"Lord Leo, it's time to-o-oh, this place is a mess." Niles shook his head and clucked his tongue, seeing the mess of books and paperwork on the ground, a mess Leo hadn't had the time or will to clean up the night prior. He tiptoed into the tent, Odin following as quietly behind him, not wanting to incur the wrath of their lord if they end up accidentally waking him.
True enough, Leo was further in a corner of his tent, sleeping soundly on his bedroll, brows in a knot even in sleep. His retainers quietly sat around him, engaging in whispered debate over whether or not they should wake him. Leo usually kept himself in schedule, and did not need to be checked on in the mornings, but there were rare occasions where he overslept, and it fell to his retainers to wake him.
"He's going to miss the war meeting if we don't wake him," Odin said in a hush, to Niles.
"Aye, but come on. Look at his face. Look at this mess," Niles said, quickly gazing around the tent once more, trying to imagine what could have transpired. "Maybe something happened and milord needs to rest."
They exchanged a few more whispers, thinking up appropriate excuses to offer Xander should he ask where Leo was, and then decided to leave the sleeping prince alone.
...Until Odin tripped on one of the volumes on the ground, letting out a loud scream that could have woken the entire camp.
"Who's there?!" Leo was woken in an instant, his reflexes kicking in as he reached for the nearest "assailant"-who happened to be Niles-and then grabbed a knife from beneath his bedding, pointing it at his own retainer.
"...Milord." Niles only stared at him, looking completely calm, the face of a man who's been held at knifepoint many times over. Only this time, the 'knife' was actually a quill pen, something Leo mistakenly grabbed in his sleepy panic. "If I had been an actual assassin, you may be in trouble."
It took Leo a few more seconds and a few more blinks before the situation started to make sense in his sleep-hazed mind, and he finally released his grip on Niles' collar and put away the quill. "Good gods, what is going on here? Could you be a little subtler about waking me?"
"Mine apologies, milord," Odin quickly offered, as he rubbed on his hip and righted himself, staring at what he tripped on-a heavy bound volume on Nohrian law. He put the book away on Leo's desk.
"Fine, forgiven," Leo said, almost grumpily. "There's a meeting today, am I correct? Get me something to wear."
Odin tiptoed around the tent, avoiding the scatter of books, and looked into Leo's wardrobe, quickly trying to find an outfit. Niles picked up a tray of coffee that they had brought, and offered it to Leo. "It's a bit of a mess here, milord," Niles stated the obvious. "Anything happen? Someone have a midnight romp?"
Leo nearly spit out his coffee. "Excuse me?"
"Pfftt, I swear everyone in this camp is bedding one or the other," Niles said, with a chuckle. "Besides, wasn't Charlotte here last night?"
The coffee had kicked the sleepiness from Leo's mind, and he suddenly recalled the night prior, where Charlotte had aggressively pinned him to the ground, and kissed him.
"Niles, you presumtuous fiend! What makes you think she hadn't instead attempted to throw books at him in a heated argument about Nohrian law and trai-"Odin had began a passionate counter suggestion, but his words immediately died down as he looked up to Leo.
"W-What?" Leo asked, snapping from his thoughts. "Is there something on my face?"
"...Milord, I swear your face is as red as a tomato," Odin said. "...So... err... a midnight romp?"
Niles' eye widened in shock, also coming to realize that the prince had been blushing. "Really, Lord Leo? Please tell me you... took precautions. Having children during wartime can be a stressful thing..."
"No such thing happened!" Leo said, trying to set the record straight. "Are my own retainers to be the ones to start ridiculous rumors about me?"
He said that as if he was upset, but deep down knew that Niles and Odin were only teasing, the way good friends did to one another. Niles and Odin could certainly be comical, and frequently tried to embarrass the other in good fun, almost as if competing for who was the better retainer. But on rare days like this, Leo would find himself to be the ones on the end of their teasing. "I asked her a question and sent her on her way, that was it. The books were simply a disaster waiting to happen. I shouldn't have stacked them too high on my desk, I suppose." Leo said.
