Sadly, It Was All For Naught.

Luckily for everyone present in the room, the round of presentation was a quick affair.

Not because it was less pompous as any other royal court, but more because the people of importance were barely counted on one hand.

Even him, the Prince of Ylisse, was simply accounted as part of the package of the Exalt's escort, as was the case for both Archbishop Aversa for King Gangrel and Khan Basilio for Khan Flavia.

The three rulers were situated on each side of the table, with their escort dutifully standing at their side, some of which gazing at the other in an attempt to intimidate the other, some simply looking alert, or others just plainly disinterested.

The tension in the air was palpable, despite the smiling and relaxed visage of his sister and the Archbishop.

King Gangrel, while not openly hostile to anyone, was clearly closing them off, glancing absently at the other rulers in the room with barely hidden irritation or outright anger. Meanwhile, the Khans only looked relaxed, but any accomplished warrior could notice the tensed body the trio from Regna Ferox had.

Maybe it was because of all the tension in the room that, despite the presence of the three rulers of the Archanean's kingdoms, it was Lady Anna that started the meeting.

"Very well. With the pleasantries accounted for, it is time to start this emergency summit." She declared. Her voice wasn't as boisterous as the Anna who announced all of them, but everyone present focused only on her nevertheless.

Even Chrom himself didn't dare to doze off this event like he usually would at the castle, giving his full attention to the woman.

"I believe the main point of this meeting is to discuss the new problem that fell on us in the last months, the now named Risens… or Undeads." She said without any inflection in her voice, prompting a round of graceful nods or more stern grunts from the listeners.

"I am sure all of us have done something to research about them in hopes to exterminate this threat as fast as possible. Gods know they are not problematic for my family." She added grimacing with barely noticeable annoyance, and Chrom could hear a quiet grumble from one of the Annas on the back.

All it took for it to stop was a pointed look from what basically was the matriarch of the family, and the younger merchant did not emit any sound.

"I suggest all of us would now exchange what we know with each other, in the hope to paint a clearer picture for all of us." She proposed cautiously.

None answered her, and in the silence that followed, Chrom could feel the tension rising from the group, much to the prince's frustration.

This was it. This was the time to act, it was not the time for political games. This should be the moment where everyone agrees that they had a big, common problem and starts to cooperate.

But none talked, the three rulers sizing themselves, waiting for the first one to speak. Chrom had to wonder why Emmeryn did not start to talk. They had plenty of information after all and sharing them would be the key to securing cooperation with the other nations.

So why didn't she?

A grunt caught everyone's attention, and everyone focused their gazes on the source; Khan Flavia. Showing the group a confident smirk, she said, "Seems good Lady Anna."

Shrugging, the tanned lied down on her back on the chair, trying to give the impression that she was getting herself comfortable.

"Regna Ferox doesn't know much. We do know that they are definitely hard to put under the dirt again. Only very selective moves can kill those bastards for good. Behead them, destroy their masks, or pierce the heart. Everything else would only slow them down." she explained.

The Prince and the Exalt simply nodded, already knowing what the Khan just explained. Gangrel wasn't as polite and visibly sneered at the lack of new information given.

Khan Flavia graciously ignored him and added: "That is all we knew before your girl gave us the extra information on the letter." She said.

Hearing that, Chrom blinked dumbly, his mouth opening in an attempt to say something. He wasn't the only one confused, obviously. Even his sister showed a slightly raised eyebrow for a couple of seconds before her eyes widened in comprehension, and the confusion morphed in a satisfied smile.

"Excuse me Khan Flavia, but I have not been informed of this letter. Would you mind elaborating?" Lady Anna instead questioned, the earlier neutrality replaced by a sudden interest.

The dark-skinned woman grinned back, straightening her back at the notice "You didn't, uh? Well, this letter was delivered by one of your girls, and told us about a particular species of Risen called Deadlord and described the attack at Uror. I thought you were behind it, old fox." She said, her mood visibly improving. She looked clearly intrigued by the discovery that the mitten, well mittens of the letters, were not under Lady Anna's payroll.

Lady Anna made to reply, but she was interrupted by Gangrel, who caught everyone's attention with a small but loud laugh. Turning to him, everyone could see the satisfaction on both him and Archbishop Aversa, who was showing a small smile herself.

"Yes, I had such a letter too. Robin, the authoress of such important and vital pieces of information, is one of my beloved subjects." He explained with an exaggerated amount of pride that irked the prince.

Chrom was, in truth, a bit saddened by the news. The couple of times he met her, she showed a kind heart and a keen mind that he would have loved to have in Ylisse. That Gangrel recognized her effort and claimed her as his own subject… it was a shame, really.

