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Veni Vidi Vici	By : Saber007 Category: Final Fantasy Games > Final Fantasy XV Views: 1504 -:- 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
- 8
- 9
- 10
Mature chapter alert.

Here's some translations.
Latin
Meus Musa- My muse
Mea Caesar- My Caesar, a title and essentially calling someone emperor in the context used.
Mea Culpa- Through my fault. Acknowledging your mistake
Mea Maxima Culpa- Through my most grievous fault.
Amor animi arbitrio sumitur, non ponitur- We choose to love, we do not chose to cease loving. Quote from Pubilius Syrus, a latin writer.
XV
"Are you freaking kidding me?! We combed this damned place and these dumb fu-" Tempesta's venom was harshly ended by her mask being struck and Nebula yanking her behind a tombstone, out of sight from the retreating Bussemands.
"This is unexpected…I've never seen daemons behave with this level of intelligence." He watched the creatures descend underground by hitting a secret switch on a large tombstone.
True, the retainers had scoped the graveyard, but they didn't consider if there were traps hidden among the area.
Why would there be when Saxham was abandoned until the Nephilim repopulated the area? Only mortals could devise contraptions such as a hidden tunnel.
Or were their assumptions about daemons incorrect?
The world viewed them on the same level as the regular wildlife that inhabited Eos, with daemons being of a more magical and dangerous nature.
Nebula wondered if he should give more credence to their father's obsessive research.
"Then we must proceed with caution. Tempesta and I take point. Nebula in the rear. The rest in the middle." Imperatrix leaned out of her hiding place.
A soft snarl escaped out of her nose.
"Something wrong, Princess?" Nyx asked, lopsided smirk opposing his flippant tone.
His breath tickled Imperatrix's ear as he hovered inches from her back.
If she turned, the princess was sure their faces might touch.
"Must you lean so close?" She kept her breathing even, hiding how tense she actually was from the breach of personal space.
"How else am I supposed to see? I don't have special lenses like you." The glaive shortened the distance, chest pressing against her back and hand nearing hers on the tombstone.
"Get your balls off the princess!" Tempesta threw a rock at the glaive.
"Goddammit!" Nyx fell onto his butt, rubbing at his most-assuredly bruised arm.
Impera leveled a hand against his chest to halt him from jumping at the girl and frowned reprovingly at the younger Besithia.
Tempesta shrugged unrepentant and Nebula struck her again on the helmet.
"Be quiet before you give away our position." He scolded, switching out his sniper rifle for handguns and pointed one at his sister's head when she tried to retaliate.
She growled, hunching back like a cat ready to pounce.
"Are the children underground?" Lunafreya spoke up, feeling out of place around the battle-hardened adults and dreary graveyard.
Her skin tingled at the uncomfortableness of it all. She steeled herself, drawing courage from her faithful dog's gentle nudges.
She had demanded to come and would not be ruled by fear.
"That would make the most sense, since we couldn't find any trace of them within the radius of the town." Nebula finished loading the guns, switching his attention to the princess after the last of the daemons descended and the tomb closed. "Are these two coming with us?"
It went unsaid that Nyx and Lunafreya were the target of his scrutiny and weren't appreciated by the slow roll of his neck.
Remove the mask and Imperatrix could promise the man was analyzing his targets with glacial blue eyes, minute frown, and angled eyebrows.
His appraisals could petrify anyone and make them question their self-worth.
"We don't need them. We're professionals fighters, not babysitters." Tempesta added when the princess didn't immediately respond.
Imperatrix, Nebula, and Tempesta were a trio of supremacy.
The Thundercat, The Ace, and The Unbreakable Sword. Three major bosses didn't need a useless oracle and a crippled renegade dragging down their reputation.
Tempesta wouldn't allow the interlopers them to ruin her fun!
"They are support. As I said, the three of us will be doing the major fighting." Imperatrix answered and then softly sighed for the displeasure her next request was going to cause. "Nebula, give Nyx one of your guns."
The gunman slowly directed his mask from princess to glaive. Nyx forced himself to cockily stare right into the empty visor, concealing his wired nerves at the opulent indignation.
Clearly, the princess's retainer wasn't big on sharing his toys.
"Nebula, for me? He cannot face high-level daemons without the appropriate equipment."
"Then why is he coming? The oracle is one thing…she has magic. The glaive is a liability. Not worth preservation." He contended, eliciting cackles from his sister.
Tempesta bumped shoulders with him. "Oh, let him come, let the daemons eat him alive. Saves us the trouble."
"Hmm…" Nebula lost some of the intensity in his posture, twirling the gun. "That's…a good point. I can retrieve the gun later…"
"Are you kidding me? That's what won you over?!" Nyx spat, shaking his head at how much he was really starting to reassess his initial thoughts on the princess being an uptight pain. "You two are homicidal."
Imperatrix was freaking angelic next to them!
"We get labeled that so often, don't we Tempy?"
"Yup!" She knocked on her brother's shoulders. "This guys takes the cake though. Wanna hear his favorite torture method?"
"It changes every other month, gotta keep up with the times, you see?" The gunman jokingly swung his gun barrel from target to target.
"Stop." Imperatrix commanded at Nyx and Lunafreya blanching.
"The verdict, Your Highness?" Nebula ended his game of pointing the weapon at the tag-alongs and instead cleaned at it with his glove.
"Nyx will come as protection for Lunafreya. They will search for the children while we engage the daemons, drawing their attention."
"Darn, he gets offs! Was hoping the savage shit would die." Tempesta deflated and Nyx threw up his hands in exasperation.
"Enough with the insults, from this moment on we are engaged in an operation." The princess directed solemnity at both her retainers.
They nodded.
Nebula reluctantly motioned the glaive over for an crash-course on how to use the magitek gear. He also threatened to break a finger for every nick or dent found on his gun and it was to be returned the moment they returned to town.
"I thought I was going to assist with the daemons?" Lunafreya objected to the princess.
"You thought wrong. The three of us are more than capable of defeating Bussemands with our weapons." She laid a hand atop the saber loaned to her.
While different in style to Borealis, Loqi's saber would greatly increase Imperatrix's combat abilities. The difference between a mediocre store-bought sword and an imperial crafted weapon was immense.
The princess was mortified that her opponent shattered her blade with its mere fists. It bode ill for her moniker.
She would redeem herself in the upcoming battle.
In spirit, body, and material, Imperatrix was unbreakable and she would prove it!
"I can defeat the daemons!" Lunafreya insisted, demonstrating by creating light magic in her hand.
The masked retainers tilted their heads at the display of magic, but then laughed at the girl's waver that proceeded the light flickering out.
"I-I am fine…" She huffed at the ridicule, maintaining an air of strength in spite of the abundant weariness claiming her.
Powering the core took much out of her…
"You will not engage any daemons! Nyx will do that in your stead." Imperatrix raised her hand to end further protests from the oracle. "Let me pose something else to you."
Lunafreya closed her mouth to pay attention, not wanting to strike the princess's anger again.
"The children are the true goal, the daemons an obstruction. What if those innocent souls are plagued by Starscourge, a malady curable only by your hand?" Imperatrix stood, offering a hand to the fallen princess. "Will you preform your duty, Lady Lunafreya?"
The girl stared at the hand, understanding the logic, but still frustration addled her. "I will…do as you say…"
Lunafreya wanted to do more, wanted to be more useful!
The group approached the large tombstone baring the name Oric. The imperials took notice of the name with misgivings.
The flip was hit before a discussion could happen and the path to the underground revealed.
A dungeon of tunnels confounded the group with its twist and turns. Imps materialized to attack them and were defeated promptly with the retainers and princess working in tandem, rendering Nyx inactive for most of the exploration.
Lunafreya's magic lent natural light, an actual beacon for the group and making it easier to see in the pitch black caves.
They finally came to a halt at a crossroads of individual tunnels.
"There are too many to cover even if we all split up." Nebula stated with a groan, leaning on his rifle and looking to the princess for guidance. "Hard to believe these daemons dug all these tunnels…"
Imperatrix paced for a moment.
"Guess they got too into digging their own graves." Tempesta joked with a snap. "Eh, eh?"
"Fail." Her brother gave a thumbs down.
"Why am I not surprised death jokes are your thing?" Nyx shook his head. "What next? One of you likes collecting the bones of your enemies? Probably this psycho."
He jabbed his finger at the gunman.
"I don't have that kind of time. Usually, after I kill someone, I let the crows take care of the rest." Nebula's garbled scoff was odd to the ears from the voice modulator. "Do I look a doctor who knows how to remove bones?"
"I don't know what you look like cause, you know, you're wearing a freaking mask!"
"Someone's spicy. Are our masks making you uncomfortable, Shit head?" Tempesta needled the glaive.
Imperatrix snapped her fingers and the retainers stood at attention. Nyx jerked back from the unexpected discontinuation.
The princess regarded the two dogs at Lunafreya's feet. "Can they track a scent even if it's faint?"
"They can track anything. Umbra and Pryna are no ordinary canines." Lunafreya gave in to a little boasting.
"Then here, use this to find the children." Imperatrix handed a torn piece of cloth to the oracle.
"Who's is that? Did you plan this from get go?" Tempesta poked her head near the item, picking at the old fabric. "Pfft, we're being put on the spot, Neb. Upstaged by daemons and...mutts."
Umbra and Pryna growled at her and she returned the animosity.
The younger Besithia was more of a cat person anyway.
"As long as the mission gets complete, who cares who gets all the brownie points?" Nebula yanked her back from hissing at the dogs.
"That cloth belongs to the mayor's grandson. Find the children and evacuate them." Imperatrix ordered the oracle, then addressed Nyx. "No heroics! Do not return to this cave."
"Scout's honor, Princess." He promised jokingly.
A gun pressed to the back of his head and the smile got wiped off for annoyance.
"It's 'understood, Your Highness' or 'yes, Your Highness'. Show respect to her or it'll be another dart, this time in a more sensitive area." Nebula threatened.
"Geez! Imperatrix was a tough nut to crack, but this is ridiculous."
"You're asking for punishment."
"Uh, not from you." Nyx leered at the princess, getting clubbed in the arm from Tempesta and hit in the head by Nebula. "Why so serious, you guys?"
He groaned from the pain.
"We are wasting precious time!" Imperatrix clicked her tongue and the retainers snapped to attention once more, awaiting orders like good little soldiers.
The younger Besithia's hand flew up, nearly whopping the elder in the face. "Question!"
