Author's Notes
Well, I've officially jumped the shark as a crack pairing enthusiast; I've written an incest fic. My reasonings on why will be explained at the end of the chapter. Please be advised that this fic is rated T for a reason!
If you don't like the concept, you don't have to read it. However, I really hope that the fact that it IS incest will not detract from the quality of the story, or impact what is written in people's reviews too much.
Keep in mind that any and all guest reviews will be deleted. And don't just write a review stating why this fic is a bad idea. Please keep any criticism of the fic CONSTRUCTIVE; I don't mind people pointing out if they're not comfortable with the idea, because I'm sure many people aren't, but please have something positive to say as well.
No Closer Bond
Chapter 1: How it Began
It all started when they were young.
As royal twins, Ephraim and Eirika did everything together in the days of their youth, and no one could keep them apart. With parents who were busy doing their duties for their kingdom and no other children their age to play with, what choice did they have but to always be with each other? Sure, there were some in their age group from neighbouring kingdoms, but the occasions to be with these other children were few and far between.
And when it came right down to it, they would rather spend their time just each other if they had the choice.
Their parents noticed this quite quickly, and although at first they were happy that their children got along so well, eventually they noticed that something else was going on too, and the twins didn't grow out of their unusual closeness like their parents had hoped. In fact, their bond only grew stronger and stronger as the twins grew older.
The worried parents decided to take matters into their own hands. Despite the tears that fell from Eirika's eyes the first time they were forced to bathe separately, King Fado and his wife went to great lengths to make sure their children weren't with each other unless it was necessary. Ephraim and Eirika still studied together at school and under their retainer, Seth, and the family would eat together whenever possible, but other than times like these, the two siblings were mostly kept apart from each other.
This, of course, didn't stop the resourceful twins.
It started with the midnight baths. Once Ephraim was taught how to run the bathwater, the prince and princess would meet once a week to bathe together while everyone else was asleep. The two of them would look forward to these nights, and they rarely ever missed them. Here, they would always talk about their deepest concerns, though most of the time it was Eirika pouring out her feelings while Ephraim calmly listened. It was a beneficial arrangement for both of them.
As well, during these occasions, they learned more about the human anatomy than could ever be taught during their school tutoring. Eirika never forgot the blush that she extracted from Ephraim the first time his body involuntarily reacted to her changing body, which catered to a mischievous side of her that she rarely displayed. Although, in his defense, she wasn't prepared for it either. As they grew older, so also did their understanding of each other in this way.
Seth was the first to really question what the siblings were up to, for while the parents felt they had nipped their problem in the bud, so to speak, Seth could tell that his twin lieges were not dismayed in the long run from their parents' decisions. On the twins' 16th birthdays, he accidentally found them together in the bath, sharing their very first kiss.
When the two of them eventually noticed their retainer watching them, Eirika gasped, and Ephraim held onto his sister protectively, prepared to do anything to prevent the two of them from being separated at that moment.
Seth left without a word.
He did, however, confront them the next evening after the family finished dining. They were worried that Seth would tell their parents everything, but that had not been the case. The three of them spoke freely with each other for a while, where the twins confessed everything. At the end of the conversation, Seth promised he wouldn't say anything to his king and queen, but he uttered one statement that would come back to haunt them in the future:
"I will not stop this relationship from progressing," Seth assured them. "However, the two of you must be prepared for the consequences."
The twins understood their retainer was only trying to help, but they didn't take his words seriously. As they continued to grow ever closer, they would hold hands whenever they were alone, as well as sit much too close to each other when sitting by the fireplace, and a few times they were caught by their parents, which led to severe reprimanding. During these times, Ephraim and his father would argue angrily with each other, while Eirika would cry in the corner and her mother would simply watch them in disappointment, even days before her eventual death.
Even worse, the last time they saw their father together, Fado had cautioned them that they were treading down a dangerous road, effectively giving reasons that expanded on Seth's warning.
One: there was the risk of no heir to the throne.
