Chapter 4
Dawn came as quickly as ever, piercing through the tree tops of the forest and finding it's way to the sleeping couple. Robin woke up to the warmth of the sun's rays upon his face and stretched his arms over his head. What a wonderful...dream? That wasn't a dream! He glanced over to his right to find Cordelia lying by his side, her eyes open and staring directly at him with a smile on her face.
"Good morning, my warrior." She giggled out as she pulled herself up and propped herself up on her arms. She leaned in and gave Robin a quick kiss before kicking off the blanket that covered her lower half.
"A good morning indeed, waking up to your beauty first thing." The man responded. As pleasant a day it began, they were both quick to put themselves together and prepare for their journey to intercept the Shepards and inform Chrom of the Plegian deceit. The two dressed themselves, each other stealing looks during the process, then packed up their bags and were off on Cordelia's pegasus. The steed seemed to fly even faster having rested and eaten.
Within a couple hours, the Shepards encampment could be seen below along the West Road, just as Chrom said. The pair drew eyes from all the Shepards who were quickly packing up and preparing for their march. Having been gone for close to three full days, word had spread that perhaps a terrible fate had befallen Cordelia and Robin, so the sight of them alive was welcoming news to all.
"I KNEW you two were gonna come back alive! Good ol' Teach taught ya how to fight and with those skills no way in hell would you be killed!" Vaike said proudly as he threw an arm around Robin's shoulders. Cordelia stifled a laugh upon seeing the cartoonish behavior of the ever cheerful 'Teach', but was quick to remember her duty.
"Vaike, have you seen Chrom this morning?" She questioned, her tone serious. Vaike was no stranger to that type of speech, knowing full well she wasn't playing around.
"Yeah he was with Frederick towards the end of the road, last I saw." Robin released himself from Vaike's grasp and followed in Cordelia's footsteps. Before he got too far, a quick whistle came from behind, causing him to turn around. Vaike looked towards Robin and gave him a thumbs up. The tactician could only sigh and shake his head, although his mouth formed a small smirk just out of Vaike's sight.
A quick walk through camp and the two came upon Chrom standing beside Frederick on the road's hilltop which overlooked a couple miles out in the direction they were heading.
"My prince, I bring dire news." Cordelia said. She stood rather stiff before the prince as he and Frederick turned to face her and Robin. Robin, noticing her uncomfortable stance, sneakily brushed his hand against the back of hers, stroking it with his thumb.
"Robin! Cordelia! I'm glad you two have finally returned. So? What of Gangrel's position? I assume you have a strategy in the making, my friend?" Chrom said whilst staring at Robin. The tactician wanted to share news of a strategy, he wanted badly to tell Chrom how to approach Gangrel and wipe out his forces for a quick victory, but the only news he had was sure to ruin any hopes of that.
"Chrom, we never made it to the border. On our flight there, we passed over the capital and found it under siege by Plegian forces. They...they took Emmeryn, Chrom." Robin looked towards the ground in disappointment. A gasp could be heard from Frederick while Chrom stood in shock upon hearing his older sister had been abducted.
"Emmeryn is KIDNAPPED?! What about Phila? Where is she? Is she alive?"
"Captain Phila gave chase to the captors and asked that we come inform you of the Exalt's capture immediately. I'm...I'm so sorry Chrom. We failed you..." Robin clenched his fist tightly. Although he and Cordelia spoke last night about his feelings of failing, he couldn't help but have them come rushing back. The pegasus knight to his side glanced over at Robin with a frown, sharing in his sorrow. Frederick turned towards Chrom and finally broke his silence.
"Milord, if the Exalt is captured by Gangrel, she will most likely be taken to his own stronghold- the Plegian Castle. Gangrel may be mad, but he is not foolish- this is a bargaining opportunity for him." The prince clenched his teeth. What could the mad king want other than the death and destruction of Ylisse? Just then, it came to him.
"The Fire Emblem! I have a feeling that's what Gangrel is after. If we bring it to him, we can save Emm!"
"Milord, before we make any rash decisions- we must increase our numbers. The Shepard's we have now are a valiant force when it comes to small skirmishes, but a full on war? Our numbers would be overrun." Frederick earned his title the wary. His logic made sense- the Shepards were small compared to an entire army, but Chrom had the powerful allies to the north to call upon.
"Frederick, do me a favor and head north to Regna Ferox and ask the Khan's to meet our forces in Plegia. We will need their strength to bring this monster down. They will heed our call as new allies." Robin nodded his head in agreement with Chrom. If ever was a time for diplomacy, that time was now. Regna Ferox was bound to see the good in teaming with Ylisse to take down Plegia, lest they be the next victims of Plegia's might.
"I shall do as my lord pleases in due haste!" Frederick said as he bowed towards Chrom. The knight turned towards Cordelia and Robin and saluted them before running off towards his steed.
"Now as for us- we march on the Plegian capital to rescue my sister and put an end to this war!" Chrom said with an eager expression. The prince walked alongside Cordelia and Robin as they began to head back towards camp, abruptly coming to a halt and putting his arm in front of Robin, stopping his movement.
"Cordelia, would you head back without us? Robin and I need to discuss some things." Cordelia nodded and turned away from the two men. Robin watched as the woman gained distance between them, only breaking his gaze to look towards his friend.
