Chapter Eighty-One
Louise was pretty sure Tiffania was keeping Charlotte -the real one- company. This was the reason she debated for a brief instant on whether it was proper or not to knock at the door. If it had been only Charlotte, she wouldn't have minded being a bit rude and simply opening the door, to hell with good manners, but since Tiffania looked ready to faint at the slightest loud noise, she opted for politely knocking on the door and entering once the 'come in' was given in a half-trembling voice by Tiffania.
Tiffania was wearing a long robe that would have been better suited for an old abbess, but with the way it was made to appear loose, it hid most -but not all- of her bountiful cleavage away from sight. Louise could swear she had heard a strangled sob of despair coming from Saito's throat, but opted to say nothing and stomp his foot down later. If a girl didn't want to have men stare at her chest rather than her eyes, then the act had to be praised.
Charlotte was standing nearby, and they were apparently playing a game of Founder Cradle, passing the string around in different shapes.
"Is something the matter?" Charlotte asked as the duo stepped inside and closed the door behind them.
"The Void is said to pass down along royal lines, belonging to the descendants of Brimir," Louise said. "If Tiffania has the power of the Void, and we found her in the middle of the woods of Albion...wouldn't that make her royalty?"
Charlotte's lips twitched in a small smile, and she nodded briefly. "Yes, that would be the case."
"Then-Shouldn't the King of Albion be told he has a cousin?" Louise continued.
"Telling him would be counter-productive," Charlotte said smoothly, "There are reasons Tiffania was kept secret, hidden within a forest, in the middle of nowhere." She smiled next. "But you should ask her about this," she said kindly, turning her gaze to the fidgeting girl. "If she wishes to share it, then it is her choice."
Tiffania winced, giving an awkward smile. "I-I'd rather not tell anyone," she whispered. "I wouldn't even know what to say to a King, so even if my cousin knew about me, I'd be too embarrassed to say anything."
Louise placed a hand on her hips, and twitched her nose in clear annoyance. "He was pretty easygoing for a King. I'm sure he'd be delighted to find out he has family left after losing his father to the Reconquista."
Tiffania's eyes looked down at the floor and at the tip of her feet, her expression sorrowful. "I-I'd better not."
"You definitely should, but fine," Louise huffed as she plopped down on a nearby bed. "Well, we're cousins anyway from my father's side, so-well, you don't have to feel so lonely any longer."
"Ah," Tiffania's eyes widened slightly, "I wasn't-well, then Charlotte is your cousin too?"
Louise bristled, "Yes. All royal lines are descendants of Brimir, which makes them all connected through blood."
"Wait," Saito blinked. "Didn't Wales say he was going to marry Henrietta?"
Louise blinked, "And?"
"They're cousins," Saito blurted out.
Charlotte cocked her head to the side, an eyebrow raised. "We know that. Their fathers are brothers."
"No, I mean-cousins can marry each other?" Saito asked.
"And why would they not be able to do that? They are not brother and sister," Louise huffed. "Founder Brimir said that it was fine as long as a man slept not with his sister, or a sister slept not with his brother, but he never mentioned 'Cousins'."
Saito shook his head in disbelief, but quietly decided to let the argument drop and sit down on a nearby chair. Charlotte resumed the form of the cat's cradle, and then moved it towards Louise, who was the one closest to her. Louise seemed torn, if briefly, before taking on the game itself and going through the motions with practiced ease.
It was kind of surprising, at least in Saito's modest opinion, how a Queen, an Orphan-Turned-Noble and a descendant of royalty could all play a simple game like cat's cradle with enough expertise to make him wonder just how they had managed to find the time to learn it, but at the same time, he was proud that Louise had let go of her anger long enough to understand this wasn't about the feud between Charlotte and herself, but about making Tiffania feel at ease.
"A familiar," Louise said suddenly, "Do you have one?" she asked, looking at Tiffania.
"Ah-no," Tiffania said softly. "I wouldn't know how-"
"We should fix that when this ship lands," Louise said earnestly. "I'm sure it would be able to help you-"
"A Void's familiar is always a human," Charlotte said softly, the cat cradle in her hands once more. "She can summon one now if she wishes, but it would be best if she simply chose someone instead."
