"Found you, Gray Fullbuster!"

A chill ran down Gray's neck as the figure of Erza Scarlet stood on the roof behind them.

Chapter 7

ERZA

Erza looked out of breath, but quickly recovered. Her face shifted into a look that indicated Gray was in trouble. She put some stray hair behind her ear, and that somehow made her seem more menacing. "You obviously won't be needing this." She threw a scroll case and it rolled near Gray's seat.

He apprehensively unravelled the scroll inside and was stunned to see a detailed report on Vidaldus and his fight with Natsu, including how Mirajane had gotten the bruises on her wrists. He looked her in the eyes, surprised. He didn't expect her to take his order so seriously. He didn't expect her to listen to him at all.

He couldn't quite read her expression. Disapproval, yes, but something else was buried in those dark brown eyes. She looked almost hurt…

"How much have you heard?" Gray asked, rising to his feet. The others rose as well.

Her face became the usual stony mask. "I've heard enough."

"Don't you dare tell the king," Lyon warned.

"You can't order me, captain Bastia. I hold the same rank as you."

Lyon stepped in front of Gray and Juvia, a hand on his sword. "How dare you," he hissed. "You are nothing like us! Gray, why don't you order her to stay still so I can cut off her head cleanly? I'm not mopping up her blood!"

Erza didn't even twitch her eyebrows. Her hard expression remained the same. She must be used to the insults.

"Wait." Gray grabbed Lyon's elbow. Things were escalating way too fast.

Her stare locked on him and he resisted hiding behind Lyon's back. Her face promised a lot of pain. "You weren't in the library during self-study." Her voice was quiet which scared the hell out of him. A yelling Erza he could understand; he had no idea what this quiet one was thinking.

"I was in the audience with the king," Gray replied, drawing strength from the lack of fear on Lyon and Juvia's faces. Lyon looked murderous, while Juvia looked worried, borderline nervous, but not scared.

"Well, the affairs of the state are more important than one study evening," Erza said. "However, knowledge is a prerequisite of making sound decisions."

Gray caught the jab as if it was a physical blow. The look on her face told him that she knew what happened. He clutched the report so hard he nearly tore the paper.

"Well, enough talking." Lyon ripped his elbow out of Gray's grip and stepped out of their little shelter onto the roof proper. "She's going to rattle us to the king. I can't let that happen." He drew his sword.

Erza summoned her lance.

Gray had a terrible knot in his stomach as he watched the two top soldiers circle each other. There must be another way of making Erza quiet. It would be a disaster if she ever told the king of their treasonous conversation. Gray was certain that the king would kill Lyon and Juvia, and punish, possibly imprison him. And if Lyon and Juvia were gone, then what was the point of him staying in a world where everyone hated him?

And then who would look after the slaves?

Killing Erza was the surest way to prevent the catastrophe.

But at the same time he had the incessant nagging feeling that he could stop all this and still come out on top. He didn't hate Erza. She didn't deserve to die because of another of his mistakes.

It was all his fault, wasn't it?

"No, wait!" Gray yelled. The two knights continued circling. "If I order you to keep quiet, will you?"

Erza never lied to him, and he hoped she wouldn't start now. She listened to him, despite all her bossing around. The crushed scroll in his hand was the proof of that.

"I must follow the king's orders first."

Gray's heart leaped that she didn't deny his question. It didn't escape him that she used the word must. She must follow the king's orders over everyone else's. But everyone knows that. Even Lyon did that. What she really said was that as long as the king didn't order her to spill, she'd keep quiet.

Unless she was the king's active supporter. Palace soldiers said she was Alastair's favourite, but Gray wondered if that was true. She didn't flaunt her status like the favoured. The prince realised he knew so little about Erza that he didn't know where her morals and loyalties laid.

"Lyon, drop it," Gray said. "She's not going to attack unless you provoke her."

"Another one of your ideas? Wanna share this one with us first?" Lyon mocked, not stopping his predatory prowl. "You're not thinking of letting her go, are you?"

Sort of, Gray thought. He didn't dare say his thoughts out loud.

Erza's foot slipped on the tiles. Lyon launched at her with a victorious yell as she wobbled for balance. A horrible clang of steel on steel echoed through the whole palace. Erza had raised her lance at the last moment, and now struggled against Lyon's strength as the older prince bore down on her.

She grunted and kicked him in the gut, quickly regaining some distance between them.

Lyon bend over, clutching his stomach. He wheezed.

