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runicloreThe Prince of Silence
Author: Amber Michelle
Day/Theme: August 8 - The many colors of a bruise
Series: Fire Emblem 9/10
Character/Pairing: Sanaki, Naesala, Sigrun, Sephiran
Rating: K
Words: 4168
Notes: AU, part five of the Summer Chronicle. This is a first and ongoing draft; a list of known issues is being compiled here.
.............................................
"He says--" Sanaki stared at the letter, retracing the word just to make sure she was reading it right. "the prince will be accompanied by a relative and the captain of his personal guard - Sir Gawain's son - and various other nobles with Begnion interests. His handwriting is atrocious."
"Kilvas?" When she nodded, Sephiran smiled slightly. "He's doing it to get on your nerves. Who is this relative - his mother?"
"It doesn't say. I think he would mention that if it were so."
"Just as well."
Sanaki looked at him over the edge of the letter. Kilvas's last message, she assumed, was not meant for his ears. The Prince of Silence wants to see you. We'll get there some time tomorrow. Was he speaking in code, or referring to something she should know about? The only royals she knew who were known by epithets like that were herons, and there was no 'prince of silence' among them. "Why? Is his mother like Ashnard?"
"Quite the opposite." Sephiran sipped his tea and looked at the window. "She's a sweet woman, and I cannot fathom what she sees in her husband."
"That's reassuring." She picked at her fruit, spearing a grape, then a wedge of tart apple. The sun was almost over the skyline, shining directly through her window and setting the silverware ablaze. "It helps to know I'm not proposing to a lunatic."
"That we know of." Sephiran rose. "I should be on my way."
After thanking him for that reassuring remark and discussing a time to meet about the new taxation bill, she let him go and finished her breakfast. There would be a meeting with the council just before noon, and she'd promised to meet with a representative of the philanthropist organization overseeing laguz rights. Kilvas indicated in an earlier letter he would return soon with information and whatever plan he'd concocted to 'put a shiv in the senate' as he insisted on phrasing their cause. Don't tell Sephiran, he'd said before he left. Not until the groundwork is laid. Let him have a nice surprise to brighten up his mood over the treasury issue.
Yes, well, Sanaki had no problem keeping her investigation and related matters from Sephiran's attention, but Kilvas had a generous view of what he thought was possible to hide. It wasn't as if they spent most of their time apart, she and Sephiran - quite the opposite. They ate most meals together, conducted most official business together - he was her prime minister after all, her closest and most trusted adviser. The past she was slowly uncovering only underlined his quality as an ally. Perhaps there was no need to spend so much of her private time with him, but--
She'd tried banishing him from her rooms. Her meals were unbearably silent.
When he left to survey the countryside every midsummer, the days would stretch and blend together, dull and unmemorable. Though Zelgius stood in Sephiran's stead and made a fine conversation partner, she could not rest her head on his shoulder and bemoan the idiot senator who kept submitting his bill to reinstitute slavery each year - coincidentally when her prime minister was gone, as if he thought Sanaki stupid enough to consider such a thing. She could not demand the general tell her a story, as she had done with Sephiran as a child. And while his manners were perfect, she could not bring herself to share her meals with him, or anybody else.
How on earth was she going to manage a marriage? She didn't have to share her rooms with whomever she wedded, but there were obligations to be met, and a requisite amount of time to be spent in his company. Sanaki frowned at her empty plate and the pale, distorted reflection of her face in the porcelain.
Men were jealous creatures. How would they get along? They probably wouldn't.
The door opened to admit Sigrun with a paper folder under one arm. Sanaki straightened and picked up her tea. "The finance reports?"
"And another missive from King Kilvas," her knight said when she laid them on the table. "It came last night, but I was warned not to let it be seen." She opened the folder and withdrew a thrice-folded square of cream paper. "I was told there would be need for my services."
"Really. How presumptuous." She opened the letter.
Our guest will need protection, Kilvas began without preamble. If he's seen, the game is up. We'll need a saferoom and escort into the cathedral, and I'd like to use your guard. He'll like Sigrun. There were other details - arrangements for food, clothing, and the integration of his agents with her guard. And below, in a slightly messier scrawl, This is important. It'll be worth it, I promise.
Hm. She handed the paper to Sigrun, who took it to the fire. Feeding and disguising this person would not be a problem, but why did he want to use her guard? Loyalty, probably, but Sephiran had trustworthy people in every echelon--
Ah. Of course. How silly of her to overlook that. "Tomorrow night, take three knights to meet Kilvas and his guest at the edge of the wood near the Sierre township. Leave Tanith and Marcia to cover your absence."
"Are you sure it's wise to use us for this, your majesty?" Sigrun glanced at Sephiran's abandoned plate. "May I ask what is this about?"
"Putting a shiv in the senate," Sanaki said, pushing her own plate away and opening the folder. Figures appeared to be stable, though the missing forty-five thousand glared in red ink from the top corner of the first page. She flipped to the first report. "We can't use Sephiran's people for this, and no one else is trustworthy."
