Une Fleuraison Constante
(A Constant Blossoming)

By Tenshi no Ai

All French translations by Hawk of Death

I don't own the characters and locations in the game that are presented in this work, Square Enix does.

Chapter Four: Dead Knights I (part the humiliation)

Dorter was a jewel of a town--no mere village was this one--that sat comfortably along the southern coast of Ivalice. Less than an hour away was the venerated Orbonne Monastery; as such, the town was very well known to those priests from Murond who wanted to visit the hallowed abbey. The town prospered because of this, for no resting point of those holy men should be a tiny dirt clod in the splendor that was Ivalice! Cobblestone walkways led to the many fine eateries and shops the place had to offer, and a good-sized church--the true indicator of the wealth of any habitable area--stood at the northern end of the town. Due to Dorter's size, there were two sections of the town layout solely for houses; the nobles lived in the west end, the commoners in the east. There was some contention between the two sections because of the construed and sometimes imagined problems, usually over some petty zoning issue or another than wouldn't affect most of the other villages for decades to come. There was one such issue that had been nagging at the nobles for some time now, but it was a case they knew to keep their collective mouths closed about.

After all, if Lady Sarai Beoulve wanted to live in the...east end...then may the Lord protect her.

The widow lived in a cozy, plain house near a strip of culinary-based shops. In its own way, her house was a shop with one buyable commodity: the good lady's formidable healing abilities. She was a well known white mage during her youth, though she was not affiliated with the Glabados Order. Her absence from her home town during her marriage had been deeply felt, and though the townspeople could not, in good faith, celebrate why she had returned to them, they appreciated that she had even returned at all. Many of the nobles of Dorter believed that she should've stayed at the castle, in order to prove her worth as the second wife of the late Balbanes Beoulve, for there was controversy in the reason why such an esteemed man would've picked a woman of her humble background.

None of that mattered to Sarai herself. A friendly, pretty woman renowned for her good cheer, she was unusually close-lipped as to the exact reason she had left the castle. Considering that she was still in the mourning stage, even though more than a year had passed since she was made a widow, no one was willing to pry too deeply either. She at least had reasons to keep going, no matter where she was, and one of them was sitting before her at the present moment.

"Mother, thank you for breakfast. You did not have to prepare so much, though..." said Ramza, who was desperately trying not to lean back in his chair after such a satisfying feast. That would be considered slovenly, disrespectful behavior back at the castle, even though his mother hardly cared.

Sarai merely smiled as she took a sip of her patented raspberry tea. "After hearing about your and Delita's desperate struggle through the wilderness to get here, it was the least your mother could do." She aimed her smile at Delita, who was scooping up the last of the meal into his mouth. "Delita, do you not think that this would be a mother's wish, to make sure that her children are not terribly traumatized by their mistakes?"

Hurriedly swallowing, the brunet nodded, saying, "Ramza was the one who forgot the rations, at any rate."

"It was both of our faults!" Ramza retorted, indignant at his friend's selective memory. He turned to his mother, saying in a more subdued tone, "Anyway, if it were not for the fact that I had remembered your lessons on the appropriate herbage to eat, we would not have gotten to Dorter with both chocobos intact."

"I am happy to hear that," she smiled widely, an evolved form of her daughter's sunny grin. Alma resembled her mother, particularly with how her smiles could transform her girlishly pretty features into something resembling pure beauty, but Sarai's hair was the same golden hue as Ramza's. In this way mother and children were connected, for Sarai looked too young to appropriately be the elder Beoulve siblings' mother, especially since she was just a few years older than Dycedarg. "Particularly since you had never been inclined to such mundane interests. You always used to say, 'I want to be a great hero, like Father!'" she giggled while her son blushed and Delita smiled.

"Well, I..." Ramza stared at his plate, then smiled and said, "I suppose it was a little funny, looking at it now..."

"Not at all! I am proud to have such ambitious children," Sarai grinned. "And look, Zalbag trusts you two enough to go to Orbonne alone. Considering how he worries, this is a splendid portent."

Ramza's smile faltered at his mother's words as he remembered his own initial feelings on the mission he was currently on. Out loud he said, "Zalbag has always been open to letting a person prove their worth," but inside he worried. He had not told a lie; the second Beoulve sibling was fairly open-minded. But, Zalbag would've at least had the forethought to send a few soldiers with them, just in case...

