Back again with another chapter! Things start to really get interesting here and we (yes, already) start to move into the second half of the story. I'm so grateful for everyone's positive words! Yall have made my day countless times.
Quick FYI: The song that is mentioned in the dance scene at the beginning of the chapter is an actual song! It's called Second Figure by Natalie MacMaster, who is an incredibly talented Canadian fiddler. When I picture any of the dance/ball scenes in this story I picture them dancing to her music. If you want to have it going while you read the first part of the story, it helps kind of pull everything together. Enjoy the chapter!
"Wow, Alphonse. When you said you needed help teaching a friend some dances, I wasn't expecting a princess," a young girl around Winry's age with her hair pulled back in a tight bun and dressed in the slacks and tunic typical of an Amestrian man said in shock as she and the Elric brothers walked into a medium-sized meeting room deep in the heart of the castle. Winry took a quick glance around and noticed a few instruments were set up in one of the corners.
"Ah, yeah, this is Princess Winry of Aerugo. Winry, this is Paninya, the bard I told you about earlier," Alphonse introduced politely.
"Did you also tell her that I'm the greatest one in the entire kingdom? That the entire summer festival would be boring and lifeless without my incredible talents? That I'm quite humble?" Paninya joked as she elbowed Al lightly and came up to greet the rather taken aback princess properly.
Winry couldn't help but smile at the girl. She was certainly spunky and a tad bit unrefined, but who in the Amestrian household wasn't? She liked her already. "It's nice to meet you, Paninya. Ed and Al spoke very highly of you."
"I should hope so, considering how long we've known each other. It's nice to meet you as well, Your Highness."
"Please, call me Winry."
"Sounds good. I didn't think I was going to remember all that 'Your Highness' stuff anyway. So, Aerugonian, huh? How many Amestrian jigs are you even a little bit familiar with?"
"Well, that would be a grand total of none," Winry replied somewhat sheepishly.
"Good! That means I get to play all my favorites. I guess Alphonse already told you how good of a dancer he is."
Winry turned to look at Al. "He mentioned some things about that."
"Well, he's one of the best. Together we'll have you an Amestrian dance expert by the end of the day," she told Winry with unwavering confidence before she turned and walked toward where the instruments were piled together. She picked out a fiddle and walked toward the large open space at the front of the room. "Okay, Al, name a song and we'll get started."
"Mmm, how about Second Figure?"
"Good choice. Let's do it!" Paninya exclaimed before she put her bow to the strings and began playing a lively, though still simple, song that sounded quite similar to the Aerugonian ones she had grown up with.
Alphonse turned toward her with an excited smile. "Alright, this one is a little fast for our first lesson, but it's played at nearly all Amestrian gatherings. Everyone loves the dance for it, as well. Lots of twisting and turning."
"I'm ready," Winry spoke confidently, hoping finally being out on a dance floor would bring back all the positive memories she'd had, and not the particularly gloomy ones.
"Alright, now we start the sequence by circling around our partner. First, men go then the ladies. Yes, just like that. Now give me your left hand and we're going to hop onto this foot then the other…" Alphonse continued his lesson and Winry paid rapt attention. So far, the dance didn't seem too unfamiliar, she'd just have to memorize the exact sequence of the movements.
Typically with dances of this kind, there was a lot of twisting and turning, swinging the partner back and forth, as well as many complicated steps and hops. Then, the whole sequence was repeated until the song ended, or the couple got winded. Winry was a pro of the similar style that they did in Aerugo, so it didn't take her long to pick everything up.
"Wow, Winry! They weren't kidding when they said the Aerugonian princess knew how to dance," Alphonse complimented once the last notes of the song had been played.
"Al's right. You got that down impressively fast," Paninya said as she cleaned off her fiddle.
Winry smiled at the pair. "Well, maybe it's in my blood. My mother was apparently an incredible dancer here in Amestris, as well."
"I'd believe that," Al said enthusiastically before they got ready to learn another, slower, dance.
As the pair moved in perfect synchronization once Winry had the basic framework of the dances learned, and Paninya played wholeheartedly from the corner, Ed watched the scene with growing interest.
