A/N: Seven reviews: a new record! For me, that is. Thanks to all who reviewed. Anyway, this chapter is, for better for worse, considerably short than the previous two. As I've said before, I make my chapters as long as I feel they need to be. This is just one of those times when I don't feel that a chapter needed to be very long. That said, I hope you enjoy it. Now, on to the review responses:

Lord of swords and waffles: Thanks for your review! Yeah, I am quite proud of the way the Lycian Council scene turned out. Glad to see you enjoyed.

Gijinka Renamon: Yeah, my review was the really, really, really long one. What can I say, I like to make my reviews long as well as my chapters!

Crimsy Mi-Chan: Thanks for your review! I'm glad you like the long chapters (hopefully you won't find this one too short for your liking), and I'm completely in agreement with you on that topic. In regards to the pairing, while I'm not going to divulge the exact pairing for Eliwood, I will tell you that it's not a crack pairing, so there's a one-third chance of it being an Eliwood/Lyn.

Snoopy6458: Thanks for your review, and I'm glad to see I've improved! I didn't know that you weren't supposed to use parentheses in fiction writing, but I'll be sure to avoid making that mistake in the future. By the way, I reviewed your fanfic, "Battle Horn," so have a look when you get a chance. Anyone else reading this should read the story themselves, as it's brilliant (better than my work, at any rate). Just look for it in Snoopy's profile or in the Blazing Writers C2 group.

Dracobolt: Thanks for your review! Yeah, I find it much more entertaining not to reveal the pairings, and I'm glad to see that you, at least, do as well.

Duderly Bob: Thanks for your review! I'm glad to see that I have your support in the length my chapters. It's a shame if the length drives away some readers and reviewers, but I'm not certainly not arguing with my review count. In regards to the armour colour issue, let's just make the blind assumption that mounted knights don't follow the same rules for armour colouring as foot soldiers (in other words, I kind of screwed up there). By the way, I left a review for your fanfic, "Final Chapter: Light," so check it out when you have a chance.

Macross Green: Thanks for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the extra scenes, as they were probably the parts that I worked the longest on. By the way, I left a review for your fanfic, "Erk's Journey," so check it out when you have a chance.

Chapter Three: First Farewell

Eliwood fidgeted in his seat. The decorations of his father's meeting room, which would leave a common person awestruck at their majesty, barely attracted a glance from him. He had been in here many times before, and had long since grown desensitised to the decorations. His familiarity with the place allowed him to focus on the matter at hand. Eliwood knew the importance of concentration in this room, for he only ever came in here when his father had something very important to tell him.

His father, Lord Elbert, the Marquess of Pherae, was pacing around the centre of the room. He looked very much like Eliwood, only slightly older and with a red moustache. He wore a surprisingly plain brown tunic with black pants. A stranger to these lands may have mistaken him for a servant. After several agonizingly long minutes, Eliwood's father stood before the old window in the room, looking out into the coldness of the night. "Eliwood," he said, still not facing his son, "I have something very important to tell you." Eliwood was more than prepared to hear that: his father said it every time they were in here. However, Marquess Pherae seemed determined to keep up this charade, as if some unseen eye was watching them, ensuring that they were following protocol. "Tomorrow I will be leaving on some urgent business."

"What sort of urgent business?" Eliwood asked. The unseen eye scowled at such misconduct. Clearly, in the months since Eliwood's appearance before the Lycian Council, he had grown more rebellious.

Lord Elbert was silent for a moment. "For now, that is none of your concern. Rest assured though, that you shall find out when the time is right."

Eliwood truly wanted to know what his father's "urgent business" was, but he knew that asking further questions would accomplish nothing. His father was not the sort of person who could be forced into say or do anything. "Very well."

"I will be taking most of the best knights of Pherae with me as well."

Eliwood's jaw dropped, and he was about to stand up, before the glare of the hidden eye made him stay seated. "What? Why would you do that, Father? Pherae can't afford to be robbed of its best knights!"

"These lands are no longer as safe as they once were," Eliwood's father said calmly. "But rest assured, I am not taking all of Pherae's best knights with me. Marcus will stay here, as will the castle guard." Eliwood's father turned around, and Eliwood noticed that he appeared strangely grim. "Now, Eliwood, I have a request."

