A heavy sigh left Prince Leo's mouth as he headed towards the temporary holding tent, resisting every urge to rub his temples in frustration with the current situation. He had come with a small force to a remote area of Nohr on word of brigand activity, but upon poking into the forest that the purported bandits had lived in, only found a group of quite irate garou. Apparently the brigands had gotten too close to the pack's summer 'dens' and had been taken care of already.

Leo had been willing to leave the encounter at that and gone home, but one of his men had let out a frantic shout and lunged at the garou. Why, Leo supposed he would discover soon – it had turned into a small squabble that had only ended when he had invoked Brynhildr's might to make the forest bind everyone in place and chase the garou back into their forest, only to reveal the soldier that had shouted had a hold of a teenager.

A human teenager.

With a breath through his nose, Leo came to a stop outside of the tent, russet eyes looking towards the guards. "Has our guest settled down?" he asked, earning a weak cough from the one on the right. The one on the left, his long-standing retainer Zero, gave a shrug that was belied by the frown on his face.

"He's not pacing anymore, if that's what you mean, but well … the kid responded to Toby's attempts to bind him in place by biting him. Hard." the now-named Toby let out a sigh and nursed a bandage on his left forearm, green eyes glancing warily at the tent behind him.

"I'd say muzzle the kid, Milord," Toby admitted, only to hop away from the tent when a low growl emitted from the canvas walls. Leo felt the corner of one mouth twitch up in a wan smile at that.

"And I would recommend watching your volume," he chastised, unable to hide his amusement, "one doesn't live long in the woods like this without having the hearing of a garou, after all."

"Or a bite that's as bad as their bark," Zero added in with a laugh, stance relaxing as Leo approached the tent flap. When his lord was near him, however, the white-haired male's voice dropped down for Leo's ears alone. "Still, we don't know if this kid has much to tell us … or how long until his friends come back to fetch him, with bigger dogs."

"That depends on how stubborn our guest is about explaining things; I just want to know what happened to the brigands, and what all they were hoarding when the garou got to them," Leo admitted in an equally low voice before he entered the tent, letting the flap fall heavily into place behind him.

A part of Leo's mind found it bleakly humorous that Zero had specified 'bigger' dogs, considering the size of the teenager he now looked at. Russet eyes were met by steady garnet, fierce over a scowling mouth and framed by a wild mane of flame red hair. The boy was dressed like the garou as well; black breeches and vest with a white shirt and no-nonsense calf-high boots, and a short, copper-colored hooded cape on his shoulders. His gloves were fingerless, and a glance at his hands showed that the nails were sharpened like his adopted family's claws.

Frankly, Leo wagered it was a miracle Toby had only been bitten and not clawed as well.

Pushing the matter aside, Leo nodded his head to the teenager and gestured to one of the chairs that was settled by a table. "Sit, please," he began, breaking the tension that he could feel building. It was likely that his guest would take an attempt to approach him as a threat, and while Leo's armor was strong, he didn't doubt that there would be a swipe at his exposed face if the need arose.

The prince thanked whatever spirit of fortune was watching him when the teenager did as asked, although his wary eyes didn't once leave Leo's face. Waiting until his guest was settled – or at least, as settled as he could be in the situation – Leo took the chair across from him and folded his hands on top of the small table. "May I have a name, please?" He began, not knowing how else to start.

With a shift in his seat, the teenager's garnet eyes glanced around the tent warily before refocusing on Leo. "... Siegbert." He responded, voice startlingly soft in comparison to the harsh snarls and bark-like tones Leo had heard escape his throat. The name itself also made Leo pause – it was an old name, one with ties to Nohrian royalty. What was a feral child doing with such a name?

Leo pushed the thought aside before it distracted him from what he wanted to ask the now-named Siegbert. "Alright then, Siegbert," he began again, a snap of his fingers summoning forth a blank tome and a writing quill. "I apologize for my men's … sudden grab at you, but I assure you that you will be unharmed and returned to your family shortly." That seemed to relax the teenager, as his shoulders and hackles began to lower. "But, that group of brigands whose camp you had found was what we were hear to investigate, so I would like to know what happened to them so I can report back to the Queen."

