Work Text:
…
…
…
Tapping his fingers restlessly against the table, Gilgamesh sighed in irritation. He resisted the urge to reach up and touch his forehead lightly as he felt a pounding headache coming up. He frankly couldn’t even remember when he had last had enough time to get some decent – and much-needed – sleep.
Things had been easier when his mother had still been alive. Not that the amount of responsibilities he had was less, but given that she was an interesting person to have around, his work had been much more bearable.
Indeed, he had been fond of his mother. She had been a brilliant person, her sharp tongue always providing entertaining remarks and making his long days, which were filled with tedious decisions regarding all the matters of his kingdom – from wheat distributions to infrastructures – much easier to deal with.
Gilgamesh acknowledged Ninsun as a personality he could respect, which was why he had felt her loss quite acutely.
After her death, however, he didn’t have much time to be distracted from his duties in order to mourn her. His village – or kingdom – was prospering and growing, but that meant that his responsibilities increased with it as well.
He refused to delegate his duties, as was expected; he was the king, it was only right he should do his job. No one else was worthy of sharing the responsibilities of governing.
However, the king alone was unable to tend to all the matters that required his attention, and that was, unfortunately, a fact.
At first, Gilgamesh dismissed the issue, but it soon became too insistently present to be ignored any longer. The situation at his beloved village needed more intervention; if he didn’t do something, soon the place was not going to be able to continue prospering.
Therefore, he reluctantly began to put other people in charge of specific matters, people who were trustworthy and reported to him directly. Kirei, that impassable yet oddly entertaining man, was tasked with a jurisdiction power; he had to investigate those who went against the village’s laws. Emiya, although his dry attitude was irritating and amusing in equal measures, had a keen eye for numbers and was therefore put in charge of the financial side of everything. And of course Enkidu was more than happy to devote his time to the good of the village by assisting Gilgamesh directly.
But it still wasn’t enough.
No matter how much time he invested in making sure everything ran smoothly, there wasn’t one single day in which he managed to do everything he had to. If he focused on major matters, minor ones were going to be neglected; if he focused on smaller issues, the larger ones were not going to be fixed.
The situation was getting out of hand for what concerned the village. As much as he could detest the idea, he was in need of someone with whom he could truly share his duties, especially at the castle; he needed someone who was on his same level.
Only a queen was at the same level as a king.
Reaching that conclusion made it very easy for him to determine that he had to make a sensible choice in his marriage, and it was best to do so outside his village, mainly because there were very few women of suitable age, but also because they were all too much in awe of him, and therefore, far too boring.
He needed someone worthy of taking up the mantle and who would be able to shoulder everything in a capable manner.
With that purpose in mind, he eventually left his study, leaving behind his concerns for the day, to go inform his subordinates of the fact that he was going to visit the nearest town with the simple purpose of finding a wife.
Once Gilgamesh set his mind to something, he accomplished it without fail. Always.
…
…
He didn’t bother telling his real purpose to the people in town, of course.
To be fair, he was quite disappointed by the place. He found very little that could interest him; people were too eager to please him – nothing strange in that, although not remarkable either – even though none of them was a human being deserving of any particular notice.
He made an effort to keep as silent as possible, as his real thoughts would have made his aim clear, and he did not intend to have it known. No one gave the impression of being particularly bright in their behaviour towards unknown foreigners, but there was still the possibility of them misunderstanding; so to avoid all that, it was easier to speak as little as possible. Besides, he didn’t have much to say, as he found most people to be dull and boring to say the least.
After some extremely tedious hours, he finally managed to get rid of the mayor and decided that, since he meant to postpone dinner with him for as long as possible, he might as well take a short stroll around.
Very little escaped his notice as he examined the town. It relied mainly on trade, it seemed, and all the shops were indeed about various selling items. He could see that almost everything was produced better at his own village, and the thought was very satisfying.
He reached the end of the town’s main street, and was overall quite disappointed in the little there was to see–…
A flash of blue caught his attention.
It came from a place slightly hidden from the busy street, and Gilgamesh, his interest piqued, quickly insinuated himself between two houses to find out what it was.
A petite woman wearing quite a worn-out blue dress – which was what had caught his eye – was chopping wood.
It was hardly the first time Gilgamesh had seen someone chopping wood; he was very familiar with it himself, because when he was young, his mother had not allowed him to be idle and, to tame what she had called ‘an incorrigible arrogance’, had taught him the value of every kind of work, from the most humble to the most prestigious.
