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The lilies were a soft cream, with a brillant burst of pink at their center. The colors matched perfectly with the tassel the kiddo’s old Professor always wore, a bit of softness to her when everything else about her made his mind scream danger. Just like these lilies were a small bit of beauty after the horror and destruction of Fort Merceus.
Nader was picturing Byleth’s face as he gave them to her, even as he handed over a few too many coins to the young flower girl. She made to protest, but Nader was more focused on the thought of pulling even the tiniest of smiles from the usually stoic woman.
And the smile would be directed at him; just for him.
He was well aware of his own silly grin on his face as he made his way back into camp. Nader gave half a thought to the glances he was receiving, but they could not take the bounce from his step.
Now he just had to find Byleth. No doubt she was somewhere near the kiddo’s command center, helping him plan their march on Enbarr. Khalid had lucked out getting her to pick him all those years ago. Nader finally understood why Khalid had not given up on Byleth during the long stretch of her absence. Nader had begun to worry for him, only to be left feeling like a fool when he saw the woman’s strength for himself.
The area around the command tent was calm, the meetings having long since ended for the day. Nader nodded to the two guards who stood outside before ducking his way in. He frowned, not seeing anyone inside. The wooden figures Khalid used to mark troop positions had moved, so the kiddo had been doing more planning since the meeting’s end, despite the glare he had received from Byleth when Khalid had not followed the rest of them out. A soft murmur from behind a second set of flaps, cutting off the view into Khalid’s makeshift study, drew Nader’s attention. If that boy was still working, then Nader could at least yell at him for a moment before asking where Byleth was.
“When was the last time you ate?” Nader heard Byleth’s soft voice ask. His hand immediately let the tent flap fall back in place. Well, mostly. Nader caught sight of that strange shade of green that was Byleth’s hair and his eyes were drawn to her. She leaned in so close to Khalid he had to have felt her breath against his cheek.
And then Khalid turned his head to her, and Nader’s heart stopped.
Nader had never seen a smile like that before from Khalid. He was used to the sharp smirks and teasing grins. This was neither. No, this was a true smile, gentle and reserved, and so achingly real. Khalid let his head tilt to the side until it rested upon Byleth’s shoulder. Byleth’s face was turned toward Khalid, but he could see her hand reach up to brush the hair back from Khalid’s face. They were so soft with one another. Nader knew he had never seen Khalid show the type of trust he now wore so easily with anyone else, not even Nader himself.
At his angle it was hard to see, but Nader could swear Byleth pressed her lips against Khalid’s forehead. His contented response, letting his eyes fall closed as Byleth continued to run her fingers through his hair, was like a knife through Nader’s chest.
No, that was not fair. The kiddo had finally found someone he could let his guard down with, leaving Nader immediately chastising himself for his hurt. Not that it made it go away at all.
Nader turned to leave, the lilies at his side, unable to look any longer. The tent flap fell silently back into place, but not before Nader heard Byleth’s voice again.
“Eat first, then sleep.”
Khalid’s low laugh answered her. “There is still work to do, my friend.”
“Not when you can’t keep your eyes open, there isn’t,” Byleth countered.
Khalid hummed and there was a sound, the sound of a brief kiss exchanged. How had Nader not seen that Khalid’s admiration for Byleth went so deep? How had he not seen they were in love?
“Stay with me then,” Khalid requested, allowing the exhaustion to slip into his voice.
“Only if you eat first.”
That soft smile was so easy to imagine on her lips.
.
“Where are you going with those and that sour face of yours?”
Nader paused, his foot hovering in midair, eyes blinking like a surprised owl at the voice that had broken him from his stupor.
Judith was looking at him somewhere halfway between amused and annoyed. She had been hot and cold since his Nardel persona was revealed as false, and she had discovered he was really Nader the Undefeated. Not that he blamed her. He probably would not have enjoyed the deception either.
Nader held up the flowers as if seeing them for the first time, standing there blinking at them with such focus he did not notice Judith step to his side. “Ah! Um, well, nothing now.” He stumbled over the words, shoving the flowers toward Judith without even thinking about his actions. “Here.”
