22 – SHORT-LIVED PEACE

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The Second Timeline

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I sunk into the comfort of a royal Ylissean bed and sighed. "We've been away for too long. Finally good food, mediocre tea, nice clean sheets, and a beautiful view," I said, staring at Chrom. He turned away self-consciously.

I was doing everything in my power to bring a smile back to Chrom's face.

These past few months had been hell for him and even now that war with Plegia was behind us, our return to Ylisstol did not feel like a victory. We had spent so long with the shadow of grief and violence over us. If I could just lighten some of his sadness, even if just for a moment, I would have done anything.

I climbed out of the bed and unbuttoned my shirt, tossing it to the side. I caught Chrom glancing over at me and I pulled off the rest of my clothes. I stretched and gave him a teasing look.

"Gods damn you, Gray," Chrom said. "Put your clothes back on. This day is far from over."

"I'm aware," I answered. "I know you have many pressing matters to attend to. I am simply recommending that you attend to one matter in particular first."

"And what would that be?"

"The health and wellbeing of your chief strategist and advisor."

"Is his wellbeing in danger?"

"Terrible danger," I said. "It could be fatal. I'd definitely recommend doing something immediately."

Finally I got what I wanted. Chrom smiled at me faintly. "You are ridiculous." His smile reached his eyes and he said, "I love you."

"You're going to love me more after this," I said.

I stepped closer until his back was up against the wall. I pressed my lips against his neck and tugged off his clothes, running my hands over his body.

It had been over a month since we had been able to spend more than a few minutes with each other. I had hardly even held him in my arms this whole time. Now I could feel the same longing in his body that I felt in mine and it filled me with energy and arousal.

I moved down to my knees and glanced up to see his eyes closed tight, lips parted in anticipation. I smiled and decided to take my time and drive him out of his mind. His breath caught and he tangled his hands in my hair.

I continued with more and more passion until he was moaning and his fingers were gripping my hair tightly. After I'd made him come, he slumped down to sit on the floor and took a deep breath.

"You were right," he said. "I do love you more now."

"I'm a man of my word."

Chrom groaned and closed his eyes, leaning his head against the wall. "I don't think I can move."

"You're going to have to at least make it to the bed," I said, standing and pulling him to his feet.

He collapsed on the bed and smiled. I lay down next to him and pulled him close. "How are you feeling?" I asked.

"Happy," he said, "for the first time in forever."

I brushed my fingers across his cheek and kissed him. "Good. That is all I wanted."

A knock on the door startled us and I fell off the bed in a panic, pulling the sheet down with me.

Chrom got up calmly, put on his clothes and opened the door. "Yes?"

Praying I was out of sight, I hid behind the bed.

"The counsel would like a word with you, my lord, if you would care to join us in the throne room?"

"Thank you. I will be there shortly," Chrom said.

The man bowed and Chrom closed the door. He turned and said, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Hiding! What the fuck does it look like I'm doing?"

"Come here," he said.

I got up but tripped over the sheet and tumbled to the floor. With a growl, I pulled myself to my feet and glared at him. "I was trying to keep your reputation untarnished."

"You think I have to keep you a secret?"

"You must," I said. "You are a ruler now and I'm a naked man in your chamber!"

"What do you think my future is going to be, stealing kisses with you behind curtains and having secret rendezvous in the moonlight?"

"My opinions on your future don't matter now. You are no longer a prince and free to do as you will. You are going to need to marry a Khan's daughter from Ferox and father an heir. I know that unlike me, you swing both ways. You will be just as happy with a woman and you will have many beautiful children."

"I am not marrying a Feroxi, no matter how beautiful our children would be."

"Chrom, you must take this seriously," I said. "I assure you I am."

He picked up my shirt and handed it to me. "Then put this on and come with me to the counsel."

"Fine," I said, putting on my clothes and my coat. "Go. I'll sneak out and join you in the throne room after a discreet amount of time."

"No." He took my hand in his and pulled me close. "You will come with me."

"I will do no such thing. I'm not making you the talk of Ylisse. If you are not going to be rational, then I have to."

"You are going to walk into that damned room at my side and you are going to stop trying to marry me off to a Feroxi!"

"How about Valm? I hear they have lovely women there."

"There are lovely women everywhere, but their hopes will have to be dashed," he said.

"A king must have a wife, Chrom. Call it old-fashioned, but your options are to either father an heir or live forever. You and I, we can be together now but once you're married-"

"Damn it, Gray, I'm not going to marry a princess- I'm going to marry you! I wouldn't be the first ruler in Ylisse to do such a thing. The Exalt Midora married a woman and ruled Ylisse for half a century. The throne just passes to the younger sibling's child which I'm sure Lissa will be thrilled about."

