Breath of Fire II, Katt, Bow, Rand, Sten, Ryu, Nina, Deis, Spar, and other characters as well as the Breath of Fire name are copyrights of Capcom. I do not own any of the characters from those games. Any similarities between my own Characters, and new BoF characters is purely coincidental
e-mail at kkisblpeen@aol.com
http://kirkis-elf.com
Days Ahead (Breath of Fire 2.5)
By Kirkis
Chapter six - To Wyndia: Out and about on the blue ocean
The crisp morning air always seemed to carry a comforting smell. Katt had always loved mornings, waking up before everyone else, with the exception of Nina, who seemed to wake up before the sun even rose. The morning was always nice because even though she loved them, sometimes she just needed a little time to herself. And there was no better time than morning. Katt sat on the small wood fence outside the Guild as the sun finally cleared the eastern mountain ranges. She'd always wanted to visit those eastern mountains so she could watch Kyt'kotou come out of his cave. When she was traveling through the land of Highfort, it was night when they traveled through the desert, and when they got into the mountains, they stuck to the western sides, so she missed that opportunity to see it. She sat there quietly, letting the warm rays kiss her cheeks.
"Oi sheila, yer up awful early, you do this all the time or is it cause you were out so long?" Kylie said from the doorway, rubbing her eyes. Katt looked back at her, and twitched her ears a little.
"Oh, I'm usually the first one up. You guys were up so late last night I thought you wouldn't be up for hours."
"Yeah well, The chief usually sleeps in, till around noon. I'm usually the first one up," She said, walking up toward Katt. She stopped, at the fence, beside Katt and draped her elbows over the rail. "It's been awhile since I actually watched the sun come up. I usually just get me some breakky and a heart starter," She said, grinning.
Her dirty-blonde hair was drawn up in a high ponytail. She was wearing a mans shirt, if she was wearing anything on her bottom it was covered by the long sky-blue button up. It was the first time Katt had really given her a good look over. She was small, shorter than Katt, maybe shorter than Bow. But she wasn't a delicate girl. Her arms and legs were very well toned, her hands weren't soft and dainty like Nina's, they looked more like sailors hand, though not as hard. Her face was very friendly, Katt had noticed that right off the bat. The extra large shirt made her frame seem smaller. Her bare feet looked almost out of place, as if they were a child's feet. Kylie looked up at Katt in confusion.
"What?" She asked suddenly. Katt's expression widened as she realized she'd been caught staring absently at Kylie.
"Oh, I uh," She replied, trying to hide her embarrassment. "I just never took a good look at you before," She finished. Kylie stepped back away from the fence holding her arms out. She glanced down at herself and then back at Katt.
"Well, take a good look love, so's ya don't forget me," She said, smiling. Katt giggled for a moment before she looked back out over the sea. Kylie stepped back toward the fence, draping her arms over it again.
"You're very pretty Kylie, do you take after your mother or you're father?" Katt asked suddenly in her usual naïve manner. Kylie looked up, shocked at Katt's words.
"Nob'dy's ever said I was pretty before," She said, gazing up at Katt.
"Why not, you are pretty?" Katt repeated. For a moment or two nothing more was said between them. Katt finally broke the silence. "Do you take after your mother or your father?" She asked again.
"Dunno, I never knew my mum, and my pop was drown at sea when I was still an ankle biter. Zaul's been lookin' after me ever since," She replied. Katt was amazed, no matter what it was that Kylie was talking about, be it pirates or her parents, she still managed to keep the same cheery voice and demeanor.
"I see, so you're kinda like me. I never knew my father, and my mother… died when I was young," Katt answered, looking down at the ground.
"I see," Kylie said, pausing momentarily. "But y'know, the past ain't anythin' but remembering. Our attitude s'all in the way we remember," She finished, leaving Katt thoroughly confused. Kylie looked up at Katt again, noticing the confusion, she giggled a little. "S'all right love. that's just my philosophy. I guess you gotta come up with yer own," She said, stepping back from the fence. She glanced at the sun, and then put her hand in front of her eyes. "Well, I gotta go start loadin' the ship," She said, turning and walking casually back inside.
"Hey, buddy wake up!"
"Is he dead?"
