Chapter Text
“Just promise me this,” Hohenheim said as he led Riza and her father up his estate's tower. “Neither of you will try to kill the other during these meetings.”
“I can’t make any promises-”
“If they don’t try anything we won’t,” Riza said, cutting her father off as she gave a somewhat sympathetic look.
“I’m going to regret doing this.” Hohenheim sighed as he shook his head, sounding less sure of himself than when Riza first said hello to him just a few minutes ago.
She knew the peace talks would happen soon, best to rip off the bandaid and see if they could actually stand to be in the same room with each other before they unpacked. But it was quicker than she anticipated, she hadn’t even had time to take a breath of the cold morning air before Hohenheim was dragging them to the meeting.
As they finally reached the towers landing, Riza saw Trisha Elric standing in front of two men, guarding them as if to make another barrier between the two parties. The two men looked drastically different. One of them was young and fit, with dark black hair and matching black eyes. He didn’t fully seem to register their entrance as he was absentmindedly staring at the floor and jiggling his leg. The Prince. Riza knew who he was instantly and felt something stir in her stomach. Next to him sat a man much older than him. He was frail and hunched over, with thinning gray hair that looked as pale as rain clouds. She knew he was the Southern King.
“Ah hello, dear,” Hohenheim said, the uneasiness in his voice not wavering.
“Hello,” she replied, her voice tinged with the same worry as Hohenheim's. The king and prince both looked up and saw them. The prince helped his father stand up as Hohenheim walked to Trisha.
Hohenheim was a traveling merchant whose estate was in one of the abandoned towns that bordered the East and Southern kingdom. It’d been taken by both sides so many times it was now forgotten and left to rot, yet it somehow still remained. Hohenheim himself didn’t stay here much but his wife, Trisha, and their sons lived here along with their servants.
Hohenheim, who’d apparently seen more of the war than her father despite looking younger than both him and the southern king, had never taken a formal side in the war. He had ties to both kingdoms and knew it would be bad business to pick one over the other. So he managed to dodge everything by just staying aside and only appearing when called upon if needed. But he, along with the rest of the bordering countries, hated the war nonetheless; so when the Southern kingdom reached out to him asking for help in organizing a peace treaty, he jumped on the offer. No matter how stressful it must be to house the leaders of two warring countries under one roof.
Hohenheim and Trisha looked at each other for a moment, as if asking the other if they were sure about this. They seemed to decide as they both stepped aside, moving close to the wall and away from the four of them, as they finally took the other in full.
As the king of the Southern kingdom, Calvin Mustang, and his son, Prince Roy Mustang, stood in front of them she could get a better look at the king. The man who once stood tall and could insight fear into the hearts of many was now starting to lose his charm and strength.
He’s worse than I imagined. Riza thought to herself. The illness is spreading faster than they said, which means we’ll have less time to form the treaty than anticipated.
As if pulled by invisible strings, they all moved forward at once and stopped just in front of each other. The disgust radiating from them all was palpable.
Riza’s father firmly shook King Mustang's hand. While she and the prince gazed at each other before trading a simple curtsy and bow as a formality, technically neither of them was supposed to be in the meeting as it was only meant for the kings to discuss, however, due to the Southern kings declining health, as well as Riza's fear that if she wasn’t in the meeting they’d get screwed over, they made the exception to allow both her and him with both sides saying that allowing the heirs to sit in would help them keep the treaty intact for years to come.
Though Riza had wanted to argue a bit more on allowing the prince in the meetings since she was acting queen regent of the East while he was only a prince and a warrior, and a vicious one at that. He was known amongst her troops for never showing anyone any mercy in battle. But, oddly enough, he didn’t look how she’d imagined. First, he was younger than she thought, only being two years older than her at twenty-three. And secondly, he was shorter than she thought, only a few inches taller than her. Sure he was strongly built, but this didn’t make sense. He didn’t seem anything like the merciless warrior that took every battle by storm and ended it swiftly. She also couldn’t stop looking at his thick black hair, it stuck out in so many odd directions that she couldn’t quite figure out how it would get like that naturally. He gave her a confused look from her scrutinizing gaze and she felt her cheeks heat up, not realizing she’d been staring until that moment.