Triumph glinted in Erza's eyes. She ran forward and slashed at his shoulder with the metal tip of her blade.

"Watch out!" Gray yelled.

The white-haired prince brought his sword up with another clang of steel. "Got cha." He smirked.

Erza's face changed to that of terror as he pulled out a second blade and slashed towards her unprotected thighs.

CRACK!

Erza brought down the wooden shaft of her lance at the last moment. She grunted; her arms shook from the blow's force. Lyon's ice sword struck deep into the wood.

The older prince grinned and flicked his wrist. A sharp splintering sound rang through the air and Erza's weapon snapped in two. The lower end was nothing but a jagged stick.

The smug look on Lyon's face told Gray he had her cornered. With a menacing grin, he swung.

Erza grit her teeth and blocked the blow with the useless stick, the sword digging deep into the wood. In a bout of desperation, she lashed with the pointy tip at Lyon's face.

Lyon dashed back and paused. He didn't yell, so the raven sighed in relief. He's fine. Then Lyon slowly brought a hand to his cheek and Gray frowned.

A thin splattering of blood marred Lyon's cheek.

"You bitch!" Lyon swung at her ferociously, with full disregard to his health. She skilfully dodged. The two seemed equally matched. Gray's heart was in a wrangle. He wanted to stop them but they were much better fighters than he was. He'd just get hurt if he interfered. Juvia seemed to be thinking the same thing, wringing her hands at her waist. Natsu watched the fight with interest, his posture somewhat aggressive as well. He clutched and unclutched his fists, an expectant look on his face. He noticed Gray watching him and frowned, before staring back at the fight.

Lyon attacked ferociously strike after strike, while Erza defended and twisted out of his way. Her brown eyes were determined, while Lyon cursed more and more frequently each time she blocked his blows.

"Stop—" Gray began.

Erza caught another blow with her nearly destroyed lance shaft, but instead of stepping back or countering, she smashed the broad part of the lance down Lyon's arm, hard. Lyon winced. In one swift motion, Erza twisted both sticks and the steel sword clanged to the floor. She stepped over it and kicked it back, out of reach.

Enraged, Lyon yelled wordlessly and swung his remaining ice sword in an overhead arc, aiming at her head. She raised the lance tip and caught his blade in the serrated gap. Lyon's eyes widened and the pulled the sword back, but wasn't fast enough.

She twisted sideways and snapped the ice sword in two.

Lyon screamed; that must have hurt like hell in his mind. While he was reeling from the pain, she punched him in the face and stepped over his fallen body, the lance poised at his throat.

"Now, wipe off your blood from my lance, princeling. I don't want it to stink."

If looks could kill, the two captains would have combusted each other.

"Enough," Gray said. "Step away from him, now."

Erza stood firm. Lyon still wore the most venomous expression.

"Lyon, don't do anything stupid. Erza, move."

The scarlet-haired knight carefully stepped away, the two sticks still tightly in her hands.

Lyon got up and backed off. "Bitch." He swiped the blood on his cheek but only smeared it further. His angry gaze flicked to Gray, before settling back on the woman. "The hell you were just standing there calmly? You could have killed her and she couldn't have done a thing about it!"

Gray clutched his fists. "Shut up." Of course he was angry at them for fighting, especially at Lyon for not giving Erza a chance to explain. Honestly, he thought they were better than jumping to conclusions.

The hostile atmosphere hung in the air. Erza stood to one side, with Lyon, Juvia, Natsu and him on the other. Did he have to endure this even in his off-hours? The roof meeting was supposed to be a nice time to spend with friends. He didn't need another Vidaldus scene in front of him.

If he attacked like Lyon suggested, he'd be no better than Alastair.

Because Erza couldn't fight him back.

Gray tried his hardest to ignore Lyon's provocations. "Stop, both of you, before I get truly angry." He was secretly relieved that Erza didn't try sneaking off. He knew that she could easily escape with the help of her magic armour, and if that happened then none of them would be able to stop her in time.

There was hope for her. He felt it in his core - she wasn't evil like his father.

"Do you think the king gave Vidaldus the right punishment?" Gray asked Erza.

She lowered her lance tip and stood at attention. Gray tried not to scream while he waited for her reply. His patience had limits.

Lyon picked up his fallen sword and staggered a bit, grasping his head. He didn't sheath the weapon.

