The moon was staring at her.

It was hard not to think that, not when the only window she'd had gave her a faceful of moonlight as she lay on the burlap sheet draped over the stone floor. She could have moved anytime she wanted, she supposed, but if she moved a little to the right, the floor would poke into her back, and if she moved to the left, her chains would begin to chafe.

So she stayed there. Hoping sleep would claim her, if only to settle the thoughts racing about her head.

She had no such luck.

Only hours ago, clouds had covered the sky, the gentle tittering of rainfall had reverberating throughout her room like a thousand tiny soldiers were marching through the city's streets, but that had long since passed. Now, there were no clouds to shield her from the moon's condemning silver gaze. The rain had found its way to her cell window as well, and the rhythmic sound of water dripping down from the street only worked to keep sleep barely out of her reach.

The burlap sheet did little to make the cobblestone any more comfortable, and the chill imbued into the floor slipped past it and soaked into her skin. Already the back of her head was beginning to throb. She was sure she could feel something crawl up her side, but when she glanced down, she couldn't make anything out in the dark.

As the minutes flew by, and she felt sleep come no closer than it had before, her mind began to wander. Thoughts began to surface in her head, ones she'd have rather left untouched.

Lucina tried to shift herself into a more comfortable position. A sharp jab at her side was her reward, and as she flinched back, she reached over to push the protruding object away.

Her hands closed around something sharp. She hissed, and as she swerved her head around to get a good look at whatever it was, she found her own eyes staring back at her on the metal blade of a knife.

She frowned. What would a knife be doing down here? Her eyes trailed down to the blade, and she noticed that the handle was missing. A passerby must have thrown it into the cell window before her arrival, as if it were nothing more than rubbish. It was still sharp too, given how easily it had pricked her fingers, and it baffled Lucina how someone could have thrown something like this away.

In her time, any weapon would have been put through full use before it was discarded.

Again, she glanced up at the cell window, and a small part of her mind wondered, Is that all I am right now? A life to be discarded like rubbish? She shook her head a moment later. No, that can't be it. Emmeryn was not someone to sentence someone's death so callously.

As much as she would have preferred to steer clear of it, the thought brought her back to her own execution.

Emmeryn wasn't like this. Everyone she'd known said she'd never hurt a soul, so to go far as to sentence her to execution? That was punishment saved for only the truly evil people, like Walhart and Gangrel. What had she done to warrant such a punishment?

No, this wasn't what Emmeryn would have wanted. The Emmeryn of her time, anyway.

Something must have gone wrong.

Perhaps this was a result of her action. No, that couldn't have been it. She'd only been here for... three days now? Four days, at most. There was no way she could have messed up the timeline that badly. No chance at all.

But if it wasn't her, what was it? Her brows furrowed in thought, her mind combing through all the possibilities she could think of. With how tired she was, it wasn't long before her drifting lost its focus, and suddenly, she found her mind completely blank.

A sigh escaped her lips. She would have to dwell upon it at a later date, and as she let the knife fall back to her side, she stared up at the moon, silently begging for it to let sleep drag her into the morning.

A morning closer to my execution, her brain supplied helpfully.

Her stomach clenched. She sat up, suddenly queasy. Death was nothing she hadn't faced before, nothing she hadn't overcome time and time again. So then why was this any different?

Maybe it was because she now faced death at the hands of family? Yes, that had to be it. It must be. Emmeryn, she was someone her father had loved dearly. Lucina had to save her from Gangrel's assassins when the war came around, but if she let things continue as they were...

She had to get out of here. She'd been given a chance to save her father. All her efforts would be for nothing if she died here.

Her fingers closed around the knife in her hands, even as the metal bit into her skin. If she wasn't going to sleep, she may as well make good use of her time.

Besides, she was just one girl. No one would miss her if she disappeared. The timeline would be better off without her.

Dressed in a pale yellow nightgown, one assured looked as beautiful as the buttercups in the garden, she'd been assured, Emmeryn came to a stop before the door to Chrom and Lissa's room. Beneath it, she could still see the shadows move around in the light. She tried to smile, despite the terrible thoughts storming in her, but she didn't think it would be convincing enough.

