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[fic] [escaflowne] Care and Feeding 2
Aand more Escaflowne fic. Set near the end of the series. Wings and a helping of faux-politics because seriously how DID they get that many countries to agree to that?
Allen Schezar is Sir Not Appearing In This Fic.
Anyway why DOES everyone let Van run around dressed like such a schlub?!
The Ezradian envoy was incredulous. "War? With Zaibach? You must be joking. Ezradia has not the resources or the funds to sanction such a venture, and more to the point why should we? Zaibach has taken no direct action against us. As our neighbor, we take that as a sign of good will. Besides, we have seen no motion of armies in the last five months."
He was very red-faced. It could have been with the passion of his words. In Hitomi's personal opinion it probably had more to do with how tight he'd pinned his collar. "Probably because they were invisible," she muttered. Merle snickered. Van hunched his shoulders restlessly, like a hawk about to take wing.
This visit wasn't official, and only a select few had been allowed to attend. Hitomi wasn't sure this ought to have included her, especially when Allen had been excluded due to 'recent international incidents', but Millerna had insisted.
'I want you to watch him,' she said. 'I want you to tell me about him.'
So Hitomi watched the Ezradian representative. She watched him. She watched him wave a hand at the empty audience chamber. She could see the sweat stand out on his forehead.
"We come to discuss this embargo. An embargo which hurts Ezradia and her interests, for Zaibach controls our trade routes. An embargo that Asturia has enacted and enforced without royal sanction." He pinned an especially resentful eye on Dryden. "These measures invite only our own destruction. To say nothing of the fact I have come to speak with the King and no other. If we are not to speak to him, we should like to be informed. We might bring an end to this farce."
"What cheek!" snarled Merle.
"Is he allowed to talk like that?" asked Hitomi.
"He's a duke," she admitted.
Millerna looked as though she might have liked to have ordered the knights to bid the good duke back to the castle gates, if that was his resolve. Her smile grew especially blithe. Dryden chose that moment to cut in: "Setting aside the insult you've just leveled against His Majesty's daughter," he said smoothly. "What if we were willing to compensate you, should you throw in your lot with us?"
It was a generous offer. The Ezradian duke didn't waver a moment in rejecting it. "You would have to compensate us for angering our neighbors," he replied. "And the needless endangerment of all our people—"
"They're already in danger."
Hitomi noticed only then that Van was no longer next to her.
He stood out on the carpet, positioned behind the duke and his retinue. They'd turned around when he'd spoken. He stood with his head low. His hair fell in his face in that way that made him look like some wild child, though his tone was measured and calm:
"Zaibach doesn't have time for you now. They will later. They'll see you burn," he said this as a stark fact, though his chin lifted slightly, betraying the flash in his eyes, "Like the rest of us."
An uncomfortable hush spread over the hall. Hitomi covered her mouth. The Ezradian duke faltered, and that was when Hitomi knew him: he was an impossibly blunt man who had been raised second to his royal brother. He clung to what pride and status he could grasp, and for it he was allowed to say exactly what was on his mind. It was his right. It was in his blood. If he did not have that privilege, what did he have? He was not used to being handled just as bluntly. He did, Hitomi saw, care very much for his kingdom. No amount of funds offered could persuade him to risk it. In truth it was the threat of its demise, more than Van's informality, which angered him.
So he refused to acknowledge he'd said anything at all. He whirled back to Dryden, standing high on his toes. "We will not fall prey to such stunts," he said. His voice shook only slightly. "We are authorized to treat with kings, not paupers in your pay, and we have made our position clear."
Millerna eyebrow rose. Dryden crossed his arms. "That so? Well, best you repeat it. That pauper's the King of Fanelia."
Negotiations were moved to the private chambers after that. Hitomi and Merle weren't allowed to go. They were taken to one of the card rooms. Normally it would have been bustling with courtiers gambling and gossiping and flirting. With the kingdom in a state of emergency, it was empty. The balcony doors were shut and the curtains drawn.
"Ha! Serves him right," sniffed Merle. She watched the light from Hitomi's watch flash off the ornate wallpaper. "He shouldn't have spoken to Lord Van like that. I hope he chokes on his tongue."
"I think he almost did," agreed Hitomi, tilting her hand. The light traveled along the closed curtains. Merle's ears pricked. "It's good that he didn't. They'll probably need him to declare war."
"Bah." Merle shut her eyes and looked away from the light. "What good is he for declaring anything? He can't tell a king when he sees one. Imagine that."
Hitomi sat straight. "It happens!"
Merle laughed. "But isn't it stupid? Lord Van's nothing to take lightly. He's a fool for not seeing that." She glanced sideways at the curtains. "....will he do it?"
