The Steps of Faith was unlike anything you've ever seen before. The final stretch of man made structure just before the city of Ishgard was a trek in itself. The thick falling flakes never ceased to stop since the moment you entered into Coerthas. Everything — and anything seemed to be covered in white, the land virtually shrouded in mist. Though veiled in a blanket of snow, wreckage of war proved itself immensely on the stretch of the great bridge. It was difficult not to notice the large amounts of slain dragon's lain about. Some intact — perhaps recently killed, and others were but bone. And some.. turning to decay and filth as their bones protruded from their frozen hides, and a distant smell of rot filled your nose. The scene was unsightly but you were aware of the closing of the great battle so there was nothing to fear. You and your company stayed nonspeaking, envisioning the events that took place on this very ground; man versus dragon. The climax of the Dragonsong war was finally over but not without the consequence of lives lost and a city, grieving and broken. But by the heroic efforts of the Scions, the knights of Ishgard, and the notorious Warrior of Light, were you and your company able to be welcome to begin with, as guests, into Ishgard's walls.
You and your accompanying guild members called Gridania home and as members of the Botanist guild you often would travel to different locations at the behest of Nophica's calling, to survey each and every landscape. The Twelve's Bounty was endless, and getting a better understanding by personal procurement was every Botanists' duty. Yet.. your guildmaster may had other motives. Sure, this small trip was one purely for the purpose of obtaining knowledge, but the ulterior was out of a simple respite. A holiday some may call it — a four month long overstay at the coldest, most inhospitable city in Eorzea.
"Why the long, frozen faces? I assume we've almost just arrived at the gates Arc. The chocobo's are becoming quite anxious," Fufucha broke the lingering tension among the group. The leading chocobo's pulling the caravan made sure to squawk nervously, but you doubted it was because you were arriving. The dead carcasses on the bridge were just as unsightly to them as it was to every other living thing.
Some other members began to whisper amongst themselves, undoubtedly about our guild master's choice of a retreat. Despite her Lalafellan stature, Fufucha always knew how to keep her members in line. Without a second glance, you watched her strut from her seat and across the floor of the caravan to the gossiping trio, and defended her choice to venture to Ishgard very audibly.
You and most of the other guild members sat in a large chocobo-led carriage, and the rest either had taken to foot or sat upon individual chocobos that carried materials and supplies. Groups of friends were seated fairly close together for warmth as they chatted away to one another awaiting the arrival to your destination.
But you.. you sat nonchalantly alone, staring off into the great abyss that surrounded Ishgard. You shivered at the frozen air seeping through your long coat. As a Gridanian, you were sensitized to great green forests, swamps, and cool showers of rain, but this negative temperature was just too much! How does one live in such a place!? You closed your eyes and held onto yourself, vibrating from the chattering of your teeth. You began to daydream sitting in front of a large fireplace in a great mansion — an olden mansion you imagined that the Ishgardian's would call home. You know not of the habits of Ishgardians but only assumed that sitting in front of a fireplace was something they would often take part in, per the climate.
You beamed at the thought of sitting at the comfort of a roaring fire with new friends on this little excursion. But equally, your mind shifted to the idea of a friendly fire-breathing serpent gracing you with its heated vigor as your guild members stared in shock as if you were some Draconic goddess who could command a great wyrm on a whim. You laughed off your childish, indifferent thoughts.
That.. escalated quickly. Maybe that's not the best thing to be thinking about.. considering where we are. You thought, worried of the idea if anyone was able to read your outrageous imaginings.
You often thought of random non-existent scenarios. Your extreme pessimism and quiet lifestyle nurtured these thoughts and it was something hard to be rid of — you've always been this way. Your past has made you timid and nervous but also gentle and kind. Since the first time you could remember, you were alone and yet here you are, titled as a Botanist among this family of sorts. Your recruitment to Botany was something you never imagined doing and you had to overcome many hardships both mentally and physically to get to where you are now. This family only became a family the day that Fufucha offered you her encouraging hand, whisking you away to a better life. Often revered you tried your best at your job, but that wasn't good enough for the majority of the other members. Your disquieted nature made you unable to gain companionship from anyone else other than the benign Fufucha. That is to say.. until a certain resilience came along.
