AN: Featuring Hawk's bs ideas about retainer rules in Nohr, lol. Also as a reminder: there are an assload of pairings in this story, and all of the awakening kiddos are super duper poly, so if it'd be helpful, leave a review asking for all the pairings and I'll put them on up! Or you can wait and find out. ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Fire Emblem.

xxx

They never did meet back up at her room, their makeshift shrine.

Selena didn't know why at first – and by gods, she was furious about it. Laslow had appeared to understand what she was getting at, so how could he slip up so badly as to not remember to rendezvous?

Her anger melted to worry. If he didn't come by, then… surely he was too weak to! Had she been too secretive in front of Niles? Was he unable to return without his aide?

Millions of questions buzzed in her ears, but none of them mattered when Charlotte and Benny solemnly took her away from her secure chambers, closer and closer to the throne room itself.

Peri stood at attention on the left side of the throne, face turning near-murderous at Selena's appearance. Xander, though not yet king, sat upon the throne, looking more than bored at the paper he held in his hand. Finally, to the right of the throne, busying over a mess of papers, sat Laslow, seemingly absorbed in his work. Selena knew better, however. She could glimpse the calculated look in his eyes.

Charlotte and Benny remained at the entrance to the room as Selena kept moving forward. She only stopped when she saw Peri grip her lance more tightly. Xander briefly looked down.

"Thank you for your promptness. Selena, are you aware in the circumstance you find yourself in today?"

A look of hardened steel. "Yes, sir. Apparently I have committed treason and am in some masterful plot to decimate the royal family."

The crown prince softened. "Selena," he called, voice even, "you have broken my sister's heart with your actions."

"I beat her to heartbreak the second Odin was taken from us," she spat. Who was she to care of court policies and friendliness now? Anger pulsed, wild, through her veins. She would make her stance clear, now, despite the look of hesitance from Laslow.

Something shifted. The look on the blond's face showed only remorse. "I… am deeply sorry for what happened that day. In your place," he chose his words carefully, "I… likely would have done the same. To have one companion stolen, perhaps dead… I understand what drove you to seek out my retainer. It still could have cost my brother his life."

His tone begged for understanding. He clearly didn't want to have to punish her, they had fought in the same battles with each other for too long now, she was too familiar a presence. But there was no room in her heart for sympathy, not now. Not when it was already too late.

"To be completely honest, sir, it cost my family," she gestured to Laslow, ignoring her hissed name in response, "in more ways than one. There is only one thing of which I will agree to."

Bile gnawed at her throat, a heavy sigh escaping. Never had she foreseen herself saying these words. Not in this timeline, not in this world.

"I have… truly failed as a retainer."

In the corner of her eye, she could see that Laslow's hands were shaking. Regardless, she knew she had spoken true.

A hand wafted through golden curls as Xander attempted to address the mercenary before him. Resignation laced his features, and he leaned back in the throne.

"Selena you are henceforth dismissed as a retainer of Nohr, and you must leave the city by nightfall."

Silence hung in the air as thick as the smog that coated the skies of Windmire. Then came the scratch of fabric against stone, and Laslow was bowing to his liege.

"I am afraid then that I must resign from my place here. Selena goes nowhere that I do not follow."

Nose pinched between fingers, the royal sighed. "You know that you may not leave unless you are no longer fit to serve or have purposefully acted against your liege. You may not be at your best, friend, but you will heal in time. We both know you have no real will to harm me."

Cheeks painted in blush, Laslow shut down, but the conversation ran circles in Selena's mind.

"I'll fight you for him. Whoever wins our duel keeps his company."

Looks of surprise came from every corner of the room. Slowly, Xander issued an odd grin.

"Do you have any conditions for this duel, Selena? I'm afraid that the customary win-at-first-blood cannot be the goal, you are not allowed to have any real weapons on you due to your current state."

"Only that we both use swords, as to give neither the advantage. I don't care if you're on your horse."

The four onlookers were made uneasy by the challenge, but this doubled when Xander began to laugh, standing. "You sound almost foolishly confident. Of course, I must admit, I have never sparred with you: that was always my sister's delight. For all our years of fighting side-by-side in combat, never have I raised my blade to you."

Within minutes, both had been given their wooden swords. Playing with the weapon, Xander raised an eyebrow to the mercenary. "Any more arrogant bets you wish to be making? You are already aware that I have been trained to fight amongst the elite my entire life, and have successfully ended the recent war. Do not let your emotions be your downfall."

Stretching, she met his gaze evenly. "You know what? Sure, I'll be more specific.

"If I win, Laslow is honorably discharged as a retainer, unlike me. You let us leave with what we have been given in our time here, with what we own. Finally…"

The staring match ended as Selena glanced away, voice stern. "You… you may not send any sort of party out to find us once we have left."

"By my honor, and my love of Nohr, I agree to your terms." Xander's brow furrowed, and when he spoke next, his voice had a sharper edge.

"If I win, before you leave you will seek out Camilla and beg for forgiveness. You will admit that what you did was wrong."

Grim looks on both contenders' faces, it was clear the duel had begun. Laslow couldn't bear this. He had fought against Xander in training numerous times, and while many times he sustained the upper hand, he had never cleanly bested the man. It wasn't as though he had the flawless training Xander had as a child. No, from his mother he learnt to dance, from his father, how to strategize.

Selena, however… Well, Xander had been telling the truth.

He had never fought against someone with a style like hers.

