A/N: Hey all! Tayte / Wanchoo11 here. I'm excited about this one. I love to give depth to more minor characters in this series and involving the unlikeliest characters into each other's paths, so we've got a bunch of FE7 and FE6 characters coming up in this one. In order to make it accessible, I am thinking I'll add some info about these characters to give you reminders of who they are in the A/N as they come up. So if you are a pro about one but not the other, have no fear, I'll make it all clear! (Oh god I'm rhyming.) The devil's in the details, and knowing more about their backgrounds should shed more light on the nuances of the endings. (Yes, plural!)

I had uploaded this one several years ago, but wound up writing myself into a corner back then and never finished. I just picked this story up to finish for NaNoWriMo, and I literally just completed the "Bad Ending" two hours ago. Now working on the "Good Ending"! Two for the price of one! Is that a bang for your buck or what? Hmm, what? There are no bucks involved? Darn.

The girl felt smug about her current victory over the king. But he would be looking for her. Obviously. She jumped off the 15-foot tall wall and landed neatly in a bunch of leaves she had specifically placed so she wouldn't hurt herself. They were all brown leaves from the last fall, so no one thought it strange that there was a tad bit more in one place than another. They were just leaves, after all.

She scurried eastwards through thick forestry, climbing over fallen logs and crunching through leaves, staying in the shadow of the wall that the moon cast and into the thick woods for an hour or so. Zephiel wouldn't send out a search party here yet, would he? But then again, he could. It wouldn't be a bad idea, just setting up the search party immediately, looking for assassins. And she'd get caught.

When she reached the river that came into Bern from the sea in the east, she quickly stripped. Climbing a tree hanging over the river, she placed her clothes in the hollow of the branches, where if one looked up, they wouldn't see any clothing dangling.

She then scurried back down the tree, mumbling to herself angrily about the scratch she had on her thigh from climbing trees being naked, then grabbed the cloak she left at the foot of the tree and wrapped herself in it. The river chuckled merrily at her feet. Tightening the cowl around her face so no strands of hair would escape, she slipped into the freezing arms of the river. The current of the river was great enough that no trace or ripples were made by her presence. Slowly, she positioned herself to face the current, so her cloak would not fly up and reveal her naked body by moonlight. The cloak merged with the shadows of the water, and the constant flapping it caused could have easily been taken for the water playing tricks on the eye.

She rose up again, sneezing.

"Eek!" she whispered to herself. "Can't be doing that, can I?"

The sound of horses' footsteps and clinking armor gave the cue to submerge again. There was one flaw to her plan. When would she know that the knights passed by?

She rose slowly out again, seeing a rock in the middle of the river, large enough to cast shadow over her head.

Perfect.

The knights were coming.

She dove and swam to the rock, rising again in the shadows of the rock. The water came together at her face, so she had to kick harder at the water to stay up high enough to breathe. The cowl on her head covered her right eye and stuck, but she wasn't about to risk putting it out of her eye and getting caught. Behind her, the rest of the cloak flowed with the water, melding with the shadow of the rock better than she'd hoped for.

I am one lucky gal, she thought.

The two knights were to the left of her, on the west bank, their horses picketing blindly with their hooves through the grass.

"What's with His Highness? Why are we out searching the woods at this time of night?" asked one, rather alert.

"I dunno, man. Cap'n caught me with my pants down, though, and that ain't cool," replied the second.

The first one laughed, but didn't reply otherwise. It wasn't long before the two passed northwards, but the girl didn't move until the sound of armor clinking was lost in the wind.

"Losers," she said with a grin as she got out of the water after a final check that no one was around. She plugged her nose to stop a sneeze, and then climbed the tree again. Throwing down her clothes, she slipped back down. "They're as stupid as Narshen," she said to herself, twisting the cloak to get rid of the water. She tried to dry herself off with the cloak as much as possible. She put on her breast band, then a white, strapless undershirt that went down to her belly button. Over that went a green tunic. Slipped on the underwear next, and then the baggy green pants, followed by socks (pretty wet, since she didn't notice the water that dripped into them from the cloak) and plaid boots.