Judith seemed just as surprised as himself to receive the flowers, but she took the bouquet, holding it in a surprisingly gentle grip.
And then she smiled.
It was not the smirk Nader had seen on Tiana and Khalid’s lips so many times before, a mix of confidence and smug. He had seen Judith wear it after battle, as if she was ever confident in her victory. No, this was genuine happiness, Judith touched by the gesture. She raised her fingers, holding one of the white petals between her fingers. The corners of her mouth raised, almost as if they were unused to the position they were forced into, and yet in the dying sun, Judith looked radiant.
Nader shook his head, realizing he was staring. Even his breath had caught in his throat. “It’s just something I found,” Nader stumbled, trying to downplay the gesture and push aside the guilt that was balling up in his chest.
“Thank you, all the same.” Judith raised her head, lifting that smile to level directly at him. What was with all these Fódlani women being so easily able to take apart Almyran men?
Nader only nodded, turning on his heel and fleeing like the coward he felt he was.
/
Holst did not feel like he was at a victory feast. Oh sure, the whole thing had started out fine, even if Judith did seem a bit sulky. But it had quickly gone down hill when two of his best friends found themselves deep in their cups, and there he was in the middle, only half sober himself.
It turned out, Judith was indeed sulking. She was sulking about Nader. Nader was also being a brooding bore, only he kept throwing glances at the Professor. His eyes followed her up until the moment she snuck from the festivities, followed not long after by the Sovereign Duke, Although, Holst supposed Claude was only the Duke now, what with the Professor now becoming the Queen.
“Of course she wouldn’t be interested in an old soldier like me,” Nader muttered into his cup. He frowned heavily, glaring down at the cup before reaching for the half full pitcher on the table between them and filling his cup. “Just look at me.”
“You mean the bulging muscles and inviting smile?” Holst countered. He had only known Nader as Nader for a short time, but they had become fast friends. Holst wished they could go back to when they were both laughing into their cups, surprised at how much they enjoyed the other’s company.
“He’s got that too,” Nader slurred, ale sloshing over the rim of his cup and down his arm, as he waved it toward the door Claude and Byleth had slipped through earlier. “And younger.”
At least, Holst’s thought that was what those last two words were. “You cannot be too surprised. Look at everything those two have gone through,” Holst pointed out.
Nader grumbled, slumping until his head touched the table. “Ack, it’s fine,” he slurred, voice muffled against the wood. “It’s all like some comedy play, where I am the fool in the background stumbling over things. Usually tend to look like me anyways.” Nader gave a short laugh that almost seemed genuine while Holst patted his back, trying to reassure his friend, only to hear a loud snore come from the large man a moment later.
“There you are.” Holst looked up to see the owner of another slurred voice, Judith glaring down at him. Although, as Holst followed her wavering gaze, it seemed that glare was more focused on Nader than himself. “You walked off on me.”
“I left you in the very capable care of my sister.” Holst looked around Judith, quickly spotting the only other person in the room with pink hair. Hilda was smiling brightly at the Margrave’s adopted daughter, Marianne actually giggling at whatever Hilda had just said. Ah, well that made sense.
Holst scooted over, making room for Judith. With Nader asleep, he did not see the point in trying to get Judith away from him. So long as he could keep her from kicking Nader under the table.
“Look at him.” Judith glared at Nader’s prone form a moment longer before throwing back her cup, downing the rest of its contents. “Content as a baby.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Holst sipped on his own drink, watching Judith carefully. “Judith, can I ask what happened between you two? I chalked it up to him hiding who he was at first, but this seems like something more. Doesn’t seem like you,” he finished, the words feeling lame on his tongue.
Holst was not sure if he was imagining it, but Judith’s eyes somehow narrowed even further. The silence between them stretched, merriment echoing around them. The war was over. A great and terrible darkness had fallen. They were supposed to be happy.
“Those damn flowers,” Judith finally muttered, right when Holst began to think he would not receive an answer. “Before Enbarr, he gave me a bouquet of lilies. I found out later through camp gossip that he meant to give those flowers to someone else. The flower girl who sold them to him said he praised a woman with green hair, and multiple people saw him walking to the command tent with them. He gave them to me as no more than a throwaway when he couldn’t give them to her.”
