Cor had been fighting since he was strong enough to hold a sword, all his life had taken a clear purpose since he met that young prince, who was now King, more than twenty five years ago. His life, his death, it all belongs to the Kingdom of Lucis and serving the Caelum family… His life had been a constant of fighting in the war against Niflheim, so much that he had never time to think beyond surviving and protecting, nor what his life could be beyond that. And perhaps that's why a young princess had started to affect him so much. Because she wanted for him to see more than a lifetime in battle, and she wanted to be with him through it.
So now it was his fault that she was again hurt by his rejection. He had let his guard down and had let her hope he might finally reciprocate her feelings grow. So they had fought the night prior, and this time he just couldn't put it out of his mind for the rest of the night.
They had been walking back from the King's study after one last follow up after the Verstael incident under Insomnia. It was coincidental they were taking the same way, as both of them were planning to go back to their respective offices to leave or read more reports. Just as they were about to part way the Princess had stopped him.
"Did you have dinner?" She asked.
Cor shook his head, but he really wasn't even planning to eat anything.
Still she tentatively asked him to go get something to eat with her. And the expectativeness in her eyes almost made him agree, but he caught himself and reprimanded his carelessness, remembering the girl had feelings for him.
"I'll pass, Princess." He said and turned to leave.
An exasperated sigh behind him told Cor, this wasn't over. Following footsteps and a hand on his arm stopped him again.
"You should take care, Marshal. Not long ago you were in a hospital bed, even if you don't feel like eating, you still should. At least something light."
Her soft tone made him look straight into her eyes, which were filled with concern and care. Cor didn't say anything until, as always, she couldn't stand his gaze and looked away, then released his arm. He wasn't sure what she saw in his eyes as she could never hold his gaze for too long, even if she could for the likes of enemies or foreign governance.
"Don't worry about me, Princess. Take care of your own health." And maybe it came a bit too cold. Because Aelia pursed her lips downwards and she seemed to become smaller, but as soon as it came it was gone. She smiled, a little forced.
"I can't help but worry about you. You know that I l-"
He stopped her before she could finish it. "And you know that I think it's a waste of your time. You're just hurting yourself."
Maybe there was a better way to say this, but he had never been good with words or coating things up, life was too short to be wasting in useless cajolery. Something the Princess was very good at. And yet the look of hurt in her eyes was as sharp as when she had half of her arm charred and burned.
"Stop! Stop saying loving you is bad for me! For it is not." Aelia's eyes fired up. "How could it be wrong, or bad to love someone who loves our people, who puts his life in the line to protect the innocent, who has fought all his life to fight for those who cannot fight? How could it be bad for me, to want to give happiness, to give my life to someone like that?"
Cor clenched his teeth, damn the stubborn girl! And more damned his heart that quickened at those words.
"I've been fighting for and serving your father since before you were born, surely you must see what's wrong there." Cor managed to say callously, but his mind and feelings were really muddled.
"To hell with that! I don't care about it!" Aelia snapped back at him.
"But I do. And even if I didn't, it still wouldn't change anything. I'm a soldier, Princess, I am the kind of man who has taken away countless lives, the one who participates in the one thing you hate above all. And I'm most likely to end up dying at any moment in service of the King." He answered dryly, this much she ought to understand.
Cor saw her countenance grow more flustered and her eyes narrowed angrily. "At least just say you simply don't want me, you don't need to feel guilty for not returning my stupid feelings!" Aelia then paused and took a sharp breath. Her anger dissipated, then turned her eyes to the side, she couldn't bear to look at him any longer. "It was my mistake talking about this again… just forget it." She finished and turned away.
Cor had unconsciously made to reach for her arm to stop her, before he realized and clenched his fist, he just watched her walk away. And he had been pretty pissed off as well. At himself for making the usual mischievous glint in her eyes to fade, her soft smile to turn into a pursed mouth and her light steps to become slower and heavy. But he was angry with the Princess as well, she was too stubborn for her own good. How long had she been chasing him already? Two years? Probably since before she had told him anything back in Altissia. And angry at the young men's population nowadays, who couldn't seem to produce a good enough man to catch a fumbling girl's attention.
