01. First Chapter

He slipped off his glasses with a sigh, and everything became blurry blobs of color once again. The charm had apparently worn off, and the redhead had to scrape the ice off (which was difficult unless he held them right in front of his nose). The young girl beside him sighed heavily and snatched them from his hands, and he protested feebly.

"Ana, I am perfectly capable--"

"It's faster this way, Edmund," she replied, cutting him off. She flecked off the thin sheet of ice and handed the spectacles back to her brother. "There-- I'll even let you do the spell yourself, if it makes you happy."

"It does," he replied, muttering a short incant under his breath. The frames grew warm even in his gloved hands, and he slipped them back on his face; everything slipped into focus once more, and he blinked twice before his eyes were fully adjusted. That was better-- not that he really wanted to see what lay before him, but it was a necessary part of his job description as crown prince. One had to attend to things like wars.

Really, it wasn't a war per se so much as a skirmish. The two islands had been warring for hundreds of years, but no one could remember the reason why. The only reason that the battles hadn't stopped was that neither the king of Royaume (his father) nor the king of Lavenna wanted to give in. After all this time, to be the first to surrender would be shameful. Not that the scene before him was not. The battles could hardly be called that. It was more a test, a challenge of skill, and the soldiers (well, most of them) actually enjoyed it. Secretly, so did he-- which reminded him: it was time to jump back into the fray. The sun was almost setting, now, and soon it would sink below the horizon, signalling the end of the fighting for today. Hefting his ranseur, he started down the slope from the outcropping of rock he and his sister and a few armed guards were occupying at the moment. Ana, her blue eyes keen and sparkling like the ice in the sun, started after him.

"Decided to get a bit of real exercise after all, eh dear brother?" she asked him with a grin. The girl tightened her scarf around her neck and drew her rapier. "I've won twice as many battles as you by the end of the day, I'll guarantee it."

"Well," he told her calmly, "I am sure that is true-- seeing as you have already won ten and I have yet to begin."

"You can only blame yourself!" she said cheerfully, and then without another word she dashed into the fray. Edmund laughed and followed her example, his sights already set on his next opponent.

Feet planted firmly in the snow, Mathias shaded his eyes with one hand, keeping his weapon ready in the other. The sun was nearly setting--marking the end of another long day of skirmishes--but until the cease-fire was called, he still had to be on the lookout for anyone and everyone who could come barrelling out of nowhere. It was exhilarating, really, all things considered; he enjoyed the fighting, the adrenaline, the bumps and bruises that came from trading blunted blows with soldiers from Royaume. However, it was also physically exhausting, and he was more than ready to call it a day.

He was not alone in thinking so; from behind him came the muffled flump of someone falling into deep snow, and he suppressed a chuckle.

"You alright back there, Father?"

"Just leave me to die," came the mournful response. The young priest was half-buried in snow, face-up and spread-eagled; the patch of ice he had slipped on was not too far behind him. Although the combination of his white robes and the pure snow made him look almost angelic, Mathias knew better, and he made his way over to where the brunet lay and offered him a hand.

"Come on, we can't have you freezing to death. The day's skirmish is almost over--you can get back to camp and change into something warmer," he said, and added as an afterthought, "and maybe find something hot to drink. Kay's always got something warm."

The way Luca's face brightened at the offer was answer enough. "That sounds heavenly," he murmured, softly enough that Mathias almost missed it; having not missed it, however, the soldier cracked a grin and spun in place.

"I'll carry you, if you like!"

"Oh--I couldn't possibly--"

"C'mon, Father, you're tired and the camp's not that far--"

"No," Luca protested, more firmly this time. "I'll walk--but thank you. You are very kind."

Mathias laughed, shrugged, pointed towards camp with one gloved hand. "We'd best get walking, then. Just think of the hot chocolate!" He knew Luca well enough, from their few days together, that the priest preferred hot chocolate or coffee; himself, he was ready for something with a little more kick to it, but drinking alcohol probably went against some important priestly vow so he wasn't too terribly concerned for Luca's well-being in that respect.

Their footsteps crunched quietly in the snow as they set off for the camp--the tiny purple standard of Lavenna just barely visible against the white of the rest of the world around it. Truthfully, they had come quite a ways during the day while searching for injured soldiers for Luca to take care of, but if they kept up a good pace they could make it back before dark--before it got too dangerous to be out alone. Enemies from Royaume were not a threat at night, but the cold was; as soon as the sun was fully set, the temperatures dropped dramatically and an unprepared soldier could easily freeze to death.

Having lost Edmund temporarily (thank goodness-- the man was as much a hindrance as a help, especially when she wanted to prove herself and he kept getting in the way to fight her battles for her), Ana saw the pair of Lavennic soldiers a long way off and hurried across the ice after them. There wasn't a lot of time left, but perhaps she could get one last skirmish in before the ceasefire was sounded. Besides, the two of them-- well, one of them, the little one wasn't impressive at all-- the one looked like he might be a real challenge; and a little more fun.

"Hey, you there!" she called, brandishing her weapon. It served two purposes, actually-- as a challenge, obviously, but also for balance as she slipped across the snow-covered ice. Her boots made it much easier to cross the unstable terrain, but they did not solve all of her problems; they increased her traction, helped her gain her footing and not slide as much, but the rest-- the rest was up to her. And she was pretty damned good at it, if she could say so herself. Especially for a princess whom no one expected anything of at all.

"You!" she called again, waving now. "Fancy a little bout with me?"

The challenge was irresistible; Mathias' glaive went from being a walking stick to a weapon in the time it took Luca to blink in surprise. "Behind me, Father," he cautioned the priest, turning his back to the white-robed man to shield him; his next comment was addressed to the newcomer. "You sure you're up for it? Cease-fire is in a few minutes, and I don't like losing--I'll fight hard."

Luca fell into place obediently, wary of their challenger despite his--no, her--less than threatening form. He had learned, perhaps faster than he would have liked, that while Lavenna's mages concentrated almost entirely on healing magic, it was not so for Royaume; even the smallest of foes could manage a powerful blow.

The princess skidded to stop in front of them both, already slipping fluidly into her offensive stance. "Of course I'm up for it," she told him, slightly irritated. "I fight hard, too. Are you saying you don't want to fight me because I'm a girl?"

"A reasonable sentiment, Ana," said a familiar voice, and she groaned as Edmund joined at her side. "He'd probably hurt you if he went full force."

"Edmund!" she growled, but her brother pushed his glasses up his nose and went into his own stance, effectively cutting her off. "Ed, that's not fai--"

"Now, if you really want a challenge," said the prince, a mischievous glint in his eyes-- clearly he couldn't see the murderous look his sister was giving him from behind, "you could take me instead."

"I never said I didn't want to fight you," Mathias began, an attempt at an explanation to the girl who nearly had steam coming out of her ears; who knew he would have to explain himself on the battlefield? Absurd--but pointless, as the fellow in front of her seemed pretty determined to fight, too.

Even if he did look like less of a challenge.

It had to be the glasses.

He dropped into his own fighting stance, glaive extended in front to gauge his distance from his foes; would it be better for him to make the first move and throw them off guard, or let them open for a more defensive battle on his part? With Luca behind him, he couldn't afford to let one or the other slip past; it was better to hold his ground, let them come at him on their own and fight them off from there, even if he did want to come out swinging.

"Well then what did you mean?" she grumbled, still irate. Truth be told, she was angrier with her brother than the enemy soldier (which was ironic, in a way). Edmund held up a hand.

"Not now," he told her, turning his attention back to his opponent. He analyzed him for a moment-- the heavy armor, the glaive, his stance, the way he was protecting the young priest... And then he charged, his lance gripped firmly in both hands.

His opponent wielded a pronged lance; Mathias made a mental note to avoid getting his glaive caught between them if he could avoid it. That was a sure way to lose a weapon. He shifted his stance slightly, swinging his glaive around to knock the man's attack to the side and then spinning it quickly to deal a blow with the staff end to his unprotected back. The battle was routine, almost reflex; the hard part was both fighting and keeping an eye on the girl in case she decided to have a go at Luca.

Ana, in fact, had no such notion. He may be weaker, obviously, but that did not mean she wanted to challenge him. She was looking for something to test her skill against, not an easy win. The priest would be easy pickings-- and it was hardly fair to the poor man, anyway. She glared across the battlefield at him, huffy. Once again, her brother had made a jerk out of himself. Oh well-- maybe she'd get some satisfaction out of watching him lose.

Edmund, meanwhile, somehow managed to twist out of range of the attack-- just barely-- and halted mid-spin, twirling his staff around to knock the glaive away and ready to counter with his own strike. He was halfway into his follow-through when the familiar horn sounded across the icy plain, and he jerked to a stop, sighing in disappointment. "Really, now?" he muttered to himself, planting his lance firming in the ice in his frustration. "We were just getting started!"

Mathias knew better than to suggest continuing their battle right then and there, however much he wanted to; it was against standards on either side to keep fighting after the cease-fire was sounded. That, and he could hear Luca trying not to fidget behind him; the priest was anxious, and doubtless still cold from all the falling and slipping he'd done that day. "You'd best head back to your camp... we've got a few minutes before sundown, and then it's really going to get cold. We can always pick up again in the morning," he offered with a grin. "The two of you, even; I could try to take you both on at once. Probably get my pride handed to me, but where's the fun if you don't try?"

"Anytime, anywhere," Ana said eagerly, her smile confident.

"Yes, it sounds like a plan," Ed agreed; for once the siblings had an accord. "Next time will be more more promising." The two of the walked away, heading back to their own camp. That was when Ana elbowed her brother-- hard-- in the gut, making him double over in pain and wheeze for breath.

"That was for making a fool out of me!" she snapped. "Now let's home before it gets any more unbearable out here. I could use a hot mug of cocoa."

"Well, that's that--c'mon, Father, let's get going," Mathias said agreeably, setting off at a brisk pace and beckoning for Luca to follow him; the young priest floundered momentarily in the snow and then caught up, doing his best to avoid the icy patches. "That was exciting--and we'll find them again tomorrow, I hope."

"Perhaps even tonight," suggested Luca, his book held tightly to his chest as he hurried along. It was not unusual for soldiers to meet on the battlefield and then again at night--though, masked and more than likely half-drunk, it was much less likely that they would recognize each other then.

The Lavennic camp was set up quite neatly, rows of tents perfectly pitched--most of which was Kay's influence, as she generally withheld any and all forms of alcohol until the entire regiment passed proper inspection--and Mathias and Luca retired to the one they shared once they reached the camp itself. It was somewhat warmer there, being sheltered from the wind that had picked up, and Luca buried himself in his blankets immediately with a grateful sigh. Mathias merely laughed and went to find him a cup of hot chocolate; if the priest was not asleep in five minutes, he would certainly want something hot to thaw him out a bit.

