The group made their way amiably down a side hall adorned with handsome portraits of who had to have been past rulers, and through a set of red velvet curtains in a small alcove. The passageway concealed behind the curtains was dark and narrow, and the ceiling was low enough that Roni had to crouch down to avoid bumping his head. Gemma stuck close to Roni and Keylla as they walked in silence, but they soon came to a wooden door that Gemma would have missed if she was wandering the passage on her own. The king opened the door to reveal a room which looked very comfortable.

There was a brightly lit chandelier hanging from the ceiling above the long wooden table, and more crimson tapestries hung from the stone walls around the room. Edgar detached from Terra to pull on a rope which hung down from a pulley in the corner.

Within moments, servants appeared before them in a line and bowed deeply before the king.

“Good morning, my king. What would you and your guests prefer to dine on this fine morning?” An elderly butler inquired, stepping forward with another bow.

“Bring out anything at all! Perhaps a bit of everything fit for breakfast so that my guests can take their pick.” Roni replied brightly. The servants bowed again and hurried off into a side entrance to the kitchens.

“What was that hall we just came out of?” Gemma asked, eyeing the door behind them curiously. She saw other doors in the room too, and wondered where they all led.

“That was just a quicker way to this dining room, my dear. I thought it would be best to be speedy, for you and Keylla must be famished after all of that traveling you’ve done.” Roni replied with a wide smile as he went to a cushioned chair at the table. Keylla went around to the other side so that he could take a seat opposite the king, and Gemma did the same and sat down to Keylla’s left.

Gemma picked up a tall glass at her place and inspected it as her companions started talking. There were three different lengths of forks on one side of her plate, and she tried to remember if there was supposed to be any significance to this.

Roni's tone, however, drew Gemma out of her thoughts, “So, my reports from the scouts were correct. The Imperials are still in the area.”
“Yep,” was Keylla's reply, “Gemma took down two men and their war hounds when they tried to ambush us in the marsh one night.”

“Oh really? How so?” Roni turned to look at Gemma, waiting politely for her explanation as he folded his hands in front of him on the table.

Her fingers played with a spoon and her eyes remained down, “I set them on fire.”
Roni’s eyebrows rose, “Did you happen to throw a lantern at them?”
Gemma shook her head, and with a glance at Keylla, who was giving her an encouraging smile, said, “No, I cast a spell on them. They would have caught up with us otherwise, so I had to use my magic.” First Keylla exposed her odd hair color to the king, and now he wanted to tell him about her magic. She hoped he knew what he was getting them into.

“Really?” Roni’s eyebrows rose up more, if that was even possible. “Could you show me? I’ve never actually seen magic before. I thought that it had vanished after the War of the Magicks.” His mouth was tight, as if he was trying to keep from smiling or saying more.

Gemma saw that the dining table had fresh unlit candles lined down the middle, and decided that she could show him with those. So she concentrated for a few seconds on flicking a spell on to each of the wicks, and then they were burning brightly without any smoke issuing from their flames.
“Amazing,” was Roni’s only response as he pulled one of the candleholders closer to him to inspect the blazes.
“I didn’t know you could do that without using your hands,” Keylla clapped his hands together a few times in praise. Gemma couldn't tell if Keylla was being sarcastic or genuine. Before the three could continue their conversation, the servants returned to the dining room, each pushing a metal cart in front of them bearing different dishes of food and bottles of drink.

The servants did not seem to notice the candles glowing brightly as they placed the dishes and jugs and bottles on the table in a neat arrangement that allowed each guest to reach the food with ease. Roni smiled and said his thanks as the last plate was placed, and the servants left the room promptly.

“You know, it’s really nice to have candles burning without any smoke coming from them. It makes the whole room so stuffy after a while, otherwise,” Roni said with a smile. He poured himself a glass full of something purple from the nearest jug.
Keylla started piling biscuits and potatoes on his plate at a rapid rate, “I wonder what it must feel like to use magic.” Apparently Keylla spoke with his mouth full because Roni gave her a pointed frown.

When Roni’s viridian eyes trailed back to Gemma, she shifted her gaze away quickly to the bowl of brown gravy directly in front of her plate. She busied herself with putting a bit of each different dish within reach on to her plate so she could find out which foods she liked the most.

“Do you happen to have any memory of how you came by such a gift, Gemma?” the king’s voice was soft and measured over Keylla’s loud chewing.

Her hand froze for a second at the teakettle’s handle, but she continued her act of pouring a cup of tea. The tea had a dark red color in her cup, and she decided to pour some cream into it after tasting with her spoon.