“Shall we proceed?” She said quickly, hoping to move on from her embarrassment.
The Southern King nodded, meekly, and they headed inside the tower's chamber. Riza heard Hohenheim mutter something under his breath and she knew it was most likely a prayer.
She was the last one to enter the sparsely decorated room. It was only furnished with a wooden table and four chairs for them to sit in. There were pieces and parchment and ink, but besides that, the room was void of any life. Most likely to lower the chances of any of them finding weapons to use. Riza took a seat in one of the chairs and her father followed and sat next to her while across from her the prince helped the king sit down, though the king seemed annoyed and waved him off before the prince sat down.
After they settled they began discussing borderlines immediately. The borders needed to be redrawn and redistributed so it was smartest to do that first. Luckily both sides were willing to give back the land the other side had taken, but some land was harder to negotiate than the others. They all tried to remain as civil as they could be, but tensions were running higher and higher. Until they reached one of the final pieces of land that had been taken closer to the start of the war and both sides laid claim to it.
“We cannot budge on Ivy’s Burrow,” the prince said, trying to bite back the anger in his voice, as he stood up and pointed at the map. “Yes it was taken from you, but it was done nearly over seventy-five years ago. We’ve had families build lives on that land, we can’t just tell them to give it up.”
“And what about the people whose home that once was before you stole it?” Riza stood to meet his eyes. “Do you just want us to tell the people who’ve dreamed for years of returning home to abandon that dream?”
“Those people haven’t had that land for over seventy-five years, they’ve started lives elsewhere.”
“They’ve been refugees for nearly seventy-five years, they deserve to have a home again.” Riza looked down at the map and pointed to a new land they had just given to the Southern Kingdom. “This land has plenty of space for them to live. We would offer aid in the help of relocation as well. Our people deserve to have their home again.”
“And our people don’t deserve to lose their homes.”
“Yet you didn’t consider the people who were already there when you took it, didn’t you?” She snapped at him, her patience wearing thinner and thinner.
A tense silence filled the air as their eyes remained locked on one another, daring the other to make the first move. She felt a gentle touch on her hand, she looked down and saw her father's weary smile. She exhaled slowly and stepped back.
“It’s late, we should rest. Otherwise, we’ll just be at each other’s throats.” Riza said.
“Perhaps you’re right,” He ran a hand down his face, stepping back from the table.
—
“You both lasted longer than anyone thought,” Rebecca said as she placed Riza’s dinner tray on the coffee table in front of her. They were all supposed to eat together but neither her nor her father wanted to be in the same room with them if they didn’t have to. “I heard the kitchen staff placing bets that you’d both just kill each other.”
“Well we might’ve if there were any weapons around but they emptied the room out of anything sharp or dangerous before.” She said as she grabbed a roll on the tray and passed it to Rebecca.
Rebecca was her Lady in Waiting and her closest friend, they were the only two children growing up in the castle together. Because of that they got along well and were more natural around each other, dropping the formalities they were meant to carry.
“I think the stable boy bet on strangulation, so I’m sure he’s upset.” She said, leaning back and pulling the roll apart. “But no one was surprised that neither kingdom came down for dinner, I think they were more relieved than anything.”
“They didn’t come down either?” She asked, her brows pinching together.
“No, the prince also requested to have their meals in their rooms.”
“I wonder if that has anything to do with his illness,” she pulled the roll apart as she thought about it. “He did seem a lot sicker than what the letter led us to believe.”
“Why’s that important?”
“It means we have less time to formulate this treaty, there can’t be a passing of power here. So either we get the treaty done before his death or he has to return home and come back. Which means he’ll probably try and move as quickly as he can through the negotiations.”
“So you think he’ll agree more if you’re stubborn enough?”
