False Friends

Marquess Laus – what are you planning? Did you directly cause Lord Elbert's disappearance or is it a coincidence? Why are you going to war? What game are you playing? Adelessa frowned at the map in front of her, shuffling around her notes and tracing the path Eliwood's band had traveled over the past several days. What does an uprising gain you?

"Starting without us?" She looked up and smiled even as she squinted into the morning sun. Hector greeted her the same way every morning. It had become as much a part of her routine as these meetings; after eating but before getting on the road for the day, Eliwood and Hector would meet with her to trade their impressions of information they'd picked up over the past day. Sometimes Oswin, Matthew, and Marcus would join them. Not this time, however it was just the three of them.

"Not at all. I was just thinking and looking over our proposed path for the day." Adelessa traced it on the map as Eliwood and Hector came over to sit on the other side of the table. "We'll be approaching from the east, so we'll just have this stretch of fields and farmland to cover. From what I remember of Laus when I passed through there last, this area doesn't have much in the way of hiding spots for soldiers. We shouldn't be surprised by ambushes except for if they've placed men in the woods. I would like it if we could send Lowen and Marcus ahead to scout for us."

"Certainly," Eliwood replied easily. "I was thinking of suggesting that myself."

"I think that's all I have, really – I mean, there isn't that much else that we can do to prepare. Merlinus said that our weapons and other belongings are in good order in his wagon should we need them, though one of its wheels are in poor shape. He won't be able to keep up with us if we need to run from a fight, so I'd propose having him stay in a village somewhere to set up shop."

"Good," Hector said. "The way Darin keeps his roads, we should arrive around midday if we stay at the pace we've been going. And I actually have news for you, this time. You can thank Matthew for it – he's been talking with someone in every town we've passed. Our spies have confirmed that Darin had something to do with Lord Elbert's disappearance."

That made Adelessa sit up. "What?"

"Well, they don't know how he knew or if he caused it, but our favorite Marquess Laus was talking and acting as if Lord Elbert was gone a good week before anyone else really marked his disappearance." Hector clenched a fist and slammed it on the table. "Damn him," he growled. "I can't believe we didn't hear about any of this beforehand! Darin's not sneaky enough to be able to pull something like this – how'd he do it?"

"Perhaps he had assistance," Adelessa ventured. "It's not unheard-of for one country to try to sabotage another."

"But Lycia's at peace," Eliwood protested. "We've had no problems with any other nation."

Adelessa shook her head helplessly. "Then I haven't the slightest idea how this could have happened," she admitted. "The pieces just aren't adding up." She looked over, watching the last of the camp get packed up. They chose to have their meeting while camp was broken simply because they'd be out of the way and the other members of their company had insisted that they could handle this without their help as long as all their belongings were stowed away before they started their meeting.

"It looks like they're about ready to head out," Eliwood said finally. "I'll let Marcus and Lowen know that you want them up ahead." He headed over to where Lowen was talking animatedly with Rebecca; both were laughing and added cheer to an otherwise tense camp. Adelessa had hosted any number of nervous visits to her tent over the past week, all from various members of the company seeking comfort and reassurance from her. Hearing their worries made her all the more anxious, but she couldn't turn them away. Letting them get it off their chests made them more relaxed – something she treasured more than her own peace of mind.

Being this close to Laus made it impossible to ignore the fact that they could be facing a very major risk here. For some like Marcus, Lowen, and Oswin, it was a worry that their lordling charge would get injured or they would otherwise fail their duty. For others like Rebecca, Guy, Dorcas, and Bartre, it was a very reasonable concern about the fact that they were facing the legendary Laus cavalry. It had been something that came up more than once in the morning meetings: Laus had the perfect terrain for fighting with horses with its open fields, wide roads, and fairly flat ground. Only the few bluffs, some cliffs to the north, and beaches to the south were less than friendly to horsemen and those approaches weren't feasible for any sizeable threat to use when calculating strategies. Whomever had designed the placement of Castle Laus had Adelessa's admiration: they'd done a fantastic job of making it a nightmare to approach.

These worries and trying to figure out the reason and means behind the whole insurrection carried her through the entirety of leaving camp and most of the morning. Matthew managed to distract her for a short while, but he could tell that her heart wasn't in their usual banter. Instead of forcing her to talk, he simply walked next to her horse in companionable silence until Hector called for him. Even in the haze that her planning had made around her, Adelessa watched him go and tried to deny that she was feeling more than just friendship for the Ostian spy.

The company arrived in sight of Castle Laus just as the sun reached the zenith of the sky like Hector had predicted. Normally that would have had him in at least a decently good mood, but he radiated the same stony fury in silence that the rest of the group did. Adelessa herself was dismayed when she saw the state of things this close to the castle. Fields were trampled in patterns too regular to be anything but drills and formations. Half-completed siege engines lurked in the spaces between buildings where small villages huddled in on themselves. Citizens hid inside their homes, watching the company pass through half-open shutters and doors.

"Look at this!" Hector stabbed a finger in the direction of a ballista poorly hidden under a tarp as if the action could break it. "He's not even trying to hide the fact that he's getting ready to go to war!" He hauled his leg back and kicked a fist-sized stone, sending it clattering across the cobblestoned street. "What are you even on about?" he shouted at the castle.

