Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron or its original Japanese version Golion. Both are the property of their original creators and/or importers/dubbers. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.
The Sindariin
Chapter Twenty-Five:
Calista Spiteri sat in the Emperor's office awaiting his return to 'deal' with her. At first Cal had been terrified when he'd ordered her separated from the other girls after hearing their explanation of the incident with the intruder. She had feared that the others were right and she had made a last mistake of her life in calling the guards down on them and turning the young rebel in. But that had been a little over an hour ago and she wasn't dead yet.
Sincline and the Captain of his Empress' royal guard (formerly in charge of the harem guard) had gone down to the dungeons to interrogate him. Shirogane Ryou, the Japanese born space-pilot turned slave, turned rebel leader was about to be turned into history. But Cal had not been carted off to the dungeons with him, nor had she been taken to wherever the rest of the guards had taken the other harem girls. No, she had been sequestered and lead to the Emperor's office where she was instructed to wait.
So, here she was waiting.
Cal rubbed her hands over her bare shoulders in an effort to work some heat into them. It was a tad bit colder in here than it had been in the harem and her attire wasn't exactly designed to protect the wearer against the elements (not that there were really any 'elements' in the Imperial Office). She found herself adjusting the thin semi-transparent material over her legs in an attempt to cover her knees and wished desperately that she were wearing over her chest than just a gold bra with silk fringe. The guards could have at least provided her with a robe or some sort when they lead her out of the harem.
Minuets ticked by and Cal went over her short conversation with Shirogane Ryou in her head for what must have been the dozenth time that hour.
'What has Golion ever done for us?' She had demanded of him.
But he hadn't answered her question. The leader of the rebellion against the Empire and close friend of the pilot team whom controlled Golion and he couldn't answer her simple question: 'What had Golion ever done for "us", for the people of Earth?' Instead, Ryou had just stammered out a short, "What?"
As if he were confused by her question. As if the idea had never occurred to him.
Golion was supposed to be a great and noble champion of freedom and justice and peace and prosperity and all that fluffy, hippie good stuff. While in the harem she had had to comfort Sincline, her planet's conquer while he whined and moaned about how Golion had 'stolen' this planet or that planet from his Empire. She head time and again of how the seemingly invincible giant robot had liberated planet after planet and people after people from Galran control but never once did she ever hear any mention of her own home planet. Never once did she hear any tell that Golion had tried to save Earth. Earth, the planet that Golion's very pilots had come from, were born on, grew up on, trained on.
The betrayal was two fold in her opinion. Once because they would help other's but not Earth and twice because Earth was their home planet and it seemed like they had forgotten it. So, when the young rebel, also from Earth, had shown up in the harem looking to rescue the Empress (or whatever it was he was doing) and preaching the name of Golion like some infallible savior descended from on-high, she had just snapped. All of her anger and frustration and rage over her own subjugation and service as a pleasure slave, all her hurt and spite for an empty hope in a hollow hero, she had focused it all on Ryou and called the guards down on him.
Sitting here in the Emperor's office, she wondered if she had done the right thing. If by betraying the rebel leader to the castle guards she had effectively aligned herself with Galra and turned her back on her own race forever. Then she reminded herself that she was just a common whore and no one cared about her political affiliations anyway. What did it matter if a whore loved or loather her master? Her legs still spread as wide. So what did it matter if she threw her lot in with the rebels or with Galra, she would still die all the same. In the end, everyone died. That was the only truth that mattered.
Cal's morbid thoughts were cut short when the office door was opened and Captain Nera stepped aside, holding it open for the Emperor.
Cal sat up strait but tried to look demure at the same time, averting her eyes as he passed the chain in which she sat and flopped down at his desk. He leaned back in his chair and rested his feet on the desk.
"Well, this has been an exciting day." He commented.
Cal was not sure if she was expected to respond or not. Lately he had been forbidding the women of the harem to speak at all.
"Nera, this is the one who called Arna?"
"Yes, Your Eminence."
Cal folded and unfolded her hands in her lap, not at all liking being discussed as if she were a cat that could neither speak for itself nor understand what was being said about her. But then, she was just a slave. What could she do or say that would not bring a punishment down upon her?
