CAITLYN

"It was our great honor to receive you, Susan Forrest," the lady who sat by the empty throne said. She was tall, thin, and had sandy blonde hair. Caitlyn hated how she pursed her lips and shot disgusted looks at her. "But I'm afraid my King and husband is away in Slateport at the moment preparing to defend our kingdoms. If you would but wait here for him I'm sure a contract for alliance could be agreed to."

She's one of the proper ladies, Caitlyn thought as she still sat atop her Absol even in the midst of the wooden hall in Mauville. She noticed her sister and her Grovyle standing gracefully below a small number of steps where the prissy woman sat. Caitlyn knew that wasn't what her older sister wanted to hear.

"Thank you for receiving me and my sister, Lady Spark," Susan said with a bow and a small curtsy. She was still nimble and elegant even though her belly seemed to grow rounder by the day. "However it is of most importance that discussions begin immediately. Even while King Marcus prepares to defend against Sootopolis my brother believes that Miguel Starfall, the new ruler of the Mt. Chimney Kingdom, plans to invade Fortree, and then Mauville again."

"Rumors, rumors, and more rumors," said the Queen of Mauville. "You speak as if your brother rules Fortree. Tell me, it grieves me to find out, when did your father pass and his rule with him?"

"He hasn't, yet," answered Susan. "But-"

"Then why should I begin negotiations without my Lord Husband here? Negotiations which could be seen as an act of aggression by some of our neighbors," she gestured to the side of the hall, where a man sat beside an Altaria. "Edgar here is an envoy of King Starfall, who has assured us peace. It is with great joy we learned that it was Starfall who overthrew the maniacal Brightflame King, who was already planning a counter invasion after we threw the his first attack back. Thanks to Miguel Starfall, our northern borders have been secured."

Caitlyn glanced at Edgar and the Altaria. She saw how he looked at Susan, and it made her angry. Most men stole a glance at her sister. Why shouldn't they? She was beautiful. That was no look of admiration; it was a look of greed, and hate.

"I don't trust him," Caitlyn whispered in her Absol's ear. Her Spirit Pokemon gave a soft growl of agreement.

"How long has the honorable envoy from Mt. Chimney been here, if I may ask?" Susan politely inquired.

"Four days," answered the Queen of Mauville.

"And how long as King Marcus been away?"

"Three and a half months."

"Then I don't see why we shouldn't have the same privilege of negotiation as Mt. Chimney-"

"I will hear no more!" announced the Queen of proper ladies. "Edgar here came bearing gifts from Mt. Chimney, and gold to repair our city's walls. You tree-folk come with nothing but words of plotting and treachery. Edgar has already filled in the history your brother has within Miguel's council. Solomon Forrest isn't even King, yet it seems his war-mongering tendencies are showing through even now." The Queen stood up, along with everyone in the court's attendance. "You may await my husband's return here, or you can go to Slateport yourself. It is more than you deserve." She climbed down the steps and shot a look filled with daggers at Caitlyn. "And you would be wise to tell this little girl to dress and posture herself more appropriately when gracing the presence of a Queen."

With that, the lady Alison Spark, Queen of Mauville, departed the hall. A couple servants approached Susan, Caitlyn, and the Fortree guards. "There is room in the barracks for the men," one of them said. "It is custom to house our highborn guests in the palace."

"Thank you," Susan said with a smile at the servant. They exited the court and into a hall where the main expanse of the palace was.

Caitlyn had to hop off of Absol at her sister's bidding.

"Please don't do anything to be disrespectful," Susan said. "Starfall's man has gotten here before us. We need to stay in Mauville's good graces. You've seen how uptight she is. The slightest insult could ruin any possible alliance."

Caitlyn nodded as she walked alongside Susan as they were led up a flight of stairs and into a room with a two comfortable beds. Absol and Grovyle rushed to a plate of fruits on a table.

An idea came into the girl's head. "Susan? What if it's not just the queen we can to appeal to? Remember Chris Marsh? Wasn't he supposed to marry the Princess of Mauville?"

