Blaise's foot nearly slipped out from under her in her haste to scramble back down the wall once the gate had fully opened to allow the entourage of Empire visitors inside. She barely caught herself before plummeting to what would no doubt end in her breaking something in her body.
Despite that, she did not slow down.
She would not slow down.
Once at a safe height from the ground, Blaise released her grip on the wall and dropped, landing light as a cat in the grass. Then she took off at a run to the entrance hall where Edelgard would most likely be dismounting before Rhea would officially welcome her.
It was probably against the rules of etiquette for Blaise to intercept Edelgard prior to the Archbishop, but she was not known for etiquette.
Still, her cheerful high upon seeing Edelgard began to dissipate in favor of bubbling anxiety. Now that the moment was before her, what was she supposed to say? What was she supposed to do? The last time she'd seen Edelgard, like truly Edelgard, had been… at the entrance hall actually, right after their return from the Conand Tower mission. Blaise had to give a report to Rhea alongside Balen so she'd dismissed the Black Eagles.
She'd expected to see Edelgard again in a day or a couple tops.
Obviously, that hadn't happened.
Where did that leave them?
Blaise slowed her steps as she neared the courtyard. She heard the sounds of armor shifting, of boots touching ground, calls for squires and stable hands, horses neighing. It was all familiar to her yet, also, seemingly foreign. She peeked out from the edge of the pathway.
And promptly had a desire to run away.
All she saw were large soldiers in heavy black armor towering over her. Even their steeds seemed tall. A part of her knew it was nothing more than her imagination intimidating her, but, right as she had convinced herself of that, a very loud crash sent her scurrying backwards to press against the wall.
"It was just supplies."
The matter–of–fact voice eased her pounding heart. A glance out and she saw he was right as a number of knights swarmed to the area, picking up bundles of weapons, armor, food, and the like that had slipped off as the Empire soldier dismounted.
Balen leaned against the wall beside her, offering her his hand. "Come on."
Come on?
But Blaise didn't mind him taking the lead regardless of where it went. Not when she was feeling as stressed as she was. She took his hand, her grip tightening when she realized he was pulling them into the crowd of Empire soldiers.
I don't think we're supposed to...
What? Interrupt? Get in their way?
Blaise was acutely aware of the looks the soldiers sent them, and they weren't pretty. She could only imagine what they were thinking seeing two obviously commoner young adults maneuver their way through them.
The audacity.
Edelgard will want to see you.
Balen acted as if he noticed none of it.
I don't think she does.
The Flame Emperor had sent her away. They had sent her away. She had sent her away.
Blaise was fairly certain her nails were digging in Balen's hand.
He probably would have argued with her except it finally happened where a soldier intercepted their path. Blaise instinctively pressed closer, her free hand dropping to her sword's hilt as did Balen's beside her.
"State your business," the soldier's voice boomed.
"My sister is a friend of Edelgard. She would like to see her."
Damn it, Balen. Don't bring more attention to her and at least tack on some sort of title if you're going to name Edelgard!
The soldier did not appear impressed as he looked both her and Balen up and down. Not impressed at all.
"The Imperial princess will seek out who she desires to see when she is ready. I have to ask you to move along."
Blaise attempted to pull Balen back for the safety of the path.
Let's just go. She probably needs to see Rhea first anyway.
She could tell Balen wasn't willing to back down and wondered when he'd gotten so stubborn. Before she could follow that train of thought, however, a shadow swept up behind the soldier.
A familiar shadow.
Blaise couldn't contain a jolt of enthusiasm and found her sword hand waving in a greeting.
She never knew if Hubert's smirk was a genuine smile or condescending, but she had always chosen to believe the former and today was no exception.
Balen noticed him too. He did not wave.
"I daresay…" Hubert drawled, the soldier jumping and promptly lowering into a bow upon recognizing Hubert. "… Lady Edelgard would be most displeased to hear of her friends being turned away for any reason. Stand aside," he ordered.
The soldier snapped to attention and moved away.
Blaise could still feel his sharp gaze digging into them though it had nothing on Hubert's who now focused entirely on her.
"It is a relief to see you, Blaise. It was quite distressing to witness Lady Edelgard's concern, and I was pleased to receive word of your return a few weeks ago..." Green eyes flickered to Balen for just a split moment, his smirk souring, "... The professor is correct. Let us not keep her waiting."
Sooo… Edelgard did want to see her then? Hubert would know, right?
She glanced around at the soldiers, many in the vicinity now drawn to the confrontation. She heard whispers and squeezed Balen's hand further.
Only for him to draw their interlocked fingers out toward Hubert.
The retainer eyed their hands with a raised eyebrow and a look that clearly showed his disbelief at Balen's silent request. But Hubert actually understood which Blaise had to give him credit for. With an annoyed sigh, Hubert offered his hand.
And Balen disentangled theirs so hers would drop into Hubert's.
"I must go see Claude," Balen stated, throwing Blaise for a complete loop.
