Chapter Four

"Aaaand this is your room! Do you like it?" Valter made a large sweeping gesture with his arm.

The room didn't look like much. Cold stone walls, a tiny window, and nothing but a small bed and a storage chest as far as furniture was concerned.

"It's…not bad, I guess. But I wouldn't say it's good either." I replied.

"Hah, understatement of the year, Sam." He said dryly. "By the way, do you mind if I call you Sam?"

I gave him a flat look. "Yes, I do mind. My name is Samuel and I'd appreciate if you called me such."

"Whoa, okay. No need to be hostile, I'm just asking a question." He shrugged. "In any case, I'm going to go have a chat with Cormag now. You stay here and get yourself settled in."

Doing a quick about face, he turned and left the room without another word.

Get settled in? There's not much I have to settle. I mean, I lost my Heal staff when I fell over the edge of the canyon, so the only real possession I have is this book Varlent gave me.

I looked down at the book, turning it over in my hands. As with before, it merely had a few unfamiliar characters on the front spelling out what I'm sure was the title, and the same strange alphabet littering the inside of the book. The way things were arranged on the inside made it seem as though it was a book of instructions for…something or other.

I couldn't even fathom why Varlent thought this book would help me. If I knew how to read it then maybe I could do something with it, but until I felt like learning an entirely new language, I'd probably end up stowing it in the chest at the foot of the bed.

Glancing around the room, it didn't seem as though there was much to do other than sit and wait. And thinking about it now, Valter more than likely wouldn't be back for quite a while, so I could use this time to familiarize myself with at least part of the castle.

I headed out the door and began my expedition through the castle.

Ten minutes later and I was one-hundred percent lost. Nothing about the grand hallways and corridors in this castle made any sense whatsoever. There were way too many and they all looked exactly the same, making it extremely difficult to keep track of where I was and where I'd been before. Eventually, I managed to find another person walking the same corridor I was. Sighing in relief, I ran to catch up with them.

"Hey!" I called out, causing the person to turn around and face me. The person was a fairly young man, seemingly not much older than me. He was wearing light purple robes with gold trim and his hair looked to be a similar shade of purple as certain parts of his robe.

"Can I help you?" He asked with a kindly smile. His voice was soft and comforting, almost like a lullaby; it made me feel safer than I'd felt in all my time in this new and unfamiliar world.

"I, uh, as embarrassing as it is to admit, I've lost my way in the halls of this castle." I answered with an awkward chuckle.

"Oh, is that all?" A light laugh escaped his lips. "Where is it you're trying to get to then?"

"Um, back to my room, I think."

"I see. As I'm not sure where your room happens to be, perhaps I can help you find someone who does?"

"As far as I know, the only person that knows where my room is at is…" I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. "Valter…"

"Oh, you're an acquaintance of his?" He cocked his head to the side. "That's rather surprising; it's not often I meet someone else who's on good terms with the good general. The way he acts tends to set people against him." There was a tinge of pity and melancholy to his voice.

"Yeah, I can see where they're coming from." Recent memories of the canyon came to mind.

"In any case, if what I've heard is correct then Valter would be in the dungeon speaking with Cormag right now. Would you like me to escort you there?"

"If it's not too much trouble, I'd really appreciate it."

"This way then. Follow me." He turned on his heel to continue walking the same way he had been before. "My name is Lyon by the way. Might I ask for yours?"

"I'm Samuel. I, uh…I haven't been here for very long so you'll have to forgive me if I'm not aware of some of the more…obvious things." I said as I walked alongside him.

"Ahh, so you're Samuel then. I'd heard your name but I'm afraid I couldn't put a face with it until just now. You've caused quite a stir among the royals and the army alike what with your participation at Cormag's hearing."

"Really? I…didn't think I really did anything out of the ordinary, did I?"

"Well, I can't say for sure whether you did or did not, I suppose they were just shocked to find that Cormag's guilt or innocence was left in the hands of a young man that no one knew existed until that moment." He shrugged.

"Left in my hands? You say that, but Valter tells me it wouldn't have made a difference no matter what I chose since the king wouldn't take my word over his."

