Lady in Waiting

By psychored1911

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem Awakening or Fire Emblem Fates

Chapter 12: The Songstress pt. 1


"Fire at will."

A rain of arrows flew over the Hoshidan Royal Guard, bombarding the surprised soldiers with countless piercing projectiles that assailed the lot of them before they even knew it. Kaze was one of the few who survived the initial bombardment, with the rest immediately rallying behind the wounded King Sumeragi against their attackers.

Not that Kaze would notice, as he was too busy nursing the arrow that pierced his shoulder. His father, Saizo IV, scooped the young ninja in his arms and brought him away from the immediate battlefield, hiding him behind some crates in the alleyway.

"Kaze, I need you not to panic." Saizo IV shoved a vulnerary into Kaze's hands and covered his mouth before promptly yanking the arrow out of his son's shoulders.

"MMRPH?!"

Kaze screamed in pain, muffled by his father, only for Saizo IV to take the vulnerary and shove the bottle into Kaze's mouth, forcing the young boy to gulp down the healing potion and mend his wounds.

"Kaze, I know it hurts, but I need you to focus." Saizo IV slapped his son until the young ninja focused. "Focus, son! Time is of the essence!"

"S-Sorry…" The young ninja sobbed.

Saizo looked over his shoulder. "Here's what you will do. You will run back to our camp and alert our troops. King Garon has broken the armistice. I will go back and rescue King Sumeragi and Prince Kamui."

"B-But-"

"Your mission has changed. Their safety shall be my priority, not yours. NOW GO!"

Kaze did what he was told. He climbed up the wall and started jumping from rooftop to rooftop, before screeching to a halt.

"ARGGHHH!"

He turned his head. He knew that voice.

"K-King Sumeragi…? I… Oh no… Prince Kamui…!"

Against his father's orders, Kaze spun on his heels and doubled back to the Royal Carriage. Ducking beneath a lower wall, Kaze peaked down on the massacre below.

It was a nightmare. Dozens of Hoshidan soldiers were dead or dying on the street, including his own father.

Kaze cupped his hands against his mouth, denying himself the urge to scream, as there were more pressing matters to deal with.

King Sumeragi, the lone adult survivor of the massacre, was thrown back against the wall of a distal building, slumping onto the ground.

"Stand, coward. You still have to answer for your sins."

King Sumeragi tilted his head up with a fierce glare, with King Garon of Nohr glaring right back at him.

"...Coward… MY sins?!" Sumeragi summoned whatever strength he had left to push himself back to his feet, Raijinto in hand, as he assumed a warrior's stance. "You call us here to talk of peace, but strike us down in the night?! And you dare call US cowards?!"

He charged, and the lightning of the Raijinto clashed with the shadows of the Siegfried.

Their eyes met, and Garon pushed the wounded king back.

"So says the man who ordered the deaths of my wives and children." Garon coldly stated. "Many of my concubines were once warriors, but they have retired from the war. While many of them had blood on their hands, others did not, least of all my children. My CHILDREN! They were innocent! And you order them to be slaughtered like cattle!" King Garon paused, looking away with a pained expression, "None even had the chance to fight back, many of them were still too young to hold a blade! And the few who survived… they will never see their mothers again… and all of this… was due to YOUR treachery!"

"We had nothing to do with that! We would never target children!" Sumeragi roared. "Do you think I would come here, in person, if I were guilty of such atrocities?! I came here for peace! I came here to send my CONDOLENCES!"

King Garon had enough lies.

With a mighty swing, he slashed at Sumeragi's throat.

Blood spurted from the Hoshidan King as he began to choke on his own ichor. One hand clasped around his neck, the other weakly outstretched towards the ruined carriage, only for his strength to give out in the end and he collapsed, dead.

Two men flanked the Nohrian King. One was a knight, aged yet stalwart. The other was a tactician, youthful yet sinister.

The tactician glanced at the Raijinto, the Hoshidan Regalia, with a snicker. "What shall we do with his sword, sire? Shall we capture it for our own?"

