Andromeda: Not quite yet, but in the near future!

Chapter 14 – Sapphire-Haired Singer

Corrin went to his (old) room and Corvo was shown to a guest room for the time being, which was far from Corrin's. From the throne room, which is in the centre of the Castle, you had to turn left in order to find the Royal's rooms, to the right were the 'others,' servants, maids, and retainers. While Corvo was being shown to the room by Ryoma, he thought about asking Ryoma about his sword. There was some kind of energy about it. On their way down the red-brown hallway, they met a man and a woman, who bowed and addressed the armoured man as Lord Ryoma. smiling, he turned to Corvo and introduced them. "Corvo, this is Saizo and Kagero, my retainers." Corvo recognized them. He had fought them at the Hoshidan outpost. Corvo extended a hand to the man saying,

"A pleasure to meet you both." The man looked at the bodyguard's hand and grimaced. He turned to Ryoma,

"Hmph. My Lord, are you sure this is a good idea, he's from Nohr, and I feel like I can't trust him." Corvo responded before Ryoma could, retracting his hand,

"If I was here to attack, I would have done so already." Saizo took a step towards Corvo.

"Makin' it real hard to trust you, especially since you wore some weird mask when we fought."

With that, Saizo bowed to Ryoma and continued down the hall, mumbling to himself. Kagero extended a hand to Corvo, who obliged and shook it. "A pleasure to meet you as well, sir." She said before bowing to Ryoma and walking past them.

Corvo and Ryoma began walking again, "Are all of them like Saizo? Your siblings' retainers I mean." Ryoma chuckled, "No, Saizo's just finds it hard to warm up to people. The rest of the retainers are… nicer." They had arrived at Corvo's room, "Feel free to walk about the grounds if you'd like, if not, have a good night!" the high prince told Corvo, who replied with "I think I'll walk around for a bit." The man nodded and began walking down the hall in the direction they had come.

The Royal Protector disliked being so far from Corrin, he hoped the prince would be alright. This place was foreign to him. For all they knew, they would be executed tomorrow. For all they knew, the Queen was hiding some plot to destroy Nohr. Aside from Corrin's safety, the boy still had that choice to make.

Corvo decided to allow his thoughts to collect themselves over night, but first, he would find Corrin. Last the bodyguard heard, he went to go clear his head outside. Corvo unpacked the things like his pistol, grenades, and mines and went to go meet with him.

Corrin walked outside, the warm orange sky above him, bathing the nearby trees and grass as the sunlight kissed it. He spoke to no one in particular, "I can't stop thinking about Xander or Elise, Leo, Camilla…" The prince heard a song being sung in the distance. "Hm? What a beautiful voice!" He began walking to where he had heard the voice. It led him to the dock of a lake which had a girl on it, about his age, with long flowing blue hair, a white robe-like style of dress. She sang, her voice echoing across the water, making it come to a standstill after a single ripple.

"Yet the waters ever change,

Flowing like time the path is

Yours to climb"

The looked over her left shoulder, her hair whipping behind her. She saw Corrin who watched in awe. The girl walked over to greet her audience. "Yes?" she said in a kind tone. The prince was flustered, his cheeks a light pink "Er, sorry, I didn't mean to bother you… I just got lost in your singing." He regained his composure, "There was just something about that song that captivated me." The girl looked him up and down,

"You must be Prince Corrin."

"Yes, and you are?"

"I am Azura, former princess of Nohr."

"Former? I've never seen you before… I grew up with the Nohrian royal family after all."

"I'm afraid I've been here a long time, likely as long as you've been with the Nohrian royals." This put a quizzical look on the prince's face, the singer noted this and explained, "After you were taken by the Nohrian royals, Hoshido tried desperately to get you back. In the fighting, I was not heavily guarded, a Hoshidan ninja easily kidnapped me." Azura sighed, "I suppose we've been prisoners for most of our lives."

"Gods… I'm so sorry."

"No, don't be. I may have been a prisoner, but here, I am treated like family. In fact, Queen Mikoto treats me as if I were her own daughter."

"I see…" Corrin said, placing a hand on his chin.

"Is something the matter? Did something happen between you and Queen Mikoto?"

"No, no, but I just feel like… despite her unconditional love, I just don't feel any connection to her. Even though I have been given nothing but love from her and the siblings I have met."

"I suppose I would feel the same way if I were to return to Nohr."

"Could you do it? Live in a completely new place? Go back to Nohr and be with your blood relatives."

"No. To tell you the truth I would rather be in Hoshido. Queen Mikoto is a kind ruler, peaceful and good to her people. King Garon is not."

