Ack! Sorry about the extreme lateness with this chapter. Kind of got sidetracked. I'm going to try to post another chapter either later today or tomorrow to make up for it. Normally you would have to wait for an update for Choices first.


Part IV

Tussle, Tussle. I See Trouble.

Hitomi screamed into her pillow. Her head was already pounding and it wasn't even midday yet! How she wanted someone to close those heavy curtains so the sun would stop causing her head to throb. She had tried, but the sun was so bright, and her head hurt so much, and damn it, those curtains were heavy. Dalet certainly wasn't going to be courteous enough to assist her. The dark-haired Dragon Slayer was the most polite out of Dilandu's subordinates, and there were times when the way he treated could almost be called kind.

Of course, all of that had changed after Dilandu's public humiliation the other day in Court. It didn't matter that the emperor had specifically named the captain of the Dragon Slayers when he commending her for her assistance. The insinuation was still there, and only a complete fool would have missed the underlying tone. Now Dalet treated with a cold politeness that isolated her, and was quick to become impatient if she didn't do what he said when he said it.

Personally, Hitomi didn't care one way or another. If it was any other country but Asturia she would not have hesitated to let him know exactly what she thought about that. No, of course, that just isn't proper. After all it's not like I could possibly have my own thoughts.

"Princess?"

Hitomi sat up quickly, the hiss that escaped her teeth having more to do with the person that the perfectly polite, perfectly cultured voice belonged to than the pounding beneath her skull. Grasping to the anger and indignation that flowed through her at the very sight of him, she used it to push back the pain and glared at the fair knight for all she was worth.

"What have I told you, Sir Allen?" It was somewhat gratifying to see him wince. "I am not here as a princess. I would have thought that was made clear enough so that even someone like you could understand it. I am only here as a dignitary on behalf of Zaibach. I believe you will notice how I was introduced as a lady of their court." Hitomi bit her lip against the rest of the onslaught that was threatening to tumble out. As much as she wanted to there really was no point in blaming him for the way Veshrane fell. The attack had been brutal and the amount of troops that had been sent was overwhelming. It was no wonder that her people were glad she was gone. Dornkirk had been nearly ready to follow through in his threat to completely raze the islands and slaughter all of its people when she had surrendered.

She still remembered the feeling of the fruit that bounced off her skin as her people threw things at her.

Allen smiled at her in that condescending way of his. "Your reasons do not change who you are. It does not hide the fact that you come from a royal line."

"Oh, I wasn't aware that people took into consideration that even backwater could have royalty." There was no small amount of bitterness in her voice. Oh, what she would give to have claws like Naria and Eriya so that she would reduce his pretty face to a mass of bleeding flesh.

Allen, for once, seemed, at the very least, to have the common sense to remain silent.

Hitomi shook her head, right now was really not the time to get into a debate. She was supposed to be accompanying Princess Millerna to a visit with her fiancé. She needed to get her emotions under control so that Dalet would satisfied enough that there would be no need to report anything back to Dilandu. So she bit her lip, and held her tongue. "Never mind. What do you want?"

"Princess Millerna regrets to inform you that she will not be able to accompany you today."

She raised her eyebrow at the forced formality, for all that he was knight she had never heard of him speak in such a manner before. "She regrets, does she?"

"As she told me."

Hitomi couldn't help but smile. Maybe being here in Palas wasn't going to be as bad as she thought it would. Even though her every movement was watched, even though she had to suffer with Allen as an escort as she made it seem like she was following through with her orders, events were happening that made her find an interest outside of her position.

This was the second day that the princess had 'regretted to inform her' that she would not be able to go with her to the merchant's estate. It surprised that the crown princess could be so stubborn.

She was so different from her sisters. As diplomats on behalf of their emperor both Dalet and Hitomi had been gifted with the opportunity to dine with the royal family. The eldest daughter, Princess Eries, was everything that she had expected of a daughter of Asturia. She was obedient and graceful. Not once during the meal did she ever ignite conversation. There were rumors among the palace that she was favored by the king's advisors, and that they would prefer her to inherit the throne. Even Princess Marlene, despite the brief bit of scandal of an affair that was rumored to have been with a knight of some status, had done her duty to her father and wed the duke of Freid, a man ten years her senior. She had born the duke a male heir, and effectively removed the stain from her name.

Princess Millerna was a different person entirely.

Throughout the entire dinner she had made it perfectly clear that she was not pleased with being seated next to her future husband, that he had been invited to the dinner at all. She knew Dalet had been mortified, because, after all, everything depended on them being able to get close to the merchant, Lord Dryden. Princess Millerna would have been the easiest way for them to accomplish the task.

She had openly flirted with Sir Allen, which Hitomi couldn't possibly understand what the attraction was. Her tastes for the under gender aside, Hitomi couldn't but greatly admire the princess's courage. It was obvious that the status of the engagement was even more fragile than Folken had told her.

