THE WINTER ROSE
I. Tournament
Seventeen years later
"Did you want to see me, sir?"
Cid Kramer raised his eyes from his desk, and smiled. "Yes. Please have a seat, Squall."
The boy obeyed and sat in front of his mentor. "Is there another mission, sir?"
"No, Squall, not at all." Cid got up and turned to stare out of his window. He was greeted by the blinding whiteness of the snow covering every single inch of the castle's grounds. "Do you know why SeeD exists, Squall?"
The boy seemed confused, but then shrugged his shoulders and answered. "To protect the Royal Family of Centra, sir."
Cid sighed, and turned to look at him. "Seventeen years ago, Princess Rinoa was born," he started. "We were celebrating in the garden of this castle when Sorceress Ultimecia, the Mistress of Time and Space, came here and cursed the girl."
Squall politely nodded, without really understanding what the older man was getting at.
"She has to find her true love before turning eighteen to break the spell. I was there, with my wife Edea, the Mistress of Nature and Healing. She tried to lessen the curse a little, and she had an idea... the yearly SeeD tournament." Cid looked at Squall expectantly, as if he was waiting for him to understand.
"The tournament?"
Cid nodded. "Yes, Squall. The tournament. We train cadets to become SeeD so they can join the tournament. We hope that living here they can get to know Princess Rinoa, and help her find her true love, the one that will break the curse. And we allow the tournament's winner to court the Princess."
"I don't understand what all this has to do with me, sir," said Squall, as politely as he could; he didn't want to offend his superior.
"You're young, Squall, but you're very talented. You are at the moment the highest ranking SeeD. I'd like you to join the tournament."
They both stayed silent for a while, Cid waiting for the boy's answer, and Squall trying to fully understand what the older man meant.
Then, swallowing hard, Squall tried to free himself of what he thought was a trap. "I'm not interested in courting the Princess, or any other woman for that matter."
"I don't want you to join just because of that, Squall," said Cid. "You don't have to court the Princess. If you win, you'll just be allowed to try. I just want you to join the tournament and show the King how talented you are. And I'm sure you will win, because there's no other gunblade expert as gifted as you are in the entire Kingdom."
Squall said nothing, and looked like he was trying to find an excuse to say no.
"Here are the names of the men that already joined," said Cid, pushing a piece of paper in front of the boy. "As you can see, there are several direct fights with the other men. You have to win every single fight to reach the final one, against last year's winner."
Cid watched carefully as Squall read all the names; he saw him narrow his eyes when he reached to the name of the previous year's winner.
"Take your time," he said, almost sure that Squall would accept now that he saw who won before him. "Think about it. Just think about all the possibilities. As I said, you're very talented. If you show the King how much, you can become the Commander of SeeD in no time."
He sat down at his desk, and Squall nodded, taking the paper with him.
"You can go, now. Just come back as soon as you decide. There's not much time left to join."
Almost immediately after seeing Squall exit Cid's office, Edea burst in.
The couple lived in the castle since Princess Rinoa's curse. After finding out that Ultimecia had infused the baby with magic, and her own gift, Edea had asked the King to stay in the castle, so she could help the Princess to learn how to use magic properly. The King agreed, and after hearing her idea about a tournament to find a suitor for Rinoa, hoping she could fall in love and marry before turning eighteen, he also asked Cid to train boys from all over the world as SeeDs that could join the yearly tournament. They hoped it would work: Rinoa couldn't leave the castle's perimeter, and almost no one came to visit her. This was the only way she could meet boys of her age and hopefully find the one that could break the curse. The Queen was so grateful that she asked Edea to be her daughter's governess, and the sorceress gladly accepted.
So, after meeting Squall, the year before, Edea had immediately thought he was the one for Princess Rinoa. She had talked about it to her husband, who pushed him especially on training; they both thought he could be the one to finally break the curse. He was a serious boy who seemed uninterested in girls and social relationships. He was very talented in using the gunblade, so he would be a fine Commander of the entire SeeD unit. He was handsome and young and intriguing enough to sparkle curiosity in the young Princess, bored by her secluded like, so far away from everything a girl should learn of the world. With the tournament date finally approaching, Edea had basically been talking about it for days, and Cid had finally given up arguing and asked Squall to join in the tournament.