If Leo hadn't been as alert as he was, he would have missed the way Siegbert seemed to stiffen at the mention of the queen. As it was, he had to bite his tongue to keep from pressing it when Siegbert opened his mouth to respond. "Oh, them? Dead."

The bluntness made Leo sigh – he should have expected as much. "And the bodies?"

"Put them in a grotto a small ways away from the main paths and the villages. Don't want the bears to get to them, so we buried them deep enough the only things that'll eat them are the trees." Siegbert seemed to relax as he spoke more, his voice still soft. There was an odd accent that Leo couldn't fully place, but it wasn't important as of now.

"Fair enough, I suppose – my sister will be relieved to hear that the problem was resolved so swiftly … if a bit heavy-handed," he nodded, jotting down the report in the tome as he spoke. "We heard that they had looted a nearby town – did you or your kin see anything of note?"

"Remains of a roast pig meal and a small purse of gold, but that's about it." Siegbert gave a shrug. "Either they buried the rest of it around the woods, or they were terrible at their 'jobs'." The dry comment earned a snort from Leo that was followed by a pang in his heart – if he hadn't known better, he could have sworn he was hearing a report from Xander.

His professional expression must have faltered for a second, because Siegbert shifted and let out a small cough. "Too crass?" He asked, making Leo glance up at the teenager. The look of worry was hauntingly familiar, and it almost made him stare before he caught himself.

"No – it was rather amusing, in all honesty," He replied, letting the tome close with a snap – he would add more if they discovered any additional stolen goods. Russet eyes returned to properly study Siegbert, the beginning of a pit forming in his stomach.

It wasn't unusual for a human to be with garou in the mainland parts of Nohr – far from it, as the wolfskin without packs would often settle in the remote farming villages – but there was still something off about the teenager in front of him that Leo felt the need to press for details. "If you don't mind, I'd like to inquire more about you as a person," he began, noticing the way Siegbert's hackles began to lift again. "Lazlow is not one for randomly grabbing out at people, after all. Have you encountered him before?"

"Can't say I have," Siegbert gave a shake of his head, his mane of hair obscuring his face briefly. There was a hasty shove to get it out of his face, and Leo felt the pit only grow more. "I've mostly stuck to the areas around here and the human town nearby; it's small enough you learn most everyone's faces, and his was a new one."

A bitter smile crossed Leo's face, and he leaned back in his chair, "I see ..." he mumbled, eyes going to the tent's roof for a moment. "Do you live in the village or with the garou proper?"

"Lived with the pack proper my entire life."

The pit deepened once again, and Leo wished he could slap himself without seeming touched in the head. Why in all the hells was he seeing his long-dead older brother in this child?! Especially from such nonsensical cues that could have easily just been part of the child regardless.

But at the same time, Lazlow was normally far more composed, so for him to let out a frantic shout and try to grab Siegbert …

Giving a shake of his head, the blond prince let his gaze fall back to Siegbert's face, staring with an intensity that seemed to set the boy's hackles up. The teenager was on the brink of puberty, if Leo had to guess – there was a sharpness to his eyes that wasn't native to Nohr, and his nose was smaller, but apart from from that and the wild, flame red hair …

The boy's resemblance to Xander at that age was almost uncanny.

Leo closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, not knowing what to think or feel at that point in time. It made almost no sense – Xander had never once given any indication of a lover, let alone much anything else beyond his duties as crown price. He had performed the role flawlessly, to the point that the monster who had dared to pose as their father exploited it and claimed Xander's life as a prize in its horrible game.

And yet …

The sound of Siegbert shifting in his chair and letting out a weak cough made Leo focus on him again, with far less intensity than before. Leo couldn't blame him – he was probably anxious to return to his family. "... One last inquiry – were you adopted by the garou, or do your human parents still live?"

Siegbert's entire body stiffened at that, and Leo knew that he had tread across a line too glaring for his suspicions to be anything but correct. Still, he tried to remain placid and patient while he waited for the boy to respond. "... My father died during the war between Hoshido and Nohr before I was born. My mother was pregnant with me when the pack took her in; she's still alive."

The timeline lined up.