"Chose someone?" Louise asked.
"If she summoned someone now, out of nowhere," Charlotte said softly, "I do not think they would be amenable to helping her. If she already had someone, she would just need to recite the binding oath and finish the ritual, without a need for a summon."
Louise's eyes widened slightly. "It might be another person from Saito's w-homeland," she blurted out. "It-It would be best not to, then."
"The powers of the Void's familiar are many," Charlotte said. "It would be best to have them at the ready for the crusade. It is a unique circumstance for three out of four Void Users to be found. This has never happened before in the history of Halkeginia since the times of the Founder, and that was because the Founder himself held the full power of the Void."
"Can it really do that much though?" Saito asked. He waved his hands hastily in front of him at the shocked expressions of Louise and Charlotte, "I mean! When that Elf attacked, it wasn't that strong. I'm the Gandalfr, but I got a nasty beating out of it-"
"The true strength of the Void lies in all of its pieces," Charlotte murmured. "It wasn't just split across four people, but also across four objects, and four rings. The rings that are proof of royalty, Earth, Fire, Water and Wind, and the items that belonged to the Founder, they are an important part. When all are united, the true power of the Void will reveal itself. It is said that with such power, not even if the Elves mustered their entire people would they be able to stop it."
Saito blinked, "I-I know Louise's capable of making big explosions, but-but is that what the Crusade is going to be about? I mean-it's one thing when they're capable of fighting, but what about the children?"
"There is no innocent Elf," Charlotte said awkwardly. "That is what the Founder said," she added, shaking her head. "I do not think the Crusade will be called on for the following months. The armies need to be prepared, the objects assembled, but when the day will come, I am sure there will be blood."
"Saito-Elves don't think like we humans do, you saw that," Louise added. "The ease with which that Elf-look, maybe the Elves' kids like to eat babies, or perhaps they drink human blood to sustain themselves. Or perhaps they're horrible monsters with sharp, vampire-like teeth and get their nutriment from chewing on the souls of pious virgins, you can't-"
"That's not true," Tiffania said, her hands white and her knuckles trembling. "They're not monsters. They're not different from-from you. Children are children, and even Elves-some Elves aren't bad. Not every human is a monster, but some are, so why don't we consider them all monsters then?!" there were tears in Tiffania's eyes. "I mean! It would make sense wouldn't it? And why are Elves and Humans so different anyway? Because they don't follow the same Gods? Because they're more powerful? Because they were born with the ability to listen to the Spirits? Why must there be blood? Why can't we just talk with them?"
"Sure, because they'd let any of us near them without opening fire first and asking questions later. Just like that kind Elf who slaughtered the Gallian nobility like they were pigs meant for the market, and with the same snob air of a lord trudging on a worker's back," Louise snapped. "And he just appeared out of nowhere, strolling inside as if the place belonged to him, as if our very breaths were bothering him!"
Tiffania took a deep breath, "So-So you think every Elf is like that? You think that they all relish in slaughter and death? That they don't care about human lives? Then-Then tell me, tell me why did my mother die if she could have easily defeated humans as if they meant nothing. Why did my mother have to die, when she could have just killed them all?"
"Your...mother?" Louise frowned. "What does your mother-"
"Tiffania-" Charlotte's warning came, but also went as the girl removed her hat, showing off her slightly elongated ears.
"Yes, my mother was an Elf, and she was the mistress of the Archduke of Albion, the King's uncle. I'm a Half-Elf, which makes me what, a monster who likes to drink the blood of children then?" the tears in her eyes were now visibly rolling down her cheeks. "Is that what I am? Is that what I am supposed to be? My mother was the kindest woman I knew. She loved father, and father loved her. Tell me, if my mother was a monster, why would she love father like that? If she really was so strong, why did she let six men kill her with swords and kick her corpse? Why did she let them? Why did she tell me to hide rather than fight her way out of there?"
"I-I-" Louise stammered for words, staring at the ears.