"Do you speak Galran, girl?" The Emperor asked and for the first time since he entered, Cal dared to look up at his face. His expression was not that of the frustrated and often angry man he often was when he came to the harem. No, the Emperor Sincline that now sat looking at her over his feet on the desk looked self-satisfied and… amused?
"I… I speak a little." She answered dutifully.
"And who taught you how to speak?"
"I just sort of picked it up after a while." She replied. "From listening to the guards."
"Funny how many people learn the language from their guards." He said in a sardonically amused tone, his eyes momentarily flicking to Captain Nera who stood behind her.
"If… if you say so, my Master." She replied, not sure if he wanted a response from her or not.
"What is your name, girl?"
"Calista." She answered obediently. "It means 'great beauty' where I'm from."
"I don't care." The Emperor snapped back, then in a more moderated and business-like tone he asked, "And you were the one who called the guards on Shirogane Ryou. Why?"
"Because…" Here she faltered, unsure of how to explain herself and her actions in few words. His Eminence hated long explanations and she feared to annoy him with talk of her feelings on the matter.
"Come now, its an easy question: Why did you turn in the rebel leader, Shorgane Ryou? You must have had a reason, even animals have reasons for their actions."
Hearing him compare her to an animal rekindled her anger from earlier and she bit out, "Because he barged in there preaching the name of Golion like a fucking golden banner of truth and justice and it annoyed me! Golion is just a machine, a thing! A thing controlled by a bunch of guys who apparently don't give a flying fuck for their own home world! I raised the alarm on Ryou because I don't like fuckers who hide behind pretty words and high ideals but do show anything for them."
To this the Emperor simply raised an eyebrow. He steepled his fingers in the posture of though, and gazed over the toes of his shoes at her.
"Nera, how long has this girl been in my harem?" He asked at length.
"Two years." Both women replied in unison.
He sat for another moment, considering. Then, "You years is an incredible amount of foresight on Ryou's part to get a plant close to me. I wish I had known this earlier to congratulate him."
"Huh?" Cal blinked in total and utter confusion.
"Nera, take our little miss Calista here down to the Pit of Skulls and shoot her."
"What!" Forgetting her place in the horror and fear that his words provoked in her, Cal shot to her feet. "Why! I served you! I was a good whore! I was obedient! I always did what you wanted! I… I betrayed the rebels for you! When Ryou showed up I could have kept quiet like the others and hid him, but I didn't! I chose a side and it was your side and now you want to shoot me!"
"Hm, you're a very good actress." Sincline nodded in approval. "Nera, you may give her a painless death. Shoot her in the head."
"But, I-"
"Permission to speak freely, Your Eminence?" The Captain asked.
"Granted."
"This is not the first time I've witnessed a human express negative sentiments towards Golion and by extension, its pilots." Nera explained calmly. She came up closer behind Cal and put what might possibly have been a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. She may be the Empress' personal guard now, but she had once been in charge of guarding the harem and just might have formed an attachment to the girls in it. Maybe. "Her Majesty's human doctor, the woman Naisha, also expressed feelings of betrayal upon hearing that the Golion pilots were from Earth. It was apparently her home planet as well."
"I… see…" Sincline once again looked thoughtful. "And you, girl… Calista, where are you from?"
"Earth, my Master." She answered obediently. "A town called Kiveri in Greece."
"And is this… spite for Golion a common feeling among the Earthling slaves?" The Emperor pressed. There was an odd light behind his eyes as if he'd just gotten an idea that was both brilliant and malicious.
"I… I don't you, Master. Most of the other girls in the harem that were from Earth kinda thought the same thing. But the ones from Jarra and Mura turned their opinion a bit when we heard that their homes had been fre- um, captured from the Empire."
"And you're opinion of Golion did not improve upon hearing this?"
"I though if Golion could capture other planets from the Empire, why couldn't they capture Earth."
"And where do you hear all this news?" The Emperor asked, his eyes narrowing at her. "You're not allowed to leave the harem and I doubt you socialize with your guards. From where did you learn what Golion was doing all this time?"
"From… from you, my Master." Cal once again averted her eyes and looked submissive and demure. "When you would come to us angry and frustrated after an encounter with Golion. You would shout and scream and rage about it and demand we comfort you. All that we know about what goes on outside the harem we learned from you."
