Chapter 13 - Amiss
Beta'd by A.O. Talmidge
A brush tugged rhythmically through her hair, mixed with the patter of gentle rain on the glass windows of the fortress. She adored the mix of the two, since they never failed to get her to relax.
Even so, her lips tugged down into a frown.
"You seem a bit sullen, Lady Corrin."
Corrin opened her eyes, and in the mirror of her vanity, she saw Flora briefly pause in the midst brushing, running through a tangle in her long hair, still slightly damp from a recent bath. "Hmm? What do you mean?"
"Well." She resumed brushing. "Normally when one of your siblings comes to visit, you're so enthusiastic. It's strange to find you with such a gloomy look on your face, especially while they're still here."
Had it really been that obvious? Probably not, but Flora was fairly perceptive. She let a smile inch on to her face. "Sorry."
"No need to apologize. It's only natural for me to be worried."
Sometimes she felt that was all her retainers did, each in their own ways. Flora was always the most direct in talking about it aside from Gunter. Corrin let out a sigh. "I guess I'm just lost in thought today."
A hum came from Flora as she set the brush aside and carefully started styling it. A long moment passed, with only the rain and the slight tug on her head filling the silence. "Care to share what's on your mind?"
Corrin lightly bit her lip, closing her eyes again. Camilla had only been here two days, but was already readying to leave tomorrow. Apparently there was talk of unrest and possible rebellion in Cheve, and Camilla was traveling there to address grievances, but more likely as a show of force.
Given that Corrin had heard something similar happen with the ice tribe, the latter seemed more likely. It was probably for the best if she didn't say anything to Flora, given Flora's background. Bringing it up would just incite conflict that Corrin wanted to avoid if she could.
Yet it wasn't the fact that Camilla was going that left her brooding. People would come and go from the Northern fortress, always the same people, but people nonetheless.
She alone remained.
Always.
"Don't worry about it Flora. I'll be fine."
"If you say so, Lady Corrin." Corrin felt the feel of a clip holding a braid in place on the left side of her head, followed by the ponytail falling to the side and, in her mind's eye imagined it just in her field of vision on her right. "There. All done."
Corrin opened her eyes, checking the vanity's mirror. It looked exactly as she knew it would. Her preferred style, since it kept it from being unruly or getting in her way during combat. It looked nice too.
"Thank you, Flora, it's wonderful."
A small smile of satisfaction crept up on Flora's face, before quickly vanishing. "Is there anything else you need, Lady Corrin?"
"No, that's all. I know you have other things to attend to."
Flora set the hair-styling tools back into their drawer in the vanity as Corrin stood. "You do as well. Best not be late."
Corrin nodded. "Right."
Flora let off a small curtsy, before moving to open and hold the door for her. Corrin moved through and waved before they went in separate directions.
As she walked, the sound of the rain became more noticeable out in the corridors. The storm from the east was unexpected, but welcome, since their water supply had begun to be stretched thin over the last few weeks. The man-made underground reservoir underneath the fortress funneled in rainwater from above through a clever series of ducts, mixed with the power of gravity. It stood as a testament to Nohrian ingenuity.
"Ah, there you are, milady."
Corrin looked her side just as Jakob fell into step easily beside her, readily balancing a tea set in the crook of one arm, with the other resting behind his back. "I was just about ready to come fetch you. Flora is already attending to her next duty, correct?"
"Yes. Did Camilla send you?"
"But of course, and I took the opportunity to gather some refreshment on the way. Now, we shan't keep the lady waiting, lest my head roll, yes?"
Corrin stopped, tilting her head in a curious look. "Was that a joke?"
He raised an eyebrow, returning her look with an impassive face, but she saw a glint of humor in his eyes. "I'm sure I have no idea what you mean, milady." He turned started walking again. "Now, chop-chop, or the tea will be ruined."
She rolled her eyes, but followed anyways. "Only you would focus on that, Jakob."
"You wouldn't be rolling your eyes if you realized that nations have been built and destroyed on how their tea was served."
"I did not roll my eyes."
"And I'm afraid your protests fall on ears that know when milady is fibbing." He stopped short of a door. "Here we are."
