No Longer Alone
Well, no sense in delaying this update! Here we go.
I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but it looks like we'll end up hitting a flat 50 chapters for this story if my outline pans out.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
"Something wrong?"
Franz looked up into Neimi's face, the denial already on his lips before he sighed and shook his head. "Is it really that obvious?"
She snorted slightly with amusement, but it quickly gave way to an expression of concern. "Whenever you have something on your mind, you tend to shut out the world and brood about it. Most people who know you know that. So… yeah, pretty obvious."
He sighed. "Well, thanks for telling me about that."
"No problem." Neimi paused. "So, what is it?"
Franz looked away. "I... I'd prefer not to discuss it." At least, not to Amelia's best friend.
He shouldn't be feeling the way he was feeling. He shouldn't be jealous of Amelia. He was supposed to be happy for her. She had found her mother she'd thought dead for the longest time.
He knew there would be no similar miracle for him. He had the seen the dead bodies of his parents. He had visited their gravestones. And try as he might, he could not suppress that tiny flicker of resentment he felt – that Amelia should have her family turn out to be alive and his should not.
Why couldn't he just be happy for her? She'd come from a poor, rural village. She'd lived a life of harshness and solitude. Why couldn't he just be happy that at her unbridled, uncontained joy? Seriously, he didn't think he'd seen her stop smiling ever since the general had broken the news to her two days prior.
"What's wrong with me?" He mumbled thickly to himself as the army continued their march. Out of the corner of eye, she saw Neimi give him another questioning look, but apparently the archer had decided not to pry if he was just going to clam up.
Good. There was a very select list of people he would even potentially discuss this with, and Neimi, as good a friend as she was, was certainly not on it.
Up ahead, the Holy Palace of Rausten slowly came into view.
"Wow." Amelia breathed as she took in the surroundings. While she would never claim herself the most travelled person around, she at least had the credit of having stood within the castles of three different countries. The fortress of Grado had been designed as imposing and imperialistic, in keeping with the theme of a country that owed its creation to military might. Castle Renais was more open, as was to be expected of a smaller country that had close (well, closer) relations between the nobility and the peasantry.
The palace of Rausten, by contrast, was clearly designed to evoke feelings of grandeur. High, soaring ceilings decked with multitudes of colourful paintings that depicted the history of Magvel and their culture, elaborately carved statues at every corner, with almost everything plated in solid gold – well, if they weren't made out of pure gold already, that is. Light seemingly suffused the entirely palace, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once, further highlighting all the beauty stored within the castle.
"Wow." She said again.
"It's really something, huh." Ewan said as he rounded the corner, hands in his pockets.
"Yeah, this place is so… so decorated."
"Hm? Oh, that. Yeah, I guess." Ewan waved his arms vaguely. "But I was referring to the magic."
"Magic?"
"Yeah, sorry, I forgot you haven't been trained to sense that sort of thing. Anyway, this placed is positively vibrating with energy."
"Oh." She knew, based on prior conversations with Neimi, that Rausten's mages were of the highest calibre. No surprise that the Royal Court would be filled with magic, then. "How's it feel?" She ventured somewhat hesitantly.
"Pretty good, actually." Ewan grinned. "All magic is connected, see, so it's a bit like I'm extending my awareness throughout the whole place, even if only slightly. Plus, if I want, I can draw some of the magic from the surroundings to give myself a boost."
She whistled in appreciation. "That sounds handy. Being a mage sure sounds nice."
He shrugged. "Yeah, but we have to spend a lot of time studying and practicing all this stuff – we're not going to be as tough as the actual knights so we have to rely on our magic to help us. I'd say it's a pretty even trade."
Further conversation along those lines was cut short but Forde rounding the corner. "Hey, Amelia!" He flashed her a smile. "How're you getting along? Congratulations, by the way. I heard about your mom."
"Thanks. And I'm getting along fine. I decided to use the free time Lord Ephraim gave us to explore the place."
"Not a half bad idea. Franz might stand to learn a thing or two from you."
