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Veni Vidi Vici	By : Saber007 Category: Final Fantasy Games > Final Fantasy XV Views: 1503 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy XV, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
"I thought Lunafreya was pulling my leg when she clarified I'm alive thanks to you."
Imperatrix looked up from her place on the ledge in front of their motel room.
Nyx was using the oracle as a support system while he shakily stood.
He appeared much healthier. The scarring on his face had closed up, leaving pink marks all over. The hospital garb had been replaced with a short-sleeved shirt and faded jeans.
"Nyx Ulric, it is good to see you awake and on your feet." The princess smiled good-naturedly.
She and Lunafreya waited two weeks for him to rejoin the land of the living.
The oracle had spent most that time by Nyx's bedside, singing and praying for him in lulls between helping Alfred at the clinic when other refugees arrived, and keeping tabs on the princess in case of a fever. Luckily, Imperatrix hadn't developed the illness the glaive had from the odd bullet.
The princess spent the reprieve gathering materials for Alfred's clinic, which led to the local hunters asking for her help with tougher jobs since she managed well enough on her own in the wild. The money she acquired from those hunts allowed her to purchase a simple sword and parts for the airship to get it through a few more days before the core gave out from the damage sustained in the fall.
The shabby weapon was nothing compared to her Aurora Borealis, but it would cut down monsters.
"I'm barely on my feet." Nyx corrected. "How am I even alive? Those old-bags demanded my life."
"I do not know what you mean." Imperatrix flicked her eyes to Lunafreya for clarification.
The oracle was the knowledgable one on the ring.
"We should speak inside." The girl replied with an air of seriousness.
Imperatrix stood, retrieving the keys from her pockets and opening the door for the duo.
"Wow. Being invited into the private room of the princess's, aren't I lucky?" Nyx teased, lazily grinning at the woman stepping back to let him enter.
"Very lucky. How unfortunate your body is too broken to do anything of substance." The princess countered dryly. She helped Lunafreya set the glaive down on one of the beds.
He whistled appreciatively. "You've got a sense of humor."
Lunafreya tilted her head and ran her knuckles over Pryna's head as the dog ran around her. "There is nothing special about our room. You need not feel overly fortunate."
Imperatrix coughed to hide her laugh.
The pure-minded girl wouldn't be catching onto the undertones of Nyx's jokes anytime soon.
So sheltered. It reminded her a little of Euphemia.
The third princess never understood when courtiers were flirting either, it went right over her head.
"I see you girls made this place home." Nyx regarded the piles of clothes and supplies with mirth.
Even outside their royal palaces, the girls still acted like princesses. Everything was so organized and neat, different from his apartment that was littered with tossed-about clothes and takeout.
"Explain what you meant earlier, Sir Ulric." Imperatrix steered the conversation back on track before she could think too hard about how true the glaive's statement was.
A motel room was not meant to be her home.
"I've been bumped up from Glaive to Sir Ulric?" He rubbed at his chin. Stubble had gathered. "Should I return the favor and call you Imperatrix, with no titles?"
"You earned my respect in battle." She would give leave for him to address her informally if he so chose. "Now, please stop getting sidetracked."
"Right, right. When I put the ring on, the Kings of Old required a life for their power. I offered mine." Nyx touched his bandaged arm. He could still feel tingles of pain despite the medication he was on.
For the life of him he would never forget the feeling of burning blue flames.
"I should've died at dawn."
Lunafreya touched Nyx's uninjured shoulder, smiling kindly in the face of his melancholy.
Imperatrix knew the cost of such extraordinary feats of magic were high. She still had trouble believing the giant statues that had defended Insomnia were real.
The Kings and Queens of Lucis had demolished Besithia's prized Diamond Weapon and multitudes of demons. The titanic battle seemed more a figment of the princess's imagination, but Lunafreya's multiple recounts of the night assured Imperatrix that the events were real and no dream.
"Perhaps destiny has alternative use for you, Nyx Ulric." The oracle surmised, gazing at something the others couldn't see.
Lunafreya had no answer for the glaive's miraculous survival. Would the answers come to her in a dream?
"Not sure if I like the sound of that." He'd had enough of higher powers deciding his fate.
Nyx would carve his own path now.
"Or you misunderstood their stipulation." Imperatrix crossed her arms and sat on the other bed.
Her mind whirled.
It would be a waste if Nyx erratically died because they didn't get to the bottom of the deal struck between him and the kings.
"How could I have misunderstood?" He glowered at her.
"Suppose they meant life in a metaphorical sense." She patiently met his gaze. "Can you still use magic?"
Nyx's was about to retort, but stopped to consider what the princess asked. Could he still access the king's magic?
He closed his eyes, reaching for the thrum associated with his magic. Sometimes it felt like tingles, that was the lightning. Fire felt like burning. Ice felt like trembling. He could feel none of those things.
The glaive deeply inhaled and exhaled, trying harder to reach within.
"I can't…" Nyx gave up after registering the emptiness festering inside him.
He felt so empty, like a part of him had been ripped away. This was a million times worse than the emptiness he experienced the first time he lost his magic.
"It's gone…like it was never there."
Imperatrix nodded sadly at the man scratching at his chest, searching for something that wasn't there. The conclusion she'd come to might be the answer. "I have read many stories featuring gods and mythical figures. Their words often symbolize something."
Lunafreya picked up on her line of thinking. "You believe the Lucii meant his life as Kingsglaive was forfeit?"
"Yes, if you think about it, they took something more precious than Ulric's life-force."
"What could be more precious than life itself? Our lives are so fleeting, every moment should be cherished."
Interesting that the oracle sounded appalled when she'd been so careless with her own life in Insomnia.
"For someone like Nyx Ulric, his ability to protect those in need is more dear. A soldier's career is measured in lives saved." Imperatrix could empathize with the glaive. Being rendered permanently helpless was a hard blow for an exalted fighter. "Magic comprised the Kingsglaive and as we saw, without it the members are lost. Add on to that, Nyx is all but crippled from injuries. His days as The Hero are over."
The glaive lowered his head, sagging in defeat. The princess was right. His arm and leg would never function the same.
From the right side he would eternally be disfigured and for a fighter that could be the tipping point in a battle. Nyx Ulric, The Hero of Kingsglaive was dead.
What else was left if that identity was gone?
"I don't believe that. Magic does not define him!" Lunafreya argued, standing in front of Nyx until he looked up. "Not all miracles are made by magic. You and Imperatrix kept me safe without it."
The glaive snorted, unmoved.
