AO3 tags: PTSD, Mental Health Issues, Angst, Implied/Referenced Human Experimentation, Falconry, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Pre-Canon, Alternate Character Interpretation, Other Additional Tags to be Added, possibly,

Yeah, so this is my first post for Three Houses. The Edelgard depicted in this fic is going to be a pretty far cry from canon. A big part of that is that the majority of this takes place only a few months after she gets released from the Crest experiments. She's still really coming to terms with that trauma so she's very lost and adrift.

Imperial Year 1169

"El. Hey El." A gentle voice broke through the calm and quiet of the little girl's room. Her purple eyes fluttered open. An image of her big brother came into her blurry vision. What time was it? It was usually Hubert waking her up, not Tobias. What was he doing here?

She sat up and suppressed a yawn. "What is it, Toby? Why are you in here so early? Where's Hubert?" She was concerned. Hubert was always the first person she saw in the morning. Had something happened to him? Or had Tobias simply come in before him? She almost never saw Tobias this early in the morning. He was almost always in court with their father by time Edelgard woke up.

"I beat him to the punch." Tobias grinned. Edelgard giggled. It was rare anybody could beat Hubert to her was almost always up by four thirty and waiting outside her room by seven. She was always up by seven thirty for lessons at eight thirty. What time was it? It was still kinda dark. She really wasn't used to being up this early.

"Why did you get me up so early?" It felt like a completely fair point. She was going to be tired all day since he'd gotten her up so early. She didn't mind seeing Tobias by any means, but she needed her sleep. Mother and Father wouldn't be happy if she slacked on her studies because Tobias woke her too early. Mother Juliane, Tobias' mother, was one of the most relaxed of the emperor's wives, but Anselma was pretty strict. Edelgard had no chance of becoming empress, but Anselma still pushed Edelgard to be the best she could be. She wished Juliane was her mother instead of Anselma sometimes.

"I got Father's permission to take you to out on a hunting trip with me. Mother Ansemla wasn't too please, but the emperor's words overrules his wives." Tobias smiled and Edelgard's eyes widened.

"No way!" She wasn't supposed to learn to hunt with golden eagles until she was a teenager. How had Tobias gotten that sort of permission? She was only seven! She frowned a bit. "What about my lessons?" She'd been in lessons in some shape, way, or form since she'd been four. Even when they took vacations, she had a couple hours of lessons a day. The only time she got off were holidays and those only happened a few times a year. She really couldn't remember a life before lessons.

"Father agreed with me that Mother Anselma puts too much pressure on you. It'll be a week of you, me, Evelin, and some guards." Tobias smiled widely and wrapped his arms around her. She frowned.

"No Hubert?" She had grown so used to him being her shadow. He himself might have been intimidating, but she knew he wasn't a horrible person. He could do some nasty things, but it was to protect her. She could barely remember a moment he hadn't accompanied her somewhere. She'd thought she'd share her first hunt with him.

"Aw, come on, sis; we don't need that wet blanket, do we? We haven't had us time in forever!"

Edelgard sighed. "I guess." He wasn't a wet blanket. Hubert was her shadow and her protector. She didn't doubt Tobias' abilities or those of the royal guards. She was just so used to Hubert with her all the time. It'd feel really weird to not have him tailing behind her all hours of the day.

"How about you get dressed, El, then we can head off? The servants already got your travel stuff together." Tobias smiled again.

"Can I at least say goodbye to Hubert before we go?" She didn't want to leave him without a proper hug and goodbye. She wasn't even sure what he'd do without her for a week. He was almost always with her, even during her lessons. He did his own stuff during, but he was always at a desk by the door to keep an eye on her.

"All right. I'll see you in a bit." Tobias kissed her head. She climbed out of bed and changed, then tied her hair up into a single braid. It was an easier way to keep her hair out of her face when riding or doing other physical activities. She preferred her pigtails, but a braid was simply neater and tidier than her normal style.

She peeked her head out of her room and saw Hubert standing there. He sighed as he saw her. "Lord Tobias is taking you away for a week and he didn't tell me or my father. I can't believe it."

Edelgard giggled a bit, though it was a little sad. "He does lots of things without me without telling you." Tobias was the best. He got in trouble with Anselma a lot due to constantly sneaking Edelgard out to the streets of Enbarr. She liked to explore the city with him. It was a lot of fun! He bought her sweets and other things Anselma barred her from having. Their excursions lasted a few hours usually and Hubert was always beside himself when they returned.

He sighed. "Don't remind me. Lord Tobias can be a thorn in my side when it comes to keeping you safe."

Edelgard giggled again. "Well, we'll have guards with us this time. You won't have to worry as much." Plus, they'd be away from the city. Falconry required wide-open spaces especially when flying golden eagles. They'd probably be mostly flying on jackrabbits, but they might get a fox or even a wolf if they were lucky.