I was staring at him in shock and he suddenly realized what he'd said.

"What I mean is… oh gods, I've messed this up completely. Damn me. I'm sorry, Gray. I meant to-"

I laughed. I couldn't help it. "You are terrible at these things."

"I'm sorry, truly. I misspoke. I didn't mean to say that."

"So you don't mean to marry me?" I asked. "You've gotten my hopes up for nothing?"

Chrom looked even more flustered and I grabbed his face and kissed him.

He pulled back breathlessly and said, "Gray, I…"

"Please stop talking, before I come to my senses and try to change your mind," I whispered.

"Then you- you'd say yes, if I were to ask you-?"

"I love you more than anything in this world," I said. "How could I refuse the chance to spend the rest of my life loving you?"

Chrom's face lit up with a smile and he kissed me wildly, his hands moving under my shirt to run across my skin.

I stepped back and took a deep breath. "We need to go. They're waiting for you."

"The king announcing his engagement is news worth waiting for," he said.

He picked me up and I yelped in surprise. "Put me down!"

Chrom dropped me on the bed and pushed me against the pillows.

"Just let me be happy for a few minutes," he said. "I'm going to be getting married."

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The Third Timeline

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I stare at Chrom, unable to find within myself any response to his question.

I should have known this was coming. As soon as they returned to Ylisstol, he had asked the other Gray the same thing. But we are different now and I am not the same Gray who laughed and made love to him, still innocent and full of life in his own way.

The longer I wait to reply, the more Chrom's face falls, his expression growing tight with pain. But I knew in my heart and my mind there was only one decision to be made.

I stepped forward and kissed him, sadly and slowly. I put my hand on his cheek and looked into his eyes. "I love you, more than anything in this world. But I'm not going to marry you, Chrom."

"Are you still afraid?" he asks. "I thought you said you talked with the healer and they gave you an elixir to control your panic attacks… I thought now that we could-"

Guilt stings my conscience at his words for I had lied about the healer. I was more afraid of a Ylissean discovering the dark magic inside me than I was about failing to control it. I am certain now I could do so, for the confusion and intensity of panic inside me was gone, replaced with resignation and resolve.

"It's not because I'm afraid of hurting you," I say.

"Then what could it possibly be?" Chrom asks. He avoids my eyes and adds, "I'm sorry; I am not trying to sway your decision for the choice is yours alone. I am just blinded by my own expectations. Calling you my wife was always the future I imagined."

"Perhaps you will, someday," I reply. "And on that day I will give you every bit of my heart and soul and life, unhesitatingly."

"You speak as if you don't think that day will ever come."

"I don't know if it will."

"Why?" he asks.

"Because there is something I have to do first and I cannot promise you without a shadow of a doubt that I will return from it alive. Until I can know, truly know that my future is safe I cannot allow you to share it." I hadn't intended to tell Chrom of my plans yet but I owe him an explanation for my refusal, one that won't make him think I no longer love him.

"Whatever it is, I will do it with you," he says.

I shake my head. "Come, sit down. There is much we much talk of."

I tell Chrom the entire story, from the strange history of our past lifetime to this one, of Henry's memory spell and our damaged dragon magic. And at last I tell him of our plan to kill Validar.

Chrom's expression is wide-eyed from all the information I have inundated him with. He rubs his forehead and takes a deep breath, thinking over it all.

"How can you know for sure that Henry's spell showed you the truth? What if it was a dream or a delusion of some kind?" he asks.

"You have to believe me on this. I am absolutely certain."

"If what you say is true, Validar will need the full power of the Fire Emblem to raise Grima as well as your magic. He does not have the Fire Emblem nor its other four crystals and he never will. You are safe until he does."

"Chrom, he already had one in his hands unbeknownst to us and he has gained another from killing Basilio, who possessed one in secret. I do not underestimate him enough to think he will not get his hands on the others. And who is to say that he needs the Fire Emblem? My magic could be strong enough on its own, or if he managed to get both Henry and I under his control there is little that our power together could not accomplish."

"Then why play into his hands by confronting him?"

"I'm not going to walk up to him and fire a spell at his head. Henry and I will develop a careful plan. We will have one good chance to strike at Validar before he suspects us of any knowledge or power. The only way to be certain that this horrible fate will never come to pass is to kill Validar. We could kill ourselves but that may not stop him from finding other means to raise Grima."

"Then let us fight the fell dragon. You said that the man Gray was able to defeat him."