A new person joined the pair at the dock. "Corrin." the rough voice spoke, "Been looking for you." Stepping from behind the trees behind the prince, Corvo emerged. His eyes fixed on the girl now, "Hello, I'm one of Corrin's retainers… well I mean I was." He waved the thought away, "Corvo Attano."

"I'm Azura, former princess of Nohr."

"Ah, yes, I heard…" The girl looked puzzled and looked to the treeline from which he emerged.

"… How long were you behind the trees?"

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I was looking for Corrin and saw you two talking and decided not to intervene."

"I see. What did you mean when you said you were his retainer?"

"The King in Nohr wanted to have me executed. I intervened in Kaze and Rinkah's execution, supporting Corrin's decision to spare their lives. They were beaten and there was no honour in them dying." The girl nodded, Corvo continued, "Long story short, I broke out of the Castle and joined Corrin at the fortress where we were captured by Hoshidan forces."

"Hm, but I have one question. If I may?"

"Of course."

"Why do you still want to protect Corrin after you were almost killed in doing so? Is there some ulterior motive that you have?" She asked, furrowing her brow.

Corrin was about to shoot the question down, but it would answer a few of his own. He let Corvo speak. Corvo had to think of something because he was not about to tell them that an otherworldly deity wanted him there. He improvised, "Corrin isn't like the King in Nohr, or the royal family there either. When Kaze and Rinkah were going to be executed, the others just sat back and watched, they were just going to let it happen. But Corrin stepped in and protected them. That's not a common trait." The girl nodded, and Corrin felt a little embarrassed, "Um… Thank you. That means a lot actually." Corvo noticed that the girl was still looking at him, "I've done some protecting work in the past." He said.

The girl's steel look persisted still, Corvo questioned, "Is something the matter…?" The girl clutched her necklace with her left hand, the Mark of the Outsider began to itch, "Where are you from, Corvo?" Corvo shuffled, and fixed his eyes on hers, "Quite far. I doubt you've heard of the place. Karnaca in the country of Serkonos." The blue-haired maiden let go of her necklace and let her hand fall to her side, "You're right," she chuckled, "Never heard of it." There was a pause and silence set in. Did this girl know that Corvo was from a place outside of this world? If so, did she pose a threat? Corvo would need to gain information. These people were kinder than Nohr, that is obvious, but in Corvo's experiences, the kinder and warm-hearted the people are, the more secrets they have. "I'll leave you two now. Corrin, if you need me I'll be around the Castle." Corrin nodded and Corvo began walking away, leaving the two alone once more.

Corvo walked inside the Castle walls, letting the pink blossoms falling behind him resting on the floor without the faintest of sound. It was strange, Corvo felt like an outsider in Nohr, but here, he felt almost welcome. No evil force surrounded this place. No tyrannical King leeched off the people. Despite the welcoming feeling this place gave off, Corvo still felt that something was happening, or going to happen. Either way, he had to keep his guard up. After some time, the Royal Protector made it back to the throne room. Queen Mikoto was next to the throne at the right side of the room end talking to a man in green-haired man in glasses. Corvo walked up to the throne and stopped at the steps. The throne itself was elaborate. The strange patterns of blue, red, white, and gold would have looked comical if it were anything else, but Corvo assumed it was a royal symbol of the country.

"Magnificent isn't it?" a gentle voice broke the silence. Corvo turned to see the Queen he lowered his head as a half-nod, half-bow. "Yes, it is quite nice." Corvo said, turning back to the throne. "I have decided to give Corrin some time to himself, I know how this must be hard on him. But I hope in time, he'll come the know the truth." Corvo turned towards her, "I feel that he will. He has a good moral grounding; his decisions are made with his heart." The Queen smiled again, "Yes, I am very proud of him." A silence fell among them. Corvo broke it by asking, "The girl Azura, how long has she been here?" He wanted to test the validity of what she had told Corrin. Any deception would be found out here. "Azura has been here for as long as Corrin was in Nohr. Now she has basically become a part of us, I wouldn't be able to fathom if something happened to her." Corvo replied, nodding "I see."

Then she asked a question of her own, "Do you have any children, Corvo?" That question caught him off-guard, but he held his composure,

"Yes, I do. Just one, and she is very far away right now." She gasped and held her hands over her mouth and nose,

"By the gods! Did something happen?"

"No, no, nothing happened."

"Thank goodness, I thought she was hurt or worse." She said resting her hand on her chest.

"She's not, many people have tried, and the same many have failed."