A small, unintentional giggle escaped the princess's lips before the somberness returned. "Yes, Darling Tempesta?"
"How are we gonna find the daemons? Neb said there's no time to search every pathway."
"Why Nebula will-"
Umbra's loud barking overpowered Imperatrix's response.
The dog circled around one of the middle paths. The princess tilted her head at the gunman, silently asking for confirmation.
He faced the tunnel and tapped the side of his helmet. "That is the direction I'm getting the most daemon activity from."
"Extraordinary dogs indeed…" Imperatrix smiled at Umbra.
"He should go with you. We both shall need guides in this labyrinth." Lunafreya suggested.
"Very well. I will return him to you in good health."
The large group split into two teams.
Lunafreya, Nyx, and Pryna went through a pathway and with the oracle gone, the cave became much colder and darker, thick with miasma.
The remaining members had to fully rely on their gear for visibility. The three humans couldn't fathom how Umbra guided them closer to the daemon's hiding spot when it was pitch black.
A couple of times Tempesta tripped over the dog from it blending in too much with the shadows. He handled the fumbles with disgruntled growls, but didn't bite at the girl, like Pryna looked ready to do before from the slightest provocation.
"Hey, how come you're able to track daemons with your visor?" The fist fighter kicked at her brother, who was inspecting a piece of treasure Umbra sniffed out in the circular room.
He groaned from the consistent, painful nudges to his back. "Your visor can do the same thing, Pest."
"What?! No way!" She hit the side buttons on her mask, flipping through the settings and awing at the different features. "So cool!"
"Damn idiot! She always forgets the important stuff."
"That is why she has you, Darling Nebula." Imperatrix flipped the accessory around in her fingers, handing it back to the gunman after judging it to be a simple charm to lessen attribute damage.
More protection for him.
"The burden of siblings…"
"The joy of siblings."
"Ehhh…only you could say that and truly mean it, Impera."
"What're you two grumbling about? You got your treasure, lets go already!" Tempesta stomped her foot impatiently. "My skin's tingling in anticipation from how close we are to the boss room!"
"This is not a video game." The princess said automatically to the Besithia heirs to prevent them from diving into a full-blown debate about all the games they'd played and which one most fit the current situation.
Like the intricacies of magitek, video games went over her head.
"Could've fooled me." Sensing that Imperatrix was on edge, the girl let the stimulating conversation die out.
The three imperials were back on the move, stopping only when Imps descended on them.
Bussemands appeared just as the readings on Nebula's visor went off, materializing in a room filled with bones and carcasses.
"Heh, a pre-battle before the boss." Tempesta cracked her knuckles, electricity jumping between the digits.
"Come on…Bussemands are tough enough. I'm too tired for worse…" Nebula groused in the middle of spinning his revolvers. His visor was in fact reading something stronger beyond the room. "Can I just bury whatever's next?"
His gun lazily pointed at the ceiling of the tunnel behind the daemons.
"You would bury us too! There is no telling how sturdy these tunnels are." Imperatrix drew the saber. "We will defeat those in front of us and those ahead us. Understood?"
"Yes, Your Highness!" The retainers boomed and took the opening blows.
Tempesta met one of the four Bussemands head on, exchanging powerful, condensed blows that lit up the cave. She restrained the lighting to her fists in an effort to not hurt her comrades.
They were matched in strength since the girl couldn't go all-out in the confined space. Her speed made up for that disadvantage, raining two blows for the daemon's every one.
Imperatrix alternated between two foes, sword slicing easily along the daemon's skin. The gem was doing its job and granting light properties to every strike.
Loqi's blade proved useful for offense and defense, the Bussemands were pained from striking it and being struck by it. The princess wouldn't have to worry about another broken blade.
Nebula played nimble, avoiding close combat with his target and shooting when the slow daemon missed him. Each shot slowed the creature down further as miasma exuded from its wounds.
As his enemyteetered in place, Nebula switched to a heavier-powered weapon and finished off the daemon, becoming the first winner.
"I win this round." He gloated to the females, crouching to the ground for a breather and watching the other battles.
"Nebula, you shit-headed, lazy pissant, bastard! You're supposed to help, not watch!" Tempesta's fist sent her enemy into the ground with a sickening crunch and the creature dissolved into mist.
"Eh, you ladies don't need me. Female empowerment and all that."
"Don't try that fake pro-feminist shit with me!" She advanced on her brother, kicking him onto his back and jabbing her finger repeatedly into his visor. "You're always on my ass about doing my duty as a retainer and I don't see you doing yours!"
"I guess neither of us are doing our jobs right now."
"Huh?" Tempesta ceased trying to give Nebula a bashed skull.
He pointed behind her.
"Ah, shit! Impera!" The fist fighter whipped around, sprinting for the princess still combating two opponents.
"Your assistance is too late!" Imperatrix said with clenched teeth for her retainer's shenanigans.
An expert swing of her sword ended the Bussemands rushing her and she flicked the blade clean of blackened blood before returning the saber to its sheath.
Tempesta skidded to a stop in front of the princess, crossing her arms like a child denied.
"You're so rusty! Losing to Nebula like that." She taunted.
"A loss I will remedy." Imperatrix twitched.
The three often played a game to see who could finish their opponent first when it was small jobs and competed to see who got the most kills when combating a large force.
The victories tended to fall to Nebula or Imperatrix.
As strong as Tempesta was, her foolishness or zeal could get in the way. She often covered up her losses with petty taunts towards the winners.
The Thundercat was an extreme sore loser.
"Oh, yeah? Lets see who takes out the boss and claims the prize." The fist fighter hopped in place, pumping herself up for the next and final battle.
"Tempesta, this is not a game."
"How is this not a game? This is a secret dungeon with stuff in it. There's a big bad. There's even hostages!" She threw out her arms. "My life is a video game. Can we go level up now?!"
Imperatrix flickered her hand in defeated agreement, garnering a whoop as Tempesta bounded off with Umbra on her heels.
"Whatever's down there is off the charts. Are three of us enough?" Nebula reloaded his guns while keeping pace with the princess.
"Three has been enough for many battles. When have the odds not been stacked against us?"
"Can't a guy get a break? I'm too old for all this..."
"You are older in spirit than you are in body, Nebula." Imperatrix slowed her gait at the entrance of the next room. "The night is almost over, my friend."
"Uhhh, I'm creeped out by the daemon in there. It's just sitting there, didn't do anything when I shouted at it." Tempesta stood up from her crouch.
"What daemon sits when it has prey in front of it? And prey that's stupid enough to face it with no back-up?" Nebula took the first cautious steps into the room, scanning for the strange creature and cursed when he caught sight of it sitting on the ground.
"Whatever it is, we will handle it." The princess repeated with assurance.
She froze after laying eyes on the daemon, involuntarily squealing.
"See! Even Impera is freaked out."
"That wasn't out of fear, Tempy."
"Wha?"
As if in a trance, Imperatrix approacehed the lone daemon. "A tonberry?!"
"Wait for it…" Nebula sighed.
"It's so cute!" She cooed at the green amphibian in a cloak with beady yellow eyes and a lantern.
The creature lifted its lantern to illuminate the cave. The one lantern caused a ripple effect, sparking numerous others to life.
The display might have been beautiful were it not for the skulls and bones used as decorations and imbedded inside the walls.
"Are you kidding me?! That thing is creepy as shit and this room is creepy. Screw that savage for jinxing us!" Tempesta shivered uncontrollably. "Nothing about this is cute!"
"Who are you telling? Every Aldercapt has their eccentricity. Our liege's is her fascination with gothic horrors." Nebula tsked. "How warped her taste are to think some slasher monster is cute."
Imperatrix was deaf to the disgusted whispering of her retainers, more focused on the little creature.
She'd always wanted a tonberry as a pet after hearing the story of a man rescuing an injured tonberry and obtaining its lifelong companionship in gratitude. No one knew if the tale was real or not, but that never dissuaded the princess.
Moogle or tonberry, she would have one in this lifetime!
"No, Shitty Princess!"
Imperatrix was knocked to the ground not a moment too soon as a blade cut past her face.
It felt as if the air itself was sucked out of the vicinity.
A heavy weight of numbness settled over the females as they avoided a lunge meant to instantly kill. Instant death was a skill of tonberrys...
"Get up, it's on the move!" Nebula shot at the enemy to cover the stunned females.
The tonberry deflected the beams with its cleaver, mocking the retainer with its slowness and inactivity. Nebula grew angrier by the second as all of his shot were blocked by a measly kitchen knife and the target made no counterattacks.
In a fit, he traded the revolvers for automatics and let them rain bullets on the daemon.
"This is a cruel joke…" The elder Besithia muttered, feeling highly insulted.
Dozens of bullets littered the ground and the faux grim reaper tilted its head, as if to challenge Nebula to try again.
"This is insane. How did that midget dodge all of Neb's shots? He doesn't miss!" Tempesta angrily rejected the scene, hitting the ground with foot and creating a miniature crater. "I don't care how cute Impera thinks it is, the tonberry dies!"
She rushed the daemon.
Her brother recognized the deadly shift in stance from the tonberry too late.
"Tempesta!" He cried out, firing just as the once simple knife exploded with violet energy, elongating into a blade of death.
Nebula's quick reflexes saved his sister as the beam knocked the blade off its original course. The gauntlet covering her arm was destroyed instead of her arm getting completely sliced off.
She wailed at the blood seeping out of her mutilated arm and into the ground.
"To injure my friend is to injure me! You and I are enemies now!" Imperatrix yelled, brandishing the sword and engaging the tonberry while Tempesta hopped back from the fight. "We could've been companions!"
The violet blade met the golden blade in a cascade of sparks.
The small creature had no problem matching the princess in expertise. The woman laughed, feeling a rush of exhilaration as she fought to keep the tonberry from cleaving head from body.
"Oh, he is a wonderful swordsman. Why? Why couldn't we be life companions?!"
"Impera, stop cooing over that daemon! It's trying to kill you!" Nebula snapped, harshly fastening the wrap around his sister's arm while the high potion did its job.
"Not so tight, Neb!" She cried out.
"I cannot stop fawning, he is sublime! Such mastery of swordplay, such soul-gleaming eyes, and such strength in a small body!" Imperatrix spilled out in gasps, in a state of elation from facing a worthy opponent and fury for its desecration of her friend.
The fact that she was losing ground was also adding to her indignation.
