Author's Note: There's a major time-skip in this chapter. More on that after.

Chapter 7: Purpose

When I woke, my mother was still not there. Instead, it was night. The stars and cloud-shrouded moon were above me, and the ground was hard and rocking from side to side. It was noisy, a rattle of wood against floor and the clopping of hooves against stone.

I was in a wooden carriage, surrounded by small crates and covered pails. I sat up, looking around. The carriage was being driven by a dark haired man, broad-shouldered but thin. He wore a vest of beige, and a hat of straw. He focused on the horses pulling the carriage – two palominos, so I turned to my surroundings.

It was late, the sun disappearing over the distant horizon of wooded hills, the sky alight with waves of red and orange. We were on a wooden road, wide enough for two carriages to safely pass, and a town was ahead, a beacon of flickering light in the green vista.

The man turned to me, finally, letting me see the dusting of hair on his face.

"Ah, you're awake," he said, his voice gravel but tone friendly. "My wife found you sleeping by the stable, so I brought you along with me to town. Don't wanna leave just anybody with her alone, after all."

I nodded at him, taking a moment to find my voice, "Thank you."

He nodded, seeming satisfied, and turned back to the horses, guiding them straight again. "The name's Phoros."

"Derek," I responded, and the farmer turned back, giving me a glance.

"Thought you didn't look Hoshidan," he said, "But you don't look like the usual Nohrians that venture this far across the border. Where are you from?"

I struggled for an answer. I could neither tell him the truth, for who would believe that? Nor a half-truth, due to Anankos's curse on Valla.

Phoros said nothing, seeming content to let me spin whatever lie I wanted.

"I crossed the border..." I eventually ventured, "But I hold no love for King Garon."

Phoros remained silent, though the gates of the town ahead were visible now, so perhaps his attention was elsewhere.

"I can't go back home," I told him. "It's... It's gone."

He still did not speak, though I saw his shoulders heave, and for a while there was silence, broken only by a gatekeeper recognising him and ordering the gates opened.

"Aye," he finally said to me, once we were riding past buildings and people headed to bed. "You wouldn't be the first one to complain of Nohr's cruelty and seek refuge from it. This village, Bren, has many such seekers of asylum here."

He led the carriage down another street, and stopped it behind a huge building.

"Perhaps you'll find some... Oof... Of your own kinsmen here?" he said, dismounting from his seat and looking at me expectantly.

With a start, I moved to help him, and once all of the crates of fruit and pails of milk and water were safely in the warehouse, the Sun had fully set.

In the light of the moon and torches, we steered the horses to a small stable nearby and he led me to an inn.

The inn was near empty, with only a few patrons and a single innkeeper. The innkeeper was short and balding, only a halo of dark hair on his head. He recognised Phoros, taking his hand in a firm shake.

"What are your plans?" Phoros finally asked me once he had purchased a glass of ale and noticing that I was still following him like a lost puppy.

"I... need to get to Castle Shirasagi,"

Phoros laughed, "Why? You think you'd be let in?"

I frowned, determined, "I want to pledge my service to the Hoshidan royal family, and I have information about Nohr- King Garon's plans."

Phoros laughed again, "Aye. Many of the Nohrian refugees say such things." He hummed thoughtfully, "It's a shame you didn't come to my farm five minutes earlier. Princess Hinoka herself visited. I'm sure she would have had a good laugh about your claims."

"Princess Azura of Nohr was kidnapped by Hoshido," I blurted out, before I even realised my mouth had opened.

As I flushed over my outburst, Phoros raised a brow at me, "That's common knowledge."

"She was kidnapped in retaliation for Nohr's abduction of Princess Corrin," I ventured after finding my tongue. Phoros nodded, so I continued, "But I know where Princess Corrin is being held."

"Castle Crackingburg, or whatever it's called, right?" Phoros shrugged, "Garon would likely want to keep a close eye on his prisoner."

I shook my head, smiling, "No. Garon has no love for her, so while he fears that she may discover their lack of blood ties, he keeps her far away. She is being trained by Nohr's finest knights and her adoptive siblings, so that Garon can use her as a weapon against Hoshido."

Phoros scowled, "Even if that were true, what chance does one more soldier on Nohr's side stand?"

"She's not just another soldier," I told him. "She has the blood of Hoshido's Dawn Dragon and Nohr's Dusk Dragon."

Phoros actually scoffed at this, "Dawn and Dusk? Those dragons are fairy tales to frighten children."

