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rose_in_winterPairings/Characters: Kain Highwind, plus cast
Rating: R (overall), PG (this chapter)
Warnings: Spoilers. Violence and language. Occasional sexual content. Other warnings may apply that are not listed here.
Notes: This fic belongs to the Lucis Ante Terminum arc. Chapter list is here.
Summary: Though it is possible to return home, it is rarely possible to return affairs to their previous state. Sometimes the only course of action is to move forward.
Wordcount: 5900 this chapter.
Beta:celeloriel
Nine years after Zeromus
Kain signed his name to the last of the documents before him and sprinkled sand on the ink to dry it. Beside him, Matthew heaved a sigh of relief.
"That's enough to get the Dragoons up to proper strength again," Matthew said.
"In two years, when they have finally discerned which end of the spear goes into the enemy," Kain muttered. Matthew laughed.
"Are all the other preparations complete?" he asked.
Kain shrugged. "Lady Elizabeth informs me that all is in readiness," he said. "In truth, I have had little to do with the wedding plans."
Matthew grinned. "You're lucky. Mother has been dragging me hither and yon whenever I am not on duty."
"Is that why you have taken to spending so much time at the barracks?" Kain asked.
Matthew put on a supremely innocent expression. "I would never resort to dishonesty to evade my mother." He paused. "Besides, she would know." Over Kain's laughter, he continued, "In truth, I have been doing a great deal of work to get the Dragon Knights back into fighting form."
"I know you have," Kain assured him. He stretched until the tendons in his shoulders cracked. "So. Is this all the business we have today?"
"That is everything," Matthew agreed. "Are you quite sure you will not permit the Dragon Knights to host a party this evening?"
"Quite," Kain replied dryly. "I attended the King of Eblan's party. That manner of debauchery is certainly not appropriate for someone whose position is already tenuous."
Matthew sighed. "Ah, well."
"I will see you on the morrow, then," Kain said as Matthew gathered the service contracts and stood.
"Yes," Matthew replied. "Rest well."
Kain smiled and waited until Matthew had departed to close his eyes and heave a sigh. In truth, he was of several minds about the wedding on the morrow. He could readily acknowledge the political and practical reasons why it was a good idea, but he had the nagging sense that something about it was not right. It had been eight months since Cecil's death, and though he no longer felt a fresh stab of overwhelming sorrow whenever he thought of his friend, he still grieved for the loss. Rosa, too, had been grieving; she had withdrawn more and more from public life, leaving the running of the kingdom to him. Betimes he resented her for it, for making him be the strong one when he was grieving as surely as she. It felt strange to have the faint hot bubble of anger in his chest when he thought of Rosa; he was unaccustomed to such a thing.
He rose and went to look out of his window. This late in the year, only two weeks until midsummer, the sun set well after the dinner hour. The last light left a blood-red taint on the grey stone walls of the castle. Three floors below him, the castle guard was changing. Kain leaned on the window sill and stared out at his homeland.
For perhaps the thousandth time in the last eight months, he wondered why Cecil had chosen him as a regent, instead of Rosa alone. Cecil had ever thought him too paranoid—though Cecil would have used the word "suspicious"—of everyone and everything around him, including himself. Had Cecil truly thought the Council would accept him as a regent so easily? Or was Cecil more devious than Kain had given him credit for, and had he deliberately intended to put Kain there as a counterpoint to Rosa's good intentions?
He watched as the last rays of light faded from view, and the light of the torches flared in tiny, evenly spaced points along the castle walls. With the sun below the horizon, the moon was now visible, a broad crescent in the western sky. Was there some hidden race on that moon as well? Did they possess the same powers as the Lunarians?
He had tasks to accomplish. If nothing else, he should be resting, as the morrow would bring a long and trying day. Yet he lingered at the window, watching the flicker of torchlight against the deepening night. Should he not feel more guilty at the thought of betraying his devotion to Rosa by wedding another? The absence of such feeling puzzled him. He had always thought that if Rosa had indeed chosen Cecil, he would have lived his life wedded to honour and the Dragon Knights, choosing not to continue his father's line.
A soft sound behind him alerted him to another's presence, and he turned. A slight figure was emerging from the hidden staircase that curved along the west wall of his tower, cloaked and hooded in dark grey. With his room lit only by the faint light of the moon and the indistinct flicker of faraway torches, he could not make out any other identifying features.
"Show yourself," he said, and rested his left hand on the hilt of the dagger he wore at his side.
Pale hands rose out of the gathered shadows of the cloak and pushed back the hood. The moonlight gleamed on Rosa's fair hair and pale face.
"Rosa?" Kain took half a step forward. "What are you doing here? Where are your guards?"
"I told my ladies that I wished to rest, and left my rooms by the secret passage there," she said.
"You should not be here," Kain said. "It is improper."
"I am no longer wed, Kain." She sounded unspeakably weary. "There is no one to see or care with whom I spend my time."
Something was not right here. Kain was trying to determine what was wrong with the conversation when Rosa unfastened the cloak at her throat and pushed it aside, letting the dark grey fabric slip into a pile on the floor. Beneath, she wore naught but a sheer chemise that concealed nothing, and her own skin.
"Rosa!" Kain took a step back and bumped into the wall. "What are you doing?"
She walked closer, and though he endeavoured to keep his eyes averted from anything intimate, he could see that she had lost a significant amount of weight. "I am lonely, Kain," she said softly. "Is it so wrong for me to seek some comfort?" She came closer, and he held up his hands to ward her off.
"Rosa, this is not you," he said softly.
The sheen of tears in her eyes hurt, a sharp stabbing ache in his chest. "You have loved me for years," she said, and in her words he heard the underlying accusation. "Why do you not take what you have wanted, when it is freely offered?" Her mouth twisted, a bitterness suffusing her expression. "Or do you only desire what you cannot have? Do you find me repugnant now? Was it my purity you wanted, Dragon Knight? Something unattainable?"
She had not raised her voice, but the sting of it was all the sharper for that. He lifted his hands to hers, fingers closing around wrists that were naught but skin and bone, where once there had been combat-hardened muscle. "Yes, I have loved you." He kept his voice as gentle as he could, as his grip on her was gentle. "Rosa, I have loved you for as long as I can remember, even when we were small. I desperately wanted you to choose me, and it hurt more than I can say when you chose Cecil." Of their own accord, his fingertips stroked the inside of her wrists, a slow sweeping motion intended to soothe. "It is because I love you that I will not touch you now."
"You bastard," she whispered, and he was so stunned at hearing the word from her lips that he nearly let go her hands. "You self-righteous bastard. You dare stand there and tell me that you reject me because you love me? Liar!"
"Rosa, listen to me." His hands tightened on her arms, not enough to hurt, but enough to keep her from pulling free. "Did I touch you now, you would hate me when grief ceased to cloud your mind. I will not do it. I would rather you hate me for holding back, than hate me for taking advantage of you. I will not do this." He had no idea where he found the strength to speak those words, but they were nonetheless true.
The tears gathering in her eyes spilled over, and he longed to close his own eyes so that he would not have to see her pain. He forced himself to look, to see what he had done. There would be no retreat from the consequences of his choices, not now.
