Disclaimer: I do not own Breath of Fire or its characters.


Chapter 2 - A Shadow on the Throne

Nina opened her eyes slowly, her eyes adjusting to the dark room around her. She tried to sit up but quickly faltered; her head ached greatly and her body was stiff from lying on the ground. Holding her head, Nina realized that she was actually in a tent and the ground beneath her was a thin sleeping bag resting on uneven dirt, accounting for her stiffness.

This time rising slowly, Nina sat up. Before panic could set in, she took several deep breaths, closed her eyes and began a magic exercise her teacher had once taught her. She built up energy as though to cast a spell but instead of forming the magic words, Nina focused the energy and made it flow through her body like a current. This technique was actually to develop magical control but Nina found the meditation to be relaxing.

A shadow shifted outside, probably a guard sensing a buildup of magical energy. Nina paid no attention to it. Instead, she lowered her shoulders and felt the energy spread from her chest to her fingertips then back down to her feet. After the process was completed, she let the energy gradually fade away. The shadow retreated again, content that she wasn't intending mischief. Her composure regained, Nina shifted her attention to the situation at hand.

Nina had been taught that in harsh situations, analyze your surroundings and identify your resources. She looked around and saw a mostly barren tent, the only item inside being the sleeping bag she was resting on. Her wand had been taken but her hands and mouth remained unbound. Sighing with frustration, she closed her eyes to listen instead. She heard a few quiet voices and the distinct crackling of a fire maybe fifty paces from her.

So Ryu wasn't the only bandit; the stories of his single-handed destruction may have been an honest testament to his incredible strength but he was not a lone warrior. In fact, from the number of voices she could make out, there were at least a dozen, too many for her to take out without her wand. Maybe if she could distract them by setting their camp on fire with a Simoon spell…

Nina chuckled darkly to herself. Even if she could generate enough power to catch the camp ablaze, it wouldn't be able to stop everyone. She cringed when she remembered Ryu's indifference to her Simoon spell cast through her wand at it's highest concentration of power. Everyone might be foolish enough to be absorbed by the burning camp but Nina sensed a higher intelligence from the outlaw, who surely had the power to stop her.

The tent flap drew open and interrupted Nina's thoughts. Ryu stepped in, his eyes as unreadable as always. "I see you have awoken," he said. "Since that is the case, perhaps I should begin by apologizing."

Nina scowled. "Apologize for kidnapping me?" she spat. "Don't kid yourself. I'm a prisoner, not a guest."

Ryu sighed. Nina tensed as he approached her but he merely sat in front of her. "If I had been presented with a different alternative, any alternative, I would have taken it," he said gravely, his eyes glowing intensely. "All I ask is you listen to what I have to say, nothing more."

Nina could only gulp and nod, hypnotized by the sudden ambience of his face.

"As of right now there are two options," Ryu explained. "We could force you into captivity, bind your hands and legs and place you in a gag. We could station a guard here at all times, gradually breaking your spirit by isolation and malnourishment, even if it takes years. Eventually, even if you prove more resilient than most, your kingdom will inevitable fall into political turmoil over who would take the throne without a royal heir."

"Is that your goal?" Nina said coldly. "To cause the collapse of the Windian kingdom?"

"Not at all," Ryu replied indifferently. "We seek reconciliation; the means are insignificant so long as the ends are met."

A confused expression crossed Nina's face. "Reconciliation?"

Ryu nodded. "It will become clear soon," he said. "This leads me to our second option: If you give your word as royalty to not attempt escape or harm in any way for the next three days, we will accommodate your needs and you will be treated well."

"Why the three days?" Nina asked, suspicious. The length was too exact, as if they were waiting for something. Ryu knew that Nina would not break her royal word; compromising one's character regardless of the situation would show weakness in the royal line, even if only to herself. Therefore, it was important for her to know the situation before taking such a firm oath.

"We have sent a messenger to Windia to explain the situation. Three days will give both the messenger time to contact your father and for you to understand our reasons." Ryu stood up, brushed the front of his shirt for dirt and suddenly offered his hand to Nina. "It is your choice. I would rather have a peaceful resolution to this situation. I believe after you hear our story, you will understand, though you may not agree."

There was a moment of silence as Nina contemplated the options. She knew she could not overpower Ryu and the intensity in his eyes earlier convinced her he was willing to do whatever he needed to achieve his end. He had acknowledged that she didn't need to agree with their goal; it seemed as though enlightenment was theirs only means for the moment. In the back of her mind, she felt a nagging curiosity at the end - how did everything connect to the Windian kingdom?

Taking a deep breath, Nina reached up and grasped Ryu's hand. With the closest thing to a smile Nina had seen yet, Ryu helped her up before releasing her hand and turning toward the exit, Nina close behind. The king had once taught her that to understand a person, she had to become that person. If it meant saving Windia from an unknown threat, she would do anything in her power to stop it, even if it meant becoming the enemy.

xxxxXxxxx

There was a grim silence over the throne room. In the torchlight, the usually glistening golden room appeared sinister. Banners bearing the Windian flag coated the walls, shadows dancing upon them as if to foreshadow the horrors about to fall on the nation. The three thrones, the two smaller ones of the queen and princess and the grander one of the king, stood at the end of the room, only two occupied. Before them ran a regal carpet from the chamber doors to their feet and on it a loyal subject, his head bowed in respect.

