And the Clock Struck Twelve
By seraphimstarlight
Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Tales of the Abyss or any of its characters.
Author's Note: This takes place postgame so there are spoilers.
As she walked into the Audience Chamber, she was relieved to see that the messenger had not yet been called in. Apparently her father had waited until she had arrived to address the matter. As she passed him, Alpine, her father's advisor, shot her a glare as though it was disrespectful that she should keep him waiting for so long.
Obsequious toad! Lately the man had seem to become even more intolerable—if that was even possible. If only she had her bow and arrows with her right now. She would have shot him one when he wasn't looking. Though, she supposed, that might have been most unladylike, not to mention undignified, it was bound to be most satisfying.
Instead, she smiled as pleasant a smile as she could muster and glided past him to her chair at the head of the room.
Moments later, the giant doors the to Audience Chamber opened, and a familiar blond swordsman stepped into the room.
Her hands tightened unconciously on the chair's armrests, and she threw a quick glance to her father. He nodded once, indicating that it was all right for her to greet her friend. Off in his corner, Alpine made some kind of disapproving sound, but she happily ignored him.
She stepped forward to greet him.
"Count Gailardia," she said. "It is a pleasure to see you again." She curtsied as was the custom. "I pray you are well?"
He bowed. "Your Highness," he began, "the pleasure is all mine. I am well. Thank you for your concern. I take it you are well?"
"I am, thank you."
They paused somewhat awkwardly. Despite the tone of his letters, he clearly was not used to such formal speech yet.
"I heard that you have a message from Malkuth for me," she said. "Is that correct?"
He seemed momentarily startled. "Oh that's right. Hang on a sec." He began to dig around in his bag, searching for the letter. She smiled to herself. Without the strange formal speech he was, essentially, just as she remembered him.
After a few seconds he pulled out a scroll that bore the seal of Emperor Peony the Ninth of the Malkuth Empire and handed it to her.
"What is…"
"The Emperor wanted that delivered to you. At first he was going to send Jade, but…"
She cut him off. "Thank you. I can only imagine what would have happened if you hadn't come instead."
He laughed. "It wouldn't have been pretty to say the least."
She joined in. "That would have been a given."
"Still," he said after a brief pause, "what happened…you know…to make you two dislike each other so much? Is it because he's from Malkuth? I mean, you two got along all right while we were all traveling together. Then, it suddenly seemed as though…."
His voice trailed off when she suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter, drawing stares from all present. She nearly doubled over from laughing, prompting him to ask if she was all right.
She waved him away then, after a moment when she had regained enough composure to speak she said, "Don't worry, Guy, it's nothing like that."
He seemed puzzled but waited for her to continue.
"It's not that I hate him because he's from Malkuth or anything like that. I simply find the man intolerable. I mean," she stifled another giggle, "it was one thing to put up with him and his constant…jokes…when we were all traveling together, but once that was over, I simply decided that enough was enough. I've just decided that turnabout's fair play, that's all." Unconciously, she reached out to place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "So don't worry…"
Her voice trailed off when she looked up and saw that he was suddenly standing several feet away looking rather distressed.
She pulled back her hand. "Oh, that's right. I'd forgotten. Sorry Guy."
He pretended to straighten the collar of his shirt. "No problem," he said. "Just, please, don't do it again."
She laughed again. Some things would never change. For a moment, she was lost in her own thoughts, memories of the past, but Alpine's booming voice broke into her reverie.
"Princess. If I may ask, what did the letter say?"
Letter? What…?
She looked down at her hand and saw that she still held the scroll. Oh. That.
She broke the seal and quickly scanned the letter. Her eyes widened as she did so. Turning to Guy who still lingered a few feet away, she asked in as calm a voice as she could manage, "What on earth is THIS?!"
Her shout drew concerned glances from all around the room. Some of the guards even shifted from their relaxed positions to more alert stances. She knew Alpine had started forward as well.
"Your Highness, what did the letter say," he asked again.
She chose not to answer him and, instead, kept her gaze fixed on Guy. She waved the letter at him. "Explain this," she demanded. "Is this some kind of joke?"
"It is exactly what it appears to be," he said at last.
She studied his features, trying to read him. For all the time she had known him, which had been considerable indeed, he had rarely lied and had only done so when it was absolutely necessary. Still, when he wanted to, he could be difficult to read. Not as difficult as Jade, but still….
"Ah ha!" she said, pointing triumphantly at him.
He flinched. "What?"
She set her chin and placed one of her hands on her hip while waving the letter in the air with the other. "I get it now."
"What?" he asked again, visibly confused.
"This," she said, gesturing with the letter, "is one of the Colonel's tricks, isn't it? I mean, I should have seen it coming! Of course! This is just the kind of thing he would do, isn't it?" She laughed. "I had wondered what he had been doing these past few months when he hadn't written back to complain about something else. But still, I'd never have imagined this!"
She studied the letter again. "But this scheme is brilliant! Completely and utterly brilliant! But I never would have imagined that he would have persuaded the Emperor to let him do this."
He started back towards her. "Umm, Natalia…I mean, Your Highness," he hastily corrected upon receiving a venomous glare from Alpine, "that letter is no trick. It really was sent by His Majesty." He hesitated, then added cautiously, "True, Jade did suggest the idea, but he meant it as a way to help his friend—not to trick you."
Her face paled as she looked from him to the letter and back again.
"You mean…?"
Oh Lorelei no.
"Yes," he said. "Emperor Peony the Ninth of the Malkuth Empire is considering you as a potential bride."