Oh.
That explained a lot actually.
Holst doubted that Nader had meant to hurt Judith, but he had obviously done so with one careless action. He remembered the appreciative glances Judith had thrown at Nader when he was Nardel. Judith was no schoolgirl with a crush, but Holst could see her placing hope in that gesture. ‘Fuck, Nader. Why’d you have to go do something stupid like that?’
“Judith,” Holst began slowly, gulping when Judith’s half lidded gaze focused on him. Goddess, but that woman could be terrifying when she wanted to be. Still, Holst had not gained leadership over the Locket because of cowardness. “I doubt he meant anything-”
Judith slammed her fist on the table, their mugs shaking violently before settling again. “That’s just it,” Judith growled, her eyes focused on Nader as he blinked open owl like eyes, unable to really focus on what was going on before him. “He wasn’t thinking.”
Judith shoved back her chair, getting to her feet in one fluid move that made Holst jealous. No one should have such an easy time moving after drinking that much. He briefly wondered if her anger was somehow making her sober.
“Wha?” Nader sputtered out.
Holst reached behind him, patting him on the back. “Nothing, big guy. Sleep it off.” Under his breath he added, “Maybe by then you two will be conscious enough to listen to one another.”
Holst could only hope that they worked something out. He did not like seeing his friends in such a state. Nader would go back to Almyra in the morning, and Holst was not sure if anything would be able to bridge the hurt between them after that.
And yet there was not enough time before then.
/
He caught Judith in the morning, the bags under her eyes the only sign of the obvious hangover she must be feeling. But her eyes trailed east, watching Claude’s small party take to the sky.
And then they were gone, leaving Holst to try and pick up the broken pieces Nader did not even know he had left in his wake.
/
“Moping doesn’t suit you.”
Nader raised his brows at Khalid, leveling an unamused look at him while attempting to also appear lighthearted. “Don’t know what you mean. We are only going after your crown tomorrow, and if we fail, we will both most likely not see another night. Why wouldn’t I be jovial?”
“Because everything is in place,” Khalid countered. He stepped up beside Nader, looking out of the window and over the city. There was an unusual stillness tonight. Even this early in the morning there was usually movement around the docks, boats packing and unpacking their cargo. Smoke would unfurl the scent of bread, the stirrings of life before the sun.
But there was none of that now. The entire city knew the events to come in the next few hours would determine the course of the country. They were all holding their breaths, waiting to see what would happen.
Nader snorted a laugh. “And how many contingency plans do you have?”
“Hopefully enough,” Khalid answered, that mask of confidence slipping ever so slightly.
Khalid leaned forward, his elbow resting on the window sill, hand propped in his chest. Moonlight caught off the precious metal he wore on a chain around his neck, the little keepsake he had come home with from Fódlan.
“Is that from her?” Nader asked, his voice a low rumble.
Khalid’s eyes snapped to him, following Nader’s gaze down. He reached up, startled, and tucked the ring back beneath his shirt. “It is,” Khalid admitted, recovering himself. The corners of his lips played upwards, looking fondly out toward the west, calmer as Nader watched him go through the process of remembering he was not facing an enemy. “Her promise to me. I left one with her as well.”
Nader sucked in a breath. In the months since they had returned to Almyra, he had let go of the idea of Byleth as anything other than a friend, someone he would protect, especially if it kept a genuine smile upon Khalid’s face.
“Nader,” Khalid started, something close to hesitancy in his voice. “About Byleth…”
Nader laughed, that low rumble that shook his head. “That’s the first time I’ve heard you use her name, and not called her Teach.”
“Well,” Khalid answered slowly, “if she is going to become something so much more important to me, then it only seems appropriate I use her name. But Nader-”
Nader cut him off again, a heavy hand landing upon his shoulder. “You have nothing to worry about, kiddo. We’ll get you back to her.”
Khalid held his gaze, that unspoken question lingering between them. It ached, knowing that he had given Khalid reason to question him, but he had practically raised the kid, training Khalid alongside his own daughter.