Now every step she took made a squelching sound. "Fun," she remarked about it in irritation. Then she headed warily southwest to the closest village to Bern Castle, Reme.

What the girl said was true. There was an assassin awaiting Zephiel in the river flowing in from the sea east of Bern. The assassin, a ragged man with cruel jet eyes and uneven black hair that fell over his face, was captured, and a search party was put into effect. Anyone within four miles of the castle would be brought back to the castle to face the king. Only did Murdock learn from Zephiel that there was a girl who warned the king at the gate of the outer wall.

The girl was not found, as she promised the king. There was a merchant caravan that was heading north for Bulgar, Sacae, from the village Bronau, one of the rich ports south of Bern. It was a regular route, but the new mercenary that joined them turned out to be the assassin.

They were brought back to the castle and locked in the dungeons until Zephiel figured out what to do about them.

Zephiel sat in the armchair in his room, facing the fire, deep in thought.

Who was that girl? he wondered. She gave away the assassin for a personal reason. Strikes my interest… But her attitude is not desirable. Or is it? No one has ever spoken that way to me. I find it rather interesting…

"Milord," said Murdock from the door of the room.

"Yes," said Zephiel, not looking away from the fire.

"If I may ask permission to fell the tree beside the gate?"

Zephiel thought for a moment, his head resting on his chin. "No. Not yet."

"Your Highness, it poses a threat. Anyone could come over the wall. I do not understand why this threat wasn't identified earlier, but—"

"No, Murdock. Has the search party returned with anything else? With any girl?"

"No, Your Highness."

"I want to meet that girl again. Tomorrow afternoon, we will visit Reme. I want all the girls that have recently come of age and any about to come of age to be gathered together. I want there to be something that does not let me see them. I want to hear them. I want to hear their voice."

"You want to find the girl, Your Highness?"

"Yes. She spoke insolently to me, and I want to know who is so stupid as to do that to the king of Bern." But Zephiel mentally added, She's not stupid; I know that for sure. So who is this bold girl?

"If that is what you wish, Your Highness."

"Good. Change the search party every two hours. I do not want my men to lose too much sleep and become exhausted. Never have the same man search twice I day. Double wyvern patrols at night. After that is done, rest."

"It will be done, Your Highness."

"Murdock."

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"Make sure to rest after that is done."

"…Of course, Your Highness."

"Aife! Where were you?!" asked Mirriam, the chubby middle-aged barmaid of the village (yet she still attracted). The sound of laughter and the buzz of loud words immediately accompanied her.

The girl, Aife, stepped into the bar through the back door. The hall there had hardly enough room for one person, let alone two. There was one candle that lit it. Aife squeezed myself past Mirriam and turned right, away from the bar and started up the narrow, wooden stairs, giving a small sneeze in answer to Mirriam's question. Mirriam would not take that for an answer. She squeezed past Aife up the stairs and stopped at the top, blocking her way. "Aife! Answer me! What have you been doing all night long? It's past midnight!"

"I had personal dealings with Rishta again," Aife finally replied tonelessly, with as much enthusiasm and energy as a nail.

"Him again?" asked Mirriam, relieved. "Oh good. If it were any other man, I'd have kicked you out. So, what was it this time?"

"I'm not that kind of girl, Mirriam, you know that. Frankly, I haven't met any man who's worth my time. I saw Rishta with the merchant caravan this afternoon. He was going to assassinate the king."

"What?" said Mirriam, aghast. Her red curls seemed to flop upwards in alarm and her green eyes widened.

"Do I need to repeat myself?" Aife asked. "Now, move out of the way and let me sleep, will ya?"

"Hey, Mirriam!" came a rumbling man's voice from downstairs. "How 'bout another round 'a rum? Eh?"

"Hold your mugs and I'm comin'!" Mirriam replied in a holler that made Aife's ears ring. Turning back to Aife, Mirriam burst again, "Look at your hair! It's dripping wet! Were you taking a midnight dip in the river? It explains your cold! You stupid girl! Go get a towel and dry yourself up before. Then strip and go to bed. You can't sleep in these clothes!"