She shrugged. “One can hope, though I doubt he’ll budge on anything.”
“Why’s that?”
“Many things, the way he acts in meetings it seems like he already went in with a set plan for how it’ll go and doesn’t seem keen on changing that plan.”
“Sounds like someone I know,” Rebecca said as Riza gave her a look.
“I don’t like what you’re insinuating, we’re nothing alike.”
“I know you aren’t but I know you also won’t leave here without what you came for either.”
She exhaled through her nose. “Maybe so, however unlike him, I will get everything I came to get out of this treaty.”
“I have no doubt you will,” Rebecca said as Riza leaned forward to eat her dinner.
—
In their correspondence they decided they’d take a few days in between each meeting to lower the chances of bloodshed, so for the next few days, she was left to her own devices. And Riza decided that exploring the estate would be a good idea since she would be here for a few months. They initially aimed for three to four months to work on the treaty but after yesterday she was afraid it might take longer than anticipated.
The estate itself looked rather impressive considering it had its own farm. There was no town nearby for miles as it had been abandoned during the war after countless fights and retakes of the land until it became all but uninhabitable. Leaving no side to claim it or have any memory of whose it was first. After Hohenheim met Trisha he decided to build the estate here and start a family. They built the farm to be able to live alone and hired people to help them run the place. It always fascinated Riza and she hoped to see it someday, though just under different circumstances.
As she walked around the estate she tried to find Ed and Al. Riza had seen them briefly yesterday but didn’t properly meet them nor was she able to talk with Ed or Al for too long before she had to go to the meeting.
“I wonder where they are?” She mumbled to herself as exited the estate.
She entered the expansive courtyard at the back of the estate where the hedge maze rested with a stone gazebo in the center of it. To the right of the maze was the farm and garden, where it looked like people were tending to livestock. To the left were a barn and a small workshop next to it with smoke coming from a chimney. She decided to check out the barn as she remembered hearing briefly something about Ed's automail needing adjusting.
As she approached the workshop she heard Ed and Al talking to a girl.
“I don’t think we should be joking about one of them killing the other,” Al said, worry in his voice.
“I think it’s less joking and more just waiting for it to happen,” Ed explained, though there was a hint of humor in his tone. “They were barely in that room for an hour and started fighting, it’s only a matter of time before they decide to end the war physically instead of with paper.”
“Even our hosts have no faith in us,” Riza said as everyone turned to look at her. “We must be worse off than I thought.”
“Princess Riza!” The blonde girl quickly said as she stood up and bowed while Ed and Al looked more surprised to see her.
“Hello,” she said with a smile. “I didn’t mean to bother you.”
“Oh no you’re not bothering us,” Ed said, with a smile on his face. “Winry’s my mechanic and is just touching up my automail.”
“Oh,” Riza said as the girl, Winry, sat back down. “I didn’t know there was something wrong with it.”
“It’s more of a precaution,” Winry said as she turned back to the auto-mail. “Anytime Ed comes back from a trip I tune-up his arm and leg to make sure they’re okay.”
That would make sense since Ed and Al were the ones that met my father and me to lead us to the estate. She thought.
“I don’t understand why, it's not like I do anything to them,” Ed grumbled under his breath.
“Changing the shape of them with alchemy alters them and can ruin them,” Winry said, slightly annoyed.
“I change them back to how they were initially so it’s not that big of a deal.” Ed scoffed and Winry rolled her eyes, focusing instead on his arm.
“So,” Riza said as Ed and Al turned to look at her. “The prince and I seem to be the talk of the manor?”
“Oh no,” Al quickly replied, sounding nervous. “No one’s talking about you two-”
“It’s fine, my Lady in Waiting told me last night that most of the staff was placing bets on us.”
“You heard about that?” Al seemed slightly embarrassed as if he was the one starting the bets.
“Yes it’s fine, I know this isn’t the most ideal situation for anyone to be in so I understand the need to find a way to make it easier.”
“Well if it helps I thought you two wouldn’t kill each other.”
