[Final Fantasy IV] Every Light Casts a Shadow, Chapter Thirty-One: The Betrothal

[lassarina]

Pairings/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: 4700 this chapter.
Beta: celeloriel

Nineteen years after Zeromus

"Lord Regent, Queen Regent, I would speak with you." Jalen said from the doorway.

Kain looked up from the report he had been reading, and Rosa hastily set down her cup of tea. "King Jalen," she said cautiously, the title still stilted on her tongue. "I thought that you had completed your work for the day."

"I have." Jalen hesitated in the doorway, and Kain gestured for him to come in and take a seat. He stared down at his hands, which he was twisting together. In the four years since he had claimed his father's sword, he had spent a great deal of time practicing, and had the calluses to show for his hard work. He had also taken to reviewing reports with Kain and Rosa, anxious—so he said—to learn all that he could about what he was supposed to do, so that he had time to check his thoughts with them and ensure that he was pursuing the correct path.

He fidgeted a bit, and Kain waited him out. Rosa looked concerned, but said nothing. After three false starts, Jalen managed to speak his piece.

"Lord Eltrin said I need to be thinking about finding a wife," he said.

Rosa made a sound of wordless indignation. Kain studied Jalen's face. He seemed anxious, but not repulsed.

"You are only seventeen," Rosa said when she had mustered words instead of wrath.

"I don't think they mean for him to go out and be wedded tomorrow," Kain said, though he also thought that it was a bit early to be considering matrimony.

Jalen shrugged, frustrated. "It doesn't really matter, does it? I will be King, I have to have children, so I have to marry."

"You do not have to," Rosa said quietly. "King Odin didn't."

Jalen shrugged irritably. "There is no guarantee that I would be able to find an heir to adopt," he pointed out, "as King Odin did, and even if I did, undoubtedly that person would have been maneuvered into that position by his or her parents. The Houses might fall into outright war if it looked like I was going to be favoring one enough to choose an heir. So the only solution is to have my own."

"Jalen, not all marriages produce children," Kain pointed out. His own had not.

Jalen's shoulders slumped. "I know," he said.

"So why rush?" Kain asked him.

"Because if I can choose someone before they all really start maneuvering for it, it saves me a lot of hassle," Jalen said.

"I see." Kain leaned back in his chair. He had intended to bring this up with Jalen eventually, but not for at least another three years—assuming he lived long enough for that. "And did you have anyone in mind?"

Jalen flushed, which Kain interpreted as an affirmative that Jalen didn't wish to give. "No," he said, and it was not a particularly believable excuse. "I don't know...how much choice I get in the matter."

"As much as you want," Rosa said sharply.

Jalen shook his head, his expression resigned. "No, Mama," he said. "There are a lot of choices I won't get. This is one of them."

Rosa caught Kain's eye with a sharp glare, and then stood up abruptly. "I will return," she said, and left the room with no ceremony whatsoever.

Kain looked at Jalen. "Jalen, if you don't want this, I will help you find a way to avoid it," he said. "Pray do not cast yourself into something for which you have no desire. It is true that there are some who will scheme to put their daughters in your path, but you do not have to accede to them."

Jalen sighed. "You can't do that, Uncle Kain, and you know it. You want to, and I might sort of wish you could, but if I'm alone, I'm more vulnerable, even if a marriage brings its own vulnerabilities."

Kain winced. "I did not want you to be so bitter," he mumbled to himself.

"Not bitter. Realistic." Jalen shrugged. "There are more important things to fight about, anyway. I have so many things I want to do—changes I want to make, that will help everyone. Some will fight me on that because it's different, or because they don't see the need, or just because the damn wind is blowing east instead of west." He flinched and looked back over his shoulder, but Rosa must have been out of earshot, for she did not admonish him for his language.

"You've grown up," Kain said, and he wasn't sure if he was proud or saddened.

"What would you do, Uncle Kain?" Jalen asked.

Kain sighed and shook his head. "I would like to say I would do what was required of me," he said, "but you are not me, and I cannot say truthfully that I would hew to my duty. After all, I have not done well by my House, and there is no one to continue it after me." He did not mind so much not having children of his own—Jalen and Sophia were enough for him—but he did regret that Elizabeth had wanted it, and the gods had not answered. He also regretted that the Highwind name would die when he did.

"You could adopt someone," Jalen said. "For a House, there is more precedent and less trouble. I read it in the histories."

"Yes, but after I served Golbez, I doubt there are many Houses that would want me to adopt one of their children," Kain pointed out.

"Lord Nerthic or Lord Darmin would agree to an adoption," Jalen said, "but that's not really the point, is it?" He fiddled with a paperweight from Kain's desk. "Who would you choose for me, Uncle Kain?"

