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 SIX

Celice looked at the calendar. Today marked, to the date, one full year since the victory at Barhara. Unfortunately, this past year had been every bit as difficult as the year before it–the only difference was that people's lives were not on the line with every decision he made. He had to distribute supplies to ravaged villages, quell uprisings, and perform all sorts of hard physical labor. To top things off, those were the easy duties.

Aside from the various nobles in charge of Grandbell's six dukedoms, the court that had served both King Azmur and Emperor Alvis had remained largely intact. That was both a good and bad thing. It was good because it meant that fewer people had died. It was bad because of what they wanted. To avoid any further complications with lineage, they constantly insisted that Celice marry and produce an heir as soon as possible. As things were, Julia would assume the throne if something were to happen to Celice. However, the court officials would not be happy until Celice was married with a suitable heir.

Thankfully, though, Celice had backup. Those who helped push back when the rest of the court pushed were Princess Julia, Lord Oifaye of Chalphy, Lord Lester of Jungby, Lord Arthur of Velthomer, High Priest Corple of Edda, Lord Johan of Dozel, and Lady Tinny of Freege.

-6-

Celice looked at the men standing before him and suppressed a frown. None of his supporters were in court today. The men of the court were again talking about finding a wife. Celice had to avoid wincing at the memory of the last time a gathering had been formed for that purpose. He hated those events, and could tell that most women were there for a shot at Celice's money or power. Therefore, it came as a pleasant surprise when a messenger interrupted the meeting.

The messenger bowed to Celice. "Your Majesty, I bring news from Agustria. King Aless has sent someone to represent Agustria in Grandbellian court. The representative will be arriving within the hour."

Celice smiled. Regardless of whom this representative was, it would take the focus off of the subject of a bride, and that was a welcome distraction. "Thank you for informing me. I will begin preparations for the representative's arrival shortly."

-6-

Celice stood in front of his throne, waiting for the Agustrian representative. When the representative walked into the room and kneeled before him, he nearly fell over. "Y-you can rise."

Nanna rose to her feet and smiled. "Hello, Your Majesty. It has been a long time since we last saw each other."

Celice hastily nodded. "Yeah. Today marks the one-year anniversary of the war's end."

One of the council members spoke up. "We welcome you, Lady Nanna, to the city of Barhara."

"Thank you, sir," Nanna replied.

Celice looked around and found himself disgusted with what he could see from the council members. He knew these men well, and they were all old perverts. He could tell by small details on each council member's face that they were all looking lustfully at the Nodion princess. This filled him up with an unusual anger. However, Celice was able to conceal this, and cleared his throat. "I think, due to the arrival of our guest, that it would be best to dissolve the council for the day. She just traveled a great distance, so I think she would be best off with a day of rest."

Disappointment crossed each council member's face. "Very well, Your Majesty," the council leader said. He then turned to Nanna. "Princess Nanna, might I inquire where you are staying?" However, before Nanna could respond, Celice jumped in.

"I would much like her to stay here, in the palace," Celice said. "After all, she is a guest, and I would like to be as hospitable as possible."

"Your Majesty, I do not wish to--" Nanna began, but Celice cut her off.

"You won't be imposing, Nanna. It is not a problem at all. Quite the contrary–I'm certain the staff and Princess Julia would be more than happy to have a guest in the palace."

"All right, then," Nanna replied. "I think I will need a tour of the palace, though."

"Very well," the council leader said. "I will arrange--"

"I'd be more than happy to give you a tour, Nanna," Celice said. He then turned to the council. "Your day is done. It's time for you all to leave."

The council members stood up, bowed to the king, and left. After they left, Celice turned to Nanna and beamed. "It's been far too long, Nanna."

"I should say the same, Your Majesty," Nanna replied.

"No formalities outside of court, please, Nanna," Celice said. "You were the one who said I was your friend, remember? Besides, I could never think of making the person who saved my life address me so formally all the time."

"So, how have things been going for you here?" Nanna asked.

Celice frowned. "Rough. I'm not referring to just reparations, either. It's dealing with those old men that drives me insane. It's not as bad when the other lords are around, but it's still taxing. How about you? How have you been?"

"Busy," Nanna replied. "So far, most of my time has been spent repairing Agustria and supporting my brother and my cousin. This assignment will probably be the least physically demanding thing I do."

"I've missed you." The words were out of Celice's mouth before he realized that he was speaking, and he instantly wished that he could call them back. He turned red.