And now that it was morning and they would most likely would cross paths as they worked very close to each other, he wasn't sure if he was more inclined to not see her for the whole day or to see her and make sure she was back to be her usual self.
Aelia twirled the small flower between her fingers, the burbling water of the fountains and chirping of the birds was making her sleepy. She turned her head around, the empty ruins filled with creeping plants with white flowers blooming in the early morning light, giving the old rocks an ethereal look.
The peaceful atmosphere could almost make her troubles go away, but alas, her thoughts wouldn't quiet down. She sighed and threw the flower away. Her, the firstborn of Regis Lucis Caelum, accomplished diplomat -or so she liked to think of her not so long career- and annoying politician -that did was confirmed by many- to most of her father's counsel, was sighing for the most common trouble known to woman's her age; love.
She felt silly at the notion of being so bothered by her feelings for a man when not even the worst of situations she had faced thus far had troubled her this much. Well, these were peaceful times so there hadn't been such grave problems anyways. And yet she had probably gone out of the way to get stuck in dangerous situations. No wonder why certain someone was more inclined to hate her than love her.
But the feeling still remained, she was a fool. Aelia cursed herself at having fallen in love with the most unreachable man she could have, the Immortal himself, Cor Leonis, Marshal of the Crownsguard, unparalleled swordsman, etc.
First, there was the age gap, which to her wasn't that troublesome but he didn't think such a light of the matter. Second, he was her father's close friend. And last but not the least, he didn't seem to be in the smallest bit attracted to her.
So, unrequited love sucked. And as hard as she had tried to pull the stoic man away from her heart, she hadn't succeeded. And their last confrontation had left her hurt but not less in love. So she decided a time of solitude and reflection could answer some questions about her stubborn feelings, starting from when she fell in love with him. It wasn't easy to pinpoint as she had always admired him and respected him dearly, and it eventually turned into a crush which in turn became love.
Aelia laughed as Noctis tried to reach for her again and she leaped just out of his chubby grasp. He scowled annoyed at her nimble feet and decided to just sit down to brood until his sister would come so he could catch her.
The older girl turned to see her five year old brother sulking and abandoning the chase of such a difficult catch. Aelia, who was seven years older than him and knew he couldn't ever catch her unless she allowed it, decided it had been long enough, so she bounced back to him laughing. He didn't react, clearly offended at her glee of having won again. He poked his lip out and turned to the side.
"Oh, come on baby Noctis. Don't get mad!" Having no response she decided to bribe him. "I'll give you a piggy ride~" Aelia sang.
At this his eyes sparkled and was quick to latch into her back. She laughed and jumped up with her new cargo. They ran up and down the long corridors of the Citadel, having some servants laugh and others tell them to stop before they threw someone, and as good children they didn't listen and kept to their shenanigans. Then they were turning one corner at such a speed and Aelia's head was turned around to see her brother's face as he shrieked a peel of laughter, that she didn't see the adults coming. She crashed painfully against solid legs and fell on her ass, Noctis continued to laugh but was now in the arms of her father.
If her father was there, and Lord Amicitia as well, then the one standing above her and the one to have stopped her rampant run must be the man she was most afraid of. Her eyes climbed slowly upwards to find the forbidding cold eyes of the Marshal, she winced and curled a little bit.
"Aelia." Her father's voice made her turn away from the cold look.
"Yes father?" She bit her lip.
"What have I told you about playing around the busiest hours in the corridors?"
"Uhm. That-that I shouldn't bother the working people." She said guiltily.
"And you could have hurt Noctis as well if you had fallen badly and I wasn't here to catch him before you did." He furthered his reprisal.
She puffed her cheeks and mumbled. "I know." Her behind was stinging from the force of the fall on the cold solid marble floors, but she wouldn't cry. Just as she thought that, her eyes started to sting, but she swallowed the lump in her throat and looked to the floor in case she did start crying they wouldn't see.
"Go and stay in your room until dinner time." The King laid the punishment, and considering there was still four hours until dinner Aelia bit her tongue to not complain and make things worse.