"Why is he gone?" Rosa whispered, so faintly he almost did not hear her, and then she sagged against him as though her body had lost the strength to hold itself upright. He let go her wrists and wrapped his arms around her, feeling how fragile she seemed. He could feel his tunic grow damp where her tears soaked into it, and her body shook with her sobs. He made some soothing wordless noise and smoothed her hair, unsure of what else he could do for her.
Her skin was warm and smooth beneath the chemise, and each time she drew breath he could feel her breasts pressing into his chest. He sought to disregard that, and told himself that he did not breathe in the scent of her hair, that he did not savour the feel of her skin beneath his hands. Her arms wrapped around him and squeezed, and he gritted his teeth and began to recite the names of the captains of the Dragon Knights to himself. He would not take advantage of her thus. He would not.
Perhaps if he told himself that often enough, it would remain true.
He made himself let her go when her sobs quieted and she leaned back. Her eyes were reddened, her face tear-streaked, and she was sniffling.
She was still beautiful.
He watched her draw the air of royal pride around herself, and she was no longer a vulnerable woman mourning the loss of her love, but instead distant and controlled, save for her eyes. There he saw a cold fury he had never before seen directed at him, even when he had done her harm at Golbez's urging.
She said nothing as she picked up her cloak and wrapped it around herself, fading into the shadows as one more hue of grey against the stone walls.
He could not bring himself to call after her, and she vanished into the gaping darkness that was the hidden staircase. When she was gone, he walked the few feet to his bed and sank down upon it, his head bowed.
Ten years ago—ten months ago—he would have taken her offer with joy and gratitude, and damn the consequences.
His heart ached for her, and he was aware of other, less noble aches that he was choosing not to acknowledge. He laced his hands together and stared at the floor, and wondered how long she would be wroth with him for his choice that night.
He passed the night in fits of broken sleep and chaotic dreams in which Rosa became Barbariccia, or sometimes they were side by side, and the shrieking wind tore at his skin while Rosa's arrows pierced him. He tossed and turned in his bed, tangled in the sheets, and felt the strength of Barbariccia's grip binding his limbs while Rosa called down the judgment of Holy upon him.
When at last the light of dawn pierced his window, he staggered from his bed gritty-eyed and went to bathe. He was already garbed in his formal dress uniform when Matthew tapped on the door for admittance.
"You look as though you would have had more sleep if I had insisted on celebrating with you," the new Captain of the Dragon Knights observed dryly when Kain opened the door.
"Mayhap," Kain allowed. He rubbed his eyes, which felt as though he had tried to burrow face-first through the Damcyan desert, and straightened his shoulders. "Well then. Is all in readiness?"
"Mother seems to think so." Matthew looked amused.
"When will you announce your own betrothal?" Kain asked him.
"Perhaps in a fortnight." Matthew shrugged. "Lord Nerthic was most generous in his offer."
"Did you need a generous offer?" Kain inquired out of genuine curiosity. "Lady Constance is lovely, and she is not known to be sharp of temperament."
"She is perfect," Matthew replied with a smile that indicated his mind was far from the present. "No, I did not need a generous offer. In truth I was surprised to receive one at all; I had thought Lord Nerthic would seek to arrange stronger political ties somewhere else."
Kain shrugged. "Perhaps he heeded her wishes," he suggested. It was no secret that Constance had gazed upon Matthew with more than a little favour over the last few years.
Matthew shrugged. "I suppose it would not be impossible," he allowed. Abruptly he paused and titled his head to stare at Kain. "You are wearing your Dragoon uniform for your wedding?"
"Though I have not actively commanded the Dragon Knights for some time now," Kain said, "still I am entitled to their uniform. I would have some part of my past with me to mark this transition."
There was silence for all of three seconds before Matthew burst out laughing. "You forgot to arrange for new attire," he said in a humourously accusing tone.
Kain glared at him, which did little to dampen Matthew's fit of hilarity. "I daresay I have had other things on my mind," he said sharply.
"Oh, no doubt," Matthew replied, still laughing. "Don't worry, Captain, I shall not tell my sister that your impending nuptials was farther down on your list of driving concerns than taxes or roads."
"Oh, say not so!" Edge appeared out of nowhere, and then let loose a strange squeaking sound when he found the point of Kain's lance against his throat. "I'm not here to kill you!" he protested.
Kain groaned and set the lance aside. "If you have a desire to keep your life intact, then pray do not appear unannounced when I have a weapon to hand," he said. "Why did the guard not announce you?"
"I sort of didn't introduce myself," Edge admitted.
One of Kain's guards tapped politely on the door. "Lord Regent, Queen Rydia of Eblan wishes—how did he get here?" The guard stared blankly at Edge.
Kain sighed. "Send Queen Rydia in," he said, and glared at Edge.
"Next time," Rydia said severely, hands on her hips, "use the traditional means of entry, Edge. It might be slightly less apt to render me a widow too soon."
"You protest widowhood when you have offered to hasten its approach multiple times?" Edge threw out his arms in a dramatic gesture. "What logic is this?"
Rydia sniffed and affected a more prim tone than any Kain had heard her use in everyday speech. "There is a difference between choosing to rid myself of the plague that is my husband, and finding him spitted on another's weapon for intruding where he is not wanted." For all her sharp words, Rydia did examine Edge's throat with some concern. "It would serve you right had he hurt you," she added with some exasperation. "You have absolutely no sense."
"As well, then, that I have you to watch over me." Edge caught her hand in his and bestowed a kiss on her fingertips.
"If I may interrupt," Kain said dryly, "to what do I owe the honour of your presence?"
Edge stared at him. "Did you think we would not attend your wedding?" he inquired.
Kain shrugged. "I had not thought to make it a matter of much pomp and ceremony."
"Kain," Rydia said gently, "we are your friends, and we would see you happy, for all that you seem inclined to resist that very state with every fiber of your being at every opportunity."
Matthew was abruptly seized by a prodigious coughing fit, and politely ensured that much of his face was covered for the duration of it. Edge pretended to no such discretion and laughed aloud.
Kain could think of no response that would not provoke Edge or Rydia to even greater levity at his expense, and elected to remain silent instead.
"It is nearly time to go," Matthew said when he had recovered completely.
"Then let us go." Kain forced himself not to straighten the hem of his tunic or check that his cuffs were properly in place; the uniform was as perfect as mortal hands could make it, and had been since he finished dressing. Still, he checked for the pin on his shoulder and the ribbons on the opposite shoulder, just in case. When he could no longer procrastinate, he took a deep breath and squared his shoulders before marching out of his room and down the stairs, with Edge, Rydia, and Matthew trailing behind.
The wedding was to be held in the chapel that served the spiritual needs of Baron Castle's inhabitants. Kain paused outside the door and took another steadying breath. Edge clapped him firmly on the shoulder. "Don't panic," he said in a conspiratorial, deliberately loud whisper. "Not all women are like Rydia."
