"I'm not wearing that."
Tear glared at the dress she held out in front of her.
"Aw, c'mon Tear," Luke encouraged her, "Emperor Peony had it made just for you."
"That makes it all the more disturbing."
"What's wrong with it? It looks fine to me."
Tear tossed the offending clothing onto the bed. "I wouldn't look good in it."
"You'd look good in anything," Luke insisted, the sincerity in his voice causing her heart to flutter momentarily.
She quickly regained her composure and shot back, "Do you really want every guy there to be staring at my chest the entire time?"
Luke frowned as he thought about the idea. "No, not really."
"That's what I thought. Besides, what is this supposed to be, anyway? It looks like something a queen from a fairy tale would wear. A somewhat promiscuous queen..."
"That may be a pretty accurate guess," Luke replied as he rummaged through the package that had been delivered to their room.
Tear looked over at him questioningly and saw him holding up a plastic crown. It's design did indeed suggest it belonged to a queen.
"What the..?" Tear muttered as she took the crown from him and examined it curiously. "Is this going to be some kind of costume party?"
"It wouldn't surprise me, knowing the Emperor," Luke mused as he continued to search the package. "I guess this means I'm the king."
He held up an ornately decorated robe that also had a distinctly "fairy tale-ish" quality to it. "And I get a crown, too."
Tear could not help but laugh. "Are you actually going to wear that?"
Luke grinned playfully at her. "Why not? It could be fun. But I can't be a king without a queen..."
"You're going to be if you want to wear that ridiculous costume."
"Or I could find someone else to be my queen."
Tear started; his response caught her off-guard, and gave her the unwanted mental picture of Luke with another woman. A woman who looked disturbingly like Veronica. Tear gave Luke her best death glare. "Don't even joke about that."
Luke sensed the seriousness in her voice, and his smile fell. "Sorry..."
She looked away from him, and an awkward silence fell over the two of them.
"...Tear?" Luke asked timidly. When she did not reply, he became concerned. "You know I wasn't serious, right?"
Tear still did not respond. She knew she was being somewhat unreasonable, but she could not ignore the fact that the comment had stung. More than it should have, she admitted to herself. But the thought of him leaving her for someone else hurt and terrified her. And lately it seemed her emotions were particularly easy to trigger. Perhaps it was a part of being tired.
Luke dropped the robe haphazardly onto the floor, currently not caring what happened to it. He strode over to his upset wife, mentally cursing his stupidity. She was still turned toward him, but she was looking off to the side and did nothing to acknowledge him when he approached. He stood uncertainly in front of her for a moment, then threw his arms around her and held her against him.
For several seconds she did not react, but she found her angry quickly melting. She slowly lifted her arms to return the hug, and rested her head on his chest. He relaxed considerably, taking her movement as a sign that she had forgiven him, at least for the most part. Sometimes he forgot how sensitive Tear was, since she always worked to keep it hidden.
"I take it back," Luke told her earnestly. "I didn't mean it. I wouldn't ever want anyone besides you to be my queen."
Tear knew Luke was not trying to make fun of her, but the statement brought to light how ridiculous the whole situation was. Any lingering resentment she felt was suddenly gone, and she found herself laughing.
Relived that he had managed to get himself out of trouble, Luke smiled. "Was that too cheesy?"
Tear pulled back a little ways so she could meet his gaze. "Yes."
"But it worked, didn't it?" Luke said, smirking.
Tear shook her head at him, smiling. She moved away from him without answering and went back to where she had abandoned her dress. "Well, we'd better get ready. We're going to be late."
"This is supposed to be a party?" Luke asked, confused. "It looks more like..."
"A fair," Tear finished for him, curiously examining the scene before them.
The two of them stood in a field just outside Grand Chokmah. The morning sun illuminated several rows of booths containing various shops and activities. The people in charge of the booths all wore costumes that made them look like they had just come out of a storybook. Tear was reminded distinctly of Nam Cobanda Isle, and wondered if Emperor Peony knew of its existence.
