Good and Right

Posted on Mon Mar 4th, 2024 @ 7:09am by Princess Royal Giana Orsini & Major Sacha Lavigne

Mission: Historiae Terrae Et Imperii
Location: ISS Imperator
Timeline: Date 2371-09-05 at 1515
4032 words - 8.1 OF Standard Post Measure

ON


Sacha was typically an easy patient to work with, but the circumstances of the present situation had him a bit on edge. The nurses and doctors had been conspiring to keep him in this plush medical suite, despite the fact he felt fine. It seemed none of them wanted to take any chances and displease his fiance. He didn’t care about their careers, so it was an easy decision for him. He had ordered the nurses out and stripped out of his gown in order to put on newly replicated clothes. He pulled on the items one at a time. When a knock came at the door again and it started to swish open, he was pulling on the gray long-sleeve shirt.

Giana only had to walk across the whall and she was at Sacha’s room. She had thought about stopping to rest and collect herself, but that wouldn’t have really been fair to Sacha given she had made time for Paolo and Jessica. After knocking, she pushed open the door and immediately had to stop herself from rolling her eyes on seeing he was getting dressed.

“Sacha.”

He looked back at her and smiled right away, adjusting the fabric over his wrists.

“Mon coeur.” he said, stepping toward her and wrapping his arms around her right away. Besides his injuries, he seemed better-off than everyone else that had come out of this situation.

Giana stepped into him, placing her hands on his chest. “I doubt you’re supposed to be up, you know…”

“I could not possibly care less.” he responded, and leaned down to kiss her. The kiss was soft and long, with soft lips on soft lips. When it was over, he smiled down at her. “I already told those witches out there that this wasn’t my first fight. I think they’re just frightened of you.”

“They probably are.” Giana confirmed without shame and gave a slight shrug. Her hands remained on his chest and she put her head on his shoulder. “I’m so glad you’re alright.”

“The same goes for you.” he said, kissing her again. He looked into her eyes. “Why the hell did you leave us, Gigi?”

Her body tensed slightly at his question, preparing for the fight that honestly she truly expected to have with both of them, but she had escaped it with Paolo. “Because Paolo had no business being here at all, Sacha. He’s the Crown Prince and future of the empire… and I wanted to save your life.”

“Well, I did not cooperate, which you might have expected, right? I was very clear.” He said, placing a hand on her face. “It’s good to see you again. I was worried.”

“I did… though I would have preferred you left Paolo out of it considering now you can be charged with endangering his life.” She frowned and closed her eyes. Maybe they wouldn’t fight? She didn’t want to fight.

“It’s done now.”

“Grant me a pardon, oh Princess Regent.” He said, releasing her and walking back over to grab us shoes. He sat down in a comfortable chair and started to pull them on.

“I’ll need one myself at this rate, really.” She said and moved to sit down on the biobed while she watched him. “This has been… a lot.”

“Tell me about it.” He said, looking at her with curious eyes.

“I don’t know that I’ve done anything correctly and now I have to decide how treasonous I want to be in the end: what do I do with Giuseppe’s men? Do I send them all to their graves? Show mercy? Do I make the choice myself to ensure that what needs to happen happens?”

“For what?” Sacha said with a raising of his eyebrow. He finished putting his shoes on and sat up in the chair. “We came to kill Giuseppe, and I can tell you for certain, the connard is dead and gone. Why should you care what comes next?”

“What do you mean why should I care? I’m Princess Regent, Sacha, and I did all of this.” She waved a hand. “I’m not going to just not finish it.”

He looked at her with an expression of total confusion, at first, as if he had no idea why she was thinking the way she was. It was respectful and quiet, but still communicated a difference in understanding.

“Yes, but it’s not like you’re the only Regent. Why should you have to make all the decisions here?” he said, asking it as a genuine question. “And, to be honest with you, if you really want to stay here and clean up, I think what you should do is obvious.”

Giana didn’t answer him, but she had a somber look in her eyes despite the small smile on her face. She extended her hand out to him for him to hold. “Let’s go.”

“FInally, someone around here is talking some sense.” he said with a smile, standing up and grabbing the hand she had offered. He was incredibly buoyant for a man who had just strangled his fiance’s brother and ended a war. He didn’t seem to linger on it, being more excited to be in Giana’s presence and to leave the room.

The two of them stepped out of the suite and into the waiting room. The nurse assigned to him had been waiting there and she approached them, bowing profusely.

