Chapter Seven – The Schemer

Claude von Riegan had a lot going for him. He was handsome, charismatic, and a better leader to Almyra than he had been to the Alliance. But more than anything, that brain of his was a tool like none other, one that I wanted to exploit for what was possibly becoming a new war.

"You mean I have to watch them? By myself?" Hilda asked, staring down at my kids as though they were venomous. I knew she loved Alexi from the moment she first met him, and she had already taken a shine to Katrina. Those two girls were so similar, it was scary. But even I would admit that the prospect of watching both of them by myself was a little… much.

"Nader will be around to help," Claude pointed out, which didn't appear to placate Hilda any.

"But what if I wanted to help you out and get my hands dirty, and now I'm stuck on babysitting duty?" she asked. Dimitri, Claude, and I exchanged a look, and the men burst out laughing.

"When have you wanted to get anything dirty?" Claude quipped.

"Fine." Hilda sighed, reached down, and picked up Katrina. The two stared at each other for a moment before Katrina grabbed a lock of Hilda's bright pink hair and yanked.

I might have been the vessel of The Beginning, but I could see exactly how this would end.

Still, my kids were better off going to Almyra than staying in Fódlan, and I trusted Hilda—and, more importantly, Nader, who I had only ever met twice—to keep them safe. I was sure that the Agarthans didn't want to start anything with the Almyrans by attacking there, so I figured they would be fine there.

Of course, I knew I wouldn't be able to convince Dimitri to stay behind here at Claude's home in Almyra, too. He laughed at me when I told him what I figured out about the Agarthans plans and wanted him to go with the kids. "I would like to see them try to use me as leverage to get to you," he had said.

I didn't agree, but I also couldn't disagree. He was a grown man and could make his own decisions, even if I thought them stupid.

"But I wanted to play with Uncle Claude…" Alexi whined now, grabbing onto my hand and pulling, as if doing this would change my mind.

"You're going to hurt Auntie Hilda's feelings if you say that," I warned.

Hilda, though, simply scoffed, "Oh no. I wanted to play with Uncle Claude, too."

"Think of it like this." Claude knelt down so he was at eye-level with Alexi, and Alexi dropped my hand to grab onto Claude's knees. "You got to spend a whole week with me just recently, didn't you? Your mommy… she didn't get to play with me. Don't you think that's unfair?"

Alexi nodded, but not without a pout.

"And your Aunt Hilda, she didn't get to spend any time with you or Katrina. Don't you think that's unfair?" Claude continued. Alexi nodded again. "Now, I know your mommy and daddy taught you all about fair and unfair. So, how do we make it fair?"

Alexi's brows furrowed as he thought about it. "If…" he began, moving his hands from Claude's knees to the sides of his own face. "If Mommy gets to play with you for a little while, and me and Katrina play with Auntie Hilda for a bit."

Aha. They didn't call Claude the Master Tactician for nothing.

Hilda set Katrina down with a smile. Even she couldn't be frustrated listening to that cuteness.

Katrina hurried on her tiny legs to Claude and launched herself over his back, and he picked her up with one hand around her leg and the other around her arm. The two swung around, and my daughter cackled with laughter. To anyone watching, no one would have suspected anything was the matter. No one would have imagined that I had to say goodbye to my kids for an indefinite period of time, not knowing when or if I would ever see them again.

I held my arms out, and Claude stopped spinning and passed Katrina to me. Dimitri knelt next to Alexi and was whispering something to him. Alexi nodded with wide eyes, as if understanding everything with perfect clarity, even if it was well-beyond him.

I squeezed Katrina into my chest, and she giggled. "Too tight, Mommy!"

"I'm just going to miss you," I told her, rubbing my nose against hers.

Alexi suddenly burst into tears, and Dimitri shot me a panicked look. Whatever he said to our son now hadn't gone over well. The poor boy ran to me and clung to my leg.

"I don't want to go!" he yelled, and I narrowed my eyes at Dimitri.

"You just said three days ago that you wanted to go to Almyra," I reminded my son. He shook his head with his face still pressed against my skin.

