Chapter XIV
True Companions
It started to rain.
The morning had come with grey clouds, but Luca had found himself hoping the storm would not break. The mood was already sombre enough at the gates of the Serenite palace without rain. It was like a funeral; in a way it even was. Nobody said anything. They just stood atop the steps, waiting for King Marcus to emerge. Many townspeople were gathered outside, watching from the bottom of the steps. At the top of the steps, all the members of the court were gathered, the various lords and nobles who controlled the kingdom of Saeticia. The queen and her first son, Halt, were there. Selphie and her company were there too. Luca wasn't sure why they were staying to witness this. Marcus clearly wanted them gone as soon as possible.
The falling raindrops helped to wash the blood away. It flowed down into the iron grate, the very one Brand had pointed out when they had first arrived. There had been twelve executions already; one for each of the guards who had been on duty. They had all admitted to taking bribes from the man they called Devith to ignore his actions that night. All of them, from the gaoler who Brand had knocked out, to the guard who had been escorting Selphie and Jared back to their rooms, they were all put to death as traitors.
There was one execution left, but the executioner could not carry this one out. Prince Gera was of royal blood, and only the king was allowed to end his life.
So they were waiting. Waiting for Marcus to come out of the palace and kill his son.
Luca turned to Emila, who was staring at the grate, just as he had been a moment ago. She was staring at the blood. She looked tired, still needing sleep after the eventful night. Her cheeks were a bit wet from the raindrops...
No. Those were tears.
He placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him. He knew what troubled her. Emila, who valued life more than anyone he had ever met, had just watched twelve people die.
They didn't say anything. She just moved very close to him, resting her head on his shoulders. He pulled his fur cloak over her, to keep her warm and dry.
Why in the world was Selphie making them watch this?
Luca looked to Selphie, who was staring at the gate of the palace. She was waiting for Marcus. She would likely not have any other chance to speak with him.
The others in their group - Brand, Jared, and Wiosna - they looked no better. Everyone was tired, cold, morose, and soon to be wet. Wiosna in particular looked troubled; Luca noticed the occasional worried glance at Emila. Her wounds were treated and she was fine, but she looked very miserable. Luca wondered what had happened in that library that had the usually bright and cheerful girl so concerned. Perhaps she was worried for Emila? He would have to talk to her later.
Wiosna noticed his staring, and she quickly looked away.
Everyone on the steps looked up as the front doors of the palace swung open, and Marcus emerged at last. Nobody spoke, nor did the crowd of people gathered cheer. His eyes were hard and weary, as he strode out into the rain. His sword Altair was sheathed at his side.
Selphie watched him with an expectant, yet pleading expression. He turned his head to her for the briefest of moments, offering nothing more to her than an emotionless glance. He then continued on his way down to the grate, where Gera was bound and waiting.
"My son," he said to Gera. "You have been brought here for the crime of treason. You made a secret alliance with the Acarians, and plotted to aid them in war against us. You betrayed the Alliance, you betrayed your home kingdom of Saeticia, and you betrayed your kin, the royal family. Do you deny these charges?"
Gera shook his head. "I do not."
Marcus' eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Then tell me. Why did you do this?"
Gera looked over to where his brother was watching. "My brother Halt is the cause of this. Being the eldest child, he is promised to be the next king of Saeticia." Gera turned away from Halt, and looked out to the crowd of people. "But my brother is not fit to rule this land. Neither were you, father. Saeticia deserves a king who is wise and fair and just. A king who will look to the future, rather than dwell on the past. The Way of Uro, which you brought with you to the throne, and raised up Halt to believe in, will bring Saeticia to its death. The old ways only cause pain and weakness, and a paladin should never have sat on the throne."
Marcus showed no visible reaction to this. "And you would have done better?"
"I could have saved Saeticia," Gera replied, his voice certain and resolute. "Instead, it will now die under Halt's rule."
"I see," Marcus said. "So you do not even regret what you have done. So be it. I will not regret what I am about to do."
Marcus drew his sword from it's sheath, and a powerful wave of mana flowed through the area. Marcus' mana flowed into the sword and radiated through it, wrapping the blade in white fire... manaflame, the same power Luca had briefly seen Zinoro use. Everything Marcus channelled into the sword was amplified tenfold by the blade's ancient power.
