Chapter Six
Meliadoul had done her best to explain the strange situation to her friends. It had not been easy. She realized that she sounded like a lunatic throughout most of the explanation.
When all the words were spoken, and it was clear that she was going to travel with the heretic no matter how they argued, the women were clumped into two distinct groups. Wulfhilda stood close by Meliadoul's side. Meanwhile, Emeria, Bess, Gillian, and Nicholina were backing away from her. They were not going to associate with a heretic, not even for Meliadoul's sake. They were going back to Vormav to get assigned a new leader, and new orders.
At least they all swore not to tell Vormav that Meliadoul and Wulfhilda had joined the heretic. They were going to claim that they watched the pair follow Ramza into Limberry Castle, and then never saw them again.
That was something. At least six years of friendship had bought her that much.
Meliadoul was stunned that Emeria had left her. She had been her closest friend since the academy. She would have bet money that if anyone stayed, it would have been Emeria.
Still, Meliadoul was overwhelmingly grateful for Wulfhilda's support, no matter how unexpected it was. Wulfhilda had always been the quietest woman in the group. But then, silence suited a Ninja pretty well. And Wulfhilda was good at her job; she would be a useful addition to Ramza's party.
And I will not have to join a band of heretics without any friends by my side, Meliadoul mused.
Ramza looked incredibly surprised that even one of Meliadoul's friends had been willing to travel with them. Still, he greeted Wulfhilda warmly, and he began to introduce the two new recruits to everyone in his group.
Meliadoul learned that the team now consisted of Ramza himself, Lady Agrias (the Holy Knight who had beaten her ass in combat), Mustadio, Alicia, Lavian, Rad, Rafa, Malak, Luso, and Balthier. Oh, and the legendary Lord Cidolfus Orlandu. Meliadoul and Wulfhilda basically just gaped when they were introduced to him. He was a veritable celebrity, now publicly believed to be dead, and yet here he was following a heretic around Ivalice!
At least they were in good company.
Meliadoul and Wulfhilda shared a tent when the group set up camp that night. As she always did, Wulfhilda fell calmly asleep the moment her head hit her bedroll. She acted as though nothing in her life had changed.
It was not so easy for Meliadoul. Her thoughts were racing, as she heard the noises of the others getting ready for bed, outside the tent. It was strange to hear so many voices out there, and even stranger that many of them were men's voices. She had gotten accustomed to her all-female team, over the years.
It had really been something, to watch the Beoulve slay the demon Zalera. Ramza still operated under the Squire job class, but he used two blades, like a Ninja. He was tall, and his height gave him an advantageous range of motion. Not to mention speed. He was more of a beast than the demon was, once he joined the fight. Ramza moved faster than anyone Meliadoul had ever seen. His two swords swept in a graceful, deadly blur. Meliadoul was fairly certain that Ramza had destroyed the demon Zalera almost entirely on his own. She saw Thunder God Cid jump in to help him only once.
Meliadoul was realizing how very lucky she was that it had been Agrias who engaged her, that day she attacked Ramza's party. She had lost to Agrias, but at least there had been a chance to retreat before she was mortally wounded. She had a feeling that if she ever had to face Ramza's dual blades, it would be the last thing she ever saw in this life.
When most of the talk outside her tent had quieted down, she got up and left her tent. Alicia and Rad were on watch duty for the first third of the night. They were kind enough to point out which tent was Agrias's, when Meliadoul asked them.
There was, of course, no door to knock on, or anything. "Agrias!" Meliadoul hissed, in a loud whisper. "May I come in?"
"Yes," the Holy Knight's voice replied.
Meliadoul clambered her way into the tiny tent.
"Oh! Meliadoul." Obviously, Agrias had thought it would be someone else.
"Yes, only me," Meliadoul agreed. She looked at Agrias. "Are you still wearing your—my gods! You really wear your armor to bed?" Meliadoul started laughing.
Agrias began to sputter, "No, I—godsakes, honestly—"
The sound of male laughter from a tent to their left joined Meliadoul's laughter.
"I do not wear my armor to bed!" Agrias growled at Meliadoul, "I simply had not finished getting undressed yet." She paused, and then shouted toward the sound of the man laughing from the next tent over, "Ramza, I swear, if you do not mind your own business, then the Church will not have to kill you, after all!"
Someone else, from the tent on their other side, snickered at that.
Agrias sighed. "If you needed to say something to me in private, you shall need to whisper. Clearly."