He was just going to give her to Hubert and leave her amongst some not-so-friendly Imperial soldiers? Now?
Typical of Balen, he offered nothing more but walked off to do just that.
She might have panicked except Hubert chose that moment grip her hand. "Do come along. Lady Edelgard will be expected to meet with the Archbishop soon," he reminded her.
He began walking, Blaise jerking into the motion after him.
The soldiers continued to eye her suspiciously as they parted for Hubert, but she supposed that was fair since she eyed them the same way. Not one for conversation, Hubert remained as silent as Blaise until the last of the soldiers parted to reveal the white mare being led away by a squire and Edelgard waiting patiently in the bubble everyone afforded her.
Hubert cleared his throat for her attention but not before Blaise had given her Crests a tentative tug. As it was, Edelgard had already turned around before Hubert could announce them.
It seemed to Blaise that everything quieted for just a moment. She saw the subtle widening of Edelgard's eyes, the way they flickered down and back up, the split second of deep thought that flashed through lavender like fire.
Then she smiled, tucking silver hair behind her ear. "My teacher, I…" The words died away into more silence, Edelgard's expression taking on something more conflicted despite what appeared to be her best efforts to maintain her smile. She shook herself, ducking her head as she dug in her bag. "... I have something of yours. Perhaps I should have sent it when I heard word of your return, but I wanted to personally ensure you received it," she explained.
Blaise was fairly confident whatever she was talking about was not what she had begun to say, but Blaise couldn't deny some curiosity as Edelgard finally closed the distance between them.
She offered a notebook.
Blaise's notebook. The one she had been drawing in that night she'd been taken.
Blaise blinked, uncertainty prickling in her mind. Why did Edelgard have that notebook? And why was she giving it back now? What did it mean?
She pulled her hand from Hubert's grasp, taking the notebook with both of hers in the hopes it's weight would steady the tremble that threatened to betray her anxiety. She stared at the simple blue cover, her fingers trailing worn creases in the binding.
She supposed she should express gratitude regardless.
Taking a deep breath, Blaise glanced up, preparing to Sign her thanks.
And winced at the appearance of Rhea and Seteth approaching from the entrance hall.
Blaise immediately felt guilty as she took in their regal attire befitting of welcoming an Imperial princess. She'd probably ruined their best impression greeting. Rhea's expression was carefully serene as was usual, but Seteth threw her a disapproving look.
She was suddenly very aware of how close she was to Edelgard and slid back a step. The movement caught Edelgard's attention, the former Black Eagle student shooting Blaise a glance. Blaise jerked her gaze down to her notebook and pretended to be very interested.
"Princess Edelgard, I trust your travels were without trouble," Seteth greeted, no doubt bowing in the respect customary to each other's station.
A swish of fabric next to her signaled Edelgard's response. "No more trouble than expected. The road between Enbarr and Garreg Mach has yet to see more than frost, and few bandits exist who would consider intercepting the Imperial army," she replied.
Blaise noted the distant tone Edelgard and Seteth used with each other. It must be typical when the greetings were nothing more than a formality.
"It would be foolish indeed," Rhea agreed. "Shall we move inside to discuss the details for your stay? Your arrival has been greatly anticipated by many here at the Officer's Academy…" a not so subtle glance at Blaise whose gaze promptly shot back down to her notebook,"... I believe no one cares to prolong your separation from your former classmates."
Was that a jibe at her?
She didn't know since Rhea had that disarming tone of voice down pat, but the thought made her shuffle uncomfortably.
"Yes, let's," Edelgard responded with a slight tilt of her head. She shifted to include Blaise. "Perhaps I will see you in the classroom, my teacher?" she asked.
Blaise nodded.
Edelgard flashed her one more smile before she fell in step with the Archbishop, Hubert trailing in their shadow.
Her head spinning with uncertainty and feeling exceedingly out of place among the Empire soldiers, Blaise clutched her notebook to her chest and retreated.
~FE~
Sulking was a good word for Blaise's attitude following the very confusing encounter with Edelgard. She supposed she should have been expecting it. After all, the nature of their relationship, both sides of it, was downright confusing, and Blaise had been... blessedly, and perhaps purposefully, ignorant last they had seen each other.
It was quite clear to Blaise that tactic was not going to work this time around.
She knew too much.
Hidden in the confines of her room, Blaise put her feet up on her desk and pushed her chair back on two legs. She twiddled a quill between her fingers, staring relentlessly at the notebook Edelgard had returned.
What did it mean?
She'd already flipped through each page and found little to explain her internal question.
She and Edelgard had participated in several conversations that would have been problematic had they gotten out, but none of them had been written in that notebook. There was nothing in Edelgard's handwriting either or anyone's but her own. The last page with anything on it had been the half-drawn carnation she'd been working on that night. The rest were blank.
So why did Edelgard take the notebook?
Blaise vividly remembered Jeritza leaving it behind on the bed. There wasn't a single piece of questionable information in it...
Maybe she simply wanted it.
