Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII belongs to Squaresoft.
Save the Queen
by Paris Lockheart
VII.
Quistis Trepe was downright bored. She was treated like the queen she was all
day and had to listen to Malcolm chatter about her royal duties. She shuddered.
One of them was having to provide an heir to the throne. In any way possible.
Not if she could help it.
I would be on the first train out of here.
Her thoughts returned to their first problem. They really had no choice in staying here, considering the island was currently in the middle of nowhere and the monsters outside didn't respond to their magic and GF. Were they doomed to forever stay here in Lenacourt?
Dear Hyne, as a queen? Please no.
And Seifer. Where the hell was he? She hadn't seen a glimpse of him for two days since she was inside the castle. To tell the truth, she actually…sort of…missed
him.
Did I just think that? I'm going insane.
Missed Seifer and his sarcasm?
Heh, I knew I'd get to you, Instructor.
His voice rang clear in her head.
Damn.
She pushed the covers of her silk bed canopy and put on her robe. She was about to make a beeline through the door when she stopped. Did you go out of your castle in an almost see-through nightgown and a similarly see-through robe?
Quistis sighed and pulled open her wardrobe door.
Holy cow.
She had never opened her 'own' closet before, since the maids usually picked out her gown, but dear Hyne, did all the people's taxes pay for this?
The walk-in closet was lined from side to side with gowns. They were arranged by color, from the lightest, purest white to the darkest, heaviest black. Light pink, blood red, ice blue, teal…Hyne, this woman is rich. They differed in style and material, halters, spaghetti straps, long-sleeves, short-sleeves…
And on the sides were gloves, hair accessories and—Oh Hyne! Quistis gaped—the shoes! There were shoes to match every gown.
I want this when I go back to Garden.
She ran her hand through the material of the gowns, until one of them caught her attention. It was blood red, velvet, heavy with a pair of shoes with the same material as its gown.
What the hell. No one would see me anyway. Besides, a woman's got to be vain once in a while.
She felt a rush of excitement and grabbed the wooden hanger.
*
Did fishing usually take up the whole day?
Seifer was back at his classy room in the castle, after Lilli's nagging. The woman just wouldn't shut up. So now here he was, talking to the ceiling.
Yawning. Sighing. Wondering what the fucking hell Kay's doing. She hadn't come back from her 'fishing trip' but, surprisingly, he wasn't worried.
Kay could take care of herself. She could kick the ass of that dragon in the forest.
He hadn't even seen Quistis. Too many queenly duties, probably. He actually came here to see her, how she was doing and all—
Nuts.
This is fucking great. I'm evolving into Puberty Boy now.
Seifer kicked off the silk sheets and grabbed his clothes.
What the hell. Might as well take a walk.
There were no guards posted outside the rooms of the castle. In fact, in all its splendor and red carpet, not a soul was in sight.
Which was good.
He padded through the halls aimlessly, stretching every now and then.
Quistis' room was just a floor above his…
Just as soon as the thought popped into his head, he extinguished it. She was probably going to scream bloody murder.
He smirked, imagining her slender form cocooned in silk sheets, golden hair tousled, blue bedroom eyes—
DAMMIT!!!
What, now I'm having fantasies about my instructor? How low can you get?
He didn't realize he had walked all the way to the huge, airy ballroom. It was eerie yet beautiful, with the lone piano to one corner and the moonlight streaming through the windows.
" Seifer?"
He almost yelped. Thank god he didn't do damage to his ego.
Seifer looked to where the voice came from. " Hyne, Instructor. Don't do that—"
Oh.
Sweet.
Hyne.
He understood now and felt empathy for all the men who ran off and became priests.
Dresses were sinful.
Blood red dresses were sinful.
Beautiful women wearing the blood red dresses were sinful.
Quistis was poised and seated on one of the chairs behind him. She sat in the shadows, which was how he missed her. Or else it would take a very, very, very blind man to miss her. Her lovely figure was hugged by a velvet red dress like a second skin. Milky shoulders and an expanse of cleavage he would probably never see again were exposed and slim arms were draped luxuriously on the armrests. Her gold hair was curled sensuously and framed her flawless face. She stood up and the full effect of her gown mesmerized him.
He wanted to gulp. Instead, he covered it up with a wolf whistle. "Gee, Quistis, I never knew you had it in you."
A raise of a perfect eyebrow.
Nuts, I tell ya. Nuts. Hyne, what did I ever do to you?
" I couldn't sleep," She said simply, walking towards the center of the ballroom.
He followed suit. " You and the rest of humanity."
She stopped short, bringing him almost an inch away from her face. She flushed and looked away.
" Speaking of the rest of humanity," Her voice sounded husky, " Do you think Squall and the others would notice we were gone? Surely someone must have called Garden by now and reported us never having arrived. Of course, there is the possibility that maybe—"
"You look beautiful."
"—maybe—" She stopped short. Her wine-colored lips parted. "What did you say?"
He never knew what evil deity possessed him to say that. He could take it back, with a smirk and a 'Made ya look!' but instead he repeated, "You look beautiful."
Before she could reply, a voice rang out from the entrance.
" We could get whipped for this!"
" Shh! Then go if you want! I didn't ask you to come along."
Seifer and Quistis turned to see two teenage girls sneak into the room.
" Fine, I'll go."
" Then frickin' go!"
" Ahem." Quistis made their presence known. " What are you two doing here?"
The girls jumped.
" Your Majesty!"
They both curtsied in a flash. Quistis walked over to them.
Seifer smirked. Instructor Trepe on duty. She would probably send them to detention if she didn't watch her mouth.
" What are you doing here?" She repeated. He could imagine the strict glint in her eyes that always made the juniors in Garden cower before her.
" My name is Penelope and this is my sister, Ino, Majesty," The older girl started, her eyes on the floor. " We, um, wanted to play the piano—" She gestured lamely to the instrument. "—but the castle is the only place where there is one."
" How do you know how to play, then?" Seifer could hear the disbelief in her voice.
" We came from Dollet. I had lessons there, Majesty," Penelope said, studying the ground intently.
Quistis seemed to be thinking.
Ino fidgeted. " We accept the punishment, whatever it will be."
" Very well, then," Quistis said, "I want you to play a waltz."
" A waltz?" Penelope stuttered. " What—"
Ino elbowed her. "Yes, Majesty."
They headed over to the sleek black piano, which looked new. If they were confused on the queen's request, they tried not to show it.
Seifer raised questioning eyebrows at her as she walked back toward him.
She smiled an enigmatic smile. " I believe I owe you a dance."
Oooh, man.
" Big time, Instructor." He smirked. " Shall we?"
He half-mocked bowed as the Penelope started playing. To his surprise, she followed suit and curtsied. Then she laced a gloved hand into his and his other hand went to her waist automatically.
His smirk faded as she looked at him intently, her blue eyes darkening.
A soft breeze blew through the open balcony and made the gold curls around her face dance.
Then they glided across the large expanse of the ballroom in the grace of the Lenacourt waltz.
He couldn't help but notice the way she felt so light in his arms, or the way her skirt swished around their legs, or that she never left her eyes from his face.
" This is a new side of you I haven't seen before," He tried to make the conversation fluffy and light.
Failing miserably.
" Hmm," was all she said.
What the hell. This is just a friendly, instructor-student-y kinda thing. It'll all be forgotten when we go to Garden.
He twirled her around and she gracefully fell back to his arms.
Dammit, stop feeling so fucking disappointed then.
They slowed down.
…And then she kissed him.