He didn't think it would work, though: Squall didn't care about the real prize. He had been wise enough to skip every tournament's rule related to the mandatory relationship with Princess Rinoa.
"So, what did he say?" asked Edea, almost breathless.
"He's not interested in courting Princess Rinoa, or any woman," answered Cid, sighing. "But after he saw who won last year, I think he will accept. He would never miss a duel with Seifer, after all. Maybe he will join just to fight with him."
Edea considered that for a moment. "Well, at least he will join. I'm sure the Princess will be intrigued by him; he's different from everyone she's already met. She's kind of... bored." She stopped talking, closing the distance between herself and her husband to put an arm around his shoulders. "I'm sure it will work, Cid. Don't be afraid. Rinoa is a fine lady, intelligent and beautiful, and she'll like Squall's mysterious persona. I'm sure. She'll do anything to have his attention, she's just like that."
"I really hope Squall will allow her to," sighed Cid, raising a hand to caress her wife's arm.
"We must convince him to join the tournament. You said he can't lose. That's all we can do, convince him to join and let him win. After that, it's up to them."
Cid was about to open his mouth to answer, but a gentle knock at the door stopped him. "Come on in," he said. Edea didn't move, almost didn't breathe.
Squall entered, nodding politely to Edea. She smiled, but said nothing: she didn't want him to understand that they were basically trying to set him up with Princess Rinoa.
"Squall... did you come to tell me your decision?" asked Cid.
"Yes sir," answered Squall nodding. "I wanted to ask if you could please explain to me the tournament's rules, because I'd like to join."
Edea beamed.
"There are several direct fights. You will encounter a total of six opponents, chosen randomly before every duel; each of these men are victors from previous battles. If you lose, you must leave the tournament. You have to win every direct fight to reach the final, which will be against last year's victor. If you can beat him too, you will be the tournament's winner. You will be granted privileges and the possibility to know and court Princess Rinoa. The King will decide the SeeD Commander according to the results of this tournament. You are the sixty-fourth SeeD to join. Only the best are allowed to take part this year, and I believe you are the best."
"I will join, then. But please keep in mind I'm not interested in knowing and courting the Princess."
Cid swallowed, feeling Edea's hand tense on his shoulder. "Don't worry. As I told you before, you don't have to."
"Thanks." Squall bowed and left the room.
When she thought Squall was far enough he couldn't hear them, Edea turned to her husband. "You didn't tell him everything."
"If he knew he must court Princess Rinoa, he would have never joined." Cid turned to look at his wife and smiled, caressing her arm. "Let's hope everything will be fine."
"Yes, let's hope," answered Edea absentmindedly.
The tournament's day was clear, but cold.
The snow had stopped falling the night before, and now there was a soft, white blanket covering everything. Squall dropped the curtain of his window; he had been looking out to the field where the fights would take place. There were servants clearing the area for the fighters, and other men giving the final touches to the seats where the Royal Family and other noble families would watch.
He started his morning routine, with a slow pace; he didn't want to get tired before his first fight. Cid had told him he needed to win every single duel to win the entire tournament, and have a chance to become SeeD's Commander. He wanted to do exactly that. Being the Commander of SeeD was his dream, after all, maybe the only real goal of his life. He couldn't miss such a chance to obtain this honor.
An hour later, a servant came into his room. The King had called on every SeeD that joined the tournament to wish them good luck and finally start the celebration. Squall finished dressing, checked his gunblade, relaxed his shoulders and followed the servant outside.
The seats were already full of people attending. The Royal Family was in the front row; Squall recognized the King. When Cid nodded to him, he stepped forward, stopping in front of King Caraway to bow and give his regards to the entire Royal Family.
"Squall Leonhart from Esthar, Your Majesties," said Cid, announcing him. Squall looked at Princess Rinoa; she was wearing a white dress that accentuated her pale skin and dark hair. She smiled to him, bowing her head, and he couldn't help but nod.
"Squall Leonhart," said the King, rising from his throne. "Have you been informed of every rule of the tournament you're going to join?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," answered Squall. Edea had instructed him the night before of each ritual of this tournament; everything he had to say, when and what he had to answer, and when he had to bow and when he could leave. He kept stealing glances at the Princess, and he saw her lean towards her mother, whispering something he couldn't understand.
"Squall Leonhart," again said the King. "Are you willing to accept and abide to every single rule of the tournament?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," answered Squall.
