Author's Notes: Not much to babble about this time except to say...Thank You!...to those that are reading this. :) I hope you enjoy.
.• SAVE THE QUEEN •.
Chapter 5
Away From Me
I've woken now to find myself
In the shadows of all I have created
I'm longing to be lost in you
(away from this place I have made)
Won't you take me away from me
Away from me- Evanescence
Corliss was wrought with worry. Ian had slipped out from under the watchful eye of the kitchen help and had gone missing. Girls with bonnets askew were scurrying around, opening cupboard doors, and calling his name when an idea occurred to her.
Of Course...
She bustled out of the kitchen's swinging wooden doors.
...
Still wearing her hooded velvet cloak, Ashe strode listlessly through the corridors of her palace, not quite knowing the direction her walk would take her. The few servants that had greeted her seemed somewhat surprised to see their newly crowned Queen looking so sullen on the morning following her coronation. She grimaced internally and considered pulling the hood up around her face again, hoping nobody thought she didn't appreciate her new position.
But on this day, no matter how hard she tried, she just could not paint a happy facade over the deep ache in her heart.
Not surprisingly, she found herself standing outside her former quarters. The room where Basch had lain sleeping the past few nights. She was afraid to go in; afraid that inside the room she would still sense his presence, but even more than that, she was afraid that she would not. The door was slightly ajar, and she pushed it gently open to glance inside.
In the center of the floor, silhouetted by the golden daylight streaming through the balcony doors, she found Ian. The young boy sat motionless in the center of the floor with his little head bowed toward something in his lap. As Ashe stepped closer to him and knelt down, she saw that his pudgy little hand held another small wooden knight.
"Him went bye bye?" He looked up to her with dark questioning eyes.
A sob threatened to choke her. Unable to speak, she simply nodded to the boy and offered him her outstretched arms.
...
Corliss approached the door slowly. Too often, she had interrupted moments of the queen's privacy since her guests had come to stay. However, her worry for Ian's whereabouts was of utmost priority, so she peered inside the captain's room. The sight that greeted her told her everything she needed to know. Ian had come to the room of his new friend the knight, but she could see that Captain Basch had gone. The room was in immaculate order, and the only people to be found were a heartbroken looking woman and a small lonely boy. She saw that Basch had crafted several more little toys for Ian before he left. This brought a sad smile to her round face.
This isn't right.
Suddenly, Corliss was overwhelmed with grief for all of them. For little Ian, for her lovely Queen...for the fallen knight. She backed quickly out of the room and pressed her back to the wall next to the door. As her tears began falling freely from her eyes, she wiped at them furiously with her white apron.
Penelo groaned a little as the warm morning light bathed her face. Groggy reality began seeping into her mind and she struggled to place herself. She looked around the beautifully decorated room and shifted her body in the soft over-sized bed.
The Palace.
That's right. She was in Ashe's palace. They had been invited to her royal coronation. They had stayed for...
The Ball.
Oh yes, she had worn a beautiful yellow dress. But then, she had drunk far too much Marilith Serpentwyne and had danced with...
Balthier.
Her eyes widened.
Tiny scraps of memory started coming back to her then. The flash of hurt in Vaan's eyes, Fran angrily raising her voice...Balthier's strong arms as he lifted her.
She swallowed hard and summoned the courage to turn her head on the pillow. Her hair was loose now, and she had to raise a hand to brush a few blond strands out of her eyes before she could see the other half of the bed. What she saw caused the young girl to jerk straight up into a sitting position. She stared at the sight before her for a long moment...then she began to scream.
Larsa brought the feathered quill back to his lips in thought, then chuckled. It was times like this, that he was frustrated with his naivety and inexperience.
His notion that some romantic spark had formed between his Judge Magister and the Queen of Dalmasca had obviously been nothing but a boyish fancy. Basch's hasty return to Archades had proven how off his instincts had been on the situation. Upon arrival, the man seemed adamant to get back to his duties in the Magistrate. He shrugged, and shook his head at the ridiculousness of his imagination.
The more he thought of it, the more he realized how wrong he had been. Yes, Basch was always overly attentive toward Lady Ashe, but it was because of a deeply ingrained sense of duty. The man had been a knight of King Raminas himself. He had sworn to protect her, behind that was no more romance than there was between Basch and his new liege.
The young emperor laughed a bit at the thought.
Not to mention the fact that Basch was old enough to be Ashelia's father. Certainly, that was a line the honorable old knight would not cross.
Larsa shook his head again, vowing to put his silly ideas about Knights and Queens to rest for good. He turned his attention back to the mounds of paperwork sprawled about him on his writing desk. The Emperor got back to work, surrounded by the peace of his terrace sanctuary.
She jumped up into a standing position on top of the bed and screamed again.
