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“Wait.” The king stopped talking. You can’t tell exactly where he is looking with his fists in front of his face but he might be looking in your direction.
“You. Traveller.” That does narrow it down. You look over at Siffrin, who doesn’t look your way, they just look forward to the king as if already knowing he is referring to them.
“Bright one.” What could the king of all people want with Siffrin?
“Do you remember?” What?
“Remember what?” The king sobs.
“It seems you do not.” Huh. How does the king know about Siffrins memory? Do they know each other? Did Siffrin ever mention why they came with?-
“We shall fight. AND WE SHALL SEE WHICH SIDE THE UNIVERSE FAVORS!!!” Everyone takes a defensive stance, you join them. No time for that now, you have a king’s butt to kick after all.
Houses of Change are always different from the others. You’ve seen many during your time here so far. Some are small things only meant for a few house Housemaidens, some are themed around different decoration styles. Some, like the one here, are way too big for the small village that is Dormont.
You understand that it is more effective for a collective House instead of all the small villages in the area to have different ones but really, wouldn’t it have been easier to make it wider instead of taller?
You’re glad Siffrin and Isabeau at least helped you get to this place on the roof. You certainly prefer being where there are railings if you have to be up here, but even then you are staying away from the edge.
Siffrin went up to talk to you after you all finally settled down to rest a bit, you exchanged some words about what’s to come and they went their merry way to talk to Isabeau next.
Does he remember… Does he remember what? What could the King be talking about?
Just saying ‘something Siffrin has forgotten’ doesn’t really narrow it down in the slightest. They often forget what they’re talking about in the middle of sentences and all of you have gotten into the habit of writing down important information for him just in case, like what he’s supposed to do or where he’s supposed to go.
Siffrins memory has always been bad, you’d like to think with you all around to remind him of things it isn’t as bad but that only makes you wonder how much has fallen out of that head of his.
Something as Important to bring up as knowing the King, the person they’ve all been running across the country for nearly a year to fight, before all of that closely enough that the king recognised him and asked about his memory apparently.
Because what other reason could there be for the king to not only immediately single them out but also know about his memory issues? They had to have known each other at some point.
You can already guess they share some sort of culture. The king mentioned whatever the universe is directly earlier, something Siffrin has mentioned leading people before so you can guess it’s a sort of deity similar to the expressions or a god like the Change god.
There feels like something is wrong about the comparison, but it will do for now until you can jog your memory.
There’s also the similarities in appearance and accent. Darkless hair isn’t common here in Vaugarde, there has been only a handful of people you’ve met in your entire life, most of which have been by the northern Vaugardian coast. There have only been three people you have met with that specific accent though.
The King, Siffrin himself, and a fisherman back in Ka Bue who knew how to navigate while sailing better than anyone yet refused to explain how and used that fact to win a bet against you.
You know that neither of those things mean much in the bigger picture, but it IS a link between the two and whatever their history is. The largest part is still that the King obviously knows Siffrin and their memory issues.
And Siffrin doesn’t not remember him.
Whatever their relationship is or was, Siffrin has completely forgotten about him. That doesn’t leave a lot to work with. You can’t ask him since he obviously can’t remember, and unless the king comes back to life from wherever his body went you can’t ask him either.
You might have a chance to ask Siffrin before and if they leave to keep travelling on their own, but you can only ever get so much out of them whenever they forget something before they just end with ‘I don’t remember’.
Boniface yelled about hurrying it up and Siffrin moved on to Mirabelle. Judging by how Isabeau looks deep in thought, he failed on confessing again. Looks like you’re getting that meal after all.
Isabeau did think your drunken theory about Siffrin was ridiculous, honestly so do you, but it is possible. Ugh, admitting that to even just yourself is making you feel stupid. But really, you would not be all too surprised if Siffrin forgot about being hired by the king.
That could also explain how the king knew about their memory, something like that would reasonably come up while discussing a job like that. And even if it didn’t come up asking about if Siffrin forgot could be a dig at them for betraying the King in the end.
But if he did hire Siffrin, that could have been brought up to get everyone’s morale and focus down. And Siffrin might not be the sharpest there is, but if he was hired for something that needed him to remember sensitive information, any potential clients would turn the other way as soon as memory comes up so he logically wouldn’t bring it up.
So that leaves something else connecting them. What that something could be can be anything from briefly meeting to family or lovers.
What has Siffrin mentioned about their relationships outside of this little group? Fellow travellers, actors and stagehands, kind townsfolk, government officials that are potentially after them, tavern owners. Never anything about a concrete relation to another person beyond an acquaintance. Never anything beyond briefly meeting someone on their travels.
Never anything about their life before travel.