"Garon believes in them," I pointed out. "Even if it's not true, don't you think it's knowledge Queen Mikoto should have? That her daughter is still alive?"

...

...

...

To pay for my passage to Shirasagi on the next cargo ship, I was forced to help clean and take turns in the mess hall.

That had been the plan, anyway. My first day on the ship was the busiest. All day I had been running around after the sailors, fetching this or that, making sure the cargo was secure, scrubbing the floors with a mop that seemed likely to snap, then in the evening, cooking dinner.

The sailors had apparently loved my cooking, so that became my duty for the remainder of the voyage. Even the ship's chef, a man I swore was every bit the stereotypical Italian chef, was so impressed with my cooking that through the whole journey he was trying to get me to stay and work with the crew permanently.

Finally, after a week of sailing, the crew actually seemed sad to see me go. Captain Machli personally led me through the docks when I admitted I didn't know the way to the castle, and Chef Moushegh promised he would personally deliver his recommendations of my skills to some of his friends in the castle guards.

So it was that a month later, I was working in the kitchens of Castle Shirasagi, and my time had finally come.

Queen Mikoto and her personal court had apparently noticed an increase in quality of food, and wanted to personally thank the chef responsible.

It would be my first time ever actually getting to see the Hoshidan queen, and my friends in the kitchens were making a big deal of it.

"She's ever so nice!" Araksi gushed, a portly serving girl of 14 who had a beautiful singing voice. "She came by the very first week she was in the castle, you know. She said she wanted to personally get to know every staff member and make as many friends as possible. This was before she'd even married the late King Sumeragi, you know, so nobody knew anything about her and all were ever so wary. That's what mother told me!"

Araksi's mother had worked at the castle before her, apparently, and seemed to have told Araksi something about everything.

Eldegai barked a laugh, resting his cleaning brush against the wall to join in the conversation. He was always looking for an excuse to stop cleaning whenever his supervisor was around. He was thin, but his arms and legs were both heavily muscled, "She doesn't come around much anymore though does she?"

I laughed too. I had heard the story several times, of what had happened a few years ago.

Mikoto had apparently been coming to the kitchen as usual, and was pinching a piece of freshly baked cake when she thought nobody had been looking. But the chefs came back and in her haste to hide her theft, she had dropped the cake and slipped, creating a huge mess and almost falling into the oven. Her retainers and the head chef had forbade the soup stained queen from returning to the kitchen.

Still, all the tales of her many clumsy accidents could not quell the nerves within me. To say I was nervous was an understatement of gross proportions. If the letter inviting me to see the Queen was to be believed, it would not be a simple one-on-one. Many high nobles would be present, and I had to wonder whether that included all of the Hoshidan royal family.

Araksi and Eldegai helped me tidy up my work station, or rather, Araksi chattered about her admiration for various nobles, and Eldegai watched me lazily.

Finally, at noon, Sopheap came bustling in, his drooping whiskers of a moustache grey and grown so long he wore it in a knot at the back of his neck. Instead of his standard green overalls, he wore a formal yukata. He peered at Eldegai, who suddenly seemed interested in scrubbing a small stain on the wall, then frowned at me.

"Get dressed, come on," Sopheap told me, his calloused hands practically pushing me along to the servants' chambers.

In the common room, which was really just where the servants ate, he had assembled a rack of clothes, all fancy and beyond anything I had ever worn. By the time I had been wrestled into a smooth green yukata, more fancy than Sopheap's, I had seen many servants dashing around. Dressers, tailors, makeup artists and hairdressers. I had balked at the idea of wearing any sort of makeup, so Sopheap scowled at me.

It had been a long few hours, but finally Sopheap decided there was nothing else that could be done to make me presentable enough for court.

I had never been to this part of the castle before, but though I wanted to admire the paintings and statues, Sopheap afforded me no time to do so.

The reception room was magnificent, huge even with the long dining table where many people in fancy clothes already sat. The chairs in the centre of the table were empty, and Sopheap bade me sit here, in the chair closest to the door, giving me a view of the large windows overlooking a beautiful garden.

None of the nobles acknowledged my presence, so I took the time to examine the items on the table.

At each placement there was a series of knives, forks, spoons and paper serviettes. Unlit candelabras lined the table, as well as flowers, teapots and the elaborate frills of the table cloth.

A few seats to my left sat a man with a huge chin, layers of fat piled from his neck to his mouth. His entire appearance was of lard and a life of opulence. His eyes were purple, a shade lighter than his long hair which curled into spirals on his massive shoulders. He had a moustache, which shook like a dying caterpillar with every move of his lips.

