Prince and his Knight

chapter 4 Forest

(Ike's view)

"What the hell do you mean he is missing?" I sneer at Chrom. He sighs and shakes his head. Over the past few days, we have gotten a few other people to help us fight, but I have only really spoken to Chrom.

"Prince Marth is gone." He says again. "Prince Takumi found a note in his room saying that if we surrender, they will give him back."

"But we will not surrender." I say, anger still bubbling in my chest. "I will get Marth back, one way or another. I'm not sure how they fight were you are from, Prince Chrom, but we fight until we get what we want."

"And so do we." Chrom says. "I just want you to know I am very sorry. But I have faith he will be okay."

Chrom then leaves my room, and I draw my sword and dig it straight into the wall. But it only managed to get a few inches before I couldn't fit it anymore. Marth is gone. The prince. My lover. The person who wanted to save his land the most.

How in Gods name did this happen? I told him not to leave the castle, and I know for a fact he never did today! I don't core what I will have to do to get him back. I will lie. Cheat. Steal. I will get him back.

Most everyone stayed away from me today. I'm guessing because they know how close Marth and I are. I'm glad they did, to say at the least; I don't want to yell at them for no real reason.They took Marth because they want us all the attack. They want us to try to get him back, so they can pick us off one by one. They took Marth because he is an easy target. And I wasn't there to protect him. 

"We have a plan." Prince Xander says once I sit in the dinning area. On the table rather than food were maps. "We wanted to make sure you were okay with it, because you knew Marth best and would know what he would say. We are thinking of sending teams of two to all the area around the forest. My soldiers have found that there are more monsters in that area, so we are guessing Marth might have been taking there. And for the time being, all we can say is that we think Grima might be there as well."

"But what if this is all a trick?" I say. "They might want us to try and find Marth so they can kill us with ease. I think that we should have a group of people go into the forest. The rest should stay here."

"Yes, but how will we know if trouble strikes?" Xander asks me.

"The pegues knights." I say. "We can use Subaki and Camilla as the messengers if something goes wrong."

"I do like that idea." Xander says. "But how will we find out who goes."

"Well, Prince Xander, I don't really give a damn as long as I get my prince back." He seems surprised by my choice of words, so I add, "You can pick who comes. Make sure at least one of the people who come know how to heal wounds."

The group of people coming into the forest were Lissa, Chrom, Reyson, Xander, Niles, Leo, Lyn and myself. The group was small, but this wasn't an all out battle. The plan was to get Marth and get out of here.

"I'm a little scared." Lissa says to me. "Don't you think we should wait a day or two, Ike?"

"No, I don't." I answer, slightly sharply. "Who knows what is happening to Marth right now. We need to get him back as soon as we can."

"And then what?" She asks. "Go back and go get Grima?"

"I'm not sure." I say. "But right now, we need Marth back. Grima's army is large, so we need to be fast. You are the healer, right?"

"Yep!" She says, grinning. "But I still don't understand why everyone else isn't coming along with us. Isn't that a smarter idea?"

"We have some people we are using as messengers." I say, slightly annoyed. I don't understand why I need to tell her this after explaing it to everyone twice. "It will be fine."

But I really didn't know that. The truth was I was scared. The though of someone hurting Marth chilled me to the bone. Plus, I am the one who's job it is to keep him safe. And I have failed him when he needed me the most. 

"I am rather excited." Niles says as we head out. "I never pass up the chance to use an arrow."

"Good." I say. "everyone, listen. I want you to stop at nothing to get Marth back. If you truly need to fall back, no one is stopping you. Marth is the heir to the kingdom, he is the king and queen's only child. I don't wish for him to die in this war.

"A war?" Leo says, tching. "This is what you call it? It is a battle."

"Leo, stop." Xander warns. "We chose to help Ike and Prince Marth in any way we can. They would do this for us, i'm sure."

"we would." I say without braking a beat. "Now less talking, more walking."

I knew at this point they were wondering why I was so worried about Marth. I wish I could just tell him he was my everything, but I couldn't. Not when they could use that against me, not when they could think I am weak. I stop right before entering the forest. Over my head, I could see the shadow of Subaki above us, but that didn't make me feel any better. I take a large breath and walk into onto the green trail.

If you mess with Marth, you get the fangs.