Edward was nervous as he walked towards the chief herbalist's office for what he hoped was something for his brother. Al knew that Edward didn't approve of him being anything near a fight so this was the best option for doing that. He just hoped the chief was in. He stopped outside the Pharmacy door and raised a fist, only to lower it.

"Oh Edward" Shirayuki said "I didn't expect to see you here" Shirayuki said

"Oh sorry, I thought you wouldn't be working yet,. since your kidnapping and everything"

"What better way to take my mind of that than going back to work?" Shirayuki smiled

"Spending time with a certain white haired blue eyed prince of the kingdom wouldn't be too bad" Edward laughed

"What?" Shirayuki said

"Anyway is your boss in, I want to talk to them about something" Edward said

"Really?" Shirayuki asked curious

"Yeah, you see I want to get Al off the battlefields, and the only way I can think of is to make him a state herbalist" Edward said "That was something I always wanted for him as an older brother, to see my young brother not to follow my path but on one of his own, which allows him to do something with his hands that isn't bloodshed and violence" the knight added looking out the window

"I see, well the chief's right through here" Shirayuki said

"Thank you" Edward bowed.

"So we off loaded the normal steel swords, most of the fruits and vegetables, the dried meats; we gave majority of the treasure to those who could sell the more fancy items and the coins were distributed among those who needed it" Maes said

"Good work" Mustang said looking at the castle

"Should we head over there, just to check on him?" Havoc asked

"Yeah, we do need to give them the Damascus Steel blades we recovered" Breda said

"Commander, is there something troubling you?" Armstrong asked

"Just being here is making us nervous" Maes said

"I couldn't agree more" Mustang said

"Still we do have business, with the second prince of Clarines" Falman said

"Move out, we'll use the eastern gate" Mustang said

"Thank you for seeing me" Edward said

"No problem, and I'll consider taking Alphonse on as an apprentice, he seems like a good kid" Garrack the chief court herbalist said

"Yeah he is, and that means I don't want him anywhere near a fight in the future" Edward said

"You're Trisha's son aren't you?" Garrack asked

"Yeah I am" Edward said

"Interesting" Garrack said going back to her work

"What was that all about?" Edward asked walking off. He shook his head as he walked off.

"Anybody getting nervous?" Havoc asked

"Do you have to ask?" Fury asked

"Hughes and Mustang must be feeling the pressure most of us, since they were knights" Fullman said

"Cut the chatter men" Maes said as the approached the main gate, what they didn't expect is that Ed was waiting for them

"Hey Ed" Al said "What's up?"

"Not much, I'm here to get Maes and Mustang" Edward said ruffling his brother's hair.

"Why us?" Mustang asked

"Just come along" Edward said as he walked off.

"May as well" Maes shrugged

"You guys come to" Edward shouted back

"Why not" Al said running to catch up with Edward.

Zen was working on something when a knock sounded. Sighing he placed the pen he was using down and looked up at the door

"Enter" he shouted as Edward and his group of Sellswords walked in. HE regarded each one and smirked "So this is the group huh? Well introduce yourselves, besides Edward"

"YES SIR!" they shouted before looking at each other to see who would go first. Sighing Maes walked forward

"Good day your majesty, it's good to see you again" Maes said, Zen notice he wore black pants, brown boots, a dark pink sash and a purple shirt with his signature glasses

"I'm Breda" Breda bowed, he wore a simple white shirt with an open brown leather vest, brown leather bracers and normal black trousers with worn boots. Zen lifted an eyebrow at the dress of the rotund man and the fact he carried twin axes

"Jean Havoc" Havoc said, He wore a white shirt, a long slate grey coat, black pants and grey boots, a short sword laid on his waist

"I'm Falman sir" Falman said, his outfit was a leather jerkin underneath a navy blue coat, baggy grey pants and black boots

"Hello your majesty, I'm Fury" Fury said adjusting his glasses, he wore a brown coat, a white shirt under a grey tunic, grey pants and black boots.

