This fic is much lighter than anything else I've done, and taking it too seriously will probably result in not enjoying it very much.
And a great thank you to Elyvern for previewing and correcting the first several chapters. Any mistakes that did make it through her laser eyes should be attributed to me.
Wind was neither comfort nor welcome in a desert. It was more hot air carrying hotter grains of sand that fell between armor and clothing, chafing and wearing down even the most disciplined of soldiers.
"I just don't get it… Who would arrive here and say, 'Yes. This is where we shall make our civilization.'"
Chrom flapped his collar, glancing to see who had spoken. Robin's horse pulled beside his, friend mimicking his movements.
"See anything I need to know about?" Chrom asked, shielding his eyes from the sun as they crested another dune.
"Yeah, you're going to have a ridiculous looking sunburn if you don't cover up that arm."
Chrom looked to him, then to his arm with a shrug.
"It'll add to my mystery factor."
Robin looked out over the distant sands. There, a wavering image on the horizon. The Plegian capital. He glanced back seeing the caravan struggling to make it up the hill.
"Good thing we got the early start," Robin commented, glancing skyward, "we should make it before noon."
"Next time, they come to us. In our liveable, temperate climate."
"You just miss your wife."
"No‒"
"Sorry. You miss having sex with your wife."
"N‒ well yes, but‒"
"Milord, the capital is in view. Shall we make camp here?" Frederick interrupted, joining them at the head of the column.
"Hell no," Robin answered for him. "We're doing the meeting and trying to get out of this country the same day."
"Sir?" Frederick ignored him, watching Chrom, "Thoughts?"
"He's busy missing sex with his wife. I'll take over from here."
"It's fine, Frederick. Set up temporary shelter but be ready to move before nightfall," Chrom answered, also ignoring Robin.
"I'm pretty sure we could have fit Olivia in somewhere. She's small," Robin mused as Chrom's retinue broke off from the main caravan to join their trot to the city.
"Please stop having thoughts about my wife."
"I'm having thoughts about you having thoughts about your wife," Robin corrected, waving a finger at him. "That makes it okay. Supportive, really. I ship you guys."
Chrom sighed as they picked up the pace, eager to be out of the sun. As the city came into clearer focus they spotted the front gates, a pair of guards watching their approach with hands on weapons. The city gates were closed.
"The Ylissean prince has arrived for a meeting with your sovereign," Frederick announced when they were in earshot, pulling ahead and in front of Chrom.
Robin could see his eyes scanning the high walls for snipers, every shadowed embrasure a suspect in question. The guards meanwhile were murmuring to each other, staring at Robin. After a silent discussion one guard turned, gesturing to someone out of sight, and the gates creaked open. The guard stepped inside the walls and motioned them to follow.
He glanced at Frederick who returned his gaze with narrowed eyes.
"Your city always on lockdown?" Robin asked their escort as they disembarked their mounts.
The rest of the Shepherds dismounted, leading their horses to be tied by the stable hands at the gate entrance.
Sand billowed softly before empty stalls and deserted streets. Low buildings and shadowed doorways offered a dozen ambush sites from any direction, but the entire city was deathly quiet. If the population of Plegia was more than two guards, it didn't show.
"Where is everybody?" Cordelia asked, looking around.
"Prayer," the escort finally spoke, answering both questions.
He pointed up the main road to where Plegia castle overlooked the city atop a hill, and the remainder of their trip was made in silence. As they neared the castle entrance hushed voices could be heard behind them and Robin turned to see their comrades looking as uneasy as he felt.
He'd only been to this place once. That dark day, two years ago. He glanced to Chrom and saw the same memory running through his mind.
"So we need boats, but don't forget to ask for that dessert thing for the road. The balaclavas."
"Baklavas," Chrom muttered, looking up the high doors before them.
"Yeah, those. See if we can get like… Fifty," Robin whispered as the doors dramatically opened for their entrance, "Plus however many you think you're gonna eat."
"I'll try not to forget."
They walked into the entry hall of the castle and into another world. The impossibly high stone walls and pillars were like a cathedral, temperature inside that of a cool Ylissean evening rather than the scorching arid landscape outside.
"Am I glad I got guard duty," Cordelia murmured to Sumia, grinning as she lifted her long hair.
"Stay vigilant," Frederick reminded them just loud enough for the Shepherds to hear, eyes still moving from one shadow to another.
"Why, you don't think they're still bitter about the whole 'disposing their king,' thing, right? The guy was a psychopath." Robin turned to their escort, "Back me up here."
