This is Gonna be Tasty!

Didn’t we establish that Shigure walks in on him doing that because their dorm rooms are in the same building?

“I don’t see it as a punishment for him,” she replied quite sharply. She wasn’t trying to start anything hostile. However, the conversation was very much reminding her of when she used to be going over plans in the war councils; years and years ago. 

Nothing good enough… go and rethink, you’re being too soft, you shouldn’t consider the enemy only your own.

“I am only taking into the consideration the safety of my son, as well as his wife and her companions,” Daedra made a point of staring the ninja dead in the eye upon that statement. A dangerous thing to do, she figured, like staring down a tiger before it pounced on your throat.

“Royalty traveling across country sides is a big and dangerous affair. I have tried my best to make the Nohrian castle welcoming and safe for you and I’m sorry I couldn’t. I don’t have any power on the long roads to Hoshido, nor back to Nohr, and neither does Queen Hinoka. I’m sorry but I won’t give you an immediate answer as you’d like, but I have a lot of lives and safety to consider.”

No one was really aware of her tactical savvy, save for her husband, and she was happy to keep it that way. It was frustrating enough in situations like this with thinking of everything that could go wrong… every outcome that could happen. Daedra was sure she wouldn’t be able to stand being the central figure in a war council ever again. She’d fought through three wars to this point…  still, she would not allow herself to crumple now.

“Consider me selfish, but to Siegbert, I am his mother before I am a ruler. You can make accusations all you want, but you can’t ask a good parent to turn a blind eye to their children’s welfare. I made a personal promise to Queen Hinoka that I would protect her daughter, as well as the children from her nation. I can only do that here…”

“Furthermore, the moment any of you cross the border to Hoshido, the priority of your safety falls to her. From what I saw of his last visit, King Subaki acted rather unwell… and I personally think it unfair if your Queen has to shoulder it all on her own.”

The Queen of Hoshido was a tough woman. Fiery and unwilling to take nonsense she saw unfit… atleast to a degree she could afford. The redhead reminded her so much of one of her companions; it was hard for Daedra not to like her. 

“As I said, I would like Siegbert to go so he may gain some benefit. I would like you all to go there if that is what you truly wish.”

“Milady, I would advise you do not speak of King Subaki in such a manner. His ‘unwell condition’ is due almost entirely to the stress this particular arrangement has caused him. You speak of the concern you would have if Siegbert went to stay at Hoshido for a few months -- when you consider that he is undergoing the same stress as well as everything else this war has taken from him. Perhaps he is not handling it as well as Queen Hinoka is, but I doubt you’d be held to the same standards as King Xander if the roles were reversed.”

He folded his arms, tilting his head to the side slightly with thoughtfulness at the rest of her comments, however. “I understand that traveling is more perilous than staying put, but I assumed that you would send a convoy to ensure everyone’s safety. Are you telling me that the great and powerful Nohr, victor of the most terrible war that either of our countries have ever seen is incapable of such a feat? How does your family travel anywhere if only two retainers is considered sufficient protection from ne’er-do-wells?”

He was getting a bit sassy, he knew, but it all sounded like excuses. EXCUSES for why this trip was too dangerous or too perilous to undertake. King Subaki was untrustworthy. It wasn’t safe enough. She was worried about her son. She only cared about their well being enough to provide enrichment to their tiny cage -- not to set them free. 

Ah, yes, a coward who lurked in the shadows indeed. Still, that did not bring him any pride or joy. He would not claim to be a saint that could sleep well at night, nor that his country had not taken actions of terrible harm under his father’s rule and orders that he hadn’t refused. He was culpable, guilty, stained black as tar.

But he wasn’t his father. He wouldn’t become his father, either. There was much work to be done for the sake of his country, much to be done to suture Hoshido’s senseless wounds too deep to mend without scars. He looked towards a bigger, brighter picture. A long, hard road, one he may not have been able to accomplish in his lifetime, but one he knew must be walked. As a new King of Nohr towards a new era of peace, no matter the dissenters.

It was a plan that he could not give up on, nor lie down and perish before even the hint of fruition.

“Very well then, Saizo.” He drew Siegfried, “You may try.”

A shame this young man fought so hard to be denied vengeance. 

A shame Xander could not even picture his father’s face amongst so many others fallen at his hands.

A shame this whole world was, truly.

“I’ll do much better than try, murderer!” Saizo spat, the flame of fury kindling in his young eyes. It didn’t matter if he knew he was sorely outmatched and that it would be unheard of for a single fledgling ninja to try to defeat the famed warrior in head to head combat. He’d kill Xander or die trying. Those were the only paths for a Saizo. After a long life of being nothing by a failure by every qualification, he dare not fail now. 

