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Rednal29: Here ya go!

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Chapter 5-The Secret's Out

Some time later, Eliwood headed down to the main area for lunch, looking a tad nervous. But, thankfully, there were no girls stalking him. None whatsoever. Lunch proceeded as usual until the unfortunate ending...

"So, Ninian..." Eliwood was saying. "How do you like it here so far?"

"I... It's great." Ninian said, blinking in confusion. "Much better then any other place I've ever been to."

"Ah." Eliwood said. "I was just wondering what your point of view was, since it's a lot different from what I'd see in a country."

"...Oh." Ninian said quietly. A man walked through the doors a moment later, and the hall was suddenly very quiet. On his cloak he wore the emblem of the Dragon Hunters, an extremely small but powerful group of warriors who were dedicated to destroying the Dragons if they ever somehow returned. After seeing their power, and admitting that they had enough skill to do it, the leaders of all the countries had given them leave to roam the entire continent at will, so their searches wouldn't be hindered. But on every person's mind except for one, the only question was 'What the heck is a Dragon Hunter doing here!?'. "Um..."

"Is something wrong, Ninian?" Eliwood asked. The girl quickly shook her head and sunk back into her seat. The Dragon Hunter walked forward, looking more to the side then the front, searching for somebody. He came to rest in front of the main table, looked at Ninian, and smiled evilly."May we help you?" Eliwood asked.

"Lord... Eliwood, if I'm not mistaken." the Dragon Hunter said, bowing to him. "What is the name of the girl next to you?"

"...Ninian. Why do you ask?" Eliwood replied.

"Ninian, hmm?" the Dragon Hunter replied. "...You are not aware of what she is, are you?"

"...I don't understand what you're talking about." Eliwood replied. The Dragon Hunter smiled, pulled a small plant out of his pocket, and held it towards Ninian. As soon as she saw what it was, the girl's eyes widened in shock and she scooted backwards, terror upon her face. She was also biting back a scream. "What's going on here?"

"There is only one creature in the world that's afraid of this plant." the Dragon Hunter replied. "This is Dragonsbane, and toxic to one creature. The Dragon. I could put an entire field in my tea, and other then the fact that it wouldn't taste all that good, It'd be fine. But the smallest particle of this plant inside a dragon's mouth would kill it almost instantly."

"...You must be joking. You think that Ninian is a dragon!?" Eliwood asked, looking quite annoyed. "Do you see any scales on her? Or fangs? Or claws?"

"Of course not." the Dragon Hunter replied, putting the dragonsbane away. "But some dragons have the ability to shapeshift into a human form, with physical characteristics matching what the girl looks like. Not specifically, of course, but the hair and eye color combonation says it all. My job is to get rid of her, immediately."

"...No." Eliwood replied.

"What was that?" the Dragon Hunter asked, his hand on his blade.

"I said, no. You are not going to touch a single subject of this Kingdom, much less kill one." Eliwood replied.

"Are you mad!?" the Dragon Hunter asked. "She's a bloody dragon!! They're sick creatures that would kill you as soon as look at you! You should be thankful you're not already dead!!"

"Ninian could have killed me anytime she wished." Eliwood replied hotly. "When my father first brought her to me, while I was asleep, she could easily have killed me! And there are more then a dozen other times when she could have killed me and escaped before anybody noticed! She hasn't done a single thing to warrant hatred! Maybe she is a little unusual looking, but that's just because she's not from anywhere around here!!"

"You're deluding yourself, kid." the Dragon Hunter replied. "Ask her. Go ahead, ask her."

"...Ninian?" Eliwood asked. The girl looked down, shaking.

"I-it's true... I am a Dragon..." she whispered. There was instant commotion as people began rushing for weapons. "But I'm not evil!!"

"What was that?" the Dragon Hunter replied. "Not evil? Hah!! You expect me to believe such rubbish!?"

"I've never harmed a single human, not in my entire life! You just think that all of us are evil by nature, but we're not! We just want to live in peace, without being persecuted!!" Ninian cried.

"Dragons killed thousands of humans during the wars!" somebody shouted.

"You're just lying! You're a murderer too!!"

"Kill her!!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!!" Lord Elbert bellowed. There was instant silence. "Do any of you here trust me!?"

"O-of course we do, sire." almost everybody in the hall said, pausing.

"I knew that Ninian was a dragon when I first met her. But I bought her, and gave her to my son. Do you really think I would have done so if there was the slightest chance that Eliwood would be put in danger?"

"N-no sire..." somebody muttered. The rest looked too embarassed to speak.

"And has Ninian ever acted any less then courteous to anybody, no matter who they are?" Lord Elbert continued. Several people shifted around uncomfortably, but nobody could come up with anything. "And you still believe that she should be killed? Has she done anything worthy of death, that you can prove?"