"Hmm, he's probably right. But who knows? The king has been known to make irrational decisions as of late. What matters in the end is that you did what you felt was right, no matter the consequences."

My heart sank as he said that because I knew full well that I had made the morally wrong decision in that particular situation. In all honesty, if there was any chance of the king taking my word as truth…no, even if there was no chance I should have denounced Valter at my first opportunity. But I was weak and cowardly; selfishly choosing to save myself over doing what was right.

"Don't look so down about the situation. It's not as if Cormag will die, he'll merely be demoted, that's all." Lyon gave me a smile that, just like his voice, caused me to relax. There was an aura of peace about him that made me feel as if I needn't worry about anything ever again.

"Ah, this is the dungeon here. Stay close, it can get rather dark down there."

Lyon had stopped at a thick iron door that did not at all match the rest of the castle; everything else was crimson and velvet with gold accents while this area was naught but cold gray stone surrounding a dismal iron door. Before either of us could reach out to open the door it swung open with surprising speed, allowing two individuals to step out; one being Valter and the other Cormag. Cormag had a look of absolute hatred on his face that made me wonder what Valter's task for him was. And in contrast, Valter had the look of a giddy school girl on his face.

"Hello, Valter. Samuel and I were just on our way to find you, weren't we?" Lyon turned to look at me.

"Oh? You were looking for me? Could it be that you've finally gained a positive opinion of me?" His trademark smug grin followed his words.

"S-sure, that's what it was." I couldn't manage to think of a good retort due to Cormag's burning gaze boring holes through my head. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say the flames of hatred burned brighter for me than they did for Valter, which was a rather disturbing thought.

"Well, now that you've been reunited with Valter, I'll take my leave of you, Samuel. It was a pleasure meeting you, and I'm sure I'll be seeing more of you as time goes on." His expression told me he knew something that he wasn't letting on about, and for the first time I felt uneasy in Lyon's presence. Valter pushed Cormag along and stepped aside, letting Lyon enter the stairwell into the dungeon.

"You should count yourself lucky to be on such good terms with Lyon. After all, he's sixth in line for the throne." Valter said.

"Sixth in line? So, he's part of the royal family?" My eyes widened as I thought about how I should have acted more gracious towards him.

"In a way; he's Vigarde's son, so if by some chance all of the king's children and Vigarde were to pass then Lyon would be next in line." Cormag muttered something under his breath, causing Valter to yank on his shackles. "What was that?"

"Nothing, cur."

"That's what I thought." Valter turned his attention back to me.

"So, the king has four children then?" I asked.

"Well, no, he has five but one of them has been, how can I put this delicately? He's been denied the throne, meaning that the only way for him to be king is if every royal were to suddenly die. In the king's eyes, his son is no better than a piece of Hoshidan trash."

"Don't speak of Lord Corrin in such a manner, you wretch!" Cormag lashed out, attempting to slam his fists into Valter's face. Valter pushed his hands off to one side, pulled a dagger from his belt, and stick it into Cormag's shoulder all in one fluid motion. Cormag cried out in pain before gritting his teeth.

"Now now, I know you're upset, but what I spoke was the truth, dear Cormag. Can you refute my words? Does the king not see Corrin that way?" Cormag kept his mouth shut this time. "And in answer to the question you are about to ask, Samuel; yes, I do speak of the same Corrin that I hear you've met."

I actually wasn't gonna ask anything, it was already pretty clear that it was the same Corrin given how Cormag reacted.

"Ah, r-right." I realized we'd been standing in the same spot for quite some time now. "Any particular reason we're not going anywhere?"

"I just felt like waiting around and taunting Cormag." Is he serious? "Haha, I'm only joking. We're waiting for General Zelgius to come by and pick up our little friend here." He gestured to Cormag.

"I heard you mention him during the trial and I had to wonder why you wanted to leave Cormag under his command. I mean, wouldn't it be easier to get him to do what you wanted if he was under you?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Ahh, good question. See, Zelgius is a good friend of mine and even better general; he's never lost a single engagement in all his time with the Nohrian Army. But…sometimes I find him unbearable. The man is simply…too moral. He's never broken a rule, told a lie, killed a man without cause, had a drink, fooled around with random women, nothing. The soldiers consider him some kind of saint and attribute his victories to his moral code, but I have the very similar track record and look at me."

