Author's Notes:

Welp, that's another story that I begin. Before any of you start reading, I must say that this fic contains heavy spoilers for the Crimson Flower route of Fire Emblem: Three Houses. I thus suggest that you play it first if you care about it.

Also, there will be spoilers about Claude in general, so look out for it.

Fodlan Year: 1185

The early morning seemed to go by as it usually would in the capital of Almyra. Despite the fact that the sun had barely risen above the horizon yet, the streets of the citadel were already filled with the constant noise of the merchants preparing their shops for the day. Some had come from all around the Kingdom and even beyond its frontiers to show their merchandise.

Meanwhile, in one of the rooms of the royal castle, the warm sunrays slowly descended upon the visage of the young woman who was sleeping soundly until then. Under the effect of the morning light, she wrinkled and tucked her sheets over her head to hide from them. As her mind awakened, though, she remembered what she had planned to do for the day. This proved to be urgent enough for the girl to spring right out of her bed.

After stretching out of her sleeping numbness, she looked around to find her vanity. Once she found it, she took a good look at herself in the mirror mounted on it before she let out a pout.

While her face, with its tan tone and sharp chin, did look presentable, the same could not be said for her hair. Just like every morning, it had gone messy and ruffled, so she took some time to grab a small string to attach it in a simple pony tail.

Next on her list of early check-up was her clothing. Right now, all she had was her nightly dress. She didn't need to be too formal, but still…

She went to her wardrobe and grabbed a few matching pieces of clothing: a form-fitting vest of leather and yellow fabric decorated with a Wyvern motif on the back and a long black skirt that offered both some minimal elegance and a maximum comfort, as well as appropriate underwear to put under it all. Looking at herself once more, she smiled slightly and took a deep breath in. She then began to speak to herself, replacing the ambient sound of the marketplace outside of her room.

"Okay… Oookay, Roxanne. You can do it. You just need to go see him, talk confidently, and he'll listen…"

This did little to increase her confidence, however, and her smile dropped as she frowned at her reflection. She straightened her posture and puffed her chest before speaking again.

"Father, I request that you send me to Dedriu right this instant! I must... I must… No, I can't just request something from him. What if I just told him some good arguments? This might work…"

Now nodding at herself for her new plan of action, Roxanne grinned and resumed her little repetition.

"Father, I wish to be sent to Dedriu in the shortest delays. Yes, this is perfect. I believe that my assistance would be more than welcomed with the situation as it currently is. It will also be a considerable source of experience for myself…"

The young woman's confidant expression slowly deteriorated as she stopped talking. She brought her hand to her chin as she reflected more on her plan.

"No, it won't work now after all the times it didn't. But maybe now the trouble is big enough that he'll accept… Okay, what about this…" Taking a tough front yet again, she continued. "Finally, I refuse to stand idle as my brother is risking his life out here. My pride as an Almyran forbids me from hiding from the battlefield!"

Satisfied with her last line, Roxanne uttered a loud sigh before she put her hands on her desks, offering herself some physical support. Looking back up at her image in the mirror, she gave a firm nod with a small grin.

"I'm coming this time, Khalid. Don't worry."

"NO!"

The booming voice of King Gaspar roared throughout the throne room. In his golden chair, the monarch sternly looked upon Roxanne, who was currently bowing down before the royal couple, slightly trembling from nervousness. The queen, Tiana von Riegan, silently observed besides her husband while shaking her head slowly.

"I knew you would be asking for this foolish request again. For the last time, young woman, you are not stepping a foot out of Almyra, have I made myself clear?"

Gathering all the courage that she could muster, the bowing girl breathed as steadily as she could while lifting her head to glance at her parents, the rulers of Almyra.

"I don't understand, Father. Why can't I? You heard Nader's reports. Leicester is on the edge of losing, and if we don't act now, Khalid…"

"Your brother decided to lead this battle himself, and he shall win it on his own. It is already much that I allowed Nader to help him out," the King spoke with an even tone, yet annoyance was clearly discernable on his face. "This is his fight, not ours, and certainly not yours."

A hint of anger appeared on Roxanne's facial features as she bowed back down.

"And what if I decided that his battles were mine as well?"

"Then I tell you that you are wrong." Gaspar leaned forward as he spoke, making sure that his point went across for his daughter. "Khalid will either triumph or realize that he picked a fight that he cannot win. In either case, he will come back here and become King as he should."

Roxanne lifted her head again and gave a defiant glare at her father.

