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tallbluelady · 3 years

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Adroit

"They said that Francel was taken to Witchdrop." Rowan said. She didn't know where that was, but she could guess what would happen there.

"Halone forefend!" Haurchefant swore. "They have no grounds to give such a trial to him. The evidence is too thin. Rowan, if I could impose on you once again..."

"No problem." Rowan said, rolling her neck. "Witchdrop is to the north?"

"Aye. I'll send one of my knights to support you until I have all of my evidence gathered. If the Inquisitor has any sense, he'll stay his blade. But be prepared for a fight with his guards." Haurchefant said. 'Halone guide your steps."

With Hourlinet to guide her, they made good time to Witchdrop. They were just about to make the poor man walk into the abyss when they arrived.

"In the name of House Fortemps, I beseech you─stay your hand! Inquisitor, we are come on behalf of Lord Haurchefant. My lord has uncovered evidence which suggests that the charges against Lord Francel are without merit. We humbly request that these proceedings be suspended until such time as a full reexamination of the facts has been conducted." Hourlinet pleaded.

"Lord Haurchefant has allowed his personal relationship with the accused to cloud his judgment. That he should harbor private doubts, I might have allowed...but that he would dare interfere in legal proceedings sanctioned by the Holy See, I cannot. To defy the will of an inquisitor is to commit heresy! A crime for which there is but one punishment!" Guillaime gave the signal for his guards to draw their swords.

Rowan nodded at Hourlinet and started to charge. He however, told her to not harm Guillaime, lest they be charged of heresy. Rowan turned on her heels and brought her lance to strike at one of the knights approaching Francel.

"You'll not harm him!" She snarled as she parried the next blow.

Rowan saw an opening in the knight's stance, and kicked him hard enough to stun him, but not to knock him over the edge. While her foe was stunned, she leapt up, much higher than she anticipated, to the captain and crashed down on him. While Rowan was surprised, the captain was far more surprised. Rowan didn't have time to capitalize on that - she had to deal with the foe she spared.

"Is that a draconic rosary?" Hourlinet asked when he shook off his attackers.

Rowan couldn't quite see what the man was referring to, but she did see Haucherfant running up to the field.

"You almost missed all of the fun!" Rowan said, jumping out of the way of a knight's sword.

"There might be more fun than we bargained for, be on your guard!" Haucherfant said, pointing above her.

Rowan glanced up, keeping her spear in a defensive position. There was a dravanian approaching, apparently summoned from the rosary.

Haucherfant slammed into the knights attacking Rowan, giving her a chance to leap into the air again. She was very quickly earning her dragoon's legs as she flew to meet the newcomer. The dragon screeched in response, and Rowan had to grit her teeth as she slammed into the creature. She was able to bring it down in one leap, and luckily, she brought it down on their foes.

"Splendid aim, Rowan!" Haucherfant laughed. "Were that all Ishgardian dragoons so adroit."

Rowan didn't feel so adroit when she scrambled to get herself off of the dragon to face it, but she did appreciate the compliment nevertheless.

"The rosary!" Hourlinet pointed. "That's our best chance at proving Francel innocent."

She nodded, still trying to harry the dragon. After Haucherfant and Hourlienet began to attack it themselves, the dragon took its ascent. If it was well enough to fly, Rowan figured that it would take so much more energy to take it down all the way, and they still needed to protect Francel.

With the retreat of the dravanian, some of the opposing knights started to raise their hands in surrender. The captain, how ever, wasn't one of them.

"Your shield bears no sigil, ser." Haucherfant growled. "How did you get into service of an Inquisitor?"

"Twas simple enough, I -" The captains words were cut off from a spell cast by Guilliame.

"That is enough." The Inquisitor said, taking the charm from the body of the captain. "It is obvious who was allied with the dravanians and who was not. I hereby formally drop all charges of heresy against Lord Francel."

Despite his actions against the man who did actually summon the dragons and his drop of charges, Rowan was still suspicious about Guilliame. But she just shook her head while Haucherfant spoke to Francel.

"Haucherfant, you didn't have to risk your reputation for mine..." Francel said sheepishly.

