Dimitri let out a long, frustrated breath. This was the fourth time Lilliana von Elway had used her charms to persuade another of his soldiers to adhere to her demands.

He grabbed the shoulder of the newest convert and forced him backwards. "To the back of the line," he snapped, and the dumbfounded soldier dazedly held back.

Major Webbs waved the prince aside. "I'm married, Your Highness. Perhaps it would be best if I was the one to keep an eye on the young lady."

"She doesn't get that title," Dimitri snorted. "And I don't believe I trust even you around her anyways."

Webbs sighed. "Your Highness, safety is as much my objective as it is yours at the moment, and I can assure you that I can keep her under control for the time being. When we reach a place where we can procure supplies, we can switch places. Is that fair?"

Dimitri grimaced. "She's a menace, and you know it. A monster in the skin of a fair young woman. I greatly regret going to the trouble of convincing her to come with us."

"It would have been much harder to transport the children had we not taken her with," Webbs observed, "and perhaps she's doing something good for the soldiers' attitude."

By now the group had paused to await Dimitri's word on who would take the spot next to Lilliana; every one of the ex-convicts certainly hoped for the chance, and it wasn't hard to tell.

Taking another step away from everyone else and lowering his voice, Dimitri growled, "I find it the best option to kill her and leave her in the woods while we continue. The children are already walking with us without a complaint, so it shouldn't be a problem."

Webbs crossed his arms. "Are you prepared for a coup, Your Highness?"

Dimitri met his gaze and did the same. "Is that a threat, Major?"

"Not on my part, but on your soldiers' it certainly could be," Webbs stated sternly.

Lilliana lifted David into her arms and to her shoulder. "May I inquire as to what in Fodlan the two of you are blithering on about?" she said rather loudly.

With nary a glance her way, Dimitri replied, "You may not. This does not concern you nor does speaking elevate your chances of keeping your head."

She made a small 'o' with her mouth. Then she giggled and walked closer. "Actually, Highness," the young woman tittered, "I think this does concern me, doesn't it?"

He turned his head opposite hers. "...It does. Because you happen to be a monumental problem."

Lilliana cocked her head coyly. "Oh? And how's that?"

Dimitri gritted his teeth. "Because you're insufferable. And you're disorienting my men."

This amused her so that she began to laugh, a high-pitched and melodious sound. "Insufferable?" she attempted to control her outburst by holding a hand to her mouth. "Is that how you see me?"

"Yes, it is," Dimitri stated simply, giving her a withering look before going back to staring at Webbs.

Her laughter finally faded, and she pretended to be oh-so-innocent. "How cold you are to little old me!" she pouted.

She took another step closer, and he took another away.

"They aren't your men anymore, Dimitri," Lilliana chuckled. "They're mine. I only have a few more left, and guess what?"

When, as she expected, he refused to respond, she leaned in to whisper, "You're one of them, Dimitri. And when they don't listen to you anymore, you can come crawling back to me on your knees."

The prince didn't give her the satisfaction of a reaction, but she took it in stride and giggled again.

"I always liked them stoic and hard-to-reach," Lilliana said in a smoky tone. "I know how to get to men like you."

Dimitri felt a rush of hot blood flood to his cheeks, and, seeing this, Lilliana smiled mock-sweetly. Then she adopted a calm and collected expression.

"Actually, Major Webbs," She shifted her unwavering eye contact to the older soldier. "I was hoping we could take a break in our walking for at least a couple hours."

Dimitri glared as his nails bit into his palms. "That's out of the question. We've stopped for a few minutes and that should be enough, unless of course you'd like to be hunted down by Edelgard's troops."

She gave him a sideways glance. "I don't remember asking you, but now that you've joined the adults' conversation, how about you chew on this?" Lilliana began, setting David down on the ground and holding his hand. "In case you forgot, you have children with you. And children can't walk for almost thirty hours straight with no sleep. Would you like to try lifting one of them to let them rest their legs for an hour, or don't you think it would be easier to afford them some relaxation?"

Dimitri rolled his eyes. "They're strong children. And until we reach somewhere to buy supplies or hunt, they can keep going."

"That's rubbish. And I'd say we're in enough of a forest to hunt, are we not?" she swept an arm around to indicate the thick wood surrounding. "So where are your bows? Your hunting knives? Oh, right, I'm sorry, you're just fifteen meatheads with rusted lances and swords longer than the extent of my patience."

"You can hunt with lances and swords, Miss von Elway," Dimitri spat the name.

She crossed her arms, letting go of David's hands. "I've hunted before, Highness, and I'm aware it's much harder and about twenty times more cumbersome, and just by looking at you I can assume that with your sheer strength and somewhat disappointing agility it'd be downright impossible for you to even make significant aim with a lance."

