Oh, you border guards,
So young and handsome
in the light,
Will you let me go through,
to the enemy lines,
one more time?

-Shearwater, "La Dame et la Licorne"

The road to Castle Frelia was almost nostalgic in its familiarity to Eirika. Riding alongside her brother, the two of them talking of memories, of their last visit with Lyon. Pointing out all of the flowers she knew the names of growing on the roadside, and telling Ephraim how they were all different from the ones which grew outside the castle walls back in Renais. The bowing lenten roses, the willowy and yellow wintersweet, and the showy azalea bushes, which Innes had once informed her were quite poisonous, upon her remarking on their beauty. At the mention of his name Ephraim's eyes narrowed, and at that Eirika could not help but roll her own, though she did so with a trace of a smile playing at her lips.

For a little while, it almost felt normal.

Tana even greeted them just beyond the entry gate, giving them both too-tight hugs which smelled of Frelian jasmine. "The two of you returning together, it's like a dream come true," she said through an almost-teary smile.

It was not to last. The sounds of commotion soon drifted from beyond the gate, and the metallic clinks of light armor told them of a guard advancing. The sun reflecting off of his helmet stung Eirika's eyes as he politely bowed his head in respect for her and her brother. He made haste to kneel before Tana as she quickly smiled and nodded, but before he could even begin to speak they could see why he had approached.

Tana gave a gasp of delight, but Eirika and Ephraim quickly fell silent. The gate opened, and soldier after soldier rapidly poured through, serious and unyielding in posture and manner. Each one fell, briskly but ever orderly, into position, kneeling as the single guard had done for Tana, alongside the wide, stony path to the castle doors. Not a single one dared to look up beyond their metal-toed boots.

As he dismounted at the gate, in a single, practiced and fluid movement, and began to walk forward, head held high and quiver and bow still slung on his back, Eirika could not help but briefly entertain the thought that Frelia's crown prince cut quite the dashing image; the quintessential royal as warrior. Dignified and elegant with a hint of youthful danger, and the distinct impression that he was not to be crossed in any way, shape or form - so much like her own brother in many respects.

More than either of them would ever admit, anyway.

She stole a quick glance at Ephraim, knowing fully well it was impolite, but sharing such looks with her twin was nearly second nature. His eyes flickered to hers instantaneously, as if he could sense her gaze. She could not help but notice his lips were pressed almost imperceptibly into a slightly tighter line.

They looked away from one another as Tana spoke through an even warmer, further contented smile than the one with which she greeted Eirika and Ephraim not many moments before. "Welcome home, dear brother!" She reached up to throw her arms around her own sibling's neck. "I'm so happy to see you return safe and sound!"

Innes rested a hand on his sister's back for but a moment before taking a half-step back and all but peeling her away, motioning for the soldiers to be at ease and muttering something about how she should have expected no less. Eirika looked on, trying not to think too hard about the way Tana's face fell. She knew without question, from the look in his eyes whenever he spoke of her as she was not in earshot, that Innes cared for his sister just as deeply as Ephraim did for herself. But sometimes Eirika just wished he would show Tana as much.

There was even more uneasiness to be had. It was palpable the second her brother opened his mouth to speak.

"Well met, Innes."

"...Ephraim."

Eirika imagined everyone present could feel their mutual disdain – in the barely quantifiable shifts of muscle around her brother's mouth, in the way Innes' eyes ever so slightly changed, in the way they all went awkwardly silent.

She gave a small but cordial smile, hoping to put everyone at ease. "It's good to see you, Prince Innes."

Innes gave but a short nod in her direction before turning back to Ephraim, his eyes set even harder. Eirika watched her brother merely nod as Innes announced he had heard of the fall of Renais from the road. Something in her heart wrenched out of place as Ephraim's eyes closed for just a split-second too long to be considered blinking. But Innes did not seem to notice.

"It's just as I warned. Grado was able to strike because they were given ample opportunity."

As fast as Ephraim's mouth opened to retort, and as fast as Eirika could feel her lips part and eyes widen in shock, Tana was even faster to speak out.

"Brother!" Tana looked wounded on their behalf. "You don't have to be so mean."

As she watched Tana admonish Innes, Eirika was torn between knowing, for the sake of civility, she should keep her thoughts to herself; and a sudden but burning desire, for the sake of all she had lost, to tell Innes just what she thought of that he had said.

