Chapter Two : Onsets
"Lord Eliwood, you really should eat your breakfast. If Lady Ninian comes back in here and sees you gazing at your oatmeal like that, she may begin to think that it has been making you ill and refuse to eat it herself. She could stand to gain a few pounds lately, you know."
"I'm sorry, Rebecca, but I'm just not hungry." The red-haired man sighed for the umpteenth time that morning and took his spoon in hand, doing nothing more than stirring the contents of the bowl before him. He'd been this way for some time now, ever since sending a rush messenger to Lord Hector of Ostia back in the spring. Now, the leaves were turning, and young Rebecca could only hope that this mood soon would as well.
"You haven't eaten in two days. If Sir Lowen finds out, I daresay he'll not leave you alone until you've eaten a proper feast."
Eliwood managed a tiny smile. "You're probably right about that... Come, sit if you will." He gestured to the empty chair across the the small table, and Rebecca took it gladly. "I've been far too tired as of the late, and I find that I've been neglecting to speak to the people I actually care about. How have you been holding up?"
Rebecca smiled brightly. "Very well, though if I may, my back is so sore that not even a hot bath will fix it anymore. This child is going to pay for it later on, mind you."
"Don't overwork yourself," said Eliwood with genuine concern. "Really, you do enough around here. I can ask someone else to help you out, just until you've given birth and recovered properly..."
"Of course not, sir." Rebecca pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "Then you'd get away with starving yourself half to death, and poor Lady Ninian would never be able to tie a sash around her dress."
Eliwood's sour mood seemed to be waning quickly; he chuckled at her words as easily as he had several years beforehand. "All right, if you insist, for the sake of Ninian dressing. But if you go into labor, you silly thing, at least lay down for a while."
"I think I can live with that one."
"...Thank you." Eliwood leaned back and covered his mouth, yawning in a way that didn't help Rebecca's worries at all. He took a moment to regain his bearings before propping his head up with both hands, which was completely improper, but it didn't seem he cared much at the moment. "You've done much to lift my spirits as usual. I really can't thank you enough."
"Being able to serve you and Lady Ninian is more than enough reward," Rebecca assured him, speaking from her heart. "I enjoy what I do, and you're both such wonderful people. I just hope that I'm doing enough."
"Believe me, you-"
"Lord Eliwood!"
The two paused for a moment, caught off guard by the woman's voice carrying over from the the next room over. They simultaneously jumped from their chairs as if they had spontaneously combusted beneath them and burst through the hardwood door that separated the royal couple's private dining room from their bedroom, only to find Lady Ninian standing there before a mirror, half-dressed and eyes wide with shock.
"Ninian? What's wrong?" Eliwood took his wife's hands in his own, concern all but gushing out of every word he spoke as he stepped nearer, worried that she was hurt somehow or... Well, he didn't know what, but it hadn't sounded appealing from above the soul-sucking oatmeal on the table in the next room over.
Ninian was holding one end of a satin ribbon in each end of her tiny hands, still gazing at the mirror despite the fact that her dress was unlaced in the back and she wasn't wearing an underskirt. "Will you button this for me, love?" she whispered. "I... I can't seem to work my fingers too well this morning."
With a sigh of relief, Eliwood took each end of the sash from her and pulled it around just below her waist, tying it quickly and neatly. "We were actually just speaking about this, Rebecca and I," he murmured, obviously amused. "You startled us." He began working at the dress, then, pushing the first button through its matching hole.
"Well... it startled me, too," said Ninian, watching his every move in the mirror.
He seemed to be having trouble, too. "Ninian, this is just a little too small for you," he ceded after a long moment of fumbling with the buttons, only a little frustrated.
Rebecca squealed and took Ninian's hands this time, whirling around. "Lady Ninian! Your favorite dress? This is wonderful!"
It took a few seconds for the whole thing to register in Eliwood's mind, but once he realized why his wife had so frantically called him just to tie a sash around her waist, it dawned on him perfectly clearly. "I... I... Ninian..."
"I was waiting just to be sure, but this is the fifth dress this month!" Ninian giggled happily, even as Rebecca spun her in circles. "I would have said something sooner, but I wanted to be sure... You're going to have an heir soon!"
