For notes on the characters see http://yousogaisaki. You can also read the story there as well. ;;
Doubt Thy Loyalty
Yedithe took a step closer to Addison. The atmosphere was heavy, far too heavy for her tasted. There stood Delita, a warrior everyone thought dead. She remembered that day two years ago. She could never forget it. The image of Fort Zeikden burning was imprinted on the backs of all their minds. Ramza had barely escaped with his life, and they had thought Delita had not. Now here he stood, with the Princess they had been sent to protect.
Then there was the Order of the Northern Sky. They wanted to kill Delita, and... Well that's where it got confusing. Delita said they would kill the Princess. The head of the Order said they had no intention of doing so. But Gaffgarion said that the Princess' life was forfeit.
Her heart went out to Ramza. She could only imagine how the young man must feel at this moment. The ghost of his best freind on one side, duty and honor bound on the other. Yedithe knew Ramza though. He was a great leader, but he had a greater heart, and he would not stand for this. The slaughter of his friend and the Princess would not sit with him.
The question became...
"Whose side are we to take?" asked Alainne quietly, coming up behind her and Addison with Abraham in tow.
"We are under the hire of the Order." Abraham pointed out, "We should follow orders."
"And what if those orders are to slay the Princess?" Addison gave the archer a poisonous look. Abraham didn't answer. The thought troubled him as well.
"I do not know about you," Yedithe began, "But I cannot stand for this. How could I sleep at night with the death of Princess Ovelia and a former commrade's blood on my hands? I could not live with myself."
Addison put a hand on her shoulder as she looked away tears brimming. "I cannot abide by this as well. Besides, we have always been at Ramza's side, ever since our academy days. I could not now leave him because scum such as Gaffgarion orders it. Ramza has saved my life more than I can count. I am at i his /i service first and foremost. The rest of the world be damned."
"Delita is a far better man than Gaffgarion could ever hope to be." Alainne added, as her decision.
Addison looked hard at Abraham. He would not blame the archer if he sided with the Order. Abraham's family was higherborn than the rest of theirs, and he had a lot more resting on this decision.
"The choice is yours Abraham. If you do right by yourself I shall not fault you, but remember, if you side with the Order we will be enemies and I shall treat you as such."
"Then I suppose it is fortunate that I side with the rest of you, for I could not bear to think of you all as my enemy."
Yedithe took Abraham's hand and gave it a light squeeze. He returned it with a smile. Addison's hand fell on top of theirs, and then Alainne's on his. They were in this together, with Ramza, and they would follow him to the end, whether it be death or heroics, or even nothing at all.