She had been greatly looking forward to spending time with the princess. Agreeing to accompany the princess to a visit to her fiancé's estate on outside of the city was just a farce to distract Dalet enough so that we would think that she was honestly doing her job.

Hitomi tried very hard not to think about the fact that it was entirely possibly that Millerna wasn't avoiding her just because the princess had no real desire to see her fiancé. After all, any dignitary of a foreign country would take great interest in the future king and a chance to gain the confidences of the crown princess.

It was all rather depressing, really.

"I suppose there's no helping it." She stood up from her rather undignified position on the bed, briefly wondering why the knight had not waited for her in the receiving area of the suite of rooms that she was sharing with Dalet. Why come directly to her private quarters? Pushing that thought aside, she brushed at some invisible lint on the skirt of her dress before standing up. She considered Allen for a moment, his stiff and expectant stance. Why was Princess Millerna using him as if he was nothing more then a page?

Shaking her head, Hitomi immediately disregarded the thought. After all, what did it matter and did she really even care? In all honesty in what be that surprising if had been more to that public flirtation at dinner then most suspected. After all the type of man Allen was, the type that proclaimed and practiced chivalry, where usually the type of man who would be caught in the garden with a noble in some sort of secret tryst.

Why do I even care?

"Is Lord Dalet still down at the docks with the merchants?"

Allen blinked twice, a little surprise with the abrupt change of topic. "To my knowledge, yes."

"Then let him know that I will be out for the rest of the afternoon." She stood, and crossed the room to where he stood in the doorway, angling her body to brush past him. The light grip on her elbow had her pausing. Raising an eyebrow she looked up at Allen's face. She really did curse him for his good looks. He was beautiful rather then handsome. Even though he stood for everything that she had been raised to fight against she could help the light blush that colored her cheeks at his closeness. The Knight Caeli's lips curved just in the slightest and she knew he had seen it.

Her cheeks reddened from something else now. If she could only bend back in just the right way she could grasp the hilt of the knife strapped to her leg. She could—

Then Allen, in all of his insufferable arrogance, moved away so that he was now standing in the receiving room. Hitomi had to curl her hands tightly to keep from punching him.

"It really isn't advisable, Lady Hitomi."

The look she gave him could have shriveled the backbone of a lesser man. "I really don't care what you say, Sir Allen. This is my first time in Palas and I have as much a right to see the sights as Dalet does."

"Of course, lady. I only caution against it because you don't look well."

Hitomi snorted at that. She shook off his hand and ignored his look of surprise. "It's just a headache. I'm hardly going to get a fever from it." She headed over to where she had left her shawl. Wrapping it around her shoulders she glared at the fair-haired knight. So masculine, yet all the same… I'm sure if he was put in a dress he would probably look better then. She tugged at one of her caramel strands absently. I wonder what the attraction is for the princess; or does she merely flirt with him because it's convenient? I know I'm going to regret this, but there's no other way…

"Would you care to join me, Sir Allen?"

He smiled. "I was worried I would have to insist on it."

Hitomi returned his smile, with a poisonous one. It probably wouldn't be too difficult to lose once they were out on the streets. "Now, why would I make you do that? After all, did you not tell me that the king himself had assigned you as my escort?" Because, of course, I'm just so helpless.

Allen's smile suddenly looked less sure. Idly, she wondered if he really understood. Did his experiences with her and her mother in Veshrane really leave him to believe that she was docile and willing to bend to Asturia's stuffy laws? He offered her the crook of his arm which she gracefully accepted.

"The king only assigned an escort because he worries for your safety. Your presence in Palas is not welcomed by everyone, Lady. There are some people that see what Emperor Dornkirk is doing as peccant."

Well, it's nice to know that not everyone in Asturia is as daft as you are.


An hour later, Hitomi was nearly grinding her teeth in frustration. It should not have been this difficult to lose that damn knight. When they had stepped outside of the palace walls, she had pleasant surprised by how crowded the streets where. Noblewomen, merchants, fish mongers, young street urchins…the streets of Palas were filled with people of such different social statures mixing together. Considering the amount of attention that her escort garnered from the noblewomen—which only served to reaffirm her suspicion—it should have been simple to lose him. All she needed to do was to slip into the crowds by the shopping stalls why he was surrounded by his admirers.

This was the fifth time she had tried it and he still managed to find her each and every time. How was she ever going to—

Time seemed to stop for Hitomi. She allowed Allen Schezar to lead down street as she moved automatically. There he was, not that far from the docks, his long bangs ruffled by the sea breeze. Her heart seemed to stop as he spoke to someone next to him. A cat girl, in a raggedy yellow dress as a merchant lectured, the look on her face somewhere between a sulk and a glare. It was only when he started to turn away, his crimson eyes roving over the crowds that time started again.