"I know you far too well, my boy. You and yours are loyal to Ishgard. You'd walk right off the Witchdrop of your own free will if you thought it was the will of the Holy See." Haucherfant sighed. "Praise Halone it didn't come to that."

"You do know me well, Haucherfant. I would have dropped for Ishgard." Francel said. He turned to Rowan. "Thank you for your investigation, Adventurer. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for what you did."

Rowan shrugged. "Saving people is what I do."

"And you do it with such aplomb, if I do say so myself." Haucherfant smiled.

Rowan smiled shyly back.

#ffxivwrite #ffxivwrite2021 #rowan argentas #haucherfant greystone #the battle at witchdrop!#yeah!#i need a writing tag

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tallbluelady · 2 years

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Gaolbreak

AKA Rowan is not happy she is in an Elf Dating Sim.

~3.2k

It was all going rather well until Count Edmont mentioned they were all to attend a ball later that week. Rowan kept her hesitation to herself while the Count told Alphinaud that Emmanellian would be more than happy to take him shopping for proper garments. It did, however, come out when Haucherfant volunteered to take her and Tataru gown shopping.

"Couldn't I just go shopping with Alphinaud and Emmanllian?" Rowan asked, "I don't want to be a bother." She didn't ask if she could avoid the event all together, even if she really wanted to. She had attended enough parties that she knew it would be a faux pas to avoid it entirely.

"Emm's been banned from the better establishments in the Croizer," Haucherfant gave a little smirk over his cocoa.

Edmont gave Haucherfant a small warning glance before continuing, "What Haucherfant says is unfortunately true. Emmanellian, while only wanting to encourage young ladies in their dress choices, had so thoroughly discomforted some that the various tailors had him ousted. Mayhap I should have kept him on a tighter leash..."

Artoirel shook his head, "No, he wasn't there to encourage the young ladies, he was thoroughly fleecing them for gossip. Someone had put it in his head -" there was a glare to Haucherfant - "that such a place would garner such."

"Tis true though!" Emmanellian seemed unperturbed that the conversation was of a disparaging tone against him. It seemed far more important that it was about him at all.

With breakfast eaten and all of them bundled for the cold, they set out to the Jeweled Crozier. The women gave Alphinaud a wave as they entered an establishment called By The Finest Thread. Tataru's eyes gleamed at all the different fabrics tacked on the walls and Rowan had to admit that the variety of fabrics was impressive.

"Do you know what color you like? Tataru I've seen in various shades of pink, but I haven't had the pleasure of seeing you much out of your armor, Rowan," Haucherfant said.

"To be frank, I'm a lot more comfortable in well worn leather than I am in most gowns..." Rowan tried to figure out how the bolts of fabric were actually organized. There was some semblance of spectrum, but she couldn't figure out what the textiles were without touching them.

"Ser Greystone, what a pleasure it is to see you again!" someone, likely the proprietor of the place, said behind the counter.

Rowan gave him a glance. How did Haucherfant know this person? He gave Rowan a wink and started chatting with the woman, an Allunine. Rowan drifted from looking at the fabrics to watching Tataru take the swatches of what she liked. Her friend had the selection down to a few when she noticed the notions on the side. Rowan turned back to Haucherfant and the owner to see if they were allowed to more or less ransack the place to find what they preferred.

"...and having all but forgotten about the ball with their arrival to Ishgard twould be remiss of me to not make sure they have the finest gowns the Holy See has to offer," he said with such a well practiced grace that Rowan would have called it oiled if it didn't seem to be sincere.

Allunine hummed in hesitation, "I can't very well refuse the man who protected my beloved from dragonfire... but I will have to charge more to have them expedited."

"An expense House Fortemps will easily take," Haucherfant said.

"Oh, I can pay for my dress Haucherfant..." Rowan said, "I have plenty of gil."

"I wouldn't dream of such a thing, Rowan. You're part of the family now, and what kind of family doesn't take care of their own?"

Rowan hummed and conceded that point. Then she started. When did... she'd have to find a way to further thank Lord Edmont for his kindness.

"I see the young..." Allunine made some vague gesturing, "ah, lass, has made her selection already... Even got into the notions..."

When Allunine went over to attend Tataru, Rowan turned back to Haucherfant.