Luca felt it, light-form mana, just like his own. His hand went to the hilt of Siora, without him being aware of it. What he was looking at was one of the nine fragments of Rixeor. However, unlike Zinoro's mana, which radiated vile dark corruption, Marcus' was a strong purity that certainly did not reflect his soul.
Luca could almost feel the scar across his cheek tingle faintly.
Marcus slowly raised the blade and placed it beside Gera's throat.
"For your treason, I sentence you to die."
Marcus swung the blade with both hands, though there was no need to; the blade would have cut through solid rock with mana surging through it like that. Gera's head was instantly separated from his body, flying up high in the air. It never hit the ground; by the time it would have, both it and the body had vanished into mana. Gera's clothes were all that remained, lying on that grate, stained red.
Marcus wiped off his sword, tossed the rag aside in disgust, and sheathed the blade. He then turned, without looking at anyone who was on the steps or watching from below, and started to walk back towards the palace gates.
But Selphie would not let him go. "King Marcus," she said almost nervously, taking a step forward. Her hair was soaked at this point from the rain.
Surprisingly, he stopped and looked at her.
"King Marcus, please," Selphie pleaded with him. "I know what you're thinking. My father, he-"
"To hell with your father," Marcus spat, causing everyone at the steps to exchange glaces and hushed conspiratorial words. "To hell with peace and to hell with Zinoro. This man corrupted my son, filling his head with delusions of grandeur and turning him against me. Because of Zinoro I just had to murder my son. And you still expect me to go along with whatever plan your father has to delay war with this man another few years?"
"He isn't just-"
"Had Zaow finished the job twenty-one years ago and followed the Acarians over the mountains, none of this would have happened. Instead, he let them flee and regroup, to groom up Manorith's son in preparation for the next war. Zaow is lying to himself with this peace nonsense. There's no way out of this war, and there will not stop being wars until everyone who calls themselves an Acarian is dead. Vengeance is something they never forget. And it is not something I ever forget, either. I will have justice for what has been done today. So go crawling back to your father and tell him that Saeticia and Torachi are demanding he join us to invade Acarian. If he refuses, he will be next."
And with that, Marcus returned inside the palace, followed shortly by the queen and prince, and then by all the lords and nobles of the court. Finally, the only ones who remained out in the rain were Selphie's company, and a few guards.
Luca looked to Selphie, and in her eyes he saw a look of hopelessness. Jared went over to her, said something quietly, and she nodded. Jared seemed to be trying to cheer her up, but she looked no happier. She turned to everyone else there - Luca, Emila, Brand, and Wiosna - and she spoke.
"Let's go back to the inn."
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Trunda had apparently caused quite a fuss on his way out.
Naturally, after giving Marcus the full story, he ordered the guards to go after the Acarian spy. Bribed or otherwise, they could not ignore a direct order from their king. The guards had managed to catch up with Trunda out in the city streets, where they had attempted to arrest him.
Attempted, anyway.
In total, eighteen different guards had tried to stop Trunda on his way out of the city. None had died trying to do so, thankfully, but they all suffered injuries of varying severity.
When Selphie and her company arrived at Serenite's local inn, a few such guards were there, wrapped in bandages and drowning their pain in alcohol. They looked up as she entered, giving her looks that were not quite friendly.
"It seems I'm not longer welcome here," she said quietly.
The person that she was there to see, Tranom, rose from his seat as soon as he saw her and approached. Luca looked around the room, noting the presence of many of the Allman survivors. He did not see Ash among them.
"I've just heard about what happened," Tranom said to Selphie. "I'm very sorry, Princess. I should have stayed with you at the palace, instead of here at the inn."
"It wouldn't have made a difference," Selphie said, waving away his apology. "We've come to the conclusion that this was all part of Zinoro's game anyway. They never actually wanted to capture me, they wanted to make a scene and reveal their presence here."
"For what purpose?"
"To reveal the treachery of Prince Gera," she explained. "To push Marcus into rage. To make him hate Zinoro, and the Acarians. He'll never hear my father's plea of peace now, not after losing a son to this. Zinoro wants a war with all three nations of the Alliance, it would seem, and he's manipulating Marcus to make that happen."
The guards' scowls deepened at her words. Tranom looked over at them, giving them an intense glare. After a moment of token defiance, the guards looked away, finding their drinks more interesting.
