Chapter 2: The Fading of Pain

Summary: War recedes slowly, in waves, and some old friends arrive to bring joyous news to the new queen. Is Fódlan slowly healing?

Byleth strode through the stables, inspecting her new kingdom's horses. It was a kinder day today, but her mind still cast back to the losses of the last war, thinking of Ferdinand's knee injury and wondering how well he'd ride again; he and his men rode towards Garreg today, and the queen couldn't tear her thoughts from him. The Ten Elites had taken much from them all, as had the war itself.

"Your majesty." There was a familiar voice behind her, and she turned to face Seteth. "I had not expected to see you here, I am on my rounds to do a final inspection before Duke Aegir's arrival."

"Very good." She nodded. "I had come to do the same. I had originally hoped to gift Ferdinand one of the horses here, but…"

"I understand." He nodded. "If it pleases you, I may arrange a gift of some of the finest to his house, let him decide if he wants to take one of them for himself."

Byleth let off the smallest of smiles. "Please. And Seteth?" He looked at her curiously. "You don't need to be so formal."

He smiled. "Very well. Adjusting to the new… reality of the situation will be difficult."

She chuckled. "I know. How is Flayn?"

"She is well." Seteth nodded at her. "She took Rhea's loss hard, very… personally."

"I did as well." She nodded, a look of sorrow crossing her face a moment. "Please, if there's anything I may do for her, don't hesitate." Seteth gave her a small, genuine smile, and she took her leave for the rest of the grounds.

It wasn't long until Ferdinand and his men were at the gates and the new queen of Fódlan stepped down the stairs towards the duke at the marketplace, finding him stepping down with great difficulty off of his carriage.

"Your majesty!" He called with a great smile, moving towards her with his cane and making a genuflecting motion. "The people of Aegir are at your disposal."

"And the facilities of Garreg Mach are at yours." She nodded.

The two immediately broken formalities once they were done with and Ferdinand laughed, approaching her and hugging her tightly. "Damnit professor, it's good to see you." He smiled widely. "How have things been?"

"Well." She smiled and signalled for Seteth to handle the rest of the men approaching as the two headed off for the rest of the grounds. "I think we're all still mopping up the rest of Edelgard's little insurrection, not to mention what's left of the Agarthians."

"You're telling me." He chuckled. "I'm still trying to find a suitable Hresvelg to bring some kind of a peace to the streets of Enbarr. Whether we like it or not, Edelgard had an iron grip on the city and finding any kind of administration that's not only competent but hasn't either been implicated in her war or already been purged by her before we got involved is impossible some days."

"We may need to find a new ruling house of Enbarr." Byleth suggested.

Ferdinand nodded. "Perhaps. Hresvelg wasn't exactly beloved, and after what happened to the royal family in the last few decades, it became tiny. With your permission, I shall seek someone new."

"Could you take control over the city?" She suggested.

"I could, and I suspect I'll have to, but I'll never be able to expand Aegir's control over all of Edelgard's land. I was hoping to find a minor cousin or something of hers, someone who wasn't involved in her madness and would let us keep some kind of continuity by propping them up, but perhaps it's a fool's errand."

The two were stopped in the hallways of the great hall by Dorothea, who approached the queen with warm arms and kisses.

"Good morning, love." Dorothea smiled, then turned her attention to the visitor. "And to you, Ferdie. I hadn't expected to see you yet."

"That's me, always bright and early." He flexed with his weaker side, although none of them lost pain that the motion brought him. "I came to discuss some things with your fiancee, Doro, and congratulate the two of you. Things move so quickly."

"Thank you, Ferdie." She nodded. "However… I'm afraid it's officially congratulations for the three of us. Petra has pledged to join us in our marriage."

A small shock crossed his face. "I… goodness. I hadn't the foggiest that such things were even possible, a marriage of such."

"It's an old Brigid practice." Byleth gave a tiny smile. "The legality is somewhat technical, but I'm laying as much groundwork as I can for acceptance of such things. For now, our relationship is something of an open secret, but the marriage is far more guarded."

"Well, you may always count on me to guard your secrets, your majesty." Ferdinand nodded with good humor and a look of something approaching joy. "Please, accept my dearest regards, and my wish to attend the ceremony whenever you hold it. I shall cross heaven and earth to be there!" He flexed again, but this time the pain was more visible.

"Goodness Ferdie," Dorothea shook her head. "Don't push yourself."

He let out a slightly pained chuckle. "Nonsense. I'll never let such things get me down."

"Are your injuries causing you much trouble?" Byleth inquired gently, with an undertone of worry. "When you and Bora held the line against Gautier before the rest of us made it, I thought you were done for."

"The man's axe cut deep, but now he lies in a second grave, and I still stand." He gave a confident smile. "If Sylvain hadn't arrived in time, I might have lost that half of me. As it is, I think after enough therapy, it will be a minor enough nuisance." He looked out the window towards the stables. "I miss Bora, however. She was a good companion for many years."