"Can I at least cover the rush fee?" she asked.

"Ah, the Warrior of Light is rather insistent on paying her dues is she?"

"That comes more from being a merchant's daughter. Mama taught me that people should be compensated for their work, especially if they have to be rushed to do it."

"And Allunine shall, easily. House Fortemps is not one of small means, Rowan. Don't worry about the charges."

Rowan sighed. She wasn't sure if she could convince Haucherfant that it was more of a personal pride thing rather than worrying about the coffers of a noble house. She'd have to give the seamstress a tip during a fitting...

"You still haven't told me what colors you like, Rowan." Haucherfant said, wandering over to the silkier end of the fabrics.

"Oh, huh. Uh, I guess I like purples more. It can be a little hard to dress myself with my skin and hair color," Rowan had to restrain herself from touching every bolt of fabric to test the texture.

"But you have a lovely complexion! And I've yet to see anyone with such a rich green head of hair as yourself." He pulled out a purple bolt of silk.

Rowan felt herself stiffen. When was the joke going to come? But Haucherfant only smiled and held up the silk.

"Let's see if this agrees with your coloring, Rowan."

* * * *

The day of the ball came and Rowan found herself in a gown that she couldn't argue with. Despite Haucherfant's preference in gauzy fabrics, Rowan found a heavy enough brocade that wouldn't blow away in the lightest breeze. And in this one case she was lucky that Ishgard was so cold; it kept the fashion rather modest. If she were in Limsa or Ul'dah, the neckline would plunge down farther than she was comfortable with.

Tataru squealed with delight when Rowan stepped out from her room. "Rowan, you look so elegant!"

Rowan shrugged in the least elegant way possible. That earned a small growl from Tataru, who had been trying to encourage Rowan to embrace what little femininity she had while getting fitted in the dress. Wearing a dress at all was about as far as Rowan was willing to go.

"Don't grouse at me. You're not going to get any farther than my mother on this," Rowan said, "If Ishgard wasn't so strict about everything, I'd be wearing trousers..."

Count Edmont then came up, looking even more aristocratic than before in his suit. "My, my, don't you two cut elegant figures? I'm glad Haucherfant could convince Allunine to expedite those dresses."

Rowan gave the Count a nod and took the compliment from him without any fuss. It was his gil, after all, that paid for it. Though her exasperation continued to mount as Alphinaud and younger Fortemps men all looked at her in surprise.

"My word, old girl, if my heart wasn't already set on Laniaitte tonight..." Emmanellian's eyes bounced up and down. Honoroit had the decency to look embarrassed at the display.

Artoirel cut a hard glare at his younger brother, "You know that's no way to look at a lady, especially a ward of your own house." He turned to Rowan. "Though father has the right of it; you do look rather fetching."

Poor Alphinaud's jaw seemed to be dragging on the carpet when he looked at Rowan, so he turned to Tataru, who was looking a little miffed at the lack of comments her way. "Tataru, I must say that your eye for fashion continues to serve you well. You look far more polished than many Ishgardian ladies I've met with."

That cheered her up, and she beamed and curtsied to Alphinaud. She turned a bit after, looking for their missing member. "Where's Haucherfant?"

"He's already outside, he wanted to talk to the coachman about a certain chocobo in our stables..." Count Edmont took a count of heads. "If that's all of us, we should get going."

Rowan couldn't quite get the use of a carriage within Ishgard's walls if there was a perfectly good aethernet throughout the city. But mayhap it had more to do with flaunting status more than any true function. Which... she could only hope that they didn't drive through the Brume.

Tataru tugged on Rowan's sleeve after they had all piled into the carriage, so she leaned down to listen to her friend. "Did you ignore Haucherfant's hand when getting in the coach on purpose?"

Rowan turned and gave her friend a quizzical look. "What? I... I could get into the coach just fine, even in these skirts."

Tataru gave a sigh of exasperation. "Rowan, you're living in an Ishgardian romance novel. Start acting like it."

Rowan could only give a small groan at that, seeing as they made it to their destination. Twas a very short trip and Rowan wondered if they all could have just walked and spare the coachman and chocobos the chill of the night.