"Yes." She managed to say miserably, all the time sticking her gaze to the floor.
"Cor could you see she makes it to her room? Last time she ran away to the kitchens to wreak more havoc." Regis asked his friend, said friend threw him an insufferable look but sighed and took the girl by the back of her shirt and pulled her to her feet.
Aelia was about to protest at the rough treatment but thought better of it, noticing who had pulled her to her feet. The cold eyes of the Marshal had always unnerved her, plus he never smiled at her, so she was fairly intimidated by the man. She threw a last glance to her father who was cooing at Noct so he wouldn't cry as her sister was leaving. Now she wanted to cry even more as her father hadn't even asked her if she had gotten hurt when falling, her lip trembled but she just rushed to her feet, knowing that the worst person to cry in front of was the Marshal.
They walked in silence through the corridors, it was long enough to soothe her aching but and wounded pride at being grounded in front of her father's routine, she knew better than to cause trouble for her dad. Aelia chanced a glance to the Marshal, she knew he was some kind of living legend and a good friend of her father, but he wasn't like Clarus who was always around her dad and gave her those sour candies she loved so much. But Cor was never around and when he was he either ignored her or just looked at her with that unsettling cold look. To be fair, maybe his face was just grim looking and he couldn't help but look that way, but smiling from time to time couldn't kill him!
Either way, he ignored her again as they walked to her rooms and Aelia wasn't brave enough to ask him anything -not that she knew what she could ask. So when Aelia spotted her doors she was definitely relieved, she was about to just rush ahead and go into the safety of her quarters when his deep voice startled her.
"Hey." Aelia sank her shoulders waiting for another lecture or something. "Did you get hurt? You crashed quite hard against me." He said, not warmly but not as harsh as what she had been expecting.
In fact, it was the first time Marshal had directed a word to the Princess, or that she could remember at least. When she was younger she just hid behind her mom's or dad's legs when he was around and nowadays she rarely saw him.
"'m fine." She mumbled after a while.
"Alright. Don't go doing things to distract your father anymore. He has enough troubles to watch after already."
"I was not trying-" She started to say but shut up when he threw a cold look at her. Aelia's eyes drew holes in the floor. "Fine." She mumbled again.
She heard him sigh and then a warm hand was on her head. "If you really are that bored I can start to teach you swordsmanship."
At this, the girl's eyes went up with stars shining in them. "Really?" She had been pestering her dad and Clarus about it, and Cor had probably heard about it from them.
A small smile drew into the man's face, and he didn't look so scary now "Really, and if I'm not around, you can ask any other Crownsguard. But on the condition that you must stop causing trouble."
She remembered having been so happy, Cor had made her happy since she could remember. At first her training had been boring and more focused on her gaining strength and endurance, not even touching wooden practice swords, but being the stubborn brat she was, she had endured and started to learn how to handle real swords. Although Cor had been the one to promise to teach her, in the end she had rarely seen him and never actually got him to train her as the war with Niflheim had gotten worse and the Marshal was rarely at the Citadel anymore.
So most of the time she had trained with whomever was around, either the Crownsguards humoring her and an unexpected teacher ended up showing her the way of the Altissian Saber. The King's old friend and ex-stewart, Weskham who had come back from Accordo after some years. So in the end Cor had been the one to make the promise and Weskham the one to fulfill it, and it had been for the best as the Accordian swordsmanship had fitted her physic and strengths perfectly.
It wasn't much later that the Kingsglaive was formed, after her father had been away in Galahad, which had been nearest the incoming battles and seen that the normal army wouldn't be enough to stop the Empire. Even if Lucis had made Niflheim retreat for some time after winning the Great War three years before she was born, the Empire had renewed their invasion with determination after some time.
Aelia smiled at the memory of carrying Noctis in her arms as they sneaked to see the arrival of the new elite force. She had been expecting something like mature men and women, like Cor or Drautos -who back then had just been working with the army-.
There were at least five vans making their way into the Citadel, from the window they were peeking from it wasn't so easy to make out with certainty. Noctis pulled at her hair trying to have a better viewpoint, he was perched at her back again, he was too slow to actually sneak around successfully so Aelia had to carry him around if they wanted to avoid detection by the guards and staff.
