It seemed almost like some cruel kind of déjà vu when I heard that Leanne had been kidnapped by Daein. Of course, working for Tibarn wasn't exactly the most fun way to go about rescuing her, but I had always been her little protector when we were kids. I would have gone after her even if Tibarn hadn't paid me.

Chapter 25 – Another Kidnapping

Several weeks passed in Kilvas without incident. Naesala found himself welcoming the break, although income was now slow since he had cut his ties with Daein. Oliver's death had also become a bit of a financial inconvenience, since the fat senator had paid handsomely for Naesala's services.

However, Kilvas' shores were warm and sunny, and after having to spend so much time in the snowy mountains of Daein, Naesala was greatly enjoying the chance to lie outside and take a nap at his leisure.

Just like the old days, back before I became king, he thought one afternoon as he lay out on a rocky cliff, sunning his feathers. Begnion's busy with their own problems, along with their involvement with the war against Daein, so no lousy requests from them. I'm sure I'll get bored eventually, but as long as this war's going on, and as long as Kilvas stays neutral, I'll have lots of time to relax… He grinned to himself and stretched his wings lazily. There was a gentle breeze blowing, and the scent of sea water had never smelled as sweet to him as it did in that peaceful moment.

A peaceful moment that was soon to be interrupted.

"Nestling! Nestling, come quick!"

Naesala groaned at the sound of his caretaker. And I was about to fall asleep, too… "What is it, Nealuchi?" he mumbled.

The old crow fluttered in front of him. "Nestling, King Tibarn is here! He said he needs to speak with you! It's urgent!"

"Tibarn? Why the hell would he come here?" Naesala reluctantly stood up and began following Nealuchi back to the castle. "Unless he's come to chastise me for the Reyson incident. Or maybe he's going to beg me to join the fight against Daein. Either way, I'm not looking forward to—"

"Nestling, please. You have to remember that Prince Reyson is under the care of the hawk nation now." Nealuchi turned to him. "You have to keep relations with King Tibarn a little bit friendlier if you want to be able to spend time with the heron siblings."

Naesala rolled his eyes. I hate it when he's right…

Tibarn was pacing anxiously back and forth when they entered the throne room. He rushed over to Naesala and grabbed onto his shoulders, much to the raven's surprise and dislike.

"King Kilvas! What I'm about to tell you is completely confidential. I'm coming to you because I have no other choice right now, but this is really important!" he whispered in a harsh tone.

Naesala blinked for a moment. "If it's confidential, you know you're probably not coming to the right source, hawk king."

Tibarn shook his head. "It's about… Princess Leanne."

Immediately, Naesala was staring into Tibarn's face with full attention. "This doesn't sound particularly good. What's going on?"

Nealuchi moved closer to them to hear. "King Tibarn, did something happen to her?"

The hawk took a deep breath. "She's been kidnapped by Daein."

Naesala's stomach dropped, and he felt his mouth suddenly go dry. "K-kidnapped?"

"Yes. Kidnapped by a man with armor black as night," Tibarn explained. "The bastard killed one of my men and took her away. I don't even know how he managed to sneak onto the island and then flee without being detected!"

"Warp technology, perhaps?" Naesala muttered. "It's a recent beorc invention. They use magic to warp around."

"Whatever the hell it was, he's got Princess Leanne, and I need you to get her back!"

Naesala smirked. "Now, wait a minute. She was under your care. Why should I have to make up for what your guards failed to do?"

Tibarn glared at him. "Because you owe the heron clan much more than this for what you pulled on Reyson. That's why."

I suppose he does have a point there… Naesala sighed. "All right. You want me to go fetch Leanne for you. And what do I get out of this?"

Tibarn's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"You know. Compensation for risking my life to go rescue a rare heron from a country I used to work for and then betrayed." Naesala shrugged. "It's not going to be easy."

Nealuchi turned to him. "N-Nestling! Don't demand money from him!"

Naesala casually waved off his caretaker's remark with his hand. "Come on, hawk king! I had to leave Daein's employment before I was paid, so I think it's only proper that I receive that sum from you in exchange for rescuing Leanne."

Tibarn's mouth began twitching, as though he really wanted to protest this idea. However, he merely let out an exasperated groan.

"Fine, you greedy bastard! How much do you want?"

Naesala nodded in triumph. "I was to be paid 80,000 gold, but considering the circumstances, I'll generously decrease that to 65,000 gold. Is that fine with you?"

