Robin

The blast of warmth and barrage of noise were like a slap to the face when Raimi opened the doors to the large hall. Not that the warmth was unwelcome after half a day of trekking through the gently falling snow, but it was definitely sudden. "You can keep the horses and the pegasus in the stables to your left," Raimi instructed, waving her hand in that direction and attracting the attention of several of the people in the hall. There were both shocked and amused sounds from those watching when Lissa skipped right out of my coat and turned her head to grin at me. I grinned back at her. "Your Highness, who will be accompanying you to the throne room?"

"Robin, Lissa, and Frederick," Chrom replied.

"She's your tactician, yes?" Raimi asked, her eyes lighting on me.

"Yep!" Lissa stopped looking at the rather large torches on the wall to scurry back to my side.

"All right." Raimi nodded, looking back to Chrom. "The rest of your Shepherds will stay here, then, with the rest of the warriors. This way."

She began walking further down the hall, and we followed her, Frederick only pausing to hand his mare's reigns off to Stahl. The sea of warriors parted to either side of the hall for us as we walked. Raimi turned onto a staircase, also lit by torches, albeit these were smaller. There was a pair of double doors at the top, emblazoned with a horizontal line with a wolf head on both the top and bottom, that she opened to reveal a large room. A blue banner with the same emblem as the doors hung behind a throne carved from dark wood, and a blue carpet descended from that throne all the way to the doorway. We followed Raimi on that blue carpet for a time before she paused and turned back to face us. "Prince Chrom, please wait here while I summon the khan."

"Of course," Chrom replied, and she dipped her head before clanking out the the left, exiting through a smaller door that I hadn't noticed when we'd first entered.

"The khan is away?" I thought aloud, and turned to see Chrom shaking his head.

"Out training, I'd wager. The khans of Ferox prefer battle to politics," he explained. "Or rather, battle is their politics."

I nodded, remembering Frederick's words about diplomacy this morning, before giving a smile. "A warrior ruler, eh? I can picture him now..." I raised my hands in a vague fashion. "A giant of a man of unparalleled thew, his broad chest covered in hair, heheh..."

My description got a giggle out of Lissa and a grin from Chrom. "Am I now?" a woman's voice, low and amused, purred before I could think up another trait. "Please, do go on!"

"Huh?" The surprised sound escaped me before I could stop it and I whirled around to see a dark-skinned woman approaching us, her pure red armor and golden dreadlocks that were pulled into a ponytail making me think of an incoming blaze. Or perhaps it was the fire in her amused dark eyes that were currently assessing us that gave me that impression. She's a hero, my brain supplied, taking into account that her armor was more lightweight and revealing than a knight's, but that her bare shoulders were as muscular as Sully's. A former fighter or mercenary that has both a mercenary's skill with a sword and a fighter's strength with an axe. Tread carefully.

"You're the-?" Chrom stopped himself, clearing his throat as the woman paused in front of us on the carpet, her back to the throne. "Er, that is to say... the khan, I presume?" he asked, his tone more official, giving a slight bow. I wasn't the only one taken aback by her appearance, then, but I had no doubts that she was capable of being the khan. This woman was dangerous.

"One of them, yes." She nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. "The East-Khan. My name is Flavia." She gave Chrom a warm smile. "I apologize for the troubles at the the border, Prince Chrom. You are welcome in Regna Ferox."

"Thank you, but I'm confident we can put that misunderstanding behind us." Chrom returned the smile, but it faded quickly. "Is it true bandits posing as Ylisseans have been ransacking your border villages?"

"Yes." The khan's smile vanished, and the warmth in her eyes became an angry blaze. "Those Plegian dogs! We found documents proving as much on the corpse of one of their captains." She gave a slight shrug, her frown still present. "Plegia must see some benefit in raising tensions between your kingdom and ours."

"Blast them!" Chrom growled, and then paled slightly when Frederick shot him a warning look. Flavia tilted her head, and Chrom took a deep breath. "I... forgive me, Your Grace. That was... indelicately put."

"Ha!" The exclamation was sharp and sudden, as was the khan's grin. "Hang them, and hang delicacy! Here in Ferox, we appreciate plain speech."

Chrom blinked, and then frowned, crossing his arms. "In that case, you should have a word with your blasted border guards..."

Flavia laughed, a sharp, barking sound, and I couldn't help but smile as Chrom did. This was a good sort of woman to have in charge of a kingdom. "Now that's Feroxi diplomacy! Yes, I like you already." Her smile faded after saying this, but her dark eyes continued to study him. "I know why you have come, Prince. But regrettably, I cannot provide any Feroxi troops for Ylisse."

"What?" Lissa cried, green eyes wide. "Why not?"

"I lack the authority."

