Honestly...I will admit I had this chapter done weeks ago I just wanted to make sure it was perfect before I posted it.

There are trigger warnings for this chapter. If you find one please notify me, I'll make sure to edit this.

After the council meeting Lucina was fuming. From the moment they decided, while completely ignoring her, to get her a new concubine, she's been unsure what exactly to do with herself. They basically sent her on her way as if she had no say in the matter - and the most frustrating part? She didn't.

Lord Zelvester immediately left to round up multiple guards and go find some poor, unlucky woman. What should she even do in this situation? What could she do?

She knew what she wanted to do.

Her steps wove a flaming path through the castle. She made a beeline towards the medical wing where Lissa's, Libra's, and Masayuki's offices were. Since they were in a time of peace, it was mostly empty. Her footsteps echoed through the hallways and she stopped in front of his office. For once, she didn't bother to knock and opened the door.

"Masayuki!"

Like she expected, he was sitting at his desk with one hand holding open a page in a medical book and the other held a quill over a notebook.

For a long time, people have told her that she looks like her father or people are reminded of him when they speak to her. For Masayuki, she always felt as if he was the splitting image of his mother. His skin was paler than her own, which she could only assume it was from how long he spent in his office. He wore a mix of both Ylissean and Chon'sin clothing which had a part at his stomach to show his brand and his long, silky black hair flowed down to his waist.

Only one thing was strikingly similar between them; his eyes were a sharp blue and the exact same color as her father's. The difference, though, was that her father's was a warm blue like a deep sky yet Masayuki's reminded her of pure ice. Those cold eyes looked up at her completely unimpressed.

"Do you have a problem?" He said, now looking at his book as he smoothed out the page, "Did you bump into something and break an arm? Did you trip, fall, and bruise yourself? Are you hurt in any way?"

She sputtered, completely taken aback by the questions. Her anger was nearly shot and died by the suddenness alone, "No, but—"

"Then why," he looked back up at her, "are you interrupting me? I'm in the middle of something and you know I don't like to be disturbed."

"I'm not a servant you can just turn away," she matched his coldness, "and you know why I'm here," She stepped into the office and closed the door behind her. With a few quick strides she was directly in front of him. "I just came back from a council meeting, where Lord Zelvester told me that you gave him my very private health files."

"Ah," He merely sighed, as if what she said was a minimal hassle at best. He went back to his book. Once again, he started to write, "That's what you're upset about? I don't see the problem."

Lucina's blood boiled to the point where she could swear she was seeing red. He had betrayed her trust, was incredibly rude, and now he was just ignoring her?

She slammed a hand on the desk. The wood rattled. A couple papers went astray and the bottle of ink next to his hand fell over and splattered over his notebook and clothes. He quickly stood as if he was burned.

"Look what you've done! I worked for hours to write all of that—!"

"You told Lord Zelvester I wasn't pregnant and wasn't having – having…" she sputtered over the word, her face flushed. Even through her anger, she couldn't make herself say it.

He rolled his eyes and snapped, "If you're going to yell at me, you might as well say the word. Go on! Say that you aren't fucking your concubine."

"Masayuki!"

"That's my name, yes," he said impatiently, "And no, I didn't tell him anything. He read it from the file itself."

"And he shouldn't have been able to! Didn't Aunt Lissa tell you that no one looks at the files except for you, her, and Uncle Libra?!"

"Unless it's an emergency," he opened his desk drawer and took out a towel. With careful movements, he began to dab away the ink on his desk. "And Lord Zelvester explicitly told me that it was an emergency."

"Who are you to decide that? It was about me. Shouldn't you have asked me first?" Her voice shook. She was pretty sure she'd never been angrier at someone she was supposed to consider family.

Masayuki's expression was one of complete apathy. He only looked down at her as if she was some nuisance. She felt…small. She felt like she was ten years old again and he was thirteen, giving her the cold shoulder for reasons she couldn't understand. She still didn't understand. Not entirely.

