A/N

Welcome to Chapter 4 of Before the Heart. This is turning out to be a regular story, actually. I've pretty much got a plot, so expect more.


Chapter 4

Balgus was the last to join his fellow advisors and take his seat at the council table. He sat next to Advisor Steppe, the commissioner over city and infrastructure, and across from Minister Arlott, and between them, at the head, was where his king normally sat. Today, King Van's chair was moved away in favor of a stool so their little weasel of a spy wouldn't get it in his head that he could sit in place of the king. He stood now, chest thrust out, smiling so broadly that his beady eyes were invisible behind his glasses.

"Give us your report on any of these ladies, Tal," Head Minister Arlott said, pushing a list in front of the little man.

"Your Honors," Tal said after squinting through his round glasses at the paper. He showed his buck teeth and gave a gratuitous little bow to the circle of six advisors. "It was my great pleasure to be your eyes and ears at the gala."

Balgus fisted one meaty hand under the table and glared at the sycophantic little prig. Thankfully, he wasn't the only one annoyed.

"Quickly, Tal, we only have about an hour before the king finishes fare-welling his guests," Advisor Hasom, the secretary of the group, said from next to Arlott.

"I still think presenting him with a list right away is preposterous," Steppe interjected. "You know our majesty's disposition after social events, and this one has been days long."

Balgus grunted his agreement.

"Perhaps that will work in our favor. He's even wearier of this fun little ritual than we are," Minister Mead said. "Today could be the day he makes a decision."

Balgus snorted.

"Please start, Tal," Arlott said with a lift of his hand to indicate the quack had everyone's attention.

Tal cleared his voice and stood his full height. Even with the little stool he was given, he didn't even stand eye-level with everyone seated around the table. He began in his simpering voice, "Gentlemen, per your request, I listened in on many conversations and watched many beautiful young ladies. Let me just say that young ladies' voices are like birdsong to the weary man's heart."

"Skip the dragon shit. Give us the short version," Balgus growled.

Tal grinned at him self-gratuitously, making his meaty fingers twitch on the tabletop.

"Very well, sirs, as you wish," he said. "I will detail my first choice on the list, the beautiful, elegant, exquisite, educated, alluring Jessina de Morak, who I believe will make the most graceful, lovely, perfect queen on Gaea."

Tal's whiny voice pierced his ears, and Balgus pinched his nose to push back a threatening headache.

"You've got to be joking," Mead muttered.

"Why no, sir," he said, tapping the list of names. "She was the loveliest rose in the garden," Tal said with a snicker. "She has all the graces a queen needs, and she's most delightful to look at."

"While I won't argue with you, can anyone see her getting along with King Van?" Hasom asked.

"They'd make an attractive couple," Advisor Lender, the purser and youngest of King Van's advisors, said.

"From what I remember, she walks through life thinking everything is a drama play, with her as the lead actress," Arlott said.

Balgus grunted. King Van had ranted to him after sparring one day maybe last year about how just such a lady had flaunted her figure to him, thinking her looks and behavior put her above everyone, but he couldn't remember what exactly she'd done to flout the rules. He just remembered Van's annoyance.

He leveled a glare over Steppe's shoulder at Lender. "I dare you to suggest this lady to him on the basis that they'd make a beautiful couple. See what he does," Balgus finished with a sneer.

Steppe guffawed.

"What did you overhear her saying about our king?" Mead asked.

Tal's smile froze on his face. "Oh, many things," he squeaked.

"Good things?" Mead asked.

He cleared his throat and opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"Strike her from the list," Arlott said definitively. "Who's next, Tal?"

After blinking for a moment, the prig pinched his mouth in thought as he skimmed the list. "Young Lady Sora Shepherd, from Cesario. She spoke very highly of our king to her companion yesterday."

"What does that entail exactly, Tal?" Steppe asked.

Tal smiled. "She said, and I quote, 'He's the most execrable man on Gaea'."

"How quaint," Balgus muttered. "Does anyone know what that damned word means?" he asked the other advisors.

Minister Mead scratched his cheek. "I believe it actually means 'damned', General. In religious texts, 'execrate' means to curse something. Tal, are you sure she called him 'execrable' and not something else. like 'incredible' perhaps?"