The Emperor looked as if she had just slapped him in the face and Cal wondered if he was going to go ahead and kill her himself, right here and now in his office. It would not be the first time he killed one of his harem slaves for no good reason. He had been more prone to it in the old days before he became obsessed with the Altean princess whom was now his wife, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't still do it now.
Finally, after a prolonged pause Sincline growled, "You're dismissed."
Nera escorted Cal out of the office.
"Are you going to kill me now?" The girl asked in a trembling voice.
"He said you were dismissed." The Captain replied. "That means he has other plans for you."
While back in his office, Sincline called up one of his aids and asked for a census of every slave on the planet that included each slave's planet of origin. The poor aid nearly fell out of his chair when he heard the Emperor's order. A complete census of every slave on planet Galra was a huge undertaking and would be a nightmare to organize.
Then the Emperor said he wanted it completed and on his desk by the end of the current lunar cycle and the poor aid really did fall out of his chair.
…
First Lieutenant Arna did not take Ryou very far. The Emperor had ordered her to leave him where he asked and rebel had asked to be left on the banks of the Teglin. So, the Lieutenant ordered the car pull over along one of the steeper edges of the Branduil's bank (which eventually joined with the Teglin) and Ryou was pitched into the water, his hands still bound behind his back.
He kicked his legs madly in an attempt to keep his head above the surface of the putrid sewage-filled water as the river's strong current swept him south towards the Teglin. The Branduil was the only body of water that passed almost right next to the castle and as such, it was also what the castle emptied it waste into. The waterway widened for a few leagues where it joined the Great River and the water cleared slightly, the current also slowed long enough for Ryou to establish a rhythm treading water for air, resting and letting the current carry him and then bringing himself back up for air. If the Space Academy hadn't drilled such great endurance into him back on Earth, the former space-pilot was sure he would have drowned (as he was also sure had been the Galran woman's plan for him).
The Teglin turned west towards Nargothrond and as Ryou neared the city the banks of the river became less jagged and wild, instead showing signs of once having fishing docked stretching out into it or paved in places to as to lower a boat into the water. But none of it was maintained, the docks were cracked and crumbling, buts of them swayed in the current, the only thing keeping them from sailing away with the stream being s bit of old fishing line or other such lingering garbage. The paved areas likewise showed their share of wear and tear with cracks and breaks in the concrete, water damage, discoloration and erosion.
As the first few buildings began appearing, Ryou flailed his legs and slowly treaded over to the southern bank. The rebel safe-house he had intended to go to ground in after his 'escape' from Demon Castle wouldn't appear for a while, but when he reached it, it would be on the south bank.
The farther he was carried into the city that dirtier that water once again became. But unlike the Branduil, which was mostly just fecal and food waste, this city's river pollution also sported oils, pesticides, bleaches, textile dyes and other various domestic and industrial toxins. So, in addition to a plethora of bacterial infections, he might now also have cancer. Giggidy!
When the areas he passed began to look shabbier and more economically depressed Ryou began trying to hook his bound hands on whatever hand holds he could find on the bank in order to allow himself a moment or two to better study the city. He didn't want to over-shoot the safe house and draw more attention to himself by backtracking along the bank, dripping wet, covered in shit and chemicals with his hands behind his back. Even in the slums of Nargothrond someone would think that was a little strange. After studying the bank and the buildings for a moment or two he would decide that it was still just a bit father down stream and let go of his hand-hold to continue drifting. He did this several times before smacking into a makeshift dock that extended out into the river.
It was two long (and uncomfortably hard) steel beams that looked like they might have been salvaged from a crashed star-cutter. They had been lashed together to form a narrow walkway that cut out into the water at a diagonal angle following the river's current. It was held afloat by several bowies that were make either from salvaged styrofoam or inflated plastic bags. Ryou was quite sure that if anyone larger or heavier than a goose feather attempted to actually walk on the thing that they would sink into the river and be swept away with the current. For this reason he was utterly dumbfounded as to what the hell this thing might be actually used for.
But it had stopped him long enough for his to once again get his bearings and the young rebel leader found that he was, in fact, rather close to his destination. Close enough to risk a walk of solid ground even!
With the dock on one side preventing him from drifting further down stream, Ryou wiggled and wormed his way up the filthy concrete bank, trying his best not to think about what he might be thrashing around in. When he got back to base he was going to burn all his clothes and his hair and shower for a solid week!