Rydia sighed and reached up to embrace Kain. "Pay him no heed," she said, and smiled. "I hope that you have found your peace." She stretched up on her toes to kiss Kain's cheek, and then turned to walk into the chapel with Edge. Kain noted that for all their squabbling, they took each other's hands with an ease that suggested long habit. He wondered if, in six years' time, he and Elizabeth would be so comfortable with each other. Political matches were not known for strong affections.
"Lord Regent," Matthew said, and from his tone it was not the first time he had done so. "Let us take our places."
Kain nodded and told himself that he had faced Golbez, Barbariccia, and Zeromus; he had no cause to be nervous. On that bracing thought, he pushed open the chapel doors and walked around the seats to the altar at the front.
The celebrant was already waiting, though few of the guests were; Edge and Rydia were among the first to arrive. Kain had not the faintest idea which of the nobility had been invited, as the wedding plans had not been any of his concern. Matthew took up the groomsman's position just behind him, and his silent presence was bolstering. Kain wondered at his own nervousness; it was not as though he feared the loss of freedom or any such silly notion. It was merely that signing one's life into a permanent contract with another was something of a daunting prospect.
His thoughts kept running the same endless cycle within his mind as he waited for the guests to finish arriving; Baron's nobility were chronically late to almost everything, and he had little hope of the ceremony actually starting on time. When Rosa arrived, she would not look at him, and as she had done in every public appearance since Cecil's death, she was garbed in the green of mourning. She took a seat next to Rydia, and conversed quietly with her as they waited for the other guests to gather. Kain was surprised to see Yang and his wife slip in unannounced, and wondered who had informed them. Perhaps it had been Cid; it was the sort of thing that he might do.
At length the seats were filled with a multicoloured sea of silks, and the chapel doors swung open for the last time to admit the bride.
She was preceded down the aisle by Constance Nerthic, who wore a gown of pale lavender that suited her admirably. She carried a bouquet of white roses and violets. Elizabeth came some ten paces behind her, carrying a similar bouquet, but garbed in a colour that was neither blue nor green, but somewhere in between. It looked lovely in conjunction with her dark hair, and Kain could see when she drew near enough that it very nearly matched her eyes.
Much of the ceremony passed by in a blur: there was chanting, and the sprinkling of blessed water on both of them. A cup of wine was shared, and vows exchanged. As a rule, wedding rings were not exchanged in Baron, for they might foul one's grip on a weapon if driven to a fight; lovers would usually exchange other gifts on their wedding night, in a private ritual not meant for prying eyes. They knelt, and the celebrant spoke the blessing over them. When the blessing was complete, so too was the ceremony.
By custom, wedded couples in Baron did not exchange a kiss as they might in Eblan or Mysidia, so Kain offered Elizabeth his arm to escort her down the aisle. She rested her fingertips lightly on his arm and he found, to his surprise, that he barely need slow his pace at all to accommodate hers.
When they were outside the chapel, Kain drew a deep and grateful breath.
"Oh, fear not," Elizabeth said, and he glanced at her to see her eyes sparkling with mischief. "Only three-quarters of the guests were imagining you spitted upon their swords and roasting in a funeral pyre thrice your own height."
Kain laughed, startled. "You must have been quite careful with your invitations, to find so many unwilling to harm me," he said.
Elizabeth smiled. "It is not in the chapel that you must be wary of them, but at the feast," she said.
"Kain!" Cid bellowed behind them, and Kain turned to greet him.
"Cid," he said politely.
"Lady Elizabeth." Cid bobbed in a way that might be construed as a respectful bow. "I hope you know you'll have your hands full with this one!"
"I daresay you could provide me with hints should the need arise, Chief Pollendina." She inclined her head.
Behind Cid, Kain could see the other guests beginning to flow out of the chapel, led by Rosa and her fellow monarchs. He wondered how Cid had managed to sneak out before the royalty, who by rights should have been first after the bride and groom, exited.
"Cid!" Rydia said, and hugged him. He hugged her back with a great deal of enthusiasm, and whacked Edge on the shoulder by way of greeting, causing the younger man to stagger dramatically and clutch at his shoulder with an exaggerated cry of pain.
Recalled to his duties as the nominal host, Kain took Elizabeth's arm again to lead her to the royal banquet hall, which Rosa had offered to them as a place to celebrate their wedding. Elizabeth's mother and younger sisters had decorated it extensively with banners displaying the Highwind crest of a gold falcon on a blue field, and the Darmin crest of crossed silver sword and shield on a green field. Behind the dais on which the guests of honour would be seated hung a banner that had been embroidered with a golden falcon gripping a silver sword and shield in its talons, on a blue-and-green field counterchanged.
The high table had been set aside for the various royal guests, the bridal attendants, and Cid, although the children would not be present. Kain escorted Elizabeth to the central seats—the one time that they would be seated above those of royal blood or rank—and they seated themselves. The other guests filed in behind them, with Cid escorting Rosa. When all of the royal guests were seated, the nobility came, and settled themselves.
"Is all well?" Elizabeth murmured quietly.
"Yes," Kain replied as quietly.
She smiled, and he could not help but to return it. They waited until everyone had filed in and seated themselves. Servants moved smoothly through the mass of guests, pouring a sweet Baronian white wine into the goblets. When they were done, Kain nodded to Matthew, whose duty it was to open the feasting with a toast.
Matthew rose from his seat, and the murmur of conversation faded to silence. He took up his goblet and smiled. "I could have asked for no better commander or friend than Kain Highwind, and though she is betimes a pest of hell, I suppose I could have asked for no better sister than Elizabeth." He ignored the dark look the sister thusly maligned cast at him, and continued smoothly. "May Bahamut smile upon this joining, and may their life together be long, happy, and filled with laughter. To Kain and Elizabeth." He raised his goblet high and then drank, with everyone else repeating the toast and following suit.
Immediately thereafter, the servants began to circulate again, bringing out the first course of the feast. The wine flowed freely and the food was plentiful and delicious. Kain drank sparingly of the former and enjoyed the latter.
"So, Kain," Edge said.
Kain suppressed a groan and turned toward the King of Eblan, wondering what mischief the latter had in mind.
"If I pour you more wine," Edge said, "can we actually convince you to dance at your own wedding?"
Kain resolved to guard his goblet more closely from then on. "If Lady Elizabeth desires to dance, it will be my honour and pleasure to do so," he replied stiffly.
"Edge," Rydia said sweetly, "whyever did you warn him about your plan?"
This time Kain did groan aloud. Elizabeth, distracted from her conversation with Rosa, turned to raise an inquiring eyebrow at him.
"Is aught amiss?" she asked.
"The King and Queen of Eblan seem to feel I am overly dignified and are threatening to ply me with wine until I am less so," Kain said.
"Actually," Edge piped up, "what I asked was whether we would have to ply him with wine to get him to dance with you."
Kain sensed the situation rapidly slipping away from him, and made a desperate attempt to retrieve it. "As I told His Majesty, I would be my pleasure to dance with you if you should desire it."
A wry smile quirked the corners of Elizabeth's mouth. "Pray, King Edge, do not torment him so," she said calmly. "I would like him to look back on this day with at least a modicum of fondness, ten years from now."
"That's no fun," Edge muttered. "Who else can I torment without getting burnt to a crisp?"