But at least, Chrom thought, with the support of the King, the girl could find her family more easily and her memories.

"Yes Khan Flavia, Lady Anna. Priestess Robin is a long-time follower of the Church of Grima. It heartens me to hear that one of ours used her intellect to help our neighbors." The Archbishop added, her voice low and sultry.

"It seems that Lady Robin had the wisdom to spread her discoveries to every Kingdom of Archanea then." His sister added in what he knew was an extremely pleased tone.

Chrom could understand why. He himself did not think about it, but he could see now that giving everyone the same information was a smart move. With that, she showed that both Plegia and the Grimleals were open to sharing information, essentially elevating the two groups from a potential enemy to allies.

Gangrel clicked his tongue but did not add anything that could convey his disposition on the matter.

The redhead matriarch leaned back on the chair, humming non-committedly at what was clearly new information to her.

"It seems I am the only one that lacks such information." Lady Anna admitted easily. Her face shifted from slight interest to an amused expression while saying this, and her gaze wandered over all the people who sat on the various chairs, waiting for them to reply.

It was his sister that, after a second of silence, decided to explain to her what they knew.

"As Lady Flavia said, the letter told us the short invasion that befell the border village of Uror. The sender was Lady Robin of Plegia, a Grimleal priestess that wandered there with her escorts and was caught in the middle of it." The Exalt explained, her voice high enough that everyone in the room could clearly hear her even, the people who were not involved in the discussion.

As expected from his sister, she did not give any sign of calling off the bluff that the King Gangrel and Archbishop Aversa set up, preferring to keep the situation at their advantage.

She was hoping that it would be enough to keep the Plegian King settled and more inclined to cooperate if she actively antagonized them.

"The letter was full of details of the events. I will spare them for the sake of brevity and the new discoveries surrounding the Undead phenomena. I am sure we can provide you with one of the letters in the near future." She continued to explain, and the matriarch of the merchant family simply nodded in understanding, making a small gesture for the Exalt to continue.

Nobody batted an eye at the frankly ridiculously disrespectful scene that happened. The prince himself only blinked at the audacity that the woman showed towards what was one of the supreme authority of the country, while Maribelle, at his side, visibly tensed at the show.

It was unusual to see this kind of scene, at least, for it to happen to his sister.

"The first thing that should be said is that with this letter we have proof that the Undead, as the name implies, are the bodies of our deceased ancestors. Lady Robin told of a particular kind of Undead, named Deadlord by her, that reacted at the presence of one of the soldiers that fought during the invasion. After shattering the mask of this new species of enemy, it was confirmed that the body of the Deadlord belonged to the late mother of said soldier." Emmeryn explained concisely, maintaining an air of dignity and elegance.

She paused for a moment, waiting for intervention from both Lady Anna or the other rulers. She only received various nods or grunts of acknowledgment, prompting her to continue with the explanation.

"The second point to make is the sight of the new kind of enemy just named, the Deadlord. Up until now, the Ylissean forces had various skirmish or brief battles against the Undeads. As previously said by Khan Flavia, they had various weak points but were otherwise difficult to dispose of. While this Deadlord had the same weakness, and possibly the same of his weaker kind, this foe was described to be on a whole other level physically speaking. Not only could it be mistaken for a masked human by its behavior, but it was even capable of easily… disposing… Plegian soldiers with relative ease, akin to a war veteran." She explained, his sister's voice wavering just for a moment during the entire description of the events.

Chrom heard a low chuckle from one of the other seats, and while the others did not seem to bother in acknowledging it, the prince could not help but follow the sound.

It was King Gangrel, and Chrom did not particularly appreciate the mocking way he was watching his sister.

His eyes shot wide open, and the swordsman was ready to give him a piece of his mind, but thankfully, he restrained himself.

It would not be good to start a quarrel on this, especially here.

Exhaling as quietly as possible, he reluctantly diverted his eyes from the other King, his visage falling into a practiced mask of indifference, deciding to focus only on the words Emmeryn was saying to the others.

"The last, and most important fact that could be gathered by this attack, is that there has to be someone behind it. Up until now, the Undeads the Ylissean forces fought were small groups of easily fooled monsters with no reason or tactics. We can all agree that this was no mindless attack and more of a siege." She concluded, prompting all the people around her to give various degrees of agreement.

"In short, you are saying that this is a planned invasion." Khan Basilio intervened, learning towards the table with a big, excited smile. Khan Flavia looked at him exasperated but Chrom had the impression that she was much the same, judging by the brief fickle of emotion in her eyes.

