Chapter 4: "Love blooming in the capital of spies?"

"Lord Hector! Lord Hector! Please, get up right now, it's urgent!!", Irving's shouts resounded in the young man's ears. It wasn't the best thing to wake up someone, especially if those screams were accompanied by Irving pulling his arm as if there were no tomorrow.

"What is it, Irving?", he asked, annoyed, still in the 'fifth level of sleep'. "You forgot I'm your liege's brother, that now you treat me like an stranger?", he added, yawning.

"It's about your brother!", the advisor went on, at the verge of a heart attack. "I can't find him anywhere!"

"What?", Hector asked, deeply annoyed. He got up from his bed and took a look around. His brother was supposed to be sleeping in the bed next to his, but the bed was empty and already done. Or as if no one had used it.

"Calm down, yes?", Hector said, thinking where his brother could be. "Give me ten minutes, and then we go on his search, yeah?", he said, more menacingly than helpful.

"Yes", Irving mumbled, still shocked.

Right after Hector was ready, they went on Uther's search. If it was for Irving, every cavalier from all of Elibe would be searching for his Marquess…

However, Hector went straight to one place, after hearing that his brother wasn't in the places he would have expected. He went straight to Alina's room. After knocking for several times, without having any answer, he opened the door gently, shutting Irving's mouth with his left hand, because the advisor was complaining too much about everything.

The scene they found puzzled them, but as they have never been before. Both Uther and Alina were laying in the same bed… completely dressed, with the clothes they had the previous night. Only that Alina was covered by Uther's cape.

Hector made a sign to Irving and to Ashton, who had just joined the searching, to leave the room, and closed the door as silently he could in his amusement.

Anyway, the sound of the door closing was enough to wake up the sleeping couple. It took some seconds for them to realize that there was someone else in the room, although each one was sure they were in their correct room.

Alina rubbed her eyes, still sleepily, and found herself with her night dress, and then she realized she still had Uther's cape. She moved her head slowly, just to find Uther's gaze, who evidently was doing the same: trying to guess where he was…

"AHHHHH!! What are you doing here?!?!?!?", Alina yelled, jumping from the bed. "This is MY room!", she added, very shocked by that… surprise. "Don't tell me that… What are you doing here?!?!? Get out! Get out!!", she started yelling angrily, striking him with her pillow several times.

"Wha…? Hey, stop with that! You are striking very hard, it hurts!", he complained, trying to grab the pillow, but failing at each time. "You don't think that I am of those likes, don't you?!?", he asked, angrily at her.

"What are you doing here, then?!?!", she asked, even more angry than him, still using her pillow as a weapon.

"Hey, calm down! Stop with that!!", he yelled, evading one of her strikes, while trying to walk over the bed to grab that pillow. Instead, he got to her, and grabbed her by her wrists, making her drop the infamous pillow.

"Will you calm down now?", he asked, still angrily.

"Ahhh, it hurts!", she complained, trying to pull her hands out. "This hurts!"

"Oh, because you weren't the one receiving all those 'pillow punches'!", he exclaimed, sarcastically, and letting her go.

Alina lowered her head, ashamed. After all, she realized who she had before her, although he was just a simple human…

"I'm sorry", she mumbled, still angry, too. "But what are you doing here?", she asked, still uncertain about his presence in her room.

"I guess I fall asleep here…", he said, as confused as she was. "I didn't mean to stay, as I didn't want to hurt you", he said, apologizing, after noticing that Alina was rubbing her wrists, making a glance of pain.

"You should reconsider your strength", she said, annoyed. "By the way, I didn't want to hurt you with my pillow, also", she apologized, too.

"It's alright", he just replied, picking his cape. "You also have some strength, after all", he said, now going to the door. "Guess Irving must be searching for me at this rate", he said, sighing.

"Oh, no! He'll now kill me for this!", Alina exclaimed, thinking in Irving's possible lecture for the journey back to Ostia, if she was going to return with them.

