Garreg Mach appeared over the horizon and Byleth slowed her horse to a walk. After three long months, they were home. She spared a glanced behind. The army was bedraggled and far smaller than the one that had last marched through the monastery gates, but they were smiling and whistling. Faerghus was free. There was so much work to be done keeping the hard-won peace, but it would be the work of diplomats and bureaucrats, not soldiers. She had lost so much, but she and Fódlan had gained far more.

Edelgard brought her horse alongside. Speaking of things she had gained... Edelgard's posture was easy in the saddle and she looked healthier and better rested. Her hair was loose, spilling almost down her back even as the breeze played with it. The most beautiful woman in the world, fit for one of Ignatz's paintings. She saw Byleth looking at her and a delicate blush and small smile crept over her face.

"Home at last, Your Majesty." Her voice caressed the title and her eyes glittered with the amusement of a woman getting something over on the rest of the world. "Would you like me to help you stable your horse?"

"I can do—" The words died in her throat as Edelgard quirked her brow. Stable the horses. Be alone with Edelgard away from prying eyes. "On second thought, I could use the help."

They rode together in warm silence until the third floor balcony came into view. Rhea stood there, watching, just as she had during Byleth's first visit to the monastery all those years ago. She didn't wear her regalia, and what Byleth could make out of her face from this distance suggested the same gaunt features and wan complexion as when they had left. Strange. She had suffered greatly in captivity, but it had been almost half a year since they had liberated her. She should have recovered more by now.

Edelgard followed her gaze and frowned. "No doubt the Archbishop will be delighted to hear of your victory."

"Be nice. I know you hate her, but you both want Agartha finished. I'd like to concentrate on this summit, not keeping you from killing each other. And she's the nearest thing I've ever had to a mother."

Edelgard sighed. "I'll try to do a better job of controlling my temper." Her voice dropped to a whisper so that only Byleth could hear. "For you."

The rode through the courtyard, which was soon alive with bustle as the garrison, servants, and civilians left behind rushed out to greet their returning comrades. Shouts of "Long live the queen!" rang in the air—letters detailing the retaking of Fhirdiad had beaten them home by days or weeks. Reuniting lovers embraced and spun each other around. People who she knew only by sight rushed to kiss the hem of her cloak and even Edelgard's glare and her own embarrassed protestations couldn't stop them.

"Okay, okay." Claude pushed his way through the crowd, clearing a path for her. "Her Majesty needs to put up her horse and rest. There'll be a grand banquet in the dining hall this evening to celebrate, but until then I trust you can celebrate privately with the people you love." His gaze met Byleth and he winked at her, which just made her blush again.

"He knows," Edelgard said when they were at last alone in the part of the stables set aside for royal and imperial use. "I don't know how Claude knows, but he knows."

"I just assume Claude knows everything. It saves time. And well, I was rather obvious about my feelings for you." She ran her hands down Edelgard's arms, enjoying tracing the line of her muscles even through her clothing. She was so warm, so real, despite the fact that Byleth kept expecting her to vanish into the ether at any moment. "I have you now. That's all that matters."

"You are an incorrigible sentimentalist, my darling," Edelgard said, but smiling as she did so. She kissed Byleth. Kissing was another thing that didn't feel quite real. Not just that her long-held romantic fantasies were being realized, but the sudden heat in her chest and the way her breathing went ragged. She had spent most of her life barely feeling anything but now she was feeling everything all at once. A woman in love instead of a demon.

"I have something for you," she said when they pulled back. She reached into her cloak and pulled out an iron key. "I was given a copy of the key to your room when you first came here. I should have given it to you before now, but here you are. You can come and go as you please." Edelgard stared at it, but she didn't say anything and her expression was unreadable. Byleth winced. "I knew I should've gotten you a real present. Flowers. People like to get flowers as gifts."

"No. No. It's wonderful." She tucked the key into her pocket and wrapped her arms around Byleth. "I'm not a prisoner anymore."

"You haven't been for a long time." Byleth eased back so they could look at each other. "I don't want you to feel forced into anything. You need a space that's yours."

"Thank you." She kissed Byleth again. "This is—"

"Professor, the Archbishop was—oh!"

Byleth and Edelgard sprang apart and Byleth rounded to find Ingrid staring at them red-faced. She was still heavily bandaged and would limp for the rest of her days, but she would live. Byleth wasn't so sure of her own prospects at the moment. "Um, hi," she squeaked. "Did you want something?" Oh, she wasn't very good at this secret relationship business. And Ingrid had every reason in the world to despise Edelgard. Byleth could only stand and wait for the axe to fall.

Ingrid blinked and schooled her face into a mask of courtesy. "The Archbishop wanted to speak with you."

Byleth nodded, face still aflame. "I'll go see her. Um, keep yourself safe, Edelgard. You might want to keep locking your door and having a bodyguard. I know you can take care of yourself but..." Goddess, being in love made her an inarticulate idiot.