He was trying to keep his eyes peeled to see if there was anything that brought back a bad memory for the princess, but so far she was enjoying herself immensely. It brought a smile to his face when he thought about it.
She'd be fine at the ball, he was sure. He'd watch her like a hawk to make sure she was properly protected, Al would dance with her to all their favorites, and they would all have a good time. There would always be difficult moments, he knew, but he could tell that Amestris, and it's people, really were changing Winry for the better.
-Two Months Later-
"Hey, Winry! You got a letter," Edward shouted across the gardens to where Winry was busy making flower crowns with Princess Margaret. She looked up at his voice and smiled before leaning down to tell the little girl something, standing up and brushing away the grass and dirt that had accumulated on her dress, and running over to where the young knight stood waving a piece of folded parchment.
Even though he tried his best to contain the weird butterfly feeling in his stomach as he watched her run to him, he couldn't help the content smile that spread across his face. The difference in this young woman before him, slightly out of breath, with her long hair flowing out beautifully in the wind, compared to the broken and scared girl constantly covering herself in a dark cloak from a few months before was striking. Ed couldn't believe how long it had been already. To everyone in the Amestrian castle, Winry's time with them seemed to fly by. It almost seemed like she had always been a part of their strange little family.
Ever since that night he and his brother had run into her bedroom to the sound of her screams, scared out of their minds, their relationship with the princess had shifted and molded in ways the young knight couldn't even dream. He really did consider her a friend, now, as most everyone else in the castle did. She was certainly enough of a friend to constantly tease him about his perpetually scowling face or how, even though he was older, he was a few inches shorter than Alphonse. It was certainly not his favorite thing she did, but to have her feel so carefree, compared to shy and embarrassed, was a welcome relief.
"Here you go," Edward stated once Winry had finally slowed down enough to approach him fully. The cerulean-eyed princess took the letter with a quick thank you before turning it over in her hands to inspect the seal. Her face lit up in a way that made Ed's heart do a backflip, strangely enough.
"It's from Riza!" Winry stated excitedly. She gave Ed a quick, and surprising, side-hug as thanks for delivering such a precious message before she ran off to read it in private.
Ed watched her go happily.
"Wow, has it really been three months?" Sir Havoc asked in disbelief as he settled into his usual spot around the king's main table, the place where all the important meetings and negotiations took place in the castle.
Rebecca came in and sat beside her husband. She wasn't as used to this room as he was, since women usually weren't allowed in most of the king's private meetings, but she had been specifically asked to come today. The king had something important he wanted to discuss with her and a few of his other men. Lady Helena had also temporarily left her duties watching over Princess Margaret and the rest of the house to come listen in on this particular meeting. At Havoc's inquiry, she nodded her head.
"Man, it seems like just yesterday you were loudly introducing the princess to the rest of us at the breakfast table," Havoc thought as the rest of the meeting's attendees, including the king himself, filed into the room and took their seats.
"Yes, time certainly has seemed to fly by. But when you think about what Princess Winry was like when she first got here and what she's like now, she really has come a long way," the king stated from his place at the head of the table. He motioned for a servant to close the shutter doors near the open windows as another chilly breeze blew through the meeting room. It was another reminder that the last sprinklings of summer were fading away into a chilly fall.
Everyone at the table nodded their head in agreement with the king's statement before they all turned to him with listening ears. "Now, I've asked you all to come here for various reasons. To start, I want to hear from Breda's reconnaissance team. Any changes we need to know about concerning the Cretians?" Roy asked.
The bigger man shook his head. "No, Your Majesty. Everything has been suspiciously quiet. King Sergio hasn't made any drastic moves, yet."
"Which means it's only a matter of time until he does," Havoc commented.
"I agree. Breda, keep up the good work. Remain vigilant. What you and your team are doing is of the utmost importance. As soon as anything changes, let us know. Do you understand?" the king addressed.
Breda took on a determined look. "Yes, Your Majesty. I'll do my best."
"Good. Now, the reason I asked Rebecca and Helena to come here today is because I'd like to discuss the princess."
"What about her?" Helena asked curiously, with a hint of protectiveness ghosting around the edges of her tone.
"As we were just saying, she's come a long way. She fit right in with everyone here and is now rather close to you two, the Elric brothers, and a few others. These are all good things."
