. . . I haven't updated in forever.

Well, I guess it's better late than never. . .

(Oh, look. A rhyme.)

No A/N. Just writing.

"Drachman"

Silvene's POV

Edric Edison. An incredibly obvious fake name, but effective nonetheless. The disguise, too, was quite helpful. Edward Elric had completely disappeared in public. And Edric was a surprisingly excellent actor.

He laughed and smiled and joked, keeping his voice deep but gradually losing the gruff, unwelcoming tone. He quickly grew popular in town, despite no one knowing much about him.

Gravor, my cousin, and I watched him from the shadows. I watched how he talked, soft at times, loud at times, always ready to express his opinions but never yelling or shouting. I watched his walk, the slight limp that he always pretended was nothing when asked if he needed help getting around. (It really was nothing, after all.) He waved away help and never let anyone get too close, remaining mysterious.

The women were crazy for him.

For some odd reason, I didn't like that.

I will admit that I felt. . . close to Edric. To Edward. Both Gravor and I spent extensive amounts of time with him. It was only natural that we grow to know him.

Still. . . I felt that I knew him quite well, better than everyone else. I knew not only the Edric the townspeople knew, but the past Edward that resurfaced in the privacy of his own home. I knew his more welcoming, fake side, and his abrasive true personality.

And he still remained mysterious. I still didn't know everything about him. It kept me intrigued by this golden man swathed in brown and black and rusty orange, like he had built a mud fort to block the sun. He was the sun, in that case, bright and impossible to look at directly, which just made me want to see more of him.

I wanted to know everything. I knew some of his past, but not all, only what everyone knew. I wanted to hear about his childhood, his past from his perspective. I wanted to learn the little things that he never told anyone else. I wanted to know him.

When I told Gravor, he gave me an odd look.

"What?" I asked irritably.

Gravor shrugged. He was not a man of many words.

"Tell me, Gravor."

He sighed. "Maybe you are falling in love with him."

My stomach dropped.

"Th-that's ridiculous!" I replied, flustered. "I would never fall in love with someone our mission concerns, especially not an Amestrian!"

Gravor shrugged again and did not reply.

It had been two days since that conversation. I tried to forget about it, but every time I saw Edric, I remembered Gravor's words.

"Maybe you are falling in love with him."

In love with him. Love.

I couldn't look Edward in the eye. I was afraid that he would see something in my gaze, something that I was afraid to admit to myself. And if he did. . . if he saw what I wasn't even sure was true. . . then what? He could never feel anything real and powerful for me. Gravor and I were his bodyguards and his captors, keeping him from those he truly cared for. I was nothing more than an acquaintance. He'd gladly give up knowing me if it meant going back to them.

That knowledge- knowing that he would gladly forget ever meeting me to go back to his friends and family- made me hate them with a passion. I wanted Edward- Ed- to want to know me and remember me and care about me. I wanted to be more than his bodyguard. I wanted to be his friend, his confidante, and maybe. . . someday. . . something more? Perhaps. Once he forgot about the people searching for him. They didn't need him the way I needed him. They had so many memories of him. Why couldn't I have something to keep?

"Are you okay, Silvene?"

I started, blinking wildly, staring into chocolaty irises. I fancied that I could penetrate the thin veil over his eyes and see the gold, shining through the darkness and illuminating everything with his own unique light. . .

Calm yourself! I demanded of my mind frantically. Edward always seemed to see through me, no matter how well I could lie. I always felt transparent in front of him, even though I knew that there was no way he would ever be able to call any bluff I made. My poker face was perfect, my acting skills commendable.

He made me want to lower all my defenses so that he could know me.

If this is love, it's making me weaker than I have ever been before. I don't like it.

But. . . I did.

"Oh, Edric," I breathed, relieved. "It is just you. I apologize, I. . . zoned out? Is zat ze proper phrase?"

Edward smiled, then laughed lightly, and my heartbeat picked up traitorously. "Yes, Silvene. We do call it zoning out. Don't doubt yourself, you have excellent command of the Amestrian language."

It was compliments like those that made him so dangerous to every girl in the village who was looking for romance. Softly putting doubts to rest, telling them that they were imagining small flaws, and that he thought they were lovely anyway. Speaking softly, slowly losing his gruff, hostile tone, allowing a smile to come to his lips, as though they were breaking through his shell and he was letting them in, when in reality he was playing them. He was good at what he did. The smile, soft and sweet, never made it to his eyes. Still, it was quite effective.

Sure enough, I felt a blush come to my cheeks. "Zank you, Edric."

Edward sighed. "Please, Silvene. It's Ed. You know that."

My flush deepened. "Yes, I'm sorry. . . Ed."

Ed smiled. It was a closed mouth smile, but the corners of his eyes crinkled and I knew that he wasn't faking it. He enjoyed his time spent with me.

Just the mere fact that the thought of him liking my company excited me was a sure sign that things were going too far, but I couldn't pull away. He was smiling at me, his captor, like I was someone he's known for a while and was comfortable around. Like I wasn't keeping him from his old life. Like I was his life.

"What are you thinking about?" Ed asked.

I almost jumped in surprise, but I caught myself just in time. "Oh, it is nozzing. I was just. . . zinking about zis place, here. It is. . . nice. Cold, but zat makes it feel more like home."

Ed chuckled. "I guess it would seem a lot like Drachma, what with all the snow," he replied quietly.

I nodded, not daring to speak. Ed had that far away look now, the one that told me he was thinking of another time and place, where it was warm and grassy and he had known everyone since he was just a boy. Resembool, his home in the East. It couldn't be more different from Drachma, a frozen wasteland in comparison to rolling pastures filled with sheep. Just another difference between us.

I excused myself quickly and walked away, ignoring the tightness in my chest and the burning in my eyes.

Why did I let myself fall?

The answer, of course, is that I didn't let myself do anything. I didn't mean for this to happen. The plan didn't allow for mistakes like this, but it wasn't like I could just stop myself from feeling. Some of our better agents could shut themselves off from the world, but I wasn't on that level yet.

How could I go through with our plot now that I harbored feelings for one of our pawns?

End of Chapter 4

Okay, so I didn't really do much but expound on Silvene's growing attraction and hint at a secret agenda belonging to the Drachmans. I meant to go into that a little more, but I failed. Sorry! I'll expand on that in the next chapter. Maybe. Savvy?

I like that. "Savvy". I think I'll use that more often now.

Jeez, my recent Doctor Who marathon is showing. . . oh well. Not like it matters. We're all fangirls here.

Anyway, RFF my little, big, and medium ones!

Love ya! lulu