The Grand Hyatt in Fuyuki was, by all accounts, a fine place to spend one's time – and with the luxury afforded by the El-Melloi wealth, the penthouse suite was grand indeed. No expense had been spared on the furnishings or facilities, the room service was catered by world-class chefs, and the view from the window over Fuyuki was breathtaking.

Sola-Ui Nuada-de Sophia-Ri was absolutely sick of it.

She had enthusiastically gone along with her fiancé's plan for the Holy Grail War – frankly, she'd been impressed the primping fool had even that much guile in him, and didn't want to squash the first spark of anything interesting she'd seen in him. She would take over as the primary source of prana for the summoned Servant, while Kayneth took charge of the Command Spells, saving his considerable magical reserves for fighting enemy Masters.

Well. She'd had her doubts that Kayneth would actually get involved in the fighting himself, but she approved of the plan.

What she hadn't realised, though, was just how boring her part in it would be. She was a vital asset in the upkeep of Saber, but was totally, completely vulnerable, her reduced output hampering even the basic self-defence magic she'd bothered to learn over the years. Thus, the best move was for her to simply remain in Kayneth's atelier, behind layers and layers of magical defences, safe from harm.

It was undoubtedly the smartest plan. Saber had agreed so, after all.

But god, if she never saw these walls again it'd be too soon.

Kayneth was still sleeping off the effort of the day before. Or so he said. To Sola-Ui's mind, Saber had done most of the work, so if anything she, Sola-Ui, should be the one feeling drained. Even so, Kayneth had dragged himself in after everything was said and done last night, ordered Saber to debrief Sola-Ui on the events of the day, then gone to bed and not stirred for hours.

And because Kayneth had asked, Saber had agreed, of course.

The Knight of White Lilies was, if nothing else, efficient at relaying information. They spoke of Berserker's rampage, the damage done to the city, the unscheduled meeting between all Masters at the church, Berserker's flight and battle against Saber and Archer, her final retreat to Mt Enzo… and how Lancer had entered the War and crushed Berserker in minutes, then called a three-day ceasefire.

Whether or not any other Masters would honour it remained to be seen, but the night, at least, had been quiet – if Saber had encountered any trouble, they hadn't woken Kayneth or Sola-Ui, or exerted themselves enough for Sola-Ui to notice the pull on her prana reserves. For once, she'd had a good night's sleep.

Sola-Ui slipped out of bed and pulled on a dressing gown, and paused on her way out of the room to regard her sleeping fiancé.

Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi was handsome enough, all fine aristocratic features and blond hair. Certainly his family was prestigious enough, one of the twelve great Lordships of the Clock Tower. Kayneth himself was an exceedingly talented magus, reaching the rank of Pride in his teens and only accelerating his growth from there.

Oh, of course, he had his share of flaws. He was arrogant, like most of the aristocratic magi families. He was stubborn, and almost childish at times in his desire to play with his Mystic Codes and toys. He was stubborn, and would refuse to listen to ideas he didn't like but keep on ploughing ahead with his bullheaded assumptions.

But, really, as magi went, he was positively saintly. For his part, Kayneth had seemed genuinely delighted by his betrothal, and seemed to go out of his way to make sure Sola-Ui felt included and valued. He always treated her as a woman, and not simply as an unquickened womb or experimental material. There was nothing wrong with him, as a magus or a person.

Sola-Ui just didn't love him, that was all.

As if that had anything to do with it. Her older brother Bram had been chosen to succeed the Sophia-Ri Crest, so as far as her family was concerned Sola-Ui was good for nothing more than a political pawn and breeding stock. She'd promptly been promised to Kayneth, who (her family excitedly reminded her) was a prodigy, and a lord, and whose children with her would certainly surpass this generation.

Sola-Ui had smiled, and said all the appropriate things, and tried to get used to the idea of living with this man for the rest of her life.

So far, she hadn't been able to convince herself to look forward to it. The sole bright spot was that, unlike most magi that ended up married to Lords, she was at least able to contribute, to control her destiny. For as long as Kayneth saw her as useful, she wouldn't have to worry about being discarded again.

And so, here she was, stuck in a hotel room on the wrong side of the world, with a man she barely tolerated, forced to supply prana to a Servant and with absolutely nothing to do. With Kayneth asleep, Saber apparently didn't feel the need to bother materialising and keeping Sola-Ui company, so she wandered over to the coffee table.

On it was a scattered selection of notes arranged in six piles, some in Sola-Ui's own handwriting and others copied from mythological texts. She sat down and absentmindedly picked up the closest sheet.