"If I hadn't known any better, I'd say you look awfully cold and lonely over here," The Hyuran man made sure to loom over you with his shoulder, weighing himself on your head. His thick, long ebony hair grazed over your eyesight. Yet you knew he had the biggest grin on his face, but his playfulness wasn't something you weren't use to. As his bulky form never ceased to pull away from yours, you sighed in content at the growing warmth he brought. You blew the strands of his hair from your face when it had tickled your nose.
"Renji! I didn't even see you get on," You said, trying to use all your might to keep him from crushing you. "But this is no time to act silly.. I'm freezing over here!"
Renji pulled his weight from you and took a seat at your hip. He took a deep breath and leaned only his head awkwardly on top of yours. "Sorry, sorry. I'm just ecstatic to be away from that supply chocobo. Whose bright idea was it to feed him copious amounts of gysahl greens before we started this thing? Damn ol' thing reeks of rotten lettuce.. and mud." He clicked his tongue in disgust.
You laughed at the way he emphasized mud and imagined his solo ride atop the planet's smelliest chocobo.
"And I would have been here to keep you warm sooner, but unfortunately, Fufucha has it out for me, you know?" Renji cozied up next to you, your side becoming gradually warmer by the minute. You hadn't been near him this entire trip because of the duties Fufucha bestowed upon him, but he was near you now, even if it was just for a moment. And it brought immense comfort to your lonely thoughts.
"Heh. I know, I know. She always gives you an earful! Remember the time she had you pick up all those nopales from that Ul'dahn merchant by yourself?" You teased him, taking a quick glance at Fufucha who just about finished chastising the gossiping trio and proudly headed back towards the front.
"Ugh! Don't remind me!" Renji exasperated, releasing his weight back on you playfully.
"Renji, please! You're h-heavy, you big lug!" You tried your best to sustain his weight again, becoming gradually more embarrassed as the rest of the members began to take notice of Renji's boisterous nature.
"Heavy? C'mon, you know this is all muscle and—" Renji joked but was cut off from a guild member shouting up ahead the caravan.
"The Gates!" The woman atop a chocobo halted and pointed making the rest of the members look up. Words of rejoicing began among many as the mist cleared a path revealing the Arc of Ishgard.
"Well, shite. It's bout' time!" Renji removed himself from your side and stood up to get a better view.
You looked onward towards the front of the caravan to see the coachman usher the chocobos in an audible rein break as they approached several greeting knights. The knight's guarding the gate were quiet and seemed all too wary of your presence. You thought this to be odd in that the few good knights at the Gates of Judgement, before the bridge, let you pass with ease. Perhaps those outside the walls were akin to travelers and the ones stationed within it.. not so much.
You saw Fufucha hurriedly scramble from the carriage and towards what appeared to be a higher ranking knight. He was an Elezen man with light brown hair who armoured himself in silver and red plated attire. Fufucha began speaking to him then handed him a small document. The whole party spoke in whispers as the knight holding the paper looked from Fufucha to the rest of your group. A few other knights slowly flanked the carriage, taking note of the passengers and supplies. The air seemed to grow thicker than what was already frozen in everyone's lungs. Everyone held their breath — you could cut the tension with a hatchet. The brown-haired Elezen turned back to Fufucha and nodded, waving his hand in approval for the rest of his troop. The gates began to open and your coachman reined his chocobos once again. They squawked and put a hop into their step, leading the rest of the caravan inside Ishgard's walls at last.
You exhaled, surprised you had forgotten to breathe and stood up alongside Renji.
"You'd think they contemplated on killin' us with how tense that was.." Renji sighed. "That head knight didn't look to eager to see us."
"Their war just came to an end. I think I would be a bit suspicious of outsiders too," You sympathized.