"You probably shouldn't linger in the city, Princess," Tranom told her. "These people... things are very tense right now. The prince was just executed, an Acarian traitor was revealed in the palace, and everyone in the city is just waiting for the formal declaration of war they all know is coming,"
Selphie blinked. "What do you mean? Will you not be accompanying me back to T'Saw?"
Tranom frowned, looking very guilty and torn. "I'm sorry, Princess. I really am. The students have been talking. They want to go back to Torachi, and aid Edmund in the war. They want to avenge the friends they lost in the attack, and I can't deny them that. As the last master of Allma Temple left, it's my responsibility to protect them."
Selphie smiled, and nodded, but in her eyes she looked absolutely crushed. "I see. Very well. Thank you for everything you've done so far. I-I..." She was trying very hard not to cry.
Jared stepped up, glaring at Tranom for a brief moment, before placing his hand on her shoulder. "Perhaps we should get going, Selphie."
She nodded, and forced herself to keep smiling. "Take care of them, Tranom. They're the last remnants of a great temple."
Luca stepped forward. "Where has my brother gone?"
"He got into a fight with the others when they said some... things about Selphie," Tranom replied with a frown. "He's decided to wait for you at the city gates."
Of course he wouldn't be going with them, Luca thought. The Allmans always hated Ash.
"I never knew your father, but I'm sure he would have been proud," Tranom said. "Of you both."
A few minutes later, they were back in the streets outside the inn, under the now pouring rain. Brand had lingered behind to say farewell to his former master. After taking a few moments to compose herself, Selphie spoke to everyone in the group; Luca, Emila, Wiosna, and Jared.
"It seems that our mission is becoming more of a farce every minute," she said to them, her words heavy. "The Acarians do not want peace, and neither do the people they have hurt. Zinoro wants this war, and he's clever enough to get it. Attacking the temple angered Torachi, and eliminated the threat of Allma's skilled fighters. And now he's made an enemy of Marcus, by turning his son against him. With both Torachi and Saeticia determined to have this war, my father will have no choice but to support them. If he does not, then Sono will become an enemy of the Alliance, and they will invade us next."
She took a deep breath, and her lips formed a tight line. "But I'm not going to give up, no matter how impossible or pointless it seems. War should not be something we aspire to. So I'm going to give you all a choice. Torachi is already preparing for battle, and the Allmans are going to go join them. It won't be long before Saeticia is doing the same. If you want to go and join them, that's fine. I won't stop you. But I'll be going back to T'Saw to meet with my father. I'm not going to give up on this stupid mission of peace, but if any of you want justice as well, like Tranom I will not deny it of you."
Nobody moved or spoke.
A moment passed, and Selphie looked to Wiosna. "Do you not want to go with them? They're your companions. The Acarians burned down your temple and killed so many of your friends."
Wiosna looked at Emila for a moment, then at the inn, hesitating. Then she said, "I don't think I have the right. I like to fight, sure. And I hate the Acarians for what they've done. But I swore that I would help you. And honestly, I know that a lot of good people will die in a war. I only kill bad people."
Emila looked at her, a strange unspoken moment passing between them.
Selphie then turned her attention to Luca. "Zinoro killed your father. You don't want to have revenge?"
"I do," Luca told her. "And I will. I swore that I will kill Zinoro, and I always keep my promises. But that will be decided by a battle between the two of us, not between tens of thousands of people. Other people do not need to die for my sake. If your father can keep a war from breaking out, it would make it far easier for me to get to Zinoro."
Emila frowned, but said nothing. Selphie turned to her next, and said, "Emila, that man went after you tonight. I don't know why, but he thought you were me and he tried to hurt you. Do you really want to go with us? There might be more danger on the way. Trunda is still out there..."
The small girl shook her head, and went to Luca's side, hugging his arm. "I go where Luca goes."
Selphie frowned, seemingly disappointed in their answers. Then a smile slowly crossed her face. It was impossible to tell with how soaked she was, but she might have been crying again.
Jared went back to her side. "Are you going to try to convince me to leave, as well? Because I think you already know what my answer will be."
Selphie shook her head. She then looked over at the door of the inn. "Brand's still in there, talking to Tranom. Maybe, at least he might-"
The door then burst open, and Brand stepped out, his eyes wide. "Those guys in there are seriously pissed. Let's get Ash and ditch this city before we have to fight our way out."
Selphie stared at him for a moment, and then started to laugh.
