Alexander relaxed a bit as he sorted through the documents given to him, his stature that of a recluse, but it was well worth it as two months had passed and his role as the Shepherd Tactician was still valid, just he also had reign over the military branch of Ylisse, building it up carefully for the long healing to come, Phila being one such broken woman who frequented his estate to ease her mind and his presence with the Shepherds was one that she needed direly, Emmeryn was hers and she lost her within moments, the story told to her the events of the gate, how Emm gave her life to prevent the Emblem from falling into Gangrel's hands, how the Risen were conjured up without method, and how all of Plegia witnessed the judgement of a god-like being on their king, snapping them out of that murderous desire with Emm's parting words. It didn't finish there as his guest soon arrived and he went about organizing them into a force without peer, members dispatched across the province to ensure that nothing went amiss and also deal with the Risen, should they attack.
Alex nodded solemnly as he remembered their reaction to the Risen summoned through a Reeking Box, pure terror and horror, even the toughened bandits looked like mewling kittens in fear to the shambling and horrifying monsters of the Risen. He guided them through the conflict, a short battle with lesser Risen in a location that would pose the least threat and away from the minor villages and major towns, but they were stricken with that terror that he felt that he regretted showing them an evil beyond what they ever did, an evil that only wished for death to others without reason. His thoughts stopped as the door to the study opened and Barlowe entered, the first among them to do so as he walked in and spoke.
"Captain Barlowe... Reporting for duty, Sir." He stood at attention, but Alex motioned him to ease as he spoke.
"You are at ease, tell me what's on your mind, since you are the first among the Marauders to speak to me now." Barlowe nodded as he cleared his throat.
"I'll get straight to the point..." He looked to the side before facing forward again. "With all due respect, was it wise to have us fight those... things?" Alex hummed before he stood up, stepping around as he answered.
"Truth be told, I could have just had the Marauders fight raiding thugs and conniving thieves to keep their senses sharp, but that wouldn't have happened in the least." His hand smoothed over the wood in its gloved confines, new and modified gloves that could absorb and use the magic with the same enchants as his coat. "The Risen are a threat, one far worse than what man can do, bandits raid, steal, and kill, but the Risen... they are beasts, monsters who hold no sense of being, no meaning of life, no mission other than death." He looked to Barlowe as he continued. "When all is said and done, to have us fight those things is a blessing, to learn how to fight them makes us stronger, bandits will run and cower, but Risen foes are brutal, care not for loss if only they can kill those that they can find, villages and towns would be at a far greater risk if I didn't show all of you what the Risen are capable of doing or what they look like." He sighed as he removed his hand, resting it to his side. "I meant no dishonor or disrespect to you or the men and women that came to learn from me, but I had faced the Risen early on before Plegia started its war, they wandered the land in mindless regard in both Ylisse and Regna Ferox, later reports would tell me that Plegia itself was facing the same threat, despite what Aversa, the High Sorceress, was able to do."
Barlowe nodded as it was true, Plegia, doing the war and after, had an influx of Risen in its borders, the Shepherds arriving saved a number of towns, but now that Plegia was unguarded in parts, the Risen have been sweeping through, razing and killing as they sought for death, the border guard and militia having little ability in killing the creatures easily, even bandits groups were wiped out before long.
"Aye, I agree to that, I personally have never faced the Risen or seen them beforehand, not until the Exalt's... death." He hung his head as he spoke. "I apologize for that, but it was the focal point for us to see the monsters and the beast in charge."
"All is fine, Barlowe, it is the Exalt who grieves the most." The Mercenary nodded as Alexander continued, rounding back and seating as he spoke. "Now, it was unwise of me to send you all to fight the Risen without proper understanding of the foe, so I have chosen to engage in the endeavor myself, fifteen of those groups at best." Barlowe nearly shouted in horror to the amount that Alex was interested in fighting, but his hand raised as he spoke. "A dire threat, I agree, but I have to make it up to all of you while you and the others handles security in this province of Emmul and Themis, I have reports of bandits terrorizing the lands on the outskirts and I wish for them to be stamped out, my only restriction is no killing, these moves are too precise to be just bandits, someone is guiding them and I wish the Marauders to look into it, is that clear?" Barlowe breathed before he answered.
"I can't follow that order, the Shepherds will know about it when the order goes out, but I own you a debt, one that I have chosen to fulfill as your personal bodyguard, you don't have to pay us anything for your lessons."