"I think so," said Hitomi, giving up. She turned her watch towards her wrist. Merle grumbled in disappointment. Hitomi dropped her head onto her arms. "He's afraid. After he hears what Folken knows, he'll be even more afraid." And fear brought dragons, and war, and everything else... Hitomi rubbed her eyes. She didn't want to think about it anymore. "And you can't blame him for mistaking Van like that."
Merle's tail rolled straight out. Hitomi cracked a smile. It took her mind off of the rest of what she'd seen that day. "Van doesn't really look the part. Millerna and the others are always so dressed up, and Prince Chid too..."
Thinking of Chid brought too many things back: the most distant of which was Allen, off gathering men at the rendez-vous, the foremost of which was what Van had said just an hour ago: 'You'll burn, like the rest of us'.
Folken had insisted the boy hadn't been harmed. Hitomi brought her hand down on the table. The thud banished the visions swimming in her head. Getting heated about something completely stupid was a strange relief. "Why does he always dress like that? Millerna must have tried to make him change them. She likes doing that."
"Lord Van said no," said Merle, looping her tail around her ankles. "Fanelians aren't pretentious like Asturians."
Hitomi wasn’t a fan of the Asturian frills and flounces, but that seemed a bit much. "I don't think 'pretentious' is the right word for it"
"It is. Preteeeentious. Hoighty toighty. Ff. You all care so much about clothes." She tugged the hem of her own dress in disdain. "They're clothes. And anyway Lord Van hates things that are tight over the back."
It clicked. "Oh! Because of—"
Merle stuffed her knuckles into her mouth. "Shh! Don't tell the whole castle!"
"Mfff there's no one here," grumped Hitomi, around a mouthful of cat paw. She cringed when Merle drew back.
"Besides," Merle carried on as though she hadn't just nearly suffocated her, "Clothes like that are hot and stuffy. Your nose is weak, so you probably don't know, but people stink wearing all that. I don't know how you all stand it. Lord Van would be even worse. He's heats up faster than you mere mortals, you know."
"Really?" But even as she said it, Hitomi knew it was true. She always wondered at how hot his hands could be, when he pulled her up atop Escaflowne. His hands, his face, his back; he always felt feverish. After all this time, she'd gotten used to it, but that didn't make it normal.
Because of his wings, she thought. Because he's a draconian, and not just a human.
"I see," said Hitomi.
"Wouldn't do to have the King of Fanelia sweat like a dog."
"No," admitted Hitomi, laughing in spite of it all, "No, I guess not."
Allen Schezar is Sir Not Appearing In This Fic.
Anyway why DOES everyone let Van run around dressed like such a schlub?!
The Ezradian envoy was incredulous. "War? With Zaibach? You must be joking. Ezradia has not the resources or the funds to sanction such a venture, and more to the point why should we? Zaibach has taken no direct action against us. As our neighbor, we take that as a sign of good will. Besides, we have seen no motion of armies in the last five months."
He was very red-faced. It could have been with the passion of his words. In Hitomi's personal opinion it probably had more to do with how tight he'd pinned his collar. "Probably because they were invisible," she muttered. Merle snickered. Van hunched his shoulders restlessly, like a hawk about to take wing.
This visit wasn't official, and only a select few had been allowed to attend. Hitomi wasn't sure this ought to have included her, especially when Allen had been excluded due to 'recent international incidents', but Millerna had insisted.
'I want you to watch him,' she said. 'I want you to tell me about him.'
So Hitomi watched the Ezradian representative. She watched him. She watched him wave a hand at the empty audience chamber. She could see the sweat stand out on his forehead.
"We come to discuss this embargo. An embargo which hurts Ezradia and her interests, for Zaibach controls our trade routes. An embargo that Asturia has enacted and enforced without royal sanction." He pinned an especially resentful eye on Dryden. "These measures invite only our own destruction. To say nothing of the fact I have come to speak with the King and no other. If we are not to speak to him, we should like to be informed. We might bring an end to this farce."
"What cheek!" snarled Merle.
"Is he allowed to talk like that?" asked Hitomi.
"He's a duke," she admitted.
Millerna looked as though she might have liked to have ordered the knights to bid the good duke back to the castle gates, if that was his resolve. Her smile grew especially blithe. Dryden chose that moment to cut in: "Setting aside the insult you've just leveled against His Majesty's daughter," he said smoothly. "What if we were willing to compensate you, should you throw in your lot with us?"
It was a generous offer. The Ezradian duke didn't waver a moment in rejecting it. "You would have to compensate us for angering our neighbors," he replied. "And the needless endangerment of all our people—"
"They're already in danger."
Hitomi noticed only then that Van was no longer next to her.
He stood out on the carpet, positioned behind the duke and his retinue. They'd turned around when he'd spoken. He stood with his head low. His hair fell in his face in that way that made him look like some wild child, though his tone was measured and calm:
"Zaibach doesn't have time for you now. They will later. They'll see you burn," he said this as a stark fact, though his chin lifted slightly, betraying the flash in his eyes, "Like the rest of us."