Tal's smile faltered and he cleared his throat.

"Next lady, Tal" Arlott said.

After a pause, he said with a little flare, "Your honors, Miss Cassia Novel, I believe from Egzardia, seems to like our king." For a minute, the only sound was the shifting of parchment as Hasom rifled through his notes.

Balgus could not for the life of him remember anyone with such a name.

"Is that the beautiful lady from Daedelus, the one with bright red hair?" Lender asked.

"No. Just a minute," muttered Hasom as he ran a finger down a paper.

"I can't say I've heard of a Miss Novel," Mead said.

Hasom finally found what he was looking for. "She's just the daughter of a very rich landowner," he said.

"Oh," Arlott hummed. "Yes, I remember now. Her father owns an entire river in Ezgardia."

Balgus scanned his memory for any times Van might have mentioned such a family during their sparring matches, but he came up empty.

"She's danced with our king before," Hasom said with raised eyebrows. "Why can't we remember her?"

"Probably because she's not beautiful, Hasom," said Steppe.

"But he likes her?" Lender asked hopefully.

Balgus shrugged. "King Van has never mentioned her to me, but not mentioning her could mean he might not dislike her," he said.

Hasom replied, "Based on my notes, I would say he gets along with her better than average."

"Ah. Why can't I remember her?" Lender asked.

"She blends in, Lender," Steppe said flatly. "More than average."

Arlott waved a hand. "What impressed you about her, Tal?"

"Well, Your Honors," he said with a toothy grin, "I was impressed by her quiet, calm fortitude in the face of mockery. Apparently she doesn't think our Lord is rude, and she has had a civil conversation with him."

Arlott lifted his eyes to the ceiling. "His Majesty is actually capable of civil conversation." He sighed. "Fine," he said with a wave of his hands. "She sounds fine. An invisible queen might actually suit our king. Put her on the list."

"Plus her father's rich," Lender added.

Steppe hummed agreement.

"Okay, this is getting nowhere. Very quickly, go through the list and mark off the women you didn't overhear or those who spoke poorly of our king," Arlott said with a wave.

In quick succession he mentioned a series of ladies and struck them out. Eventually, Arlott said, exasperated. "Tal, your job was to listen in on ladies to see who spoke well of him. You just listed thirty ladies who didn't. Was there anyone who did?"

Tal's grin grew so wide his eyes closed. "Oh, your great sirs, there were two very beautiful young maidens," he began, and the way his eyes glanced towards him made Balgus' skin begin to crawl. "Nariya and Eriya Dune, I believe from Zaibach. They both spoke quite effusively of our lord," Tal added with a jeer.

At the mention of the twins' names, hot anger filled his lungs. "Idiot," he snarled.

Tal's eyes grew wide, but his grin remained.

"Your job was to gather information, not spy on us," Balgus snapped and then glanced around, his face warming further when he realized he might have given himself away.

"That's what you were doing when King Van disappeared from the ballroom?" Arlott asked Tal as his round face reddened.

"P-perhaps, Your Honor," Tal spluttered. "But Balgus can confirm that these two women made no disparaging complaint about our king, can't he?"

Balgus slapped the table. "Shut your mouth, you mole!"

Tal flinched away and lost his balance, falling with a satisfying screech onto his ass on the floor. Balgus ground his teeth and tapped the table impatiently with his knuckles.

Steppe leaned towards him. "What did they talk about, Balgus?" he asked with a smirk.

"Nothing that would interest you," Balgus shot Steppe a glare, and the man snickered.

"Let's just forget about them, please," Arlott said. "Since they were with Balgus, I'm sure he can give us any necessary information, if we require it."

Balgus pressed his lips and kept his opinion on the matter to himself.

Tal scrambled back to his post on the stool.

Arlott leveled his gaze at the idiot. "Tal, I'm going to give you one last chance to redeem yourself, otherwise you don't get paid. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir."

"This girl our king escaped with, the Kanzaki girl, I'm quite interested in her and you haven't mentioned her yet. Please, please tell me you spied on her."

"You mean the one named Hitomi?" Tal asked with gathering confidence.

Hasom said, "Hitomi Kanzaki."

Tal nodded vigorously. "Oh yes, I can tell you about her."