Adelessa edged away from him – while Hector was never intentionally violent toward anyone but his enemies in battle or partners in sparring, it never hurt to be careful when a person started to throw things – and closer to Eliwood. That was when she saw the look on the red-haired lord's face: he looked as if he was in the clutches of dread and that the last thing he wanted was to continue toward the castle. "You don't want to go there, do you?" Her quiet question caught the attention of both lords.

"I… no," Eliwood said after a minute. He rubbed the back of his gauntlet slowly, a tell that Adelessa learned meant that he was thinking about how to say something. "If we learn the truth and it's what we fear, we may have to go to war with Lord Darin."

Adelessa understood that. Like everyone else, Eliwood had tracked her down one evening after their respective training and asked to talk. She'd heard his thoughts on war. He could fight as well as the next man and enjoyed swordplay. When up against one person or a bandit, he had no trouble fighting him. But when he let himself think about the fact that his opponent was a person with a family and dreams he couldn't bring himself to do the same.

She knew the feeling well – she had the same problem.

"I've no love for war," he continued bleakly. "Families and innocents always pay the price for nobles' foolish politics. I don't want this to end in war – I pray that we can find a way to resolve things peacefully."

Hector looked as if he was going to say something, a very odd look on his face that Adelessa recognized as sympathy, when Marcus rode up. "Lord Eliwood!" The paladin drew his steed to a halt before the three. "I'm here to report. A knight has ridden forth from the castle."

"A knight?" Eliwood asked. "Is he on his own?"

"Yes, my lord," Marcus answered. "It was Marquess Laus' son, Erik. He asked to see you."

Both Eliwood and Hector's faces flashed with recognition, though Hector scowled right after. "Gah – why, of all the blowhard nobles, did it have to be that festering cankerblossom?" Eliwood's pointed look made him subside into grumbled insults.

"I will see him. Bring him here. Do you have anything else to report?"

"I do," Marcus affirmed. "We've only seen one group of soldiers out on patrol – they're to the south, by a small village near the coast. They seem to be standing guard. Perhaps the locals have been having problems with bandits or raiders. Lowen and I haven't been able to look into the woods, but we haven't yet seen anyone moving around there."

"Very good. You may escort Erik here now, if you would." Marcus gave a sharp salute and rode to the east. Adelessa, on the other hand, found herself thinking over this strange new turn of events. At least there aren't any obvious signs of a trap. Still, there's no telling what could be hiding in those trees. They're thick and dark enough that it would be impossible to scry what's in there, even with my spyglass to help me.

"I'm leaving." Hector's sudden announcement broke her out of her frantic calculations. "I never could abide Erik, you know that. I'll go out. Maybe take a look at the woods myself." As surly as he was at the moment, Adelessa wished that Hector was staying here. Usually Matthew left with him and she could sorely use the spy's company to keep her calm and relaxed right about now.

There was small amount of relief that she realized that he was speaking to Oswin instead of Matthew. "We're going out scouting," he informed the knight. "Eliwood's pandering to Erik and I can't stand him, presumptuous pail of pus that he is."

"Hector..."

"Don't give me that." There was a significant pause. "You know, he made a big show of riding out alone. I don't trust that." The two moved out of her range of hearing. He brought up a good point: normally noblemen rode with at least some kind of escort. If Hector's judge of him was at all accurate, this kind of action was terribly out of character. Adelessa sharpened her focus and prepared herself for the conversation when she saw the man with Marcus.

He was handsome enough, she supposed, clad in gleaming plum-and-gold armor. He had a square face and held his matching helmet in a burly hand. He certainly was a sight with his horse in matching tack, but it seemed extravagant and unnecessary. Adelessa found she was beginning to agree with Hector's estimation of the man.

"Eliwood, my friend!" Erik's tone was jovial and conversational - too jovial and conversational - and Adelessa immediately distrusted it. He was after something, she was sure of it. "It's good to see you. Now who is this?" She started slightly when he pointed her. "I hope she's just a servant to help you while you travel. You could do so much better among the ranks of young noblewomen."

Adelessa bristled at his tone but thought better of replying. "This is Lady Aydie, my adviser," Eliwood replied. His voice could freeze rivers. "She's been of great assistance while I've been traveling."

"Hm. If you say so." Erik's dismissive tone made letting Eliwood lead the conversation very difficult. Somehow Adelessa managed. "Speaking of traveling, where might you be heading? To Ostia, perhaps, to visit that brute? Honestly, I don't understand how you stand him. He acts as if he's peasant-born and speaks like he was raised in a barn!" There was a slight look of trepidation on his face. "He isn't with you, is he? Have you spoken with him recently? Say, by letter?"

Even Eliwood couldn't find a way to justify ignoring Erik's suspicious behavior any longer. His eye narrowed in suspicion, he asked, "What is it that you're trying to find out, Erik?"

The other noble made one last play at deniability by painting himself as overly innocent. "Pardon?"

"Erik, you and your father have half-built siege engines sitting in the town squares and your fields are trampled from drilling. You're not hiding anything here!" He leaned forward, his face grim and his eyes locked on Erik. "What are you planning - you will tell me!"

