Inquisitor's Promise (Act Two, Chapter Twenty-Seven)

Aeneas has to keep his promises. His father's mission will be completed. And while he's at it, he will become Galatea's lord and Inquisitor. But love and politics are an explosive combination.

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Chapter Twenty-Seven: Lovers Reunited

Aeneas looked at the wyvern in front of him. Sancho Panza; that was the name that Galatea gave it, or him. The poor creature was pierced by so many spears and had sustained numerous projectile wounds. The Inquisitor could see why the wyvern didn’t trust Shaka, or anyone else for that matter.

And now, Aeneas and Giulia were left with a strange predicament.

“How do you calm a raging wyvern?” Giulia asked.

“Wyverns aren’t mindless beasts,” Aeneas pointed out. “They have a strong sense of loyalty, and a good memory too.”

“What does that mean for us?”

“It means I have to remind him that we’re friends,” Aeneas said confidently.

Giulia resisted the urge to slap her Captain General. “Don’t be a fool! You can’t just parley with the beast.”

“Listen, Giulia,” Aeneas began. “Wyverns have a deep bond with their masters. Meaning that whatever feelings their owners have, they would share them too. That was how I could be friends with Sancho Panza so quickly when we first met in Castle Aquila.”

“Because Galatea’s in love you with you?”

“Indeed.”

“Whatever,” Giulia said angrily. “You’re almost as bad as Pep when it comes to taking stupid risks.”

Aeneas smirked. “That’s what I keep you around for, Lieutenant.”

“Go!” Giulia snapped, not appreciating the Inquisitor’s joke.

And thus, Aeneas slowly approached Sancho Panza. His hands were in the air, though he held on to his testudo shield just in case.

“Hello there,” Aeneas greeted nervously.

The wyvern looked at the Inquisitor intently, curious of the human in front of him.

“I’m not your enemy. In fact, we’ve dispatched your enemies,” Aeneas continued.

The wyvern didn’t react to Aeneas’ words. Aeneas saw this as his opportunity to move closer to Galatea. But the wyvern moved to block the Inquisitor.

Aeneas cringed, half-expecting the wyvern to attack him. Thankfully, that didn’t happen.

“I think we might have gotten on the wrong footing here,” Aeneas said sheepishly. “Let me start over from the beginning…”

“How long must this sham continue?” Giulia asked quietly, facepalming.

Aeneas took his helmet out and dropped his shield. He then looked the wyvern in the eye, ready to introduce himself.

But before Aeneas could say anything, the creature had already started licking his face. It turned out that his helmet had prevented the wyvern from recognizing him.

“I did it, Giulia,” Aeneas called out. He was petting Sancho Panza. The wyvern, for his part, was rubbing his head on the Inquisitor’s chest.

Giulia shook her head in disbelief. “How that fool is not in ashes is beyond me.”

With Sancho Panza calmed down, Aeneas was free to retrieve Galatea. He was alarmed when he saw blood on her, but Giulia was able to calm him down. She pointed out the dead bandit next to Galatea. Relieved, Aeneas did not think much of the deceased man.

Aeneas frowned as he saw his beloved. This was not how he had envisioned their reunion. Nonetheless, he was happy that she was fine. With Giulia and the rest of the Lepanto’s medical crew, he knew that Galatea was in good hands. The same also applied for Sancho Panza, though the crew of the Lepanto was not used to treating beasts of war.

With the bandit encampment cleared out, Aeneas decided to occupy it for his own troops for the moment. The Inquisitor felt the troops needed rest, and the Lepanto’s crew could use the shore leave.

For the moment, the wounded were also treated at the encampment. This included Galatea and Sancho Panza.

Aeneas learned that Galatea was just fine. She had just suffered a bit of concussion when she hit the crate of rice. Any visible injuries on her head had been cleaned up by Giulia. But nothing else needed to be treated and Giulia decided to let the unfortunate lady knight sleep it off.

It did not take long for Galatea to come to. Being the one to nurse her to health, Giulia quickly informed Aeneas and the others.

“She’s up?!” Aeneas asked. He could barely keep his excitement down. It had been so long since he had talked to her face to face.

And the Inquisitor ran off to the direction of Galatea’s tent.

“Captain, wait!” Giulia shouted. But she knew that it was in vain. Thus, she rushed off after Aeneas.

As for the bystanders, it did not take long for them to figure out what had happened.

Aeneas soon reached the tent, and he rushed in; his heart was pounding from both excitement and exercise. The Inquisitor saw the beautiful lady in front of her, awake, lying on her bed. Finally, the two lovers saw each other face to face.

“Lord Aeneas!”

“Galatea!”

Aeneas would like nothing more than to pick up his beloved and embrace her. But he knew that she was still recovering; he had to control his passion. Instead, the Inquisitor rushed to the side of Galatea’s bed and held her hands in his.

“For so long, I have prayed for this day to come,” Galatea said softly.

Aeneas smiled at her. “Galatea, I…”

“Captain!”

Aeneas and Galatea turned their attention to the source of the interruption. Giulia was angry, clearly upset at being left in the dust.

“You should calm down, Captain. We must let Galatea rest until she’s fully fit,” Giulia chastised.

“Please, Giulia,” Aeneas pleaded. “I just need to have a few words with…”

But once more, Aeneas was interrupted. This time, it was by Pep.