But now that Tataru had mentioned it, she did notice that Haucherfant scrambled out of the coach first and get the steps ready. She watched her friend be guided down the steps by Haucherfant's gallant hand and took another second to realize that everyone else was waiting for her, because she was the other lady in the group. To avoid Tataru's wrath, she let Haucherfant take her hand to guide her down the carriage steps.

And she had to admit, it did feel nice. She did her best to avoid his gaze, though. Mayhap the carriage thing was an elaborate set up to get eligible nobles to marriage.

Most of the introductions and entries went by a in a blur. The only thing Rowan was conscious of was that her fellow Scions went to the party like wavekin to water and she had to stay near to someone in her party lest she drown.

"I'm curious, is there Duskwight blood in the Dzmael house?" Rowan asked, trying to add to the conversation with the count of that house, "Your eyes resemble that of my mother and brother."

Count Dzmael puffed up in an offended expression and Artoirel grimaced. Shite, shite, shite. This is why you're quiet, Rowan.

But before any true consequence could come to pass, Haucherfant was at her elbow, all smiles and smoothing. "My Lord, you must know that Rowan only meant it as the highest of compliments. Amongst the Warrior of Light's great virtues is the love of her mother! Why, could you not think of a more noble and lovely person than your own mother?"

"My mother, yes. But I do suppose the young lady meant no ill will in her statement, not knowing the purity of our High Houses as an outsider..."

Rowan gave a chastised nod and let Haucherfant lead her onto the dance floor and away from conversations.

"Thanks for the gaolbreak," she sighed, "I can't navigate these waters. There are far too many ways to offend people."

"You just need some practice, my friend." Haucherfant lead her through a spin. "Tis similar to dancing."

"Dancing I have half-covered from combat," Rowan said, "Knowledge of one's body carries over to many things I've noticed."

"That I can attest to. Even in more amorous activities, I've found..." He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Rowan blushed and gave a nervous chuckle at that. She well understood that Haucherfant was a man and fancied her but... she was definitely not there with him.

Luckily for her, Aymeric asked to cut in before aught else was to be said. She hoped that the look of surprise that the Lord Commander was asking her to dance would mask the intense relief she had.

"Ah, I suppose I can't hog the Warrior of Light all night. Be my guest, Aymeric." Haucherfant passed her hand with a bow and a smile.

After a short trot in promenade, Aymeric gave her a small smile. "You look as though I've just sprung you from the gaol, my friend."

Rowan grimaced at her lack of composure. "Haucherfant just did that after I managed to insult Count Dzemael. Then he managed to turn what I thought was something innocuous to... uh, suggestive."

"Most women I know with that kind of attention from Lord Greystone wouldn't want to leave him for all the gil in the Holy See."

"I am not most women."

Aymeric laughed at that. Twas a pleasant, hearty sound, and it reminded Rowan of Ellant's laugh. "Now that is evident. Though I must admit that it is part of your appeal."

"I swear to the Twelve, if I hear aught else of my appeal tonight..." Rowan muttered.

"Then I shall seal my lips on the subject after remarking on your excellent taste in dress."

They danced slow circles across the dance floor, Aymeric taking care to avoid clusters of Dzemael House members. Rowan had to admit the flow of the dance felt smooth and natural with Aymeric. He knew precisely how much pressure to put on his partner to get them where he wanted them to go.

He gave a small chuckle at that observation. "My mother would attribute my leadership skills to my grace in dance if she heard you say that."

"Well, mayhap she has the right of it. Dancing gives instant feedback if you have weak leading," Rowan smiled.

The song ended and Aymeric gave her a smile and bowed. Rowan bowed back, completely forgetting the fact that a curtsy was far more appropriate for someone in skirts.

Lifting her eyes, she found a strange man standing next to Aymeric, looking as uncomfortable in his suit as Rowan felt in her gown. With white hair and blue eyes, he seemed oddly familiar to Rowan, but she couldn't quite place where she had seen him before.

He muttered something to the effect of "may I have this next dance with you". But before Rowan could give him an answer either way, Aymeric shook his head.

"You really need to speak up if you want this to count towards our agreement, Estinien." He patted the dragoon on the shoulder.

"Ser Estinien?" Rowan couldn't hide her shock."

