Chapter 9: Dragon’s Gate         Vol. 4: The Tactician and the Dragons: Chapter 1: Kinship’s Bond

 

Wow, people were talkative this chapter, and not necessarily on plot! I am pleased. This is why I like writing! Going to try to continue this character-developing interaction next chapter, plus a bit more interesting action. Also, this is the end of Part III yayyyyyyyy only 10 more chapters (maybe) to goooooo

I read the Fire Emblem 4 script yesterday on Serenes Forest.net… and I don’t hate the game as much as I used to. Still, it’s not one of my favourites. And it’s really confusing. Gonna read Thracia 766’s script sometime, too.

Naptime.

 

Chapter 10: New Resolve

The trek back to the coast was silent, as was the ship ride back to Badon. Eliwood locked himself in the cabin he was ostensibly sharing with Hector, who said nothing but went and bunked down in the same space as Ceniro, Wil, and Guy. Ninian and Nils, too, spent their time mostly secluded.

And Ceniro didn’t spend much time below decks either, and what little he did spend he certainly did not spend sleeping. Hector took up a lot of space, no surprise there, and snored, also unsurprising. Ceniro picked a quiet spot on the deck where he didn’t seem to be in anyone’s way and curled up in his cloak, reviewing what he could of the battles on the farseer over and over, trying to find some way he could have changed things.

He was fairly certain that whatever magic Nergal had used to kill Lord Elbert was beyond any understanding; he hadn’t talked to Erk or Canas or Lucius yet, or even Serra and Priscilla, but he had a rudimentary understanding of how magic worked in general – or at least its effects on soldiers, it was his job as a tactician, after all. And nothing he had ever heard of worked like what he had seen, not even black magic.

So he couldn’t blame himself for Elbert’s actual death. But perhaps he could take some responsibility for the events that led up to it…

Lyn came up to him an hour later. “Florina tells me you’re not sleeping.”

He blinked at her with aching eyes. “How does she know?”

“I didn’t ask. Probably was passing by and saw. Ceniro…”

He waited.

“It’s not your fault, you know that, right?”

“Lord Eliwood asked me to come on this quest. I volunteered to help. He… Well, his father is gone, so we didn’t exactly succeed, did we?”

“That’s because it’s a bigger quest than we thought it was,” she said. “When did you start calling him ‘lord’ again?” He didn’t answer. “Don’t. He doesn’t want that. I don’t know him all that well, but he would be very bothered by it.”

“He’s also lost in grieving…”

“Which means he needs us more than ever; he doesn’t need us to run away because we think he needs space or because we’re afraid of him or of hurting him. He does need space, but he needs us to be there, too. Anyway, you’re avoiding the point.”

Ceniro sighed. “I just… I know I could have prevented it. Somehow.”

“How?” When he didn’t answer, she went on. “I saw your face during that showdown. You were thinking that we were completely hung out to dry by fate. We can’t fight two demonically-powerful magic users, an assassin, and a dragon of all things.”

“But… while I don’t regret any of the things that happened up until the Dragon’s Gate, not really… I mean, I think they were all necessary… And I try to live without… regrets… Maybe I could have done things differently, we could have gotten there sooner, Nergal wouldn’t have been ready…”

“Not true,” Lyn said. “Being there sooner would have meant nothing. Nergal was waiting for Ninian to come back. And we didn’t know; what could we have done? Left her and half the group back while going in with the other half to rescue Lord Elbert? We might have failed entirely doing that.” She leaned in and shook her finger in his face. “Besides, we know now. What you are doing is absolutely useless. We won’t make the same mistake twice, and you are not analyzing what happened to prepare yourself for next time – and there will be a next time! What you are doing is self-flagellation. You want to live without regrets? You are doing it wrong.”

Ceniro sighed long and put his head back, looking up at the mast towering above him. The stars were hidden behind clouds as usual. “…You’re right.”

Lyn nodded and scooted closer to him. “Can I borrow some of your cloak? It’s cold out here and I left mine in the cabin.”

He held it out to her, wordlessly, and she snuggled up next to him, making herself comfortable between his body and a barrel full of rainwater. Ordinarily, he would have been self-conscious and shy about having a beautiful, brave, strong woman leaning casually into him, but it just wasn’t the time to be thinking about such things.

He put the farseer away and clasped his hands on his knees. “I can’t promise I won’t think about it. But Eliwood needs more than that from me. So I’ll keep trying to do my best for him, whatever he decides to do next.”

