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vhaedrin-kha · 4 years ago

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Brothers Divided

(( OOC note: This story was written as a collaborative effort by Licinia and myself. As it is a lengthy story dealing with the rift between Vhaedrin and Drathan I have alluded to in prompts, I will be posting the story under a break. We hope you enjoy it! ))

Vhaedrin and Licinia were enjoying a quiet Firesday, having spent their day relaxing in their room in Ul’dah. For the moment he was dressed in loose cotton pants, and she was curled within his arms wearing a borrowed shirt. Fading light filtered through the window as afternoon turned to evening, and he smiled at her, leaning down to kiss the top of her head.

“At some point I should probably look into getting a proper apartment so we don’t have to keep living out of an Inn.” he mused with some amusement. “Not that it would have to be in Thanalan, but it is something I’ve thought of. It would certainly be more secure.”

Blue eyes glanced toward the window before moving to focus on her, leaning down to capture her lips in a slow, loving kiss as his arms tighten around her, urging her to move into his lap. Licinia followed where he led, sliding into his lap, her delicate hands affectionately caressing his horns before sliding around his neck to hold herself more closely to her beloved. Vhaedrin grinned against her lips, giving a playful nip at her bottom lip before giving voice to the question that had somehow pushed to the front of his mind. “Mm. Do you want to go out to eat, or should we just order in tonight?” He knew she enjoyed an excuse to have him dress more formally, and he would gladly take any opportunity to be seen with her on his arm.

“Savage.” she murmured affectionately against his lips. “I demand that you take me out to a proper meal instead of feeding me food prepared in this Inn.” Before he could speak, her lips found his, stealing away the breath that could have given voice to any response. The word was taken to be an insult by so many, but over the years had turned into a tease, an affection between the young couple. Vhaedrin smiled against her lips, reluctantly breaking the kiss to peer into her lavender eyes, his own blue eyes mirroring the love and adoration that he found there. “I get the feeling this means I’m putting on a suit tonight.” Her only response was to beam at him and claim his lips in another slow, tender kiss.

This kiss was unceremoniously interrupted by a sharp knock on their door. Vhaedrin growled a low curse before looking into her eyes. Neither was expecting anyone, and they rarely gave specifics to anyone who would want to track their travels, allowing them some freedom to enjoy being young and in love without the worry of titles and reputation. Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, he reluctantly removed Licinia from his lap and stood from the couch, making his way to the door, his hair still a mess from her affections. He paused on the way, reaching into one of his boots, as they rested near the door, and pulling a dagger from it that he held behind his back.

Thus prepared, he yanked the door open, his eyes full of wrath for whomever had interrupted their evening. That wrath drained away as he was lost for words, staring into his own eyes. Vhaedrin’s twin brother stood before him, still dressed in the Livery of the Twin Adders. The two xaela were very easily recognizable as twins when they stood together. The same hair, though different colors, the same height, the same horns, and of course the same eyes. The difference in that moment was the accusation in Drathan’s eyes.

“You brought HER here, didn’t you?” The words were so full of venom that Drathan may as well have spat them. That venom was enough for Vhaedrin to let go of the fleeting surprise of seeing his twin and shove the man backwards across the hallway. “You watch your tongue, brother. You’ve no place to bring this trouble to our door.” Vhaedrin growled those words in a dangerous tone, one Licinia and Drathan both would recognize. This tone often meant someone ended up dead. The only thing that prevented this from devolving further was that he knew she would not want it to. Licinia was a Senator, and prided herself in finding solutions through words, cutting though they could be.

Growling again Vhaedrin turned to look back into the room, his eyes seeking out the woman he loves. “We will take this… conversation… outside of the city, where we can speak freely. You will wait here in the hallway while we get dressed.” It was not a question, Vhaedrin was very clearly laying out conditions for what could very well be a bloody confrontation. Only after Drathan glared past him at Licinia and nodded once did Vhaedrin close the door and turn back to her.

“He has never understood why I chose you, why I devoted myself to you. I fear this may be the only opportunity that we will ever have to show him. Forgive me for speaking for you, but I knew you would never let me go without you.” Vhaedrin shook his head before moving to embrace her, hugging Licinia tightly to his chest before murmuring “I love you.”

