Project ZEAL

The following scene is the last contribution to ZEAL, made by Aitrus and dealing with the character of Aias. A work in progress, its placement in the grand scheme of the work was not yet determined, though it followed Scene 37 in terms of actual date of writing. Before the project was abandoned, Aitrus also wrote an MS-DOS program that works like an adventure game to provide a description of ZEAL's palace. If you don't mind trusting him and running an .exe file, find it here.

Scene #D - An Evening Above the Clouds - The Lady and the Princess (Aitrus)

Aias sighed when he heard the knock on his door. Would the servants never stop coming and going, asking him the most mundane of questions to which they already knew the answers? "Go away!" he yelled at the closed door. "For the fifth time, my clothes are already set out. For the fourth time, I've already ensured that Ensar will be picking Sessimine up in time for the opening gala. For the eighth time, I have already bathed and require no assistance in doing so. And for the last time, leave me in peace so I may relax before my sister's birthday!"

He finally turned around, his tirade having finished. He had expected many possible things to be there -- a frightened servant, an empty space where a frightened servant had been, a closing door -- and had set his most furious scowl on his brow to greet them. However, the sight he beheld when he turned took the fire out of his anger and deflated him like a punctured balloon.

"Hello, Aias," his younger sister, Eir, said. She smiled at him, amused by his little display. "Shall this common servant go away and leave her master in peace?"

"Eir," he sighed happily as he walked toward her. "I'm so sorry about that. The servants haven't left me alone all day, and I just wanted to relax for a couple minutes." He embraced her. "However, that just means no servants. Sisters are an exception." He gestured toward the small living area, and the couches therein. She sat down, and he sat beside her. "Looking forward to your big gala tonight?"

She leaned back. "Honestly? Not really." She shook her head, set her blue hair shimmering. "After all, what's the big fuss about? It's just me we're talking about, and it's not like I haven't had a birthday before. And besides, with as many as we've had, you would think that we wouldn't really care about them any more."

That's my sister for you, he thought. She always thought of everyone else before herself, and rarely ever made a fuss about anything. However, she also had all the political sense of a house cat. She's one of the only innocents left in this world, he thought, and that's why I can't let the Council win.

"You know, it's not just a birthday party," he told her. "This is a state occasion, and we Royals must show the common people that we are still the greatest people on this planet. By showing off our wealth and vanity," he said sarcastically, "we can reassure the common folk that we are still looking out for them and protecting them from the other evil nations of Earth." Eir was about to take offense when Aias smiled and laughed. "Or so the political theorists say, whatever they know." She laughed, realizing he hadn't been serious. "But Cassandra and I are both forced to have one of these ourselves, so you're going to have one too, whether you like it or not."

She looked at him indignantly, but couldn't sustain it under the force of his smile. She slowly started to smile, and then laughed. They both degenerated into laughter, a sound too often lacking from the Zealian halls. When he could finally speak again, Aias wheezed out "Eir, you know what?"

It took a couple of minutes for Eir to get her breath enough to reply. "What's that, brother?"

"You are the last bright spot of this entire kingdom," he said. A cloud floated in front of the sun as if on cue, dimming the room. "I don't think we could ever stand it if you became as cynical as the rest of us," he said as the room brightened again. "I know I couldn't. Don't ever let us change you." She nodded somberly.

He stood up, Eir only a beat behind. "In any event, my dear, you have a big night ahead of you." He smiled at her, hoping to set her at ease. "I'd better let you get to it, and I'd better be getting ready myself."

She nodded, and he walked her to the door. As she was about to exit, she turned around and embraced Aias. "Thank you," she said, and then left the room. He stood there for a few moments, watching as she walked down the corridor, before shutting the door and heading back to the living area. He sighed as he looked at the sky, and went on towards the bedroom to get changed.

About five minutes later, he came back out, ready for the night. A servant had brought the message earlier detailing what Sessimine was to be wearing, and another had ensured that he would match. And even Aias, as fashion-challenged as he was, had to admit that he liked what he saw. The white tunic offset his black coat and pants, and the golden sash he wore at his waist combined with his purple cape to provide a touch of color. He didn't look half bad, at least so he thought. He was sure one of the servants would fuss about him later, but he didn't care. That's what they were supposed to do. Another quick glance at the sky told him that the gala would be starting within the hour, as the sun slid slowly down the horizon. His eye slid across the wall, and caught upon his sword collection. Could probably use one with this, he thought, and picked a ceremonial sword from among them. Fastening the jeweled scabbard to the sash, he turned for the door and heard someone knock. "Enter," he called, never stopping.

A servant entered, bowing. Aias bade him to rise and speak. "Provostia Sessimine is here, your Majesty." He told the servant to have her escorted to the Conservatory, and then stepped past him and into the hallway.

