Minor content warning for panic attacks, in this and the next few proceeding chapters.
The sheets were rough and the mattress was hard, but it was softer than the ground and smoother than the grass of the plains, so almost as soon as he crawled into bed, Luke was asleep solidly until well after dawn. He only awoke when Mieu began bouncing impatiently on his pillow, high-pitched voice right next to his head.
"Master! Get up! Everyone else is already awake!"
"Ugh..." Luke lifted his head and sat up - sure enough, Guy and Jade had already vacated the room. It wasn't as though Luke was a late riser, even - but when his companions were almost all military personnel, he looked lazy in comparison. Mieu, thankfully, stopped bouncing the bed at that point, and instead crawled into Luke's lap while the redhead fought the bare minimum of tangles out of his hair and tied it back again. By the time he was done, the cheagle was gently snoozing across his knee, and Luke couldn't help being a little irritated that the one awakening him had gone right back to sleep.
He gathered Mieu into his arms and headed out into the main hall of the inn, where the rest of the group was assembled around a breakfast table. Anise, her mouth stuffed with a toasted bun, waved furiously at him, as though he could possibly miss them; there had only been two other guests at the inn, neither of whom was visible in the dining room.
"Luuuuuuke," she crooned after swallowing, gesturing him down to the chair next to her (the only one left at the table, though, thankfully, it was between her and Guy, so at least Luke could run interference in that regard). As soon as he sat down, she clamped onto the arm that wasn't transferring Mieu to the middle of the table. "Look at all this food. Isn't it delicious?"
Luke just stared down at her for a moment before twisting his arm out of her grip to butter a muffin. It did look and smell delicious, after a week of nothing but trail food, but that didn't explain Anise's behaviour. Unless... "Don't tell me you're fishing for compliments," he said, reaching for the jam.
"What, me?" Anise gave him a too-sweet innocent look. "Well, maybe a little... I don't get many chances to practice cooking for my future husband, you know!"
Luke set the knife down on the edge of his plate. Was that what this was all about? Then again, he remembered the hungry look she'd given him on the Tartarus as soon as she found out he was nobility. "I'm engaged," he said after a bite of the muffin. "Happily engaged."
"Too damn happily if you ask me," Guy added, passing Luke a cup of tea. "It's hard to pry you and Princess Natalia off each other, sometimes."
Anise growled quietly and retreated to her own seat - it looked like Luke's guess had been right on, then. "I guess you wouldn't need a wife to cook anyway, with all the servants you've got." The whole time she said it, her eyes moving from Guy to the teacup in Luke's hand.
"Even if we didn't, there's no competing with Natalia," Luke told her, trying and failing to hide his smile in his teacup while Anise looked disappointed. "It'd just be unfair to her. You can at least manage cold cereal."
Guy snorted into his eggs. "She really is that bad, huh?"
"Why do you think I'm always the one making Mother's birthday sweets?" Luke countered, gesturing at the sausage plate (which Ion passed him over Anise's incredulous look). "That's a risk I just can't take."
"Now that we're all here," Jade said, putting an end to the chatter, "I think it's about time we address the issue of crossing the border."
"The Colonel's right," Tear said. Mieu wandered across the table to sit between her and Ion - the two most likely to scratch his ears or give him a treat of a spoonful of jam - and sure enough, Tear's attention was diverted to stroking his ears after she spoke.
"What were you able to find out, Jade?" Ion asked. Luke couldn't really be surprised that the colonel had gotten an early start on information gathering.
"Since we have the letter from his Majesty and I'm fairly well known," Jade began, "The Malkuth side is willing to allow us to pass through without passports. It's the Kimlascan side that's the problem; the commander of the unit is down at the port, so we can't even open negotiations for the crossing."
"Great," Luke mumbled sarcastically around a mouth full of sausage, manners be damned.
"On the bright side, he's a member of the nobility," Jade continued with obnoxious cheerfulness. "So when he does come up to the checkpoint, he's more likely to recognize you."
Luke just grunted in response, and next to him, Anise slumped her head so far forward that it nearly wound up in her plate. "So you're saying we're stuck?" she said, her displeasure as obvious as Luke's.
"I'm surprised General Grants hasn't passed through yet," Guy said, ignoring the dirty look Tear shot him at the mention of her brother. "He was going to look around Chesedonia first, and come here if he didn't find Luke. And you're obviously not there for him to find, so..."
The thought made Luke brighten with a bit of optimism. "He might still arrive soon," he said.
"It would certainly expedite things if he did," Jade said, reaching out for the lone mug of coffee on the table. Tear didn't look pleased at the idea, even going so far as to drop her hand away from Mieu's ears and into her lap. The cheagle made a small squeak of complaint, until Ion slid a plate with a dribble of jam in front of his nose, and then the cheagle was eagerly lapping it clean while the rest of them finished their breakfast.