He went off on a bit of tangent there. It makes me feel like Zelgius' morals bother Valter more than he'd like to let on.

"Aaaaand, speak of the devil!" Valter exclaimed.

I looked the same direction as him to see an imposing man in shiny red armor making his way towards us. A monster of a sword was strapped to his back; it looked to be nearly the same height he was!

"How do you do, General Zelgius? Mind if I hand this over to you?" Valter threw the chain connected to Cormag's shackles over to Zelgius, who caught it with impressive ease.

"Why is there a dagger buried in his shoulder?" Zelgius narrowed his eyes.

"Oh come on, he was trying to get rough with me so I had to teach him a lesson." Zelgius narrowed his eyes further. "Don't act like you can't just have a maid heal him up in a grand total of ten seconds, General."

"I have my eye on you, Valter. And don't forget that." From the way these two talked to each other, I started to think that Zelgius and Valter were friends in much the same way that Valter and Cormag were 'friends'. Zelgius looked my way and I suddenly felt an immense amount of intimidation weighing down on me; a chill ran up my spine and I felt that this was not a man to be trifled with.

"You are Samuel, correct? A word of warning: the royals, nobles, and military leaders of Nohr are not as united as they make themselves out to be. Be careful who you decide to align yourself with."

"Zelgius! Just go ahead and spoil the fun, why don't you? I was going to let him find out all on his own by opposing one of the other factions and getting himself in a deadly situation so that I, Valter the Moonstone, could sweep in and save him. Thus ensuring his loyalty to me."

I was a bit taken aback to hear his whole plan, but it felt like I should have expected as much from him. And besides, it's not like I would ever see him as some kind of knight in shining armor.

"There really is no limit to your depravity, is there? You sought to deceive an outsider who wouldn't know any better. No offense, Samuel."

"None taken." I replied. To be honest, he hit the nail on the head a little harder than he knew.

"If I didn't try to do such things, how would I be able to keep up with you?" Valter asked with a grin.

"Don't insinuate that we're on the same level; we may hold the same rank and title, but in the eyes of the gods you are nothing more than a stain on humanity." His words were harsh, but there was little emotion behind them.

"It depends on which gods you believe in, Zelgius."

Zelgius scoffed and left without another word, Cormag in tow. The latter spared one last glance at me as Zelgius dragged him away. The expression on Cormag's face told me that the next time we were alone I'd end up with a lance through my chest.

After asking Valter to take me back to my room I was told that I'd be helping to accomplish a task alongside Corrin and some others. Originally, I was not set to be a part of the team for this particular mission, but after having a word with the king, Valter was able to assure my spot on the team. Our task was to negotiate with some of Hoshido's leaders to come to a peace agreement after what happened at the Bottomless Canyon. I was told the Hoshidans would be arriving at Castle Krakenburg in two days to negotiate the terms of the agreement.

I had to wonder why Valter would want me to be there as I knew nothing about the politics of this world and more than likely wouldn't be able to contribute anything meaningful to the meeting. And yet, here I sat at a long rectangular table; the Nohrians and myself on one side of the table and the Hoshidans on the other.

Sitting across from Prince Xander was a formidable looking man that bore somewhat of a resemblance to a lobster. Next down the line was a woman with purple hair and…a chest that was more than ample, and across from her was a woman with short red hair and a stern expression. Corrin sat across from a young woman with light blue hair who looked to be rather apathetic. A blonde young man with boredom written all over his face sat on our side while a gray haired young man sat on the other side with his nose turned up and a sneer on his face. Next to me was a young girl with the largest twin tails I had ever seen; she was all smiles and more than ready to be friends with the girl across the way who bore the same red hair as the woman farther down the table, this girl seemed more timid and shy than the rest of the Hoshidans though. And then there was me, and I found myself facing another girl with light blue hair who was paying no attention to me but rather she was staring at a red haired paladin who had taken up residence in the corner of the room closest to us. Now that I got to looking, there was one person in each corner: Vigarde and Valter stood in the far corners to mirror the Hoshidan pair in the other corners that consisted of the red haired paladin and an imposing man with blue hair and facial hair who I was certain would command attention as soon as he said a single word. Surprisingly, King Garon and whoever the leader of Hoshido was were not going to be present for this meeting.

