When Emmeryn had told her siblings she would play with them as soon as she was done, she'd assumed that the meeting would be short. She should have known better.

Apparently, all the other nobles had thought it was necessary to look at all Lord Redwind's belongings and hear every stupid thing he had to say before they could decide that he was a traitor.

She'd seen his knights attack her with her own eyes. Captain Madeline had even asked them after the battle, and they had told her they were Lord Redwind's knights. Who else could have sent them except Lord Redwind?

But when she'd said that, the rest of the noblemen had just told her to shut up while the adults were talking. They hadn't actually said that–Captain Madeline might execute them if they had–but they might as well have.

That left Emmeryn sat in the middle of the throne room, bored out of her mind as everyone around her listened to Lord Redwind go on and on about some letter he had written last week. Emmeryn didn't know what that had to do with anything, and she didn't care, either. She should have been playing outside with Chrom and Lissa. Could have been, if she had just told everyone else to go home and leave this whole business alone. But she hadn't and now she was stuck here until she grew old and died.

"–was not my intent at all," Lord Redwind finished, just as Emmeryn drew herself back into the conversation. She blinked and glanced blearily around the room. To her disappointment, it still looked like the meeting wasn't about to end soon.

Beside her, Captain Madeline, the person in charge of the meeting–because who else could Emmeryn choose for this–stepped forward. "Is that all that must be said?"

Lord Redwind scowled. "What? No! I've got lots more to say!"

"If you have anything more you would like to bring to the attention of the court, please present them."

"Oh come on. It's... you know..." Lord Redwind pulled at the ends of his long red hair and growled. "You know, it's just ... I wasn't... I didn't do anything because I wasn't there, okay? I was at Lord Arundel's castle."

"Which you've already mentioned."

"Er... I have?"

A low mumble swept through the crowd of nobles around them, coloring the walls with their robes of blinding blue and green. From the corner of her eye, Emmeryn saw a few of them turn to each other to whisper things to each other. Maybe that was good? Maybe that was bad? Emmeryn hadn't paid attention long enough to know or care.

Captain Madeline turned away from Lord Redwind as he struggled to speak. "I believe we have heard everything of importance."

"But–"

"Your Grace, what say you?" Captain Madeline turned to Emmeryn, and suddenly all eyes were on her.

Emmeryn jumped. "Um... what?"

On her other side, Lord Bartholomew cleared his throat. "Your verdict, your Grace?"

"Oh." Her verdict? That was easy. She didn't need to listen to everyone go on and on about nothing to know what was the right choice. Emmeryn pulled herself a little straighter in her seat and narrowed her eyes. "He is guilty."

The two guards stood beside Lord Redwind seized his arms. His eyes widened briefly, and as the guards began to pull him away, his surprised face turned into fury.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" he shrieked and kicked against the floor. "You can't do this! I didn't do anything! I promise I'm innocent!"

Some more hushed whispers. Emmeryn could barely hold back a long sigh. Were they going to try to make this go one for another hour? If they were, she wanted to leave.

Finally, the pair of guards pushed their way through the main doors, taking Lord Redwind with them, and the hall fell back into silence.

Emmeryn let out a long sigh and fell back into her seat. Was it over? It looked like it was. No one looked like they were going to force her to stay. Maybe now she could finally go and spend time with Chrom and Lissa.

They might be a little angry because I'm so late, but I hope a slice of pie will earn me forgiveness.

When she tried to get up, though, a blond-haired man stepped forward and raised a hand. "Your Grace, may I have a word before you retire?"

Emmeryn could have groaned right there, but she didn't. She fell back into her chair, and when she noticed his expectant look, she asked, "What's wrong?"

The blond-haired man cleared his throat. "I have no intention of questioning your authority, your Grace, but as a practitioner of the law myself, I was simply wondering... you're sure he's guilty, correct?"

"I'm sure. He sent his knights to help Tomas kill me. He's guilty."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw some of the nobles turn to each other and whisper. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but it was probably something dumb. Naga, did they ever shut up?

"But he had said that, in his exact words, he would never dream of doing such a thing."

"I don't care. He's guilty."

"But–"

"He's guilty!"

Her voice came out louder than she thought it would be. It echoed within the hall like a bell, completely drowning the soft voices around her in silence, and suddenly, Emmeryn became too aware of everyone's gaze stabbing into her skin. Even though she knew she shouldn't, even though Tomas had told her a thousand times how bad it would appear for her, she shrank back into her seat.

"You're Grace," the man said, crossing his arms with a huff. "Perhaps you may have more important business to attend to, but to a practitioner of the law, there is no business more important than justice, and the evidence is quite clear on the way the sword shall swing."