"I'll keep watch over Edelgard," Ingrid said with surprising solemnity. "I owe you for saving my life and even crippled knights need something to do."

"You are not a cripple and I won't hear such language."She put a hand on Ingrid's shoulder. "It took me five years to recover. You can give yourself five weeks."

"Yes, Professor," Ingrid said, eyes downcast.

Byleth smoothed her clothing and hair and walked into the monastery and towards the third floor. More people stopped to thank her, some falling prostrate as if she were the Goddess instead of a queen and no one paid her any mind when she tried to remind them that this had been a team effort. A trip that normally took ten minutes at the most took up the next half hour. How had Edelgard and Dimitri ever stood for such fawning?

Rhea's quarters were still spartan, but at least someone had managed to clean the place on a regular basis since the last time Byleth had come. Rhea herself had moved her chair to the balcony and was watching the reunions still going on below. Byleth moved silently to stand beside her. It was as she had thought. Rhea was nearly as pale and thin as the day they had brought her out of Enbarr. And without her regalia, she seemed almost painfully frail, with none of the authority and serenity that had first drawn Byleth to her.

"You sent for me?'

That snapped Rhea out of her reverie. She turned in her seat and her eyes widened as a smile spread across her face. "You're home." She rose unsteadily and put her arms around Byleth. She was so...fragile. "Oh, my dear child. I prayed every day for your safe return. Is it over."

"For now." Byleth said. She released her and knelt before the chair, the way she used to when she was a mere professor flattered by the attention. "You aren't well."

"No. I doubt I shall be. We can recover from almost death you and I, but it takes time to sleep. And for me it will take far longer than five years. A human lifetime, and I cannot risk that while those who slaughtered my...ancestors still threaten this world."

Byleth started. She didn't like to think about the missing five years of her life and how close she had come to death. Sometimes, injured mercenaries fell unconscious for days. She had heard tales of nobles who lingered in such a state for months or years, kept clinging to life by healing magic. But she had awoken as if from a nap, without atrophy or disorientation. "I'm not a dragon. At least I don't think I am. Some strange things happened in Fhirdiad."

"Tell me."

Byleth did. She told her about the memories that weren't her own that the Titanus had awakened and about raining shrapnel down on the city, about seeing Caspar and Ferdinand's' bodies and the Ashen Demon reawakening and about coming back to herself and bringing Ingrid back from the edge of death. Rhea's brow furrowed more and more as she spoke, gripping the arms of the chair until her knuckles were white. "Sometimes, I feel human and sometimes it's as if I have something else within me." All the power of Sothis and none of the comfort. What am I really?"

Rhea's gaze fixed at a point just beyond her. "I told you that the Goddess gifted you her power. Is it so shocking that you might share memories as well?"

"No, I suppose not." Terrifying, yes, but not shocking. She wished desperately for Sothis. She would know what to make of all this. "My father's diary said that I haven't had a heartbeat since before we left the monastery. Why? Why do I feel like I'm being pulled in two directions? What happened to me?"

Rhea shuddered. "Please, don't. I swear that on the day Agartha falls I will answer that question, but not now. Know only that I never meant you harm." She seized Byleth's hands with more force than she would have thought possible. "If by human, you mean the capacity for love and friendship, then you are as human as anyone. But you have been granted immense magical power and power changes a person. You can shape Fódlan to your will, just as the Goddess did. Use that power more wisely than those of us who have ruled in her stead."

"Rhea..."

"Please, I need to recover what strength I can. I need to see Agartha defeated with my own eyes, and then I'll give you all the answers you and Claude both seek." Her eyes flashed, once more the slightly frightening Archbishop who brooked no defiance. "Answers come in the Goddess' time whether we want them or not."

Byleth shivered. She did want answers, but for the first time she wondered what awaited her at the end of this journey.

The day of the ball drew ever closer and Garreg Mach was alive with activity. Workman moved about, repairing the last of the damage from six years ago. The chandeliers were polished to a shine and new flowers were grown in the greenhouse to ornament the entrance and reception halls. Knights polished their dress armor and cooks ransacked to the library in search of exotic recipes. Everyone seemed determined to make up for the missed Millennium Festival.

The uncrowned Queen of Fódlan spent most of her time sitting under a tree.

She had found the place shortly after the first mock battle. The crest of a hill afforded a wonderful view of the lake in the valley below. Most of the animals had already settled in for the winter, but a few brave deer would come and investigate every now and again. It was quiet, the problems of rulers and goddesses very far away. The frost on the ground didn't care who she was and didn't mind that Edelgard's head rested in her lap.

Byleth ran her fingers through Edelgard's hair as she dozed. The only knowledge she had of secret love affairs was from books confiscated from the students. The stories were full of narrow escapes and dramatic misunderstandings. None of them prepared her for how quiet and peaceful it would be to slip away from the outside world and simply be two women in love.