She remained silent.

"I can't believe you would say such a thing, in spite of Ephraim and Eirika losing their father..."

Innes appeared taken aback at Tana's words for but a fleeting moment, pausing for but a split second to open and close his mouth like a fish out of water, as if it could help him find the proper response.

"...I'm sorry to hear about your father."

No one replied. To Eirika, though he was perfectly silent and his face remained unchanged, her brother's soundless rage was perfectly tangible.

"Hear me, Ephraim," Innes spoke so directly in Ephraim's direction, as if Eirika and Tana were not present to hear. "Our most important task is to defeat Grado and end this war."

And with that, he turned on his heel and stalked away at a too-fast pace, the limb of his bow softly springing off his back with every step.

"Oh, Innes..." Tana's gaze followed him into the castle doors before signaling for the soldiers still standing at ease to disband, and then turned back to her guests. "I'm so sorry, Eirika, Ephraim."

Eirika watched her brother give a wry, humorless smile. "It's all right. It's comforting to see that, in all of this, at least he hasn't changed."

As they too walked toward the castle entrance, the sunwashed gravel which covered the pathway crunching beneath the soles of their boots, Tana spoke of how her brother was so very determined to be the best at everything he did. Eirika knew she was right, and Ephraim had been absolutely right too. Innes hadn't changed a bit.

Just as a guard reached to open the doors for them, one of the heavy maple slabs creaked open, revealing the Frelian prince, his expression as grave and unreadable as the castle walls. Eirika idly thought that he couldn't have gone too far, if he was back already. She wondered if he had heard Tana's words.

"My father would like both of you to sit with him in a war council." Despite the pretense of addressing both Eirika and her twin, Innes spoke, again, directly to Ephraim. "Will you come with me to take part in your official audience?"

"Yes, of course," Ephraim agreed readily. "There's much that I have to tell him."

Eirika forced a slight, courteous upturn of her lips. "It will be our honor to attend."

Another curt nod. "This way."

The following morning, the skies above Castle Frelia were yet unlit as Eirika prepared to leave for Rausten. Just as they had agreed upon the night before, she waited for Ephraim in the hallway that led to the castle's guardhouse, one last time before each of them departed. She spent the few minutes awaiting his arrival vacantly studying the heavy cloths orderly adorning the bleak stone walls, and the millions of minuscule, multicolored stitches which made them decorative. Eirika wondered, in passing, what the images they formed all meant as she listened to various footsteps approach and fade away at the end of the hall. She listened until she heard the ones she was expecting. She knew she would have recognized them anywhere.

Ephraim walked up to her wordlessly, and they regarded one another in silence for a moment, eyes locked. She meant to speak, to tell him exactly how much she cherished their time together, now that circumstance had taught her just how very much it was worth. And how much she would miss him, how much she would worry for him while they were apart.

But then he stepped forward, and with eyes closed enfolded her in a comfortable embrace, and all of her carefully chosen words vanished. She felt as though the pressure in her arms about his waist would say it all for her.

"I have to go, brother," she said eventually. And when neither of them moved after several additional moments had past, "You know better than anyone how Seth is when he's kept waiting."

She could both hear and feel Ephraim quickly laugh before he pulled away, the mirth in his eyes suddenly dying. He kept her at an arm's length though, with each of his hands resting on her shoulders. "Eirika... You know, I still don't want you to go." She sighed, letting her eyes meet the ceiling for a flitting second – she had had a feeling this would be coming. "I wish you would just stay here, and wait for my return."

Eirika couldn't help but give a short laugh of her own. "Ah, Ephraim... I know you'll worry about me no matter what." She watched him nod and murmur a soft of course before continuing, "But you know traveling to Rausten is the safest journey out of all of us."

"I suppose that's true," he replied, though she could still hear the reluctance in his tone. His hands fell from her shoulders and danced aimlessly at his sides, as though he did not quite know what to do with them.

"I'm far more worried about you. Challenging the might of an empire with a handful of men?"

He merely grinned, wickedly – yes, that was the brother she knew so well. "Come now. Have you lost your faith in me?"