Balgus' ears perked up. "As in Freid's General Kanzaki?"

"Yes. Did you know about his daughter?" Hasom asked him.

Balgus bounced his knee as he thought back. It had been during the Freidian-Basramian war that he'd worked with him. A small contingent of Fanelian troops had been paid to assist his efforts over the mountains at one point. "I knew he had a child, but he never spoke of her." His eyes wandered the room, skimming over the grand fireplace, the wood paneling, and the large window. "I seem to remember that he said he'd sent his greatest treasure into hiding, but I presumed he'd meant his son."

"It turns out it was his daughter," Arlott said.

"I didn't know he was at the gala," Balgus said. He purposely neglected to mention that he hadn't bothered greeting many of the guests for... reasons.

"General Kanzaki wasn't in attendance, but his wife and daughter were," Arlott said.

"You were obviously otherwise occupied at the time, General," Steppe said with a covert elbow into his ribs. "But that daughter caused quite a stir when our king disappeared with her during their dance."

Balgus pulled away. "Our king? King Van? Escaped with a lady? What, was he drunk?"

"Yes, and perhaps a little," Arlott said in a rush. He turned to Tal. "And unless I get some good information about her, I'm going to banish you from the kingdom," he said with stern eyes.

"Oh, you must be kind to me, your honor," Tal said, bowing his head towards the table. Balgus didn't buy the false humility. The little mole was the one with ulterior motives. "Who else can do what I do?" he said, closing his eyes and splaying out his hands pathetically.

Balgus, pleased to have the attention off himself, rapped him roughly on the shoulder and asked, "Did you spy on Miss Kanzaki?"

Tal sat up with a splutter. "Yes I watched Miss Kanzaki!" he cried out.

"And what did you find out?" Arlott asked.

"She stood up for our wonderful King, your honor," Tal said.

"What? How?" Arlott demanded.

"She chastised some of the other young ladies I mentioned, some who found pleasure in embarrassing our Lord," Tal said quickly.

"She did what?" Mead asked.

The men looked around the room, one to another, in stunned silence. Balgus did his best to keep his face stony. Until he talked to Van about it, he wasn't going to trust what the others said.

Lender broke the silence. "I heard he smiled as he danced with someone. Was that her?"

Balgus dismissed the comment with a wave of his fingers. "For him, the mere lack of irritation might come across as a smile," he said. "Besides, you said he was probably drunk."

"Doesn't matter," said Steppe.

"Oh, it was a smile and that is the lady," Tal said, gesticulating with his hand. "They were so graceful together, weren't they?" He pressed his hands to his heart.

Balgus set his jaw and rolled his eyes.

"Where were you? Were you watching after all?" Arlott asked.

"Oh, I hear things, your honor, and when I heard that our king was smiling, I couldn't help but watch."

"When were you going to tell us?"

"I was coming to her next!"

"You should have gone out to spy on them," Steppe said.

"You should have mentioned her first!" Arlott said at the same time.

Tal ignored Arlott and looked towards Steppe. "Perhaps I did spy on them," he said, rubbing his hands together. Balgus saw his eyes move to where Lender sat.

"Then why didn't you say so?" Arlott said. "I searched everywhere for you."

"All things come with a price," Tal said with a smile. "If it makes you feel better about that price, I also managed to overhear their conversation in the garden." He waggled his eyebrows irritatingly.

"Is that so?" Mead asked.

"You already have your price," Lender said.

"They had a most wonderful discussion," Tal said, nodding to himself.

"What was it about?" Mead asked.

His impish smile grew large. "I've never heard our king speak with an eligible lady in quite that manner."

Balgus slapped the table. "Tell us, you little—."

"Double the Gids," Tal said, his face suddenly serious. He held out his open palm.

"Four hundred Gids?" Lender exclaimed.

"Fine. Lender, it's fine." Arlott said with a wave. Turning back to Tal, he tapped the table for emphasis. "As long as he describes what really happened!"

The rat sent a delighted smile to each member of the council. "He thanked her for not talking," he said.

Balgus snorted in laughter, because that sounded just like something Van would say. He still wasn't sure he believed the others when they said the king seemed to be smitten by a lady– especially since Van hadn't given any indication to him of such preference– but a sharp curse from his right stopped the chuckle in his throat.