“Good call,” Lyn said. “You know, you’re not the only one thinking that. Remember, I said to him I would try to prevent him from losing a parent? And I’m sure Hector is pretty upset about it too.”

“Hector’s asleep in my cabin with Wil and Guy. He snores.”

Lyn giggled. “Is that why you came up here?”

“Sort of. I think he is pretty exhausted, though. He spent all today shepherding us back to the shore.”

“True, I don’t think we could have pulled through so smoothly without him. He really is better than he appears at first glance.”

“I like him.”

“I like him too. And you’re right. He’s worked hard, being a strong leader for the rest of us, he deserves a break to snore. Eliwood’s probably not sleeping either. I peeked on my way up here… he’s just sitting there, holding his father’s hand. It’s… heartbreaking.”

“Did you ever…?”

“No,” and Lyn’s voice grew hoarse. “The Taliver poisoned the Lorca’s water supply. By the time they attacked, we were all too sick to fight, but it was too late by the time we discovered the poison… My father sent me away on a stumbling horse, and I was found delirious by Djute scouts a day later.” She hesitated, and Ceniro could feel the tightness in her small body. “By the time I woke up ten days later… my people were all dead and buried.”

He bit his lip, and shuffled around a bit to put his arm around her. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she said shortly, though she leaned her head on his chest and he tried to ignore the little thrill that ran through him as she did so. “I already told you, I will return someday and destroy them, though I’ll show them more mercy than they showed the Lorca. And you and the Caelin knights and any who choose to come will be with me.”

“We will.”

She relaxed a little. “Just as we will be at Eliwood’s side as he takes on Nergal and the Black Fang. Though I think Eliwood is less… interested in revenge than I am.”

Ceniro shrugged a little. “He might be, but he seems the kind of person to be more interested in protecting the remaining people he loves, I think. Though taking revenge and stopping… um… the end of the world as we know it look a lot like the same thing from here.”

“Anyway, the Taliver will be child’s play for you after the Black Fang.”

“That’s probably true.”

After a short silence, she spoke again. “So is it just me, or were you avoiding me since we met again in Caelin?”

He flinched, and he knew she felt it. “Not at first… just being busy. Then you were mad at me for staying with Eliwood to talk to pirates…”

“But I got over that…”

“I know, but I was… afraid, still.”

“Afraid of me? Ceniro, you are a silly, silly man.”

“Well… how was I supposed to know? You can hold a grudge when you want to.”

“So… you were still afraid of me when we were travelling across the Dread Isle?”

“Um… a bit, yes.”

She snorted, a sound no normal Lycian noblewoman would ever make. Luckily she was no normal noblewoman, Lycian or otherwise. “Ceniro…”

It was hard to make out her face in the dark of night as there were few lights on deck, and so it completely caught him by surprise when she reached up and kissed him on the cheek.

He swallowed hard and tried not to breathe. Of course, that didn’t last very long. “Are… are we starting there, then? Where we left off… last year?”

“Why not? We may have changed, both of us, but that doesn’t mean that our bond has. Does it?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“What, so you don’t love me anymore? I distinctly remember you saying you loved me.”

“I do!” he spoke louder than he meant to, and quieted quickly. “I do. You’re still the most amazing woman I ever met. I’m just… figuring things out still, about myself. Just wait; I’ll give up my wandering ways to stay with you forever yet.”

“But what if I don’t want you to give up your wandering ways? What if I want to join you on them?”

“What will become of Caelin?”

“Ummm… maybe I can make Kent the new Marquess after my grandfather’s passing. Of course I will certainly stay while my grandfather lives, and we’d make frequent visits back there even after. But I’d be a terrible Marquess anyway.”

“But you’re a natural leader…”

“Of the non-existent Lorca, perhaps… and of the dozen survivors, none would follow a woman…”

“Their loss,” Ceniro said lightly, and she smiled against his shoulder.

They sat in silence for a long time, perhaps an hour, before Ceniro dropped off.

He woke up in his bunk. Guy was meditating on his own, Wil was drooling into his coarse pillow, and Hector was nowhere to be seen.

 

When they landed in Badon later in the day, Ceniro took it on himself to thank Fargus for the ride on behalf of the group, and Fargus gave a sympathetic grimace and told him not to worry about it. He also made it clear that Dart would be travelling with the group as long as they had need of him, which brightened Ceniro’s day a little.

