DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fire Emblem, nor do I own the characters in Fire Emblem. I do, however, own any characters I create for the purpose of this story.

When Swords Cross

CHAPTER TWO

Celice lay awake in bed. The battle for Alster had concluded earlier that day, and the remainder of the day was used to give the troops a rest. Despite the fact that it was past midnight, however, Celice found himself unable to sleep. Ever since his rebellion had taken action back in northern Isaac, he had had trouble sleeping. Every night, he found himself unable to stop thinking about the days to come and the fights that would ensue, and would wonder how many more people would have to be sacrificed in order to restore things back to the way they were before the Empire came into being. He had just absorbed troops from Lenster, as well as some Alster knights who had been forced into Blume's service, which meant that while his army's strength was increased, there were also more people for whom he needed to look out. On this night, though, his thoughts drifted from the war at hand to his parents.

His mother, Deirdre, had disappeared when Celice was still a baby. As a result, he could not even remember what she looked like. The only thing he remembered about her was a lullaby, and he was fairly sure that that was because she had passed it on to both his father and Aideen. He now knew what had happened to his mother. Somehow, she had lost her memories of her previous life–about her mother, Cigyn, her husband, and her son–and married Alvis, who was, at the time, the lord of house Velthomer. Deirdre also met the previous king of Grandbell, Azmur, who was ill at the time. However, illness did not stop Azmur from identifying the markings on Deirdre's forehead that identified her as a descendant of the crusader Heim. These markings also served to identify her as Azmur's granddaughter. Since her father had died, Azmur named Alvis as his successor. Together, they had a son named Julius. However, years ago, Deirdre suddenly died, and Celice had begun to hear rumors that Prince Julius was involved. Celice did not doubt this; Julius was the closest thing to evil that he knew. It was Julius that was responsible for the child hunting that was taking place throughout Jugdral. The children gathered up in these hunts were then transported to the Imperial capital of Barhara, where they were used in the prince's dark rituals.

On the other hand, Celice still had some faint memories of his father. Sigurd had been killed when Celice was a toddler. After Prince Kurth, Deirdre's father, had been assassinated, the blame was pinned on Sigurd's father, Lord Byron of Chalphy, as well as Lord Ring of Jungby. The two men were innocent, however. The real culprit was Langbart, lord of house Dozel, and his accomplice was Reptor, the lord of Freege and Prime Minister of Grandbell, as well as Blume's father. Actually, Langbart and Reptor had not initially planned to drag Ring into it, but after Ring's son, Andre, killed him, they had no choice. After that, they captured Byron. Byron escaped, however, and with the last of his strength, delivered the holy sword, Tyrfing, to his son. Sigurd, now with a holy weapon in his hand, was able to kill both Langbart and Reptor with his own hands, despite the two of them each wielding a holy weapon–Langbart had the holy axe, Swanchika; and Reptor had the holy tome of thunder magic, Torhammer. After that, he made his way to Velthomer Castle, where he met with Ida, the captain of Velthomer's elite mage brigade, the Roten Ritter. She led him and his troops to Barhara under the guise of there being a reception led by Alvis. However, this reception was a trap, and Alvis and the Roten Ritter decimated Sigurd's army. Alvis himself killed Sigurd with his own holy weapon, the magic tome Falaflame. There were survivors, but they were few: Lady Aideen of Jungby, who was currently living in a convent in the Isaacian town of Tilnanogue; Lachesis, who fled to Lenster, but disappeared in the Yied Desert in an attempt to reach Isaac; Prince Levin of Silesia, who was currently serving Celice as an advisor of sorts; Fury, who had returned to her homeland of Silesia, where she eventually succumbed to illness; and Tiltyu, who had gone to Silesia, had been found by her brother, Blume, and brought to Alster. While in Alster, Tiltyu had endured constant verbal and emotional abuse from her sister-in-law, Hilda, which in turn led to her own death. Celice also suspected that another member of Sigurd's army, Sylvia, had survived, as one of the members of his own army, a dancer named Leen, had told him that her mother was also a dancer.

