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

[volleygenius]

From their place on the dais, they have a clear view of the king. But for once, Bunta's attention is elsewhere, and the first throw of magic takes him completely off-guard. He reflexively tightens his hold around Lissa in alarm as he looks towards Yukimura, trying to make sense of what he just missed. More importantly, whether the situation had turned dangerous for Lissa.

Panic erupts through the crowd, and it's this more than Yukimura's magic that he's concerned about. A mob of terrified people was as powerful as it was unpredictable. The instinct to survive took over, and people lost sight of the damage being caused around them. It would be better to stay where they are, on elevated flooring and away from the exits, unless the situation forces otherwise.

He hurriedly scans over the room to confirm Jackal and his family are okay; he's relieved to see his friend focused on protecting his brothers. Thanks, buddy.

With that knowledge established, Bunta watches Sanada begin to swift Yukimura away and seeks out Lissa's eyes for a read on her.

[didntaxyou]

Lissa's ear was drawn first by the songstress' cry of pain, and she would have run straight in that direction if she didn't spot Yanagi lifting a staff. It wasn't a healing staff, it was one that transported the target to him, but Azura was safe with him, he would heal her next. He would keep her safe from--

Her jaw clenched against frustrated tears. Seiichi was being hurried away and she was torn--

"Wh-what am I supposed to do?" she stammered. Not stand here; she lifted her skirt and raced for the direction of the stairs.

"Someone has to calm everyone down and check on my brother," she babbled, and then gasped as her foot sank through air and slipped off her shoe's heel, all her weight slamming the side of her foot into the edge of the next step down and bending her ankle hard. She stumbled, wincing when she had to shift all her weight to the other foot.

"Help," she managed, unable to prioritize what she needed help with-- her duty or her balance.

[volleygenius]

Well would you look at that. Right on the heels of voicing her loss for how to respond, she's responding, crowd and danger be damned. She's a little too quick for him taking off, and he sees the telltale sign of a turned foot in the jerk of her figure. She doesn't even need to voice the request for help.

"Are you okay?" He asks as he moves to her side and offers his arm for her to grab onto.

[didntaxyou]

"Hate not being able to heal myself," she said, face twisting in irritation and pain both. "I didn't bring anything I could take for it."

But she was craning her neck all the same, looking for faces she recognized amid the chaos.

"I lost track of Seiichi," she said, sounding a little more pitiful than she meant to. "Should we... I mean, we should do what he'd want us to be doing."

[volleygenius]

She's not okay. It's written all over her face, and in case that weren't enough, her words say the rest. Bunta takes a step in on the confirmation so she can support herself against him better and scans the room, looking for her brother.

"...I don't see him. Okay, you want to try to calm the crowd? The others are looking out for your brother for sure."

[didntaxyou]

"I'm not sure how to get their attention... yelling might be rude. And I'm short." She leaned against him with a frustrated sigh. "I mean, I'm short even when I can stand up straight!"

[volleygenius]

"...I have an idea."

Shifting around, he placed a hand at her back and ducked to scoop beneath her knees, alleviating her feet of the need to hold her upright.

"Hold tight and huddle close. We're getting up on that stage."

[didntaxyou]

"Hold what--!" she yelped, and if Bunta's neck was the first thing that presented itself, well, there you go. Lissa had to duck her head close to his, but Bunta did say...

Sanada and Yanagi were both with Seiichi before it happened, and so they were probably with him still or else following some other order of his. She had to think fast.

"Hiroshi-kun can stay calm, right? Maybe he can direct people? Oh, tell me if you see him!"

[volleygenius]

"Roger that."

Knowing Yagyuu, though, he was already doing something to that effect.

The singular advantage to being small in a situation like this was needing less space than everyone else. Cradling her close to him, Bunta takes three seconds to study the traffic patterns and concentration points of the crowd for the best path to the stage. Then he steps down from the dais and weaves around the back. The crowd is thinner through this path on the far side of the exit. And if how tightly he holds her through the relocation is more than a safety measure, he's not aware of it. At least not until they reach the stage, and it's the most reluctant he's ever been to give his muscles a break. He chalks that up to adrenaline.

He sets her on the platform floor, climbs up, and helps hoist her back to a stand.

"Try from here."

[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..."

[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."

[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."

[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!"

[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.