Kaetar wasn't surprised to wake up with Zeke sitting in the window sill again. He seemed to spend most of his week there, content with just watching the world. Kaetar wondered if that was how he spent his days in the desert, just watching everyone else go about their lives. He was introduced to everyone else but he kept to himself unless someone happened to be in the same room as him. He didn't go out of his way to move out of his comfy spot.

"They're here," Zeke mumbled simply.

"Who?"

"Syrin and everyone else."

Kaetar left quickly. He ran downstairs, nearly bumping into several priests on the way, before finally making it outside. Syrin certainly had seen better days. He was standing on his own, but he was still paler than usual – where usual was pale – and dark under his eyes. He also looked tired, his eyes half-lidded and unfocused. Whatever illness came over him did a number on him, just judging by appearance alone.

Darius didn't seem well either but he was holding up better than Syrin was, aside from his droopy wings. Unlike Syrin, his face was red and Kaetar could only presume that the desert sun was a little too much for him. He must have recovered before Syrin did and tried to go outside but he obviously wasn't used to so much sunlight.

Syrin first seemed to notice Nasir, who seemed to be the first of the troop to greet them. "Nasir, is everyone here?"

"Except for that hawk you sent away, everyone is here and more."

"More," he repeated to himself. "How did that happen?"

"It's a long story but you should rest first. I don't think I've ever seen you look so ill before," Nasir mumbled, shaking his head.

"I told him the same thing but he insisted that we wasted no more time," a tall man with green hair sighed.

Behind him, there was a wider but shorter man, with brown hair that was tied back in a short ponytail and tanned skin. He had to be an axe user – if he was a little thinner, he would be a lot like the warrior who tried to save him. The interesting part about him was the facial markings, which were similar to what Ema had and he even had the same shade of brown. She was near by, outside to greet Darius and it was the only reason why Kaetar knew. It screamed odd. He wore tan, baggy pants, sandals, and a sleeveless, white top. Leather belts crossed his chest and then again at his hips, obviously used to hold things.

A kid Kaetar's size was leaning against him, as if he was just let down. This kid had brown hair that framed his face, then was pulled back into a short ponytail with a single braid running through. His hair was a darker shade than the taller man he stood by. The prince could clearly see a quiver on his back, on top of a long sleeved shirt that hugged his skin. His pants were baggy and he wore leather boots.

The other stranger was a girl with black hair, that was mostly tied back except for locks that also framed her face. Her top exposed a quite deal of her stomach with her shirt just cutting off below her breasts. Her shirt was long sleeved and dark blue, but embroidered with small golden swirls. She wore black shorts that hugged her thighs and cut off just above her knee, though she had blue fabric hanging off her hip. It was in the same fashion as her shirt but seemed more like a cape that she wore around her hips. It actually seemed to be like what the halberdiers wore on their hips. She had sandals and her feet were bandaged. Kaetar wasn't sure if such an outfit was practical at all - it seem to expose too much skin.

"We didn't have any time. We spent more time in Grann than I would have liked," Syrin muttered.

"You took ill and you would have made everyone else ill if we left before you were better," the green haired man laughed.

"You just happened to come at a bad time," the kid with the quiver mumbled.

"Now, now, we can save this for tomorrow," Peter said suddenly. Syrin stared him oddly. "I take it that you're the group from the desert that Kaetar's been waiting for. Please, come inside and rest yourself up."

If Peter had his way, he wouldn't let any of them leave for at least a couple of days. He seemed oddly attached to someone who wasn't feeling their best and Kaetar could appreciate such concerns. It might be annoying at times but Peter had the best intentions in terms of their health. Syrin only seemed concerned if the injury somehow made their progress slower than the time it would take to jut let someone recover. Even Syrin had to admit defeat to injuries or illness at times.

"There's no time for that! We've wasted enough time here! Nasir, round everyone up. We're leaving immediately."

"What about Chifee?" Darius mumbled.

"He isn't blind or deaf. He'll find us," Syrin muttered.