Rydia patted his hand. "I am sure you will think of something," she said rather too sweetly.
Kain wondered if scooting his chair closer to Elizabeth's, and therefore farther from Edge's, would be considered a dishonourable and cowardly retreat. From the knowing gleam in Edge's eyes, it would likely be construed as such. He therefore returned his attention to his meal, knowing it for capitulation but finding that more palatable than a more obvious gesture. Edge merely snickered.
At the other end of the table, Queen Yinyi was engaged in avid conversation with Elizabeth's mother, Miranda, and with Constance Nerthic. Rosa was speaking quietly with Yang and Lord Darmin.
Kain cast his gaze over the assembled guests, and noted that all of them seemed to be in excellent spirits. He was just lifting his goblet for another sip when he caught sight of three small figures at the other end of the hall, where the desserts had been arrayed on several long tables so that the guests might indulge themselves at will after the dancing started. He could not make out their faces, but he could clearly see that one was as fair-haired as Rosa, one had night-dark hair, and the third's hair...was a vivid shade of green.
"I am going to kill her," Rydia muttered, apparently having seen the same thing he did.
She and Kain rose from their seats simultaneously, and a silence fell over the hall. It was broken by a shrill cry of "Come on, Gwennie!"
"Princess Sophia," Kain called, and all three small figures froze.
"Uh-oh," Princess Mei Jia of Fabul said.
Sophia stared blankly for a moment.
"New plan!" Gwendolyn of Eblan and Mist proclaimed, and summoned a thin sheet of fire. As the nearby guests shouted in alarm and drew back, the three small princesses snatched a blackberry tart off the nearest table, and hurried for the door, lugging it between them.
They pulled to a halt, shrieking in surprise, when a towering pillar of lightning leapt into existence in front of them and hovered there long before the usual duration of such things. Rydia calmly walked around the end of the high table and toward her errant offspring, trailed closely by Rosa and Yinyi.
"What is the meaning of this?" Rosa demanded of her younger child.
Sophia mumbled something unintelligible and shuffled her feet.
"Put it back right this second, you hear me?" Yinyi scolded.
They shuffled slowly back to the table and levered the tart back into place with considerably more difficulty than they had first acquired it. They then turned back to their mothers, lined up next to each other with heads bowed. Kain, however, did not miss the rebellious look that crossed all three small faces.
Rosa said nothing, merely pointed at the door. The three princesses hurried toward it, followed by the queens. The hall door shut behind them, and gradually the regular chatter resumed.
"Peaches to Gil that none of the three of them will sit comfortably for a week," Edge said, taking a bite out of that same fruit.
"No bet," Kain answered absently. "Your wife went with them."
Edge laughed. "Someday, I will catch you when you aren't paying enough attention, and I will get you to agree to one of my wagers."
"Edge, a particularly stupid chocobo is still smart enough not to take one of your wagers." Kain chased a bit of pheasant around his plate without much interest; his stomach was already protesting the volume of food he had consumed.
"Would a dead chocobo take it?" Elizabeth inquired, deadpan, and caused Edge to choke on his wine.
"That's not fair," he complained.
"I was not aware that rules had been established," Kain answered dryly.
Edge muttered imprecations around a mouthful of quail stuffed with chestnuts and berries. Elizabeth smiled serenely and bit into a fried dumpling filled with finely chopped meat and dipped in a sweet sauce.
"May I get you anything, my lady?" Kain asked her politely.
"I have all that I need. Is there aught you require?" she replied as politely.
"I am well, thank you." Kain maneuvered the pheasant onto a bit of bread and mopped up the last bit of gravy.
"Do you people ever stop being formal?" Edge wondered aloud.
"I vow you should teach your daughter some formality," Rydia said irritably as she reclaimed her seat.
Edge laughed. "She's your daughter, too, love," he replied.
Rydia glared at him and speared a piece of potato in a sweetened mustard sauce with rather more force than was strictly necessary. "You encourage her," she said.
Edge shrugged. "It makes life interesting."
Rosa passed behind Kain to take her own seat, with Yinyi hurrying behind her. "I just don't know what got into that girl's head," she said to Yang.
"It is natural for children to want to be part of the celebration," Yang said.
Rosa's cheeks were slightly flushed with temper, and she drank a deep draught from her wine goblet.
Kain judged it an opportune moment to nod to the musicians waiting at the far end of the room, and they began to play the graceful, romantic strains of a formal court dance.
Kain rose and offered his hand to Elizabeth, for it was customary in Baron for the wedded couple to open the dancing. She was an adept dancer—more so than he—and performed the intricate steps of the dance with ease. He was able to ensure that at least he did not embarrass himself or her, and their dance ended to polite applause from the guests, who were now free to join in the dancing.
Kain glanced at the head table, where the royal tempers appeared to have cooled somewhat. He looked back at Elizabeth, noting the sparkle in her eyes. "What would you, my lady? Do you need to rest, or would you prefer dancing?"
"If it would not inconvenience you," she said, and the demure statement was entirely marred by her excited tone, "I should greatly enjoy another dance."
"As you will," Kain replied, and offered his hand for the beginning of the next dance.
The dancing, and the food, continued throughout the day. Kain danced more than he would have thought, though not always with Elizabeth; betimes he was partnered with other young noblewomen, and once or twice with Rosa or Rydia. Rydia danced infrequently because she had never learned the steps, but there were a few dances that she enjoyed, such as the mountain reels from villages west of Baron City and closer to Mist.
It was at the end of one such that she called a halt, laughing, and dragged Kain back to the high table for a cup of wine. She filled both their goblets and then quaffed half of hers in a single long draught.
"I needed that," she said with a sigh.
"Is all well with you?" Kain asked.
"Well enough." Rydia waved a hand in the air and drank from her goblet. A comfortable silence fell between them for a few minutes, and then Rydia spoke, her head bowed so that her hair concealed her face. "Rosa seems angry with you," she said. "I do not pretend to know the depth of her grief, for I lost a friend, while she lost her husband. Yet it seems almost that she blames you for his death."
"And why should she not?" Kain replied. "Had I not fallen, had I not set him off-balance, he might yet be here."
Rydia snorted. "Do not start this again," she said. "Painful though it is, it is sometimes the way of battle for good men to fall to blows that should not have happened. No, I spoke wrongly before. I think that she blames you for something else, but it seems linked to his death." Rydia took a deep breath. "I do not wish to pry, but is there aught I could do to help?"
Kain sighed and shook his head. "I do not know how to help her," he said. "She grieves, and I can do nothing. She is angry and she hurts, and I can do nothing."
Rydia was silent for a long moment. At last she placed her hand over his and squeezed gently. "Grieving is something she must do alone," Rydia said quietly. "You cannot do it for her. I know that it wounds you to be unable to help, but this is her burden to bear." She squeezed his hand again, then withdrew her own. "I will speak to her later, when the celebration is over," she said. "Perhaps she can find something to comfort her in my own experiences."
Kain nodded, and went to join Elizabeth when she beckoned for him to come dance with her. They spoke no more of that subject, nor of any other that was not lighthearted and cheerful, for the remainder of the feast, nor the time after it, in his tower.