Kain hesitated, because if he guessed wrongly as to Jalen's preference he might lose his trust. "Well," he said carefully, "it is traditional for Baron's royalty to marry within Baron's nobility—" He saw the slight crinkle of Jalen's nose, and was reassured. "However, there is also value to establishing diplomatic ties with other nations." That seemed to be safer ground—and had the benefit of being true—so Kain continued. "You could really choose any of your cousins and friends, if you wished."

Jalen was trying not to be interested in that proposal. Kain saw Rosa hovering in the doorway, seemingly unwilling to intrude on the conversation. Jalen must have caught his look, however, because he twisted to see her. "Mama, what do you think?"

Rosa came back into the room calmly, as though she had not been listening. "Your father and I were childhood sweethearts," she said. "There is nothing wrong with such a choice. And Kain is correct; there is value in alliance. I would not have you choose a wife only for her strategic connections, though."

"Because you want me to be happy?" Jalen asked.

"That, and because it wouldn't be necessary," Kain said. "Surely in all this world, we can find someone of whom you think fondly, and whom you would like to marry."

Jalen ducked his head to hide his blush.

"You have always gotten along well with Mei Jia," Rosa said, "and with Caroline Darmin." Jalen nodded, though he was not enthusiastic about it. "I think, though, that perhaps you were waiting for me to suggest Gwendolyn," she finished.

Jalen's look of wide-eyed surprise had Kain biting his lip and frantically hoping he would not laugh aloud. One did not mock one's sovereign.

"How—" Jalen began, and then stopped and stared at the wall while the tips of his ears turned red. "Never mind."

"You have always been good friends with her," Rosa said. "And she will rule Mist one day, when Rydia—well. One day she will rule Mist, and Edward—" Rosa's voice caught only a little on the name of Rydia's second child and elder son. "He will rule Eblan."

Jalen thought about this for a moment. "Would it really be okay?" he asked. "I mean. If I have to choose someone."

"I think that is not yours alone to decide," Kain said quietly. "We can arrange a trip to Eblan, if you would like. Keep in mind that you will need to ask, and she to assent."

"Actually, I thought I might invite her here," Jalen said. "Next year I will step out from your Regency; do you think we could host a conclave?"

"A conclave, to go with your formal coronation?" Rosa nodded thoughtfully. "I think that could be arranged. Do you want to talk to Gwendolyn first?"

"Well, I'm not going to ask her in front of half the world and be turned down," Jalen said irritably. "Of course I'm going to talk to her first. I just thought...that could be a good way to make it official."

Kain nodded agreement, struck by the realization that in a few short months he would be free of the duties and burdens of being Regent. It was a bittersweet thought—he did not want Jalen to be this grown-up already, and he had a fear (that he would not voice, to Jalen or to Rosa) that he had taught Jalen suspicion a little too well. This conversation had only heightened that fear. If he had done his job well enough—best not to think of it now, he told himself firmly. It was still some ways off.

"Rydia's birthday is next month," Rosa said, "and I believe we were planning on a short visit—nothing formal."

Jalen nodded. "Thank you," he said awkwardly, and bowed hastily before exiting the room.

Rosa sighed. "I cannot believe I just had that conversation," she said.

"This should be an interesting visit," Kain answered.

~*~

Eblan always seemed dreary to Kain. Perhaps it was the marshes that surrounded the castle, or the fact that it was cloudy more often than not, but even the large number of people going about daily life could not impart a sense of life to this land.

With his usual disregard for royal protocol, Edge was waiting near the landing point for them, and there were no guards in sight. Rydia stood with him, and their children were present as well. Kain was astonished to realize that their son Edward already stood as tall as Rydia's shoulder, at twelve; he would be a tall man when he finished growing. As he was now, he was gangly and awkward with limbs too long and constantly in the way.

Kain wondered if this Edward felt the weight of the name he'd been given as heavily as Kain had felt his own, which had once belonged to his great-grandfather, one of the more famous of Baron's Dragoon Captains.

Sophia was first off the airship, racing forward to hug Gwendolyn, with whom she had long been close. Jalen followed more sedately and very much aware of his dignity, carefully keeping his eyes away from Gwendolyn and greeting Edge and Rydia formally, monarch to monarch.

"That's enough of that," Edge said, laughing. "We're not doing a state visit. At least I don't think so. Rydia?"

"None that I arranged," she said dryly, giving Jalen a hug. "Welcome, all of you. Gwendolyn, Edward, please take Jalen and Sophia to their rooms. And do not go exploring just yet," she added sternly. "You will have plenty of time to run wild later; dinner is in an hour."

