I know I’m being pretty speedy through all this… I miss Aymeric, is all.
Chapter 59: Flames of the Past
“As if we’d lose to the likes of him!” Lyse cried, watching the Imperial Roegadyn officer flee back towards Doma. “And we’re only gonna get stronger. Stronger and stronger until we’re strong enough to take back everything they stole!”
“Hear, hear!” R’nyath echoed. The Xaela roared in triumph.
Hien turned to Cirina. “I have kept my promise, Cirina. They are yours to command.”
Cirina startled and blushed. “Oh! Yes, of course!” She cleared her throat, straightened her robe, and marched to the front of the Naadam participants to address them all. “Brothers and sisters of the Steppe! The Naadam is ended, and we Mol now claim the Dawn Throne. No demands shall we make of you save these: heed our comrades’ words, and honour the law of the Steppe!”
Magnai and Sadu were both pouting at having lost. “Your comrades’ words?” Magnai growled. Cirina gestured to Hien to take the floor.
“Before I fought for the Mol, I fought for my homeland – for Doma…” Hien launched into his pitch for freeing his homeland.
Sadu was no longer frowning when he finished. “To Doma you would have us go, to fight your war and win your freedom?” She thought for a while, then smirked. “Very well. The battlefield matters not, nor else the enemy. In battle do our souls burn bright. And better the Mol’s law than that of the Sun.” She shot a sidelong glare at Magnai. “Arrogant and foolhardy were their pronouncements. Already you and yours show better sense.” Achiyo thought Sadu was just glad to be rid of Magnai’s demands upon every female-bodied person in his vicinity.
Magnai ignored it with folded arms and eyes fixed only on Hien. “The Sun shall answer your call, Doman. Wild as the wind the udgan and her brood may be, but they will deliver you naught. We will deliver you your kingdom.”
Sadu let out a loud scoff and folded her arms too.
Cirina looked like she wanted to stop them both, but… was it worth it? She turned to Hien instead. “Weak and few as we are, the Mol will fight for Doma too. If you will have us.”
“We will be very glad to have you along,” Hien assured her, smiling. Cirina smiled shyly back.
“Well then! I believe naught remains but to return to Doma at the head of a Xaela army, my lord!” Gosetsu cried. “I cannot wait to see the look on Yugiri’s face…”
“Nor I,” Hien said, turning back to the Scions. “We shall depart as soon as our forces are assembled and rejoin our comrades. And then, my friends, we shall bring freedom to the people of Doma!”
“At last,” Achiyo said to him as he called for his yol, to return to Mol Iloh. The Mol would surely wish to have another feast, and then they must pack their camp to move to spring pastures. The Scions would help with that before they set off on their mission of liberation. “I have wished for this ever since I first came to Doma and saw how she suffered. Though that is not as long as you.”
“Aye, my whole life, or at least as soon as I was old enough to see,” Hien answered, giving her a hand up behind him. “Your Imperial friend has truly impeccable timing. Had he come even a few moments earlier, he might actually have stood a chance.”
She laughed. “You do not believe the Xaela would have banded together against such interlopers even with the position of khagan at stake?” There would have been more casualties, she could believe that.
“Hm, fair point, fair point. In any event, that is two battles won in a single day. Which, by my reckoning, gives us twice the cause to celebrate! But first, I pray you grant me a moment to express my gratitude. Thanks to you and yours, we are one step closer to freeing my homeland from the tyranny of the Empire. I am in your debt.”
“You are very welcome,” she said. And he might not mind if she pointed out – “Though, my feelings on Doma notwithstanding, the Scions at large came to you for very selfish reasons.”
He grinned over his shoulder at her. “Is it still selfish if it brings happiness to so many? Whatever your reasons, you all are here, and the Scions I have met have such noble hearts that I do not think even your self-interest could ever be pure greed. Of course… if all goes to plan, this is like to be but the first of many such debts. Yet I promise to endure my insolvency with a smile, out of gratitude to the kami for seeing fit to send you hither.”
She had not known Kaien well. But his son was going to be an amazing leader.
Back at Mol Iloh, many of the warriors were making a joyful fuss over Lilidi. They were so proud that the new khagan was associated with them, even if she was not Xaela or born on the Steppe. And she was proud to be associated with them too, they were wonderful, lovely people, a tight-knit community who were yet kind and welcoming.
They were also very happy that none of their tribe had died. Some injuries, yes, but none of them were very severe. Rinala, R’nyath, and Aentfryn had been around to examine the wounds, and the children were eager to help with bandages and poultices. She attributed that to her brilliant husband, and his thorough training.
Some had other tasks, of course. There was the feast to set up, firstly, and the older ones were almost certainly discussing the campaign to liberate Doma and how that would interact with their migration. But Lilidi was, despite being khagan, not required to participate in such things, and so she was free to entertain the younger warriors and the children with re-enactments of some moments of the fight, aided by some of her fellow Scions. That lasted until dinner was ready, and then there was joyful carousing for hours. While the Xaela must take daily life seriously, they made up for it in the brief moments they could let go.
She approached her husband alone after the feast. He sat on the hillside in the reddening rays of the setting sun, carefully notating the battle statistics in his grimoire. “So, um… do you have a minute?”
“Of course,” he said, closing his grimoire and putting it away, hopping to his feet to greet her with a sweet smile. Ah, how she loved his big grey eyes.
She dithered a bit, putting her hands behind her back and toeing a rock in the grass. “So… well… I missed another period.” It should have started two days ago, but after missing the previous month as well, she suspected it wasn’t just late.
“Another period of what?” he asked blankly, and she looked up to stare meaningfully at him until his little mouth dropped open in shock. “Wait, do you mean-”
“I think I’m pregnant,” she said. “And yes, I didn’t tell you until after the big battle… I didn’t want you to hold me back, not yet. I can still fight as normal, for now.”
“Bwuh,” he said intelligently. “Hawuh? Really?”
She laughed with tears in her eyes. She wanted to grab his ears and shake him. “As far as I know! I’ll get Rinala to confirm, but I wanted to tell you first. Are you okay?”
