Chapter 39) Sunshine


I've been captured. Of all the things… it was so damn frustrating! Doesn't help that I'm dating Seliph, so I just knew the stories about this would be all twisted so that I was a damsel in distress or something. Instead of playing bait to make sure a friend didn't get caught. But focusing on frustration was better than focusing on my guilt. I knew everyone was going to be frantic, because of how Conall had been kidnapped too. Because of what happened to Creidne (though my rank and relation should be some protection… hopefully). And the frustration and guilt only grew as I thought of different ways I could've gone. Different choices I could've made.

Gods damn all of this. I hated being alone.


You know… aside from the fact that my hands were tied behind my back and I was constantly watched, I was actually treated fairly well. Reinhardt didn't make me walk, or drag me from behind his horse, but instead had me ride with him. He made sure it was female soldiers who guarded me. Though the whole hands behind me thing meant I had to be fed, I was given the same food as the soldiers. Wasn't forced into bad conditions. And, really, my hands had been tied in front of me, but I undid the ropes during my first, and only, escape attempt. Of course, I could still get out of the ropes no matter where they were tied, but since Reinhardt had captured me and recaptured me with ease? Best to pretend to cooperate until he wasn't paying attention. If I had a weapon, this would be a little more even, maybe, but nope! Went out without a weapon because I'm an idiot like that. No wonder I got freaking captured. Ugh. At least Alster was fairly pretty. I guess.

"Wow, this place looks better than I thought it would," I noted softly, peering around as we rode through the market. It actually resembled a market, with people around. But I could see how a few glared at the soldiers. A few even made rude gestures, but quickly darted away to avoid being seen. "Everyone is skittish like an abused cat, instead of dead. That's an improvement from Rivough, at least. Way worse than Melgen, though." These people weren't happy at all. They wanted Bloom gone.

"Those are not the sort of words a prisoner normally makes in the presence of her captors," Reinhardt chided, more focused on making sure no child rushed in front of his horse. Sad that I was sitting in front of him because otherwise, I could slip off and disappear into the crowd. But nope, trapped by his arms. Damn it. "Might make them more inclined to hurt her."

"But at least I get the satisfaction of knowing I annoyed and frustrated you. And then I can come back and drive you mad as a spirit or something." Not that I'd want to be a ghost-ghost, all twisted and everything. But maybe something like with Uncle Lex and Danann. If, you know, Danann had actually seen Uncle Lex's ghost. "That would be fun."

"If you say so."

Thus died the conversation, though to be fair, I hadn't really expected him to reply or anything. He had been stoic and quiet for most of the journey east, speaking only when issuing orders, Still, he was polite enough, I suppose. Either that or super cautious. When we arrived at the castle, and the courtyard, he helped me dismount and escorted me through the halls. The inside of the castle was… severe in its coloring. Not gaudy or tacky, but it was a place that emphasized function over form. So there were very few actual decorations, like flowers or paintings that weren't portraits. Smelled badly of scented candles, though, and there was one scent that 'tickled' my nose and gave me that uncomfortable 'going to sneeze, but not really' feeling. It was freaking annoying!

"This is exactly why I told you to not let Ishtar hang around with such uncouth people!" And someone was shrieking, threatening to break the glass and shatter my ears. "And why I told you to not let Ishtore go off on his own! Now he's dead!"

"I fail to see how the first statement has anything to do with Ishtore's demise!" And that was someone else, someone trying to keep calm and failing. Both voices bounced off the walls of the hall, and I glanced at Reinhardt, curious. He remained stoic, hinting this was somewhat normal. "If you're only going to use his death as a means of throwing barbs, then leave! I want to mourn my son in peace!"

"And let his murderers simply waltz about?! My son needs to be avenged!"

"As if you didn't discard him at the first opportunity!"

"So, Bloom and Hilda?" I murmured, glancing at Reinhardt. This time, he nodded slightly, though he did keep stoic. "Neither are good parents if they're treating Ishtore as a toy they were forced to share. No wonder he didn't speak highly of either of them."

"You spoke to him?" Reinhardt asked softly. The yelling was getting louder, and more incoherent. This was going to be so much fun to walk into. "Truly?"

"We hoped to find common ground and not fight." I sighed, remembering that conversation and remembering Ishtore's death. "Sadly, he had very good questions, and we didn't have good answers. So, we couldn't allay his fears." And then we killed his fiance, and stole his dreams of the future. Just as Arvis had… "I wish otherwise. I would've liked to have gotten to know him better."

"...He probably would've gotten along quite well with your army." He looked ahead, to a set of doors. "We're here." He opened the door right as someone started cursing rather creatively, and another person yelled similar curses right on back.

"I'm not impressed with your lord and lady." I couldn't help but be blunt, mostly because now I could see Bloom and Hilda, both red in the face from how much they were yelling. Nearby, a noticeably younger man, probably late twenties, was pinching the bridge of his nose, like he was warding off a headache. I didn't blame him. "Sorry, but…"

"I have one liege lady, and that is Lady Ishtar, and Lady Ishtar alone." He spoke quietly, with a calm fierceness, and I just nodded, accepting the correction. Certainly couldn't blame him when these two acted like this. Though, to be fair, they had been in private. Sort of. "Lord Bloom?" And no reaction from the two arguers. The other man, however, heard him and smiled softly before walking over to join us. "Ah, Cyas. Much preferable."

"Welcome back, Reinhardt," the man greeted. I noticed he had Fjalar-red hair and matching eyes. Velthomer descent, then? "Who is this?" This 'Cyas' peered at me curiously, but I looked down to prevent him from getting a good look at me. "A prisoner?"

"Sort of," Reinhardt replied. I was tempted to glower at him because I didn't see how this was being 'sort of' a prisoner. My hands were bound, damn it! "How long has this been going on?"

"Since Lady Hilda arrived twenty minutes ago."

"Only interesting thing since I was sent out?"

"Thankfully, yes." Cyas smiled faintly. "Ah, I did find a lovely history book in the market that you'll like. Swing by my room later, and I'll lend it to you."

"Of course." Reinhardt also smiled slightly. I noticed his expression was much softer, and was surprised because I thought he was just permanently stoic. "Ah, but I fear I'm still on duty. Where is-?"

"Now who is this?" And now I had Hilda in my face. Terrific. I supposed she'd been beautiful, once, but the cruel smirk and glint in her eyes took all that beauty away. "Oh, Reinhardt, did you bring me someone to play with?" she asked, speaking surprisingly softly considering how loudly she had been yelling earlier. "I've been quite bored. You might be as fun as Tailtiu was, actually."

"Wow, I think you're the first malevolent banshee I've ever heard of," I deadpanned, unable to help it. Speaking of Aunt Tailtiu like that…! "Fascinating."

"...That is the second time I've been called this 'banshee'." Her eyes narrowed, not quite a glare. "What are they?"

"They're the ghosts of women who are twisted by their violent death, and improper burial rites. They can take many forms, but the ones I've heard about the most have a ghastly appearance and a keening, piercing shriek as-" She slapped me then. She slapped me hard and really dug her nails into it, so not only did my neck nearly snap from the force, but I felt blood trickle down my cheek. Tears pricked my eyes, automatic reaction, but I willed them away. Because if there was something I knew, it was how to smile through pain and hide my tears. So, I looked back at her with a cool expression, and a soft smile. "Ah, my apologies. I wasn't aware that was a proper greeting in Grannvale. You'll have to forgive me for not returning the favor."

"You little…!" She glared, irritated. "Do you know who I am?"

"The lady who slapped me for answering your question?"

"Tch…!" She grabbed my collar and dragged me towards her, actually pulling me behind her as she tried to leave the room. "You're coming with me."

"No, she is not." And someone jerked me out of her grip, pushing me behind them. It took a couple of blinks to realize it was actually Bloom. "Reinhardt brought her to Alster, so she is a prisoner of Alster," he informed Hilda coldly. I frowned, now feeling like I was the toy being fought over, and held still as Cyas inspected my injury. "I have not released her to you."

"Lord Bloom, Lady Hilda, please!" Reinhardt said, stepping in between the two before Hilda could snap back. Cyas stepped away from me, mumbling something about medicine. But that didn't matter to me. "Might I give my report before you-?" Because Reinhardt was distracted, and there was no way I was missing my chance.

I looked at Hilda's sleeve and willed it to burn. I grinned when it caught fire instantly, and I quickly set a few more spots on her dress on fire. Not quite a kick to the face like Conall requested, but I doubted he'd mind this. Besides, everyone was freaking out, leaving me free to run down the hall as fast as I could. Though I couldn't see the ropes behind me, I could feel them, so I used my fire magic to burn them so that I was completely free. Burned myself a bit, but nothing bad. Just a shiny patch of pink skin, no big deal. My face hurt more. And a little bit of pain wasn't going to stop me from trying to escape!

Knowing that I had to at least get out of the hallway, I quickly found a window and opened it to climb out. Bit awkward to close from the outside, but I managed and then looked up and around, cursing when I realized there wasn't a good way up here. So, down I went, picking a direction to try and find a good way up. However, I ended up in some gardens and heard the whispers of people talking, so instead, I found a nearby tree and scrambled up before remaining as still as possible. If I could wait up here long enough, then the people would leave and I could continue finding my way out.

"Forgive me, but I fear that I must insist on this," someone was saying. I couldn't see them from here, leaves and all, and I didn't really care. I just wanted them to leave. "You must be aware that-"

"You're being idiotic," another voice snapped. It sounded much younger, and there was a coldness to it that chilled me for some reason. "You dragged me away for this?"

"Let it serve as an example of how serious I am." The first voice seemed rather impassioned about… whatever it was. "The gossips have picked up on it, so surely you are aware of the closeness between Prince Conall and Lady Ishtar." And now I suddenly cared. What was this person talking about? "Yes, they have always been close, but people have noticed a change between them!" The air felt heavy. The skin around my Mark burned. That… that had never happened before. Marks were just supposed to be there, not… "And there are talks and rumors that the two might elope and-"

A snap of fingers. A spike of magic. And suddenly there was red everywhere. Though I couldn't see well through the leaves of the tree, I still saw all the red. All the blood, really. Because it was definitely blood. I smelled death with it.

"Idiot. He should've known that was a warning." The second voice again. So, they had killed the first one… "Conall… Conall would never hurt me." But there was something wrong with the voice this time. Though the first few words had been cold, the last ones were strangely fragile and pained. "That's… that's part of the problem…"

Footsteps, partially through blood based on the 'squelching' sound I heard. I pressed myself against the tree, keeping myself as still as possible. As the footsteps approached, I even held my breath, not wanting to do anything that might attract attention to myself. But I might as well have not bothered. Because just two seconds later, I was falling. I was falling because the branches I had been on collapsed under me, and the rest snapped while I plummeted. I hit the ground hard, sprawled out with withered leaves and splinters falling all around me, and I wondered what the hell happened. Then I had to stare because the tree I had been hiding in, the very strong and definitely alive tree I had climbed… it was now nothing more than a rotted husk.

"Well, you're a bit big for a squirrel." My attention turned to the speaker, a boy probably a bit younger than me, wearing black. He had long red hair that was worn loose and he had pale, almost delicate features that were completely at odds with the blood splattering his face. "Yet you're scurrying about almost like a rodent," he continued absently, looming over me. He casually wiped some of the blood off, and brushed his hair out of his face, drawing my focus to the dark red mark on his forehead. "So, are you a spy?" His eyes, however, were what held my attention the most. But not the color or anything. Red eyes were just… red eyes. But there was a strange duality to them, something older than time and something younger than me simultaneously existing. Almost like they were fighting, which was ridiculous, but… "Well?"

"If I were a spy, do you think this would be the point I'd admitted it?" I asked dryly, because of course right now was when I was sarcastic. After all, it was so smart to sass someone who basically killed someone for spreading rumors. "I imagine this would be the point I committed suicide or something."

"I suppose that is true." He frowned, wiping the rest of the blood off his face. My eyes darted around for some avenue of escape, and I saw a pile of mush seeping out of dark robes behind him. Took me a moment to realize those were the remains of the first person. What the hell did he do?! "Quite the fire you have in your eyes, though."

"Fire is my blood. Well, some of it, at least."

"Oh?" He tilted his head curiously, and then his eyes sharpened. "Wait… red eyes and blonde hair?" He suddenly crouched, so that he was level with me. "Hey, is your name 'Caitriona'?"

"Yes, though I go by 'Riona'." I wondered how he'd guessed before realizing the obvious. In my defense, the whole 'tree rotted out from under me' and 'overheard a murder so brutal that the corpse didn't resemble anything but mud and mush' thing had me very distracted. But the red of his eyes and hair were Fjalar-red and he had a Mark on his forehead, so he could only be… "So… uh… hi, Julius?"

"Hello!" He then tackled me with a hug, nearly knocking me over. "Yay! I finally get to meet you! I've always wanted to!" He pulled away quickly and gently touched my cheek. The bleeding one. "Oh, but you're hurt… is it from the fall? Wait, these look too even. Did someone scratch you?"

"They didn't give me their name." Which wasn't a lie. Now, I wasn't quite sure why I was 'protecting' Hilda of all people… except there was some sort of quiet, yet urgent, instinct that I had to make sure Julius kept calm. "But it's fine. I've done worse to myself. Once busted my lip because I climbed a tree too fast chasing after a cat."

"That's silly!" He smiled sweetly, and I noticed it was the same smile that Yuria and Seliph had. This was… actually a little creepy, because he smiled that same smile so shortly after brutally killing someone on a whim. "Here, we'll get you to Cyas! Have you met him? He's an amazing healer. Aunt Alicia taught him, so you know he has to be good." Julius suddenly looked behind me and waved. I simply wondered why he only mentioned Mom when, given the years, Cyas's main training had to have been done by someone else. Was it just to reassure me or something? "Oh, Ishtar, look! It's Riona!" And I glanced back to see Ishtar really was right there, staring with her jaw dropped. "She's here! She's here!"

Oh, this was going to be so awkward.


"Well, your escape attempt certainly chased Lady Hilda away," Cyas noted. He was very carefully cleaning the scratches on my face since, apparently, Hilda had slapped me hard enough to break her own nails. I'd say that was her problem, except that meant they were in my scratches. Which was icky and meant Cyas had to pick them out. Not to mention any potential splinters and leaf debris. Blech. "You also made it much farther than we thought."

"It feels like I'm being damned by faint praise," I complained, doing my best to talk without moving too much. I didn't want to make the work difficult for him. "Why are we in a fancy room and not the infirmary?"

"Infirmary is filled with injured soldiers returning from Leonster."

"Ah, of course." That should've been obvious. To be fair, I was still kind of reeling from the past hour or so. "Is this stupidly fancy room supposed to be where I'm staying? If it is, we need to get rid of these scents and all these blankets." And maybe change the mattress. There was a difference between 'bouncy' and 'swallow you whole' in terms of softness and the bed I was sitting on was the latter. It was actually a level or two past the latter.

"You are definitely Conall's twin." He smiled and laughed softly. "Julius will get them changed over for you." Along with everything else apparently. Because that just seemed to be what he did. Whatever he wanted and damn anyone else's thoughts.

After meeting Julius, I had been promptly dragged back into the castle, where Julius happily introduced me to Bloom as if I hadn't just seen him. Ishtar had followed before snagging Reinhardt and pulling him away, along with Cyas. Meanwhile, Julius got me measured for new clothes, rambling about this and that, and got the servants to set up a room. Servants who all fussed over this and that and… well, basically, I was being treated like a pampered princess and while I knew there were many who'd kill for such treatment, it just irritated me. Maybe it was because I wasn't 'home'. I was a prisoner, after all. Just one with much better treatment than usual, which I was grateful for, but…

"Not sure why I didn't guess who you were sooner, since you look like Aunt Alicia," Cyas whispered. I got the impression he was thinking aloud. "And you've got the same defiant fire Conall does."

"Aunt Alicia?" I asked curiously. Julius did mention that Mom had taught him. "You were close then?"

"Well…" Cyas glanced over at the closed door before sighing. "Well, I'm sure it'll come out. Julius forgets it's supposed to be secret." He took a cloth and blotted the extra blood off my cheek before switching to rubbing balm on it. "You and I are cousins."

