Charming:
After her quick reunion with Laurent, Robin ushered the two of them to the command tent that they set up. Though the air around them was heated by the sun, it was a dry heat, and thus the shade from the structure was pleasant. Her mother was seated at a circular table across from the desert mage while Lucina placed herself toward the middle, though closer to his side.
She was greeted with another diplomacy lesson. The two immediately began to discuss the terms of his transfer. He would receive his own tent, medical care, traveling supplies, and camp food free of charge. Weapons would have to be procured on his own, as outside of local guards, Ylisse did not officially hand out weapons. They did, however, stockpile the weapons that they collected from defeated enemies, and he was free to take from there as needed. Finally, he would receive a stipend. Though it was no more than what he was earning as a town guard, when coupled with the other benefits, it was an enticing package. Robin did not pause for him to ask questions, merely assuming that the mage understood what she was talking about.
"Lastly, there is one more term I would like to add on." Robin looked at Lucina, who had removed her eye patch. "Try not to have too much fun."
Her cheeks turned red and she grimaced. "Mother!"
"Would you rather I get your father's opinion on the subject?" the tactician cheekily smiled. Lucina had not given that thought before.
"I… that would…" she stammered, suddenly concerned of what her father would think about the subject. In regards to giving information about the future, would that mean she had to give notice of Inigo and Gerome as well?
"I'll take that as a no." Grabbing some sheets of paper, her mother put them in front of Laurent and handed him a quill, indicating a line for him to sign under. "I assume that these terms shall suffice?"
It's not like she had given Laurent much of a choice. Dipping the feather's tip in the inkwell, he quickly signed his name and handed it back to her.
"Excellent. Lucina, when you have the chance please take Laurent to the supply wagon to make sure he gets what he needs." Her mother then drew out another document. "Now then, let's get down to the real business here."
Robin eyed the mage, and Lucina knew that further diplomacy had started, doing her best to keep track of everything Robin was doing.
"We are out here looking for a staff. Legends speak of it as having the power to cure all wounds entirely with a single cast. However, the staff was never officially located and was supposedly lost not far from here in the Rubinelle Desert. Recently, rumors of mirage towns, with its own people and walls that would simply fade in and out of existence, have been spotted among the deserts near this oasis."
"Do you have any information in regards to this mystical object?"
"I have never heard of such a staff before." Laurent adjusted his glasses. "Nor have I heard of these towns made of mirages. According to my mot-"
"I'm going to stop you right there, Laurent." Lucina watched as her mother raised her hands just a little bit. "I'm not the one to talk to for science-y mumbo jumbo. Your mother is leagues better in that regard, and if you really are your mother's son you were about to go into a tirade of what a mirage really was. Am I correct?"
He grimaced under her gaze. "You would be correct in that assumption. You are quite astute in your observations."
Robin brushed aside the compliment, Lucina noticed, as she spoke once more. "All I need to know is if the staff exists, Laurent."
"Then I shall repeat it again." He firmly spoke. "I have heard of no such staff in my travels in this desert, either from local nomads or traveling merchants. A mirage by definition is a bending wave of light and therefore it is incapable of producing people, much less physical walls and so neither can these towns exist."
"Perfect!" Robin's attitude suddenly reversed, catching both of them off guard. "It would look like this search for the staff was a failure, but we've gained a strong ally for the cause. Wouldn't you agree, Lucina?"
She rose to her feet. "B-But mother, we haven't even started the search yet!"
The tactician paused in shuffling her papers away, looking at her daughter with a hint of disbelief. "Did you really think we were coming out here to find a mystical staff, Lucina?"
"But then all the lobbying that you did, was it… was it all just…"
"Smoke and mirrors, Lucina, I like the term smoke and mirrors."
"You lied to the court about all this?" Realization dawned upon the princess and she looked at Robin in the eye. "You lied to me?"
Her mother resumed sorting the papers. "A straightforward battle can be costly for both sides, yet a hidden, decisive strike can end everything in an instant. Hiding your true intentions is paramount in many battles to put yourself in the most advantageous position."
Robin looked at her, eyebrow raised a little. "Besides, didn't you receive the note?"
"What note?"
"Go look through your things again. Gaius should have left a note for you in regards to the true nature of the mission."
"Mother, I have packed and unpacked my bag many times on this trip. I would have seen a paper note," Lucina responded steadfastly.
"Did you check the small make-up kit I had Anna procure for you? The small one with the brush and mirror that can fit in your pockets? If you look carefully the bottom has a hidden compartment."
She stopped in her tracks. "No," she sheepishly admitted, "I… I left that back in the capitol."
Robin smiled just a little bit at the two of them. "A woman never leaves without her make-up kit, Lucina. Be sure to keep that in mind."
