Seeing Loras again still clouds her mind as she and Fran wander the grassy rolling hills of the Cerobi Steppe. The boy had known her even without the coat and trousers he'd seen her wearing, known her with hair the color of night. What reward have the Archadians in town offered for any news of her whereabouts? Can he even connect the "Amalia" he met with the runaway Queen of Dalmasca? Peeking behind her several times, he has not followed her and neither has she seen any soldiers trailing them.
It has not been so very long since she was last here, but the comfort of another's company makes the journey far easier. Ashe is overjoyed to have help, but will it be enough? She hasn't thought very far ahead and now the looming worry threatens to consume her. How does one stand against immortals? Perhaps it is the stones that tie them to Ivalice? She remembers the tall stones on the platform in Giruvegan. Could they be destroyed? Without the physical tie to her world, it might sever their influence. But there is no way to know for sure, and this is what gnaws at her. She has recruited two friends to her cause, and she has no immediate solution.
She and Fran rest for a short meal in a cluster of trees, and Ashe finds herself picking up one of the hard little apples from the ground. Examining the red skin and smelling its sweet but not really pleasant fragrance, she chuckles quietly. She subsisted for days on the things and now she has plenty of food. Fortunes change quickly in Ivalice – from good to bad and back again in rapid succession. How long will this bit of luck remain to her?
The Viera has been quiet, as she usually is. On their journey before, Vaan and Penelo would often make bets for a pittance – who would speak less that day? Fran or Basch? Vaan's selection of the Captain usually cost him in the end, and Penelo ended up with new weapons or treats far more often than Vaan did. Ashe smiles at the memory, and Fran gives her a strange look.
"Just thinking about the last time we traveled together," she mumbles, and Fran goes back to her shrewd examination of the arrows in her quiver. The Viera's knowledge of archery is great, but she has claimed that what she knows is nothing compared to the wood warders of her former home. But Ashe saw Fran's arrow navigate past her own head once with precision enough to strike the eye of a creature yards away – she figures that Fran's skill is nothing to disregard.
"Balthier will anchor in the valley past the lake," Fran explains, gesturing through the trees to the waters just beyond. The journey will take a few hours more, but thus far, the Steppe has been hospitable and few fiends have troubled them. "We should reach Paramina by the morning."
Ashe has not entirely missed Balthier and Fran's airship. Though it conveyed them throughout Ivalice and was instrumental in their victory over Vayne, she remembers more clearly its time moored in the Rabanastre aerodrome without its owners. Vaan and Penelo had only used it sparingly, probably to avoid a wrathful Balthier, and Ashe had actually slipped out of the palace a few times to see it.
It had been a strange sight indeed – the ship sat silently in the hangar, no sign of her crew. Ashe had used the privilege of her position to get aboard and had spent a few nights immediately after Bahamut had fallen in the cockpit – not that she would ever tell Balthier such a thing. He'd laugh at her until he cried. The colorful dials and switches that had confounded her in Bhujerba were quiet and without illumination. She slept those nights in the pilot's seat, the leather cold and not exactly comfortable, but for all she knew, her friends had died in the crash. Balthier had assured them he would return, but as the months passed and the ship languished in the hangar without him, Ashe had begun to loathe the sight of it.
It will be strange to be aboard again. Where will she stay? There are cabins for her owners, but she cannot expect to ask to sleep there. Gentleman though he may be at times, Balthier should not have to give up his bed for her. She sighs, knowing that her remaining jewels could not possibly cover room in addition to the board she has already purchased. There is the bunk just behind the cockpit, but Basch's brother died there. Perhaps she will curl up in one of the uncomfortable chairs once more.
Fran is ready to depart again, and Ashe stands, brushing dirt and grass from her skirt. The material is warm, and she is surprised that Fran was able to pick it out considering how little clothes she normally wears. She smiles and shoulders her pack once more. Fran has been living among Humes longer than she or Balthier have been alive combined – she should not really be surprised by her Viera friend.
The sun is warm as they emerge from the trees and back onto the open fields. The lake ahead has water of the darkest blue she's ever seen, and it reminds her of the color of the dye she's put in her hair. Much has happened since she was last in the Steppe. Fran's pace is quick, and she is almost embarrassed by how easily she is distracted by the sights around her. Then again, Ashe has spent the majority of the past two years in Dalmasca. Despite her circumstances, seeing the world again is invigorating – she hadn't realized until now how much she's missed it.
Fran seems to sense this. "We stop if you require it, Majesty." Her eyes are not unkind as she looks back, and Ashe nods.