He knocked, and after a few moments, it partially opened to reveal a redhead with hair styled into twin tails; one of Camilla's retainer's, Selena.
The retainer scowled at Jakob. "You again?"
Jakob bristled somewhat at the rude greeting, but remained poised. "Lady Corrin is here to see Lady Camilla."
Selena glanced over towards Corrin, and Corrin gave a small smile at the attention. Selena gave her an unimpressed stare in return.
Regardless, she opened the door fully and ushered everyone inside, revealing Camilla walking up to greet them. Jakob went off to the side and began preparing the tea in an art that was mostly lost on Corrin.
Selena grabbed a stack of parchment from the table situated in the center of the room before she moved to leave. Camilla stopped her. "Selena dear, if you'd like, you can stay for tea?"
She hesitated, and for a moment Corrin thought that she was going to accept. "I wouldn't want to get in the way of time with your sister, Lady Camilla." Was that a note of bitterness in her voice?
"Oh, nonsense, dear. You and Beruka need to relax more often. I do worry that I push both of you too hard."
"I appreciate the offer," she flipped one of the twin tails over her shoulder, "but I've got things to do before we leave tomorrow."
"Of course, darling. We'll have plenty of time to finish our talk later on our way to Cheve."
"Don't be a stranger," Corrin called.
Selena let out a 'hmph,' before closing the door behind her with more force than was necessary. What was that about?
"Don't worry about her Corrin. She's just stressed about something is all." Camilla laid a hand on her shoulder, guiding her to the table. "Come, sit down, we still have so much to catch up on."
As they sat, Jakob came over and served the tea, a blend that she was unfamiliar with, but enjoyed nonetheless. She let the wonderful aroma seep into her nose a moment before she blew carefully over the steaming liquid, taking a sip.
"It's wonderful, Jakob." The butler let out a genuine smile before retreating a respectful distance to the side of the room away from them, ever poised in case they needed something.
The conversation moved through the unfortunately familiar rhythm of Camilla simultaneously doting on her while telling her about her recent exploits in the town of Macarath. Though she suffered through the doting, typically she would love to hear news that came with anyone of her siblings. Yet throughout, Corrin found herself distracted.
"Is something the matter, Corrin? You seem preoccupied."
"Huh?" Wow, it seemed like everyone was taking notice of that today. "You think so?"
"Well, I'm your big sister, so of course I would notice it. Are you sad to see me off again?"
"Well, yes, that's part of it, I suppose." She hesitated, irritation bubbling to the surface. She was frustrated, mostly. She'd always been frustrated that she was forbidden to leave. Frustrated that she couldn't take direct action to help in the war effort to eventually bring unification and peace.
"I just-"
A knock on the door interrupted her. Jakob moved to check who it was, before opening it, revealing Camilla's other retainer, Beruka, looking as stoic as always.
"News for you, Lady Camilla." Corrin saw Beruka's eyes flick over to her, then back to Camilla, who simply nodded. Apparently whatever it was wasn't personal. Beruka stepped forward, setting an envelope sealed by wax bearing the Nohrian royal sigil on the table. "Communication by wyvern rider bearing news from Izumo."
"Oh?" Camilla raised an eyebrow as she picked up the thin envelope, peeling away the wax and taking out the parchment enclosed within.
Corrin leaned forward, eager. "Izumo? Wasn't Leo going there? Is that from him?"
"Mmm. That seems to be the case." Her eyes darted side-to-side quickly, and as she read, a look of focus appeared on Camilla's face that Corrin didn't usually see. "Hmm, this could be an issue."
"What happened?"
She set the paper down. "The archduke of Izumo, Izana, was assassinated on the last day of Izumo's Festival of Spring."
Corrin's eyes widened. "Assassinated? That wasn't what Leo was sent there to do…right?"
Camilla let out a throaty chuckle. "No. Leo is many things, but stealthy is not one of them. This," she tapped the parchment, "wasn't a Nohrian operation, even though it could work in our favor. Rather, Leo is saying that the deed was done by another party, seemingly unaffiliated with any of the nations, led by a dangerous man that his retainer named Robin."
"Robin?" She turned the name over in her mind, but came up blank.