"But we are preparing for war. What would I need that for?"
"Keeping up a strong image is important for troop morale. Make-up will help with that." With all her papers in hand, she shot one last glance at Laurent and winked at him. "Besides, I'm sure Laurent wouldn't mind seeing a prettier you every now and then, no?"
Robin left the tent, leaving the two blushing furiously.
It was as if Laurent had suddenly opened a floodgate. After crushing the bandits in the desert, the children of her generation started to appear. Nah was in a collapsing and rebuilding mansion filled with Risen. Kjelle was squaring off against a man and almost trapped by his henchmen before they came in and rescued her. Noire was almost captured by slavers until Tharja, realizing she was her daughter, began to obliterate them left and right. Yarne was spotted by Panne as he managed to stay just out of sight from the crashing tide of metal-clad warriors, seemingly blinking in and out of sight much like his father.
And Owain was about to recklessly charge into a stronghold, looking for a contact and something else.
As a result, Robin had her hands full making sure that each of them integrated into the troop while Lucina and Laurent were the ones to make sure that their individual needs were met within reason. In addition, they stopped back at Ylisstol to restock supplies.
She was sure that it was also for her to grab the make-up kit. And sure enough, there was the letter.
Neither of the two women had the opportunity to see the other outside of war councils and before they knew it a good amount of time had passed from when they first found Laurent in the desert. And though it was considered to still be the thick of winter in Feroxi territory, spring would be hitting Valm in little more than a month. The plan was to push off from the coast of the continent and hit when crops were supposed to be planted in the region, causing the nation's ability to feed its troops to stumble if a drawn-out conflict were to occur.
"Tell me again what you were trying to accomplish at that fortress?"
"My dear informant Holland had found himself on a deal gone sour," Owain calmly said. It was a habit that the swordsman often reserved only for her. "And as one from the noble line, it was my duty to extract him from the site."
Lucina turned away from her cousin, avoiding his gaze and instead focusing on a fake problem with Inigo's shield on her arm, pushing aside the image of his face as they marched around the perimeter of the camp in the crisp winter air. It was a trick she learned from Anna and constantly employed by Robin to make it easier for people to speak.
"And that was it?" she casually asked.
"That was it."
"I distinctly remember you stooping over that fallen commander's body and taking something, however."
"Me? Looting corpses? Maybe if the person took something from me, but I'm hurt you would accuse me of stooping so low."
Much to her annoyance, she had been trying to butter up her cousin to pry what exactly Owain was doing that day for a good portion of their patrol. Seeing it fall apart at the very end after all that effort and even have him jab her back was annoying.
She let out a huff and looked back to the path they were walking, wondering if her parents were okay in a battle to the north. Sumia had spotted the shrine they had been searching for yesterday and they marched towards its location, but it was teaming with Risen. With another flyby to gauge the forces, Robin had decided that not all Shepherds were necessary for the battle and instead had them focus on continued preparation for the upcoming battle with Valm.
"Have you any news of the others since you have been here?" the princess asked.
"None, I fear. Wyvern riders are few in this continent and mercenaries are a dime a dozen."
His response cut straight to her concerns. Though they had found Laurent, Gerome and Inigo were still among the missing. Her hand gripped the shield on her forearm. Though her mother had offered to replace it with a better one, Lucina handedly refused, instead settling to have it repaired. Though the other gifts she received were all great in their own right, Inigo's was the most useful.
"I see…"
Picking up on her mood, Owain changed the subject. "It's a shame that you must cover your eye like that though, Lucina," Owain gestured towards the faux eye patch. "If it weren't for your hair, I would have thought of you as merely an unlucky woman." He smiled at her, "You certainly look the part of a dashing heroine, however."
She chuckled a little, a rarity. "It's out of necessity. I was… given orders to keep it whenever someone outside of the Shepherds may spot me."
"And you're sure it does not affect your vision?"
"Here," she removed her eye patch and handed it to him. "Try it."
Almost too eager, he quickly placed it over his own left eye and took a look around. "Hmm. Perhaps I should ask for my own. I rather like this."
As he was looking around, a quick patter of steps made the both of them turn around to see Laurent dashing at the pair. He lost some of his tan as they were no longer in the bright sun as much, but maintained a ruggedness that seemed almost misplaced on the mage.
"Laurent!" Owain cried in greeting, "What brings you across the path of these two heroic characters of noble lineage?"
He tipped his hat in greeting, "I am here to replace you for your shift. But perhaps more importantly, your mother Lissa wishes for your assistance in preparing tonight's supper. She is in need of an extra pair of hands to prepare the potatoes."