Rating: R (overall), PG (this chapter)
Warnings: Spoilers. Violence and language. Occasional sexual content. Other warnings may apply that are not listed here.
Notes: This fic belongs to the Lucis Ante Terminum arc. Chapter list is here.
Summary: Though it is possible to return home, it is rarely possible to return affairs to their previous state. Sometimes the only course of action is to move forward.
Wordcount: 5900 this chapter.
Beta:
celelorielNine years after Zeromus
Kain signed his name to the last of the documents before him and sprinkled sand on the ink to dry it. Beside him, Matthew heaved a sigh of relief.
"That's enough to get the Dragoons up to proper strength again," Matthew said.
"In two years, when they have finally discerned which end of the spear goes into the enemy," Kain muttered. Matthew laughed.
"Are all the other preparations complete?" he asked.
Kain shrugged. "Lady Elizabeth informs me that all is in readiness," he said. "In truth, I have had little to do with the wedding plans."
Matthew grinned. "You're lucky. Mother has been dragging me hither and yon whenever I am not on duty."
"Is that why you have taken to spending so much time at the barracks?" Kain asked.
Matthew put on a supremely innocent expression. "I would never resort to dishonesty to evade my mother." He paused. "Besides, she would know." Over Kain's laughter, he continued, "In truth, I have been doing a great deal of work to get the Dragon Knights back into fighting form."
"I know you have," Kain assured him. He stretched until the tendons in his shoulders cracked. "So. Is this all the business we have today?"
"That is everything," Matthew agreed. "Are you quite sure you will not permit the Dragon Knights to host a party this evening?"
"Quite," Kain replied dryly. "I attended the King of Eblan's party. That manner of debauchery is certainly not appropriate for someone whose position is already tenuous."
Matthew sighed. "Ah, well."
"I will see you on the morrow, then," Kain said as Matthew gathered the service contracts and stood.
"Yes," Matthew replied. "Rest well."
Kain smiled and waited until Matthew had departed to close his eyes and heave a sigh. In truth, he was of several minds about the wedding on the morrow. He could readily acknowledge the political and practical reasons why it was a good idea, but he had the nagging sense that something about it was not right. It had been eight months since Cecil's death, and though he no longer felt a fresh stab of overwhelming sorrow whenever he thought of his friend, he still grieved for the loss. Rosa, too, had been grieving; she had withdrawn more and more from public life, leaving the running of the kingdom to him. Betimes he resented her for it, for making him be the strong one when he was grieving as surely as she. It felt strange to have the faint hot bubble of anger in his chest when he thought of Rosa; he was unaccustomed to such a thing.
He rose and went to look out of his window. This late in the year, only two weeks until midsummer, the sun set well after the dinner hour. The last light left a blood-red taint on the grey stone walls of the castle. Three floors below him, the castle guard was changing. Kain leaned on the window sill and stared out at his homeland.
For perhaps the thousandth time in the last eight months, he wondered why Cecil had chosen him as a regent, instead of Rosa alone. Cecil had ever thought him too paranoid—though Cecil would have used the word "suspicious"—of everyone and everything around him, including himself. Had Cecil truly thought the Council would accept him as a regent so easily? Or was Cecil more devious than Kain had given him credit for, and had he deliberately intended to put Kain there as a counterpoint to Rosa's good intentions?
He watched as the last rays of light faded from view, and the light of the torches flared in tiny, evenly spaced points along the castle walls. With the sun below the horizon, the moon was now visible, a broad crescent in the western sky. Was there some hidden race on that moon as well? Did they possess the same powers as the Lunarians?
He had tasks to accomplish. If nothing else, he should be resting, as the morrow would bring a long and trying day. Yet he lingered at the window, watching the flicker of torchlight against the deepening night. Should he not feel more guilty at the thought of betraying his devotion to Rosa by wedding another? The absence of such feeling puzzled him. He had always thought that if Rosa had indeed chosen Cecil, he would have lived his life wedded to honour and the Dragon Knights, choosing not to continue his father's line.
A soft sound behind him alerted him to another's presence, and he turned. A slight figure was emerging from the hidden staircase that curved along the west wall of his tower, cloaked and hooded in dark grey. With his room lit only by the faint light of the moon and the indistinct flicker of faraway torches, he could not make out any other identifying features.
"Show yourself," he said, and rested his left hand on the hilt of the dagger he wore at his side.
Pale hands rose out of the gathered shadows of the cloak and pushed back the hood. The moonlight gleamed on Rosa's fair hair and pale face.
"Rosa?" Kain took half a step forward. "What are you doing here? Where are your guards?"
"I told my ladies that I wished to rest, and left my rooms by the secret passage there," she said.
"You should not be here," Kain said. "It is improper."
"I am no longer wed, Kain." She sounded unspeakably weary. "There is no one to see or care with whom I spend my time."
Something was not right here. Kain was trying to determine what was wrong with the conversation when Rosa unfastened the cloak at her throat and pushed it aside, letting the dark grey fabric slip into a pile on the floor. Beneath, she wore naught but a sheer chemise that concealed nothing, and her own skin.
"Rosa!" Kain took a step back and bumped into the wall. "What are you doing?"
She walked closer, and though he endeavoured to keep his eyes averted from anything intimate, he could see that she had lost a significant amount of weight. "I am lonely, Kain," she said softly. "Is it so wrong for me to seek some comfort?" She came closer, and he held up his hands to ward her off.
"Rosa, this is not you," he said softly.
The sheen of tears in her eyes hurt, a sharp stabbing ache in his chest. "You have loved me for years," she said, and in her words he heard the underlying accusation. "Why do you not take what you have wanted, when it is freely offered?" Her mouth twisted, a bitterness suffusing her expression. "Or do you only desire what you cannot have? Do you find me repugnant now? Was it my purity you wanted, Dragon Knight? Something unattainable?"
She had not raised her voice, but the sting of it was all the sharper for that. He lifted his hands to hers, fingers closing around wrists that were naught but skin and bone, where once there had been combat-hardened muscle. "Yes, I have loved you." He kept his voice as gentle as he could, as his grip on her was gentle. "Rosa, I have loved you for as long as I can remember, even when we were small. I desperately wanted you to choose me, and it hurt more than I can say when you chose Cecil." Of their own accord, his fingertips stroked the inside of her wrists, a slow sweeping motion intended to soothe. "It is because I love you that I will not touch you now."
"You bastard," she whispered, and he was so stunned at hearing the word from her lips that he nearly let go her hands. "You self-righteous bastard. You dare stand there and tell me that you reject me because you love me? Liar!"
"Rosa, listen to me." His hands tightened on her arms, not enough to hurt, but enough to keep her from pulling free. "Did I touch you now, you would hate me when grief ceased to cloud your mind. I will not do it. I would rather you hate me for holding back, than hate me for taking advantage of you. I will not do this." He had no idea where he found the strength to speak those words, but they were nonetheless true.
The tears gathering in her eyes spilled over, and he longed to close his own eyes so that he would not have to see her pain. He forced himself to look, to see what he had done. There would be no retreat from the consequences of his choices, not now.
