Author's Note: Village maiden = Trisha, I ain't gonna keep her nameless in this. I named her after Ed and Al's mom in FMA for some reason?
CW: A loveless marriage/kind of strange surrogacy situation that can be uncomfortable in some aspects
"This is a mistake."
Robin wasn't sure if he'd originally meant to speak this plainly—but how could he not? How could he speak anything less, as Chrom leaned his hands on the palace balustrade that overlooked the kingdom, as they both stood on the terrace where Chrom was to announce he would be wed?
The sunset's light was heavy fire on Chrom's shoulders, which rose up and down as he gave a sigh. He didn't look Robin in the eye.
"This is my decision to make."
"But why make this one? Why must you…" Robin had stepped closer, had turned his head to try and get a better look at the side of Chrom's face.
Chrom closed his eyes, but the rest of his expression remained unchanged.
"Emmeryn," he said, and a sudden rawness punctuated the air around them. Robin fell quiet. "...She left no heir. It's little wonder. She had so many other things to attend to, and she had such a long, beautiful life ahead of her. I'm…I'm sure that having children did not feel so urgent to her. I'm sure it was far from her mind."
The pieces were beginning to fall into place. Robin already understood well what Chrom would say next, but he wished that he didn't.
"One never knows what could happen in the future, is what I suppose I'm trying to say. It's been hard not to think long and hard about that fact, after what happened to her." Robin wanted Chrom to stop making sense. He wanted him to say something illogical, anything else. "We're at peace now, but should fighting ever arise again, I will be fighting alongside my allies. My friends. And what, then, might I be leaving behind?"
"You needn't rush into things," Robin said. But he knew—he knew that, especially in this fragile time, Ylisse's people wanted a return to something "normal", something "reliable". They were afraid for the royal lineage, now that it was dwindling. There was more than one way to have a child, but this was a bad time to introduce a royal heir who wasn't blood-related, one who was motherless. This was a time when the people only wanted to see a smiling, traditional family at the head of their kingdom, a family with children all born to themselves, and in wedlock, with a mother and father at the helm.
Ylisse was clamoring for the new Exalt to take a wife.
Robin knew this.
And he knew how Chrom felt about taking care of Emmeryn's legacy.
"Even in times of war, you know I would do everything in my power to keep you safe. We all would," he still found himself saying. Perhaps the real mistake was not Chrom's decision at all, but Robin's decision to stay here and argue with him, to press this point past all hope. "And even supposing the unthinkable? That you should fall? Then there's still a next-in-line to guide Ylisse. Lissa—"
"Would be without any family left. And with me gone, the pressure to bear an heir would fall squarely on her." Chrom spoke with firm finality. "Robin, don't you see? I can't take that chance. She's far too young to have to worry about something like that. And even disregarding that, she's my sister. I don't wish to see a future that puts that kind of burden on my loved ones."
"But you wish to place that burden on yourself? Do you think those who care for you would stand for this if they knew?"
"If they knew what?" Chrom said, his voice finally raising defensively.
Robin raised his voice in turn. "Isn't it obvious?"
"Robin," Chrom said, Robin's name on his tongue still shaped with such raw care, so tenderly even as he grew frustrated and louder in volume, "why must you argue with me on this?"
"Because you don't love her," Robin all but spat, and the flare of heat in his voice gave them both pause. Under Chrom's shocked gaze, he already felt that flash of fire retreat, as if in his outburst, he'd exposed a critical part of himself to an unforgiving cold. And as the anger fizzled and extinguished, he couldn't help but feel…weak.
His voice quavered as he spoke. "...Chrom, you…" All his words felt pathetic and impotent to his ears as they fell, laid at Chrom's feet like wilted flowers. "You can't do this. You ought to be happy."
"Robin…" Chrom said. He looked a bit surprised, before exhaling through his nose, offering a small smile. "I am happy, Robin," he insisted, turning to fully face him for the first time this whole conversation. He looked radiant in the warm twilight. Strong. "For one thing, I'm surrounded by good friends like you, as nagging and worried as they may be." At that, he placed his hands on Robin's shoulders, and Robin felt his shoulders begin to sink as if from the weight alone.
He couldn't even remember if he pretended to offer Chrom a smile back as he stared back at his friend. Chrom was so incredible, so resilient. He was doing everything that he could at this moment.
And what…
What was Robin doing?
The touch on his shoulders disappeared as Chrom turned away, once more facing forward.
"The arrangements have all been made," his voice was saying, "and there's full understanding on both sides. I told Trisha my honest feelings on the matter and let her set the terms. To the public, she'll be the loving wife and mother to the royal family. In private and in secrecy, she's free to do as she pleases—to be involved or uninvolved, to take other lovers or not. And, most importantly, she expressed full interest and no reservations about bearing my heir, even before hearing the full extent of the compensation she would receive. She's happy to go through with everything, especially if it means securing Ylisse's future. Her own words."
Everything was well-thought out, and made with care to ensure the happiness of those involved. Except…
Chrom could only look straight ahead, gazing at the kingdom that spread before them in the dying light.
Robin could only look at Chrom.
"And your words?" he asked.
"The same."
Robin let his eyes slip away from Chrom's face as he looked at the ground.
"I can't wallow and mourn Emm forever, Robin. At least this way, I can feel like I'm doing something. I even think…that this is the path I must walk, if I am to move forward."
And with a ringing finality, emptiness took hold in Robin's chest.
Emmeryn…
Why had he been so powerless to save Emmeryn?
And why again…why did he have to be so powerless again?
Why couldn't he help anyone he cared about, when it really mattered?
All he had to do was come up with a better plan. Did he really have no other ideas, no alternatives? Nothing?