Desperate for something to divert herself through the long lonely days of the War, Sola-Ui had thrown herself into research. She and Kayneth had already gone over the dossiers on the other Masters – limited, extremely so, neither the El-Melloi and Sophia-Ri families having information networks that reached a backwater like Japan – but, in the long hours while Kayneth was out with Saber, she had done her best to try and identify enemy Servants, along with any weaknesses they might have.

It had been grim and disheartening work.

Representing the Matou, Atalante the huntress, one of the legendary Argonauts, famous as the swiftest hero in all of Greece. A master of the bow, she'd landed the first hit on the Calydonian Boar – and, quite unfairly in Sola-Ui's opinion, also had enough skill in close combat to defeat Peleus, the father of Achilles. She'd been tricked by a golden apple, and at the end of her life was turned into a lion – neither of which were options available to Kayneth.

For some reason, her Noble Phantasm wasn't able to affect Saber. Which was a good thing, of course. Sola-Ui's lip curled as she looked at the next page.

For the Tohsaka, Saint Martha of Bethany, famous for witnessing Jesus Christ himself raise her brother Lazarus from the dead, then later travelling to France and quelling the river dragon Tarrasque. Through his familiars, Kayneth had seen her summon the shell of the dragon. That it was proof against Atalante's arrows was only to be expected, but worrying nevertheless.

Neither Kayneth nor Saber had seen the dragon itself, and Sola-Ui hadn't either – but when, last night, she'd heard roaring from outside, she'd rushed to the window just in time to see something cause an almighty splash in the Mion River.

Sola-Ui couldn't find a weakness in Saint Martha's legend. The only saving grace was that it appeared as though both Tohsaka and Matou had used a Command Spell against each other, to no effect. Pointless, but if these provincial magi wanted to waste their strength against each other she certainly wasn't going to argue. Sola-Ui moved on.

Waver Velvet seemed to prey on her fiancé's mind, prideful fool that he was. Sola-Ui could not see why he was so worried – the boy was a weak magus, only third-generation, and an impetuous blowhard at that. His Caster-class Servant's identity was unknown, and for some reason Saber seemed very concerned about her.

Ridiculous. Saber came with Magic Resistance as a Class Skill for a reason. Waver, and his Caster, could be safely discounted.

More concerning was the Magus Killer, Emiya Kiritsugu, and his anonymous Assassin. Sola-Ui had heard all the horror stories of what that monster had done to magi and their Crests. It was a good thing he was saddled with a weak Servant like Assassin – there was no telling what he'd be capable of with someone like Saber.

And he was, by all accounts, a weak magus himself, relying on trickery and barbaric modern weaponry to slay his targets. If Kayneth could manage to face him openly, that would be half the battle won – even without Volumen Hydragyrum, Kayneth was ten times the magus Emiya was. The problem would be pinning the coward down.

Ibaraki-douji, the leader of the Mt Ooe bandits… was no longer a problem. The War was well rid of such an eyesore, and her no-name Master as well.

And then, there was the six thousand year old, unkillable Divine elephant in the room. The priest, Kotomine Kirei, had somehow summoned the Man of Clay, Enkidu. Worse, from what Kayneth had heard, it appeared that Kotomine's student-mentor alliance with Tohsaka was not quite so severed as that of Kayneth and Waver Velvet. Tohsaka denied it, of course, but the Master of Assassin seemed very sure.

Sola-Ui didn't see just what was preventing the priest boy from using Enkidu to, you know, win the War already. If such a power had been given to her…

Well. No use wishing.

The day wore on. No enemy Servants came attacking, and there were no sounds of battle audible from the city outside the window. For now, it seemed as though Lancer's threat was enough to keep even the Holy Grail War in line.

In the late morning, Sola-Ui was distracted from her brooding by a whirl of white petal-like motes. Saber appeared, already posed in a courtly bow.

So beautiful. Always so beautiful. Whatever else one might have thought about the ambiguous Servant, the one thing even Sola-Ui couldn't deny was that Saber was, bar none, the most gorgeous person she had ever seen, with a slender, androgynous figure emphasised by their skintight breeches, and with smooth pale skin and heart-stoppingly lovely features. Sola-Ui gritted her teeth.

"Lady Sophia-Ri," they said, in that ringing voice that could have been a youthful boy's or a mature woman's. "Master has awakened, and wishes to hold a strategy meeting, in light of the events of yesterday. He would be honoured if you could attend, and provide your valuable insight."

Sola-Ui doubted that was precisely how Kayneth had put it. Saber was very adept at buttering her up, it seemed. Still, what was she going to do, refuse?

"Very well," she said. "I was just thinking about the state of the War in any case. Tell Master I shall be right through."

Saber favoured her with a beautiful smile. "With pleasure, my lady." They dematerialised, and Sola-Ui's fists clenched. She forced herself to relax, and stalked through to the dining room they had been using for 'official' meetings.

