I never realized there was so much Allen hate out there! Now I feel bad for the poor guy. Maybe I can manage eventually to change your minds.

Nothing much else to say here. Feedback is very much valued! Enjoy the chapter. More to add at the end.

-sor

Chapter 8

How ridiculous!

Why should Allen Schezar be allowed to ride off away from his duties and hear nothing about it? If Baedan had decided on a whim to leave the palace grounds on a night he was expected on duty for supper, he would have been dismissed in an instant. But not Allen Schezar. No. Allen could do whatever the hell he pleased. It was one thing when the older knight's transgressions were only an annoyance, but when Baedan had to be called in from his night off to replace the bastard… That was crossing the line.

Most of the nobles retired early that evening, thankfully, and it left Baedan with a few free hours before he would have to turn in himself. He'd not been asked to return to his duties outside the conference room and he was secretly grateful for that little bit of good fortune. Even if people whispered about his little fainting spell, at least it saved him from standing outside a closed door for hours on end.

And from having to look at those awful Madoushi…

Instead, he'd been delegated the duty of playing the part of a pretty decoration at mealtimes. That much he could handle, at least. Meals weren't as boring to watch as empty hallways. But even so, he didn't relish the idea of being called in from his one night off to replace His Excellency Allen-I-Can-Do-Whatever-I-Want-Because-I'm-Sleeping-With-The-Queen Schezar.

The pavilion was empty save for a few scattered servants cleaning up after the evening's outdoor refreshments, leaving Baedan alone with another of the knights, a young man only a year older than he by the name of Gerard. The two of them had little in common aside from a privileged background and their position as knights. Though both did share quite the similar opinion of a certain over-privileged knight.

Both boys stood half leaning against one of the stone walls that ringed the pavilion, separating it from the gardens beyond. Gerard stood with one foot braced on the stones, leaning forward with a bold grin on his face. "I heard he wasn't the least bit 'ill' this morning. He was on duty until the afternoon break and then he vanished."

"One of the girls from the kitchen, you remember little Anne with the blonde hair?" Baedan leaned in a little closer, though he didn't lower his voice a bit. Maybe it was from the one too many glasses of wine he'd consumed that evening. Really, they weren't supposed to drink on duty, but it was a rule seldom followed, especially by the knights sent to attend the after supper parties. "Well, little Anne said that she saw Allen slip off into the Queen's personal gardens as soon as the meetings concluded upstairs. According to her, the gardens weren't exactly empty."

In response, Gerard made a rather vulgar motion with one of his hands that sent both boys into fits of laughter. It took a moment before Baedan could form the words to continue. "The servants on the other side of the hedge claimed to hear rustling bushes. What do you suppose that means, eh?"

"I think it means it's none of your business."

Laughter ceased as both young knights looked up with a start. Baedan felt faint.

"Celena! I didn't hear you… I mean, I didn't see you there and…" Much to Baedan's dark amusement, he noted Gerard was taking a few steps back, capitalizing on the fact that Celena Schezar's anger was focused one hundred percent on Baedan. He couldn't blame his friend for wanting to escape, even if the disloyalty was more than a bit displeasing. He would have run from the fury in Celena's eyes, too. Fury directed fully at him.

"Obviously you didn't." The girl seemed content to let Gerard escape, even going so far as to make a sharp shooing motion towards the other knight. Taking his cue, Gerard fled for the palace, cheeks burning.

Baedan was left with no allies and only one choice… to try and dig himself out of this hole. "Celena, I know he's your brother but… but he stuck me with his duty tonight! This isn't the first time he's just run off and forced one of us to cover his slack. It's just not fair that since he's… ah… It's just not fair."

His justification didn't seem to work. Celena only planted one hand firmly on her hip and advanced towards him, causing the knight to cower a bit against the stone wall. "And was it fair that Gavin had to take over for you when you fainted?"

Had his face not already been so red, it certainly would have been after such a comment, especially one spoken loud enough for the gathered servants to hear! Even if news of his fainting spell had spread throughout the city in a matter of hours, there was still the off chance that there was at least someone who remained ignorant. "I did not faint! I just… felt sick." In fact, he felt sick right now. Sick and a bit dizzy.

"You felt sick. Just like onii-sama felt sick tonight." Celena took another step closer, crossing her arms over her chest and looking just as smug as can be. She knew she was winning this argument.