"Oh?" I frowned then, doing some mental 'calculations', and I glanced at him skeptically. He turned my face back forward so that he could work. "So, was Arvis married before or something and I just never heard about it?"

"My mother is Aida, Arvis's best friend…"

"And the woman who tricked Mom and her friends, and kidnapped Conall. Right?"

"You are definitely Conall's twin." He sighed, but I noticed some pain in his eyes despite the 'healer mask'. That sort of pain… I knew it. I knew it well.

"Did she die? I'm sorry." I looked up at him again. I wouldn't necessarily say the dead were 'free' of criticism or hatred or anything, but... "I'm sure it still pains you."

"It does. I miss her everyday." He gently turned my face back forward. "Regardless, she and Arvis were best friends and decided to have a simple one-night stand."

"And contraceptives failed."

"Precisely, and Grandfather and Mother determined that trying to induce a miscarriage would be dangerous for her, since she was allergic to components of the 'safe' methods." Ick… that sucked. "So, here I am. It's not the most conventional familial tale, but I'm fine with it. I like my relative quiet."

"Relative?"

"I am the High Priest of Velthomer, leader of the healers and clergy." He smiled faintly. "I also work as a tactician for the army on a case by case basis."

"Tactician?"

"I hate to see movement wasted, and like my efficiency. It… ah… there was a battle where I got annoyed? And I always did like reading Mother's books." He shook his head. "Regardless, though, that's why I call her 'Aunt Alicia'."

"How old are you?"

"Me?" He was silent for a bit, like he was trying to remember. "Twenty-seven, a few months ago."

"Wow, you're the firstborn by a lot." I held still while he applied a bandage to my face. "Fjalar's major of our generation, then?"

"...No." He said it softly, and I glanced at him again. But he wasn't looking at me. "No, I…"

"Must be nice, being able to hide." I smiled at him, not meaning anything by the words. It was just an absent comment, really. "I wonder what that's like."

"You did hide, though?"

"From my heritage? No, none of us ever did." I shrugged. "People died protecting us because of our heritage. Since we were toddlers, we knew people expected us to save them."

"...That is too heavy a burden, especially on children." He looked at me again, his eyes strangely sad. "Far too heavy, and far too painful."

"Pain is normal. Well, that sort of pain, anyway." Just like the pain of having family ripped away. It was all normal. "Besides, it's not like I'm alone with the burden or anything." I had all my friends, after all. Together, we were strong enough to bear it. "So…"

"So many things that confused me about Conall when we were younger now make too much sense and I hate it." He sighed, and I frowned, confused. "Well, regardless, I'm finally done tending to those scratches. I just want to check for deep bruising and internal bleeding from the fall you had."

"Sure, that's fine." I didn't feel too bad, but I knew well how things could be worse than they were. "So…" I paused when I heard rapid footsteps approaching. "Ah, that must be…"

"Back!" Just as I did, Julius burst into the room, carrying a set of clothes. "I'm not sure how Isaachian women dress, so I told the tailors to make these first ones simple until you could weigh in on what you liked," he rattled off, setting the clothes on the bed next to me. I noticed they were various shades of blue. "How are you, Riona? Are you in pain?"

"No, Cyas is taking very good care of me," I reassured him, smiling slightly. He was… surprisingly eager. I could see the relation between him and Yuria, actually. Eager to help out and all. "He's just giving me a checkup to make sure there's nothing unexpected."

"That's good." He pointed to the bandage on my face and looked to Cyas. "Why not use a staff for that?"

"A couple of reasons, Julius," Cyas answered, carefully pressing along my back to check for bruising. I'd landed on it, after all. "One, this will reduce the chances of a scar and two, though I did my best, there is still a chance something was left in the wound."

"And if something is caught underneath, my wound will get infected, and then he'll have to peel off the scab and drain the puss and all that," I added. I had to help Aideen deal with that a few times in the infirmary. "Not fun."

"Very not fun, and since it would be on your face, the infection could spread rapidly to very important areas."

"Oh, that makes sense," Julius murmured. He smiled, satisfied by the answer, and focused on me again. "So, Riona, are you a healer too?"

"Me? No, but I helped out in the infirmary a lot, growing up," I answered. I laughed, remembering those lessons. "I could probably make medicines in my sleep at this point."

"Why would you want to make them in your sleep?" He looked genuinely confused for a moment, and I wondered if Grannvale didn't have that idiom or something? Except Cyas seemed to know what I meant. "Ah, whatever. I can't wait to show you Belhalla. It's prettier earlier in the year, but it's still nice."

"I can't go to Belhalla." I said the words without thinking, but almost immediately, there was a heaviness to the air. Cyas tensed next to me, and slowly brought an arm in front of me, as if to shield me. I thought I sensed power, but… "I'm sorry, but I can't."

"Why not?" Julius sulked. Except there was something… there was something dark about the expression. My instincts were screaming, and it was a 'scream' I knew well. The 'scream' that only sounded when you were looking death in the face. "You're my cousin."

"Yes, I am, and I've been your cousin all of your life, even though we have been separated. Separations do not sever the bonds between people. No matter how far you go, or what you do, you are my family." I took his hand in both of mine and did my best to smile. "However, I made a promise. I've actually made many promises. And I can only keep them while here, in the Thracian Peninsula. Going to Belhalla might lead to me breaking them."

"...And promises are important. That's what Conall always says." He sighed gustily and the tense air lightened almost immediately. Cyas subtly shifted back to his check, and I realized he really had been shielding me. From Julius. "After all, people who keep their promises are people you can always trust." He pouted a bit. "Will you at least stay in Alster for as long as I'm here?"

"Yes, I promise." Not only did I want to get to know him, and Cyas, but with luck, after he left, everyone's guard would be down and I could escape. Just needed to wait for the weakness, like how Hestia watched herds of deer and went after the weakest. Though I did worry about how Ishtar would feel about this. And Bloom for that matter. Enemy he might be, he still lost his son to the army I helped lead. "But no changing plans just for me, okay? I'll be very cross if you put off important things."

"Mmm… okay, agreed." He smiled sweetly and then crawled onto the bed to lay down on my lap. "You're warm… like sunshine..."

"I've been told I'm quite comfortable." I stroked his hair, absently undoing some tangles. Cyas, meanwhile, only sighed, hinting that this wasn't 'proper' behavior in Grannvale. "You want to sleep?"

"No…" Though he did already seem to be dozing. "Talk."

"You sure? You're napping like a cat." I giggled, though, amused. "Talk, hmm? Let's see… well, do you want to hear about Hestia?"

"Hestia?"

"She's my wolf. One of the reasons why I can't leave. I simply can't leave her behind."

"A wolf?" Though he was still sleepy, his eyes lit up. Cyas facepalmed briefly before continuing his check. "Yes, please?"

"Well, I found her two years ago…"

While Cyas finished his check-up, I told Julius not just about Hestia, but about various people I had met. I was careful to avoid names, both of people and places, but it was still quite fun. Julius seemed to like it, at least, and Cyas was fascinated by the folklores I'd picked up over the years. It was… strangely enjoyable.


"So… um… does Julius normally have such a glary-glare reaction to Reinhardt?" I asked Cyas awkwardly as we trailed after Julius and Ishtar in the market. Julius had decided we should go, to see if anything caught our eyes, but he had made a point to say that Reinhardt couldn't come. Even glared at him. "That seemed a bit much. Isn't he Ishtar's guard?"

"And Julius is convinced that Reinhardt guards Ishtar so vigilantly out of romantic love," Cyas murmured. He kept 'calm', and I remembered how Aideen would default to the 'healer mask' when she felt stressed. And the stories of how Mom would do the same when things were hectic to be the 'beacon of calm'. I wondered if this was the same. "Which is ridiculous. Reinhardt has guarded Ishtar ever since they were both children. So, they are certainly close, and friends no matter what Reinhardt says, but they also have clear 'roles'."

"Lady and knight, and never does that falter." Still, to have that sort of reaction… "He must be insecure about his relationship with Ishtar. Should really talk to her about it, though. Communication is important."

"Have you never been jealous?"

"Er… my romantic life is highly atypical and a bit arrogant, actually." I still felt horrible about all of that. "But we all do our best to talk to each other. All of our little family, not just any romantic things. It's a learning process to be certain, but we like addressing things before they become issues, if we can."

"Riona, Cyas, you're falling behind!" Ishtar called then, waving at us. Her smile was much thinner than it had been in Sophara and Rivough. Fainter and sadder. Of course, given that her little brother died just weeks ago… and Tine… she didn't… oh dear. "Come on now, before we lose you in the crowd!"

"Ah, sorry!" I called, rushing to catch up. I took her arm as soon as I did, mostly to keep her attention. "Hey, Tine is okay."

"She is?" Almost immediately, life and light just breathed into her or something, putting a little more color to her face and a bit more warmth to her smile. Cyas glanced over curiously when he joined us, but then moved ahead to talk to Julius. "Truly?"

"Yes." I made sure to smile. "Whatever plan they had involved something she couldn't tolerate, morally speaking, so she surrendered. Last I saw her, she was talking to Fee about riding on Fee's pegasus."

"She's not imprisoned?"

"Er… no?" Now I felt a little awkward. "I won't say there aren't some Friege soldiers imprisoned and all, but typically speaking, we just keep them on guard and let them walk around. Well, when they're not in the infirmary."

"...You healed them?"

"The ones that were alive and could be saved?" I winced as I thought of Liza. "Um… we also make sure to bury them. Er… the dead ones, I mean. The ones we couldn't save." I hesitated before continuing. "Ishtore and Liza are buried in Melgen, together. I made sure of that personally. And we burn incense for all of the dead."

"Oh…" She breathed a sigh of relief, though I saw the tears in her eyes. "That is a relief. I… um… I remember seeing Danann's body… so…"

"Yeah, I'm not proud of that." I'd forgotten. Ulster and I had met Conall afterwards, which meant that Ishtar had been waiting for him to get back with Hekate. Meaning that she could've been looking out the window and… "Danann was… personal. In a lot of ways." I winced, just thinking about him. "Labor camps, rapes, murder, assault, hostages… and he also killed Aunt Ayra and Uncle Lex. By taking children hostage to make them stand down. Neither Ulster nor I could check our anger." I sighed, shaking my head. "In retrospect, I'm really not proud of it. I won't say that there aren't messy kills because, let's be honest, all kills are messy. But what we did with Danann… isn't something I ever want to do again."

"I see." Ishtar nodded, relaxing a bit. "That does make me feel better." No doubt about that! Gods, the pain and nausea from wondering if her brother's suffered something similar had to be overwhelming! The thought itself nearly overwhelmed me, at least. "Ah, but before I forget, I should apologize to you."

"...For what?" If anything, I needed to apologize. Our army killed her little brother! And his fiance!

"I sent Reinhardt that way to gather information on Tine, and on Ishtore and Liza. So…" She shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "I'm afraid it's my fault you were captured, ultimately."

"So, you're apologizing for worrying about your family? That's a silly thing to be apologizing for, you know." How could I blame her for such a thing? Especially since she had just told me her worries! "Besides, it looks like he did his job admirably."

"That's true. First time he completed a job in an unexpected way, but still, I did get information on them." She actually laughed, though it was much softer and sadder than the one I had heard before, back in Isaach. "So silly."

"It really is, huh?" And I supposed I could stand getting captured if it meant being able to reassure her. "Ah, so…"

"Hey, what are you talking about?" Julius was in front of us now, sulking. Behind him, Cyas sighed, like he'd been trying to keep Julius distracted. "You've been quiet and falling behind," he explained a little sulkily. "So?"

"Well, we were…" I began. However, Ishtar flinched and I remembered what Cyas had told me earlier. So, I had to leave Reinhardt out of the explaination or… "I was just telling her that Tine was safe. And then commenting on how sweet she is."

"Oh." Julius smiled, appeased. "You didn't have to be secretive about it."

"You looked like you were having fun with Cyas." Thinking fast… thinking fast... Wait, why was I lying? I had no idea. Just my instincts screaming that I needed to. "I didn't want to interrupt."

"It would be more fun with everyone." Despite the words, he shrugged and ran ahead to join Cyas, deciding the explanation was enough. Still, not wanting to chance things again, I made to follow, so that we didn't have him coming back to get us, but I noticed Ishtar hadn't moved from where she was. Instead, she just stood there in the middle of the market, the crowd of people pushing past us.

"He's been more like his old self ever since Riona arrived," she whispered, voice so soft and absent that I was certain she was simply thinking aloud. Her expression was worn, too tired to emote. I remembered seeing similar expressions on Aideen, Oifeye, and Shanan's faces when we were all young. When they had learned about the Massacre and we had to be on the run to escape capture and death. "But I wonder how long that'll stay? It never lasts long, anymore." What the hell was she talking about, though? I almost asked.

But then, it didn't matter, because I was soon distracted by gasps, shouts, and what sounded like desperate pleas, of all things. I pushed my way through the crowd, wondering if someone had gotten injured, and I thought I heard Cyas trying to say something. I almost called out to him. But then I caught sight of Julius and I saw him bring his hand up, dark flames dancing around his fingers. Magic. Power. And I remembered what he'd done to that person. That person in the robes, who became nothing more than mush and blood. So, I moved without thinking and snatched his wrist, bringing his arm down to his side in the hopes of directing any launched spell harmlessly to the ground. Julius looked at me in shock, as did the people around us, everything silent like the sound had been ripped away by a Silence Staff. But I didn't care.

"Just what do you think you're doing, Julius?" I scolded, my voice the only sound in the market now. Though the 'flames' burned and cut my palm, I curled my hand over his to block the magic further. "Unless I'm missing something, like invisible blood or whatever, nothing happened here that requires such violence." My hand was numb. The cuts were actually crawling up my arm, like they were a living creature. "I'm going to keep holding on until you dismiss the spell, Julius." And the spell moved fast. It was already almost to my shoulder. Wonder where it would go once it reached there. Up? Down? Or a diagonal, towards my heart? "So?"

"Ah!" Julius gasped and pulled his hand from mine. The magic was gone. My arm was totally numb. "You… you're bleeding…" he whispered, eyes wavering. "I…"

"Yes, I'm aware I'm bleeding." I looked around curiously, and seriously didn't see anything that would've warranted that sort of reaction. The only thing out of the ordinary, besides the fear and shock on everyone's faces, was the child sobbing into… well, based on looks, I'd say they were sobbing into their older sister's chest. "Hey, is everything okay? Is my arm the worst thing? Please tell me it is."

"That needs to get treated! Cyas? Cyas, where are you?" Julius grabbed my uninjured arm and tried to tug me away, but I dug in my heels. "Riona…!"

"Is everything okay?" I continued focusing on the two, ignoring him. "Do you need help?"

"No, that was help enough, my… your highness," the sister murmured. She scooped up her crying sibling and bowed. "Thank you… thank you…!" Then she ran, and I saw how quickly the crowd hid her escape. Protecting her as much as they could.

"Seriously, what the hell?" I whispered. Now I let Julius pull me to Cyas, who… somehow had medical supplies. I wondered how, but then Ishtar appeared with more, so I figured they'd just been grabbing some. "What happened?"

"The little brat threw a ball at me," Julius grumbled. I could only stare. That… that was it? "It is-"

"A child who probably threw their ball too hard? Seriously, not something that requires such a reaction. Threatening them like that…" I sighed heavily, shaking my head. Julius's eyes darkened and after he got me to Cyas, he made to leave, heading the same way the child and sister did. "Oh no, you don't." I snagged him by the arm to keep him near me. "Nope. You're stuck with me."

"But because of them, you were hurt!"

"I am hurt because I chose that."

"And you shouldn't grab my hand like that." Julius scowled. "If I'd had the fully spell ready, it would've killed you!" ...Wait, that kind of implied that he was going to kill the child for… but surely that wasn't… um… "And I don't want to kill you. You're my cousin." What was with the emphasis on 'my'?!

"Julius, can you come with me?" Ishtar called, interrupting the conversation with a sweet smile and light tone. I was still a little too caught up in my thoughts. And how numb and bleeding my arm was. "I just saw this lovely necklace that I think would look good on Riona."

And just like that, the situation was resolved. Julius was properly distracted by the idea of getting me a present, and slowly, normality returned to the market. Except now I noticed the people keeping one eye on Julius, and ushering their children inside. For 'safety'. Rather like how Ganeishire hid all the women when General Richard went walking...