“Thank you, Al,” she said with a smile. “At least someone thinks we can pull this off.”
“I think everyone agrees you’ll end the war,” Ed said. “It’s just more so in what way it’ll be done.”
“That’s the million-dollar question.” Riza sighed. “I just hope it’ll be peaceful.”
“Well, as long as the prince doesn’t act like a complete idiot for once I think you can end it peacefully.” Ed seemed annoyed to even mention him.
She gave a small smile. “Not a fan of him either?”
“No, he’s an annoying know-it-all who only thinks of himself and no one else!”
“Guess I have competition on fighting him.” Riza laughed lightly as she leaned against the post of the workshop.
“No you don’t,” Al said, a smile finally on his face. “I’m pretty sure Ed and the prince would fight more than you two would if given the chance.”
Ed looked annoyed by Al’s comment which made Riza smile.
“He calls me short and thinks he knows everything!” Ed said defensively.
“To be fair, he does know more about combat than you do,” Al said.
“But that doesn’t mean he’s better with alchemical com-BAT!” Ed said as Winry tightened a bolt in his arm, causing him to scream. “Winry! I told you to tell me before you connect the nerves!”
“I would if you would ever stop talking!” She said as she put the screwdriver away and Ed started to move his arm. “How does it feel?”
“It feels good, thank you.” He said with a smile.
“I wouldn’t be smiling,” Al said. “She still has to check your leg too.”
Ed groaned as Al and Winry laughed.
“Well,” Riza said and they all looked at her, she could they’d forgotten she was there which stung slightly. “I think I’m going to go look around a bit more. Do you have any recommendations?”
She didn’t want to, but she was bad at conversing with people like this. It had always been hard for her to make friends and it was next to impossible to do it if everyone was already close but her. They all had a life here and she was merely a guest passing through. She was better off running into the prince than staying here.
“Not sure,” Ed said as he rubbed his chin. “The library might be of interest to you. Just take a right at the main entrance and follow it until the end of the hall.”
“Will do.”
“And if you see the prince, just yell and we’ll come to save you.” He added.
“It won't be that bad if we’re in the same room together.” Hopefully, she thought. “After all we survived yesterday, what could go wrong?”
“You really don’t know the prince, do you,” Ed said.
“I’m sure I will soon.” She smiled and turned around, walking back to the estate. “I’ll see you all later.”
—
The library wasn’t grand. It was large with a few added bookcases in the room as well as a few built-in along the walls with a small seating area in front of a fireplace with armchairs that looked older than her. Riza turned toward one of the tall stacks and began reading the spines to see if they would be of any interest to her. It was mainly alchemy books, which made sense due to Hohenheim's typical trade but was the furthest thing from interesting to her.
Trisha must have something here. She thought as she ran her finger along the spines of the books.
She sighed after she found nothing and ended up pulling a random alchemical book from the shelf. It looked like it was on fire, the same type of alchemy her father studied in his spare time. She opened it and began skimming the pages as she sat down in the window seat that overlooked the Estates maze garden, the hedges showing a wide array of rose colors of orange to red.
She tried to focus on the material in front of her but it was incredibly dry and nothing was making sense to her. Alchemy never really was her thing, it was always too dry and complicated and felt more like work than anything else. Which wasn’t something she wanted to study leisurely. She started to feel her eyes shut but tried to fight it, though a nap seemed like a good idea. The warmth of the window and smell of the books was all too comforting as she rested her head on the wall and her eyes began to shut-
The floorboards creaked and her eyes sprung open as she looked toward the sound. Standing there, completely petrified, was the prince. Neither of them moved, both frozen in place as they looked at each other while trying to locate any weapons nearby in case the other attacked. But that would defeat the purpose of why they were here. They’re both here for the same reason they should, logically, have no reason to fear the other.
“Hello.” She said in a firm tone.
“Hello,” he returned in the same tone. “I didn’t mean to disturb you, I was just trying to find a book to read.”