"Shit," Steppe hissed. He met Balgus' eyes with an expression of ire as he shook his head.

"Why does Escaflowne curse us like this?" Mead muttered as he pinched his nose, likely to subdue a headache. No wonder. Other than Balgus, Mead had spent the most time one-on-one with the king in his younger years, usually drilling Van on religious rites and rituals. Second only to Balgus, Mead had done the most to prepare the king for his dragon slaying.

"How—why—?" Lender stammered.

Hasom gaped as the color drained from his face. "But she was so nice to talk to…" he murmured.

Arlott was staring rather stupidly at the table, his large mouth agape.

As much as Balgus enjoyed watching his fellow advisors recognize their mistake when it came to King Van's affections, something about the way Tal's wide mouth twitched made his skin crawl. The rat was enjoying this too much.

Balgus leaned back in his chair and rapped the table loudly between himself and Tal. "What are you hiding?"

Tal's smile grew to cover his entire face. "Nothing, General. I'm hiding nothing."

"Did something else happen after our king so elegantly insulted Miss Kanzaki?" Steppe asked without hiding his exasperation.

Tal's smile froze expectantly.

"Keep talking, you mercenary little idiot," Lender said.

"Your honors, please, show some respect to me," he said in his whiny voice, his oversized hands held out before him. "This is valuable information! Who else had the ability to overhear such a private conversation?"

Hasom groaned, but the others remained silent, and Balgus narrowed his eyes at the little spy. Never before had he so resented the man's unofficial role in the counsel.

"What do you say, dear sirs?" Tal asked with his hands splayed flat.

Balgus saw Arlott look at Lender and nod.

"Another hundred Gids," Lender said.

"Deal," Tal said, showing his teeth.

"It better be worth it," Arlott muttered.

"Oh, it is," Tal said happily, rubbing his palms together. "Don't worry, your Honors! Hope is not lost. The beautiful, patient, long-suffering Lady Kanzaki merely stopped walking and asked our sweet, precious, gentle, calm, beloved king if he took pleasure insulting his female guests by telling them he preferred them to be silent."

Arlott let out a long, frustrated breath.

"Great. I bet that went over well," Steppe said, his head falling into his hands.

"We're not paying you for that!" Lender said.

"Oh, but you agreed, dear sir!" Tal said gleefully, one finger in the air.

"That information doesn't help our cause," Lender said.

"Balgus, did he say anything to you about this?" Mead asked pleadingly.

"Not a word, Minister," Balgus said, thinking of the one sparring match he'd had with Van yesterday, wherein the king seemed his normal self, especially considering he wasn't yet at the end of the three-day gala. Perhaps that meant that he wasn't partial to this Kanzaki girl at all.

"Oh, but Sirs, do not lose hope," Tal added with a flourish.

"Tal!" Arlott said, his eyes narrowing. "If there's more to the story, finish the story!"

"There is, your Honors, there is!" He paused for effect. "Our wonderful, proud, humble king apologized to the lady and offered her his coat!"

"He did?" Mead asked, his lined face lighting up and crinkling with a proud smile.

Balgus had to look away from his joy. He turned his glare at Tal, who was obviously enjoying the attention.

"Oh yes." He nodded. "He told her he meant it as a compliment," he said, bringing his hands together so his fingers made a steeple before his chest.

The ministers gaped. Balgus snorted. Lender asked, "How in the hell is that a compliment?"

Balgus had an idea. "Knowing King Van, he probably meant to tell her he liked walking without conversation," he said.

"Okay, but how is that a compliment?" Lender asked again.

"How did she take it, Tal?" Steppe asked.

Fingers still steepled, Tal puffed out his chest and grinned, but said nothing.

"Tal, How did she take it?" Mead asked.

"Oh sirs, I remind you, who else is as talented as I? Who else can give you this information?" he said, almost without moving his smiling lips.

Balgus growled. "You mercenary little mole."

"How much do you want?" Lender asked.

"Another two hundred Gids," Tal said quickly.

"It better be worth it," Arlott muttered with a confirming gesture at Lender.

Tal chuckled. "You'll be pleased." He took another breath and squinted through his glasses at each member of the council. Balgus held his breath to subdue his frustration.

