Well, here's that idea about Cheve that I mentioned after "Love Is Like Killing" (of which this is a sequel, so go check it out). This takes place right after Cheve and before Cyrkensia in Conquest. This story has a few differences from "Love Is Like Killing." I've gotten rid of the present tense. This story is also much shorter than the first one, which is a little surprising, because it felt as if it were longer. Anyhow, I hope you folks enjoy it. ~Sean

The dead bodies did not bother me. I had killed too often to be moved by blood. The only thing that affected me was the sight of Corrin's despair as he realized the true nature of Nohr. I could do nothing. Corrin was only restrained from acting by Lady Camilla.

I remember a day long past when Selena first joined us. His Majesty had just executed one of Camilla's maids after Selena had been complaining over her work. His Majesty had considered it the simplest solution to Selena's customary yowling, and he ordered Camilla to keep control of her retainers. Selena clearly had not expected his response. Had Lady Camilla not been holding her back, Selena would have died on the blade of Bölverk. Now Lady Camilla was holding Corrin back to save him from the same fate. And I could do nothing.

A week before, I likely would not have wanted to do anything. I would still have been moved by Corrin's sorrow, but I was afraid to get close to anyone—especially him. No longer. There was nothing I would have liked to do more than to comfort him the way I should—the way that I see the few surviving villagers comforting their spouses, lovers, friends, and families. But I could not. I did not know how. So I stood by and watched Lady Camilla restrain Corrin in her way. And then his eyes met mine.

Corrin walked toward me, and to my surprise, he asked me if I was all right. He knew that I was fine. He was asking because he needed something to take his mind off Hans's massacre. He needed to help someone in order to help himself. But I did not answer. I did not know what to say.

Corrin embraced me and held me tightly against his shoulder, whispering that everything will be well.

"Corrin. I am sorry. I do not know what to do."

Corrin did not reply, but his whispers stopped, as he tried to think of a response.

"I don't either, Beruka," he said finally. "This is the second time Hans has . . . I don't know what to do now."

"The second time?"

"He killed . . . he killed Gunter when the war began. He claimed that my father had ordered him to do it . . . My father ordered him, just like now. I suppose it's my fault for being so trusting, and I've held guilt over Gunter's death with me ever since, but Gunter was a soldier, and in an odd way, he probably was glad to have died in combat protecting me. Gunter was like that. But these people . . . these people didn't . . . they didn't need to . . . and if I had not been such a naïve—"

"Hans did this. He is the guilty one." I did not know why I said it—it was an obvious statement. A fact. But Corrin seemed to take comfort in it.

"He did, Beruka. I know it. But I enabled him. I've enabled my father to use Hans for that purpose. But Camilla's right, also. As cold and heartless as he seems, King Garon is one of the most powerful men in the world, and he is also my father. I can't be reckless, and I have to know whether he has been behind Hans. And even then, how can I stop . . . kill Hans when I won't also . . ."

He did not finish, leaving me to wonder what he was about to say. He continued holding me until we returned with the rest of the army to the castle. He then wandered away to think alone. And I could still do nothing—or rather, nothing to help him then. But I could do something to help him later. I had not known about Gunter, the old knight and retainer for Corrin. But now that knowledge gave me direction.

Hans had to die.

His Majesty may have given the orders, but Hans was the one who was always sent. Perhaps his Majesty would find another assassin (for lack of a term more befitting Hans's barbaric methods), but this current one had proven all too eager to do his worst. Hans had to die. And if Corrin could not bring himself to do it, I would. It would be better anyway. I knew what it felt like to kill. Corrin did not. Corrin was a good person. I was not. And if justice for Hans would keep Corrin from becoming like me, then I would mete it.

In the next few days, we traveled to Nestra, where his Majesty was waiting for Corrin and his troops to report. We traveled in two convoys: one containing all of Corrin's troops and materiel and another containing the troops under Hans. This gave me an excellent opportunity to observe my target. Hans did not act like much of a leader. He delegated much of his administrative authority to a lieutenant, allowing Hans the time to play cards, talk to tavern women, and persecute his underlings. He also made a point of starting a worthless conversation with Corrin for no other purpose than to watch Corrin try to maintain composure. For a moment, I felt a slight burn in my chest, but I dismissed it. I had more important things concerning me then.