It had to, though. They would worry if they saw her worried. Besides, they didn't need to know about this, not with their father's killer locked up in the castle's dungeon.

She reached for the door, stopping when she heard voices through the wood.

"Could you tell us another story, Nan?" Though his voice was muffled, Emmeryn could still tell it was Chrom's.

"That was the last one in this book."

Nan? That was what they called their old caretaker, wasn't it?

Emmeryn relaxed, then frowned. She had no reason not to relax in her own home, surely.

As she reached for the door handle, she heard Lissa say, "I want another."

"Yeah! Can you make one? Please? Father did it all the time!" Chrom added.

"It's long past sunset," Nan replied. "Do you think you could sleep without another story?"

"Yeah, but–"

Silence cast over the room the moment Emmeryn pushed the door open. Words formed in her throat, only to die before they could reach her mouth as she found herself face to face with someone... different.

The woman before her couldn't have been much older than the youngest pegasus knights. Her mousey brown hair and strict expression made her look even older, but even then Emmeryn thought she looked far too young to be the old woman Emmeryn was used to seeing.

The way she raised her eyebrow was oddly similar, however, and it was that which let Emmeryn find her words again.

"Who are–"

"I'm the caretaker's assistant," the woman replied.

"The caretaker has an assistant?"

"Of course. She came down with an illness, so she had to rest today." The woman's eyes narrowed. "That is still allowed, am I wrong?"

"Ah... I... I'd think so?" Emmeryn's eyes strayed to her right. Chrom waved back at her, and she suddenly remembered what she was about to say before.

"Chrom. You're not troubling your caretaker, I hope."

Chrom shook his head. "Nuh-uh. She was just reading us a story!"

Emmeryn looked to Nan for confirmation. "Your brother has been of no trouble," she said. "I was just about to tuck them in."

"There's no need. I can do the rest," Emmeryn said.

"As you wish, your Grace," Nan replied.

She bowed her head and stepped past Emmeryn. The door closed behind her with a click, and then, they were alone.

"Your Grace?" Chrom asked the second Nan was gone. "I thought people only called father that."

Emmeryn winced. She'd hoped she wouldn't have to tell them until she was ready, but, as it had been so often, the world had other ideas. She just couldn't have her way, could she?

With a sigh, Emmeryn said, "They did."

"So why are they calling you that? You're not father." Chrom tilted his head. "I think."

"No. No, I am not. They..." Emmeryn bit her lip before the truth could come tumbling out. Her father was dead. There was nothing to do about it now. It hurt just thinking about it.

But to lay that hurt on them as well? She wasn't cruel enough to do that.

"The other nobles, that is, decided that father has been gone for too long, and that until he returns, I shall rule in his stead."

"Really? That's so cool!" Chrom's eyes lit up, and Emmeryn allowed herself to smile.

"Am I gonna have to call you Grace too?" Lissa asked.

"No, Lissa," Emmeryn said, and she shook her head. "I still want to be Em to you two. Please."

Everyone around her was so different, now that she was Exalt. Her siblings couldn't change too. They had to stay the same. She wanted them to be the same.

Lissa's eyes roamed to the ceiling, her lips pulled into a pout. "Okay," she said after a moment of thought.

Emmeryn had to hold back a sigh of relief.

"Now, last I remembered, you two were supposed to be getting ready to sleep." Chrom's bed creaked as Emmeryn sat down on it. "Do you need me to kiss you goodnight?"

"Nuh-uh! We can't sleep." Chrom replied.

Emmeryn's lips tugged down. "Why not?" she asked.

"Because we're not sleepy. Right Lissa?" Chrom crossed his arms, and he turned to Lissa for support.

"Yea–" Lissa cut herself off with a loud yawn.

"Lissa!"

"Sorry."

"We don't want to sleep." Chrom turned back to Emmeryn, his hands on his hips. He was only four, so of course he would be excited. She knew there would be little convincing him into the bed.

"It's late," she still reminded him.

"But we're not sleepy! There's so much we want to do!"

"Chrom, you need to–"

"Oh! Did you do anything cool today?"

"Hm?"

Chrom leaned forward. "You said the others made you ruler. Did you get to do anything cool, like talking to the royal guards?"