"I'm not familiar with the name either, though it seems that the late archduke warned Leo about him the night of his death."
"That's…eerie."
"Yes. Unfortunately, before Robin or his accomplices could even be questioned, they escaped the very next day."
"Escaped? So they're still out there?" Corrin looked down, and worry tinged with frustration bubbled in her chest. "That's awful. I hope Leo's alright."
Camilla stood and moved around behind her laying a hand on her shoulder. "Oh don't you worry dear. He's already on his way back to Windmire, and you know as well as I do that our brother can take care of himself."
"I…guess that's right."
"What's the matter? You know you can tell your big sister."
"I just." Corrin let out an exasperated sigh. The thrill thrummed lightly under her skin. "I should be out there doing something. Maybe I could have been there to help Leo, or to help you or Xander on the front lines. Something."
"That's not your place right now, Corrin. You need to-"
Something in her snapped. "Keep training? And when will it be enough, Camilla? I've been training just as hard as all of you for most of my life, more so than any regular soldier of Nohr. My ability is being wasted here. I'm ready to help, not twiddle my thumbs."
The look of surprise on Camilla's face gave her a twisted sense of satisfaction.
Corrin blinked, and her face flushed, and she looked away, embarrassed at her outburst. Camilla giggled and laid a hand on her cheek. "My, my. When did my sweet little Corrin grow up?"
She turned away from the touch. "I have a lot of time to think."
"I know dear. But you know I have no say over when Father decides you're ready. Now isn't the right time. Be patient, Father will have something for you before too long. If you'd like, I'll even pressure him next time I see him. Promise." Camilla laced her arms around her, giving a hug.
Corrin leaned into the embrace, but in the back of her mind, she knew how likely it was that nothing would come of this. She felt more than ready to take on the challenges of being a princess of a kingdom like Nohr, to help its people.
So why did Father refuse to allow her outside the borders of the Northern Fortress? She'd studied history, tactics, and politics. What was she lacking? It certainly couldn't be her ability with the sword. She knew really was that good.
What was she missing?
She slipped out of the embrace. Beruka left, and the conversation turned once again to mundane matters, but the frustration remained.
The thrill pulsed underneath her skin in a rhythmic warble.
"And that's how Anna completely took over Cyrkensia's black market trade."
"Seriously?" Kaden looked to Anna's perch on a fallen log, set near their current campsite's fire pit. A few rabbits that Kaden had caught were roasting over a makeshift spit, spiced with herbs he'd scavenged along the way. "And no one even realized it?"
"That's what she told me."
"Sheesh, remind me not to get on her bad side next time I'm there."
"Yeah, some of my sisters can be a little…intense when it comes to our trade. You have anyone in your family that's like that?"
He looked away from her. "You could say that."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
He stiffened a moment, before relaxing. "Let's just say we aren't on good terms and leave it there." He didn't look at her while he said it, but she saw his cloak twitch where his tail would be underneath.
"Oh, um sorry. I didn't mean to be rude."
"That's unusual for you." He waved it off with a dismissive hand. "Whatever, it's fine. You were just making conversation."
Clearly it was not fine.
But if Kaden didn't want to talk about it, she wasn't going to force him.
She sat in awkward silence, broken only by the crackling of the flames and the occasional hiss when the juices of the meat slipped into the coals, making the flames momentarily flare. The wind picked up, and Anna glanced up above at the sky, noting the sparse clouds. At least it didn't seem like it would rain tonight; the storm-front had moved westward a couple days ago.
Robin eventually made his way back carrying a bundle of wood, just as Kaden started carving off chunks of the rabbit to serve.
"You were able to find dry wood?"
"Thankfully." He set down the bundle and began wrapping it in twine, before lashing it to his pack, storing the bundle away for future kindling. "Food's ready then?"
"Yup. It's not my best, but well." She saw his eyes shift over to Robin. "To be honest, anything's better than what you made last night, Robin. Just thinking about makes me…" He trailed off shuddering.
Anna's stomach did a flip-flop just thinking about the abomination Robin had concocted and called 'food.' She, and especially Kaden had refused to touch it. "The worst part about it was that you actually ate the whole thing."