"Did you see the sour look that guy gave us when he looked our way? So much for a code of chivalry.." Renji scoffed. "I can't imagine what their actual commander looks like."
You looked up at Renji and added, "Oh I'm sure he's just some scary man just waiting for poor, unfortunate Botanists to wander into his lair and feed them to his dragon horde!" You made spooky fingers and muffled a laugh.
"Not. Funny." Renji rolled his eyes, "If he's lookin' for something edible, I'll give him you—"
You heard Renji's voice make an abrupt pause but you had already begun spacing out before he even finished that sentence. Your mind traveled and danced at the scenery that canvased around you as more of the city of Ishgard came into view. The architecture of the buildings were something you've only ever heard stories about and you excitedly imagined exploring the city. Everything seemed so different from Gridania, but you anticipated the culture nonetheless. The noise of the caravan coming to a stop and your fellow guild members exiting the carriage snapped you back to reality.
"Uh.. I'm so sorry, Renji. I spaced out for but a moment.. What were you saying about something being edible?" You looked to him.
"N-Nothin'! Nothin' at all," Renji dismissed. You looked to him again to see his hand covering his mouth and a slight flush on his cheekbones.
"Is everything alright..?" You knitted your brows and assumed the cold was getting to him.
Renji waved a dismissive hand at you and walked forward to exit the carriage, "It's nothin', really. C'mon, we should follow the rest of the group."
You frowned slightly but chose to believe his words. Renji turned to you and beckoned as you still stood on the carriage. Smiling, you excitedly trailed after Renji and the guild.
—
Your head was in the clouds as you marveled at the unique Ishgardian infrastructure. Most buildings were in need of repair but you imagined the blueprint of it all before the great war. First, your eyes sparkled at the interior aetheryte that seemed to almost light up the whole entryway. Then your eyes trailed up to the buildings shrouded in mist that transcended into the very heavens. Then to the eternal amount of stairs everywhere — there were so many stairs!
Your curious heart switched between the city and the people in it. Both highborn and lowborn seemed to coexist as you took note of the different folk around you. Although, coexist wasn't exactly the right word. Your smile turned neutral as you watched soot-covered children in rag-like cloth throwing snowballs at each other, to pompous gentlefolk who walked by who held their noses a bit too high, then to a woman holding her crying child under a scorched broken pillar. Your heart wrenched at the sight, stopping you in your tracks. You sympathized with all that was around you and admonished your previous excited thoughts. You almost forgot the thousand year tragedy that took place here and you had no right to be happy. Homes were destroyed, dragon fire encrusted and engraved itself on the streets, and the weak and downhearted were left to fend for themselves.
You were once in the same position. A child begging and miserable in the slum at the Steps of Nald. Though you could hardly say it was exactly the same — these people ran from a great dragon horde while you ran away from the soldiers of the Immortal Flames for simply thieving a small popoto. You had no family, no place you belonged to when you were a child, but adding dragons to all that sounded terrifying. How does one rise up from all this? With so much darkness, how does one fully recover? Will there be someone to help them? You were given a chance by Fufucha's saving grace, but not everyone has that pleasure. Even with Fufucha's help, your self-misery still lingered. Though you tried your best as you saw fit, you still loathed your past and yourself. It was awfully unreasonable but this was how you felt. This is how you've always been. You never believed rising from the ashes could be something you could accomplish yourself. You needed a hand to guide you, and so did the people of Ishgard.
You stood aside yourself as you took another glance at the woman with the crying child. She met eyes with you and appeared to scowl at the sight of you. You were taken aback since you never meant any harm by staring. A man appeared beside her and mumbled something then turned his attention towards you. He took a step forward in your direction in a slight hostile manner. You sucked in a breath and placed your hand on your other arm out of a nervous habit. I.. I didn't do anything! Why are they looking at me like that? Your anxiety plagued you until you felt someone place their hand on your shoulder. You snapped out of your vexations.
"We shouldn't linger. Fufucha adjured us to meet at the Forgotten Knight," Renji spoke calmly but turned to glare at the couple who gave you a stand off. "And I know you tend to get.. lost easily."