Edelgard's eyes fluttered open. "I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"You've been burning the candle at both ends since we returned. You deserve a nap." She had expected that consolidating her hold over Adrestia and the Alliance and preparing for the summit with the surviving Kingdom lords to swallow her time. What she hadn't quite expected was for Edelgard to throw herself into helping Lorenz with the rebuilding effort. "I worry about you pushing yourself so hard."

"That grain won't ship itself. It's my fault there's a shortage in the first place." She turned her face away. "Until I die, I will do everything I can to make up for my mistakes."

"You won't die anytime soon. I forbid it." She kept stroking Edelgard's hair as if by her touch she could tell her how precious her life was and that she still deserved some happiness. "Sometimes I think you're the only thing that makes sense. I feel human when I'm with you."

"Mercenaries aren't supposed to have silver tongues."

"No, I mean…" She fumbled for the words. As much as Edelgard had softened, her disgust with the Children of the Goddess had been palpable during the war and she had mostly avoided them since. "When I was in Fhirdiad, I had these voices in my head that weren't me, telling me things that I don't remember. I felt like the Ashen Demon again." She buried her face in her hands. "So maybe I'm just a monster pretending to be human after all."

"Oh Byleth." She pried Byleth's hands away and cupped her cheeks, forcing them to look at each other. "I've heardvoices of the dead since I was twelve years old. You are as human as I am."

"Even without a heart?"

"Granted, you're not very demonstrative but—"

"I was being literal." She swallowed. She had told some people the mystery of her lack of a heartbeat, but they always thought it was an elaborate prank. Even Claude had only managed a strained Good one, Teach. "Listen."

Edelgard's face colored, but she rested her head against Byleth's chest. Byleth held her breath. If she had had a heart, it would been pounding. Edelgard was terribly soft and terribly warm against her despite the cold day. Byleth forced herself to look down. Edelgard listened intently for several long moments before it seemed to dawn on her what she was hearing. Or rather, what she wasn't. Her lips parted as she looked up in disbelief. "How?"

"I don't know. I've been like this since I was a baby. And I've never felt things as strongly as most people. Until you showed up."

"I see. Well, it must be some sort of strange medical condition. And plenty of people don't feel strongly. I had some of them in my court. I promise you they were human."

"But what if, what if we beat the Agarthans and I find out that I'm something else? Still think I should have power over the people?"

Edelgard winced. "I am ashamed of my earlier behavior. The problem was never that Rhea and the others weren't human. It was that they lied to prop up a system that caused so much suffering, that she used faith to control us." She traced the top of Byleth's ear. "So even if you were the Goddess herself come again, I would tell you to let us make our own mistakes. If I can live to see people rise and fall by merit instead of because of some magic blood, I'll be content." She kissed Byleth before pillowing her head on her chest again. "As for the rest of it, you are the woman I love and I will stay for as long as you want me."

Byleth swallowed again for different reasons. "Thank you," she said and resumed stroking Edelgard's hair. "I guess if I'm still going to be queen, I should start thinking about how this country is going to look."

"That would be advisable, yes." Byleth couldn't be sure because of the angle, but she thought Edelgard's lips might have twitched.

It beat thinking about questions she couldn't answer. "Well, I still think you were right that power should be in the hands of people who deserve it. But the tricky part would be deciding who does deserve it. How exactly were you going to find the them?"

Edelgard shifted again so that they could look at each other more easily. She was the emperor once more, not just Byleth's lover. "You mean if I survived? I was planning to make Dorothea a minister and have her help me find other talented commoners. Soldiers who distinguished themselves would be promoted rapidly, like Randolph and Ladislava. Of course, I had no wish to dispossess nobles who have proven their competence and loyalty just because they were nobles either."

Byleth frowned. "That still seems like it's leaving a lot to chance. And wouldn't nobles have had a leg up anyway since their parents already train them how to be nobles but commoners don't?"

"I didn't say I had all the details worked out. The only thing I knew for sure was that I wanted someone talented and kind to follow me as Emperor." She stroked Byleth's cheek. "At least I got that part right."

"Now who's the flatterer?" Byleth asked but leaned into her touch all the same. "Maybe you and Lorenz can help me hash out a decent policy before the nobles come. Most of the old families have died out, but I don't want to drive the rest of them into rebellion by favoring all my friends. I wish you could come to the ball with me."

"You'll do fine. I've never seen a noble able to cow you yet."

"It's not that. I just really wish I could go to the ball with you. Share a dance, sneak off to the Goddess Tower, all the silly little things we never got a chance to do six years ago." She pulled Edelgard close. "I wish I didn't have to hide you away. Hardly a way to court a lady."

Edelgard smiled. "Queens and emperors rarely have their romances play out like in tales. I had resigned myself to doing without it entirely. And my mother was an Imperial mistress, and not the only one, but it didn't stop her from being the love of my father's life." She looked down. "Not that the story has a happy ending."

Come to think of it, Edelgard had never spoken of her parents. "Feel like sharing?"