"Franz?" Amelia raised an eyebrow. Come to think of it, I haven't spoken to him much since… since the night I found out about my mother, actually. An embarrassed smile appeared on her face, an expression that thankfully went unnoticed by the two others present. Heh. Guess I got caught up in the excitement. I should go talk to –
"Oh, yeah. He's been acting all mopey the past couple of days. Once we arrived here he's basically crashed himself in our quarters and I'm willing to bet he's not moving until meal time."
"That's… huh." Ewan scratched the back of his head. "Wonder what's gotten him so out of it."
Amelia bit her lip, a frown on her face. After a moment, she opened her mouth. "I'm sorry, but if you'll excuse me, I… uh, I want to go talk to Franz."
Forde nodded, an easy grin on his face. "I thought you might. I suppose just this once, I can leave the duties out drawing him out of his funk to you." He concluded as he gave her a quick wink.
Aided by Ewan's encouraging smile, she turned and headed down the corridor.
"Franz?" She called out and knocked softly on the door. There was silence within the room for a long moment, to the extent that she thought Franz hadn't heard her, but just as she was raising her hand to knock a second time hen he heard his soft voice.
"Come in."
She pushed the door open and stepped into the room. Franz was sitting on a chair near the window, head leaning to one side with an arm propping it up. He was obviously in a deep funk of some kind, and Amelia knew about Franz to realize that if he wasn't even trying to hide it from her, it had to be something out of the ordinary.
"Hey," she said softly as she walked over to him. "What's wrong?"
He didn't answer – or at least not directly. Instead, he turned his head away, so that he was looking out the window, towards the main courtyards.
"Franz, what's wrong?" She said, a bit more forcefully this time.
At that, he screwed his eyes shut and looked away. "I'm sorry." He finally whispered.
The lancer frowned, confused. "For what? You haven't done anything to me."
"You've found your mother after so long…"
"Uh – huh…" While that statement was true, she had trouble with seeing any relevancy to the topic at hand.
"I'm supposed to be happy. Happy for you, that you can go back and rebuild your life. Happy that your mother's still alive. And I guess a part of me is. But… whenever I look at you, whenever I see you smiling and laughing and so overjoyed… I… I…"
Then suddenly everything fell into place. Franz's reticence every since the news, the longing looks she'd caught him giving her every once in a while. She bit her lip as she recounted the first time that she'd learnt that his parents were gone, all the way back in Grado castle.
She looked down. "Franz… I'm so sorry."
Now it was his turn to sputter in shock. "Sorry? Sorry for what? I'm the one who should be-"
"I was so happy about my mother, so overjoyed that I… I forgot how you had to be feeling. How dejected you had to be over your parents death."
"Don't be ridiculous! Your mother's alive, Amelia. You have every right to be overjoyed at that."
"And you have every right to be unhappy that your parents aren't." Amelia replied softly, shutting down the flow of his words. "Franz, even if my mother's alive now, I'd still believed her dead for the past seven years. I know how it feels when you lose everything."
Franz remained silent, and after a moment Amelia continued to speak.
"Franz, don't you think Neimi and Ross and Ewan wish their parents were alive, too? Don't you think then when they heard about my mother, a part of them went 'I wish the same thing would happen for me' too? Do you think I think I think any less of them? Of course not! So why would I think any less of you?" Her words slowed, her voice becoming softer, more melancholy. "Wishing your parents were still alive doesn't mean you think any less of me or anything. It just means that you miss them very much, and would give anything to see them alive again, if just for one more day." Her last words trailed off into an uncomfortable silence that hung between the two of them.
Suddenly, she became aware of a tear splashing down from his cheek, of Franz choking back a sob. And then she was on her knees in front of him, trying to get him to lift his head so she could see him properly.
"Franz?"
"I just…" he shook his head. "I just wish I could see them… just one more time."
"Oh, Franz…." Forsaking words, she drew him into an embrace, her head on his shoulder. After a brief moment, she felt his arms come around her, felt him holding her close.
And they remained there.
"You know, not that I claim I know anything about what went on between you and Amelia back there, but there's, uh…"
"What is it?" Franz looked up at Ewan.
