Chapter 24) Silesse
The blizzard lasted a few days, just as Lewyn suspected. It took a little longer for us to even manage to get the outside doors open and clear the snow out from the courtyards and the like. Some took the opportunity to play while others were overly enthusiastic in their work, so Claude, Aideen, and I had to treat many for bruises and frozen fingers.
Before long, though, the castle is cleared and everyone's attention turns east, towards Silesse Castle. There was still absolutely no word, and we were all tired of waiting.
I just hoped this wasn't a trap. You could plan quite the clever one just by utilizing Sigurd's loyalty.
"It'll still be a day or so until we have a path clear enough to walk," Sigurd murmured, frowning over the reports. We were in his study, consolidating information, and I was making him some tea. "What's the situation with the infirmary? Will it be the same?"
"Considering how Thove went, Aideen and I thought we'd handle the infirmary together, while Claude handles the field infirmary," I explained. I set the teacup next to his hand, a silent 'stop working for a while and take a break'. He picked up on it instantly. "Lachesis shall also remain with us still. But between Lewyn, Erinys, and Tailtiu, you should have things covered on the field itself."
"I see." He leaned back in his chair and sipped the tea. "This is nice. What is it?"
"It's a blend I made. Things I've noticed you like, plus some herbs to help." I did the same with Arvis, though he was probably out by now. I had last sent him some prior to Chagall's second attack. I'd have to make him more, when we returned. "The blizzard gave me extra time to make some up. I've got a blend for a few others as well." Ayra, for instance. Azel. Lex. Sylvia.
"Like Chulainn?"
"Chulainn isn't all that fond of tea. Sadly." He'd drink it when someone he liked made it, but he wouldn't go out of his way to drink it. "We're waiting to see if Caitriona and Conall like it or not. He jokes that they will and he'll be surrounded by tea all day."
"Not a bad thing." Sigrud smiled sadly. "I wonder what Seliph inherited from Deirdre and me. He doesn't have Deirdre's coloring."
"No, he doesn't. But his smile is already like hers."
"That's true." He sighed and sipped his tea. "I hope she's okay. I want to see her again."
"I'm sure she is. Maybe when we get back…" I wasn't sure what to say, really. 'Maybe she will be there, waiting for us'? 'Maybe we can look for her?' "Arvis promised he'd help."
"Ah, that reminds me." He looked up at me and smiled slightly. "Does he even know what she looks like?"
"Of course he…" I trailed off as I realized a couple of things. One) Arvis and Deirdre had never met. Two) I had absolutely no memory whatsoever of describing her to him and I highly doubt I did because of how both of us were. "Ah." I coughed in embarrassment and Sigurd laughed and laughed. "Well, I'm sure he can get information from Verdane. Someone had to have made some sort of song about the two of you, yes?"
"You are the worst at describing things!" Sigurd, of course, just kept on laughing. "Does he know what Chulainn looks like?"
"No?" I scowled. "I don't know what Diadora looks like either." Sigurd laughed even harder. "That is the… I don't even know how many times people have brought that up."
"It's weird! Ethlyn practically wrote poems about what Altena looked like after she was born!"
"I don't have enough paper to even try at this point, you know." I grumbled a bit more, but I wasn't really angry. It was nice to see him laughing and smiling. "I do apologize for not telling him what Deirdre looked like, though. That has to be slowing things."
"It's fine." He finally stopped laughing and downed the last of his tea. "Okay, serious talk. Serious talk."
"I am always serious."
"You are not. Not anymore, at least." He grinned and I smiled, conceding the point. "You were always working when you first joined."
"It's what I was used to. But we can reminisce when we're back in Grannvale, safe and sound."
"True." He picked up a report and scanned through it. "I'm thinking that, if Daccar isn't there, we'll use the castle as a base to continue attacking him. I'll ask Lewyn, of course, but do you think the move will be safe?"