"Ah... no. No, I did not. I just had a boring day, doing boring things like..." Emmeryn racked her mind for a lie, something dull enough to divert his attention. "Reading."

"Aw. That is boring."

"What about you? Did you have an exciting day?"

"Oh yeah! Em, you'll never guess what we found below the first floor!"

Below the first floor? There wasn't anything beneath the first floor, as far as I can remember. Nothing except for–

Emmeryn's mind screeched to a halt. Her eyes flew wide, and she looked back at Chrom. "What did you find?"

"A monster!"

Chrom looked much too happy for something like that. Nervously, she asked, "A monster, you say? You... didn't go down, did you?"

To her relief, he replied, "No, it was too scary."

Her smile returned to her lips. Slowly at first, when a thought struck. "Is that why you don't want to sleep? Because you're scared the monster will come up to eat you?"

"No." Chrom looked away.

Emmeryn frowned, a little more amused now. "Chrom."

"Yes?"

"You don't have to worry about the monster downstairs," she said, pushing him down into the bed. "I... talked with her, and she says she won't ever come upstairs to eat you."

"Really?"

"Of course."

Chrom looked far from relieved at that. If anything, he looked... disappointed?

"That's boring. If father were here, he would smash the monster to bits. Why couldn't you have done that?"

Emmeryn looked away. She'd hoped to distract herself from that. Why did it have to come back to bite her?

"I... I don't think I can do anything like that."

"Well, I believe you can. It's just some stupid monster, right?"

"Why don't you get some sleep?"

"I told you, I'm not sleepy!" Chrom huffed. "Me and Lissa..."

He sat up and turned to the bed next to him, but, to his despair, found Lissa snoring away. Chrom groaned. He didn't want to sleep, as far as Emmeryn could see.

"Please?" She looked down at him. When he looked back, she put on her best smile. A creased brow, a soft turn of her lips. Just like the one father always gave her.

"Fine." With a sigh, Chrom fell back into his bed. "But you promise to make sure the monster doesn't eat me?"

"I promise the monster won't come and eat you," Emmeryn said, and she pulled the covers over Chrom.

"Thank you," he mumbled.

Emmeryn gave him one last smile for the night. The bed shifted again, this time as she pushed herself off. When she turned to leave, however, Chrom grabbed her sleeve.

"Em!"

She had to bite back a tired moan from slipping through her lips. "What is it?"

"You forgot my goodnight kiss. Remember? You said you'd do it."

Emmeryn blinked. "Did I?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Right." The goodnight kiss. It was part of her duty as an older sister, something she'd done so many times before. Yet as she leaned down, softly planting her lips on his forehead, she couldn't help but feel something was missing. Maybe because she was now the only one left to do it.

"Was that good?" she asked as she pulled away.

"Yeah," Chrom said, nodding. "Just like father used to do."

"Oh." Emmeryn turned for the door, hoping it would hide her wince.

The silence in the air hung over her like a weight as she crossed the room. She had only begun to pull the door open when Chrom asked, "When is father coming back?"

Emmeryn paused. Searched herself for an answer. "He..." She let out a breath through her teeth. "Soon. Father will be back soon."

"He'd better. I miss him."

"I miss him too," she said, keeping her eyes out into the hall.

The door clicked shut behind her. She slid down, ignoring how the wood scraped against the back of her nightgown, and she sighed.

"Oh father," she muttered into her knees. "What am I supposed to do?"

Emmeryn just can't catch a break, can she?

So, I'm not dead, and neither is this story. Progress is slow, and I'm sorry for not getting anything out for the past week. I was dealing with writer's block and all that fun jazz. To make up for that, I've also uploaded a sort of bonus chapter as a separate piece. You don't have to read it to understand whatever happens in the story (I hope), but it was just something fun I cooked up while trying to bring myself back to this story.

As always, I hope to be able to get a more consistent schedule, but this summer really hasn't been the best time to write. Not only with all the current events, but all the other things I've gotten myself mixed up in as well. The story's slowed quite drastically, but I promise, I've got a destination in mind.

If you've stuck around, I hope this was at least somewhat worth the wait. Until next time, I wish you all well, and stay safe.