"I suppose you should know." Her voice changed, becoming low and rhythmic, a storyteller's voice that pulled Byleth forward. "Our story begins, fittingly enough, on the night of another ball. My father had graduated from the Academy some years prior and snuck into the Goddess Tower on a nostalgic whim. My mother had enrolled that year and was also at the tower. My father always insisted that it was love at first sight. He was already married for political reasons, but concubinage has always been accepted for the Emperor. She consented to become his lover. And so I was born."

"You said that the story didn't have a happy ending. What changed?"

"Politics." Venom crept into her voice. "Even before the Insurrection, the leading noble families held great power. My mother was only minor nobility, and Duke Aegir and Count Hevring despised her and she them. They forced my father to not only give her up, but to exile her from the capital. I would have shared the same fate if I hadn't bore a Crest. So I never knew my mother. My father never forgave the nobles and resolved to consolidate power in his own hands. They turned him into a puppet. You know the rest. There you have it: the sad, romantic tale of the emperor and his love." She shrugged. "So I truly am content with this until you tire of me."

"Stop assuming that this is all temporary. I want you to be happy." Edelgard settled against her, but Byleth turned the story over in her mind. On the battlefield, she had been a commander but also just another soldier who depended on her comrades for survival. But a ruler had power. More power than they should by the sound of things. "Your father exiled your mother? Without a trial or anything?"

"Such has always been the prerogative of the Emperor. I used it to imprison Duke Aegir. It saves time and trouble."

"No, it doesn't." Byleth frowned. "Say we get into a fight over, I don't know, the menu in the dining hall. There's nothing to stop me from throwing you in the dungeon."

"You wouldn't though."

"Of course I wouldn't. That's not the point. The point is that I shouldn't be able to do it in the first place. No one should have that kind of power over another person. I don't care if they're queen or Emperor or avatar of Sothis. Power shouldn't be absolute." She ran her fingers through Edelgard's hair. "I want you to feel safe around me, and I want everyone else to feel safe around me. No more throwing people away because it's convenient."

Edgard frowned in return. "Limiting the power the ruler has...You mean by law and not just having the good sense not to anger powerful subjects unnecessarily? It never has been done."

"Neither has eliminating nobility of blood." She helped Edelgard to her feet. "What do you say to running the idea by Lorenz and Claude?"

They found Lorenz and Claude in one of the meeting rooms on the top floor, poring over maps and troop reports. Claude looked up and smiled. "How are my favorite lovebirds? Brazen of you to come here together. Tongues might wag."

Edelgard scowled and crossed her arms. "Could you stop joking for one moment and apply that tactical mind of yours? Byleth wants your help."

Claude straightened and motioned for Byleth to speak. Byleth cleared her throat. "We all want to unite Fódlan and opened her to the outside world, but I've been thinking that we can do more, especially since the old nobility was decimated." She explained as best she could about her ideas of replacing the nobility of blood with a nobility of merit and limiting her own power. Claude leaned in, listening with an expression that was even harder to read than usual while Lorenz pressed his lips into a thin line. "I'm tired of hearing stories about my students being raped or abused to give birth to the perfect heir and of rulers abusing their power. If I can't make things better, what good am I?"

Lorenz's gaze narrowed. "May I assume the impetus for destroying a thousand years of tradition came from you, Edelgard?"

"I was as surprised as you that she shares my ideals. Even more surprised that she expanded them." She took a half-step forward. "I'm many things, but don't tell me you believed the propaganda that I can control minds."

"You would need to replace an entire class of people who have been trained from birth to rule. No one is born knowing how, as much stock as we place in our blood. These would-be worthies would have to be found and educated."

Byleth and Edelgard looked at each other and then at the floor. She still didn't have a good answer.

"You need to set up schools similar to the Officers' Academy and offer classes in the various things a noble needs to know to effectively manage his territory. I would suggest schools in every province to teach the basics of reading, writing, bookkeeping, and such and then the best performing students could be sent to the capital for intensive education."

Byleth stared at him. Lorenz had come to value commoners, Ignatz and Leonie especially, but she thought his role would be merely to poke holes in her idea, forcing her to refine it into something workable. "You've thought about this before."

"Well, the lands and titles can't be left in abeyance forever and divvying them up among the surviving lines would merely lead to more pointless factionalism. Therefore, a new noble class must arise." He smiled sadly. "Alas, I can't take credit for the idea. After he was attainted, Ferdinand was preoccupied with what would replace the dying nobility. The least I can do for an old friend is make sure his ideas live on."

Edelgard closed her eyes. "Ferdinand, I misjudged you, my friend. And you as well, Lorenz."

"So, nobles who are nobles for as long as they live and then they're replaced by the next generation of talented kids. It's a lot of work, but I really like the idea of some talented kids from despised lineages becoming dukes or ministers." Claude's smile reached his eyes. "And we could use the other reforms to pacify the remaining old nobility. if you limit yourself, that's power they don't have to worry about you taking from them. And if there's one thing I've learned as leader of the Leicaster Alliance, it's that nobles will do anything to protect their power."