"I'll try to put him far from you, so you don't have to hear him", he offered, funnily.

"I'd owe you my sanity if you do that", Alina said, resigned.

Uther was next to the door, but he seemed uncertain to open it. Instead, he just stared looking at Alina, who was doing the same, until she lowered her head, sort of ashamed, and started picking her things from the closet. As she did that, Uther returned from his thoughts, and left the room.

***

The Ostian group was ready to leave, and only Alina was missing. So, even after Irving's attempt –attempt because both Uther and Hector glared at the short advisor, and he already knew what that meant, so he desisted, wisely- of lecture about responsibilities and commoners, Uther went in her search…

"Oh, Lyndis", Uther greeted the Sacaen lady, who was walking along the corridor that led to Alina's room. "Have you seen Alina? We are about to leave…"

"No, I haven't seen her", Lyn replied, after greeting him back. "I was going to her room to talk a bit with her. I hadn't thought you were leaving so soon…", she said, saddened.

"Well, yes.", he replied, walking by her side. "I have to return to Ostia, and Irving says Alina needs to rest more, as she had an important wound, or so he says", he said, starting to distrust in his doctor advice, because Alina tried to escape many times…

"Yes, she told me a bit"

They reached her door, and Lyn called, but there was no answer. She called again, and then she opened the door. The room was already tidy, and there was no trace of Alina or her wares.

"Where could have Ally gone?", Lyn asked, after looking around.

"Ally?", Uther asked puzzled. "Is that her nickname?"

"Ah, yes", Lyn replied, naturally. "I thought you already guessed that"

"Ah, well, we hardly address each other", he said, awkwardly, while sitting in the bed. A small sound, like a moan, could be heard.

"Did you hear that?", he asked, getting from the bed quickly.

Lyn nodded, afraid.

"It came from under the bed", he said, kneeling on the floor. "I'll take a look"

What he found puzzled him… and made him laugh, at heart. Alina couldn't say the same. He looked under the bed, and he 'bumped into' her face, almost. Their eyes, their nose, everything meeting at the same level, for a short moment. She closed her eyes, quickly, and blushed, at the extent of feeling her cheeks burning like Elfire, or even Forblaze. Fortunately for her, Uther didn't see that.

"What had you found?", Lyn asked, curious.

"I've found our little runaway friend", he said, ironically. "Come on, Alina, get out", he said, giving her his hand.

"Goodness!", she complained. "Why is it that you always find me?!?", she asked, annoyed, cleaning her clothes with her hand quickly.

"Hahaha. Trying to escape again?", Lyn laughed, tempted.

"It's not funny", Alina said, sort of glaring at her.

"I was wondering when you would try to escape again!", Uther joked, ironically. "Come on, everyone's waiting for us".

"Can't she come with me to Caelin?", Lyn asked, thinking she had to do something for her friend.

Alina's green eyes shone brightly and happily. Lyn surely had good ideas…

Uther thought for a while, then he said, "Well, I don't know… she has her things in Ostia…"

"Excuse me, milord", Ashton interrupted, coming into the room. "Will you take longer? I had already gave Irving three relaxing pills, and he's still mad at…"

"Me", Alina completed the phrase, fed up of that little, disgusting advisor.

"Tell him I am going", Uther said. Alina's wish to leave Ostia was about to be granted…

"I don't want to be rude, but I overheard something", Ashton started to say. "I would suggest that Alina needs to rest more, and Caelin is further than Ostia, and all her things are there, so she has to return, anyway", he said, all of a sudden, without paying attention to the glares the young tactician was giving him.

"But…", Lyn said.

"Sorry, Lady Lyndis, but I can't allow that. It would be against my medical promise", the physician said, without caring in Alina's point of view.

"And against my will", Alina said, offended.

"Well, Alina, seems it's goodbye, again", Lyn said, saddened. "I hope I can see you again, someday"

"You bet", Alina said, trying to act normal, but she was at the verge of crying. "See you", she said, hugging her both noble and Sacaen friend.