The prince and princess made their way into camp, which was already beginning to buzz with excitement. No one was decked out in their masks yet, but from each ramshackle tent echoed voices and laughs, soldiers boasting of their conquests or ribbing their comrades mercilessly about their defeats. There was some fighting going on in one corner, and already the Captain and a few of his officers were moving to break it up. None of the "real" soldiers would act like that, of course-- the career soldiers knew and respected the army of Royaume and all it stood for, even if they sometimes did not agree with the decisions of its commander-in-chief. No, the brawling and arguing came mostly from the drafted soldiers, nobles and peasants forced into service and wanted nothing to do with fighting a war-- just about the fighting. And sometimes not even that.

Ana glared at her brother, still angry about being shown up on the battlefield. "Is there a reason you insist on being such a pain in the butt? Honestly, it was just a fight! This is what I am supposed to be doing!"

Edmund sighed. "It is what we are supposed to be doing-- but a princess does not belong on the battlefield. We've been through this, Ana."

"Well, I am, whether you or father like it or not!" she argued. "So get used to it. And stop coming to my rescue-- especially when I don't need it!"

"Why, Princess," said a suave voice, and Ana's face contorted into a vicious knot of anger, "you are looking particularly fiery this day."

"Stuff it, Sevastian," she growled, turning to face the captain of the army. "I don't have time for your flirtatious nonsense." He was still decked out in all of his armor, his perfect white teeth grinning at her. Though his violet hair was a mess, it still managed to look perfect (in this case, perfectly disheveled); that was always the case with Sevastian. He spent far too much time worrying about how he looked. Frankly, it made it hard for her to stand even looking at him-- which was terribly, horribly ironic.

"Don't mind her, Sev," Edmund told the man, shaking his head. "She is only angry because I saved her skin on the field today."

"Did you now?" asked the captain. "Well, one would think she would be grateful for--"

"I will be grateful," snapped the princess, "when the both of you roll over and die. Good day!" And with that she stalked off to get ready for the evening's activities. Edmund sighed again, watching her go.

"Don't worry, Prince," said Sevastian. "It's because she loves us so much that she pretends to hate us so." Edmund snorted.

Well, that was true for one of them. He hoped.

Weaving his way through the growing excitement of the camp, Mathias had only to follow the sound of shouting to find Kay; Lavenna was hosting the night's festivities, and it would be neat and orderly if the captain had to personally oversee every step of the setup.

"Lapointe!" she barked, the moment he came into range; he grinned amiably and made his way to where she stood. "How's the priest doing? Not frozen to death yet, I hope?"

"No, despite him falling over more times than I can count. Do we have any shoes with better traction he can borrow?" Mathias replied, fishing his flask out of his bag and unscrewing the top. The liquor inside was cold, but not frozen, and he took a gulp despite Kay's raised eyebrow. "I can't imagine it ending well, at this point."

Shrugging, Kay made a vague gesture off in the direction of one of the supply tents. "There's probably some extra gear we could get him into, but honestly I don't think he'd wear it, and it's your job to keep him safe. What are you doing out here, anyways? Royaume's not due for another hour, we're still setting up." She held out a hand; Mathias stared at it for a moment before she sighed and plucked the flask from his grasp, taking a mouthful before handing it back.

"Well, I thought I'd bring Father Luca something warm to drink, but he's probably asleep already. Need help setting up?" he offered, screwing the lid back on with a practiced flick.

"No, everything's about done--though if you wanted to help roll out a few barrels, I'm sure nobody would mind," she replied with a half-smile; Mathias nodded and bounced off cheerfully towards the supply tents, snow crunching beneath his feet. Not long now.

And perhaps, if he remembered their voices well enough, he could find the duo he'd run into earlier.

Edmund beat on the outside of Ana's tent in some semblance of a knock, and he heard his sister call him in. He pushed back the flap and found her sitting at her tiny table and mirror, pinning her hair back and adding a few feathers with glittery pins. It was part of her costume-- she wore a beautiful silver and white mask at night that sparkled in the lantern-light. He also thought she looked rather fetching in it, even if one couldn't see her face. In any case, Ana looked up at him curiously; apparently her anger from earlier was forgotten.

"What is it?" she asked. "Is it time to go already?"

"Almost," he told her, smiling. "Are you ready?"

"Mmm." The princess nodded, tucking one more pin into her hair; for all her talk against fashion, she did enjoy dressing up when she wasn't being forced to. It must have something to do with the anonymity of the nightly activities, he thought. Ana stood up and grabbed her mask from the table, wrapping a cloak about her shoulders. "Are you?"

He waved his own mask- green and bright-- and smiled. "Would you accompany me, my lady?" Analiese sighed, then took his arm.

"I'm still mad at you, you know."

"Yes... I know."

It was nearly time; the guiding lanterns burned brightly to point Royaume's way through the snow, and Mathias slipped his mask on and tied it carefully so that it wouldn't come loose. There were rules in place about taking off one's mask at night before both parties were back in their respective camps--and even losing it accidentally was enough to invoke a substantial punishment.

That just meant one had to tie it right the first time--or find something to hold it on better--and he had gotten good at it, after four years of practice.

Around him, his fellow soldiers were assuming their own forms of anonymity; masks came in all shapes and sizes--some covering the eyes alone, some (like his own) the eyes and nose, some completely covering the face. Every one was different, and it made one do a double take when walking through camp.

The mound of blankets that was Luca's bed stirred, and the young priest sat up sleepily. "Is it that time already?" he asked, rubbing his eyes; he seemed reluctant to emerge any further than necessary.

"Indeed it is, Father," Mathias replied, smiling. "Are you coming, or would you rather stay inside? It'll be warmer here, but you might enjoy talking to people."

A moment of hesitation--those blankets had to be quite warm--and Luca reached for his own mask, a plain white-cloth covering that had been pulled from storage for him when Kay found out he'd come without one of his own. "I'll come. I don't suppose there will be anything more than alcohol to drink?"

Mathias laughed, sprawling back on his bedroll while waiting for the priest to crawl out from beneath the covers, don his mask and straighten out his robes. "There's always something more--tea, coffee, hot chocolate, something. Don't worry too hard."

Instead of leading the procession, the prince and princess mingled somewhere in the middle of the throng as they crossed the ice into Lavennic territory. Edmund was quite excited to be going-- he enjoyed the making of friends and just being able to enjoy himself, even among strangers. In his mask, no one knew who he was and no one expected him to live up to some role. He was just... himself.

But then, that was probably overthinking things. He just liked to have a good time.

When they arrived, the festivities started immediately; and by festivities, he really just meant the drinking. Soldiers from both sides grabbed a mug or two and tipped them back, chatting up a storm. He looked at Ana, who looked back at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. He had only a moment to wonder before she slipped out of his arm and ran off into the crowd, laughing.

The crowd was as busy as ever, and Mathias slipped in effortlessly, finding a cup of tea for Luca before grabbing a drink for himself. It took a few moments for the priest to get caught up in conversation--his shyer nature meant that people usually had to search him out rather than the other way around--but once he was properly situated Mathias didn't feel too bad about leaving him behind. No one would dare draw a weapon at night; it was even more firmly forbidden than removing one's mask, and much more strictly punished.

As he wandered through the camp, he listened more carefully than looked; not knowing what exactly he was looking for, it would do little good to search out certain masks in the crowd. Maybe they hadn't even come--wouldn't that be a disappointing end to the evening?

Well, not all that much. There was always the morning to look forward to, he reasoned cheerily.

Ana dodged through the crowd with practiced grace, delightedly wandering and looking for... well, she didn't entire know what she was looking for. Someone to talk to, she supposed, but so far she'd only found a few raucous choruses and drinking buddies. She wasn't much of a drinker, herself, although she had a sip here and there; she was more a wine person, as far as alcohol was concerned, and right now she wanted her head clear. The princess was one of the few girls on the field, and because of her small size it was easy to pick her out of the crowd as a female. A few of the more rowdy boys had idle hands, but it was easy enough to stave off their advances-- especially when she knocked a few heads together. But most times it didn't come to that.

There was one instance, however, when she did flee-- it was Sevastian, prowling through the crowd, boasting at the top of his lungs and being, well, himself. Not wishing to attract his attention, she spun on her heel and started in the other direction. The catch was, she ran right into another soldier-- one she didn't recognize, although from which side she wasn't entire sure. "Oh, excuse me," she said quickly. "So sorry."

"No, excuse me," Mathias replied just as quickly, holding up his hands in apology. He'd been so preoccupied with listening that it seemed he'd forgotten to watch his step; thankfully the girl he'd bumped into didn't look too put out by his distracted-ness. "I wasn't watching where I was going. You alright?"

"Oh, yes, I'm alright," she told him, laughing a little. The laugh sounded more nervous than she wanted it to, but Sevastian did make her anxious. Mostly because she couldn't get away with taking a fist to his face; at least not in public. "And no, it was entirely my fault: I'm just... trying to avoid someone, that's all. I'll be more careful. Sorry, again." As that seemed to finish the matter for her, she looked back over her shoulder; she couldn't see Sevastian, but she could hear his laugh echoing over the din of the camp. It was time to leave.

"Somebody bothering you?" he asked, noting her nervousness with a frown; something about her furtive glances sat uneasy with him. "I'll deck him for you, if you like. This is supposed to be fun--not something you need to run away from."

At that, she laughed. She liked this guy already. "I wish you could," Ana said with a chuckle. "He is my captain, and a... friend, of sorts. I just don't feel like dealing with him. Not tonight, in any case. But... I've nowhere else to go," she said, threading a small twist of hopefulness into her tone. She quite hoped he'd ask her to hang around, but if he didn't catch on, she'd certainly ask him. Anyone who wanted to punch Sevastian in his grinning, greasy face was alright in her book.

Mathias cracked a grin at the thought of the mess he might've gotten into. "Well, I suppose punching a captain would put me in some trouble, but I'm sure mine can hash out the details with him--especially if he's been making things difficult for you. Would you care to find a drink with me, or did you still have your heart set on disappearing into the night?"

He rather hoped she would say yes, but he wouldn't be offended if she decided against it--especially if she was trying to avoid someone. Especially someone on her own side who she would have to deal with again come morning, let alone her captain.

Ana couldn't help but smile. "Why, thank you, sir; I'd love to," she said honestly, laughing a bit. "While disappearing into the night can be fun, at times, I'd rather have some decent company tonight. The last few nights I've been hard-pressed to find anyone but my brother and a few drunks." She sighed dramatically. "I'm afraid I'm not very good at staying out of trouble!"

"Well, I am very good company, usually," he said, his grin only widening; he was liking her more and more every moment. "I can't promise I'll stay completely out of trouble, but I don't bite, I'm house-trained, and I can sit and stay and everything."

That made her laugh outright. "Oh, well that settles it then!" she told him, taking his arm and whisking him off to the nearest drink tent. She was more than ready to get something for herself, and she figured her masked friend was probably longing for a tall one, too. "Oh, I do like you. Infinitely better than Sevastian."

"Well, I'm glad. Sevastian's your captain, then?" Mathias asked, collecting a drink and looking for a couple of vacant seats; the folding chairs that had been set up inside one of the tents were mostly occupied, but there were a few empty seats in the back and he pointed with his free hand while the girl got her own drink. "How does over there look, or would you rather walk around a bit more?"