Byleth swallowed a lump in her throat. With people like these three at her side, she could do anything. Even rule Fódlan. "Will you help me iron out the details so that I have something official-sounding to present to Gautier and the others?"

"I'd love to, Teach. Nothing motivates someone to fight more than visualizing the future they hope to create."

When Byleth entered the reception hall on the night of the ball, her first thought was that her time powers had malfunctioned and she had been transported to six years prior. A string quartet played a soft waltz that made her feel warm and peaceful. The chandeliers glowed with thousands of lights. Dozens or hundreds of people sipped champagne while talking of things from fashion to politics Seteth kept vigil in a corner for signs of mischief. Even the court dress was not so very different from uniforms of the Academy.

But the people here were older, scarred. She received curious glances as she passed, but now there was also the nervousness of subjects evaluating their new queen. She threw her shoulders back and lifted her head, as befitted a queen and emperor. She endured small talk because Claude had taught her how important it was to make others feel listened to. She tried not to hyperventilate as she mounted the stairs to the audience chamber and the most important hours of her life.

She was the last to enter. The surviving great lords of Fódlan had assembled: Counts Gloucester and Galatea, Bergliez's surving son, Countess Varley and others she didn't even know by reputation. Towering over them all was Margrave Gautier, red hair tied back and brown eyes flashing. Byleth's gaze sought her allies. Lorenz next to his father, Ingrid next to hers and it was hard to tell which of them was leaning harder on the other for support. Ashe, looking handsome but awkward in court dress emblazoned with the arms of Rowe. And, of course, Claude at the head of them all, with the scroll in his hand and a smile on his face as he waited for their mutual ambition to be fulfilled.

"Your Majesty," he said with the barest hint of a joke in his voice as he bowed. "Your court awaits you."

She managed a small smile of her own. "Duke Riegan."

Margrave Gautier strode forward. "Your Imperial Majesty," he said, "we aren't your court yet."

"Well, I've always been an optimist," Claude said with a shrug. "Albeit an optimist with a plan. A unified Fódlan can offer plenty of benefits to you."

"Yes, Cornelia's dogs were full of talk of the benefits of the Empire, if only we were willing to sell our souls. What I see before me is just another Emperor, perhaps merely a former one's puppet."

Byleth kept her expression neutral. It was a miracle she didn't hear the accusation more than she did, but it still stung, especially now that she knew what she and Edelgard meant to each other. "The crown will be restoring the cathedrals and priories that the old Empire razed and restoring churchmen to their old positions. Does that sound like Edelgard's handiwork?" In truth, Edelgard had almost had a seizure when Claude had suggested that. "You are after all from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus."

"I'm more concerned she's just looking to kick us in the teeth," Bergliez said. "Everybody knows Emperor Edelgard only abdicated to save her life and this woman spent half a year trying to destroy us before she seized to the crown. Have I been made Minister of Military Affairs? Have I been consulted at all since my dear father's death? No!"

"Oh, come off it Bergliez," said Countess Varley in a way that suggested this wasn't the first time Bergliez had complained. "You've spent your whole life disgracing your father and terrified that he would pass you over for Randolph or Caspar." She turned to Byleth. "I for one wish to hear how Her Majesty plans to put this continent back together."

"I do have some ideas. With no borders separating you, goods and people from less affected parts of Fódlan will be free to flow to areas that were more damaged, allowing us to recover in a handful of years."

"So I'm to subsidize the likes of Gautier and Bergliez?" Gloucester said. "After I knelt to the Empire to save my people? Whose idea was that?"

"Mine, Father."

Gloucester turned to Lorenz, his face an almost perfect 'o' of surprise. "My son?"

"We must start thinking beyond our short-term interests. A Fódlan where people aren't spending their gold rebuilding for the next fifty years is one where they are patronizing Gloucester merchants, which is better for us in the long run."

"And you'll be a rare breed," Claude said. "We'll be creating a bunch of new nobles to deal with all the titles in abeyance. Including a few Gloucester knights who distinguished themselves at Fhirdiad. Unlike you worthies gathered here, they'll only hold their titles and lands for life, and they'll be anxious to follow the old families when it comes to fashion, etiquette, and other noble things."

That got their attention. All at once, the nobles were talking over each other in disbelief or disapproval, with Ashe, Ingrid, and Lorenz trying and failing to let Byleth get a word in edgewise. But Byleth had quieted her share of rowdy classrooms. She clicked one heal on the floor and cleared her throat. They fell silent. "Let me explain in full, if you please."

She continued."You will continue to hold your lands and titles under the customary laws for as long as your lines exist. But this war has taught me that Fódlan needs change if it is to survive. We need good people with a head for ruling and civil servants to assist them. This is how you're going to get it."