"Ah, there you are!" Speaking of the Emperor, he approached the two of them now.
Tear tried hard not to laugh, knowing it would be disrespectful. Emperor Peony was wearing the classic armor of a knight from popular fairy tales, minus the helmet, which he held under his right arm. He looked absolutely ridiculous, but did not seem to notice or care.
Peony was grinning broadly as he came to a halt in front of Luke and Tear. "What do you think? I see you both got the clothes I sent you."
"It looks like this should be an... interesting experience," Tear answered cautiously, not entirely sure what she felt about the whole situation.
"Well, you enjoy yourselves however you want. Just tell people who you are and they'll let you do or have anything for free. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find Jade. It seems that his costume mysteriously didn't reach his room, so I need to deliver it personally. Have fun you two!" And with that, the enthusiastic emperor walked past them and towards the direction of the city.
"I'm not sure what I think of this," Tear said uncertainly. This day was not going at all how she had expected it to, and she still felt uncomfortable in the low-cut dress she was wearing.
"It looks like fun to me," Luke replied cheerfully. "Besides, everything is free!"
Tear looked at him curiously. "Since when have you been concerned about money?"
"Um... never. But free is still good."
She shook her head at him. "Whatever. Let's just head over there, shall we?"
Quite a few guests were already wandering about, many of them also in costume. There was a general feeling of excitement in the air, which raised Tear's spirits a little.
"What took you two so long?" a feminine voice demanded.
Anise appeared from behind a booth, attempting to look annoyed. However, it was difficult to take her seriously when her clothes were practically shedding blue sparkles and she had a pair of fairy wings strapped to her back.
"We, uh... had some trouble with the costumes," Luke replied, not wanting to explain how he had upset Tear.
Anise looked back and forth between the two of them, noticing that they both looked slightly uncomfortable with the question. Suddenly she brightened, and announced happily, "Wait, I get it! You two were having some 'alone time' in your room, weren't you? ...Oh, but you're only a couple minutes late. Jeez Tear, is Luke really that fast?"
"W-what?" Tear stammered, completely taken aback by the conclusion Anise had reached. "T-that's not... we weren't..."
"Oh, nevermind," Anise said, sparing Tear the embarrassment of coming up with a coherent response. "I should've known you would never talk about stuff like that."
Luke spoke up, anxious to change the subject. "Nice outfit, Anise."
Anise chose to ignore the sarcasm in his voice. "I know, aren't I the cutest fairy you've ever seen?" She moved up and down, causing the wings to flap and a cascade of blue sparkles to rain to the ground.
"Yeah," Luke teased, "that child's costume suits you perfectly."
"Hey!" she cried, "I'm not a child. In less than a year I'll be of age."
"You sure don't look it."
Anise glared at him. "Okay, fine, maybe I didn't get as big as Tear, but that doesn't mean-"
"Hey guys!"
Guy and Natalia approached from the same direction Anise had come. Guy was wearing white tights and a purple vest, while Natalia had on a light green dress. Tear wondered how Natalia could look so comfortable in her dress, since it was even more revealing than her own.
Luke examined them both for a minute, then spoke. "Okay, so Guy's supposed to be a prince. But what is Natalia supposed to be?"
Guy shrugged. "The only thing we could come up with was a princess."
"Oh," Luke replied, "that's kind of..."
"Lame," Anise cut in. "I guess the Emperor ran out of ideas."
Natalia looked down at her dress uncertainly. "Oh, is it lame? I didn't think it looked that bad..."
"Not at all," Guy replied before anyone else could speak. "Anise was just referring to the Emperor not being able to come up with something for you to be other than what you already are. You look great in that dress."
Natalia blushed slightly. "Thank you, Guy."
"Guy," Anise put in, "you're evil."
"Huh?" Guy turned toward her, confused. "What did I-?"
Suddenly Guy stopped, and his attention turned to something behind the others, back in the direction of the city. For a moment he stared in shock, then he burst into laughter, startling his companions.