"I'm sorry you've forgotten," his voice practically dripped with thinly veiled malice, "but I'm the head Cleric with Aunt Lissa and Uncle Libra gone. I think I can make decisions without the Crowned Princess breathing down my neck and judging my every move," He turned away from her, back to the ink that was now making a small pool of black on the floor, "Now, if you'd excuse me, I need to finish cleaning your mess."

Lucina wanted to scream. She almost did. But she knew this conversation was over. She didn't win anything and she felt worse than before she barged her way into the room. Yet she knew Masayuki. He wasn't going to even try to move any kind of conversation or argument along.

So she turned and left.

It would be better and more productive to take out her anger on the training dummies instead.

The training grounds are open to any knight at any time of the day. There were a set amount of training dummies made of old stray and magical reinforcements. Half of the time she'd be standing on the sidelines helping to instruct recruits but no one seemed to disturb her when she grabbed a wooden sword.

Her expression must have been a warning to stay away in itself.

She wasn't sure how long she was there hacking away at training dummies. It was long enough that the sun raised high into the sky and beamed down on her, so she didn't hesitate to strip off her shirt and put her hair up in a ponytail. It was long enough that she had already destroyed one training dummy and was on her way through the second. It was long enough that her body was beginning to scream and burn with the effort and force she had put into every single swing.

"Luci!"

She yelped, miscalculating the swing of her sword and the "blade" of the wooden sword landed awkwardly on the dummy's body. Pain hit her wrist like a flash of lightning, and she was forced to drop it.

"Oh, sorry!"

Cynthia practically bounced up next to her and flashed her with an apologetic smile. Lucina's anger had already mostly subsided. It left behind an exhausted pain that settled directly on her chest. She swallowed it down to force a smile.

"Hey Cynthia. Sorry, but I'm having a rough day. If you need to um…play-be the…Warrior of Light, maybe you could talk to Owain?"

"Oh no, we're planning to do that later! I wanted to talk to you about something else."

She slowly picked up her sword, "…you wanted to talk to me? About what?"

Cynthia shifted on her feet and played with a lock of hair, "Um…I heard you yelling at Yuki."

Oh gods, no. Lucina groaned and rubbed her eyes with the pads of her fingers. Of anyone in the castle, Cynthia was the last person she wanted to hear her blow up at their older half-brother. Even though Cynthia is next in line for the throne if Lucina ever decided she wanted to step down or if she lost her life, she hasn't been really forced into taking concubines, probably because she's still 16. She wasn't even sure if Cynthia really understood the drama that surrounds the concubines.

"…did you now?" She said slowly and tried to keep an air of calm. Though inwardly, she was screaming, "How much did you hear?"

Cynthia looked at her curiously before her lips formed into a mischievous smile, "You know, sex isn't a bad word even though fuck is."

Lucina flushed and sputtered, which seemed to be exactly what Cynthia was looking for since she freely laughed.

"Cynthia! That's – you can't say that!" She practically hissed, as if their parents or – Naga forbid – Uncle Frederick could overhear.

"Lucina, I'm not five anymore!" She pouted, which didn't prove her point at all. She lowered her voice to a much more conspiratorial tone. Though it wasn't as if anyone was paying attention to their conversation, "And the other Pegasus knights have said much worse. Have you ever heard Aunt Cordelia when she thinks no one's around? Severa definitely got her cursing streak it from her!"

Lucina could never imagine Aunt Cordelia of all people cursing, but that wasn't the point. She shook her head, trying to stave off her own blush and change the subject.

"Anyway, Cynthia don't…worry about that conversation. That's between me and Masayuki."

"He hurt your feelings, didn't he? He did something bad, right?" She prodded, "Do you want me to talk to him? He listens to me sometimes."

She was right. He had an infuriating soft spot for Cynthia that baffled Lucina for years. He seemed to absolutely despise her but there were times when he would drop everything for Cynthia without a second thought.

For a moment she contemplated it, but she shook her head, "No, it's fine. I'll handle this."

"Alright…" Cynthia looked skeptical, then went on, "So, what is this stuff I keep hearing about you getting a new concubine? What's wrong with Brady? Is he okay? You're not getting rid of him, are you?"

