11
After a few more days of travel, the convoy eventually made it back to Ylisstol, the capital city of the Halidom of Ylisse. Though there were people cheering form the streets and plenty of eyes on the Shepherds, the confines of Ylisstol castle were comfortably quiet, though it was to be expected as Emmeryn and her people had yet to return, having been hidden further south, awaiting the end of the war.
This gave Robin a nice chance to finally get used to the room he was given, hardly having had the chance the first time he got here. Unfortunately, people were eager to use up as much of his free time as possible. He especially wasn't looking forward to this next task, with a stack of embroidered handkerchiefs in hand he began the painfully awkward task of handing them out on Maribelle's orders.
"Here…"
"What am I to do with this? In the future I would prefer something a bit more practical"
…
"Thanks, mind if I sell this?"
…
"Wow thanks! What a cute duck!"
…
"I-it's supposed to be a b-book? Y-yeah I can sort of see that…?"
…
"Robin… you do know me and Chrom…"
…
"You know it's the lady that's supposed to be giving this to the man, right? Hey! Robin where're you going?"
…
"Hey thanks" Sully says, wiping some beads of sweat off her face before handing the handkerchief back to Robin.
…
With a sigh Robin takes a seat out in the courtyard of the castle. It's a few hours before sunrise and he only had a few handkerchiefs to give out, unfortunately the final few people he's either been avoiding or has had a particularly hard time of tracking down. Though he was going to finish this today even if it killed him… and out from the castle, eager to exit the city as she does every day is his first target.
"Panne! Hey" he shouts, stopping her in her tracks as he quickly walks over.
"Robin… to what do I owe this pleasure?" she asks only to get handed a handkerchief. She lifts it to eye level, slowly studying it before finely replying "Thank you" and tucking it into her belt.
Robin looks down at the piece of cloth tucked into her sash, wondering if she really knows what it is, but ignoring that he moves on. "Yeah, you're welcome… uh Panne I wanted to ask, I heard from Lissa that you knew about Morg-"
"You needn't fear, I've told no one about the girl's relation to you"
"You don't need to worry about that, between Lissa and Sumia it was never going to stay a secret long. I was more interested in how you knew we were related, when did you realize?" he requests. As he normally never saw Panne around much, for her to have figured it out by herself was intriguing.
"The same day she appeared, it wasn't hard to figure out, she smelled just like you, and her cloak even more so." She replies as if having explained something like this before.
"Maybe the cloak was an old one of mine… but she smelled like me?" he asks seeming a bit incredulous.
"Kin have similar smells, she especially smelled as if having spent a long time with you."
"Ah… alright thank you" Robin doesn't know what's implied by the statement, maybe the smell lingers? Though thinking that just makes him think Morgan should bathe more often. "Before you go, I don't suppose you could let me know if you notice anyone who also has a similar smell of Morgan… we're sort of looking for her mother still." He's still not eager to meet her but when he learned Tharja's method required a jar of toenails he figured it'd be better to expand options.
"It's not so exact that I could find someone among a crowd… though I'll let you know if I notice something" she nods before walking off, figuring the conversation had come to an end.
"Thank you… uh have a good day" Robin waves, not knowing what else to say as she walks off, appreciating her quick and concise nature, especially as she is one of the more normal people in the Shepherds. He'll have to find her next time he's getting dragged into one of Lissa or Morgan's 'shenanigans'.
-0-
Robin returns to his sitting position, knowing it will be a bit of time until the next person arrives, but with a cleared schedule he can wait. He gets comfortable leaning against a wall, still feeling a bit tired after getting up early, though the last thing he wants is being caught sleeping out in the open. Luckily not long after sunrise he spots his next target, the ever-diligent Pegasus knight coming out of the barracks, carrying some things. It's been about two weeks since the proposal so all he can hope for is that she's back to her usual self…
"Cordelia, wait up" he announces, stopping her before she can escape to the training grounds. Not letting her get a word off he hands Cordelia the embroidered handkerchief with a bit of a smile. Maribelle had him make over a dozen of these things and while the first half were a bit shoddy, Robin was quite proud of the final bunch, which is good as he didn't want to give Cordelia something poorly made. The design was simple but very readable and he had gotten fast at embroidering, in a way he was fairly pleased by Maribelle's lessons, though he wouldn't tell her that.
Cordelia grabs the handkerchief, looking down at it solemnly for a moment before finally speaking up "Have I really been crying that much?"
The quick statement is enough to cause Robin's throat to clench up as all the air escapes his lungs. He tries to swallow as he struggles to think something up, not having expected this reaction at all…
"Pffth…" Cordelia scoffs a bit "You can relax, I was just joking around a bit" she says simply, not explaining further.
Robin sighs out, wiping his brow with one of the spare handkerchiefs "Cordelia, please… don't joke around like that…" he mumbles while trying to regain composure. "Uh yeah, I've been really busy as of late… so sorry I haven't been around lately… I should have come around to see how everyone was doing…"
"Yeah, you should have" Cordelia quickly replies and turns, beginning to walk off, smirking inwardly as she hears Robin sputtering out behind her. Lissa was right when she said it was fun to watch Robin squirm, a far cry from how he acts in a combat situation.