They indeed found Ash waiting at the city gates, with his belongings in a bag over his shoulder. He didn't say much, and Selphie didn't try to talk him out of going with them. The seven of them just went through the gates and were on their way.
The rain started to let up after about an hour or so, to which they were immensely grateful.
Emila kept close to Luca as they walked. He'd noticed her odd behaviour earlier, but now it was impossible for everyone not to be aware of it. She was very quiet, staying close to Luca and hardly leaving his side. At times, she would even wrap her arms around his, and rest her head on his shoulder. There was fear in her eyes.
Eventually, once they had stopped for lunch at the side of the road, he asked her what was bothering her.
"I-" She couldn't form the words. Her eyes glanced at Wiosna, betraying her thoughts.
"You can tell me what's wrong," Luca gently urged her. "Are you worr
ied about what happened at the palace?"
She nodded slowly.
"According to Selphie's theory, Trunda was never really after you," Luca told her. "He was just playing a game, making a commotion so that Gera's treachery would be revealed. That's why he didn't go after the real princess."
For a moment, Emila looked like she wanted to say something. She bit her lip, and cast her gaze to the ground.
"Nothing will happen to you," he promised her. "Even if I'm not around, the others will protect you."
Emila chuckled mirthlessly. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."
Away from Luca and Emila, Wiosna was watching their conversation with a pale face.
After their brief lunch, the group continued on their way. Despite not being very good at consolation - a flaw he readily admitted to - Luca seemed to have cheered Emila up a bit. Perhaps she had simply been shaken up after the chaotic night, and the bloody executions of the morning. She seemed better now, walking on her own and no longer clinging to Luca. Still, she remained close to him, and occasionally looked to Wiosna.
The other girl, unable to wait in limbo any longer, approached Emila while Luca was busy talking with the others.
"Can we talk?" Wiosna asked her. "I feel I need to explain."
"What is there to explain?" Emila asked her, her eyes narrow and her voice low. "After what you did to me, I should think your intentions are very clear."
"It's not like that," Wiosna insisted. "Sometimes, I... I just lose control. I didn't want to hurt you, I just..."
"You're very lucky that Luca thinks it was Trunda who did that," Emila told her. "He was aware of what was happening to me the moment you were doing it. We share pain. Anything I feel, he feels. Our souls are connected."
"What do you mean?"
"How do you think he survived back at the temple, when Dreevius stabbed him? We're connected by magick, he and I. Nothing can hurt him, so long as I'm alright. But if something were to happen to me, he would die."
Wiosna's eyes grew wide with realisation. She looked even more guilty than before, if that were possible.
"You said I was bad for him because I'm not a killer, like you are," Emila told her, contempt in her eyes. "But which of us put him in more danger last night? Had I not been able to get away from you, I would be dead, and so would Luca."
"I said I was sorry," Wiosna said, trying to keep her voice down, lest the others notice. "I wasn't in control of myself!"
"If you can't control your murderous impulses, then how can I trust it won't happen again?" Emila asked her. "Why are you even with us, in any case? You should have stayed behind in Serenite when Selphie was asking you to. We're on a mission of peace, the very thing you seem to loathe the most."
"You don't understand me at all..."
"On the contrary, I understand you very well," Emila said coldly. "You're a killer. I've seen plenty of killers in my life. I've seen what they can do. I've lost everything I ever had because of people like you, and if you think I'm going to stand aside and let you turn him into someone like you, you're wrong."
"Are you... going to tell him?" Wiosna asked, visibly worried.
"No," Emila said. "I won't tell him what you did, because if I told him, he'd kill you. And I'm trying to keep him from killing people."
And with that, Emila left her, rejoining Luca. Wiosna lingered behind, looking very dejected and confused.
"There's something that's been bothering me, Luca."
Luca looked over at Brand as they walked. It was unusual to see Brand burdened by anything, much less his own thoughts. Out of all of the members of their group, Brand was the most upbeat and optimistic of them all, and he never let anything really weigh him down. To see something troubling him...
"What is it?" Luca asked. Emila, at his side, and Selphie and Jared, behind him, all listened.
"Today I said my goodbyes to my former master," Brand said. "He was my last connection to Allma Temple. He was the man who found me all those years ago in Sendor City, and brought me to the temple. I would not be the man I am today were it not for him. I've always tried to live my life without regrets, and I have largely succeeded. But I do have one thing I need to get off my chest."
"Sure, what it is?" Luca asked.