Tibarn let out another groan and reached into a small leather pouch at his waist. He then pulled out a crumpled up bit of parchment and hastily smoothed it out with shaking hands. He grabbed a slate pencil from the pouch and wrote down the amount.

"65,000 gold it is. But only if you bring the princess back! You won't receive a drop of gold until then!" the hawk shouted.

Naesala grinned. "Excellent. We have a deal, then. I'll bring Leanne back, safe and sound. Don't you worry your feathers one bit."

After the hawk king had left Kilvas, Nealuchi made sure to rebuke Naesala for his behavior.

"Nestling! How could you be so selfish when a heron royal's life is on the line? Don't you care about Princess Leanne's safety?"

"Of course I care, Nealuchi!" Naesala replied. "Why do you think I agreed to go rescue her? But I also wanted to see if I could milk a bit of gold out of this, too. Financially, we're in a bit of a lull right now."

Nealuchi shook his head. "I still think you should be a bit nicer to the hawks. We need to maintain—"

"—good relationships with the other laguz nations," Naesala finished, rolling his eyes. "Yes, Nealuchi, I know that. Believe me, the way I'm acting is much nicer than I'd like to act. Now, if you'll excuse me. I need to work out a plan to rescue our darling little heron princess."

As he walked away, he finally felt the seriousness of the situation sink into his nerves.

I know how the Daeins hate laguz. I don't know what they'd want from a heron, but it can't be good. Ashnard's not like the late fat gelatinous mass. He's not going to treat Leanne like 'art.'

Suddenly, something clicked in his mind. Images of the last time he had seen Lillia flashed through his head, and a cold sweat came over his body.

That's right… Those bastards who kidnapped Lillia were from Daein, weren't they… Well, this makes the situation a bit more urgent, then. Leanne… I'm not going to let you end up like your sister!

He reached his room and went onto the balcony to clear his head and think.

Lillia was being held at Palmeni Temple, if I remember correctly. I doubt they've taken Leanne to the same place, though. I seem to remember hearing about a place in Crimea… And since Daein recently conquered Crimea, it makes sense that they would go there.

He ran a hand through his hair. "Oh, Leanne… you always did manage to get yourself into trouble when we were younger."

A few hours later he returned to the throne room with a triumphant smirk on his face. Nealuchi was waiting for him and stared at him with a puzzled expression as he entered the room.

"Nealuchi, pack your bags! We're going to Crimea!" Naesala exclaimed.

"Crimea? Why?"

"Because I'm fairly certain that's where Leanne is. I've been getting reports of laguz experimentation by Daein scholars in Crimea. I guess they decided to go there after they conquered it," he explained.

Nealuchi's face went pale at the mention of experimentations. "Goodness! We better hurry! I don't even want to imagine what they're doing to dear Princess Leanne! Do you know exactly where she is?"

Naesala shook his head. "I have some ideas, though. I'm going to send a message to our scouts in Daein to see if they've heard anything about a heron kidnapping. Meanwhile, we're going out to Crimea to see what we can find. We'll need to go in disguise."

"Right. Shall we be traveling merchants or desperate mercenaries this time?"

"Hmm, I think I have a better idea. Mercenaries would remind the Daein soldiers of the Crimean princess' merry band of hired help, and I'd prefer not to sell anything at the moment." Naesala scratched the back of his head. "I believe it's time we resurrect Nicolas and Victor."

His caretaker shook his head and covered his face. "Oh, not that, Nestling… You know last time we tried that, you almost blew your cover!"

"I did not! It was all part of the act," Naesala retorted. "Besides, a little extra flirting never hurt anyone."

"Nestling, are you sure we can't go as simple merchants instead?"

Naesala smirked. "Yes, I'm quite sure. Come on, go find that old Victor outfit. We'll leave tomorrow morning!"

The next day, two men arrived in a small southern Crimean town, one leading the other by the arm.

"Now, Grandpa, are you sure that this weather isn't bad for your health?" the younger man asked.

"Yes, my vee little boy. I'm sure. Ooh, I vonder if there are any pretty little maidens in this town?" the old man remarked.

"Grandpa! Please, not in earshot of people!" The younger man glanced around and saw that none of the surrounding townspeople seemed to have heard them. "Come on, now. I'll find us an inn where we can stay. You need to get out of this beastly weather!"

