Beyond Aeaea

DISCLAIMER: The Vision of Escaflowne is not legally mine but the visions of this story are.

NOTE: I know it's been a while. I'm so sorry for the delay. So many excuses, I won't bore you with them.

Here is the wedding, a longer chapter to compensate for the delay and to introduce some new layers to the story, hopefully ones you will enjoy. Don't jump to conclusions though. Not all is as it seems.

Just know that I try my best to keep most of these people in character.

I will try my best to post one more chapter before the year is up. Reviews are much, much loved. This is my humble present to you all for your support and encouragement! The story will go on.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Chapter Six

Folken and Eries were married on a bright summer's day, greatly in contrast to the overall mood of the wedding party.

It was not a grand or festive occasion but instead a solemn and formal ceremony, but this much was expected. The trappings were not too elaborate and the event was not very publicized. The party was a private one, held in one of the function rooms of the Asturian palace, which was properly and not overly decorated for the occasion. There was to be a small feast, as was customary, but nothing very remarkable. The whole event seemed to be reflective of the no-nonsense demeanor of the couple, and of the political benefits of the match. The union, after all, was not built on any pretenses of sentimentality, but on practical, functional motives.

The guests were limited to the higher-ranking officers of the Zaibach Empire, King Aston, Princess Millerna, a few courtiers and ministers, and a small retinue of Knights Caeli to serve as the escort.

Among these knights was Allen Schezar VIII, selected upon special invitation of both princesses since he was an old friend. So the good knight travelled from his post at Castelo in order to serve at the wedding.

Arriving a few days prior to the big event, he had an audience with the bride and offered her his congratulations.

"I wish you joy, Princess Eries," he had said respectfully and as expected.

But Eries, being the perceptive princess that she was, noticed a hint of tentativeness in his tone, which would not have been evident to a regular spectator. She had some inkling of the cause of his hesitation and it amused her greatly. No doubt he felt just as Millerna did and was slightly concerned for her welfare.

"You don't sound too convinced that I will be happy in this marriage," she told him, curious to hear his reaction.

Allen's eyes widened at this and seeing Eries' interested expression, he realized that it would be useless to hide anything from her. She was much too sharp.

With a sigh, he nodded.

"Your concern has not gone unnoticed," Eries assured him, "but you really have nothing to worry about. Do not forget that I am more than able to secure my own happiness."

"I know that you are strong enough to face any challenge, princess," the knight replied honestly, "but please know that you will always have my support should you ever need it."

"I appreciate that," she answered, "and I beg you would stop looking so surprised at my decision."

"Forgive me, princess. I just did not expect you to agree to such an arrangement by your father."

"Is it so strange for a princess to do what is best for her country?"

"I did not mean to doubt your intentions for Asturia. It's just..."

At this the knight paused, trying to find the right words. Eries waited patiently.

"I just never thought that you, of all people, would choose such a future," he said carefully, hoping not to offend her and yet curious to see her reaction.

And much to his surprise, Eries merely smiled with some degree of amusement.

"Well, perhaps you simply don't know me as well as you think you do," she replied mysteriously, leaving the confounded knight alone to figure out such an enigmatic response.

On the day of the wedding, Allen Schezar made no more objections but simply performed his duty as well as he could. He was all that was proper and noble, an almost perfect Heavenly Knight.

He made the customary greeting of respect to Folken, who glanced at him knowingly before acknowledging the gesture. The Strategos seemed to know more about Allen than latter had expected.

The knight did not know what to make of the whole thing. On the outset, it seemed to be a marriage of political convenience. But both Folken and Eries' enigmatic behavior also made him sense that there was more to it. He just hoped that all was for the best.

All the necessary rituals were performed (and had to be endured by many a semi-bored and very hungry guest).Tradition had to be upheld and this was that the marriage was to seem everything that it was not. Or at least, everything that spectators thought the couple was incapable of.

--

Millerna was relieved to see Allen in attendance, although she could not speak with him during the ceremony.

She sighed as all the rituals were being duly enacted, wishing that the whole masquerade would end soon.

The younger princess tried to amuse herself by observing the small delegation from the groom's side but this only made her worry for her sister even more. The men from Zaibach were a grim company, all strangely and darkly attired, with stern faces and cold, calculating eyes.

Most of them, she had heard, were the top generals of the Empire's army and they were war-bred men, who also seemed to be bored by the ceremony. They all seemed to be scowling, and an air of danger hung about them (not just because their swords were ceremoniously dangling from their belts.) Millerna shivered at the sight.

But she despaired at their choice of clothing. Everyone in Zaibach, Folken not least of all, seemed to favor dark and dreary colors, devoid of light and, it seemed, of life as well. All of them seemed to be shrouded in shadow and sinister mystery and Millerna feared that even her strong and brave sister would be swallowed up by such darkness.

