Interlude - Noldion


In the morning, the cavaliers left to take the fight to Heirhein directly. Those who fought on foot remained behind, doing what they could. Patrols were set, people helped rebuild the fallen buildings, and I tended to the injured. Everything was a bit of a whirlwind, mostly so that we could ignore how our friends were out fighting, and we likely wouldn't hear about how the battles were going until after they were done.

I worried over how many might die. They only had one healer, after all.


"I think this would look lovely on you, Deirdre!" Lady Lachesis cooed, tossing a dress of pale greys and purples at Deirdre. "Try it on, try it on!"

"Only if you try this one on," Deirdre shyly replied, passing Lady Lachesis a short white dress. "I think this will look nice on you…"

"Oh, I love it!" Lady Lachesis squealed and took the dress, holding it up in front of her as she twirled. "So pretty!"

"You should pair it with this!" Aideen suggested, holding up a sleeveless, pink surcoat or something. "A little color, and it'll go great with your boots!"

Lady Lachesis squealed again in delight, and I watched the three continue looking through the various clothes set up in the large market. Because so many stalls and stores had been destroyed, everyone had just set up in the town square. Normally, I knew, Lady Lachesis and Aideen would just order custom orders, but they didn't want to put more stress, and it seemed like the merchants were delighted to see them simply shopping. Especially since we were getting a discount, and surprisingly, not just because of Lady Lachesis. It was also my fault, because the merchants all had family and friends who had been injured, and they'd known I was the Chief Healer for Sigurd's army. They'd actually not wanted to charge us at all between her and me. We'd compromised with a discount.

I, however, had no idea why Aideen and Lady Lachesis had dragged me along. The only reason I could think of was so that Deirdre felt more comfortable, but she blossomed under everyone's attentions, so I rather thought I was superfluous.

At least, I thought so until Lady Aideen turned to me with a bright and cheerful smile. "Alicia, over here!" she called, beckoning me forward. She had a bundle of light blue cloth in her hands. "I think this will suit you!"

"...Are you buying me clothes again?" I asked, incredulous. I also remained where I was, refusing to get near. "You just bought me some!"

"That was months ago!" She reached over and dragged me towards her. "Here, try this on!"

"Why me?" I tried to protest, but Deirdre instantly jumped in, since she had to go to the changing tent too, and so she dragged me off and before long, I was in the soft blue dress and Deirdre was in the silvery-purple one, and both of us were on display. I desperately tried to hide behind Deirdre or really anything. Deirdre ate the attention up, even as she smiled shyly and blushed prettily.

"Alicia, why are you hiding?" Lady Lachesis laughed, dragging me out from my hiding spot. It didn't seem to occur to her that I might not enjoy the attention. "Come on! Show off your prettiness!"

"I'm not pretty," I grumbled, unable to even pretend to be fine. This was not why I had agreed to come here. "So if you please-"

"Ah! Ayra, Chulainn!" Aideen suddenly called, waving. I jerked my head up to see Lady Ayra and Chulainn walking out of the local arena. They bore some bruises, hinting they'd been fighting on their own time. "Come over here! We're trying to convince Alicia that's she's pretty, but she's not believing us."

"You're not doing any convincing with a single statement." I barely checked the urge to glower as Lady Ayra and Chulainn glanced at each other, shrugged, and headed our way. "There is no proper argument to any of this."

"Oh, gods, you three are shopping," Lady Ayra groaned. She rolled her eyes and scowled as Aideen and Deirdre smiled. "Nope. I'm not being a doll for you today. Especially you." She pointed at Aideen, who pretended to sulk. "Your last attempt was disastrous."

"I maintain that dress would've looked lovely on you," Aideen countered. Her eyes sparkled as she turned to Lady Lachesis. "I don't think you saw it. It was the original choice for her dress for Deirdre's wedding and it was just-"

"It had too many gods damned ribbons! The thought of having to fight in that…"

"Well, it's not made for fighting."

"What's the point of clothes that you can't fight in? Or at least be able to actually safely move around in?"

I breathed a sigh of relief as Lady Lachesis, Deirdre, and Aideen focused their attention on Lady Ayra, leaving me to my space and quiet. I glanced up at Chulainn, still silent, and saw him give me a measuring look, expression unreadable as he studied my dress closely. I stared back, feeling a little… it wasn't quite unnerved. It was more like I was too big for my own skin, or perhaps too small, and he could see that easily. I nearly squeaked as he reached up and tucked some of my hair behind my ear, and I glowered, feeling even less like I was actually in control of my body.

