Fire Emblem:
"A Guy, Some Girls and a Piece of Parchment"
&&&
Chapter 5: The Lady Suspects
In another part of the camp, Kent was storming back to his tent as best as he could, on his sore foot. The knight was grumbling under his breath... Although he had regretted hitting Sain on the head as soon as he had done it, he was still quite angry at his friend.
"Excuse me, Sir Kent..."
Kent turned around awkwardly, to find the stratagist of Lord Eliwood's army politely addressing him. The knight managed to rein in his temper.
"What can I do for you, Lady Tactician?" he asked respectfully. The young woman sighed, in reply.
"How many times have I told you, Kent? You don't need to address me by my title... I have a name, you know."
When the knight gazed at her quizzically, she sighed again. "Never mind," said the tactician, sounding a bit exasperated.
"Did you want to ask me about something, milady?" prompted Kent.
"Oh, yes..." she recalled. "I know you've been through a trying day, Kent," the tactician told him, "but I'm just curious... Lady Lyndis mentioned that you found my map, and I've been wondering why you never gave it to me..."
"What map?" asked Kent, without thinking. When the tactician shot him a hurt look, he recalled the excuse he gave Lady Lyndis for having Sain's scroll in his hand, earlier.
"Oh, that map...!" he amended hastily... Kent thought fast. "Um, I'm afraid I lost it, somewhere..." he confessed to her, hating himself for lying. The tactician looked resigned by this.
"Oh... That's okay," replied the young woman, sadly. She turned to leave, but then, looked back to address him again.
"Although... I must say I'm a bit disappointed in you, Kent," she told him frankly. "I'd expect that kind of behaviour from Sain, rather than you."
The knight bit his tongue at this. As the tactician bade him farewell, Kent found himself cursing Sain's name again...
&
"Um... Kent..."
At that voice, Kent spun around on his crutch, causing his addresser to flinch.
"Please don't hit me again," pleaded Sain. He indicated his now-bandaged head. "I just wanted to ask you something..."
Kent sighed. "I wasn't going to hit you again, Sain. I am still mad at you, however... So, you'd better make it quick." The knight folded his arms before him.
Sain fixed his friend with an unusually serious look. "I... I just wanted to know..." he began hesistantly, "The reason why you threw away the scroll I wrote for you."
"Threw it away?" asked Kent, in astonishment. "What makes you think I threw it away?"
"Kent... I'm holding it right here!" exclaimed Sain. He held up the rolled-up piece of parchment, in front of Kent's bewildered eyes.
"Wh... Where did you get that?" asked the knight.
"Lucius found it," replied his fellow cavelier coldly. "Apparently, the wind blew it in his face... As if someone just tossed it aside." A hurt look then spread across Sain's features.
"Kent..." he began, in a sad voice, "I thought we were friends; I thought I was helping you out, by giving you my advice on women... But if you thought that it was all just garbage, then the least you could do is tell it to my face."
With a look of disappointment, Sain turned his back on his fellow knight, and began to walk away.
"You've got it all wrong, Sain!" Kent protested. He started to run after his friend, tripped on his bad foot, yet continued on... After limping forward a bit, he finally managed to catch up to Sain, then stared him directly in the eyes.
"Sain, I swear... I didn't throw away your scroll," he told his friend firmly. "I gave it to... To someone else," he amended hastily, wanting to protect Guy's identity. "It seems they wanted advice on women, as well... They were so... Enthusiastic about it, that I decided to let him have it."
When the other cavelier gave him a skeptical look, Kent placed a hand over his heart. "I swear that I speak the truth, Sain... On my honour as a knight of Caelin."
Sain continued to stare at Kent, for the longest time... Then, he broke into a wide grin.
"Aw, I should've known you didn't throw my scroll away," said the cavelier, his good nature restored. "I'm sorry I doubted you, pal..."
"And I'm sorry about hitting you on the head with my crutch, earlier," added Kent, sheepishly. "What with the injury and all, I guess I just lost my temper..."
"That's okay," replied Sain cheerfully. He placed a companionable arm around his friend's shoulders... Suddenly, he placed Kent's head in a headlock, and ruffled his red hair affectionately.
"Sain! Do you mind?" protested Kent. "My foot still hurts, you know..."
"Oops, sorry, Kent!" apologized Sain, releasing his friend. "I kind of forgotten about that..."
Sain helped his fellow cavelier to stand up, then began to hand him the roll of parchment.
"I guess I should give this back to you, huh?" he asked.
Kent made to take the scroll from Sain, then paused.
"That's okay... I don't need it anymore," the knight told his friend frankly, offering him a rare smile. "I have you to advise on matters of the heart." As Sain grinned back, a thought then occurred to Kent.
"What I don't understand is, how did Lucius end up with your scroll, anyways...?" he said aloud, his brow furrowing. "I never gave it to him, I gave it to--"
"Kent! Sain! There you are!" called out a familliar voice.
"Eeep!" gasped Sain, hiding the scroll behind his back. Kent tried to compose himself as well, as Lady Lyndis walked up to the two caveliers, a stern look upon her face.