“As was I…” She trailed off, closing the book and holding it to her chest as she stood up. Deciding to follow Ed and Al’s suggestion and not be in the same room as him.
“Don’t feel like you have to-”
“No it’s fine, I was just leaving.” She said, cutting him off as she put the alchemy book back in its spot. “There’s nothing here that really interests me.”
“Alchemy isn’t your thing.” He said in a somewhat lighter tone, as if he was testing out the waters.
“Not really, no.” She said, lightening her tone as well.
“Ah well that’s understandable,” he started as she turned to look at him. “Not everyone is capable of understanding it.”
Her eyes widened as he realized what he said.
“What?” She asked.
“No, I didn’t mean it like that-”
“Oh and how else did you mean it?” She asked, crossing her arms as her face hardened.
His face was deep in thought as he tried to find an answer. “I only meant that alchemy is a hard subject and not everyone is capable of learning it-”
“So I’m unable to learn alchemy?”
“No, you can learn it but it’s just not easy for everyone to understand it-”
“And let me guess, it’s easy for you to understand?”
“What does that mean?” There was an edge to his tone, like he was almost offended by what she said.
“Oh I don’t know,” she said, sarcasm and annoyance dripping from her voice. “I’m assuming from your comment you know alchemy so therefore you’re smarter than me.”
“I didn’t say you weren’t smart-” He tried to amend, quickly though he did seem somewhat earnest.
“No, just that I’m too stupid to understand it.”
“Now you’re putting words in my mouth!” He said, his tone rising to something that was teetering on a full-blown scream.
“Then what are you trying to say!” She matched his tone back, as they stared at each other. Neither of them moved from their spot as they glared, daring the other to strike first.
That was when the floorboards creaked and they both looked to see Ed and Al, both of them out of breath with fear in their eyes.
“What happened?” Ed asked hurriedly.
“We both were looking for something to read and ran into each other,” Riza replied, returning her gaze to him. They both started to calm down and she felt slightly ashamed at how quickly a fight broke out.
“What were you fighting about?” Ed asked.
“We weren’t fighting,” the prince said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, sounding slightly defeated. “We just had a misunderstanding.”
“Yes, because saying I’m an idiot is a misunderstanding.”
“I didn’t say you were an idiot-” The prince started as Al came over and began to drag her away before he could finish his sentence.
“I think it’s best if we just all leave each other be and let this pass,” Al said, not leaving any time for either of them to argue, though Riza wouldn’t object and it didn’t look like the prince would either.
—
The following morning Rebecca brought a note along with her breakfast and upon inspection, it was the prince inviting her to an afternoon game of chess in the garden.
“No,” she said, crumpling and throwing the paper onto the table next to the breakfast plate. “I am not spending any more time than I have to with him. Especially after yesterday.”
“Riza, he's offering an olive branch,” Rebecca said, sitting on the couch next to the armchair Riza was currently sitting in.
“Yeah sure.” She said, leaning forward and stabbing the poached egg with a bit more force than intended.
“Maybe he’s trying to apologize for yesterday.”
“He can apologize by not talking to me ever again.”
“You know that’s not possible,” Rebecca said, pointedly.
She sighed, leaning back in the chair. “Even so I don’t see why he’d try and spend more time with me than we have to.”
“Maybe he thinks talking to you outside of the meetings will help the alliance?” She offered, though Riza didn’t look at her. Instead choosing to stare at the broken yolk in front of her as she mulled it over. “Riza, he’s trying to meet in the middle. Like it or not you have to work together on this treaty or else we’re risking the war continuing. I know you don’t like him, I know he’s an ass, but you have to be at least civil to him. If you both can do that then we can get the treaty over with and be done with it.”
Riza was silent as she thought over her words.
“And what better way to be civil than accepting an invitation to a chess game?” Rebecca added.
“Yes,” Riza said as she leaned forward and dipped her toast in the yolk, and raised it to her mouth. “Because chess is such a civil game.”
Riza took a bite and thought for a moment.
“Fine,” she said. “Tell him I’ll meet him in the garden at noon.”
