Author's note: Sorry about the wait, guys. School and things have been
getting in my way, as well as writer's block and a particularly nasty
battle with the flu.don't worry, as long as I have fingers and a functional
brain I'm going to write, just for you special people who read it. Danke!
^. ^ You guys are the best!
To Kat - forgive me, genetics isn't my strong point. I think I must have missed that class in science.. thanks for the correction though!
A month after the incident at the Tavern, the elf, whose name was Calix Gwydion, came to the not-so-small city of Besaid, after traveling across the ocean to the continent of Spira. People from all corners of the world came here - it was bigger even than Malik, the capitol city of Anash. Malik held over fifty thousand souls; Besaid of this time was easily twice that. But it was nice in the respect that the houses and businesses were not tall, but simply stretched into the hills behind the town for a distance. Thus, one could see the sky and feel the fresh ocean wind on their face. A pleasantry, compared to some cities he had been in, where the sky and earth had been blocked out by smoke and stone, the fresh air by the rank smell of refuse.
All of Anash could take Spira and rattle it, though, Calix thought shrewdly to himself. It was true that Anash was a huge continent, the gargantuan Denali Mountains separating East from West. Few trails ran thought that wilderness.
Bringing himself sharply back to the present, Calix noted that a procession of some kind was taking place near an ornate, gleaming building. Almost half the city seemed to be assembled, but with elves so rarely seen in these parts, most parted for him to have a spot near the front. Pardoning the stepped toes and hit shoulders, Calix twisted his head around to see what was going on.
Two standard bearers came first - the blazon on their flags a long, wavy, blue-green sword and a staff crossed. Then came a stately woman, in her late twenties or early thirties, wearing a blue skirt and white overtunic, a wide belt around her waist. Emotional pain was in her eyes and features, in the sag of her shoulders and the absence of spring in her step. This was all in sharp comparison to the young woman behind her, who - Calix drew a sharp breath. It was her.
Ailani Guado, the varicose veins that marked her Guado ancestry tracing a pattern on her forehead and the sun reflecting off her blue-silver hair that was loose and tumbled unchecked to her hips. Even though she was almost fifteen meters away from him, he could see the half-fiery, half- arrogant flash in her bluey green eyes. She was wearing an outfit much like her mother's only the overtunic was of a deep gray, and her sword rested in its sling at her hip. Calix noted that her sword was the same as the sword on the standard. Seeing his stare, an older man standing next to him said, "That is Ailani de Braska Guado, daughter to Yuna de Braska and Seymour Guado. High Summoner Yuna has been searching for her for many years - and, it is said, for a man who can break her insolent nature. They say, elf, that the spirit of that female would be impossible for a man to break."
Calix nodded dumbly, watching with wide green eyes as the little procession passed, only half-listening as the man continued on - "It is being rumored that High Summoner Yuna has offered as a reward the Sword of Sir Auron."
"As a reward for what?"
"For bringing that daughter of hers under control," a woman on his other side chimed in. "'Tis not the High Summoner's fault that her daughter was taken to that island of Witches. Avalon is an evil place, against the New Order of Yevon, and against our way of life."
"No one can think to break that girl," Calix said a little too angrily, and the man and woman blinked. "She's a wild horse - they must be tamed with gentle hands, not beaten into submission."
The woman recovered first. "Well, the High Summoner has had a suitor for her, in Bevelle - that is where they are going now."
Calix spun on his heel and paced ahead of the procession, making his way to where their transportation waited. The guards rode on large bird-like things, and one stood unattended while its rider was checking the wagon Ailani and High Summoner Yuna were to ride in. Calix went over and said briskly, "The Captain has ordered you relieved. You are not fit for duty; go back to your cot and rest. I will take over." The guard stared at him oddly a moment, then, without protest, walked off. Calix shook his head.
"Shoddy guards," he muttered, and walked slowly up to the bird-creature. "I won't hurt you," he said softly, holding out his hand to the animal. The bird-creature cooed, and rubbed its beak against Calix's tunic. Securing his things behind the saddle, Calix mounted the bird and stood ready. Soon the procession wound into the area where the wagon was, and High Summoner Yuna quickly got into the cart. Ailani looked around her, ever the forest warrior, and was about to get in as well before her shoulders twitched, and she turned around to look at him out of the corner of her eye. Then she shook herself and climbed in beside her mother, and the wagon moved off. Calix carefully kept his face calm.