"Do not be too pessimistic. The rest of the world has survived without the crystal's power." The princess chastised the older man sulking like a child. "You strike me capable enough to adapt."
"Gee, thanks for the compliment." Nyx wanted to move on from his predicament. "What're your plans, Imperatrix?"
He hadn't forgotten how devastated she looked after hearing her own death warrant.
Desperate people could end up doing crazy things. The glaive was immensely grateful for the help, but he wouldn't overlook the fact Imperatrix was an imperial.
The princess twirled her foot in a continuous circle, stalling for time. Lunafreya had asked the same and been told to wait until Nyx's condition stabilized for them to have a discussion.
Imperatrix could no longer avoid the topic.
"I…do not know. Seeing you two to safety was the end of my plans…" The princess wavered, her forced air of calm collapsed.
Her father wanted her dead...
She couldn't return home.
Fleeing to her uncle or Furia was another course of action, but she didn't wish to risk their safety by harboring her. The next course of action was to go into hiding, but her face was too well known. There weren't many places she could disappear.
Truly, Imperatrix didn't know how to proceed and with her phone out of commission, contacting Nebula or Tempesta was difficult.
"That threw me off…I thought you would announce we were off to a Niff camp for prisoners." Nyx laid back on the bed, fatigued from walking and keeping himself upright.
The road to recovery was going to be long.
"I am not a cruel person and I would appreciate it if the assumptions of so, would stop." She glared at him.
What more would it take for a little bit more trust?
"I could have turned both of you over, but I chose not to."
"Sorry, sorry. Force of habit." The glaive waved apologetically. "I shouldn't antagonize the woman responsible for saving my ass."
So he didn't have to worry about underhanded tactics with her. Silly princess was too honorable it seemed.
What a relief.
"Not unless you wish for her to put you back in the grave."
"You're very feisty for a Niff-" He corrected himself after being given another displeased scowl. "Nephilim. Most I've encountered have been cold as ice or full of it."
"That is the majority, but the rest of us can be pleasant on occasion."
Nyx laughed and then winced from the pain caused from the motion. The laughter turned into wheezing.
He never wanted to get shot again, especially not by some exploding bullet like Luche used. Freaking bastard!
Lunafreya took a seat next to the princess and solemnly folded her hands. "I have an offer to make, Imperatrix."
"I am listeningt." She humored the oracle.
"Come with me to Altissa."
The room went silent.
Nyx's jaw dropped and Imperatrix eyed the oracle critically, determining the level of truthfulness of the request.
"What are you saying? You and I were only allies of circumstance." The princess broke her scrutiny. Those harmless orbs held no lie. "I will not help you bring down the empire."
Imperatrix knew that was the oracle's darkest desire and one shared by many.
No matter how far she'd fallen or would fall, the princess would never, ever, turn on her country or her monarch.
"Can you not see how corrupt Emperor Iedolas has become? He cares more about power than you." Lunafreya pushed for the princess to see reason.
Imperatrix hunched forward, covering her face with her hands. "Stop."
She would not be disloyal, that was not how she'd been raised.
"He destroyed a city and hundreds of lives for a crystal he cannot reap the benefits from. He has plundered and ravaged lands to expand his reach."
"Stop it…"
"You do not matter to Emperor Iedolas, only power and prestige do." The oracle pressed on in spite of Imperatrix's protests and trembling. "Hail to his glory, for he shall be our ruin!"
"What would you have me do then, Great Oracle?!" The princess leapt off the bed, barely holding back her wails of distress.
All her doubts and fears were being ruthlessly thrown in her face. How did Ravus put up with these unwarranted attacks?
"Commit patricide and slay an anointed emperor? Will that fix all the problems in Eos?!" Imperatrix didn't need a stranger to tell her how the emperor had changed over the years.
She'd seen it first hand how her father's kindness had blackened.
When once he'd been content with the land already populating the empire, he grew paranoid about the Lucians regaining their strength and turning their magic on Niflheim, seeking methods to even the scales.
Since their soldiers were easily disposed, Iedolas replaced them with magitek fighters to conserve the blood being spilt, but that avenue grew out of hand...
Surrounding himself with machines caused her father to develop a new level of disregard for human life and he was crossing lines he shouldn't.
The princess had seen the changes…
Imperatrix hated herself for not doing more to prevent them, but she was an obedient daughter first and foremost. There were only so many objections she could make without drawing her father's ire.
"That is not what I'm asking." Lunafreya tenderly removed Imperatrix's hands from her face and held onto them so the woman could not bury her face in them.
"Then...what?"
"Do as King Regis bade, work towards peace. Help me fulfill that wish. There are far more important things at play."
The king had seen something that Lunafreya hadn't. Who was she to deny his wisdom?
"Peace? Patricide would be simpler." The princess shrugged helplessly. "Prince Noctis will rightfully hate Niflheim for the travesty of Insomnia."
"It will not be easy. No worthy deed ever is." The oracle squeezed the woman's hands. They were rough compared to Lunafreya's dainty ones. "Start rectifying your country's mistakes. Help Noctis take his place as the Chosen King."
"I feel as though you speak of something else, but that can wait…" She sighed. "You have given me much to consider."
"You are not the only one who must decide." Lunafreya smiled at Nyx.
"Even in death King Regis is still giving me orders." It was his turn to sigh. "I'm not much use to you like this, Lunafreya."
"Destiny had no plans for either of you, but our fates have become entwined. I have faith that you will both stay the course." Nyx and Imperatrix were struck by Lunafreya's otherworldly oration.
This was the power of the oracle, inspiring hope and redemption in those that were lost.
The roar of the glaive's stomach shattered the magical moment. He scratched his chin unapologetically at the girl's bewildered looks.
"Don't look at me all shocked. I literally haven't eaten in days."
"You were hooked up to IVs that fed you." Imperatrix jested. "Alfred bathed and clothed you as well."
Nyx shivered. He knew it was the doctor's job, but it still made him uncomfortable to be touched while he was unconscious. "Don't remind me."
Alfred had tried to help him bathe before he left the clinic, but Nyx wouldn't let the guy near him, protesting that he could do all that now that he was awake. It took Lunafreya distracting the old man with an inane question to let the matter go.
"I will get us something from the diner since Nyx looks so comfortable." Lunafreya offered, already at the door with Pryna at her heel. "Is fish agreeable?"
"I've got no complaints." The glaive relaxed further on the bed, relishing the shift in roles.
He was being waited on for a change.
The oracle checked with Imperatrix.
"The usual is fine."
