-Dark Flame-

(C) Fire Emblem

Original ideas copyrighted to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems

Fan Fiction by Becki

Haha, it's been a while since I've put any author's notes here ; I'm so pathetic, I've been reading a lot of romance fics lately and I'm not even into it Oo; (my writing reveals that, doesn't it?) Anyway, I've actually been having lots of fun with this fic I know my serious style of writing is killing all and any readers I have out there, it seems humor and romance is dominating ff.net. So um.. I'll try to say something humorous..

uh... moo?... ..... ....

Chapter Ten: Unexpected Raise

Amy raised a finger to her lip, looking at Haru behind her. Both girls were draped in dark clothing, covering her heads and shoulders. Roland seemed rather nervous when sending the girls into the palace to help Rath. Both girls did not even know what had happened.

Haru had stopped Amy when they had come through the last hall. She pointed to the portrait labeled 'Caelin' upon the frame.

"That's.. the Chieftain's wife!" She said with great surprise. Amy turned and looked at the picture, brow wrinkled. The lady didn't look very Sacaen..

"What..? That old picture? It's been here for as long as I can remember. I think it was someone the Marquess fancied long ago." She waved her hand in dismissal. "Never mind, we have to find Sir Rath.. I don't know what trouble he got himself into this time, and I'm not sure how we can fix it.." Haru nodded and gave one last look to the portrait.

His face was bruised and dirty. His eyes were narrow but unrevealing, frayed bangs fell into them messily. They had not released his arms, and were not hesitant to do any physical damage to him, despite the fact that he had been an appointed fighter under Marquess Araphen. Nor were they afraid to threaten him, swear at him and his enduring silence.

Rath peered up to see himself in the dining hall. There were a group of men sitting at the far end of the table, and at the very end was Marquess Araphen himself. The men turned up their heads to see the fiasco at the opposite end of the table, Rath and his fierce, determined face, and the group of soldiers with their weapons tightly binding him.

"What is the meaning of this?" The lord said, touching a scroll on the table. He looked up with a dark frown, and the two other men at the table looked up and matched his face.

"My lord." One of the men said, stepping forward. He bowed quickly, almost forgetting to, and then turned his grave face towards the lord. "Captain Aidan is dead."

"What?" The marquess said, clearly startled. "Impossible. He was as healthy as a horse this morning."

"Murdered."

"Pardon?" The lord's face turned from shocked to solemn. "Murdered?"

"This savage-" He jabbed a finger at Rath's ribs. "shot him sir." Rath made no movement nor protested. He held back a scowl at the way he had been titled, but knew better than to speak.

"I see." Marquess said with a surprising calm. "How many times?"

"How.. many times, sir?" The man said, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, yes, how many arrows did it take for him kill Captain Aidan?"

"Sir..?"

"Answer the question." The lord ordered, completely emotionless.

"Just.. once, sir. There was one arrow on him." He replied, confused. "But it is a serious crime to kill such a high ranking official. On your command, we will take his life for such an offense."

"Hm." The lord only breathed, standing up and turning away. One of the men sitting beside him looked completely outraged, and looked coldly at the Sacaen.

"This is a complete insult, my lord! We cannot let this plainsperson get away with such a slaughter!" He voiced his opinion quite bluntly, and the other man agreed.

"The minority will believe it a crack in our defenses. It is a deep shame that he had dared do this." Rath stared blankly at them, and Marquess turned back around, a finger curled at his chin.

"Yes. It is a terrible shame on Araphen's reputation." He turned and looked directly at the Sacaen, eyes bearing deep with an unknown emotion. "A terrible shame."

Rath's own face was completely expressionless and statue-like. The men paused, waiting for the Lord's command.

"It is.." The Lord continued. "my own misjudgment that has caused this. That I had overlooked the fact that my High Captain could be so easily defeated. It is a shameful blow to Araphen. Cut his bindings." He said suddenly. When the men did not do so immediately, only returning with blank, incredulous stares, he commanded it again. "Release him!"

Rath felt the tension around his wrists cut and fall from his hands. Instinctively, he raised his hands from behind his back, bringing them back to his sides, noting the red marks around his wrists. Marquess Araphen had meandered toward them with a quick smirk.

"Captain." These words had surprised them all as soon as they left his lips, including the nomad himself. "Your promotion has been short noticed, but you will be a finer replacement for Captain Aidan." He turned to the men, speaking to nobody specific in particular. "Tell Roland that Captain Rath's possessions will be moved into Aidan's old quarters." Stupefied, the man nodded and ran off.

"Now. I suspect that you must be weary." The Lord folded his hands behind himself, addressing Rath almost respectfully. "Get some rest, Captain. Now, I shall retreat into my own quarters." He waved a hand aside carelessly and left the room in an orderly fashion, followed behind by his guards.