Once he got to the top of the bank standing up became a bit of an issue. He never quite realized just how much he used his hands until they were suddenly bound behind his back and he was robed of the use of them. After falling back down onto his knees or ass a few times, the rebel leader finally claimed a standing position and a fraction of dignity. He was exhausted, wet, his hands were still bound, he was covered in shit and who knew what else from the river, but he was vertical. That had to count for something, right?
On his feet Ryou trudged the few paces from his river birth to the building he was fairly certain was the safe house. His books made a nauseating squish sound with every step he took and a chill wind blew between the buildings making him shiver. But he made it to the door without incident. Unable to use his hands, Ryou banged his shoulder against the door three times, waited and then banged his should two more times, waited again and then banged one final time. He then added the consumption of several aspirin to his list of things to do after burning his clothes and showering.
A small panel in the door at human eye-level was slid open and a quiet voice asked, "One, plus one, plus one, plus one, plus one…?"
"Golion." Ryou hissed in answer. This little cloak and dagger secret code thing had been Amue's idea. In theory it had sounded pretty good at the time. In practice, he decided it was stupid.
The panel was slid shut and the door was opened and Ryou was greeted with warm air and dim light. The quiet voice that had spoken to him through the panel turned out to belong to a small girl whom, while short lithe, could not have been much younger than fourteen.
"Where you followed?" The girl asked in her still very quiet voice as she shut the door back behind him and silently bolted it shut.
"Followed? No." He responded. "But I'm sure there's got to be a tracer on me. Some place the river wouldn't have been likely to wash it off of."
"Probably the cuffs." She nodded. Crossing the room, the girl knelt in a corner of the floor and lifted a small square tile to reveal an emergency-cash. Inside was contained a small bare-minimum first-aid kit, food rations, some money, a blaster pistol and spare power pack and lock-breaking tools. It was this small pouch of lock breaking tools that she reached for. She returned to Ryou. "Turn around. They've been adding traces to their cuffs recently. That way, on the off chance that a prisoner does escape they can track them down to kill them or let them go to lead them to bigger prey."
"Clever." He commented. "So they're not using stickies anymore?"
"They still might as a decoy or something. There!"
Ryou sighed as the tight metal cuffs around his wrists was slipped off. He turned around to thank the girl but before he got the chance to she shoved the cuffs back onto his hands.
"Attach those to something that floats and throw them back in the river."
As he was exiting the building to carry out the girls instruction, Ryou found himself wondering if she knew she was ordering around the leader of the on-planet rebellion against Galra (or if she would even care). Women in his little militia he'd noticed had a rather annoying tendency to disregard authority with a sort of casual 'we're all friends here' sort of attitude. He blamed it on Amue. Before she showed up they were a small but well-organized guerrilla army. Now they felt more like a club that would pull a prank and cause a bit of a ruckus for their rivals every now and again.
Ryou returned to the makeshift dock and pulled off a fist-sized piece of styrofoam. He attacked the cuffs to it and lobbed it down stream as had as he could. He stood there, watching it drift for a moment or two longer until her could no longer see it in the ever-dark of the planet.
When he returned to the safe-house, Ryou found the girl sitting quite calmly with her back to the far wall and the blaster-pistol from the cash in her hand. She trained to weapon on Ryou and said in an almost casual voice, "And now we get to play Q&A. I'll go first. How did you know about this place?"
"I was on the committee that decided this would be a good hideout." He responded with an equal amount of casualness.
"Small committee." The girl commented. "So, who are you?"
"Shirogane Ryou." He paused for dramatic effect. He had been the one to start the rebellion. Organizing the small pockets of escaped slaves into an organized fighting team. He expected everyone to know his name.
The girl just squinted at him in the dim lighting. "Oh! You mean Princess Amue's assistant!"
"W-what!" His relationship with the Heraclesian princess could be described with many words, friend, comrade, rescuer, hero… but none of them were 'assistant'. If anything, Amue was his assistant. He was the one that started the rebellion in the first place! He was the one who rescued her from the Pit of Skulls when Sincline dragger her out there to be shot. He was the real hero of the rebellion! Ryou took a deep breath and tried to swallow his suddenly hurt pride. In all fairness, Heracles was footing the bill for most of their efforts. They were sneaking in food, weapons and medical supplies that the rebellion would have been lost without. In all actuality, the rebellion would have died out long ago if it hadn't been for Amue. He didn't mind sharing power with her. He rather wished he could share much more with her, actually. "I am not Amue's assistant. She and I are partners."