"You need rest," Peter stated. "When was the last time you or anyone else you brought along here ate? Do you really expect to march back into Crimea in this condition?"

Syrin sighed. He sounded defeated. It was becoming quite clear to Kaetar that the leader's body and his mind didn't mean eye-to-eye. He always had something else on his mind, another destination they had to be at, another thing they had to accomplish... he didn't leave much time to take care of himself. It was a wonder that he could go on for so long. During the entire time that the prince and the leader knew of each other, Syrin only became ill once and the most of the group didn't see it.

"Get some rest and you can fill us in on the details of your plans," Nasir muttered.

"I can't believe Peter actually managed to make Syrin stay for a bit," Misha mumbled. She was lying down on the bed with Kaetar and the archer at the end of the bed.

"You know, the entire time he was sick, he kept mumbling in his sleep to take him back," the kid from before said with a shrug. He introduced himself as Rylar, and the large man was Duma. The distinctive marks on his face came from the fact that he was once a laguz who lost his powers when his branded son, Rylar, was born. However, Duma was a father figure to many of the younger brandeds who had no one else – he was a father to anyone who needed him. The girl was Aletta and she was a fire mage, though Rylar didn't know blood ran through her veins nor did he seem to really care.

"So he wasn't even sleeping well when he was sick," Misha sighed.

"No one really did. You couldn't escape it, not even in your sleep," Rylar growled, shaking his head. "Still, I'm glad this... Peter person actually convinced him to rest."

"If you don't mind me asking, what kind of branded are you? Like -"

"Dad never said what kind of laguz he was but he looks like a cat or a tiger, so my blood is a mix of one of those. I can't ask my mother because she died from complications of my birth. Dad said all she could concentrate on was making sure that she could find a safe place for me to be raised, so she didn't take care of herself like she should have. Stefan found my parents in Begnion and took them Grann, where my mom died. Dad raised me and others since," Rylar shrugged. He seemed rather indifferent to everything.

"Who is Stefan?" Katear asked. That name sounded familiar.

"The guy with the green hair. You saw him. He's the leader of our country."

"Wait that was Stefan? Why is your leader fighting with us?" Misha took the words right of Kaetar's mouth. "Shouldn't he watch over the matters of your country?"

"Our country is so small that we can take care of ourselves. I mean, everyone knows each other! Name and face. We have a backup leader if needed but for the most part, we don't really need it," Rylar answered, looking away. "And apparently, Syrin and Stefan knew each other from before or something. When Stefan saw Syrin, he thought Syrin was moving in. They made some deal and then he got sick-"

"And then we know everything else," the prince muttered. Rylar nodded. Stefan had to be the reason for Syrin to go to Grann then, the one person he could trust to come with him. But then what about this deal they had? It seemed like they were friendly with each other, as friendly as Syrin could be anyway, so why wouldn't the Grann leader come by his own free will? What could Syrin possibility offer to a country that wasn't involved in the politics of the other countries anymore?

Maybe Stefan just didn't want Syrin to run off after the rebellion. Ike and Syrin – who was Soren back then – did leave Tellius and there was nothing stopping him from running off again with Ike's reputation saved. On the other hand, he had to be in Crimea before Ike was proclaimed as a god. Maybe he did still have a small attachment to Tellius after all.

Rylar asked where Misha was from.

"I'm from Crimea. I was a soldier actually but probably not anymore," she stated simply. "I deserted the army to follow the rebellion. Not officially of course... I just left with Kaetar."

Suddenly, it occurred to Kaetar that he didn't know Misha much at all. She was a nice girl, she was nineteen, didn't agree with her country's practices, she could use a lance and Loiya surprised her plenty. He didn't know about her family, her life before the rebellion, her dreams, or any of that stuff. Misha was always just there.

Rylar looked confused, then scoffed. He seemed nice before but perhaps he was just getting comfortable and his true colours were showing. "Don't people join armies because they want to defend their country?"