He smiled back slightly, unbothered, and whispered, "it suits you. Are you comfortable?"

"Shopping is not my idea of 'comfort'," I retorted instantly. He actually laughed a little. "Being the middle of a spectacle is also not my idea of 'comfort'." I would need to thank Lady Ayra later.

"But what about the clothes?" He gestured to it for emphasis. "Are they comfortable?"

"...I suppose." I looked down at the dress. It was cotton, but very fine cotton. It was expensive, but not overly so. The color was nice, though I had no idea if it really did look good on me or not. It had a slit up one side so to allow freer movement, but that didn't bother me too much. Honestly, its design seemed to be a cross between what Deirdre wore and what Lady Ayra wore, meant to be both pretty and practical. "Now that I'm able to think about it."

"Then you should buy more of them."

"But that's…!" I automatically tried to protest. My brain hit a wall as to just how to do it. "It's really… I mean…"

"They're your friends." He put a tiny bit of emphasis on the last word, and I was reminded of our conversation on the way to Noldion. "That's why it seems strange. You're not used to friends buying things for you. Only your brothers. But you like the clothes, yes?" His slight smile widened when I nodded. "Then let them spoil you. You spoil them too."

"...I'll take your word for it." I felt… awkward. Awkward was the word I wanted. "But please save me from their talks of jewelry. I know that's next and I really have no need for."

"Ayra and I will do what we can." He stepped away briefly, before pausing. His expression was blank before he leaned down to whisper in my ear. "You're very beautiful, by the way." Then he walked off to Lady Ayra, nudging her side and murmuring something I didn't catch from the sudden roaring in my ears. I barely noticed Lady Ayra sending me a sympathetic smile, and only just caught her convincing Aideen, Lady Lachesis, and Deirdre to just keep things simple.

My attention was on Chulainn, though he hung back, because his simple compliment echoed through my head far too much, and he was smiling every so slightly, and even though I didn't think it was his best smile, it was still nice.

...I felt horrible awkward. What was wrong with me?


That evening, we got word that Heirhein had been captured. However, there were apparently bandits torching villages to the very north in Anphony, and of course, Sigurd was going to press on to help them. It even made sense tactically, since it would convince the locals that we really weren't here to invade. We'd just come to help Noldion, and got dragged into something much bigger since Augustria was attacking us.

Lady Ethlyn sent back the injured reports, and the numbers were enough to make me wince. I saw the small tear stains in the corner, where she hadn't pulled back in time. I wrote her a letter back, reminding her of one of the central rules of being a healer ('You cannot save everyone') and, after a moment's hesitation, deliberately crossed out the 'Lady' in front of her name, and used her name without title for the rest of the letter, telling her silly stories of what was happening here, reassuring her about Altenna and Ares. I hoped it would make her smile, slightly, especially since I knew she likely wouldn't tell anyone. A healer had to be confident at all times, and she was the sole healer with Sigurd at the moment.

Little bits of laughter caught my attention, and I looked up from my letter to see Finn and Prince Shanan happily playing with Altenna and Ares. Finn was still bedridden, though his wounds were healing very nicely, so Prince Shanan made a point to spend time with him every day, often combining it with babysitting duties. At first I had worried that taking care of two babies would be too stressful, but both blossomed with the responsibility, and I wondered if it kept them from fretting over Lord Oifeye, who had ridden ahead with Sigurd.

"...Miss Alicia." However, looking up made me realize there was another person in the infirmary, and it was one who made me tense. King Jamke hesitated in the doorway, and I was tempted to order him out just for that. It made the nearby patients uncomfortable. "My pardon," he began. Even his tone was awkward. "I…"

I set my letter to the side and walked over to him slowly, ruffling Prince Shanan's hair as I passed, checking on Finn's injury, tending to other patients. I took my time, mostly to gather my own calm and politeness. If it had been an emergency, he wouldn't just said so. When I finally reached him, I gestured for him to join me outside, and stepped into the hallway. After a moment, he followed, but still hesitated, as if waiting for me to say something. I, however, simply stood where I was, arms crossed, and held still. I was a healer. Healers knew waiting far better than most.