Hans was clearly most vulnerable in the towns. It was only then that he would put away his axe and begin to gloss over important warning signs. On multiple evenings, I bribed different tavern wenches to carry concealed knives when . . . interacting … with Hans. He noticed each time, but disregarded it, reportedly dismissing it with a joke on most occasions. And if he noticed a pattern, he did not indicate it. Hans also was sloppy while in town. Every form of alcohol flowed freely opposite the flow of Hans's blood money, and he did not bother to check if the alcohol was suspicious most of the time. He just ate, drank, and … interacted.

I found planning to be more difficult than in the past. Before, I would have taken a wig and posed as one of the tavern's women after he had already become too drunk to recognize me—if he even knew who I was in the first place. When I would have gotten close enough to him with his guard low, I would have poisoned his drink, or perhaps have stabbed him—more certain that way. But I found that plan … unacceptable somehow. Every time I tried to play out the plan in my mind, my train of thought fell apart. I could not play the part of a sultry tavern wench when the thought of that night at Macarath was in my mind—the thought of Corrin treating me like more than a monster. A monster could play the part of a tavern wench in order to kill a target. But I could not. And I found that … I liked that fact.

Abandoning that plan brought new inspiration. I could poison his drink just as easily from the outside as inside. The only issue would be keeping the tavern women from sharing any of it. My first thought was to offer a split of the prize money, but I reminded myself that there was not any. It was an odd feeling. I did not do pro bono work. Not ever, unless you counted requests by Lady Camilla, which were considered part of my salaried duties.

Not having enough of my own money with which to bribe anyone to murder, I would have to resort to a different route. One of the taverns up the road notably had a lavish room that Hans had actually mentioned when bragging to one of his fellows about his plans for that coming day. I flew ahead to scout it, and, after entering a high window, discovered a large chandelier supported by chains sturdy enough for me to walk on it. The room also contained a massive curtained bed that created many blind spots. This was a place I could work in without notice.

That night, I followed Hans during the early portion of the night until he turned toward the tavern. Avoiding his sight, I moved to the back and then began climbing to the window.

"Beruka!"

It was Corrin. Did I have time to talk with him? It didn't matter. I could make time. Hans didn't move quickly when entertaining himself.

"Beruka, what are you doing?" Corrin whispered.

"I am killing Hans."

Corrin suddenly dropped his face into his palms. "No, no, no, you can't Beruka! Don't do this, please!"

"Corrin, I do not understand. I am doing this for you."

Corrin laid his hands on my shoulders. His hands were quivering. "D-don't do it, Beruka. Don't do it."

"You are still hurting, Corrin. It has been more than a week since Cheve, and you are still hurting. I have to do something about it."

"Beruka…"

"You are a good person, but your inability to kill a murderer is tearing you apart. But I can kill him. I can bring justice. For the Chevois. For you."

Suddenly, Corrin's hands became firm, and he drew them off my shoulders. His jaw locked for a moment, and then he spoke:

"No, Beruka. The problem is that I can kill him. I want to kill him. I've thought of nothing more all this week than running my sword through him every time he walks up to me and mocks me about Cheve. He boasts of how he killed and then tells me he's willing to 'share the credit' with me when we reach Cyrkensia."

"Corrin, I—"

"The only thing—the only thing, Beruka—that stopped me from killing him was—Beruka, I can't—"

"Corrin, let me do it. I can do justice, and you can have a clear conscience."

"Justice? That's the problem, Beruka! How is it justice that I kill Hans for following orders—however awful—when I'm in lo—when I've forgiven a woman who did the same thing!"

My chest became hot and my teeth began to grind, and I couldn't stop it. For a moment I wondered why I would react this way, but my mind didn't stay on that for long. I could not stop thinking about those last few words. "I do not deny that I deserve punishment for what I have done, Corrin. But I have changed, Corrin—you changed me! I do not want to kill Hans. I am killing him because I am already damaged, and I don't want you to be!"

