middaeg | April Catch-All (semi-open)

Iskandar replies with a slight incline of his head.

"It is I who should thank you that you have undertaken this task." He sighs. "Intellect is something he has in abundance, physical prowess though... Well, that's another matter. I should have pushed him harder in that regard. As his king. For his own benefit. And yet ... eh, I just didn't have the heart to do it."

It's not that he's completely defenceless against Waver's many protestations. Quite the contrary. It's not out of neglect either. Rather, it's because his boy was already through a lot recently and he didn't want to add to his burdens. Life here isn't exactly easy for any of them but somehow it always happens that Waver gets a worse deal. Iskandar can't say if it's his luck or some other factors are in play.

So the question catches him completely by surprise. If he has to be completely honest, are they?

"Yes, I believe we are." He smiles. "It's hard and dangerous, and not exactly peaceful or safe." Frankly, sometimes he has an impression he'd feel safer on a battlefield. Any battlefield. At least he'd know who his enemies are. Here? He's not that sure.

"But as long as we're here together it's good. It's enough."

Saber bows her head, a smile gracing her features. For all that she has tried to shut herself away from the world, she still cannot help but feel a great deal of fondness and sympathy for her former opponents. They aren't bad people. They deserve to find some respite after the Grail War. And especially after their time here. Even if they end up returning to their own world, even if this is temporary, they deserve some time.

"I'm glad, Rider. You and he deserve some of that."

She lifts her tea with a little 'hum' of thought.

"He admires you a great deal."

There are matters they do not agree on but Iskandar would lie if he were to say he does not like her or respects her. He does. He may find her drive to close herself in the marble tower of her ideals, separate herself from any and all, to grind herself into an image of shining perfection until not a drop of human blood is left in her, immeasurably baffling and wrong but it doesn't change the fact he wishes her well.

Iskandar nods.

"So do you. I hope you will find your peace here too." And happiness. He wishes you could find joy, Saber. Find and let yourself experience it for once. Put your past regrets to rest.

"I know," he replies smiling back at her. "I'd be most happy if my example will teach him something valuable." What else is true love and friendship other than helping each other grow in virtue? "He's braver and stronger than he realises."

Iskandar picks up his cup, his smile turning a bit more mischievous.

"But we are talked about me enough. Tell me, what does honourable King of Knights consider fun?"

"Fun?" Saber replies and she sounds as if she's never heard the word before in her life. She covers her expression of slight bafflement for a moment with a sip from her cup of tea.

"I... train. I condition myself. I sew a little. I take walks. I occasionally enjoy the local cuisine."

Well, none of that is really all that thrilling and half of it is basically what she does every day, anyway. She is not someone who indulges herself all that often or easily. It's just a part of her adjustment period.

"I don't think about it that often, honestly."

Iskandar was expecting such a reaction so he doesn't even blink.

"Yes, fun. It's nice to let your guard down from time to time."

You know, the good things in life. Simple. Good food, good company, some light entertainment. Allowing people to know you better. So not all is work and duty.

"Ho? Local cuisine, you say. Do you have any places you would recommend?"

He knows close to nothing about sewing but food? He can talk about food.

"There is one such place that serves an exquisitely spiced dish of mutton or lamb..." She allows after a moment of thought, "Along with roast vegetables. It's one of my favorites, although I cannot say I have had a bad plate of food since my arrival. There seems to be much variety in flavors here. It is... satisfying."

"A mutton? Ha! I haven't heard about this place! Excellent, I have to try it then. It's been a while since I've eaten good mutton dish."

Iskandar nods in agreement.

"That's true. Even if it's very different to food I'm more familiar with, I must say people here know their way with food." He pauses for a moment. "If I am truly lacking anything here it's olive oil." There are lards and a veritable multitude of vegetable oils but nothing close that one thing he'd always taken for granted.

"I don't think I've ever had olive oil," Saber admits, "Olives did not grow well in my kingdom - we used animal fat or vegetable oil or butter."

Not that she'd been a big eater of varied cuisine during her time as king, but she's very quickly learning to appreciate it.

"But we were also on the other side of the world from you and your conquests... even if we learned of your story."

"Then I shall share it with you if I ever find it here! It's like good wine, it can elevate any dish." Iskandar sighs. "I cannot think of anything that might be an appropriate substitute though." He loved discovering new and unusual foods. So it is quite unexpected that what he misses the most from his home is something he always considered so mundane.

"We did trade with the North even in my time. There was one thing, a gem unlike any other, ēlektron, that only came from the North."

All the way up to the Amber Road to a sea that is covered with ice and after storms spits out stones that resemble little fragments of the Sun; yellow and warm to the touch. Iskandar has never been there, his conquest has taken him east but not far north, and yet he heard the stories.