Chrom cleared his throat. Robin looked to him, then to the wall behind him. The mural depicted savage looking Ylissean knights slaughtering countless Plegians, the 'Mad King' atop a tower battling a dozen foes alone.
"Hey, where am I?" Robin lost interest in the escort's glower, moving to the wall and scouring the faces, "Who are these guys? They weren't there! Chrom!"
Boot steps echoed around the stone hall and everyone looked to see Aversa arrive from a side passage.
"You," Chrom breathed, frowning.
"Is that any way to greet a former acquaintance?" She pouted, hands on her wide hips as she leaned forward before turning to Robin, "I'll bet Robin remembers me."
"Sorry about killing your boss," Robin greeted, still studying at the mural before frowning and looking at her. "Hey, why are you still here? Shouldn't being part of Gangrel's entourage been a bit of a black mark on your resume?"
"Some say one man's blackmark is another's qualification," she smiled at him, turning to lead them to the meeting room.
Robin's frown deepened. "Criminals. Criminals are the only people who say that."
Chrom turned to the others, instructing them to be on guard while he, Robin and Frederick met with the new king, and if anything looked off to come find them.
"Be careful," Cordelia called after him as they rounded the corner to find Aversa.
The Plegian advisor was waiting for them at the end of a long hall. She opened the door as they approached, bowing her head as Frederick entered the room first, scanning every corner for threats before Chrom and Robin joined.
The meeting room held a circular table surrounded by large cushions for seating. The back of the room opened into a balcony that overlooked an ocean of sand, but the heat stayed outside. To their left, a fountain that spilled water into a sieve disappearing into the floor, to their right, a row of cloaked figures lined against the wall.
"Cause that's not weird," Robin murmured, staring at them.
"Stop staring," Chrom chided, kicking his boot.
"They're staring!"
"That's… Their job," Chrom explained lamely, looking to Aversa who closed the door behind her with another bow.
"Their job is to stand there and stare at us?"
"I don't know, Robin, just pretend they're not there," Chrom sighed, taking a seat beside where Frederick stood at the table.
"It's not that easy, Chrom," Robin decided, slipping out of Chrom's reach and striding over to the figures.
He ignored Chrom's hiss and approached one, smiling disarmingly. They were clad head-to-toe in robes despite the sweltering heat, peering through a thin vision slit in their head covering.
"Hi. Why are you here?"
They didn't answer, large eyes shifting down to avoid meeting his gaze revealing browned eyelids. Mascara. Scent, female.
Robin frowned, moving on to the next one who also looked down. Her cloak was a deep blue, a beautiful cloth. But unless he was mistaken these women had no military value. Why were they here?
Rustling fabric caught his eye and he looked to the next woman, cloak a midnight purple trimmed with gold. He tilted his head, approaching her and almost doubling back as she stared right into his eyes. Her gaze was impossibly dark, large eyes mysterious but… Hungry. Unsettling. He ignored them and reached for her cloak ‒ it was the finest looking material he'd ever seen.
"Robin!" Chrom called, "Don't touch!"
"What material is this?" Robin asked her as he thumbed the hem of her cloak, careful not to disturb her covering, "I must have one just like it."
She didn't answer, but when he looked up her eyes were narrowed with a smile. It wasn't an encouraging one, either. Victorious ‒ satiated.
Robin stepped away uncertainly but she didn't follow, looking down with the same expression as before, holding herself beneath her robe. He suppressed a shiver.
"Alright, this place is weird," Robin commented to his friends as he sat down beside them. "Frederick, thoughts."
"The fountain is a wasteful display of wealth, undermining the impoverished state of the rest of the country."
"About the women!" Robin hissed, glancing over his shoulder, "Why am I the only one who thinks that's weird?"
"They're not assassins. Their robes limit mobility and Plegia's adamant in their belief that a woman's place is in the home," Frederick reported, giving them a once over and returning his scowl to the fountain.
"Wouldn't that make them the perfect assassins?" Robin narrowed his eyes, "Playing on your assumptions, while they could be hiding anything under those robes."
"Like another assassin?" Frederick looked over again, scrutinizing the women more closely, "They would have to be very small, and would be easily dispatched."
"So you think. Until you're alone in your room, and she sneaks in under cover of night, disguise: seduction; mission: murder. You can't help yourself, these feelings you have for her‒"
"I'm going to stop you right there before you confuse reality with your fantasies again," Chrom murmured, looking to the door on the far end of the room as footsteps echoed.
