The first patters hit the cobblestones, spitting down from the sky. Margherita felt the drops hit the top of her head and this added more speed to her Olympic run from the castle to the blacksmith. Despite her efforts to hurry there before the storm, the sky soon tore open before a wave of rain descended from the heavens. It made the ground slick and more than once an already clumsy girl lost her footing. Drops from the sky mixed with the panicked trails of water running down her cheeks.

Her time was record, but instead of hurrying inside to where Ludwig was finishing the work of the day, she crashed to the ground. Margherita slid like a batter trying to make it to the next base, skirts riding up as they were caked with a layer of mud. Hearing the distinct slap of body against ground and the barking of his oldest dog, Blackie, a German Shepard who preferred to spend most of his time sleeping, Ludwig lifted his head to spot the Italian girl sitting on the ground sobbing, face in hands that were also coated in dirt.

He let his hammer fall before he approached her, offering a hand to help her up so that she was no longer sitting there. She took the hand instantly as if sensing it was there before embracing him. Her face pressed against his chest as she continued to sniffled. He tensed before setting an awkward hand to the back of her head for comfort. It had happened fast enough that he had no time to ask her why it was that she was crying and he knew little enough to know whether or not this was a common occurrence. There was something in the sobs that told him otherwise though.

"Luddy," Margherita started, voice cracking to whisper. He hummed in question, urging her to continue. She inhaled after sniffling before immediately starting into a tangent. "Gilbert went-a to go after Lenhard, the captain of the guard. He's-a the one who locked up me and Lovi. Ve, he wants the kingdom for himself and now-a I think he has the queen and the prince. I-a ran here as fast as I could, but-a, I don't know if they'll be after me since-a I know the truth, ve," she rambled. "And-a Gilly told me to come and get you or-a maybe it was go to you to be safe. I-a don't know, but I don't wanna be locked up again." When she had finally finished, huffing and puffing, even more than when she had started, she burst into tears again.

His azure eyes widened for a moment and he froze as she continued to cry, now clutching onto him for dear life, which may have been the truth at this point. Clearly, his brother could not accomplish this alone, but he also needed to make sure Margherita would be fine without him. He pushed her away gently and she stared up at him, eyes wide and bewildered. The blonde bit hard at his lip. It would hurt to leave her alone in her current state, but there was not much he could do. If he left his brother to die just to save the girl, then he would never forgive himself.

Setting a hand on either of her shoulders, he sighed. "I vant you to stay here. Blackie, Aster, and Berlitz vill attack anyvone zat zey zink is a threat. I'm going to help Gilbert," he explained.

Margherita shook her head. "Please, don't leave me," she cried.

Frowning, Ludwig glanced back at the three dogs he had promised her as protection before staring at her again. He set a hand to her cheek then. Her own came to rest over top of it as he absently brushed away the tears that had started to fall. "I'll be back soon." His tone was the same as his brother's had been with her. He really did not know this to be true, but the truth would hurt much worse.

"Promise," the brunette breathed.

Ludwig nodded. "I promise." For a moment too long, or perhaps long enough if he really would not make it back, he stared at her, making note of all the little details. She was beautiful, her eyes a jewel like shade of amber and there was that one stray curl that framed her face perfectly...

Knowing better than to pause for too long, he clenched his eyes shut before gathering courage for a different reason than facing danger. He pressed his lips against hers, using his hand against her cheek to give him the best sense of direction. The salt from her tears was thick and it was her crying that caused the pause in her reaction. In a few seconds, the contact was gone. Margherita stared up at him with a new sense, this one endearing as she smiled softly, encouraging him to come back.

"Ich liebe dich," he whispered, not bothering to translate as he finally pulled away from her so that he would not be convinced to go against his better judgment. It was something he had wanted to say sooner even though he had rarely seen her. He felt ridiculous, closer to a schoolboy than a metaphoric soldier going off to war with the admittance, but would there be a better time then the present to tell her?

One of his masterpieces was taken with him. The sword rested nicely at his side and would be there to draw when or if the time came. Ludwig ordered his dogs to attention before leaving. Margherita jumped up to sit down on a nearby barrel, feet dangling as she was too short to touch the ground. She waved to him and he saluted to her before exiting his shop, closing the doors behind him.

Unbeknownst to him, a group of guards had been sent to hunt him down. Lenhard had already anticipated Gilbert's plan, knowing the knight since he had been a mere boy and squire. Gilbert had been right though, he would not be able to do this alone, but he had been wrong to think that Ludwig would ever be coming to his aid so soon. Largely outnumbered, the younger Beilschmidt never stood a chance.

Amongst the sobbing of a distraught and confused queen, there was a hiss of breath taken in through clenched teeth. Roderich scrunched his nose, glasses rising. His tender sighed. "If you would simply sit still, I'd be done already." Arthur grumbled as he slipped the needle through skin and out again.

Without anything to numb the prince, he could feel every prick and the sliding of the horse hair thread through his skin before the tug. It left a burning sensation in his being and it made him squirm every so often underneath the man of science's touch. The blood had already been cleaned away so that Arthur could not only see what he was doing, but sterilize the wound as well.

"Almost done." the blonde growled as Roderich shifted again. He pulled what was left of the string tight after tying the knot off. A pair of scissors snapped, slicing it before Arthur admired his work. The flayed skin on the prince's right side had been repaired completely, minus the healing process anyway.