"Are you aware that by winning this tournament, you will be granted privileges according to your military rank that may improve your social status?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The King motioned to a servant to get a sword, which he placed lightly on both Squall's shoulders. "Then the Royal Family of the United Kingdoms of Centra and Galbadia wish you fair duels. May Hyne guide your sword, and bless you with loyalty and victory."
Squall bowed, getting to one knee, and then raised again to cross lightly his gunblade against the King's sword. It was a ritual Edea had invented years before, something used to distract the Princess from the real - and secret - goal of the tournament: to find someone she could fall in love with.
Squall went back in line and waited for the ending of the ritual, eyeing the other SeeDs that had joined. He thought he could easily win at least three duels; he knew those SeeDs, because he worked and trained with them every day. Then he should be able to win the other two duels, if he had a good strategy, and the last one against Seifer... he had to win. He couldn't lose against him.
Their rivalry was a legend amongst the Royal SeeD Guards.
King Caraway declared the games were now open, and Princess Rinoa rose to drop a veil on the field, signaling the beginning of the first round of duels. Cid called the names of the warriors and Squall found out who was his first adversary.
Zell Dincht.
The first duel was really easy. Zell was strong and fast, but he didn't have the sense of strategy Squall possessed. He started punching and kicking, but Squall managed to see the pattern behind his movements, and after a minute he was able to block Zell's attacks and started counterattacking with his gunblade, pushing him slowly, but steadily, towards the end of the battlefield. Very soon, Zell was down on one knee, with his hand raised to admit defeat, breathing heavily. A woman approached him from the line of the Sorceresses of Healing, charged with curing every warrior after he lost. This was something Queen Julia had been very adamant about when Edea talked about the yearly tournament; nobody should die because they were trying to find Rinoa's true love. She had asked Edea herself to take care of the healing, but year after year more SeeDs joined the tournament, and eventually Edea had to teach someone else to heal the warriors. Now they had five women taking care of healing the wounded and defeated.
After the first round of duels had been completed, Princess Rinoa rose again to drop a second veil on the field. Cid called the warriors; the new adversary for Squall would be Irvine Kinneas.
He knew him too. He was a good guy, a very talented sniper, a little too obsessed with women, and always tried to get Squall to go with him on his "love's trips", as he called them. Squall refused every time, but he actually liked Irvine. If only he would talk about something different, once in a while...
He won the second duel fast. He simply had to wait until Irvine lost his ammo, dodging each bullet before crushing him with the speed and precision of every lunge. Irvine admitted defeat even before falling on his knees.
The ritual of the veil dropping on the ground and Cid calling the winners' names continued, and Squall had to face Nida. He knew this was a slow guy with poor strategy, and much more talented in travels than in battles. He didn't know how he managed to get this far - probably by facing men even weaker than him - but Squall didn't even have to try too hard. He won after a couple of lunges, with Nida almost screaming to spare his life.
The next two duels were a little more challenging for Squall, and he actually liked that. Both used the gunblade too, and he thought he could use them as sparring partners to prepare for Seifer. He managed to disarm the first one after the first five minutes of battle, while the second one was a little more elegant in his movements, and sharper in his strategy. He had to observe him for a while, and that was the longest duel he had to endure so far. After he finally found a pattern in his adversary's movements, he managed to also find a flaw in it. He exploited it as soon as he could.
He was one duel away from winning. Princess Rinoa was clapping in her seat, smiling gracefully.
Cid motioned to Squall to go in front of the King, who rose again from his throne. Again, he took the sword from his bowing servant, and touched it lightly to Squall's shoulders. "Squall Leonhart," said the King, "you fought valiantly and fairly, and reached the final duel of this tournament. Please accept a gift from my daughter, to celebrate and honour the courage, the strength and the loyalty you showed in battle." Rinoa rose slowly, and Squall kept stealing glances at her; she was a very pretty girl, and there was something intriguing about her, something he couldn't really understand. It was simply there. Even if he had seen beautiful women in his life, and sometimes more beautiful than this Princess, he felt attracted to her in a way that almost disturbed him.
Princess Rinoa opened a cloth, containing her gift, and motioned to him to come closer, so she could put it around his neck. It was a silver pendant that felt heavy and cold against his chest, and when he got the chance to look at it closely, he saw it was very similar to the lion adorning his ring. "Sir Kramer told us you may like it," said the Princess. "Consider it a token of our respect to your abilities."
