I got distracted playing Darktide.
That is All.
There was, originally, going to be a bit of smut in this chapter but…honestly, it was going to be a one off with the girls involved not being part of the main pairing, so I just cut the content and left it as a fade to black. I'll save writing smut for the actual waifu!
Finally, as always, please consider helping to flesh out the TV Tropes page.
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Dawn Is Just A Heartbeat Away (Hope Is Just A Sunrise Away)
Chapter Two
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"…should have seen the look on his face when we kicked in the door, swords drawn! Like a deer caught in a spotlight, wide-eyed and frozen stiff, as if that would make him invisible!" Aeliana grinned, the grin taking on a distinctly wicked edge as she continued. "Of course, that changed quickly enough when my legionnaire put her boot heel between his legs. Bastard hadn't even managed to get past her skirts before the countdown expired and we went in."
She paused for a moment, waiting just long enough that the chuckles began as her audience thought that she was done, and made a casual shooing motion as she went on.
"Poor fellow tripped a few more times on his way to the cells, of course. Couldn't risk him attacking us if we tried to pull his pants up, you see, and so we were forced to escort him with a bit of a hobble about his ankles." She finished, and the crowd around her erupted in amusement, the men guffawing and slapping each other's backs or shoulders while the women giggling brightly.
"Always nice to hear about savages getting their comeuppance." One of the young men said as the laughter died down, crossing his arms over his chest with a smug smile.
"Surely that was dangerous for your legionnaire, though! What if he had actually managed to…to…that is, if he had actually been able to assault her?" one of the young women asked tremulously, one slender, silken-skinned hand clutching at the pearl necklace she wore.
"She had a linkpearl, in case he actually managed to get close to success before we arrived, and besides, armor or no, she could have easily broken him in half if she had to. It's why she was picked to play the bait, after all." Vestara assured the girl with a smirk and a wink, getting a fetching flush in response.
"I suppose the other savages rioted once he was executed?" another of the young men sneered, but Aeliana shook her head firmly.
"No, not in the least. She was a local auxiliary, after all, with no outward signs that she was one of my people. That indicated to the other Ala Mhigans that he was perfectly willing to rape his own people if it meant getting what he wanted. That didn't win him any affections from them. They all remember what their Mad King's soldiers did during his purges, and they don't look kindly on it." She explained honestly with a slight shrug. "If he had been a member of the Resistance or a petty criminal, they likely would have made issue of an execution, but for a rapist caught in the act?"
She shook her head again, and the crowd around her looked thoughtful, at least for the most part. One young man, dressed in the uniform of a member of the Garlean Home Guard, snorted with a look of contempt.
"Resistance, pah! The scum should be glad that the Empire has taken over their little shithole of a country instead of letting them wallow in their own squalid filth. What sort of reasonable people not only worship a god, but choose a god of destruction for their patron? It's disgusting!" he growled, amidst the sounds of agreement from the others, and Aeliana couldn't resist the slight, censorious frown that creased her face in response as he continued. "How they could not only resist our kindness, but do so for so long is beyond me entirely!"
"The Ala Mhigans might be heathens, and the might worship Rhalgr, but they're not weak or cowardly despite those facts." She responded, a bit sharply, bringing the group's focus back to herself. "Perhaps if it had been a generation or three from now, things would be different, but these are the same men and women that fought a civil war against their own ruler because of his madness. Having fought for a decade against their own countrymen to throw of one tyrant, they are not about to let a second one, to their view, conquer them without a struggle."
The crowd around her murmured thoughtfully, or at least they sounded thoughtful. Whether they were actually putting any stock in her words, she didn't know. What she did know, however, was the girl on her arm had been pressing against her more and more the longer that she talked, gradually molding herself against Aeliana's armored side, and the young officer was very much enjoying both the sensation and the attention. The way the girl looked at her with sparkling eyes, the awe and respect that seemed to border on adoration…it was deeply enjoyable, perhaps bordering even on intoxicating. She hadn't joined the military in order to get that sort of attention, but she certainly didn't mind this particular side benefit. She might have to invite the girl back to her room at the end of the night, if things continued on like this.
"You know, I've enjoyed your company the whole of this ball, yet you've still not graced my ears with your name." the Reaper murmured lowly in the lull, her circle of admirers falling into their own discussions for the moment, either about what she had said or about other, similar (or conflicting stories) they had heard from other soldiers at other events much like this one.