"No, there is fine," she said, grabbing her own drink and following him to the back. It wasn't quiet, exactly, but a bit more subdued than being in the middle of things. Taking a seat, she turned to him and sipped her ale, watching him with a small smile. She wondered what he looked like under that plain mask of his. At least she knew one thing-- he had a contagious smile. He was still grinning like a fool.

Mathias flopped unceremoniously into the seat opposite her, taking a hearty gulp of his drink and then balancing the half-empty glass on his knee in a precarious position to have full use of his hands for gesturing. "So. I guess we can't exactly share names, but--is this your first time here? Not here here, but, you know--enlisted in the Wars."

"Yes, actually," she replied with a nod. "See, in Royaume one can't serve before one's eighteenth birthday. I've always wanted to come, but my father doesn't like it-- even if my brother is here, too. It's his third." She shrugged. "He could have come much earlier, but he really wasn't interested. I can sort of see why, now... although I am enjoying myself." She added the last statement with a grin. "I do love swordplay. And you? How long have you been coming to the floes?"

"Four years," he began with a grin and a sweep of his arms that nearly knocked the glass off his knee; only a quick haphazard dive saved his drink, and he laughed aloud and downed the rest of it before setting the glass aside and continuing. "Sorry. Anyways, the laws are the same in Lavenna--can't serve until you're eighteen--so I couldn't have been coming for any longer, but that's alright. I love it here--the fighting and the festivities both. S'hard to imagine that it was really once a war though, you know?"

Ana laughed at the almost-accident; she couldn't help it. The stranger was terribly animated. And apparently four years older than she was. "Yes... it's curious that. I do wonder what it was all about, in the beginning..." The princess shrugged. "And sometimes I wish it would stop. It's all rather pointless, you know? But... as long as it's going on, I'm more than happy to participate." She shifted in her seat, leaning forward and propping her elbow up on her knee so she could lay her chin on her fist.

"So," she asked, "what do you fight with? Are you pretty solid on the battlefield?"

"I use a glaive--warhammer too, if there's something armor-y that needs smashing." Mathias grinned and stretched widely, getting a substantial crack from somewhere in the middle of his spine before he continued. "As for being good on the battlefield, well--I hope so. I win some, I lose some. Lately I've been protecting a friend, so I haven't had as much chance to really go all-out, but that's okay because he kind of needs protecting. Just don't tell him I said that."

"It'd be rather hard to, unless he found you in all this," Ana replied teasingly, gesturing to the crowd of soldiers. "But alright, I promise. He's not a fighter, then? Or not very good?" Then something she knew about Lavenna came back to her, and an idea dawned upon her. "Say, is he a healer? You all have lots of those, don't you?"

"Well, yes, but... no. See, it's complicated and I don't understand most of it, but the end result of a lot of debating between the Church of Lavenna and the military is that only a few healers accompany the soldiers to the battlefield," he began, though as he explained it sounded like he was muddling it out for himself, too. Luca had tried to explain it once, but hadn't done terribly well, and perhaps it wasn't something that a normal soldier needed to worry about much (thank goodness). "Since we don't actually fight much any more, the idea is that we don't need healers as badly, and so having just a few along will suffice. So--long story short--yes, my friend is a healer, and no, he's... well, he's really the only one we have this time around."

"Oh." She was surprised at the answer, but really, it did make sense. They weren't really fighting, and they obviously didn't need many healers around. In fact, now that she thought about it, this "friend" was probably around for accidents more than he was serious injuries. "Well, I guess that makes you pretty important, then, if you're protecting the only healer around."

He laughed and waved a hand, dispelling the very notion before she could get it any further into her head. "Nah. Our captain's a little... hm. I want to say strange but she's probably within earshot so I'll just go with 'different', but anyways she decided that it was my job to watch out for him, and we were both okay with that even if his brother was a little, shall we say, uneasy about it being me rather than her or someone with a little more experience or something." Mathias understood the sentiment, too; he was not exactly protective material, except that Luca was still okay and maybe that counted for something, he wasn't quite sure.

Really, she should have been paying attention to his story, but only one thing fully registered in her mind. "Wait wait wait," she said, shaking her head. "Your captain is a woman?"

"Sure," he replied as if it were an everyday occurrence; he picked his glass up again and tilted the last few drops into his mouth before continuing. "She was elected to the position after her father retired--her name's Kay, I dunno if you've heard of her. If it means anything, she might be on more familiar terms with your captain? So you could always ask him, if he sobers up enough to not be someone to run away from, I guess."

"Eh, Sevastian isn't--" Ana stopped. He was that bad, at least most of the time. "Well, he's not unbearable, if that's what you think. I've known him for a long time, and put bluntly, he is the most outrageous flirt in Royaume. And probably Lavenna, too," she added, with a snort for good measure. "And it doesn't help that I'm the-- that I'm close to him. If.... if the king didn't need him..." Ana shook her head, and for two reasons. First, Sevastian was an insufferable bastard. Secondly, she was slipping. Usually she was much more careful with her words. She glared at the mug in her hand from behind her mask; she must be more of a lightweight than she thought.

"Well, like I said before, I'll gladly hit him for you if you think he needs it," Mathias told her with a chuckle. He meant it, too, even if she might not take him completely seriously. "I don't care if he's important or not. And if he takes offense, Kay can sort things out without turning it into an international incident--not that we aren't already in the middle of one, sort of."

Actually, she thought, it would be far more likely that I could get away with it. Everyone knew his reputation, after all, and it was hard to imagine them jailing the princess for decking an all-too-fresh military captain. "Well, thank you," she said, giving him a reassuring smile. Then she laughed, almost spilling her mug, herself. "Maybe that's how it all got started! The heads of two kingdoms warring over a girl!"

That was actually an interesting theory--and since no one really remembered how it all had started (and the history books tended to disagree on every front), there was always the chance that it was more than just interesting. "It could be," he told her amusedly. "Two powerful men--brothers, perhaps, to give it a bit more of a dramatic flair--both madly in love with the same beautiful woman. Naturally, as in all the storybooks, they decide the best way to solve the problem is to go to war."

That actually did sound like something both Royaume and Lavenna would do--and that was almost a frightening thought.

"Brothers-- that would be dramatic!" she said, sounding even more intrigued. This was the sort of story she loved. "Lucky woman-- or unlucky, as it were. I wonder how she felt." Then Ana chuckled. "I mean, could have felt. It's not as if it did happen..." She shook her head. "I suppose we'll never know."

"No," Mathias laughed, "though we can certainly imagine. Perhaps it really is true--what's there to say it isn't? We certainly don't have a reliable account, even though that seems like the sort of thing that would be carefully recorded because of its importance in history." Then, as if only just remembering, he picked up his empty glass, held it up as if inviting her. "Care for another drink, or are you still working on that one?"

That sent her to pondering, and not for the first time. There was something her country was hiding-- both countries were hiding-- and she wondered what it was. "Yes, it is curious, isn't it...? Oh!" she snapped out of it for a moment, blushing a bit under her mask. "Yes, please-- thank you!"

He held out a hand for her glass, accepting it when she handed it over. "Same as before, yeah? I'll be right back."

The crowds had dispersed somewhat, so he had no trouble at all winding his way through the remaining revelers and refilling their glasses. It certainly wasn't Lavenna's finest ale, but it served its purpose, and it was really all they needed--especially if the increase in general volume around the camp meant anything.

"Hey, thanks," she said, giving him a smile as he handed it back to her. "So what now? Usually things are a little more lively than this, so I'll admit I'm at a loss right now." The princess leaned back in her chair and peered over her mug at him. "Suggestions?"

"No, nothing really comes to mind--I'm sure wandering about will find us something to do, though. There's always something going on around here," he replied, taking a gulp from his own refilled glass. Part of him wondered how Luca was doing, but the most likely scenario was that he'd already gone back to his warm blankets, so there wasn't really much point in wondering.

"Well, let's go for a walk, then," she said, standing with energy. She took her mug with her, it the only thing keeping her from dancing out of the tent. Despite the cold and the long day, she felt like... running. Or doing something spontaneous. "Nearly everyone is inside, I think, but that'll make it easier to get around now. Say, I know!" she exclaimed suddenly, turning to him. Every camp had a central fire where those of the outdoorish persuasion usually gathered for warmth and light. It was a magic fire-- not a real one-- so it wouldn't melt the ice... but the feeling was the same. Ana grabbed his arm again-- something her brother would never approve of-- and dragged him off in that direction. "Come on!"

Mathias could only laugh as she pulled him along; he didn't mind it, but he certainly hadn't expected it. "Where are we going?" he asked, making a sorry attempt to keep the rest of his ale from sloshing out the sides of the cup.

"The bonfire," she said simply. "I'm feeling a little cold. Besides, there's better light over there." When they arrived, there was already a big crowd (though most of them were drunk). There was, however, one little bit of free space left on the far side, closer to the shadows. Only one soldier sat there, rom Royaume by his colors, and everyone else was giving the silent stranger a wide berth. Ana, however, was unfazed, and led her companion straight over.

"Hello there," said the girl, and Gabriel looked up with a sigh. A girl and a grinning fool; great.

"Whatever it is, the answer is no," he said, softly but firmly. She put her hands on her hips.

"Well, fine, be that way. We're staying, so you'll just have to deal with it." She sat down on one of the provided benches and pulled the other man down beside her. Gabriel scooted farther away, but didn't pay the pair any more mind. If they started getting in each other's personal spaces, though, he was out of there.

He let her lead; she seemed to know what she was doing, and sitting near the bonfire actually did sound good. The poor man from Royaume didn't seem terribly interested in anyone talking to him, though, let alone sitting next to him and probably bursting his bubble of personal space.

Still, there wasn't anywhere else to sit, so Mathias didn't feel too bad about it; if the man didn't like it, he could always say so. Or get up and walk away; he seemed the type who wouldn't complain about something if he could leave it behind him.

Half his drink had spilled on their way there--a rather disappointing realization--but there was still enough left for another good gulp; he polished off the last of it and set the glass out of the way so that he wouldn't risk knocking it over again.

"See? It's much nicer here." She turned toward him, putting her back to the rude stranger. Gabriel snorted and rolled his eyes. "And the walk was nice." Ana finished her own ale and stared into the fire for a moment. "It's almost too bad, isn't it?" she continued softly. "After tonight, it's all over. We're not friends anymore, or even two people that met once. I mean sure, we might meet again, but... we can't ever really know each other, can we? Like these masks, this war... it's all an illusion."

"That's the way it's set up," Gabriel chimed in. She turned and glared at him-- she didn't think much of eavesdroppers-- but he continued. "None of this matters. It's all a royal waste of time."

"I think you're looking at it wrong," Mathias replied, turning to face the other man for a moment. "Anything that you put your heart into is never a waste of your time. We don't have to throw our lives away and try to kill each other for this war to mean something.

And," he added, directing his attention back to the girl and grinning widely at her, "illusions are always based on truth. You can't make an elephant vanish without there being an elephant in the first place, and... well actually, I don't know where I was going with that, but my point is that just because we don't know who the other really is doesn't mean we can't still be friends."

Surprised, Ana gave him a steady look. "You know what? That actually makes sense," she said. Then she laughed, stuck out her hand, and grinned at him. "Well then... nice to meet you, Stranger."