"Not exactly. People join because of that, yes, but they also join because surviving can earn you glory, their family made them, or they really have no other alternative. For me, it was because I wanted to make my family proud. If it wasn't for this, my mother would be looking for a nice man to have my hand in marriage but she didn't seem all that worried when I enlisted. It was a time of peace before all of this, though knowing her she probably already found someone for me for when I return," Misha sighed.

Rylar smirked. "I don't suppose you know who ruined that peace?"

"No idea. It was someone higher up. All we got is the order to make sure everyone was going along with their stupid ideas. We all know better but it's treason to speak out against it. It puts the laguz in Crimea in an awkward spot because some of them fought on the same side as Ike in the past."

Those laguz had to be from Gallia originally. He did know that Gallia helped the Crimean army in the Mad King's War and then the Greil Mercenaries sided with the Laguz Alliance, which Daein fought against for whatever reason. Micaiah was the general at that point. It was sometime after those wars, or even between them, that Gallians and Crimeans started to get along and some Gallians eventually settled there. They had to feel like outsiders with the new practices. They would know instantly that Ike was a beorc and not a God.

He was torn away from his thoughts when Nasir suddenly opened the door with Chifee at his side. He almost forgot about the little hawk. He was brought up in conversation but that part slipped his mind. "Sorry for the interruption, Kaetar, but Chifee would like to speak to you."

"It's no problem," Kaetar mumbled, wondering why the hawk would choose to come to him of all people. Was he that easy to talk to?

Nasir quietly shut the door behind him as he left, presumably going to a more private room or back to Syrin. Rylar had a smirk on his face that almost seemed threatening. Chifee flattened his wings to his back.

"I need you to tell Syrin the news," Chifee stated.

"Why can't you do it yourself? He's not that threatening," Kaetar mumbled. He didn't think that Syrin was the type to kill the messenger and even if he was, he wasn't exactly in the condition to do so. He was well aware that Syrin was very skilled when it came to magic but that came at a cost of a lot of pain. He doubted that killing Chifee was really worth it.

"But he's kind of scary and he won't like the news."

"I can do it if you want, Kaetar. It's not like I didn't say anything that didn't tick him off before," Misha shrugged. Kaetar could remember their small squabble on the boat but Syrin seemed to like Kaetar, so he didn't mind going.

"It's alright. What's the news?"

"There's someone burning down the big white buildings. Two actually – a beorc with red hair and a yellow tiger. The beorc actually rode the tiger and he was really scary with bows and then there are a lot of people in armour by the sea and sometimes in bigger beorc cities. I tried telling Darius but he said he needed a break from Syrin and told me to come to you," he explained, barely breathing between words.

He didn't blame Chifee for coming to him. Darius said he was a young teen but he acted more like a child. Even if Syrin couldn't hit him, the hawk obviously didn't want to be the one to see his reaction to bad news. Even Misha let out a nervous chuckle. She was the one and who said they didn't have to worry about the rebellion while they were away and if Syrin wasn't so mature, he would definitely rub it in her face.

But she had a point back then and how would she know otherwise?

The more intriguing part was the beorc and the tiger. That sounded like it could be the red-headed Soren and Rykuu, the two that took them in when Kaetar fell off the boat. Soren was bitter about the death of his parents, allowing it to limit his own speech. He also seemed bitter about his name but that truly drive him to do something about it? Almost all by himself, no less. And Rykuu agreed. He couldn't believe those two!

Kaetar found himself walking into a small room that Syrin spent a couple of hours in with Nasir following him in, glaring at a map. It was like he was hoping the map would give him all the answers he needed if he just stared at long enough. Stefan was with him, looking as if he was trying to catch up and Syrin was having none of it.

"What to do you want? I'm busy," Syrin mumbled.

"I have some news from Chifee," he started. Syrin raised an eyebrow. He gave no response, so Kaetar decided to continue. "He said that the ports are being guarded and the chapels are being burnt down again. He said he saw a tiger and a beorc do it."

"Fools," he growled. "It's one thing to burn those down when you're in a small group and you reinforcements, but to do it practically on your own is stupid."

Syrin glared at the map.

"You know who it is. You look guilty," Syrin muttered.