"But…" Rebecca prompted, knowing there was something else to the king's inquiry.
"But we're still in a dangerous position having her stay at the castle. The Cretians haven't made a move, but it's only a matter of time until they do."
"You mean to discuss sending Winry back to Aerugo?" Helena asked in disbelief, catching onto to the path the king was directing the conversation.
"No one is going to send her anywhere. What Winry decides to do will ultimately be left up to her. I'm not going to force her to leave."
"But you think now would be a good time to start talking to her about it?" Rebecca suggested.
The king nodded his head at her. "Yes. The reason she came here in the first place was to deal with what happened. It's been quite awhile since the incident. I'm sure she's not completely over it, or if she'll ever be, but she's made incredible improvements these last few months. If she were to return home now, I think she'd be alright. Plus, something she told me today has me thinking."
"What's that?" Rebecca asked, quietly contemplating the king's words up until this point.
"She met with me to discuss a letter she had just received from her sister. It seems I'm not the only one asking these questions. Apparently, Winry had sounded so much happier in her last few communications with her sister, that the queen brought up the possibility of a return home herself. Winry told me she didn't know what to think of it."
"So, what do you want us to do?" Rebecca asked.
"Get a good feel of what she really wants. She told me she had no idea what that was, but I think she does. You don't have to ask her outright, just...poke around a bit. See if she reveals something that would indicate whether she really wants to leave or not."
Both Rebecca and Helena nodded their head and quietly thought about how they would broach this subject with the princess. Suddenly a thought occurred to the elder of the two.
"Your Majesty, do you think we should tell her about the Cretian prince?"
It had been two months since the king had first received the letter from Hakuro about Prince Sergio overthrowing his father and taking the throne. He had instructed Winry not to be informed, lest the bad news bring up a host of negative emotions she wasn't prepared to deal with. Now, it seemed like the appropriate time for the difficult information to be shared. She'd need to know it eventually.
The king sighed. "If you think it best. I'll leave that up to your discretion. I don't want the news to tip her in either direction. She's already particularly vulnerable to feeling like too much of a burden. If she learns that her presence here puts our kingdom at more of a risk of being attacked by Creta, she might decide to leave before she's ready. Be delicate with the situation."
Rebecca and Helena bowed as they accepted the king's command, though they still shared an uneasy look between the two of them. Already this was sounding like bad news. Still, a command was a command.
"You don't need to have this discussion with her right away. Wait until the appropriate time. Now, you two can go back to your duties while we discuss other matters."
They both bowed again as they got up to leave, not knowing when, if ever, they'd be able to talk to the princess about such a difficult topic. Especially because they both, whether selfishly or not, didn't want her to leave. It seemed as though most people in the Amestrian royal household felt the same way. The Aerugonian princess had become a steady presence among everyone and they would be sad to see her go. They knew that Amestris wasn't really her home, but it was easy to forget, given the ease with which she fell into place among everyone.
A few days had passed since the king had instructed the two woman in charge of Winry's care to try and find out what the princess's plans were regarding her return home as well as her mental stability. The conversation had yet to be had by either woman, an opportune time not presenting itself.
One time, when Rebecca thought she'd be able to sit Winry down to discuss everything with her, the two Elric brothers had shown up and whisked her away to ride horses along the hillside or something. That was another issue blocking the way of Winry's caretakers. The Elric brothers had gotten suspiciously close to the Aerugonian princess in their time as her personal guard. It seemed Winry's frequent nightmares, and her subsequent hindrance to Rebecca's advice to not close herself off from them, had allowed the trio to grow quite close. Winry let them protect and comfort her and they had apparently done an excellent job at it. Enough to where it was clear to anyone Winry trusted them both with her life.
Rebecca knew both Ed and Al (Edward especially, who, despite his overall negative demeanor, had grown closer to Winry in ways his own brother hadn't) would be rather upset if they ever heard Winry was considering leaving. Rebecca was afraid that they'd, even inadvertently, sway the princess to do something that might not be best for her. And, as of right now, the only one who knew what was best for the princess...was the princess.