You looked up at Renji to which he greeted you with a half smile. You returned a weak smile and followed his lead as he headed up a long stretch of stairs.
—
You walked for some time following after Renji. The waymark signs on the streets guided your path to your destination where you came across a large fountain in an open courtyard. You found it odd that a great statue stood at the center — its upper portion completely decapitated. The thought of a dragon in an aerial pursuit reaching this far into the city just to reek havoc made your hairs stand on end — the still cold air seemed to keep you constantly tense. You attempted to shrug off your continuous unsettling thoughts and looked ahead.
Across the way you could see all your guild members congregate in front of a cottage-looking building. You figured this was the Forgotten Knight Tavern and Inn everyone was meant to meet at. And.. peculiar that it was neighbor to a sort of garrison, judging by the knights that stood guard at the entrance and the embroidered Ishgardian flags that hung high. You stood at the fountain curious as to what the fortress was. You took notice of the people entering, exiting, or simply passing by.
Renji had already met up with the others in front of the tavern leaving you to yourself. You examined the now sociable Renji. He was always easy-going and quick to make friends. Despite your quiet demeanor, he had quickly gravitated into your life. His fiery vigor and resilience to befriend you confused you at first, but he quickly became someone you could call a best friend. You felt you didn't deserve this kind of friendship, but equally enjoyed every moment of it. He was the only other person to look at you with such gentle eyes, other than Fufucha. You caught a glimpse of a guild member named Ethelred shake his head at Renji as if he had done something wrong. Renji seemed to bicker back playfully and shrug off whatever he apparently committed.
You smiled at the sight of his interaction with everyone but that smile soon grew faint. The sound of the water rushing from the fountain filled your ears. You wanted to be surrounded by everyone but didn't know how. You don't want to feel alone like this, yet you sought comfort in isolation. You sighed at your pessimism and took a courageous step forward to join the others.
You hardly took two steps forward when the sound of approaching footsteps halted you. A small convoy of knights flanked from your side. The sound of clanging armour and weapons made your nerves rise as you turned your attention towards the fountain, not even glancing at who exactly was coming your way. It's not you. You didn't do anything. You just got here. You breathed deeply to calm your anxiety. The large group steadily walked past you as you loitered near the fountain giving off the impression as if you were actually doing something. From the corner of your eye you saw the convoy walk towards the garrison being led by what appeared to be a taller, dark-haired knight. You could only see the top of the person's head towering over the row of knights. Through the openings of the row, a small glimpse of dark blue and golden-cladded armour intrigued you. Perhaps the man leading the troop was of great importance if he wore something so.. outlandish?
You stepped back a bit to get a better view, only your foot found something on the ground. You moved your attention to a small cloth bag under your foot laying on the stone. You gingerly picked it up and quickly realized it was full of gil. You're not exactly someone diving in riches and you never have been, but you regrettably knew the feeling and sound of gil in your hand. So many thoughts raced through your mind but only one conclusion.
You trotted after the troop just before they entered the garrison.
"W-Wait! Excuse me, good knights!" You huffed after them. Only a few knights stopped to glance at you until one of the knights standing guard hurried over in a blockade. He diligently placed his shield in front of your path making you stop in your tracks.
"I apologize, Miss. I cannot allow thee any entry into the Congregation of Our Knights Most Heavenly," The guard spoke sternly.
The.. The what? Your thoughts stumbled.
"But.. I.. I think someone maybe dropped this," You added, lifting your palm holding the small coin bag up to the guard. "Could you find the owner, good knight?"
"That emblem.. That's the Borel House—" The guard trailed off in his words and his eyes widened. You turned the bag in a slight to confirm there was indeed a small patch of a blue emblem sewed into the cloth.
"Pray.. Why do thee have this!?" The guard immediately raised his voice and stepped towards you.
Huh?! I didn't do anything..! Your thoughts raised.
"I found it lying on the floor.. I swear by it!" You responded, cowering back.
