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It was a cool night out in the deserts of Solm, and the four heirs of Elyos' countries were brought together by an enthusiastic Timerra after she had found out none of them had gone camping before.
"Camping brings people together," the princess of Solm boldly claimed. "It's the perfect way to get in tune with your land and people!"
Clearly, the way Timerra and eventually Alfred were feeling about the experience was far different than how Diamant and Ivy felt about it, what with the annoyingly grainy sand and their perpetual concern of bandit attacks, but they were able to bear it for most of the night. It wouldn't be too long before the prince eventually spoke more in length about himself and Brodia. The princess was even able to start adding her two cents into the conversation after enough prodding from the opposite woman.
The red-haired man would even say he had fun by the end of the night, learning more about his companions and sighing with a smile at Timerra's loud descriptive singing about the countries of Elyos, meat, the Divine Dragon, meat, and anything else they could think of.
Naturally, it was all cut short when a particularly strong gust of wind slashed the fire away, plunging them all into darkness.
Ivy could barely suppress a fearful yelp. Diamant noticed, but kindly chose not to comment.
"Uh, whoops!" the Solmic heir laughed — laughed! "Looks like we forgot to add any more wood in." She stood up from her cross-legged position, stretching out her arms. "Blessing in disguise though, because now we can move on to the best part of camping: slee-ping... under the staaars!"
Alfred laughed right along with her energy. "Sounds great! I was hoping to get a little exercise in before I slept, though." He waved at them as he retreated into his tent. "Hope you all won't mind!"
The flap closed, and another breeze of wind swept the desert. The two foreign nobles let out a shiver while Timerra skipped her way into her own tent, totally unaffected.
"G'night, you two!"
Thus left Diamant and Ivy. She shifted in place.
This... relationship the two share was a strange one, she thought. Both had been raised to treat anyone from the opposing country as an enemy, particularly in Elusia's case as the one defending from Brodia's warmongering attacks. It would have been easy, so very easy, to continue to keep a rough distance away from its crown prince. Even in war, there were some boundaries she had wanted to keep.
But then that boundary was promptly shattered when Diamant — not the prince of Brodia — came up to her while she was vulnerable and gave her a gem to keep her brave.
Since then, she has genuinely felt more confident, both in the dark and in the war. It had felt like her purpose for winning the war against the Fell Dragon had been reinvigorated, all because of a small jewel.
But even still, there was now another manner she felt less confident about.
Could I have the courage and trust to reimagine this relationship?
The verdict still wasn't clear, and it frightened her.
"...I suppose I should retreat to the comfort of a tent as well," Ivy said at length.
He hesitated, the rustling of the sands now feeling more oppressive. "Will you... be alright, Princess Ivy?"
The Elusian heir nodded, her face a perfect picture of surface-level stoicism as she stared at the sand. "Your concern is appreciated, but I will be fine."
Will be. Diamant frowned. "Is there anything I can do for you now?"
"There is no need, Prince Diamant."
"It is no need, true, but it's instead a want."
Ivy jerked in place, snapping her from her sand-induced trance. Even the shifting sands began to still, soon acting as if they hadn't moved an inch in years. With the subtle shining of the stars above them, the widened violet eyes of the princess began to sparkle like amethysts.
He let out a low cough to his fist to clear his throat. "I want to help you in any way I can." He paused for a beat. "As a fellow heir, neighbor, and most importantly, a friend."
For what felt like the first time that entire night, Ivy smiled.
And suddenly, Diamant realized, the cold desert night didn't feel so uncomfortable anymore. Not when an unusual yet pleasant warmth had coursed through his body, threatening to soften his steeled resolve and coerce him into actions unbecoming of their statuses.
For crying out loud, I am to be king of Brodia. There is no time for such frivolities.
He shook his head almost imperceptibly and blinked his focus back onto her. He crossed his arms. "Is that... alright with you?"
Ivy took a breath in and out as she allowed some warmth to enrapture her in its snare, feeling a brilliant sensation compared to the harsh cold she was always used to enduring in her homeland.
"Yes."
He hadn't even realized his shoulders were raised until he let out a mute breath in relief. "Excellent. Then allow me to suggest a new flame on the campfire."
He knew it was a rather reckless idea, and he could see Ivy had thought along the same line; her confusion and apprehension was painted on her gentle face. The flames could expose them once more; break the fragility of this peaceful night by a group of thieves looking to make a quick bit of gold. Perhaps the night would even be merciless once more and blast their fire away.
But he was a capable fighter, was he not? If anyone dared to attack them, he had kept his silver sword securely on his left hip to strike them down if intimidation didn't work — which, let's face it, it often didn't.
"Prince Diamant," Ivy spoke up, breaking his reverie. "I, erm... I do not mind the idea, but how will we start a fire? I'm not familiar enough with the area to find any flint, for example."
He thought the solution was rather simple. "You have a fire tome, right? I believe I saw one among your belongings."
"Ah." She made an unusually wry expression. "Well, I did think to bring a tome with me in case things got out of hand." She pointed to his scabbard. "Judging by your sword, you did as well."
He nodded, wordlessly encouraging her to go on.