Eliwood was taken aback. "A request? What is it?"

Lord Elbert walked over to Eliwood. Putting his hands on the armrests of the chair, he leant over until his face was nearly touching Eliwood's. Eliwood slumped back slightly in the chair. "Under no circumstances are you to leave Pherae," Lord Elbert said in tone much firmer than any Eliwood had heard him use before. Lord Elbert then walked back, leaving Eliwood with some room to breathe. "If you wish to continue your bimonthly sparring matches with Hector, then he must come here."

Eliwood couldn't believe what he was hearing. His mother had occasionally been known to fret over Eliwood staying away from Pherae for long, but he had never known his father to do so. "I'm assuming I am unable to travel because it is too dangerous. But if it's so dangerous, then why would you allow Hector to come here?"

For a moment, a weak smile spread across Lord Elbert's face. "I have no authority to control Hector, and even those with the authority to control him are rarely able to do so." Eliwood chose to accept this explanation, although the whole affair still seemed very strange. "Now if you don't mind, Eliwood," Lord Elbert said, "I think it's time you went to bed."

Eliwood stood up and went to the door. His father followed. As Eliwood was leaving the room, he turned around to face his father. "There's still one thing I don't understand," Eliwood said, knowing that there were actually many things he didn't understand. But he knew that his father would only answer this query, and even that wasn't certain.

Lord Elbert sighed. "What is it?"

"My next sparring match with Hector is nearly a month and a half away. And yet you still bother to mention it. In fact, you seemed to imply multiple matches." Eliwood decided to get to the point. "Father, you're acting like you're not coming back."

Without a word, Lord Elbert had closed the door, leaving Eliwood alone in the corridor.

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The next morning, a large group was standing outside the gates to Castle Pherae. The entire town was there to farewell Marquess Pherae. Although he had tried to keep it secret, it hadn't taken long for word of Marquess Pherae's planned departure to reach the ears of the townspeople. The reason for Lord Elbert's departure remained a well-kept secret.

Eliwood and Marcus stood atop one of the towers of Castle Pherae, observing the scene. Those townspeople who couldn't get close to the gates of Castle Pherae were now lining up along the main street out of the town, in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Knights of Pherae as they left for destinations unknown. It occurred to Eliwood that he hadn't seen the streets of Pherae this crowded since the celebrations celebrating Lyn's victory over Lord Lundgren six months ago. He often wondered how Lyn was getting along. He had seen her at a few of the formal gatherings since then, but they hadn't actually gotten a chance to talk. Eliwood doubted that they would have been able to have a real conversation anyway. Lyn's behaviour seemed so formal at those gatherings, or at least as formal as she seemed able to make it. It was clear to Eliwood that she didn't belong at those sorts of events.

Eliwood sighed as he drifted back to reality. Ever since their conversation the night before, Eliwood's father had been avoiding him. This would be the first time today that he had seen him at all. Eliwood knew that something was wrong. His father had spent time away from Castle Pherae plenty of times before, but he had never been so secretive about his business before, or had taken so many knights with him.

"Is something troubling you, Lord Eliwood?" Marcus asked.

As always, Marcus had read Eliwood like a book. He had never been very good at keeping secrets, but Marcus seemed to be able to see through him better than nearly any other person. Because of this, Eliwood often felt more at ease talking to Marcus than he did even with his own parents. Truly, he could tell Marcus about this. "This doesn't make any sense," Eliwood replied, still looking at the street below. "My father has never kept secrets like this from me. He would always tell me what he was doing if I asked him. Even when I said that he was acting as if he wouldn't come back, he wouldn't tell me anything."

"Whether you like it or not, Lord Eliwood, Lord Elbert is under no obligation to inform you of his affairs."

"That's not the point!" Eliwood shouted as he slammed his fist down on the stone barrier. He silently fought the urge to curse at the pain that caused. Clearly, that was a sign that he shouldn't lose his temper so easily. "And why is he taking so many knights with him? I saw them assembling earlier. Nearly all of the best knights in Pherae are going with him. It's almost as if he's going off to war, but there's no war out there for him to go to."