Celice sat up. It seemed futile to him to continue lying there if he was not going to stop thinking about things. He grabbed his cape, threw it around his shoulders, and walked out into the hallway.

After he walked down a flight of stairs, he walked through the corridor where other members of his army were sleeping. He could hear light snores coming from Skasaha's room, and he was forced to suppress a laugh when he heard Johan talking about his "darling Lakche" in his sleep. However, he noticed that one of the doors was ajar. He peered in and found the room empty. Then, from a nearby window, he heard what he thought was sobbing. It sounded like it was coming from the courtyard, so Celice made that his next destination.

The courtyard of Alster Castle was quite breathtaking. It was circular in shape, with eight stone pathways leading up to a marble fountain in the center. Between the pathways grew flowers in a myriad of colors. The fountain in the center was in the shape of a charging cavalier, lance in hand and sword sheathed at his side. Celice recalled that Alster had prided itself in its army of paladins, much like those of Nodion or Chalphy. It was on the edge of the pool surrounding the fountain that Celice found the source of the sound he had heard upstairs. There sat Nanna, face in her hands and sobbing.

Celice realized that Nanna had not seen or heard him approach, so he figured he should somehow make himself known. He took a slow breath and said, "Nanna."

Nanna looked up immediately, horror evident in her eyes. "Oh, god, it's P-Prince Celice!" She tried to turn away from him, but Celice simply walked around to where she was facing.

"What are you doing?" Celice asked.

"I c-can't let you, our leader, s-see me like this!" Nanna exclaimed. She tried to turn away again, but Celice circled around again.

"Nanna, there's nothing wrong with letting out your emotions," Celice said. "I certainly won't think any worse of you for letting them out." He then walked up next to her. "May I sit here?" Nanna nodded, hiccuping as she did so. Celice turned around and sat next to her. "Can you tell me what is troubling you?"

Nanna shook her head vigorously. "Don't concern yourself with my troubles."

"Listen, Nanna," Celice began. "A moment ago, you called me your leader. As a leader, the well-being of my men is my responsibility. I need to be able to understand them and make sure they trust me. One way to gain trust is to help people when they need it. I can do that for you, too."

Nanna looked at him. "Can you resurrect the dead?"

Celice frowned. "I'm no high priest of Edda, so that power eludes me."

"Then there's nothing you can do to help."

"You misunderstand me," Celice replied. "When I said I wanted to help you, I did not necessarily mean that I could rectify your problem. Sometimes all it requires to help someone is a willing ear."

Nanna hiccuped. "All . . . All right, I'll tell you. You know who my brother is, right?"

"Yes," Celice answered. "I've known Delmud since we were both children."

"Well, I just met him for the first time today," Nanna said. "I asked him where our mother is, and he didn't know, and was confused, because he thought she was in Lenster. I told him that she had left years ago to see you in Isaac, but he told me that she never arrived . . . " She then dissolved into tears again.

Celice looked at his knees. "I see," he said. "Lachesis never made it across the Yied Desert." He then looked at Nanna. "However, we've cleared the Yied of all Lopt influence. The desert should be less treacherous now. I know it can't bring your mother back, but . . . " He took a deep breath. "You know, I sort of envy you."

Nanna sat up and looked at Celice again. "What do you mean?"

"I find myself unable to shed a single tear over my mother. She disappeared when I was still a baby. You, on the other hand, had the privilege of knowing your mother and can shed tears over her disappearance from your life."

"I never knew my father, though," Nanna said. "He died along with your father in Barhara before I was even born. You at least knew yours, though you might not necessarily remember him."

"True," Celice said. He then noticed Nanna shiver. "You're cold, aren't you?"

Nanna shook her head. "I'm fine."

"Nanna, you're shivering," Celice replied. He then removed his cape and draped it around Nanna.

Nanna looked at Celice. "Prince Celice, but what are you going to do? You're more valuable than I."

"A little cold won't bother me," Celice said. "You're both shorter and thinner than I am, and you've been out here longer than I have, so you need the cape more than I do."

Nanna opened her mouth to protest again, but changed her mind. She then looked out at the rest of the courtyard.

