The next afternoon, Glen and his escorts were at one of Grado's small forts. Or, well, a former Renaian fort that was now under Grado's control. Cormag opened the door to the room Glen set up as his war room, having returned from scouting the area around Port Kiris.

"Looks like the Frelia army's occupying Port Kiris now. You were right, Councilman Pablo couldn't do it," Cormag reported back to Glen.

Matthias combed a hand through his dark blue hair. He, too, had recently returned from scouting. As he hailed from Serafew, he looked and sounded more Renaian than any of the other three, and easily passed as a refugee buying food from the market. "I overheard that no ships have left for Rausten, either, because there's been some sort of ghost ship prowling the waters and sinking vessels. There are rumors that Melkaen Coast has also been turned into a monster haven."

"Then Eirika definitely went further into Carcino," Glen commented, glancing over his map. "But because of Pablo, almost all of Carcino's main roads have Grado soldiers on patrol. If she ran into them, we would've known by now."

"But there aren't any other marked roads on our maps, are there? And I'm pretty sure they can't forge their own trail through the mountains," Justus argued. "Carcino's mountains are notoriously difficult to traverse since they're the tallest in all the continent. Even with pegasi, they're not going to be able to ferry everyone in a reasonable amount of time."

Glen was silent for a moment as he gathered all of his intel together. In his silence, Matthias picked up the conversation. "But Princess Eirika is on her way to Rausten. I doubt she would need an entire army to travel with her there. It's possible she may have only a few pegasi escorts to bring her there."

"With our wyvern riders, they'd probably find that too risky, wouldn't they? Besides, Frelia's still fighting our main forces. They likely can't divert too many resources to escorts."

"We should still patrol the mountains," Glen interrupted. "The main roads are covered by our main forces. Aside from them, there is no other way to Rausten or Jehanna, and Renais is under Grado occupation. That leaves only the mountains for her forces to cross."

At that moment, the sound of flapping wings, then a whiny, caught their attention. Peering out the window in the room, he saw a Pegasus Knight mercenary dismount, then grab what seemed to be a piece of paper from her satchel. Glen motioned for Matthias to greet her.

Some minutes of silence later, Matthias returned with the mercenary following close behind. "It's for you, General Glen. And she said she has a message from General Caellach."

She waited for his eyes to turn to her before she spoke, holding out the sheet clutched tightly in her hand. "General Caellach said that this may be useful information. Said it's a little-known mountain route that he knows from his mercenary days."

Glen took it from her, and opened it. Indeed, it was a map identical to his own, except with another path drawn in. Some locations were marked, like "fortress" and "Caer Pelyn"—he'd read about a place by such a name when Duessel was teaching him his letters, but had believed that it no longer existed. Looked like he was wrong about that.

"…Understood. If there's nothing else—"

"Actually, there is… one more thing he told me to tell you."

Even though nobody else was around aside from his three companions, the mercenary still glanced around before stepping closer to him and speaking in a hushed tone. "He said that General Valter is up to no good again. Seems that he tricked General Selena and had her abandon her mission at Bethroen. He's headed north now, General Caellach said. And…"

She hesitated, and chewed on her lip, as if she didn't know how to say what she was supposed to say. Glen wasn't sure what could be much worse than anything that involved Valter, so he pushed her with a "Go on."

"General Duessel is… Ah… He has joined Prince Ephraim's army. The Emperor has declared him a traitor that must be killed on sight."

"That's—!" Cormag stepped forward as he spoke, but Glen cut him off with a raised hand, and he backed down.

Looks like my suspicion that Selena wasn't sent to Bethroen to help Duessel gained more ground. But why would Valter send her back to the capital…? No, that's not the right question. What has he to gain by going north? Does he intend on killing Eirika in my stead?

"…Is that all?" She nodded affirmative, and Glen reached into his bag to procure a small gem. "Catch."

She caught the gem that was gently tossed to her, and her eyes widened. "This is… are you-are you sure?"

"I don't know if that would convince you to cancel your contract with Pablo, or whoever's hired you. But at the rate things are going, you won't want to be caught in the middle of this mess. This should net you enough money to cover the money you would've made off Pablo, right? That's all. Feel free to leave."

She nodded eagerly and stammered her thanks before dashing out of the room. He saw her mount her steed quickly and wave her goodbye. A whiny and the flapping of wings, and she was gone. By the direction he saw her head towards, it was likely towards Port Kiris.

