It has been a long, long time since she has been driven to defend herself so thoroughly.

Longer still since Edelgard has genuinely enjoyed herself in a training bout where she doesn't need to hold back for fear of injuring her partner. He makes her work for any ground she takes, for any advantage she may have against him, and he's keeping her on her guard in case some nasty little trick he comes up with gets through. Her defense, she thinks as she looks for an opening and spies one on his right side, is a little better than his own. The loud thwack of wood against wood echoes in the room as the blocked strike jars her arm. He's stronger than she is, however, and a touch faster, as reluctant as she is to admit it. Her strengths and his make them a pair who will, if nothing else, have to rely on wearing the other down until they yield. A battle of endurance and strategy rather than brute force.

She can feel the bruise his spear will leave behind as it slams into her side and hisses as the impact stings. "Point." Damn him, that was the third successful hit in a row on his part. Maybe she's getting a little too tired to keep it up.

"Acknowledged." Dimitri replies and retreats back to the 'starting' side of the room. He doesn't inquire as to whether or not she is okay to continue. In fact, he's said very little other than to acknowledge any points she has scored on him and vice versa.

'Point.'

'Acknowledged.'

Return to their respective sides of the room, turn to face one another, and repeat.

It's been… easy. Simple. Straight forward and relatively painless.

Her bruises tell her otherwise, but the one blooming on his cheek and the way he shifts that left shoulder say she's not entirely on the losing end. She had her second through fifth guesses on offering to spar with him. After all, anyone in their right mind and without supervision would happily take the offer up as an excuse to beat their once mortal enemy into the ground without a shred of compassion or mercy to be had. An excuse to punish and dominate where they had been denied in the past.

"Call it?" He inquires after a moment.

Edelgard considers it and glances to the window. The shadows on the snow are taking on a darker blue color and it's beyond time that they should probably start thinking about eating something. The score is currently four to two and if she can snag that last point off of him, he'll only have one more question to ask her than she will him.

"Once more," she tells him and settles into a familiar stance. "and hold nothing back."

She earned her point and she is exhausted after the intensity of the final round. Edelgard flops ungracefully onto the ground and drains her waterskin. "You," she tells Dimitri as soon as she catches her breath. "are beyond a worthy opponent. I have not been so challenged in quite some time."

Dimitri is staring at her. He has said nothing or given notice to the compliment she gave him regarding his skill. He's just… staring with a contemplative look on his face that she's not sure how to interpret.

"What?" She sounds more defensive than she cares to and risks looking down at herself to see if she's exposed herself in some inappropriate manner or another. Her hand goes to her hair. Is it sticking up? Is it falling out of the buns again?

"You… smiled." He finally responds after a moment.

"I smile." She protests. "I smiled at the Academy."

"Not like that." His words are damning and the worst part is that he's right. "You genuinely appeared to enjoy yourself."

"I did." Edelgard agrees. "Very much, at that. I don't suppose you would be willing to accompany me in the future?"

"I will consider it." He says, the corner of his mouth curving up. "It isn't often I find someone able to withstand a direct hit."

"That makes two of us."

This is not at all what she had expected out of the two of them being left alone together. A fight of a different nature, heated and bitter words and accusations, another loud back-and-forth while they pick at one another's open wounds and refuse to allow the other the final word. Silence stretching into eternity as they remain on opposing sides of the room.

Instead, he takes her waterskin and heads outside to refill it with fresh, clean snow. Like they were old friends who finished a thorough training bout meant to keep their teamwork strong and their skills sharp instead of bitter enemies hanging on to a fragile truce. He didn't hold back, but neither did he go out of his way to hurt her the way he, and she if Edelgard is being honest, very well could have.

She set him up to do so. The training bout was to keep her mind from wandering into the dark thoughts that await a moment of true solitude. But it also served another purpose; a chance to give him a guilt-free opportunity to hurt her the way he has wanted to for so long. She can take a beating, she's done it in the past on numerous occasions. And at his hands… she feels as though she deserves it, if only once, and that offering the opportunity to him is another way she can make amends.

But he didn't take it and she doesn't understand why.

"What was the final score?" She asks, knowing full well what it is but wanting to hear him say it nonetheless.

"Four to three. My win."

