A/N

I know this isn't much, but I enjoyed writing this scene, and I feel it is what it is, so I'll just drop it here. I think by not making this longer, I've added at least two more chapters to the story. Oops. Hahahaha

Forgive me.

BTW, always refresh your browser because I have this terrible habit of publishing and then doing a thorough edit three hours later. You have my apologies, but sometimes the flaws hide from me.

xo-CE

Standard Stupid Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne

Chapter 21- Queens and Schemes

Hitomi clung onto Van's arm as they walked swiftly down the mostly empty marble halls of the sprawling palace. When she glanced up to see his dark brow pinching with a perplexed sort of determination, a corner of his mouth lifted as he caught her rubbing a cramp away on the swell of her belly. She didn't want to say anything, but he was walking pretty quickly for her...and she was a little sore.

They shared a sofa in the queen's private, pink-bedecked sitting room and waited to be received. Ethereal curtains framed large windows along one wall and let in the golden, filtered light of the setting sun. Van sat back and propped an ankle on his bouncing knee, watching her in that unabashed way that usually set her tongue loose. He seemed lost in thought, though, so she did her best to keep her composure and dug into the pockets of her green dress for something to distract her. She pulled out the carved mouse and the white dragon pin she'd completely forgotten about.

"Oh, look at this Van," she said, holding the sparkling brooch out for him. He sat forward and took it from her, examining it in the fading light. "A Fanelian merchant named Ruhm gave that to me as a belated wedding gift," she explained. "It was part of my dream that– about…" she let her voice fade away and blinked rapidly.

Van shifted next to her. "Your dream about me?" he asked softly.

With a shiver and a glance up, she whispered, "Yes."

"So when did you get this?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh, yesterday afternoon. It was…when he gave that to me, that's how I knew to–to be here for you." Hitomi shook her head, dismissing the sound of claws on the cobbled streets that mixed with bouncing piscus. "It's too hard to explain."

"You're saying a Fanelian merchant named Ruhm was here in Palas just yesterday?"

"Yes," she said, meeting his surprised eyes.

Before Van could explain his reaction, Millerna entered, and they both stood to greet her.

"Van, it's nice to see you back safe after your mission," she said after he took her hand in greeting.

Van grunted his thanks as he sat again on the sofa.

Hitomi took Millerna's gentle, flawless hand were in hers and then, as she returned to her seat– and having never been in such a situation before, with just her husband and another monarch who wasn't quite a confidante– she did her best to match the other queen's easy poise. She crossed her ankles and sat straight and tall and hoped she didn't appear too awkward. Van obviously didn't experience any such hangup as he sucked on his teeth and reclined against the couch again, returning an ankle to his knee.

"Have you come to explain yourself?" Millerna asked him with a playful lilt in her voice.

"Explain what, exactly?" Van asked.

Laughing, flipping her blonde hair, she said, "For landing an enemy ship on my palace roof, of course. And don't give me the drunk excuse, because I won't believe it."

"It's not an enemy ship, it's my ship, and I was drunk, just on lack of sleep," he said. He lifted a hand. "You have my apologies."

"You were that tired? How long did you go without sleep?" Millerna asked with raised eyebrows.

"Days," he said, the fingers of his left hand tapping the arm of the couch.

Wide-eyed and open-mouthed, Millerna gaped at Van and then at Hitomi. "And you didn't think to call for a doctor–?"

"Hitomi knows me well," Van said, cutting her off. "I was fine."

Hitomi bit back a smile and did her best to stay poised as a flush of pleasure swept through her, warming her cheeks. In Millerna's presence, the only thing she could think to say was something about how what Van had really needed had been a bath, but she didn't want to give the other woman any ideas.

Her reticence was unnecessary. Millerna blinked in surprise before a sly smile grew on her lips and her eyes landed on Hitomi. "Indeed, I believe she does know you well. She knew to find you here last autumn, and she knew when to be here this time. It's almost as if she has a–."

"As much as I enjoy this chit-chat," Van said, flicking some invisible lint off his knee, "I have a package to deliver. Is Dryden still besieging Zaibach?"

Millerna's mouth hung open in shock at being cut off a second time before she answered Van with what Hitomi thought was admirable grace. "Yes, last I heard."

"And when was that?"

"Four days ago."

"What other news is there?"

Millerna cleared her throat. "Well, Basram surrendered after Dornkirk went into hiding."

