True to her word, Lilliana wasted no time explaining her plan to the soldiers once they reached Merceus.

"Me?" Dimitri cried. "I go with you and the children? What about Webbs? Or Barrett? They're much more suited to it and I—"

Lilliana stomped on his toes. "Guess what, Your Highness." She leaned in while he grimaced at the pain. "You look like me."

His face contorted with confusion. "I— I what? I do not! For one thing, I'm a man, Miss von Elway, I thought at least that wouldn't escape you. There's no..." Realization dawned in his eyes. "No. You can't possibly be making me to... to..."

She rolled her eyes. "No, no, nothing like that," she waved her hand irritably. "You're not going to double as me. You're going to act like my brother."

Dimitri crossed his arms and turned away stubbornly. "I won't be doing that. That's ridiculous; what do you even hope to accomplish?"

Lilliana took a deep breath before sitting down on a tree stump. "Now, Dimitri, it might take a few tries to get this through that stupidly thick head of yours, but I'd like you to listen," she began, clasping her hands together in her lap. The prince glared at her but she continued. "You, me, and the children are going to walk into town. You are going to pretend to be my big brother. I am going to go around, find a boy who works with the resistance efforts, and convince him to take us for a little ride along with his supplies. The convincing could take a moment depending on the boy, but I want you there to protect the children and make sure I don't get... distracted, I suppose is the word."

He grumbled something to himself before looking at her and snapping, "That's a terrible plan. Not only are we leaving the rest of the men wandering around the square wondering how to get to our rendezvous point, the entire plan hinges on whether you can or can't... seduce whatever resistance man you find!"

Lilliana stood, her patience gone. "I'll have you know I'm quite good at it, prince. If you want to be the one walking around aimlessly for a few hours wasting precious time, be my guest. In fact, why don't you just haul all of us in there and shout, 'I am the Crown Prince of Faerghus that has escaped Imperial dungeons and I would like to recapture my country, but first I must drag my captives to an uninhabited castle and await ransom!' I figure it'll be just your style."

He scoffed. "Since when were you a tactician, von Elway? I'd greatly appreciate your strategic methods on how to shine my boots. Your plans are absolutely sublime!" Dimitri hissed sarcastically. "This is a horrid plan of action and until we come up with something else, I suggest you leave this meeting to the real adults of the group and play with those children you seem to love so much."

"Oh, your manners are utterly delightful, Highness," Lilliana gave a mock bow. "One day maybe you can teach me how to be so absolutely dense and I'll be the next Queen of Faerghus!"

"Be quiet, you miserable wretch!" Dimitri barked. "Do not speak to me of the Faerghus royalty. You know nothing of it and you couldn't be bothered to care a mite of the country anyway! You're better off sitting silently on the ground waiting for the next pack of wolves to come and rip—"

"Enough!" Webbs shouted. "Quiet, the both of you. We won't decide on any plan if our meeting consists of you two screaming your heads off!" He inhaled slowly, calming himself. "I've decided that you, Lilliana, and you, Dimitri, will not be a part of these discussions from now until you learn that holding your tongues and listening are some of the most prized virtues."

Dimitri gritted his teeth. It seemed as though he was about to yell something else, but at last he turned away and stalked angrily into the forest, punching a tree with a loud snarl.

Lilliana, going bright red, huffed and flounced away from the circle of soldiers to sit by herself on the side of the path.

Barrett sighed. "Th-that was a c-crisis averted," he said with relief. The other soldiers nodded their agreement.

Webbs grimaced. "Now we need to come up with our own plan, or decide on whether we should accept Miss von Elway's. All votes for Lilliana's, say 'Aye!'"

Dimitri stomped his way to wherever he felt like as long as it was away from the blasted towns around Merceus and from that reprehensible woman. For the last time she had gotten under his skin, and for the last time she had landed his emotions in hot water.

He wished sorely to kill her and leave her corpse rotting on the well-trod path for the next passerby to notice. She didn't deserve a burial, a grave, nothing.

To be honest, he didn't quite understand why he hated Lilliana. All he knew was there was a knot down in the pit of his stomach and a cloudiness in his head, and assuming it was loathing, he acted upon it. Perhaps it wasn't the most efficient way to deal with his feelings, but it was the only way he had ever known.

There was a quiet crack behind him. Dimitri whirled around to check for an animal, maybe, or one of his soldiers come to bring him back.

Then he noticed the pale green dress and white-blonde hair. The prince growled.

"Why are you here?" He demanded. "Answer me."

Lilliana lifted her chin haughtily. "Come back with me. We can convince them to go with my plan if you're there to help me."

He gave a sarcastic laugh. "Oh, did you forget already, von Elway?" he asked with a chuckle. "I don't like your plan. It's stupid, and acting as your brother or what have you will only cause problems."

"What problems are you referring to?" she challenged. "With some practice and cooperation on your part, it won't be hard at all."

"So you'd be inclined to think." Dimitri planted his feet and refused to look her in the eye. "With your lazy sense of preparation you could assume anything would be easy, couldn't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lilliana abandoned her lofty acting and advanced forward, grabbing his arm with surprisingly strong hands. "Come back with me, prince!"

