Hey! Sorry it took me so long to write the next chapter, but the last three weeks has been a real pain. My teachers decided to give us three major projects all due in the same week, so I've been going nuts with those. Then, right after that they dumped two more projects and three tests on us… So, yeah, school's been dragging me down. But, I'm forcing myself to make an update (before I head on a school trip for three days)!
Oscar: Good for you!
FireEdge: Now, on to the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.
With A Bit Of Magic
Chapter 3
"The princess is going into battle with us?" Nephenee asked, shocked. Calill nodded, leafing through her Elthunder tome.
"Yes, that's right. Geoffrey told me himself this morning! I think that this is a glorious event," she replied, closing her book with a snap. "It'll be very inspiring for the Crimean army to see Elincia in battle. I, myself, would be delighted to know that the queen I fight for is a fighter and not some little sissy!" Nephenee couldn't help but give a tiny smile. Calill always did look on the bright side of things. If only she were that enthusiastic.
"But… it'd be hard for her, too. I mean, she was raised as a lady, not a warrior. I wonder if she'll be able to hold her own out there," Nephenee said, straightening her helmet on her head.
"Oh, nothing to worry about! Her retainers are sticking to her side like fly on honey! And General Ike will be there, too," Calill answered with confidence.
"General Ike, too? Wouldn't he be busy with giving out orders and such?" she inquired, walking forward towards where they were to gather for their commands. Calill grinned, looking at the girl with mock incredulity.
"My dear! Have you been blind? It is obvious that our valued leader is smitten with the princess. He may not show it, he is really good at hiding his emotions, but it's there. Believe me."
"… Really? I didn't notice that. But, I don't really keep track of everything that's happening. My Ma used to tell me not to nose around in other people's business," Nephenee shrugged.
"Such a good girl, you are. I, on the other hand, can't keep my pretty little nose out of all this gossip. It's simply too exciting a world for me to leave. Ah, well, we should really hurry. Come along now, Nephenee."
As they rushed to the gathering square, Calill contemplated over her inquisitiveness. She didn't mind if people called her nosy or anything of the like. Knowing all the rumours and gossip going around came in handy, and prying was also a handy tool. For if she did not possess these instruments, life would be much too dull. Furthermore, she wouldn't have been able to figure out that Geoffrey was beginning to develop an infatuation. Oh yes, this would be very worthwhile.
Nephenee let out a long sigh of exhaustion. The battle had lasted for many hours now. There just seemed to be too many reinforcements coming in. However, the fight was slowly drawing to a close. They had already reached the base of the hill where the fort stood. Soon, Ike and some of the other troops would be taking on the paladin guarding the gates. For now, she had a little bit of a break.
Looking around the vast battlefield, she could see a few of the other units engaged in small skirmishes with the remaining enemy. A larger pack of the army was nearly at the fort. Catching a glint of metal from the corner of her eyes, she turned to find the source. There, nearly thirty feet away she saw Geoffrey fighting off another paladin.
The two's lances clashed against each other, trying to pierce their target. Pulling back, Geoffrey's horse reared up, its sharp hooves lashing out at the opponent. The enemy knight's horse whinnied and shied away. Taking this chance, Geoffrey turned his lance in his hand and drove down with all the force he could muster. Yanking his spear out, the other rider fell, limp, from the saddle. The horse neighed and galloped off, free from its rider.
Wiping the blade of his spear on the dead man's cape, Geoffrey straightened in his saddle and looked around; trying to spot any more enemies in the vicinity. The aqua-haired man's eyes eventually rested on Nephenee, and she started; turning her head away. She tried to make herself look busy with retying her shield buckle, but she could still feel his eyes staring at her. Had he caught her staring? Wait, she wasn't staring! Feeling her cheeks flush, her mind rapidly began to convince herself that she was merely observing his battle, not gazing at him in… that way.
Taming the colour on her face, she glanced up through her lashes to see that Geoffrey had stopped looking at her and was heading up the hill. Letting out a breath, she stopped fidgeting with her buckler and also made her way towards Fort Pinell. All the while, she wondered if he had received her gift.