Meliadoul had, in fact, been hoping for a private conversation with Agrias. She moved as close as she could to the Holy Knight's side, and looped an arm around her back, leaning to whisper in her ear. She was surprised when Agrias jerked her shoulders away. "I did not invite you to touch me, Meliadoul!" she cried, "Perhaps touching any random woman was acceptable among your previous group, but I do not welcome it!"
"Oh hell, I want to be inside that tent," the male voice from the right said.
"Be quiet, Balthier!" Agrias exclaimed.
Meliadoul thought Agrias looked more embarrassed than the situation warranted.
"Is there room for me, too?" Ramza begged, from their left.
"No, stay out of here, boys! Agrias is all mine, now," Meliadoul called out coyly.
A groan from both of the men. Meliadoul was grinning so hard her face was threatening to split in half. Agrias looked horrified at the implication.
It was fun to mess with someone this serious. Assuming Agrias did not murder her for it, of course.
Sounding ready to explode with rage, Agrias called out loudly, "She is not touching me, and there is no reason to be excited right now! I do not know why she is in my tent, but she had better leave soon!"
Meliadoul held up her hands in surrender. "All right, all right, I am sorry, Agrias. I only wanted to ask you some questions. And I was hoping for privacy, that was why I leaned in so close to you."
Another snicker from Balthier's side, which they both ignored this time.
Agrias jerked her head toward the tent flap. "Let us take a walk, then. Ramza and Balthier will be pressed up against the sides of their tents, trying to hear every word, if we stay in here."
"I would never," Ramza complained indignantly.
Once the two women had walked far enough away from the campsite, Agrias demanded to know why Meliadoul had approached her.
"It is about… when we fought each other," Meliadoul said, haltingly. "First, I would like to apologize to you. I know now that I was wrong to attack you."
"Especially since I am clearly the better swordswoman." Agrias mocked.
"Yes," Meliadoul said, seriously. "You are. That is actually the second reason I wished to speak with you. I realize that I have lost much of my skill at swordplay, ever since I graduated from the Templar academy. I rely too much on my Divine magic, these days. And I have mainly fought criminals over the past six years… never anyone challenging."
Agrias raised an eyebrow, as if to say 'get to the point'.
"So… I know you do not owe me anything, and you might actively dislike me, after the tent fiasco just now… but I wanted to ask anyway if you would train me. When we have free time to practice. Remedial swordplay, I suppose you could call it. I would be grateful for the help."
Agrias was still glaring at her. It took a long moment before she answered. But she eventually agreed that she would be willing to practice with Meliadoul, on some evenings.
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A few days later, Ramza promised the group a night at the tavern, followed by an entire day to relax, with no traveling. He told Meliadoul that this was much needed, for morale.
They were headed for Igros, because Meliadoul had informed Ramza about her father giving the Capricorn zodiac stone to Dycedarg, who was Ramza's eldest half-brother. But they were still far from their destination, and Ramza said the group got grumpy when they marched for too many days in a row without a break.
Meliadoul was not pleased that they were taking a day off. It felt like a waste of precious time. The fate of the whole damn country might rest on them! And she was eager to get to the bottom of the situation with her father and the zodiac stones. She still hoped there might be some way to rescue him from the demon that supposedly possessed him now.
Although her feet did ache from marching, Meliadoul did not agree with Ramza and the others that a day off from traveling was necessary. She told Ramza as much, as everyone was preparing to go to the tavern for the evening.
"I think, while everyone else lazes about tomorrow, I will continue on my way to Igros. Perhaps I can borrow a chocobo somewhere, to get there faster."
"What, by yourself?" Ramza said.
Meliadoul shrugged. "I do not think there is any time to waste. My father and your brother are at the mercy of those evil creatures. And if you will not hurry to help them, then, yes, I believe I can manage on my own," Meliadoul said.
Ramza snorted out an incredulous laugh, thinking of every foolishly dangerous move Meliadoul had made in the weeks before she joined his party.
"No, you cannot manage on your own!" he insisted.
"How dare you say that!" she exclaimed.
Ramza raised his hands, trying to calm her. "Hear me, Meliadoul! You cannot survive a fight with a Lucavi by yourself. None of us can! Why do you suppose we keep such a large company?"
Meliadoul dropped her head a bit, looking frustrated. "How can we take a day off?" she demanded again, in a quiet voice. "There is too much at stake."