"There's a dried tear stain down your cheek. It's kinda, uh, noticeable."
"You're mistaken, I'm sure." Franz replied shortly, but nevertheless one hand reached up to rub at the aforementioned area.
"If you say so…" Ewan's smirk could be infuriating at times – and this was one of those times.
Silently, he considered actually telling Ewan what had transpired, but he decided against it – even if he wanted to engage in a heartfelt discussion about the tragedies of their past, a midnight trek through the darkened halls of the Rausten Palace probably wasn't the best situation to be discussing such things.
And as long as they were on the subject of midnight treks…
"Where are we even going? If you're going to drag me out of my bed at an ungodly hour, they least you could do is give me a destination."
"Meh. What's life without a few surprises?" Ewan made an elaborate shrug. "Don't worry, we're almost there." They rounded the corner at arrived at a set of thick, elaborately carved doors, where he noted that Amelia and Ross were already waiting. A moment, later, the mental map he'd made of the castle clicked.
"The Royal Armoury?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Yup!" If Ewan's grin grew any wider, it'd have split his face. "Just imagine it! This is the centre of all advancement in magical arts. Just think about what kind of weapons they'll stock in there – what kind of magic they're infused with. There're so many different ways to enchant weapons, you know. I'll bet we-"
"And you think breaking into an armoury in the middle of the night so we can look at weapons is a good idea?" He questioned as they neared the door.
In response, Ewan merely chuckled softly before marching up to the door and rapping it three times. Then he paused and knocked the door three times again.
A pause, and then a small hole at eye level in the door slides open. "Ewan? That you?"
"None other. And I brought along a couple friends I thought would be interested." Franz took the opportunity to share a look with Amelia, who merely shrugged and gave a faintly-amused smile, one that he returned.
Whoever it was on the other side of the door let out an annoyed grunt. "Figures you'd drag along a bunch of strays."
"Hey!"
"Let it go, Ross." Amelia advised.
"Anyway, hang on…" There was the sound of someone fumbling with the keys, and the heavy door scraped open. "All right. The place is yours for thirty minutes. Knock yourself out, but one missing knife and it'll be my head, so don't try anything funny."
"Thanks, Kendrick."
"I'm not doing this for you." A torch was held up in the door, revealing a dark-hired soldier with a gruff expression. "But I owe Saleh and he thought this would be a good learning experience for his pupil."
"I know." Ewan nodded. "But thanks anyway."
Another snort, and the soldier shuffled back into his place near the wall. "The torches are activated by magic. I assume you know how to work 'em."
Amelia and Ross darted into the interior of the room and as Ewan stepped through, he turned to regard Franz, who was still standing in place, with a quizzical look. "What's wrong? I thought you'd love the chance to scope out some new weapons."
Franz swallowed. "This is… this is a severe breach of security."
Ewan's turned away and sighed. "Are you telling me you think any of us – Me, Ross, Amelia, or you, would try to make off with one of the weapons here? I kept Colm out of this for a reason, you know."
"That's not the point, and you know it."
Ewan shook his head. "Look, fine, whatever. I get it, mister knight in shining armour. You don't want to come in, that's your choice. Just go back to bed. Or, or King Ephraim's busy in a council with Pontifex Mansel right now, so if you want to go tattle to him, be my guest."
"I'm not going to rat out my friends." Franz snapped. "But neither can I condone-"
The sound of an explosion rumbled through the hallways of the palace, and instantly Franz whirled around, pulling himself into a defensive position. In the aftermath of the blast, silence descended once more. Not that the seeming quiet lessened the tension any. Explosions didn't just happen for no reason.
And now, as he focused, he could hear – very faintly – the sounds of pitched battle.
He grit his teeth.
Amelia appeared in the doorway, glancing around wildly. "What happened?"
"A fight of some kind." Kendrick stomped out, one hand clutching a halberd. "From…" he hesitated, apparently listening to the sounds of fighting in the distance. "From the main entrance and the East Wing, if I don't miss my guess."