"I know how to go to bed, Mirriam," Aife replied as Mirriam squeezed past her and hurried downstairs. "And I don't sleep in the nude," she added quietly to herself.

After drying her hair and changing into a dry white tunic and white breeches, she let herself drop into the bed in the room that she rented, though not before stumbling over an empty bottle of rum.

"I told her not to let anyone else use this room, dammit," she whispered to herself before falling asleep.

"Aife! Aife, wake up!" came Mirriam's voice. She was shaking Aife like a rag doll with her strong hands on the poor girl's shoulders. She could have easily chucked the girl out the crummy window, if Aife was able to fit in it. But even the slender Aife could not.

"Hey! I'm awake! No need to rack up a headache this early in the morning!" Aife screamed, sitting up. Mirriam sat on the edge of a higgledy-piggledy bed. The room was chaos. There were two bottles of rum lying on the floor, along with Aife's now-dry clothes and a damp cloak. There were some papers scattered on a wardrobe, a small painting hanging crooked on the wall opposite of the wardrobe, then another wall with the only window that lacked curtains, and a stool in front of the window. The whole room reeked of rum (and Aife easily got high).

"Early morning? Pff! That was ages ago! It's late afternoon!" said Mirriam.

"Late afternoon?" asked Aife. "Well, if I was sleeping so well, why'd you have to wake me up?" Her mind was still disoriented from sleep, and she acted nothing like herself at that time.

"The king's come! It's the strangest thing of all!"

"So? Why should I care?" asked Aife, getting up and opening the wardrobe, picking out what to wear for the day.

"He's got a tent that he's in, and he's ordered all girls around 16 to line up and has them talk to him for a moment."

"Uh huh. So?" Aife gave a snap. At the snap, Mirriam locked the door and positioned herself in front of the window. Aife began to change into a tunic, but Mirriam said, "No! Today, you're dressing like a lady! I know this has something to do with you, Aife, and I want you to act as normal for a girl as possible. So, get out that gown Narshen bought you, and the rubies."

"You're kidding!"

"I am not! Now! Get dressed, we haven't all day!"

Aife sighed, not understanding what all the big deal was about.

"Now then," said Mirriam as Aife changed, "breakfast is pancakes today."

"Breakfast is pancakes everyday," Aife murmured.

"Well, you have the chance to live high and mighty! If you don't like what we have for breakfast, go home!"

"Home? To Narshen? Ew. No. So, do I get extra syrup today?"

"No, we're running low on it. And I wonder why."

"Hey, don't call me a syrup hog. I didn't do it."

"Last I remember, you swamped your platter with syrup."

"Hey, that was just yesterday. Besides, you said I get extra syrup yesterday. Don't deny it."

"Just hurry up! Or the soldiers will manhandle you out of here half-dressed!"

"Soldiers?"

Aife had finally tugged on her violet gown. She didn't need a corset to stress out curves for her. Pulling on matching gloves, she snapped again, giving Mirriam the signal that she wasn't needed to cover the window anymore. Mirriam helped brush back Aife's hair and tie it back with a ribbon as Aife fussed about the pain and searched for decent shoes in the bottom drawer of the wardrobe.

"Ready!" said Mirriam finally. They had decided against putting on the ruby teardrop earrings, for it would show too much noble blood, too much rich, in Aife. Why Aife lived in a bar/inn when she could stay in the Tepal Castle at the Lycian/Bern border with her brother Narshen and live in luxury was beyond Mirriam, but she'd heard enough times 'Ew! With Narshen! That's a life of torment!' too many times to ask why it would be so. She didn't want to go so far.

Mirriam led Aife down the stairway, holding her hand the entire way as she led the girl outside. The two guards that were waiting for Mirriam to return with the girl Aife glanced at each other after looking Aife up and down. Aife looked away from them, faking shyness.

"Such a heartbreaker," said Mirriam softly to Aife.