"It is?" Emmeryn tried to dig through her brain for anything else she might have heard that sounded important, but she could remember nothing. She couldn't have missed anything. Could she?

"And what is the evidence?" she asked quietly.

"For one, he claimed that his wife was the more likely culprit. He had no reason to establish a partnership with the Hierarch Tomas when he was accused of stealing the accused's prized horses, while his wife had recently exchanged letters with the Hierarch."

"I... didn't know that," Emmeryn mumbled. Maybe she would have if she had paid attention. Tomas always did say that her subjects were not to be ignored, but it wasn't her fault. She didn't even want to be here.

Another nobleman stepped forward and said, "Lord Redwind claimed to be at Lord Arundel's castle at the time of the attack, didn't he? He could not have sent knights from his castle if he was not there."

"That is certainly true," the blond-haired man nodded. "Any communication he might have made would have taken time to travel from Lord Arundel's castle to Lord Redwind's castle, then to Ylisstol."

"But what about the letter found in Hierarch Tomas's room from Lord Redwind a month ago?" A third nobleman said. "It has Lord Redwind's seal and everything."

"The seal proves nothing," the blond-haired nobleman interjected. "Lord Redwind claimed his wife had access to his seal as well. They are married, so it makes sense she would have possession of his seal, would it not?"

With every new thing that was said, Emmeryn only sunk further and further into her seat. A letter? A seal? What were they all talking about? This was all new to her, but they wouldn't have been if she had paid attention.

And it looked like everyone else knew, too. She could feel everyone's stares grow more suspicious by the second. It was like she was being poked and prodded by a thousand burning needles that melted her away and she wanted this to be done and she wanted to get out but she was trapped in here by all these nobles in this stupid meeting.

"Your Grace," the blond-haired man said, and he put those stabbing brown eyes back on her. "You can't truly believe this innocent man is a traitor, do you?"

"I–" She did? Because his knights attacked her? "I–" She didn't? Because of what everyone said she missed? What could she say that wouldn't dig her deeper into this pit of despair?

Emmeryn glanced over at Lord Bartholomew, then at Captain Madeline. Lord Bartholomew shook his head. Captain Madeline frowned, and she made to step forward. To do what? To defend her? To attack the blond-haired nobleman?

"Pardon me."

All the chatter fell away instantly as everyone turned their attention to the silver-haired man as he stepped through the crowd. The man swept his narrowed gaze through the crowd, before he placed a hand before his chest and bowed.

Emmeryn didn't recognize him at all. He didn't look like any of her father's men, and she hadn't put any new men in her court. She leaned forward to get a closer look, but nothing about him was familiar. His clothes looked strange, as did the little emblem on his belt. A strange little flower that didn't look like any of the flowers that grew in Ylisse. What was he here for?

Upon seeing him, the blond-haired man frowned. "Duke Verdigris. What do you have to say?"

"Oh, not much. Worry not for how long this will take, for I shall make it brief." The man, Duke Verdigris, straightened out and turned to look at the blond-haired man. "As much as I agree with much that has been said–truly, I do–I believe that her Grace looks a little overwhelmed. I can't imagine losing someone close, then being betrayed by another could be a simple matter for anyone, let alone someone so young. Is that true?"

When Duke Verdigris turned his eyes to her, Emmeryn realized that, if she said yes, it would make the perfect excuse. This strange man had helped her. Why, though?

She nodded anyway, and just like that, all the anger in the room cooled back into a small heat on her skin. Still hot, but not hot enough to really hurt.

Lord Bartholomew cleared his throat, and all eyes turned to him. "If her Grace is not feeling well, perhaps it would be best to wait until her Grace is better to call another trial, would it not?"

"Indeed," Duke Verdigris said. "Would anyone be opposed to that?"

A sound of agreement passed through the room. Even the blond-haired man only hummed, "I suppose there would be nothing wrong with that."

Everyone's eyes fell back to her, and Emmeryn couldn't nod again fast enough. "Yes. I think I would like that," she said. She turned to Captain Madeline.

"If that is what her Grace wishes, then it shall be done," Captain Madeline said, clapping her hands. "Until further notice, this court is adjourned."


Duke Verdigris, of Rosanne. That was what Captain Madeline had told Emmeryn his name was when she'd asked later. Captain Madeline had said that he was a guest of Lord Ardunel's.

Emmeryn thought that it wasn't good for guests to interrupt meetings with Ylissean nobility, but if the other nobles knew him well enough to let him speak, then Emmeryn wasn't going to ask Captain Madeline to tell him off. Besides, he had helped her. She wasn't going to complain about that.

I still don't know why he helped me, Emmeryn thought as she lifted aside a freshly baked loaf of bread sitting on the kitchen counter that smelled of dry wheat and butter flakes. Is he going to try to kill me too? Like Tomas did?