Gabriel sighed. All these romantics and heroes were so... delusional. "Fine... believe what you want to believe. I still say it's a waste." He leaned forward on his knees and took a sip of his beer, staring into the fire. The crackling was almost as loud as the crowd of soldiers gathered around it.

He took the hand she offered him and shook it briskly, returning her smile with his own. "Nice to meet you too. And who knows? Perhaps someday when this war is over, we'll meet again, and then we won't have to be masked strangers."

Not that the war showed any signs of ending, but if it ever did, that would be the best part--the possibility of stumbling across people he'd once met over a glass of ale on a winter night.

"I don't know that you'll have the chance," Gabe said, standing suddenly and staring at the ice. Ana, finally fed up with his unwelcome nay-saying, stood and glared at him.

"Listen, you, if you don't agree you can just--"

"I don't mean that!" he snapped. The crackling was louder now-- crackling he realized was not the fire, but something else entirely. Something disastrous. "I mean I think the ice is breaking, so... you might want to get out of here."

"What do you mean, the ice is breaking? Of all the ridiculous--!"

About to agree with the girl--because the wintery battleground of the Great North had never been disturbed beyond the yearly interference from Lavenna and Royaume--Mathias froze in place as the sharp report of ice cracking sounded from not too far away.

"It can't be melting--it's still too cold for that," he protested, already moving, his first instinct to find Luca; he bolted upright from his seat and glanced hurriedly over the crowd in the hopes of spotting his charge from where he stood. "I just--I don't understand--how can it be breaking?"

--

Above the general confusion and growing panic, Kay hunted out the mask and the demeanor she knew only too well to be the captain of Royaume's forces. There was really only so much a face covering could do for a man of his personality; he could hide behind it all he liked, but in the end it did little to actually disguise him.

"Sevastian," she snapped, knowing there was not enough time to argue or try to resolve the situation between the two kingdoms as they had before; other incidents could be settled peaceably, but there was no time. Hopefully the man was still sober enough to understand her. "Get your soldiers to safer ground, if there is any. If your mages can stabilize the ice at all, keep it from breaking, then get them on that as soon as possible--I don't know how much of the ice is already broken, but any support we can get will buy us more time to evacuate."

Normally, Sevastian would have greeted her with a friendly "Kay, my sweet," or "darling flower", but even he knew when it was time to joke-- or not (even if she was a positively perfect target for teasing). Instead, he looked at her as if she were mad. "My dear woman," he told her, "what do you take me for? I am a captain first and a lover second." With that, he turned to his men-- the few that weren't already running-- and began barking orders. "And someone get me Cephas and his regiment! Where the bloody hell are they when you need them!?"

--

Gabe gave him a look. "What does it matter, how?" he asked incredulously. "We have to go. Now."

"My brother," Ana said, turning frantically. "I have to find my broth--"

"If he has any sense," said the soldier, taking her arm, "he'll already be on the move. Let's go."

Kay, too, was already shouting over the noise. "Baines, Wallace, Argall! Get your divisions to safer ground! I don't want a single man lost, so move carefully--give assistance to anyone who needs it, Lavennic or otherwise!" Her three subordinates nodded, began directing the chaos into some semblance of order, towards their port side of the ice floes; the ships waited there, and if they were undamaged by the ice, they would be the safest place possible.

--

Mathias spotted Luca in the disarray, turned and gave his newfound friend one last grin; the ice was cracking, both sides were already on the move and there was little time left to talk, but for some reason he felt like laughing. "I'm sorry, I have to go help my friend, or he'll end up trampled. Be safe--we'll meet again someday, I promise!"

With that, he sprinted across the ice, dodging elbows and curses as he wove his way towards the young priest.

"G-good bye!" she called, waving after him. Gabe gave another tug on her arm.

"Let's go, Princess." Ana gave a start.

"How did you--"

"It's really not that hard," answered the soldier. He fought the urge to roll his eyes. "We can talk later. Right now, we have to--" Gabriel stopped short as the ice beneath their feet started to rumble. He pushed her away a split second later, and while she was busy being confused, a sharp spike of ice erupted from the ground where the pair had been standing. Gabe cursed; Ana screamed. And then the ice started to break apart beneath them.

--

Cephas, commander of the Royaume mages and second-in-command to Captain Sevastian, sprinted his way toward the center of the camp. The runner Sev had sent was no longer with him; the poor lad had had the misfortune of being swallowed by the ice. The wizard shook his head; a shame. Still, he had no time to waste on mourning the dead now. There would be many more before the night was over, and Sev needed to know what was going on. Things were getting worse and worse.

He arrived on the scene and both country's captains were busy shouting orders; when Sevastian saw him coming, though, he turned toward him and began shouting.

"Where are your men? We need to do something about all this--"

"I'm trying, Captain," Cephas explained breathlessly. "But I can't do it alone, even as strong as I am. My men-- my men have disappeared." Sevastian gave him a blank look.

"What?"

"They're gone, sir," Cephas repeated. "I'll do what I can for the ice, but--" The string of cursing from his captain stopped him short.

"No," he said. "No, do what you can for those we can find. And when I get my hands on that lazy bunch of conjurers they will be begging for mercy before I'm through with them!"

What little order there was began falling apart faster than the battlefield when the spikes of ice began to appear, jutting roughly through the breaking ground. Those who were lucky got out of the way and ran for their lives; those who were not so lucky were often far beyond a healer's aid before they realized what had hit them.

Still, there was nothing more Kay could do, aside from wish a plague on the Church of Lavenna for refusing them anything more than a mere symbol of support; Father Benedetti was a skilled healer, one of the best she'd seen, but he was only one man and there was no way he could be expected to deal with a catastrophe on this scale all on his own.

Not for the first time, she wished that there were more real mages in Lavenna's ranks; relying on Royaume alone to hold back the ice sat uneasy with her, not because she didn't trust them, but because she hated the inactivity.

"Captain!" came the shout from somewhere behind her; Cadell Baines, her second-in-command, sprinted across the icy ground and met her halfway. "Most of the men are on their way to the dock, but we don't know if that's at all safer than out here--"

"It doesn't matter--it's our only chance. Staying here means getting crushed or impaled, and any chance at all sounds better than that." She handed him Lavenna's standard, making him the man to rally behind, and added, "Take a few good men and round up as many injured or lagging as you can; I'm going to find Sevastian and see if he needs help with evacuation. Lavenna's port is closer and we'll take as many soldiers from Royaume as possible." The opposing captain could not be far off; she could hear him swearing loudly.

Edmund ran through the camp, his boots slipping on the ice even as bits and pieces broke apart or buckled around him. He was getting better at dodging those icicles, or whatever they were; after the first, he'd not been hit at all, but the deep scratch across his side was burning. Still, none of that mattered; he had to find Ana and get her to safety. He knew that the soldiers were trying to rally at the Lavennic port, and as soon as he found her that would be where they headed; but for now he was running in the opposite direction. She had to be there-- she had to still be alive.

She had to.

--

Ana lost her footing and fell back onto the ice, away from her fellow countryman and the jagged column of ice separating them. She couldn't see him anymore, and any other soldiers were running for their own lives. The shaken princess stumbled to her feet and looked around quickly; there was still a solid path leading farther into camp. How much longer it would last, she didn't know, but she wasn't going to wait around to find out.

"Father!" Mathias shouted over the cracking of the ice, skidding and slipping the rest of the way towards the priest; Luca looked immensely relieved to see him. "Are you alright?"

"I'm unharmed," Luca replied, though he was deathly pale; his robes were spattered with blood, and for a moment Mathias thought he was lying, but then he noticed the ice-impaled figure behind him and winced. "I-I was trying to help him, but--"

"It's too late, I know." He grabbed the priest's hand and pulled him along, acting as enough of a support that Luca could avoid falling. "We have to get to the dock--at this point, it sounds like the ships are the safest place to be, and I'm sure there will be plenty of people in need of healing there."

Gabriel slipped around on the ice-- not because of his poor footwear, but because the ice itself kept shifting underneath him, tilting and rocking on the thawing sea. He hoped the princess was alright-- he couldn't see her anymore, but perhaps that was because she had escaped. The soldier took another grim step forward, and suddenly he was pitched to the side, sliding across the ice and unable to grasp anything to stop himself. He was going to slide into the water-- there was nothing to hold onto--

The patch of ice righted itself and became stable again, as firm as solid ground, and then a hand was on his collar and pulling him back to safety. Gabe looked up incredulously, and the smiling face of his brother was staring back at him.

"Easy there, Gabe-- can't lose you now, can I?" He was hoisted to his feet, and Gabe took only a moment to gather himself before speaking.

"The princess-- she was just here," Gabriel said urgently. Cephas paled a bit, but listened quietly. "We've got to find her. Sevastian will have our heads if anything happens to her-- and that's if we survive the prince's anger."

"Right then-- there's no time to lose," answered his older brother, and with a wave of his hand Cephas calmed the ice enough to make a path for them toward camp-- and the port. "Let's go."

--

"Ana! Ana, where are you!?" Edmund coughed; the cold air was starting to irritate his throat and lungs, and all the salt spray was bothering him and clouding up his lenses, even through his mask. His side was throbbing now, and if he didn't know any better he would have said he was beginning to get light-headed, but he couldn't rest. Other soldiers scurried by, but they paid no attention to the one crazy individual not fleeing to the safety of the ships. Sevastian-- Sevastian would know where she was. He chuckled in spite of himself. He always knew.

--

"I have no idea where they are!" the captain groaned, turning in place to survey the ground. People were fleeing to safety even as the buckling and eruptions continued, but there was still no sign of the prince or the princess. He hoped they were on their way, but there was no way to be certain unless he saw them himself. He'd just have to keep looking, and hope that they made it without him if they didn't cross paths. Sevastian looked to dark sky overhead and whispered, "Gods, please be safe..."

Kay could barely keep her footing, but she managed as best she could, cursing the ice under her breath. Why couldn't they have fought in the desert? Baking sun and gritty sand she could deal with, but there was something about ice she simply couldn't stand.

Oh yes--it was the cold.

She fought her way to a more stable place, thankful more than once for her armor as the spikes of ice stabbed through the ground and glanced off the protective gear. It wasn't perfect--the joints were apparently particularly vulnerable, and she was pretty sure her arm was bleeding from the blow, but it was numb enough at the moment that she could ignore it.

Ahead of her, she could see a figure struggling through the broken ground, but something was not quite right. "You're going the wrong way!" she shouted, pointing in the direction of the Lavennic port. "Don't try to make it back to Royaume--you'll never get back safely!"

He seemed to ignore her--or perhaps he hadn't heard--and she sighed and ran to catch him.

--

"Come on, Father, just a little further, we haven't got much further to go," Mathias said, breathless and encouraging; he could feel Luca dragging behind him and wondered if he should offer to carry the smaller man. "Once we reach the docks, you can rest."

"I know," Luca managed, "but please--just a moment--"

Reluctantly, Mathias slowed and stopped, standing protectively in front of him as if to shield him from whatever the ice had to offer. It wouldn't do much good against icicles--it seemed there was little way of knowing where they would come from--but he would do his best just the same.

