No Longer Alone


Disclaimer: I own nothing


Approximately 1 month later…


Franz stood at attention in the throne room of Castle Renais, observing the proceedings and, if he were to be honest with himself, feeling absolutely useless. Given the fact that he was currently in the presence of two (2) of the king's personal guards, one (1) Silver Knight a.k.a. General Seth, one (1) Princess of Renais and one (1) King of Renais, he was patently unsure as to just what he should be doing.

Then again, formality and decorum had long since disintegrated to the point of near non-existence. Political intrigue generally broke down when enemy troops were taking battering rams to the castle gates. And thus Franz was afforded the rather rare privilege of being in the throne room and in presence of such… ah, distinguished personage.

Too flipping bad he probably wasn't going to enjoy any of it.

As he mentally pondered where exactly he had gotten such a offhanded view of things and came to the conclusion that it was a mixture of sharing his rather reckless brother's genes, his military training for calmness in the face of defeat, and the fact that he was probably going to be dead or on Death Row before the hour was out, a breathless soldier rushed in.

"Your Majesty! Grado's troops have already broken through the castle walls! The West Wing has been overrun! We can't hold out much longer!"

Franz had seen the king on many occasions, but despite His Majesty's age, he had never actually thought of him as old. Grave and wise would have been his words of choice. But now… the king slumped on his throne, eyes closed, head bent, his reply issued in a long sigh of despair. His Majesty looked ready to collapse, Franz thought unhappily.

"I see."

There was a long moment of silence as everyone waited expectantly for further orders. When none appeared forthcoming, the soldier cleared his throat hesitantly. "Uh… your Majesty? What should we do?"

Fado's eyes opened slowly. "What else can we do?" He replied with grim resignation. "Order all remaining soldiers to stand down. Further resistance is pointless. Grado has won."

The soldier nodded, then turned and vanished past the twin doors. The king looked up, first to General Seth, and then to the Princess.

"Eirika." He spoke slowly but surely. "Do you still have the bracelet I gave you?"

"Yes…" The young princess nodded uncertainly, unsure of why he would care in a time like this. "But, father…"

The king had already turned back to the General. "Seth, take her to Frelia. King Hayden is a honourable man. He will take care of you."

General Seth gave the slightest of nods. "And you, your Highness?"

The king sighed. "Me? I will remain here. Emperor Vigarde was my friend, Grado our dear ally. Have I somehow erred? Was this invasion my fault?" He shook his head. "It is my responsibility to defend my nation… how could I have failed her so?"

Franz's eyes darted nervously from his General to his Lord. Were there any proper words for times like this?

He was interrupted by an indignant cry from the Princess. "Father, you can't! If you're going to remain here, then so will I!"

"Seth!" The shout itself was a command.

Seth grabbed hold of the princesses' wrist, nodded for Franz to follow and sprinted out of the throne room, half-leading, half-dragging the princess.

As Franz struggled to keep pace with the General, he could see marks of the battle that had stormed through the inner reaches of the entire castle. Magic blasts had scored stone; swords had slashed through tapestries, leaving the remaining pieces of cloth to flutter forlornly in the breeze; lances were impaled into tables, walls, and more often than not, bodies. It was a good thing, Franz later decided, that he had been running too fast to recognize any of the cadavers strewn throughout the grounds.

"Rear stables." Were Seth's only words. Franz nodded his compliance and followed him through the twisting, winding corridors of the fortress he had come to know as well as his own home.

As he entered the stable, he saw two men arrayed in armour that bore the insignia of the Grado Empire, recruits obviously assigned to guard this place. Upon catching sight of the three newcomers, the slightly more alert one's hand flew to the hilt of his sword-

Just a split second too slow to defend himself from General Seth's strike. The soldier collapsed without a sound.

The second had already drawn his blade and leapt at Franz. Parrying furiously with his own sword, Franz managed to hold his ground, though he wasn't very likely to make much headway in getting a killing blow on his opponent. His dilemma was resolved when General Seth clocked the soldier on the back of his head with a gauntleted fist, dropping the man like a sack of potatoes.

"Don't bother tying him- no time." The General instructed, already saddling his warhorse and extending his hand to help Eirika up. Franz likewise finished placing his saddle on Neige, leapt up, and nodded his readiness to his teacher.

Then they were off.