Okay, but why give it back now?
Call her crazy but there was something to it.
Was it some kind of cutting ties thing? Like, she took it because she wanted it, but now she didn't? Was it a representation of Blaise?
… was she thinking too much into this?
A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts.
Blaise frowned, glancing behind her at the offending sound but otherwise making no move to answer.
She waited.
"It's me, Kid," her father's gravelly voice carried through the door.
Again she didn't immediately move, but, eventually, sighed and allowed her chair to fall back on four legs. It took her another few moments to unlock the door from her end and swing it open. She raised an eyebrow at her father.
"Your brats are looking for you," Jeralt explained although she suspected he had more to say than that despite the silence that followed.
That was probably a round-about way of telling her Edelgard was free of Rhea and Seteth.
She stared at him.
"Not feeling it, huh?" her father guessed.
The image of Edelgard handing her notebook back to her flashed though her mind in a similar fashion to the Flame Emperor's spell of fire that sent her running.
Yes, it felt of rejection.
So, no, she wasn't feeling it.
Her response was to turn on her heel and retreat back to her room. Her father followed, carefully shutting the door behind him. Blaise dropped dejectedly back into the chair at her desk, resuming her quill fiddling while her father turned his attention to the papers scattered across her desk. They were mostly plans for the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, and she considered hiding them.
But she didn't.
She trusted him not to go telling Balen her plans, and she hadn't written down those details. The most important really secret ones.
Jeralt huffed a laugh as he pushed papers around. "You always were the one to consider every angle."
Yes, well, Balen had never been much help with plan prep when he just followed whatever lead she made.
"Hope that brat he chose is up to the challenge," her father mused.
He had no idea.
She didn't Sign her thoughts, only vaguely aware of her father moving to sit on the end of her bed. He clasped his hands together, the sound drawing at least a small portion of her attention.
"You wanna tell me about the girl?" Jeralt asked.
Edelgard, she presumed. But what, exactly, she wasn't sure.
"You and the girl. Don't tell me nothing when you went out of your way to impress her the first time you met her."
For some reason that made her feel defensive.
She challenged me.
Blaise remembered quite clearly the even tone of Edelgard's voice accentuated by her axe cutting air, that look in her eyes... The one with fire and control. Power.
And Blaise couldn't just not respond to a direct challenge of that nature.
"And for the Magdred mission? You were vehemently against joining them for a time."
She backed me in a corner.
Blaise never claimed she wasn't frustrating to deal with when all she had to do was look at her that way and Blaise could not help but fall all over herself to deliver.
"You accepted her invitation to work with the Black Eagles."
She...
... She what? She gave her what she asked for?
I did. I wanted to be a Black Eagle.
"She knew?"
She asked.
Sort of. In that roundabout kind of way she did everything.
Certainly no one else even tried.
"And she made it happen?"
Blaise hissed through her teeth. What was with the twenty questions? He already knew the answers to most of these. She didn't bother the last with a response because obviously.
Her father sighed, ducking his head briefly before fixing her with a harder stare. "Look, Fodlan knows I'm not good at these talks. Makes me miss your mother even more, but the point I'm trying to make is, whatever it is going on between the two of you is mutual."
Mutual, huh?
How could anyone else know that? How could anyone else be privy to how deeply Blaise felt? How could anyone besides Edelgard know how Edelgard felt? How could anyone speculate without knowing the nature of their relationship in it's entirety?
No one could say it was mutual when they only looked from the outside.
She wasn't even sure her father knew exactly what he was implying.
Blaise twisted in her chair.
You think she loves me?
And she waited.
She wasn't sure if her father would pale or blush as the implications of what she just said set in, but she waited for one or the other. She waited for the slight widening of this eyes, the furrowing of his brow, the slow release of a breath that had been held a beat too long.
Her father, Jeralt "the Blade Breaker" Eisner, did none of those things.
It occurred to her he wasn't surprised like she expected, and, so, she crossed her arms and collapsed back in her seat. She didn't know if she was angry or disappointed or frustrated. She was pretty sure whatever the emotion was was directed to herself.
Because, damn, if Edelgard wasn't the absolute worst person in Fodlan to fall in love with.
And that's what it was, yeah?
She may not have allowed herself to consider the thought before, but the words fell so easily from her mind. Too easily. And maybe she didn't really know the difference between crush and love and lust and adoration, but she was somewhere in that range of "love."
With Edelgard. The Imperial Crown Princess.
Who she was about 99% sure masqueraded as the Flame Emperor and had some kind of relationship with the Agarthans and a master plan for Fodlan's structure that didn't spell good news for the Church… And a lot of other people unfortunate enough to get in her way.
A whole lot of complicated bad that she didn't understand, but she really wanted to if only so she would feel less guilty.
"Your old man's been around a time or two and you're no stranger," Jeralt grunted, breaking through her rambling thoughts and bringing her back to legitimate conversation.
You're wrong.
She'd Signed it before she'd really thought it through. Before she'd thought of some more delicate way of putting it.
