Royal Gossip
By: Na-chan
Suikoden V is Konami's.
Like most things in Sol-Falena, it started as a rumor.
"Did you hear? The Prince is getting married!"
"What? Are you sure?"
"Positive. I overheard some of the guards talking about it yesterday on my way to the Senate."
"They hear enough through those double doors. Spill."
"Well you know that ever since the Godwin uprising the royal family has been reduced to just the Queen and the Commander."
"Uh-huh."
"And after being in that horrid arranged marriage with Gizel the Queen has demolished the Sacred Games?"
"So? There are lots of suitors still coming. Lord Barrows just visited last week didn't he?"
"Wait, let me finish. Sides, I have it on good authority that the Queen isn't interested in any of them. Word is she's more interested in getting her brother to settle down."
"Really?"
"Yeah. She wants to concentrate on ruling first. Isn't Her Majesty great?"
"But for the crown to be secure...that's why the Prince is the one getting hitched right? To ensure the royal bloodline continues?"
"Bingo. His Highness is twenty come this spring. Her Majesty, Queen Arshtat was wed at sixteen. When he was that age, he was leading a whole army. It's been four years since then. It's been peacefull all this time, perfect timing to settle down and have a kid."
"Oooooh. You do have a point."
"I know right?"
"But...who's the girl?"
"Er...that, I don't know. But I'm sure Jas from the Rune Shop knows. Her sister is a maid in the palace. I'll go by there later."
-
"Was that Lady Lyon?"
"Yeah..."
"She's looking prettier everyday."
"Yeah..."
"So, what did she say to you?"
"Yeah..."
"Hey, earth to loverboy. Did she say something important?"
"Oh, uhm...I forgot."
"What? You've got it bad. Go see a doctor about it. The gate won't guard itself."
"Haha. Very funny."
"Yeah, well, the Commander wants us all to be in shape. Don't want to let our guard down because it's peace time."
"His Highness? Oh, now I remember. Lady Lyon wanted to know if I saw him. She...ah, she...wanted me to pass on the message that she was looking for him."
"Well, you're in luck, here comes the Prince. And look, Lady Luserina's with him."
-
"I just saw Lady Luserina and His Majesty Freyjadour at the Rune Shop!"
"Oh my! How did you get in? What do you think they were doing there? Ahhhh, I should have gone with you!"
"Jas let me in the back door because it was crowded out front. Then I hid behind one of those heavy curtains they have at the shop. I didn't hear most of it, but it looks like His Majesty is helping Lady Luserina pick out a 'special' rune."
"That sounds intriguing. Did you get to see what it was?"
"No, the rune sage was blocking my view. Wait, there's more. The prince said, and I quote, 'it should be perfect'."
"Perfect for what? Perfect for her?"
"I don't know. All I know is Lady Luserina was smiling at him and he was smiling back."
"Oh no. Does this mean they're together? Maybe he was buying her an engagement present. I should have seen this coming."
"It was a lost cause from the beginning. I mean, he's royalty."
"Well, it was fun while it lasted."
"You mean your one-sided love for the Prince?"
"The nerve. As if you didn't find him handsome."
"He's more beautiful than handsome."
"Can't say no to that. Hmph. So the rumors of him getting married are true, and it's with Lady Luserina. Even though I'm a little jealous, they do make a lovely pair."
"It does match up. If it were up to me, I'd rather have her marry into royalty than her brother."
"Shush. You can't spout that sort of nonsense here anymore. Lord Barrows is back in Her Majesty's good graces."
"Right. I'm just saying..."
"Though now that we're talking about it, I've always thought that His Majesty and Lady Lyon would make quite the couple."
"What, you too?"
-
"Lym, I'm not so sure about this."
"Brother, you are the Commander of my Knights and the former leader of an army that defeated the Godwin reign. I'm quite certain this'll be a walk in the park for you."
"Hmm."
"Keep it simple! Just walk up to her, tell her you've harbored feelings for her for a while and let it go from there. You even bought that rune for her."
"You make it sound so easy."
"Because it is. Really now, I'm sure Father would be disappointed if he saw you now. Chickening out."
"You're just happy I'm the one going through with this, not you."
"Of course. Suitors court the Queen, not the other way around. Even if I wasn't Queen, men still do the wooing."
