It couldn't be said that Belka wasn't grateful. She'd never admit it to anyone (including herself) that working for Lady Camilla really wasn't such a bad lot in life to have. It was so much simpler than being an assassin in some ways but, Belka noted, so much more difficult in other, stranger ones. That said, it could also not be said that she didn't have her reservations with her current job (and certain things that came with it).

Why? It was a simple enough question. Why? Belka asked it nearly every day (without question it was every day if she was being brutally honest with herself). Every waking moment and pretty much all of the non-waking ones as well fell into the category of 'why?'

She didn't understand why. She could understand killing. She was very good at that. She could understand deception, betrayal, murder, darkness, death, and suffering. It was what had been drilled into her since day one. No mercy, no fear, no giving up. It was so simple that way. But if there was one person Belka couldn't fool it was herself.

She understood many things, that much was true, but why Lady Camilla continued to employ her wasn't one of them. Why? Even more confusing to her was why she was so…nice. She didn't just treat her well like so many other of the castle staff, she treated her as an equal. That was more than anyone had ever done for her.

They fought together which was understandable, as that was her job, but eating together at the same table was not. She wasn't just nice, she went out of her way to ask if she was feeling alright or did she need a break or even if she wanted her hair brushed. It was all very confusing. Sure she did the same with Selena but did she wipe sauce stains off her face with a handkerchief in front of her family? No. Did she make crude comments about sleeping together on a daily basis (much to Belka's chagrin)? You bet she didn't. All of it made her feel very…well there was no other word than weird.

Why did Lady Camilla put so much effort into going out of her way to make sure she was okay? She was her employee…her servant…her former assassin. Belka had absolutely no idea and it was starting to bother her more than a little.

It had been alright at first with smallish gestures like asking if she wanted a break from cleaning her armor or another task but as time wore on the offers became more and more extravagant. Soon it became 'Would you like to go for a walk, just the two of us' or 'let's go shopping together'. Not shopping for knives or poison or anything of actual use but for…clothes. The only clothes Belka ever wore were functional ones.

That wasn't even the worst of it. The absolute worst one had to be: 'Shall we do our nails together? Won't that be fun?' No, Lady Camilla, it wouldn't. If I was royalty as well or at least a good friend of noble blood and not the gutter born trash sent to murder you in your sleep…then maybe. Of course she would never dare speak out against her employer like that so she kept her reservations to herself, instead claiming she had to train or run errands instead. Whether Camilla knew this was true or not wasn't clear but in her heart Belka knew Camilla knew perfectly well. It was like a game they played.

She made a cursory glance down. It wasn't even like Belka had long enough nails to actually do anything with. What an utterly pointless gesture for Camilla to make. They were still as short as ever, bitten down to stubs. Make no mistake; it wasn't a nervous habit. Anyone in the army would've been sure to answer that Belka had nerves that made steel wish that it was harder, had they been asked.

Any shred of nervousness was purged over time with her father's training. No…it was simply practicality. Short nails meant they were hard and didn't catch on fabrics or anything while she was on contract. It might seem silly or even pointless to someone not in the business but seconds were precious when you were an assassin. Seconds spent untangling a split nail from a stray thread in her cloak could mean the difference between getting caught and escaping.

Every last detail had to be thought of. From the length of her nails to the length of her hair (short cut as so not to obscure her vision and a headband in place to make doubly sure), to the length of her cloak. Too short and it wouldn't help obscure her identity but too long and she could trip. That was the simple reality of her life. The life of the assassin. Planning for anything and everything right down to the last detail. It wasn't even something Belka needed to worry about anymore. She was in the service of Lady Camilla and would be for the foreseeable future.

She did try to kid herself into believing she still did everything she did when she wasn't out of habit but some of it was definitely a conscious matter now. She deliberately kept her hair too short for Camilla to offer to braid like she did with Selena (who had the sense to always refuse). She always still bit her nails to make sure Camilla didn't have any excuse to hang out with her after her work was done.

She never wore makeup, seeing it as a pointless luxury which, although Lady Camilla's generosity afforded her, she would always decline. In fact Belka was beginning to wish she could avoid Lady Camilla whenever possible such was her generosity. Of course that was almost impossible considering her job but the thoughts couldn't be helped.

