AUTHOR'S NOTES: This chapter focuses a lot less on Kamui, and shifts the focus to Camilla as she ventures into Hoshido for the first time. She and Corrin do a little catching up, and our friends Roku and Zenzi get a few of their long-time fears quelled thanks to intel from her. It's certainly not to say Camilla's gone soft, but since Kamui has shown fondness for the people of Hoshido, Camilla's mature enough to set aside (most of) her differences to try and get along.
Happy Reading!
CHAPTER 31: Dusk in the Dawn
Sing with me a song of Blackness and Grey…
Perhaps it was nervous anticipation, or something else entirely, but Kamui remained all but locked in her quarters for the rest of the first evening and nearly all of the 2nd day. Preparations for the parting ceremonies were scheduled on the 3rd day, and as such, it left Camilla with about 24 hours to herself without Kamui. Naturally, the first thing she elected to do was find the nearest bathhouse or hotspring. Her keen senses for this sort of thing gave her no trouble at all in locating it, and her lack of shame had her undressing without even giving it second thought. Unfortunately for the one already using it, he was not too calm about seeing a Nohrian princess in such a revealing bathing suit.
"Princess Camilla!?" Corrin gawked, "I… can't you wait a while?"
"I'm not going anywhere," she asserted with a sultry smile, "you're welcome to stick around though. Mixed baths are commonplace in Nohr, after all…"
"I…" Corrin scratched his head. He was staring and Camilla knew it (but didn't mind it). "Normally I'm not this awkward. But if you're Kamui's sister, then that technically means…"
"And you've never seen your sister undressed before?" Camilla was utterly unfazed. She did decide to use her better judgment and not mention that bathing suits were seen as (and often were) optional in these situations, however. "My, my; who would have thought that Nohr was the progressive country of the two?"
"I'll just… take my leave." Corrin stammered. Camilla had no qualms with watching him as he left, however. While his body lacked the scars that his twin sister's body was painted rather ornately with, he had a similarly athletic build. Even after he left however, Camilla remained to let herself marinate for a while. She was not nearly as surprised as her next visitor was, however.
"C-Camilla!?" it was Sakura.
"I don't bite, darling." Camilla cooed. "Come on in; the water feels dazzling on the skin right now."
She was slightly hesitant, but Sakura eventually joined Camilla in the water, sighing as she could feel tension from her body ease out.
"S-so how do you like Hoshido so far?" Sakura was bold to break the ice, and sincerely hoped that she would not regret it.
"Well, I've had warmer receptions," Camilla admitted, "but overall, I like the feel of this place. I think your brother is right, dear. Maybe he and his mother's dreams of peace can be realized one day—and then all the fighting can stop."
"You really think so?" Sakura's expression changed, "because you're not as… umm… scary as I thought you would be."
"Well, I'm absolutely scary to anyone who dares threaten my family…" Camilla grinned.
"I didn't do that, did I?" Sakura recoiled as if expecting to be struck.
"Not at all, darling!" Camilla ruffled Sakura's hair, "not at all. You're someone who I see fights to protect people and to break the conflict, rather than perpetuate it. Besides, the good news for you is that if you're Kamui's family… you're also my family. And as I tell everyone—my family is the center of my life, bar nothing."
"Maybe big brother was right…" Sakura heaved a sigh of relief even if she was not entirely directing her statement at Camilla. "Maybe we *can* achieve peace…"
Unsurprisingly, even after Sakura got out of the bath Camilla lounged in there for a while longer. Other than hoping Kamui was okay, she thought about a few things: She daydreamed about Ryoma, who she did have eyes on (even if she refused to admit this in front of Kamui). She thought of Hinoka, and wondered how strong that woman was. She didn't think much about Takumi, although couldn't help but think of Leo in a quirky sort of way.
She really liked Sakura though. She was a little angel with the heart of Elise and the quiet reservation of Kamui or of Elise's retainer Nikita.
Surprisingly enough, she also really liked what she had seen of Oboro. Sure the girl still had a passionate hatred of Nohr and most things Camilla held dear barring her family, but she also had fantastic taste in clothes and colors, and perhaps most of all, she admitted that she was trying to change. Maybe it was her motherly instinct kicking in, but to Camilla, it was like a child who knew they were doing wrong but were trying their hardest not to let it keep happening. She would have to find a way to keep in contact with this woman.
She didn't know very many of the other Hoshidan retainers, although ran into Corrins' retainers Roku and Zenzi shortly after she got dressed and left the bath.
"P-Princess Camilla!?" the pink-haired woman gasped. The man with the spiky black hair stood behind her, his lips pursed.
"Have we met?" Camilla cooed.
"N-No… but I think you know one of our friends!" Zenzi squeaked. "Do you know a white-haired woman named Arozza by chance?"
"Arozza…" Camilla put a finger to her chin, "yes. Yes I know her. Brilliant-minded woman, that one; also famous for being the only swordmaster in Nohr."
"Is she alright?" Roku spoke curtly.
"She is doing as well as any of my other retainers," Camilla smiled. "No complaints there. She's told me about you two though… always saying good things too."
"That… is comforting." Roku sighed.
"So she's doing well then?" Zenzi wanted to clarify.
"Unless she's lying to me," Camilla smiled, "but I'm quite skilled at knowing when someone is lying to me, even among the devious minds of Hoshido. That reminds me… do you know where your liege is? I wish to speak with him."
"Lord Corrin should be in his study," Zenzi explained "He shouldn't be too hard to find." With that she also gave Camilla directions, and she found him without trouble.
