Of Wyverns and Brands

Chapter 27

I chew on my bottom lip without thinking as I stare at my notes. After grabbing another notebook, I was now compiling everything I still remembered of the games on its sheets. From plot points to recruitment spots to even the general layout of maps. Everything I could remember. I need to be ready. I need to be able to adapt.

An entire battle was missed earlier, and I still can't figure out why. Timing? Maybe, but it didn't seem likely. In fact, none of the battles were going like they should. The only battle I've been in that didn't change was the one at the river. I've been changing too much.

But if I really want to stay ahead of the game, I need to figure out what else could be changing. I can't even be sure of the next few battles now. The amount of battles and even which battles the Apostle would send them on might now change since we didn't end up rescuing her. All in all, it is quite frustrating.

I swiftly close the book as Soren abruptly enters the room without knocking. He looks irritated as usual, but still gives me a nod in greeting as he takes a seat in the sole chair of the room.

"Is the meeting over?" I question from my lounging position on my bed. Yes, a bed. An actual, comfortable, real bed. I haven't got off of it since I came in here. Soren and I had been bunked together after we had been assigned an area of the Apostle's tower slash mansion. Two beds, a chair, desk, and chest. It's like I've returned to college.

"Yes," Soren replies, sighing. "Ike made quite the blunder, though, and almost paid for it with his life. He was not meant for the court life."

"Let me guess. Insulted the Apostle?" I ask, literally already knowing the answer.

Another sigh. "Apparently, he didn't like the games one must play here in Begnion. It was only the Apostle's mercy that kept him alive. I'll need to drill some manner of tact in him when it comes to the nobility."

"You? Teach someone tact?" I quip, grinning at the thought.

Soren glares at me, but my smile doesn't leave. I guess I'm feeling a lot more comfortable around Soren than before. "We'll be meeting soon to discuss a few things, but first, I believe we need to talk."

I sit up as the mood gets serious. I was expecting him to come. "It's about the battle not happening, right?"

Soren narrows his eyes and nods, but raises a finger in a silencing gesture. He points toward the door. Don't talk? Stay quiet?

…Oh. Mentioning an attack on the Apostle in her own tower would be bad. Got it. "I don't know why it didn't happen," I finally say, my voice lower. "I'm been trying to figure it out, but nothing comes to mind."

Soren nods. "The situation matched too close to what you said as well. A ship approaching, an envoy coming. All of it matched, but nothing happened. My only guess is that by telling us of the event threw it off. We reacted different in a way that changed what happened beforehand. Which is why I have a suggestion for now."

I didn't really agree with his reasoning, but I waited for him to continue.

"Unless something bad is going to happen, don't warn us. Even if there will be a fight," Soren states.

"Huh? But, I thought that was why-"

Soren shakes his head, cutting me off. "The unexpected happens all the time in life. One learns to expect the unexpected and adapt to changing circumstances. It's my job as the tactician to help the group form to meet any obstacle quickly.

"Expecting something, though, and something else happening, brings a bigger disadvantage. It slows reaction time and confuses someone when they need to be adapting to the change."

I nod, trying to follow along.

"Either your visions are not always accurate, or the situation changes as we find out about it," Soren continues. "Therefore, relying on your visions might prepare for the wrong encounter. I would rather walk in expecting anything than expecting the wrong thing. So for the time being, unless it's really important, keep your visions to yourself. And be careful of them as well, lest you find yourself falling into that same trap."

"Oh…okay," I respond. I mean, what else can I say? He's right. If I tell them one thing, and it leads to another, it might make things worse. Yet I also told myself I wouldn't hold back. That I would tell all I could to try and help. Looks like I'm just going to have to rely on just helping by fighting for now.

After a few minutes of silence, Soren stands up. "It's about time to meet up with the others, so let's go."

"This bed is too comfortable to get up right now," I lazily answer, rolling over.

Soren gives me a glare that means he means business, so I obligingly roll off the bed and get up off the floor. Do not worry, precious bed. I will be back to lay on you soon. I don't know if I will ever be able to sleep on a bedroll again.

The wing they were staying in had a large common room with the rest of the rooms connected by two short halls. It was removed from the main area of the tower a little, probably for both privacy and to keep us from wandering where we shouldn't. The rest of the mercenaries were all gathered in the common room animatedly talking. It seems the luxuriousness of Sienne, and especially their rooms, has amazed most of them. Despite how full the room felt, I'm still all too aware of three missing members.

Ike raises his hand, and everyone goes silent. "The Apostle has accepted the princess as the true Princess of Crimea. However, it seems that it will be a while before they can choose to help her or not. Until then, we'll have to help out however we can to help Elincia gain favor. Much as it irks me, the Apostle has decided to hire us to do a few tasks, so we're not on vacation yet." And he really does look irked, too. Sanaki really got under his skin.

Soren takes over from him. "As we'll be away from the capital for a while, we decided to leave a personal guard to attend to Elincia as a safety precaution. The following five will be staying behind. Drake." And of course I'm getting benched. Right after my power-up, too. "Titania. Mist. Sothe. And Volke." Wait, Volke's here? …I forgot all about him, didn't I?

I as start to look for Volke, my other opinion taking a back seat, the other three voice their disapproval as one, though all of them are strangely overridden by Kieran's loud disapproval. Guess I'm not the only unhappy one, then.

No signs of Volke. I guess that means he was recruited at some point, though. When? How?

Soren glares at the discontent mercenaries until they quiet down. "These were chosen for a reason. First off, Kieran, you have no ability to judge when to stay quiet and how to keep an indoor voice, something that will not pass in Begnion's courts."

