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Chapter 16

"Larsa, what do you think you're doing?" Larsa cringed as he heard the voice of his fiancée from somewhere behind him. Larsa straightened up and turned to face her in the darkness of his study.

"How did you know I was here?" He was slightly impressed to say the least that she'd found him considering that none of his quote en quote body guards even knew he was gone.

"You weren't in your room, where else would you be. What I don't understand is how you got here without being seen, or better yet, why you would even bother leaving your room." Catherine said harshly, unable to understood why Larsa couldn't simply obey his orders, why he couldn't see that the Senate only had his best interests at heart.

Larsa sighed heavily and said to her, "I need answers Catherine."

"Answers to what? First you tell me you're off to vanquish some demon, then I hear that you were really off to Rabanastre again. You lied to me Larsa! I can't believe you would do such a thing! You went to find Kira didn't you! I can't understand what it is about that fiend that's gotten you so..."

"Hey!" Larsa shouted finally, unable to concentrate on picking the lock on Kairos' cage with her voice ringing in his ears. "Stop it Catherine! I can understand that you're upset. I lied yes, but for good reason!"

"Oh good reason? Good reason so that what? So that you could go out gallivanting with that whore again!" Catherine was beyond livid and Larsa himself was beginning to feel more angry than guilty as he listen to her choice of words.

He gritted his teeth turned to face her before saying, "I did not go to see Kira! I haven't even the faintest idea where the hell she is! I was searching in Low Town for a clue, a sign anything that might tie her and Old Dalan to the Senate and you know what I found Catherine? Do you have any idea what I discovered today?"

Catherine still looked livid, but scared as well, having never seen Larsa this riled up before. She winced as she heard Kairos, woken by their loud voices, screech into the night air and flap around in his cramped cage. Catherine shook her head slightly, suddenly unable to voice her thoughts, and watched Larsa's lips twitch into an aggravated snarl. He hung his head and balled his hands into fists taking a deep, supposedly calming, breath before he looked back up at her and said, " They killed Old Dalan Catherine. They killed Kira's father in order to get to her. For them to go to such lengths means that this... this whole plan that they have … it's far bigger than either of us could've imagined and even more dangerous. I need to get down to the bottom of this Catherine, before anyone else is hurt.

"Please understand Catherine. I am in the dark and I feel a desperate need to know. I am vulnerable and powerless in my current state and the Senate knows that. These rules and regulations they've put up for me are only there to ensure that I don't get in their way. Right now, our only hope of stopping them, is by breaking the rules."

Catherine stared up at him, most likely still unable to fully comprehend what he was saying, her entire life having been successfully run by rules up until now. Larsa watched her for a moment and inwardly groaned as he watched her eyes swell up with tears. He sighed and reached for her shoulders, pulling her into a warm hug. Catherine wasted no time in wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his chest as the tears began to fall.

"It's not fair! Why does all of this have to happen when we're supposed to get married? I don't understand what's going on at all! This isn't the way it was supposed to go! We were supposed to get married and sign the Treaty and we'd all live happily ever after!" Catherine moaned into Larsa chest and she was surprised when she felt Larsa chuckle.

"Oh Catherine, there's no such thing as 'happily ever after', I thought you knew that." Catherine leaned away from him, shocked by his words and just how serious he was as she gazed up at him through teary eyes. Larsa held her by her shoulders and held eye contact with her for a moment, staring into her soft jade green eyes, boring into them as if he was willing her to understand him.

Larsa let her go after a moment's silence and without a word returned to his work of unlocking Kairos' cage, sincerely hoping that no one heard their recent shouting match. Once his cage was open Kairos shot out, screeching loudly, and did one lap around the roof of the study before landing on Larsa's outstretched arm.

"Kairos be quiet please!" Larsa hissed at his bird only to hear him caw loudly in response. Larsa groaned inwardly and instead reached for the letter he'd written to Lady Ashe and tied it around his leg, he then thought better of it and rolled it into a tight roll and put it in Kairos' beak. "Please Kairos, get this to Ashe as soon as you can. You know what to do should you be intercepted." Larsa whispered to him.

Kairos cawed a little more softly in response, seeming to finally pick up the espionage vibe Larsa was trying to convey to him. Larsa smoothed the feathers on his head and smiled at his beloved pet before he walked to the window, opened it and quite literally threw Kairos out the window. The hawk screeched into the night air and was out of sight sooner than he was out of earshot.

"Why a letter to Lady Ashe? Why not Kira?" Catherine asked as she stood behind him, wiping her tears.

"Kira most likely wouldn't know even half of what we do especially considering that she is currently in hiding. If she did know anything, then so would I. I have asked Lady Ashe to dig into Old Dalan's history, see if there's anything that could possibly tie them to the Senate or Archadia even for that matter. Hopefully there'll be something in there that can enlighten us as to what it is the Senate wants with Kira." Larsa said as he leaned on the window sill staring out into the midnight sky.

There was a long pause between them, an uncomfortable silence that seemed to slowly become pregnant until suddenly the door burst open and a guard came bursting in. Catherine jumped and swivelled around to face him as he stumbled into the room.

"Ah, Mi Lady, sorry to disturb you, I just thought I heard something." The guard looked sleepy and had dried drool running down the side of his mouth.

Catherine furrowed her brow and glanced back at the window to see that Larsa had mysteriously disappeared and turned back to the soldier with a quirked brow. She remembered him, he was fast asleep in front of the study door when she'd found her way there searching for Larsa. For all the noise they'd made to only just wake him up he must've been having a very deep dream.

Catherine smiled at him however and said, "No worries, I was just looking around...I ah...I think I left my quill in here by accident so I was just looking for it." It felt strangely satisfying, the fact that she was able to come up with a suitable and effective lie to cover for Larsa.

"Oh...well, Hey! What about that bloody bird? Where's it got to?" Catherine furrowed her brow in annoyance. How dare he speak to me in that manner? Catherine thought as she stood akimbo and stared aghast at the guard.

"Well, he was making such a racket I thought I would simply let it out. As soon as I opened the cage it flew straight out the window." Catherine said so matter of factly that the guard stuttered slightly in response. A murmured apology could be heard through the babble and Catherine said, "Yes well, apology accepted, now if you don't mind I need to search for my quill."

The guard blushed darkly and hastily exited the room closing the door behind him with another soft apology. "Not bad, not bad at all. I think I've become a bad influence on you."

Catherine spun around to find Larsa sliding down off the window sill and smiled sheepishly. "Yes well...it would cause trouble I suppose if you were found, wouldn't it?"

Larsa smiled at her and said, "Yes it would and I thank you greatly for not ratting me out." Larsa kissed Catherine gently on the cheek and smiled wider as she blushed darkly and stuttered non-sense as she fumbled with the folds of her dress. "I have fulfilled my purpose, however, and must return to my quarters so I bid you good night Princess."

Larsa bowed to her dramatically before heading off in some seeming random direction. Catherine scoffed at his silliness then she furrowed her brow and said, "How are you going to get out if the guard is awake now?"

Larsa turned to Catherine as he stopped in front of the bare wall of his study. He grinned at her and said, "The same way I got in." Catherine furrowed her brow and gasped slightly as Larsa kicked out a piece of the wall behind him and swung himself into the abyss beyond.

Catherine huffed and shook her head as the wall closed itself back and thought of how it was suddenly no mystery how Larsa and Kira could get around the castle without being seen. That night, both Larsa and Catherine slept more or less peacefully without the faintest idea of the horrors they would have to face the next morning.

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To be Continued...