"And what if he decides to stay in Fodlan instead? Maybe he'll do like you, Mother." She turned her head to Tiana, who frowned in reaction to being dragged into this mess.

"My dear, I suggest that you take another tone. I was not intended to take the role of Leader of the Alliance in any case. The only reason for which he's away is because my brother died to a monster attack."

"The only reason he's away is to be far from you two," whispered the Princess of Almyra out of spite, which caused her father's expression to turn cold.

"What was it?"

The Throne Room was plunged into a heavy silence as Roxanne didn't dare to answer this question, having even slightly recoiled back. The King, on his part, gripped his throne and stood up.

"Speak up, girl!"

In the absence of a response, he sat back down and glared daggers at his daughter.

"And if he decided to stay in Fodlan, or if he died, then you would become the rightful heir of Almyra's Throne. As such, you will not waste your life away in this war. Have I made myself clear?"

"… Yes, Father…"

"HAVE I?"

"Y-Yes, father."

Now unsurely glancing over to the monarchs, Roxanne slowly got up and made immense efforts to keep her composure as she made a last small bow.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you…"

On these words, the Princess turned back and walked out of the Throne Room, carefully hiding the single tear forming on her face. Once out, she took a faster pace to the only destination she could think of: the training grounds.

Outside of the castle, the sun was now shining brightly, which made the temperature ideal for a calm walk. This was exactly what a royal guard had decided to do during his break. Standing at around 6"2 and with a build that put most Almyran warriors to shame, the man peacefully looked at his surroundings during his little walk.

The soon-to-be-appointed Sentinel took in a few breathes of fresh air as he took appreciation of this little moment that made his day all the better. He sat down at a bench and deposited his lance to his side. However, he quickly found his moment of relaxation interrupted when familiar feminine shouting began to erupt from the training area nearby.

While he had wished to spend this little time in tranquility, he decided to investigate the screams, since he knew what usually caused them.

Once he arrived, one mere look at the sandy grounds confirmed all of his suspicions. In the center was Lady Roxanne, Princess of Almyra, in the middle of bludgeoning a training dummy to bits, little by little, with the blunt end of one Hand Axe in each of her hands.

The warrior frowned slightly in worry at the scene. The way that Roxanne was training did not look like her usual temper tantrums. Instead of calming herself down with practicing her refined swinging techniques or her footwork, she was uncontrollably wailing at her target.

With each hit, another scream, and the dummy wobbled more and more. One time that it was threatening to actually fall down, Roxanne stepped forward and put her foot on its flat ground support, using her weight to bring it back up.

What she hadn't expected was the thing springing right back up and hitting her in the face. With an enraged grunt, the Princess swung one of her axes where the neck would have been were it a person, and she panted as the dummy definitively fell down on the ground with its 'throat' impaled.

While she caught her breath, the young woman gave the dummy a few light kicks as she began to ramble.

"'Oh, but isn't searching for a good fight what an Almyran should do?' Yeah, that is what I should have said! Or better yet, 'You're just afraid of losing to Fodlan like you always do'!"

After this little outburst, the Princess spat down on the poor dummy before she absent-mindedly looked at her surroundings. Once she noticed the warrior that had just arrived, she froze shortly before she recognized who he was. She then glanced away while talking with a casual tone.

"Oh, hey Behnam. I thought you would have gone with Nader?"

"No, Master has said that I should stay here in case that something goes badly. My formation is finished anyway, so my presence wasn't required." The warrior bowed down as he spoke with a deep voice. "As for you, was there something that vexed you?"

Giving an annoyed look at Behnam, Roxanne shook her head as she went to retrieve her axe.

"Oh, no, I'm perfectly fine," she said with a sarcastic tone before returning to a more casual one. "Of course I'm angry. You saw me long enough to know that."

Nodding slowly in slight embarrassment, the guard decided to speak up again, trying to help his Princess.

"Did you ask to rejoin your brother again?"

"Yeah, what if I did?"

"Well, did you need a spar to change your mind?"

Upon hearing Behnam's question, Roxanne's expression softened as she actually considered accepting, but she closed her eyes and shook her head shortly after.

"No, thanks. I need a punching bag, not a training partner, and I don't wanna hurt you."

An uncomfortable silence then fell on the training grounds as Roxanne, once more full of pent-up anger to release, looked down at the dummy at her feet and reflected on how to torture it a bit more while Behnam decided to stay and make sure that someone would be there if she needed it.

