A/N: Well, it's certainly been a while, huh? Really sorry this chapter is so late. I've been trying to dole out the time I spend on my stories evenly, but in the end I decided to put one of them on hold. Don't worry! Not this one! :P That should give me more time to focus on this story, since as of right now, it's my most popular one. Yay for Fire Emblem! :) So anyway, this chapter may seem a tad boring, and I apologize for that. I suck at writing action-y stuff haha! Unfortunately for me, this story will end up containing A LOT of action in the future! So please bear with me! And maybe give me some tips on how to write decent action sequences? :P Haha okay, enough of that! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Chapter 5 will be posted soon! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem. All characters you recognize belong to Nintendo/Intelligent Systems.
The halls of Castle Gallia seemed to lack the commonplace liveliness that they normally had. Only half the torches on the walls were lit, making it appear, not to mention feel, much darker than usual. The Laguz who resided there moved around like zombies, not even smiling as they walked past another. It was as if a dark cloud shrouded the entire kingdom, but Ranulf knew better.
There were many who hadn't a clue as to why Gallia suddenly became so aberrant. Many simply just followed orders and did as their king advised. Some of them were people who Ranulf knew personally. His good friends, Kyza, Giffca, Lethe, and Lyre were all blinded by the foolishness, as were many others he knew. He seemed to be the only one who still had some coherency. Normally, he would never think to question the king's judgment, but this was outrageous. Everyone else may have succumbed to Skrimir's false promises, but he was smarter than that.
He was on his way to the throne room to talk with the king now, hoping he could convince him to change his mind. If he could not, then the peace would once again be lost. He traveled swiftly down the dim halls, ignoring those who gave him an icy look. It was a well known fact by now that he didn't like the way things were going, and almost everyone in the castle scorned him for it.
"Your Majesty!" he announced as he pushed the heavy doors to the throne room open. He made his way over to stand in front of the throne that Skrimir sat in, and put his right hand over his heart.
"Ah, Ranulf," Skrimir began. "I suspected I would be seeing you. You were very angry after our meeting this afternoon." Skrimir drummed his fingers on the arm of his throne.
"Your Majesty, with all due respect, I must ask you to make sense of what you're about to do," Ranulf was half begging now.
Skrimir's fingers stopped their tedious motion and he looked up at Ranulf with bitter eyes. He got up from his throne and began to walk slow circles around the smaller cat. "My friend, have you never wondered what it would be like if the beast tribe ruled over all of Tellius?" he asked, his voice sounding like that of a snake. "Why, we would never be subject to Beorcs' mockery ever again!"
"The Beorc are learning to understand us, Your Majesty," Ranulf countered, a hint of chagrin in his voice. "They only need time."
"I have given them much more time than necessary!" Skrimir growled. "They will soon learn not to mess with us Laguz!"
"Your Majesty, please. I beg you to reconsider! It will only get worse if we declare war on every Beorc-governed country of Tellius!" Ranulf pleaded.
Just then, the door to the throne room swung open again. Kyza, one of Gallia's commanding officers, stalked through it. "Your Majesty! I have news to report!" he walked up to Skrimir and gave the salute.
"Kyza, was your mission successful?" Skrimir asked, stepping over to him.
Kyza sighed and looked down at the floor. "No, I'm afraid not, Your Majesty. He has been healed."
"What?!" Skrimir snarled. "This is an outrage!" He stormed over to his throne and sat down again. "How has this happened? Did you not gravely injure him?"
Kyza scratched at his ear. "I thought I did, but apparently it wasn't enough. She found him."
Ranulf silently let out a relieved sigh and bowed his head. Bless you, Micaiah.
Skrimir seemed to ponder this for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "Hmm...then it seems we must go right for the throat," he said.
Ranulf's eyes widened. "Your Majesty! Surely you're not suggesting that we murder the queen of Daein!" He could no longer hide his objections. He would voice his opinion on the subject, whether Skrimir liked it or not.
"Well, we will get nowhere if she's left running around healing everyone," Skrimir mused. "Kyza, you will go back to Daein and perform the deed. You may choose another to accompany you to ensure your success," Skrimir commanded.
Kyza saluted him once again. "Understood, Your Majesty. Giffca and I will depart in the morning." He turned to leave, but Ranulf grabbed his arm.
"Kyza, don't you know what you're doing?" he whispered, so as not to draw attention to himself. His eyes looked as if they had no hope left in them.
Kyza sighed. "I only obey the king, Ranulf. You should do the same, lest your life be taken from you." With that, he left the throne room to go find Giffca.
"Ranulf," Skrimir said. "You are dismissed. Go, and leave me be."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Ranulf conceded, a defeated look on his face. He began the long walk back to his living quarters, wondering how he would go about stopping this. Once he reached his room, he opened the door and immediately flopped down on his bed. "Think, Ranulf," he said aloud to himself. "The life of an innocent woman is at stake." He closed his eyes and willed a thought to come to him. "I cannot do this on my own. I'll only be thrown in the dungeons, just like Caineghis..." Ranulf's eyes closed tightly at the thought of their previous ruler. Skrimir was certainly abusing his power as the new king, and Caineghis didn't like it. But since he was no longer king, he had no power in the situation. Not long after that, Skrimir ordered every Beorc resident of Gallia to be imprisoned. Ranulf had simply stood by and watched the horror of it all, but he couldn't do a thing about it. If he acted, he would be considered a traitor. But at the moment, he knew that if it had to come to that, he would be more than willing to risk his life attempting to put a stop to this madness.