The thing about Kaitzur was that, aside from the checkpoint, there was nothing to do in the town. And few enough people passed through the checkpoint that even watching the road had little to nothing of interest. Luke had known Kaitzur was considered a backwater post for Kimlasca, even with the rising border tensions, and it seemed that it wasn't much different here on the Malkuth side.
He sat with Anise, Ion, and Mieu watching the border crossing anyway, because there was hardly any better thing to do. Anise at least had something to occupy her fingers, stitching up holes in her doll. Luke got the distinct impression that it was a regular occurrence.
Shortly before lunch, Mieu lifted his head from where he'd been munching a patch of dried grass, his ears twitching. "Master, look! Someone's coming!" Luke looked up, and immediately vaulted off the bench towards the middle of the road where he couldn't possibly be missed.
"Master Van!"
The man came to a stop in front of Luke, his smile wide. "Luke! I didn't expect to find you so quickly. And Fon Master Ion, as well," he added, with a glance at Anise and Ion trailing after Luke, Mieu in Ion's arms.
"Guy beat you to it," Luke said, unable to keep the smile out of his voice. "By a couple days, actually."
Van's eyes sparkled for a moment with amusement. "You're lucky to have such capable people in your household, Luke. Though I suppose I should be regretting not giving him the passports. How long have you been stuck here at the border?"
"Only since last night," Luke replied, and now that escape from Malkuth was at hand, it didn't seem so very long at all. Van just nodded, before turning his attention to Ion, who looked a little sheepish as Mieu crawled up to sit on his shoulder.
"And it's a pleasant surprise to find you here, Fon Master," Van said, with the same kind of warm tone to his voice, though his expression shifted to something a little more professionally neutral. "I was quite concerned when I heard you'd vanished from Daath."
"I'm sorry, Van," Ion said, his head bowed. "I took action without consulting anyone - I didn't intend to cause so much trouble for you." Beside him, Anise also looked appropriately regretful, which Luke knew was an act. It made him unsure if the Fon Master's apology was genuine, or if Ion was simply that much better of an actor than his guardian.
"It's no matter," Van said. "Though I would appreciate being filled in on what's happened up to now."
"Then allow me to explain," came Jade's voice from somewhere behind Luke's shoulder. The group all turned towards the approaching colonel, who had Guy trailing after him. Tear was nowhere to be seen, which was probably for the better, at least for the moment. "Though it might be better if we took this discussion to the inn," Jade added, adjusting his glasses and glancing in that direction.
"That's a good idea," Anise cut in, the first time she'd spoken since Van arrived. "You should get out of the sun anyway, Ion." The Fon Master simply nodded, which seemed to settle the matter.
As the group headed down the street, Luke took the chance to catch Van's attention a little more privately. "Master, you ought to know - Tear's still travelling with us." It wouldn't do to have Van walk into the inn unprepared and have his sister immediately point a knife at his throat.
Van sighed just slightly, looking more tired than Luke had ever seen him, a different kind of tired than after a long day of training. "Don't concern yourself with it, Luke. I'll find some time to speak to her privately on the matter. I'm certain there's just been some misunderstanding on her part."
"I thought it best if you knew," Luke said. "I don't think she'll try anything until at least after we're back in Baticul. She seems to view this as her fault." 'This' being Luke's presence on this side of the border, as indicated by a loose gesture.
"She has always been responsible," was Van's only reply, sounding a bit distracted as they entered the inn. Luke was perfectly willing to let the matter drop there, at least for the time being. It wasn't Van's fault that his sister had gotten some strange idea in her head that he was a traitor.
Tear didn't appear until midway through the discussion with Van about the letter and the God-Generals, and when she did, she simply looked at him sourly and sat down without a word, ignoring even Mieu trying to coax her into petting him. She remained there, looking stern and seemingly daring anyone to bring up the matter, as Van explained that the God-Generals has been working under the Grand Maestro, Mohs (which surprised Luke not in the least; he'd always gotten the impression that Mohs was as slimy as the dredge out of the port).
Hearing her brother speak against Mohs, however, was seemingly the breaking point for Tear. "Are you saying you have nothing to do with this?" she broke in, cutting off Jade (who had been attempting to turn the conversation towards avoiding the God-Generals moving forward).
"No, I must take some responsibility. They are my subordinates, after all. I have no excuse for not being aware of their actions." Van's reply didn't seem to satisfy Tear much. "However, there is little I can do about the matter from here, and I promised Luke's parents that I would return him safely to Baticul before anything else."
"We need to go to Baticul ourselves, so that works out!" Anise said brightly, and that too had little to no effect on Tear. "I mean, I'd really appreciate your help keeping the God-Generals away from Ion, Commandant," the girl continued, schooling herself into somewhat more formal behaviour. "If you're going to be coming along anyway."