Ramza touched her shoulder. "Believe me, I know only too well. I told you, the Templarate has held my sister captive for a long time now. And every minute that goes by, I live with the worry that she has been harmed… But we must be reasonable. If we march our group ragged, then we will have no strength left to fight."
Meliadoul hated that he was right. She said nothing.
"Have some patience, and come along with us," Ramza said, "We will all protect you, the same as we protect each other."
Of course, Meliadoul had to agree with his reasoning. How could she not? She was quickly learning that Ramza was not the sort of man one could easily disagree with.
"I still do not understand why we are going to a tavern tonight," she commented. "Your face is on hand bills across the country. Do you not fear you will be recognized?"
Ramza grinned. "We always pick a tavern in a small town, or even just a village. Probably one or two people do recognize me, each time we go in. But there are a lot of us, with our weapons. And all of their best fighters are away in the armies."
Meliadoul smiled. "Ah, so the old men and the barmaids simply pretend that you are not that heretic they saw in the picture."
Ramza nodded. "They seem to always decide not to start trouble with us."
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It was bedlam in the tavern. The fun kind, luckily. Their group was large enough to fill the room a quarter of the way, and the room had already been three-quarters full of townsfolk. Now bodies were nearly pressed against each other, as they maneuvered through the crowd to get drinks and food, and bickered to claim seats at the one long table, while the others had to stand.
The only area that stayed clear was a small strip of room where some were playing a game called darts. If you were foolish enough to step into that area, you would be stabbed by the next dart to fly. Rumor had it that darts and dartboards had been in use for thousands of years, even before the age of sky ships. It was still a popular game.
Meliadoul made her way over to the dartboard, and talked to the men there about getting a turn to play. She had loved darts, back in the barracks with the other squires.
Wulfhilda had refused to even come to the tavern, as she did not drink and she disliked crowds. But Meliadoul thought that perhaps Rafa would be her darts partner. Rafa also did not drink, but at least she had agreed to come along, when Meliadoul cajoled her into doing so. The shy girl had attached herself to Meliadoul and Wulfhilda almost as soon as they joined Ramza's party. Rafa seemed in awe of the fact that Meliadoul had used to lead a troop of only women.
Meliadoul had quickly learned that Rafa and her brother Malak were relatively new additions to Ramza's party, as well. Rafa, at age fourteen, was a full ten years younger than Meliadoul. But Rafa had no close friends in the group, other than her brother, and she seemed to like walking with and chatting with Meliadoul and Wulfhilda.
She realized she was already starting to think of Rafa as the little sister she never had, and it had only been a few days. Meliadoul did not exactly approve of someone so young being part of such a dangerous group as Ramza's. But, from what Rafa had told her, the girl had nowhere else to go.
Meliadoul was in no position to ask for favors from the Templars right now, having recently defected from them, but she swore that if things ever got put back to normal, and her father survived his demonic possession, then she would ask that Rafa be allowed to squire in the barracks, where she herself had once squired. Rafa would be safe there, until she was older, and she would make lots of friends during the training.
For today, however, Meliadoul could only hope that Rafa would make a decent darts partner. They still had to find a pair to play against, as well. Meliadoul scanned the crowd, trying to locate her new friends amongst the random townsfolk.
She spotted Ramza, standing up against the bar. There were no less than three barmaids squeezing around him, trying to draw his attention. Meliadoul had noticed that Ramza was rather handsome. Apparently, so had every other female in this room.
Meliadoul rolled her eyes at the sight of Ramza saying something to one of the flirting women. Ugh, another pretty boy, she thought to herself, Just like Lodwicke, I suppose, with the way he is stringing all those girls along.
She kept looking around, until she spotted Mustadio. He would probably like to play darts, from what little she knew of his personality, so far. She waved at him, and he waved back, beginning to squeeze his way through the crowd. Nearby, Malak, Rad, and Cid were huddled together holding ales, in what looked like an intense discussion. Luso was laughing loudly at something, in another cluster along with Balthier, Lavian, Alicia, and Agrias.
Sweeping her eyes back across the room once more, Meliadoul found, this time, that Ramza was staring directly at her. When she met his eye, he looked flustered for some reason. Meliadoul waved him over, too.
When both Mustadio and Ramza had made their way through the crowd of bodies, Meliadoul asked the boys if they wanted to play at darts. They both agreed, so Meliadoul turned back to the men currently playing, and tried to convey over the loud noise of the tavern that the four of them wanted to play next. The elderly man closest to her agreed.
