Discovered secret

A/N: Hello again everyone, I just wanted to say I'm really sorry for not updating this fic for such a long time and I do apologize. I had some faithful readers emailing me every now and then, encouraging me to continue on with this story. And so here it is, I hope it doesn't disappoint.

The interior hallway of the royal palace was long and wide. The dark-blue colored tiles gleamed wonderfully on the floor and the sunlight beamed in nicely from the top. Further down the hallway, two individuals could be seen standing by a door; the very door where Tatiana's room was, and it seemed the two were obviously up to no good.

The two stood anxiously by the door, both quietly eavesdropping on the conversation between Claus and Tatiana. The one on the left wore an officer uniform and the one on the right wore an elegant long dress and was wearing a beautiful tiara on her head.

The conversation however, was rather difficult to hear. The person on the right nudged the one on the left impatiently.

"What do you hear?" She said, her ear was against the door, trying hard to hear something juicy.

"Nothing yet," the other one replied, in a soft whispered tone.

The woman in the elegant dress made an awkward sigh of frustration. "This isn't good at all. How are we suppose to hear what they're saying, Alister?"

Alister turned to Sophia, "I'm sure Claus will do something eventually. You know how he is, so… we'll just have to wait until he does." She paused for a moment, rethinking what she just said and then finally nodded, like she quite sure of it.

"Wait. Listen." Sophia's eyes suddenly came to life with excitement.

Both listened intensively, neither one daring to breathe a single breath. If one did so, everything would probably go out the window in a heartbeat.

"Marriage!"

The word came out loud and clear. The two immediately jolted backwards in total disbelief. Sophia surprised by the sudden outburst, clumsily bumped into the flowerpot, which was on the table by the door. The flowerpot wobbled first, then fell to the floor with a loud thud.

Holy crap! Alister was right! Sophia's mind yelled loudly and then shot a quick look at Alistia, who in return was looking back at her, with a very worried expression. It was certainly Claus's voice and he sounded quite surprise himself.

"Let's scram, before one of them sees us," Sophia instinctively grabbed Alister's right arm and bolted down the hallway. She didn't even realized what she was wearing at the time. It really didn't matter one bit. But what did matter was getting out of sight pronto.

"Huff huff huff," Sophia was at full speed, but for some particular reason the hallway seemed to have gotten longer. Thinking it was ridiculous; she discarded the silly thought and just ran a lot faster. Sophia quickly glanced behind her and saw Alister barely keeping up.

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, hey wait up," Alister was only a few steps behind Sophia. She was amazed at how Sophia was able to run in that long dress of hers. And to make matters worst, Sophia was even out running her in that dress, in that royal dress dammit!

She heard Alister's voice from behind, but she just ignored it. Sophia was determined to go unseen, no matter what. When she's in a state of determination, nothing intervenes or even got in the way, just like that innocent royal guard that's coming up from the stairs just now.

Sadly, the royal guard wasn't able to react in time and was mauled just when he reached the top of the stairs. The two fleeing eavesdroppers were in no mood of helping out the poor guy and kept going like happened.

Once the two of them had cleared the stairs, Sophia suddenly pulled to a halt and turned around. She had a big grin plastered on her face and was breathing quite heavily. Alister, on the other hand was breathing slightly and still had that concerned look like before.

"What does this all mean?" Alister didn't sound out of breath at all.

Sophia shrugged. "I don't know, but I do have a feeling things are going to get a whole lot more interesting."

Alistia blinked. "That's what I'm afraid of." She straighten her uniform nicely, "And why were they on a serious subject, like marriage anyway?"

Sophia chuckled, surprising her. "That's just the beauty of it, Alister. We don't know what's really going on and it's our duty as friends to uncover Tatiana's miraculous scheme."

"What if it's not some scheme like you say and-" She stopped. Alister looked back up the stairs, where the two had come stampeding down, "it was for real instead."

"Then we would have a serious problem on our hands, won't we?" She stood next to Alistia, sporting a mischievous grin. "For you and Lavie that is."

Alister felt herself blushing, "I- I do not know what you mean." She started to walk away, when Sophia appeared suddenly at her side.

"Oh really. Somehow I find that hard to believe." She made a face.

This was really making Alister very uncomfortable inside. Sophia was now hounding her about it, and she probably won't let go of it that easily. I have to do something, she thought to herself.

"Look. I totally understand, how all of this is for you," She went on.

Oh god, Alister closed her eyes as she went down the hallway. Not really caring if she walked into a wall or not, maybe it would be best if she did. That way, Sophia would stop nagging her about this 'Claus and her thing' or whoever.

But still, it did interest her in a way. Why would Tatiana ask for Claus in the first place? Surely, it wouldn't be something big like marriage wouldn't it? Hmm? No. She immediately dismissed that assumption. She knew Tatiana very well, and wouldn't do something like that; it wasn't her at all.

Although, it is true that dealing with a touchy subject like marriage can put a lot on a person and thus, make a person do such unusual acts; like now, for instant. Can it be possible; Tatiana's in such a position now and is looking for a way out? Maybe bring in someone to help her out with this sticky situation. Someone like… Claus!

"Alister!"

Alister was yanked out of her deep thoughts, and was at full attention. "Yes?"

Sophia studied her for a moment, and tilted her head to one side. "What happen? You seemed, like your mind was somewhere else. Are you all right?"

She cleared her throat, before she answered. "I'm fine, Sophia. Now, what was it you were saying?"

"Oh geez." Annoyed, Sophia put her hands on her waist, "I was saying, how we should approach this idea; Tatiana has cooked up?"

"That's a good question." Alister said, glad that Sophia's off the topic of her and Claus.

Sophia then gave Alister a scrupulous quizzical stare-- well it was very much more like a cold menacing stare, a stare that could actually be felt by the one that was on the receiving end. It really gave her the heebie-jeebies and gulped anxiously.

"Oh Alister," the young empress smiled without humor.

This isn't good.

"I've just thought of a wonderful plan."

Uh oh, somehow I have a real bad feeling about this.

She sighed internally, already knowing what Sophia was going to say next.

"I want you…"

Here it comes

"…to tail the two from here on out and see what they're up to and report it back to me, Ok?"

"I'll get on it right away." She replied automatically without hesitation, even surprising herself.

Alister made a crisp salute to Sophia and then briskly turned around on her right heel and started on her way. To her personally, it was quite obvious in a way. It wouldn't really take a guild genius to figure it out, and now here she was, an appointed agent of Sophia's.

She broke into a run, knowing the two she's going to be tailing won't stay put very long. Her first destination would be her room, so she could pack lightly for this impending journey that will very much involve new discovery, hardship, and the most important of all, revelation.

Packing only the essential things she'll definitely need, Alister scanned her room for one last time and understanding completely when she returns from this, somehow everything will probably be different. She could just feel this indescribable feeling looming in the air, just right in front of her.

Without any further delay, she turned and opened the door and left the room without a backward glance, leaving her old self behind. Good or worst, it was a journey definitely worth taking in the long run.

OK… that was the fifth chapter and I would really like your opinions plz! I know I've been gone over a year, and I apologize once again. Well, until next time! Eniigma-chan!