Kaden's face scrunched up in disgust and he stuck out his tongue while making a noise like a gag. "Ugh, stop. Please don't remind me."
She accepted a portion of the meat from Kaden in small wooden bowl. Robin sat down on the log next to her, and did the same. "Food's fuel. I'm really not picky."
"That's putting it lightly," she muttered, before taking a bite. The taste was savory, and the herbs reminded her of mint. It was an unusual but not entirely unpleasant flavor, if a bit gamey. Stew would have been better, but they were low on supplies.
Kaden wrinkled his nose, taking some rabbit of his own. "You either have an iron stomach or no sense of taste."
Robin shrugged as he took a bite of the roasted meat, showing the exact same amount of enthusiasm in the way he ate his 'concoction' from last night. "To be fair, I did warn you that I'm a lousy cook."
"And I should have believed you." Kaden jabbed his fork towards him. Regardless, you're never going on cooking duty again, for all of our sakes."
"Fine by me."
The sun dipped below the horizon as they finished the meal. The sounds of insects mixed with the rustling of new leaves waving in the light cool wind filled in the companionable silence.
Eventually, Kaden started carefully packing away the remains of the rabbits while she cleaned the wooden bowls and forks. She glanced over to Robin, in the midst of setting up his bedroll.
Now would be the perfect time to ask.
"So, we've got a little less than a day's walk to the next village, right Robin?" she asked in what she hoped was a casual manner.
That was not the question she wanted to ask.
She knew that, and internally, she berated her cowardice.
He glanced at her and nodded. "Right. Hopefully, it's both far away and small enough that word about our bounties hasn't gotten there yet, but we should be careful regardless. In and out for supplies, and to check for correspondence from one of your sisters."
"I doubt they would've come up with something this quickly. It's barely been a full week. They're good, but not that good."
"Better be careful not to let them hear you say that."
She glanced up from washing the last wooden bowl she was cleaning. "Are you…joking?" His face was still impassive, which made it tough to tell.
He raised his eyebrows, his face otherwise still very neutral. "Am I not allowed to?"
"No, no, it's fine, it's just, I don't think I've seen you even try to crack a joke before now."
"I'll have you know that I'm a very funny guy."
Was he still joking? "Have you heard yourself talk? You almost always sound so serious."
He shrugged. "I can't help it if all my humor goes over your head."
"Uh-huh." She set the bowl aside. She paused, as another opportunity for a question presented itself. "Before, back in Izumo, you said your home country was called…Plegia, right?"
Wrong question again.
It could still lead into it if she tried, though.
"What about it?" Robin asked.
"Well, what was it like?"
He finished unrolling the bedroll. "Horrible. Plegia is a mix between deserts, wastes and mountains, with the occasional source of life in oases and underground springs. Combined with the fact that it was run by a fanatical religious group bent on reviving a fell dragon, it's not exactly a place I enjoy remembering."
"Oh."
"Yeah." He lay back on the bedroll, hands laced behind his head, looking up at the sky. "My mother was involved with them, but not too long after she had me, she got me out of there as soon as she thought I was old enough to be on the run. She died a few years later in an ambush, and I was on my own for years after that until I joined up with the Shepherds."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It was a long time ago. You had nothing to do with it." He moved his head to look at her. "So, what did you really want to ask?"
She froze. "I…what do you mean?"
"You've been dancing around asking me something since we met up in Albah. Just ask it already if you want to know so badly."
Finally.
"And here I thought I was being subtle," she muttered. Well, where to begin? "For starters, what were you were looking for in the Izumo library? Were you looking for Plegia or something on the maps there?"
Robin raised an eyebrow. "I was trying to find something geographically familiar, yes. Geographically, all I could say for sure was that this land, this continent, isn't one that I'm familiar with."
"So Plegia really isn't here? Maybe that means it's on another continent not on the maps or something?"
"Maybe, but somehow, I doubt that. Anything else is pure speculation, and at the moment, there's not much point in worrying about it. When I failed to find anything familiar, I started looking for anything I could find on Anankos. As you know there was nothing on that either. Just legends of what they called the First Dragons."