Belka sighed, allowing herself a rare moment of frustration. Where had this all started? She knew perfectly well but it was nice if she could pretend. Pretending was the only thing she had left.

The job had been simple. Get into castle Nohr, kill the target, and get out. And yet…that's when everything had changed. In the blink of an eye she'd gone from being Camilla's demise to her personal bodyguard and servant. Switched from killing her to not killing her. It was so simple. But why? Why had Camilla hired her? More importantly why did she continue to hire her? Did she fear for her life maybe? Did she believe that if she no longer employed Belka she would switch back to killing her? Not likely. Camilla was many things but she wasn't someone to be afraid without good reason. She was, in fact, a very trusting person beneath her playful attitude, Belka had deduced.

She trusted Selena when she showed up out of the blue with no memory of who she was or how she got there. She would even go as far as to trust someone who had tried to kill her. Belka kept telling herself that it was stupid. Stupid, foolish sentiment that prevent Lady Camilla from seeing her for who she truly was. That must be it. That must be…

"Belka!" That was another thing that Camilla had taken from her: her name. When they'd first met Camilla had apparently 'misheard' Belka giving her name and before she could correct her she'd gone and told everyone in the castle. She'd tried to correct her on multiple occasions but the only reply she'd ever seem to get would be 'you're so silly, Belka! A big strong girl like you needs a big strong name!" She'd given up after the first week.

As time had worn on she'd actually started to like her new name (not that she'd ever tell Camilla that). Before she'd met her adoptive father she'd had no name of her own…a nameless girl on the streets of an equally nameless village. Though it was the only thing she had to remember him by (barring the memory of the lights in his eyes fading when she'd murdered him), she had no real desire to hang on to it.

'Beruka' was simply another way her 'father' had manipulated her, the same as the rest of his training. Beruka was a ruthless killing machine capable of razing entire settlements into the dust if she was payed enough. Belka was still capable of all those things but now she had an even greater purpose: to protect and serve Princess Camilla of the Nohr royal family. Her new name felt…genuine somehow. Though Camilla had only given it to her in passing and probably didn't even remember doing it, giving her this new name almost made her feel…complete. Better the name of her Mistress than that of a now deceased murderer she'd once called father.

"Belka! Where are you?" Belka checked herself. That was Lady Camilla's voice. She must require some form of assistance. Belka quickly put down the chainmail she'd been scrubbing and left immediately for her mistress's quarters. The chainmail and everything else of Camilla's that had needed cleaning had in fact been spotless many minutes prior but then the 'questions' had started up again for the umpteenth and clouded her head. Well it wasn't like Selena cared enough to do it herself, she reasoned. She walked down the corridor and into her mistress's room.

The sight that greeted her had not been one she had been prepared for. It hadn't been the first time Camilla had called her in wearing nothing but her bra and panties (her usual lacy black ones, she noted) but it still embarrassed her all the same. And just to make it that much worse this time she was bent over into her closet, consequently giving Belka quite the view of her…Belka blurred her vision; in times such as these she never allowed herself the release of a blush or a hand over her eyes or anything as obvious as that but instead unfocused her eyes slightly. The image of her half naked mistress wasn't so…off-putting now. It wasn't great but it was the only thing she could do.

"There you are! Would you be a good girl and help me pick out some dresses?"

"…Dresses, Lady Camilla?"

"Yes dresses, Belka. You know the clothes that we girls wear?"

"I'm aware of what a dress is." Belka noted the emphasis of 'we girls'. She was sure it was deliberate and made all the more obvious by the fact Camilla and Belka herself knew the former assassin had never owned one (much less ever worn one).

"Then help me pick one out, silly."

"But, My Lady, we are still at war. Surely now is not the time for such wear?" Camilla waved a perfectly manicured hand at her.

"Details. When the war is over there'll no doubt be celebrations which I'll attend. It pays to be prepared, you know."

You don't have to tell me. And that's assuming you survive the war, of course. And we're on the winning side.