"I now call this meeting to order to discuss the terms of our continued peace with the kingdom of Hoshido!" Xander called out. "Please, Prince Ryoma, do you have your terms ready?"

The lobster-like man answered Xander. "I do. We would ask only that the party responsible for the heinous acts committed at the Bottomless Canyon be punished accordingly…and that you return Corrin to his rightful family." The whole room seemed to tense.

Corrin's rightful family? What are they talking about? I thought Corrin was one of the Nohrian Royals…

Xander rubbed his temples. "Prince Ryoma…we've been over this so many times before, and as I recall from the last time this discussion was had, we left the decision up to Corrin and he chose to stay with the family that raised him."

"The only reason he chose that is because he's never been given the chance to get to know his birth family properly!" The stern looking woman piped up.

"Hinoka, Ryoma, please calm down." Corrin spoke this time. "I'll get to know all of you in due time, but for now I think it's for the best that I stay in Nohr."

"You know what? I agree with Corrin. We're better off without Nohrian scum like him anyway."

"Takumi! Don't talk about Corrin like that; he's still your brother after all." The timid girl looked to be on the verge of tears.

"He's no brother of mine, Sakura. He abandoned his family of his own volition and has no intention of coming back to Hoshido with us." Takumi snapped back.

Arguments broke out all across the table; Xander arguing with Hinoka. Takumi being goaded on by the purple haired woman, whose name was apparently Camilla if I was hearing things right. Ryoma threatening both Leo, the youngest of the Nohrian brothers, and Elise, the young girl sitting next to me. The only ones not arguing were Corrin and the girl across from him, who instead were attempting to calm the others to no avail. And then there was me, sitting in the same spot as before, simply keeping my head down and trying not to get involved. I must have been looking pretty sheepish as the girl across from me started trying to reassure me.

"Don't worry. It won't be long before either father or uncle Vigarde steps in to take control of the situation." She said.

"Ah, I see. How often do these, um, altercations happen?"

"Every time they all get together like this." She answered simply.

"Hmm…" We watched the proceedings a while longer before I tried making conversation again. "So, Vigarde is your uncle? Then you must be one of Lyon's cousins, right?"

"Oh, no; I call him uncle but that's only because our families have been very close ever since I can remember, despite the fact that we serve two different kingdoms that aren't exactly on the best of terms." She said with a gesture towards the two royal families, all of whom looked ready to tear each other's throats out, even Corrin.

Before I could respond, Vigarde stepped forward just as the girl had predicted.

"SILENCE!" The room got quiet, the royals stopped in the middle of what they were doing, and nobody made any sudden moves. "You all disappoint me once again. You are supposed to be royalty that will be the guiding light of the future! And yet you squabble amongst yourselves like wild dogs fighting for the last scrap of food thrown out by the farmers."

"I second Counselor Vigarde's remarks and would like to add that there will be consequences for your actions once we return to Hoshido." The blue haired man in the corner, who I now assumed to be the father of the girl I had been speaking with, gave the Hoshidans a harsh glare.

"Don't you think you're treating us like children, High General Fado?" It was clear Takumi had added his title not for respect but to mock him.

"I do think I'm treating you like children, and until you learn to act otherwise, I will continue to do so." Fado's icy glare was directed solely at Takumi, who slunk into his seat without another word. "Now, if Counselor Vigarde agrees, I believe we should continue this meeting, but not until those who have been disruptive have left the room."

"What?! Fado! You can't possibly-" Ryoma was cut off by Vigarde.

"I find that acceptable."

"Uncle! Tell me you're joking!" It was Xander this time. "You can't possibly mean to leave us out of this important meeting!"

"I do mean it, boy. You'll be lucky if I don't report your behavior to your father." Xander turned white as a sheet.

"B-but, as I recall, everyone in this room was involved in what just took place." Ryoma spoke once again.

