Sacrifice
Chapter Four
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A/N: Okay, so I haven't updated this since sometime in August, I believe, so I apologize for the long wait. Aside from that, I'd like to thank all of my reviewers and everyone that's suggested pairings (I don't specifically remember who suggested what, though I know a lot of them were from Ralf Jones). Well, hopefully this chapter will be worth the wait!
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He remembered staring into her beautiful blue orbs as Queen Elincia stood off to the side with her pegasus. Being able to hold Lucia in his arms was the happiest time in his life, but it was just a memory. Now he was back in Phoenicis with his king; she was with her queen in Crimea.
They couldn't be together now; maybe they never would. That was a possibility, but it was one that tore at his heart. He just couldn't imagine life without her...
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Lucia walked into the extravagantly decorated ballroom beside Queen Elincia. Neither of the women had dates for the event, so the queen had insisted on them showing up together.
She wore that gorgeous white gown with blue trim. Her hair was pinned up, but a few loose ringlets framed her face. Violet earrings dangled from her ears and a gold chain with a lavender stone sat around her neck. Around her wrist, she wore that beautiful azure and crimson bracelet given to her by Janaff. Oh, why couldn't he be here with her now?
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Geoffrey sighed as Marcia landed her pegasus near Phoenicis castle. Why did he have to be the one to come here? Surely someone else could have done it.
"Come on, Geoffrey. At least try to look friendly," Marcia laughed, not even glancing back at him to see his expression. The azure-haired man, on the other hand, stared at the back of her head and then at her pegasus. He could nearly swear that the animal was looking at him expectantly. She continued, "It's not that bad!"
He sighed again. "Marcia, you don't understand."
"Oh really? What don't I understand?" she retorted sassily.
Yet another sigh escaped his lips before he answered her. "I just don't...I just don't want her to be hurt. I mean, what if he breaks her heart?"
"Don't you trust your sister?"
"What? Of course I do... What does that even have to do with what I was saying?"
"Well, if you really trust Lucia, you should realize that she has good judgment. Even if she doesn't have good judgment, and if he does break her heart, she'll need someone there for her." She paused for a moment, but when she turned around and saw the puzzled look on the man's face added, "That's you."
"Oh, of course...I knew that..."
She gave him a disbelieving look and rolled her eyes before giving him a slap on the back and exclaiming, "Now...get in there!"
He only nodded and stumbled off the woman's flying beast. He hadn't even known they had landed yet, but, sure enough, there they were on what was probably one of the most-level areas in Phoenicis. Straight in front of him was the main palace, surrounded by dozens upon dozens of mountains. Walking very slowing, he made for the castle's entrance.
There was still time to turn back if he wanted to. No one would ever know that he had been here, so close to making his sister so happy...
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The azure-haired woman sighed as she walked alone through the hall of brightly colored banners. She had left the main party long ago and now stood gazing at the heavily decorated halls of the castle. Everything was a bit too showy for her tastes, but she thought that the Royal Knights had done a nice job of decorating the palace to meet Elincia's demands nonetheless. Everywhere she turned there were decorative paper strips in vivid green, dazzling pink, and sunny yellow.
Despite her positive and supposedly uplifting surroundings, Lucia herself felt more than gloomy. It saddened her to know that she couldn't be with the man she loved on this evening, and neither could her queen. She hadn't figured that the hawk tribe would be able to make the event, but she had hoped for it more than anything. Perhaps, though, it was all for the best. After all, the Crimean nobles had sort of invited themselves to the palace on this night, and she had seen how they had scoffed at the other beorc/laguz couples that were having a great time. They certainly wouldn't approve of a high-ranking noble and their own queen being attached to the arms of laguz men, no matter if they were the king of Phoenicis and his 'eyes' or not.
She found it a bit unfair how the other couples could get away with it though. Had it been her or Elincia dancing with a laguz, rather than some of the other guests, she knew it would cause an uproar. Yet, nothing was said about the others. She had personally seen a very timid Ilyana dancing with Mordecai, who looked as though he could easily crush her. The woman couldn't say that she wasn't happy for her friend, but it only reminded her of how she wished to dance with Janaff.
The raven, Vika, hovered above the ground slightly as she waltzed around with Nolan. Shinon grumbled as the orange cat, Lyre, forced him over to the floor. Nearby, Lyre's twin sister, Lethe, was shown the basics of dancing by Zihark. Then, there was the most serene couple in the world: Reyson and Sigrun. It seemed that not a worry in the world troubled them.
Naturally, there were other couples aside from those mixed with laguz and beorc. For the strictly beorc couples, there were Astrid and Makalov, Calill and Largo, Marcia and Gatrie, Mia and Kieran, Tanith and Oscar, and, finally, Renning and Titania. For the laguz, only Rafiel and Nailah, and Leanne and Kurthnaga had taken to the floor. There was also one Branded/beorc couple, which happened to be Micaiah and Ike.
She had noticed how both Reyson and Rafiel had kept a close eye on Leanne, making sure she stayed out of harm's way. To be honest, Lucia was a bit surprised to find the heron's eyes sparkling when the dragon king asked her to dance, but the night was full of surprises, some of which even she didn't know of yet.
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Back in the ballroom, a certain two brothers leaned against the wall, grumbling amongst themselves. Both were gazing in the direction of a young woman, who had previously turned them both down for a dance. Sighing, Rolf turned to his older brother, "I can't believe Mist wouldn't dance with either of us."