“Major Lavigne, I would really recommend you rest here a bit longer. Your injuries are minor, but we don’t want to take any chanc-”

“Se faire baiser.” he said calmly, not bothering to look at her as he pushed her gently back by the shoulder. They walked into the corridor before he started to follow her lead. “Where are we going?”

“I was thinking you’d probably want a drink so somewhere we can do that?” She asked, looking at him for approval of the idea.

“That sounds nice.” he said, giving her hand a squeeze. He certainly didn’t know where they would find that, so he was content just to stay walking next to her.

They walked a little ways and eventually found one of the internal transport platforms which brought them to the more civilian part of the ship. They soon entered an ornate set of doors and walked into an empty bar. The bar, chairs, and tables were all carved of rich, complimenting shades of mahogany and the carpet was a deep blue. There was a single bartender who was distractedly reading something on a PADD, but otherwise there was no one else.

When the bartender looked up, he nearly fell over with how he startled. “P-Princess Regent! I… ah… h-hello.” He bowed hastily. “How may I serve you?”

“You may serve us in a glass.” Sacha said, approaching the bar. He would have pulled out his pay chip, but they were hardly in a normal bar. “A whiskey on the rocks and a cosmopolitan.” he said with a wink before turning back around and offering her his arm. He then set a course for a table by the window.

Giana walked with him to the window and took a seat once he had pulled it out for her and helped her to settle. She was also keeping an eye on Sacha to make sure he was actually alright: she likely could have insisted which would have ended up in a fight that she would have maybe won, but she just couldn’t manage it. She wasn’t really sure if she could even manage this conversation, but she was going to try. She didn’t have a choice.

“So… tell me what happened.”

He nodded wordlessly, at first, his eyes turning toward the Fleet of Terran ships and Axanar outside the large window. The battle was over, but some of the ships were clearly not going anywhere for a while. He wondered what they were doing, but of course hadn’t been briefed. He looked back to her and bit his attractive bottom lip, running a hand through his slightly messy short blonde hair.

“After we found out you left us, we tried to find a fast and easy way off the planet. I obviously don’t have a shuttle or military clearance anymore, since I left for the company. And Paolo’s shuttles all belong to his father. Obviously, if we went that route, it would throw up a flag or two and the Empress would have put an end to it before we even got off the ground. So I tried to call in a favor. Genius idea that was.” he said, watching the shaking bartender as he brought their drinks.

“Thanks, man.” he said, huskily, and gestured to the table decoration in front of them. It was a glow candle that would display pre-programed light shows within the confines of a globe, once lit. “Can we get a light?”

“Light? Wh- oh! Yes, of course.” He straightened and pat around his belt a few times before he finally found the device to do so. He lifted the globe, used the device to light it, and then put the globe back. “If you need anything else, please let me know, Highness, sir.”

With a hasty bow, he retreated.

“Paolo mentioned something about victimizing a marine pilot?” Giana asked.

“Hmm?” he asked, looking at her confused. “Oh, no. That’s not how I would…characterize it. I would say I called in a favor from someone who didn’t owe me a favor. Someone I probably pissed off a whole bunch in the Corps and…let’s say she was less than kind. We ended up going to your cousin..erm..what’s his name? The Lord of Brazil?”

“Raoul.” Giana supplied. She didn’t say it, but she could tell there was way more to the story than Sacha was letting on. Her brother wouldn’t have used the word victimized lightly or wrongly. Right now though, she didn’t care. Much.

“Right. That’s the one.” he said, gesturing with an open hand. “We went to his palace and he provided us with his runabout and a pilot to help us get out of the Sol system undetected. I think Paolo promised to return the runabout in one piece, but it looks like he’s on for replacement costs, hmm?”

“It would seem that way. If Raoul is still a Lord when all of this is said and done.” Giana mused grimly. She didn’t remember him too much, not like Lyra, but he seemed like a nice young man. “Anyway…”

“Anyway, we flew out here as fast as we could, hoping to catch you by surprise and force our way onto the Imperator. We got here during the battle, and you remember what happened next.” he said, picking up his drink and sipping it.

“I know you went down on the planet and were captured, but I don’t know anything after that.” She prompted in an almost detached way. She picked up her drink and took a sip as well.

“After we crashed, we were found by marines. Of course, they claimed to be from Imperator, but they were lying. They threw a gas-filled grenade in and knocked us out. The next thing we know, we’re aboard Giuseppe’s flagship, sitting across the table from him. He made it very clear he was going to kill both me and Paolo, and then..kill you too.”