"Sarah," Susan said quietly. As she sat on a bed and looked out the window. "The talk of the castle is that he had already married her before he left, to secure the alliance between Slateport and Mauville. They say she's carrying his child, too," her voice trailed off.

Caitlyn smiled. "She's closer to our age. She knew him, and Chris knew us. We can talk to her!"

"I don't think that's necessary, Caitlyn," said Susan with a smile and a shake of her head. "You saw the court today. It's her mother that's holding the power here. Sarah was nowhere to be seen."

Leave that to me, Caitlyn thought. "I'll be back!" was all she said before Susan could tell her otherwise.

She wandered the castle for a couple of hours, looking for Sarah Spark, the elusive Princess of Mauville. It wasn't until she asked a hand maiden that she learned that Sarah was being kept in her own room to be monitored by the nurses.

"She's having a baby, too," one of the maids said. "Just like your sister. I can't believe her husband let her travel so far away. It's bad for the baby."

Caitlyn didn't really understand that. Susan seemed perfectly happy and healthy. Sure, the going was extremely slow from Mt. Pyre, but Susan seemed very upbeat. Her periodic bouts with nausea were even clearing up. Poor girl, all cooped up in her room.

That night, Caitlyn, Absol, Susan, and Grovyle stalked the hallways in darkness, escorted by one of the nurses. No one was supposed to visit Sarah without her mother's leave. Caitlyn smiled as she remarked on how much a few gold coins could accomplish.

Eventually, the nurse knocked on an ornate wooden door with lightning patterns carved into it. "My lady, the visitors I told you about are here."

"Send them in," came a young, bored voice.

There were two beds in this room as well. In the smaller one, in the far end of the room, a woman in her thirties slept peacefully. Princess Sarah Spark herself was sitting up in her bed, a long dark braid falling over her shoulder. A Manectric stood up from beside her bed and began sniffing at Absol. The two Pokemon seemed to make fast friends and they began muttering to each other quietly in Pokemon-speak. Grovyle helped escort Susan to Sarah's bed.

Sarah had the covers and blankets pulled up to her shoulders, covering a nightgown. Caitlyn tried not to notice the round lump where Sarah's belly was. It's not polite to stare at it, Susan had told her once.

"Thank you for seeing us, Princess," Susan said with a bow as she sat on the edge of Sarah's bed. "We know we're breaking many rules."

"I should be thanking you," Sarah giggled, genuine excitement on her face. "I have to see the same nursemaids every day. I always was a rule breaker myself."

"You and my sister have something in common then." Caitlyn was listening to their conversation as she stood by the doorway, keeping watch and making sure no one came to disturb such a scandalous meeting.

"It seems we've arrived later than the Mt. Chimney envoy," said Susan's voice.

"Don't trust him," Sarah said in a whisper. "He's been to Rustboro and Verdanturf. He's paid my father's loyal Chiefs and filled their heads with lies. He says Starfall stopped King Carlos Brightflame."

"So we've heard."

"You've heard many things I suppose. My mother doesn't only keep me up here to protect me-" She stopped for a second. "The baby," she corrected herself, "to protect the baby. She keeps me here so I won't interfere with her way of running the Mauville Kingdom. Before he left, father often listened to my council more than my mother's."

"Then we've come to the right place to talk, I assume?" Susan asked. So far so good. The hall was dark and quiet.

"Yes. Don't trust Edgar or anyone from Starfall. They're planning something. I've talked to people who have first-hand knowledge of the situation in Mt. Chimney."

"Like who?"

"A fisherman's son who was Chris's friend, and the Prince Brandon Brightflame. My father intercepted them on the north road. Somehow, they escaped Starfall." her voice grew angry. "They saw him die."

There was a hushed silence. Saw who die? Caitlyn wondered.

Sarah continued. "Edgar won't tell my mother or the court how they tortured Swampert. Prince Brandon told us how he could here Chris's Spirit Pokemon scream in agony and pain. He said Starfall had the poor thing whipped and cut... Edgar won't tell you how that torture lead to Chris's death. Hector, Chris's... my husband's friend, saw how wild and mad Swampert was. How he," Sarah sniffled and her voice cracked.

