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synergetic2023-10-09 02:49 am
senselessness) wrote in synergetic2023-10-09 02:49 am
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Prince of Fire Emblem: Gray Waves
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."
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."
no subject
"That would be even more gutsy. So, what happens after that?" He asks playfully. "King decrees royal wedding! Be there or else?"
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It... wouldn't, though. It still hasn't, since before he got sick.
"Don't know where that'd leave you, though!"
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She was fighting giggles, but... shouldn't she be seen laughing with her so-called husband-to-be?
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"But then you'd miss it from running away. You don't wanna miss your brother's wedding, do you?"
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Impulsively, she turned and waved at Seiichi on the dais. He lifted a hand in return, still smiling indecipherably.
"You were the right choice," she said, sincerely. "Genichiro-kun is a nice boy, but he'd be a servant to me, not a husband. Don't tell him, though, please?"
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"He really would...! Well, understanding their siblings is an older brother's job. You can tell how much he loves you because he pays attention to those things."
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No. He's not going to tell her. She doesn't need that. Frankly, neither does he.
"Yeah. It's been a bit weird. But he's still Yukimura-kun, after all. Try to give him some slack. He's been through a lot."
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She felt a little silly about her next thought.
"If he's using me in a plan, though, maybe it's... because he thinks I can actually help?"
no subject
"Yeah? What do you think your mission is, then?"
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The idea of pranking him was that much more appealing, if taken in that context.
"Judging by what I did in St. Rudolph, he would most likely want me to ruin everything for whoever talks to me disrespectfully."
no subject
"Well, I know what your mission is," he teased, sticking just the tip of his tongue out. "And you'd hate it if you knew!"