"I'm sorry, I mean… I just figured I would have inadvertently made the situation worse r-regardless of"
Hearing Robin follow her, trying to apologize she turns again "Robin, I'm just joking, to be frank if you tried 'helping' I would have likely snapped at you, which would only make me feel worse afterwards"
Scratching his chin, Robin begins to contemplate what she's saying. Is the fact he's not very eloquent in social situations now an understood fact among the Shepherds?... Hopefully Maribelle doesn't hear about this. "Um… does that mean you're feeling better now?" is all he can think of asking, looking a bit out of his element as he stands there awkwardly.
Cordelia tries to hold back a laugh as she tosses Robin one of the practice lances she was carrying. "Well, if you're looking to make it up to me, you can help me practice" she says, smiling as she watches Robin wince.
"Oh… I suppose it's been some time since I've done much physical practice…" he says unable to decline as he follows Cordelia to the training ground, none too thrilled about having to train so early in the morning.
-0-
Practicing with Cordelia again was somewhat refreshing… for the first few hours, but it went on twice as long as he was hoping. It didn't help that Cordelia might have been working off some pent-up anger on him as he would likely be in pain for the next few days. Walking away with a few extra bruises and a bit of a limp he wonders if he should ask Morgan or Sumia to help him train with lances for the next time Cordelia finds him. Better not let Frederick, or Sully as they were a bit of drill sergeants in their own right.
Finding a place to sit in an empty room of the castle he lets out a bit of a groan, knowing his next target will come to him. He keeps an eye on the door and after not too long he catches a glimpse of black. "Tharja…" he says loud enough for her to hear and watches as she slinks out from behind the doorway. Apparently since she joined, she's been following him around, not that he noticed, Gaius and Lissa both had to point it out to him. He didn't mind much in either case, frankly she gave him an out whenever something came up, he didn't want to deal with. Just the other day he used her to get out of something Vaike was about to ask him.
Tharja stepped into the room, shutting the door behind her, looking a bit glum, or maybe a bit annoyed. "Yes?..." she asks quietly.
"Here… this is for you" he says pulling out one of the last few handkerchiefs, holding it out for her.
Robin notices Tharja visibly perk up a bit and quickly closes the gap, grabbing the small square of cloth. She looks at it before bringing it to her nose, sniffing it a bit… that's odd. "Not this one… give me one of the others" she commands, handing it back.
Robin is a bit confused but swaps it, deciding to smell it himself when he gets it back… nothing seems out of the ordinary… "Uh… was something wrong?" he asks.
Tharja, seeming pleased with the new handkerchief lets out a content sigh as she smells it. "You wiped your face with this three times earlier today." She says as if it were completely normal… Maybe he should be a bit worried Tharja is following him around so often…
-0-
After having escaped an incredibly awkward situation with Tharja, Robin found himself searching the castle grounds, looking for Morgan… though surprisingly she was no where to be found. Finding Chrom he decides to ask him if he's seen her.
"Morgan?... uh didn't you send her North-West to investigate the risen situation?" he asks, getting an incredulous look from Robin in return. "I'm guessing no?" he says before searching a pile of rolled up parchments and scrolls, pulling one out for Robin to look at.
Robin a bit confused unfurls it, taking a look at the formal request from a small count to the North. His land is close to Breakneck Pass, the area where the ambush on Emmeryn happened. It seems risen have been spotted on the beaches of the bay and believes they're coming from the haunted manor that lays out on the island… Below, Robin sees a response followed by his signature… and it only takes him a moment to realize where Morgan went.
"She forged my signature…" he says in an astonished tone, unsure of how to feel on the situation. He looks back down at the message to see what she wrote, finding it a bit odd to see her write as if pretending to be himself. He sees she took Ricken and Gaius with her to investigate the area and notes that they'll send a message back if further reinforcements are necessary, classifying it as a 'scouting mission'.
"Well, I wouldn't worry about it too much, Morgan will get it done" Chrom dismisses, not seeming as worried about it as his tactician.
Robin can only mumble, hands crumbling the scroll as he grips harder and harder. His mind begins to race wondering what sort of ulterior motives Morgan could possibly have… she is trustworthy right? Why does she want to go see Risen? Luckily Emmeryn is coming up from the south so they won't cross paths… that is if they're going where they say they are… Gaius will know if something sup, right?...
"CHROM, I got to go find her" he quickly shouts, stuffing the scroll into his cloak pocket, acting as if he's about to jump out the window right this second.
Chrom a bit confused but panicked quickly blocks his path as he stares at Robin. "Look… uh Robin I'm sure you're worried about your daughter but I'm going to need you here…"
Robin can only gulp wondering why Chrom's acting like this suddenly… "Yeah...?"
"Emmmeryn's going to be back in a few days…"
"Go on…"
"And I need you to deal with something for me… it's something only you… as my confidant, can handle" he says handing Robin a new letter.
Robin freezes, noting the apprehension in Chorm's voice as he opens the letter… It's a list of things that still need to be done for the party that will be held when Emmeryn returns, making the end of the war… Robin frowns and looks up at Chrom who can only give me a 'good luck' type of smile.
I meant for this to come out earlier, but I accidently deleted the chapter, I knew what I wanted to write but at the same time rewriting it was soul-sucking.
Thanks for reviews, I responded to all the non-guest ones, but now personal messages are broken for me, is that happening to everyone else?
As for this chapter, it's an intermediary type of chapter of sorts but I sort of wanted it so Robin could talk to a few people, and to set up what will happen next. So sorry.
-=Post-reviews add on note: About Panne, all I was trying to say was that as soon as a few people are grouped together it's difficult to differentiate so many smells=-
Review or Pm if you can.