"Cyas?" I asked quietly. He made an acknowledgement noise, more focused on making sure I didn't bleed out. "Would… would he have really killed a child for…?"

"Be a better reason than some of his other murders," Cyas answered absently. I felt sick. "He would actually have a reason for it besides whim."

"Ah…" That was all I could say, because I was reeling. That was… I…

Conall, when I next saw you, we were having a discussion on what the word 'little' meant! This was not 'a little' broken!


Alster had a really good library. At least, it was really good by my standards, save for one tiny little thing. I couldn't figure out the organizational system at all. I had tried to figure it out on my own, not wanting to disturb anyone for something like this, and then gave up and decided to just pull a random book off the shelf. Which resulted in some books falling on my head. For some reason. I was still trying to figure that out.

"Are you all right?" Best part? Someone saw, namely Bloom of all people. Person I wasn't really in a hurry to talk to since he let Hilda beat Aunt Tailtiu to death and I was involved in the death of his son. But here we were. "I am afraid that the library has fallen to neglect in recent months due to the war effort," he explained, helping me up. He then, almost absently, checked my head for any bumps. "A shame, really."

"I'm just grateful the entire bookcase didn't fall on me, because that would just be my luck," I sighed, holding still. This was so awkward. "I probably should've just contented myself with looking at the covers."

"With that book hunger in your eyes? Surprised you only grabbed one. Glad, since that might've sent more on your head, but surprised." He stepped back and crossed his arms, shifting from 'worried mildly-paternal' to 'stern lord' in less than a second. "What were you looking for?"

"Something interesting."

"...Not sure why I asked. Prince Conall always has the same answer."

"Well, we are twins." Still, I decided to smile. I could at least pretend this wasn't awkward. "I think I would like recent history. Post-Crusaders. Though if you have anything older than them, I wouldn't mind taking a look."

"I think Conall removed most of those for his own perusal. But recent? We have quite a bit of that." He gestured for me to follow him. "Those would be in this section over here."

He hadn't been joking. There were a lot. So many that I could spend an entire week doing nothing but read and probably not get through them all. I grabbed as many as I could carry, rushed to a nearby parlor with bunches of sunlight and a table right by the window, and then returned to grab even more. Bloom actually laughed, and then left me to my reading. I made one last 'stop' to ask someone for pen and paper before going to the books. Because it wasn't just whim that led me to this topic. I wanted to do research. I wanted to see the politics and history after the Crusaders died, the events that led up to the Belhalla Massacre. And I wanted notes so that I could talk with the others. Because hopefully, it would help with trying to find those answers. And I was starting with the most recent. I'd look more into the reigns of the Crusaders, and the Holy War, afterwards. Might as well use this… very unexpected and unwanted… free time to get some work done!

I wasn't sure how long I spent reading and taking notes. Quite a while, since I made it through half of the books and had to request more paper. But if you asked me to put an actual time to it, I wouldn't have. But I knew that it was past lunch, at least. Why? Well, while I was taking a break to rub my wrists, I overheard Ishtar and Bloom talking. Or, rather, Ishtar scolding her father because, apparently, he hadn't eaten anything today. Or yesterday.

"Father, despite what you think, you do have a body that occasionally requires food," Ishtar snapped. I stood up and leaned against the table to peer out into the hallway, where I saw her and Bloom. Unlike before, Bloom looked exhausted. "And starving yourself won't bring the dead back."

"I know my limits, Ishtar," Bloom replied softly. He wouldn't quite look at her, though. "I'm old enough to know that."

"And I'm old enough to know when to call out bullshit!" Ishtar stomped her foot and glared at him. "I'm not a child, Father! I'm nineteen! And Ishtore was going to be…" All at once, Ishtar's expression crumpled and she looked down, twisting her fingers into her skirt. "Please? Father, won't you please eat at least a little? For me? I can't… Ishtore is dead… I can't… I couldn't anything for him, so..."

"Oh, Ishtar…" Bloom hugged her and Ishtar began crying. "Ishtore's death isn't your fault."

"I should've been there! I should've gone there as soon as we heard the army was marching south! I could've saved him! I know I could've! Why did I let him be alone there?! Why wasn't I there?!" Ishtar was outright bawling now. "This isn't right! Why him?! He was seventeen! He and Liza were going to be married! And I'm the older one! If one of us had to die, it should've been…! I should've been…!"

From there it was a mess of syllables all more or less saying the same thing. Bloom didn't say anything, just continued holding her while silently crying himself. And it broke my heart. No matter how… whatever… he was and no matter how he had let Hilda kill Tailtiu... he was still a father mourning his son, who died too soon. His son and the woman his son was to marry… so, really, a daughter too. A son and a daughter… and trying desperately to comfort another daughter while she blamed herself and wished she had died instead. While his own heart bled.

Ishtar continued sobbing for a while, and eventually, I heard the two slowly leave. I even got up and peeked out to check. Then I leaned against the doorframe, thinking. Now, I knew what I should do is probably just leave it all be. Go back to my books and notes, that sort of thing. After all, I was responsible for their grief. Yet, at the same time, it just felt wrong to not at least check in on them, especially since it was my fault. So, I mentally debated for a while, shifting my weight from side to side to 'mirror' me weighing out my options, and I eventually sighed and headed to the kitchens. The cooks and kitchen staff all descended on me to ask what I wanted, but I reassured them that I simply wanted to make a quick thing. A quick drink. One for me, which I had a servant take back to that parlor for me, and two for Ishtar and Bloom, which I carried out on a tray myself after asking someone where the two were.

Thankfully, sort of, the two were together, in a parlor room where they were both eating. Or, rather, both were trying to eat. Made a good effort at it too, but it was easy to see how grief had killed their appetites and turned the food to ash.

"Ah, Riona!" Still, Ishtar noticed me quickly, before I could decide how best to knock and not stand there in the doorway awkwardly. "I… thought we had gotten everything?" she continued, actually counting the things on the table. Bloom just tried to continue eating. "Yes, so…"

"This is me being a worrywart busybody, actually," I replied, walking over. Then, carefully, I set the two mugs on the table. "I thought both of you could use a little treat, and in Isaach, this is something we drink for comfort."

"Oh, warm milk with honey…" Ishtar smiled at it, and Bloom looked at it curiously. "Conall will make it for me when I'm down." She took a sip without hesitation and her smile grew. "Tastes just about the same."

"I'm not surprised. It's just the basic recipe. Families have their own little tricks to personalize them." And I still needed to learn that trick from Shanan. He did make it after the battle with Ishtore, like I'd requested, but we'd both been too busy for 'cooking lessons'. And I didn't want him to just tell me. That wouldn't be fun. "I probably put in a bit more honey than him."

"Yes, I think that is the difference."

"So, this is that drink Conall insists on?" Bloom asked. He was sipping it slowly, looking at it oddly. "I can see why he likes it. How did it become a comfort drink, though?"

"In Isaach? It being something comforting actually comes from before the Holy War," I explained. Whenever you heard old stories, you would hear of the heroes having some to calm down from battle and tragedy. More than you'd hear of alcohol, at least. "In fact, it comes before the Empire, but it probably stuck around because honey and milk are so plentiful in Isaach." Though what kind of milk was most common depended on the area. Not all parts of Isaach supported cows, after all. "Honey is used in a lot of Isaachian dishes, actually. Beekeeping is an important job in the community, as important as… say… a blacksmith or a butcher."

"Bee… keeping?" Bloom frowned a bit, but Ishtar actually continued smiling. Both kept drinking the milk, which I was glad for. I hoped it at least helped them a little. Made the pain just a little easier to bear for the day. "How does one 'keep' bees?"

"Hmm? Ah, well…"

"Excuse me." A servant appeared in the doorway, and bowed to us. "There is a visitor, Lord Bloom," they murmured, keeping their head down. Bloom sighed, and got up slowly. I winced at how slow, since it was like his very bones pained him. "This way, my lord."

Bloom followed them out the door and down the hall, and Ishtar quickly followed. I did what I could to cover up the remaining food and drink and let someone know so that they could do the rest. Then I decided to see who had arrived, being curious. Of course, when I arrived in the main room where everyone else was, I wished I hadn't. I really wished I hadn't.

"Father!" Because even if I hadn't seen the long Fjalar-red and matching eyes on the older man who was our visitor, Julius rushing over and calling him 'Father' would've told me just who this was. "Welcome, welcome!" he greeted, hugging Arvis. Arvis seemed startled by it, for some reason. "Something wrong?"

"I simply wasn't expecting such a warm greeting," Arvis replied. Slowly, he hugged Julius back, stroking his hair. "But I'm glad for it." He sounded awkward, and at first, I thought it was just Arvis not knowing how to be a dad or something. Except I saw the startled look on Ishtar's face and, perhaps more tellingly, on Cyas's face when he came in. Both things hinted this scene wasn't common. That Julius didn't typically greet Arvis so warmly. So, why now? What made a difference? "You're looking better. More color to your face."

"Cyas takes good care of me, just as always." Julius smiled warmly, and Arvis smiled back, softly yet sadly. "Ah, but what are you doing here? There's a festival soon, isn't there? That you were overseeing?"

"Yes, I'm quite curious as well," Bloom murmured, stepping up to greet Arvis. Julius rushed over to Ishtar and Cyas and pulled them out of the room. "You don't typically leave the capital anymore and-"

"I heard about Ishtore," Arvis answered softly. Without any of the earlier hesitation, he hugged Bloom and Bloom immediately rested his head on his shoulder. "I wanted to see how you were holding up. How Ishtar was holding up. Tine."

"Tine's been captured. Probably in the dungeons in Melgen."

"I'm-"

"She is not!" I snapped, bristling. I knew I had no right to say anything, especially since clearly this was supposed to be a private moment, but damn it, I wasn't going to let him believe such a lie. "Tine surrendered, and so, we took her in. She's under watch like all the other Friege soldiers who surrendered, but she's got her own room and everything! Gods know you could fit two entire cities in that damned castle!"

"That is quite courteous, but how do you…?" Arvis began, stepping away from Bloom to face me. Then he froze, no doubt noticing the similarities between Mom and me. I mean; if everyone else commented on it, I'd hope he notice them. "You… are you…?"

"I'm Riona, Conall's elder twin." I crossed my arms and glowered. This was not a good day and so, I defaulted to dry sarcasm. "And to my utter and complete joy, I'm also your niece. One of them, anyway."

"One of them?"

"Well, yeah? I mean; Tine's your niece too, you know." The sudden and awkward silence that fell over the room screamed, even better than their stunned expressions, that no, they hadn't known. They hadn't known at all. I supposed Aunt Tailtiu had meant for it to be secret or something then… I'm sorry, Aunt Tailtiu…

"I…" Arvis looked at Bloom, who found a spot on the ground interesting. Hard to tell if it was shame that he hadn't known or… if he had known or… oh, whatever. Not mentally equipped for dealing with that. "When did they even court?"

"Uncle Azel and Aunt Tailtiu started courting… I think Aideen told me it was after the Silissean Civil War? Certainly the two were together during the massacre. Guess they wanted it to be a surprise or something? Or, you know, thought there would be a lot more time to tell before meteors tried to crush their friends." I was rambling. Speaking as I thought. "They had two kids, up in Silesse. Arthur and Tine. Both are with us in Melgen now. Arthur's been living in Silesse ever since Uncle Azel was killed. Right in front of him too and…" But even as I babbled out those thoughts, I saw Arvis wince and instantly, guilt flooded me. Then annoyance at me feeling guilty because it was freaking Arvis, but… even though I hated him so much… "I'm rambling. Sorry." He still deserved to learn of all that in a better way than me blurting it out. "I really thought you all knew." Especially when he was just standing there, wincing and being shocked. Just taking all the barbed words. "I'll take my leave."

I made sure to walk until I was down the hall, but then I ran all the way back to 'my' parlor and returned to my books. Books made sense and books didn't make me feel awkward. Well, these ones, at least. Whoo boy… next few days were going to be oh-so-much fun. Especially with that as the first meeting. Ugh...


Over the next few days, things were… interesting. And not just me being very awkward around Arvis. Julius apparently couldn't decide if he loved his dad or hated him. One minute, he was laughing and fretting over Arvis, dragging him around to the market and everything. The next? Mocking, patronizing… it was just plain uncomfortable. Especially for me, since I had such strong familial bonds. Though the constant changing just made me feel like I was constantly having to be on edge, watching and waiting. And though it was most noticeable with Arvis, I had started to notice it happened elsewhere. One second, he was polite to servants. Then he'd turn around and threaten to kill them for something as simple as 'walking too fast'. It was tiring, and so, I started finding excuses to be 'conveniently not around'. I felt horrible about it. Absolutely horrible. But at the same time, it was such a relief...

"It's funny how easy Alster's castle is to climb," I whispered, letting myself relax and doze on the roof. All stretched out like a cat. Like Mursi… gods, I hoped the children were okay. I hoped Inanna, Anat, and Sandas weren't overwhelmed with their leopard-kittens. I hoped Hestia was behaving for everyone. "I'll have to remember that." Lots of things I'd have to remember, truthfully. Layout, defensible positions, where patrols typical were… well, maybe not that last one. That might change. The layout and defenses, though? Not a lot you could change about either. Especially the former. "Might as well use this all to my advantage." But I hoped Julius left soon. I wanted to return to everyone. "Ugh…"

Sighing, I pushed myself up so that I was sitting and I used the sun to guess where 'west' was. Then I looked over that way, like I could see everyone if I looked hard enough. Ridiculous, of course. I hoped they were okay. I wished there was a way I could tell them that I was fine. That the worst thing was dealing with Julius's mood swings. That the only thing keeping me away was a promise. I hoped Yuria was okay, and that she knew I would be there as soon as I could. I had promised, after all.

The wind gusted, and kicked some leaves into my face. One directly into my mouth, in fact. I coughed and sputtered, glaring at the offending things as the wind carried the pieces away. Then I turned to 'face' where the wind blew from. The north. Leonster, Leif's home, and our current 'goal' for the journey. If I squinted, I thought I could even see it on the horizon, set up on an elevated cliff. Supposedly, it was one of the most defensible castles in all of Jugdral, with its primary weakness being attacks from above. And, of course, needing enough soldiers to man all of the defenses. I wondered if they had enough now. People fighting for their lives… fighting for their freedom… and somewhere there, Uncle Finn was leading them. I hoped he was okay. I hoped I'd get to see him soon. Meet him soon, rather. Had he even been there when I was born? I couldn't remember what I'd been told.

"Uncle Finn… you'd better be okay," I murmured, letting the wind catch the words. Maybe he'd hear them or something. "You and everyone else who is fighting there. We'll help as soon as we can. I promise." Promises… promises… I had to be careful not to make too many. Too many promises and oaths were what killed Eldigan, after all.

I stayed there on the roof for a while longer, before deciding that I did need to head back inside. So, I climbed down, but not to the ground. This path wasn't good for that. Instead, I climbed into a window I had left open specifically for this and swung inside. And… uh… nearly kicked Arvis in the face because he'd apparently been by the window. Oops.

"Are you all right?!" I yelped, panicking automatically. Sure, we were probably going to kill him if this war kept on going but there was a distinct difference between 'killing in battle' and 'almost broke his nose because I came in through a window'. "I'm sorry! I didn't think there would be someone near!"

"I'm fine," he reassured. After another moment of recovery, he walked around me to close the window. "I managed to get out of the way in time. Probably should've looked before I tried to close it." He then frowned, his hands moving like he was sketching out what just happened to try and make sense of things. "Were you climbing down?"

"I've been on the roof." I crossed my arms and tried to not fidget. This was the first time I'd ever been alone with him. I tried to avoid him, for my own sake. "So, yes, I was climbing down. Castle is easy."

"Maybe it is something in the blood." He chuckled, amused. "Conall is quite good at climbing and whenever we had to find him, we knew that to be one of the first places to look." I wasn't surprised he was good. He and I had learned together, after all. "I'm also good at scaling up walls, though I didn't do it nearly as often."

"You are?" That was surprising. He was a mage, after all, and mages didn't normally have the strength for that. "Really?"

"I locked myself out of my study often, and Aida never did teach me how to pick locks. Taught Cyas, though, who taught Conall and Ishtar." He chuckled again, smiling at some memory or other. I resolved to have Patty teach me, just so that Conall wouldn't be ahead! "Was it not too cold up there?"