I sighed, gesturing for Claude to grab him. He took him by the hand and walked around the room while I narrowed my eyes towards Dimitri.

"What did you just say to him?"

When he got embarrassed, Dimitri's whole face went pink—and not just his face but his ears, too. That was the consequence of his fair skin. And he was currently completely pink. He knew he messed up.

"I just told him that he would need to take care of his sister while we were gone… and that we might not make it back, so he would have to step up and prepare to be king someday, but also realize that we would always be supporting him no matter what."

He spoke so quickly that it took an extra second for all his words to register in my brain. And when they did, I still couldn't quite believe what I heard.

"You… said all that? To a five-year-old?" I snapped, and Dimitri's gaze no longer met mine. "And Alexi? You would've been better telling that to Katrina between the two of them."

"I wish my father would've said that to me before Duscur," Dimitri said softly.

I exhaled to keep myself from getting too worked up. He's your husband, I told myself. You love him dearly. You want him around.

"We're coming back for them," I assured him. Dimitri finally looked me in the eyes again, and I touched my fingers to his cheek.

Claude had calmed Alexi down by the time we walked back over. Hilda was braiding Katrina's hair, telling her all about how the people in Almyra had a tradition with braided locks of hair that symbolized the warrior spirit. Little Katrina would be fine without us. But were something to happen, I did worry about Alexi. He was sensitive. I knew Dimitri just wanted to protect him, to keep him from becoming a monster, and I was afraid, too. The only thing I could guarantee was that Alexi would not be witness to a tragedy if one did occur.

"I think we ought to leave while they're both content," I whispered to Dimitri, and he nodded.

"Katrina, Alexi," Dimitri called. The two perked up at the sound of their father's voice, and they ran over to us. Katrina's braid was only half done, but it didn't bother her any that it started to fall apart as she ran. "You two will be good for Aunt Hilda, won't you? You'll be kind to each other?"

"Yes, Daddy," Alexi said while Katrina held her thumbs up.

"I love you both so much." Dimitri sat on the marbled floor, which was perhaps unbecoming for a king, but when he pulled both of his children into his chest, he was no king, anyway. He was just a father who would miss his kids.

They stayed that way for nearly a minute before Dimitri loosened his grip on their heads and kissed them both on their foreheads. "Now go say goodbye to your mother."

Alexi and Katrina darted for me, nearly knocking me over as they wrapped themselves around my legs. I managed to sit, too, without crushing them, and Alexi curled himself onto my lap while Katrina knelt in front of me with her tiny hands on my legs.

"If you need anything while you're here, go to Nader, okay?" I told them. They looked confused for a moment and glanced over their shoulders at Hilda. "And make sure to eat your vegetables. Take your baths. Listen to what Aunt Hilda tells you. But not too much. Be sure to help out. If Aunt Hilda tells you that you don't have to clean your rooms while you're here, she's wrong. You need to clean your rooms."

"Mommy," Katrina whined, and I ruffled her hair.

"I love you," I said, and kissed their foreheads just like Dimitri did. Katrina immediately wiped it off, but I took no offense. "Be good."

"I love you, Mommy. I love you, Daddy," Alexi whimpered, his lip jutting out again as he began to cry once more. I lifted him off my lap and stood, ushering him towards Hilda.

"Auntie Hilda's going to show you your rooms, okay? Be good!" I watched as Hilda grabbed their hands and began to walk away with them. Dimitri walked over to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders as we stared at their retreating forms.

They disappeared around the corner, and I curled into Dimitri. "Are we doing the right thing?" I asked.

He leaned his cheek against my hair. "I hope so."

"Aw, you two saps worry too much." Claude stepped in front of us and grinned. I almost forgot he was still here, which was hard given that we were in his castle. It had been ages since I'd been to Almyra, and it was never any less impressive than the last time.

Dimitri let go of me and took a small step away. He was always a little self-conscious when Claude was around, probably because the latter liked to poke fun at our relationship.

"Hilda may seem totally incompetent, but she's only slightly incompetent," Claude told us.

"How reassuring," Dimitri muttered under his breath.

"And so kind to say of your wife," I added.