The Davros then set sail again immediately, for Fargus wanted to pick off as many Black Fang ships as he could if they were to be found.

It being so late in the day, the first thing that happened was Marcus, Oswin, and Kent went off to find lodging for all thirty-odd members of their strange little private army. They rented out an entire inn, choosing one with a large stable for the horses and Merlinus’s cart.

Eliwood was actually present at the evening meal, sitting off in a corner. His father’s body was upstairs, embalmed for travel; Ceniro had the vague idea the lord intended to take the body home to Pherae for burial. His friends rallied around him; Lyn, Hector, Ninian, and Nils chose to sit at the same table, and Lyn flagged down Ceniro and made him sit with them as well.

Ceniro wasn’t sure that he could, or should, even after his discussion with Lyn the night before. But the look on her face, though friendly, brooked no argument, and he took his place at the table quietly between her and Hector.

“How are you and Nils feeling?” he asked Ninian.

“I’m much better, thank you,” she answered. “I remember everything now, and… I’m sorry I worried you.”

“It’s all right,” Lyn said. “Long time no see, Nils. Have you grown?”

“It’s wonderful to see you too, Lady Lyn,” Nils chirped in return, both hands clamped around a mug filled with warm milk. “It feels like it’s been much longer than a year, doesn’t it?”

“Hey, care to talk about things the rest of us can follow?” Hector demanded.

Nils stared at Hector with an unimpressed look. “Who’s he?”

Lyn giggled. “Oh, that’s Marquess Ostia’s brother, Hector. He acts mean, but he’s actually quite decent if you give him a chance.”

Hector glanced at her, befuddled. “’Acts mean’ seems pretty mean to me!”

Lyn ignored him and gestured to Eliwood. “And maybe you remember, this is…”

“Yup,” Nils said. “Eliwood, right? The one who helped Ninian. You’re so much like Elbert, your appearance, bearing, even your voice… You’re truly his son.”

Eliwood looked up. “You met my father?”

Nils nodded. “At the Dragon’s Gate. We were locked up together, and later they locked up Salir with us too. Elbert managed to set us free, and we made it to the coast and escaped in a small boat… but I was tossed out in a storm.” He glared into his mug. “When I woke up, I had washed up back on Valor. I had to make my way back to the Dragon’s Gate for food, and I hid in the ruins for a time. When you showed up, I felt danger rising, and raced to find you. I… I saw everything.” He sniffed. “I’m truly sorry that we could not save Elbert…”

Ninian touched his hand. “Nils…”

“When we rescued Ninian from the boat, she had lost her memory,” Lyn said. “Couldn’t even remember her own name. But what a horrible thing we did, taking her right back to her captors… Ceniro and I talked about it, and we’re not sure what else we could have done that wouldn’t have ended even worse, but we… there must have been a way to avoid it…”

“Lady Lyn,” Ninian broke in, reaching across Nils to stop Lyn. “Lady Lyn, you did nothing wrong. As you say, any other path would have been fraught with equal danger. If only I had been stronger… When I lost Nils, I became lost inside myself. If I had known who I was, I would have been able to help…”

“Ninian’s power is greater than mine,” Nils said. “But it costs her more to use it. I think Nergal may have exploited that while we were his captives.”

Eliwood looked up without raising his head. “Was he after you because you have the power to call dragons?”

“No, I believe it’s because only we have the power to open the Dragon’s Gate,” Nils corrected him. “Nergal can call them on his own…”

“Are you serious?” interjected Hector.

“…but they can’t go through the Gate unless it’s open,” Nils finished, with a reproving look at Hector. “And even then it takes an enormous amount of quintessence.”

“Quintessence?” Ceniro asked. “Is that a form of magic?”

Nils squirmed. “Kiiiiind of… it’s more like… spirit energy. Quintessence is just what Nergal called it. Possibly the essence of life itself. He takes it from people, so he can open the Gate; he’s been stealing it for years, maybe decades. Think of it like… Ninian and I are the lock to the Dragon’s Gate, and quintessence is the key…”

“What happens to those whose quintessence is taken?” Eliwood asked in a low voice.

Nils’ voice faltered. “They… they die…”

Eliwood nodded as if he had expected that.

“…Neither Ninian nor I have that kind of power; I don’t think anyone does except Nergal. All we have is our power to sense danger. Anyway, Nergal still needs quite a bit of quintessence, so he sent his henchman Ephidel to Marquess Laus to plant the seeds of rebellion in his mind.”