Lunafreya pursed her lips, but didn't bring up her concerns, it was Imperatrix's choice. She slipped out with Pryna.
"What do you order that disgusts her?" Nyx resisted picking at the gauze on his arm.
The dry skin was beginning to bug him. Or was it the princess lounging casually on the opposite bed that bugged him?
This was the first time he'd been alone with Imperatrix and he was hyper aware of her every movement.
"It is not the food that worries her, it is the fact that I am a vegetarian that does."
"What?! How can you not like meat?" He flinched from sitting up to fast.
Deep breaths.
If Libertus were present he'd drag the princess to the nearest barbecue and make her eat every meat dish until she came to love them.
Vegetarian diets were almost unheard of in their day and age, especially for a soldier.
Imperatrix appeared slim and lithe in that party dress and he assumed that came from her being a light eater, not from a special diet. How was she in fighting shape with such a limited palate?
"I had an agonizing experience when I was thirteen." Imperatrix grimaced. She hadn't wanted to scare Lunafreya by sharing this story, but the glaive wouldn't be as squeamish. "A fillet I was eating was poisoned and left me bedridden for five days with a terrible fever and weak limbs. I swore off all variations of meat afterwords."
"Damn, that's screwed up on so many levels." Nyx felt bad for belittling her choice now. "I got food poisoning once from some undercooked kabab, but that wasn't intentional."
Imperatrix quirked her lips in appreciation.
An edgy silence descended.
The princess retreated into her own world and payed little attention to Nyx observing her.
According to Lunafreya, the slip of a woman had dragged him to Longwythe while fighting off exhaustion and a slight fever. Then handed away an expensive piece of jewelry to pay for everything.
Alfred let the glaive see the headpiece and Nyx could tell it was meant for royalty. Imperatrix did all that for him and Lunafreya, total strangers and previously her enemies.
He had even threatened the woman multiple times and took her hostage.
Imperatrix was a very different kind of princess...
"What happened to my uniform?"
The princess looked up from her phone. "I gave it to Victoria to fix, not that there was much to salvage. You are better off getting a brand new coat."
"Fat chance of getting a replacement now. Where'd my stuff disappear to?"
Imperatrix picked up a backpack and gave it to Nyx. His kukri, wallet, phone, and other supplies were inside. He removed a picture of his family from the wallet and sighed in relief.
All five members were accounted for, his parents, sister, and grandfather. Most importantly, it was undamaged.
"You spoke of your sister before. If I may, what was her name?" The princess had seen the photo when Victoria handed over Nyx's effects.
Prying hadn't been her intention at time, she was checking if the glaive possessed any gil, when she happened upon the photo.
"Selena." He softened, tracing his sister's face.
That girl had been his biggest fan and he let her down.
"The passing of a sibling is a monumental blow. My heart goes out to you."
"Careful, don't show your soft side too often or I won't be afraid of you, Princess." Nyx deflected, switching the photo for his phone.
He needed to call his mother.
"It is broken, the battery is fried."
"How do you know?"
"Forgive me, but I tried using it myself." Imperatrix elaborated before Nyx could cast suspicions. "I wanted to call my sisters."
"It slipped my mind that you've got siblings." He tossed the phone back into the bag.
It made sense now why she'd tried to console him.
His mother would have to wait until he could drop in on her. Seeing Libertus should at least alleviate some of her worry, or maybe push her to more grief.
He'd been very vague when saying goodbye to his friend. For all Nyx knew, the ex-glaive could think him dead.
Imperatrix removed her jacket and shoes, sitting cross-legged on the bed. She would meditate until Lunafreya returned.
A calm and clear head was what she needed now.
The offer given to her was one the princess had to consider. It not only affected her, but her whole country.
Peace in Eos wasn't something to turn down without good reason. The two nations had been fighting for too many years.
"You've got a bunch of half-siblings and stepmoms, right? What's that like?"
Imperatrix opened one eye in response to Nyx's question. "Like a typical family."
"Come on, indulge me. There's nothing else to do." The glaive complained, gesturing to the basic room he was now confined to. "There's not even a tv in here."
She rested her cheek on her knuckles, indifferent to Nyx's plight.
A soldier on bedrest could truly be a nuisance.
The weight of his stare made her open both eyes. Seconds ticked by with two different shades of blue locking gazes.
"How am I supposed to get comfortable around you if you won't talk, Imperatrix? Sharing would get rid of all this tension."
The princess rolled her eyes. If anything, Nyx was making things uncomfortable with his blatant staring. "Very well, Ulric. I will share the inner workings of the imperial family with you. No sharing with any tabloids."
"Lay it on me."
Whatever needed to be done to make his gawking stop.
Imperatrix wasn't going to attack him if he looked away.
XV
"By the Six, I'm going to be sick!" Nyx wailed, leaning his head against the dashboard and holding his quivering stomach. "I thought you said they teach flying at the academy?!"
"Obviously, the oracle did not attend." Imperatrix fought a smirk, secretly relishing in his motion-sickness. This could be considered payback for the stomach problems he'd caused her with all the warping. "Keep her steady, Lunafreya."
The airship wobbled to and fro from the girl's unsure piloting.
The princess nearly fell from a sudden shift in trajectory. Pryna whimpered pathetically and dug her paws into the floor to stop herself from sliding about the cockpit.
"Driving a car is much simpler than this." Lunafreya muttered, frustrated with her fumbling when it came to moving the steering wheel.
The oracle had accepted Imperatrix's offer of flying lessons, thinking she could pick up on it quickly like with the car and prove to the princess that given time, Lunafreya could have flown them to Insomnia. Currently, she was proving the woman's point and it was stroking her temper.
She could privately concede that believing she could miraculously fly an imperial airship in the spur of the moment was impudent...
"I'm really going to puke if this ride doesn't smooth out." Nyx fought bitterly against his stomach. A few more jerks and he wouldn't hold out much longer.
Sheer determination not to humiliate himself in front of two girls was all that held the bile back.
"Like this, Lunafreya." Imperatrix adjusted the girl's grip and kept her hands over the oracle's shaky ones. "You have to keep a firm grip, if you ease up the wheel will move on its own."
"A-Ah, I understand."
The princess relinquished control to the oracle and immediately regretted it as the ship veered upward. Imperatrix hit the ramp before falling backwards with Pryna to the hangar.
"Screw this!" Nyx reached over and took control from Lunafreya, leveling the ship out and putting on the autopilot. He bore holes into the oracle's skull.
"I profusely apologize." She lowered her head, very much emulating a kicked puppy.