She stepped up to Hubert and wrapped her arms around him. "I'll miss you. But it'll only be a week." She would never be parted from him for too long. The longest had been a couple hours until now. But she was looking forward to getting out of the castle for a while. About the only thing that broke up the tedium of her lessons were her interactions with her siblings and mothers. She was always glad to have an outing with Tobias even if it made Anselma mad.

He squeezed her softly then stepped back. "I hope you have a good time, Lady Edelgard. I'll be awaiting your return." She headed off. It was strange to leave Hubert behind, but she really was looking forward to some time between her and only Tobias.

Night fell and Edelgard slid off her horse with a whine. "Toby, I'm sore." She didn't much leave Enbarr and, when she did, it was from the comfort of a carriage. She had riding lessons, sure, but they were an hour at most. She wasn't used to this sort of hard riding.

Tobias wrapped her arms around her and kissed her head. "I guess I didn't think the riding part through. You don't have the endurance I do. Can you be tough for me, El? Or would you rather go back to the castle tomorrow?" She pouted and shook her head. She didn't want to go back. She did miss Hubert but she wanted the time with Tobias. She wanted to see him hunt with Evelin. She'd seen the royal falconer working with the royal eagles from a distance, but she'd never been up close and personal with the birds before. This might be the only chance she got to see them close before she was in her teens.

"I'll be tough." She wanted to impress him. She didn't want to only be a little kid in his eyes. He had fifteen years on her. She wasn't the youngest, but she was one of the youngest. She still wouldn't be surprised if Father found another woman to serenade, but she didn't need another mother. She already had seven! More mothers and more siblings would only make things more complicated!

"Atta girl." He patted her head and retrieved Evelin. The eagle's form was incredibly intimidating to the little girl. "This is Evelin. I've been flying her for about eight years now, though she's ten years old. Once you hit eleven, I'll put her up tot breed for a year so you can have your own eagle to fly when you're fourteen." Tobias smiled and waved her over. The massive bird was hooder, so she was alm. She did occasionally chirp, hearing people moving about, but she mostly remained relaxed.

"Give me your hand, El." She delicately placed her tiny hand in her brother's much larger one. He brought it up to Evelin's breast and gently stroked her feathers. "Most birds of prey aren't affectionate like cats or dogs or even horses because they're not domesticated. But if you trust your bird, they'll let you do this." Evelin chirped a bit, but since she didn't know what was going on, she didn't do anything. Edelgard nodded. She was looking forward to this when she got older.

"She's so pretty." The bird's size was intimidating but she was calm. How did Tobias work with her so effectively? She was much too small to try to work with a bird this large. But, then again, they had been flying together for so long now. He probably knew the bird inside and out by this point.

The eagle shifted and Edelgard heard a soft tinkling. "Huh?" She glanced at the leather straps on the bird's legs. She saw bells attached to them. "What are those for, Toby?" She really didn't know much about falconry. She knew about hooding which she'd read about in a book once as a metaphor. But she hadn't really gotten into falconry outside of that.

"Oh, they help keep track of the bird. Granted, it's less effective with eagles since they can fly far distances. Still, it's our best way to keep track of them." He got into his bag and pulled something out. "Open your hand, El." She did so and he placed a medium-sized bell in it.

She jingled it and smiled. "Pretty!" It had a pleasing tone to it. She was familiar with bells to chime the hour, but she hadn't really seen small bells like this before. It was shiny and bronze, glowing in the fading rays of the sun like a star. It was really pretty. She frowned a bit, though. "I don't want to lose it, Toby."

"Just a sec." He stood up and handed Evelin to another man, then got into his bag and pulled out some leather. He started to work it, his attention not on Edelgard, but he still spoke. "By the way, El, don't forget hunting involves animal death. Birds of prey may not always cleanly dispatch their prey. So it's up to the falconer to make sure the animal isn't suffering unnecessarily. Ethical hunting is all about making sure the prey doesn't suffer."

She nodded a bit. "Okay."

"And you might hear some of the jackrabbits scream when they get taken down. I'll be sure to try to get them as soon as possible."

Edelgard did shift a bit uncomfortably. She theoretically knew that hunting involved taking the lives of animals. She had never seen it up close before. She had never even handled raw meat before. Hopefully Tobias wasn't expecting her take the jackrabbits down if Evelin didn't. She was only seven… She didn't have it in her to hurt an animal, let alone kill one. "Okay."

He patted her head. "Evelin is my hunting partner, so it falls on me to dispatch her prey. You don't have to do anything, El." He smiled at her and she gave an uncertain nod. Well, that was a relief. She really didn't want to kill anything or anyone. She didn't understand that kind of cruelty. At least with the birds, it was for them to eat. It wasn't cruel. It was just the circle of life.

After a bit, Tobias helpd up a small leather strap with the bell attached. He wrapped it around Edelgard's wrist with a smile. "There you go, El. Now you won't lose it."

Edelgard jingled it a few times, then smiled at Tobias. "Yay! Thank you, Toby!" She wrapped her arms around his neck, the bell jingling slightly. She loved Tobias so much. He was the best big brother ever. She never wanted to be away from him.