Chapter 14: The Army Arrives

While Annette was ecstatic to be by Felix's side again and wanted to enjoy every second with him, there was an overhanging cloud about him. She couldn't place her finger on what exactly was wrong until Felix returned from his errand. He was distant, his mind far elsewhere and his face constantly tense. At first, she assumed he was preoccupied with whatever Dimitri tasked him with, but he wore that same expression throughout the rest of their day together.

For anyone who wasn't close to him, it would've been normal. Even those like Ingrid or Sylvain still dealt with his typical surly attitude and stand-offish demeanor. Annette didn't think she deserved special treatment, but through all their ups and downs, he had been softer with her. More open.

Could be the effects of being held hostage, she reasoned. She didn't imagine the rebels gave him an easy time. It wouldn't do to ask directly about what had happened, so she tried fishing carefully as they meandered through the town. "How have you been doing being back here?" she asked, holding her hands behind her back.

"Busy," he said, following her into a curio shop. Little knick-knacks and small carvings filled cubbies on shelves in the middle of the space. Chairs, couches, and other furniture were pushed up against the wall, allowing any potential buyers to test them out.

"Mercedes tells me you've been filling in for Dedue. Can't imagine that's easy with all he does."

Felix clucked his tongue and examined a cup. "No, it certainly isn't. A wonder he's still sane."

Annette giggled and Felix smiled at her. For a brief instant, there was that handsome, gentle man she knew. Then it passed like the sun hiding behind a cloud and he went right back to his rigid state. "What about you? You collapsed once we came back."

"I'm fine," she said, picking up a carved little fox figurine. She was distracted by how cute it was and wondered if she should buy one for Mercedes. "Feels like I was only asleep for a day."

He hummed in response and approached her, eyeing the figurine too. He was close enough that she felt his body heat and she wanted to lean into him. She tried not to let her thoughts run away with that temptation, but they already slipped from her grasp and she blushed a deep crimson at the indecency they conjured. She put a pace between them and paid extra close attention to the shop's furniture.

The place could use a good dusting. She ran a finger along one of the chairs, frowning at the black marks of dust it left behind on her skin. Not too different from the monastery. Some of those rooms hadn't been cleaned in ages when she first arrived there and she spent many an hour cleaning and writing songs to while away the time.

In fact, the clutter of the shop was much like the storage rooms back at Garreg Mach and she soon breezed through the shops, admiring the menagerie of items, and murmuring her latest song to herself.

Two lovers bound since they were young, two lifelines crossed into one

The days once bright, now darken here. They…

Something or other, she thought to herself, stopping for a moment and muttering through different words. "They long to shine? The night appears? Maybe something else?"

She glanced around the store for inspiration and noticed Felix a few steps behind her, his expression contorted in pain. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Fine," he said, biting his teeth down to the breaking point.

"Did you visit the infirmary when you came back?" she asked.

He jerked his head, snorting deeply. The pain seemed to recede and flow out of him. "Yes, everything checks out. Speaking of, you should get checked out too."

"There's no need. I'm okay," she said. He raised an eyebrow in the same manner that Mercedes did whenever she worried over Annette's health. I need to get better at lying.

"I'm sure Gustave will insist on it."

She perked up at the mention of her father. Although she wanted to stick to her fishing expedition, she had to ask, "Where is he? Mercie said he was helping organize the defense of the city."

"He is. He's actually been running around more than me, believe it or not. We can go look for him if you want."

Accepting the offer, they left the store and headed out, searching for any soldiers. They came across a guard out in the open here and there, but they only had vague descriptions of where he could be. One said, "He's along the wall, making sure the ballistae are in working order," while another insisted, "Last saw him in the barracks tallying the weapons."

The whole time, Annette kept trying to poke through the hard layer wrapped around Felix. Family had no real effect. "Have you been back to see your brother at all? I bet he misses you."

"Not yet. There's too much to do here at the moment. I'll send him a letter soon."

Nor did talk of any possible insight. "So I heard that you found out about the rebel bases from overhearing them. Happen to hear any other interesting facts?"

"Not really." Had that been a twitch in his cheek? "Most of it was complaining about being on guard duty or stuck in the mountain."

Near the end of the day, after no luck finding her father, they turned toward the castle. Once they left town and were on the silent road back, she finally had enough of the tense quiet and asked outright, "So how are you doing?" He looked curiously at her and she added on, "After everything that happened. I can't imagine it was easy."