The glaive tsked, feeling only a little bad for his lash in temper. "I think you might've killed the imperial princess."
"How?" Lunafreya glanced back, not spotting Imperatrix or Pryna. "Where did they go?"
"Uh, flying backwards. Didn't you hear her shriek?"
"No…" The oracle unfastened her seatbelt and Nyx leaned back to let her race down to the hangar.
"What have I gotten myself into?" He sighed.
Imperatrix and him agreed to accompany Lunafreya for the time being until they came to a final decision.
The glaive had more or less decided to be the oracle's protector for the journey to Altissa. He felt obligated to see the job done to the end in respect for King Regis.
That man had given his life for the three of them, and for better or worse, it seemed like they were stuck together.
"You alright there, Imperatrix?" Nyx chuckled at the princess rubbing her skull and waving off Lunafreya's apologies with patience acquired from someone used to shenanigans.
"I am fine." She situated herself in the pilot's seat, opting to turn a blind eye to the glaive's snickering.
"Sure you're up to that? You might have a concussion. I heard that crash from all the way up here."
"I do not need a concussion to see you fly."
"Woah, was that a threat?"
"Possibly."
"I'm injured, you can't be too rough with me." Nyx side-eyed Imperatrix. "Maybe next time though."
The princess snorted.
Lunafreya sat on the steps, beckoning Pryna closer. "I did not mean to hurt you, girl."
The dog whined, circling around in an agitated fashion.
Pryna could be far more temperamental than Umbra. She eventually accepted the caresses of her master after enough begging.
"Fret not, Lunafreya. I have seen worse steering. We will practice some other time." Imperatrix attempted to alleviate the girl's depressed air.
"How bout when I'm not onboard?" Nyx chimed in cheekily.
The princess squinted her eyes at him. Her hand slipped on the wheel and the ship rocked.
Lunafreya caught her dog and held onto the steps. Nyx jolted in his seat.
"What the hell?! Don't do that!" He demanded, fastening his seatbelt.
Imperatrix played innocent. "I do not know what you mean."
"Don't get cute with me."
"I leave cute to my sisters, the word does not suit me." She rocked the ship once more.
"Goddam it! I'm gonna walk to Galahd at this rate."
"Not feasible in your condition."
"Imperatrix, I do not think Pryna likes this either." Lunafreya struggled to hold her dog when Pryna kept frantically whipping around.
The princess stopped her antics and focused on getting the group to Galahd.
After much arguing they had settled on stopping at Nyx's homeland for the man to meet with his mother and friend. Imperatrix wanted their next destination to be a major city like Lestallum to get skin grafts for the glaive, but he was alarmingly blasé about the possibility of more scarring.
The crazy man wanted the evidence to stay as a reminder of the battle he'd fought and the life he'd given up.
The princess found his reasoning to be noble, but ultimately stupid. She would keep an eye on his arm for further infection.
"What is Galahd like?" Lunafreya asked.
"A real beauty. It's a series of islands with a river connecting them all." Nyx reclined in his seat, nostalgia overtaking him. "Libertus and I played in the river almost everyday…Selena too. I taught her how to swim after she almost drowned."
"Sounds lovely. Are there fish in the river?" Lunafreya wanted to glimpse the aquatic creatures hidden in the sea.
Noctis wrote so much about how fun and relaxing it was to watch them swim around or fish them out with a rod.
"Yeah, loads of colorful ones. Sometimes their scales wash ashore and the people make jewelry out of them." He smiled playfully at the princess. "I'm sure I could make a crown out of them to replace yours."
"The most exotic crown I have received was made out flowers, a scaled one would certainly be more interesting." She returned the smile with a small one of her own. "Do not feel obligated to repay me. It was not just your life I saved by giving away the diadem..."
A tender part of Imperatrix felt that token of generosity wouldn't amount to much in the eyes of the thousands left homeless and destitute by the fall.
A large portion of refugees had already turned up in Longwythe by the time they departed, each one looking more devastated than the last. So many had their lives torn asunder by two rulers.
Veni, vidi, vici. The words of her father and the emblazoned motto on the Aldercapt's coat of arms.
Moments like these, the princess didn't take pride in her family name.
"I'm still gonna make you a crown of scales and you're gonna love it. So much, you'll want one for each of your sisters." Nyx boasted in light of the quiet suspense.
The loud, aggressive arguing in the Kingsglaive was what he was used to, not the gloomy and glazed vision of two princesses.
"This is the second time you have propositioned me. Are you that eager to be employed by me, Nyx Ulric?" Imperatrix raised her eyebrow challengingly.
"You caught me. I gotta keep myself busy, no one likes a slouch."
"You do not need me to keep busy, I am sure you do well enough on your own."
The princess said that with such a straight-face that Nyx really had to question if her words were suggestive or if he imagined that.
He was fairly sure he knew which way she was leaning, but he had to be sure. "Did you just attack my character?"
She hummed nonchalantly.
"You did." He blinked.
"We have arrived at Galahd." Imperatrix cut him off.
Lunafreya stepped up to the console. "It is lush with nature, like Tenebrae."
From their veiwpoint the main island was covered in deep green forestry and surrounded by water. A light fog surrounded the area, giving the place an air of mystery.
She was sure the place was even more beautiful up close.
"We don't have floating castles though. Or fields of sylleblossoms." Nyx took pride in the girl's wonder.
His home had been wrecked by the Niff's attack, but the king's magic allowed the Kingsglaive to take back the region, allowing the inhabitants to rebuild.
"Our castles do not float, they sit on the mountains." The oracle scrunched up her brows reflectively. "I suppose they might appear that way from a distance."
"I was joking, Lunafreya." The glaive snickered. "Don't take things so seriously."
"I see. I will keep that in mind."
"And lighten up would you…" He muttered lowly as to not hurt her feelings.
Imperatrix docked the airship a distance from the rest area where the locals parked vehicles for travel and trade.
They would need to take a boat to reach the glaive's home and he warned the girls that coeurls were native. The princess would have to play bodyguard on route to the shore.
"Ulric, I have a question for you." Imperatrix shut the lift with the press of the keypad.
"Ask away, Princess." The glaive pushed off the airship.
He appeared to be in good spirits from returning home. She almost didn't want to spoil his mood with her concerns.
"Do you think it wise for me to accompany you to the village?"
"What're you talking about? You don't want to go?" Nyx inquired with a tinge of umbrage.
Was this a moment of snobbiness? Did she not want to venture into some backwater country?
