Eirika sat on her bed, thinking. Nothing was really working to distract her, not even helping the citizens of Renais. All she thought about was the prince of Grado, who had died by her own hand. Lyon. Which side of him was real?
Ephraim had said that Lyon spoke, once, about the Demon King to him- "The Demon King doesn't control me- I control him."
But yet, he told Eirika to kill him, because the Demon King had possessed him…
Which could she believe? Which one was really Lyon? She didn't want to even think about the possibility that Lyon could really have been controlling the Demon King- that would mean that her childhood friend, one of her best friends in the world, was pure evil. No, that couldn't be right. Could it?
She regretted killing him. She hated it, but she had felt guilty since she'd fought with Lyon. Why couldn't she just forget it? He was possessed, he asked her to so that he wouldn't hurt her, because he loved her.
That made her snap. She had tried not to think about that, never thinking about that. But when she did, she burst into tears. The princess bawled into her pillow for a few minutes until someone knocked on her door. "Eirika?"
She whimpered into the pillow, "Go away!"
The door creaked open. Ephraim stood there, looking confused. Then he saw the red, puffy eyes and the tear-streaked cheeks, and he had to stop himself from yelling. "Eirika, who made you cry? What happened?"
She buried her face in the pillow again. "Go away, Ephraim!"
Ephraim had learned to let her calm down if she was like this, so he left- but not before reminding her, "Eirika- if you want to tell me, I'll listen. You're my sister, and I hate seeing you cry. So, anyway, if it was any of the guys' faults I'll skewer him. Okay?"
Eirika had to smile. Her brother was overly protective of her, and placed blame on one of the men that she was close to whenever she was sad. She murmured, looking up a little, "O-okay."
Seth stood outside the door, waiting for the prince to come out. He had been going with Ephraim to the training grounds, but when the prince heard the muffled sounds of crying coming from Eirika's room… Seth knew that the prince wouldn't ignore his sister. When Ephraim came back out, he clapped Seth on the back and said, "Well, it's back to business for us, I suppose."
"I would think so." Seth smiled at him, still thinking about the princess in her room- if only he could have actually comforted her. Duty both told him to serve her and help her, but it would not let him help her with emotions- only fight for her, die for her. That was all he could do to comfort her, and it made him a little more annoyed. He hated to feel helpless- even if he wasn't any good at helping people with emotional troubles anyway.
Eirika thought again about the prince of Grado. He said he was in love with her… She had had a small crush on him for the last few years, but during the war it had faded away like a dream does in the morning. She knew, somewhere inside her, that Lyon had to have been the kind one. It was simply impossible to think of him otherwise. She smiled. It wasn't completely solved- she was still dreaming about his corpse, laying there, blood soaking the robes, with the 'e' sound on his lips. But lately, it hadn't been Lyon laying on the ground, pale and cold, but rather the Silver Knight- Seth.
Eirika didn't understand why her thoughts kept drifting to him, because she knew that the difference in rank would kill off any chances of a relationship between them.
And yet, a silly, childish plan began to form in her head…
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When Seth woke up the next morning, he saw a little blue slip of paper lying on his floor. It had little roses on it, and it was the girliest thing he had ever seen in his life. But when he picked it up, all that was written on it was a simple, albeit very poetic, few sentences:
i"Maybe it should sound weak, that I have fallen so hard. Many say you fall in love. I disagree, because I personally tripped into it unknowing-- yet once I found how deep the pit was, I climbed out and tried to forget. But I can't, and so I keep diving back in.
I apologize for my weakness, that I can't simply tell you my name.
I had forgotten to mention this… Please, do remember that though there is a Silver Knight, there is also a Seth."/i
Seth set the paper carefully on his desk. It could be from one of the newer- female- recruits, he knew that he wasn't hard on the eyes. But he'd thought that he never presented himself in such a manner- he was always the Silver Knight around everyone… Who did he let his guard down around? Who would have actually fallen for not the Silver Knight, but Seth?
The only people he let down his guard with… Franz, but he was obviously infatuated with Amelia- and he was not the type of man to be in love with another man! So, if it was not the Cavalier…
Then, it hit him. Hit him like a lance in the chest while jousting with Duessel that once.
bEirika./b
Seth was sprinting to the stables, note held in his hand tightly. He was trying to contain himself, trying not to look like a giddy teenager who had been asked on his first date, but the stupid grin wouldn't wipe itself off his face. Ephraim elbowed him when he heard Seth humming softly to himself while brushing off his horse. He jumped, and Ephraim laughed. "So, my dear Seth, you've figured it out now? I take it that you return her affections, but don't know how to tell her? Ah, don't worry. I only know this because… Hmm. Anyways, so you do like my very queenly sister?"