A lesser person would blame their tools.
Loqi's sword could never hold a candle to hers, but she knew true victory was won by the skill of the wielder, not the blade.
"I am greatly saddened I must put down this creature. My dream of emulating Kurasame is at end…"
"This is one of those rare moments where I feel like breaking my oath to smack some sense into her." Nebula groaned, juggling his gun. "Should I…kill it for her?"
"Obviously that thing doesn't like us. It made a show of putting us down." Tempesta rubbed at her arm, feeling the itchiness of stitching skin.
The injury didn't bother her as much as the broken gauntlet did.
She was in for a mouthful from their younger brother about ruining his inventions. Imperatrix was sure to die a little too from the cost of completely replacing the armor.
"I don't like being shown up by an ignorant daemon." Nebula reached into his coat, withdrawing a cigarette and pressing a button on the helmet to open the mouth piece.
"Is this really a time for smoking? The Shitty Princess is fighting for her life."
"Ehh, she's having the time of her life. I need this…" He waved dismissively, lighting the bud and sticking it in his mouth.
"Well, if you're gonna smoke, I'm gonna drink." Tempesta pulled a canteen out of her boot, falling to the ground in a criss-cross position. "I need this just as bad."
"Let her handle this." Nebula took a place next to his sister.
"Yeah…"
The retainers enjoyed their leisure at the expense of their princess.
Imperatrix huffed as she readjusted the grip on her sword. The tonberry circled her, waving its lantern and creating a strange melody with each clink.
"You are formidable, Sir." She swiped some hair out her face and retracted the visor.
With all the lanterns aglow, she didn't need it.
The tonberry tilted its head in acknowledgment and then lunged, beginning another dance of blades.
"I cannot overcome him, only keep pace..." The princess flipped backwards and then deflected the next swing. "Prolong this and I will lose."
The stalemate went on until a dagger flew past Imperatrix's ear and hit the midair tonberry, becoming lodged in its forehead.
The two opponents jumped back, fixating on the point of injury. The tonberry moved its head to and fro, confused by the object penetrating its forehead and expelling miasma.
The princess looked to her retainers for justification and they pointed behind her.
A guilty Nyx and a bold Lunafreya stood at an alternate pathway.
"Hey, funny story…Lunafreya's gotten a lot faster. Your training's getting results, Princess…" The glaive weakly jibbed in the face of Imperatrix's teeth grinding.
"We found the children. They are safe outside and waiting for us." Lunafreya spoke over her retainer, glaring defiantly at the princess. "Curing them while these daemons still lurk about is counterproductive."
"You insolent-" Imperatrix felt the chill death.
She dropped, eluding another death blow.
Rather than just the blade, the entire tonberry became covered in violet energy. The yellow glow of the lanterns turned crimson.
"Hoh, shit! Things just got real!" Tempesta flipped to her feet, readying for battle even though she was down an arm. "The savage pissed him off!"
"Lucians have that effect." Nebula spat out his cigarette, unlatching a gun meant for close combat since he would have to support his sister.
"Stop bagging on me!" Nyx shouted and joined the fray with his borrowed gun.
As the others engaged the raving daemon, Lunafreya retreated to the back, gathering up her magic. Her hands shook and her body cried in agony, but the oracle focused on the warmth inside, attempting to channel it in an offensive manner.
The gift bestowed upon her family by the gods wasn't meant for combat, that was the point of the trident, but the royal arm was out of her grasp.
Lunafreya would have to carve out a new path for the lineage of oracles.
The ways of her holy commitment should have been passed down from mother to daughter as it had been for centuries, but death ruined carefully laid plans. All Lunafreya knew, she learned on her own through old texts and diaries of her predecessors.
It was time to put those long hours of study to use!
"I am no longer a prisoner. Locked doors will seal my fate no longer!" Lunafreya cried as the magic rushed out of her in a wave.
The others let out varying exclamations as the magic hit them and then relaxed when it did nothing.
The one to take the full brunt of the outburst was the tonberry. It wriggled in agony, returning to its original state and collapsed to the ground.
The lanterns went from red to yellow, gradually dimming down.
"Is it dead?" Tempesta ventured closer, cradling her arm to her stomach.
"It would disappear if that was the case." Nebula pushed her back from danger, stalking up the creature and aiming his gun at it.
"Nebula, wait!" Imperatrix laid her hand on his arm.
"Princess, we don't need a redo of your fetish."
"That is not what this is." She retorted with a minor blush. "He is already fading. No need to add more pain to his passing."
He lowered his arm after seeing the tonberry begin to disappear.
"Thank you." She rubbed his arm in appreciation and then kneeled beside the daemon. "I cannot put my finger on it, but there was something different about you, Sir Tonberry. You only fought when engaged, very unlike other daemons that do not discriminate between attacker and bystander."
The daemon stared at her, beady eyes betraying nothing.
"Your kind is also known to be solitary, yet Bussemands and Imps appeared to defer to you. They were most stalwart in defense of your room."
"Why is she talking to it? Daemons can't talk." Nyx whispered to the masked retainers.
"Don't even get us started." Nebula shut him down.
"I do not understand this unusual behavior from a pack of daemons…" Imperatrix paused at the tonberry reaching into its cloak and holding out its hand to her. "You want me to have this?"
She opened her hand to receive a frigid piece of metal.
"A dog-tag?" She gasped at the name written on it.
"What? What?!" Tempesta jumped onto her back and snatched up the tags to read aloud. "Oric?"
"You must be blind, that can't say Oric." Nebula took the tags. "Or…not…"
"Hold up, hold up. Wasn't Oric the name on the tombstone?" Nyx scratched at his beard. "Why does this daemon have his stuff?"
"Dude, that's not why we're freaking out!" Tempesta hopped away from the princess and tonberry. "It's like those zombie movies, its come back to haunt us!"
"What are you people going on about?"
"Oric was the last hunter to live in Saxham after being told to abandon it. No one knew what happened to him and his family…" Imperatrix answered, vaguely alluding to a deeper truth.
The tonberry gave a final tilt of its head before fading into vapor.
The daemon was most likely Oric after succumbing to Starscourge...
The general understanding of the disease was that it eventually killed the host. This assumption was what kept people fearful of the diseased, shunning them and no longer viewing the person with the purple and black markings as human.
In a sense, Starscourge did kill the host.
At the end of the disease was the death of the human and the birth of a daemon. If the populace knew it would cause widespread panic and lead to more hatred towards the ill victims.
The truth about daemons was classified information, currently known only to the emperor, crown princess, chancellor, and head of research and development.
The chancellor wasn't supposed to be aware of it, but since Ardyn had a hand in technological advancements alongside Verstael Besithia, he knew of it.
Naturally, as children of Verstael, Nebula and Tempesta knew as well.
There was no doubt the oracles of Tenebrae were privy to the origins of daemons. They were the ones healing the affliction since the times of the ancients…
"Lunafreya's out cold." Nyx rotated his arms, mentally preparing himself to carry the girl, despite how tired he was. He'd gotten out of it twice thanks to Imperatrix, now it was his turn to play dad.
"Not surprising, that magic attack was strong enough to defeat a tonberry. She did also power a core." Nebula praised the oracle, but made no move to assist her. "Shocking that the doll isn't dead, like a newbie overdosing on a drug."
"Don't talk about her like that." The glaive growled defensively.
The gunman cocked his head.
"What?"
"Nothing. Pardon my disrespect towards your liege."
Nyx reared back, gobsmacked by the civility.
"I may not like you, but I can respect you for doing your job as a retainer."
"Okayyy…split personalities…" The glaive held out the loaned gun as a peace offering.
"Split personalities?" He took back his gun.
"Never mind…"
Tempesta butted in between the older men, with all the petulance a prissy cat.
"Does this mean Lunar Temple is the winner of the boss round?" She crossed her arms, highly displeased, and then yelped from agitating her wound.
"The round does go to her…" Nebula conceded with a shrug.
This time Nyx was the one confused. "Boss round? What's that about?"
He didn't get an answer as the fist fighter rammed into her brother like a bull and he pushed back to keep her from knocking him over.
"Why is my arm taking so long to heal?! Did you dilute the potion, Bastard Nebula?!"
"Now why would you think that? I may be sadistic and you get on my last nerve, but I'm a practical man. You being an arm down diminishes our efficiency." He shoved her off and then gave up fighting back once she rammed right back into him, letting her persistently punch him till she tired.
The things he put up with in the name sibling indulgence.
The gunman blamed the princess for these stupid predicaments.
"Cause it's something you would do, Asshole! Like the time you switched out my lotion for syrup!"
He laughed. "You kept putting it on, too! Got eaten alive by bugs and ended up with rashes."
"Shithead geezer, freckled-faced ding hole!"
"Your insults get less creative and more crude. An utter disgrace to Her Highness." Nebula jabbed at her helmet. "And need I remind you, we share features. Insulting me is insulting yourself!"
"I hate you!" Tempesta seethed, the reminder of the messed-up genetics making her blood boil.
"The feeling's mutual, Pest."
"Gods above, I thought Lunafreya and Impera were bad! Now these two are freaking fireworks." Nyx mumbled to himself while surveying their group.
Two arguing weirdos, a sulky princess, an unconscious princess, and an average joe.
Talk about a hot mess.
"We have finished our business here, let us return to Saxham." Imperatrix decreed, rising from the ground and taking notice of Lunafreya.
The glaive beat her to the punch. "I got her, Impera. No need to stress yourself. Good'ol Dad is here."
"Good luck, the girl is heavier than she looks."
The princess was exhausted now that the mission was complete. She'd been up since dawn and her nerves were frayed.
As soon as her head hit a pillow, Imperatrix would not rise for week.
XV
"Why is your face the first thing I gaze upon?" The princess rubbed at her eyes, blinking blearily at Ardyn, deciphering if he was real by briefly touching his cheek.
The stubble felt rough on her fingers.
Not a phantom then…
He smiled at the woman half-falling off the side of the bed with her nightgown askew. The sheer thing was riding up to her thigh and falling off her shoulders to expose her chest.
Not a sight to take lightly...
"Because I've been the picture of worry for two days."
"Pardon?" She twisted onto her back and groaned at the ray of light blinding her.
Imperatrix felt so sore and sluggish, similar to a morning after binge drinking and moronic decisions…
She vacantly remembered Tempesta and Nebula indulging in their vices of smoking and inebriation after they returned to the hotel, but the princess had been too tired to do more than bathe and fall into bed. They continued their celebration of reunion without her.