He tottered towards her and embraced her tightly. “Lilidi, I couldn’t be happier. We’re going to be parents! I’m a little bit terrified to be a dad, but… my gosh, this is… this is amazing.” He sniffled.
She patted his back. “It was going to happen eventually.” Especially with how much this land… invigorated her. She would still follow Kekeniro at least until this end of this adventure, but even if she had not become khagan of all the tribes of the Steppe, she would want to return to this part of Hydaelyn with all her heart. “I’m a little scared to be a mom, too. But we’ll figure it out. Most people do.”
He kissed her, nearly as passionately as he did when they were alone. “We have to go find Rinala right away and make sure everything is okay! Which is easy when I’m tracking everyone for tactical purposes! Come on, let’s go!”
When all were informed the following morning, there was so much congratulating that Lilidi feared they were going to just continue the feast from the day before, despite the hangovers.
R’nyath approached Cirina in the morning, fidgeting with his bow. This was a really stupid idea, he’d told himself not to do this like three sennights ago, and yet… Well, he didn’t want to leave without trying. “Hi, Cirina.”
“R’nyath!” she replied, beaming, looking up from packing cooking utensils in preparation for their big move. “How may I help you?”
…It wasn’t going to work. Abort mission after all. But he could at least do part of it. “Er- I wanted to thank you for your hospitality, and for putting up with me all this time. I know I’ve tried your patience with some of my antics.” He bowed and held out his bow to her.
She blushed, flustered, and shook her head, reaching out to softly push it back to him. “You have no need to thank me for such a small thing, and not with your own bow. You have not been that trying, truly.”
He knew it was a grand gesture on the Steppe, and yes, he loved his bow, but he wanted to give her something. …Even that was suspect, wasn’t it? To want her to have something of his, regardless of whether she actually wanted it or not…? “I don’t want to offend…”
“You have not,” Cirina said, hugging her arm. “It is… well, you are kind, and funny, and skilled, and handsome, only that…”
“I’m not Hien,” he said softly. She had understood when he flirted, even if she pretended not to.
She turned half-away, embarrassed he would say it out loud.
His tail lashed in shame. “Sorry! I shouldn’t have- anyway, I get it. I have kind of a crush on him too, honestly.”
Cirina blinked in surprise. “You do? But also with… me?”
“What can I say, I’m attracted to attractive people,” R’nyath said, trying to make it into a joke, to lighten the awkward mood. She laughed and he couldn’t tell if she actually thought it was funny or if she was being polite, but at least the mood did lift.
“But I had thought you… Hien said the Buduga were very interested in your company, and you were not loathe to…”
He flushed scarlet up to his red hair. I’m not a hussyyyyyy, he wailed mentally. …Did this mean he was kind of a hussy? He really shouldn’t have accepted Khori and Xangai’s invitation, it made him look unreliable to other people. “I didn’t feel like I had much of a choice,” he said, fibbing… a bit. A lot. Khori had been perfectly prepared to let him go his own way. No, he only had himself to blame. But it was hard to admit that to a pretty girl. “I’m perfectly loyal in a committed relationship…” Which was neither here nor there, given that she wasn’t interested. “I just wanted to know if I had a chance. No hard feelings?”
Cirina shook her head. “It is I who should be asking you that. Ah! I have remembered. I cannot accept your bow, but Grandmother and I have a gift for you – for everyone, but for you to use.”
“Huh? What could it be?”
“Wait but a moment.” She skittered off, and returned quickly with a package wrapped in cloth padding. “This morin khuur is for you,” she said as he unwrapped one of the beautiful square-bodied string instruments the Mol played around the fire at night. “You have spent so much time learning our music, we felt it should be yours. You have heard the feats of our greatest heroes, like Bardam and Chakha, preserved in song. Yours too will live on for years to come.”
He smiled in grateful pleasure. “Thank you so much! I’m still not very good with it, but I will play it for the others – that’s what you meant, right?”
“Yes,” she said, nodding. “I know it is in good hands with you.”
“Thank you. I’ll take good care of it.” He paused, debating whether to say something else, and did it impulsively. “Oh… And maybe this isn’t my place to say, but… don’t swallow your feelings forever.” He looked around the camp for blue hair. “You see Rinala? She… she’s in love with someone, and she hasn’t said anything, and she’s had some very low periods because he hasn’t shown any interest in her. -I don’t think that part’s related to your case! Thancred has depression, he hasn’t shown any interest in anyone for years. And he used to be a worse flirt than me.”
“Oh dear,” Cirina murmured. “So you would advise me to tell him… eventually.”
“Well, just don’t bottle it up if it’s making you unhappy,” he said. “It would make everyone sad to see you sad.” Rinala had been doing better since they came to the Steppe. Maybe this kind of life agreed with her? And yet… he didn’t quite trust it for some reason. Her eyes still didn’t sparkle. But she wouldn’t talk to anyone about it.
“W-well. I will think on it.” Cirina fidgeted with her clothes, embarrassed. “Is… is that all?”
“Yeah, I’m done. Sorry to bother you, and thank you so much to you and your grandmother for the morin khuur!” He jogged away, tail stiff with tension, escaping before his big mouth made any of this worse.
Cirina came with Hien, Gosetsu, and the Scions as they began the week-long journey back to Doma. At the Dawn Throne, Magnai was instantly captivated by her, jumping to his feet to ask her to look in his eyes, and she rejected him firmly. Achiyo was quite pleased for her, for Cirina had been nervous about meeting Magnai, and still found him intimidating. But the directness that was necessary on the Steppe carried her through, and Magnai sat down again, disappointed but accepting.
“Ah, he’s just a big ol’ romantic,” R’nyath said after they’d left the Dawn Throne.
Achiyo gave him a rather frosty look. “Do you recall his arrogance when we met him? We were in grave danger then. The fact that he has been shown we truly are his equals in battle does not mean he is any less dangerous.” Or less potentially cruel. He still thought himself and his tribe superior to any other people on Hydaelyn.