This woman…
She was obviously very young, but it wasn’t what kept his eyes, almost mesmerized, on her. It was the way her pretty, small frame lifted the axe and swung it down without hesitation; it was as if she was used to working hard, and she obviously excelled at it.
He remained in his position for quite a while, amazed at her unlimited energy in keeping at the task. Not even when an elderly man came outside to call her in did she interrupt herself; only when the entire pile of wood was properly chopped did she eventually pick up the load to bring it inside.
Gilgamesh looked at the small building she had entered from the back door, and hid a confident smirk. It was an inn, a local ‘very respectable place’ the mayor had mentioned and spoken rather well of.
And since he still had to have his meal yet wanted to see more of this woman as well, this occasion was too good to pass it up.
…
…
Gilgamesh did not have trouble in admitting to himself that he was taken with the pretty woman in the blue dress. Meeting her green eyes had been very intriguing, and hearing the polite yet firm way in which she stood her ground was both amusing and enchanting.
He did not feel like leaving the inn any time soon, as she was truly interesting to observe.
It was odd to realize that blue suited her very well. The dress was far from new, and it certainly wasn’t a particularly noteworthy one, but its colour and cut still suited her. It was a rather simple piece of clothing, with no unnecessary decorations or useless additions that would only have been bothersome. It was practical.
She was clearly a concrete person and since she worked there at the inn, of course she would dress in a way that would make it possible for her to take care of her tasks with the least possible trouble. She didn’t waste time in unnecessarily looking after her appearance; she threw herself completely into her work, giving it all her energy and focus.
At the same time, while she applied herself to it without any room for nonsense, she seemed to have a romantic heart, deep down, and a rather easy trust in foreigners. However, even if she obviously seemed to be a person who believed in dreams, she didn’t seem the type to allow them to control her or shape life for her. Everything she did was still amusing and, as he found himself admitting somewhat unwillingly, captivating.
Gilgamesh liked catching glimpses of blue from the corner of his eye and then turning his head to stare at her fully. And more often than not, he found himself meeting her gaze, as he couldn’t look away from her. She was just too mesmerizing.
It took some time after starting to stare at her, but then he remembered that he had come to town in search for a queen for his village – a wife.
He frowned inwardly. How ridiculous it was not having realized it as soon as he had laid eyes on her. He was in no need to look around anymore; he had already found the person he was looking for, and it was her.
A pretty, interesting person – the woman in blue.
He wanted her all to himself. Of course as his queen, to look after many matters at his kingdom and take over some of his duties, but he mainly wanted her.
She was one fascinating woman.
…
…
Later in the night, Gilgamesh was astounded and indignant at witnessing how vulgarly the townspeople behaved, and he had to make a conscious effort in holding himself back when those drunk patrons shamelessly attempted to flirt with or even grope her.
She was able to handle herself, but he could see how uncomfortable she was in such an environment, and he had an inkling that it wasn’t the first time she had been subjected to such unwanted attentions.
She was uncommonly pretty, yet obviously not rich; did those drunken townspeople really believe that gave them the right to be so forward towards her?
What inferior beings.
…
…
Following her to the water intersection had been a smart decision, because seeing her in full action away from the clients, away from everyone else, when she was alone, was bound to tell him more about her character.
And oh, it definitely did.
He had to propose as soon as possible.
He had to do so before she could find out what was expected of her, and before she could even think of feeling the desire to refuse.
Offering her his help was, to his own surprise, not much of a bother, and seeing how astonished she was by his actions made him feel enough amusement to stifle the annoyance he might have felt at getting his clothes muddy.
At the stables, he couldn’t tear his eyes off her.
Arturia.
She was young, kind yet firm, selfless when need be, hardworking and with a mind of her own.
She wasn’t foolish, but indeed, since he was probably the very first person to look at her for who she was and not just for her physical attributes or her culinary skills, she was rendered curious about him, and he could see that she was attracted to him.
Very attracted.
And that was an extremely positive – although not unexpected – development. It would make things much easier.
…
…
He was quite taken aback when at first she tried to tell him that he had to go speak with her guardian if he truly meant to ask for her hand.
What foolish, ridiculous rules they had in this town. He was most certainly not going to ask that elderly man for the right to marry Arturia.