"Too late. But then, she realizes something. Somewhere along the way, perhaps a part of her started feeling something for you too. And then you kiss and do things," Robin looked to Frederick impressively. "And that's how Frederick finds love."
"I think that's how you want to find love," Chrom replied, Frederick now tuning them out.
"I wouldn't say no. Now I have a thing for assassins..."
The door opened and a tall man entered, gliding towards them arms outstretched like a massive bat. Chrom stood uncertainly as the man embraced him like a brother while Frederick watched warily, hand on sword hilt. When they broke the newcomer turned his attention to Robin, holding him at arm's length with a twisted smile that curled the ends of his mouth. They embraced and Robin stared at Chrom in alarm.
"Welcome, allies. I apologize for my delay, I was kept by a previous appointment. Please, sit and we will begin. Aversa!"
The woman appeared from his door, carrying a large map that she spread over the table.
"May I fetch you wine, milord?" she asked Chrom coyly, leaning forward to expose Frederick to an ecliptical view of cleavage.
"Water is fine, thank you," Chrom glanced to Frederick who stared stonily ahead.
"You've come to ask for Plegia's aid against a Valmese invasion," the man began, looking up as Robin raised his hand, "...Yes?"
"Who are you?"
The man smiled that same serpentine grin. "I am King Validar."
"You look really familiar. Have I stabbed you before?"
"Robin!" Chrom hissed, trying to kick him under the table but low cushions making it impossible.
"I do not believe so. Though I have heard we Plegians look alike," Validar continued that smile that never reached his eyes as Chrom and Frederick stiffened.
Chrom shot Robin a glare, Don't make this harder for us.
"If we may begin," Validar continued, running his hand across the map, "I recognize the mutual threat to all our countries, but I fail to see what Plegia can possibly offer the military might that is Ylisse and Ferox."
"We intend to take the fight to Valm," Chrom explained, looking to Robin who was still staring at Validar with narrowed eyes, "If we take their port cities before they can build a navy, we can stop the invasion at its source, preventing the war from ever reaching our continent."
"Sound strategy," Validar admitted, glancing to Robin who opened his mouth, then closed it scratching his chin. "Yet I still can't imagine what we could contribute. Your latest war has left our military crippled and resources stretched. My people scrape to make it day to day, and with the drought…"
"Have you considered moving out of a desert?"
Chrom's foot finally found Robin and though the motion wasn't subtle Robin fell quiet. The prince turned to Validar.
"We would not ask you for more than Plegia could spare, but I understand you hold a sizeable navy at bay."
"In our coastal towns, certainly," Validar acknowledged, pointing them out on the map. "Though with no crews to man them…"
"We will supply coin if you can find crew." Chrom moved his hand up the map, "The coalition forces will meet here, at Port Ferox. With your ships we could make a sizeable landing force, enough to keep the Valmese at bay and set up supply routes."
Validar considered the map, stroking his thin beard.
"When The Conqueror's forces land it will be impossible to contain them, and you will lose more than possibly a few ships," Frederick pressed, tapping the numerous landing sites across the Plegian coast.
Validar looked to Aversa, "What do you think, my dear? Is the agreement favorable?"
"Whatever is best for our people," Aversa purred, fingers walking across Frederick's shoulder plate.
"Indeed," Validar agreed, nodding once before turning to Robin. "Does your tactician have any thoughts on the matter?"
"I'm going to remember you, I don't know why you're making this difficult," Robin glared at him.
"Then we are in accord," Validar turned back to Chrom. "Our fleets will be ready in two week's time. They will be given to the coalition to use as you see fit."
Chrom looked to Frederick, blinking. "I suppose… That's everything then?"
"Everything diplomatic, I believe so," Validar concurred, bowing slightly and offering a hand to the door as everyone stood.
The other three men shared a look. As far as begging for aid from a country Ylisse previously invaded, defeated, invaded again, and overthrew the king of, that went unrealistically smooth.
"Before you leave however, I would like a few words with your tactician," Validar appeared behind Robin, long bony fingers draping over his shoulders. At the exchanged glances of uncertainty he continued, "Consider it my price, for aid."
Robin looked to Chrom, mouthing Don't you leave me with him.
We need this! he mouthed back.
Not worth it!
Chrom didn't have a chance to respond as Aversa opened the door, guiding them out. She bowed once and closed the door behind her, leaving Robin alone with Validar and the wall-full of women.
