Chapter One – Prelude to the Storm

Rhea and Seteth never warned me about what being the archbishop was like.

In most cases, it was a situation where I wanted to say, "Please don't kill the messenger." Because the majority of the time, I just passed along the wishes of members of the Church of Seiros. It wasn't like I knew anything about religion. My father never taught me anything about it, and I was asleep for five of the six-and-a-half years before I became archbishop. It didn't exactly give me much time to study up.

But by far the worst part about my job was dealing with the politics. Dimitri never warned me about that either. I was certain that the royal council thought Dimitri and I hated each other with all the bickering we got into during meetings. I had to do what was right for the church, as archbishop, but still understand, as queen, when Dimitri wanted what was best for the people of Fódlan.

And most of the time, it came down to money. And while we all had to make sacrifices during the war and stretch the budgets thin beyond measure, it was a little different now.

"You're not going to like this," I warned Dimitri. He and I sat beside each other at the long wooden council table. On his right side sat Dedue, which the large man from Duscur argued heavily for "in order to be His Majesty's shield should the need arise," given Dimitri's blindness in his right eye. On my left was Seteth, a quill in hand as he prepared to take notes on the grave news I forewarned.

Then, all along the table's sides sat various nobility and commoners. That was one of the changes Dimitri implemented almost immediately upon ascending the throne. He admitted that Edelgard had been right about some things. The government needed reform. The idea of nobility ruling everything without the say of the people "beneath them" was archaic at best.

Felix of House Fraldarius, one of my former students from during the time of the war, leaned on his elbow and groaned. "That sounds promising…"

"Let us hear what Her Majesty has to say," Gustave said calmly from across the table. I hadn't seen his daughter Annette in a long while, but I thought of her every time I saw Gustave. Which was frequently given that he also taught my son. I would have to send Annette a letter sometime soon.

"I've told you to just call me Byleth," I reminder him.

"Apologies, Your Majesty."

It was a battle not worth fighting. As a former mercenary, I knew all about that. Religion, the thing I was supposed know like the back of my hand? Not a whole lot. Give me war any day.

Just… not real war.

"All right, let's hear this great news you have in store for us." Dimitri squeezed my hand underneath the table as he spoke. He wouldn't dare touch me where everyone in the room could see, but he spent most of these council meetings with his hand interlocked with mine where no one could see. Every now and again I'd get a sly look from my old student Sylvain if he attended one of these meetings, since he could pick up any semblance of romance from a mile away.

I sigh, knowing exactly where this is going to get me. Don't kill the messenger. I doubt even Sothis herself thought I was qualified for this job. "The church requests that you add religion classes as a mandatory course for students at the public schools. Required for graduation with no exceptions."

Dimitri's grip on my hand under the table tightened. His strength was nothing to laugh at, so if he squeezed any harder, my bones might break. I nudged him with my foot, and he dropped my hand altogether.

"You know we can't do that," he responded. His voice was low, which was not a good sign. "We'll have plenty of students who do not practice the faith attending these schools. And we have already declared that Fódlan is a land without a given religion to make for foreigners and others to feel welcome. To go and add religious education courses to our public schools would go against what we have just ruled—with your blessing, need I remind you."

My blessing… I got an incredible amount of backlash for that one. Most of Fódlan, by a large margin, followed the teachings of the goddess.

"And you know what will happen if you refuse," I countered. I hated this part of it. This was exactly why people thought Dimitri and I didn't get along and were only married for political purposes. Because I had to threaten him at staff meetings. "The church will revoke all its funding for the schools."

"What?" A chorus of flabbergasted remarks burst from the rest of the table. Alois stood up and waved his hands to get the rest of the people to quiet down. "Professor, that will prevent the schools from opening on time when the harvest ends."

I knew that. And I knew that this was the only way the conversation would go. Dimitri wouldn't bend, which I didn't hold against him, because the whole purpose of this reform was to separate the powers of church and state. But it was difficult—perhaps impossible—to go and tell the church that they were no longer in control. This was what Edelgard wanted to prevent… the corruptness of the church from affecting the rest of the country.

