Forde

It's obvious that they're crazy about each other.

Kyle wouldn't believe me if I told him. In his mind being the Silver Knight means you can't be in love with the princess: apparently when you're the perfect knight you stop being a man. I can only assume Kyle believes Sir Seth to be a castrato. It's hard not to notice that Princess Eirika has grown into a beautiful girl– no, a beautiful woman– and if she smiled at me the way she does at our dear general I don't think I could resist either.

Well, we can't say the general isn't putting up a good fight. Mark my words though, he's doomed. I can't help but think they should just have at it and be done with it, but with her being a princess and all and the general being– well– himself, they'll have to do things all proper-like, which means getting married. Which means this could take a while to sort out. King Ephraim (odd to not say "Prince Ephraim" anymore) seems all right with it. He doesn't scowl at them or anything of the sort and he hasn't sent Sir Seth to serve in the most remote outpost of the kingdom that he could find, so I guess he's decided he's okay with the match. I wonder how he'd feel about it if they didn't go about things the proper way. Would he throw a fit if he found out they were– Hmm... I'd better stop there. Every time my mind wanders like this I can just hear Kyle chiding me for my un-knightly thoughts. What a bore. A little prurient interest never hurt anyone, right?

The match is still going on as fiercely as ever. Their footwork is spectacular. Princess Eirika is quick on her feet, nimble in a way most of us knight aren't in our armour. Oh we can move fast, but she outshines us all in that department. I tilt my head, squinting against the light that glints off Sir Seth's armour as he moves. Is he going easy on her or has our princess really improved that much? He's being careful, more than he would be with any of us– he's left us all black and blue more than once– but I think she's holding her own. That is, I'm sure he could trounce her if he wanted to– he's the finest swordsman in Renais, no doubt about it– but I think the lovely Princess Eirika is making him sweat a bit.

I suppose that's one way to deal with sexual tension. The other would involve sweating too, mind you, but it would demand a different kind of swordplay entirely. And... Kyle's chiding me again. I heave a sigh. I can't even have a lewd thought in peace. How distressing.

Well there's no doubt now. He's smiling. He's in the middle of a sparring match and he's got this odd little twist to his lips– which for the general is what a full-blown, face-splitting grin would be to any other man. Hmm... He just missed a nice opening in her defence; he's drawing this out, but I think she'll only improve if she keeps this up. She doesn't really need to now that the war is finally over and done with, but she's got the same stubborn steak in her that Ephraim does: she doesn't want to stand on the sidelines and have us knights protect her. She wants to protect herself, to fight for herself and alongside those she would protect. She may not be as reckless as Ephraim, who was always bound and determined to be on the front lines no matter what Kyle had to say about it, but she's as stubborn as him and by the look of it she has her mind set on this sparring business. And on something else too. Gods help the good general; I think he's doomed for certain. She'll have his sword in her sheathe one of these days.

"Forde, what exactly are you thinking about?"

"Huh?" Kyle's scowling at me. This can't be good.

"You've got a distinctly guilty look on your face."