The congenial expression on Erik's face slipped off to be replaced with a sneer. It looked far more at home there than the facade of friendliness did. "Well, I'd hoped to wait until you'd told me of Ostia. I wanted to know if you've spoken to the marquess or not."

"What?" The sudden change threw Eliwood for a loop. If she was being honest, Adelessa would admit that it threw her for a loop, too.

"Eliwood, I have always despised you," he laughed. "I've wanted to crush you and your stupid morality ever since we were forced together by class. I've long dreamed of this day – now it's here at last!" He raised his lance, preparing to strike a blow-

-only to have Hector bat the lance down into the ground. "Too bad you'll not live to see the end of it." His voice was a dangerous rumble of thunder, low and full of anger.

"Y- you!" Erik dragged back on the reins, causing his horse to rear and stagger back. "You – you couldn't have – have you spoken with your brother already?"

"Maybe I did." Hector tone was almost lazy. "Maybe I didn't." If she didn't know him better, Adelessa would have thought that he was having a normal conversation. "Eliwood, this cur has troops scattered all around in the forest, Laus uniforms on each one. This isn't going to be easy."

Erik gave a strangled, nervous laugh that grew more confident when he swept his gaze across the group. "Look at you – there's almost no point in fighting you! Look at how few of you there are and the pitiful excuse of an adviser that you have! There's no way you'll win – my forces will overwhelm you in battering waves of men. Laus' elite knights will be your doom." He laughed nastily. "How long do you think you'll survive?"

"I think we'll be just fine." The cool voice that spoke surprised the group. Adelessa was surprised at herself, really. "Your posturing fools no one. We're not afraid of you and your hollow threats." Erik stared at her, boggled. It was with no small amount of pleasure that she gave him her most polite, meaningless smile and watched him back away in confusion.

"Trollop!" he snapped.

His retreat was likely supposed to be a signal of some sort to the troops in the woods. While he rode away from the group, men streamed from the sanctuary of the trees. Thanks to bringing Erik to them and Hector's warning of the waiting enemies, the trap lost any effect it might have had as an ambush. Simply the sight of the lords and other fighters in their group caused men expecting to find unprepared opponents to falter; they retreated of their own accord.

Adelessa reached up for the lowest branch of a nearby tree, grasping it firmly before she started to scale it. "Hey, Aydie, wait a minute – you don't have to do that if you don't want to." Matthew's quiet voice made her look down at him. Seeing the concern in his eyes did funny things to her pulse. She must have looked confused, because he added, "I remember last year, how you were scared when you had to fly with Florina. I can look at what's going on."

"No, I'm fine – at least up here, I'm not trusting my safety to something I don't have any say over." Adelessa gave him her best smile and kept climbing. When she glanced down to set her foot several branches later, her heart flipped in her chest. He was still down on the ground, peering up at her. His thoughtfulness warmed her in a way that she didn't entirely want to acknowledge. This is so not the time, Adelessa!

Reaching down to her belt, her hand brushed over the surprisingly comforting new weight of the knife that rested on her right side. While she didn't know how good she'd be with it in a real fight, it was better than having nothing at all. Besides, it was usually when one wasn't prepared for it that trouble struck. When she put her spyglass to her eye, Adelessa couldn't help but hiss in dismay.

There were two obvious rows of Laus' cavaliers waiting along their path. If they wanted to approach the castle, they'd have to go through them. Along with that, she saw several more horsemen at the gate in a clump. If they're not waiting to extract Darin, she thought, I will ship myself to the Nabata desert.Pulling a face at that despite herself – ever since her brush with heat sickness on the plains of Sacae Adelessa couldn't bring herself to enjoy hot weather – she began her careful descent from the tree.

"There are two lines of cavalry waiting between where we are now and the castle. If we want to stop Lord Darin before he leaves," she said, looking at each person in the company in turn, "we'll have to move quickly. We can do that easily if we stay together. They have troops waiting for us, yes, but they're equipped mostly with lances and we have plenty of axe-fighters."

While speaking, Adelessa had been pulling her map of Laus out from one of Rhea's saddlebags. She spread it out for the others to see and drew faint lines with some chalk. "Here – we want to cut straight west. Stay away from the cliffs and the beach if possible." Glancing up, she frowned a little: the dark gray clouds above them looked heavy with rain. That's what we get for being in Lycia during summer,she thought unhappily. "The weather will slow us down, but it will do the same for them. Merlinus, it would be safest for you if you stayed in the village we passed a while back – you can set up shop there and peddle your wares, if you'd like. Everyone understand? Then let's push for Castle Laus – it's time we confront the marquess!"

It was a simple plan. Adelessa should have known that it wouldn't be that easy.

It started to go haywire when she saw a flash of light and heard the crack of thunder that came with it from the top of a bluff to the north. It was too regular, too precise and small, to be anything but anima magic. Just what I wanted – there's an anima mage about and I have no idea of he's for Laus or against them! As much as she didn't really want to deal with it, Adelessa couldn't ignore something as potentially dangerous as this. At least the first line of cavaliers haven't attacked yet. If I hurry….

"Matthew, Serra, Guy," she said, naming the three people that she felt would be the best at moving quickly with her and who would be least missed if they weren't at the front lines right now, "would you come with me?" Splintering off from the main group, they huddled to one side. "There's a mage at the top of that ridge," and Adelessa pointed there, "and I want to go investigate. Follow me."