Natalia followed his gaze and found what he was looking at. "Oh dear, is that...?"
Overcome with curiosity, the others turned to see what Guy found so hilarious. Before long, Luke was laughing as well and Anise was giggling. Tear continued to scan the crowd, not finding what the others had. There were plenty of people in silly costumes around, so what could possibly have caused them to-?
And then she saw him. Standing at the edge of the "fairground" was Jade. As usual, he was straight-backed with hands in his pockets. He stood with all the dignity he possessed when he wore his military uniform.
Except he was not wearing his military uniform. Jade the Sarcastic Wonder was dressed as a jester.
"Hello there," Jade greeted them casually when the group approached.
"Lookin' good, Jade," Guy snickered as he indicated the man's brightly-colored costume.
Jade turned to look at Guy, sporting his regular sardonic grin. "It would seem this is the Emperor's idea of a joke."
"I think it fits you perfectly," Anise sneered.
Jade turned his head toward Anise, causing the three bells on his hat to jingle. He paid no mind to it. "As your costume suits you, dear little Anise."
Anise sighed in frustration. "When are people going to stop saying things like that?!"
"Hey guys," Luke spoke up, "I'll be right back, okay?"
Luke walked away, presumably in the direction of the restrooms. Anise watched him leave, and the moment he was out of earshot she rounded on Tear, causing the woman to start.
"So, Tear," Anise said slyly, "I haven't had a chance to talk to you since the wedding. What's it like, being married to Luke?"
"Oh, um..." Tear shifted uncomfortably as she tried to come up with a good response for the question. "It's... strange."
"Strange?" Anise looked somewhat disappointed. "That doesn't sound very good. Luke would probably be sad if he heard you talking like that."
"No, no, I don't mean it like that," Tear said hastily. Her mind raced as she attempted to come up with a way to explain her current dilemma. "It's not that I don't like being with him. It's just... being a noble is really unusual for me. It just feels... awkward. And I'm not doing a very good job of it either."
"Hmm, I wondered if this would be a problem," Jade commented, sounding completely unsympathetic. "You want to be with him, but you don't want to be a noble, correct? You probably would have been better off as his mistress than his wife."
Tear was relatively sure Jade was teasing her, but she wished he did not sound so serious when he did it.
"It's not fair," Anise pouted. "I would have loved to marry into money, but instead I'm working my butt off in the Order. And Tear, she doesn't even care about the money, yet she married into it anyway and hates it!"
"I don't hate it," Tear insisted. "I just..." She trailed off, no longer sure herself what she was trying to say.
"Hey, don't worry about it," Guy said encouragingly. "No one's born a noble." He seemed about to continue, then stopped, frowned, and shook his head. "...Wait, that didn't make sense. I mean, no one's born knowing how to act like a noble. But you'll get used to it eventually. It's not that bad."
"I'm here as well," Natalia added, smiling. "I can try to aide you if you are having difficulties. We are family now, after all."
Family... Tear smiled appreciatively at Guy and Natalia. "Thank you. I will remember what you have said."
"Why does everyone look so serious?" Luke questioned as he strode back over to his companions. "This is supposed to be a party. Let's go have fun!"
The group of six wandered around together for a while, but before long they split up into their usual pairs. Anise tagged along behind Jade, refusing to let him forget that he was wearing an absurd costume and teasing him when he stopped at a booth that served alcohol. Guy and Natalia went off to find something to eat, and Luke found himself dragged over to the section designed for entertaining children.
"Tear," Luke muttered, "I think you're scaring some of the parents."
Tear did not respond. In fact, it did not seem she had even heard him. She was watching two children in costume play, and seemed to be in a trance.
"Tear!" Luke cried in exasperation. When she still did not respond, he nudged her gently.
Finally she came back to reality and turned to face him. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did you say something?"
Luke sighed. "I said, you're making people nervous."
"Why? I'm not doing anything wrong."
"Yeah, but how would you feel if some random stranger was staring at your kids like that?"