Edmund was, in fact, ignoring the voice. He wasn't going the wrong way-- he was going the right way, toward Ana, toward home, and nothing-- not the cold, not the ice, not his scratch, and not some do-gooder trying to save his miserable life-- was going to stop him. He trudged on; a sudden pang brought him to his knees and tears formed in his eyes, but he staggered to his feet again, somehow, and continued across the swaying ice.

--

By now, Ana was running for her life. She felt like she was being chased, and perhaps she was; everywhere she went, ice erupted from the ground or threatened to pitch her into the ocean. She wished Edmund were there, or her irritable soldier friend, or even Sevastian; but there was no one around to give her comfort. The only souls she saw were already dead.

Without slowing, the princess leaped across a gap in the ice, and the dark waters lapped at her boots as if trying to pull her under by the ankles. She hit the ice and skidded; but her weight, slight as it was, was enough to tilt the ice backward and sent her tumbling. Disoriented, she found herself on a mountain of ice; only the mountain wasn't a mountain, it was an inclined sheet of ice; and the incline was becoming steadily steeper as another floe crashed into it. Panicking, she tried to scramble upwards; if she didn't hurry and manage to counter-balance it, there was no way she wouldn't wind up in the ocean, trapped beneath the ice.

She caught up to him, nearly falling more than once, and tried again once she was close enough that she was sure he could hear her. "Head to the Lavenna port--Royaume's is too far off to reach safely, not like this. I'll give you a hand there--you look like you can barely stand. Come on."

--

"We have to get moving, Father; any longer and there won't be a pathway to the port!" Mathias urged, as Luca gasped for breath, hands on his knees. "I'll carry you if you need a little longer, but we really don't have the time to stop!"

"I'm alright--we can go," Luca replied, waving a hand, still sounding winded but perhaps a little better than before. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, let's just go!" With that they were off; Mathias gave him a moment to get his footing and then he was practically pulling the priest along behind him. He could apologize for minor injuries later, assuming they both made it back un-drowned.

A muted cry from his left caught his ear, and he whirled, searching for the color against the white-and-gray that was all that remained of the battlefield. If it was someone who needed help, well--they couldn't afford to stop for long, but he couldn't just pass them by.

"Thanks for the offer there," he panted, limping along as best he could. "But I've got to find someone. I can't leave without her."

--

"Oh gods-- oh gods, this is bad!" Ana whimpered, clinging to the small crevice in the ice where she had wedged her numb fingers. This was no time to panic, and yet that was all she could do. The few spells she knew (mostly destructive; after all, she was more a battle-mage than a healer) were entirely unhelpful, and she was afraid to move. The ice had stopped tilting, at least, but the incline was steep and the ice below her was beginning to crack. Desperation took over; she wanted to cry. "Help!" she cried. "Somebody, please!" Oh gods, no one is out here, she told herself. Oh, Edmund, Ed, where are you...?

"Look, I know she's important, but if you keep on like this you're going to die--and then where will she be?" Kay asked, irritation rising just enough to prickle down the back of her neck uncomfortably. She could understand the sentiment--would probably be doing the same herself if she didn't know better--but he was wounded and anything he might try would probably just end up putting the other person in danger if he did find her. "Let me help you to the port--perhaps she's already there."

--

"Mathias, did you--"

"I heard it," the blonde replied, pulling Luca along, searching wildly for the source of the shout for help; there was someone still alive out on the ice, and suddenly getting to the port without stopping wasn't quite as important.

"Over there!" Luca cried, pointing at a sheet of ice at a sharp incline. Halfway down a soldier clung perilously to the best handhold available, a slowly-widening crack in the ice, and it didn't look like she would be able to hold on for much longer.

"Perfect--let's go, Father, and be ready to help me pull her up!" Mathias was already sprinting across the open space separating him and the girl he recognized from just a few minutes ago--though it felt like hours--and Luca was not too far behind him.

"Hey!" he called, looking for the best place to reach her from, panic welling in his chest as he did. "Hang on a minute longer--I'll have you out of there as soon as I can!" There were no proper handholds, nothing he could use aside from the crack she had wedged her fingers in, and she was too far down to reach by hand--how was he supposed to help her?

"What if she's not?" he asked, turning toward the newcomer for the first time. "I can't leave her-- I just can't. I can't take the chance." Edmund winced; that breath had been exceedingly painful. "L-look, thank you, really, but get yourself out of here, I can manage on my own..."

--

Ana's heart nearly leaped through her chest at the sound of another voice. She turned toward him, her arms beginning to ache with the effort of holding on. "Oh-- oh thank the gods! It's you!" she cried happily.

"We don't have the time to waste arguing over this," Kay said, stepping closer, wondering for just a moment if she could still carry him when he was passed out. "You're going to die if you keep on, so I can't just let you go."

She pulled his arm over her shoulders to give him some support, and spun the two of them around to face toward Lavenna's port. If he argued, she could just... disable him. Nicely.

--

Mathias drew his glaive, the tiny metallic disc in his hand growing into the weapon he knew only too well, and he stabbed it blade-deep into the ice at the top of the slope; if his luck held, he could pull her up and return to the more solid ground before it was dislodged.

"Stay here, Father--you may need to help her up once I get her up to the top, I'm not sure if she'll be too tired to do it on her own," he cautioned Luca, who looked just as worried as Mathias felt. Still, he refused to let the panic take hold of him, and instead swung down on the protruding glaive-staff and offered the girl his hand--or more precisely, his war-hammer, a more effective spike than even some traditional climbing gear. "Can you reach? You can use this to get a better handhold, just swing it hard and it should break through the ice enough to hold on. Once you're a little higher up, I can probably pull you up to where I am--and then Father Benedetti can do the rest."

"H-hey!" he protested with a cough. Edmund tried struggling against the woman, but she held him fast in his weakened state and he only managed to lose his balance on the ice and fall into her, anyway. "Stop this at once! Let me go! I have to-- Ana's still--" He cut off suddenly as a wave of nausea swept over him. "Oh gods, I think I'm going to be sick..."

--

Ana hesitated for a moment. She was afraid to let go of her hold; but this was her only shot, and the two of them were risking their lives for her. She had to take the chance. The girl took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and then made a mad reach for the hammer. She could feel her other hand slipping even as she grasped the handle, and with a desperate cry she drove it into the ice with all her strength. The ice beneath her feet crumbled away and fell into the ice, but she managed to scramble a little higher.

"I-I don't know if I can go much further," she panted, looking up at him helplessly. "There's not a lot of ice left to work with, down here. And I'm so...." She wanted to say 'scared', but the word wouldn't come out. "...Tired," she said finally. And it was the truth; the only thing keeping her moving was the adrenaline.

"Well, be sick in the other direction, then," Kay told him irritably, half-dragging him along; it was difficult enough keeping her own footing, let alone keeping him upright, but she refused to give in. The port wasn't too far from here, and the ground was not as badly damaged as it was in other places.

--

"Alright, alright, um..." Mathias scrambled frantically for some other solution to their predicament; he couldn't free his glaive without losing his only handhold, but if she was too tired to pull herself up, he would have to find a way to do it for her.

Why couldn't he have carried just one more weapon--one more tool that could be used as a handhold?

Then it hit him.

"Father! Can I borrow your stole?" he called back up to where Luca stood; the priest blinked in confusion, then his face lit up and he pulled the long scarf-like vestment from around his shoulders and dangled it down enough that Mathias could grab it. From there, the blonde draped it over the glaive--praying to anyone listening that the weapon could bear both his weight and the girl's--and offered her one end, holding the other himself. "Here--grab on and I'll help you up!"

Edmund staggered again; his vision was becoming spotty. He wanted to protest, still, but he didn't have the strength to do more than murmur under his breath about his sister. In all honesty, he wanted to sleep for a thousand years; the pain in his side was the only thing keeping him awake.

--

Ana felt a slight bit of relief. If he could help her, they might just make it after all. She reached for the stole-- it took her a few tries to reach it, but finally it was in her hand. It seemed like a strong knit, but she hoped it would hold. "Okay, I've got it!" she called up, already bracing herself for the climb. Her every limb ached, but if she made it out alive it would be more than worth it.

He was getting heavier and heavier as Kay walked; that could only mean he was thinking about passing out, and she gave him a mostly-gentle jostle. "Come on, stay awake--going to sleep here is not a good idea."

--

"Alright--hold on tight!" Mathias used his own weight to pull her upward; the stole was looped around his glaive so that he could allow himself to slide downwards--slowly--and carry her up, meaning less climbing effort on her part; she could save her strength for the last moment when Luca would help her back onto solid ground. When he met her midway, he grinned and held out a hand. "Can I have the hammer back? I'll use it to hold my weight once you let go of the stole, and I think I can make it back up on my own."

Edmund groaned and muttered something unintelligible, but the jostle did clear his head a bit and he managed to get his feet under him, which took some of the weight off of his helper. "S-sorry," he mumbled. "I am trying..."

--

"A-are you sure?" she asked, handing him the hammer. She was surprised at his carefree attitude-- he was still wearing that grin from before, the one that had charmed her instantly. He had seemed like such a happy-go-lucky, even careless (if well-meaning) soldier... but she had severely underestimated him. He was amazing.

"It's alright," Kay told him, relenting slightly; he was wounded, and it wasn't exactly fair to expect him to be upright and steady the entire way back. "Just keep trying."

--

"Sure I'm sure," he replied, taking the hammer; he slid down a little further, sliding her up more, until she was close enough to grab onto the glaive--which looked like it was still holding well, thank goodness. When she was in position, he drove the spike of the hammer into the ice, testing it for a moment to be sure it could bear his weight before calling up to her, "Alright! You can let go of the stole now--let Father Benedetti give you a hand the rest of the way up!"

Luca leaned perilously over the ice, holding a hand out as far as he could, not at all certain that he could be as much of a help as Mathias expected he would be able to.

"A-alright..." He nodded obediently; he could hardly even be worried for Analiese at this point. Every part of his body was screaming at him. He looked up blearily and squinted against the horizon. "Much further?"

--

Ana nodded and let go as he instructed, then looked up at the man at the top. He was small-ish and slender, and looked more than a little nervous, but he was offering her his hand dutifully all the same. She reached for it all the same and, hoping her rescuer would be alright, started climbing.

"No, not much further," she replied, nodding at the port, which was just becoming visible in the distance. "A few minutes' walk and we'll be there--and once we locate our healer, he can patch you up."

--

Luca put his entire weight behind pulling--not that that was saying much--and did his best to help the girl up. She came up faster than he had expected, though, and he tumbled backwards as she sprawled on the more solid ground. Whatever the case, he was just glad she'd made it.

Not too far behind the girl, Mathias was carefully working his way upwards, alternating between digging one boot into the ice just enough that he could pull the war-hammer out, and driving the hammer in a little higher up. He was within reach of the glaive after a few minutes, and grabbed on thankfully, hanging there for a moment before scrambling up and pulling himself up to the top.