"Uh-huh." The girl nodded. Then she smiled. "My big brother was on your team when Amue stole a Galran freighter. During that mission you, or rather the real Shirogane Ryou, gave Princess Amue a message that had nothing to do with the mission. Can you tell me what was said?"
Ryou felt his face flush at the mention of his parting words to the Heraclesian princess and he knew that he must have turned a bright shade of beet red. He just had to go and confess something deeply emotional and very private in the middle of a mission right in front of his team and Amue's crew. Oh what a fool he had been! A battle field was no place for fluffy emotions and pretty words, what had he been thinking?
He had been thinking that one or both of them might die before they got the chance to see each other again. That's what he'd been thinking. If they never got to see each other again for the rest of the lives, however long or short that turned out to be, he wanted Amue to know how he felt. Gritting his teeth and trying not to think about what her response to his confession had been the rebel leader answered, "I told her what I thought of her."
"And that was…?" The girl pressed. "Come now, only the real Shirogane Ryou would know what he said."
"Then how would you know if I'm lying or not?" Ryou shot back.
The girl only smiled. When he got back to the main base he was going to find out just who from his team was this little imp's brother and beat the crap out of him! "I told her that I loved her! Over the moon, crazy in love. And she just nodded and said that she knew. She knew I was nuts over her and didn't care!"
…
Sincline entered the lift back up to the royal residential suits feeling tired but satisfied. He'd had just begun the first few steps of a plan that he was rather optimistic about. Not just optimistic about finally defeating Golion (actually, he was rather pessimistic about that little detail) but he was very optimistic about the direction this new plan might lead the Empire. It would certainly cut the loss of grunt soldiers in half (depending on what you counted as a 'grunt soldier') and just might also weaken the on-planet rebellion. Yes, Sincline was a little mentally exhausted but very pleased with himself. He stepped off the lift with a smile on his face, but paused in his step, that smile melting into a frown when he saw his wife waiting for him.
She was leaning against the door to his chambers reading a datapad. She looked up as the lift door slid shut behind him and stood.
"I've been waiting for you." She said, tucking the datapad under one arm and crossing the distance between them.
"And why would you do a thing like that?" He asked.
"I… I've been thinking." Here Fala fidgeted, shifting the datapad from under her arm to in her hands again. She fiddled with it in the same way a factory worker might fiddle with his hat when asking a favor of his boss. She did not meat his eyes when she said, "You were right, back there when you let Ryou go. You spared his life. You could have just killed him right then and there. You probably should have even, but you didn't. You did it for selfish reasons. You want to hurt Kogane and that bothers me. But Kogane would find out sooner or latter anyway. I guess what I'm trying to say is… what I mean with all this rambling is… I'm trying to say… thank you."
Sincline remained silent in the wake of this unexpected and unlikely sentiment from her.
She looked up at him then and said again in a clear voice without stumbling, "Thank you for sparing Ryou. He's my friend and I would have been very sad if you had killed him."
The Emperor considered her words and the earnestness of her tone and decided that this must be some sort of 'peace offering' from her.
"I expect you never would have forgiven me either." He said.
"No, I probably never would have forgiven you." She agreed. "Not if you killed any one of my friends in front of me."
"Then I suppose it's a good thing I let him go."
"Yes." She nodded.
An awkward silence fell over them after that. Neither knew what to say after that and nether was sure if they should say anything. Sincline wondered if it would be all right if he just brushed past her to his chambers. He was tired and wanted to have to bit of a lay-down and a night-cap. Fala fidgeted as if she wanted to say more, but her lips remained sealed, pursed in a tight line of nervous indecision.
"What were you reading?" The Emperor asked in an attempt to break the awkward silence.
"Oh this?" Fala fumbled with the datapad, dropping it on the ground between their feet. Sincline reached down to pick it up for her. He was feeling accommodating for some reason. "Its just a collection of children's stories I've been reading. Just something to pass the time while you wait."