"And wherever people go, so do the tales they tell." He's not surprised then that Saber heard of his deeds.

"Of course," Saber actually laughs a little, "I do not know of this 'elektron', but your story was history, even in my time, brought to us by the Romans who first conquered our lands. And I came after them - the heir to their legacy and to the united kingdom of Britain."

And for a time, she had allowed it to thrive.

"I took some inspiration from you, in those times. A young boy-king who set out and by force of will and strength of arms conquered the known world... although my own kingdom was much more modest."

"You did? Then I am most glad to have served as an example!"

So what happened, girl? When did it all go so awfully wrong?

While he truly wishes to, Iskandar does not ask this. He has a hunch there will be time yet for such questions. For now, he's glad they are speaking at all. Instead, he nods acknowledging her words.

"Uniting one's lands is always quite the endeavour and yet one worthy of pursuit. There's nigh to nothing worse than a kingdom divided if one plans to embark on a war in a distant land."

He scratches his chin thinking. Heir to legacy of the Romans, eh? Not something he'd expect ever.

"Romans, you say? Ha! To think they'll grow so powerful to venture so far north! Unbelievable! All I remember of them was one lousy settlement in the middle of swampy hills. They've been terribly beaten by the Celts as far as I can recall."

"They grew into a great empire; almost as great as yours, I would think. They stretched from Britain to the deserts of Syria and Babylon; from the the Pillars of Hercules to the Nile," she replies with a low laugh, "And Britain was but a small part of their domain until their empire fell, as all empires must do, and we had to rule ourselves."

She's summarizing a great deal of history into a few short sentences, but she thinks it will suffice.

"The Celts... they were conquered, although some of them yet remain in Britain."

"Pillars of Hercules. Incredible." Iskandar nods in amazement. That's almost as far West as he went East.

"I wish I could to speak to one of their kings and hear how they did it. This must be quite a tale." The impermanence of human achievements is a thread that runs through all of history. All that are mortals leave their deeds only to human memory as far too often their successors squander everything that they worked so hard to gain. That was true for the Persians, the great pharaohs of Egypt, it was true for him.

"So the poor swamp people grew in strength so much they were able to go and conquer those that claimed to fear nothing save for the sky falling on their heads. Those very people that claimed they do not fear me! Ha! I love it! Thank you! I am so glad you shared their story with me. It is truly worthy of legend." He'd like to speak to a Roman but hear Saber retell their story is just as good. There's only one more thing he needs to ask.

"But I wish to hear more of your empire."

"It was more of a kingdom and less of an empire; I sought to unite the peoples of Britain under my banner and this I succeeded in doing. I also had to contend with the Saxons invading from the across the sea - I fought many battles against them, but I was able to prevent them from establish too great a foothold while I lived."

After is another story. Still, she pauses to consider. What else is there to tell?

"I established a host of knights and among the best and brightest of them I made my boon companions. They called us the Knights of the Round Table, for the great table that we used to sit at."

It all sounds right. The empire, the unification, even establishing a close circle of friends chosen from the bravest and the most virtuous. Isn't it what he himself did?

Iskandar lets out a sigh. It seems there's no time to be skirting the only question he hasn't asked yet. The one he was avoiding because they were having such a nice conversation here. He'd loathe to ruin it. There's no avoiding it now.

"So what happened? Saber."

This is but one short question but it encompasses all others. What made her lock in her tower of isolation? Forgo all that was human in her. To separate herself from all of her people? To become that cold distant image that none can relate to?

What happened.

What happened? That is the question, isn't it? She has gone over it in her head time and time again and even now, feeling only a few months removed from it because of the vagaries of time and the World she still doesn't quite know. But she does have an idea. She closes her eyes for a few heartbeats and takes a sip of her tea.

"I ruled as the perfect king and to become that perfect king I could not allow my emotions to dictate my actions. I could not allow myself to be seen as anything but just and so I began to be seen as distant and cold as my reign went on. Perhaps uncaring. And that was the cause of discontent among my people..."

Among the knights she trusted most. Her son, who she refused to acknowledge.

Discontent. He doubts that was only discontent. His own people were unhappy with his decisions many times and they were vocal with their discontent. And yet he was always able to bring them back to his side. All but one. When he wasn't it was he who yielded, and from the lush jungles of India they marched back.

Iskandar shakes his head slowly. No. She said it herself: cold, distant, uncaring. They must have had felt abandoned. Their love for their leader unrequited.