"Tal," Arlott spat. "Now."

With a smile and a small bow, he said, "Our fine lady Kanzaki took his arm and accepted his apology with a smile."

The other men around the table let out one collective, relieved breath. Balgus kept his in and eyed Tal for any signs of deception. When the little rat met his eyes with a relaxed smile, he finally released his breath, wondering if their spy might just be telling the truth.

Had Van really impressed a lady? Or had she really impressed Van as much as the others said?

"What were you saying about Escaflowne cursing us?" Arlott asked Mead.

"What happened after that?" Balgus asked Tal.

"Did she accept his offer of the coat?" Steppe asked.

"She politely declined. Their walk was brief and they returned inside through the secret door in the throne room antechamber, where they parted ways," Tal said.

"That's it? Did they speak about anything else?" Arlott asked.

He shrugged. "Mountains."

"Mountains? Why?" Lender asked.

"What else do we know about her?" Balgus asked the other ministers without taking his eyes off Tal.

He heard Hasom skim through his notes. "Her maternal grandmother was Fanelian, from the now extinct Yurizen family in the south. Her father is General Kanzaki, and her mother is a countess and aunt to Duke Chid."

"Why haven't we heard of her before?" Mead asked.

"I couldn't tell you any better than the General could," Hasom said. "But the king said Folken wanted her on the invitation list."

"What?" Lender and Steppe asked in unison.

This only served to further confuse Balgus. When had Folken done that and why hadn't Van mentioned anything? Calculating back, Folken had visited just over two months ago, in early autumn, just before the invitations were sent out. Balgus shook his head and pressed his lips at King Van's reticence.

"That's the girl Folken recommended?" Arlott said no nobody in particular. "I'd forgotten about that."

"And you say she actually made the king smile?" Steppe asked Hasom.

"Didn't you see them dancing? He couldn't take his eyes off of her," Hasom said to Steppe.

"That's all relative," Balgus said, sitting forward with his hand flat on the table. "He might look at a woman three times, and she'd call it a stare or a smile."

"Fair, but we're the ones calling it, General," Arlott said. "I have a good feeling about this lady."

Tal rubbed his hands together with a snicker, reminding the council that he was still here.

"Tal, thank you. Find Lender in an hour, and he'll pay you. You're dismissed," Arlott said without further ceremony. He waved the rat away from the table.

"Thank you, good sirs. It's been a pleasure working for you again," Tal said with a sniveling smile. He stepped off the stool and backed towards the door with a grace that belied his tiny, round frame. "It's always a pleasure. Please remember me when you have need of–"

"Get out," Balgus said.

When the door closed behind Tal, the men around the table breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed their foreheads or necks or hands, almost in unison.

"Back to the matter at hand, I agree that this Kanzaki girl could be our lady. What if we catch him after the high of being around her?" Steppe said with excitement.

"Has he spent any time with her since?" Mead asked.

"No. For some reason, her party was the first to leave Fanelia, the morning after the gala," Hasom said.

"Dammit," Arlott said.

"They did? Why?" Mead asked.

"I would like to know why he hasn't met her before?" Lender asked.

"Balgus, you know her family better than any of us. Do you think she was kept a secret? On purpose?" Arlott asked pointedly.

Balgus rubbed his tight neck. He wasn't used to being this in the dark about things. "I don't actually know General Kanzaki all that well to begin with. It's not much more than a passing acquaintance," he admitted stiffly. Hoping to deflect away from this deficiency, he asked the others, "Don't you know anything else about her?"

Arlott let out a sigh. "At this point, we know enough. I think she's our best choice."

Red anger flared up in his chest, and he pounded the table. "This is the future of Fanelia we're talking about, Minister. You are in too much of a rush!"

"Watch yourself, Balgus," Arlott said, sitting up straight. "You should have been paying attention. What exactly were you doing with the ladies Tal mentioned?"

Balgus glared, grinding his teeth together.

Arlott continued, graciously backing off by returning to the former topic. "Listen, King Van appeared to like her. She defended him. She handled him when he screwed up. She's the daughter of a general. Not to mention, she has the right bloodline, which means she'll undoubtedly have a proper enough upbringing. That she's part Fanelian is just a bonus. This Kanzaki girl could be our future queen. She's almost all too perfect."

