[Fire Emblem] Undivided Attention
Jan. 20th, 2009 01:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
runicloreUndivided Attention
By: Amber Michelle
Fandom: Fire Emblem 9/10
Characters: Sanaki, Naesala, Zelgius, Sephiran
Rating: T
Words: 2227
Warnings: Sanaki is uh, precocious? Not quite IC? It's kind of pointless.
Notes: Written while I was still blocked and hating every word. I wasn't going to post it, but it amuses me enough on a re-read that I might as well.
.................................................................
Sanaki listened to the tick of her mantle clock and leaned back in her chair, watching the flickering shadows cast by the fire onto the ceiling and the rainbow highlights from the crystal lamps. Ten o'clock - then five after, then ten, ten fifteen. The balcony door behind her chair opened when the minute hand clicked down to seventeen, creaked, and she heard the dry scrape of feathers, then the click of the doors locking. She tapped the leg of her chair in time to his footsteps, first sharp on the marble floor, then muffled by carpet. "I'm not paying you to be late."
Kilvas appeared in her peripheral vision, a shadow. "I haven't seen any gold yet, your majesty."
"I've yet to sample your services," she said, straightening and crossing her legs. "I'm sure you understand."
He pushed her footstool back with a foot and sat down. His wings pulled up, flight feathers long slashes to the floor, and the pose made it seem he was perched on a branch, ready to swoop down for a kill. "So - what's this 'personal matter' you want taken care of?"
She tapped the arm of her chair. Kilvas respected client confidentiality when paid enough - or so she heard from Sephiran - and a small fortune was waiting for him in Sigrun's pocket just outside the door if he cooperated. "It's an easy task. Will ten thousand be enough to keep you quiet?" His eyebrows shot up, and at his yeah, absolutely she beckoned him closer. He got up slowly, eyes narrowing slightly, and when he stood in front of her with his fingers hooked on his belt, she said, "On your knees, Kilvas. Honestly, have you no respect?"
Kilvas snorted and dropped to one knee, his wings arching up over his shoulders and casting long shadows. "Who do you think you're talking to?"
Sanaki slid to the edge of her chair, grabbed his jacket. "The best-looking man in Sienne, isn't it?" She pulled him forward, leaned over him. "Besides Sephiran, that is."
His wings snapped open and back. "Hey, you don't say that to--"
She bent and pressed her lips to his mouth, muffling the last words of his protest in a way that might have been funny if he'd cooperated. Sanaki pulled back. "You can do better than that. Is your reputation all talk?"
Kilvas grabbed her hand and tried to pull his collar free. "It is for a thirteen-year-old empress. Aren't you a little young to be--"
"No." She snaked the other one around his neck and dug her fingers into his ponytail. "Are you going to live up to it, or will I tell Sephiran about this incident and let him take care of your failure for me?"
The raven king stared at her for the space of a breath, silent. His lips parted in a grin, showing white teeth, and his shoulders shook. Her lips thinned, and he pulled her out of her chair, let her knees impact the floor. "When you put it that way--" He pressed her shoulders back against the seat and bent her head back with another kiss and a bite to her lip, "--I can't refuse."
*
Kilvas only took half his fee, and Sanaki went to her office the next morning trying to decide if that made it a favor or an insult. Did that mean he would not, in fact, keep his mouth shut? Did he intend to use the information later? Was there a sliding scale she didn't know about? If anybody in the capitol would know the details of selling one's services, it would be the raven king.
Tanith came in to announce somebody, and Sanaki waved for her to bring the person in, staring at the window with her chin propped on her hand. Someone should open it; the air was too warm, smelled too much like paper and dust, and lamp oil. The gauzy curtains were still, the sky beyond them a misty blue. The clock ticked too loudly while she waited for the door to open again. I haven't earned the rest, your majesty, Kilvas said when he left, but surely he didn't expect her to call him back for the same thing-- did he? Was he volunteering for more? She would have to order him to return and offer an explanation.
Sanaki didn't hear the door after all, but the creak of leather and armor and the heavy sound of a metal knee plate impacting with the carpet. She jerked her eyes front and straightened in her chair, smoothing her hands over her legs. "General Zelgius." She let silence fall between them and stared at his bowed head. Her lips compressed.
Goddess above, what was he there for? She didn't remember calling him--
"Duke Persis sent a force to investigate a disturbance at the border with Daein last month--"
Ah, that made sense. No wonder she wasn't expecting him.
