"Lord Seed, welcome back." The guard greeted him.

"Thank you, it feels good to be back." Seed replied.

"You must be tired after your long trip from Zexen my lord. I will escort you to your quarters."

"That will be un-necessary. I know the way to my own quarters."

The two guards bowed and opened the large oak doors.

Seed walked through the large doors, closing them behind him. The sound echoed among the castle walls, sending a chill down Seed's spine. The castle sure seems crowded today. Seed thought. Maids, servants, soldiers and officers were crowding the wide hallways. Seed turned around looking at two officers discussing something. He tried to squeeze through the large many yelling bodies. Suddenly a female servant crashed headfirst into Seed's ribs, knocking him off balance.

The young beautiful lady looked up towards Seed with her large eyes. "Oh, my lord I'm so incredibly sorry. I was not looking where I was going. I..I."

Seed looked down at her, offering her his hand. "It's understandable, please come with me." Seed turned around desperately looking for a place to get away from the crowd, he noticed an open door and quickly ducked into it, dragging the servant with him.

"NO!" The servant girl screamed, "please don't take my head....I...I didn't mean to crash into you like that. I'm...I'm terribly sorry!"

Seed raised his hand to cut her off. "No, I wouldn't think of taking such a beautiful head as yours. I just want to know what is happening."

The servant girl sighed a sign of relief. "Oh thank you my lord."

"Please, try to remember."

"Haven't you heard? Prince Ruka has burned another one of the City-States villages. And he's coming back here today!"

"Thank you..." Seed replied waving her away. He walked back out into the crowded hallway trying to make his way towards the staircase. Seed climbed the stairs, when he reached the second floor he heard crying. The walked down the hallway checking each open door. The crying sound got closer as he reached the end of the hallway. "Hello?' He called, nobody answered. "Hello!?" He called again, silence once more. He slowly opened the last door to find an older man sitting at a desk in the corner of the room. He immediately recognized his as Grayton, the Foreign Affairs Minister and now rumoured to be Lord Ruka's new military advisor. "Grayton?" Seed called

Grayton looked up from his varnished oak desk. "Seed?" He asked. "I see you have returned safely from Zexen." He said wiping the tears away from his face

"What were you crying about? Grown men should cry like that," Spoke Seed.

"I'm sorry, how...How could I have allowed Ruka to do such a horrible thing...How?" Greyton asked. "He was such a sweet child before his Sara and Dagan died."

Dagan....I had heard rumours of Lord Ruka having a younger brother. But I wasn't sure if they were true or not. Seed thought. "Please Grayton, tell what happened," he asked.

"Ruka...He personally lead the attack on Ryube village in Muse. He.....He murdered innocent townspeople. Women....Inn keeps, barkeeps....And...Poor innocent children. Me and Solon tried to stop it...But we couldn't do anything to stop his bloodlust."

Ruka........ I can't believe that one of the Highland royal family would do such a thing. Thank you Grayton." Seed replied as he left Grayton's quarters and closed the oak door behind him.

He turned his head to see a tall figure dressed in black turn a corner. Krugan? "Krugan!" Seed yelled as he ran down the hallway. He turned the same corner but saw nobody. Confused, Seed walked back to the General's quarters. Seed unlocked the door to his room and entered closing the door behind him. He untied his sheath and left it on an end table. Seed then walked over to an oak cabinet and reached for a bottle of spring wine and a glass. He walked back over to the dining table and poured a glass of the white wine. He was just about to take a sip when he heard a large knock on his door. "Come in." Seed invited.

The door swung open as Krugan came walking in.

"Krugan, I have been looking for you." Seed lied. "Care for a glass of wine?" He offered

"Yes, thank you Seed." Krugan said as he took a seat at the table, reaching for the other wine glass. "I trust you have heard about Ruka's deed in Jowston?" Krugan asked.

"Yeah, I had a talk with Grayton in his quarters a little while ago. He told me the whole thing." Seed said, sipping his wine.

"Well Prince Ruka and Solon just got back from Jowston. You have heard of the Mercenary Fortress east of Muse haven't you?"