Her father's brow furrowed.
But, whatever she felt, it wasn't reciprocated.
It couldn't be or she would never have returned to Garreg Mach without Edelgard at her side.
Blaise smiled, a dark, humorless smile as the words of the Flame Emperor flashed through her mind. They pertained more than she cared to admit.
You don't understand as much as you think you do.
No one did.
She wondered what he'd think if he really did know the lengths she had gone. If he knew she knew Edelgard and the Flame Emperor were one and the same, and that she'd kept plans and alliances that would ruin the Church's enemy to herself all this time.
She wondered what he would think if he knew she hardly even cared and Edelgard need only ask and she would follow. A willing traitor in more ways than one.
"The resulting silence filled the air with the tension of a challenge.
It was her father who responded first, his voice sharp and gruff in a command. "Get up."
Blaise narrowed her eyes. She wasn't one of his mercenaries nor a child any longer. She didn't have to listen to him.
She climbed to her feet anyways, however grudgingly.
"Grab your sword and meet me on the training grounds."
~FE~
"Work out her frustrations" he said. And when she lost they would have a civilized conversation on whatever had left her so antagonistic. They would talk about her disappearance, they would talk about Chevalier, they would talk about Edelgard.
Blaise didn't want to talk about any of it. She would rather spontaneously combust.
So she latched on to the fact he'd said "when she lost" and vowed not to lose.
Winning was a longshot at best. She pretended she didn't know that as Jeralt retrieved a lance from the weapon's rack. She reminded herself she'd faced down a Crest Beast with no weapon and no magic and she was still alive. That had to count for something.
Frost crunched under her feet when the match began. She heard it only in the brief moments their chosen weapons weren't clashing against each other. The training grounds themselves were empty. It was either too cold or the knights' practices had been postponed with the arrival of Fodlan's representatives from each territory.
She and Jeralt were probably expected to be elsewhere too.
But they weren't.
Blaise pivoted, abruptly changing direction to her left and narrowly avoiding the end of her father's lance hitting her in the head. That would have hurt in the morning. She'd have been unconscious until then.
She blocked another series of jabs sent her way and cursed when she found no opportunity to return the favor.
Then she was on the move again.
Rushing in against her father and hearing the tell-tale clang of metal against metal, feeling the wind whip around her and the resulting burn of the cold evening air against her skin and in her lungs, the pull of her muscles, and the adrenaline in her blood… It was all so familiar. And, yet, all too stimulating as flashes of purple shadows and red light and roars of monsters and harsh laughter bore down upon her. The Crest of Seiros and Chevalier pulsed between them, Blaise naturally grabbing at the raw power and using it to push herself harder, faster, longer. To the edge.
Jeralt's lance cleaved the air right over Blaise's shoulder as she ducked down. She returned with her own forward thrust that would likely have impaled any amateur soldier.
But Jeralt was far from an amateur soldier, and Blaise overextended so that her father nearly shoved her off her feet with a kick to her midsection.
She barely recovered with a twirl of her sword that redirected his incoming lance into the empty space on her right. Then she was bearing down on him with all the speed of a typhoon, dancing around Jeralt's lancework to pressure him with a series of quick jabs and retreating just enough to draw him after her only to meet another series of attacks meant to overwhelm him.
He was not so easily overwhelmed.
His lance met her sword with a thunderous clap that seemingly reverberated through her already shaky mind. The pressure of the Crests swelled, her breath hitching as tendrils of black flashed in her mind's eye. She imagined them wrapping around her wrists, spreading up her arms.
A part of her knew none of it was real, knew she was drowning in memories.
She pushed forward anyways, refusing to be consumed whether it was real or not.
Needles piercing skin, a dagger in her back, the shatter of bone, miasma eating and burning from the inside out… Each hurt drove a more desperate swing of her sword that forced her father back one step at a time.
Until she was quite suddenly flat on her back, stomach aching and lungs empty from the blunt end of Jeralt's lance hitting her in the gut.
Just like that Blaise knew she'd lost, that she couldn't recover.
Letting your mind wander is a sure way to get yourself killed.
She'd lost before she'd ever started. And she would lose again when her father demanded answers and again when Rhea inevitably found out and again when the Flame Emperor left her to face judgement on her own and, one final time, when Chevalier could not reach her and she would stand alone before the glowing Sword of the Creator as it descended upon her.
Is that why you have hidden? From fear of retribution?
The torment of her mind broke for one tiny moment allowing a brief image of the young Nabatean at Conand tower to enter. What was his name? Ukai?
She could imagine he nodded, emerald eyes bright.
He didn't understand. How could she not fear? She belonged to the dark and they would send her there once they knew.
The Crest of Seiros felt heavy, her body on fire as it overtook her physical senses except for a sweet melody she heard on the breeze and a vision of a sunkissed Chevalier.
… I place my faith in you.
Ukai had offered his hand.
You will never know if you never ask.
Why? Why her?