So the days passed and still Winry was kept in the dark about the Cretians and the possibility of her returning to Aerugo. Rebecca went to bed on a particularly windy and cold night with her head spinning. This issue was beginning to really plague her and she didn't really know what to do. Not even her own husband was sure of how to deal with the high-strung woman. Still, she somehow, blessedly, managed to wind her tired brain down enough to fall into a relatively decent sleep.
Until she was awoken an hour before dawn to a loud, blaring, and constant trumpet being sounded. She shot up out of bed quickly and looked around. The sounds of far more activity around the castle than should be present this early in the morning accompanied the warning sounds of the trumpet-caller. That could never mean anything good.
"Becca! Are you awake?" shouted her husband in a frantic tone as he entered through the door of their bedroom.
"Y-yes, I-I'm awake. Jean...what's going on?" Rebecca noticed that he was already dressed in his armor and had his sword equipped to his side. Her worry grew exponentially.
"We're under attack."
"What!?" Rebecca exclaimed with wide eyes as she jumped out of the bed and rushed to where her husband stood. His face frightened her and a nagging thought appeared in her brain. Her eyes widened even further. "Y-you don't mean to tell me it's-"
"The Cretians," Havoc finished for his wife as he moved around the room, gathering whatever last minute items he needed.
At his words, Rebecca's entire world came crashing down. The only thought that was going through her head was…
"How?" she asked in a breathless tone.
"I don't know," Havoc stated with a grim face. "No one does. But they've surrounded the city's outer walls. I have to go, Becca," he told her gently as he gripped her arms and leaned down to peck a quick kiss to her lips. His wife merely stood in the center of the room, completely frozen.
"You need to get Anwell and go with the other women to the safe room. Helena should be there along with the princess. Hopefully you won't be harmed."
"H-hopefully?" Rebecca squeaked out, her scared eyes searching for some kind of comfort from her husband. Unfortunately, he could give her none.
"I have to fight on the front lines, Becca. All I can do is trust the castle guards to protect you and everyone else, okay? I'm sorry," he told her meaningfully before he grabbed her hand, quickly squeezed it, and then rushed out of their bedroom in a sprint, eager to get to the capital city's outside wall where the rest of the high-ranking knights and soldiers were gathering.
Rebecca could only watch him go as her legs trembled and her heart thumped against her chest.
"Where is she!?" Edward shouted as he grabbed a soldier running the opposite direction and forced him to stop and address him.
The soldier looked impatiently at the rest of his men and then turned an annoyed glare down to Ed. The young knight didn't really care at the moment what this soldier thought of him. He had a duty.
"Where is who?" the soldier countered in an exasperated tone. The chaos in the castle went on around them, but neither paid any attention.
"The princess! Princess Winry, where is she?" Edward questioned through gritted teeth.
"How the hell should I know? Isn't she your charge, Sir Elric?" the soldier asked with a sneer before he shook himself from Ed's grip and rushed to catch up with the rest of his men.
"Dammit!" Ed shouted as he continued running down the hall, looking for any signs of the blond-haired princess. All he found though, as he turned down the guestrooms hallway, was his brother. "Al!" he exclaimed, causing Al to turn to look up at him in surprise. Ed rushed over to check in.
"Have you found her?" Al asked, looking as worried as Ed felt.
"No, and I take it you haven't either." Alphonse shook his head and Ed immediately responded by lashing his fist out against the wall in frustration.
"Goddammit! How is this possible? Where could she have gone?"
"I don't know," Alphonse stated sadly.
"You're sure she wasn't in her room?" Ed asked again.
"Yes. As soon as I heard the warning call, I ran there and looked around, but she was gone."
A maid who had been running past stopped next to the brothers and quickly turned to them. "Are you looking for Princess Winry?" she asked. The brothers nodded their heads and desperately clung to the maid's every word.
"I don't know where she is for certain, but earlier I saw her run out with a group of soldiers into the village. I believe she said something about having to get to the outer walls," the maid said.
"The walls? Why the hell would she go there? Doesn't that idiot know how dangerous it is right now? Let's go, Al," Edward said in a frustrated and fearful tone before he began running to the front castle entrance. Alphonse said a quick thank you to the maid before running after his brother, intent on finding the princess.