"The man Gray had the Fire Emblem in his hands and the help of the dragon Naga and still he only managed to cast Grima back into sleep. He did not kill him and stop the cycle of destruction for good. That is why I've been given the chance to finish what he set out to do. I will not deny that responsibility for the sake of my own happiness. It is the reason I exist, of that I am certain."

He sighs deeply. "I have no idea if what you say is true, but I am coming with you regardless. You are not facing Validar alone."

"I won't be alone. I will have my brother with me."

Chrom hesitates for a moment then says, "How do you know Henry is not using you to get to Validar for his own personal reasons? I have come to believe in his courage but I have seen also that he is ruthless and cunning."

I stare at Chrom firmly. "If you love me, you will never speak such words again. I know Henry because I know myself. You think he is untrustworthy because he is ruthless? You did not see me burn Aversa down to bones and ash. You have been blind to my darkness from the beginning. Henry is like me, capable of terrible things and yet just as capable of love."

"Alright, I will take you at your word. But I'm coming with you to stop Validar."

"You can't, Chrom. Whether it is tomorrow or a year from now, Validar will come for Emmeryn to take the Fire Emblem from her. You have to go to Ferox soon and guard her with your life. You are the only one I trust to do so."

"I'm not going to let you go alone."

"That is your love speaking not your mind," I tell him. "You know your family must come before me."

He sighs in frustration and holds his head in his hands. "This can't be the only way! You've told me so many times there is never only one option to accomplish a goal."

"Then I will find a way to accomplish this without Henry and I dying."

Chrom argues with me for a while longer then finally grows silent. I can see that he cannot deny the validity of my words any longer. He knows his purpose is to protect his sister.

I leave him with both relief and sorrow in my spirit. But on my way from Chrom's chamber I am met by Flavia. "I must speak with the prince," she says.

"What is wrong? What's happened?" I ask.

"Walhart of Chon'sin is dead, by Validar's hand."

"What? How could he have moved so quickly?"

"You seem to have expected this unlikely turn of events," she says.

"I would never have expected it," I lie, knowing that one of the crystals of the Fire Emblem rests with the Chon'sin conqueror. If Validar is beginning his quest for the power of the Fire Emblem so soon, then events are happening far more rapidly than I could have foreseen. I worry that I have changed our timeline so much that I have tipped the balance of events to commence with dangerous speed.

"You should have killed that man in Plegia," Flavia says. "Your failure is now starting to destabilize our realm."

"What will happen with Walhart dead?" I ask.

"Chon'sin will descend into civil war again and as their allies it will be our obligation to help, no matter how war-weary and torn our own countries are."

"Gods damn our luck," I reply. "There is no rest for us."

Flavia nods and pushes past me towards Chrom's room. "We will hold a counsel in the throne room in an hour. As the prince will no doubt insist on your presence, do not be late," she says as she walks away.

I have to tell Henry of this so I search through the palace until I find the room he is staying in. It seems our plans cannot be delayed as I hoped they could.

I knock on the door and am met with a yell. "Not now!"

"I need to talk to you!" I call.

"Go AWAY!"

"Henry, I will burn this door down. It's fucking important!"

"I will strike you dead if you open that door, I swear to hell!"

I hear Olivia's voice within and understanding dawns on me. I step back awkwardly but the urgency of the situation overcomes my wish to run away and not think about what in the world is going on in there.

"Put some goddamn clothes on!" I yell. "I'll give you five minutes then I'm coming in even if I have to blind myself."

I hear scrambling movement within and hushed voices. Several minutes later, Henry opens the door with murder in his eyes but thankfully with clothes on.

I see Olivia sitting innocently at the table trying to pretend she is reading a book. But she is holding it upside down and her long pink curls are wildly disarrayed.

"Hello, Gray," she says.

"Hi," I reply uncomfortably then turn back to Henry. "I have bad news. Validar has assassinated Walhart of Chon'sin and will no doubt move towards the Exalt Emmeryn next."

He stares at me furiously. "This news is not a good enough reason for me to let you live."

He lifts his hand to cast a spell and I step back, truly not sure if he is bluffing or not.

"Walhart had one of the components of the Fire Emblem!" I say. "Validar has over half of them now. He will no doubt have the rest soon. We have to leave immediately."

"Leave?" Olivia says, looking at us in alarm and dropping the book. "What are you talking about? We just ended a war."

Henry closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "Go," he says to me. "I must talk with Olivia."

I nod. "I'm sorry. I had no idea this would happen so soon."

Henry closes the door in my face without replying.