"No, leave it." Garon ordered. "We've done enough today, and I shall not add 'further offending the Dawn Dragon by claiming his blessing' to my sins."

Garon then paused and looked at the Hoshidan carriage, the one that was surrounded by the corpses of Hoshidan soldiers arranged in a protective position, willing to give their lives to protect whatever lay within.

Pushing aside some of the corpses, Garon opened the door and looked inside. His eyes widened, his breath stopped, and his heart raced.

"Oh dear, you poor thing."

It was an infant, no older than two years of age, with pale skin and bright red eyes.

"Orphaned at such a tender young age…"

And with that, all forms of wrath and hatred left the mourning king as he carefully scooped the young child in his arms, being careful he wouldn't hurt him. He left this child, like how they left his remaining children: without their parents.

To Garon, there was only one thing to do. Only one thing he can do. Only one thing his soul would let him do.

"You are my child now…"

Kaze's pupils shrunk as reality returned to him. He didn't hear the words of King Garon, all he knew was that he was holding Kamui. He bolted back to his feet and drew his knife, ready to pounce upon the Nohrian king to rescue his prince-

"GRAAAGH?!"

Only for another arrow to pierce him, courtesy of a vigilant marksman, sending him back to the ground before all went black.


"Kaze? Are you alright?"

The aforementioned ninja opened his eyes. He lived that day more than a thousand times, he failed to save his prince. Today, however, is different. Today may be the day he could redeem himself.

Sitting up, he craned his head to the pegasus knight beside him. "I'm fine, Catria. Thank you. I was just thinking about something…"

"Well, whatever. Let's get to the meeting." She said, playfully twirling a book in her hands.

"What is that?"

"Don't worry about it, it's not for you." She smiled mischievously.

"Let's start." Azura waved everyone over. "Okay, here's what I want done. Saizo, Rinkah, Subaki, you three investigate the manufacturing plant. We know it's somewhere in the slums, but we don't have an exact location. Just go on surveillance; no trouble, no alerts, no witnesses. Understood?"
"I understand." Subaki responded, with the other two nodding in agreement.

"Catria, Nagi, Kagero," Azura continued. "I want you to investigate the Windmire Academy of Magic. I don't expect you to waltz in there; just case it out and report what you find. Same rules apply; no trouble, no alerts, no witnesses. Understood?"

"Yep!"

"Yes, milady."

"Understood."

"Sakura, Hana, I want you two to stay here for now, keep home base busy."

"Yes, ma'am." Hana saluted.

"W-wait a minute!" Sakura protested. "S-shouldn't we be doing work outside too?"

Azura walked over to her sister and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know, but I have a plan for both of you, however, for now, I need you to stay here. I promise, you will have your day."

"Okay…" Sakura mumbled. She was disappointed she wasn't doing as much as everyone else, nor would she get a chance to see Kamui, but knew Azura's strategies were usually good enough that she was really planning on her to be of use.

"Kaze, you and I are going to go to the city square. You are going to confirm whether or not this is Kamui. If it is, bringing him back will be made a high priority."

"And if it's not?"

"Well… It wouldn't hurt to have a Nohrian prince in our back pocket." Azura said coolly, trying to hold back a blush, doing her damnedest to ignore the giggles from Catria and Nagi. "Regardless, I'll be handling him personally. Everyone else, you have your orders, let's go."

Everyone nodded and promptly left for their respective jobs.

"Ooh! Before I leave, this gift is for you!"

All except for one pegasus knight.

Catria presented her lady with a well-worn book, practically shoving it into Azura's hands before going on her way.

Once she was gone, Azura curiously read the title of the book aloud, "How to Make Him Fall for You in a Fortnight: The Bestselling Go-To Guide on How to Make the Object of Your Affections Fall Mad- CATRIA!"


Let it be known that Silas still believes everyone from the Northern fortress to be his friends. Even after his little gaffe there a while back.