"Let's go!" Noctis dug his heels into her ribs as if she was a Chocobo.
Aelia coughed and laughed. "Aye, aye, my Prince." They would have to go down to the training grounds if they wanted to catch a glimpse of the new magic soldiers up close. It would be a little tricky, as neither of them should be there and if they were caught it would probably be a good couple days of grounding, or at least for her because she was the "oldest and knew better". Aelia rolled her eyes at the usual comment from the grown ups whenever she and Noctis got into trouble, he could be really persistent about things and she didn't have the heart to tell him no. Besides, their dad wasn't back yet, so she probably could weasel herself out of trouble.
Which proved to be a fatal mistake, as they sneaked around corridors destiny seemed to have some sense of humor for when they turned a corner they nearly crashed with no other than their dad and the Marshal.
Some awkward silence filled the air for a couple of seconds, then she smiled.
"Dad! You're back."
Luckily for them, the king laughed and patted Aelia's before taking Noctis into his arms.
"I see you're sneaking around to see the new recruits."
"Noctis wanted to see the magical soldiers and I couldn't let him go on his own."
"She wanted to come as well!"
Noctis sold her out very quickly. Regis smiled at her and Aelia tried to feign disinterest.
"No I didn't." She asserted.
"Alright then, I'll take Noctis to meet the Kingsglaives. Aelia, you can go with Cor to find Drautos." Regis said.
Aelia gaped a little, but closed her mouth quickly. She wouldn't give in and admit she wanted to see the new soldiers as well!
"Fine!" She said in a tone that reflected anything but it.
She had gone with Cor to find the now new Captain of the Kingsglaives. Aelia liked Drautos, he humored her more often than not, even if his attitude was a little dry and rough around the edges. Back then she liked Drautos way more than Cor, he wasn't as scary as the cold gazed Marshal, he helped her train and let her run along his training from time to time.
Aelia glances curiously at her dad's friend as they walk in silence, now that the anger of her dad playing in her stubbornness had passed off, she was again a little intimidated to be walking along Cor alone. What she knew of him was mostly from what people said of him and what she saw in the news or heard her dad say, but it always was war related. And his cold demeanor didn't help her recuperate the happy carelessness she had mustered the first and last time he had spoken to her, which had been almost a year ago.
Cor's eyes moved to her, Aelia moved her gaze away quickly.
"I heard Weskham is back and is teaching you Accordian swordsmanship."
Aelia almost startled at his voice. "Yeah. He's a very good teacher."
"Yes." Cor answered and they fell into silence again.
Aelia wished they could make it faster through the three corridors they still had left to where Drautos was still on duty. Silence was boring her and making her more anxious at the same time so she asked whatever came to mind.
"Did he teach you as well?"
And Cor's face moved into a weird expression, he smiled but there was no happiness behind it. "No. I learned to fight way before I met him or your father."
"How old were you when you met my dad?"
"When I was around fourteen."
"Oh…" Aelia was twelve, so he probably had started learning to fight since he was her age or younger. He had gone to war and seen it as well? She couldn't imagine that, to leave the safety of her tutors, maids, and play-times with Noctis.
That's right; she still couldn't really imagine losing her childhood like that, even if her dad said she had grown up too quickly, it probably was nothing compared to the King and his friends. That's probably why her father wished to give her and Noctis good, happy and as normal as possible early years. Which she kind of had dropped to try the "normal young life", to Regis dismay, but that was not here nor there.
She knew Cor had lost his parents at a very early age and belonging to a minor noble family in it's decline, it was no wonder he had toughened up early on. Her heart ached to think of it, and how could it not? Knowing that someone you love dearly wasn't able to know the security and love from parents or adults around them. That he had to fight tooth and nail to survive and thrive in this broken world only to find a sense of belonging at the service of a Prince in the midst of a horrid war. And now he didn't even care to see beyond that, when there was so much to see and enjoy in peace, a peace both of them and many more had been working tirelessly to bring. So why couldn't he enjoy the fruit of his lifelong effort?
