Chapter 14

A week had gone by since Lissa's frog prank. She and Nathan had stopped talking altogether, with Nathan now spending more time with Ricken and Donnel, and Lissa spending her free time with Maribelle and Lon'qu. While an icy distance had developed between the tactician and the princess, Lissa had grown quite close to her bodyguard, even playfully flirting with the stoic swordsman. The two could often be seen together throughout the castle, talking with each other. The question had come up to Nathan about him and Lissa from all of the members of the shepherds, with Nathan tactfully dodging any clear responses. To be truthful, at this point he didn't know the answer to their questions either.

He knew that he still possessed feelings for the Princess, and also that there were strange things about her that always seemed to make him happy. But, at the same time, there was always a nagging thought in the back of his mind, telling him that he "just wasn't good enough" for her, or that a relationship between them "just wouldn't be right". He sat pondering these thoughts at his work desk within his tactician's office, in a tower high up in Castle Ylisse.

Nathan sighed with exasperation as he stood up from his chair and stretched out his arms.

"One last visit." He told himself. "I'll try to talk to her for a bit, see if we can't patch things up, and…" He trailed off as he exited the room and headed down to the courtyard to try and find where Lissa was.

Upon arriving in the main courtyard of the castle, Nathan realized that he had spent far too long within his tactic chambers, as the moon was out and glittering stars were flooding the night sky.

"So much for that," The tactician muttered to no one, and headed across the courtyard to get to his bedroom in the main part of the castle. As he made his way across the grassy area, however, he spotted Chrom standing outside, alone, staring off into the stars. Of course, Nathan found this quite odd, and headed over to talk to his friend.

"Doing some thinking, are we?" Nathan called, as he approached. Chrom turned to see the tactician, and sighed and nodded.

"After what happened with Gangrel…I've had a lot to think about." The prince replied. Nathan raised an eyebrow, curious at what Chrom was referring to.

"Would I be able to make a decision like that? With Maribelle, I mean. Could I really sacrifice a friend for the good of our people?" He said, cringing at the thought. Nathan looked up at the stars, putting a hand on the shoulder of his best friend.

"Could anyone?" He replied. "That's a decision which would scar anyone for life, no matter which option you take." He sighed heavily. "It's a tactician's worst nightmare, a decision with guaranteed casualties."

Chrom and Nathan locked eyes in silence for a moment.

"…Remind me to never offer to take on your post." Chrom told the man with a slight chuckle. The two laughed together loudly.

Nathan rubbed his hand on his chin, in thought. "Though…I suppose a decision like that will eventually come around again." He pondered. "I just hope Ricken is around to bail us out again." Chrom laughed softly, and nodded.

"Anyways, enough of the somber talk, have you given that ring to Sumia yet?" Nathan casually asked Chrom. The prince's face turned a deep shade of red, much to Nathan's amusement.

"Gods, not so loud!" Chrom sharply responded, frantically glancing around the courtyard to make sure no one else was around to hear.

"It's the dead of night, everyone is fast asleep." Nathan shot back. "So, answer my question, have you or not?"

Chrom shook his head. "I've been trying to bring it up, but every tine I do, she thinks I'm talking about pie and goes off to bake me another one…" He replied glumly. "Got any advice?" He asked hopefully.

Nathan shook his head. "You do remember that I'm two years younger than you, right? If anything, you should be giving me advice about your sister!" He told the man.

Chrom chuckled. "If you follow that theory, Frederick should know more about girls than either of us…" he said with a grin, and the two shared a hearty laugh.

"I hope you don't mind me interrupting your conversation about girls Fa-I mean Chrom, but there are things we need to discuss. Urgently." A voice said from beside the two men. Nathan and Chrom looked over to see Marth walking up to them. Chrom's hand slowly moved towards Falchion, as Nathan reached for his Levin sword.

"How did you get in here?" Chrom inquired, his fingers brushing the hilt of his blade. Marth gestured to the far wall in the courtyard, covered in brush.

"The hole in the east wall." The mysterious swordsman replied. Nathan glared, looking at Chrom.

"I thought you told me you 'covered that up'." He asked.

"I did!" Chrom snapped back. They both turned back towards Marth. "Anyways, what are you here for?" He asked.

"To warn you." Marth replied. "There is going to be an assassination attempt on the Exalt. Tonight."

Chrom raised an eyebrow. "How do we know you're telling the truth?" He asked skeptically.

Marth drew his sword. "I suspected you would not believe me. So…allow me to prove it to you…"

At the sight of Marth's sword drawn, Nathan and Chrom both drew theirs as well, but the masked swordsman waved them off. The warrior turned to Chrom. "I'm about to save your life. From him." Just then, a hooded assassin jumped out of the bushes near them, rushing towards Chrom. Marth tossed up his blade, jumping up along with it, before grabbing it and making a clean slash along the back of the assassin, killing him. "I trust…this proof will suffice?"

Chrom gulped and nodded. Just then, another assassin leapt out from the trees nearby. Marth, being caught off guard, tried to step out of the way, before slipping on the sword of the deceased assassin at his feet, fell back as the assassin's blade reached his mask. Chrom ran up to the assassin, quickly running his blade through them. He then turned back to Marth, looking up in surprise.

"You…you're a woman?" He stated in shock. The lack of mask had revealed a young female face, with long dark blue hair, the same colour as Chrom's. The swordsman opened her mouth to say more, but was cut off by a sudden sound of a loud yell from deeper within the castle.

"Let's go!" Nathan called to the other two, who all rushed towards the sound.