Next to the fretting young man, Delita narrowed his eyes as he watched Ramza go into deep thought. It was unusual for the blond to do this in anyone's company, let alone while with the mother the young Beoulve was separated from. Tilting his head towards Ramza, he whispered, "Are you okay?"

Ramza shook his head once before he sheepishly grinned. "Sorry," he whispered back before standing from his seat and addressing his mother with, "I'm sorry Mother, but Delita and I really should be on our way. Thank you for breakfast."

"Oh...of course," Sarai replied, her words tinged with disappointment. "Well, if you are able, please bring Alma and Teta here. The priests in Orbonne were most adamant that no one could visit the acolytes, not even a relative," she ended, her face betraying the annoyance she had felt.

"I am sure that Teta would love to. She has always thought fondly of you," Delita said, inwardly pleased when the woman's eyes lightened at his words. After the death of their parents and their subsequent arrival at the castle, the Hyral siblings were treated like the natural children of Lady Beoulve. Because of this unbiased kindness, it was so easy to become close friends with her true children, especially considering the reaction from the other families of Gallionne.

"Teta is such a dear," Sarai murmured before turning to her son. "Ramza, you would do well to obtain two more chocobos from the renting stables. Just mention my name and the fee will be waived, I assure you."

Ramza nodded. "Thank you, Mother," he responded. "We will try to come by in time for dinner."

The widow watched as her son and his best friend left her small house, a small smile on her face as she waved goodbye. The smile left the same time they had, leaving behind a woman with worry etched on her face. Quietly she locked the door, hoping that no one would come by in need of healing, and returned to her small kitchen to pour another cup of tea. She took a sip and frowned at the dishes still left on her dining table. The boys had eaten well, their plates wiped clean in their hunger. They had been ravenous when they had arrived at her house earlier that morning, but that hadn't worried her.

"Zalbag," she whispered, "you are not usually this reckless. You, of all people, should know what has been happening down here..."

-0-

The ride to Orbonne Monastery was quick, punctuated by a lack of conversation between the friends. Only the sounds of their chocobos--now four in number--as they steadily walked the distance between Dorter and the mystical abbey was heard at all. Yet, the silence was not uncomfortable. The two young men had talked and squabbled, conversed and sympathized almost constantly since they had left the castle; surely if there was going to be any quiet between them it would be now, just before they saw their sisters again and the endless babble would bubble up once more.

Bits of gray could be seen past a small grove, the trees seemingly shielding much of the monastery. It seemed that, as soon as the cadets glimpsed the place, they were right in front of it, blinking at how much grander it seemed when they could admire it up close. Although it was odd to both friends that they could come up to the place so quickly when just a moment ago it seemed as though a dark dot on the horizon, they did not vocalize their confusion. With a place like Orbonne, it was best to accept their good fortune and move on.

The doors into the monastery proper creaked open and a man, dressed in the elaborate robes of a priest with high rank, walked up to the stone steps that separated him from the cadets and peered down at them. "Please state your business," he requested in an unusually soft voice. That, matched with a face touched with gentle femininity, served to confuse his gender, though his crisp blond hair was very short.

"Uh...we have come here to take Alma Beoulve and Teta Hyral back to the castle," Ramza said. The priest bowed at this.

"Very well. Please remain here in the meanwhile." With those words, he entered the abbey, shutting the door before either of the young men could glimpse at the secrets held inside.

Delita turned to Ramza as they walked up the stairs, his expression contrite. "Maybe we should have brought Teta her birthday presents after all."

"Why do you say that?"

"I...well, it does not seem right to be empty-handed at a moment like this."

Ramza merely smiled. There was not a brother so devoted to his younger sibling than Delita.

"Brother Ramza?"

He turned his attention from Delita back to the door, where his younger sister now stood with wide eyes and hands covering her open mouth. Though not a delicate beauty, when she began to smile it seemed as though the sun itself was beaming in pure joy. Over a year had passed by, and yet neither of them could detect any changes about the other that showed that the full scope of seasons had really passed. All Ramza could do was reflect the cheerful smile his sister had, and with the similarity beheld in their faces it appeared as though they were both looking at a mirror.