"No, the sun keeps everything warm. Sunshine does that, after all." That sounded so incredibly stupid. Just what I needed. "Well, I…"

"I keep expecting some sort of brutally honest comment." He continued smiling. "Not attempts at keeping polite."

"Er… because of that first meeting?" I still felt bad about that. "Did I apologize? You really should've learned better than… um… wait, word order." I scowled when he laughed, though he was quick to muffle it. "I'm trying to apologize for bluntly telling you that your little brother was killed in front of his son. And that you had a nephew and niece you never knew about."

"You must've taken Conall's tact." He kept on laughing, softly. There was a tiredness to him, though. "But no, I simply find myself anticipating it because of Conall."

"Conall has always been the tactless one." I shrugged. "I think Shanan once theorized it was because he was so shy when we were little, so he didn't pick up on social cues as quickly as me. I think it's just him being him, though. Larcei is as rambunctious as I am, and she's almost as tactless. Sometimes."

"I see." He nodded, accepting the explanation. "I must apologize for thinking that, though. You two are two completely different people. It's not fair to expect the same behavior from you."

"From what I've heard, the two of us ended up being quite similar. Right down to having wolves."

"You have a wolf?"

"She's in Melgen, but yes. Hestia." I shrugged. "Pretty funny, really. But do you want me to be brutally honest or something?"

"I think it might be healthier than you constantly biting your tongue." He had noticed, then. "I don't know why you would worry about hurting my feelings, considering everything, but…"

"Well, since you're encouraging it…" Who was I to refuse the chance to…? "Well, to be blunt, I hate you. I hate you so much that becoming like you is one of my worst nightmares, right up there to seeing all my friends and family die. Which, by the way, you inflicted on Mom, despite your claims of loving her and despite the trust she had in you. Way to go there, betraying her like that. Rendering her best skill useless to the people who mattered most to her."

Arvis didn't say anything to that. He remained quiet and… well, not quite impassive. I did see him narrow his eyes slightly in pain. But he didn't say anything. He… he really meant it. He wanted me to stop biting my tongue and…

"You took so much from me." So, I kept on going. "I should've had more time with my parents. I should've had more time with the people they called family. I should've grown up not just with the ones I did. I should've grown up with Leif. With Nanna. With Arthur. With Tine. With Patty. With Febail. With Fee. With Ced. And not only did you steal all that from me, but you stole Conall from me. Thirteen years ago, you ripped away my twin!" I couldn't help but scream that last sentence. I really couldn't. Because even though I knew he was alive now, doing okay now, that pain was still there. It probably always would. "I should've grown up with Conall! I should've been able to tease him, to hug him! I shouldn't have the barest of memories of him, though at least it's more than my parents! I should've been able to know what my parents looked like from my memories, not pictures! I should've been able to remember more about my mom than how she smelled and her laugh! I should've been able to remember more about my dad than the oil he used to tend to his swords and the lullabies he sung! I should've… I should've…!"

I was about to start crying. I really was. I saw Arvis move forward, like he was going to wipe away the tears I hadn't shed yet, but he checked himself in time. Good. If he had, I probably would've slapped him. Or set him on fire. I looked down at the floor to make sure I didn't give into temptation. I needed either touch or line of sight, after all.

"But, you want to know something? You want to know the worst part of my life right now?" I pointed sharply towards the window. Towards outside and the world around us. "There's a whole bunch of children who are saying the same damn things, and it's my fault! Because just as you slaughtered Dad, broke Mom… I've done the same! And not even just to so-called 'enemies' either! But our allies! Our allies who trust us! We stole them from their children who should've had so much more time! Who deserved more than a broken world and a lifetime of tears!"

Now I was actually crying, the tears hitting the stone floor, overwhelmed by everything I was feeling. Not helped, of course, by remembering that poor girl in Ganeishire, the one who threw mud at Seliph because she was so angry at having lost her entire family, lost them because they had followed our orders and had died. I'd remember that little girl until I died. I wondered if Arvis could say the same. He didn't let on one way or the other. Just continued to listen. Continued to let me scream.

"This is no storybook war! It's not a war between angels and demons! It's a war between people, with all their messy complicated intricacies of good and evil turning it into a pile of blood and muck! Which means that every single fucking battle, people die! Good people! People who deserved far better ends, and deserved far better lives! Like Iucharba! Like Ishtore and Liza! Like every other person who I'll never learn the names of! Doesn't matter what supposed side they're on, because every person in this war is just trying to do what they think is best! Meaning there are hundreds of families shattered just the same way mine is, and there will be hundreds more! Just like you, I sacrifice them for what I hope is a better world for all! And will it? Will it be better? Because your supposed better world certainly wasn't better for some, even before all this hell with the Loptyrians!"

Now that one got a wince. Like he was all too aware, especially now, how much he'd messed up. And not doing anything about it. Or couldn't do anything, if Conall was correct. I was still in the dark about a lot, I knew. So, I'd just focus on what was right now. What was right in front of me. And that was… that was…!

"So, I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you! And I hate that I'm anything like you! If I could somehow tear our shared blood out of my veins without tearing out the blood I inherited from Mom, I would!" I was breathing heavily. My throat hurt. My eyes burned. But I kept on going because I had to say it felt really good to finally say all of this to him. "But I'm going to make sure that I don't follow your path. Because unlike you, I'm not alone. Unlike you, I don't think I know best. Unlike you, I am well aware that I am a sheltered brat, with pretty ideals. So, I do my best to listen. I might not always understand, and I might not always put the pieces together right away, but I do my best. Even now, I try to think of answers to the questions that froze Ishtore so that I can help the next person with those same fears. Even now, I try to think of how to convince people to give us a chance, since we failed so miserably with Iucharba." Even now, I agonized over not taking Inanna's words as seriously as I should've when I first met her, and almost got five children killed because I was naive. "And I will cling to those differences with everything I have!"

Still no answer. I did catch a couple of winces, but he remained silent. So silent that I caught echoes of my words. That was okay, though. The words were drying up, and the emotions were calming from the raging fire that burned through me. I just had… I just had a few more things to say.

"But the reason I bit my tongue is because none of what I just said, screamed… whatever... none of that justifies throwing barbs just because I can. I want to be better. It's hard, but I don't want to contribute to the cycle of revenge that's been plaguing Jugdral ever since the Loptyrian Empire fell. There's a thousand and one things I could say, but I bite my tongue because it's purposely gouging old scars just to get a reaction. And that's not right. That's not fair. My own pain doesn't justify me inflicting pain on others." Now, granted, Arvis was either directly responsible for so many things that had gone wrong in my life, or indirectly. I probably could get away with it. But if I could bite my tongue with him, then I could bite my tongue with just about anyone. Sort of. Hilda might get barbs still. "And this ramble doesn't really have a conclusion, so if you're going to actually say something, now is probably a good time."

I waited. I waited for what felt like a long time. And then he whispered, "you have been raised well." The words were soft and gentle and when I jerked my head up, I saw he was smiling in what seemed to be relief. "Very well, in fact. Alicia would be glad."

"Wish I could've heard that from her." I rubbed harshly at my eyes, getting rid of the tears. No more crying. Not in public, at least. "Well, this has been an absolutely lovely talk. So glad we had it. Have a good rest of the day!"

I began to storm off then, and I heard him turn away, making sure to walk the opposite direction. But I stopped because I remembered something Oifeye had said. About how he understood why Arvis wouldn't do anything because of how Julia had gone 'missing' and how Conall's disappearance had torn his own heart. And I ground my teeth because even if it felt great to finally scream at him, I also felt bad for being so brutal about it. And I felt bad because no matter how much I hated him, he was still a father who had no idea where his daughter was, and based on Conall, it seemed like Arvis had at least tried to do a good job. Or something. Really, I wondered why I had to have a conscience, but I sighed, shaking my head. Because I couldn't really be selective about when my conscience decided to speak. So, I turned right back around and jogged to catch up to him, snagging him by the sleeve to make sure I had his attention.

"Did you think of more you wanted to say?" he asked. And the expression on his face said that he would gladly listen, so that I wasn't stuck with the thoughts anymore. "What is it?"

"It's not related to earlier," I mumbled, making sure to keep quiet. This was stupid. This was so stupid. But I… "Julia is fine. She's safe. I've seen her." I glared at him before he could react, though. "And if you use that knowledge to hurt her, I will tear out your spine and beat you to death with it. And that's a promise."

Now I stomped off, feeling a bit better. I was sure that after I calmed down, I'd probably feel lighter as well. Which was actually a bit annoying, but you know what? Whatever. I could deal. Though it was a tad awkward when I turned a corner and saw Ishtar leaning against the wall. Clearly been listening in, though her sheepish smile hinted that it was less because of wanting to eavesdrop and more because we had been in the hallway and I'd been loud.

"So, I was actually looking for you," she began slowly. I tilted my head curiously, surprised. "I was wondering if you might want to have tea with me. There's this delightful citrus tea that's from Agustria that I was about to try."

"Yeah, that sounds good," I replied. Then, I winced at how croaky I sounded. "Wow, I sound like a little mouse. Squeak, squeak."

That actually made Ishtar laugh, surprisingly enough, and we ended up having a pleasant conversation over tea. Turned out that she had read The Assassin's Bride as well, and we spiritedly debated over the characters and plot. I… honestly, I didn't think I would have such a fun time with her again. Because of what I had done. I was glad, though. I did like her, after all.


Thankfully for my comfort, Arvis left a couple days later, returning to Belhalla to continue preparing for that festival or whatever. The morning after that, though, I noticed Ishtar wasn't in her typical morning places and none of the servants had seen her. So, I went to her room to check in. When a knock only got a mumbled groan, I opened the door to see she was just waking up, having slept in for the first time since I'd been here. But I couldn't help but giggle a bit when she looked over at me groggily. After all, her hair...

"I'm sorry," I managed through the giggles. This was so rude, and yet… "Your hair is making it look like you have cat ears. It's cute."

"Conall says the same thing," she yawned, sitting up. She leaned forward and rested her head in her face, like she had a headache. "Don't know what I do to cause that."

"Sometimes, hair is weird." I shut the door behind me and walked over to rest my hand on her forehead, checking for fever. "You're clammy…"

"I didn't sleep well. Bad dreams." She sighed, but smiled wanly at me. "But neither here nor there. I'll get ready…"

"Here, why don't I brush your hair and you rest a bit more?" I kept up the smile, but really, I was worried. She was unusually pale. "There's no emergency or anything. No meetings and whatnot."

"Mmm… yeah, sure, that sounds good." She grabbed a bit of her hair and frowned at it. "I can't remember when I last brushed it."

"Then I'm definitely brushing it. It's always a pain to brush it by yourself when you haven't done it in a while." I rested a hand on her shoulder. "So, let's get comfy, shall we?"

Ishtar did insist on changing out of her nightgown, as she'd woken up with a cold sweat and it clung awkwardly. I got a bowl of water to help with detangling and found her brush, and before long, we were set up on her bed, with her wearing a much simpler dress than I was used to seeing on her and me carefully brushing her hair to minimize the damage. She hadn't been joking when she said it had been a while, based on how many I found. I wondered if it was just bothersome, since it was so long, but that didn't fit her personality. It did, however, remind me of those first few years after the Belhalla Massacre. The memories were vague, for obvious reasons, but I remembered Shanan having to help Aideen with her hair often, because she was too tired to brush it herself.

"Thanks for doing this," Ishtar murmured. She sat differently than normal, more slumped and relaxed. "I was just going to pull it into a ponytail again."

"Braid might hide the tangles a little easier," I replied absently, more focused on the tangles. I didn't want to just tear them apart, after all. "Then again, when it's this long, it can be a pain to braid it. Unless you doing an over the shoulder braid."

"Quite true. I think it once took Ishtore an entire afternoon to…" She trailed off and I saw her clench her fists in her lap. No tears or anything. Just that very subtle gesture, like she was grasping her emotions and pulling them back. "Hey… um…"

"Hmm?"

"How did they die?" Her voice was very, very soft. "Liza and Ishtore. How did they die?"

"You sure you want to know?" I waited for her to nod before even thinking about continuing. I wanted to be sure. "Let's see… Liza died first." I focused on dealing with a particularly bad tangle, mostly to keep myself from freezing at the memory. "She had been sent out with Melgen's soldiers, to meet our army in battle."

"And fell to someone's arrow or something?"

"Might've been a bit quicker. Then again, might've been slower." This was so awkward. But if she did want to know, then she deserved to. "No, she had been strangling me, and after I managed to kick her off, Hestia… well, she'd been near."

"Throat torn out by angry wolf? Wait, no, you mentioned an arrow might be quicker."

"Yeah, Hestia crushed her arm to disable her first. Though, she might've been aiming for the throat, and I shifted the target when I kicked her off." I moved to a different section of her hair, moving slowly to make sure I had her hair tangle-free. "Regardless, her arm was crushed, and I didn't get the tourniquet on in time." That reminded me. When I got back, I was going to make sure I had multiple things needed for makeshift tourniquets in my medicinal pack from now on. "I'm sorry."

"You tried to save her? For some reason, I'm not surprised." She looked over her shoulder briefly to smile wanly at me. She was paler than before. "And Ishtore?"

"Ishtore went a little mad after Liza's death. Understandably so." After all, we killed his love, and destroyed both his dreams and hers. "I fought him for a bit, but then he and Arthur dueled. Arthur won." I laughed bitterly, remembering his final words. "He asked that we try to keep you and Tine safe, by the way."

"Of course he did." She sounded so very tired now. Unsurprised, and tired. "He was always like that. Told him not to joke about dying. Gives death ideas." She took a very deep breath, noticeably trying to keep calm. "You told me they were buried together. And there's incense?"

"Incense, ribbons, flowers, candles… probably more things." I finished brushing her hair and began to braid it back, so that she wouldn't have to worry so much about brushing it again today. I had a feeling she'd be too tired, again, for it. "Though the people of Melgen didn't like why he was in charge, they did like him. So all of the Friege soldiers are buried in their own graveyard, and they've left their own offerings, though I couldn't tell you what they were off the top of my head."

"Let's see…" Ishtar brought her hand up to begin counting things off. "Flowers are universal… incense is Grannvale… ribbons are Isaachian…" She twisted to look at me curiously. "What are candles for? I don't think that's something from the Manster District, and I know it's not Thracian. They set up little memorials and don't bother with graves. The ground is too hard there."

"It's a Silessian thing." Though, I had to admit being curious about what she meant by Thracians not bothering with graves. But that was for later. "In Silesse, they keep lights shining or burning for the dead. Bad luck to leave them in the dark." I hesitated before continuing. "Since Arthur spent most of his life in Silesse, he believes in that practice the most and insisted Ishtore and Liza, at least, have some. Picked the candles himself."

"I see." She brought her hand back down to her lap and smiled wanly again. She was still quite pale and tired. "Thank you. For telling me, and for burying them properly."

"Of course." I finished her braid and smiled at her. "In Isaach, we believe that those who are not properly buried have a higher chance of becoming vengeful ghosts. It's not something I'd wish on anyone." I was, admittedly, unnerved enough that I'd seen so many already. No matter how glad I was that I could tell Mom that I loved her, I worried their appearances meant they hadn't been able to properly rest...

"Well, I can think of a few. Like Manfroy." Her eyes suddenly became very dark with fierce and bitter hatred. I frantically tried to recall the name and eventually remembered that I'd heard it twice. Inanna and Conall's letter both said he was the leader of the Loptyrians. The Archbishop. "Manfroy deserves something worse than that."

"So, anything in particular he's done? Besides being the leader of the Loptyrians?"

"Well, he's why-"

"Ishtar?" Julius's voice meandered through the door, stopping Ishtar cold. "Ishtar, where are you?" And I was ready to let him know, but I saw Ishtar flinch, wince, and curl into herself in quick succession. Making herself smaller, less of a target. "Ishtar!" And she flinched again, grimacing and even covering her ears. That… that told me something was just plain wrong here. That shouldn't be the reaction to the person you love calling your name. "Ishtar!"