He tapped the screen to wake the device up out of its 'sleep mode' and scanned over the page she had been reading when he arrived. "I don't remember this being one of the books I provided for you. Is this something Nera smuggled in?"
"Don't say it like that." Fala snapped and pulled the datapad from his hands. "Nera's been very nice to me which is far more than I can say for you. I don't see anything wrong with her lending me a book or two."
"And teaching you things without my knowledge." He reminded her.
"Teaching me your language." She reminded him in turn. "Its not like she's been giving me pointers on how to disarm and evade you."
"Which is the only reason why I have not punished her."
They glared at one another for moments after that. Even when they were trying to make peace they still somehow always ended up arguing. How did that always happen?
"So, you're reading children's stories." Sincline decided to change the subject. "Could this mean that your opinion of our child has shifted?" Perhaps he sounded just a little two hopeful.
"No." A flat, firm, even negative. "No, my opinion of this thing hasn't changed. Nera lent me this anthology so I could practice my reading and that's all I'm doing with them."
Her husband looked crestfallen.
"Well then," he said in a mock chipper voice. "In that case, I demand that you read to me. Show me how much you've learned."
…
Ryou wrapped a towel around his waist as he exited the showers.
Before Amue had officially joined up with his rebellion the best anyone could hope for would have been a bowl of water and a rag. After Heracles started funding their cause, however, they got portable show modules with hot and cold water. The rebels had to fill the modules' tanks themselves (usually with water from the Teglin) but everyone was grateful for them all around. They had hollowed out a chamber in the cave network that made-up their main base and set the modules up in there, dorm-style. In some ways it was like being back at the Academy on Earth.
No one batted an eyelash at him as we navigated his way from the showers back to his own room wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. Everyone was to busy to notice or care, they all had their own missions, errand or just personal business to attend to. Yup, it was just like being back in the Academy dorms. Except here men and women got to cohabitate.
When he reached his room, Ryou threw off the towel and flopped down naked on his bedroll. He was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to take a nap. But he couldn't sleep just yet. There was still one final task to do before his mission was truly complete. Reluctantly, he pulled himself back up, pulled on a clean shirt and sat down at his desk to record his report for Amue and the Golion team. He knew the news of Fala's pregnancy would devastate Kogane, that fact had been the thing that had saved his life. Coming from the Galran news media he may not believe or could convince himself that it wasn't true and continue to carry on. But coming from Ryou, coming from Takashi's younger brother, from a friend and ally… then Kogane couldn't deny it. He would have to face the reality of it.
With a sobering sigh Ryou reached for a blank autoreader and began recording his message.
…
"… and he called that- this I mean, he called this t-treasure his sindariin." Fala finally finished with a huff. She had thought that her reading abilities were rather good, but being made to read aloud showed her just how far she still had to go. Reading silently to herself she caught the meaning of the words without having to know and understand all the actual words. Reading aloud she had to actually know what characters made what sounds and not just what their meanings were. It was surprisingly frustrating. But what made it all worse was the Sincline didn't tease her once! Instead he sat smiling every time she made a mistake. "There! I'm done. I read to you. Are you happy now?"
"Oh, very!" Her husband nodded, that same annoying smile plastered across his features.
Fala slouched on the sofa, not giving a damn as to whether or not it was 'lady-like'. All she had done was read a short little children's story, but for some reason she felt like she had just run a mile… in heals… uphill… both ways! (Whatever the hell that meant.)
Sincline stood and pored himself a glass of yarbarah. "Do you remember, I once said I was curious to know what you might think of some of our Galran proverbs?" He asked, coming back to sit on the couch next to her. "A story is a bit more than a proverb, but I'm still very interested in your interpretation of it. And please," he added, "don't just say something like 'its barbaric'. We've established that. I want to hear something new."
His wife just glared at him. "Jeez, I feel like I'm back in school!" She grumbled. "First you make me read and now you're making me analyze it! You're worse than Raible!"
He merely chuckled and sipped his blood-wine.
Fala let out another groan and drew her knees up to her chest, thinking. This had been the second time around she had read The Sindariin. She had chosen it to read to Sincline because it was short and because she had already read it once so it would (theoretically) be easier to read aloud. She had to admit that reading it a second time, it was a bit easier to understand as well. (Either that, or her general comprehension had improved.)