"Whatever is going on between you two--" Sigrun sighed, asked if she could sit, and took Sephiran's chair. "I think I have an idea. Even if it were not somewhat inappropriate--"
"Somewhat?" Sanaki looked up, bending the edge of the report between her fingers. Her knight had aged; she looked the same, but there were lines at the creases of her eyes now that weren't there when she was a child. They showed when Sigrun wanted to frown, when she was worried. "He says the same thing."
Sigrun shifted and averted her eyes. "Good." Then, as if she sensed the narrowing of Sanaki's eyes, she said, "It would be trouble if he thought differently. He is popular with the peerage, but the senate would use his engagement to you as an excuse to revive old controversies and compromise your image. If he decides to change his mind, I hope he does so after this plan you and Kilvas have cooked up has succeeded."
Sanaki closed the folder, weaving her fingers together in her lap. She could imagine - after all, they'd overcome the senate's last bid to undermine her authority only recently, when they accused Sephiran of lying about her lineage. Their move, should she convince him to accept her proposal, was obvious. Until recently she couldn't remember any of Lekain's campaigns having serious consequences - though perhaps it was, as Kilvas said, simply skill that saved Sephiran and not some mysterious pact between the members of the ruling council.
Now that she knew how difficult it was to find information about him, beneficial or otherwise, she wasn't sure why they hadn't attacked her personally before now. Did they really think she would submit if they got rid of her minister? Or perhaps they believed her faith in him so ill-founded it would be shaken apart if they found the right spot to apply pressure.
It was true they'd been at odds of late, but she would never-- no, no matter what he was lying about, Sephiran wasn't going anywhere if she had a say in the matter. And she did. He belonged to her - he said so himself.
"Have a saferoom prepared," Sanaki said, looking at the clock on the mantle. Her meeting with the council wouldn't start for another hour and a half, and she supposed that time should be spent in her office. "Let me know the minute this mysterious guest is safely inside, and do not speak of the matter again until that time comes."
She sent Sigrun on her way and finished getting dressed, stealing glances at the reports while she brushed her hair out and pulled on her formal layers: dress, flared coat, train, mantle. Her hair stayed loose for Sephiran to pin up later. She'd let it grow instead of cutting it to a manageable length as he said her grandmother did; it was long enough to brush the backs of her knees, and though he suggested trimming it back every few months, he never ignored an opportunity to play with it.
Funny, that he would steal moments to do her hair, accept every meal invitation, and yet refuse to consider her beyond her status as ward and empress. If he were anyone else rumors would be flying and assumptions would be made.
Was that normal? Sanaki had very little in the way of romantic experience, but she didn't think it was. Unfortunately, there was no one to ask. She didn't want to know about her knights' private lives, she was afraid of what Kilvas might tell her if she asked, and bringing it to Sephiran's attention would only make him withdraw.
Sanaki tried not to think about it for the rest of the day, but during the long, dull moments between meetings and paperwork, it was difficult to drive the situation from her mind. The prince was on his way and there were preparations she should make for her personal presentation, but she didn't want to think about that, either. What did it matter if she had a new wardrobe ready for his visit? Wasn't that giving Soren too much credit far too early in the game? She might hate him at first sight. He reportedly had a sharp tongue and a purposeful blindness to the subtleties of authority in Daein.
Yet-- he was also an accomplished mage, according to her reports. An expert in wind magic. He led a campaign against a rebellion in Marado and achieved a quick victory with minor losses during a difficult season. Valtome insisted he was skilled in the art of manipulating his subordinates, though she wasn't about to take that man's word for anything. The truth of that claim would be apparent during the visit.
It would be interesting, at the least. Sanaki had not sparred with anybody her own age before.
The next day was even slower. No word from Kilvas reached her desk, but five thousand gold in hard assets had been liquidated, and no record remained to provide clues. At this rate, Sephiran said with an uncharacteristic scowl, we'll be bankrupt by the end of the year, and Ashnard will be able to march in and take over personally.
"Don't be pessimistic," she told him, taking the folder away when he seemed to be holding it just to frown at the figures. "Zelgius would swipe Ashnard's head from his shoulders before he reached the second step. That should be worth some revenue."
He smiled - a faint smile, almost fond - and said, "Of course. Zelgius is unmatched. I have faith he will remain so."
Sanaki bit her lip and watched his face, but the smile faded and he moved on to the next order of business, their general forgotten for the moment.
Zelgius?
No. No, that was ridiculous. She would have noticed by now. She was inexperienced, not blind.
That didn't stop Sanaki from watching him interact with the others. He never broke eye contact, even with Valtome - an accomplishment, as she could not say the same. He held himself distant from each of the council members. Oliver tried more than once to bridge that gap until she told him to sit still; she hadn't noticed how often his gaze lingered on her minister before. Sephiran must have the goddess's own patience to put up with such behavior when they were trying to discuss security measures.
She threw herself into bed directly after dinner, but couldn't sleep. Kilvas and his guest were supposed to arrive some time that night; Sigrun had left early, and Sanaki missed her presence at the door. Sephiran made a habit of traveling every year, but she could count the times Sigrun had left her on one hand.