"She is a Dragon, that is reason enough." the Dragon Hunter replied, drawing his sword from its sheath. It was sharp, but more importantly, edged with dragonsbane that was spelled to not wither. So a single slice from it would kill even the strongest dragon. "Do not try to stop me, Lord Elbert. She is a beast of evil, and must be destroyed. That is my purpose in life, to hunt down wicked creatures like her!"

"You will not touch her." Lord Elbert replied calmly. "Unless you want to fight the entire army of this country to get to her."

"No knight would rush to her aid, no matter what." the Dragon Hunter said, scoffing. Lord Elbert smiled and walked in front of Ninian, spreading his arms.

"Maybe not to help her, but they would fight for a week straight to protect me." he replied. Most of the Knights nodded, stepping up and putting hands on their blades. The Dragon Hunter began to look very nervous indeed.

"I-I don't want to have to hurt all of you." he said, trying to bluff. "I am merely doing my job. Has not every leader in the world approved of the questof myself and my companions?"

"Lord Uther did. I did not." Lord Elbert replied. "He may decide all things in Ostia, but for Lycia to approve or disapprove of something, it must be put to a vote in the Lycian League, which it has not. Now please leave, Hunter, and do not return. You are not welcome here."

"...I will return, to get rid of the dragon. But if in the middle of the night your neck is sliced open by a dragon's claw, do not blame me." the Dragon Hunter hissed, backing out. The doors were firmly shut after him, and Eliwood stared at Ninian, who loked even more withdrawn then usual.

"Ninian..." Eliwood said quietly. "My father's right. You are not evil, even if you are a Dragon. I, at least, completely trust you." Ninian was silent. Instead of responding, she just got up, returned her chair to it's proper place, and brought her dish over to the kitchens, where it would be washed. She expected to have angry eyes upon her the whole way, but few were angry. Most were viewing her in a different light, their opinions of dragons somewhat changed now that they had actually see one, though in human form. Instead of returning to her seat, however, the girl headed off to Eliwood's room. It was a gross breach of Slave Protocol, but not a word was said about it, not here. "Ninian..."

"She will be fine, Eliwood." Lord Elbert said calmly. "She just needs a little time to calm down." With that said, he raised his voice to address everybody. "Attention! Ninian is a subject of this country, just as all of you are. The same laws apply. No one may lay a hand on her except for my son, because she is his slave, and he has that right. And the laws do carry stiff penalties for being broken, remember that." he said. The unsaid part was that anybody who did anything out of reasonable line would be dealt with harshly. Not just because of what Ninian was, but because it was what the law dictated.

Several minutes later, Eliwood walked quietly into his room. Ninian was sitting on the bed, hugging her knees.

"Ninian?" Eliwood asked. The girl looked up quickly. "No, no, there's nothing I want you to get up and do. I just wanted to talk to you."

"Oh..." the girl said quietly. "I see..." Eliwood quietly sat down on the bed, next to the girl.

"I don't view you any differently." Eliwood said, sighing. "It doesn't matter if you're human or not, you're still you. And I'm grateful that you chose to stay here. You could have left anytime and we couldn't have done a thing to stop you. But instead you just stayed here, with me."

"I... I like being with you..." Ninian admitted. "You're a very kind person. And I can make sure my clothes and myself are clean... I'm well fed... I've got a good place to sleep. What else do I really need?"

"Not much." Eliwood said, letting out another sigh. "You could have done that elsewhere, too, but you still chose to remain."

"I-it's not like that..." Ninian whispered, a slight red tinge on her face. Eliwood didn't notice.

"Then why are you still here?" Eliwood asked. "Did you meet somebody you really like?"

"Y-yes..." the girl squeaked out, face now bright red. She quickly hid it with her hands. Eliwood blinked, not really understanding. "I... I did meet somebody... I really like..."

"And... Do you see him often?" Eliwood asked, trying to figure out who it was without making it obvious.

"Y-yes."

"Daily?"
"Y-yes."

"Is he... Somebody I know?"

"I would hope so..." Ninian said, laughing nervously.

"...It's not my father, is it?"

"N-no!!"

"Oh, good. Somebody high-ranking, then?"

"Yes." Ninian said, understanding what Eliwood was up to. She decided to play along, as it were.

"Hmm... Is he good with weapons?"

"Fairly."

"Have you watched him use them?"

"Yes."

"...It's not Hector, right?"

"Right."

"Whew... Harken! It must be him!"

"No..." Ninian whispered.

"You don't mean... Marcus!?"

"No, not him either." Ninian said quietly.

"...I can't think of anybody else I know you've watched use weapons with any degree of skill..." Eliwood muttered. "This is harder then I thought it would be. Does he use a sword?"