"No, of course not." Though she knew the gravity of the matter at hand, she couldn't resist returning that infectious smirk she had seen on his face countless times with a smile of her own. "I know how strong you are, Ephraim."

"Let's both survive, to be reunited." He still smiled, but his eyes gave him away – they implored her in ways she suspected he could not, or would not, speak. His hands reached for hers, which she readily accepted. "Give me your word, Eirika."

Her thin fingers clasped about his palms in return, pressing with equal yet somehow gentle strength. "You have it, brother."

At the dull and misty break of dawn, Eirika could still feel his embrace about her shoulders as Castle Frelia grew increasingly distant behind the backs of her modest brigade. She tried her hardest to focus on that lingering feeling, on Ephraim's promise to return to her side unscathed, and upon the way his calloused hands had so carefully enfolded her own in the middle of that cold and overwhelmingly gray castle corridor. In her mind's eye she could still see torchlight dancing on the austere cobbled walls, the highlights and shadows playing upon musty, cryptic tapestries of women taming unicorns, and most of all, the stark blue of her brother's glinting eyes as he pleaded for her safe return as well.

Give me your word, Eirika.

Though regardless of how she attempted to train the spinning storm that occupied her head, the events of the previous day haunted her. Innes' arrogance, and his king father's predictable lack of sensitivity to her wishes, and Tana's blithe, apparent denial of it all – even her own brother's lingering doubts.

"Lady Eirika? How fare you?"

She hadn't even noticed that Seth had fallen back, but there he was, their respective steeds side by side. Eirika managed a wan smile. "I'm wonderful, Seth. Thank you."

"You seem pale... Do you require time to rest?"

Despite herself, she could not stop her mouth from quirking unpleasantly at the corners.

"That won't be necessary, Seth, thank you again."

There was a long pause before Seth nodded in assent. He rode ahead once more, leading the way, as he had without exception done whenever traveling with Eirika. But this time, Eirika flatly wondered how many years it had been since he had last done the same in her brother's company.

It was midday, bright sun high and sky sharply blue, as they first approached Port Kiris in Carcino. The turquoise ocean stretched endlessly beyond sand-colored villas and shops still small in the distance, beyond the work-worn wooden docks and weathered stone retaining walls.

Eirika found it appealing, in its own nautical fashion. It was almost exotic to her in its difference from anything she had known before – so unlike the gray-green mountains of her homeland, and even the bleak wintry shores she had visited in Lyon's company during her and Ephraim's last extended stay in Grado. She went silent as they rode closer, drinking in the sights of the infinite horizon and the limited variety of unfamiliar, straggling plants which could survive the salted air and sand along the roadside, a scent like brine teasing her nose.

"It smells of the tides..." she said softly, absently, thinking aloud to herself more than anything else.

An answering voice, rumbling yet filled with cautious reserve, made Eirika turn.

"Your Highness, we've reached Port Kiris." She paid patient attention, despite longing to turn her eyes back to the alluring seaside. "If we can find passage," Seth went on, "we will reach Rausten in ten days."

She nodded in brief acknowledgment, her sight wandering once more to the crowds of people beginning to take shape – constantly walking, shifting, moving, and seemingly as far away and multitudinous at stars on a cloudless night. "This is a busy place, isn't it?"

Seth cleared his throat. "It's a trade center. Peoples of all nations pass through here. Do not become so enthralled with the sights and sounds that you forget your mission."

Something in his words, and the set of them, made her turn back to him quickly – too quickly, perhaps. They stung in a place she would never dare admit (to most) existed, corroding her patience like saltwater washing over bronze; as if sluggish, slow-eating worms filled her insides.

"I won't." She kept her tone controlled, and her expression even, against the way her stomach knotted in veiled aversion. "I'm a mercenary by the name of Erina. I'm traveling to Rausten to receive a commission."

If Seth was surprised at her reaction, if any of her internal coldness happened to seep outward, he did not show it. As he spoke again his voice was tinged with the same educating, guiding shade as before, as almost always with her. "Let us look for a ship then, Erina. The docks are this way."

Once again, he took the lead. As she had done her whole life, she made herself follow, her eyes on her white knuckles where they tightly gripped her reins.