Eliwood actually broke his fast properly that morning for the first time in months. Nobody could explain his odd behavior until nigh two months later, when it was quite obvious that Ninian would finally bear him a healthy child. Strangely enough, not long after word was sent to Ostia of this wonderful news, a return letter came with the message that Lady Florina seemed to be with child as well, only a few short months after finally sharing a bedroom with Lord Hector. The unrest in Pherae settled at long last, and the terrible rumors about Lady Ninian were all but forgotten, replaced by a shower of gifts that rained upon the castle day after day. The couple could not have been happier, were it not for the fatigue they now shared as they worked endlessly day after day to make their home a better place.
"'And I tell you, Raymond? It's got to be the worst secret name in the world.' That's what got me!"
Hector choked on his tea, sitting opposite his wife in one of the castle's informal dining rooms. Florina had been in high spirits ever since hearing the news of Ninian's conception, almost too much so for his tastes; though, seeing the sparkle in the beautiful girl's eyes, he couldn't help but fall in love all over again, each and every day now. "Th-that's definitely that archer kid," he mused, after he recovered from the surprise attack on his sanity. "D'he just write to you out of the blue?"
"Well, no," Florina said. She placed a rather crumpled sheet of paper on the table beside her saucer, still all smiles as she had been since the morning courier had delivered the letter. "I talked to my sister-"
"Which one? The angel, or the devil?"
Florina swatted the air in what may have been a menacing way, had someone other than herself been the one to execute the motion. "It was Farina, darling, now really. She's not all bad all the time."
"Just most of the time," he grumbled.
"Hector!"
"All right, all right. I'm just teasing."
The woman shook her head and giggled the tiniest bit, eyelashes fluttering low. "You're so silly sometimes, but you really must watch what you say. The last time you said something about how skinny Prince Zephiel was..."
"All right, go on. I'm curious now, and I don't want to bring that episode up."
"Well," said Florina, "I wrote her to see if I could talk her into asking around Badon, since she's been working with that Dart fellow – you remember, the one whom Lord Eliwood's Rebecca took for her runaway brother? Well, she wrote me the very next week and told me that Dart – I suppose he might be going by Dan now, but I still haven't figured it out – has been keeping in touch with Wil over the past few years."
"Uh-huh. And why hasn't he been writing to you, when he's been chatting it up with that pirate all this time?"
"Well, there was a misunderstanding." Florina shrugged a bit. "It turns out that he and Sir Sain may have had a bit of an argument before he left Pherae, and things were said, and... Well, we're going to talk about it. He says that he will be stopping in Ostia to see me on his way back to Pherae. It seems the Cornwell boy and Father Lucius are still trying to gather funds for their orphanage, and Lord Eliwood has offered to help."
Hector swallowed a bit. He knew the only reason the pair hadn't come directly to him: the whole tragedy of the ex-House Cornwell, the suspicion of deceit on the late Lord Uther of Ostia's part, everything had been so hard for Raymond of Cornwell to forget so easily. He had spoken to the man after the ordeal with Eliwood's father, and while he – Raven, as he was called now – had forgiven him his lack of knowledge on the matter, things were still very awkward and the subject was extremely sensitive, even among the other houses of the League. Going to Eliwood was probably the best idea.
Florina seemed not to notice his minute shuffling, as she kept on going with her explanation. "Wil's been going around with the two of them since he left here, trying to raise money and help with their mercenary work. It's really quite admirable, but I suppose he's just that kind of person. Why, he came along with Lyn even though she couldn't offer him any pay, back before we met you or even Lord Eliwood... My, that was a long time ago." She paused for a moment, gazing no longer at her loving husband, but at the large window on the eastern side of the room and into the distance it revealed. "...I haven't heard from Lyn for such a long time. I do hope she's doing well... It's not like her to be like this. She promised me that she would keep in touch..."
With a sigh, Hector reached beneath the table to take his wife's hands into his own. "I'm sure she's fine, Florina. You know Lyn. She's probably off in her own little world, too busy chasing a kid around to even think about herself anymore. I've gotten no word from my men in Bulgar, so we know that she hasn't gone missing or anything. It's a busy season for the Kutolah... And, pretty soon, we'll be busy, too."
At those words, Florina looked back to him and nodded. "You're probably right. I don't need to worry about Lyn. She can take care of herself just fine..."
"She can do more than just fine. Why, she'll be like a mother bear if anyone so much as gets close to her family. I pity any man foolish enough to take her wrath on straightforward."
"...You know, it's often hard to tell if your compliments really are just that, or if they're cleverly disguised insults." Florina wasn't upset at him, though; she was having a hard time keeping a straight face now. "I do love you, dear."