"No he's asleep, BUDDY!!!"
Ryu winced from the pain in his ears as Bow yelled only inches away from his ear. He moved his arm slowly toward his ear.
"I'm awake, I'm awake," He said, waving Bow away. He slowly opened his eyes letting the light pour in. "What time is it?" He asked, sitting up slowly, blinking his eyes.
"I dunno, the sun just came up ten minutes ago though," Bow replied. Ryu took a look around as his eyes adjusted to being open again. They were in a lifeboat, somewhere around twelve people were crammed into the boat. He panned around them slowly, still groggy from a long night. As his mind slowly woke up he remembered the events from the previous night. He whirled his head around to Bow.
"The Squid?!" He asked.
"Dead," Bow replied, grinning.
"Do you remember?" Ruki asked, childishly. Ryu glanced up at her, still a little groggy.
"Sometimes," Ryu started, pausing to glance around the boat. "Most of the strongest forms are berserk," He finished, hoping not to spill too much information. "Where are we?" He finished looking about.
"Who knows, we're adrift," Green said angrily. They'd realized the night before that paddling would be useless if they didn't know which direction land was in. Tennison had calculated their position based on the stars of the early morning, but now the sun was up and rising higher. The stars wouldn't be visible for another twelve hours or so.
"We should be close to the main shipping lanes, if we just keep moving in-" Tennison started, interrupted by the younger sailor.
"No, what we need to do is to keep moving in one direction and eventually we'll hit land!" Green shouted, obviously rehashing an old argument.
"Look, we don't have enough food to go off in search of land-"
"And like we have enough food to keep going in circles waiting for a boat to come out here?" Green shouted.
"All right you two, do I have to put you in a time out?!" Ruki yelled, standing up. The boat rocked as she grabbed both Green and Tennison by the collar. "I already broke this up once before, and like I said then, I'm sick of hearing you two argue! Now," She said looking at Tennison. "you said the Christina was set to leave port about one day after our ship, and you said it was faster because it had larger sails. So we wait here until nightfall. If it's not here by then, we've obviously missed it," She finished, turning to Green.
"Now, you said this lane passes within thirty miles of the island of Tunlan. So if we have to go off looking for land, we'll need the stars to guide us in the right direction. So, we wait for the Christina until it's night, then if it's not here, we use the stars to figure out which way Tunlan is," She finished again, letting them both go. "Now, is that clear with you two, or do I have to explain this a third time?" She shouted.
"Who made you captain,"Green said under his breath, she still heard him. She gritted her teeth and backhanded him across the top of his head.
"Hey what the-"
"I'm the captain because you two swabs won't quit bickering like a bunch of kids!" She snapped back at him. He remained silent, rubbing the spot where she'd hit him. Ruki sighed, and sat back down, glaring out across the shimmering water. Ryu leaned over to Bow.
"I guess she got her sea legs," He said, smiling.
"No, I just ran out of vomit," Ruki said angrily, looking out over the ocean. Ryu gazed at her for a moment, before turning back to Bow, whispering.
"What's up with her?" He asked. Bow waved his hand in front of their faces.
"I think she's just a little upset that she's gonna get sunburned," He replied. Ryu nodded, turning his attention to the open sea that surrounded them.
"There!" He shouted. Everyone in the boat jerked their head in the direction he was pointing.
"What," Green said, not seeing anything of great value. "What's so special?" He added, turning to Ryu, who by this time had taken on of the small oars and started to paddle the dinghy toward the object.
"It's my item sack," Ryu replied, crashing everyone's hopes that it was a boat or land.
"And what is so special about your Item bag?" Green asked.
"Well for starters, I have some birubiru jerky in there," He paused, Green seemed a bit more interested. "And I also have something to keep us from getting sunburned," He finished, casting a glace toward Ruki. Her face lit up with his words, and she crawled up the boat a bit toward him.
"Really?! You have sun-blocking cream?" She asked as he fished his bag up out of the water with an oar.
"Yeah," He said, digging through the bag. After a few moments he produced a medium sized bag made out of what looked like leather. He pulled the plug off the top and sniffed it, immediately wincing away from it. "Yeah this is it. It doesn't smell good, but it works really good. And according to Katt, it's great to keep Woren fur shiny," He finished, extending the leather bottle to Ruki. She distorted her face, but took the bottle and gave it a weak sniff. She too Immediately jerked her head away from the leather bag.