"I have a secret," Brand said. "Something that I am not proud of, and have tried my whole life to put behind me. When I was at Allma Temple, Allma the third found out this secret, and he blackmailed me. I was well-liked at the temple, and Allma wanted to know the secrets of anyone he could, for the use of blackmail. He made me tell him things about the students, things they confided in me."
Luca frowned. He had heard something like this before, when he'd met with Ash at the underground lake. Ash had told him Brand was in Allma's pocket, and anything he told Brand would go straight to Allma.
"To my knowledge, he never actually used any of the information I gave him," Brand continued. "Largely because I was very selective in what I did tell him. I couldn't keep everything from him, because he would have known I was withholding information. I told him as little as possible, but even that tormented me. I told him things about you, Luca. I told him that you went to meet with Ash, and I told him about you and Emila. It has been tormenting me ever since we left the temple, and I feel I cannot go any farther without telling you. Whatever you wish to think of me, I will accept it."
Luca thought about it for a moment. "You did what you could under the circumstances. We haven't forgotten about what you did when Allma was trying to kill Selphie. He gave you orders, and you refused him. That's what's really important. This really isn't that bad, actually. A lot of people are tormented by much darker secrets."
"You're a hero, Brand," Selphie said to him. "You've done so much good, that such a minor little thing is nothing."
"Whatever secret it was that Allma was using against you died with him," Luca said. "Let the past be the past."
Brand smiled. "Thanks, you guys." When they weren't looking, however, Brand turned his head and looked behind him. In the back of the group, Ash was following them. He looked up, and met Brand's gaze. Nothing was said between them. Ash gave no indication of whether he had heard the conversation or not, but he wasn't so far behind that he couldn't have.
Selphie led them forth with renewed vigour, her hope seemingly restored by their choice to stay with her. Like the vanishing rain, her mood improved as they day went on. Emila also seemed to be doing better, and Wiosna, though still quiet and withdrawn, spoke up a few times to chip in to the conversation.
It would take them around a week to reach the Sonoian border, and then a few weeks more to reach T'Saw. They made good time on their first day, but they were still far from the next town. So as the sun began to disappear under the horizon, they found a spot off the road and made camp.
They had four tents now, having picked up two more in town, and enough sleeping rolls and supplies for all seven members of the group. They lit up a fire and enjoyed a nice meal of meat and bread. Other travellers and groups of Saetician soldiers on patrol would occasionally pass by on the road, but these were starting to die down with the coming night. They were no longer worried about Acarians; they were deep enough in Saetician territory that an Acarian squad would not be able to get from one town to the next, much less find and attack them. There was only one Acarian whom they needed to concern themselves with; but in a few days a wanted poster with his face on it would be plastered on every city wall in Saeticia and Sono. He was either on his way back to Acaria, or lying low to avoid capture.
After finishing their supper, they paired up and went to bed. Emila and Luca ended up sharing a tent; surprising absolutely no one. And Jared of course insisted on being close to Selphie, thus the second tent went to the two of them; although Jared slept just outside of it, not wanting to intrude on the princess' privacy. And Brand and Wiosna ended up as the last pair, as neither of the former Allma students wanted to be around Ash. This left Luca
's younger brother with the fourth tent all to himself.
Ash was used to being alone; in fact, he preferred it. So he went to his tent and closed it up and tossed himself down on his bed roll. He closed his eyes, and did his best to fall asleep. He was relieved just to be away from Brand, and his accusing eyes. There was still much bad blood between them. Brand would likely never forgive him, but he didn't really care if he did or not.
However, he was still troubled. He found it difficult to drift off. He wasn't sure why, but something had triggered the memory of his mother. Now he was stuck there, replaying the moment of her death in his mind again and again.
He had only been three at the time, though he could remember it like it was yesterday. He had always been odd; one of the odd things about him was his ability to recall events from so long ago that he should have forgotten them. He could remember all the way back to his first solid meal, his first steps, his first words. It was unnatural, so he never told anyone about it.
When he was only three years old, his mother had been carrying him and running through the night. Lodin had left them already, taking Luca with him and disappearing into the fringes of the world to hide from Zinoro. As the Acarian king cared only about Lodin and his first born son, he ignored Ash and his mother. Lodin doubtlessly thought this would keep them safe. But he had been wrong.
Vampires were after them.