"And I love you, too." Hector squeezed her hands gently before letting them fall to her lap once more and getting to his feet. "I guess I need to go meet with that Etrurian dolt before Oswin loses his head looking for me. Don't strain yourself, okay? If you get tired with all that paperwork, leave it be. I'll take care of it all tonight."
"It's no problem," she told him, smiling serenely. "I enjoy it, actually. It's relaxing."
He didn't seem to buy it. "If you say so. Bye now – but don't forget what I said. I really mean it."
Florina just hummed her understanding as he left the room, leaving her alone in the light of the morning sun that shone through the window to the east, the window that led to her long-silent best friend somewhere on the plains. She hoped Lyn was more than happy, wherever she was. After a few more moments of mulling over the various topics at hand, Florina stood, leaving her breakfast only half-eaten, and took the paper on the table into her hands once more. Her lips curled upward as she read over the sloppy handwriting that she'd grown to know back in the days when she'd served House Caelin, the haphazard scrawl that matched her old friend's happy-go-lucky attitude so well even though his words were embellished and strange.
"Dearest Lady Florina – I hope this letter finds you well. I have heard the news even here in Aquleia! I'm very happy to hear that you're with child, because you're going to be a perfect mother. That aside, I owe you an apology for being silent for so long. From what I'd heard from a man I once thought to be noble, you wanted nothing to do with me, but I guess it was foolish of me not to bring it up when I brought you the news of Rebecca's marriage. I really have missed you, and I hope that you trust me enough to believe that. I cannot apologize enough, so let me make it up to you? I'd love to chat if you have the time.
"I've been working to raise money for Raven and Father Lucius's orphanage; we are here in the north trying to get approval from the Elimine church for whatever reason. Father Lucius says it's important, so I will believe him. Once we have cleared the clergy, we will most likely pass through Ostia on our way to meet with Lord Eliwood to discuss some funds that he has offered our cause, maybe spend a night. I'd like to meet with you then, if possible.
"Also, even if this doesn't have anything to do with the rest of this, I found out about Raven's past one night when we were a little less than sober at a pub. I had no clue that he was of the same rank as Lords Eliwood and Hector in the past, and what happened really was awful. He has no more hard feelings, though, which is always a good thing! You should let Lord Hector know that he's doing so well. And I tell you, Raymond? It's got to be the worst secret name in the world. But, like usual, I'm the last person to know.
"We have a lot of catching up to do if you don't hate me. Dart or Dan or whatever he's going by these days tells me that Miss Farina says that you have been looking for me for a while. (Raven says it's good that we aren't leaving a conspicuous trail, but I think he's just paranoid sometimes.) I'm taking that as a sign that I'll be allowed an audience with the most important Lady in all of Lycia? Forgive me if I'm being... presumptuous.
"I look forward to seeing you within the month. If I am not to come to Castle Ostia, do feel free to send a letter back. I'm sure the three of us will be here for another week; the address of our inn is on the back of this paper. Know that I think about you often, and that I will always wish sweet little (Lady) Florina the best. Take care. Sincerely forever, Wil."
Florina of Ostia planned not on sending any paper barring her dear friend from her life, not within the week and not ever. She missed him dreadfully, and the thought of seeing Wil made her want to weep with joy. She would have time for that, though, once she got done figuring out where fifteen percent of the weapons fund had gone to in the previous two weeks.
Once, she had been Lyn of the Lorca, a carefree girl from the plains who knew naught but helping straggling young pegasus knights who'd been stranded in the grassy fields, who knew how to hunt and fish and track both people and game. After her peaceful tribe had been slaughtered by Bernese bandits, though, she had become Lady Lyndis of Caelin, the long-lost granddaughter of the now-late Marquess Hausen. She had taken up a sacred blade, and it had led her on a wild journey full of magic, war, and fearsome dragons whose power was exponentially beyond her own. Both before and after helping Eliwood and Hector with their problems, she had learned how to be a proper lady, how to wear a dress and walk properly and how to breathe while wearing a corset, and she had been escorted to many dances by men whose names she could not remember, and very few whose names she could. Sadly enough, her grandfather had died within a year, and she had left all that behind for the peaceful plains once more. She had then changed her identity again, becoming Lyn of the Kutolah, and had changed herself, her habits, to fit in with her new people as the bride of the chieftain's son.