Family tree bullshit aside, I’ll probably always say Rev is valid at least because it’s the only “mostly everyone lives” verse we fuckin’ got and before Heroes was a thing was the only way you could feasibly have units locked to one game or the other be friendly and it not feel like it came out of nowhere, so. 

It gets a passing grade in my book. Not a high one... Maybe a B-

“Siegbert is not who you should be concerned with on such matters,” the Queen said. “He still has a lot to learn for himself, but you’re making him more of an enemy than he truly is. I hope you’ll take a moment to reflect on that.”

That was all she was say on that matter. Daedra could preach and decree all she wished, but it was pointless to closed ears. 

“Still… experience is far better of a teacher than books. I’m sure Xander would agree on that sentiment, as he would have to approve of the trip if it is to happen. I’m sure he’ll agree, though I can’t predict what time he’ll allow for. Afterall, Siegbert is his heir and he wants him close to Nohr to learn to properly rule over it. I can try to push for something appropriate, but I can’t make a full promise to you.”

Daedra was rather unease of her son going to Hoshido for a long amount of time, if she were honest. Missing him aside, the way the ninja phrased it …. “a better understanding of what they’d been through”. The Queen wanted to hope it simply meant being far from familiarity… and not other things. 

The queen was caught a bit off guard by his later comment. Frankly… she was unsure how to answer that didn’t seem so… callous. 

“I’m afraid I feel quite different than you think,’ she told him solemnly. “The country I felt at home with wasn’t my native one, and if I’m honest… I miss the people more. Now though… Nohr is my home, because my family is here now. I’ve never felt like I was apart of a place… but more so with people I was with.”

“It is telling that you seem to think this is some sort of punishment for him and not a genuine attempt to get him to better understand the customs of the country his wife hails from and that he’s to be allied with in the coming decades,” Saizo replied tersely. How very Nohrian to get offended over being told that they actually had to expend effort to understand other countries instead of assuming the world revolved around them!

“I do not consider Siegbert an enemy; I consider him ignorant,” Saizo continued, blunt as ever. “And he is. That’s not wholly his fault, as he’s never had the chance to experience Hoshido outside of a few arranged festivals and dusty old books. I was proposing a solution that would aid in our countries coming to a better understanding. As well as an effort for removing us from an environment that is hostile towards us -- for reasons both out of your control AND his. Nothing more.”

The rest of her comments were simple enough to respond to, however. “... Ah. I see I was mistaken, then. Forget I said anything.” Of course she couldn’t relate. Maybe he’d been foolish for assuming too much of her. No one in Nohr understood how he felt. No one aside from his lady and Mitama, of course... It was a hard pill to swallow, but a useful one. He’d have to remember to be on his guard with his emotions, even around her.

“That’s the spirit…” Niles hooked an arm around Asugi’s waist in return, only for his smile to freeze on his face when Asugi lifted up a very familiar-looking wallet. “Hey!” He swiped it back, stuffing it back into his pocket and prodding Asugi in the side as a very half-hearted form of revenge.

“You only managed that because you’re so distracting to me,” he said with a huff. “No one’s successfully pickpocketed me in years. You should feel quite proud of yourself~”

--

“Exactly,” Niles said, although he could tell that Asugi didn’t really believe what he was saying. He tilted the other man’s chin up with one finger, meeting his gaze. “You don’t need murder to be useful. You’re managing things just fine, I can promise you that. Don’t worry so much about what your father expects of you. No one who really knows you would ever tell you that you’re not excellent at what you do.”

--

“Heh...” Asugi stuck out his tongue playfully. “I guess if one of the top murder experts of all of Nohr says it, it has to be true, right? Hehehe...” He scooted over, wrapping his arms around the archer’s waist, and rewarded Niles with a gentle peck on the lips. Only for him to break out in a sly grin, and hold something up.

She was silent as he stepped inside, noting his rather uncharacteristic jitters. Normally, the boy seemed almost unphased by anything… atleast things that didn’t send him off to anger. It was unusual to see him on the more nervous side, but Daedra supposed that was the other side of being a tightly pulled as an archer’s bow.

As she expected, Saizo had come to her with more concerns of the state of things. That seemed to be all there were recently. She’d known the arrangement of her son and the Hoshidian princess would be difficult, but she would have preferred if the problems had been atleast slightly spread. That’s what happened when things were swept under the rug so much. Once that rug overturned, there was more mess than one knew what to do with, and it seemed she was the one with the broom and pan.

Time to clean as best she could….