"Good bye, Lyndis", Uther said, leaving the room with Ashton.

Lyn accompanied Alina to where the Ostian group were. They hugged for the last time, and after saying their good-byes again, Alina left. She could only cry after leaving Santaruz, and she was a sea of tears when she saw a strong, yet warm hand giving her a handkerchief.

***

The journey back to Ostia was quick and silent. Fortunately for Alina, Irving hadn't pestered her through the journey, and Ashton had the good judgement to not speak to her, or she would have kicked him, being generous.

A day has passed since they returned, and it was time for Ashton's daily visit.

"I'm impressed", the physician said, trying to sound friendly and cheerful to regain the almost lost "friendship" he had with his patient. "You are almost recovered, I would dare to say"

Alina's green eyes shone like they have never shone since she came into the Castle.

"So, I can leave…?", she asked, as if it were a dream.

"Not yet", Ashton said, still doubting. "Why don't you go for a walk through the Castle's gardens? If you don't overdo it, and if you seem alright after that walk, I would allow you to leave…", he said, slowly, so she could understand him well, without any misunderstood.

"Really?", Alina asked, her big green eyes bigger than ever, as a product of her surprise. She was starting to think she was going to stay in that Castle until the physician died…

"Yes", Ashton said, resigned. "I would still recommend more rest, but you want so much to leave, that I can't force you to stay any longer. Moreover, this is no hotel, so you'll have to leave, anyway.

"I'm glad you finally realized that!", Alina thought, but instead, she smiled. "I'm going out right now", she said, getting out of the bed and rushing to the door.

"Eh?!? What? Hey, come back!", Ashton exclaimed, trying to stop the excited tactician, who was already outside her room.

***

"Brother, finally I find you!", Hector exclaimed, exhausted.

Uther looked at him without knowing what his brother was talking about.

"What is it?", he asked, surprised. "I've been here in my study all day, so I can't understand you couldn't find me before"

"Anyway", the younger one replied. "We have to talk", he said, seriously.

"About what?", Uther asked, leaving the papers he had in his hand over his desktop. "You aren't going to say you renounce to the succession line to become a mercenary, or to fight in the arenas, are you?", he asked, half in joke, half seriously.

"That would be you", Hector joked back. Then, he turned serious again. "We have to talk about Alina".

Uther stayed silent for a short while.

"What's wrong with her?", he asked, worried, but trying to hide it.

"Nothing. What's wrong with you?, I would say", Hector asked, coldly.

"With me? Nothing. Why do you ask?", the Marquess asked, scandalized of his younger brother's questions.

"Brother, we may not be that close, but I do know you", Hector started his speech. "Why don't you allow her to leave?"

"Because she wasn't in the necessary conditions to look after herself, according to Ashton, that's why!"

"And in that case, why hadn't you allowed her to rest at an Inn? If you wanted to help her, you could have sent her to the nearest Inn with someone. Maybe with Irving…", Hector said, trying to imagine that couple…

Uther always had an answer under his sleeve, or so it seemed.

"Because I know she would have tried to leave the city. You said she was of that kind of people who are used to help themselves, trying to avoid other people's help. That's the only thing that explains why she doesn't travel with an escort…"

"Oh, come on, Brother!", Hector exclaimed, impatiently. "Don't lie to yourself anymore! You asked her to accompany us to the ascension of Marquess Santaruz, and I've seen how you looked at her! And, most importantly, I've seen how you stared at her the first time you saw her, when I introduced to her that time! You were analyzing her deeply!", he said, all of a sudden, trying to make his brother confess what for him was far too obvious.

Anyway, Uther stayed calm, and he just replied, "I looked at her like that because I wanted to see well who was guiding my brother and Eliwood's "happy bunch of mercenaries" -as someone called you at that time- in the offensive against Nergal"

"Oh, yeah, I sure believe you", Hector said, ironically. "And you look every soldier, every advisor like that, uh?"

