Eve walked away hurriedly towards the dining hall as she gritted her teeth. She hadn't meant to run away from Dimitri's question, but the pain in her wrist was becoming too unbearable to mask. It shouldn't have come as a surprise to her— she had just watched Dimitri crush a man's skull with his bare hands. But still, she was astonished by his strength. When he had grabbed her wrist, he had gripped her so tight that she felt him fracture her bone. It was a hairline fracture, one that she could already feel her body's advanced healing stitching back together, but that wasn't to say it didn't hurt.
"Shit." She hissed, flexing her hand open and closed in pain.
Dimitri was losing his grip on reality and Eve was watching it happen before her very eyes. She had known something shifted after Remire. The way he had been in that shed when they were hiding from the mages was just the beginning. And sure he had been able to regain control of himself then, but Eve should have known it was just a façade. But she wondered why it was Edelgard's unmasking that had been the last straw. The two of them were cordial with each other as leaders of their respective houses, but she wasn't aware of any further connection between them.
What would Edelgard want with the Crest Stones?
Eve was even more troubled over Edelgard's motives. From what she said, the princess believed that the Crest Stones held the power to rule all of Fodlan. And while the Blue Lions had prevented any being taken from the Holy Tomb, Eve also knew that wasn't the only place in Fodlan they could be found.
At least she had kept her safe. Eve remembered the fear that had coursed through her veins when that Empire soldier had approached the casket of the woman who had inspired her to come to Fodlan. But who was to say the Empire wouldn't try to strike again? It didn't seem like Edelgard was going to stop her mission just because she had been thwarted once, and now the enemy knew where the Holy Tomb was.
"But what if I took her so she could not be taken…" Eve muttered to herself as she filled a bowl with stew for both her and Dimitri.
The thought made her want to vomit, but it was the only way she could ensure nothing would happen to her now that the location of the Holy Tomb was revealed. Eve wasn't sure she could bring herself to do it, though. Perhaps she could convince Rhea to do it for her…
"Ouch!" Eve winced with pain as the weight of the full bowl became too much for her injured wrist.
Switching hands, Eve grabbed a few rolls of bread and made her way back towards the dorms. They weren't supposed to take their dishes out of the dining hall, but Eve figured these were extenuating circumstances.
"Eve, wait!" As she made her way down the steps, she saw Claude jogging over towards her.
"Claude." She greeted her friend hollowly.
"Your Professor held a meeting with your class and I couldn't help but notice you and the Prince weren't there." Claude met her stride as she continued on.
"Since when were you a part of the Blue Lions?" Eve raised an eyebrow at him.
"You know I can't help but eavesdrop when it comes to these things." Claude grinned but quickly dropped it to continue. "The Empire has declared war on the Church, I thought you should know."
"War…?" Eve stopped in her tracks, eyes fixated on the stew in her hand.
Memories flooded her mind as she remembered all the other times she had been at war— all she had lost. The scars that marred her body burned as she remembered the battles that she had earned them in. War was coming. And she was terrified of what she would lose this time.
"I can't say I didn't expect it." Eve resumed walking. "After what happened. But so quickly?"
"Edelgard staunchly believes in her cause." Claude sighed.
"And what do you believe, Claude?" Eve stopped again to turn to him with fierce eyes.
"Are you asking me whose side I'm on?" Claude asked with a small frown.
"You've made no secret of your distrust of the Church." Eve replied. "I know you want reform."
"I want reform." Claude shook his head. "Edelgard wants to raze the earth."
"Good." Eve once again resumed her walking as she made her way up the dorm steps. "I'd hate to make an enemy out of you. I treasure our friendship."
"Me too." Claude offered with a smile. "I think it would benefit Dimitri to hear it from you. So…maybe find a way to tell him that doesn't involve him crushing your skull."
"He wouldn't hurt me." Eve shook her head.
"Wouldn't he?" Claude raised his eyebrows, tilting his chin at her wrist where a clearly hand-shaped bruise was starting to bloom.
"Claude." She warned.
"Just be careful, okay?" Claude softened. "I think you're one of the only ones who can keep him in check right now."
"He's not an animal, Claude." Eve frowned.
"I'm not saying he is." Claude shook his head. "Look, I understand why he's being like this. But his actions being justified doesn't make him any less dangerous."
