Chapter Text
The cold air felt oppressive as ever as Leo walked down the halls of the Northern Fortress. Spring was here, but winter seemed to cling to the air with a possessive, greedy grip.
Is she cold here too? he wondered, still shivering a bit despite his armor. He’d come so quickly from Castle Krakenburg that he hadn’t had time to change. Though he’d liked to have said that brotherly affection was what had motivated his haste, in reality it was guilt. He sighed as he drew near to the library, pushing down the irrational emotion. So what if he’d had a mission that overlapped with his siblings’ visit to Corrin? That was outside of his control.
But as of late…
He knocked on the door, metal against wood ringing loudly in the still air. “Corrin?” he asked, opening the heavy door to the library. “I’m here.”
And there sat his sister on the couch, black leggings underneath a soft blue tunic, her crimson eyes twinkling. “Leo!” she said, her voice delighted as she rose from the couch, running towards him. “It’s so good to see you!”
He grunted as he caught her tackle hug, but couldn’t help the smile that crept up his face. Though sometimes he found it annoying, Corrin’s enthusiasm could also be endearing at times. She gave him an extra hard squeeze, then pulled away. “How’s my little brother?” she asked, grinning widely.
“Trying to remember how to breathe,” he wheezed, coughing a bit. “Gods, Corrin, did you intend to throttle me?”
She rolled her eyes, but her grin still remained. “You’ll live. You’ve got armor on, after all.” Her smile shrank a bit. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“I couldn’t come by recently,” he said, the light mood fading as he remembered why he had been absent. “Father sent me to quell another bandit rebellion.”
Corrin’s lips turned down into a frown. “I see.” She hesitated. “Did it… Did it go well?”
“As well as could be expected,” Leo said. “But, enough of me. How are you doing? Is everything all right here?”
The frown was gone in less than a second. “Yep! Everything’s perfectly fine. Still the same as always.”
“Is that so?” he asked. “That’s good, then.”
In some ways. In others, not at all.
His sister had lived in the same fortress for the past ten years, with practically no experience with the outside world. The only contact she had was through her siblings, but with their busy schedules and erratic deployment on missions, they couldn’t visit her as often as they’d like. Camilla in particular always complained about it. And Leo had also wondered.
Why did their sister live isolated from them?
Father had claimed it was because of her sickness. But she hadn’t grown ill in over four years now, and her strength with the sword was improving. Corrin was no Xander, but she… well, she could handle herself better than a first day recruit in the National Defense. Yet, Leo could feel a little more secure with Corrin safely tucked away in her sequestered fortress. To see her haunted by battle, having to wield her sword against a living thing…
He could still feel the blood on his face from the battles of the past week.
Perhaps it’s better this way.
“Camilla and Elise came to visit me not long ago, actually,” Corrin said, her voice wistful. She smiled, but he could see the sadness behind it. “They’re going to Cyrkensia for a month. Sister trip.”
“Is that so?” Leo asked. His chest felt heavier as he saw her rub at her hands. And she can’t go with them. “Well, I was going to come with Xander, but he got caught by Father at the last second.” Corrin’s sadness faded at the subject change, and a little of the weight in his chest lifted. “We planned to meet and travel together, but it didn’t come together. I even finished my philosophy book.”
Corrin chuckled. “So, in other words, you left him behind.”
Leo smirked. “Well, you know Xander. He takes his meetings very seriously.”
“How long did you wait?” Corrin asked, a gleam in her eye.
“Almost three hours,” Leo admitted, rubbing his forehead. “Either way, he should be here soon.”
“Three hours? That’s a record,” Corrin commented. But her smile widened. “It’s been a while since Xander’s been here too. It’ll be good to see the both of you.” Then, she winced. “I’m sorry, I completely forgot. Did you want tea or a meal or anything? I can have Jakob prep your room for you.”
“Tea will be fine,” Leo said, sitting on the couch. “I’m afraid I don’t have much time. I’ll have to travel back to the castle tonight.”
He tried to ignore how Corrin’s exuberant air deflated at his statement.
“All right. Felicia, Flora!” she called, waving her hand. Leo turned to see the twin maids pop in from the hallway, Felicia nearly toppling over. “Could you get us some tea? Leo’s favorite.”
“Of course!” Felicia said, running off with a swish of pink hair.
