Title: Two Truths and a Lie
Fandom: Gensou Suikoden IV
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Millay, Ameria, Lo Fong, Pecola, Gretchen, Helga, Snowe, hinted at Hervey/Lazlo, mentions of Basil, Gunter, Tov, Lino en Kuldes, Elenor Silverberg
Dedication: kaluin Christmas gift fic request! Thanks for being so patient with me when I never seem to have time for anything and am always freaking out.
Prompt: "Few would agree with that assessment."
Description: Millay returns from a mission to find that the rumor mill aboard the Dauntless has picked up some interesting tidbits of news.
Rating: PG-13 for insinuations of m/m sex
Word Count: 1,716. I fail. Again.
Status: Complete. I don't think I could stretch this out any further if my life depended on it.
Other Notes: LOL this is probably the most retarded fic I have ever written. I'm sorry Chou—I felt like going for the SeiSub request would be a cop-out, so I attempted to be brave by tackling this one, but I'll admit I still don't really get it. I have to credit Shusu for the idea of using gossip to cheat my way out of actually having to write Hervey and Lazlo. 8D; I phail, as usual.

Millay had just started on her afternoon inspections when she suddenly got the unexplainable feeling that something was different. Something about the crew of the Dauntless had changed markedly in the week she had been away on a reconnaissance mission in Kooluk. Whereas normally, people went about their business quite independently, now, she found them huddled in little groups, whispering amongst themselves until she stared at them a little longer than was necessary, and they sent each other furtive glances and dispersed.

At first, she thought that they were talking about her. It didn't bother her—people had always talked, and they always would. Her only real concern was that their gossip might harm those she held dearest, but she held the crew of the Dauntless in high esteem and therefore refused to attribute them such baseness.

Yet when she reached the third deck, she began to have her doubts. Women she had never spoken to except in passing seemed to be responsible for instigating some of the secretive discussions, and she found it hard to imagine that she could have somehow offended them enough to merit this manner of treatment. And so, curiosity having gotten the better of her, she approached a group of girls, among whom she recognized only Lo Fong and Ameria, and attempted to join in the conversation.

They fell silent the instant she stepped into their circle, but she simply smiled pleasantly and told them to keep talking. Millay had never been overly feminine, at least in terms of attitude, and she despised gossip, but she realized that, every now and then, it was the best way of finding out what was going on, even if the news was slightly embellished or misinterpreted. When she managed to put the women at ease by suggesting with her stance that she was there only as a girl and not one of the army commanders, they grew more comfortable in her presence and resumed their discussion.

They spoke first of more ordinary matters—how Basil had been caught trying to cheat at Gunter's dice game, how Helga had incurred Tov's wrath by accidentally smashing through another wall, and how King Lino had had a little too much of Lady Elenor's wine and had been heard singing in his cabin all night long. However, Millay astutely noted that these could hardly have roused such an increase in gossip—certainly not enough to merit the mysterious conclaves in the long corridors of the ship.

Finally, one of the girls piped up, "You and Sir Lucas are fairly close, right, Miss Millay?"

"Well, I wouldn't say—" Millay stammered, taken aback by the sudden change of topic. "I mean, I have made it my duty to watch over him, but I doubt that he thinks of me as any more than a faithful follower."

"You don't know anything else about his recent activities, then?" Lo Fong asked cheekily.

Millay blinked. "Pardon?"

"You hadn't heard?" Ameria asked. "People have been keeping an eye on Sir Lucas, as he's been behaving a bit oddly lately. A few nights ago, Mitsuba was sparring on the main deck when she saw Sir Lucas sneaking out of his sleeping quarters and onto the pirate ship. Not that there is anything wrong with that persé, but the fact that he saw fit to sneak onto a ship that belongs to him was rather suspicious. Mitsuba was right to tell the rest of us immediately."

Another woman chimed in, "Ever since then, people have noticed that they've been in each other's company an awful lot lately, Sir Hervey and Sir Lucas."

"So he's become friends with that pirate." Millay shrugged; she wasn't fond of pirates herself, but she didn't think she was in a position to judge Sir Lucas. "Why is this such a grave concern?"

But the women all shook their heads. Few would agree with that assessment.

"Well, Miss Millay, t-there's reason to believe that they aren't just friends. I don't know the details, but Miss Pecola might be able to tell you," one of the other girls stuttered shyly.

Concerned that gossip might be tarnishing Sir Lucas' good name, Millay excused herself and strolled over to Pecola's group. From their gestures and hand motions, it seemed obvious that their conversation had nothing to do with interior design. Sure enough, when she was but a few feet away, her ears caught the words "Hervey" and "Sir Lucas" being repeated frantically in hushed tones.