"Shall I suggest that we just allow it?" one of the members of the nobility suggested. "Just give the church what they want. It could even benefit the kids to have a little religion in their lives."

"No," Dimitri said. "There are people in this country who celebrate the works of gods different than ours. Immigrants from Duscur, Almyra, and Brigid who believe in multiple gods, a significant amount of people in the old Empire and Alliance who never believed in anything at all but their own morals, people who have abandoned the church during the war. It would be disrespectful to these people to force them into our teachings. And," he added, glancing out of the corner of his eye in my direction, "it would give the impression that the government is under church control if we give in."

"To be fair, you are in bed with it," Alois joked. I rubbed my forehead to avoid the gazes of the others at the table. I could picture Felix scowling at me without having to see it.

"Thank you for that," Dimitri responded calmly. "But the point remains the same. We will wait to open the schools until we can collect more taxes to fund the rest of the construction. I understand that means that the schools won't be able to open on time, but I will not allow the church to manipulate us for what it wants."

There was a murmur of disappointment, but no one spoke up to disagree. The nobility didn't care much of it—they got to send their older kids to Garreg Mach, which was almost exclusively nobility given the exorbitant cost to attend. I remembered Leonie telling me about how her whole village had to help raise money to send her. That was what the public schools hoped to fix. Education for all despite how much money you had.

Sometimes I felt like a hypocrite, though, given that we provided our own son—and soon daughter once she was old enough—with his own private education through Gustave and various tutors.

"Is that all?" Dimitri asked, rising to his feet and placing his hands on the tabletop. He towered over all of us, a visual power regardless of his invisible strength.

"Not quite, Your Majesty," Gustave interrupted as Dimitri started to move from the table. "There is news of a small uprising near the border of the old Empire and Alliance. A number of villages were destroyed, with the casualties nearing about one hundred. Soldiers were dispatched to the area, and it seems to be under control for now. But it is an area to watch."

Dimitri nodded. "All right. Thank you, Gustave. Anything else?"

There was nothing more to be said. Dimitri left the room first, leaving me behind still sitting at the table. The others began talking and dispersing, and still I sat. There were times that I wished Sothis could still communicate with me. If she could, maybe I would be a stronger leader for the church.

"Professor. Hey, Professor. Snap out of it."

I blinked and looked up. Felix had sat down in the seat beside me that Dimitri vacated—slightly taboo, but I wasn't going to say anything about it, and he knew it.

"I don't know who hates this shit more," he continued without me getting a chance to apologize for ignoring him. "I was never any good at just sitting around and listening to people talk. You know all about that."

I smiled. Sometimes I wished I could go back to Garreg Mach and teach again. Rhea threw it at me, but I was actually pretty good at it. A lot better at teaching than ruling over a church that I knew little about. But being the embodiment of the progenitor god made it difficult for me to leave the position.

"A proposal, then." Felix shifted in his seat, sitting up a little straighter and angled more at me. "Talk to him for me. Get him to give me permission to go to the uprising zone. My sword is starting to rust from all this sitting around, and I'm sick of it."

"If you go, it'll start another war. You won't be able to control yourself."

Felix laughed dryly. "Well, that might be true."

I stood up, and it was only a moment before Felix rose to my side. He towered over me but not nearly as much as Dimitri. I had a sneaking suspicion that it angered Felix that Dimitri was taller than him. It was a whole male ego thing. I didn't pretend to understand it. But Felix was competitive to the extreme, and it was things as simple as that that pissed him off.

"I'll mention it."

"What about you? You miss it, don't you? Bet you'd like to go. Slaughter some enemies, get your sword sharp again." Felix crossed his arms, staring at me with that look that told me he could see past my façade. "Come on, you were meant to be a mercenary, not some archbishop without any power. Get him to let you come, too. I know you want to."

I shook my head. "I don't need his permission. I can do what I want. And right now, I need to be here. If not for the country, then for Alexi and Katrina."

Felix scowled again, but he waved me off and started for the door. "Suit yourself."