“Leave it to us, Lady Corrin,” Flora said, her eyes tired as she pulled away. “Felicia, careful with that tea set…”
Leo chuckled. “Still the same, I see.”
“Yep,” Corrin said, sitting down next to him on the couch. She smiled idly. “But they’re the best.”
Leo blinked as a loud crashing sound rang from the hallway, echoed by a shrill feminine shriek. “Felicia!” Flora shouted, her voice exasperated. “Are you all right? That’s the third teapot you’ve broken today…”
“S-Sorry,” Felicia’s contrite tone mumbled.
Corrin chuckled, smiling at Leo. “See?”
He sighed. “As usual for your retainers. With her, it doesn’t matter how many times you anticipate it.” He glanced at her. “Should I ask Father to find someone more capable?” He shuddered to think of how much chinaware Felicia had destroyed in the past six months, let alone how long she’d served Corrin here.
Corrin froze, her eyes wide. “What? No! Honestly, it’s fine.” She stared back at the hallway as the twin maids finally brought in the tea on a cart, the familiar scent of peppermint wafting through the air. “Everyone does really well here. Besides, they’re family to me.” Felicia’s face was as pink as her hair as the tea was served. Corrin thanked them, and the maids curtseyed before retreating out into the hallway. “Gunter, Felicia and Flora, Jakob… They’re irreplaceable.”
Leo stared at the doorway, teacup in hand as he pondered her words. Family… He agreed with her. Gunter had practically raised her as an adoptive daughter, and despite Felicia’s clumsiness and Jakob’s rough attitude, they were good caretakers. Corrin had never suffered neglect or abuse under their hand. But…
Wasn’t that their role? To take care of their sister?
It was more complicated than that, of course. Leo glanced at his sister, at her silver hair and crimson eyes, the slant of her pointed ears. He knew the secret of their differing origins, though she didn’t. Yet he remembered his retainer’s words, spoken from long ago. So what if you don’t share a daddy? You live with her, you laugh with her, you love her like a sister. That makes her one.
He hated living with the lie, but still, Corrin was family. And family took care of each other.
“By the way…” Corrin’s voice was furtive as she rubbed her hands again, back bowed as she stared at her tea. “I don’t suppose Father told you anything… right?”
“About what?” Leo asked, taking another sip. Despite Felicia’s clumsiness, the brew was good.
“About me leaving the Fortress?” she asked, though her eyes were sad. She knew the answer just as well as he did.
“I haven’t heard anything,” he said quietly. Corrin had hoped that on her eighteenth birthday, she’d be allowed to leave this place. Yet Father hadn’t even sent a present to her. He didn’t acknowledge her presence most days. A lump rose in his throat as her back bowed even more. “I’m sorry, Corrin,” he said softly, though it was a weak apology.
“No, it’s fine,” she said quickly, shaking her head. Leo pursed his lips as she tried to smile. “It’s just… I was hoping to be able to go to the meadows this year.”
“Meadows?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
She nodded, enthusiasm shining in her eyes. “Mmhm. Every three years, there’s a huge meteor shower that you can go and watch in those meadows. Gunter told me about it, and I found a chart of days when it happens.” Her hands grasped a thick astronomy tome, and Leo blinked as she flipped open to a page, marked with a red ribbon. “The meadows are close to this fortress, not more than a few miles away. And the shower starts next week. Gunter said that there are thousands of shooting stars, and it lasts for days.” Wonder filled her crimson eyes as she looked up at him. “Can you believe that?”
“It sounds phenomenal,” Leo agreed, staring down at the book. He’d never witnessed such a thing — most nights were clouding, preventing any massive spectacles like that.
“I’ve been waiting to do this since I was little,” Corrin admitted, slowly closing the book. She exhaled softly. “Guess I’ll just wait another three years. Not too long, right?”
Corrin…
Would she have ever seen something like that? Leo had seen several shooting stars before, and while he didn’t believe they could grant wishes, he agreed that it was a beautiful sight. But Corrin, locked in a lonely fortress, only a few servants for company…
Words he had spoken on their siblings’ last visit haunted him. “The world outside these walls may seem wonderful. But in reality, it’s far more complicated. Here, life is simple. There is a certain charm to it.” He’d recognized his error later in the conversation, but sitting here, looking at Corrin trying to be optimistic about her chances for release, the words stung him.
You deserve better from us than this life.