A massive amount of adrenaline caused Balthier to bounce straight up off the mattress, but somehow he continued lying spread eagle on his back. His eyes bugged out for a moment, before he reached over and grabbed for the gun that rested on the bedside table by his head. He sent the etched crystal vase of Galbana Lilies crashing to the floor, before his hand closed over his Fomalhaut. In a fraction of a second, he aimed the gun, first at Penelo, then past her toward the door. She stared wide-eyed down the barrel, and another shriek escaped her lips. As the pirate tried to sit upright and scoot away from her, he slid too far and pitched backwards off his side of the bed. A shot went off, bringing down a white rain of plaster and dust from the bedroom ceiling.
"Bloody Hell Girl!"
With the sound of the shot still ringing in her ears, Penelo slapped one hand over her mouth and watched Balthier's feet twitch. Being the only part of him that was still on the bed, she crawled over and gripped each one of his bare feet, squeezing hard.
"Oh Gods! Are you alright!?" She squeezed again, harder than the first time.
She peered over the edge of the bed and saw a very disheveled pirate looking up at her. Though he was still adorned with numerous pieces of jewelry, he was naked from the waist up. It didn't take long before a handsome grin began pulling at the corner of his mouth. Tentatively, she looked down and discovered where the man's shirt had gone. She was wearing it... and nothing else.
"I can't say I've awoken to a women screaming quite like that before."
...
Realizing that Ian was probably being missed by Corliss and the girls in the kitchen, Ashe bent to gather the little wooden soldiers strewn about. She noticed he had been carrying them around for days.
"Where did you get these Ian?" Ashe tried to sound happy while she spoke to the little boy. She couldn't bear the melancholy look in his eyes and wanted to divert his attention.
"Him." Ian pointed to the place on the empty bed where Basch had been sitting the last time Ashe had found him here. "Him made 'em. Him made 'em wiff a knife!"
She froze with one of the toys in her hand, and looked at it in wonder. Basch had made these... all of these... and she hadn't even noticed. He certainly hadn't mentioned it, for Basch was not the type to point out his accomplishments... no matter how big or small. He hadn't left a trace behind either. Ashe looked at the floor, already knowing not a single shaving would be found.
Ian scooped them up in his arms, and tottered toward the door with his load. Ashe looked back at the little man in her fingers, thinking she hadn't known Basch could carved things from wood.
She realized there was actually very little about him that she knew.
"Oh there you are Ian!" Corliss suddenly appeared in the doorway and picked up the baby. "Me an' the lasses been looking everywhere for you...I should swat your backside for wanderin' off."
She could see the little boy was in no danger of a spanking the way the cook was lovingly rubbing her nose over his. Ashe thought something about her was amiss however, her eyes looked red and a little puffy. Maybe she was getting ill.
"Good Morning M'Lady." Corliss gave an awkward curtsy due to her over-encumbered arms. "Would you like me to fetch you and your guests some breakfast?"
Ashe noticed the way Corliss glanced warily at the very empty room behind her.
"Honestly Corliss, I'm not sure if any of my guests are still in the palace."
Suddenly a very loud gunshot sounded.
The cook yelped in alarm, then both women stared at each other with wide eyes.
Larsa was leaning back in his over-sized chair. The leaves of the potted palm overhead were swaying gently, filtering out the harshest rays of sunlight. The warmth felt wonderful on his face; he closed his eyes thinking maybe he would indulge in a quick nap. As if in agreement, the sound of trickling water in the nearby fountain quickly lulled him into a peaceful doze.
"Permission to approach My Lord." The soft voice belonged to one of House Solidor's young pages.
With great effort, Larsa pried his eyelids apart. He let out a small frustrated moan and glanced over to see which boy it was.
"Jonathas." He waved the boy closer with an impatient hand gesture.
The boy hurried in and bowed low before Larsa. "I'm sorry to disturb you My Lord."
"No matter." He held his white gloved hands out toward the new pile of correspondence the boy was delivering.
It was amazing how behind he had become in his work, having been gone only a few short days. He sunk lower in his velvet chair as if the letters were a physical weight upon his shoulders. The page waited patiently to be dismissed, then left as soon as Larsa gave a faint wave in his direction.
He began flipping through the unopened letters, tossing them aside, one by one. Another petition from the mayor of Old Archades... Larsa groaned quietly. He was going to be furious if it was yet another letter pointing out the sewage problem down there. These things took time! Weekly letters would not change anything before the upcoming scheduled Senate meeting.
Larsa let his head fall forward and thump against the surface of the huge desk before him. He sat that way for a long moment, and considered closing his eyes to nap again in his current position. Finally, he raised his head, with one of the parchment letters affixed to the skin of his forehead.
He peeled it off with a grimace and glanced down at it. It was from his Lord Consul in the Northern Territories of Landis. Mildly curious, he opened it and began to read.
...