"I have not seen much more than sand in a few years, Fran, I am sorry," she says, quickening her pace to catch up with the Viera.
"It is something Balthier and I take for granted in our travels," Fran admits. "We have the freedom to see plains, deserts, mountains…it is I who must apologize for hurrying you along."
Ashe shakes her head. "No, we have more important things to consider. Balthier will be impatient if we are late." She knows this to be true. If there is anything the sky pirate lacks, it is patience. It is probably why he jumps from place to place and cannot settle. He is too restless, too unwilling to stand still when there is so much of the world he has not yet explored. She admires his spirit, but she recalls the many mornings when he was halfway to their next destination before she had finished packing her supplies.
They continue walking in a comfortable silence, and Ashe tries to ignore the smell of the fresh sea air that still reaches her from the south. The desert air is clean and rarely smells of anything at all, except when the spices from the bazaar find their way north to waft past her palace walls. It is almost sensory overload to walk through grasses with wildflowers and groves of blossoming trees. Even in winter, the Steppe is full of fragrance.
The time passes quickly and the sun's position overhead changes. Before she realizes it, her hair is rustling in the wind, and Fran has to physically hold her back from moving. Showing off as usual, Ashe thinks with a smile as the Strahl circles the lake a few times before its engines slow and the ship descends into the valley. Balthier lands his ship several hundred paces away on level ground and the Strahl has barely set down before he appears at the top of the steps waving.
"He waves as if we have not seen his theatrics," Fran informs her with the slightest quirk of her lips. The Viera can be downright sarcastic when talking about her partner, and Ashe wonders if Balthier knows she does so. "Whatever you do, offer no praise. He puts the ship at risk with his fancy piloting."
Ashe withholds a smile. "For a secret mission, he certainly is being flashy."
Fran sighs. "He does so to impress you. Just in case you've forgotten who the best pilot in Ivalice is." They approach the ship, and Ashe feels her face growing warm. Balthier has always been openly flirtatious with her, but to have some confirmation of it from Fran is rather embarrassing.
"I trust your journey wasn't too taxing, ladies," the sky pirate remarks cheerfully from atop the stairs.
Fran shakes her head and climbs the stairs and brushes past Balthier. He grins widely since Fran must have had some look of irritation on her face that only he was allowed to witness. Ashe has been right all along – Balthier thrives on dangerous situations. He has just set his ship down in a field to escort a runaway Queen, and he is as giddy as a schoolboy. Even a morning in his least favorite place, Archades, has not marred his cheerful disposition.
Extending a hand to her, he cocks his head to the side and continues grinning. "The Strahl awaits, my lady."
Rolling her eyes, she shoves his hand out of her way and moves into the airship. "This is not a game, Balthier. I expect you've spent all of my remaining wealth appropriately?" He says nothing in response, and she bites the inside of her cheek to keep from yelling at him. Why she is still upset about it is a mystery even to her – it was a handful of jewels torn from a dress. It wasn't as if he'd stolen directly from her treasury. She has obviously misunderstood their friendship, nothing more. He is a pirate after his own profit as he has always been. It is not worth dwelling upon.
Balthier follows her into the cockpit where Fran is already preparing the ship to depart again. Seeing the blinking lights fully functional once more is enough to stop her in her tracks, and she finds herself gripping the back of the pilot's chair tightly. He squeezes past her and sits down in his chair, and she recalls the nights she spent sleeping there. It is strange to see the Strahl occupied again though it has been for nearly a year now.
"You can put your pack in Fran's cabin, Princess," Balthier suggests casually. Fran turns her head to give her a look that is sympathetic, but at the same time encouraging her to listen to what Balthier tells her.
Ashe ignores her rude and discourteous host and departs the cockpit, dragging the pack after her. The whole ship hums as she feels it lift into the air, and she moves to the rear where Balthier and Fran's cabins are. The rooms are always warm since the Strahl's strange design has placed them directly over the engine room. Ashe is used to a warm bedchamber living in Dalmasca – she doesn't understand how Balthier and Fran willingly sleep aboard. She supposes it is why they sleep at inns when making prolonged stops in between treasure hunts.
Even though she's not been in Fran's quarters for nearly two years, the exotic scent like vanilla mixed with some spice from a place Ashe has never been perfumes the air. She remembers that Balthier's cabin smells of a combination of shot from his collection of firearms and whatever cologne he seems to nearly bathe in. Fran's cabin is much less assaulting of her senses. She sets down the pack before her mind is too distracted from being aboard the Strahl again, and she walks back to the cockpit.