"Look, you two..." she told them, eyeing both of the knights as they began to sweat. "I want to know why you guys were chasing and yelling at each other across the camp, earlier... That sort of thing doesn't help this army's morale, you know."
"Lady Lyndis..." began Kent uncertainly, "I swear to you, the altercation between Sain and I has been resolved."
"Really!" added Sain, as Lyn gave the two a disbelieving look. To prove his point, he placed a friendly arm around Kent's shoulder. "See? Best buddies, again, right Kent?"
"Er... Right!"
As the two caveliers grinned nervously at her, Lyn stared at both of them in turn, with a skeptical expression on her face... The expression changed to one of recognition, when she noticed something else.
"Say... What's that parchment in your hand, Sain?" asked Lyn curiously, pointing to the hand currently dangling from Kent's shoulder. As Sain glanced at it guiltily, she added, "Isn't that the map you were supposed to give the tactician?"
"Er..." began the cavelier, who glanced at Kent for advice... His friend shrugged helplessly.
"You must be mistaken, milady," Sain told her, shoving the scroll behind his back again, hurriedly.
"No, I'm certain that's the same one," said Lady Lyndis, firmly. "Let me see that roll of parchment, Sain."
When he hesistated, Kent sighed to his fellow knight, "You'd better just give it to her, Sain..."
Reluctantly, Sain handed her the scroll... Lyn promptly unrolled the parchment, and glanced down at it.
"Wait a minute..." she said slowly, as she began to read. "This isn't a map...! It's... It's..." Kent watched the change of his liege lord's expression, nervously.
"Maybe I should take that back, milady," he started to tell her. "That really isn't the sort of thing a lady like yourself should be reading..."
The knight reached out for the scroll hastily, but Lyn just avoided his grasp... She then gazed fixedly at each of the knights, in turn.
"You mean... You..." she began, pointing to Sain, "Wrote this scroll for him...?" She pointed to Kent.
Figuring he had nothing left to lose, Sain nodded. Lyn then turned to Kent.
"So... This is the reason why you told me this parchment was a map... Why you climbed up a tree... Why you were chasing Sain around the compound...?"
When Kent also nodded mutely, Lyn turned her back on the two caveliers for a moment... At this, Kent immediately felt guilty, and tried to explain himself.
"Lady Lyndis... I'm sorry about the things I did..." he told her, miserably. He tentatively patted her silently shaking shoulders, in a reassuring fashion. "I swear, it won't happen again..." Then the knight trailed off, as a suspiciously unladylike snort came from Lyn.
"Lady Lyndis... Are you... Laughing at us?" asked Kent, weakly.
At this, Lyn finally turned around, revealing the smothered laughter she had been trying to hide.
"I'm sorry, Kent..." she said to the hurt-looking knight, and tried not to chuckle. "But the thought of you recieving romantic advice from Sain is... Is..." She broke into a fresh peal of laughter.
"Hey!" cried out Sain, in protest.
"I'm so sorry, Sain..." said Lyn apologetically, finally managing to compose herself... She then wiped tears of mirth from her eyes.
"Well, this sure does explain what's been going on, today," she added, then glanced down at the scroll in her hand. "Although... The poor tactician never did get her map..."
Kent's eyes widened. "You don't mean to actually give that to her, do you, Lady Lyndis?" he asked, absolutely mortified at the thought. Lyn shook her head, reassuringly.
"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," Lyn said, though her eyes sparkled with amusement. She then offered the scroll to the knight. "By the way, Kent... Do you need this back?"
Kent blushed. "Uh... Not really..." he stammered. "But I would like to ask you a favour, milady... Perferrably in private." He shot Sain a significant look, and his friend took the hint.
"Oh, sure! I'll just... Walk over here for a bit, shall I...?" Sain said, winking, causing Kent to flush even more. Once the knight was certain Sain was out of earshot, he addressed the curious Lyn, in a low voice.
"Um... Lady Lyndis... I don't suppose... You could give this to Guy for me...?" asked Kent uncertainly, tapping the roll of parchment she held. "I gave it to him earlier, but he must've dropped it, by accident..."
When Lyn gave him a questioning look, he added hastily, "I'd ask Sain do it, but I think he's already puffed up with pride at the thought of anyone else wanting his advice; he'd never leave the poor boy alone, if he knew who it was..."
"You've got a point," remarked Lyn wryly. "Sure, I'd be happy to give the scroll to Guy."
"Thank you, milady," answered the knight gratefully.
Lyn looked like she was about to leave, when she turned back for a moment.
"You know, Kent... You don't really need advice on love," she began slowly. "Just tell the person you like how you feel about them, okay?" Lyn gave him a gentle smile, then turned and walked away... Leaving Kent to stare after her.
"Just tell them how I feel..." repeated Kent softly, under his breath. "Perhaps there's hope for us yet, milady..." he murmured.
Then the knight smiled quietly to himself, and walked back towards Sain.
&
TO BE CONTINUED...
&&&&&
Notes: This is by far the longest chapter in the whole story, but I couldn't figure out a good way of dividing it up... (And I think I split up some of the other chapters in a weird way, as well...)