"…Was that okay? You literally just told her to not help us," Matthias laughed.

Glen shrugged. "Was I wrong? Our men don't know how to handle pegasi, anyways, and let's be real. They don't know how to handle their riders, either. She's better off not having to deal with the men at all."

Matthias guffawed, leaning against the stone wall for support. "No wonder you're popular with the women. Save them trouble. I think some of the recruits were complaining that you get gifts from admirers all the time."

"When you were raised by a bunch of women and had to take care of a group of little girls when you were a kid, you happen to understand them a bit better," Glen remarked. "If they want admirers, they should try and be like me. I'm not changing myself for them. C'mon, let's go."

Cormag followed hot on his heels. "We're going on the path General Caellach marked out?"

"I don't have any reason to suspect he's lying about it. Gives us a specific place to keep a look out for, anyways. We'd just be prowling the whole mountainside otherwise."

"Glen's setting his sights higher," Matthias snickered. "He wants to make a move on a princess quick."

"Matthias, the fact that you have no sweetheart waiting for you back in Grado was one of the reasons why I picked you to come with me here."

Even as they were walking, Matthias melodramatically pretended to have been stabbed in the heart. "You-you wound me, Glen!"

"Sure, if you say so. Let's make some progress while it's still light out."

To Glen's mild surprise, Caellach wasn't lying about a secret mountain path. In fact, by the footprints in the ground, they were hot on Eirika's trail now. The wyvern screeches they heard in the distance also affirmed that Caellach wasn't lying about Valter, either.

Glen narrowed his eyes as he surveyed fresh tire tracks. They likely came from a convoy unit, which meant that there certainly was a need for enough provisions for a small army. "We should put off our confrontation until the morning."

"Shouldn't we attack them now? They're probably tired from scaling the mountains," Cormag argued.

"Our wyverns have been flying a good distance now too. They need to be in top condition in case any unexpected confrontations arise." Glen turned his head to the direction that the wyvern calls came from. Cormag didn't look totally convinced, but he nodded to show his agreement.

"Let's at least figure out where exactly this Princess Eirika is so we don't need to track her far in the morning," Justus suggested. Glen nodded.

They found Eirika just as she was about to enter someone's abode, led by a young boy with red hair. Because of the pegasus rider and archer patrolling the perimeter, they couldn't get in close and had to stay close to the fog to hide themselves. Nevertheless, it was clear that, as the reports indicated, Eirika and Innes had joined forces. The Silver Knight was also in fighting condition, despite his reported injury at Valter's hands. After several minutes, the soldiers that followed Eirika and Innes began pitching tents; it was clear that they intended to rest for the night.

With this intel on hand, Glen set their camp behind a mountain to the south of Eirika's group. Hopefully, they would intercept her before she could start moving, so they immediately fed their wyverns so they could rest up for the morning. They clearly appreciated the thought, and the men could tell that they'd all fallen asleep not too long after.

As Cormag tended their campfire, his brows furrowed in thought. Justus plopped himself on his blanket as he watched the group's youngest member. "What's on your mind, Cor? You keep frowning like that, and it's going to be stuck on your face."

Before Cormag could say anything, Matthias quipped back, "I don't think it's 'going to be,' I think it already is."

"Shut up, Matthias. I'm just—" Cormag licked his dry lips before continuing, "—I don't believe it. General Duessel, a traitor? There must be some mistake…"

Glen, laying back on his blanket, turned his head towards his brother. "General Duessel was Prince Ephraim's combat instructor when Grado and Renais were still close. I wouldn't be too surprised. Relationships like that don't really disappear just because someone tells you you're enemies now."

"But they say that Prince Ephraim is a ruthless monster who kills anyone he sees, and attacks any woman he comes upon—"

"Cormag. Who're we describing here, Prince Ephraim, or Valter?" When Cormag fell silent, Glen looked back up to the sky and continued with a bitter laugh. "Trust me, everything we've said about Prince Ephraim and Princess Eirika were just lies to convince the Grado people to fight."

"That's…" Cormag was silent for a moment. "…Then, if General Duessel was close with Prince Ephraim, why did His Majesty send General Duessel to pursue him?"

"A test, maybe?" Glen shrugged, and an uncomfortable silence hung in the air. Justus and Matthias exchanged looks, waiting to hear Cormag's response.

"Then… What about you? Do you know this princess?"