When Gray turned attention to Erza again, he noticed her watching Juvia with a sad, almost pained look. Juvia had a pleasant expression plastered on her face, taught to appear calm no matter the situation. However when she glanced at him, her eyes told him that she felt distressed. Then she glanced between him and Erza in multiple succession, seeming to communicate something, but Gray was lost. Erza studied Juvia for what seemed like an unbearably long time.

"I am in no position to question the king's judgement." Erza said at last, dissolving her lance. She turned to him. "You are careless, Prince. Wind has tongues and walls have ears."

Erza was the one careless, because as soon as she put away her weapon, the most feral expression crossed Lyon's face. Gray felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Don't!" The raven yelled.

In a split second, the white-haired prince launched at her with a battle cry, the sword coming down in a graceful arc. Gray saw her eyes harden; her mouth a grim straight line. She braced her feet against the roof and raised her crossed arms to defend.

Lyon's face lit up in a mad grin. Gray knew, knew before he saw, that Lyon's blow was a faint and that Erza had fallen for it – the real blow was to the unprotected flesh of her neck.

Juvia squeaked and covered her face with her hands.

SLASH!

A cry of anguish drowned out desert noise.

"Why?" The older prince directed a betrayed look at Gray.

Gray panted. He stood up fully again; his fingers tingled with magic.

Lyon's body was encased in ice, sharp deadly-looking ice shards forming a cocoon around him. It was the rawest form of Gray's magic; he didn't have time to shape it into something more pleasant.

"I would have had her!" Lyon said.

Erza materialised a lance in her hands.

"Don't even think about it," Gray said. A fine coating of ice formed on her gauntlets and spread to her lance, locking her arms and gluing them to the weapon in an awkward position.

"Drop your weapons."

The two warriors glared at each other.

Annoyed, the prince made his ice tighter. "Now."

A tense silence settled in the air. Erza frowned and an uncertain look crossed her face, while Lyon grit his teeth.

To prove his point, Gray increased the pressure further. Just his luck to be stuck with the two most stubborn captains in Fiore.

Both grunted at the same time.

Erza's lance disappeared first in a flash of brilliant white. She nodded to the prince. Lyon gave Gray a dirty look before he shattered his own weapon.

"Good." Gray let them go. "I forbid you to fight each other."

"What the hell—" Lyon began.

"You're welcome. Now shut up, I'm thinking."

Lyon had his go, so I better not screw up like he did. Think!

She didn't say yes about Vidaldus. She wasn't a supporter - a true supporter would have no fear of speaking praise of the king. Unless, of course, she was lying through her teeth.

He had a chance to win her over.

"Erza's right. We can't talk on the roof." Gray said. "Come sit with us, where no one can overhear, unless they climb the roof like you did."

Gray jerked his head at Lyon, ordering him to come. Don't you dare do anything stupid again.

"Ladies first," Lyon said, indicating to the alcove where Gray, Juvia and Natsu were.

"I just came to deliver the report." She flipped another stray hair over her ear, staying in her spot.

Lyon's posture stiffened, his sword raising a little.

"That means you have yet to deliver the verbal version of the report," Gray said. "I'm yet to hear it."

Her eyes widened. "The scroll has all the details..."

Erza, avoiding a chance to report? That was unheard of! Her habit of reporting to him in the morning annoyed him so much at first, until he learned to tune her out. She loved reporting. Something was off. He doubted that Lyon was the reason for her acting this way. She had never showed any fear or hate towards any of them before. Besides, she just proved she could kick Lyon's ass.

"I insist that you come down, sit with us, and deliver the report." Gray said.

She sighed. "If you insist, Prince." She stepped off the roof into the alcove, where she stood with one arm holding onto her wrist, looking like she was out of place. Gray had never seen her so uncertain and uncomfortable. Her usual mask was impenetrable like Lyon's. She still watched Juvia with that strange expression, almost as if she admired her. But why would a general admire a rainmaker? It made no sense.

Juvia sat down first, followed, surprisingly, by Natsu, who plumped down with less grace than when he climbed up here. He seemed to be relieved to sit down, clutching his stomach again. They had switched to Common without thinking, so most of the conversation must have made no sense to him.

Gray didn't want him to feel excluded but he couldn't help it.

And that's when Gray realised what's been bugging Erza - What her uncertain posture, lack of reporting enthusiasm, and lowered gaze meant. She felt excluded. Outsider. The three of them were friends, and Erza wasn't. Natsu wasn't quite their friend, although Juvia had some success, but he was definitely friendly with Mirajane and Macao. Who was Erza friends with?