Squall simply nodded, speechless. Vaguely, he thought about what all this meant - he had accepted to join only the day before; that was a jewel that required days of crafting.
"May Hyne assist you in the final duel against last year's winner," said the King. "Seifer Almasy!"
Seifer marched towards the middle of the arena, with that usual smirk Squall knew all to well. Their rivalry was legendary amongst SeeDs and cadets alike; everyone knew that a duel between those two should not be missed, because it was a pure show of great talent and technique. There was always something new to learn from the two most gifted gunblade specialists in the world, as Cid Kramer had stated. This duel felt like the natural conclusion yo their rivalry, and the last tournament held in honour of Princess Rinoa.
When they stood in front of each other, Seifer smirked again, patting his gunblade on his shoulder. "So, couldn't resist, eh?"
"I joined only to have the chance to be Commander," answered Squall, shrugging his shoulders almost indifferently. Seifer gave up; there was no fun in teasing Squall when he didn't give a damn. It was much more fun when he saw a hint of reaction on his impassible face; but now he was only concentrating.
Seifer attacked immediately, lunging at him, but Squall blocked his blow with the blade, pushing him back with all his strength. He immediately recognized it: magic was banned from the tournament, only the Sorceresses of Healing could use it. But there was magic in Seifer's blow, in Seifer's blade, and Squall felt in the surge of power that passed between his rival's gunblade and his own. Good, he thought, despite his rival's obvious foul play. It will be more fun this way. He pushed and lunged, and found that his own strength was much more than Seifer's, probably thanks to the different gunblades and their usage.
Seifer's sword was much lighter, and he could fight with a free hand, using it to balance himself. It gave him much more speed of movements, and Squall often had to parry his blows, lunging forward after that, but not gaining as much as he wished. However, his heavier blade was more precise, and every blow landed accurately. Seifer got more and more nervous when his strategy didn't work; Squall was a very good observer, and after a while he managed to foresee his rival's moves. He knew that Seifer was up to something, he wouldn't give up so easily, not when the Royal Family was watching and the future of the SeeD Commander was being decided; so he thought he had to be very careful, while trying to corner and disarm Seifer.
But Seifer disarmed him first, making the gunblade swing in the air.
The crowd gasped loudly. Unnoticed, Princess Rinoa sat straighter in her seat, swallowing her anticipation.
If he managed to take the gunblade again, he could keep on fighting, said the tournament rules. So Squall watched carefully the movements of his gunblade in the air, while Seifer was too busy smirking, and he started running. He reached his weapon just before it fell on the ground, and turned swiftly to block Seifer's blow. Annoyed by this turn of events, Seifer grunted and lunged forward with renewed energy, but Squall countered him well enough, pushing him again to a corner of the arena.
The crowd cheered.
Seifer was losing speed, while Squall's accuracy never faltered. He just had to push a little more, and then Seifer would not be able to avoid his blows. But when they reached the furthest corner of the arena, Seifer lost his patience and decided to use magic.
He smirked and charged Squall with a Fire spell.
Squall faltered, unable to avoid the spell completely. He lost his balance and almost fell, and Seifer kept pushing, hoping to disarm Squall, while a judge shouted "disqualification, disqualification!"
But this was not how Squall wanted to win. He wanted a real end to this duel, something that would remain in the history of this tournament, something so clear and obvious that nobody could say he had won because Seifer had been disqualified.
Seifer, becoming crueler knowing that he'd been disqualified and had subsequently lost, raised his blade to Squall's face, cutting his forehead deeply. Squall stumbled back, covering his wound with his hand, while his red blood stained the arena. The rage for what he considered a humiliation deepened, and charged his gunblade to a very powerful blow. He cut the air with his blade, making a similar wound on Seifer's forehead, and then he moved the blade quickly to his wrist. The sound of bones breaking under the blow of the flat steel was deafening and horrible. Seifer dropped his gunblade, falling on one knee.
The cheering of the crowd declared Squall the winner before the judges could do so. He immediately felt the rush of healing magic in his veins, running to his forehead and stopping the blood.
And finally he could turn and watch the crowd, celebrating his victory, believing in his victory, and he knew he had never felt so proud in his life.