Chevalier smiled, leaning forward from her perch that had once been a window overlooking Zanado.
I know you can be that which I was not.
Blaise felt the Crest of Seiros stagnate, felt it fall away. She rolled to her feet, her Crest snapping out as her father's lance cleaved the air toward her to end this pitiful sparring match.
It stopped halfway.
She blinked as a moment passed, time seemingly frozen.
She risked a glance at her father's face and was surprised to find her own confusion reflected in his. The tip of her sword lowered, dragging the ground as she stepped away. Her hold on her Crest relaxed, the Crest of Seiros released as hers snapped back to her.
Her father relaxed with it, his muscles no longer taut against whatever resistance he felt. His lance dipped much as her sword had.
Jeralt flexed his arm. "Did you just...?"
Blaise shook her head before he had even finished his question.
Did she? Yes.
Was she going to admit it? No.
She took several steps backwards.
"Kid…"
Blaise didn't wait to hear what he had to say. She spun on her heel, breaking into a jog that not even the sight of a brief flash of silver from the corner of her eye gave her pause from.
~FE~
"Blaise, I appreciate your diligence in your preparations but get dressed already!"
This was probably the fifth time Manuela had stormed into her room since bringing her a gown to wear to the ball. It still lay splayed across Blaise's bed in a wave of silver and blue fabric that would "highlight her eyes."
Whatever that meant.
She was certain Balen would look at it and lecture her on practicality. Her legs would get cold or some such. Which … it really was a bit silly to wear such a thing at the end of the Ethereal Moon.
She couldn't quite grasp why Manuela didn't understand why she wasn't falling all over herself to put it on.
Dorothea had already spent half the day fiddling with Blaise's hair until it was done up in some extravagant style that made it feel about three times heavier.
"Don't touch it," Dorothea had snapped, slapping Blaise's hand when she reached up to loosen a particularly uncomfortable something. "And be careful when you put your dress on."
Blaise really wanted to be left alone.
She was grateful her father seemed to have taken the hint the night before and left her be. She also hadn't had her door broken down by the Black Eagles wanting to celebrate. She wasn't sure who was responsible for that, but it was appreciated nonetheless.
Today was clearly a different story.
Everyone seemed quite insistent on her attendance to the grand ball.
She didn't see why. It wasn't like she'd ever been to a ball. She probably wasn't going to do anything but hide in a corner with Bernadetta the whole time and… scheme.
"If you are not dressed and in the Dining Hall in thirty minutes, I will be forced to acquire assistance to drag you out. Do you hear me? Blaise?"
Blaise let out a long, slow breath, trying to ignore a growing headache.
Yes.
"Good. See to it."
Her dormitory door shut with a heavy clap that seemed to resonate. Then it fell silent. Blaise remained staring at the same page of her plans she had been all day. She got up only to lock her door so Manuela couldn't make good on her threat.
She supposed it was thirty minutes later when there was a knock on her door that she promptly ignored.
Followed by another knock that was only a smidge harder than the previous one.
Not Manuela or Dorothea then who she suspected would be pounding their fist on her door and lecturing her about their hard work they'd put into her.
"Blaise?"
Blaise tensed, her eyebrows hitting her hairline at the voice.
"I would appreciate a response if you are present," Edelgard, of course it was Edelgard, called through the door.
Damn Manuela.
Blaise fiddled with her quill for a moment before shoving her chair back from her desk and grabbing her notebook on the way to the door.
Did Manuela send you?
She tore the page out and slipped it through the crack between the door and it's frame.
A slight shuffling of paper later and Edelgard answered. "She may have requested my assistance but, I assure you, I have no intentions of forcing you out of your room. I do, however, ask that you allow me inside."
She cursed Manuela again because of course she wouldn't leave Edelgard waiting outside her room. Her hands moved of their own accord to undo the locks, allowing the Imperial princess access.
She decided immediately that was the worst decision she could have made.
Edelgard wore a red gown.
Which … wasn't anything short of predictable. If Blaise had been asked to guess what color she would wear, she'd have said red in a heartbeat. One glance down and back up, she picked out accompanying black boots, black elbow-length gloves, and a thin black shawl that covered her shoulders.
Luckily, Edelgard wasted no time marching in before Blaise could really stare, the movement jerking her back into reality.
Literally.
Blaise jumped away from the door with all the grace of a skittish stallion in the midst of fire. She spun, grasping at the excuse of relocking her door instead of looking at the Imperial princess. She could only fumble with the locks for so long, however, and Edelgard was still there waiting.
When she turned around, she immediately locked eyes with lavender and felt the tension turn up. She racked her brain for something to Sign but came up empty.
Edelgard broke the stillness, her eyes flickering to the door and back to Blaise. "You have added security," she observed.
Blaise blinked and then shrugged.
I don't like people coming in my room unannounced.
"Naturally."
...
Blaise waited, but Edelgard said nothing more. She continued lest it grow ever more awkward.
Father's idea. Doesn't make any difference.