Before the young woman could begin a fierce second round, however, a slow clapping started from the shadows, in one of the corners of the Arena. Startled, Roxanne and Behnam both turned their head in the direction of the noise. Stepping out of obscurity, a grinning young man was sarcastically applauding.

He was a quite athletic warrior, possessing a well-sculpted musculature which he did little effort to hide, if his lack of a shirt of any kind was an indication. On the belt and pants that he wore were attached the daggers and the Iron Axe that he used in battle. With his square jaw and flames-shaped dark hair that seemed to flow in the wind, he had the tendency to have a quite mesmerizing effect on the female members of the royal guard. After coming to a few feet away from Roxanne and Behnam, he stopped advancing and clapping as he spoke up.

"Wow, isn't that a noble attitude to have, Princess?"

Scoffing at the direction of the newcomer, the young woman merely turned around and picked up her training dummy in order to put it back on its foot. The Guard, on his part, frowned slightly as he commented.

"Shapur, I did not know that you were here."

"Yeah, I think that I had figured this one out, genius." The younger warrior then directed his attention back at Roxanne. "By the way, nice job with Father earlier. You almost didn't piss him off this time."

Unable to ignore Shapur anymore, the Princess turned around to glance at him with a clearly hostile expression as Behnam decided to try to let the situation unfold on its own.

"And you've come here for what, exactly, Shitstain?"

The newcomer smiled as he took his axe off his belt and began to examine it. He answered with a mocking expression.

"Oh, not much until now, really. I just appreciate seeing you weep like a pathetic child for a weakling like Khalid. Truly, the Throne seems to be in good hands once this fool gets himself killed." Then, Shapur pointed at Roxanne with his weapon as a frown replaced his cocky expression from earlier. "However, since you seem to need to vent, what would you say about fighting me? You know, something that can actually hit you back?"

With caution, the Princess of Almyra stared at her interlocutor.

"What, you think I need to prove something to you?"

"Not at all. It's just that my mother has made sure to train me thoroughly the last few weeks, and I wanted to test my skills a little. Your guard friend can stay and watch if he wants…"

"His name is Behnam." Roxanne tightened her grip on her own axes as she lowered her head slightly. "If you really want to go at it, then let's do it."

On this, both youths took a battle stance and psyched themselves up for this improvised training session. Meanwhile, Behnam was watching the scene with slight worry.

Shapur, son of one of King Gaspar's concubines, always had a reputation for causing trouble. It was especially bad when it came to Khalid, Queen Tiana's elder son, and now Roxanne. While pretty much all of the King's other children picked on the two Half-Fodlian, this little pest in particular always searched for an opportunity to taunt the Princess, since the Prince was away.

Right now, however, what was more important was the little fight that was about to break out. With the animosity that the two opponents held for each other, this was sure to be fierce.

Sure enough, Roxanne made her first move by beginning to run towards her half-brother, whose response was to wind his Iron Axe back and to swing it as the Princess was about to try to strike. The higher weight of Shapur's weapon and his superior strength allowed him to knock his sister's attack aside with ease.

With Roxanne being pushed back, Shapur took advantage of the opening that he had created and rotated his axe around his head to give it as much momentum as he possibly could, intending to strike the blunt end right into her jaw. Fortunately, the Princess saw it coming and dropped on one knee just in time for the swing to pass over her head.

As she got back up, though, Shapur decided to grip his weapon tightly and thrust the handle right in her stomach, cutting her breathing quite effectively. She fell on her knees and wheezed in pain while her half-brother grinned once more. He brought his foot up and used it to push her to the ground.

"Heh, even if Father had agreed to send you to help out, you're so weak that you would have just gotten in the way."

As he attempted to stomp her, however, a lance suddenly swung around and hit him right in the cheek with enough force to send him flying back and fall flat on his back. Lifting his head furiously, he noticed Behnam, who stared at him coldly while holding his Steel Lance.

"You! How dare you strike a Prince so callously? I'll have your fricking head cut off!"

"Stop wasting your breath. You cowardly attacked Lady Roxanne while you had already defeated her. Any attack after she was on the ground was punishable." The Guard straightened his posture and put his lance over his shoulder. "Now, if you want to keep fighting, then I will gladly serve as your opponent. Otherwise, you should disappear from sight."

"You've got guts to talk back like this to your superior."

"And you dare call yourself a prince. Even without Roxanne and Khalid before you, you would never become King with such a reprehensible behavior."

