Hello friends! I decided to put this chapter out early since the last one was kind of short. This one is too but has lots of fun stuff in it so hopefully you'll enjoy! And, since I love you guys soooo much, I put in a little extra royai something something right at the end. Lol, hope you guys like it!

PS, has everyone seen the fma live action movie trailer? It looks incredible! I can't stop watching it or looking at the posters. December can't get here fast enough!

Roy looked out over the sprawling Amestrian capital city, once again amazed at the beauty of his own lands. He was even more thankful for the rolling green hills and the bustling towns now after the events of the last few weeks. He found he took for granted what he ruled over and never gave much thought to what would happen if he lost it. He was determined to not make that mistake again. He needed to be vigilant, especially now.

"What do you have for me?" the king asked his two right-hand men, Havoc and Breda, not turning from his spot by the window of his personal study. They had just arrived to give an update on the investigations into the new and mysterious "Republic" group Queen Riza had told them about. He prepared himself for both good and bad news.

"So far I haven't been able to contact or figure out the whereabouts of the reconnaissance team. No one has seen or heard from them since we last communicated. I even tried to find local citizens in the areas where they were stationed to see if they've seen any of them. I haven't found anything," Breda said, his tone serious and slightly defeated.

"That could be good news, though, right? I mean, at least we don't have evidence they've been killed. They're just missing," Havoc pointed out, trying to remain hopeful.

"Sir Claudio, that one Aerugonian knight who's always following Lord Matthew around, seems to think the Cretians might have taken them into custody of some kind. Keep them hidden long enough for what they need then let them go. He says to keep watching out for signs of them. They might turn up soon if that's the case," Breda offered.

"It's a possibility, to be sure, but so is finding their bodies in a river. Keep searching. Whatever we can find is useful to us," Roy said, his tone no less serious than his two men.

"Of course, Your Majesty."

"And you, Havoc? Anything to report?" the king asked, finally taking his eyes off of the view out the window to turn to his top knight.

"We finally got a letter from Lord Hughes. He says he's willing to offer up his help and get us in touch with whatever allies he has. He said he might even make the trip here if the situation gets serious enough."

"Well, that's good at least. Hughes has always had a knack for getting through things like this. Hopefully he can pull himself away from his quaint country life to help out an old friend," Roy commented, a brief smile appearing on his face as he thought about his most trusted advisor ('retired' advisor, if they were going off of Hughes's word).

"We can only hope so. Something tells me leaving his wife and daughter, even temporarily, isn't going to be so easy for him," Havoc added with a smirk. Roy conceded that point with a nod of his head and a roll of his eyes.

"What about the Aerugonians? Have they made their plans known yet?" Breda asked, furthering the conversation.

"Last I heard the majority of them are returning home to restart whatever their own investigations are. The queen will remain here so we can have more direct contact should a major decision need to be made. Sir Claudio and a few other knights will stay, but Lord Matthew is taking the rest home to help keep things straight there."

Havoc scoffed. "I'm sure the queen is thrilled she gets to be here longer than she was expecting," he spoke sarcastically.

"All the more reason to make sure she remains welcomed and respected while she's here. As you can imagine, she has plenty of reasons to dislike our kingdom. Let's not give her more," the king said.

The other two men in the room nodded their heads in agreement. "I take it the knights staying with her will be in charge of the queen's guard, but what about Princess Winry? Are we still tasked with her protection or will that change now that her sister is staying?" Breda asked.

Roy turned his eyes back toward the window and walked closer to it, surveying his lands as he had been doing before. He had his hands behind his back and a calm expression on his face, the perfect picture of a 'large and in charge' king. "The queen has not told me anything specific about that, but I've assumed nothing will change. She'll still be under watch by the Elric brothers and we will all take a part in the responsibility of her safety. Just because her attacker is dead, doesn't mean the threat against her will go away, especially now that we know so much more than before."

"You still think it's a good idea to give the Elric brothers personal guard duty? We've all seen how...cozy they've gotten with the princess. They could let emotions get in the way of protecting her," Havoc commented.