A squeal broke through the moment, and the Beoulve siblings looked over the same instant Teta flung herself into her brother's arms, her laughter muffled against his chest as he picked her up and whirled her around in a dazed arc. There was not a trace of gloominess in her features, only a desperate sort of happiness that seemed brighter than even Alma's natural smile. This dazzling wonder touched off something in the others, and soon they were huddled in a small group, happily chattering as if they had never been separated.

A hesitant step towards them was their only warning before a voice broke through their festivities. "E-excuse me..."

Everyone turned towards the door, and the smiles that seemed to be permanent fixtures on Ramza and Delita's faces immediately dropped in favor for expressions of near awe. They did not know who the beautiful girl at the entrance to the monastery was, only that she, with her golden hair falling over the shoulders of her white gown, was unlike any creature they had ever seen in their lives. A woman, easily older than the rest of them, moved so that she was in front of this wondrous sight. Ramza could've sworn that he heard Delita sigh in disappointment at this.

"Excuse me," the woman in the uniform of one of the royal knights asked with a measure of cordiality, "are you two the scouts for the royal delegation?"

"N-no, Lady Agrias, these are our brothers," Alma corrected. Behind her, a look was shared between the young men. 'Royal delegation?' they seemed to ask each other.

A look of annoyance crossed the lady knight's face like a flash of dark lightning. "Is that so? I see," she murmured. Her dark eyes flashed over each individual in front of her until they settled upon a confused looking Ramza. "Then, you are Ramza Beoulve, correct? Would you happen to know if either of your brothers have said anything about the deployment of royal knights to this place?"

Ramza did not normally like being singled out for anything, especially when it came to his brothers. He had dealt with enough of that over the years. "No, there was no talk of that. Only Delita and I have been deployed, and that is on behalf of the Hokuten," he answered, not liking the dark look in the woman's eyes. He dared not ask her why, not with that look.

"One last question. How is it that only two cadets have been deployed, at a time when the Death Knights have known to be active?"

All of the doubts Ramza held about the safety of the mission caused him to stay his tongue. Delita noticed this and covered the question, saying, "It was revealed to us by Sir Zalbag Beoulve that the Death Knights are not active at this time."

The woman and her charge looked taken aback at the news. "If that is so, then why has the escort not arrived yet...?" the girl in white asked, her voice soft and her brows creased as she came forward and stood by the knight.

"I do not mean to pry," Ramza started, "but what is all this talk of a royal escort?"

The girl looked startled by the question, then her cheeks reddened in embarrassment. "Forgive my lack of manners," she said, chagrinned by her rudeness, "I am Princess Ovelia Atkascha, and this," she gestured to the woman beside her, "is Lady Agrias Oaks, my bodyguard."

Practically stumbling over themselves in their haste, Ramza and Delita knelt, their heads bowed in the respectful manner demanded by the rules of chivalry regarding the royal family. Alma and Teta looked at each other over their brothers' prostrate bodies, then over at the princess and her guard. There was something sad reflecting in Ovelia's eyes before she bowed her head. "Please stand," she beseeched of them, "I wish to ask a favor of you."

Ramza rose first, his eyes gentle as he smiled at her. "Princess, we would be more than honored to fulfill any request you would entrust upon us."

"Thank you," Ovelia nodded. "I would like to travel with you to the castle."

The reaction was immediate, as shared looks of worry were passed around like ale at a holiday feast. "It...it is not in my place to say this," Delita started, a measure of anxiety along his normally calm features, "but would it not be more prudent to, ah, wait for the royal escort to arrive?"

Ovelia's eyes were soft as she looked at the man who had questioned her. "That may be so, but I have already been here for such a long time, and I would not want to worry Father Simon any further," she responded, adding, "Since you have reported that the Death Knights are no longer a worry of at least the Hokuten commander, then it should be alright."

"Princess..." Agrias started from her position beside the girl, but Ovelia merely shook her head.

"Agrias, please get everything prepared for our departure. I will tell Father Simon myself." At this order, the Holy Knight bowed her head and stepped back, waiting for the girl to enter the monastery before departing from her charge. The golden-haired princess paused before doing so, however, in favor of holding her gaze with the group before her. "Forgive my rudeness," she implored of them, "but it is of dire importance that I return to the castle."