"My own line will go extinct when I die," Gautier said. "Your way will ensure that Crests are no longer valued. These new nobles will have no reason to marry into Crest-bearing families, and they will eventually go extinct. How do you plan to protect us from the likes of Sreng without them?"

"Ideally, with a peace treaty and more trade," Claude said. "But until that day, Holst Goneril has generously offered to send half the troops manning Fódlan's Locket to the northern border of Faerghus. That is what happens when we work together. I know nothing can soothe the pain of losing your son, but you can at least protect your people."

"But what about us?" Logically, Count Galatea couldn't be older than fifty-five, but hunger and hard living had aged him twenty years. "We're already starving. Ingrid was our best hope of survival because of families could marry into the Crest of Daphnel. But in your world, what reason would someone worthy have to offer for her hand?"

"Father…"

"I have tried so hard to keep you from knowing hunger, my dear. But our land is so close to ruin, and I still see no salvation other than you making a good marriage."

It was easier to feel righteous when those who opposed you were villains who abused their wives and children or spent lavishly while their subjects starved. It was harder to stand against good men were simply doing their best in a system that was showing signs of breakdown. "Those new civil servants will include experts in agriculture, and the best will be sent to Galatea as soon as possible. Until that day…Ingrid Brandi Galatea step forward."

Ingrid looked at her father and at Byleth before she limped forward. "Because of your wounds, I won't make you kneel." She told Ingrid's hands and mustered her best regal bearing. "By the order of Byleth Eisner, Queen of Fódlan, in recognition for your valor at Fhirdiad and elsewhere, you are to be granted the lands and incomes formerly held by House Aegir to be held during your life." She allowed herself a small smile. "I know it's a long way from Faerghus, but it was the best I could do on short notice."

"I—Professor. Your Majesty!" Tears threatened at the corners of her eyes. "Thank you. Thank you. If this income is invested wisely, it would be enough to sustain both Aegir and Galatea for generations. Thank you!"

"There is of course, one condition." Her smile grew a bit wider. "I meant it when I said I wouldn't have talk of you being a cripple."

"You know, this could work out quite well." A flash of pain crossed Countess Varley's face. "No more watching helplessly as our daughters are tied to chairs in service of some deranged idea of 'marriageability.' Yes, I think Fódlan could do with a bit more rising by merit instead of depending on Crests."

"You are a very wise woman," Claude said. "But none of you have guessed the best thing that we can offer any of you." He unrolled the scroll he had been carrying. "This is the Charter of Liberties, which Queen Byleth grants to you and to all the people of Fódlan in perpetuity. I would particularly draw your attention to clause thirteen, which states that no taxes can be imposed or wars declared without the advice and counsel of the nobles and a selection of the village headmen, as well as clause nineteen, which guarantees lives, property and liberty unless convicted of high crimes by a disinterested judge."

The next hour was spent letting the nobles read over the charter and listening to concerns, requests for clarification, and suggestions. Byleth felt like her head was going to split open by the end of it, but at last Gautier stepped forward. "I'm not at all certain about most of this, but I have no better plan for my allies or vassals." He knelt and took both of Byleth's hands. "By the light of the Goddess, I pledge myself to you as my rightful queen, now and forevermore."

One by one they came to her, saying those words or similar. Byleth felt a hard lump in her throat. After so long, they had done it. Fódlan was one nation, and with time her people would combine in a glorious mosaic that would contain the best of each.

Claude was the last. He knelt and then shook his head. "I won't swear the oath. My own destiny lies elsewhere, so instead, here before these witnesses, I cede Riegan to the crown." His voice dropped to a whisper. "To you, my friend."

Once more, Byleth felt tears that made no sense threaten to overtake her. She swallowed them down even though they burned like fire in her throat. "Thank you. Thank you all. I swear to govern with justice and wisdom as far as I am able. And now I bid you a good night. Enjoy the festivities!" She managed to leave the audience chamber without fainting and considered it one of her more impressive victories.

Claude followed her out. His grin was wide, and his posture loose without any trace of affectation. "We did it, my friend! We did it!" He enveloped her in a hug and she squeezed back as hard as she could. "Just you wait, in a few years they'll wonder why they didn't think of all this sooner."

"Yes, Professor, you did it," Ingrid said as she and Ashe appeared in view. "My father is overwhelmed. So am I. You saved Galatea tonight. I'll never be able to thank you enough."

"I should be thanking you."

"It's all so overwhelming. Fódlan united and me a count. It's like something out of a storybook." Ashe's expression turned thoughtful. "I still don't know how to be a count. I offered Edelgard a post managing my lands, but I'm pretty sure she won't take it now."

"A post?" Her brain felt slow after hours dealing with nobles. "She never mentioned that."

He nodded. "It was during the victory celebration after we liberated Fhirdiad. She seemed interested but conflicted. Now she has even more reasons to stay at court. Unless I misunderstood?"

Byleth managed to turn a yelp of surprise into a cough. At this rate, there would soon be no point in keeping her romance a secret. "That's up to Edelgard. Being a steward would play to her strengths, but well there's no point pretending that I want her to stay right here with me."

