A/N I'm really sorry this next chapter is so late, I've had a hectic few days with not much time to write very much, and my computer just decided to lose half of my work, so I've had to write it all again (cry)

Naril Narbaleth – I was hoping someone would ask actually… Lemuel is from the bible, he's a king with a passage in proverbs "Stay away from the things that destroy men, women, drink and fools. (prov. 31:1-9)" I basically just wanted an Eliwood-ish character without having to flesh him out much. And don't worry, I know Dragon Whiskey IRL, he'd kill me if I didn't finish this thing. ;)

AmbieChan – Actually Raven doesn't really have a part in this story, (Sorry Raven fans) so Lucius/Raven isn't going to happen. Thank you for your review, you're too kind. :)

Bomber the Scoto Fox – It's his Guiding ring, without it he's not a bishop anymore… I didn't really make that clear, sorry. there should be more on it later chapters

Dragon Whiskey – Mmm, I know you always tell me I'm a good writer Sherry. :P Just be glad I'm getting the spirit of writing back lol. No, Lemuel and Raul are my own Characters… they belong to me! Not Nintendo! HAHAHA! Keep harassing me about this story… even if I get annoyed.

Beagle – Yeah, this is it, first fanfic, I was thinking about the plot for a while and finally started putting it to paper

FIREmblemFAN – Thankee! I'll keep writing.

Chapter 3: Friends

A friend in need is a friend indeed.

Lemuel cracked the door open slightly, peeking in and seeing Lucius peacefully asleep. Smiling to himself, he turned to the children and put his finger to his lips, hushing them to perfect silence. The children's faces were painted in eager anticipation, some biting their lower lips, shifting from foot to foot. They couldn't wait to see the look on their ailing patron's face. Lemuel entered the room, and one by one the children followed. Surrounding Lucius' bed, Lemuel bent to gently shake him.

Lucius' groggy head turned softly, and met Lemuel's eyes. Lucius slowly sat up, and blinked sleep from his eyes, "L-little Lemuel… do my eyes deceive me?"

Lemuel beamed broadly and shook his head, "No Lucius, I'm really here… come to the dining room, we have something to show you."

"Oh saint Elimine… you're safe… thank you." Lucius smiled and closed his eyes, Lemuel still trying to tug him out of bed.

"Come on brother Lucius!" little Tracy piped up, "We've got a big surprise for you!"

"Hm?" Lucius looked over at Tracy, stretching slowly and still feeling a little dizzy, "Oh… alright… I'm coming…" he smiled warmly at all the children, dimly wondering what it all could be.

Lucius was lead down the hall slowly, his stomach rumbling so hard that the children giggled when they heard it. Entering the dining room, Lucius' mouth dropped and he stopped, putting his hand on the wall to steady himself, the children rushed ahead of him and pulled on his sleeves, beckoning him closer and closer to the table. They sat him down at the head and his mouth went dry for words. He saw pancakes stacked a mile high, piping hot and swimming in maple syrup with butter squares melting around it, toast thick and golden brown, dappled with butter and jam of at least five flavours, bacon rashes, crispy and dripping with oil, their aroma filling the air. To his left was a bowl bigger than his head, filled to overflowing with scrambled eggs, peppered lightly. There were bananas, sliced tomatoes, tossed salads, avocadoes and five pitchers of different flavoured juices.

Lemuel was standing behind him, grinning broadly, Lucius was almost stuck for words, "Ah… children, Lemuel, where on earth did all this food come from?" he turned his head to look at the young prince.

Lemuel beamed, "Well I heard the children were planning on making you a king's breakfast to help you get better… so I decided to help."

A little boy called Chris piped up, "You should've seen the look on the chef's face when we walked into the royal kitchen!" the children giggled with the memory.

Lemuel chuckled, "Yeah… my chefs in the kitchen provided the food for us, it was the children who cooked everything though, with a bit of guidance."