“But why?” Hector asked.

“It seems the quintessence in each person varies in strength. A person of strong mind and body has hundreds of times more energy than the average person,” Nils explained. “It sounds like there aren’t many people like that, though. It took too long for Nergal to find people with enough strength. Although it would take time, Nergal said the easiest way to get that much quintessence was by starting a war.”

“What a black-hearted vulture,” Hector growled. “Planning to make up for quality with quantity? He must have no humanity left.”

“Ephidel eventually returned, bringing Marquess Pherae with him to the Dragon’s Gate. Nergal was happy; even though his plans for war had been halted by Marquess Pherae’s interference, he took so much quintessence from the knights travelling with Elbert… He knew he would get even better from Elbert himself…”

“Nils!” Lyn said sharply, glancing at Eliwood.

“Oh…” Nils faltered again. “I-I’m sorry… Lord Eliwood.”

“It’s all right,” Eliwood murmured. “I had the feeling… when we found my father, that his knights were no more… I can’t think of them yet… James, Selona, Harken, Ivan, Beatrice, Catarina… They will be missed, too.” He buried his face in his hands and leaned his elbows on the table. “Fatherrrr…” Hector rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Lord Elbert told us he had a son,” Ninian said softly. “He said you were blessed with natural fighting ability. But he also told us you were compassionate and disdained fighting. He told us that his son would be a better ruler than he was. He told us that he would sooner sacrifice himself than see his homeland, Lycia, embroiled in the flames of war.”

Eliwood smeared his eyes and peered at them. “That’s…”

“When we’d lost all hope at the Dragon’s Gate, your father always spoke to us of happy things,” Nils said. “…Well, he mainly spoke of his cherished son and his dear wife, but Ninian and I… We loved him very much. His stories about his family… …They saved us.”

“F-father,” Eliwood mumbled, and got up blindly from the table, moving towards the stairs to the rooms.

“Come on,” Hector muttered to the others, and jerked his head towards the door. “We should let him be alone a while.” They followed him outside into the cool summer night.

Hector leaned against one of the pillars that held up the awning, Ceniro took a place on the bench next to him, and Lyn paced in front of them. “Shouldn’t you have gone with him, Hector?”

“Nah,” Hector said, his eyes closed. “Thought about it, but… there was someone else who looked about ready to start crying, too.”

“Huh?” Nils looked around from where he was settling himself beside Ceniro. “You mean Ninian? Where is she? She isn’t bothering him, is she?”

“Calm down, kid,” Hector said. “She won’t bother him. She’s been through a lot, too. They’ll comfort each other.”

“I don’t need you to tell me what she’s been through,” Nils hissed, and Hector peered down at the child and blinked in disinterested confusion.

He was distracted by Lyn poking him in the chest. “Hectorrrr… are you playing matchmaker?”

He blinked at her too. “No, I just- Why would that be your first conclusion?”

Lyn giggled. “I think they’d be good for each other.”

“Women,” Hector snorted, closing his eyes again.

“Wait, you’re suggesting- My sister is not going to date Lord Eliwood,” Nils said firmly.

Lyn tilted her head at him. “Are you suggesting Lord Eliwood isn’t good enough for her?”

“It’s not that, it’s just that… she can’t get involved with anyone. Even him.”

“I’m not meaning to project, but I’m sure if they got married, there would be room for you at Castle Pherae,” Lyn said, smiling.

“That’s not what I meant… Anyway, can we talk about more important things? Like, what do we do now? Now you know the danger Elibe is in…”

“I wonder what happened to Nergal,” Ceniro said. “It looked like Lord Elbert stabbed him right in the heart, but there was no body, and you talk about him as if he’s still here, so… He’s still alive, isn’t he?”

“His wounds will not kill him,” Nils said. “He uses quintessence to heal himself, as well, and his body does not age…”

“He’s not human, is he?” Lyn said. “Not anymore, at least.”

“No, he’s… I don’t know, he’s- wait.” Nils sprang to his feet.

“What is it?” Hector said, uncrossing his arms.

“Call everyone, they’re coming!” Nils cried. “Dangerous men. I think, Black Fang.”

“Eliwood deserves more time off,” Lyn began.

“So we’ll just handle this ourselves, right?” Hector grinned at her.