"--and I was instructed to report directly to you if he was not available upon my return, your majesty." Zelgius lifted his head, and she nodded for him to continue. "Initial reports on the problem claimed the wall was the target of rebel activity, but when we arrived, our party was attacked by feral laguz..."
Sanaki worked her nail between her teeth. The general was every bit as attractive as Kilvas. Some years younger, perhaps five or even ten, and his face wasn't as narrow or pale, but tanned by days in the sun. She'd tripped on a flight of stairs at the Persis manor a month ago and he caught her before she fell, steadying her with calloused hands and an arm hard as rock. He was well-spoken, even soft in her presence, always bending his neck at an angle that implied both deference and pride.
No wonder Sephiran liked him. He thought Sanaki was unaware of their affair, but that was one more instance of his blindness rather than hers. She'd caught them by accident when she was much younger and recognized the intimacy as what she saw between couples courting, or even married, though she witnessed nothing more than a brush of the hand to the hollow of the general's throat.
"--pursued them through northern Serenes, but we lost the stragglers in the forest. Rather than dedicate a force to the task, I thought we should seek guidance here."
Perhaps she could have both of them. She was the empress; people expected that sort of thing from royalty. "Sending a serious force might make Crimea nervous. What about the local militia?"
"A large percentage of Seliora troops are already abroad to hold Daein." Zelgius looked up from the weave of the rug, straightened and pushed his shoulders back when he realized she was watching him. "With your permission, a small group from Tanas should be enough. Mugil can provide supplies and patrols."
"Do that." She rose and walked around the desk. His eyes immediately averted. "Sephiran should be finished with his meeting soon. We'll have him draw the orders up today so you can set out for Tanas as soon as you've had some rest." Sanaki wove her fingers behind her back and tilted her head. Seeing Zelgius try to appear meek was almost funny. The expression was more suited to Sephiran's face. "Is that to your liking, general? Do you need more time?"
"No. Thank you, your majesty. I'm worried about the townships in that area, and I'd like to leave as soon as possible."
"In that case--" Sanaki tucked her hair behind an ear. "There is something I'd like to ask of you, though I really shouldn't."
Zelgius lifted his gaze. "Name it. I'll do my best to comply."
Sanaki approached him with a smile. "You always make my day brighter, Zelgius." She pushed her fingers into the hair at his temples and leaned down, watched his eyes widen. Red flushed his skin, and her face felt stiff with the effort of not laughing. "Don't tell Sephiran."
*
Sunlight flooded Sephiran's office when Sanaki led the general inside. Hers was smaller, cozier, with cushioned chairs and tapestries on the wall, but his was empty, cool and open. The marble tile chilled her feet through the soles of her sandals, the walls were plain, decorated with watercolor scrolls, and the back wall was solid glass. She imagined facing him as a supplicant would be uncomfortable with the light glaring in her eyes and the edge of the wooden chair biting into her thighs. They looked a bit small for the large frames of her senators.
She waited by the window while Zelgius explained what he needed, gave her permission and stamped her seal at the end of the document once Sephiran penned in the details, and looked outside while the general lingered a moment to speak with her minister. They were close enough to be heard, but Sanaki let her mind wander to the sculpted hedges of the garden. Roses dotted the round bushes, yellow and white, while red lined the gravel walk. The day looked pleasant and sunny, but she wouldn't have the opportunity to go outside until most of the afternoon had passed.
They were still talking when she turned her head slightly to look at Zelgius. He stuttered when he answered some question of Sephiran's, shook his head quickly, and made the mistake of looking up to meet her eyes.
Poor Zelgius. She wondered if he would be able to bid her a proper good-bye, or if he would flee when he thought she was distracted.
"You should take those orders down to a courier," she said, turning back to the window. "Send a warning to the towns in the area, and a message to Mugil so they'll expect you."
She nodded at his hoarse at once, your majesty and the quick tap of his footsteps. Sephiran sighed when the door closed, and the walls were thick enough no other sound reached them, even through the window. The gardens were deserted. "Sanaki." She didn't hear him move; he appeared at her side like a specter, his color drained by the glare of the light except for the ink-black of his hair. "What did you say to him?"
She lifted her chin. "I gave him his orders."
"And?"
Sanaki pushed her hair from her face and wished she hadn't left her headband in her office. "Why are you convinced I 'said something' to him?"
"Zelgius does not stutter, your majesty--"
"You would be intimately acquainted with all manner of speech from him."
