Chapter 6

"On your left, Sir Nathan!" Frederick frantically cried at the man. Nathan quickly turned in the direction, parrying the axe of the Feroxi warrior with his Levin sword, and quickly responding with a direct shot from his Thunder tome to the chest of the man, knocking him back. "Thanks," Nathan quickly called in between his gasps for breath.

The Shepherds had made their way to Regna Ferox, where they were greeted with much less hospitality than they expected, being attacked by the warrior tribe. The group had been split up, each heading for the two fortress doors, with Nathan, Frederick, Lissa and Stahl heading to the east, and Chrom, Sumia, Vaike, Miriel, Virion and Sully all heading west. Nathan was quickly tiring from the battle, due to them being outnumbered and also from having to protect Lissa, who he had instructed to stay close to him in the battle. However, as he was taking a second to catch his breath, he neglected to notice a Feroxi archer targeting him from afar.

"Nathan! Look out!" Lissa cried, noticing the archer. The man looked up just in time to see the arrow leave the bow of the man. He frantically tried to duck out of the way, before a large empty suit of armour jumped in front of the blow, and the arrow bounced off of it.

"What the…hell?" Nathan muttered, still wheezing in between breaths. The empty suit of armour turned to the tactician to reveal a man inside of it

"Are you alright, Nathan?" The man asked. Nathan quickly nodded his head, thankful at the mysterious armoured individual. At this point, he was thoroughly convinced that he was hallucinating. "What was in that bear meat?" The tactician muttered, before motioning to Lissa to follow him as the armoured man moved off again.

Much later, the battle had finished and the Feroxi warriors were finally calmed. Nathan had learned that the man in the armour was Kellam, who had been with them for the entire time; he had just never noticed him, despite his large presence. They met with the East-Khan, Flavia, who told them about the warrior's policy in their country, and how they would need to battle against some fierce opponents in order to get the help of the Feroxi warriors. Chrom, as he always did, welcomed the challenge, a move that Nathan could not argue with. The Feroxi people seemed to believe that fighting was the best form of diplomacy, something that the Shepherds couldn't afford to disagree with. Flavia had given the group a section of the castle to stay in before their battle with the warrior's of the West-Khan, Basilio, in three days' time.

Nathan made his way to an empty bedroom, hung up his jacket and Levin sword, and sprawled himself out on the bed. "Ugh. Sore…" He muttered to himself, feeling a bruise on his arm. He looked down at his leg; to see what he had suspected had happened earlier, sporting a deep cut from a Feroxi blade. He had seen the wounds of the others from the fierce battle at the Feroxi gate, and he didn't want to be a burden to Lissa with all the work she would have.

Nathan then lay back on the bed, and took a second to try to collect his thoughts about the princess. Did she like him? He had no real way to be sure, and as a tactician he always wanted an absolute answer on a dilemma. Did he have feelings for her? Yes, he conceded to himself. From the moment they first locked eyes in the field, he had gained an interest in her, and her quirky personality only added to that, even if she managed to irritate him at times. After getting an approval from Chrom and Frederick the other day, he knew he could at least try to find a way to be more romantic about it.

"That's true, but I don't know how to talk to girls about something like romance…" He muttered to himself. "Perhaps…" He thought, becoming lost in his mind as he explored the possibilities. "...Could I ask for help?" He wondered aloud.

He went down a mental checklist of the shepherds in his mind. Vaike may have some advice, but it wouldn't come without telling everyone in the camp about his secret. Stahl was too busy stuffing his face all the time to worry about relationships, as far as he knew. Kellam was always invisible, so he doubted that there was any girl that he had even had the chance to interact with. And Virion seemed much too over the top. He didn't dare ask any of the Girls, in case they were to spread gossip of his crush on Lissa. "Guess I'm on my own here…" He again mused aloud.

"Alone on what?" A cheery voice asked from the door. Nathan looked up to see Lissa walking in, with a grin on her face. "Come on, you can tell me – Oh my gosh! What is that! Gods, Nathan, why didn't you tell me about that! When did it happen?" Lissa cried out, her expression changing from cheery to sour.

Nathan realized he had forgotten to roll his pant leg back down, exposing his cut. "It's fine." He said nonchalantly. "There are people in our army who have fought through worse."

"I don't care if there are!" Lissa yelled, now infuriated with the man. "You always have to get something like this treated, especially so it won't get infected! And how do you think I would feel if you ended up getting injured even worse from this after you got it protecting me today?"

Nathan sighed, now filled with guilt. "You're right. I'm sorry."

Lissa let out an exasperated sigh and glared at the man, taking her healing staff off of her back and pushing him up on the bed.

"You really are mad at me, aren't you?" Nathan asked the Princess.

"Yes, I am!" Lissa shot back angrily as she held her heal staff above his leg, her hand starting to shake. Nathan could see tears starting to well up in the corners of her eyes.

"Uh…why?" Nathan asked quizzically. He would quickly realize that this question was not the best course of action, as Lissa quickly smacked his injured leg with her staff. "Ow! What was that for?" Nathan yelled.

"For you being a jerk!" Lissa yelled, starting to cry. "I…I just want to be able to help, especially with you trying to protect me when we're fighting…and when I get a chance to do something for you, you blow me off!"

Nathan felt horrible at this point, looking down at Lissa sobbing uncontrollably with her face down on his leg. "Lissa…" he whispered weakly, "…I'm sorry. I know I've already said it, but I mean it. Not coming to you was the most stupid and rash thing I could have done, and I promise I'll make it up to you. However you want. Alright?"

Lissa looked up. "A-anything?" She sniffled. Nathan smiled warmly at her and nodded.

"You pick, whatever you want. Er, I would prefer if it was after you fixed my leg though, heh heh…" He told the princess, much to her delight.

"Alrighty!" Lissa said with a grin returning to her face.

As Lissa turned back to working on patching up Nathan's leg with her heal staff, the tactician quickly breathed a sigh of relief. "It's like I'm dodging arrows every time I go to talk to her…" He thought quietly to himself.

"…Aaaand, done!" Lissa called out after a few minutes. Nathan looked down to see his leg fully healed, with all signs of the cut completely gone.

"Wow, I have to admit, you're a wizard with that staff of yours." Nathan remarked. "So, what did you have in mind?" He questioned the princess, who furrowed her brow in concentration.

"Hm…I can't think of anything I really need right now from you…but don't think I'll forget this! You owe me a favour!" She declared. Nathan softly laughed and nodded.

"Anyways, I'm gonna go see if anyone else needs any healing! Laater, Natie!" She said, before dashing out the door with a playful wink.

Nathan lay back on his bed. "Gods, I hope this was a good idea…" he groaned to himself.