Preparing for the Worst

Lycia's moats froze over within a single night. A few brave children used the chance to slip and slide across the ice under howls and laughter. Everyone else with half a brain barred their windows, huddled before the fireplace, and avoided the snowdrift that blocked every last shop entrance. Even the pilgrims moved their chants into the relative comfort of a tower.

Despite the lousy weather, and while everyone else went into hibernation, the palace was a beehive of activity. Ike hated it.

Wherever he went, he stumbled over some Pheraen recruit who had nothing better to do than drag his assortment of weapons around and boast about the thrashing he would give the Pegasus Knights of Talys. Jaded soldiers from Eliwood's days jubilated at the mention of another war with the south. A group of archers at the docks, where a constant clank and clatter came from the ships as they prepared the journey to Talys, said the queen had given the first decent order since her coronation.

And in a few days, all of these morons would look to Ike as their general. Their conductor of war. How in the name of the Black Knight had he gotten himself into this mess?

Ike knew the blue-haired reason why. But that didn't stop the ashen taste from invading his mouth whenever he stole a look at the windows of the throne room above the training yard. Thoughts were dangerous. Doubts even worse. So Ike did what he did best and swung his sword.

Except for his own footprints, no other boots had ruffled the snow of the training yard today. Fantasies of fights against Pegasus Knights had become far more alluring for the average soldier than fights against straw dolls. So much the better. Ike would have more than enough unwanted attention from dumb spectators during the Talys offensive.

He planted himself in the middle of the arena. His breath misted Ragnell's blunt side.

Then he slashed at all the invisible foes around, sliced through political puppets and foolish fanatics; hands cold, mind empty. One combination followed the next and the next, all while the humming of Pherae's military blurred to nothingness, and only the blood roared in his ears.

Once, the merciless helmet of the Black Knight flashed before his eyes. Ike cut him in half. His father's blood dripped from his face, warm against the freezing air. A twig with spruce needles crunched under Ike's child shoe as the Black Knight crushed his father's hand with his armored boot. But even as his father screamed in pain, he wouldn't talk, he wouldn't say where he had hidden the sword. The scent of spruce trees everywhere…

Ike spun on Lycia's snow-covered training yard and beheaded the next invisible opponent.

Cordelia's arrival brought him back to the present all too soon. She swung herself over the low fence that encircled the training rectangle and marched towards him.

"Care for a duel?" she asked and twirled her spear. "I need to vent."

Ike rolled his shoulder to chase away the numbness of his previous fight, and steadied his stance. The thoughts of Tellius fled his mind.

"Isn't this the part where you should be ecstatic?" he asked. "Stuff is finally moving on the Talys front."

Cordelia balanced on her heels and tested Ike's reaction with an opening thrust. "I'm not believing in it yet. Not until I stand on the beach of my home. Besides, all this could have been over already if Lucina had just let me squeeze the life out of Shanna. The air she breathes is wasted on her."

"I heard about that." Ike blocked Cordelia's next attack with Ragnell, and steel shrieked. "But you'll get your chance soon enough."

"It's been months since we got rid of Roy. I'm sick of the word 'soon'."

Ike pushed forward and locked himself into a stalemate with the shaft of Cordelia's spear.

"You wouldn't have hesitated," she continued. "You always knew the right thing to do."

Ike freed himself from the stalemate, and his boots swirled up snow. "Hardly."

"But you did." Cordelia pursued him, currant-colored hair dancing. "You took the Empire's best inland harbor with ten men. With thirty you could have taken the capital. With fifty you could have taken Talys. It's all about where you strike."

Ike evaded Cordelia's spear and wedged her right arm between Ragnell and his body. One spin, the knife from his belt flashed, and then he held the blade to Cordelia's throat.

"Exactly," he said. Her breath irritated his skin, the heat radiated from her reddened cheeks. "In a world with simple rules, it's all about where you strike. But we left that world behind when Lucina made herself queen, like it or not."

Cordelia's chest heaved. Her eyes darted between the knife and Ike's face. She craned her neck, leaned forward, closer to the blade, and Ike pulled back. Just as Cordelia landed a kick to his shin.

He reeled, and suddenly she was on top of him while the snow tickled his neck. Mere inches separated their faces.