His head whipped around. "Sanaki."
"Fine." She faced Sephiran with her hands on her hips. He had the nerve to lift a brow when he took in her posture. "On your knees." His frown intensified, the shadows cast by the sun darkening until he lowered his head and bent knee as she ordered. Black hair dipped and slithered over his shoulder. Sanaki relaxed, let her arms fall to her sides. "That tapestry you imported for my birthday, the one in my rooms-- it's perfect. It's beautiful, but it isn't what I want."
He turned his head aside instead of meeting her eyes. "You know I can't--"
"You can." Sanaki threaded her fingers into the curtain of hair curving over his shoulder. "I've gone to great lengths to be sure I won't disappoint."
"That isn't the problem. You--" Sephiran paused, the word caught in his throat. His eyes searched hers, bright green where the sunlight touched them, and then they narrowed. "Who did you--"
"Never mind that," she said, flicking her fingers. His gaze snapped toward the door, and she turned his face back with her hand over his cheek. "I'd like your undivided attention at least once."
His posture tensed, the hand on his knee in a fist. "You always have my attention. You never lost it."
"But I have to share, Sephiran." Sanaki leaned on his shoulder to sink down, mimic his posture, and pulled him forward. "I don't think I like that anymore." He had such long eyelashes - they tickled her when she kissed him. It was all for nothing, what she extracted from Kilvas and the general; his lips were warm and pliant, and he let her linger, but she didn't take advantage of him as the raven had of her. "I'd like to pretend your mind isn't always on Zelgius."
"It isn't." Sephiran's eyes moved to watch her stroke the curtain of hair shading his face and tuck it back. "Now--" he grabbed her hand. "What did you say to him?"
Sanaki considered sticking her tongue out and thought better of it. "Nothing." She smiled. He leaned back slightly, and she tilted her head to kiss him again. "I didn't say anything." She must be grinning like Kilvas. "I kissed him."
............................................................................
... the real reason Sanaki wasn't paying any attention to Daein until RD? :D
Inspired by the prompt for Sanaki lolicon, though she's slightly too old in this fic for that to be an issue.
By: Amber Michelle
Fandom: Fire Emblem 9/10
Characters: Sanaki, Naesala, Zelgius, Sephiran
Rating: T
Words: 2227
Warnings: Sanaki is uh, precocious? Not quite IC? It's kind of pointless.
Notes: Written while I was still blocked and hating every word. I wasn't going to post it, but it amuses me enough on a re-read that I might as well.
.................................................................
Sanaki listened to the tick of her mantle clock and leaned back in her chair, watching the flickering shadows cast by the fire onto the ceiling and the rainbow highlights from the crystal lamps. Ten o'clock - then five after, then ten, ten fifteen. The balcony door behind her chair opened when the minute hand clicked down to seventeen, creaked, and she heard the dry scrape of feathers, then the click of the doors locking. She tapped the leg of her chair in time to his footsteps, first sharp on the marble floor, then muffled by carpet. "I'm not paying you to be late."
Kilvas appeared in her peripheral vision, a shadow. "I haven't seen any gold yet, your majesty."
"I've yet to sample your services," she said, straightening and crossing her legs. "I'm sure you understand."
He pushed her footstool back with a foot and sat down. His wings pulled up, flight feathers long slashes to the floor, and the pose made it seem he was perched on a branch, ready to swoop down for a kill. "So - what's this 'personal matter' you want taken care of?"
She tapped the arm of her chair. Kilvas respected client confidentiality when paid enough - or so she heard from Sephiran - and a small fortune was waiting for him in Sigrun's pocket just outside the door if he cooperated. "It's an easy task. Will ten thousand be enough to keep you quiet?" His eyebrows shot up, and at his yeah, absolutely she beckoned him closer. He got up slowly, eyes narrowing slightly, and when he stood in front of her with his fingers hooked on his belt, she said, "On your knees, Kilvas. Honestly, have you no respect?"
Kilvas snorted and dropped to one knee, his wings arching up over his shoulders and casting long shadows. "Who do you think you're talking to?"
Sanaki slid to the edge of her chair, grabbed his jacket. "The best-looking man in Sienne, isn't it?" She pulled him forward, leaned over him. "Besides Sephiran, that is."
His wings snapped open and back. "Hey, you don't say that to--"
She bent and pressed her lips to his mouth, muffling the last words of his protest in a way that might have been funny if he'd cooperated. Sanaki pulled back. "You can do better than that. Is your reputation all talk?"