The trip to Bevelle was long and dusty, and Calix was almost glad to see the towering spires of the Palace of St. Bevelle, but of course he didn't know it was the Palace. All he knew was that it was a place free of dust and cold nights. Inside the city walls, Calix twisted his head around on his neck, almost forgetting to keep the hood of his cloak up to keep the people from seeing his elfin ears, looking at everything he could. Bevelle's buildings were, in stark contrast to Besaid's, high, and blocked out the light of the sun so that it seemed they were walking in perpetual twilight.
The cavalcade stopped outside a rich-looking mansion, behind ivy-covered stone walls and an wrought-iron gate. Calix, watching as a sulky Ailani and a still-passive Yuna left the wagon and headed up to the gate, which swung open as if by magic.
"You there!"
Calix turned to look at the burly commander who was frowning at him and pointing, and feared he'd been found out. "Y-yes, sir?"
"You are their guard! Go on, get!"
Calix almost collapsed with relief, but collected himself and ran after the two women. Yuna glanced back at him, and continued walking. Ailani did not look back. Calix followed them up the walkway and to the ornate wood door. The women stepped aside, and acting on a hunch, Calix stepped forward and knocked on the door.
A manservant opened it after a brief pause. Calix said, "The Ladies Yuna de Braska and Ailani de Braska Guado," and bowed. The two women stepped forward, the blue velvet of Ailani's skirt swishing out in front of her cloak. Both performed a curious bow, which consisted of holding the arms out straight from the body and then bringing them in front, forming a circle with the hands and bowing over it. At a glance from the manservant, Calix awkwardly did the same, then was taken into the mansion itself.
The interior was lavish, everything rich and of the most expensive material. Brass gleamed, wood gleamed, and everything gleamed and sparkled and shone in an attractive way. To Calix, it was entirely too glamorous for his elfin tastes, used to nature themes and graceful carvings. The entire house seemed to say, Here is my wealth, be jealous.
Another carved door blocked their progress. Again Calix knocked on it, and again a manservant, wearing the same uniform as the first - gray robes with a strange symbol on the front - opened it. "The ladies Yuna de Braska and Ailani de Braska Guado, I presume?" Calix nodded, and the manservant bowed them in to a room even more ornate than the others they had passed through.
It was not cold, so a fire did not burn in the huge marble fireplace that could have fit several well-fed dwarves. The floor was of an unusual opalline hue, more white, but with pale reds and greens and blues in it. Over that, a rich rug with the same symbol on it as was on the servants' robes, and on top of the rug were thickly padded chairs and couches. On one of the chairs, a man lounged.
Now, this was no ordinary man. His stature was one of power, evidenced in his broad shoulders and muscled arms that showed even through the rich clothing he had on. Pale blond hair, almost white, flowed to his shoulders and intensely blue eyes settled briefly on Calix, then turned to Ailani. The man smiled, showing two rows of perfect white teeth, and performed the curious bow to Yuna. "Welcome, High Summoner Yuna de Braska." "Greetings, Lord Aubrey Braeden," Yuna said formally and without a trace of feeling. "This is my daughter - "
"The Lady Ailani de Braska Guado," Lord Aubrey said, taking Ailani's delicate-fingered hand and kissing it. "The intended." Ailani's look upon him was one of the utmost disgust, and she yanked her hand back.
"Keep your hands off my, Lord Aubrey, before I take them off for you."
Aubrey laughed. "Such fire in My Lady!" he said, his tone airy and his eyes dancing. Quickly, though, he sobered. "But such you are."
Ailani looked unhappily between them, more anger in her lovely features than despair. "What are you both scheming that you didn't see fit to tell me of?"
Lord Aubrey laughed. "Why, my dear Lady Ailani," he said. "You are getting married."
All right, all right. Forgive the weak ending, I'm fighting the flu and writer's block. And this chapter isn't so long.Ai..blah. Well, anyway, there's significance in the names of the people - other than Yuna. Brownie points and a preview of one of the next chapter to the person who gets it in to me! My e-mail is LaMiDieter@aol.com.