Sanaki kicked at her blankets. Sigrun would marry her if she were of the appropriate gender to produce an heir. Hmph.
She fell asleep while staring at the canopy and waiting for the sound of her knight's footsteps. When Sigrun finally did arrive, it was to shake Sanaki awake and help her fumble into something presentable and braid her hair. The clock in the parlor told her it was half past four when they left her rooms. The corridor outside was empty except for Tanith and Marcia and one other, but she heard the whisper of servants moving behind the walls, up and down the staircases, and sweeping outside when they passed an open window.
The safe rooms were at the core of the cathedral. There were no windows, no doors along the hallway, and only one path to the center that wrapped around the central chambers, spiraling gently downward until it stretched for almost a league to the end. Defensible from the inside, impervious to attacks from without - there was a hidden corridor that would have led outside the city in ancient days, which now led to a public building maintained by her agents. She'd been down here once before to review her escape route, but not since.
The sun must be rising, she thought when they finally arrived. It seemed a bit overblown, all this secrecy, when hiding this from Sephiran could have been done by using the knights' quarters, or even one of the abandoned chambers in the upper levels of the cathedral. Sanaki used both on occasion for different reasons.
Sigrun knocked on the iron door, and Kilvas opened it himself. "Send someone to get your minister," he said to her softly when Sigrun left her side and crossed the antechamber.
"But I thought--" He shook his head, and Sanaki rolled her eyes and motioned for Tanith to go. She obeyed after a long glance that Kilvas returned with a lifted brow. The others took up position outside the door. "What is this all about?" she asked when he closed it. "Can this person really be so important we must compromise our own security for him?"
Kilvas took her hand, for once unsmiling. "Come and see for yourself."
Sanaki glared, though of course it had no effect. He led her across to the inward door, where Sigrun waited with her hand on the knob. The room beyond was dim, the overhead chandelier half-lit and burning low. The walls were dark brown wood and the floor was dull stone. Seated on the dust cover of a sofa at the center of the room was their guest, and he bowed his golden head when she approached, but did not rise. His snowy wings were folded against his back and made up for the dimness by glowing with their own light, or so it seemed to her.
Prince. She managed to greet him properly, standing stiffly at Kilvas's side. After a moment staring at his wings she inclined her head. I was right. She watched the feathers shift, until her eyes were caught by the glint of his pale, wavy hair. It spilled over the seat almost to the floor. When he lifted his gaze, his eyes were like-- They were almost what one could call liquid, if such a word were meant to describe eyes. She disliked grandiose comparisons to jewels and seashores, but they were like-- no, they reminded her of--
"Have we met?" Sanaki asked, clenching her fingers around the raven king's wrist.
The heron tilted his head. "I do not believe so. I would remember someone like you." His hands folded together. "My name is Rafiel. Naesala told me you are interested in information I have regarding the senior council."
Rafiel - Prince Rafiel. Yes, the name sounded vaguely familiar, though Sanaki had only paid attention to the names she was required to deal with personally - the king, his eldest child, the ambassador. What did he mean, 'someone like her?' "What information would this be?"
"Abuse of the law," Kilvas said with a twist to his mouth before the prince could reply. "Complete disregard for the finer points of the Emancipation Act - especially the parts that forbid the trafficking of slaves and confinement of laguz, free or of slave lineage."
She looked from the raven to the prince, and managed to relax her grasp on Kilvas and withdraw. "I am aware the ban is still ignored in some areas, but accusing the council of flagrantly breaking the law will require more than your word - even in your official capacity," she said to Rafiel. "You must have proof."
"Yes." The prince smiled faintly, and the feeling she should know him returned. "I was procured by a senator of high standing and purchased by another, but many of the others were present to bid. With the proper motivation, I believe you can convince my former owner to confirm this."
How could he speak so casually about it? Who in their right mind would imprison such a lovely person, a prince - who would have the audacity to insult someone of his rank, or his father, or the word of a true Apostle by breaking her last, binding declaration--? "By proper motivation..." She paused when Sephiran's voice reached her from beyond the door. King Kilvas is with her, Sigrun told him, and Sanaki turned when the door opened, stepping away from the raven king.
Sephiran's gaze flicked from her to Naesala. "Your Majesty. Kil--" His eyes fixed on their guest and Sephiran jerked back a step, then two, before he caught himself and stood rigidly still.
The prince was on his feet when Sanaki turned back to him. His wing brushed her arm. "You are--"
"Sephiran," her minister said quickly, crossing an arm over his chest and bowing. "Prime Minister and adviser to the Empress."
"I see." The prince's brow furrowed. "Yes, of course." Rafiel stepped away from Sanaki with a murmured apology and inclined his head to her minister. "I am honored to meet you, Minister. You are well-liked in Serenes. I'm surprised we haven't met until now."
Sanaki caught the raven king's eye while Sephiran and the prince exchanged introductions. What in the name of the Goddess? He shook his head, the motion barely perceptible in the dim light, and she flicked her gaze back to her minister.