"Lay back down," I whispered quickly, moving everything off the bed to the nightstand and pulling the covers back. Looking confused, she did just that and I covered her up. "Hide your face a bit." I waited for her to do that, and then I went to her door and opened it slightly, just in time to see Julius about to knock. "Oh, good timing, Julius." I made sure I kept the door open just enough so that I could block Julius from coming in, or even really see inside. So that the only bits of Ishtar he could see was of her laying under the covers. "Ishtar isn't feeling well. I've been helping her this morning."

"She's not?" Julius asked, with a strange look in his eye. It almost seemed like annoyance instead of concern. "I'll get Cyas, then." And he was gone before I could stop him.

I shut the door and listened for any footsteps approaching before turning to Ishtar, who was sitting up again. "So, do I need to come up with symptoms?" I asked her. I could already think of a few. One of the many benefits of living with a healer. "We might be able to fake some flushing or what not." Which… sounded way worse than I meant, and if I'd been home, the others would've died from laughter. But this was far too serious. "And maybe…"

Ishtar, however, simply shook her head. "No, Cyas has done this for me before," she explained. That only made me frown. "He'll know what to say."

"I see…" I sat on the bed and saw how relieved she was. And that just made my thoughts tumble out before I could bite my tongue. "Okay, what the hell is going on? You haven't laughed and your smile is way stiffer and sadder, and I thought it was because of Ishtore and Tine, but what you just said, and the flinching before and…" I sighed and shook my head. Caught myself a bit late, but… "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be making demands or anything."

"You're worried about me, though."

"I am. I've been worried about you, and Conall. Diarmuid has as well." I gently touched her cheek, feeling again how clammy she was. "Hard not to be, especially now."

"I'm sorry…" She sighed, looking down. "You've probably already seen it, but things are… complicated." She grimaced. "And I…"

"If that's all you want to tell me, that's fine." I made sure my voice was as firm as possible. "I don't want to push. Me pushing isn't going to help, especially when I don't know what's going on. For all I know, I'll end up pushing you off a cliff." I made a face, feeling helpless. I hated feeling helpless. "I'm just worried, as I said. You were much happier when you were with Conall in Isaach than…" I trailed off as I remembered something. The fear in both Ishtar's eyes and Conall's when I had implied… And I remembered what Julius had done to the person who… but even if I was right, it wasn't my business. Not unless she made it mine. Because it was her story to tell. "Sorry, I'm rambling."

"It's fine." She smiled bitterly. "You must think me ridiculous."

"I think you conflicted, and in pain." I took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Or, at least, I hoped it was reassuring. "Hey, there's something Oifeye said to Conall, and I want to make sure you know it too. It might not be a comfort, considering everything, but if you ever want to escape, if you ever want to turn from your current path, you will always be welcome with us."

"And what if it's too late to turn?"

"For someone as kind and moral as you are? I highly doubt you'll do anything that would make it 'too late'. And if you find that hard to believe, then remember that the Crusader Hezul once served Emperor Galle as a knight." Or so I'd learned through my various talks with older people in Isaach. "But neither here nor there. Just remember that I mean it, Ishtar. You can always find safety with us."

"I…" She sighed, and smiled sadly. And slightly in disbelief. Like she wasn't sure if she could turn from the path, no matter what I said.. "I'll try."

Sadly, I sensed that was all I was going to get from her, so instead, I focused on getting her as comfortable as possible until Cyas entered with barely a knock and with a wry smile that hinted that this was actually a fairly common thing. I did wait for Ishtar to reassure me before I left, and made a point to hug her before I did. And I made sure to shut the door behind me, so that no one would spy or anything. Seriously, this just seemed wrong. 'Complicated'... that seemed like an understatement.

A quiet scream and quieter sob caught my attention and I ran towards it, wondering what was going on. I nearly panicked when I saw blood spilling over the tiles, so much that it was difficult to not step in any. But all thoughts froze when I found the source of the blood. A very dead servant, based on the gaping gash on her chest. One that… reminded me of Yuria's scar...

"Ah, I feel better now." Standing in front of the dead servant was Julius, completely splattered with blood. He smiled sweetly, yet coldly, when he saw me. "Oh, did Cyas get to Ishtar, Riona?" he asked me. I could only nod. "Good. He's very good at tending to people." He tilted his head curiously, still smiling sweetly yet coldly. Like the frigid cold of the desert nights. "Hey, would you like to go to the market with me?"

"You… you might want to change clothes and clean up a bit first, Julius," I replied, keeping my voice even as possible. Some instinct screamed that I should just go along with this. That I shouldn't call attention to how demented this was. "You're going to ruin your shirt."

"I suppose that's true." He sighed gustily, glaring at the corpse. "I told her to not move. Made it far messier." He shrugged, uncaring, and smiled at me again. "Afterwards?"

"Of course." Okay, what the hell? What the hell? "Let's get something for Ishtar. Being sick sucks."

This was definitely more than 'complicated', damn it!


I made a point after that day to not avoid Julius, to give Ishtar and Cyas some breathing room. And I learned very quickly that such sights weren't at all uncommon. One second, he'd be giggling and laughing, insisting we 'crush the bugs eating the flowers' like a little kid. The next second, he was killing a gardener for 'not weeding properly'. Then he'd be genuinely confused why I'd not be happy about it. Just as confused as why I didn't find the screaming of dying people as funny and enjoyable as him. And I thanked my ability to keep a smile on at all times because I quickly learned that if there was even a hint of me being sad, Julius would try and eliminate the 'cause', which would typically be some random servant. It was utter madness. Complete and utter madness. And, again, I began wondering just when Julius would be leaving, not just because I wanted to return to the others, but so that I didn't have to deal with this anymore.

"Here, you should drink this." A mug of tea appeared in my vision, and though I took it automatically, it took a moment for me to process I was holding it. Took another for me to think to look up and see the person who gave it to me was Cyas. "You've been staring at the same page for a good while," he explained softly. I blinked slowly and remembered that I was in the library, attempting to read. Not research or anything, just a book Ishtar had recommended. "I figured you must be tired, since you normally read books as quickly as a starving person might devour food."

"You shouldn't gorge yourself after starving for so long because you'll just throw it all up," I rattled off automatically. I'd said those words to many people over the years, mostly those who survived the labor camps. "Er… I mean…"

"You're right. You shouldn't. But if someone doesn't tell them, they'll likely try to eat it all, damn the consequences." Cyas sat across from me with his own book, smiling sadly at me. "That mix is something Aunt Alicia would make me, when I was tired but trying to study anyway. She wrote down the recipe for me, since I liked it so much."

"Oh?" I took a sip and smiled. It was a good tea, and it made me feel warm. Not just because… you know… drinking something hot. But because this was something Mom would make, so… "I can see why you like it."

"Not just the taste, but how it helped me focus without making me jittery." He flipped open his book, moving quickly to a page. "But I've been meaning to ask. How are you holding up? You've been distracting Julius a lot these past few days."

"If you all have to deal with him like that every day, I am seriously surprised you're not dead from exhaustion." I felt horrible about it, since he was my cousin and I loved him, but I felt like I was balancing on a knife's edge, and if I slipped, I'd cut myself in half. Never thought I'd be in a situation where I'd preferred a battle, but here we were. "I'm sorry, but…"

"Ha… you can tell you have only a little bit of experience with it because you can be so honest about it." Cyas ran his fingers of the page, and I saw there was a diagram of lungs. He must be looking up some sort of medicine or condition, then. "But I completely understand. I have dealt with the same, and Arvis and I have long worried about Conall and Ishtar because they bear the brunt of it. Julius prefers their company above all else." And something told me that if I didn't have a 'convenient' excuse, I'd be joining them in Belhalla to join that 'special' little group. "Honestly, no matter what Julius says, I think another reason why he hates Reinhardt is because Reinhardt will protect the two of them."

"I see…" Speaking of Reinhardt, I hadn't seen him since that day in the market, where Julius almost killed a child. I wondered where he was, besides clearly away. Leonster? Melgen? Gods, I hoped he wasn't really at either, just for the soldiers' sakes. "So, can I just kidnap Ishtar? And Conall, when I next see him?"

"Depends. You want Julius to annihilate you?" He said the words seriously, and I thought of what I had overheard, about Conall mentioning to Ishtar 'what would Julius do' if he had stayed in Isaach with us. I… "I'm just glad Julius still lets Conall go to Thracia. That's where he is now, actually. Helping Arion out with a project."

"Lets him?" This was wrong. You couldn't cage people. "Oh dear gods, what the hell is wrong with him?" I shut the book I'd been trying to read and leaned back in my chair, sipping more of the tea. "Did he really just go insane or something after what happened to Deirdre? Because this seems less like insanity and more like using insanity as an excuse, but hell if I know. So, what could it be?"

"I don't know." The words were soft, and unimaginably sad. "I don't. I'm certain Arvis does, as well as Conall and Ishtar. But they don't say. They can't say. Trauma, denial, or some combination. But for now, they can't choke out the words. So, I don't know what it is. I only know what it isn't."

"Well, what have you ruled out?"

"Both I and my grandfather have checked his health numerous times. He's always been prone to illnesses, but they have gotten worse over the years. So, that gives us the opportunity to check for… other things." He sighed and pushed his book away to give me, and the answer, his full attention. "But there are no signs of any known mental sickness, or any signs that his numerous illnesses have damaged his brain in any way. I've ruled out every single poison or drug that I have been able to find in the encyclopedias."

"Dark magic?"

"Only guess I have, but…" He pinched the bridge of his nose, like he was trying to ward off a headache. "I've done literally years of research and I purposely specialized in breaking curses so that I could try and fix this. But I've found nothing. If this is a curse, then perhaps it is one only a god can break. If it can be broken at all..."

"Conall mentioned he was trying to help Julius…"

"Ruining his own health in the process." He smiled bitterly at me. "I want to believe otherwise, but I'm moving into the 'acceptance' stage of things. And it is that Julius might not ever return to how he used to be. Go back to the sweet, shy child who only wanted to do what was best for his people."

"So, it's like he's got… I don't know… rabies or something?" Aggression, paranoia, terror, confusion, paralysis… the worst part, though, was that most of the time, when the symptoms appeared, you were already dead. Skilled healers could treat it if caught early, but… "Maybe some kind of new disease that's like it?" Now that I thought about it, the Loptyrians had been horribly isolated. Wasn't it possible that they got diseases the rest of us wouldn't know much about? Especially with all the close quarter cramping and lack of sunlight and mold and all of that? Ah, but that being said… "Oh, wait, you mentioned there wasn't a sign of illness?"

"No sign of illness that had any effect on the brain. No inflammation of the spinal cord or brain." He flipped to his book to show me a diagram, just to make sure I knew what he was talking about. Which I did, but only because of Aideen. "No sign of anything, as I said."

"That's why you don't know." I sighed and set my now empty mug on the table before laying my head on it. Conall had tried to tell me, but he couldn't choke it out. Trauma and pain… and I had focused on reassuring him instead of waiting for him to try and find the courage. I should've done the latter. But he had been hurting so much… "I suppose…"

"He'll be leaving soon. He has to attend that festival." He smiled faintly. "You'll be free soon."

"That sounds so wrong." Worse, though, was that others would be trapped. "Ugh…"

"I know." Even that faint smile disappeared for sadness. "Believe me, I know."

There was really nothing more to say to that, so I went back to attempting to read, and he continued whatever research he'd been doing. When he was done, he left, taking the empty mug with him. I tried to read one more page before sighing and giving up, deciding to try and take a nap or something. That seemed like a better use of my time than staring blankly at words that all blurred together. I could try and read again afterwards.

However, as I headed down the hall, I noticed something odd. Up ahead, there was a man with short blue hair and dressed primarily in white, with a blue cape. At first, I thought he was just a visitor or something, but whoever it was caught my eye and beckoned me to follow him. And… well… curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back. So, with a shrug, I jogged to catch up, only for him to continue ahead, clearly leading me somewhere. And when he glanced back to see if I was still following, I nearly tripped over my own feet because I knew him. I knew him in an instance. There were so many pictures of him, and quite a few were with Mom, because they were such close friends.

"Sigurd, I really hope you all are just bouncing between the realms of life and death and that you haven't been trapped as ghosts on this side," I muttered, using sarcasm and annoyance to hide my shock. He smiled slightly, like he caught my real meaning. "So many of you have appeared lately as well. Is it because we're actually fighting and the like? Well, we always did say that you were watching over us. Though, I do hope you've at least been looking away when I make-out with your son. Awkward otherwise." This time, Sigurd's ghost grinned, his eyes still somehow dancing with the good humor I heard so much about. "Wish you could talk. Got a feeling I'd love to hear your remark to that. But hey, if you are popping about, please go see Seliph or something."

He didn't really react to that, or at least, react in a way that I could tell. Instead, he kept on leading me until we were at an out-of-the-way and disused hallway, one that was even a bit dusty to highlight how abandoned it was. It looked like it led to a room that was just as dusty as the hall, though the plush bed and lace curtains hinted that it had once been a comfortable room. Curious despite myself, I walked around and found some items on the nightstand. Trinkets, mostly, but there were a few pictures. I picked up one and blew off the dust. To my surprise, it was a picture from Sigurd's army. Uncle Lex, Uncle Azel, and Aunt Tailtiu all laughing at something. And the other pictures were similar. I even found one with Mom.

"Was this Aunt Tailtiu's room or something?" I whispered. I set the pictures down and looked back at the door, seeing Sigurd's ghost still there. Seeing me looking, he pointed to a back corner, one I couldn't quite see from where I was. The bed and curtains hid it. "Over here?" I walked over cautiously, wondering what he would want me to see. Then I gasped and ran over because Julius was there, curled up in a ball. "Julius?!" I fell to my hands and knees by him and leaned down until I could see his face. Well, as much as I could. He was clutching his head, so his arm blocked a lot. But I could hear him wheezing now, whimpering, and I could see him crying from pain. "Julius, hey, can you hear me?"

"R-Riona…?" he whimpered. He tried to look at me, but hissed and coughed violently. So violently that his body jerked. "I…"

"I'm right here, and I'm only going to leave if you tell me to." Curiously, I glanced back at the door and saw Sigurd's ghost was no longer there. He had… he had wanted to make sure someone found Julius. The stories were right about his kindness. "Whatever you need or want."

"...Hug?"

"Of course." Carefully, I gathered him up in my arms and actually leaned back against the dusty, musty bed so that I could cradle him against my chest. Right now, he felt so small, like a child. "There we are…" I pulled him as close as I could and rubbed his back. When he coughed again, again violently enough to jerk, I kept him as still as I could, ignoring how he accidentally elbowed me. Not like he could help it. "It's okay. It's going to be okay."

Julius clung to me until… whatever this was… subsided enough for him to relax. But he didn't pull away. He continued rested against me, so I continued holding him. I saw him clutch his chest briefly, and wondered if he was why Cyas had been looking up something with lungs earlier. But I supposed it didn't matter. I just had to focus on the here and now, which was that Julius wanted someone to hold him while his lungs were trying to kill him.

"Thank you, Riona…" he croaked eventually. He shakily clung to my shirt. "I…"

"Easy, Julius," I murmured, still rubbing his back. I kissed his head and pulled him a little closer. "Your throat probably hurts."

"It does…" His breathing was a little shaky too. "Um… I've been meaning to ask something, though."

"Oh?"

"Can you tell me about Seliph?"

"Seliph?" I couldn't help but smile. Seliph had that effect on me. "Well, I'm probably a bad person to ask. Heavily biased, you see. I love him."

"That already tells me he's a good person." He laughed softly. "So?"

"Yes, he's a very good person. One of the kindest people I know. Always willing to listen and to learn. Frets over all the fighting. Stubborn. A relentless teaser." I giggled, though I did wonder how he was. How everyone was. "Always forgets to brush his hair. Can never remember where he put his boots."

"He sounds silly."

"He's very silly. Very silly, and very kind." I looked down at Julius and kissed his head again before drawing him close. "He loves you. Seliph, I mean. He loves you very much."

"He does?" He sounded surprised by that. Surprised, but happy. "So, he'll save me?"

"If you need saving, then of course he will."

"What about you?" He looked up at me then, and I was struck by how… different he seemed. Sad, sweet, kind… nothing like what I was used to. "Will you?"

"Of course." I smiled at him. "I promise."