"But I feel like I had betrayed you, I must make it right in someway for my lack of guidance this time." Alexander scribed out a message and handed it to Barlowe. "Fredrick of the Exalt's Guard will be coming here shortly, I need you to give this to him, it has guidelines and measures that must be taken before I return." Before Barlowe could object, he found the paper changing hands and Alexander walking past before he recovered and sought to shout, but the young lord was long gone, Barlowe breathing as he mused.
"Guy's got a loyalty complex, not sure if it will save him or kill him..." He looked at the list and his eyes widened, he wants WHAT from the Exalt?!
Alexander wasn't sure about how he would make it up with the Marauders, as he and themselves have started to call them, but he was not turned away as he continued, his horse trotting into the frozen terrain of Regna Ferox before he came to a halt as a large group of people rested at the side of the road side and he trotted up to them as the lead merchant spoke, dressing the wound of a severely wounded soldier. "Blast... It seems all hope is lost. Still, hold fast. I'll treat your wounds..." The soldier groaned as he spoke, his hand lightly gripping the man's wrist.
"Ngh... It's t-too late..." He coughed some and passed out, meaning that he was on a limited clock as Alexander spoke, addressing the merchant.
"What has happened here?" The man stood up as another dressed the wound, doing their best to keep him living and he was on that limited amount unless there is a village close by and he received better aid.
"Nothing but death ahead, traveler. I'd turn back if I were you... Whatever your business here, it will have to wait." Alexander shook his head as he rubbed the horse's neck and asked again.
"Just tell me what happened." The man held a remorseful look as he spoke, motioning with hands as he explained it out.
"Bandits have blocked the road ahead. They're demanding a king's ransom in illicit tolls for all who wish to pass." Alexander hummed as he looked forward, the distance great, but he could tell the appearance of bandits.
"They think to profiteer on refugees? Deplorable." Alexander looked again to the members and they looked to be from Ylisse, maybe a small band that thought to run when Emm perished.
"Our caravan's livelihood is at stake. We'll do no business in this country now..." The tactician shook his head as he answered.
"The flow of goods will be secured, even by my hand." He reigned his horse as he headed forward. "You and your caravan can wait here. I will let you know when it's safe." The man did not stop him and Alexander held to his faith in strength and will that the bandits spotted him, but quickly were drawn to fear as he came to a halt. "If you value your lives deeply, then you will open the road to all, else I will ensure that all that will remain are ashes in the frost." He stared with hollow eyes and the bandits started to back up before they attempted to surge back as he jumped off, but they were not prepared as he blasted two, their bodies dropping with hole in opposite sides and he stepped toward them, over the dead, as he spoke. "Anyone else wishing to share in their fates?"
"W-W-We ain't s-scared of you, we were charged..." Alexander huffed and the bandits flinched as he looked at them again.
"I will not kill if I choose it, but if you don't give in and tell me so I can keep the lines straight, we will have trouble and dare I ask if the Khans are EVEN aware of this, I have seen Basilio and he has ALL the time in the world to purge his home of bandits." At this, they straightened up in fear, Alex himself not needing anymore to say as his gaze was strong enough to send them scrambling away as he pressed on, halting only once when he spied a red-haired female merchant in Trickster attire, being cornered by more of the bandits that he merely sighed to their behavior, opening a odd tome and spoke before he disappeared, appearing behind the merchant, her eyes widening to the presence of this new figure as he spoke, the tome closing. "Do not doubt my intentions here, Secret Seller Anna, I come as a friend and ally, but drive too hard a bargain and I am willing to let you fend for yourself in this cold world." Anna laughed a bit as Alexander's steel was drawn.
"Are you hitting on me?"
"None of the sort, sadly, I have a long way before I call any my love." Alexander finished up with a smile. "Beside, this is business to you, now let us cut prices and thugs in half." Another laugh left Anna's lips as the pair engaged in combat, the bandits not holding on as the village provided a powerful staff that could mend the condition of weapons, be they steel or page, a welcome addition to the priest and cleric as they finished up and killed their standing leader, a Berserker named Victor, and the roads cleared up to Alexander's aid and the convoy leader bowed in thanks as he spoke.