"Are you just going to stand there and ogle my body, attractive as it is, or are you going to help me?"

"Of course, my Lady." Belka had almost gotten used to her teasing by now. Almost. There was always a negligible feeling at the back of her head of an indescribable nature but she did her best to ignore it. She was forced to refocus her eyes as so not trip on Camilla's discarded garments, trying to ignore the curves of her body or anything even slightly distracting. Belka stared into the closet. She never knew so many dresses existed, let alone in one place.

"Yes…these are your dresses, my lady," she stated.

"Well…?"

"…" Belka had absolutely no idea what to do. If this had been a closet full of knives then sure she would be able to pick out the sharpest or most efficient but a dress…? A dress had no function. It was something to wear like a tunic or wrist band. What was the difference between them? "I…"

"What's wrong?"

"I…I cannot tell the difference between them," Belka said simply. "It is true there are many dresses here of varying colours and lengths but I…I'm not sure I'm the right person to ask for advice in this area." Belka felt a slight pressure on her shoulder, almost allowing her instincts to kick in and accidently snap Camilla's wrist from the unexpected contact.

"You're no fun, you know that?"

"…It would appear so."

"But…" Camilla leaned down (being at least half a head taller than Belka), placing her lips right next to the assassins ear. "I didn't really ask you in here to help me pick out a dress." So she'd figured. Belka had known from the moment Camilla had asked that something was up. They both knew Belka's fashion sense was non-existent (if practical). So what was the reason she'd been summoned?

She got her answer soon enough. Camilla's arms snaked from behind and wrapped around her midsection, pulling Belka closer. Sure enough, as Belka had suspected, her mistress was now hugging her from behind, breasts resting lightly on her shoulders. She'd seen it coming miles away and it certainly hadn't been the first time she'd done it but that didn't make it any less awkward. Belka tried to twist around but Camilla was a lot stronger than she looked and held her in place.

"Lady Camilla…is this strictly necessary? I have other duties to attend to."

"I thought you might say that," she whispered into her ear. "But might I remind you of your primary duty?"

"To serve you, my lady," Belka said, not with resignation or acceptance but definitely not any enthusiasm either.

"Good girl…and right now I require you to just stand here and let me hug you. Be the subject for my affections."

"But I haven't done anything as of late to warrant such an action."

"Nonsense! You…you…" For the slightest moment Belka swore she could've heard her mistress hesitate. "You…went out and fed our Wyverns today."

"I do that every day."

"You also…helped down in the kitchen earlier."

"I also do that most days, my Lady."

"You…I don't know, okay?" She huffed, ruffling the others hair lightly. "Do I need a reason to appreciate my favorite little helper?" Belka thought about objecting but thought better of it. She would never, ever admit to it but having her mistress hugging her body to her and sharing her warmth did feel nice in the strangest of ways. She didn't understand why she did it or why it felt the way it did but for the time being she was content just to stay there and take her 'appreciation'. She was ever so warm.

The two of them stood there in silence for a good few minutes, each listening to the rhythm of the others breathing. Feeling the rising and falling in each other's chests. Once in a while Belka was forced to blow any strands of Camilla's lavender hair out of her eyes as they kept tumbling down, her mistress gently rocking her back and forth.

Belka knew she was deluding herself that this was a normal thing to happen but if her mistress was happy then so was she. That was her job now. Having said that it was still strange for her employer to be twirling locks of her hair around her finger absentmindedly. It had also come to Belka's attention some time ago that her Lady Camilla only ever seemed to be lacking clothes when she was around. She never once saw her and Selena getting all…appreciative like this. Maybe she was just unlucky like that? Or maybe she was…Belka immediately expelled the thought as quickly as it had surfaced. Thoughts like that will do no one any good.

As the seconds ticked on by Belka noticed the hand that wasn't stroking her hair was starting to…drift. If Camilla was trying to be subtle she wasn't doing a very good job. However anyone, including Belka, who knew Camilla knew that subtlety wasn't one of her traits. This meant that the hand of her mistress that was slowly making its way down towards her lower thigh wasn't going unnoticed. Not by a long shot.

"Lady Camilla?"