"Like I said, Nader will be around, and Judith is also going to be taking up residence here while I'm in Fódlan with you two. As long as your little cherubs are fed, they should be fine. There will be no shortage of protection here for them, anyway, that's for sure," Claude said, which actually did reassure me a little. I trusted Judith's military judgment. If something did happen, she could take care of things.

"Speaking of," he continued. "Should we hit the road?"

Our visit to Almyra was strictly to deliver the kids. It looked less suspicious this way. Dimitri and I were just two parents dropping their kids off for a visit, and we would be returning home all in a day's time. If the Almyran king and queen came to us instead and left with the royal prince and princess, it would look as if something was going on. No, things were better this way.

I never expected Claude to join us on the trip back, though. "I can't get involved visibly," he had said. "The Almyran people would lose their minds if they thought I was officially getting involved in Fódlan business. But I certainly can't leave Teach to face some baddies on her own."

So, he agreed to take a backseat role. He would join us in Fódlan, but he wouldn't actually partake in the fighting. He would serve expressly as our tactician and come up with plenty of schemes for us to lure out the Agarthans without involving too much fighting. I doubt he would admit it, but I had a feeling he was excited for the thrill of testing out new schemes again.

We had the help of the church and the brains of Almyra, so I felt secure enough right now. But there was no time to talk shop before returning to Fódlan. Our wyverns flew as fast as their wings could go, but even so, we made it back under the midnight starry sky, far too late for an official war council meeting.

Instead, Dimitri poured each of us a glass of his finest liquor so we could hold one unofficially, and we three settled in front of the fireplace in the sitting room. I admitted I was still on edge after that man attacked me in my own home, and I was hesitant to speak aloud of our plans when I knew he was probably watching.

Still, I was hyper-aware now, and I felt pretty secure at the moment. The alcohol might have helped with that.

"What are you thinking, Claude?" I asked.

He smiled at me and downed the entirety of his drink in a single sip. "No time for pleasantries, eh, Teach?"

"It was a long flight, and I'm tired," I told him.

"And worried?" he added.

The guy never changed. He always wanted to know everything.

"Just about Alexi and Katrina," I clarified. "I know we'll figure this part of it out. We always do."

He grabbed the bottle of liquor from the little table beside us and poured his glass full. Dimitri, whose glass was not even empty yet, held his out for more. I sighed, watching the boys pour, and decided to hold my glass out, too. Claude, based on his smug smile, seemed pleased.

"On the count of three?" he offered. I rolled my eyes but did not object. "One… two… three."

We each downed our overfilled glasses. The drink was bitter and burned on the way down. Ah. A pleasure we rarely indulged in. During the war, alcohol was expensive, and everyone hoarded their fill of it. Now, old habits died hard, and we continued to save it almost exclusively for special occasions.

And I supposed this was special enough.

A pleasant side effect was that Dimitri slept like a baby every time he got the slightest bit tipsy. So even if he couldn't enjoy the taste of it, at least he could enjoy the buzz.

Claude filled our glasses again, but we didn't throw them back immediately this time. He swirled his in his glass, watching the amber whirlpool settle when he set it back down on the floor beside him.

"It would be suspicious if you handed yourself over to them now, especially after sending your kids away. The way it looks now, you're preparing for risk—so just going in and surrendering wouldn't make sense. But," he held up a hand to stop me from saying anything, even though I wasn't going to, "if they need you, they can have you."

Dimitri drank from his glass again. "I don't like it."

"Obviously, but you're not the target here, are you?" Claude's tone was curt, and Dimitri looked away from him with a scowl. "Listen, they've had two opportunities to take Teach and go, but they didn't either time. Why?"

"They want me to come to them. Whatever it is they want with me. They need me not to struggle," I suggested. It was the thought I had before, the whole reason I went to Claude to begin with. I wasn't expecting him to reply to my request for help with the kids and a simple idea with an enlistment into this conflict. But things would certainly be easier with him around.

"Exactly. And what better leverage than your darling husband?"

Dimitri nearly choked on his current sip of his drink. "What?" he spluttered.