Ramza nodded, replying with, "We understand. We will endeavor to make sure you are safely returned to your home." With that said, the princess departed, her loyal guard following closely behind.

"That is a surprise," Alma sighed, "I did not think she wanted to return that badly." Ramza looked at his sister.

"Should you not be getting ready to leave? With this development, we have less time to stand around at leisure than usual, and I know how slow you are with packing."

"Such harsh words, brother! Come along Teta, we cannot afford to talk of the old days so long as our brothers are fixated on the princess," Alma cattily announced, linking an arm with her friend's and entering Orbonne. The heavy doors slammed behind them, leaving two confused young men to stand before them with blank faces.

"What have we gotten ourselves into this time?" Delita asked to no one in particular. Ramza shook his head, annoyed at his sister's implications, before a realization struck him.

"We now have six people currently in our party, and four chocobos, so..."

-0-

It was afternoon when the group left Orbonne Monastery, and while the sun was shining with its usual spring warmth, the wind was still, an oddity on an Ivalician day. The wind was always present, breezy or gusty, disturbing the wooden wind chimes hanging outside the village houses and bearing multi-colored petals plucked from the flowers and trees. The more superstitious Ivalicians were apt to stay indoors when the winds ceased to blow, claiming that dire things would occur on such a day. Whether it was they who created the name describing such days, or if it was really a satirical comment towards such people was unknown, but either way the windless days were known as the 'dead days'.

They who made up the group now heading towards Dorter did not collectively know of such a phenomenon save for two; it was quite a minor thing for even the villagers in this age. Delita might've even forgotten he even knew of such a thing at the current moment, as he was mentally grumbling while walking beside the chocobo his sister rode. In his arms was her small, battered valise; slung along his back was his sword, which had been earlier tied to his bird so that he could identify that it came from the castle and not from Dorter. Chocobo farms were notorious for trying to swindle the birds from the castle in a variety of ways, as it was easier than breeding the creatures. But, he had reasoned, the fact that Teta now rode it was proof enough, just as in the case of Ramza's own chocobo, which had been taken over by Alma. She had insisted on carrying her own luggage though, to the irritation of the poor bird. Ramza walked beside her, talking to her in low tones about their mother and how she would not be expecting so many guests, especially ones of royal personage. Said royal personage was riding between Teta and Alma, her face blank as she stared in front of her, where Agrias' braid moved from side to side in an almost hypnotic sway.

No, Delita couldn't have possibly remembered the stories from his youth, much less an obscure myth about wind and Ivalice. His best friend didn't know of such a legend, for Ramza's mother was more interested in holistic cures than the stories old men would tell while smoking their pipes on the porch. Ditto for Alma, and twice as much for Ovelia, who could've never found a person crass enough to recount such a thing to her. Agrias was from a noble family within the Gallionne hall, and what did the comfortable castle-dwellers really know about the land and the stories told about it? That left Teta, she of the reflection that was never quite right from the original, she of the calm, almost gloomy disposition. Of course Teta knew, as she had been so very quiet since the princess interrupted her reunion with her brother. She had been reviewing the stories her dearly departed papa had told when the winds were blustery and the whole family was trapped inside for the harsh winter. She would sit on his lap, her brother huddled against their father, and as the flames crackled on the hearth he would tell them why they should be thankful for the wind that rattled their windows, for it could be worse. It could always be worse.

It was no wonder that, with such a warning already in mind, she was able to see the group of Death Knights first.

Both Delita and Agrias heard her first gasp, when she had just spotted the group to the northwest of her position. Everyone heard her second gasp, which was more like a strangled scream than a sudden inhalation, causing them to look around in confusion. When they noticed the Death Knights, who were now rapidly approaching them, they began to panic. It took a shout of, "Get off of your chocobos! They may have archers!" from Agrias for everyone to snap to attention. The girls quickly dismounted while keeping to a modicum of feminine modesty, while the lady knight simply jumped down from her own steed. "Have the chocobos circle the princess and your sisters!" she snapped at the Hokuten cadets, who rushed to attention. Ramza took this time to retrieve his own sword from the bird his sister had been on, all his suspicions and worries blooming like a migraine as he unsheathed the gleaming weapon. He and Delita quickly raced to their leader-by-proxy's side, ignoring their sisters' cries.