That lit an idea in his mind. "Maybe she is too perfect," Balgus said. "Maybe Freid has a strategy for sending her."

Hassom froze, his mouth agape and eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at Balgus.

"General, if you don't like her, that's on you," Arlott said. "But keep in mind that her family didn't put her forward. Folken did. The king's closest living relative recommended her. The Hermit of Adom. I highly doubt Folken was playing Freid's strategos with that move."

Balgus pulled his hands back into his lap and watched as he rubbed them numbly.

Commissioner Steppe cleared his throat next to him. "I have an idea," he said. "What if this time we give King Van a list of the ladies we know he can't stand? We can present it to him as our definitive list, but we'll put Miss Kanzaki up against the very worst in the lineup."

"That could actually work," Lender said.

"No," Balgus said, sitting up again and leveling a look around the table. "No. You may not cheat King Van in such a way. If she's as wonderful as you make her sound, put her up against all of the best. If he really admired her, then we'll know. If he doesn't choose her, I say we give him a few more years to mature, but it must be his free choice."

"That's not a good idea," said Arlott. "If we give him free choice, he'll get overwhelmed and reject all of them. Again."

"His father was over ten years older before he found Queen Varie," Balgus said. "King Van might need to do the same thing."

"No," Arlott said.

"General, how many social events has he been to? How many times have you seen him smile at any lady?" Mead asked.

"I've only seen it once or twice," Steppe said next to him.

"He usually only smiles at matrons," Hasom added.

"But he was comfortable around Miss Kanzaki." Lender said.

"He seemed to be. It was surprising," Hasom said.

"Listen," Arlott said, "Our king depends on us. He trusts us to pick the best ladies for Fanelia's sake. I happen to believe that this Miss Kanzaki might just be that best choice. She could be the best queen for our King, he just doesn't know it yet. Now, we could tell this to him directly and pressure him to marry her, but what do you think he'll do?"

"You know he'll cut down the idea," Steppe said to him.

"Kicking and screaming," Mead added, and a memory of King Van putting up just that kind of fuss when it came to religious ceremonies almost made Balgus want to smile if he weren't so bothered by this situation.

"Exactly," Arlott said. "So here's what we do, we rig it, just a little, Balgus. Now, we make it fair enough. We put her in a line-up with other good ladies but also a handful of the worst choices. We'll pick ten girls. Make sure six of them are ladies we know he'll turn down, three of them are suitable choices, but Miss Kanzaki is obviously head and shoulders above them all without us even having to do anything. What's the worst that could happen?"

"He'll pick one of the girls we don't want," Lender said.

"Do you really think he'll do that? Come on, Lender," Steppe said.

"No. Before he does that, he'll put all of us through this again," Mead said. "We made him go through three days of entertaining on purpose. I guarantee you that he knows why we did this. If he's so disinclined to pick any of these girls, he won't. But I know he's as weary of this process as any of us, and I think he might realize Miss Kanzaki is our way out of it."

"Exactly. The worst he could do is deny all of the girls—again—and then he knows we'll keep doing this. What if this lady is our best chance?" Arlott said, sending a smile around the table.

"I still don't believe he liked her," Balgus said.

Steppe leaned closer. "If he doesn't now, he might come to like her eventually."

"Again, I say this could be the time he actually chooses," Arlott said.

"I agree," Mead said.

Hasom was nodding between the two men.

Letting out a long, full exhale, Balgus told himself they might be right. King Van had never made the first move in any courtship, and the one time he'd tried, he'd failed spectacularly. Reminding himself that Van wasn't going to pick someone he adamantly didn't like, he admitted defeat. "Fine. We can do what you say. But apply no pressure on him! If he doesn't choose any of the ladies, then we give him time to mature a bit more."

Arlott slapped the table with a wide grin. "Agreed. Excellent. We all agree. Hasom," he said with a gesture at the secretary. "Give us the names of six girls on record who the king can't stand."


King Van stepped briskly through the door, which bounced loudly against the wall before slamming shut.

"Afternoon, Council," he greeted briskly. "I'm long overdue to not see anyone for the next three days. Make this fast."