Seed placed the glass back down on the table. "Yes, I have what about it?" He asked

Suddenly Grayton came bursting into the room. "Seed, Krugan. Ruka has called an immediate meeting for all his generals. Please come with me."

Back in L'Renouille. He's been back and forth so much, he's starting to get cranky. Every time he finishes something, there is always something calling him back to L'Renouille. Well, no matter I suppose, it's for the country. He thought about this and snickered at it. HAH! For the country my royal ass.

He walks down the hallway to the meeting room. But then, he paused.

He looked to his left and saw a door. He paused in the hallway for a long while, looking at the door. He looked at it with an expression of wonderment, and puzzlement. He then came closer to the door.

The knob.

He looked at it intently. Looking at the small knob. Yes, this is the room. It has been such a long time, he almost forgotten about that day. The fateful day.Where things take a horrible turn for the worse. he turned the knob and suddenly, something in there amazed him more than anything he's ever seen.

"Ruka, honey, don't come in yet, your little brother's not ready for the ceremony. Nobody is allowed to come in here other than the Queen, remember?" She said to him.

Wide eyed, Ruka paused at the doorway, looking at the ghost of his mother. And then, another ghost came into the scene.

"Hey Ruka, look, do I look like you now?" the ghost asked him.

Ruka was aghast by this. He never thought that he could still see his little brother.

"No, Dagan," Ruka replied, with a calm and gentle expression on his face, "you look much better than me now." Ruka then tried to come closer when a wind blew into the room from the open window and all the ghost disappears. Because of the death of the queen, the room was never used ever after the incident. Ruka kneeled to the floor and slammed it hard with both his fists.

"Better than me now." he said while acrouched on the floor. Trickles of water dropped from his chin, making a little sound unheard by anyone except for him. The empty hallway, making its ghostly appearance before him.

He wiped the tears from his face and went to close the window. He slowly took the latch and locked the window up. And then proceeded to exit the room.

In the hallway, instead of going to the meeting room, he goes the other way.

He went on until he reached a flight of stairs and went up the stairs. After arriving at another hallway and going down it, he came upon a room. He entered the room with no hesitation. It was his own room. He proceeded into the restroom and turned on the faucet. He cupped his hands at the flowing water and filled it up. As the water spews out of his hand, he was still unmoving.

"Dagan.... mother...."

Then he takes his cupped hand and splashed the water inside it onto his face.

"I shall avenge you!"

He then proceeded again through the hallway into the meeting room.

He reached the end of the hallway. A huge, monstrous door stood upon him. The knob, or handle in this case, to the door, standing right in front of him, looking really small in comparison to the monstrous door. He looked at it for a while, and turned back to look at the other door, where the ghosts roam. And he opened the door to the meeting room.

"Gentlemen, welcome to the meeting."

And the door slammed slowly behind him.

Seed looked up from the war room table to see Prince Ruka in his bulky armour as usual. Seed, Krugan and Grayton stood up. "My lord Ruka, welcome back to L'Renouille" Seed greeted.

Ruka sat back down slamming his bare hand down on the table, causing the water glasses to overflow. "As most of you know, the two outermost villages near Muse; Toto and Ryube, have been burnt to the ground. There is only one thing left to do." Ruka paused.

Seed noticed the crazed look in the prince's eyes.

Krugan spoke up. "We are told that two of the head mercenaries are considered heroes in the Toran Republic. I suggest caution."

"Caution? HA!" Ruka spat. "They are nothing but Mercenary pigs! But still we need a decent strategy. "Are there anyone here who is up to the task?"

The room was silent. "Our chief strategist Klaus is currently in Two-River, I have ordered two Elite Soldiers to bring him back as soon as possible. He should be here within the week."

"Good! Once the troops are organized. We will commence that attack!" Ruka said.

The three generals stood up.

"One more thing, Seed." Ruka called

"Yes Lord Ruka?" Seed asked

"For your decisive efforts in organizing our military efforts... I'm hereby promoting you to Co-Commander of the Highland army. Do not fail me." Ruka said as he stood up and left the room.