"What? No!" She quickly said, almost horrified Cynthia would think that. She'd never do that to Brady even if she wasn't interested in doing anything romantic or sexual between them. The message that would send to everyone and the rumors could destroy his family for years. "I just – it's a long story. The council got involved and decided I needed another one."

"Jeez," she wrinkled her nose, "they're so stupid when Mother and Father are gone. So, are you going to see her?"

"I – what?"

"No one told you?" Cynthia frowned, "The guards brought her to the concubine wing an hour ago."

Lucina just stared. They brought her an hour ago? Was she really so frightening as she trained that no one tried to notify her?

Well, shit.

Without thinking, she started speed-walking toward the castle.

"Luci! Where are you going?!"

"I'm going to talk to her!" Lucina yelled over her shoulder before heading right to the concubine wing.

~O~

Robin was in a haze when the guards and Zelvester escorted her to the castle. For a couple times, she tried to find an escape but she was utterly and completely surrounded. There was no way she could try to run again. Besides, she could tell quickly that the soldiers were diligently watching her after her escape attempt. Every time she thought she spotted a hole between them she could sprint through, it closed up just as fast as she found it. It was frustrating.

When they made it through the gates and Robin looked up at the Ylissean castle, she couldn't help but bitterly note how beautiful her new cage would be.

The castle was larger than the Plegian castle, she could at least note that from the handful of times she had actually gone there. She had to crane her neck upwards to look at the highest tower. It seemed well kept and just the outside bustled with people – most likely servants – going about working. If there was one thing her father didn't lie about when describing the war, it was how luxurious it was. Like they were flaunting their wealth.

As servants began to crane their heads to look between the soldiers to glance at her, her face began to burn. They all must know she was brought here to be some kind of sex toy for their Princess. They must be snickering and wondering just how often her body would end up being used for their Princess's pleasure.

Dear Grima, how embarrassing.

When they actually entered the castle, Lord Zelvester stopped them and waved off the soldiers until only he and two others were left with her. She noted with thinly veiled annoyance that one of the guards was the same that had grabbed her arm so tightly earlier. She filed it away to pay him back later.

"Take her to her new room. I'll have her new servant sent to get her ready for Princess Lucina."

Servant? She gets a servant?

She didn't ask the question aloud even though she wanted to. As the guards began to move, she silently walked with them. At this point it would be better to comply and run later. Gaius's advice echoed in her ears.

"Never enter somewhere if you don't have more than one way to sneak out."

"Always remember the path to get to at least the front exit."

It was easy to remember that. She silently logged the directions in her head – a right, a left, up two sets of stairs, straight, another left…Gaius would be proud. She could already imagine his beaming grin and how he'd him reach over to ruffle her hair.

…she missed him already.

The guards stopped in front of a room, and when they opened it, Robin's jaw couldn't help but drop open.

The room was big enough to fit two of her old room and the bed was Queen sized. Though it was fairly bare, it had beautiful furniture – a loveseat, a mirror along with a place to sit and do makeup, and a closet. A door led to another room which she was pretty sure was a place to bathe. The only thing it was really missing for her was a bookcase. Though through a set of double doors was a balcony.

"This place can't be my new room," She muttered.

The guards, on the other hand, didn't seem all that impressed. The arm-grabber tapped her shoulder to get her attention. She nearly slapped his hand away.

"We'll need you to surrender any weapons you have on you."

"Excuse me?" She pulled her bag closer to herself. Her mind flashed to the tome settled on top of all of her things. The tome she's had for as long as she could remember. The tome that never left her side, "You can't expect me to give that up!"

"Rules are rules," The guard insisted and took a step closer. She instantly took a step back. She glanced behind him to the door but found that the other was standing in front of it, "Concubines are not allowed to keep weapons on them."

"That's fucking bullshit." She almost wanted to try her luck with the balcony, but reminded herself that they were up two flights. Even with Wind she'd probably splatter on the grass below. "Can't you ignore it? I'm not going to use it!"

The guard raised an eyebrow at her.

She grimaced. Yeah, bad lie.

"Give your weapons. Now. Or I'll have to use force."

She tried again, "Wouldn't the Princess be angry if you bruised me?"