Ceniro pulled out the farseer, but even as the flash went up, Eliwood came clattering out of the inn door with his cloak swirling behind him. His eyes were not noticeably red. Inside the inn there was a noise of chairs and urgent voices and armour.

“Eliwood!” Hector cried, startled. “I thought you…”

“Here you are! I’m fine. I mean, I can fight. And we’ll have to, Ninian tells me there’s an enemy force about to attack the town.” He turned to Ceniro. “We must move quickly to protect the villagers as much as possible. Let’s target the enemy commander as the primary objective.” Their forces began to run out of the inn, lining up around them in a circle, waiting for Ceniro’s orders.

“Agreed,” Ceniro said. “Nils, can you go make sure Ninian stays safe?”

“But you know how useful I can be, and you’ll have other guards for her, right?”

“That’s true,” Ceniro said. “All right. But can you go make sure she’s safe now, anyway? And then come back. We’ll need you.”

Nils gave the first real smile Ceniro had seen out of him since they had met at the Dragon’s Gate. “You got it.”

But even as Ceniro arranged his forces in preparation to send them out to meet the Black Fang, it was only Ninian who returned.

“Ninian?” Eliwood asked. “You shouldn’t be here. We sent Nils to you…”

“Lord Eliwood, please, let me help,” she said. “Ceniro, you will let me help, won’t you? Nils lent me his power. I… I am strong enough to aid you in battle. I can do the same thing that he does for our allies.”

“I…” Ceniro glanced helpless at Eliwood, who stared at him back, wide-eyed and noncommittal. “All right. Stay away from the front lines, though.”

“As long as I am at Lord Eliwood’s side, I will be fine,” she said serenely.

“Fine,” Ceniro said. “Florina, Wil, you’ll be spotters for Eliwood this battle. Let him fight what I tell him to fight, but make sure nothing sneaks up on him or Ninian.”

“You got it,” Wil said, saluting sloppily.

Ceniro called more orders and, seeing that Eliwood was in good hands, sent him northwards to repel the invaders while he sent Hector and Lyn towards the centre of town. The townsfolk were already scurrying indoors, seeing the heavily armed and armoured groups running through the streets. That would make things simpler. He himself went towards the south end of town with some of the group’s mercenaries – Guy, Raven, Canas, Bartre, and Legault.

The former Black Fang member hadn’t made a peep of objection to anything Ceniro had asked him to do, and he knew Matthew had thoroughly grilled him and cleared him from suspicion, so he felt confident in fighting alongside him.

He was in the process of directing the group into taking out a pair of wyvern riders when there was a clatter of hooves, and a lady on a horse – a lady on a horse, dressed in white robes and white armour, and wielding a spear that almost looked too large for her – came up to him from behind. “Are you the general of these mercenaries? You are defending the town?” she asked, and Ceniro slowly lowered his staff.

“Sort of, and yes,” he said. “Are you offering to help?” Behind them, Canas was tangling one wyvern rider in black tendrils, while Bartre engaged the rider in combat, and Legault snuck up on both of them and shanked the wyvern rider in the back. Meanwhile, Raven gave Guy a foot-hold to catapult onto the other wyvern, and the two swordsmen moved smoothly in tandem to take down both beast and rider despite their enemies’ heavy lance and snapping jaws.

“You have my lance,” she said. “My name is Isadora of Pherae.”

“Pherae?” Ceniro’s eyes widened. “Lord Eliwood is fighting towards the north side of town, if you would like to give him support. General Marcus is fighting more towards the centre, if you want to report to him instead.”

“You have my thanks,” she said. “I shall find Lord Eliwood immediately, sir tactician, and obey his commands for the rest of this fight.”

“Eliwood, you have a friendly incoming,” Ceniro said. “Her name is Isadora.”

“Isadora? What on Elibe is she doing here?” Eliwood gasped with the exertion of battle as he ducked. “Don’t tell me something’s happened to Mother…”

“Focus. She’ll fight beside you and give you whatever news she brings when she’s done,” Ceniro said firmly.

“Yes, sir,” Eliwood said dryly.

They moved forward and encountered more resistance, but things in the centre were loosening a bit. Ceniro redirected Sain, Lowen, and Fiora south, sending Raven north in exchange, and took the opportunity to follow up on something that he was really remiss in finding out.

“How’s Salir?” he asked as the green knight trotted up.

“She’s fine,” Sain told him. “She’s a lot more fine than I expected.”

“What happened?”