“I think he’s slightly less dangerous,” Hien said. “We are no longer an unknown quantity to them, but we even bested them in the Naadam! That does count for something, does it not, Lilidi?”
“I had certainly hope so,” Lilidi said.
Achiyo kept her doubtful sigh to herself. She still did not trust him, nor would she ever, probably. His romantic heart did not outweigh his harsh will for her.
In comparison, speaking to Sadu was much more straightforward. It was brief and to the point, and there was no animosity even from the violent khatun.
At the unofficial border to Doma, Cirina stopped. “It is here we must part ways, until the day you call us to battle.”
“It won’t be long, I know, but… take care of yourself, Cirina,” Lyse said, stepping up to give her a big hug. “And tell your grandmother and the others again how much we appreciate everything they did for us.”
“I will,” Cirina said, then jumped in recollection. “Oh! I nearly forgot! I have a gift for you.” She reached into her pack and pulled out a roll of red cloth, handing it to Lyse.
“Oh, it’s… a red, um…?” Lyse unfurled it. “Wait, is this a banner of the Mol tribe?”
“It is not the most practical of gifts, but we nevertheless wished to present it to you,” Cirina said. “I do not fully understand what has befallen Doma, or your homeland, Lyse. But I do understand that you and yours have suffered terribly. The Mol place their faith in the gods, and in turn they shepherd us. They watch over and keep us. We pray they show you the same favour.” She turned to look at the mountains that hid Doma from view. “As it was in the Naadam, blood will be shed, your lands engulfed in a storm of fire and steel. Yet as it did here, it shall mark a new beginning there. May you ever walk in crimson. For in crimson there is life. There is liberation.”
Lyse rolled up the banner carefully. “I really appreciate that. Thank you, Cirina.”
“Thank you for your prayers, Cirina,” Hien said. “We shall remember them.”
Cirina waved. “Until we meet again!” With a whistle, she summoned her yol, but did not fly away yet, watching them head into the canyon that would take them back to Doma.
Achiyo re-entered Doma with great gladness, and she thought Hien and Gosetsu felt the same. She had spent so many years of her life here, breathing this misty, humid, pine-scented air. Soon it would also be free air.
Gosetsu led them to the House of the Fierce, for he recognized the lay of the land, and in a couple days they were hiking up the Valley of the Fallen Rainbow. They stopped inside the entrance to the cave, near to a sentry near-vibrating in his excitement. “Here we are!” Hien said cheerfully. “I wonder if they are all gathered inside, waiting… perhaps expecting a speech or some such…” He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. “Well! No matter! I shall have to do what I shall have to do!”
“You cannot go wrong,” Achiyo assured him. “Your energy and hope are infectious, truly.” He did not have Aymeric’s experience in commanding, or speechmaking – well, he was quite a bit younger, was he not? She was a couple years older than him, if she remembered right.
“Thank you, Achiyo. I will believe in you as you believe in me.” He nodded to her, and led them through the door.
Gosetsu had gone ahead in the last few bells to announce Hien’s coming, and he was there, with Yugiri and Alphinaud and Alisaie. Achiyo’s heart leapt in her breast from the joy of seeing them, and she wanted to rush to greet them – but this was not her moment.
“Brothers and sisters, pray forgive me my absence,” Hien said to the room at large. “It has been far too long.”
“Lord Hien!” Yugiri hurried close and dropped to one knee.”Gosetsu told us of your trials and tribulations on the Steppe. Would that I had been present to witness your victory, my lord.”
“Our victory, Yugiri,” Hien said, “owed as much to each of my stalwart comrades as it did to me. Now, rise – I will not suffer this excess of formality any longer.” She did so, and he turned to the twins. “Alphinaud and Alisiae Leveilleur, I presume? I am told we owe you much. It is a pleasure to meet you both.”
Alphinaud bowed elegantly. “The pleasure is ours, Lord Hien. Though we were born and raised a world apart, our values are one and the same: freedom, justice, liberty. Each of which Doma shall soon enjoy once more.”
“Hopefully,” Alisaie put in. “I understand you have brought an army?”
“Indeed. The Xaela tribes of the Azim Steppe have pledged their military might to the cause.”
“Good,” Alisaie said. “We, meanwhile, have secured the support of the Confederacy, and a not-insignificant number of your countrymen. The Blue Kojin, too, have expressed a willingness to join the fight – provided you agree to certain trade agreements following the liberation of Doma.”
“The shinobi will render what aid they can,” Yugiri said. “However, Sui-no-Sato refused to answer our call.”
Hien shrugged at that. “No matter. What forces we have amassed far exceed my original expectations. You have my thanks.”
“You should know that Zenos departed Doma not long after you left to find Lord Hien, and has not returned since,” Alphinaud said to the other Scions. “We know not the reason why, but it would seem he was eager to return to Gyr Abania.”
“What? Have you heard anything from the Resistance?” Lyse asked anxiously. “There hasn’t been another attack, has there?”
“Tataru assures me they are quite well,” Alphinaud said. “You need not worry. If anything, this turn of events would seem to be to our advantage.”
Several people looked at Tam. “Did you want me to say ‘I told you so’ or something?” he said.
“No need,” Alisaie said to him, and continued the report. “There the good news ends. Yotsuyu retains her position as acting viceroy, and we have reports that the garrison at Doma Castle is preparing for a massive operation… We suspect that the Empire’s attempt to eliminate you on the Steppe may have been a prelude to a larger effort to purge the remaining pockets of resistance within Doma.”
“The hour of reckoning is upon us,” Gosetsu said.
“And we shall rise to meet it,” Achiyo said.
Hien laughed. “Hah hah hah! Well I for one am not inclined to argue. It will not be easy, that much I cannot deny. Do not forget, however, that we have been blessed with comrades brave and true, whom the Empire will have no appetite to face. If you doubt me, you need only look in the mirror. In this place, in this moment, I call upon you all! Twenty-eight years of oppression, of tyranny, of shame – it ends with us! We will prevail!”
The rebels in the cave erupted in cheers, and a bustle of activity – it looked like everyone was fired up by that speech, and no one wanted to be caught slacking by Lord Hien. But the returned Scions did not have tasks yet, and approached Alphinaud.
