[Fire Emblem 10] Forgiveness
Sep. 14th, 2009 05:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
runicloreForgiveness
Author: Amber Michelle //![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
myaru
Words: 1106
Gauntlet Theme: 4 - I am all uncombed
Commentfic prompt:
Fire Emblem 10, Lehran/Sanaki, the silver lining
..............................................
While Sanaki had some memory of his arrival during the worst of the fever, her heart still beat hard and fast when she opened her eyes and saw Lehran's profile against the gray light lingering on the panes of her windows. He sat very still on the edge of her mattress, just as she remembered him doing when he arrived, though it was hard to remember what time that was, or what day. The illumination bleached his skin white, glimmered on his black hair in silver highlight; his wings were dark shadows twisted to fit in the constraints of her beorc furniture, one heavy over her ankle, spread to drape between posts, and the other curved to his shoulder to hang off the bed.
Her hand couldn't stretch that far. Sanaki frowned to find her arm feeling so heavy, sighed when she let it drop to the coverlet and felt the burn of her muscles release.
Lehran faced her, one side of his face in shadow, one still pale, then he looked down and took her hand in both of his own, their warmth smooth and gentle, his lips dry and soft when he kissed her knuckles. "You've had many close brushes with death, empress," he said to the back of her hand. "How do you feel after this one?"
"Irritated," she said. The gravelled tone that came out of her lips made it true.
He smiled faintly. Dawn-light glinted silver on his green eyes. "So the toxin fled in fear."
Sanaki moved her leg to kick him, found the sheets clammy and clinging. They were straight and neat, but the length of her chemise twisted around her legs, stuck to her skin, while her hair tangled and stuck to her neck. All she could smell was the rankness of her own fever sweat and some bitter undertone of medicine. "You had the nerve to answer my summons."
He leaned over and reached for something that scraped on the night table to her left, hidden by the ruffles on her pillow sham; water, in a silver cup. She shook her head. "Your physicians mistook a natural illness for poison," Lehran said, put it back. The tray rattled and she wondered what else was on it. The light brightened, showing the purple of her curtains, the brown highlights of his wings. "By the time I received your message and made the trip over, it was almost too late to apply the proper treatment. I think Tanith's knives are currently aimed in their direction, so we have time to talk before I must take my leave."
Suppressing her smile was difficult until he said that; a sick thrill crept down her throat to her stomach. What was he doing in Serenes that was so important he had to leave as soon as she showed signs of recovery-- or was it Tanith he was referring to, Tanith who would force him to leave? As if Sanaki would allow her knights to dictate her taste in visitors. She wasn't a child anymore. "Only to talk?"
His head tilted, his beautiful hair swayed, and his lashes narrowed the shape of his eyes, rimed with the silver of the light. "You had something else in mind?"
Sanaki felt her eyebrows contract, clenched her fists. It was like the fever took everything - her energy, her control, her ability to say what she really meant. She was tired, but fatique was never an excuse. It was part of the job, a symptom of her duty, an inevitability proven by fifteen years on the throne.
"They've made it clear I am not welcome," he said. "Ghosts like myself unnerve even the best of your servants."
Her eyes felt hot, yet Sanaki didn't blink any tears. She could order him to stay-- but he was no longer obligated to follow her orders. "How did you know? Sigrun refused to call you to me."
Lehran stroked the back of her hand, traced his fingertips over the bones standing out in the back, webbed with blue veins her skin was too pale to cover. "A little bird came to sing in my glade in Serenes," he said, and for the first time his wings shifted, the feathers stroking over her foot, the silk coverlet. Her fingers twitched on his wrist, felt his pulse beat quick, perhaps quicker than normal. "Red and orange, like a little flame. She told me it was my last chance to answer your call."
"So my impending death has its silver lining after all." Her voice was almost normal, except for a catch at the end that made her cough. "Even the goddess heard me just this once."
"You're not going to--"
"I'd rather."
His grip on her hand tightened until her bones grated together. "If I must continue living--" Lehran flattened his lips together, took a deep breath, nostrils flaring. "You will not leave before I do."
An admirable sentiment; Sanaki wished she could match his life with hers. "And how do you expect to make that happen? Your little bird?" She wanted to laugh, and wished to believe. "Go ahead, Lehran. All of Begnion will forgive you for it."
"Begnion," he said, his gaze unwavering, "is not what I care about."
She tried to curl her fingers around his wrist, and his grip slackened enough to allow her that mobility. Sanaki watched her hand, wondered why it felt like it belonged to someone else. "I might forgive you," she said. Looking up was a mistake; his eyes were glassy, and the last thing she wanted was to make him cry. "If you stay." She pulled his hand. "I can't enjoy sending you on errands if I'm dead."
Lehran snorted softly, shook his head and then stopped himself halfway through the motion. "I am not your secretary." He stroked her hand again, as if stroking a cat. "Not for an uncertain outcome."
This time she let herself smile. "Then I forgive you."
She watched him fight his amusement, watched his eyebrows lift. "Cheeky for a woman half through death's door, aren't you." Lehran sighed and looked away. The light had lost its silver quality and become yellow, gilding the glass panes and lightening the folds of her curtains from dark purple to lavender. "On one condition," he said.
"And that is?"
"Get rid of Oliver."
For the first time in what felt like months, Sanaki laughed.
.
