An Immodest Proposal

[crimson_war_demon]

Thus far, Lancer has had little occasion to speak with Lord Matou. His main duty now is to accompany her Ladyship, and assist her in her efforts, and he hopes he's performed satisfactorily in that regard. Now, however, he kneels in seiza before her Ladyship and Lord Matou both, and finds it easier to lower his eyes to the ground than to raise them. Should he look up, he would see Lord Matou all too clearly, and -- no, it is ungracious for him to think such things, and likely even dishonorable. Nevertheless a strange itch crawls up his spine; the sensation is not unlike what a cat might feel, were its fur brushed the wrong way.

"My lord," he begins, "and your Ladyship. Kamanosuke has delivered valuable information about the Lady Tohsaka, but there is a more pressing matter than that. While by the river, I encountered the Servant Saber -- a Western woman, though I cannot venture any other guesses as to her identity. She is as fast as I am, at least, and wields an unusually thin blade, and parried my blows well with it. After several passes, she offered an alliance. Of course," he adds quickly, lest they receive the wrong impression, "I would never presume to make such a decision in place of my Master, and told her as much! However, I gave her my word that I would convey her message to you, for my lord and her Ladyship to do with as they please."

He lowers his head, braces himself for reproach. "Lady Saber has proposed that I meet her tomorrow with our answer, whatever that answer may be."

Comments

[wormintheblood]

Zouken's face splits into a sickening grin. Not that it wasn't sickening already. "With what you had you did well." His voice rasps and gurgles, dry and phlegm-soaked all at once. "It would be better if we could have acted at once, but our family is nothing if not patient."

He takes several lumbering steps, an abortive pacing, before continuing. "We have been given an opportunity beyond what I anticipated. The opportunity to defeat a pair at the very start of the war..." His laugh would be mistaken for a cough, if Zouken would ever show that sort of malady in front of his servants.

He looks directly at Kaede, all but ignoring Lancer's presence. "We will claim to accept the alliance, and lure Saber's master into the open. And then...." He cracks his walking stick against the floor. The echo is like the snapping of some unimaginable insect's mandibles upon its prey.

[worms_armageddon]

Kaede flinches at the sound, as though from a blow; she stares at her grandfather with wide, startled eyes. "But," she begins, "if we were to -- forgive me. It isn't my intention to question you, but if we were to truly accept the alliance, we might--"

But her nerve fails her. "Forgive me," she says again, very quietly, but nonetheless she turns her gaze to Lancer, silently pleading for support. She cannot argue with her grandfather, but Lancer is a samurai, a warrior of renown; perhaps he can succeed in her stead.

[crimson_war_demon]

Lord Matou's declaration strikes him into dumbfounded silence at first, but when her Ladyship looks at him, his tongue unlocks. "I offer my humble apologies as well, as I know well that a Servant's duty is to obey," he says, his palms pressed together in front of his heart, "but to attack an opponent under the flag of truce -- my lord, think of the dishonor such a thing would bring you!"

[wormintheblood]

Zouken chuckles. He had been expecting something like this, but he had not been quite ready for how ridiculous it sounds. "Honor? You would do better to know who you speak to. Honor is not a virtue the Matou are renowned for possessing." He thinks of the Crest Worms -- of what they do to women, of what they've done to Kaede -- and he chuckles again.

[crimson_war_demon]

"I have never seen her Ladyship act in a dishonorable manner!" His knuckles tent up on his thighs. Careful, some part of him whispers, but that part is subsumed easily by the spike of indignation in his chest. "Forgive me," he says, voice and hands starting to shake, "but I would not wish for her Ladyship to act in a such a way so contrary to what I have seen of her nature!"

[worms_armageddon]

She thinks at once that he knows nothing at all of her nature -- but within moments the thought is subsumed entirely by the realisation that all of a sudden, she has someone to defend her. The knowledge makes her braver; certainly, it makes her brave enough to speak up again. "Grandfather," she begins, and though she cannot quite banish the trembling from her voice, she can at least make herself heard. "I -- I had only thought that it might be reckless to end the alliance so hastily. If we can use Saber's resources alongside our own, we can -- we might stand a greater chance against the other Servants in the war. If -- if you insist that we turn on her, please... please consider that it may not be wise to do so right away."