"Stealing does not go without punishment!" The guard continued to incriminate you, yanking the bag from your hand. "And, by the Fury, stealing from the Lord Commander himse—"
"That is quite alright, Firmalbert," A deep voice spoke out. The guard was quick to turn to the voice but his shield still blocked your sight.
"L-Lord Commander! Pray, excuse my uproar!" The guard named Firmalbert was swift to change his tone of voice. He took his wall of a shield away from you and placed it at his side.
You were still shocked at the scene you had caused so you sustained your eyes forward where the shield once was, but as soon as the shield left you, you were met with someone new. The tall man that stood before you was plated with that familiar blue and gold armour you saw moments ago. His staggering, lean height gave you notion that he was possibly an Elezen without even taking at look at his face. This was the same person you tried to get a glimpse of earlier and now here he is. The guard had mentioned Lord Commander, and the thought of meeting someone with such a high rank made you start to sweat.
So.. this person is the Lord Commander? You thought as you finally raised your head up to take a look at the person who would condemn you for the action you never committed.
And for the love of all Nophica's Grace and all things good in this life! Your heart quickened on its own as the raven-haired commander turned his icy-blue gallantry to lock with your coy eyes. His slight curled hair fell just perfectly on his slender face. His extending pointed ears reaffirmed he was absolutely an Elezen, and he accentuated that fact by glamouring his left ear with simple jewelry. His eyes were hardy but his demeanor was that of someone true-hearted. Despite all your namedays, you have never met a man as beautiful as the person standing right in front of you.
The option to even speak seemed incomprehensible. What in the Twelves' name would you say to such a beautiful being? And not to mention the fact that you've been incriminated. You look like the worst possible person in front of him and you didn't quite know how to process this. Your lips parted to defend yourself before there was any further accusations, but the commander beat you to it.
"Forgive the boisterous nature of the Temple Knights. Our recuperation is slow but we remain contingent on the hope for better days," The commander's rich voice spoke but you sensed no hostility. Rather.. he was smiling.
"Lord Commander, I only reprimanded her after she brought this forward," Firmalbert held the bag of gil out and the commander delicately took the bag and examined it. "Tis yours. The Borel House crest is unmistakable."
"You found this?" The commander looked from the bag and eyed you once again.
You hesitantly opened your mouth to defend yourself again but was cut short.
"She stole it, my Lord!" Firmalbert blurted out. "These Gridanians we sanctioned into Ishgard don't know their place."
"Please! Good knight.. and c-commander. I swear by it that I picked it up after you had passed by me just moments ago," You finally spoke out and made a deep bow in their direction. You were incredibly sorry for something you didn't do.
The commander went silent and seemed to feel around his lower armour as if he had dropped something, "Ah. Tis' true my lace is broken."
Firmalbert looked at his commander, confused.
"Well.. There you have it. No use for condemning the poor girl for misplaced wrongdoings." The commander spoke firmly in Firmalbert's direction then graced you with his blue eyes once more. "Ah, and Miss..?"
"(F/N).. that's.. my name." You locked eyes with him for a moment too long and it made you undeniably nervous.
"Miss (F/N).. I deeply apologize for all this. You are free to join your party. 'Twould seem we have made quite a commotion," The commander made an apologetic face and looked towards the Forgotten Knight. Your jaw almost dropped at his leniency for a complete stranger. You didn't do anything but wasn't he being too forgiving for someone he just met? You followed his gaze and noticed your guild members and a few onlookers watch your spotlight. Renji was being held back by another member from coming to your aid — he looked furious.
"Wait! My Lord.. thou would grant her clemency as simple as that? Tis' a considerable crime to steal personally from someone such as thee—" Firmalbert protested.
"Are you suggesting she reached out underneath my armour, among a convoy, and unbeknownst grabbed a small bag of gil on my person in a matter of seconds?" The commander crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at his guard.