"I worry about moving the children, so they might have to remain back here under guard. Though, one of the others might have an easy way to bring them. Regardless, the infirmary can be moved easily."
"So, providing Lewyn doesn't mind, we'll do that and we'll discuss what to do with the children once the battle is over." He spun a pen about his fingers and I poured him a fresh cup of tea. "How many do we have? Soldiers wise, I mean."
"There should be a paper that has the number that Claude and I agreed on." I smiled when he scowled. "You can't expect me to have that memorized."
"Why not? You have so much else memorized."
"People's lives do not depend directly on me remembering a number that was written down. You didn't lose it, did you?"
"No. It's just… buried?" A knock on the door saved him from further teasing, sadly. I would've at least teased him over how relieved he looked at the convenient interruption. "Come in."
"Sorry to bother." Erinys stepped in and smiled tiredly. She had bags under her eyes and her complexion was grey. She'd been up crying again. "I wanted to let you know that the other pegasus knights wish to fight with us," she explained softly. Sigurd looked up at me, and I subtly shrugged. I knew physically they were fine, but mentally… that was a question better suited to Claude. "Most of them have their pegasi, so…"
"I appreciate the offer, but I will want them cleared by the healers before I take them up on the offer," Sigurd replied. He twirled his pen about his fingers again, but almost dropped it, so he set it down. "I'd also want to confirm that Jungby's soldiers really have left before…"
"They have." Lewyn poked his head in, grinning. "At least, that's what the wind says," he continued. He stood next to Erinys, resting a hand on the small of her back. Erinys's smile warmed when she looked at him. "Apparently, they were only here to make a fuss and to cripple Silesse."
"The wind tells us a lot." Sigrud became half-exasperated and half amused. "Can the wind tell you how they pulled all of this off?"
"Sadly, no." Lewyn sighed. "All I get is 'puppeteers in the shadows' which… you know… we've suspected the Loptyr mages were at least involved, thanks to Verdane and Agustria. Considering everything, it would not surprise me if they were involved in the Civil War here."
"Right, I suppose there's no point in asking further." Sigurd nodded. "All right. Health checks are still a thing, though. Lewyn, if you can help me…?"
Recognizing the dismissal, I took Erinys by the hand and led her out to the infirmary, deciding she would be the first one. She dragged her feet just long enough to kiss Lewyn on the cheek, to both of their blushes, before following with a skip to her step before she became serious and saddened.
This Civil War was really hard on them both. Hopefully, we would end it soon.
"Shanan, can you pass me… thank you." I smiled at Shanan, almost laughing at how he'd anticipated what I'd needed. "You're a quick learner," I praised, bandaging up my current patient's leg. I'd run out of antiseptic by me. "Are you doing okay with all the blood?"
"It's not that much messier than the babies," Shanan joked, grinning proudly. He was helping me here, while Aideen fed the children. Ayra had opted to head out and fight during this battle. "Not a lot of injured."
"That means the battle is going well." Though, it could have also meant things were going poorly. But I preferred thinking the former. "It's good for a healer to be 'bored'."
"I know. Oifeye told me!" He watched me finish up and then handed me a damp towel to clean my hands with. "Here you go."
"You're the sweetest." I looked over all the other patients, counting how many. There really were fewer than anticipated and, despite our worries and preparations, there hadn't been a single attack on us. There had been no fliers at all, despite their ability to fly very high and skirt around patrols.
I half-wondered if all the fighting had killed them all, except for the few who fought with us and whatever troops Daccar had. If so, Silesse's army was crippled and would be for quite a few years. I had no idea how long it took to 'properly' train up a pegasus knight, but I assumed it would take a while. That actually made me uncomfortable, though. Verdane and Agustria were also weakened, thanks to us. I wondered how the countries were doing. That wasn't even going into…
"Isaach." Shanan's voice startled me because, for a second, I thought he had read my mind. But no, he had been asking me something and I had been too lost in thought to hear. "Are you okay, Alicia?" he asked, taking the damp towel from me. He quickly tossed it into the corner with the other 'to be laundered' cloths. "You got super quiet."