He greeted them with a warm smile. “Once more, welcome back. It is good to see you again, my friends.”
Achiyo stepped forward, and… hugged him, surprising even herself. She did not give hugs lightly, but she had not seen him nigh on six moons and he and Alisaie were very dear to her.
“Are ye doin’ all right in the head?” Chuchupa asked her.
“Oh, yes, it’s reunion hugs time!” R’nyath cried, and grabbed both twins at once, and Achiyo, dragging them into a group hug. “C’mon, everyone!”
Lyse joined in, Rinala joined in, Kekeniro and Lilidi joined in, and then Alisaie struggled free with a groan. “Don’t make it weird, if you please. We are happy to see you too. But that really is not something I overly enjoy.”
“Forgive me,” Achiyo said, stepping away. “I was… overcome. It has been so long, and I missed the both of you.”
“You are forgiven,” Alphinaud said, straightening his clothes and clearing his throat. “Alas, there is not the time yet to hear your no-doubt thrilling tales of adventure on the Steppe. There is yet much to be done if we are to mount our attack ere the Empire launches theirs.”
“Yes, give us tasks,” Vivienne said. “What can we do? Back to what we were doing before?”
“We always require more recruiters, combat trainers, or scouts. Kekeniro, at some point I must inquire as to the general tactics of the warriors of the Steppe. Aentfryn, I would trouble you to return to the creation of medicines as you were doing before…”
“So in Alphinaud’s plan, I will be with the Xaela,” Lilidi said. “The khagan should lead from the front, especially if it’s her cause and not theirs.”
“Maybe not the front-front, though,” Kekeniro said. “Not right now.”
She gave him a look of exasperation. “I can still fight, and for a good while longer. Don’t hold me back just for that. I’ll let you know when I should withdraw from the field, I promise.”
“It’s not that I don’t think you can fight,” Kekeniro said. “It’s just that of the dangers we all face every time we go to fight, now our child will be in them too. I would be devastated to lose you to some freak accident or something, of course. But to lose you and our child before I can even meet them…” He gave her the most pitiful sad look.
Oh, she knew what he was doing. Any time he really wanted something, which was admittedly not often, he’d use that look. And it usually worked, too. But she wasn’t going to give in without a fight. “That won’t happen. I’m too good for that. You’re not going to sideline me when I can still help, are you?” She made her own puppy-eyes at him.
For a minute they struggled, both trying to make their expressions as pathetic and pleading as they could. But someone had to give in eventually. “Oh, fine!” Lilidi cried. She didn’t have the patience Kekeniro did… and she never could resist those big grey eyes. “I’ll stick with Cirina and use archery beside her, is that good enough?”
Now he was all smiles. “That will be perfect, thank you.” He gave her a smooch and ran away blushing.
Achiyo and Alisaie had decided to go scouting together. Vivienne was continuing her task of training the Liberation Front soldiers and villagers alike in physical combat, with Gosetsu now joining her, and Achiyo did not envy her trainees. Rinala had been sent to Kugane to check in with Tataru. Chuchupa had returned to liaise with the Confederacy. Tam was apparently off playing with the Namazu, who were not even involved. But keeping track of the Imperial positions was vitally important. Alisaie had made a long campaign of knowing what they were doing first-hand, and invited Achiyo to come with her.
For some hours, the only combat they saw was against wild animals, and for no other reason than that they were travelling through wilderness. The beasts had not been displaced by Imperial activity, they only thought the two small women might be dinner. It was a situation that Achiyo remembered well. Though one of their encounters was very close to the road. “Damn it all,” Alisaie sighed. “I can’t just leave the carcass lying here like this. I’ll deal with it, but for now you should go on ahead. I’ll catch up soon.”
“Very well,” Achiyo said. “Be safe.”
Alisaie nodded and grabbed the tiger’s forelimb, dragging it bodily into the brush. For a moment, Achiyo thought she ought not to leave her. Tigers ambushed their prey. But they were also solitary creatures, were they not? Having killed this one, there was much less chance of her being attacked again in the immediate vicinity. Achiyo set off on the other side of the road.
It was only a few minutes later she came across a group of ‘farmers’ who were definitely not farmers. They might have Doman faces, but their posture was wrong, their speech was wrong, their location was wrong, and their excuse for being there weak.
And on being called out, they attacked her. It was two on one, as the officer fled, but she was not afraid of the odds, and she trusted that Alisaie would pick up the runner. Those she faced had Imperial-Doma-division standard training, fighting with katana instead of gunblades, well enough to subdue the local populace but not enough to overcome someone of her training and experience. In under a minute they were both slain before her, and she had not sustained a scratch.
She looked for Alisaie. As she expected, the man who had run knelt before the young woman, clutching his shoulder where there was a burn mark on his rough farmer’s kimono. “Thank you for securing him.”
“I saw them attack you, while this one fled,” Alisaie said, keeping her rapier trained on him. “An Imperial, I presume?”
“Yes,” Achiyo said. “They fought as Imperials.” She turned to him. “What were you truly doing in this place?”
“I knew it would come to this,” the middle-aged man muttered. “But at the hands of a Westerner? A Doman would at least know the rites…”
“You are in no position to request rites,” Achiyo said. “Answer the question.”
He shot her a venomous look. “You think you understand, but you do not. She will burn it all before she surrenders. She will never kneel again. Nor should she…”
Viper-quick, he lunged at her, drawing a knife from his obi. A fine time to receive an Echo, Achiyo thought as she staggered back, as Alisaie’s blade flashed-
“…Rest assured, the Naeuri will receive due compensation,” said an Imperial officer – an officer with a Doman face – the same officer who had just attacked her. Well, this was his Echo, was it not? He was much younger, but she could not tell how long ago this was. “Young Asahi has great potential – that much is plain. If he applies himself, he may one day be granted the opportunity to go to Garlemald and learn from some of the leading authorities in the field of magitek. Few citizens are afforded such treatment, however – much less people of the provinces. You will need to do more-”
“Oh, oh, of course!” interrupted the mother he was speaking to, putting a proud hand on her small son’s shoulder. “Have no doubt that we shall! My husband and I want only the best Imperial education for our boy!”