Edelgard tilted her head ever-so-slightly. "And how is that?"
He didn't break in. I opened the door.
She Signed a little more sharply than intended. She blamed the tension and the memory of Jeritza. Blaise tore her gaze away from Edelgard, pushing by her to absentmindedly gather the papers scattered across her desk together.
"You wouldn't have known. He had everyone surprised," Edelgard stated.
Blaise paused her shuffling to glance up.
Everyone?
If she hadn't been expecting the response, she'd have missed the barest narrowing of Edelgard's eyes. Her voice was a hardened whisper when she spoke. "Everyone."
Blaise blinked and ducked back down, flipping her stack of plans over. Despite the air between them, she felt surprisingly numb to her conflicting emotions.
"Dorothea says you've been quiet," Edelgard admitted.
Her statement earned a raised eyebrow.
The Imperial princess nodded. "I told her you were always quiet. She asked me when I learned to tell a joke."
Blaise's lips twitched into a smile that quickly fell. She knew what Dorothea had meant by it, and she knew Edelgard knew it too. It was only a matter of when, or if, she was going to ask.
Edelgard's smile was similarly brief. Her eyes wandered around the room though it was even more barren than prior to Blaise's capture. It was with a distant stare that she paused with her gaze on the gown laid out on the bed. Her fingers reached out to caress the silken material. "It feels silly, doesn't it? Ridiculous even. The very idea of festivity when the cold has settled so deeply..." Edelgard's tone was bitter, her fingers curling into the fabric. Bitter enough Blaise knew without a doubt she wasn't talking about the weather.
So this was the conversation she wanted to have...
Blaise shifted to lean on her desk, the creaking of the wood drawing Edelgard's gaze. She practically held her breath as she Signed, heart pounding as she considered all the ways Edelgard could answer… or not answer as she was so wont to do.
I'm wondering what I did.
Of course the Flame Emperor had more or less said they had not been privy to the plans against her, but it really was so hard to tell what lay behind a mask.
"Nothing," Edelgard's response was immediate and short and surprisingly direct considering the dance they often performed when speaking to one another. She shook her head, silver hair spilling over her shoulder and partially obscuring her face as she dropped her attention back to the gown. Her voice grew softer. "You did nothing." Another pause and she jerked, releasing her grip on the dress to face Blaise directly, lavender eyes smoldering with some intense emotion that further caught Blaise off guard. "What did they want? Exactly," she stressed the last word.
They were really having this conversation then?
Blaise straightened, eyeing her companion curiously.
To hell if she knew what they had wanted. Edelgard's guess was as good as hers. In fact, Edelgard's guess was probably better than hers.
They didn't talk to me.
It wasn't a sufficient answer if Edelgard's stare told her anything. Blaise sighed, shrugging, but did draw her Crest out to the air above the palm of her hand.
They were interested in her Crest of Chevalier. Invested even. Why, she didn't know. Not exactly.
The silence stretched between them as Blaise watched the shadow of her Crest in the relative dark.
I know you can be that which I was not.
But what- or who- was that?
Blaise curled her fingers in until the Crest disappeared.
You were right, you know. Chevalier and Névé were one and the same.
Chevalier, however unintentionally, brought the demise of the Goddess and her followers, brought their imprisonment, brought the destruction of Zanado.
She was one of them.
As Agarthan as she was Nabatean… whatever that meant.
She destroyed everything she loved.
Blaise wasn't looking at her companion but the empty space above her hand. She wasn't sure if Edelgard could read her Sign or not with her body turned as it was. It didn't matter. Blaise was growing ever more uncomfortable with her own musings.
...I do not wish to see my fate in repeat.
Would Blaise destroy everything she loved?
"There was somewhere I wanted to visit," Edelgard's admission interrupted Blaise's spiraling thoughts, the former mercenary tilting her head to see her offering a gloved hand. "Perhaps you would join me?" she asked.
Somewhere she wanted to visit? Like the ball?
Her stomach rolled, and it wasn't pleasant.
But then who was she kidding? She'd follow Edelgard anywhere and back if she asked. Damn if she didn't know that by now.
So Blaise slowly reached out, Edelgard clasping and intertwining their fingers. The cool fabric of Edelgard's glove caressed and enveloped her hand with a sense of security.
"There should not be others present. It is technically out of bounds for students."
That brought some relief and a certain amount of intrigue.
Blaise nodded and allowed Edelgard to lead her along. As promised they went in the opposite direction of the ball which meant their walk was void of any others. They approached the Cathedral only for Edelgard to take a turn to the left, follow some stairs down, and cross the short stone bridge to a tower.
The Goddess Tower.
Which was all the more interesting to say the least.
She paused, pulling Edelgard to a stop, as she considered the intricately decorated tower with its arches and spires highlighted with a delicate dusting of snow reflecting moonlight. The very picture in Blaise's mind of the Ethereal Moon.
"You have never been inside the Goddess Tower, have you?"