They are already gliding through the clouds, and she can see the Steppe far below them, the windmills looking tiny and the green rolling hills looking nearly flat from above. She stands behind Balthier, leaning her arm on top of the chair. "Fran says we'll reach Paramina by morning."
He nods in acknowledgment while Fran adjusts a few dials at her seat. "It would normally be faster, but we're avoiding the usual airship routes." Beneath her feet, the panels rumble just slightly, a steady hum indicating the Strahl's travel through the skies. She's forgotten how powerful this airship feels. Most of her diplomatic visits have had her on large ships – the Strahl is smaller and quicker.
Balthier seems to sense her disquiet, and he leans back in the seat to look up at her. "Are you going to hover over me until we get there?"
Sighing, she sits down in a huff behind him. Sure, she is impatient to get closer to Giruvegan, but does Balthier have to be short with her the entire time? He's been paid for his assistance since he is so unwilling to help a friend in need for anything less than their most cherished possessions, be they jewels or wedding bands.
She rubs her forehead and tries to calm down. Why is she so angry with Balthier? Everything he has said is not so terribly different from the usual way he jests with her. Perhaps it was the long days of her journey alone from Archades. Her thoughts turned to the sky pirate often enough – perhaps she let her mind remember the good and neglected to recall the more negative aspects of the man's character. In two days, he's already pulled a knife on her, eaten her food and ordered her around.
What she needs is rest. She's been walking since the early morning, and she is out of sorts. Balthier and Fran are both risking themselves to help her, and she should be more grateful. The sky pirates seem to realize that she is irritable out of exhaustion more than anything, and their voices are quiet as they make conversation. She lets the soft sounds of her friends and the hum of the airship lull her into a much needed nap.
-----
The crackling noise over the radio wakes her, and the voice that comes from it then startles her.
"Attention pirate vessel Strahl."
"Pirate vessel?" Balthier spits out angrily, and Ashe grips the armrests of the seat she's in. Fran and her partner continue their course, but she can sense a growing tension. Fran's ears are at attention and twitching slightly, and although she can't tell how Balthier is reacting in front of her, his voice tells her all she needs to know.
"This is Judge Magister Gabranth aboard the Alexander," Basch's voice announces, and Ashe feels lightheaded. How could they have found her so quickly? "You will halt course and prepare to be boarded."
"You have to be kidding," Balthier mutters as Ashe sees the enormous Archadian flagship rise up just ahead of them to dwarf the Strahl. She hopes that the Alexander's crew cannot see through the glass to view her sitting behind the Strahl's pilot.
The Alexander, with its dark hull and dozens of decks, hovers in the air menacingly, and Ashe can feel the Strahl's hum quiet until the ship is flying in the same pattern as the Archadian ship. Loras told the Archadians, how else could they have tracked them down so quickly? Basch has found her, and he'll be hauling her back to Archades or Rabanastre or whoever would have her blood first.
Basch's voice is angrier this time, an impatience to it that she has never heard before. "Halt course or you will be fired upon." Ashe watches a red glow at the center of the Alexander's bow grow increasingly brighter, and she begins to feel nauseous.
Fran begins flipping several switches. "He does not appear to joke."
Balthier rises from his seat then, pulling the radio receiver from the wall and tossing it to his partner. His face is calm as he does so. "The usual pleasantries if you don't mind, Fran." He moves to look at her, and there is something in his eyes that Ashe cannot understand. Is it fear? Anger? He keeps his emotions so close that she fears she will never decipher them. Balthier grabs her arm and hauls her out of the seat. Dragging her from the cockpit before she can protest, he calls back to Fran over his shoulder. "And do try to at least sound like me this time."
Ashe can barely move, her feet shuffling along the metal floor as Balthier pulls her through the corridor to the rear of the ship. The radio crackles as Fran begins chatting amiably back and forth with the Archadians in Balthier's voice, and Ashe wonders how many scrapes the pirates have gotten out of because of the little trick device.
His grip on her wrist is tight as he drags her along. "The last time this happened she made me sound like some simpering idiot. 'Yes, please. Of course. I am at your command.'" Balthier informs her as he pulls her into his cabin. He releases her once they are inside, and he pulls the chair away from his desk and stands on it. "Bloody Viera, saying those things in my voice. I could have killed her."
"Balthier," she interrupts as he shifts what she has always thought was a light fixture on the ceiling aside and pulls the whole panel down. Climbing off the chair, he leans the panel against his bunk and gestures for her to stand on the chair. Ashe can't move – she has never known terror like this before. The thought of what punishments await her, the look Basch will have on his face when he apprehends her…will it be pity or hatred?