Dear Lord Larsa,
It has been over three months since members of your senate visited our humble corner of Archadia. I am well aware that you are a busy man, mayhap I will be so bold as to arrange to have a short meeting with you in Archades at House Solidor.
Larsa looked up from the letter briefly and raised one eyebrow. Surely he hadn't stressed the word "man", for that would be a direct insult. It must be a coincidence, perhaps he dunked his quill just before writing the word. He banished the thought, and turned his attention back to the letter.
He read a few more lines pertaining to the Northern Territories, then something caught his eye. He skipped to a piece added at the bottom of the letter.
Also, please send my regards to the newly crowned Queen Ashelia of Dalmasca, as it seems I did not receive an invitation to her Royal Coronation Ceremony. I am sure it was just an oversight, though I was disappointed to be unable to congratulate her personally.
I look forward to hearing from you soon Cousin,
Duka Lukas Vittorio Solidor, Lord Consul, Annexed Northern Territories of Landis
...
The Emperor lowered the letter. He had never been very close to his cousin Lukas. Actually, since the death of his father and his brother Vayne, Larsa had felt that the burden of the Solidor name was to be carried by him alone.
Truthfully, he had nearly forgotten about his cousin. Lukas was the only child born to Illiano Vasa Solidor, Larsa's uncle and Emperor Gramis' younger brother. Illiano had died years ago, and Lukas had been the Lord Consul of the Landis Territories for as long as Larsa could recall.
He pushed a stray strand of dark hair from his eyes and furrowed his brow. How old was Lukas now? 25...30? He vaguely remembered Lukas and Vayne being fairly close. They had been sent together to boarding school, spending several years away from home at the Royal Archadian Academy. Larsa chuckled dryly, nothing like those carefree days were in his future. Already, he was Emperor, the only further education he could look forward to came with the running of the greatest nation in Ivalice.
Now that Lukas was the only other living Solidor, he realized he should make more of an effort to acquaint himself with his cousin.
"Did you?" She clutched at her chest, crinkling the expensive silk shirt terribly.
Still laying on his back on the floor, Balthier raised one eyebrow.
"Did I?" Penelo could smell the Sky Pirate's subtle cologne wafting up from the over-sized garment she wore. The scent of it was more distracting than the tang of gunpowder in the air.
The man on the floor slowly got to his feet, then grinned mischievously. "Did you what?"
"Did we?"
"Did we what?" He walked slowly around the foot of the bed to Penelo's side, where she crumpled back down into the blankets.
"Did we...you know..." She looked at him with frightened blue eyes.
His grin widened and he moved closer to her. He reached out and placed a finger under her chin to lift her face toward him. "Don't you remember last night?" His tone was playful.
She opened her mouth to respond, when a loud banging sounded upon the door to her room.
...
When Ashe arrived outside Penelo's guest quarters, she skidded to a stop and tried to catch her breath. Several Dalmascan guards were outside the door with weapons drawn. One was pounding on the door, demanding entry.
"Wait." She placed a delicate hand over chest, trying both to get air and to repress the fear that was crawling up from her belly.
"Your Highness." The guard in charge bowed to her briskly, then added, "Please step back, a weapon has been discharged."
Ashe ignored the guard and moved to the front of the group.
"Penelo are you alright!?" She shouted through the closed door.
She was about to shout again when a small voice came from the other side. "Yes everything is alright. Sorry about the gun... that was an accident."
The door opened and Penelo nervously poked her head through the small crack.
"No one is hurt, go back to your stations." Ashe's comment to her guards was firm and final. She pushed Penelo back into her bedroom and followed her inside, leaving the soldiers looking at the door as it closed.
Kytes jogged into the small airship hanger and looked up at Vaan's airship excitedly. Underneath one of Galbana's storage hatches, he could see Vaan's boots protruding, standing tip-toe on the top rung of a very tall ladder.
"Migelo told me you were here!"
Vaan startled at the sudden sound of his voice. Dangerously, the ladder began to wobble, then to sway.
"Ohhhh... whhhooooooaaaaa!"
Kytes' mouth fell open in shock as the ladder slowly started falling backwards away from the ship. Wide-eyed, Vaan seemed to ride the arc in slow motion. Just before his friend's body made a very rough impact with the hard cement of the hanger floor, Kytes squeezed his eyes shut.
The landing did not sound good at all. From the sound of the desperate wheezing coming from the other side of the garage, Vaan had the wind knocked out of him.
Kytes opened one eye and peered frightfully at the blond teen writhing around on the ground.
Vaan moaned, then began crawling toward the younger boy gasping, "I'm gonna kill you Kytes."
Ashe was completely unable to hide her shock at seeing who it was that shared Penelo's bedroom.
She looked from a shirtless Balthier to Penelo wearing only Balthier's shirt, and back again. Then she looked at the one very rumpled bed in the room.
"What?" The pirate held his hands up in a gesture of innocence.