Licinia, for her part, could not hide the look of concern on her features as she welcomed Vhaedrin back into her arms where she pressed her lips against his in a brief but powerful kiss. “I know…” she tried to reassure him about so many things in only those two short words, feeling now that time was of the essence as Drathan waited for them outside. She wanted to reassure him that she loved him too, that she understood his reasons for using his voice as her own, that the reasons why he would choose to engage with his brother were obvious to her. Vhaedrin had never put wrong in her name before, giving her no reason to doubt his motives and his mind. This, then, was the full weight of those two words, and as Licinia pulled away from his kiss she cupped his horns in the palms of her hands and stood on her tiptoes to kiss at their tips. “He will see, Vhae” she replied in an attempt to soothe him. “If words can stop wars then they can certainly end this strife between brothers. It brings me no joy to know that I am a division between you, you know? But nor will I give you up and walk away to soothe your brother’s notions of right and wrong. We can but give him reasons to accept us. It is up to him whether or not he accepts them.”

Licinia pulled away from Vhaedrin only to dress, her lips sealed in solemnity and stillness as her mind raced. She was a fine orator and always had been but this was not her debate, not her moment on the Senate floor. Her role was to support Vhaedrin and as she slipped on her jeans once again she vowed to do just that.

Vhaedrin had returned her kisses, leaning into her touch as she cupped his horns, nodding quietly in response to her words. His gaze lingered on her for a moment, his lips curving into a faint smile at the thought of her continuing to wear his shirt. He slipped out of the comfortable pants that he’d been wearing and began pulling on the leggings and undershirt that he wore beneath his armor. Once she was dressed he stepped over to his armor, starting to pull it off of its stand. “I might not be able to convince him alone, but with your help I have to believe there is a chance.” he offered in a hopeful tone. “You know that I would never give you up, ‘Cinia. Not even to temper my brother’s unfounded hate.”

His eyes looked to hers as he began strapping on his greaves, he had no need to look at his armor to don it, this was something that he could do with his eyes closed. “My path forward, my future is with you. He will have to learn to accept this.” He shook his head with a light grin. “You know I meant it when I said that I would marry you. Part of me thinks we should just make that official, it’s not like he can get any angrier about our relationship.” It was an honest point, his brother was already angry about his loyalty to her, and truthfully wasn’t likely to be any more angry. He gave her a playful wink despite the seriousness of the moment. “Not, mind you, that I’ve any need of an excuse to want to marry you. It was something I dreamt of when we were separated, a reminder that I’d been afraid to tell you how I felt.”

He began strapping his legs into his boots next, though his blue eyes remained upon his love. “I know you would have me do whatever I can, within reason, to mend this rift. But I will never leave you, that is not something that I consider reasonable, nor do I believe you consider it reasonable. He lost friends in the war, and he views you as he would a soldier in the battlefield. His judgement is clouded by anger and grief, this is the fog that we must pierce to get through to him.” He shook his head, straightening back to his full height. “My brother is a good man. I have to believe that he will understand if we can get him to open his eyes and actually meet you, not this monster that he has built you up to be in his head.”

Strong fingers comb through his hair, pushing it back from his eyes. “That I love you should be enough to give him pause, I can only hope that this will be the case.” He reached for his breastplate, his mind a whirlwind of his past, of how they came to love each other, and how to make his brother see the woman that he loves, and not the monster that he believes her to be.

Licinia watched, but she was not still, helping him into the parts of his armour that she understood best, just as she had helped her father, her late brother and even her cousin when the occasion had called for it. Each piece felt dreadfully heavy in the Senator’s hands, the weight of war equally burdensome on one’s mind or so she imagined, but nevertheless she helped until there was nothing more to do than finish dressing herself. Licinia for her part did not stand on ceremony for Vhaedrin’s brother. She dressed normally, choosing only what she had worn until the moment Vhaedrin’s shirt had covered her modesty in the aftermath of their intimacy; jeans, heeled sandals and a draped top. Whether Drathan accepted her or not he was family to her now in a manner of speaking and Licinia intended to greet him as such. She said nothing more, words failing her in spite of her usual eloquence, and simply stood ready to leave and close to the door. It was well that Vhaedrin and Drathan had chosen to have this discussion away from the city walls and the eyes and ears of Ul’dah. If it came to conflict, which Licinia truly hoped it would not, then it would be best for the authorities not to be involved or their identities forfeit.