"Hmm…" Belka could see out of the corner of her eye that the eyes of her mistress had become clouded. Her head was in proverbial clouds, Belka surmised. That still didn't make what was happening any less weird.

"…What are you…" The hand was getting lower, drifting across her midriff and playing with her shirt. "My Lady…" The hand payed her no heed, instead circling around slowly to the top of her hip. The little circles her fingers were starting to draw on Belka's skin were more than a little uncomfortable. If there was a line that mistress and servant had in place, Camilla seemed to have forgotten of its existence. Of course Camilla did everything deliberately so Belka simply couldn't allow herself to believe this was accidental (nor were the pinching motions her fingers were starting to perform). No…everything was done for a reason.

The hand was well past her hip now, finally reaching the assassins lower thigh. Belka was glad that her face was obscured from her mistress because no amount of unfocusing was ever going to let her forget the sensations flowing through her leg at that moment (nor the rising heat in face that she could feel coming with it).

"Lady…Camilla?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…What are you doi…?" The hand was slowly creeping around from the side of her thigh to the middle of her lower body. In other words…it was getting dangerously close to an area that Belka was, understandably, private of. That was the last straw. Mistress or not, Belka had her limits. She wrenched herself free of Camilla's grip and pushed herself away. Unfortunately Belka had misjudged the distance between herself and the bed and ended up falling backwards.

Luckily for her, Camilla, now having snapped out of her daydream, managed to catch her. Of course she herself was then pulled down by the sudden weight and onto the bed as well; Camilla's form fell on top of Belka's with a light thud. Though Camilla wasn't necessarily a heavy person she hid a lot under her armor, and Belka had all the wind knocked out of her. It really wasn't helping matters that her barely clothed breasts were almost completely blocking the assassin's field of vision.

"Well…that was certainly interesting," Camilla giggled. "If you wanted me like this all you had to was ask. Having said that…this was certainly a fun way to begin."

"Lady Camilla…"

"What is it, honey?"

"…Selena."

"Luna?" Camilla's nicknaming wasn't just limited to Belka; she'd caught Selena sneaking out of the castle at night on more than one occasion and from then on had decided to call her Luna. Where she was sneaking off to was apparently unimportant and Belka was never interested enough to check.

Camilla followed Belka's gaze past her to the door and, with a sickening feeling forming in the pit of her stomach, noted that they were no longer alone.

Selena's face was picture perfect, her blush very nearly the same colour as her shock of red hair, jaw slightly agape. Whether her other retainer had the worst or the most comic timing in the world wasn't clear but one thing certainly was: Belka and Camilla were lying in bed together, one on top of the other with the former's face being practically smothered by the latter's breasts. Camilla was also acutely aware that all this was happening when she was in her bra and panties.

To clarify…she was on top of one her servants…in nothing but her bra and panties, black and lacy for all to see…in front of another one of her servants. The reality of the situation took a while to kick in but when it did Camilla's usually calm demeanour had all but vanished.

"L-Luna! I-I can e-explain," she stuttered. What followed Camilla's half-hearted denial could only be described as the most excruciating thirty seconds of silence in the history of Nohr…and probably the world too. Selena stood slack jawed, eyes flitting between that of her fellow subordinate, stony and unflinching, and that of her mistress, still wide like that of a deer caught in a net.

"…..Well I was going to see if you needed help with anything but I think you've got all the bases covered. I'll…just be leaving now. You two have fun together." And with that, Selena turned sharply on her heel and walked briskly in the other direction (most likely to lie down and try to forget the disturbing images she'd just seen).

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Lady Camilla…could you please get off me?"

"Oh, o-of course!" The taller woman leapt off the bed, hauling Belka after her. "Are you hurt? I didn't crush you or anything did I?"

"No."

"I'm so sorry that happened! I didn't mean for that to happen..." For once her mistress's eyes weren't filled with playful flirting but rather…actual caring. She saw it all the time when Camilla interacted with the other Nohr royals but seldom anyone else; Belka knew she was seeing it but it was still hard to process that Camilla actually cared about her, rather than just a constant source of teasing as she usually was.