The door to the strategy room atop the southern half of the outerwall burst open and two very frazzled and out of breath brothers ran through. Havoc and the rest of his men, along with the king, looked at the pair in surprise.
"What is it?" the king asked, his voice low and dark. Given that his kingdom was currently under attack, he wasn't in the mood for their nonsense.
"W-winry," Edward stated, out of breath from having just run across the entire city from the castle to get to the wall. "Have you seen Winry?"
The king started at that. "What do you mean have I seen her? Why don't you know where she is? You're supposed to be her guard!" the king shouted, getting angrier by the second.
"When the warning calls woke us up she was already gone, Your Majesty. A maid told us she was heading to the wall."
"Heading to the wall!? Why the hell would she do that?" the king asked, muttering the last part to himself.
"If she made it here she's surrounded by soldiers and guards. I'm sure they'll direct her our way once she's found. It's pointless for you to run around the length of it," Havoc stated, doing his best to remain calm and rational. It was difficult given the magnitude of the situation.
Suddenly a terrible rumbling shook the group of nobles and knights for a few moments before it eventually subsided. The sounds of violent shouts, clashing swords, and whizzing arrows could be heard all around. Alphonse turned toward the unreadable king. "Your Majesty," he addressed in a terrified voice. "What's happening?"
"We're besieged," the king stated simply, his voice betraying no emotion. "King Sergio and the Cretians have completely surrounded the city and are waiting for a battle."
"T-this can't be! How could they have just snuck up on a city like this overnight?" Edward asked, completely astonished.
"We don't know. And right now, it doesn't really matter. We need to figure out what to do before everyone in the city runs out of food and water and we lose everything."
The king turned back to the strategy table with a resigned look, leaving Edward and Alphonse completely shocked. How could this have happened? How was the Amestrian army supposed to fight off someone with the strength of the Cretians when half the army wasn't even in the city? A surprise attack was always bad, but one of this magnitude was unheard of and spelled instant failure. What were they going to do? They couldn't let Amestris fall.
Before the brothers could process anything else, a disruption was heard from beyond the door leading into the main room. Guards were apparently trying to restrain someone, but whoever they were was fighting as best as they could, shouting that they needed to see the king right away. At first, the voice was unfamiliar, and everyone inside prepared to protect the king should a Cretian have slipped through their defenses. But as they got closer, the voice was instantly recognizable.
The door burst open again and Princess Winry ran up to the king, completely out of breath, with two guards trying to hold her back.
Ed and Al weren't even sure if they were relieved to see her in such a state or not.
Immediately Roy ordered the guards to release the struggling princess and leave the room, which they did with shocked expressions, wondering why the king would ever let a woman like her into such sensitive conversations.
"Are you alright, Winry?" the king asked as she hunched over to try and catch her breath. She nodded her head slightly at his question and stood up. After a few more steadying breaths, she fixed her steely blue eyes on the King of Amestris.
"It's the Cretians, isn't it? No one would tell me who was attacking, but I just know...it's Sergio. He's come for me. He's come to attack your kingdom because of me."
The king's (along with everyone else present) mouth dropped open at her questions. She was supposed to have been kept in the dark about the movements of the new Cretian king. How did she know if no one had told her anything?
"H-how did you-"
"It's awfully difficult to keep something like that a secret, Your Majesty," Winry said with a hard glare directed toward the king.
Roy, to his credit, at least had the decency to look guilty. "When did you find out?"
"Almost as soon as it happened. Though you shouldn't feel terrible about not telling me. I'm not surprised you didn't. And I selfishly kept it a secret that I knew because I thought I could stay here longer if I didn't feel an obligation to leave." Suddenly Winry's eyes filled with tears. Edward had to hold himself back from going to her. He hated watching her cry. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. Sergio is only here because of me. If I had just left...if I had just dealt with him head on...you wouldn't be here having to defend your kingdom like this."
The king let Winry cry a moment before he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "No, Winry. This is not your fault. I knew exactly what I was getting into as soon as I heard about the prince taking the throne. And really, since your sister asked me to take care of you. No one here blames you for anything."
His voice was so self-assured that the tears stopped falling from Winry's eyes long enough for her to look up at the king in shock.