The levity had gone out of his voice as soon as he started to talk about the capture. His mood slowed down as if he were running out of gas.

“There was a power surge, I got loose from the table, and we fought.”

As he spoke, Giana reached out for him and put her hand over his. She used her finger to gently stroke his wrist in a way that signaled she would hold his hand if he wanted that comfort, or she would simply continuing doing what she was doing unless he pulled away. Her blue eyes remained on him, focused and attentive, but she remained quiet.

Sacha’s breathing slowly increased in speed and intensity. He looked from Giana down at the table, making it silently clear that the event had left a certain mark on him.

“When I pulled him off of Paolo and started to strangle him with my restraints…he kept trying to reach him. He was fighting like an animal, but not for his own life. He was trying to kill Paolo. The boy looked like he was gazing into the eyes of a demon, he was so scared.” he said, shaking his head. “He didn’t stop trying to get to Paolo until he died.”

“I’m sure he was.” Giana said with a voice full of understanding that she had no business possessing. “Giuseppe was never one to stop when he had his mind set on something.”

Sacha looked at her, his expression growing slightly darker. He knew what she meant, and she had told him some of what that man had put her through.

“I thought killing him would fix the anger.” He said simply; quieter than she would expect.

“So did I.” She agreed. Her expression wasn’t dark, but for a moment there was considerable sadness in it. “I’m worried about Paolo, though.”

He looked back up at her, obvious concern creeping into his expression. Perhaps his time with her annoying little brother had caused them to form a bond.

“What do you mean?” He asked, “why?”

“Mm… Sacha this… that kind of thing… it really changes people.” Giana frowned, trying not to get too much into her own head. “I’m afraid of what it will do to him. I’m afraid Giuseppe may have killed the good in my brother; I don’t want the good in my brother to be dead, because if it is he could turn into our father or worse into Giuseppe.”

Sacha looked at her, sharing the concern immediately, but having no real idea how to navigate that. He looked at her, scrunching his brow. He was no fan of the old man, and some might say he had ruined Sacha’s life years ago, but setting that aside, he found he didn’t really know what aspect of Antonius she was afraid of Paolo imitating.

“How could he be like your father?”

“He could be so focused on what is right that he forgets what it is to be good and fail his family just like my father failed every one of his children and this whole fucking cycle will just go again.” Giana frowned and sat back, swirling her cosmo around in the glass which looked a bit ridiculous given the drink, but she was far too in her own head to realize or care.

“Are the right thing and the good thing different?” He asked, the philosophical question coming from him as if from another man. “It seems like the right thing to do is just the right thing to do, Gigi. If you mean you're afraid he’s going to turn into a cunt, I can understand.”

“I am afraid he’s going to turn into a cunt.” She repeated back and then frowned. “I don’t think the right thing to do is always necessarily the good thing to do. The right thing to do right now is send nearly seven hundred thousand people to their graves in order to protect my family and the Empire as a whole.”

She looked out of the viewport, her frown deepening. “But that isn’t good.”

“In the Marines, I was taught that defeating the enemies of the Empire is always good.” He said with raised eyebrows. “Ask your admirals and generals; that’s what they’ll say. The Gods demand the blood of traitors, don’t they?”

“If they call for the blood of traitors, Sacha, they’ll be calling for mine too.” Giana pointed out with a sagging smile.

“Hmm. Debatable.” He said, reaching out and placing a hand on her cheek. He was gentle, and looked at her meaningfully. “Let someone worry about this, Gigi. It doesn’t need to be your concern alone.”

“Who else is going to worry about it, Sacha? Who else would make the right decision? My mother… I love and care for her, but she couldn’t bring herself to do this and she is going to be grief-stricken over Giuseppe anyways. Ramsay, I don’t trust him to just go against me because he doesn’t like me. My father isn’t awake, so who else is left.” She reached up and placed her hand on his.

“I don’t know if maybe you don’t know how it works, I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t - it’s stupid and convoluted - but what I chose to do here honestly could be considered an act of high treason already.”

“It’s a good thing we’re going to leave and beg your Mother for forgiveness, then.” He said, as if such a thing would be easily done and easily believed. “We just wanted that connard dead so much, we were blinded. She has to forgive you. I hear mothers do that.”

He recognized the irony that his mother had never liked him much, but he had even been helped out of a few scraps by the cold-hearted bat.

“Sacha… please…” Giana closed her eyes and finally gave a tired sigh.