"I'm not positive but I think those are the ones who helped Darius and I when we I fell off the ship," Kaetar muttered.

Syrin sighed. "I don't care for people I haven't met before but I don't want them screwing this up for us. The more trouble they make, the harder it will be to get into Crimea. A boat is out the question now. The fastest way I can think of is to cut into Gallia and then use the forest as cover to sneak into Crimea."

"Cut through Crimea?" Kaetar asked. Nasir understood instantly.

"You mean you want to use the route that landed you in Goldoa? Are you it's even safe?" Nasir mumbled, appearing at the map fro behind Syrin. He had his arms crossed in front of his chest again.

"You guys don't mean the Kauku Caves do you?" Stefan asked.

"I didn't even know you knew about it, Stefan," Syrin said. "Besides, I do happen to remember the route we took to Goldoa, so any other exist should be the one into Gallia so long as we don't travel in a circle."

Just what kind of shortcut where they talking about? He didn't know there was a direct passage between Gallia and Begnion or somewhere close to it, anyway. If that was the case, then why did they spend so long on the boat? It would have saved a lot of time.

"What is it like?" Kaetar asked.

"I was willing to take a boat here, simply because I didn't want to go through those damned caves again. However, that's something that I'll let you experience yourself. Now if you'll excuse me." Syrin got up from the table, motioning for Nasir to follow him. "Kaetar, I'm going to need some of your gold. We're going to be camping out often and I need to make sure there are enough supplies for everyone."

Kaetar went through his pocket and pulled out one of the white gems and passed it to Syrin. "Serena gave that me."

Syrin seemed content enough with that and left with Nasir. That just left Stefan and Kaetar.

"So you're Daein's next king?"

Kaetar nodded. "What about it?"

"There are two reasons why I decided to follow Syrin, and fighting isn't one of them," he began, everything about him calm. "For one, Syrin needs guidance. He's so focused on this task that he hasn't thought of other goals for himself, so I intend to give him a purpose after all of this is said and done. He needs something to do with his long life. The other reason is that I wanted to meet you."

Stefan came for him? But why? He didn't have a reputation outside of Daein and he barely had a reputation in Daein as it was. Syrin would mention a few things and Kaetar wasn't he sure what he said about him, but he was still surprised.

"You came up here to see me," Kaetar repeated to himself.

"Yes. You may have already realized that I don't ever meet up with the rest of Tellius' leaders. It took a lot of effort to make Grann an actual country but after that, no one really wanted anything to do with us. However, it's difficult for Grann to survive on its own. It's hard to grow food in large quantities with moving sand, so we rely on Begnion for help with food and even that relationship is strained."

"So you have no choice but to go back into politics," Kaetar mumbled. Yes, that made sense. If Stefan was friends with at least one leader, then politics wasn't hopeless. When he considered it, it wasn't like Daein and Grann couldn't trade either. In fact, if Kaetar spoke to his father then Stefan didn't have to wait for his reign. "I thought that Sanaki and Micaiah wouldn't have minded though."

"Micaiah wouldn't have minded but I wanted to wait until the colony was bigger before I tried to make it a country, but by the time that came around, all the beorc countries had new leaders. As far as the laguz go, they wouldn't say anything rude to me personally since I was an ally, but that's as far as that friendliness goes." He paused and let a deep sigh. "Did you know the laguz called us the parentless?" Stefan asked, his demeanour souring.

Kaetar shook his head. It was a silly name really. If Stefan was standing there, right in front of him, didn't that mean he had parents?

"It's because a laguz would rather pretend that we didn't exist by dismissing our parents. The laguz kings are old – especially King Kurthnaga. Old habits die hard whether they knew Ike or not. Everyone pushed for good relations between the beorc and laguz, but no one thought of the brandeds," Stefan sighed.

"You said Micaiah wouldn't have minded. Is that because she was also Branded?" Kaetar asked suddenly. Syrin seemed to have implied something back on the ship; she could possibly be alive. She clearly had no laguz features, based on the portrait in the castle.

