Chapter 2
Severa's first memory of war came a little after she turned ten.
Her training had been redoubled, she worked with her mother all through the morning and afternoon on everything from combat to etiquette. Her games against her father were scarcer as they'd both started working with Morgan as well.
Morgan was talented. Strategies that had taken Severa months to understand were intuitive to the feathery haired young girl.
It was almost maddening to see how quickly her little sister progressed. The redhead knew that she'd be outstripped and soon at that.
So, she worked harder and longer. She stayed up later than she was meant to, reading as much as she could to keep ahead. She went to sleep thinking about the pieces on the board.
She had to be perfect.
The training dummy creaked slightly under the weight of her attack.
Not right, she'd been an inch, maybe two, too close. The blow had landed too close to the hilt of the sword, her mother would have gotten inside the attack and taken her down in an instant.
Severa stepped back as continued to assess her attacks. They'd set up a training yard of sorts at the front of the house. It lay atop a slight hill, overlooking a village near the outskirts of Ylisstol. Small wooden dummies sat at one end of the yard alongside targets for archery. An array of weapons leaned in racks along the house's outer wall.
She needed to adjust her steps ever so slightly, a little less space between her strides would put her at the correct distance. Her father was with the Exalt today and her mother had taken Morgan with her to go shopping in the village.
Her parents had been leaving her at home alone more frequently recently. But she felt at ease like this. There was only the sword and the dummy, its expression never changing, never judging her.
The trainee swordswoman prepared for another set of strikes when she caught movement in the corner of her eye.
Wheeling quickly on the balls of her feet, Severa found the figure in the distance, a hulking man with a patch over his eye.
The giant was armed, a massive sword hung over his back, but he was clearly at ease, taking in the small house before him.
Khan Basilio, Severa concluded. Her mother had spoken of him a few times and in high regard.
"Ho there little one," he announced as he drew up to the gate, as if the waist high wooden fence could stop a man of his size, "is your mother at home?"
Severa bowed, "Lady Luna is not currently present Khan Basilio," she said as she stood straight, "I however would be happy to entertain you until she arrives or take a message at your convenience."
The Khan laughed, a booming sound that seemed to fill the air itself with good humour, "Is that so? And who is this fine young lady in front of me then? Her parents must be incredibly proud to have a daughter so well behaved."
Severa blushed, even the Exalt hadn't been so kind.
"I am Severa of House Luna," masking her embarrassment at the compliment by keeping her head down as she unlatched the gate to let her guest in.
"A good name, Severa. I'm surprised I haven't heard more of you from your father,"
Severa schooled her expression. Of course, he didn't know her. She wasn't important.
"Still, now that I've met you, I must ask," Basilio glanced at her side, "Is that your sword?"
It took Severa a moment to realise that her training weapon was still sheathed at her hip. She let a hand run over the hilt, "I wouldn't call it mine; I just use it to run drills."
"Well," the Feroxi man began to amble to the yard, "as I recall little Severa, you promised me entertainment until your parents returned and I'm curious about what kind of drills Cordelia has been teaching her little girl."
Severa blinked, how did he know that her mother was the one who trained her?
As if anticipating the thought the Khan continued, "It's your stance, that and your movement. Even now, every step you're making is exact. Robin primarily focuses on his magic, so his stance tends to be looser." The youth nodded, mages didn't see melee combat often and when they did their primary concern was disengaging.
Basilio sat down on the yard's bench, lazily draping his arms across the top of the backrest. "Let's start with that sword you've got there, show me," Basilio thought for a moment, "forgive me Severa, I'm not too familiar with names of the Ylisstol forms, I've seen them plenty of times of course but I never thought to ask what they were called!"
"That won't be a problem, I can perform in the Feroxi style if you wish it." It came out instantly. Not a boast, a statement of fact.
Basilio grinned slightly, "Well then, let's see The Lynx Pounces in the Night."
Severa's body acted immediately upon hearing the command as she stepped forward and swung a hard vertical slice downwards.
"Excellent, excellent," Severa blushed. Why was he complimenting her on something so simple?
And yet that was how it continued, Basilio was free with his praise. He took time to stop her when he thought there was an area to improve, but more often than not he seemed delighted by what he was seeing.
