"My lady, it is starting to get dark. I believe it would be wise to set up camp now."
Eirika looked up at the sky, before turning to look at her second-in-command. "I hadn't even noticed! It's been a long day, hasn't it?"
"Yes milady. The soldiers are tired."
Impersonal as usual. She forced a smile, acting like his refusal to talk about anything beyond their duty had not bothered her. "Very well then. I believe this would be a good place to set up camp. Give the orders, Seth."
Seth nodded once, before turning away to carry out her instructions. When she was sure he could no longer hear her, she allowed herself to let out a loud sigh, wrought with all the frustration she was feeling. Things had not changed between them at all. No, that was not quite right. Things had changed – for the worse.
Now he was determined to be more distant than ever. Before, he would allow himself to relax once in awhile. To indulge himself in idle conversation with her. And now… now he was the perfect soldier, the perfect general. And he never let that facade slip. Not in front of her at least.
Eirika thought back to the day when he had finally shown her a dent in his impeccable armour. When he had, for probably the first time spoken to her not as General Seth of the Knights of Renais, but just Seth. The man.
It had all started out so ordinarily. She had been trying to get him to spar with her as usual, when he had reprimanded her for her familiarity with him. It was not right, he had said, to show favouritism among her subjects. He had been right of course. Eirika never asked anyone else to practice with her. Only him. Only Seth. It was the only way she could get him to spend any time with her – by appealing to his sense of duty towards her.
She had felt a sense of finality in his words. It was as though he were drawing an imaginary line between them, a barrier that she would never be able to cross.
He had already started to turn away when she had started to talk. Started to tell him how she really felt about him. She just wanted him to understand that he meant so much more to her than just her General. She told him how she had felt so safe and protected in his arms as they fled from Valter. How she couldn't help but feel something more, every time she looked at him.
She remembered the expression on his face as she confessed her feelings for him, a mixture of shock and… something else. And whatever it was, it had sent shivers of pleasure down her spine.
After she had eventually stopped talking, he had just stared at her for awhile. She remembered her heart sink as he started walking away. Even though it had been expected, it still hurt. Then he stopped. Turned around.
After what seemed like forever, he had opened his mouth to speak. His voice had been slightly uneven, and she allowed herself to hope that perhaps he wasn't completely immune to her.
"That night... I felt what you felt. When I held you in my arms as we rode into the night... It was the first time since I was knighted that I forgot my duty. I thought of you not as my queen, but rather as someone I wanted to protect from all harm. I wanted to leave everything behind... To take you far away to some place where we could be together…"
His words had made her feel so happy. But before she could say anything, he had cut her off. His voice had returned to the calm, polite tone that she knew so well.
"Please forgive me. I swear to you that I will never again forget my duty in that way. Now, please excuse me. When I see you next, it will be as a Knight of Renais… And I will lay down my life to protect my queen."
And then he had walked away.