"I was just thinking a bit," I reassured. I walked around to check the patients we had, making sure nothing had happened. "What were you asking?"
"I was asking if Zaxon was far from Isaach. I don't think it is." Shanan looked out the window, though it faced the wrong direction to 'face' Isaach. It was a northern facing window and Isaach was far to the east. "I wonder how it is. Isaach, I mean."
"I'm sure it is well." I hoped, at least. Few in Grannvale likely knew the truth, about how Isaach had been set up. I hoped their anger at Darna didn't bleed into how the people were being treated. "You're right in that Zaxon isn't too far away, a couple of weeks perhaps? You can see it soon."
"I don't remember much about it." He looked back at me, smiling sadly. "I feel like I'm a bad prince because of it."
"You're not…" I had no idea how to reply to that. "Shanan…"
"That's not the only thing I don't remember. I don't remember what Father looked like anymore or Grandfather. Whenever I think 'Mother', I picture Aunt Ayra. I don't remember anything about her at all." With each word, his head dropped and his posture drooped. "Whenever I think 'family', I see the army. You, Sigurd, Lex, Oifeye, Finn… everyone here. And whenever I think 'home', I don't see any one place. I see Evans Castle. Agusty. Here. Not Isaach."
"Shanan." I walked over to him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Well, what is it that you do remember?"
"Singing. I remember people singing." He smiled slightly at the thought. "I think some festival. People laughing and everything. But that's it, really. Well, there's the warm milk with honey, but I don't know if I 'remember' that or if it's just because Aunt Ayra makes it for everyone." He leaned into me. "I'll have to return one day, right? I'm the crown prince, and my people will need me."
"That is true, but you are young. You'll likely have a regent." It would probably be Ayra, actually. Though, they might have Sigurd do it, to have 'watch' over Isaach, much like how Sigurd had to stay in Evans castle after Verdane or in Agusty after Chagall. "You can take your time to learn about your people and then decide how you want to lead."
"…I don't wanna…" He leaned more into me. "I mean; I do, but I don't. I can't imagine being away from everyone. I miss Finn like crazy. Same with Ethlyn and Quan. I can't see…"
"Well, you won't have to for a while." I pulled him into a hug and stroked his hair. "Besides, even when the army goes its separate ways, there is no reason why we can't visit. Chulainn and I joke that we'll have to spend half of our time traveling to keep up with everyone."
"True." He looked up at me and smiled again. "Oh, I remember this waterfall not far from the castle. It's super pretty and everything. I'll show it to you when you visit."
"I look forward to it." I leaned down to kiss the top of his head. "We can make a picnic out of it."
"I think it's shallow there too. I'll ask Aunt Ayra. But we could bring the kids and teach them how to swim! Or at least splash around!" His eyes sparkled and he became more and more excited as he thought about it. "It'll be fun!"
"It sounds perfect." Though, I was already fretting over the children learning to swim. "You should think of what foods you'd like."
"Okay!" He laughed, cheering up, but then he sudden stopped and tilted his head to the side. "That song…?" He brought his hand by his ear, eyes glazing over slightly. I frowned because I didn't hear a song. "It's Lewyn's song."
"Oh?" It took a while for me to hear it too. "Goodness, we're quite a distance from the battlefield." I also remembered Lewyn stating he wouldn't use 'this' trait of Forseti again. I hoped Erinys wasn't too upset. "Should we go outside?"
"Can we?"
"We can, briefly, after I check on our patients."
"I'll help!"
The two of us quickly checked on everyone and then we walked up to the ramparts. Once there, we found Lachesis and Aideen, who apparently had the same idea as we did. We exchanged smiles and stood there, the wind tugging almost playfully at our hair and coats. From here, you couldn't see anything of the battle. Aside from the song, you couldn't hear anything either. But that song was there and it brought a comforting peace to it. 'Everything will be fine.' 'This battle will be over soon.' It was almost like Forseti itself sent the song back, just to reassure us that all was well.