"That is incorrect." The red haired paladin finally stepped forward to speak. "I believe these two sat and had cordial conversation while the rest of you were…preoccupied."

Everyone turned to look at me at the girl with whom I had been conversing. It took me a moment, I know I'm slow, but I realized what that meant exactly and my eyes widened.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on a second. If I'm following all of this correctly, then this would mean that I would be by myself as I discuss the peace terms with…um…her." I struggled to find her name, ultimately failing.

"That's right, Samuel. Now the rest of you can just scoot, scoot, scoooot along and out of here." Valter made sweeping motions with his hands but was obeyed by no one.

"Out. Now." Vigarde pointed towards the door, and under his command, everyone stood from their seats and quietly filed out of the room. Some giving me and the girl nervous glances as they left.

They were gone now, leaving me alone with this girl to figure out what the terms of peace were going to be between Nohr and Hoshido. Now, to put this in perspective a bit, let me reiterate that was brand new to this world and I had never even so much as heard the words 'Nohr' and 'Hoshido' before coming here a number of days ago. How then was I expected to discuss politics for an entire country in place of that country's rightful rulers?

Valter placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder, or at least he tried to be reassuring, but it just came out feeling intimidating and making me want to go home.

"The two of you may commence now." Fado said.

You say that, but what are we supposed to do? I mean, it's not like I have any clue what I could or should be negotiating for.

Fortunately for me, the girl seemed ready to say her piece.

"As Prince Ryoma stated beforehand, we require that the guilty party be punished for their crimes. I will redact his request to have Prince Corrin handed over, and instead replace it with a request to have my brother, Ephraim, released." Fado placed a hand over his face.

"Eirika. The reason Ephraim is imprisoned right now is because he's serving out the sentence you were given for murdering General Glen." Fado spoke in a soft tone, which was a far cry from the tone he took with the royals.

"Father, I've told you over and over, I did not murder Glen. He was a close friend of Ephraim's, and my fiancé no less! What reason could I have possibly had to murder him in cold blood?" Her voice was even and controlled, no doubt from much practice, but there was a wave of emotion waiting to roll out.

I looked up at Vigarde standing next to me. He was saying nothing, but his jaw was clenched tightly.

"What's going on?" I asked him quietly. He leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"As of two years ago, General Glen was died in a battle to defend a small village from a pack of bandits. The bandits were small time and their numbers were few, leading everyone to the conclusion that he couldn't have been killed by some ordinary bandit. As it so happens, his fiancé, who you see across the table from you, was with him that day to assist him in his duties. She claims she was knocked out from behind and awoke to the sight of the General's bloodied corpse. But given the evidence against her, she was quickly convicted of the crime and sentenced to the next thirty years in prison. However, her twin brother, Ephraim, volunteered to be imprisoned in her place. He believed she was innocent, you see?"

I took a moment to process the information I was just given. Eirika didn't seem to the type to murder someone she was so close to, and besides that, her father didn't seem very concerned about the whole thing at this point; in fact, he looked more annoyed about it than anything. I really didn't want to get in the middle of their discussion, but with the way things were going we would end up being here all day…or night…it was hard to tell what time it was in Nohr when the sky was pitch black all the time.

"Ahem!" I cleared my throat loudly, hoping to get the attention of Eirika and her father. And get their attention I did…to some degree; Eirika finished what she was saying before giving Fado a cold glare and turning back to me. "If you don't mind, I'd rather like to finish our business here. I don't have all day."

I don't have all day? Right. Like I have anything better to do. If I'm honest with myself, I just want to be doing…not this. This whole situation just has me stressed out.

"Of course, Nohrian representative." Eirika replied.

Ouch. Cold as ice. She couldn't even be bothered to use my name?

"Given the circumstances, I'm going to deny your request to have Ephraim released from the dungeon. However, the guilty individual behind the attack on the Canyon Outpost has been dealt with accordingly. Are there any other requests Hoshido has to make?" I was quite impressed with myself for being able to not stumble over my words during my delivery, and from his expression, I could tell Valter was pleasantly surprised too.

