Disclaimer: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones and its characters belong to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.
Warning: This story takes place after the end of the game, so if you're not there yet, please read at you own risk.
Knights of Renais
Chapter 14: Cormag, Aloof Lanceman
The young king of Jehanna was standing in the courtyard of his castle. It looked as though he was waiting for someone. Judging from his stance, whomever he was waiting for, was late. King Joshua was not a very patient man. He felt that, lately, his Lady Luck had not been smiling upon him. "Frowning, I would say" The young king smiled ironically. It all started about one week ago, when a messenger from Frelia arrived in the Great Hall carrying urgent news.
Just as she had promised, Vanessa had written to him relaying the events that took place in Frelia. What he had learned about that kingdom disturbed him greatly. Just as Master Saleh had predicted, something evil was looming over Frelia, and this force of evil had affected everyone, particularly Prince Innes and his sister. King Joshua knew the two siblings quite well. After all, they did join forces to fight that abominable demon, Fomortiis. Princess Tana was a very cheerful and bright young girl who seemed to crave her brother's approval and affection. The brother, Prince Innes, was an arrogant but honest young man whose archery skills he admired.
From the letter, Vanessa had described the princess as being fearful of her own brother. Moreover, the princess was always crying whenever she thought that no one was watching. And when she was with her brother, it was even worse. She would not even look him in the eyes and would only nod her head when he spoke or yelled at her.
The changes in Prince Innes were equally startling. He frequently yelled at anybody who chanced to be in the same room with him. If a soldier did not follow his orders correctly or happened to look at him the wrong way, which was often the case, he would put them in the dungeon withholding food and water. This cruel practice was unheard of in Frelia until now. Why had King Hayden not stopped his son?
However, these changes were not the only reason why the young king was worried. According to the latest message from Frelia. It seemed that Prince Innes had dispatched most of his royal armies to somewhere. The destination was unknown since Vanessa was not able to acquire the information. She was always kept by Princess Tana's side. However, she was never allowed to speak with the Princess. The Prince had probably suspected that she was a spy and wanted to keep a close watch on her. "Could it be King Hayden that ordered the dispatch? If so, what was the reason?"
Before Joshua had time to ponder on this disturbing matter further, he was startled out of his thoughts by the thunderous sound of what seemed to be enormous pairs of wings flapping.
"King Joshua, Your Majesty. I do hope that we are not late." Spoke a soldier whose blonde hair stood out from his dark skin, breathlessly. Riding next to him was also a soldier. The color of his armor belonged to that of the Grado army.
The young king smiled despite the fact that he had to wait for almost an hour in the severe heat. "Sir Cormag, you made it. I was about to flip a coin to see if I should leave and travel to Renais on my own."
Cormag looked embarrassed. "My apologies. There were many matters that I had to oversee in General Dussel's absence."
Joshua took one look at Cormag's face and burst out laughing. "Ha ha ha, please, Sir Cormag, do not be so serious. I was merely joking. Well, now that you are here with your Wyvern, we should get going. I do not want to miss the coronation of my two favorite people, you know?"
Cormag looked puzzled but managed to nod his head and move to make room for Joshua on his Wyvern. "What about the sage, Master Saleh? Will he not be traveling with us? I have brought the other Wyvern for him."
Joshua simply replied. "No, I have already sent him ahead of us. In fact, I have sent him and his pupil to Renais three days ago. They should be there by now."
Cormag thought that it was strange but kept silent.
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Meanwhile in Renais,
The excitement that the people in Renais had been feeling had finally reached its peak. Most of the villagers had trouble sleeping the previous night. In the morning, they all left their homes early. Children and adults alike, all had a bright smile on their faces. Some of the villagers could also be seen carrying the flag of the Royal House of Renais. Today, their beloved King and Queen would be officially crowned. The twins were their pride and joy.
Similarly, everyone in Renais Castle was excited. The servants were busy moving about preparing for the coronation, which was about to take place in less than six hours! The servants all worked hard to achieve one goal: that nothing must go wrong before, during, and after the coronation. Everything must be perfect. Well, it is going to be a long but happy day for them.
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In the garden behind the castle,
Eirika sat silently staring at the rose bushes. The roses were now blooming quite beautifully. Each bush was a different color: pink, yellow, white, orange, and red. Not only did they look beautiful, they also smelled wonderful as well. On this special occasion, Eirika was wearing a white gown with gold trimmings, which had belonged to her mother, the Late Queen. She, too, had worn this gown at her coronation. The gown had been altered slightly so that it would fit Eirika perfectly. And for the finishing touch, Eirika added white ribbons to the front of her gown.
