"This isn't a real battle, of course. There's no need to be nervous."
On reflection, Cecilia spoke more to herself than to her students. Lilina looked energized, stiff-spined new anima tomes in hand, and Roy was still groggy, even an hour before noon, but neither appeared anxious about the exam. Casting away the question of whether or not this was actually a good sign, Cecilia continued:
"The castle guards are playing your enemies, but they have orders to assist you if you happen to run into real trouble—w-which isn't likely, but all the same… did you have a question, Lilina?"
"I was wondering how we're going to be marked," said Lilina, tapping her heel against the stone step behind her. They stood at the rear entrance to the castle, a rather nondescript doorway about a tenth of the size of the grand drawbridge in front. It was still swarming with guards, but beyond the walled terraces there were settlements and wilderness… more scenic, Cecilia thought, and better suited for a battle. No, no, not a battle. An exam.
"The guards will assess your performance," she replied. Lilina gave a resolute nod, her lips pursed, and Cecilia privately hoped her opponents wouldn't get hurt. "And I will take time into account. You must return before sunset. Any other questions?" They shook their heads tentatively, Roy yawning into his fist. Then as Cecilia was about to send them off, he spoke up.
"Are there meals for us?"
"Meals?" Cecilia repeated, frantically trying to remember if she'd gone over rationing with them. It must have been earlier in the year; after the harvest, perhaps. Unless it was so basic that she'd forgotten to review it entirely, well-fed as they all were on thick Ostian stews and dark bread. She recovered: "You won't have time for meals. We'll be finished before supper."
"I packed some extra food anyway," Lilina said, turning to Roy, but the note of pride in her voice was meant for Cecilia alone. "There's enough to share if you get hungry later."
"Ah," Cecilia began, smiling ruefully as both their faces fell at the one syllable. "I'm sorry, I must have forgotten to tell you… you'll be performing separately."
Lilina gaped at her for a moment, and then stammered into a response: "B-but, Lady Cecilia… y-you never said we weren't going to be working together for the exam—"
"Have I been teaching you together?"
"N-no, but—" She shot a pained glance at Roy, who was finally beginning to look more nervous than tired. "But all of our plans… I—we just thought…"
"Lilina, if I wasn't sure that both of you could handle this, I would have held your exam in the courtyard." This wasn't entirely true: Cecilia had planned this day for months in advance. Since the fall of Sacae. It was going to happen regardless of whether the young nobles were prepared for it or not. And right then, in all honesty, they were closer to not. Lilina had a wonderful raw talent for anima magic, but she could hardly control it; thankfully, Castle Ostia's courtyards were more stone than green, or she would have set fire to the place in a heartbeat. And Roy… he tried, bless him, but his skill with a sword was still only rudimentary. Sometimes Cecilia wondered if he wouldn't have been better off learning magic after all, until she remembered that he really did set fire to the courtyard.
But she couldn't look doubtful in front of them if they were to learn from this; smiling, she added, "Both of you are going to do splendidly, I'm sure of it. Just remember everything we've practiced." She nodded at the pair of guards who would escort them to their starting positions. Roy wished Lilina good luck; she answered him with a barrage:
"You have to remember what we went over. Don't spend too much time on one enemy, you'll get worn out before you're even halfway back here. They usually don't have much armor around their backs or thighs, so try and hit them there. If you get lost, the nearest mountain is east, a-and—" She caught the desperation in her voice a moment too late and blushed feverishly as Roy raised his eyebrows.
"Why are you nervous? You said last night this would be easy."
"I'm not nervous," Lilina replied, her voice low and defensive. "I thought—you're the one who's always late to your lessons, I just don't want you to get lost out here."
"After all that studying?" Roy groaned softly. "I told you, I'll be fine—"
"That's enough," said Cecilia. "Listen, both of you. You're taking this much too seriously. I'm not looking for either of you to go through this without any mistakes. Just do your best and you won't have anything to worry about, all right?" The two students mumbled in embarrassed agreement, avoiding Cecilia's eyes as well as each other's. Still, they seemed to be in better spirits as they set off between their escorts—at least, they weren't sniping at each other— and they would probably remain that way as long as they shared the road. After that… well, it wasn't as though Cecilia would be able to see them panic. But perhaps they would surprise her—really give her a reason to mark them highly, other than charity or an apology for putting them through such a mess. But even if today was a failure on all accounts, they could all take comfort in the fact that it was just a test.
