They had reached the Hunter's Camp late that morning, and she had been so captivated by the cool blue waters that crashed against the shore that she had tripped. And Balthier had been there to catch her hand. He had then told her about his past, about his father, so many things he had tried to escape. And how helping her cause was now bringing him back to a place he ran from.
She remembered her remarks the other day in the Salikawood, and she felt ashamed. But it's not like she had known about his upbringing. For all she knew, he had always been a scoundrel and a pirate. She listened to the waves and tried to let the constant sound lull her to sleep. There were voices outside the tent, barely detectable to her ears. She strained to listen.
"Hit me," a familiar voice demanded, and she sat up at the sound. It was Balthier's voice clearly enough, but what was he talking about? Who did he want to hit him?
She heard Basch's voice respond, but his low gruff tones were not discernible to her. Balthier replied to whatever Basch had said. "Let me worry about it. Just hit me already."
What in Ivalice were they doing? Sparring at this hour? Ashe crawled over to the opening of the tent and pulled the flap slightly to peek out at her companions. But what she saw made her shake her head in amusement. She should have known.
Basch and Balthier were seated on a wooden platform not far from the tents, a small fire burning in the sands beside them. And they were playing cards. Basch handed Balthier another card from the deck, and the sky pirate added it to his hand, smirking at it. The knight laughed heartily, and set down his own cards.
"You went over, did you not?" Basch accused, his features handsome and much gentler when he was relaxed. The sky pirate snorted and tossed down his cards grumpily.
"It was a calculated risk," Balthier replied, and Basch gathered their cards to shuffle the deck. Balthier handed over some shiny stone to his companion, and Ashe saw that they were betting against one another at this game. Basch had apparently gotten very lucky on that last hand, as his pile of stones was considerably smaller than the other man's.
Ashe emerged from the tent and walked over to the platform. She stood between them and smiled. "So you want Basch to hit you? What sort of game is this?" she inquired.
Basch looked up at her and grinned. "Good evening, Highness. Just blackjack."
Balthier placed a hand over his heart and looked at her lovingly. "You thought Basch was going to harm me? Ah, that your ladyship would come to my rescue…it is touching, really."
She sighed at his bravado and sat between the two of them as Basch dealt two cards to himself and the pirate. Balthier scrunched up his face to see his cards in the faint fire light, and he tossed a small stone in between them. Basch added a stone as well, and Ashe watched the two men play.
"So as I was saying," Balthier spoke, "It's not elegant, but it gets the job done. Hit."
Basch slid over another card to the sky pirate and looked at his own cards. "For ranged attacks it can be a great aid, but all that smoke? A bow is better for that business."
Ashe wanted to roll her eyes. Of course they would find a way to argue about weaponry after spending hours that day fighting. She preferred to think of battling as a necessary evil, but the two men were more seasoned in the field than she was and spoke constantly about arms and armor. They had kept her up a few weeks ago in the Paramina Rift, their bickering about hand bombs going on for hours. Some part of her wished they wouldn't get along so well, if only to get a proper night's sleep.
Balthier set his cards down. "Eighteen." Basch sighed and set down a hand of seventeen, and the sky pirate claimed the small winnings. "If you're putting down guns as barbarism, then how can you justify that bloody club you purchased today?"
The Princess grinned. Basch had obtained some arms for the party that day, and he had purchased a small hand axe for himself to use as a melee weapon. "Come now, Balthier. He paid for it with his own gil. Let him try something new," she argued.
"Thank you, Princess," Basch said and began shuffling the cards. While not as much of an expert as Balthier, the knight had a much practiced technique. The cards seemed to almost crackle between his strong hands. Where Balthier's shuffling was graceful but flamboyant, Basch was no-nonsense and practical. Ashe wondered if her own shuffling mirrored her personality so eerily.
She tucked her legs under her and looked to the older man curiously. "Basch, where did you learn to play?"
He laughed quietly and dealt another hand to himself and Balthier. "Your Majesty forgets that the military life is not limited to the battlefield. I spent many an idle hour playing cards. Keeps you sharp, teaches you to watch your opponent's face."
As he said so, Balthier stuck out his tongue at him and crossed his eyes. Basch chuckled. "You find out how to perceive when he is bluffing. To find his tell, what he does that gives himself away."