They had chased them down, his mother letting go of him and commanding him to run. He had tried, but his mother's screams of pain had drawn him back. He had found her just in time to see the vampires tearing into her throat like wild animals. Somehow, they had not seen him; perhaps they had been so occupied with his mother to notice. With tears in his eyes, he had crawled away and hid under a tree until morning.
He remembered the last commands of his mother: to get to Allma Temple and find Dori. Torachi was far away, and he was only a small child. But he had nothing else to do; and nothing else to live for. He got up, on his tiny legs, and made his way very slowly in what he had hoped was the right direction.
It took him two whole years to get to Allma Temple. He had managed to survive thanks to his intuition; he was able to detect danger and avoid it almost every time. When that wasn't enough, he just ran. He had to take a lot of detours and spent a lot of time in small villages doing menial work to keep himself fed. But finally he was able to make it to the temple, and meet with Dori.
He would not have lived were it not for that grumpy old man. That day, when he was sparring with Kevalie...
He knew Allma had arranged for that to happen. He could see the guilt in the old bastard's eyes; he had made a mistake, and gotten the wrong student killed. Unlike Kevalie, Ash had never had any friends in that temple. The blame had been placed entirely on him. Were it not for Dori, the students likely would have lynched him right there.
But none of that mattered now, he told himself. Allma Temple, his home of twelve years, was gone. Dori, the closest thing he'd ever had to a father, was dead. And all those people who had hated him were gone; with the exception of Brand, Wiosna, and the fifty or so survivors who were with Tranom now.
Perhaps that was what was troubling him. While he had hated Allma Temple, it had been his home. His life had been shattered, and was now thrown into uncertainty. Just what was he doing with Selphie and his brother? What was their goal... to prevent a war between Acaria and the Alliance? What was the point of that? The Alliance would crush Acaria in open war. Zinoro had destroyed Allma Temple through trickery and smart planning, but there was no way be had the numbers to match the three greatest nations in Bacoria. The previous king, Manorith, had been crushed by Sono alone during the previous war, and there had been a much bigger population in Acaria in those days.
It just seemed to be better judgement to just let Zinoro have his war. He would be crushed, just like Manorith was, and the world could move on.
If the Allmans hadn't hated him so much, he could have just stayed with them in Serenite. He could have let the others go, and let Selphie have her little dream.
The tent was too small. He felt like he was going to suffocate if he stayed in it any longer. He sat up, grabbed his cloak, and stepped outside.
Outside, Ash could just faintly see the camp with the red glow of the dying fire, and the illumination of the stars and moon. Jared was lying just outside Selphie's tent, his giant halberd at his side. He was supposed to be keeping watch, but it seemed he had fallen asleep. Ash chuckled quietly. That guy acted big and tough, but he was just as vulnerable as everyone else.
Ash walked over to his brother's tent, and opened it slowly, just enough to see inside. Luca was lying on his back, and Emila was at his side, her arm over his chest. Their clothes were all on, and undisturbed. Ash shook his head. How ridiculous.
He quietly closed the tent back up, and wandered over to the remnants of the fire. There was nothing else to do; checking Brand and Wiosna's tent for any signs of naughtiness would be pointless.
As he sat by the fire, his eyes caught a faint sign of movement over by the edge of the woods, far from where their camp was. It was too brief to reliably trust, but he could have sworn it looked like a person.
It was possible someone was out there, watching them. He went back to his tent, grabbed his sword, and set off in the direction of the woods. There was a good chance it was just his imagination. He wouldn't want to have woken the others if there was nobody out there. So he would just check it out himself.
He went to the edge of the forest, where he was sure he had seen the movement. He stepped past the first few trees, soon being swallowed up by the darkness of the forest. The pale moonlight did not reach through the thick foliage, and Ash soon found himself wandering blindly into the woods.
He listened carefully, having to rely on his hearing and touch with the lack of his sight. He found it difficult and frustrating to be unable to see. He was soon stumbling over tree roots, quietly cursing and wondering if perhaps he had made a mistake.
But a moment later, he stumbled through a bush, and emerged to a small cliff. He stopped, managing to keep himself from taking those extra couple of steps that would have sent him falling over the edge.
"Oh, it's Ash."
Sitting at the edge of the cliff, with her bare feet dangling over the edge, was the princess.
Ash blinked a few times. It was Selphie he had seen?
"How did you get out here? Jared was right in front of your tent."