Lucius' smile went broader and broader, "Children, you've all done so much, thank you…" He closed his eyes, taking the children's hands, they followed suit, linking hands with eachother, Lemuel sat next to Raul and joined in the circle, "We bless this food in the light of Elimine, that it might continue to shine down upon us, that we might live fuller and richer lives." They opened their eyes and Lucius looked around, thanking each of them with his smile, "Please… eat…" he said. The minute he said that, hands darted across the table, passing and taking with lightning speed. The children giggled and talked merrily as they all began to eat their fill. Some of the children tried (unsuccessfully) to eat more than Raul as a game, none of them had ever seen so much food, normally Lucius was able to bring home enough for them to live on, but little more. Lucius should have disciplined a couple of the boys for their table manners, but he was far too happy to finally be eating real food.

Later, after the extravagant meal was over, they disposed of the leftovers. Lucius was at a loss how to dispose of them, since they'd never had leftovers before, but they managed, leaving it to the wildlife. Sated, Lucius felt like a new man, his illness almost forgotten amongst all the happy eating and talking. Their food cleaned from the table, Lucius retired to his room for some needed bed rest and the children went about their chores and studies, playing games in between. Lemuel and Raul went back to the castle to announce themselves to his father.
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Fathers and sonslay oft divided

Marquess Araphen was in his study, small spectacles on his nose as he read his book. A small knock on the door roused his attention and he scrunched his nose disapprovingly, "I said no visitors!" he said in his slightly nasal voice.

"It's me." A dark voice responded from behind the door.

The marquess was slightly startled as his heart beat faster, hurrying over to the door, he opened it and ushered in the dark hooded figure, "What are you doing here!" the marquess scolded harshly, "You know Lemuel is due back any moment."

"I am aware… but my masters are wanting a progress report…"

The marquess scowled cruelly, and reported, "Everything's going according to plan… he's on his last leg."

The dark hooded figure remained silent for a few moments, his eyes narrowing under the dark hood, "You've been saying that for months… my masters want more information…"

There was a noise outside and quickly the dark figure vanished from view, right before the marquess' eyes. Suddenly, the young blonde youth appeared in the doorway, striding in, "Father! It's been too long." Lemuel smiled broadly and the marquess managed a weak smile back, sitting down to regain his thoughts after the dark man's visit.

"Is something amiss?" Lemuel asked, his smile slowly fading to a look of concern.

The marquess shook his head dismissively; "Oh no it's nothing… so your studies are finished now…? Why didn't you announce yourself to me earlier, my retainer said you've been in the castle for hours." He narrowed his eyes crossly, the marquess had always been suspicious of everyone after Madelyn… even his own son.

"Ah…" Lemuel looked at the ground, "W-well when I walked into town… I-I heard that the patron of the orphanage-"

"What!" The marquess snapped, "What about him! It is the duty of any lord travelling to announce himself to it's marquess! Furthermore I am your father, you should always announce your activities to me as a future duke of this statebefore you go gallavanting about! Personal trifles like that do not come before your duties! Furthermore I didn't approve of you playing with those orphan whelps and that bishop Lucius then and I still don't now! You are the son of a duke, start behaving like one!"

The lecture hadn't changed a word after all these years, Lemuel had heard it hundreds of times, "But father, Lucius was sick."

"So what, it's none of your business…" a thought struck him, surely the dark hooded man was watching them, maybe his son had more information than he, "But tell me… how sick was he…?"

"F-father?" Lemuel was confused.

The marquess sighed, "If Lucius is too sick to look after those kids then I'll have to seize that pathetic little orphanage, already he's neck deep in debt, the bank should've foreclosed his orphanage years ago."

"I-I'm sure he's fit enough to care for the children father… why, after we fed him breakfast he looked like a new man…"

The marquess scowled, "What do you mean… fed him breakfast…"

Lemuel almost bit his tongue and his face flushed, "Ah… w-well the children planned to feed him breakfast to help him feel better, I brought them to the castle kitchen and…"

"And you stole food for him like a street urchin!?!" The marquess was fuming, "Get out of my sight, I'll think of how to punish you later…"

Lemuel bowed stiffly and left, the marquess turned and sighed, Lemuel shut the door behind himself. "This news will not please my masters…" the dark robed figure returned.

