A/N: Continues an attempt at humor. Enjoy.
Chapter 2
As I entered my office this morning, Harley crept into the room behind me followed by two others. It was the second day of treatment.
"I didn't say they could come in just yet," I said in a low voice, silently seething. Harley cowered in fear.
"I'm sorry," she stammered. "They wanted to ask you a question before the appointment."
"It was a question that you couldn't answer?" I groaned.
Edward and her books should have fully equipped her to answer, whether they were general answers, total lies, or divergent conversations. If she were truly an aspiring scholar, surely a fluent stream of articulate responses would answer their questions. In other words, even if she did not know the answer, she must know how to redirect the conversation. Harley knew I didn't like unscheduled visits unless they were from my fiancé.
"No," she responded quickly. Too quickly. As if she were hiding something.
"Why?" I asked. Can't she just give me the reason rather than sidestepping my question?
"Well, I could, but I figured I should leave that sort of thing with you," she said with traces of an impish smile. Inching closer, she whispered, "It's a personal concern."
"I see," I responded carefully. "Ok Harley, I'll see you later…since this is such an urgent concern."
Once she exited, I stood up. "Now, who's idea was this?"
When neither responded, I decided they could wait. "If you remember it later, I might answer it after our appointment. But first, Cecil, did you take your prescription?"
"Not the full dose" came his reply after a moment. "It was too painful to watch. I thought it would be bearable with Rosa in it, but I was surprised to see myself in it as well. Watching myself kiss a frog was mortifying. It was demeaning to Rosa's character and to mine."
"In that case, I will make Kain your accountability partner so that you won't be missing out on any medications. If you find it too scary, then watch it in parts," I stated. "Is that fair?"
They nodded. Cecil shivered.
"Without further delay, Kain, can you continue where we left off yesterday?" I asked. Looking back at my notes, which resembled more summary than psychology, I reminded them of our place. "I believe Cecil had finished taking the Mysidian crystal and was fleeing the city."
"Although I didn't know the specifics of the journey, I know that Cecil came back surprisingly early," Kain started. "Less than a day for a mission, especially a negotiation, was fast. It was midday by the time he left and dusk when he returned to the castle of Baron."
"Unlike Rosa, I didn't run up to him and smother him in kisses with her eyes," he mentioned.
"You're speaking fairly objectively. I want you to tell me how this made you feel," I said. My desire for juicy gossip masked by concern. Having mainly seen Kain in a manipulated state, I wanted to get under his skin and see his relationship to these two. He didn't seem like the type to be friends with Rosa or even Cecil to an extent.
Reluctantly, he complied, speaking tonelessly as possible. "I would have looked away, but there were conflicting feelings. Like why they were still dating? Their relationship seemed too physical, too superficial. Besides, Lady Farrell, Rosa's mother, made it clear she believed in old-fashioned ways, like courting. She wasn't too fond of how quick their marriage was. It seemed almost like eloping."
Cecil looked uncomfortable.
Makes sense now. Jealous, the word Kain was trying to avoid saying.
After briefly gauging my reaction with suspicion, he continued, "Once they finished making love with their eyes, guards separated the two so Cecil could do something useful like giving the king his report. I'm not sure why, but there were a lot of guards by the front entrance. It didn't seem necessary for his return from such an easy mission.
At first thought, I thought it was the markings of an overprotective father, but then realized that was usually only true for daughters, even though Cecil is a bit…sensitive like one.
Anyway, his men were sent to their quarters and Cecil was announced. Then, he entered the throne room. I walked in behind him because the guards thought it would be okay for me to hear the reports as well.
Staying close to the door, I kept my distance because the king was in one of those moods. He was being very temperamental lately.
If he saw me, he might lecture me how it would have been better for me to become a dark knight. No thanks, I wasn't controlled enough to willingly stab myself to harm the enemy. I wasn't that desperate. But that was beside the point. He favored them a lot more by giving them more missions.
Cecil walked up to the king. It was strange. Baigan blocked his view of the king and asked him for something.
When Cecil pulled out a crystal, Baigan snatched it away. Wrong move.
Surprised, Cecil tried to grab it back. For a while, everyone was in shock, seeing the most honored and highest ranking soldiers in an all-out brawl right in front of the king.
Cecil planted a solid punch to his stomach, sending him flying to the floor. The pointy glowing object went rolling out of Baigan's gauntleted hands. When Cecil grabbed it, Baigan, still on the ground, kicked his legs from under him. Somehow they were both on the floor. Sore and groaning.
Then, people started cheering whenever they witnessed another attack. You'd think they were witnessing a street fight. Where was the decorum of the court?