He purposely took his time to cross the arena, to stand in front of the Royal Family, enjoying every single moment of it, but his impassible face didn't change. When he finally reached the other end of the arena, he scratched his head, turning towards the crowd to make a slightly awkward salute. The crowd cheered even more, and he turned to face the King, who had already risen from his throne to declare him the winner.
King Caraway cleared his throat, and suddenly there was silence in the arena. "You fought valiantly, and you even faced adversity with great courage and strength. You abilities are most precious to us. I am very glad to declare you have won this tournament, " and he had to wait for the cheering to subside, "and that you won fairly against an adversary who played foul. It is an honour to reward you with the title of Sir." He again marked his shoulders with the sword, and then he stepped forward to present it to him. "Please, accept this sword as a symbol of your victory."
Squall nodded and took the sword.
Then, Princess Rinoa rose from her seat and walked in front of Squall. She turned to her mother, who gave her something wrapped in a golden cloth. The Princess turned again towards the winner, smiled gracefully and opened the cloth.
Inside there was a blue rose, an undying blue rose from the fated bush that marked the Princess' time on this world. Gently, she picked the flower, and bowing, getting down on one knee, she gave the rose to Squall.
"Please accept this gift from me, Sir Leonhart."
Squall took the rose hesitantly. There was something beautiful and at the same time dreadful in that flower. Everyone knew what it represented.
"Thanks, Your Highness," answered Squall, swallowing and moving the flower from one hand to the other. Its stem was incredibly soft, he found himself thinking, like silk.
Then the Princess raised her hands to her hair, taking off the veil she wore, the one she used to mark the beginning of every duel. "This, my sir," she said, handing it to Squall, "is a token of my engagement to you, for tonight's celebratory ball. Please accept it as you accept me as your dame for the evening."
"I do, Your Highness," answered again Squall, nodding.
He didn't knew what he was agreeing to.
The celebratory ball had already started when Squall arrived.
He really didn't want to attend, but Cid and Edea had been very firm on this: they basically said he had to go, if he still wanted to have the chance to become the Commander. He didn't really understand why something so mundane was so necessary, but had decided to be careful, so to speak. He needed to show his talent to the King, but he also had to be as agreeable as a future Commander should be; so he wore his uniform, with the new flash on it, to show that he'd won the yearly tournament. A part of him was really proud of this accomplishment; this was the last tournament held in Centra, and he would be the last winner. He would be remembered for this.
When he entered the ballroom, he immediately spotted the Royal Family. Cid was talking to the King, with Edea by his side; as soon as she saw him, she waved. He sighed, straightened his shoulders and went to meet them.
King Caraway and Queen Julia were very elegant; the King was wearing his most precious mantle, and the Queen had a deep red dress adorned with gold. The Princess had a simpler cream dress that left her shoulders naked. He didn't notice he was staring a little too directly at her until she blushed.
The King greeted him with warmth and respect, and that gave Squall something else to be proud about. The Queen smiled and congratulated him on his victory; and then, Princess Rinoa bowed.
"Sir Leonhart, I hope you will enjoy your stay at the castle," said the King.
Squall turned to look at him, a little dumbfounded. "Excuse me?"
"I've already told my servants to prepare your apartment here. You will occupy the north wing, the one nearer to the training fields, so you can check on your fellow SeeDs."
"Sir, I don't think I understand," said Squall, looking at Cid quickly. The older man simply lowered his eyes, finding something extremely interesting in his shoes. Edea was talking to a maid, so he didn't have their support.
"You accepted the rules, Sir Leonhart," said the King, almost sternly.
Rinoa was watching him a little surprised; he really wanted to understand what was going on.
"Yes Your Majesty, I did," he answered.
"You have to spend six months in our castle, living with the Royal Family. You can even court my daughter; she will be the one to teach you everything about society's rules, so you'll be spending many hours a day with her. We need to be sure you can measure up to the privileges you've been granted, since you won the tournament."
It was a nice excuse, thought Squall, while he watched Cid. So he was basically trapped. He had to follow every rule of the tournament if he still wanted to be considered the winner; so he did have to live with the Royal Family and spend all that time with the Princess. Too bad Cid had "forgotten" to tell him what all that was about; he didn't have the possibility to court the Princess, he basically had to, since he was going to spend several hours per day with her. He had to be gentle, elegant... he had to be everything he wasn't.