"You mean like the Dawn and Dusk Dragons?" She was really wishing she hadn't dismissed those legends so easily now. Maybe she should buy a book about them.
Robin nodded and sat up. "Right. In the end, my research was inconclusive, not to mention cut short." He paused, before calling out. "You know, it really doesn't take that long to put away leftover meat. The eavesdropping is unnecessary, Kaden."
Anna looked up to see Kaden straighten, hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Ah, sorry. I just, you know, think I should listen since this affects me as well, not just you two."
Robin shrugged. "It wasn't exactly a private conversation anyways. Pull up a log, or your bedroll if you want. Even though you're on first watch, it wouldn't hurt to get it set up, yeah?"
"Sure." She saw a smile creep up on his face. "Mostly, I'm just glad I didn't need to bang your heads together to make you guys talk again."
Robin's eyes narrowed threateningly. "Do that again and my horrible cooking will be the least of your worries."
Kaden let out a laugh and went retrieve his bedroll from his pack, and after stowing away the dishes in hers, Anna did the same. They ended up with a loose triangle of bedrolls around the coals of the fire pit.
Kaden took initiative. "So, what did happen after you disappeared?"
"Like I said before, I'm not certain I know for sure what happened."
Anna's tilted her head, confused. "Didn't you say you knew something back in the Izumo prison?"
Robin wagged a finger at her. "I said I had hypothesis on what happened, just speculation. That's a big difference from actually knowing. Usually, I like to have better conclusions than I do now before I talk about things like this. Speculation just breeds needless confusion."
She saw Kaden's ears twitch in a way that she was coming to associate with annoyance. "I don't like being kept in the dark as much as anyone, but if we're going to do this, we need to know everything thing you do, speculation or not."
"You aren't doing this by yourself anymore," she added, looking pointedly into his eyes. She disappeared with him after all.
"Fair enough." Robin interlinked his fingers underneath his chin and stared into the dying coals a long moment. "The short answer is that I don't know."
"And the long answer?" Kaden asked.
"This could take a bit. You remember the night in Anna's safe house, right?"
She winced. "How could we forget?"
"As we were talking, I started feeling something," he tapped the side of his head with his gloved hands, "like a tug in my head." He took a stick from the pile beside the fire pit and started poking at the coals, stirring up embers.
"At the time, I chalked it up to feeling awful from magically exhausting myself earlier. But when I think back on it, it should've been obvious. The feeling was similar to a curse being cast, but far more powerful than something your average dark mage could do."
Kaden spoke up. "Didn't you say you were hearing something before you collapsed?"
"Right. It sounded like the violent waves of an ocean in the midst of a storm. And then right after that, as you know, I collapsed in pain."
"So Anankos sent a powerful dark mage to cast a powerful curse on you?"
"Maybe, but I feel that the wards on your safe house would have likely been enough to repel or at least interfere with a mage casting a curse." His finger started tapping his chin. "Unless…"
"Unless?"
Robin stood and started pacing back and forth in a line. "It wasn't cast."
"What do you mean by that?"
He stopped pacing to look at them. "I mean that it wasn't directly cast at me at the time, or rather, that it wasn't a curse that was cast from a mage. It's likely that there was some sort of trigger for it. But what?"
So curses could be set in advance with a trigger? She hadn't known that, though it wasn't as though studying magic was particularly useful to her. A thought graced her mind. "Maybe it had something to do with the invisible soldiers we fought? Maybe if they hit you, it did something to cause it?"
Robin sat back down, tossing the stick into the coals before leaning back onto his hands. "That's not a bad thought, but I was never hit during that fight. Besides, if that were the case, Kaden would have disappeared as well, not to mention he and Nina fought the invisible soldiers again with the archduke with no ill effect. That night at the safehouse, I think it was only me who triggered it, but I'm unsure what exactly I did to do it."
She saw Kaden cross his arms. "Alright, so that that explains why you and Anna disappeared. It was part of this curse, or whatever, right?"
Robin kneaded his brow and sighed. "And that's where things get confusing. I don't think this curse from Anankos, or whatever it was, caused that."