Gods persevere her.
A coma sounded exceptional at this moment…
"Ah, ah, ah! You passed out for two days straight, day three cannot be spent in bed." Ardyn sat on the bed, weight making the princess slide into him and he pulled her gown down to conserve her modesty and temper his admiring.
"Two days…I've been asleep for two days?!" Imperatrix registered the words this time and covered her face with her hands. "Where are my retainers?"
"Entertaining themselves in town."
"How did I sleep through their antics?" She lowered her hands, groaning at the messy state of her suite.
In the sitting area, one of the couches were covered in blankets and pillows thrown together to look organized, but failing. The table was loaded with half-assembled guns and bullets scattered chaotically around in an array known only to the owner. An ashtray had a few cigarettes tossed onto it.
Obviously, Nebula claimed the living room.
Beer bottles, decanters of wine, and dirty dishes lead a trail towards the bed. Some of the pillows on the other side were caved in from a head sleeping on them and blonde strands were sprinkled across the fabric.
Tempesta must've curled up to Imperatrix...possibly causing some of the soreness with her strong grip.
Looking past Ardyn, the princess could see his overcoat draped over a chair. The dresser was covered in the files and folders from his car. The papers on top were routes and notes for the royal progress. A cup of tea sat near the edge of the dresser.
Imperatrix seized the beverage and forced down the sickeningly sweet liquid to bring out the alertness of her mind. The princess almost spat the tea out and quickly set the cup down before she dropped it.
"Have all of you been squatting in my suite?!"
The chancellor chuckled at her disgust, rubbing at her back to help with the coughing.
The amount of sugar he put in things was absurd, but necessary for his frayed taste buds...
"Protocol dictates we don't stray too far when you're incapacitated, my dear."
Imperatrix twitched at the gloved leather meeting her flesh and moved opposite to Ardyn's never-ending amusement. "What of Lunafreya and Nyx?"
"The oracle was in a similar state as you after healing the children. She only just rose an hour ago. The tag-along has been getting into mini spats with your retainers."
"Another thing for me to address…" She sighed.
Ardyn shifted on the bed to lean over Imperatrix with one hand keeping him balanced and the other landing on her cheek. The princess tensed, eyeing the contact frostily, but saying nothing.
Her cheek felt warm to the touch from her rising blush.
"Dearest, why so melancholic?" At the lack of resistance, he stroked her skin. "Tell me."
Imperatrix threw off the covers and rushed off the bed, using the chancellor as a crutch to stand when she tilted at the swift change.
"Do not move from this spot!" She ordered.
"As…you wish…" He contemplated her wired movements, bemused and wondering where the princess's mood would take the morning.
Imperatrix cleaned herself up, splashing water on her face to renew her senses, fiercely riding herself of morning breath with toothpaste and mouthwash, scrubbing soap onto the important areas, and combining through tangled locks of her hair.
An examination of her reflection and finding herself to be presentable eased some of the stress.
The dream had come to her again.
A precious dream that wouldn't come to fruition, but craved all the same by her...
"Why do I keep doing this to myself? It is…toxic…" She pulled off the straps of her gown, letting it pool at her feet.
The princess chided herself for what she wanted…had wanted for some time…and denied.
"The wheel spins...he is on top. How long will that be?" Imperatrix slapped her hand on the sink, banishing the last of her doubts and yanking open the bathroom door.
She was a grown woman and would not be frightened of her emotions like a little girl! If she wanted, she took.
"Imperatrix! What're you doing?!" Ardyn instantly reached for his hat, using it to keep his roving eyes off the princess. "Why are you naked, my dear? Feeling overheated?"
His finger gestured to a corner of the room.
"The ac is at your disposal."
"Please stop rambling and acting scandalized. This isn't your first viewing!" Imperatrix kicked some clothing out of the way of her path, resolving to chew out her retainers later for the mess.
A stray chair was moved under the door knob, the lock turned, and the bolt secured.
Multiple obstacles would deter the more rambunctious Besithia. Nebula would have the good sense not to enter at finding the door locked and stop Tempesta from breaking the door down at being denied entry.
"No…it isn't…" The chancellor cautiously lowered his hat to peak at the princess, body heating at the sight of her long backside.
His voice lowered an octave.
"I distinctly recall a certain snow-haired individual threatening that my eyes would be removed if I ever gazed upon their nude figure again."
"Remind me why I made that threat." Imperatrix spun around to lean on the chair, baring no shame at the man drinking in her figure.
This one man plagued her in both lands of awareness and dreams. The games never ceased and he'd been teasing and prodding at her relentlessly.
"I…advocated for a reduction of military personnel around your father…" Ardyn trailed off as the princess began a slow gait towards him.
The room felt small and hot. Her light footsteps sounding louder than they were.
"A heated discussion with council that resulted in Father dismissing his retainers in favor of those wretched machines! Risking his safety in my opinion..." Imperatrix crossed her arms at the memory, causing her breasts to lift, which went noticed by the chancellor and quickly raised his gaze back to eye level. "I cannot tell you how furious I was and still am that he values your perspective over mine!"
"Hmm, you threw a fit. Destroyed a fair share of furniture in my room. Very hard to explain to the staff."
"I broke every token you sent me afterwards."
"Dearest, nostalgia is enjoyable, but is there a point to all this?" Ardyn exhaled, sending a helpless look to the woman standing before him. "I confess to being very bothered by your state of undress…"
"You have done much to infuriate me over our long course of acquaintance. Your recent betrayal an additional injury on top of the last one." Imperatrix swiped the hat and held it over her chest.
"Oh, princess…" He knew better than to reach for her when the tables were turned and she was paying him back for the not-subtle advances he made on her.
"But you are very good at groveling for forgiveness… You make it so difficult to stay angry…" She stepped back at him leaning closer to her.
"I knew you would enjoy those clothes. I picked them myself to best compliment the most radiant princess."
"Right there. I can almost forget…"
"Impera…"
The princess set the hat on the chair and faced the chancellor. "In spite of the many wounds you have caused and will continue to cause...I come back to you..."
The frigidness evaporated and became defeated tenderness.
The reoccurring dream of her and Ardyn living happily together in a summer home weighed on Imperatrix.
They passed the time in simple domesticity as man and wife, dancing to every tune, frivolously running throughout the house and grounds in games of tag, playing card games, experimenting in cooking, and lying in each others arms.
All that joy would be destroyed by the setting of the sun and the trespass of darkness. She would fall to the ground with black death consuming her.
The pure fear she felt upon breaking the illusion made little sense. Nor did the erratic, possessive behavior that would arise.
How she lied to Lunafreya...
Loathing was so entwined with love at this point that maybe there was no line between the two when it came to Ardyn. What might be toxic was all-consuming and inescapable to the princess.
Denial, resistance, and lies were for naught.
Imperatrix couldn't keep Ardyn out of her heart. A part of her despised it as weakness…another part lauded it as strength…
Which was correct?
"My Dearest Impera." Ardyn cooed, opening his arms for her to fall into.
"Use the other endearment." She stepped forward.
"Meus Musa." A switch to latin and the princess fell into the waiting embrace.
"Ardyn…"
He rubbed his nose against hers, pulling her in close. His vest and shirt tickled her skin.
She could feel his pounding heart beneath her palm. One might think he didn't have one.
"You may think I have sway over you, but your influence is much stronger." The chancellor set his hand over the palm measuring his rapid heartbeats.
"I control you? I find that hard to believe…" Imperatrix dodged his attempt to kiss her and he continued on, placing the denied kiss on her ear and whispering into it.
"But you do, Musa…more than you know."
The princess was moved by the admission, kissing him on the forehead and then crawling off Ardyn's lap to lie on her stomach in the middle of the bed, playing innocent to his put-out air with a casual flick of her legs.
"I did say cruel doesn't suit you. Acting as a temptress is cruel."
"I can be as vicious as I wish! You are still in the process of regaining my favor." She lowered her chin onto entwined fingers, gazing at him suggestively.
"Mea culpa." The chancellor backed off the bed, adopting an expression of contrition and beating his chest. "Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!"
"You ruin everything with that underlying wickedness of yours." Imperatrix scoffed lightly and waved her hand imperiously. "Undress, Ardyn. Provide proof of how much I influence…"
A gleam of mischief passed over him and the red-head bowed obediently. "As my Musa commands."
Musa.
Imperatrix couldn't put a voice to why the name struck her profoundly, always serving to put her in good spirits. A skip in the heart and a flutter in the stomach came with each use of the endearing name from Ardyn.
The princess wasn't sure what lead to him bestowing the name on her.
Furia was the real beauty of the family, the one nobles clamored over to wed. She was not forced to deny her gender, dressing boyishly and cutting off her hair.
How did Ardyn see allure where others saw title and might, as was expected of the crown heir?
Why did he encourage her sneak outs at night? Taking her to masquerades, where she could actively wear gowns and dance as a lady?
On nights of opulent parties and masks, Imperatrix could slightly see where the nickname originated. Still, there were plenty of subjects at court more worthy of being a man's muse...
Ladies that outshone her as models for bursts of creativity from the most elusive bachelor in Gralea.
Honestly, Ardyn possessed too many talents for a man of supposed low birth.
On top of the duties of chancellor, the red-head also dabbled in art and music. His paintings were, oddly enough, in the style of the ancients, reminiscent of the cosmology books. More bewitching was the music, so sad and grand the tunes were…
Imperatrix missed the serenade of his songs…the ones that made her ache and smile all at once…
"No more drifting of the mind when you started this, my dear."
Lips landed on Imperatrix's lower back and hands roamed from the length of her legs to her shoulders. She shivered from the coldness of Ardyn's bare skin.
"Why are you always so cold?!" She curbed the urge to recoil from him, extending her neck for Ardyn to brush her hair out of the way and leave wet kisses from the base of her neck to her ear.
"You should be used to a chill. Gralea isn't an oasis anymore." He teased, avoiding a straight answer.
Ardyn knew exactly why his skin would always be a few degrees lower than the average person.
"You are not comparable to ice or snow."
"Then why make a fuss?" Ardyn tugged on her hair the same time he bit at her ear, groaning into it. "Won't you grow your hair out? I wish to see it long again."
"I cannot…the edict…" Imperatrix sank into the bed with Ardyn pressing up to her and making her very aware of how much he desired her.
Her breath became labored at the stirring of her own arousal.