On the 'de Braska' thing.I saw this once in a fanfic I can't remember the name of, but I thank the author of it a million times over. 'de Braska' is giving the lineage (I think) of the person. So "Yuna de Braska" is "Yuna of Braska" giving the name of Yuna's father. I think. If anyone can clarify that for me, please do so! ^.^
To Kat - forgive me, genetics isn't my strong point. I think I must have missed that class in science.. thanks for the correction though!
A month after the incident at the Tavern, the elf, whose name was Calix Gwydion, came to the not-so-small city of Besaid, after traveling across the ocean to the continent of Spira. People from all corners of the world came here - it was bigger even than Malik, the capitol city of Anash. Malik held over fifty thousand souls; Besaid of this time was easily twice that. But it was nice in the respect that the houses and businesses were not tall, but simply stretched into the hills behind the town for a distance. Thus, one could see the sky and feel the fresh ocean wind on their face. A pleasantry, compared to some cities he had been in, where the sky and earth had been blocked out by smoke and stone, the fresh air by the rank smell of refuse.
All of Anash could take Spira and rattle it, though, Calix thought shrewdly to himself. It was true that Anash was a huge continent, the gargantuan Denali Mountains separating East from West. Few trails ran thought that wilderness.
Bringing himself sharply back to the present, Calix noted that a procession of some kind was taking place near an ornate, gleaming building. Almost half the city seemed to be assembled, but with elves so rarely seen in these parts, most parted for him to have a spot near the front. Pardoning the stepped toes and hit shoulders, Calix twisted his head around to see what was going on.
Two standard bearers came first - the blazon on their flags a long, wavy, blue-green sword and a staff crossed. Then came a stately woman, in her late twenties or early thirties, wearing a blue skirt and white overtunic, a wide belt around her waist. Emotional pain was in her eyes and features, in the sag of her shoulders and the absence of spring in her step. This was all in sharp comparison to the young woman behind her, who - Calix drew a sharp breath. It was her.
Ailani Guado, the varicose veins that marked her Guado ancestry tracing a pattern on her forehead and the sun reflecting off her blue-silver hair that was loose and tumbled unchecked to her hips. Even though she was almost fifteen meters away from him, he could see the half-fiery, half- arrogant flash in her bluey green eyes. She was wearing an outfit much like her mother's only the overtunic was of a deep gray, and her sword rested in its sling at her hip. Calix noted that her sword was the same as the sword on the standard. Seeing his stare, an older man standing next to him said, "That is Ailani de Braska Guado, daughter to Yuna de Braska and Seymour Guado. High Summoner Yuna has been searching for her for many years - and, it is said, for a man who can break her insolent nature. They say, elf, that the spirit of that female would be impossible for a man to break."
Calix nodded dumbly, watching with wide green eyes as the little procession passed, only half-listening as the man continued on - "It is being rumored that High Summoner Yuna has offered as a reward the Sword of Sir Auron."
"As a reward for what?"
"For bringing that daughter of hers under control," a woman on his other side chimed in. "'Tis not the High Summoner's fault that her daughter was taken to that island of Witches. Avalon is an evil place, against the New Order of Yevon, and against our way of life."
"No one can think to break that girl," Calix said a little too angrily, and the man and woman blinked. "She's a wild horse - they must be tamed with gentle hands, not beaten into submission."
The woman recovered first. "Well, the High Summoner has had a suitor for her, in Bevelle - that is where they are going now."
Calix spun on his heel and paced ahead of the procession, making his way to where their transportation waited. The guards rode on large bird-like things, and one stood unattended while its rider was checking the wagon Ailani and High Summoner Yuna were to ride in. Calix went over and said briskly, "The Captain has ordered you relieved. You are not fit for duty; go back to your cot and rest. I will take over." The guard stared at him oddly a moment, then, without protest, walked off. Calix shook his head.
"Shoddy guards," he muttered, and walked slowly up to the bird-creature. "I won't hurt you," he said softly, holding out his hand to the animal. The bird-creature cooed, and rubbed its beak against Calix's tunic. Securing his things behind the saddle, Calix mounted the bird and stood ready. Soon the procession wound into the area where the wagon was, and High Summoner Yuna quickly got into the cart. Ailani looked around her, ever the forest warrior, and was about to get in as well before her shoulders twitched, and she turned around to look at him out of the corner of her eye. Then she shook herself and climbed in beside her mother, and the wagon moved off. Calix carefully kept his face calm.
