Chapter 2: Corrin has ADHD
"My son, I see you have returned." Garon sat on his throne, looking down the throne room as Corrin approached, his entourage in tow.
Corrin smirked, a familiar quirk to his lips. "Of course, Father. Did you expect I would have any trouble with the Hoshidan rabble?"
"Hm hm hm," Garon chuckled. "I heard from Iago you faced not one, but three of your Hoshidan siblings on your mission. And you faced them without trepidation." An unspoken accusation hung in the air.
Corrin rolled his shoulders. "They were competent generals, and retreated wisely when faced with the might of Nohr. Of course, there was no reason for me to dread their presence on the battlefield."
Peri perked up, "Yup! You shoulda seen the way he fought with Ryoma! He was all like 'Return to Hoshido!' Crack, sizzle, lightning! And Corrin was all like 'Never!' Slash, stab, dragon noises!"
"That's enough, Peri." Corrin pursed his lips. He didn't need his hanger-on making commentary.
Garon seemed amused by this. "Well, Peri, I'm surprised to see you with Corrin. Has Xander grown tired of the presence of a true Nohrian woman?"
Corrin nose twitched, before Peri replied, "Nope! He just wanted me and Lazzy working with Corrin instead. It's been super fun!"
Elise chimed in, saying, "And you'll never believe who we found! Big Sister Azura!"
Corrin resisted the urge to facepalm as his well-intentioned little sister ushered Azura forward, despite her obvious discomfort. "Elise, you're my sister, and I love you," he said slowly. "Do you remember what I told you back in the Ice Tribe?"
Elise blinked. "Leave the introductions to you?"
"Good girl."
'Welp, cat's out of the bag, I suppose.' Corrin gestured with one arm to the estranged princess of Nohr. "Father, I present to you, Princess Azura of Nohr. Your daughter."
Garon and Azura regarded each other coldly, as Corrin had expected. Azura held no familial affection for the mad king, and Garon held no affection at all.
"Greetings, Your Majesty," Azura spoke softly, her voice betraying nothing.
Garon hummed. "Azura… I never thought I'd see your face again. Continue to accompany Corrin in his war efforts. Think of it as a chance to see more of your homeland."
"..." Azura said nothing in response. Corrin supposed she was inwardly grateful he hadn't demanded she stay in Krakenburg.
"Speaking of which, I have a new mission for you, my son. There has been a rebellion in Cheve." Garon's face twisted into a scowl. "The Chevois are renowned knights, and are not to be underestimated. I am sending our standing army to deal with the situation, and I trust you to lead them."
Corrin bowed, "You honor me, Father. I shall see to the matter as per your expectations. Trust that when next we meet, I will bear the glory of our victory in Nohr's name. Your name."
Garon smiled his grotesque, self-satisfied grin. "Bring back good news, my children."
Corrin nodded, turning to his companions and allowing them leave. Azura left wordlessly, likely to find a quiet place to ruminate. He sent Kaze to make sure she was cared for. Azura could take care of herself, but Castle Krakenburg was hardly known for its welcoming environment. Peri asked if she could go training with Laslow, and the prince was just tired enough to oblige her. He needed a tea break.
[~~~]
Corrin let out a deep sigh as he reclined in his leather chair, a steaming cup of chamomile tea in between his hands. The private tea room he'd taken a liking to in Castle Krakenburg was the ideal place to unwind, with comfy chairs and plenty of peace and quiet. No urgent war alerts to handle, no orders to give out, just him, a cup of tea, and his two best friends.
"Felicia, your tea is delicious as always," he remarks, raising his cup to his beloved maid.
Felicia blushes, her cheeks flushing a color akin to her hair's. "I-It's nothing, milord! I may have trouble getting it to you, but I can make j-just fine."
"Just fine, indeed…" Corrin takes another slow, savoring sip. Felicia always got it just right. The perfect blend of tea, sugar, and milk, and served at just the right temperature. Jakob always made it too bitter, and too cold. Only Felicia could use her ice magic to keep it just hot enough by taking the cold into herself. Flora could theoretically do it too, but… Corrin had kept his distance from her. She handled her tasks around the camp with aplomb, but being in the same room with her had been unbearably tense ever since her heel-turn in the Ice Tribe village.