"Damn him!" cursed the king, slamming his fist on his throne. "Damn his soul to Hell!" The queen remained silent, sitting beside her husband in her smaller but as impressive throne.

The guard lowered his head and remained on his knee in bow. "We had several of our Cloaks shadowing her movements but it appears that Ryu was alert, your Majesty. He had several of his own men ambush and kill them before kidnapping the Princess."

The king rubbed his temples and shut his eyes tightly. "Have you validated his claim, then?" he asked through gritted teeth.

The guard looked up and nodded. "Yes, your Majesty. The helmet and mask he brought back have been checked. The former was from a guard posted with her and the other belonged to a Cloak following the princess. The wand he brought was taken to the Royal Wizard and he said the magical signature imbedded in the wand could belong to no one but the Princess."

"Very well, then," the king said before opening his eyes and waving the guard away. "Let in the messenger." The guard stood up quickly, bowed formally and hurried out. At his exit, a small man walked in accompanied by two royal guards. His appearance was startling - a young man barely in his twenties, his shaggy hair windswept, his clothes ragged and dirty and through all this he retained a boyish smile on his face. Despite the glowering gaze of the king, the man walked with an air of the utmost confidence.

"Good evening, your Majesty," the man said, his voice frivolous. "I take it you have validated my claim." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes, we have," the king retorted angrily. "Now tell me this message before I have you sent to the dungeons!"

The young man chuckled. "I would advise against that. You see, if I do not return in three days, Ryu will simply kill your daughter and leave you to deal with the political chaos that will follow." The man waved his finger. "So it would be better for both of us if we just had a simple, civilized conversation."

The king stood up. "You kidnap the heir to the royal throne of Windia, threaten me with her death, expect me to bend to your whim and you call for 'civilized' conversation!" The king laughed sadistically. "Your contradictions are laughable. I could just as easily call for a search of the area, kill you and be done with it!"

With a frown, the young man said, "You expect to search all the forested land three days journey from here? Come now, you do not have the manpower for such a feat." The man waved away the threat nonchalantly. "Even if you could find them, Ryu could as easily kill Princess Nina before your men could do anything about it. We tracked and killed several of your Cloaks, your deadliest and most silent men. You could not ambush us without killing her."

The king fell silent, his hands turning white as he gripped the arm of his throne tightly. Taking his silence as resignation, the young man continued, "I have come here to deliver you a message and return to Ryu with a response: we will exchange the princess for fifty million zenny, to be provided by the Eastern Checkpoint. You are to present the money by yourself. We shall have three men with the princess waiting there at high noon in a fortnight from tonight. If you do not show or we suspect anything, we will kill the princess. Understood?"

The king exchanged a glance with the queen, who nodded her head silently. The king turned back toward the messenger. "Very well. Now leave and tell that bastard if anything should happen to the princess in her absence, I will make sure that he will suffer dearly. I will send my league of magicians to destroy every stone if it means his capture." The young man made a mocking bow before retreating through the chamber doors, escorted by the royal guards.

The room now emptied, the king addressed the queen. "I see little to be gained from this," he said quietly. "The princess is necessary to the future of Windia." He fell in silent in thought.

"Maybe," the queen began softly, "if you had not sent Nina to investigate that last Cloak group or at the very least properly made sure they had been killed…"

Before the queen could finish her statement, the king's hand came across her face, causing her to gasp in surprise. "Silence!" the king barked as the queen nursed her now red cheek. "If that idiot Mikba had done his job right, then the Cloaks would not have been a problem! But instead he botched the job and that damned Ryu came into the picture!" He roared angrily before pacing across the throne room.

"Nina was necessary to remove suspicion," he explained aloud. "Now I have to deal with a dead threat before they become public. If the citizens knew who was working for Ryu and how it came to be…" The king broke off with a shudder. He turned and stormed from the throne room, talking to himself and leaving the injured queen alone.

The queen scowled, removing her hand from her face. "Maybe we deserve the kingdom to fall."


Author's Note: So another chapter done and the story has yet to fully be unveiled. Things won't be getting all epic until the fourth/fifth chapter, so just hang on and believe me when I say these slower chapters are necessary for the plot. As for this actual chapter, I had an issue with the throne scene, deciding what information to drop and what to keep. Things may appear choppy and you may not understand completely (or others may think they know what's going on) but let me assure you that a complete picture will be painted. To answer a question in the reviews, this takes place in the Breath of Fire III world in terms of everything except for the character backgrounds. Spells, people, geography all remain the same but some things may be altered slightly (like spells cast through wands vs open hand). Anyway, let me know how you like it and I'll try to get the next chapter up in a couple weeks! Thanks to everyone who reviewed!