She had to backtrack for almost one hundred yards before she found the trail that led up the cliff. Each threaded up it carefully: while it wasn't nearly as treacherous as trying to scale the face of the cliff, it was still steep enough that it wouldn't be a fun fall. Adelessa motioned for the others to stay back for a moment when she reached the point where it leveled out to the top of the ridge.

The still-smoldering corpse of a soldier – she'd guess Laus if only because of how many there were running around right now – laid at the feet of a red-robed mage. While the robe hid most of the features of the person in front of her, violet hair peeked out of the hood. Adelessa's gasp of recognition caused the mage to whirl around, his fingers dancing with jagged lines of electricity, and the tactician's hands shot up in the air.

"It's me – it's Aydie! Please don't shoot!"

"Aydie?" Erk's surprise was obvious. He nearly dropped his tome in his hurry to dismiss the magic he'd summoned. "What are you doing here?" There was a strange, secondary flash of recognition that ran across his face, though it was gone so soon that Adelessa had to wonder if she'd imagined it.

"Is that an Erk I hear?" That was the only warning either of them got before a white-and-pink blur pushed past Adelessa and latched onto Erk. "Elimine bless, Erk, it's been forever since I last saw you!" Serra's smile was bright; either she couldn't see or was ignoring the utterly dismayed expression on the mage's face. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh. Serra." His voice was flat. "You're… the last person I wanted to see."

"You're such a charmer, saying you wanted to see me again!" She laughed and batted at his shoulder with one hand, drifting away to preen at her imagined flattery.

Both Adelessa and Erk stared at the oblivious cleric, boggled by her ability to completely miss the point of what he said to her. Shaking her head, Adelessa finally answered Erk's question with, "We're here with Lord Eliwood to investigate Marquess Pherae's disappearance. We have reason to suspect that Marquess Laus had a hand in making Lord Elbert vanish."

"You're fighting against Laus?" he clarified. She nodded and he remained silent, thinking, for a long moment. "Perhaps we could be of assistance to each other." By this time, Matthew and Guy had joined them to see what had Serra all in a tizzy; Guy still looked puzzled, but the spy next to him gave Erk a wry, sympathetic smile. "My employer – a young noblewoman – hired me to serve as her escort while she travels. We had stopped here to rest and resupply when Lord Darin happened by the village in which we were staying. He saw Lady Priscilla and immediately became besotted with her. After she refused his personal invitation and the first missive he sent to have her join him in the castle, he grew angry and surrounded the village with soldiers. No one has been allowed in or out – I only just managed to escape – and he'll keep things this way unless she agrees to live in the castle." The words "with him" were left unsaid but heavily implied. "If you'll help me get her out, I'll happily lend you my skills as a mage."

Anger and hate like acid pooled in the bottom of Adelessa's gut. Her heart reached out for the poor girl, trapped against her will and being forced to be with someone. She knew that situation all too well. "I doubt Eliwood would want to deny the chance to help someone in such desperate need of assistance," she replied. "We'll gladly help you rescue her."

A fat drop of rain splattered down onto her nose at the same time that Adelessa heard the unmistakable sounds of combat. She turned quickly and immediately put her spyglass to her eye. The first wave of cavaliers had engaged the main portion of the group. Hector wasn't hard to spot - he was in a clump of enemies, though he wasn't under much duress. While the other fighters didn't seem as gleeful to be fighting the horsemen, no one seemed majorly injured or had dire odds against them.

Relieved to see that they were doing well, Adelessa let herself relax a little bit. That's why she was taken so off-guard when she was grabbed by the back of her over-tunic and hauled off her feet. Her hands only just managed to cling to her spyglass and she had to spit out a chunk of hair when she looked to the side to see who had grabbed her. Matthew and Guy both had a firm grip on her, though Guy let go and sprung forward to slit a crimson line from a bandit's shoulder to his navel.

Erk - perhaps out of habit - had already pushed Serra to the path and away from the bandits. Matthew did the same for Adelessa before he joined Guy in attacking the brigands. In a wild glance at her surroundings, she saw that there were more coming down from the steep ravine to the north.

"Get going - we'll follow you," Matthew assured her when she hesitated. He and Guy seemed to have the situation well in hand now that they weren't on their heels with surprise. The main difference between their two fighting styles was that Guy used a full sword instead of knives like the spy: they both preferred quick, precise strikes rather than heavy blows. Against brutish fighters like these bandits, it was a very effective way to fight. Because of their greater speed and agility not a single brigand landed a hit.

It was pouring rain by then and Adelessa was soaked to the bone. Her hair was plastered to her head and she needed to drag wayward locks of it away from her eyes more than once. She ran down the slope only as fast as she dared: the ground was slick with mud and a poorly-placed step would send her sliding down the rest of the trail. Shouts from behind and above her told that Matthew and Guy were both following them down the path.

Whether because of their speed in scrambling down the slope, Matthew and Guy's devastating strikes, or sheer dumb luck that there was no sign of the bandits when they reached the base of the cliff Adelessa couldn't be sure. All she knew was that she was so glad that she was back on level ground again. "Could you warn me next time before you do that?" she asked, her voice plaintive despite her best efforts to keep it from sounding like such.

