Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal

I do not own Fire Emblem or any of its characters.

Warning: Contains implied adult situations, including alcohol use, drug use, name-calling, marriage, children, and political backstabbing. Also contains spoilers for New Mystery of the Emblem: Heroes of Light and Shadow, aka Fire Emblem 12. And the non-canon pairing rears its crazy head beginning right here.

Chapter One: The Girl in the Forest

610, Month of the Ram

"The forest ahead is too thick to traverse with dragons, Your Majesty."

"I know it, Harlow. We'll take horses from here."

Michalis of Macedon was in his element when airborne on the back of a dragon, but he could ride a horse as well as any paladin in his realm and didn't mind showing it off. And given that the point of this procession across the land was to demonstrate to every last one of his subjects that, rumors to the contrary, he was quite alive and not possessed by evil powers, he had plenty of opportunities to show off his skill.

So his party penetrated the great western forests on horseback, with Michalis upon an ice-white destrier with a temperament to rival any cantankerous dragon. The beast was also stupid compared to a dragon, and Michalis had to impress upon it that he was its master.

The horse was the model of obedience by the time they reached a dilapidated settlement that, by appearance, had once been a logging village. To the north and east rose ancient trees, while to the south and west was the tangled mess of new vegetation that arose whenever the great forests were cleared.

"Your Majesty, this does not appear to be inhabited."

"I don't want to let a single one of my people live unaware of my presence, Heber. Do investigate before we ride on."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Michalis waited while his knights knocked upon the extant doors of each small house- and banged upon the frames of the structures whose doors had fallen or lay at crazy angles. They looked absurd as they carried out his orders, but Michalis had noticed something his men had missed- a few strands of pale hair caught in a bramble as they approached the village. It wasn't pegasus hair, either.

Michalis and his destrier were becoming impatient when a knock on the door of the last cabin was greeted with a shrill female scream.

"That's the one, then," he muttered as he edged the horse forward.

"Don't come any closer! I know fire magic."

And yet, all she had in her hands was a healing staff.

"Your Majesty, she appears to be a cleric," said the least bold of his attendants.

"I can see that, Vesto. I have eyes."

A cleric, in her late teens but no older, in a ragged gown made from fine materials. The staff in her hands was likewise of high quality. Her hands trembled as she stared at him with large eyes of some shade between gray and pale blue.

"Your... Majesty?" She said it in quite a different tone of voice as she slowly lowered the staff.

"Miss, do you not recognize your king?" Heber, intent on urging the girl to follow ceremony, hadn't noticed that her accent wasn't even Macedonian. Sometimes Michalis thought every competent knight in his kingdom must have been targeted for death in the wars.

"I know you from somewhere." Michalis narrowed his eyes at the maiden, scrutinizing her dirty knees, thin scratched arms, and tangled mass of silvery-blue hair. She had a Grustian accent, not unlike Lena's...

Michalis smiled.

"Melissa, isn't it? Lena's apprentice."

If her eyes got any wider, they'd pop right out of her pretty little head.

"Come here, girl. Lena's been looking all over for you."

She took one step forward but froze, and her hand stole up to her mouth. She looked a perfect idiot chewing on her finger like an infant, but she did have a certain appeal regardless.

Michalis knew exactly what was expected of him here, even if it made Heber squawk about etiquette. He threw the reins to Harlow and dismounted, then picked the stupid cleric off her feet and swept her right into the saddle. She wouldn't have weighed ninety pounds soaking wet with the staff on her.

"Well, I've done my good deed for the day," he said as a signal to his men that they could leave this blasted village to crumble. That would be a good story to put around- Michalis, rescuer of maidens in distress. Lena would be grateful to him beyond measure for this one.

"Are we going to see Miss Lena now?" Her tiny voice was pleasant enough, even if it lacked the music of Lena's voice.

"Not yet, my sweet. We have a bit more of my kingdom to see yet."

They hadn't gone a mile before she was clinging to him a little more tightly than necessity demanded. Her hands were small and very warm.

-x-

"I never would have recognized her, Your Majesty."

Harlow was possibly the most intelligent of the knights now at his disposal, though in Michalis's own opinion that wasn't saying much. Now that Melissa was upstairs asleep in this poor excuse for an inn they'd taken over for the night, Michalis decided to pick Harlow's brain regarding the little healer girl.

"You saw her how many times? Once?"

"Twice, Your Majesty. Once when the Altean army came to assist us with the, er, uprising in 607. Then the following year when Your Majesty's courtesy was extended to all the victorious host after the rescue of Princess Maria and Bishop Lena."

"I missed her the first time, I'm afraid. I was occupied elsewhere."

"She was in the company of the... of the Prince of Altea, at that time."

"Until she ran away." Michalis closed his eyes and tried to summon one clear image of young Melissa. He remembered her in the battle at the Dragon's Altar, staff raised high above her head. He thought he recalled her at Lena's side during the celebrations afterward. And he most definitely remembered some bizarre stories about her behavior with the Altean prince. "What did you think of her then, Harlow?"

"I can't say for certain, Your Majesty. It was a very confusing time, with the princesses both missing and Bishop Lena gone as well. Everyone else in my platoon was dead, and Prince Marth put me in charge of the Mint."

"Why was that?"

"He said I looked trustworthy."

Michalis was now used to stories about the bizarre actions of his rival on the continent and so didn't so much as bat an eyelash at Harlow's story.

"Well, that and my records as a cadet were all clean. No demerits," Harlow amended. "Come to think of it, I do remember the girl being there at my interview. She followed him around like a little duckling."

"Yes. I think I recall that as well." Michalis stared pointedly at a wine decanter on the adjacent table until Harlow poured him a glass. "He tolerated it, I believe. He rather seemed to like her."

"I would say so, Your Majesty."

"That's good enough, Harlow. You may go."

So Michalis was left briefly alone- alone as a king could ever be- with his wine and his thoughts. Giving Lena a reason to be grateful was good by itself, but it looked as though fate might have handed him other one thing he'd lacked to that point- some effective weapon he might leverage against his rival to the north.

-x-

Michalis checked in on Melissa once before retiring for the night. Her pale hair was spread out around her like a silvery halo, and she had a little smile on her face.

"Pleasant dreams, my sweet girl," he said aloud. "The dreams you have from now on will be my dreams."

She smiled just a little more, as though she'd somehow heard him.

To be continued...

Author's Note: I bet you didn't see this one coming, eh? Michalis and Melissa? Well, given that Michalis wanted to marry Lena, and that Melissa is looking for some "prince" to sweep her off her feet... oh yes, it's a horrible pairing. That's the point!

Michalis's knights- Heber, Harlow, and Vesto- are named in honor of famous astronomers. Just because.