Offering a hand, Cecil apologized and helped Baigan to his feet. However, Baigan had other ideas. He made another lunge for the crystal.
Now, Cecil had the upper hand. He sidestepped the king's trusted advisor, leaving Baigan unbalanced and eventually falling on the floor. He was just laying there, nursing his injuries while some guards helped him stand. Baigan pushed them aside and continued to rest on the floor.
If he looked pretty mad, the king was even worse. Cecil handed the king the crystal directly. The king was happy for about five seconds before telling Cecil something to the effect of "Good job. You can leave now."
I didn't mention this earlier, but Cecil looked pretty guilty the whole time. Because of that, he didn't leave immediately.
By this point, I knew the king was on the breaking point. Cecil was pushing the matter so I began to slowly walk up, careful to step over Baigan's body. Sometimes Cecil needed a little help with these situations.
"My men were worried when we returned from this mission. I know you said we can kill only when our mission is threatened. I mainly ordered my men to knock them out. One mage was killed accidentally and now all my men feel guilty about it," Cecil explained.
"Your point?" the king asked impatiently.
"Why are we terrorizing cities just for that piece of rock?" Cecil probed rather bluntly.
"It's a special rock. I can tell you all about it later when no one's around," the king replied with a glare. That came off a little creepy.
"But I have to tell my men some way to comfort them…"
"That's your job as Captain of the Red Wings," the king lectured. "If you can't even do that, I suggest you try an easier mission like taking this Carnelian Signet to the village of the Mist. That way I can be sure you're loyal. Not just questioning all your missions."
"Your Majesty," I started in hopes of buttering up the king with his ideas of pompousness. "Cecil is still loyal to Baron. He just needs a legitimate reason so he can explain [your madness] to his men. There's nothing wrong with that."
He looked at both of us like we were two big disappointments though we were both prodigies in terms of our military ranking. With a annoyed tone (as if it wasn't obvious earlier), he proclaimed elegantly, "Baigan, get up, you weak fool of an advisor! Give them the ring and have them out of here by the morning. You two aren't coming back till your all done. Any questions? Sorry, no more questions left for you two. Now, get out before you anger me further!"
So the king is crazy. There wasn't anything new I learned.
Baigan gave us the ring and pushed us literally out of the room. A glimpse at his face revealed that he was enjoying it the whole time. With one last shove to Cecil, the guards closed the gates behind us.
"Looks like we're banished now," I commented. And who's fault is that?
"Kain, I didn't mean to drag you into this," he apologized. "I still can't believe this is all happening in one day. I mean who's going to take our positions?"
"You're right," I responded. "Baigan's too broken from his most recent skirmish and the rest of the military is incompetent. We should get our positions back eventually."
Only the dragoons were competent. Not these bewitched dark knights.
Parting, we went our ways. Cecil and Rosa shared the night together. Rosa was so forward about it. Probably due to Cecil's gloominess. I obviously wasn't standing in the doorway or anything, but they were loud enough to hear from down the hall. Then, Rosa ran down to the mage chambers. No cuddling for Cecil tonight. We needed the rest since we would be off the very next morning."
I could see the signs in Kain, but I needed a little more evidence. Unconnected Partner Seeks to Undermine the Balance of Energy in the Relationship. A sticky love triangle. Kain's defense mechanisms were easy to see. Repression. Reaction formation. Perhaps a little rationalization. Sadly, no prescribing yet. I only drugged Cecil and I'm sure he hid his medicine instead of taking it.
"This appointment was very productive for my notes, but I can't give you new treatment until I'm certain of your defense mechanisms and therefore your unconscious motives. We can't just go catharsis on each other. I need to be sure of the signs in each of you so I can bring greater balance to your unconscious energies," I stated, thanking them for the information. I could write a story with all these notes. I'd just change all the names, make Harley write and publish it, then never get in trouble when someone finds out. Edward would protect me from that I'm sure.
Both warriors were giving me looks like I was speaking another language. Really, it was psychology. That's another thing that irked me. Baron probably thought they spoke the only language in the world, but the Mist, Mysidia, Eblan, and Fabul had their distinct languages. Even Damcyan and Troia had slight variations in the languages spoken, even though they understood everything Baronians spoke.
"Basically, come back soon so we can get to the bottom of this," I told them. "Have Harley set you up with an appointment sometime."
After they left, I was glad they didn't remember or have the courage to ask me their question. Already, I was sporting a bit of a headache. Reaching for the prescription paper, I told myself, don't even think about it, especially when you didn't need over the counter drugs.