The guard just glared, insistent. Robin made sure to remember this. She would double whatever revenge she came up with later. She glanced at the balcony again and weighed her options. But, of course, surviving won. She sighed and dug into her bag to take out the old, battered tome. She shoved in in the guard's hands, though he still glared. Gods, she felt like a criminal being detained instead of a member of a harem.

"What?"

"All of your weapons."

She swallowed a lump in her throat and scowled, "That's it! I'm just a poor sorcerer from Plegia! All my other books in here are battered fiction novels! I'm pretty sure you don't want to confiscate smutty romances. Unless that's what you're into."

The guard kept his glare she realized it was probably time to pull out her last resort. She pouted her lips and looked up at the guard with a wide-eyed, pathetic expression. If she tried hard enough, she could probably even make it look like she was about to cry. "Please, sir, I'm being honest! Do you really want to look through all my personal items to find out if I have a knife or something? My bag is private! Please don't look through my – my delicate things!"

The guard had the decency to actually look embarrassed. He stepped back, probably panicking at the fact that she looked ready to cry. So many men seemed to cave at that. It was hilarious. The other guard –thank Grima– took pity on her.

"Leave her alone, I don't think we want to look through her…delicate items, as she put it, for some weapon that isn't there. We'd only be embarrassing ourselves and her."

"…fine." The guard in front of her tucked her tome under his arm. She stared wistfully at it. She already wished it was back in her hands. "Your servant will be here in a minute to get you ready to meet the Princess. Behave." And, with his companion, they finally left her alone.

Robin took a second to make sure the footsteps had actually disappeared down the hallway to place her bag on her new bed. She opened it and dug into the contents. To the side was a well-placed jagged dagger. It had an engraving that had been scratched out long ago. Another gift from her mother.

Robin snickered to herself and stuffed the knife under her pillow. If they were serious about the "no weapons" rule, she'd find a different, better hiding place later.

Suckers.

She sat on her bed that was far softer than she expected and let out a long sigh.

What now?

Gaius was who-knows-where and he's probably going to come back to an empty room and people telling him that his sister was chosen to be a concubine. Which means that he'll have to cancel his plans and won't be able to take her to Valm. Didn't he say it was hard to smuggle people right now? What if everything was ruined because of this? And even if she escaped, she'd never be able to get to Valm?

Fucking perfect.

"Is this your way of punishing me?" She bitterly said as she ran a finger over an eye symbol on her robe. "If you can't have me, you'll send me into a thousand trials until you can finally have my life? Is that it?"

She wasn't answered. She didn't expect to be. Maybe Grima was looking down on her, laughing at her misfortune. He was probably weaving more misfortunes on her way and cackling as they all just lead to her gruesome, horrific death.

This is what you deserve for being so selfish.

"Go fuck yourself," she hissed into empty air.

Someone knocked and Robin tensed. Was it the Princess already? So soon?

"…come in."

The lock was fiddled with for a moment before the door was opened, revealing a boy who seemed maybe a few years or so younger than her gently holding a dress. He had chubby, rosy cheeks and wide brown eyes matched with messy light brown hair. His eyes widened even further when he saw her, probably over her being absolutely covered in Grima symbols. She let her shoulders fall in relief. Not the princess, but the servant. When she raised an eyebrow, he flushed and quickly bowed his head respectfully. It was almost cute.

"Madam, I'm Ricken. I'll be your personal servant."

I expected a girl. She nearly blurted aloud. Back in Plegia, she didn't really have a personal servant, only the actual few that were around the manor. Yet, she was pretty sure personal servants were supposed to do things like wake you up in the morning and get you dressed.

Ricken shifted on his feet for a second before he took quick steps towards her and placed the dress in his arms gently on the bed, next to her bag. She could see his eyes shift like he was tempted to peek in. Pointedly, she pulled her bag towards her.

He cleared his throat and his face flushed. "We'll need to get you changed and washed up quickly before Princess Lucina comes by."

Now that he was much closer, she let herself stay silent as she studied him. It wasn't often that she was able to stretch the skills she learned from tactician books and Aversa's sporadic teachings. Even if he was locked up, that didn't mean she couldn't work on it.