"Yes, Sire, we know," Arlott said placatingly. "That is why we've prepared quickly so as to get this silly little tradition out of the way. Here is our list of ladies we have approved of from the gala. Would you like to look them over? Any one of them will make a suitable queen for you, my liege."

Van had tugged his blue gloves off as Minister Arlott spoke. "Fine," he said, dropping the gloves onto the table. Balgus noticed that his voice lacked its normal peevishness when approached with this same question. "Who's on the list this time?" the king asked.

"Only the best of the best, Sire," Hasom said, laying out six papers with the ladies' names and basic qualifications facing the head of the table where the king stood.

Since they realized during the process that they risked seriously offending Van by including too many ladies who had insulted him to this list, they'd ultimately scrapped the ten-name option in favor of a concise number of mostly decent girls. Hasom read the names aloud as he laid out the papers. "Cassia Novel, Jessina de Morak, Hitomi Kanzaki, Minnie Levariel, Sora Shephard, and Fione Urson." The last was red-head from Daedelus that the king had danced with, someone Tal had, apparently, neither struck from the list nor spied on.

Balgus grunted his disapproval after the names were read, but the king ignored him as he leaned over the papers. In fact, it appeared that a little color had come into Van's cheeks, but it could have been because he had been rushing to get home from the airfield. He was certain, however, that his Majesty's eyes lingered on one page in particular.

"This Kanzaki lady, she's new to me. Why her?" the king asked with affected nonchalance as his nimble fingers undid the buttons of his jacket. Balgus raised his eyebrows at Arlott, who glanced at him with a subdued smile.

Balgus, as the closest person to the king, had been chosen– not persuaded, chosen– as voice for this exact scenario. He cleared his throat. "Her father's a general for the Duchy of Freid," he said slowly, glancing at Van. "Escaflowne forbid, if we ever have a conflict, having access to their troops would be a valuable resource."

King Van finished unbuttoning his jacket without saying anything. His eyes skimmed over Balgus' face and around the circle. "Fine," he said as he removed his jacket. "It's enough. I'll go with her," he said decisively, dropping his jacket on top of the laid out pages and sending a couple fluttering to the floor. Before anyone could react to his decision, Van turned. "Send her father an offer he can't refuse," he said over his shoulder as he walked towards the exit.

Blinking dumbly at his king's retreating back, Balgus watched as he tousled his previously slicked hair with one hand. So stunned that he'd missed any signs of the rumored inclinations Van might have had for the lady in question, he couldn't even bring himself to question the king's judgment.

"What did we tell you, General?" Steppe snickered near his ear.

"Sire," Arlott called just before the king's hand touched the door.

The king turned abruptly. "What more do you want from me, Arlott?" he snapped, his eyes flashing through his mussed hair.

There was the peevishness Balgus was used to, and it helped pull him out of his stupor. Perhaps Arlott meant to question the king's choice?

Arlott cleared his throat and inclined his head. "Sire, would you like to suggest a wedding date?"

Balgus' stomach dropped.

King Van tucked his chin back with a blink. "Wedding date?" He pressed his lips together and furrowed his brow in thought before a curious smile grew on his face. He straightened his shoulders, and something about the conceited look sent chills up Balgus' spine. "Yes, I know the perfect date," Van said. "Make it February 17th. Folken's birthday."

"Folken's—what?" Arlott sputtered. "That's barely in two months! We just had a gala!"

"Exactly," the king said with his dragon's grin. "Keep it simple. The sooner it's over, the better. I'm ready to be done with this 'little tradition', aren't you, Arlott?"

"Yes, sire," the head minister said with conviction.

"Make it so, then. Good day," he said, turning on his heel.

"Majesty," Arlott said with a bow to the closing door.

The vacuous silence after the loud slamming of the door left the advisors staring at one another. Then, with a collective breath, everyone– except Balgus, –erupted in cheers and slapped one another's backs in hearty congratulations.

Balgus couldn't find the breath to voice any of his doubts, the least of which was whether the Kanzakis would even accept their offer. It seemed, against his better judgement, that King Van was on his way to getting married to a girl he'd only met and danced with one time.


A/N

What do you think? I love Balgus so much (who doesn't), but he's really playing into my hand here. I can't help that he's a skeptical, grouchy old warrior. Speculation of the future welcome.