Arvis never mentioned that Valflame had traits like this. Was that because it never came up or if Forseti was unique? If it was the latter, though, I wondered why. Could it be related to how it shared its name with the God of Wind? Was it something else?
I hoped it didn't cost Lewyn anything. I really, really hoped it didn't.
The wind-song had been correct. It wasn't long before we got word back that the battle had been won and we were to move into Silesse. Aideen and I were requested to come ahead, because there were wounded. Queen Rahna had bruises, and there were quite a few wounded among the servants, but thankfully, there were very few dead. Between we three healers, we got everyone patched up. Afterwards, Claude and I fixed up the infirmary while Ayra, Lachesis, and Aideen set up a nursery. Oifeye and Shanan were on babysitting duties with… whichever soldiers were on break. Everyone else was on patrol or cleaning up other areas.
"So, there was mostly a token amount of troops here," I murmured, mending blankets while sitting on the windowsill. The infirmary had been a horrible mess, with quite a few things broken. It seemed that, when he retreated, Daccar had decided to be petty and trash as many rooms as possible. "That must mean that Daccar is preparing for another assault. At least, that's what I would guess."
"That is my guess as well, Alicia," Claude agreed absently, focused on his task. He was carefully arranging the medicines Aideen and I had brought on a table we stole from a nearby room. There was absolutely no piece of furniture that hadn't been ruined, not even beds. "Did we send a message requesting assistance?"
"I sent one telling them that we specifically needed the ruined furniture cleared." I eyed the pile of splinters and glass warily. Claude and I had hurt ourselves quite a few times trying to clean up. Thankfully, we both had healing staves. "I do wish Daccar had been a little less thorough in his tantrum."
"Well, destroying all the medicines and dirtying up the infirmary does have some tactical backing, providing that your enemy's healers don't keep multiple bits of medicine or have other rooms they can set up as an infirmary." Claude's tone became more and more sarcastic with each word and I had to giggle. "And providing said enemy didn't have reinforcements."
"It's a tantrum."
"It is, indeed, a tantrum, from someone old enough to be my father." He sighed and brushed his hair back over his shoulder. I really didn't understand how he worked without pulling it back as I did. "I'm not sure why I expected better."
"Perhaps we thought there had to be some sort of dignity to him, since he was related to Lewyn?"
"Perhaps." Claude finished arranging the medicine and looked up at me. Then his eyes darted to the curtains. "Did he seriously rip them too?"
"Yes. I was thinking we could turn them into extra bandaging or use them for rags. I doubt they can be mended."
"We should ask Queen Rahna if she minds." Claude's eyes darted to the door. "Ah, someone is…"
I set my mending to the side and both Claude and I went to the door, expecting the 'someone' Claude heard to be the help we requested. Both of us ducked back, however, when we saw it was actually Lewyn and Queen Rahna, walking down the hall.
"I'm so sorry, Mother," Lewyn murmured. He helped Queen Rahna walk, as bad bruising on her leg made it hard for her to walk. Both Claude and I ducked behind the door, not quite sure what to do, so I focused on him. He'd been surprised when I'd told him about the song, surprised and unnerved, but he looked fine now. I'd get someone else to check on him later. "I should've been here. If I had been, you wouldn't have been so hurt and Annand…"
"Well, no matter how much I've missed you, it's clear that your trip abroad did help you mature," Queen Rahna replied. She had a bruise mottling her cheek as well. I remembered her insisting on being treated 'later' for them, once she'd been confirmed to be 'not dying'. "Sigurd has been a very good influence."
"He's not that much older, you know."
"He's quite a bit more mature than you."
"Hey!" Lewyn sulked and Queen Rahna laughed. "Well, regardless, my horribly teasing mother, I will protect you and Silesse from here on. I promise."
