DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM

"And turn, and step, turn," the instructor kept saying over and over again, as Ema and Azusa danced around the ball room, along with Tsubaki and Bea.

"She moves very gracefully, doesn't she?" Stephon praised to Richard and Yusuke as the three watched.

"Yes, she's learning the steps very easily. I barley noticed her stepping on her brother's feet," said Richard.

"Richard, don't bring attention to the missteps!" Stephon scoled.

"You know some of your relatives won't hesitate to point it out, especially those who hang on to the old ways and those in support of Robert," Richard pointed out, "I was merely saying that it's hard to notice. And with some practic, she'll probably not do it at all."

"Yes, yes, of course," Stephon tried to brush it off.

"Oh, sorry Azusa!" Ema whispered sadly as she felt her foot step on her brother's.

"It's okay, just try focusing more on where your feet are going," Azusa advised as he and Ema tried the maneuver again.

"She's cute, isn't she?" Bea whispered.

"Hmm?" Tsubaki said.

"Princess Emma, I think she's adorable! If she was a doll, I'd have a whole bookcase of her," said Bea.

"That would be a sight," Tsubaki teased, "An Ema doll. I'd like one too. Just so I know I could hold her tight all the time."

Bea looked up him and suddenly Tsubaki could feel her pressing up against him a little more.

"Uh, Madam?" Tsubaki said.

"Sorry, but this dance calls for close contact," said Bea.

"Oh, I see," said Tsubaki, relaxing a little and enjoying Bea's warmth against him.

"Hmm," Stephon muttered as he observed the closeness between Bea and Tsubaki. "Um, Yusuke?"

"Yes, your highness?" Yusuke replied.

"Is your older brother there, known for being a ladies' man or is he more of gentelman?" Stephon asked.

"Well, he can be kind of a rascal who will occasionally fool around," said Yusuke, "but when he finds a girl he's serious about, he'll be very dedicated to her, I guess."

"Hmm, well, do you think you could advise him that he shouldn't get to close to Lady Beatrice? Even if she's not happy with Robert, she's still his intended wife and any kind of scandal with her and your brother would not be good," said Stephon.

"Uh, I can try," said Yusuke, "but I don't know if he'll listen to me. He usually makes it a point to make fun of me."

"Is there a brother he'll listen to?" Stephon asked.

"Masaomi maybe, and Azusa and Natsume," said Yusuke.

"I shall have to have a word with them in regards to Tsubaki and Beatrice," said Stephon, sternly.

"Doesn't mean Beatrice will listen either," Richard whispered.

"All the more reason we should put the pressure on Tsubaki to not get too close," said Stephon.

Just then Chrissy came running into the room and ran over to the king.

"Your higness, something terrible has happened. Lord Louis passed out," she whispered into his ear.

"Louis passed out?" Stephon said out loud. That got the four dancers to stop.

"What was that Grandfather?" Ema asked worried.

"Apparently, Louis fainted," said Stephon as he stood up, "do they know what caused him to?"

"Maybe he was tired?" Azusa suggested, a little worried as everyone headed to the door.

"Does he do that often? Just fall over asleep?" Richard asked.

"He's known to yes," said Azusa.

"I don't think he was merely sleeping. He was buring up," said Chrissy.

"Oh no!" said Ema.

"Oi, Louis, can you hear me?" Futo said as he gently tried to shake Louis awake. Louis merely groaned and didn't open his eyes. Futo moaned in annoyance.

"Can one of you guys help me get him up?" he asked Robert and Henry.

"Excuse me? I happen to be a future king! And a future king does not do such things as help a stupid man up," said Robert.

"Sorry, your highness," said Futo.

"Finally, one of you boys shows some respect!" Robert said amused.

"Not too bright, is he?' Futo thought.

"Alright, I'm here, where's the patient?" a middle aged man said running into the room along with a doctor's bag.

"Right here," Futo called out. The man hurried over and looked Louis over.