"Another sword arm would always be appreciated," Jade added, "Especially one as skilled as yours."
"Is that okay, Tear?" Guy asked, giving voice to what they were all hesitant to ask. She didn't look at him. "You can at least put aside whatever it is until we get back to Baticul, right?"
"I suppose so," she said finally, and Luke tried to not show his relief too much. At least that would be one thing he wouldn't have to worry about for the rest of the trip. With any luck, Tear would see that she'd been wrong about Van in that time, and the two of them could put the whole thing behind them soon.
"Then we should prepare for the crossing," Jade said, returning them to business with his usual vigor. "I understand you're bearing some extra passports, Dorian General."
"Ah, yes." Van rummaged in the pockets built into the inside of his tabard before withdrawing a small bundle of carefully folded documents. He handed the first to Luke, the second to Guy, and set the remainder in the center of the table. "I was able to convince Duke Fabre to entrust me with a few extras, in case anyone else of interest was to be found. There should be just enough for all of you."
"Wow, what luck!" Anise exclaimed, taking one of the temporary passports off the table and opening it so she could scrawl in her name. The rest of the group each took one in turn.
"I'll go ahead to the port, and inform Count Almandine that you'll be arriving soon," Van said, standing up and straightening his uniform slightly. "I'll meet you there."
"See you soon," Luke said with a smile, and Van glanced his way briefly with a smile in return, before heading out the door. Leaving the others to fiddle with the passports, Luke plucked Mieu from his place beside Tear and went to help Guy pack.
With the addition of passports, the actual crossing of the border was almost unnoteworthy. The Malkuth side barely glanced at them; they recognized Jade from his information gathering well enough, after all. The Kimlascan side was a little more thorough, but Duke Fabre's signature was enough to carry them through, with little bows of respect that felt almost foreign to Luke after so long outside his own country. The group reached the port shortly after nightfall and headed immediately to the inn. Count Almandine wouldn't be seeing them until the next day, anyway, though Luke was sure he was obligated to put in an appearance with the man before he left.
He knew it was all part of his station, and normally he wouldn't have minded. But right then, it was ridiculously tedious, and the last thing he wanted to do was stay in the port another moment. The trip to Baticul would already be four days, with a night spent in Chesedonia in the middle.
The next morning, however, Luke didn't awake to prepare for a noble luncheon. He woke up, instead, to screaming from the port and the rattle of soldiers in the streets.
Immediately, he sat up and threw the covers off his legs. Jade was already on his way out the door, and Luke and Guy followed practically as soon as they got their shoes on and grabbed their weapons (and cheagle, in Luke's case). They met the rest of their group in the front of the inn - sans Van, who had proceeded ahead of them - and hurried after a group of Kimlascan guards to the port.
The place was in chaos. Luke almost wished he were surprised to recognize the monsters flying overhead, occasionally dropping firebombs into nearby buildings. Fortunately few people other than the soldiers lived in the Kaitzur region, and the roofs of the buildings nearer the port were metal rather than anything that would catch alight, but that didn't do much to minimize the havoc.
The ship at the port, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. It was what caught Luke's attention immediately when they turned the corner onto the docks - the engines of the ferry blazingly alight, smoke rising up into the sea breeze.
The second thing that caught his attention was a familiar voice. Luke wrenched his gaze from the burning ship towards where Van had cornered Arietta the Wild at the end of a dock. "Arietta! Who authorized this?"
Anise darted up on Van's heels, pointing her finger accusingly at Arietta. "I knew it was you, Gloomietta! Why are you always causing trouble for people?"
"I am not gloomy!" Arietta protested, ignoring Van's question completely as the man himself turned to see the new arrivals. In spite of the immaturity of her voice, the look she was giving Anise was as vicious as anything. "You're the one who's awful, Anise! You shouldn't be letting these murderers anywhere near Ion!"
"Murderers?" Jade asked, pointedly looking over the group and then shrugging mildly. "While that certainly applies to me, you can hardly consider the rest of these children to be such."
"You're wrong!" Arietta practically shrieked, a note in her voice making Luke flinch and clap his hands over his ears. Somewhere in the burning port, a liger roared. "You killed Mommy!"
"Mommy?" Luke echoed quietly in confusion to Guy, who just shrugged as much as he could with a hand prepared to draw his sword.
Ion spoke up from behind them, though Luke didn't think the Fon Master would have been able to hear the comment in the chaos. "Arietta was raised by ligers, but... Oh no..." The dawning realization in Ion's voice was a great deal less shocked than Luke's thoughts were at that moment.
"Arietta!" Van snapped again, cutting the discussion to an end. "Why did you unleash your monsters on the ship?"
"Commandant..." Arietta, seemingly cowed, ducked her face into her doll. "I'm sorry. Ember asked me to come here..."