I watched him leave, which left me the only one in the room. I leaned forward with both hands on the table and sighed. He was probably right. I knew I wanted to be out there, too. When Fódlan first united after the war, there were still little conflicts throughout the country that Dimitri and I had to deal with. But now, after six years of peace, I had a family to worry about.

I found Alexi playing with some wooden blocks in his room, his sister crawling on the floor behind him to get a better view of his tower. Katrina was more mischievous than Alexi, and I knew that there was a strong possibility of that tower collapsing to the ground due to her curiosity.

"Mommy!" Alexi yelled, standing up and running around his work. Katrina eyed the blocks and picks one up. Our nanny sat in the corner of the room watching, probably waiting for Katrina to chuck that block through Alexi's masterpiece. But now that I was here, she didn't need to take care of Alexi's tears when that inevitably happened.

I picked up my son and held him on my hip. "That's quite a piece of architecture," I commented. Alexi grinned, absolutely beaming with pride.

My own father wasn't exceptionally affectionate with me, but I never doubted for a minute that he loved me. I wondered if he knew as well as I did now that I loved him, too. Alexi wore his heart on his sleeve and hid nothing. But I… well, I wasn't exactly known for being emotional. Could my father tell that I loved him, like I knew Alexi loved me?

"There you are."

I turned, finding Dimitri standing in the doorway and leaning against the frame. He smiled at the scene in front of him, and I set Alexi down so he could run to his father. There was a clatter behind us as Katrina knocked Alexi's design to the ground, but the timing was perfect, and Alexi didn't appear to notice since he was too busy worrying about his dad.

"You didn't go to the stables after the meeting," Dimitri said to me as he lifted our son into his arms.

We had a tradition of going horseback riding after those council meetings ended, usually because they were heated, and we needed some time together to debrief. Plus, I liked the proximity of holding onto him whenever I convinced him to let me ride his horse instead of separately on mine.

"Felix wanted to talk." I walked over to Katrina and picked her up, and she immediately yanked on a strand of my hair. "He wants your permission to go to the uprising. Wants to get his blade dirty."

"Mommy," Katrina whispered in my ear, and I poked her nose to make her giggle.

Dimitri let Alexi go, and hell broke loose when the prince noticed his destroyed tower.

"Go help your brother fix that, please," I told Katrina, and she wiggled out of my arms to follow my directions. There were still tears, but the two began working together to rebuild.

"Why does he need my permission?" Dimitri asked.

I walked closer to him to stand by his side and watch our children play. "He's under the impression that I do, too."

"For what?"

I looked up at him, and he frowned as he gazed back down at me. "To go."

"You want to?"

"Maybe," I answered. It was vague. Dimitri deserved more than that for an answer. "Deep down I do. It wouldn't be very dangerous because it sounds like it's mostly subdued now. But I know that I have responsibilities here to focus on."

He took my hand. His fingers were always freezing. He probably had poor circulation, which was why he always wore that shaggy fur of his. It took me a little while to get used to the cold of the north, but somehow, I seemed more accustomed to it now than the native beside me.

"I think we can handle it if you leave for a month. It wouldn't be the first time."

"It wouldn't be becoming of the archbishop and queen to get involved in things like that…" I said.

"Then don't go as archbishop or as the queen. Go as Byleth Eisner." He reached his free hand up to my cheek and rubbed his thumb along it. "You don't need my permission, you know. I would miss you—desperately so—but we can manage."

I smiled and leaned into his hand. "I told Felix that. That I don't need your permission. But I do want your blessing."

"And you have it. Just promise to come back safely."

I nodded, and Dimitri leaned forward to plant a kiss on my forehead. "I will," I promised him. "Like Gustave said, it's just an area to watch. It won't be dangerous."

"Very well," Dimitri said with a small grin. "Then we will await your return."

Author's Note: This was supposed to be a one-shot that ended up turning into a whole thing, so… whoops. The Blue Lions route was one of the only ones to not have a solid conclusion to the Those Who Slither in the Dark storyline, and I could not let that go. Thus, this. More to come soon.