"Just with a quick glace you can get a quick gist of an ally's or enemy's abilities. That way you don't have to rely on magic to size everyone up all the time."

Her heart dropped as she thought of Aversa's giggle and her own bewildered embarrassment at the time. She wondered if even a part of Aversa missed her.

She forced herself to focus on Ricken. He's noticeably small, scrawny, and as far as she could tell he definitely wasn't a very fast runner. Pale skin, so he probably spends most of his time inside. The sleeves of his white, button up shirt were rolled up and he wore thick gloves made especially for magic users. Peeking out under them were familiar-looking scars. Magic backlash scars.

So, her new servant seemed to be some kind of beginner mage. Wind mage, from the pattern of the scars.

"Madam, are you listening?"

Her eyes snapped up to his face. She was fairly sure he was actually pouting. She held back from reaching over and pinching his cheeks.

"Oh, um. Sorry." She tucked her hair behind her ear and held back a scowl of annoyance when she remembered it was still loose over her shoulders. "What are we doing?"

"I'm going to fetch water for your bath," He answered patiently, though she wouldn't have blamed him if he was annoyed, "Please, it'll be better if we get everything done quickly."

"What if I don't want to?" She tested, and couldn't help a small smirk when Ricken's eyes widened.

"Wha-What do you mean?"

"I never asked for this." She stood and crossed her arms. She was just under a head taller than him so she was able to seem maybe a little more intimidating, "I don't even fully understand what was going on! I was just startled from my nap after a full night of traveling, and I found myself in front of this Lord who just announced that I'm going to be your Princess's sex toy," she ignored of Ricken's full-face flush at her words, "What the fuck am I getting out of this except humiliation?"

He sputtered. Clearly he had to gather his thoughts. Did no one really argue against this at all before her? "It's a great honor to be chosen. And as long as the Princess likes you, you'll be well cared for. And if you have family they'll be given money to help them as well."

"None of that sounds particularly amazing to me," she huffed. What use was the Princess liking her? And at this point her only family was Gaius and she was pretty sure he won't be getting any money from this. Nor would he want to. "When the Princess comes, I'll just demand for her to let me leave."

"She doesn't have the power to do that. Not…entirely. She'll need to ask Lord Zelvester for approval, but he'll probably just say no."

Robin groaned. So there really was no escape. She fell back on the far-too-comfortable bed, though she would trade this bed for the stiff one in the inn any day if it meant getting back to Gaius and on her way to freedom.

"…Madam," Ricken got her attention, "you said you were travelling all night, right? And that you were taking a nap before you were brought here?"

She glanced over at Ricken and nodded slowly. A part of her wondered where he was going with this.

"Then can you at least take a bath since you had a long night? Don't you think warm water would help?"

Robin had the very precise feeling that she was being tricked or at least coaxed into doing what they all wanted her to do. But the thought of warm water on her skin was pretty tempting. Now that she was actually thinking about it, she felt grimy and covered in dirt.

Slowly, she sat up, "I…guess it wouldn't hurt to take a quick bath."

That was exactly what Ricken wanted to hear. He beamed in obvious relief.

"Alright! Just wait a few minutes, I'll fill your bath for you! Then I can help you get ready!" He ran off and Robin couldn't help but chuckle.

At least he was a pretty amusing kid.

He was right. He didn't take very long and he quickly filled the tub in the other room with steaming water. When it was completely full she immediately went in the room to strip. Ricken flushed and kept his gaze away from her.

"Um…do you want me to take your clothes to be washed?"

"Will I ever get to wear them again?"

He went silent.

She sighed.

"…my robe. It's important to me so I guess it'll be nice if that was kept clean."

He nodded and took the folded robe before taking a step back to the door. "I'll be outside if you need me, Madam."

"Right – oh, by the way. You don't have to call me Madam. You can just call me Robin."

"…s-sure…Madam Robin." And he closed the door behind him.

Robin snickered, starting to strip out of her travel clothes. It's a work in progress, she supposed.

(In the tub, she let her mind wander. Her imagination ran wild, first to Gaius, who was bound to panic and, if he ever got her out of this, would never let her live it down. Then, to the Princess who she's only heard terrible things about. What would she do to her once she came in the room? Hold her down? Force a kiss on her?