He was smiling - the normal, friendly, polite smile he gave everyone, even Oliver, when he joined them at the center of the room and took her hand. His fingers were ice cold, his palms clammy. She held onto him tightly, but his fingers were limp, only curling over hers when he looked down at her and lifted an eyebrow.
"Why don't we sit down?" Sanaki suggested when she realized they were silent, waiting. "There is still time before Sephiran and I have to meet with the others. We'll do our best to help you, Prince Rafiel. This will not go unpunished."
Rafiel's smile made her heart skip. "Thank you, Empress."
*
"That was weird," Kilvas said when he joined Sanaki in her office that afternoon.
She signed a public works form forwarded from Sephiran's office and stamped the bottom corner. "That's all you have to say about it? What were you trying to do?"
"Exactly what I told you. I went to Serenes for information, and found a way to nail some of your senators." He nudged Sephiran's chair into position and straddled it, as per his usual. "I have no idea what that was."
Sanaki tucked the form into its folder and cleared her desk, stacking her finished work at the corner near her elbow, and sliding the rest into a drawer. He appeared sincere; she could always order him to tell her the truth, though she didn't know how effective that would be. "Speculation?"
"Not really." His feathers ruffled, and he tucked his wings close to his back. "Rafiel wouldn't say much, of course. They don't call him the 'prince of silence' for nothing."
She sighed. "Maybe they did meet. I know he denied it, but if Sephiran was protecting their border after my grandmother was assassinated, don't you think...?"
"I don't think they were around at the same time." Kilvas combed his hair back with his fingers. "When Hetzel sent him home, Rafiel went into seclusion. This is the first time I know of that he's come out."
Horrible. That's horrible. Sanaki rubbed the back of her neck, trying to shrug away the tension. Why did it have to be Hetzel? She didn't like him, exactly, but he was one of the better senior politicians, and he voted and made proposals according to his morals more often than not. He was supposed to be better than this. No matter how sympathetically the prince spoke of the man's effort to help him, there was no excuse for his crime - and she was supposed to pardon him?
He won't speak up unless he is sure of his own welfare, Rafiel said. He is ruled by his fears. You must take them away if he is to confront his colleagues openly.
Wasn't she here, on this throne, to uphold the letter of the law her family died to protect? Sanaki didn't know their faces, but she knew what they believed in.
"You're thinking too much," Kilvas said.
"Shut up." She pulled the pins out of her hair and let it uncurl over the back of her chair. Her muscles loosened a little once the weight was gone. "I can't just throw the law away when it's inconvenient. Isn't that the idea?"
"You can wait."
"Waiting," she said, shoving back from the desk and standing up, "is all I've been doing. Waiting for information, waiting for the next attack, whatever that might be." She went to the table by the window to pour herself a glass of water. "What else would you have me wait on?"
She heard him stand, heard his wings shiff when they flexed. "Hetzel knows what's coming. All you have to do is nail the others first and he'll capitulate."
Sanaki glanced over her shoulder. "And how does he know this? Did he turn himself in, perhaps?"
"Yeah." He grinned when she slammed her glass onto the table and spun. "He's been paying me to find a way to pull them down with him. I think he means it too - my fee is pretty steep."
"I've noticed." She put a hand on her hip. "There's no way he can afford you, as a matter of fact, if what I hear of his finances is true."
Kilvas chuckled. "Oh, he found a way." He shrugged, working his shoulders back, and she heard the bones crack. "He managed to find fifty thousand for this job, and I think that's a good indication of his sincerity, don't you?"
Sanaki stared at him. Fifty thousand. Her hands curled into fists. He looked so proud of himself. If only she could remember a good wind incantation. "You--"
He padded over the carpet and she flushed when he leaned over and snapped her mouth shut with his fingers. "Consider it your down payment." His breath was hot against her temple, and the tips of his feathers brushed her cheek when he straightened and moved past her, toward the window. "I'll have my people send a bill later."
By the time she could recall the words to a proper spell, he was gone.
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WHOOPS, forgot to set something important up! And I was planning this, too.
I have an interlude about Naesala's trip to Serenes that was originally going to be chapter four. (It didn't get finished because I suck at Naesala POV so far.) Adding it might help with the pacing issue, and you know, the part where Rafiel suddenly shows up. Hm. Maybe for one of the other themes.
Good thing I didn't try to fit Soren into this.
Author: Amber Michelle
Day/Theme: August 8 - The many colors of a bruise
Series: Fire Emblem 9/10
Character/Pairing: Sanaki, Naesala, Sigrun, Sephiran
Rating: K
Words: 4168
Notes: AU, part five of the Summer Chronicle. This is a first and ongoing draft; a list of known issues is being compiled here.
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"He says--" Sanaki stared at the letter, retracing the word just to make sure she was reading it right. "the prince will be accompanied by a relative and the captain of his personal guard - Sir Gawain's son - and various other nobles with Begnion interests. His handwriting is atrocious."
"Kilvas?" When she nodded, Sephiran smiled slightly. "He's doing it to get on your nerves. Who is this relative - his mother?"