Author: Amber Michelle //
myaruWords: 1106
Gauntlet Theme: 4 - I am all uncombed
Commentfic prompt:
Fire Emblem 10, Lehran/Sanaki, the silver lining
..............................................
While Sanaki had some memory of his arrival during the worst of the fever, her heart still beat hard and fast when she opened her eyes and saw Lehran's profile against the gray light lingering on the panes of her windows. He sat very still on the edge of her mattress, just as she remembered him doing when he arrived, though it was hard to remember what time that was, or what day. The illumination bleached his skin white, glimmered on his black hair in silver highlight; his wings were dark shadows twisted to fit in the constraints of her beorc furniture, one heavy over her ankle, spread to drape between posts, and the other curved to his shoulder to hang off the bed.
Her hand couldn't stretch that far. Sanaki frowned to find her arm feeling so heavy, sighed when she let it drop to the coverlet and felt the burn of her muscles release.
Lehran faced her, one side of his face in shadow, one still pale, then he looked down and took her hand in both of his own, their warmth smooth and gentle, his lips dry and soft when he kissed her knuckles. "You've had many close brushes with death, empress," he said to the back of her hand. "How do you feel after this one?"
"Irritated," she said. The gravelled tone that came out of her lips made it true.
He smiled faintly. Dawn-light glinted silver on his green eyes. "So the toxin fled in fear."
Sanaki moved her leg to kick him, found the sheets clammy and clinging. They were straight and neat, but the length of her chemise twisted around her legs, stuck to her skin, while her hair tangled and stuck to her neck. All she could smell was the rankness of her own fever sweat and some bitter undertone of medicine. "You had the nerve to answer my summons."
He leaned over and reached for something that scraped on the night table to her left, hidden by the ruffles on her pillow sham; water, in a silver cup. She shook her head. "Your physicians mistook a natural illness for poison," Lehran said, put it back. The tray rattled and she wondered what else was on it. The light brightened, showing the purple of her curtains, the brown highlights of his wings. "By the time I received your message and made the trip over, it was almost too late to apply the proper treatment. I think Tanith's knives are currently aimed in their direction, so we have time to talk before I must take my leave."
Suppressing her smile was difficult until he said that; a sick thrill crept down her throat to her stomach. What was he doing in Serenes that was so important he had to leave as soon as she showed signs of recovery-- or was it Tanith he was referring to, Tanith who would force him to leave? As if Sanaki would allow her knights to dictate her taste in visitors. She wasn't a child anymore. "Only to talk?"
His head tilted, his beautiful hair swayed, and his lashes narrowed the shape of his eyes, rimed with the silver of the light. "You had something else in mind?"
Sanaki felt her eyebrows contract, clenched her fists. It was like the fever took everything - her energy, her control, her ability to say what she really meant. She was tired, but fatique was never an excuse. It was part of the job, a symptom of her duty, an inevitability proven by fifteen years on the throne.
"They've made it clear I am not welcome," he said. "Ghosts like myself unnerve even the best of your servants."
Her eyes felt hot, yet Sanaki didn't blink any tears. She could order him to stay-- but he was no longer obligated to follow her orders. "How did you know? Sigrun refused to call you to me."
Lehran stroked the back of her hand, traced his fingertips over the bones standing out in the back, webbed with blue veins her skin was too pale to cover. "A little bird came to sing in my glade in Serenes," he said, and for the first time his wings shifted, the feathers stroking over her foot, the silk coverlet. Her fingers twitched on his wrist, felt his pulse beat quick, perhaps quicker than normal. "Red and orange, like a little flame. She told me it was my last chance to answer your call."
"So my impending death has its silver lining after all." Her voice was almost normal, except for a catch at the end that made her cough. "Even the goddess heard me just this once."
"You're not going to--"
"I'd rather."
His grip on her hand tightened until her bones grated together. "If I must continue living--" Lehran flattened his lips together, took a deep breath, nostrils flaring. "You will not leave before I do."
An admirable sentiment; Sanaki wished she could match his life with hers. "And how do you expect to make that happen? Your little bird?" She wanted to laugh, and wished to believe. "Go ahead, Lehran. All of Begnion will forgive you for it."
"Begnion," he said, his gaze unwavering, "is not what I care about."
She tried to curl her fingers around his wrist, and his grip slackened enough to allow her that mobility. Sanaki watched her hand, wondered why it felt like it belonged to someone else. "I might forgive you," she said. Looking up was a mistake; his eyes were glassy, and the last thing she wanted was to make him cry. "If you stay." She pulled his hand. "I can't enjoy sending you on errands if I'm dead."
Lehran snorted softly, shook his head and then stopped himself halfway through the motion. "I am not your secretary." He stroked her hand again, as if stroking a cat. "Not for an uncertain outcome."
This time she let herself smile. "Then I forgive you."
She watched him fight his amusement, watched his eyebrows lift. "Cheeky for a woman half through death's door, aren't you." Lehran sighed and looked away. The light had lost its silver quality and become yellow, gilding the glass panes and lightening the folds of her curtains from dark purple to lavender. "On one condition," he said.
"And that is?"
"Get rid of Oliver."
For the first time in what felt like months, Sanaki laughed.
.
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no subject
Date: 2009-09-16 05:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-17 10:58 pm (UTC)The banter is all that's good about it. :P