It was a good thing she kept her knife.)

When she got out of her bath she found her robe had been kept in sight, folded and placed on a table nearby. Though he moved her bag down to the floor. When she came out in the towel, he flushed hard and kept his gaze off of her, instead onto the dress.

"How are you going to help me if you won't even look at me?" She had asked teasingly before going to put on underwear.

"I-I should at least respect your privacy."

Robin laughed.

The dress was two layers. The first was a very small, skimpy white dress that had a very low V-neck. Ricken pointedly didn't look at how the skirt began to ride up her hips as he helped with the lower part. He tied a black sash with golden designs over her waist, where the fabric fluttered out to become flowing sleeves. The dark red skirt flowed down to the floor with a slit to reveal one leg.

Then, Ricken brought her over to a mirror and began to braid her hair. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration and she nearly cooed at how cute it was.

"Can't you just put my hair up in a ponytail?" She asked as her curly hair firmly refused to stay completely in the braid. He didn't seem very bothered.

"Don't you want to look pretty for the Princess, Madam?"

"Not specifically," She stared in pure disinterest at her own reflection. She felt like some doll that was only there to look pretty; a doll to be placed on a shelf and inevitably forgotten. "I told you already that I didn't choose this. I'm sure not all of the concubines the Exalt has are specifically happy either, right?"

Ricken shifted, "I shouldn't say—"

"Haven't you talked to the other concubines before?"

"A few times. I'm not exactly in the position to talk to them a lot."

Robin huffed. Figures. She could only imagine the concubines here. They were definitely all the Exalt's. Sex slaves for his enjoyment, from what she could remember from things she read.

Speaking of, she could only remember reading about concubines in passing. Her father had mentioned them with blatant disgust, as he does with all things Ylissean, but hadn't gone much into depth with it. Now she was wishing that of those research sprees she would have in their library that she had decided to dive deeper into Ylissean culture a bit more.

"So, just how long am I going to wait for the Princess to show up?"

"Not much longer. She should have been notified that you arrived already."

She hummed, and it went silent. Ricken finished her hair and she stood to sit at the bed. She was used to being locked up in her room, waiting for things to be brought to her or when she'd be allowed out. Yet Ricken kept fidgeting around, practically trying to find things to clean. As she watched him re-fold her robe for what was probably the fifth time, she loudly sighed and beckoned him to sit next to her.

"Come on, you can talk to me since I don't think the Princess is coming anytime soon."

Ricken gave her a sheepish look and sat next to her, "I'm sorry. I don't know why she isn't here yet."

"I honestly don't really want to meet her anyway."

He shifted.

"So um…you don't have concubines in Plegia?"

She scoffed, "Obviously not. Do you even know much about Plegia?"

By his flush, she figured that was a no. Not that she was surprised. It's been a very long time since Plegia and Ylisse held more than a few years of peace between each other. And now it was still rocky, like two people who talk yet don't know what to make of each other after a long argument. She wondered if she should change the subject, but Ricken's eyes practically gleamed as he stared at her. She sighed.

"Alright, well, Plegia is far hotter than here…"

(She sat describing Plegia to the wide-eyed servant in front of her, carefully avoiding things like religion and the structure of royalty. She tried her best to stick to the warm days, the bustling market place, the liveliness of magic, the cold nights and huddling together, the ruins that always seemed to tell a story deep in the desert.

With every word, she found herself missing the place she ran from even more.

She wondered if Valm had a desert she could live in.)

It was near an hour before there was a knock on the door, and Ricken immediately bolted to stand. Robin, scowling, firmly stayed sitting down even though Ricken gave her a look like she should stand as well.

He opened the door and revealed a woman around twenty years old. At first, Robin felt her shoulders start to drop as she wondered whether this was actually the princess. She wore a simple bra made for training and leggings with boots. Basically, she just looked like a soldier who had just come from training. Then, she noticed the long blue hair which had been messily pulled back into a high ponytail and her bright blue eyes.

The left was discolored.