"It doesn't say. I think he would mention that if it were so."
"Just as well."
Sanaki looked at him over the edge of the letter. Kilvas's last message, she assumed, was not meant for his ears. The Prince of Silence wants to see you. We'll get there some time tomorrow. Was he speaking in code, or referring to something she should know about? The only royals she knew who were known by epithets like that were herons, and there was no 'prince of silence' among them. "Why? Is his mother like Ashnard?"
"Quite the opposite." Sephiran sipped his tea and looked at the window. "She's a sweet woman, and I cannot fathom what she sees in her husband."
"That's reassuring." She picked at her fruit, spearing a grape, then a wedge of tart apple. The sun was almost over the skyline, shining directly through her window and setting the silverware ablaze. "It helps to know I'm not proposing to a lunatic."
"That we know of." Sephiran rose. "I should be on my way."
After thanking him for that reassuring remark and discussing a time to meet about the new taxation bill, she let him go and finished her breakfast. There would be a meeting with the council just before noon, and she'd promised to meet with a representative of the philanthropist organization overseeing laguz rights. Kilvas indicated in an earlier letter he would return soon with information and whatever plan he'd concocted to 'put a shiv in the senate' as he insisted on phrasing their cause. Don't tell Sephiran, he'd said before he left. Not until the groundwork is laid. Let him have a nice surprise to brighten up his mood over the treasury issue.
Yes, well, Sanaki had no problem keeping her investigation and related matters from Sephiran's attention, but Kilvas had a generous view of what he thought was possible to hide. It wasn't as if they spent most of their time apart, she and Sephiran - quite the opposite. They ate most meals together, conducted most official business together - he was her prime minister after all, her closest and most trusted adviser. The past she was slowly uncovering only underlined his quality as an ally. Perhaps there was no need to spend so much of her private time with him, but--
She'd tried banishing him from her rooms. Her meals were unbearably silent.
When he left to survey the countryside every midsummer, the days would stretch and blend together, dull and unmemorable. Though Zelgius stood in Sephiran's stead and made a fine conversation partner, she could not rest her head on his shoulder and bemoan the idiot senator who kept submitting his bill to reinstitute slavery each year - coincidentally when her prime minister was gone, as if he thought Sanaki stupid enough to consider such a thing. She could not demand the general tell her a story, as she had done with Sephiran as a child. And while his manners were perfect, she could not bring herself to share her meals with him, or anybody else.
How on earth was she going to manage a marriage? She didn't have to share her rooms with whomever she wedded, but there were obligations to be met, and a requisite amount of time to be spent in his company. Sanaki frowned at her empty plate and the pale, distorted reflection of her face in the porcelain.
Men were jealous creatures. How would they get along? They probably wouldn't.
The door opened to admit Sigrun with a paper folder under one arm. Sanaki straightened and picked up her tea. "The finance reports?"
"And another missive from King Kilvas," her knight said when she laid them on the table. "It came last night, but I was warned not to let it be seen." She opened the folder and withdrew a thrice-folded square of cream paper. "I was told there would be need for my services."
"Really. How presumptuous." She opened the letter.
Our guest will need protection, Kilvas began without preamble. If he's seen, the game is up. We'll need a saferoom and escort into the cathedral, and I'd like to use your guard. He'll like Sigrun. There were other details - arrangements for food, clothing, and the integration of his agents with her guard. And below, in a slightly messier scrawl, This is important. It'll be worth it, I promise.
Hm. She handed the paper to Sigrun, who took it to the fire. Feeding and disguising this person would not be a problem, but why did he want to use her guard? Loyalty, probably, but Sephiran had trustworthy people in every echelon--
Ah. Of course. How silly of her to overlook that. "Tomorrow night, take three knights to meet Kilvas and his guest at the edge of the wood near the Sierre township. Leave Tanith and Marcia to cover your absence."
"Are you sure it's wise to use us for this, your majesty?" Sigrun glanced at Sephiran's abandoned plate. "May I ask what is this about?"
"Putting a shiv in the senate," Sanaki said, pushing her own plate away and opening the folder. Figures appeared to be stable, though the missing forty-five thousand glared in red ink from the top corner of the first page. She flipped to the first report. "We can't use Sephiran's people for this, and no one else is trustworthy."
"Whatever is going on between you two--" Sigrun sighed, asked if she could sit, and took Sephiran's chair. "I think I have an idea. Even if it were not somewhat inappropriate--"
"Somewhat?" Sanaki looked up, bending the edge of the report between her fingers. Her knight had aged; she looked the same, but there were lines at the creases of her eyes now that weren't there when she was a child. They showed when Sigrun wanted to frown, when she was worried. "He says the same thing."
Sigrun shifted and averted her eyes. "Good." Then, as if she sensed the narrowing of Sanaki's eyes, she said, "It would be trouble if he thought differently. He is popular with the peerage, but the senate would use his engagement to you as an excuse to revive old controversies and compromise your image. If he decides to change his mind, I hope he does so after this plan you and Kilvas have cooked up has succeeded."
