Seth lay on the ground, breathing rapidly and trying not to yell in pain. His chest was on fire, the gash deep, but it hadn't touched his heart. Finally, his vision swimming, he managed to cry out the first name he thought of, "Princess Eirika…!"
She heard him from a ways away, rode towards him, and then gasped in horror. "Seth! Seth!"
She leapt from her horse down to him, clasping his hands in hers. "Seth, no! Don't you die on me now! I… I command you! You can't die here, Seth, you can't… I… oh…"
Her eyes filled up with tears, and she started to cry silently. "Natasha! L'Arachel! SOMEONE! Help me!" she screamed, as loud as she could.
Seth managed to chuckle, and said, "Milady, don't cry for me… This's just a… scratch. Now that you've… commanded me… I can't just… die now… Not until… agh!"
His face contorted in agony, and Eirika put a hand on his forehead. "Don't speak, Seth… Just breathe…"
He sighed out a breath and said, fading out, "I'm… sorry, Eirika."
His vision faded into black unconsciousness, and Eirika shouted, "No! Breathe! BREATHE, blast it! SETH!"
The Paladin could hear her crying faintly, and he tried to say, "I'm… I'm fine" but he didn't know if he'd voiced it or not. More voices came into his hearing. Another woman was there, and his chest felt warm and tingling, like a healing did. But he was still fading fast, and he tried to speak again, "Eirika…"
That time he managed to say it, and she cried, "Seth! SETH! Don't… oh, please, don't die on me now, Seth! I… I… I love you!"
He heard that clearly, and Natasha gasped. "P-princess, he… he's breathing now, he's fighting. Keep talking to him. He must be able to hear you, milady…"
Eirika was still crying. "Seth, don't die… I couldn't do this without you… I love you! I LOVE you, Seth! Please, please, don't just die on me!"
Natasha turned her head. "He's fighting for you, Princess! I… when you say 'I love you' he fights harder, I think. That was when he began to breathe again… I don't know, but I've heard that love heals."
Eirika nodded, and leaned close to his ear, saying, "Seth… If you can hear me… Seth, I love you, I love you, please, wake up… Please, Seth."
He coughed, gasping for breath, and Eirika started to cry for joy. Seth blinked his eyes open, wincing at any movement, and whispered, voice crackly, "Eirika…?"
"Seth, I'm here. I'm here," she murmured, tears falling on his torn-apart armor.
He squeezed her hand—she'd been holding it—and spoke, "I… I can't leave you here… on your own… Princess."
Eirika smiled, saying, "Seth… could you hear me?"
He nodded, then flinched because it hurt him to move. "I… I heard you."
"Ah! I… Forget I said anything when you were out, please, I… I was…"
Seth chuckled, then cried out in pain—it'd made him use more muscles that'd just been healed up, which hurt madly. He squeezed her hand again and said, "I… I don't want to forget that, Princess. Even though I was in pain, when you said that… I was so happy, milady. I had to get back to you… even if just for a moment, to tell you… I love you, Eirika, I love you."
Eirika cried harder, smiling through it, and then kissed his forehead. She murmured softly, "Sleep, Seth. Rest and heal. You're still in pain, I can see it on your face—yes, I can! Don't try to hide it, I know you're hurting… Just sleep, Seth."
"Of… of course, milady," he replied, closing his eyes with a soft sigh. Natasha put him to sleep, a deep sleep that he wouldn't wake from for a while. The cleric looked at the princess and said, "I won't speak of this, milady. But… he truly does love you. I can see it in his eyes. Yours have the same look about them, when you look at him, Princess. This love is true."
Eirika smiled. "I hope so. Go, attend to the others who need your help. I'll stay with him."
Natasha left with a last look at Eirika, singing softly to the sleeping paladin whose head rested on her lap. Natasha knew the song, too. It was a lullaby.
"Sleep, my dear, and dream now
of horses on the grassy hills
and wyverns in the sky.
Sleep, my dear, and dream now,
of all the times
love's passed you by."