This led to a chorus of complaints from the younger children; Jalen nodded gravely. "I will be careful, Aunt Rydia," he promised.

Rydia arched an eyebrow. "So serious," she said, and then turned to her own children. "Well, go on."

The four of them set off, and Rydia turned back to Kain, Elizabeth, and Rosa. "So," she said as soon as the children were out of earshot, "is there a particular reason Jalen is being formal with me and Edge, and refusing to look at Gwen?"

Rosa sighed. "He has come, rather earlier than I'd like, to some conclusions about his responsibilities once he assumes the throne."

Edge laughed. "Doesn't want to marry one of your noblewomen and is making eyes at Gwen? This ought to be thoroughly entertaining."

"He wants to ask," Kain said, "both you and Gwendolyn. It would not be for years yet."

"I'd hope so," Edge said. "She's only fifteen."

Rydia sighed. "How did they get old enough for this?" she asked rhetorically. "I suppose it doesn't matter. It will be Gwen's decision, you understand. We won't choose for her."

"I would neither expect nor ask you to," Rosa said, a little stiffly.

Edge shook his head. "We were lucky," he said, putting one arm around Rydia's shoulders as they started back toward the castle. "More than I appreciated at the time, really. We all got to choose. I wanted that for our kids."

"They will still choose," Kain said. "If Gwendolyn is uninterested or has other plans, we would honour her choice."

"Oh, I don't doubt that," Rydia said wryly, "if only because you fear what I would do if you didn't." Her light tone made it apparent that she spoke only in jest. "It's only...they're so young."

"The benefit to all of us being friends," Kain said, "is that if they change their minds, we can all smile and agree that there are no hard feelings." It was strange to think of other heads of state as friends as well as allies, because that had never been true in King Odin's day. Their world had become far more interconnected as a result of Golbez's war.

"Kain, did you actually just say something optimistic?" Rosa teased. He had missed her smile; it had been rare after Cecil died, and rarer still after she performed the ritual to end the plague. Seeing it now was like a warm spring day, even if her amusement was at his expense.

"Even an old dog can learn a new trick with time and stubbornness—which you have all applied." He offered Elizabeth one arm, and Rosa the other, as they climbed the stairs, and she leaned on him. Once, that would have set his heart to racing. Now, it was merely another polite gesture. He felt as though that should have hurt more than it did.

They were the last to arrive, and when they accompanied Edge and Rydia into the private dining room, all of their friends—those who remained—were already there. Palom was occupied with some kind of puzzle-box, while Porom was deep in conversation with Yang and Yinyi. Cid had not attended, being in poor health, and Kain found himself automatically scanning the room for Cecil and Edward, still. He wondered if he would ever grow truly used to Cecil's absence.

He greeted the others quietly, and seated himself near Palom, assuming it would be quietest there. It was, if one discounted Palom's extremely colourful vocabulary as he moved the pieces of the puzzle box around. Kain simply watched and listened, observing the new lines on familiar faces. Palom and Porom were twenty-four now, if he remembered correctly; they had both grown into attractive adults, every bit as clever and precocious as they had been at age five. He wondered what they would do with their lives, now that they were adults and had reclaimed their homeland.

"Your wine gone bad or something?" Palom asked him.

Kain started. "I beg your pardon?"

"You've got that thinking-frowning look. And you aren't drinking." Palom crowed in triumph as he slid the last piece of the puzzle-box into place.

"I suppose I am not thirsty." Kain looked at the box, its secrets—a hidden compartment, nothing more interesting—now laid bare for all the world to see. "How are things in Mysidia?"

Palom shrugged. "Sometimes I think I liked Mist better," he said. "Fewer grumpy old people telling me not to run in the halls or light the curtains on fire or whatever imagined insult it is this week."

"I hardly think lighting the curtains on fire is an 'imagined' insult," Kain said before he thought better of it, and then winced.

"It was entirely deserved retaliation for making Porom cry," Palom said. "Though I guess she didn't think so."

Kain chuckled. "So you are continuing your studies?"

"Yeah, Solon says if I'm not going to be useful and decide on something to do then I have to hit the books." Palom sighed and started to reassemble the puzzle box. "He won't let me study any of the really cool stuff, though."

Kain could picture Porom's reaction to that statement perfectly: maybe he would, if he could trust you not to misuse it. "His caution is understandable," he said instead.

"Yeah, yeah." Palom put the box on a nearby shelf with more care than his tone indicated. "When are people going to stop treating me like I'll blow up anything I look at?"

"You have shown a remarkable propensity for that in the past," Kain pointed out. "People will judge you by your past actions."