The marquess closed his eyes, rubbing his temples slowly, sighing to himself, "Well what do you want me to do… Lucius is the highest taxed man in my duchy, I've raised his interest rates exponentially, by all accounts he should be bankrupt… it's a miracle he can still balance his books…"

"Miracle or no… we're taking this matter into our own hands, try to get him out of the duchy if you can… even though you failed at ruining him… you'll be rewarded for your cooperation…" The dark hooded man disappeared into the shadows, the marquess grumbled to himself unhappily, "Failed… pah." Looking over, he saw a money pouch sitting on his reading desk, opening it, he found at least two thousand gold, "Hm, they promised a much larger sum originally… I guess it's good enough…"

Lemuel's hands were trembling slightly, he loved his father and wanted to please him, he thought caring for a sick man was a good lordly thing to do… at least that's what his teachers in Ostia taught. Raul was walking along casually, he'd gotten used to the drab walls of castle Ostia, compared to that the walls of castle Araphen were lavishly decorated. He was busy admiring the art when Lemuel nearly ran over him, "Wha-hey! Lemuel!" He smiled, catching his friend's attention.

Lemuel whipped around, startled, "Oh… Raul…" he managed a dim smile.

"What's the matter?" Raul asked, smiling kindly as Lemuel looked away, unable to meet his gaze.

"Ah... nothing, just my father, you know we've never seen eye to eye…"

"Mmm," Raul chuckled, "I wonder how he'll take the news that your loyal knight, friend and retainer was once an orphan eh?"

Lemuel chuckled softly, "Come on, I've something I must see…"

A week passed without much event, Lucius recovered from his illness slowly, one of Lemuel's servants managed to sneak out of the castle on a regular basis to give Lucius and the children food. During this time, Lemuel and Raul looked over Lucius' account books, scanning over the past ten years, seeing how he sank so deep in debt. Lemuel plotted and planned how to help his friend without anybody knowing, Lucius owed quite a large sum, more than the prince could afford unless he dug into the royal coffers. He also couldn't make an official decree without going over his father's head. Tired and frustrated, Lemuel retired to his room.
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Sometimes when all hope is lost, fate will intervene...

In the dark of his room, Lemuel was just drifting off to sleep when he heard his floorboards creaking softly. Lemuel opened his eyes, he was sure he'd heard it, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a dark shadow whip across the light coming from his window, someone was in his room! Rousing quickly, Lemuel sat up on the side of his bed and moved to turn on his lamp. His hand was stopped suddenly and another hand clasped over his mouth. "Shh, young lordling, I'm not here to harm you, I wish to talk business." The hand from his mouth was moved suddenly, and Lemuel felt something pressing against his back, something sharp, "I wouldn't yell for help if I were you…" the voice said darkly.

Lemuel nodded in compliance, his heart racing with fear as he collected his thoughts, "Alright… who are you… what do you want of me?"

The voice chuckled, but it sort of a light, cheerful chuckle, not dark and malicious like he was expecting, "Ah… well you see, I am quite skilled at… gathering information… as it were. I'm sorry for pressing my knife against your back young lord, but it would not do well for my health if I were discovered in your room at this time of night."

Lemuel nodded slowly, "I understand… but I must wonder who you are and why you feel it's proper that we speak."

"Well I don't feel that you'll be talking of this to anybody else…" The sharp point pressed against his back and Lemuel swallowed hard, trembling a little, "I am Matthew…"

"Ah… M-Matthew the famous spy of Ostia?"

Matthew chuckled, "Yes I suppose, though I disdain fame, for a person in my position, being well known is a bit of a setback…"

"What business does Ostia have with me?" Lemuel whispered, smiling softly, Matthew wasn't known for killing people, which set his mind well at ease, it was also kind of thrilling to have such a famous man interested in talking with him (even though he was still a bit anxious about being at knife-point).