"Ugh, What is this stuff, it smells rotten," She said, gasping for fresh air.
"Gnu's blood, it's from old Woren folklore. It's supposed to protect warriors while hunting, it also works as a sun-blocker," Ryu noted, sifting through his bag for the jerky.
"I am not rubbing some stinky gnu's blood all over me." She said sternly, extending the gnu's blood back toward Ryu. He looked up at her in surprise, she was the one who didn't want to get burnt.
"Alright, if you'd rather get a sunburn," He said, pouring some out into his hand. He set the bottle down, and meticulously rubbed the deep crimson mixture to a thin layer over his skin. She watched as he continued to apply the Woren cure over any exposed skin.
"Is there enough for everyone?" Tennison asked. Ryu nodded, holding out the bottle slightly tilted, as a gesture of sharing.
"Just spread it thin, you don't need much. It may stink, but it's better than a sunburn," Ryu said, pouring some into Tennison's hand. A few other sailors followed Tennison's lead, and held their hands out for some Woren brand sunblock. Ruki couldn't believe these people, that stuff looked, smelled, and probably felt, nasty. Some of the women in the boat were now sampling the stinky sunblock, rubbing it on their arms, neck. and faces. Ruki shook her head and scanned the shimmering water for her own bag.
"Hey Ruki, why aren't you using any?" Bow asked. She looked up at him to respond, but exploded into laughter at the sight of his face. Bow had rubbed gnu's blood only on the white patches of fur on his face. "What?"
"You have fur, you nincompoop!" She chuckled. "You don't need sunblock,"
"Well, I burn under my white patches, I guess it's thinner or something. Anyway, you were the one complaining about getting a sunburn, so why aren't you using the sun-blocker?" He asked.
"I have delicate skin, I need lotion, not blood," She replied, turning away from him.
"Well, your delicate skin is going get more than delicately burned. C'mon, It's not that bad, and you get use to the smell," He said, sitting just behind her. She didn't answer. "I know it can be nasty, but it lasts a long time so you'll only have to put it on once or twice. And Ryu says it kinda keeps you cool too, like sweat or something," He added. She still didn't answer. "It's a shame to get a sunburn for such a little reason. It's not that nasty," He said. She turned toward him.
"All right," She said drearily. "Give it to me."
Nina hurried down the dingy winding stairs of the north tower. Careful not to dirty them, she carried the long tails of her pastel blue gown. Since returning to Wyndia and taking her place as the princess, she'd assumed a great many responsibilities, most of which she had no idea existed. Most of them were political duties, and she felt highly uncomfortable being diplomatic with the upper crust of most kingdoms, not to mention the Wyndian governors and monarchs that lived in the provinces. She'd attended a conference to delegate more funds to farmers of Gate, whose crops had been devastated after Deathevan sapped the life from that area. The regional governors were mostly opposed to the king's decision to allow his oldest daughter to remain in Wyndia. They looked down on her terribly.
This state dinner would most likely be no different. More regional governors, a few Dukes from the southeast, and two military officials. The only people she didn't feel would make her uncomfortable were the two ambassadors from Highfort and Princess Elforan. This was a meeting that Nina herself had arranged, but her mother insisted that the Regional governors and the Dukes from the southeast should attend. The Duke of Tebaria, the province closest to Highfort, Insisted that General Reid and Admiral Donner also be invited. The king was quick to agree considering the past military aggression of the Empire of Highfort. This would be the first diplomatic event involving both Wyndia and Highfort in over sixty seven years. Nina, being the architect of this dinner, was required by her mother and father to attend.
She pushed open the huge oak door and stepped out of the north tower onto the finely polished floor of the Wyndian Royal Palace. She let her tails fall to the floor, and pulled the monstrosity of a door closed behind her. The heels of her shoes clicked on the tile floor as she made her way down the hall toward the northwest wing stairwell, and toward the newly posted guard there.
"Good morning Gabriel," She said cheerily, stopping to greet him.