Marcus had ignored Eliwood's outbursts, and simply said, "Not all wars are fought in plain sight."

Eliwood was filled with curiosity at this remark. He turned to face Marcus. "Marcus, do you know something I don't?"

Marcus smiled. "I know many things that you don't, Lord Eliwood. In regards to the matter at hand, all I know is that Lord Elbert gave me a note describing what he was doing, but told me not to read it until I deemed it necessary. Even then, I am under orders not to inform you of the note's contents. And that, Lord Eliwood, is final. You will receive no information from me on the matter."

Eliwood knew that that discussion had just ended, arguably before it had even begun. "Perhaps you can answer me this question, then. Marcus, you are one of the finest knights in Pherae, if not the finest. Why then, is my father not taking you with him?"

Marcus frowned, and stared off into space. "I made a promise to Lord Elbert, to protect you until his return. Knights of Pherae always follow their orders."

Somehow, Eliwood doubted that that was the whole story. He had often noticed how Marcus had seemed strangely formal around Eliwood's father, even for him. But what could possibly be the reason for that? Eliwood knew better than to ask. Clearly, the issue was strictly between Eliwood's father and Marcus. Trying to change the subject, if only slightly, Eliwood said, "That reminds me of something my father once spoke of. Marcus, you went to war by my father's side when he was young, didn't you?"

Marcus' mood seemed to lift, probably from memories of past glories. "Indeed I did. I was just a page at the time, but under Lord Elbert's command, I swung my spear as best as I could."

Before the conversation could continue, there was a loud blast from a horn in the streets below. Eliwood and Marcus both looked down from the tower, even though they both knew what was going on: the Knights of Pherae were leaving. The knights rode out in pairs, moving only at a walking pace. Lord Elbert rode alone at the front, looking magnificent in his shining blue armour. As the knights moved down the street, the crowds parted to let them through. No one spoke.

Eliwood's attention was drawn by one blond-haired knight in grey armour leaving the formation. The man was Harken, a knight who was easily among Pherae's most elite soldiers, and who was often called the finest swordsman in the Knights of Pherae. He had ridden over to the side of the street, where a young woman with blue hair was standing. She was Isadora, a knight in the personal guard of Eliwood's mother, Lady Eleanora. Isadora was off-duty, so she wore a simple white dress. For a few moments, Harken and Isadora appeared to be talking. Then Harken leant over from his horse and kissed Isadora. He then rode back into line.

"I had no idea Harken and Isadora felt that way about each other," Eliwood said, more to himself than to anyone else. It was true that Eliwood didn't know Harken on any sort of deep level, but he had thought that such a courtship between two of Pherae's finest knights would have been made more public.

"They have been courting each other privately for about a year now," Marcus, who had been watching the whole time, replied. "They got engaged last night."

"Then I just hope Harken makes it back here alive. I would hate to think of what his death would do to Isadora." Eliwood was now painfully aware that there were other things at stake now, besides his father's life.

Marcus' expression was grim once more. "Indeed. I for one don't think it was a good idea on Harken's part, but love does strange things to people."

Eliwood and Marcus turned their attention back to the line of knights, who had now neared the gate to the town. As they rode out, they spread out into a loose line. They rode to the northwest, and Eliwood and Marcus stayed long after the crowd had dispersed, until Lord Elbert and his knights were nothing more than dots on the horizon, and finally until they vanished from sight altogether.

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Castle Pherae seemed strangely empty. The number of people in the castle hadn't actually decreased by that much, but those who had left seemed to be those who gave the castle life. The servants went about their duties, but because there were less people to serve, they had lots of spare time on their hands, a concept so foreign to them that they spent most of it locked away in their quarters. Outside, where once knights filled the grounds in their vigorous training regimes, there was now only a small group of lesser soldiers and new recruits for Marcus to train. For some reason beyond anyone's comprehension, Marcus seemed determined to have as many combined training hours for this small group as he would for a whole army. There was never a soldier around who wasn't exhausted.