"Danke," Roderich muttered after a huff. "But why did you do all of this? I thought only Lenhard and the guards knew we were here."

Arthur nodded. "He's the reason I'm here. I didn't feel like questioning him, being at sword point and all. It's been a long time since I've picked up a sword myself. If he was trying to kill you though, I don't see why I'm here. He could have let you bleed out. Although, I commend you for knowing to put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding."

The prince frowned, brows coming together. It stumped him as well. If he had been Lenhard, he would not have sent for the medic. "Have you seen anyone else?" Roderich inquired.

Arthur shook his head before pausing. "Well, a rather unhappy Alfred that I had to convince to let me come, but other than that, no."

"I see." Roderich stared down at his hands that were colored red with his own blood. His focus returned to his mother who was still in hysterics, apologizing to nearly everyone for having not known about the coup d'état. Arthur stood up with a small knowing smirk. It was rather obvious as to who the prince had been hoping (if that was the word one wished to use) for, but alas, he had neither seen nor heard any sign of the knight's whereabouts.

A hand tapped against Gilbert's right cheek. He attempted to swat back at it, but found his arms unable to reach that far. He could curl his hands at his wrists, but nothing more. Alarmed, he stared up at the chain rigging that bound his arms, but not his feet. The knight growled before instantly searching for Lenhard, the only person he suspected to be in the room with him.

"Did you know that you're incredibly difficult, Gilbert?" the captain of the guard asked.

Gilbert trained his scarlets filled with a new and vengeful malice on the man. "Danke," he snapped. Lenhard was not the first person to say as much, no, but Gilbert had always taken it to be one of his better personality quirks.

"Now, if yours and Roderich's positions were reversed, he would be without chains. He's never been one for violent confrontation... just like his father." Lenhard spat the last word as if it were a curse. "On the other hand though, they both share a strength in verbal arguments." Something he had recently discovered when obtaining the prince and queen as his prisoners. The prince had one of the sharpest tongues he had ever heard.

If there was a point to this musing, Gilbert bitterly wished it would come soon. Thinking that Lenhard had plans to kill him, he wanted it over and done with before he could think of any regrets to take with him to the grave, not that he had any though. He was too awesome for regrets.

"This is the second time now that I've had you locked up, but do you know why I set you free the first time?" Lenhard asked. His mouth opened as Gilbert prepared to quick fire an insult, but then he paused, realizing that he really had no clue. He had thought Roderich had been the reason he walked free anyway.

"Yes, it wasn't your little prince who made it so that you could walk free, it was me." Lenhard assured. "You made the perfect scapegoat though. I knew that you were close enough to Roderich that he would be too distracted to try and prove who did it, but focus more on how to set you free. Then everyone would be baffled by your return and I would have the time to propose to Maria. Once her son was out of the way, I'd be able to rule by her side, but I hadn't anticipated anyone to go looking for those two servants. No matter, things are still working in my favor."

Gilbert half-listened before starting to struggling against his restraints. He still needed to see which one of the monarchs were injured. The knight froze though as a sword rose to point at his neck. "I would stop struggling if I were you..." Lenhard growled. "I hold all the cards and there's no escaping it. Now, are you going to be a good boy and do what I say?"

A small twitch started in the albino's face at the question. He made a hacking sound in the back of his throat before spitting. Calmly, the captain of the guard wiped the loogie off his face. "Did I forget to mention that not only do I hold your beloved prince, but I also have your brother in my custody?"

Crimsons grew in size. "Was?" he gasped.

A harsh laugh. "Oh yes, I have your little brother here in the castle. You didn't think that you could ask for his help with this did you? No, not after that little stunt in the dungeon. Since I have your attention though, you're going to do something for me. Your prince is in my quarters with his mother. While he did take an injury, I had Arthur patch him up. I want you to lead him into false security and take him to the underground dungeon while I deal with Maria. Once I'm done with her, I'll meet both of you downstairs."

"Nein!" Gilbert shouted, he refused to lead Roderich to his death. Lenhard was quick to mention his brother again then. Torn as his brother had been a short time ago, he jerked his head to the side, sinking his teeth into his bottom lip until he tasted cooper. He... He could think of something between now and then. He still had time. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he finally nodded. "Fine..."

"Gut Junge," the blonde purred before placing the key into the locks on his cuffs. They clattered to the ground and Gilbert took to rubbing his wrists. He stared down at them, starting to have second doubts. If he couldn't think of anything, either Roderich would die or they both would.

Translation Notes:

Ich liebe dich - I love you

coup d'état - revolution, overturn, etc.

Gut Junge - Good boy

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the wait, but I wanted to take a break for the holiday. I ended up receiving this amazing RPG, WII, Vampire, Werewolf, Zombie game though called Operation Darkness and then Skylanders for the whole family. You can blame those on me taking so long today.

I hope this chapter wasn't too boring. It was a lot of explaining, but it needed to be done. It lacked action at all and I'm still a little unsure if you all hated it and you want me to just hurry up with the next chapter or if you liked it (but nevertheless can't wait for the next chapter). I really liked writing the beginning scene though with Ludwig and Margherita. I was reminded of Chibitalia though, but I thank that idea for making me write in their adorable kiss~ Go Ludwig for finally planting one on her!

I'm going to try to update every day or every other day this week until this is finished, but... no promises. I next part is still being worked out. I know this may be annoying, but I'm reminding you all of that poll again because I don't want to be unfair. Stay tuned until next time!