"Not everything is about her, you know?" Cordelia pressed her knee harder against Ike's wrist and he let go of the knife.

He smelled the caramel in her breath. Too close.

Then Cordelia rose from his chest and brushed snow from her armor before offering Ike a hand to get up.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you'd gone soft," she said. "When was the last time I managed to floor you?"

Ike picked up Ragnell and slit the knife back into place at his belt. "Never. That never happened before."

"A terrifying thought. If I can get the better of you, someone else might too. And with that general title, you are painting a giant target on your chest. A target every last one of Shanna's hand-molded Pegasus idiots will aim their spears at."

"Still better than with dear old Roy in charge."

"I don't know. Have things really gone better? Or just more complicated?" Cordelia shook her head, lost in thought. "I still visit the graves. The ones outside Lycia. Have you ever been there since the cremation ceremony for the others?"

The memory of Gregor's face sealed away by a coffin and then by earth hit hard. But Ike had an entire collection of images like this, and none of them convinced him to take a look back.

"Can't say I have," he said.

Cordelia nodded. "I think I've been going too often. At first, I thought I could tell Gregor about the progress we were making, about how much better life has been without the death sentence for rebellious activities over all our head. But lately, I've never had anything to say to him. If he were still alive…"

"Gregor fought in the first line because he wanted to. For the longest time, dying for the right thing was the best we could hope for. We made it this far because he and all the others paved the way. I won't lessen their sacrifice by regretting. And neither should you."

Cordelia's eyes drifted north, beyond the capital walls, where perfect rows of forty-nine gravestones huddled under the snow. Then her focus returned to Ike, and she looked at him as though her doubts had never existed at all.

"I take back what I said before," she said. "You definitely haven't gone soft. So I guess there's nothing for me to worry about when we sail against Talys." She grinned and tossed her spear from one hand into the other. "Care for a rematch?"

"Bring it."

Ice crystals whipped against the windows of the conference room as if they were waging war with the glass. The constant drumming ate at the five people gathered inside. Hands never wandered far from the weapons each of them carried.

Lucina stood at the head of the massive table and studied the faces of Rath, Frederick, Cordelia, and Ike in turn. Yes, all of them were prepared to fight and die. Her best chess pieces. She only needed to give the order and they would carry the divine war to Talys. Surely Naga would have objected by now if the plan hadn't enjoyed her blessing, right?

The map sprawled on the table showed the Pheraen Empire as a strangely harmonious unit. From the Black Wall in the west to the coast beyond Sacae's grasslands in the east, the Pheraen red covered everything, including the island of Talys. There, represented by a stone in the simplified shape of a horse head, waited the enemy forces.

Enemy… Lucina needed to push this word out of her head. Roy had been the enemy, and he rotted away in Johtran far away from where he could cause any harm.

"Will Leonster support us against Talys?" Lucina asked with a look at Rath.

He shook his head. The thin plates dangling from his belt jingled when he moved. "They have yet to even acknowledge you as the ruler of the eagle territory."

"I can't say I'm surprised. What about Ostia? Has Uther replied to my message?"

"Only in non-answers and empty promises. The men of Ostia have no experience with ocean battles, he says." Rath slammed his fist on the table. "Neither have the Lorca! But we will ride out and fasten our arrows all the same."

"I appreciate your help. As always." Lucina let her finger trail a path between the icon of Lycia and Talys. "Time-wise, we are at a disadvantage. A journey along the Silver Stream and Terra takes too long, Shanna will have all the time necessary to prepare her troops."

"But we have no alternative," Frederick said. "The path on land might be shorter in wyvern miles, but we don't have the means to equip every soldier with a horse."

Cordelia tapped her foot and purposefully avoided Lucina's eyes. "Without ships, we aren't going to hold a candle to Shanna anyway. I doubt she'll play nice and fly over to the mainland to face us. We have to stop by Terra no matter what."

Lucina took up one of the ship-shaped figures from its spot on the map. Lycia didn't have enough of them. "We are short on imperial ships. Shanna knows that. The eight vessels she sank already made up the majority of our reserve, and the few we still have don't compare to the Elibe in terms of strength and firepower."

"We would have had more ships if Aurelis' harbor hadn't burned to the ground," Frederick said with an accusing look at Ike. "Nine months is not enough time to rebuild a fleet."