"Good morning Princess Nina," He replied, smiling. He still felt uneasy about simply calling her 'Nina'.
"How do I look?" She asked, turning a quick circle in front of him.
"Stunning," He replied.
"You really think so?" She asked, looking down over herself. "The light color isn't offset by my wings is it?" She added, turning a little to her left.
"No, You look magnificent Princess Nina," He responded. She faced forward again and rolled her eyes.
"Please, just call me Nina," She asked of him again.
"Yes Nina," He answered promptly, hesitating for a moment before deciding to remain silent.
"What," She asked, stepping closer to him. "you want to say something, so what is it? I don't bite." She said, still smiling. Again he hesitated, but finally spoke up.
"It's just that, if I call you just 'Nina', the captain of the guard's might find out and punish me for not showing respect to a member of the royal family," He finished.
"Oh, they would do that?" She asked.
"Yeah, I had a friend who got put in solitary for three weeks for calling the Duke of Captain a womanizer."
"That's awful! Is he still in there?" She asked.
"Oh no, that was almost a year ago," He replied. "But the captain is really strict, He gave a standing order that no guard was to be in anyway disrespectful to you, because some of the older guards refused to acknowledge you as the princess. So it gets enforced pretty strongly," He answered.
"Well, you just call me Nina from now on please, and I'll talk to the Captain of the Royal guards, Okay?"
"Okay, Nina," He said, smiling. She grinned back at him.
"Well, I have to hurry, I have to be there when the General and Admiral arrive," She said, stepping toward the stairwell.
"Nina, may I ask you something?" Gabriel spoke up as she walked by him. She turned to face him. "Why don't you like being called highness or majesty or even princess?" He asked boldly. She smiled and turned back to face him.
"I grew up outside of the castle, no one ever called me anything but Nina, so I guess it makes me feel uncomfortable when everyone is so stiff and calls me by a title rather than my name," She said.
"Oh, I see," He answered feeling a little stupid since her reasons should've been obvious to him. "Well then, I'll try not to be so stiff from now on," He added warmly.
"Thanks,"
"Good luck with the dinner. Peter will probably be here when you return so I'll say my good night now too," He finished.
"Good day to you Gabriel, and Good night too," She answered and turned to the stairwell. He watched as she quickly descended the stairs.
"Nina, she's such a beautiful person, with a great personality."
"Oi mate, hurry them barrels up! We shoulda shoved of an hour ago!" Kylie yelled to the dockhands from the deck of the Mystic Voyage. It was already half past noon, and the ship was only half loaded. She'd been in charge of loading the ship for their trip out to the reef. It wasn't the first time she'd been in charge, but she usually had more time to prepare. Katt and Baan wanted to help out but in her state of frustration at the simpleton dockhands, Kylie suggested that they'd be better off guarding seats at the nearby pub. Not being one to just sit around when there was work to be done, Katt slipped away from Baan and quietly found someone who needed help.
Whether Kylie noticed or not didn't seem to matter, Katt was at least as good a worker as most of the green dockhands. She spent most of the morning lugging barrels of supplies out of a warehouse and setting them in a specific place on the dock, So that another man could pick them up and proceed to be accused of being lazy by Kylie.
"We're goin as fast as we can Kylie, get offa our backs will ya," One of the dockhands called out, as he ascended the gangplank up to the ship carrying a barrel of flamepowder on each shoulder.
"If we don't get them barrels of flamepowder loaded inta the hold, before too long they're gonna be blowin up right on the dock, love," She snapped as he passed by. She turned her attention momentarily to another dockhand operating the crane. "Careful with that thing, you're gonna bust out the sides of the hatch!" She yelled as the novice crane operator over corrected for his swing, slamming a crate of food into the side of the cargo hold hatch. Kylie instantly chastised him as profanely as she could muster.
"Whoa, Kylie's gonna blow a gasket if she doesn't calm down," Katt said to another dockhand. "I don't think I've ever heard anyone use that many cuss words in one sentence," She ginned at the older dockhand, who only chuckled at her statement. She sat her barrel down on the dock, and headed back into the warehouse. The barrels were filled with various supplies, mostly flamepowder and water. Katt had wondered, when traveling with Ryu and his entourage a year earlier, why a boat that traveled the ocean would need water. Ryu would've explained it better than Bow, considering close to seventy five percent of his explanation was shrouded in his laughter.