…Unfortunately for him, he didn't realize until right this moment that the feeling wasn't exactly mutual. The glares from the residents should have been evidence enough.

In hindsight, the fact none of them even tried to speak with him in his brief time in the Northern Fortress back when he entered Prince Xander and Princess Camilla should have tipped him off that something was wrong.

The fact that Flora pinned him against the wall with a freezing knife just inches from his crotch was just a second hint.

"Erm… it's nice to see you too, Flora…" Silas gulped nervously, raising his hands up high. "So, how's the fortress-"

*smack*

"It's clean now. No thanks to you." Flora smiled icily.

Silas nervously massaged his cheek. He probably deserved that.

"Flora, have you seen-" Felicia rounded the corner, her mood immediately souring as soon as she laid her eyes upon him again. "Oh, it's you. You're still here."

"Ah, Felicia. It's good to-" *smack* "-oww… see you again too…"

"You should have just stayed outside."

"Ladies, is he picking a fight?" Jakob waltzed over, twirling the dagger in his hand. "If so, I'd love to take out the trash."

"Jakob, c'mon now…" Silas said as he awkwardly pushed Flora's knife away from his family jewels. "Aren't we all friends here?"

"You are the only one here who remotely thinks that."

The three retainers gave Silas a wide berth as Lilith approached. At that moment, Silas knew Lilith was still upset.

"Still mingling, Silas?" Lilith asked slowly, her grin becoming more and more terrifying with each passing second. "Wouldn't it be better if you stayed outside?"

"Look, I made a mistake. I already said sorry!" Silas held his hands back up.

"Just saying sorry doesn't fix things, Silas. You don't even know the true repercussions of what you did!" Lilith sternly growled.

"...How badly did I screw up?"

"If you hadn't done what you did, Lord Corrin wouldn't be stuck in the Fortress."

This shook Silas to his very core. "What?"

"When he was to be fourteen, Lord Corrin was supposed to be allowed outside of the Fortress, with supervision; allowed to roam the fields he spent a lifetime only wishing he could step foot on! But because of your gaffe, that was no longer an option! You should be fortunate that we hid that detail from him, otherwise I doubt he would still see you with such amicable terms."

"I-I… I…" Silas didn't have any words to say in defense of himself. He didn't know what damage he caused.

"Xander may trust you, Corrin might be happy to have you back, but our trust isn't something that is easily given away." Lilith crossed her arms, finally relieved she got that off her chest. "You want redemption? Earn it. Now if you excuse me, I have to serve our lieges' brunch."

Lilith and the rest of them left the vicinity, leaving Silas in a long contemplative state.

"Did I… really do that…?"


"Milord, we may have a problem."

Xander put down his fork and stared back at Laslow, before turning back to his family enjoying their brunch with a sigh, "I'll be right back. Camilla, come on."

The Crown Prince stood from the table and followed Laslow back to his office, with Camilla standing up and following him.

Once the eldest royals were alone with the retainer, Laslow began to clear his report. "Milord, there has been a robbery."

"I take it it's more than a simple robbery if you were reporting it to me instead of the guards." Xander deduced, "What was stolen?"

"Several sets of Dread Fighter armor and katanas from a certain war museum. The guards were beaten to within an inch of their lives, to the point that some were cruelly dismembered. Not only that, evidence of certain… unsavory practices have been exposed that incriminate the staff and all their noble donors, all over the museum." Laslow told them, "Selena is still interviewing the curators as we speak, but she seemed poised to have them all detained by the time I left."

"You've got to be kidding me…" Xander said aloud.

The Dread Fighters were among the most elite warriors that ever came from Hoshido. Garbed in black armor and white fox masks, the Dread Fighters devastated whatever battlefields they entered, turning the tide of battle back in favor of the Hoshidans. Xander himself had the displeasure of fighting one before the war grew cold, and it was one of the most difficult battles he had ever fought. The secrets of their power supposedly lay in their scrolls, where the previous holder of the title of Dread Fighter stored their power and experience in them in order to pass them onto their successors. The kingdom of Nohr had the rare opportunity to capture a few of these scrolls and sets of armor in their countless years of war, but they were still unable to obtain the secrets within, leaving them as simple war trophies.

