Fire Emblem: Path of Wyverns

Chapter 13

As I enter the room, it feels rather crowded. It's as small as my old dorm room, yet Greil and Ike are already here in the room with Elincia. The room feels packed with the four of us. The poor girl has to be feeling cornered with so many unknown people surrounding her. Yet, I can't see any signs of nervousness about her. Then again, I'm horrible at reading people, so that probably didn't mean much.

They're already talking as I enter, so I just move to the side and silently go over what I plan to say once more.

"The name's Greil. I'm the commander of this mercenary company," Greil states as I tune in.

"My lord Greil," Elincia says, giving a small curtsy. "You are the one who came to my aid, are you not? I don't know how to thank you-"

"Hold on," Greil interrupts. "While it is true that we've provided a place for you to rest, the person who found you was him." Cue the attention being put on me. "If you want to thank someone, thank him." And now it's my turn. Man, I'm nervous right now.

"Mi'lady," I start, taking a step forward. I placed my right fist over my heart as I kneel onto my right knee with my left elbow on my left knee. I have no idea how they kneel here, but this is the only one I know, or, well, made up, so… "I am Drake, a mercenary and traveler. One of my companions was a guard under your command. When I happened upon the scene, the fight was already over, and he was already gravely injured. However, he told me of you and entrusted me to continue on in his place, and so I now pledge myself to your cause until you have found a place of true safety." Lying out my teeth is so much easier when I have my head bowed and don't have to look anyone in the eyes.

"Please rise, my lord Drake," she says quietly. "You have my gratitude for coming to me in my time of need. And I am sorry for your loss. Many good men lost their lives in that battle." While she does seem genuinely saddened at the losses, I thought I also saw a bit of relief from my words.

"Pardon my bluntness, but I have some questions for you," Greil starts as I step back. "Tell me, who are you? Why were you part of that battle? The place was the site of a fierce battle between Crimean and Daein forces, but Drake has not told us your part in it. Do you have some relation to the Crimean royal family?"

"I make no promises, but we may be able to help you," Ike says when she doesn't immediately answer. "Will you share your story with us?"

Elincia looks to me, and I nod. "You were willing to take me in and care for me without knowing who I was. I will place my trust in you, then." She takes a deep breath before finally taking the plunge. "I am Elincia Ridell Crimea. I am the only daughter of King Ramon."

"What?" Ike murmurs, caught completely off guard.

"You claim that you are the princess of Crimea?" Greil asks.

"Yes."

"That is an odd claim to make when I've never heard of King Crimea having any children."

"That is…to be expected," Elincia agrees, deflating a little. "My heritage, my very existence, has never been made public."

"My companion also told me as such," I confirm. "And that is why I chose to leave it to Her Highness to disclose her identity."

"But why did you have to hide it?" Ike asks.

"To avoid national turmoil," Elincia explains. "You see, I was born after my uncle, Lord Renning, was named as successor to the throne." And I still think that's not the greatest of reasons, but then again, Lyn faced that in an earlier Fire Emblem.

"So they kept you a secret to avoid a possible blood feud. I'm willing to accept that for the time being," Greil says, nodding along. "Very well, let's suppose that you truly are Princess Crimea. Why were you traveling along the road west?"

"I…fled the castle…to follow my uncle's orders and seek refuge in the kingdom of Gallia."

"In Gallia?"

"Yes," Elincia confirms. "We believed that King Caineghis would grant me sanctuary. So that's where we were going…but we were discovered by Daein troops, and the escort of knights…my life that I have now was purchased by the blood of those brave knights."

"Does King Daein know of your existence?"

"Most likely. I was told that the royals of each nation were to be informed of my identity in the event of dire circumstances." …Including the man who caused said dire circumstances? Not the smartest move.

"If that's the case, they must be searching frantically for you," Greil comments, glancing over at me. Guess I've just been placed on the 'to watch' list.

"My lord Drake, master Greil, you said that you were mercenaries, did you not?" Elincia asks, looking to either of us. "Please, would you help me to gain Gallia? I beg of you! I have…no one left…no one else to turn to."

Greil gave her his poker stare for a bit before saying, "I will consider your request. Until such time as I decide, you are free to stay here."

"Thank you," Elincia says, giving a small curtsy.

Greil gives her a nod before turning and walking out, Ike slowly following after him.

"Princess Elincia, I still stand by my word," I say, finding it much easier to speak formally than otherwise. "I will help you reach Gallia. However, I would not lose hope in these people. They are good people, and I'm sure they will decide to help you in your time of need as well."

Okay, this time I'm sure that she looks relieved. "Thank you, my Lord Drake," she says, giving me a curtsy as well. She hesitates for a moment, before continuing. "Were there…were there any survivors among my guard?"

I silently debate whether to tell her. I know she meets up with them later after thinking they were gone, but would it mess things up to tell her now? Then again, I just lost someone as well. I wouldn't want anyone else to feel this way for no reason. "There were five, last I saw. Of them, I could only recognize Lady Lucia, Sir Geoffrey, and Bastian." I both forgot and no longer care about Bastian's title. "They went into hiding after leading your pursuers away."

