Chapter 8: Correspondence

Two weeks had passed since the pegasus knights' foray into the field, and things had almost returned to normal back in Ylisstol. After a week of bed-rest, Lily had finally begun walking again, and although she was still leaning on a crutch, Severa estimated that she'd be ready to resume training by the end of the month.

At least something good had come out of Lily's injury: the recruits, usually content to keep to their own small groups, had bonded over their concern for their comrade. They almost always sat together during meals, now, crowding together on the benches and conversing animatedly. The normally aloof Teresa had been the most invested in Lily's recovery, bringing her meals every day while she was confined to the infirmary and helping her limp down to the mess hall thereafter. Today, as Severa walked down the colonnade, she sighted the pair of them walking together in the garden, Teresa steadying Lily with one arm as the Feroxi knight carefully walked up and down. They've certainly been spending a lot of time together… maybe it wasn't just one-sided, after all. She found herself smiling at the thought, but the smile quickly faded as she thought of her own situation.

Honestly, I envy them. Teresa and Lily were both from common families: there was no pressure on them to make a politically advantageous match, or to bear children. They were free to explore their feelings for each other as they wished—and if it turned out that it truly was love between them, to act on them.

It could never be that easy for me. There were too many factors involved. Lucina was the Exalt of Ylisse, the descendant of a long line that supposedly stretched back to the Hero-King Marth himself. For untold years, the Exalted bloodline had been the world's only defense against the Fell Dragon—passing down the Brand of Naga and the Falchion in preparation for Grima's return. If not for Lucina's heroic lineage, there would have been none who could have prevented Grima from destroying the world. Oh, mother… you would have been far more suitable for Chrom than I could ever be for his daughter.

I swore an oath to uphold the royal house of Ylisse. Severa leaned against the railing, shutting her eyes tightly. An Exalt must have an heir. The Brand of Naga must be passed down, and Falchion must always have a wielder. The words ran through her head like a litany, long-memorized and driven deep into her mind. Any one of those things would be damning enough on its own. I cannot abandon my duty, much less ask Lucina to abandon hers with me.

I could never be so selfish.

"E-excuse me, sub-c-commander?" The call came from further down the colonnade, and Severa turned her head to see Ellen tentatively moving towards her.

"What is it?" she asked, somewhat more harshly than she had intended to.

"U-uh, someone d-delivered this to the g-gate this m-m-morning," said Ellen, holding up what seemed to be a letter. Severa crossed her arms and waited for the recruit to continue, turning fully towards her.

Ellen took a deep breath, obviously concentrating hard on suppressing her stutter, and continued. "They said… to give it to you." She pushed it awkwardly forward. The moment that Severa accepted it, Ellen saluted, turned on her heel, and fled.

I suppose that I could have been a bit politer, Severa thought guiltily. She glanced down at the letter. However, the moment she saw the handwriting on the outside, that guilt was quickly overcome by excitement. Noire wrote back!

She hurried out into the garden and sat down at one of the long stone benches. As soon as she had settled in, she eagerly tore the letter open and began reading.

Dear Severa,

Thank you so much for writing. I'm glad that you're doing well. Lately, I've been keeping myself busy by making good-luck charms. Happiness curses are a lot different than the kind that I'm used to, but I'm getting pretty good at them. If they're good enough to cheer me up, I must be doing something right.

Things are pretty lively around the barracks. Kjelle's as tough as ever, and I'm pretty sure that half of the new recruits are terrified of her. She complains a lot about how difficult it is to whip them into shape, but I think she really enjoys it. As for Owain… let's just say that I never expected him to be so tough on the new recruits. He'll launch into a long speech about "the sacred bond between a hero and their accoutrement" if he sees so much as a speck of dirt on someone's gear. It's actually really effective. I think even Kjelle is impressed.

Laurent has had his hands full with running the Shepherds. Luckily, he has enough of the old records to get the general idea, and he's catching on really quickly. (Like any of us would have expected otherwise!) He's actually trying to call together a meeting of the old group, just to check in on how everyone's doing. It's kind of weird to think that, even though we live only a few hours away from each other, it's been months since we met up. Inigo, Brady, and Yarne have already said that they'll be coming, Nah will be there too, and even Gerome will be flying over from Valm for a visit. So I thought I'd invite you in this letter.

We're planning on meeting at noon on the twelfth of August, out in the field by Southtown. Hopefully we'll see you there: there's a lot that I'd like to talk about.

Always your friend, Noire

Severa folded up the letter with a smile on her face. A meeting, huh? That sounds wonderful. She scratched idly at her cheek with one finger. The twelfth... That's two days from now. I think we could afford to give our subordinates the day off of training—they've been working hard enough that they deserve at least a little break.

Tucking the letter into her pocket, Severa got up and headed back in the direction of her room to stow it away. As she rounded the corner, she caught sight of Lucina and Cynthia strolling down the hallway in the opposite direction, chatting. Both of them looked up when they saw Severa, and Cynthia waved cheerfully. Severa could see a sheet of paper in Cynthia's hand: she assumed it was a similar letter to the one she held.

"Hey, Sevvy, is that a letter from the Shepherds?" said Cynthia.

"Yeah. You, too?"

"Yup!" Cynthia grinned. "It's pretty nice that we'll be able to see them soon. Only…"

Severa noticed the downcast expression on Lucina's face and spoke up. "What's wrong, Lucina?"

"I… didn't get a letter," the princess said. "Do you think they forgot about me?"

"Wh-what? Of course not!" Severa crossed her arms.

Cynthia nodded quickly "Yeah, they probably thought it was obvious that you were invited, so they didn't need to send a letter."

"Or they were worried that you would be too busy, and didn't want to bother you," Severa added. "They didn't want you to be stuck feeling like you needed to go if you had other things to do."

"They probably just assumed that we would tell you, anyway," said Cynthia.

"Yeah, what she said." The pair exchanged a look, hoping that Lucina was reassured. At last the Exalt smiled.

"I'm sure you're right. Well, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone. We can all go out there together. I'll make arrangements for the capital, and we can make a day of it." She nodded to both of them. "Well, I should go start planning. I can hardly wait!" She practically floated off down the hall, stepping lightly.

Cynthia and Severa watched her go and, as soon as she was gone, heaved an almost simultaneous sigh. "Well," Severa muttered.

"Well," Cynthia agreed.

"It's a good thing Lucina is such a straightforward person," said Severa. "She didn't take much convincing."

Cynthia blinked. "Does that mean you actually think they forgot her?"

"Of course not!" Severa snorted. "They probably had exactly the same reasoning that we told her. But that's no excuse for hurting Lucina's feelings. When I see that egghead Laurent again, I'll give him a piece of my mind…"

Cynthia wrapped an arm around Severa's shoulders, giggling. "Aww, Sevvy, you do care."

Severa quickly shrugged it off, blushing slightly. "Hey, don't get the wrong idea."

Cynthia bounced away a few steps. "Well, anyway, I'd better let the trainees know that they're going to have a day off. I'm sure that if they plan ahead they'll be able to think of plenty of fun things to do with it." She waved again. "Later, Sevvy!"

"Yeah, later…" Gods, I can't keep up with her. Severa sighed. Well, for better or for worse, I suppose that it will still be nice to see the others again. We have a lot of catching up to do.

Tucking the letter into her pocket, Severa continued down the hall.