Nanna looked at him with surprise, a faint blush creeping across her face. She then composed herself and said, "The council is that rough on you, are they? You have my sympathy."

Celice took a deep breath. As far as he was concerned, a disaster had just been averted. "Uh, so, tour, right? Come on, just follow me."

-6-

Celice led Nanna to a door located in a hallway upstairs. "This is where you will be staying." He opened the door and led his guest in. Inside the room was a large canopy bed with pure white sheets, a dresser with numerous drawers, a large mirror that rested atop the dresser, and a door on the far side of the room.

Nanna looked around. "This looks very nice," she said. "This is even bigger than my quarters in Agusty. What's behind the other door?"

Celice smiled as he walked over to the door. "I think you'll like this," he said. He opened the door and walked through. Nanna followed him and let out a gasp.

Nanna found herself standing on a marble balcony. Below her, stretching out in all directions, lay a large garden. It had stone pathways lined with hedges, patches of flowers in every variety, a patch of grass with several wooden benches, and a large fountain in the center.

Celice grinned. "What do you think?"

Nanna, her hands over her mouth and her eyes wide, replied, "It's gorgeous!" She then turned to Celice. "Take me down there! Now!"

Celice raised his hands. "Okay, okay, calm down! I was planning on showing you the garden next anyway."

-6-

Celice led Nanna up to the fountain. It was made entirely of marble, and was sculpted in the form of the Twelve Crusaders. In the center was Heim. Around him were the crusaders Baldo, Neir, Ulir, Blagi, Fala, and Tordo. Around and a level below them stood Hezul, Odo, Dain, Noba, and Sety. Water sprayed from each crusader's weapon, except for the mages, who all shot water from their outstretched hands.

"It looks so much bigger from down here than it did from the balcony," Nanna commented. "But it's still amazing. I can't possibly imagine the amount of effort it probably took to sculpt such a thing."

"I'm amazed it survived the Imperial years," Celice remarked. "I'm sure Alvis would have wanted it to remain intact, but I'm surprised that Julius never destroyed it. I would have figured that he would try to purge any influence of the crusaders from the continent." Then, from behind them, Celice heard a gasp. He and Nanna turned around to find Julia standing behind them.

"Nanna!" Julia exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Nanna smiled. "Hello, Julia. I'm here as a representative to Agustria in Grandbell's court. Celice has invited me to stay here."

"I see," Julia said. "Well, it's nice to see you again! It's been about a year, hasn't it?"

"To the day," Celice said.

"Why weren't you with the rest of the council, Julia?" Nanna asked. "Aren't you supposed to be helping your brother?"

"I gave her the day off," Celice answered. "I knew that the council would just kiss up to her on the anniversary of our victory since it was she who killed Julius, and she hates dealing with the council under normal circumstances almost as much as I do. Today would have been almost unbearable for her, so I decided to spare her that misery."

"Well, aren't you thoughtful," Nanna remarked.

"Anyway, Celice, dinner is almost ready," Julia said.

"Ah, good," Celice replied. "I'm starving."

"I'd like nothing better than a nice, warm meal after my journey," Nanna said.

-6-

The next day, Celice sat with the council. This time, he was accompanied by Nanna and Julia.

"Hmm, apparently there are reports of bandit attacks along the eastern border," the chief council member said, as he read a report. "What is Lord Arthur doing?"

"Keep in mind that the Roten Ritter is still being rebuilt," Celice said. "It'll be a while before they're back to pre-Imperial strength. I'm sure Arthur is doing everything he can."

"That is relatively unimportant anyway," the council leader said.

Celice looked at him in disbelief. "Excuse me? We're supposed to protect our people. I was just about to offer a suggestion on the matter."

"That can wait," the council leader said. "Right now, we need to discuss a more urgent matter. Your Majesty, we have taken the liberty of setting up a ball in the palace here and inviting all of the nobles' daughters--"

"I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!" Celice shouted and leaped from his seat. "You're putting off bandit attacks for this stupid bridal search? How many times do I have to tell you to leave me to my own devices before it finally sinks in?!"

"Your Majesty, we have expressed our reasons for this before . . . " the council leader began, but Celice cut him off.

"Yes, I'm well aware of your reasoning for your list of priorities!" Celice replied. "But have you even once considered my list of priorities? No, of course not! You're all preoccupied with your personal safety! You can't learn how to do your jobs properly, it seems! We serve and protect the people, not the other way around! Not only did you neglect to inform my prime minister of this council meeting yet again, but you're constantly talking about needing an heir to the throne! In case you've forgotten, the current heir is sitting on my right! But no, you refuse to acknowledge a woman as heir to the throne of our country! You all make me sick!"