"I know, peewee," Boyd grunted.
"Hey! Don't call me that, Boyd!" the man's younger brother shouted, causing a few heads to turn their way.
The darker-haired man shushed him. "Whatever, Rolf, just keep your voice down. We don't want everyone to know that we can't get dates, now do we?"
"No, you're right...for once..." he replied, rolling his eyes.
The two stood there in silence for a moment before Boyd grumbled in frustration. "Man, I feel like Bastian!"
"Yeah, this must be how he feels getting turned down by Lucia all the time..."
Speaking of Lucia, both men looked up when the swordswoman walked back into the room after her absence and was intercepted by Mist. The brunette pulled the woman aside and was saying something, though the only thing either of the brothers could make out was "Geoffrey."
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Marcia glared at Geoffrey as they both dismounted from her pegasus in front of Crimea Castle. Shaking her head and sighing, she yelled at the man, "Why would you do something so stupid?! You cheese brain, Lucia's going to kill you when she finds out about this!"
"Calm down, Marcia, it's not that bad. She'll live, I can assure you of that. Now you'd do well to be quiet before they hear you," the knight replied.
"I don't see why I ever agreed to take you to Phoenicis in the first place if you were only going to do this..."
"Please, get over it; it isn't that big of a deal. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go inform my sister that she has a guest here."
Geoffrey walked towards the castle and Marcia made her way towards the stables just as four figures landed where they had earlier stood. They had been instructed to wait there until the commander of the Royal Knights returned, or his sister arrived, but a certain man among them was more than anxious to get to the queen's ball.
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As the two young women stood there chatting, they were interrupted when a hand was placed on Lucia's shoulder. Turning around, the woman was met by her brother's gaze. "Geoffrey! Where have you been?"
"Let's just say that I'm here to deliver a bit of a present to you. Part of it you'll really like, but another part you may just kill me for," he answered.
She gave him a puzzled look before asking, "What is that supposed to mean?"
Patting her on the back and laughing, he could only manage, "Go outside and see for yourself."
She glanced at him a moment longer before picking up her skirt and walking towards the door. She looked back over her shoulder a time or two, at which point her brother would always wave her on. When he finally saw her disappear through the doors, he turned to her companion. "I'm sorry that I interrupted."
She giggled, "Oh, it's nothing, General Geoffrey."
He smiled at her and turned to walk away, but instead spun back around on his heel. "Say, Mist, would you care to dance?"
"I-I'd love to, Geoffrey." She blushed as he lead her onto the floor, receiving intense glares from two of the other mercenaries.
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Lucia held her breath as she prepared to open the door that lead to the clearing in front of the castle. She hadn't a clue what her brother was planning, or what exactly he meant by "she might want to kill him for it," but she supposed that she didn't have a choice but to go and see.
Opening the door, she was greeted by three members of the hawk tribe. A man with greenish-tinted wings, another man with darker brown wings, and a young girl with pink wings all stood before her. She looked around for a moment, half expecting Janaff to be with them, but he was no where in sight.
She curtsied before Tibarn, giving him a half-hearted welcome. "Milord Tibarn, it's nice to see you again. Princess Amber, Lord Ulki, it's a pleasure."
The bird king only laughed at her and pointed in the direction she had just come from. Lucia slowly turned around, not sure what to expect. "Janaff!" she exclaimed, throwing herself into his outstretched arms. She rested her head on his chest, while he chuckled and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Now, don't you look lovely?" He laughed slightly before lifting her chin up to look at her face. "Oh, Lucy, please don't cry," he pleaded, removing one of his arms from her waist and wiping away the tears that had fallen from her eyes.
"I'm sorry," she replied meekly. "I'm just so happy to see you."
"As am I, darling, but I hate to see you cry, whether it's because of pain or joy."
Tibarn cleared his throat for a moment before turning to the two. "Amber, Ulki, and I will just leave the two of you alone then." He then took his niece's hand and lead her inside the castle, with his 'ears' following close behind.
"Janaff, I'm so glad that you made it, but how? The messenger we sent said that you wouldn't be attending..." Lucia whispered.
Taking one of her ringlets and twirling it around his index finger, the hawk answered amusedly, "We weren't coming until that brother of yours showed up and talked Tibarn into it. Before, he figured that Amber had caused enough trouble with you Crimeans, but Geoffrey said that it would be all right to bring her. I'm sorry that you'll have to put up with her, but it was the only way."
"I don't mind...as long as you're here." She pecked him lightly on the cheek before a sudden burst of cool air blew in, causing her to shiver.
Kissing Lucia's forehead, Janaff sighed. "I should probably get you inside before someone comes out looking for you..." he trailed off and then looked at her sleeveless dress, "...or before you freeze to death.
He then continued, "Now, tell me, sweetheart...would you care to dance with a certain hawk laguz?"
"Do you really think that Ulki would dance with me?" She laughed at the frown that appeared on Janaff's face before adding, "Of course I'd love to dance with you, Janaff."
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A/N: Wow, I finally finished this chapter (I mean, it took almost a year). Anyway, hopefully it was good. I think it's quite a bit better than some of the other chapters in this story, but maybe that's just me. Oh, and I should thank my cousin (meguin the penguin) for her idea...the whole Boyd feeling like Bastian thing. She suggested that last summer. Also, the next chapter should be up soon, and it will feature an OC lent to me by mr. stranger.