He settles down beside her. Not close enough to touch without leaning over and making the effort to do so. But neither is he on the other side of the room and as far away from her as possible. She leaned her head back to rest against the wall and closed her eyes.

"Why did you agree to end the war?"

Her eyes open again and she turns her head enough to look at him. He's staring straight ahead at the door. She watches the clumps of snow from his entry melt against the dirt floor and looks back to his profile again. "First question?"

He inclines his head.

Why did she end it…? She lets her head return to the way it was and looks to the ceiling above her. "A good question, and in the spirit of honesty, I'm not sure I know."

"Claude's revelation certainly helped in the decision; I wanted to unite Fodlan, not plunge it into an international war. I still can't believe he's the heir to the Almyran throne." What an unexpected twist that had been. She hears a quick huff of laughter from Dimitri and feels the corners of her mouth curve up in response.

"But that isn't the only reason." He prompts her to continue.

She shakes her head once. "No, it's not the only reason. I suppose… I'm tired."

"You're tired?" The answer doesn't make sense as he repeats it.

Edelgard nods and closes her eyes once more. "I have to be in control, always, as the Emperor. I have done so since it was forced from me as a child. I enjoy leadership and I like to think I have a talent for it. I enjoy resolving conflict and directing others to fix matters, be it in their own lives or on a grander scale."

She hates the responsibility and the stress but loves the results.

"Back during the Academy days, I would want so badly to have one day. One normal day where I could… do nothing but eat sweets, laze about, or do any number of other things that had nothing to do with my status and responsibilities as Emperor. I could not be seen as inferior, as weak to those around me. Especially not with Solon, Kronya, and Jeritza keeping an eye on me."

Edelgard pauses and corrects the last statement. "Jeritza not as much as the other two. I'm not certain he particularly cared for Kronya or Solon." Or her uncle, for that matter. He's offered twice to 'get rid' of him discreetly and she's told him no both times, worried that it was a trap to test her loyalty.

She opens her eyes again and traces the whorls on the wooden beam above her. It didn't feel like it was enough of an answer, a good answer. One that he could and would accept without further question. "It's childish, but I am weary of being the Emperor, Flame or otherwise, and wish to be just… Edelgard for a change."

There's a little huff out of her in place of a laugh as she shakes her head. "Let's go with that answer; I seized an opportunity that would strip me of my responsibility and control as Emperor in hopes I can be Edelgard von Hresvelg."

Dimitri's expression hasn't changed in the time she's spoken and she's afraid to glance over again. What if he's disappointed in the response? What if he believes it isn't good enough? What if he believes her to be lying about the multifaceted reasons she has for agreeing to end this five-year war?

Edelgard forces herself to look his way. Her turn to ask him a question now. He's still staring straight ahead of him. "Why did you... " Which of the many questions is she even able to start with? She has three, three to use and there's no promise that any of them will give her anything she can use.

"Why did you decide on life for my penance?"

It's a dark chuckle that answers her first. His head lowers, eye closed for a moment before he turns his head to look her way. "I realized your life mattered as much to you as my own happens to mean to me; nothing, so long as our goals are accomplished."

Dimitri couldn't have surprised her more if he had reached over and slapped her across the face.

He sighed, long and heavy, and propped his arm against his knee. "In the interest of full disclosure, that was half of it; I wanted to take away your death as a way to hurt you. To force you to survive and suffer as I and others have suffered. To live with what wrongs you have done and agonize over them."

"But that is not the only reason." There's a catch in his voice that draws Edelgard's attention away from the fact that he's shown remarkably keen insight. His brow furrows and the lines at the corner of his mouth deepen. "I wanted… to see how far gone you truly were. Were you the irredeemable monster I and many others in Fodlan consider you? How different could your aim be from my own desire for vengeance and how far we are willing to go?"

His hand clenches briefly into a fist. "After listening to… everything, truly listening, I came up with the idea. I told myself if you were willing to throw away your revenge, if you truly wished for… the end of this war, regardless of what it cost you, then I would have no choice but to accept the answer and believe you."

"What would have happened had I answered differently?" The second question comes out before she can stop herself. His fist unclenches, two fingers lifting to show he is claiming it as her second of three questions, and he speaks briefly but succinctly on the matter.

"I would have slain you instantly."