Kayneth's face lit up when she entered. "Ah, Sola-Ui. I hope you slept well?"

"Well enough," she said curtly. "What is this about?"

To his credit, Kayneth faltered for only half an instant before smiling back at her. "Ah, ever keen to get on with the mission. I share your thoughts, of course. To answer your question – this seems like a good time to take stock, and to decide our next steps in the War. All Servants have now at least made an appearance, and the first Servant has fallen. Up to now the War has very much been driven by Berserker's actions – now, it is high time we think about what the next stage will look like."

So far, so obvious. Sola-Ui prevented herself from rolling her eyes as she answered. "Honestly, Kayneth. You don't need me to tell you how to run things, or my permission to do so. Saber is your Servant, not mine, I think we're all very aware of that."

Kayneth tilted his head, confused. "I still value your input, Sola-Ui, you know that. You're just as much a part of this team as I or Saber are. I'm sorry if that hasn't been made clear."

Hmph. Sola-Ui sat down, the opposite end of the table to Kayneth. "Well, then. If you're interested in my opinion, here it is. As it stands, from what you and Saber have told me, Lancer is the greatest threat to winning the War. While they exist, no-one else stands a chance. To my mind, if this conversation doesn't somehow end with a solution for that problem, we may as well throw ourselves out the window right now and save ourselves the time."

"Graphic, but essentially correct," Kayneth said with a chuckle. "Saber and I had come to the same conclusion ourselves. However, that doesn't necessarily make them our first priority."

Oh, so he'd been talking with Saber without her? Yeah, Sola-Ui was feeling so very valued right now. She sneered. "No? I know I'm not some bigshot prodigy, but it seems pretty simple to me. We can't win the War while Lancer's still around, but we've got a chance against everyone else. So, the most important thing is to get rid of Lancer."

Kayneth nodded. "At some point, yes. But Saber had a different view, which I feel holds merit. Saber?"

At Kayneth'd words, Saber materialised, standing deferentially behind Kayneth, every inch the perfect knight. Sola-Ui didn't miss the implication. They could have appeared at the table, between their two Masters. They could have appeared off to the side. Instead, Saber placed themselves squarely on Kayneth's side… and opposite Sola-Ui's.

"Thank you, Master," they said. "If I may – attacking Lancer would not be advisable. Even with the combined efforts of every other Master and Servant in the War, victory would not be certain… or rather, it would be certain – certain to end in our defeat. This is not a slight on you as Masters. I could not hope for a greater lord to serve than the El-Melloi head, and your support so far has been superb." They smiled down at Kayneth, and laid a fond hand on his shoulder. Kayneth laid his own over it briefly, and Saber went on, turning a polite smile on Sola-Ui. "And Lady Sophia-Ri, your supply of prana has likewise been adequate."

Adequate, was she? Sola-Ui couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from the sight of Saber's delicate fingers on Kayneth's shoulder. Her stomach twisted, and she managed to turn her face away.

"Brave of you to admit your own incompetence, Saber," she gritted out. "You had almost begun to impress me, but I suppose your legend is still too new. Well, I suppose disappointment was to be expected, with this one providing the basis for your summon." She smiled sharply, hoping Kayneth would take it as a joke.

He didn't seem amused. "Saber has performed above my wildest expectations. That they cannot defeat the Chain of Heaven is no fault against them, simply the luck of the draw."

"Ah, you are too kind, Master." Saber put a hand to their head with a flourish. "Despite my age I am mighty enough, and I flatter myself my skill with a blade is unequalled in this War… but the fact is that Lancer is simply too powerful. However, this does not leave us without options."

Kayneth leaned forward, an excited gleam in his eye. "If the Servant is too powerful, we must fight the Master."

It made sense, Sola-Ui supposed, but hardly left them in a better position. Any Servant was only a Command Spell away from being at their Master's side. And besides that…

"Are you sure you can handle Kotomine Kirei, even so? I'm sure you're a better magus than he is, but do bear in mind he's spent his life hunting magi like you. A fight between you may not go your way."

Inwardly, Sola-Ui cursed, because she knew she was just needling her fiancé. Was this what she'd been reduced to? She braced herself for Kayneth's indignant reaction.

"You are quite right."

Huh? Sola-Ui looked at her arrogant, overconfident fiancé, unsure if she had heard correctly.

Kayneth chuckled. "Surprised to hear me admit it? A week ago, I would not have. But, experiencing this War alongside Saber… it has opened my eyes to many things. I know full well, now, the difference between power and skill – and, too, the difference between technical mastery and the ability to succeed in the field. If I achieve nothing else in this War, I will take that lesson and count it as time well-spent."