She tipped another barrel of flamepowder on its side, hoisted it onto her shoulder, and proceeded back out onto the dock. Coming out of the warehouse was like walking into an oven, most of the sailors wore bandanas over their heads. She wondered if that helped keep them cooler. Her fur helped a little, keeping her lower parts from burning. Her arms, back, chest, and face on the other hand were fairly light, and susceptible to sunburn. She set the barrel down in its designated place, and wiped her brow.
"Hey Katt, take a break," The warehouse supervisor ordered.
"I'm alright," She responded, heading back to the warehouse. The supervisor grabbed her arm easily pulling her back.
"We're almost done, and these blokes are lazy, I don't want them thinking they can slack off," He said, grinning at her, most of his teeth missing from years of bar brawling. Katt frowned, scrunching up her forehead, but quietly obeyed. She stood on the dock feeling very much like a fifth wheel, a sensation she was not comfortable with.
"I wonder if Kylie needs any help?" She thought, heading for the gangplank.
"C'mon, hurry it up! We've got lotsa cargo to put in that hold," Kylie shouted at three huge blacksmiths who were busy reforming the steel flashing surrounding the cargo hold hatch. They paid her little mind, although they were working harder than most of the dockhands. "Can't you blokes go any faster?! At this rate we'll be lucky to leave by sundown," She shouted after a moment of silence. Finally, being ignored by the big wooly blacksmiths, she crossed her arms in frustration.
"Um Kylie, it's all right, I don't mind waiting," Katt said, trying to relieve the hotheaded blonde.
"It's not that, Sheila, If we don't shove off by three o'clock we won't reach the reef till nightfall, and the tide'll be up," She said, still frustrated.
"So, that means?" Katt asked naïvely.
"The cave is only above the water when the tide is down, so if the tide is up," She started.
"Ohh, If the tide is up, we can't get to the cave," Katt interrupted, finishing Kylie's sentence.
"Not just that love, with the tide up, the whole bloody reef goes underwater, but it ain't deep enough to get a boat over. So if we can't get out there before the tide rises, we'll might end up runnin' a ground on the reef," She said, turning her attention back to the blacksmiths.
"Oh, ok," Katt innocently replied. "Kylie is really cool. She's so tough and yet she's really pretty," She thought, unknowingly grinning again. She'd done this a few times with Nina, though Nina never brought it up to her. "You're really good at what you do," She finally blurted out. Kylie looked aside to Katt, grinning a little.
"You're pretty straight forward Sheila, you been that way all your life?" She replied, uncrossing her arms. Katt only grinned, scratching her head, and bringing Kylie to laughter in seconds.
"All done Kylie," One of the blacksmiths said, rising from the freshly mended cargo hold hatch.
"'Bout bloody time!" Kylie shouted, her face stiffening back to its angry scowl. "Sheila, we'll be loaded up soon as we get the rest of the food into the cargo hold. Go rustle up Baan," She commanded, watching Katt trot off to find Baan.
"She's almost as energetic as you are Kylie." One of the blacksmiths said.
"Mmhmm, She's got alotta spunk," Kylie replied as Katt's head bobbed out of sight down the gangplank.
I'm dying, I need water," Bow said weakly, dangling from the side of the dinghy.
"You wuss, It's only noon, you can't be dehydrated that quickly," Ruki said, annoyed. She sat beneath a large coat they'd found, supported by a few broken planks of the ships splintered hull. All exposed skin was caked with gnu's blood, two small shreds of cloth had been stuffed up her nose and the sheer ribbon she kept around her hair had been moved to wrap around her eyes.
"But you're the only one in the shade, and you used up all the gnu's blood," He complained, looking back at her.
"I burn easily, besides, I spotted the coat, so it's only fair that I get to use it," She argued. Too weak to argue anymore, Bow turned his attention back to the ocean, and to locating any ships.
"It's no use Buddy, my nose is too dry to smell anything, and it's impossible to see anything with the glare off the water," Bow said after a moment of silence.
