Work Text:
One of the first decisions made after the war’s end was a number of recurring meetings once in a year to discuss matters of importance. Soldiers, agriculture, food supplies, education, possible investments for the future. The royal palace in Fhirdiad was a crowded place in this week at the end of the Verdant Rain Moon, with countless nobles buzzing around, meeting each other, exchanging stories and laughing over a nice cup of tea.
But there was a person who looked forward to it the most. Who asked his parents over and over again when it’d finally take place and whined when his mother crouched in front of him, telling him that he still had to wait and skimming her fingers through his blonde hair and wiping away a tear.
It was Elias. Crown prince of the holy Kingdom of Faerghus. A little boy of only five years was the person whose happiness was the greatest in these days.
There were, of course, a couple of explanations: to entertain their guests properly, the royal couple didn’t hesitate to do anything possible to pull all the strings. Balls were held, festivities, banquets, anything. It was probably the most expensive week for the taxes, but since the people were also included and the king made sure that the festivities reached the entire continent, they didn’t mind that much.
So, with big and curious eyes, the prince sneaked between the masses of nobles. Sometimes, he held his father’s hand and already tried his very best to act properly like a prince and earned several compliments from the friends of his parents. Always cooing over him, claiming how well-behaved he was, how sweet and thoughtful and already so incredibly kind for a boy his age.
His second highest priority was the reunion with his countless uncles and aunts. He was a boy who loved Duke Fraldarius (against every expectation the swords-master held), and always ran ahead to hug him, jumping around his waist, catching him off guard. The duchess simply smiled and laughed, getting her hug from the prince without an ounce of hesitation.
But the most important reason was simple: in his young age, there were two kids he considered his best friends. With the heirs of House Fraladarius and House Gautier, the trio of the first children born after the war were rarely apart. Even when their parents called, they’d return as three. In this week, they were always together.
They even fell asleep at the same time and all of their mothers and fathers didn’t have the heart to separate them.
Elias Rodrigue Blaiddyd. Celio Iwein Fraldarius. Johanna Lia Gautier.
Nearly thirty years ago, a similar quartet sought their way through the castle. Four children with hopes in their eyes and kindness in their chest, but the world had changed it.
Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd. Felix Hugo Fraldarius. Sylvain Jose Gautier. Ingrid Brandl Galatea.
The oldest maids would still be able to tell stories, embarrassing the hardened warriors and diplomats with just a simple line of words.
In retro perspective, it was a chance for all four of them to remember those times. And to be reminded of one thing.
Everything they did was worth it.
The Golden King
Dimitri was probably the one person who understood his son the most. In comparison to his reactions every time his two friends would show up, it was the same when he was a child. Despite being the prince of Faerghus and having nearly no troubles during his early childhood, a certain kind of loneliness would always haunt him. Without many children in his age, he was often alone and quiet jealous of his friends that all of them had brothers. Sylvain, Felix, Ingrid. At least, they had someone to play with.
Naturally, it wasn’t this easy. But a boy of such a young age couldn’t properly distinguish between fair and unfair.
And so, the king watched his son in the courtyard. His locks were bouncing with every step, being the one to look for his friends while playing hide-and-seek. Elias walked forward with careful steps, looking to the left and right, searching for the other two. His green eyes, the orbs of his mother, were widened in curiosity. His hands were balled to fists and Dimitri recognized the hint of excitement in his features.
While Celio hid behind a tree and Johanna had crouched in the middle of a rose bush, the king observed the way Elias stepped forward, seemingly unaware of Celio’s presence until he jumped to the side and brushed his grin away with a ferocious and victorious roar. “Found you, Celio!”
The little boy merely pouted.
Moments that have been passed over twenty years resurfaced in his mind, pictures being played in front of his inner eye. How they had played as four, how he was usually the one to search for his friends and the way Felix has pouted and then smiled when he completed the task.
“Is Elias winning, love?”
With a startle, the king raised his head, looked over his left shoulder and started to smile at the sight of his wife coming closer. Byleth had her hair bound to a ponytail which swished from side to side, a smile on her lips and her head tilted to the side. “Did I surprise you?”
“My apologies.” He gestured to the spot right next to him, sighed through his nose when Byleth wrapped her arms around his left one. “I have thought you were already inside.”
“I’ve already expected you to watch them, Dimitri.” In a gesture that let his heart soar, the queen put her head on his shoulder. “You always get nostalgic when they are together as three.”
“It reminds me of old times.” He put his hand on hers around his limb, reciprocating her gesture. “I keep thinking how we did everything so the future generations wouldn’t be faced with the same odds. Every time I look at them,” he said and pointed to Elias, who has finally found Johanna and pulled her up by her hands, “I’m reminded that everything that has happened paid off. It was worth it.”
“It was.” Her finger trailed a path along his skin and he shuddered. “From a prince to a king. Your great heart has prevailed and you show that to me, every day.” Their eyes met, a smile on the queen’s lips. “I am proud of both of you. Our boy is growing every day, already as popular as his father.” A chuckle escaped her at his face of bewilderment and when she looked forward, Dimitri followed. The feeling of peace and content snaked its way into his chest and he intertwined their fingers. “I am certain he will be a wonderful man one day. We will make sure of that.”