Caitlyn looked at the two young women. Tears were streaming down Sarah's face. Susan sat with a blank expression on hers, just staring. She had never seen her sister look like that before.

"How Swampert killed him with..." Sarah put her head in her hands.

"Chris's own spear," Susan finished for her.

What a terrible way to go. Caitlyn remained silent, trying to remember the brave young man who had come to them in the inn. Suddenly, she wished she had gotten to know him more. Solomon was interested in him, and Susan spent time tending his hurt arm, but Caitlyn couldn't remember saying anything more than "hi" and giving him a handful of berries.

Sarah's sobs were growing louder. Caitlyn shot her sister a look before looking outside the door again. Still no one, she thought thankfully.

She turned back to Susan, who was hugging Sarah now as the Princess of Mauville cried. "Shhh," she consoled. "It's alright."

Susan put her hand on her own growing belly.

Sarah pulled back from the embrace. "If your family can get rid of Starfall," she said as she wiped a tear. "I promise you when my father returns you can have anything within my power to give you. Do it for," the tears were beginning to fall again and she laid her head on Susan's shoulder, "do it for Chris. Do it for my husband..."

Susan still had the blank, emotionless expression on her face as she stroked Sarah's hair and consoled the Princess. Finally, they broke their embrace for the last time.

"Thank you for seeing us, Sarah," Susan said with a smile.

Sarah nodded. "Thank you for coming, it's been so long since I've been able to talk to someone."

"You look so well," Susan said, admiring her as she used her finger to wipe away another of Sarah's tears. "I know your baby will be healthy. Your skin is marvelous. How far along are you?"

"How... How far?" Sarah asked. Caitlyn noticed her hesitation as she figured the Princess was counting the weeks. "Five months," she finally responded.

"Oh," smiled Susan. "Around the same as me," she said as she gripped Sarah's hand. "It may be our children will grow up to be close friends."

"I would like that very much," Sarah chuckled.

"I'm just so amazed by your strength," Susan said as she stood up and stroked Sarah's braid. "The hair loss hasn't seemed to affect you at all. Tell me, how do you deal with it? I have such trouble taking care of my hair. I wonder if I'm eating enough for my baby?"

Sarah looked to Caitlyn like she didn't know what to say. "My hair?" Then it looked like she suddenly remembered something. "Oh, of course! It's all in the diet really. It used to fall out in clumps and patches, but my mother had the nurses hand pick the best foods. I'll... I'll make sure she shows you."

"Thank you," bowed Susan as she grasped the baby beneath her nightgown. She looked at Caitlyn. "We must be getting back to our room, it's getting late."

"Yes, of course," said Sarah.

As Susan, Caitlyn, and the Pokemon walked out the door, Sarah thanked them again for their visit. The two sisters walked silently most of the way back to their room.

"I don't want to have a baby," whispered Caitlyn as they neared the door to their room.

Susan cracked a smile. She looks relieved, Caitlyn thought.

"Why would you say that all of a sudden?" she asked.

Caitlyn ran her fingers through her shoulder-length hair. "I know I'm not a proper woman," she said. "But I don't want my hair to fall out in clumps."

"Caitlyn, come close to me," Susan said as she slowly and carefully got into bed, taking care not to move to suddenly for the growing child inside of her. When Caitlyn got close enough, Susan took a firm hold of her hand. "Sarah moved to hug me from the front, not considering her child. That struck me as very odd. Then it felt as if there was a pillow under those blankets instead of a belly like mine," she said.

What does this have to do with hair? Caitlyn thought as she looked around her sister's head for missing patches.

"What I'm trying to say is this," Susan's voice grew so quiet, Caitlyn had to strain her ears to hear. "Pregnant women don't lose their hair in clumps."

The younger sister felt her face contort in confusion. "But then, what was all that about? Oh," Caitlyn said when she realized what had happened.

"You must never tell anyone, understand?"