The Princess used this remark as an excuse to study Balthier's face. After his willingness to share his past with her, she had not yet had a chance to apologize to him about her rudeness in the Salikawood. She wondered if he was upset with her. Right now, she had no idea as his face was completely blank. "And what is Balthier's tell?"
Basch frowned and handed Balthier another card when the sky pirate nodded. "I have yet to discern it," he confessed.
"That's because I don't have one," the younger man replied cheerfully, setting his cards down. He had twenty-one.
His opponent sighed and set down a hand of nineteen. "Everyone has one," Basch muttered.
Balthier gathered the small stones and began arranging the pile to his satisfaction. "Well, I'm not everyone." He stared at her then and gave her a conspiratorial grin. "But the Captain here always seems to have an itch behind his ear to scratch when he bluffs."
Ashe smiled and looked to Basch, who shook his head in realization. He tossed his cards to Balthier who began to shuffle the deck in his elaborate style. "You are a keen student of body language, Balthier," Basch admitted.
"Comes with the job, I suppose," the pirate declared. Ashe watched his hands shuffling, and she couldn't help wondering. Does it come with the job of a pirate…or a judge? He noticed her watching him, and he met her eyes. His face still revealed nothing. "And the Princess' body language suggests that she wants in on the next hand."
Basch stretched his arms over his head, his joints releasing a few popping sounds. "That pleases my ears greatly. I've lost enough of my spare loot to you this night." The knight stood and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Do not stay up too late with this pirate, Highness. He will know when you are bluffing." He left his small pile of stones for her to bet with, and she hoped she would have better luck.
The Princess nodded, and Basch retreated to his tent for the evening. They sat in relative silence for the next few minutes, only the words "hit" and "stand" being uttered. She could not meet his eyes, and she wondered how she could apologize. He cleared his throat, and she was startled.
"Are you going to place a bet this hand or not?" he asked quietly. She looked up to see him watching her curiously, his head tilted slightly in concern.
"I'm sorry," she answered and lifted one of the stones. She was about to add it to the pile in between them when she thought of his words to her earlier that day.
Don't give your heart to a stone…
She stared at the small stone, a pebble really. "And I'm sorry."
He laughed. "You said that already, Princess."
Ashe shook her head and brought the stone down, tapping it gently against the wooden platform. "No, I mean…I want to say I'm sorry about what I said in the Salikawood. About your childhood, I mean. I didn't know, and I feel like I insulted you."
He nodded and set his cards down. "It's nothing. Now you know more of the whole picture, I suppose. I didn't go spending time in…what did you call them? Seedy pirate taverns? Well, I didn't spend all my gil there until I was at least sixteen." He winked at her, accepting her apology.
She gave him a small smile and set her own cards down. She thought of a younger version of the Balthier in front of her in a tavern with a bunch of rowdy pirates. Knowing now that he came from a more aristocratic upbringing, she wondered how out of place he must have looked. "I hope you were more knowledgeable than Vaan."
Balthier chuckled and leaned back on his elbows to gaze out at the darkened waters of the sea. "Ah yes, I would say I was not so…open about sharing what I did not know. Vaan should play his cards closer to the vest if you'll pardon the expression."
Ashe relaxed a bit and tossed the little stone into Basch's pile. She wanted to know so much more about him. What was it like to be a judge? What was his father like before the nethicite? But it was part of a past he wanted to forget, saying as much to her earlier that day.
"I suppose we have a few more days before we reach the capital?" she asked quietly. He nodded, not breaking his eyes away from the waves hitting the shore. It appeared that his confessions that morning had been all he was willing to share with her that day. "Shall we play another hand?"
He seemed hypnotized by the crashing water, and he did not hear her question. She realized how truly upset he was about having to return to the city of his birth. All that running, he had said, and he had gotten nowhere. All she wanted was to be in her home, to rule Dalmasca. She missed the palace, the delicate tapestries adorning its walls, the rich treats stolen away from the kitchen. Though he ran, did he miss it? Any of it?
The Princess kept her questions to herself. She stood up and stretched her legs. "Good night, Balthier," she uttered softly. It was as if she wasn't even there. He had taken her husband's wedding band to lead her to the Garif, but he had asked no reward for this leg of the journey. Why was he guiding them all this way against his own wishes?
She walked over to him and patted his shoulder. "I said good night," she said, trying to break him from his trance.
He finally blinked, but he did not turn his head. "Good night, Princess," he answered. She turned away to head back to her tent.