How much more could things be twisted? Rath looked about at the still angry faces who had brought him here. They sneered at him, but Rath could see fear in their faces. Without a word, they all left the room. Rath was left alone in the dining hall, watching the two men who had sat at the tables with the Marquess in the beginning leave the hall.

"Sir Rath!" He didn't turn at the call of his name, but recognized the voice. From the east entrance, Amy and Haru made their way towards him, their cloaks trailing behind. He saw Amy first, she with her fiery locks turned to study his face.

"Ack! Your face is bruised all over!" She said. "What in Elibe happened to you? Why are you always getting into so much trouble?!" Amy looked up at him, and Rath released the tension in his face.

"...." He didn't bother to answer.

"Sheesh! You're so difficult! Grandpa was worrying for nothing, after all, Haru. Come on, let's go home!"

It could only be imagined the uproar the men had with this unexpected promotion. Rath almost expected to be attacked once in a while for his title, but realized that they feared him. But of course they did, they were completely terrified of Captain Aidan when he was alive, how could they stand up to his killer?

Roland found some amusement in the whole thing. He had laughed half an hour straight upon hearing the news, and swore that he was ten years younger (based upon that philosophy that laughing makes one younger again..). Amy and Haru didn't believe it at first, but then grew accustomed to it. Amy didn't take this as an excuse to treat him more kindly, but kept her continuous bossing and nagging. Haru, on the other hand, was more quiet towards him and seemed afraid to talk to him.

Rath hardly ever had any spare time. There was always some kind of problem arising, he had to oversee the training and so on. His responsibilities had grown about seventy percent. But he looked to them with a silent conduct and no protest.

The Sacaen was being hastily told every little thing about Araphen. The income and tourists every year, the places that were rough and had problems every so often. But most of the time, it was left for him to deal with each and every problem, he had to train himself. Roland constantly advised him and gave good comments and encouragement.

He rode out to the side of the castle, where someone was waiting.

"Captain." Breya the Head Paladin nodded to him, her voice a low alto. Her face was unsmiling as his, her short greenish hair tied back with a band. "I am to show you the hidden entry, correct?"

"Yes." Rath confirmed, still unused to his sudden title. Even her horse seemed to have the prissy air around him, the stallion had his head raised and eyes bright. The gray stallion snickered and tossed his head.

"As Head Captain you are required to look over both the offenses as well as the defenses. On rare occasion when Araphen should be under siege, the castle has a single entry for recapture or otherwise." She said, voice hard. Unlocking the door, she showed a long hall. It was wide enough for the horses to come inside, and the side was dotted with more doors.

She opened one of them and dismounted. Rath dismounted as well, following the paladin. She touched the side of the wall, knocking brisk knuckles against it.

"There are three switches in this area, all are guarded with locked doors. If there is enough weight each switch, the mechanism inside the castle will knock open this wall, which leads straight to the Marquess' chamber. Do you understand?"

Rath studied the wall, it seemed completely solid, but he knew better than to think otherwise. It was simple enough.

"I have no questions." He said, crossing his arms and looking away. "You are dismissed."

"Thank you, Captain." She said almost icily, remounting her horse and leaving the area. Rath turned around and closed the door, looking to his horse. The stallion snickered again and looked almost like he was rolling his eyes. Rath dared to hope that this switch would be unneeded in the future.

"Captain!" Rath raised his head, removing the last arrow from the target with deft fingers. It was just after his training hour, and the archery target was tattered with holes mainly at the center.

"What news do you bring?" He asked, frowning and tossing the arrow into his quiver. The soldier who had approached him rested his hands on his knees and began his ragged breathing.

"The west village at the side of Araphen is currently under attack of the Taviler bandits, they came below the mountains so quickly."

"...." Rath stood up straight, turning his head in the general western direction. "Now?"

"Yes, we must protect the civilians! What are your orders?"

"Send thirty units there immediately. I will report shortly to judge the situation." He said firmly. The soldier saluted and ran back from whence he came. Rath dropped his quiver of training arrows and took up his deadly ones. This was to be his first experience in battle as Head Captain. He could not blunder this.

A young woman, late in her second decade raised her eyes towards the mountains, her braid flipping in the fate-telling wind.

"Araphen?" Her voice said, and there were others around her.

"We must report to the village now." The man said turning to the mercenaries. "Who is willing to go under the command of Marquess Araphen's men?" She took up her bow and smiled gently.

"I will go." There were other volunteers, and the rest were to stay behind. Her fingers wandered to the edge of her bow, touching the side of her horse's mane. Today seemed like a fortunate day, she thought. It must be time.

Time to witness what fate would tell.

Hm ; Does anybody wonder what other things Becki plans to do to ruin Rath's life? Don't get me wrong, Rath's my favorite character! I just like.. being evil to everyone in my fics :D And it'll be a semi-happy ending, right? For those who are reading Madelyn's Choice, you probably already noticed all the little links with both of these fictions, right? Ha, I love doing that Sacaens rule!

Becki