"There is no need to be shy, milord, we're all men here," Niles said, the grin on his face clearly conveying that he enjoyed this. "I've been in your service for years, and I've long looked forward to giving milord 'the talk'..."
"Get your mind out of the Nohrian gutter, you fool," Leo said, yet his face still turned red from the Outlaw's implications. "Let's leave this topic, and by the gods, I'll have you two hanged if I find out you two were spreading such senseless gossip."
"It was all in good teasing, milord, my apologies," Odin said, with a touch of sincerity.
"But if I may give an actual word of advice," Niles said, "you'd best act quick, Lord Leo. Charlotte is a woman who's surronded by a lot of men, and one might beat you to her."
0o0o0o0o0o0
"So if HE kisses me it's fair game but if I kiss him it's suddenly such an immoral act?!" Charlotte yelled, to no one in particular, then swinging her axe against a stack of lumber, taking out her frustration on it by chopping it into firewood.
"That smug-" chop "blonde-" chop "royal son of a-!"
"I sincerely hope you're not referring to me."
Charlotte nearly jumped out of her skin from shock, suddenly finding the crown prince Xander before her. She quickly threw away her axe in reckless abandon, turning to Xander with a smile. "Oh, my lord! I'm sorry, how are you today?" she asked, sweetly.
Xander kept his eyes on the silver axe for a while, noting how dangerous it was for her to just discard it like that. Thankfully the axe didn't hit anyone or anything, and just landed on the ground with a lound clang.
"So," Xander said, "who is this smug, blonde, royal son of a...?"
"Oh dear, whatever are you talking about?" Charlotte blinked innocently. "Whoever said such a vile thing?"
"...You did, while you struck down the firewood." Xander said. "It looked like you had a bone to pick, if I may say so. Angry at someone?"
"Oh, I'm never angry, Lord Xander! Hee hee..."
Xander only stared at her for a bit, wondering why she even still bothered to put on this charade. He then approached a weapon rack nearby, grabbing a training sword and axe.
He tossed the training axe towards her-and Charlotte made a perfect catch. So much for being a weak, clumsy woman, huh? Xander thought. Her reflexes are good.
"Lord Xander...?"
"Humor me a quick spar, hm?" Xander said, readying the training sword in his hand.
"M-Me? I couldn't possibly trade blows with the crown prince...!"
"I believe trading blows is a great way to know another person and convey your feelings without having to use words," Xander said. "Would it be better if you thought of it as getting to know me?"
"That's... quite an odd way of getting to know someone," Charlotte said. "Wouldn't you rather do that over dinner?"
Xander sighed. "You know, Charlotte... Leo filed your name for promotion. He seems to really vouch for you."
Leo. Just the mention of the name put Charlotte on edge.
"He has freedom to recommend who he wishes at his discretion, but I'm convinced my little brother is just playing favorites, what with the rumors of him dispensing his servants to someone's family-"
Charlotte bit her lip as she heard that. Xander smiled knowingly at her. "Rumors get around quick, don't they?" he said. "Well, it's his gold, his servants. Leo's free to do what he likes. But promoting someone and doubling their salary over mere favoritism..."
"Ugh, for the love of the gods!" The change in Charlotte's tone was obvious, and it alarmed even Xander. "This is exactly why I didn't want anyone knowing I was strong! Now everyone's gonna start expecting so much more of me and relying on me and making me spar with them and shit...!"
Xander blinked, shocked at what he was hearing. "Excuse me? My brother bends his influence to give you opportunities and you have the nerve to whine about it?!" The outrage in his voice was apparent. "Do you honestly prefer keeping up with fooling a couple of idiots out of their money instead of making an honest living? You have some nerve, woman!"
"O-Oh... I... I didn't meant to..." Charlotte was speechless, suddenly faced with the crown prince's anger. He was known to be a stern figure, and she'd heard him shout at the troops a couple of times, but it had never been directed at her. He almost looked about as big as Benny when he was mad, and it was intimidating.