"I do hate these political matters," Validar wrinkled his nose, taking the seat directly beside him and patting for Robin to sit down, "They blind us of what really matters: family."
"O… Kay." Robin sat slowly, ready to bolt for the balcony ledge at the first sign of things getting weirder.
Validar considered him, brows knitting.
"You really don't remember, do you?"
Robin said nothing, refusing to be let on.
"Who you are…" Validar sucked air through his teeth, shaking his head, "Well I suppose… I shall be the one to tell you, then. You are royalty, Robin."
"If you're the one sending me those 'wealthy Plegian king looking to marry' letters I keep ignoring‒"
"Allow me to be more clear, you… Are my son, Robin."
Robin stared at him. The dark skin, tall body, lanky limbs, narrow face, long hooked nose. Validar was either lying or quite mad.
"You take after your mother," Validar assured him with a smile.
"Yeeeeeah," Robin stood, "I think we're done here."
"It started with the headaches."
Robin stopped halfway to the door.
"They fade away around your twentieth year. Then sleep evades you, yet you don't feel weary. Instead you… Dream."
Robin heard him stand, fountain trickling faintly in his peripherals.
"Dreams of too many things to remember. Of things that have passed. Things that are happening." Validar paused, "With training, you can glimpse beyond even that. And remember even more."
"Is being insane a prerequisite to holding the throne in Plegia, or is that just coincidence?" Robin asked, turning to him.
"Foresight. That is one of the few gifts the great dragons passed along their bloodline," Validar pressed, stepping closer, "Ylissean royalty has lost these gifts, thrown away for the sake of passions for commoners. But Plegia honors our ancestor. Our bloodlines have been kept pure, ensuring each generation of royalty is unsullied by weakness. You, are unsullied, Robin."
"Then why do I feel so dirty after hearing that."
"As tradition dictates, your marriage was arranged before your birth to ensure the continued purity of our blood."
"Oh here we go," Robin muttered, looking to the wall of women.
"You are encouraged to pass your genes through as many purebloods as possible," Validar gestured, waving his hand as if gazing over the horizon.
"That sounds like a surefire method for inbreeding." Robin stopped, nose wrinkling, "Am I inbred?"
"You are pure."
"I'm inbred!" Robin wretched, looking at himself in disgust.
"You are perfect, my son."
"I think I'm going to be sick," Robin held his mouth, looking around for a waste bin.
"Most men are slightly more… Enthusiastic over meeting their brides," Validar raised a high eyebrow higher.
"I don't even know these women!" Robin exclaimed. "Let these women go home and choose their husbands like… Normal people!"
"Normal?" Validar repeated, cocking his head, "This is normal, my son."
"This is backwards, and if you can't see that, you're backwards."
"This is their life."
"Being treated as property?"
"Everything up to this point has been training to be a perfect wife for you," Validar frowned, clearly concerned over Robin's confusion. "What about that displeases you?"
Robin stared at him, then to the women. "I have to get out of here."
He turned towards the door when an unfamiliar voice spoke.
"He touched me."
Both men turned at the sound of a feminine voice. Low, sultry, but somehow Robin guessed Validar wasn't the one who'd spoken.
"Step forward," Validar commanded.
All the women looked down save the one who stepped forward, eyes glued on Robin. Midnight purple cloak, trimmed with gold.
"No, no I didn't‒!" Robin denied quickly, striding back and raising a finger at her.
"He felt my body."
"That is an utter lie, I touched her cloak and that's it!" Robin half-shouted, staring between her and Validar, "Why are you lying?!"
"If a man touches an unmarried woman, she is to be either stoned or wed," Validar explained patiently. "But as she's one of your brides, shall I interpret this as your choice of first wife?"
"First‒? No!"
"Please, husband, take me with you on your journey," the woman bowed her head, taking his hand in her incredibly cold fingers.
"An excellent suggestion," Validar nodded. "It shall provide sufficient time to produce a child and your return to Plegia for your second-choosing."
"I don't even know your name‒!"
"Tharja," she answered immediately, dark eyes meeting his. "My name is Tharja… First wife of Robin."
"This isn't happening..." Robin muttered as Aversa opened the door again, "Robin's companions await to depart. Is the choosing complete?"
"I believe we are finished," Validar announced resting a hand on Robin's shoulder before gesturing to Tharja. "Are you taking this one with you, or shall she be stoned?"
"Can I just… Set her free?"