“You know how pontient the attraction of a strong woman can be.” He squeezed Khalid’s shoulder, all the love and happiness he felt for this young man whom he had for so long seen as his son overcoming him. He reached out, pulling Khalid into a tight hug. “I’ve fallen victim to it before. I’ll get over whatever heartache is left. But it is nothing compared to knowing how happy you will be with her. I could ask for nothing more.”
After a moment, Khalid returned the hug. “Thanks, Nader,” he whispered.
Nader cleared his throat as they pulled away, patting Khalid on the back once more. “Now, let’s go get your throne, kiddo.”
/
The arrow flew straight and true, sinking into the chest of a mage attempting to set what was left of the city on fire. Derdiu burned beneath him, Nader’s heart aching at the sight of a place he had called home for a brief time.
The warrior, who had found herself surrounded while attempting to take care of the same target, turned to look over her shoulder. Nader immediately recognized the brown hair in that distinctive tail, her rapier in hand as she saluted him, more welcoming than the cold goodbye she had given him months earlier.
They found themselves with a moment of peace as his men took out the rest of the enemies crowding the square. Nader brought his wyvern down beside Judith, throwing her a cocky grin. “You look like you’ve been having fun,” he teased, smile pulling wider when Judith answered him by cocking her hip and resting her fist against it.
“You wouldn’t look so great yourself after a week of siege,” she shot back. He watched as her annoyance melted away into that cool confidence that always seemed to define her. Even now, with her clothes singed and her hair a mess, she was striking. “But I am glad to see your oafish face.”
Nader’s mouth fell open, a hand covering his heart. But there was no response.
His world erupted into fire before he could even place the words on his tongue.
/
It would come back to him slowly. His men impaled the mage over and over again to ensure he was truly dead this time.
Judith’s distressed cry as he gathered her in his arms, his stomach roiling at the feel of her burnt skin slipping beneath his touch.
Calling for a healer, and being forced to release her into their care.
And now here he was, sitting in front of a closed door, the tiles beneath him long since warmed by his own body. There was probably some irony to him being here, waiting in this estate where he had once held power, granted to him by a king he had helped place on the throne. His mind was too tired to think it through completely, and so the thought lay there half formed.
The kiddo came at some point, although he was not supposed to call him that anymore. Nader was aware of Khalid allowing himself to slide down the wall until he was seated. He said nothing, simply lent his presence until he was called away by one more responsibility. He was a king now, after all. That mischievous little boy Nader had caught stealing pastries from the kitchens had the weight of a country on his shoulders.
All the same, Nader was grateful.
/
Nader had not even noticed he had nodded off until a loaf of bread was shoved under his nose, the growling of his stomach drawing him back to consciousness. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of Byleth standing over him, the bread in one hand, a bowl of broth in the other.
Even now, still a mess from the recently ended battle, in much that same state as Judith had been when he landed back on Fódlan soil, there was something almost divine about her. There were fresh patches of pink skin beneath the dirt, distinctive marks of newly healed wounds.
Nader’s eyes lingered on the pink mark on her arm, revealed by the burnt off ends of her sleeve. He could image the wound, charred and-
His stomach turned, bringing up images of the state of Judith’s back.
Byleth’s eyes narrowed as Nader recoiled, raising a hand to push away the offered food. “You need to at least try to eat.” There was a power in her voice that was difficult to fight against, that made it so easy to believe a goddess had lived within her.
She stared him down with that flat gaze, until Nader relented and took the bread. It felt like ash in his mouth, and yet his stomach growled loudly, Nader tearing through the rest of the loaf.
Byleth’s face softened, almost imperceptible. There was a time his heart yearned for even the hint of her smile, but he had come to accept her eyes would always stray back to Khalid. And after everything the kiddo certainly deserved something good in his life.
The flash of Judith’s smile when she saw him invaded his mind, and he wondered if she would haunt him. No, that...that sounded like…
He cut himself off, unwilling to entertain the thought. He had lost soldiers before, but he would not lose Judith.