"A thousand thanks, good sir." The man bowed and the solder looked a lot better with the aid of the villagers there. "I'd feared our goods would spoil before reaching market. I'm certain the townsfolk will be happier for the fresh food as well." Alexander nodded as the man left and he received a solid slam to the back as Anna spoke next.
"It seems you've done a kindness to my fellow merchants." The red-haired woman smiled as the tactician straightened up as she went into introduction. "The name's Anna. Some folks like to call me the Secret Seller. Next time we meet, I'll be sure to cut you an extra-special deal."
"I will only pray that such a day never comes, any merchant with the name of Anna clearly has OTHER plans in mind." Alex commented with a smile, not even sure how he actually knew of Anna beforehand, but she was not too put off as she shrugged.
"Can't say I didn't try, but still keep a girl's heart open, she has to keep her charm up somehow." Alex rolled his eyes as Anna lifted her gear and headed off, waving farewell as she shouted. "Until next time, happy shopping, and may the gods of the open road keep you!" He waved back as Amirg appeared and surged to the right as he questioned.
"I will be blunt, are we sure to trust someone called 'Anna' like that?"
"Certainly, it is by the small measure of observation in history that one will always find an Anna, a guide, a shopkeeper, or just a remarkable ally, they have been through time itself and bore witness to events of history foretold, like the rise of Elincia and the young ranger Ike, the legend of Lyndis and her friends, even that of Marth himself and his hidden friend in the shadows of history." Amirg gave the notion of shrugging as Alex mounted up once more and they continued, the hefty packs on the mount giving a sense of dread in both person and animal, but Alexander was turned as he halted a distance from the village and pulled out the first of many in the packs, a ancient box that was cracked open to black fumes surging out and he smiled as the unearthly dead arose and stumbled toward him as he dismounted. "Now then, Amirg, let us test ourselves upon these foes, I am willing to test my own endurance and will, do you accept?"
"By the breath of man's despair and the song of the maiden goddess, may my strength find value." By sword and magic, Alexander struck, fending his foes to his tone and using the skills that he believed true, the technique of Mercenaries and a hidden loot of Barbarians, as he fought off those horrors and came out the better...
Barlowe didn't mince his own understanding of the issues provided and his instructions and learning was on par as well, the brigands on the outskirts were operating like a unit, they were not doing the deeds by accident, they were hitting a number of towns and villages that found homage in Emmul and Themis, in areas that would be impossible to deal with for the roaming or private guards of the lords and ladies, too bad for them, the Marauders were more than just 'common' as he reviewed the battle logs, though he was not ready for the feuding lords that sought out to take Emmul, stating that Alexander was unfit to rule as he rested the sheet down and huffed. "If you have any complaints about my lord's power and authority, then you must take it up with the Exalt, he is the one who gave the land and role to him and it should be by the Exalt's own command to take it away." Ylissian politics were just a list of spanning wants, desires, and interests, some even wanting a war to continue, a thought that both angered and scared Barlowe as the first lord shouted in rage.
"And what do you claim to know, Plegian, you and your vile filth will not be allowed in our lands!"
"You have the audacity to say that the moronic tactician had ALLOWED your kind in our borders, you dare to even speak in our presence!" Barlowe groaned as he was not versed in handling this issue, he was meant to be on the frontlines, but here he was, listening to a bundle of blunder mouths as they continued. "Why, if I was in charge, I would have..."
"You would have what, exactly?" A new voice joined as the tactician returned, his brow frowned as servants rushed about in panic as he entered fully with the large doors to the boardroom closing like a silent omen. "Please... DO go on, don't leave me in the dark for too long before I start to poke." The lords quickly backed up as Alexander approached Barlowe and took up the sheet offered, the bodyguard standing up and moving to the side as Alexander peered over the documents before he lowered it. "Well...?" None wanted to speak and it made it more terrifying when the room started to endure a sudden frost. "I am waiting, do finish your sentence." The peered lord cleared his throat as he continued his threat.
"If I was in charge, I would have exiled each one of these Plegian filth back home and razed it all to the ground!" Barlowe nearly sneered, but Alexander's words were more cutthroat as his eyes slightly glowed from brown.
