Chapter 38

Homecoming

The crowd was deafening as they entered the gates of Ylisstol two weeks later. Walter had thought himself used to the cheering of crowds for their returning saviors, but this was an entirely new level…perhaps the wars the Church had waged were not as popular as he'd thought. Regardless, even he found himself flushing under the boundless praise the citizens of Ylisstol screamed at them.

"It seems your fears about Chrom not being a beloved ruler were misplaced, Phila," Walter said as quietly as one could manage over the roar of the crowd.

"It would appear so," Phila said distantly. Walter frowned at that; Phila had been distant, almost cold since the battle. He put it down to her worrying about the befouled pegasus; they hadn't even decided what to call it yet…not that her seeming reluctance to speak to him had helped. What confused Walter more was that it was certainly targeted at him; she spoke with the others just fine.

"Why are you being so distant, Phila?" Walter asked her concernedly. "Have I caused somehow caused offense?"

Phila sighed, before giving him a strained smile. "I suppose not," she replied, sounding sheepish. "I apologize, I have been…distracted of late."

"It is no trouble, Walter said sympathetically. "I was just worried that I had done something to offend you. You are a good friend, Phila, and I would be quite lost without you." And that was true; he had grown to be quite fond of the good captain over the past couple of months, and would be lost as Grand General without her guidance. She deserves the position more than I, Walter thought amusedly. He considered her one of his best friends, in the same league with Justino and Kendal. He wished he could have had them meet; they would be fast friends, he was sure of it. She fit Justino's tastes in a woman as well, so maybe the old stick in the mud (and that's saying something coming from Walter) would finally have learned to love something other than his duty…wait, why did that thought make him mad? He had always wished Justino would find himself a woman, so why…?

Phila didn't respond to him verbally, simply blushing heavily and turning back to face the front. She'd been blushing a lot too lately, particularly around him. Perhaps she was ill? Or perhaps he smelled bad, and repulsed her? One can only clean themselves so well in the field… He would ask to examine her later in case of illness. For now, they would simply enjoy the adoration of the crowd. The Army marched through the city, with the Shepherds at the head. He saw hundreds of young women screaming the Prince's name; he chuckled as he imagined the heartbroken looks they would doubtlessly have once they learned of his engagement to Sumia. Surprisingly, he saw a few shouting for Stahl, of all people, as well. Well, they would have to be disappointed as well; to Walter's very great surprise, Stahl had proposed to Cordelia the previous day, before all of the Shepherds at dinner. He laughed quietly at the memory of Cordelia's face turning the color of her hair, and Robin's loud groan as he handed two gold coins to Lissa; there was apparently a small betting pool going on regarding Lissa's romantic predictions. Walter found himself tempted to join, but refrained…for now. Perhaps he would bet against Gregor and Miriel; the only thing they had in common was being rather strange, and they weren't even strange in the same way. It was an easy bet, he was sure of it.

Walter was interrupted from his musings by Rickard's nudging arm; they had arrived at the Palace. Chrom would be proceeding to the second floor, where there was a balcony overlooking a very crowded public courtyard. Chrom wished to address the people, and of course Walter was expected to be there, being the Grand General and all. The Princess, Frederick, Robin, Sumia, and Phila would be there as well.

They were quickly rushed into a small room upon reaching the second floor; a prep room, Walter surmised. Servants quickly scrubbed their hands and faces, applied heavy makeup to the women (or not-so-heavy for one particular silver haired woman, after her very vocal protests), and even took a polishing rag to their armor while it was still on them. Within ten minutes (and Walter was quite impressed by the speed) none of them looked like they'd endured a month's hard marching at all. His own armor sparkled brighter than it had since it had been forged, all those years ago. He had thought for certain that scorch mark on his pauldron could never be buffed out, but the magicians that Chrom had hired at the palace had achieved the impossible.

"Are you all ready?" Chrom asked the group as they stood up to walk out. "Because I'm certainly not." They all got a good laugh out of that.

"Just give hope and encouragement," Walter advised sagely. "It works well enough for me."

"I would listen to him," Phila advised with a grin. "He's quite the orator. One could assume he truly loves giving speeches; perhaps he should speak in your stead?"

"I really have done something to offend you, haven't I?" Walter grumbled, causing the other Shepherds to chuckle.

"Alright, enough teasing Walter," Chrom said as the laughter died down. "It's time." With that, Chrom led them onto the balcony.

Walter immediately decided that he liked this balcony; it gave a stunning view of Ylisstol, and the lake and mountains to the northeast. Perhaps he could request to move his office to this room? The people below him screamed adoration for their heroes, prompting Walter to feel an unusual bout of self-consciousness.

"People of Ylisse!" Chrom shouted. Almost instantly, the cheers died down. "I thank you all, for your support and love!" The cheers picked up briefly again, but died down as Chrom held his hand up. "We have fought hard for this day, and many lives have been given, but we have finally won peace from the Mad King!" The crowd cheered again. Walter wondered vaguely how long this would take, if the crowd cheered after every second word. "My sister once said that Ylisse was her first love; I'd thought her to be exaggerating or japing at the time," he chuckled. The crowd laughed with him. "But as I stand here before you all now, I can say that my beloved sister was most serious. I feel honored beyond words to stand before you, to receive such praise for the deeds that belong to all of you." The crowd cheered once more. Walter decided to simply tune them out. "I swear to you all, here and now, that I will do everything in my power to preserve this peace that we've won for ourselves, and build upon it! You, my people, deserve no less! So celebrate, Ylisse! Today is not just a victory for myself, or a victory for our Army, it is a victory for you! Today is the first step toward a brighter future!" If Walter had thought the crowd had been loud at the gates, they were a relative whisper compared to the thunder that greeted his ears.