A warrior's cry signaled the first advance taken, by Selena of course. It certainly surprised the prince, for he barely dodged the incoming blow. In only a few short moments, it appeared that Selena was winning. Was… Xander throwing the fight?

No, Laslow decided, he most certainly was not. There was a look of awe in his eyes, and he was grimacing. He only ever did that when fighting a foreign force. Laslow had seen it in the first few spars he had had with his liege. Over time, though, it lessened, as Xander adapted to Laslow's graceful, dance-like style.

Selena's style wasn't about fluidity and grace; it was about efficiency, hard but swift blows perfected from fighting for two lifetimes. First, she had learned the need to fight. How to kill quickly, and minimize injury and energy expense. There was no beauty to those moves, only desire for a kill. Then, she had learned the art to fight. In the good timeline, plagued only by dreams and desire to be a retainer, she had learned how to become creative, be more powerful, and could easily out spar most of her companions. Life had given her a knack for a sword.

Her father had given her proficiency.

He was on the forefront of her mind as she kept striking at Xander, no opportunity going to waste. Images kept blinding her from the duel:

Her father, surrounded by enemies, drowning in their swarm, fighting until his last breath.

A lazy bowstring being pulled far away, somewhere on the ground, sending an arrow to her mother's neck, another to the eye of her steed.

The sound of laughter and scent of blood as she failed her job, even in this far off land of Nohr.

Taking up arms with her liege and girlfriend, being kissed briefly before plunging into another fight.

Laslow on the ground, bleeding out.

Storming off after a fight with her mother, only to turn right back around as a bowman threatened to shoot her down and slay him.

Odin disappearing under a horde of Risen.

Grabbing her best friend and sheltering her as the desert devout swarmed their army, holding her as she cried and shook with fear.

Take… the lost priiiiiinceee…

Selena screamed, voice trembling with fury, as she slammed her foe to the wall and dug her sword into its neck–

"It's time for you to pick a god and pray!"

"Selena!"

Everything faded suddenly at the familiar voice in her ears, familiar arms wrapped about her neck, a familiar scent, something similar to roses, reminding her of safety–

Laslow. Laslow was here. It was okay. Everything was okay.

Prince Xander was in front of her, sword arm pinned to the wall by her nondominant hand, blade on the floor, Selena's mock weapon pressing against his jugular. Deep laughter surprised her, and her gaze shot up to meet his eyes, eyes full of admiration.

"You've won. No need to continue the fight. Were I an enemy, I'd truly be slain."

Slowly, slowly, she removed the offending item. She could see Xander slip away, but the room felt like it was spinning. She focused not on the royal, but instead on the only thing grounding her: the shaking arms around her neck.

Her hands found his, and she turned to reciprocate the embrace. They were holding each other, arms tight but not uncomfortable, at least to Selena. It wasn't enough.

Xander turned around at the sound of surprise coming from behind him, only an eyebrow raised as he observed. Selena's hands had strayed upwards to Laslow's face, cupping it softly as she kissed him. The other melted into the kiss, relaxing as his now freed hands brought the redhead closer, gentle at the small of her back.

Though the three foreigners had never spoken a word about their relationship, nor had ever acted so public, it was hardly a secret to the rest of the castle how they felt about each other.

(None of their lieges would care to admit it, but finding this out had put a bit of a damper on their own prospects. This was later set aside, seeing how devoted the three were to each other.)

Ignoring Peri's protests, he turned back to his throne, away from them. He couldn't help but wonder over Selena's skill. Camilla had remarked, before, that in particularly dangerous battles Selena lost her smug attitude and became nothing short of a primitive beast, killing for survival. Xander had understood, in any random battle there was a chance that Laslow would… change. His calculating eyes would turn wild, his graceful strides would turn sharp with instinct and ruthlessness. Leo had rolled his eyes and offered that Odin became just a tad more dramatic on occasion.

Then, he had faltered, and with a look of slight doubt, and added that once he had found Odin strangling an enemy that had gotten just a bit to close to taking off Selena's head. No magic, no tomes. Just his hands and the look of a caged animal set free. Worse, he had almost punched Niles when the archer tried to see if he was okay.

"That was a spectacular experience," he said softly, not bothering to face them, "you were rightly confident. I should learn to be less arrogant, instead of telling others not to be."

He heard the footfalls begin to distance themselves from him, edging closer to the door. If he looked, he'd see the mercenaries hand-in-hand. While he did not look, he still had… one more question.

"Your style was incredibly unique, even more so than Laslow's, I must say."

The steps stopped.

"Tell me," he turned now, seeing Selena's dark yet blank face. "Who taught you to fight like that?"

"I taught myself." The throne room's door opened, Benny dipping his head as they stepped out. Before closing it, however, Selena met Xander's eyes.

"I also learned from my parents. From my father. If you wanted to be good in a fight where I come from, you go to him. His training… is brutal, and only the best soldiers succeed. I have only ever known four people to beat him in a fight."

She held up four fingers, pulling one down with each victor.

"Our king,

"Our princess,

"My mother…"

She pulled her pinky down as well, a smile appearing on her face. "And finally, just before I came here, me."

Xander watched fondly as she led Laslow away. Her father seemed to be quite a character. It would've been a privilege to meet him. Selena was likely off to return home with Laslow, he couldn't consider anywhere else the pair would go. Odin was lost to them all.

Of course, he had given his word that he would not send out a search party to locate the ex-retainers upon their exile. No, his word was good, he would certainly not send out soldiers to bring them back to the palace after they were gone.

However…

Nothing had been said about following them as they left.

xxx

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