"Sure," Matthew gasped, doubled over while he caught his breath. "I'll make sure to give you the exact location of your attacker and calmly direct you to the closest escape route while he sits and twiddles his thumbs." Rolling his eyes that hard should have made them pop right out of his skull. Adelessa couldn't help the breathless laugh that burst out of her. Matthew joined in a second later, leaving the other three to be absolutely poleaxed as to why they were both having fits of laughter.

They still hadn't entirely composed themselves by the time they mostly caught their breath, but the five of them couldn't afford to squander any time here. The tactician needed to know what was going on in the battle as a whole and staying where bandits had attacked was a terrible idea. So, even though they were still a bit winded, the small group struck off to regroup with the main force.

Eliwood was the first one to see them through the rain. He waved and waited for them to get within speaking distance. "Aydie, welcome back – don't worry, there were no major injuries. Hector, Dorcas, and Bartre were more than able to fend off and fight the knights that attacked us." Sure enough; looking around, Adelessa could see that the most notable thing was that Lowen had stripped off a piece of the armor on his arm. Marcus was looking it over and shaking his head.

"Eliwood, you might remember Erk from when you helped Lyndis during the inheritance dispute." When he nodded in agreement, she added, "He's escorting a young lady and Lord Darin has trapped her in a village southwest of here. If we help him rescue her, he'll lend us his strength for this fight."

"This won't affect our chances of catching Lord Darin before he leaves?"

That was a reasonable question. Unfortunately, Adelessa didn't think that they would be able to catch Darin whether they assisted Erk or not. He'd had plenty of time already to abscond if he had the chance. "I believe," she said finally, "that doing this won't change the outcome."

"Then we'll be more than happy to assist you," Eliwood told Erk. The mage gave his thanks while Adelessa found another tree to climb. She wasn't going to sit here and rush into a new situation without getting her bearings. Her spyglass was in her hand and she was scoping out the situation close to Castle Laus in more detail in less than a minute. Now that she knew the reason behind the guard around the village, it made a great deal more sense for why foot soldiers were mixed in with the mounted knights. They were concentrated around the village. Likely they were guards that got pulled into the conflict despite their previous orders. With how many Eliwood and Hector fought earlier, it might be easy to break through their line.

It was when she was almost ready to climb back down that Adelessa heard Erik's voice. She clutched the trunk of the tree and rapidly scanned the ground near it before she realized that the wind had shifted. She was hearing his shouted orders from across the fields. "… stronger than I thought! Go to the castle and get me reinforcements. I want them now!" Allowing herself a small, smug grin – Looks like someone underestimated us!– Adelessa returned to the ground.

"It's looking like they have fewer men on guard around the village than we have in our company," she started. That brightened their spirits. "And they're not expecting us. We can punch through them quickly as long as we have the element of surprise."

"Then we'll do that," Eliwood replied firmly. He and Hector started forward with Marcus and Lowen on either side of them. Oswin and Erk were right behind those four and Adelessa hurried forward to walk with those two.

The two cavaliers surged forward as soon as they saw the enemies standing guard outside of the village. Between being bowled over and out of the way and scrambling away from the knights, there was a clear path into the village. Right behind them was Erk. He shouted and lightning leapt from his hand to enmesh a knight in jagged yellow-white lines. He didn't wait to see what happened to him. Instead, he whirled around and gave a sword-wielding soldier the same treatment. Hector, Eliwood, and Oswin flanked and followed the mage, driving away any opponents who tried to attack him and finishing off those his magic didn't.

With that sudden surge, their group – even Serra and Rebecca at the back – was in the village. Erk knew exactly what he was doing: before the rest of the group had even collected itself, he was knocking smartly on the front door of one of the houses. "Lady Priscilla, it's Erk. I've made a way for you to get out of here."

When Priscilla emerged from the door Adelessa understood why the marquess would find her lovely. Her red hair – while short – was neat and shone with health. Olive eyes were set in a soft, gentle face and were the same color as the tunic she wore. White, gauzy fabric formed sleeves and a short, rounded cape and a white skirt draped down to her calves. Its hem brushed sensible leather riding boots that matched the tack of a chestnut-colored horse that grazed mildly at the side of the house.

"I'm glad – I was starting to worry that I wouldn't ever be able to leave." Her voice was light and sweet. "Who are these people?"

Erk gestured at each of the three people he introduced. "These three – the leaders – are Lord Eliwood of Pherae, Lord Hector of Ostia, and Lady Aydie, our tactician." Adelessa didn't miss the way he automatically included himself in the group. She also noticed that he almost hesitated when he introduced her. I'll have to ask him about that later,she thought as she rose from the bow she gave the young noblewoman. "This is Lady Priscilla of House Caerleon of Etruria."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Adelessa said. "I hate to break formality and seem rude, but the fighting is going to be fierce here soon. Do you have any combat training? If you don't, that's fine – we're able to protect you should you need it."

"I've never been taught to fight, but I am trained in the use of staves and have practice using them while riding. I'd like to help, if you'll have me."