"Speaking of her, I have it on good authority that the Goddess Tower will be unoccupied for the remainder of the night, if Your Majesty wants to get away from all that noise and catch up." Claude winked at her, earning a slap on his arm from Ingrid.

Byleth couldn't even muster enough annoyance to glare at him. She was too busy tingling with fresh excitement. At the Goddess Tower with Edelgard on the night of the ball at long last... "Thank you. Thank you all so much."

She forced herself not to run when she returned to the main hall. It wouldn't do to cause gossip. She was sure that her heart would have been pounding if it beat it all, but her breath came in shorter and shorter gasps as she climbed the stairs to the top of the Goddess Tower. She threw open the wooden door and was rewarded by the sight of Edelgard gazing at the stars.

Byleth held herself still. Edelgard looked liked a goddess herself under starlight, both serene and thoughtful. Her mouth went dry. Maybe she was being silly, acting like one of the younger students mooning after a girl, but then she had never gotten a chance for frivolity. She cleared her throat. Edelgard turned to her, and a smile spread across her face. "Queen Byleth of Fódlan, the whole monastery is buzzing with gossip about your meeting with the nobles. Shouldn't you be down there toasting with everyone who I'm sure is anxious to curry favor?"

"It can wait for one night." She crossed the distance between them and threaded their fingers together. Of all the hands she had taken tonight, Edelgard's were the warmest. "It's done, El. You'll have your nobility of merit and Claude his opening of the borders, and I hope I can do something to stop the abuse of commoners that I've seen."

"If anyone can, my darling, it's you." She glanced down before staring into Byleth's eyes so deeply that it seemed she could see right through her. "You've dared more than I and my most idealistic, and you've accomplished more without falling into darkness and perpetrating the very cruelties you sought to destroy." Byleth opened her mouth but Edelgard put a finger to her lips. "Don't speak to me of demons. You've been the very model of the ideal knight since the day you protected me from Kostas. I gave my crown to you for a reason, and I remain certain you are the only one who can lead Fódlan as it should be led."

"You have a silver tongue, Edelgard von Hresvelg." Maybe if they kept giving each other compliments, someday they would feel themselves worthy. "I rather like it." She kissed Edelgard, tracing her lips with her tongue until Edelgard parted to let her in. Byleth took her time, drawing out gasps and little whimpers and letting Edelgard do the same to her. Edelgard was delightfully mussed when they broke apart.

"Do normal people like kissing that much?" Byleth asked.

Edelgard chuckled. "When have we ever been normal? Though I suppose the queen and her terribly scandalous mistress are normal by our standards."

"And you're content with that?"

Edelgard tilted her head to one side. "You keep asking me that. And I keep telling you that I am but you don't believe me. I know how the game is played and frankly everything after Enbarr has been a gift. What's wrong? Why don't you believe me?"

Byleth took a moment to answer. Edelgard's tone reminded her too much of when they had been teacher and student and she had asked a question in a seminar that Byleth hadn't been prepared for. "I suppose it's because I think you deserve better. Not so much better than me as, well, look at you. Brilliant and hard-working and able to take on twenty or thirty ordinary soldiers by yourself. Nobles here or abroad would be happy to take you into their service, even if some of them would have to do it under the table." That was it, and the sudden knowing of it was like a weight on her shoulders. "You should be so much more than some royal plaything."

Edelgard raised an eyebrow. "I'm hardly a plaything."

"Still you should be more, and I don't know how to give it to you without smashing my court into pieces."

"And you won't do that, not even for love. I wouldn't love you if you were so silly."

"Maybe you should take Ashe—sorry, Count Rowe—up on his offer." The words tasted strange in her mouth but she managed to get them out. "I'm told that the Silver Maiden rivals only Enbarr. You could do so much good there for Ashe."

"He told you?" She flinched and pulled away, hugging her arms close to her chest. "Do you want me to go?"

Blast. She had still managed to say the wrong thing. "I want you at my side and I can't ever imagine not wanting it." She pulled Edelgard to her. She was shivering, though whether was from cold or emotion was impossible to say. She kissed the top of her head. "I just…you shouldn't live your life for me. If I snapped my fingers and Lorenz was king instead, what would you do?"

"Before or after I stopped laughing?" She sighed. "I would go and try to do some good in the world."

As Byleth had thought. "Then you should go." But it didn't have to end there, did it? Not when the likes of Aegir and Varley had had responsibilities far from their homes and still managed a home life, however much they'd squandered it with their cruelty. "I'd simply have to join you instead."

Edelgard looked up at her in surprise. "Pardon?"

"I'm ruling a whole continent now, and I'd rather spend the royal treasury on things other than new palaces." Byleth's mind whirred. This could work. "If I were to spend half a year 'imposing' on Ashe by taking over a hunting lodge or something, well that's more than a lot of noble families get to see each other. And you would have to come to court with him from time to time for the rest of the year."