“Will do.”
—
“He’s late,” Riza said to Rebecca as they stood at the entrance to the hedge maze.
In the center of the maze rested a stone gazebo where a chess board was put out for them. Hohenheim thought it was best that if they were electing to spend more time together than necessary then it would have to be outside, so not everyone had to hear them yelling.
“I’m sure he’ll come soon, my Lady.” Rebecca said reassuringly though it made Riza cringe slightly at the formality.
Her least favorite thing was being referred to by status in her downtime, so Rebecca only referred to her by her first name unless others were around. And unfortunately, four guards had been ordered to watch them play, understandably based on their last encounter, so she couldn’t drop her title.
“Even so, it’s quite rude to invite someone to a game and show up late.” Riza huffed out.
“Give him time,” Rebecca said, cautiously. “If we really need to, we know where his room is.”
“I doubt they’ll let us get anywhere near his room,” she mumbled under her breath so only Rebecca could hear, which made her giggle lightly.
She then heard footsteps approaching, quickly, and turned her head to see the prince.
“Your highness,” he said, an apologetic smile on his face while she just glared at him.
“You’re late.” She said bluntly before walking into the maze. He followed her, quickly.
“Yes, I had to talk with my father about something and didn’t realize the time.” He said, catching his breath. “I’m sorry for making you wait.”
“I see,” she said as she turned her head back to make sure Rebecca was following them. She didn’t realize that the prince’s Courtier, a blond man who towered over not only Rebecca and her but the prince himself, was also accompanying them as he walked next to Rebecca. “I usually don’t keep engagements where one party is late.”
“Then I thank you for staying,” he said as they walked leisurely through the maze toward the center.
They didn’t talk though, Riza wanted this entire thing to be over and done with as soon as possible. And engaging in conversation would prolong this torture more than she needed.
“How long have you been playing chess?” He asked, trying to break the silence.
“Since I was 8.”
“What a coincidence, that’s when I started playing too.”
“Indeed.” She said as they rounded another corner.
He sighed, seeming to pick up that she wasn’t in the mood to talk. She could feel Rebecca glaring at her though and she knew exactly what she was saying to her. “He’s making an effort, the least you can do is try.”
She sighed, fidgeting slightly with her bangs.
“You know,” she said as they turned another corner, surprising him as he stumbled slightly on the turn. “You speak more in the meetings than your father. You mentioned briefly in your letters that he was sick but from how he looks and your role in the meetings it makes me wonder just how sick he is.”
She heard Rebecca make a noise behind her. “That’s not what I meant.”
“So you were studying me?” He asked, though he seemed more interested than angry.
She merely acknowledged his gaze and remained silent, waiting for his response.
“Well, I could also say the same for you. You talk more than your father in these meetings, it makes me wonder about your kingdom if it’s not even being run by its own king.”
“I’m acting queen regent, my father was a soldier first so while he led the battles I took on my father’s roles as well as my mother's after her death in running the country,”
Since you killed her with this war I had no choice . She thought.
“So I’m allowed to take charge at these meetings since it’s my role . But you’re not a king, just a well-decorated soldier. You have no real bearings on the treaty, except militaristic.”
“Ah, so you see my sword before my brain? That’s a bad move, underestimating your opponent’s strengths based on rumors.”
“I suppose,” she didn’t look at him as she made a sharp turn that would lead to the very center of the maze and he stumbled trying to keep up. “Or it could be a way to ensure the safety of my people.”
“You act like I’m not worried about your people. Believe me, I am. I just don’t want my kingdom to get the short end of the stick.”
“Same to mine,” she said as they entered the center of the maze, there was a stone gazebo surrounded by an array of flowers and ivy creeping up and over it. In the center sat a stone table with an elaborate elegant chessboard placed on top.
“Are you ready for the match?” She said as she ascended the stairs.
“Yes, but I don’t think you are.” He said, a challenging tone to his voice that felt more playful than intimidating.
“We’ll see.”