"That is not it..." The princess shook her head and tugged at her blouse.
The climate in Lucis was too hot and this region was very humid.
"I am a Nephilim and the crown princess at that. Will your people not be angry at my presence?"
A look of grim understanding crossed Nyx's face and he swore for thinking the worst of the princess. He had to stop that. "Can't believe I didn't think of that…I'm really off."
He'd been more preoccupied with seeing his mom and friend to consider the delicate position he'd put Imperatrix in.
Lunafreya's presence would be a shock, but a pleasant one for the villagers. Him walking in all chummy with the daughter of the man that ordered an attack on their home was not likely to fly. She may not have directly attacked them, but the people wouldn't care.
The princess would be a scapegoat for their frustrations.
How could he be so careless?
"Not an issue. I will escort you and Lunafreya to the shore and wait here." Imperatrix decided for him.
Nyx recoiled in disbelief at her impassivity. She had to be bothered by the situation, he would be if in her position.
When the princess stepped away, he grabbed her arm. Imperatrix tensed at the contact and he faintly tugged on the limb, recognizing that he hadn't been gentle in his previous attempts of contact and she'd be wary of him.
He'd caught brief sightings of the bruises he left on her wrist and arms from Insomnia and felt remorseful for them.
"Yes?" She faced Nyx and didn't shrug off the hand that slid down to hold hers.
The glaive was being fairly bold, but she was learning that was just his way.
He studied her wrist, assuaged that the skin peeking out between her sleeve and glove had returned to its bronze tone.
"Come with us."
"I stated how unwise that is. I am not welcome in Lucis territory."
"You're not my enemy and you're not one to anybody there." Nyx asserted with determination.
This woman that he despised on sight had ended up being someone he could trust with his life, literally.
She'd gone above and beyond to help him and that meant she was welcome in his home. If anybody had a problem with her presence they could take it up with him.
He wasn't so banged-up that he couldn't knock a few heads around if needed. The release would be welcome at this point, restlessness was eating at him from being out of combat for so long.
"Is something the matter?" Lunafreya questioned.
She found herself focusing on the point of contact between Nyx and Imperatrix. They were holding hands, or the glaive was holding the princess's hand and she was allowing it.
They couldn't be arguing.
"I cannot enter the village with you two." Imperatrix answered.
"Yes, you can." Nyx refuted.
The oracle immediately picked up on the predicament and sadly sighed.
Her feelings on other's hostility towards Imperatrix had fluctuated in their time together and it left Lunafreya feeling whiplash.
Sometimes she was impartial to the suspicious glares and harsh whispers, sharing in their discontent from the empire's destructive actions. Other times she was defensive to it after remembering how the princess fought for her and Nyx and how she gave help to those who needed without question.
The indecision had to stop...
Lunafreya requested the princess to join in her quest. If they didn't move past their issues then the prospect of peace was an impossibility.
"You must come with us. It is far too dangerous to stay out here by yourself." The oracle added her opinion to the matter. "I will speak on your behalf if any decry you."
As the oracle, the people of Galahd could trust her not to bring chaos and pain to their doorstep. Her arrival preluded only peace.
"I will too. I'll even add some muscle if things get out of hand." Nyx squeezed Imperatrix's hand at the sign of her misty eyes. "So stop being a scaredy-cat. The Hero will protect you."
The princess pulled her hand out of his grasp, reigning in her teary gratitude. These two were repeatedly bringing her to the verge of tears, it was disconcerting.
"I was not afraid for myself, but fearful of the reception you two would receive with me along."
He gave her a lopsided smile. "You worry too much. Now are you coming or not?"
Imperatrix gazed at her temporary companions.
They weren't Tempesta and Nebula, who she didn't mind appearing vulnerable to.
Nebula would comfort her with one of his side-hugs and reminisce over past endeavors, finding a particular one to renew her purpose. He was only four years older than her, but he exuded the sophisticated air of an old man, very like her uncle.
Cheering her up was his job.
Tempesta would stimulate her resolve with punches that hurt and heated yells that picked at a person's insecurities. She wouldn't stop until Imperatrix was back on her feet and tackling her problems with the girl as back-up in all her vulgar and explosive glory.
Forcing the princess into action was her job.
Without them, Imperatrix had to grit her teeth and face her fears as best she could.
She couldn't falter.
This wouldn't be the first time she faced a collective group of people casting stones at her. The princess could and would face them.
"I will join you." Imperatrix settled on bravely walking alongside Nyx and Lunafreya than hiding alone in the airship. She grabbed her bag and adjusted the holster for her sword.
"Hear, hear!" Nyx jovially swung his gear over his shoulder and walked forward.
"Lunafreya, remember what I said about pacing yourself. Do not force yourself to keep up with us, speak if you are tired." The princess ordered firmly. "Pryna cannot always be your voice of reason."
The dog barked in agreement.
"I simply do not wish to be burden..." The oracle stepped in tune with the princess, praying that the few times she assisted Imperatrix in gathering materials for Alfred would have improved her stamina.
The girl didn't want a repeat of Insomnia or Longwythe, where she pushed herself well past her limits to meet the goal.
Her body could only take so much…
"You are not a burden by resting, but by collapsing from strained muscles, and possibly damaging them permanently."
Lunafreya nodded solemnly.
"Exercising regularly would fix that issue."
"You mean running?"
"Indeed. Other strengthening methods would be beneficial for you as well." The princess considered pensively.
Lunafreya was the essence of delicate. It was no wonder the girl got fatigued from minor amounts of work.
Ravus had truly cultivated a little flower in his sister. With his standing in the empire and his own prowess, Imperatrix could understand how he saw no need for his sister to know hardship, but he could have at least given the girl a basic level of survival training. Anything could happen.
The oracle wouldn't stay locked in the manor for the rest of her life.
"I have seen how much my brother works out and even Furia…it was daunting to witness." Lunafreya admitted.
"Do not be intimidated. Regiments are created in acknowledgement of the trainee. Those two, Ravus especially, are used to grueling conditioning. You must start much smaller."
"Would you…" The oracle halted.
Pryna tilted her head curiously at her.
"Need to rest?" Imperatrix assumed and prepared to call for Nyx to stop.
"No." She imagined Umbra then, how he roamed across Eos for her to carry messages between the two lovers.
It hit Lunafreya that her dog did more in a day than she did and it upset her greatly.
"Would you be willing to train me?"
"Me?" The princess repeated, astonished by the request.
"Yes. I recall Ravus speaking of the old military units you trained personally. I believe you wouldd be an adept teacher."
