Sain spurred his horse, encouraging it to go even faster. He was grateful for the flat Eturian landscape, because he needed nothing right now as much as the pure adrenaline rush galloping at top speed gave him…Well, he took that back. There was one thing he did need more than anything: a woman, but failure in that area was nothing new. Sain, to say the least, had trouble staying with a lady for longer than…well, however long it was until he spotted another. It was quite a problem, he mused. But…it had seemed he had finally overcome that obstacle when he had met Priscilla. She, unlike many of the other women of the army, hadn't rejected his complements right away. In fact, as they spent more time together (mostly through a series of minor injuries on the part of Sain), she never once slapped him, yelled at him…she had actually told him, to his face, that he made her happy. He couldn't remember the last time a girl had told him that after they had known each other for any amount of time. He didn't have to do anything except be himself around her. She didn't mind his constant compliments, and she laughed at his jokes. Kent even had to admit that Sain might have finally found someone who could put up with his antics. And with the new order of Ostia taking over the ruling of Caelin, he had received the perfect excuse to leave his post so that he could stay with Priscilla, as he had promised her.

He. Had. Promised. Her. Sain avoided making promises for the most part. Promises…bound one to his word. Sain held that to be true, above all else. He would be the first to admit he often failed the expectations girls held for him. But he never failed to follow through on a promise. Until now. Despite doing everything in his power, he had failed. He had promised he would never leave her side. Yet here he was, riding away from his princess.

He had worried about his loyalties as a Lycian knight interfering with his promise to Priscilla. However, Hector and Lyn had arranged for Ostia to oversee the rule of Caelin so that Lyn could return to the Plains of Sacae, where her heart had never left. With such a union, Sain was given the option of becoming commander of the knights, or leaving to do whatever he wished to do. The decision was quite simple. When he was released from one binding agreement, he had no choice but to follow through with the other one. So, with a smile and a wave to his friends in the castle of the town, he set off to be with his princess forevermore. Or so he thought.

(Flashback)

Sain grinned to himself as he rode up to the gate of Priscilla's estate. The guards looked at the emerald-armored mercenary suspiciously, but consented to let him in when he assured them Priscilla had invited him. Well, she hadn't explicitly said that, but he was sure she wouldn't mind. Sain knocked on the door, grinning ear to ear at the thought of Priscilla's face when she saw him at her door. What he hadn't expected, however, was to be greeted by the single-best dressed person he had ever met. His clothes looked like they must have cost a few months' wages. And this was just the butler.

"May I help you?" The man asked, staring at Sain's current state with disdain.

"Ah…I may be at the wrong address." Sain said nervously.

"It would appear so. I cannot imagine the Cornwell family would have any use for a man such as yourself."

Sain perked up, "Ah, so this is where Prin-err, Pricilla lives?"

"And just what business do you have with Miss Priscilla?" The butler asked, not being quite as lenient as the gate guards in allowing Sain past.

"I have pledged my services to her." Sain replied.

"And just what might those be?" The butler pressed.

"Why, whatever Priscilla desires of me, of course." Sain grinned, barely containing the wink he so desperately wished to add to the statement.

The butler sighed, "I suppose I can allow you to see Lady Priscilla, but if you try anything funny, you'll be out of here before your uncivilized brain knows it."

'It's hard to believe someone as sweet as my princess could live amongst such snobs. These people make Kent seem like a free spirit.' Sain smiled at the thought.

"Lady Priscilla," The butler interrupted Sain's musings, "You have a…visitor."

"Sain? Sain!" Priscilla squealed, running up and giving him a hug, "What are you doing here?"

"I told you I'd never leave you, didn't I?" Sain reminded her with a grin. "With the new Caelin rule, I have been released from my post.

::end flashback::

To be fair, it wasn't really his fault. Priscilla had told him that herself. No one had shed more tears than she when they had parted. In the end, the very thing that had brought them together was that which kept them from ever being together. She was just too nice.

Rare was the lady that could hang around Sain long enough to get to know him. She had to wade through all the complements he gave every girl. She had to learn to see his compliments for what they were, just that, compliments. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, or anyone else for that matter. Though he seemed to take life lightly, he could be serious when the situation required it. He could always be counted on when a listening ear was needed. And Priscilla, being one of the few to allow him close enough to see his true colors, experienced something that few girls were lucky enough to know. She knew, without a doubt, that if she needed to let something off her chest, she could tell Sain. And he would make her smile.

But none of that mattered anymore. All their time together couldn't overcome politics. Sain scowled. If he wanted to deal with politics, he would have stayed in Caelin. Sain enjoyed being with Priscilla. He might have even loved her. However, he was not going to be some puppet, and Priscilla couldn't bring herself to leave the family that had done so much for her.

