middaeg | April Catch-All (semi-open)

"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."

Despite their differences, they do share a certain sense of ambition and pride in their people. In their accomplishments. Perhaps that's what draws them together during these times. She listens to him quietly, not offering comment or judgment or anything of the sort. She'll let him say his piece, because she can sense that this is something that has gone unsaid for some time.

"You're right, I think. I cannot live this life as I did before. I had not yet passed... not yet perished. So in a way this merely continues my life, but... regardless I cannot live in the same way. I cannot be a king here and even if I were, I could not be a king in the same way. I hope that we'll both manage to find a way to live this life for however long we have it."

Iskandar picks up his cup. Wine would be more suitable but woe to anyone trying to bar him from making a toast with tea.

"To a new life," he declares raising the cup to Saber. "Let it be whatever we wish it to be. Be it glorious or simple, calm or full of adventures."

"But whatever it will be, let it be fun," he adds with a wink.

"I... will drink to that," Saber responds and lifts her cup in response. Their last toast had not been quite as agreeable, she remembers - but why dwell on that now?

"To new beginnings."

Absence of a certain bad influence most likely helps.

"To new beginnings!"

Iskandar drinks everything from the cup in one go before settling it, very carefully, on the table. This gesture definitely lacks the dramatic flair of drinking from golden goblets but that's a toast for a new world. It must be different.

Maybe they should always make toasts with tea from now on. It would certainly be very British.

April Catch-All (semi-open)

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Seem like a good place to wrap?

Perfect!