"He spoke of the Valeria Victrix? How touching." Imperatrix smiled.
The first legion she'd been placed in charge of and named in honor of her mother. It was the envy of many commanders.
"I will not coddle you if this is what you want."
"It is."
"Then you've a teacher."
Lunafreya beamed.
"What's the holdup? It can't be break time already? I haven't even broken a sweat." Nyx noticed they weren't following him and stopped.
"My apologies, I got distracted." The oracle hastened to his side with her dog taking point.
Imperatrix was slow to trail along, pondering on the new agreement.
Talking diminished and the group concentrated on making it to the village before nightfall.
Daemons would take the group out with ease when its two fighters weren't at their best. Nyx was impaired on the right side and Imperatrix lacked proper equipment.
Worst case scenario, Lunafreya's natural affinity for light would drive away the weaker daemons. If a powerful one like a Giant emerged, then Imperatrix would provide a distraction while the others escaped.
A desperate plan that no one was keen on using.
Mercifully, they were only impeded by a few toads that were dispatched by Imperatrix and by late evening the group made it to the shore of their destination.
The boat they used bobbed languidly on the river and the sun cast an orange glow on the water.
"Dusk is so beautiful to watch. It is regrettable that it heralds such nightly terrors. Night would be magically if not for the daemons." Lunafreya was absorbed with the bountiful of colors before her eyes.
Like her name, the oracle found herself more in tune with the later portion of the day and often spent nights gazing at the moon, the last visage of light at the darkest time.
"It is hard to imagine life without them. Half our day is spent worrying about daemon attacks." Imperatrix stared at the horizon.
There were thousands of displaced people worrying about shelter and being attacked in the night.
"Time to hop out, ladies." Nyx stated, carefully getting out the boat.
He grunted from how inflamed his leg had become from all the activity. Sitting down hadn't helped much.
"This river must be like starlight at night with the moon reflecting off it." Lunafreya was still entranced.
"The lights should make this area safe at night, but do not come here alone." Imperatrix knew where the oracle's mind was heading and didn't want the girl endangering herself for moon gazing.
The barking of Pryna snapped the girls out their conversation and they joined Nyx.
Lunafreya tried to shush the dog as some of the villagers gathered at the docks. Imperatrix silently transferred her sword to the glaive. Appearing armed before the people wouldn't set them at ease.
"Want me to hold your hand too? I don't mind, Imperatrix." Nyx teased.
"Only if you require my arm for assistance in walking since your leg is obviously hurting." She threw back to his amusement.
"There is no need to be afraid. Violence is not the way of everyone." Lunafreya had meant that as soothing, but it could be interpreted as insulting to the princess's countrymen.
Cries of "Nyx" ended the standstill and people rushed to the glaive, embracing him and exclaiming their relief for his survival in the wake of Insomnia's tragedy. He took all the excitement in stride, answering as many questions as he could.
Libertus had filled many of them in on the events so he wasn't in the uncomfortable position of explaining the Kingsglaive's downfall.
It still hurt to look some of them in the eye and confirm whether or not certain members really did cut a deal with the Niffs, moreso, when he had to acknowledge that they were dead...
The mention of Niflheim brought attention to the girls.
The thick silence from the villagers realizing the imperial princess was on their doorstep made Nyx swallow. Too many of them were eyeing Imperatrix with hate.
He might get into an altercation after all. No one was going to harm her.
"Nyx Ulric is that you?!"
The yell of his mother was a godsend. "Mom!"
Thea barreled into her son and nearly knocked him over.
She'd already lost her daughter and husband, losing her son too would have been the end of her. "Thank the Six you're alive."
"Hey show's over, back to your lives!" Libertus boomed as he descended the stairs and warded off the other villagers.
Imperatrix released the breath she didn't realize she was holding and Lunafreya's hand let go of her sleeve.
That could've escalated very fast.
"Mom, you've got no idea how good it is to see you." The glaive hugged his mother tight.
She wrestled out of his hold and slapped his arm. "Don't you ever scare me like that again, you hear?!"
The glaive groaned, biting back the curse that wanted to escape. She'd hit him right on his bad arm.
"No mercy whatsoever…"
"What was that?"
"Nothing!" Nyx patted a dazed Libertus to stave off another painful reprimand. "Good to see you too, big guy."
"You made it back…I can't believe it." He teared up. "You bastard! Making me worry with that crappy goodbye."
This time a punch was delivered to Nyx's bad arm.
"Ah, c'mon?! That shit hurts, believe it or not!"
"Shut up and take it like a man!" Libertus geared up for another swift hit.
"I'll remember this next time you need saving!" Nyx maneuvered his arm away from the oaf.
"Enough, boys!" Thea slapped both their heads and her son swore again.
"She is a very…hands-on mother." Lunafreya murmured to Imperatrix.
"Better not cross her." She replied.
"Welcome to Galahd, princesses. I didn't think you'd be visiting so soon." Libertus addressed the girls like he hadn't just been chewed out by a woman smaller and older than him.
"We didn't either." Lunafreya smiled, not confronting the brutality she just witnessed. It must've been how Galahdians showed affection.
Ravus and Furia behaved similarly with their weapons. A sword and whip often clashed in their home.
When Libertus told them they were welcome in Galahd, he'd mostly meant it to Lunafreya and Noctis, but he wouldn't be unwelcoming to Imperatrix when she saved him from falling out the car.
"So it's true. The imperial princess is here." Thea spat, wondering if her son had lost his mind. "Why is she with you Nyx? Every news station is saying she's dead and the reason why Insomnia was destroyed."
"That's a long story, but the short version is, I saved her life and she saved mine." Nyx had to cull the mistrust right off the bat. He didn't want to get into it with his mother, but he would. "Imperatrix and Lunafreya are my guests. Neither of them are threats."
"The oracle, too? When did you get so popular?" She was getting surprise after surprise.
"These girls aren't bad, they're pretty crafty in a fight." Libertus added, recalling the life-threatening car ride out of Insomnia.
If he hadn't seen Imperatrix stick her neck out for Lunafreya and him, he'd have a hard time believing Nyx, too.
Thea sighed. "Then let's all go home and we can discuss everything. It's getting dark."
She would give the imperial princess a chance out of respect for her son and Libertus.
"Thank you, Madam." Imperatrix bowed her head gratefully for the olive branch.
"Thea is fine. You'll find no royalty here so no need for all that formality." The matriarch briskly led the way.
A cozy cottage away from the main square was the Ulric household. The inside was filled with pelts, tribal items, and pictures.