And the individual who stole the scroll had come back to claim the rest of their prize… and he could only think of one culprit…

"Only now they've stolen the armor?" Camilla questioned, "Why would any thief go through all of that trouble?"

"That's not the only thing." Laslow took out a folded paper and handed it to Camilla. "Other than there being one assailant/thief, this was what weapon they used. Selena said it would look familiar to you."

Camilla opened it up and saw a rough sketch of the Killing Edge that was stolen from the Armory a month ago.

'Yet Marth was here at that time, only leaving with Cassita later that night.' She thought to herself. "Xander, any thoughts?"

"This is the work of that vigilante I've been trying to catch. Grand theft and the humiliation of Nohrian nobility within the vicinity is the modus operandi."

"Add arson to that list. The sword alone is evidence enough that your vigilante was involved with that armory fire." Camilla commented, handing Xander the drawing.

Xander looked at it and massaged his temples, knowing this was getting more complex. Any more problems such as this and Corrin might be forced back to the fortress prematurely.

"Lord Xander?"

"Laslow, make sure this stays under wraps, none of these details are to be leaked to the public. I want those corrupt nobles silenced, in exchange for a slightly more lenient sentence. Emphasis on slightly." Xander commanded.

"Yes, Lord Xander." Laslow bowed, and exited Xander's office, leaving the two Royal siblings alone.

Once he was gone, Xander massaged his temples, "Gods, this is getting more and more complicated with each passing day."

"How much action do we need to take?" Camilla inquired.

"Only as much as I need to. We promised Corrin we would be with him for his short return to Windmire, and I intend to keep to that promise."


The pegasus training grounds.

It was an open courtyard Ylisse's esteemed Pegasus Knights used within the grounds to train each generation of new recruits. Her mother and Severa's mother still train here to this day, though it has been a while since her mother has last trained her due to queenly duties. Her sister could also be seen here from time to time, if not scouring the halidom performing all sorts of heroic acts.

But she wasn't looking for her sister. She was looking for-

"Hey! Lucy! Is that you?"

Or her sister can find her anyway…

Cynthia embraced her from behind. "It's so good to see you out and about again!"

Lucina turned to her sister; the second princess of Ylisse was vibrant as ever, her eyes sparkling with passion, everything of her being screaming of life and vigor.

The same couldn't be said about Lucy though; the first princess of Ylisse and former exalt pale complexion resembled a corpse, her eyes dull, without any shine, her hair clearly telling others she's just awoken.

"...I didn't know you were in town…" Lucina said flatly. "It's good to see you too…"

Cynthia's smile widened. "You want to go for a ride? It's been a while."

"I'm sorry. I don't feel like… It's been a while since I've… no…"

The younger sister's smile faded, "So, what are you doing here? I take it you're here for the little ones?"

"Little ones, as in multiple…?"

"You can't catch me!"

"Hahahaha!"

Lucina darted her eyes upward and saw more than one little girl flying in the sky on pegasi, being carried safely in the arms of trainees clearly having too much fun with the children sitting on their laps.

Lucina stared incredulously at her sister, who was slowly shuffling away from her, "...You let them play around in the air…?"

Cynthia immediately raised her hands up, "Hey, mother said it was okay! C'mon, don't you remember when she did it to us when we were younger?"

"That was then, this is now." Lucina growled. "Ground them. Now."

Realizing she wasn't relenting, Cynthia sighed before whistling and waving at the junior pegasus knights, leading to the warriors in training to descend back into the ground.

With the new pegasus knights safely upon the ground, Cynthia turned back to Lucina, "Y'know, there is such a thing as being too overprotective."

"I remember taking a chance. It didn't pan out." Lucina said as the pegasus knight trainees put their charges safely upon the ground, the children running excitedly towards her. "I'm not aiming to make the same mistake twice,"

"That was so much fun!"