He's never seen her with a friend.

Did she even have friends?

Age-wise she looked the same age as Lyon, so she fit right into their age bracket. How come Lyon and she didn't become friends? He's seen them work together for the king, but Lyon never spoke of her other than the occasional things she did on patrol.

Did she even want a friend?

She certainly didn't give a warm impression to him when they first met. More like she wanted to beat him up or maybe dig him into a sand pit and leave him to roast in the sun. She had looked like a wall that no one could climb.

But she didn't deserve to die. Which she would if Gray didn't convince her to be quiet. Or even worse, she could kill Lyon and then what?

Besides, it was his fault for not believing her to find out about Vidaldus and report to him. Any other person would have given up trying to find him.

Punishing her for her perseverance seemed very unfair.

She could have slashed Lyon's throat but didn't.

He owed it to her to try to be a little friendly. He sat on the other side of Juvia, leaving a gap wide enough for another person to sit. He patted the spot between Juvia and him. "Tell me that report."

"I'd rather stand."

Gray fixed her what he hoped was a stern look.

"All right." She sighed. He's never seen her walk with such hesitation as she did then. She seemed smaller somehow, less a scary monster and more like a girl in far too much armour. An abrupt gust of hot wind blew, ruffling everyone's hair. Erza swiped her stray locks behind her ear in what appeared to be a shy manner. She sat down in the indicated spot, hands in her lap.

She launched into the report, clearing her voice a few times in the beginning. She got more confident as she told, and then there was hardly any hesitation at all. Lyon sat on Gray's other side, weapon back in its sheath. They learned a few more details - the whole fight started when Vidaldus discovered where Mirajane and two other girls hid Juvia's salve. Erza didn't know who made it, but she found out its purpose and who it was for, and Gray thought that was very scary. The girls didn't want to hand it over or confess who made it, so Viduldus roughed them up. Natsu showed up in the middle of that, and well, they knew the resulting list of injuries.

"I'm sorry to hear that my salve caused so much trouble," Juvia said. Then she covered her mouth, realising she had just gave away another secret.

"I think the benefits of the salve outweigh the trouble caused by this one incident, Princess," Erza said.

That was a subtle way of approving Juvia's actions. Or was she trying to comfort her?

In either case, Gray knew he needed to bring her over. She'd make a colossal asset, and, if he could make this right, a faithful friend. Lyon will get over today's events eventually. There was of course the benefit that she might be less strict with his lessons...

Juvia nodded, looking a little shaken from her slip.

But how to bring Erza over? They were such a diverse group. A royal prince and heir; an illegitimate prince turned captain of the guard; an orphaned princess rainmaker; a legendary Tribal leader turned slave; and Erza - a savage turned captain of the watch. Five mismatched people, under the roof, or actually on the roof, of one tyrannical king. The desert lay out in front of them, the sand dunes stretching as far as they could see. The setting sun coloured the sand and the scattered rocks in blood red. It looked like a battlefield in the aftermath.

"Hey, Erza, you're from the south, right?" Lyon asked and Gray tensed. "Have you seen Phantom Lord? What's their tribe like?"

No one really knew where Erza came from, other than she arrived at the south gate one day and beat up the guards stationed there.

She was eleven years old at the time.

Her red hair and pale complexion signalled a mixed heritage, perhaps one parent a city dweller and the other of Tribal origins. She didn't look savage anymore.

"I've been south on patrol," she said, giving Lyon a pointed look. "I've seen one or two of their scouts in the distance, but never their camp. They either left really quickly or used concealing magic."

Lyon grumbled, dissatisfied.

"What do you think of them?" Gray asked.

She shrugged.

Gray gave up trying to get her opinion. She was too cautious. At least she'd seriously consider his proposal before she acted.

Was there something that interested her other than reports? What did she value? He doubted he could bribe her with money. An overly large sum transferred into her account might alert Alastair anyway. He couldn't give her a position higher than her current rank. Could he bribe her with favours? Gifts? His eyes fell on the half-eaten cake. Rare perishables?

Water. Everybody desired water. But if he gave away too much, the water warden Karen would love to rat him out to Alastair…

Natsu groaned, distracting Gray from his thoughts. Four heads turned in the slave's direction. He looked in pain, clutching his middle. Gray saw blood run through his hands.