"They'll see reason…one way or another."
He flipped her, laying claim to the princess's lips with fervor. She engaged with equal fire, running her fingers down the length of his chest with a gentleness for the multitude of scars present.
It had taken lots of coxing and prodding to get Ardyn to remove his clothing the first time Imperatrix advanced on him to consummate their relationship.
She'd thought the holding out was due to the age difference and was rattled when it proved to be a matter of worry over his appearance. Only a promise of non-interrogation on her part settled the matter.
To say she was horrified upon laying eyes on him was an understatement...
Imperatrix would never have imagined the eccentric, flamboyant nuisance hid a mutilated body underneath all those ridiculous layers of black.
She had spent a good ten minutes weeping in empathy since she vowed not to pry unless he offered the information. Ardyn had held her and kissed away the tears.
To this day, the princess still hadn't gotten an explanation for the markings on his back and chest, the faded burns around his neck, the large blemishes on his hand, or the old injury that caused him to limp, hidden by an animated walk.
Gods!
Observation and some first-hand experience led Imperatrix to believe that most of the marks were results of whippings, strangulation, and stabbings. They alone made her sad for whatever kind of life Ardyn had before coming to Niflheim.
His scared hands frightened her the most. They looked suspiciously like a pole or something impaled them.
No wonder the enigma resisted physical intimacy in the beginning...
"No, no, no, Dearest! There can be no brooding, when I am paying homage to my princess." Ardyn reprimanded her with a pinch as she remained out of it during his exploration of her.
She always became momentarily withdrawn after seeing the scars.
"Ar--" Imperatrix shrieked, but the protest died out as he descended on her breast, sucking and licking at one while the other was tended to by his thumb. "A-Ahh, n-no biting…"
He grunted, relenting from his nips and swirled his tongue around the last reddened area.
"What is your obsession with leaving hickeys on my chest?!" One might think she had a tattoo of a flower over her breast from the man's biting.
"They're love bites and where else could I leave them and they go unseen?" The chancellor frowned sulkily. "It rankles that they even have to be hidden, but oh well…"
"Do not pout Ardyn, it looks wrong on you."
He playfully bit at her neck and swung back before she could slap him for disobedience.
"Would it be too much for you to address me affectionately?" The chancellor whined, stroking her hip with one hand and the other tracing notes on her inner thigh.
What a vision his princess was.
Bathed in the sun to highlight her golden brown skin, peppered pink with his ministrations. Pure white hair beginning to curl and stick to her breasts. Flickering blue eyes exuding a battle between longing and outrage.
A work of opposition that itched to be captured on brush.
His Musa indeed…
"Convince me." Imperatrix challenged him, knowing which name would send Ardyn over the moon.
She'd composed the name as an alias for when they went out dancing and it soon caught on as her endearment for him.
The red-headed imp chuckled, scooting back from the princess and lifting a finger as if to begin a talk of diplomacy.
"My Musa, I propose that after your first peak you must speak sweetly, nay, lovingly for the second."
"You are only negotiating for two?" Her mouth twitched into a grin.
"As much as I'd love to pleasure you numerous times, we can't spend all day tumbling in bed. Any more than two and you won't be functioning for hours." Ardyn wagged his finger with a tut, contrasting his salacious smirk. "Don't be gluttonous now, my dear. Temperance is important in a princess."
"We will see, hypocrite…"
"I'm being absolutely serious."
"Of course, of course…"
The pout came back and before he could be teased, the chancellor pulled on the princess's legs, dragging her right over his shoulders.
His mouth went directly for the prime objective. Imperatrix curled into the attention, hands squirming for a foothold on the bed.
Ardyn groaned into her, lapping vigorously due to her breathy moans and the hand shifting between petting his head and seizing the strands of red.
When she ended up moaning particularly loud from the circular motion of a tongue, the princess covered her mouth, half-expecting one of her retainers to burst into the room.
Tempesta had done it often enough that Imperatrix wondered if she derived perverse satisfaction from interrupting her, and on occasion Nebula, in revenge for her own infrequent relations.
A jealous cat she could be.
The attack on the princess abruptly ceased and her hand silencing the cries was yanked off.
"There's only us on this floor. At least let me hear you, if you won't call for me." Ardyn protested.
"I'm going to strangle you, fiend!" Imperatrix huffed at the absence of touch, red and debauched.
"Oh, Impera…you've no idea how bad you set me off when you choked me at the base." He growled, entwining their hands and falling down to her stomach.
His lips moved on a trail of searing pecks back to the original destination.
Imperatrix's stomach clenched and her toes curled in place of her being able to move her hands, arousal becoming too much. "Ardyn…"
"I wanted you so badly, but I held back…I've been holding back since our last fallout. The agony!"
"A-Ar-Ardyn…" She squeezed at their joined hands as the assault on her core renewed.
The princess arched into the sensations.
Every whisper of his name increased the chancellor's act of veneration on the princess. She became a mumbling mess the closer he brought her to finish.
The cries and moans of the one most dear to him shot to his own desires, rising to a painful plateau. Ardyn nipped and sucked harder, drawing out a whimper and bend from Imperatrix.
"Oh, Ardyn…" A weak murmur escaped from her as the woman jerked into her finish, grasping so tightly at the man's hands, she feared breaking them.
The chancellor hummed, slowing down his assault to let the princess gently ride out the pleasure. When she collapsed onto the bed, he withdrew and dragged his mouth across her thigh, clearing away the evidence.
"Stoppp, your stubble tickles!" Imperatrix giggled, still on her high. "It felt strange… Why have you not been shaving?"
Ardyn flopped next to the princess, sliding his fingers up and down her stomach.
"If I'd known this was going to happen...I can assure you, I would've shaved." He sighed dreamily. "But you, Meus Musa…are unpredictable."
She kissed his cheek and upon drawing back, the chancellor moved to capture her lips. The tactic was trounced by her covering his mouth with her hand.
"Wait."
He groaned dramatically.
"Only a moment…"
The princess greatly disliked locking lips after any oral activities.
"Here, eat this and then, I will kiss you." Imperatrix pressed a piece of chocolate to Ardyn's lips.
He consumed the candy and licked off the residue from the princess's fingers.
She allowed him to continue, eyes fluttering coyly and tone dripping with intent. "Don't eat my fingers, beast! There is more…"
"Don't nick all of it out of my coat. How else will I be able to bribe Tempesta?" The chancellor held onto her hand, kissing each finger as Imperatrix stretched to dig further into one of the many pockets hidden on the side of his coat.
She brandished a different item, feeding him half and chewing the rest for herself.
"You have the biggest sweet-tooth. There's enough candy in your pockets to fill a jar!"
"What can I say? So much bitterness in life leads to a craving for something sweet." He traced a finger along the princess's chin and lost the teasing grin for an expression of wanton longing at Imperatrix brazenly licking chocolate off her lips. "Am I allowed to make love to you for the next round?"
The princess groaned flirtatiously at the combination of the aphrodisiac and Ardyn's provocative tone.
The sparks wouldn't cease.
"If I say no…" She could clearly see how stimulated Ardyn was, denying the man would be torture for him.
The princess knew he wouldn't go against her wishes in these matters.
"My Dearest, if you wish me to beg for the honor of taking you, then I will beg. My pride suffers no blow from it."
"Shush." Imperatrix climbed on top of the man, bestowing a lengthy kiss and tasting the sweetness of candy over the previous taste as tongues met. "It was one last jest. Now I must speak sweetly, nay, lovingly."
Ardyn sighed in anticipation and slid down for the princess to loom over him.
Just as he had done to her, Imperatrix leant near his ear, whispering out her chosen name for him. "Mea Caesar, the man who would rule bedside me…"
Caesar, a name turned royal title in imperial history and not one given lightly.
A younger, sillier version of her fixated on marrying the red-headed mystery and did many a stupid thing in realization of that. Just thinking of the idiotic, underhanded tactics made the princess flush.
Usually, Imperatrix was the one with a cause for anger, but her concealed efforts to fall pregnant and force a betrothal had severely upset Ardyn to the point he snapped at her for the first time.
That memory…confused her...
The princess couldn't determine if it was her imagination, or if for a split second, Ardyn's face twisted into something nefarious. It had to be a trick of her mind.
The man could be both her joy and misery.
"Hold, hold!"
Imperatrix screeched as he squeezed her waist and stopped her from lowering onto him. "What is wrong? Why are you stopping me?!"
She often forgot how strong Ardyn actually was due to his immature tomfoolery and the layered clothing disguising the body of a fighter.
Really, the chancellor was a giant, tall and built, contrary to her subtle curves and smaller muscles.
"I know that look, you were about to slam onto me."
"You enjoy it so why the interruption?" Her hand came to rest on his chest, ready to shove the man from in front of her to flat on his back.
"I do. Immensely!" His displeasure didn't last and he nuzzled her neck, careful not to rub his stubble too hard on her skin. "But we haven't lain together in over a year. It must be done slowly to not hurt you."
Persuaded, the princess laid her head on top of Ardyn's and dropped her arm over his neck. "Go ahead then."
He lowered her in an agonizingly slow pace.
At her tensing from the intrusion, the chancellor lavished the princess with soothing kisses until she completely took him. Imperatrix panted heavily through the adjustment.
"I've missed this…I've missed you so much, Dearest!" Ardyn held the princess tight, shaking from the relief and euphoria of being buried inside of her.
He barely registered how aggressively she clung to his neck and dug her nails into his back.
"The base, the party…I wanted you in my arms, but couldn't have you…"
"Y-Your f-fault…" Imperatrix tentatively rolled into him, hissing at the still present uncomfortableness.
He was stretching her even though she'd already been primed. It had been too long.
"I know, Dearest."
"You break my heart…but when it heals, it beats for you."
"Oh, that tune. I haven't been able to touch that CD, let alone listen to the song while in limbo with you."
"I gave it to you for a reason." At the absence of a sting in her movements, Imperatrix pushed Ardyn down, beginning to move with zeal at the blissful smile and involuntary flush enveloping his pale flesh.
"Dearest Musa…"
Softly humming her words had the princess moving in a rhythm. "You're stuck in my head and I can't get you out of it. If I could do it all again, I know I'd go back to you."
"I love you, Musa…so very much…" Ardyn had no issue vocalizing his satisfaction with Imperatrix's motions.
The lack of a devilish grin or underlying tones disarmed the princess and she expressed herself as purely as her lover.