It did not take long for Carcino to reveal itself as far more hostile than any of them had expected. But while troubling, the conflict fared exceedingly well for Eirika's small yet efficient army. Under the warm orange glow of late afternoon, she and Seth were discussing their next move when Eirika heard a call of milady! behind her, and turned to see Franz trotting his mare toward where they stood. He dipped his head to her deeply before telling them of a girl he had spotted past one of the larger dunes, alone.

"I see," Eirika replied. "Thank you for letting me know. I'll go warn her that it's too unsafe to be here."

"Milady, shall I accompany you?"

"No Franz, that's fine. I'm sure I can take care of this myself."

Another voice interrupted. "Princess, perhaps you should at least let Franz accompany you partway, if the girl is armed-"

"I'll be fine, Seth," She smiled reassuringly, while at the same time biting the inside of her cheek. "I see no reason to intimidate a local citizen, do you? Perhaps the two of you should start scanning the perimeter for stragglers..."

There was a long pause, but eventually Seth nodded. "...As you wish, Lady Eirika." He motioned to Franz to follow as his left leg pressed against the side of his steed.

Eirika walked closer to where Franz had indicated, stepping lightly across the sandy earth and ragged, uneven tufts of beachgrass mingling with an occasional shoot of delicate heather. As soon as she could see beyond the dune she spotted the girl in question, standing by herself. Eirika was unable to help but notice how tiny and thin she seemed to be, her scanty weight shifting back and forth between her too-large, too-high boots, held tight upon skinny thighs with narrow strips of leather.

She was also unable to ignore that she was not the only one walking toward the same place. Her head turned over a shoulder, and sure enough, not too far in the distance behind her, a flash of red hair suddenly appeared from behind a large dune, quickly turning into a figure on horseback. Eirika's short nails dug into her palms and she allowed a lengthy, exasperated breath to pass through her lips. But she continued on.

As she drew within earshot of the girl, she could make out a faint melody – humming. A few more paces forward and she could place the tune; it was one she had heard many times during her visits to Grado. Lyon had once mentioned to her ages before that it was a song all Gradan children learned in their earliest years. Something about a songbird caught in the snow, he had explained – it was so long ago that she recalled the soft, wistful tone of his voice far more than the details he spoke of then.

She wondered briefly how this solitary girl, alone on a Carcinese battlefield, had learned of it.

The girl continued her humming and swaying even as Eirika walked up directly behind her. Eirika considered tapping her on the shoulder, but upon considering the weapon the girl carried, even though it looked almost too big for her small frame to wield properly, settled instead for clearing her throat. "Excuse me?"

The slight figure jumped, obviously startled, what seemed like half a foot in the air before turning around to face Eirika, one shaking hand clutching at her breastplate, the other tightly wound about the shaft of a lightweight javelin.

"What do you want?" Her voice trembled, and her teal eyes were the size of saucers.

Eirika smiled gently, hoping to calm the girl's nerves. She must have been so frightened, Eirika thought, this young girl – hardly more than a child – all by herself, caught in a highly dangerous position through no fault of her own. "You should find someplace to hide. There are sellswords after me. It's not safe here."

"Oh! But... But I'm..." She held her chin up higher, and attempted what she must have intended to be a hard stare. "I'm a soldier. I'm part of this battle."

Eirika blinked at the answer she hadn't been expecting in the least. "You? You're a soldier?"

"Yes!" The girl looked indignant, her wispy blonde eyebrows knitting together.

As soon as her incredulity had rolled off her tongue, Eirika regretted it. All the times in recent memory where she too had been doubted or slighted, treated like a child or a glass ornament, and not taken seriously flashed through her head.

"And... who are you?"

Eirika hesitated for a moment, before deciding that it likely didn't matter much by that point. She gave the girl her name, and another small smile.

"Eirika... Princess Eirika!" The girl's eyes went just as wide, if not even more so, as when she had first been surprised, and the javelin she held swayed in excitement as she spoke. "But... my commander told me all aboutyou! He said you were an ugly person, and a fiend, a-and..."

Eirika wasn't sure whether she should laugh or roll her eyes. She tried her best to do neither, and to keep a level voice. "I don't know what your officers have been telling you, but... well, we areat war, so I suppose they'll say what they want..."

The girl regarded her quietly for what felt like a long time. "Miss Eirika... I..."

Despite what had been revealed, Eirika felt she was in no immediate danger. "It's all right. Go on."

