I'm very sorry for the delay on this chapter. I just haven't had much time.

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Chapter Four

The exclamation was so strange, so... so... wrong, Rutger couldn't respond. Where in the world did his wife get that idea?

He looked at the woman, sobbing, her blonde hair covering her face. He couldn't hold his urge to protect her, to care for her, to comfort her, back any longer. Kneeling down, he held her, hugging her tightly to his chest.

"No, Clarine. There isn't another woman. There never has been, never will be. I don't leave because of you. I miss you. I just leave because... well, I hate Etruria. Clarine, I'm Sacaen. I love the fields, the plains. I long for that, as well as longing for you. I have to feel that. I have to break away from Etruria to remember who I am."

"Then..." she looked up, her lips quivering. "Why haven't you ever told me that? Oh, Rutger, all I could think was that I did something. I drove you away! I blamed myself." Rutger held her tighter.

"No. Definitely not. I love you, Clarine. Believe me. I always have, and always will. I wouldn't be married to you, wouldn't have stayed married to you for six years, if I didn't love you." She looked up at him, offering a small smile. He wiped away her tears, lightly kissing her.

It was perfect.

She remembered now why she married him. Why she loved him. Why she put up with six years of hard marriage to stay with him forever. It was because he was everything she wasn't. He was everything she needed. He was her other half.

"Next time you leave me... please... please," she began, gripping his shirt, "tell me. Please. At least then so I don't wake up to an empty bed." Rutger nodded, kissing her head.

"I will."

Mildain noticed that Clarine and Rutger seemed to be back to normal and Rutger was in Clarine's good graces. He was happy to see that, knowing how much more important it was that the two didn't fight now, especially around Lillie.

The three adults packed up their items, Rutger riding on Clarine's horse while Lillie rode on Mildain's. They traveled far the first day, stopping once the sun went down to make camp. They ate a light meal and fell asleep, seemingly safe on the dark plains of outer Etruria.

"Clarine." Clarine opened her eyes, groggily, seeing Rutger hovering over her.

"What?" she asked him, a sharp edge on her voice.

"Get up. We have to fight." Clarine was suddenly wide awake. She rose up from the blankets, reaching towards her Aircalibur spell book. Standing up, she and Rutger turned towards the source of the sounds. They realized that they were completely surrounded.

"Why didn't we hear them?" Mildain asked them, having woke up once they had stood.

"They must have been hiding around here all day. They've been expecting us," Rutger told him.

"Prince, please protect Lillie." Mildain nodded, taking a blanket and wrapping Lillie in it. Clarine backed into Rutger, facing opposite sides.

"Ready?" Rutger asked her, throwing a grin towards her. Clarine, despite her weariness and still not fully recovered strength, felt confident beside him. They would most assuredly win. She had no doubt.

"Ready," she told him, throwing him her own grin. Rutger dashed away from her, unseen to the normal human eye. Clarine guarded the prince, taking a deep breath. She could hear the quick gasps as Rutger most likely decapitated the army.

Within two minutes, the other members of the renegade army realized what was happening. They charged towards her. Clarine was prepared.

"Aircalibur!" Stretching her arms beside her, she raised them up towards the sky, and slammed them down towards the ground, causing the magic to fly across the night sky in deadly green blades. They hit the coming men, instantly causing large gashes, sometimes even cutting off limbs. Men collapsed instantly.

"I've never seen you do that with an Aircalibur spell before," Rutger commented, having returned to her side. Clarine smirked at him.

"I've been coming up with more powerful variations of magic attacks with my father and Cecilia and Erk. We all came up with this attack awhile back. We figured the Aircalibur attack would be more effective if we could use it on multiple enemies at one time."

"Good to see you haven't been going to waste, then," Rutger told her. As another wave of enemies charged towards them, Rutger twirled his blade, jumping up, and slit a man's throat, having landed on his shoulder. He didn't stop there, though, and leapt towards the next man, swinging his blade at the man's throat, beheading him. As a few of the army members surrounded him, he twirled his blade again, this time throwing the blade expertly, stabbing a man in the heart. Jumping up, as someone swung an axe at him, Rutger landed on the person's shoulder, forcing all his weight on the man, hearing his shoulder snap. The man crumpled to the ground as Rutger jumped again, retrieving his sword.