After he slowly got up and stared the Guard down, Shapur decided that pursuing this argument any further wasn't worth it at the moment. He thus walked out with a big, red mark forming on his cheek while Roxanne just began to regain a steady breathing. Behnam looked over her with visible concern while extending his hand to help her get up.

"Lady Roxanne, are you badly hurt?"

Instead of accepting his help, however, the Princess contented herself with remaining sitting on the sand.

"How… how the hell did he beat me so easily this time? I don't understand, I thought that I had gotten faster…"

"You still rely too much on strength, which you do lack slightly," Behnam honestly responded. "Plus, your emotions were clouding your mind, so you couldn't fight as well as you could have."

As the Guard let his Princess recover fully from Shapur's vicious strikes, the door leading to the training grounds suddenly opened. A messenger entered, and he seemed to be almost out of breath. He looked around and noticed Roxanne and Behnam.

"Oh, you're here, Princess. The King orders a reunion at the Throne Room, right now."

"What?" Responded Roxanne with a tilted head and an annoyed expression. "Why that?"

"Nader is arriving. He's back from Dedriu… and he's wounded."

Merely an hour after the announcement of Nader's upcoming arrival, the King had already managed to assemble every people who he had deemed to need to hear about the veteran's report. This included the Queen, Tiana, his other wives and concubines, his many children, and a few elite warriors.

Amongst them, Roxanne had reluctantly come, if only to hear news of her older brother. While still feeling slight pain from her spar earlier, she stood straight and didn't let it show under any circumstance. Behnam, as one of the best warriors and royal guards of the castle, was asked to come as well. Out of habit, he stuck to Roxanne's side.

Not far from them, Shapur was glaring daggers at Behnam while rubbing his hurt cheek. However, his mood was clearly better than when he had exited the arena an hour earlier. Some dirty tongues would have pretended that he hoped the worst for Nader and Khalid.

When the veteran commander, who was reputed for his many scuffles with the noble House of Goneryl in Fodlan, finally showed himself in the middle of the semi-intimate assembly, many gasps were had once people noticed his injuries. A particularly notable one was a bandage around his stomach that had clearly been soaked in blood.

Nader slowly walked down the Throne Room under the mostly shocked gazes of the present audience until he arrived right in front of Gaspar and Tiana. If his demeanor didn't change much from his usually tough and laid-back attitude, a good look at his nervous and saddened face would immediately give another impression.

He went on one knee in front of the two monarchs and lowered his head before Tiana spoke up.

"Nader, you have finally come back from Dedriu. Tell us about the glorious battle that you and Khalid waged."

Despite the Queen's optimistic tone, the atmosphere remained heavy in the room as everyone more or less expected what Nader was going to announce.

"Your Majesty, I…" The veteran warrior gulped before he continued. "Khalid, your son, is dead."

Despite the predictability of the reveal, a minor uproar rose in the assembly. Some were sporting shocked faces, whether they were fake or not, while the rest glanced at each other with worry or sorrow. Gaspar slowly dropped his head as Tiana brought her hand in front of her mouth.

The most affected, by far, was Roxanne. Curiously, she was also the one person who reacted the least to the news. Her visage remained passive while her heart sank more and more and Nader continued to recite her brother's last moments.

"The blasted Empire had just begun to attack, but they came so quickly… Our allies at the front stood no chance. First, it was the young mage girl, then Holst Goneryl's sister. They were killed without being given any chance to attack back. I barely arrived at the battle in time with my navy to try and bring support, but it's like they had seen it coming! They had already sent a kid with a Relic shield and a mounted madman in black armor who completely destroyed my forces. Just before I had to fight the one they call the 'Death Knight', I saw Khalid and his Immortal Corps storm the enemy troops. They all fought to the end, and he even came close to killing many of the enemy elites. When he was about to land a killing blow, a man killed his wyvern mid-flight with a magical whip. Khalid must have broken something in the fall, because he didn't try to run away. Instead, the guy who attacked him came and he… he… he split his skull in half. I can assure you that your son died valiantly, just like any Almyran should."

Now, the crowd's uproar became chaotic after listening to the veteran's story. The King and Queen looked over Nader with fuming anger, not directed at their subordinate but rather at who had wronged their son. After a moment, Gaspar stood up and lifted his left hand towards his people.

"SILENCE!"

With his extremely loud voice resonating through the entire room, the many who were present immediately stopped talking and instead stared at their monarch.