"Good." He smiled back, a smile much sweeter and sadder than any other one I had seen him wear. It softened his expression and made him look so young. It was like I was looking at an entirely different person. "I tried to ask Conall, but I didn't say it right, so he ended up trapped. Him and Ishtar and Cyas and everyone else." He leaned into me again. "But I knew that Seliph would. You and Seliph and your friends… you'll make everything fine. I knew you would."

"Julius?" I peered down at his face, and saw he was dozing. "What do you mean by that?"

"You'll save me, and so, you'll save Jugdral. I knew I could believe in that. I just have to hold on, as long as I can. Thank you for reassuring me." His words were drawn out from sleep and exhaustion. "You're warm. Like sunshine. Aunt Alicia was like that too."

"Was she now?" I had… absolutely no idea why he was saying any of that. "Well, if it comforts you, then I'm glad. I love you dearly."

"And I love you." He smiled in his sleep. "I'm glad I could say that."

He fully fell asleep then, before I could try and get more clarification. So, I just continued holding him, feeling like no matter how tightly I hugged him, before long, he'd somehow slip away. Which made no sense at all. Nor did how different he had looked or acted. It just… what the hell was going on? Seriously, what the hell?

Gods, did I ever need an adult.


The next few days were surprisingly quiet. Julius was more even-tempered. No extreme mood swings. No random murders. Honestly, that should've been my first warning sign that something weird was going to happen, and happen all too soon.

"Princess Caitriona?" A maid's tired, yet polite, voice slowly drew me out of my reading. I was back to my research and notes, so it took a moment to look up, but when I did, I smiled. And vowed to never let myself be called 'princess' again. I was sick of it. "You are requested, your highness," she explained, bowing. "I will lead you."

"Do you know why I'm requested?" I asked, carefully setting my things to the side and standing up. My back and legs protested the movement, as did my neck. "I purposely stay away from important things."

"I am not sure, your highness." She kept looking down. "I only know it was Prince Julius who asked for you and…"

"I understand." I quickly headed for the door, and her. "Well, lead the way then. I'd rather give him no reason to kill you."

"Thank you, your highness." She glanced up briefly, and smiled. "It is easy to see how you are Prince Conall's twin. You are both very kind."

"I find it sad that such a simple thing is considered a kindness." But I did make sure to smile back. "I hope… well, never mind that. Please, show me."

She bowed again and led me to the main hall. There I saw a few things. One, there was a group of soldiers with a bleeding and heavily bruised prisoner hidden behind their legs. Two, Reinhardt was finally back, and stood with Ishtar and Cyas on the other side of the room. I wondered if the two things were related, but decided that he wasn't. I didn't know much about Reinhardt, besides the short time I 'traveled' with him and what I had heard from Conall, but the fact that Conall genuinely liked him told me that Reinhardt would've had whoever this was treated and tended to immediately. No, Reinhardt being here was a coincidence, and one that I didn't care to think on. Mostly because as soon as I arrived, Julius took my hand and pulled me up front with him, by where Bloom was standing with rigid, ramrod posture. I briefly debated asking why Julius wanted me up here, but everything froze because I saw the prisoner and… and even with the blood and dirt and bruising, I… I recognized Uncle Finn. Especially since he glared defiantly at Bloom and held his head high, with all the dignity in the world… the exact same way Diarmuid would glare at someone.

"Well, well… and here I thought I would have to request Reinhardt's assistance to see you captured," Bloom began formally. He had a slight smirk on his face. "Legendary Lancer, Duke Knight, and one of the few survivors of the traitor Sigurd's army…"

"Do you mind getting on with it?" Uncle Finn asked dryly. His glare faded for a droll look, another expression that was eerily like Diarmuid's. "Unless your intention is to kill me by droning on and on until I bleed out."

"No, such a thing would be too simple a death for you." Bloom was definitely smirking now. I hated it. I wanted to slap it off his face. "A public execution would be better. A show of what happens to those who rebel."

"We can even put his body on display!" Julius laughed, apparently delighted by the thought. I looked at him, completely horrified. "String him up until he falls apart!"

"No, don't do that!" The words were out before I could stop them, and all eyes turned to me. Uncle Finn's droll look fell for confusion. "Ignoring how that's just beyond wrong, don't kill him!" I pleaded. I focused on Julius, instead of Bloom. "Please?"

"Huh? Why?" Julius frowned heavily, clearly annoyed. "I think it would be a good way to help the people despair and all. They should know the price of resisting."

"The only reason people are resisting is because you do shit like that!" And this was stupid. This was so incredibly stupid. I'd seen him kill people for lesser things than yelling at him. Yet, here I was. "Don't you know what happens when you push someone into a corner? The same damn thing an animal does! Bite back! Because if you make it so that they don't have anything to lose, then you have enemies with nothing to lose and everything to gain!"

"Are you… arguing with me?"

"And hoping there's some speck of logic behind all the need for blood and mayhem!" I glared, my temper flaring even more. "Or at least some speck of intelligence!"

"What did you say?!" Julius growled, and brought his hand up, dark flames burning around it. There were shouts, protests, but he stopped just short of actually touching me. And he stayed in that position, as if he was frozen. Or as if he expected a different reaction than the one I had. "No flinching?"

"I have spent my entire life being hunted by people who declared my parents and their chosen family traitors." I spoke slowly and clearly and made sure to look him in the eye. "I have spent my entire life watching people die. Death is normal. Pain is normal. Always has been." I snatched his wrist and pulled his hand closer to my face, so that the magic actually touched my skin and made me bleed. And so that I had a good grip on him, just in case I needed to set him on fire. "So, go on. If you want a life so badly, then take mine. If you want people to despair, string me up. Won't make you different from every other person who has tried to kill me, from the pegasus knights in Silesse's Civil War to the Loptyrian Priests and the Deadlords to the Friege soldiers. It's no special thing, but if you're so hungry for bloodshed, then take mine."

"Are you not afraid?"

"No." I held myself with every bit of poise I could, and tightened my grip on his wrist. I also focused a bit on the hair by his face, to have another target. Just in case. "I am Caitriona, the eldest daughter of Alicia of Velthomer and Chulainn of Sophara. The eldest daughter of a healer who fought death at every turn and a warrior who courted death with every step." The left side of my face was numb, and the trickle of blood from whatever wounds were there made my neck itch and my collar stick to my skin. But I refused to let myself falter. "And dying has never frightened me." We stood there for a long while before his magic dissipated. When it did, I let go of him. "So, no killing me?"

"No, I love you. And you're like Conall. You're not afraid of me. That's too precious to destroy over something so silly." He smiled with all the sweetness of poisoned honey. "What would you like to do with the prisoner then, Riona?"

"I'd like it if he was treated, truthfully."

"Very well." Julius turned to Bloom, who seemed startled by everything. Didn't blame him. Even I couldn't believe that had worked. "Get a room prepared for him. Cyas?" And then he turned his attention to Cyas, like he had no doubts Bloom would listen without question. "Get someone trusted to tend to our new guest. I want you to heal Riona. Without a scar."

The next hour or so felt more than a little unreal. Cyas tended to my face. Ishtar helped me change into a clean dress. Reinhardt stood guard while I headed to the kitchens and made up something quick and light to eat. And he carried the tray for me as he led me to where Uncle Finn was resting. And continued to stand guard when I took the tray and headed in. Got a feeling Ishtar ordered it. Just in case Julius decided that he did want to kill me for yelling at him.

Uncle Finn, for his part, was in a very nice guest room, and while he hadn't been treated with healing staves, it was clear that he'd been treated well with medicines and what not. And they had some very good bruise balm since the bruising on his face was already healing some. He had been sitting up, leaning against pillows with his eyes closed, but he opened them as soon as I walked in, watching me closely as I set the tray down.

"Um… I'm not sure how hungry you are, but I made you something light to eat," I explained, even though it was probably obvious because of… you know… the tray. Well, not that I had made it. "I also made you some ginger tea, and brought you some water."

"What were you thinking, offering your life for mine?" Uncle Finn asked softly. I still winced, though, because this wasn't anything like how I had imagined, and hoped, my first meeting with him would be. I expected to watch his reunion with his family, watch his first meeting with his son, and only then be able to hug him. Not… this… "Risking your life for mine?"

"You're family." I didn't look at him, though. I could easily imagine what Oifeye's reaction would be. Gods, if the others found out... "And I might've panicked."

"You panic and offer your life?"

"If it meant that Diarmuid got to meet you like he's been looking forward to ever since we learned you were still alive? If it meant you got to see Nanna again, who prays for your safe return? If it meant that you got to reunite with Aunt Lachesis, who is nervous but excited about seeing you again? If it meant Oifeye and Shanan would see you again after so long? Then yes!" Now I glowered at him. "Yes, I'd offer my life!"

"As if you don't have people waiting for you!" He scowled right on back before his expression blanked. "Wait, Lachesis?"

"Yeah, she's with us." I found a chair in the corner of the room and dragged it over. "Besides, I was in less danger than you think." I snapped my fingers to conjure up a little bit of fire. "Fjalar blood. Fire. If I can see it or touch it, I can set it on fire. Might've still gotten badly hurt, but I would've prevented a second strike long enough to run." I tossed the flame up and absently swirled it in the air before using it to warm the tea back up. "Yes, it was still stupid, but I can be smart about being stupid." I waited for a reply, but only got silence. "Well?"

"Sorry, I just got hit with bunches of things at once and now have no idea what thought to try and follow." Uncle Finn sighed and leaned back against the pillows. "Tea?"

"Ginger tea. Here." I passed it too him, softening a bit. "I'm sorry, though. It probably was pretty horrible to see the daughter of a friend offer her life for yours."

"My niece, practically. Which makes it even better." He sipped the tea slowly, and I couldn't help but beam at the words. "Ah, I suppose I should ask-"

"Oh, I've called you 'Uncle Finn' my whole life. Oifeye and Aideen and Shanan told me all sorts of stories, and I have lots of pictures with you and Mom." I grinned, barely keeping from bouncing in my seat now. "So, I'm extra sorry?"

"You have the same grin Chulainn wore whenever he was trying to get out of trouble with Alicia." He continued sipping the tea, but at least he smiled now. "Now, you mentioned Lachesis."

"I… er… did, huh?" That could've been done better. Damn it. "We got attacked by Loptyrian priests and afterwards, we were looking through the dungeons. Mom's ghost, though, led me to a hidden set, and we found Aunt Lachesis there."

"I see." His smile softened and he briefly touched the ring on his hand. His wedding ring, still worn. "I knew she was alive."

"And she's likely going to make a full recovery! Though, it's going to be a lengthy one." I stood up then, smoothing out my skirt. "I'll tell you more about how later, and some stories. I'm sure you're exhausted. I'm stuck having dinner with everyone here, but I can make and bring you breakfast?" By breakfast, I should also not have a guard, so he and I could talk about the best way to escape from here. I didn't know if he wanted to head to Leonster or Melgen, but either way, I was certain he wanted to get out of Alster as quickly as I did.

"That does sound good." He hesitated a moment before reaching up and ruffling my hair. "It is good to see you again, Riona. You were barely a few weeks old when I last saw you."

"Ah, that's right. You all left Silesse soon after Lester was born." The last time Quan and Ethlyn saw anyone in the army and the last time Uncle Finn saw most of them. "Think I got bigger?"

"Only a trifle." He laughed at the joke. "In the morning, then."

"Yep~!" I leaned down and kissed his cheek before skipping out the door, making sure to close it behind me. When I walked down the hall, though, Reinhardt continued to follow me. "I suppose what I did was exceptionally stupid if you're guarding me this closely."

"And yet, I cannot be surprised, since Prince Conall does much of the same thing," Reinhardt replied, keeping perfectly polite. Yet I swore I heard the sarcasm and exasperation in the voice too. "Cyas and Lady Ishtar are arranging things for a nightly guard for Sir Finn."

"I'm glad to hear that." I looked at him curiously. "So, where have you been anyway? Or is that classified?"

"My lady was having me check on the Hunted children in the area." He spoke very carefully, and I frowned a bit. "Sadly, soon after I arrived, someone arranged their escape. I'm sure they're far out of our grasp now."

"...I see." And I had to smile, but knowing Ishtar, and knowing how Reinhardt acted, I saw in between the words. Ishtar had Reinhardt free some children, while we kept Julius busy here in Alster. "So, am I to expect you as my shadow the entire day?"

"At least for the rest of the afternoon. He's likely to have forgotten by evening."

"Well, I hope you don't mind standing around and watching people read, because I was planning on going back to my books."

"I have had to stand guard through a full formal dinner. I doubt anything could be more boring than that."

"I've heard so many horror stories about formal dinners. Are they really that bad?"

"Worse."

Reinhardt actually told me a few stories of some of the formal dinners he had to stand through, and it fascinated me just how many rules there were about it. Not even basic manner rules, but things like 'you could only talk to the person on your right during one course, and the next course required you to talk to the person on your left'. So weird! And terrifying. Glad no one cared here about such things.


The day after Uncle Finn 'arrived', if you can call it such a polite term, I learned that Julius would be leaving soon to attend that festival. Ishtar would be leaving with him, though not Cyas or Reinhardt. Cyas was meeting his grandfather to the south, and Reinhardt was escorting him there, so both would linger here in Alster a while longer. But that didn't matter. My promise to stay was only to Julius, after all. So, all I had to do was wait those last few days...

"I do wish you were coming with us, Riona," Julius grumbled. The last few days, he'd been his normal self. Sweet, with the feeling that you had to work to keep him that way. "Do you have to stay here?"

"I made a promise," I replied, smiling. I kissed his forehead, right on his Mark. "You make sure that Ishtar has fun at that festival, okay?"

"I will." He smiled at me and gave me a big hug. "Promise that you won't die?"

"Yes, I promise." Probably both the easiest and hardest promise I had ever made. "Be good now, okay?"

"Okay." He smiled and headed into some room. It had a Warp Circle or something? I didn't really pay attention. I just made a note of where it was, for my 'mental map'.

"We'll be off then." Besides, Ishtar was also saying goodbye. "Please try to minimize the trouble you get into?" she requested with a little smile. "Conall is going to have a heart attack when I tell him about this."

"I'm his twin, so he should know trouble likes to cling," I replied. I hugged her and, after a moment, she hugged me back. "Remember what I said. And I'll make sure Tine stays safe."

"Thank you." She smiled sadly as she stepped away and, after glancing around, slipped a piece of paper into my hand. "A letter for her."

"I'll make sure she gets it." I already knew where I could hide it. "Stay safe."

"I'll try."

She left then as well, disappearing into the room, and I quickly returned to mine, shutting the door behind me before pulling out the pack I'd been preparing. Clothes, medicines, food, books from the library that I was 'borrowing'... I tucked Ishtar's letter to Tine in one of those books and then shoved the pack back into the closet. Then I had planned to go to Uncle Finn and talk to him about the best way to escape. However, as I was heading out the door, I noticed a small note on the nightstand on the desk. At first, I thought it was the note I'd written to say goodbye to Cyas, but then I remembered that I'd put that note with my pack, so that I wouldn't forget. So, frowning, I picked up the note on the nightstand, wondering what the hell, but I smiled as soon as I saw the words: 'Where we always talk in Tirnanog.' After all, there was only one person who could've written this.

So, instead, I snagged a book and headed outside, scaling up the wall to the roof. Sure, I could have just climbed up the ladder or stairs or whatever, but this was more fun. Besides, when I got there, I used the chuckle I heard to figure out where Shanan was hiding. He found the trick amusing, after all, but he was invisible to the eye.

"You even brought a book." Shanan flickered into view, sitting down on the roof, Balmung briefly shimmering at his hip, even through the sheathe. "Hey there, little wolf," he greeted. I sat down beside him and hugged him tightly. "You look well. Mostly. There's some scabbing."

"I'm fine," I reassured, grinning at him. I was so glad to see someone from the family. "Few instances aside, I've been pampered."

"And have all your memories?"

"Yes?" I frowned briefly before groaning and facepalming. "Didn't even think about that." And now that I thought about it… "How's Arthur?"

"Furious and worried. Ultimately, despite us making connections, it did most resemble his trauma, where Friege soldiers captured family." Yep, should've thought of that sooner. Oops. I'd have to make it up to him. "Everyone else, by the way, is worried sick, but otherwise fine. I think we've drained Melgen of all its milk and honey, though. And Hestia has been incredibly despondent. And probably looking for a way to sneak off to find you."