"I know that," Van snapped. "I went to find Dornkirk."

"Oh? That's where you went? Did you find him?"

Van leveled a fierce look at Millerna, but Hitomi saw that the toes of his boots were jostling ever so slightly. "Yes," he said.

Millerna's eyebrows lifted as she gave a slow, thoughtful blink.

"Has the base of operations changed?" he asked before she could venture another question.

She hesitated before reaching into a pocket hidden in a seam of her pink bodice and retrieving a slip of paper. Van sat forward to take it, examined it for a moment, and then handed it back. He looked up at Hitomi. "It's more or less on the way."

"Then we will go together," Hitimi said, meeting his eyes with a reassuring smile.

"Go? Together? Hitomi, you shouldn't, not in your condition," Millerna interjected.

As her mouth fell open, she and Van turned in unison towards the other queen.

Millerna laughed lightly. "Your faces confirm it. I refrained from saying anything because I know how very discreet Fanelia can be, but you can't think I didn't notice, Hitomi. I've borne three children of my own."

"Oh, well, I…" Hitomi stuttered awkwardly but couldn't think of anything to say.

The idea of confiding in Millerna had niggled at the back of her mind for weeks, but she'd held her tongue for secrecy's sake. How nice it would have been to complain about all her suppressed symptoms, or to discuss in feminine fashion the expectations of childbirth or the difficulties of raising a royal child! As Millerna smiled almost wistfully at her, Hitomi's heart broke a little that such an opportunity had passed, and when she returned her smile, it was with a little sadness.

"Hitomi, you cannot allow yourself to be put into danger like this, and for what purpose? You are welcome to stay here as long as you like."

Confessing to her husband that she did not want to be parted from him again when she was emotional and they were alone was one thing, but now her feelings had been tended to and she and Van had come to something more than an understanding. It felt impossible to put such things into words for this other queen who knew nothing of their personal lives nor the situation in Fanelia.

Nevertheless, she wet her lips and made an attempt to explain. "I've been away long enough, Millerna. And so has Van. Our people need us. He has done his part to end the war. We are indebted to you already for so much, but we are determined to go together to begin rebuilding Fanelia."

"Don't be foolish, Hitomi. I insist that you let Van go first, and when he is safely installed back in Fanelia, we will send you in the fastest ship we have. I can call for Sir Allen to carry you there in the Crusade," she suggested.

"No," she blurted out before recovering herself. "I– I've been in much more dangerous situations, I assure you," she said, thinking of the dark, burning days after the initial attack on Fanelia. She rubbed her neck and shivered. "We will return together." She chanced a glance at her husband. He sat forward over his knees, looking at her with an intense flicker of emotion in his eyes that made Hitomi's heart skip.

Millerna snorted delicately, drawing her attention back. The other queen's violet eyes jumped from her to Van. With a loud exhale and a shake of her head, she said, "Young love is stupid. If you kill yourselves, Fanelia will be absorbed to pay off your debts."

"I don't intend to kill us," Van said sharply, turning to look at her. "I'm not going to fly into the war, if that's what you're worried about. My time has come to return to my people and rebuild my kingdom, and I will take my wife and my child she bears with me."

Hitomi was not deaf to his deliberate phrasing, but Millerna appeared unimpressed.

"How romantic," she said flatly. "So you'll just swing in close to a war zone and toss your little package off the ship while also dodging the ballistas being shot your way? You don't think that's putting Hitomi—."

"That's the other reason I'm here," Van said, cutting her off. "I need my ship painted. Tonight."

"Tonight?" she said, tucking her chin back in surprise.

"Yes. Do you have someone you trust to do that?"

"Yes," she said slowly. "I think so."

"Please call for him. I'd like to meet with him at the shipyard as soon as possible."

A ladylike hand lifted towards the large windows, where the sun had disappeared and a purple dusk was settling. "It's dark outside."

Hitomi watched Van shrug. "Does that matter?"

"You realize what this will cost?"

"You realize that what I deliver will end this war?"

Millerna pressed her lips together and then shook her head at Van. She rang a bell on the little round table next to her chair. When her butler appeared and she'd relayed the message and dismissed him, she asked, "Is there anything else you need?"

Van rubbed his hands together and looked up through his hair. "I need an icebox."

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A/N Is this the shortest chapter? It might be.

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