As Cecilia watched her pupils grow smaller in the distance, she became aware that there was someone standing behind her. Wolt jumped as soon as she turned around, wasting no time at all falling into a polite bow.
"Oh, Wolt! You weren't waiting there the whole time, were you?" She had seen the page at Roy's side before the lesson began, but he must have stayed behind with the castle guards in the meantime. Wolt snapped back upright but still wouldn't meet her eyes.
"I didn't want to bother you, Lady Cecilia. Er… u-unless I am now?"
"Of course not. Did you need anything?"
Clearly he did, and he had not expected her to get to the heart of the matter so soon. He opened his mouth a few times, teetering on the edge of speech. Right as Cecilia was about to reassure him that he wasn't, in fact, being impudent, he finally spoke up.
"Can you test me too?" Cecilia blinked. It wasn't what she expected, but she knew the boy would back down if she was anything less than encouraging. Sure enough, he'd already adopted a guilty expression, twisting his bow in his white-knuckled hands, when she attempted an answer.
"Oh… well, I wouldn't claim to know very much about archery, but perhaps we can set up some targets out here?" Something like indignation shone briefly in Wolt's averted eyes, and Cecilia realized at once how condescending this was. He was a seasoned hunter by now, and she knew from Roy that he roamed the neighboring woods whenever he was free from his attendant duties. Testing him with stationary targets would be like testing Lilina with the alphabet. "No, of course not. I should have known… but maybe we could…"
"I'd… if it's not too much, Lady Cecilia, I'd like to help R—er, Master Roy," he said timidly, but his voice was firm.
"Mm." She thought for a moment about the most delicate way to refuse his request. "That's very, ah… noble of you to suggest, Wolt—" She had to work more quickly, he was already balking, "—but Roy's never had the chance to try something like this for himself. I think it's important that he learns from it." Wolt nodded, looking crestfallen. Cecilia looked at him seriously. It couldn't hurt to tell a servant boy the truth, could it? "Wolt, do you know about the war in Ilia?"
"Ah… with Bern, right?"
"That's right. I can only hope this isn't true, but I don't think Bern will stop its conquest there." She paused, forcing herself to focus on the words and not the reality. "Roy will need you at his side then." Wolt raised his eyes to meet hers for the first time, though his expression was vague; he looked more confused than anything. Still, she pressed onward, struck by a sudden idea and the necessity for a distraction: "I know what I'll have you do. Now, there's a little village just south of here—" she reached into the bag at her hip, pulled out a pocket-sized map, and handed it to him, "—and as far as I've been told, they're not aware that we're doing this, ah… simulation. You have to warn civilians in the event of a real battle, of course… and they could always do with some practice themselves."
"…S-so you want me to go tell them that there's a battle going on?" Wolt said eagerly. Before Cecilia could even nod, he gave a short, brisk bow and rose up again, saying, "I won't disappoint you, Lady Cecilia!" And he set off, bow in hand, leaving her wondering how he could manage to disappoint her in such a simple errand.
The exam was set to be an all-day affair, but Cecilia couldn't afford to leave, just in case something went wrong and one of her students—or Wolt—was hurt. It was a greater possibility than she would've liked to admit, so she'd packed not only long distance staves, but a few books and sheaves of stationery to pass the time. But just as soon as she'd sunk onto one of the stone benches and pulled out one of the more pithy, enjoyable treatises on anima theory she'd yet found, she heard heavy footsteps approaching and an unmistakable booming laugh.
"—but when am I ever in the throne room?" Cecilia turned to see Marquess Ostia himself step outside through the rear door, accompanied by Sir Bors, the rotund, curly-haired knight who escorted Lilina to her lessons. Cecilia had asked him to serve as a sparring partner for the students at the end of the test, since she couldn't take notes on performance with a sword in hand, but she wouldn't be surprised if Hector managed to pull him away for something the one time she needed the help.