"You!", Uther protested, glaring at his brother. "She's a nice young woman, but nothing more. Can't you understand that? Or you don't believe in female-male friendship?", he said, acting naturally.

"Oh, that's this year's best joke!", his brother joked, still ironically. "Had you thought in abdicating and trying your luck as a jester or a bard?

"So you would have to marry Florina, then?", Uther said, striking his brother in the most fragile point. "Or maybe Lyn? And what about Serra? Priscilla? Or Lucius?"

"Hey, not that's too much!", Hector complained, angrily. That anger allowed him to hide the fact that he blushed when he heard the name "Florina". "Lucius was a 'he', not a 'she'!!"

"He was a he?", Uther asked, puzzled. "Oh, my God, I would have never expected that. Yes, now that you mention it…", he said, thoughtfully.

"Anyway, that's of no concern for us", Hector objected, a bit calmer. "About Alina…"

"Nothing", Uther interrupted him. "Thanks for looking after her, but I won't do anything"

"I'm not looking after her", his brother replied, both serious and sad. "I'm looking after you", he added.

Uther stood still, like frozen.

"You don't need to do that", he thanked, in his own way. "I'm going for a walk", he said, suddenly, leaving his brother thinking in a way to help his stubborn brother.

***

Alina was walking through Castle Ostia's gardens, which were a real botanic masterpiece. She was walking alone, wearing her 'domestic outfit', a long brown dress –well, long skirt with a shirt-, the one she used when staying for many days at an Inn. And as she was staying too much in that place, which she feared to call 'home' someday (considering her stay), she considered there wouldn't be any problem with using it.

She was walking, staring at the blue Ostian sky, listening to the birds singing. She felt some peace there, among nature, and peace was something she was needing in those days, with all those odd events happening to her. Being rescued by Marquess Ostia, staying at his Castle, trying to escape repeated times, and being forgiven each time, going to Santaruz with him, know about that rumor about them, dancing with him, that 'pillow fight' after that night… it was too much for her, a simple stranger commoner.

"Mind you if I join you?", Uther's voice, sort of melancholic this time, sounded next to her.

"Sure", she said, smiling. She would have more time to think later.

They started walking together, side by side. They were silent for a short while. It was as if none of them wanted to break that peaceful silence.

However, Uther noticed something strange in the wall, as if it were a black spot posed on it. He picked a stone from the ground, and seemed to play with it, under Alina's suspicious looking. He didn't want her to see that shadow he saw, because he didn't want to worry her. If it was a spy, he would take care of it, at his own way…

They walked past that tree, and Uther didn't do anything strange. He just looked upside and went on walking. When they were a few meters away from that tree, he threw the stone he had in his hand backwards, and they could hear something similar to a human moan, and then the sound of a heavy body striking against the ground.

"What was that?", Alina asked, afraid. She turned her head back to see what made that sound, but she found Uther's arm reaching her right shoulder, almost embracing her. He pushed her gently, like telling her to go on walking, while he said, calmly,

"It was nothing. Let's go on walking".

Alina went on walking, but she noticed that Uther hadn't removed his hand from her shoulder. Shyly, he looked at his hand, and then she looked at him. Just then, he looked at her, and removing his arm, he said, a bit awkwardly,

"Ahh… sorry. I forgot you don't like this…"

Alina moved her face to the other side, ashamed of herself. She felt so stupid, so inexperienced. It wasn't a suitable role for her, she thought. She wasn't feeling comfortable at all, and now, more than ever, she wanted to run away.

"Uther, why had you brought me here when you found me in the woods?", she asked him, instead of running somewhere else.

Uther thought for a short while, then he replied, "First, I thought you were dead, but then Ashton said you were just unconscious, and I wasn't going to leave you there until you woke up by yourself, nor I couldn't wait for that, because we were in a hurry. You reacted in the Castle, anyway."