It was a story about a spoiled and rotten prince who couldn't take rejection and let vengence cloud his judgment. In any Altean story he would be a villain, but the prince of The Sindariin was the hero. That just did not make sense to Fala. How could any society promote hate, vengeance, pride and scorn as good behaviors to their children? Then she though about the ending, how he suddenly and magically regretted what he did and was happy with the little piece of whatever-it-was that he found in the castle's wreckage. So… maybe the prince's behavior up until that point wasn't what the story was supposed to be teaching but rather the whole lesson was in the paragraph at the end. So… did that mean that the actual story itself was pointless?
"I think…" She began slowly. "I think the story is trying to teach the lesson that you should be satisfied with the things you have and not covet what others have." She chanced a glance up at Sincline to see if she was right or not but she didn't know how to interpret his interested expression and so focused her eyes back on the coffee table and continued. "At the beginning it says that his brother was made heir instead of him. But he wanted a kingdom so he went out looking for one. In the end he has less than what he started off with but he's happier. So, the moral of the story is to be happy with the things that you do have and not be jealous of the things that you don't have."
She looked up at Sincline again.
He just sipped his wine and continued to study here.
"Well?" She finally demanded. "Say something."
"Wrong." He smiled. "Completely and totally wrong. But an interesting take. Its exactly what I'd expect from someone coming from a soft and lovey-dovey culture like Altea."
"Oh?" Fala was suddenly irritated. "Then why don't you tell me what the actual Galran moral of the story is?"
Sincline sipped his wine lazily, drawing out her frustration before setting the now empty glass down and saying, "The point, my wife, is that a victory is still a victory even if you didn't get quite what you wanted and victories are meant to be enjoyed."
He stood and offered her a hand to help her to her feet as well. Fala accepted the hand in confusion and climbed to her feet. He lead them away from the sitting area to a small open space in the room and twirled her around as if dancing to music only he could here.
"The prince didn't get the kingdom or the woman that he wanted." He said. "I don't have your affection or your arda. But the prince was still able to conquer an entire kingdom with just a small militia; he even got a bit of treasure for it. I still have you as my wife and I've even got an heir on the way when I thought I couldn't have children. The prince didn't get what he wanted out of his victory, but he was still the victor and that's why he's happy. I didn't get exactly what I want from you, but I still have you and so I'm… satisfied."
He swept them around in a wide arch before dipping her and then repeating the step.
"I think you just gave the exact same interpretation that I gave just in different words." Fala commented as she aloud herself to be lead in his unfamiliar dance steps. She had no idea Sincline could dance. She's certainly never seen him dance. He had surprisingly good rhythm.
"I disagree, but think whatever you like." He shrugged and twirled her again. "To be honest, The Sindariin is not my favorite story. As far as children's tales go, the story of Aradianya and the Five Colored Dolls is much more entertaining. Its longer though, it might be a bit above you."
"Is that a challenge?" Fala growled.
"Interpret it however you like." He ended their little dance and stepped back from her. "Anyway, I'm tired. I've had an eventful day and I just want to lie down. I expect you're sick of my presence as well. You're dismissed."
She turned to leave but paused in mid-step. Turning back to face him, she fidgeted as she had done in the corridor, her lips pursed in a tight line of nervous indecision.
"What is it now?" He asked.
"I was also thinking… While I was waiting for you earlier, I mean. I was thinking maybe if you… maybe if you can keep up this 'niceness' that you started today by letting Ryou go I might… No, I will be willing to… to, um…" Her cheeks colored a bright shade of pink. "To do some 'not-real-sex' for you. I'd be willing to perform sexual favors for you."
She averted here eyes, not wanting to see his reaction to her words. Fala scooped up her datapad and dashed out of the room before he had the chance to grab her or whatever else she feared he might do.
…
(A/N: Okay, so I've been procrastinating on packing which is not good. But it gave me the time to write this latest chapter which I suppose is good. I'm moving from California to Tennessee and the logistics for it have just been one big headache after another. I am especially worried about taking my cat on the plain with me. I'll have to arrive at the airport two hours (or more) before the flight and then the flight itself is three hours and then it'll be another two or three hour drive from the airport to the town I'm moving to. Rawrrr! My poor little baby-cat! –cry- That's to long for her to be trapped in a box!)