Corrin didn't respond. But I could not stop myself. "And I had thought that you believed I had changed too. But clearly, you still believe me to be a monster, and I—"

"No, no, no, Beruka, no. That's—that's not—Beruka…"

Corrin was shaking his head and came close, holding me tight. Part of me wanted to accept it, but this emotion—anger?—made me pull myself away. Corrin released me, but held his fingers out toward me as if to call me back.

"Beruka, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

I walked away, and suddenly the anger drained from me. I turned to see Corrin returning to camp. I … should not have done that. It was strange. I had never felt like that before. I had never felt so hurt, but I had hurt him just as much.

I decided that I had to continue. I would have to earn his forgiveness later. But first, I had to take away his source of pain. It would hurt him for me to kill on his behalf, but it would hurt him worse to live every day under the guilt of the Cheve massacre. I wondered if he might hate me for doing it. And perhaps he would, but it would be better for him to hate me than to hate himself.

I buried the memory of that conversation and returned to the tavern. Sneaking into the room was simple. Hans had already had his fill of entertainment and had passed out in a chair with a spilled wine glass dangling from his fingers. I crept through the window onto the chandelier and from there to the floor on a pile of pillows to deafen my noise. Unfortunately, my delay due to the talk with … my delay had eliminated any opportunity to poison Hans's drink. A knife would have to do instead. It was more dangerous, but with a sleeping victim, it would be simple.

I drew one of my concealed knives and began stepping lightly around the draped bed, then the table where the empty wine bottle sat toppled. I approached from behind, allowing the moonlight from the window to give me as much visibility as possible. I could smell the horrid odor of stale food and cheap, spilled wine as I came within arm's reach of his heart, standing just a few inches away from his sleeping head. I raised my knife over his heart—

D-don't do it, Beruka. Don't do it.

I paused.

No, Corrin. I have to do it. I have to do it for you. I'm sorry.

The knife fell.

"It's done." I whispered to myself. "It's d—"

I do not know what happened next. I blacked out for only a moment—I think—and awoke to feel several sharp pains in my back. As I regathered my bearings, I saw that I was laying on top of a splintered wooden door in the middle of the tavern, where the patrons were scattering. Directly in front of me was the empty door frame with nothing but three glints of moonlight shining out: two eyes and one knife.

The glints approached the doorframe and faded into the emerging silhouette of Hans. He glanced down at me in bewilderment before noticing the knife handle sticking out of his shirt above his heart. His massive right hand reached over and ripped the blade out. He then took off the shirt to reveal a padded mercenary shirt above a layer of metal armor with a narrow hole. The blade hadn't even broken skin.

"Cheap garbage. I thought it would be able to hold up against a witch your size, 'specially with a lousy knife."

He knew. He knew I'd been following him. How foolish to think he had simply ignored the signs: the armed tavern women and their excuses. Or maybe it was some other tell. Too late now.

"You should've slit my throat, woman. But from what I've heard of Beruka, you prefer to be a little cleaner than that." He paused to rub his hung-over forehead and then stomped toward me. "But it's about to get really messy for you. Hope that's not a problem."

Before I could react, he picked me up by the midsection and hurled me through the tavern's front door.

"You're the one that Hoshidan prince was huggin' after that fun night at Cheve, aren'tcha, lass? Boyfriend's a bit of a wimp sending you to do his work."

He picked me up again and slammed me against the wall of the tavern like a ragdoll. He said something else, but I was too dazed to understand. Before I could look up again, I felt him kick me across the ground.

"Y'know, this is probably dishonest of me, but I think I'll add you to my Chevois body count. After all, this is probably a result of that whole shebang anyway."

He kicked me again, this time against another nearby building in the village. I began to see lights in my eyes, but I was unsure if they were the villagers waking up to see what was going on or if I was seeing stars.

"I don't like to think of myself as cruel though—just a humble executioner-for-hire, after all—so if it makes you feel better, I'll include your deadbeat boyfriend in the Cheve count too. It'll be only the least I can do to let you be together in dea—"

I caught a glimpse of a silver blur carry Hans out of view, followed by Selena running to my side along with Felicia. Selena rolled me over and laid me flat on my back as Felicia began healing me. My head fell limply to the side, where I saw Hans pinned between a wall and a dragon's horns.