He ground his teeth again. "I'll have you know my agility is perfectly fine, thank you," he hissed. "And I most definitely do not want to hear this absolute nonsense. If the children were tired they'd have begun to complain about it by now, and I haven't heard a single peep about exhaustion from them nor my soldiers, and I'm beginning to think you're just lazy."

By now they had begun to speak over each other. Dimitri dismissed her statements with a condescending snap, and Lilliana argued for all she was worth.

"—if you really lived in Enbarr, I'd have thought you'd be more tolerant of the heat; why don't you convince your little pawns to carry you the rest of the way?" Dimitri was snarling, throwing his hands up in incredulity. "If you don't still your tongue I might have to sever your whiny head from your sh—"

"Oh, shut up, Your Highness!" Lilliana yelled over him. "You're an ignorant weevil that isn't fit to lead a squad of soldiers, and you're as self-centered as... as.. you're so self-absorbed I can imagine you staring into a creek reflection for as many hours as we've been walking! The children are tired, your soldiers are tired, I'm tired, and by the goddess I bet you're tired, you ruthless dastard!" She took a deep breath before shouting, "With no due respect to you, Highness, go eat a roach!"

There was silence.

Dimitri looked furious.

Lilliana looked irate.

The soldiers and children looked stunned.

Then Dimitri reached down towards his feet. When he straightened once again, he held a fairly large beetle between his fingers.

Staring unflinchingly at Lilliana, he crushed it with his index and second finger.

And then he tossed it into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.

Lilliana's own mouth fell open, eyes wide.

The two engaged in a staring contest of sorts, rage glinting in both of their eyes.

David buried his face in Lilliana's green, purple, and white satin skirts. "That man is scary," he mumbled, starting to cry.

The young woman closed her mouth and narrowed her eyes. "He's not scary," she told the little boy without looking down at him. "He's just pathetic."

Dimitri spat into the bush beside him. "Go take your stupid break."

Lilliana seemed to be searching for a witty retort, but instead she spun on her heel and rounded up the children, heading for a clearing just up ahead, carrying herself with dignity.

Webbs looked at Dimitri. "Your Highness," he said tiredly, "you look green."

The prince clenched his jaw. "The beetle did not... did not go down well," he struggled to say gruffly.

Webbs sighed. "Perhaps you should go and wash out the taste. The creek is just over that way."

Dimitri stormed off in indicated direction with stomping footsteps, muttering obscenities under his breath and cursing the tall young woman he should've killed back at the palace.

Seeing no other reason to continue standing in the same spot, Webbs joined the other soldiers in jogging up towards the clearing, where Lilliana was getting the children settled down into sunny, grassy spots to lay down and relax while she sang to them.

Webbs sat down a meter or so away from her to listen and calm his own nerves.

She looked at him and smiled. "Where's Dimitri?" she asked, looking around to see if the malevolent young prince was anywhere to be found.

"He'd like to spend some time in solitude," Webbs lied, returning the smile.

Lilliana clicked her tongue in mock-disappointment. "What a shame, he's going to miss the main event."

Webbs laughed in spite of himself. "I'll be sure to let him know that."

There was quiet between him and the young lady.

Then he spoke up, asking, "Why do you feel the need to argue so fervently?"

She patted the head of Faye, who snuggled up in Lilliana's dress. "He's unbearable. I can't stand the fact that of all men my age he was the one who had to kidnap me." she glanced at him, then said quickly, "I'm only joking, of course. I'm just irritated by his irrationality. And at least to me it seems like he's consumed with his one goal in mind. I understand holding a grudge, but... I don't really understand his."

"I know what you mean." The grizzled old soldier nodded. "This may not sound like much coming from me, but... he wasn't always like this. I was a soldier of Faerghus that worked with the Knights of Seiros at Garreg Mach. His Highness used to be a very valiant, noble young man. I fear he's lost touch with that along the way."

Lilliana studied him for a few brief moments. Then she renewed her smile. "I'll take your word for it, then. I think I just find it difficult to sympathize with him when his plan to kidnap me seems so incompetently constructed. I mean really, if you're going to kidnap a girl and twelve children, at least do it right. And several of them are sons and daughters of spies for the Resistance movement in Faerghus. I'm not what you'd say very educated on the war and its facets, but I know enough to make sure these kids and their parents don't fall into the wrong hands."

Webbs perked up immediately. "The Resistance, you say? I wouldn't have guessed. What were you doing in Enbarr?"

"My mother, Sofia von Elway, and a few other families, were called to the capital for an audience with the Emperor. Cornelia recently decided that the von Elway house would be restored to power and rule over almost a third of the uppermost territory formerly occupied by house Blaiddyd and half of the territory considered a part of Fhirdiad, my home," Lilliana began to explain, stroking Faye's hair. "Edelgard wanted to be sure of our loyalty. But I'm assuming something went wrong, because my mother was thrown into the dungeons, and Faye and I weren't allowed to visit her.