“Cla- Khalid is worried about you.” Byleth’s words were a hushed whisper, stumbling over the still unfamiliar name.
“Does he need me?” Nader asked. When had he taken the bowl from her? It was already half emptied.
Byleth seemed to ponder that for a moment. Nader did not doubt that Khalid could probably use an extra hand. The clean up of a battle was almost as difficult as the battle itself, even without landing foreign troops in a ravaged city.
“He knows you are needed elsewhere,” was Byleth’s diplomatic reply.
Nader laughed under his breath, shaking his head. “I see you’re settling into your role as queen.”
Byleth scrunched her face in disgust. “Stars, no,” she answered, using the kiddo’s favorite curse.
And then the door opened, cutting off their conversation. A haggard Manuela took a step out into the hallway, her eyes sweeping over the pair of them. “She’s stable,” the former songstress said. “We’re keeping her unconscious for now, to help manage the pain. If- ” She paused to emphasize the word, her eyes boring into Nader, “you take a bath first, and don’t come in here stinking like a barnyard animal, you may come in.”
“Come on then,” Byleth said, offering her hand to help him up. “Go get cleaned up so she has someone with her when she wakes up.”
/
He came to at the sound of a soft hiss, long years spent in war camps setting his nerves on edge. Nader’s eyes flicked around the room, checking the door and windows for any signs of danger, before the sound of shifting fabric and a pained grunt brought his attention back to the figure on the bed.
Judith was sitting up, attempting to put on a shirt over her bandages. She shook her head, her once long hair now shorn to her shoulders. Her face was contorted in pain, and Nader had no doubt of how excruciating the burns must be for Judith to show him that kind of vulnerability.
“We change my bandages and clean the whole thing up, and you don’t even stop snoring,” she managed through gritted teeth, more pain than anger. “But one simple hiss and you’re up.”
Nader rolled his shoulders, loosening his muscles. “Slept next to a lot of camp infirmaries before. Normal noise of people going about their business doesn’t bother me. But something soft like that, well, could have been an assassin unsheathing a dagger. Wouldn’t want to sleep through that, would I?”
He offered Judith a tentative smile, which she met with a frown. But when he raised his brows, wiggling them at her, Judith shook her head and sighed. The frown fell from her face, her lips forming a reluctant smile. “Stop that,” she ordered half heartedly. “Don’t try to make me laugh right now.”
“Ah, sorry,” Nader relented, rubbing the back of his head. “Didn’t think about that it might hurt.”
“Everything hurts right now,” Judith admitted with a sigh. Nader followed her gaze down to her hands. Her fingers curled, wincing at the pain. Nader could only imagine her train of thought. For a sword fighter not to be able to wield a sword anymore…
Nader cut off that train of thought. “Manuela said you should make a full recovery. It will just take time.”
Judith sucked in a breath, uncurling her fingers and straightening her back. Her lips twitched, the only sign of her distress, the movement making Nader want to wince.
But he would not. To do so when Judith was trying so hard to hide her pain would be an insult.
“You have seen wounds like this before.”
She leveled it at him like an accusation. He nodded. He had. Of course he had, but never something so bad as what Judith had suffered, not without a death to follow.
“You know as well as I do, something like this never fully heals. No amount of faith magic poured into me will alleviate the pain. It will stay with me the rest of my life. Whenever there is a change in weather, I will feel it in every bone in my body. When I try to hold my sword-” Judith cut herself off, the frown transforming into a look of pure disappointment. “I won’t be able to manage it for long. I will be useless if another battle like that needs to be fought.”
“Then I shall pray to every spirit of nature that one needs not be.” Nader wanted to reach out for her. To offer some form of comfort. “Judith, I’m sorry. I should have made sure he was dead before I let my guard down.”
Judith shook her head. “Don’t blame yourself. I made the same mistake.”
“But,” Nader pressed, “if you had not been standing between us, I wou-”
Judith actually reached out, smashing her hand over Nader’s mouth to get him to shut up. “And if we were standing in a slightly different position, I would be where you are now. Or we might both not even be here at all. That is not what I blame you for.”
