"I told you to get green tea."

Inigo winced, feeling smaller by the second for every second Brady's mother continued to glare at him from over the small wooden table in their room. "Yes, that you did," he said slowly.

Brady's mother narrowed her chocolate brown eyes, and if he looked closely, he could have sworn he saw her lips twitch ever so further down. "This," she said, pointing down to the cup in front of her, "is not green tea."

Inigo could tell that now. The tiny leaves swirled in a murky red liquid, giving off an aroma that he thought was rather pleasant. Obviously, that was not what Brady's mother had been expecting.

"I–I know," he said.

"Well of course you know now. How could you not know before? It's such a simple distinction to make!"

"They all look green?"

That was a weak excuse. Maribelle knew it. Inigo knew it. He'd served tea plenty of times. He should have known the difference–it was just that he'd been distracted the whole morning staring at Maribelle's unbuckled corset, but Inigo would rather eat his foot than tell her.

Considering the look she sent him, he had already swallowed his ankle and was working up the rest of his leg. She held his gaze for a bit longer, before she sighed and palmed her face.

"I suppose it's to be expected," she said. "You're hardly the epitome of refinement. I'd hardly expect you to understand the difference between ginger and blackberry."

Oh, if only she knew. Inigo tried to ignore her as she adjusted her unbuckled corset again–to help her breathe easier, she'd told him–but as he listened to her struggle, he couldn't help but hope she wouldn't ask him for help. As much as he acted like it, he'd never been that close with a girl before. He was too shy for that!

Sneaking a glance over to her, he saw as Brady's mom strained for a bit, then groaned and let the clasps fall back to her side. Her brown eyes met his, and she opened her mouth.

"You've got to help us!"

Both him and Brady's mom flinched as the door to their room slammed open, and a boy came stumbling inside. The boy took a moment to catch his breath, then another to take in where he was. Slowly, he looked back at the door, then to them.

"The door... that door isn't..."

"Locked, yes," Inigo said with a sigh.

"And just why is that?" Brady's mom said, hands on her hips.

Inigo frowned. "I... forgot?"

"Well, if any assassins make their way up here, they certainly won't let you forget twice!" Brady's mom ran a hand down her face, before she reached over and took a sip from her tea. "I'm terribly sorry," she said, turning to the boy. "What was it you–"

Inigo flinched, hot tea suddenly sprayed on his face as Brady's mother broke out into a fit of coughs. He rushed to her side in an instant, hands on her and holding her in place so she didn't fall off her chair. Brady's mother pawed for a napkin she'd placed on the table. Inigo, at least, was smart enough to understand that she wanted it, so he reached out and handed it over to her. If nothing else, it served to distract him from how soft her stomach was underneath her corset.

If Brady's mother felt anything, she did a good job at ignoring it. She dabbed the corners of her mouth, checking her reflection with a pocket mirror from her purse to make sure her face was clean, before she turned to face the boy again, hands on her lap. "Sorry about that. You were saying?"

The boy blinked, face bright red in a way that Inigo so desperately wished wasn't showing on his own face, before he shook his head and said, "You need to come, quick! There's a bridge that collapsed. A few of the merchants crossing weren't able to escape in time. They're terribly injured. You've got to help us!"

Brady's mom cursed. She jumped to her feet, but Inigo could tell before her feet hit the floor that her leg wouldn't take it. Again, he rushed to her side and caught her before she could fall.

"Please, be careful Miss Maribelle," he said as he let her down. "As eager as you may be, you forget the severity of your own injuries."

"Oh, that's right," Brady's mother said, scowling. "Then I suppose you shall be here to assist me until I get to where I'm needed."

That was the last thing in the world that Inigo needed to hear. Still, what else could he do but take it with a smile and hope she couldn't see the growing dread on his face.

"It would be my pleasure, Miss Maribelle."

Maribelle truly thought Iago would be more thrilled to have her stick so closely to him as they made their way over to the collapsed bridge–after all, he'd been so shameless before in his flirting–but she didn't need to be a genius to tell how much he wanted to peel away from her and put some distance between them. It was strange, she would admit, but then again, admiration did strange things to people. Naga knows how awkward she was around Chrom all the time.

Still, as soon as they'd made it to the site, he peeled off her with such speed that she was almost insulted. It wasn't like she wanted his help walking around, but he wasn't making it any easier!

As much as she would have liked to complain, however, it would be unbecoming of a lady of her standing, so instead she looked ahead at the mess of rock and stone before her.

"Where are they?" she asked, turning to a group of villagers gathered nearby. "You can't very well expect me to attend to anyone I cannot see?"

The villagers exchanged a few hushed whispers, nodded between themselves, and a few hurried back and brought over three people sprawled out on the ground, one of whom Maribelle recognized.

"Anna? What in Naga's name are you doing here?" she hissed, eyes narrowed.

The red-haired woman–the very same she had seen traveling with the Shepherds a week ago–looked up at her and blinked. "I'm sorry, hon, I don't think we've met?"

Maribelle opened her mouth to tell her that they had, in fact, met before, before she remembered who she was talking to and palmed her face. "No, I don't think we have," she muttered through her hand.

It wasn't this Anna's fault she looked exactly the same as all her blasted sisters, at least, that's what Maribelle tried to tell herself. It did little to help the annoyance that flared up inside, so she waved her staff and healed the woman to get her out of her sight as soon as possible.