Byleth put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "Well, I hope that my gift is a good choice then. It won't be Bora, but I've instructed Seteth to grant you and your men your choice of our finest horses. Take them with my gratitude, old friend."

He smiled back at her. "Thank you, professor. I think I shall go inspect them now, if you don't mind." He turned and headed towards the stables, but stopped at the door. "Professor?" He called back to see Byleth. "I brought someone with me, with news, but she split off at the town to see some friends. Keep an eye out for her."

At that, he left the two confused women in the main hallway. Before they could wonder any further, however, someone moved up the staircase behind them and cleared her throat, the two women coming to see Bernadetta coming from the doorway.

"Y-your majesty." She bowed her head stiffly. "Thank you for hosting us. It's been too many months."

"You're welcome, Bernie." Byleth smiled. "But please, you don't need the formalities." She moved over to hug the small woman. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too!" The ice in her voice melted into close joy. "I am really sorry I'm late. That baker in town had those sweetbuns and I just had to stop, but Ferdie thought it would look bad if the whole convoy took longer to see the actual queen because we all stopped for pastries." She held up a small box for the queen. "I brought you some, though! And they're fresh!"

"You're too kind, Bernie." She chuckled and accepted them before handing the box to her fiancee.. "What are you doing here? We were only expecting Ferdinand."

"Well…" She bit her lip and smiled. "See, we had news that we figured might be better to give in person. I mean, it's kinda big, and a letter didn't seem to fit, especially since he was planning to come by anyway…" She shook her head. "Anyway. Me and Ferdie are getting married!"

"What?" Both Byleth and Dorothea spoke at the same time.

"Yes!" She smiled warmly, joy dripping from her voice. "We kept getting closer and closer, especially after Nemesis died. One day he came by for tea, and he… he gave me this!" She held out her hand to show off a gold-and-ruby ring. "Isn't it pretty? I love it so much!"

"Oh my goodness, Bernie!" Dorothea exclaimed. "I am so, so happy for the two of you! When is the ceremony?"

"We hadn't planned it much yet." Bernadetta admitted.

Byleth smiled warmly at her. "Goodness, Bernie. To think, when we met you never left your room and wouldn't speak to anyone, now you're all grown up and getting married." She reached out and hugged her former student. "Congratulations."

"I'm so excited!" She giggled. "Ferdie has promised that he's going to give me the best room he can build so that if I ever need me time I will have somewhere nice to be." She paused a moment. "Um, professor?" Byleth looked at her curiously. "I didn't quite know how to ask this, but… you're the new head of the church, right? I mean, you rule from here, and after Rhea…"

"Seteth handles most matters of the church, but I am indeed the new formal head. It was agreed that while a kingdom and a faith was a lot for one person to rule, having me be the new head made the most sense."

"I see." She paused. "I asked because, um… would you come by Aegir to marry us?"

Byleth laughed gently. "Give me a time and a place, and I'll move heaven and earth to be there, Bernie."

"Yay!" She clapped her hands. "Thank you so much, professor!"

The door to the east opened and Ferdinand returned to the group with a smile. "Ah, so you made it." He teased and approached Bernadetta to give her a soft, gentle kiss. "I hope they had the buns you wanted?"

"They had so many!" She enthused. "I gave some to Doro and the professor."

Ferdinand chuckled. "And they gave me something." He turned to the queen and her love. "I found the perfect horse, I remember her from the end of the war and it seems she remembered me too." He bowed his head. "I would be honored to accept her."

"You're getting a horse?" Bernadetta smiled. "Does that mean you're going to practice riding again?"

"I will." Ferdinand smiled at her, then looked back at Byleth. "Thank you, professor."

"No problem." Byleth smiled warmly. "I hope that she serves you well." She chuckled. "Take it as a very early wedding gift."

"Oh!" Bernadetta smiled at Byleth. "And professor, you need to invite us to your wedding too! I'm going to bring you so many sweet buns!" Byleth laughed. "I'm serious! And please let me plan your wedding… I'll pick out a really nice place and bring so many treats, and-"

Ferdinand put his hand on her shoulder. "Dream smaller, okay?" He said gently, and she looked at him curiously. "Byleth's already said it's going to be a small, private wedding."

"What?" She looked over at the queen. "But-"

"Bernie." He said a little firmer. "Both of them are also marrying Petra. They want to keep it quiet."

Bernadetta looked positively flummoxed by that. "I… is that legal?"

"Technically." Dorothea smiled warmly at her. "It's a Brigid practice. We need you to keep that quiet, okay Bernie?"

"O-of course." She smiled. "Well, I still hope you're inviting us. I'd love to plan something small too!"

Byleth approached and gave her a hug. "I'd love that, Bernie. Now come, let's go enjoy these treats you brought us."