Eirika sighed and began to pluck the petals off the pink rose that she was holding in her hand.
"Why the long face, my dear Sister? Are you not a bit excited that today has finally come?" Spoke Ephraim. Walking behind him were the three commanders, Kyle, Forde, and Franz.
Eirika was startled and dropped the rose, whatever was left of it. "O-Oh, Ephraim"
Eirika turned red when she saw Franz. Apparently, what happened in the garden several weeks ago was still fresh in her mind. She was embarrassed but managed to speak. "You startled me, Brother."
Ephraim smiled. Today, his sister looked beautiful, not that she did not always look beautiful to him, but today, she was incredibly beautiful. Ephraim beamed with pride.
"Sorry, Eirika. I did not mean to do that." Then all of a sudden, he was no longer smiling. "I need to speak with you and also give you something."
Eirika looked puzzled but complied. She got up and walked towards her brother, all the while wondering what could her brother have possibly wanted to talk to her about in front of his three commanders.
"Kyle, please hand me the box." Ephraim took the box from Kyle but did not open it. He gently handed it to Eirika. Eirika was about to open her mouth to ask, but Ephraim stopped her. "Eirika, before you ask me anything, I want you to know that, if it had not been for Kyle, Forde, Knoll, L'Arachel, and Dozla, it would be impossible for me to hand this object to you. They all risked their lives to retrieve it."
Eirika looked thankfully at Kyle and Forde. "I see. So this object was the reason why you two were sent away. Thank you so very much Kyle, Forde."
Both replied at the same time. "It was an honor, Your Majesty." However, Forde could not help himself and added. "Although a little kiss on the cheek would be greatly appreciated." As soon as he had said these words, Kyle elbowed his friend sharply in the ribs.
Eirika laughed and proceeded to open the box. She was stunned to see what was inside. "Oh Ephraim. This, this is, oh it is so beautiful. I do not know what to say." Eirika lifted the object from the box. Glinted in the light was a small silver dagger, and set in the middle of the blade was a single gemstone the color of the deep ocean.
It was very strange, but Eirika could feel its mysterious power. It was strong yet gentle, fierce yet warm. She did not know how to explain it. She turned to her brother.
"Yes, Eirika. This is the ancient relic that Father often spoke of. He promised to give this to you to be used on the day of your coronation. I wished to keep his promise so I asked Kyle and Forde to retrieve it from its resting place in Grado."
Eirika stared at the dagger in her hand and tears started to drop from her lovely face. "Oh Father." Eirika held the dagger tightly to her heart.
"Be careful, Eirika or you might cut yourself with that" All eyes turned to the two figures that were walking towards them.
The twins were pleasantly surprised. Eirika quickly wiped away her tears. Both spoke excitedly at the same time. "Joshua!"
"Joshua and the ever-so-serious Cormag, at your service." Joshua smiled brightly. "I see that you two are doing well."
"I am so glad that you finally made it to Renais. Eirika and I have been worried when we did not see you three days ago. By the way, Master Saleh and Ewan are already here. Both are resting in their quarters."
"Well, glad to hear that." The young king abruptly turned to his companion. "Hey, are you not going to say anything, Cormag?" He turned back to face the twins. "You guys would not believe it, but Cormag did not say a word during the whole ride." The twins looked at Cormag and smiled. It must have been tough for him riding with Joshua.
Cormag looked briefly at Joshua before he turned his attention to Eirika. She looked very lovely in that gown. The people of Renais were very fortunate to be blessed with such a passionate and kind young queen. Then he saw the dagger in her hands and stopped breathing.
Could that be the cursed relic that his late brother often talked about? From what he had learned, this relic must never leave its resting place. Should it be in the wrong hand, it would wreck havoc on mankind! What was it doing here in Renais, and in the hands of Queen Eirika no less!
It was Ephraim who interrupted his thoughts. "Sir Cormag, please kindly stop staring at my sister." Ephraim smiled. "You two must be very tired. Please allow me to show you to your rooms."
Cormag turned a little red. "Thank you, Your Majesty." It was unlike him to be caught staring.
"Brother, if you do not mind, I should like to stay here for a little while."
Ephraim understood that his sister needed to spend time alone to think about her father. "No, I do not mind Eirika, but do not be long."
Everyone started heading back towards the castle. Cormag was the last to leave. His mind was troubled by the thought of the dagger. "I do wish that you never had to see the dagger, Eirika."
TBC