Chapter 2

Nathan and Lissa made their way down the stairs from their bedroom tower and into the main courtyard, filled with many groups of soldiers and various castle workers. They spotted Frederick nearby, working with Sully and Stahl on teaching some new recruits to the Ylissean army. The wide eyes of the young new soldiers followed Nathan like a hawk, spotting the tactician. After the defeat of Gangrel and the Plegian forces, his name had spread like wildfire across the land as a famed tactician. He smiled over at the new recruits, giving them a wave before Frederick scolded them for not paying attention.

"Distractions can lead to death on the battlefield, so you'd all do well to begin practicing avoiding them now. I'll have fifty pushups from each of you for your error." He sternly told them. The troops groaned, garnering a laugh from Sully and Stahl, who stood looking on nearby. As they went to work, Frederick made his way over to Nathan and Lissa.

"Ah, Sir Nathan and Milady! Nice to finally see you about the castle!" The great knight called to them.

Nathan grinned at the man. "I'll admit, I could probably use some 'Frederick's fanatical fitness Fridays' sometime soon…"

"Ah, excellent! Feel free to stop by this week then. I'll come by and wake you up! And Milady Lissa, do feel free to tag along! I can tell that your figure has become bloated as well, no doubt from childbirth!"

Lissa opened her mouth to say something before simply shrugging.

Nathan looked over at her for a second, raising an eye with a slight grin on his face, before turning to Frederick. "Alright, that sounds good, Freddy. We'll see you around!"

The pair turned to walk away before seeing Chrom entering the castle halls, a look of concern on his face. The blue haired Exalt quickly scanned the courtyard before locking eyes with Nathan, who raised an eyebrow to him. He looked back to Frederick, who had noticed the presence of the Prince as well. The new recruits tried to wave to Chrom before receiving a stern look from their Knight captain.

"I saw that." The Blue-armoured knight warned. He turned to Sully and Stahl. "Keep them busy until I get back."

The pair nodded. "Alright, let's see you little boys sweat!" Sully barked. "I want a solid hundred laps around this courtyard, let's go!"

Frederick, Nathan, and Lissa all converged on Chrom, and the four began walking to the throne room of the castle before Chrom began to speak.

"Raimi has come from Regna Ferox, with a message from Flavia," He explained. "I'm not quite sure what it could be about, but Raimi did not look happy."

"We haven't heard a word from the Plegians, good or bad, over the past year," Frederick mused, "Perhaps…?"

Nathan shook his head. "Tharja has been in Plegia, keeping tabs on the situation there for me. From what I've heard, there simply hasn't been a lot going on there, other than them appointing a new ruler. It can't be them this time."

Lissa raised an eyebrow at her husband. "…Are you sure we can trust Tharja?" She questioned.

Nathan smiled back at her. "I know you're not a fan, given her obsession over me, but that obsession has bailed me out of quite a few of her hexes. Even if she doesn't have our best interests in mind, she wouldn't be willing to lie to me."

Lissa frowned, not satisfied by the answer, but unwilling to press further. "Right."

"Well, we'll find out more in a moment," Chrom declared, pushing open the throne room doors. Nathan, Frederick, and Lissa followed the exalt inside.

Sumia, who walked up to them holding her newborn daughter, Lucina, greeted Nathan and the others as they entered the hall. Raimi was following close behind, sporting her clunky Green armour and short blonde hair.

"Now that we're all here," Chrom muttered, putting an arm around Sumia, "What did you need to tell us, Raimi?"

The general nodded and spoke specifically to Chrom. "The Khan requests your presence at a summit as soon as you're able."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?" He inquired.

Raimi shook her head in disgust. "Our western neighbours, the Kingdom of Valm, are no longer acting so 'neighbourly," She spat. "Their emperor has launched warships against us, according to our scouts."

Chrom's eyes widened in surprise, moving his arm off of Sumia and rubbing his chin, a look of concern showing on his face. "This reeks of ill business." He mused. "Nathan? Frederick? What do you think of this?"

Frederick spoke up first. "I couldn't agree more, sire. We should head to Regna Ferox posthaste. They were a great assistance to us in the previous war, and now they need us to do the same for them."

Nathan nodded in agreement. "There's only one way to find out more. And if they've already lost warships, we're already behind schedule. I know that you'd be against another war, Chrom, but this is something that needs to be done."

The Exalt nodded grimly. "Gather up the shepherds, we'll begin our march for Ferox before sundown." He turned to Raimi. "Thank you for coming. We'll see you soon."

The knight nodded back before trudging off, out of the throne room. Frederick followed shortly after, going to gather supplies for the journey ahead.

Chrom then turned to Sumia. "You need to stay here, with Lucina. Our baby needs you."

The Pegasus knight glared at her husband. "Oh no I don't, I'm coming with you!" She replied. "Lucina will be fine under the care of the wet nurses of the castle, just as you and your sisters were!" Sumia then stared deeply into Chrom's eyes. "Right now, you need me. You know I could never leave your side, especially if you're headed into another war!"

Chrom opened his mouth to rebuttal before sighing in defeat and pulling his wife and daughter into a hug. "You're right. You win. Get your things ready, I'll be following you in just a moment."

Nathan and Lissa looked on with grins on their faces as Chrom watched Sumia walk off with Lucina in her arms, before turning to them.

"…Well? Don't you have a speech like that for my sister?" Chrom asked, turning to his brother in law. Nathan shrugged.

"Lissa, I don't think you should come with us."

"No, I'm coming,"

Nathan turned back to Chrom, a fake frown plastered onto his face. "I tried as hard as I could Chrom, she's just too forceful…"

The Prince rolled his eyes while Nathan and Lissa laughed. Chrom smiled at them.

Nathan then turned back to Chrom. "But, in all seriousness, Sumia was right. Just like Lucina, our little Owain can be taken care of by the wet nurses here. You guys turned out alright, so I think he'll be fine."

Chrom nodded. "Fair enough." He replied. "Now then, you'd better go pack your things and send out word to the other shepherds. We'll meet up with everyone in Regna Ferox."