But the difference was most noticeable in the throne room. Once, people came in throughout the day to see Marquess Pherae, whether it was to ask his advice, to seek a loan or simply to say hello. But ever since the marquess had left, the numbers of visitors had dwindled. Although Lady Eleanora tried her best to fill Lord Elbert's shoes, the people didn't come. It wasn't that anyone doubted Lady Eleanora's diplomatic skill; it was simply an unexplainable desire of the people to see their leader.

Thus, one afternoon around six months after Lord Elbert's departure, Eliwood found himself walking into the throne room without having to wait for the first time in living memory. The throne room was a large square room with a high ceiling. Banners decorated the walls, and a red carpet ran from the door to the throne at the opposite end of the room.

The throne was made of solid gold, with velvet padding on the seat and back. Lady Eleanora was sitting in the throne. She was a slender woman, with fair skin and purple hair. She wore an elegant white dress with some small religious ornaments, symbols of her past occupation of a cleric of St Elimine. She looked depressed, almost mournful.

"What is it, Eliwood?" Lady Eleanora said as Eliwood approached.

"I think you know, Mother," Eliwood replied. "The last of the messengers you sent to the marquesses returned today. Have any of the marquesses seen or heard from Father?"

There was silence for a while, before Lady Eleanora quietly said, "No, they have not."

Eliwood sighed. "Just as I thought."

"Eliwood, it's too early to jump to conclusions. For all we know, your father is fine."

"Mother, he was sending us messages every week before, and it's now been over a month since we last received one."

"Perhaps he simply hasn't gotten around to sending us a message," Eleanora whispered, but her eyes betrayed her true belief.

Eliwood moved closer to his mother, and looked her directly in the eye. "Mother, we both know that isn't true. Father never shirks his duties." There was a long pause. "Something has happened to him."

Eleanora closed her eyes and put her face in her hands. "And what if it has? What can we possibly do?"

Eliwood was silent. He knew all too well what he could, nay, must do. He had come here expecting to say it. He had gone through what he was going to say a hundred times in his mind. But now, when the time had finally come to say it, he was speechless. Eliwood closed his eyes for a moment. The time for subtleties was gone. "I'm going after him," he whispered.

Eliwood's mother slowly took her hands away from her face and stared blankly at Eliwood. "What?" she asked, with a slight quiver in her voice.

"I'm going after Father," Eliwood said, with more conviction this time. "I've been planning this for the last week. I was only delaying my departure on the off chance that one of the messengers had heard any information about Father's whereabouts. Now that I know that none of the marquesses have reported seeing Father, I shall be leaving tomorrow."

There were tears in Eleanora's eyes now. "But you can't!" she cried.

Eliwood hated to see his mother like this, but he carried on. "Father could be in grave danger. I may not be able to do much, but what I can do might be enough to save him."

"But why does it have to be you? Why not send some of our knights instead?"

"Mother, we barely have enough knights left to guard the castle as it is!" Eliwood shouted. In a calmer, quieter voice, he added, "I'm sorry, Mother, but it has to be this way. This is something I just have to do. Did father stay where it was safe instead of riding out to war all those years ago? And think of the good that came from that." Indeed, Eliwood had heard the story of how his parents had met and fallen during wartime many times before. Although Eliwood had absolutely no intention of falling in love any time soon, least of all while his father was still in danger, but he wasn't going to let his mother know that.

Eleanora was silent, and seemed lost in thought. "You're going to go, even if I tell you not to, aren't you?"

Eliwood nodded. "Mother, please, listen to me. I don't want to have to fight you over this, but I will if I have to."

Eleanora nodded, and looked down at the floor. "Then go."

"What?" Eliwood hadn't expected that. He had expected his mother to put up a bit more resistance, and come up with some possible alternatives, even though Eliwood knew he wasn't going to change his mind.

"You heard me, just go," Eleanora said, pointing to the door.

"Okay," Eliwood whispered, slowly walking backwards away from his mother. As he moved, he gradually turned around to face the door. He was half expecting his mother to cry out for him to stop, but there was no sound other than the echoing of his own footsteps. As he pulled the door open, he looked back at his mother. She was still looking at the floor, her face an indecipherable void.

Eliwood exited the throne room, closing the door behind him. A moment later, he put his ear to the door. All that could be heard was a gentle sobbing.