"Amor animi arbitrio sumitur, non ponitur." Imperatrix finished the declaration with a kiss, holding Ardyn in place to deepen it, only relinquishing when the need for air pressed.
Pants and moans then became the spoken language.
Imperatrix conquered the exchange with wild bounces, doing her best not to scratch and claw at Ardyn's chest, but he laughed, encouraging her to leave marks for him to admire later.
The switch from sadistic manipulator to masochist lover threw her, but the princess consented, grounding herself on his arms and digging into the flesh when his thrusts matched pace with hers.
His cold hands tickled her wherever they went, brushing her hair off her breasts and fondling them. The difference in temperature might have bothered her in the beginning, but it was welcome now with how overheated their coupling had become.
Imperatrix gripped onto the headboard to support her bouncing in conjunction with Ardyn's extensive movements that were pushing her to the edge once more.
He reluctantly released her chest to latch onto her hips, playing guide again for the princess's benefit.
"Ar-Ardyn…d-darling…" She fell onto him, their lips crashing together.
He moaned shamelessly into her mouth as her clenching and warmth almost triggered him releasing into her, but controlled himself to prevent that outcome and allow his love to have her moment of bliss.
There was no telling if he even had the ability to impregnate Imperatrix, but the man had no interest in finding out or the consequences that would arise with the scenario of an unmarried princess carrying an illegitimate child. He especially didn't want that outcome with his present existence.
Ardyn could only stand to defile his dearest love so much…
"Why did you not release?" Imperatrix brushed her hair off her forehead, regaining her breath and staring at Ardyn in a daze. "You are still fully erect..."
"Never mind that, Musa." He cuddled her to his chest, drumming his fingers on her back and basking in the vision of a sated princess.
"I do mind! I am not a selfish lover, I do not like it when you do this."
"Dear--"
"You know I get injections preventing pregnancy, so what is the issue?!" Imperatrix maneuvered out of his embrace and whimpered from the sensitivity of her core being stimulated by the motion.
Ardyn had a similar response to the movement from his groan.
"D-Do I need to ride your endurance to the limit?"
"You don't fool me, Impera. The shake in your limbs proves how tired you are. I told you not to worry." He tapped her nose, smiling indulgently. "Pleasing my princess is all that matters."
A darker urge was demanding he take her without consideration. Such a thing would not happen.
His Musa wouldn't be the target of that side.
"I want to see you come undone, as you like seeing me do." She ignored the exhaustion, stubbornness rearing its head and slammed onto Ardyn. "Don't doubt my resolve, Caesar!"
"I-Impera, Dearest, stop…" He implored on her behalf.
The man wasn't able to bring himself to physically toss her off and end the encounter. Not when she felt so good...
"I will not be the only one sated! Shut out your misplaced indignity of enjoying me."
"You're clearly in pain. Stop!" Her eloquent dirty talk and slamming onto him were chipping at his control.
Her administering pain by twisting at his nipple, followed by a carefully deep penetration decided the battle of wills.
"Fine, fine, you naughty princess!"
Their positions were switched to save Imperatrix from overtaxing herself. The princess mewled from Ardyn latching onto her like a lifeline and pounding her into the bed.
"And here I said twice only. My gluttonous, lustful princess demanded otherwise!" He kissed the side of Imperatrix's head, as her eyes were locked closed in rapture.
She bit at her hand to muffle her cries.
The chancellor dug his nose into white locks, uttering numerous confessions of love. The princess responded in kind, switching to her first language of Latin to express the depth of her affection. The words spurred him into a frenzy, thrusting sporadically and groaning when the tightness preceded another explosion.
His utterances were reduced to gasps of Imperatrix's name as the oversensitivity of her final climax broke the remainder of Ardyn's will.
He pulled out at the last second and came with a broken exhale over the princess's stomach.
A intense flash of anger and revulsion hit the red-head upon seeing the evidence on his love. The man tilted from the influx of loudness in his head.
When Imperatrix opened her eyes, Ardyn was gone. She heard the water start running from the bathroom and fell back onto the bed.
Every muscle ached terribly and keeping her eyes open was a struggle.
While Ardyn's assumption of her not being able to handle more than two bursts was correct, the simple contentment she found herself experiencing was worth the additional strain.
She did also take pride in unravelling the person that persistently flustered her with ease. Their coupling had resulted in withdrawal, but she would have to take it as a victory.
Getting the man to release was fifty-fifty.
Sometimes he would wear her out before she could press for it. Imperatrix would then feel dirty, as if she used him, when sharing a bed was supposed to be a sign of love, with both parties experiencing ecstasy.
The times when she did push him to satisfaction, Ardyn would never do it inside of her, despite the many times she assured him of her medical supplements for pregnancy prevention.
A tally for her this time...
"Go right ahead and revel in your triumph, oh, Great Conqueror."
A hot towel landed on Imperatrix's stomach, washing away the traces of their activities. The mocking smile was back in place.
"As most lovers do after lovemaking…" The princess stayed idle, lazily permitting Ardyn to give her an impromptu bath.
Sleep called loudly.
The chancellor couldn't help chuckling as the most hard-working woman became a sloth. "Did I tucker you out, Dearest?"
"Yes... How remarkable for a middled-aged man to outlast a woman eighteen years his junior."
"With age comes experience." He had far more years on him than the princess thought.
She glared at him.
"Hmm, no need for jealousy. It's only ever been you, Musa."
"Give me your phone, Ardyn." Imperatrix raised her hand expectantly, still glaring.
The item was given and without a thought the princess drew the outline of a chocobo, unlocking the phone. An old photo of Imperatrix during one of their outings was revealed as the background.
Her lips quirked at his knowing smile.
"If I look through your pictures, will I find dozens of me that should not be there?"
"You might, but I do take pictures of other things from time to time."
"Some might call that stalking."
"Everyone stalks you, you're a princess. Your life is a play for the world!"
"Well, this play is going on intermission..." She set the phone onto the crowded dresser after seeing the time.
One in the afternoon.
No telling how long they'd been fooling around.
"The world can wait for an hour…or two…" Imperatrix crawled onto the dryer side of the bed, seeking warmth now that the toweling was concluded.
"May I hold you for this period of respite or must I leave?"
"Do as you like, Darling."
The pet name made her opinion abundantly clear.
The chancellor wasted no time in slipping next to her and spooning the princess with exaggerated joy. She snorted at the return of cold and he caressed the side of her face with his knuckles.
"Will you sing for me, Ardyn?" The princess requested, edging swiftly to unconsciousness.
"Anything for you." He commenced with a soft hum, cradling the princess to his chest.
The song brought a sense of nostalgia as Imperatrix nodded off.
XV
"In conclusion, thanks to the efforts of Her Highness and her retinue the town of Saxham is out of peril. The frequency of daemon appearances has drastically dropped and construction on the remaining lighthouses are to be finished by the end of the week." Loqi closed his report with a grateful bow to the princess sitting at the high table in the meeting room. "I am humbled by your brilliance, Princess Imperatrix!"
A high table had been set up for the persons of note. Imperatrix sat in the middle with her retainers standing behind her, Ardyn on her right, the mayor next to him, Lunafreya on her left and Nyx behind her.
Tables were set up on the sides for the soldiers. The hotel staff were also present to provide light refreshments for all.
A conference on the success of Saxham.
"All hail the White Princess!"
The soldiers clapped and cheered for the imperial princess. The mayor leaned past the chancellor to add his own thanks for her assistance and rescue of his grandson.
Imperatrix accepted the accolades with a bright smile and stood. Everyone, but Lunafreya hastened out of their seats out of respect.
The oracle rose after a beat.
"I thank you all, but let us not forget the part each of you played in ensuring this moment." The princess met the gaze of all the soldiers.
The men fought against lingering Imps while the princess's group confronted the larger enemy.
Many of them would be getting promotions simply due to the vacancies left by the base attack. Time would tell if they were qualified, but they were on the right track by facing unexpected enemies with their limited field experience. The Norduscaen Garrison was full of green youths, the brigadier general included.
They would flourish nicely.
The princess would need to write a report of assessment for the garrison and pass it on to the commander in charge of Duscae.
Another personnel she had no knowledge of and was a stranger to her.
A month of absence from capital business could be a decade in politics...
"And let us not forget the aid provided by Lady Lunafreya, the Oracle of Tenebrae." Imperatrix laid a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Her magic was instrumental in restoring the light and healing the children. She is part of our success."
Lunafreya flushed under the praise, beaming at the cheering and bowing her head demurely. The princess let the oracle soak in the joy of adoration and sat back in her seat.
The others followed.
"Continue, Brigadier General Tummelt."
"Yes, Your Highness." Loqi resumed his pace in the middle of the floor, discussing further measures for Saxham's safety and regulations until their reinforcements arrived.
Imperatrix listened with half an ear, crossing her legs and leaning on the armchair.
Two hours of sleep had done little for her aches.
Even though laying in bed for another day sounded brilliant, the princess got her act together and made an appearance after two days of hibernating and hours of illicit frivolities.
Nyx and Lunafreya were none the wiser to her predicament when she greeted them. The freckle siblings however, just knew from observing her what she'd done.
It must've been her affable air in general. The squabbling didn't strike her temper and she even participated in some of the teasing.
What did that say about the princess's previous state of mind that Nebula and Tempesta were suspicious from her acting sociable?
Had Imperatrix become so wired that testiness and indifference became the norm to the Besithia siblings?
The war affected greatly her…
"Princess Imperatrix, may I have a word?" Loqi broke her train of thought.
"Here or in private?"
"Private, if it pleases Your Highness."
"Very well." She rose from her seat, lifting her hand for her retainers to not follow them.
A quick scan of the room found Lunafreya and Nyx speaking together in a corner until some of the soldiers approached them, asking how the oracle fixed the light so easily. The girl had a difficult time expressing how her magic worked and replying to the men's scientific approach on the matter.
Ardyn was going over financial matters with the mayor and as they passed him, the chancellor's smile at them held a secret edge to it and his eyes lingered on her. She broke the trance by turning her head and sighed at her small quiver.
This was why she tried not to indulge. The princess knew she would drown...
"What is on your mind, Tummelt?" Imperatrix initiated the conversation since her rank dictated that she have the first word and Loqi's hesitance would have her standing in the hotel hallway for too long.
"Princess…" He gripped the saber strapped to his waist, still refusing eye contact.
"I did not cause too much damage to your sword, yes?"