"But do you always help fallen people in your way?"

"I can't do it that much, but I also can't look in another direction when I find someone needed of some kind of aid. I usually try to help, although I can't do much. It pains me to see how bandits treat commoners, as well as rich, important people use their influence to satisfy their own greed, without thinking in the rest of the people"

Alina looked at him as if she had seen her ideal for a ruler. Her green eyes were shinning strangely, as if she were to cry, for some unknown reason.

"You have a caring, nice heart", she said, lost in herself.

"I don't resemble that, uh?", he said, offended. "Anyway, thanks for the 'compliment', if that was one"

"No, wait!", Alina shouted, in despair, feeling very guilty for having hurt him with her last comment. "I didn't want to mean that, Lo… Uther! Please, forgive me, I'm extremely sorry! I…"

"Hahaha! You sure look nice when you are nervous", he laughed, interrupting her. "It's alright. I know I look more like a brute. You don't have to apologize that much", he said, still laughing. Apparently, he was of the ones that laugh at their own defects.

However, Alina moved her head in the opposite direction, so he couldn't see she was blushing. She was far too embarrassed to want him to notice her blushing.

They went on walking. They still wanted to walk together, because neither of them made any sign of leaving.

"I hope Ashton doesn't know I'm taking a walk, or he won't let you go for the rest of your life", he said, thoughtfully, after a while. He was trying to break the icy, silent atmosphere around them.

"Why?", she asked, surprised of that statement.

"Well, I'm supposed to do some walks every day, but I almost never do them", he said, hiding the fact that he never took his walks. "He says it would be good for my health, but I feel well and I don't have enough time to walk, while I should be doing more important things", he added, distantly, as if his mind was wherever else.

Alina's expression changed from a saddened one to an annoyed one.

"Are you listening to yourself?", she asked, angrily. "You've pestered me telling me to do what Ashton said, to eat his filthy food and to stay in bed, while you should take more care of yourself and you don't do it?!? You should think it over!", she said, annoyed.

"Hey, I can't drop my obligations and rest while everything could be in danger!", he exclaimed, also annoyed by the little lecture of the tactician. "By the way, I'm not ill, just tired. And it's so boring to walk…"; he end his phrase here, keeping for himself a single word.

"Anyway, you should do what your physician says. Why do you want him, if not for that?", she asked, still annoyed. "And you aren't the savior of the whole world! You should look after yourself a bit, you can't go through life without caring about your own issues", she added, coldly. "I know you'll say that the life of a Marquess is not like a commoner's life, and that you have several obligations and duties that you can't leave behind, you don't have to tell me that, but you should try to live your own life as much as you can. You are a human being after all", she said, seriously and ceremonial, without looking at him.

They walked silently for another while. Alina was still angry with him. She felt it was so unfair: he made her stay at his castle for quite a long time (for her, time was like gold), while he hadn't paid attention to his own physician. He cared more about other people, and had neither the time or the will to look after himself, in her opinion. He put all his energy on looking after the others, and she couldn't accept that. But wasn't she looking for someone caring, that would give everything for her? She replied to herself that she was, but she also wanted someone that would look after himself, because she would lost him soon, if her man was too focused in helping others but not himself. So, was she angry with him, only with him? She was so absorbed in her own thoughts, that she couldn't see how Uther was staring at her: not with hate, but with a funny look she wouldn't tell its meaning.

"Alina, may I ask you a question?", Uther asked, now trying to mend his error.

"Yes, sure", she said, now talking naturally, washing away her annoyed mood. Luckily, her anger lasted short.

"Where are you from?", the young Marquess asked, sort of shyly. "You once said your parents lived quite far…"

"Make a guess", she said, funnily. "You'll never find it out by yourself"

"Etruria?", he said, after thinking for a while.