Sanaki closed the folder, weaving her fingers together in her lap. She could imagine - after all, they'd overcome the senate's last bid to undermine her authority only recently, when they accused Sephiran of lying about her lineage. Their move, should she convince him to accept her proposal, was obvious. Until recently she couldn't remember any of Lekain's campaigns having serious consequences - though perhaps it was, as Kilvas said, simply skill that saved Sephiran and not some mysterious pact between the members of the ruling council.
Now that she knew how difficult it was to find information about him, beneficial or otherwise, she wasn't sure why they hadn't attacked her personally before now. Did they really think she would submit if they got rid of her minister? Or perhaps they believed her faith in him so ill-founded it would be shaken apart if they found the right spot to apply pressure.
It was true they'd been at odds of late, but she would never-- no, no matter what he was lying about, Sephiran wasn't going anywhere if she had a say in the matter. And she did. He belonged to her - he said so himself.
"Have a saferoom prepared," Sanaki said, looking at the clock on the mantle. Her meeting with the council wouldn't start for another hour and a half, and she supposed that time should be spent in her office. "Let me know the minute this mysterious guest is safely inside, and do not speak of the matter again until that time comes."
She sent Sigrun on her way and finished getting dressed, stealing glances at the reports while she brushed her hair out and pulled on her formal layers: dress, flared coat, train, mantle. Her hair stayed loose for Sephiran to pin up later. She'd let it grow instead of cutting it to a manageable length as he said her grandmother did; it was long enough to brush the backs of her knees, and though he suggested trimming it back every few months, he never ignored an opportunity to play with it.
Funny, that he would steal moments to do her hair, accept every meal invitation, and yet refuse to consider her beyond her status as ward and empress. If he were anyone else rumors would be flying and assumptions would be made.
Was that normal? Sanaki had very little in the way of romantic experience, but she didn't think it was. Unfortunately, there was no one to ask. She didn't want to know about her knights' private lives, she was afraid of what Kilvas might tell her if she asked, and bringing it to Sephiran's attention would only make him withdraw.
Sanaki tried not to think about it for the rest of the day, but during the long, dull moments between meetings and paperwork, it was difficult to drive the situation from her mind. The prince was on his way and there were preparations she should make for her personal presentation, but she didn't want to think about that, either. What did it matter if she had a new wardrobe ready for his visit? Wasn't that giving Soren too much credit far too early in the game? She might hate him at first sight. He reportedly had a sharp tongue and a purposeful blindness to the subtleties of authority in Daein.
Yet-- he was also an accomplished mage, according to her reports. An expert in wind magic. He led a campaign against a rebellion in Marado and achieved a quick victory with minor losses during a difficult season. Valtome insisted he was skilled in the art of manipulating his subordinates, though she wasn't about to take that man's word for anything. The truth of that claim would be apparent during the visit.
It would be interesting, at the least. Sanaki had not sparred with anybody her own age before.
The next day was even slower. No word from Kilvas reached her desk, but five thousand gold in hard assets had been liquidated, and no record remained to provide clues. At this rate, Sephiran said with an uncharacteristic scowl, we'll be bankrupt by the end of the year, and Ashnard will be able to march in and take over personally.
"Don't be pessimistic," she told him, taking the folder away when he seemed to be holding it just to frown at the figures. "Zelgius would swipe Ashnard's head from his shoulders before he reached the second step. That should be worth some revenue."
He smiled - a faint smile, almost fond - and said, "Of course. Zelgius is unmatched. I have faith he will remain so."
Sanaki bit her lip and watched his face, but the smile faded and he moved on to the next order of business, their general forgotten for the moment.
Zelgius?
No. No, that was ridiculous. She would have noticed by now. She was inexperienced, not blind.
That didn't stop Sanaki from watching him interact with the others. He never broke eye contact, even with Valtome - an accomplishment, as she could not say the same. He held himself distant from each of the council members. Oliver tried more than once to bridge that gap until she told him to sit still; she hadn't noticed how often his gaze lingered on her minister before. Sephiran must have the goddess's own patience to put up with such behavior when they were trying to discuss security measures.
She threw herself into bed directly after dinner, but couldn't sleep. Kilvas and his guest were supposed to arrive some time that night; Sigrun had left early, and Sanaki missed her presence at the door. Sephiran made a habit of traveling every year, but she could count the times Sigrun had left her on one hand.
Sanaki kicked at her blankets. Sigrun would marry her if she were of the appropriate gender to produce an heir. Hmph.
She fell asleep while staring at the canopy and waiting for the sound of her knight's footsteps. When Sigrun finally did arrive, it was to shake Sanaki awake and help her fumble into something presentable and braid her hair. The clock in the parlor told her it was half past four when they left her rooms. The corridor outside was empty except for Tanith and Marcia and one other, but she heard the whisper of servants moving behind the walls, up and down the staircases, and sweeping outside when they passed an open window.
