Dreams and Visions: Chapter 20

By mercy_angel_09

Rating PG-13

Disclaimers: I don't own Escaflowne and I'm certainly not making any money off of this venture, so it'd be sort of pointless to sue me.  (Besides, I'm a poor college student; you'd lose more money than you'd gain.)  The creative geniuses behind EscaFlowne are Hajime Yatate and Shoji Kawamori, Sunrise, Bandai, and I'm sure a few other companies that I'm forgetting or have no idea about.

~*~

            Kaiden had carried the sobbing Hikari up to her room from the episode in the dining room.  Placing her gently on the bed, he pulled up the blanket that had been folded neatly at the foot of her bed and tucked it around her.

            He gazed at her, taking in every detail of her face.  The petite nose, the expressive mouth, and the dark lashes that settled on the tops of her cheeks, hiding her eyes away from the world.

            Oh, those eyes!  There was something about them, something that always wanted to learn more, that always wanted to find out the best of things and even the worst of things.  Eyes that weren't afraid to face down a new day, to begin anew with a fresh start.

            Sighing, he sat on the edge of her bed, wondering what was going to happen to her.  She didn't deserve the heartache that seemed to be overtaking her.  Why Chid couldn't understand that Hikari was perfectly capable of making her own decisions was beyond Kaiden's comprehension at that point, but he was still content with the knowledge that he was the one that Hikari loved.

            Figuring that his best bet was to let Hikari rest, he slipped away from her room in an attempt to talk some reason into his cousin.  Walking down one of the corridors, he encountered a new face.

            She was pretty; there was no denying it.  She had smooth brown skin, the color of woman who spent time in the sun, shiny black hair with deep brown eyes.  Now this was the kind of woman that Chid could use in his life.

            "May I help you?" Kaiden asked.

            She smiled at him and Kaiden was sure that this was the kind of woman that Chid needed.  "Yes, I think so.  I'm looking for Chid Fried."

            "Ah, yes.  My cousin.  I'm Kaiden Aston, by the way."

            "Oh, I've heard of you.  My name is Lady Indira."

            The named sounded familiar to Kaiden, but he couldn't place it at that moment.  "I think that I've heard of you," he answered, admitting his ignorance.

            "I'm just a minor nobility of Fried," she answered with a slight lift in her shoulders.  "And I'm Chid's fiancée."

            "Now that I know I didn't know," Kaiden answered.

            They began to walk down the corridor together, in search of the elusive Duke of Freid.  "Yes, I was told that he was here for the festivities surrounding the recent marriage of the King of Fanelia."

            "Yes, he is.  And visiting with his aunt and uncle and cousins," Kaiden added.  "It's been rather pleasant."

            "I would assume so.  Chid adores his family.  They mean everything to him."

            "Do we?  I had no idea.  Why, at supper he called me lazy and irresponsible," Kaiden replied.

            "What was that?"

            "Uh, nothing.  Perhaps we should ask someone for directions.  I'm not from around her, so I'm afraid that I'm a little lost," Kaiden admitted sheepishly.

            Asking one of the maids, they received directions to the small study where Chid had holed up in order to deal with some pressing issues of Freid's.  Kaiden tapped lightly on the door, hoping that there wasn't a violent outburst on the other end.

            "Come in."  The voice was the always calm and gentle tone that Kaiden was familiar with.

            "Eh, cousin, there's someone here to see you," Kaiden said, opening the door to reveal himself and Lady Indira.

            Chid looked up, mild surprise on his face when he saw Lady Indira standing next to his cousin.  "Why, what on Gaea are you doing here?" he asked, unsure of how long she had been in the country.

            "I just arrived here.  My father thinks that it would be best if we could spend some time getting to know each other before we marry," Indira replied sweetly.

            Kaiden hadn't doubted the match, but there was absolutely no denying that Lady Indira was just the right woman for Chid.  She may have looked like a mild lady who would bow to the lord's wishes, but something told Kaiden that Lady Indira was fiercely independent.  She, like his mother, obviously approved of pants and she was actually wearing a pair at that moment.  She was like Hikari, but more suited for Chid's needs.

