Work Text:
Almedha returns to the Goldoa Palace courtyard just after midwinter. It’s a startling enough difference from when she left, half in tears and flinging curses at Father. The Almedha that returns to them nearly two years later is composed, polite, and holding an infant in her arms.
Kurth wants to cry when he hears the news.
Almedha had been formally disowned the moment she left Goldoa’s borders, but her reasons for leaving had been knowledge available only to their family and the palace’s inner circle. Her marriage to King Daein, of which they were notified by formal letter, was the only reason they had to believe she was still alive. Kurth had perfected the art of deflection in the time that had passed, neatly changing the topic of conversation when his sister was brought up. My sister is doing well, thank you. I hope I may be of assistance in her absence…
He had been drafting a trade agreement between two clans when a messenger arrived at his quarters to notify him of her return. His desk will be stained with spilled ink when he returns, but he’s too busy catching his breath to care.
He spots Rajaion standing in front of the door to the throne room. His gaze is hard, and he’s staring at the door like he doesn’t know what to do with himself. It’s not a look Kurth sees on him often, and it makes him uncomfortable. The two guards flanking the door look similarly nervous.
“Raj?”
He jumps, and Kurth winces. “S-Sorry,” he adds.
“No, it’s-- you’re fine.” Raj’s eyes flick from Kurth to the closed door for a few moments before he speaks again. “Your sister’s acted impulsively. It’s difficult to tell what Father would have to say to her.”
Kurth stares at him, wide-eyed. “She’s your sister too, you know!” he blurts out.
Raj flinches. “I… Yes. You’re right.”
With some newfound resolve, Raj pushes open the doors. Kurth isn’t sure what he expects to see. Perhaps they will be arguing again, he thinks, or Father will be happy she’s back and can forgive her.
Whatever he expects, it isn’t silence.
Father sits with his back straight, and Almedha is standing tall before him with a baby close to her chest. Kurth’s relief at seeing his sister outpaces his anxieties for a moment, and he lets out a breathless “ Sister! ”
They both face him, and Almedha gives him a weary smile before she turns back to Father, whose expression does not change. Her husband is nowhere to be seen, he realizes.
Raj stills next to Kurth, whose fears flare up again. The silence stretches on for a moment longer before Father clears his throat. “The child,” he says. “May… May I see them?”
Almedha looks terrified for a moment before she nods. She’s trembling as she hands the baby to him, and stays close to Father as he holds them. Her body’s tense, like she expects something terrible to happen if they are not in her arms.
Dheginsea scrutinizes the infant in his lap before speaking.
"He is one of the Parentless."
It's not a question.
“...Yes,” Almedha says.
They had expected it, but it’s a difficult blow nonetheless. The day they had received the letter from Daein notifying them of Almedha’s marriage, Father had been distressed for some time. Raj had had to pull Kurth aside to explain the stigma that the Parentless faced with patient words and a promise that they would not show the same cruelty to Almedha’s child.
Kurth had said he didn’t know beorc and laguz parents could bear children. Raj, seeming anxious, told him “They shouldn’t.” Kurth didn’t know what Raj had meant until Dheginsea continues.
“You are unable to transform, then?”
Almedha looks like she’s been struck. “How did you-- y-yes, Father. I… I’ve been unable to change form since I bore child. I had hoped I was only too weak afterwards, but...”
Dheginsea holds Almedha’s son in his arms like a fitful kitten. He squirms, trying to reach for his mother, and she quickly pulls him back close to her chest.
“...It’s true, then? I won’t be able to transform for the rest of my life?”
“You should have known.”
“ Whose fault is it that I couldn’t --” Almedha swallows back her words. Dheginsea’s eyes grow hard.
“Enough,” he says. “I will not have you blaming me for your rashness.”
“Won’t you listen to me, at least?”
Almedha grips her baby tighter, who whines in complaint before she loosens her hold on him. Kurthnaga wills his voice to work, but it still comes out shaky. “Would you like me to hold him, Sister?”
She startles. “No, I-- I’m alright, thank you.”
She kisses her child’s forehead, where Kurthnaga can see a bright red brand, and lulls him to sleep. Dheginsea watches them for a long moment before quietly saying “You may speak.”
Almedha nods.
“Ashnard and I were married without issue,” she says. “He urged me to have a child as quickly as possible, and we did. But when my son was born… He was so frail… He fell so ill that he nearly died when he was barely a month old.”
Almedha’s voice wavers near the end, as if simply remembering it is painful to her. She leaves another kiss on the top of her child’s head before continuing.
“Ashnard expected him to grow stronger or display some manner of hidden talent, but he never did. He didn’t have any ability to transform, either, and I had lost mine after having him. Ashnard became… frustrated. He began to see us as an annoyance. I was planning my leave when, one day, I overheard him speaking to an advisor of his. He said he had worked with a man who had created a drug to force us to s-stay transformed.”
Next to Kurth, Raj curses under his breath.
“The drug is already complete, and he’s staging mass hunts to capture laguz. He-- He even said they could test its effects on.. On...”
Almedha’s breaths are coming in shudders now, and Raj leaves Kurth’s side to comfort their sister. Kurth follows, putting a hand on her back.
“I-- I’m sorry. I am still weak. Recalling it is still painful…”
“You are not weak, Sister. You’re the strongest person I know,” Raj murmurs.