"Edward and Alphonse are some of the best knights we have. Edward may not be particularly level-headed and Alphonse might be considered too kind, but they balance each other out well and their closeness with the princess only serves to reaffirm their loyalty. I have no doubts about them protecting Winry as best they can."

"Dammit, dammit, dammit, DAMMIT! I wait around all goddamn morning so she can do what she wants and this is the thanks I get?" Edward growled as he dashed down one of the corridors in the western half of the castle. His loud footsteps echoed off the walls and his curses caused quite a few people to turn and stare in his direction, but he didn't much care. He had a duty to carry out and, by all intents and purposes, he was failing miserably at it.

"Stupid princess with that stupid smile that gets me to do whatever the hell she wants…" Ed huffed out as he ran. "She's too sneaky for her own good...told her it was too cold to go anywhere...but does she listen to me?...hell no," Ed continued to grumble between breaths as he finally reached the central part of the castle. He couldn't believe, after all his intense training and past experience, he was bested by a goddamn princess.

He was almost to the exit that he knew led out into the castle stables when someone reached out to grab his arm, rather abruptly stopping him in his path. "Ed? Where are you going now?" His brother asked as the long, golden-haired knight took the time to catch his breath.

"Have you...seen Winry?" he asked breathlessly. Alphonse's eyes widened at his question.

"What do you mean have I seen her? Did you lose her?"

"Look," Ed started, not in the mood to be questioned by the one person who was supposed to take his side...or at least, most of the time. "I didn't try to lose her, but she got the best of me."

"How?" Al accused with a reprimanding tone.

"She told me she was going to go find her sister so they could talk about a book or something. I waited around for awhile and then she didn't show up when she told me she would be done. I asked around and someone said she was heading to the stables even though I told her it was too cold and rainy out today to ride."

Al's eyes widened at this piece of information. "You mean she's probably outside the walls? On a day like today? With no guard? Ed, how could you be so careless!"

"I know I screwed up, alright! It won't happen again, I promise. Plus, if it's any consolation I don't think she's alone. Someone said the queen was with her."

"The queen?" Al asked, his anger dimming slightly at that knowledge.

"Yeah, a stable maid said they went out together. I was just on my way to ask some of the people down there if they knew where they were going. Hopefully, it's just out for a quick jaunt, but we should be ready in case anything happens."

Alphonse let out a long, exasperated sigh. "You really should've known better than to let her out of your sight, Brother. You'd better hope the king doesn't get word about this."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Look, I'll fix it later, but right now I have a job to do. You coming with me?" Ed asked. He didn't like it when his little brother had to be the disciplinarian of the pair but it, unfortunately, happened more often than not.

Again, Al sighed. "Yes, I'm coming," he said with a resigned tone as he followed after his older brother toward the stables.

"Ha! See? I told you it would be easy to get away," Winry said victoriously as her horse bounded to the top of a hill. Riza's white steed was not far behind.

"Should I be concerned at how easy it is for you to escape your guard?" her sister asked as a stiff breeze made her long cape billow out behind her. It wasn't the prettiest day to go riding out in the countryside, but Winry had been insistent on showing Riza her favorite spots.

"What do I have to fear?" the blue-eyed princess replied with a sparkle in her eyes as the two horses began slowly circling one another while their riders conversed. "I have the Queen of Aerugo by my side. Can't get much better protection than that."

Riza's eyes narrowed slightly, but she couldn't stop the smile from appearing on her face. "Flattery will get you nowhere," she teased, and Winry let out a joyful giggle at that response.

Winry turned her horse toward the magnificent view from atop the hill. Though it was slightly foggy, from this vantage point they could see miles and miles of rolling green speckled with forests and the flowing river that would lead them back to their temporary home. "Oh, isn't Amestris beautiful?"

Riza's horse trotted up next to Winry's and they both observed the land as the winds began to pick up. "It is indeed," the queen conceded. When she realized she'd be staying in Amestris longer than she had originally wanted to, Riza hadn't been particularly happy (to say the least), but there were parts of this place she did admire. She'd always thought that the kingdom was one of the most lusciously green out of all of them. She hoped King Roy knew how lucky he was to rule over a place so naturally beautiful.