"Well, we can't make any progress if we don't know where we're headed. We have no choice but to wait till we can see the stars," Ryu answered, squinting his eyes toward his friend. The Gnu's blood he'd applied earlier was well into sweating off his skin, and Ruki had used up the rest of it. If a ship didn't come by soon, they'd all start to cook in the burning heat of the sun.
"I don't get it, if he can turn into a dragon, why doesn't he just do it and drag us somewhere, he's gotta be able to do forty five knots," Green blurted.
"It's not that simple, he's not a well of power," Bow answered, looking over his shoulder to the frustrated sailor.
"Imagine transforming your entire body in a matter of seconds, and then having to move such a huge thing around. It's really exhausting, not to mention the concentration needed is overwhelming," Ryu added, leaning back.
"But you slept for a few hours afterward," Green said, in vain. Ryu didn't even answer, it was useless. Green wasn't much for listening. A surprising attitude for a sailor to have, not wanting to take orders.
Tennison turned up his canteen, holding his mouth open below it, waiting for the last few precious drops of fresh liquid to fall out. In spite of all that was happening, Ryu smiled to himself, and reached down to retrieve his own canteen, still one third full of water.
"Here," He said, tossing the canteen to the older sailor. "I don't need it as much," He added, as Tennison caught the tin flask. Ordinarily Tennison would've refused such an offer, relying on his tough grit to get him through, but his canteen had been filled with liquor, instead of water, so he was extra thirsty. He only nodded, taking a few small gulps from the canteen, before tossing it back.
"I only needed a little, but thank you," He added. Ryu nodded back, and shifted his attention back to the open sea.
"Six more hours at least until sunset. I wanted to reach Wyndia by tomorrow, but now it looks like it'll be two, or three more days," He thought staring out over the infinite sea. "Today's gonna be a long day."
"Good afternoon, General," Hina greeted the visitors as they entered the main hall of the Wyndian castle. Nina, standing close behind prepared to greet them in the same fashion, as her mother had insisted.
"You're majesty," The General replied, bowing as a true gentleman would.
"Welcome to Wyndia," Nina said softly, trying to hold her chin up as Hina had instructed. She wasn't at all comfortable with having to greet all the guests, but it had been her call that had brought this dinner into being. She wanted to let it be known that she was working to bring peace to not only Wyndia, but all countries. Nina would be giving a tour to the Highfort entourage, and to governor Fitzpatrick of the southwestern lands. She was relieved to hear that the other duke, Duke Darwin, General Reid, and Admiral Donner wished to meet with the King and Queen before dinner. She would be better equipped to deal with the Highfort ambassadors than two military leaders, and a very edgy Governor.
"Princess," The general said, taking her hand to his lips. A smile danced across his face as he raised his head back up, almost knocking Nina for a loop. "That wasn't…a flirt was it?" She thought, quickly dismissing the thought. General Reid was much older than she was, in his mid forties, his reddish hair was just beginning to show signs of greying. Even so, he was still a rather handsome man, and Nina couldn't help but blush.
"Admiral Donner," Hina continued. "Duke Darwin, governor Fitzpatrick, Welcome to Wyndia."
"Thank you, your majesty, have the Highlanders arrived yet?" Donner asked, cutting to the chase. Admiral Donner was older than General Reid, in his late sixties, he'd already gone grey long ago, and was losing hair from the top of his head. A heavyset man, he almost looked wider than he was tall.
"No, we're expecting them any minute though," Hina answered. "We have some rooms ready if you would care to freshen up after your long journey," She added, waving her arm down the east hall.
"That won't be necessary, your majesty, we need to brief you and the King before the ambassadors arrive," He answered quickly.
"I see," She responded, agreeably. "This way then gentleme,."
"Mother." Nina said softly, but not without a hint of concern.
"Yes Nina?"
"um, May I speak with you, in private," She asked shyly, glancing at the General and Admiral.
"Speak your mind Nina, these men protect our country, they are trustworthy," Hina answered, waiting for her daughter to continue.
"It's," She paused, glancing again at them. "not important," She answered, turning to governor Fitzpatrick.
"Speak, princess Nina," Hina said, somewhat forcefully. Nina slowly turned back toward them, catching a hard glare from Admiral Donner.