"Good day, ladies," she greeted as she entered their circle. "Anything newsworthy?"

A few of the women looked her up and down a few times, but as she had probably been seen chatting with Lo Fong and Ameria, they were a lot less suspicious of her than the first group.

"Have you heard Miss Pecola's story?" a girl whispered.

When Millay shook her head, Pecola gave a small, smug smile and spoke. "Well, it isn't much of a story, but two days ago I took it upon myself to inspect the feng shui in Sir Lucas' quarters. Mr. Tov let me in while Sir Lucas was doing his rounds, so I wasn't trespassing or doing anything illegal. In any case, Sir Lucas is usually very neat and tidy, yes?"

She paused, and all of the girls, including Millay, nodded in agreement. Sir Lucas was one of the tidiest men any of them had encountered.

"Well, the room was a mess," Pecola continued dramatically. "The bed wasn't made, the sheets were tangled, and there were clothes all about the floor. And I think some of the garments looked an awful lot like pirate garb. Though, it was fairly dark and I can't be positive."

The women gasped and "ooohed" and "aaahed", even though Millay guessed that this wasn't the first time any of them had heard the story.

An older woman mumbled, "That Sir Lucas—always so tacit and stoic! I wouldn't have thought him capable of such wild and unbridled passion."

"It's so regrettable that the most handsome and eligible bachelors always have other inclinations," another added.

Millay sighed to herself and, after enduring a few more minutes of their idle banter, she wandered off by herself.

She wasn't too concerned about their speculations. At any rate, she knew it wasn't her place to interfere in Sir Lucas' private matters, although if their insinuations proved to be correct, she wished that he had a little more discretion with regard to his personal affairs. Gossip, when widespread enough, did have the power to undermine authority, and she did not want to see Sir Lucas lose control of his following because he was a little too open in his frolicking with a certain pirate.

And thus, Millay patrolled the Dauntless with her ears perked, picking up what tidbits of gossip she could to try to form a clearer picture of the situation in her mind. She resolved to find the truth behind the rumors, and to take it upon herself to set the record straight, if necessary, in defense of her liege's honor. She'd even try to confront Sir Lucas about it herself if that was what it would take.

When she finally made her way back to the first deck corridor, even Gretchen and Helga hesitated before meeting her eyes.

"Sir Lucas, right?" Millay sighed. "What did you two notice?"

"Not too much," Gretchen answered. "More traffic at his doorway at night, but nothing too suspicious. He opens the door for them himself, so it isn't our business to detain his visitors. But then, last night, we heard a lot of, well, unexplainable thuds and thumping noises. They continued almost all night long."

Helga was blushing. "I'm telling you, Miss Millay, those thuds had nothing to do with me. I kept my fists to myself, I did, but some of the others won't believe me."

Millay smiled, thanked the ladies for their dedication to keeping the watch while she was absent, and told them that she would take over for them in a few minutes. She had only one stop left to make.

Hand poised in a fist just inches away from Lucas' door, Millay hesitated before knocking. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was prying in the personal affairs of someone far superior to her, but it was also because she cared that she felt she had to do this.

However, before her hand had a chance to strike the door, it was wrenched backward, and a pale-faced Snowe only narrowly avoided a collision with her outstretched fist. Stepping back out into the hallway, she quickly muttered profuse apologies, while Snowe stumbled down the steps, visibly shaken up. Millay quickly guessed what had transpired.

"Well, that is what you get for entering a room without knocking first." Millay shook her head and patted Snowe on the back as she pushed the white-faced boy in the direction of the bar.

"I think I want to go back to Razril," she heard Snowe whine as he disappeared down the stairs.

Millay returned to join Gretchen and Helga at their post. She had changed her mind about intruding on the captain's quarters and confronting Sir Lucas about his recent activities. Whether her suspicions were true or false, she realized that there were some things that she would just rather not confirm.

"In your return for your promise to keep what you told me earlier to yourselves, would you care to hear a secret, ladies?" She smiled slyly. "I do trust you two, after all."

"Of course!" Gretchen and Helga intoned.

Millay winked. "I think I rather fancy Sir Lucas."

The rumor mill did its job, and by the following day, the news had spread everywhere. This time, when Millay went about her inspections, she knew they were talking about her, but she considered it a worthy sacrifice. She knew that, all of a sudden, she was being criticized for how little she wore and how open she was with her emotions, but she could endure that kind of talk moreso than she could endure gossip about Sir Lucas. Her reputation was worth a lot less.

However, that did not stop her from making a mental note that when she did manage to get Hervey alone, she would give him an earful.