"Your Majesty, if you'd please calm down, we have business to attend to," one of the council members began, but Celice cut him off.

"YOU HAVEN'T BEEN LISTENING TO A WORD I'VE SAID!" Celice yelled. "You know what? I don't need you to solve the bandit problem. I was going to send my troops anyway. So, all of you–get out of my sight, NOW! Any of you who isn't out of this palace in ten minutes is spending the night in the dungeon! Do I make myself clear?!"

"But Your Majesty--" the council leader began.

"DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!" Celice repeated.

"Yes, Your Majesty . . . " With that, the council members began to leave the room. Celice ran out of a side door.

Nanna sat in her chair, shocked by what just happened. She had never seen Celice fly into such a rage. He was usually capable of controlling his anger. She then got up and started to follow the other council members, when a hand grabbed her by the wrist.

"He didn't mean you," Julia said. "You can stay. You did nothing wrong."

Nanna hung her head. "I've never seen him like this . . . "

"It was building up for a while," Julia said, the sadness apparent in her voice.

"I'm going to go look for him," Nanna declared.

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Julia replied.

"I don't care," Nanna responded. "I want to help him."

Julia looked at Nanna, her head tilted slightly. "You like him, don't you?"

"What?" Nanna's face turned red. "N-no, that's not it, I just want to help my friend out."

Julia giggled. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

"W-what secret?"

-6-

Celice leaped at the hanging bag and gave it two strikes with his practice sword. He then pulled back and thrust it into the bag. For several minutes he struck at the bag with his training sword.

Nanna and Julia then entered the room. "Ah, here you are," Nanna said.

Celice stopped and turned to look at the two girls. "Leave me be. I need some time to myself."

Julia frowned. "Celice, it's not good to keep all your feelings bottled up inside. Please, we want to help."

Celice sighed and tossed his practice sword away. It landed cleanly in its rack on the wall. "Fine," he said. "I'm not too fond of going over how much of a jerk I was, but whatever."

"Celice, you shouldn't talk about yourself that way," Nanna said.

"Why not?" Celice shot back. "I'm an idiot, plain and simple. I shouldn't be here."

"Celice, stop talking like that!" Nanna responded.

Celice sat on a nearby bench. "I shouldn't be king." Tears began to flow from his eyes. "I should just disappear and let Julia take the throne. I'm not cut out for this."

Nanna sat down next to Celice. "That's not true, Celice."

"It is true!" Celice exclaimed. "Every day is stressful. I need to decide how to govern, how to react to various problems in the country. I have to send men to their deaths. I have to approve reconstruction projects. I have to deal with those . . . those old demons every day! And they conspire to make things worse for me! They always conveniently forget to inform Oifaye of these meetings, consider the other lords beneath them, and consider me some sort of . . . commodity!"

"Celice, get a hold of yourself!" Nanna exclaimed. "You are fit to be king."

Celice looked at her, tears still streaming down his face. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because I had the pleasure of serving under you during the war," Nanna replied. "You led an insurrection against insurmountable odds and prevailed, and with minimal casualties at that. Not one of your officers died in the war, Celice. Not one. Furthermore, all your battle plans worked. You're a brilliant leader."

"That's war," Celice replied. "That's totally different."

"No, it's not," Nanna replied. "Peacetime duties are simply a different application of the skills that won you the war."

"But I had help during the war," Celice argued. "I had Oifaye and Levin behind me at all times."

"Which is your problem now," Nanna said. "You're trying to do everything yourself. It's no wonder you're enduring so much stress."

"Well, then, what do you suggest?" Celice asked.

"Never hold a council without myself, Julia, and the other lords that fought under you," Nanna answered. "They have burdens to bear themselves, but when we share each other's burdens, the load becomes lighter and more bearable. Just look around, Celice. You have all the resources available to make you the greatest king that Grandbell . . . no, that Jugdral has ever known. It's up to you to use them. No one is going to delegate them for you, though. That is your responsibility."

Celice looked down. "You're right. I should be ashamed of myself for succumbing to despair. From now on, I won't let that council run my life. I should be running the council, not the other way around!" He then turned to Nanna. "And Nanna?"

"Yes?"

Celice leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Nanna, pulling her into a hug. "Thank you for being my friend."