In the center of the village, there was a blue tent with a line of two other girls waiting. The vendors shop and the armory were parallel across the street from each other. The village also had a shabby bakery and a tanner's. The tent stood out against the dreary brown like a diamond in mud.

"Not very many my age, huh?" Aife asked. "Good. I'm not dressed fanciest."

"Whatever you wear will look fancy on you," said Mirriam. Aife let go of Mirriam's hand and walked to the line, wondering if she'd get caught. The king was looking for her, was he? Then she'll just have to act as unlike herself as possible. She was being a rather arrogant last night. She'll just be extremely shy, not look at the king's feet even, speak so she was barely audible, and keep saying 'Your Highness'. That should work. And an accent. Ilian? Nah. Lycian? That would be better. Lycian-Bern would be best, wouldn't it? That's what she was best at.

The girl who was currently inside the tent walked out, puzzled, when the king's voice rose and said, "Next!"

"What did he do?" asked the girl in front of Aife in a whisper.

"It was the strangest thing indeed. He told me to describe the sky," replied the first girl in the same volume.

"What?"

"And he had a chair with his back turned to me."

"He didn't even look at you?"

"Then I bothered putting all this on for no reason?" asked Aife. Her shoulders drooped. She coughed. Oh! No coughing or sneezing. Might give him ideas.

"Next!" came King Zephiel's voice. Aife rolled her eyes as the girl in front of her left. Aife was able to hear what he said. "Please, miss, describe the sky."

"Th-The sky? Hold on, let me check what it's like first."

The girl came out with a dumbstruck face. "It is true," she whispered to Aife. She looked up. The sky was a brilliant blue with hardly a cloud and a dazzling sun that made Aife terribly hot. She went inside again.

"It is a wonderful blue stretch of sky without a single cloud, Your Highness. And the sun is riding high. What more is there to say?"

Aife was called in next.

"What is the sky like?" asked Zephiel.

Aife was tempted to say, 'Why don't you go outside and take a look? Or are you blind too?', but said instead in a stuttering voice, "Th-Th-The sky, Your Highness? I-I-It's…uh, it blue! A-And there aren't a single cloud in it!" Perfect. Messed up grammar, stuttering timid voice, with a trace of Lycian accent.

Zephiel sighed and asked, "Are you the last one?"

"I-I am, Your Highness."

Zephiel stood up and turned around. He seemed surprised when he saw her, eyes looking her up and down as he said, "Go then."

"Oh, I-I'm sorry! My shoe came off…" she said as she put it back on, eyes boring into the ground. "Dear me…" She sighed and shuffled (loudly) outside, and back to the bar without a glance back.

"Well," said Mirriam when they were back in the bar and the king and his men had left. "What did he want?"

"He wanted me to describe the sky," Aife replied.

"What did you say?"

"Th-Th-The sky, Your Highness?" Aife mimicked, giving an innocent, wide-eyed look. Mirriam laughed. "I-I-It's…uh, it blue!"

Mirriam laughed harder.

Zephiel spent the afternoon at the nearest village, where he had the ladies who had come-of-age recently or were about to line up. He had them speak, asked them to describe the sky, and he closed his eyes and listened. There were none with the voice of the girl he met. The last one was so scared she stuttered terribly and didn't speak properly in terms of grammar. He was exhausted as he left the village, leaving the people of it rather confused. Why would the king have a line of women speak to him as he put his back to them? Was he looking for someone? Why had he such an acute interest in them suddenly anyway?

Sitting in his armchair, alone in his room again, he sighed. Then he thought of something. The girl knew he'd search for her. She could possibly have set off before he got to the village. He moaned and slid down on the chair.

"Your Highness?"

Murdock's voice startled Zephiel back into an erect position. Zephiel cleared his voice and said, "Yes, Murdock?"

"The merchants beg to be set free. They've food that will rot before they can supply them to Bulgar, and they would be unable to sell."

Zephiel sighed. "Have Xavier search them with spells. If nothing comes up, set them free."

"Yes, Your Highness. Is there anything I may do for you? You seem… exasperated."