Matthew chuckled, seeing the young lordling relaxing slowly, "Actually it's more personal business this time, Ostia has nothing to do with this… I'm sure you know I'm quite skilled at gathering information if you will, my profession calls for it… and I've recently acquired some quite interesting facts from a few of your more talkative servants…" he paused, phrasing his words carefully, "I have a friend, who is a patron of a certain orphanage I'm sure you're familiar with…"

"Ah… Lucius?"

Matthew chuckled good-naturedly, "Naturally… now, I'm sure you're aware that he's in a bit of a spot with his finances… I've been helping him balance his books over the past few weeks with my… err… skills in such areas but I won't be able to keep this up for much longer."

There was a small pregnant silence, questions filling Lemuel's mind, looking over Lucius' books and debts with Raul had raised a lot of questions, somehow Lucius had been raising a thousand dollars in a week without having a fundraiser or accepting any donations. Was Matthew stealing for Lucius? Did Lucius even know he was being helped? Lemuel bit his lower lip and asked the biggest question on his mind, "Why not?"

Matthew sighed softly, "Well because, frankly, and I mean no disrespect, your father has it in for the poor fellow…"

Lemuel blinked, furrowing his brow in confusion, "W-What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that poor Lucius is impoverished because almost all of his earning go to the tax-man and the rest is used to maintain his orphanage, in truth, I've been the one paying off his debts for the past six months and getting nowhere because his interest rates are higher than the clouds of heaven."

Lemuel mulled over these words for a few moments, it was true his father could raise the banks interest rates for a criminal individual or somebody who owed the state money, and taxes could be raised individually for the same reason. But Lucius had never borrowed from Araphen state and the treasurer assured him that their only debtor they had was in fact the Marquess of Thria, and it was a trivial amount. He knew his father grew angry whenever he played with the orphans… but to go so far as to ruin him. There had to be a reason for it, there was no way his father would go so far.

Matthew roused him from his thoughts; "Anyway, my method of gathering funds for our friends Lucius is a little slow, I was hoping you could help me."

Lemuel was still struggling with his morals, a growing knot of indecision welling up in his stomach, "Ah… I don't have access to Araphen's treasury… and I can't go over my father's head to lower his taxes and rates…"

Mathew's light-hearted chuckle was infectious, assuring the young lord the spy had it all worked out, "Ah… my young lord, I don't need you to do such things that will compromise your position as the future duke of Araphen. I just happened across the information that it is one of the castle guard's birthday, and he happens to be guarding the treasury on the graveyard shift on that day, a cup of wine with some sleeping herbs would do, since it's his birthday he deserves something special from the young prince I feel. Once he's asleep I'll tie him up so it seems he was overpowered and gain entrance to the treasury, taking only what I need, I'll steal off into the night."

"But how will you enter the castle?"

Matthew chuckled, "Who said I was leaving? I have an ally and a room to sleep in right here… I've been trying to get in here for six days young lord, and I've been planning this for months. I compliment this castle's security really, took me a whole month to work out how to crack it. Still not as good as Ostia, but you should feel very safe in here…"

Lemuel smiled, "I do if it was such work for the most famous spy in Ostia."

Matthew smirked, "So you're in? I'll only take what I need to clear all his debts, I'll launder the money with a merchant friend of mine, since I'm sure Araphen marks it's money like any other duchy, and it'll go straight to the banks to clear Lucius of debt once and for all."

Lemuel stayed silent for a few moments, taking everything in. He was searching his heart for the right thing to do; on the one hand he loved his father, and really didn't want to go over the top of him like that. On the other hand, with the castle already in the regular habit of providing food for Lucius and the children, and the enigmatic spy Matthew about to pay off all his debts, Lucius would be able to care for all the children in comfort, without worry. His father would be furious, but he was already furious with his father, how could he see fit to ruin Lucius like that… to impoverish him and leave him to die in destitution. Lucius cared for over a dozen young children, dedicating his life to them and raising them with all the comforts that he could provide. Looking at his books Lemuel saw he always diligently paid his taxes, no matter how unfair they were, he was no criminal, evil had never tainted his heart… "I'm in…" was all Lemuel could say.