"Certainly – we can use all the help we can get. Stay with Serra, our cleric: she'll help you get used to the way we do things. Rebecca, you'll make sure to keep an eye out for anyone around those two?" Rebecca nodded. Priscilla mounted up onto her horse, settling herself in the saddle. "Just make sure-"

She cut herself off abruptly. When Hector started to say something to her about her sudden silence, Adelessa shushed him with a single upheld finger. Had she just imagined that? No – there it was: Erik's voice was muted, but she could hear it. The wind was in just the right direction again.

"Where are they – you were supposed to get reinforcements, you scumsucking idiotic excuse for a soldier!" He was bellowing; she could almost see him, red in the face and disheveled after all that went wrong for him. "No matter – men, form up. Charge! Target the girl in the green coat – she's the one directing them." She was a lot less amused and a lot more scared once she actually heard what he was saying. "Kill all of them – let none survive, but leave Eliwood to me!"

"Axe-users, to the north!" she yelled in reply. The world gained the crystal clarity that came with these do-or-die moments. "Brace for a charge!" She knew the necessary course of action; it formed in her mind's eye in a second. "Lowen, Marcus, join them!" There was no more time – the knights of Laus crested over a rise just north of the town, an avalanche made of horse, rider, and steel.

Adelessa had ordered several cavalry charges in her time as a tactician, albeit with only a couple of cavaliers. Never before had she been on the receiving end of one and especially not one with this many horsemen. The line of them crashed against the five she had sent forward first with all the violence of a wave breaking on a cliff. Most stopped there, including Erik; a few more were halted by Oswin, Guy, and Eliwood, with Rebecca and Erk providing ranged support. Matthew stayed by the healers; he didn't have a prayer against knights equipped with lances.

One managed to pass through all of that, intent on carrying out Erik's command to kill the tactician. The knife was in her hand. Adelessa wasn't sure when it had gotten there. Watching the knight, she shifted to a balanced stance that Matthew had taught her just the other day. Her reflexes sent her in a sidelong leap to avoid his attempt to pierce her through. She landed on her shoulder, rolled, and scrambled back up on her feet as he turned his mount around, only to drop down to one knee when her foot slipped in the mud. The knight was already starting his second pass: there was no time-

For the second time that day, Adelessa found herself being dragged backward by her over-tunic. The strong grip on her back heaved, she drew her legs to her chest, and her toes cleared the horse's smashing hooves by mere inches. Over her stood Matthew, facing down the cavalier. The knight was about to start a third pass when Hector smashed into him from one side and Dorcas on the other. With its rider dead, the horse spooked and fled into the forest.

Matthew helped her stand. She was thoroughly coated in mud: there was more brown than green on her over-tunic. Getting it all off would be an ordeal to which she was not looking forward. Shrugging off that thought – there were more important things to focus on at the moment – she turned her attention to the remnants of the fight. Dead men and horses were hard to look at.

"Laus is the true throne of Lycia!" The last man fighting was Erik. He had his sword locked with Eliwood's and was bearing down on him. Eliwood neatly pivoted to one side. The other nobleman must not have been expecting it: he jerked down, slipping half from the saddle. Hector seized him the front of his tunic and dragged him to the ground. Adelessa gingerly made her way over the churned, muddy ground. She stood between the two lords and looked down at the furious young nobleman.

"You won't keep me as a prisoner!" he spat, struggling with the slick mud to get to his feet. When he made to reach for his dropped sword, Eliwood and Hector both stopped him by leveling their weapons at him. Erik froze.

"I was under the impression that was what had already happened," Adelessa said mildly. She heard Matthew snickering somewhere behind her and fought to keep a straight face. Somehow laughing in Erik's face didn't strike her as a very good idea.

"You-!" He made as if to lunge at her. Hector stepped in and roughly grabbed a handful of tunic showing from underneath his armor.

"You," the blue-haired lord growled, "are going to work with us or so help me Elimine I will forget that Eliwood convinced me that you're better off not beaten into a pulp. Got it?" When Erik gave a begrudging and scared nod, Hector let him go. "Keep an eye on this one," he told Oswin and Matthew. "Sing out if you see him up to anything fishy."

With that settled, Erik grudgingly followed Eliwood's orders. Adelessa happily let him take the lead; she wanted nothing to do with trying to wrangle the barely cooperative Erik into following her orders. They entered the castle and fanned out to scour it from tower to cellar. Adelessa found herself in the kitchens and tried to ignore the looks that the servants gave her. She tried questioning them as to where the marquess was, but her inquiries returned nothing useful; none of them had seen him since early in the morning when he took breakfast with his advisor and son.

Returning to the main hall, she found that only Erk was out there. He must have had an area through which he could go quickly,she thought. Remembering that she had meant to ask him about the odd hesitation when he introduced her to Priscilla, she started to walk over to the mage. "No luck?" she asked.

"There was no sign of him," he answered. Adelessa was quiet for a moment, trying to find a tactful way to broach the subject, but Erk spoke first. "Your full first name is Adelessa, is it not?" She snapped her gaze to him in surprise: how could he know that? She'd never used it around him. Only Matthew knew her full name and he didn't seem like he would tell. Her reaction was enough confirmation for him; he continued with, "I was speaking with Lord Pent about the incident in Caelin and he informed me that I had been working with his foster daughter."