Sacha frowned, understanding that she wasn’t taking him seriously. He had learned, over the months since they had gotten back together, that Giana had coped with the stress of her life by growing in elegance and social sophistication. Under it, of course, was the same broken girl he had met so long ago. He had coped by becoming a solider, and had admittedly tried to escape that life after entering hers again. The only problem was he had no identity to go back to but that of a rebellious and handsome disappointment. It wouldn’t serve.

“Giana, there is no easy option. Win or lose, you are the person with the power now.” He said, speaking to her in a much more straightforward and serious tone. “For better or worse, you will be the one to be praised or blamed. All your life, mon fleur, you had someone else to put that on. Not this time. Princess Regent, it is time to decide. You hold both justice and mercy in your sparkling dress. Make a decision, or run back to mommy and let her fix it, if she will.”

It hadn’t been a cruel tone, but it had communicated a certain martial strength he rarely showed.

“Paolo thinks I should put it all on Leyton and let him have the glory and consequences both.” Giana offered, looking at Sacha to see what he felt about that.

Sacha nodded, thinking about the possibilities. While he didn’t understand the political implications of such a move, he understood the military side.

“He’d be a hero in people’s eyes.” Sacha said, knowing how rare a thing is. “Would that even work?”

“Maybe. He would have to make the choice to not accept the surrender Giuseppe’s fleet had given. I still doubt it would completely absolve me though if it would at all. I know Paolo knows more but… he doesn’t know everything.” She sat back, wrapping her arms around herself.

“And genuinely, Sacha, I just feel it in my bones that it would be a very bad idea to give a man like Leyton that much power and sway, he would have the entire military under his heel and that is extremely dangerous. Maybe I’m just being paranoid but…”

“He might, but those men and women in brass need a bit more than a military victory to make them slaves.” Sacha said, “and you’re Father has dealt with unruly officials before. I think we both remember the way he dealt with the Blues. It was brutal.”

“It was, but also… he’s not awake, Sacha. He might never wake up. If he doesn’t, I’d have given a power hungry snake the entire military against a fragmented, grieving regency and a boy-emperor.” She pointed out. It was rare for Giana to put this much effort into figuring out what was the correct path. Sacha was right in that she had always had someone else around to take the fall or responsibility. She had that here too, but this time it felt terribly wrong.

“Then deal with him when he poses a threat.” Sacha said, matter-of-factly. “He wouldn’t be the first man found dead in his oatmeal or leaving on a vacation they never come back from.”

The corners of Giana’s lips twitched upward in the briefest of amused smiles, but it didn’t remain. “Maybe so. I have a couple of hours to “decide.”

“What is the cutoff time?” He asked, wondering how she figured how much time she had left.

“Well, whenever I say it is, I suppose, but Colonel Akamu let me know it would take a couple of hours to disable Giuseppe’s ships and round up the senior personnel.” She explained and reached up to rub her temples.

“Then what do you need right now to help you decide?” He asked, watching her tired but beautiful features.

“I need to go and do some reading for a little while and… probably call the other regents. If you want to come with me you can, but I think Paolo would appreciate you visiting him at least for a little while too.”

“I will busy myself. I can visit him and then get on the net and see what has happened at Aegis.” He said, referring to the security manufacturing company he now worked for as a Vice President. He knew nothing about business, but he was good at drumming up relationships that brought money in. He was also obviously well connected.

He finished his drink quickly and then stood.

“Would you like me to walk you to your suite?”

Giana held out her hand for him to help her up instead of replying to him. Once she was up, she immediately pressed her body into his; her hands found his cheeks and she kissed him with a gentle passion. On breaking it, she pulled back just enough to look into his eyes meaningfully while her hands remained where they were.

“Thank you, Sacha.”

They walked together the distance to the lift and walked until they arrived at her apartments in the heavily secured royal section. They stopped outside her door and turned to each other. Sacha leaned in and kissed her gently, his hands in hers. When he pulled back again, he offered his old boyish smile, now the handsome smile of a man.

“We’ll get through this, and then we can focus on the wedding. Don’t worry. Everything will be alright. I will slay any dragon I have to for us. Do you know that?”

“I never doubted it.” She assured him and kissed him again. After simply standing there with him for a brief moment, she released his hands and opened the door to her suite. “Come join me when you get bored if I’m still here.”

“That sounds good.” He said, and as the door closed, he turned and was gone.

Giana watched him sweep away and then sighed softly to herself. While she was not nearly as learned as her little brother, Giana had been a good student when she had been trying. Being a woman, she of course had taken special interest in the reigns of the Satos and there was a memory buried in the back of her mind nagging her to find it again.


END