"No, it wasn't," he said, his mouth set thin.

"But are you okay?"

"Yes, why do you keep asking?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. All day it seems like you've been a million miles away. If there's something on your mind, you can talk to me about it."

He opened his mouth, paused, scrunched up his eyebrows for a moment as though reconsidering what he was about to say. "It's nothing serious," he said slowly. "I was just thinking about what you said earlier. About trying again."

Her heart froze in her chest, ice swarming through her veins. "Are you saying you don't want to?"

"No, no, no!" He held up his hands quickly. "By the goddess, no. I do want to. I've just been thinking about how to go about it and not mess up again."

She stared at him. He wasn't lying necessarily, but he was holding something back. She didn't know what though. Was there more to it? Or something in addition to their relationship that worried him? Whatever it was, this was at least a start. "You don't have to worry about that," she said, placing a hand on her hip. Then she reached up on her tiptoes and rapped her knuckles against his forehead. "Just be open and talk to me from now on instead of hiding stuff. Got it?"

"Ow," he said flatly and took her hand, stopping her a dozen yards from the castle entrance. He brushed aside a lock of her hair and held her cheek, a small grin playing on his lips. "I got it."

In the distance, the setting sun stretched the last of its warm orange rays across the sky. They struck the pair and, in the glow, Felix's eyes grew soft, not unlike that day in the forest when they first kissed. Or the greenhouse where she sang to him many moons ago.

Her cheeks felt as red as her hair and she looked down for a moment, lifting his hand in both of hers and running over his digits. "Good." Then to her delight, he embraced her and they stayed locked to one another for a good long while. The castle could wait. They had a lot of time to make up for.

The next two days were simultaneously some of the happiest and most agonizing in Felix's memory. On the one hand, every time he stepped outside his room, he was certain people were onto his ploy. Every eye became suspicious, every mutter of gossip was questioning his true intentions. He was adrift in stormy seas, no lifeline tossed to him and the only rescue ship on the far horizon as he struggled against the waves.

The single saving grace was Annette. Opening his door to greet her was the bright spot of the day. She was always upbeat and pleased to see him, as he was her. He spent most of his day with her, as Dimitri eased up on the menial tasks and sent him away with a wink and a nod.

After his first day out with her, they had dined with Dimitri and Mercedes, then departed reluctantly to their own separate rooms. Felix found it hard to let go of her hand and she giggled, allowing herself to be pulled back to him.

"I'll see you in the morning," she said, planting a brief kiss on his cheek.

He laid in bed well into the night, his cheek tingling at the thought of that kiss. She occupied all his thoughts, some pleasant and wholesome. Others were along the lines of Sylvain's ideas on relationships. Much as he might try to stave off those and believe himself above such frank vulgarities, in the deepest part of his core, he enjoyed those ones too.

Unlike Sylvain, he didn't plan to suddenly act on those ideas for Annette's honor. So when they met the next day, he tried his best to play the part of a gentleman.

Aside from the couple of assigned errands from Dimitri that she helped him with, Felix and Annette spent the rest of the day at the castle. He preferred it, as they had time alone together in the yards training or horseback riding.

Felix hadn't lost his touch with a bow. He stood along the archery range, the hay bales lined up in a curve ranging from forty and sixty yards, each painted with a red and white bullseye target. He selected one of the farther bales, nocked the arrow, and took a deep breath. He drew back the arrow, exhaling slowly and lining up the sight, then let the arrow fly.

Thunk! It struck near the center. "Nice shot!" Annette said.

"Want to try?" he offered the bow to her.

She accepted it and fumbled with nocking the arrow. Once she had it in place, she drew back. She let the arrow fly and it veered to the left of the hay bale, sticking in the dirt.

"Oh!" she stomped her foot and snatched another arrow. Her nostrils flared as she took a breath and drew back the string. Drew it back too far and she knew it. The string slipped from her fingers and the arrow sailed high into the grass beyond the targets.

"Nice distance," Felix said with a smirk. "Shame about the aim."

Her eyes flashed with a fire that materialized in her hand. The next second, the fireball hit the target dead center, incinerating his arrow and the hay bale all in one. "I think my aim's just fine."

He pursed his lips, holding back a laugh. "I stand corrected."

Felix also hadn't dulled in his swordsmanship. He easily hacked new notches into the wooden training dummy. He missed a few swings watching Annette though, who selected an axe. "I've only had a few chances to try it," she said.