Celice followed her gaze. "It's beautiful, isn't it? It feels like the world is at peace when you're in this courtyard." His gaze then hardened. "You'd never know that miles to the east, an assault was being planned on this castle."

Nanna looked at Celice, whose stare remained fixed on the rest of the courtyard. As she looked at him, she realized what he was going through. He was barely even an adult, yet he was in command of an entire army, responsible for their lives. If he made a tactical error, the cost would be paid with their blood. Also wearing on him was his compassionate side. He trudged through this war with the knowledge that he would be ending lives and rending families constantly weighing down his conscience. He had already vocally expressed his dissatisfaction with killing Ishtor, the son of Blume and steward of Melgen Castle, and Liza, his lieutenant and lover, and would likely be forced to kill more people that he did not wish to kill. Only the belief that his cause was just kept him going. Also mixed in with these troubles was a fear that he would begin to crave battle. He had already felt no remorse in killing Dannan, the lord of Dozel and steward of Isaac, and feared becoming as desensitized to the deaths of Imperial soldiers as he had been to Dannan's death.

These feelings were not alien to Nanna, though. Though she was only a couple of years younger than Celice, she had already seen enough bloodshed for five lifetimes. Her childhood had been one of danger and secrecy–the Imperial forces occupying Northern Thracia wanted Prince Leaf dead in the same way they wanted Celice dead, and having grown up with the heir to Lenster's throne and a loyal knight of Lenster, she would have been killed, too. This resulted in the three of them fleeing from town to town, though they were careful to never cross the border into the Kingdom of Thracia--a kingdom that occupied the southern half of the Thracian Peninsula and the only kingdom that the Empire had not conquered. Thracia's king, Trabant, wanted Leaf and those who protected him dead just as badly as the Empire did. It was Trabant that killed Leaf's parents and elder sister, hoping it would bring him further to his goal of conquering the northern half of the peninsula. However, after the Battle of Barhara, Grandbell moved in, pushed Trabant's forces back south, and took Northern Thracia itself. She knew what it was like to have to fight just to survive, and to worry about becoming desensitized to the bloodshed.

Nanna brushed a hand across her cheek, and realized that she had stopped crying and was now beginning to feel sleepy. "I'm feeling better now, and I think I should get some sleep."

"All right," Celice said. "I might try to do the same, though it always feels like I'm fighting a losing battle." The two of them got up and walked back toward the hallway where the troops' quarters were. As they walked, Celice had an idea. Quietly, he began to hum a gentle, serene melody, hoping it might help him go to sleep. However, it was not so quiet that Nanna did not hear it.

"What is that you're humming?" Nanna asked.

"Huh?" Celice's face flushed. "Oh. It's . . . a lullaby. It was a song that my mother sang to me when I was a baby. Before she vanished, though, she taught it to Lady Aideen, who then sang it to me after that."

"So Lady Aideen was sort of a surrogate mother to you, then?" Nanna asked.

"Not just me," Celice said. "She acted as a mother not only to her own two children, but to myself, Skasaha, Lakche, and Delmud, as well."

"I see," Nanna said. "It's a beautiful melody. Would you teach it to me some time?"

"Sure, why not?" Celice replied. They then stopped in front of a door. "This is your room, is it not?"

Nanna nodded. She then removed the cape wrapped around her and returned it to its rightful owner. "Good night." She then walked toward her door, but then turned around. "Oh . . . and thank you, Prince Celice."

Celice nodded. "Any time you need someone to talk to, you need simply to let me know."

Nanna smiled. "I'll remember that." With that, she entered her room.

Celice continued along toward his own quarters. That had been the first time he had ever seen Nanna smile. He had heard that she was as beautiful as her mother had been, but it had never really registered with him until he saw her smile. Celice then shook his head. "We're in the middle of a war," he muttered to himself. "There will be plenty of time to think about women after this war ends, assuming we survive."

As Celice walked, he failed to notice one thing. One of the doors was slightly ajar, and a single brown eye, with a vantage point that included the entrance to Nanna's quarters, peered through the opening. After Celice walked by, the door closed.