"Foul spuds! I shall show them the rage of a scion's peeler!" Owain raced off, but not before pausing to whisper something into Laurent's ear, which caused him to chuckle in response and shake his head just a little bit before carefully removing the eye patch from her cousin. Walking up the rest of the distance, he settled alongside Lucina.
"What did he say to you?" she asked.
"No funny business. He is aware of strange game, after all."
"I fear my mother knows more than she lets on about our supposed courting," Lucina began, taking back the eye patch and putting it on, "She is a smart woman, after all."
"I do not contest the fact that she looks at us with scrutiny. No doubt that Lord Chrom has his eyes on me as well."
They patrolled in silence, watching the passing winter scenery. The calmness of it all was unheard of in their time. Much of the land had been wasted by Grima and though animals still existed, few of them were able to survive in the ruined land. It was a site that Lucina often marveled at.
"The last time we were alone like this was when my mother interrupted us," Lucina finally said.
"It was also the first time, though we were preoccupied with other things."
"What were you doing in the three years since we made the transition?"
The mage paused for a moment, his lips becoming momentarily thin. Taking a breath, his mouth opened. "The first thing I did was almost die of heatstroke. I was saved by desert nomads who brought me to the trading post that was ransacked." He bit his lip, but in the end decided to continue.
"After that, I made my living in the desert for five years."
"Five years?" the princess halted in her steps and turned to face him. "Laurent, I… I have been only here for three! You-"
"Nah did say that the spell wasn't ready. The times we would appear at would be close, but different," he sighed. "We didn't have a choice that day."
They remained silent a little longer before Laurent gently took her hand into his. She stiffened a little, surprised at his grasp, but remained silent and did not pull away. "That doesn't mean I can just ignore that," she said slowly, her gaze turning to the snow beneath their feet. "I won't let you pretend my mistakes and shortcomings don't exist."
"I wasn't," he gently led her on the patrol path. "But… the feeling of separation and loneliness, it pales in comparison to the joy I have now. When I saw you again, holding you in my arms like that, it was as if everything fell to the side for that one moment and I relearned what peace was."
"Besides," he turned to her and smiled. "I am a successful business owner, and am currently chronicling our travels for both posterity and profit, a notion that was impossible to fathom in our time. I think five years of being without you gave me the opportunity to grow more in myself. The separation has treated me well in that respect."
The thought of that made the princess smile and the two walked in silence for the rest of the patrol with hands linked just until the edge of the camp, where they forced themselves to separate lest Owain come at them with a dirty peeler.
It was around dinner time when the other rest of the Shepherds returned from the battle. Much of the light had fallen away and darkness had begun to settle in. As with many of the others, especially the children, Lucina abandoned her warm stew to welcome them and see to their wounds.
Snow crunching beneath her boots, she quickly made her way to the northern side of the camp, eyes peeled and looking for her father and mother. When she located them, Chrom shot her a happy smile, but her mother seemed lost in thought. Drawing close, she spoke.
"Is something wrong, mother?" she looked around. "Everyone seems to be in fine condition. Would it be safe to assume that the battle went well?"
Robin turned her gaze to the princess and opened her mouth to speak, but another voice cut her off.
"Lucina, is that you?"
That voice. Could it-
A young blue-haired teenage male stepped out from behind the queen and looked her straight in the eye. "Morgan?"
He nearly bowled her over with his hug, peals of laughter rolling off of him. "Gods, it's really you!"
She returned the embrace with one of her own. "I'm so glad we found you! After we entered the portal, all of us got scattered."
And then his next words brought her to a sudden halt.
"What portal?"
She leaned back a bit from him and looked him in the eye. "Surely you recall!" she exclaimed, "You stood and defended it with me while we made time for the others to escape!"
"Well… I…" his smile faltered, "I recall a little bit! I know that you and I were together doing… something, but-"
"That's enough for now, Lucina," her father slowly said, his smile almost gone and replaced with a look of indecision. "We can discuss this tomorrow as we march towards the port. We need to clean up and rest and we need to get Morgan's accommodations ready." His tone was final and Lucina let the topic go. With a quick call, Chrom got her brother to follow after him, though she could see his nervousness in being separated from her.
She turned her gaze to her mother, who, could only stare forlornly back.
"Where did you find Morgan?" she cautiously asked.
"He was out in the temple we were exploring, nearly surrounded by Risen. We intervened and got him out." Robin turned her head towards the side and gritted her teeth before sighing, something Lucina rarely saw her do. It was the signal that she was in a foul mood. "Aside from me and a bit of you, he doesn't remember a thing."
"No… that… that's terrible." All of the memories Morgan shared with her generation, gone? Was everything truly lost?