"You go ahead, Franz. A single rider can slip past any guards more easily than the both of us. Petition the Frelian Border Guard for aid."

"Understood, sir!"

Franz leaned over Neige, urging his horse to move faster. He had engaged in military training with members of the Eastern Watch – Frelia's Border Guard - before, and he knew the location of their fort. The castle rapidly shrinking behind him, he pulled the reins slightly, guiding his steed more to the left.

A harsh, croaking sort of scream abruptly drew his attention. Jerking his head around as far as he could go, he made out what appeared to be a trio of giant bats circling around the approximate area he had left General Seth and the Princess. Franz was no expert in the ways of wyverns, but he could tell by the way the lead flyer guided his mount that he obviously knew what he was doing.

Offering a silent prayer for the safety of the General and the Princess, Franz let his training take over, washing all other thoughts than that of his current task out of his mind.


Two days later…


The inn was noisy, dusty, and crowded, but given the fact that she had gotten a meal and a roof over her head for the past night, Amelia wasn't complaining. As she spooned bites of some sort of unidentifiable meat into her mouth, she pulled out a worn map, studying her route. If she crossed the nearby bridge, she would be able to reach Serafew by nightfall. Amelia scratched her arm absentmindedly –a midge bite had left a tiny red mark near her elbow.

"It's settled, then." She said, tucking the map back into her satchel. "Serafew's the border town –from there, it should be a straightforward journey to the capital. I'm –"

The end of her sentence was drowned out by a loud cheer from outside the tavern. An instant later, a villager rushed in, obviously exuberant.

"We've done it! Renais has fallen to our armies! Our invasion has succeeded! We have victory!" Instantly the entire inn erupted to cheers, celebrating their victory.

Amelia, elsewhile, kept her head low. She had heard about the war starting shortly after she had left the village, of course. And frankly, she had mixed feelings about this war.

Not about it's necessity, of course. Renais was an evil country that oppressed its citizens and overtaxed them. The government of Grado had announced a long list of atrocities the ruling houses were responsible for against the populace, in which Prince Ephraim, the renegade warrior that was apparently stilling hounding Grado's troops, topped the list. The Emperor himself had made the list public, and if the Emperor could not be relied upon as trustworthy, then who could?

No, there were definitely no qualms about the justness of this war. The rulers of Renais were corrupt tyrants, and they had to go.

What she was primarily concerned about were the common folk of Renais. No matter how swift the war was, the devastation to the country couldn't have been light.

Added to rumours that the Emperor was currently ignoring all pleas for the rebuilding of Renais, not to mention giving bandits free run of the country (a fact that made Amelia's stomach churn whenever she thought about it), and she felt an ever growing sense of unease over the whole business.

Glancing up, she noted she had already finished her meal. Waving away her questions like they were pesky flies, she shouldered her pack and lance, paid the innkeeper, and left the villagers to their celebrations.


Franz had been on the verge of collapsing with exhaustion when he caught sight of the fortress that housed the Eastern Watch in the distance. Galloping just about nonstop for nearly forty-eight hours had a tendency to take its toll on you. Spurred on by the encouraging sight of the bastion, he (and Neige) found an extra reserve of energy he hadn't known he possessed, and galloped towards the gates. As he approached, he noticed the sentries had already spotted him and were calling into the hallways of the fort.

In short order, a knight layered in dark green armour appeared to meet him, lance at the ready. When the knight caught sight of the emblem of Renais on his armour, he relaxed somewhat, but still gripped the spear, ready for action.

"What news from Renais, boy?" He asked.

In between loud gasps for breath, Franz managed to choke out, "Castle… Renais… fallen. The princess is… fleeing… towards border… Mulan. Need aid, Sir… sir…"

"Gilliam." The knight provided. "Sir Gilliam of the Eastern Watch. Princess Eirika is headed for the Frelian border, you say?" Franz summoned enough energy to nod.

"Hmm." Gilliam turned towards the entrance of the castle. "Is haste needed?"

"Ye… yes, sir."

Gilliam nodded once more, then signaled a sentry, "There's another outpost near the Border Mulan. We'll be able to get fresher troops there."

A nearer outpost? Franz pulled up a mental map of the region. He didn't remember any other fort…

Seeing the young cavalier's obvious confusion, Gilliam managed a tiny smile. "Kept secret from other countries, in case of situations as these. You can lead the way back to your princess?"

