Prologue: The Fall of Renais



    My name is Eirika, Princess of Renais, daughter of Fado and twin sister of Ephraim, the crown prince. I have turquoise hair and matching eyes, which, eyes being eyes, seem to have a higher content of blue. At least, that's what my maidservant tells me. I wear long red boots, a short white dress, a red tunic over that, a short white cloak, and red gloves, and in troubled times like today, yellow armour. On the breastplate is embossed the royal crest of Renais. On my left hand I wear my most precious possession: a bracelet that my father gave to me.

    My father's kingdom was under attack from our good friends of Grado. This bizarre atrocity had been continuing for less than a week, but our provinces fell swiftly and our very castle was, at the moment, beseiged. To compound my worries, my dear brother was missing. He'd gone off to fight Grado as soon as the first word came...

    I raced down the stairs from my chambers and into the throne room.

    My father was giving instructions to General Seth, the youngest of our paladins at age 22, five years older than I. His mare, Altha, pawed the tiles nervously. Something bad was happening; horses were allowed in the throne room, but only in the most dire of need.

    "You must see her safely to Frelia," my father commanded, and I knew instantly he was speaking of me. Frelia was another neighbouring kingdom.

    "Yes, Sire," Seth answered, bowing his head. Then, he glanced up and looked at me.

    I gave the Commander of Renais a small smile in greeting and went to my father. "Father..."

    "Eirika," said my father. "Are you wearing the bracelet I gave you?" I wondered at so trivial a question in such a troubled time, but the tone of his voice was not trivial.

    "Yes, I have it right here," I answered, showing it to him.

    "Good."

    "What of your Majesty?" asked Seth, mounting Altha.

    "Me? I shall remain here. We have long held Grado among our dearest allies, yet now they attack? I must know why." My father looked far older than his forty-two years as he spoke. "Am I somehow responsible for this? Have I erred in my leadership? Renais is mine to guide... how could I have failed her so?" This was his worst fear, and to him, it looked to be coming true.

    I grasped his hand, tears starting to form in my eyes. "Father, you can't stay! You mustn't!" I cried desperately. "If you remain behind, then so shall I!"

    "Sire!" cried a soldier. "We laid down our arms as you commanded. The enemy is heading this way." Suddenly I heard the distant screams of men in pain, the clash of weapons and armour, the crash of catapults, and other noises of war. I felt my face turn white and gasped, looking in the direction of the sounds with wide eyes. I began to tremble, but then tried to regain control of myself.

    "Go now, Seth! Ride! Take her to safety! Go, Eirika! Remember me!" my father cried.

    "Father!" I hugged him tightly. He did the same, and we kissed each other on the cheek. He put me gently away from him, though I tried to cling to him, and Seth raised me to the saddle with his strong arm, almost tearing me away, and his mare was riding swiftly and surely down the stairs. Franz, another young knight who was apparently to accompany me, followed.

    "Father!!" I cried again as we rounded a corner and lost sight of him. Enemy soldiers surged through the gate, but Altha was almost in a full gallop and plowed through them like lightening along metal. Arrows flew past us, and one bounced off my shoulderpad at an oblique angle; Seth's arm was a fraction of a second too slow to shield me. He had forgotten to put on his helmet, and someone tore it from the saddle. He pushed my head down and I clung to him, curled up so my head was pressed into his stomach. The noises of battle were all around us, and more horrifying than before. I couldn't see, now, at least. Altha charged through the main gate of the city, through which enemy soldiers were pouring like the tide, and we were gone.



    Seth rode until we were around the nearest hill to the castle. There were no Grado soldiers around. I watched the proud towers of my home disappear behind the curve of the hill. I sniffed and wiped my eyes on the back of my hand. I tossed my head a bit to recover myself, but accidentally flicked my hair in Seth's face.

    "I'm sorry," I offered instantly.

    He looked at me, a hint of confusion on his face. "Why do you apologize, Princess Eirika?"

    I blushed a bit. "I... for distracting you."