She loved her Rath dearly, and she loved how things were almost as they had been long ago – she was surrounded by her fellow plainsmen and women, and there were no politics to worry about, no restricting undergarments or terrible fashion fads that she had to keep up with, and she didn't even have to draw her blade to protect herself any longer. Life should have been wonderful, but things never were as they seemed, as she should have learned long ago.
The past five years had blazed by so quickly, it was almost hard to believe that she had once been unable to understand how foreign governments worked, or how water could be made to flow through long pipes without a current. She had cried, smiled, and been at peace during it all, each emotion fleeting yet immensely powerful, seemingly suffocating until the next had taken its grasp on her and time had continued to flow.
But now... all she felt was a dull ache where her heart used to be. Seeing her husband every morning when the sun rose above the distant horizon was always wonderful, and when he was at her side, everything still managed to seem as magical as one of those spells cast by a master sage. But he had become busy lately, and all too often she wouldn't see him for days as he went out on hunts and struggled to prove his worth to his father all the more. It was hard to imagine what her poor Rath must be going through day in and day out just to stay with the people who never had been his family. He remained loyal to them yet, and he was trying his hardest to correct the errors of his ways that had only been caused by their initial abandonment. She was furious at the lot of them, but she could not let anybody know, lest she be outcast any more than she already was. She was not one of them; she was a mixed breed, a girl birthed of a foreign tribe and a faraway land, and she knew of both worlds and could tell stories of her many adventures, but she was not normal because of it.
Lyn, Lyndis, Lady or not, understood all too well the suffering that Ninian of Pherae must have gone through in order to stay at her husband's side. Her respect for her friend had grown anew each day since her days of living with the Kutolah had begun, and she felt very much that she should let her know. Thus, one night, she spoke softly to her darling; "I must go," she told him, "but I will not be gone for long. I must see my friends at least once more."
"I will not stop you," he told her, "nor do I want you to stay. Fly on, Lyn and Lyndis of the Lorca and of the Lycian Kings. You must never let the ones you love disappear from your life." He had changed in his short time with his tribe – had matured to a level even beyond what he had been so long ago. He sounded tired, but his eyes told her everything that his words did not. Rath of the Kutolah and of the solitary plains knew her aching, and he did not wish for her to suffer. He believed that she would come back and that she loved him, as she would and did, respectively. He did not want to control her as the other worlds of Elibe wanted to; he wanted her to be free and happy, like the young woman he had met so long ago.
Before the sun had fully risen over the distant eastern coast, Lyn had gathered a blanket, her sword, and her bow, and she left the Kutolah for the first time. What she had not expected was the inexplicable urge to visit her second home, the one that had never felt like a home while she had been trapped inside its castle. She did miss the people of Caelin, and so she decided to make her trip a large circle around the Lycian League. First, she would visit her Caelin; afterwards, she would travel southward to Pherae, to share her sentiments with Lady Ninian, and then she would travel north until she could see her dearest, closest friend, Lady Florina of Ostia, who she just knew had been aching from their distance as much as she had. She rode through the foreign fields with a sense of adventure and purpose that she hadn't felt since she had left this perplexing world of knights and kings, and she couldn't say that she detested the feeling of a proper lady's dress as much as she once had. The homesickness that she had once felt for her vast green plains had flipped entirely around and played with her mind, it seemed. For the first time in years, she was home again, in her beloved grandfather's beautiful lands.
Can you feel the tension rising? Eliwood and Ninian are very tired. Florina is lonely and Hector is too busy. Rebecca is a sweetheart all around, though I sadly neglected to actually write Sain. And Lyn makes her appearance, being restless and free like the wind; how dare she add an extra destination to her travels without letting her husband know? Of course, the reasoning is totally innocent, but still.
I think it's perfectly plausible that Lyn would grow to miss Caelin in the years post-game, especially if she were wed to Rath. Rath is a standoffish guy and would probably become an important part of the Kutolah tribe, not that I dislike him. (In fact, I actually really like him.) I think part of her love for Sacae is a yearning to belong somewhere. Of course, she grew up there, but that only goes so far. I honestly don't see her as the type to settle down completely, for a piece of her heart will always be missing no matter where she goes. That being said, we have also established Rath/Lyn now, but that relationship is obviously not very tightly knit.
Anyway, we're just barely at the tip of the iceberg with these first two chapters; the actual action of the plot doesn't start unfolding until around chapter eight. By then, the sewing thing will have been made clear. I promise. Thank you for reading, and feel free to let me know if there are any errors or any other concerns you may have.