Kilvas grabbed her hand and tried to pull his collar free. "It is for a thirteen-year-old empress. Aren't you a little young to be--"
"No." She snaked the other one around his neck and dug her fingers into his ponytail. "Are you going to live up to it, or will I tell Sephiran about this incident and let him take care of your failure for me?"
The raven king stared at her for the space of a breath, silent. His lips parted in a grin, showing white teeth, and his shoulders shook. Her lips thinned, and he pulled her out of her chair, let her knees impact the floor. "When you put it that way--" He pressed her shoulders back against the seat and bent her head back with another kiss and a bite to her lip, "--I can't refuse."
*
Kilvas only took half his fee, and Sanaki went to her office the next morning trying to decide if that made it a favor or an insult. Did that mean he would not, in fact, keep his mouth shut? Did he intend to use the information later? Was there a sliding scale she didn't know about? If anybody in the capitol would know the details of selling one's services, it would be the raven king.
Tanith came in to announce somebody, and Sanaki waved for her to bring the person in, staring at the window with her chin propped on her hand. Someone should open it; the air was too warm, smelled too much like paper and dust, and lamp oil. The gauzy curtains were still, the sky beyond them a misty blue. The clock ticked too loudly while she waited for the door to open again. I haven't earned the rest, your majesty, Kilvas said when he left, but surely he didn't expect her to call him back for the same thing-- did he? Was he volunteering for more? She would have to order him to return and offer an explanation.
Sanaki didn't hear the door after all, but the creak of leather and armor and the heavy sound of a metal knee plate impacting with the carpet. She jerked her eyes front and straightened in her chair, smoothing her hands over her legs. "General Zelgius." She let silence fall between them and stared at his bowed head. Her lips compressed.
Goddess above, what was he there for? She didn't remember calling him--
"Duke Persis sent a force to investigate a disturbance at the border with Daein last month--"
Ah, that made sense. No wonder she wasn't expecting him.
"--and I was instructed to report directly to you if he was not available upon my return, your majesty." Zelgius lifted his head, and she nodded for him to continue. "Initial reports on the problem claimed the wall was the target of rebel activity, but when we arrived, our party was attacked by feral laguz..."
Sanaki worked her nail between her teeth. The general was every bit as attractive as Kilvas. Some years younger, perhaps five or even ten, and his face wasn't as narrow or pale, but tanned by days in the sun. She'd tripped on a flight of stairs at the Persis manor a month ago and he caught her before she fell, steadying her with calloused hands and an arm hard as rock. He was well-spoken, even soft in her presence, always bending his neck at an angle that implied both deference and pride.
No wonder Sephiran liked him. He thought Sanaki was unaware of their affair, but that was one more instance of his blindness rather than hers. She'd caught them by accident when she was much younger and recognized the intimacy as what she saw between couples courting, or even married, though she witnessed nothing more than a brush of the hand to the hollow of the general's throat.
"--pursued them through northern Serenes, but we lost the stragglers in the forest. Rather than dedicate a force to the task, I thought we should seek guidance here."
Perhaps she could have both of them. She was the empress; people expected that sort of thing from royalty. "Sending a serious force might make Crimea nervous. What about the local militia?"
"A large percentage of Seliora troops are already abroad to hold Daein." Zelgius looked up from the weave of the rug, straightened and pushed his shoulders back when he realized she was watching him. "With your permission, a small group from Tanas should be enough. Mugil can provide supplies and patrols."
"Do that." She rose and walked around the desk. His eyes immediately averted. "Sephiran should be finished with his meeting soon. We'll have him draw the orders up today so you can set out for Tanas as soon as you've had some rest." Sanaki wove her fingers behind her back and tilted her head. Seeing Zelgius try to appear meek was almost funny. The expression was more suited to Sephiran's face. "Is that to your liking, general? Do you need more time?"
"No. Thank you, your majesty. I'm worried about the townships in that area, and I'd like to leave as soon as possible."
"In that case--" Sanaki tucked her hair behind an ear. "There is something I'd like to ask of you, though I really shouldn't."
Zelgius lifted his gaze. "Name it. I'll do my best to comply."
Sanaki approached him with a smile. "You always make my day brighter, Zelgius." She pushed her fingers into the hair at his temples and leaned down, watched his eyes widen. Red flushed his skin, and her face felt stiff with the effort of not laughing. "Don't tell Sephiran."