"Nope", she replied, smiling. "The fact that I was going to Etruria when you found me is no guarantee that I'm from there"

"You are neither Lycian nor Sacaen… Bern, maybe? Or are you from Arcadia?", he said, draining his brain, thinking in many remote places.

"Cold, cold…"

"Ilia?"

"No. Juggdral", she said, smiling. "I come from Nodion, a kingdom in the Juggdral continent, across the sea", she said, simply.

Uther stayed puzzled.

"I… woah! I hadn't thought you came from so far away!", he exclaimed, trying to get out of his astonishment. "And why are you here?"

"Well, Nodion folks are a bit conservative, and they can't think in a woman working as a tactician. We can be tacticians for fun, as it were a hobby, and I didn't want that. And as I wanted to know other lands and people, I decided to cross the sea and come to Elibe", she said, naturally, showing no hints of regret or sadness.

"I'm impressed", he replied, still surprised. "But don't you miss your people, your family?", he asked, interested in her background.

"Well… yes", she said, walking slowly now. "But I can't look back. I know that someday I'll return, and that my family will be safe until then, so I just keep on going my own way", she said, in fond remembrance. "Plus, it's something that goes with the family: my parents meet each other in a journey, and many of my relatives travel much!", she said, cheerfully.

"I see…", Uther replied, thinking in how different his family was. He and his brother were raised just to be noblemen, and he was the first person in the succession line. And, in that role, he had more duties and obligations than his younger brother, and he had to learn all the diplomatic stuff from an earlier age. Things got worst with their parents' death, and he had to assume his new role. Since then, he had little time for his brother, his only family left.

"Uther?", Alina's voice called him, breaking his 'sadness spell'.

"Umm? Yes, what is it?", he asked, lost.

"May I ask you a question?", she asked, shyly.

"Sure, shoot", he said, confident.

"I don't want to be rude, but… where had you gotten your scars?", she asked, regretting her question just after she said it.

Uther stayed thoughtful for a short moment, then he said,

"It was Hector's doing"

Alina looked at him puzzled, without getting his message.

"It was when we still where kids. He threw something back, I can't recall what it was, maybe it was a glass, and it stroked in my face. Our parents almost killed him. But don't say anything, everyone thinks I got them in battle or while training", he said, trying to speak normally, although he was saddened and annoyed.

Alina couldn't help it, but she started to laugh.

"What is the funny thing with that, Alina?", he asked, puzzled and annoyed. His brother's clumsiness spoiled him, and that wasn't funny for him.

"Please, excuse me, but it's that I understand you too well, he hasn't changed at all", she said, trying to stop her laughs. She picked her skirt and raised her right side a bit, right above her knee, revealing a medium size scar above it. "He picked his axe to go to a battle, and well… I was standing behind", she said, laughing at her own disgrace.

Now Uther understood, and he couldn't resist laughing.

*

"This is too much, too much!", Irving yelled, angrily. He was spying his liege, using binoculars, and he couldn't accept the fact that a stranger drove him to the 'bad side', abandoning his duties.

"What is it, shorty?", Hector asked, coming into the room. His expression changed when he saw his brother's advisor peeping the Marquess' actions. "What does this mean, you short man!!", he reclaimed, furious.

"What does that mean, I would say!", Irving protested, offended. "Your brother is outside, with that little girl, and they seem like merchants in a holiday!", he moaned.

"Give me that!", he yelled, picking the binoculars from the knight's hands. He looked through them, and learnt that Irving's statement was right. His chat with his brother was futile, it seemed. However, he wasn't angry.

"Let them be", he said, at last, moving out of the window. "And what about your infamous manners, short knight? That isn't the correct thing to do…", he said, suspiciously.

The knight felt ashamed, now that he was caught. "I just look after your brother, the Marquess. It's my duty to remember him…"

"My brother knows too well his duties and obligations. He doesn't need a puppet to remember him what he should do or not"

"Puppet?!?!? You are calling me a 'puppet'?!?!", Irving cried, scandalized. "Just stay here, you insolent little Lord…", he said, grabbing Hector's cape and forcing him to stay, while he started a lecture about 'respect to your elders'.