Eirika thought for a few minutes, glancing at her father every now and again. She was obviously trying to think of some way that she could spin this situation to free her brother, and knowing that right now I held the power to either leave him locked up or let him see the light of day again gave me…a bit of a buzz. It was an odd sensation knowing that I held someone's life in my hands at this very moment. I couldn't help but smile a bit.

"Well, I have heard your denial, but I would like to make my request once more: will Nohr release my brother from his imprisonment?" She asked so pleadingly, so sincerely. I could either make her extremely happy by approving her request, or I could crush her dreams and probably leave her crying herself to sleep.

"Hmm, I personally feel that releasing him without anything in return would leave Nohr at a bit of a disadvantage. What do you think, Vigarde?" I was getting cocky now; toying with her.

"I think you're right, however, Nohr has no right to request anything at this point after what Commander Cormag did at the Canyon Outpost." He answered.

"Wait! The slaughter…that was Cormag's doing?" Eirika was dumbfounded by this new revelation.

"You didn't already know that?" I asked.

"No, I wasn't told who committed such a horrific act, only that it was one of Nohr's commanders. But Cormag couldn't have done such a thing; he was such a nice man." I was confused for a moment before I remembered that Cormag and Glen had been brothers, so of course Eirika would have known Cormag well too.

Some things started to click together in my mind. Glen was murdered and the whole thing was pinned on Eirika. Ephraim takes her place in prison, leaving her to grieve for not only her fiancé but also her brother. Cormag seems to have some kind of unbridled hatred for Valter. I know for a fact that Valter is a murderous snake. Valter told me that Cormag is driven by some desire for revenge, presumably against his brother's murderer. So, as I figured, it may very well be that Eirika was telling the truth when she said she was knocked out from behind, and that that was Valter's handiwork.

I looked over at Valter, still lounging in the corner. He gave me a knowing wink that only made my suspicion stronger.

"Right…Vigarde? May I speak with Eirika alone?" Vigarde seemed surprised.

"My orders were to remain here until negotiations were finished." He answered.

"Please, just give us a few minutes? I promise negotiations will move much smoother if we can have a few minutes to speak privately."

"…Very well. However, I do this on the condition that you fill me in on what was said afterwards. I do have reports to file after all."

"I understand." I said with a nod.

Without even having the need to say anything to the others, Vigarde left the room followed closely by Valter, Fado, and the still unnamed red haired paladin. I watched until the door closed shut behind them. I slowly turned back to Eirika who had a rather expectant look on her face. I folded my hands on the tabletop and cleared my throat before beginning.

"Well, I'm gonna be straight with you; I have absolutely no idea how to properly negotiate anything, and I honestly shouldn't have even been here at this meeting today. In fact, I'm gonna tell you something I haven't told many people: I'm not from around here. I hadn't even heard of Nohr or Hoshido until just a few days ago."

She blinked several times. "That…doesn't make sense to me. Who in their right mind would allow a foreigner, and such a new one at that, into their negotiation meeting?"

"Believe it or not, Valter has some sort of vested interest in me. And unbeknownst to me, Valter put in a good word with the king in order to have me present here." I explained.

Slowly she crossed her arms. "Valter…you're on good terms with him?" Her eyes were narrowed suspiciously.

"I…suppose you could put it that way. I mean, our relationship was a bit rocky in the beginning, but things are a bit smoother now." I smiled.

"I see. I think I have a good idea of what kind of person you are, um…"

"Samuel. My name is Samuel." I supplied.

"Ah, yes. I believe I have a clear understanding of where your allegiances lie. Even so, I will ask one more time: Will you release my brother?" Her eyes were intense; desperate and threatening all at once. It caused me to recoil ever so slightly.

Now, I could either free her brother, Ephraim, and more than likely get myself in trouble with the entire kingdom of Nohr. Or I could deny her and let the Hoshidans go home virtually empty handed and make enemies out of them. Right now, I really wish I hadn't asked Vigarde to leave, but if I hadn't done that then I couldn't have been quite as open as I've been.

