The Second Princess [indefinite hiatus.]

Chapter Thirty

I don't own Fire Emblem.

...

Diana ran her fingertips across the books, looking for something, something to answer her doubts about who she truly was.

She traced a title on one of the books. "Brands of Plegia," She murmured, and then snatched the book off of the shelf.

Opening it, she sat down, continuing her search for answers.

...

"Checkmate."

"Blast cousin! Your mind is too powerful against my own!"

Diana raised an eyebrow as Owain collapsed on the table, which held the chess pieces. Morgan smirked confidently, leaning back on his chair.

"You know you could have just moved the queen here and the rook there, and you could have easily taken my king, right?" the tactician said, and Owain lifted his head up for one second before dropping it on the table again. The chess pieces clattered, and a few pieces turned over.

"I have failed my honor and glory!"

Diana giggled and whacked his head lightly with her book. "Relax, Owain. You went up against Morgan. He lost his memories, not his skill."

Severa, who was sprawled on the ground nearby, snorted. "As if he could ever get that through his thick skull. I'd honestly have no idea how he gets through his day."

"Then why did you start courting him?" Cynthia asked curiously from where she was huddled in the corner.

The girl being questioned narrowed her eyes. "Shut your mouth."

"Weird as it may be, those two seem very...er, comfortable with each other," Diana blinked as she settled on her window seat, curling up and opening her book.

Most of the future children were gathered here in her bedroom to hang out at, at Diana's suggestion as a way to calm the tense air before the storm. Yarne was missing, which was no surprise, but what really confused Diana was that Lucina and Inigo had not showed up as well.

Diana flipped through the book, turning to the page she was on. She was on chapter twelve, and though it had already been a day since she started, she still couldn't get any progress. She couldn't discover the origin of the tattoo, no matter where she looked.

Anxiety pricked her skin. It had been three days since they had arrived back in Ylisse, and there was no success on the search for the final gemstone. Not to mention that she hadn't been receiving any nightmares either, which should have been a relief, but it made her nervous instead.

She nearly jumped when Laurent appeared behind her, peering at the text with perched glasses. "My, Diana, what are you looking for? All I see of you these days is with your nose stuck in that book."

The princess quickly snapped the book shut loudly. "You're the one buried in books all day." she murmured, hiding the title between the covers of her dresses. "It's just basic research. Nothing important."

"Ya just researching random stuff?!" Brady asked, rolling his eyes as he worked to clean his staff. "You've always been mysterious, but this is taking it to another level."

"Leave her alone," Nah said quietly, sitting cross legged on the ground. "It's none of our business."

"It damn is!" Brady snapped. "She's our friend, and we're all worried about her, ya know?"

Diana gave him a tight smile. "...let's not worry about it, okay? I think I can handle a little bit of privacy."

"Says the girl who let us in her bedroom to 'let us relax', or so she says." Gerome grumbled, leaning his head against the wall and crossing his arms. "I don't think this is quite the time to be relaxing when we might be visiting clear misfortune soon enough."