A young Corrin kicked her legs back and forth as she toyed with a random doll she found lying around the fortress interior. She leaned back on the crimson couches lazily and let out a deep yawn, making sure to turn her face backwards so she would not be caught by the watchful eyes of her older teenage brother, Xander. Her body ached from sitting in the same spot for a long time. At this point, she was unsure of how long she had been sitting there, listening to Xander's monologues about topics she did not completely understand. Corrin glanced out the small, barred window on the wall behind her. Based on the position of the stars, Corrin guessed half the day had gone by.
She had been forced out of her comfortable bed early that morning: "for training", Gunter had claimed. Corrin's heart was still aching of disappointment and betrayal. Listening to her older brother talk was not her idea of training. She wanted to practice her swordplay. Even if Xander would not teach her new moves, just mindlessly beating straw dummies would be better than this torture.
'Why do Kamui and Leo get out of this,' Corrin bitterly thought. It was at that moment that the girl realized: she had no idea what Kamui did when he wasn't being forced to train with Corrin. Heck, she rarely even saw her toddler brother, though Kamui spoke of him often. On most days, Xander would arrive early, before the frost on her window could even melt, for one-on-one mentoring. She would train and train and train until the late afternoon, right before her servants prepared her dinner. When Kamui wasn't passed out on the library floor, he was not home. And Corrin never expected him home on those days until around bed time. Even then, he was usually pre-occupied with books with words Corrin could not read yet.
At any rate, Kamui was not allowed to train with the duo on most days. The prince had claimed that Corrin and Kamui needed to learn to be independent of each other, so it would be best to train the twins separately, though Corrin wandered if Xander lacked the time to train both at once, especially given Xander's duties as crown prince and Kamui's….clumsy swordplay. One of her earliest memories was of Kamui accidentally slicing off a lock of Xander's hair just trying to balance the sword. In the moment, Corrin felt bad for Xander, and worried for her twin's punishment. Reflecting back on it, Corrin would never stop finding Xander's face of increasing displeasure amusing.
"Corrin! Pay attention!" Xander angrily scolded, having seemingly noticed Corrin's lack of interest. Crap.
Corrin's eyes shifted around nervously until they made their way to Xander's face. Even through the shrouds of darkness, Corrin could feel Xander's gaze burning her skin.
"But I am!" Corrin noticed her heart rate increase as she spoke. She rubbed her thumb against the couch restlessly as she anticipated Xander's response.
Xander just narrowed his eyes. A moment of awkward silence ensued, before Xander placed the book he had been citing from religiously up until that point. He placed it carefully on a wooden shelf in the corner, but not before replacing it with a different book. It was hard to see from the angle she had been sitting in, but Corrin could make out the gold words "knighthood", "Nohr", and some strange word that she had never seen before engraved into the cover.
"Well then," Xander turned to face the dragon princess again, his expression unmoving. "Since you have been listening carefully, can you tell me what it is the knights of Nohr live by?"
Corrin stared back at Xander, dumbfounded. His stern expression and the tension made her heart race faster. "Um….."
"The Code of Knighthood and Chivalry of Nohr, written by King Harold the Third of Nohr, is a holy text among knights," Xander sighed, flipping through pages of the text mindlessly, "it is among the first things taught to young children aspiring to be knights. Some aspects of Nohr's judicial system and laws are based on excerpts from this text. Surely you can at least name the codes recorded in it?"
"Um….One shall serve thy country….one shall serve thy family…." Corrin muttered nervously.
"One shall serve thy country", Xander repeated, "everything you do should be done with your country in mind. Nohr has zero tolerance for treason; even father- the king, cannot be excepted from this policy. One shall serve thy family….I trust I don't have to explain this one. One shall serve thy religion. We are direct descendants of the dusk dragons of old. They have blessed us with the power and strength to take what we need, and we repay them with worship," Xander pointed to a silk tapestry on the wall behind him, depicting a pure black armored dragon. "One shall conquer all enemies of thy religion...One shall act as a servant of injustice and law…. One shall not lie, Corrin," Corrin's ears twitched slightly at Xander's emphasis of her name.
"What if defending your homeland means betraying your family?" Corrin, almost mindlessly, asked as the idea popped into her head. A prideful smile formed on the princess's face as she realized her brother could not immediately rebut her.
Xander stared long and hard at the young princess with no visible emotion. After a few moments, he returned her smile. Corrin's heart fluttered as he ruffled her silver hair.