From there it was just a step across to solid ground, and he yanked his glaive out of the ice and used it as a pole to vault across. One safe landing later, he dropped down next to the other two, grinning again. "Well, we're all alive--I'd say this is a job well done."

"Good." He could see the port now, the little bobbing ships and the flickering lights. The signs of civilization brought him back, mentally, and he sighed. Ana... She had to be there. His sister was his entire world-- more than the throne, more than this ridiculous war, more than his father's approval. If he'd lost her, he could never forgive himself. .Never. Not for the first time, he said a prayer for her safety and trudged on in the dark.

--

Ana couldn't stop herself: she threw her arms around the two of them, trembling with relief and gratitude. "Thank you, oh thank you," she said urgently. "You're wonderful-- really. I'll never forget this." She sat back on her heels, laying her hands on her knees to steady herself, and took a deep breath. Then she smiled at the soldier. "I didn't think you'd come back."

"Don't worry--I'll ask around about your friend. If she's anywhere at Lavenna's port, we'll find her," Kay assured him, and she meant it; no matter the chaos, she could find someone who would know if the girl had been seen.

--

"I couldn't just leave you there," Mathias told her with a chuckle, flopping back against the ice for a moment to hide his shaking; now that the adrenaline was wearing off a little, he could feel his hands trembling. It wasn't that he was afraid--it was more that now that she was safe, he had time to think of all the things that could have gone wrong with that plan.

Luca turned to the girl with a soft smile. "Are you hurt at all, Miss? I'll be glad to take care of any wounds or scrapes or such, if you have them."

For some reason, her promise calmed him. Had it been anyone else, he mightn't have believed them; but there was something about the woman's voice that made spoke of trustworthiness and competence. A bit of hope and small sliver of relief wormed their way into his heart. "...Thank you," he said after a moment, turning to look at her for what felt like the first time.

--

"Well, I'm a little tired and a bit banged up, but nothing that can't be cured with a hot bath and a week's worth of sleep," she replied, laughing a little in spite of herself. Now the the danger was over (or, at least, the immediate danger), things started to come back to her. This must be the healer friend that he had been talking about. Ana smiled. She could see why he might need protecting.

"Thank you, really. But I think we should get moving." The princess forced herself to stand, and she looked out across the ice. What had once been a solid continent of frozen water was now a jumble of floes, spikes, and unstable plateaus, all separated by churning ocean. She could see the port in the distance, to the one side; in the other direction there stretched nothing but the treacherous broken ice. A sinking feeling filled her chest. It might be a long time, she realized, before she would see Royaume again.

She gave him a half-smile and inclined her head just a tiny bit. "You're welcome. Now, come on--just a little bit more and we're there, and you can rest."

--

"We should," Mathias agreed, standing up and offering Luca a hand. "I don't know if Kay is likely to count us among the lost, but I think at this point she won't have much choice if we're not back soon. It's not too far to the port--we just need to be careful over the ice. You alright?" That was directed at the girl, who was looking almost sadly off towards Royaume's port, not visible at their distance.

Aaah.... rest. That sounded heavenly! His spirit renewed, if not his body, Edmund forced himself to trudge on. It really wasn't all that far, now that he looked at it...

--

"Mm?" She turned around, sighing a bit. "Oh... yes. I'm alright. Sorry." She bobbed a little in a curtsy before trudging off onto the ice. "Let's get going."

A few more minutes uninterrupted, and they reached the port; it looked untouched by the damaged ice, though Kay was not sure the ships would come out unharmed against the ice that had been broken into many smaller pieces. Still--it looked secure from the outside, and she could wait to hear Baines' report until after she'd helped the Royaume soldier find somewhere that he could rest safely.

--

"Ready, Father?" Mathias asked Luca; when he got a nod, he set off, picking out the safest path and letting Luca follow behind him across the broken ice. It made the going slow, but at least it meant that he could test the footing before the priest stepped out onto it.

"Edmund! Oh thank gods!" Sevastian rushed forward to meet them. He'd know that mask anywhere, and relief flooded through the captain at the sight of it, ridiculous as it might be on any other occasion. Right now, it was a sign from the gods.

Edmund looked up and sighed with relief. "Sevastian. Aah.... I never thought I would be happy to see your ugly face again." The captain's lip twitched, although whether it was to smile or frown the prince couldn't tell. He chuckled, more to himself than anyone else, and shook his head. "Aah... sorry, old friend. I'm afraid I'm a bit out of sorts at the moment..."

--

"Hello there!" Ana stopped and looked around; that voice was oddly familiar. Then she looked across the ice and saw two figures coming toward them. She could recognize Cephas Kardos, the master magician, even at this distance, but it was the other figure who drew her attention; it was the soldier from the fire.

Cephas waved again. "I say, hello! Do you need some help, there?" It was then that she realized they were walking not on the ice but over it, as if they were hovering across the sea, both water and ice. She waved back.

"Cephas, oh Cephas, over here!" she called excitedly. If anyone could get them out of this mess, it was the wizard.

Not entirely sure whether to be relieved or annoyed at the other captain's appearance, Kay helped the young soldier find a place to sit. "Sevastian--I'll find Baines in a moment, but what's your assessment of the damage so far?"

--

"Who is that?" Mathias asked, leading Luca to a more solid patch next to the girl as she waved to the newcomers; they had to be from Royaume, but maybe the mage could give them a hand getting to the port safely. At this point, any sort of help at all would be greatly appreciated.

"What?" It took him a moment to collect himself, but he shook his head. "Oh, yes. Well, it's certainly not very good. Lavenna and Royaume have lost at least half of our troops, not to mention all of the supplies and resources we had gathered here. I doubt our camp on the other side is much better." He glared over Edmund's head at the broken landscape. "This... this was deliberate. It had to be."

"Sevastian..." Edmund's voice was little more than a whisper now. He'd been promised a rest, and whether he wanted to or not his body was demanding it. He could feel his consciousness waning again. "Sev.... Ana. Where is Ana?"

The captain hesitated. His heart ached, but it had to be said. "I... I have not seen her, my lord," he said softly. "We have been looking everywhere, but there is no sign of her. ...I doubt she made it back."

That was it; that last disparaging thought took him over, and he barely had time to sob before he passed out from the strain.

--

"That's Master Kardos-- the most powerful wizard in Royaume," she explained, as if it were obvious. "At least I think so. If anyone can help..." It was then that Cephas and his companion joined them. He opened his mouth to speak, but it was Gabriel who broke the silence first.

"I'm glad to see you safe," he told the princess, and she nodded to Mathias and the priest.

"It's all thanks to these two, really," she said. His eyebrows shot up behind his mask. Those two had saved the princess?

"It must have been deliberate--I don't see how it could be otherwise," Kay agreed, more for herself than for Sevastian's sake. "Though we've both taken heavy losses; that makes it more difficult to determine who was at fault. A third party, perhaps. Do you know if any of your men were able to make it back to Royaume's port, or did everyone evacuate here?"

She couldn't help but feel bad for the young man, as it seemed that was all that had kept him going, but she didn't have the time to stop and help him any further. "What does she look like? she asked Sevastian after a moment, beckoning for him to follow her; she could at least put a couple men on the lookout for the girl, if she did manage to show up sooner or later.

--

Oh--it was the irritable soldier from before.

Well, not that Mathias minded much; they were all in the same boat, now, and there was not much point in being divided over trivial things. "We couldn't have done otherwise," he reminded the girl with a grin. "And it seems the ice has calmed down a little--at least we aren't being threatened by ice spears so much any more."

Sevastian took the limp prince in his arms, feeling his own heart breaking not just for him but for the loss of the princess. Still, he had to go on. Princess or no, there were things to be done. "Small, slender... a slip of a girl, really; red hair, like his. You'd know her if you saw her." His throat clammed up for a moment, but he forced himself to speak. "Please excuse me, Captain; I've got to take care of my prince." With that, he turned on his heel and headed further into the port, leaving Kay to handle things from here. Edmund was his responsibility, and he was not going to lose both of them in one night.

--

"No," Cephas agreed with a nod, "it seems less angry now. Still, we've got to be careful. Everyone is uninjured, I take it?" When Ana assured him they were, he smiled. "Good. If you'll follow me, please..." With that, the wizard started across the ice, and Gabe followed without a word. It wasn't until they started across the waters that Ana hesitated; but, looking down, she could barely see the frosty shimmer of Cephas's magic, like a shining glass walkway over the terrain. After that she followed with confidence.

She did, however, stop looking down.

"You do that," Kay replied, barely a murmur. She had never seen Sevastian in such a state, and it seemed better to let him do what he had to rather than try to make him help with the organization of the remaining forces. Meanwhile, she sought out Baines, instructing him that anyone who recognized the princess of Royaume was to report back to her immediately; the best she could do at the moment was get things into order.

--

Mathias stepped fearlessly out after the mage, and Luca followed after a moment, somewhat less fearless. It was hard to walk on something you could barely see; at least it was not slippery, the priest reasoned silently, unlike the ice around them.

Not for the first time, he wished he was capable of more than just healing. Something like this sort of spell--obviously as easy as breathing to the mage from Royaume--was as beyond his reach as the moon.

Ana gazed out across the landscape, wondering at the relative stillness. If she had closed her eyes for a moment, the world would have seemed unchanged. It was hard to believe that so much destruction had happened here, not a few moments before. Every now and then the earth trembled, or two floes crashed together with a great crack (making her jump more often than not), but nothing like it had been. She reasoned it would be altogether silent in a little while.

She turned to look over her shoulder again, toward Royaume, and her heart sank again at the sight of the broken ice. Perhaps, with the help of Cephas and his regiment, they might make it across. It was hard to imagine getting back otherwise; an army could not cross those floes, not without some supernatural help, and it would be only slightly less difficult for a small group. She desperately wanted to be home, but after today, even the impulsive princess of Royaume wouldn't dare try to cross alone.

The girl caught her rescuer looking at her, then, and she smiled back at him. "Thank you, again," she said. "I can't possibly thank you enough. I wish that I was home, so I might be able to reward you, somehow..."

"I don't need a reward," Mathias told her cheerily. "In fact, it would be ridiculous for me to demand something like that--it would be like saying I wouldn't have saved you if I didn't think there was something in store for me for doing it, you know?"

Then, after a moment's thought, he paused, waved a hand as if to take back that statement. "Actually, there is something I'd like. It's technically against the rules, so I understand if you don't want to and I'm perfectly fine with that--but I doubt at this point that Kay's going to have my hide for getting too familiar with someone from Royaume, so... could you tell me your name, at least?"

Cephas looked back at them and caught Ana's eye, then shrugged and gave her a smile. His eyes were twinkling mischievously, and that seemed to be all she needed. Without further encouragement, the girl laughed and pulled off her mask. "My name is Analiese," she said almost gleefully, "and it is a pleasure to meet you."

Mathias did the same, and tucked the mask away in his bag with one hand as he held out the other for her to shake. "The pleasure is all mine; my name is Mathias, and this is Father Luca, my friend. It's nice to really meet you, Analiese--that's a very pretty name, by the way."