"Oh dear, he's buring up. We should probably get him to bed," said the doctor.

"Louis, Futo?" Masaomi called out running into the room, "Futo what happened?"

"I'm not sure," Futo said, "those two came in here and Louis fell." He pointed to Robert and Henry.

"I did not do anything, thank you!" Robert insisted.

"Do you know anything doctor?" Masaomi asked.

"No, not at this point," said the royal doctor, "we should get him to bed."

"Here," Masaomi said as he managed to pick up one of Louis' arms and loop it around his neck. The doctor did the same and managed to get Louis to his feet.

Slowly the two men carried Louis to the door. Robert and Henry watched them leave.

"We need to figure out if he knows anything. He may have been little at the time, but he could have some memory of what happened," Robert whispered to Henry.

"Don't worry, I'll work on him," said Henry.

"Looks like all we can do for now is get his fever down," the doctor said as he placed a cool cloth on Louis's forehead.

Masaomi sat at his brother's bedside looked worried.

"Doctor," do you think his condition could be psychological?" he asked.

"It could be, I suppose," said the doctor, "I'd like to do a few more tests first. Unless, do you know something more about your brother?"

"Well, he is known to sometimes just plop down almost anywhere in a deep sleep. We usually just passed it off as him having bad sleeping habbits. But given what my brother Futo said, maybe something triggered it," Masaomi explained.

"Hmm," said the doctor thinking, "in that case, we may need to consider bringing in the royal physicist to speak to him."

Just then Richard came into the room, "his majesty wishes to come in."

"Oh of course," said Masaomi.

Stephon immediately burst into the room followed by Ema.

"I think the rest of you should wait out here," Chrissy said to the big group behind her.

"Yeah, probably not a good idea to crowd Louis if he's sick," said Azusa.

"Doctor Wheaton, do you know anything?" Stephon asked as he came to Louis' bedside as well.

"Not at the moment sire," said the doctor, "right now all I can do is try to get his fever down. Although, I will say Dr. Asahina has a theory that could be the solution."

"Do you know something Masaomi?" Stephon asked.

"Well, I can't say for sure. Since I'm not a psychologist, but I think this could be caused by something on Louis' mind. Mostly since Futo said Louis got this way when he saw Lord Robert and this other gentelmen. I didn't get his name but he had grayish hair."

"You mean Henry?" Stephon asked.

"Henry?!" Louis said as he suddenly shot up, panting and sweating.

"Louis! Calm down! It's okay," Masaomi tried to steady his brother.

"How, how did I end up in my room?" Louis asked confused.

"You passed out while you were trying to do your hair styling," said Masaomi.

"I did?" Louis said concern.

"How are you feeling, Lad?" Stephon asked.

"Warm, really warm," said Louis.

"Somebody get a cool bath for him, now!" Stephon ordered.

"Right away sire," said Richard.

"We'll talk more about what happen once you've calm down and are feeling better," said Dr. Wheaton.

"Thank you," said Louis. Ema stood near the door, biting one of her fingers in dismay.

"Poor Louis. Why did it have to turn out that he was cought up in all of this?!" she asked.

Suddenly she felt a presence next to her and saw Markus had come in. He was holding one of his big red books.

"So this is Louis, Lord Walter's son," he said softly. He looked at Ema, "who knew you had family so close all along?"

"Yes, peculiar, huh?" Ema said softly.

"Or fate," said Markus as he walked closer to the bed.

"Markus," Stephon said in slight surprise.

"Forgive my interruption your higness, but I heard of Louis's predicament and came to see if he was doing better," said Markus, "it is an honor to meet you, Lord Louis. I knew your father well."

"You did?" Louis asked.

"Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Marksu Kendall, te royal family historian. As historian, I made quite a lot of notes of the work your father did for this country," said Markus, "he reminded me so much of my Great-Grandfather, Lord Rupert."

"You know that's true, in a lot of ways," said Stephon.

"You made notes of what my father did when he was alive?" Louis asked.

