“Quatre,” the blond boy responded, dazedly taking the proffered hand and shaking it. It seemed a bit odd to talk so politely with a fugitive prisoner, but he could tell that the man was sincere in meaning no harm. “What do you mean you’re not? The Eltonian ambassador said...” “Our first loyalty was to our commander,” Garas said quietly. “We Sweepers swore loyalty to him, not to King El. It was our duty to support him in his actions, and in any case, we’d follow him to Hell and back if he asked it.” “Your commander, the knight?” Quatre frowned, scanning the crowd; a few more prisoners had been marched in during their conversation, but the rogues didn’t react to them as though they were the leader Garas described. “But if he is a traitor to Elto, and you continue to serve him, then doesn’t that make you traitors as well?” The tall man let out a sardonic chuckle. “A traitor to Elto, hardly! The commander has never done anything to betray his country in his life. What that snake El decides to call treason was nothing more than his attempt to save Elto, no matter what the King and his boot-licking courtiers try to do.” “What do you mean?” Quatre tensed at the words, absorbing the implication behind them. “What was King El trying to do?” Garas glanced around, making sure there weren’t any guards in immediate hearing range, before he leaned down and said, in a lowered tone, “I don’t know whether El is being stupid or deliberately blind; any idiot can see that OZ wants a foothold in the Midlands and that they’ll promise anything to get it.” “OZ?” Quatre’s voice rose, before he too made a conscious effort to keep it down. “What does OZ have to do with this?” “I wouldn’t go so far as to say he’s cutting a deal with the Emperor, but King El insists that OZ is being truthful when they say they don’t want to have to fight. He’s started talking about OZ as ‘our trusted ally,’ and announced that he was going to begin bringing in their troops to our country. It was when the Commander confronted him on this action that he declared him a traitor.” “You’re not serious,” Quatre gasped. “Elto is one of the border states between the OZ empire and the Midlands! The other three Borderstates would never put up with an OZ presence in Elto... what would he hope to gain? You must be mistaken!” “You have my word as a priest,” Garas promised him solemnly. “I don’t know much, but from what I’ve heard on our journey from Elto, OZ scouts have been all over the countryside in the last few weeks.” Garas started to say something more, then caught himself and watched Quatre’s reaction.
Re: Tenku no GUNDAM
Date: 2006-02-21 06:43 am (UTC)“Our first loyalty was to our commander,” Garas said quietly. “We Sweepers swore loyalty to him, not to King El. It was our duty to support him in his actions, and in any case, we’d follow him to Hell and back if he asked it.”
“Your commander, the knight?” Quatre frowned, scanning the crowd; a few more prisoners had been marched in during their conversation, but the rogues didn’t react to them as though they were the leader Garas described. “But if he is a traitor to Elto, and you continue to serve him, then doesn’t that make you traitors as well?”
The tall man let out a sardonic chuckle. “A traitor to Elto, hardly! The commander has never done anything to betray his country in his life. What that snake El decides to call treason was nothing more than his attempt to save Elto, no matter what the King and his boot-licking courtiers try to do.”
“What do you mean?” Quatre tensed at the words, absorbing the implication behind them. “What was King El trying to do?”
Garas glanced around, making sure there weren’t any guards in immediate hearing range, before he leaned down and said, in a lowered tone, “I don’t know whether El is being stupid or deliberately blind; any idiot can see that OZ wants a foothold in the Midlands and that they’ll promise anything to get it.”
“OZ?” Quatre’s voice rose, before he too made a conscious effort to keep it down. “What does OZ have to do with this?”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say he’s cutting a deal with the Emperor, but King El insists that OZ is being truthful when they say they don’t want to have to fight. He’s started talking about OZ as ‘our trusted ally,’ and announced that he was going to begin bringing in their troops to our country. It was when the Commander confronted him on this action that he declared him a traitor.”
“You’re not serious,” Quatre gasped. “Elto is one of the border states between the OZ empire and the Midlands! The other three Borderstates would never put up with an OZ presence in Elto... what would he hope to gain? You must be mistaken!”
“You have my word as a priest,” Garas promised him solemnly. “I don’t know much, but from what I’ve heard on our journey from Elto, OZ scouts have been all over the countryside in the last few weeks.” Garas started to say something more, then caught himself and watched Quatre’s reaction.