No, rather than have anything to offer, he just wasted both of their time, upsetting Chrom with his disapproval instead of offering him support.
"I understand. If that's what it takes," he forced himself to say. What else could he have done, after hearing everything that Chrom had considered so carefully, after hearing how he truly felt?
"...Thank you." Chrom let out a sigh as though in relief. "Your support means everything to me."
Robin's eyelids just barely lowered, wistfully. "Chrom…you're my friend. The least I can do is stand by you in times like this." More lightly, he added, "And besides, you've clearly won this argument. This plan of yours is sound. I have to admit that much."
"Me, win an argument against you," Chrom remarked, and Robin shoved his shoulder with good enough humor.
"Come on, it's not as if I always demand my way. You win plenty of arguments. You just don't remember the times that you do," he said. "Besides, you're much more mentally resourceful than you give yourself credit for."
"Right. And all the times you've beaten me at chess can attest to that fact," Chrom said with a cocked eyebrow. "Not just in chess—in riddles, and games, and pretty much everything else. It's no wonder you remain my friend through all my blunders. So long as you have me around, you'll always win." A bit of a laugh entered his voice, and Robin couldn't help but offer a smile back.
It felt stretched and broken across his lips.
My dearest friend, he thought then, helplessly, you're wrong.
I think you've had me in checkmate all along.
He tried not to show it, but the argument he'd had with Robin was one of the hardest things Chrom had recently done.
After their conversation, he decided to hold the wedding ceremony as soon as possible. Trisha was pleased at the idea, confessing that she wasn't big on waiting. She looked a bit amused as Chrom thanked her profusely for being so amenable.
When he made the announcement of his wedding day to the kingdom, he could sense the stirrings of surprise among the people spread out below the palace, and among the people of the court standing behind him.
Just two weeks.
After his declaration, he retreated from the balustrade, knowing that if he just looked up from the floor, he would see Robin standing among his advisors, no doubt as shocked by the rushed wedding as everyone else. But Chrom stepped past everyone and to the palace interior without a further word, before anyone could apprehend him with questions.
A clear reason for having the date so soon hadn't yet solidified in his mind, but he knew with certainty that it was nonetheless important.
He couldn't wait.
And he could not, would not, speak to Robin about this any further before the wedding day.
Just thinking about him weakened his resolve.
He didn't want that resolve to break.
Though he received the usual messengers and go-betweens, Robin didn't end up seeing Chrom in person at all until his wedding day. The time between the announcement and the real thing felt both dilated and dizzying, as slow as dread and as fast as panic.
He was attending, of course. He had to be there for his friend, no matter what.
Many of the Shepherds were drinking in merriment as they awaited the beginning of the event, and the festivities that would follow. Quite a few had already sampled some of the food…and the drink.
All the while, Robin didn't touch a drop of wine, as much as he felt he needed to. He didn't trust himself to relinquish a single ounce of restraint, or else he might just end up falling apart.
That morning, he stood restlessly in the courtyards, trying to avoid running into or speaking with the others, when he heard trumpets, signaling that there was an hour left to assemble. The people of Ylisse were gathering in a crowd in front of the palace, while the Exalt's closest friends were to stand right behind him, just within the formal hall that lay behind the balcony.
Gathering a shaky breath, Robin took a few resigned steps back towards the palace interior, when he caught sight of blue hair and fluttering fabric disappearing around a corner. There was just a brief moment of hesitation before Robin followed, rounding the corner to catch sight of the Exalt tiptoeing down an empty hall.
"Hey."
His friend made the mistake of looking back over his shoulder. The moment they made eye contact, he broke off and began scurrying further down the hall.
"Chrom," Robin had to say, briskly walking after him. "Why are you avoiding me?"
"I, er…" Chrom was looking incredibly flighty. "I'm—I'm not, I just…"
Robin thought he heard a sigh, before Chrom turned to face him fully.
As with her body, Emmeryn's crown had not been retrieved when she…well, a new crown for the Exalt had been made. It now sat unsteadily atop his head, the rest of him garbed in flowing blue and white formal robes.
"You look…good."
"I'm not sure if I'm suited to this," Chrom said with a weak laugh, tugging at his collar. "And I wish they did not cover my brand."
Without a word, Robin stepped closer. Chrom stood a bit more rigidly as Robin placed a hand to the hem of his robe, pulling the sleeve down Chrom's right arm completely, so that the brand could be displayed as proudly as it always was.
Once Chrom's arm was fully extricated from the sleeve, Robin tucked it behind Chrom's back, letting the extra fabric fall down like a makeshift half-cape.
"...Does it not look a little ridiculous?" Chrom asked.
"In all the time I've known you, you've always looked a little ridiculous," Robin couldn't help but remark.
Chrom seemed too nervous to laugh, but the two of them shared a smile.
"Robin…" he said, "in all the time I've known you, you've always—"
Trumpets sounded again.
Forty-five minutes remained.
The smile on Robin's face faded.
He began to pull back.
"...You'd better go," he said.
As Robin stood behind Chrom, staring at his back, he couldn't help but notice that he looked stiff. But to the rest of the kingdom, he was the picture of strength, joy, and stability. A dashing prince, now king, the stuff of fanciful childhood fables.
The player who would act out their happy ending for them.
The crowd's excitement was like subdued thunder during the ceremony, all shuffling and chatter that amplified and echoed through the dawn. Now that the vows had been exchanged, they all awaited that symbolic gesture, that display of love, that would signal the beginning of Ylisse's brighter tomorrow.
Robin tried so hard to be strong, to hold fast. But as Chrom leaned in towards his bride, he felt something inside him break, and he looked away.
He stared at the wall as the crowd began to cheer in what sounded like a rolling, endless scream.
Author's note: We are now entering depressed thot hours