kill him. I have no doubt of that. They have no use for him, only as ransom, but they aren't interested in money." Folken growled.
"What is it they want then, Folken?" Asked the frustrated general.
"That's simple," Folken said, slanting his eyes at the general over his shoulder. "The complete and utter destruction of the Zaibach empire. It's what everyone wants."
"So what do we do then, sir?" a guard asked, after recovering from Folken's frank and to the point answer. "Just leave Dilandau and his slayers as casualties of war?"
"Gods, no." Folken said, smiling a bit. "We need him. We need them. Without Dilandau and his slayers, this war is already over."
The Generals in the room bristled a bit. "I beg your pardon, Folken. I believe our army is quite capable of defending itself."
"Shut up, you know he's right." Growled General Adelphos(sp?). "What do you propose, Folken?" Adelphos asked, knowing Folken always had a plan.
"An inside job."
"A what?"
"How the hell do you propose to do that?"
"The girl…" Adelphos guessed quietly, after the other generals had jumped up to complain. Folken nodded at him.
"What girl?"
"The AWOL dragonslayer."
"The girl who betrayed us? Why the hell do you think she'll help us? She's the one who got Captain Albatou and his slayers into this mess if you'd remember correctly."
"Anger is strong, but not a strong as the strings of the human heart." Folken said quietly.
"What is that bullshit?" one general sneered.
"Wait, are you saying that you are relying on the hope that this girl retains some sort of feelings for Dilandau?" Adelphos gaped.
Folken only nodded.
"This is Dilandau Albatou we're talking about. The most evil and sadistic bastard in the entire Zaibach army. In all of Zaibach for that matter! And you're saying she has feelings for him?" one general huffed.
"And he for her." Folken said, turning.
"Well now I know you're crazy. The day that monster can feel is the day I change my name to Sally."
Folken smirked a bit at that. "I have been observing them for her entire stay aboard this Vionne. I can see that they feel for each other. I've seen the affection with my own eyes. Believe me, gentlemen, it's there and it's real. She'll spring him for us, I know it. It's only a matter of time."
"So we have to wait for this love-struck princess to decide she wants to see her prince charming?" A general scoffed. "That's just great."
"We won't have to wait too long, Dornkirk-sama is seeing to that."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"He's using the Destiny Engine to pull on her a bit. Make up her mind for her a bit sooner. You'll see, gentlemen, you'll see." Folken walked out leaving the four demon generals of Zaibach confused and at a loss for words.
~*~*~*~