"I am Armstrong" the last of the sellswords said, Zen was gobsmacked at the giant warrior, easily dwarfing him and the others, he wore a tunic of brown leather underneath that was a vest of scale armour, over top of it was a massive fur line coat, his hands were adorned by steel gauntlets which revealed his fingers and had spikes in-between each knuckle. Simple pants and large boots were dressing his lower half, a massive warhammer graced his back

"Prince" Mustang said, Zen sternly looked at the other knights, he simply wore his old knight uniform and replaced the cape with a blue coat which hid the layers underneath

"Its good to see you again Mustang, Maes"

"Sir" the two said

"So this is the results of Edward's mission?" Mitsuhide said

"I guess" Zen said

"Mission?" Maes and Mustang asked looking at the pair

"Yes, I asked him to put together a group who could do secret missions for me, and what better than a group of sellswords?" Zen asked

"Edward?" Mustang asked

"I know, I know"

"Wow this is a big room

"And you are?" Zen asked

"Oh, sorry you're highness, I'm Alphonse Elric" Al said bowing while Zen and Mitsuhide looked to Ed

"My kid brother, he set off with us to learn more about being a herbalist and medicine" Edward stated

"I see, well it's nice to meet you, and I hope we can work with each other in the future" Zen smiled

"I agree your highness" Mustang said

"You could have told us you know?" Maes asked

"I know, but if you knew, then the possibility of others knowing would happen." Edward said

"I see, just tell us next time okay Ed?" Maes asked

"Sure thing Maes" Edward smiled as they walked around the grounds, just admiring the gardens and the blue sky

"So what do you think of the girl we rescued?"

"She seemed..." Edward said stumped

"Nice?" Maes asked

"Yeah that" Edward said

"She's got unique hair, that's for sure" Maes smiled

"But she herself is something different, I've never seen Zen so" Edward started to say

"enamoured?" Maes asked

"Yeah that" Edward said

"Okay, I'm going to go and do something, so why not spend the time with Al?" Maes asked

"Sure why not, where is he anyways?" Edward looked around

"In one of the herb gardens" Maes said

"Thanks Maes

"Alphonse?" Edward asked as he looked around

"Up here" Alphonse said as he was covered in dirt alongside Shirayuki, this made Ed smile as he walked over to the two, "We were just replanting some herbs for Garrack"

"I see" Ed chuckled

"Some of the herbs were wilting, so we replanted them with so fresher soil" Shirayuki said

"Did you try adding a bit of compost or fertilizer to the soil to add nutrients?" Edward asked examining a plant

"We didn't actually think of that" Shirayuki admitted

"Relax, I might not know a ton about gardening but what I do know is something very select" Edward said

"So what else do you know?" Shirayuki said

"I'm standing in the herb garden of the royal family of Clarines, with a possible future queen"

"What?" Shirayuki blushed

"You're close to Zen right, maybe even a mutual attraction between the two of you, so I don't see why you won't be queen one day" Edward explain

"Simple, I'm not a royal" Shirayuki said

"Stuff that, and shove those thought, you may not be a noble by birth, but that doesn't mean you are not noble, for sometimes I judge the nobility of a person by one thing" Edward said

"And what's that?" Shirayuki asked

"This, one's heart and the compassion and abilities it carries" Edward said pointing to Shirayuki's heart "that is what I think makes a noble; not a birthright or a bloodline, but what they can do and will do"

"Edward" Al sighed

"Thank you" Shirayuki smiled

"No problem" Edward said

"So do you think they'll get along?" Kiki asked

"Maybe, but I'm just worried" Zen said

"Izana?" Mitsuhide said

"Yeah, I wonder what he's reaction will be to not only Shirayuki, but my team of Royal Sellswords" Zen said in a worried tone

"Well, the least we could do is make sure they don't aggravate each other" Kiki said "Because that is the last thing we need"

"I agree, who knows how Edward would react" Mitsuhide said

"Well then, we should be on the lookout for Izana's return" Zen said

"Good idea milord" Kiki said

"This is going to be an interesting time" Zen sighed