Prince of Fire Emblem: Gray Waves

[senselessness]

A princess with a poker face, Yukimura thought, as Yanagi took away the tea cups and retreated to where the rest of his entourage waited near the doorway.

He had open across the small negotiating table a letter from Princess Azura's stepfather, promising him that he would make her marriage as valuable to him as if she were his own flesh and blood. King Garon had a reputation that his own children shrank from, even as they bowed to his every whim. Azura didn't have the same fawning, wincing air as Garon's own children, from what Yukimura remembered of the spy reports. She looked placidly into his eyes.

"You pushed for this?" he asked, bluntly.

"No, milord," said the princess calmly. "Having just returned to Nohr after a long stay in Hoshido, I was as surprised as you."

Was she lying to him? She'd appeared at the gates of his castle alongside a delivery of flowers and wine for the ball celebrating Marui and Lissa's engagement, accompanied by her stepfather's offer of her hand and a ne'er-do-well with an axe as large as his body.

"He's this eager to get rid of you?"

"Or to gain your goodwill," she answered delicately.

Was she lying to him? The timing angered him immensely.

"By sending you here? Customarily, the pleasure of the bride's company is withheld until the marriage has been satisfactorily arranged."

"Your refusal is noted," she said, not without a certain heaviness.

His eyes narrowed. An outright refusal, in front of the man with the axe... his head burned. Could he afford to refuse Garon's offer without at least the pretense of consideration? Was she simply manipulating him into making a mistake?

"I said no such thing," he answered tightly. She inclined her head apologetically. "But my concern is with the engagement of my own princess, which you're interfering with."

She didn't contest his choice of verb, and his blood boiled.

"Like your princess, I am at the mercy of kings," she said. "I mean no disrespect to Lady Lissa."

But do you mean her harm? he wondered. Did Azura mean to displace her? The king's wife was necessarily given more authority than the king's sister. Yukimura didn't want that. He didn't want a wife for his own sake, there was nothing left within him that could love or cherish the princess before him nor any other, and he certainly didn't want a queen, who'd expect to see her own child on his throne in due time.

A queen would displace Lissa in the hierarchy of the court, and an heir would do the same in the line of succession. A perfect sabotage of his failsafe. A waste of Marui's and Lissa's sacrifices both-- not to mention the hints he'd tried to give them during their dance practice for tonight.

He had to play this intelligently-- even if he was starting late. He swallowed back the venom and vitriol he felt for this interloper and, hating himself for the debasement, stood, only to bow to her gallantly.

"Enjoy with us the festivities already planned," he said, more instructing than inviting. "We can talk more when I've discharged the business already in front of me."

"Yes, milord," she said, opaque as an iron wall.

Felicia -- delighted to be visited by a princess of her native land -- quickly escorted Azura and Hans, the axe man, to their lodgings, and Yukimura turned to his friends, pale and glowing with displeasure.

"I want to know why Nohr chose now to do this," he said, "but I will settle for what I should do to them in retaliation."

Comments

[courtstrouble]

It's not true.

Azura can't be faulted for not knowing the engagement is a ruse. She doesn't know how overwhelmingly not-ready Lissa is for running a country or how ill-suited Marui is for being a king alongside her. There's no way on the planet Yukimura is entertaining thoughts of just leaving her to it. None.

There's no need to panic.

"Let's save the condolences for when your prediction comes true," he suggests. "In the meanwhile, I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to make that time 'never.' What do you need? Should I tie him to a chair and give you a literal captive audience?"

[ladyofballads]

"I'm willing to, if you are," she said mildly. "Stand next to him with my lance or your dagger, and hope for the best. If I can actually finish the verse, there is a chance."

She drank again, to collect her thoughts.

"I promise nothing. But a chance exists."

[courtstrouble]

"What are the risks? Any side effects? Any worsening of the status quo if it fails?"

[didntaxyou]

Lissa wished she had something to amplify her voice with, but all she had was determination. She clapped her hands together in a vain attempt to get the crowd's attention, and a few curious turns gave her hope.

"Be ORDERLY when you go to the exits!" she tried, loud as she could get without her voice shaking. She didn't think she'd be able to stop them, but: "If anyone's got a healing staff, please make your way to the doors! You can probably spot some people who need your help there!"

[volleygenius]

It's a good effort, but she's just not commanding much of their attention, is she? Well, that's not entirely on her. The crowd was in a panic. A lot was going to get tuned out.

But then, part of effective leadership was finding ways past such hurdles.

"Looks like it's going to take more than being loud, huh..."

[ladyofballads]

Azura shook her head.

"You may want to observe him a while to see if what I've already done has any lingering effects, but I don't think it will. The song, when paired with this pendant, has a purifying effect."