She can hear Fran using her real voice over the radio now. "We are ready for you to begin docking procedures." Then Fran adds a little bit of Balthier in after it. "You'd better make it quick!"
Balthier grins at Fran's imitation of him. "That's my girl." He sighs and steps across his cabin to tug on her arm again. "Up you go," he says, nearly picking up and setting her down on the chair.
"In the ceiling, Balthier?" she asks shakily, her legs wobbling on top of the wooden desk chair. Looking down on him, he is growing impatient, and she imagines that he will bodily force her into the little hiding spot if she doesn't climb.
"Just get up there and be quiet," he hisses at her, giving her a poke in the side. Surely Basch will search every nook of the Strahl for her? Gripping the other panel, she begins to pull herself up into the space between the top of the Strahl's bulkhead and the false ceiling panels. She feels Balthier's hands on her legs then and he tries to help boost her into the space, and there is no time for anger at his touch. Ashe can already hear metallic grinding noises indicating the Strahl's docking within the Archadian ship, and she scrambles up quickly with Balthier's assistance.
The ceiling panels are stronger than they look, and they don't even creak as she lays down on her stomach, turning around to lean her head through the hole in the ceiling where Balthier already has the panel ready to seal her up. "There's a little peephole through the light, and you'll have plenty of air that way too." She scoots back a bit as Balthier fits the panel back again, the snapping bits of metal echoing inside her little coffin of a crawlspace. Leaning back, she tries out the peephole and can see that she has a view of the entire cabin.
Balthier stands on the chair and is looking directly through the hole where he knows she is laying. She begins to speak, but he presses a finger to his lips to encourage her silence. "Whatever happens, you stay there and you keep your mouth shut. Promise me." His eyes are earnest then, the same look he had when he'd told her not to give her heart to nethicite. She trusts those eyes, and she will obey.
"I promise," she whispers back.
Balthier nods and steps down off of the chair, moving it back to his desk, and she watches him run out of the cabin quickly. Ashe closes her eyes and tries to breathe. Her heart is pounding, and she is terrified for Balthier and Fran. They have her stowed away in the damned ceiling, and Basch will be boarding in seconds. Will his loyalties to Larsa and the Empire be stronger than his loyalty to friends? Will he arrest Balthier? Will she be trapped inside the little hiding spot until she dies or surrenders?
The hissing sound of the exit hatch beyond the cabins indicates that the Strahl has docked inside the Alexander's hangar bay. The hatch door closes just as quickly, and the familiar sound of boots and clanking metal indicates that Basch has come aboard. She feels so helpless, hiding inside the panels while Balthier and Fran must lie. At least she hopes they will lie for her.
They are standing just outside in the passage, all three of them, and she can even see the swishing end of Basch's cape just visible from the doorway of the cabin. He has come aboard without his helmet, and seemingly without any accompaniment. "I come alone out of friendship," he explains then, and Ashe can hear the exhaustion in his voice, wondering how many sleepless nights he's had these past few weeks because of her.
Fran's voice is calm. "It is appreciated."
Ashe hopes that nobody can hear her breathing as Basch continues. "You think the radio trick could still fool me?" There is no underlying humor in his voice, and the tension in the air is palpable.
"I am trying to improve," Fran explains calmly. "Balthier's…manner of speaking is not my strongest suit."
Balthier's voice chimes in then. "And she is improving. Good day to you, Captain." She doesn't know how Balthier can keep his voice so steady and even. Basch tends to be rather intimidating in his armor, but he and Balthier are the same height – and the pirate has worn judge's armor before. Perhaps Basch does not frighten him. "Completely random contraband check, no doubt?"
"Cut the act, Balthier," Basch interrupts sharply. "Is she here?"
"I don't follow," the pirate responds, and she can hear him lean against the bulkhead while Basch's cape continues to be visible in the corridor.
"Her Majesty, is she on board your ship?"
There is genuine surprise in Balthier's response, or the closest approximation Ashe has ever heard. He is truly a skillful liar. "What? You're out of your mind…how hard did she hit you really?"
The sound of a fist smacking metal chills her then, and Basch has obviously hit the wall beside Balthier. "The jesting and the cocky attitude ends right now, pirate. If you are harboring her…"
Balthier immediately makes his own voice match the concern and menace in Basch's tone. "What proof do you have that Fran and I have even seen her? I thought she'd run off to Rozarria."
"A young man came forward in Balfonheim and swore that he saw Ashelia with Fran…"
"I find that impossible to believe," Fran interjects, her voice cold and emotionless.
"Oh?" Basch says, and Ashe knows that there is more. There must be more evidence than whatever Loras told them. Otherwise why send the Archadian flagship after the Strahl? "And what of your ship departing Balfonheim early this morning with only one aboard?"