"I also have an announcement to make!" Chrom said once the noise had died down to a tolerable level. "It is my great pleasure to inform you all that I have asked for the hand of Sumia of House Cain, that she may be my wife and your future queen!" Walter chuckled as his earlier predictions rang true, and the faces of many a young woman fell at the news as the rest of the crowd exploded. Chrom gently pulled Sumia forward, the woman blushing so furiously that she was bordering on turning purple. She gave a sheepish little wave to the crowd, which drove their cheers even further. Walter smirked as Sumia somehow managed to find enough blood to blush even further. The two gave a deep bow, before Chrom impulsively swept Sumia into a deep kiss. Walter had to cover his ears from the resulting cacophony. Robin was cackling evilly, and Lissa visibly groaned (he could hear neither over the crowd, of course) as she handed him his gold back; apparently he had bet that Chrom would do that. Phila was giving a maternal smile at the display. Eventually the two separated from each other, and Chrom led them back inside, the roar of the crowd barely fading.

"That wasn't so bad," Robin said, still grinning evilly.

"You only say that because you won your money back," Lissa muttered.

"No, I liked Chrom's speech," Robin said, clearly only half serious. "Nice and short, nothing too flashy."

"Gods, I hate speeches," Chrom groaned as he led them back into the Palace proper. "I never know what to say."

"Have Walter write your next speech," Phila encouraged with a smirk, causing Walter to glare at her. "As I said, he's quite the orator."

"I make it all up on the spot!" Walter argued.

"All the better then, you have natural talent," Phila chuckled.

"You know," Walter replied hotly, "when Justino died, I saw one silver lining; I would get away from his merciless teasing. Only to become entrapped by a tormentor far more cruel!"

"Sir Justino sounds like a wise man," Phila said with a dry smile. "I think we would have gotten along quite well."

There was that flare of anger again, Walter noticed. It went as quickly as it came, however, and he had no time to linger on it. "Indeed," Walter agreed half-distractedly as he tried to continue the conversation and parse the meaning behind his random spikes of anger. "Lord forbid he ever told you about my wedding reception. He never let me live down what happened with that bear…"

"Oh, really?" Phila asked curiously, her visage neutral. "What does a bear have to do with your reception?"

"Well, Ruth and I had gone outside for a spot of fresh air, and there was this cub playing in the fountain-" Walter froze as he realized what he was about to do. "Oh no you don't!" He barked as Phila's façade cracked and she began laughing. It was a rather pleasant noise, if Walter had to be honest, but he'd prefer it not be at his own expense. "I'm not reliving that story! Kendal is the only one who knows of it, and he would never speak of it! You will get nothing from me either!"

"Perhaps we could send the messenger Gerald's going to send to us back with a request for Sir Kendal then," Robin said, grinning himself. "After all, what better way to celebrate the discovery of an old friend than to embarrass them in front of their new friends?"

"He would do no such thing!" Walter insisted. That was a lie, however; Kendal was far more merciful on the whole when it came to his embarrassing tales, but when he got started, he was far more cruel than Justino had ever thought of being. And he just might spill the story, if he thought the result would be amusing enough…

"The look on your face belies that argument," Phila countered. "Yes, I do believe we'll send this Ebbard fellow back with the request."

"Ebbard isn't a courier," Chrom admonished, though grinning himself. "Gerald told us to send him if Ylisse was in danger, not if we wanted gossip from Walter's old friends."

"You hear that everyone?" Robin said loudly. "No fun allowed! By decree of the Prince!"

"Laugh it up guys," Chrom groaned, though still grinning, as the others broke into laughter. "Gods know we need a laugh, after all this," he muttered, his tone sober.

"Come now, love," Sumia said, wrapping her arm around his own. "Now's not the time for such thoughts. We're supposed to be celebrating!"

"You're supposed to be celebrating," Chrom countered as they descended back to the ground floor. "The rest of us are supposed to be meeting with the Council now."

"We've already discussed this, I'm going too!" Sumia insisted.

"I won't argue, love," Chrom responded, "but you will regret this decision. I doubt your father has ever given you a true picture of what Council meetings are like."

"And I'll have to find out eventually," Sumia rebutted. "It's better to get an early start on it, rather than get overwhelmed later!"

"Your betrothed raises a good point, Prince Chrom," Walter supplied. "My father was called to the Lord early, and I was quite suddenly thrust into his position. The transition was…unpleasant."

"Fine, fine," Chrom told them as they passed by the throne, his throne, and he put his hand on the door to the Council Chambers. "I just wanted to give her fair warning. Are you all ready?"

"Ready as we can ever be to deal with a bunch of stuffed shirts," Robin huffed. "Let's just get it over with."

Chuckling quietly, Chrom twisted the handle, and the door to the Council Chamber opened. Taking a deep breath, Walter followed the rest inside.

The physical war was over; now the political war began.