Besides – did people really think that an adult perfectly endowed with a brain needed another person to speak for them? In particular, how could they think that she needed someone else to speak for her? It was preposterous.
She wasn’t a child. She was perfectly capable of making her own decisions. And he wanted her answer.
He wanted Arturia to say yes.
…
…
Triumph still running through his veins as he left the stable, he went directly to the pastor’s house. Arturia had said yes. She had accepted, and he was going to marry her within a few short hours.
His kingdom was going to have the queen it needed, and he was going to have the woman in blue all to himself.
A very unwelcome twinge of uneasiness ran through him at the thought that she was still unaware of the real status of things. From what he had come to learn about her, she was not going to take it well.
She was not going to be happy – she might even be angered.
Keeping it quiet, however, was for the best. She might refuse to marry him, change her mind about coming with him, and he would never tolerate that.
After stopping briefly the pastor’s place and settling everything, he went back to the stable and found Arturia’s mare. ‘Milk’, she had called her horse. Odd name to say the least, and her explanation when he had inquired after it had not been any less odd, but he couldn’t deny that he found it amusing, and it had been peculiar enough to not make him ever feel bored when in her presence.
Shaking his head, as he instructed his servants to get ready to depart, he confidently saddled the horse and guided it to be with all the others.
At first, Milk had been slightly reluctant, but indeed, as Arturia had said, she just needed a firm hand to guide her.
…
…
He had not expected so much anger on her part.
He had known that she was going to be hurt, but he had not realized how deeply. He had gone too far with his duplicitous behaviour.
It was true that he had needed a queen, but that didn’t mean that he had not wanted her. Why couldn’t she comprehend that? Perhaps he had been too hasty and had not judged her feelings correctly.
She had obviously been taken by him, not any less than he had been taken by her – on that, he had not been mistaken – yet he had not taken her feelings into consideration at all when he had gotten married.
True, he had given her a choice, but without explaining to her what she was accepting to do.
It had been too risky, after all; if he had told her about the situation at his village, she might have refused his request, and there was no way he would have accepted that.
Overall, he could not find it in himself to condemn his actions, but he could not claim they were blameless either.
And she obviously thought the same, seeing as she had no hesitation at all about confining him to the floor.
…
...
...
…
Lying down on the floor, in the makeshift bed he had arranged for himself, he mulled over what had happened.
It had been over a week since his swift wedding, and she still hadn’t agreed to try and make their marriage work in the way he had asked her – by getting to know each other.
He was getting a bit frustrated, he could not deny it, also because he found himself staring at blue objects more often than not, without even consciously seeking the colour out.
As expected, she had taken up her role in the village without faltering, and she had dealt with every task efficiently and swiftly. He knew she was too clever to not have seen how many things were in need of improvement at the castle – nor was she going to miss the fact that they were a result of unintentional neglect on his part – but not once did he hear her speak words of complaint.
In fact, in the precious little time he could spend in her company, she usually kept to herself, barely addressing him at all, which caused even the servants to comment on how she was a very reserved and silent person. Gilgamesh was displeased at hearing that, for he was far too aware of the fact that what had made her change her ways was his conduct and manipulation regarding their marriage.
Aside from the fact that she fascinated him, he had not known that much about her before marrying her, that was true; but it was quite obvious that, while she wasn’t the most open of people, she certainly wasn’t as serious as she always seemed to be now.
And she had certainly smiled much more than she did these days.
Not that she looked sad now; there was, however, a slightly sterner edge in her expression, and a harder glint in her beautiful green eyes that hadn’t been there before. Her easy trust in people was gone, that innocence about her that had made her look him in the eye with curiosity instead of wariness had all but disappeared.
While that did not mean that the change had been radical and profound, it was still present. She was very much kind to everyone, same as she had been in town, but she didn’t allow anyone to break through her defences, keeping herself aloof and politely detached from everyone.
As much as it could be presumptuous, Gilgamesh knew very well that the emotional wound he had inflicted upon her was still open and needed time to heal, and that was what had made her change like this.
He felt extremely frustrated by it. He wanted to be able to look into her eyes and see something different from the coldness he could read in them now; he didn’t necessarily want her innocent curiosity back, but he wanted her to be herself again, without her distrust so clear towards him.
And while he could not deny that her soft lips, pressed against his, kept coming up in his thoughts, it truly wasn’t the main reason why he wanted to be on good terms with her again.