"Oh, Princess Camilla," he looked a little startled when Camilla slid the door open, but he was just jotting down strategy notes at his desk upon her arrival. "I apologize for my behaviour earlier. You are… captivating, and I was caught off-guard."
"No worries, dear," Camilla cooed, "I just wanted to get to know my favourite sister's big brother."
"I'm only older by a few minutes," Corrin chuckled, feeling a lot less awkward now that Camilla was mostly covered (barring parts of her thighs, cleavage and lower midriff, for whatever stranger reason Camilla chose to dress that way). "Hardly enough to quality as a 'big brother'."
"You're also a bit taller than her," Camilla giggled, "My little Kamui is small and fun to carry."
"I just wish there was some way to keep her with us," Corrin sighed, "I know she loves her Nohr family… and I don't want to take that away from her. I just… well, I just wish that she understood how much it would mean for us to have that place in her heart. I've seen how she comes to your defense. I doubt there's a single thing more important in her life than family."
"You know her well for how long you've been apart," Camilla chuckled, "And I am admittedly and unashamedly very possessive. She belongs to me and I refuse to change that… but I'm willing to share as long as she doesn't get taken from me."
"If only it were that simple, right?" Corrin rummaged through one of his drawers. "Chess?"
"Don't mind if I do," Camilla sat across from Corrin, analyzing the pieces. "I assume you want to use the Hoshidan pieces? Or are you going to play as Nohr and deliberately let me win?"
"That depends on the stakes," Corrin riposted, "but more than that I'm just interested in your strategy. I'll let you play as Hoshido; you can move first."
"Very well," Camilla cooed, "I might not be a master tactician, but I do know this game and I know it well. I'm even more frightening in combat."
"We shall see." Corrin steepled his fingers, and the game began. Corrin played cautiously, almost as if he was trying to detect Camilla's play style, while Camilla walked right into this ploy, revealing at once that she played hyper-aggressively, immediately bringing out her queen to wreak havoc on Corrin's pieces.
"Mikoto captures tower," Camilla beamed as she tapped a rook off the board with a queen piece carved in Mikoto's likeness, "Check."
"You've developed nothing but your queen," Corrin raised his eyebrows as he moved a Garon-shaped king piece to safety. "And yet you're up by three pieces now."
"Four," she prodded her queen to take one of Corrin's pawns. "Check. This is where the beginning of the end commences."
True to her word, Corrin found himself being relentlessly chased across the board by Camilla's ruthless queen, and soon she had cornered him.
"Unorthodox," Corrin nodded approvingly, "but well-played. I did not suspect someone to put all of their faith into a single piece. What would have happened if I had sacrificed my queen for yours when the opportunity briefly arose?"
"I would certainly be in trouble," Camilla giggled, "although I would surely find a method of backup. I can't say the same if I were to fall in battle though. Being a one-woman army is basically what I do."
"Aye," Corrin nodded, and it was clear that gears were turning in his head.
"Camilla relies on her own raw power to achieve victory. It's commendable, but extremely dangerous. If she's putting all of her eggs in one basket, all it would take would be a disruption of that basket to make all of her plans for naught."
"Again?" Camilla offered, playfully brandishing the Mikoto piece, "or are you too excited over the prospect of your queen slaying our king?"
"No, we can play again," Corrin offered, "there's something I want to see…"
They decided not to switch sides, and so Corrin calculated Camilla's moves. He had expected her to move similarly to how she did last time, except this time she did the exact opposite. She moved her pieces out and sacrificed many of them, leaving her queen on the space it started on.
"What are you up to...?" Corrin looked up and then down at the board.
"I see what you're doing," Camilla giggled, "you let me play as Hoshido so I would move first; so you would get a taste of my strategy. You asked to play again because you wanted to try and adapt to my style. Normally, that would work on the battlefield, and normally I would commend your style. You play to keep people alive, and seek to win with as little collateral damage as possible. Unfortunately, in chess that means… Mikoto."
Camilla brought her queen out in the mostly-cleared board and Corrin realized that he had been duped by her again. Within 8 moves of Camilla bringing out her queen, it had pinned Corrin's king into a checkmate.
"What we should do," Camilla chortled, is I should bring my retainer's Strategy Board next time we have another peace talk. I think you would love it."
"Is that what it sounds like?" the idea did seem to make Corrin's eyes widen with interest.
"From Pegasi to Cavaliers to samurai to mercenaries and everything in between," Camilla nodded, "my retainer Arozza apparently spent several years as a tactician before joining me. Xander has made good use of her board and it's a popular game across Nohr now."
"So your chess skills are a fluke?" Corrin quipped.
"No, we have that too," Camilla giggled. "In truth I think I just got lucky. If I took my chess skills into commanding a battallion of troops, I'd likely be the only survivor. You on the other hand, treated your pieces like soldiers; trying to preserve them at all costs. That's the kind of leader any army needs, be they from Hoshido or Nohr."
Corrin gave her a somewhat surprised look. "You're rather insightful today, Camilla."
"I've been drinking," Camilla joked, "Hoshidan sake isn't quite as good as the Nohrian firewhiskey, but it's not bad. Still… thanks for the game."
"You're welcome," Corrin raised his eyebrows as Camilla stood up and took her leave. He knew he was not an unbeatable tactician, although perhaps like Kamui had fought Camilla time and again before finally besting her in combat, Corrin felt the urge to try and outsmart her through practice. If only they had more time...