"How many trading vessels have we procured for the operation so far?" Lucina asked before Ike could level counter-accusations. The last thing she needed was conflict inside the conference room when the outside burned with it already.

"Nine two-masters," Rath said and pointed at Terra. "The owners of these water horses are eager to follow the heir to Marth in the name of their goddess."

"So they are all Alteans. What about the Pheraen trade guild?"

"Cowards, their entire clan."

"I hope you refrained from using these same words when you negotiated with them," Frederick said with a dismayed frown.

"You carve your face with worry for no reason. I have learned the Altean way of diplomacy, and its secrets are as clear as the sky over Sacae to me now."

"And I am very grateful for your improvement, Rath," Lucina said. "Without your continuous hard efforts, we would have never been able to mobilize as many forces as we have in such short a time. Sometimes I think you know the books and records better than all our librarians combined."

Ike crossed his arms. "Not to ruin the mood, but flattery won't win us this war."

"Neither will haste," Frederick said. "We cannot place our hopes on the element of surprise."

"Yeah, because Shanna had all the time she needed to fly out of the capital and ready her army," Cordelia said with a glare towards Lucina. "She knows we're coming."

"But she doesn't know with how many men we are coming," Lucina said. "Ike, do you think Soren will return with the rest of your unit before our ships will set sail?"

"Unlikely. Marching all the way to the capital will take them too long. The men were worn-out already. Either way, it's better if Soren sits this one out."

Ike kept his tone even, and his face revealed no unrest either. But the fingers of his right hand twitched, tempted to bend into a fist. He worried for Soren. Reports from the most recent operation at the Black Wall had so far failed to appear, and although Lucina did not expect the unit back before next week, she shared Ike's unease. Something was amiss in western Pherae. Like the first sparks drifting before the fire.

But Lucina had no time to hunt after phantoms and vague premonitions. The Talys offensive demanded all her efforts.

"To mobilize all our men might bring us victory in Talys," Rath said. "But it will bring us ruin in the long run. Satar and other towns still steam with resentment. If we ease our grasp around them now, we invite rebellion among the eagles."

Frederick nodded. "It would encourage more assassins following Navarre's example as well. We have to ensure Lycia remains untouched in our hands."

"I wish I had news on those who plotted with Navarre. But they covered their trails well."

"Yeah, and we can't risk someone sneaking in and cutting off our queen's precious head. Talys would win the war in one hit. Must be a tempting strategy for Shanna."

"Cordelia…"

But Cordelia kept her glare on Lucina. "You had it in your hands. Falchion was right there at your side, and Shanna had no weapons with her. You had victory in your hands. But you let it slip because you don't have the nerves to kill."

"Slaying an ambassador during a political meeting would have gone against the very order we are trying our outmost to reestablish," Frederick said with a step in Cordelia's direction. "There is no worse way for us to betray our honor as knights."

"Navarre tried to kill Lucina twice now, and he still gets to enjoy the free board and lodging of a prison cell. That's a better prospect than some folks on the street can hope for. How is that going to discourage anyone from picking up a poisoned dagger and waltzing into the palace with it?"

"I want the Pheraen Empire to no longer stand for fear and unjust murder." Lucina spread her arm to encompass her domain on the map. "Perhaps this wish puts us at a disadvantage. But it is the only way I am willing to win."

"Just admit that you were too weak to raise your sword against Shanna," Cordelia said.

Ike stepped forward and slammed his hand on the drawing of Talys. Cordelia flinched, but their eyes never parted from one another.

"You're better than to cry over what you can't change," he said. "If you want Shanna's head, take it yourself or give the job to someone you know won't fail. We will free Talys. I'll punch Shanna from her high horse myself if that's what you want. But only if I can count on you to keep your act together."

The conflict raged on Cordelia's face. But her anger was crumbling, robbed of cement and mortar and all stabilizing force; all because of Ike. Lucina, so often told to possess a voice to both calm and inspire, a voice to turn the tides of an ocean if only she wanted to, had failed to find the right words.

And her chest grew a little colder because of it.

"Do you mean it?" Cordelia asked.

Ike held her gaze. "Watch me prove it."

"And when he says heads will roll, the loud stranger delivers." Rath gave a rumbling laugh. "I will need to tweak my bow to keep up with you. You have claimed the best prey for yourself for too long."