"C-Corrin…" I said, weakly.

"No, no, Beruka," Selena said. "Just keep quiet."

Corrin screeched in a way I'd never heard before, even from his dragon form. He drew back from the wall, allowing Hans to fall to his feet and start to run away. Immediately, Corrin swept his front leg into Hans's back, slamming him into a nearby building. Hans tried to rise again and Corrin grabbed him in his claws before flying into the air, screeching again.

"Corrin," I said to Selena. "Is he alri—"

Corrin threw Hans into the ground from midair.

"I don't know, Beruka. I've never seen—"

"He's feral," Felicia replied, panic in her voice. "This happened once before, in Hoshido, after his mother died in his arms. He has a dragonstone that's supposed to control it, but… I don't know. I've never seen him this angry. Azura stopped him before, so Sir Silas is looking for her, but I—I don't think she'll get here in time."

Corrin carried Hans into the air again before slamming him into the ground and dragging him along, coming dangerously close to knocking over Felicia with only the wind from his wings.

"Watch what you're doing, Felicia! You're supposed to be healing my friend, not falling on her."

"S-sorry, Selena. I'm j-just a little overwh-whelmed."

I could feel my body coming back together, raw but strong again. I gingerly pulled myself to my feet, though pain filled every step.

"No, Beruka, you need to rest a while. Hans very nearly killed you."

I looked at Corrin, who was wheeling around in search of Hans. He had apparently lost sight of him after one of his blows. What was going on inside his mind? Feral? Was he even in there, or was this just the dragon? This was all going wrong. If Felicia was right about his state of mind, I had put him in far worse pain than I could have thought. How much could it hurt to be nothing but a monst—?

I knew how that felt.

And I knew what could help one feel better.

I began walking toward Corrin, only to be held back by Selena. "Beruka, no! Were you not listening to Felicia? He's not in his right mind right now. He'll kill anybody!"

I ignored her and pulled away. She ran in front of me and grabbed my arms.

"Beruka, stop right now! He wouldn't want you near him when he's like this. The last thing he wants is to—"

"Selena. I told him the same thing when I thought I was a monster. The last thing I wanted was for him to get close to me. But the last thing I wanted was also the thing I needed most. And now he needs me."

Selena looked into my eyes, tears starting to flow. Then she hugged me briefly and whispered in my ear. "Stupid Beruka. But I trust you." Selena released me, and allowed me to walk on.

Corrin was still searching, using his claws and antlers to overturn rocks and shake the trees. Before I could get close, he stretched out his wings and rose to the air, scanning the area until he spotted Hans lying limply behind a village flagpole bearing the flags of the kingdoms of Nestra and Nohr. As he descended toward Hans's position, I forced myself to move quicker, despite the soreness of the sudden healing.

I wasn't moving fast enough. Corrin landed with the flagpole between himself and Hans. He wrapped his front claws around the flagpole and dug his hind legs into the ground, trying to uproot the flagpole. I was about twenty steps away. I called out to him.

"Corrin!"

He didn't notice. He teetered for a moment when the flagpole suddenly gave way, but he quickly regained his footing and raised the pole in the air as if to skewer Hans with it. He was using a tool, which meant there was still some measure of his intelligence to speak to. But I was still several steps away.

"Corrin!" I shouted again.

He again did not hear, instead staring into Hans's eyes. Hans had just regained consciousness and looked up at his killer-to-be, first with a look of terror, and then resigned defiance. I was now five steps away. Corrin and gave a triumphant screech of rage as he raised the pole in the air. I pushed myself harder and dove into Hans, pushing him aside as I yelled out one last time.

"Corrin!"

The flagpole slammed down just a foot or two away from where I was and where Hans had been. Corrin screeched again, pawing the ground, but lowering his head to look at me.

"I'm sorry, Corrin. I didn't realize that you had this inside you."

Corrin snarled.

"I had thought that I was helping you, but killing Hans will not help either of us." I reached out my hand to him as he shook his horns.

"You showed me I'm not a monster. You're not either. Please, Corrin. Come back. You're not a monster."

Before I was done speaking, the dragon had melted away into Corrin's human form, which fell into my arms and hugged me tight.