Yanking it out of the fallen body, he turned quickly to the axe fighter who's shoulder he had dislocated. He charged, beheading the man, jumping onto the man's shoulders, and leaping once more at another man. He stabbed the man right in the middle of his forehead, forcing the man down to the ground. The rest of the men that had been surrounding Rutger crumpled suddenly. Rutger looked over to see his wife holding her hand towards the sky. A ball of blue energy gathered there.

Rutger quickly saw that the men were being struck down by ice shards. Extremely large ice shards that formed quickly and struck devastatingly, piercing the unfortunate enemies in the chest. Rutger scanned the field, seeing that the majority of the enemies were fleeing. He didn't pursue them as he saw his wife crumple to the ground.

She panted as he lifted her up.

"Why didn't you use that attack when you were being attacked yesterday?" Rutger asked her. Clarine continued to pant, trying to catch her breath.

"It... takes so... much... out of me," she told him in-between pants. "It's an extremely high-level magic attack that borderlines S-rank. I can only do it once before I collapse. And that time, it was cut short."

"What was it?" Clarine smiled up at him, proudly.

"It was a variation of Fimbulvetr. I form the ice shards and can control them. When I'm at full strength, I'm typically surrounded by harsh winds so no one can touch me. I must really be weak if I can't even manage the winds."

"It was pretty... awesome," Rutger told her, carelessly smirking at her. "You made a good attack." Clarine beamed.

"I thought so, too. My father and I worked forever trying to master it." Rutger nodded, looking around, making sure there were no enemies left.

"You did wonderful work, you two," Mildain told them, smiling softly. "I'm glad you're here, Rutger. We wouldn't have survived without you." Rutger nodded, opting not to speak. "Now, we should probably go ahead and set out. There is no way we'll be able to fall back asleep."

"Right," Clarine agreed. So, in the cold, early morning, they once again set out towards Etruria, much more wary than before.

They were all exhausted when they made it to a small town in Etruria. Hiding their identities, they rested at an inn for the night, trying to catch up on their sleep. In the following morning, they shopped at the market, getting food, weapons, and various medicines for the rest of their journey.

Their rest was cut short though when, once more, their attackers pursued them into the town.

"We're looking for the Prince of Etruria and his general. They are here!" Someone called, standing on some type of vegetable stand. Clarine looked over at Mildain, watching as he pulled his hood up on his cloak. Glancing over at Rutger, they silently agreed, walking as calmly but as fast as they could to get the prince out of the village. They didn't need another fight. Not in the middle of a village.

They rushed to the stables, getting their horses, saddling them quickly, and placing the saddlebags on. Climbing on, Clarine lead the way, first trying the back way of the village. Members of the renegade army blocked the exit. She traveled to the entrance they had originally entered, seeing that blocked off as well. Getting desperate, they traveled to the main exit of the village, seeing it also heavily guarded. Clarine groaned, knowing they had to fight once more.

"Rutger, will you take out the guards? You're more stealthy than us and my magic attracts too much attention." Rutger nodded, slipping off Clarine's horse. Pulling his own hood up to shadow his face, his walked quickly towards the guards.

"You there! Halt!" They told him when he began to pass through the gates. Rutger looked up at them, narrowing his eyes dangerously.

"Let me leave, now," he told them. They sneered at Rutger.

"No one leaves until the prince is found and executed. Him and that whore! That female general!"

"Yeah!" one of the other guards agreed. "Women are nothing good on the battlefield! And the prince making her his general! What a fool! And that new Lycia leader married to Roy! And of course, that trash, Guinevere! Women are nothing good leading a country. They're good for babies and nothin' more!" Other members of the guards agreed.

With godlike speed, Rutger had a sword to one of the men's throat. He slit it before the man could even scream.

