Risks Taken
Chapter Two
A/N: I'm sooo sorry this took longer than I had originally said. A bunch of things came up and I didn't have much time to work on many of my stories. I am going to try to get a new chapter of each of them up before school starts next week though.
--
As Bastian witnessed Ashnard taking the Crimean throne, he was instantly worried. What had happened to the Queen, Duke Renning, and the girl he loved? Surely, if they were alive, they wouldn't let this scene to take place…would they? They wouldn't allow a tyrant like King Daein to take to the throne. They couldn't.
Perhaps, however, they were being held captive and he would have to save them and become Crimea's hero.
He highly doubted the last comment. Nevertheless, he had to find out what was going on.
--
When Lucia awoke, she had a throbbing headache.
What happened?
As she tried to remember, she heard footsteps running down the hall.
Who could that be? Possibly Renning? How she hoped for that. Her brother even?
No. Now she remembered. Soldiers had stormed into the room, trying to kill Queen Alicia.
Oh no! Queen Alicia!
Lucia had to make sure Queen Crimea was safe. However, when she tried to get up, she realized she couldn't move. It was much too painful.
Suddenly, she heard the owner of the previously mentioned footsteps enter the room.
"Lucia!" they exclaimed, walking towards her.
If the voice hadn't given it away, the shoes and cloak did.
"Bastian…?" she replied weakly.
"Good, my darling, you're awake. Now I just need to find a way to get you out of here safely. Wait…hold that thought."
Bastian slipped into the closet just as three Daein soldiers walked in, talking in whispers. Lucia hadn't even heard them coming…
"What do you suppose we should do with the girl?"
"I don't know. We were told to kill the royal family, and as far as I can see, she's not got any royal blood."
"I think we should just kill 'er."
Kill me?! Bastian! You'd better not let these lunatics kill me!
"I'm not so sure. I'll go ask the King how he feels about this."
"Okay. But be careful. I hear that crazy Count Fayre is still somewhere in the castle."
"Yeah. Bet ya he's got himself a tome er knife er something' and wouldn't think twice 'bout killin' ya."
"You're right. I'll be careful."
The soldier left for the throne room, while the other two stood over Lucia, who was pretending to still be unconscious. Bastian decided that this was the best time to make his move; he could easily take these two guys down. He moved out of the closet, Elthunder tome in hand.
"I suggest that if you do not want to be killed by the 'crazy man,' you step away from the girl."
"Aah! No!"
They both stepped away from Lucia, as the Count picked her up in his arms.
"Bastian…"
"It's alright, my dearest Lucia, you'll be fine."
"S-she's awake?!"
"Yes, she is. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"
"N-no! Of course not!"
"Good. Now, I am taking her out of here. I wouldn't try stopping me if I was you. If you do, I'll have you struck by a powerful bolt of lightning.
"Go…go ahead. Take 'er!"
"Y-yeah! We won't try to stop you!"
"Good." He looked down at Lucia. "Ready to go, my love?"
She groaned.
"Don't call me that…or I'll…"
"Fine, fine."
The Count quickly took Lucia out of the room, making sure no one could attack them as they escaped.
Bastian recalled seeing numerous loose horses, who had lost their riders in the previous battle, roaming around outside. He figured he could use one of them to get the two to Castle Delbray, which was where Renning had sent Elincia's Pegasus, armor, and royal sword, Amiti, in case of an emergency.
And an emergency this was.
--
Meanwhile, Geoffrey, Elincia, Kieran, and the entire fifth platoon of Crimean Royal Knights were riding towards Gallia. That's when they ran into trouble. A whole lot of it, in fact.
Hundreds of soldiers began appearing in front of them. Many were dropped from the sky by Kilvas ravens. This would be a bad situation for Geoffrey indeed. Kilvas had joined the fight with no warning at all. Now that he thought about it, Daein had attacked with no warning. This whole war seemed pointless to him.
But that didn't matter right now. He had to keep the Princess safe. He ordered Elincia to hide in the nearby forest while they fought off their attackers.
This would prove to be a rough battle.
--
While roaming through the castle yards, Lucia still resting in his arms, Bastian came upon a shocking discovery.
Grazing near the west gate of the castle was Abrielle, Duke Renning's mare.
Bastian slowly walked up to her and grabbed her reins. Doing a quick inspection, he found her to be in nearly perfect condition. In fact, there wasn't a single scratch on her; she was only a little spooked.
"Abrielle…what's happened here? Where's Duke Renning?"
The horse only neighed.
"Come on, let's get you out of here."
He gently placed Lucia on the mare's back and quickly mounted behind her.
Now if only they could make it to Delbray Castle safely.
--
The battle Geoffrey and his troops faced against the Daein rebels was indeed long and fierce. Geoffrey and the Royal Knights were victorious, however, this victory came at a price: Kieran was captured and Princess Elincia lost.
He feared for the worst as he set out for Delbray Castle. Little did he know, but Count Bastian and Geoffrey's injured sister, Lucia, were also heading for Delbray territory.
But in this war, was there any hope for Crimea at all? Only time could tell.
--
A/N: Now to update Sacrifice and Talent-less Tellius and I've completed my goal. Shouldn't be too hard, though Sacrifice is being a pain right now…
Oh, and if you're a fan of the reality show "The Mole," be sure to check out the fanfic my cousin and I wrote--"Presto, Change-o, You Didn't Eat Your Mango!" Well, even if you have no clue what "The Mole" is, you should still read it…and leave a review! Chapter Seven even takes place (partially) in Fire Emblem! Anyway, if you want to take a look, the link's on my profile page.
