A story about the decision to walk the path of destiny.
Cidolfus Telamon x OFC
- Erie Murdoch has witnessed the power that has brought the Duchy to ruin and plunged Rosaria into political turmoil. Stripped of everything she once knew, now a fallen p...
Some time later, the two sat at a table in an inn in the middle of Rosaria. Cid had ordered food and something to drink, and Erie, although lacking appetite, forced herself to eat out of politeness. What was she supposed to do? She had no money, her Chocobo was dead, she was wanted in her own homeland.
She had to find a caravan, traveling merchants, or travelers of some other sort, convince them she could join them, and escape, take another name, and plot how to proceed from a safer place. She was certain that she would avenge Rosaria. She would make sure Anabella died.
Grimly, she took a more aggressive bite of her bread. Cid sat silently across from her, drinking ale. Once Erie finished, hoping the food would remain in her stomach, she looked up and met his eyes watching her. Not forgetting her good manners, Erie said, "Thank you, for the food. You didn't have to help me, but you did. I'm in your debt for that."
His eyebrows raised briefly and he set his mug aside. Erie was hoping that he didn't turn out to be a man who didn't have a shred of honor in him after all, and was now getting the wrong idea. She did not consider him to be such a man.
"You don't have to thank me. Not for that," Cid confirmed her assumption that he didn't want to take advantage of her situation. Erie smiled and looked down at her hands.
Her mother came to her mind. Now that her path was taking her away from Rosalith, she had also missed the opportunity to warn her. Perhaps Carmen had told Jill as soon as Erie had given her the order, and together they had sought refuge with Lady Hanna. Except now the entire capital was in danger. What would happen to the rest of her family? Now that Erie knew Anabella had her searched for, she didn't dare go home. As long as her mother didn't know where Erie was, she was in less danger than if she were protecting her daughter. A soft sigh of despair escaped Eries lips.
"You could come with me, you know."
She looked up. Cid had leaned back in his chair and was lighting a cigarette with a crystal shard.
"Excuse me?" Erie gave him a confused look.
"I'm passing through. Got some business to take care of. I suppose Storm is relatively dangerous for you right now. I'm on my way to Waloed. You can accompany me, as my maid hired in Storm."
She frowned, trying to see a motive in the face of the man who was still a complete stranger to her, but he merely drew on his cigarette and looked at her expectantly, as if it were perfectly natural that she would travel with him across the continent, across the strait, and into a new life as a maid on Ash.
"Who are you to need a maid?" she finally asked.
"Busted." Cid grinned, the cigarette between his teeth. He lowered his voice to a low murmur. "I'm the Lord Commander of the Waloeder force. But don't tell anyone." A wink followed.
"Oh, if that's all." Erie rolled her eyes. "I'll let you in on a secret, too. I'm the goddess Greagor, I thought I'd come and see just what's going on here in the mortal world. But don't tell anyone." Slowly but surely, the guy was getting on her nerves with his dopey grin. Who was he to pretend to be Lord Commander in order to lure her to accompany him?
"I knew you wouldn't believe me. Just a moment." He gave a low whistle, and men rose from all corners of the tavern, mostly in pairs at different tables. Erie looked around, startled, and recognized on the lapel of the pair closest to her the coat of arms of Waloed, the six-legged horse on which King Barnabas rode in the form of Odin. Erie had only ever seen pictures of the King of Waloed, as he largely stayed out of political affairs on Storm, but he was the Dominant of Odin, and so had been able to conquer Ash and found Waloed.
"Don't worry, these are my closest and best men. You have nothing to fear from them. They were just waiting here while I was on patrol."
"On 'patrol,' then." Erie formed quotation marks in the air. "Looking for damsels in distress? Or more likely on the prowl to take advantage of Rosaria's weakness?" He gestured for his men, who had grown more tense at her words, to sit back down.
"I'll be honest with you," Cid continued, "I just happened to be in Rosaria, as I said, on business. I didn't find out about the events in Phoenix Gate until this morning, when the news had already gotten here. I was on my way there, call it curiosity or espionage, as you like. And on the road I saw a damsel in distress and my priorities changed."
"Couldn't have been me." Erie crossed her arms.
"Touché. So, what do you say. Ready for a little adventure?"
"What exactly do you get out of it?"
"Good company? But most of all," Cid picked up his tankard again, "someone who knows the ways of the court, can adapt nicely, and isn't prejudiced by a life in Stonhyrr."
So he needed a mole at court to keep watch for him so that no deserters or whatever he feared would betray Waloed. Nothing Erie hadn't already done for Elwin and would do again at any time for her liege, a man she had known since childhood.
But would she do the same for a stranger? Did she have any other choice? People would be looking for her wherever she went in Rosaria. She thought of Uncle Byron, Clive and Joshua's uncle, who lived down in Port Isolde. What would become of him? Would he ascend the ducal throne and do his duty to Rosaria? Would Erie put him in danger if she traveled to see him? He was probably in danger anyway, perhaps long dead.
"Damn." Erie groaned in frustration. She struggled to think straight, and came up with the same solution she'd had before - she couldn't stay in Rosaria.
"All right, I don't have a better idea either," she ultimately agreed with Cid's suggestion, hoping she wouldn't regret her decision to travel to the other side of the world too much.
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They had taken rooms above the tavern for the night, and Erie sat on her bed with her legs pulled up. Now that she was slowly coming to rest, the feelings she had been suppressing all day seized her. She had lost everything. Her family, her friends, her home - and her future. She didn't know what to do next, clinging to the contingency plan that had revealed itself to her in her encounter with Cid, whose motives she couldn't quite figure out. Did he just have a savior complex, or would he, contrary to Erie's assumption, present her as a political prisoner after all, rather than allow her to work incognito on revenge for Rosaria? Fear and despair overcame her. She buried her head in her knees and began to cry until she fell asleep from exhaustion.