"Yes," Glen admitted. "When Renais and Grado were still close… I met the girl—I met Eirika only once. We spoke briefly, but I felt she was a woman of great kindness. I cannot bring myself to believe Princess Eirika is evil. I cannot."

Cormag frowned. "…Glen. The emperor has ordered—"

"There's the rub, Cormag. That's it exactly." Glen raised a hand to his hair, running his fingers through his blonde locks in agitation. "His Majesty has never spoken a falsehood in all the time I've served him. And as a servant of the empire, I am duty bound to obey his orders. But I can see no reason to think Princess Eirika's heart is any less gentle now."

"Glen…!" Cormag jumped up, and Glen turned his head to look back at him. "If you keep saying things like that, you'll be branded a traitor, just like General Duessel!"

Glen sighed, then sat up, propping himself on one arm. "The second His Majesty brought those three new generals in, it was clear he no longer considered us his own. I wouldn't be surprised if he's been planning on eliminating Duessel, Selena, and me for a while."

"Glen!"

"Cormag." Glen's voice was heavy. "I'm ready for whatever happens tomorrow. But I will find out the truth. I will hear Eirika's side of the story."

Justus piped up, interrupting Cormag before he could speak. "Have you figured out a way to pry the truth out of her?"

Glen nodded. "Yeah. I'll just prepare myself to accomplish the mission His Majesty gave me. If Eirika is anything like she was in the past, she'll likely try to talk things out rather than jump into a fight. That alone should be enough to tell me what I need to know."

"And if she's good at acting?"

"We'll find out tomorrow, won't we? Get some rest," he ordered. "We'll need our strength for tomorrow."

He rolled over, signifying that they were done with talking for the rest of the night. Matthias gave a gentle "You too" to Cormag, who still stood, and the younger brother slowly sat down, letting himself fall into a restless sleep.

The next morning, they encountered Eirika's group not a moment too soon. Just as the army was about to enter the path up the mountains, they swooped in. Glen rode in front, while the other three remained close behind.

"Princess Eirika of Renais. Hold."

Eirika was startled for a second, but quickly composed herself and called off the people that prepared to defend her. The stocky, bearded, axe-wielding man retreated to the side of a green-haired troubadour, while the pink-haired archer took two steps back and a blue-haired man around her age ran up to her to say something to her. The Silver Knight made no move from the princess' side, but lowered his weapon. Even though Glen had predicted she'd do this, Cormag still found himself surprised.

Glen landed a short distance from her, though he made no move off Sieghart's saddle. She took a step closer to him. "You… You're General Glen of Grado. We met once in the capital, didn't we? You were very kind to me. However, if you're here now, I have to assume this means…"

"Yes, it does. I wish our reunion could come under different circumstances." He cleared his throat before continuing. "Eirika, I must tell you, I come here on the direct orders of the emperor. I'm to bring to justice the rebel army leader who's been terrorizing Carcino."

Eirika's face held a quizzical expression, and Glen did his best to imagine Eirika in Valter's place, those five odd years ago when he slaughtered civilians. "It's you, Eirika. They say you've been murdering innocents."

"What? Wait! What do you mean? I…" Her widened eyes and the reactions of those around her told him he'd done a good job at acting.

Good. So far, she's been reacting the way I thought she would. If I keep pressuring her like this…

"If you have something to say, I would hear it. I know all too well that Grado has robbed you of your homeland—" Images of Mary's sobbing figure and her tired smile formed in his mind, which he pushed away. "—But even so… I do not believe revenge could drive a woman like you to such depths. And yet…"

Glen paused to survey the people surrounding Eirika. She had a sizeable force with her; not nearly as large as one of Grado's full battalions, but there were enough people and enough famous faces for him to understand how Eirika had made it through Saar's forces in Serafew and through the mercenaries in Port Kiris. Aside from the Silver Knight and Prince Innes, Glen could recognize the ex-general Garcia, Gerik the Desert Tiger, and Marisa the Crimson Flash.

"And yet here you are in Carcino with a small army under your command. And the emperor tells us that you massacred everyone in Port Kiris."

Behind Eirika, Innes scowled, and shifted as though to speak when Eirika attempted to defend herself. "That… That's a lie! I could never…"

"Go on."

"…This is ridiculous." Innes stepped in front of her now, arm in front of her as if to say leave this to me. "Believe what you want. Could one of the legendary Imperial Three honestly be as stupid as this? Are you only smart on the battlefield and a complete dunderhead off it?"

Cormag moved to defend his brother, but Glen stopped him, never breaking eye contact with Innes.