Sain wasn't sure what he was going to do. All of his plans had fallen apart like so many of his relationships. He hadn't even thought of the possibility of his and Priscilla's relationship not working out. Actually, he hadn't really thought much further than coming here. Sain would be the first to admit he wasn't exactly someone who planned ahead. However, things had always worked out, more or less.

When he wanted to be a knight, despite adolescent awkwardness, he trained hard and rose to the top of his class, second only to Kent. When he couldn't afford weapons, he fashioned a lance from iron scraps he earned as part of his work at the town blacksmith. He had been working on a sword, but the mission came up before he had enough scraps…

When Kent had love troubles, Sain trained him in the finer art of winning a woman's heart. Though some might have called the task impossible and thrown in the towel, Sain stuck it through to the end. Kent wouldn't admit that the training had helped, but let's just say that, after Sain's guidance, Kent no longer gazed at Lyndis from afar.

When Serra told him that someone in the camp liked him, he knew he had to find her. He paid special attention to the girls that had seemed to enjoy his company. He eventually decided that it was Priscilla. No other girl in camp let him be their shoulder when she needed it. No other girl came to him when she needed cheering up.

Wait minute, Serra might know what he could do now! She had supported his relationship with Priscilla enthusiastically, but that could have been because it kept her away from her precious Erk. If he remembered correctly, the two were at Pent's house, since Erk had succeeded him as Mage General when he and his pregnant wife went off to Athos's place to continue where the old man had left off. If anyone knew how Sain could repair his broken heart, Serra would be the one.

With a sense of renewed purpose, Sain directed his faithful steed toward the capital of Eturia.

After another day of pushing as far as he could, Sain set up camp. Of course, by "set up" we mean "fed his horse, ate a biscuit, unrolled his sleeping bag, and promptly fell asleep." However, a whinny from his horse woke him up in the middle of the night. Sain opened his eyes to find bandits surrounding his camp.

"Can't a man get a good night's sleep around here without being disturbed?" Sain said offhandedly as he stood up, lance in hand.

"Well, we were just gonna steal your horse and supplies, but it looks like we're gonna have to kill ya after all." A particularly ugly bandit said, revealing a toothy grin.

"Oh…I'm afraid that just won't do," Sain shook his head, "You see, Romeo here has grown quite attached to me, and I don't think he'd appreciate your uncouth company." Sain made a motion with his hand, and Romeo turned and took out a bandit with his hind legs.

Sain took advantage of the bandits' momentary surprise to continue, "Also, I am not a man to be trifled with right now. My Princess, the love of my life, has been taken from me. Not by any man, but by the power of politics. I can't stand politics." One of the bandits attempted to charge Sain, who sidestepped and brought the butt end of his lance against the back of his head. The blow knocked the man out cold, and Sain faced the other bandits once more. "Before we continue with this foolish endeavor, I have but one question. Have any of you heard the name Rex Hasta?" When none of the men moved, Sain shook his head, smiling, "Not a single one of you cares either for history or current events, very sad."

"What's your point? We've been a little busy with surviving to care about silly stories." One of the bandits spat.

"Oh, believe me; these stories are quite relevant to survival. Rex Hasta is a legendary lance. Crafted by dragons before The Scouring, there has never been a weapon quite like it. The initial owner single-handedly defeated a dragon. Later on in his life, the captain of the guard and his followers attempted a coup of the throne. Perhaps you've heard of the Nori Massacre? That was the result of the attempted coup. 50 armed men versus one aged leader, and the leader and this lance were the only survivors. Now, I haven't named this leader yet, but I'm sure even you fools know of him. You have heard of the Great Knight Barigan, haven't you?" As soon as the name escaped Sain's lips, the remaining bandits trembled, and Sain knew he had finally gotten through their thick skulls. Sain settled into his stance, "Well, I do believe that's enough talking for now; let's get this party started." Sain had to hold in a laugh when the bandits fled as a group.

"Well Romeo, since we're up, we might as well get started." Sain said lightly, quickly packing up and continuing his journey to the capital.

"Erk, darling, take a break from your studies…I'm booored." Serra whined.

"Please, Serra, this is important research." Erk replied, never looking up from his books.

"More important than me?" Serra asked.

"No contest there." Erk answered.

"EHH? You are soo meeean! If you're not nice to me, I'm not going to love you anymore." Serra wailed.

"Only in my dreams, Serra, only in my dreams." Erk said with a smirk.