“No, I don’t remember anything at all about my magic. It feels like something that is as much a part of me as my arms or legs.” Gemma paused to take a sip and eyed Roni over the rim of the cup. He was watching her as he took a drink from his own glass, but she did not look away that time.

“Has anything been coming back to you, though? Any memories at all?” Roni prodded with his query.

Keylla swallowed hee current mouthful of potato and stopped Gemma from replying, “She only remembers little things, Ron, like what kind of apples she likes.” That was a lie. Gemma glanced at Keylla for a moment and saw that she was staring down Roni with an intensity she had not yet seen. She figured that Keylla had to have a reason for lying to Roni about that, and resumed picking apart her biscuit to dip into the gravy. The rich flavor on her tongue made her let out a pleased little noise and broke the staring contest. The thief showed her that she could pour some gravy on top of her biscuits instead of dipping them in the tureen.

The conversation turned back to the Imperials in the Vigoreauxeon kingdom after that, and Gemma was quite pleased with all of the foods she ate as she listened.

“They have been stopping the coal trains in the mountains at each fueling station, too, besides looking for us,” said Keylla through a mouthful of porridge after finishing her previous dish.
“For goodness sake, woman, use a napkin!” Roni tossed one at Keylla’s head while looking up from her bacon. Keylla snatched the napkin out of the air nimbly with her free hand and wiped at the porridge she had dribbled onto the tablecloth.

“Anyways,” Keylla continued, “it seems like the Empire is just doing what they wish up here. I mean, that’s kind of what they normally do when they send troops anywhere, but don’t they send ambassadors to you first before barging in? Feels kinda like they’re treating the mighty kingdom of Vigoreaux like it’s Oranda.”

“This is the first time since the alliance was created that the Emperor hasn’t sent somebody beforehand. Yes, it is merely a nicety, but to neglect to do so after over twenty years?” He let the question hang as he took a bite of his toast. “I must say that I do indeed feel slighted!” Roni gave them a wry smile. He opened his navy blue coat and extracted a rolled up bit of parchment from an inside pocket. Roni unrolled the paper and sat candles on each edge to keep it flat.

Upon looking closer at the paper, Gemma could make out different brown and green shapes on a background of blue with writing all over the page in black ink. Flashes of the insides of tents with a person pointing at different places on a map tacked to the supporting beams burned in her mind. But instead of immediately telling Keylla what she had remembered, Gemma kept quiet in favor of hearing what Roni was saying.

The king pointed at a place on the coast south of a yellow area on the map that was supposed to be Vigoreaux desert. “This is where the troops are docked.”

“Well, that makes a lot of sense. They can patrol from different directions,” Keylla grimaced. “Do you know how long they’ve been hanging out down there?”

“From what my men have told me, the Empire has been docked in my kingdom for about eight or nine days now.” Roni downed a cup of tea quickly with a scowl. “I have a good idea of who is leading this expedition north. Only one of the Imperial generals would do as they please in foreign lands without at least sending a pleasantry letter.”

“Are you going to do anything about them?” Gemma asked quietly, her biscuits lay forgotten.

Roni gave her a pleased smile and proceeded to yank out a pad of paper from another pocket hidden inside of his coat and a pen with black ink. “I will show you what I intend to do!” He started writing quickly over the blank page. “I’m going to write a politely confused letter to the leader of this recent Imperial excursion and invite them for tea.”

Roni signed off the note with a flourishing hand that must have had the motions down to muscle memory. He stood from his seat and went to a corner of the room and pulled on a rope hidden behind a wine colored tapestry. As he returned to his seat, a servant came into the room swiftly.

"You summoned me, your grace?" the servant asked, bowing his head deeply as he spoke. 

"Yes, please deliver this letter to General Flaod as soon as possible. His ship is docked south of the desert near the caves." Roni folded the note a few times and handed it off to the servant with a smile. 

"Of course, your grace. Would you like me to bring one of your special service members with me on this errand?" 

"That sounds like a good idea, thank you. Use some chocobos from the stables as well." The servant bowed at this and pocketed the letter in his coat before leaving the room.  

Keylla’s long drawn out details of the castle’s hospitality were not exaggerations, as Gemma had suspected previously. She would have to thank her for briefing her about the legion of maids later, or she would have reacted like an alley cat thrown in a bucket of ice cold water when the women in matching soft red uniforms with crisp white aprons practically carried her into the big round steaming bathtub.