Ah, here we go.

Still, Glen had to feign ignorance to make certain that this wasn't all a ploy to trick him, so he continued. "…What do you mean?"

Innes gave a sardonic laugh. "Carcino betrayed Frelia and set a pack of mercenary dogs to kill me. And you paint Eirika a rebel instigator? It's an absurd farce. Your emperor commits horrors, and you believe Eirika is a criminal?"

Just a bit more, now…

"…What are you saying?" If he weren't in the middle of feigning ignorance, Glen would've laughed at his own words. Who didn't know about everything Vigarde was doing?

From the darkened expression on Innes' face, he'd really ticked the prince off now. Eirika had to restrain him with a hand on his wrist as he spat "You truly are blind, aren't you? You're one of the Imperial Three, and yet you can't see your emperor's plan?"

"That's enough, Prince Innes. There's no need to provoke him." He reluctantly stepped back, and Eirika turned back to Glen. "General Glen, we've told you what we know to be true, what we've seen firsthand. We don't want to fight you… But if you push us, we will drive you back to Grado with your tail between your legs."

That was enough to convince him. Almost immediately, Glen dropped his act, giving a slight chuckle. "…I see. You…are more observant than you know. I am ignorant of the emperor's designs," he admitted. "General Duessel and I both questioned the wisdom of this war. I had my suspicions, but it truly seems that His Majesty lied to us…"

Eirika's voice was incredulous, as if to say You've been playing us all along? "So you…believe us?"

"The Princess Eirika I met long ago was kind and merciful in spirit. You've faced relentless hardship, and yet that selfsame spirit remains true." He jumped off Sieghart and walked closer to Eirika, who refused to budge in spite of Innes and Seth's warnings. Gasps of surprise rose from her ranks when he bent on one knee before her, head bowed. "…This is a sudden request, and probably extremely unreasonable, but… Princess Eirika. I, Glen, pledge my loyalty to you."

He could hear Justus and Matthias jump off their wyverns to follow his suit. Though Cormag got off his wyvern, he made no move from Genarog's side.

"General Glen… Why are you—What about your oaths to Emperor Vigarde? Your homeland?"

"I… I know full well how we've ransacked your homeland, Renais. It was only yesterday that we were in Renais, witnessing the destruction caused by the bandits that have taken over the land. We've hunted you down ever since you fled from Castle Renais, were forbidden from helping your people... And yet we have no idea why we're doing this. We are ignorant to His Majesty's designs. The man who sits upon the throne now," he said with sadness in his voice, "is not the emperor to whom I pledged my life."

Glen stole another glance at his brother, whose lip was quivering. "I have… nothing left in Grado anymore," he admitted. "My only family left is right behind me. I have no regrets even if you executed me right here."

"Glen! Do you have any idea what you're saying?!" Cormag yelled at him, his voice choked. Glen was silent, unable to muster his voice. A tense several seconds passed before Cormag walked up to the rest of his companions and joined them with knee bent to Eirika.

Innes gave a dry chuckle, placing a hand on his hip. "Seems that they're serious enough. What say you, Eirika? Do we take them along?"

"I… I believe them." Glen let out a breath he didn't even realize he had held. "General Glen, please rise. It may be true that Grado has destroyed almost everything I loved, I am glad to see that not all of her people approve of her actions. I—"

She was interrupted by Glen suddenly rising to face the south, where he'd come from. "Princess Eirika."

"Y-yes?"

He grimaced. "I was careless… I fear that I'd forgotten General Valter was also pursuing you for his… own desires. He's approaching, and quickly… Please, escape to the mountains! My men and I are better suited for delaying him."

"And how are we supposed to know that this isn't your way of giving intel to Grado?" Innes accused. "This is some very convenient timing, isn't it?"

"You're free to stay behind and make sure, then," Glen shot back. "Though I must warn you, Valter's Fili Shield will make your arrows ineffective against him."

"How kind of you to warn him, Glen!" Valter's voice shot out. He flew towards them, with two attendants at his side. The smug grin permanently plastered to his face widened as he surveyed the situation. "So, you've turned traitor, just like Duessel, eh? Had I known that the Imperial Three were filled with such treacherous hearts, I would've killed you straightaway the last time we met."