“I am not ignorant to your plight, Saizo,” she said, her voice level but with that usual tone of motherly lift. “I’ve tried very hard to allow all of you as much freedom as possible. Still, regardless of what we do… I feel that rumors with surface no matter what. I experienced as such when I first married Xander, and I don’t think Hoshido is even free from gossip tellers.”

Daedra was trying very hard to think of something immediately to tell the young man. While it was beyond her power to just make plans for arrangements in Hoshido, the Queen didn’t want to seem indifferent to everything. 

“Perhaps things would help if Siegbert spent time with Caeldori at the Hoshidian palace. However, eventually, they will have to return here. Siegbert is expected to rule in Xander’s stead once the time comes… I have no say on that, as that was something cemented immediately in the agreements of his and Caeldori’s marriage.”

“Were it only the gossip that were causing us concern, Milady...” Saizo sighed. “As I mentioned, this wouldn’t be so concerning if our harassment wasn’t followed up by physical consequences. I’ve gotten into many fights trying in vain to preserve my honor and that of those dear to me. Mitama was handled against her wishes. Perhaps there would still be gossiping hens in Hoshido, but at least we wouldn’t constantly be worried about our physical and mental safety.”

He nodded once she seemed to agree with her statement. “Of course. I don’t mean to imply that we should stay there continuously. Perhaps for half of the year, or even a few consecutive months. SOMETHING to assuage the constant barrage of insults and threats... And perhaps it would aid him, as well. Grant him a better understanding of what we’ve been through and how to respect Hoshidan customs once he comes into power.”

It didn’t sound like an outright rejection, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps they weren’t as doomed as he feared... He allowed himself a small smile, though it was partially obscured by his mask, the tension seeming to leave his shoulders. 

Niles very definitely could not relate to this. He could kill a man without so much as blinking if Lord Leo’s life as in danger, and had done so plenty of times before. But still, he wrapped an arm around Asugi, holding him close as he tried to think of how to reassure him.

“You can protect people. You would fight with your life to keep someone you loved safe. If you can incapacitate people, that’s all you need. You can stop short of killing them and simply leave them if you must, or take them in to the dungeons and let someone else get information out of them. You’re far from useless, and you’ll make a fine bodyguard.”

--

“A shame… had things played out differently, I could see you taking more after your uncle.” Oboro tapped her fingers against the stocks around her wrists, and heaved a sigh.

“Unfortunately, finding love again is not something I can really do… Takumi was my everything, and… without him and Hinata, I have nothing. I thought I would at least have Hinoka’s support, she taught me how to use the Naginata you know, but I guess even Hinoka’s abandoned me.” She thought back to the days of her early service in the Hoshidan infantry, before Hinoka pulled her aside to train her personally, to ‘focus’ her rage.

“Nohr has taken too many things from me, Saizo… Nohr killed my family, my mother and father, they were just merchants, traveling with a caravan… and then Nohr took my love and my best friend… and then my country… In a way, Nohr took Hinoka too… Finding love again is a nice sentiment but… there’s nothing left for me here, only more pain and misery.”

“Oh, please,” Saizo VI snapped before he could catch himself. “I have no uncle.” Kaze had proved his worthlessness the second he had turned his blade on Hoshido. On his brother. On his family. Saizo would have much rather been informed of his disowned uncle’s tragic death fighting in the war alongside the Fifth rather than be reminded every day of the rest of his life how little family truly meant to him.

After a short pause to collect himself, he continued, “If that is how you truly feel, then I will respect your decision and won’t belittle your loss by implying that I may somehow ease that pain. However... To allow you to sit here, abandoned, with naught but your sub par meals and the wind to keep you company... That’s simply unacceptable to me. Isolation is the punishment of crazed lunatics, not victims seeking justice.”

“Not too many.” The words come hesitantly at first, but a moment later a faint smile touches at his expression.

“I only punched - a few.” His arm still stung from the last hit to Zelgius’s nose, but the satisfaction of hitting his smug face lingered even now.

“They deserved it, though.” Carefully he hands him a piece of cake from his pocket. “I saved you this.”

“Hey, attaboy!” Asugi cheered, patting his friend on the back with a grin. Not too hard or anything, but hard enough that Reyson would feel respected. “I’m sure they did deserve it! Fuck ‘em, right?”

But the cake was quick to get his attention, and it wasn’t long before he was practically drooling over it. “Wh... Wh. For ME? Seriously???” He shot Reyson a million-watt grin that would probably strip the corona from the sun, it was so bright. “Thanks, dude!!!” he crowed, stuffing a bite into his mouth.