The water was hot, but not scalding, and the soaps and oils they used to scrub the grime of travel from her skin smelled heavenly. Gemma tried to dispatch the maids so she could wash herself, but only managed to scrub herself with a cloth while a couple of happy maids rubbed at her scalp and admired her unique hair color. The remaining maids busied themselves with cleaning and mending Gemma’s clothes with quick efficiency.

“Goodness, is this shade popular down on the Southern Continent these days?” One maid asked, working the soap into her curls with a vengeance.

“Such a lovely color, and it really brings out your eyes, Lady Gemma!” With that they dumped a bucket of warm water over her head to rinse the soap out of her hair. Gemma sputtered water out of her nose and tried to smile appreciatively as the maids helped her stand and wrap big towels around her body and head.

“Thank you very much,” Gemma was unsure of what else she should say to them. She wanted to get dressed and be left with her thoughts for a while, but the maids weren’t having it apparently.

Before the maids set to work on drying her hair and brushing out the snarls, a smooth yet firm voice called out, "Good gracious girls, leave the poor gal alone! I think she can brush her own hair."

Gemma peered around the bedroom as she stepped out of the bathroom and saw an older woman dressed in a fine red dress, like the maids, but with lace around her collar and cuffs making her way calmly to one of the cushioned chairs by the fireplace. The maids halted at once upon hearing the new woman's voice and bowed their heads as if they were children being scolded.

"It's not like she's preparing for a royal supper or anything like that, so stop acting as if she were," the woman sank into her chair gracefully as she spoke. Her tone was not at all harsh, and she smiled at Gemma when she met eyes with her. 

The maids bowed again at this and gathered up their washing things to leave.

"Sorry Madam," one maid explained, "King Roni asked us to see to Lady Gemma. He wanted us to prepare her properly like a queen."

"Yes, he was very specific about that," another piped in with a small smile. 

The woman rubbed at her temples and shook her head. "Gods, it sounds as if he's going to try to wine and dine her later."

"Perhaps he only wanted to show the hospitality of Vigoreaux since she's here with Miss Robberts?" 

"No matter, I'll attend to Lady Gemma for now, girls. Go on about your other duties, please." she waved them off and turned to Gemma who was rubbing one of the thick towels through her hair by the bed where her clothes were laid out. 

"I'm sorry, but who are you, ma'am?" Gemma asked, hoping she wouldn't come off as rude. 

"No need to be sorry, dear. Call me Matron. It's what I am, after all." As she saw Gemma's curious look, Matron continued, "I take care of the king and the more domestic side of his castle since he doesn't have his mother around to do it anymore. I've been around since the time of the boys' father coming of age for the throne."

"Wait, 'boys?' Does that mean that Roni has a brother?" Gemma pulled on her underclothes, freshly cleaned, and her dress behind the dressing screen. Her head poked out at the side, looking to Matron for an answer. 

Matron sat a large basket on her lap and dug through it, "Why yes, haven't you heard from Miss Robberts about it yet?"

Gemma shook her head before she went back behind the screen to pull on her mended stockings and boots. 

"That's surprising. Miss Robberts loves to jabber on like a parrot. But yes, the king does have a younger twin. His name's Rene." Matron brought out some new underclothes and stockings from the depths of the basket for Gemma to look over. 

Gemma came out and sat in the chair opposite Matron, taking in the older woman's laugh lines, her tightly pulled back gray hair, and kind eyes so she wouldn't forget a detail later on. 

"Here, the king asked me to bring you some new clothes for your travels. He suspected that with recent events, you may not have many sets of clothes in that pack of yours." She showed Gemma each item and let her choose whichever she liked best to take with her. Gemma chose three sets of white stockings, five sets of underclothes, a light yellow cloak, and once this was finished, Matron pulled out a measuring tape and asked Gemma to stand while she measured Gemma's body for a new dress.

"Would you like a dress in a similar style to the one you're wearing now?" Matron asked as she scribbled down the numbers on a scrap of paper.

"Yes, please. Thank you for all of this; you're all being so kind to me." Gemma moved herself sideways for Matron to measure her sides from under her armpit down to her knees. 

"It's no problem at all, dear. I enjoy having a young lady to look after." Gemma looked about the room as Matron worked, noticing the finely carved furniture, the little knick-knacks lining the shelf above the fireplace, and the intricate patterns woven into the rugs on the floor.

"So, what happened to Rene? Is he here in the castle, too?" Gemma asked once Matron was finished. 

Matron shook her head, "No, sadly. The boy left the castle about ten years ago after their father died. Couldn't stand the way everybody was acting at the king's deathbed. We haven't seen him since."

"I hope he's alright, where ever he is," Gemma said, to which Matron agreed heartily.