Dimitri shut the door behind himself gently, walking a few silent paces away before turning back to stare at it. At first there was only silence until he could hear the soft padding of Eve's bare feet on the floor. He watched her shadow from the gap at the bottom of his door as it came ever closer. As she came to a stop, Dimitri almost felt as if she could see him through the heavy wood; as though there were no barrier between them. He heard a rustle and her shadow shifted as if she had reached out to knock but stopped just short of it. Another rustle and a small sigh, but no knock and Dimitri let out a breath he didn't notice he was holding. After another moment of silence, Eve's shadow retreated until eventually Dimitri could no longer see it or hear her footsteps in the hall.
When he was sure she was gone, Dimitri finally returned to his bed and laid down though he knew he would not find sleep for the remainder of the night. All he could think of was the way she looked as she left Felix's room. Her cheeks had been flushed and there was a ghost of a smile on her lips. She looked… happy.
Eve had given Dimitri genuine smiles and laughs before, but he knew she was never happy. There was always a quiet misery behind her eyes that he recognised because he was sure that same misery was hidden in his own. They could both put on a face for however long they needed to, but they were not happy.
She was happy with Felix, though.
Dimitri sat up, holding his hands out in front of him to look at them. In the moonlight they were as pale as a pegasus' wings; with the naked eye you could not see the blood that his hands were drenched with. Selfishly, he had hoped that helping Eve would help him scrub some of the crimson that stained his hands. When they first met and Rodrigue asked him to accept the proposal, he thought that saving Eve would allow him to continue living. He was the only one who could help her escape a life of captivity; by marrying her he could give her freedom. But he had been a fool to believe that his existence could be anything but a curse to those around him. Eve would never be happy with a monster like him, he should have known. And now rather than liberation, he provided her only pain with their marriage that would keep her away from the one she truly loved.
"It's got nothing to do with Felix."
Her words echoed in his mind from when she first rejected his proclamation of love.
"I don't have the right to love someone again."
He should have known that was a lie. Eve was a liar, but not only that there was no way that someone like her would have the same feelings he did. He couldn't imagine that this girl who dedicated her life to protecting House Fraldarius would have ever done anything to reach the level of damnation he had where she felt she no longer had the right to love.
Dimitri laid back down, letting his head sink into his pillow as his mind sunk into his thoughts. With one hand, he gripped the fabric of his shirt just above his heart. He thought he could handle seeing Eve with other men. After all, he had promised her that he would not force her to endure his love. He had thought that the knowledge that he was the one she would marry would help ease the pain. And for Sylvain that had been the case. But now Dimitri realised that was perhaps because he was certain neither one had any amorous feelings for the other. Felix was a whole other matter; Dimitri had seen the way Felix looked at Eve. There was no doubt in his mind that Felix harboured romantic intentions towards Eve. And now Dimitri could see that Eve returned those feelings.
He wished more than anything that he could dispose of his love for Eve as easily as he disposed of enemies upon the battlefield. But navigating a heart's desires was far more difficult than swinging a lance. Eve had been correct in that their arrangement would be worlds easier if they could just be friends. Dimitri had relished the brief period between when their initial awkwardness subsided and when he confessed his love where they had been able to enjoy each other's company. They had taken tea together often in her room and chatted about simple things. He remembered particularly fondly one afternoon when Eve excitedly recounted to him one of the stories she was reading, only realising after she finally took a brief pause that Dimitri had already read that book. It was perhaps the only time he had seen embarrassment on her face which was quite endearing considering how often she was so sure of herself. Even then Dimitri had been in love with her, he just hadn't yet put a name to the flutter in his heart when he saw the blush upon her cheeks.
Morning arrived much sooner than Dimitri had anticipated and no sooner than the sun started filtering its first rays into his quarters did he hear a knock at his door. He was hesitant to answer it, half expecting it to be Eve. Whenever she did something, she always had words to explain it away. This time, however, he didn't think he could face whatever justifications she gave. But just as Dimitri was deciding to ignore the knock, it sounded again accompanied this time with a voice.
"Your Highness." It was Seteth at his door. And by the tone of his voice it was something important.
"One moment!" He cleared his throat to call out, rushing out of bed to put his uniform on hastily.
"Lady Rhea would like to speak to you in her audience room." Seteth said when Dimitri opened the door.
Dimitri nodded and swallowed a lump that was forming in his throat as he followed Seteth down the hall. He wondered what could possibly be so important that Seteth couldn't wait to collect him until at least after breakfast. As they walked, he tried his best to comb his hair into place with his fingers and straighten his uniform to be at least semi-presentable in the company of the Archbishop.
"Dimitri, I'm glad you're here." Rhea smiled warmly when he came to her audience chamber. He immediately felt some of his anxieties quell just from the calming atmosphere Lady Rhea exuded. And he half wondered why Eve would harbour such animosity towards such a kind and benevolent woman before he remembered how she had dealt with those who were captured after the Goddess' Rite of Rebirth.
"Lady Rhea." Dimitri bowed politely, looking up after a moment to ask, "what is it you need of me?"
"We are waiting for one more party to arrive." Rhea answered with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
At that, the door opened to reveal Jeralt who was speaking in low tones with Eve who stood beside him. She was still in her bedclothes, a shawl wrapped around her shoulders in a shoddy attempt at modesty.