Two: the royal bloodline could be forever tainted if children were born from them.
Three: the people of Renais would revolt, regardless of whether the unholy matrimony resulted in an heir or not.
Four: the neighbouring kingdoms could withdraw all support for Renais because of the actions of its king and queen.
Five: the reputation of their beloved Renais would be forever tarnished.
"If you continue following this perverted path," their father rebuked, "you will destroy the Renais that you know and love, and it will be entirely your fault."
Those were the last words their father said to them before they were attacked by the kingdom of Grado. The twins just barely escaped together as their father was killed in front of them by one of the army's generals.
As the War of the Stones came into full effect after that day, the royal siblings thought about the words of their mentors, and they concluded that they very well could be right about their future. So throughout the war, they tried to keep their relationship a secret, even making sure they slept in separate tents.
However, they could not keep their feelings in check.
Ephraim could never truly hide his desire; no, his need; to take care of his sister. It was clear to everyone that he had a soft spot for her that was much softer than it should have been. Eirika could never fully mask the delight she felt whenever her brother was nearby, especially when they sat together by the fireplace. While a few of their friends saw the siblings tenderly kissing each other by the fire when they thought they were alone, they never said anything. Even when the private sessions between the twins eventually got more physical, they didn't have the heart or the courage to bring up the subject to them, even though the two of them never got intimate.
No, the intimacy didn't come into play until their 18th birthdays, where they gave themselves to each other as their birthday gifts.
This special day for the incestuous twins coincidentally occurred on the same day they took their beloved Renais back from Grado.
After that point, the War of the Stones was nearly over, relatively speaking. After their final enemy was eventually conquered and sealed into the last of the remaining Sacred Stones, everyone went back to their respective kingdoms to start in the rebuilding work. Ephraim and Eirika were officially inaugurated as the new king and queen of Renais, of course, but there was the obvious expectation for them to find their own spouses and to produce the next heirs for the throne. Even after the restoration of the kingdom was finished years later, the siblings still had not found mates, for reasons that were only obvious to them and the few who were close enough to them. Nevertheless, the populace still respected their current king and queen, especially when they considered all of the good the sibling duo had accomplished.
Their opinion of their rulers, however, would change drastically once they found out about Eirika's pregnancy.
When it was revealed to the incestuous twins that they would be expecting their first child, the memories of Seth's warning rang loudly through their heads:
"However, the two of you must be prepared to face the consequences."
Author's Notes
Why did I come up with this idea? Well... I'm not entirely sure. I was in a period of an extraordinary amount of inspiration for fics, (the most I'd had in years) and somehow the idea of writing about the twins of Renais was one of them. I tried to push it out of my mind, but it wouldn't go away. So... here I am. I will say I did get some inspiration from the fic Inappropriate by masserect, especially for the bathing scenes. I had first read the fic over a year ago, and I recommend you give it a read yourselves.
I wonder if anyone noticed the amount of canon-breaking this fic contained? :p
Please be aware that incest is not something I am into, nor is it something I will ever endorse. It is something I would never want to do in real life. Hopefully this fic doesn't label me as (more of a) weirdo. :D
Despite my misgivings about this fic, I'm proud of it, as well as curious about how people will react, if they react at all. I hope that anyone who does review this fic uses common sense and doesn't just rant about how this is a bad fic. That's not fun for anybody. All in all, though, I greatly appreciate any feedback that I do get about this fic. That means people are reading it, thinking about it, and maybe even enjoying it. And that's what writing's about, right?
By the way, hopefully everyone checks out my profile poll! I've listed a bunch of fics that I'm willing to write a sequel for, and you get to pick all but one of them to vote for, and the one with the most votes gets the sequel written for it, so vote for multiple fics if you wish! The results will (hopefully) be released at the end of my next A Glimmer of Hope chapter. On that note, I'll be writing another oneshot before my next AGOH chapter, so stay tuned!
This fic may turn out to be my first two-chapter only fic. Hopefully I'll see you at the conclusion of this sibling drama!