"What did you want to talk about, Chrom?" The tactician could only think that he would want to formulate a plan about their advance on the Plegian capital. How far from the truth that was.
"Robin, I'm happy for you." Chrom said, patting his friend on the shoulder. Was it that obvious? Robin tried to play stupid.
"What do you mean? Y-"
"Cordelia and you make for a cute couple." So he did know. Robin smiled knowing full well they were found out.
"Alright, you caught us. To be honest, I wasn't expecting things to move so fast between her and I. I didn't even think we WOULD end up together..." Chrom leaned against a wooden fence just off to the side of the dirt road, looking out towards the mountains in the distance.
"Ya know, Chrom, she fancied you for the longest time." Robin walked over towards the fence and leaned against it as well, his back facing away from the direction Chrom was looking. The prince sighed heavily.
"I'm aware. Sumia and her are best friends, after all. Before Sumia and I became engaged, she told me how Cordelia felt about me, but those feelings could never be returned. I love Sumia and I didn't know how else to let Cordelia down other than us being openly romantic in front of her." The prince chuckled light heartedly before turning to face his friend.
"However, Sumia and I devised that out of any one person we knew who was somewhat like myself in traits, other than physical, of course, it was you. We figured it would be a good match to set you guys up." Robin's face looked surprised.
"You guys sent us on a mission together to set us up? I'm...thankful but all the same, what if it hadn't worked out?" Chrom smirked before responding.
"Well...you could always marry Lissa." Robin's face turned red as Chrom chuckled once again and lightly punched his shoulder.
"I'm just kidding! That would be a little strange having my best friend sleeping in my little sister's bed at night."
"Okay! Okay! I get it! No need for details Chrom!" Robin did his best to avoid any more 'vivid' imagery in his mind. Chrom's chuckle came to a halt and his face became serious once again.
"Robin, I also have a request of you. Once this war is over, so long as I survive it until the end...will you and Cordelia stand at my wedding? It would make me happy to have loved ones beside Sumia and I." Robin grinned wide.
"You don't even have to ask! I wouldn't have let you hear the end of it if I wasn't invited!" The tactician pushed himself from the fence, gazing out towards the Shepard's whom were still loading up wagons of equipment.
"Thank you, my friend." A gloved hand was placed on Robin's shoulder in appreciation. Chrom stepped past him and gestured for him to walk with him.
"Let's go help the others pack up. We've a long dangerous road to travel.." Robin hurried to his friend's side and they meandered back into the work force. Once finished packing, the march west began simply enough. Cordelia rode upon her pegasus, walking it slowly alongside the caravan. The woman's eyes were fixated upon her lover, whom was a couple yards ahead with Chrom, chatting amongst each other.
"Hey Cordy!" An all too familiar voice to the crimson beauty called out.
"Sumia! Good to see you again finally! How fare you?" Sumia flew down to take her side by Cordelia along the road, their steeds walking in unison.
"Well enough as it is. I actually wanted to ummm...ask you something!" The brunette was flustered, as if nervous to speak her question. Cordelia was of course, curious.
"What do you need?"
"Well...I was curious...do you still feel for...Chrom?" Sumia was almost whispering the end of her sentence. There was a brief silence between the two as Sumia examined her friend's face for any sign. Cordelia looked towards the ground. When Chrom's name was brought up, it stung a little, but that's all it did now was leave a little sting. There was no attachment to it anymore. The red head's feelings were consumed by Robin and his chocolate brown eyes. Those eyes...
"No you goof!" Cordelia giggled following her response. "If you thought I was looking towards Chrom from back here, just fix your eye sight a little more to his right and you'll see who I was looking at."
Sumia turned her attention towards the front of the wagons and saw Chrom and Robin walking next to each other. So her and Chrom's plan DID work! The woman smiled at her friend's happiness.
"You and Robin?! So tell me about it? What happened?! Did he sweep you off your feet? Save you from another magical spell and confess his love while you nursed him back to health?!" Cordelia held her palms up and out towards her friend in a gesture to calm down.
"No no no! Nothing like that. I...I don't really know. I feel like when we first met I became attracted to him physically. It's strange- my strong feelings for him blossomed out of nowhere and I couldn't resist telling him how I felt anymore." The woman's face ran red as she thought of their first romantic encounter again. What she would do to feel his embrace right at that moment...
"Did you guys...ya know..." Sumia questioned. Cordelia snapped her head back to stare at her friend, horrified in embarrassment.
"SUMIA! W-what kind of woman do you think I am?! I mean, we slept next to each other but nothing of THAT sort happened...not yet." Although the thought of becoming intimate with the man whom stole her heart did cross her mind. As a woman, she had fantasies and desires too, however that moment would be for another time.
"No need to get so flustered, Cordelia! But let me say- when you two do decide to get intimate...it feels great." The woman winked at her and turned her head back to face the direction of the caravan. Cordelia could only sit in an embarrassing paralysis. Sumia, of all people, giving her sex advice? Maybe exchanging romance novels with her was a bad idea. Although now that the topic was brought up, maybe she could use the scenario's from those novels to surprise Robin under the sheets.
'In due time, Cordelia, in due time.'