But what could he do about it? Orders were orders. Corrin had to remain here, in the Northern Fortress, for her safety.
“Corrin?” Leo blinked as he saw his older brother rap on the doorframe with his armored knuckles. “May I come in?”
She quickly plastered a smile on her face, standing up. “You’re finally here!”
Xander chuckled. “Yes, well, that meeting took a bit longer than I expected. But how are you, Corrin?” He smiled as she too hugged him fiercely. “Still strong as ever, I see.”
“You know, Leo said pretty much the same thing earlier,” she pointed out with a grin.
“It’s because you took so long,” Leo pointed out, sipping his tea.
“You could have stayed behind,” Xander replied. “That was the plan after all.”
“That was before I waited three hours for you,” Leo retorted.
Xander chuckled. “Three hours? That’s a record. Usually you’ve taken off after three minutes.”
Corrin laughed. “That’s what I said!” Leo couldn’t hold back a few chortles himself. Gods, I miss this. How long had it been since he’d laughed with his siblings? A few months, at the least. Not since their last visit to see Corrin.
Despite the gloom of the Northern Fortress, when their siblings were together here, it was like a magic spell — they could laugh, they could joke about politics and fashion, they could be themselves… Corrin’s very presence seemed to make all of them at ease, banishing the cold seriousness of Castle Krakenburg.
It’s like we can actually be real siblings here. No courtly masks to put on, no one to impress. Just us.
Just family.
And before they knew it, the sun had dipped below the horizon and the moon was starting to rise. Leo started as Xander sighed, rising from the armchair. “Well, I’m afraid it’s past our time to leave. It’s truly been wonderful visiting with you, Corrin.” Leo reluctantly rose as well.
Corrin was the last on her feet, and his heart sank as he saw the sadness in her eyes. “Sorry. I’ve kept you for too long.”
“Nonsense,” Xander said, a small smile on his lips as he clapped her shoulder. “We’ll just have ride a bit faster to get back at a reasonable time.”
“Right,” Leo said, folding his arms behind his back. “It’s perfectly manageable.” He smiled softly. “And we’ll be back to see you again soon.”
“Of course,” Corrin said. “I can walk you out to the stables.”
“That would be wonderful, little princess,” Xander said, falling into line behind her, though he knew the way by heart. The night air was chilly as they made their way to the central courtyard. Both Agnar and Sigurd were well taken care of by Lilith, and she smiled as they approached.
“I’ve given them a good rubdown, Your Highnesses,” she said, curtseying. “And they’ve already been saddled.”
“Thank you,” Xander said, mounting with a swift, practiced motion. “We’ll see you soon, Corrin. I swear it.”
“I’ll be counting on it,” she said, putting on her brightest smile. This was the part that Leo hated the most. Slowly, he mounted Agnar, settling into the comfortable saddle, then turned to look at her.
“Until next time,” he said softly.
“Until next time,” she said. “Stay safe going back to the castle.”
With a kick to the flanks, both of their warhorses trotted forward, and Leo stared down at the ground. “Lady Corrin, I think you’d better head inside,” Lilith said behind them. “It’s chilly out. You wouldn’t want to catch cold.”
“I’ll see them off,” Corrin said, her voice barely audible. Leo smiled as he heard her footsteps behind them. “It’s tradition.” Ever since she had read in some fairy tale book that the lady of the castle saw the knights off to war, she had insisted that she escort her siblings to the front gate.
It was as far as she could go.
And soon, the wind was in his hair, moonlight streaming down onto the dry soil. He turned to glance behind, watching as Corrin’s solitary shadow at the front gate grew smaller and smaller in the distance. Despite it all, he couldn’t get the sight of her lonely smile out of his mind. She tried so hard to give them a good send off, despite what it would mean for her — days spent in isolation, deprived of so many of the simple joys he experienced every day as prince of Nohr. And despite her wishing, it seemed she was trapped in that fortress indefinitely.
“It’s just… I was hoping to be able to go to the meadows this year.”
There was no logical reason why not to. It wasn’t far away from the fortress, and with an escort, she’d be perfectly safe. Besides, would Father truly mind a day expedition? He knew the answer, of course — he’d been growing more and more erratic as of late — but… His grip tightened on the reins.
She needs to get out of that place. Experience the outside world somehow.
And a plan began to form in his mind.