"I suppose you're right," Tear responded, flushing. "But they're just so-"
"I know," Luke interrupted, smiling to show that he meant it kindly.
"I guess we could go somewhere else now. ...Wait, what's going on over there?"
Luke shook his head, but obediently followed as she wandered over to whatever had caught her attention.
A circle of children was seated around a man who was holding a copy of Fairy Tales of Auldrant. The man was enthusiastically reading a story from the book, captivating the children around him.
"...And then the liger said, 'All the better to eat you with!' And ate her up. The end."
Tear frowned, then turned to face Luke. "Have you ever wondered why children's stories have such morbid endings?"
Luke shrugged. "I never really thought about it. And to tell the truth, I don't know many children's stories."
Oh, right, Tear reminded herself, Luke didn't have a childhood...
"You know," Luke said, interrupting her thoughts, "a little while ago I heard someone say something about a fighting tournament. I kinda wanted to go check it out."
"Oh, but look!" Tear pointed to a make-shift wooden stage that many of the parents were gathering around. "It looks like they're going to put on some kind of play."
"But... I really wanted to go see the tournament..."
"I'll never understand the appeal of treating fighting as entertainment."
"And I don't understand the appeal of watching a bunch of strangers' kids put on a crappy play."
"Luke!" Tear hissed, looking around to make sure none of the parents or children had heard him.
Luke thought for a moment before speaking again. "You know, we don't have to be in the same place. You could stay here, and I could go watch the tournament, and we could just meet up later."
"I suppose..." Tear was a bit hesitant, but his proposal did make sense.
"Okay then." Luke was a bit more cheerful now that he was going to do something he actually wanted to do. "I'll see you a little later. Have fun."
"You too."
Luke came closer to give her a quick kiss before he headed off in the direction of the tournament. Tear watched him go, feeling oddly sad at his departure. As soon as he was out of sight she was struck with a pang of loneliness that she had not expected. Nothing sounded as enjoyable anymore, now that she was alone. She had the urge to run after him, but pride kept her where she was.
Nearby, the man with the book of fairy tales began another story, though she did not consciously acknowledge the fact.
"Once upon a time, in a magical kingdom, there was a beautiful lake..."
Tear's thoughts wandered to the conversation she'd had with her friends earlier. She remembered the comment that Jade had made, about how she would have been better off as Luke's mistress than his wife.
"One day, a bird flew to the lake, seeking a companion, for the bird was very lonely..."
She knew he had not meant it literally, but she could not help being distressed by the notion. What if he was right? What if it would have been better not to make their relationship public?
"Before long, the bird met a fish. The fish was also lonely, and so the two of them quickly became close..."
There had been a certain thrill in trying to hide it from Luke's parents. She had become quite the expert at sneaking in and out of his room. The security in the manor really was not what it could be.
"Despite their differences, it was not long before the bird and the fish fell hopelessly in love..."
Though apparently they had not been as sneaky as they thought. It turned out that Susanne had known they were together for some time, but had kept the information to herself. She had even helped hide it from the Duke, knowing he would try to keep them apart if he knew.
"The bird and the fish wanted to be together forever, but that was impossible since they needed such different things to survive..."
The memories were fond for her, but she could not say she regretted the decision to make their relationship official. It was a relief not having to hide anymore, or to have to pretend Luke was just a friend when they were in front of anyone besides their closest companions.
"But they were in love, and were willing to try anything to be together..."
Sure, they could have tried to just keep it a secret forever, but they would have been caught eventually. Besides, if she had not married him, Luke would have been expected to marry another so that he could have descendants to inherit the family name and fortune. Tear was certain she would not be able to handle being anywhere near Luke if he was also with another woman, even if he did not want to be.
"There was no way the fish could fly, so the bird dove into the water, desperate to be with the fish..."
But could she really do this? The words of Guy and Natalia had heartened her, but she was still haunted by doubts. She wondered if she would ever adjust completely.
"The bird and the fish were together for a short while, but their happiness could not last. The bird drowned, unable to live for long in the habitat that the fish thrived in..."