"Well... you see, I became a soldier because I admired General Duessel. More than anything. But many of the generals have been opposed to this war from the beginning. Few will say it out loud... but we all know.

"And now... now I see you, and you just look so sad about all of this."

You have no idea, Eirika thought with more than a touch of regret. She wondered how many battles this girl had seen. If she had yet to see a dead body. If she had yet to kill.

"I don't know what's right anymore. I may be just a soldier, but I want to decide for myself. I want to understand the truth myself, to see it with my own eyes. So... I surrender. I won't fight you." She hesitated once more, stealing a quick glance down at her toes of her boots, where they had scuffed little crescents in the sand. "Is that all right with you, Miss Eirika?"

The words she spoke resonated loudly in both Eirika's head and her heart. She only wished she could express to the girl how much sense they made to her.

But she chose instead to simply give a reassuring nod. "I suppose I should ask your name too, then."

"I'm Amelia." The girl smiled up at her for the very first time. "Amelia of Silva."

Eirika gave Amelia the most earnest, most welcoming smile she could manage in return. "Well, then, Amelia, let's be on our way, shall we? You know, I've been through Silva more than a couple times myself..."

"Miss Eirika, wait." Amelia gestured over Eirika's shoulder, to where Seth waited in the distance, with the tip of her javelin. "Who is that man?"

"He's just one of my knights. There's no need be concerned," Eirika continued to smile at the girl. But she wasn't quite certain which of them she was attempting to convince.

As soon as the field was confirmed to be clear of the enemy, Seth approached Eirika once more.

"Your Highness, are you well?"

She was far from it. She was disheveled, dirty and full of sand, and imagined that she must have smelled just as filthy as everyone else did after a long, hard-fought battle. The final attacker she faced had been a quick one, and while parrying one of his blows she had pulled something or other that made her inner thigh ache in offense, and her sword arm protested painfully against its overuse. But Eirika knew the rest of the men and women fighting for her – for hercause – bore the very same hardships of their difficult road without complaint. For their sake, she would do just alike.

She contemplated her response for a longer moment than was likely gracious, with the image of the man before her materializing from behind that ridge of sandy soil, in spite of what she had previously said – against her wishes – playing heavily in her mind. But this man she knew to be good-hearted, this man who had watched over her since she was a child, had been born a knight, and Eirika had been born, as she knew all too well, his princess.

And thus she chose, like she had been taught for as long as she could remember, to accept.

"Yes, I believe so." He seemed to accept her answer for truth with an acknowledging tilt of his head. Not many more words were exchanged, for a bit, and the ones that were simply addressed the foes they had just faced. But before long, Seth began railing against Carcino's apparent shift of alliance.

"We were careless. We should have seen this coming."

Even though had just been attacked by Carcinese mercenaries, Eirika could not help but find Seth's thoughts a bit uncomfortable. She did not look up or reply as he ranted, but chose instead to sit in a patch of soft grass, cleaning her rapier and trying (but mostly failing) not to think about where the substances she was wiping away came from – the bodies of the very mercenaries whom Seth spoke of so poorly. She could not help but think of Amelia, the young girl who had been her enemy not hours before, and how easily someone so genuine could have been one of those on the wrong edge of her blade that day.

Eirika polished away at it mindlessly, until it was surely beyond as spotless as it was going to get and her hands began to grow sore from their repetitive motions... before something in the distance, where she was staring remissively, caught her eye:

A lone pegasus, yet in the distance but flying unmistakably low, with a single knight on its back. Within a matter of seconds she could make out that it was carrying Frelian colors. Confusion at its sudden appearance clouded Eirika's mind for but an instant before everything clicked into place, and her stomach flipped in realization.

She scrambled to her feet immediately, sheathing her gleaming rapier, and Seth was almost as quickly by her side. Together they watched the pegasus hover about for a moment before descending, its rider pulling on its leather reins. The beating of powerful, snowy wings stirred about dirt and grass, and Eirika shielded her face from the debris with a forearm as the animal prepared to land. When she felt the sharp wind die down, Eirika lowered her limb to see the singular rider waste no time in hopping down from her mount and rushing toward where Eirika stood, breathless and hurried.

