A/N: Phew! Finally got this chapter finished. It's not as long as some of the other chapters, but I chose to stop where I did because it was a good break in the story.

Warnings: None, really for this one.

Pairings:growing hints of RusAme, a little bit of implied PruCan and LietPol

Chapter 9: Moving Out

Ivan stared for a moment at the letter that had been delivered by an imperial messenger. He wondered for a moment if it was a joke. The letter was from Vash and detailed a strong attack on the Imperial City's eastern gates. The invaders had already reached the city and there was no sign of the main forces of the imperial army. There had been vague reports from some of the more remote mountain villages out toward the eastern borders that the army had already fallen to the Easterners.

Ivan clenched his hands in worry. The letter crumpled slightly, but he paid it no mind. He may not get along with his father, but he didn't want the man dead...and not just because he would have to assume the throne if such a thing occurred. The orders on the letter were to move the troops in the training camps to the city and join the palace guards and remaining army regiments on the front lines.

The trainees had received barely three weeks of training at this point. Perhaps the two more advanced groups could handle full on battle, but Ivan's group was nowhere near being ready. But, orders were orders.

Ivan summoned the two Lieutenants in charge of the other groups and relayed the information, sending them out to wake the camp and start packing. They were to move out before dawn. The road to the city would take them three days to travel with over half the camp on foot.

Once the Lieutenants had run off to rouse the trainees and spread the word, Ivan moved off into the camp to do the same. The first few trainees he kicked out of their beds complained loudly, until they realized just who had woken them. Once they were awake and aware of the situation, they woke their neighbours. Soon the camp was filled with a nervous energy, more and more people aware that battle was only a couple days' march away.

Ivan turned the corner down another row of tents, pleased to note that over half the row had already been roused by their friends or neighbours. He spotted Alfred's loud blonde friend pulling the other out of his tent. Alfred looked a tired mess, but that was to be expected, what with the amount of effort the boy had been putting into his training ever since nearly being sent home. His hair was mussed and still damp from bathing. Ivan frowned thoughtfully. How late had the boy waited before going for his bath and why wasn't he bathing with the rest of the troops? From what Ivan had seen of the boy's personality, he wasn't the shy type.

Curiosity peaked, Ivan wandered down through the tents toward where Alfred was now saddling his horse, readying the animal's saddle for his bags. The first bag he slung over the saddle was his own personal sack. It was almost completely empty compared to the military issued sack from the camp, which was practically bursting its seams. Ivan wondered why he didn't put more into the other bag so the saddle would be more balanced.

Just as he was moving forward to make the suggestion, a small head popped out of Alfred's sack. It was only for a moment, before Alfred quickly stuffed the head back down. It all happened so quickly that Ivan was half-convinced he had imagined the whole episode. Until Alfred started whispering hurriedly down into the sack. Ivan's eyes narrowed as he processed the situation. The boy had a Familiar and was obviously hiding the fact. What was someone on the Consort registry doing enlisted in the army? Ivan wasn't even sure if you could enlist if you were a Consort and Alfred was also obviously unbounded.

More curious than ever, Ivan decided not to approach the boy about his situation just yet. He would watch and see what other secrets he could uncover. Plus, the boy was shaping up to be a skilled soldier. Rules or no, it would be a shame to lose such a promising candidate.

When Feliks had roughly pulled him out of bed, Alfred was half convinced that it was all some sort of messed up dream. Now, as he saddled Kahn and made sure that his bags were properly strapped down, he was feeling rather numb. It hadn't fully occurred to him, when he had first run off to join the army, that there was actually a war being fought. It still didn't seem truly real, even as the camp packed up to march off to battle.

He had panicked briefly when Matthew had woken up and stuck his head out of the bag, but as there were no loud cries of shock and no one had approached him over it, it must have gone unnoticed. There was enough flustered scurrying and nervous energy in the camp that it wasn't likely anyone had time to focus on what was happening to anyone else.

Alfred could feel that both his Familiars were awake and curled together at the bottom of the sack. He had explained hurriedly to Matthew what was going on and now the tension and anxiety coming from both of them was particularly distracting. He was almost grateful for the diversion though, it stopped him from really contemplating the fact that he was going to be fighting; going where it would be kill or be killed.

