Hubert Oswell drew himself to his full height. He had traveled far on his diplomatic mission, and now he stood at the head of the small group of soldiers that had accompanied him.

"On behalf of the Republic of Strahta, I, Captain Hubert Oswell-"

"Wait, Captain?" Standing just inside the gate to Lhant was Cheria Barnes, a girl Hubert had known as long as he could remember, who regarded him as a little brother in all but name.

It was a state of affairs Hubert was not always happy with.

"I thought you were only a Lieutenant."

"I received a promotion several months ago, in recognition of my contributions to resolving the Fodra incident." Hubert replied, making only a cursory attempt to hide his pride. He then cleared his throat and began again, "On behalf of the Republic of Strahta, I, Captain Hubert Oswell, in recognition of-"

"You got a promotion? Hubert, why didn't you tell us about that before? That's great news!"

"Do you mind? I am here as an emissary of Strahta first and foremost." Said Hubert, neglecting to mention that he had insisted on taking this mission. "I must see that proper protocol is observed."

"Hubert, you're here for your brother's wedding. No one minds if you don't stand on ceremony."

"I am here on behalf of Strahta, and my actions reflect on the republic. I cannot simply bring soldiers into a foreign town, especially when the king of Windor will be there. Which is why I, Hu-"

"So, you just need my permission to come in?"

"Yes!" Hubert was nearly yelling.

"Okay. Well, in that case... As the soon-to-be lady of Lhant," she said the most theatrically overwrought manner possible, "and all the power given to me, on behalf of the people of Lhant, do grant to you, good Captain, permission to enter Lhant on this day of my wedding."

Hubert wanted to make a more dignified retort, but all he could seem to muster was a flustered, "Cheria..."

"Sorry, but sometimes you need to be direct with people. Now come on," Cheria said beckoning the men to come inside the gate, "we've got a room at the manor for you. Will your men be alright staying at the inn?"

"That will be fine." Hubert turned and gave his men a short speech, impressing on them the need for proper behavior in their host city before dismissing his entourage.

"Of course, you'll have to share the room with Pascal, but that's not a problem, right?" Cheria said while trying to look as innocent as possible.

Hubert swore he would get through the day if it killed him.

Author's Note: I should probably focus on this a bit more. This really isn't two months worth of writing, I just worked on it intermittently. I've been trying to replay Tales of Graces, but my PS3 seems to start overheating if I leave it on for more that twenty minutes.

So this is about where the story's going to be; focused on character interaction and largely lighthearted. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure about this chapter. I kind of liked the overall idea, but I'm a little worried Hubert's characterization is off.