"I am never going without a weapon again." I sighed and flopped onto my back, looking up at the clouds. And prayed that Hestia was behaving for everyone. "How has the fighting been going? I haven't heard anything here."

"That's because there's been no fighting." Shanan shrugged and laid down too, probably more to hide better than actually relax. "After Yuria told us what happened, we sent a group to try and find you and fortified the defenses. With Alster having its hands full with Leonster, and Darna apparently deciding to play the waiting game…"

"Fortified defenses mean they can't strike from behind as easily." I still sighed in relief, though. I was glad our soldiers got a chance to breathe. "Speaking of Leonster, Uncle Finn is here."

"He's what?"

"Here. Wounded."

"He is?" Shanan frowned. "I didn't see anyone when I checked the dungeons, though."

"Have you been touring around the place while sneaking notes into my room?" I glowered at him, not happy he took that big of a risk. "You better have told someone you were coming here, by the way."

"I left a note." He smiled innocently and I facepalmed again. If anyone ever asked where I learned recklessness from, I was blaming Shanan. "But why is Finn here?"

"He got caught. I didn't really ask how it happened or anything." There had been many other things to talk about. "He wants to come to Melgen with me, though."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Bloom figured out the ruse, and there's still bunches of fighting around Leonster, so it would be suicide to try and enter, especially alone." I was also sure that me accidentally blurting that Aunt Lachesis, Diarmuid, and Nanna were all in Melgen proved too tempting for him. "How long have you actually been here, Shanan?"

"I got to Alster late last night, and I spent it watching patrols. Balmung hides me from sight, but I'm still physical. Imagine bumping into something."

"Oh, I don't know. We could use that to mimic a poltergeist." Actually, that could be an interesting tactic. "Ah, whatever. So, can we leave tonight? If Uncle Finn is able to? I miss everyone."

"Well, my original plan had been to grab you tonight, but when I got inside, I saw you were able to walk around and everything." He laughed. "But yes, we should be able to. Providing Finn can. We're definitely not leaving him behind."

"Sounds good to me." I sat up and then hopped to my feet. "I'll go let him know. Do you think you can sneak into the armory?"

"Weapons for you and him?"

"Well, at least his. They took his lance and he says it was special."

"The one Quan gave him. Yeah, I'll prioritize that one." Shanan sat up now too and tugged me down so that he could hug me and kiss my forehead. "Sorry it took me so long to get here to help."

"It's fine. Me staying so long meant I was here when Uncle Finn was captured." Which… was a very good thing, for multiple reasons. "I'll climb back up here in an hour or so to let you know what Uncle Finn thinks, okay?"

"In an hour then."

Leaving the book behind (because I knew Shanan would put it with his things), I made sure to reenter the castle through a window, and then made my way to Uncle Finn's room. We had to talk quietly because there were still some guards, but he agreed that the sooner we left, the better. Just in case. So, I sent the guards on a menial task to get them away while I helped Uncle Finn pack a few things, and, after letting Shanan know and working out a meeting place, spent the day pretending that I wasn't trying anything. I noticed Bloom keeping an eye on me, but my smile seemed to trick him into thinking I'd wait a little longer before attempting an escape. At the least, there hadn't been any guards when I snuck out of my room later that night, and only one by Uncle Finn's room, who he easily knocked out. And tied up and shoved into the closet.

"How did you learn to tie things so quickly?" I asked curiously, helping Uncle Finn walk to the far wall of the castle. Shanan had found a hidden door there, apparently. "It's impressive."

"Dew taught me, actually, since he had to sometimes use ropes to climb out of trouble," Uncle Finn explained, laughing a little. I wondered how and why that would happen, and decided I'd ask Patty when I got back. "Is this the door?"

"Looks like it…" It was covered in vines. Vines that… moved in the opposite direction of the wind. "Hi, Shanan."

"Hey there," Shanan replied, his form flickering into view. He grinned at Uncle Finn, who only raised an eyebrow. "Aw, come on, at least pretend to be startled."

"Riona was a very nice niece and warned me," Uncle Finn replied with great dignity. I could only snicker. "Looks like you got that growth spurt you were convinced was coming."

"I did, indeed." Shanan's grin softened to a smile. "Ah, I feel like I'm going to cry. So, let's get moving quickly before I waste time with that. I'll hug you later. Just a warning."

"Just be careful. I'm still injured."

"Boys, boys, shall we be off?" I joked, making my voice as haughty as possible. Shanan rolled his eyes and pushed open the door, snagging a very beautiful, and unusual, lance and tossing it to Uncle Finn. "Yay, you did get it!"

"Yes, though it took so long that I didn't get a chance to secure you a sword, Riona," Shanan murmured, smiling apologetically. I just shrugged, since I hadn't expected that. Bloom was really meticulous about his armory; it was why I hadn't stolen one for myself. "But you're right. Let's be off. I'm sure they'll send pursuers quickly."

"This might've been easier if someone didn't come ahead alone, you know."

"Are you scolding me?"

"You're the idiot who decided to come rescue me alone, so yes!"

Shanan and I continued to bicker all the way out of the city and down the road, to Uncle Finn's intense amusement. At least, I hoped he was amused, since he was smiling and chuckling in equal measure. He could have just decided to ignore the two crazies and imagine being with his family, his whole family, for the very first time. I could totally understand that. Sadly, though, the good mood couldn't last long. As expected, Bloom did send pursuers quickly, and so, we had to head off the road and into the woods, weaving through to mask our trail. At least, that had been the theory. The thunder magic that nearly hit us when we emerged from the trees showed that someone had anticipated that. I knew it was Reinhardt even before I saw him.

Reinhardt tried to say something, no doubt a call to surrender. But none of us even gave him the chance. I set his sleeve on fire as soon as I caught sight of him and Shanan and Uncle Finn both struck. Of course, I couldn't say this was easy. It should've been. But Uncle Finn was still injured, and Shanan prioritized protecting me. And, you know… magic. With that stupid ability he had to cast two thunder spells far too quickly. So, it wasn't as simple as it should've been. Because I was a liability, and damn it, I hated that. Worst part, though, was that I couldn't really escape, because Reinhardt had ambushed us on the forest's edge. All I could do was use my fire to try and keep Reinhardt unbalanced, hoping that it would be enough…

A growl. A snarl. Both sounds achingly familiar. Automatically, I pushed past Shanan and Uncle Finn, despite their yells and rushed for Reinhardt, my focus on the sword he had on his belt. Reinhardt, startled, aiming a thunder spell towards me, but that was when Hestia leapt out of the woods and bit Reinhardt's arm. Not hard enough to crush the bone, but enough to mangle it and distract him enough for me to steal his sword and crack him over the head with the pommel. Then I jumped back, to get some distance, and Hestia went to my side, snarling and growling. Because of course she was.

"Someone didn't behave for the others," I whispered. Still, I was glad to see her. We were a 'set', after all. "Might want to get that arm treated, Reinhardt."

"More than 'might'," Reinhardt sighed. He set his tome in his holster and pulled out some bandages from his small pack. "Well, I was losing anyway. Good enough excuse to retreat."

"Keeping the sword, by the way." It had a good weight to it. "Now then…" I glanced at Shanan and Uncle Finn, who both nodded. "Hestia?" Hestia growled at Reinhardt again, but led the way into the woods, with me following closely. Uncle Finn was right behind me, and Shanan brought up the rear.

I didn't try to even think about how that whole thing went, from being mildly helpless to Hestia's convenient appearance, until we were a good distance away from Alster and had settled down for camping. Even then, I attempted to figure it out for all of five seconds before shrugging and just deciding to go with it. Far be it for me to be thankful for some good luck. Besides, there were other things to do. Like start the campfire or try to not drown in Hestia-fur because she was very insistent on getting as much of it on me as possible! Not that I minded. I had missed her too.

"Aw, who's the sweetest wolf?" I cooed, giving Hestia a good rub all over. She barked and panted happily, her tail wagging fast enough to kick up dirt. "Who's the sweetest wolf who really shouldn't be out here? You are!" I kissed her muzzle and got a lick in return. "Oh, I'm going to hurt the others for letting you get so far from them. Yes, I am!"

"Must've snuck out shortly after I did, given that timing," Shanan noted. Now that we were camping, he was tending to Uncle Finn's injuries, which had reopened thanks to the fight. Reopened and bled for a while. "She was definitely still in Melgen when I left."

"Probably snuck out in everyone's panic when someone left without telling anyone." I gave him a look, and he pretended to not see. Uncle Finn covered his mouth to hide smile. "You're going to get such a lecture from Oifeye."

"I've gone out on my own before."

"And you're getting one from Aunt Lachesis. She was already quoting Agustrian idioms at you."

"That's how you know you're in trouble," Uncle Finn joked. Shanan rolled his eyes, but got the last of Uncle Finn's injuries bandaged. "Besides, can't you hear Lord Sigurd scolding?"

"A warrior's true strength is in the bonds with their comrades, not their ability to kill or crush the enemy," Shanan sighed. He helped Uncle Finn get his shirt back on and then rested his head on Uncle Finn's shoulder. "He would say that every time we got new recruits."

"He did." Uncle Finn smiled softly before looking over to where I was across the fire, still rubbing Hestia. "That is?"

"Hestia, my wolf," I answered, pulling off lots of shed fur. No one had brushed her properly while I'd been gone, it seemed. "Is this the part where you say that Mom would've had a heart attack?"

"No, I think Alicia would've killed the person who let you have it," Uncle Finn replied without a second's hesitation. Shanan snorted, hinting Uncle Finn had a point. "Or threaten to until Chulainn sweetened her mood. That one is more likely."

"Was it?"

"Chulainn knew exactly how to get away with things. Or how to get you two get away with things."

"I see…" That made me smile. I wished I had seen that, though. "Ah, well, should we set up watches or something?"

"I'll take first watch." Uncle Finn looked down at Shanan who… was actually already asleep. I had never seen him fall asleep so quickly. "I think he'd gone without sleep a couple of days."

"I wouldn't be surprised. He still feels guilty about Deirdre's kidnapping. And Conall's." I sighed and hugged Hestia. Truthfully, I was most annoyed at him coming alone because I knew it was because he thought it was all his fault. "I'll take second watch. Hestia will likely wake me up around then anyway."

"If you're certain."

"Yep." I laid down on Hestia, using her as a pillow, and tucked my stolen sword close to me. I'd have to figure out a sheathe or something for it later. "I'm just as stubborn as my parents, so no trying to talk me out of it."

"Of course." Uncle Finn chuckled, and looked up at the sky. "Melgen is still quite a few days away. Get some rest while you can."

"I will…" Actually, I was already dozing off. "Love you, Uncle Finn. Wake us up if something weird happens…"

"I will."


Surprisingly, the rest of the trip to Melgen was surprisingly peaceful. I mean… I still didn't relax until we were right at the front gates of Melgen, but still. The worst worry was Uncle Finn's injuries, and even then, thanks to medicine, they were slowly healing. Needed proper healer treatment, but he wasn't on the edge of death or anything.

So, it was with a bright smile that I waved to the guards standing above the gates. The night-guards, since the sun had long set. "Hello!" I called, jumping up and down to make sure I had their attention (as well as I could since Hestia was pressed into me). Of course, I immediately felt bad when the two closest ones were startled so badly that they nearly fell! "Ah, I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

"Lady Riona, you're back!" one of them replied, not answering my question. They quickly bowed and saluted, and their fellow followed suit. "And King Shanan and Hestia have returned as well! Everyone has been worried." Their posture stiffened when they saw Shanan was supporting Uncle Finn. We had decided to push through to Melgen, which unfortunately had pushed Uncle Finn a little past his current limits. "Who is this one, my lady?"

"Uncle Finn, Diarmuid's dad. And Nanna's." I grinned, and I was even giddier when they instantly relaxed. "So, do you mind opening the gates? I'll climb up if I have to, but I think Hestia will protest separating herself from my leg!" Hestia barked right then, confirming the words. "Pretty please?"

"Of course, my lady!" They signaled someone, and I thought I saw someone else rush away, possibly to the castle. "Welcome home, my lady! You have been missed."

"Good to be home."

The gates opened easily, and we walked through the streets, waving at the people who peeked out of their windows. All of them waved back, and a few even laughed and smiled. I wasn't sure how much people liked it when Hestia howled a greeting at the castle gates, but I'd run around apologizing for that in the morning, because it did get the gates open quickly. Of course, I was almost immediately bombarded by people, since it seemed like I'd been right. That third guard I'd seen leaving the town walls had been someone informing the castle that we had returned. And practically every single soldier seemed ready to greet us!

"My lady, are you well?" Niamh asked when she pushed through the crowd to reach me. She actually rubbed at her eyes, fighting back tears. "We had been praying that your rank and relations have kept you safe, but…"

"They kept me as safe as possible, and I promise, I am just fine," I reassured, hugging her. She hugged me back, sighing in relief. I had a feeling quite a few of those from Isaach would have to be extra-reassured, considering the typical fate for females who were captured by the enemy. "I'm sorry to have worried you. Has everything been well here?"

"It has been." She pulled away, still rubbing at her eyes. "Ah, but here's-"

"Lady Riona!" And I got tackled off my feet by most of the children, with Anat and Sandas reaching me first. "We missed you!" Anat declared, clinging to me tightly. Her leopard-kitten hopped onto my shoulder and nuzzled my cheek. Mursi nuzzled my neck, via climbing onto my chest and thus being half on me and half on Sandas's head. Not that Sandas seemed to care. "Don't leave for so long again!"

"I won't," I reassured, doing my best to hug… all of them. Seriously, they swarmed me. I only didn't have the babies here! And Inanna, for some reason. "Oh, I'm so sorry…"

"I told you all to be orderly with this!" And there was Inanna, with her leopard-kitten around her shoulders again. "Goodness, there are others who want to hug her," she scolded, cradling one of the babies in her arms. "At least let her stand up. Don't know how you all are even getting hugs when you're in a mass like that."

"It's nice to know I'm liked!" I couldn't help but laugh and slowly got myself up, with the children still clinging to me. And the leopard-kittens attempting to balance on me before they decided to return to their owners. "I'm back. Has everything been okay?"

"Yes, though we did have a bit of illness sweep through. That's why only one of the babies is out here." Inanna handed me him and I bounced him a bit, feeling a tad awkward. But he smiled and gurgled, so he at least seemed happy. "But no, we've been fine. All of us, and all of the refugees… if anything, we've just been wondering when someone is going to ambush Melgen."

"I see." I handed the baby back to her and hugged her, kissing her forehead. Then I glanced around, wondering how Shanan and Uncle Finn were doing. I saw that they were similarly swarmed, but Hestia was near Uncle Finn, helping to keep people from crowding him. "I'm glad to hear that. I was worried."

"You were worried? You're the one who got captured!" She scowled. "Don't do that again."

"I will certainly do my best!" I noticed the crowd actually parting for some reason, and smiled when I saw it was because Oifeye was making his way through. "Oifeye!" Inanna helped me extract myself from the hugs, and I made a point of giving them individual hugs and the like. But as soon as I did, I ran for Oifeye, hugging him as tightly as I could. "I'm home."

"Welcome home…" Oifeye breathed. His voice was thick, and he sounded a bit choked up. I felt tears hit my head. "Welcome home. Are you all right?"

"I'm just fine," I reassured. I had a feeling I'd be saying that for days upon days. "I'm sorry. I just knew Yuria couldn't-"

"Given the circumstances, I know you made the best decision. However, we are going to take steps so that you never have to make that decision again." He kissed my head and held me tightly. "But you are okay."

"Yep. And I got some information, and I stole some books from their library. Including a couple of history ones I think you'll like." I felt more relaxed than I had in days. Weeks, even. Hugging Oifeye really proved to me that I was back home. "Oh, Uncle Finn is here. Bit of a story. But he's with Shanan, and Shanan needs to be scolded for coming after me on his own."

"Lachesis and I have been crafting a lecture just for that." He let go of me, and kissed my forehead. "Still, I'm not the only one who has been worried, as I'm sure you know."

"Damn right!" And Ulster appeared from nowhere and actually picked me up, kissing my cheek and hugging me tightly. "The crowd is making it impossible to get through, so I'm stealing her," he explained with a grin. Oifeye simply laughed. "Think I saw Shanan, so I'll hug him later."