"Yes. It would appear that my legacy of amnesia continues. I'll have to go over that in more detail with him later." The queen turned her gaze towards Lucina, "As with the other children, please do your best to make sure that Morgan receives everything he needs to incorporate himself into the Shepherds. It should be an easy task to complete after supper."
With a quick glance to make sure everyone was either occupied or not looking at them, a coy smile grew on her lips as she changed the subject. "You're wearing your make-up."
Lucina felt heat rising to her cheeks, not unlike when she was caught doing something she petty. "H-How do you know?" Ever since she had got her kit back, Robin had made it clear that she expected her to put on just a bit of powder on her cheeks, enough to make her look a bit rosy, yet not enough to start running should she exert herself in battle. It was a different path that she was used to, but her mother insisted that she improve her abilities with it, reminding her that that appearances played a strong part in boosting another's confidence in her.
"Here, have a look, and you tell me," Robin drew out her own mirror and gave it to the princess. Taking a look, at first notice she saw nothing out of the ordinary, but as she traced upwards, she saw how her mother noticed.
"It's smudged a bit where my eye patch would be."
"Indeed. From now on, if you are going to apply any make-up, I would suggest wearing the eye patch so you know where it needs to be."
"Yes, I'll be more careful of that in the future."
Much to her chagrin, she did not stop there.
"Did Laurent like it?"
Was there no end to how much her mother knew about her?
"Lady Robin!"
Speak of the devil. Doing her best to push aside her embarrassment, she turned to face the mage, who was quickly moving through the thinning crowd to her.
"I've told you before Laurent," her mother smiled, "Robin will do."
"And as you surely know, it feels uncomfortable for me to address royalty so casually. I fear you will have to do with the title Lady for now," Laurent casually played back.
"More importantly, your new sword has arrived."
Like magic, the mage her full attention.
"Show me."
A/N: Many apologies for how late this chapter is. I had not forgotten this story, in fact almost each day I found myself adding little scenes and moments to it, but for the longest time I was stuck at an early part in this chapter. Then I started putting up other stories and getting pulled away from this. But I'm past it and now am ready to continue with this giant train of relations, especially since Letters for Cordy is almost complete.
As for where I was stuck in, it was actually the part where Robin revealed that the staff they had been chasing was a fabrication. Originally I had Lucina getting angry at the revelation and yelling at Robin. This resulted in her getting a slap across the face and the two leaving on poor terms. While Lucina wished to fix it, with more children coming in it was impossible for them to sit down and make up. Then the plan was to have them reforge the relationship over Morgan's appearance.
But the issue with it was that I was creating a problem only to provide the framework to solve it within the same chapter. The conflict would be superficial and not build up to anything. In addition, it simply didn't mesh with the way I currently portrayed Robin as a mentor to Lucina.
And then on this past Tuesday when I was driving home from work, I thought "What if I just cut that whole fake problem out and have Lucina feel dumbstruck?"
Everything then suddenly fell into place. I had to go into the previous chapter and do a bit of adjustments in regards to Robin's opinion of make-up and getting Lucina start practicing how to apply it, but it worked. It also fit into my somewhat fun idea of Robin secretly running the Ylisse Branch of Intelligence and Espionage (YBIE, anyone?). Now she doesn't actually do that, but still.
This also leads us down an interesting path where it shows how Robin is not afraid and even approves of the use of underhanded tactics to create or take away advantages. She plays around with Lucina, almost leading her own and poking fun at her, but all with the intention of passing down the skills. I hope to explore this area more, where Robin clearly either manipulates or utilizes psychological warfare ruthlessly to win. Granted, it won't be as far as Aversa's level, but we will see it in action. I have one scene where it can work, and I am looking a way to implement it in the battle with Walhart. As for Lucina, she may follow that path for small or petty things, but I would feel that when it comes to major decisions that will have to be a choice she will have to make on her own.
Also, I'm not happy that I have to sort of skim through the children sans Owain, Morgan, and the titular three. Most will play a part in some way, shape or form, but since the focus isn't on them, I hate to say but their screen time will most likely be limited.
Reviews!
GuyBrush007: Oh, Robin will still be around. She is Lucina's mentor, after all, and has many lessons to pass down.
rotciv557: Yes, I certainly do enjoy Laurent as a character! He is actually the first child character I recruited. It's rare to see writing of him, sadly. And yes, I kind of did make Vaike into a bit of a lummox, but I wanted to at least show he is willing to try and learn.
Funman1111: Yes, I sorely understand I have incurred your wrath. But as I said earlier, since I have now unstuck myself updates should come for this story more often now.
I feel like I'm just counting down to when I get to introduce Inigo, but I will be patient.
I do not own Fire Emblem and I look forward to all comments and criticism.
Cya real soon!