As the Imperial inhaled to reply, a horrifically skinny girl in a kimono hardly more than rags appeared around the corner of the farmhouse. “I’ve finished planting the rice, Mother…”
The mother whirled, glaring at the girl. “Not while the officer is here, Yotsuyu! Inside! Now!”
“Yes, Mother,” said the girl in a dull voice, and hurried inside.
The Imperial watched her, his face carefully impassive. But perhaps there was some horror and sympathy in his eyes. “You did not mention you had a daughter.”
The mother turned back to him with a forced laugh of unconcern. “My sister’s, not mine – kami rest her soul.” She sighed, as if fondly exasperated; it felt very fake. “She is utterly hopeless, but one cannot choose one’s family.” The little boy rolled his eyes.
“Indeed…” said the officer slowly. “She is of age to receive an education as well, is she not? Yet we have no records. I trust I need not remind you of your legal obligations-”
“No, no! Of course not!” The mother waved her arms. “But she is weak and sickly. Some days, she has not the strength to leave her bed!” Then why was she planting rice? One of the most arduous tasks a farmer could do? Achiyo questioned her transparent lie, and so did the officer, it seemed. But a cunning look crossed the mother’s face, and the officer’s eyebrow twitched in curiosity. “Though… a thought occurs to me. Mayhap we can come to an understanding…”
Achiyo awoke to find herself still standing in the road, with the officer dead at her feet, blood pooling from the rapier stab wound in his back.
“That was a near thing,” Alisaie gasped, attempting to remain cool and collected, but she was a little too shaken. “What happened? We were talking, and then all of a sudden you were somewhere else. Did one of those soldiers hit you on the head or something?”
“No, they could not touch me,” Achiyo said slowly. Yotsuyu had had a very unhappy childhood, that much was evident. But what did that have to do with her actions now? Many people had unhappy childhoods and did not become tyrants. Though most did not have the opportunity to.
Percival had protected her from that sort of life. He could have put her up to be adopted by farmers, craft workers, any Hingan, really, and he had not, because he wanted a guarantee that she would not be abused and he did not trust easily. The one time he had perhaps found someone, he offered her the choice, and she chose to continue following him.
“Let us hide the bodies,” Alisaie said, and grabbed the dead officer’s ankles to drag him off. Achiyo hauled him up under the shoulders to take the other end. “We do not have the tools to bury them, but we can at least ensure they are not immediately discovered. Though it is only a matter of time before their comrades note their absence.” She sighed. “As if we needed any more reason to act quickly…”
“Mm,” Achiyo said, still thinking about the vision. He had said ‘she will never kneel again’. Had he been something like a Percival to Yotsuyu? Had he rescued her from her awful home and… but wait, was it not true that Yotsuyu had been a courtesan before being appointed viceroy – ah, but a spy as well. Perhaps it was not the whole story. And no matter the story, Yotsuyu was still a cruel murderer and would have to die for there to be peace in Doma. Let her unhappy tale come to a close.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Alisaie asked, looking at her more closely. “You’ve become awfully quiet.”
Achiyo shook herself. “‘Tis nothing important. Only… the ‘she’ that he spoke of… is Yotsuyu. The Echo showed me their first meeting, when she was a child. A starved, abused child… I do not know what it means.”
“Hm.” Alisaie did not know what to make of that, it seemed. “Perhaps you should tell the others, though I don’t know what good it will do.”
Well, if Yotsuyu’s past had no privacy from her enemies, Achiyo probably could not complain about her own being given out so freely to her friends.
“Soooo, how’s the recruits?” R’nyath asked Vivienne, his hands innocently behind his back as they followed Hien and Achiyo down the hill towards the former city. The sun was going to set, but there was nothing wrong with setting out at that time of day. Twilight would only aid them in skulking about.
“Not bad, not bad,” Vivienne said. “They should manage to stay alive for a while, if they stick together and don’t panic as soon as they hit real combat.”
“They’re farmers,” R’nyath said sympathetically. “Anyone is capable of great deeds under pressure, but it’s easier when you have experience in high pressure situations.”
“I’m a high pressure situation to them,” Vivienne said. “After all, I wear black armour too. Surely they must have gotten the shite scared out of them by me enough that the Imperials will hardly give them pause, especially if we hype them up properly beforehand. Young Isse in particular has become very fierce. I think he understands why his parents went now.” Whether it was a desire to protect his sister, and to stay alive so that she’d have a family when all was said and done, or whether it was partly a wish to get closer to Yugiri – Vivienne had noticed him staring time and again, though Yugiri hadn’t registered a thing – either way, he was one of the hardest-working volunteers in the entire Liberation Front.
They were coming up to low brick walls, a gridded town, and suddenly everyone got quiet. These walls were burned, and the buildings behind them in ruins. Achiyo gasped softly.
“Did you know this place well?” Vivienne asked.
“I lived in the castle, not the town,” Achiyo said. “But I often visited, with Tori and the other girls, or later with Percival. Yes, I knew it well.”
Hien nodded. “Monzen was home to many great and powerful families. Men of honour – samurai. Once…”
“This was Yotsuyu’s doing, Tori said,” Achiyo whispered, gazing around with a deep sadness. “When she came into power. She killed so many.”
“What little remains stands as a testament to what was… and what will never be again.” Hien stared at the remains of what once had been a brightly painted building. The gate before it was stumps, and the low wall around it was broken down as if a magitek walker had stomped through it. The building itself was a tangled pile of charred planks and shattered roof tiles. Hien inhaled and gestured. “…Come. I would take a closer look at the city centre.”
“Ware, something moves,” Vivienne said, a hand on her swordhilt.
“No sentries, at least of the living sort. Those shambling suits of armour have the run of the place,” Hien said, as they carefully made their way down the street, using the remains of the wall judiciously to avoid what looked like large suits of steel samurai armour. “Once we built them for our defence… but when we were defeated the first time, we were forced to hand them over.”