One final detail was needed before they departed, and he leaned down to steal a kiss, his strong arms drawing her against his chest. Taking Licinia’s hand, he stepped through the door, blue eyes flicking up to meet those of his twin. Both brothers nodded, no words needed to be spoken here, the tension between them was palpable, each standing on opposite sides of a rift. Drathan clung tightly to his belief that all Garleans are the enemy. Monsters set on conquering Eorzea and handing the free people of the world over to be chained as slaves. Vhaedrin stood beside the woman he loves, confident in his knowledge of her heart. Licinia was no monster, she was a woman who sought to do the best for her people. He only hoped that his brother would understand that they have had different experiences, and there was truth to both sides.

The trio walked quietly out through the Gate of Nald and out into Central Thanalan. It was a cool night, and the crisp air washed over them as they moved away from the shadow of Ul’dah. Vhaedrin led them off of the road, moving out of the way where the light of the moon would illuminate them, blue eyes scanned their surroundings before he nodded once, his thumb brushing over the back of Licinia’s knuckles as his fingers lace between hers and he turns to face his brother. “You’ve come a long way to see me brother, it seems only fair that I offer you the chance to speak first.”

Drathan paced for a moment, his hands clasped behind his back in a far more military stance than the one adopted by his brother. Blue eyes moved between Vhaedrin and Licinia, a mixture of hate and betrayal visible within them, depending upon whom he was focused upon. “I never believed you would turn your back on me… especially not for some woman. You know what she is! You have seen first hand what they think of us, what they are capable of! Why will you not turn her in? Return to your family? Father will forgive you, I will forgive you.” The final words still held an edge of anger, but there was a hint of a plea to them, dwindling hope that his brother would still choose to see his way of things.

Vhaedrin squeezed Licinia’s hand in reassurance as he took in a slow breath, gradually letting it out as he sought to calm the spike of anger that his brother’s words had inspired. “And what about mother? Have you asked her what she thinks?” Drathan flinched at those words, it was a fleeting reaction, but one both Vhaedrin and Licinia were unlikely to miss. “That’s what I thought. Ever eager for whatever scraps of praise our father tosses you. Maybe you should spend more time listening to our mother. He’d never admit to it, but he can’t beat her in a fight. He never has.” Vhaedrin shook his head, giving his brother a sad look, something almost sinking to the level of pity. “You never knew that, did you?”

Drathan growled, taking an aggressive step forward, though Vhaedrin stood his ground, so sure that his brother would falter in his approach that he did not even release Licinia’s hand. “Apparently he hasn’t chased all of the common sense from your thick skull.” Vhaedrin quipped, staring his brother down with eyes that had taken on a much harder look. It was a look Drathan knew well, and it was a dangerous look, a warning.

Drathan again paced, his tail lashing behind him in agitation as a low growl escaped his throat. Vhaedrin merely raised a brow and waited for his brother to speak again. “Why!?” Drathan spat the question, his eyes focusing all of his ire upon Licinia. “Why her? Why do you turn your back on your family for her?”

The words had no effect upon Vhaedrin as he continued to stare at his brother, while Drathan refused to meet his brother’s gaze. “I could give you fifty reasons without needing to stop and think, Drathan.” Vhaedrin answered calmly, squeezing Licinia’s hand once again in reassurance. “Because she’s not your enemy. She’s not a soldier. Because she cares about the people. More importantly than anything else, because I love her.” He let those words linger, waiting for his brother to truly register them.

Drathan stopped his pacing, his whole body still, almost as though frozen in shock save for his jaw hanging open. “You WHAT?!?” the redheaded twin exclaimed, his gaze focusing upon the Senator once more. “How did you do this? With what vile magic did you charm my brother?” Drathan took a pair of steps toward Licinia before a single step forward by Vhaedrin caused him to retreat. Drathan might be the one full of rage and venom, but there was no doubt that he was wary, perhaps even afraid of his twin.