Everyone got to their feet at once. Gray was in the process of taking off his shorts for makeshift bandages, when Erza shoved past him and knelt at the slave's side. The pinkette paled and leaned away from her, hiding his wounds protectively.

"There's no need to hide," she said in Tribal as she forcefully yet gently pried open his arms to look at the wound. "I could have killed you earlier if I wanted you dead." She held out her hand and her whole body shimmered in blinding white light. When it faded, she was dressed in white linen robes with a green circle on the front, sleeves, and back - the symbol of the healing temple. A box of what appeared to be bandage materialised in her hands. "Your wound just reopened, nothing serious. You shouldn't have climbed here." She stanched the wound with a heavy wad of bandage and then proceeded to secure it into place with military efficiency.

Natsu made a strange whimpering noise and tried to squirm away but she held him down firmly.

Gray just stared, holding his shorts limply at his sides. Lyon shrugged, shattering the few ice cubes he had in his hands. Juvia smiled softly, one hand covering her chin. "Thank you, Erza," Juvia said. "For treating Natsu."

Erza wouldn't have helped a slave if she was in line with the king. This incident cemented his opinion of her in his mind. He knew she wouldn't rattle them out, unless the king specifically asked her about it. That was all he could really hope for.

Killing her was out of the question.

Not after she helped Natsu.

"Thank you..." Gray found himself saying.

Erza stood up, her armour shifting back to normal. She noticed everyone looking at her and her cheeks turned pink. She looked at the ground, so unlike the decisive knight that treated his slave's wound moments earlier. Maybe he could get used to his shy version of her.

"What did you mean when you said you could have killed him earlier?" Gray asked.

"I found him climbing the garden wall while looking for you." She looked calm now. "I stopped him from escaping."

"When—" Gray asked at the same time as Lyon shouted,

"No way! One of my men would have seen him."

"Your soldiers must have not thought anything of it. It's not unusual for a slave to wander alone. Moreover he picked a good blind spot I don't think anyone knew about." She fixed Natsu with a contemplative stare.

Gray was secretly relieved that she didn't criticize Lyon's soldiers. Or else there would have been a battle he wouldn't have been able to stop. She was smarter than he thought.

"It must have been around 4 o'clock when I ran into him."

Four o'clock? That's when Gray left for the audience. Gray checked on him before he left; Natsu was asleep at the time. How did he know that Gray wouldn't come back and find him missing? He watched the slave, who nursed his bandaged abdomen. Suddenly Gray felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. Had Natsu really been sleeping when he left? But he was so drained after the watermill...

Was he really tired? Gray's mind asked.

He must have been tired; the other new slaves had passed out during their shifts. No, there was no way he could have faked being in such an exhausted state. He wouldn't have endured Gray's touch if he was faking. He wouldn't have...

Even if he had a chance at escaping?

Unbidden, Gray remembered Natsu twisting away with reflexes too fast given his exhaustion.

No! Gray suddenly felt light headed and sat down. There were too many coincidences! It isn't true! Natsu didn't know Common, so he couldn't have known that Gray was leaving for the audience at four! He couldn't have faked being tired after the watermill shift - it was just impossible! Him leaving at four must have been darn luck! Natsu was not that clever to have almost outsmarted him and Lyon's guard.

'None of you can make me stay here,' Natsu's voice rang in Gray's mind.

"Gray-sama, are you all right?" Juvia asked.

"Oh? Y-yeah I'm fine."

"Your hands are shaking," she said.

Gray placed his hands on his knees to steady them. "I just remembered what Alastair did to Vidaldus again." Even as he said that, his gaze stayed on his pink-haired slave, who was hunched over on the floor, looking a little red. Gray had locked his rooms when he had left. How did Natsu get out?

"That's not the last time we'll see something like that," Lyon said.

Lyon had no idea he was talking about something else, but his words paralysed Gray.

Natsu had tried to escape, and would have succeeded if Erza hadn't chanced to look in the garden when she was searching for Gray...

"Thank you Erza," Gray said sincerely. "Thanks."

She looked a little confused but nodded.

"Please don't tell the king about what you heard here tonight," Gray said. "I'm not asking you as a subordinate, but as my friend."

"Your...friend?" She looked startled.

Gray got up and held his hand out, palm up, in the way one greets a female. "Yes, friend."

Thank you everyone who reviewed, favoured and followed this story! Special thanks to Peanut61654 for being my sanity check and partner in crime.

I will be removing outdated author's notes and my old review responses from all chapters except the latest two when I update the next time. Just to let you know.