She simply was more subdued in showing it.

Emmeryn hesitated for only a moment, before she gave a solemn nod, "Yes."

A heavy silence fell on the room, helping the words settle inside everyone's mind.

From where he stood, Chrom could see Maribelle's grim expression of realization at the words just exchanged. King Gangrel actually seemed angered at the idea of such an invasion, while Archbishop Aversa had a neutral and stiff face.

It was, once again, Lady Anna who broke the silence.

Up until now she had her eyes closed, seemingly in contemplation of the revelations shared by the group.

"It seems that I heavily misunderstood the situation. An invasion…," she trailed off, her eyes scanning the room and dwelling on every person in the room.

"While I believe that trusting the words of a single woman can be dangerous, I cannot dismiss the fact that the village of Uror has been, in fact, invaded by some demonic force." She said lowly, irking not only the Prince himself but King Gangrel too, whose scowl deepened.

"Do you think that I am lying?" The redhead king asked with a mix of anger and, strangely enough, hurt betrayal in his voice.

Everyone seemed to catch on that because Chrom could see the various expressions of surprise and confusion on the others.

Emmeryn's expression faded as soon as she saw one of his fellow rulers' gaze shift back to another direction.

The swordsman tried to do the same and follow her lead, but he wasn't sure how well he concealed his surprise at that burst of emotion.

Chrom still felt the confusion, after all, even when Lady Anna replied to him.

"Foolish boy. Do not see my words as a personal attack." The matriarch admonished the King with a low, but strict tone.

"But to simply base all of our information on a single source is not an error we should make, especially in a situation as delicate as the one we are living." She explained, her eyes locking with her fellow redhead's.

Instead of giving her a scratching remark, King Gangrel instead simply looked away after a moment, reminding the prince of himself when his sister found him doing something that he knew she wouldn't approve of.

The image conjured by that thought had the unexpected effect of making the blue-haired prince less tense at the situation at hand.

Lady Anna's gaze roamed all the room again, adding, "That is why I am weary of this letter. A single source of information is a gift of the gods, but I lack the ability to confirm such information and deduction." She explained easily.

The two Khans nodded in understanding, but their expression did not seem to change from the newly added input. Chrom had to wonder if it was because they were already experienced in this kind of meeting, or because they held the same doubts from the beginning. Curiously, their guard did not share the same sentiment of the two Khans, seemingly frustrated by the intervention of the matriarch.

Emmeryn followed their example, giving her a silent understanding of the reasoning used by the older merchant and did not reply immediately, likely as if debating something in her mind.

She closed her eyes for a brief moment and exhaled slowly, a small sign of her irritation or, more accurately at the moment, nervousness at what she was going to do.

"Ylisse is willing to support the trustworthiness of those sources." She declared clearly, her voice only slightly raised from the usual tone she used up until now.

Her words seemed to lit the interest of all the people in the room, with Khan Flavia raising an eyebrow at the Exalt's words while King Gangrel furrowed his brow in slight irritation.

Archbishop Aversa simply looked curious at the statement and settled to simply observe the events with the same smile she always wore up until now.

On the other hand, Lady Anna seemed to hold back from sighing and decided to address the Exalt with a curious, if clearly skeptic, expression.

"That seems slightly hasty, Exalt Emmeryn. Do you have any kind of support for your declaration beside your well-known goodwill?" She asked, much to the Prince's irritation at her words.

Chrom understood why Lady Anna had such doubts.

Since her coronation, his sister always had the reputation of being an extremely kind and lenient ruler, especially if compared against the latest Exalt that Ylisse had in the past decades; such reputation was something that both Emmeryn, Lissa, and himself held with a great amount of pride.

That did not mean, however, that his sister was as foolish as that comment seemed to imply.

Chrom's irritation was not hidden by the focused facade that he built to pay attention and understand what was going around him, but none seemed to see, or maybe simply care of his visible burst of anger.

None except Maribelle, of course, who too had shown a disapproving frown to the redhead merchant, but had simply dissipated it as soon as it manifested. The duchess hummed lowly to catch his attention, trying to distract the prince from his emotions.

The very low sound had the intended effect, and Chrom looked back at his comrade, his frown still visible but clearly less pronounced now that he was addressed to her.

Maribelle did not say anything, simply breaking her gaze to look back at the table of the summit with the same neutral and dignified expression.

Chrom followed her example, scolding his face in a similar if clearly inferior manner, just in time to hear his sister answer as calmly as before, completely unaffected by the merchant words.