"They don't judge you that way," Palom said. "Nobody cares anymore what you did for Golbez. It's not fair."

"I think they care," Kain said, "but I have many more years than you of different behaviour for them to consider." He thought of the bitter looks Rydia had given him as they traveled on the Moon when she thought he was not looking, of how Edge used humour to cover the awkwardness of some of his past deeds. "It is not that my past deeds are forgotten, Palom, but more that I have tried to make amends."

"Are you still on that, seriously?" Edge asked from behind him, making him jump and wish, not for the first time, that the King of Eblan was not so accomplished a ninja.

Kain was saved from answering by the arrival of a small herd of elephants, or rather the assorted offspring, which was a largely indistinguishable sound. The clambering horde was led by Sophia and Yang's son Zhi, with Jalen and Gwendolyn all but tripping over each other and Yang's daughter Mei Jia as they all tried to fit through the door at the same time. Next was Cormac, Edge and Rydia's youngest. Edward brought up the rear, his tunic somewhat askew and damp round the neckline.

"I thought I raised children, not wild animals," Rosa said mildly.

"We're not wild animals," Sophia said. "We're entirely tame. We don't make messes inside."

Kain fought the urge to bury his face in his hands. It was at moments like this that he remembered there were some benefits to not having children of one's own.

"I see," Rosa said. "And all this running about?"

"We're active young people," Gwendolyn said, in a tone of sweet reason she must have learned from her mother in Edge's more trying moments.

"Perhaps you could consider being slightly less active for the rest of the evening," Rydia said. "Did you wash your hands?"

"Of course," Gwendolyn said. "We even scrubbed behind Edward's ears."

That explained the tunic.

"Papa, Sophia says Dragoon spears are better than fighting with fists," Zhi said to Yang. "Can you show her that we're better?"

"Sophia," Rosa said, "I am disappointed in you. Have you not learned that there are many forms of combat, all equal?"

"Dragoons are the best," Sophia said stubbornly.

Though Kain was privately inclined to agree with her, he knew that would win him no points with Rosa. "Princess Sophia, a Dragoon does not boast," he said, as mildly as he could. "It is true that a Dragoon's spear is strong and swift, but not every situation requires a spear. Other weapons or fighting styles may be just as effective, if not more so."

"Uncle Kain, you're a Dragoon," she protested. "How can you say he's better?"

"Sophia!" Rosa scowled. "You will apologize."

"One does not disrespect one's friends nor one's opponent," Kain told her severely. "That is not the Dragoons' way."

The combination of maternal disapproval and a Dragoon's criticism had at least enough effect to make her heave a dramatic sigh and mutter something that approximated an apology. Zhi accepted it with good grace, rather more than Kain thought he might have managed at that age. Within a few minutes the two of them were engaged with the puzzle box that Palom had recently solved.

"Sometimes I think I liked them better before they could talk," Edge muttered in Kain's ear, under the pretext of waving a servant over to refill Kain's glass.

"As you say, Your Majesty," Kain said, and earned a swat on the shoulder that stung.

"You are absolutely not pulling out titles on a family occasion," Edge said.

Kain was saved from answering by the servant who came to announce dinner. The meal was served casually, in a large room full of small groupings of sofas, allowing them all to spread out and choose their own seats. Kain caught himself thinking that, had all of their traveling companions been here, the room might have seemed less intimidating; as it was, he did not exactly feel alone in a cavernous room, but there seemed to be too much space.

He saw Jalen and Gwendolyn seated together in a corner, separate from the rest of the guests, and changed course to sit near Porom instead. She looked up and smiled when he approached. "Good evening," she said. "I hope you are well."

"I am. And you?"

"I am well." She took a bite of the spiced chicken on her plate. "How are things in Baron?"

He reminded himself that she was not an enemy—the reminders seemed to come easier these days—and answered honestly. "The usual squabbles and difficulties, but nothing we cannot handle. Have you enjoyed being back in Mysidia?"

Her eyes lit up. "Kain, you wouldn't believe the libraries—I know you've seen them, but really, you wouldn't believe them. They're amazing. I didn't remember, before, but I could spend forever in there and not read everything."

"Is that what you will do, now?" Kain asked her, curious.

She shrugged. "I would be happy with it," she said. "But the Elder might need me for other things. I don't have enough of a connection to black magic to be a Sage, but I'd like to see if there's anything more I can do with the magic I have. Or teach people to use white magic—people outside Mysidia. There are so many illnesses and injuries that go untreated because studying white magic is something few people have time or money for, but it's important. I want to start a school."

Kain thought of Rosa, twenty years ago, saying something similar. "Rosa once dreamed of starting a school like that," he said.