"I don't quite mind, to be entirely candid, though. I was never very close with my mother before my father's disappearance, and even less so afterwards. She never cared for Faye and I so I learned to do it myself while she kept to her bedroom for days on end. I think it was the first time I'd seen her come out and eat for weeks... I assume she would always eat something at night when her daughters were asleep. I didn't have any work to do around the house, despite the fact I'm turning twenty by the Wyvern Moon, so I would help out with the children in the area, play around with boys, and I had hoped to go to Garreg Mach but I don't believe my mother ever read my note.

"Once Edelgard decided my mother wasn't fit to be Duchess von Elway for one reason or another, I was told to stay with the children while the other families were given their opportunities to swear fealty. And, then, the dungeon uprising happened." Lilliana finished her tale with a flick of her hair, as she noticed a stiff-looking Dimitri lean against a tree on the outskirts of the clearing.

Webbs sat thinking for a few moments. "That's... quite the story. Perhaps you should tell it to His Highness, I would suspect that it would improve his opinion of you greatly."

She gave another of her sweet laughs. "Perhaps I would, but I don't quite think he'd fancy the idea that I'm the next in line to rule part of his birthright," she shook her head good-naturedly. "And he most certainly won't take kindly to my passive attitude towards the war. At least during these years I'm more content to sit back and take care of the children and mess around with men while I have the time. It'll be harder now that my mother is rotting in the dungeons of Enbarr, but I'm sure I can find a way to stay a girl before I'm a woman."

"You remind me of my own daughter," Webbs chuckled. "The prettiest, sweetest thing I ever knew. And boys were all she was on about for a year or two, and eventually she flew the coop in search of a husband. Word is she hasn't found one yet but better yet she's gotten a stable job and she's doing all right. I can't say she's gone through her mother's captivity, however,"

Lilliana brushed her white-blonde curls away from her face with a genuine shyness this time, accentuating the light pink blush on her cheeks. "That's sweet of you, Major Webbs, it really is. I appreciate your acting as the mediator for the prince and I; if it weren't for you, I probably might have killed him by now,"

He waved a hand dismissively. "There's no need to thank me, Miss von Elway. I may not understand him completely but I can only keep him from spiraling further at this point, and I'm happy to have the chance to. Its good he has someone to butt heads with every once in a while, though, so I suppose I must thank you as well."

"I don't know if I'd say it was just every once in a while, but I accept your compliment if that's what it was," Lilliana said with a respectful nod. "And please, you don't need to call me that. Just Lillie is fine for friends of mine."

Abbott Webbs reached out his hand for a shake. "Of course. Lillie it is."

Dimitri, watching them through his peripheral vision, ground his teeth together. A married man, he thought. That didn't matter to her, did it? A temptress was a temptress, and a temptress was a monster seeking her own servants and objects. She didn't deserve to be given another chance.

Just as he prepared to stalk off into the woods for some time alone, it seemed Lilliana had finally been given the chance to sing and help any souls still awake to drift off into mindless stupor.

Begrudging to admit it, Dimitri found her voice soothing. It was gentle and smooth to the ear. She started off with folk songs he heard sung to little children in Faerghus, the same ones his stepmother used to sing when he had trouble sleeping.

A tear sprang to his eye before running down his cheek. Turning quickly he left the clearing and hopped over the creek bed to stay far enough away from the sweet-sounding siren.

Almost as if on cue, his head began to pound. The voices began to come from every direction, and Glenn appeared before him as well.

What in the name of the goddess are you doing? Felix's dead brother thundered. You had your chance to smite that wretch and set us free and you turned around to escape? What kind of weakling prince are you?

Dimitri sucked in his breath and wiped his coat sleeve across his eyes. "Glenn, I am not turning my back on her, you must believe me! I will come for her, I swear it! You know I will! I am not distracted and you mustn't doubt my convictions!" he choked, shaking his head fervently to the being that wasn't quite there.

There were five different replies at once, from all different directions, so Dimitri abandoned his attempt to reason with them. Instead he stumbled around the forest trees, in search of something to help with the pounding.

At last he found the light purple blooms he always preferred to use and sat down next to them promptly, pulling out a few sprigs to press against his nose.

Lavender always calmed him down. It grew in droves across the mountains in Blaiddyd territory from the earlier moons to the Red Wolf Moon. Whenever Dimitri would tell Dedue about his headaches, Dedue would fetch several sachets of it or even just the raw sprigs themselves to ease his mind.

But Dedue wasn't here, and the headaches weren't just headaches. Now, without the comfort of a friend, and no support to keep him on the right path, Dimitri couldn't help but wonder just how far he could get before everything came tumbling down in flames around him once again.

Oh, Faerghus.

How Dimitri missed it.