            Seeing that the pair needed some alone time, Kaiden slipped out while Chid was trying to overcome his shock at seeing his fiancée.  It was a while before Chid could say anything to her, and even then it wasn't much.

            "Lady Indira, this is quite unexpected."'

            Indira perched on a nearby chair and gave her intended a look of smug satisfaction.  "I fully plan on knowing the man I'm marrying," she answered truthfully.  "So I came here so that we may become better acquainted with each other."

            "Was it really that necessary?"

            "Chid, I may know what your public life is like, you are the Duke of Freid after all, but I want to know the Chid that is only seen by those closest to him."

            "Perhaps that's asking for a little too much at this point."

            "We marry in four months.  It is not asking too much."

            He stared at her, and was surprised to see a fierce determination in her eyes.  Obviously he couldn't tiptoe around the matter that he was uncomfortable with their arranged marriage.

            The match had been made by one of his high advisors, one he wasn't really too familiar with.  She had been selected because she was the daughter of a prominent squire in Freid, which meant that she was know is the higher social circles.  She was also rich and her name often accompanied the image of a powerful merchant family that was known for their shrewd business deals.  Obviously having the hand of Indira meant his advisor had paid for her hand with something more than just the title of Duchess.

            "I can tell that having an arranged marriage bothers you, but that is the way that it is here in Gaea.  One cannot choose a life mate if one comes from the royal families."

            "King Van chose his bride."

            "He is the last surviving member of the royal family.  Of course he has the say.  There is no one to object to his choice."

            "His daughter, Princess Hikari, has been allowed to choose her own partner."

            For a moment Chid thought that a feather could have knocked down Lady Indira.  Obviously she hadn't heard of Hitomi and Van's somewhat illegitimate child.

            "King Van has a daughter all ready?  But I thought that he and Lady Hitomi were wed only a few days ago!"

            "Princess Hikari is . . . ah, well, it's rather complicated I guess.  But they do have a seventeen-year-old daughter, and she's quite the individual.  She'll rule Fanelia with kindness and wisdom."

            Lady Indira nodded.  "I see how it is.  Why you wanted to return to Fanelia so soon.  It wasn't because you wanted to attend the wedding like you had promised-"

            "But-"

            "It was because you wanted to return to their daughter.  You're in love with her.  It doesn't take a wise man to see that."

            "I thought I loved her.  But I don't."

            "You don't?  Well, you don't love me either."

            "Lady Indira, I have nothing against you.  I hardly know you therefore it is rather difficult for me to say that I love you.  However, circumstances can change.  My mother was not in love with my father when she married him.  But when she was dying, she told him that if they could marry a second time, it would be because they were in love." 

            The look of sincerity in his eyes dissolved any barriers that Lady Indira had put up within the last few minutes.  He was right, of course.  They didn't know each other so it was rather difficult to say that they loved each other.  True love often bloomed from the seed of friendship.  If she were to be the woman that Chid loved, she would have to be his friend first.

            "You're right," she said at last, breaking the tense silence that had settled over them.  "Perhaps we should be married as friends, and die as lovers."

            Chid let out a sigh of relief.  Then he smiled and started to laugh, something he hadn't done in quite some time.

~*~

Ta-da!  Meet Lady Indira who has no last name because I'm lazy and didn't feel like making one up!  Obviously she was created just for Chid, because I couldn't leave him all alone in the world.  That would just be cruel.  And, despite what some of you readers think *glares at Ryan in particular*, I'm not cruel.  You might just think that I am.

Well, that about wraps up chapter 20.  Sorry that it took so long.  I had to work for nine days straight and I've only just had time to sit down and read through the reviews, jot down some of the comments, and I would like to thank those of you who went out into the wide world of fanfiction and found me.  And then, the miracle of miracles, liked what you read.  For that I am truly thankful.

Standard after chapter comments apply.

^__^ Mercy_Angel_09