Captain Madeline and her Pegasus Knights were speaking with him right now. She'd told Captain Madeline it was just in case he knew anything about Lord Redwind, but maybe this would also show that he would try to kill her later. Or maybe it wouldn't.

Maybe I should have gone with Captain Madeline. Then I could ask what he wanted, Emmeryn thought, and she moved a plate with a cooked turkey off one counter and to another.

"Ow!"

Emmeryn almost dropped the plate, startled. She glanced left, and by her side, a small mousy-haired servant girl shrank away from her gaze. There was something under her foot, too, and when Emmeryn glanced down, she saw her foot planted firmly over the servant girl's. While she was lost in her thoughts, she had stepped on her feet.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Emmeryn gasped, and she stepped back to place the turkey down and crouch by the girl's side. "I was distracted. Are you okay?"

The girl looked away, and she hid something behind her back. "Oh no, I'm sorry for getting in your way."

Emmeryn frowned at that. Why was this girl apologizing? She was the one at fault here. "There is nothing for you to apologize for. I'm not even supposed to be here."

"Do you want more cake?"

"Huh?" Emmeryn's eyes narrowed. Why would she want more cake? And where had she heard that before?

Now that she had finally stopped to take a good, long look at the girl, she seemed familiar. Emmeryn had seen her before, which wasn't weird because she saw servants all the time, but what was weird was how Emmeryn felt like she was supposed to know who she was.

When she saw the tiny orange flower tucked behind her ear, it came back to Emmeryn. The storage closet. The girl with the cake. Her eyes widened in recognition.

"It's you!" Emmeryn said, and her face brightened.

"Me?" The girl became even smaller. "W–what did I do? Did I say something wrong?"

"What? No!" Emmeryn shook her head quickly. "No, I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me? What did I do?"

"You... um..." Emmeryn paused to scratch at her head, and she looked around like she would find the right words hiding in the corner. "You helped me feel better."

"O–oh. Okay," the girl said, in a voice so quiet the breeze from outside the windows almost drowned it. She reminded Emmeryn of Lissa.

"Hey," Emmeryn said, and she leaned over so she was in front of her. "What's your name?"

"Um... Sumia?"

"Sumia. It's nice to meet you, Sumia." Emmeryn held out her hand for Sumia to shake. Sumia's hands remained behind her back, but that was okay. She was probably holding something important.

"So... does your mother work here?"

Sumia looked up for a second, nodded, then shook her head.

"So she does?"

"Sometimes."

"Oh. That's good. Does she know where the pies are? I need to find some for my siblings."

"Pies for the Prince and Princess?" Sumia opened her mouth, then stopped. She looked away and frowned, closing her mouth, opening it, then closing it again like she wanted to say something but couldn't. Finally, she moved her hands out from behind her back and shoved what was in them into Emmeryn's face.

It was a pie. A big, strawberry pie.

"My mom made this for the Prince and Princess. She told me to bring it to them, but now you can do it instead," Sumia said, staring at the floor.

"Oh. Thanks," Emmeryn replied. She took the pie from the girl's hands, and as the spotty smell of sweet strawberry syrup filled her nose, she could almost forget all about Lord Redwind and Duke Verdigris and all her worries about the meeting that waited for her in the future.

This pie was good. Emmeryn was almost tempted to eat it right then and there, but she managed to control herself.

Emmeryn nodded at the girl. "Thank you, Sumia."

"You're welcome," Sumia whispered.

Emmeryn watched as Sumia turned around and headed deeper back into the kitchen, and when she looked back at the pie in her hands, she smiled.

Maybe it would be nice for her to come here again.


So, I disappeared for the entirety of November. Sorry about that. I was busy with writing an original story for National Novel Writing Month, and I probably could have found extra time to scrap together another chapter had it not been that I was also dealing with college things, so there's my excuse. Not much of an excuse, I know, but it is what it is.

This story's direction has been a little strange as of late. I do know where I want to go, I just haven't been able to figure out how exactly I'll get there, and that certainly hasn't made writing updates any easier. Writing is still a lot of fun, but if the next few chapters take a bit more time, it's because I'm figuring things out.

Speaking of breaks, Christmas break is upon us. As much as I'd like to say this'll give me more time to update, I have got a Christmas story in the works, so I might not touch this until break is over, but once that's done, I will get back to writing updates.

Also, quick side-note: I actually changed the ending of the last chapter. If some stuff here doesn't make sense, that's because I changed some stuff last chapter. I'd recommend you go back and give it a look.

Sorry again for anyone who's waiting this long for an update, and thanks for sticking with me for so long while I press on with this story. Until then, take care of yourselves, and stay safe!