"Valeria goe Aeneas Praeses Cassius." She responded promptly with a fetching blush, using her father's name, rank, and title as was tradition for those that lacked a rank of their own, and Aeliana's eyebrows raised slightly. Praeses Cassius goe Aeneas, she knew, was the man chosen by the Emperor to rule Locus Amoenus. Due at least in part to being the Emperor's (very) distant cousin, but also because the man was an administrator of great talent. She hadn't known he had daughters, and certainly not ones this attractive.
"Mmh, a fine name for a shining example of Garlean beauty. And to think that I have been blessed with the companionship of our beloved Emperor's own cousin and not even known!" Aeliana flattered, shaking her head in partially-feigned dismay as the gave the other girl her best smile, enjoying the way Valeria's blush deepened in response. Perhaps winning the affections of a highborn would prove easier than she had thought. "Tell me, O Rose of Garlemald, do you have an escort for tonight, or are you alone and without company?"
"She is most certainly not looking for your company, brute." A new voice spat, as a young man shouldered his way into the midst of the group, glaring darkly at Aelinana and the girl on her arm. "Valeria, what are you doing wasting your time with van Baelsar's pet witch?"
"Having a good time, Marius, since you abandoned your fiancé in an effort to get under the skirt of every serving girl in the palace!" Valeria snapped back, somehow getting even closer to Aeliana, who was suddenly feeling rather less flattered by the noble's attentions than she had been not minutes before. This was not her preferred meaning when she thought about being between a couple, though admittedly she wasn't overly found of couples involving men anyway. That being said, getting caught in between a squabbling couple, whatever she thought of the issues between them, was not how she intended to spend the rest of this party. It certainly wasn't the sort of trouble she wanted to bring to her mentor's doorstop, but sadly that same desire to prevent problems for her Legate meant she couldn't just bow out and fade into the crowd. Not only would she appear a coward for so quickly retreating, but she might earn the ire of Valeria and the other youths in the crowd as well.
"Ah, you'll have to forgive me, I had not realized that the lovely lady was engaged." She said calmly, with a friendly (and hopefully placating) smile on her face as she regarded the angry young man across from her, subtly trying to worm herself out of Valeria's grasp. Unfortunately, the lady seemed quite attached at the moment. "I was glad to keep her company whilst you were otherwise distracted, sir. She was an excellent audience, along with the rest of those around us. You are whom, sir?"
Hopefully, reminding him of their audience would encourage him to simply take his fiancé and depart, rather than cause A Situation in public, before the eyes of half of Garlemald and the Emperor himself. Many of whom were now paying a great deal more attention to our little section of the room than they had been before.
"Were she engaged or otherwise, she shouldn't lower herself to waste her attentions of the Black Wolf's favorite bitch. My name is Marius wir Augustus, Praefectus Castrorum of the Second Imperial Legion. Fourth Cousin to the Emperor." Came the sneered response, and Aeliana felt her smile become rather fixed, eyes narrowing slightly at the insult and the implication. It was a common one, though no one in the XIVth dared voice it where others might hear them any longer. Not after she had proven it wasn't her body that had gotten her posted there. "Somehow, I wasn't surprised to see a whore with polluted blood such as yourself telling nonsense stories to scrape together what meagre scraps of attention from your superiors that you can."
"Small wonder that your fiancé wasn't eager to spend excessive amounts of time with your discourteous and philandering self." Aeliana remarked with a calm that she didn't particularly feel as Ishtar's miniature avatar landed on her shoulder and scowled darkly at her partner's interlocutor. There was a rustle in the crowd around them as she failed to display the appropriate fear or appeasement, they expected from someone confronted by a member of the Imperial Family, however distant. Well, if that surprised them, they were about to be truly shocked. "Someone else might take great offense to your behavior and seek redress, but as an officer and a gentlewoman I am well-experienced in the angry words that are the width and breadth of some's talents."
Her smile took on a distinctly poisonous edge as those within earshot murmured or gave muffled laughter, and Marius reddened in embarrassment and building anger at both her subtle insult and the amusement of his peers who had witnessed it. As he fumbled for a response, neither used to his attacks being returned nor to them being so ineffective, Aeliana gently removed Valeria's hands from her arm, gave a slight bow to the crowd, and turned to depart. She had defended herself verbally, proved that she was not a pushover, and was now withdrawing with dignity. Sans companionship for the rest of the night, but given the circumstances she could easily live with that fact.