"Sorry about your ceiling." Penelo looked up worriedly at the ragged hole just over the large bed.
Mouth still agape, Ashe tore her eyes away from Balthier and slowly looked up to the gunshot in the center of a once beautiful hand-painted mural of the Dalmascan countryside. She looked at it for a long time, blinking in disbelief.
"What is going on in here!" Finally she found her voice, and it was loud. "What are you doing in Penelo's room!?"
The pair of them jumped, then exchanged a nervous glance.
Balthier approached her slowly, keeping his hands up in that ridiculous 'truce' manner. She narrowed her eyes at him menacingly. It wasn't as if she had a weapon to shoot him with...suddenly she remembered her black magic, and her fingertips started itching to cast Thundaga.
"It isn't what it looks like." Balthier was trying to give Ashe his most innocent, boyish look.
"It isn't?" Ashe and Penelo both asked the question at the same time.
"No." Balthier sighed and cast an exasperated look over his shoulder at the dancer. "Penelo had too much to drink, so I put her to bed. Oh...and sorry Princess, she vomited on your dress." Balthier waved his hands over toward the corner of the room with an effeminate shiver of disgust.
Ashe glanced at her yellow dress crumpled on the floor and then brought her fingertips to her temples and began rubbing them.
Gods she had a headache.
"Why did you stay in her room?...where's Fran...and Vaan?"
At the mention of Vaan's name Penelo stopped staring at the dress on the floor and crammed both of her balled up hands against her face. Then she began biting her fingernails earnestly.
"Well... Fran sort-of... decided to take the Strahl...and leave me here." He ran his fingers through his brown wavy hair and glanced sideways at Penelo. "Vaan was a little upset last night...he left as well."
"Why are they upset Balthier? What have you done?" Ashe placed her hands on her hips, and waited for an answer.
By the time he had dragged himself halfway across the hanger, Vaan lost interest in maiming his young friend.
"Sorry." Looking sheepish, Kytes helped Vaan to his feet, then peered up at the underbelly of his airship. "So, you look like you are packing up to take a trip? When are you leaving?"
"As soon as I finish loading these supplies." He bent to lift another storage crate up onto his shoulder. "Help me with the ladder would ya?"
"Sure Vaan!" Kytes ran over to the far end of the ladder, then hoisted it back up against the ship.
He climbed back up the ladder, grimacing each time he pulled his weight up with his now injured elbows. With his head back inside the open storage hatch, he began rearranging the contents so they would be more secure for the flight. As he did this, he noticed warm puffs of air as someone breathed heavily on his rear-end.
Vaan twisted his head down and saw Kytes grinning up at him from just a few rungs below his current position on the ladder.
"Do you mind!?" He bellowed, then instantly felt guilty the moment he saw Kytes' happy expression falter.
He pulled himself up into his ship with a quick flex of his strong arms. Then he turned and offered Kytes a hand. After pulling the boy in beside him, Vaan sat down heavily upon the floor. He threw his gloved hands over his bent knees, and sighed heavily. "Sorry Kytes."
"Don't worry about it. So... where are ya going Vaan?" Kytes tried to choose his words carefully, as he was unaccustomed to seeing Vaan so...grumpy.
"I don't know...just away from here."
"Ummmm..." Kytes peered back down through the opening of the Galbana to the ground far below. "What about Penelo?"
Kytes watched as Vaan's jaw clenched. It took his friend a long while to answer, and when he finally did he narrowed his eyes as he spoke.
"She's not coming with me."
Basch blinked slowly at the dark figure in the mirror before him. The black, eyeless sockets stared back at him, void of emotion.
Gabranth.
His quarters in House Solidor were fairly small, though that suited him just fine. He didn't need much. In fact, too much space made him feel less in control. Living in a cage for years had done that for him.
Slowly, he pulled the helm from his head and looked at the man beneath it.
A man that would soon be dead.
He reached inside the gorget of his armor and pulled out the silver Landisian Phoenix he always wore. With one quick tug, he broke the chain around his neck. He looked down at the phoenix in the palm of his hand for a moment, then set it on his small desk next to the other items that waited there.
He looked up at the highest shelf over his writing area. Not needing to stand on anything to aid his reach, he stretched up and found what he was looking for with the tips of his gloved fingers. Tucked back against the wall, a small unassuming box had been resting. He brought it down and set it gently before him.
For several long moments he simply looked at the wooden box. He closed his eyes and released a deep sigh, then pulled the dark gloves from each of his hands. Gently, lovingly, he used the bare skin of his fingertips to wipe away the dust that had formed on the lid.
Basch unclasped the latch with his thumb...then opened the box.
Uhhhh Ohhhh. :O
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(Are my girls shocked at the lack of Basch in this chapter!? OH CRAP! Inject her with Baschadone...she's going through withdrawals!)