"I was just wondering, why," She paused, clearing her throat. "why a diplomatic dinner," She hesitated again, feeling Admiral Donner glaring at her. "why a diplomatic dinner, should need a military briefing." She finally finished. Admiral Donner shifted his position, as if preparing to speak.
"My dear," Hina started, cutting off Donner before he could speak. "Our country has been at war with the Highlanders for over sixty years. Diplomacy takes trust, but it also requires defense," She finished, avoiding a temper tantrum by Admiral Donner.
"Yes mother," Nina quickly replied, uneasy at being forced to make such a comment in front of the General and Admiral.
"Gentlemen, shall we go?" Hina asked, shifting the attention away from Nina. Donner nodded, and Duke Darwin followed behind. The Reid watched as Nina quickly made her exit.
"Reid, you coming?" Donner asked, noticing his counterpart's preoccupation with the exiting princess.
"You go on, it was your briefing anyway," He answered, turning back to face them.
"Reid, you're the Senior General, you really should be there." Donner replied.
"It's alright, I think I'll take the tour with the Highlanders," He said, winking at Donner, who nodded slowly.
"Then shall we be off, gentlemen?" Hina asked for a third time. The Wyndian entourage moved away toward the King's War room.
"Your Majesty, you don't think a military briefing is wise?" Reid asked, stepping around the corner. Nina had distracted herself by talking to governor Fitzpatrick, one of the very few people with any authority who didn't believe in the prophecy. She'd met him at the Farmers delegation earlier that year, so she was a little more at ease with him.
"I thought the rest of you were going to the briefing?" Fitzpatrick asked.
"They did, but I thought I'd take the tour with you," He answered.
"Making sure the enemy isn't harming the princess, or making sure the princess isn't conspiring with the enemy?" Fitzpatrick asked, sarcastically.
"I just wanted to get a tour of the castle from the new princess of Wyndia," He answered, nonchalantly. "Your majesty, I'd like to apologize ahead of time for my naval counterpart, his way of thinking is rather forward. I assure you he's only concerned with the safety of the royal family and of Wyndia," Reid said. His whole manner was flagrantly dashing. Even though Nina blushed earlier, it wasn't working on her this time, he didn't get to his position by his age just by kissing ass, he had to be a military genius. And a military genius doesn't leave his fly down.
"I believe that General Reid, but I am concerned with how they'll react as well, I'm sure they have as much mistrust of us," She answered. "I helped put down their sixty year military coup, so it's my hope that they'll have more trust in us now. But that won't matter if the Admiral starts posting armed guards in the dinning room, and searching the ambassadors," She finished.
"So, you can be assertive," He said, grinning. She looked up at him annoyed.
"This has to be a show, he can't possibly have gotten to be Senior General of all Wyndian Land forces by wooing people like this. He isn't even paying attention to the conversation." She thought, wondering when the Highfort Delegation would arrive.
"Relax your majesty, I didn't come to flirt with you. To be honest, yes I was concerned about your safety, and also the possibility that you could be conspiring with the enemy. You were the one who set up this dinner after all," He finished.
"General, you are aware that falsely accusing a member of the royal family of treason, is a capitol offense," Fitzpatrick interjected.
"It's alright, Marcus, his suspicions aren't without merit. I was part of the group that killed the Military General, Shupkay, and I did lay plans for this meeting," Nina said, glancing toward the General. "So you came to determine my trustworthiness?"
"It is necessary I'm afraid. The young forgotten princess of Wyndia returns, shortly there after the younger more impressionable princess takes the mark of wing and becomes the great bird of Wyndia. Then distraught, the king asks his last living daughter to stay at the castle. It could be true, but I have to make sure, for the safety of my country," He said, looking into Nina's eyes.
"Very well General Reid. First order of business, I'd prefer you call me either Nina or Princess Nina. I'm not fond of being called majesty," She answered, not happy with being put under the General's microscope.
"Princess Nina," He said, affirming her new designation.
"Second, may I ask your first name?" She asked.
"Interesting request," He said, smiling.
"Meaning no disrespect to you, but I like to know people by their name, not their family or title," She answered.
"Fair enough, my name is Donovan, Donovan Reid."
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