She saw Kaden's brow furrow. "What do you mean? I mean, what else would it have been, if not that? What makes you so sure?"
"I grew up surrounded by dark mages. Trust me when I say I have extensive experience in dealing with curses. Regardless, when I tried to throw off the curse, something strange happened." He faced her. "First, you grabbed me, right Anna?"
"Yeah." Anna nodded slowly, a little surprised. What did that have to do with this? "I, well." She swallowed. "I wanted to do something to help. You were screaming. But I froze when I saw your arm. It was like it was see-through. Dissolving."
"So that's why it was so painful," he muttered, before speaking normally again. "It wasn't just my left arm. I'll spare you the details, but trust me, it hurt. I'm reasonably certain that that was part of whatever Anankos was doing. I moved to try and counter it, but then something else occurred."
"That was when you and Anna just disappeared, right?"
He furrowed his brow and gave Kaden an odd look. "Is that what it looked like to you?"
"Well, yeah I think. It happened really quickly, but from what I remember, one moment you were there, and the next you and Anna were just gone. Poof. Not a trace of either of you left. Maybe there was a flash of light in there somewhere? I dunno. Was it different for you?"
Robin nodded. "To me, it looked like the world froze, blurred. You weren't moving, Kaden, but I could hear Anna screaming. There was a sensation like I was being ripped apart from the inside, and then for a while, nothing."
"That sounds familiar."
Robin turned his head to face her. "So you experienced something similar, Anna?"
She fidgeted with her fingers a bit. "I think so. It was so sudden and painful that it's difficult to remember, but that sounds right."
Kaden pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm so confused. So…it wasn't this curse, or whatever that caused you and Anna to disappear then?"
"That's what I think. It felt like something different. Maybe both are related in some way, but I don't understand what the connection is, if there even was one. Maybe the curse acted like a catalyst, but I doubt it was the cause."
"So then what happened after that? I thought you had died or were transported away or something, but obviously, well." He gestured to them.
"It's difficult to find the words to describe it. It was like…" Robin trailed off, and looked to her, like he was looking for inspiration.
"Like riding a storm?" she ventured.
"Hmm. Somewhat. Maybe more like standing in the eye of a storm, a place where everything that happened there made sense, even though, when I think about it now, I know it was anything but that."
"So you remember what happened?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Most of it, no, and I feel like I would go mad if I tried. Eventually, I was able to find you, Anna, talk with you, but it was…odd. Something was definitely wrong with the perspective. And at the end you stuck your hand inside your head."
A long silence followed that. She had done that? She searched through her memories, but came up short. Well, no. That wasn't right, since it seemed vaguely familiar, but why would, not to mention how, would she do that?
"She…what? Inside her head? You're sure?"
Robin nodded. "Yes. That's one part I can remember clearly. I tried to stop her, but not only was it like I couldn't do anything, she wasn't entirely cognizant."
"Cognizant?"
He turned to Kaden. "Like she wasn't aware of her surroundings. I knew that we needed to get out. There was a feeling of nothing again and the next thing I knew, we were in a corridor in front of the archduke of Izumo. After that, you know what happened."
Kaden glanced away. "You killed the archduke to heal Anna." Clearly he still didn't know what to think about that. Then again, she didn't really either. "What was going on with her exactly?"
Robin gestured towards her right arm. "You know those new scars you have?"
"Of course." Her left hand went to rub her right. How could she not?
"Whatever happened at the end there likely caused some sort of backlash. The archduke called it a curse, and that you were going to die from it. I'm not so sure it was as simple as that. "
She frowned. "Wait, you talked with him?"
"Briefly, yes. You were there, awake, sort of, but I don't think you could tell what was going on. Curse or not, it was advancing up the same arm you stuck in your head. Sad to say, when I used the archduke's energy to 'heal' you, it only seemed to make it advance quicker."
"But if that's the case, then, how am I still alive?"
"This is going to sound strange, but your entire body…" he waved his hand around as if searching for the right word, "flickered for a moment. And when it stopped, there were only those grey scars remaining."
"So what was that, the flickering?"
Silence hung in the air, and the wood of the fire popped, loudly, sending up embers in the night.
"I don't know."
