Flight of Cendrillon

Chapter 12: Knight and Princess

Luka tried to remember the names they'd shouted on the boat while she was being invaded.   She thought this one was Yuu.

"I'm not a Loyalist, so I'll only ask once for you to stop insulting me by insinuating I'd ever work with them."

He looked surprised to see Luka speak to him in fluent Sudlandian.  "Then who are you!?  Confedere?!"

The brunette, who she was certain was named Kyo, spoke up.  "If you're with the Confedere, then you can tell the Commander..."

"Both of you be quiet!  She hasn't said anything!" scolded the black-haired man, switching back to Sudlandian.

"... I've only accounted for two of you, your name is?"

The black-haired man grunted.  "Wil's right, we don't give in that easily!" Yuu shouted.

"So Wil then.  Thank you."

The glare from the other two men seemed to silence the rather quick speech of the blonde boy.

Luka could only assume the "Confedere" was the "Confedere de Lys."  The same group her parents had once joined, little good it did them.  But she knew it was still active since the fall, under a different leadership, always looking for a chance to liberate their kingdom.  Frankly she assumed the Emerald Dawn had been recruiting out of their ranks or absorbing them entirely.  So if they were asking about them, the was a chance the organization was still active.

"What do you want me to tell the Commander?"

The three boys clammed up and Luka felt her frustration growing.  She was good at taking secrets without people knowing her identity - teasing them out with cleverly laid traps.  Taking it from someone she'd just beaten up - was she supposed to torture it out of them?  'That's probably not the best tactic...' she thought, 'They'll just say anything to get me to stop, rather than telling me what I need to know.'

But that meant she needed to get to know them... assuming nobody would come looking for a missing scouting patrol.  Which they most certainly would.

"Look, all we want is intel on Nordland!" Gumi shouted, "What are their movements?!  Where are they building up?!  We don't have much time!"

When the silence persisted, Gumi looked as frustrated as Luka felt.  "Fine, just leave them here and take their boat.  We don't have time to argue.  Gakupo, I'll..."

The flatness of the room in front of her reminded her of a certain weakness she still possessed.

"... take care of things here.  Gumi, help him out of here and grab enough for us."

Her footsteps felt a little steadier as she kept adjusting to the new vision her remaining eye provided, but she still didn't feel confident risking dropping a person.  Gakupo tried to prop himself up in the bed as Gumi came over to grab him.  "Sorry it didn't work out!" he apologized, "But I understand... you took your oaths for a reason.  Sudland though, right?  Whereabouts?"

"We came from... Saint-Urbain... not that you'd care," Kyo said gruffly.

"Eh?!  The border city?!"

Gakupo perked up.  "How's it holding up?  So close to Westheim... ah!  They're famous for their macarons too!  Oh, it must feel so colorful and..."

"It's been cut up.  It's so important to Estmarch they're always stomping through it, making sure nobody in the resistance were to cut off the border access."

Somehow... Gakupo was getting them talking.  Just through small talk?  Now that the conversation was going again, Gumi gently returned the poor man to the bed so he could be more comfortable.  "You said something about the Confedere, did they ever help you out?" he continued.