Nyx and Libertus deeply inhaled the smell of a spicy Galahdian dish currently coming from the kitchen and their stomachs roared.
"For heart and home" rung in their minds.
Lunafreya uneasily observed the wall-hangings. There were monster and animal heads all about. Her fingers dug into Pryna's fur and the dog whined lowly.
This was a village of hunters and the oracle wouldn't be happy if someone targeted her dog. She accepted that people needed to hunt for survival, but when it turned into sport she grew ill.
"Boys, stay out of my kitchen! Dinner will be ready in an hour. Go wash up and quit stinking up my house!" Thea shooed them away from the kitchen before they snuck in a few bites.
She fondly recalled how they did the same thing as children, but it was cuter back than, especially with little Selena poking her head in.
"I don't smell." Libertus leaned away from Nyx. "But you do."
"Let me fix that." The glaive lifted his arm and slung it around the oaf's neck, choke-holding him. "Payback time!"
Thea rolled her eyes and turned to the girls. "Don't stand there, come help me in the kitchen."
"Woah, Mom. I don't think that's a good idea."
"And why's that? I said there's no royalty here, which means no special treatment." Her venom was directed at the stoic princess.
"That's not it." Nyx let go of a gasping Libertus. "Can either of you even cook? No need to ruin a good meal."
Since they'd been together, the group of three had been eating at the diner or grabbing snacks.
As royals the girls had other people to cook for them, it wasn't unrealistic to assume they'd never cooked a day in their life.
Recovered from the forced inhaling of Nyx's armpit, Libertus barked a laugh. "They couldn't even drive a car. Cooking is probably on that list of things they can't do."
Lunafreya colored at the heckling and felt incredibly small under Thea's withering glare.
"I am sorry to disappoint." She confirmed their suspicions.
The matriarch clicked her tongue. These girls needed to be whipped into shape.
"And you? Know anything about preparing a meal?" She needled, anticipating an identical response from the other princess.
"I have fed a fair number of people in my lifetime and none have complained."
Three amazed faces gaped at Imperatrix.
"When would you ever need to cook?" Nyx ventured to ask what everyone was thinking.
"At the breaking of camp." She vaguely answered.
The princess didn't want to go into detail about her presence on battlefields in front of this group.
After a laborious battle, Imperatrix would take it upon herself to assist in preparing meals for the soldiers instead of dinning by herself. Once done she would eat alongside them not as their princess, but as their comrade-in-arms.
If she could fight beside her men then she could eat beside them as well.
"Guess I only have to worry about one of you." Thea motioned for the girls to come with her and ordered Lunafreya to keep the mutt out of the kitchen.
"You think they'll be alright with your mom?" Libertus made himself comfortable on the couch. "She's got it out for Imperatrix."
"Worse she'll do is hurt their feelings. Mom's a hard-ass, not a bully." Nyx took a seat in his father's favorite armchair.
He hadn't been home in years...
Selena and him used to run wild in the house, playing tag with their father, while their mother yelled at them to be careful and their grandfather laughed at all the chaos.
Nyx could even make out the red stain in the rug from when he tripped and busted his tooth. No matter how much he cleaned the rug the stain wouldn't come out and his mother loved reminding him about how he ruined a perfectly good gift.
"What about the others? They're…gonna start trouble."
"They better not or I'll be breaking noses. We don't harm guests here."
Libertus exhaled derisively."You don't look like you've got it in you, Nyx."
"Don't doubt me. I took down General Glauca."
"You and an army of statues." He sobered up, curling his fists. "It might come to a riot. You didn't hear some of the things they said."
Nyx snarled.
"What're you two doing?! I told you both to wash up!" Thea shouted from the kitchen.
The boys jumped out their seats and raced up the stairs to the next floor.
The mother in Thea missed the sound of thumping footsteps in the house.
"Hold the knife like this."
The matriarch had to restrain herself from smacking Imperatrix's hand away from the oracle.
The princess was only fixing Lunafreya's grip to stop her from cutting the vegetables into large chunks like she'd been doing. Thea had specifically delegated watching the meat brown in the oven to Imperatrix for her own peace of mind.
Thea didn't want that imperial woman near any sharp objects. But shel was a guest, a certain level of civility needed to be honored...
"Imperatrix, is it?"
The princess nodded at the matriarch, mentally preparing for a scathing remark or a demanding task. The woman had both in abundance.
"That's some muscle on you. Is one steak going to be enough for you? Libertus and Nyx can eat two with how big-boned they are."
"I…do not eat meat."
"What?" The mother made the same stupefied face as her son and Imperatrix bit her lip to stop a smile.
Thea would view it as the princess mocking her.
"Is she serious?"
"Very. I have not seen her eat anything other than fruits, variations of vegetables, and junk food." Lunafreya cut the last of her items and handed the tray to Thea.
Imperatrix's appetite was certainly different from Noctis's.
The prince would have a meltdown over how vegetable-oriented the princess's diet was. Or perhaps they'd make fine dinning companions?
Imperatrix would consume all the vegetables while Noctis consumed the meats. It was a funny thought.
"What person in their right mind doesn't eat meat?" Thea grumbled about the conundrum the entire time they cooked.
Imperatrix's courtly shield was displayed fully as she showed no hint of annoyance to the woman berating her dietary choice, which then lead to the elder woman going into enthusiastic tales of her husband's hunting skill, and the game he brought back for dinners.
When the boys joined them, Lunafreya almost wanted to cry tears of joy for the interruption of a rather graphic tale of skewering a garula. She was close to losing her appetite entirely.
Dinner turned into a somber affair with Nyx and Libertus relaying the events preceding the fall and the conclusion of the Insomnia. Lunafreya took over the storytelling after reaching the end of the boy's parts.
The actual explanation of Imperatrix's involvement with Nyx's recovery in the wreckage and trip to the clinic softened Thea's attitude to the princess, but only marginally. The mother wouldn't be warming up to the imperial for a long time.
"To bed all of you. The girl's can share Selena's room." Thea decreed after the meal had been finished and utensils cleaned.
"I'll show you upstairs." Nyx offered after Libertus bade them all a good night to return home.
"Nyx?" Her son let the girls exit first while he catered to her. "No funny business, son."
He choked at the warning. "I can't believe you'd think that?!"
"I can. You've got your father's looks and charms, that's a dangerous combination." Thea's brown orbs slanted, remembering how flirtatious her husband had been. "They're pretty enough. And the first girls you've ever brought home."