"I'm glad to hear it. I do want you to stay with Sigurd for a while longer, though. You can learn quite a bit, and…" Queen Rahna rested her head against his shoulder. "If there are darker forces at work, you will need to assist. That's what it means to be descended from a Crusader."
"Of course. Forseti's winds are the path of peace."
"And you are a child of the wind, much like your father." She sighed gustily. "Makes me wonder if I'm ever going to get grandchildren out of you."
"I… er…" Lewyn blushed and coughed awkwardly. They passed the door to the infirmary and, engrossed in eavesdropping, Claude and I shifted so that we could continue to listen in. "I confessed to Erinys?"
"Did you now?" She laughed, clearly delighted. "Ah, I wonder how it'll be spun, you marrying your heir."
"The Seraph is the one who inherits if the ruler dies without an heir. Erinys isn't officially the Seraph. Don't say weird things."
"How else should I get revenge for leaving me alone?"
"Ugh…!" Lewyn shook his head, still red to the tips of his ears. "Anyway, I don't remember the infirmary being this far." Claude and I shared an amused look and carefully stepped out. "Did we pass it?"
"Yes, you did," I answered. Lewyn yelped and whirled, before quickly apologizing and fussing over Queen Rahna. "I take it you're coming for the 'later' treatment, Queen Rahna?"
"If it is all right," Queen Rahna replied serenely. Lewyn was still a little flustered. "If you're busy…"
"At the moment, we're just waiting for help removing the ruined furniture." I glanced back inside, and Claude pushed the door a little more open to emphasize the words. "We… might want to actually sit in another room."
"That's fine. Lewyn, be a dear and make sure their request for help didn't get lost, will you?"
I handled tending to Queen Rahna's bruises while Claude directed the helpers Lewyn brought back with him. By the time I had finished, Lex and Azel had swung by to help out as well, moving new furniture in. Chulainn arrived not long afterwards with freshly laundered sheets for the beds, and… well, word got around, so the infirmary became a very lively place with us laughing and joking just as much as we were cleaning.
At some point during the fun, I'd noticed Claude had stepped off to the side. At first, I thought that he had needed a bit of quiet, or that someone had been injured, but he simply stood there and watched us. He watches us laugh, watches us tease, watch us work together perfectly. He watched us with a sad look on his face and an even sadder smile. It wasn't a healer's smile at all, meant to reassure or to blunt bad news. It was the smile of someone whose only other option was to cry.
The Civil War was almost over, but that smile made me feel like the worst was, somehow, yet to come. I didn't like that. I didn't like that at all.
Notes on Claude:
The 25 year old Duke of Edda, head of the Church. Serene and wise, though with a bit of a mischief that makes you think he was once a prankster.
His Holy mark covers his abdomen and parts of his torso
Primarily a healer, though he does have some basics in fighting. It's mostly to just keep patients safe, though. The Blaggi blood gives him a high resistance to magic, though, so mages beware.
Because of his Blaggi blood, he has a keen intuition and even the ability to see the future, though only at Blaggi Tower. He's certainly seen something that shakes him, but he refuses to tell, for whatever reason.
Author's note: Penultimate chapter of Game-Chapter 4, Silesse castle is relatively easy to 'take back' (or, at least, I always found it that way). Claude has no skills, personal or otherwise, much like your other healer, Aideen. Blaggi gives a hefty bonus to resistance (which is, of course, often the lowest growth, especially in earlier Fire Emblem games). Lewyn and Queen Rahna's talk is based on their in-game talk (in game, this is when Lewyn would get Forseti, but he got it earlier). While FE5 makes Lewyn-Erinys canon, in FE4, you are able to pair them with other people. However, Erinys ends up as the Queen of Silesse no matter what in Gen2, so I'm explaining it by the Seraph being in line for the throne, to minimize succession crises. Even though I am doing Lewyn-Erinys.
Next Chapter – God of Wind