"You don't know," Tiffania whispered. "You don't know, but you cast your judgment like every other human I've met. That's why whenever I healed someone, I made them lose their memories and sent them on their ways." She shook her head sadly, and put her hat back on.
"S-Saito!" Louise blurted out in the end. "She-We-I-What."
Saito blinked, and raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry you had to go through that," he said in the end, "And I apologize for Louise too, she does have a kind heart, but she just doesn't know how to properly say things," as he finished speaking, he bowed his head.
Louise's arms raised in the air, "B-But she's an Elf!"
"And you are being rude," Saito replied calmly. "It's not the end of the world."
"She. Is. An. Elf!" Louise flailed her arms, standing up and pointing at her. "An Elf! Pointy ears! Eats-"
"She said she doesn't," Saito said.
"The Founder's Book says they do!" Louise shot back.
"Maybe the book is wrong," Saito answered, making Louise choke on her own spit as Charlotte's face held all the appearances of a giggle that was being held back by a hand hiding it.
A few gurgling noises left Louise's throat as she went through the motions of spluttering and looking red-faced at Charlotte, swooping as low as to seek aid in getting some sense brought back to the table, only to find no allies in the Queen of Gallia.
"Louise," Saito said once more, "Look...that Elf back at La Rochelle was bad, I'm not saying he wasn't. But...I haven't read in the book Charlotte gave us of a single monster that can convincingly cry. Even Vampires cry tears of blood-" as he said so, he pulled out from his pocket Charlotte's handkerchief, handing it over to Tiffania so that she could wipe her tears away. "So please-please reconsider."
"It's the breasts, isn't it?" Louise asked, arms crossed in front of her chest, her eyes narrow and glaring.
"No," Saito said. "It's just...it's just not the right thing."
"Not the right thing?" Louise repeated, perplexed.
"If she really was as horrible as you think, then why would she reveal her identity? Wouldn't it have been better to keep it hidden, like Charlotte did?"
"You make it sound like I'm a monster hiding my real identity," Charlotte said softly, only for Saito and Louise to scoff at the same time. "I am not going to apologize for it," Charlotte added, but then shook her head. "But this isn't about me. This is about Tiffania. I would love to vouch for her, but I am afraid I burned all bridges with you both. You will simply have to make your own choice on the matter, Louise."
"Louise," Saito said once more, "Please, why don't we simply sit back down and talk? Just talk, I'm sure-"
Louise took a deep breath. She filled her lungs, and then she exhaled. She pointed her swordwand at Saito with enough speed that by the time she finished, the wand's steel tip was a blur resonating with a crystalline-like sound. The Dispel hit Saito straight in the face, making him blink as the sudden light washed over him.
Charlotte's long raven hair turned small and blue, making the Queen blink and sigh in disbelief.
"Louise?" Saito hazarded.
"Fine," Louise said crisply. "We'll sit, and we'll talk." She firmly planted herself on the side of the bed, and held her swordwand on her lap, but her muscles were tense, like a coiled spring ready to strike.
"If, by mere theory, had Saito been under the effects of a mind-controlling spell," Charlotte said offhandedly, sounding amused, "What would you have done?"
"Beheaded her and vaporized you," Louise answered quite frankly. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me," she smiled softly. "What? Your Highness thinks she's the only one good with Death Threats? I can make them too, even with the 'Fufufu' sound if that makes them more menacing. Fufufu."
Charlotte smiled, and their eyes met, sparks of lightning sailing across the air.
Saito sat back and uncomfortably looked from one side of the room to the other, before finally coming up with an argument that was sure to placate everyone's sour mood.
"So...puppies! What puppy do you think is the cutest?"
When Charlotte's answer of 'Kitten' met Louise's answer of 'Mastiff', Saito knew he'd find peace and quiet only in Tiffania's hesitant answer. The way the poor girl was clutching on to the handkerchief with trembling fingers told Saito all that he needed to know.
Since he was the Gandalfr, and his 'duty' was to protect the Founder, didn't it simply mean he had to protect all of them?
He wouldn't run away from the challenge in front of him.
He wouldn't run away.