On the target, at least. The effect on herself was... worse, and the hot tea was a great help in masking the fatigue she felt. Looking down at the way the blue gemstone caught the light, however, her belief in the choice to do this did not waver. The cause of peace was rapacious,

"I don't know what kind of entity has him in its grasp. I don't know if it can feel... slighted."

[didntaxyou]

"I can't exactly jump up and down..." she complained.

But she tilted her head at Marui, as if seeing him for the very first time.

"How do you get attention without being loud? I mean, you're not loud the way Akaya-kun is."

[courtstrouble]

Purifying... No wonder Yukimura hated it. Was this what they meant about it being a part of him?

Setting that aside, there's more to her answer than the potential impact to Yukimura, isn't there? Slighted... Hadn't she mentioned a moment ago a bad reaction to her presence? She was already on thin ice, then. And she sounded uncertain whether even physical bindings would fully protect her to allow a completion of the verse.

"Let's keep our options open. I can't agree to any unnecessary risks on your part, however willing you are to take them."

[volleygenius]

Bunta tilts his head back with a frown. How...?

He touches his finger to her throat.

"Yelling comes from here."

He drops it and lightly pokes her upper abdomen, just below the lungs.

"Public speaking comes from there. Also... be the voice they need to hear."

[didntaxyou]

Well, that was clear as mud, she thought, flushing from irritation at just how close his hands were getting, geez.

Okay, deep breath, and she sighed. The voice they needed was Seiichi, and he was... whatever he was.

Wait, maybe he was being figurative? She decided to check.

"...Literal voice? Or like, say the things they need to hear?"

[volleygenius]

An edge of urgency (that might sound more like grouchiness) creeps into his voice.

"Read the room," he clarifies. "It's not just what you're saying. Think about the feeling you want to spread. That's what you have to be yourself."

[ladyofballads]

She inclined her head in acknowledgment. He didn't need to be interrogated on how he defined 'necessary' and 'unnecessary.' She wasn't sure if she could withstand the reciprocal questioning... she had a part to play in the grand finale between Nohr and Hoshido, and Rikkai's dilemma was but an interlude.

Yet she wanted to see its performers triumph.

"What would make you feel safe enough to try?"

[didntaxyou]

Calm, she wanted calm, and ease, and people not tripping and twisting up joints like she did.

She looked at Marui and tried to figure out how to make people calm. She probably had to seem calm, too. Ugh, but that was almost like lying right now. Instinctively, she reached for a staff, and, to her surprise, she had Silque's Physic staff, designed to heal people across wide distances.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lissa could see one of her people running into a doorway, trying to get away from the chaos, and she raised the Physic staff on reflex. She was surprised she was strong enough to activate its magic. The man's bruises quickly faded.

"Everybody, freeze!" she yelled, not really calm, but she followed it up quickly. "Help me find who among you needs healing!"

[courtstrouble]

"Well, there's not really such a thing as feeling safe enough here, is there? It's the risks we can afford to take, and the ones we can't afford not to take."

And the question that needed answering was whether this plan fit into the latter of those categories. It had already failed the first check. They couldn't afford a war with Nohr, and it wasn't worth arming the king with the PR chip of having caused harm on the princess. How lucky that she was already on the side of simply wanting to resolve the problem rather than complicate it.

[volleygenius]

Lissa is acting. Bunta's job from here is to support.

"Okay, everyone," he projects with a couple of slow claps of his hands. "Please direct your attention to Princess Lissa to receive further instruction. Remain calm and direct your attention up here, please..."

Working together, the message begins making its way through the crowd. It's also helped that a good number of the guests have simply continued on out. As the crowd has dwindled, their influence has gained reach. Of course, that doesn't change that the damage of the mob has rippled through. The forms of collapsed bodies begin to gain visibility across the floor.

It's a grim sight. But they're going to help. It's going to be okay.

[breezygoing]

Azura takes a long, pensive look into her drink.

"If you can eliminate witnesses you don't trust," she began, "you have my word I will not bring the might of Nohr down on you. I would prefer not to hurt the king's children, but I have no wish to see Nohr ascendant over Rikkai."

But with Niou having no reason to believe her, she has to say more, doesn't she? It's not in her nature to tell more than necessary, but...

"The war against Hoshido is different. King Garon cannot be stopped except by his children, and they are both loyal to and terrified of him. The only way I can convince them not to support him is by proving to them that he is not the father they believe they know, and the only way to do that is to have him sit on Hoshido's throne, which has the power to bring people back to their true state of being and mind. And, obviously, the only way to do that is by having him conquer the kingdom, and take that glory for himself."