"She is. I don't know where she went after Sothe died, just that she passed the throne on to her son and left," the man stated. Kaetar didn't know what to think. Why didn't he have a brand then? Was her brand special or something? Maybe brands weren't inherited all the time. He could see what Nasir meant when he said that the branded weren't fully understood. Did the branded themselves even fully understand what it meant to have a brand?

"Can you tell me more about the branded?"

Stefan raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want to know?"

"I like, no scratch that, love learning. I'm always thinking, I'm always curious and I always ask questions because I want to learn more. I used to steal books from the royal library and let them pile up in my room. The reason I even left Daein was to learn and the reason why I'm here is to learn too," Kaetar answered with a grin. Stefan chuckled.

"And Syrin didn't tell you anything?"

"A lot of what I know comes from Darius. I don't think Syrin wanted to talk about it but he couldn't get away without talking about it a little," the prince sighed. Kaetar felt it was pretty safe to say that Syrin was making him work for the answers and he had a feeling Stefan might do the same thing. "I know that a branded is someone who has both laguz and beorc blood. The laguz parent loses their power to transform but there's more to it all then that, right?"

"Right. The union between laguz and beorc was rare in the first place and a child between them is even more so. Additionally, mixed blood can also appear generations later and a child can be branded because of that. Both of my parents were beorc," Stefan paused. Kaetar could just imagine the surprise his parents must have felt.

"We have no laguz features but we age differently, even from one branded to another. It just depends on what blood flows through your veins. The laguz blood also seems gives us abilities that the beorc fear. The laguz on the other hand, would rather pretend we didn't exist." Stefan stopped. He took a deep breath but didn't continue and Kaetar knew that he wasn't going to get anymore out of him. His face didn't show it but Kaetar could guess by his body language that he was upset.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for my question-"

Stefan chuckled again. "There is no need to apologize. I would rather have questions from you then the comments I've received growing up. People that genuinely want to learn about us aren't common. I welcome the flow of ideas any day."

It didn't sound like an insult. Stefan suddenly stood up.

"That's enough of that. I'm going to rest before Syrin marches us who knows where."

That left Kaetar alone in the room. He took a peek at the map but he couldn't see the shortcut that Syrin talked about. All he could see was a mountain. Was there a secret passage through the mountain? How did Syrin find it then? By luck?

He dreaded the moment. Syrin would rather spend time at sea then go through those caves again. His mind jumped at the opportunity to guess what could be in there and he didn't like any of the results that his imagination came up. Perhaps there were more reasons to take the scenic route other than for the supposedly terrible short cut. Perhaps the entire boat ride was a nostalgia trip for Syrin - was it not the same route he took to Begnion a century ago?

Kaetar saw Syrin's memories and their leader also had to be dwelling in those memories.

Kaetar could see why Syrin didn't say much about the shortcut. He made sure that both Kaetar and Rylar had plenty of arrows and that Nicholas and Aletta had fresh tomes. He said that they would probably need arrows to get back into Crimea and magic would help but didn't elaborate. He also made sure that everyone brought two canteens of water – one for the trip and the other for the caves. It raised a red flag in Kaetar's mind but not even that prepared him for the caves.

The march there wasn't horrible. They set up camp once to rest with the tents and bedrolls that Syrin got. Stefan and Syrin shared a tent, so did Misha and Ema, then Rylar and his father. Nicholas squeezed himself beside Kaetar and the prince ended up comfortably squeezed between his bodyguard and that bodyguard's family friend. The bird laguz were together, as were Arum and Elli. That left Zeke with Aletta and neither seemed to mind that arrangement. Nasir and Peter got their own tent. The next day they packed up and reached the caves. Syrin didn't say anything as Darius stepped inside and shook his head.

"No way," the raven muttered. "I'm not going in there. Chifee and I will fly to the other side and meet you there. Gallia, right?"

"Wait! You can't leave!" Misha growled. "You just got here and you're part of the team! If we have to suffer, so do you!"

"I still have the sunburn from the desert. Everything is already sore. I don't need it to be worse," the raven growled.