Just as they flanked her, the Death Knights reached them. They were all men, clad in various shades of green, and many of them resembled hard-nosed mercenaries rather than the desperate villagers of local legend. At the forefront of the group, around ten in number, was a young man who looked around seventeen or eighteen. Though he was also in green, he was wearing the familiar squire outfit of the land. Light brown hair poked out of his green cap and over his eyes, giving him a youthful look that was out of place among the grizzly, weather-beaten men standing behind him. "We don't wish for this to come down to a fight. Just hand over the princess and we'll leave the rest of you alone," he said in a polite tone, his dark eyes aimed at Agrias and her harsh glare.

"Who are you to demand such a thing?" she retorted.

"One of the assistants to the leader of the Death Knights," the young man responded, smiling as he unsheathed his sword. "Do you refuse to comply?" Agrias' only response was to unsheathe her own sword, the look in her eyes revealing that the time for talk was now over. "I see," he commented, one of his hands glowing orange as he held the hilt of his sword. In a lightning-quick movement, he flung a low-level fire spell directly at her face, and as she dodged the spell he pointed his sword at the rest of them, screaming, "Kill them all!"

The Death Knights raged forward, war cries spilling from their lips as they raised their swords and prepared to cleave through all who stood in their way. It took one well placed Stasis Sword skill from Agrias to literally stop the momentum of some of the attackers, and by then Ramza and Delita had already rushed forward, dispatching one green clad man who had been distracted by the sudden flash of ice blue that had frozen so many of his comrades in place. The two cadets did not dare to stray far from the chocobos that were protecting their sisters, opting instead on a two pronged attack on anyone who dared pass through the line of defense that the Holy Knight was providing with her sword skills.

It was a rather different scene with the girls enclosed within the chocobo huddle. Frightened and regulated into doing no more than to watch the fight as it raged on, at times dangerously close to overtaking them, they clung to each other and prayed fervently. It was Alma, who had witnessed her elder brothers in the midst of battle at tournaments throughout the years, who swallowed down her fear and stood up first. Amid the pleas of her friends, the screams from the battle, she raised her hands to God, her eyes fixed upon the figure of her dear brother as he ducked and spun, weaving through the madness that was the battlefield. Her body took on a faint, visible aura of pale gold as an inarticulate cry burst from deep within her throat, thrusting out her arms in an earnest attempt to ground herself as beams spiraled from her glow towards Ramza. He froze as the magic entered him, and soon his mild surprise was accentuated by the magic, causing his breathing to be accelerated as the haste thread woven into the overall fabric of the spell Alma had called empowered him. He cast a glance at the chocobo barrier, awed as the thought of looking had compelled the action before he had began to consciously move.

"What are you waiting for?" Alma cried, her expression cross. "Keep fighting!"

When he turned around, unanswered questions lurking in his dark eyes as he committed himself to the battle once more, she collapsed. Two pairs of arms reached out for her, holding her body to theirs as she trembled at the aftershock of casting such a high leveled spell. Ovelia spoke first, her voice low as she stroked one of Alma's twitching hands. "That was the Magic Barrier spell, was it not?"

"Y-y-yes..." the younger girl stuttered, her lips moving involuntarily. Teta, who was holding her best friend's head on her lap, quietly shushed the girl as she smoothed out the bangs that had fallen into disarray. Alma giggled deliriously, her body slackening as the initial shock of the immense loss of her own mana gave way to exhaustion.

"I cannot believe she did that. I would not have thought that Father Simon would have taught her such a spell yet..." Ovelia murmured, "If I could only see Agrias through the birds and the battle, I would do the same thing." There was no reply from Teta, and the princess decided to keep her thoughts to herself. The dark-skinned girl did not seem to tolerate her very much, judging from her near absolute silence in her presence.

Ovelia thought she was right to think that way until she heard Teta scream.