"It is fine," Belka replied monotonously. Camilla was having none of it and the words began to pour out so fast Belka had a hard time processing everything that was being said.

"Oh gods I didn't want that to happen. Stupid, stupid Camilla! I just wanted…arghh! I don't even know what I was thinking!"

"My Lady…"

"One second I was hugging you and I don't know I must have started drifting off because my hand was on your leg and…oh I'm so sorry!

"Lady Camilla…"

"I j-just wanted to tease you that's all! I never meant for…oh gods why!" Her face was starting to blush as heavily as Selena's had. "And then…oh gods Luna walked in? What must she think of me? How can I explain? Will she believe me? What if she…tells other people what she saw? What if…?"

"MISTRESS!" Camilla stopped mid-sentence, shocked that the normally reserved Belka had actually raised her voice outside of the battlefield, much less raised it against that of her.

"…Um…yes Belka?"

"You are over reacting."

"Belka you can't be serious! Luna just walked in on me practically smothering you with my breasts whilst half naked and lying in bed. I think it's a very reasonable reaction!"

"But you said it was an accident? Was it not?"

"W-well it was but…"

"Then we will treat it as such and no harm was done."

"But…"

"Accidents can happen, my Lady. I do understand the circumstances of this one were…strange, and I do not fully understand all the aspects involved but it was an accident none the less."

"But Luna…"

"I will speak with her. I am sure she will understand." Camilla took a deep breath, exhaling it slowly. If only it were that simple. She took a long, hard look into her subordinate's eyes. They were the same as ever. That is to say that they were unflinching, but not without emotion. The tiniest scrap of duty was always present, giving constant reassurance the Belka was by her side.

She sighed. The way Belka spoke of the events that had just transpired made it sound like they were discussing what kind of tea to drink and not 'did Selena (or indeed Belka herself) think she was coming on to her'? She quickly checked herself. It was an accident…that much was true. Belka's eyes certainly didn't seem to hold anything against her. Camilla sighed once more.

"Fine." It was a simple enough conclusion to events and not one that did it any justice but it was the only word Belka needed to hear.

"Then if that is all…"

"You may go. I'll…see you tomorrow."

"Of course." Belka could feel Camilla's eyes on her as she left the room. It was the look of someone not quite believing everything that had just happened was real and any second now they were going to wake up. Belka knew from experience that never happened. Everything that had just happened was real. From the way the blush had spread across her superior's face when she realised that she was on top of her, and the blush deepening once she realised Selena had walked in by mistake, to the look of shock and then absolute disgust plastered across her face once she saw what was going on.

Belka payed none of it any mind. Why would she? It was just another regular day of serving Lady Camilla as far she was concerned. What she done today? Got up early as usual. Went for her early morning run. Trained. Fed the wyverns. Ate lunch. Helped destroy some faceless ones. More training. Cleaned Lady Camilla's armor. Fell victim to another one of Lady Camilla's silly schemes to tease her. Went to bed.

The last item was a current one and she could theoretically go for another run beforehand but for whatever reason she was feeling drained. Not physically drained, mind you, but there was a feeling…a feeling lingering at the back of her mind that was making her just want to lie down. Belka shook her head. It was probably just another one of her Lady Camilla's silly jokes. So why did she feel so…weird? There was no other word for it. And still the questions lingered. Why? She would dwell on it later. And tomorrow. What would she do tomorrow? Get up early as usual. Go for an early morning run…

A/N: It's my headcannon that Camilla gives nicknames to her retainers: The localisation names are their actual ones and the Japanese are the nicknames. Hence, Camilla calls Selena, Luna, and Beruka, Belka. It just seems like the kind of thing Camilla would do, given her playful personality.

I've looked around and I haven't seen a single Beruka-centric fic and as one of my favorite Fates characters that borders on the criminal. She's just great in so many ways (including being female Solid Snake). Thus, thes fic was born.

This is my first proper Fates work (and Fire emblem in general though I've written for Robin in my other story) so I'd really appreciate you leaving a review to tell me how I did.

P.S. This is going to be a multi chapter fic but updates aren't going to be at a set time. I'll see you when I see you.

Hope you enjoyed it!