Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem, or any of these lovely original characters. I may introduce some of my own later, but I promise to have very good reasons for doing so!

A/N: Okay, I admit it, I'm writing this mostly out of a desire to give Elincia a spine. Thus it's going to veer from the real plot at times, and be a tad more politically focused. So sue me. It should still be fun. One more heads-up, the perspective will change every half-chapter. Y'all should get the hang of it. I have very high hopes for this story, ;). Without further ado—

Frills and Knives

I

Elincia stared into the eyes of her captor and tried not to glare. She wasn't sure it was working. He looked down at her from the throne. Her father's throne. Her father's castle.

She mentally shook herself. Mustn't think like that, at least not in the presence of the people she had to deal with. She put on a brave face.

King Ashnard smiled smugly. "Miss Elincia, I understand you have not lived in this castle before."

"I have not had the pleasure," she said it through clenched teeth. She forced her jaw to relax.

He laughed, and it sent shivers down her spine. "Well then, I extend my hospitality. You don't have to stay here, of course, but I can't…" his eyes glittered in a way she didn't like while he paused for effect, "guarantee your safety should you choose to leave."

They'd let her leave? Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to turn and run. But he was right, there were Daein soldiers saturating the city: as a Crimean royal without his official protection, she didn't stand a chance. So she stood her ground.

"I would be honored," she was forcing the words out, "and I hope that my presence will not be a burden."

"Of course," his voice was somewhere between gruff and malicious. He waved vaguely to a guard. "Show the…" another of those evil pauses, "Princess to her quarters. She can have the queen's chambers. Make sure they are well guarded, we wouldn't want anything… untoward to happen."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

And as she followed the servant of an enemy, it occurred to Elincia, Princess of Crimea, that this man might kill her yet.

Chapter 1

Today, Ike walked just a tad taller, prouder, and generally happier than on any other day. Sure, he had patrol duty today, but today was different, because today, he was commanding. He'd already sent Shinon and Titania ahead on patrol, given Gatrie rear guard, and took vanguard himself, keeping Soren and Rhys in the middle. Not bad, if he did say so himself. Shinon was even being a bit less of a jerk, if he wasn't mistaken.

This jubilant mood stayed with him throughout a small scuffle with some outlying Daein troops—which he won, he might add. It wasn't until Soren found a barely-alive soldier of Crimea that he started to act more like a responsible person than an overzealous teenager. He hurried over to keep his advisor from doing anything permanently damaging—mentally or otherwise—to the wounded soldier.

His worry about Soren driving the officer insane with self-pity or loathing proved unfounded; the man was unconscious. Well, it was unfounded for the moment, anyway. He ordered a search of the surrounding area for other Crimeans, but their officer was the only one. In the short debate that followed, he agreed with Titania: as citizens of Crimea and decent human beings, they should help him. So they took him with them back to the fort.

Later that day, Ike was sitting in the courtyard when he saw Mist entering the kitchen.

"Hey, Mist, what are you doing?" Some apprehension. Not much, but some. She might just be getting something for Rhys. Right.

She flashed him one of her brightest smiles. "Rhys is taking care of that soldier you found, and he asked me to cook dinner tonight!"

Ike nearly choked but turned it into a cough. "That's—ah, that's great!"

"I know!" With another huge grin, she was gone. He got up as well. It was time to have a talk with Rhys about letting his sister cook.

He entered Rhys's office—or the infirmary, whichever you prefer—without much ceremony, and was immediately chastised by the man who should have been making the company's dinner. "Ike, quiet, there's an injured man in here!"

"Oh! Sorry," he said quietly. He'd completely forgotten about the soldier. "How's he coming?"

Rhys gave him a bit of a look, but answered anyway. "I've healed his injuries, but he took a pretty good knock to the head. I don't want to wake him magically."

"Ah. That's—uh, he'll be alright, right?"

Rhys just sighed. "Yes, he'll be fine."

"Good then. Commander Greil wants to question him."

Rhys gave Ike another odd look, but said nothing, and turned away to check his patient's temperature again.

It was after dinner (which, thankfully, everyone survived) before their soldier woke up, and easily another half hour before he was coherent enough to answer questions. What they learned had Greil's Mercenaries in turmoil.

Yes, Daein had invaded Crimea, but the damage was worse than they had known. The attack had been unprovoked and without warning. Daein soldiers laid waste to Crimean cities and towns. The entire royal family had been slaughtered, except—

"Crimea has a princess," Greil's voice boomed quietly to his assembled council, if that was possible. "Daein has captured her. Our soldier friend wants us to rescue her."

"I think we should do it," Titania said without hesitation.

"No," was Soren's rebuttal. "It would be insane. We've never left the fort for so long or fought so far from it. Our people wouldn't know the territory. Besides, we're mercenaries, so if we don't stand to get some payment—"

"Soren, you're awful! Daein just invaded our country, and you want us to do nothing?"

"We're mercenaries, Titania, this is how we make our livelihood. We can't afford to do things just for goodness and decency!"

"We're humans, and Crimeans!"

"Crimea doesn't—"

"If it's money you're worried about, I can make sure you'll be paid," said a voice from the door. All heads turned. It was the soldier, awake, walking, and talking. Surprise, surprise.

"Rhys," Greil said to the man behind him, "Shouldn't he be in bed?"

"What kind of healer do you take me for? Geoffrey's fine," Rhys answered.

"I know the Ki—" Geoffrey broke off and took a few quick, calming breaths, eyes closed against pain. "I know the…" he paused again, foundering for a word. "The Crown will be glad to pay you for rescuing the Princess."

The man positively radiated grief for his fallen monarchs. Even Soren softened, but he didn't show it.

"I think we should do it," Greil said softly. "Any objections?"

"No," Titania said, again without hesitation.

"No," Soren said slowly.

"I'm all for it," Ike said.

"All right then. You three, get the company packed up. Who knows when we might come back?"

The question was quiet, rhetorical, and the three mercenaries were smart enough not to answer.

((A/N: Ok, what did everybody think? This was more of an intro-- you ain't seen nothing yet!))