"I AM NOT THAT LOUD! WHY, WHEN I FACED THE FOUR EARRED-"

Soren glares at him, but he doesn't stop. He is actually quite loud, and being in this filled area is not making it any better. Trying to stop him, I move next to him and shout, "What's that, Oscar!? You're going to help the princess win favor and become her number one!?" Okay, that was kind of weak, but not even I can really think straight with him yelling.

Oh, thank God. He stopped. Or not. I cover my ears as he goes to speak again. "BLAST YOU, YOU DASTARDLY VILLIAN! I WILL NOT LET YOU TAKE ALL THE GLORY! FOR QUEEN ELINCIA!" Then he charges into a room, probably his. Everyone sighs in relief as our hearing returns, though Oscar appears a bit baffled.

"I'll have to remember that trick," Soren mutters, glaring at Kieran's door. "Anyway, Titania was chosen for her history. As a retired palace knight, you should know the ways of court better than most and have the ability to protect the princess if needed. You'll be her personal bodyguard for the duration."

Titania looks conflicted, but finally nods. Her spot really does make the most sense.

"Mist was chosen to stay as Elincia's handmaiden," Soren continues. "You can easily slip into the role without raises any eyes, and it won't require too much court knowledge to perform. Plus, you'll be on hand to heal someone in the case of an emergency."

Mist still doesn't look happy as she sighs in defeat.

"Sothe will be able to act as the errand boy," Soren says, to which Boyd laughs at. Sothe glares at him to no avail. "Your role is quite important, too." Sothe stops glaring and turns back to Soren, confused. "You outward role is to do the simple tasks the princess will assign you, but your secretive task will be to gather information and rumors, as well as to be able to spot any suspicious activity. I believe a thief should be up for the task?"

Sothe looks surprised, but vigorously nods. "Yep. I can do that. Leave it to me."

"Volke will be keeping an eye from a distance. A secret card if you will," Soren adds, though Volke isn't around to be found.

"What about me?" I ask. "What's my role in all this?"

"A noble of Crimea, of course," Soren deadpans.

I blink once…twice…thrice. Soren is still looking at me without any hint of jesting. "You're serious?"

"Of course. Even if you aren't of noble blood, you're the only member able to keep up with appearances and etiquette among the aristocrats. Plus, you seemed used to all this finery. You'll be acting as a minor noble, so you'll be a simple tag along."

"Not possible," I state, shaking my hands. "I have no clue how to act in a court. I couldn't even tell you the difference between a dinner fork and a salad fork." And I only know there is such a thing because Wal-Mart sells it. "How am I supposed to pull that off?"

Another glare. "You fake it. Any slights can be blamed on the minor differences in Crimean and Begnion culture. You'll also be getting pointers from the princess and Titania. So you'll have to deal with it. Any other objections? No? Good. Dismissed." Not that I don't have more objections, he just didn't leave a breath in there for someone to actually raise one.

Great. I hate politics.

-o-

One day. I got to spend one day in my room. The five…well, make that four of us. Volke still hasn't shown up, even though I want to see him in the flesh. Who wouldn't want to see him for real? Anyway, the four of us had to relocate to Elincia's area. Not that I'm complaining since I still got a real bed.

The princess had been given spacious guest quarters closer to the entrance of the mansion. Only three bedrooms attached to the common area of this wing, but everything was a step nicer. The rooms were decorated and had soft rugs. There was a bathroom and privy attached to this wing as well, a rare commodity even in Begnion apparently.

Though Elincia was surprised at our sudden plans, she had seemed both relieved and glad that she would not be left alone while Ike tackled the Apostle's jobs. The mercenaries had already left for their first assignment: capturing some merchants. At least that seemed to be going as planned. However, it would take over a week to finish. That was not planned.

And while they got to enjoy a good fight, I'm stuck with stuck up aristocrats. I'm still a little hung-up on that.

Midnight was staying in a pen nearby, but I didn't like that, either. Especially since I wouldn't be able to check on her often with all the plans it seemed the princess had.

"Do you find the rooms to your liking?" Elincia asks, picking up a cup of tea as we gathered in the common area to talk.

I nod, ignoring the tea and rather dry bed pieces on the plate. I don't like tea, and the bread is also unleavened in flavor. Yuck.

"The bed is so soft!" Mist exclaims. "I didn't know beds could be that soft!"

Titania smiles. "It is quite extravagant, but I will be able to get used to it."

"It's a lot better than sleeping in an alley, that's for sure," Sothe says.

Elincia looks a bit put off by the comparison, but tries to smile anyway. "Well, that's good. It seems the Apostle has plans for tomorrow, but we shall be gathering for tea the day after. There is also a ball being prepared, so I was thinking of doing some shopping in Begnion's market tomorrow. Is everyone up to it?" Tea? Ball? Shopping?

"Yes!" Mist shouts, jumping up in excitement. "Oh, I would love to go shopping!"

Titania chuckles, seeming to be in a good mood as she watches Mist. "Of course, Your Highness."

"Eh, I'm not really used to shopping," Sothe admits, scratching the back of his head. "I usually just took what I want. But I guess I can give this a try." Again with throwing Elincia completely off.

As for me? I'm still stuck on her schedule. A tea party, a ball, and now shopping? Could this get any worse?

-o-

AN: Ah hah! I'm the first one to use Emma as a character! In fact, I had to put a character request in for it and everything. I'll change the main characters around as the story progresses (like how it was Jill and OC at the start) as only four are allowed. So, whichever four seem mainist to me at the moment.

I plan for a lot of fun these next few chapters. Cultural whiplash, aristocrats, and even some foreshadowing. Time to see some of the events while Ike & co were battling in the distance. R&R.

Update: Minor errors corrections done while I did a simple proofreading.