“We will.” He catches the eyes of his son, green orbs looking at him in adoration and he waved at him with his small arms. He waved back. “It is the least we can do.”
“It is the least we will do.” He felt her lips touch his cheek, saw her lips mouth crinkle at the edges and she put a hand on the side of her mouth. “Come back in you three, dinner’s ready!”
Three ‘okay’s echoed through the garden. He watched how his son went ahead, closely followed by Johanna who quickly caught up to him and Celio, who was right beside him. His little El.
The king smiled.
They will.
The Blue Wolf
Although Felix was known for his sharp tongue, independent from talking with his old comrades or other nobles in diplomatic talks, he always had something to say. To see him struggle with words was a sight only the smallest number of persons would see.
The other three of the quartet knew that he could also struggle. Annette was a master in bringing him to his sharp end. But another person who cast a dumbfounded look on his face was the boar’s son. The one who carried the name of his father and had a strange infatuation with him. Always running to hug him around his waist, sometimes even knocking him over with the strength inherited by his father, was a sight so incredibly rare and loved by the persons around him.
Looking at his own son, a reflection of his own person as a child, so incredibly innocent, Annette left something in him that he immediately admired: Celio, like his mother, was an overachiever. Only three years old and already set on learning things as quick and well as possible. Ambitious, diligent, curious, but also kind. He was the first of the children to speak, the first to walk properly and the first one to let go of his father’s hand. But he still loved to ride on his father’s shoulders.
Just like now. When dinner was finished, the three have bounced off after they have pleaded with their best puppy eyes to play a little bit longer. He discovered Celio in Johanna’s bedroom. While Sylvain’s daughter and the prince were already fast asleep, his son looked at him with his big blue eyes and lifted his arms. A silent beg and he didn’t even need to say something else. “Papa?”
Who was he to deny his son?
Duke Fraldarius, one of the mightiest nobles in all of Faerghus, crouched in front of the little boy of barely three years, took him under his armpits and lifted him high in the air. A giggle, new energy coursing through his veins, echoed quietly in the room and with his son on his shoulders, his little body behind his head, they crossed the cool hallways of Castle Blaiddyd. The weight of the boy gave him a feeling of being grounded, his steps more precise and heavier.
“Papa?,”’ murmured the little man with his mouth in his father’s hair. “Can I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“El said that you and Uncle Mitri were friends like we are.” His little voice was a small echo through the spacious space, floating around him. His son probably didn’t realize how he was able to pull at his old man’s heartstrings. “Are you friends, papa?”
A friendship passed down by maybe more than three generations. Their fathers were close companions, Lambert and Rodrigue, growing up as close as they could, visiting the officer’s academy as students and becoming companions, advisors to both sides.
“Are you worried?”
“No.” Celio shook his head. His blue hair bounced with his step and he realized that it was another Fraldarius to inherit the same hair color. His father, Glenn, Felix, now Celio. “Mama told me that Loog and Kyphon were friends too.”
Maybe not just three generations. Apparently, ever since the beginning of Faerghus, the houses of Blaiddyd and Fraldarius have been counted as a unit. During some moment, he considered this friendship gone, lost in blood and war, madness and murder. But after everything that has happened, Felix sighed through his nose, sinking his shoulders and grabbing the legs of his son tighter. They kept on going, but the warm shades of the candles brought a weak memory to his mind. “We are friends,” he said and it feels like a statement his son would take to heart. “This boar would be lost without any proper help.”
He looked up, into the eyes of Celio’s mother. The boy looked at him in confusion, wondering in puzzlement. Felix was kinda glad that he couldn’t catch on the implication. There would be enough time to do that in the future.
“Do you think Elias and I will be friends like you and Uncle Mitri are, papa?”
“Celio.” They exchanged another glance Felix continuing his path. “I hope that you two will be friends like we could never be.”
Felix blinked. Remembered times when curses were spat, tears were shed and hope was lost.
“I hope you two will be friends no matter the circumstances.”
The Red Stallion
Sylvain was a proud father. And even though he had accepted both boy and a girl, he was delighted to hear that Ingrid gave birth to a girl. A princess for him to pamper, to shower her with love and make sure that she would get the life she deserved.
Johanna inherited so much from him, it’s crazy. It was actually so out of this world, to see her grin and recognize his own in her innocent figure. Whenever he watched her and her two best friends play with each other, making extra sure that the boys would never, ever, get the idea of anything stupid – although it was practically impossible, considering their age and their education, with Dimitri and Felix as their fathers – he watched how she was the easy part. Easy going, always encouraging Celio and Elias with words and hugs, motivating them. While Elias bore an innocence of kindness and Celio kept one of curiosity, Johanna was different. She was smart, his little girl, probably way smarter than he was in her age therefore, her innocence resulted out of mischief.
There was a reason why they always went to him to ask about anything unusual, a walk to the town, for example, or riding a horse with all three of them on the same one. He became the mischievous uncle for the prince and future Duke Fraldarius, and how was he supposed to resist the green eyes of her mother, when she looked at him in a certain way that always worked?