A quizzical look found it's way onto the Queen's face, Corvo felt obligated to respond, "I taught her how to fight." Mikoto said "Ah." She asked, "Where did you learn? Corrin might know a thing or two, but to have an experienced trainer…" Corvo nodded, "Don't worry, when we were in Nohr, I taught him a few moves to improve in combat." The Queen nodded, "Ah, thank you for that."

The Royal Protector felt strange, was it the throne, or her? That's right, she has supernatural abilities. He thought.

"What is it like living here? Keeping that barrier up constantly?"

"It is tiring, but I do so every week and it keeps everyone safe. A necessary sacrifice."

"Agreed. Is it some sort of ritual?"

"Meaning?"

"Do you have to make a… literal sacrifice? Like an animal?"

The woman laughed, "No, no, nothing and no one is harmed in the ritual. I just channel energy and speak the words from the tome." Corvo nodded, "Interesting. Where I'm from, magic is less… kind."

"So, people kill and wound just for magic."

"Yes. Unfortunately."

The Queen placed a hand on her chin and thought for a moment. She asked the Royal Protector,

"Ryoma told me you were able to move extremely fast. One second you were behind him and the next you were at the top of the hill with Sakura. How did you do that?"

"I just dabble in magic, I don't do sacrifices."

"Then how did you obtain you abilities? If I may ask?"

The Queen looked puzzled and this was getting bad. To let people know of the Outsider's existence, let alone the Queen. Corvo managed to spout out,

"No, I just picked up a few tomes here and there. The magic I use is not inherently 'good,' Some would consider it dark magic. I mainly keep my focus on the sword, but should the need call for it, I use magic."

"From what I gather, dark magic is given by sacrifice."

"Mine was… but not the kind you think." And just like that, he felt that he had said too much.

He paused and let his eyes fall to the floor, "I lost someone dear to me." The Queen took a step back, "I-I'm sorry, I had no idea-" Corvo looked back up, "It's not your fault. Don't worry." Corvo managed a smile to let her know it had not hit him too hard. It was a long time ago, but the sting is still there when he thinks of Jessamine. She still looked sad, "It's all right. It happened a long time ago." Still sad. "We can talk about something else if you'd like." The Queen's sadness faded a little, she opened her mouth to speak, but another voice filled the throne room, Corvo saw the green-haired man in the doorway he had disappeared through, "Your Highness, if I may speak with you? It's about Takumi's scout mission." The Queen turned and nodded, "Of course," She turned back to Corvo, "I'm sorry again. Have a good evening."

Corvo turned around and tried to find the common room for the retainers. If he was going to stay here, then he would need to make some friends at the very least. He took off in the same direction that Kagero and Saizo had gone in.

The room was large and was decorated with orange lanterns hanging on red beams and posts. Wooden tables dotted the cream coloured-tiles on the floor, each with four chairs. At the tables, there were men and women sitting around, talking amongst themselves. Corvo saw Saizo and Kagero speaking with a man who was very, very loud. The walls had what looked to be traditional paintings of this country. Some were of the pink blossoms outside on the trees, others were of people. Warriors of the country, no doubt.

Corvo walked in and received the same general look that the people in the tavern had given him. He waved awkwardly and found himself a seat, allowing his thoughts to collect.

The man – or boy rather – whom Saizo and Kagero were in a one-sided conversation with was wearing a sleeveless purple vest which flowed down his body, black armour trimmed with gold sat on his pectorals, leaving the rest of him vulnerable. His centre had a black sash tied with a red rope. The boy's pants, under the purple robe were baggy and white. Below that were his boots which were sandal-like except above his ankles, was armour covering his lower leg.

He was rambling on and on about some fight he was in and how he won. Corvo had heard over a hundred conversations and stories of the nature, so the boy's speech did little to bother him.

Corvo began to sit and think to himself. He took a deep breath and exhaled as loud footsteps began approaching his table. They stopped in front of him and the boy who was talking with Saizo and Kagero was standing in front of him. "Yo!" he said. Corvo decided to not act annoyed, "Can I help you?" He took a chair out from the other side and turned it around so that the back rest was towards the table and the seat was outwards. The boy sat down, placing his arms onto the top of the back rest and letting his head rest on them. "Name's Hinata. I heard you beat Saizo!" a grumbled "Hey!" come from the corner which Saizo was sitting. Corvo obliged a response, "No one beat anyone, we traded blows, that's it." Hinata persisted, "How long did you fight? What weapon do you use? I don't see one on you right now, is it in your room? Can I see it? Is it a sword? Spear? Axe? Magic? You have a weapon, right?"

By the Void. was the only thing Corvo could bring himself to think and it took every fibre of his body to not say it out loud. "Easy!" is what came out instead, holding his hand up.