"Leo puts his reputation on the line everytime he shows you favor," Xander said. "The least you can do is be grateful and show some responsibility! Show me you're worth it!"
Charlotte grit her teeth, part frustrated, part annoyed. The nerve of Lord Xander, shouting at me like that. She'd been hesitant to lift a weapon against the crown prince at first, but now whacking him senseless with a training axe seemed like a very, very tempting idea.
"Tch, fine," Charlotte said, gripping the axe tight. "Don't come crying if I hurt you!"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"That Xander...!" Leo stormed out of the meeting tent, fuming. Xander hasn't come in, and had kept everyone waiting for over half an hour. It seemed a waste to cancel or postpone the meeting, so they proceeded without him. "And I got outof bed for this... if he's sleeping in I swear to the gods..."
"Highly unlikely of Lord Xander, if I may say so," Odin said. "I asked Laslow and it seems he was up early, and went out for his regular solo sparring. They haven't heard from him since..."
"Well... that's uncanny," Leo said, suddenly growing worried. "Brother would never miss a meeting for a mundane reason. Let's split up and try to find him."
0o0o0o0o0o0
Leo found him first.
Xander seemed completely oblivious, full attention to his opponent in front of him. Charlotte likewise. There was sweat glistening on their bodies, an indicator that they've been at this for quite a while now. The way they glared at each other made Leo feel as if this wasn't a friendly spar at all, and more of an actual attempt to kill each other. If they'd been holding real weapons, Leo would have immediately put a stop to it. He decided to watch them instead.
Xander had every advantage, with more experience and technique. He'd been taught by the best and had fought in the front lines, and it showed. But Charlotte had more power, less hesitation. Xander softened his blows and Leo noticed he occassionaly held back-perhaps still put off by the idea of fighting against a woman. Even the most oblivious of soldiers would notice that Charlotte was a woman, due to her attire. Perhaps that was the strategic merit to it. On the other hand, Charlotte hardly cared that she was attacking the crown prince of Nohr. Her attacks had a lot of power to them, majority of them almost knocking Xander off his feet. But Xander was faster, and didn't give her too many chances.
Xander fought with techique, and Charlotte with force. Xander already knew that she was a capable warrior, taking out her usual element of surprise, and adding one more thing to her disadvantage. Leo grunted. This was an unfair match-up.
When Charlotte charged at Xander, and he managed to evade her, he took the opportunity to use her momentum against her, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her down to the ground, pinning her down and putting his practice sword against her neck.
"Got you," Xander told her, with a bit of a grin. Charlotte stared back, completely winded and speechless.
"Excuse me," Leo finally cut in, finding Xander and Charlotte's current proximity a little too unbearable to watch. "Could anyone tell me what is going on here?"
"Oh, Leo," Xander said, finally noticing his brother. To Leo's dismay, he did not make a move, opting to stay still, cornering Charlotte to the ground. "I've just beat Charlotte three battles to two. It's been a really productive sparring session."
"Ran out of sparring partners now, so you're picking on a woman?" Leo asked, with a bit of an edge in his voice, something like jealously seething between his teeth.
Get off of her, Leo thought. Niles' earlier warning of someone else getting to her before he did rang in his ears.
"Gender hardly matters on the battlefield," Xander said. "We should treat everyone like our fair equals."
But to Leo's relief, the elder prince finally did get up, extending a hand to Charlotte to help her up as well. Charlotte mumbled to herself, and Leo vaguely head her suggest a "best out of seven" match, clearly not satisfied with the outcome of the spar.
"Even you know this was an unfair match up to begin with, brother," Leo said. "She has a weapon disadvatage, wielding an axe. Everyone knows they weigh quite a bit more than swords do, and would slow down one's reaction time."
"Like with gender, weapon choices hardly matter on the battlefield," Xander said, to Leo. "A skilled warrior would learn how to counter things that attack their weaknessess. Charlotte is a very capable warrior, no need to give her favors. In fact I read your recommendation to increase her rank and salary the other day, right?"