“I’m sure Yotsuyu thinks it’s very funny to use them here,” R’nyath muttered. “I can’t imagine – this would be like… coming home to find Gridania burned to the ground.” He exchanged glances with Vivienne, and she got what he was talking about, she was from the Black Shroud too.
“I am not overly fond of Gridania myself,” she said. “But I cannot contemplate its destruction with any joy either. And if the Empire wins that is precisely what they will do, after the trouble we’ve given them all these decades.” And now she was lumping herself in with them, too. Well, it was the wisest course against the Empire.
“Since the Agrius, at least, and that wasn’t us that stopped them,” R’nyath said. “That was ol’ Middy.”
Past the creaking armours, Hien stopped again and looked around at the devastation. “To think this was once a bustling street, so full of life… a river of people, with a current all its own… …But even then, the Imperials walked among us. Sometimes openly, sometimes discreetly, but we were always aware of their presence. And we… we were complicit. He did what he had to do to preserve the peace. To keep our people safe. But at what cost…”
Achiyo was already more pale than usual, from the shock of what she was seeing, no doubt, but she made a small noise as of pain at Hien’s words.
“What’s the matter-” Vivienne began to say.
Flames raged through the darkening night, throwing the world into a confusion of lights and blackness and smoke, and for a moment Vivienne thought she was seeing her own Echo. But no, there was Achiyo, and Percival… beside a bunch of Garleans. They were on the edge of a burning Doman village. “Kami,” Achiyo breathed in horror.
Percival was breathing hard and hanging back. She heard him mutter “It’s happening again…” Achiyo looked at him in concern, but the Garlean captain shouted and pointed, and Achiyo ran to obey. Gods, had they been conscripted? She hadn’t just seen this land’s suffering, she had actively been involved in it, and Vivienne could not imagine it had been willingly.
Three people burst out of a burning building in front of Achiyo, coughing and choking. Vivienne saw her hesitate, just barely. She smashed into the front one with her shield, knocking her to the ground, parried the desperate strike of the second one and stabbed, and turned to the third – and froze.
“Mother! Father!” shrieked the smallest figure – a child!
Achiyo instantly sheathed her sword and picked up the child, dragging them back with her towards where Percival had been. People rushed around her, dark shapes in the fires’ light, shouting, buildings collapsed with groaning crashes. The child was struggling against her and screaming. A tall person with a spear charged her, and she turned aside to protect the child, catching the spearhead on her shield. But he attacked again and again, and her arm slipped. The spear went into her side.
She let out a cry of agony, dropping the child who vanished into the darkness, but before the spearman could attack again, Percival was there, in front of her, driving him away. Achiyo slumped to her knees, and then to the ground.
The Echo blinked momentarily, and Percival was cradling Achiyo in his arms, calling – no, begging for help. He sounded scared.
“I’m all right,” Achiyo mumbled, her eyes flickering open woozily.
“You are godsdamned well not,” Percival said, his voice shaking. “Seven hells, the blood- Captain Lowe! Please-”
“Medic!” the Garlean captain called over the melee, and a shorter Imperial ran up with a magitek conjurer’s staff. They lifted it, it gave a green glow, and Achiyo began to breathe easier.
Achiyo scrambled to her feet and swayed as she got there. Blood loss, no doubt. Percival supported her. “Easy, easy, girl. The battle’s done.”
“There was a child – I was trying to save them-”
“They’re long gone by now, and better for them,” Percival said quietly. “They’re not taking prisoners.”
“Were there… other children?” Achiyo asked with fear.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I couldn’t… I couldn’t see well.”
“Form up,” said the Garlean Captain, and she sounded tired. “Kensaki, on your feet?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Achiyo said.
“Back to base,” the Garlean ordered. “Wounded in the middle. Heslin, take point.”
Vivienne stared at Achiyo. “At what cost, indeed?”
Achiyo stared back, her eyes unreadable. “What was it now?”
Vivienne shook her head.
R’nyath visibly held himself back from jumping to hug Achiyo, his ears downfallen in distress. “A town on fire. Garleans everywhere. You got stabbed with a spear. I’m so sorry.”
“Ah.” Achiyo’s gaze unfocused, looking wearily into the past.
“Hm?” Hien looked back and forth between all of them. “What do you speak of? The past?”
“Remember we told you about our Warrior of Light superpower?” R’nyath said. “The Echo?”
“You saw her fighting the Garleans in the past?” Hien asked.
“No,” Vivienne said. “She was… she was with them.”
Achiyo looked at Vivienne, even more unreadable than before. “I can make no excuses for my presence or participation in that massacre. I could tell you we were only there at Kaien-sama’s behest, and yet… he would not have wanted it to happen. Perhaps all I can say is that I was still young and inexperienced. I should have tried to stop it, to end my participation. I do not think I would have succeeded, yet I should have tried anyway. But in the moment, I did not know what to do.” She paused. “Do you hate me for it?”
There was a silence. “You wouldn’t be the first person coerced into cooperating,” R’nyath said. “Gosetsu even had to fight in their army, like for years, and we don’t hate him. The only reason we fight their conscripts is because keeping ourselves alive is more important.”
Vivienne was slower to answer. But… “No. I don’t hate you. I know you.”
Her answer was more complicated than that. And she should give it to Achiyo eventually. But right now, that was all the reassurance she could offer.
“You were involved with my father?” Hien asked. “Beyond living at the castle?”
“Kaien-sama sometimes hired Percival for independent tasks that he could not ask of a samurai,” Achiyo said. “Once I became skilful enough to stand beside him, I joined him. There was an incident where the Garleans demanded the loan of a number of samurai, and Kaien-sama chose us to fill up the balance rather than risk those he could not trust not to get killed. He asked, of course. He would have accepted a refusal. But I was naive, and wished to aid him, for he had been kind to me. I did not know… what might happen… The Garleans were hunting terrorists, they said. But they were not terrorists in the end… but families…” Her voice trailed off into a whisper and she stopped talking abruptly.