“Well, after Darin and Ephidel dragged her to Valor, she got thrown in with Lord Elbert and Ninian and Nils, because apparently the Black Fang didn’t want to deal with, uh, Darin’s depravities while we were on their tail. And whenever Darin came around, Lord Elbert told him where to shove it. Then when he set Ninian and Nils free, she was free as well. But they caught her again, except… they put her back in the same cell with him. And when we attacked, they brought Lord Elbert up for their… thing, and she managed to escape in the confusion.”

“They don’t seem very organized,” Ceniro said, and told Lucius to cover Dorcas while Dorcas went to take out a soldier pinning Wil behind a crate with a lance. Eliwood was doing fine, and Ninian was keeping to her word and out of trouble. Whenever anyone targeted her, Eliwood engaged them in combat first, and if he was busy, Florina ran them down.

Sain fended off an axe blow and carved a deep gouge into his attacker’s arm. “They certainly don’t have anyone like you with them, that’s for sure. And hey, she’s gorgeous and spunky and clever, but to their eyes, I bet all they see is ‘peasant girl’. Which sometimes saves her, and sometimes I have to save her.”

“This time, you did both,” Ceniro said, and Sain nodded and grinned.

“Is Sain bothering you?” Kent asked, and Ceniro chuckled.

“No, I asked. Things are covered here, Kent. You’ll have an enemy archer beginning to take pot-shots at you shortly; Erk, when that happens, you’re to take him out.”

When they reached the edge of the town, the enemy melted away into the night as if they had never been there. The farseer sputtered and lost all enemy avatars. Ceniro made a face at it.

“Dart, Matthew, Legault, Fiora, you stay on the edge of town and keep watch for the next three hours. The rest of us, meet back at the inn.”

Debriefing didn’t take long, and soon the tired soldiers were unbuckling armour, cleaning weapons, bedding down the horses and Florina’s pegasus, and talking placidly about bed. It seemed the fight had cleared out some of the depression left over from the Dread Isle, and things were more back to normal.

Even Eliwood. “Hey, you okay?” Hector asked, as Ninian bowed to them all and hurried indoors, no doubt to reassure Nils she was all right.

“Mm. Sorry to worry you.” Even his eyes seemed to be restored to their usual brightness.

“Don’t push yourself,” Lyn said. “We can handle things if you want to take a few more days…”

Eliwood shook his head. “There will be time for proper mourning later. For now, the best thing I can do for my father is continue on in his name. I’ll do everything I can to stop Nergal and protect our lands.”

“All right,” Hector said. “Sounds like you have a plan already. Spit it out.”

Eliwood glanced at him calmly. “We have to see Marquess Ostia.”

“We do?”

“After all we’ve learned, we can’t not tell him, can we?” Eliwood asked. “Back me up, here, Ceniro.”

“I guess…” Hector trailed off, and looked more unenthusiastic about the idea than he’d looked about anything else on the journey.

“What’s wrong?” Lyn asked, looking between them.

“Hector doesn’t want to meet Lord Uther,” Eliwood explained, but a smile was tickling the corners of his mouth. “He hasn’t been sending messages home and is afraid to confront him, right?”

“What!” Hector exclaimed. “And how did you expect me to send him any messages when we’re traipsing about the isles like merchants on holiday?” But a smile was playing with his face, too.

Eliwood laughed heartily, a full belly laugh that Ceniro hadn’t heard from him since they started the journey, since before Marquess Santaruz’s assassination. “He is going to be sooo mad!”

“Gah! C’mere!” Hector lunged at Eliwood, who dodged, but after a moment or two, Hector grabbed Eliwood and began giving him a noogie. Eliwood flailed, and they were both laughing giddily.

“Well, they’re in good spirits,” Lyn said to Ceniro with a smile.

“It’s good to see,” he said, smiling himself. “We can carry on much more easily. I doubt he’s forgetting anything, or hurting less… it’s just locked away where he can deal with it later.” His smile faded slightly when he thought of how Eliwood would still probably not sleep properly for days, except out of exhaustion, and despite his iron self-control, he would probably still cry often when no one was looking. Which was not a bad thing, but Ceniro knew he would have to guard the lord’s life even more carefully now, and keep him as busy as he could without seeming interfering.

And now they were engaged in an impromptu wrestling match, and he couldn’t help but laugh. “Marcus, is this the sort of thing they would do on their monthly sparring matches?”

“Of course. In addition to proper matches, of course.”

“May I ask what news Isadora brought?”