He was always the sun of his people. Sometimes too hot for them to bear; he burned as much as he nurtured but he was always close. Only by his death has he ever left them. In her quest to do right, the noblest, the most valorous King of Knights has gone so wrong. The moment she forgot that she too is human all was lost. And he cannot call it anything other than tragic.

"This is the saddest thing I have heard in a long time."

She cannot truly disagree; hasn't she sought to undo it all? It was tragic and pointless and caused by her own mistakes. It was the end of her own kingdom and the end of so much that she had sought to build. She remembers his words from their meeting during the Grail War and although she does not and cannot agree with them, she does agree with his assessment.

"It was a tragedy."

She folds her hands together.

"That is all I can say on it."

Undoing it would make the tragedy even greater. Whatever she did, she did. Sad and wrong it might have been but simply to undo it? To turn back time as if it never happened? To erase everything else along with her mistake? No, that would be a travesty, treason of her people. All their suffering would be for nothing. Not all tales of glory are happy ones, not all should. To fail to understand it is simply childish.

"Then may the gods be kinder to you here."

Iskandar had expressed his opinion once, there's no need to repeat it now.

"I do see this place as a second chance at life." He lifts his cup, taking a sip of tea slowly as if he was still hesitating over the choice of words. "Not ideal, no. Far from it. This is not how I imagined it, not how I wished it would be. And yet, a chance it is. A new beginning, a fresh start. Who knows what might happen? And that too is exciting."

The subject change, however slight, is welcome. She has no desire to relive her failures or to try and defend herself from the opinions of others all over again. Besides - she's begun to understand that she cannot undo the past, no matter how much she feels it might be justified.

"True. Although I still feel I have left some things unfinished..." She sighs softly, "But that cannot be helped. I must focus on the now. And... even with changes to myself and to my circumstances I must persevere. Even if I still am not quite sure what to do with myself here."

Iskandar laughs.

"Truly, any mortal that at the end of their life can say they had done all, long for nothing and leave nothing unfinished has either attained great wisdom or severely lacked ambition."

There were so many things he left unfinished. Even if at the very end, simply existing felt too difficult to endure. Nothing was ever the same without Hephaistion.

"No plans, hm?" Iskandar scratches his chin. He looks at her over his cup. "Have you considered starting a fencing school?"

"A fencing school? No, not really... although it does have merit. Passing on some of my knowledge to others might be valuable," Saber muses, "In truth, I've tried to make myself useful to others rather than pursue my own ambitions."

The story of her life, honestly.

Iskandar laughs shaking his head. Of course, she would interpret his words that way. Eh...

"No, no, that is not what I meant. Quite the contrary. I sincerely doubt you need another order of holy knights here to sacrifice your life to."

He lets out a sigh even if he doesn't stop smiling. Please, don't do to yourself what you have already done once.

"Just a school. Not a duty. Not service to others. A community of like-minded individuals willing to learn from one expert at their art." He pauses and looks straight at her. "A community that you could actually be part of."

No paragons of virtue, not the best, the brightest and most honourable knights of the land. No saints. People. Living, breathing, real people. With no ivory tower to run to and seclude herself in. How's that for a challenge?

It's a habit, ingrained from a lifetime of trying to shoulder everyone's burdens. It's not something she can break away from as easily as all that, even if she know feels more aware of what she does and her own impulses. She presses her lips together into a thoughtful expression.

That might honestly be worthwhile; a community dedicated to learning the sword and bettering one another. It has a certain sort of appeal.

"...I will have to think on that. It does sound like something worthwhile. And it would give me something to do with my time besides odd jobs and miscellaneous chores..."

She pauses and shakes her head.

"Sometimes I still find it difficult to think of building a life here after everything that's already happened to me."

Iskandar nods slowly.

"You were a legend in your lifetime, a Heroic Spirit afterwards. I doubt any of that can go away just because now you have found yourself here. Certainly, it did not for me."

How odd that she is the one he has the least problem talking to about such matters. How very odd.

"I consider myself lucky that I have Waver here. He is, and always will be, my greatest joy." Iskandar starts than pauses. He is happy, he truly is. And yet.

"But I'm so used to being surrounded by many people that can't help but feel that our house is empty with only the two of us there. Still, I cannot bring my army back no matter how much I want to. No matter how much I wish, how much I need their counsel. I lost my connection to them, my Noble Phantasm, when I walked through the Mirror and became human again. Nothing about this is easy. I still remember everything, I still miss them, and getting stupid magic for the price of losing them is a lousy exchange. But this is my reality now. I cannot live the second life the same way I did first. I doubt that you can."

April Catch-All (semi-open)

sumanai for this glacial pace :(

No worries!

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Seem like a good place to wrap?

Perfect!