"One? Fran was with me the entire time. Someone needs their eyes checked," Balthier spits back, and he shifts in the corridor to block the entrance to his cabin with his body. He does it so casually, leaning against the doorframe, that Basch doesn't even move.
She cannot tear her eyes away from the scene just paces away from where she is hidden. If Balthier or Fran move for the cockpit or head anywhere else in the ship, will it give them away? "How much was this boy paid to lie and accuse us?" Fran asks.
"Enough!" Basch orders, his voice laced with exasperation. "I beseech you as your friend, have you seen her at all? She needs to be helped. She needs medical care and…"
"Medical care?" Balthier's words are like ice, and she can feel the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck rise at the sound. "The woman let her soldiers trample women and children in the streets. What she needs is to be executed as a traitor to her people."
His words stun her. It aches to hear such a thing from Balthier's own lips, even though it is a lie. When the man lies, he seems to go all the way. "Balthier," Fran warns him gently, and Ashe cannot tell if Fran expected him to say such a thing or if it is all a part of the act.
"Have you so little affection for her?" Basch responds sadly. "In the past, I thought you…"
"She is not here!" Balthier argues, the calm in his earlier words gone now in favor of a more dangerous and threatening tone. "We have not seen her, nor do we care to see her ever again. She will not lay her burdens down on us."
Ashe watches Basch move then, standing to face Balthier and now fully visible in the corridor. Balthier still leans in the doorway, and Basch's eyes have dark circles under them from exhaustion. There is still a bandage on the side of his temple where she struck him, and she bites her lip. The confrontation is growing heated between the two men, and she hopes that it will not escalate now that the Strahl is docked within the Alexander.
"You are lying. You lie, and I will tear every little hiding spot on this ship apart," Basch threatens him, standing within Balthier's personal space. She does not know how much more of this she can witness before she will give herself up. Seeing them argue is tearing her up inside – that Balthier would go this far to keep her safe is making her tremble inside the ceiling. She prays that it will not rattle the panels.
Balthier is not intimidated by Basch's closeness. "You overstep your bounds, Your Honor," he hisses, referring to Basch's official position for the first time.
"Where else could she have gone?"
"How am I to know the mind of a madwoman?" Balthier replies, straightening his posture to look Basch straight in the eye.
Ashe watches Basch's fist clench. "I will tolerate no further disrespect against Her Majesty."
"Then be gone, she is not here."
The fist begins to shake now. "Foolish pirate, enough of these games! Stand aside!"
Balthier does not budge. "So this is the full strength of the Archadian army? A greedy capital full of poverty-stricken miscreants who would sell their own children for a bit of information and you can't find one pretty blonde woman?"
"Where is Her Majesty, Balthier?"
"You let her escape, Captain. This is not my problem or concern." Ashe wonders why Balthier is being so openly combative – it is not his style. Perhaps he is more nervous than he lets on? Can Basch tell?
"I will not ask you again!"
Ashe can see Balthier's own hand clench into a fist, and she is ready to pound on the panel and demand to be let out. But she remembers the look in Balthier's eyes when he told her to stay put, and she can only watch.
Balthier's voice is low, and she can barely hear him now. "Why don't you save the remaining scraps of your dignity and get back to wiping Larsa's ass…"
She cannot look away as Basch's fist connects with Balthier's face hard enough to knock the pirate to the ground, and he lands on the floor of his cabin. Ashe wants to cry out, and from the dazed look in Balthier's eyes, she realizes that he hadn't expected Basch to do it.
"Basch," Fran's voice says in warning, and she can see the Viera's hand resting on Basch's shoulder.
For his part, the Judge Magister's face is not angry, but shocked. It appears that he acted without even thinking. "My gods, Balthier…I…"
Ashe watches a trickle of blood emerge from Balthier's nose, and he doesn't even try to wipe it away. Sitting up unsteadily, his voice is downright unsettling. "Get off my ship."
Basch holds up his hands in surrender. "I apologize…I should not have…"
"Get off my damn ship before I throw you out the airlock! She's not here!"
Fran's hand becomes more insistent. "Captain…"
Basch staggers back against the bulkhead and exhales a shaky breath. "Yes, I…I will go. I am sorry to have…"
Ashe sees him walk off with Fran, then hears the sound of the hatch door opening once again. She watches Balthier grab the doorframe to rise to his feet. Instead of opening up the ceiling panel, she can only lay there in shock as he stalks into the corridor, and she can hear his footsteps trail off in the direction of the cockpit.