"Hey, I didn't say you could walk away!" Marius squawked indignantly from behind her, and she lifted a hand and lazily waved it over her shoulder in response as she kept right on walking. She had no intention of squabbling with someone like him, someone who probably hadn't lifted a blade in true battle in his entire life, and certainly not because he was embarrassed about being a shit fiancé.
"Marius, just leave it! Stop embarrassing yourself, and me for that matter!" she heard Valeria snap behind her, sounding beyond exasperated with her future husband's behavior. "Twas humiliating enough to have the entire palace watching you chase skirts with me present, never mind this sort of…"
There was a loud smack, a cry of pain, and the indrawn breath of a dozen sets of lungs behind her, and Aeliana froze in disbelief. Making an abrupt and precise about face, she stormed (there was no other word for it) back towards the group, pulling the teary-eyed Valeria, who was cradling one rapidly-reddenning cheek with an expression of shock and distress, behind herself as she squared off with Marius.
"There aren't many sorts of people that I truly despise, Marius," she hissed lowly, jaw tight with her own growing anger, and he seemed to swell at the continued insults she levelled against him with her mode of address. "Those that beat their partner or family, to whatever degree that person is theirs, are quite high on the list. Do you want to know what I did to the last person I caught doing that?"
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"Gaius?" Solus asked calmly and quietly in the brief silence that followed the escalation of the confrontation.
"It was a mother that beat her children badly, Radiance. All four needed magical healing to survive, and one of them was beaten so badly 'round the head that he will likely never see again." Gaius responded promptly, tone dark, though there was a certain satisfaction as well as he continued. "Aeliana had her taken into the town square and tied to a post, her injured children on cots at her feet, and ordered the entire town to present themselves. She detailed their injuries, what she had done to cause them, and declared that she would leave the woman's punishment in the hands of her neighbors."
"Dare I assume that it did not end well for the woman?" Solus wasn't really asking, honestly, knowing full well how such treatment of children could end for the abuser, and Gaius' grim headshake confirmed his suspicions. The woman had likely died quite painfully, though whether slow or fast, he wouldn't care to guess.
"Grandfather, should we really let them continue from this point? The brat has already struck his fiancé in public, which will cause no end of problems with her father, and I'm quite sure that Quirinius will not tolerate much more nonsense on his part. Especially if he tries to hit her." Varis pointed out, and Solus hummed thoughtfully as the surrounding crowd spread out and gathered into a ring around the glaring pair. Not receiving a response, his grandson continued. "It wouldn't end well for him, of course, he's an incompetent fool, but the political side effects to Quirinius could destroy a promising career."
"Or enhance it, once Prases Cassius hears what our mutual cousin did to his precious daughter, and that the Black Wolf's protégé defended her honor and her health." Solus pointed out, getting a grimace from both of the men standing beside him, amusement spiking in his heart at their mutual distaste for politicking. Still, Varis had a point. If this girl was who he suspected she was, he wouldn't tolerate some broken wretch losing his temper and hiring someone to slit her throat because she put him in his place with a handful of words. "Very well. Varis, I think we will leave the intervention to you. He is our cousin, after all, so it is only appropriate that one of us reminds him of his place. Gaius, you will find my grandson's faithful twins, wherever they are hiding away. They will ensure that young Quirinius stays out of trouble for the rest of the night."
That didn't thrill either of the men, but both obeyed without question, Varis marching towards the arguing duo while Gaius headed off with sure steps back the way he had originally come. Somehow, the fact that the man knew exactly where the two Soranus girls were hiding didn't surprise him. Zodiark, the three of them had probably been hiding together! Enhancing his hearing, he listened in to the continuing squabble.
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"You should remember your place, Quirinius. I am your superior officer, of superior rank amongst our people, and related to the Emperor himself! You should be on your knees thanking me for even giving you the chance to apologize for your mistakes!" Marius blustered furiously, gesticulating somewhat wildly, and Aeliana gave an indelicate snort of contempt.