“I have been heard that the Inquisitor’s girl had awoken,” the Archon chirped.

“Pep! Get out of here!” Aeneas commanded furiously.

“This is no way to treat your most valuable soldier.” Pep said sarcastically.

But another person entered the room. This time, it was Omaha. The princess had arrived with Tsar Nikolai.

“No need to be so loud, Sir Aeneas, we just wish to check up on her,” she said.

“Princess? Lord Nikolai? No!” Aeneas cried.

And the strings of interruptions continued on. It had seemed like everyone in the Lepanto wanted to see the Inquisitor’s lady knight for themselves.

Aeneas had to put his foot down and told many people to leave. It took a while, but soon Aeneas was able to reduce the crowd to nine people: himself, Galatea, Pep, Giulia, Nikolai, Omaha, Shaka, Kunoichi, and Lavinia. These were the people that Aeneas considered to be within his ‘inner circle’. And with Galatea, now Aeneas had all five of the faction princesses in his party.

“I suppose we’d have to introduce each other sooner or later,” Aeneas said reluctantly.

And so, the introductions were made. Galatea were acquainted with Aeneas’ inner circle. But Galatea was acting like she was familiar with each and every one of them. This left everyone but Aeneas utterly confused.

“I remembered you to be a shy and bookish girl,” Nikolai pointed out. “And yet here you are being so friendly with us. It is odd.”

Aeneas gave the Tsar an odd look. “How so? Lady Galatea was the one who had approached me when I first visited San Felipe.”

“I believe she had an ulterior motivation,” Omaha interjected.

Galatea chuckled. “My apologies, Lord Aeneas had told me so much about all of you over the brick. He even texted me your stories and all his adventures.”

“You did what?” Lavinia exclaimed. “Aeneas!”

“I don’t think we should be surprised that the man who spent so much of his free time reading books would write stories for his beloved who spent so much of her free time reading books,” Omaha said.

“So true,” Pep chimed in.

“I know this might sound strange, but I’ve read the stories of your adventures over and over again. I can’t help but feel close to you all. Like we’re all one family,” Galatea said in excitement.

“Literally,” Kunoichi added. She then reminded them that the many of the Lepanto’s crewmen were traveling with their families in tow.

Nikolai chuckled. “That is indeed the power of stories, especially fairy tales. And its danger.”

“Danger?” Galatea asked.

To the surprise of everyone, it was Shaka who spoke up. “It’s all well and good to read fairy tales as stories. But real life isn’t as simple, it’s messier. Sometimes you get tragedy instead of a happily ever after.”

“Shaka’s right, Galatea,” Lavinia added. “You may think you find yourself in quite the fantasy as the Inquisitor’s knight or whatever, but you’ll change your tune really quickly when the fighting starts.”

“I’ll be fine,” Galatea said, but hesitation was clear in her voice.

Realizing that his beloved was becoming uncomfortable, Aeneas stepped in.

“Galatea still needs to recover,” the Inquisitor said. “Isn’t that right, Giulia?”

Giulia nodded, realizing Aeneas’ hidden meaning. “That’s right, please leave everyone.”

Before long, there were only three people in the room: Aeneas, Galatea, and Giulia. Aeneas would have left too; but had some important questions that he needed to ask; ones to be asked in private.

“I’m sorry to ask you this,” Aeneas began in the hopes of softening the blow. “But why did you go way out here? To be honest, I’ve heard some unflattering things about you.”

“Well, I’ve been sent on an errantry,” Galatea said nervously.

Aeneas raised his eyes incredulously. “An Errantry? Do the Knights of San Felipe even do that anymore?”

“Not the regular knights,” Galatea admitted. “But I’m not a regular knight, either. I’m an Inquisitor’s knight.”

“Who told you that?” Aeneas asked. Her reasoning made logical sense but was insane given what he knew about the Inquisition.

“Sir Fernando de Andalusia, of course,” Galatea said innocently. “He was the one who knighted me after all.”

“What!?” Aeneas exclaimed in shock.

“That explains everything,” Giulia muttered.

“What’s wrong? Lord Aeneas?” Galatea asked, her face showing concern.

Aeneas took a deep breath. “I don’t know how say this. But Sir Fernando had rebelled against your uncle. In fact, that rebellion started soon after you had disappeared.”

“But that means,” Galatea said as tears began to form in her eyes. “My knighthood’s a sham.”

But Aeneas shook his head and gave her a smile. “Not at all, my dear Galatea.”

“Lord Aeneas?”

“Knighthoods are like sacraments. They are ex opere operato,” Aeneas explained.

“I know this,” Galatea cried. “It means it works based on what was done rather than the person doing it.”

“Exactly. Sir Fernando may have intended to humiliate you and your family by knighting you. But it doesn’t matter. You are a true knight, make no mistake about it,” Aeneas explained.

“Thank you, Lord Aeneas!” Galatea said joyfully.

“Still, I don’t think it’ll go well with the people if they know that a rebel had knighted you,” Giulia interjected.

“I know,” Aeneas said. “That’s why this stays between us. At least until we return to Castle La Mancha and had a talk with the Grand Knight. Hopefully the battle goes well for him.”

Galatea and Giulia nodded in agreement.

But unbeknownst to the three of them, a swarmling was right outside the tent; and it had listened in to everything that was said.

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