"Why is he gone?" Rosa whispered, so faintly he almost did not hear her, and then she sagged against him as though her body had lost the strength to hold itself upright. He let go her wrists and wrapped his arms around her, feeling how fragile she seemed. He could feel his tunic grow damp where her tears soaked into it, and her body shook with her sobs. He made some soothing wordless noise and smoothed her hair, unsure of what else he could do for her.
Her skin was warm and smooth beneath the chemise, and each time she drew breath he could feel her breasts pressing into his chest. He sought to disregard that, and told himself that he did not breathe in the scent of her hair, that he did not savour the feel of her skin beneath his hands. Her arms wrapped around him and squeezed, and he gritted his teeth and began to recite the names of the captains of the Dragon Knights to himself. He would not take advantage of her thus. He would not.
Perhaps if he told himself that often enough, it would remain true.
He made himself let her go when her sobs quieted and she leaned back. Her eyes were reddened, her face tear-streaked, and she was sniffling.
She was still beautiful.
He watched her draw the air of royal pride around herself, and she was no longer a vulnerable woman mourning the loss of her love, but instead distant and controlled, save for her eyes. There he saw a cold fury he had never before seen directed at him, even when he had done her harm at Golbez's urging.
She said nothing as she picked up her cloak and wrapped it around herself, fading into the shadows as one more hue of grey against the stone walls.
He could not bring himself to call after her, and she vanished into the gaping darkness that was the hidden staircase. When she was gone, he walked the few feet to his bed and sank down upon it, his head bowed.
Ten years ago—ten months ago—he would have taken her offer with joy and gratitude, and damn the consequences.
His heart ached for her, and he was aware of other, less noble aches that he was choosing not to acknowledge. He laced his hands together and stared at the floor, and wondered how long she would be wroth with him for his choice that night.
He passed the night in fits of broken sleep and chaotic dreams in which Rosa became Barbariccia, or sometimes they were side by side, and the shrieking wind tore at his skin while Rosa's arrows pierced him. He tossed and turned in his bed, tangled in the sheets, and felt the strength of Barbariccia's grip binding his limbs while Rosa called down the judgment of Holy upon him.
When at last the light of dawn pierced his window, he staggered from his bed gritty-eyed and went to bathe. He was already garbed in his formal dress uniform when Matthew tapped on the door for admittance.
"You look as though you would have had more sleep if I had insisted on celebrating with you," the new Captain of the Dragon Knights observed dryly when Kain opened the door.
"Mayhap," Kain allowed. He rubbed his eyes, which felt as though he had tried to burrow face-first through the Damcyan desert, and straightened his shoulders. "Well then. Is all in readiness?"
"Mother seems to think so." Matthew looked amused.
"When will you announce your own betrothal?" Kain asked him.
"Perhaps in a fortnight." Matthew shrugged. "Lord Nerthic was most generous in his offer."
"Did you need a generous offer?" Kain inquired out of genuine curiosity. "Lady Constance is lovely, and she is not known to be sharp of temperament."
"She is perfect," Matthew replied with a smile that indicated his mind was far from the present. "No, I did not need a generous offer. In truth I was surprised to receive one at all; I had thought Lord Nerthic would seek to arrange stronger political ties somewhere else."
Kain shrugged. "Perhaps he heeded her wishes," he suggested. It was no secret that Constance had gazed upon Matthew with more than a little favour over the last few years.
Matthew shrugged. "I suppose it would not be impossible," he allowed. Abruptly he paused and titled his head to stare at Kain. "You are wearing your Dragoon uniform for your wedding?"
"Though I have not actively commanded the Dragon Knights for some time now," Kain said, "still I am entitled to their uniform. I would have some part of my past with me to mark this transition."
There was silence for all of three seconds before Matthew burst out laughing. "You forgot to arrange for new attire," he said in a humourously accusing tone.
Kain glared at him, which did little to dampen Matthew's fit of hilarity. "I daresay I have had other things on my mind," he said sharply.
"Oh, no doubt," Matthew replied, still laughing. "Don't worry, Captain, I shall not tell my sister that your impending nuptials was farther down on your list of driving concerns than taxes or roads."
"Oh, say not so!" Edge appeared out of nowhere, and then let loose a strange squeaking sound when he found the point of Kain's lance against his throat. "I'm not here to kill you!" he protested.
Kain groaned and set the lance aside. "If you have a desire to keep your life intact, then pray do not appear unannounced when I have a weapon to hand," he said. "Why did the guard not announce you?"
"I sort of didn't introduce myself," Edge admitted.
One of Kain's guards tapped politely on the door. "Lord Regent, Queen Rydia of Eblan wishes—how did he get here?" The guard stared blankly at Edge.
Kain sighed. "Send Queen Rydia in," he said, and glared at Edge.
"Next time," Rydia said severely, hands on her hips, "use the traditional means of entry, Edge. It might be slightly less apt to render me a widow too soon."
"You protest widowhood when you have offered to hasten its approach multiple times?" Edge threw out his arms in a dramatic gesture. "What logic is this?"
Rydia sniffed and affected a more prim tone than any Kain had heard her use in everyday speech. "There is a difference between choosing to rid myself of the plague that is my husband, and finding him spitted on another's weapon for intruding where he is not wanted." For all her sharp words, Rydia did examine Edge's throat with some concern. "It would serve you right had he hurt you," she added with some exasperation. "You have absolutely no sense."
"As well, then, that I have you to watch over me." Edge caught her hand in his and bestowed a kiss on her fingertips.
"If I may interrupt," Kain said dryly, "to what do I owe the honour of your presence?"
Edge stared at him. "Did you think we would not attend your wedding?" he inquired.
Kain shrugged. "I had not thought to make it a matter of much pomp and ceremony."
"Kain," Rydia said gently, "we are your friends, and we would see you happy, for all that you seem inclined to resist that very state with every fiber of your being at every opportunity."
Matthew was abruptly seized by a prodigious coughing fit, and politely ensured that much of his face was covered for the duration of it. Edge pretended to no such discretion and laughed aloud.
Kain could think of no response that would not provoke Edge or Rydia to even greater levity at his expense, and elected to remain silent instead.
"It is nearly time to go," Matthew said when he had recovered completely.
"Then let us go." Kain forced himself not to straighten the hem of his tunic or check that his cuffs were properly in place; the uniform was as perfect as mortal hands could make it, and had been since he finished dressing. Still, he checked for the pin on his shoulder and the ribbons on the opposite shoulder, just in case. When he could no longer procrastinate, he took a deep breath and squared his shoulders before marching out of his room and down the stairs, with Edge, Rydia, and Matthew trailing behind.
The wedding was to be held in the chapel that served the spiritual needs of Baron Castle's inhabitants. Kain paused outside the door and took another steadying breath. Edge clapped him firmly on the shoulder. "Don't panic," he said in a conspiratorial, deliberately loud whisper. "Not all women are like Rydia."