He was turned to speak to another man beside him, this one looking serious, with his cold, furrowed eyes seeming to analyse everything the people around him were doing wrong. His hair was a dark red.

The doors behind me were opened, and all of the lords and ladies in the room stood, like they had received some silent signal. I stood with them – a peasant amongst nobles – and watched as the royal family entered.

First came Prince Ryoma, as though scouting the room first for his family. He wore his standard armour, plated in red and a mere white cloth, soft as silk but strong as leather. The cloth tied his armour together in the parts that needed more manoeuvrability – his chest and armpits, for example. His armour looked fancy enough for this dinner, I supposed, since it fell around his lithe, muscular frame like a yukata. His sword was at his side – the curved katana at his side was held in a red sheath, but its handle was decorated with the head of a dragon.

Ryoma's long, brown hair was down, and out of the head piece he wore in the game, he looked younger, more like the noble lord he was than the deadly samurai he also could be.

Immediately after Ryoma came the Queen herself. Mikoto looked almost exactly as she had done in the game. Her delicate and fragile frame was adorned in a white dress with a blue collar. The crown atop her head was lustrous in its gold, raising over her head in the crossed circle that served as the Hoshidan emblem.

At her side were two princesses. The youngest, Princess Sakura, wore a similar dress, though hers was framed in a deep rose red. Her dress was wider at the bottom, and not as form-fitting as her step-mother's. Her cherry pink hair, short as it was, was host to a simple white hairband.

She clutched close to the Queen, her nerves evident in the presence of these high lords and ladies. She was a stark contrast to Princess Azura, who walked at Mikoto's other side.

Azura wore a white dress framed with light blue to match her long flowing hair, and a tiny gold trim. The dress split at the sides up to her thighs, showing her slender legs and her bare feet beneath the hem.

While both princesses walked slowly and gently, they were followed by Prince Takumi and Princess Hinoka. Prince Takumi was wearing a white gown, with a blue cloak draped over his shoulders. His silver hair was in a flowing ponytail, and an un-stringed bow hung at his hip, made of something that glowed with an otherworldly light. At its ends, the bow curved into spirals, and a wing design was attached to the middle of the bow. Princess Hinoka, however, looked uncomfortable in her own white and red kimono, her gold-cuffed sleeves draped too long over her hands as she fiddled with her belt. She almost bumped into Takumi when he briefly stopped to greet one of the guests - a tanned woman with blond and white hair.

The royal procession took their seats, with Ryoma at the head of the table and, to my surprise, Queen Mikoto herself sitting across from me, with Azura at her left and Yukimura to her right.

Mikoto smiled at each of the gathered nobles, and when she passed that smile to me, my confusion and worries faded, leaving a deep sense of tranquillity. It felt in that instant as though I had achieved some kind of deep cosmic understanding, though when I pondered on it, the feeling only grew without providing me with answers. Deeper it went, as though I were following the queen's smile through all of space and time, then finally...

A dragon roared. Flames bellowed. Screaming echoed.

I jolted out of the reverie, to find that no time had passed at all.

Queen Mikoto had turned to the other nobles, who I now realised were sitting at this unspoken permission. I took my seat, looking down the lines of lords and ladies, but none seemed to have noticed anything awry. Only...

Why was Princess Azura giving me a thoughtful look?

Finally the last lord sat, and the queen spoke, "My lords and ladies. I am truly honoured that you were all able to make it to court on this day. I apologise that this reception meal is not being held in one of the castle's larger dining halls, but... Ah..."

She faltered and turned to Yukimura, her royal tactician. He nodded and continued her words, "Our most dedicated member of service at the castle was unfortunately prevented from completing his duties. This was unavoidable, however, as this clearly demonstrates the enormous burden we place upon our most esteemed guest here."

Yukimura was suddenly looking at me, I realised. My confusion returned, greater than ever. The strategist was not yet finished, however.

"Derek only joined our staff within the last moon cycle, but it is evident that he has become one of our hardest workers and that we owe him our deepest respect."

I had no idea what he was talking about. My only jobs had been to wash dishes and prepare meals. I wasn't responsible for cleaning the main halls or anything Yukimura continued to list. I felt sick. The other nobles were staring at me. Their expressions were inscrutable, but I could feel them judging me...

A bowl was placed before me filled with some yellowy soup. I noticed that the others had moved on, the royal family already drinking from their own bowls.

The conversation had finished without me, it would seem, but as I lifted my bowl I could hear chatter from all ends of the room.