As a fellow sword user, Imperatrix would be livid if someone so much as scratched her Borealis…and she would be highly unnerved with someone else using it.
Loqi had to feel some vexation for her usage of the saber.
Nebula's ire for the princess's command was hidden by his mask, but she could still feel the chilled gaze and would until his grudge died out.
One thing the Besithia's had in common was their ability to hold grudges.
"No, no! My sword is as glorious as ever. Doubly so since it was used by the crown princess!" The blonde youth exclaimed, lighting up like an exuberant child. "My elder brothers will weep tears of envy when I tell them!"
Imperatrix smiled, touched by the exaltation.
She softened her tone for the next piece that would crush the starry-eyed soldier. "Is that a tale you wish to share? Ultimately, you would have to explain the events preceding my arrival."
It was unkind to throw failure in his face, but the princess needed to know how he'd react.
"Oh…yes." Loqi sobered, back to averting his eyes. "That's actually why I wished to talk."
"Go on."
This conversation would determine the rest of her assessment.
"I am a third son, not expected to inherit anything. Yet, I still received this post on account of my name. A lot of people were incensed with the decision and I strove to prove them wrong. All of my arrogance has ended in disaster." He growled, clawing at his bandaged face. "My first mission, a failure!"
Prince Noctis and Cor defeated him, destroying his base. All the lives lost in that attack were on him...
The town shouldn't have had to pay for his folly!
If the children hadn't been located and cured by the oracle, Loqi would've crumbled. Seeing the distressed families was difficult, delivering grievous news to them would've been unbearable.
"I am not worthy of my sword or rank." The brigadier general admitted with a heavy heart, removing the saber from his waist and holding it out to the princess with a bowed head. "Since your blade was broken, I humbly offer mine. May it be of service to someone infinitely more deserving."
Imperatrix gingerly took ahold of the weapon, thumb tracing over the Tummelt emblem on the scabbard. "Is this truly your wish, Loqi Tummelt?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
"You are aware, you will be court-martialed for these incidents?"
"Yes."
"A demotion would be an optimistic outcome, but considering the substantial damages and death toll, a dismissal is very probable." Imperatrix clenched the blade. "You may become the shame of your family, even cast out, as you are a third son."
Loqi rose, defeatedly staring at the ground. "I…am aware."
"You would face all this?"
"I will accept my punishment and all the consequences that come with it."
The princess exhaled at seeing no lie in young man's gaze. She softly squeezed Loqi's uninjured shoulder, giving a sympathetic smile.
She'd witnessed lesser men run from the failures, metaphorically and literally.
"Take heart, Loqi. Failure does not define, it shapes."
Imperatrix would be honest in the report, it was indeed a great disappointment for a brigadier general to lose his base, equipment, and soldiers, putting his greater charge at risk.
However, he went out of his way to correct his misfortunes, even while gravely injured. The youth also showed a level of contrition, speaking volumes for his capacity for growth in character.
The princess would offer the solution of heavy fines for the brigadier general in her report. A portion of those fees would go to the families of the fallen soldiers and a portion to restoring the base.
He would keep his post, but building the base back to glory would be Loqi's penalty.
"Your Highness is too kind. I will not forget your words." The brigadier general vowed.
A call of his name from the medical officer for his checkup ended the private audience and he left with a deep bow.
Imperatrix sagged against the wall once alone, tempted to slide to the floor and rest.
Nebula rounded the corner and the princess was back in gear, banishing thoughts of repose and meeting the gunman halfway.
"Everyone has dispersed. The chancellor wishes to know your next course of action." He reported, whirling on his feet to follow his liege.
"We make for the senator's home. I want this resolved."
Two days passed and the man still hadn't answered any hails on the radio.
Did he have any idea the severity of the situation? Did the man have a care for the people suffering under his governance?!
It was her job to interrogate the senator and deliver justice.
"Will the oracle be coming or shall I arrange for her to stay in Saxham?"
"She comes with us. The troublesome girl needs to stay within my sight." Imperatrix shook her head, reflecting on her perception of Ravus.
The elder Fleuret must possess more patience than she assumed to deal with his reckless sister.
"This will be a learning experience for her. Let the oracle see first-hand how actions are followed by consequences."
"Will the glaive be needed?"
Anyone else might've assumed Nebula's question to be innocent. Imperatrix knew otherwise.
"I will repeat myself, Nyx is not to be harmed. He is Lunafreya's retainer and is to be treated as such."
Tempesta may seem like the dangerous one, but Nebula was the one to do permanent harm. A hit from the thundercat would fade, a hit from the ace would linger.
"Why protect him? He should die for his actions towards you in Insomnia." The gunman disputed. "You know what they would've done you. There is too much bad blood between Caelums and Aldercapts."
"He saved my life." The princess muttered, shoving down the memories of conspiracies.
"Then let the man return to his homeland like the other traitors and be done with him. We don't need two menaces in our company."
"Menaces?"
"Lunafreya is widely known to oppose imperials. She is, and has been, out of favor with the emperor for years. Nyx has been fighting and killing our soldiers for years. He may not have the king's magic anymore, but he's still a killer." Nebula cocked his head. "So yes, menaces that I will kill at the first sign of danger to your person."
"Enough! I hear and understand. The three of us shall have a discussion on this later." The princess terminated further complaints with a raised hand as they entered the lobby where the others awaited. "For now, trust and obey, Nebula."
"Yes, Your Highness." He yielded.
Tempesta popped out of her chair and rudely knocked Nyx out of her path. He cursed while tripping into Lunafreya.
Ardyn laughed at his expense, covertly tossing a piece of candy at the retainer as she passed him. She caught it with glee.
Imperatrix stood in front of the group with trepidation. She would know no peace with all the internal shenanigans, bickering, head butting, and pranks.
Six help her.
Six and every other less worshipped god, help her...
"We're going to a manor for what, tea and biscuits?" Nyx rolled his eyes, body posture screaming disinterest.
Tempesta raised her head and the glaive prepared to retaliate, be it with hands or verbally. She surprised him by cackling.
"Tea and biscuits is a Tenebraen custom. Fruit and wine is usually served for refreshments among imperial nobles." Ardyn fluttered his hand grandly. "I am looking forward to another sampling of Gauis's venue."
"Do not get carried away, Chancellor. You are to play witness with me when I interrogate the senator." Imperatrix reminded him.
"Wait, interrogate? Why's the guy on trial?"
"Is it something to do with Saxham? I heard people talking of his abandonment of the town." Lunafreya's brows scrunched inward and she gazed away from the princess. "If you are going to levy punishment, then I do not need to be present."
She wanted no part in their butchery.
"That is precisely why you must go. Your experience in governing is nonexistent due to Ravus handling all matters of state." Imperatrix gave one of her patient lectures. "If you are to grow, learning political warfare is just as important as actual warfare."
Lunafreya blinked, taken back from the practical reasoning. Seeing that she was hooked, the princess scooted closer to the girl and lowered her voice for only the oracle.
"I also want to demonstrate that disobedience has its vices."
The oracle evened out her face, princess-mask equipped and emotions buried. She didn't wish to experience another mistreatment, mild though it was compared to her brother.
"Shall we depart? Best to reach the manor by nightfall." Ardyn chimed in.
"Yes, we shall." Imperatrix agreed.
"Guess you'll be stuck in the car listening to Dandy's funky cds. Can't mess up your pretty new uniform." Tempesta jibed to the princess.
She in turn tapped at the fist fighter's helmet. "Drive safely, will you? It is not a race, Darling."
"Don't be a loser! My motorcycle is too fast for it to be challenged."
"Our motorcycle isn't a toy, it's advanced magitek. It wouldn't kill you to drive smoother." Nebula lodged himself between the princess and his sister.
"The why don't you drive, Geezer?"
"I have other things to do than drive."
"Suuuuure, like making sure your girlfriend doesn't top your scores on the boards."
The gunman became too distracted by a hotel employee to respond and the females didn't notice him falling behind as Tempesta challenged Imperatrix to a race anyway.
"Something the matter, Nebula?" Ardyn asked, taking note of the person as well and knowing that the retainer's eye viewed with suspicion and not interest.
"Possibly…" He left it at that.
Once everyone was outside, they headed for the parking lot and spilt. Tempesta boarded the motorcycle, revving it tauntingly while Nebula slumped into the sidecar, off in his own world.
"Smell ya later, losers!" The girl took off, leaving a trail of dust in her wake.
Imperatrix breathed a long-suffering sigh.
"There, there, Princess. No need to fret." Ardyn soothed her, holding open the passenger door.
She climbed in without another word. Lunafreya and Nyx slid into the back with the dogs crammed between them.
The owner of the car lamented over the damages to his car he'd have to get fixed from the dogs, as he walked around to the driver side.
He hated the Vixen being anything less than perfect.
Oh well, if slight damage to his car was what he had to suffer through for greater rewards then he would...
The princess's renewed serenity in his presence, in place of the terse detachment, was very welcome. The return to amenity was more than enough recompense for all the setbacks this incident had caused.
The second road trip would be shorter, but no less awkward it appeared.
Ardyn, ever the jester, had no problem going on and on like everyone was good friends instead of reluctant enemies-turned-allies.
He conversed with the princess about her encounter with a certain tonberry and her fascination with it. The prompting led to a dispute between Nyx and Imperatrix.
"It's a daemon, that's enough of a reason why it's creepy. Amazingly, I'm on board with your psycho retainer's opinion." Nyx leaned towards the front to goad Imperatrix. "There's literally nothing cute about the green monster."
She twisted around, briefly startling at how close he was.
Their noses brushed before she moved back and snarled. "So the origin is what causes issue? If the tonberry were a regular creature found in wildlife, you would find it appealing?"
Her defense of the creature had gone beyond just her fixation.
Imperatrix and her retainers had debated over the evidence of the dog tags, graveyards, and bones.
The three believed the tonberry had to be Oric's and the other daemons the previous citizens. The bones must've belonged to the people who didn't turn for some reason.
Like their predecessors, the daemons kidnapped the children to add to their ranks. Once they were turned, the rest of the population would've been next.
Saxham would've become a terror at night for any unfortunate traveler.
It was all so tragic...
"What?! That has nothing to do with what I'm saying."
"People go fanatical over chocobos. Are they not beasts, too? And gruesome ones at that."
"Now, now, Princess. When you start insulting those paragons of fun, I must step in." Ardyn rebuked with a tut. "They are man's best friend, adored universally! And they come in all colors and sizes."