Validar stared at him incredulously. "Don't be heartless, Robin. She isn't a pet."
"No, pets are a ten-to-fifteen year commitment."
"I trust you will bear strong children," Validar smiled, not hearing him, "Come back to my side when this war finishes."
"I'm not even going to pretend that's going to happen," Robin answered moving to the door, Tharja close behind.
The sun was low over the sands as the Shepherds met up with the rest of the army. Everyone saw to chores before dinner in preparation for their night hike, but Robin found attending his matters difficult. Wherever he went, Tharja followed.
He tried ignoring her for a while, but the confused looks he was getting from his comrades were now being followed by hushed voices, and he knew this had to stop. He wasn't married, and the longer this poor girl labored under that delusion the worse he felt as a human being.
"Tharja," he called from peeling potatoes in the mess tent.
She appeared like a genie from behind a barrel, eyes narrowed with delight at hearing her name.
"So if you're joining the Shepherds, you're free to move around camp," Robin explained, not looking up from peeling. "Meet other people, help out... Not follow me."
"My place is by your side, husband."
"No, it isn't, because we're not married," Robin corrected her, setting the potato aside and sitting down on a stool to face her, "I don't know many Plegian customs, but you can go do whatever you want with your life now."
"I want to be by your side."
"Stop saying that," Robin lowered his voice as knights took a table nearby. "You seem like a really lovely person and I'm sure you have wonderfully wifey qualities, but I don't know you, and you don't know me, and that is a terrible way to start a marriage."
"You would break thousands of years of Plegian custom simply to protect my honor?" She sighed breathlessly, knights at the other table glancing over.
"N-no, I never said that." He looked to the knights, "I never said that!"
"You truly are everything I've heard you would be."
"Okay, we'll talk about this more later, alright?" He ushered her out the tent as Sully grinned at him through a mouthful of food.
"Where am I to go?"
"Anywhere, all the world is your oyster, or whatever," Robin uttered as Shepherds filed in and spotted him.
"May I share your quarters?"
"No, that's my oyster," he closed the tent flap and turned back to the others as Sully called over.
"That the new missus?"
"Aw, did I miss her?" Vaike chuckled, taking a seat. "I was really hoping to… I dunno, learn her name?"
"Her name is Tharja, and she is not anyone's missus," Robin answered, looking around to see everyone grinning at him. "What?"
"Just not sure about the timing, sir," Cordelia strained to keep her mouth straight, "I mean, we're about to go to war. Is this really the time to be getting married?"
"Nah see, that's why they did it quick, no ceremony or nothing just straight to the good part, right Robin?" Vaike grinned knowingly at him, holding up a hand to high five, "Some post-battle release? 'Relaxation time?' Don't leave me hanging."
Robin tilted his head. "I don't get it."
"The good part!" Vaike repeated, grin fading with raised eyebrows, "You know! The good part?"
"Saying it slower with dancing eyebrows is making me not want to understand you."
"Holy crap he doesn't know," Sully belched a laugh, slapping a recruit's armor. "This is too good."
"What's 'good?!'" Robin stared around impatiently.
"Come on guys, it's not like he would know…" Sumia defended him before covering her mouth as the others roared with laughter, "Er, not that… That is to say, he couldn't know…"
"Alright screw you guys, enjoy your dinner," Robin scowled as he marched out of the tent and the others continued to howl.
"Maybe it's some new initiative to relieve battlefield stress." Vaike called after him, "Let us know when we'll be getting ours!"
"Hah, you wish. That's the only way you're…"
The voices faded behind him as Robin made his way through camp. It was only half deployed due to their imminent departure but was still easy enough to put some distance between himself and the others so he could pout.
On the edge of camp he found Chrom sitting on a rocky outcrop overlooking the sea of sand. His friend looked lost in thought but not unwelcoming.
"May I?"
Robin didn't wait for an answer, sitting on the lower rock beside him and looking out too. The sun was almost gone now, visibly disappearing under the horizon as the sky darkened and stars grew brighter. They sat in silence for a couple minutes before Chrom finally spoke.
"Feels like we just got finished with a war."
"Hey, stop that," Robin sensed the direction this was heading and looked up at him, "You didn't start either of them."
"You sure? Feels like I'm the only thing they have in common," Chrom chuckled, glancing at him.
"Walhart's going to be on our doorstep in weeks' time, what would you tell your people then, 'Sorry it felt too soon for another war.'"
Chrom raised his eyebrows in admission.