"You're not my superior in any respect, though you might outrank me. Your mannerisms are more appropriate for a drunken tavern lout than a gentleman of your exalted rank and relation. Not only do you abandon your fiancé at an event such as this, but you do so in order to chase other women before her very eyes. You are a cad, a rake, and in my opinion a disgrace to both your bloodline and your uniform." She shot back, ignoring the gasps around her. A small voice in the back of her mind, one that sounded remarkably like her Legate, was telling her that she had pushed her luck past the breaking point, but she ignored it. Her blood was up, her temper roused, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon if this bastard kept opening his damn mouth. Besides which, all the restraint she possessed at the moment was being used to make sure her seething, far less morally inclined voidsent didn't exsanguinate him in front of the entire empire.
"How dare you…!" he started, and she couldn't resist the opportunity.
"Quite easily." She cut in sardonically, getting another chorus of gasps and quiet titters of nervous amusement, and his face turned such a shade of puce she wondered for a moment if he was about to have some manner of apoplexy.
"Your uncouth, barbaric, disgraceful behavior and constant insults leave me no choice but…" Marius started, and Aeliana's blood seemed to congeal in her veins as she realized that she was about to be challenged to a duel. She had pushed him too far, and now things were in motion that she couldn't stop. She would have no choice but to accept, and no matter what the result was, it would be terrible (likely fatal) for her. Not to mention the trouble it would bring down on her mentor's head!
"To do nothing, cousin." A severe tone cut his words and her fears off, only to replace them with new ones as the towering, living wall that was Varis van Galvus appeared, glowering at both of them, and the entire crowd took several step backs as Aeliana and Marius swallowed nervously. Though not officially declared heir, it was a well-known and accepted fact that he was the one most likely to rise to the throne when his grandfather passed away.
"Cousin, this foul brute…!" Marius started to bluster, clearly hoping for filial support in the argument, only to be cut off by an imperious wave of Varis' hand.
"Grandfather and I are well aware of what Aeliana rem Quirinius has done: entertained a group of her peers with stories of glory from the battlefield and the provinces. That one of those peers was your neglected fiancé is no fault of hers. As for you," his attentions turned to Aeliana, and she stiffened to something rather like attention. "Though I appreciate your desire to defend the young lady's health and honor, you will comport yourself with more grace. Whatever issues you might take with my cousin's behavior, standing in the middle of my grandfather's hall insulting one another is unacceptable for any scion of Garlemald, never mind an officer. The two of you will not address one another the rest of the night, nor will you send others to do so in your stead."
His eyes swept over the rest of the group, paralyzed as they were by the mingled nervousness and fascination the situation called for. He didn't need to say a word, simply arched one pale eyebrow, and they scattered like leaves before a stiff autumn breeze, leaving only herself, Marius, and his fiancé with the assumptive heir.
"Miss Aeneas, perhaps you ought to make yourself comfortable amongst the other young ladies of court for the rest of tonight's events." He suggested mildly, and the girl around whom the entire conflict had revolved flushed (highlighting the mark on her face) and curtseyed deeply before leaving. "Aeliana rem Quirinius, you will spend the rest of the night in the company of my officers, the Soranus sisters, to ensure that there are no further incidents. You, cousin, will be spending the rest of the night with me. It seems I must remind you that relation to the Emperor does not excuse disgracing his household with public and flagrant misbehaviors."
A small gesture of one large hand turned Aeliana's attention towards a stern Gaius van Baelsar, and the two young women in complementary deep blue and crimson dresses standing a half-step behind him. She eyed them from afar, knowing that her mentor would not be speaking with her tonight, but that she would no doubt receive quite the lecture in the morning. The fact that she would have minders the rest of the night wasn't particularly appreciated either, though she had to confess it was probably not unreasonable under the circumstances. Still, she mused thoughtfully with approval, at least they were attractive. And twins at that!
"We will discuss this in the morning. Annia, Julia, you have your instructions." Her legatus said briskly the moment she halted in front of him, turning on his heel and retreating the way he had come as quickly as possible. Probably trying to hide from the single women and the plotting matriarchs with passels of marriageable daughters, no doubt. His profound reluctance to attend balls was one of the few things about him that baffled her. Even if he loved Livia, which she believed he did, for all he gruffly ordered her about like any other subordinate (much to the tribune's delight, it must be said) and pretended otherwise, events such as this presented such opportunity for a man as great as he. Why did he not take advantage of it?