"That whore is my wife," he told the others, furious. The men didn't even have enough time to scream for back-up before Rutger slaughtered them all. Motioning to Clarine and Mildain, they exited the village. Rutger jumped back onto the saddle, wrapping his arms around Clarine tightly and protectively.

No one would ever lay a finger on her. He swore it.

They traveled quickly. Even in the night. They didn't dare stop. The three rotated leading the horses. When Clarine was tired, she would sleep while Rutger would take the horse. When Mildain was tired, Clarine would take over his horse, and hold Lillie, while Mildain would sleep on Clarine's horse, behind Rutger. When Rutger was tired, Clarine would take her horse and Mildain would take his back. The only time they would stop is to let the horses rest. During those times, they ate and rested their aching muscles from riding so much.

It took a day or two before they finally reached Aquleia, looking ragged and exhausted. Immediately, they went to the palace, furious at what had happened. Mildain quickly assembled Percival, Noish, his father, and some of the top advisors, and of course, Klein, who was the ambassador. Pent also went to the meating as did Clarine and Rutger.

Filling the others in, everyone was shocked at what had happened. After the meeting, Mildain hand wrote reports to Lilina and Roy, Guinevere, Sue and Shin, and Yuno and Zealot. Attaching the letters to the fastest messenger falcons, the letters were sent.

Dreadfully, the leaders of Etruria went back to their respective homes to rest. Clarine and Rutger, after months of being parted from each other, were able to sleep in the same bed again, though it was with heavy feelings.

Because everyone realized that the peace they had sacrificed so much for in the war, almost ten years ago, was slowly slipping away. Once again, they realized, Elibe would be plunged into war.

When Clarine woke up the next morning, she was sore and tired. She didn't want to wake up at all. They had so much to do this day. They had to inform the families of the guards that had died; they had to meet with the entire Etrurian Court about the upcoming wars; they had to continue planning the details of the upcoming coronation of the prince; and most of all, Clarine had to fix everything with her family and Lillie.

Lillie... Clarine could have groaned. She was one room over and Clarine knew she needed to tell her parents what was going on. She needed to get Lillie settled in. She needed to begin training Lillie.

There was so much to do...

"It's too early for you to look so sour," Rutger remarked, looking over at his wife. Clarine merely sighed.

"There's too much to do. And I want to rest." Rutger snorted.

"Poor, poor Sorcery General." Clarine elbowed him.

"Shut up," she told him, glaring. He cracked a grin at her, leaning over and kissing her. Which was exactly what Clarine needed.

He was what she needed.

Clarine wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly.

"Please don't leave me again. Not until everything has calmed down. Please," she begged him, whispering it in his ear. "I need you now more than ever. I need you to be beside me, to help me through this mess." Rutger ran his fingers through her hair, tenderly trailing kisses down from her mouth to her collar bone.

"I'm not that cruel," he told her, nuzzling her neck. Clarine smiled, closing her eyes. "I'll stay right beside you. And if one Etrurian noble tells you off or makes you cry... I'll get them." Clarine laughed.

"Well, you can't. That means you'd have to kill almost every Etrurian noble." Rutger stroked her hair once more, running his fingers through the silky locks.

"You know I would. I hate seeing you cry. Especially when it's because of me." Clarine bit her lip, leaning into his touch.

"We'll get through this," she told him softly, rolling over into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly.

"We will," he agreed.

The day, like Clarine had figured, was hectic. Introducing Lillie to her parents and explaining everything to her family was nerve-wracking as she was scared that her father wouldn't allow it. But Pent had merely smiled and said, "Glad to have you! You'll have to meet my own student, Erk. He lives down the road with his wife. He could help you if you're ever having trouble with magic. That is, if Clarine or I weren't availiable." Lillie merely nodded.

Louise had loved the idea, though, and seeing how busy Clarine was with meetings, had offered to take Lillie shopping for dresses and other things. She had even offered to take the girl home to pick up anything she wanted from her old house. Tate and her own daughter decided to accompany them.