Hien put a hand on her shoulder. “I can blame you no more than I can blame my father, or, yes, Gosetsu. He did the best he could – and so have you. And now we fight together against those who have wrought such grief.”
“Yes,” Achiyo said, but still she seemed distant.
“Two things,” R’nyath said. “First of all, we’re not gonna tell the others. At least not right now. Not without your permission.” Hien and Vivienne nodded. That was reasonable.
“Thank you,” Achiyo said quietly, but she relaxed a little.
“Secondly, hey, nobody’s perfect. Except your fiancé.”
That brought a tiny smile to her face. “He is not… which only makes him more so.”
“Yeah! That’s it. Are you okay now?”
“I will be fine,” Achiyo said, and looked to Hien. “Let us continue.”
They walked further down the street. Vivienne was still engrossed in her thoughts. Conflicting thoughts. She did not hate Achiyo, no. But she was still upset that she had been in such a situation, whether she was responsible for it or not-
Not five steps further and a hulking shape of steel burst through a ruined door on their right, swinging a massive curved blade down at Hien. Vivienne’s reflexes kicked in, and she shoved him out of the way and parried. R’nyath snapped an arrow off at its helm. Achiyo helped Hien regain his balance, and they moved to flank the thing as Vivienne goaded it to follow her a little into the open so they had more room to stab it in the back.
Between the four of them, it did not last long, and it collapsed with a groan of stressed metal. Hien nodded in thanks to Vivienne, and they all looked around cautiously. Surely more would have been drawn to the sounds of conflict. But the other kiyofusa – Yugiri had told her the name – were still patrolling mindlessly, walking what looked like pre-determined routes, pausing now and again to scan their surroundings. None of them showed any sign that they had heard a scuffle.
Hien shrugged and gestured that they should keep going, and so they made it to the riverside without further incident. Across the water loomed the walls of the castle, a circular structure poised in the centre of the One River just below a picturesque cataract. The walls were painted red, and the centre of the palace that rose into a rather squat spire above it was ornately decorated in dark green and gold.
Hien knelt behind a pile of rubble on the edge of the river-facing road, wary of eyes from the castle. “There she is. Doma Castle. My home. They let us keep her for a time, before gradually moving their forces across from Fluminis. Now her every court and corridor belongs to Yotsuyu. Though Father spent much of his time there, I did not. I may only have visited him there on half a dozen occasions, if that. I cannot remember.”
“So I was unusually fortunate to meet you even once,” Achiyo said, slightly teasing.
A faint smile crossed Hien’s face. “Indeed. I think Yugiri visited more than I did, honestly. She spoke of you sometimes, you know.”
“I wondered how you knew my name,” she said.
“Did you ever get to climb to the highest floors?” he asked, gesturing to the spire.
“Only once or twice,” Achiyo said. “You must have been there on every visit.”
“Well… I didn’t have much choice, given that my bedchamber was up there too,” Hien said. “But… I remember the view from the keep. I spent hours looking out, sometimes. Doma seemed much smaller from there. Like you could hold it in your hands. Well, Monzen at least. Doma is so much more than that.”
He was silent a moment, looking not at the castle anymore, but towards the One River. “There, beyond the Moon Gates, unto the shores of the Ruby Sea, and here, in the places that no one can see or touch or take from you… We carry her with us, wheresoever we go. Not the land or the soil… but the story. And what is life if not a story? The story of our journey from dawn to dusk, day after day after day. The story of our mothers and our fathers, our families and our friends, our peoples and our nations.” He looked back at all of them. “I think a part of me understood that, when I looked out from the keep. Hien, son of Kaien. Another caretaker of the story of Doma.”
He turned back to the castle. “It’s a fine castle, truly, with an even finer view. But in the end… In… in the end…” He paused.
“What’s up?” R’nyath asked. “Sounds like you thought of something.”
“Kami strike me down, how could I be so blind!” Hien smacked his fist into his upturned palm, then stood and turned to go with alacrity. “We must return to the House of the Fierce at once! I have had what can only be described as a revelation. Ours is an excellent plan, but not so excellent that it cannot be improved – and I know how.”
Plans had been laid. Alliances had been formed. And now Achiyo walked quietly through the cavern of the House of the Fierce. The soft glow of the restored aetheryte shone down on her, almost too bright for her eyes at this late hour.
Someone walked unduly briskly from one of the other rooms, but it was only Lyse, who saw her and came towards her. “You’re awake. I was just, um… Well, they threw me out, actually. Told me I needed to get some sleep, ready for the big day.”
“You should,” Achiyo agreed. “We shall both be in the thick of it for certain. I will go soon as well.”
Lyse nodded, but did not move, looking up at the aetheryte too. “Not long now, eh? I’m nervous, of course, but I also feel like… like I didn’t know where I was going, but maybe, finally… Something’s gonna change, you know? Really, really change. And when the dust has settled, we’ll see what we’ve won… and what we’ve lost…”
Achiyo had a sudden flashback to Ishgard, about to go fight Nidhogg with Estinien. The anticipation, the anxiety… “We have always won through by dint of hard preparation, concerted effort, and our trust in each other. We shall do so again. It shall be worth everything.”
Lyse nodded with determination. “I’m going to give it my all tomorrow. Everything I’ve seen and felt… I won’t let it be for nothing. Right. Off to bed! Don’t want to overdo it – and neither should you.” She looked around and lowered her voice. “Oh, but before you sleep, you should look in on Alphinaud and Alisaie. Quietly, of course.”
Achiyo looked at her questioningly, but Lyse only gave her a mysterious smile and a wave before trotting off to the dorms.
Achiyo slowly entered the room Lyse had left, looking around for – there, at one of the tables in the back, two white heads close together. The twins had fallen asleep on each other; Alisaie’s head on Alphinaud’s shoulder, and Alphinaud’s head resting against the top of Alisaie’s. Achiyo smiled fondly to see it.
“Ha, another restless soul!” Hien called from across the room. Achiyo spun to shush him, and he lowered his voice – and his sake cup. “Come, come – raise a glass to freedom.”