"Princess Eirika!" the pegasus knight called as she stumbled to a halt. The young knight, who couldn't have been much older than Amelia and wore an expression of plain anxiety, had not even stopped to bow or kneel before speaking.

"I remember you... You were a messenger riding with Prince Innes."

The Frelian girl, nodding and nearly panting in her haste, spoke so fast that she all but tripped over her own words. "Yes! And I have news of him. Carcino, they- they attacked us, and cut through half our men. The prince, he's trapped in a siege. H-he has no means of escape, and-"

"No more!" Eirika interrupted. "I understand. Please, return to Frelia and deliver your message!"

The girl's brown eyes widened with uncertainty. "But – what of Prince Innes?"

"Leave him to us. We'll see him to safety, I promise." Eirika turned, ready to give orders, to where Seth stood at her right. He looked as though he was about to speak himself, but she did so before he had a chance. "Seth – prepare to mobilize. We march as soon as possible."

"Princess... wouldn't it be wise to allow time to rest for a while first? We did just fight a long battle-"

She had to stop herself from snapping a sharp reply, from inquiring in a disparaging tone about how many times he planned to go against what she wanted in a single day. She settled upon, "You heard the messenger too, yes?"

Seth opened his mouth to speak again, but Eirika did not wait for him. She walked away. She had a camp to dissemble.

Going by the set of the moon in the black sky, it had to be past midnight before Eirika agreed to break in their marching. Seth directed everyone into a clearing just off the road, and Eirika raised her voice so that her whole group could hear. "Spend your time wisely! Half an hour and we're back on the road!" A few prominent groans met her ears, but Tana, who had been riding shortly behind, smiled at her gratefully and mouthed a thank you in her direction.

She rode a bit to the side of the open space, out of the way from the lively chatter of her ever-growing army, and shifted to dismount. But as soon as Eirika's feet landed on the ground, a searing spasm shot through her previously injured thigh, and she crumpled to the ground in shock, a small cry escaping her throat.

Before she could stand she was surrounded by her knights, even though she had rode slightly away from the mass of people and horses gathered in the field. Seth and Forde both offered their hands, while Kyle and Franz hovered like mother hens. She took Forde's, and Seth let his arm fall back to his side.

There was a chorus of are you all right milady and similar inquiries, to which she nodded. "I'm fine. You can go now – we only have time for a short rest, after all."

Just as she expected, none of them moved. The air filled with are you certain, Your Highnesses and are you sure you don't need help, Princesses, among other objections.

"I had a feeling something had happened to you, going by the way you mounted your horse earlier. I should have said something then."

"No Seth, it's nothing. I'm sure I'm just stiff from riding for so long. I'll only need to stretch my legs a bit. Really." She gingerly tested her weight on her right leg before taking a short step forward, though mostly shifting to the left as she stood. "There is plenty of time for Moulder or Natasha to take care of me before we march again as well."

"You need more than a half-hour break, Your Highness. We've been moving nonstop nearly all day, since early morning-"

Eirika met Seth's frown with one of her own; one that, for a change, she did not bother masking in courtesy. She was not sure if it was due to the throbbing in her thigh, or the exhaustion creeping upon her consciousness, or something that had been building within her for an even longer time than that.

"Prince Innes is in far more peril than I am, Seth."

"Your well-being is far more important-"

"Is it really? Is my comfort really worth more than Innes' life?"

The men in front of her, and Seth in particular, appeared speechless.

She thought of the way Tana had smiled at her not five minutes before. The way they both could have chosen to remain holed up in a castle, but each decided upon a much more difficult path instead.

And she thought of Innes, trapped in enemy territory, and her own brother, and how devastated she would be something were to happen to Ephraim while she was waiting, shiftless, in the refuge of an empty pasture somewhere not too far away.

No, she resolved. She was not going to let anyone's perceptions of her supersede another's safety. Not again. Not this time.

"We march in half an hour. Is that a problem with any of you?"

Seth lowered his head, ever so slightly yet just notably. "Of course not, milady."

She nodded again, satisfied. "You can all go." That time, they all looked more than happy to disband.

Eirika was panting by the time the tip of her rapier found her enemy's heart. She twisted her wrist, deftly, not in cruelty but rather to be sure the struggle was over. The look on the face of the Carcinese mercenary said what she needed to know. His features were frozen and stiff, locked in an expression of unspeakable pain, the ultimate shock. In a few seconds' time he began to go slack, unsheathing her rapier from his trunk, leaving a bit less than the first hand's length of it coated in a thin sheen of brilliant red.