"You…you…" Serra's mouth opened and closed, but no more words came out.

"Madam Serra, a certain Sain is at the door; he wishes to converse with you."

Serra forgot all about Erk's mistreatment of her in her dash to the door, "SAIN!!! It feels like it's been forever!! How have you been!?" Serra exclaimed, jumping into Sain's arms to give him a hug.

"It's good to see you too, Serra. I've missed your beautiful face and energetic personality since we've parted…but I have to wonder…what's with the feathers?" Sain asked, pointing to the multicolored feathers adorning Serra's hair, which she was now wearing down instead of in pigtails.

"OH, they are thelatest in Eturian fashion; all of the high class ladies have them." Serra replied excitedly.

"You always did know fashion like no one else." Sain grinned.

"You're more than welcome to take her with you when you leave, if you want." Erk said as he walked up to the pair.

"What? Something less than life-threatening brought Erk out of his room? The world as we know it is coming to an end!" Sain exclaimed melodramatically.

"Haha, very funny. Despite my best efforts, I have yet to figure out how you survived your childhood, much less countless battles with bandits, corrupt lords, madmen, and a dragon."

"This coming from the one who nearly died from too much reading?" Sain quirked an eyebrow at the purple-haired sage.

"Boys, please, you have no reason to fight; a magnificent, stunningly beautiful woman loves both of you." Serra joined in the banter.

"She's right," Erk said, "Where is Priscilla, anyway?"

Sain's face fell, "Actually…that's what I came here to talk about with Serra."

"I see. I'm going to be in my study; you two do what you need to do." Erk said, waving goodbye and walking off.

"Come walk with me Sain, and tell me all about it." Serra took Sain's hand and led him outside.

After meandering through the fields for a few moments, Sain began, "I really thought she was the one. I loved her, and I'm almost positive she loved me as well. Hell, she cried more than I did when we parted. It's not even something I can change, it's–"

"Politics." Serra finished his sentence. When Sain looked at her, she smiled sadly, "I'm sorry Sain, but I figured that would happen. It's a sad truth, but common folk just don't fit in with the high class families. If Pent and Louise weren't so open-minded, I would have met the same fate in my relationship with Erk."

"Why didn't you tell me…" Sain fought to keep his emotions intact.

"I really hoped the Cornwell Family would give you the chance you deserve. I didn't want to risk crushing your possibility of a life of happiness together." Serra answered softly.

"I understand…" Sain replied, and the two walked through the gardens in silence for a few minutes before he spoke up again, "I know you already refused to answer this the last time I asked, but…was there another girl in camp who fancied me?" Sain asked hopefully.

"Ha, I should have expected as much from my favorite knight." Serra smiled, glad that the breakup hadn't killed her friend's spirit. "I can't reveal her name directly, since she strictly forbade me not to do that, under penalty of death. However, I can point you in the right direction, and maybe get you some work as well. You see, my sources tell me that a particular Illian Pegasus Knight had a crush on a certain Knight of Lycia. It's up to you to fill in the blanks."

"Serra, you do realize that I love you, right?" Sain beamed, hugging the pink-haired cleric and swinging her around in a circle.

"Sain, I do believe that's been obvious since you recruited Erky and me for that ragtag charge to the Caelin throne." Serra replied with a smirk.

"Well, beauteous duchess," Sain bowed in an exaggerated manner, "I better get going; I have a long trip ahead of me."

"One last thing," Serra scribbled down a note on a scrolled before rolling it back up and tying it with a pink string, "Give this to Fiora when you get there, and you better not read it." Serra warned, glaring at the man in green armor standing before her.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Sain tucked the scroll safely inside his bags, "By the way, I wish you and Erk the happiness you deserve; even in the short time here, I was able to see that you love each other. Make sure he doesn't study himself to death."

"Thanks!" Serra started giggling, "You know there's no chance of that with me and my feminine charm around."

"Thanks for everything Serra, and I do expect an invitation to the wedding." Sain winked at her as he mounted his horse to ride off.

"Same to you, Loverboy; go out there and find your lady!" Serra called out as he galloped off.

'Florina, I truly hope that he finds you. You deserve a chance at happiness, and I hope my message at least gives you two the time and opportunity to spend some time together. He's a great guy, and I hope you'll see that he's every bit worth your affection.' Serra thought as she walked back to the study. Slowly, a fiendish grin spread across the cleric's face. "Oh Erky," Serra moaned in her most seductive voice, rubbing her hands along her lover's body "Don't you think it's time for a break from your studies…"

A/N: Thanks to JSB for help and encouragement along the way, as well as beta-ing the final product.