But Baedan was stubborn. He wasn't about to let her win by bringing up pointless embarrassing moments. "That's not the same! Not at all! Your brother wasn't sick. He was tired from spending all day romping in the bushes with the Queen!"

He braced himself for her heated response, but when nothing came he ventured a slow glance to the young woman. Celena stood, arms crossed, face contorted in a mask of utter fury. He only glimpsed this for a moment, though, before stars appeared in his vision. It took another moment for him to realize he'd been slapped, but it only hit him as he watched her retreating form as it made for the palace.

She hadn't struck him so hard, though his cheek would no doubt be an angry red for some time, yet the blow made him dizzy. In fact, he felt faint. He had a vague memory of one of the servants moving towards him, shouting something back the way he had come, but the image was lost when blackness claimed him.

All he could think was… not again. How will I ever live this down?

xxxx

Gaddes was of the very strong opinion that being Allen Schezar's friend should come with a bonus to his pay.

Despite his better judgment, despite common sense or decency, despite any amount of logic, Gaddes found himself following one rather determined knight through the bushes in the middle of the night. He'd already offered what feeble protests he could muster when Allen woke him from a rather pleasant dream to drag him along on this ridiculous adventure in chivalry. Allen was determined, though, and no amount of protest from his right hand man would steer him away from this fairly idiotic course.

Allen was going to play the romantic hero and climb Millerna Aston Fassa's balcony.

He'd come in fresh from his ride at some ungodly hour and insisted Gaddes dress quickly and come with him. He needed a lookout to be sure the night patrols didn't thwart his attempts at high romance. While Gaddes had dressed, Allen went about the very serious process of combing his hair, brushing the dirt and horse hair from his clothing, and finally donning a dark cloak. What better to play at espionage in than black cloaks.

This was all so ridiculous. If his mind hadn't been so fogged by sleep, Gaddes was sure he wouldn't have come along at all.

Now, as the dark clad pair slipped though the garden bushes just below the royal balcony, he really began to have second thoughts. "Boss, are you sure about this? You're going to wake her up and upset her… and what if Dryden hears you! He's liable to throw you back over the balcony before you have a chance to beg him not to."

"Dryden won't hear me. He sleeps like the dead. She told me it was like sleeping next to a sack of potatoes."

"Well that's all well and good, but…" He was cut off by a sharp gesture from the knight as he finally found the point at which he would climb. Lattice work covered the wall, stretching all the way to the slanted roof. Gaddes couldn't help but roll his eyes at the convenience of it. Were palaces designed now to accommodate valiant young knights climbing their lovers' balconies?

"Wait here," Allen whispered, as if Gaddes had been under the impression he'd be visiting Millerna right along with him. "If you see anything, give the signal."

With a resigned sigh and a sleepy, half salute, Gaddes nodded. "Right, Boss."

xxxx

When he had left Millerna for the evening, Dryden found himself moving as if in a daze. He'd gone about spreading the blankets over the sofa, his limbs moving out of familiarity for the task rather than conscious thought and when the task was completed he took no notice. His limbs felt heavy. His head felt worse, like he was attempting to grasp at things in a thick fog. He'd known of the affair but he hadn't expected such a development.

He'd made some attempt at sleep that night, but it evaded him easily. His mind was too full. Even after the news had been given time to sink in, it was still beyond belief. She was pregnant. There was going to be a baby and this baby would call him father. At least, he assumed it would. To do otherwise would be to admit to the affair and thus tarnish the integrity of the entire country. How difficult things were when politics were involved.

Before turning in, he'd opened the windows, letting in the cool evening air along with the soothing noises of nighttime birds and insects. It wasn't long until he lay half dozing, staring at the dark shadows on the ceiling, cast by moonlight against the trees. The shapes were mesmerizing. He attempted to pick out images among them. The one near the corner somewhat resembled a great merchant ship… or maybe that was just a wishful imagination. He had been longing for the old days far more frequently.

As thoughts wandered, Dryden thought he could hear the faint creaking of wood, echoing the crickets. How strange…

It wasn't until a few moments later he heard footsteps on the balcony that he realized what the noise must have been. Someone had climbed the lattice! The footsteps moved quickly, yet softly into the adjoining bedroom and for an instant, Dryden was caught in a daze. Had someone just gone into Millerna's room?