The meal passed by with me eating very little, though this was less to do with my lack of appetite than it did about the snippets I overheard.

Finally, after the last course, Queen Mikoto stood to thank everybody for coming, and I began to file out of the room with the rest of the people that were not part of the royal family, only to hear my name called from behind.

"Derek, could you please wait a moment?"

I turned. It had been Princess Azura that had spoken. Takumi was glaring at her, but Hinoka and Sakura were looking at her curiously. Queen Mikoto looked away from the final leaving guest to catch Ryoma's eye, and he seemed to take a hint.

"Hinoka, Takumi, Sakura," Ryoma addressed his three younger siblings. "Come. We should ensure our retainers have not burned down the castle."

Sakura giggled as they left, Takumi cracked a smile, and Hinoka sighed.

I was left in the room with Queen Mikoto and Princess Azura. They were both looking at me, but their gazes were too gentle to make me afraid. Rather, I thought, as I sat back in the wooden dining chair, it was highly bizarre.

I had come from a country with a monarchy, but that monarch wielded very little real power. The royal family I knew had been more like a tourist attraction than the real leader of the country. I had seen neither in person, not even knowing the name of my own town's mayor.

Celebrities in general, I suppose, whether their status be political or otherwise, had been as some elusive foreigners to me. I didn't know them, they didn't know me, and never in my life would I ever have expected to be face-to-face in a private conversation with them.

Even now as I looked between this powerful Queen and true Heiress I almost expected them to simply sign their autographs then call for security to have me escorted out.

Almost. I almost expected that.

The rest of me was terrified.

"I must apologise to you, Derek," Queen Mikoto began, looking truly remorseful. "You were not merely called to this meal so that my family and I could thank you for your service. I know that I told some untruths about your role in this castle, but there had been rumours of a possible Nohrian spy working here, and I wanted to quell those rumours."

She paused, glancing to Azura, who seemed to be clenching her fists against her lap tightly.

"Anti-Nohrian sentiments have been growing greatly recently... But you do not seem to possess any Nohrian traits. May I ask where you are from?"

"I'm from..." I paused. I looked at Azura's posture – a clear indication of restraint, and back to Queen Mikoto's face – gentle and nervous.

So that's what this was about.

Queen Mikoto herself was not Hoshidan. By some accounts (primarily the game I had first encountered this world within), Mikoto had arrived in the Hoshidan capital one day and King Sumeragi had instantly fallen in love with her. They were married and he, along with his four children from a previous marriage, had smoothed things over with the public. Mikoto became so well loved that she had inherited the Hoshidan throne uncontested when King Sumeragi was murdered.

Meanwhile in the neighbouring country of Nohr, a mysterious woman had become the new wife of another king, King Garon. The woman was Arete, sister of Mikoto and mother of Azura.

But the forgotten kingdom of Valla still longed for its rightful heirs, Arete and Mikoto, to return and restore the lost lands from Anankos's control.

Arete and Mikoto were fully aware of their birthrights, of course, and apparently Arete had been killed trying to relay this information to her daughter, Azura.

Azura had eventually been brought here to her aunt, and now it seemed they were testing me. I was obviously neither Hoshidan nor Nohrian to these two. But was I from the Invisible Kingdom, or was I simply from one of the lesser countries of this continent.

And they could not simply ask me if I knew of Valla, because Anankos had placed a curse which killed anybody that tried to speak of it.

"I'm from nowhere on the map," I said, trying to be as subtle as I could.

Mikoto smiled, her eyes not giving anything away about my answer, though Azura seemed more curious and somehow more tense.

"I, um..." I added, wanting to clarify and desperately wanting to help these two kind women. "I wish I could tell you more, but... Um... May I ask a question?"

Mikoto nodded to me, "Of course."

"I... I heard that Lady Azura was an excellent singer."

Azura's eyes lit up, though whether with recognition for my implication or simple acknowledgement of my compliment, I was not sure. Then, Mikoto gave her a small nod, and Azura began to sing.

...

Author's Note:

I'm going through editing chapters, and some of the Author's Notes are no longer relevant. I'll leave the relevant parts here:

I really didn't want to do the major time-skip, but honestly, I had absolutely nothing to write at the time. Plus, this wasn't meant to be a story all about travelling or working on ships. I've never even really been on a ship, so I'd have struggled quite a lot to write a full chapter of boat travel.

Still, this chapter has actually started setting up some major events involving related characters, which is much more fun for me to write than more of that slow burn.

Thank you to everybody who helped me with this chapter! I truly appreciate it!