Robin felt terrible.
She should have stopped Gangrel from going into the dining hall before Chrom had given them the signal. She should have kept her focus on him when the uproar began. She should have ignored Gregor's warning and tried to stop Cordelia. Now Gangrel was hurt and it was her fault.
"Stop looking at me like that," grumbled Gangrel, who back on his feet and pinching his nose in an attempt to stem the bleeding. "Nothing's broken, other than what remains of my pride."
"But your face—"
"Will heal eventually. I've dealt with worse."
Robin wanted to insist that he have one of the Shepherd's healers look him over, just in case, but she also knew that most of them would decline if given the option. Lissa and Maribelle hated him, and the latter would likely forbid her son, Brady, from doing the job. All that left was Libra, whose opinion on the matter Robin wasn't sure about.
That is, until he approached them.
To the surprise of those who overheard him speaking to Robin, Libra offered to heal Gangrel's injuries.
"Are you sure?" asked Robin, her brows furrowed in concern. "You don't have to if you don't want to."
"I'm certain," replied Libra, smiling gently. "I understand that there would be tension between him and anyone else who could do so, so I insist."
"As long as you're sure. Thank you, Libra."
"You're welcome, Robin."
The Shepherds, including Robin, likely expected Libra to feel hatred towards Gangrel because of all the wrongs committed by the former king. In truth, they weren't wrong, but he, too, wanted to honour Emmeryn's memory by extending mercy to someone in need. And right now, the person in need was dangerously close to getting blood all over their clothes.
"Let me see," ordered Libra softly as he approached Gangrel, who had wandered over to the corner of the room and behind a wooden pillar. After taking a quick assessment of his injuries, Libra retrieved a clean handkerchief from his pocket and a healing staff from his belt, offering the former to Gangrel before saying, "You can clean yourself up with that in a moment. Just be still..."
Gangrel's eyes widened as the healing staff was held right in front of his face and the gem in the centre began to glow.
"In Naga's name..." intoned Libra, "thou art healed."
The gem's light intensified for a moment and then faded, leaving Gangrel's body free of cuts and bruises. His nose had stopped bleeding, too.
"There, all done." Libra smiled serenely. The faint feeling of fatigue that always happened after performing a healing was noticeable, but it was nothing that he couldn't handle. "You're free to keep the handkerchief as well."
Gangrel, who had been looking at Libra with suspicion the whole time, didn't respond until he finished wiping his face off. "Did Robin send you over here? Who are you?"
"My name is Libra. I am a priest of the Church of Naga. And no," he said, shaking his head, "I came of my own volition so that my fiance and her friend wouldn't have to."
"Oh?"
Libra chuckled softly. "You're familiar with both of them. Lissa and Maribelle."
"Hm." Gangrel's gaze drifted to the floor and he crossed his arms. "A priest marrying into the Ylissean royal family, eh? Something about that works..."
"Are you not well?" Libra frowned. "You seem quiet."
"I haven't been well in a long time." Gangrel shrugged, his shoulders so tense that they barely moved. "And you can stop being polite to me whenever you feel like it."
"Is this about what happened with Cordelia?"
Libra wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but the way that Gangrel tensed up even more was answer enough.
"If you ever need someone to talk to about your troubles, I am here to listen." Then, more seriously, he said, "And even though you were the one who started the confrontation, I saw how you refused to lay a hand on Cordelia. It gave me a sense of why Chrom and Robin made their decision."
Gangrel began to look less suspicious and more confused, but still didn't say anything, and Libra figured that was as far he was going to get with him at the moment.
"Go back to Robin. She's waiting for you."
Libra returned to his seat between Lissa and Owain as Gangrel went to sit next to Robin, the priest feeling a bit more hopeful than he had before about the former king's presence among the Shepherds.
Gangrel's face itched slightly and his head felt fuzzy. He didn't like it.
"Are you okay?"
And now Robin was pestering him again. Great.
"I'm fine," Gangrel muttered into his plate of half-eaten food. Healings either made him really hungry or not hungry at all. This time it was the latter. "I just don't feel like eating."
"Side effect of the healing Libra provided, I take it?" asked Frederick, who was one the people sitting across from Gangrel and Robin. "Unless you have your own provisions or coin to buy food from the inn, you will not be able to eat later, so take the chance while you can."
Something about the way Frederick smiled put Gangrel on edge. And as much as he wanted to snap back at the knight to mind his own damn business, he held his tongue and returned his attention to his roasted meat and vegetables. He was probably going to feel sick later if he ate it all, but, hoping Robin would stop worrying about him if he actually ate something, he did it anyway.
Staying at the table also gave Gangrel a chance to listen in on Robin's conversation with Chrom and Frederick.
"So we're all set to depart tomorrow morning?" she asked.
"Yes, all the preparations were completed with time to spare," said Frederick. "It seems Virion is more capable than I expected."
"Don't you mean Duke Virion?" corrected Robin with a smirk while Chrom snorted into his drink.
"Forgive me. I'm still unused to referring to him by the title he kept secret from us for the majority of two years."
"We get it, Frederick, you're not that fond of him," said Chrom. "Virion doesn't seem to care about enforcing his title, so it's fine."
"He also technically doesn't have a duchy to rule at the moment, so I don't think he wants to," said Robin. "But once he returns to Rosanne, I'm sure Virion will kindly remind us about his position in society."