Selphie chuckled. "Sleeping, yes. Growing up in a palace, I learnt how to slip away from the people in charge of watching me long ago."
He stared at her for a moment, not quite sure he was believing what he was seeing. She smiled, and pat the spot on the ground beside her. "Join me," she offered.
Ash hesitated. He would have much preferred to just go back to his tent and try to go back to sleep. But by discovering the princess out here, he was now in charge of her. It was their responsibility to keep her safe, and if he left and something were to happen to her, it would be his fault. He should have just ignored what he saw.
Selphie seemed to realise what he was thinking, because she said, "I'm not going back until we have a talk."
He wasn't getting out of this one. Sighing, he went to the edge of the cliff and sat next to her.
"I've been wanting to talk with you for a while," she said to him. "Perhaps fate has given us this opportunity for just that reason."
"Why?" he asked dryly.
"You're the only member of the group I haven't had a chance to really talk to yet," she said. "Is it odd that I would want to get to know the people I'm travelling with?"
"There's nothing interesting here," Ash told her, brushing his long platinum hair back behind his ear where it belonged. "I'm just Luca's little brother, the son of Lodin that isn't immortal and isn't a hero. The one who walks in his shadow, and carries the things he cannot be bothered with."
"You sound like you resent your brother."
"I don't. I resent everyone else. But he's family; I'm not allowed to resent him."
"He tells me you resent your father," Selphie said.
"That's different. He-" Ash trailed off, seeing the playful look in Selphie's eyes. "Why am I telling you this? This is amusing you."
"You act so stoic," Selphie said. "But I can see, deep down, you really want someone to talk to."
Ash stared at her for a moment. "Is that what this is all about? You just want to know what makes me tick?"
"You always look so bitter. I was hoping I might be able to cheer you up."
He scoffed. "Don't bother. I have plenty to be bitter about. It's what I know, and I'm fine with it that way."
"You enjoy being miserable?"
"Contentment lures one into a false sense of security. It makes you foolish, and more prone to making mistakes at the worst of times. As I am now, I'm smart. Take a look at my brother; he is happy, whether he would admit it or not. How many times over would be be dead already were it not for that girl's magick?"
Selphie frowned, and looked away from him, at the expanse of terrain visible over the large valley. "I don't think that's true. That's just something people say when they've been hurt before."
Ash blinked.
"No, that's not..."
C'mon, Ash! Let's go train!
Even the slightest of thoughts seemed to trigger the flashback. How many times had he replayed her death in his mind's eye?
"This conversation is over," he asserted.
Selphie frowned. "Ash, why are you here?"
"Because I saw you wandering off by yourself, and as the princess, you need to be watched over," he told her impatiently.
"That's not what I mean," Selphie said. She stood up and walked over to him. "I meant, why are you here?"
"I..." Ash struggled to find the words. He couldn't answer because he didn't know. He was just going along with the flow, following with them because that was where his brother was going.
Hadn't he been pondering that very question earlier that night?
Selphie moved a little closer to him. She reached up, and placed her hand on his cheek. He almost recoiled from the touch like it were the bite of a poisonous insect. But she held him, both gently and firmly. Her blue eyes looked deep into his.
"It's not your fault," she said to him.
"W-what...?"
"It's not your fault," she repeated. "The thing that happened to you. I don't know the details of it, but I can see the guilt clearly enough."
"Shut up," he said to her, not caring in the slightest that he was talking to royalty. "You don't know anything about that." He tried to push her away, but the little princess was surprisingly strong. Her other hand grabbed his shoulder and held him fast.
"It's not your fault."
The way she was looking at him... she knew exactly what she was talking about. She knew exactly what it was that tormented him. His mother... Kevalie... She knew, somehow. Had Luca or Brand told her?
"Let me go!" he insisted. He grabbed her wrist, the one holding his shoulder, and pushed her hand away.
Surprisingly, she let him go. She smiled, and said, "We should get back. We've got a long day of travel ahead of us tomorrow." And then she started back, as though nothing had happened at all.
Ash stare at her as she walked away, completely baffled.
"Are you coming?" she asked as she entered the thick forest between them and the camp.
"Is she mad?" he quietly asked himself.
She would have to be mad to think that her power alone could prevent a war between Acaria and the Alliance. This mission they were following her on was idiotic. Perhaps he really should consider why he was with them.
Sighing, he brushed his white hair back behind his ear and followed after her.