"The brand discolored the Princess's eye. Perhaps their goddess was acting in cruelty." A voice that sounded suspiciously like her father's whispered in her ear.

Ricken gave her a respectful bow. Robin kept herself rooted to the bed.

"Ricken," she gave him a fond smile as she nodded to him before stepping into the room. Now, she had her mismatched eyes on Robin.

And once again Robin reminded herself of the knife she kept tucked under the pillow less than a foot away from her.

The Princess walked closer and stopped when she was just an arm's distance away. Robin felt as though she was holding her breath. All the fight from earlier had suddenly escaped her. Ricken still stood by the door the he had closed. He seemed just as tense as she was.

"You're…my new concubine, right?" The Princess said slowly. Her eyes were still locked on her. They didn't disgust her like Zelvester's did. Admittedly, they were far warmer than the cool color would suggest. Yet she still felt uncomfortable. The wish to cut them out of her head started to surface.

After all, if she didn't have even a bit of bad intentions, why did she come to her shirtless?

"…I am," her voice came out softer than the harshness she wanted it to. She cleared her throat and repeated, firmly, "I am," She tried to summon back the rebellion from earlier, "And, by the way, I think all of this is bullshit."

"Madam Robin!" Ricken gasped, as The Princess's mouth dropped open.

"Ex-Excuse me?"

"You heard me." She had nothing to lose. And as far as she knew, she couldn't lose her head for cursing out the Princess in Ylisse as quickly as you would in Plegia. "I didn't ask to be a sex toy or to be used for some spoiled Princess's pleasure. I never asked to have my life suddenly upended to suit your needs. So, sorry, but I'm not going to play this game of yours," She made sure to say "game" as bitterly as she could, near spitting the word at her.

"Y-You…" The Princess opened and closed her mouth, and slowly a flush rose to her cheeks. She looked enough like a fish that Robin couldn't help but be pleased with herself. This must have been the first time she had been cursed out like this. "There's…there's a misunderstanding—"

"I think I understand just fine." She tried to mimic Aversa's coldness and glared her down. "Just know as long as I'm here I will never let you touch me."

There was pure, tense silence. Ricken looked like he was ready to almost scream. The Princess stared at her with such wide eyes, Robin almost thought they would pop out of her head.

"…I see," the Princess finally said, straightening herself. "I'll...leave you alone then. And let you get…comfortable."

"I'm pretty sure I won't."

The Princess hesitated another moment. She seemed like she wanted to say something but stopped herself. Instead she turned and left. Ricken closed the door behind her and quickly ran to her side.

"What were you thinking?! You – you were so rude to the Princess!"

"I know." She felt lighter somehow, even though her heart was pounding in her chest. "Now she knows where I stand."

"You're crazy." Ricken shook his head. "What will you do if you are actually kicked out?"

"Go back to my traveling," she shrugged while picking at her skirt. "Back to my life. Away from here."

(She promised herself, if she ever found a way to get out of this, she'd run from Ylisse. As far as she could go. As long as she could go. She'd never look back.)

~O~

When Lucina had walked into the room, she was in awe at the beautiful woman they had managed to find. She found herself baffled that they actually managed to find not only a beautiful woman, but a Plegian as well. Plegians don't come by Ylisse very often for obvious reasons, so perhaps it was no wonder they had brought her one.

Then she started yelling at her. She ripped into her like a cornered animal. Through it all, Lucina could clearly see that she was tense and maybe a little scared. Lucina was bewildered but she also felt angry for her. Angry that she didn't really have the power to stop this, despite being the Princess. Angry that this poor girl was brought to her because Masayuki and Lord Zelvester couldn't keep everything to themselves.

She was tired. So tired. It felt like her body would melt from the exhaustion she carried and how much emotion she felt. The guilt had gnawed on her bones and broken her down to the smallest it could.

Despite her guilt, her anger, her want to show her kindness, she couldn't do it anymore. She couldn't deal with the entire day anymore. There was really only so much she could take.

A glance out the window told her that the sun was descending in the sky and it would nearly be time for dinner. Meaning she'd have to sit in the dining hall, again without her parents, and with the concubines and her siblings. Robin would no doubt be unhappy throughout the whole dinner. Perhaps she'd be bold enough to curse her once again. And Masayuki would just pointedly be cold towards her.