    He looked down for a moment. "There is no need for apology." He drew Altha to a halt and let me slip to the ground. "Franz, ride ahead and contact King Hayden of Frelia. A single rider has better odds of getting through Grado's lines unnoticed. Convey to the throne all that has happened and petition for reinforcements."

    "U-understood!" stammered the golden haired cavelier with big grey eyes, and rode away to the north.

    "Princess Eirika, we must-" Seth began, when he caught sight of something behind me, apparently. "Behind me!" Before I could so much as turn around, he wheeled around and moved to protect me from the very deadly danger that had ambushed us.

    Three wyverns swooped in and landed heavily. One, lilac coloured, moved forward to challenge Seth. Terrified, I watched as the Wyvern Master swished his lance intimidatingly through the air: clearly, he knew how to use it. I knew a good lance user from a new recruit because my brother was a fierce lance warrior.

    "You there, with the girl. Tell me, would that be the wayward Princess of Renais?" cackled the Wyvern Master. I straightened my spine, raised my chin, and gave him a glare of defiance, hiding my fear as best I could. "Well, you're a dead man. The princess goes with me."

    "Never!" shouted Seth, his sword at the ready. I wondered why he had drawn his sword instead of his lance. He would be overpowered... and there were two more wyverns...

    "I am Valter, the Moonstone, Grado's finest general! And you're just a corpse who doesn't know that he's dead," bragged the Wyvern Master, moving into striking range of Seth. I watched my faithful paladin charge, clutching my hands to my heart to stifle the scream I felt rising within me.

    Seth missed by a hair's breadth. Valter struck back, stabbing his lance deep into Seth's right side just below the armour.

    Seth gasped and reeled in his saddle. "No!" he cried, whirling Altha around, sheathing his sword, lifting me back to my seat in front of him, and riding off hard, all in a handful of fluid, though pained motions. He cried out again as he lifted me. I heard the Wyvern Master laughing behind us.

    As we rode through a rural region of burned farms and torched villages towards the mountain pass, I watched the sky behind us carefully over Seth's left shoulder. "They're not following us," I said quietly after a moment. His wound still bled freely, blood running down his side onto his leg. A thin rivulet of his blood touched my boot, dying the red leather even more crimson.

    Seth slowed down. He glanced over his shoulder also, and bit back an exclamation of pain. Altha came to a stop. We were in a deep valley heading down towards a river with a wide bridge. My general let me slide to the ground, and then dismounted himself, carefully and wearily.

    "I think," he said, passing me my waterbottle and taking a deep drink from his own, "that we have earned ourselves a rest." I sipped from my bottle and hung it from my belt; where it ought to be, not clattering at Seth's saddle. The paladin sat down with his back against a sun-warmed rock and sighed.

    "Princess Eirika, please forgive my grabbing you so..." he fumbled for a word, "... brusquely, earlier."

    Now it was my turn to give him a confused look. "No, Seth, you are the reason I'm still alive. Without you, I would never have made it out of the castle." I bowed my head to him, although I knew he would be embarrassed. "You have my gratitude."

    I knelt beside him. "And whoever that man was, he was clearly after me," I almost whispered. "It's my fault you were wounded, and so terribly. If you will allow me to treat it -" I  reached out, but he intercepted my hands and put them away from himself.

    "Your Highness, I can't allow an injury like this to be an obstacle." Anyone else speaking those words would have sounded pompous, but with Seth, it was simply a statement of fact. "I will be fine, Princess. Do not trouble yourself about me." He gave me a small, rare smile to reassure me.

    "But-" I began.

    "It is minor compared to the importance of your own safety." In response to this I sat back on my heels and gave him a skeptical look with my hands on my hips.

    "Are you sure?" I asked, referring to the healing.

    He nodded. "We must press on to Frelia. We must fulfill His Majesty's wishes," he murmured, more to himself than to me. He stood, accepting my hand for help, and walked to Altha, then glanced at me. "You don't have your sword, do you?"

    I blushed and looked down. "No. I did not expect to be evacuated that moment." I was heartily embarrassed at my lack of preparation.

    Seth actually gave me a small grin and passed me my rapier. "I noted it was not at your side and sent someone to fetch it."

    "Oh, Seth, you're so wonderful!" I exclaimed, smiling brightly at him.