"So, you are telling me that you would risk a political matter just to attack Plegian members on the grounds that 'their filth is not allowed in our country' while mere villages and towns SUFFER from the threat and attack of Risen, horrors that YOU and all of the other lords in here have done NOTHING about!?" They visibly backed up as Alexander stood back up and stared, his eyes seemingly like the demons from Magvelian legend were ready to strike. "If any of you, ANY of you, return back to this place and dare to accuse me of conspiracy and treason when you have done NOTHING, I will not pause in judgement, even for those souls who believe themselves 'righteous' in the Warren Hunts." This tipped the scales SEVERELY to Alexander as the lords were quick in trembling out, some dropping and tumbling as they scattered in fear, Alex sitting back down as he breathed and smiled. "My, that felt most relaxing, I had a lot of bent-up rage flowing into my soul that it was just unbearable in the end."
"Um... Milord?" Barlowe inquired as Alexander just smiled as he continued to read over the documents.
"Don't worry, Barlowe, the Marauder's cut is in the barracks, go tend to it while I see if I can fix this matter of bandit." Barlowe raised a finger before he lightly shrugged, leaving Alex alone as he read through, finding key words here and there that helped to isolate a reason for the bandits.
The main motive was in the form of money, but not in the minor amounts for hired hands, there was at least a good thousand to five offered up by a unknown client to cause conflict and issues on the borders, one fact unaccounted for was the Risen, some of the bandit groups were wiped out and some of the villages suffer major damages before the town guard and private reserves could drive them out, but just barely. The only places that suffer less than most were the areas that the Marauders had been posted, showing that they faced the monsters and slain them with ease, minor numbers show that they took some beating, but no one was fallen in the battles as he heard the door knocked and a guard spoke up.
"Milord, Mrs. and Mr. Themis have arrived for your aid." There was a sharp thud, but Alexander rolled his eyes as he spoke, putting the sheets down.
"Please come in and, Ms. Themis, I would like it if you DIDN'T attack my hands." The doors swung open and Alexander straightened up to Maribelle and Gaius entering, the thief sporting a few bruises and a glance to the guard yielded that his helm was slightly bent from the hit of something strong, Maribelle's face a glow as Alex huffed and rested his arms on the table, chin resting as he spoke. "Now, now, Maribelle, whatever your issue may be with Gaius at this present time, you know better than to bring a half-beaten man before me, it is not noble..."
"Well... yes, but this... that is... there is a reason..." Maribelle stammered a bit so Alexander turned his focus to Gaius who cleared his throat, removing the sweet from his mouth as he answered.
"Twinkles is looking for some info on the guys that had it out for her dad and put me up to the deed, so I thought that you could help out and give some additional insight on it, Bubbles." Alex nodded as he sorted through his documents and answered.
"Ah, yes, despite the fools that think that I am easy to please or control, I have managed to compiled a SIZABLE collection of details that will make the eager of scholars falter in a swift faint." Alexander looked through the piles of tomes and books that littered his desk before standing up once more and started to search the back-wall. "I had titled it with a childish name so that, if anyone was looking for pay dirt on their rivals and foes, they would lose sight of it before long and... here it is...!" Without any further word, Alexander slammed a hefty, five-volume collection of books and Maribelle looked through with surprise and shock before Alex sat down and tapped on the wood, a number of servants rushing over as he spoke. "Do help these two with the copies, I apologize for..."
"N-No need, Milord, we are loyal to your commands!" One male spoke as all bowed and quickly started to load the hefty amount from the table, some aiding in sorting the files and documents to clear up space as Maribelle sighed and spoke, Alexander listening as the duke's daughter spoke.
"I am in your debt, Gaius." Gaius raised a brow, forgoing his wounded image as he inquired.
"You are?"
"Yes. I wrote down everything you told me and sent it to my father. Now he will be able to turn the tables on the dastards who plotted against him, especially with these documents provided by our faithful tactician." Alexander just shrugged as the two were in their own little chat.
"Well, I... I hope it works out for him." Gaius looked unnerved, perhaps having explained the whole thing to the noble, the thief once asked for back up from Alexander on something that he COULD be in deep with.
"If it does, it will be thanks to your willingness to tell the truth. So again, thank you."
"Don't thank me, Twinkles." Gaius tapped his boot in the wood as he rubbed his neck, sweet back in. "I don't deserve it. It was a cowardly thing I did, and a day doesn't go by that I haven't regretted it. I even sent a letter after the trial, but too little, too late, I reckon." Maribelle visibly took a step back in shock, Alex himself surprised that the thief had made and sent a letter about the issue itself, he could have been put into a lot of trouble, but Maribelle was quicker as she seemingly squeak, a fact that Alex kept to himself.
