Micaiah and Sothe

GIFT

As the queen was softly sleeping, her consort walked to her face. He put a small wrapped present next to her and kissed her on the cheek. "Goodnight, Micaiah," he said.

She tumbled next to it and accidentally knocked it off the stand and out the window, into a field nearby.

"Sweet!" shouted the soldier who found it the next morning, as he tossed it around with his pal in the field.

"Oh no," Sothe said upon waking up, "It's gone!"

"What's gone?" muttered Micaiah, still half-asleep.

"The gift I left for you!" Sothe shouted, distressed.

"You left a gift for me?" Micaiah asked.

"Yes, but now it's gone. Come on, help me look for it!"

"It can't have gone far!" Micaiah said, "I know for a fact that no one broke and entered last night."

"It's not under the bed," Sothe called.

"It's not behind the desk," Micaiah responded.

"It's not on the windowsill," Sothe said, before having a double-take. "Wait, windowsill?"

"It must've fallen out the window!" Micaiah said. She looked down and saw the two soldiers using it as a ball in a game of catch.

"Excuse me," she said, "I think that belongs to us!"

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Queen Micaiah," shouted the soldier, as he attempted to climb the castle wall to get to her window.

"Umm… Harvey," Micaiah said, "There's a door."

"Yes, of course!" Harvey the soldier said. He walked to the door and exchanged the gift with the girl on the opposite side.

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TALK

"I'm sorry," Micaiah said.

"Why?" Sothe asked.

"Because of the way I treated Ike throughout the war. I mean I assumed that you were exaggerating about how nice he was, but…" Micaiah trailed off, "But…"

"But what?"

"But I found he's just like me. I mean we both saw a boy grow up before our eyes. We both took him in in his time of need. We both refused to ever let go."

"Micaiah," Sothe said, "Do I remind you of Soren?"

"That boy Ike's always with?" Micaiah asked.

"Yes. Considering he was the tactician in one of the most crucial wars in history—two, actually, but one that you were involved in, I'm surprised you can't learn his name," Sothe responded.

"Hmm, well in some ways he's like you. But in other ways he's like me. He and I are both…"

"Don't say it," Sothe warned.

"But that's not what I was going to say!" Micaiah argued, "I was going to say we are both so devoted to one person that we will fight for them until the end."

"True," Sothe said, "He and you do both fight for true love."

"But when I tried to convince him of that, he got mad!" Micaiah said.

"Emphatic denial is the first step towards the truth," Sothe said. "I mean, suppose I stole a necklace. Would my victim be more inclined to believe me if I said, 'No, I didn't' or 'What? Now why would you think that? ME? Steal your necklace?'"

"Probably the former," Micaiah noted.

"I'd like to think of Ike as our role model for leadership, even though the man himself can't stand it." So they did use Ike as their role model, and everything worked out.

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HARDSHIP

Micaiah had earned great renown for being able to use Sacrifice and be able to bring people who were injured back to health. But one time, she forgot to be careful, and ended up almost dying. Sothe was so worried about her. He had taken her to see Laura, who merely sighed at the carelessness of her friend.

"Micaiah," she said, "You have to take better care of your body."

"But my body's health does not matter," she said, "Only the bodies of other people matter."

"You are too selfless," Laura said, "And I'm a priestess."

"Well so am I," Micaiah bragged.

"No," Laura said, "You're not. You gave up that right when you married Sothe. You still have clerical powers, but…"

"So you mean because I married Sothe, I can't be a priestess anymore?" Micaiah asked.

"That's right," Laura said, "You noticed how Aran and I weren't married, didn't you? It's not because I don't like him… I do, very much. But it's against my job to marry him."

"Oh, I never knew how much of a choice this was," Micaiah said, "I suppose since you were stronger against temptation than I was, I should listen to you, and take good care of my body."

"Indeed you should, Micaiah."

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ARGUMENT

The argument had happened suddenly and without warning. Sothe may have reached a rough hand out against Micaiah by accident; and she may have cried and retaliated by kicking him where it hurts. But fifteen minutes later, they didn't even remember what the argument was about anymore.

"Micaiah," Sothe asked, "Did I hurt you?"

"Yes, but I suppose I hurt you too," Micaiah said, "I hate it when we fight."

"As do I," Sothe said.

"Can we try not to fight ever again?" she begged.

"I'll try if you'll try," was the kind reply.

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RELAXATION

It seemed odd now, how relaxed Micaiah and Sothe could be. Earlier, they would have had to run from corporals or hide in alleyways to stay safe. Regardless of Daein's state of economy, they were always just those poor kids who didn't have the means to support themselves honestly. And now, they were honestly the queen and consort of Daein, which was really something very new to the both of them.