Jewel of Lucis | FFXV

Chapter XI

Gladiolus chuckled. "Stop being so formal, Mia. This isn't the Citadel."

Euphemia grimaced. "You remember when you joked about how I was raised to walk with books stacked on my head?" She raised her eyebrows. "Well, I actually was! I can't help it!" She hissed.

"Mia, Gladio and I are gonna head to Caem on our own." Noctis interrupted their useless banter.

"What? Why?" Euphemia crossed her arms and rested her weight on one hip. "We were just talking about staying together, and you want to split up again?"

"We're taking Iris to Caem, and we don't all fit in the car." Noctis shifted his position to turn toward his sister. He leaned backward onto the railing and crossed his arms in response to her attitude. "You, Ignis, and Prompto will stay here. We'll be back to pick you up tonight."

Mia couldn't help but feel relieved at the news of another rest day. She loved to sit in and read her books, while she listened to Ignis slave away in the kitchen at his own will. Another day alone with Prompto sounded fantastic in her mind. "Get some rest while you can, Princess." Gladiolus smiled. "Once we get to Caem, we're getting on that boat and heading for Altissia. You do remember you have to perform the Sacred Rite, yeah?"

"Don't remind me..." She sighed. "Leviathan is known to be stubborn. She may not even listen to me. Let's just hope Luna and I will be enough to convince her."

The King and his bodyguard departed for Caem within the hour. After a long goodbye from Iris, Euphemia retreated to her hotel room with full intent on taking another nap. The night before was the first night she'd managed to have a sound, peaceful sleep. She couldn't help but feel it was due to the fact that she slept beside her brother, the very person sworn by the Gods to protect her at all costs. Perhaps, Ardyn couldn't quite reach her in his presence, especially now that Noctis's protective instincts were at an all time high. When she arrived back at the room, she found Prompto napping on her bed as well. Jinora slept at his side, Prompto having been one of her favorite people. Dogs typically gravitated toward him. He had an incredible affinity for animals, and Jinora seemed to sense that. Euphemia sat down at the small table across from Ignis, who quietly flipped through the pages of his own book. "Iggy?" She whispered.

"Hm?" He raised his eyebrows, yet refused to take his eyes off of his book. Euphemia didn't mind, however, for her Crownsguard often only paid attention to her and Noctis. It was about time Ignis had a moment to himself.

"Don't you think it's dangerous to stay here?" She tilted her head and crossed her legs nervously.

"As far as the empire knows, we took our vehicle and headed far away from that base." Ignis flipped yet another page. "We're perfectly safe here for the time being, so long as we stay in this room and await the car. After all, it's the Regalia they'll be following." He eyed her carefully from behind the cover. "Mia... Noctis can handle himself. Set your mind at ease."

Euphemia took a deep breath and nodded. "Right." She stood up slowly and headed off toward the other bed. Despite her incredible desire to lay beside Prompto, she refused to do so in Ignis's presence. She simply laid across from him and stared into his peaceful, snoozing face. She smiled while her cheeks reddened. Within a few moments, however, her face softened. She couldn't seem to shake him away from her thoughts. She closed her eyes tightly and covered herself from head to toe. Soon enough, her exhaustion got the better of her, and she fell back into a blissful rest.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>