Burning Behind

I ran with all my might holding little Shanan tightly in my arms. Although I had a pretty deep wound in my right arm, my fear was so great that I could no longer feel the pain. All that ran through my mind was my brother, Malicle's, last words......
"Run, Aila, run as far away as you can. Take Shanan and raise him so that some day he will able to be the king of Isaac. He has the blood of Odo in his veins, and he will some day be able to use the Heavenly Sword Balmunk. Run, Aila, and never look back....."
All I did was run as hard as I can, but many times I felt like I can run no more. Breathing very hardly, I kept on going while I can barely hear the high pitched man's voice commanding to continue the attack on my castle. So many times did I want to turn and look back, but Malicle's voice was still freshly branded in my mind. Then all of the sudden little Shanan looked up at me and said in a voice that was much more braver than mine:
"Don't cry, Aila. Father will be all right, won't he?"
"Of course he will, Shanan. Of course....."
And then, even though I had tried my best, I could not hold back my tears anymore.....

As the princess of Isaac I have led a privilaged life. Unlike most princesses in other kingdoms I had held a sword from the time I was only three years old. Every day I trained right beside my brother so I can use a sword just as well as any man. Actually, in Isaac, both men and women learning to fight side by side is not an unusal sight. I learned about peace, honor, and true strength like a true warrior. Thanks to the little power of Odo that I have inside me I was able to master one of the greatest skills of a swordmaster-- the Shooting Star Sword. Only the royal family of Isaac can master this skill and this brought me great honor because it really made me feel that I am of the line of Odo.

It is already morning now, but I kept on running as fast as I could. Little Shanan is sleeping in my arm, but he does not look like he is having a pleasant dream. I wondered if what happened last night is still haunting him. That attack surely surprised me..... No one in our kingdom would have expected anything like it to happen. Isaac have always been a land of the swordmasters, but we are lovers of peace. We have had strong peace ties with all the kingdoms around us: Silesia to the northwest, Grandbell across the Yied Desert (no kingdom that I know of would ever have any relations with the people of the Yied Desert), and Manster District to the southwest. Mananan, my father, and Malicle, my older brother, have both done their best to keep peace with these kingdoms, and as far as I know, all the past kings have done so too. It was a surprise attack from Grandbell that destroyed us...... without warning the peace treaty that we had for hundreds of years was broken and we had no time to defend ourselves. But why could this happen....... Why would that nice prince, Prince Kult, ever do such a thing? Why........

The Yied Desert is the center for all the activities of the Loputo Cult. Not only is the heat dangerous, but the dark mages and their unusual attacks prohibit almost anyone from crossing it alive. If I was alone I may have taken the risk, but since I had little Shanan in my arms, I decided not to and instead go down along the sea coast to the Manster District which is directly south of the Yied-Isaac border that I stood at. Most of the kingdoms in the Manster District are weak, but Lenster is different. Held by the family of Noba for hundreds of years, the master of that castle have always protected that area from the constant invasions of the king of Thracia. I have met the prince of Lenster, Cuan, once before and I knew he is a trustworthy man. Thinking about it, seven years have already past since I last talked to him. It feels like such a long time ago now.........

"Malicle, Aila, this is the Manster District. The head kingdom of this area is Manster, but today we will be visiting Lenster instead," said my father, King Mananan, seven years ago when he was still alive and sturdier. "But the king of Manster and all the other leaders of the domains in the Manster District will be present. Always remember to be on your best behavior..... especially you, Aila."
Malicle chuckled at that comment, and if anyone other than my father would have said that, I would have surely beaten them up. But I could never do anything to my father, so all I could say was to try to smile and say, "Yes, father". But that made Malicle chuckle even more until his face started turning red, so I couldn't stop myself from slapping him in the back as hard as I could.

I don't remember much of what went on inside Castle Lenster. There were lots of high ranking men and their guards talking to each other around a large table. I remeber seeing the king of Lenster sitting in a bed-like chair, and I later found out from Malicle that he is very sick and usually all the duties are preformed by his son, Prince Cuan. I remember myself sitting next to my father and nodding whenever my father nodded, and copied any movement that he made. Those actions were what was expected of me, but it also helped me take my mind off the boredom. As for Malicle, I remeber that he went outside with Prince Cuan and they were talking about something. Just as the copy-cat fun that I was doing was starting to get boring too, Malicle came back from outside with Prince Cuan. Malicle walking over behind me and smiled. "Go out side with Prince Cuan. He has some things that he wants to talk to you about," he said with what I precived as a strange smile, although Malicle smiles a lot. I felt a little uncomfortable to go outside with a strange man, but for some reason I just walked outside with him.

When we got outside, Cuan led me over to a wooden bench. Before I sat down Cuan dusted off with his mantle what I precived to be an already clean seat and then politely helped me sit down. This felt a little uncomfortable, but Malicle taught me that in other kingdoms women are seen as being more delicate and are treated differently. I thought that this must be the way that they treat women in Lenster (or maybe the whole Manster District) so I tried not to act so strangely. Cuan smiled and sat down beside me.