She was no longer sure which distressed her more: how often she stepped around freshly killed bodies, or how, by then, the act of walking about such barbarity hardly even gave her pause. Eirika rarely gave such things thought by that time, except sometimes late at night as she lay awake, waiting for sleep to take her, wondering about the matters that haunted her silent moments: the blood which she felt would forever stain her hands, her father's last moments, and whether or not her brother fared well on his most dangerous mission (though somehow, she could feel in her heart that her twin yet lived).

Trying to catch her breath with each sharp intake of air, she rested her back against the side of the dilapidated brick structure next to which she had been battling – the same one that she had assumed would make the perfect hiding place for a certain reckless Frelian prince – and hunted for a vulnerary in her side satchel. She unwrapped and applied it to the scratch her sword arm had just taken, hissing in pain at its stinging on her open skin.

Up ahead, in the narrow clearing between the building and a rocky incline leading up to a great cliff, Seth and Kyle were making short work of a couple of Carcinese who had just rounded the bend. Sensing an opportunity as she watched, Eirika dropped what remained of her vulnerary in the tallish grass growing against the damp stone wall of what might have once been a fort. With one of the traitors already felled and the other one occupied by fending off Kyle's lance, she slipped by, all but unnoticed. Blade held in striking position just in case of potential threat, she rounded the corner, only to see two figures in the distance, standing and conversing near what appeared to be the entrance to the ruined structure.

One was a hulking, heavily scarred man she didn't recognize. The other was Innes.

She called his name, and he turned to her. Even from a distance, the relief and exhaustion written in the set of his eyes were both unmistakable.

"Eirika?" he called back, motioning to the scarred man to remain as he somehow found the energy to sprint forward. "Is that you?"

"Yes! We've come to aid you!" She raised her voice again so it would carry to him, picking up the pace of her feet too, and then lowering her tone once they both slowed to a walk and eventually stopped in front of one another. Unlike their last meeting at Castle Frelia, there was no bowing, no pretense, no false courtesy. "You must be exhausted. Please, fall back and rest. We'll take care of these dogs."

A familiar look of displeasure crossed Innes' face. "You know I can't allow that. I refuse to run and hide while a woman protects me."

Eirika fell silent, not quite knowing what to say. She thought, her mind racing in irritation, of many things she would have liked to tell him. But Innes was her equal, rather than one of her knights – it was far from her place to put him in his own.

He went on. "We will continue the fight. You can join us."

You can join us.She almost scoffed at the absurdity of the statement, made by this man whose very minutes would have been numbered if not for her.

"If that's how you want it." Just as the Frelian prince had done so abruptly, days earlier at the gate of a castle he would in time inherit, Eirika turned suddenly on her heel, stalking away. "Let's go then," she called over her shoulder.

"...Eirika, wait a moment."

She stopped, turning only halfway, just enough to face him again. "Innes?"

He walked around her until they were facing again. Something in his tired eyes had changed, but until he spoke Eirika couldn't decide what it was.

"I would give you my thanks. You came to my aid... I am in your debt."

He held out a hand to her, as she had often seen her brother do to him after one of their many duels. She took it in her own, gladly, with a smile.

Behind her, she could hear the deliberate trotting of two horses growing closer, and from where Innes had stood before, the man with the scarred face and a redheaded woman who seemed to be with him walked over as well. When he had reached Eirika's side, Seth, from where he sat high upon his white steed, tilted his head low toward her, and mumbled a fast but dignified milady – much as he had done night before, on their way to where they stood in the moment.

The prince nodded to Seth and Kyle, and briefly introduced his companions to all present before turning back to her. "Something tells me we have many more to take down before we're done here. Eirika."

"Yes, Prince?"

"Care to lead the way?"

This fic was written for Mark of the Asphodel, for the Fire Emblem Exchange on Livejournal. I also owe a great deal of gratitude to both Raphiael and Amielleon for their support, advice, humor and encouragement in my writing of this fic. Further notes for this fic are posted at my ficjournal, the link for which is in my profile if you are curious (although I highly recommend reading the fic first before reading the notes).