"That's because I am. Murdock, bring back all the girls of age 14-19 back to the castle, anywhere…40 miles from here. Wait… What is wrong with me? Why am I doing this? I have better things to do than search for a defiant little hag!" Zephiel stood up with determination. "Forget the girl. What do I have to see to?"

"There has been a massive flood in western Bern. The villages need aid, supplies, encouragement."

"Then we will give it. Personally."

"Anything to get your mind off the girl?" asked Murdock with a smile.

Zephiel looked back at him, then sighed. "Anything. But one more thing…"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Tonight, I will go to the gate again. You will follow me, though not too closely."

"Your Highness, are you smitten with a girl you've never seen?"

Aife was lying upon the outer wall of Bern Castle again. The sky was cloudy, threatening of rain. It had been pouring an hour ago.

Aife couldn't care less about the clouds, however. She was too deep in thoughts of what she'd do for a living. Did she gain the king's trust? Could she work as a spy for Bern? Gossip she liked, sneaking she liked, and nothing was fun without danger in it.

And as she predicted, King Zephiel came to the gate again, this time, on a horse. He was dressed in a light blue cape and a white tunic lined with diamonds, apparently not planning on sneaking around this time.

"You're not going to able to see me, you know, even on the horse," Aife said.

"Who are you? Give me your name," said Zephiel.

"How about Terra? I like the name Terra. You can call me that."

"How about impudence?" asked Zephiel, playing her game.

"Hmm. I guess that works too. Impudence it is."

Aife grinned when she saw Zephiel frown in surprise.

"Why are you here this time?" asked Zephiel when he recovered.

"Hmm. I don't know. I thought you might come back and decided it might be fun to play tricks. Got nothing better to do."

For a moment, they were both silent. Then, 'Impudence' said, "So, heard you went to Reme and checked out the girls. 15-17 year olds? Is that how old do you think I am?"

"You are not?"

"That's a definite maybe."

Zephiel sighed. "Why do you play games with me?"

"Because! It's fun! I told you just a moment ago, didn't I?"

"You are the strangest person I've met."

"You haven't really met a variety either, but I guess I'm just one of a kind."

"What do you want?"

"Not this again."

"Come down here like an honorable person and let me see whom I speak to."

"I'll pass, thanks."

"I order you to."

"Or else what?"

"I do not like your defiance, madam."

"You already tried to find me once. Twice, actually. Are you going to try again?"

"I'm coming up there."

"How do you plan to do that?"

Zephiel began to try standing on the horse. Aife, seeing this, backed away to the tree.

"Oh, sure, break a leg," she said, chuckling. Zephiel fell forward, catching onto the side of the wall. "Hey, I never knew the ground on that side was elevated. Damn! You could climb that?"

She got back into the tree, making her way through the tangle of branches to the other side. Zephiel was fidgeting with something at his waist.

"Don't tell me you brought a torch," said Aife warily.

"How did you—!" Zephiel looked towards her, then seemed to be grin in the shadows.

"Loser!" Aife said before hopping down to the ground.

"Murdock! Now!" came Zephiel's voice from the wall.

"Dammit! You brought him too!?"

Aife put up her cowl and raced back westwards, her mind calculating how to not get caught.

"What? Where is she?" came Zephiel's voice from somewhere afar.

"Loser," Aife whispered again with a grin. Who knew rain could be a savior? Aife had submerged herself in a fresh mud pool, covering herself from head to toe to hair in mud. She wasn't afraid to get dirty, and it also kept Murdock's wyvern from smelling her. Zephiel moved towards her (too bad he didn't have his horse, he left it at the gate in his rush), and Murdock flew overhead on his wyvern.

"I'm afraid she's beaten me again," said Zephiel to himself quietly as he walked in the direction of Aife. He mistook her for a log in mud and passed. Aife found it terribly hard not to laugh, but kept control of herself.

The night wore on as Murdock continued hunting under Zephiel's orders with a squadron of wyverns that were part of the patrol. Zephiel went back home and Aife picked herself up again.

"Wait 'til Mirriam sees this," she said to herself. She stuck to the shadow of trees to avoid the wyverns. It was too easy.