I placed a hand under my chin and mulled over my options carefully. I began to lean towards freeing Ephraim, but then I shied away from that idea in favor of keeping him captive. I flipped and flopped over my decision for quite some time before a new idea came to me in what I thought at the time was a flash of inspiration. This little voice in the back of my mind proposed two new ideas that would be a bit trickier to pull off. I could deny her request so as to protect myself in the eyes of the law. Or I could grant her request, and then claim I didn't, insinuating that they had illegally broken him out of the dungeon. As soon as both of these ideas came to me, I thought they were absurd, but the persistent voice in my mind urged me to think about them more in depth, and as I did, I came to the realization that the first of the two ideas could be used to not only uphold the ideals of my moral compass but would also allow me to be seen favorably in Eirika's eyes, and possibly Hoshido's eyes depending on who was privy to what had happened. On the other hand I could deceive her, allow Ephraim out of his cell, and then say I had never sanctioned such a thing and accuse Eirika of attempting to free a criminal, thus putting both siblings behind bars and gaining favor in the sight of Valter, and possibly Nohr itself.

Decisions, decisions. It's not often this much responsibility is suddenly put on my shoulders, but I think I could get used to it.

"Well, Eirika, I think at this point my answer is going to be…" She leaned forward in her seat. "The same as before; Nohr will not release Ephraim from his confinement. I'm sorry."

She looked resolutely crestfallen, as though she had expected this answer but had hoped for a different response.

"I…see. That is all I will say on the matter then." She reached into a travel bag located at her feet and procured a scroll. "In addition to what has been said here, King Sumeragi trusted me with this list of demands that are to be seen only by King Garon. Can I trust that you'll get this to him safely and without incident?" She placed the scroll on the table between us but made sure to keep her hand firmly planted on top of it.

"Of course, I'll make sure he receives them." She let retracted her hand, allowing me to take the scroll. I placed it in the inner pocket of my vest for safe keeping.

"I'll leave it to you then. And now, I believe negotiations are over." She stood from her seat rather abruptly, collected her things, and made her way to the door.

I rose from my seat a bit slower, not really knowing what to do with myself; ever since I'd been in this world, someone had always been shepherding me to this place or that place to do something or other. Eirika left the room and soon after Valter and Vigarde reentered.

"I trust things went…well?" Vigarde asked.

"Yeah, nothing really special happened. She asked to have her brother pardoned and denied her once again. That's about it." I grinned uneasily. I had obviously just lied to one of the most powerful men in all of Nohr, and judging from his facial expression he knew that there was something I wasn't telling him, but he didn't pry into what I had hidden. Vigarde gave me one last look, along with a small nod, before leaving, presumably to attend to other duties. Valter, however, stuck around with a smug smile on his face.

"Good job, Samuel. You managed to get us through negotiations without having to try and make the royals play nice with each other." He gave me a slow clap. "And in case you didn't pick up on it, I hope you realize that the only reason I asked for you to be in this meeting, and the only reason Vigarde approved of you being here, is because no one wanted to deal with the royals and their silly bickering."

Ahhh, so that's why. Makes sense I suppose, but it still seems a bit odd to let a complete foreigner head up the negotiations for the entire country. But…whatever floats your boat, I guess.

"Right. Thanks for…clarifying." I said in a rather ungrateful tone. "So, now what do I do? I mean, I have no idea what I should be doing."

"Do I look like your mother, Samuel? Do whatever you want; you're a grown man, aren't you? Use your time however you want." He sounded a bit annoyed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have important things that I need to be doing. Ta ta!"

And just like that, I was left alone. As per Valter's suggestion, I decided I would in fact do whatever I wanted. The only problem with that being that I couldn't for the life of me figure out which way was which in this castle.

I could always hope that I'd run into someone in the hallway like I did with Lyon last time, but with halls and corridors as big and numerous as the ones in Castle Krakenburg, what were the odds I would run into someone again? Regardless of that, staying here wouldn't avail me anything. Guess it's time to get myself lost again….yaaaaaay.

A/N: Well, this chapter seems rather rough to me, but I've had the finished product sitting on my desktop for a number of months now so I figured the least I could do is upload it. I don't know if anyone even still cares about this story, so I may or may not continue it after this chapter, but it seemed a waste not to upload an already finished chapter. So here it is.

Feel free to review if you want to, and if you don't want to you can feel free to not review too.

Anyway, thanks for reading! Farvel!