Work Text:
It's not until they return to Ostia that Hector realizes he's not the only one still reeling from Uther's death.
He forgave Oswin during the battle against Nergal and his morphs, because Eliwood had opened his eyes to a truth he'd been too angry and stubborn to see. Uther was right, Hector himself hadn't even realized it; if I knew something was wrong I'd have abandoned Eliwood, but then I'd hate myself just as much for not being there.
And Uther knew it, he'd known all along, and made the decision for him. Not because he thought Hector was a stupid kid, but because he understood him.
You'd have done the same thing in my shoes, wouldn't you, Uther?
The next day, he starts making a mental checklist of things that need to be taken care. Nobody outside the castle knows Uther's gone, but he can't just announce it publicly yet. Funeral arrangements, setting up for his ascension, dealing with all the unfinished work Uther left behind despite vowing to finish even if it meant his last breath.
He walks the corridors in a daze, but when he comes to the throne room he stops in his tracks, and so does his list.
Like that night, Oswin's standing before the throne. His breathing is slow and even, the occasional sigh in between, one arm at his side and another hand on his chest. This time Hector can see his face more clearly, and his heart sinks.
For the last few months, all he's done is pester Oswin about his brother, then lash out at him when he learned the truth. I'll never forgive you, you didn't trust me, you had no right to keep something so important from me and lie straight to my face.
Even when Eliwood helped him work through his anger, in his heart it's still been about him. About his brother, about his loss, his grief, everything he's going to have to do now that he'll be the one taking the throne.
But you knew all along, Oswin. Even before his own brother suspected, you knew something was wrong. Carrying such a painful secret with him, staying with Hector, unable to be at Uther's side at the end. And even now, you barely flinch.
Like when his parents died, he wants to cry, but even if he would let himself no tears will fall. Instead he takes a deep breath, squares his shoulders, and slowly approaches Oswin.
"I'm sorry." Oswin blinks, turning to him, his face impassive and aged as ever.
"Lord Hector?"
"I lost my brother. But you..." He swallows. "You lost someone, too." Oswin's brow twitches, and the hand in front of his chest clenches. Uther and Oswin had always been discreet about their relationship; Ostians by nature were subtle in their affections while Oswin was just like that in general. But Hector had known, even before they officially told him. Normally he didn't pick up on things like that, but this was his brother and the guy who'd been with their family since Hector was seven.
It was kinda hard not to notice when Uther seemed so much happier with Oswin around.
Oswin sighs, looking older than Hector's ever seen anyone look before aside from Graybeard.
"I'd been prepared. Even before we left, I...suspected. His color was off, and he hadn't been sleeping enough," he murmurs. "But that day we met with him in Thiria...when he told me he'd less than a year even with the medications..." He shakes his head. "He pleaded with me not to tell you, he-"
"I know. I understand now." Hector closes his eyes. "But you couldn't even be with him in his last moments, and it's because of me."
Oswin's hand comes up to grip Hector's shoulder, and his eyes harden.
"Lord Hector, I chose to honor his request that I stay at your side," he says sharply. "He didn't need me to watch him waste away, he needed me to protect his only remaining family. If I'd tried to come back he'd have read me the riot act with his last breath." He almost smiles, and Hector stifles a chuckle.
"Yeah, that does sound like him."
"Lord Uther could be just as stubborn as you, and as his father before him. He didn't want either of us to watch him die, he knew you were worried for Eliwood, and he knew he wanted to keep you safe as you rushed headlong into danger to help your friend."
"So he killed two birds with one stone?"
"You could say that." Hector nods.
"Still, I'm sorry I was so awful to you. You were going through all that and all I could think about was myself." Oswin does smile a little this time.
"You sound like Lord Eliwood. Apologizing for a choice someone made," he says. "Did it ever occur to you that I was prepared for your anger? That even if what you said hurt, I don't blame you one bit for feeling that way?" His face becomes serious again, his grip on Hector's shoulder loosening a little. "Honestly, it hurt me more when you assumed the worst of Uther."
Not Lord Uther, just Uther.
"Yeah, well...he himself said it, that I could hate him all I wanted but he knew this was for the best, right?" He sighs. "If...if you had been at his bedside at that moment, watched him take that last breath..." He closes his eyes. "Thinking about it now, I don't think it'd have made me feel any better."
"The same goes for me. It was...painful enough to see him suffer, even before we both knew there was no hope. At times, I wished I'd taken the path of medicine so I could do something, anything to ease his pain."
The day they left Thiria, Oswin had been quieter than usual. Tired, somber, resigned. Hector had suspected something was off from seeing Uther alone, but this was the first time he'd suspected Oswin did, too.
But even before then...seeing him that day was just driving the point home harder.
"You really loved him."
"And I always will." Oswin's hand unclenches, revealing a simple silver ring on a chain. "I'll always wonder what could have been had he lived, but..." And for a moment Hector imagines Uther appearing in the throne room, chiding them for believing he'd die so easily, ruffling Hector's hair and asking if he'd behaved himself.
Taking Oswin's hand, telling him he'd worried for nothing.
But Hector and Oswin are the only ones in the room. Uther is gone, and Hector promised he'd do everything his brother wished to but never could. A better Ostia, no more peerage, a world where all can live freely and have enough.
For Uther. For Leila. For Mother and Father, and the knights who fell defending the castle from Nergal's morphs.
Oswin suddenly embraces him, and Hector bites back a yelp.
"From this day forward, you and I are family." Hector smiles, leaning against his shoulder.
"We always were."