Logic would dictate that General Seth would lead the Princes to Frelia by the most direct route possible –the longer they stayed in Renais, the higher chances of being caught. With this in mind, Franz could nod, fairly certain of himself.

"Let's be off, then." The knight rumbled.

"Just –just the two of us, sir?"

"I told you. Fresher troops at the border outpost. I can't very well leave a knight of Renais to rush back by himself, can I? And I don't suppose you'd want to be staying here. Come on, then."

"Er…" Franz began, blushing slightly. "Does anyone here have a spare lance?" Fleeing from the Castle also meant he hadn't time to properly equip himself, and among the things he had neglected to bring along was a spear.

"…" Wordlessly, Gilliam picked one up from the rack near the gate and handed it to him. "Let's move."

"Yes… yes, sir."


"Princess Tana's in there?" Franz stared incredulously at the fortress they had originally been planning to gain reinforcements from. The countryside was now crawling with Grado soldiers, and based on the message from the harried cavalier that had ridden off back to the Eastern Watch fortress, the Princess was currently housed in there, and probably captured too.

Gilliam let out a sigh. "Looks like it. I'm counting on the enemy commander being smart enough to know the princess is a valuable hostage. She's in no danger if he realizes that. However, I'm not sure if we can retake the entire area with only the two of us…"

"Wait… over there! It's… General Seth! And Princess Eirika!"

The Silver Knight was currently astride his warhorse, and pinning a soldier to the ground with his lance. Close by, Eirika nimbly dodged an axe blow before dealing two precise strikes with her rapier, felling her opponent.

"Well, that settles the choice about whether we advance or retreat, I suppose." Gilliam replied. "I've got the stronger armour, so I'll take the point. Watch my back, lad."

"Got it." Franz watched as Gilliam charged forward, nearly barreling into an enemy soldier that hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings. As the soldier whirled around with a yelp of surprise, the butt of Gilliam's lance smacked into his helmet with a lovely reverberating clang. The soldier took a half -step backwards, then dropped.

Franz likewise spurred his horse into a gallop, heading for his General. A quick thrust with his lance at the thigh disabled his first opponent, and as another one turned to face him, he reared up, letting his sword blow fall with the combined weight of him and his horse upon his foe. Knocked back, the soldier sprawled on the floor, and the shiny point of a lance to his throat compelled him to surrender without much fuss.

Working in tandem, the two separate groups were finally able to meet up.

"General!" Franz cried. "You're safe!"

Seth smiled in return, although Franz caught a slight flash of pain in his expression. "You too, Franz. It does my heart good to see you well."

Further conversation was cut short by a phalanx of soldiers appearing behind them, apparently people who had been pursuing the princess.

"But it appears we shall have to finish our catching up after this battle." Seth continued without missing a beat as he wheeled his warhorse around to face the oncoming troops. "Let us ride together, Franz."

Franz readied his lance and nodded. "With honour, sir."


Meanwhile…


"You can't be serious." Amelia shook her head. "I don't understand."

"That's just the way it is." The soldier shook his head. "This bridge is closed. It's been dismantled for a long time. We're only here to guard against immigrants that try to bypass the taxes by using the rivers."

"But… but…" Amelia fumbled around in her pack for a moment before drawing out her map. "Look! It says the crossing is right here!"

The soldier coughed slightly, then said, "Um…this is a rather old map, you know…"

Amelia groaned silently. That map was the only one she ever had. "Now what do I do?" She mumbled to herself. This was the fastest way to Serafew, and now –

The soldier had snapped his fingers. "Wait a second." Vanishing back into the guard room, he stepped out again. "Sorry, I can't let you cross even if I wanted to, but here." He handed her a tightly rolled up scroll. "This map should be as up–to–date as is humanly possible. You'll be able to plot your course better here. Good luck with whatever it is you're doing, girl." Then he disappeared back into the guardroom.

After studying her new map for several seconds, Amelia groaned –out loud, this time. Based on the most current routes, even the fastest path to Serafew would take her a week at least.

Well, there was nothing for it. Brushing a stray strand of blonde hair from her eyes, Amelia hefted her pack onto her back, and began the lonely march down the road.


Chapter two completed. Thank you for reading. Please review.