"You've been talking to Miakis again, haven't you?"
"Maybe. But that's not the point. You already have my approval...why are you still here?
Do I have to order you to go?"
"All right, all right, I'm going. Wish me luck, Lym."
"Good luck."
-
"What's wrong with you today?"
"E-Everything's fine."
"Tell me what's going on."
"Nothing's going on."
"Hah. As if. Even though it's dark out here I can see you're fidgeting. You always fidget when you're nervous or hiding something. Shoot."
"Okay, okay. See, I-I just saw His Majesty..."
"It may be late but you know how His Majesty likes to do security checks."
"He was kissing someone."
"Oh, I guess that's...OH. Are you sure that was him? It's pretty dark tonight."
"How many people do you know have silver hair and have access to the gardens at this time?"
"...right."
-
"Your Majesty...someone might see us."
"Let them see. I have the Queen's permission. And wasn't it Frey just a minute ago?"
"Frey...we should stop. This..."
"...is something I've been wanting for a year now."
"What?"
"I'm sure you've heard the rumors about me getting married."
"...I don't listen to gossip."
"The guards were talking about it really loudly the other day."
"All right, so I heard. But it's just a rumor..."
"Only if you say no to my next question."
"...what are you trying to say?"
"Will you marry me?"
-
"An engagement ceremony! Tonight!"
"Woos gering engayed?"
"What?"
"Aahhh, that was tasty. I said, who's getting engaged?"
"The Prince!"
"Oh gracious Feitas! The Prince! Ahhh..."
"Hey! Don't faint on me! I haven't even said who the other party is!"
"Oh yeah."
"That was fast."
"So, who is it?"
"It's..."
-
"...Lady Luserina! I'm so sorry I wasn't looking where I was going. Please forgive me."
"It's all right Lady Miakis."
"My, that's a beautiful dress."
"Why thank you Lady Miakis. It was my mother's."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to---"
"No, it's fine. She would have liked to see this event too."
"Today is a happy day."
"Yes, I dare say it is."
-
"Nothing to report sir!"
"At ease."
"It's a quiet night. For a night with a celebration, I mean."
"Yeah. Pity we're stationed out here. The guys inside get to see everything."
"Lucky buggers. If I knew there'd be an occasion as big as this I wouldn't have switched with Hei two days ago. Come to think of it, he must have known something was up, the way he and Joshua suddenly asked to exchange posts with me and Reio."
"Did you check if Joshua was fidgeting? He always fidgets when he's hiding something."
"He was! Those two sneaky----"
"Calm down. There's always the wedding ceremony in a few months."
"Oh, all right. I am definitely going to be inside when that happens. And to think it was just a rumor I made up the other week to make things more interesting around here."
"By interesting, you meant to start a wager on who the Prince will choose to marry?"
"Hey, it was a good idea at the time! And I recall you bet too. You're only bitter because you lost."
"You bet on her too. Who would have known the Prince would pick someone else?"
"Someone who is a 100000 potch richer. I don't know. Reio's the one who took down the names."
"Whoever he is, I hope he gets us in the next celebration. These mosquitoes are killing me."
-
"You do know people will talk. I'm not exactly who they pictured marrying their treasured Prince."
"If they didn't, I'd be worried. Don't want my future wife to be unpopular with the citizens."
"There was a bet going on. And I wasn't top choice."
"Really? I thought giving you that rune was pretty obvious."
"Thank you for that. I haven't gotten around to trying it out yet though."
"I can't promise it'll do as much damage as the Twilight Rune. But it'll still hurt."
"How would you know?"
"Let's just say that Miakis is very skilled in Rune Magic."
"Oh, Freyjadour Falenas, I don't know what I'd do with you."
"At least you're aware of what you're getting yourself into, Lyon."
-
"Finally, those two are solidly together. I thought I'd have to ask for divine intervention if they kept it up."
"Mmm."
"I do say I did a great job."
"Mmm-hmmm."
"Of course you helped...a bit."
"Yeah, hmmm..."
"Miakis, are you even listening to me? I'm the Queen now if you've forgotten...are you doing sums in the middle of my brother's engagement party?"
THE END
It's meant to be confusing, but did you guys get it?