"Can we go again?"

"Please? Pleasepleaseplease?"

"Not now. We are going home." Lucina said sternly, before turning back to her sister. "Cynthia, please tell mother to consult me first before we do something this reckless."


After their brunch, the three younger royal siblings stepped out to the courtyard, followed by Odin and Silas. Camilla and Xander had to leave shortly after in order to deal with some business that came up.

"So how come Elise was invited to the party and I wasn't?" Leo mumbled.

"You know how Lilith gets when she's upset, she probably told everyone to keep it from you." Corrin said sheepishly with a shrug.

"And unlike you, I had nothing to do with last year's 'incident'." Elise cheekily commented, laughing at Leo's expense.

"I thought I was already forgiven for that." Leo groaned.

"I forgave you; whether or not anyone else holds a grudge is not on me." Corrin corrected. "And believe me, even I stay out of Lilith's way when she's on a warpath."

"Either that or you're just whipped." Elise snorted.

Corrin shrugged, "You could say I trust her just as much as I trust you two."

While the three royal siblings continued to chat amongst themselves, Odin noticed Silas shudder absentmindedly.

"Something on your mind, Silas?" Odin asked, noticing his discomfort.

"Me? No, no, it's nothing…" Silas lied, still shuddering at some form of repressed memory that he dared not remember.

Once the siblings turned the corner, they all paused in surprise.

"What the hell happened here?"

Sprawled on the courtyard was Arthur and Effie, Felicia crouching over them, mending their injuries with a staff, and Marth standing to the side, leaning against the nearby wall, absentmindedly tapping her foot.

Noticing their shocked faces, Marth bowed and properly explained to them without any prompting, "They asked me to teach them the ways I taught Selena, Odin and Laslow."

"Maybe you should have gone a bit easier on them, Marth…" Felicia commented dryly as she bowed to the three Royals before she returned to healing the two downed retainers.

"They asked for a lesson in real world combat, and I provided it."

"We didn't land a scratch on you…" Arthur weakly noted.

"Yet you did your absolute best. That is nothing to be ashamed of." Marth stated simply.

"Well said," Corrin stated, "Effie, Arthur, why don't you two take the rest of the day off? Felicia, please make sure they're okay."

"Aww… I wanted to go into the city today." Elise pouted, "Xander still has me and Leo on chaperones after we snuck out last time."

Leo raised a brow. "We're still grounded? I thought they would be over it after our tenure in the Fortress."

"I may escort you, if you wish." Marth volunteered.

Elise perked up, "Great! That's perfect!" She then turned to her brothers, "You two coming?"

"I can't." Leo frowned, "I have stuff to do, still."

"Me neither." Corrin said, "I have to, uh, settle in a bit more in the villa."

Felicia narrowed her eyes. She knows Corrin's lying, he's been dying to leave for a very long time. Elise knew this city better than anyone; not wanting to leave with her at the first opportunity… Something is off.

Elise shrugged, "Alright, your loss." She then scooped Marth's arm in her own, "Come on, Marth! Let's hit the town!"


Azura sat alone at a bench nearby one of the city squares, humming her favorite tune while reading the stupid love manual thing Catria gave her. It's not like she wanted to read it or anything, it's just that the pegasus knight snuck it into her handbag while she was preparing for her date. And now, with nothing better to do until Corrin arrived, she decided to read the damn thing…

And part of her wished she hadn't.

After an hour of reading it, however, she had to set it aside and massage her temples. The contents of the book gave her a headache. The first ten pages are an uncomfortably detailed autobiography where the author obliviously (and painfully) missed every single hint that the object of her affections was simply uninterested in her as a romantic partner. The rest of the book wasn't of any help either; instead of trying to teach the reader on how to instantly win over their suitor (which seemed highly unlikely), it read more like someone expanded upon the meaningless love advice shared by unmarried maidens hoping to find their ideal prince charming in this world.

