Chapter Text
The main hall of the Rising Stones was mostly empty, like a pub after closing and feeling just as somber. Estinien sat at a dimly lit table with his feet resting upon its polished surface, wondering why he agreed to join the Scions at all if they were just going to disband soon after. Technically there was still their little secret organization, but he wasn’t sure he wanted any part of it.
The sound of tiny footsteps approaching at a rapid pace warned him to hurriedly remove his feet from the table. Normally he wouldn’t care who caught him lounging like that, but Tataru Taru’s temper was not something he wanted to endure again. The former Azure Dragoon might have a reputation of being obtuse, but even he only needed to touch a hot stove once to get the message. Every now and then she still reminded him of the hair tie he purchased in Yedlihmad. She paused at the center of the room, panting, and glanced around.
“Oh, Estinien!” She cried, running over. Her eyes shone with unshed tears. “Thank the Twelve you’re still here! I’ve just received terrible news from Ishgard!”
He stood up, a knot forming in the pit of his stomach. “What is it?”
-
He was thankful that the news Tataru shared wasn’t his worst fear come to pass, that something had happened to Aymeric in his absence, but it was devastating nevertheless.
A sensationalist news rag called the Spearhead: We get to the heart of the matter! was the first to break the story locally. Someone had desecrated Ser Haurchefant Greystone’s grave. The Twelve, or whatever deities the foolish grave robber worshiped, protect the bastard lest Estinien find them. Nidhogg’s essence roared through his blood, recognizing the agony of loss and defilement.
The wind blew the front page of a discarded copy, with its luridly bold print, through the streets as Estinien hurried toward Aymeric’s office at the Congregation of Our Knights Most Heavenly. Though the man was no longer Lord Commander, he kept his old office. The other Lords from the House of Lords preferred their lofty offices nearer to the Vault in the Pillars.
With a roar he speared the offending paper out of the air with his lance, striking it right through the printed woodcut of an open grave in the snowy highlands. The house shield was notably absent, adding to his fury. Passersby scurried off in terror as Estinien balled the page up and threw it into the coiling mists far below the city’s support pillars. Even without his signature armor, he was regarded with trepidation by Ishgard’s citizens.
The heavy doors that shielded the Congregation from the worst of Ishgard’s frigid, winter gales rattled on their hinges from the force of his thrust. Handeloup, Halone bless the poor sod, tried to wave him away from the door leading to the hallway where Aymeric’s office lay. Estinien growled in his general direction before making his way through the door.
Upon entering Aymeric’s office, his mood soured further as the poor man was being hounded by three other members of the House of Lords. Men whose names he couldn’t be bothered to remember.
“All of you leave,” Estinien growled at the men crowded around Aymeric’s mahogany desk. Out of the corner of his eye, Aymeric sat poised as ever. Yet, he could see the turmoil brewing in his azure eyes.
“Now see here Ser Estin…”
“GET OUT!” Estinien roared, cutting the tall, stately Lord off. Nidhogg’s essence bled from him, permeating the room in a miasma of pain and rage. The three men scurried like rats out of the office without another word. The acrid stench of piss following them out as one of the men soiled himself.
Once the door shut behind the last of them, Estinien’s muscles softened. Though not fully relaxed, Aymeric needed him to be composed as he was sure his love wouldn’t be able to hold his own for much longer. Aymeric stood abruptly and rushed to Estinien, wrapping his arms around him as hot tears dripped from his eyes into the dragoon’s doublet.
“Who did this?” Estinien’s voice cracked as he embraced his lover.
“We’ve no suspects yet, but…“
“I’ll kill them,” Estinien hissed. Deep within him Nidhogg smoldered with their shared anguish. “I’ll hunt down whomever is responsible for this and…“
Aymeric squeezed him a little harder. “Please listen. Strange things are happening in Ishgard, my love. I fear they may somehow be connected.”
Estinien forced himself to relax again, no easy task when the dragon in him was howling for blood. He sighed as the tension drained out of him. He pulled away from Aymeric slightly, kissing the corner of his lips softly as he brushed a stray ebony hair from his lover’s brow with his calloused thumb. “What do you mean?”
Aymeric gestured to the chairs across from his desk. “You’ll want to sit down first.”
“Whatever it is you have to tell me, I’m sure I can handle…” Estinien’s fingers brushed against Aymeric’s inner right forearm, causing the man to gasp. His fingers stopped, tightening around the appendage. As he did, Aymeric’s breathing quickened and shuddered. His lids were drawn halfway down his glassed over eyes. Estinien brought his wrist to his nose.
