Imperial Year 1183
Month of the Wyvern Moon
Six Months Remain
It was a cold night during the Wyvern Moon when Felix found himself amid an army deep into enemy territory. They had just managed to haul the boar off from his chaotic rampage by the skin of their teeth. The beast lay unconscious within one of the healer's tentsβ badly wounded, by the sound of it.
Felix had caught a glimpse of the boar as the old man and others rushed him off the battlefield. His monstrous face contorted with rage and anguish, blood gushing from his side. Felix doubted the injuries would dissuade him from attempting another assault once he woke.
The past two years had been nothing but one reckless mission after the next, and the Kingdom was losing land quickly because of it. About half of its territories had either defected or been taken by force.
Ever since the boar had found evidence of his stepmother's involvement in the tragedy, he had lost any semblance of sanity left within him. The boar didn't care how many of his allies he had to bury right alongside his enemies if it could lead him even one step closer to the emperor. Felix didn't pretend to understand the source of his unadulterated hatred of her, or how he had decided she bore the brunt of responsibility for what happened in Duscur.
It hardly mattered. Dimitri had become nothing but a raving beast who'd lost its mind.
As Felix walked through the encampment, he found his legs taking him close to where he knew the boar would likely be.
Felix noted with some morbid curiosity that the tent flap was open just enough to peer inside. He felt himself inch closer, catching a glimpse of the boar's face as he rested against a cot with a deep wound in his shoulder. There was an uncomfortable and unwelcome knot forming in Felix's stomach as he watched the slow rise and fall of the wounded beast's chest.
"Do you believe he'll wake soon?" Felix heard his old man's voice ask from inside the tent, sounding laced with worry.
"He's stable, but I wouldn't imagine he'd wake for another few hours," replied one of the healers. Felix could see that his old man had taken a seat near the boar and was attempting to wipe the blood from his face with a damp washcloth. He watched his father reach out to gently brush back a strand of blond hair from the sleeping figure's face.
Felix decided he didn't wish to see any more of the display before him and turned to leave, but paused upon hearing another voice.
"With the state of our current situation β¦ when His Majesty wakes, we ought to advise him to retreat back toward Kingdom grounds," said Gilbert from somewhere within the tent.
Felix saw his old man exhale and dip his head at these words, eyes staying locked on the boar's sleeping form.
"Yes β¦ that would indeed be the wisest course of action," his father said in a heavy voice that carried a notable lack of confidence.
Silence filled the room for a moment as the unspoken truth permeated the air. Felix felt himself let out a quick breath. He felt freshly ignited anger spark in him as he turned to leave.
π© πͺ
It wasn't until the following night that he found himself back in their presence, this time with the boar awake. The beast stood before them, with bandages tied to a blood-soaked wound, as he demanded they charge a distant enemy camp.
"The emperor could be within that base β possibly alongside her treacherous mother β and you all suggest we pass her by? Spare the life of my father's murderer?" the beast growled in a low, menacing rumble as he scowled out at their faces.
Felix stared up at the boar, feeling his own scowl deepen. This was more or less exactly what he had expected to hear, but the expectation did little to dampen his anger.
This was beyond reckless, beyond idiotic β it was downright suicidal. Many of their soldiers were wounded, and they lacked the reinforcements to do anything but lick their wounds back in Faerghus. They wouldn't even be in this mess if the boar hadn't dragged the army to an offensive in the first place.
"Answer me this, boar," Felix began, taking an assertive step closer as the beast's eyes drifted down toward him. "Do you even understand any of the words we're saying to you? Or are you just that -"
"Felix, enough!" his father interrupted sharply, cutting Felix off with a firm grip on his shoulder. "You will give the king proper respect, even when voicing a dissenting opinion."
Felix smacked the old man's hand away. His father looked back to the boar β trying, no doubt, to catch any sign of approval from the king's expression. He was met with no such reward.
"Your Majesty, I will concede that I am personally advising against this course of action," his old man started warily. "And as Lambert's close and trusted friend, I feel I can say with confidence that I do not believe that he would have -"
"SILENCE!" the boar snapped. He sounded strained, as though anger was fighting to make full use of a voice that had rendered itself hoarse. "You hid their treachery from me for months! And now β¦ you ask me to forgive them?" he growled as he glowered down at the old man.
The aftermath of the boar finding the letter hidden away amongst the old man's belongings had escalated whatever issues already lay within both of them. It had once been jarring to see the boar turn his anger on the old fool β now, such displays were a regular occurrence.
"I would never ask that of you," his father said in a steady tone as he clenched his jaw tightly. "You are my king, our king, and wherever you go, we will follow," the old man said after a pause, his tone resigned and defeated.
Felix watched the display before him, feeling a painful twist in his chest that he preferred not to name.
"Your Majesty, I am confident that Lord Rodrigue did not intend to oppose your command," added Gilbert. "It is our duty as your knights and subjects to obey our king's command, andβ¦" the other old man went on, spouting further nonsense.
But Felix had stopped listening.
Idiots, Felix thought to himself as he scanned the faces gathered in the tent. Only Dedue had not spoken. He had mostly kept his eyes on the boar, but at some point, his gaze had shifted to Felix. There was no anger or challenge within those eyes. However, this was little indication of his opinion β his expression was often reserved.
Even if the man had more sense than the boar, he had said nothing.
"Then I suggest you make the necessary preparations to set out as soon as possible," was the last thing Felix had heard from the boar before he stormed out of the tent.
Felix stood silently, feeling a strong sense of hollow dread mixed with rage as he watched the rest of the gathering leave to prepare. Felix had had more than enough arguments with the old fool over the years. The man didn't listen to anything his son said. Even if he could concede this plan was reckless, he would follow the boar anywhere.
Felix's eyes flickered back toward the boar's tent as he felt his legs take a step in that direction, then another, and then another, until he was fully outside. Cold air blew onto his face and sent loose strands of dark hair into his eyes. He felt the sensation of the beginnings of rainfall as he looked up to see dark storm clouds forming against the night sky. Felix lowered his gaze back toward the distant tent as he felt a useless β and possibly even dangerous β impulse tugging at him. Grimacing, he finally gave in and set out after the beast.