Severa became determined, to be worthy of the praise that was being lavished upon her. She focused, every attack, every slash as precise as she could make it. Until eventually Basilio called her to rest and beckoned her over to his perch.
She kneeled down on the dirt in front of the bench, looking up at the smiling giant.
"Your parents should be incredibly proud of you Severa. I've seen many people train from a young age but few, if any, as good as you." He looked idly at the sky, "Maybe Lon'Qu, but I didn't meet him until he was a little older."
It was hard for her not to feel embarrassed. She knew she wasn't that good and that he was just being nice to his friend's daughter. But it still felt good.
He shook himself out of his thoughts, "You've still got a lot of room to improve."
That was more like it.
"When you're focused your attacks are precise to the point of being a detriment. You're sacrificing power and even speed to ensure that everything goes exactly how you want it to. That's your mother's influence" he noted. "She primarily fights as part of the cavalry, so frequently, she'll only get a single strike with her lance. Her speed and power come from her Pegasus so accuracy becomes her primary concern."
Basilio leaned forward, "When you're in the infantry, if your sword hits an opponent, you want him to go down, no matter where it's landed. You can afford to be less precise because even an imperfect strike is likely to yield another. Try to fight a little looser, you'll see good results."
He straightened up again, "The other piece of advice I have for you is more long term and you mustn't tell your parents I said this. Based on the way you're fighting now; your mother is training you believing that you'll be weaker physically than the enemies you face." The Khan frowned slightly and then paused for a moment as if to find the perfect words.
"To an extent that isn't wrong. As a girl it will be harder to pack on the muscle than it will be for the boys. But training that way is a mistake. The fiercest woman I've ever known on the battlefield is almost as strong as me. And she's not some freak of nature. She trains for strength as much as anything else, more even."
The large man smiled, almost wistfully, "I once asked her why she did that. She told me, in between giving me an earful for asking something so obvious, that a fighter's greatest asset is being strong where people believe you to be weak.
To this day it is the single best piece of advice I can give to any warrior. Men expect to be stronger than a girl. But few know how to react when it emerges that they're not."
"If you take anything away from today then that is what I want you to remember. Be strong where people expect you to be weak. And when you get a little older, make sure you start working on your strength."
Severa pressed her forehead to the dirt, "Thank you very much for your training, Khan Basilio. I will not forget what I have learned today."
Basilio stood up, leaned down and grabbed her by the chin, pulling her face up. If anything, he looked abashed, "Now, now, none of that. No bowing before me, no Khan Basilio. I am your Uncle Basilio and nothing more. Naga, I get enough of that from my servants as it is." He sat back down. "Get yourself some water and we can talk some more until your mother gets here."
Severa walked away confused. She hadn't been wrong. She was in the presence of foreign royalty; the appropriate treatment was to prostrate yourself after being shown favour. Perhaps she was too young? Or perhaps Khan Basilio wasn't one for formalities. She turned back to him, holding a pair of waterskins when she caught a glimpse of red at the base of the hill.
Her mother held Morgan's hand as she made her way up to the front gate. Cordelia burst into a smile on seeing Khan Basilio, tempered only by the brief look of surprise that Severa caught on her mother's face.
For his part the Khan enveloped her mother in a hug before setting her down and crouching to speak to Morgan who smiled as asked who "Mr. Giant's" name was.
Basilio laughed at his new nickname, ruffling her little sister's white hair before asking to speak to their mother inside. And in a moment, this gregarious, gentle giant turned into a man whose expression alone could crush rocks.
Something was terribly wrong.
For the third time in living memory Ylisse marched to war. An army, driven by a terror who had conquered an entire continent was aimed directly at Regna Ferox and Ylisse would not let her strongest ally fall. Her father and the Exalt were preparing already, the army needed its tactician more so than ever before.
Khan Basilio had wanted to deliver the news personally to her mother not just because they were friends but also to ask personally for the greatest Pegasus knight in a generation to ride to war with him.
He knew how unreasonable such a request was, to take a mother away from her young daughters; yet it was still a request he had to make.
And as ever her mother's response was perfect. She was sworn to the Exalt and that meant the Exalt's allies. She would serve no matter the personal cost.
A week later, Severa got to watch as her parents walked away from her to serve the Exalt.