After all, it wasn't like she could blame herself for having just a little hope that maybe, just maybe, Chrom and the others were nearby.

Maribelle healed the other two just as quickly–thankfully, none of the others were suffering anything too complex, just a few broken bones and blood loss–but just as she was about to relax, a girl came stumbling out of the crowd.

"Miss! My brother burned his arm off! Please, you need to help him!" she blurted out.

A groan came out of her before she could suppress it. Maribelle tried to push herself to her feet, only for her leg to give out beneath her and sending her face-first to the ground.

Iago rushed to her a second after, pulling her up by the arm. She caught him giving her a look of pity–and didn't that sting her pride just a bit–but she brushed him off before he could do anything else.

"I'm fine," she said, wiping off the sweat from her forehead, and she turned to the desperate girl. "Show me to your brother."

And so went the rest of their morning, walking from place to place and healing the wounded all over the village. For such a small place, they sure were busy, and by the time everyone had been taken care of, Maribelle was just about ready to call it a day in the late afternoon.

Of course, that was not what she was going to do. Had anyone else been this lazy back home, she would have disapproved, so who was she to be a hypocrite?

It was a good thing that, by the time they finished, there was a small outdoor restaurant nearby just opening up, so she would have to settle for lunch instead.

As always, Iago pulled out a seat and helped her in before seating himself. Maribelle noted that his hands were oddly cold as he set her down, but she was willing to wager that he had his own reasons for it and chose not to comment.

Their food came much faster than she would've expected from a small village restaurant, a small respite for such a busy day. Maribelle would have had much to praise about the restaurant, until she downed a spoonful of soup and nearly coughed out a lung.

"What in Naga's name did they put in here to make it taste so rancid?" she hissed.

Across from her, Iago took a sip of his soup and frowned. "It tastes fine to me."

"Does it?" Maribelle took another spoonful, only to spit that out too. "I suppose it must be something wrong with mine, then."

"Maybe."

And wasn't that just the perfect meal for the absolutely fantastic day she was having. Maribelle let out a long sigh and slumped down on the chair. It had only been two days, and yet she was already at the end of her rope. Between the attacks, the crippling injuries, all the work, and Iago, she wasn't sure she could take this much longer. How much longer must she endure this before Chrom would find her?

Would Chrom ever find her?

That was a terrifying thought. Valm was such a large continent, and with the war keeping him so busy, what if he decided that searching for her was too much effort? He wouldn't, she was sure. Chrom was a loyal leader and an even more loyal friend, but...

What if he did?

What if she was stuck here forever?

"Hey, buttercup. Why the long face?"

Iago's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. For once, she was glad for the distraction, latching onto it and letting it tear her attention away from the thoughts swirling in her head and back to the present.

"Oh, it's nothing, really," she said, putting a smile on her face. "I was simply thinking unpleasant things."

"How could you think such unpleasant thoughts when you have a face as lovely as yours?" Iago said, and he pointed his spoon at her.

Maribelle rolled her eyes. The reply was obvious as it was silly, but she had almost, dare she say, grown used to it. After his strange behavior this morning, it was almost a relief to hear him speak like this again.

"Spare me the flattery and take this a little more seriously, won't you?"

Iago nudged her bowl with his spoon. "What, the soup? If you're so upset about it, we can get another."

"It's not the soup I'm upset about, you dolt. It's... I don't know, I simply don't like having to ask for help for something as simple as walking."

"I'm hurt," Iago said, hand over heart. "Do you not like my company?"

"No, no. You are..." Maribelle made a face. She wasn't about to say he was pleasant company, was she? "You are bearable," she finally managed to force out, "but I am a daughter of the House of Themis! It is unbecoming that I must rely on your assistance so much."

"It bothers you that much, huh? Well, I don't see the big deal."

"Of course you wouldn't," Maribelle snapped. Iago winced–at least he had the good graces to look embarrassed about it, before he cleared his throat and shook his head.

"What I mean to say is... you've fought in wars before, haven't you? It's similar to that. We may not be fighting right now, but there's nothing wrong with trusting someone else to have your back, is there?" Iago took another spoonful of soup, then winked at her. "I'll certainly have yours for as long as you'll have mine."

Normally, Maribelle liked to believe that such obvious words would not affect her. Of course there was no shame in accepting help. She knew that. She'd done it plenty of times with the Shepherds. But perhaps... it was simply a case of the right words at the right time.

"I shall hold you to it!" Maribelle said, crossing her arms with a huff.

It was just then that she saw a waiter pass nearby. Her eyes flit to the soup in front of her, then back to the waiter. If there was any time to ask for another soup, now would be it.

Her chair scraped back as she got to her feet. She opened her mouth to catch the waiter's attention.

She certainly didn't expect the world to suddenly spin around her.

Yelping, her hands flailed out to grasp something, anything before she fell to the floor. Her fingers grasped at something wooden–at first, she'd thought it was the table, but when she tried to pull herself up, it flipped over and spilled hot soup over her dress as she crashed into the ground.

So, really funny story, I've had this chapter written for a week and a half now. It's just been sitting around in my drive, completely unpublished because I forgot I'd had it this whole time.

Feel free to leave a review! It keeps this story at the top of my head. Until then, take care of yourself out there, and stay safe!