Blaise tore her gaze from the tower to look at Edelgard, offering the slightest shake of her head. Their mission during the Rite of Rebirth had kept them away from it during the one ceremony it had been open for this year. On top of that, with Blaise walking the line of heretic, she had a tendency to avoid sacred grounds.
Well, except Zanado.
Blaise's gaze followed the main spire upward, the decorative appendage so tall it seemed to blend with the stars.
It was the Goddess Tower, not the Sothis Tower, and didn't Chevalier say Névé was some kind of goddess too? Rhea would no doubt be furious to know of Blaise desecrating the place with her presence, but maybe the Archbishop should be more specific when she named sacred places.
Blaise also couldn't deny her curiosity when it came to why Edelgard wanted to go inside. She took the lead, this time pulling the princess along beside her.
The inside of the Goddess Tower was, naturally, as architecturally and decoratively extravagant as Garreg Mach's cathedral. Marbled statues and pillars, stained glass, gold and silver inlays, chandeliers of glass larger than Blaise was tall... It was smaller than the cathedral though. She supposed it made it more intimate, more ceremonial.
Edelgard dragged her towards a stairwell before she could see much else. Up they went, Blaise eyeing her curiously from the edge of her vision while Edelgard seemed purely focused on what lay straight ahead. They ended up in a rather unimpressive room high up in what Blaise presumed was the main tower.
It was dark and hardly furnished. Kind of a let down really compared to the lower level.
Edelgard cleared her throat.
Blaise shifted her attention back to her companion and suddenly cared very little about the room.
The Imperial princess was still close enough Blaise could feel the warmth of her body, smell the light scent of citrus wafting in the air around them... she still held her hand and looked utterly radiant in the washed out lights of the night sky shining through age-old windows. Even the bold red of her dress had taken on a more a delicate color.
"Have you heard the legend of the Goddess Tower?" Edelgard whispered, her question loud in the silence.
Blaise recalled hearing something about a legend the students kept talking about but little else. The boys whispered, and the girls giggled. It had struck her as silly, much like all the festivities of late.
She shook her head.
Edelgard walked forward, Blaise following a step behind, as she continued, "This place. The Goddess Tower... it was special to my parents. My father attended the Officers Academy himself. A few years after graduating, he was crowned emperor. One day, during a visit to the monastery, he snuck into the Goddess Tower on a nostalgic whim. And there she was…" Edelgard paused, tilting her head to face Blaise with a small, but genuinely soft, smile on her face. "...My mother. She had just enrolled in the academy that very year. They were instantly drawn to each other. Love at first sight, you could say. It was the first time either had truly been in love...or so the story goes and the legend after that."
Edelgard stopped at a door, finally releasing Blaise's hand in favor of swinging said door open. Blaise missed the contact but refrained from reaching back out as the door creaked in protest of the movement. "Of course, as emperor, my father had already married for political reasons. As the Empire demands many heirs, he also had numerous other lovers. In the end, my mother settled for becoming one of his many consorts…"
Her smile forgotten, she stepped out onto a balcony, resting her arms on the railing and staring out into the expanse beyond. "There's a rumor..." Edelgard whispered, Blaise having to close the distance quickly lest her words be lost to the wind. "... the consolidation of power in the Empire my father sought was because he loved my mother. For as long as I can remember she had already been exiled from the capital. In the end, it did nothing more than become an excuse for the Insurrection of the Seven, my own exile, the experiments, the deaths of my siblings... all for the creation of a peerless Emperor to rule Fodlan." Edelgard tilted her head to gaze at Blaise over her shoulder. "You know the result, do you not?"
Blaise turned around to lean against the railing next to Edelgard, her thoughts delving deep into the conspiracy she had been dragged through.
A peerless Emperor. One who bore the Crest of Flames, the lost Crest of the Goddess. One who could wield the Sword of the Creator, a Hero's Relic said to be capable of decimating entire armies.
The Flame Emperor.
She huffed an affirmative.
Goddess knows she knew.
Edelgard's voice was distant and softer still. "Sometimes I wondered how much you knew. It was impossible to hide from you. I knew that and, yet, never once did you ask. Why was that?"
Easy.
Didn't care.
Or didn't want to care.
Edelgard didn't look much like she believed her, her lips pursing and arms crossing. "You cannot tell me you didn't care. I saw you before the Rite of Rebirth and after. You were far from not caring then, and I cannot imagine you simply forgot," she scoffed.
But she hadn't cared… Not enough at any rate.
Because the Black Eagles were safe. Because Edelgard was safe.
And that was all she truly cared about. She may have felt bad for the Western Church and she may have questioned the necessity of their deaths but not enough…
I'm selfish.
"Selfish?" Edelgard repeated and she almost sounded amused in her surprise.
You never asked either.
And Blaise had been a hell of a lot more obvious. She supposed it wasn't quite the same since Edelgard had much more to lose, but she would stand by it at any rate.
That was just what they did. They kept their secrets and each other's even though they knew. It was…safer. Even if only for themselves. Perhaps they were both quite selfish.