"You're a feisty one, little princess. I trust you'll use those emotions wisely when you join me, along with Camilla, Kamui, Leo, and hopefully Elise, on the front lines," Xander's smile slowly faded to his usual stern frown, "but make no mistake, those very emotions can be your undoing. If….if anyone other than you had asked that question, father might have your head hanging from a spike on our border walls." Corrin couldn't help but notice Xander's lips curl slightly at his mention of King Garon. It was unlike him to show such irritation, especially when talking about his father. "To answer your question….I believe you might be missing the point of the vows we take on as Nohrian citizens. We do not serve our King because we like him or even because it the just thing to do. We serve our King for one sole purpose: in the name of Nohr. As members of the Nohrian royal family, we especially must work together for the well-being of our people. Failing to work in benefit of the people is called treason," Corrin flinched, "and nobody is excused from treason. Not you, not Camilla, not me. Not even Father. If a day comes where I turn my back on the people, I expect you to strike me down swiftly with your blade: like I taught you. Show me no mercy."
Corrin stared at Xander, her mouth wide open in awe. His eyes, filled with hope and determination, stared back. A quiet moment passed between the two.
"Ah well," Xander broke the silence, "I suppose lecturing you further would be pointless. We can resume your education another day-" Xander returned the book he held to it's home on the dusty oak shelf. Before turning back to Corrin, he pulled something that Corrin could not see from behind the desk. For a moment, Corrin swore she saw a small smile form on Xander's face. Corrin's eyes lit up when Xander turned to reveal a small, wooden training sword. "I'm getting tired of talking, and clearly you are full of energy today. How about a spar?"
Corrin held her high proudly as she towered above her brother's collapsed body. Her long, silver hair, illuminated by the moon, shone brightly as it blew to the side with the wind. Her crimson eyes pierced all who gazed upon her. She slowly rose her silver sword so that it's fine edges and tip, before swiftly pointing it at Xander. She had won.
"Well done, little princess", Through desperate gasps for air, Xander smiled softly as he rose from the ground, "for a moment, you had me worried. Nonetheless, you have exceeded my expectations."
Corrin felt her body heat up and her face turn red. Even the chilly climate could not cool her. Her heart felt like it would escape her body at any moment.
"Oh, well," Corrin's smug gaze shifted to the side slowly and her pointed ears twitched slightly, "I wasn't that worried either."
"Is that so? I have to say, I was a little worried myself," Kamui remarked, his tone dripping with sarcasm. Corrin did not even spare him a glance. Seeing Kamui – her one and only equal – smugly grinning at her would only irritate her further.
"Shut up!" Corrin snapped. Her face heated up further. She turned her head away from Kamui's direction and crossed her arms. "I didn't need your help."
"Oh? My future depended on the outcome of this duel too, y'know," At that moment, Corrin wanted nothing more than to silence her twin brother. "I was watching your duel for a little bit before I called out to you. You got your butt handed to you. Countless times."
"Pfft. I don't want to hear it from someone who accidentally confused hair gel for tooth paste," Corrin sneered back, keeping her head held high "I went without my hair done that day because you thought you could use it to clean your teeth.
Kamui's smirk faded into the beginning of a scowl. "That doesn't count! I was half-asleep! And what does that have to do with swordplay?"
"Jeez…..aren't you both supposed to be adults now?" Before Corrin could strike down her brother with a rebuttal, a third party interrupted. Both twins halted their argument in shock.
Even with highly sensitive and trained ears, neither twin had heard him coming. Through heavy armor, he was as quiet as a mouse. His short blonde hair should have stood out in the darkness of Nohr, yet still he blended in with the shadows. Corrin expected no less from Prince Leo of Nohr.
And that wasn't all. Behind him, a tall young woman with long, wavy hair – a little more kept than Corrin's – watched the pair of twins with a gentle expression. Princess Camilla could be a little…extreme at times. Yet her gaze was always filled with warmth. And next to her-
"Big sis! Big bro!" A young girl, no older than fourteen, dashed forward eagerly straight for Kamui. Her twin leaned down to greet the girl as she crashed into his arms. Elise smiled radiantly as she twirled in her brother's arms. Her thick blonde-purple locked, tied into large pigtails, flowed lightly as she danced.
"And Elise…" Leo took a spot in the moonlight, next to Xander. His red eyes and blonde hair glimmered like stars. Unlike Xander, whom was still relaxing after dueling with Corrin all morning, Leo stood upward, his back and shoulders straight. He cupped his hands in a neat position behind his back and wore a rather stoic glare, not too different from the one Xander often took on during training. "According to Nohrian laws, you're technically old enough to be wed off, you know."
Leo's cold expression and serious posture should have intimidated Corrin. And yet….Corrin struggled not to burst into laughter as she realized his black collar was dyed scarlet, the gold trim was missing, and the seams and stitches were more noticeable than usual. Kamui must have noticed it too, Corrin guessed, as she noticed his lips twitching as he tried not to smile.