Adelessa stared at him for a moment. "Wait. You're his student?" Suddenly pieces started falling into place. No wonder he's so good with anima magic – if he's learning from Pent it's no surprise!Erk must have good connections, extraordinary talent, or both if he was being tutored by the Mage General of Etruria.

"I am indeed. Adel- Aydie," he corrected, seeing the slight shake of her head, "is there a reason that you prefer not to be known as a noble? As a tactician, you already have a title. You might as well let others know you're associated with House Reglay."

"I'm just their foster daughter," she disagreed. "Honestly, I'm hardly even that anymore. Once they're eighteen, fosters are considered independent and return to their home and proper title. Pent and Louise are just extending me the courtesy of a place where I can rest between journeys until I'm hired as a permanent tactician somewhere." That wasn't quite true: Adelessa was deeply fond of the two and would have loved to stay with the household. Unfortunately, she couldn't bring herself to just stay.

The return of other members of the party saved her from having to answer any more uncomfortable questions. She hoped that Erk wouldn't call her out as a noble: she preferred the others treating her like a normal person. Losing the camaraderie that she'd built with others because of who her foster parents were was one of the last things she wanted to have happen.

It was only when everyone was assembled that the news came out: Lord Darin, Marquess of Laus, was nowhere to be found in the castle.

"Erik, you have to tell us," Eliwood said, his voice on the fine line between a plea and an order. "Where is your father? We've searched the entire castle and there's no sign of him."

Erik's face lost all its color as he stared in shock at Eliwood. He turned to Hector and Adelessa, the other two who were there to question him, to see if their faces would belie that Eliwood was lying. He gasped out, "Don't be ridiculous!" His voice was void of all the bluster it held prior to now. "He wouldn't – he would never abandon me!" Something twisted in his face, turning despair into hatred. "Ephidel," he hissed.

"Ephidel?" Adelessa jumped on that name. "Is that someone your father knew?"

When Erik only stared at her in stony silence, Hector grabbed him by the tunic once again. "Hector, leave him be!" Eliwood's scolding made him set down the other young nobleman. The redheaded lord crouched down in front of where Erik sat. "Erik, please – we need to know this. I need to know this, know everything that you're hiding." His voice was soft and betrayed the pain of losing his father. If she thought he was that cunning, Adelessa would have accused him of doing it on purpose. She knew, however, that Eliwood wasn't nearly that duplicitous. He was simply speaking to Erik as he'd want to be spoken to. "I… I just want to know where my father is."

The raw pain in Eliwood's voice – already charismatic, even without having the common ground of missing fathers – convinced Erik. Adelessa could see the change in his face. He spoke to Eliwood alone. "Ephidel," he started, "appeared at the castle one year ago. Before, my father was unhappy with Laus' position in the Lycian League. We provide so much food and have such good troops – why shouldn't we be the leader instead of Ostia?" Hector snorted at that and got a nasty look in response. "He'd never spoken of anything so drastic as rebellion, though.

"Then Ephidel came. My father changed – whether Ephidel told him something or showed him some secret, I don't know. Whatever it was, it convinced my father to conceive this plan and set it into motion. He started quietly building and training new troops. After several months of preparation, he sent envoys to other marquesses to see if any would support his plan of rebellion. Marquess Pherae was the second to approve of it."

"What?" Hector gaped at first Erik and then Eliwood. Adelessa was shocked; she'd no idea that the peaceful Lord Elbert might have anything to do with fomenting rebellion. It was hard to believe.

Eliwood was just as taken off guard. He returned with a vigorous, heartfelt, "Never – my father would never agree to something like this!"

Erik shrugged. "Believe what you will," he said. "That's not my problem – I'm just telling the story as I know it. Marquess Santaruz was the first to respond, and then your father did. Six months ago, he came here to give his final approval and pledge what support he was willing to provide."

Eliwood rolled back on his heels, obviously astounded and bewildered. "That – that's not possible. He wouldn't…."

Forging on – likely completely ignoring Eliwood – Erik continued with, "Our fathers argued when Lord Elbert arrived. Marquess Pherae had always distrusted Ephidel; he didn't like that he was associated with the Black Fang. He didn't want 'that league of Bernese assassins' involved in Lycian business." Goosebumps crawled up Adelessa's arms. The same group that was involved with hunting Nils and Ninian was involved in Lycian politics? There's no way that this will end well. "My father wasn't willing to change that part of his plan – the Black Fang troops are necessary in order to subdue any combined forces against ours. Marquess Pherae left and, as you know, he then disappeared. Somehow I doubt he's still alive."

Eliwood flinched, the last sentence causing him what almost looked like physical pain. Hector snarled at Erik. "Shut that hole – he doesn't need to hear any of your bile!"

"He said he wanted to hear everything," Erik replied flatly. "Has that changed?" When Eliwood didn't answer, he shrugged. "My father – he became Ephidel's puppet. He'll do anything he says, even – even, apparently, leave me to die." A mad laugh bubbled on his lips, the sound a person stressed far past his emotional ability. He grabbed Eliwood's cape, pulling him forward. "These are the kind of people you're dealing with! Marquess Pherae betrayed them – do you really think they'd let him live?"