“She has not yet spoken to Lord Eliwood, so if you would like, in a moment she will give her report to us all.”

“Right. Lyn, would you…?”

“Sure,” Lyn said, and began poking the two lords. “Boys, people are going to start talking again in a moment, and you might want to pay attention.”

Hector ran a hand through his hair, which had been messed up beyond recognition, and straightened. Eliwood got in one last playful swing and straightened his cloak. “Sorry, what?”

Isadora stepped forward and saluted. “Lord Eliwood! I am glad to find you well.”

“As well as can be expected, yes,” Eliwood said, his face serious again. “How is Mother?”

“She is well. General Marcus… took the liberty of sending an express messenger to Pherae with news… She said not a word as she was told of Lord Elbert’s death, but gave her full attention to the messenger. Then, instantly, she commanded me to bring you this sword and serve you as you see fit.” She offered her sword hilt-first and knelt sharply, with military efficiency.

“But… the castle defenses will be short-changed…” Eliwood said slowly. And with the world quickly turning topsy-turvy, leaving any castle under-defended was foolishness. Even Castle Caelin, while robbed of its five best fighters, still had a reasonably large contingent to man its walls. “Isadora, about Harken…”

“Lord Eliwood…please… Understand your mother’s feelings. Lord Elbert is not coming home. Sir Harken is not coming home. All your mother can do now is pray for your continued safety. ‘Obey your father’s dying wish.’ That is her message to you, and I have delivered it.”

Marcus stepped in before Eliwood could get too caught up in that. “Sir, if I may make a suggestion… why not petition Ostia for reinforcements to guard Castle Pherae?”

“Good idea,” said Eliwood after a moment. “It would ease my mother’s mind to bow to her wishes, I suppose…”

“It’s that thinking that makes you Lord Eliwood,” Isadora said, rising and returning her sword to her side.

“Welcome aboard, Isadora,” Eliwood said. “Our battles are nothing like anything you’ve ever seen before. And our group is a band of wild misfits and assorted knights. Think you’ll fit in?”

“If General Marcus and Lowen can fit in, so can I,” she said, with a small smile. “And I am ready to face your challenges. I will serve with my very life.”

“We’ll try not to let it come to that,” Ceniro said. “Hi, I’m Ceniro, and I’m Eliwood’s tactician.”

“You’re awfully young, sir,” she said, looking him up and down. At least she didn’t add ‘and peasant-ish’, like some people did.

“He gets that a lot,” Lyn said. “But he’s the best. You’ll see.”

“I’m sure I will,” Isadora said. “General Marcus, where shall I go?”

“Ceniro?”

“It’s fine. Just go with the others. Is there another bed available?”

“I shall find one. Thank you.”

 

Ceniro was pulling off his boots in the room he was sharing with Matthew, who was still out, when there was a knock on the door. “Hello?”

The door cracked open, and Hector’s blue head came through the gap. “Hey, Ceniro, I wanted to talk to you for a moment.”

“About Eliwood?”

Hector came into the room, closed the door, and sat on Matthew’s bed. “Nah, you don’t need to worry about him. Despite what you may think, he’s as strong as there is. If he says he can handle it, he can handle it. Trust me, we’ve been friends since we were both small kids at boarding school in Ostia. You’re not having the greatest run of luck either. I’ll wager you never thought things would turn into such a terrible mess, did you?”

“No… not at all. I… Plots to dominate the world are really not my scene, you know? At most, I was expecting more nobles playing games, like Lyn’s grand-uncle last year.”

“Yeah… Me too. Well, except that if it were that easy, Lord Elbert would have been far easier to find. Anyway, listen: if it gets to be too much, you can leave at any time. You’re a reliable and dependable tactician, but… You’re not our servant, you know? If you think our task impossible, you should get out. You’re as smart as they come. I know you don’t need me to tell you that.”

“No, I’m all right,” Ceniro assured him. “I want to see this through. Lycia’s my home, too, and… Um, I think you need me still.”

Hector chuckled. “True enough. Let’s get some sleep, okay? Gotta rest when you can. …That’s even more true in the middle of a campaign like this.”

“Agreed,” Ceniro said, and with talk like that, he couldn’t hold back a great big yawn.

Hector nodded and left. Ceniro was out like a light five minutes later.

 

Chapter 9: Dragon’s Gate         Vol. 4: The Tactician and the Dragons: Chapter 1: Kinship’s Bond