"Lots," said Markus, "he was a hard working but dedicated man to the country."

"Would tat include how he and my mother died?" Louis asked.

Markus suddenly got a serious look on hs face.

"Oh yes, I've studied up a lot of what happened to them," said Markus, "and I would glady share it with you once you recovered."

"Can I ask one thing?" Louis asked, "does a man name Henry ever come up with my parents' death?"

"Henry?" Stephon said softly, looking towards Richard than at Markus.

"Yes, that name has come up in several reports, if you must know," said Markus.

Louis got a stone cold look on his face. "I would like to see some of those reports whenever I can," he said.

"As my lord requests," said Markus bowing.

"In meantime, we should probably leave you be so you can get some more rest," said Masaomi.

"Good idea," said Stephon as he made his way to the door.

"Once you take your bath, you should rest some more. I'll come back and check on you around dinner time," Dr. Wheaton advised.

"Thank you sir," said Louis

"Lord Markus, would you like to stay for dinner?" Ema asked timidly.

"I'd be delighted," said Markus, "thank you so much for the invitation."

Soon, everyone was out of Louis' room, making it suddenly very quite.

Louis sat in his bed, not feeling like moving.

"Could that man, be the reason they're dead?" Louis asked himself, "did he kill them because my father agreed to be Ema's mother's heir?"

"Are you okay?" a sudden small voice asked. It sounded female.

"Hmm?" Louis said looking around. It was then he realized a small squirrel, who was almost a yellow color with a bluish belly.

"Where did you come from?" Louis asked.

"From the window," said the squirrel, nodding towards an open window near Louis' bed. Louis chuckled at her response.

"And what brings you to my room, little friend?" he asked, gently stroking her belly.

"I wanted to see you in perso. I heard rumours about you. Are you really the son of Walter?" the squirrel asked timidly.

"Yes, I'm his son," said Louis, "and what's your name my pretty?"

"I'm Haily," the squirrel answered, "my older sister, Suzi, was your father's companion."

"Your sister was my father's companion?" Louis repeated in slight shock. He reached over for the photo album the king had given him and looked through it. He soon found the few pictures of his dad with a squirrel who matched Haily's appearance. "That's your sister?"

"Yes, she took an immediate liking to Lord Walter even before Princess Yolanda had asked him to be her successor. She stayed with him through thick and thin and even died with him," said Haily sadly.

"Oh, did she die in the accident as well?" Louis asked.

"Yes, they found her remains in the car after the fire," said Haily.

"I'm so sorry," said Louis, "that's horrible! But does mean you knew my parents?"

"No, I'm sorry, I didn't," said Haily, "I didn't even know my sister. She died before I was born. But I always promised myself I'd find someway to show honor to her!"

"How nobel of you," said Louis.

"So that's why I came to see you. I wanted to ask before another squirrel got to you first. Since you can understand us, could I be your companion squirrel?" Haily asked eager.

"Companion? You honestly want to be my companion?" Louis asked.

"Yes very much," said Haily.

"I don't know Hailey. I'm not even sure if I'm anyone's successor or anything like that," said Louis.

"But you're still worthy to be king," said Haily, "that's the thing about us Elence Squirrels, we only understand people who are worthy to be king or queen, even if they never get the throne. You would make a good king if the situation called for it."

"I see," said Louis, "well, if you'd like to be my companion, I'll have little to no argument for it."

"Thank you!" said Haily excited, "so what can I do first?"

"How about you tell me a little about yourself. Do you know Juli too?" Louis asked.

"Oh Juli, oh yes, it's hard not to know Juli," said Haily with a giggle, "but there's another squirrel you should know about though. His name is Bernard and he's passing himself off as Lord Robert's companion."

"Oh, even Robert has a companion huh?" said Louis.

"But he can't understand us at all. Even I've tried talking to him and he didn't understand me," said Haily, "he shouldn't be king at all."