"I'm not…we...don't need to have this discussion!" Nyx found his mom's blunt humor funny to watch, but he didn't like it when he was the butt of her jokes.
"I know your father was supposed to, but he didn't get the chance."
"No, no, no! I'm too old for this." The glaive promptly walked out the kitchen and to the top of the stairs where the girls were waiting.
He didn't need his mother telling him to watch himself.
Anybody with eyes could see that both Lunafreya and Imperatrix were beyond pleasing to look at! They exuded unnatural beauty that people of royal blood often did and Nyx had a front row seat to it when he was glued to them from traveling.
The glaive locked himself in his room to stew after showing the girls Selena's room and leftover nightclothes they could use.
Now he was going to be extremely conscious of the princesses.
"This an odd arrangement we are settling into." Lunafreya slid under the covers after brushing out the last tangle in her hair and letting it cascade down to her back.
Pryna settled at the foot of the bed.
The oracle and princess had been sharing sleeping quarters since Nyx awakened and took Lunafreya's bed at her insistence. With the dog added to the mix, three occupants crowed into a bed every night.
"Really? I am quite used to it." Imperatrix didn't open her eyes from her side of the bed. She could sense the girl's intrigued blue eyes. "If not one of my sisters, it would be my female attendant that often crept into my bed for whatever reason."
Venus was the most repeated addition. The sweet child got scared over the slightest sounds in her room and sought comfort.
Their father was the first person the fourth princess ran to, but he had stressed the importance of Venus growing out of her fears. He forced the girl back to her room with a heavy heart after the night visits persisted two years after her arrival to the palace.
Imperatrix became the next recipient and she hadn't the heart to turn away the terrified child.
Furia had slept next to her older sister when she was younger just because she liked to, and picked up the habit again when her marriage had been finalized. Those nights she confided in Imperatrix how nervous she was to be married to a stranger.
Only tales of the princess and ex-prince's bitter rivalry and eventual friendship endeared the second princess to the arranged marriage.
Euphemia rarely had sleepovers with Imperatrix, not understanding the allure after the first time.
Tempesta didn't sleep in the royal chambers with the princess, but she did end up sharing a bunk bed or hotel bed with her in between missions.
The younger Besithia was the most interesting bedmate with all her sprawling and cuddling, it contradicted her combative personality.
"I am most pleased that you do not snore, drool, or cling in your sleep." Imperatrix buried herself further into the pillow, drained from dealing with malcontented citizens.
Nyx's mother had pushed her buttons on purpose to get a rise out of the princess.
"You do talk incoherently though."
Lunafreya's blush was hidden in the darkness of the room. "Did you catch anything from those experiences?"
As the oracle, she dreamed of events that could transpire, and on exceptional occasions, one of The Six would reach out to Lunafreya in her sleep. Contact with the gods did cause her to sleep-talk, but those discussions weren't in the common tongue.
"Noctis was the most lucid thing." Imperatrix felt her companion's jerk. "You are very fond of him."
"Fond…does not do it justice..."
Many of her dreams centered on the prince's fate, but there were a small few so sweet and unlikely that they made Lunafreya wake in forlorn tears for what could not be.
Lunafreya and Noctis were bound by fate.
She, his guide and he, her lost lamb. Her entire life revolved around that boy.
"I suppose distance does make the heart fonder..."
The oracle tilted her head at the note of yearning in Imperatrix's voice. "Have you ever been in love?"
They had discussed the subject before and the princess's answer had been so logical and cold. Perhaps that had been a conditioned response?
Imperatrix struggled to avoid the question when Lunafreya's innocent face was tugging relentlessly at her chest. She really needed to toughen up. "You will laugh…"
"Only if you tell me Ravus was your first love."
Imperatrix laughed and covered her mouth, afraid of disturbing Nyx in the next room. "I can say with complete honesty that I have never viewed him in that manner. At best, I love him as a friend and comrade."
"Then who?"
She was quiet until finally muttering. "Ardyn."
Lunafreya sprung up with her hands covering her mouth, eyes wide with disbelief.
"That was my first encounter with any romantic curiosities. It was that red hair that beguiled me. No one else had such crimson locks..." The princess flared her nostrils, recalling all the reasons the chancellor got on her last nerve now.
He played games with people, tempted her father with all his talk of conquest, and the abhorrent machine advancement. Not to mention his...
"My infatuation did not last long. My country became my greatest love afterwards."
"Ardyn Izunia?!" The oracle reiterated, still stunned and not registering the ongoing conversation.
"Disgusting, I know..."
"Not disgusting…unexpected...highly so." Lunafreya attempted to amend her actions since the princess was visibly anguished. "He is…handsome and charming…to a degree."
"No need to justify my choice. I knew it would get a negative reaction. Ardyn is a hobgoblin in the flesh."
The oracle giggled uncontrollably.
"Any other secrets you wouldd like me to divulge? You and Nyx are quite interested it seems."
"How bout who your first kiss was?"
The girls startled at the glaive's voice.
"Ulric?" Imperatrix turned on the lamp, illuminating Nyx's cocky posture against the doorway.
Had he been listening the whole time?!
"I had the honor? Who knew? Must've been tipsy when it happened." He chuckled at her huff. "I'd remember kissing a princess of your caliber."
"Should you not be asleep?"
"Kinda hard with two girls giggling from late night girl-talk." The glaive pushed off the door. "The walls here are thin."
Their giggling really was driving him up the wall.
He was already in a snit about his mom's words and while he knew they weren't laughing at him, his frazzled mind felt they were. Now he felt even more irked to be seeing the girls in lighter sleepwear since Galahd's temperature was warm at night.
Propriety was going to become nonexistent in the future if they stayed together...
Nyx had already seen a good portion of Imperatrix's body from the scrap of a dress she ran around in during The Fall. The damned woman also didn't seem to care when he caught glimpses of her exposed body.
Clearly, she had a soldier's detachment when it came to nudity. Lunafreya was more cautious, but her nightgown's light material defeated the purpose of its modesty.
He was a grown man stuck with two attractive women.
Nyx was in a predicament that most men would love, but he was already dreading the tricky situations that would arise in the future.
"We will be quiet from now on." Imperatrix turned the light off and laid down.
"Sure…" Nyx pawed at his scruffy chin. He really needed to shave.
"Good night, Sir Ulric." The princess dismissed him.
Lunafreya echoed the same words with more warmth.
"Sweet dreams, ladies." He shuffled out.
Why did his mom have to kickstart something she shouldn't have? Journeying to Altissa was going to be awkward as hell now.
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