(no subject)
Sabin had rounded up a very extensive piece of parchment from one of the scholars in the library and had spread it over the table in the far corner. He had intended to see how far back it went to see who the name of their Great-Grandfather, as he called him, was... but the thing didn't go back that far. Now he was just looking through the extended family relations, leaned halfway over the table with his hands spread on it like a battle map. Ironically, the names Edgar and Sabin Figaro were found right at the tip of the fingers on his right hand. There seemed to be nothing of use here...
"Whatcha doin?" Selphie had crept up as silently as possible, not wanting to disturb him until the last moment.
"Curiosity," Sabin said, turning his head and smiling at Selphie. The tree only went back 500 years... not nearly far enough. "What're you doing here?"
"I was looking for you," she answered, settling down beside him. "This is your family tree?"
"Sure is," Sabin said, standing up straight now. Oh, look at that, the right side of the parchment wasn't entirely unfolded. "Trying to trace it back to the War of the Magi, but it doesn't go far enough." He unfolded the side of the parchment idly.
"That's amazing, that you can still trace it this far back," murmured Selphie. The whole idea was foreign to her. "Marcellina?" she read out loud, sounding a bit confused.
"There are scholars who work here for the sole purpose of compiling this-- Marcellina?" He turned and looked. "A distant cousin?" He flattened the parchment out rather in a hurry.
Selphie blinked in surprise, also peering down at the name. "It looks like it, doesn't it?"
Sabin shook his head in mild disbelief, which only lasted until his eyes fell on another name, connected to Marcellina with a thin blue line. "Rhenn??" He stared incredulously at it, and followed their parentage. A brother of their grandfather's father was their paternal ancestor... distant cousin, indeed. "That's the guy from Zozo," he whispered almost inaudibly.
"What?" Selphie looked confused, though she was starting to get nervous again. "Sabin, what?"
"Goddess, it all makes sense," Sabin murmured, putting his hand over his eyes. "This Rhenn guy... is the man who they say is in charge of Zozo. The uniting of the gangs there against Figaro. And... Marcellina," he pointed to the line connecting them, "would be his sister. That's the name of the woman they threatened me with." All this was said, of course, at the very quietest that Sabin could possibly speak.
Selphie was very glad she was still sitting. "Oh. That. That means it's... it's really happening... isn't it?"
"I... it seems so," Sabin sat down now, kind of in what resembled a crumpled heap. "Rhenn, Marcellina... damnit." He sighed. "There's two of them, one's threatening my brother and the other me... why can't anybody just leave well enough alone?" Frustration was definitely evident in his tone of voice.
Selphie scooted over close to him, resting her hand on his arm. "If I could... I'd stop them." She had half a mind, of course, to go try that anyway.
"I can stop them," Sabin maintained, taking one last look at the parchment before folding it up. "Or at least stall them. It's awfully difficult to plot against the king if you're right underneath the nose of his brother and his entire court..."
Selphie blinked. Did that mean...?
Sabin put his hand on Selphie's shoulder. "Come with me, to a private place. We need to have a talk."
"Okay," she said, almost inaudibly. She stood, waiting for him to lead her, miserable in knowing that he would likely marry this other woman. The ho. The stupid ho. The stupid ho with ugly hair.
Sabin took her hand and led her out of the library, and to a door to a little-used study. Lots of books. A bookshelf that, when pushed correctly, opened to another room with lots more books... but one that no one save Sabin, his brother, and maybe Locke knew about. The bookshelf clicked shut behind them. "You know what I have to do, Selphie," he said very quietly.
She nodded, head bowed so that her hair brushed against her cheeks. Refusing to cry, she couldn't any sort of sound out.
Damn, he couldn't just let her bow her head like that. He went over and put his hands on her shoulders, looking down at her softly. "Please... don't cry. I love you," he tried weakly. What was he supposed to do?
Selphie swallowed her tears, looking up at him. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "I know you have to... marry her."
"I don't want to," he assured her, stroking her hair gently. "But... it would be the best for the kingdom-- no. For Edgar." Sabin sure owed his brother a hell of a lot, after all. "It'll only be for a while, okay? Until we can end this."
"I shouldn't be so selfish," she agreed softly, but it was hard. But she knew how things spiralled out of control, and Sabin would be married to someone else, and he'd be hers, and...
"No, not selfish. You feel the way you should feel... I feel it too." He lowered his hands from her shoulder to her back, drawing her close to him. "I won't be hers," he said, as though he had read her mind.
Selphie clung to him, her face pressing in his chest. "You'll be married to her. Expected to... sleep with her. I won't be able to see you, will I?"
He sighed, wishing there was something he could do... "I won't sleep with her," he promised. Where that had come from, he didn't know... but it seemed like it would reassure her. "I'll belong only to you. She'll just think I'm hers." He offered a smile, a genuine one... a plan was forming in his mind.
Selphie tipped her head. "But you'll be supposed to..."
"I... don't know how I'll pass it off, but I just won't," he answered, without really forming a plan. Maybe he'd just say he had a headache all the time. Hm, would that work? Probably not.
She couldn't help smiling. "Tell her you don't sleep with women?"
Blink?
Selphie hid her grin in his chest.
"...but I do sleep with women, obviously," Sabin said after a short pause.
"Lie, honey," said Selphie with a sigh. "Or don't. I know that's not your thing."
Huh...? "Lie about what?"
Selphie couldn't help the giggle. He was so naive and cute. "Nevermind. We'll... we'll be fine."
"We will," he assured her with an all-too-knowing smile on his face, which was particularly odd since he had just gotten done having no clue what Selphie was talking about.