“I love her.” Vhaedrin repeated. “I am in love with her, we are in love with each other.” Now his gaze turned to Licinia, softening as his blue eyes focused on her. It was a subtle gesture, one his brother would not understand, but he was offering her the chance to speak now, or wait until they had spoken further. A slight shake of her head said all that he needed to know, and he bowed his head before returning his attention to Drathan. “You call her ‘the enemy’ or ‘ a monster’. In the Ghimlyt Dark, it was a soldier wearing the same colors that you wear today who attacked me. Unprovoked, purely because I did not wear their livery. She was there. A non-combatant. A civilian, a politician there to talk. Her guard was killed, Drathan. Would you have me leave an unarmed civilian in the middle of a battlefield? Is that how you were raised?” Vhaedrin’s tone suggested that it was most certainly not how they were raised, and the words had clearly stung his brother.

“Then why didn’t you come back after you got her off the battlefield?” Drathan challenged, anger creeping more fully into his tone. “She was out of danger, off of the battlefield. You could have come back, could have taken work with The Alliance.” There was desperation to his tone, clinging to the belief that what he knew was the truth, that his brother could have returned just that easily.

“No.” Vhaedrin countered evenly. “She was in shock. The only place truly safe for her was far away from the battlefield. I could not leave her then Drathan, and I will not leave her now.” Vhaedrin gave a light tug at her hand, gently inviting Licinia to step in more closely against his side. “You chose a side long before that day. I never chose a side. No matter what you think now, I did not choose a side. I chose her.” His shoulders rolled in a slow shrug as he watched his brother, wary of a more volatile outburst. “If you are still in there, if my brother is not so far lost to this irrational hate, then see for yourself, Drathan. She’s right here. Talk to her. Find out for yourself if she’s this monster that your fears have built her into.” Drathan started to speak and then hesitated, his eyes cast to the ground as the warring words of his parents ran through his head. His father believed that there was no middle ground with an enemy, and that there could not be. His mother preached compassion and empathy, seeking to protect and fight only when forced to do so. He shook his head in a near-violent motion before focusing eyes that look so similar to those she was used to seeing filled with love and adoration upon her. “Is that true? Would you try to prove my brother’s loyalty to you is not misplaced?”

All the while they spoke Licinia had held herself back from the brothers’ conversation, at least until addressed directly by Drathan. She was no stranger to verbal conflict or even war these days, much to her displeasure, but there was something about this angry discourse between the two that disquieted her thoughts. Perhaps it was on account of feeling that she was to blame, or perhaps it was because for the first time she could see the hatred of the enemy so close to her own face. To calm herself Licinia closed her eyes a moment and drew in a deep but silent breath, steadying her thoughts in the moment before she locked her eyes with Drathan. How difficult to see her lover’s eyes staring back at her, only this time filled with hate.

“If you knew as much of my people as you needed to in order to truly hate us” she began, “you would know that we have no skill with magic or aetherial manipulation of any kind. I have placed no charm or geas on your brother, and not just because I lack the ability to.”

At this Licinia tightened her grip on Vhaedrin’s hand and broke eye-contact with Drathan, smiling at her beloved like only a smitten woman can. Her eyes were soft, her lips curled even in spite of all the hatred and bile she’d heard from one half of a family she wished would accept her. None of that seemed to matter so long as Vhaedrin smiled back at her, which he duly did.

“He saved my life at the Ghimlyt Dark when war broke out and even we diplomats found ourselves unsafe. He stayed by my side until my mind began to mend from the horrors of war, dedicating sleepless nights and long days to my care” Her eyes found their way back to Drathan’s own but the smile on her lips remained. “All this he did with a smile, Drathan, with humour and affection. What he sees in me I cannot say. Well, what woman ever can when asked? Now we have spent too long denying our feelings for one another, and I have no intention of denying them a moment longer.” Licinia’s hand relinquished Vhaedrin’s and she took some steps forward towards Drathan, gentle footfalls crunching the dust and tundra of Thanalan beneath her sandals. “I don’t know what it is you need to see of me to understand that I am but a person with a beating heart and warm blood in my veins, Drathan, but I am willing to try. I love Vhae beyond explanation or reason. If you can devise a way to prove the extent of one person's love for another then by all means I will be tested against it.”

