(A/N: There's another Mario reference in this chapter! A hint for ya: this one's from a Paper Mario game. And I apologize for this chapter being a bit short; I—yet again—had trouble figuring out what I wanted to put in it and how I wanted the chapter to go in general.)
Since Lucina was already in the courtyard, she decided to check the training area. Owain and Morgan weren't in the castle—not any of the sensible places in the castle, at least—and her parents would've mentioned seeing them if they had left the castle grounds (that's what she hoped; if the two of them were in town, it would be harder to find them).
Luckily, she found her cousin and brother in the training area, the former of which was naming the swords he had stolen a few hours earlier. Lucina had to admire that Owain was including Morgan, though; it wasn't enough for her to change the small speech she had planned, but it was still something to note.
"All right, what should we call this one?" Owain asked, holding up a silver sword. "Note the green highlights. What name comes to you, o Morgan of the Justice Cabal?"
Morgan thought on it for a few moments. "Uh… Jade Blooper?"
Owain nodded sagely. "That will do. Want me to carve it in?"
"My informal and formal handwriting is pretty much unreadable, so yes please."
Lucina waited for them to finish, not particularly wanted to get yelled at in any form, and then stepped into view. "There you two are. If you wanted to name the swords, you could've waited for me to finish putting them away."
Both of the boys muttered an apology, only one of which sounded genuine.
"Now, what would you like to hear first?" Lucina began, "My planned and repeated speech about asking before you take things, or a request regarding out next mission?"
"Mission, please," Owain said simply.
"I'll begin by saying we have a guest," Lucina replied, nodding. She could hold off the minor punishment for now. "Please try not to be too theatric—and I say that for my own sanity and well-being as much as I'm saying it for yours."
"Who's the guest?" Morgan asked. He stood up and started moving the swords to their proper place. Owain helped him, and after a little bit Lucina did too (since it had been her job to begin with).
"Khan Basilio," Lucina explained. "He's a close friend of the family, yes, but he still has a powerful position. I will warn you, though; he's also a bit…I suppose one way to put it is 'crude.'"
"Respectively keep my distance, got it," Morgan said, nodding firmly.
"His visit is related to the mission," Lucina continued. "I don't know the exact details, but the khan wants us to go back to Regna Ferox with him for a tournament-of-sorts. Father told me to ask around and see who wanted to go."
"Well, I won't say no to Ferox," Owain replied. "I like it there, honestly. And I definitely wouldn't mind signing up for a tournament, either."
Morgan didn't give his response until after they were done putting away the swords—which didn't take too long, since there was only fourteen. "On one hand," he said, "I'd like to stay since I have a lot to do—that, and having everyone hovering over me because of one off-handed remark is a bit much. But on the other hand, me and Laurent are the only two who can read maps, and if there's going to be a tournament, I can help out with strategy."
"Is that a yes or a no?" Lucina asked.
"I'll come," Morgan decided. "As long as Mother will let me, anyway. She should, but you never know. If she needs my help here, I won't protest."
Lucina nodded. Morgan was probably the most likely to decline, so it was safe to assume she could start preparations almost immediately. "Do you think the others are close by?"
"It's about time for our next trip out, so I'd guess they're pretty close," Owain replied. "At least on their way here."
As the conversation came to a close, Lucina took out three swords.
"Uh, Luce?" Owain asked. "We just put those away."
"I know," Lucina said. She gave one to Morgan—who accepted it unwillingly, already having guessed where this was going—and gave the second one to Owain. "But we're in the training area, aren't we? Dinner won't be served for another hour or two, and if you have time to name swords I'm assuming you finished your chores."
"Can't I use magic?" Morgan said, playfully groaning as per usual.
"I'm not going to give you that kind of advantage," Lucina replied. "Just because I don't study tactics on a daily basis doesn't mean I can't strategize. Three swords doesn't give anyone a weapon-based disadvantage; the only difference there would be is in strength."
Morgan couldn't protest with her logic, and Owain seemed a bit disappointed that this was how he was going to spent his afternoon, but they started shortly afterwards.