"We have to go help-" Franz broke off as he realized that he was currently in his night clothes, which consisted of little more then a tunic and pants. No weapon, that was for sure. And his sleeping quarters (along with his equipment) was some distance away. What was he supposed to do now-
Oh. Duh.
The thought seemed to pass through everyone present at more or less the same time. As one, they turned to give Kendrick a questioning glance. The Rausten knight merely let out a sigh.
"Come on in. And hurry up." He snapped.
The interior of the armoury was lavish, and Franz suspected that in a better time, he'd have quite enjoyed looking through the weaponry available, but pressed for time as he was…
"Where are all the light swords?" Franz muttered, half to himself as he hurriedly searched through the racks.
"Here. Catch." Ewan tossed him a sword, still firmly affixed in its scabbard. "This should do."
"Thanks." Hurriedly, Franz loosened the blade, holding it up into the light. Then he blinked. The sword was the light – or at least it was emitting a steady glow that looked all the brighter in the relative darkness of the armoury.
Magic infused, huh? He thought. I guess that sort of stuff does have its uses.
"I got a weapon." Amelia emerged further from the recesses of the armoury, clutching a lance in hand. "A little heavier than I'm used to, but I'll manage."
"Great." Ewan muttered offhandedly as he flipped through a spell book, another one dangling from a chain at his side. "Lessee… Fimbulvetr… Yep, this'll do nicely. Ross?"
"All set!" The axefighter proclaimed, holding up an axe that looked like it was designed for throwing.
All set. Franz thought grimly. None of us have any armour on, we're facing an unknown number of enemies that could be all over the castle by now-
Kendrick, who had been waiting by the doorway, suddenly snapped into a battle ready stance. "They're close."
"What?" Amelia came up behind him, her own weapon at the ready. "But the main entrance and the East Wing aren't anywhere near-"
"Then they've breached the palace in other locations." Kendrick snapped.
"A well-planned surprise strike in multiple locations in the middle of the night just when we've arrived. This has 'Grado' written all over it."
Any response the others might have made to Franz's statement was cut off as the figure of a soldier in Grad armour appeared in the doorway. At the sight of multiple armed fighters coming at him from the armoury, he hesitated for a brief moment, letting Kendrick close the distance enough to strike with his halberd.
The Grad soldier parried the blow and knocked Kendrick away with a kick. Stunned, the Rausten knight was sent sprawling, and Amelia leapt in to cover for the fallen soldier.
The two of them were rapidly trading blows, neither able to gain an advantage over the other. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ewan, one hand held out, his face a mask of concentration.
And then the young mage broke off, a frustrated growl in his throat. "I can't get a good shot! None of my spells are fast enough."
Franz resisted the urge to groan. The doorway was too narrow for the melee fighters to join in, and apparently the only fighter that could use distance attacks was claiming it wasn't good enough. He just had to hope that Amelia was good enou-
"Hey, yeah! Franz! The Light Brand!"
"Huh? The sword?"
"Yes! Point it at the knight and concentrate! Concentrate on the soldier!"
"Wha-"
"Just do it!"
What the hell. It couldn't hurt. Lifting the blade, he aimed the tip of the sword at the Grad, who at that moment slammed his weapon into Amelia's, his greater strength driving her back slightly – and leaving him open.
A bolt of pure light surged from the blade, slamming into the shoulder of the Grad knight and sending him staggering to the floor. Franz blinked and looked again at the weapon in his hands.
"I knew you could do it." Ewan grinned at him as he rushed to the door. "Spellblade are designed to be used by ordinary soldiers, so you don't need fancy incantations to activate the magic. Come on, there're still a lot of them out there."
"Yes, and we should be sticking together." Amelia pointed out, pausing to give Kendrick a helping hand onto his feet.
"We'll make for the throne room." Franz said after a moment's deliberation. "Pontifex Mansel and Lord Ephraim are there. They're the obvious targets."
A chorus of acknowledgment sounded from the people around him, and they broke into a run, heading down the darkened hallways of the Palace.
Chapter End
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