"Hmm, it seems there's little argument for Robert being king," said Louis.

"Yeah, but like I said, watch out for his fake companion. You can't miss him, he's all black with a brown belly," said Hailey.

"Thank you for the advice. I'll remember that," said Louis, "you sure are taking good care of me already, aren't you my sweet companion."

"I'll make sure to be the best companion ever!" Haily promised.

"I don't like that Louis fainted. No matter what caused it, it's not good!" Stephon declared as he walked down the hallway away from Louis' room.

"Don't worry, your majesty, I'll make sure he recovers and then we'll get to the root of the problem," Dr. Wheaton promised.

"You'd better," said King Stephon.

"If you need any help, let me know," said Masaomi.

"Thank you Doctor," Dr. Wheaton said before bowing and taking off.

"I still don't like it," Stephon muttered, "especially if there's a chance his episode was triggered by Robert and Henry."

"I agree," said Richard, "if Louis remembers something about what happened the day his parents died, and it did involve Robert and Henry, you know they'll try desperately to keep him quite."

"Yes," said Stephon, "from now on, keep a tight guard on Louis at all times. Don't let Robert or Henry get close to him when he's alone."

"Yes sire," said Richard.

"Voice actors huh? Can't say I've ever met someone in that line of work," Markus was saying to Azusa and Tsubaki as everyone was following behind the king, Richard and Masaomi.

"It's a fine profession sir. We're well known for our work," said Tsubaki.

"You ever do any English voice over work? I'm afraid I don't watch much Japanese anime or play games from Japan. A little too old to really appreciate it I suppose," said Markus.

"No I'm afraid we've never done any English voice overs," said Azusa.

"But we do want to try our hands at other forms of acting someday," said Tsubaki, "so who knows?"

"It should be most interesting to see where your careers take you. I'll have to work double time to keep up with all your progress," Markus chuckled. Then he looked at Ema. "Your brothers are amazing, simply amazing Princess! I hope they stay in Elence for a while so all of Elence can learn about them and how wonderful they are."

"Well, some of us are already there," said Futo.

"Oh, yes of course Master Futo, yes of course. How could I forget how famous you've become in our happy little country," Markus said turning red.

"Something wrong Lord Markus?" Ema asked.

"Don't tell your brother, but the first time I saw his music video, the sound was off and I thought he was a girl," Markus whispered.

Tsubaki overhead the poor man's statement and had to squint his face to keep from laughing.

"Sire," a maid said suddenly approaching the king.

Stephon had to stop in his tracks and look her over.

"Who did your hair? It looks," Stephon had to fish around for the right words, "a little too much for while you're on duty."

"Oh Lord Louis did it," said the girl, "he did a lot of the staff's hair. Uh, anywa9, I was told to come find you and let you know Master Ukyo is returning home right this second. And I was told you wanted to welcome him."

"Ah, yes, I did," said Stephon, "did you hear Ema? Ukyo's home."

"Ih, we should go welcome him then," said Ema excited, "I hope he has some insight for the hospital development."

"Yes I'd like to hear more about that," Stephon agreed. He looked up and noticed Robert and Henry looking down at them. A few others in the group looked up and noticed the group as well. None mad any remarks as they kept walking by.

"Did you hear that? There might be new developments with the hospital project," Robert whispered to Henry, "that hospital project may be the best opportunity to make sure the princess doesn't look favorable in the public's eye."

"How do you figure?" asked Henry.

"Simple, if it works, I can easily swoop in and take all the credit, making me be the hero. And if it's a failure, shift all the blame onto her," Robert explained with pride.

"What about her brothers?" asked Henry, "what about Louis?"

"I leave that all up to you and your men. Work whatever angel you think would be best. Torment or slander in the public's eye. And as for Louis, find out what he knows. Even if the wannabe princess never decides to take the old fart's place, if her brother remembers anything from that night, it's all over!"

"There's going to be a lot pain in the future, it looks like," Henry said with a sadistic smile.