"I've got it under control." Eve said.
"Okay." Claude put his hands up as he began to retreat. "I trust you."
Eve sighed and hung her head as she tried to collect herself. War was coming and her husband was on the verge of a breakdown.
No.
Not on the verge. Dimitri was having a breakdown and everyone was trusting her to be the one to keep him in check. But she could barely keep her own emotions from bubbling up. And her guilty heart couldn't help but worry about Felix. What was he thinking? How was he feeling? What would happen to House Fraldarius if war broke out?
"Dimitri?" Eve poked her head in timidly.
The sun was starting to set and the orange light coming through the window perfectly illuminated Dimitri's sleeping form in his bed. He was covered in a sheen of sweat and he was twitching about restlessly with his sheets thrown about. A wave of stench hit Eve's nose and she noticed the pool of bile beside Dimitri's bed.
"Oh, you poor thing." Eve sighed quietly as she placed their food down on his desk and set to work cleaning up his sick.
Luckily, she had already set up a bowl of water with some rags when she had been cleaning his wounds earlier. She used the left overs to mop up the vomit from the floor and tidy up as best she could.
"I'm sorry, I passed out before I could clean up." Dimitri's hoarse voice broke the silence in the room.
"It's no worry." Eve soothed.
"I hurt you." Dimitri murmured, his voice strained.
"Here, eat." Eve brushed off his comment by shoving the bowl of stew into his hands.
"Have you eaten?" Dimitri asked.
"Eat as much as you can and I'll finish the rest." Eve replied.
"Eve, look at me." Dimitri reached out for her, grabbing her hand meekly.
"What is your relation to Edelgard?" She asked suddenly, sitting on the edge of his bed and looking him directly in his eyes.
His expression darkened at the mention of the Empire princess, eyes clouding over with anger. If Eve was looking to keep him in check, she certainly wasn't going to go about it this way. But she needed to know. Why had it been the revelation of the Flame Emperor being Edelgard that set him off.
"You said she killed her own mother." Eve recalled what he had said to Edelgard in the Holy Tomb. "What did you mean by that?"
"E-… that monster is my sister by marriage." Dimitri swallowed, unable to bring himself to say her name.
"What?" Eve blinked.
"When my biological mother died, my father remarried eventually." Dimitri continued. "The woman he married was… that…girl's mother."
"But that's not all." Eve shook her head. "Edelgard didn't seem like she knew you. All our time at the Academy, the two of you never interacted as siblings or even people who had met previously."
"She does not remember." Dimitri murmured. With each mention of her name, his demeanour darkened. "But there was one season of our childhoods that we spent together. We did not know who the other was. It was not until later I realised the El I had known in my childhood was the monster we attended school with."
"Did you think her a monster before this?" Eve asked, wondering if his use of language was simply to avoid calling her by name or alluding to something more.
"I had no suspicions of her at all until the night the Professor and I witnessed her talking to Thales." Dimitri's eyes were unreadable as he stared into his stew. "When they sensed our presence, the Flame Emperor threw a dagger at us. It's in the top drawer of my desk if you want to see."
Eve stood at Dimitri's suggestion and opened the top drawer of his desk. Inside, she saw not only the dagger, but also a letter addressed to the prince in what she instantly recognised as Rodrigue's handwriting.
"This is Kingdom craftsmanship." Eve said as she pulled the blade from the drawer, holding it up to inspect it in the waning light.
"You have a good eye." Dimitri nodded.
"The materials used and the way the grip is fabricated…" Eve continued to examine it. "This blade was was made in Fhirdiad. I would even venture to say this blade was made by the royal smith."
"And you'd be correct." Dimitri answered. "I gave that dagger to her as a gift when she returned to Enbarr."
"Sylvain once told me about your first love as a kid…" Eve muttered as she put together the pieces. "A girl you were friends with for just over a year while she was temporarily living in the Kingdom. He said you gave her a dagger as a gift."
"First love." Dimitri barked out a humourless laugh. "To think the two of us would have ended up here."
"Dimitri." Eve returned the dagger to its drawer and rejoined him at the edge of his bed.