"No.. I.. suppose not, Lord Commander," Firmalbert glanced at the cowering sight of you and cringed as he put two and two together in front of his own leading commander. It didn't make any sense to begin with. Firmalbert just wanted to be a good, loyal knight, but you were also being a good Samaritan.
You blushed at the commander's words of having your hands anywhere near his trousers, and bowed your head once again to hide your embarrassment, and to show gratuity.
"I humbly apologize for the disturbance I may have caused! I simply wanted to give the money back to its owner.." You lifted your head up in the slight, and watched the commander nod his head.
"And I should humbly thank you for that, my dear. Truly. You have been.. most kind in returning this to me." The commander beamed at you once more, then held onto the gil and turned his back to you to enter the Congregation. Firmalbert shook his head and returned to his post, defeated. As the Lord Commander of Ishgard, you imagined him to be strict and unpleasant but he's shown nothing other than chivalry. You stood in front of the Congregation for a moment to register how in the Seven Hells you were just justified in record time by a charitable man.
You heard the sound of running hit the courtyard stone as it got closer to you and turned your head to a furious Renji.
"What in the bloody Hells just happened?!" Renji furrowed his brow. "Are you hurt? Did they say somethin' mean to you?"
You took a deep breath then exhaled, "I would have been condemned to Hell, surely, if not for the commander. And I'm alright.. No injuries or severe unpleasantness.. " You halfly smiled at Renji's worry for you, and to reassure him.
Renji gave you an addled look but figured you didn't want to talk about it at the given moment from the way you smiled. He then walked to your side, patting your back as if he wanted you to follow him. "C'mon. That's the last time I leave you alone. And just.. tell me bout' what happened later?"
"I will.. Thank you, Renji," You agreed and shadowed Renji towards the Forgotten Knight. He put a big grin on his face as you thanked him, but remained silent the rest of the way. You would tell him later, only.. you'll leave the part out about the commander in shining armour.
—
You were met with an anxious Fufucha and a few other guild members who questioned your squabble with the Temple Knights. You reassured them it was but a misunderstanding. And you knew you would try your best not to let something like that happen again. It was more than likely you would never even cross paths with that commander. You hadn't even had the pleasure of learning his actual name.
The guild organized themselves inside the tavern, anticipating the warmth of a fire and the comfort of an actual bed. It's been several days since any of you had actually slept in a warm room and you were starving for some decent sleep. Some took a turn at the bar, but most headed in for the night to their assigned quarters. You dodged the racket of the open bar, and from the sights of Renji, heading to your personal quarters. The room wasn't exactly the most hospitable — beer bottles and rubbish hid in the corners, but the fire melted your frozen cheeks, and the bed was calling your name. It was like Cloud Nine as you plopped your face down on the bed and closed your eyes. You thought it would be easier to fall asleep after all that traveling but your musing of today's events kept you up.
I wish I could have asked your name. Your reverie of the Lord Commander was the main fuel of your insomnia but you couldn't stop thinking about the way he smiled at you. You were twitterpated over the slightest attention from an extremely attractive man. You were foolish but you didn't care. You were happy right now and you relished in it — drifting off into your imaginings and soon into quietus slumber.
_________
The night seemed to drag on. The clouds up high grew dense which made the snow fall more heavily up Ishgard's hushed streets. After the war, the cities night hours had turned still and silent. A calm after the storm. However, there were only but a few who still found no spare time for sleep. There was still much work to do.
"Handeloup had no ill-concerns to report from our welcomed guests this evening. However.. the people have become quite frigid at their presence. I imagine much talk," A young woman spoke dutifully. She wore silver and red-platted knight's armour, with a silver pendant hugging her head and her short, ivory hair.
"Yes. 'Twould appear that way. Pray hear me, Lucia, is it not in the cities and peoples best interest to be exposed to such travelers? Nor I, for one, would not suffer the cowardice reclusiveness of our past to prolong itself any further. We need.. exposure and unification from the outside realms to augment ourselves and grow as a newfound republic. The very Alliance that was built upon the intent to form a bond between nations, and Ishgard would not be left behind," The Lord Commander sat at his desk unflinching as he sorted through piles of reports and inner regulations from the House of Lords. "So let them talk. A few good Gridanians are beneficial for the confederation and our mending plight."