"How did she escape this time? I lost sight of her once, and then I lost her permanently!" said Zephiel in frustration the next morning. He sat on his bed with his head in his hands. Murdock stood at the door again, trying not to smile. "I saw that, Murdock. What do you find so funny?"

"Your Highness, she has you wrapped around her finger, in a way. It is…amusing to see you this way over one girl when there are so many others you can have. You've been avoiding social gatherings. Your people have been hearing some queer things about you. Rumors have started that you are searching for a girl, and for all we know, there will be a gathering of women pretending to be that girl at your doorstep any day now."

"Then I'll know none of those are her," said Zephiel. "She would never want to show herself to me. Unless she knows that I know that. Then she'd want to trick me into thinking I do know her." He sighed. "This is so complicated. But I cannot go on ignoring the others."

"Your Highness, what if the girl is a peasant?" asked Murdock with a straight face this time. "Would you take her anyway?"

Zephiel looked to him with a puzzled face. "I have you here, don't I?'

"And one more thing, Your Highness. What if she is simply playing you?"

Zephiel frowned. "I am king of the most powerful country on this continent. Why would that be so?"

"Peasant girls do not think the way noble girls do, Your Highness. They don't only think of power and riches."

"Then I will need to learn how peasants think," said Zephiel. "And I can do that at the flooded villages."

"What do you mean Narshen's joined the military?" Aife asked Mirriam, stunned. Aife sat across from the barmaid on a stool.

"That's what it says in this letter," Mirriam replied, throwing her a rolled-up parchment. Then she got back to sweeping the floor behind the counter.

"My deer sister, Ifee," Aife read aloud by light of the afternoon sun coming into the empty bar from a rectangular window. "Oh look, he spelled dear wrong. And my name. At least he could pronounce it."

"Well, I wouldn't know very much about spelling myself," said Mirriam. "And what do you mean 'at least he could pronounce it'?"

"The way you say it, you call me Ivy. It's pronounced I-fffee! Ah! All these months, and you didn't know that?"

"You never corrected me."

"Of course. I didn't correct you the hundred times I did the first two days."

"What?" Mirriam asked, confused.

"Forget it," said Aife, rolling her eyes.

"Okay…Aife, what do you plan to do with your life? You're already 17!"

"I don't know. Maybe I can be a spy."

"How do you plan to do that?"

"I'll get King Zephiel to appoint me one!"

"And how will you do that?"

"Well, when he finally catches me, he'll ask what I want and I'll tell him!"

"Catches you? Why would he want to catch you?"

"Because I keep meeting him at the outer gate at night and…say…playing games of wits and words with him?"

"Aife!"

"Wha-at?"

"Have you struck your fancy in him?"

"Ha ha ha, Mirriam, you're so funny," said Aife humorlessly. "Anyways, let's see this letter…

My deer sister,

I am pleased to notifi you that His Highness is coming to visit our Castle Tepal. Please come home and grace him with your presence or he shall turn suspicious eyes on us when learns the Lady of Tepal does not wish to welcome and attend to him.

Your loving brother,

Narshen

"I'm surprised he spelled his own name right," Aife said. "Let's see. What's my answer? No. But I'll be speaking with King Zephiel about this."

"Aife, you're playing a dangerous game, playing with the king this way," said Mirriam.

"Oh hush! I won't get in trouble. Besides, it's fun messing with his head."

"Aife."

Aife sighed. "Fine."

"And you are going home."

"No!"

"Aife!"

"Fine! … I was planning on going back to help the flood victims anyway…"

A/N: Oh gawd, Narshen's letter is embarrassing. Did I write that? No wonder I couldn't take him seriously... Ahem.

So now we've got Narshen. He is the Dragon General that Zephiel puts in command of taking over Lycia in FE6.

"I am strong. I am wise. I am lovely. And most importantly, I am right! ...Me! No one else! " —Narcian

Claaaaassic. Honestly, his flamboyant character served too funny to ignore.

Review to let me know which stories to upload faster! ;) Since I am still in a re-upload phase. :D Ciao!