"You don't give yourself enough credit, Felicia." Silas spoke up from his corner of the table. "You break cups and plates every so often, but you make up for it a hundred different ways."
Felicia pouted indignantly, "I know you are just teasing me."
"I'm not!"
"Play nice, you two." Corrin said from behind his tea.
It was Silas's turn to pout, "I'm trying!"
"Try harder," Corrin said with a smirk.
Everyone laughed. It was so easy to relax with the two of them. He and Felicia had been friends since she'd been brought to the Northern Fortress years ago. He'd done his damnedest to help her ease into the role of a maid, and comforted her over the horrors of her imprisonment. Granted, it was Flora who had laid out in no uncertain terms that the two of them were being held as hostages. She'd never gotten over it. But Felicia took to the job with an enthusiasm that always brought a smile to the young prince's face, followed by a wincing grimace whenever she inevitably tripped and shattered something fragile.
He and Silas had, somehow, an even more complicated history. When Corrin was barely adjusted to living in the seclusive Northern Fortress, barely older than 6 or 7, Silas was brought as the child of one of the standing knights and the two were 'set up' as playmates. And they had hated each other. Corrin was the endlessly inquisitive and insensitive brat and Silas was the petulant older jerk who taunted his 'liege' endlessly. It wasn't until Corrin started tagging along on the page's illicit 'adventures' around and outside the Fortress that the two became what could be considered friends. Suddenly, Silas was revelling in his role as a mentor, and Corrin looked up to him as the first older brother figure he'd remember having. And then it all fell apart when they got caught, Gunter nearly executed Silas, and Corrin broke down into tears begging for his best friend's life. It worked, but they never saw each other again until the march through the Woods of the Forlorn.
And that brought with it its own complications, because now Silas was a fresh-faced and eager knight, overjoyed to reconnect with his best friend, and Corrin had become a cynical and prodigal warrior with a single-minded determination to achieve his goals. It was something of a role-reversal, with Silas trailing behind his former pupil like a puppy and Corrin looking down his nose at the knight. It took a bit for the two of them to find the same familiar groove they'd settled into as kids and be friends again, and Felicia's tea was the perfect thing to grease those gears.
"So, Corrin," Silas started. "How are things with Peri?"
Felicia leaned closer, arching an eyebrow curiously.
Corrin sighed. "She's exhausting. Keeping her in-line is a full-time affair, and problems follow her like flies on a corpse. Not to mention, it seems half of Nohr seems to think I keep her around for illicit sexual relations!" Corrin threw up his hand, scandalized.
Felicia rolled her eyes. "Honestly, I don't get how people can gossip like that. You're not that kind of guy!"
"THANK you!" Corrin sighed.
Silas chuckled. "Corrin, if anyone accused you of sexual misconduct, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't survive to see their next battlefield."
"That's putting it lightly," Corrin growled. "I'd have them drawn and quartered, after leaving them to Niles for a few hours."
Felicia shuddered. "Why do you keep him around again?" She hunched her shoulders. "He gives me the creeps!"
Corrin shrugged, "He's excellent at what he does. He and Mozu are our only bowmen right now, after all. And that Capture Chain is very handy."
Silas rolled his eyes. "Why are you so fond of taking prisoners, milord?"
Corrin narrowed his eyes. "Corpses don't do anyone any good. If I could keep every enemy soldier we fight alive, I would. I refuse to allow Nohr to continue to fertilize the ground with the bodies of the conquered." He looked down at his cooling cup of tea. "Everyone deserves a chance to live, be they soldier or civilian." The tea swirled, offering no answers to his philosophical dilemma.
"And that's why you're working with Peri?" Silas asked. He and Felicia shared a knowing look.
Corrin sighed, running a hand through his pink hair. He ran his hand up through it so often it resembled Silas's own. A nervous habit. "She's dangerous. Volatile. If she's not kept under strict watch, someone will get hurt, or killed. I can't have that on my conscience."
Felicia lowered her own teacup slowly. "...Where's Peri now?"