Rydia sighed and reached up to embrace Kain. "Pay him no heed," she said, and smiled. "I hope that you have found your peace." She stretched up on her toes to kiss Kain's cheek, and then turned to walk into the chapel with Edge. Kain noted that for all their squabbling, they took each other's hands with an ease that suggested long habit. He wondered if, in six years' time, he and Elizabeth would be so comfortable with each other. Political matches were not known for strong affections.
"Lord Regent," Matthew said, and from his tone it was not the first time he had done so. "Let us take our places."
Kain nodded and told himself that he had faced Golbez, Barbariccia, and Zeromus; he had no cause to be nervous. On that bracing thought, he pushed open the chapel doors and walked around the seats to the altar at the front.
The celebrant was already waiting, though few of the guests were; Edge and Rydia were among the first to arrive. Kain had not the faintest idea which of the nobility had been invited, as the wedding plans had not been any of his concern. Matthew took up the groomsman's position just behind him, and his silent presence was bolstering. Kain wondered at his own nervousness; it was not as though he feared the loss of freedom or any such silly notion. It was merely that signing one's life into a permanent contract with another was something of a daunting prospect.
His thoughts kept running the same endless cycle within his mind as he waited for the guests to finish arriving; Baron's nobility were chronically late to almost everything, and he had little hope of the ceremony actually starting on time. When Rosa arrived, she would not look at him, and as she had done in every public appearance since Cecil's death, she was garbed in the green of mourning. She took a seat next to Rydia, and conversed quietly with her as they waited for the other guests to gather. Kain was surprised to see Yang and his wife slip in unannounced, and wondered who had informed them. Perhaps it had been Cid; it was the sort of thing that he might do.
At length the seats were filled with a multicoloured sea of silks, and the chapel doors swung open for the last time to admit the bride.
She was preceded down the aisle by Constance Nerthic, who wore a gown of pale lavender that suited her admirably. She carried a bouquet of white roses and violets. Elizabeth came some ten paces behind her, carrying a similar bouquet, but garbed in a colour that was neither blue nor green, but somewhere in between. It looked lovely in conjunction with her dark hair, and Kain could see when she drew near enough that it very nearly matched her eyes.
Much of the ceremony passed by in a blur: there was chanting, and the sprinkling of blessed water on both of them. A cup of wine was shared, and vows exchanged. As a rule, wedding rings were not exchanged in Baron, for they might foul one's grip on a weapon if driven to a fight; lovers would usually exchange other gifts on their wedding night, in a private ritual not meant for prying eyes. They knelt, and the celebrant spoke the blessing over them. When the blessing was complete, so too was the ceremony.
By custom, wedded couples in Baron did not exchange a kiss as they might in Eblan or Mysidia, so Kain offered Elizabeth his arm to escort her down the aisle. She rested her fingertips lightly on his arm and he found, to his surprise, that he barely need slow his pace at all to accommodate hers.
When they were outside the chapel, Kain drew a deep and grateful breath.
"Oh, fear not," Elizabeth said, and he glanced at her to see her eyes sparkling with mischief. "Only three-quarters of the guests were imagining you spitted upon their swords and roasting in a funeral pyre thrice your own height."
Kain laughed, startled. "You must have been quite careful with your invitations, to find so many unwilling to harm me," he said.
Elizabeth smiled. "It is not in the chapel that you must be wary of them, but at the feast," she said.
"Kain!" Cid bellowed behind them, and Kain turned to greet him.
"Cid," he said politely.
"Lady Elizabeth." Cid bobbed in a way that might be construed as a respectful bow. "I hope you know you'll have your hands full with this one!"
"I daresay you could provide me with hints should the need arise, Chief Pollendina." She inclined her head.
Behind Cid, Kain could see the other guests beginning to flow out of the chapel, led by Rosa and her fellow monarchs. He wondered how Cid had managed to sneak out before the royalty, who by rights should have been first after the bride and groom, exited.
"Cid!" Rydia said, and hugged him. He hugged her back with a great deal of enthusiasm, and whacked Edge on the shoulder by way of greeting, causing the younger man to stagger dramatically and clutch at his shoulder with an exaggerated cry of pain.
Recalled to his duties as the nominal host, Kain took Elizabeth's arm again to lead her to the royal banquet hall, which Rosa had offered to them as a place to celebrate their wedding. Elizabeth's mother and younger sisters had decorated it extensively with banners displaying the Highwind crest of a gold falcon on a blue field, and the Darmin crest of crossed silver sword and shield on a green field. Behind the dais on which the guests of honour would be seated hung a banner that had been embroidered with a golden falcon gripping a silver sword and shield in its talons, on a blue-and-green field counterchanged.
The high table had been set aside for the various royal guests, the bridal attendants, and Cid, although the children would not be present. Kain escorted Elizabeth to the central seats—the one time that they would be seated above those of royal blood or rank—and they seated themselves. The other guests filed in behind them, with Cid escorting Rosa. When all of the royal guests were seated, the nobility came, and settled themselves.
"Is all well?" Elizabeth murmured quietly.
"Yes," Kain replied as quietly.
She smiled, and he could not help but to return it. They waited until everyone had filed in and seated themselves. Servants moved smoothly through the mass of guests, pouring a sweet Baronian white wine into the goblets. When they were done, Kain nodded to Matthew, whose duty it was to open the feasting with a toast.
Matthew rose from his seat, and the murmur of conversation faded to silence. He took up his goblet and smiled. "I could have asked for no better commander or friend than Kain Highwind, and though she is betimes a pest of hell, I suppose I could have asked for no better sister than Elizabeth." He ignored the dark look the sister thusly maligned cast at him, and continued smoothly. "May Bahamut smile upon this joining, and may their life together be long, happy, and filled with laughter. To Kain and Elizabeth." He raised his goblet high and then drank, with everyone else repeating the toast and following suit.
Immediately thereafter, the servants began to circulate again, bringing out the first course of the feast. The wine flowed freely and the food was plentiful and delicious. Kain drank sparingly of the former and enjoyed the latter.
"So, Kain," Edge said.
Kain suppressed a groan and turned toward the King of Eblan, wondering what mischief the latter had in mind.
"If I pour you more wine," Edge said, "can we actually convince you to dance at your own wedding?"
Kain resolved to guard his goblet more closely from then on. "If Lady Elizabeth desires to dance, it will be my honour and pleasure to do so," he replied stiffly.
"Edge," Rydia said sweetly, "whyever did you warn him about your plan?"
This time Kain did groan aloud. Elizabeth, distracted from her conversation with Rosa, turned to raise an inquiring eyebrow at him.
"Is aught amiss?" she asked.
"The King and Queen of Eblan seem to feel I am overly dignified and are threatening to ply me with wine until I am less so," Kain said.
"Actually," Edge piped up, "what I asked was whether we would have to ply him with wine to get him to dance with you."
Kain sensed the situation rapidly slipping away from him, and made a desperate attempt to retrieve it. "As I told His Majesty, I would be my pleasure to dance with you if you should desire it."
A wry smile quirked the corners of Elizabeth's mouth. "Pray, King Edge, do not torment him so," she said calmly. "I would like him to look back on this day with at least a modicum of fondness, ten years from now."
"That's no fun," Edge muttered. "Who else can I torment without getting burnt to a crisp?"