She had him wrapped around her little finger. Johanna was a genius in that regard, always managing to sweet talk to gain the best outcome for her and her two friends. Whenever they sat together as three, Johanna was pulled to the middle by her two little fellows.
It seems that not only personality and looks could be inherited by children, but also ideas and habits. She was a sweet one, his little Johanna, always making sure that the other two would notice her wit. Admiration would strike in their eyes, green and blue.
Even though all three of them were the oldest siblings, with Elias having a little sister, Celio a little brother and his daughter having a little baby Freya too, she became the big-sister figure for both of them.
When night approached, Sylvain let Ingrid sleep in their guest bed in Castle Blaiddyd and aimed directly for the location where he knew to find her. Since he couldn’t hear Dimitri’s heavy footsteps in the floor, there was only one room to go.
He found all three of them in Celio’s bedroom, sitting together on the big bed. They lifted their eyes, light green, light blue and dark green, and surprise was written in their features. The Margrave leaned against door, his arms crossed and a grin on his lips. “Look who I’ve found here.”
“Papa-”
“Uncle Sylvain-”
“The last time I checked, it’s long past your bed time, little lady.” Standing in front of the bed, he watched how they exchanged glances. “You two, little men.”
“But Papa.” Johanna stood on her tiny legs, using the offered shoulder of Elias and faced him with a determined look on her face. Already so sure what she wanted. “Can’t we just stay here?” She clasped her hands, batting her lashes. “Pleaaaaaaaaaase.”
Both boys nodded and Sylvain tried it once more. He looked into the green eyes of his daughter, the same hue as Ingrid and he could feel his resolve crumble. Another lash and she got him.
“Alright.” He pressed his index finger against her forehead. “But you won’t tell anyone I allowed you this. All right?” He looked at the prince and the young Duke. “No word to your papas, okay? Promise?”
Both nodded eagerly.
“Thank you, Papa!” Johanna lifted her arms, jumped around her father’s neck and grinned.
May the goddess have mercy on the man she’d choose one day.
The Green Wings
Back in her youth, Ingrid was the last one to enter this circle of friends. As a girl and future betrothed of Felix’s brother, no one was truly expecting her to get so close to the prince. How times have changed.
Despite her standing next to the other three, all of them belonging to the highest families of Faerghus and therefore receiving the education they all needed to survive in nobility, Ingrid learned to stand up on her own. Although hers was one of a lesser house, she didn’t allow any barrier to be built between Dimitri, Felix, Sylvain and herself. They accepted her as one of their own, embracing all her flaws and accepting that she just wasn’t the typical noble lady.
Well, that was also after she has taught them to do so. After the years have passed, Ingrid was allowed to witness a scene that was oh so familiar to her.
“I have an idea!,” Celio proclaimed, a certain gleam visible in his eyes. “We can play knight and dragon! I will be the knight, El will be the dragon and we can save Johanna as the princess!”
She recognized the enthusiasm in the prince’s eyes. But she already anticipated this reaction, so her eyes fell to her daughter instead.
She didn’t share the excitement – more like the opposite. Her little girl crossed her arms in front of her chest, blowing a strand of her red hair out of her face and replying with the most stubborn tone she could muster: “I don’t want to be the princess. I want to be the dragon!”
Puzzlement between the two boys and Ingrid hid her snicker behind a hand. She felt a hand on her waist, looked up and recognized the same gleam in her husband’s eyes.
“But, Johanna.” Prince Elias was a soft spoken soul, just like his father was in their years as children. Calmly and with much kindness, he tried to talk her. “You’re the only one who can be the princess.”
“I don’t care.” Flailing her arms, she insisted on her point. “I want to be dragon! You can be the princess – you are the prince already!”
Both boys shared a look and her and Sylvain shared a laugh.
“I guess she takes more from you than anyone ever thought.”
“Although I’ve always wanted to be the knight. You wanted to be the bad guy.” She tilted her head, watched amusement cripple over his features. “She got enough from you already, Sylvain.”
“She may have her personality from me.” His approach was already familiar to her, but she still couldn’t suppress the shiver that brought goosebumps over her skin, starting from her neck to her back. “But her strength and wit is obviously coming from her equally strong and smart mother.”
“Smooth talker.”
Sylvain grinned, but redirected their focus to the three children in the garden. She could only watch as both boys exchanged looks once more, green and blue and Elias let out a hesitant smile. “Okay, then I will be the princess-”
Two arms flung around the prince’s neck and Ingrid hid her laugh behind a hand once more.
“Yay, thank you, El!”
She watched with loving eyes how her daughter became the dragon, kidnapping the young prince – or princess in that situation – and challenging the young knight. The laughter of those three put her heart at rest.
“I’m proud of her, Ing.”
“Me too.”
All four of them: King Dimitri, Duke Fraldarius, Margrave Gautier and former Countess Galatea agreed on one thing.
To watch their children grow and play with each other proved them right.
After everything that has happened – death, separation, blood, grief, sorrow, tears, sadness, helplessness, desperation – it paid off in the end.
Everything they did was worth it.