The trip to Bevelle was long and dusty, and Calix was almost glad to see the towering spires of the Palace of St. Bevelle, but of course he didn't know it was the Palace. All he knew was that it was a place free of dust and cold nights. Inside the city walls, Calix twisted his head around on his neck, almost forgetting to keep the hood of his cloak up to keep the people from seeing his elfin ears, looking at everything he could. Bevelle's buildings were, in stark contrast to Besaid's, high, and blocked out the light of the sun so that it seemed they were walking in perpetual twilight.
The cavalcade stopped outside a rich-looking mansion, behind ivy-covered stone walls and an wrought-iron gate. Calix, watching as a sulky Ailani and a still-passive Yuna left the wagon and headed up to the gate, which swung open as if by magic.
"You there!"
Calix turned to look at the burly commander who was frowning at him and pointing, and feared he'd been found out. "Y-yes, sir?"
"You are their guard! Go on, get!"
Calix almost collapsed with relief, but collected himself and ran after the two women. Yuna glanced back at him, and continued walking. Ailani did not look back. Calix followed them up the walkway and to the ornate wood door. The women stepped aside, and acting on a hunch, Calix stepped forward and knocked on the door.
A manservant opened it after a brief pause. Calix said, "The Ladies Yuna de Braska and Ailani de Braska Guado," and bowed. The two women stepped forward, the blue velvet of Ailani's skirt swishing out in front of her cloak. Both performed a curious bow, which consisted of holding the arms out straight from the body and then bringing them in front, forming a circle with the hands and bowing over it. At a glance from the manservant, Calix awkwardly did the same, then was taken into the mansion itself.
The interior was lavish, everything rich and of the most expensive material. Brass gleamed, wood gleamed, and everything gleamed and sparkled and shone in an attractive way. To Calix, it was entirely too glamorous for his elfin tastes, used to nature themes and graceful carvings. The entire house seemed to say, Here is my wealth, be jealous.
Another carved door blocked their progress. Again Calix knocked on it, and again a manservant, wearing the same uniform as the first - gray robes with a strange symbol on the front - opened it. "The ladies Yuna de Braska and Ailani de Braska Guado, I presume?" Calix nodded, and the manservant bowed them in to a room even more ornate than the others they had passed through.
It was not cold, so a fire did not burn in the huge marble fireplace that could have fit several well-fed dwarves. The floor was of an unusual opalline hue, more white, but with pale reds and greens and blues in it. Over that, a rich rug with the same symbol on it as was on the servants' robes, and on top of the rug were thickly padded chairs and couches. On one of the chairs, a man lounged.
Now, this was no ordinary man. His stature was one of power, evidenced in his broad shoulders and muscled arms that showed even through the rich clothing he had on. Pale blond hair, almost white, flowed to his shoulders and intensely blue eyes settled briefly on Calix, then turned to Ailani. The man smiled, showing two rows of perfect white teeth, and performed the curious bow to Yuna. "Welcome, High Summoner Yuna de Braska." "Greetings, Lord Aubrey Braeden," Yuna said formally and without a trace of feeling. "This is my daughter - "
"The Lady Ailani de Braska Guado," Lord Aubrey said, taking Ailani's delicate-fingered hand and kissing it. "The intended." Ailani's look upon him was one of the utmost disgust, and she yanked her hand back.
"Keep your hands off my, Lord Aubrey, before I take them off for you."
Aubrey laughed. "Such fire in My Lady!" he said, his tone airy and his eyes dancing. Quickly, though, he sobered. "But such you are."
Ailani looked unhappily between them, more anger in her lovely features than despair. "What are you both scheming that you didn't see fit to tell me of?"
Lord Aubrey laughed. "Why, my dear Lady Ailani," he said. "You are getting married."
All right, all right. Forgive the weak ending, I'm fighting the flu and writer's block. And this chapter isn't so long.Ai..blah. Well, anyway, there's significance in the names of the people - other than Yuna. Brownie points and a preview of one of the next chapter to the person who gets it in to me! My e-mail is LaMiDieter@aol.com.
On the 'de Braska' thing.I saw this once in a fanfic I can't remember the name of, but I thank the author of it a million times over. 'de Braska' is giving the lineage (I think) of the person. So "Yuna de Braska" is "Yuna of Braska" giving the name of Yuna's father. I think. If anyone can clarify that for me, please do so! ^.^