Too Good to Be True

Falco could scarcely believe it. Leo had returned Hilda when he had said he would return Rowena, so he had no one who resembled her to release. Sitting at the table with Lupus and Shahbaz, Falco looked at Hilda as she poured Lupus some water. She was eighteen twelvemonths of age and five feet and five inches in height with a slender build, light skin, reddish-brown eyes and red hair that was long and straight. She may have looked like Rowena from a distance, even being the same size and build, but up close it was clear Hilda was not exactly Rowena's very twin. She wasn't exactly fairly attractive, looking plain, her eyes were not large or expressive, her face was not honest, her mouth was not cute and she did not have a good pair of legs, in fact they looked rather average.

Who were they going to send in Rowena's place this time? Even at a distance one could not mistake Scholastica or Xe-tian for Rowena, so either they were actually sending out Rowena or Taurus was going to call forth her spirit from her very body to create a false Rowena, a trick any clergyman could do.

As Lupus and Shahbaz discussed the possibility of this time being a trap, given that the exchange was to happen a fair distance away from the camp and just in range of Hyperion's archers from atop the walls, Hilda gave Falco a coquettish smile. Falco's response was to merely shake his head. He was married to and loved Rowena. He would not turn to someone who looked like her from a distance simply because she had not been rescued.

Back on Aether, Hilda had been one of Rowena's ladies-in-waiting. Two others had been Scholastica and Xe-tian, two life-long friends, individuals that Rowena could trust. Given the coquettish smile Falco had received from her, he believed Rowena may have made an error when making Hilda a lady-in-waiting.

"Falco, what do you think?" inquired Shahbaz.

"Hm?" Falco looked to the Shah of the Cambyses Empire and asked: "What was that, Shahbaz?"

"Do you think it could be a trap?"

"We will be just in range of their archers while they will be out of range of ours." Stated Falco, not the least feeling optimistic. "I don't like this, but even then, the best archer could make a mistake. Pardus is Hyperion's greatest warrior and should an archer miss his mark and kill Pardus by mistake... Well, I just don't think one would take the risk, especially if Acinonyx is there. Pardus has been stepped over in favour of Acinonyx and if he is killed then who is going to be the Crown Prince? Unless Pasiphae has given birth to a son of Leo, I don't know who will be Crown Prince."

"That would be Ascanius." Stated Shahbaz. "With Pardus being impotent, he is ineligible to succeed. If Acinonyx were to be killed, Ascanius would be first in line for the throne."

"My sister's husband." Commented Falco, placing an arm on the table. "Something that must be discussed—"

"Your sister, her husband and their son will be unharmed should we ever storm the city, Falco." Promised Lupus, to which Shahbaz nodded in agreement. "We have no intention of killing them."

"That is not all I want to discuss." Said Falco. "Not only will Eithne, Ascanius and Aeneas by spared, but Ascanius shall also be named—"

"Yes, yes, King of Hyperion." Shahbaz said with a wave of his hand. "It will be done, now back to the subject of the likelihood of it being a trap, we don't know if Acinonyx will even be there. He is a good enough archer he might be waiting from atop the walls to fire arrows at us!"

"Acinonyx is a good archer..." acknowledged Falco with a nod. "But so am I. If we will be in range of Hyperion's archers, then Acinonyx will be in my range."

"You play a risky game, Falco." All turned as Minos and Buri both made their entrance into the tent, a young woman of sixteen by the latter's side. It had been Minos who had spoken, stroking his chin with an uneasy look in his eyes. "If you and Acinonyx both miss each other with your first arrows, he might hit you with his second, perhaps with fatal results."

Falco could not argue with that. Nodding in agreement, he looked to the young woman by Buri's side and inquired: "Who is this, Buri?"

"My daughter Qing." Buri answered. Falco could see a resemblance, the same reddish-gold hair, the same blue eyes, the same white skin. "She is an even better warrior than I."

"We are equals, my father." Stated Qing with a smile. "We are equals with the sword, bow and spear." Addressing Falco, she then said: "I will be ready for Acinonyx as well. If you do not manage to strike him, then I will and if I do not then you shall."

Falco was uncertain if Qing was as good an archer as she thought, or as good as her father thought. Realistically, a warrior could always be better with one weapon than they were with others. The sword and the bow were both weapons that Falco wielded with perfection, but other weapons such as the axe and the spear were arms that he had difficulty with.

"I shall as well." Stated Buri with a smile. "My eyes might not be what they were when I was younger, but I can still shoot a goose out of the sky at fifty paces."

"You aren't that old, Buri." Commented Lupus with a chuckle. "Wherefore, you are only three twelvemonths younger than me!" Turning to Falco, the Leader of the Ulgen Khanate said: "I shall have my bow ready as well. I don't trust the Hyperionites as long as they are under Leo's leadership and with us being in range of their archers, it is best that we be able to defend ourselves."

Standing, Falco emerged from the tent and looked up at the moon. Would this be the final time the moon would set upon this conflict? Would this be the final time that the sun rose upon this conflict? Alas, Falco knew not and deep down he doubted it. He wasn't even sure if he would live to see the next sunset. The Hyperionites were going to spring a trap to kill them, he knew that, but if they succeeded would be another question.

But to see Rowena again... To see her in the first time in a twelvemonth... Even if it was not truly her, even if it was a phantom conjured by Taurus that would be enough for him. If he was to see her face again, that would bring a smile to his countenance.

Looking down to Kenneth who was by his side, Falco knelt down and stroked the caracal. Immediately, the feline tapped his head against Falco's knee and rubbed himself against his master's body.

"Do you think we will truly be seeing Rowena tomorrow, Kenneth?" Falco inquired. Kenneth meowed a response to which the Last Divine Deucalion of Aether said: "I don't know either. Don't even know if we are walking into a trap or not, but we most likely are." Taking a seat, Falco proceeded to scratch Kenneth behind the ears while he looked up at the night sky and asked: "What do you suppose Aether is like now? Does it even still exist or has it been sent to the bottom of the sea? I don't know... Whatever the case may be, I can only wonder where we shall go if we manage to rescue Rowena, Scholastica, Xe-tian and Achilles... Achilles, my old mentor... I wonder... I wonder if he still lives. Minos says that he went into a state of shock, but has he recovered? Perhaps news that I still live have brought him out of it."

Hearing a donkey braying, Falco stood with raised eyebrow. There were no donkeys in the camp... Perhaps it was not from the camp, perhaps it was from a nearby town, one of many supplying the joint host of the Ulgen Khanate and the Cambyses Empire... And yet... Perhaps it was not. Perhaps the Donkey God was telling Falco that Achilles indeed had been brought out of his shock and that he would be seeing Rowena tomorrow.