"Felicia, are you ready?" Jakob called with a knock at her door. "We can't start the ceremony without you."

"I-I'll just be another minute," Felicia responded, her voice nearly cracking.

There was silence, but Felicia could still feel Jakob on the other side of the doorway. "...Alright," he finally said. But we're all waiting," he added before the sounds of his footfalls disappeared down the hall.

Felicia looked herself over in the mirror and frowned. Her eyes were puffy from tears. Nose, dripping with snot. Her makeup was smudged and her hair was a complete mess. She looked absolutely pathetic.

"I can't believe today's the day you get married," the maid said with a sigh as she lifted a Sun Tiara from the pillow it rested. With peace found between Hoshido and Nohr, Corrin thought it would be a marvelous idea that his bride-to-be wore something from his homeland.

Felicia tried to smile as she turned the item over in her hands, but simply found that her heart wasn't in it. She returned the item to its place of rest and sighed.

"It seemed like only yesterday we had just met," Felicia said. Hiccups caught in her throat as her eyes began to well with tears. "I remember falling for you the moment we met and now-"

She didn't have the strength to finish her thought. She buried her face in her hands, giving into her sobs.

But it was true that Felicia could remember the day she had met Corrin, after all, she had thought about it every day sense.

A younger Felicia, coupled with her father and twin sister, marched through the dreary mountains of Nohr. As stone fortress loomed into view, Felicia drew closer to her father. "Do we really have to live here?" she asked her father as she clutched his hand.

"Unfortunately yes," Kilma said with a sigh. "To keep a healthy relationship with Nohr, King Garon wishes for you two to become retainers for his son Corrin," Kilma explained.

"Don't forget the training we underwent for this day," Flora said in a matter-of-fact tone. Compared to her sister, Flora appeared resolved. Her head held high with a glare a cold as ice trained on the castle before them.

"She's just nervous," Kilma said as he pat his daughters head. "But yes, the two of you have trained hard for this day. I'm sure that you'll do well supporting the young prince."

As they walked across the narrow bridge, three figures appeared within the shadow of the fortress. On the left was a elderly knight, clad in black armor. On the right was a man, a few years Felicia and Flora's senior, dressed in a butlers garb. However, in the center, was a man of a much more regal caliber. Cloaked in black armor, shouldering a cape darker than the night itself and with a black crown upon his head. It was none other than King Garon, the ruler of Nohr.

"Forgive me, my king," Kilma said with a small bow. "I wasn't expecting you. If I had known, I would have prepared something."

Garon furrowed his brow as he gave a the girls at Kilma's side a once over. "Are these the warriors you've brought to protect my son? Consider myself more than underwhelmed. Or did you intend to insult me Kilma?"

"No such intentions, my king," Kilma said with a slight smirk. "These two are my own daughters and just one of them is more than enough to fulfill your request." He gave them a nudge to introduce themselves.

"Pleased to meet you," Flora said, her voice completely monotone as she gave a light bow.

"N-nice to m-meet you," Felicia said as she nervously stepped forward and gave a deep bow.

The sound of steel scraping steel rang out in the night air.

It all happened in an instant. The moment Felicia took her eyes off the three, Gunter stepped forward and produced a spear from behind his back. He lunged forward and thrust his weapon with all his might at Felicia, who he thought to be completely defenseless. But, before the spear could pierce her flesh, the girls head whipped upwards as she produced a knife from nowhere and effortlessly brushed the weapon to the side. With his attack deflected, Felicia closed the gap between them and the exchanged ended with one knife pressed to Gunter's throat while another was trained on Jakob, daring the butler to approach. Felicia was completely different from the goofy maid she was moments before. Gone were her soft features and happy demeanor and replaced by that of the frigid glare of one of the Ice Tribe's greatest warriors.

"Impressive," Gunter said as he took a step back, stowing his weapon. Kilma directed a smug smirk at Garon, who merely scoffed.

"You'll have to forgive me," Gunter said with a bow of his own. The shift in Gunter's attitude in turn caused Felicia return to her own. "The king wanted me to assess your abilities. I thought I had noticed a rookies mistake when you took your eyes off of us."

"Ah," Felicia said, her eyes popping wide as she became aware of herself. "I'm sorry!" she exclaimed as she fell into another bow, ignoring Gunter's correction. Flora sighed as she stroked her brow, embarrassed by her sisters antics.

"Enough!" Garon shouted, his voice seeming to shake air. "Gunter, I leave the remaining introductions to you." Without saying more, Garon shoved past the Ice Tribe trio and disappeared on the other side of the bridge.

"You'll have to forgive the king's haste," Gunter apologized.

"Worry not," Kilma said, waving the matter aside. "We of the Ice Tribe are more than used to receiving a cold shoulder, especially from the King."

Gunter and Jacob led the other three into the castle where they awaited them was a very bored looking prince. A white haired boy, about the same age as Felicia and Flora, sat unceremoniously upon the central staircase. His head snapped up from resting in his palms when the five of them appeared.

He sprung to his feet and made his way over to the group and bowed before the girls. "Nice to meet you. I'll be in your care."

"A prince shouldn't bow my lord, it's unsightly," Gunter said with a frown.

But Corrin simply brushed it off. "It's fine Gunter. Besides, we're the only ones here."

"He's still right. A lord should never bow to his servants," Flora said before bowing herself. "I'm Flora. It's my pleasure to serve you."

"And I'm-" as Felicia stepped forward to introduce herself, her foot caught on a tile. She braced for impact but instead found herself wrapped in a soft embrace.

"Are you hurt?" the young prince asked. Felicia looked up and her eyes locked with those of the Nohrian prince. His arm was tightly wound about Felicia's waist, pressing her against his chest.

Taking note of their sudden proximity, Felicia pushed herself away from Corrin, her cheeks flushing red. "I'm sorry," she said with a bow.

"It's alright," Corrin assured her and stretched out his hand. "Nice to meet you...What was the name again?"

"Felicia!" she replied as she excitedly took his hand. This time Corrin was the one who swiftly drew back as he let out a yelp.

"Prince are you alright?" Gunter said as he moved to separate the pair, spear at the ready in case she meant to bring harm to his charge.

"Your hand..." Corrin said as he studied his own. "It's really cold."

"Cold?" Felicia asked, perplexed by the comment. But the truth slowly dawned on her as her face turned red with embarrassment. "I'm sorry!" she exclaimed again as she bowed again.

"My daughters and I are from the Ice Tribe," Kilma explained. "As such, we have some control over ice, but..."

"I'm not very good at it," Felicia said with a defeated look.

"Don't worry about it," Corrin said with a smile as he pat her on the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll get better in time."

"Yes," Felicia said with a smile, her cheeks still burning red. But this time, the maid wasn't embarrassed. Instead, she felt her heart thumping in her chest as a blizzard swirled in her stomach.

This was it, the moment where she fell in love with Corrin.

TBC