A/N: Any Fire Emblem fans still out there? (And to anyone expecting Artemis Fowl, don't worry, I'm still updating Hunter Hunted as planned). I started this piece last winter but got stalled at the very end and made the mistake of setting it aside. Not a good idea. Anyway, I finally managed to finish it, so here goes... (Oh and there shall be some Seth/Eirika by and by.)
Distance
I
The first time I saw the Silver Knight, I was in Castle Frelia. My unit, newly bloodied and heady with victory, had been assigned to escort Prince Innes as he returned from the front. Sir Seth, too, had returned from the front, from a foray into Grado territory led by Princess Eirika in hopes of finding her brother Prince Ephraim.
I did not know his name then, though I knew he was a knight of rank by the fine armour he wore. I could never forget how, though worn from fighting and dusty with travel, he reached out his hand to me when I stumbled. I, a common soldier and he a knight, but he caught my hand and asked me if I was well.
I will never forget the kindness and the earnestness of his expression as he asked. I managed to murmur a reply– I must have– but all I remember is the warmth of his eyes... and of his hand.
It was the only time I ever touched him.
ooo
"Okay I've got one. It hangs by a man's thigh–" A series of groans from around the campfire follows.
"Come on, Exter..."
"No hear me out! It's a good one!" He clears his throat and begins again. "It hangs by a man's thigh. It's got a hole in one end. It's hard and stiff. When a man lifts his tunic he wants to put its head in a familiar hole, shaped just for it. What is it?"
Looking at them– at us– now, you'd never guess that we're the pride of Frelia.
"What no takers?" Exter says with a grin as the dozen or so soldiers around the fire remain silent. "Here I'll show you," he reaches to pull up the bottom of his tunic and I suddenly feel my face flushing. Surely he wouldn't...
I breathe a sigh of relief as he pulls out the large brass key hanging at his side, hidden by his tunic. He's grinning like a madman now. "It's a key. What were all of you thinking?"
"Maybe we should ask Adelaide. She's looking a little red in the face."
Having all eyes on me certainly doesn't help.
"Put that thing away before Colm gets it in his head to steal it," calls out one of my comrades, saving me from further embarrassment.
"He gets to hold on to the key to the treasury and suddenly he's all puffed up," grumbles Karinia, who's seated next to me tonight.
Everyone is tense and I'm not sure if Exter makes it better or worse. The firelight flickers on their dusty faces, casting shadows that makes them look all the more haggard. We marched hard to get here in time and join Prince Innes' forces after the rout of Pablo's troops. Since then there's only been more marching.
"Pass the wine," Exter shouts. "This damned desert air'll be the death of me."
"Did I hear something about wine?" Heads turn and soldiers crane their necks to glance at our guest. A knight of Renais with long, blond hair. Sir Forde, if I'm not mistaken. He flashes a smile and asks if we'd mind sharing our good cheer– and our wine apparently. Karinia is beaming. She's fond of knights.
"We'd be honoured, Sir Forde," she says, holding out a flask.
"Thank you, good madam," he replies and he takes the wine and takes a seat, dropping down onto the ground, sitting around the fire like any common soldier. "Jehanna's not a kind mistress, is she, friends?"
There are grumbles of agreement all around the fire. "Hot as hell in the day and cold as a north wind at night," Exter says.
"Never was truer word spoken," says Sir Forde, heaving a sigh... and then taking another long draught of our wine. Karinia is still beaming at him.
"My, my what do we have here?" I look up only to see another man with hair longer than mine striding towards our little circle. He's wearing a lopsided hat and a sword at his hip. "A knight keeping company with a troop of halberdiers? An unholy marriage if I ever saw one."
"Oh come now, Joshua," Sir Forde says with a smile. "You're starting to sound like Kyle."
He's right, though. Combine a pike, an axe, and a hook and you have a halberd. The purpose of a halberd is to keep your enemies at a distance and strike at them before they can reach you. In battle, we each wear a sword as a sidearm, but the best halberdiers need never draw them. And we are the best. We've never known a rout, never succumbed to panic. We're cavalry killers; we slay knights, skewer them when they charge or hook them out of their saddles in the heat of battle to be hacked to pieces. We've held off the finest knights of Grado and Pablo's mercenary armies.
Joshua shruggs. "It's no concern of mine. I was just out hunting for some fellows willing to test their luck at dice. Anyone?" He holds up a small pouch of coins to drive home his point. There are several takers.
"And what about you ladies?" Forde asks, looking towards me and Karinia. "You don't fancy games of chance?"
"I'd prefer to keep what coin I have," Karinia says with a sniff. "We get little enough as it is."
"Yes," I say quietly, shying away from Sir Forde's smile. I never trust charm. Silver-tongued fellows always make me uneasy.
"My name is Karinia. You must be Sir Forde of Renais."
He flashes a smile. "My reputation precedes me, does it?"
"It certainly does," Karinia says, brushing back her hair and smiling at him.
Laughter tinkles from her lips as they prattle on. I hold back a sigh. Maybe I should return to my tent, get some extra sleep. We'll be rising early to march while it's still cool. We need to reach Jehanna Hall before Grado's forces do. But while Sir Forde is here I could ask him... I could ask him how fare the other knights, how fares–
"Forde!"
Sir Forde groans and his shoulders slump.
"So this is where you've gotten to, Forde," says another knight as he strides up to us. I recognise this one as well– Sir Kyle of Renais.
"I wanted to get some fresh air," Sir Forde says, looking rather as guilty as a child caught trying to skip out on his chores.
"You're needed at headquarters."
"Oh come off it, Kyle. We've already been over the map a hundred tim–"
"Prince Ephraim was looking for you," Sir Kyle cuts in.
Sir Forde snaps to attention. He leaps to his feet and pauses only a moment to bow and murmur, "If you'll excuse me." And then they're both off in the direction of the central pavilion Prince Innes and the others have been using as their base of operations.
Karinia sighs and looks longingly after them while I roll my eyes. "Weren't they dashing?"
"I don't know about Sir Forde," I reply.
"What?" she says, a look of surprise on her features as she turns to glance at me. "Why?"
"I like men whose hair isn't longer than mine."
"But he's so funny." I shrug. Karinia huffs. "I suppose you prefer that stuffy friend of his– Sir Kyle?"
"He's not stuffy. He's... diligent. That's how knights are supposed to be."
"Diligent lads don't make good bedmates," she shoots back, elbowing me in the ribs. This has the intended effect and leaves me too flushed and flustered to make any reply.