"Next time, you can take care of the fat tax collector with the fat purse," Ike said. "Knock yourself out, I won't stop you."

Another laugh. "So it will happen."

"You better don't knock yourself out before we reach Talys," Cordelia mumbled. Through his laughter, Rath had driven out the remains of her tension, and she at last tore her eyes from Ike. "What about you, Frederick? Are you tagging along too?"

Frederick looked at Lucina. He waited for an order.

What would an unbiased tactician expect from her? To keep Frederick as her last line of defense or to send him to Talys where he would serve to ensure her victory? Lucina didn't know. All she knew was that she was sending out three people in this room already, people that had become more than her comrades. She couldn't afford to lose them. Yet she moved them into the enemy's side of the chessboard all the same. This time, they wouldn't deal with a mere baron with too strong a sense for Pheraen traditionalism; a quick skirmish and a few additions to the dungeons underneath Lycia, routine at this point.

No, this time Lucina played her first real war as queen. And in this war, she would lose pieces. Looking at Frederick now, his face so familiar, the mere thought of subjecting him to this same risk froze her insides into a glacier.

A sentimentality Naga's champion had no room for.

Ike, Rath, and Cordelia would strive to win the war no matter the costs. Maybe Cordelia would shy once or twice from aiming her spear for the killing blow against one of her people, but she would tell herself their deaths were necessary. Blood on Shanna's hands, not hers. Ike, in turn, had lost himself in his role as executioner thanks to Lucina's continuous efforts to extinguish resistance in Pherae. He brought results in this civil war like an executioner. And he would fight this new war like an executioner as well.

The Talys offensive needed someone loyal to the knight code, someone who despised the thought of burnt civilian homes and murdered war prisoners. It needed Frederick.

Even if his looks begged Lucina to allow him to stay by her side.

"I want you to go," she said. It was only half a lie.

Frederick squirmed. "What Cordelia said before was true: you are at a risk. So many people in Pherae still reject you, and all it needs is one of them to approach the Black Fang with a bag of gold. You were wounded already. Please, let me—"

"This matter is not up for debate. I want you to go, Frederick."

Frederick's shoulders sank, his face a mess of concern and reluctance. Despite his heavy armor, he looked strangely small in the vastness of the conference room. Lucina forced her breath to remain steady, her eyes unflinching. Finally, Frederick bowed his head.

"Of course," he said without looking at her. "Whatever you command."

"Then I trust you to support Ike to the best of your abilities, both in decision making and in battle," Lucina said. And with a look at Rath and Cordelia she added, "The same goes for you. The Talys offensive must succeed for the well-being of the Pheraen Empire. Because if we do not strike now, Roy's poisonous influence will continue to prosper. First in Shanna, then in those she commands, then in those who see her go about her routine undisturbed by us. This war is the only way to prevent further bloodshed."

The others nodded.

Lucina couldn't help but wonder who of them would live to return to this table. Yet Naga's champion could not allow such questions to immobilize her while the eyes of all of Archanea rested on her.

So she straightened and let her gaze travel across the line of Frederick, Rath, and Cordelia before she fixated on Ike. The new cape she had draped around his shoulders to replace his shabby rebel cloak left room for the greatsword Ragnell to shine on his back. Without this blemish in his appearance, he could almost pass for the noble general Lucina needed him to be. One last time – whatever happened in Talys, afterwards he would vanish from her side. Whether the fated path led him to death or back to Tellius, only the gods knew.

"Then all that is left for me to do," Lucina said, "is to wish for Naga to—"

The door flew open. All heads jolted towards the entrance as the wood crashed against the wall of the conference room, and Soren staggered inside. His face had assumed almost the same color as the snow stuck on his cloak, and he limped more than he walked.

A storm of questions broke out at once, and Ike hurried forward to stabilize Soren, but he waved them all away. Under labored breaths, he met Lucina's eyes. Then he uttered the three words she had dreaded to hear more than anything else.

"Roy is free."

Notes: I apologize for this being another transition chapter, but it needed to be done. Hopefully I included enough character building and peppered the chapter with enough dramatic irony regarding Roy's freedom to keep you engaged. We will go back to Roy soon. In the next chapter to be exact! Please look forward to that.