"Unfortunately, the tome I brought will likely be useless for the current situation."
"Ah, was it actually a Thunder tome?"
"It's Bolganone."
"Oh."
A memory of the mighty fire magic flashed in his mind for a brief moment. He remembered inspecting the small crater that had been created then.
Diamant's shoulders shook in amusement. "Well, it would be effective at lighting up the firewood... alongside the entire rest of the camp."
"You're quite right," Ivy agreed, a small smirk edging the corner of her lips. "Tempting as it could be to remove any political opposition, I do rather enjoy our lance-wielding companions. Perhaps they shouldn't be subjected to this."
The Brodian leaned back, pressing his palms against the sand, strangely more comfortable than he had thought before. "Perhaps such a decision in of itself puts them in your debt, Princess Ivy."
"Of course. I'll be sure to let them know later."
The two gently chuckled at their own musings, now feeling as light as the sand itself.
When the amusement died down, it died hard when another attack from the gale caused them to quiver more roughly.
"P-perhaps we sh-should move out a-after all... "
"Wait," he insisted, "you can take my cape. I'll be fi--"
The sands shifted, the rustle of movement occurred, and the next thing he knew, he found himself in a very... peculiar situation.
Needless to say, the prince of Brodia was now highly confused when the princess of Elusia, his former enemy, was now wrapped around the cape on his back and clutching it for dear life.
He began to question himself, not fully sure if he should detach the cape off of him or not. It would simply be the courteous thing to do, of course, but...
Oh. For goodness' sake, why was it difficult to detach from this woman?
"Princess Ivy?"
"...Yes, Prince Diamant?"
"I know I said that I want to help you in any way I can — and that still holds true, of course!" he added hastily. "However, isn't your current position just... a bit..."
He trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.
After a disturbing period of silence, audible breathing followed suit as the frigid winds of the night soared through the air.
And yet, his vision of everything else, including the firewood, seemed to fade away. All that was left was the deadly and beautiful woman just next to him.
"...Diamant."
He stiffened, just a moment, at the blunt name. But he and his proud country could never stand down from a challenge. "Yes... Ivy?"
With the way that she sucked in a breath, he could tell she had not been expecting him to reciprocate.
"We're no longer enemies," she simply said, looking straight into his eyes. "Not strangers, not neighboring heirs, not even acquaintances."
He took a moment to consider her words, then carefully nodded in agreement. "We may be well past those points, I'm afraid."
"We are going to be the next king and queen of our countries. You for Brodia, me for Elusia."
"Of course."
"So then... What does that make the two of us?" Ivy managed to clutch onto the cape even more, if that was even possible. "Will we have to return to how our countries have always been? Our lands, constantly battling over territory?" She took in a breath. "Our people, constantly suffering over these politics?"
The Brodian could only clench his jaw, the ugly reality of their situation settling in. No matter how much he may want — perhaps without realizing it — their countries felt like an insurmountable wall they had to climb in order to finally achieve peace in northern Elyos.
If they could just provide some sort of evidence that the two countries are willing to cooperate, perhaps they could finally convince their governments to stop. But what could they do, while they still only hold their current position as heir to the throne...?
"We will work together, Ivy." His red eyes furrowed with determination. "I will make sure of it."
Her mouth opened a bit in surprise. "Huh?"
"No matter what, I will do everything in my power to dispel my father's warmongering influence on Brodia."
He let silence fill the air for a few beats before biting the bullet and finishing his thought.
"And I will need you there to make sure the negotiations go well."
She let go of his cape out of complete shock. Diamant... needed her? In Brodia?
This was...
That's just--
"If... you're not comfortable with the idea, you don't have to accept my proposal." He refused to bring her into anything that would frighten her, after all. Not after he'd given a jewel in an attempt to comfort her. "But... I feel I will need you there. As a leader, and... as a friend."
Something almost felt off when he finished his sentence, but she ignored it with grace. In all, however, the idea was...
Well, perhaps she could bring something along during that negotiation to steer it the way they wanted.
"The idea, I must admit... It frightens me."
He sighed. "I would expect as much, to be honest."
"But I would be running away from my duties as the future queen of Elusia if I didn't come to help." She stood up straight. "None of our people should ever die because of my own lack of courage."
He couldn't help a proud smile at his companion. "So you accept?"
She even smiled in return. "Not just accept; I have my own ideas on how we could steer this the way we want it to. You'll have to give me a few days to make it."
Make something? Now he was curious. "What's the plan?"
Her smile only grew, her face daring to close in on his. Her whole hand was shaking with how hard she was grasping her favorite gem.
"That's something you'll have to see for yourself, I'm afraid."
By the time Alfred had finished his nighttime regiment and was all ready to tuck himself to bed, there was no longer any conversation coming from outside the tent.
There was a certain point that he wanted to pop his head out of the tent and join in their conversation; he wouldn't appreciate the whole camp being burned down by Bolganone, after all...
But then it started getting serious, real serious, and by some miracle of the Divine Dragon, he thought better of it. It did seem to be a conversation best suited between the two of them, and if this led down the path that the Firenese thought it would...
Well...
Heh, he'll love telling Alear about the united country that reigns over northern Elyos!