"The less people, the better. I couldn't care less how they get to Gallia," Syrin muttered. Misha didn't say anything after the two birds took off. "The caves are dangerous but we don't have the luxury called time. Ration your water carefully and watch your step."

The caves were unbelievable. He could see the air move in front of him and the thick red liquid flowed on the sides of the cave. He could also swear that he was seeing in red and it was almost like the other colours didn't exist - jut various shades of red. There were definitely paths – many of them actually – but it still worried him. He was also overwhelmed by the heat . He never had to deal with this sort of heat before and it made him miss the cold winters of Daein. The prince was the first to drink some of water, which tasted warm but it was too precious to get rid of.

Syrin and Nasir led the way – the experts. Syrin went through this cave before and he said he knew where he was going. The group had no choice but to trust him. Nasir was well travelled and surely, he knew the general direction of his home, so Kaetar trusted that Nasir knew where he was going as well. If that wasn't the case, he at least looked like he knew where he was going and that was assuring.

The walk was silent. No one seemed to want to waste the energy. He took another drink of his water. He noticed that Rylar was being carried in Duma's arms, fast asleep. Rylar must not have gotten much sleep at their campsite but how could anyone sleep in a place like this? It baffled Kaetar that the branded archer could be so comfortable.

Ema didn't look all that uncomfortable – her face was calm and her movements still fluid. She was one of two laguz left with them since the birds took off. However, she was sweating. Aletta was much in the same position, though she was more careful about where she stepped. Kaetar didn't blame her – her hip-cape could cause problems.

Peter, Nicholas, Arum and Elli kept to the back, so that left the girls in the middle with Kaetar and Loiya. They all looked a little pale, with sweat making their hair stick to their faces. Arum was breathing deeply and Nicholas looked a little confused.

But for Kaetar, it was bad. Loiya actually took his shirt off, his muscles glistening with sweat. Misha was staring and Kaetar didn't quite blame her because Kaetar was staring in disbelief. He lived with Loiya for a long time and but he rarely ever saw the bodyguard without his shirt on. It was improper to walk around the castle without a shirt and Kaetar forgot how well built he was. It surprised him every time.

In the end, Kaetar had to focus on his own health. He wasn't exactly comfortable taking his shirt off and carrying it was one more thing to worry about. He preferred to keep it on. No, maybe that was stupid. It was hard for him to think clearly and suddenly, he became dizzy and hit the ground. Instantly, he knew that it wasn't the necklace. It was strangely quiet lately and it just didn't feel the same.

He got up and met the ground again. Loiya shouted his name but someone else came to his aid instead. It took a moment for Kaetar to realize that Rylar had woken up and his feet were planted to the ground while Duma lifted the prince up. "The heat got the better of him," he mumbled.

"Is he going to be okay?" Loiya asked.

"We need to get him out of the heat and into some shade," Peter answered. "It would do us all some good. I'm not sure how much longer I can last. These robes don't breathe very well."

"The exit is right there. He only needed to last a couple of more minutes." Kaetar didn't know who said that but he was sure it was Syrin. It was something he would say. It wasn't long until he felt a cool breeze and saw the light. There was a collective of sigh of relief as everyone made it out of the caves. The bird laguz were waiting in front of the trees and jumped to their feet when the rest of the group got out.

"You guys look crap!" Darius exclaimed. "Luckily for you, Chifee and I got some cold-"

Peter cut him off by taking the canteen from Darius. "Duma, set him down under a tree!"

Duma did as he was told and Kaetar almost immediately got a mouthful of cold water. He greedily swallowed and reached up to take the canteen. He was about ready to drown himself in cold water, anything to feel normal again. He drank a little more before Peter took it away. Though it did disappoint him, Kaetar was already feeling better.

"The things we do for you, Syrin," Stefan chuckled lightly.

"None of this is for me," Syrin countered. "At any rate, we rest here for the night. We won't make it Crimea in one night, and certainly not this condition."