"Of course Lady Anna. After all, we do personally know Lady Robin and one of her… guards." She said with a small, amused smile. Chrom could not help the same amusement that his sister displayed, catching on what was probably their inner joke.

Guard uh… it was something that Mr. Hachiman could be called, in a way.

"You do?" King Gangrel immediately asked, interrupting Lady Anna before she could answer the blonde ruler's affirmation.

Emmeryn nodded, her amusement turned in what seemed like a fond smile.

"Yes. Lady Robin and her guard visited my court the day after the first wave of Undead. They were both proved by the sudden invasion, and they sought refuge in Ylisstol. I had the pleasure to talk with both of them, and I can confirm Lady Robin's sharp intuitions. I have no shame admitting that all the known weak points and tactics that Ylisse uses against the Undead have been suggested by her. " She explained with a cheerful smile.

"That is why, after witnessing both their characters, I am more than happy to give them the complete support of the Exalt line." She concluded, resting her hands on her laps.

Chrom smiled and nodded to himself, satisfied with how Emmeryn replied to that particularly irritating accusation.

"Then if both the Exalt and Prince Chrom voice for their credibility, then Regna Ferox is willing to trust this Robin. What do you say old man?" Kahn Flavia immediately supported her after she observed the Ylisseans' reaction.

The dark-skinned man grinned sardonically, with only his eyes shining in cheerfulness, "You know you are the one in charge, Flavia. Is your age finally catching up to you?" He joked back good naturally, before shrugging uncaringly.

"I will trust your judgment on this. You may be a fool, but you got a good instinct with people." Basilio answered before the regent Khan could insult him back, looking at the Exalt with an expression that Chrom could not fully understand, something like a mix of hesitation and resignation.

Chrom thought it was because he did not really know both him and his sister, and had to follow the lead of his female co-leader.

"You're damn right. You heard him, old fox. Regna Ferox will trust both Lady Robin and the Plegians with those pieces of information." Khan Flavia concluded with a satisfied smile.

Lady Anna watched over every person at the table, dwelling for a brief moment over Chrom himself before turning her focus on King Gangrel.

"Perfect. If none of you have ill faith in the sources of this information, then we can use them to draft a starting point for our combined research against these monsters and the mastermind behind it. " She concluded, giving the group a small smile.

"Well for once, I have to say that this business smells like dark magic stuff to me. A particularly powerful and nasty one too." Khan Basilio threw in immediately, causing everyone in the room to give their silent approval in the conjecture.

Predictably, King Gangrel tensed at the words, as if waiting for an accusation from any of them as the brain of the invasion.

None came, however, as the group simply continued their speculation without giving him either a look or sign of hostility.

"I agree. I do believe that the power necessary for this kind of ritual can be only mustered by an ancient being like the old manaketes of tales, or people like the Voice of Naga." Emmeryn continued to say.

"But the dragons vanished millennials ago, and the remaining manaketes lack the power to do such a thing themselves. Did Naga decide to punish us all for some slight?" King Gangrel asked rhetorically, looking at the Exalt line with a toothy grin, mustering back the cockiness and impudence shown at the start of the meeting.

Chrom's first instinct was to scream at him for the accusation: after all, if that was the case, this would mean that the Exalt line somehow caused the Goddess' ire.

But he did restrain himself again, settling with a hot, if short, angry glare to him.

They both made eye contact at that moment, and Chrom would swear that the stupid smile became smugger when their eyes met, almost mocking him for his reaction.

Chrom broke eye-contact when he heard his sister reply, unfazed by the accusation, "Possible." she admitted easily, "But highly improbable. Lady Tiki would have given some sort of message or prophecy if that was the case, to announce her anger instead of the Goddess. Both I and the Church of Naga do know hat Lady Tiki has been asleep for the last years and has yet to awaken." she explained flawlessly.

King Gangrel graciously accepted the rebuke with a theatrical nod and an ample gesture that asked forgiveness and, much to the prince's pleasure, everyone ignored his behavior.

"Eh, you are probably right. Lady Naga never openly interfered with us mortals if we did not call her aid first if what legends say is true. And seeing how I didn't hear of any kind of divine intervention in recent recorded history, I am inclined to believe that." The regent Khan commented while relaxing on her chair.

Khan Basilio grinned and tilted his head towards the red-head matriarch, "What did your girls say from Valm, old fox?" He asked half-jokingly, causing the older merchant to grimace.

That seemed to put both the Khans and King Gangrel on edge, seemingly recognizing her reaction.

"As far as I know, Lady Tiki is still in her… holy slumber." She said with a hint of amusement that confused both Chrom and probably Emmeryn too, but he did not see anything malicious in that.

