The next morning came too swiftly for Riza's liking. The wound on her side was making itself known today. But alas, she has a job to do and a kingdom to protect. Of course, the prince had not awoken yet. She made her way out of the bed and slipped into the doorway off to the side of the room. It led her to another bedroom, this one hers. It was attached to the prince's room for, as they say, safety reasons. To those who know them know that it is for more personal reasons.

Typically Riza would stay with the prince throughout the day, but today was different. She had to prepare the order of knights for the possibility of an attack. They had been preparing for one the past few months, however, they weren't expecting things to move this quickly. Since she led the royal order, she had to come up with the plans with the help of her top strategist, Maes Hughes. He had also been very close with Roy. So close that he had allowed Hughes and his family to live in the castle where they would be the safest. He was the best strategist in the land. He was also the goofiest man Riza had ever encountered. Some days, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to handle him. But he was an asset nonetheless.

"So what you're saying is we have nothing?" Her voice was fierce and intimidating. The knight who was relaying her the current information gulped and instead of taking her anger out on him, Riza decided to wave him away. She sat in the chair she had been standing in front of and ran a hand through her bangs. "I guess I'm just going to have to go out myself." She sat back in the chair and crossed her arms.

Maes decided to speak up. "No, you know that's not how this works. You know he won't appreciate that." At this moment, it was only Riza, Maes, Jean, Rebecca, and Falman in the room. Everyone else had been dismissed. Breda and Fuery were with Roy while Riza was busy.

She sighed. "Look, this needs to be done correctly. I don't think any of the others have figured out how to outsmart Aerugo and it's knights."

Maes leaned forward. "Let me rephrase that," He started. "He's not going to let you go without him. Do you really want to put the prince in danger?" She scoffed.

"He doesn't have to know." She spat back.

The sound of the door opening and a quick response. "Who doesn't have to know what?" Riza stiffened at the voice. It was Roy. He walked to the table and put his hands on his hips. "Well? What new information do you have?" He looked around the table. All eyes went to Riza.

She sat up straight and took a breath before speaking. "Well, we have discovered that at this moment we are not under attack." Maes' head landed in his hand. She glanced at him before speaking more. "That is all. The meeting is actually over and we were just leaving for lunch." She stood up and started to walk out of the room when Roy spoke some more.

"Lunch...I hope that involves staying indoors." He started, back to her as he spoke. "The weather is supposed to be bad today. I think we need to stay in." She sighed and then continued her way out the door.

What the prince didn't understand is that the bad weather would be the perfect cover for some espionage. Aerugo didn't get the same type of storms they got in the kingdom of Amestris. She could use the rainfall as cover and find their base. The only problem was she knew the prince would try to find her before too long. She didn't have time to hesitate or bring anyone as backup. Riza made sure nobody was around before slipping out a back entrance and heading for the forest that surrounded the castle.

It was a beautiful area, she had to admit. She had always admired the nature that had surrounded the castle. "Hawkeye?" She heard a familiar voice behind her. When she turned a young, blonde boy was standing there with a confused look on his face.

"Edward," She stated while looking him in the eye. Riza was never able to lie to the boys. They were almost like her own children, Edward and Alphonse. They had lost their mother tragically and their father wasn't around. Roy had done something, she still doesn't know what, but convinced the king and queen to let the young boys live there. She moved closer to him and lowered her voice. "Look, I need to go out and scout but I need you to not tell anyone, especially the prince, got it?"

"No." He said and received a look of confusion from the woman. "Unless you let me go with you. I'm not letting you go alone." He had felt the same about Riza as she had felt about him. Although she was more of an age to be an older sister, she still basically raised him and his little brother. He was forever grateful for her.

She thought for a moment then sighed. "Fine, but stay close to me. I have no doubts in your abilities but I also don't want to risk anything happening to you." He smiled and nodded. The pair then slipped away from the castle.

Roy sighed as he made his way through the castle. He didn't really pay attention to the people around him until he made his way to Rebecca and Jean. "Have either of you seen Hawkeye? I just have something I need to talk to her about but I haven't been able to find her." The two looked at each other and then back to him.

"We thought she would be with you? She dismissed for lunch and then disappeared." Jean spoke in a concerned voice. He looked back at Rebecca when she started to speak.

"She's probably hiding, right? Maybe she needed a break after that meeting. It was rather dull and felt as if it was lasting forever." She rolled her eyes. Rebecca always had an opinion on everything. He rubbed his face with one hand and the pair gave him a weird look. "What is it? You seem more stressed out than usual." Rebecca and Roy had never been the best of friends, but they did care about each other despite their headbutting.

He looked around and sat next to Jean at the table. Leaning in, he whispered. "They have arranged my marriage with a princess." They gasped at this revelation. "I need to tell her before anyone else does."

"There's something else bothering you..." This time Jean spoke. He could read Roy like a book. The man rubbed his face again before speaking.

"She is the same age as Edward." Their eyes widened. "I can't marry a child, arranged or not. I'm in my twenties, she's just barely thirteen. I'm disturbed just thinking about it." He knew he would one day probably be arranged to marry a woman other than Riza, but he had at least thought it would be one of his age. He was disgusted with himself even though he hadn't done anything.

Rebecca was quite disturbed by this information, as one should be. "We need to find a way to stop this. Not just because of Riza, but that little girl too. They will be expecting children of the two of you. I will not allow it." Jean nodded and Roy's mouth was wide open in horror.

"I would never!" He started to speak again before Alphonse had walked up to them.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but have any of you seen my brother? We were supposed to have lunch together and I can't find him anywhere." The trio looked at each other and then back to the boy.

"Those idiots!" Roy yelled. He knew when Riza and Edward were together they would be the most stubborn people imaginable. As if this day couldn't get any worse.

Thanks for reading!