The men from Zaibach were truly unlike any foreigners she had ever encountered, and Millerna all of a sudden remembered Marlene's wedding and how different it had been. The Duke of Freid looked stern but also seemed like a warm and kind man. And his delegation had certainly been livelier.

Nevertheless, seeing the other representatives of Zaibach made Millerna change her initial impression of her sister's future husband. Lord Folken, high though his rank may have been, was still considerably younger than the other officials. And in spite of his grave demeanor, Millerna acknowledged that he was a lot easier on the eyes than the rest of his company. In fact, if he was only a little livelier, she thought, he would be handsome indeed.

She even went as far as to concede that Folken was better-looking than the Duke of Freid. That was probably one of the very few things Eries' marriage had over Marlene's.

Millerna shook her head to banish all such silly thoughts. She turned her face slightly to get a better view of the rest of the contingent when one of them immediately caught her eye.

It was a young man, younger even than Lord Folken, who was in full army regalia, but in contrast to the other officers, his armor was accented with red. He had the palest skin Millerna had ever seen and wore a diadem in his silver hair.

He had a beautiful face with an extremely bored expression as he folded his arms across his chest, looking exceedingly unimpressed with all that was going on before him.

In spite of his fierce expression, Millerna was fascinated by this young officer of Zaibach, the best looking of the guests so far, who also exuded an air of danger but that of a deadlier kind. She still dared to think of him as a kindred spirit, someone probably as young as she was who was likewise bored of the ceremony. His was a haughty and confident posture, imposing and inspiring. In spite of his youth, he seemed to command more fear and respect than any of the older veterans in that company.

She was surprised to see such a young man among the higher ranks of the Zaibach army. Millerna was inclined to think that his military record had to be impressive indeed for him to have been assigned to attend that prestigious event. He was clearly not a member of the guards and yet he did not seem to hold an equal position with Lord Folken.

Millerna was definitely intrigued by this unexpected discovery and she resolved to know more about the hauntingly beautiful officer of Zaibach as the event progressed. Doing so would at least give her some diversion from the overall gloominess of her sister's nuptials.

He seemed to sense that he was being observed and began to cast his gaze around, in search of the culprit. The moment his blazing crimson eyes met hers, Millerna turned away quickly, her face flushed, as if his mere gaze had burned into her face. No one had ever had an affect on her. She was both exhilarated and yet terrified.

Something warned her to tread very very carefully where that young man was concerned.

--

Dilandau Albatou was bored out of his skull and cursed Folken for forcing him to sit through such intolerable drudgery. It was all a damn tedious waste of his time.

And yet he had been coerced to attend because his guymelefs had been sent for repair and updating. He had no current mission and so had no excuse. He hated that.

He despised all that he saw in Asturia, finding the whole place an intolerable pretentious mess in contrast to the cold, no-nonsense halls of Zaibach's flying fortress. The palace was too ornate, full of unnecessary decorations.

The king and his ministers were a pompous crew, all fat, useless, manipulative politicians, with sharp eyes and greasy hair. Their clothes were puffy and ridiculous, and they wore far too many idiotic ornaments. And their customs were long, tedious, and absolutely unnecessary.

The women were also likewise ridiculously attired. And to exacerbate the situation, they were all so elaborately made up that he could not see any real faces before him. They were silly and coquettish as well, always trying to catch his eye, which only sickened him further. To him they were but stupid, useless creatures.

So far, the only sensible looking woman he had seen was Princess Eries herself, a calm and dignified lady whose regal air and composure seemed to equal those of Folken. Dilandau allowed himself to be thus diverted and the young captain also observed that perhaps Folken had at last met his match.

They suited each other, and Dilandau was curious about what that marriage would bring about. He suspected that there was so much more to it than even the whole elaborate masquerade had suggested. And he was eager to see how much trouble the couple would be able to endure.

But what irked the Zaibach captain most of all was a feeling he could not quite explain. There was something sickeningly (and almost painfully) familiar about Asturia that he could not put his finger on. As much as he despised it, some part of him also seemed to recognize some of these places although he could never remember ever having been to that country before.

Dilandau hated being bored and hated being confused. He wanted to be in control of everything, to defy all that dared stand in his way. But for the moment, he chose to exercise his limited capacity for self-restraint. In spite of everything, he was very interested in what that wedding would bring about.

For although he defied Folken's authority at every opportunity, Dilandau tolerated the Strategos' company more than any other high official from Zaibach. They had had their disagreements (so many) but Dilandau still preferred Folken's company to that of any of the other generals (especially General Adelphos).

And with this new addition to their company, Dilandau looked forward to having someone else to irk. The second princess of Asturia was unlike the other ladies in her company and seemed just as serious as her future husband. Dilandau could tell that she was not one to be trifled with (pretty much just as Folken was) and that he would not dare torture her too much.