I blinked at that statement, and Chrom's frown returned. "Forgive me, but I don't understand. Aren't you the khan?" he asked Flavia.

"As I said, I am one of the khans," Flavia told him, tone patient. "In Ferox, the khans of east and west hold a tournament every few years. The victor acquires total sovereignty over both kingdoms, and that means the have the final say when it comes to forging alliances. The West-Khan won the last tournament you see, and so..." She sighed.

Then while Flavia had the potential to help us, she couldn't do so at the moment. Chrom visibly deflated, staring at her. "So we are to receive no aid at all?"

Flavia's sharp grin flashed into existence once again. "Not if you always give up so easily! The next tournament is nigh, you see, and I am in need of champions."

Chrom's frown deepened. "What does that have to do with us?"

"The captain of my border guard informs me your Shepherds are quite capable. Perhaps you would consider representing the East in the upcoming tournament? If you win and I become ruling khan, I will grant your alliance."

Now here was a woman who knew how to get down to business. I was beginning to appreciate her version of diplomacy. Chrom straightened, hope in his expression and strength in his stance once again. "I would have assumed Ylisseans had no place in such Feroxi traditions," he remarked.

Flavia gave another sharp bark of laughter. "On the contrary. The khans themselves do not fight- they choose champions to represent them," she explained. "Otherwise our land would be rife with blood feuds and dead khans! We don't involve comrades or kin for the same reason. Over time, it was decided the tournament should be fought by outsiders. Although the outsiders have never included foreign royalty..." Her grin grew a bit. "That I know of, anyways. Ha! Regardless, it is your choice to make."

"There is no choice, East-Khan. My people are desperate," Chrom replied, tone firm. "We face not only Plegia's constant attacks, but now the added threat of the Risen. If fighting for you is the quickest way to an alliance, then we will take up our steel."

"Oh, I like you, Prince Chrom!" Flavia exclaimed, undertone both amused and approving. "I do hope you survive the tournament! Come," she turned, beckoning us toward the door she'd come from. "I'll show you where the tournament is held. Be wary when preparing!" she warned as we began following and she pushed open the doors. She began descending a staircase. "I hear an equally able swordsman champions the West-Khan."

"He shall be defeated by Ylisse's necessity," was Chrom's response. No hesitation. The thought of dying in this tournament didn't seem to have rattled him at all, not that I had expected it to.

Flavia flashed another sharp grin over her shoulder. "Well spoken again- I look forward to seeing if you're equally skilled with a blade!" She pushed open another set of doors at the bottom of the staircase. "Raimi, get the other Shepherds in here, would you?" I heard her call as she entered the room.

"I'm glad that Ferox is friendly toward Ylisse," I remarked to Frederick while Lissa ran ahead to follow Chrom into the room. "Despite that, Chrom and Lissa have never been here?"

"The exalt and the hierarch that guided her during the early days of her reign are the ones who negotiate here, and mostly the hierarch," Frederick replied. "Milord's diplomatic experience involves two of the Valmese provinces and that's all. Valm is the empire across the east sea, made up of several of said provinces. One of those is the duchy of Rosanne, and that's where Virion's accent says he's from."

I hadn't even had to send him a confused look. He was prudent as ever. "All right. So you guys had no idea that we were coming here during a time of political upheaval."

"None." Frederick scowled, and the two of us went through the doorway onto an intricately designed tile floor. "I'll be explaining this situation to the others as well, so we'll speak further then."

"Right." I moved further into the the arena, turning a full circle to look up at the stunning amount of seats high above the floor. The floor itself was circular to fit with the rest of the arena's design, and flat, empty. No terrain to worry about or to utilize, then. That meant I'd want people who could move fast and take hits. "When exactly is this tournament, Khan Flavia?" I asked, turning my head to see her coming toward us.

"A fortnight from today," she replied.

"Huh." Chrom turned from staring up at the seats. "That would give us enough time to run down to Tinsdale and back."

"Do it, by all means," Flavia told him. "I'm sure that there's no better training regimen than smashing through dead things... Risen, you called them?"

"That's the name we decided to call them by, yes." Chrom nodded.

"It's a good name. Anyways, do as you will. Just leave some of your Shepherds here as proof that I have champions, and be sure to make it back in time." She turned her gaze back to me. "All right. The prince, princess, and Frederick I know by reputation. But I've never heard of a Shepherd by your description, and you've got a gleam in your eye that makes me think that I should have. Who are you?"

"I'm Robin, and I've been with the Shepherds for a little over a week," I replied, finding with interest that while I was slightly intimidated by her, her talking to me didn't make me nearly as uncomfortable as talking to Exalt Emmeryn had. Perhaps it was her focus on battle. I could handle people like that. "Chrom hired me as the tactician."