After the defeat of Bertram, the army entered the fort. They started searching for enemies, prisoners, provisions and supplies. When they had secured the castle, they would head back to the main camp and check up on the hawks' progress.
Her battered steel lance still in hand, Nephenee warily strolled down the narrow corridor. The stronghold was very large and the only other signs of people were the echoing footsteps from nearby rooms or hallways. The relative silence was unnerving, and she was starting to wish that she had found a partner to wander around with. Old, dark castles always gave her the spooks; she was afraid that there might be a ghost waiting to jump out at her.
Gulping, she kept going; once she finished investigating this area, she could head back and wait for their departure. So concentrated was she on ignoring the dark shadowy corners of the hall, that she didn't hear the sounds of clinking armour approaching from a nearby passage. It wasn't until she felt a heavy gauntleted hand pressing down on her shoulder did she realize that she had company.
Letting out a startled yelp, Nephenee half jumped half turned and stumbled back into a wall. She dropped her old spear and she could hear the wood crack on the hard stone floor. A few feet away from her stood Geoffrey, hand still extended in the air with a look of surprise still written across his face.
"Ge-Geoffrey!" she gasped, recovering her composure. At first, he didn't answer, but he bent down and gingerly picked up her lance. His hand expertly felt up and down the shaft, eyes flickering rapidly over the weapon.
"You should get a new lance; this one will break on you any second. It wouldn't do well for you to be suddenly unarmed on the battlefield," remarked the paladin, holding the lance out to her. Hesitantly, she took the weapon from him.
"Er, I didn't have any time to see the merchants and get a new weapon," she murmured, avoiding his gaze. "Um… why are you here?"
"Oh, I just finished checking my section of the fort. I didn't find anything, and I was headed back when I spotted you."
"Right… Um, I still need to finish this hallway…" Nephenee replied, taking a step away from him and down the hall. Maybe he'd take the hint and go on his way. She was nervous enough without him around. Unfortunately, the paladin had different plans.
"I'll accompany you, if you don't mind," Geoffrey said, already following in her footsteps. "It's better to go around in pairs, and… you seem a little unsteady."
"Yeah… uh, sure. And I'm fine; I just don't really like big gloomy castles. I'm from the country and all, so…"
"That's understandable. If I grew up in big open fields, I'd probably be intimidated by something this large and formidable," Geoffrey answered, trying to think of a way to work in a thank you for the present he had received many nights ago. This was the first time since then that he had a chance to talk to her in private.
"… Ah, Nephenee, I wanted to say 'thank you', by the way. For those nuts," he said awkwardly. "They were really good, I've never ate anything like them."
"Oh, umm, no problem. It was just, you know, something to repay you with. 'Cause you rescued me from that giant boulder and all," Nephenee mumbled, feeling an uncomfortable yet familiar warmth in her cheeks. There she was, being thanked by a noble. If her friends back in the country saw her now, they'd be poking fun at her for months.
After her last remark, an uneasy silence fell between them and she focused on the floor in front of her. In a couple of minutes, they reached the end of the corridor and they stopped.
"Looks like we're finished," Geoffrey stated, looking around carefully. "Let's head back… And, if you want, you can stop by my tent later. I have a spare lance in there that I don't need. Muston's usually pretty busy, it'd be pretty difficult to talk to him, and time-consuming."
"O-Okay, thanks."
She couldn't believe that she had decided to go. Though she had the guts to actual make for Geoffrey's tent, she didn't have the courage to go alone. Strolling beside her, with a peculiar smile, was Calill. The halberdier had practically begged her to come along, flaunting every excuse possible in her face. The blonde had nearly refused, but then she decided that this could actually be quite amusing and accepted instead.
Musing over what could happen, the pair soon reached the blue-haired paladin's tent. Geoffrey was standing outside his tent, holding a silver lance in his hand. Turning his head, he saw them approach and he lifted a hand in greeting. As they settled in front of him, he offered out the spear to Nephenee.
