Rosefire
Known to only a few, the Arcadian Imperial Gardens are a hidden gem few outsiders are invited to see. The House of Solidor has held the throne of Arcades for several generations, and in doing so left their stamp on the palace grounds, just as they have the rest of the Empire. Tucked safely within a veritable fortress, the Imperial Gardens boast flora from the furthest corners of Ivalice.
The late Empress Anatolia, mother to His Grace, the Emperor Gramis, was quoted as saying, "Arcades shall one day encompass all of Ivalice. So too shall Our Gardens."
Both her husband and son have laboured to make it so.
But among the rare Eskar Lilies of the Sandsea and fragile White Saxiflage from the Paramina Mountains, it was the common Rose that held the heart of the Empress.
Ensconced in a magnificent glass conservatory, the Roses bloom year round. Every variety in every hue imaginable are cultivated here. But you may have it on very good authority that Empress always favored roses that were red.
o.o.o
Lord Harran held his hand aloft and stroked the crimson petals with a tenderness that had long fled the Imperial Court. He frowned, for the blooms brought forth painfully beautiful memories of his grandmother. The Lady had always been such a kind and loving woman; she had cared for him personally when his mother had passed, him and his brothers. His heart clenched at the thought of them. His grandmother would weep to see them now.
"Har~!" His younger brother Sidon rounded the green glass corner without any of the grace expected of the Imperial Family. Harran couldn't help but sigh. Hair disheveled, tunic untucked, and panic written plainly on his face, few would know at first sight that Sidon was the Emperor's second son. Bitterly, Harran wondered if even their father bothered to remember that these days. His new wife was a menace.
"Har!" Sidon continued, heedless of his elder brother's ire, "I have done something terribly, terribly stupid!"
Harran felt his eyes widen at the blatant admission. Without thinking he snatched Sidon by the collar. "Not here!" he hissed, and dragged his brother away, out of the green houses.
o.o.o
Harran was used to cleaning up his little brothers' messes. He was the eldest; it was his job. Vayne was by far the easiest. Quick and clever, his baby brother's only true vice was wandering away from his guards. And by wander, Harran meant completely baffle, befuddle, and beget. More than once Harran had snatched the precocious Vayne from the alleys of Old Arcades or the bowels of some courtier's mansion they had to visit.
Sidon, unfortunately, was not so easy. He didn't wander too often, thank the Gods, but his brother was far too fond of his drink. Often Harran would outright order servers to cease supplying him with wine, and he had dragged Sidon away from countless drunken trysts. But this! This!
Harran slowly, carefully, rubbed his temples to alleviate the blossoming migraine taking root in his skull. Much more quickly, he checked and rechecked every lock, keyhole, and listening screen in the room. They were huddled away in Harran's most private chambers.
He turned to Sidon and hissed, "Please inform me that your previous statement was a fanciful slip of the tongue." He wouldn't kill his brother, no matter how tempting it may be.
Sidon, for his part, looked utterly miserable. Truly, Harran had seen him with a better complexion with a three day hangover. "It isn't," Sidon bemoaned. "I'd had at least two bottles of Madhu, and I didn't realize it was her, but ~ "
"You slept with our father's wife!" Harran thundered, temper snapping outright, "Gods above, Sidon, she is our step-mother!"
Sidon let out a painful moan, and pinned Harran with hysterical blue eyes. Harran would not kill his brother.
He wouldn't have to.
Emperor Gramis would kill him himself.
And just like that, Harran made up his mind.
o.o.o
The Lady Uma, Harran snarled vindictively in his head, was a conniving whore.
Harran had quietly, and rather subtly considering their station, smuggled Sidon from Arcades that very night. He'd even told some semblance of truth to their father, with the straightest face he had ever produced; Sidon was recovering in the countryside from a terrible bout with his drink. Harran had even wrangled a doctor from Draklor to provide treatment. Harran had hoped that the Uma would realize how perilous her new position as Empress was, and let the whole thing die. Instead, she had done one better.
"And it is with great joy!" the Emperor Gramis announced to the entire court, and not a little drunkenly, Sidon got that honestly at least, "That I announce the continued security of House Solidor!" The simpering look on the Empress' face made Harran's stomach curdle. "My Lady, your Empress, carries yet another son of the Empire!"
The cheering swelled amongst the nobles of the court, but all Harran could feel was his heart sink.
He knew exactly who's child that bitch was bearing, and it wasn't his father's.
Thin fingers curled around his, and Harran startled to look down into the clear sapphire of Vayne's eyes. His youngest brother looked up at him with a waxy complexion, and the usual sharpness of his expression had morphed into thinly veiled terror. All Harran could do was grip Vayne's hand in return.
And curse whatever God had made the boy so clever.
o.o.o
Harran stood quietly in the conservatory, hands cradling a carmine bud. He damned his father, the wizened fool, for this was cruel even by his standards. He could hear armoured soldiers moving quickly in the distance. He paid them no mind. It didn't matter anymore. Very little did.
"Har~" came the tremulous call, and Harran turned around to see one of the few things that did still matter edge carefully around a corner.
Harran smiled. Vayne was, after all, his little brother. The only one he had left.
And damned if he let that bitch win so easily.
Harran smiled bitterly, letting his brother know silently that all was forgiven. Vayne's small hands trembled, and his eyes were cloudy with terror.
Harran smiled still as blade pulled away. He sank to his knees, blood and blossoms spread across the ground in a macabre claret carpet.
He smiled. House Solidor would live on.
Author's Notes: Harran and Sidon are ancient cities in Mesopotamia, just like Larsa. Officially, the elder Solidors are never named, but I wanted something that connected them to their brothers.
And officially, I think Gramis was the blackest villain in the entire game. Vayne I can forgive. You do crazy shit for the people you love. But ordering your son to kill his older brothers? Killing your own brothers? Letting the Senate try to manipulate your teenage son into doing the same? If anyone's wondering why Arcadian politics are so messed up, you don't have to look any farther than that monster.