"What? Why are you two looking at me like that?" Leo narrowed his eyes at the twin dragons.
"Oh," Corrin side-eyed Kamui in her attempt to avoid eye contact with Leo at all costs, "it's nothing. Right Kamui?"
"Oh yeah, nothing. Nothing at all," Kamui, still struggling to keep the mischievous smirk hidden, scratched the back of his neck lightly and nervously looked sideways.
Despite their previous argument, Kamui's smile never failed to warm Corrin's heart. It reminded her of the days when the two could spend hours upon hours playing with her small, but close family in the isolated fortress. She especially loved her memories of days in which Xander would visit. She recalled how she and Kamui would cry together in frustration when Xander would defeat them at every game. And the satisfaction of impressing Xander when the two would team up and create a plan to defeat him.
In those days, Corrin never worried about pleasing their father or the possibility that they may go to war with an alien country or….the possibility that she may cross paths with her mother during the campaign . Her world was just Kamui, Felicia, Flora, Jakob, and Gunter. How it tugged at Corrin that she would never have those carefree afternoons….
Leo, having seemingly figured out from the twins strange mannerisms, were laughing at him, frowned as he pulled at his inside-out collar. In that single moment, his perfect posture collapsed, and his mouth dropped. He shook frantically as he stared at the fabric in horror.
"Oh jeez, I did it again. How can I present myself like this to father?" Leo pulled lightly at his hair and closed his eyes in shame.
Xander and Camilla smiled softly as they observed their younger siblings, while Elise, Corrin, and Kamui began to tear up.
"Now that I think about it…..You did this yesterday too, Leo," Elise, arms folded behind, tapped her chin in a light rhythm and looked upward in thought.
"Why didn't you guys say something earlier? This is embarrassing," Leo glared at the youngest princess, shaking harder from indignation as Elise continued to antagonize him with her cheerful demeanor.
"Now, now children," Camilla's soothing voice rung loud and clear, "don't tell me you forgot why we're here today?" Corrin turned hot red as Camilla proudly strutted towards her from the shadows. She wrapped her arms around the shorter princess and pulled her close. "Don't we all have something important to say?"
"Oh yeah! Happy! Birthday! Yay!" Elise excitedly squealed as she dragged Kamui over to Corrin. She snatched Corrin's hand tightly in her free hand, and began to tug at the twins fiercely. Leo's distraught expression lifted slightly as he watched.
"Well yes, my darlings are growing up" Camilla closed her eyes. She maintained her gentle, motherly expression, though Corrin caught hints of sadness in her voice, "isn't there something else?"
"Corrin. Kamui," This time Xander spoke up. He slowly walked over to Corrin and rested his hand on her shoulder. "Surely even in isolation you are aware of Nohr's current relationship with our neighboring country Hoshido?"
Both twins nodded in union, their attention focused solely on Xander. Kamui shifted from side to side nervously, while Corrin's body stiffened, and her face turned red at the mention of Hoshido. She didn't need to hear an explanation of the current situation with Hoshido, nor did she want to hear it.
The crown prince gave the twins a look of approval. His relaxed posture tensed as he began to speak again. "As you already know, Nohr and Hoshido have been battling a cold war for almost fifteen years now. Neither side has declared full-blown war yet, though Father and his council are expecting one soon. And while we have the numbers and experience to back us up, Hoshido has not seen a war in centuries," Xander began to pace back and forth, while Corrin and Kamui stared, fully focused on Xander. "What they lack in experience and numbers, they make up with funds and resources, both of which Nohr has exhausted just trying to feed it's citizens." Corrin tried her best to control her rage. "While Nohrian lives suffer through the long, harsh famines and winters, Queen Mikoto and her children enjoy comfortable lives under the sun with plenty of food in their stomachs." Xander stopped in front of Corrin. "Conquering powerless countries and taking what we need has never been an issue for us. But this time will be different. This time, we are not simply overthrowing a weaker government and taking what we need. We are going up against what is probably our only equal. And without strong, capable leaders to guide us through our darkest hour-"
"What he wants to say is," Leo sighed, annoyed. Corrin wandered if he had heard this information countless times before. "Both of you are being transferred to the capital. Well, you probably knew that, what with half of your belongings being packed up right now." Kamui and Corrin raised their heads in pride. They had been training rigorously for the past fifteen years for this moment. "In a month from today, we will be launching a siege against Hoshido. It will be the first battle of the war. And at the front lines, you two will be leading it."
AN
Here's Corrin's chapter. Not much to say. There's a lot of dialogue. o-o
So I didn't get to explore her character as much as I hoped, so I decided she will also be the POV for the next chapter.