"No." I patted Dimitri on the back as he continued to cough. "I'm not putting him in unnecessary danger."

"It's not unnecessary. Would you prefer that the Agarthans blow up more of Fódlan?" Claude eyed me carefully, knowing that his questions led to dangerous territory. "They won't kill him."

"You don't know that. They eliminated my father when they thought he might get in the way of their plans during the last war. Who's saying that they won't kill Dimitri because he might get in the way? They have other ways of manipulating me, I'm sure," I said. I already had to give up my kids. I wasn't exactly warm to the idea of putting my husband directly into the arms of the enemy.

Dimitri put his hand over mine. "Let us hear what Claude intends first."

"I will not budge," I warned him, yanking my hand out from underneath his and grabbing my drink instead. I took a generous sip.

"Oh, you just might."

Claude… always so sure of himself. Sometimes I loved him, and other times…

"You've indicated that Seteth has already sent out a team looking for the Agarthans, correct?" Claude asked, and I responded with a single nod. "That's the church's movement, you could argue. The rebels who attacked in Hrym were eliminated by the javelin of light—a single, decisive action that ended whatever conflict was going on there. To the average citizens who doesn't know about the Agarthans and Nabateans, it seems a little suspicious, doesn't it? That there was a conflict, and the conflict ended by destroying the whole region and the Knights of Seiros who were there trying to help?"

"Do we release a statement telling everyone who did it, then?" I asked. "Rumors are going to start spreading."

Claude got a gleam in his eyes. "No, that's exactly what we want to happen. Who would be against both rebellion and the church?"

My gaze shifted to Dimitri's, and we both shook our heads at each other. "No… that doesn't make sense," I said.

"And why not? Everyone thinks you're just married for political reasons, anyway." Claude shifted, moving to sit on his knees as he got more into his idea. He enjoyed scheming a little too much sometimes, but at least there was no poison involved… yet. "The people see the two of you and see a marriage between church and state. And good ol' 'state' is always vying for political control from the church, isn't it? It's not exactly a harmonious union. The church is seeking power, and the state wants it back."

"Okay. But then isn't there a contradiction? You said the Agarthans would want to use him as leverage. If I was only married for political purposes, why would I care if they took him?" I quickly added, "But I would care, of course."

"Because it's all about perception." Claude was really building this up, getting more and more animated with every word. "The public perception is that it looks like the Fódlan government was the culprit of the attack. And if left without correction, that rumor would perpetuate and cause distrust between the citizens and the government. So, what better way to correct that perception than fighting back alongside the church?"

Was it the heat of the flame in the fireplace that brought a light sweat to my forehead? The alcohol?

"And the Agarthans?" Dimitri asked.

"Given that the queen of Fódlan is the target, it makes sense for the king to take up the frontlines in defense. Dimitri will take a small troop down to Hrym. It's the only lead you have," Claude continued. "Dimitri goes, the Agarthans follow, and they've got their leverage. What they don't know is that he'll be tracked. So, not only will we decipher their location and keep His Kingliness safe, but we will also be able prepare ahead of time for when you work out your exchange. A two-part plan: get Dimitri in, then get Teach in."

I would feel better if I knew Dimitri was safe and if I knew where he was. "How do you propose we track Dimitri without them knowing?"

Claude reached over to the bottle, forgoing the once again empty glass in front of him altogether and taking a swig from the bottle. There wasn't much left, but he held it out to me when he finished with his drink. After all the closeness of war, I had no issues drinking out of the same bottle as him, and I followed suit.

Dimitri was more hesitant. But there were some things, after having kids, that just weren't that gross anymore. So, he drank straight from the bottle, too.

"We need a mage." Claude reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter he already had addressed to a familiar name. "And I think you happen to know one who teaches at the Royal School of Sorcery in Fhirdiad."


Author's Note: Prior to writing this, I literally had not written in months. Probably… at least six months? So now I write, and I feel like it's so much harder for me. But it's a pleasant enough feeling to at least get some words out, even if it's not my best. I'm certainly out of practice. Hopefully you all enjoy the story regardless of my difficulties in producing something that actually contains decent writing.