Chapter 7

Nathan, Chrom, and Frederick all stood around a large wooden table inside of the Feroxi fortress. Nathan had laid out all of the different battle options and different combinations of warriors that they could take with them into the match. They had to narrow it down to six warriors – but unfortunately as there were no animals allowed within the match, which ruled out some of their best warriors in Frederick, Sully, Stahl and Sumia. This meant that the six warriors would have to be some combination of Nathan, Chrom, Virion, Kellam, Miriel, Vaike, and Lissa. With this in mind, only one of the remaining shepherds would have to be asked to sit out.

"So? What do you think, Nathan?" Chrom inquired, interrupting the tactician who was deep in thought. With only one eligible warrior being left out, he knew it would hurt their feelings no matter who he chose. He knew his own presence would be required to perform his tactics properly, and Chrom was guaranteed a spot as well, but there didn't seem to be any obvious answer from the remaining candidates on who to leave out.

"…I…I'm not sure," Nathan declared, rubbing his head in confusion. "Who did you have in mind?" He asked the two.

"Lissa," They both quickly responded.

Nathan sighed and shook his head. "No, it can't be her. We need a healer, in case things go sour. I know she can't fight, but I can keep her safe." He told the two. This sparked a long debate between the three, with Chrom and Frederick protesting the move but Nathan trying to defend it. After a solid ten minutes that included plenty of yelling at each other and the slamming of fists on the table, Chrom and Frederick eventually conceded to Nathan about letting Lissa join the battle.

Chrom sighed and nodded in defeat. "Well, what's left? How do we decide who to leave out?" He inquired at Nathan.

"Everyone is so evenly matched…I think we should just draw sticks." The tactician decided.

Chrom raised an eyebrow, but eventually nodded. He was still somewhat irritated with Nathan over the Lissa dispute, but he knew better than to continue his argument with his tactician about tactics.

Shortly after, the entire group of shepherds had gathered in the strategy room, all squeezing in, and Frederick went about explaining what was going to happen. He hesitated for a moment before saying that Lissa would be fighting anyways for the need of a healer, much to the princess' delight. Eventually, the sticks were drawn and it was decided that Miriel would not be participating in the battle. No one had any protest towards this, as everything had been done fairly, and the group quickly dispersed, with Nathan deciding to head to the Feroxi training grounds to spar with some of the warriors there.

"Hey, mister!" A certain voice said from behind him, running up to him and jumping on his back. Nathan quickly pushed her off and turned around to see Lissa beaming at him.

"You're welcome." He stated with a twinge of annoyance, "You have no idea how hard it was to argue for getting you into this battle, especially since you can't even defend yourself."

"I know…" Lissa muttered with a pout, "But hey! That's what I came here for! To talk to you!"

"About what?"

"About that favour you owe me!" Lissa declared. "I think you should teach me magic!"

Nathan's eyes widened at the proposal, but he sighed and shook his head. "I don't have the time." He simply told her. "Between tactic meetings and planning out marches and battle scenarios, there isn't any room for me to fit in training you. That and learning how to use magic would be along process, something I don't have the time, or frankly the patience, to deal with."

Lissa frowned and made a pouty face. "Awwww, but you promised! You owe me a favour and I want to use it, mister!" She whined.

Nathan sighed in defeat. "Fine, come with me." He told her, starting to walk again.

"Ooh! So that's a yes? Where are we going?" Lissa asked.

"Well, first, we're going to my room, to get some tomes. Then, we're going to the training grounds. I'm going to teach you something, and I want you to practice it while I go spar. Sound fair?" Nathan told her. Lissa thought for a second, and then smiled and nodded.

"Okay, deal!"