"Smile, Chrom," she said. The prince sighed. He detested these formal events, filled with stuffy nobles and airheaded politicians. But he forced a smile anyway, as he shook the hand of Lord Someone from the Something-or-other province. For his older sister's sake, if nothing else, he had to make a good impression on these people.
He had no idea how Emmeryn did it. Her patience was legendary, smiling as she rejected yet another marriage proposal from some disgusting old man concerned only with his own political power. Chrom barely tolerated talking to these people. And then there was Lissa, the youngest, who managed to get out of these sort of events thanks to her age. The last Chrom saw of her had her going to play with a new friend she'd made recently - the daughter of the Duke of Themis.
Once Chrom and Emmeryn had finished their greetings, they took their seats at the head table of the royal dining hall. Emmeryn, of course, sat in the center, with Chrom to her right. To his right was an eighteen year old knight Emmeryn had recently hand selected to be the guardian of her younger siblings - a duty which the young man took incredibly seriously.
"Really, Frederick?" the fifteen year old Prince of Ylisse snickered. "Is the armor necessary?"
"I should hope not, milord, but I'd prefer not to be caught off guard," he responded with absolute sincerity.
Chrom chuckled slightly to himself. There was something very endearing about the man's overzealous attitude.
Of course, before the dinner itself were the speeches. Dull, dry, speeches, first from a bishop of Naga, then a lord, another lord, and finally Emmeryn herself.
"People of Ylisse," a voice began. "Today is a day of celebration, for..."
Chrom tuned out at this point. There were few things that interested him less than... Whatever this dinner was about. An anniversary of some sort, he thought.
He needed to get out of there, the sooner the better. He was desperate for some sort of adventure.
He found his opportunity at the end of the bishop's speech. The people traditionally bowed their heads in respect at the end of this speech, giving Chrom the chance to slip under the table and out of the room. Sneaking down the halls of Ylisstol and avoiding his own guards was something of an odd experience, but not an entirely new one. One particularly close guard forced him to dodge to the side into one of the castle's guest rooms.
Clearly, sneaking through the castle hallways wasn't going to work. He elected to leave through the window, fashioning himself a makeshift escape rope from the bedsheets.
"Prince Chrom?" a voice called out.
"Damn..." he muttered. He turned around to find himself face to face with a young girl, about his age. She had ash brown hair and an ankle length red dress. If he had to guess, he'd have said she was some nobleman's daughter from the banquet.
"Are you alright?" she asked. "I saw you leave the banquet so quickly. I thought you might..."
"...You're... Sara, right? I met you during the dinner?"
"Sumia, actually," she corrected.
"Right... I'm sorry, it's just... A lot of names to remember, y'know?"
She chuckled and shrugged it off. "Prince Chrom..." she continued. "I-I think you should know that y-your guards have been looking for you."
"To put it bluntly..." he responded. "That's the exact reason I had to get out of there. It's... Stifling."
"O-of course!" said Sumia, suddenly turning a light pink from embarrassment. "I-I didn't mean to i-imply that... N-not that it's at all my p-position to tell the p-prince what to do!"
"Please drop the formalities, Sumia," he said, mildly frustrated.
"A-as you wish, Prince Chrom."
Chrom sighed to himself. "...It's just Chrom. No 'prince.'"
"Right! Chrom!"
The teenager smiled brightly at this. "Was that so hard?"
Sumia finally let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and smiled in return.
"Now, if you'll excuse me..." he continued, grabbing his makeshift bedsheet rope and tying one end of it to the bedpost. He opened the window to his right and swung the rope down it.
"W-wait!" Sumia interrupted, her heart nearly beating out of her chest, face colored red. "W-won't you need a disguise?"
The young girl wasn't exactly sure what had come over her. Perhaps it had something to do with a book she'd been reading lately, The Prince and the Noblewoman. Perhaps she just had the same sense of adventure Chrom did. Either way, she was currently rappelling out of one of the windows of the royal palace, with Chrom waiting below, decked in a headscarf and far too many robes. She'd likewise traded her dress for some spare clothes the duo found lying around. They wouldn't exactly fit in with commoners in their current dress, but they'd at least be less recognizable.
Chrom looked up to see his new acquaintance accidentally let the rope slip from her grip. He barely had time to react before she landed on him, knocking them both to the ground.
"Owwww..."
"Chrom! I am so, so, so sorry!"
"'S fine," the prince groaned, wiping the blood from a small scratch on the side of his face. "Are you alright?"
"You're hurt!"
"Hm?" he asked, before looking down at the red on his hand. "Oh! No, Sumia, this is-"
"C'mon!" Sumia shouted, grabbing his arm and dragging him along. "We have to get you to a healer!"
"Sumia, I'm-"
"Oh gods oh gods oh gods I nearly killed the prince!"
"...Did you just say 'killed?'" he stated flatly, breaking out of Sumia's grip. "I appreciate your concern, but I swear, I am completely fine."
She huffed and nodded, finally stopping in her quest to save a man's life from the terror of minor scratch wounds. For some reason, she noted that she was far less intimidated by him than when they first met. Perhaps it was a result of having actually spent some time with him, or it might have had to do with the fact that he no longer looked like royalty.
"I... May have overreacted," she said, letting out a few small laughs.