As for meetings in the Etrurian Court, things were hectic. Clarine was in meeting after meeting, planning the next step. What would they do with the renegade army? How would Etruria react with a revolution? What was the next step, even?

Finally, after hours and hours, a decision was reached. Tighter security around Aquleia and especially the palace. More troops placed at the border. All army members would start intensive training just in case. And all plans to procede with the coronation were still going to go on.

If Mildain took over the thrown, though it would be hard for Etruria, everyone decided that would be for the best. The people would be able to trust their new king if he lead them through this difficult time. Not only that, but they needed to show Etruria how serious they were about Mildain inheriting the thrown (after all, there were still rumors going around that Mildain was a fake, even though the entire story had been revealed to the Etrurian public about how Mildain had been saved). Not only that, but the nobility had to show that they wouldn't let these threats stop Etruria from its plans and goals. They would merely work around it, and if or when the time comes, stop the threat.

Now, night having set in, Clarine finally departed from the palace, tired. Behind her, Klein and Percival followed her out. They both looked as haggard as she did. The three felt too tired to even make plesant conversation, opting to merely get on their horses. Percival mumbled a goodbye, which the two responded with their own mumbled goodnight. They departed from each other, Klein and Clarine riding towards the Reglay mansion.

Rutger met Clarine outside the stables, escorting her inside. It brought a smile to her tired face seeing that her normally detached husband was seemingly going out of his way to comfort her and make her feel better. Tate also met Klein in the hallway once they stepped inside the mansion. Their little girl, Selphina, peeked out from behind Tate's skirts. Seeing his family brought a smile on Klein's tired face. Spreading his arms open, Selphina ran to him, her short blue and blonde hair flowing out behind her.

Clarine smiled, watching as her niece hugged Klein tightly, Klein lifting the seven-year old up into his arms. Tate smiled, standing back, until Klein looked over at her, placing Selphina back on the ground. Tate rushed at him, Klein kissing the blue haired ex-Pegasus Knight. Clarine took a glance at Rutger, seeing his eyes soften at the tender-hearted scene.

If only that could be them...

Clarine brushed a hand over her stomach. Maybe eventually she'd have her own child. Maybe eventually, she and Rutger could experience the joy of birth and being parents. Maybe eventually...

Looking back at Tate, Klein, and Selphina, as they walked down the hallway, going towards their own area in the mansion, Clarine could feel a pang of jealousy blooming in her stomach. She wanted that. She wanted a child (by birth) and a loving, caring husband.

Not that she was saying that Rutger wasn't a loving, caring husband. Certainly, he wasn't the most affectionate, but he definitely cared for her deeply. And, Clarine realized, that was all she really needed.

Interlacing her hand in his, they went towards their own bedroom. Lillie had already been put to bed, a maid told Clarine, so it was merely her and Rutger for tonight. They acsended the staircase, going into their own room.

As soon as she was there, Clarine slumped onto the bed, laying down, fully clothed. Too much to do...

"Everything will be alright," Rutger told her, dropping Clarine's pink nightgown across her stomach. Clarine touched it, looking up at Rutger, seeing him undressing.

He was right, though. Everything would be fine.

Eventually...

End Chapter

Thanks for reading! This was a pretty boring chapter, I thought. At least plot wise. At least we know that Rutger is going to be sticking around for awhile :D (And to be quite honest... The next chapter is pretty boring, t

Preview:

Within the month, other changes were made. For one, Mildain immediately started working on the poverty in Aquleia's slums. He put all his effort into it, barely thinking about the reports of war brewing in Bern. Instead, he left that to Percival and the two other Generals. Cecilia and Clarine he had work on the project about defeating the poverty.

The month stretched slowly for Clarine. She had long, tiring meetings with the King and Cecilia and multiple lords and ladies. Not only that, but Mildain had involved Tate and Louise in helping him in the project. Both women were to become his spies for the slums. They dressed in peasants clothing and walked the streets, noting anything that needed to be changed. All of them were busy.

Rutger had even gotten involved in the military, training new recruits (which, Clarine figured, was kind of a good thing. It helped release his anger by taking it out on the poor recruits.)