"Aye, even the Azure Dragoon can be found at balls. Imagine that!" Aymeric was grinning broadly.

Estinien glared at Aymeric then muttered something truly incomprehensible before clearing his throat and putting on an exaggerated affect. "Mistress Argentas. May I have the honor of this next dance?"

Rowan pursed her lips to stop her laughter and nodded. Estinien took her hand and practically yanked her away from Aymeric. He looked rather abashed when she had to right herself.

"Sorry. I thought you'd be able to handle that kind of speed."

Rowan shrugged. "You only caught me unaware. If I knew you were trying to get away from Aymeric I would have started leaping with you."

"Even in your dress?"

"Gods curse this dress..."

Estinien actually gave a small chuckle at that.

After a few disorienting turns in silence, Rowan decided to ask about the "agreement" he had with Aymeric.

"Oh that..." He turned his head to look at Aymeric, who was dancing with Laniaitte at the moment. "He told me that I could take my leave to Ferndale for my brother's nameday if I attended this ball and danced with at least one 'eligible maiden'. Livia then had the gall to refuse me, so I had to find someone else who wasn't afraid of me."

"Well, having beat the sense back into you, I can certainly say that I am that woman." Rowan gave a half grin to him.

"Right."

They passed the last bit of the song in companionable silence now that his need to show that he was actually dancing was over. He was actually a decent dancer when he wasn't trying so hard. At the end of the song, Rowan remembered to curtsy as Estinien bowed.

"And with that out of the way, I'm going to collect my promise in writing." Estinien said.

"Good luck," Rowan called.

He gave a bit of a wave and disappeared into the crowd to find Aymeric.

With her last partner gone, Rowan turned to try and find a spot where she could hopefully just sit and be a wallflower for the rest of the night. She had managed to sneak a few pages of a rather interesting treatise in her skirts that she'd like to get into.

But it was all for naught when Artoirel asked for a dance. Then Emmanellian. Then Haucherfant once again, though he seemed to be a little more subdued in his approach as the night wore on. Then, as the final dance was called, Rowan found herself partnered with Alphinaud.

"If that's all right with you, Mistress Rowan," he said, nervousness tinging his usually confident voice.

"Of course I'll dance with you, Alphinaud. You need only ask." She wanted to pat him on the head, but that wouldn't have the proper effect.

The young man was rather light on his feet and it seemed that he had been taught by a similar master that taught Aymeric. Or mayhap the observation that leaders are born to dance was far more true than Rowan had expected.

"My mother would also take that thought to heart, Rowan," He smiled. She was grateful that she could break the ice for her friend.

"Was dancing part of your education in Sharlyan? Aymeric mentioned that it was part of his upbringing as a young lord."

"Twas either dancing or swimming for the physical education credit. Well, if you weren't taking some sort of combative course at the Studium. Enough students end up taking both, but I only wanted to take the one so I could graduate earlier."

A stray thought floated through her mind wondering if Urianger was also a good dancer, but Rowan shook it out and focused on her current partner. He seemed to be smart enough to not attempt any spin at their height difference, but still lead the dance rather handily despite it. The song ended as they all did, bows and curtsies across the dance floor.

With the last dance finished, the guests made their way slowly outside. Luckily for Rowan, Count Fortemps seemed rather intent on making it home quickly, so they got out with only having to pry Emmanellian from Laniaitte. Tired as she was, Rowan gladly accepted Haucherfant's hand into the carriage.

"Well, how was your first Ishgardian ball, you three? All you ever hoped and dreamed?" Count Edmont asked when they were all piled into the carriage.

Rowan only managed to nod sleepily in reply as she listened to Alphinaud and Tataru give more coherent answers.

"If you're too tired to get to your room, Rowan, I'd be more than happy to carry you there," Haucherfant whispered as she started nodding off in the carriage.

And with that, Rowan started back awake, managing to hit her head as the carriage jolted over a large stone. "Ow."

#junelezen #rowan argentas #lots of other characters i am too tired to tag #i accidentally stayed up til 5 writing this woops #i also stole yloise's idea to have a ball in ishgard #this takes place before said gaolbreaking of raubahn #but i was far more interested in writing the elf dating sim scene so here we are

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