The ebb and flow of the pond mixed with feeling of rain falling on Corrin's skin soothed her. It always had. The small pond in the boundaries of Northern Fortress during the rain was her favorite spot to think because of it.
In her mind she knew that Jakob would have a fit if he saw her just standing out here like this, especially since she had snuck out from under his care. How long had she been standing there? It felt like hours, even though it couldn't have been more than a few minutes.
Even so, it was nice. The rain had a rhythm to it that helped her think.
In some part of her mind, Corrin always knew something about her was wrong.
When she was younger, she had asked Gunter why no one else she knew had ears that went into points like hers. He had simply paused in his instruction on swordplay.
"That is a question I cannot answer, milady."
"What do you mean?"
"It means that I do not know the reason, nor should you concern yourself with it either. Now focus."
Of course, being young, she had asked everyone else anyways. But eventually, when no one could answer, not even her oldest brother Xander, who was one of the wisest people she knew, she had stopped asking.
A small, traitorous part of her had wondered if it wasn't because they didn't have the answer, but because they were lying to her. Keeping the truth because they thought she shouldn't know. That it was the reason she was kept sequestered away from everyone.
In the end, she had shoved those thoughts down. They were likely just as in the dark as she was, right? Besides, she loved her family, and they loved her in return when they visited. She didn't want thoughts like those to come in-between them, or for them to stop visiting.
Another day passed by.
Lessons, training, studying.
Waiting, thinking.
And then months, years.
But she never forgot those thoughts, and on days like today, those questions ate away at her.
Her same concerns, her same frustrations at not being able to leave persisted. Father had once sent assurances that it was all for the best of Nohr, that in time she would leave, once she was ready. Her retainers, her brothers and sisters, offered similar reassurances.
But in the end, none of them gave answers. Did anyone have those answers? If they didn't, she wouldn't find that here, always confined to the Northern Fortress.
A stray thought floated through her mind. Hadn't she once tried to escape?
Right, when she was little, a boy about her age had come to visit. And by the Dusk Dragon they had tried to go outside the boundaries of the fortress for a picnic, hadn't they? She had almost forgotten that. They hadn't gotten very far, caught red-handed by Gunter. Yet, even back then, she had reveled at the chance to go.
The thrill thrummed under her skin.
But it wasn't a simple matter of getting out. As she had learned, there were powerful wards set up, keyed to her to prevent her from leaving until they were lifted, likely by Father himself. Invisible boundaries that she could not cross.
So, for now, she would take what little freedoms she could get. Even if it was just standing in the rain by the pond in the Northern Fortress. Even if in the end, she was still trapped.
It was naïve, she knew it wouldn't happen, but for a brief moment, she terribly, desperately wanted out.
The thrill sung a beautiful song, reveling in the drive for freedom, and for a moment, she let it envelope her.
Breathe in.
Out.
Opening her eyes, reality came crashing back down, and she felt slightly foolish, and a little tired, standing out in the rain like this. Jakob was probably worried about her. She turned away from the pond to go back.
A glint caught her eye. She stopped; turned back.
Her eyes narrowed in confusion. What was that? Like a light beneath the water. Had that been there before? It was beautiful. She stepped forward, getting a closer look, transfixed, uncaring that she was getting fully soaked now.
The thrill urged her onward.
She didn't notice when she slipped underneath the water. Dimly, she was aware of someone calling her name from behind her, from above the surface.
Down.
Down.
Down.
Some part of her realized that the pond wasn't this deep. But when she tried to go back up, the pull was too strong.
Too late. Her lungs burned with the need for air. Was she going to drown? No. Something instinctive told her that this wasn't the case, so long as she kept going down.
She went deeper. The light overtook her.
And she fell.
Her remaining air rushed out of her in a feeling like getting kicked in the gut while her heart thumped wildly in her chest. The thrill echoed throughout her head as her vision went white, her ears popping, filling with the sound of rushing waves.
It ended abruptly, and with a feeling like surfacing. She hit solid ground, and in a moment, it felt like all her energy was driven out of her in a large rush, like squeezing a sponge.
Her head hit grass and darkness greeted her.
A/N: Corrin chooses a different path.