"Wait, that was you?! That letter rescued my father from the headsman's axe!"
"I'm pleased to hear it. But I should have done more."
"Gaius, you saved my father's life!" She grimaced a little as she continued, but she pressed on. "Admittedly, your actions put him in danger in the first place... But still! You wrote that letter, knowing the schemers would try to hunt you down!" To this, Gaius shrugged as he answered.
"That wasn't a worry. I'm pretty good at running away from things." Maribelle looked down as she draw back into place as she spoke.
"I've been very unfair toward you, Gaius. I spoke before I knew all the facts."
"Hey, I'm the one who broke into your royal treasury." Gaius paused before he finished. "...Twice."
"Thief you may be, but you are more honest than half the so-called nobles I know." A fine thing to say, even Alex found some peace in it, though it was not directed at him, but Maribelle was not done as she hummed before adding more. "But, there is still one thing you haven't told me... When the plotters secured your testimony, who did they threaten? It must be someone important to you." Gaius froze before he looked to the side, a touchy part of the subject, but one he came forward with for the duke's daughter.
"Nope. I'd never met her. Never even saw her, in fact. All I knew is that she was a young girl who didn't deserve to die." He looked to the ceiling for a moment before looking back down. "Even if it meant sending her father off to swing." The parasol dropped as Maribelle was speechless, Alexander was too, but he kept his jaw closed as the young woman spoke.
"W-wait. Those blackguard nobles threatened to kill ME?!"
"Yep." Instead of taking the parasol from Gaius when he collected it from the floor in his single word, she held her hands together as she collected the facts in her mind, though it was a lot.
"You testified against Father to save my life..."
"Seemed the best option of a bad lot at the time. And now that I know you, I'd make the same decision a dozen times over." She lightly took the parasol and both headed out, the sound of a horse and carriage went about and Alexander returned to his daily sort, pausing for a moment before he looked forward again, his brow frowned before he turned to the side and glanced, focusing before he spotted it, the armor forming into reality once more in its orange glory and its silent user coming close, the silence now shattered to the arrival of Kellam and Alexander sighed a little.
"Kellam, what are you doing here, what's the issue?"
"Well, it's up at the castle, it's Tharja." Alex grimaced to the sound as Kellam continued. "She was... gleefully laughing and giggling and zoomed right past me, shutting the door to the barracks kitchen before I could get in and see what she was up to, even triple-bolted it."
"Well... that sounds... rather ominous, let me see what she is up to..." Alexander mused as he put the papers away that he was looking over and strode forward, his horse still there and it reacted to his presence just as quickly as he mounted up, the servants bidding him farewell as he made before the outskirts of Ylisstol with standing orders to evict any noble that did not have his seal of approval to enter...
Just as quickly as Alexander made it, he straightened himself out and eased the horse to a peace, a soldier coming to handle the horse as he made for the kitchen, Amirg speaking as he formed in invisible figure. "This could be dangerous, she has been quiet for some time, she may be gunning for someone in the castle or otherwise."
"The thought crossed my mind, but she has been left alone and she has done nothing." Alex mused as his gloved hand rested on the door, its texture still solid despite the magic use he had utilized, normal gloves would have slightly singed. "I am just hoping that she isn't wanting someone's throat right now, her behavior is that of a powerful and anti-social dark mage."
"Be careful, I will be ready on a moment's notice." Alex agreed as he pushed, the locks undone and he ventured in, looking about to the sunlight streaming through the windows and closed shutters and headed into the kitchen area, the sound and smell of baking filling his senses that he was swiftly wary as to what Tharja was actually doing, taking a seat close to the kitchen and moved as he heard the wooden door open with its creak.
"Okay, Tharja, what are..." Any more words were lost quickly as Tharja came out, but with a serious twist. She was still wearing the tiara and heels of her attire, but that is where the familiars ended as she was dressed in a bright white sundress, covering her body with ease, under a apron that had suffered bouts of flour and other things and her face, instead of the normal scowl or frown, was alight with a glowing smile as she spoke, a pie in hand as she motioned with a hand in a wave.
"Why good day, Alex! How fare you? Enjoying this weather?" Alex was SOOOO confused as to the change, even Amirg was like '...Whut' so he found his words, but they were not too there as he asked.