“Aymeric?” Estinien growled as a foreign scent caught his attention.
“Eh…Estinien…” Aymeric moaned softly. His eyes flew open, burning with hunger.
“You’re marked!” Estinien snarled, inwardly raging that someone would dare take what was his. He thrust his lover into the wall of his office, earning a lust filled moan from him.
“You weren’t there for me when I needed you.” Aymeric groaned frostily in his ear. “I needed you when he died.”
Aymeric’s free hand slowly made its way down the dragoon’s back.
“I needed comfort.” Aymeric closed in on his backside with a strong grip, causing a gasp to escape the dragoon’s lips. He could taste Aymeric as the man panted into his lips.
“Aymeric?” Estinien fought to keep his senses.
“I want you… Estinien Varlineau.” Aymeric hissed into his ear, as he began to pull his shirt from his trousers, hot fingers finding the skin on the small of his back.
“Aymeric!” Estinien called out a little louder. He attempted to pry his lust drunk lover off of him, but found his grip to be of iron.
“Take me… bend me over my desk and ravish me.” Aymeric’s tongue traced a thin line down the side of his throat. Estinien’s breath hitched in his throat as Aymeric thrust into him, fully hard.
Estinien roared, letting the full fury of Nidhogg engulf him. Aymeric screamed as he pushed the dragoon away. Cowering on the floor as the dragon’s roar filled him with terror. Estinien breathed deeply as he fought to bottle his rage. Gods, what had he done?
“Aymeric?” Estinien knelt next to his lover. Aymeric’s body shook as sobs overtook him. “I’m so sorry. I tried calling out to you, but you couldn’t hear me. Aymeric?”
“Estinien… I… I don’t know what came over me.” Aymeric leaned into the dragoon. “All I could think about was…”
“Tell me everything, please.” Estinien brushed his fingers through Aymeric’s hair. “I promise I won’t be angry. As you said, I should have been there for you.”
“You’re here for me now.” Aymeric breathed. “It was an Ascian. That I’m sure of. They had the body of a young man of maybe twenty four summers, but you could tell that they were far older. I know that the Scions have been fighting against their plans, but they…It seemed to me they needed comfort just as much as I. They came to me. At the chapel where Haurchefant’s body had been laid for last respects to be paid. Shortly after you and our friends had left to chase…Thordan and the Heaven’s Ward.”
“Oh, love.” Estinien kissed Aymeric’s forehead.
“They told me that they and Haurchefant had a few trysts, which honestly didn’t surprise me. However, they told me that Haurchefant had spoken of us to them. I…” Aymeric paused. “We agreed to comfort each other, and…I bedded them. Each time we met our feelings seemed to deepen. You said that I was marked. That doesn’t make sense. If that were true, wouldn’t I be repulsed by you? Instead…huu…Instead I felt…feel intense desire for you.”
“Aymeric, you’re working yourself up,” Estinien pushed him gently to hold him at arm's length. “Never mind this now. What happened to Haurchefant? Whose bones do I have to break?”
“I don’t know.” Aymeric wiped the tears from his eyes. “All we have to go on are two bodies that we found recently as well as reports of severe anemia and lethargy from several people.”
“Where are the bodies being kept?” Estinien asked, helping Aymeric to his feet.
“They’re still being examined. We found a man and a woman dead in the Brume. The woman was killed by the man, but what we haven’t figured out is who or what killed him.” Aymeric explained.
“I’ll check on the bodies tomorrow then. Tonight, I’ll take to the rooftops and patrol the city.” Estinien declared. With any luck, he’ll catch the bastard and have his arse upon a lance by morning.
“No…please, don’t…Please stay with me tonight,” Aymeric pleaded as he clutched Estinien’s hand in his own. “I’m frightened. For both of us. I don’t doubt your strength, but…This is different than fighting dragons or blasphemies.”
Estinien pulled Aymeric’s still trembling form into his arms. Though their friend had assured him that all of the Ascians were now dead, Estinien had half a mind to consult with Gaius. Just to make sure.
Lahabrey…Lahabread…whatever, had orchestrated Haurchefant’s death at the hands of the Heaven’s Ward. Leaving both him and Aymeric devastated. Yet it wasn’t just the Ascians who had wounded Aymeric. He had played his own part by pursuing vengeance when his love had needed him most. Leaving him vulnerable to the machinations of another.
“Of course, my love.” Estinien hugged Aymeric just a little bit tighter.