"Yes."

"A broadsword, rapier, or other?"

"Rapier." Ninian said quietly. Eliwood blinked, finally realizing who it was.

"You mean... It's me?" Eliwood asked, eyes wide. Ninian nodded, face crimson. "I... That... Explains a lot..." Ninian blushed even more, hiding her entire face with her sleeves. "It's okay, Ninian, you don't need to be embarassed about it. It means a lot to me, it really does."

"Y-you mean... You're not rejecting me like you did everybody else?" Ninian asked, uncovering her eyes so she could peek out at Eliwood.

"Of course not... I love having you around." Eliwood said.

"That's just because I can do all sorts of things..." Ninian whispered.

"No, that's not the only reason." Eliwood said. "As a person, you're really fun to be around. You almost always have a bright smile on your face, and you're always helping out even beyond what you're asked to do."

"R-really?"

"Yes, really." Eliwood said, akwardly reaching out to hug the girl. She slowly let him embrace her, as a few tears slid down her cheeks. "You don't need to cry, Ninian. As long as you want to be here with me, I'll make sure you get to. You're a good friend to me. I care about you, quite a bit more then I care about others. And from what I've been told by my father, that's really saying something."

"Thank you... Lord Eliwood." Ninian whispered, hugging him tightly for a moment. She quickly pulled back at a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Eliwood called, getting up. The door opened to reveal the black-haired stranger who had helped Ninian earlier that day.

"O-oh, it's you!" the grl squeaked out.

"You know him?" Eliwood asked.

"H-he's the one who drove away those girls that were after you." Ninian explained.

"It was no big deal..." the stranger said, looking faintly embarassed. He was only Eliwood's age, after all. "Anyways, sorry if I was interrupting something, lovebirds, but I've got a message for Eliwood, and I don't like having to wait." He walked over to Eliwood and handed him a letter. The red-haired boy quickly opened it and read, his eyes growing wide.

"W-what is it?" Ninian asked.

"This handwriting... It's too perfect." Eliwood said, blinking. "Even the best scribe couldn't be this exact on every single letter, no matter how slowly and carefully he worked. Not for this much."

"You're beginning to catch on... It wrote that letter itself, you should feel honored." the stranger said.

"What's 'it'?" Eliwood asked, narrowing his eyes.

"It is it." the stranger replied unhelpfully. "Now what's your answer?"

"Hold on, at least give me a few moments to think." Eliwood said. He stared at the letter, then handed it to Ninian. "Would you read that aloud for me, just so I know I didn't read it wrong?"

"O-of course." Ninian said, reading said letter aloud several moments later. Her eyes grew wide as she read, and she trailed off at the very end, stunned. "This..."

"Mmm." Eliwood said. "I have a few questions I'd like to ask, then, before I give my answer."

"Go ahead and ask." the stranger replied, sitting down on a chair. He hadn't been invited to, but none of the three really cared.

"First of all... Why me? Why not Hector, or Lyn, or even my father?" Eliwood asked.

"Well... Try using your own brain for once." the stranger said, a tad rudely. "You are quite possibly the only man alive outside of that place who has actually gotten to know a dragon. Your father and many residents of this castle can attest to that fact, that's some pretty powerful force you would have behind you. You know the only person Outside who we know to be a dragon, so your word is worth a lot to us, as well. You're also underestimating yourself. Lord Uther knows that Lord Hector does not make friends very easily. And with that blood-rite-warrior thing you do, he knows that he can trust you absolutely, so your word carries more strength then you know."

"Okay, I guess I understand." Eliwood replied. "So who are you?"

"My name is Rai Aquarius, and I'm messenger boy and warrior rolled into one." the stranger promptly answered.

"Okay... And what should I say?"

"Explain that we wish to become a member of the Lycian League, but don't want to cause trouble because of our... Unique culture." the messenger boy/warrior Rai replied.

"...Unique culture?" Eliwood asked. Rai sighed, looking annoyed.

"Why can't you people ever use your brains?" Rai asked, one of his eyes twitching. "Dragons live in Arcadia, nowhere else on this pla-- Er, nowhere but here in a certain Lycian Castle. Our culture, as a result, is far different. However, it was put to a general vote, and there was a unanimous agreement to change if need dictated it in order to fit in to Lycia. End of story."

"...I'll see what I can do." Eliwood said, nodding. Rai got up, thanked Eliwood, and vanished. There was no smoke or noise, he was just there one moment and not the next. "...I guess I should free you, then." Eliwood said, looking at Ninian. "It wouldn't be the best ambassadorial move to have an enslaved relative of one party behind me while I'm negotiating."

"N-no, that's all right." Ninian protested. "I want to be your slave, much more then I want to be free."

"...If you say so." Eliwood replied, slowly nodding.

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