It was odd indeed to see Fourth Admiral Belleza return to the Imperial City victorious; she burst into the Empress's private dining hall halfway through the five-course meal, even forgetting to bow in her excitement as she presented the sparkling red stone to Grand Admiral Galcian. The whole of the dining hall fell quiet in an awed hush, and Galcian rose from his chair to accept it, a satisfied smirk upon his face.
Alfonso resolutely kept his eyes fixed upon his sauteed sky sardis and said nothing. Galcian then called a contingent of his guard to his side and left the hall, Belleza in tow; on a signal from the Grand Admiral, Ramirez abandoned his post near the door and fell into step with the small escort. As soon as the doors to the hall had banged shut behind them, a spattering of enthusiastic talk welled up within.
At once Empress Teodora engaged Gregorio in whispered conversation, and this was what really irked Alfonso's nerves. Was he not Her Highness's First Admiral? Was he not key in these plots, as well as his other colleagues?
He waited until the conversation escalted into a crazed frenzy, then abandoned his place settings and passed silently into the now-deserted side hallway leading to the palace gardens. As it was nearly nighttime and the clouds obscuring the city were always black, it was quite dark on the grounds when he exited the castle, and it came as somewhat of a relief to breathe the cool night air.
Where Alfonso used to revel in the rumors and secrets that constantly flitted through castle Valua, he now found the atmosphere quite stifling. He supposed that his deep dislike for Galcian had everything to do with this; before the man's promotion to commander of the armada, Alfonso had instigated more than one false, juicy topic for conversation. In times of peace these tidbits kept things interesting, and made the life of a noble somewhat more desireable. Now he saw all of them as petty and childish.
The clack of his silver heels softened into nothing as he stepped onto the springy grass, making his way slowly across the grounds and passing various magnificent flora as he thought. There was no denying it any longer; Teodora had been swayed by the silver tongue of Galcian, and while the empress remained blissfully uninformed Alfonso was not quite as clueless. It was becoming clearer with every passing day that Galcian's designs were ever-so-gradually varying from Teodora's; he had greater and more terrible things in store for a place more grand than mere Valua - his plans encompassed the whole of Arcadia, Alfonso feared, and by the time Teodora realized this it would likely be far too late for any retaliatory action to matter.
The First Admiral paused by a flowering icyl shrub, fingering one of the pale pink blossoms almost lovingly, his gaze upon the flower but seeing something beyond it. Inwardly opposing Galcian would never be enough, especially now that the other admirals were beginning to show favoritism. It was no secret that Belleza was in love with the Grand Admiral, and it was also no secret that he felt nothing for her in return. Yet Galcian did nothing to deter her advances, and this strongly suggested to Alfonso that Galcian was subtley keeping Belleza's attentions for his own personal devices. The thought of this nearly made Alfonso's stomach churn. Then there was Gregorio, who was becoming too old to be useful much longer, and if Galcian continued on in such a manner Gregorio would likely begin to oppose him, with a deadly end result. Vigoro, ever the battle enthusiast, would never turn, simply because sticking by Galcian meant far more fight and excitement. De Loco, too, shared Vigoro's sentiments, and Alfonso thought it likely that if Galcian went so far as to sever himself completely from the empress's wishes, only one of her trusted admirals would remain: Alfonso himself.
Quite suddenly Alfonso crushed the icyl blossom in his fist, teeth clenched in anger. Most dangerous of all was the newly appointed Sixth Admiral, Ramirez, whose unwavering loyalty to Galcian had granted him with the Grand Admiral's full confidence. As Galcian's right hand the Silvite harnessed fear and influence into two very powerful allies, turning non-believers into followers of Galcian's as-yet-silent uprising, yet the pair seemed too personal for things to end in such a way. Alfonso shivered to think just how far Galcian had gone to maintain Ramirez's loyalty, and for a split second an intimate scene with Galcian and Ramirez intertwined intruded into the First Admiral's thoughts.
Yes, how else had Ramirez become such an important key to the operation, if not from devoting more personal attentions to Galcian? There was nothing else for it, Alfonso decided - if the pair weren't lovers already, it was looming on the horizon.
Alfonso turned his thoughts upon himself with some difficulty. The story that he had recently murdered his own vice captain had fallen upon Galcian's ears, and his punishment was confinement in Ixa'taka for an indefinite period of time. For the first time Alfonso considered this, trying to make some sense of it all. De Loco was already in place, finalizing his plans for the siege of the entire area, and it was likely that soon Valua would be invading Horteka. Now Alfonso needed to figure out what part he could play, for the benefit of the empress and the irritation of Galcian.
Whatever Galcian wanted was precisely what Alfonso did not want, he decided inwardly, and while that was the most dangerous decision of all, it was truth. The thought still remained in his mind that Galcian had stolen the empress's confidence from Alfonso, and the First Admiral was keen on recovering it. If he could tarnish Galcian's reputation by stirring up some fiasco in Ixa'taka, so much the better.
Alfonso looked up, searching for the moon, but by some wicked omen or no, it was obscured by the clouds.
Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to Meowzy-chan, who has been begging for a scene with Alfonso for ages. Sorry it took so long, Meowzy darling. XD.
Meowzy-chan: THANK you! I am a huge fan of yaoi! (Go and read "I Pledge Allegiance" if you need proof, heh.) Actually...this story has the potential for a shounen-ai pairing, although I'm not quite sure who will end up with who...Centime is far too straight, but I could see an Alfonso/Ilchymis romance in the works. Cross your fingers.
Lady Lanet: How would you have preferred I describe the Moon Crystal? And yeah, the boys set themselves up for disaster; they congratulated themselves far too much, far too early.
SilverKidia: You want some De Loco, you've got him. But I'll need several chapters to set it up. Don't worry...he won't die. XD.
The Right Hand of Fate: Rapid updates seem to be my superhero power, lol. Glad you're still enjoying everything, and as I've promised SilverKidia above, we'll be seeing some bits and pieces of De Loco in the near future. And thank you for your continuing kindness and flattery; I'll bake you some cookies.
Until next time, my faithful comrades...