Blanket disclaimer still applies, and to all chapters after this.

A/N: Temporally, things might start to get kinda freaky. Just a warning, and yes, I am doing it on purpose. Just take it as it comes, most of the flashbacks have tie-ins.
One other thing; I couldn't find the name of King Ramon's brother. It was mentioned, what, maybe once? And that at the beginnng? So that's why she just calls him Uncle, unless someone out there knows it and will be kind enough to tell me. Enjoy!

someperson: I promise no Ike x Elincia. It really isn't one that I like anyway. Just... eghhh! I have plenty of other things lined up ;)

II

Elincia walked confidently, just to spite the guards, into the room that had been her mother's and immediately regretted it. She had only been here once before, but the memory assaulted her.

"You sleep here?"

The woman smiled, bemused at her daughter's wide-eyed innocence, "Yes, but not when I can help it."

The child sighed a long, "Wow."

"Come to the window, there's a lovely view of the gardens."

"Oh!"

She stood, taking in the masterpieces of horticulture and engineering. A soft touch on the top of her head almost startled her. The hand slid from her head to her shoulder, and another joined it on the other side. Her mother kneeled so that their eyes were on a level.

The look in her eyes was deeper than Ellie could understand, but she thought it might be worry. "I wish your father and I could keep you here with us, but I understand why he sent you away. I want you to know that we both love you very much, even when we can't be with you."

The room was just as warm and inviting as it had been then, but it was empty now. Devoid of life. The thought made it seem almost sinister, with its cheerfully formal chandeliers and intricately patterned carpet. She half expected to find her mother's blood, or maybe that of a maid or retainer, on that carpet. But it was spotless, sterile.

The guard closed the door behind her.

"So, what you're saying is that we have no idea where the princess is now?"

"We have some idea…"

"But not for sure."

"No…"

"Soren, leave the poor guy alone already."

"Ike, let me do my job. We can hardly play 'Rescue the Princess' if we don't know where she is."

"OK, but lay off a bit."

Soren stared quietly for a moment, then turned back to Geoffrey.

"Where were you when she was taken?"

"Not far south of the capitol."

"We found you on the South Road," Soren said, and rattled off coordinates that made no sense to Ike.

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Do you think they took her to the capitol?"

"As they already control it, it makes sense." He turned to Ike. "We should check it out."

There were a number of small "scuffles" on the way to Melior; Titania's and Geoffrey's imperial armor drew Daeins like moths to a flame. Or two flames. Ike enjoyed the practice, but had to agree with Soren once they were standing outside the city: drawing attention to them selves once they were inside was a very bad idea. The place was crawling with soldiers.

"Geoffrey, is there anyone you know of who might know where the princess is?" Ike asked.

"You mean like a spy? No, I wasn't—I'm not high enough to know who they are."

"Okay. In that case, we need to send someone in ahead of time…"

"Ellie, are you ready? There's someone I want you to meet," Uncle's voice came muffled through Ellie's thick door.

"Yes, Uncle!" she cried, and tugged on the door. She being all of five years old, and the door being very large, she didn't get very far. Her uncle laughed and opened it for her.

He smiled that perfect, uncle-to-favorite-niece smile. "Well, don't you look pretty? Come along, they're in the front room." She trotted to keep up with his long strides.

There was a woman and a boy about Ellie's age. "Elincia, this is William."

"It's very nice to meet you," Ellie remembered to say.

"The pleasure is mine," he replied stiffly with a little bow. Ellie was a bit surprised; she'd forgotten she was Princess again.

"That won't be necessary, William," Uncle said kindly. "Now why don't you two run along and play before dinner?"

Both children gave their respective adults surprised looks, asking permission. They nodded. She hardly ever got to play with anyone her age, so didn't mind playing with William, even if he was a boy. As they scampered from the room, Ellie heard the adults talking.

"Really, I must insist on following protocol more closely in these kinds of situations," the woman said. She had a pretty voice.

"That's hardly necessary, don't you think? There will be plenty of time later to arrange the details…" his voice trailed away as they rounded a stone corner.

The dream ended. She tried to open her eyes, but the light was blinding. She shut her eyes again.

"Ah, Princess, we had begun to fear you wouldn't wake up."

The voice was rich and cultured, male but comforting. Almost enough to put her back to sleep. She didn't know it. That brought her fully awake.

"Ow…" she clutched a hand to her head. Opening her eyes all the way still seemed like a bad idea, but she managed to take a look at him. He was young, with a tanned complexion and a pleasant face, if you were into the aristocratic kind of handsome. But that wasn't what caught her attention—he had blonde hair and black eyes. The combination was so unfamiliar that she caught herself staring.

"Like what you see?" he asked softly.

Elincia panicked, flushed, and looked away. Unfortunately, the only other place she had to look was up, and the light brought the headache back full force. She winced.

"I'll close the curtains," the man said.

Now she could finally open her eyes properly. What she saw was not her mother's ceiling.

"Where am I?" she tried to keep the panic out of her face.

"Now, now, Princess, you're much too ill to be worrying about things like that."

"I'm not ill."

"You've been out for over a day. I beg to differ."

That thought worried her, but she could sense she wouldn't be getting anything out of him. Time for another approach. "Who are you?"

That made him smile. It wasn't a smile she could say she liked. "Ryons, at your service," he said with a bow.

Right. Well, that told her a lot. "I don't suppose you could you could give me more than just your name?"

"As I said, Princess, you should be resting. Don't worry about such details now.

The bed she was laying on heaved in a quite unmistakable manner. "Am I on a boat?" she cried.

"If you feel seasick, Princess, I could send for the healer…?" he seemed genuinely worried. Almost enough to keep her from getting angry with him. Almost.

"Why am I on a boat?" she snarled.

"I'll send for the healer right away." He said it calmly, the smug jerk. "And, Princess, I would not say such things in the presence of the captain. He insists that she is a ship."

He turned and left with a bow. She wanted to pointedly ask why she was on a ship without her consent, but she would have been talking to empty air.

A/N: So, what do you think? There will be a lot of Ryons in the future, so I hope you like him at least a little bit. He's too much fun to write for me to get rid of him ;)