Seed stared at the bare stone wall shocked. Me? The general of Highland's entire army?

Krugan came up from behind him and startled him. "Well, that was unexpected. Good luck, and congratulations." Krugan smiled for a moment, then he left the room.

Seed walked from the war room to his quarters. He removed his robe and lay down on his bed staring at the ceiling. Can I handle this? Seed asked himself as he placed his hand on his forehead. Suddenly he heard three knocks on the oak door to his quarters. Seed jumped off his bed. "Come in," he ordered. The heavy oak door opened to reveal a tall, skinny man with long greasy hair and boots that reached up to his knees. He noticed his uniform and immediately recognized his uniform being that of the defence ministry.

The man bowed, "Greetings Lord Seed, my name is Stiles, I have been assigned to work as your liaison. Please use my services to that end."

Great, this is that last thing I need is a boy scout as my aide. Seed sighed, thank you Stiles, I want you to organize a meeting with Krugan, Solon Jhee, Kiba and Klaus when he arrives. That will be all." Seed said as he turned his back and walked back over to his desk.

"Of course sir, oh and I'll be sure to wake you early next morning. Good night Milord.

Seed reached back for the bottle of spring wine which was almost empty and sighed. I can see tomorrow is going to be a long day.

Krugan headed from the war room to his quarters. “An interesting turn of events. It figures it has come down to this though. The Mercenary Fortress is next.” Krugan thought as he strolled along. Along the way, a man approached him. He seemed to be of the Defence Ministry. “Lord Krugan, Lord Seed requests your presence at a meeting with Lords Kiba, Klaus, and Solon Ghee. I will inform you again when the meeting is to take place.” He said.

“Thank you.” Krugan replied.

Krugan then proceeded to his quarters, where he took off his robe. He lied down on his bed. “I’m going to need a lot of sleep for tomorrow.” He thought. After a while, Krugan eventually drifted off to sleep.

He walked down the hallway only to see a sihoutted figure leaning on the wall left of him.

"Where have you been, Justan?" he asked.

"Why, Lord Ruka, were you concern of my well-being?" he replied to the prince.

Ruka showed an expression of anger and stared at Justan intently. He shrugged and then proceeded to move on to his quarters. That is, until Justan stopped him by tapping on his shoulders.

"Lord Ruka, I wish to accompany you to your little... project, if you don't mind."

"Frankly, Justan, I do mind. Though you did help me with the whole Ryube case, and getting the rest of the cowards off my back, but I still don't trust you enough. As the saying goes, Once a thief, always a thief. I believe this saying goes well with turncoats too." Ruka replied to him, making sure this remark strikes Justan deeply into the heart.

And apparently, it worked. Justan's confidence was lost by the change of face, shown right away after Ruka said the word turncoat. But he shook it off and gave out a grin.

"Whatever you say, but you still haven't really answered me. Can I, or can I not accompany you to your little outing?" he asked again, persistenly.

Ruka stared at Justan long and hard. Trying to figure out what this man is thinking. What is his angle? Is he trying to do something? What is his motive? He has been a Highland Advisor for a long time already, but Ruka still cannot accept him well enough.

"Fine, but you do not accompany MY troops. You follow Seed's troops. I have no use for a turncoat or observer on my troops." Ruka replied.

"Really? Then what do you call Grayton? I heard that all he did during the Ryube Burning was only cry. I believe that falls into the category of Observer, don't you?" Justan exclaimed while rubbing the little goatee on his chin.

Ruka didn't even hesitate. The next minute, Justan was sprawled on the ground. A big bruise, covering his cheek.

"You ever talk about Grayton that way again..." Ruka didn't even bother to finish that sentence, he just turned around, cape flowing galantly behind him and stormed off.

Justan got up and looked at Ruka's figure, going away. He rubbed his cheek. That kid pack one helluva punch, gotta give him that. And then he turned around and smiled.

All in all, I know his little weakness now.