Unfortunately, the axe's shaft was nearly as large as her and her attacks were less well-aimed swings than wild throws at her dummy. The last one went wide in Felix's direction and he only blocked it at the last second.

She rushed over to him, apologetic and frantic. "Oh, no! I'm sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry!" she said, on the verge of tears. "Are you hurt? Oh, I'm so sorry."

He couldn't be mad at her. He did vaguely recall she was accident-prone, to put it lightly. "Maybe we should move onto something a little safer?" she suggested, pointing to the stables.

As they rode on horseback across the open fields around the castle, Felix cursed himself. His heart was beating faster than the horses' galloping hooves. Annette was perfect in every way and he understood completely how he would have fallen for her.

He just wished he could remember any of it!

Even struggling through the melody over and over, he only encountered further splitting headaches and foggy memories. He wanted to remember her and he needed to convince her to come to his side before his fellow rebels arrived.

Unfortunately, towards the late afternoon, Ingrid arrived with Dorothea and Bernadetta in tow. He remembered them from the academy, immediately assigning their descriptions mentally. The hopeful, naïve knight. The diva playing the field. The skittish mouse.

Annette was happy to see them, hopping off her horse and throwing her arms around Ingrid and Dorothea. Bernadetta said a quick hello, then faded into the background. Felix reluctantly dismounted and grabbed his horse's reins, leading it over.

"Welcome back," Annette greeted Ingrid. "It's good to see you. You put down that rebel army already?"

"Wasn't much of an army," she said. "They fled almost as soon as we arrived. It may have only been a small group. I ran into these two on the way back."

"The archbishop sent us with a message for Dimitri. She returned to the academy after you found him," Dorothea said, nodding to Felix. "She finally found records about the goddess' children and what you told us about the rebels."

No doubt I was compelled to, he thought sourly and forced a smile. "That's great. Why don't you take it to him?"

"Yeah," Annette said, looping her arms around Ingrid's and Dorothea's. "I want to hear about it too."

Felix watched helplessly as the trio headed to the castle. He had hoped to spend the rest of the afternoon with Annette. However, of course the war had to intrude once again. His mood darkened and when he looked around to grab the reins for Annette's horse, he found Bernadetta in her same spot, quivering like a leaf in the wind.

At one glance from him, she squeaked and chased after her friends. Felix grumbled to himself and pulled the horses along to the stables. Left alone with his thoughts as he returned the horses to their stalls, reality came crashing back down on his head. Tomorrow was the day. Tomorrow, everything would change.

Dorothea had only just begun by the time Felix joined the rest in the throne room. Dimitri had ordered guards outside not let anyone else in. Everyone had gathered small chairs or sat on the steps around Dimitri in his throne while he listened attentively to Dorothea.

Felix quickly found Annette and sat beside her. She immediately leaned on his arm, making him much warmer.

"It was in the Shadow Library of the Abyss," she said. "The archbishop found a partially burned report referring to a group that 'slithers in the dark.' Besides that, Ferdinand was going through some of Hubert's effects and found a journal that also mentions a group he called 'Those Who Slither in the Dark.' "

"Who are they?" Dimitri asked.

"According to the archbishop, they may have manipulated events before and during the war. They may even have been involved with the Tragedy of Duscar."

Annette and Mercedes stiffened. Dimitri's fist tightened and his countenance grew dark. There's the wrathful king I know, Felix thought.

"But they may have been around for longer," Dorothea said. "She met with Rhea, who told her that the group supported Nemesis in the war against the Goddess. They harbor a hatred toward her and the church."

"Then it is another faction trying to prolong this war," Dimitri said. "Do we know who's involved?"

"L-L-Lord Arundel was the leader," Bernadetta said, reminding them of her presence.

"Who's dead," Dimitri added. "Therefore, the group should have disbanded or gone to ground. Unless someone else is leading them?"

Dorothea gave a helpless shrug. "She's still looking into it. She thought you should know what you're up against."

"Thank you," he said quietly.

Felix vaguely remembered Arundel and how Dimitri had viciously cut him down. The weight of their enemy settled on them and Dimitri glowered at the floor.

"If this group did manipulate events leading up to and throughout the war," Ingrid started, "and they've been around for so long, what about now with all these random attacks?" She looked to the king and then everyone else. Felix cursed her reasoning. If she followed this line of thinking, it wouldn't take long for her to realize how vulnerable the capital was.