She wasn't surprised.
She didn't matter.
The villagers had insisted that Severa and Morgan be schooled. Many of the families as it turned out had been part of the military so the burden on those that remained was high. Ensuring all the children were in the same place for most of the day was the best way to keep them safe and to minimise mischief.
They hadn't counted on her.
"You're wrong!"
"Severa, sit down and stop causing a fuss!"
"The first war with Plegia wasn't caused because the Plegians are warlike, it was caused because Ylisse built farms over the agreed border."
"That's as it may be but it's too advanced for the class."
"If you're going to teach something then you should do it properly! I can't believe I'm being taught by someone as incompetent as you!"
"Get out of this room this instant! You will stand outside and think about how to address your teacher. Only return when you're ready to apologise."
"Then I'm never coming back!" she screamed as she stormed out the room, slamming the door behind her.
Severa's furious march away from the schoolhouse came to a stop in a nook she'd found between two of the houses. The redhead sat down, clutching her knees to her face.
She didn't understand. Mrs. Rose was wrong. Her father had been incredibly specific. The Plegians were no different from anyone else, the war between the nations had happened because their leaders had taken advantage of them, the same way the Exalt's father had taken advantage of the people of Ylisse.
So why was she being shouted at?
Severa closed her eyes. She could see her mother.
"You need to protect your little sister, okay Severa? You need to make sure she's safe and keep up her training. I'm counting on you."
How could she protect her sister when the adults lied to them? How could she keep her safe when she was always out here?
She was all alone. She didn't have anyone to help her. She didn't know what to do.
Shouldn't her mother be the one protecting them anyway?
Severa felt the tears run down her face. Her mother would be disgusted with her for losing her composure like this. She'd sit down with that implacable look on her face and ask her daughter what she did wrong.
"I was disrespectful to my teacher," the words came to her slowly, "I yelled in front of everyone, which is not something that young ladies do." Severa sniffed, "And I failed to convince my teacher that she was wrong."
Being correct wasn't enough.
"Sev," Morgan's voice.
"Sev are you okay?" her sister was hesitant.
Severa steeled herself, "Of course I'm okay, did you think I'd be in tears over the fact that I'm smarter than our teacher?"
"No Sev, but"
"But what Morgan? Come on, let's go back. I'll pretend to be sorry, and we can get back to learning things we already know about." Severa scowled at her sister as if that would mask her red eyes.
"Okay Sev, I'm sorry," Morgan stared at the floor to avoid her sister's glare.
Severa frowned. Morgan had just been worried about her; she'd probably gotten into trouble to come find her. "It's okay sis," she said as she hugged Morgan, "how about when we get back home, we can play each other at chess and if you win, I'll give you one of my books?"
Morgan looked up at her and smiled, ear to ear. "Really?"
Severa managed a slight smile, "Really."
"I won!"
Severa looked up from the board. It was checkmate in five.
Morgan grinned at her. It was an infectious thing. She'd won friends in the village quickly and easily with it.
Severa smiled back. It was rare now. She knew the other children feared her. Even some of the adults avoided her if they could.
The older sister had been expecting this for a while. Morgan was gifted. Her parents had known it, the men and women of the village knew it. As hard as Severa worked, as much as she read, it didn't matter. She couldn't compare to Morgan's talent.
"That was incredible Morgan, how did you think to do it?" she asked, more to find out what she'd done wrong than anything else.
Morgan launched into a lengthy explanation gesticulating wildly whilst moving her pieces across the board.
It wasn't fair.
She worked so hard, she endured so much from her mother and father. And it didn't matter in the face of this smiling girl who learned and worked because it was fun for her. Every day was a struggle for her, a race to just try to keep afloat. And who did she have? Nobody, because her parents had abandoned her for a war on a continent she'd never see.
She didn't have friends; how could anyone be friends with her when nobody could stand to be with her for more than a few moments?
All she had was a sister who she couldn't guide or teach any more.
"Sev, why are you crying?" Morgan sounded concerned.
She forced a smile, "Because I'm so happy for you Morgan, I'm so proud of you for beating me."
Morgan looked across the board at Severa with those big, dark eyes and grinned again.
It was the first time Severa ever lied to her sister.