No, not yet! It was too soon for him to be here! Whatever happened he couldn't find her here! If he found out that she was here, taking a walk with her escort when she had to be taken into the crown princess's confidence…Hitomi shivered. Before her departure Lord Folken had made it very clear that despite her rising status in the empire, Dilandu would be the one in charge of the operation once he arrived.

"Lady Hitomi?"

It was only at the sound of the knight's voice that Hitomi realized that they had stopped walking and were now standing under the awning of a bakery shop. Her face reddened at the sight of Allen kneeling before her, his sky-blue eyes concerned. She glanced at Dilandu again; he had yet to notice her.

So she decided, for once, to let use Allen's prejudice about feminine frailty to her advantage.

"Actually, no. I feel rather faint." It was very difficult to make herself sound genuinely weak. After all, with the exception of the instances when Folken gave her that head-pounding tonic, she wasn't in the habit of showing weakness in the presence of a male.

Allen's eyes darkened with concern and she had to resist the urge to laugh. "Shall we head back to the palace?"

"No, it's not the heat it's just…well. It's so much more crowded then I expected it to be. I think the crowd is getting to me. Besides," She didn't have the fake the sheepish expression, "I really don't care for Lord Dilandu to see me in this condition."

An unreadable expression crossed the knight's face, which surprised Hitomi, as he followed her gaze over to the docks to where Dilandu still stood; only know he was engaged in a heated debate with a dark haired man whose stance was achingly familiar. She shook her head at the strange twinge her heart gave. Stop that. She told herself. She really couldn't place where she had seen the man with the red tunic before, and she certainly didn't like the way her heart was torn between crying or...something…

"I understand." Allen stood up smoothly, and once again offered her his arm. A look of dislike—maybe disgust—crossed his face so quickly that Hitomi wasn't sure whether she had imagined it or not. "There are some rather nice gardens in the south district. It's not as nice, but people usually don't come out until later. It should be safe."

"That's fine." She allowed him to lead her in that direction. She really didn't like the way she her hand trembled, or the way she suddenly felt so light-headed. Wonderful. Now her story wasn't exactly a lie.


Common sense, and a hoard of well meaning comrades, had forced Van to leave his sword in his room at the lodge in the southern distract and enjoy the beautiful weather. Merle had been more then happy to accompany him, and the sea breeze did feel refreshing after having spent the last several hours in a war council. He didn't regret being outside. What he did regret was allowing Merle to lead him down the docks without some sort of weapon. He hadn't expected to see Zaibach soldiers in Palas so early, despite the rumors that a Dragon Slayer had accompanied Zaibach's newest ambassador to Asturia. He really hadn't been able to stop himself from getting involved in an argument with the long haired Dragon Slayer, but they had been talking about Dryden, damn it, and some sort of plan involving the princess, and was it really his fault that the silver haired bastard was arriving in Palas early?

He didn't think so, but he doubted that was how Merle would explain the disaster to Gaddess.

Both Allen and Dryden had specifically told him to avoid causing attention, but damn it! That bastard was responsible for wiping out a good quarter of his infantry, and all because of the way his guymelef had a habit of disappearing.

Damn coward.

Of course, maybe calling him that to his face had been the type of thing that Allen and Dryden had been trying to get him to avoid doing.

He would have been more then happy to answer Dilandu's drawn sword with his own blade. It would have been so simple to grab a sword of some sort from one of the passing soldiers. If it hadn't been the way Merle's insistent protests had drawn the attention of the dock master then everything would have been taken care of. As it was, he had been escorted away with some of the larger, brawny dock thugs that served as its guard. He had watched Dilandu the entire time that he was being dragged off, just daring him to do something, to do anything that would give him the excuse that he needed to kill that murderer.

Despite the bruise to his ego, Van would have been willing to leave it well alone. He would have been willing to try to enjoy the bazaar with Merle, but then that bastard—that bastard!—had the nerve to give him that condescending little smirk. It wasn't the first time a confrontation had ended in such a manner, but he would be damned if it wasn't the last. It was that smirk that let him know what Dilandu thought of him, how little his continued resistance mattered to the leader of the Dragon Slayers.

He'd show him.

Van grit his teeth in frustration as he walked through the cool, dark allies that were the borders for the affluent and the destitute. Idly, he wondered how long he would have this freedom, how long it would be until Merle managed to sniff him out to admonish him for disappearing and for the disturbance that he had caused. It wouldn't take her long, as one of tigre cat races, her sense were extraordinary. It would only take a short time for her to sniff him out.

Before she did that he needed to find someone that he could properly take his frustrations out on.