Her mind was already made up. Without much hesitation, she stopped a servant and told them to have the Chef send her dinner to her room and inform her family she'll be going to bed early.

Her room was always her primary safe haven. When she finally closed the door behind her she already felt the tension start to melt away. She let out a long winded sigh, kicked off her boots, and nearly threw off her clothes to grab a different set to wear. No one could really judge her – she did actually plan to sleep after she finished eating.

It didn't take long before there was a knock.

"Come in."

She expected a random servant, or maybe the same servant that she had stopped in the hallway earlier. She didn't expect Severa to be standing there holding a tray with her food and drink.

"Severa?" She stood as Severa gave her a small smile and placed the tray down on her table.

"Hey, I heard you weren't feeling well so I made absolutely sure the Chef got all your favorites," she winked at her. Lucina smiled fondly.

"Thanks. You wouldn't believe the day I had," She went to her food. The delicious aroma of well-cooked duck with bread, some vegetables and with a side of what seemed to be a spicy broth by the slight red color.

"I can guess." Severa sat as she began to dig in, "the servants have already been talking. I walked into the kitchen to hear the 'juicy' gossip about your new concubine," She said "concubine" with an air of almost venomous disgust. Lucina decided faintly that she must be angry at the fact that a concubine was forced on her in the first place.

Lucina sighed and dipped her bread in the broth, "Already?" She tried to imagine Robin dealing with gossiping, giggling servants around her during dinner, surrounded by strangers and decided to push it away. It only made her chest pang with guilt even more than earlier. She had retreated to her room to run from it, not let it fester.

Yet, it wasn't in her nature. She hesitated and chewed her bread slowly. Finally, she spoke up.

"Severa, can I ask you a question?"

"What?"

"My new…concubine. She's angry with me and…I don't know what to do."

Immediately, Lucina could see Severa's whole body tense up, and her eyes widen like she was in front of a mage aiming Lightning at her. Lucina cursed herself. She shouldn't have said anything. Severa was oddly uncomfortable about anything to do with the concubine drama. For months after Brady was brought to the castle, she had avoided him and escaped any conversation about him. She suddenly began talking to him one day, but still tenses slightly at the mention of him.

"I don't know," she spoke stiffly, like someone was moving her lips for her.

"…yeah, I figured," She sighed.

Severa grimaced, then spoke slowly, "You can't just…kick her out if she's not happy here?"

"I can't."

Severa raised an eyebrow, "You're the princess."

Oh, right. Severa probably wouldn't know because she avoids talk about concubines like the plague.

"I am, but it's a council thing," She waved a hand, "When it comes to concubines, the member in charge of the concubines – Lord Zelvester - has to decide to let them go. And he was pretty eager to shove her at me."

"Then ignore her," She offered, "if she hates it so much she can't complain at that."

"That would just be cruel," Lucina could feel a headache coming on as Severa frowned at her, "I would be abandoning her amongst strangers. She'd just hate me more, don't you think?"

"Then I don't know what to tell you."

She didn't actually expect much from her with this topic so she decided just to let it slide. She wasn't entirely in the mood to think about it either. She'd find someone else to ask tomorrow.

They sat in comfortable silence as she ate and when she was done, Severa immediately picked up the tray.

"Go rest. You need it, after all this shit," She patted her back and hesitated for a moment before she continued, "Everything will be better in the morning. I'm sure of it."

"Right…right." Lucina muttered to mostly herself as Severa left. Now, with her stomach full, exhaustion had fully set in. She practically dove into bed and blew out her candle.

The moment she closed her eyes, she could visibly remember Robin's angry scowl. Her flaming, amber eyes and how stubbornly she stared her down. Things became strange and blurry as Robin's face morphed. She opened her mouth, to scream at her in anger. Claws began to rip into her skin to take and take.

She could vaguely make out Lord Zelvester and Masayuki standing over her. And they watched with matching, pleased smiles.

Oh my. Poor Lucina. Poor Robin.

And yes, servant Ricken which will definitely be explained why that is later on.

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