Meliadoul turned back to her three new friends, and told them they would soon have their turn to play. She added, "Ramza, I do hope you have brought an ale for me! I should not like to wrestle my way through this crowd."
Ramza looked sheepish. There was only one ale in his hand.
"Honestly! You were right there at the bar!" Meliadoul shook her head, pretending to be annoyed, although she was smiling. "Some friend you are, too busy flirting with barmaids to get enough drinks for the rest of us!"
Ramza blushed beet-red.
Gods, Meliadoul loved how easy it was to embarrass most of the people in this group.
She was surprised when Ramza generously handed his mug of ale over to her. "Take mine. I shall get more. Rafa, anything for you?"
Rafa shook her head no.
Mustadio tipped his own ale up, and chugged the rest of it down fast. "Refill for me!" he told Ramza, cheerfully.
Ramza rolled his eyes as he walked off.
Meliadoul realized she was actually having a good time here. Being at a tavern with this group reminded her of her squiring days, when she wreaked havoc with the boys and just had tons of carefree fun. Before Lodwicke, of course. And since Meliadoul was not in love with any of these men now, she could just genuinely enjoy her time with them; not having to worry about getting her heart broken.
When Ramza returned with two more drinks, it was still not their turn to play. Meliadoul had already finished her first ale. She would go get the next one herself. She liked to tease her friends sometimes, but she truly did not approve of the sort of women who constantly took advantage of a man's kindness. Sending Ramza to fetch an ale for her once was enough, she would not ask him to scurry back and forth all night.
When Meliadoul returned with her second drink, along with a third one for Mustadio, she commented, "I do not see Agrias anywhere. I know she was here earlier."
Mustadio's face seemed to draw tightly into an awkward expression as soon as she said it, and Ramza began to stare down at his feet. Hmm. She looked at Rafa, but the younger girl seemed to have no more idea than she did why Mustadio was suddenly acting weird.
Ramza knew full-well why Mustadio was making that face.
Perhaps ten minutes ago, they had both seen Agrias walk out of the tavern with Balthier. She had been smiling up into Balthier's face, and Balthier's hand had been touching Agrias's lower back, as they left. Mustadio was worried that Ramza was sore about it.
It was always a little hurtful, for anybody, to know that a former lover had moved on to someone else. But Ramza had seen this coming for a couple weeks now. Agrias spent more time chatting with Balthier each day, and their speech was notably flirtatious at times.
Honestly, Ramza did not even blame her. Balthier was smooth. The man was far more sophisticated and suave, in his roguish way, than Ramza would ever be.
No, Ramza was not too sore that Agrias had left with another man.
The funny thing was, even just a week ago, Ramza might have been more hurt by this. Something had changed, in the meantime. That 'something' was, in fact, that Ramza had become completely smitten with the new Divine Knight in their party.
Oh, he had it bad.
Ramza had started to feel goofy around Meliadoul even right after they killed Zalera, when she joined his party. What man would not feel goofy around her? She had those piercing eyes, and her pretty scrunchy-faced smile. Not to mention that even beneath her modest black dress, she seemed to have the sort of hourglass curves that made his eyes want to bug out of his head.
He knew he undeniably had a crush on Meliadoul later that night, when she went and poked fun at Agrias inside her own tent. As far as Ramza knew, no one other than himself had ever dared to tease Agrias. The rest of them were too afraid of her sharp tongue. And her sharp sword, for that matter. But Meliadoul had just laughed and laughed at Agrias's temper, getting the Holy Knight even more riled up. Meliadoul may not be the fighter that Agrias was, but that girl did not seem to fear anything. Ramza had liked the sound of her laughter.
And the way she had joked that she was trying to seduce Agrias in the tent. Now, there was an image he would never be able to get out of his head.
Unfortunately, Ramza was not the only one feeling charmed by Meliadoul. Mustadio liked her, too. And Ramza could swear he even saw Malak eyeing her, at times, though Malak never shared his thoughts with Ramza, so it might just be in his jealous imagination.
Ramza had never guessed that the first time he had an all-consuming crush on a girl, he would also have this much competition in getting her attention.
"It is finally our turn!" Meliadoul exclaimed.
Right, darts. Ramza thought to himself. He had played darts, back in Gariland. He had been pretty good at it. But that had been years ago, and he hoped he still retained some skill at the game. He did not want to lose at anything in front of Meliadoul.
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