Chrom smiled and shook his head. "Now. Are you alright? That was quite a spill there."
"I'm fine, thank you. It um... It happens."
"...That's... Common, for you, then? ...From that height!?"
"I, um... Yes, actually," she admitted, somewhat embarassed. "I'm learning to fly pegasi, and, well..."
"Pegasi, huh? That must be interesting."
"Oh, it is!" beamed Sumia. "They're such amazing creatures! And the feeling of soaring through the sky is... It's... It's breathtaking!"
For a moment, Sumia forgot who she was speaking to, or rather, that she was speaking to anyone. She rambled on about pegasi; the various breeds, how they flew, proper care... Any topic she could think of. Chrom smiled; her enthusiasm was contagious.
"See, my family breeds pegasi," she continued. "My favorite is a mare named Misha; she's such a sweetheart!"
"This way," said Chrom, pointing to his left. They still needed to get off castle grounds if they were planning on not being caught. "How long have you been learning to ride?"
"A few months," she said. "I've taken care of them my entire life, though. Mother says I'm a natural!"
"...Alright," Chrom said bluntly. "...I've got an idea..."
"Hm?"
"Come on!" he shouted, suddenly breaking into a sprint.
"W-wait! Where are we going!?"
"You'll see!"
"Oh no. Chrom. No no no no no."
Chrom gestured proudly to the animals behind him. The castle's pegasus stables were enormous, giving the creatures more than enough room to spread their wings. These were animals specifically born and bred for the personal use of the royal family and their personal caretakers, and as such, were treated with only the utmost care.
"Chrom..." whispered Sumia in frustration, covering her face with her hand. "Please please please don't say what I think-"
"I've always wondered what it would be like to ride on one," he admitted. "But... Well... Pegasi are afraid of men, and Emmeryn's never let me ride with her..."
"B-but... But what if we fall!? Chrom, this is..."
"They're very mild mannered," he pointed out. "These aren't wild ones. They're not going to buck us off."
"Yes, but... A rider should know her mount before attempting to fly it, especially with a passenger," she recited, almost as though she were reading a textbook. "A pegasus must... Must..."
She found her train of thought interrupted by one of the pegasi gently nuzzling her shoulder.
"Is... Is this one a Rosannean?" she asked, studying the animal's coat and wings. "...I've never seen one in real life..."
"Hm? Oh! Yeah! Probably!" said the prince. "They're um... Really nice, the Rosannean breed!"
"Easy now, girl..." Sumia whispered, gently stroking its mane. "It's alright."
Huh, thought Chrom. This girl really is a natural...
"I suppose you're right, though..." he sighed. "We really shouldn't be here... Let's go back to the castle..."
"Mhm," Sumia muttered. By this point she'd walked around the animal, enthralled by its wings. It whinnied, then folded its wings downward; a reaction it had been taught to allow a rider to mount it. "Does this one have a name?" Sumia asked.
"Oh! Uhhh... Steve!" Chrom answered. "Steve the pegasus!"
"...Odd name for a mare."
Sumia looked back at Chrom. He tilted his head to the side, one eyebrow raised.
"...A mare is a female pegasus," she explained. "Males are called steeds."
"O-oh..."
She sighed and shook her head. "...I can see what you're trying to do."
He huffed and pouted. "...Worth a shot..."
"...But still..." Sumia silently moved to the back of the stable, where the saddles were. She felt her heart rate steadily increase as she reached for one. "C-Chrom..." she asked. "...Are you sure we can get away with this...?"
Chrom looked up to see a familiar face staring back at him. The brunette had a serious look on his face; he was beginning to wonder if the man had any other expression.
"Hello, Frederick," the prince groaned. "Wonderful to see you here."
The knight merely sighed and offered a hand to help his liege off the ground. He then quickly rushed over to Sumia, apologizing profusely for any "ridiculous adventures" Chrom might have dragged her through.
"No, I- OW!" she cried. "I might just... Rest for a moment..."
"Sumia..." Chrom said, rushing to her side, before doubling over in pain himself. "I am so, so sorry. This was a stupid idea. I should never have dragged you into it."
Sumia smiled. "I... Um... No. It was a dumb idea, but I went along with it. I, um... I had fun. Until we fell. But everything before that was fun! ...Guess I'm not as good as I thought, huh?"
"N-no!" Chrom said, trying to reassure her. "Those birds just scared her, that's all."
"...I... Thank you. I'm sorry your first pegasus ride went so poorly."
"At the very least, I made a new friend out of it, huh?"
Sumia blushed lightly.
"Touching," interrupted Frederick. "But I'm afraid this new friendship will have to wait. Lady Emmeryn has been panicking trying to find you." The knight signaled behind himself to a small group of Ylissean castle guards. With the utmost professionalism, they helped Chrom and Sumia onto their horses, and then the group started back toward the castle.
The prince groaned in pain and made a quick mental note to take a horse next time.
A/N: Just a short little fluff piece I wrote for the hell of it. I feel like this pairing doesn't get enough appreciation outside of "it's canon so we'll roll with it." I may or may not continue with this as a series of fluffy vignettes about Chromia, skipping around in time. Or I might just leave this as a one shot. Haven't decided.
Anyway, enjoy!