Syrin was right about that. Though Kaetar was the only one to collapse, only the brandeds and the laguz looked like they still had energy. The birds were the first to began to set up tents but it became quickly apparent that they didn't know what they were doing. It was Nasir and Stefan who stepped in to show them what to do. Between Nasir, Stefan, and Syrin – who could only help by holding things down – tents were set up in no time at all.

Adrien wasn't in a good mood. He felt like everything just caved in all at once and it was enough to make him want to throw the crown off his head, even though he wasn't wearing it at the moment. He was both stressed and excited about his unborn child; Adrien always liked children but he couldn't help but to be worried about his wife and the child's relationship with Kaetar. They would be roughly seventeen years apart and the older one was next in line for the throne, and any of his children would be in line before Adrien's newest child. It also made him feel incredibly old but he was only around twenty when Kaetar was born and his wife is two years younger. He wasn't even forty yet.

He feared for her safety was well, but so far everything seemed alright. He had all the money to make sure she got the best treatment. He really didn't want to lose her. Their marriage wasn't originally for love but rather to make a strong connection with one of Daein's most influential noble families. The king would be a liar if he said that he didn't fall for her sometime after their wedding. He really did love her and reminded her of that every night. However, since their son got up and left, he had been diligent in making sure that she was happy and comfortable all by himself. He didn't send a servant to check up on her anymore.

His son was the other problem. Adrien often found himself waking up in the middle night wondering where his son was and what he was doing. He figured he was part of the rebellion, knowing his fondness for history, but the rebellion was quiet. News of it often got to him because of some rumour someone heard at the borders and he last got a rumour a month ago. It was like the rebellion got up and left. He hated not having any news. As far as he knew, Kaetar was rotting in a shallow grave.

He missed his son. They had been at odds with each other – with Kaetar thinking that the king was treating him too harshly and Adrien thinking that his son was too stubborn when it came to his lessons. It just seemed it wasn't that long ago when he was even born. Adrien was only twenty and his wife, Adalyn, was only eighteen. They were right on track, according to the riders, but that didn't ease his worries until both Adalyn and his son were sleeping soundly together. The baby seemed to like to listen to her heart beat and that habit didn't seem to die. She was always so gentle with him while Adrien was afraid to hold him if he wasn't sitting down.

Adalyn was the the one to name him. She said she had a young brother who didn't live past the age of ten. Adrien never told his son that he was named after a dead uncle that he would never know. Kaetar looked a lot like his mother and still did – pale skin, brown hair, the same kind of curve in his face – but both of them were surprised to find that he had golden eyes. Neither of them had golden eyes.

It was lucky for Adrien too. He certainly didn't know many people with golden eyes. If nothing else, the Daein population knew Kaetar for his eyes first and Adrien knew that the only way to pick one teenage boy out from the many in the world was with his eyes. He made sure that the laguz kings, Serena, and their escorts knew about it in case he ever went beyond Crimea. He didn't feel bad about spreading the letter around and telling everyone to send him home if they saw him. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time and needed to come home before something irreversible happened.

He was torn out of his thoughts when Issac opened the door and walked into his office, holding a tray with two cups. He was a tall man, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He was tall enough to be intimating but it was his expression that often made others nervous. He was serious, but that's why Adrien picked him to be his military adviser. In fact, Adrien made him one of the Four Riders.

He had the other three that were capable of fighting. He wanted one that could direct them and Issac fit the role. They first met in the national library. Adrien, with a couple of soldiers, wanted a little bit of fresh air and Issac was there studying. The king could remember the paper that the other boy wrote on and to him, it looked like it might as well been written in the ancient language. Issac explained that it was one of Soren's strategies but the name was lost on Adrien – he had no idea who that was or what he did.

It still was. He never bothered to look to see who Soren was. He never asked Issac and Issac never mentioned that name again. Whoever he was, he was probably dead now and Adrien didn't waste much time ever thinking about him. He wasn't important.

"What is it?"

Issac set the tray down and took a cup for himself. He often did this when he wanted discuss important matters with him – if the adviser had tea, he was staying for a while. Adrien took a sip out his own cup. The tea was rich in flavours that the king couldn't really describe. He could taste honey, that much he was sure about.