"Yeah it sucks, but the fact that you don't want to be the one making these calls means you're the right person for it," Robin grabbed his knee and shook it. "And everyone's behind you."
Chrom looked to him, and Robin nodded.
"You're doing this for us, and we'll give our all for you. Every step of the way. Never look back."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm making super vague general words of encouragement hoping your brain will attribute them to areas in your life where they're needed. Is it working?"
Chrom thought for a moment and shrugged, "A little."
"How do you eat an elephant?"
"You can stop now."
"Life isn't a destination‒"
"Please."
"Which is why we call it the present."
"How's your new wife?" Chrom interrupted, glancing over his shoulder to make sure she wasn't sneaking up on them.
Robin groaned, looking too. "It wasn't supposed to be this way, man. I'm too attractive to be married."
"I don't think that's a disqualifying factor but… The heart wants what the heart wants."
"Stop that, you're not funny."
"I figured you'd find someone eventually," Chrom mused, scratching his jaw, "But I always figured I'd be giving away Lucina before I was your best man."
"I know, I wrote your Best Man Speech and everything!" Robin grumbled, kicking sand.
"I think I write that."
"You wish," Robin snorted, looking out over the horizon again before standing. "I can't risk you going off script on the most important day of some girl's life."
"Well, good thing Tharja spared us that potential conflict… Oh, damn."
"What?"
"I forgot about the baklava," Chrom frowned in apology. "Next trip."
Robin's head fell back as he groaned again, making for his tent.
He didn't feel eyes on him the entire way and was just wondering where she'd found her hidey hole when he arrived at his tent.
"So help me…" he murmured, pushing the flap aside.
Sure enough, the cloaked figure sitting on his cot rose at his entry. Her hood and face garb were gone, folded on his desk. Her raven hair was decorated with golden accessories similar to her robe, and her large eyes locked on his, searching for approval. She was quite beautiful, but again, was also more or less a complete stranger.
"Are you duties finished, husband?" she asked, hand appearing to trail the collar of her robe.
"Duties?" Robin asked blankly, watching her fingers play with her clasp.
"If no one will disturb us, I may disrobe if it would please you…"
"I… Guess? Be comfortable, whatever that means for you. And then get out." Robin responded, moving to his desk before giving her a double take, "You're not hiding a small assassin under there are you?"
She smiled coyly, fingers unfastening her clasp as the robe fell from her shoulders. For all the modesty Plegians wore in outer layers, the undergarments revealed a different story. He wasn't even sure where one would find what she was wearing ‒ they were little more than elegant smallclothes under a full body stocking covering everything from her ample cleavage, down to her taut stomach and wide hips leaving little to the imagination.
His speechlessness was taken as a positive sign and she drew closer, swaying her hips seductively.
"O-okay time out, I just remembered, actually, about a thing‒"
"It can wait," she breathed, pulling his mouth down to hers.
His first kiss was as unexpected as it was full of tongue, and only by sheer willpower and compartmentalizing was he able to break the spell and pull his head back.
"W-who are you?!" he gasped, staring at her.
Her fingernails dug into his lower back, pulling his hips against her roughly, and the spell was back in full force.
"Robin?" Chrom's voice came from somewhere outside and he turned his head suddenly.
"Help I'm being seduced‒!" Robin managed before her hands reappeared around his neck, smothering him with another kiss.
The tent flap opened and Chrom stared. Robin's hands were waving wildly to demonstrate helplessness and Tharja glowered the intruder in annoyance.
"Er… When you're… Finished?" Chrom cleared his throat, giving Tharja a cautious once over with new lens. "We're packing up ‒ by nightfall, like you said."
"Help me!"
Robin backed away suddenly, banging against his desk as Tharja wound her arms around him, deepening their kiss. Chrom had seen a wolf take down deer with less enthusiasm. He took a tentative step forward but an icy glare froze him in place. That of a beast warning a newcomer to keep moving, this was her meal.
"Tag in!" Robin managed in another gasp of air, reaching for him but Chrom shook his head.
"Sorry bud, I have… Prince things to do. We move out in twenty see you in the column!"
"You coward!"
Chrom closed the tent flap and shuddered. Yes, he did feel bad as the struggle continued inside. Still, Robin had left him in worse situations where Chrom wasn't getting an unexpected wedding night, and the thought of karmic justice offered some consolation to him as they made ready to march.
This time tomorrow, they'd be in Ferox.
Updates will be irregular (as always), but the story will be finished (as always).
Happy Holidays!