However, the old man was looking over at two young women who were standing by an apple stand, chatting casually. "Look at the lovely young vomen!" he exclaimed, wobbling over to them. "How are you today, my dears?"

One of the girls, who had her hair in a messy ponytail, giggled at the old man. "Oh, I'm doing fine. I don't think I've met you before, sir."

"Oo-hoo! She called me 'sir'! Did you hear that, Nicolas? Isn't she a lovely little voman?"

The young man ran over to them and pulled his grandfather a few feet away from the girls. "Yes, yes, they're nice, Grandpa Victor," he told the old man. Then he turned to the girls and whispered, "I'm sorry. He's getting a little… you know, senile."

"Oh, that's fine!" the ponytail girl replied. "He seems like such a friendly old man!"

"Yes, a little too friendly at times…" Then the young man smirked. "My name is Nicolas. I was wondering if there are any large castles nearby? Grandpa loves to look at old fortresses and such, and I went along with him to take care of him. You know, this could be the last time he gets to travel like this, with his health and all…" Nicolas' face dropped.

The other girl, whose hair was blonde and curly, gasped. "Oh no! I'm so sorry. But that's so sweet of you to take care of your grandfather!"

"It is!" the ponytail girl replied. "As for large castles, I think the closest one is Gritnea Tower, but I wouldn't take your grandfather there."

"How come?" asked Nicolas.

She glanced around and then lowered her voice. "I've heard that the Daein soldiers took over and have some scary monsters living there."

"Monsters? Oh, surely you don't believe any monsters come from a human country like Daein!" Nicolas suddenly turned and grabbed Victor's shoulder. "Wait, Grandpa. Don't chase after those women over there. They look like they're married."

"I only vanted to say hi, Nicolas!" the old man responded with a frown.

"Just wait here for a second, okay?" Nicolas sighed and turned his attention to the girls again. "Anyway, what do you mean by monsters?"

The curly-haired girl cowered slightly. "Well, the cobbler's son went over there a few weeks ago on his way to visit a friend in the next town, and he said that he saw a large tiger roaming around in the woods! He said it was like a subhuman, but it looks like it had rabies or something! Do subhumans even get rabies?"

"I wouldn't know. Never met one," Nicolas answered. "Well, that's interesting. I guess we'll have to stay clear of that place. Thanks for the info!"

"Oh, you're welcome!" The ponytail girl grinned. "So, how long will you be staying here, Nicolas?"

"Well, I suppose not long, since Gritnea's haunted by monsters. It's a shame. You do seem like such nice ladies." He winked at them, causing them both to giggle in embarrassment.

"Do you want to come grab a drink at the pub?" the curly-haired girl asked. "It's a little chilly, and your grandfather could probably use a rest."

"Ah, that's a tempting offer, but…" Nicolas glanced over at his grandfather, who was eyeing a girl who was pushing a wheelbarrow full of dirt through the street. "I really think we should get going and try to hit the next town before nightfall. I want Grandpa to be able to see as much as possible, you know."

"Oh, of course!" The ponytail girl nodded. "Well, good luck!"

"Thank you, ladies. Have a lovely day." Nicolas took their hands and gently kissed them before nudging his grandfather to continue down the street.

Once they were about a mile outside of town, Nicolas took off his heavy cloak and stretched his wings. "Well. That proved to be quite informative, wouldn't you say?"

Victor pulled off his cloak as well and sighed. "Indeed. I wasn't entirely paying attention, since I had to stay in character, but I caught some bits of it. It looks like this Gritnea Tower has become a place for laguz experimentation."

"Indeed." Naesala yawned and glanced up at the setting sun. "Looks like we'll have to stop for the night. I've heard of Gritnea before. It should be about two days from here, if we're able to fly without having to worry about passing humans. Either way, we'll have to fly low if we're going to avoid any guards or scouts. It's likely that a place that specializes in laguz experimentation will be able to recognize laguz ravens from normal crows."

"Two days…" Nealuchi shuddered. "Oh, Princess, I hope you're all right!"

So do I, Nealuchi, Naesala thought, his eyes narrowing. So do I…

About the timing for this chapter: Yes, I realize that the span of time between when Leanne was kidnapped and the Gritnea Tower battle was probably more than three days. However, let's assume that Tibarn took a while debating whether or not to come to Naesala for help, for the sake of keeping things moving along.