"Your wife?" the king asked.

"Yes. She has a special talent with tea, doesn't she?" Issac chuckled. Adrien would have to ask her to make some for his own wife later. She loved tea but she hasn't really gotten out of bed as of late. She didn't have the will to go out and tackle the day like she used to. She preferred to sit and read and Adrien wasn't going to force her out of bed if she didn't want to be. He wasn't the one at risk and he was hardly an expert on the matter.

"Now, cut to the point. You don't bring tea for no reason," the king mumbled.

The adviser nodded. "Ramon replied to that letter. We have permission to use a small recon force to go and locate Kaetar and Loiya, then bring them home. However, they cannot participate with the rebellion and they have to be gentle towards Crimean citizens. I would like you to read the letter," he muttered, taking a slip of paper from out of his inner pocket. He handed it to his king, who eagerly read it.

Adrien noticed that something was off immediately and his adviser's sarcasm with the other king's name suddenly made sense. The name at the bottom was Ramon's name and it was his seal on the wax on the outside. But something was off.

"I take you have noticed too," Issac began. "I don't believe Ramon wrote it."

"We should compare it to another letter," Adrien sighed. He saved all the letters. Each drawer in his desk was dedicated to on country. Even Grann had it's own drawer, mostly full of copies of treaties from Begnion but seeing as their leader didn't ever socialize with anyone else, it remained relatively empty. Crimea was easy – it was at the first from the top and he pulled a letter from the top. It was Ramon's confirmation letter about attending the meeting that he left.

With another sip of tea, he compared them side by side. The newest letter had bigger writing, bigger loops and all the correct letters were dotted and crossed. It was... meticulous. Ramon's writing was kind of sloppy for a king - the young king once said he wrote fast and didn't care for neatness all that much when it came to a giant stack of letters that had to read and reply to.

"If it wasn't Ramon, then who could it be?"

"I suspect a traitor – perhaps an adviser who wished for more power than the king had and felt that he could rule Crimea better. If I do say so myself, then I would say it's almost a repeat of the time that Crimea nearly broke in a civil war during Elicina's reign. It is fitting, considering the name of her father."

"Right," Adrien sighed. It was kind of like that but his gut feeling told him that it was worse. This wasn't about taking the throne away. Surely, someone who wanted Ramon gone would have used their own name and not Ramon's. What was the point of using the effort to impersonate him if they wanted to rule? Perhaps he wanted to rule in secret and merely use Ramon as a public figure.

The Daein king didn't like it. Did the rebels know this? Did they know what they were getting themselves into? It wasn't just about clearing Ike's name anymore. There was some sort of power struggle behind all of it.

"Issac, you said your son was just finishing his training, correct?"

"Yes," he answered, waiting for the king to continue.

"I want him to join the recon force. It's been a while since he and Kaetar last saw each other but they were good friends and I think he can speak some sense into him. If he can convince Kaetar to come back, then Loiya will obviously follow. I have a feeling Kaetar would ignore anyone else unless they dragged him back here against his will. Your son might make it happen peacefully."

Issac sighed. "I don't like the idea of him going there but you have a point. He is suited for the job."

"Good. I trust you can pick out the rest of the troops and have them set out as early as possible. Remember, the goal is not to get involved with the conflict directly – the goal is take the boys home by all means necessary."

Issac smirked. Adrien liked that – the gears in his head would already be turning. He wasn't a rider for nothing.

Someone mentioned in the reviews that it was interesting that Kaetar's father got a little bit of back story, and I already had more coming up!

I like have around 5000 words when I upload a chapter and without Adrien at the end, it fell short so I added Daein's persepctive. That's probably the only perspective switch so far - I tried really hard to stay with Kaetar, anyway. There will be more in the future, but that will be very close to the end, so it won't be any time soon.

Anyway guys, thanks for reading guys! Check out my profile for information on submitting characters - feel free to submit more characters if you have already submitted characters!