She reached out and took the bowl of stew from his hands, gently setting it aside. He watched her cautiously as she grabbed his hands in hers, pulling them into her lap. Eve hoped her actions were coming off as comforting and not out of the ordinary when she was really trying to put herself in an ideal position to keep hold on him when she told him what was happening. Right now, he was the Boar Prince. And as much as Eve staunchly held to her belief that that was not who he was, she couldn't deny that it was what he was being in this moment.
…his actions being justified doesn't make him any less dangerous…
Eve glanced at her husband again as she remembered Claude's words. He certainly was justified in his anger; and she couldn't say she blamed him for his violence in the Holy Tomb. But he was in a fragile state that made him dangerous. The way he had hurt her, yelled at her like he never had before, made Eve acutely aware that she was not afforded the usual liberties he took when it came to her. She was also very aware that no one had come to check on them in all this time. Their classmates were afraid, and their obvious absence made it clear.
"While I was tending to your wounds, the Professor held a meeting with the others." Eve began, squeezing his hands gently.
"I don't care about the consequences of what I did. I do not regret it." Dimitri said.
"No, it wasn't about you." Eve shook her head. "Dimitri…"
"What is it?" His voice lowered.
"Edelgard has declared war on the Church and its allies." Eve watched him carefully as she spoke.
"So that vile woman has decided to go down this path." Dimitri growled.
"Adrestia is already gathering forces." Eve continued. "I don't think we have much time before war comes to Garreg Mach."
"Go." Dimitri released her hands, tossing them back into her lap.
"What?" Eve's brow furrowed in confusion.
"Go to your precious Fraldarius." Dimitri turned away from her, avoiding her gaze. "Take Felix with you, go to your Lord."
"I'm not leaving." Eve shook her head.
"If war breaks out, you don't have to worry about being under Lady Rhea's thumb." He carried on. "Our marriage serves no purpose then and you can return to the one you truly love."
"Dimitri look at me." Eve demanded, only speaking again when the prince met her eye. "I made you a promise. And I vowed before the Goddess on that altar to stand by you. I will not leave."
"You would stand beside a monster?" Dimitri asked. "Die for a monster?"
"I would stand beside my husband."
Eve grabbed both sides of his face and pulled it to hers. She kissed him as tenderly as she could, willing her kiss to be a persuasion to him.
"Stop that." Dimitri pushed her away by her shoulders, grimacing.
Eve blinked in shock. Dimitri had never been the one to pull away or reject her affections. It was how she soothed him, how she tried to convince herself and others of her love for him. Ever since they hid away in that shack in Remire and she had decided that she would be the most doting queen if that's what it took to keep her king sane.
"Do you think I don't know what you're doing?" Dimitri spat. "Kissing me like you love me to convince me of your hollow words."
"My words are not hollow." Eve protested.
"Perhaps not," Dimitri shrugged, "but you cannot deny that you only touch me when you're frightened of me."
"Frightened?" Eve balked.
"Whenever I am angry or concerned, whenever you tell me something upsetting, whenever it may appear that I could snap— you're always there to hold my hand." Dimitri shook his head. "You only touch me to serve a purpose, not because you actually desire me."
"I just wanted to soothe you, Dimitri." Eve said.
"Do you think of Felix when you touch me?" Dimitri asked.
"What?" Eve frowned.
"Do you wish it was his hand you held? Do you think of kissing him when you kiss me?" Dimitri continued his accusations.
"You're being cruel, Dimitri." Eve stood suddenly.
"Me? Cruel?" Dimitri laughed. "Was it not you who was cruel first by sneaking away with my childhood friend when I offered you my heart?"
"I cannot control my heart." Eve defended though she knew he was right.
"I love you, Eve." His voice was strained with emotion as he looked up at her with eyes she did not recognize. "And just once I want to feel like you're by my side because you want to be and not because of the promises you've made to fit your agenda."
"Dimitri, I don't know how to be what you need from me." Eve sighed.
"You once told me you didn't want me to try to be anything." Dimitri said, softening a little. "You wanted me to be myself with you. I need you to understand that that's all I want from you as well."
"Dimitri, I can't be myself around you." Eve shook her head. "One day you'll understand."
"Will I?" He asked.
"…I don't know." Eve faltered. "Get some rest. I'll check on you in the morning."
She didn't wait for his reply as she exited his chambers and closed the door behind her. War was coming and Eve had no control over any aspect of her life. Everything was in shambles and she only had herself to blame.