"With all due respect, milord, the conference is in a few weeks and the representatives from Tuscana are set to arrive anytime—" Lord Hector waved a hand and Bors' mouth snapped shut.
"Leygance can deal with 'em if it comes to that." He spotted Cecilia, who rose to greet him, pulling a smile onto her face even though she had no desire to deal with one of his inquiries. He'd stop by during their normal lessons to make sure she wasn't endangering his daughter, so she fully expected him to keep on her about a full practical exam with real (albeit blunted) weapons involved. "Cecilia." He inclined his head, his voice suddenly more delicate. "Beautiful morning, isn't it? You look just as well."
"I'd say the same for you, Lord Hector," she replied. "You're not at all worried about the League conferences, are you?"
"Not in the least. Things ought to go smoothly, as far as I'm concerned. And if not, Eliwood can cover for me. He's a natural with these sort of things." Cecilia frowned. When she accepted the offer to teach in Ostia, she expected to be treated with caution at best and suspicion at worst. This was the city-state boasting ironclad defense and a famed spy network—surely an Etruscan ambassador would be less than welcome. But as it was, the marquess laughed and bandied about national secrets and boasted of his own leniency like he and Cecilia were good friends. Any information she'd gathered was out of curiosity rather than necessity—Etruria's court mages went abroad to teach out of tradition—but she was a little disconcerted about how little Hector seemed to actually do. She presumed that Ostia's defenses must have been all she'd heard, or else Hector would have been assassinated a long time ago. He smiled jauntily and continued, "Nothing you need to concern yourself over, anyway—after all, Lycia's loss is your gain, isn't it?"
"If that were true, I should have been teaching Lilina how to bake instead of how to fight," she said archly. Hector's eyes brightened at the mention of his daughter.
"Thought I'd come down here for her exam," he said in the guise of a gruff voice. "She wasn't too nervous this morning, was she? Poor girl was nearly in hysterics last night over it."
"Really? She seems perfectly confident in her lessons." No doubt because all she's hearing at home is that she's a prodigy.
"Oh, not about herself—about Roy." Hector's face sharpened into a stern, almost calculating expression. Cecilia hesitated; she wasn't quite sure what was on his mind. Certainly, he hadn't wasted any time expressing his disapproval when he learned that his daughter was to be sent out of his sight with a boy her age. But at the same time, he seemed to have shouldered a certain amount of responsibility for Roy, if not genuine concern. He spoke fondly of how the boy took after his father, watched his lessons sometimes and gave him tips, and invited him to meals. Cecilia thought it prudent to give him the benefit of the doubt, in any case, and answered accordingly.
"…He'll be fine. There are guards stationed a mile out, they'll be sure to look after him."
"Go soft on him, you mean," Hector replied, crossing his bare forearms over his chest. "That boy's been coddled for too long. He's got no idea how to really fight, at least not with a proper weapon."
"What would you suggest I do?" Cecilia said, her voice somewhat sharper than it should have been; she thought it awfully brazen of him to accuse anyone of coddling when she'd been the one to teach Lilina the first thing about Lycian government. "Beat him until he manages to defend himself?"
"That's exactly what you should do! A real enemy's not going to wait his turn. No offense meant, Cecilia, but you don't learn that from a tutor. They'll teach fancy maneuvers and etiquette and other rubbish that's got no place on the battlefield. No, I'd say the arena was my best teacher." His beard twitched with a slight smile, reminiscence glistening in his eyes. What kind of man remembered the coarsest sort of bloodshed so fondly, Cecilia didn't care to know.
"I'm not throwing Roy into the arena," she said flatly.
"Oh, it's not that bad. Nothing like yours, no lions or anything. Just men fighting for their pay."
"Their wagers, you mean. That is, if he doesn't get ripped apart, he'll turn into a gambler."