Nader blinked down at her fingers. He could feel the newly knitted flesh, the strange smoothness and swirling patterns. They covered her entire palm, each finger thinner than what they should be.
But then her words truly sank in. “What do you blame me for then?” he asked, Judith letting her hand drop as he spoke.
She leaned back into her pillows, tilting her head up to stare at the ceiling. The movement was slow and unnatural, as if Judith could not figure out how her body worked anymore. Nader began to wonder if she had fallen asleep again, and if he should possibly try to move her. That position would hurt her neck if she stayed there for much longer.
“I wish you had never given me those damn flowers.”
“What?” Nader let slip, completely confused, half surprised he had even received an answer.
Judith sank further into the sheets, turning onto her side in the mountain of pillows provided for her. “The flowers you gave me before Enbarr,” she clarified.
Nader’s heart shrank, remembering the white lilies meant for another woman, the flowers he had thought would win him the smile he desired to see.
“Oh,” was the lame sound he found upon his lips.
Judith made a noise of disgust, turning her head into the pillows. “I thought it meant something more,” Judith admitted, shame tinting the edges of her words.
“I...I didn’t think.” Nader shook his head, reaching out to place his hand next to where Judith’s lay on the sheets. “I’m so sorry, Judith. I was so caught up in my own pain, I did not think of anyone else’s.” He drew in a deep breath, his mind racing to make sense of this new discovery. “Still, it’s not an excuse.”
Judith held her glare a moment longer, unable to maintain it with her next breath. “I know,” she relented. “I was mad at first, but not anymore. I know you are not like that. But it still hurt.”
Nader did not know what to say. He settled for covering Judith’s hand with his own, his touch light so as not to put pressure on her healing wounds. Her fingers relaxed beneath his touch, her whole body soon following. Nader watched as her eyes dropped closed, falling unconscious once again.
“Oh Judith,” he whispered, wondering how he could have been so blind. “Why would you have feelings for an old fool like me?”
/
Nader’s axe flew through the air, his eyes trained on the sword at his throat. His lips curled in a smile, widening into a smirk when the sword fell to Judith’s side.
She was shaking, her hand barely able to wrap around her sword’s hilt. But she had done it. She had lasted their entire sparring match and even managed to disarm him. Pride swelled in Nader’s chest, impressed by the progress Judith had made in only a year’s time.
Now that his eyes had been opened, he could not stop seeing how powerful she was.
“Well look at that.” Nader wolf whistled, making Judith roll her eyes.
Sweaty and shaking, Judith sheathed her sword, letting her body rest now that the task was done. “Stop that, you old dog.”
Nader chuckled, falling into step beside Judith, letting her pace lead them back to the edge of the ring. “You enjoy it,” he teased. He shook out his shirt, wiggling his eyebrows at Judith’s staring eyes and enjoying her flushed cheeks, before sliding it over his head. He reached for the item he had hidden beneath it, heart hammering in his chest. “I hope you like this too.”
Judith’s eyes widened at the single stem of orchid flowers, the blooms’ center a light blue, darkening until the tips were a sunset violet. A series of emotions played across her face, too fast for Nader to pinpoint any one, before she seemed to settle on a simmering fury. “Nader-”
“It means something this time,” he cut her off, inwardly wincing at his less than romantic wording. “Chosen specifically for you.”
He held his breath, his heart echoing in his ears as Judith slowly lifted her hand, wrapping bone thin fingers around the stem. “I know I hurt you before. I was careless. But as selfish as it sounds, I hope there are still feelings there for me.”
Judith took a deep breath, pausing to let it sink through her. It was a habit she had picked up since her injury, letting herself feel and measure every ache. “Certainly took you long enough,” she finally muttered.
She lifted the flowers to her lips, pressing her lips to the petals. Nader’s cheeks were suddenly hotter than the sun, and Judith’s trickster smirk was not helping. She looked all too pleased by his current state.
Nader leaned in, pressing his lips to the center of Judith’s forehead, his action slow, giving her enough time to pull away if she chose. But she remained still, her own cheeks suddenly flushed. “Yes,” Nader whispered. “It certainly did.”