Soon, the entire camp was packed and lined up on the road outside the gates. Alfred felt somewhat on display, seated upon a horse. There were only a handful of recruits who had their own horses, as well as the Lieutenants and Captain. It didn't help that Feliks kept hyperventilating and Eduard had to keep calming him down. The whole situation was starting to blur into some sort of nightmarish dream sequence and Alfred was once more wondering if he wasn't still asleep in his tent.

Ivan barked out an order from the front of the lines and wheeled his horse about. The call was repeated by the Lieutenants, each taking one side about halfway down the lines of men. Soon, the march to the Imperial City had started. Feliks was close to crying again and Alfred thought he was going to throw up.

It was late by the time they stopped for the day. The sun had already passed below the horizon and tents were put up in a hurry during the last fading greys of daylight. It was quiet around the fires that night, everyone too exhausted to do more than murmur vaguely at the person next to them. Even Alfred was sore. He had switched off riding Kahn with both Feliks and Eduard. It had seemed a good idea to share the luxury of riding a horse, but had only resulted in the three of them having both aching feet and aching bottoms.

As he spooned warm stew into his mouth, Alfred watched in amusement as Feliks once more almost fell asleep in his food, Eduard catching him by his collar and nudging him awake again. As he ate, Alfred could feel the empty stomachs of his Familiars. He could easily save his slice of bread for them, but that was hardly a meal. However, it was the best Alfred could do when the only other thing on the menu was stew, something he couldn't exactly stuff into his clothing to smuggle back to his tent.

Just as he finished up his bowl of stew, the sound of many approaching feet and the clip of horses reached the camp. Men shifted nervously, glancing at each other or at tents where their weapons lay.

"At ease," Ivan called, standing up. "It's just trainees from the southern and northern camps."

Everyone relaxed, but there was still a tension in the air. Feliks was looking much more awake now, head craned so he could see down the road and watch the approaching silhouettes. As the first rows came into the light of the fires, Feliks began squealing and bouncing in his seat.

"Oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh!" Feliks whispered excitedly, eyes glued to the man on horseback at the front of the group.

Alfred raised a questioning brow at Eduard, who rolled his eyes and mouthed the words 'boyhood crush.' Alfred chuckled lightly and turned back to observe the man that Feliks was fawning over. He was tall and slender, with shoulder-length brown hair. From this distance, Alfred couldn't make out his eye colour, but his face was open and kind, an unusual look on a seasoned soldier. Alfred watched as the man dismounted and moved to greet Ivan. The two men embraced and Alfred felt an involuntary surge of jealousy. Cursing himself and his overactive imagination and ridiculous dreams, Alfred turned back to his friends.

"Who is he?" Alfred asked. Feliks looked at him incredulously.

"Only Captain Toris Laurinaitis," Feliks declared in a heated murmur. "He's been the best friend and right-hand of the prince since forever! He's gorgeous..."

The last part was said with a sigh and Feliks went back to staring with starry eyes at the prince's friend. Alfred also turned to look back at the two Captains. Ivan and Toris were already deep in discussion, moving off into the rows of tents. Alfred was distracted from their departure by one of the Lieutenants standing up.

"To keep campsite size small, all recruits and soldiers will be sharing, three people per tent," the man announced. If Alfred had thought he was going to throw up earlier, it was nothing compared to how he felt now. A soft nudge at his shoulder brought him out of contemplating his fate. He turned to Feliks and Eduard.

"What am I going to do?" he hissed. "I can't exactly refuse to share my tent!"

"Relax," Feliks muttered, moving to stand, Eduard following suit. "Eduard and I will give our tents to some of the new guys and bunk with you."

Alfred let out a sigh of relief, wondering why he hadn't considered that option. It wasn't as if they had been told specifically that they had to stay in their own tents and take recruits in from the other camps. Making sure he had his piece of bread tucked safely into his uniform, Alfred stood and followed the cousins into the tents.

While Feliks and Eduard grabbed their belongings, Alfred went to give his Familiars their meagre dinner. He paused, however, when he saw an unfamiliar sack lying innocently in front of the entrance to his tent. Upon opening it, he found a couple hunks of cheese and some slices of celery and carrot, along with a note.

'For your little friends who can't dine with us.'

There was no signature. Suddenly the impending war and new sleeping arrangements seemed of little consequence. One of Alfred's secrets was out and he had no idea who knew.

That's it for this time. Poor Alfred, so much stress in one day.