"Quirinius?" the voice of the Soranus in blue drew her from her thoughts, and she blinked before returning her attention to the two of them.
"Ah, my ladies, forgive me for my introspection. I was simply contemplating how best to thank your honored legatus for his assistance with his cousin. You are fortunate to serve so imposing a commander." She said immediately with a courtly bow, forgoing a salute given their civilian dress. Taking a heartbeat to examine them again at this closer range, she continued. "Of course, he is all the more fortunate to have the confidence and companionship of the two icons of the lethal grace and incredible beauty that defines Garlean women that I see before me."
They rolled their eyes together, but a faint dusting of pink on their cheeks gave there appreciation away. Perhaps tonight wouldn't be a total loss, if she was going to have a pair of identical twins for company. Even if it stayed entirely innocent (and she was really rather hoping otherwise), it would be an enjoyable time. If nothing else, they could commiserate (politely, and with all due decorum and demurral) about their commanding officers.
"Well, if I'm going to be blessed with such pleasant company for the rest of the night, and out of a desire to prevent causing either of our lords more difficulties, perhaps we should find someplace quiet and out of the way in order to entertain ourselves the rest of the night? Unless, of course, you wish remain? I shouldn't want to force you to abandon the party if you were enjoying yourselves…?" she voiced the less-lurid part of her desires tentatively, and almost giggles at the way the two immediately perked up and assured her that they wouldn't mind whatsoever if the three of them were to depart the party and find someplace quieter to chat. It seemed that they were as fond of parties as her own lord was.
It didn't take long for the three of them to find a quiet, empty lounge, devoid of any of the wealthy and unfamiliar-with-struggle movers and shakers of Garlean society. It also didn't take long for a servant to find them and deliver a small platter of food and a bottle of fine wine. That was a little strange, at least until the twins explained to her that more than a few of the servants in the Imperial Palace were quite familiar with people (like the two of them and Lord van Baelsar) that liked to avoid political entanglements as much as possible, and were well prepared for it.
And, from what Aeliana gathered in the conversations that followed, the Soranus twins loathed political entanglements with a passion almost beyond words. A loathing made all the stronger by how much the inevitable politics involved with their own ranks and postings, those of Varis' left and right hands, complicated their lives. Everyone either assumed that they were whoring themselves out to their legate for their positions, or were so terrified of him that they either ignored the women entirely or treated them like emotionless soldiers rather than women with needs and desires and emotions.
Aeliana had to admit (even if only to herself) that she didn't really understand that, having never had that particular issue, even as a subordinate of van Baelsar…but perhaps that wasn't a fair comparison. As well respected and adored as Gaius van Baelsar was, he was still 'just' a general. Varis was essentially the heir to the empire, and their ranks in his legion were far higher than her own in Varis'. The scrutiny that they had to be under, with those two factors combined, were doubtless far beyond anything Aeliana had ever experienced. They were lonely, the only unrestrained and genuine emotional connection they possessed being with one another.
"Well, I don't know that I can offer you what you're looking for, but I can tell you that while I respect your talents on the battlefield and look up to you as officers and examples of what a woman can be in Garlemald, I certainly see the two of you as women." Aeliana finally said, after a few minutes of contemplative, semi-companionable silence. "You're both beautiful, you're graceful, you're unique despite your similarities. Neither of you have anything to be ashamed of, neither of you are somehow lesser than those girls out there. In fact, if it came down to spending a night with Valeria or spending the night with the two of you, she wouldn't even enter into my thoughts."
The two looked at each other for a long, long moment, having an entire conversation without a single word being spoken, before they turned back to her with faint blushes and the looks of someone who had come to a decision.
"Would you like to come back to our room, Aeliana?" asked one with poise.
"Just for tonight, you understand." Warned the other with dignity, and Aeliana wondered at her good fortune, even as she nodded with as much restraint as she could, trying not to grin with glee. Tomorrow would bring its own struggles, she was sure, not the least of which was the fallout of the verbal battle she had had tonight, but for now she was going to enjoy herself. She might not love the twins, they might not love her, but they were beautiful and willing, and she was beautiful and interested. Why should they not enjoy themselves in the here and now?
Let tomorrow bring what it might.
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