"Nothing wrong with a little bet every now and then," Hector said, his voice purposefully light. Cecilia looked onward, her lips pressed together. "Come on. You're saying you've never gambled?"
"I'd like to retain some semblance of class," she responded.
"Well, nothing lasts forever, does it? Here." Before Cecilia could object, Hector unhooked the money purse from his belt and scooped out a handful of coins. "One hundred gold on Lilina to finish the test first."
"Lord Hector!" Cecilia exclaimed, stepping back. "That— you can't think of betting on your daughter's exam!"
"No, you're right," said the marquess, running a hand through his beard. "There's no competition. Wouldn't be any fun gambling on a sure bet."
"Wait… what's that supposed to mean?" Cecilia said slowly. Hector flashed a grin, and she knew she was being goaded, but she kept on. "If you're saying Roy has no chance at making it back first…."
"Well, I don't know if I'd say no chance… but odds like his, you'd stand to gain a fortune."
"I think you're underestimating him, sir!" Cecilia said, her voiced raised beyond propriety, but acting like a proper Etruscan lady seemed less and less important as their conversation continued. "He's worked so hard this year, and after all that, to act as if he's completely incapable is—" Insulting. Lilina could get by on talent alone, but Roy worked for every bit of his skill, and it took Cecilia just as much time and patience to guide him in it. He was doubtlessly second-best, but it would be unjust to let all that effort go unrepresented—not to mention Cecilia's own effort in the matter. Still, it would sound like an accusation, put that way. So she spoke carefully: "He may yet surprise you, Lord Hector."
"Ah, well, that's easy to say when you're not paying for it." Cecilia glared at him for a moment, unable to argue.
"…Very well." She dug the necessary handful of coins out of her own purse and pushed them into Hector's hand. "You're on. My gold on Roy to finish first."
"That settles it, then!" Hector looked as if he'd already won the bet; chuckling, he counted the coins and handed them back to Cecilia. "I can't stay here all day, but I didn't want you to think I'd run off with your hard-earned gold." The knight, at his lord's side through the whole conversation, caught her eye and adopted an apologetic expression—which didn't go unnoticed by Hector. "Bors! Almost forgot you were here. Care to throw in a wager?"
"Ah—th-thank you, Lord Hector, but I'm not sure it's appropriate for me to—"
"I'll put one in for you, then." Bors shifted in discomfort but didn't looked interested in arguing further with Hector.
"It's a conflict of interests, sir," Cecilia offered, nodding at Bors, who looked expressly relieved. "They'll have to get past him for the test. It wouldn't do to have him favoring one of them while they're fighting him."
"Just as well," Hector said. "We'll need a fair witness in case I get caught up in some diplomacy trap up in the castle." He grimaced, looking rather like a schoolboy assigned extra reading, but ambled over to the back door. "Keep your eyes open, Bors. I don't want there to be any mistakes about our bet!" With a short wave, he entered the doorway and slammed it shut behind him. Bors let out a long breath, his straight, knightly posture slipping a little.
"Lady Cecilia, I apologize. My liege can be, ah… difficult, but I assure you, he means well."
"Oh, of course. Any chance he can get to show off his daughter's talent… and who would blame him?" Cecilia reclaimed her seat and gestured for Bors to do the same. He sank heavily onto the bench next to her. "I'm not offended, Sir Bors. I know things are different here than they are in Etruria."
"He might've been a touch more tactful about it," Bors muttered, his ears growing pink.
"That's Lord Hector's way," Cecilia said with a wry smile. "Hardly anything to do but go along with it." And if proving to Hector her worth as a tutor meant sacrificing a bit of gold and a little more pride, then so be it.
Author's Notes: This is a story- rather, a chapter of a story- that was definitely too long in the making for the silly little piece that it's going to be. This is basically a retelling of the FE6 tutorial as it might have actually happened, without references to the R Button and such.
ETA: Ah, almost forgot! My biggest thanks to Raphiael, who beta-read and helped refine this. Her attention and skill were invaluable, so major props!
I hope you've enjoyed it so far, and as always, reviews of any sort are endlessly appreciated. :)