"Fortunate for me, I am a woman and will not be sold." She rounded on him with less rancor than she showed Nyx. "The tonberry is superior."
"No, my dear, the chocobo." The chancellor insisted with a tap to her nose.
"The tonberry." She wrinkled her nose.
"Chocobos."
"Tonberries."
"My god, you're the weirdest woman on Eos!" Nyx scooted back from Imperatrix's seat. "Do you like cactuars, too?"
People of Lucis sold the weird plant creature as toys, despite how dangerous of an enemy it was in battle. The stop lights and signs in Insomnia even featured the cactus.
Nyx didn't get the obsession.
"No, that is a western vogue. In the east, Moogles are the parallel commodity." Imperatrix softened, thinking of her plush toys from childhood that she'd stowed away. "And they do appeal to me."
"Okay, I guess you've moved one step away from creepy." The glaive shrugged, not really convinced.
His eyes shifted to the silent blonde passenger.
"Gotta make sure you don't rub off on, Lunafreya."
"Do not insult me, I am an ideal to follow."
"It is not as though I need a role model." The oracle spoke, shocking Nyx, vexing Imperatrix, and amusing Ardyn.
"Damn! If there's one thing in common between you two, it's the sass." The glaive sank into the window as the females scowled at him with enough force to choke.
Ardyn shook in his seat from quiet laughter as Imperatrix slipped into her mother's tongue to convey her exasperation. He was the only one privy to her muttering as the other occupants were perplexed by the unfamiliar sounds.
"That is not Latin, French, or English." Lunafreya pursed her lips, racking her brain for the origin of the princess's words.
"It's not one of the major languages. Try a smaller, less known one." Ardyn offered, giving rise to a new game.
Imperatrix played along, continuing in the mystery language and making the chancellor chuckle from how improper she could be when she wanted.
"Is it one of the Romanic languages?"
"No. A different brach."
"Slavic."
"No, try again."
"Germanic."
"No."
"Celtic?"
"No, my lady. You're going entirely in the wrong direction."
Imperatrix's patronizing giggles tickled at Lunafreya's ego. "Very well. Is it of the Aryan?"
"Ding, ding. She gets it after eliminating every other option." Ardyn applauded sarcastically. "Now, narrow it down."
Lunafreya frowned.
She had general knowledge of the many languages spoken in Niflheim, but not enough to list off the ones outside of the Romanic category.
The oracle colored in mortification at not being able to overcome the chancellor's egging.
"This is giving me a headache." Nyx groaned at the game consisting of all the players speaking in different languages that he didn't understand.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I did not realize I went into French." Lunafreya said after registering the glaive's exclamation. "I should not be surprised the chancellor is well-versed in linguistics."
The man had pulled the oracle into French without her even noticing and switching to reply to the princess in the same mystery tongue.
"But of course! My job takes me all over and it wouldn't do for me to be uneducated." Ardyn smiled unassumingly. "I'm more astonished at your lack of mastery in language. As oracle, you're expected to go on world-wide pilgrimages. Half the job is communicating and you don't seem able."
Lunafreya blinked, stunned by the digging comment she never expected.
What did the chancellor know of an oracle's duty?
He, a nobody that waltzed into the emperor's court with no name and no pedigree, sprouting outrageous ideas! The man had no right to lecture her.
It was the empire's fault that she lacked so severely as an oracle!
"Dear me, I've upset Lady Lunafreya!" Ardyn sagged in his seat, groaning in a comically sad fashion.
"And you wonder why so many complain, Ardyn? Those dagger words of yours have led to many disputes." Imperatrix spoke in English and steered the conversation to lighter subjects, addressing the wounded party. "I was speaking in Farsi, the language of Persia."
Lunafreya tilted her head curiously, but didn't break her momentum of miffed silence.
"How do you live in a place where no on speaks the same language? You'll are way too complicated." Nyx grumbled, brain-fried from the exchange.
He'd really forgotten how exhausting people of nobility could be. His post in the kingsglaive kept him far from them. In the field things were as simple as fight, take a breather, fight some more, then go home.
Maybe he needed to buy some earplugs since a change in career wasn't on the table?
"Do not make it sound as if we are the exception! That title belongs to Lucis, the only kingdom with one recognized language. Accordo and Niflheim are nations brimming with diverse communication." Imperatrix corrected the glaive. "And let us not forget the Lucis standard of recognizing only The Six Astrals and none other. Are Galahdians not considered apostates as the rest of us outside of the black kingdom are?"
"Hey, now-"
"We've arrived!" Ardyn announced over Nyx . "Look at the warm welcome."
The car came to a stop next to the retainer's motorcycle.
A young girl and a few servants were lined up in front of the manor, waiting to receive the princess.
Nebula approached the passenger door, opened it, and held out a hand for the princess. Imperatrix stepped out with his assistance.
"Her Imperial Highness, Imperatrix Tellus Aldercapt, Crown Princess of Niflheim, Princess of Gralea, and Commander of the Valeria Victrix, twentieth legion of the Imperial Army." Tempesta loudly proclaimed with malicious glee as the bystanders dropped to their knees in awe at the many titles.
She got a kick out of seeing people's heads swim, trying to decipher the word verbiage drilled into her head by Nebula since he hated yelling with how terrible his lungs were from smoking.
And she didn't even use all the titles, only the ones the princess cared about.
"You may rise." Imperatrix granted once in front of the girl she presumed was of nobility from the expensive gown native to Gralea. "And you are?"
She smiled kindly.
"I am Aquila, daughter of Lord Gauis Ortho, Your Highness." The young dipped her head shyly. "My father welcomes you to his home."
Courtesies exchanged, Aquila led everyone inside, offering up the guest wing for them to relax in as dinner was prepared.
They were all given separate rooms, but the Besithia siblings opted to share the room next to Imperatrix's, for her safety.
The princess however, knew they wanted the room because it was the second-best. Ardyn raised no objection over being denied the chambers when Aquila pointed out the custom of precedence.
The chancellor came after the princess in rank, the second best room was his by right.
Lunafreya showed no outward displeasure at being overlooked as a regular lady, as she was a princess by birth and technically a queen by succession. Imperatrix knew however small, there was a part of the girl bristling at the demotion.
The princess saw it enough in Ravus to know it must run in his sister.
Once the oracle and glaive were settled in adjoining rooms, the princess gathered her retinue in the antechamber of her suite.
"Why was the daughter the one to receive me and why did she seem so prepared?" Imperatrix paced about while the others made themselves comfortable around the table.
Nebula and Tempesta removed their masks, inhaling fresh air.
The elder shook out his long blonde locks, securing them in a low ponytail and mussing the bangs out of his eyes. He took out a cigarette to smoke before replying to the princess.
"As pompous as I remember the man to be, he wouldn't have missed the opportunity to greet royalty." Nebula lit the bud, taking a long inhale and then lounging docilely in his chair upon exhalation of the smoke. "You're right though, the man shouldn't have known you were coming, since he's been out of contact with Saxham."
"What's the big deal? The fat pig probably sent his daughter cause he thought it was just us." Tempesta criss-crossed her legs and slumped forward on her knees, doing nothing about her wild locks jutting out everywhere.
Imperatrix's hands immediately brushed though the mess, disentangling with soft tugs. The girl fussed anyway.
"You must take better care of your hair, Darling." The princess quietly chastised.
"Then his daughter would've instantly sent word to her father of the princess's presence and the man would've rushed to meet us." The gunman pointed out slowly for his sister. "That didn't happen."
"We didn't receive a greeting if you recall. We were made to wait upon arrival." Ardyn added.
"Oh, guess…I get it...now." The fist fighter hissed, shoving down the urge to deck someone for the trouble her hair was causing. "How'd he know then?"
"The million gil question, amateur!" Her brother scoffed, snatching up an ashtray and heading for a window to keep a distance from the chancellor and princess.
The two didn't like the smell of smoke sticking to their clothing.
"Don't be a dick! I can kick your ass in a heartbeat."
"A fact I'm well aware of and could not care less about." He opened the window, dispassionately analyzing the sinking sun as his smoke escaped into the air. "Something is wrong with this..."
A bright light came to life from a pillar, followed by three others. The lights formed a square of protection around the manor.
Daemons wouldn't be able to approach.
The imperial's improvised take on the Great Wall of Lucis.
"How has this manor remained untouched when it is not far from Saxham? If the daemons could outmaneuver the lighthouses there, then why not here?" Imperatrix posed, taking position by another window and opening it. "How has Ortho stayed safe, while children were taken and men killed?!"
The window shook from the force of her grip.
"Are we sure it was daemons that sabotaged the lights?" Nebula flicked his cigarette, letting the ashes fall. "Daemons getting past their greatest weakness and not wrecking havoc on the town in the same token doesn't add up. They've a singular penchant for violence and nothing else...much like Tempy."
"Keep casting stones, Neb. My fist will find your guts!" She barked.
"I find the daemon theory suspect as well, but the mayor had no other explanation." Imperatrix concurred with her retainer. "Who or what could possibly benefit from the town's fall?"
Nebula shrugged, out of ideas. Tempesta was less than helpful with her sheepish frown. The princess angled towards the usually vocal participant of intrigues among nobles.
"You are silent, Chancellor. No thoughts to share?"
Ardyn drummed his fingers on the armchair, seeing past Imperatrix. "I think further speculation is best saved after we speak with Gauis."
She nodded, conscious to his brooding and not wanting to press as it would get her nowhere.
"You may take repose until dinner." The princess decreed.
The retainers grabbed their masks and bowed to her.
"Not you, Tempesta. I know you will wear the mask at dinner, but your hair is atrocious. I will fix it."
The girl flinched.
Nebula laughed at his sister's misfortune, securing his mask back on as he departed.
"You already fixed it!" The fist fighter gestured to her semi-tamed golden spikes.
"Silly girl, that is not fixed." The princess held out her hand. "Come."
She growled, complying to the order and stomping up to Imperatrix.
"I'll leave you ladies to your evening preparations." Ardyn stood, doffing his hat as he bowed in depart.
Imperatrix watched him go, wondering what he wasn't telling her. The man better not already be testing her tolerance.
Ardyn was on the climb of the wheel, nearing the top and the princess didn't wish to see him at the bottom again. Couldn't he just stay in her favor, instead of constantly losing and gaining it like shifting tides of seasons?
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Veni Vidi Vici