"My son, Khalid, fought alongside his allies to the very end. As such, we shall organize a feast tonight in honor of his bravery and the valiant warriors who died by his side in Dedriu. After this, however, WE SHALL AVENGE HIM!"

As the audience began to cheer, the King scowled and shouted with vigor.

"IF THE ADESTRIAN EMPIRE THINKS THAT THEY CAN MURDER A SON OF ALMYRA WITHOUT RETRIBUTION, THEN THEY ARE DEAD WRONG!

NADER, ASSEMBLE MORE SOLDIERS AND TELL YOUR BLACKSMITHS TO PREPARE THEIR BEST WEAPONS! WE SHALL MARCH TO FODLAN'S THROAT! FOR THE PRIDE OF ALMYRA!"

While the audience cheered passionately and some already psyched themselves up for the upcoming battle, Behnam ended up stopping to do the same and instead looked worriedly in Roxanne's direction. What he saw was more unsettling than he could have ever thought: she was reactionless, her blank stare drifting off around the crowd. He gently put a hand on her shoulder and questioned her, yelling to be understood in the chaos.

"LADY ROXANNE, DO YOU NEED TO TALK?"

With a slow head shake, the Princess batted away Behnam's hand and began to walk out of the Throne Room, pushing anyone who happened to be in her way. On his part, Behnam did not dare to pursue her, instead going with the other warriors to prepare himself.

After she entered into her room, Roxanne took a deep breath as she grabbed her bedroom door. Her body then tensed up as she slammed it shut with all the strength she could muster. The sheer shock caused a carefully placed double-axe to fall on the floor, but she couldn't care about it less than she did at this moment.

Now hidden from any potential judgemental look, the Princess let herself fall on her bottom, on her bed, as tears began to flow on her face. She leaned forward and cupped her hands on her face and her breathing became faster and more erratic. Her fingers clawed away at her skin from the sheer stress she was experiencing, almost letting bloody marks on their path.

She couldn't believe it.

Khalid had died.

He had died all over there, in Fodlan, and she never could at least be there for him because of her parents.

The mere thought of them caused her face to twist in anger and she searched around for something to vent her anger on. With nothing expendable enough to her taste, she settled on the rock wall of the exterior of the castle. Thus, she winded her fist back and punched it as hard as she could, which turned out to be a big mistake.

Her visage winced in pain as she froze for a few seconds, since the hardness of the wall had caused her hand to nearly shatter. Then, she slowly brought her fist back to her before holding her wrist tightly with her intact hand.

Paralyzed by pain and with no way to let her feelings out, Roxanne simply let herself fall back on her bed, sobbing in silence and ruminating dark thoughts for the rest of the day before someone dared to disturb her.

Roxanne:

Age (1185): 19
Class: Warrior
Crest: None

HP – 40% / Strength – 35% / Magic – 15% / Dexterity – 55% / Speed – 50% / Luck – 20% / Defense – 25% / Resistance – 30% / Charm – 60%

Strengths: Axe, Bow, Authority

Weaknesses: Sword, Faith, Armor

Behnam:

Age (1185): 28
Class: Knight, soon a Sentinel
Crest: None

HP – 55% / Strength – 55% / Magic – 5% / Dexterity – 45% / Speed – 10% / Luck – 30% / Defense – 40% / Resistance – 15% / Charm – 35%

Strengths: Axe, Lance, Armor, Flying

Weaknesses: Bow, Reason, Authority

Shapur:

Age (1185): 18
Class: Wyvern Rider
Crest: None

HP – 50% / Strength – 45% / Magic – 35% / Dexterity – 40% / Speed – 40% / Luck – 55% / Defense – 40% / Resistance – 30% / Charm – 60%

Strengths: Sword, Axe, Reason (potential), Flying

Weaknesses: Lance, Faith, Cavalry

Alright, a quite depressing start for the story. Don't worry, she'll get better… probably.

So, yes. As you may have guessed, the story will take place after the events of Crimson Flower, where Edelgard has successfully conquered Fodlan and introduced her meritocracy. However, Faerghus, Leicester and Agartha are far from done yet.

I originally thought of the title "The Pride of Almyra", but since the story is going to focus on many other things than Almyra, it wouldn't have been as good.

As usual, since this is the start of the story, I would greatly appreciate if you could give your opinion on it.

In any case, whether you liked it or not, I wish you all a good day!