"Hello, Princess Aila. I am Cuan of Lenster, of the line of Noba. Your brother, Malicle, have already told me a few things about you," he said. "Thank you for coming down to this kingdom. What do you think of this kingdom?"
"I believe this is a very nice place. Isaac is a beautiful kingdom filled with many flowers, trees, and animals, but this kindom has much more than I could imagine," I answered, for the first time saying exactly what I thought since I left my kingdom. Cuan looked very pleased by that answer and laughed.
"But if you believe in those legends, this kingdom is actually haunted," Cuan said softly. "But like Sigurd and Eltosian, my friends at the Royal Academy of Barhara, I don't believe such things. Father always tells me that I should beware more, but I think those legends are only jokes."
"What legend are you talking about?" I asked out of curiousity, completely forgetting about all those manners and ways that Malice and father warned me about.
"Oh, they say that back in the days when the Twelve Holy Warriors were alive, Noba and her brother Dain got into a fight and decided that they with split the Thracian Penninsula in half, each one choosing which section they want. Noba got the privilage to choose first and chose the northern half, which is now the Manster District. This area is actually the most fertile land in all of Jugdral. Dain was left with the southern half, which is now the Kingdom of Thracia, which is covered by nothing but rocks and harsh mountains. They say that no crop will grow there. This made Dain very angry, and even though it was his own sister, he cursed her and her bloodline.... and they say that the holder of the Geiborg will have bad luck until some day the two kingdoms unite again. But I can't imagine myself standing peacefully beside Trabant..... but of course I don't believe it, even though father hasn't given me the Geiborg yet. Father says that it is the curse that always keeps him in bad health, so he believes the legend and doesn't want me to have it."
I was impressed by the story Cuan told me. "But my family doesn't have any legends like that, so I can't tell you anything about it," I said.
Cuan took a deep breath. "That's fine. But thank you, Princess Aila, for listening to my story. That must have tired you. Would you like to step inside again with me?"
Of course I wasn't tired, but I went along and when back into the castle. That is all I remember from that day.....

If it hadn't been for the warning of my brother, I would have decided to hide with Shanan in Lenster. I trusted Prince Cuan and I am very tired from all the running that I have done already. But Lenster also has a tie with Grandbell, and that made me worry that they might find us quicker because of that. So I had to continue running as far as I can. I decided at this time that instead of running east inside Manster District to Lenster, I would run west through the Miletos District, sneak through as small area of Grandbell, or more specifically inside Jungby, and then to the wild lands of the Kingdom of Verdane. The Miletos District is a free area so I will not be in any danger as long as I don't stay too long. Jungby is far from Barhara, the central kingdom in Grandbell, so I won't be as much danger. And Verdane will be the best spot for me to hide-- it is completely covered by thick forests and much of the area is still untamed by man. Now all I have to do is run as fast as I can.

The Miletos District is a free area where travelers come and go, and merchants trade from all over the world. I have felt that I could not run any more without a short break, so Shanan and I decided to stay here for a while. I also found that this would be a great opportunity for us to find regular clothes so we won't look so suspicious, so that is what we did the first day we were there.

"Aila, I look like one of the servant boys in these clothes," Shanan said unhappily.
"From now on, we will have to live like the other people. We won't have people serving us the same way that we had back in the castle. We will have to live for ourselves, do you understand?" I said sternly. I regretted saying that soon after and thought that Shanan would get homesick, but his answer surprised me.
"OK. This sounds just like the adventures father always talked about. This is going to be fun," Shanan said, jumping up and down with a smile. "Don't you think it's going to be fun, Aila?"
"Yes it will, Shanan. Just don't get too excited about it. We don't want anyone to know who we are."
"OK, Aila," Shanan whispered, as he made some shushing sounds. "We are on a secret mission then. We have to keep quiet."
Evidently, Shanan was having fun pretending that this all is a game. I am happy that he is getting used to it so quickly, but at the same time I was worried about how long this will last.

As I thought about all this, it reminded me of another man that I met many years ago who had been on these "secret missions" many times before. I wonder how he is doing right now........

The other time that I saw Prince Cuan was five years ago when Malicle and I (our father had passed away earlier that year) were invited to his wedding. The reason why I said that I only talked to Cuan once before is because I could not get a chance to speak with him that day. No matter how much I tried, the security was so tight that I could not even get a sight of him before or after the ceremony. This upset me greatly, but I still acted the best that I could that day.