"Here, this is the lance I was talking about. I don't think it'll be too heavy," he said, as she took it from him. Indeed, the lance was quite light and felt good in her hands. It was a little odd to feel cool metal beneath her fingers rather than wood, but it was a pleasant feeling.
Taking a step back, away from them, she gave the lance a twirl to test its weight in her hands. It spun perfectly and settled nicely. She landed the butt of the weapon into the dirt and smiled.
"Thank you, it's perfect," she replied, looking shyly into his aqua eyes. He gave a smile back. At this moment, Calill's devious mind popped up with an idea. She noticed that Nephenee was standing barely a foot away from a nearby fire. That was all she needed.
Turning her back for a moment, she opened the Fire tome in her hand and muttered something under her breath. Quickly pointing at the hem of Nephenee's skirts, she made sure that neither of them noticed her actions. Soon, a bit of fire was burning the fabric. The country lass immediately noticed and jumped in astonishment.
"Oh my! I'll put that out!" Calill said, immediately stepping up. One heeled shoe quenched the tiny flame, but with this movement, she also 'accidentally' pushed Nephenee in the other direction: towards Geoffrey.
With a gasp, Nephenee felt herself fall and suddenly she landed against a firm yet soft wall. Geoffrey wasn't wearing his chestplate, and the coarse cotton clung tightly to his muscular chest, which she could feel the warmth of against her cheek. Flushing, she pushed back and started to stammer an apology, her head down. The scent of his clean shirt still lingered in her nostrils and she realized that it smelled quite nice. Of course, this only caused the blush to deepen and she hastily shook that thought from her head.
"It's nothing. You just accidentally stepped in the fire, that's all," Geoffrey said, a bit of pink on his face, also. "Erm, maybe we should all retire now?"
"That sounds like a splendid idea!" Calill chimed, taking Nephenee's arm. "Let's go, missy! Good night, dear Geoffrey!" Pulling the other woman along, Calill let her satisfied smile linger on her face. As soon as they were out of sight of Geoffrey's tent, she let go of Nephenee's arm and they walked in silence.
A few moments later, however, Nephenee came to a startling realization: she didn't step into the fire. She was positive. In fact, she was quite a safe distance from it, well, safe enough. Then she noticed the red book in Calill's hand.
"… CALILL!" she exclaimed, but quieted down when people started giving her looks.
"Tsk, it's not very ladylike to yell, Nephenee," came her reply. Blushing with embarrassment, Nephenee glowered at her friend.
"You did that! Why did you do that?"
"Why did I do what?" Calill asked innocently, but the smirk on her lips destroyed that image.
"You know what I'm talking about! You did that on purpose!" Nephenee continued, frowning.
"And you liked it, didn't you?" she answered, stroking her book, not looking at the halberdier. However, she knew that the girl's face was coloured with the deepest crimson.
"Th-That's not true! It was embarrassing!" the green-haired girl retorted defiantly. And that wasn't a lie. It truly was embarrassing. Anyway, where did Calill get off to; setting her on fire!
"Don't try and shirk the truth! You know as well as I that you're fond of my knight of a friend!" The sage continued to smile, and finally glanced at the flustered girl beside her. "Not a bad choice, too. We just need to put some more make-up on you and perhaps find you a pretty dress, and he'll be falling head-over-heels for you in no time at all!"
"CALILL!" Oh yes, genius she was, indeed.
Well, it's a little short, but I think I left it off pretty well. It was high time that Calill showed up and… cause some mischief. Hehehe.
Oscar: Now, now, don't be sadistic.
FireEdge: I'm not. Really. Anyway, as if Calill could've worked from the shadows secretly, anyway…
Oscar: Right…
FireEdge: Anyhow, I doubt that I'll have an update for at least two weeks; what with my trip and then the homework catching-up stuff… But, I'll try my best to get up a chapter soon! And until next time, please review!
--FireEdge--