She hopes against all hope that Lancer will not read dishonour into her words.

[wormintheblood]

"Eh?" Zouken is surprised and a little impressed. He looks at Kaede with a mix of reproach and pride that makes him look human for a moment. But his face quickly hardens back into its usual smirk.

"That would be a possibility," he says. "But consider the circumstances. A servant eagerly offers us an alliance without any information on us. This Saber's master is either themself a fool, or is in turn laying a trap for us. Or perhaps both. Perhaps they do not know who they are laying a trap for." he taps his cane.

"To ally with a fool, one who makes alliances with those they do not even know -- that would be nothing more than a drain on us. Perhaps we could bend them to our will, yes, but there is no master in a Grail War who would surrender their wishes."

"And if they are not a fool..." He leaves it there, his voice speaking of doom for those led into a trap.

[crimson_war_demon]

"My lord, the thought had entered my mind as well, I admit," he says. Whatever his own code of honor may be, it's foolish to expect the other Servants in this war to adhere to it when he knows so little of their lands of origin. Even in his own lifetime, there were those who dared to don the armor and wield the weapons of the samurai while treating bushido as a thing to be adopted and discarded at convenience. Another surge of anger rolls through him at the thought.

"But I did cross blades with the Lady Saber, and in doing so, gained some measure of her spirit as a fighter. Her offer, when she made it, was sincere; I believe this in my heart. I know not what manner of magus her Master is, but the Lady Saber would, I think, at least hear our answer before responding."

Unless her Master is like Lord Matou, but as Lord Matou seems to be assuming as much already, there is no need for Lancer to say it.

"Perhaps she and her Master will spring a trap then -- I cannot say. But whatever the circumstances, the flag of truce was extended, and I do not wish to treat that so callously."

[wormintheblood]

"Heh. You do not wish, hmm? Heh."

"If her offer was sincere, it means only that Saber believed it sincere. A Master and Servant do not need to share all the same wishes. Heh. And if the Master does share the sincerity, then they are only a fool."

His gaze shifts to Kaede. "But you are the master of Lancer. I have told you what you should do. It is up to you to decide what you and your servant will do." And, he does not say, if it is the wrong thing, I will be there to do it right.

[worms_armageddon]

She opens her mouth to question him almost at once -- she is beyond unaccustomed to being granted the authority to disobey. Within moments, though, she has recognised the value of the gift she has been given, and cut herself off before she can protest it. "Thank you," she stammers out, making a concerted effort to meet her grandfather's eyes. It ends in failure; a matter of seconds later, she decides to look at Lancer instead. "I -- I believe Lancer and I are in agreement. We will... we will accept the alliance for now."

[wormintheblood]

Zouken taps his cane ponderously. "Well, then, Kaede." He stares at her piercingly. "That will be that, won't it? I certainly hope Saber is not for the Tohsaka or Einsbern families." He expects them to be moderately prepared for his swarms.

[worms_armageddon]

Kaede flushes slightly, unable to help feeling chastened -- already beginning to doubt that she has done the right thing. "If they are," she says quietly, "we -- we can make new plans."

A thought occurs to her: "Lancer, you sent one of your Braves to spy on Lady Tohsaka. Did he -- could he identify the class of her Servant?"

[crimson_war_demon]

Lancer straightens his back, glad to be of assistance in this matter. "Kamanosuke's intelligence would indicate that the Lady Tohsaka's servant is not Lady Saber," he says. "Recently, the Lady Tohsaka has taken many trips to her horse farm on the outskirts of Fuyuki, and converses frequently with a foreigner there. This foreigner is broad-shouldered and well-muscled, with dark hair and bronze skin. Kamanosuke could not identify his origin, but believes him to be from the south of this continent, or from the deserts to the west. This Servant's skill at handling horses led Kamanosuke to suspect that the Lady Tohsaka summoned Rider to her side, and such an assumption is not unreasonable."

