Suikoden VI

Chapter One: Part Nine

Part Nine

Mokuren sure likes to talk...doesn't she?

That was the only thing Daunte could really surmise about the eccentric girl. They rode all night and into the dawn. They crossed the Bridge of Faith without incident and steered back towards the Liberation Army's headquarters.

And not once did Mokuren pause in her babbling. From what he could gather from the information she shared with them was that she had known Surya virtually her whole life. She kept mentioning something about "family obligation" but she never once referred to her family by name. And she liked talking about how "cute" of a big sister Farrin was to Signe.

Daunte glanced at Felicity and saw that the other girl looked exhausted from the nonstop babbling behind her. Everyone else looked equally exhausted...except for Surya. His expression showed that Mokuren's behavior was in no way out of the ordinary, and he didn't look bothered by it. Freyr looked mildly annoyed however, but Daunte could also tell by his expression that the boy was used to it.

They stopped for a brief rest, and Daunte was relieved for the silence. Then they were back on the road to headquarters.

It was late afternoon when they finally arrived. Both Mokuren and Freyr actually looked charmed by the somewhat dilapidated castle, but Daunte was very eager to go down and check on Arin and see how his brother was doing.

He'll be upset he couldn't get to go to Baltas, but I'll take him with me when everything cools down. He smiled at this thought as he grabbed his things from his horse.

"Lieutenant!" an Army soldier frantically ran down the stairs towards them. "Lieutenant, please hurry! The Lord Commander wants to see you immediately!"

"Oh, great," Gunther huffed, shrugging his bag onto his shoulder.

"You did disobey a direct order," Surya reminded him quietly.

"Ah." The soldier looked at Mokuren and Freyr. "D-Did you bring back more recruits?"

"No, this is the prince we rescued from Baltas," Gunther said, gesturing to Freyr. "Kid, welcome to the Liberation Army."

"O-Oh that reminds me!" the Army burst out. "Falenans! Falenans just arrived an hour ago!"

"What?!" Surya shouted. "Why didn't you say so in the first place?! Where are they?!"

"I-In the war room. But—"

Surya took off running up the stairs, quickly followed by Mokuren and Freyr. Felicity laughed and looked at Daunte. "We'd better hurry after them, huh?"

"Right," Daunte said. I guess I'll have to put off seeing Arin for a little while longer.

The rest of them hurried after the three Falenans. Daunte heard the castle chatter around them as they ran up the stairs. The soldiers and civilians seemed rather excited about the appearance of the Falenans.

Maybe it's more Queen's Knights. Or even better, maybe it's the rest of Surya's cousins!

Though this hope diminished somewhat with the conversation Daunte picked up.

"—so handsome, polite, and so eloquent with his speech! He's the perfect package!"

"—haven't seen one of those in years!"

"Lord Bearyl seems annoyed with all the Falenans, though—"

"—just keep popping out of the woodwork, don't they?"

They managed to catch up to Surya right in front of the war room, just in time for Surya to tap on the door with an open palm. "Lord Bearyl?" he called out.