"I was wondering if you knew where Dew was," he finally said. He looked to the floor and the wall, anything to avoid looking me in the eye. "Azel said he was heading here?"

"Dew acquired some medicines he wished to drop off with me, as well as some healer staves." I chose not to ask where he had gotten either. For one thing, the staves he brought had blood crusting the cracks, where someone had washed it, but hadn't done a thorough scouring. That alone gave me a giant hint. "Once he had done that, he asked what else I needed, and told me he'd 'keep an eye out' before leaving." We both had known he'd meant to steal it, but my supplies were already so low; I did not have the luxury of maintaining 'moral superiority' when the things he 'acquired' saved sizes. I had simply told him to make sure he did not take from the 'needy'. "Why? Did you need something?"

"I try to keep an eye on him. He's one of the younger ones, after all, and he gets into trouble easily." He shrugged. "I guess I'll keep looking for him."

"I'm surprised you have the free time to look for a single child." The words came out a little more… caustic than I had intended, mostly because I was concentrating so much on keeping polite, calm, and cool.

"I'm on break. Breaks are important."

"Alas, a healer only knows breaks when she sleeps, especially during a war. Wounds are such fickle things." I smiled calmly. "Well, if that was all, I shall return to my watch, and thinking of tips for Ethlyn. Arrow injuries are difficult to treat." The last line was definitely the result of my temper burning. I could not forgive him. I simply couldn't. Perhaps it was hypocritical, since I was such good friends with Lady Ayra, and she had also been our enemy, but I just couldn't forgive him yet. "Pleasant day."

"...Pleasant day." He turned and walked away. I watched him leave, eyes narrowed slightly. I couldn't forgive him. But there was something that… I could do.

"I almost forgot." I pitched my voice so that it carried, and I watched him still. "Thank you for saving my life, with Sadima." I kept my expression impassive, even as he turned around to look at me with his own unreadable expression. "I realized I had not yet thanked you for that."

"...You're welcome, Miss Alicia." He bowed slightly, expression still unreadable, and turned around again, walking away.

This time, I simply watched as he turned around a corner to disappear, and sighed, drooping. At least I managed that much. It bothered me that I couldn't do more. I'd never realized I was the type to hold a grudge. Then again, I never really had anything to hold a grudge over, I supposed.

"Alicia!" However, all gloom and the like vanished as Deirdre popped out of nowhere and hugged me from behind. "Hey, are you busy?" she asked, leaning forward to look me in the face. I knew she was barely standing on her tiptoes to do that. "I was hoping we could talk."

"I've enough time for that, yes," I replied, laughing. I turned slightly so that I was still in the hug, but she didn't have to strain so much to talk to my face. "What is it?"

"Well, actually, I… have an idea." Her eyes took on a serious light, even as they sparkled with enthusiasm. "I'd like to run it by you."

"Okay?" I gave her a confused look in return. "Why me?"

"Well, for one, you are my very best friend, and for two, you have the most sense of anyone in the army." She grinned up at me. "So, you can find the holes in the idea, and together, we can make it a plan! Or discard it." She shrugged. "Like I said, it's only an idea at the moment."

"I…" I sighed, and smiled in resignation. I could not say 'no' to her, especially when she was like this. "Well, let me check over my patients one more time. I have a feeling this will take more than a moment."

"I'll help!" She giggled and even hopped a bit. "Let's do this!"

I'd later spend the next couple of hours thinking she'd hit her head, but in the end, she was right. She and I did manage to make a decent plan, one that we brought to Lady Ayra for refining. The next few days were going to be very, very long.


Author's notes: Just a little restful chapter compared to the last one. While FE4 has an emphasis on mounted units throughout the entire game, the first part of Chapter 2 relies a lot on speed if you want to get everything, meaning that for the most part, your foot units aren't going to see combat until the last half of the Chapter.

Side note - in game, if you have Arden move to a specific spot on the peninsula south of Heirhein, he'll have an event that lets him gain the Pursuit Ring, a very useful item in game (though it's infinitely more useful on other units; I often leave it on Ethlyn for Leif to inherit). Another event that happens in game, but not in this story, is the event between Dew and Lachesis, where they get a minor boost to Love Points, and Lachesis gets the Thief Sword, a weak sword that gives her the steal skill, likely as a means to make it easier for her to buy the Elite/Paragon Ring (which appears later in game, but like most rings, will not feature in this story).

Next Chapter - Sleep