Corrin relaxed back into his seat. "She's training with Laslow. She won't cause trouble; the two are partners, he'll keep her in line." He closed his eyes for a moment, taking another sip of his tea.
Silas cleared his throat. "Right," he coughed, "because Laslow never gets distracted."
Corrin's eyes shot open wide. "Shit." He shot out of his seat, his teacup clattering on the table, forgotten. "PERI!" He shouted, running out of the tearoom and down towards the courtyard.
Silas and Felicia let out a collective sigh. Felicia spoke first.
"He's got it bad." She got up and pulled out a napkin to wipe up the tea Corrin spilled on his way out.
Silas quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'it'?"
"Silas, you weren't around when Lord Corrin was going through puberty." Felicia began explaining.
That narrowed Silas's eyes. "And what does that mean?" He asked slowly. He knew the answer, but he needed to hear her say it.
Felicia sighed. "Lord Corrin doesn't invest his time in things that don't interest him. Jakob once tried to teach him to make his own tea, because he'd asked him to, and he was so impatient that he almost burnt the kitchen down! He'd left the kettle unattended, distracted by something he saw one of the servants carrying. He wandered off and completely forgot about the tea. Lord Leo once gave him a book on war strategy, as a birthday present: 3,600 pages, covering battles from the last several centuries." She looked Silas in the eyes. "He read it in a fortnight."
Silas let out a low whistle. "That sounds like the Corrin I've come to know."
"Then Gunter offered him a book on folk tales. 300 pages, for his studies. He thought it would help culture milord. He was still so curious about the outside world, after all. He'd love it, right?"
Silas laughed. "Did it even last the hour?"
Felicia spoke plainly, "He... didn't finish it for 3 months."
At that, Silas sat up. "Now I'm confused."
"He was bored! He hated how dry the storytelling was. He once asked me to read it to him, but by the time I'd finished a paragraph, he'd picked up a different book and started reading it without even thinking! If something can't hold his attention, it's not worth his time."
Silas nods along, but he hadn't forgotten where this was coming from. "And how does this come back to Peri?"
Felicia pursed her lips. "When you met Peri, did you think Corrin would have actually kept her around?"
"...No. I thought he'd send her back to Lord Xander within the moon."
Felicia nodded her assent. "And if it were anyone else but Peri, he would have. He's keeping her around because she's interesting, and he's training her to control herself so he doesn't have to let her go."
Silas was starting to see the picture Felicia was painting, and he didn't like it. "You're saying Corrin, Corrin 'Emotions are the enemy' Drakmire, middle Prince of Nohr, is romantically interested in Peri."
Felicia smiles. "If milord doesn't fire her within the next two months, I'd wager he'll ask her to marry him."
"You're kidding."
"I don't think he even realizes he's doing it! She's crazy, right? A literally bloody maniac. And he's kept her attached to his hip for a month now!" Felicia threw her hands in the air. "If he's still giving her the time of day, he must see something in her. And if he can see a human girl in a monster like that, he'd have to be close enough that they might as well already be married."
"So, if she's a monster, he'll fire her, and if she's human, he'll fall in love with her?"
Felicia sighed. "That's what I think, at least. You don't get to know a person as well as that without… seeing something, you know?" She cast her eyes at Silas with a knowing gleam in them. He stiffened.
"Knowing a person that intimately?" He offered.
Felicia smiled, a sad, lonely thing. "You and I both know what that's like, huh?" She laughed a little.
Silas slumped back into his seat. He looked down at his tea, but he knew it would taste bitter on his tongue. "Love sucks."
He'd spoken to his tea, but it was Felicia who responded. "Yeah, but that's life, right?"
A/N: tfw you love a guy but he's too busy babysitting a psycho to notice you. That's Silas and Felicia.
Thanks everyone for all the support you've shown this fic! I've gotten more faves and follows in one chapter here than I have in all the chapters of Heavy is the Head. Speaking of which, if it's not too much trouble, please, give my other fic a look! It's just an Awakening AU, but I've put a lot of time into it.
Expect Chapter 3 to be posted within the week~ I'm hoping to finish writing it up tonight, and then I'll hold onto it a few days before posting.