A pause.
"I suppose I did not," Edelgard agreed. She shifted, standing taller, eyes boring into Blaise's. "I'm afraid it hardly matters anymore."
Strangely ominous, Blaise felt her heart clench in her chest at the words. What was that supposed to mean?
Before she could even blink Edelgard held her palm out in front of her and a familiar apparition flickered to life.
The Crest of Flames.
It cast her features in purple shadows and her eyes burned silver in the odd light.
"This is the secret of the Hresvelgian Empire, born from the sacrifices of my siblings and many other innocents who never knew what they were dying for. When it manifested for me, I swore a silent oath. For the sake of my family and all the poor souls who traded their lives for my existence… For their sake, I will build a world where such sacrifice is never again sanctioned.
You asked me once, what was my objective and I swear to you, as Emperor, I will change the world."
But what would that new world be? Would Blaise be a part of it?
…Would she want to be?
The world Edelgard described that night in the village outside Conand Tower didn't sound so bad. One built on merits instead of chance and with little emphasis on Crests and relics and Goddesses long gone.
But would they allow it?
Edelgard couldn't possibly believe they would allow peace over Fodlan through her.
Blaise tilted her head to look out over the balcony they stood upon. The view beyond the Goddess Tower was beautiful. Mountains covered in forest and snow, the moon and stars glimmering against velvet skies. She found the chill wind refreshing as it blew rivulets of her hair behind her.
How ironic it was for them both to be as stuck as the other.
Blaise steeled herself.
We could change the world.
She could be Névé, the Goddess to end the Goddess. They could rewrite the world. Just the two of them.
Edelgard's expression was thoroughly unreadable as her hand fisted until the Crest of Flames disappeared. It was enough to make Blaise swallow hard.
Finally, she shook her head. "I could not ask that of you."
Blaise's only response was to reach out until her hand hovered just inches from Edelgard's. Waiting. Willing. Asking.
It happened with a huff, a sound Edelgard made that was clearly some combination of amusement and irritation. The Imperial princess pushed away from the railing and stepped closer until Blaise could feel the heat of her breath at her cheek and her hand graze Blaise's own.
Blaise fought not to shiver as she hung on for whatever response she was about to hear.
Edelgard's voice was a breath on the wind when she spoke. "What is it about you that makes me speak of things best left hidden?"
I chose you.
Again and again. Remember? And Blaise would choose her again if she would only ask. Didn't she see she wanted her to ask?
"Return to Enbarr with me."
She almost didn't believe she'd heard the words right.
Edelgard wanted her to join her in Enbarr? Had the wind picked up and twisted her words into something Blaise wanted to hear?
She wished, in this moment, she had a more expansive vocabulary for her response was quite cringeworthy if she said so herself.
What?
Like... what?
Edelgard shifted, silver hair slipping over her shoulder. "After the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, I will return to the capital. Come with me."
… to Enbarr.
Blaise's lips twitched into a smile.
It was a request that meant much more than it appeared on the outside. One of understanding and an alliance.
Indirect but Blaise really wouldn't want it any other way.
She nodded without reservation.
She would have to leave the monastery, the Black Eagles, her father.
Balen.
But she could do that. She'd been waiting, after all.
Blaise didn't miss the barest widening of Edelgard's eyes, the almost guarded stare as the princess studied her as if she couldn't quite believe Blaise's response.
"Névé…"
Blaise blinked at the name she had not expected to hear. It was just as soft as Blaise had come to expect, just as comforting, and with an air just a touch different coming from Edelgard.
She loved it.
She thought about saying something, maybe asking her to say it again, but anything comprehensible flew from her mind as Edelgard finally intertwined their fingers, and it was also different though Blaise couldn't say exactly how. She must have felt it too because Edelgard was quick to look away. It was difficult to see in the pale light of the night sky and with the crisp wind billowing flurries of snow around them, but Blaise knew she smiled.
A/N:
Happy Holidays!
This chapter gave me oodles of problems. Everytime I read it, I swore I disliked something else so I kept putting off publishing it. This is the first version I do not actively dislike so it's what you get.
Jeralt, bless him, had a nice moment with Blaise in one version but it didn't work because Blaise just didn't want to stop wallowing yet. In this version, he started out doing well, prodding about Edelgard to get Blaise to talk but he got too direct, he made too touchy of an assumption, and Blaise clammed up cause she feels so guilty around him. I think, at this point, he's quite aware of how far Blaise has drifted away in her time at the monastery, something I don't think quite hit home until now.
There was some progress made (finally!) but El and Blaise have a very long way to go.
Sorry for anyone hoping for a real dramatic "I am the Flame Emperor" reveal but that would be silly when Blaise really already knows. However, there will be an unmasking moment because we all know some things only really hit home when you see it.
Also, if you haven't figured it out yet, this story isn't really going to lead into Crimson Flower per se. I also say that loosely because, of course, elements will be the same but Blaise throws quite a wrench into, well, everything.