"Do not speak of treachery, Valter," Glen spat, his voice brimming with rage. "Five years ago, you slaughtered people who had no intention of fighting. His Majesty's punishment was clearly too light, if you're still standing here today…"

"Such confident words, Glen!" Valter roared with laughter, and Glen quickly mounted Sieghart, preparing himself for battle. "Why don't we put them to the test!"

Valter shot forward with lance in hand. Glen fended off the first attack with his Lancereaver, but Valter was swifter than he and doubled around to strike again. Glen managed to parry it again, but the force was enough to make even his hands go numb for a second.

"Cur! You're mad!" As Glen directed Sieghart to turn so he could keep an eye on Valter, he saw Eirika being hurried away onto the mountain path. Justus, Matthias, and Cormag were keeping Valter's attendants busy, leaving the two generals to duel.

Good. If I can at least buy them some time…

"A battle between generals… Sends the spirit soaring, eh?" Valter thrust again, coming far too close to Glen's shoulder for his liking. He'd parried it with his Lancereaver, and swung in hopes of catching Valter's arm, but Valter's wyvern was able to pull away before he could hit, and he only nicked Valter's armor. "Come, Glen! Entertain me! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Urrgh…" It was hard for him to keep up with Valter's speed, so he had to rely on his armor and Lancereaver to deflect most of the attacks. It was a dangerous gamble, he knew—if Valter set himself up properly, he was able to pierce through armor like it was nothing; if he let Valter get that opportunity, he was done for.

He was only vaguely aware of how far separated he had become from his allies, and how much closer they were to Eirika's group. Fending off Valter's attacks took up too much of his attention, and he only noticed how close they were when Valter suddenly dived away from him. Quickly turning his gaze to Valter's new sights, horror filled him when he saw Eirika in Valter's direct path.

"Princess Eirika!"

Throwing his javelin was too dangerous due to the troops below, so all Glen could do was spur Sieghart to fly as fast as he could in pursuit of Valter.

I'm not going to make it…!

Valter laughed as the pathetic infantry scrambled to stop him, ramming his lance through a soldier who fell down with blood gurgling from his mouth. "Don't think you can escape me, my ripe little peach!"

A red-haired man whom he recognized from his encounter at Castle Renais shouted instructions to some soldiers behind him, drawing a lance to face Valter. A blonde-haired cavalier lifted Eirika onto his horse and started speeding away, with a sniper, a green-haired troubadour, and a blue-haired pegasus knight following close behind. Maggots who barely deserved to get skewered on his lance. Why did they even bother fleeing? The red-haired man moved in front of them to intercept Valter, who licked his lips at the challenge.

Good, get these minnows out of my way. I only want to savor a real battle!

"Oh? It's you again," he sneered. "I let you go last time, but it seems you truly wish to die this time!" He lunged, only managing to clip the side of his opponents' arm while receiving a graze on the inside of his arm in return. "Heh heh… ha ha ha ha ha! Good! This is what I like!"

Spying an opportunity, Valter struck in the same place he'd hit the man in their last duel. His victim recoiled in delicious pain, and the way he dropped his lance told Valter he'd hit something good. In spite of the pain, when the man recovered from the immediate shock, he drew his sword in what was clearly his off hand.

In that time, however, Valter already cleared a good amount of distance from his opponent, enough that he was confident that he could land a good kill. Valter practically salivated at the idea of spraying his blood across the field, eliciting screams from his beautiful Eirika. He'd lose a prime battle target, but it was worth it if he got to hear her pain and despair instead.

He kicked Criselda to go as fast as she could, diving straight towards the man with his lance leveled at his throat. There was nothing on Valter's mind but the sweet, delicious carnage he was about to unleash, and his grin widened as he could feel the futility of the man's attempts to fend him off.

A flash of red suddenly entered the corner of his vision. Before he could turn his head to see the intrusion, he was nearly thrown off Criselda by the impact of something slamming into her, pushing them away from his target. Instinctively, he lashed out with his lance as he regained control of his wyvern, gripping onto her with all his strength with his free hand and his legs. He sneered with glee when he felt the lance connect with soft flesh, even if he couldn't tell who it was in all the chaos.

The force of the colliding object, however, was enough to force him to let go of the lance lest it drag him with it. To his slight displeasure, the throbbing sensation in his wrist told him that he still must have pulled the muscle slightly, and he quickly grabbed his backup lance with his good hand, holding Criselda's reins with his injured hand.

As he regained his bearings, the scream that he heard did not belong to the princess, but instead to a wyvern rider that was supposed to be fighting his adjutants.

"BROTHER!"