Porom flushed a little. "That's where I got the idea," she said. "Rosa told me about it when we were researching the plague—I said that maybe we could fix it easier if we had more mages. Maybe—"

"Maybe she wouldn't have had to give up her magic," Kain murmured.

She nodded. "There's a lot I don't know about how to teach magic, though. Learning was always easy for me, and Elder Solon says I have to learn how to teach those who don't find it as easy as Palom and I always did."

"Would you start your school in Mysidia?" Kain asked her.

She looked thoughtful, but shook her head. "I don't want to leave forever—I think I'd like to still spend part of every year there—but if I could book passage on Cid's airship fleet, I could have a traveling school. The basic things, like Cure and Esuna, I could teach those in a season in most places. If I can travel to the people who want to learn, it would be easier, because they wouldn't have to leave their homes and try to get to Mysidia or to Baron City."

Kain had to admit he had never thought of sending a peripatetic teacher around to small towns, instructing them in the use of magic. "That's a good idea," he said, and she gave him a dazzling smile.

"I thought, too, that it might help with what Livius said," she said, more quietly, after looking around to see if anyone was listening to them. "Those without magic have a hard time resisting that kind of control. Mages aren't immune, obviously, but we can be trained to use our powers to shield ourselves."

Perhaps, Kain thought, that explained why he had fallen prey to Golbez's machinations. Yet, that was not the entire story. "You said, though, that mages aren't immune," he said. "That cannot be all there is to the matter."

Porom bit her lip. "I think he used the Crystal," she whispered. "That's how he was able to control so many of the Mysidians. When we went to examine the Crystal, it was much weakened. You recall how much difficulty we had getting the ships in on the tide? That was why."

"Is there no way to protect the Crystals from such misuse?" Kain asked her.

"I don't know," she said slowly, "but maybe I could study that, until Elder Solon says I'm ready to teach."

"Do you ever stop studying?" Palom plopped down on the couch next to her, balancing a plate overloaded with food such that Kain was amazed he didn't spill any of it.

"I have to make up for your inattention," Porom retorted.

Kain saw Jalen standing behind both of them giving him a slightly desperate look, so he rose with his own plate. "I wish you both the best of luck," he told them.

Palom thanked him indistinctly through a mouthful of food, earning himself a familiar thwack on the head from his sister, and Porom inclined her head gravely as Kain left.

"What do you need from me?" Kain asked Jalen, quietly enough for the twins not to hear.

Jalen swallowed hard. "Um. I need to talk to Aunt Rydia and Uncle Edge," he said.

Kain followed him to the other side of the room, where Edge and Rydia played a card game amid much eye-rolling and exasperated commentary. They left off their game as Gwendolyn approached from one side and Jalen and Kain from the other.

"Are we mediating, or cheering?" Edge asked, setting his plate down on the low table beside him.

Jalen and Gwendolyn both turned utterly fascinating shades of crimson. Kain smothered a laugh behind his hand.

Jalen recovered first, and bowed precisely to Edge and Rydia. "King Edge, Queen Rydia," he said, and his voice wobbled only a little, "I would like to ask your permission to form a betrothal contract with Princess Gwendolyn. I believe it would benefit us both personally, as well as our respective nations."

"You'll ask my permission," Gwendolyn corrected him, her tone sharp enough to draw blood. "Mother, Father, I would like you to consider a betrothal contract."

"She is not really fifteen," Edge said to no one in particular. "She is some strange adult in my daughter's body."

"Don't be an idiot," Rydia advised crisply. "Gwendolyn, are you certain this is what you want?"

"How could I be certain?" Gwendolyn answered with some exasperation. "I'm fifteen. But I'd be willing to consider the notion. We wouldn't do anything until at least three years from now."

"So this conversation exists solely to make me realize how old I am," Edge said. "I'm so pleased to be the target of your jokes."

"You're being melodramatic, Father," Gwendolyn said, and Kain decided it was an appropriate moment to get something caught in his throat. Jalen did actually burst out laughing, and Rydia joined him.

"Strange adult in my daughter's body," Edge repeated with a sigh. "All right—on the condition that either party may dissolve the contract with no hard feelings."

"If only all treaties were this easy," Rydia remarked, and gave her daughter a hug. She murmured something in Gwendolyn's ear that Kain didn't catch, but the heir to Mist hugged her mother tightly and nodded.

"Well," Edge said, "if that was half as terrifying for you as proposing to Rydia was for me, you'll want a drink."

"Edge," Kain said.

"I only mentioned one," Edge said, and waved to a servant.

Kain winced and mouthed a silent prayer to Bahamut. It promised to be a long and interesting evening.