This wasn't some sort of love manual. This was some hapless virgin's idiotic collection of love advice from equally clueless fools, which seemingly had enough merit to elicit an actual publication.

What kind of self-respecting woman would actually take these lessons to heart?

Catria was either unaware of the contents of the book, or making a ridiculous joke at her expense with such a gift. Nevertheless, there was no malice behind the gesture, and Azura could at least appreciate that little aspect of her. Her new retainers seemed to have breathed a new life into her. Had she not met them, she might have lost whatever little optimism she had left in the near future.

This must be what true friendship felt like.

"Lady Azura." Kaze interrupted, whispering to her from behind, "I have surveyed the surrounding area. There are several escape routes we can use to disappear into the urban sprawl, just in case things go wrong."

"Thank you, Kaze." Azura said under her breath, in order not to draw attention to herself. "Remember, be discreet, survey from a distance. Give me a signal when you confirm his identity."

"If you say so…" Kaze reluctantly stated, disappearing from sight.

She wanted to be right. She desperately wanted to be right. She wanted Prince Corrin to be the lost Prince Kamui.

She… What did she plan to do if she was right? How was she supposed to bring him back to Hoshido? How was she supposed to get him to leave the only family he's ever known and bring him into a homeland he knows nothing about?

Would kidnapping work? It sounds risky all things considered.

Maybe she could convince him to go on his own free will? Come back with her? How would she even begin to go about this?

"Aqua!"

Azura- Aqua- let out a surprised gasp and found the man of the hour, Prince Corrin, standing over her, dressed in a fancy white dress shirt under a black, embroidered vest, with a rapier at his waist and a bouquet of flowers in his arms.

"I'm sorry, did I make you wait?" Corrin asked innocently, presenting her the bouquet, "I brought you some flowers, but I didn't know what kind you liked. So I got you these. They're called Silent Princess, they're a Nohrian favorite. They're wildflowers, a bit hard to come by, but they have quite a majestic feeling to them."

Azura took the bouquet and glanced at the flowers, how they glowed faintly in Nohr's endless night. It was ethereal, yet beautiful nonetheless. She rose to her feet with a blush, "Why thank you, Prince Corrin."

"Please, just Corrin shall do." Corrin insisted, "I doubt you like being called Countess Aqua all the time."

"Indeed I don't." Aqua matched his smile with one of her own, "Now then, Corrin, shall we?"


Marth waited by the gate that connected the Royal Villa with the rest of Windmire, waiting for Elise to ready herself. She watched how these upper-class families walked hand in hand with their children. Husbands with their wives; mothers and fathers with their children; friends playing amongst themselves.

Their warmth and innocence should've brought her comfort, yet she could only feel a pang of emptiness in her heart.

"You okay?"

Marth looked to her side, only to find the child that haunted her standing beside her.

"Why are you here?"

"Who knows?" The girl shrugged, "Maybe you just want my company!"

"..." Marth pointedly tried to evade looking at her.

"...Come on. Are you really still acting like this?" The girl asked exasperatedly, "You know you love me! It's not too late."

"I-"

"Marth, you okay?" Elise popped into Marth's field of view. "You were kinda spacing out again,"

"Yes… Elise, I-I'm sorry. I was…" Marth's gaze flickered to where the little girl once stood, only for her to disappear once more.

Elise worriedly leaned over and pressed a hand to Marth's forehead, "Are you okay? Maybe we should just do this tomorrow. We can talk if you need to."

"N-No, I'm fine. I was just… thinking…" Marth insisted. "Are you ready to go?"

Elise craned her head at the multiple families and friends passing by them. "Thinking of family?"

"...Something like that." Marth admitted.


A/N: Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! Sorry this took a while, but when I first drafted this chapter up, it was going to be much, much longer, hence the part 1 at the chapter title. That, and I had one hell of a semester these past few months. Ugh, it was brutal. But now it's over. Hopefully things will get better soon.

Anyways, that's all for now! Please review!