"I would." Her lips twitched, though she couldn't quite manage a smile. "You always try to get the best of all worlds, don't you?"

"It's worked out for me so far." She pushed away a strand of hair that had fallen in front of Edelgard's face. "And I won't be queen forever, for the simple reason that I'm unwilling to do the thing a queen normally has to do to have an heir, and since I'll have to choose one anyway I'd rather do it before court life drives me completely mad."

"A successor who isn't your own child?" Another laugh. "The same as my own plans once upon a time. I think I'd like to learn the joys of idling with you, if you would still have me by then."

"Then this has been the night of planning for the future. Only one thing remains."

"Oh?"

Byleth smiled. The strains of a waltz wafted from below. "May I have this dance?"

Byleth padded through the halls the next morning hours before the chapel bell would summon anyone else to wakefulness. She had discarded all the trappings of her position and donned mercenary's garb and a plain black cloak that led her blend into the shadows. This was no errand for the queen, but for Byleth Eisner alone.

The graveyard was silent. Even in the darkness, she could make out the outline of her father's grave. Grief cut through her heart, not as sharply as it had when she had held him in her arms and watched rain and her tears mix together, but it h stillurt like a knife wound. She knelt before the stone. Someone had managed to take very good care of this and the other graves despite the ruin other parts of the monastery had fallen into, and there was little for her to do but sit vigil.

And talk. "Hi, Dad." She felt foolish talking to a rock, but Manuela had sworn that it would help. "I'm sorry I didn't come last year. And I guess, if you know anything, then you know why I didn't come before that. We're closing in on the people that killed you. I hope that makes you happy. Claude made me a queen. I know you'd laugh at me prancing around like a real noble. To tell you the truth, I laugh at myself. And, I met a girl. Well, not met. Yes, the same girl you teased me about back then. And we're pretty happy together. I feel so silly around her, but it's a good kind of silly. You would—" Byleth closed her eyes. She had tried, but everything felt so raw. "Oh Goddess, I miss you Dad."

"We know you do."

Byleth rose and turned. Claude was a little behind her, carrying one of the magic lights. And with him were all of her precious fawns and Edelgard. "I still don't know anything about losing a parent, but even I know that you shouldn't be alone right now."

"Thank you."

They crowded around her in the darkness, Edelgard and Claude pressing close on either side. They didn't speak, but it was enough to simply let the warmth settle over her and know that whatever waited for her after they had defeated the Agarthans, she had those that loved her.

Claude broke away. "You know in Almyra, remembrances of the dead aren't purely somber occasions." He removed a small hip flask from his belt."To Jeralt!"

"To Captain Jeralt!"

"To Dad!" If there was ever a way her father would want to be remembered, it was with a drinking party.

But before she could take more than a sip, a fresh set of footsteps echoed across the stairs leading down to the cemetery. "I thought I might find you here," Rhea said. "I didn't expect the alcohol." Something small and uncertain and, above all, young entered her voice. "May I join you? I loved him too."

Edelgard hissed under her breath, but Byleth put a hand on her arm. This was no time for hatreds. "Of course."

Rhea found a place between Ignatz and Marianne, her desire to stay away from Edelgard evidently outweighing any desire to be close to the grave or Byleth. "Rest well, my old friend. I've tried to do right by your daughter. I hope it was enough. May you ever journey with the Goddess." She bowed her head.

They stood there like that in solemn vigil, those of devout faith or none, united only in their desire to soothe Byleth. What she had done to deserve all the blessings she had been given, she had no idea, but she promised all the same to be as good as she was capable of being.

"Professor, Rhea, I need to speak to you." Shamir strode across the grass still in her traveling clothes. "I hate to interrupt, but I think you would consider this urgent."

Only one thing could summon Shamir out in the darkness instead of waiting til morning. Byleth trembled. "You found them."

"Right where Claude said they would be. I didn't stick around for long, but that place is strange. Gave even my most experienced men the shivers."

"It doesn't matter," Rhea said. "If my life means anything, it means that I must put an end to this shadow that has threatened Fódlan for far too long."

"You can't," Byleth said with all the royal authority she could muster. "You're still so weak." Goddess knew she had buried enough people for a lifetime.

"I have strength enough for this. You could no more keep me away from this battle than you could Edelgard. Isn't that right, scion of Hresvelg?" There was something odd about the way Rhea pronounced the name, as if the fact of her lineage should call Edelgard to battle. "Or do you hate me so much that you would abandon the land Wilhelm sought to restore?"

"It's not my blood that compels me." Edelgard gritted her teeth. "But you're right. In this, we are allies."

Byleth looked at the grave. Soon the army would muster for what she hoped was the last time. They would do their best to put an end to Thales and to a thousand years of terror. No more Edelgards or Lysitheas. No more puppetmasters manipulating the world from the shadows. Fódlan would be free to heal and grow. Her father had never been much for vengeance, but she thought he would appreciate that.