    A hint of pink touched the paladin's cheeks. "I though you would have need, since your swordplay is very good and always improving. I have watched you," he continued, glancing down as if asking forgiveness for that. "You are very graceful."

    "Thank you, Seth," I replied, grateful for his compliments. My brother had taught me how to fight, although he said: "Brothers are supposed to protect sisters," to which I replied "Sisters are supposed to worry about brothers." He taught me at my own insistance so that I might be with him and help him in battle, however unlikely either of us would ever be in a battle.

    I controlled a shiver. That possibility seemed more of a probability now.

    And it was soon going to be reality.

    Seth glanced behind us, looked ahead, and looked behind again more closely. I followed his gaze and saw three unkempt, ragged men - beggars is the word I'd rather use, but these men would never beg, except for their lives - jog from behind a hill. One of them saw us and yelled something about Princess of Renais to his fellows.

    Seth and I drew our swords. Two of the rascals charged us. I dodged the downwards sweep of an axe and stabbed my enemy to the heart. My own was pounding.

    "Are you all right, Lady Eirika?" Seth asked almost instantly. His own brigand lay decapitated.

    "Yes, I'm fine, Seth. He was slow and I dodged in time."

    Seth saluted with his sword and cantered off to face the last bandit. I ran to keep up.

    The bandit ran away from the knight, and towards me. I got a scratch on the arm that time, but wounded better than I got. Seth called my name, but I wasn't listening. I ducked another blow and stabbed the bandit in the stomach.

    I looked up at Seth and smiled. "I'm fine," I repeated. My loyal paladin visibly relaxed as he saw me apply a vulnerary.

    "You look so pale," he pressed.

    I glanced pointedly at the spear mark in his side, making him colour again. "... This is war, isn't it?" I asked in a small voice. It's not at all like the games I used to play with my brother or Lyon. I never thought... I didn't know it would be this... savage." I looked at Seth with wide eyes. "Are words useless? Is strength all that matters? It's so sad..." I wondered about Grado and their intentions in this hideous, bloodthirsty betrayal.

    "Princess..."

    "Don't worry, Seth, I won't give in to sorrow. I'm not broken, and I won't stop until I see Renais restored." He nodded.

    After I convinced him that he should not walk, that I would walk if he would, there was an awkward scene as we tried to figure out how I should ride with him. If only my Aureola were there - but, anyway, I put my hand in his and tried to climb up behind him.

    "I'm so glad there's no one else here," I said, laughing a bit, as I fell down for the third time. "The 'graceful' princess of Renais..." I giggled. I caught amusement in Seth's impassive stare. "It's not normally so hard when I go riding with Ephraim..." Eventually he got down and let me get on first.

    "Do you think my father is safe in the castle? And my brother, of whom we've heard nothing for days. Do you think I'll see them again?"

    "I have no doubt of it. King Fado and Prince Ephraim are both valiant and brave men. I doubt even the might of the Grado Empire can hold them in check," he assured me. "You must achieve," meaning 'get to', "Frelia in order to ensure your happy reunion."

    "Yes, until I'm reunited with my father and brother, I must not despair." I held my chin up proudly.

    To pass the time, Seth told me stories. "Would you tell me of the time when you pacified a gang of Frelian bandits by only slaying one?" I asked. "I read the official reports, of course - Ephraim recommended them to me - but it would be so much more interesting if you told me."

    "Certainly, Princess. I was but newly knighted at that time - six months previously. I was then eighteen, riding alone on a patrol around a 'village at risk'. I heard drunken noises in the woods..."

    When dusk came, the paladin finally tended to his wound; and about time, too! We ate, and then continued journeying. Finally, I expressed a desire to sleep, but we could not stop, so I put my arms around him. The knight tensed at first, and I was apprehensive about the propriety of this, but I was very tired! After a moment, he embraced me, holding me securely.

    I was anxious for my father and brother, but not for myself. Seth's warm arms held me close to him. I could hear the rhythm of his breathing and his heart, and I slowly fell asleep, unafraid of anything after all.


Contents     Chapter 1: The Escape