"Ed, Al, and I like to come over here a lot. When the sun's out, the views are absolutely breathtaking. There's even a beautiful little cove over in the eastern forest that has a waterfall. It's practically magical."

"I can imagine," Riza responded as she continued to survey the land.

"You don't have to," Winry spoke, her tone taking on a more mischievous note. At this, her sister could only eye her warily. She knew she was plotting something. "We can go down there right now."

Riza sighed. "No, we should probably get back before the rains start to pick up. I don't want either of us nursing colds right now."

Winry rolled her eyes. "Now you're just being paranoid. We have plenty of time until the storm really starts. Where's your sense of adventure?"

"I have a sense of adventure, Winry. However, unlike you, I also possess some common sense."

Again, Winry gave her sister a sarcastic roll of her eyes. Riza had to wonder when she had lost her ability to command respect from people. It seemed like everyone around her was undermining her authority as of late. "That's just another way of saying you're boring. Come on, Riza! What if I made it interesting? We could race! First one there gets their pick of the desserts at dinner tonight. I saw you eyeing those tarts yesterday."

"I-I was not!" Riza exclaimed indignantly.

Winry giggled. "Right, of course not. You'd better hope your horse is as fast as they say, otherwise I'm taking every last one." And, with that, the boisterous princess kicked her horse into motion and was racing away down the other side of the hill.

Riza sat in shock for a few moments before she let out a growl and followed after her sister, shaking her head at her ridiculous antics once again.

"Hmm, I wonder if they'll have the blueberry or the strawberry tarts tonight," Winry said in a mocking tone as she dismounted her horse and handed the reigns over to a stable-worker.

Her sister followed not long after her, a look of annoyance flashing across her face as she gracefully landed on the ground and began taking off her riding gloves. "I still think that was hardly a fair contest. You knew the way far better than I ever could and you had a head start."

Winry laughed as she also removed her gloves and adjusted her damp cloak. While the sisters had managed to avoid the worst of the rain, it had started to pick up once they had reentered the city and now they were both dripping wet and rather cold. The warm bath before dinner would be much appreciated. "You know, sister, you are an awfully sore loser for a queen."

They walked back into the castle and out of the rain as they made their way to the guest room corridor. "Yes, well, if the positions were reversed, you would be throwing a fit right about now."

At that, Winry smiled. "Well, can you blame me? Those tarts are delicious! I promise I'll save you one," she told her sister with a slight nudge against her arm.

"Thank you," Riza replied, only slightly sarcastically as their footsteps left little puddles of water behind them on the stone floors.

Suddenly, before they could round the next corner, Winry stopped in place, causing her sister to flash her a look of confusion. The princess's face had turned from one of contentment to slight fear and apprehension. Riza turned her eyes to whatever had caused her sister to change emotions so quickly and, once she found the source, had to work her hardest to prevent a snort of derision from escaping. That would've been far too inappropriate for a queen, however necessary the situation made it.

"There you are," a menacing voice called out from the other end of the hallway. It seemed the sisters weren't the only two people walking around the castle soaking wet as they both caught a glimpse of the practically raging and drenched Sir Edward Elric.

"Uh-oh," Winry let out before she, without another word, turned tail and ran the other direction as fast as she could.

As amused as Riza was at the turn of events, she kept to herself, content in just watching the exchange. "Oh no you don't!" shouted Ed as he began to run after her. He didn't even stop to acknowledge the queen as he dashed away, leaving his own fair share of water on the floor. "Do you know how long I've been looking for you? And out in the rain too...you'll pay for this Winry!" His voice faded away to quiet echoes as both the princess and her angry bodyguard turned the corner.

"I'm so sorry, Your Majesty," a new voice said from behind where she stood still in the middle of the corridor. She turned to find Alphonse Elric looking practically mortified. In an effort to calm him down, she gave him a kind smile.