Kurth’s fingers move in a way he hopes is comforting. She hadn’t finished her sentence, but from the way she clutches her son like a lifeline, he can put the pieces together.
Dheginsea is still for a long time, looking like he’s in thought. It is after Almedha’s breathing returns to a normal pace that he sighs.
“I see you now understand the consequences of your actions,” he says.
Kurth feels Almedha tense beneath his palm.
“We will accept you and your son back to court, and--”
“Pardon me?”
Almedha looks Dheginsea in the eyes. The furrow between his eyebrows deepens.
"You know you have wrought this on yourself, child."
“That’s all you have to say?!”
Almedha’s shouts wake up her child, who moans quietly. She doesn’t break eye contact with Dheginsea.
“I am sorry you and your son had to suffer--”
“No, you aren’t.”
Kurth flinches. Almedha steps closer.
“You-- you don’t feel anything ? You’d rather let your children die than acknowledge the danger present in Daein? Something terrible is going to happen, Father. I know you can't be bothered to care about us, but innocents are going to die if you do nothing.”
“Sister--” Kurth croaks.
“You haven’t changed,” Dheginsea says. “You have not lived long enough, so you cannot understand. There is a force greater than us at play if war breaks out.”
Almedha pulls her son in closer, who squirms in her grip. “You’re despicable! You hold up these long-dead ideals of self-righteousness while people suffer for your inaction. Is this just, Dheginsea? Are the lives of hundreds-- no, thousands-- worth nothing to you?!”
“I did not think you this naive, Almedha.”
“If you think I am the one who is naive, then we are at an impasse.”
Almedha swivels around and walks out of the throne room. Dheginsea makes no move to stop her.
“Father, is she…” Raj trails off. Dheginsea has his face in his hands.
“You are dismissed,” he says.
Kurth doesn’t see his sister again until late into the next day, where he finds her in the gardens under a gazebo. She’s holding her son, who is tugging the petals off a flower with a determined look on his face before tossing them on the ground. Sidestepping his work, Kurth sits next to her.
“Hello, Sister.”
She smiles. “Kurth. I’m sorry we couldn’t get acquainted earlier.”
“It’s okay. Ah, can I…?” he gestures to her son. Wordlessly, she passes the baby to him, who busies himself with the clasp on his cloak.
He’s tiny, and breathes strangely. He has a small hat on to keep his skin from burning under the Goldoan sun. Almedha looks at him like he holds the world in his little fists.
“Does he have a name?” Kurth whispers.
“Not yet,” Almedha says. “His father wanted him to have a Daein name, while I wanted a Goldoan one.”
“A Goldoan name…?”
“Sureshan,” she says.
Kurth nods. “It’s a beautiful name. Father will like it.”
She frowns. “Soren.”
Kurth laughs quietly. “That’s rather petty of you, Sister.”
“I would say I'm justified.”
He hums. Her son starts pawing at Kurth’s face, and she takes him before he can hurt himself. He coos in her arms as she strokes his cheek.
“He’s beautiful,” Kurth says.
“Mm.”
She looks perfectly content. Kurth lets his curiosity get the best of him.
“Do-- do you regret it? Leaving?” he asks.
Almedha’s gaze seems distant all of a sudden. “I don’t know, Kurth,” she says. “I was attracted to Ashnard, to his power and ambition, and it was all I had hoped for at first. But I… I…”
She holds her son closer, and Kurth thinks he understands.
“It was difficult, having him. I can’t transform anymore. I always feel… off-balance, now. Like I have too much energy that I can’t do anything with save for letting it sit under my skin. The court treated me like scum the moment I could no longer offer them power, but when I wasn’t his tool, Kurth, I was alive for the first time I can remember. I met new faces, faced new opinions, faced conflict . It was incredible. I don’t know how I can live without, under that stubborn old fool, now that I have a taste for it.”
“Father has his own reasons for remaining neutral, you know.”
“Yes. I know. I don’t think I can change his mind.”
Kurth feels a weight on his chest. “...You won’t be staying.”
Her smile carries a twinge of sadness.
“I’m sorry, Kurth.”
“It’s okay. I… I understand. Can you see me and Raj before you leave?”
“Of course.”
Kurth stares down at his shoes for a long while, willing himself not to cry. When he trusts his voice not to shake, he asks, “Where are you going to go?”
“I’m tired of running, Kurth. I want to see Tellius while I’m not fearing for our lives. After that… There’s a young Beorc couple I met in Gallia.”
“Beorc families in Gallia? Is that common?”
“It isn't. The husband worked under Ashnard before defecting and fleeing to Gallia with his wife. They have a son who’s almost as old as mine is. I want him to know someone his age, and Gawain and Elena are kind people.”
“I see.”
"...Kurth, you’re… Oh, Kurth…”
“I’ll be fine, Sister.” Kurth wipes his eyes and hiccups. “I-I’m happy for you.”
She sets her son down in her lap. Carefully, keeping him steady, Almedha pulls Kurth in for a hug.
“Thank you,” she says.
Kurth clutches at her back.
“I’ll miss you.”
“I know. I’ll stay in touch, okay?”
Kurth nods against her shoulder. He takes a few shuddering breaths.
“I love you, Sister.”
“I love you too, Kurth.”