If Siffrin truly did know the king at some point, what are the chances that he doesn’t remember because it was before travelling? The idea that they don’t mention anything from over a few years ago being they don’t remember anything from before isn't one you like, but it makes sense.
Maybe you shouldn’t tease Siffrin about his memory as often if that truly is the case. It might not be a long time you have left together but you’re sure he would appreciate it if he notices.
So someone Siffrin met wherever their home is. Aside from hair, they don’t have many similarities, though you couldn’t see the king’s face from behind his fists. A relative would also be aware of his memory if that was the case, and would be more likely to both recognise and express concern.
For the sake of the argument, let’s say Siffrin and the king aren’t related. What would be the most likely explanation for knowing each other?
A coworker or something of a similar closeness wouldn't make sense, trying to convince someone you barely know outside of a specific situation to stop fighting you would be near impossible if they really are set on fighting you. And a coworker also wouldn't be as likely to show concern over something they could reasonably believe is exactly what the other person wants. So not a coworker.
As much as the idea stands out, the thought of Siffrin and the king being in a romantic relationship seems way too unrealistic. Siffrin doesn’t even let people touch him unless necessary, and even then he flinches away so him being in a relationship-
Could. Be the reason. for his aversion to touch.
Hm. That would be concerning. If the king saw the relationship as never having ended or thought Siffrin simply forgot to return wherever they are from, he would reasonably express concern for them. If Siffrin did remember the King and simply chose not to mention it for that reason it would also be understandable. Trying to run away from an abusive relationship would also be a reasonable reason to stay travelling.
But if that is the case and Siffrin actually doesn't remember, you are for once glad he doesn't.
You watch Siffrin walk away from Mirabelle and up to Boniface.
Even if the hypothetical relationship between your friend and your enemy isn't romantic, you could see the King being abusive to any relationship he might have with a person. If a man is willing to destroy an entire country for what he sees as the greater good, what's one single person being hurt?
The finer details aren't that important, really. You only have so much to work off of afterall. One, Siffrin and the King are likely from the same place. Two, the two know or knew each other and the king knows about Siffrins memory problem. Three, Siffrin either doesn't remember the king or choses to hide that they do.
What was it Siffrin said when asked why they came along? Something about having nothing else they had to do. There wasn't anything for them in Vaugarde, from your understanding they were leaving Poteria and the border froze over right as they did so. The only reason he is here is pure chance.
You sometimes question if he even realised anything was happening before meeting the rest of you, even with the much larger amount of sadnesses than usual. It wouldn't surprise you with.
An article you read mentioned the King showing up in Corbeaux a couple of years back and there being no trace of him before then. You doubt he just showed up from nowhere, probably just the press working with limited information and exaggerating it when it really is just the king moving to Vaugarde from elsewhere.
If the original plan for Siffrin was to just pass through on the way to, for example, the ports to Mwudu, and they knew a previous abuser of his lived somewhere in the country, it would be reasonable of them to avoid other people. That could also explain them not knowing of the situation beforehand, nobody would be able to tell him of it after all which could have led to them going into Vaugarde.
This of course leans on the idea that Siffrin hadn't forgotten about the king, and simply lied about not remembering. Or maybe if they did forget it they might have been subconsciously avoiding people when they reasonably could, he is the type to follow his gut feeling a lot.
Boniface yells something about walking forever to punch Siffrin, you're not sure what they are talking about but Siffrin seems happy with the conclusion. He seems to be finishing up with talking with everyone soon, hopefully you all won't be up here much longer then.
You should probably talk to Siffrin while you all eat later. Even if he doesn't remember how he knew the king they would probably like to know. They can probably guess they might have known the king at some point as well if they thought about it, unless they of course immediately forgot the conversation with the King earlier.
They did seem to be zoning out during it. You dont blame him if he did, the King sharing his point of view was fairly uninteresting even for you. You could tell the others also wanted the king to stop speaking, except for Mirabelle of course.
Maybe Siffrin doesn't want you to know if they remember, but the least you could do for them at this point is to be there for them as necessary if the king was abusive in whatever relation they had to each other, which he might have been. No matter what though, you will talk with Siffrin. Maybe they will know what the King talked about, maybe they won't. They don't have to talk back with you, but hopefully just your support and the others before you split apart will be enough.
You're getting kind of light headed, must be the elevation. You hope Siffrin will hurry up so you all can get down. Or maybe you should just go with Boniface, they did mention wanting to hurry up as well. The villagers back in Dormont must be making something with way too much sugar that you will not be trying with how sweet everything is smelling now.
You could go for something to drink and eat, and maybe sit down for a bit. Your lightheadedness feels like it is turning into a migraine and you rather not deal with that right now. You look over at Siffrin and he-
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