"Thank you, my Lord Drake, for informing me of their welfare. It soothes my heart to know that they are safe for the moment." She looks so happy that she could almost cry, which removes any doubt of whether I should have told her. …But is she going to use that title for me every time she addresses me?

Leaving her to rest some more, I ponder what I should do now. The sky is stained red, so it won't be long before Daein shows up.

I head to my room and put on my armor. I'm shocked to find that I feel more comfortable once I have it on. I guess I got used to it while traveling these past few weeks. As I put it on, though, I switch the right shoulder piece with the one from Daren's set that I had kept. The black piece stands out among the blue armor, but it feels as though Daren isn't completely gone this way. That there is at least a piece of him that is staying with me. And there is, as I plan to never forget him.

I head to the mess hall and grab one last meal. I'm only just finishing when the call rings out about soldiers coming. The group soon gathers in the room for an emergency meeting.

"What are the Daein dogs saying?" Shinon asks as he strings his bow.

"'Turn over Princess Crimea and leave the area immediately. Comply now, or we will attack,'" Greil recites. "Pretty straightforward."

"What are we going to do?" Gatrie asks.

"That's what we're here to decide. One thing has been made clear by the arrival of our friends outside."

"And that's that Drake is no ally of ours," Soren says, turning every eye to him or me. "I don't think it likely that they tracked her down here in a day." Really?

"Soren!" Titania exclaims. "Drake has already explained himself to us. This is no reason to suspect him." Thank you, Titania.

"There's plenty if you think about it, though," Soren retorts. "A non-threatening Daein deserter just happens to show up on a battlefield and find a 'friend' among the Crimean Imperial Guard. Then, said friend discloses the identity of a princess he has sworn to protect. To Daein.

"Then, after taking shelter here, the Daein soldiers 'conveniently' show up to take away the princess before a full day has even passed. Daein's army is based on results, and capturing the princess would carry a lot of rewards. Either this is a setup in order to firmly set Drake in as a spy, or this is infighting among the troops to see who gets her first." And sadly, I can see his point. He's wrong, but I can still see his point. Why do you have to point out my inconsistencies, Soren?

"Don't forget that he's part beast," Shinon adds, glaring at me. "You can't trust those stinkin' creatures." And cue some discrimination.

Everyone's eyes on now on me, and really, what can I say to all that? Even if I try to tell them I knew it was coming from a 'vision', it would only make their suspicion worse. Okay, so this is really, really not good right now. I can't even call a character witness. Titania? Oscar? Both of them were giving me sympathetic looks, but probably couldn't refute what Soren had said. Shoot. This is bad.

"I'm not with Daein," I say, shrugging my shoulders. "I don't know what else to say to that. I hate how they do things. I hate King Ashnard. My loyalty lies with Crimea. But I really have no way to prove any of that."

Greil sighs. "We will deal with this later. Boyd, take him to the storage room and shut him up in there. And tie his hands together so he can't try anything until this is over."

What? I'm being taken prisoner!? By my own side!? This is so not cool.

"Got it, boss," Boyd replies. "Come on, Drake. Let's get out of here before the action starts."

I follow along behind him feeling down. Some part of me was expecting to get in on the action. This is one of the game's battles, after all. But…well, was I really ready to try and kill again anyway? I don't even know what I want right now.

The storage room was just that. It was large, windowless, and could be locked. Inside was a large amount of supplies, though not many weapons or pieces of armor.

"Don't worry. We'll be finished with those soldiers in a jiff and let you back out," Boyd says as he ties my hands together. I wince as he pulls them tight. A little too tight, really, but I guess it's necessary.

Right before he walks out, I finally give in and ask, "Do you think I'm with Daein?"

Boyd looks back at me and thinks for a moment. "Nah. You're a bit too wimpy for it." With that, he shuts the door, a click following as he locks it. And now I'm in complete darkness.

Well, isn't this great. Of all the characters that join Ike, I'm the one that ends up locked away. Wow. Even Volke gets to join up easily. Then again, I have been going on lies for a while now, even if the truth this time is stranger than fiction.

Quickly growing bored, I fumble around until I manage to sit down on a crate and try to think of some way to get out of this.

…I've got nothing.

It isn't long before I hear the sounds of battle coming from outside. A battle seems to last a lot longer when you're actually in it. At least I'm not really worried about them losing or anything.

So now I'm just sitting here, wondering whether I should feel lucky or left out.

-o-

AN: Finally got this finished. I actually was fully planning on having Drake have a night striking battle and such…until Soren rose his head and pointed out the obvious. Hmm.

I would have got this finished sooner, but then I got a bunch of new cipher cards so…Fire Emblem distracted me from Fire Emblem. However, it did give me a fun idea to try out here soon, so it was beneficial. Plus, official physical Fire Emblem merchandise, people!

I'll be on a trip this weekend, so I'll try to squeeze one more in this weekend between events.

Update: Few corrections, etc.