What the Zaibach captain wanted to see, however, was how far Folken was willing to go for his wife. No one seemed to realize it but Dilandau had suspected from the very beginning that there was something between the couple.

Not any romantic love, no, he had not sensed any of that and if he had he would have been utterly disgusted. Besides, Dilandau did not think that Folken was capable of being so sentimental. Maybe an Asturian man would be prey to such weakness, but not the Strategos of Zaibach.

No, there was something else, something more unconventional. And Dilandau intended to find out as much as he could about it.

When he wasn't busy slaughtering his enemies, of course, a task he so longed to get back to. He sighed with exasperation and rolled his eyes as the rituals progressed. He suppressed an urge to yawn audibly, knowing that to breach diplomacy in such a way would only delay his re-acquisition of his weapons and his return to training.

For the time being, he would devise schemes of punishing Folken for making him sit through such a dreary event.

"You will pay for wasting my time this way," Dilandau thought sinisterly, his crimson eyes ablaze with purpose.

It was at that moment that the young captain sensed someone's eyes on him. He looked around and his gaze met with that of the younger princess of Asturia.

She turned away quickly, embarrassed at being thus discovered, and so did not see him scowl in disgust.

She was not hideous to be sure and a part of him was still flattered by such attention.

But Dilandau nevertheless hated being treated as an object of silly girls' romantic fantasies.

"Ch, how annoying," the young captain muttered to himself, wishing all the more for the wedding to end.

--

While it seemed that only King Aston and his conniving courtiers were enjoying themselves at the wedding, the bride and groom were more pleased with what was transpiring than the rest of the spectators expected.

Sure, they needed to put up a facade of utmost formality and gravity but inside they were amused at the proceedings. They were both at ease with one another, and were confident of relative happiness beyond that ceremony.

Folken and Eries still had their apprehensions but not those of Marlene and the Duke of Freid. Neither of them knew what their future together would bring, but they were both confident that they would be able to tolerate each other better than most couples whose marriages were arranged.

Eries wasn't sure that this was what the sorceress had in mind when she had told them that they might meet again. All the princess knew was that she and Folken were taking the future in their hands somewhat.

There would be opportunity enough for them to discuss their plans later on. They just had to endure the tedious rituals before they could at last be free.

When the moment came for the couple to kiss as was traditional, no one expected them to go through with it.

King Aston even told them that such a display was completely unnecessary since all the binding legal details had already been attended to.

"It's just a useless formality," the King said, "you can well do without it."

Eries looked at Folken, waiting for his reaction. She knew that her father's suggestion was just one of his attempts to gain Folken (and subsequently Zaibach's) favor. Aston did not want to impose on the stern Strategos.

That and he could not quite imagine what such a scene would be like. He was curious, to be sure, everyone else was.

But he was not going to risk Folken's displeasure.

Everyone waited for the Strategos' answer and he gave one that was not quite expected.

"There's no call for a tradition to be broken on my account," Lord Folken said simply, "if Princess Eries does not object, of course, we shall go through with it."

And then all eyes were turned with anticipation to the princess.

Eries gave a small nod.

"Lord Folken is all politeness," she replied formally, "it would be my honor."

Dilandau raised an eyebrow at this whole exchange.

"So much fuss over some kiss," he thought, rolling his eyes. But then, it seemed rather uncharacteristic of Folken to agree to such a thing, even if he had always been Zaibach's best diplomat. Dilandau had not imagined that the Strategos would have it in him.

It was a simple kiss. But then again, this was no ordinary couple.

Millerna had never seen a kiss so formally negotiated. And yet she was eager, as everyone else, to see it happen.

So it did, with very little fuss or awkwardness.

Folken and Eries brought their lips together almost effortlessly, the experience a familiar one. He held her hands as they kissed and when he leaned forward to deepen the kiss, Folken felt Eries squeeze his organic hand slightly, warning him to exercise restraint. He took her warning and ended the kiss immediately. There would be time enough for those things later.

King Aston was surprised by such a display. It almost seems sincere, he thought. And then he suddenly wondered exactly how well his daughter was acquainted with the Strategos of Zaibach.

But since the moment had ended quickly, no one said any more about it. After all, such gestures were customary at weddings, whoever the bride and groom may have been.

Eries looked at her husband approvingly. And a small compulsory cheer came from the small crowd, as the feast was about to begin. The alliance between the two countries had just been duly ratified.

Dilandau and Millerna had watched the scene with wide eyes, not knowing what to make of it. Only they had retained some suspicions even after the couple had kissed although the two younger people could not quite explain why they felt that way.

One thing was clear to them though: there was nothing ordinary about Folken and Eries' marriage.