*

Meanwhile, Alina and Uther continued with their little walk, unaware of the 'spy within'. Everything seemed alright, until Uther started coughing.

"Uther, are you alright?", Alina asked him, worried. Her big, green eyes were filled with a new mix of feeling that he hadn't seen before in her, and that she didn't want to admit: fear and worry.

"I'm alright. It's nothing", he said, between more coughs.

"Don't lie to yourself! You aren't well!", she exclaimed, afraid. "So this is why Ashton told you to walk, isn't it?"

"Oh, don't worry about me, I'm alright", he said, after his last cough. "It happens from time to time. Look", he said, pointing to a wooden bench, next to a tall, white flowered tree. "Let's go and sit there for a while, and then we can return to the Castle, what do you think?"

"Are you sure you are alright?", she asked, thinking he was acting his state, forcing himself to look normal and strong just for her and for the other guys at the Castle.

"Hey, look at me", he said, raising her chin with his hand so her eyes could meet with his. "Do you think I could fake it for a long time?", he asked her, calmly.

"I… I hope you wouldn't", she said, doubting.

"Come on, let's go to that bench", he said, pushing her gently forwards.

*

"Oh, no! This is too much! This is really too much!!", Irving exclaimed, even more scandalized than when Hector called him 'puppet'.

"Wasn't the previous event 'too much'?", Hector asked the little knight without much interest.

"No, this is really too much!", the knight cried. "They are sitting at that bench, and that's where your father proposed marriage to your mother!! I can't allow that. I have to stop him, I have to stop him!", he exclaimed, near a surprise attack.

"What? You were 'gossip man' at time, too?", Hector asked ironically.

"Later, I have to stop your brother right NOW!!", Irving screamed, leaving the room and Hector behind.

"Hey, you aren't going anywhere, you little gossip puppet!!", Hector shouted, running behind the advisor.

*

The two of them sit in the wooden bench mentioned earlier, and stayed there, not knowing what to say. It was as if there weren't any topics left, leaving behind the ones that could saddened or annoy them. Alina was thinking in that, when Uther called her.

"Wha…?", she started saying, but didn't continue.

She noticed Uther nearer to her, and she lowered her head, mechanically, trying to hide the shameful look in her eyes she had, and her blushed cheeks. However, he grabbed her chin gently, and made her meet his eyes, as he did some minutes ago. His face was nearer, almost like that morning in Santaruz, yet she wanted to escape and to stay at the same time. He put his remaining hand around her hip, and the hand he had in her chin moved to her neck.

Her hands were trembling, as almost all her body, and a lone tear managed to escape from her rebel shining, emerald green eyes.

"Uth… Lor… Ma..a…r… please…", she tried to say, sort of begging mercy from him, but she couldn't exteriorize her fear: she was afraid she would be a mere flirt, and on the other hand, she couldn't be anything else but that, a youth infatuation, with much luck.

"I like you so much when you get nervous", he said, sweetly, trying to calm her. He was decided to do his own will, without any stranger's advice, at least once… But he wasn't that calm, either. He knew somebody could be watching them at that moment, and then he would have to cope with half scandalized Castle. However, he wasn't going to let go the chance to do his own will, for a small moment.

His face got nearer to hers, and somewhat, she lost part of her fear. Their breathing seemed to be the same, but she was still trembling. He pulled her face gently again (his hand was also shaking, she could tell that), and their lips were almost next to the other. Their eyes closed, and their lips together…

"Lord Uther!! Lord Uth…arghhhh!!!", Irving's voice broke the magical spell, even before they could even kiss each other.

They looked, annoyed and taken by sur´rise, in the direction Irving's voice came, just to see him standing still, looking at the sky. They also looked up, and they found Fiora, performing her critical hit (she was spinning her silver lance, so Alina knew she was about to do a critical) towards the chickened knight.