The safe rooms were at the core of the cathedral. There were no windows, no doors along the hallway, and only one path to the center that wrapped around the central chambers, spiraling gently downward until it stretched for almost a league to the end. Defensible from the inside, impervious to attacks from without - there was a hidden corridor that would have led outside the city in ancient days, which now led to a public building maintained by her agents. She'd been down here once before to review her escape route, but not since.
The sun must be rising, she thought when they finally arrived. It seemed a bit overblown, all this secrecy, when hiding this from Sephiran could have been done by using the knights' quarters, or even one of the abandoned chambers in the upper levels of the cathedral. Sanaki used both on occasion for different reasons.
Sigrun knocked on the iron door, and Kilvas opened it himself. "Send someone to get your minister," he said to her softly when Sigrun left her side and crossed the antechamber.
"But I thought--" He shook his head, and Sanaki rolled her eyes and motioned for Tanith to go. She obeyed after a long glance that Kilvas returned with a lifted brow. The others took up position outside the door. "What is this all about?" she asked when he closed it. "Can this person really be so important we must compromise our own security for him?"
Kilvas took her hand, for once unsmiling. "Come and see for yourself."
Sanaki glared, though of course it had no effect. He led her across to the inward door, where Sigrun waited with her hand on the knob. The room beyond was dim, the overhead chandelier half-lit and burning low. The walls were dark brown wood and the floor was dull stone. Seated on the dust cover of a sofa at the center of the room was their guest, and he bowed his golden head when she approached, but did not rise. His snowy wings were folded against his back and made up for the dimness by glowing with their own light, or so it seemed to her.
Prince. She managed to greet him properly, standing stiffly at Kilvas's side. After a moment staring at his wings she inclined her head. I was right. She watched the feathers shift, until her eyes were caught by the glint of his pale, wavy hair. It spilled over the seat almost to the floor. When he lifted his gaze, his eyes were like-- They were almost what one could call liquid, if such a word were meant to describe eyes. She disliked grandiose comparisons to jewels and seashores, but they were like-- no, they reminded her of--
"Have we met?" Sanaki asked, clenching her fingers around the raven king's wrist.
The heron tilted his head. "I do not believe so. I would remember someone like you." His hands folded together. "My name is Rafiel. Naesala told me you are interested in information I have regarding the senior council."
Rafiel - Prince Rafiel. Yes, the name sounded vaguely familiar, though Sanaki had only paid attention to the names she was required to deal with personally - the king, his eldest child, the ambassador. What did he mean, 'someone like her?' "What information would this be?"
"Abuse of the law," Kilvas said with a twist to his mouth before the prince could reply. "Complete disregard for the finer points of the Emancipation Act - especially the parts that forbid the trafficking of slaves and confinement of laguz, free or of slave lineage."
She looked from the raven to the prince, and managed to relax her grasp on Kilvas and withdraw. "I am aware the ban is still ignored in some areas, but accusing the council of flagrantly breaking the law will require more than your word - even in your official capacity," she said to Rafiel. "You must have proof."
"Yes." The prince smiled faintly, and the feeling she should know him returned. "I was procured by a senator of high standing and purchased by another, but many of the others were present to bid. With the proper motivation, I believe you can convince my former owner to confirm this."
How could he speak so casually about it? Who in their right mind would imprison such a lovely person, a prince - who would have the audacity to insult someone of his rank, or his father, or the word of a true Apostle by breaking her last, binding declaration--? "By proper motivation..." She paused when Sephiran's voice reached her from beyond the door. King Kilvas is with her, Sigrun told him, and Sanaki turned when the door opened, stepping away from the raven king.
Sephiran's gaze flicked from her to Naesala. "Your Majesty. Kil--" His eyes fixed on their guest and Sephiran jerked back a step, then two, before he caught himself and stood rigidly still.
The prince was on his feet when Sanaki turned back to him. His wing brushed her arm. "You are--"
"Sephiran," her minister said quickly, crossing an arm over his chest and bowing. "Prime Minister and adviser to the Empress."
"I see." The prince's brow furrowed. "Yes, of course." Rafiel stepped away from Sanaki with a murmured apology and inclined his head to her minister. "I am honored to meet you, Minister. You are well-liked in Serenes. I'm surprised we haven't met until now."
Sanaki caught the raven king's eye while Sephiran and the prince exchanged introductions. What in the name of the Goddess? He shook his head, the motion barely perceptible in the dim light, and she flicked her gaze back to her minister.
He was smiling - the normal, friendly, polite smile he gave everyone, even Oliver, when he joined them at the center of the room and took her hand. His fingers were ice cold, his palms clammy. She held onto him tightly, but his fingers were limp, only curling over hers when he looked down at her and lifted an eyebrow.
"Why don't we sit down?" Sanaki suggested when she realized they were silent, waiting. "There is still time before Sephiran and I have to meet with the others. We'll do our best to help you, Prince Rafiel. This will not go unpunished."
Rafiel's smile made her heart skip. "Thank you, Empress."
*
"That was weird," Kilvas said when he joined Sanaki in her office that afternoon.
She signed a public works form forwarded from Sephiran's office and stamped the bottom corner. "That's all you have to say about it? What were you trying to do?"