Adelessa gently drew Eliwood back after Hector peeled Erik's fingers off of his cape. Eliwood gently shook off her hands and quickly walked out of the room. Hector glanced between Erik and his retreating friend, not entirely sure what to do with the situation. "Marcus, would you be willing to stand guard over Erik?" Adelessa asked. He needs to be with Eliwood – rather, Eliwood needs someone to be with him. This is a lot to take at once.

"Certainly." The nod she received from Marcus showed that he had been thinking the same thing as she was. "I'll make sure he won't cause any trouble." The sheer expression of gratitude on Hector's face made it worth any verbal abuse Adelessa thought she might take. Then he was off to track down and console his friend.

Adelessa tucked her legs neatly beneath her when she settled in front of Erik. The glare on his face was half-hearted, likely more for show and out of habit than any real effort to despise her. It didn't warm her attitude toward him any, but it was nice to know that she wasn't going into a fight that was completely impossible to win. "I need to know," she told him, "everything you know about this Ephidel. What he looks like, how he acts, for whom he's working - everything."

She didn't let him rest until he'd answered her questions to her satisfaction or proven that he didn't know enough to give her an answer. Unfortunately, there was far more to the latter than the former: Erik knew disappointingly little that she could use. She at least felt like she could hope to identify him if she was looking for him. Erik described him as being pale and his skin having a noticeable cast of gray to it. He had always been swathed and hidden under a dark purple-gray cloak, but the nobleman had insisted that the golden eyes under the cowl all but glowed. He was frightfully intelligent, cunning, and ruthless.

Adelessa sat on a bench on the side of the hall. She could feel that her mouth was tucked down into a frown and the tightness on her forehead that meant that she was creasing furrows into it. The news about this Ephidel person is unsettling. There's very little that isn't frightening about a commander who's smart, fast on his feet, and has no qualms with spilling blood to get what he wants. She ran her fingers along the gold chain around her neck; the smooth metal slipping between her fingers was calming and kept her from showing her agitation more noticeably. Her over-tunic was folded next to her, waiting for her to properly wash it just as soon as someone else came to relieve her of watching Erik. She had sent Marcus and Lowen out to work on defenses for this place. She'd hate to get a nasty surprise. Spirits, I just don't like this. There's so much going on that we can't account for!

"Penny for your thoughts? Better yet, how about some dinner?"

"You are a wonderful person," Adelessa told Matthew, gratefully taking the plate from him. Some sort of stew sat on top of a plain piece of bread and some potatoes. "Just… thinking, really. I'm trying to keep all of it straight in my head."

"I'm surprised you don't write more down." He sat on the other side of her. They both started eating and Adelessa shook her head while she stirred some of the stew into the potatoes.

"Writing something down means someone else can find it and exploit it." Matthew colored at that. "Oh, don't worry. All you got was my first name. I'm not so upset about that. But if I don't keep it all up here," and she tapped her forehead with one finger, "that means I can lose sheets of paper or someone can steal and read them. I've got a good memory. It's just been a very long day and I want to make sure I remember as much as possible before I go to sleep tonight."

"Huh. Makes sense. I guess most of us spies do the same thing." He popped a forkful in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "I always assumed you academic types usually had all kinds of papers. You had enough when we were with Lyn, anyway."

"Since when have I been usual?" They both chuckled over that for a moment. "And that was studying. That's a different matter entirely." She yawned into her hand. The stresses of directing a battle didn't help after uneasy sleep coming into Laus.

"I saw that – you need to go to bed, you lightweight," Matthew informed her cheerfully. "Up you go. I'll watch over this oaf." He made shooing motions with his hands until she got up and gathered her over-tunic. "Sleep well."

"You too – good night, Matthew." On her way to the quarters they'd claimed, she saw Hector and Eliwood talking outside. For a moment she thought about joining them, but decided against it. Matthew was right – she needed sleep – and they were likely having a private conversation. She fell into bed and stared for a moment at the richly-textured ceiling of the room she'd chosen. At least Erk hasn't told anyone about my being the foster daughter of Lord Pent. Perhaps I'll be able to keep hiding it from them. It doesn't hurt anyone when I keep from talking about my history. Just so long as we stay away from anywhere they might know me. She closed her eyes. I can always tell them later. Yes – I'll tell them later, when it might matter. It's nice being just Aydie, tactician, rather than anyone else.

She happily ignored any twinges of concern about not being completely honest and instead went to sleep.

A/N: Oh my goodness guys I am so sorry about how late this is. ;~))) Life stuff happened - this chapter got nuked when my flash drive crashed when it was almost done and we had a death in the family recently that made it hard to write along with finals. It was... rough. But I'm back now!

Thanks to my lovely lovely beta. You are a wonderful person and deserve cookies and a scarf. Oh wait right I'm knitting one now~

To my reviewers! You're fantastic. Tom-Ato13, AquaticSilver, MilleniaMaster, Drachegirl14, Sieben Nightwing, Solyeuse, patattack, Vanguardian Setherosa, and DrakeDarkblade! You guys rock, seriously!

I'm going to try to get into my normal updating pattern again here shortly. Thanks for waiting!

EDIT: I have a Tumblr now guys! If you'd like, you can follow me on there - I'll try to talk about things in the ABM-verse. Let me know if you'd like the link!