Vhaedrin released her hand, letting her step closer to his brother. His muscles were tense, ready to spring into action if she were in danger, but he had to hope, to trust that his brother was not so far gone as to attack an unarmed woman, the woman he had just admitted to being in love with. If he was wrong, there was no going back and one of them might not walk away from this meeting. He prayed that would not be the way that this reunion ends. Drathan glared at her, though he did stop his pacing and listen to her words, that at least, was something. It took him a moment of sifting through her words to settle on an answer, one thing that he could challenge her words with. “Then answer me this, Senator. You proclaim love for a man that your peers would look down upon as a savage. You say that you’ve no intention of denying your feelings a moment longer. Will you then, openly proclaim them? Profess them to those who would see him as beneath you, as an unworthy savage? If your love for him is so true, then this should prove to be a trivial challenge.” Drathan folded his arms over his chest, a single brow raised in challenge as his lips curved into a smirk that spoke of his expectation of victory. Vhaedrin’s jaw fell open and he growled, taking a step forward. “You go too far, brother!” The rage building within Vhaedrin’s voice was clear, and his gaze was met evenly by that of his twin. “Would you have her risk any chance of helping her people recklessly just to satisfy your smug challenge?” He shook his head as his hands tightened into fists, the leather beneath the mail gauntlets creaking in protest as his hands visibly shook. “We will make our relationship known when the time is right, and she needn’t do this to satisfy YOU.”

Drathan’s smirk remained as his eyes returned to Licinia. “Oh, but she does, and you know it, don’t you, Senator?” Drathan’s voice was cold, listing what he saw as the facts of their situation. “She wants to see this bridge mended. To see family reunited. To be welcomed as your beloved. You forget that I have always been as good at reading people as you, brother. You were angry enough to brawl with me in that hallway. You held back for her. Because you knew it was what she would want. That was proof enough that I am right.” His tone shifted, the challenge returning to his voice. “What say you, Senator. Will you meet my challenge? Prove to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that your love for him matters above all else?” His arms opened, spreading with his palms open and facing upward. “Meet my challenge, and take the first step to mend this wound, or refuse, and risk the heart that you claim to cherish.” Drathan was being cruel, forcing Licinia into an impossible choice, sure that she would fail, and free his brother.

Vhaedrin, meanwhile, was visibly vibrating with rage, and only the fact that he would have to go through Licinia to reach his brother had stayed his hand. He looked to her, his blue eyes a mixture of rage and desperation. “Choose. Something. Else.” he growled at his brother, his mind a whirlwind as he tried to find a solution, a way out of this that would not force her hand. For all of his love, he never sought to push her, or force her to reveal their love. It would come out when she was ready, not like this. He knows her heart, and it was only his brother’s hatred of Garleans that made this demand. Desperate though he was, he could not speak for her, not to answer this challenge. The choice has to be hers.

Licinia, for all of Vhaedrin’s protests and worry, seemed to be as calm as a cup of water as she looked at his brother, the ghost of a smile present on her lips and in her eyes. It was so faint that even Drathan, close though he was, likely could not see it. A silence fell over Licinia as she let all go calm, allowing for Vhaedrin to calm down and Drathan to revel in his perceived victory. There and then Licinia swore to do something about Drathan’s lack of compassion, about how little he grasped the concept of love, but that was by and large a story for another time. For now Licinia stayed with the moment at hand and took in a deep breath in that lingering silence, ensuring a look of vexed consternation remained on her pretty features. Drathan had cooked himself for dinner with this one request, but she still needed him to think that this simple request was some great sacrifice, some potent scandal that would threaten to undo her. Once upon a time it may well have been. In the present, however, it was all she could have asked for from her reluctant brother-in-law.

