A/N: Hey everyone! First off, as always, I'd like to thank my reviewers! I'd like to thank FreelancerSealBoy, BlackLotusFlower, Lanayru, Arbella Scott, and meguin the penguin for being my loyal reviewers! :D

Well, I have nothing much to say now...but that's just for now. Anyways, I'll let you read now.

Chapter Seven: The Death of Count Delbray (part two)

It was an average evening around the dining table of the Royal Palace of Crimea. Everyone sat there, some chatting and others not; but all had continued to glimpse over at the two empty seats by the princess. The king was seated at the head of the table with his eyes closed and his hands folded in his lap as the queen sat at his right, starting up a conversation with the one across from her. But as everyone else seemed to find something to pass the time, there was still one impatient Elincia seated at the table.

"Where are Lucia and Geoffrey?" she asked, tugging on the sleeve of her mother.

"I am guessing they are in their rooms," she replied. "I am sure they are still shocked from the sudden... death of their father. Those poor things..."

The emerald haired girl let out a sigh to accompany her nod in reply. "Yes..." Elincia closed her eyes for a brief moment as the queen continued her chat. "Your Majesty," she began, addressing her father, "we may proceed with our meal. I am thinking that Geoffrey and Lucia are unwilling to join us; however, I will check upon them tomorrow."

"Very well then," he said. "Now, shall we begin?"

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"Geoffrey!"
The young princess ran over to him, waving her hand in the air as she called out his name. He instantly ceased striking the straw practice target as she approached, dropping his lance on the grass by his feet.

"Hello...princess..." he said between his heavy breath.

"Are you alright? You look a bit pale and exhausted. Would you like me to get you some water?"

"Please...do not...worry yourself...I...am fine." This lie in his words were more than obvious. His breath was heavy, his hands were shaking, and his legs looked as if they would collapse from under him at any given moment. But however obvious it was, Elincia decided against pressing it.

"Okay. This time of day is very hot, so please be cautious of that as you train," she advised, giving him one of her sweet smiles.

He tried to return her grin, but all he could do was turn his straight face into a thin, shaky curve.

Then it became silent. No one spoke; the two just stood there studying the other. Geoffrey averted his gaze from her eye to the ground beneath her feet. But this silence quickly faded away as Elincia's curiosity struck something interesting.

"Geoffrey, what happened to your hand?" she asked, taking his bandaged limb into her own

"Oh..that..." he said. "That is...from...yesterday...when...I..." The young boy was truly out of breath, even after reseting as he chatted with the princess. Suddenly, all sight before him became nothing more than a blur of color as his head began to spin. He could faintly hear the worried voice of the princess calling out his name; she seemed such a great distance away. But then, everything stopped as black clouded his mind and he fell to the ground, passed out from exhaustion.

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"E...Elincia...?" he mumbled as he slowly opened his eyes.

"Geoffrey, I..." she instantly spoke from her seat at his bedside as she heard his faint voice and saw him slowly sit up, but stopped with unsurety of what to say.

"Elincia, I am sorry for worrying you. I...I jut..." his words disappeared and became inaudible as he took his look away from her.

"Geoffrey, if you wish to apologize for driving yourself to exhaustion, do it not to me," she told him. "But why... why would you do something like this to yourself?" Now it was Elincia's turn to look away. She took her disappointed expression away from him and fixed a solemn gaze onto her fiddling hands in her lap.

He let out a deep sigh. "I honestly do not know why I did that; but I was foolish of me nonetheless," he admitted. "I suppose...the death of my father caused me to think with a different mind, a mind which was missing something, and missing it greatly. I supposed I just tried to fill that empty space with something else. However, no matter how much I filled it, I still felt something missing; it felt like... I felt a stinging gap in my heart that would never be filled to the brim, for there is nothing that could ever replace what was missing..."

Elincia listened with silent astonishment. This was not the answer she was expecting, and this was not the Geoffrey she knew just yesterday. He seemed so sad and solemn, uncaring and thoughtless. Even if Elincia had tried to understand his feeling of pain, she would be unable, for she had never really experience what he was going through now.

"These wounds..." he continued, holding up his fist and gazing at the blood stained bandages. "These cuts...I got them then... I was just so...torn and angry; angry that I couldn't do anything to prevent what happened. I couldn't even be strong for my sister. I'm such a fail–"

"Geoffrey," the princess interrupted. "You couldn't have known this was going to happen; no one could have. You shouldn't blame yourself for something you couldn't help."

"But I could have prevented it. I could have prevented my father's death; I could have prevented my sister's many tears. I–"

"Please, do not speak like that," she pleaded, looking away at floor below her. "I know you must be hurting inside, but please..."

The blue haired boy understood. He put on a more compassionate face as he used his hand to lift her chin up. "I am sorry," he apologized.

She tilted her head, her face a small tint of pink, as she gave him a smile.

"Have you seen Lucia," he asked, changing the subject. "I am starting to become a bit worried about her."

The princess shook her head. "No, I haven't. I knocked on her door shortly after you passed out; but when I informed her of my entry and went in, her room was empty, her window was opened, and the tree outside was rustling."

Geoffrey thought is was very strange. It was much against his sister's nature to leave a guest unwelcome; and to evade the princess was even more unheard of. "Is she avoiding you?"

"I sincerely do not know, but some of the maids reported her absence earlier today."

He had now become very curious. "I don't think Lucia is the person to run away without the slightest of warnings."

"Please, don't let it bother you. Anyhow, it is supper time. I will check on her again promptly after," she informed.

He nodded in agreement with her plan, but opened his mouth with just one amendment. "Could you tell her I would like to speak with her?" he asked, stepping out of bed.

"Yes, of course."