He was sitting with Gosetsu, Aentfryn, and R’nyath, who gestured at an open seat at the table. Gosetsu was drinking from the sake jar itself, and there were several more on the table. They must have been at it for some time already.
“We shouldn’t be drinking,” Aentfryn muttered, and tossed off another cup. Selene, on his shoulder, stretched with great nonchalance and waved at Achiyo.
“How long have they been asleep?” she asked as she sat with them. Hien poured her a cup, and she had a sip. It was not amazing sake, but she would not begrudge the Liberation Front a lack of expensive inebriants.
“A while,” R’nyath said. “Gosh, they’ve been working so hard. They need sleep at their age.”
“It is so easy to forget how young they are,” Hien said. “Not even full-grown.”
Achiyo smiled. “Alphinaud used to be so stand-offish, and Alisiae was never around… but now they are like to family.”
“You already adopted a family,” R’nyath said.
“One can never have too much family,” Achiyo retorted. Certainly, she already had two Elezen brothers in Artoirel and Emmanellain, but Alphinaud was also very brotherly, and Alisaie was very like a sister after all they had spent time in the field together. ‘Found family’, Alisaie had called it back in the Ruby Sea. “You have the largest blood family of any of us.”
“Haha, yeah, true,” R’nyath giggled, slightly drunk. “I’d adopt them as my kids, for sure.”
“Let us not go that far,” Aentfryn said. “They already have parents. Surrogate niece and nephew, perhaps.”
“It is clear that you are all very close,” Gosetsu said. “But yes, they are very young. Very strong, and intelligent and brave, but they must be protected despite their strengths.”
Everyone was in accord on that.
Gosetsu turned to Achiyo. “Now! I should be interested to know your thoughts on the matter of the castle as well.”
Hien rolled his eyes in exasperation. “That’s enough, Gosetsu. You’ll not convince anyone with your drunken ramblings. We’ve talked about this. All of us. We are flooding the castle tomorrow, and that’s the end of it.” He sounded so much like a chiding parent.
“I know, I know!” Gosetsu lifted his hand peaceably. “I accepted your decision, and I do not intend to go back on my word. Nevertheless, as the battle draws near, I cannot help but recall our many travails, and it fair compels me to speak…” Though he needed a moment to compose himself first. “In all my time serving as a leader of men, there are two failures which haunt me to this day. The first, our defeat at the hands of the Empire twenty-eight years past, and the subsequent imprisonment of your father. Long did I consider offering up my life in atonement, until Lord Kaien, allowed at last to receive visitors, called for me of all people… “For my unborn child,” he said, “for my dearest Shun – live!”
Hien drank again.
Gosetsu went on. “My second failure, of course, was the betrayal of that selfsame command, when in the rebellion I failed to protect not only Lord Kaien, but Lord Hien too… That I yet live, having known such disgrace, is an affront to the kami themselves… Yet you… all of you… saw fit to grant this shameful creature, this failure, another chance… to serve a greater purpose… Thank you… for pitying an old fool…” He broke down, wiping his eyes.
“Now, now, it is far too soon for that,” Hien said. “Save your tears for the morrow. You may be sure we will have ample cause to shed them, be they for joy or despair. Bah! Even that sounds morose. We who yet walk the path should not think too much on the destination. When the hour arrives, we shall welcome what comes with open arms.”
Achiyo’s hand went to touch her ring hanging about her neck. “Gosetsu… I don’t believe it is that we ‘granted’ you another chance. We have not the right to claim that one way or another. You had the courage and strength of will to take another chance, no matter what. We should be cruel indeed to reject that, and so would the kami.” Though in the rigid world of samurai honour, it would be proper to be cruel. She had been raised too Western to fully hold with some of the culture of her own people. And yet too Eastern to fit in with Westerners.
“Hear, hear,” R’nyath said. “I think this is some samurai thing, but I don’t think you need to carry shame for failing to win against the Empire. They did somehow get half the world already, you know. And Hien pulled through because you trained him well!”
Gosetsu gave a half-bow of acknowledgement, blew his nose on a napkin, and didn’t answer.
“He is right about one thing, though,” Hien said to the Warriors of Light. “We have you and yours to thank for this chance. All debts will be repaid. On that you have my word. But first, we must live past tomorrow, no?” He turned and raised his voice towards the door. “If you’ve no intention of sleeping, Yugiri, you may as well join us.”
Yugiri stepped out of the shadows of the door, where she had apparently been hiding for some time. “Forgive me, my lord. I did not mean to, uh… If that is your will…” She collected herself, bowed, and came over to them with a warm smile.
Chapter 60: The Fall of Doma Castle
Author’s note: The lorebomb in this chapter was pretty unexpected to me when I was writing Achiyo’s backstory, but it allows for some other interesting developments that I’m looking forward to. I only wish I’d had it years ago, I feel there’s some stuff from ARR that could have benefited from the nuance the resulting internal conflict would have brought. If I were a rewritey kind of person, maybe I’d do that eventually? But I really am not. It takes me forever just to make minor changes; I haven’t even changed the bit in Chapter 40 where Aymeric says he’s not really into dancing even though his bio says the opposite (and any fairy-tale romantic lead worth his salt needs to either sing or dance if not both).
Ahhhhh chronology math is hard! Hien is canonically 25, but he’s the same age as the fall of Doma, and Doma was like 25 years before ARR, but ARR is now three years ago… so Hien is 28 in my fic?? I keep forgetting when they bring it up. I wonder if I missed any dates in the fic since SB began? (I realize this is why in actual FFXIV everything takes place in one year – or time stands still, except for when they’re like “two months on a boat later” – but my world isn’t quite that magical.) I keep a document with just ages to try and keep it straight (Hien is actually 27, he’s a little younger than the fall, and two years younger than Achiyo, who is now 29, and she’s four years younger than Aymeric, who is now 33, which would be the same age as Thancred except we met Thancred a year before Aymeric so Thancred is 34 because he’s 13 years older than Rinala who is now 21). Forgive for the confusion. (I haven’t even added birthdays into the mix, that would be too much. Achiyo is the only person with an official birthday right now.)