-0-

Delita was a decent fighter, though his true ability seemed to be more cerebral in nature. He was good at reading an opponent's moves and revising his own strategy accordingly. With Ramza now charged up from the spell Alma had endowed upon him, Delita decided to watch his friend's back instead of the sole one-two attack they had adopted at the battle's start.

It had never occurred to him to watch his own back as well.

The blade of the sword had punctured through his boiled red leather armor, the cold steel tearing through the flesh just above his right hip; had he not turned once he felt the sword touch his armor, he could've lost a major organ to the attack. He cried out in agony and fell, spinning around once he hit the ground to stare up at his attacker, the squire who had purported himself as an assistant of the Death Knights. He was looking pleased with himself, smiling in an almost friendly manner as he held the sword still dripping with the Hokuten cadet's blood.

"Delita--!"

"Stay away, Teta!" he shouted, frantic as he felt her body fall next to his, trying to move away from her even as she wrapped her arms around his chest and struggled to pull him onto her lap. He could see her as she bowed her head over his, her long, dark hair falling over him like a waterfall. He heard her cry out, and then there was a tingly, not unpleasant feeling at the site of his wound. Pulling himself up, he looked at her, noting her heavy breathing and the pallor of her face. That was no ordinary cure spell, he knew, but rather a restorative wish to grant a loved one strength by giving their own.

"Brother..." she whimpered, her eyes growing wide as she stared past him. He turned away from her, staring instead at the squire who was now summoning a great flame in the palm of his left hand. Ramza was charging at the the Death Knight's back, his sword upraised. The young leader absently tossed the high level fireball to the side, where it lanced through the protective shell covering Ramza and knocked him down. In the time it took to bring down the inexperienced cadet, there was another burst of fire dancing in the Death Knight assistant's hand.

The squire was laughing. "The plan went just like Gafgarion said it would! Baby Hokuten are no match for us! You're just like women, cowering and whimpering--"

"What a thing to say."

The tip of a sword appeared through his chest suddenly, just like the apparition that now stood behind him. This person, with one grand movement, swung the young man off of the sword, and he landed in a heap a few steps away from Delita and Teta's frozen forms. They did not even jerk away from the corpse, so entranced as they were with the revealing of their savior.

It was a woman, but she looked like a demon.

She stood before them, her body covered in silver and green. What was not explicitly shown to be covered in polished, glinting silver was shielded underneath a sleeveless, knee-length green dress with gold trim, the dark color matching the darkening green of the field now that the sun was descending. Durable green gloves covered her hands, which wielded the gleaming silver sword with a frightening ease. Above the high necked dress was the first--and truly only--hint that this creature was human: a creamy, pale chin and chapped pink lips. Above this was similarly covered in silver, and it was quite possibly the most frightening thing about her. She wore something that was part helm, part visor; it covered her nose, rising up before swooping down over her brow, shielding her eyes and giving them a pitless look before it clutched possessively at the ridges of her jawline. The design of the helm was that of a raging dragon, its eyes at the bridge of her nose, outstretched legs at her jaws, and large, jagged wings flung out behind her head. Hair the color of harvest wheat hung over her shoulders like a wild mane.

It felt as though the Hyral siblings had been examining her, taking in the brazen wildness about her for an impossibly long time before she looked away in favor of the dying melee. "If you're not planning on attending the battle, please don't linger on the battlefield," she stated, her tone wry. She strode away, slashing down a similarly green clad warrior as she departed.

Heaving a hefty sigh, Delita disengaged his sister's death hold on him before standing up, wincing at bit at his still injured side. "Teta, do not do that again. You could have gotten yourself killed with that reckless act."

"I just wanted to do something," Teta stated, "it was all I could do. Alma helped Ramza, so I should come to your aid..."

He shook his head. "Alma at least stayed within the barrier." Turning away as if to follow the mysterious woman, he muttered, "We will talk about this later," just before he left, approaching a slightly charred but still conscious Ramza.

"But, I...Brother..." Teta murmured, her eyes softening with the appearance of tears. Lost in her thoughts, she could not feel Ovelia's soft hands as they began to lead her back to the chocobos.