"Wonderful, Master," Saber gushed. "Truly, every day you make me glad to be the one who answered your summons. With you by my side, we shall both display the finest virtues of nobility, and demonstrate our fitness to hold the responsibility of Lord and Knight – if we hold fast, even Lancer will fall, I swear it!"

Sola-Ui could barely look. "Fine," she grated. "So, what's your plan for Kotomine? Just attacking him from the front isn't going to work, even if it's Saber – he'll summon Lancer and that'll be that."

"Indeed. Saber cannot hold off Lancer, and even if they could it is by no means certain I would prevail over Kotomine Kirei, even with Volumen Hydragyrum. However, all is not lost." He smiled up at Saber. "Saber's talents are not limited to the battlefield – and one of their other skills may serve us well here. Diplomacy."

Saber gave a little bow.

Ah. Yes, that made sense. Sola-Ui began to see where all this was heading. "You plan to enter an alliance with another Master and Servant. Two Servants might be enough to hold back Lancer long enough for two magi to defeat Kotomine. That might work, yes. Who?"

Kayneth opened his mouth, but Saber cut in. "We would be interested in hearing your opinion, Lady Sophia-Ri," they said. "Again – we value your input, and this decision affects you too. My word to you: we won't ever decide something like this by ourselves." They shot a dazzling smile at Sola-Ui, who returned it frostily.

"Well," she began, somewhat mollified by the fact that she was being allowed to actually give her opinion. "I imagine Waver Velvet is out. You'd never trust him, and he'd never trust you – it'd be a terrible idea all round. For the same reason, I cannot see an alliance with the Magus Killer working well." She tapped her lips, in thought. "From what Saber said, Tohsaka is working with Kotomine. I doubt he would support an attack on his student like that. Which leaves…"

Kayneth nodded. "Kariya Matou, the Master of Archer. A powerful Servant, a magus from," he sniffed, "at least a halfway-respectable family, and most importantly…"

"I can work well with Archer," said Saber. "Our skills complement each other, we cover for each other's weaknesses, and Archer is the best suited Servant to potentially sidestep the whole issue and slay the Master of Lancer from afar, aside from Assassin. And, of course," they laughed lightly behind a silken glove, "They already know Archer's Noble Phantasm is useless against me. That allows for some quite potent combination assaults – not to mention, it puts us in rather a dominant position in the relationship. Matou would be a fool to refuse an offer of alliance from us."

Shrewd. Sola-Ui looked at Saber with narrowed eyes. They worked so well as a straightforward combat asset, and behaved so servile outside that role, it was easy to forget that Chevalier d'Eon was a crafty, intelligent spy and diplomat.

Like, for example, just now. Saber had made a big show of including Sola-Ui, but in reality it had been a foregone conclusion from the start. If she had been a little less cautious, she might well have just accepted it, never realised she was being manipulated into believing she really was valuable as something other than a prana battery.

From the proud smile on Kayneth's face as he looked between his Servant and his fiancée, he wasn't being cautious around Saber at all. Sola-Ui folded her arms.

"So? You're forming an alliance with Matou. Great job, well done for Saber's diplomatic skills. Then what? Go straight after Kotomine?"

"I don't think that'll be necessary," said Kayneth, waving a hand. "At the moment, Kotomine is secure. How could he be otherwise? More to the point, he and Tohsaka have both shown themselves to be patient, unlikely to be disruptive. They can afford for us to come to them, and I think that is just what we shall do… in time. Instead – if Matou is willing – I intend for us to turn our attention to more volatile agents."

Sola-Ui sighed. "So, just as before, this is all about Waver Velvet. Why am I not surprised?"

"Not just Waver Velvet," said Kayneth. "The Magus Killer is clearly too uninhibited to run free. He threatened you, Sola-Ui." His eyes hardened. "Bluff or not, empty boasting or not… no-one tests the El-Melloi like that. I won't forgive him."

Saber smiled, and caressed Kayneth's shoulder. "Just so, Master. Such a slight demands satisfaction, and it will be my pleasure to act as your champion." They winked at Sola-Ui. "A poor knight I would be if I could not protect my liege's lady love, no?"

That did it. Sola-Ui stood up. "Well. You two clearly have this in hand, I see. You clearly know very well what you want to do. Far be it from me to dissuade you. Do have fun. If you need me, you know where to find me." With that, she swept out of the room, ignoring Kayneth's weak protests.

She flounced into the sitting room, and all but threw herself onto the sofa.

Damn him. Damn them both. The worst of it was, they weren't wrong. Of course Kayneth's perfect Saber wouldn't make such mistakes. Very likely, what they proposed was the right course of action. Sola-Ui had no doubt Kayneth and Saber could carry out their plan just fine.

Without her.