"Exactly what I told you. I went to Serenes for information, and found a way to nail some of your senators." He nudged Sephiran's chair into position and straddled it, as per his usual. "I have no idea what that was."
Sanaki tucked the form into its folder and cleared her desk, stacking her finished work at the corner near her elbow, and sliding the rest into a drawer. He appeared sincere; she could always order him to tell her the truth, though she didn't know how effective that would be. "Speculation?"
"Not really." His feathers ruffled, and he tucked his wings close to his back. "Rafiel wouldn't say much, of course. They don't call him the 'prince of silence' for nothing."
She sighed. "Maybe they did meet. I know he denied it, but if Sephiran was protecting their border after my grandmother was assassinated, don't you think...?"
"I don't think they were around at the same time." Kilvas combed his hair back with his fingers. "When Hetzel sent him home, Rafiel went into seclusion. This is the first time I know of that he's come out."
Horrible. That's horrible. Sanaki rubbed the back of her neck, trying to shrug away the tension. Why did it have to be Hetzel? She didn't like him, exactly, but he was one of the better senior politicians, and he voted and made proposals according to his morals more often than not. He was supposed to be better than this. No matter how sympathetically the prince spoke of the man's effort to help him, there was no excuse for his crime - and she was supposed to pardon him?
He won't speak up unless he is sure of his own welfare, Rafiel said. He is ruled by his fears. You must take them away if he is to confront his colleagues openly.
Wasn't she here, on this throne, to uphold the letter of the law her family died to protect? Sanaki didn't know their faces, but she knew what they believed in.
"You're thinking too much," Kilvas said.
"Shut up." She pulled the pins out of her hair and let it uncurl over the back of her chair. Her muscles loosened a little once the weight was gone. "I can't just throw the law away when it's inconvenient. Isn't that the idea?"
"You can wait."
"Waiting," she said, shoving back from the desk and standing up, "is all I've been doing. Waiting for information, waiting for the next attack, whatever that might be." She went to the table by the window to pour herself a glass of water. "What else would you have me wait on?"
She heard him stand, heard his wings shiff when they flexed. "Hetzel knows what's coming. All you have to do is nail the others first and he'll capitulate."
Sanaki glanced over her shoulder. "And how does he know this? Did he turn himself in, perhaps?"
"Yeah." He grinned when she slammed her glass onto the table and spun. "He's been paying me to find a way to pull them down with him. I think he means it too - my fee is pretty steep."
"I've noticed." She put a hand on her hip. "There's no way he can afford you, as a matter of fact, if what I hear of his finances is true."
Kilvas chuckled. "Oh, he found a way." He shrugged, working his shoulders back, and she heard the bones crack. "He managed to find fifty thousand for this job, and I think that's a good indication of his sincerity, don't you?"
Sanaki stared at him. Fifty thousand. Her hands curled into fists. He looked so proud of himself. If only she could remember a good wind incantation. "You--"
He padded over the carpet and she flushed when he leaned over and snapped her mouth shut with his fingers. "Consider it your down payment." His breath was hot against her temple, and the tips of his feathers brushed her cheek when he straightened and moved past her, toward the window. "I'll have my people send a bill later."
By the time she could recall the words to a proper spell, he was gone.
......................................................................
WHOOPS, forgot to set something important up! And I was planning this, too.
I have an interlude about Naesala's trip to Serenes that was originally going to be chapter four. (It didn't get finished because I suck at Naesala POV so far.) Adding it might help with the pacing issue, and you know, the part where Rafiel suddenly shows up. Hm. Maybe for one of the other themes.
Good thing I didn't try to fit Soren into this.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2008-08-09 02:44 am (UTC)Love. This story has me hook, line, and sinker.
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Date: 2008-08-09 05:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-09 05:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-10 04:07 am (UTC)You managed pretty well dealing the meeting of Sephiran and Rafiel. Through I still have to read about more of her thoughts. There is so many ideas that such a reunion can summon...
Truth to be told, I first did not through you had a serious idea of where this chronicle would let to. Now that I tasted the quality and variety of the options you got yourself to develop the plot, I am awed.
That fic is definitively something else. I dearly hope it will appears in FFnet when finished. (Oh and, Oliver rocks ! xD)
...
PS: little shipper in me is sad for this AU Nailah. Ah never mind. X)
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Date: 2008-08-10 05:06 am (UTC)Oh, I have a very good idea of where this is all going, don't worry. XD There's a bit of a snag later in my outline where I've gotten myself into trouble I'll have a hard time getting out of, but I'll manage! The politics, if you can call them that anyway, are kind of sticky. I have very specific goals. Finding a way to make them happen in a reasonable way is sometimes hard.
Thank you for your comments! I look forward to them. And if I can find a way to fix the pacing to satisfy myself, maybe I'll put it up on FF.Net after it's all done. The problem is, I'm never sure during the semester when I'll be able to update, and some stories (like Optique) end up sitting for a long time.
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Date: 2009-06-14 10:47 pm (UTC)I wish you could write more on Naesala
chelle