"And I shall go greet him now, and passive-aggressively remind him that we are an army," Oifeye sighed. He continued smiling, though. "Until later."

"Until later!" Ulster continued carrying me, to my intense amusement, all the way out of the crowd. "Seriously, they parted for Oifeye, but when we tried to get through…"

"I missed you too," I murmured, hugging him around the neck. I half-felt like crying because I was just so glad to be home. "So, am I about to be bombarded again?"

"Well, of course." We cleared the crowd and he set me down. "It's us. But I'll let the others take that over, since I got you to myself."

"Riona!" To my surprise, the first person to run over was actually Arthur. And he hugged me without hesitation, unlike every other time. "Hey, you okay?" he asked. I hugged him back, smiling. "They didn't…"

"I'm just fine," I reassured. Yep, I was definitely going to be saying this for a while. "Sorry to worry you. How have you been?" I pulled away to look him over. "No bandages… good, you've healed. How's Tine been?"

"Tine is fine, and I'm fine, and seriously, you are the one who got captured." He rolled his eyes, but smiled. "You so owe us treats or something."

"Pick a favorite. I'll make it for you." I looked over and saw the others (save Seliph, for some reason) standing a bit away, smiling at me. In the middle of the group was Yuria, who was crying yet smiling. "Hey! So, I'm a bit late, but I kept my promise!"

"You did…" Yuria agreed. She rushed over and hugged me. "I never doubted it!"

It seemed like everyone else had just been waiting for Yuria to get her moment, because the others rushed me. Lana clung to me and demanded to give me a check-up later. Larcei jumped on my back and refused to let go until Diarmuid pulled her off so that he could hug me. Lester clung to my arm like he was afraid I'd vanish if he let go, and Fee swung over his shoulder so that she could reach me and give me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. Iuchar only briefly hugged me, but declared he had written a poem to mark the 'momentous occasion that was my safe return'. No Leif or Nanna, which could be expected, and no Tine, which was a bit sad but more than understandable. Nor could I see Patty, which was a trifle disappointing, but I did remember how awkward she'd felt about 'intruding' before all this.

I was about to ask where Seliph was, but then Larcei, with a giant smirk, shoved me right into someone, and I knew even before I looked up that it was Seliph. "Well, hello there, handsome," I greeted, teasing. He simply stared at me, not saying a word. "Bewitched by my beauty?"

"Always," he whispered, smiling before kissing me fiercely. I heard the others whistle, laugh, and holler, but I didn't care. "Missed you."

"Sorry to take so long." I kissed him again and then leaned up to whisper in his ear. "I met Julius, and got some information."

"Something tells me that'll be serious and not fun." He ran a hand through my hair, absently playing with the strands. "Can you tell me tomorrow?"

"War Council tomorrow."

"That bad, huh? Got it." He kissed me again, and smiled slightly. "You were captured and you went information hunting."

"Well of course. Got a bunch of notes on the political situation in the past, and from the reigns of the Crusaders. To help us for planning for afterwards. I had to do something to soothe my pride." I grinned and stepped away, glancing over at where Uncle Finn was. And I saw Leif and Nanna pushing their way towards him. "Oh, there's those two."

"Leif thought a hike might help me, so we were out. Nanna came to get us." Seliph frowned a bit. "Who are they heading for?"

"Uncle Finn." And now I looked at Diarmuid, who had frozen in shock. Ulster and Lester actually had to support him. "Come on! You should meet him! He's been looking forward to it!"

"And in light of the good mood, I promise to not trip you," Larcei laughed, taking his arm. Giggling, Lana took his other one. "But we'll help you get through!"

"Allow me!" Iuchar laughed, already forging ahead. The rest of us followed, because like hell we were missing this! "Might as well use my bulk for something!"

"Perfect!"

By the time we made it over, Leif and Nanna had already gotten to Uncle Finn and were hugging him, laughing about something. Though Oifeye wasn't near, as I would've expected, Shanan and Hestia were. Hestia, however, immediately came over to lick Diarmuid's hand, no doubt sensing his nerves. Shanan glanced over curiously, but smiled. After a moment, he quietly got Uncle Finn's attention and pointed to Diarmuid. Uncle Finn frowned a bit in confusion before his jaw dropped, his eyes going wide. Recognizing Diarmuid, even though they had never met…

"Hey, Father…" Diarmuid managed shakily. Tears slipped down his face and he ran over to hug him. "Glad to meet you…"

"I'm glad to finally meet you too, Diarmuid," Uncle Finn replied. He hugged Diarmuid back, and I thought he was crying. "Finally… finally…"

The two fell silent, having no more words to express how they felt. Nearby, Nanna hesitated a bit, but Diarmuid quickly pulled her into a hug, the first time Uncle Finn got to hug both of his children. Leif grinned and escaped, running over to join us, though our group took turns running over to Shanan to greet and scold him.

"Glad you're back," he greeted me, smiling. I smiled back, beaming. "Seliph was so despondent. Took a lot of effort to get him to smile."

"Did it now?" I asked, a tad amused. Seliph just shrugged when I smiled at him, but he did quickly escape to join the group around Shanan. "Well, I'm glad to be back. You and yours been okay?"

"We've been okay. Recovering." Leif reached down to pet Hestia's head. "Oh, Patty is cooking for you, by the way. That's what Nanna said, at least. Something about it being a better way to say 'welcome back' than getting crushed."

"I'm surprised by the warm greeting!" Not really. While I'd love for it to be a good sign of the rapport we were building with our soldiers, I knew no small part of it was simply them being glad that one of their Scions of Light was out of enemy hands. Though, I knew there were some who were simply genuinely glad to see me. "Thank you for watching out for Seliph."

"We're cousins, and I can't really do much. But I can at least take a bit of the burden." He smiled warmly, and I smiled back. "And… ah! There she is!"

I almost asked what he meant, but then I saw who had joined us in our little corner. Aunt Lachesis, who smiled so happily at the sight of Uncle Finn hugging Diarmuid and Nanna. It was obvious that she didn't want to intrude, but Diarmuid noticed her and looked up, beaming through the tears. Nanna picked up on it then and made sure to move out of the way, taking Diarmuid's hand as Uncle Finn looked over and smiled so warmly and so sweetly at Aunt Lachesis.

"Sorry that I decided to take fashionably late too far?" Aunt Lachesis joked, skipping over to him. Despite the words, I saw her hands shake as she clasped them behind her back. "I'll admit, though, that I had hoped I'd heal a bit more before I saw you." She made a face. "I look horrible. Still too bony and everything."

"What are you talking about?" Uncle Finn asked, cupping her cheek. He then rested his forehead against hers. "You're beautiful, just as always."

"Finn…" She smiled a bit shakily and reached up to hold the hand on her face, keeping it there. "Seems like you've still got that silver-tongue of yours."

"It is, as always, complete and utter truth. Selfina would scold me if it wasn't."

At that point, I decided to take Hestia and do some more rounds through the courtyard crowd, to talk to people, reassure them, and answer any questions. I had seen enough, and it seemed like there were quite a few people I still needed to reassure. Not that I minded. I liked talking to people, and I was home. What a relief...


"Wow, I'm gone for a few days, and your hair is a mess," I teased, brushing Seliph's hair. It was very late, truthfully late enough that one might call it 'early'. But we had all stayed up so long to talk to everyone and enjoy the delicious treats Patty had made for me. However, I did notice that Seliph clung to my hand throughout the 'celebration', so when it was time to try to rest, I only went to my room to grab some things and moved them to his room. So now, I was sitting on the bed while he sat on the floor at my feet, brushing his hair while Hestia laid in his lap. "How did you even get it so tangled?"

"Tossing and turning," he answered easily. He had his eyes closed and he petted Hestia. "Lots of nightmares. Lots of what-ifs." He chuckled. "Actually had a hallucination."

"Did you get checked for it?"

"Well, it was either a hallucination or a ghost. Either-or." He scratched Hestia briefly behind the ear before resuming petting her. "But it was of Father. He was sitting on the bed next to me, and stroking my hair as if to reassure me. Swore I felt a cold spot there, but it was soothing nonetheless."

"Did you now?" I had to smile at that. It seemed to suit the man I'd heard so many stories about. "Still, not sleeping. Tsk, tsk."

"I believe I've told you many times. I'm not at my best when you're not near." He tilted his head back and smiled wanly at me. "Your presence has always given me strength. They call me the 'prince of light' and whatnot, but you've always been my sunshine."

"That's…" I went very red, very fast. He chuckled. "You said that on purpose!"

"Of course. Every word of it is true." He grinned. "But it is fun seeing you get so embarrassed."

"So mean to your love after she's returned from such a trying experience!" I rolled my eyes and set the brush to the side before sliding down to sit next to him. "And how bitterly my heart has keened at our separation!"

"You're being silly to make me laugh." He kissed my cheek and then my nose. "I really should be focused on comforting you, not the other way around."

"I was literally treated like a princess there and was in no more danger than anyone else." Of course, that was actually quite a bit of danger, but that would be something to tell later. "They even changed what scented candles they used so that I wouldn't be sneezing all the time." I wrapped my arm around his and curled into his side, resting my head on his shoulder. "I was being spoiled. It sucked."

"You're complaining about being pampered?"

"Because it wasn't you pampering me?" I smirked at him and he glanced away, blushing. "But, seriously, I'm fine. Save for the far-too-serious-for-the-occasion stuff."

"Right…" He kissed me softly and took my hand. "It is good to have you back. I was scared. There were so many ways it could've gone."

"Very much so. But I'm back. You're not getting rid of me that easily."

"Good." A knock of the door made both of us smile. "Surprised you lot even knocked."

"We were going to burst right on in, but some of us actually have manners," Larcei joked as she opened the door. Lana followed with a tray of mugs, though Lester had another tray with even more mugs. Ulster came in with a bunch of blankets, and, very hesitantly, Patty and Iuchar brought up the rear. "Look, I know how in the stories, after a long separation, the couple is supposed to have a long night of extremely passionate sex and all, but you can do that tomorrow or something. We missed her too."

"Kind of surprised you all didn't show up sooner," I noted, standing up to help with the trays and mugs. Warm milk with honey, all of them. "Diarmuid with his family?"

"Yep." Larcei helped Ulster toss around the blankets. "Anyway, it took a while to convince Iuchar and Patty that you two really wouldn't care."

"Patty, I can understand, but Iuchar, you've been with us long enough!"

"But who am I to interrupt such a glorious reunion?" Iuchar immediately countered, making his voice and tone as dramatic as possible. To my intense amusement. "More seriously, I thought there would be more flower petals. Shouldn't there have been rose petals on the bed?"

"Please no," Seliph deadpanned. He made to stand up and help, but Lester snagged him with a blanket and kept him sitting, so he instead rested his head on Lester's shoulder. "And to distract from the idea, Fee and Arthur?"

"Fee wanted to do a patrol, just in case there were pursuers still. I think Arthur was checking in on Tine."

"Makes sense." Seliph and Lester shifted so that Hestia could escape the blanket, and then they both happily accepted the mug from Lana. "Fee will likely be by soon, then. Yuria?"

"She's watching the infirmary, so that Lachesis can spend time with her family and Lana can be here. Says she'll steal Riona in the morning for breakfast."

"Which I certainly don't mind, so instead, let me ask something," I began, debating where I would sit now. Larcei snagged me and dragged me down, and Lana snuck in between us just as Hestia laid down behind us. Just like how we'd cuddle together back in Tirnanog, though the boys didn't join in and we had a blanket draped over our legs instead. "So, did Shanan really just leave a note?"

"He did, the jerk!" Patty grumbled, scowling. She ended up sharing a blanket with Iuchar and Ulster, with Ulster in the middle. "We wanted to come get you too! We were just making sure the defenses would hold in our absence. I was even planning things based off of the last couple of times I'd been in Alster."

"Good, that's what you should've done." I made a face. Shanan, you were in so much trouble for that. Worse, though, was because I knew the reckless action was because of his guilt complex. "Oh, whatever. Happy times, happy things. Happy stories!"

"Hmm… oh! I've got one!" But just as she was about to tell us, there was a knock on the door. After looking at us, she hesitantly answered. "Come in?"

"See? I told you they'd be here," Fee commented, as Arthur opened the door for her. She was carrying a tray piled with all sorts of snacks and, to my surprise, Tine trailed in after her, smiling awkwardly at us. "Hi! I brought food!"

"Um… we didn't mean to interrupt or anything," Tine whispered. She lingered by the door, even after Arthur closed it and joined us. "So, if…"

"Sit down and enjoy the food!" Lana insisted, waving her over. Tine hesitantly did so, and squeaked when Lester threw a blanket around her, Fee, and Arthur. "Healer's orders!"

"I'm not sure a healer can order that?"

"Sure I can. Relaxing is important for your health, after all!"

While everyone got settled again, I realized something and poked Lana's cheek before leaning down to whisper in her ear. "Hey, did you talk to Ulster?" I asked, making sure to be as soft as possible. Larcei would hear, of course, but no one else. "No one said anything."

"No, I haven't," Lana replied, sulking a bit at me. She then rested her head on my shoulder. "I was too worried about you."

"I'm sorry. I'll make you something." But I was glad I didn't miss that show. And based on Larcei's wink and grin when I caught her eye, the plan with Ulster was still going. Excellent. "I promise."

"I'll make my request in the morning."

"Of course." A burst of laughter from the others confused me, but I joined in as soon as I saw why. Arthur was suddenly wearing a headband. With cat ears. "Oh my gods, Fee!"

"I told you that I'd finish it up!" Fee joked, laughing. Arthur rolled his eyes and attempted to ignore it, sitting as dignifiedly as possible. While wearing fake cat ears. Yeah, it didn't work at all; even Tine laughed. "Good, it matches well enough too. I was worried!"

"Well, sounds like the party has started here!" Diarmuid opened the door without even bothering to knock, though Nanna and Leif both yelped at the 'rudeness'. "Before you ask, Father's injury started bleeding through, and Mother wanted to treat it, so we thought we'd just leave so that they could talk serious stuff and rest," he explained. Without looking, he took the mug Seliph offered and sat down next to him, sharing the blanket with him and Lester. "And we have snacks. What a proper party! So, what exactly did we walk into?"

"Arthur is turning into a cat. Even got the ears."

"Excellent. He's always been a little catty anyway."

That sparked another round of laughter, and another bit of jostling as we tried to fit everyone in the circle and make sure no one was alone with the blankets. Then we had to do the same thing because Yuria did end up joining us, sheepishly noting that Sara chased her out to have fun with them. It didn't escape me that the other Tirnanog kids made sure Diarmuid and Yuria ended up sharing a blanket, but that was for another time. For now, it was just fun stories, starting with Patty's.

I had the weirdest family. But I wouldn't have them any other way.


Fee

Class: Pegasus Knight; Skills: Pursuit, Adept, Critical

The 16-year-old princess of Silesse, who dreams of being a strong pegasus knight like her mother. She's always been very close with her family, enjoying a warm and loving childhood despite the trials of being in exile. It's the memory of that closeness that makes Lewyn's harshness so hard to deal with.

Bears the mark of Forseti on her lower right leg, swirls of green wrapping around her ankle almost like bracelets. Its blessing grants her increased stamina, ability to endure pain and take damage, and an increase in speed. It also blesses her with the ability to hear the wind, allowing her to catch snippets of conversation spoken by far off people or read the weather.

Equally skilled in both weapons and magic, she switches freely between her lance and the thunder sword she inherited from her mother. Her greatest asset is her speed, her ability to quickly read the battlefield by listening to the wind, and her ability to fly, giving her a unique viewpoint of the battles.

Though she's annoyed with her father, she is delighted in having another 'sister' in Yuria, and she loves how warm and welcoming the army is. It reminds her of home, but without the shadows left behind by her mother's death, allowing her to feel like she can finally breathe for the first time in years.


Author's notes: So, Arvis shows up up here because otherwise, he doesn't show up until like… Game-Chapter 10. Same with Hilda. Also lets me bring in Cyas, who is an FE5 exclusive char. And more Ishtar. And bringing in Julius properly.

Speaking of FE5, FE5 had the unique 'capture' mechanic which was like a reverse rescue sort of thing. Normally, you have to do battle (at like… half-stats or something like that), but you automatically succeed in capturing an unarmed person (and a sleeping person).

Next Chapter - Bonds