Dimitri shoved her away and unsheathed his saxe knife with unparalleled speed, wishing he had his lance with him. The young woman straightened when she saw the blade, hastily stepping backward. "You are not to touch me," Dimitri spat menacingly. There was a malicious glint in his eye, and Lilliana didn't like it.

"I didn't... Just come with me. All you have to do is say that my plan works for you and we're on our way to the castle at Hyrm!" She pleaded, a sincere look on her face. "Dimitri, I'm begging you."

The prince gave another contemptuous laugh. "Hearing you beg is quite the pleasure to see. You should do it more often. How are you not getting this through your confounded head, Miss von Elway? I am not going along with your plan. I hate your plan, I hate this whole damn journey, and I hate you!"

Lilliana bit her lip anxiously. "I know, I know. But... I can make it work. I'm trying to give you a chance, Highness. I don't want to be your enemy. I hate you, yes, but I can't just say you're insufferable and not give you the benefit of the doubt. It's unfair, and I..."

Her voice trailed off as she watched him walk towards her calmly, casually almost. He stopped perhaps a few feet away and stared at her.

"Ah, so you're a champion for fairness now, are you?" He asked in an unusually civil voice. "How very convenient."

Lilliana decidedly didn't like the air he had assumed and took a nervous step back. "Your Highness..." she said warily, hands held stiff at her sides.

Just before she could take another few steps away, Dimitri reached out to grab her shoulder and spun her around, wrapping an arm around her abdomen and holding his knife to her throat in the blink of an eye.

"Now, I think it's time you stayed quiet," the prince murmured in her ear. "The goddess knows how ruinous you've rendered my plans and soldiers... Miss von Elway, you've distracted us all from the right course... and it's time to put an end to that."

With every pause, he shook her roughly, listening to her scream every once in a while in addition to her struggles.

"Don't... don't threaten me, you monstrous scoundrel," Lilliana hissed. All her words succeeded in was getting a thin line drawn across the underside of her jaw.

"You know, it would be quite a shame to let my men find your body here, with your pretty porcelain throat slashed," Dimitri purred. "I'll throw it into the stream, and tell your sister that forest wights came and took you away!" Something about that thought amused him so, as he burst into another fit of ill-willed laughter. "It would do her good to know that such an unruly, impertinent girl won't be treated politely by nature!"

Adrenaline from the raw panic in Lilliana's head made her dizzy, and the tears leaking from her eyes weren't helping her vision. She needed to escape, but she didn't know how. And she was no match for the prince anyway, so she couldn't afford to be anywhere within his line of sight either.

For one of the first few times in her life, Lilliana was at a loss for words.

Dimitri noticed this. "Surrendered yourself to it, have you? I appreciate it. Had you still been thrashing about like a fish, you'd be a bloody mess, and that wouldn't do. It would be much easier to get it done neatly, wouldn't you say?"

Suddenly he heard yelling in the distance.

"Your Highness!" Major Webbs exclaimed, running as fast as he could towards the dark gray and blue figure he knew to be Dimitri. "Your Highness! We've been searching for you, and we..."

Dimitri looked over his shoulder to see the ex-major. He smiled. "Ah, come for the spectacle, have you?"

Webbs' face paled when he saw Lilliana, silent and frozen with fear in the prince's deadly embrace. "What... Your Highness! What are you doing?"

Dimitri barked a laugh again. "What am I doing? Why, Major, I'm doing what we should have done days ago! I will not be tolerating this... this good-for-nothing dog any longer."

Webbs began towards him. "Your Highness, no! This is not how you should deal with her! Calm down at once, and we can talk for a moment!"

"'Calm down'? 'Talk'? Certainly not, Webbs! She deserves no more than this, and I will not allow her to taint my journey with her presence!" Dimitri snarled. "I am done with letting this go by without a compl—"

Abruptly he stopped and gave a great cry, stumbling backwards. Lilliana yelped as the blade cut into her flesh, and she teetered backwards with him.

"Not now, not now, not now, Father!" The prince shouted. "Begone from me, I implore you! Now is not the time!"

Webbs reached out, his eyes confused. "Your Highness, what..."

Dimitri regained his footing and held Lilliana closer to him. "...I have stalled too long, and the dead grow weary of it. You deserve nothing more than to join them, von Elway!"

Lilliana shrieked again as the prince pressed himself against her and sliced open her...

Nothing happened.

There was no pain in her neck, no empty black void to greet her.

Lilliana opened her eyes. Webbs still stood, uncertain, a few meters away from them.

She felt Dimitri's breath. Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of him.

There was still a threatening expression on his face, but he wasn't moving. In fact, his breathing began to slow, and he closed his eyes.

And suddenly buried his face in her hair.

"Goddess on high," she heard him whisper to himself. "Why is there lavender in your—"

Lilliana was forcefully ripped away from the prince's grasp. Webbs pushed her behind him and shielded her, staring steely-eyed at Dimitri.

"Your Highness, what in Fodlan were you thinking?" The old soldier took on a furious expression.

Dimitri gazed at Lilliana. "You... you little... you..."

Webbs seemed to grow taller and he strode forward to grab Dimitri's collar. "Prince, explain to me what you were doing!"

Lilliana struggled to her feet, tears still staining her cheeks, and stumbled behind a nearby tree.

She sank to her knees, hugging herself and wondering if she was ever going to be safe.