She shook it firmly, pleased with his praise and finally being formally introduced. There was something familiar about him that she couldn't quite place, but she attributed that to his friendly nature. "Mathias... Well, I'll remember that, for sure. And thank you-- again." She added that last with a laugh. "You too, Father--- it's nice to meet you. Someday I'll repay you. I owe you both my life."

Cephas whistled. "Do you, now?" he asked with a chuckle. "Well, that is something."

"I doubt the king will very much like it when we tell him they're Lavennic," Gabe said sensibly. Ana frowned slightly.

"Well... that is true..."

"What's the king got to do with anything?" Mathias asked, brushing hair out of his face with a quick swipe of his hand. "I mean, I understand the dislike for people from Lavenna, but I'm not sure why he has to know at all."

The three from Royaume hesitated, looking at each other and exchanging words without ever opening their mouths. Finally they reached an agreement; after all, they'd know sooner or later. It wasn't exactly a tremendous secret. Ana smiled a little and ran a hand through her short hair. "Well, you see," she said slowly, "he is my father."

"Your father," Mathias repeated slowly. "Which would make you the princess."

Really, it made sense. The fact that the most powerful wizard in Royaume would come looking for her specifically--would be glad for her safety--should have tipped him off from the start.

But still.

The princess.

And he'd been talking to her like she was just another soldier.

"Er, yes," she replied, laughing uneasily. "That would be correct." Ana hoped she hadn't ruined things, now. It was clear he was a little unsettled, and that made her worry a little. Maybe she should have kept her mouth shut.

Of course, he had asked.

"Well," he said, still feeling a bit disoriented but making an attempt at a grin, "I suppose that means I chould call you Princess? Or is that not the proper address? I've no idea--I've never really been in the presence of royalty before, they don't generally let low-ranked bumbling soldiers like me sit in on the war meetings, so, you know..."

That made her laugh. It was clear he was nervous (and that meant she actually shouldn't be laughing), but he made her feel much better in some confounded way she couldn't really explain. Holding up a hand, the princess shook her head. "Ana is fine," she told him. "In fact, I insist. It's bad enough I hear it from everyone else; much more so from my friends."

He really did smile, then, feeling a little better about himself; really, when he thought about it, nothing had changed from before when he hadn't known who she was. There was no reason to be overly concerned. Probably. "Alright then--Ana it is. I'll try not to, you know, step on your toes or anything."

"You saved my life, Mathias," she said sincerely. "You can step on my toes all you like."

"Well, now that that is taken care of," Cephas said, clearing his throat. He grinned at them. "Shall we continue, Princess?" Ana blushed slightly.

"Of course. My apologies, Master Kardos. You're right-- let's continue." The irritable soldier snorted, and she shot him a look. "I'm still not sure who you are, sir," she added hotly. He opened his mouth to speak, but it was Cephas who answered.

"Who, him? This is Gabriel-- my little brother."

"Thank you, Cephas," Gabe replied patiently, "I'm perfectly capable of introducing myself."

"Well, you hadn't so far," replied the wizard, his eyes twinkling again, "so I thought you might need a little help."

"He seems more like the sort who prefers to keep his name secret to all but his closest friends," Mathias offered with a half-laugh. "You know. You can only really get to know him when you're close enough to know his real name."

"Or it's relatively unimportant," said Gabe, shrugging. He really wasn't bothered either way, but Cephas had a way of turning the simplest things into a brawl. He could get under the skin and knew exactly the right buttons to push.

"Come now, take credit where it's due, brother," said the wizard. "If it hadn't been for you, I'd not have known the princess and her companions were still wandering about out here. Oh-- look out there." He stopped and held the group back as an icicle jutted out of the ground just ahead of him. Calmly, he rerouted his spell and started around the structure. "As I was saying..."

Ana tuned out the brothers and turned to Mathias and the priest. Father Luca had hardly said anything the whole time. "Are you alright, Father? You are awfully quiet."

"I-I'm sorry," Luca replied, flushing red beneath the mask he'd forgotten to remove. "I don't really have much to say, so I... don't really say much, forgive me. I am fine, though--a bit cold, but that's only to be expected."

"Oh, no, I'm sorry," she said, bowing her head slightly. "I didn't mean to put you on the spot. I just feel like we are doing all the talking and you are on the outside looking in, so to speak." She smiled at the young priest, about to say more when Gabriel cut in.

"There's the port," he said, and even he sounded both excited and relieved. "We're almost there."

Ana sighed. "I'm sure Edmund is worried sick..."

"If there's someone you need to find, we can look for Kay," Mathias offered helpfully. "She probably knows were everyone is--everyone who's reported in, anyways. We'll need to find her nevertheless, to let her know that Father Luca and I weren't drowned out there, so if you want us to find her for you..."

"Kay is your captain, yes?" asked Cephas. "That may be a good idea. I need to report to Sevastian, and it's highly likely that the two of them will be together-- or at least know where the other is."

"And Sevastian will probably know where Edmund is," Ana said happily. "I never thought I'd miss him, but..."

"Alright then, let's look for them," Mathias said, and as they entered the port he began looking for the distinct glimmer of silver armor that set Kay apart from the rest of the world. It wasn't that she was the only one who wore armor--she was simply the only one who wore it religiously, and it was difficult to mistake her for anyone else, even at a distance.

"What... are we looking for?" Ana prompted, feeling a little silly. Yet no sooner had she said it that Cephas was off again. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Royaume's troops seem to be gathering over there," he said, pointing off to the side. "If the captain is hanging around, that's where he'll be." Gabriel nodded in approval and set off after his brother. Ana hesitated, torn. She turned to Mathias and Luca, looking uncomfortable.

"Um... I.... I suppose I'll.... um..." She wanted to say they'd see each other again later, but there was no guarantee of that. In fact, it was far more likely that they would never cross paths again. Yet she didn't want to say good bye.

"It... was nice meeting you, Analiese," Mathias said, at as much of a loss for words as she was; he knew only too well that they might never meet again, once the soldiers of Lavenna and Royaume had parted ways. "Maybe, uh... maybe Father Luca and I could help you find your captain first? And... whoever it was you were looking for?"

He added it almost too hopefully, but with any luck she wouldn't laugh at him; she seemed a little reluctant, too.

"My brother," she finished, cracking a smile. She couldn't help it; he seemed as reluctant to part ways as she felt. "If you don't mind, we'd be glad of the help. Of course," the princess added quickly, "I don't want you to get into trouble on our account. You've already helped so much..."

"It's no trouble at all," he replied, grinning despite himself. "We can report to Kay later--she'll probably just shout our ears off for being late at this point, so what's a little bit longer?"

"Princess?" Gabriel had stopped and was looking back at her expectantly. He still hadn't pulled off his mask, but she could tell he was impatient. She waved back at him.

"I'm coming," she said. "Or... rather, we are. Thanks, Mathias."

"Not a problem. C'mon, Father, let's go have a look!" Mathias urged the young priest, pulling him along as they tagged behind Gabriel. This was not a permanent solution to the problem--at most it would buy them a few more hours--but it was something.

They reached the other side quickly, even over what was left of the remaining ice. The Royaume camp was in a flurry of activity, but Sevastian was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Cephas was already talking with one of the minor commanders. For once, he looked perturbed.

"Princess!" he said, turning to Ana as she approached. "We thought you were--"

"It seems," Cephas interrupted calmly, "that the captain is with the prince your brother."

"He is?" Ana asked hopefully. "Then what--"

"It seems Prince Edmund was injured," he explained with a frown. "Sevastian is with him now, but he pushed himself far beyond what he should have..." Ana's heart sank.

"Then we have to go see him!" she exclaimed.

"I-I can help, if he was injured," Luca volunteered softly, putting one hand up just enough to try and catch Ana's attention before she dashed away. "If he still needs it, that is... I don't really know how Royaume treats injuries, so..."

"Oh, that's right!" she exclaimed. "You're a healer-- I'd forgotten!"

"From what I hear," Cephas said gravely, "the prince may very well need your expertise, Father."

Well, come on then," Ana said, taking the priest's arm, "we don't have any time to waste!" Cephas nodded.

"Right... this way. Come with me, please." He led them to one of the ships at the far end of the line, up the gangplank and (after nodding to the soldiers on guard) slipped into the captain's quarters. There they found Sevastian, looking worried, two equally worried-looking physicians, and the prince, who was still very much unconscious and looking the worse for wear. His skin was paler than usual, and dark bruises had broken out on what skin they could see from under the blankets. It appeared he was shirtless, but other than that, it was hard to tell.

Ana, of course, rushed to his side without any further thought. "Edmund!" she cried, taking his limp hand. "Oh Ed! How could this happen?"

"What did happen?" Luca asked as he squeezed in on the prince's other side to do his own examination; the question was addressed mostly to Sevastian, who he hoped might have more of an idea. He could heal without knowing the source of the wound, but it was always easier to know what to be on the lookout for; if he needed to remove pieces of a broken weapon from the wound before healing it up, then it was always best to know that before jumping into the work.

Mathias had to try not to laugh; the only time Luca really seemed to make himself heard was when there was healing to be done. At the moment, all he could do was stand back and let the priest work.

Sevastian, caught off guard at the sudden rush, was too shocked to do more than answer the question. "As far as we know, one of those strange icicles hit his side. He wandered around for a bit before being brought here; then he fainted." Then, as the situation sunk in a bit, he shook his head.

"Ana," he exclaimed suddenly, "you're alive. That is-- I cannot believe-- who are all these people?"

The princess smiled; it was rare to see the captain so flustered. "Friends, Sevastian."

Well, icicles were easier--nothing to clean up after. Luca pulled the blankets down to expose the wound, then held a hand out over the prince. Brilliant light engulfed first his hand, then the other man; it spread to cover the wound and the surrounding area, liquid sunshine pouring into the gash and mending muscle and skin as it went.

The difference was noticeable immediately. Edmund's coloring improved, and the bruises melted away as the light faded to the priest's hand alone; Luca began the more localized healing, searching for smaller details he might have missed.

Finally, he pulled back, the light dying away completely and leaving the room seeming dark in comparison. "Bring him some water, please," he urged the two physicians of Royaume, pulling the blankets back up to keep the prince warm. "Or tea, if you have it."

The two of them scuttled off with quick bows and wide eyes. Even Sevastian and Ana seemed impressed. "Th-thank you, Luca," said the princess, looking at him with new admiration. He may not be much of a fighter, but he was one heck of a healer. "Will he be alright now?"

"He should be," Luca replied, resting a hand on the prince's forehead to check his temperature. "He'll need plenty of rest, still, and lots of liquids because I can't replenish lost blood, but a few days and he'll be fine."

Before anyone could stop her, Ana threw her arms around him in a big hug. "Princess!" Sevastian exclaimed, but she didn't care how impulsive she was being.

"Thank you, Father," she said happily. "Thank you."

"Y-you're welcome," Luca stammered, flushing crimson as she hugged him. "It wasn't anything, really--just what little I can offer."

Sevastian cleared his throat, and Ana mentally sighed and let him go. "Regardless," said the captain, turning to the embarrassed priest, "you did save the prince's life. You have our thanks." Ana nodded.

"That's twice you've helped us," she said with a smile. "Sevastian, this is Father Luca and Mathias. They saved my life out on the ice."