Rydia patted his hand. "I am sure you will think of something," she said rather too sweetly.
Kain wondered if scooting his chair closer to Elizabeth's, and therefore farther from Edge's, would be considered a dishonourable and cowardly retreat. From the knowing gleam in Edge's eyes, it would likely be construed as such. He therefore returned his attention to his meal, knowing it for capitulation but finding that more palatable than a more obvious gesture. Edge merely snickered.
At the other end of the table, Queen Yinyi was engaged in avid conversation with Elizabeth's mother, Miranda, and with Constance Nerthic. Rosa was speaking quietly with Yang and Lord Darmin.
Kain cast his gaze over the assembled guests, and noted that all of them seemed to be in excellent spirits. He was just lifting his goblet for another sip when he caught sight of three small figures at the other end of the hall, where the desserts had been arrayed on several long tables so that the guests might indulge themselves at will after the dancing started. He could not make out their faces, but he could clearly see that one was as fair-haired as Rosa, one had night-dark hair, and the third's hair...was a vivid shade of green.
"I am going to kill her," Rydia muttered, apparently having seen the same thing he did.
She and Kain rose from their seats simultaneously, and a silence fell over the hall. It was broken by a shrill cry of "Come on, Gwennie!"
"Princess Sophia," Kain called, and all three small figures froze.
"Uh-oh," Princess Mei Jia of Fabul said.
Sophia stared blankly for a moment.
"New plan!" Gwendolyn of Eblan and Mist proclaimed, and summoned a thin sheet of fire. As the nearby guests shouted in alarm and drew back, the three small princesses snatched a blackberry tart off the nearest table, and hurried for the door, lugging it between them.
They pulled to a halt, shrieking in surprise, when a towering pillar of lightning leapt into existence in front of them and hovered there long before the usual duration of such things. Rydia calmly walked around the end of the high table and toward her errant offspring, trailed closely by Rosa and Yinyi.
"What is the meaning of this?" Rosa demanded of her younger child.
Sophia mumbled something unintelligible and shuffled her feet.
"Put it back right this second, you hear me?" Yinyi scolded.
They shuffled slowly back to the table and levered the tart back into place with considerably more difficulty than they had first acquired it. They then turned back to their mothers, lined up next to each other with heads bowed. Kain, however, did not miss the rebellious look that crossed all three small faces.
Rosa said nothing, merely pointed at the door. The three princesses hurried toward it, followed by the queens. The hall door shut behind them, and gradually the regular chatter resumed.
"Peaches to Gil that none of the three of them will sit comfortably for a week," Edge said, taking a bite out of that same fruit.
"No bet," Kain answered absently. "Your wife went with them."
Edge laughed. "Someday, I will catch you when you aren't paying enough attention, and I will get you to agree to one of my wagers."
"Edge, a particularly stupid chocobo is still smart enough not to take one of your wagers." Kain chased a bit of pheasant around his plate without much interest; his stomach was already protesting the volume of food he had consumed.
"Would a dead chocobo take it?" Elizabeth inquired, deadpan, and caused Edge to choke on his wine.
"That's not fair," he complained.
"I was not aware that rules had been established," Kain answered dryly.
Edge muttered imprecations around a mouthful of quail stuffed with chestnuts and berries. Elizabeth smiled serenely and bit into a fried dumpling filled with finely chopped meat and dipped in a sweet sauce.
"May I get you anything, my lady?" Kain asked her politely.
"I have all that I need. Is there aught you require?" she replied as politely.
"I am well, thank you." Kain maneuvered the pheasant onto a bit of bread and mopped up the last bit of gravy.
"Do you people ever stop being formal?" Edge wondered aloud.
"I vow you should teach your daughter some formality," Rydia said irritably as she reclaimed her seat.
Edge laughed. "She's your daughter, too, love," he replied.
Rydia glared at him and speared a piece of potato in a sweetened mustard sauce with rather more force than was strictly necessary. "You encourage her," she said.
Edge shrugged. "It makes life interesting."
Rosa passed behind Kain to take her own seat, with Yinyi hurrying behind her. "I just don't know what got into that girl's head," she said to Yang.
"It is natural for children to want to be part of the celebration," Yang said.
Rosa's cheeks were slightly flushed with temper, and she drank a deep draught from her wine goblet.
Kain judged it an opportune moment to nod to the musicians waiting at the far end of the room, and they began to play the graceful, romantic strains of a formal court dance.
Kain rose and offered his hand to Elizabeth, for it was customary in Baron for the wedded couple to open the dancing. She was an adept dancer—more so than he—and performed the intricate steps of the dance with ease. He was able to ensure that at least he did not embarrass himself or her, and their dance ended to polite applause from the guests, who were now free to join in the dancing.
Kain glanced at the head table, where the royal tempers appeared to have cooled somewhat. He looked back at Elizabeth, noting the sparkle in her eyes. "What would you, my lady? Do you need to rest, or would you prefer dancing?"
"If it would not inconvenience you," she said, and the demure statement was entirely marred by her excited tone, "I should greatly enjoy another dance."
"As you will," Kain replied, and offered his hand for the beginning of the next dance.
The dancing, and the food, continued throughout the day. Kain danced more than he would have thought, though not always with Elizabeth; betimes he was partnered with other young noblewomen, and once or twice with Rosa or Rydia. Rydia danced infrequently because she had never learned the steps, but there were a few dances that she enjoyed, such as the mountain reels from villages west of Baron City and closer to Mist.
It was at the end of one such that she called a halt, laughing, and dragged Kain back to the high table for a cup of wine. She filled both their goblets and then quaffed half of hers in a single long draught.
"I needed that," she said with a sigh.
"Is all well with you?" Kain asked.
"Well enough." Rydia waved a hand in the air and drank from her goblet. A comfortable silence fell between them for a few minutes, and then Rydia spoke, her head bowed so that her hair concealed her face. "Rosa seems angry with you," she said. "I do not pretend to know the depth of her grief, for I lost a friend, while she lost her husband. Yet it seems almost that she blames you for his death."
"And why should she not?" Kain replied. "Had I not fallen, had I not set him off-balance, he might yet be here."
Rydia snorted. "Do not start this again," she said. "Painful though it is, it is sometimes the way of battle for good men to fall to blows that should not have happened. No, I spoke wrongly before. I think that she blames you for something else, but it seems linked to his death." Rydia took a deep breath. "I do not wish to pry, but is there aught I could do to help?"
Kain sighed and shook his head. "I do not know how to help her," he said. "She grieves, and I can do nothing. She is angry and she hurts, and I can do nothing."
Rydia was silent for a long moment. At last she placed her hand over his and squeezed gently. "Grieving is something she must do alone," Rydia said quietly. "You cannot do it for her. I know that it wounds you to be unable to help, but this is her burden to bear." She squeezed his hand again, then withdrew her own. "I will speak to her later, when the celebration is over," she said. "Perhaps she can find something to comfort her in my own experiences."
Kain nodded, and went to join Elizabeth when she beckoned for him to come dance with her. They spoke no more of that subject, nor of any other that was not lighthearted and cheerful, for the remainder of the feast, nor the time after it, in his tower.