"I cannot describe it any further. It was a large, gray tiger laguz. That's about as much as I can tell you," Sothe said. He and Micaiah were standing outside on their balcony, staring up at the night sky. The stars seemed to dance around the midnight dome, creating a sense of serenity.
"It all seems too surreal," Micaiah pondered softly. "Why would a Laguz attack you?" A little over two weeks had passed since she found Sothe battered and bruised in the alley, and she hadn't pressed him to give her details. But now she believed it was absolutely necessary. "What could possibly have been his motive?" She seemed to be getting frustrated, and she gripped the rail sternly. Sothe noticed her upset and placed his hand over hers.
"Easy, now," he said, pulling her slight body closer to his. She leaned into his shoulder and rested her head there, wishing the two of them could remain like that forever. After a while, Sothe spoke again. "What will the baby be like?" he asked, trying to draw her mind away from the Laguz.
Micaiah looked up at him, rather confused. "Hmm?"
"I mean, will he or she be...you know...Branded?" Sothe's question was met with a heavy sigh, and he immediately wished he hadn't asked it.
"I don't know, Sothe," Micaiah answered him honestly. Her head fell back against his shoulder. "Let's just worry about that when the time comes."
Sothe nodded his head, gazing up at the stars again. Micaiah behaved differently since they were married. She no longer flinched at the word "branded." They both knew that he would die long before her, but she didn't seem to dwell on that fact as much anymore. Sothe supposed she was just grateful for the time she would get to spend with him, and didn't want to waste it with worry. "Alright," he said, long after her last words were spoken.
Micaiah suddenly felt a chill run through her body and she gathered her arms around her waist. There had been no wind. The night was as calm and still as ever, but she couldn't ignore the freezing sensation. Sothe looked down at her, taking notice of the fact that she was shivering. He put both of his arms around her in an attempt to warm her up. She lost her footing then and slipped out of his embrace, falling to the ground.
"Micaiah!" Sothe cried, immediately kneeling down beside her. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"
"Sothe," Micaiah whispered through clenched teeth. Her eyes were closed and her lips quivered a little. "Something terrible is about to happen..."
As soon as she had said it, screams of terror were heard from the bottom floor of the castle. Sothe quickly helped Micaiah to her feet and they rushed back inside their bedroom.
"Help! Beast Laguz!" The scream was heard again, and they both recognized it to be their good friend Laura.
"Micaiah, stay here!" Sothe said as he turned to run out of the room. He soon heard footsteps behind him, however, and stopped dead in his tracks.
"You won't be alone this time," Micaiah told him as she grabbed her light tome from the bedside table. Sothe opened his mouth to protest, but Micaiah spoke again. "Come on! We don't have much time!" She ran out of the room then, leaving a bewildered Sothe trailing behind her.
When they reached the bottom floor, they headed straight for the banquet hall, where Laura's shrieks seemed to be emanating from. Upon entering, they saw the small priestess huddled up into a corner, and there was a lion and a tiger Laguz pursuing her.
"Leave her alone!" Sothe yelled, causing the large cats to turn their heads. The tiger gave a curt nod to the lion, and they both shifted into their human forms. "Kyza? Giffca? What's the meaning of all this?" Sothe asked, and by the sound of his voice, he meant business. "You were the one who attacked me the other night, weren't you?" The question was aimed at Kyza, who stood not ten feet in front of him.
"I was merely obeying orders, Sothe," Kyza answered, his mouth curling up into a wry smile. Laura had scrambled to her feet to stand beside Micaiah.
"Orders," Sothe repeated. "From whom?"
"Who else? His Majesty Skrimir, the king of Gallia," Kyza answered. "Now then, Giffca and I have some business to take care of." The pair slowly began to approach the three Daeins, getting ready to transform once again. "Kill Micaiah," Kyza muttered to Giffca. "I will handle Sothe."
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Sothe yelled, standing in front of his wife. He drew his knife from his belt and assumed a fighting stance. "Both of you, get yourselves someplace safe!" he said to Micaiah and Laura.
"Come, Micaiah!" Laura grabbed her arm, but the queen would not budge. Instead, she opened her light tome and began conjuring up a spell.
"Ekarif Magae Teiodasto Ieraka!" Suddenly, the banquet hall was filled with a blinding light. In the confusion, Sothe was able to slice Kyza underneath his belly. He threw him on the ground, causing him to transform back to his human state. Giffca did also, and lay on the floor curled up into a ball, his hands covering his eyes.
"You...you may have...won...this time...Sothe," Kyza uttered, clutching his wound. "But Skrimir...will have his...vengeance..." Giffca gathered up enough strength to aid Kyza, and he picked him up off of the ground. The two laguz hastily retreated, but not before Giffca snarled at Sothe. The three of them watched as he carried his comrade out of the castle and into the dark streets of Nevassa.
"Vengeance," Micaiah said softly. "What does he mean?"
Sothe caught his breath and made his way over to her. He immediately wrapped her in a tight hug, thanking the goddesses that she was still alive. "I have no idea," he said. "But he wanted us dead."