"Ahhh, idiot, take this!!!", she yelled, coming down the skies, striking her 'enemy'. However, Irving was a knight, a heavy armored knight, so her attack did no damage to him. Anyway, it took the soldiers and Hector a good time to separate her from the paralyzed knight, because she was eager to take revenge against that disgusting little man.

Meanwhile, Alina and Uther stood there, watching the whole bizarre scene, sort of ashamed by their little flirting… She placed her head in his chest, and he leaned his head on hers, trying to bury their feeling, while the others kept on fighting.

***

"So you were out for a walk, and you felt ok, uh?", Ashton asked the tactician, once they all got into the Castle again. Everyone except Fiora, who flew away in her falcion before the soldiers even thought in capturing her.

"Yes, I'm in perfect shape!", she exclaimed, cheerfully and radiant. They were already in her bedroom, Ashton and her. Uther would've liked to stay, but he had to cope with Irving first, who was now suffering of a small panic attack since he saw Fiora coming violently from the skies towards him.

"This means I can leave tomorrow, doesn't it?", she exclaimed overjoyed. Her wish was so near to come true…

"No", Ashton replied, coldly. "I first want to examine you for a last time, to see everything's alright. But the matter is that tomorrow I won't be here at the Castle, so you'll have to wait until the following day", the physician said, picking his things and opening the door, ready to leave.

"Ehhh…? W…wh…y?", Alina asked, shocked. She couldn't find the words to complain or to ask for a simple explanation.

"It's my daughter's birthday, and I'm staying the whole day with her", he said, from the door. "That's why I won't show up around here tomorrow".

"That's selfish!!", Alina protested. "You can come early in the morning! And who doesn't tell you that I want to get out of here as soon as possible to be with my family again, uh?", she asked, angrily.

"I won't change my mind. Good luck, Alina", he said, leaving the room, but he returned quickly, just to add, "You didn't want to tell them you were here, so I think they don't expect you, yet…"

He closed the door quickly, evading a flying cushion that was heading towards him, menacingly.

***

Night came, and it was bedtime. She hadn't talked to anyone but a maid since Ashton left. At heart, she knew nobody would come.

She got into her bed, and until she fall asleep, nobody knocked her door, and Alina couldn't tell if she was feeling well or not with that fact…

****

Hehe... some post-chapter insanity here…

Alina: Fiora, please, tell me! Why did you do that?

Fiora: What? That about Irving?

Alina: *nods* Yes! You attacked him with your Silver Lance!

Fiora: Well, first of all, you were so cute down there, together… and that idiot had to pop out and ruin everything! Then, because he's so disgusting, I hate him!! You should have seen him when he found my falcion, he almost wanted to take it with him. And then, finally, because I had to put the humor quote in this love sucking chapter!

Alina: *puzzled* Ah, thanks…

Fiora: Oh, come on, don't look at me like that, cheer up! I, Ilia's falconspy Fiora, am here!!

Alina: *astonished and ashamed* Seems that the adrenaline made a short circuit in her head and ruined her brain…

I borrowed "Juggdral" and "Nodion" from Fire Emblem 4, but now I'm not sure if it can coexist in the same world of this Fire Emblem (I had understood that Juggdral was another continent, but now I'm not sure =/)

Again, sorry for the length of this chapter! I hadn't expected to write that much! The remaining ones will be shorter (I hope), so stay around. I've decided to end this fic first, so I can move my free time typing to another work (which will be much longer) and focus in it completely.

Thanks for the reviews, again (blushes). Please, keep on telling me what do you think, especially about this last two chapters. And sorry for that cheap Lucius joke =S

Note: Thanks Evil Neptune for warning me about the "odd paragraph distribuition". Seems I've mistaken the file Ihad to upload with my Word copy. =/ At least, I could correct some little grammar and typing errors... and add thinkgs like this one =D
See you!