Leo let out a laugh, but not an amused one. "Hah! So are you trying to say you're doing this to me on purpose? Do you not trust my judgment? Are you trying to spite me?"
"No, of course not," Xander said. "I just wanted to see if she was deserving."
"And like I said... this is an unfair match-up."
"What do you propose? Make her match against Arthur? We both know he'd just trip over a rock and lose instantly."
Charlotte chuckled at the suggestion. She was confident she could take on Elise's retainer fair and square, but it was true that it was most likely, what with Arthur's luck, that a mishap would happen causing his loss.
"That would be most entertaining to watch, I must admit," Leo said, with a genuine smile. "But I also suggest you pick on someone your own size, brother."
Xander was about to ask what he meant, until Leo made a move for their weapon rack, taking a spare training sword. Leo was known to take out the sword and use it every now and then, even if he widely prefered magic nowadays.
Xander raised a brow, but also welcomed the challenge with a confident smile. "You're hardly someone my own size, little brother. But it's been a while, so I'll humor you. Are you sure your swordplay hasn't been rusting, what with your preference for magic?"
"Better to be a person with two tricks up his sleeve than solely focusing on one," Leo said with a grin-a friendly jab at his elder brother. "I think my swordplay is adequate. Come on."
0o0o0o0o0
Leo was hardly able to get up the next day, his entire body feeling sore. The sparring match with Xander had proven to be a little too intense, what with him not holding a sword that often. Everything went by so fast, Leo even forgot to ask Xander why he missed the blasted war meeting. Leo groaned as he tried to read through the day's paperwork, mumbling something about reminding Odin to spar with him again daily from here on out, and then wondering where he put that tome of healing incantations.
"Oh Leeeoo!" A voice rang outside his tent, Leo recognizing it almost immediately. It was Camilla, suddenly opening the tent flap, almost blinding Leo with the light that quickly flooded the space. Camilla had a satisfied smile, quickly getting to the point. "Well, what do you think about this?"
He was about to ask what "this" was, until his eyes slowly adjusted to the light and found... Charlotte, behind Camilla. He could hardly tell it was her from afar-the blonde had a new set of armor now, covering her midriff and enough of her thighs. Her chestpiece showed a hint of cleavage, but not much as she did before. There was a sort of overskirt of animal skin and fur around her waist. It seemed obvious, but Leo had to be sure-with a motion of his hand, he asked her to turn around, and she did.
Praise the gods, it's actually covering her ass.
"It looks great," Leo finally said, "I see Xander finally appoved the damned promotion notice."
"I think he had to, after he whacked you senseless yesterday," Camilla said, sounding amused. Word of the two princes' spar ended up getting around yesterday, and they had attracted a small crowd watching them. "You had to be out of your mind, to challenge Xander to the sword."
"Hah, I know, right? I could beat him with spells any day of the week," Leo said. He then finally turned to Charlotte, feeling heat rising in his cheeks. "...Charlotte. You look... nice."
Leo groaned quietly to himself after. ...I bet that definitely sounded awkward.
Camilla groaned audibly. "Oh, Leo, still no good at the compliments, huh?" She shook her head disapprovingly.
"W-Well, I take it you know what I mean," Leo said, to Charlotte, trying to make a recovery. "It looks nice on you. I'm glad Corrin and Xander approved your promotion. But is 'that'... necessary?" He touched his own chest, as if to indicate the neckline of the new chest armor. It was slit right down the middle, exposing her skin, almost obviously painting an obvious target to Charlotte's heart.
"Of course," Charlotte and Camilla said, in unison.
Leo sighed. He knew better than to argue with two women who could probably axe him to death.
End of Chapter.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
A/N: This felt a bit more like a filler chapter to me, sorry. ^^;; I've been a bit stuck on this fanfic, so I just wrote to give myself a bit of boost and some direction. Reviews would really help me out, as I'm trying to figure how to try to tie everything together and complete the fanfic. Thanks a lot to everyone who reviewed the past chapter too, and the *cough* reminder to not abandon the fanfic. I definitely want to finish it, just hit a bit of a block. Reviews welcome!