*
Sunlight flooded Sephiran's office when Sanaki led the general inside. Hers was smaller, cozier, with cushioned chairs and tapestries on the wall, but his was empty, cool and open. The marble tile chilled her feet through the soles of her sandals, the walls were plain, decorated with watercolor scrolls, and the back wall was solid glass. She imagined facing him as a supplicant would be uncomfortable with the light glaring in her eyes and the edge of the wooden chair biting into her thighs. They looked a bit small for the large frames of her senators.
She waited by the window while Zelgius explained what he needed, gave her permission and stamped her seal at the end of the document once Sephiran penned in the details, and looked outside while the general lingered a moment to speak with her minister. They were close enough to be heard, but Sanaki let her mind wander to the sculpted hedges of the garden. Roses dotted the round bushes, yellow and white, while red lined the gravel walk. The day looked pleasant and sunny, but she wouldn't have the opportunity to go outside until most of the afternoon had passed.
They were still talking when she turned her head slightly to look at Zelgius. He stuttered when he answered some question of Sephiran's, shook his head quickly, and made the mistake of looking up to meet her eyes.
Poor Zelgius. She wondered if he would be able to bid her a proper good-bye, or if he would flee when he thought she was distracted.
"You should take those orders down to a courier," she said, turning back to the window. "Send a warning to the towns in the area, and a message to Mugil so they'll expect you."
She nodded at his hoarse at once, your majesty and the quick tap of his footsteps. Sephiran sighed when the door closed, and the walls were thick enough no other sound reached them, even through the window. The gardens were deserted. "Sanaki." She didn't hear him move; he appeared at her side like a specter, his color drained by the glare of the light except for the ink-black of his hair. "What did you say to him?"
She lifted her chin. "I gave him his orders."
"And?"
Sanaki pushed her hair from her face and wished she hadn't left her headband in her office. "Why are you convinced I 'said something' to him?"
"Zelgius does not stutter, your majesty--"
"You would be intimately acquainted with all manner of speech from him."
His head whipped around. "Sanaki."
"Fine." She faced Sephiran with her hands on her hips. He had the nerve to lift a brow when he took in her posture. "On your knees." His frown intensified, the shadows cast by the sun darkening until he lowered his head and bent knee as she ordered. Black hair dipped and slithered over his shoulder. Sanaki relaxed, let her arms fall to her sides. "That tapestry you imported for my birthday, the one in my rooms-- it's perfect. It's beautiful, but it isn't what I want."
He turned his head aside instead of meeting her eyes. "You know I can't--"
"You can." Sanaki threaded her fingers into the curtain of hair curving over his shoulder. "I've gone to great lengths to be sure I won't disappoint."
"That isn't the problem. You--" Sephiran paused, the word caught in his throat. His eyes searched hers, bright green where the sunlight touched them, and then they narrowed. "Who did you--"
"Never mind that," she said, flicking her fingers. His gaze snapped toward the door, and she turned his face back with her hand over his cheek. "I'd like your undivided attention at least once."
His posture tensed, the hand on his knee in a fist. "You always have my attention. You never lost it."
"But I have to share, Sephiran." Sanaki leaned on his shoulder to sink down, mimic his posture, and pulled him forward. "I don't think I like that anymore." He had such long eyelashes - they tickled her when she kissed him. It was all for nothing, what she extracted from Kilvas and the general; his lips were warm and pliant, and he let her linger, but she didn't take advantage of him as the raven had of her. "I'd like to pretend your mind isn't always on Zelgius."
"It isn't." Sephiran's eyes moved to watch her stroke the curtain of hair shading his face and tuck it back. "Now--" he grabbed her hand. "What did you say to him?"
Sanaki considered sticking her tongue out and thought better of it. "Nothing." She smiled. He leaned back slightly, and she tilted her head to kiss him again. "I didn't say anything." She must be grinning like Kilvas. "I kissed him."
............................................................................
... the real reason Sanaki wasn't paying any attention to Daein until RD? :D
Inspired by the prompt for Sanaki lolicon, though she's slightly too old in this fic for that to be an issue.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-01-20 12:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-20 10:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-22 08:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-22 09:13 am (UTC)That just means they can keep each other busy.It's really too bad Zelgius dies. XD
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Date: 2009-01-22 09:22 am (UTC)That's what fanfic is for XD To right the wrongs!