But regaining her trust wasn’t going to be easy, he was perfectly and glaringly aware of it.
Sighing in renewed frustration and bringing himself to a sitting position, he looked out of the room’s window, judging from the rapidly reducing light what time it was.
Well, it was still quite early. He could indulge himself.
…
…
She was already wearing nightclothes and was folding a dress for the following morning – one of his late mother’s favourite red dresses, he noticed, even though he missed her blue one – and looked up at him briefly as he came to their bedroom to retire for the night.
Her eyes suddenly widened slightly and she went rigid as he sat down.
“You have been drinking,” she said, her voice marginally higher than normal.
He shrugged in reply, but then he noticed the deep distrust that made her keep her eyes attentive on his every movement.
“What’s the matter?”
After a brief silence, she cautiously replied, “I’ve seen what wine does to people’s senses. How much did you have to drink?”
He raised an eyebrow, and then shrugged again.
“A barrel or two.”
Her eyes, if possible, became even wider in alarm.
“A barrel?”
He considered for a moment, and then smirked.
“Maybe three.”
The brief flash of deep wariness and actual fright that crossed Arturia’s expression took him aback, and he stood up once again. He had not expected this.
“Do you fear me, Arturia?”
His tone was almost incredulous. Surely he wasn’t in such a state that his own wife would be apprehensive…
“Should I?” came her calm reply, but her barely hidden tension was impossible to miss. “Alcohol makes the most irreprehensible people descend into madness and indulge in horrible actions – and you are certainly not irreprehensible.”
He scoffed, in a barely audible manner, deciding to ignore the slight in her words.
“I would not allow anything of the kind to control me, cloud my judgement or make me act in a vile manner.”
The firmness in his tone was reassuring enough, but his words made her give him a look of pure contempt.
“You’re right, Gilgamesh. You have no need of alcohol to behave in a vile manner.”
With those words, she turned her back on him and disappeared under the bed covers, not sparing him another glance as she obviously went to sleep.
…
…
He could not let things remain like this.
He was now even more frustrated than before; there was no progress in their interactions, and they were both far too busy to have some time to actually focus on each other.
In reply to her glaring disapproval, any other person would have found no other solution than to remain silent and wait for her to calm down.
But not Gilgamesh. He was not going to answer to her anger with simple silence, as he wanted things to change for the better as soon as possible. There was an easy way to make the change happen; he simply had to act on it.
After all, he had offered her a deal himself, a deal she had not yet accepted, but he was not respecting the deal himself.
He had offered to make sure they got to know each other, yet he wasn’t doing anything to try and get to know his wife at the moment. Keeping silent was not positive for either of them; their few, brief but honest conversations had after all been far more meaningful than their many days of silence, hadn’t they?
The following morning, he stopped her from escaping their room as soon as she was done changing behind the screen by grabbing her wrist. His hold was steady, but not forceful.
“Arturia, have you thought about my proposition yet?” he questioned, going straight to the point.
She pointedly looked at the spot where he was holding her, and understanding her implicit request, he reluctantly let go of her, but made sure to manoeuvre them so that she couldn’t try to escape the room without answering – not that he thought she would actually attempt to do something like that.
Seeing that she didn’t seem to feel particularly inclined to speak, he stared at her until she could no longer ignore the intensity of his gaze and was forced to finally meet his eyes.
Crimson on green, he didn’t allow her to look away as he added, “You are keeping yourself detached as much as possible, and that is, much to my displeasure, well within your rights. But don’t allow your behaviour to prevent you from seeing things for how they are, instead of how you think them to be.”
A brief flicker ran through her eyes, an emotion too quick for him to identify, and she did not reply immediately. However, in this occasion, he decided it was for the best if he did indeed let the silence stretch for as long as was necessary – no matter how many duties were awaiting them both.
Slowly, she eventually nodded.
“I have… given your proposal considerable thought. Very well then. I accept – we will try to get to know one another.”
Her tone, which hadn’t been very warm from the start, was even colder now. “Don’t think that this changes anything though, Gilgamesh. I only accept because I have nothing left to lose.”
He nodded at her as well, and after another second, moved to the side slightly to let her leave the room.
Yes, her voice and countenance were still cold. She was not going to believe that he was serious towards her; the way he had betrayed her trust was not going to be forgiven so easily.
But there was hope yet.
...
...
...