Chapter 30

Nathan and the rest of the shepherds moved quickly away from Walhart and his forces, heading towards Yen'fay and his division of soldiers. The group set up camp for the night, knowing that the enemy division was at least a day's travel away. They would be fine, for the time being.

Late into the night, Nathan was up sitting at his desk, books and maps spread about with a small candle lit next to him. His cloak was hung on the back of his chair, wearing only the white t-shirt and pants combination he usually wore underneath his signature robe. The tactician had just finished coming up with a battle strategy for the group's upcoming battle against Yen'fay, knowing it would be more than difficult to deal with the swordsman and his Valamese division. Morgan had been helping her father with strategies earlier in the night, but he had sent her to bed once it was starting to get late. Morgan, Owain, and Lissa were all snoozing away on the floor of the tent contentedly. Nathan felt frustration sinking in yet again as his mind started to wander back to the past while's events. He felt so helpless, having to wait and pray that Basilio and Flavia managed to make it out alive, fighting against Walhart.

He shoved his papers aside on his desk, sighing exasperatedly. Thinking to himself for a moment, he decided to get up. Maybe a walk would help clear his head. As the tactician got up, however, he heard stirring from behind him when he opened the tent flap to step out. Turning around, he saw a yawning Lissa rub her eyes and look up at him.

"Going out late is dangerous these days with all the people trying to kill us, you know…" The princess muttered sleepily, slowly managing to sit up and stretch out her arms. "I think I'll have to accompany you honey, you know, like your bodyguard."

Nathan chuckled, rolling his eyes. "I'll be fine, Liss. I just need a chance to clear my head a bit. I've stared at the same map for the past three hours, I could use a quick break…"

Lissa got up, looking around for something to wear over her underclothes before throwing on Nathan's signature black cloak. Wrinkling her nose as she sniffed it, she grumbled to him, "When was the last time you washed this thing?"

Her husband didn't bother to respond, instead strapping Mystletainn to his back and walking out of the tent. Lissa quickly ran to catch up to her husband, seeing a concerned look on his face.

"Okay, what's wrong mister? You're never like this unless there's actually something bothering you." Lissa mused. "If you're worried about Basilio and Flavia, I'm sure they're fine…"

Nathan shook his head as they walked about the dark camp, only illuminated by the moon above and a small fire in the center of the area, being tended to by Frederick.

"It's…nothing." Nathan told Lissa.

"Oops! Wrong answer!" Lissa teased, playfully bumping her hip into Nathan's. "You can tell me anything, you know that…"

Nathan sighed, the two walking in silence for a moment as Nathan tried to figure out what to say. He took his wife's hand as they walked.

"One thing first…this has to stay between us, okay?"

Lissa rolled her eyes. "You don't need to worry about that. My lips are sealed!"

Nathan smiled warmly at her before he began. "So, I guess you could say there's a lot of things I've been worried about lately. Basilio and Flavia, of course, but we're all worried about them, but I've been having some…issues…with my past."

"Are you remembering things?"

The tactician shook his head. "That's the problem. I'm not remembering things, but it seems like some people…know more about it, and about me, than I do. It's frustrating, because I know that's not important right now, but a part of me can't help but want to run away from all this responsibility with the shepherds and just worry about myself instead, you know?"

Lissa walked in silence for a moment, taking in all of what Nathan had just told her, before replying.

"That must be tempting. I'll say this though…those two paths have to intersect at some point. It feels like we're getting close…to the end…of all of this. To the day when we can just curl up in bed in the castle and not have to worry about a battle coming our way."

Nathan looked back at her with a pained expression. "But we had that!" He cried, cracks starting to form in his voice. "For two damn years! I had two years to spend with the answers to my future sitting right outside, never found them, and now…"

Lissa stood in silence for a moment, before pulling Nathan into a hug, squeezing his back. Nathan quickly wrapped his arms around her, nearly collapsing on his wife.

"I just…everything…I feel like I don't know what to do."

Lissa managed to crack a smile at her husband. "We'll figure it out. The same way we always have. Together."

The tactician quickly pulled his wife into a long kiss, and as their lips separated, he smiled warmly at her.

"Together. Always."

The two stood in silence for a moment, looking at each other, before Nathan suddenly got an idea.

"Wanna read something that's real cool?" He asked.

"Only if we can go back to the tent," Lissa complained, rubbing her shoulders. "I'm freezing! How do you stay warm in this thing?"

Nathan laughed, taking Lissa's hand yet again as they started to walk back to the tent. "One of my many secrets…"

Lissa laughed, thinking to herself for a moment, before turning back to her husband. "What about the march plans for tomorrow? Isn't that what you were working on?"

The tactician waved her off playfully. "I'll just tell them it's your fault they're not done…hey!"

Lissa had slapped the side of his head for his comment. "Those things are important, mister!"

Nathan rolled his eyes. "They're done, they're done…"

"So you weren't taking a break from work?"

Lissa's husband nodded. "Just needed some air. Sorry. I just didn't want to make you worried."

The princess groaned. "I'm not sure if that's romantic or angering…"

Nathan lifted the tent flap as they both slipped back inside. Lissa took off Nathan's black cloak, hanging it back up again on the back of his chair as the tactician pulled a thick black book out of one of it's many pockets, holding up Owain's 'Manual of Justice'. He looked down at his son and daughter, who were still fast asleep. Lissa pulled him into their bedroll, and as they curled up, with a dimly lit candle next to them, Nathan popped open the book.

"Owain let you read this? He wouldn't let me touch it after I told him my staff didn't have a name…" Lissa whispered quietly to her husband.

"Guess my parenting skills are better. Guess I'm a cool dad…" Nathan teased, playfully nudging Lissa, who rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, when the baby Owain gets this age, you can do all the work…" She taunted back.

Changing the subject, Nathan flipped to the first part of the book. "Section 1: Heroes." It read. Flipping to the next page, he saw, "Owain Dark: When danger nears, his sword hand twitches and his eyes turn red. He is capable of accessing Avenger mode for unparalleled power. Scion of Legend, and son of the heroic grandmaster Nathan and Sage Princess Lissa."

"Hey, he's talking about us!" Lissa whispered excitedly.

Nathan continued to read. "Bearer of the divine blade, Mistletainn, passed down to him by his father. Every ally hurt within a hundred paces of him will increase his strength by adding a power multiplier, and once at +5, a special move is unlocked with the ability to gain a critical hit whenever required."

"Wow," Nathan muttered, "This is pretty impressive, how much work Owain put into this…"

"YOU THINK SO, FATHER?" Owain suddenly yelled, jumping up from his bedroll and causing Nathan and Lissa to cry out in surprise. Morgan, on the other hand, simply groaned and rolled over.

"Go back to sleep, Wainy…" The amnesiac faintly grumbled.

Lissa then turned to Owain. "This actually is pretty impressive. It takes quite the mind to come up with all of this…"

Nathan nodded in agreement. "It's a bit weird, and I'm not sure what a 'critical hit' is supposed to be exactly, but it's amazing that you can come up with all this." He praised.

Owain blushed slightly, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "It is…pretty cool…I think!" He declared.

His mother smiled warmly back at him. "It is, and although faking sleep is one of my specialties, I'd prefer it if you got some real sleep now, honey. We've all got a big day tomorrow. Your father and I are going to finish reading this, first, though…"

Happy new year everyone! I'm still trying to stay on track to have this story done before fates comes out in February (It's so close!) so while I'm on Christmas break I'm trying to get a good chunk of chapters done. Thanks for reading as always, leave a review of what you thought!

-Nate