"And she's awesome!" Lissa interjected cheerfully.

Flavia chuckled. "Now there's a glowing testimony if I've ever heard one. I suppose I'll see what all of you are capable of at the tournament, eh?"

"East-Khan!" A man poked his head out the door we'd come through. "You've a missive from King Gangrel!"

Chrom visibly stiffened at the name, and Lissa's smile faded some. "More insults, I'll bet," Khan Flavia remarked wryly. "Well, I'll pay him back in kind." She looked toward Chrom. "If you need anything, you need only ask one of the warriors in the hall."

"Thank you, East-Khan," Chrom replied. She flashed him one last grin before hurrying over to where the man was waiting.

"This place is huge!" I heard Vaike yell, and I turned to see the rest of the Shepherds heading toward us from another entrance.

"All right, we've got some planning to do," Chrom told them when all of them were within earshot. "The East-Khan has agreed to grant us our alliance if we win the upcoming tournament in her name and grant her full power over the kingdom."

"That tradition is approaching?" Miriel frowned, adjusting her glasses. "This seems a poor time to be negotiating an agreement for reinforcements."

"Agreed. But we're here, and Khan Flavia is definitely willing to help us." Frederick shrugged. "I will definitely be speaking to the hierarch at the first opportunity I get for answers as to why we weren't informed about this. As it is, the situation could be far worse."

"This tournament is fought th' Feroxi way, right?" Vaike asked.

"That is correct," Miriel replied, and then grimaced. "However, it is not uncommon for participants to expire regardless."

"Sounds like one heck of a fight," Sully remarked. "When is it?"

"In a fortnight," Chrom told her, then turned to the rest of the Shepherds. "Which is what we need to discuss. A fortnight is enough time for us to get down to Tinsdale and back."

"With all the bandit problems we've been having, we probably should check on them." Stahl shook his head. "The pegasus knights we sent down there to protect them after the last bandit attack they had probably have their hands full with Risen."

"Exactly." Chrom nodded. "The East-Khan has asked that we leave a few Shepherds here to represent her champions. Frederick, would you be in charge of that group?"

Frederick frowned. "I'm honored, milord. But the exalt is trusting me to protect you and milady."

"Ah, we'll protect him, Freddy," Sully told him with a grin. "Him and Lissa."

"We're part of the royal guard too, after all," Stahl added.

Frederick studied the two of them for a long moment, and then dipped his head. "Very well. I will entrust the two of them to your care. I expect them to come back safe."

Sully and Stahl both saluted. Lissa rolled her eyes at Frederick's back, and I grinned at her. "I desire to remain in Ferox as well," Miriel said. "There is still a plethora of facts about this country that I have yet to discover."

"Virion, I want you to stay here as well," I told the archer, and he raised an eyebrow. "I need someone to scout out the West-Khan's champions, and I know that you're observant enough to do that."

"Also rather good in dealing in information and favors," Frederick remarked thoughtfully. "I agree with Robin. You should stay here."

"Very well." Virion gave me his usual charming smile and nodded. "I won't disappoint you."

"That should be enough." Chrom nodded, then turned to me. "Anything you want to do before we leave?"

"Go shopping," I replied immediately. "Currently, our extra equipment is a bronze lance, bronze sword, and a dark magic tome. We need to upgrade and Stahl's iron sword is looking a bit worse for wear."

"I love shopping!" Lissa exclaimed. "Can I come too?"

"Yeah, we'll see if there are any staves in the market as well," I told her.

"The mess hall in that giant hall of Feroxi looks and smells like it's got some pretty good grub," Vaike told Chrom. "I dunno about you, but I want to eat before we go right back to marchin'."

"We'll get you four some food you can eat of the way while you're getting equipment, then," Chrom decided, turning to me before looking at Frederick. "Do you have the equipment funds on you?"

"Ah..." Frederick frowned for a moment and then snapped his fingers. "I gave them to Kellam."

"Right here, sir." The knight in question raised a sack, making everyone jump. Miriel's gaze in particular locked on him. "S-sorry. Anyways, here you are, Robin."

"Thanks," I told him, taking the rather heavy sack. I could feel the gold coins inside. "We'll meet up with you guys in that hall, then."

Chrom nodded. "You better save me something I like, Chrom!" Lissa tugged on his cape, and he grinned. "If they're serving bear, I don't want it."

"Got it, got it."

"One of those lovely ladies with the red ponytails is in the area," Virion remarked. "So there should be a sale."

"Those merchants?" Sully's eyes widened. "We gotta go before we miss her! C'mon, slowpokes!"

She dashed toward the exit, Stahl in hot pursuit. I quickly tucked the sack of gold into one of my inner pockets, and Lissa and I hurried after them.