"They don't have a leader," Felix said. "At best, they could only stir up trouble and rouse hatred for the kingdom, which is what they've been doing."

"They've been spreading us out. We've had attacks all over the continent."

"Nothing we haven't been able to handle," he said. He needed to shut her down quickly before anyone else joined in. "Tell me, have we lost any battles against them?"

She thought for a moment. "No."

"And haven't their numbers seemed fewer?"

"Yes, I suppose."

"And even now, we have them on the run."

"They were coordinated enough to kidnap you."

He swatted away her concern. "They were lucky enough to kidnap me. And they only did so because the two of us were vastly outnumbered. These are the desperate last gasps of a faction trying to hold relevance and power."

"I'd still like to be prepared," she said, standing and turning to Dimitri. "With your permission, I'd like to raise levies among the townspeople. On a temporary basis until Dedue, Ashe, and Sylvain return."

Dimitri considered her request and nodded. "Very well. Try to take only volunteers first. If you still need more, keep it to as few fighting age people as possible. Spread them out around the town. We'll still need to appear open to lure them in if they do intend to attack Fhirdiad."

Ingrid bowed and left at once while Dimitri again thanked Dorothea and Bernadetta for their report. "Please, stay the night. I'll have rooms made for you each."

After a short dinner, everyone retired to their rooms. Felix walked Annette to hers, his thoughts on tomorrow and hardly paying attention to her until she stopped in front of him. He blinked and found they were at her door. "I'm sorry, what?"

"This is me," she repeated. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes." She waved to him and turned the doorknob. Suddenly, he reached out for her. "Annette, wait!"

She looked at him with those large, trusting eyes. He wanted so badly to tell her about tomorrow, to persuade her to join him. He wanted to keep her safe, tell her to lock and bar her door, that he would come rescue her from this terrible place and this evil kingdom. Or to wake up before dawn and wait for him far outside the castle. For what reason? He didn't have one. There were so many things that hammered at his chest to reveal themselves to her now that the actual day was here.

He couldn't. Any hint or slip about the attack could repel it altogether. He had to keep the secret to himself. "Good night. I look forward to tomorrow."

She grinned and kissed his cheek. "So do I."

He stalked down the hall as soon as she closed her door, clenching and unclenching his hands repeatedly. He was a fool. A miserable, inept fool. He wouldn't get any sleep that night and he was proved correct. All through the late hours, he tossed and turned every which way, seeing Annette's face before him. Even when he shut his eyes tight, she was there, laughing, talking to him, kissing him, looking at him with that deep love that matched his own.

In the early hours of the morning, he sat up in bed, exhausted and his back aching from the various positions he tried. He quickly dressed, fastened his scabbard to his waist, and stole out of his room. The castle was relatively empty and he had memorized the soldiers' and servants' patterns. It was easy enough to slip outside unnoticed and to the town.

Felix made for the gate, which took longer than he anticipated. Ingrid had been busy through the night and new patrols marched through the town, covering more areas. Sticking to the shadows and exploiting gaps in the untrained civilians' routes, he made it to the gate. He checked the stairwells in the barbican on either side of the wooden portcullis. No soldiers were there, but there were likely to be a couple at the top. He headed up the left stairwell, creeping quietly on the stairs, his hand on his sword and prepared to draw it in a flash.

Along the top of the rampart walls, there was a soldier patrolling to one of the corner towers. Near to the stairwell's exit, a sleepy soldier leaned on the rampart's edge, his head drooping in his hand. The far guard entered the tower and Felix waited for a few minutes to determine if he would return. When he didn't, Felix swept behind the tired soldier, drew his sword, and butted him hard with the pommel, knocking the guard out.

Quickly, he dragged the unconscious soldier into the stairwell, propping him up in the shadows, then grabbed a torch beside the rampart wall. He waved it back and forth, checking the tower and the town behind him. He prayed nobody saw him up here or this was all for naught. You had better be out there, he thought, peering hard at the tree lines in the gray dawn distance.

Then he saw it. A tiny flame copying his motions. They were here. He replaced the torch and hurried back down the stairs, leaping two or three at a time. Once at the bottom, he scouted the other stairwell and its ramparts, but it appeared empty for now. Running back down, he grabbed the wheel for the portcullis and started to turn it, opening the wooden entrance high for the approaching rebel army. Finally, King Dimitri would be no more.