"If you must know I use a sword."

"What kind?"

"Short."

"How long have you had it?"

"It's probably older than you."

"Want to see mine?"

"No."

"So glad you asked!"

"Ugh."

Corvo rolled his eyes as Hinata went to go retrieve his sword from the corner table, speaking loudly over the chatter about how many battles he had won. A girl leaned over to Corvo from the table to his right, she had brown hair under a headband and pink clothing, "He's always like this, just play along." The girl said with a chuckle. The Royal Protector sighed and nodded, "Thanks," he looked back to see a big-toothed smile on the boy's face, "I think…"

"This is my sword!" he said thrusting it towards Corvo in it's sheath. The bodyguard simply sat in his chair, "You want me to do what with this exactly…?" he pushed it forward slightly, "Check it out! Whadaya think of it?"

"It's… long"

"You wanna see it?"

"No, thank you."

"Aw come on! I know you want to~" He put it back in Corvo's space,

"No, kid, it's okay."

"Please? Come oooooon! I've won countless battles because of this thing."

Corvo simply shook his head. The boy looked slightly saddened by this. The girl sitting at the table to the right leaned over again saying, "He's really prideful about his weapon. Just take it, we'll never hear the end of it if you don't." Corvo sighed and looked at the boy's face, the girl was right. He took the sword from Hinata's hands and unsheathed it.

The craftmanship was impressive. The handle was black on the grip and gold on the handguard. The blade was long, curved and a shiny steel. It looked to be that of a standard-issue Katana used by Wei-Ghon soldiers. "Nice." Corvo said, "But it's not the sword that wins you battles, it's other things as well." A confused look found it's way onto Hinata's face. "Oh yeah like what?" Corvo handed him back the sword after sheathing it, "Wits, your movements, strategy." The boy jumped up, a smile still on his face, "I know that! I'm quick so that they can't detect my movements." Corvo crossed his arms, "You'd need more than that to defeat someone. Know their weakness, exploit it." Hinata put the sword to rest at the side of the table and sat down again. "I do do that!" A smile was on his lips again, "How do you think I won so many battles?"

Corvo sighed and looked around the room, the people were back to their conversations. If everyone in here was a retainer, then who on earth would trust this fiery, swing-first-ask-questions-later swordsman?

"Who is your master?"

"Hm? Oh! My master is Lord Takumi! He's always serious, so I make up for that!"

"Never seen a Takumi around here. Where is he?"

"He's one a scouting mission with his other retainer, Orochi."

Two figures behind Corvo approached, each grabbing a chair and sliding themselves in. One was the girl from earlier from the right of this table, the other was a man with long dark red hair tied up in a pony-tail. This man wore an elaborate but symmetrical outfit of light blue and white which stretched to just below the hips. Under that were where his black boots sat on the ground. His arms wore white sleeves and black gloves.

The two looked at Corvo with kindness. "Hiya!" the girls said, issuing a responsive nod from Corvo. The man spoke, "I'm Subaki and-" the girl cut him off, "I'm Sakura! Please to meet you."

"Hey! Don't cut me off."

"I do what I want." She said sticking her tongue out at him,

"Wha-That's so childish!"

"Is not."

"Please."

He turned back to Corvo, "Let's try that again." He shot a look at Hana, then back to Corvo, "I'm Subaki."

"A pleasure." Corvo said,

"Likewise."

"So, who do you serve?"

"The both of us serve Lady Sakura, we heard you were the one to save her when the Nohrian forces attacked. Thank you."

"I was just doing what needed to be done, no need to thank me."

The next forty-five minutes was spent conversing about their retainers until the conversation reached Corvo's retainee.

From what Corvo gathered, Takumi was hard to talk to, 'prickly' was the word used by Hinata. He hates any and all things Nohr, so he probably would not warm up to Corvo or Corrin quickly. The prince uses a bow called Fujin Yumi. Sakura was a kind girl who would help all of the people she could and dislikes it when she is a bother to others. She hated being a burden. Sakura uses a staff to heal her teammates in battle. Eventually, the conversation reached Corrin.

Corvo told them about him - what he did know. He told them about from when he started working at the fortress. Before long the clock at the end of the room chimed, signifying that it was late. Some of the other retainers left, leaving the room barren except for Corvo and his companions. Corvo waited for a break in the conversation, to tell them "I should get to bed. Good night." the others bid him the same and continued their conversation.

Corvo returned to his room and allowed his thoughts to collect as he waited for sleep to take him. Sooner rather than later, his eye-lids felt heavy and sleep took him.