He arrived in the Conservatory to find it empty, as he'd hoped. With all of the gala's opening less than an hour away, everyone was concerned with it. He drew back the curtains along the western wall to reveal the floor-to-ceiling windows covering it. The red light from the sunset cascaded over him, reflecting off of the clouds below and bathing the room in deep reds.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Aias turned around, a touch startled at the voice, but still calm as he realized that it was Sessimine. She was smiling at him from the center of the room, arms folded across her kimono, which seemed almost blood-red in the light. He bowed to her slightly, and she curtsied back to him, both ignoring the formalities that would normally come with one of his station. "Thank you for coming, Sessimine." He looked at her dress again. "And, as always, you come in on the cutting edge of fashion." She curtsied again -- no mean feat in the kimono -- and stepped up to the window, next to Aias.

"It was my pleasure to be here, my Prince. After all, who can refuse a request from the Prince of Zeal?" She smiled, a ravishing sight in its own right, but he could tell that she was giving her appearance a bit of, shall we say, help. He didn't let on, though, and proceeded to ignore that fact.

He smiled back, warmed by her smile. "When it's simply a request and not a command, the right to refuse is always there." She chuckled slightly at his sincerity, which he also chose to ignore. He looked at her reflection in the window, and noticed something. "You changed your hair color," he said.

She stroked it gently, smiling. "Do you like it?" He nodded, turning slightly towards her. "Then it was worth it, wasn't it?" Aias shrugged, but kept a grin on his face. Sessimine looked around for a moment before asking, "So, why are we up here? Shouldn't we be heading towards the ball?"

The spell broken, Aias shook his head ever so slightly before replying, "Yes, we should. I wanted to speak with you for a moment before we went in, though, and thought this would make for an excellent place to do so." He offered her his arm, and then they began walking slowly towards the hallway. "As a member of the Royal Family's party, you will be in the receiving line as we greet our guests. Don't worry too much about that; it's mostly ritualized, although some can be informal. If you want to go mingle with the crowd during the festivities, just ask. It won't be a problem; and if anyone thinks it will be, I'll be sure to let them know it isn't." Some people said that worst thing that could happen to you than becoming an enemy of the royal family. Other than getting on the wrong side of the Council, Aias didn't know of any. They continued to talk, now about Eir, whom Sessimine had never met, then about Naomi, whom Aias had never met. Finally, they reached the balcony overlooking the ballroom, where the Royal Family was assembling. They had time for quick introductions before the court page called out from the bottom of the steps, "Presenting his Royal Highness, Prince Aias, escorting Lady Sessimine."

"Here we go," he whispered through the side of his mouth as he took her arm. Slowly, regally, they made their way down the stairs amidst the cheers and applause from the gathered crowd below. Aias couldn't help but scan the crowd, and picked out fairly easily four of the Council members, none of whom were near each other. Did I expect otherwise? he thought. He knew they'd be here, but his meticulousness wouldn't let him just assume that.

Once they reached the bottom of the steps, the page cried out "Presenting her Royal Highness, Princess Cassandra, escorted by Sir Kaleo." He escorted Sessimine to the side, and they turned to clap for his sister and her escort, the spokesman for the School of Sorcery. He was about what she would pick: tall, dark, handsome, and well-spoken, even if he only said what others told him to say. Especially since he only said what others told him to say. Aias shrugged mentally, sure Sess would pick it up, but doubting anyone else would notice.

"Introducing her Royal Highness, Princess Eir, escorted by Sir Suman!" The cheers came to a climax as Eir came forward. Suman, however, seemed on the verge of passing out. He was a student at the School of Summoning, and was also what Aias had thought his sister would pick: caring, gentle, and naive. However, he quickly recovered from his fright and descended the stairs slowly enough for the crowd to see her, but fast enough to get to level ground quickly.

The page nodded to the trumpeters standing by. "Introducing their Royal Majesties, King Fakhri and Queen Ciarin Zeal!"

The King and Queen, arm in arm, descended the grand staircase to the ballroom floor amid the cheers and applause of the crowd, waving to them on either side. The trumpeters played the Zealian anthem, and the King and Queen, out of long years of practice, made it to the bottom of the stairs just in time for it to end. King Fakhri raised his arms for silence, and finally got it. "Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to welcome you to my youngest's birthday!" Cheers and whistles erupted, forcing the king to ask for silence once again. "Now, as a gift, the School of Temporal Magic has decided to make a presentation on its work for the entire assembled audience, which will commence at 8 o'clock sharp." He paused and looked around solemnly, before breaking into a laugh. "Until then, rejoice! Drink, dance, be merry! This is a party, after all!" Everyone laughed with him, and turned back towards the floor.

"Well, Sessimine," Aias said, turning back to her, "shall we dance?"

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