Everyone knew that this ceremony meant a lot more than the union of the love between Prince Cuan and his blushing bride, Princess Ethlinn of Chalphy. It meant everything from peace agreements, treaties, money, connection between Noba and Baldo, how their children will be raised, how Ethlinn will be accepted, their relations with the other kingdoms, ..... and I could just tire myself trying to list everything that this marriage meant, other than their love. Neither Cuan nor Ethlinn were happy about any of this. They must have been tired of all those things they had to go through after the announcement of their engagement. They were so busy that they were not even allowed to see each other since that day!! But here it is now, and all of the kingdoms have sent representatives to bless this tired couple. From Grandbell came Prince Kult of Barhara, Lord Byron and Prince Sigurd of Chalphy, Lord Ring and Princess Eidin of Jungby, Father Claude of Edda, Lord Alvis of Velthomer, Lord Langobalt and Prince Danan of Dozel, and Lord Leptoul and Prince Brume of Freege. By the way, that should be all of the seven kingdoms in Grandbell. From Verdane came King Batow and Prince Jamca. As representatives of Agustria, Dominion of the Lords, King Eltosian of Nodion and Prince Shagaal arrived. From the far northern land of Silesia came Queen Larna, Prince Levin, and the head of the Pegasus Knights, Manya. Also merchants arrived from the Miletos District and brought valuable foreign goods. Every kingdom except for the Yied Desert and Thracia were invited (for obvious reasons). Each time these people arrived, Malicle would tell me who they are and where they are from. Never have I seen so many important people in the same place at the same time! This amazed me so much that it is still stuck deep inside my head.

But other than that, to tell you the truth, this was becoming very boring for me. That was until the reception when I suddenly crashed into someone as I was trying to walk out to the hallway. I was walking fast and this man must have been running because we both fell down then. Amazingly this did not bother any of the other guests so we just go back up. Just as amazing was the appearance of this man. He was very tall and beautiful with long, soft green hair down slightly past his shoulders. His skin was very pale, almost as white as snow. He dressed in layers of thin silk clothes, and the edges were embroided with gold and silver thread. I was speechless from both the collision and his appearance.

"Sorry, I didn't really mean to do that," he said, as he lent me a hand to help me up. Although I go up, I was still speechless.
"You are a really strange girl..... I wonder why you won't answer me. I hope that didn't mess up your head or something."
"Oh....I'm fine.....Thank you," I barely said. For some reason that made the man laugh.
"I have talked to many girls before, but you are the first one to act like that!! I'm starting to like you a lot. What is your name?"
"Aila," I said, regaining my consciousness.
"Aila.... that's a very nice name. A nice name for a nice girl. Well, Aila, what do you think of this ceremony?" the man asked casually.
"I feel sorry for Prince Cuan and Princess Ethlinn," I said. "This ceremony is so deep that I think that they are being ignored."
"That's just what I think too," the man said. "But there is one thing that I am jealous of."
"What is it?"
"The fact that they chose each other. Although they have to go through the whole crappy ceremony and everything, they are really marrying out of love. That is the one thing that I want so much, and I know for sure that I will never get."
That made me think for a while. I never really put much thought in it until now, but if I marry it will by the arrangement of Malicle or someone else in the kingdom. I will have to marry fro the sake of my kingdom, and my love or feelings will not be accounted for. That did make me angry.
"Doesn't that make you angry? Why can the normal folks choose their own partner and we can't? I really think that's unfair....." the man said. "Only if I can convince Mother. I know that some day she is going to make me marry Manya, but she is so much older than I am. I can understand how it would be good for the kingdom if a reseponsible woman were to be my future queen, but I really want to choose my own."
"Then do you have an idea of who you want instead?" I asked out of curiousity.
"Not really," he said. "There is one girl that I have liked ever since I was young, but Mother would never listen to me."
"Is she a pesant?" I asked again, out of pure curiousity.
"No, but the reason why I say that Mother would never listen is because she is pretty stubborn in her ways. I tried going out on 'secret missions' outside the kingdom to try to find my inner self, but every time I am cut short when Mother sends the Pegasus Knights to find me. She would never listen....."
"I see....." I said, but I actually couldn't really sympathize with him because my family was much more open. I tried imagining what his life must be like, but I could not get a real firm image in my mind because I have never been in such a situation.
"Well, I think Mother has sent Manya to try to find me again, so I have to get going. Good bye, Aila, and maybe we will meet again." The man waved good bye and ran off. It wasn't until minutes later that I noticed that I didn't ask the man's name. I later told Malicle about the man's physical description and found out that he was Prince Levin of Silesia.

Before I knew it, Shanan and I have spent two weeks in Miletos. I have thought so much about my family and what I have been through that I was no longer bothered as much by what happened. I know I can find a new life with Shanan in the wilderness of Verdane. I know there are people out there that have problems just like me, but we each must deal with it in our own ways. Even little Shanan has made a little game out of his new life. Now I shall find my own way. I promised Malicle that I would protect Shanan, and I will, no matter what I have to do.......

Fin

OK, so maybe this story might upset Aila fans that want to hear about here indistructable fighting record and stuff like that. But like all the other characters, Aila was not just a mean, green, fighting machine (^_^) but a character with emotions. That is what makes Fire Emblem so great. I know that I will not even reread what I wrote, so it is very likely that there are grammatical errors. Please just ignore it for me (^_^;), but if you are so inclined to do so, just send me a nice e-mail telling me what is bothering you so much (^_^;;). Also, I would love comments from anyone that reads this. You should know where the post box with the cat is located (in front of the shrine, remember (^_-)). I repeat again that fanfics from Fire Emblem like this one is welcome. Just send it to me and give me permission to post it (don't worry, I will give you the credit unless you want to remain anonymous).

(7-21-98)

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