"What?" Was Van's incredulous response, but that was all he got the chance to say before having to throw himself to the ground (as did everyone save Ion and Anise, small enough to merely duck), as Arietta whistled and a griffon swooped low over them towards her. When Luke was back on his feet, Arietta had already taken to the air, showing surprising strength as she clung to the griffon's talon with only one arm (the other still clamped around her doll).
"I've taken the engineer who can repair the ship," she said from above them, sounding a bit more confident. "If you want him back, Luke and Ion have to come to Choral Castle. If they don't come... My friends will kill him..."
With a massive flap of the griffon's wings, Arietta was borne off away from the port, but by then her words had lodged in Luke's mind and sent weakness into his knees. Choral Castle. Why? Why there, of all places, of all the hells they could have demanded? The rest of the world faded out of his awareness, speaking voices of those around him and the movements of soldiers attempting to put out the ship fire all going unnoticed as he swayed on his feet.
Choral Castle. The place where Van had found him, had saved him from the kidnapping. The place where...
"Luke." It wasn't so much the voice that made him look up - he didn't even recognize it at first - so much as Van's hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. There's no need for you to go. Wait at the border for the other ferry to return. I'll take care of Arietta."
He had never been so grateful in his life. The relief that oozed out of Luke had him nearly swaying again, Van's grip still on his shoulder the only thing holding him up. "Thank you," he said quietly.
"But that means we'll be ignoring Arietta's demands," Ion protested lightly. Luke nearly spun and snapped at him - but it wasn't Ion's fault. He didn't understand. He might have been "kidnapped" on the Tartarus, but Luke couldn't imagine Arietta allowing Ion to be treated badly, not with the way she seemed to defer to him and care for him even over Van. No, Ion couldn't understand.
"Isn't preventing the war most important now?" Van said in response to Ion. "Return to the border; you'll be safer there until the next ship comes. All of the soldiers here will be busy with cleaning up this mess."
Ion sighed, but, after a glance at Luke, didn't argue further. As for Luke, he barely restrained protest when Van's hand left his shoulder. "I'll see you soon," Van said with a reassuring smile, and Luke could only nod, feeling like he really should have toppled to the ground at some point in the last... Ten minutes? Fifteen? He had no way of knowing.
Fortunately, even as Van turned away, Guy was at Luke's shoulder with another supportive hand, though this one only squeezed briefly before falling away. "Don't worry, Luke. We'll get this all sorted out and be underway before you know it. Let's head back to the inn at the border and you can get some rest."
Stiffly, Luke nodded. "Yeah... Yeah, let's go." He got the distinct sense that everyone else was watching him, but he didn't care. If there had been a military bunk around the corner, he would have thrown himself into it. The idea of going all the way back to the border was torture, even though he knew it really was the safer place. If the God-Generals decided that he and Ion weren't coming, they might... No, definitely safer in the midst of the Kaitzur border town, with a large guard of Kimlascan soldiers between him and any trouble.
As they headed down the streets, though, they were waylaid by a group of dockworkers, their heads bowed in supplication. "Fon Master Ion! Please, wait!"
Anise immediately stood between the group and Ion. "What business do you have with the Fon Master?" she demanded. Luke was just glad that, for once, the people of his country weren't turning to him. It made him feel dirty and selfish, but he just... couldn't.
"Please, Fon Master," the man in the lead begged, as Luke had practically known he would. "You have to save the Chief!"
"He's a devout follower of the Order," said one of the men behind the first. "He was so relieved when his birth Score this year said that calamity would be avoided."
"He has a family back in Baticul," added another. "Please, don't abandon him!"
"...All right," Ion said. "I will do all I can."
"Thank you," said one of the men, another's "Thank you so much," on its heels. No one in the group around Ion moved as the workmen walked off, but as soon as they were out of earshot, Jade turned towards Luke.
"You didn't entirely think that through, Fon Master," he said, all his usual false cheer, making Luke want to strangle him. "You're not the only one Arietta demanded, after all."
As one, the rest of the group turned towards Luke as well. His hands started shaking again. "If we abandon one the Score has foretold will be saved from calamity, we will be ignoring the Score," Tear said, as though it was an argument that held any meaning to Luke at the moment. He was, perhaps unusually for royalty, hardly a man of faith at the best of times.
Right now, he wanted to scream at her, Damn the Score! Just forget it! I can't go back there! But he couldn't. He couldn't risk the life of one of his people because of his own stupid fear. His kidnappers weren't in Choral Castle any longer. There was no reason to worry.
Except about whatever God-Generals might be waiting for them, but in comparison, they seemed like kittens, vicious and sharp-clawed but unable to do any real harm. Luke gave a long exhale, while everyone else watched him with anticipation.
"Let's go," he said, starting off down the road, amazed that his voice didn't shatter on the words. "We don't have any time to waste."