"We'll get to know you better. We'll be eating together every day for six months. I really want to know the person who I'm considering giving the title of SeeD Commander to."
"Of course, Your Majesty," answered Squall, still thinking about the enormity of the situation he found himself in, without even knowing it. He simply thought it was a chance for his career. Now he was finding out what he really accepted when told Cid that he'd join.
Music started, and Rinoa lifted her eyes to Squall. "This is the first song for the evening," she said. "I hope you remember my offer."
"Of course, Your Highness," he said, and moved stiffly so she could take his arm. He guided her to the dance floor, and then, when she was already in his arms, he sheepishly admitted, "I can't dance, though."
"It's easy. You'll be fine," she answered, and then started moving, following the music. Squall tried to follow as best as he could, but he stepped on her feet, making her stumble. She didn't seem to worry, though; she simply adjusted her position again and started dancing. This time he seemed a little more secure about it, but when she tried to spin, he wasn't ready - and basically didn't understand what she was trying to do - and stumbled hard against her. "You're getting better, don't worry, just relax," she said, and Squall sneered: he wasn't getting any better and her words were not reassuring at all. They tried again; even Squall felt that he was getting better at dancing, and he was almost relaxing, when a sudden move from Rinoa, probably thinking he could handle it, made them collide against another couple. It was Nida and his companion for the evening, and when he turned, annoyed, to see who disturbed him, he noticed Squall with a confused expression on his face, and then the Princess showing her tongue. He shut up and went back to his dance.
"I'm leaving," muttered Squall under his breath, but Rinoa stopped him, with a smile. It was that same graceful smile that she had shown all day - tranquil, serene, a little melancholy, but always sincere. He felt that he should at least try to dance better, and immersed himself in the rhythm of the music, trying to find the pattern beneath it. It was almost like his morning gunblade routine, precise movements, following a specific pattern. Practice was like dancing, after all, and when he nodded Rinoa smiled and started again.
This time the dance went smoothly, with almost no mistakes - at least, no mistakes as embarrassing as stumbling against his dame or against his comrades. He had observed these movements from afar, the years before. He'd hoped he would be the one to have the honour of dancing with the Princess, one day, because it meant he'd won the most prestigious tournament in the world. He followed his memory, using his observation skills and applying them to dancing, and when they stopped, almost breathless, Rinoa was against his chest. He almost didn't know how he managed to do it.
Fireworks exploded above them, and the crowd started to clap. He felt he almost had to tear his eyes away from the Princess, because he was starting to feel that strange attraction again - she had something so beautiful in her, so sincere and serene, and yet so sad... he just didn't understand it, and he felt threatened by her eyes. She was watching him carefully, almost expectantly, and when he turned to look at the fireworks she smiled. That was the first time she saw him relaxed, she thought.
She bowed gently to him, before excusing herself to go back to her father and mother. Squall watched as she walked away, her dress trailing behind her, her hips moving with elegance. She was petite and strong, beautiful and sad, and she had only six months left to live.
It left a bad taste in his mouth.
And then, as he walked towards Cid because he wanted to really know the rules he accepted when he joined the tournament, he understood. Everything was clear, now, but he only wanted someone to confirm it.
When he reached Cid, the older man seemed almost too awkward to look at him. "So, I have to court the Princess because I'm her last chance... am I wrong?"
Cid looked at him. "Yes. The tournament is an excuse... Princess Rinoa can't leave the castle. She wouldn't meet anyone, and she couldn't fall in love if we didn't do something... Edea thought we could try with a tournament. We could have young men at the castle, she could talk to someone, meet someone, maybe fall in love... that's why you have to live here, since you won. We thought six month could be enough... Edea thinks you're the right man. Please, don't be mad with us... we just did what we thought was best for both of you. Please-"
"You're talking like my fate has already been decided," said Squall, putting a hand on his forehead.
"It isn't," answered Cid.
"But I'm trapped here."
"Maybe it won't be a trap."
Squall sighed. "I need to know every single rule of the tournament."
So Cid started explaining, and Squall started to feel even more trapped.
Author's note: many thanks to Ashbear, who beta-read this in record time! Every mistake that may be still in the chapter is totally my fault. I hope you like the story so far… I hope I will have more time to write it in December. November has been crazy as NaNoWriMo can be, but I probably won :)