"...Tharja? What are you doing?"
"What, me?" She then laughed with a radiant voice, what has happened and where is the real Tharja right now? "Whatever do you mean. Just a normal greeting on a typical day." She crept closer as she inquired, not the sort of thing that she would normally say or do as she maintained a distance in a moderate fashion. "...Why? Are you concerned for my welfare, good sir?"
"Um, well..." Alexander kicked himself, was he worried? Yes, he was worried that she was aiming to hex someone, but that was the negative thoughts about the dark arts going, he was just concerned that she was still... hurting in a way. "I suppose, in a way."
"You ARE?! Why, how sweeeeeet!" Her glee was terrifying, but he corrected himself as he asked, the pie being set on the table and a number of utensils laid on the wooden frame from a few of the apron's made pockets.
"Actually, I'm more concerned about whatever you're planning for me." Alex didn't say anything else as it seems like the whole place was under the impression that she was up to something and soldiers have been later rather... ill in her heated presence.
"Of course I have a plan for you, silly-billy!" The tactician grimaced as Tharja continued. "Now close your eyes, and get ready for..." He braced for something and Amirg was ready as Tharja showed off the pie. "A slice of liver-and-eel pie!" Both spirit and man stopped in tension with Amirg just going 'Whut' again, something that really shocked the fell dragon clearly was this turn of Tharja. "That's your favorite, correct? Oh, I do so adore baking..." He had some inkling of liver-and-eel pie and always hovered over it for a moment, something about it when it was made was like a lure to him and he enjoyed the pie itself, but it was not ringing home right there.
Alex took the moment to ask as he was worried that her change was first based on magic, if not anything physical. "...Are you SURE you're all right, Tharja? You didn't eat anything strange, did you?" A slice yielded to a shake of the head. "Miscast a hex?" Again, there was a no, so Alex asked if it was something SO common. "Hit your head on a rock?" He nearly facepalmed himself, having a personality turn from a rock hit, that would REALLY be abnormal and she seemed perfectly fine for the most part.
Tharja answered with a laugh as she just remarked. "Goodness me! Such an imagination you have, good sir. I'm sure I wouldn't know anything about anything strange, much less eat it!" She hummed as she continued. "Just a typical day for a typical girl here."
Alexander didn't frown, more like think back to the last time they talked, he must have said something that could have changed her mind. "This is about our conversation from before, isn't it?"
"Don't be silly. Now have some pie!"
"Look, I don't want—" She shoved the piece in and he found himself pausing as he ate it, nothing forcefully to it and his mind cleared up somehow, granting him a vision of a silver-haired woman, beautiful and wonderful, moments of his life that he found... rather peacefully and good, her arms wrapped around as he was fearful toward Amirg, her warm hugs when he was scared, and her mentoring when he and Christian listened and learned about religion. The vision ceased as he cleared his throat, the taste wonderful, but he would have to deal with that flash later. "...Actually, that's delicious."
"Oh, huzzah! I've been working on the recipe every day after normal practice!" Both went with a mental 'Ahhh...', now the root of the change was exposed and Alexander choose to deal with it.
"'Normal practice'...? You mean you've been practicing being normal?"
"Indeed! And it worked! I'm perfectly normal now!" She chuckled a little as she continued. "My yes, so typically normally plain."
"Do you realize that your 'typical normal' is actually very, very unusual?" Alex raised a brow and this caught Tharja as she fumbled with her fingers on the issue.
"Oh my, huzzah?" She was now trapped, caught in the act by Alex as she stood up and paced a bit. "Goodness, I simply must... something?"
Alexander himself didn't waste the chance as he stood up as well. "Tharja, I'm sorry about what I said before." He reached out, halting her in place and directing her gaze to him as he reached down to the waist and undid the lower tie of the apron. "You shouldn't have listened to me." He then reached up and undid the upper tie, causing the apron to fall, but that was dismissed for now as he pulled her in for a small hug. "I liked you more the way you were, so can you go back to being the old Tharja?" The fingers dug in, but not too hard as she was trembling in his arms.
"Gracious, I... I have been practicing so diligently as of late, I'm not sure I can stop!" She relaxed a bit as he ran a hand through her hair, careful to not touch the tiara as he spoke.