An uncomfortable hush spread over the hall. Hitomi covered her mouth. The Ezradian duke faltered, and that was when Hitomi knew him: he was an impossibly blunt man who had been raised second to his royal brother. He clung to what pride and status he could grasp, and for it he was allowed to say exactly what was on his mind. It was his right. It was in his blood. If he did not have that privilege, what did he have? He was not used to being handled just as bluntly. He did, Hitomi saw, care very much for his kingdom. No amount of funds offered could persuade him to risk it. In truth it was the threat of its demise, more than Van's informality, which angered him.
So he refused to acknowledge he'd said anything at all. He whirled back to Dryden, standing high on his toes. "We will not fall prey to such stunts," he said. His voice shook only slightly. "We are authorized to treat with kings, not paupers in your pay, and we have made our position clear."
Millerna eyebrow rose. Dryden crossed his arms. "That so? Well, best you repeat it. That pauper's the King of Fanelia."
Negotiations were moved to the private chambers after that. Hitomi and Merle weren't allowed to go. They were taken to one of the card rooms. Normally it would have been bustling with courtiers gambling and gossiping and flirting. With the kingdom in a state of emergency, it was empty. The balcony doors were shut and the curtains drawn.
"Ha! Serves him right," sniffed Merle. She watched the light from Hitomi's watch flash off the ornate wallpaper. "He shouldn't have spoken to Lord Van like that. I hope he chokes on his tongue."
"I think he almost did," agreed Hitomi, tilting her hand. The light traveled along the closed curtains. Merle's ears pricked. "It's good that he didn't. They'll probably need him to declare war."
"Bah." Merle shut her eyes and looked away from the light. "What good is he for declaring anything? He can't tell a king when he sees one. Imagine that."
Hitomi sat straight. "It happens!"
Merle laughed. "But isn't it stupid? Lord Van's nothing to take lightly. He's a fool for not seeing that." She glanced sideways at the curtains. "....will he do it?"
"I think so," said Hitomi, giving up. She turned her watch towards her wrist. Merle grumbled in disappointment. Hitomi dropped her head onto her arms. "He's afraid. After he hears what Folken knows, he'll be even more afraid." And fear brought dragons, and war, and everything else... Hitomi rubbed her eyes. She didn't want to think about it anymore. "And you can't blame him for mistaking Van like that."
Merle's tail rolled straight out. Hitomi cracked a smile. It took her mind off of the rest of what she'd seen that day. "Van doesn't really look the part. Millerna and the others are always so dressed up, and Prince Chid too..."
Thinking of Chid brought too many things back: the most distant of which was Allen, off gathering men at the rendez-vous, the foremost of which was what Van had said just an hour ago: 'You'll burn, like the rest of us'.
Folken had insisted the boy hadn't been harmed. Hitomi brought her hand down on the table. The thud banished the visions swimming in her head. Getting heated about something completely stupid was a strange relief. "Why does he always dress like that? Millerna must have tried to make him change them. She likes doing that."
"Lord Van said no," said Merle, looping her tail around her ankles. "Fanelians aren't pretentious like Asturians."
Hitomi wasn’t a fan of the Asturian frills and flounces, but that seemed a bit much. "I don't think 'pretentious' is the right word for it"
"It is. Preteeeentious. Hoighty toighty. Ff. You all care so much about clothes." She tugged the hem of her own dress in disdain. "They're clothes. And anyway Lord Van hates things that are tight over the back."
It clicked. "Oh! Because of—"
Merle stuffed her knuckles into her mouth. "Shh! Don't tell the whole castle!"
"Mfff there's no one here," grumped Hitomi, around a mouthful of cat paw. She cringed when Merle drew back.
"Besides," Merle carried on as though she hadn't just nearly suffocated her, "Clothes like that are hot and stuffy. Your nose is weak, so you probably don't know, but people stink wearing all that. I don't know how you all stand it. Lord Van would be even worse. He's heats up faster than you mere mortals, you know."
"Really?" But even as she said it, Hitomi knew it was true. She always wondered at how hot his hands could be, when he pulled her up atop Escaflowne. His hands, his face, his back; he always felt feverish. After all this time, she'd gotten used to it, but that didn't make it normal.
Because of his wings, she thought. Because he's a draconian, and not just a human.
"I see," said Hitomi.
"Wouldn't do to have the King of Fanelia sweat like a dog."
"No," admitted Hitomi, laughing in spite of it all, "No, I guess not."
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BUT IT WAS ALL CUTE. :'D ♥♥
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And as for the rest -- it's xeno and politics and Hitomi and Van, of course I love it. Like so: ♥♥♥
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I lol'd.
The fic was delightful too. :D