"Speaking of Rosanne..." Chrom looked to Gangrel. "I remember you mentioning that you knew about Rosanne being taken over by Walhart soon after it happened. Why didn't you organize a summit with the Exalt and the Khans?"
Gangrel had been hoping that Chrom would have forgotten about that, but it seemed that he hadn't. Damn.
Taking a break from choking down his food, he replied, "I considered the idea at some point, but didn't act on it after remembering that all three of the people you mentioned hate me."
Chrom frowned. "And whose fault is that?"
"Mine," said Gangrel. "Although I have a feeling that the history between out three nations might play a small part in it. That's just silly thought I have, though."
"Be nice, boys," said Robin sternly. "We already had one fight happen tonight, we don't need two."
A brief moment of tense silent passed before someone finally spoke.
"Emmeryn didn't hate you." Chrom looked Gangrel directly in the eyes. "The things you did made her sad, but she was always willing to give you a chance, right until the very end."
Gangrel got up and left his plate where it was, not even bothering to wait and see if any of them would say anything or try to stop him.
He wanted to be alone.
"I think you should let him go for now."
Robin wanted to get up and follow Gangrel, but she listened to Chrom and stayed put. And since she was still in her seat, she could tell him off.
"Now probably wasn't the best time for that."
"I know," agreed Chrom, frowning. "I should have kept my mouth shut."
She could tell that Gangrel had been feeling unwell since his fight with Cordelia, but because she had been distracted, she didn't know why he was unwell, exactly. It seemed unlikely that the fight itself could have made him act like that, so it must have been something said to him.
But what had Cordelia said...?
"Chrom..." said Robin slowly, "is it just me, or did it seem like Gangrel become distant after you mentioned Emmeryn?"
"I think you're right." Chrom scratched his chin. "Something similar happened when we were confronting him at the Southron Sea Pirate's base."
"And while it is possible that Cordelia could have mentioned Emmeryn as well," added Frederick, "it is more likely that she brought up Phila and the Pegasus Knight Squadron, as they were her family and their deaths hurt her greatly."
"And Phila was Emmeryn's bodyguard, so he might have associated them with each other," said Robin.
So that was Gangrel's weak point.
"I'm going to let Gaius and Henry know about Gangrel, and then I'm going to my room for the evening."
"Alright," Chrom smiled at her. "I think we could all use a good rest. I know I do..."
"As milord says," agreed Frederick, smiling. "I'll see that everyone is in bed at a proper hour."
Robin wasn't sure if she would ever get used to that smile.
"Can I have a word with you now, Cordelia?"
Feeling her heart race, Cordelia nodded to Gregor, signaling for him and Severa to go back to their rooms ahead of her, before turning to Chrom. The dining hall was empty. They were alone.
"Yes, Captain?"
Chrom sighed heavily and scratched the back of his head. "I was worried that something was going to happen tonight, but you were one of the people I least expected to get involved in a fist fight."
He was disappointed in her, as he should be. She had not behaved as a pegasus knight and a Shepherd should. She deserved a swift punishment for her actions.
"But," he added, crossing his arms. "I understand where you were coming from, so I'll let it go. Just don't do it again, okay?"
He was letting her go?
"But, Chrom...?" Cordelia said, dropping his military title. "I fought another Shepherd. Shouldn't you—?"
"Cordelia," said Chrom firmly, "am I right in assuming that Gangrel being here hurts you?"
She wanted to deny her captain's claim and assure him that she was impervious to anything that would make her seem weak, but it was no use. Chrom was right and Cordelia knew it.
"That woman who served him killed Phila... My knight-sisters..." Cordelia couldn't even get herself to say Gangrel's name. "There was nothing I could do about it. I still hate myself for that."
"I understand how you feel."
Cordelia, her eyes burning, looked up to Chrom and saw that he was
"We both lost people who were dear to us, but we can still make them proud by moving forward and doing what we can to protect the land that they loved." Chrom held out his arms. "Can you do that, Cordelia?"
"Yes, Chrom, I can."
Cordelia stepped forward and let Chrom hug her.
Gangrel wasn't sure how long he had been laying in bed before Gaius and Henry returned from dinner several hours later, but he still didn't want to talk, so he kept his eyes shut and pretended to be asleep.
However, he knew sleep would not come to him easily. It was going to be one of those nights. Holding onto his stone didn't help at this point.
Robin kept going above and beyond to treat him kindly and help him, and as much as it made him happy, he also wished that she would stop. There was no way that he could return that kindness. He didn't even have the coin to pay her back for the damn clothes that she had bought him.
And then there was Emmeryn. Oh, sweet Emmeryn. She was dead and he was to blame. No one would ever let him forget that.
As long as he was still alive, he could never forget...
Author's Note:
Hi, everyone! Shout-out to potatoman098, Kayi Rowling, Sugouxxx, THE CREATOR, and Zayvor for their reviews last chapter and to all my readers!
You know that thing I said about there possibly being no more updates this month? Well, I lied, apparently. Again. Oops. I should probably just stop trying to predict how my writing will go and just let things happen.
Also, Here Be Dragons has a tvtropes page courtesy of Kayi Rowling! Either google a combination of "Here Be Dragons Series," "Brenna Snow," and "tv tropes" or go to my tumblr, check out the page for Here Be Dragons, and find the link there. It's really neat, I promise!
Remember, feedback is appreciated and greatly encouraged.
Cheers,
Brenna Snow