"Don't worry, Sir Elric. My sister needs to be taken down a peg from time to time. I sincerely apologize if she's caused you and your brother trouble. I won't let it happen again."

At this, Alphonse gave the queen a smile of his own, thanked her for her kind words, bowed, and ran after the pair, knowing he was the only one who would be able to keep the peace. Riza shook her head again as she watched him go and muttered to herself, "The amount of tomfoolery rampant in this castle should be a crime."

Still looking behind at where the odd trio had ran off to, Riza turned the corner of the corridor...and promptly ran face first into a hard, and suspiciously warm, object. She let out a rather undignified "oof" and turned to look at the source of her collision right as she felt a pair of strong hands grasp her upper arms to keep her from falling backwards

She was met by a pair of piercingly dark eyes and a mop of unruly black hair. Immediately, the queen froze in place.

"Oh! My apologies, Your Majesty. I didn't see you there," the King of Amestris said jovially as he continued to hold her steady. For whatever reason, she couldn't seem to find her voice. They were in rather...close proximity to each other, as she looked up at his face, feeling rather small in his arms. He wasn't that much taller than her, but in the moment he seemed like a tower swathed in royal tunics.

"Are you...alright?" he asked, and Riza thanked the gods that this particular question was able to snap her out of whatever trance she had been in. She quickly came to and disentangled herself from the king, while also taking a few steps back to a more appropriate personal distance.

"Y-Yes, I'm fine," Riza cursed the small stutter as she found her voice. "I'm sorry for running into you like that, Your Majesty, I should've been looking where I was going."

"It's alright," the king replied as the arms that had been previously wrapped securely around her were dropped back to his side. He seemed to be more amused with her than anything else and, for some odd reason, that made Riza want to disappear into the wall.

Now that they were at an appropriate distance from each other, the king took the time to rove his eyes over her form. Normally, Riza would've been offended, but she already knew why he was doing it.

"You look...wet," was his simple observation. This caused a small smile of amusement to find itself on the queen's face as she looked down at her drenched cloak and dress and fingered a bit of her soaking wet hair.

"Yes, well, Winry and I were out riding," she explained, causing an eyebrow to lift in confusion on the king's face. He turned toward the window they were closest to, observed the rain pelting the surface, and then turned questioningly back toward her.

"In this weather?" he asked.

"It was Winry's idea, not mine. We were fine until we got back into the city. It seems we weren't quite able to escape the storm."

The king's eyes lit in understand. "Ah, I see. Well then, I should probably let you get back to your room," he said as he stepped aside for her to move past him.

"Yes, thank you," Riza replied cordially as she began to walk away. She reminded herself to keep her head held high, but it was rather difficult given the odd turn of events.

"Oh, Your Majesty!" he called, as if he suddenly remembered something.

She turned back toward him and answered, "Yes?"

"Before I forget, there's something pretty important that I've been meaning to show you. If you get the time in the next few days, find me in my study and I'll take you. I believe...you'd want to see it," the king spoke, his voice taking on an uncharacteristically soft tone. Riza had to wonder at that, and at whatever thing the king wished to show her. It was odd, but she didn't think he would have bad intentions so it must be alright.

"Okay. I will do that," she replied with a nod of her head.

"Good. Just let a guard know you've arrived and we'll go. I'll see you at dinner. Hopefully, you have the chance to dry off a bit," he said with a casual wave before he turned and walked away.

Riza couldn't help but stand still and watch his retreating back, wondering just what the hell had happened. From the awkward collision to a mysterious request, the King of Amestris was certainly keeping her on her toes. And really, this whole kingdom was doing the same. Riza shook her head at the absurdity of it all before she turned and finally made her way to her guest room.

She'd rather not be dripping water onto the table at dinner.

Thoughts? Thank you, as always to my lovely reviewers. You guys make so happy with your feedback! (i say this every time but it's no less true). Also, if anyone's curious, I have a tumblr where I fangirl about a lot of things but right now (especially after the trailer release) it's mostly fma. My url is just queenwinry so please come hang out. And let me know if you have a tumblr too so we can be buddies!