When the realization hit him, he was off the sofa like a shot, striding quickly towards the bedroom door that separated them. On the verge of opening it, though, he paused. He'd heard a voice, a near whisper but still, hadn't it said her name?

Suspicions were confirmed moments later by Millerna's less than quiet response.

"Allen! What are you doing here?"

Allen, huh? Rather than charging to Millerna's rescue, Dryden remained on his side of the door, ear lightly pressed against the wood. Perhaps it was wrong to snoop, but he was fairly sure this conversation had quite a bit to do with him. Besides, he wanted to hear just what Allen had to say.

There was a long stretch of silence, though, during which Dryden imagined they must be greeting each other more fully. Just the thought of it caused bile to rise in his throat. Even after what she'd done to him, she would still kiss and embrace Allen only hours later. She really must have cared nothing for him at all.

When the voices started again, they were softer, though not whispered. At times, Dryden was forced to strain to hear.

"Oh, Allen. I was afraid you wouldn't come back. Gaddes said you were upset. When you hadn't come back in time for supper, I was afraid you'd fled."

The knight was silent for a moment before he replied, sounding much more serious than Dryden had heard him in some time. "I didn't want you to worry." There was some noise, as if he wanted to say more, but was having difficultly finding the words.

In the momentary silence, Millerna spoke up, not giving Allen the chance to say what he had obviously come to say. "It's all right. You're back now. I don't know what I would do if you'd gone away. Dryden is so angry with me…"

On the other side of the door, Dryden made a soft noise of surprise. She thought he was mad at her? Had he sounded that angry?

Allen seemed momentarily pushed off course. "He's angry with you?" A faint growl slipping into the knight's voice, likely unnoticed by either lover, but quite easily picked up by Dryden. "What did he say to you?"

Millerna hesitated and again there was silence. Then, rather than go into the sordid details of their argument, she merely replied, "He said he won't tell anyone."

Silence again.

"Good."

"Are you sure, Allen? If you want to… Well, it is your baby, too, after all! You are the father. You have every right to say so! It doesn't have to be like Chid again. I won't hide the truth no matter what people might say!"

It seemed as if Millerna would have gone on had she not been silenced by one harsh word from the knight. "Enough." There was no anger in his tone, but a sad resignation. He had no intention of claiming this child.

Silence again.

This time, though, it was Allen who broke it. "I came to tell you that I'm requesting transfer back to the borders. I don't care where. I need to be out of Palas for a while." Then came a noise that sounded as if Millerna had attempted a protest but was cut off. "I have to do this, Millerna. I need this. And I think it would be easier for both of us if I'm just gone. And better for the child. This baby doesn't need Allen Schezar."

"But I need you, Allen."

"No." The knight's tone had turned almost venomous. "No. I'm going. I came to say goodbye to you because I won't have another chance. The sooner I'm gone, the better. That way you can announce the baby and no one will think of me. I'll be gone. There will be nothing to connect me to that child."

"But…" Her voice cracked, on the verge of tears. "You can't go, Allen. I love you. I'll follow you, I swear it!"

"Not this time, Millerna. You're a queen now and I won't have you abandoning your duties here. This is my country, too, and I won't have it fall to ruin because I'm selfish. Or because you're selfish."

Millerna was taken aback by his words, yet finally she ceased to protest. There followed more words that Dryden was unable to hear. Whispered words of love, no doubt. Lovers' goodbyes.

Slowly he stepped away from the door, not wishing to intrude on those final moments shared by lovers. Things had worked out in his favor. He couldn't ask for more. Let them have their time alone.

xxxx

Gaddes wasn't sure how long he'd been dozing, but he was awakened with a start at the sound of creaking lattice above him. He rubbed at his eyes and judging by the lack of stars and the first hints of dawn, he'd been asleep for hours at least.

Sleep heavy eyes turned upward towards the balcony just in time to see Allen descend the final few feet of lattice and land noiselessly in the garden. He said nothing and judging by his expression, Gaddes figured it would be best for his health should he not address the knight just yet. He simply fell into step behind Allen, studying the man with a tiny frown.

Things must have gone as planned.

So all along the way, I've been dropping a few subtle hints here and there about Baedan. I'm wondering if anyone has caught on yet. I'd love to hear some theories cause there's a big reveal coming up soon. Tell me what you're thinking!