"How dare you come before the Archbishop in such a state!" Seteth balked as Eve came to stand beside Dimitri.
"You had Jeralt wake me up." She said, clearly annoyed, and it appeared to Dimitri that she truly had been sleeping when she was summoned. "You would've had my hide for being late if I took the time to change. It was lose-lose for me."
"It is alright, Seteth." Rhea said through a tight smile.
"So, what do you want?" Eve asked, ever blunt with the Archbishop. Dimitri truly wondered if there was some kind of history there that he was missing. To his knowledge she had never been to Garreg Mach before their engagement. And she had been living under Rodrigue's protection away from the church so there was no way Lady Rhea could have known Eve previously.
"I have gathered you both here to discuss your engagement." Rhea said, motioning between the two of them. "I have come to the decision that the two of you will be wed at Garreg Mach."
Dimitri's brow furrowed. Why here? It didn't make much sense for them to wed at the monastery. And it was confusing that Rhea would tell them this now when they still had much of the academic year to get through before they graduated.
"Forgive me, Lady Rhea," Dimitri started, "but would it not make more sense for us to wed in Fhirdiad? To my knowledge every King of Faerghus before me has been married in the capital."
"That is true," Rhea nodded, "but these are special circumstances. After careful consideration I have decided that rather than wait until your graduation, your wedding will be held the day after the ball celebrating the establishment of Garreg Mach."
"What?" Eve's voice was shrill, cutting through the chamber before Dimitri even had the chance to open his mouth. "Are you joking? That's in four months, Rhea."
"That's Lady Rhea to you." Seteth interjected.
"What purpose does it serve for us to get married that soon?" Eve asked, her anger apparent in her features. And though Dimitri probably should have been thinking of the implications of the Archbishop's proposal, all he could think about was if the idea of marrying him was truly that repugnant to Eve.
"Recent events have made it clear to us that there is some kind of plot against the Church of Seiros." Seteth explained as Lady Rhea looked on. "Your marriage would be a display of unity between the church and the Kingdom that could dissuade those who might plan to attack the monastery."
"I'm not your pawn." Eve said through clenched teeth. "This marriage is between Dimitri and I; you don't get to decide the terms and conditions."
"You forget that this union required my approval." Rhea answered. "Or have you forgotten how much Lord Rodrigue sacrificed for you?"
Dimitri watched in stunned silence as Eve stepped forward, her fists clenched at her sides.
"You want to punish me? Fine." Eve hissed and motioned behind her towards the prince. "But you have no right to drag Dimitri into this."
"Punish you?" Rhea smiled another one of her smiles that didn't touch her eyes. "Dear child, what would I be punishing you for?"
To Dimitri's surprise, Eve snapped her mouth shut and cast a wary eye his way. She had never been one to bite her tongue, especially not with Lady Rhea or Seteth. In fact, Eve had always been exceedingly vocal about her disdain for the two of them. It was why Dimitri had handled talking to Seteth after the incident last month. So why now did she stand there in silence? Whatever it was that she thought the Archbishop was punishing her for, it was yet another piece of her past that she wouldn't let Dimitri see.
"How can you live with yourself?" Eve asked, a chilling sincerity to her tone. "You use Dimitri as a bargaining chip to silence me. He's just a boy, Rhea. You can't just toy with people's lives to get what you want."
"Now then, who exactly is using Dimitri?" Rhea asked with a slight tilt of her head.
"Eve, does it really matter when we get married?" Dimitri interjected before Eve could reply to the Archbishop's question. "We knew it would happen eventually."
"Yes, Dimitri, it matters." Eve turned to face him with real concern in her eyes. Yet all he could envision was the way she had looked the night before leaving Felix's room. "You deserve a chance to live your life as a young man before becoming a husband or a king."
Relief washed over him as he saw the earnestness in her eyes. At the very least she wasn't repulsed by him, wasn't opposing this decision because she hated him. And if he reached, if he allowed himself a small delusion, he could say she opposed this because she cared for him.
"Rhea, enough of this, please." Eve turned back to the Archbishop. "Don't you think Dimitri's been through enough without you using him as a pawn to get to me?"
"So hasty are we to point fingers to deflect from our own wrongdoing." Rhea sighed as if disappointed by Eve's outburst.
"I-!" Eve started to fight back before turning to look at Dimitri and cutting herself off. "If I agree to this, if I marry Dimitri in four months' time, will you leave him alone? Will you leave him out of this conflict between you and I?"
Rhea considered this for a moment, looking at Eve as if regarding a petulant child. Dimitri looked between the two of them, feeling increasingly as though this truly had nothing to do with him. He was caught in between two forces opposing each other over something he had no knowledge of.
"Very well." Finally, the Archbishop spoke. "If you accept this condition and continue to act on your best behaviour, I will not interfere any more in your marriage."
"Then I accept." Eve said firmly, lifting her chin to give Rhea one last defiant look. And with that, she turned on her heel and left the chamber, pausing only to meet Dimitri's eyes briefly as she passed him. In her gaze, he saw something complicated that he feared she would never be able to explain to him. And for a moment he was able to forget all she had done to hurt him. In this instance, she had put aside her anger for the Archbishop to protect him. For some reason beyond him, she chose him over her own agenda. So deep within his heart, a small flame of hope ignited at the possibility that Eve had done this out of love for him. That somewhere inside her complicated heart, she loved him.