"We will protect you. We will protect this whole kingdom. That's what leaders are supposed to do."
All Winry could think to do, as his words swam around in her mind, was nod her head.
"Now, Ed and Al can take you back to the castle so you can bunker down in the safe room with everyone else there. We'll figure out what to do about Sergio. I don't want you worrying about it."
Surprising everyone in the room yet again, Winry vehemently shook her head. "No," she said as she wiped away the last of her tears and sniffed a few times before turning a determined look to the king. "I'm going to stay and fight."
Ed and Al made to protest, but they were cut off by the king. "Winry, you shouldn't be here. It's too dangerou-"
Winry abruptly cut off his protests. "Do you remember what I told you, that afternoon on the range? King Boden trained his daughters in all the warrior-specific trades. I can fight. I'm ready to fight. I won't let you handle this battle by yourself, not when I'm the one Sergio wants."
Roy almost thought about throwing out another protest. But he knew, as soon as he looked into her eyes, filled with a fire and a determination he had yet to see from her, that he would never be able to stop her. He sighed and said, "Alright."
Immediately Edward rushed over to them. "You can't be serious! She can't-"
The king held up a hand to stop the young knight, his eyes not straying from the princess. "Clearly, I need to learn to trust her better. If she says she's ready to fight, then who am I to stop her?"
Winry gave a determined smile at that statement, before picking up one of the many bows lying around the room, along with a quiver, and strapping both of them to her back. "So, what's the plan from here?" she asked and, even amidst continued protests from Ed and Al, Roy let her come up to the table where they were busy drawing out their strategy.
The royals worked for awhile, trying to figure out the best way to attack Sergio's weakness. He had found King Roy's, so now they needed to return the favor. The growing sunrise began to paint the sky in beautiful colors as the sounds of battle drowned out the usual calm of dawn. The section of wall they were in continued to shake as the Cretians began their barrage.
Suddenly, as the planning continued, a call was heard from their lookout in the nearby tower.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! There's something coming up on the horizon. Looks like more troops."
"Reinforcements?" Edward asked in horror. "As if what we were dealing with wasn't bad enough."
The king exited the strategy room to the top of the wall near where the lookout was shouting from the tower. The others followed him, eager to know about the new developments.
Before the king could ask anymore questions, the lookout called again. "Just making out the colors of the flags, now, Your Majesty, and...wait a second...these don't look like the colors of the Cretian flag."
The king called back with an exasperated sigh. "Then whose colors are they?"
"I don't know. They look almost...blue. It's hard to tell with the light from the sunrise, Your Majesty."
At the mention of the color, Winry's eyes widened and her heart began to speed to an erratic pace. She dashed off to the door leading up to the top of the tower, all men surrounding her shouting their protests. She didn't much care. If this was what she thought it was...
She ran up the steps of the tower two at a time, eventually getting to where the lookout was busy staring through a hand-held scope at the new troops that had just arrived. She grabbed his scope and waved him away, immediately holding it up and looking in the direction of the horizon, to the hills that surrounded the capital city of Amestris.
She focused on the small figures moving toward the Cretian army stationed outside the city and focused on the flags carried by the ones in front, and saw….
Instantly, Winry's entire world lit up. The feelings of relief and joy washing over her were absolutely indescribable.
Through her elation she could barely hear the voice of Edward calling up to her from the wall. "What is it Winry? What do you see?"
"Do you know who it is?" the king asked. This new group of people could either make or break his kingdom. They were either more troops looking to assist the Cretians or they were, dare he to dream, allies coming to save their lives.
Winry lowered the scope practically in slow motion, her hands shaking so much that the lookout even asked if she was alright. Her only response was to begin laughing and smiling so big her cheeks hurt.
"It's my sister!"
See? Now things start to get really interesting. Hope you guys liked it! As per usual, the next chapter (along with the triumphant arrival of Queen Riza) will be out in a few days.
Universe Note: The capital city of Amestris is arranged such that the castle stands in the middle with its' own wall and moat surrounding the grounds, then there are villages and city fare type buildings surrounding that with another, bigger, wall encircling the city, along with a river that runs along one edge. Just letting yall know so you can have a better picture of the setting of this chapter, as well as future ones.