-0-

When a fight has ended, most of the time all the remaining warriors can do is to simply collapse onto the ground, utterly spent in the wake of indulging in the heat of the battle. With all the Death Knights now adhering to their namesake, even the normally stern Agrias Oaks would have been doing the same. Instead, she was up and alert, brandishing her sword at the two figures in front of her. One was a woman, the very same one that had saved the Hyral siblings; the other was a man, dressed in a white and green uniform with brown gloves, thick rawhide traveling boots, and his short blond hair and hazel eyes uncovered. He had helped the Holy Knight, assisting her with a deceptive ease as he methodically took down each enemy that escaped her sword skills. Now he was even helpfully holding up his hands in a gesture of peace, his sword drawn in the hilt hanging down the side of his hip. But that woman...

"Do you often treat your allies this way?" the armored woman scoffed, her own sword in hand. "Unlike Cadmus, I won't be polite to a knight who clearly doesn't have my best interests in mind."

Agrias ground her teeth at this, casting a looking behind her. The Hokuten cadets were with the girls, openly watching the spectacle but unwilling to move to help for whatever reason. She was thankful, if only for the fact that she had not had much experience with diplomatic speech and did not want to embarrass herself in front of a Beoulve. "You wear the colors of a Death Knight. Put your sword away, for I have no reason to trust you."

"I don't have any reason to trust you either, so--"

"Lenneth," the man named Cadmus murmured, "please." Grudgingly the woman sheathed her sword, taking up a relaxed stance as she dully stared at Agrias.

Agrias was confused. The man was by far the more reasonable one...but why did she feel that he was far more dangerous than his calm face and placating stance would have her believe? "So then, you two are Death Knights, are you not? Why did you assist us?"

"Do you often question help?" Lenneth muttered.

After a side glance at her, Cadmus lowered his hands. "We wished to protect the princess, naturally."

"How did you know that the princess departed from Orbonne?" Agrias asked, her eyes like dark fire. It was one thing to leave the monastery on the orders from the princess, but it was another thing entirely to be attacked a mere hour later! It was suspicious, and the lady knight knew of no one else to be more suspicious of than so-called allies wearing green.

"Because there was a plan by the Death Knights to assassinate the princess," the male knight answered, ignoring the slitted glare the Holy Knight had aimed at him. "You may be surprised by this, Lady Knight, but we personally do not wish any harm upon an innocent."

"Plus, we have a boon to ask for," Lenneth said, her lips pursed as she and her partner kneeled before Agrias, "we wish to journey to the castle, so that we may warn its leaders of the Death Knights' true plan."

"What is it?"

"We can't tell you."

"Then, we can't take you."

The two Death Knights bristled at this, yet they kept their stance as a quiet plea. The Holy Knight was unmoved by this, and she made as if to leave.

"Alright, you may come with us."

The three knights stared at the newcomer, the princess herself. "If you say that you have information that can save Ivalice--whether it be castle or country--then I will trust you, for I would not doubt that the Death Knights love Ivalice and wish to protect it as much as any other Ivalician," she said, her bearing that of the purest royalty, her gaze steady as she looked upon the knights who were a part of the group that once swore to make the grievances of the villages known to the castle.

Cadmus lowered his head, murmuring, "Thank you, gracious princess. May the favor of the holy saint Ajora fall upon you during your rule."

Ovelia was flustered at those words, shaking her head as she said, "The favor of rule goes to my nephew, the Crown Prince Orinas. Not me, no."

"My mistake. Still, I wish the best of you."

Agrias sighed. She was raised, both as a noblewoman and as a knight of the Order of Lesalia--a name for the royal area of the castle--to be always understanding of the decisions of royalty. They knew far more than she could ever fathom, after all. But, when it came to the decisions of her charge, she was dubious if the girl knew more than she herself did. First the irrational rush to leave Orbonne instead of waiting patiently for the escort, and now this. Even if her reasoning was logical, the fact remained that the princess would be traveling with those that had just claimed that their group wanted to murder her.

There was no rest for her in the days ahead, the Holy Knight knew, not while the former Death Knights walked alongside the princess.

-End to Chapter Four-

Whew, didn't think I'd finish it in time. Battles aren't my specialty, but I hope you like what I could present with my skill at this point.

I won't be responding to reviews this time around because of the month-long break, but thank you for reviewing. Haven't said that in awhile, I apologize.