"Well, let's start with some questions, I would like to hear your reasoning about it." Without any motion of pushing her outside, he seated her down and resumed his spot. "Now, tell me about this normal practice and when did you come up with the thought?"
Tharja huffed as she rubbed her hands in the dress, shadowed eyes glaring at the look like she didn't quite adjust to it. "It... occurred well into a month of the war, you just seemed so... pleased with everyone, even before you became a lord of Emmul, a... nice name for the province, that I felt like I needed to change in some way and your words came a thought, I couldn't be the usual... me, I had to... be more normal, more average."
"Yeah, those words were haunting me to be honest." She spared a glance as Alex continued, munching on pieces of the pies, but not to the same effect as the first. "Romance... was not on my mind around that time and I was suddenly thrusted right back in, every day after the war, I was reminded that in my own lack of understanding something beyond my belief, I ended up not taking into account what happened at the gate and it occurred." He sighed as he paused once more, swallowing the current piece. "No one will say it because I was the Tactician who lead the Shepherds to victory against Gangrel, but deep down, I felt lost, confused and your... rather sudden proclamation threw me further into a loop." He straightened up as Tharja slightly nodded. "Did I see myself as normal, did I wish for a normal life, that answer was impossible to be sure of and even now... I am lost in that tide."
"Ah... So, you WERE thinking about it, but not certain?"
"Yeah..." Alexander mused as his feelings were misted now, did he like her or love her, how he wished to know about it through the idol, never mind his flashes of a past life. "...I mean, can you see me as a normal man after my skills of tactics, my absent sense of romance, or my own failings to understand some things?"
"It has been... that troubling, if I may be honest." Alex spared a glance himself as Tharja straightened up and mused, resting her arms on the table and looking at him. "You are not too forthcoming with your thoughts, you are a closed book of secrets and I want to know you more, you are clearly hiding something deeper than before and I want to know, but my heart... came first than my mind, I wanted to appeal to your physical senses, not diving in to expose what was on your mind." She pulled out a fork, stabbing a piece, and looking at it with some disinterest. "So this 'normal practice' helped me focus on the physical want, like food and clothing, I drew knowledge from watching the other women and gathering what I know, I even asked for aid from... the Queen." She groaned a bit as her forehead touched the wood and Alex shifted to face his body fully toward her as he asked.
"Sumia's sense of tripping?"
"Yeeeeesssss..." Tharja groaned as she continued. "She was excellent, she was the best as I learned how to do some many different sweets and treats, but her accidents in the kitchen, her own narrow-minded absence of understanding my situation just drove me to such frustrations that I couldn't just stop thinking that I can just as well remedy her trips and accidents, she is so ditzy at times, she even brought a novel to the kitchen once and nearly added it to the recipe." Alex knew the idea, she would be so drawn in that she may have forgotten what she was going to do and even went off on a book rant that her staff and fellow members would be clueless to what she was even doing. This silence and thought was broken when Tharja ate the piece and perked up in awe as she commented. "Whoa, that was a rush, what a treat!"
"Of course it is, it is just different for different people." Tharja glowed red as she sat back down in silence, but Alexander was not done. "Though, if you were really trying to appeal to my senses, you could have asked Chrom, Lissa, Christian, or Fredrick about it, the Ylisstol cinnamon rolls were divine."
"Indeed, I asked about it, but I believed that it was more... average to give you a pie, more to eat and no one else seemed to like this sort of pie... some even saying that it was the 'devil's food', sure... felt like... it..." Alexander paused as well as both turned to the other side where a suit of knight armor rested across from them, how it manage to get there and snatch a good half before it stood up and departed from sight, both raising their brows to the action. "I don't recall that silent man to be interested in cooking."
"Trust me, he is in good with Stahl, but that average man is one bloodhound you don't want hounding food." Alexander mused as he continued. "Kellam did us the service of giving some, that will stall Stahl for a bit, but we... don't have long before he puts the pieces together." Alexander was not in any rush as he finished and stood up before extending a hand to Tharja, she surprised as he continued. "Now may be a good time to ask, would you be willing to join me in my manor?"
"YES!" Tharja squealed before she cleared her throat and answered properly. "Yes, I would love to, I can get my stuff later in the week." She took his hand and followed him out, given his coat to wear as he mounted up, lifted her onto the horse, and reigned the horse on, a few soldiers giving him a weird look, but let him pass freely as they headed for Emmul to organize the setting...