The Lord Commander thought for a moment as he held a document in his hand. His thumb tapped impatiently on the rough paper as he mulled to himself. Lucia simply nodded in agreement to her commander's words as she stood at attention in the center of his office. His thoughts remained unchanging — his eyes shifted to the small bag of gil resting on the side of his desk. He held the document still, staring at the bag and took to resting his elbow on the desk, propping his head with the same arm. His paper tapping ceased as he became mindful.
"...On a different note, what do you believe an individual would gain from discovering loose change on the ground?" The Lord Commander questioned.
"My Lord?" Lucia dazed at this odd, sudden question. "That is to say.. the individual is ever the more richer, perhaps? They may choose to use it wisely, or mindlessly. Depends on ones morals.."
"Then would one find it uncommon to have no selfish desires from coming across unattended riches?" He added once again.
"I am unsure of these questions, Lord Commander. But if you speak of someone who happened by a few unattended coins and let it be, then yes. Uncommon and perhaps foolish," She answered, troubled that her commander may be succumbing to sleep deprivation from this strange conversation.
"Foolish? Do you believe all beings are allured to riches?" He bantered.
"No, my Lord.. There is good people who find their fortitude in little. But.. money is livelihood whether we accept that societal construct or not," She explained, looking away from him for but a moment.
"You are quite right. Although.. what do you make of someone who effortlessly gives found coin, in full, back to its original owner?" He spoke once more, placing the document down. He rested his form back into his chair, crossing his arms.
"That is quite a benign gesture. Rare.. but awfully kind," Lucia stared at her commander now, adjusting her tired feet. "I.. fail to see where this whole conversation is leading to. Have you lost your change lately?"
"Curiosity. Simple curiosity," The Lord Commander leaned his head on the backboard of the chair and smiled absently. Her last statement was quite on spot. "A few good Gridanians indeed.. I am quite fervent in seeing how the city will alter with the presence of that guild."
"Is there aught advantageous for you, Lord Commander?" She joked in the slight, holding back a humorous grin.
"Come now! Beneficial to me? Nonsense. I humbly wish for my people to thrive. Tis' all," His brows knitted at her scrutiny.
"You really are among those good men, Lord Commander. Great fortitude in little," Lucia was quick to bow after her final comment. "Do pardon me — If you no longer require my presence, I wish to retire for the night."
"You are dismissed," He nodded to her.
Lucia gave a hearty Ishgardian salute and turned to make her way out. The Lord Commander exhaled deeply when she exited. He stood up to stretch and made way to idle himself near the window.
"Good man? Tis' not all that glorious," He mumbled to himself, his expression hidden. "I only want what is best for my people. I am but here to give and, from that, people are there to take — and take."
His handsome mien turned dark as he silently stared through his frost-bitten window. The stress from working day and night had taken a toll on his spirit. Being Lord Commander and a newly appointed Speaker of the House of Lords took most of his time. He took everything head on with courage and confidence in his heart but he always made sure to relish in the soothing hum of quiet at his desk with only but the sound of shuffling paper. It was a small way to make amends for his weary self but always a welcome one — anything to clear his mind. In spite of this, there was no time for a break. Sleep was terrific but there was much work to do this night. He would need to complete all his duties here in Ishgard before he could sanction his leave to the Dravanian Forelands in a few days. There was much speculation of the primal, Ravana, appearing for the umpteenth time causing an odd disturbance among the surrounding townsfolk, and even among the indigenous dragons. The Lord Commander had already informed the Warrior of Light of the situation to make light of his worries. There was much to brood over, but for now, he steadily took a seat back at his desk. He yawned once before continuing his impending paperwork. His mind wandered for but a moment — his eyes locked onto the bag of gil resting on his desk then back again to his work.
The night seemed to drag on and on for the Lord Commander's thoughts.
__________