A small glow settles in his chest, warms it. Her Ladyship has shown not only honor this day, but courage -- and consideration of strategy, just now.

[chanson_de_maupin]

This Lancer is difficult to track, but the Messenger has run along the strand at Marathon, gone pelting from one general to the next over all of Greece, brought news of young men's butchery for the table and described battles in perfect, ekphrastic detail for those far away.

It is his business to find those men who cannot be easily reached, and to tell them his tale, and so he skids to a stop outside the Matou residence near midnight.

He checks the boundaries for wards, checks the main entrance for traps. "Special delivery!" he calls hopefully. "Report from the front!"

[worms_armageddon]

Sleep has not come easily to Kaede since her training ended and the war began; she is awake when the messenger calls, though she startles where she sits. Her heart leaps into her throat at the thought of her grandfather being roused by the shouting, and that terror is what sets her to hurrying down the stairs, fumbling with the lock on the front door, venturing outside in nightdress and dressing-gown. "Who is it?" she asks, in a stage whisper, trying not to sound as anxious as she feels.

[chanson_de_maupin]

The messenger instantly takes to his knees. "I have run far under cover of darkness to bring you an urgent plea for aid," he begins, hands raised in a pose of supplication. "Saber, the renowned, she whose blade splits the sky and whose tread shakes the earth, has bid me seek the house of Lancer to know his Master's answer. Will the warrior of the shining spear join his hand to hers, and fight at her side as her brother?"

[worms_armageddon]

It takes her a moment to remember that he must mean her -- she does not feel very much like a Master, barefoot in the dark. "Yes," she says, and it comes so much more easily to her tongue than it did when she was facing her grandfather. "Yes, he -- he will."

[chanson_de_maupin]

He smiles, lowering his hands. "Then she would bid me speak with Lancer, and explain the design that she has devised for those wing-footed messengers whose eyes are our enemies'. These grounds are warded against such spies, are they not? We speak as privately here as we would behind thick fortress walls?"

[worms_armageddon]

"We do," she says, a little doubtfully; those thick fortress walls also house her grandfather, and she is not entirely certain of his perspective on this alliance yet. "I... can call Lancer forth, yes, if you want to speak with him."

[chanson_de_maupin]

"Do so, my lady, that we might prepare for the field of battle."

[worms_armageddon]

She flushes slightly at my lady, even as she turns back to the door and calls, as softly as she can, "Lancer. Lancer, are you -- will you come here?"

[crimson_war_demon]

"I am, as always, at your Ladyship's service," he says, takes form beside her. He is in his warrior's dress, but his spear is strapped to his back, and there seems to be no reason to draw it yet.

A small nod to her Ladyship, and then he turns to this messenger. "What news do you bring, sir?"

[chanson_de_maupin]

"I bring word that Saber's Master has agreed to join hands with you--and of a stratagem to throw off those prying minions who await tomorrow's meeting. Saber will pretend to refuse you, and begin a duel with you, but then she will produce a hero as she has produced me--a hero who will pretend to be a Servant. She will claim the right to slay this hero, and you will flee as though the Furies were at your heels. If your honor dictates that you not be seen in fleeing, you may rescue your Master or Saber's from the field." Still on his knees, he looks up imploringly at Lancer. "Is this an acceptable ruse?"

[crimson_war_demon]

Lancer should have no trouble understanding the man's words. The Grail has, after all, allowed them to speak and understand the same tongue. But something about this message strikes his ears as utterly foreign, and he's certain that he must have misunderstood some of its content. He frowns.

"Lady Saber has crafted an impressive ruse," he says, "but -- she wishes to duel a false Servant in my place?"

[chanson_de_maupin]

"She thinks it unwise to reveal that you have agreed to an alliance before you're called to face a real Servant; the sham battle permits you to break from your duel before one of you must fall to the other." He tilts his head as though listening to a distant voice. "She is willing to give you a wound to force your retreat, but she prefers to confound her watchers as Dionysos did Agave--with a false enemy to tear apart."