"Nice to meet you," Mathias said, sticking a hand out in Sevastian's direction. Part of him wondered what kind of man he was, if he was the fellow Ana had been hiding from earlier, but she didn't seem uncomfortable now and that was what was more important. "I'm Mathias Lapointe."

"Well met, sir," answered the other man, taking his hand and shaking it firmly. "Sevastian Montague, Captain of Royaume's forces. He offered them a rare genuine smile, though he was reluctant to do so, and nodded. "It seems we are indebted to you. Both of you."

Ana smiled at them. "Yes... but I suppose we can talk about it later. Right now, we should get you to your own people. I'm sure your captain will be happy to see you're alive." At that, and much to her surprise, Sevastian snorted. When she looked at him in confusion, he only shook his head and stood.

"I'll see to it," he told her. "You should stay here and get some rest, Princess."

"Absolutely not," she told him sternly, her hands on her hips. "I'm seeing this through-- I owe them that much. I can rest later."

"But the prince--"

"Edmund doesn't need me; he needs to sleep," said Ana, and her anger softened for a moment as she looked down at him. She brushed his hair back with a sigh. "He'll be alright if I'm gone for a few more minutes."

"You don't owe us anything," Mathias reminded her with a half-smile. "We did what any normal person would do in the same situation. Not," he added after a moment, having given it more thought, "that many people would normally be caught up in this sort of situation in the first place--the whole ice-fields-breaking thing was sort of completely unforseen, you know..."

He fell sheepishly silent, hands dropping to his sides as he ran out of anything more to say.

Ana smiled; not as widely as she wanted to, as she had to maintain a certain level of dignity, but enough to show that she was pleased. In reality, she wanted to laugh. He was terribly funny, even-- especially-- when he wasn't trying to be. "Regardless, I would like to come along."

Sevastian sighed. "Of course, Your Highness." He bowed obligingly and waved at her, ushering the party to the door. "Well, let's go. No sense wasting time."

There wasn't the time to waste, whether Sevastian really wanted to or not.

The moment they stepped back out into the cold air--a large gust of which hit them, quite unmercifully, before they had taken even two steps apiece--the glint and glimmer of Kay's armor could be seen from not too far off.

The oddest thing about it was that she was running.

That wasn't something Kay did, not when she didn't have to; she maintained that the cold and extra effort sapped a soldier's energy much more quickly so there wasn't much point in running about unless there was real danger or they were under attack or... well, there weren't many more reasons for it.

So it was quite understandable that Mathias snapped to attention, took a healthy step back, and shielded the already-shivering Luca as best he could; with Kay running like that, it probably meant monsters had begun leaping from the cracks in the ice, or something equally ridiculous (and yet at this point after the chaos of the night, completely believable).

It was a little less expected that she would skid to a stop, blink surprisedly, and then offer the captain of Royaume's forces a polite nod.

"I was going to tell you that my lookouts noticed your princess arriving, but it seems you've received the news already," she informed him, slightly out of breath, then turned to Ana. "Welcome to the Lavennic port, miss. Are you unharmed? How fares the prince?"

Ana nodded back, dipping slightly in a quick curtsy. She slipped easily into her "princess mode," her posture, tone, and facial expressions practiced and proper. "You must be Kay," she said politely. "Thank you for your assistance tonight; Royaume's losses would have been far greater without your help. The prince is... recovering," she continued, allowing herself a brief glance at Luca. "Fortunately, I am faring much better than my brother; and I have your countrymen here to thank for that."

"My countrymen--Lapointe? You didn't get impaled out there?" Kay asked, finally noticing the blonde man. It was more of a rhetorical question; she didn't sound particularly surprised to see him, though her lift in spirits--however minor--was obvious as her eyes widened. "Please tell me you kept Father Luca safe."

Mathias' only answer was to step out of the way, revealing the shivering priest--whose first reaction was to make a rather strangled cold noise and attempt to duck back into the small relief from the wind that Mathias had offered.

"Perhaps we should go inside," Ana suggested, trying not to smile. "These two deserve a rest after all they've done tonight." Sevastian cleared his throat.

"Yes; I second that suggestion. We should get out of the elements and discuss our next move. This is... unprecedented, and needs careful consideration."

"Of course. Is the prince well enough to sit in on the meeting, as well, or should we move elsewhere?" Kay asked, her gaze flicking from Sevastian to the ship behind them.

"He should not be bothered for the next few hours," Luca replied matter-of-factly, his shiver gone for but a moment. "Right now he needs rest more than anything else in the world. I doubt he would be able to remain awake for whatever needs to be discussed."

Ana nodded. "It will be alright with just the two of us," she said, gesturing to herself and Sevastian. The girl allowed herself an amused smile. "Prince Edmund doesn't have much of a choice."

"Shall we talk on your ship, then?" asked the captain.

Kay beckoned for them to follow her, and led them to the captain's room on a different ship; her quarters were sparsely decorated, much the way that anyone would have come to expect had they known her for more than five minutes.

"Are there others injured?" Luca asked her as they settled into the little room, fairly sure of the answer.

"A good number on both sides. Once you are recovered enough, I must ask you to tend to them," she replied with a nod, handing him her canteen, which he accepted with a grateful murmur. "Princess, Captain, please have a seat."

Ana nodded and took the chair that Sevastian pulled out for her; he then took a seat next to her. "Thank you," she said. "Now, we need to come up with a plan of action. I think it is obvious that neither side was involved in this. However, we cannot reach our homeland for assistance; at least, not as long as the situation remains the way it is. We are, for all intents and purposes..." The princess took a deep breath. "Stuck here."

"We are prepared to offer any help we can," Kay replied with a slight nod. "It may not be much, at this point; we have neither the resources nor the space to properly plot a course to Royaume with so many aboard. However, we can offer you safe haven in Lavenna for as long as necessary, and if any of your mages remain, perhaps they can make contact with your capital better than we will be able to."

"So far," said Sevastian, "Cephas is the only one who has checked in. However, once we take stock of our remaining resources we should pursue that course of action."

Ana nodded. "Thank you for your assistance, Captain," she told Kay, looking genuinenly grateful. "But are you sure it won't be a problem to take in so many-- especially from our side?"

Kay leaned an elbow on the table, resting her chin in a still-armored hand. "It is a temporary solution at best, but we can at least support you until you get your bearings again. Sevastian, do you have a final tally of how many survivors there are out of Royaume?"

"Even counting the princess," he said, looking decidedly unhappy, "we've only managed to recover a fraction of our forces. A third at best."

This was news to Ana. She gasped and covered her mouth quickly-- a princess was not supposed to show surprise-- but even as the rules played over in her head, the sorrow that threatened to overwhelm her pushed them aside. The girl looked at Sevastian in despair.

"That's... that's all?" she asked in a small voice. "That's all that is left...?"

Sevastian grimaced; he hated seeing her upset. "I'm afraid so, Princess."

"We are not much better off," added Kay, opening her records book to a page with a handful of hastily-scribbled numbers and turning it so that Sevastian and Ana could see. "We have not reached a complete head count yet, but Baines estimates that no more than half of Lavenna's forces survived the disaster. I believe, at this point, that we should not waste time in sailing for Lilla--it would be absurd for Lavenna to refuse you aid because of some petty grievance that no one remembers any more."

"A-agreed," replied Ana, pushing down the rising urge to throw up. A third of the army-- two thirds gone! It was unspeakable-- there had not been any real violence in Royaume since.... well, not since anyone could remember, anyway. Yet she had a duty to the living as much as the dead, and right now the living were the ones who needed her.

"It is not as if we have much choice, in any case," Sevastian reminded them. "We cannot go home, at least not yet; and we cannot stay here."

"Then to Lilla it is. We shall set sail at once."

"I will give the order, then." She stood, then, beckoning for Mathias and Luca. "Father Luca, if you will come with me, I will show you to the wounded; Lapointe, would you help the princess and Captain Sevastian with anything they might need?"

"Of course," Mathias agreed, and no sooner had the words left his mouth then Kay swept out of the room with Luca in tow. It felt odd, not guarding the young priest, but if he was with Kay he'd be safe.

Ana sighed and slumped in her chair the moment she was gone. "Good gods, what a mess this is," she murmured, running a hand through her hair. Sevastian rested a hand on her shoulder tenderly.

"All the more reason for our princess to put on a brave face, hm?" He smiled at her, and she managed to return it.

"Yes... You're right." I can't afford to be weak, she reminded herself; especially not with Edmund injured. She was all they had left-- well, and Sevastian, but their captain could only do so much. He wasn't royalty. "We must see to our troops; get them ready to move."

"Yes, Your Majesty, at once," the captain said with a nod. He stepped toward the door and opened it, holding it open for her as she followed him out. She turned around and gave Matthias an inquiring look.

"Matthias, you're with us?"

Mathias nodded and bounded out to join them. "Of course. Where do you need to go? I can take you pretty much anywhere."

"Just back to our ship, or wherever our troops are stationed at the moment," she answered him. Then she chuckled. "Well, it's not really our ship, though; it's your ship. We're just borrowing it, in a way. For the moment."

That made him laugh. "Alright. Let me find someone in charge and get a roster, that way we don't have to wander around looking for the right ship."

He motioned for them to stay put, then darted off into the crowd, looking for Baines. Kay had mentioned him; he had to be alive.

Ana waved as he watched him go. She was glad Kay had assigned him to their aid; he was helpful, and kind, and she didn't want to see him go just yet.

"Did that young man really save your life?" Surprised, she turned to Sevastian; he was watching Matthias disappear into the throng of soldiers with a contemplative look on his face. The princess nodded.

"He and Father Luca, yes," she answered. "I nearly fell into the ice, and would have without their help. Why?"

The captain shook his head. "Ah, nothing. He's very...." Sev pondered for a moment. "Happy."

At that, she chuckled. "Yes. Yes he is."

Mathias found the second-in-command without too much trouble (if only because he was rather in the middle of everything) and collected what information he could; the soldiers from Royaume were aboard two of the larger ships, and Kay was in the middle of getting everything prepared so that they could set sail quickly. That left them rather little time, so he rejoined Ana and Sevastian as soon as he could.

"I'm back," he announced unnecessarily, somewhat out of breath. "If you'll follow me, I can take you to where your soldiers are quartered for the moment. There may be some shuffling about to find everyone a place, but it shouldn't be too bad."

"And Edmund?" she asked, falling into step beside him. "I don't think he should be moved at the moment, but I feel we should not leave him alone. Is it possible to have some of our men stand guard with him?" Really, she wanted to be there herself, but she and Sevastian had to manage what was left of their country's forces. Her brother would be upset with her if she neglected her duties to coddle him; no matter that he had almost died.

"Of course! Just let Baines know so he can switch the roster around and keep everything straight," Mathias replied, pointing at the man as they passed. "He's keeping the records, so if you ever need anything, talk to him. Or Kay. But probably him."

--

Sevastian nodded. "Right. I'll select a few men to be the prince's guard and send them over straight away."

"Thank you, Sevastian," Ana said, giving him a genuine smile for once. He nodded.

"Certainly, Princess."