The familiar noises of a scuffle, and the faint feminine gasp that accompanied it, told him where he needed to go. A wicked grin split his lips as he grabbed a nearby piece of rusty metal. The iron crowbar wasn't as good as cold steel, but it would be enough for what he needed it for. Quickening his pace, the young man turned the corner, stopping only for a minute to assess his prey.


His breath was sour as he nuzzled at her neck, and if it wasn't for the exquisite pain that gripped her head she would have had no problem in showing the lout what she thought about him. As it was, she could hardly concentrate enough to think past the pain, and her stomach felt horribly nauseous. Her struggles against the meaty hands that circled her slim wrists were next to useless, and only served to encourage him to press against her, effectively pinning against the cold stone wall. If she had been able to think past the pain and the chills that now wracked her body, Hitomi might have been more then a little concerned about the fact that a good number of hulking, meaty, grotesque men surrounded her. She might have even been concerned enough to feed the fear that was starting to fester.

As it was, she was hardly able to see straight, her vision blurry and doubled. The Goddess help her. If he didn't take a step back or give her the opportunity to breathe fresh air then—

For a brief moment she thought the screams and howls of pain were own. Her head certainly hurt enough, but then the sense of being pawed was gone and there was no longer anyone slobbering at her neck. There was a crash somewhere to her left, followed by a snarl, and she whimpered at the sheer volume. Hitomi brought her hands up to her head, not even noticing that she was free. She slid down the wall, moaning in a strangled manner that sounded more like a whimper. Why couldn't the noise just stop? Didn't they see that she was in pain?

But they've never cared that I was pain before so why should they stop? As she slid out of the thin strip of sunlight that caused her head to pound suddenly things didn't hurt so much anymore. She was able to concentrate on things outside of her shaky line of vision. Peeking through her fingers, wary of the possibilities of pain, she was surprised to see a couple of unconscious bodies littering the alley. In front of her stood a boy…no a man, of no small stature. His protective stance was a surprise, and had her mind asking no small amount of questions. The red of his linen tunic caused her head to pound just a bit more painfully.

Hitomi turned her head to the side. The pounding hurt too much, and she honestly didn't care what her savior looked like. The grimy stone felt cool against her cheek. Closing her eyes she tried to concentrate on that instead. She never wanted to be rescued, never need to play the part of the defenseless maiden, and she hated the fact that her position had forced her into that roll. Tears of resentment welled up, hot and bitter, and she wasn't sure who she hated more. Allen was a constant reminder that she would never escape this feeling. Dalet and Dilandu—hell, the entire Zaibach empire—reinforced the helplessness of her situation. The men who attacked her, the way they forced her to recognize her own weakness. The man in front of her, who was kneeling, his voice soft as he asked her if she was hurt.

Damn you, damn you, to the seven hells!

She tried to stand, raising her hand with every intent on punching him, but the world suddenly tilted and she was falling. Strong arms caught her and punch was weakened into a slap that only brushed his hand. She looked up at him from her prone position in his embrace—damn you—opening her mouth with the intent of saying something caustic and nasty when he looked down at her. Warm cinnamon eyes stared down at her, dark with concern. She went still, stunned into silence. Her stomach did a queer little flop at the way his brow drew together. His voice sounded echoey, strange. She couldn't help but stare, eyes wide, even when she felt him lift her and gather her more comfortably in is arms.

Those eyes. She knew those eyes. They came to her every night sleep claimed her, and stayed with her when dawn woke her. She knew them as well as she knew her own face.

Her tears flowed more freely, no longer hot and resentful, as a poignant emotion filled.

"You," Hitomi whispered, reaching up to touch his cheek with trembling fingers. "I know you."

He went still at that, and she wanted to smooth away the confusion that marred his tan skin. Then a void edged at her vision and she panicked.

No! He was the one thing that she had managed to keep secret from them. He was—

It was only before her vision completely dimmed and plunged into the blackness that she realized what was happening to her. The resentment returned, just as she slipped from consciousness. Oh, fu—


Why did this chapter seem so much longer while I was writing it? Sorry, I know it drags in the beginning, but I needed something. This chapter was a bit of a bitch to write. I had a hard time getting Van to come out of hiding. Next chapter will be fluffarific but short. I can't believe this fic has gotten so many hits even though I only have a few chapters! A huge thanks to Suils Saifir, thepinkmartini, & Ro0tin4Kagome. Seriously, your reviews are a huge help.

Now I have a question: what type of summary do you prefer for a fic: A) Summary of the plot. B) Quote from the newest chapter. C) Summary of the newest chapter.

Thanks a bunch everyone! Let me know how much you hate/love it.

Jav-chan

Quick note: I just realized I've been writing Eriya's name wrong. I'll correct it tomorrow. Sorry!

As always, for new on how the fic is going or quicker updates check out my LJ: jav(underscore)chan