And like that, the two were out the door, Elincia leading the way to the dinning hall downstairs.

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Dinner had gone like the night before, this time Geoffrey occupying the once empty seat by the princess. However, there was still one person missing; and everyone knew very well who that was.

"Geoffrey, where is your sister?"inquired the king.

He quickly looked at Elincia from the corner of his eye before voicing his unsure answer. "Umm...I am not quite sure, Your Majesty. But would you like me to go fetch her?"

"You know where she is? I have had maids report to me that she was absent from her quarters."

"Yes, and she skipped our training session today too," added Prince Renning.

"Oh please," the queen quickly jumped on the conversation, not even giving the boy a chance to open his mouth and respond. "I am feeling that she wishes to be alone at this time."

Everyone gave a nod at her input. "Yes, that appears to be the case," said King Ramon. "At any rate, we may now begin our evening meal."

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Elincia took a deep breath as she lifted her hand to knock on the door; but she stopped her fist in the air. She let her hand fall to her side as she slowly creaked open the door. She took silent steps into the room as she looked around at her surroundings. The bed was unmade and papers lay scattered about the floor; a piece of half-eaten bread and an empty glass carelessly lay on the desk. To say the least, it was a mess.

Elincia fixed her gaze on her friend as she slowly approached her. She was seated in the open window, using the light of the moon like an oil lamp as she read. Her hand was clutching the frame, her head tilted against it, and the night air breeze blowing her turquoise hair behind her.

It was strange. The princess felt as if she went unnoticed, but she was sure that Lucia wasn't oblivious to her presence.

"Lucia...?" she asked in a soft voice. "Lucia, are you alright?"

Lucia paid no mind to the girl who tried to speak with her. Her eyes continued to stay focused on the parchment before her, never leaving the words for the slightest of moments.

"Lucia," Elincia repeated, "are you okay?"

She set the paper down on her lap and looked out at the night sky before her. "I am okay."

"That's the very same lie that Geoffrey told me earlier toady," she replied, sounding very blunt.

"Are you trying to insist that I'm lying?" Lucia quickly responded, sounding void of all emotion.

Elincia was taken by surprise. "What? Well–"

"I do not mean to put you on the spot. I am just saying that I am fine."

"Are you sure?" she pressed.

"As I have said before, I am fine. You needn't worry for me, princess. It will just cause you more trouble." By this time, Lucia had stood up and placed her paper on the small desk. It was as she was about to exit the room when Elincia stopped her, dead in her tracks.

"Don't lie to me," she spoke, exchanging her delicate tone for a more passionate voice. "You have missed out on supper for the past two nights; and whenever someone is looking for you, you disappear. You didn't only do that to me," she added. "If you were truly okay, then you wouldn't be acting so strangely. Please, just tell me the truth."

"Must you be so persistent?" she scolded, turning away from the door to face Elincia. "I have already told you, I–"

"All you have told me are lies."

Lucia let out an aggravated sigh. "If you want the truth so desperately, then I will give it to you.

"How do you expect me to be 'okay' and live life as normal when it's not? How do you expect me to laugh when I cry myself to sleep at night? My father is gone and he's never coming back; and...and it is all because of you! If your father weren't so selfish as to tear us away from home and train us to protect you; if you weren't so weak that you would need this protection at all; if your uncle Renning weren't in line of become king, and your identity were known to the public, then we wouldn't be here... and none of this would have ever happened!" She took a moment to pause her words; in this small time, her expression had changed, and so had her tone. "...If my father...didn't have his undying loyalty... If we didn't care for the well being of the princes...

"I-if..." Lucia stopped her words as she found a crack in her voice and tears cascading down her cheeks. She had sunk down on her knees and buried her sobs in her hands.

Elincia's expression softened as she sat down and put her arm around her friend. She watched each tear fall onto the wooden floor beneath them. As one dwindled down onto one of her papers, Elincia began reading it; that was when she realized what it was: a letter. It appeared as if all these parchments were letters, letters from one certain person: her father. Elincia finally understood.

"I-I am s-sorry Eli-Elincia," Lucia stuttered through her tears, apologizing for her sudden outburst. "Y-you di-did not deserve th-that. Wh-what I sa-said was wrong..."

"There is no need for an apology," she said, being truly sincere. Elincia paused her words for a moment to giver her friend a tight hug. "I cannot say that I understand what you are going through, or the emotions which you are feeling. But what I do know, is that it is not easy." She picked up the letter and dried off the teardrops with the sleeve of her simple dress before handing it to Lucia.

She received the letter with a shaky smile as she rubbed her red eyes with the back of her hand.

"You know," the princess continued, "Geoffrey sounded very concerned about you when I went to see him. He told me he would like to speak with you."

Lucia gave her a nod. She grew curious, but decided against questioning Elincia, for she was sure that the princess couldn't answer her. And so, like that, Lucia was off, dragging her feet down the hallway to meet with her brother; meet so they could speak of only he knows what.

-To be continued...

A/N: Wow... that was a longer one... When I first wrote it (by hand) it was just a litte more than eight pages, front and back (four actual pieces of paper). Then, when I typed it up, it shunk to be a little more than four pages. And yes, those longer dialouges that Lucia and Geoffrey had were a bit dramatic, but oh well.

Anyways, as always, leave me a review and I'll be sure to reply :D

Next time: Geoffrey has news of a fleet of soldiers heading out to find the mysterious murdurer of Count Delbray. But when King Ramon disaproves their joining of this fleet, will the two siblings go against his word? And if they do, will their efforst prevail, or will they all have been for nothing? Chapter Egiht: The Death of Count Delbray (part three)

I don't know if there's going to be a part four or not. Well, we'll all find out when I finish writing the next chapter...