“You know not what you ask of me, Drathan…” she said with a sad sigh, all the drama of a performance in the Senaculum returning to her. “You know nothing of how foolish my people can be, of their xenophobia. You ask me to threaten not only my standing in society, but even my safety as my people look to what little power remains to vent their anger.” This was partly true, though it was not something Licinia had come to truly feel. Garlean society would either look upwards for leadership or shun her regardless in the aftermath of all this ruin. Who she shared affection with was, for now, likely the last thing on the minds of the people. “Still” she continued, her lips pursed and her eyes resolute. “I will do exactly as you ask. From this moment on, when people’s curiosity is piqued and they inquire as to the terms of our relationship, I will tell them the particulars without hesitation or shame. I will tell them that I love your brother and care for him deeply. If it will calm the anger in your heart, Drathan, I will do all I can to reaffirm my love for your brother. Be it in the presence of friends, or even complete strangers.”

“Then we have an accord.” Drathan spoke evenly, his smirk having melted away at her words, replaced by a stoic expression that Licinia would know all too well was a mask, for it was the expression Vhaedrin adopted when in public, and pretending to be nothing more than her loyal guard. “I will be watching, Senator. Should you prove true to your word, I will not oppose your relationship with my brother.”

Those words caused Vhaedrin to narrow his eyes. He knew his brother all too well, and could see the wheels turning, no, Drathan would not oppose their relationship, even their marriage. But he would see to it that another would. Though he had no doubt that Licinia would prove true to her word, and so too would Drathan, Vhaedrin knew that this would not be the end of the tests for his beloved. He will have work to do behind the scenes if he was to ensure that the next would be the last test posed by his own family. It was well past time that he wrote a letter to his mother.

Drathan gave his brother a knowing smile, one that they both knew meant this was not over yet. Vhaedrin shook his head, though he visibly relaxed, moving to slide his fingers between Licinia’s, drawing her in against his side, allowing them to show his brother the united front that he was now toying with. Drathan was not a stupid man, but he was foolish, reckless, and had made a move without truly understanding his opponent. With one promise, his brother had played himself into Licinia’s arena, and he suspected that his brother would understand his mistake one day.

“Drathan…” Licinia called to him, hoping to catch his full attention in this quiet moment of tension between the two parties. “I cannot help but notice that you know little about my people. In fact, the only Garleans you have ever likely known are the ones whose lives you’ve taken.” This was a fact that could not be refuted. Unlike Vhae, Drathan was a stranger to Garlemald and it’s society. He’d likely never spoken to one. “I will accept your hatred and scorn if there is nothing I can do to change it, but for the sake of your brother I implore you; learn of us. Not the Empire, not her Soldiers, but of the common man, of the citizen trying to feed his family and keep a roof over their head. I hope that you find we have more in common than that which separates us. War leaves no one unscarred, not even the aggressors.”

With one final look over the angry young Xaela Licinia turned on her heel and took a few steps back towards the city, longing for some rest and respite from the ceaseless conflict and turmoil in her life. She paused, only for a moment, and got the rest of her thoughts off her chest. "Occupying the high ground is all very well and good, Drathan, but bear in mind that trouble rolls down hill and your position is but deceptively well-elevated. I hope that the next time we meet it is with more understanding for one another. Good day.” With an incline of her head and a smile to her beloved Licinia made off into the desert, unconcerned and determined not to look back. She would fix this, she thought to herself, but the how of the matter yet remained to be seen.

Drathan stood quiet and stoic as she spoke, offering no outward reaction even after she began departing. Vhaedrin smiled warmly at Licinia before shifting his gaze to his brother. “She’s right, brother. If you ever find yourself in the situation to do so, try. Learn about the people of Garlemald, not just the soldiers. They will surprise you.” A brief bow of his head followed before Vhaedrin turned to jog ahead, catching up with Licinia before sliding his fingers between hers, giving a reassuring squeeze.

Drathan watched them depart, quickly growing lost in his own thoughts. He’d challenged Licinia, and so it was only fair to meet a challenge of her own offering. That his brother echoed the same sentiment only drove home the point further. He’d never known any Garleans save for those he met in battle. Were the people so different from the soldiers? As loath as he was to admit it to himself, he would have to find out for himself, for better or worse. His father would call him weak, while his mother would approve. Perhaps it was not too late to heal the rift, if his brother and his beloved were right.

Time would tell.

@liciniafae

#Vhaedrin x Licinia #ffxiv rp #The Senator and Her Guard #New Beginnings #Brothers Divided

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