"Beruka, thank you. I'm sorry too. I should've relied on you long before, so you didn't think you needed to kill for me. I'm sorry for what I've done and for what I've said, I—"

"Shh. It's all right, Corrin."

We stood still for a few moments, just holding each other. I saw Silas and Azura standing nearby with Selena, Felicia, and Lady Camilla, all looking relieved. But then they started looking past us, behind me.

"Well, this will make for a fascinating report to his Majesty, won't it, your Highness?" Hans said, half-grimacing and half-grinning.

Corrin's head snapped up. He walked carefully toward Hans, still holding one hand in mine, as if to tether him down.

"Hans, I believe it will. How fascinating it will be to hear my father's response when he hears it from your own mouth that you were nearly killed by me and saved by your would-be assassin. Sure, he won't take well to me showing the weakness of mercy, but you won't exactly look well either."

"What say I call your bluff, Hoshidan! What then?"

Corrin released me and his hand suddenly shifted into a dragon's fangs. In a moment, the jaws pinned Hans against a nearby building's wall, closed just enough to press the teeth against Hans's face without breaking skin.

"Very well. If I hear anything about this night, or if I find you harming one of my friends or any other innocent, then I won't wait for Father to pass judgment. Under my authority as a prince of Nohr, I'll declare you an insubordinate war criminal and eat you as a dragon, foul taste or no."

Hans didn't speak—not that he had any opportunity to do so with the jaws around his face. His eyes seemed to indicate that he wasn't sure if Corrin was serious or not—or if Corrin's dragon form could even eat him if he were serious. Suddenly, Corrin tightened the jaws, and I started to see a tiny bit of blood flow. As careful as possible not to move his jaw. Hans replied, "Yssr."

Corrin pulled back and his hand returned to normal. "Very good, then, Hans. To be honest, I find you quite distasteful now, but as a dragon, the animal mind is so powerful that nearly anything looks somewhat palatable. Don't make me learn if I'm right."

Hans only grunted in disgust before calling two of his men to help him to a healer.

"Corrin!" Azura shouted, running over with the others. "What happened here? What happened to your dragonstone?"

Corrin turned to explain to Azura while I turned to Selena. Strangely, she said nothing.

"Selena?"

"I am really, really tired, Beruka. So tired that I don't even want to yell at you for scaring me so badly. Besides, I'll let Lady Camilla handle that. Between you and Corrin, she's going to have a fit."

I cringed slightly, to which Selena smiled.

"But if we're starting to get you to show a little more emotion, and you're safe anyway, perhaps we can deal with a little bit of Lady Camilla's hysteria."

Selena hugged me before walking back to the tents. Azura and Silas were still talking with Corrin, but after they noticed Selena leave, they asked Corrin to excuse them. As they left, Corrin and I stood alone.

"Beruka."

"Corrin."

"It's been a long time since we were supposed to dine in Cheve. You and I are overdue for a meal together."

I nodded.

"The people in this village are rather frightened now, but we could go back to camp. Peri's as good a cook as any, and Elise and Azura usually practice music together in the evenings. We could sit and listen. Maybe dance. Or maybe not. We'll just enjoy each other's company. Will you come?"

I nodded and took his hand.

Hope you enjoyed it. This story originally was an idea for a Laslow/Peri story inspired by Kozaki's Twitter sketch of Hans with a pair of ladies in his arms. It had led me to wonder how a character like Laslow would react to seeing a situation like that. I presumed that Laslow would try to white knight, because that's what Laslow does, but then would be faced of the difficult question of why he was willing to talk down to Hans when Laslow has a friendship with a person like Peri. It wasn't a huge step to adapt that to a Corrin/Beruka story, and I kind of like it better that way. The Laslow/Peri idea really only developed Laslow's character, while this idea gives a bit of development for both Corrin and Beruka. You continue the general development of Beruka, while also seeing a little of Corrin's dark side, which only really comes out in the feral dragon chapter and in Kana's paralogue ("You dare touch my child?!").

Once again, if you liked this, check out "Love Is Like Killing." If you like Setsuna, you can check out my story about her adventures with motherhood in "Parent Trap."

Anyhow, until maybe next time, have a good day.

~Sean