Leo didn't like the way the pit in his stomach had opened into a canyon as the reality began to sink into his head. This child was Xander's, hidden from the rest of Nohr with a pack of garou on the fringes of the nation. If word of this became too widespread, the rumors would begin to spring up, wondering what else might have been hidden beneath the royal family's tumultuous and bloodstained past. While the populace fully accepted Camilla as the queen, with her eldest daughter as the heir apparent, a child of the late crown prince would make things so much more painfully complex …

He cursed himself for prying instead of letting a sleeping dog lie.

There was an unexpected heaviness to his heart when Leo gave a nod of understanding. "I see – I'll have to speak to Lazlow on tact, then. There were … heavy losses on our side during the war, and you might have just reminded him of a friend he lost," the prince explained, watching to make certain Siegbert's hackles were lowered before he thought about getting up. It took a few moments for the teen to visibly relax, but Leo could still see the caution in the garnet eyes watching him.

"I think he spooked the others more than me, honestly. If the fighting had gone on much longer, I could have broken free." Siegbert gave a nod, shifting in his seat once again. Leo didn't doubt the boy's claims, both on the grounds of his childhood with the garou and the strength he had clearly inherited from his father.

"And I'm certain Toby would back up that as well – was biting him necessary?" Leo questioned, amusement in his voice.

"His own fault for not knowing when his behavior can get taken as a challenge … or for trying to grab me by the collar." Siegbert gave a shrug that was offset by a half smile, a flash of white teeth catching Leo's eye. The prince was quite certain that, if it were to come to a contest of raw strength to keep the boy in the camp, they would lose.

"Fair enough, then – I'll have to speak with some of the garou in the capital if they're willing to give lectures on body language with their tribe," Leo let a small laugh leave him at that thought as he stood up. "For now, though, it's time you returned home – it would be … rather bad if your packmates were to come storming out here to look for you."

"Velouria alone would be bad enough on her own, honestly," Siegbert nodded as he got up as well – Leo noted with a bitter jab that the boy was already up to his nose, and would only get taller in time. "Ah, she was the largest of the littermates with me, to clarify which one she was."

Leo grimaced – he had noticed that the garou weren't fully grown, but from the way Siegbert called them 'littermates', they had to be his age. "Yes, that would be bad, especially if she decided to enlist help from the adults – I'd rather not have my men find out how sharp a garou's teeth can be when properly angered and not merely defensive." He opened the tent flap as he spoke, and Siegbert took the gesture with a grateful smile as he walked out of the tent, Leo exiting behind him. The prince waved off Zero's questioning look, the white-haired male clearly suspicious of what had transpired within the tent. Thankfully, he had enough sense not to pry, and kept to his position as his lord and their half-feral guest left the area.

The walk to the forest's edge was silent, but Leo was aware a lot of the troops were focused on Siegbert as they walked. If it was because they were merely curious to the wolf-boy's habits and presence, or if it was because they could pick up on the resemblance to Xander as well, Leo didn't dare to dwell on. Siegbert himself seemed uneasy by the attention, and Leo could see tension in his shoulders the further they walked.

Needless to say, both of them heaved a sigh of relief when they reached the line of trees that marked the garou's forest. "Before you go," Leo began, "I would request that you inform your pack leader that my men and I will be lingering here for a few days more; we will need to see if there was any stolen goods left buried around here before we return to the capital with the report."

Siegbert gave an understanding nod at that. "Fair enough – Matron Velvet will understand that," he complied. "... Just … don't hunt more game than needed, please – it's birthing season for the elk, so there's a lot of pregnant does around. Too many bucks die all at once, and they leave the woods, and they don't return for months on end."

"I will pass along the word to my men, then." Leo gave a nod back; he considered the terms reasonable. "Safe travels."

He wished he could have thought of more to say in farewell, but Leo supposed it was for the best that he didn't when Siegbert gave a nod and vanished into the greenery with nary a word in response.

Tori's Notes: Here have a post birthright thing that's been in my head for a while. It's only about three chapters long though.

This sort of situation is interesting to think of with Leo because he's so much more rational than Camilla, even though I love her dearly. I can't imagine her being able to keep quiet about who Siegbert was the moment she registered she was looking at a tiny, redhead version of her beloved older brother.

Lazlow [and Peri for that matter] is alive because I rushed Chapter 26 in my Birthright playthrough, so my units got nowhere close to killing him.

And I know the English name is 'wolfskin'; I just personally like the sound of "Garou" more.