In truth, Ephraim had read some parts of her diary with Forde and Kyle when he had been especially bored with acting prince-like. He quoted smoothly to the knight, smirking at him,
"Dear Diary,
Today I have realized that I have… fallen for someone. Tana says that she's known it all along, but I doubt that-- or have I been that obvious? Then again, he seems so oblivious to it all, so dutiful and… well, a knight in shining armor! Isn't it always the knight who comes and sweeps the princess off of her feet? But, that's only in fairy tales when the knight notices that the princess loves her knight. Obviously my knight isn't interested in things like love…
However, I cannot stop hoping. I fell so fast, and so hard- I think, honestly, that I have loved him all along. Ugh, I can't imagine how embarrassing it would be to have him hear this! I should stop writing now, just in case Forde wants his notebook back someday…"
Seth was as red as a tomato, and when Ephraim finished, he started to speak. However, he was interrupted by the one person he had inot/i wanted to walk in at that moment- his one and only love interest, Princess Eirika. She always walked with that bounce to her step around him, he noticed now, and Ephraim was smirking at her. She asked him, completely innocent, "What are you leering at me for, Brother?"
Ephraim said, the picture of innocence, "Well, I found one of Forde's notebooks in your room, and I decided to give it back to him."
The princess turned a pale shade of pink, and stuttered out, "Y-you didn't…"
"It wasn't my fault, it was Forde's! Blame him! He just told me!" Ephraim said, grinning.
Eirika opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it. Seth saw tears bubbling up in her eyes, and he wanted to run to her and hug her, tell her that he returned her feelings, but he didn't have time before she ran out of the stable, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Ephraim looked genuinely puzzled. "What's with her? It actually started out with me returning Forde's notebook… She was supposed to be happy that I told you! She was acting all weird around you, anyway, so how was I supposed to know? Ugh, I'll never understand women…"
Seth smiled at him, a happy, I'm-in-love-so-I-don't-care smile. It made Ephraim feel a little better. The prince pointed at the door and said, smiling, "Well? Go get her, you stupid Knight!"
Seth saluted him. "Yes, sir!" and ran after the princess.
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Eirika was, for the second time in a week, crying into her pillow. "That-- stupid-- stupid-- BROTHER!" she yelled into the pillow.
Seth hesitantly knocked on her door, feeling exceptionally nervous- which was a first for him. Eirika yelled at the locked door, "bGo away, Ephraim! Just leave me alone!/b"
Seth said softly, "It's not Ephraim."
Eirika was even more determined to not let him in, considering that her eyes were red and puffy, she had tear streaks down her cheeks, and she was sniffling like a tiny child. "G-go away, Seth…" she murmured, but she knew he could tell: her heart wasn't in it.
Seth did know, and he opened the door slowly, to see the princess looking bthe most amazing/b he had ever seen her. Her eyes seemed to twinkle when she looked at him, and the red puffiness he had expected was not there- only a set of perfect blue eyes, meeting his own crimson ones. Her cheeks were set with a blush, and the tears running down them still sparkled in the light pouring in from her window. Seth walked over to her, and sat down on the bed. "Generally, I put duty first… But… I already rejected your advances once, and I've regretted it ever since then… And Eirika- this is so hard to say- you are ithe most amazing person I have ever met in my life/i, and I want to always stay near you, even if it is as a knight and his queen. But, as you might have figured out," here she smiled at him, "that wouldn't be what my queen requests, would it? And, like you said, the knight in shining armor always saves the princess."
Eirika started to cry again, and he nearly jumped over to hold her close, sitting still and letting the princess calm down. When she stopped sniffling, she murmured, "I'd consider myself 'saved', wouldn't you?"
Their eyes met again, and Seth noticed once again that her eyes were cerulean blue- which, for some strange reason, was now his favorite color. He kissed her forehead, a chaste kiss filled with apologies and feelings. The princess smiled bthat/b smile at him- that smile being the one that made his knees feel wobbly, and his face blush very slightly.
"I agree… Eirika."