"But that leads me to, unfortunately, bear grave news from the other lands." She said tiredly, placing her arms on the table.

That seemed to alarm Emmeryn, who followed the other leaders' example and looked way tenser than the moment before.

"Since three days ago, it has become extremely difficult for us to maintain reliable contact with Valm." Lady Anna admitted with an irritated frown.

"Did the Undead's appearance trouble the nation?" Emmeryn immediately asked worried, between the various gasps and surprised grunts of the people inside the room.

Lady Anna clicked her tongue and shook her head in clear anger. "Nothing as extreme, Exalt Emmeryn. Just a foolish man with a desire of grandeur." She replied a leak of irritation filtering in her tone despite the composure showed up until now.

"What do you mean?" King Gangrel asked almost threateningly, glaring at the matriarch.

Lady Anna did not mind the reaction of the Plegian ruler, and without even flinching at the emotional gaze, she continued, "A man by the name of Walhart started a campaign to conquer the entire continent, and in three days successfully finished all of the west border and islands, cutting off communications with all merchants. I can still contact my family, but we will not be able to exchange merch with Valm until the ban is lifted."

Khan Flavia whistled while her counterpart chuckled at the explanation, both impressed by the admittedly courageous -Chrom had the impression they would call it differently- move of this Walhart.

"He did not interrupt his campaign despite the invasion?" Emmeryn asked with a worried frown, ignoring the reactions of the others.

The head of the merchant family gave a tired sigh, closed her eyes and shook her head, causing his sister's frown to deepen.

Chrom gritted his teeth and made him intervene to ask the red-head more information, but King Gangrel anticipated him before he could, "Trying to conquer the entire continent in one go uh… I bet we are the next target once he finishes.'' He sneered heatedly, tapping his fingers on the table, clearly irritated.

Khan Flavia shrugged and gave a boisterous laugh, "If that is the case, we just have to repel the newbie. Piece of cake.", patting harshly the back of her fellow Khan, who grinned back in mirth.

"No." Was instead Emmeryn's reply to that hypothesis, and she shook her head to reinforce her claim, "We do not know if that is the case. We cannot assume hostile intentions." She retorted.

"Ah, excuse us to dirty your innocent ears, Holy Exalt." King Gangrel mocked, giving a fake bow despite still sitting on his chair. "But I learned long ago that there is no limit to human depravity. It was your father to teach me that, after all. I assumed you learned the lesson too. Pardon me for assuming such a thing." He added, giving a contemptuous smile to crown the insult.

Emmeryn twitched in discomfort, and Chrom heard his fellow Shepheard gasp a bit too loudly at the harsh words, and he could almost feel the indignation from the healer at his side.

Chrom could understand it. He felt much the same way, and once again, was ready to give that utter bastard a piece off his mind when Lady Anna defused the situation, again, raising sharply her hand to catch everyone's attention.

Chrom felt a mix of gratefulness and irritation at the interruption, but the sudden interjection was enough to stop him from being rash.

"Unfortunately, I have to confirm King Gangrel's statement." The merchant said, much to his sister invisible displeasure.

"My girls heard rumors of Walhart and his ways. It is highly probable that, if he succeeded in conquering the entirety of Valm, he would set his goal with the entirety of Archanea." she confirmed gravely.

Silence fell on the room, all the leaders deciding to ponder on the new information shared by the merchant.

"In short, we have not only to deal with both the Undead's invasion and find the people behind it, we even have to think about a new megalomaniac that wants to conquer us in the next years?" Khan Basilio summarised, being the first to break the silence.

"That is correct." Lady Anna confirmed easily.

"Any chance that the two events are connected?" The blonde Khan instead asked after her pause.

Chrom blinked dumbly at the idea thrown out, and hummed thoughtfully, rolling the possibility in his mind. After all, it was a good guess. If really this Walhart wished to conquer their continent, it was possible that, if this man was planning everything from enough time, he could have organized everything to destabilize us.

"It is possible…" Archbishop Aversa opinionated for the first time, evidently agreeing with the thoughts of the Ylissean prince. "If this Walhart can create them, then he can surely control them and evade their attacks." She elaborated, giving them a sultry smile when she finished.

It was a reasonable explanation, Valm was, from the little he did know, shattered in various little kingdoms that were independent of each other. Walhart could use the undead to destabilize them and then conquer them easily.

"It is indeed a possibility, but we did not hear of such a… strong-willed man in the last years. I do not believe that he could have maintained a low profile if he had enough Dark Mages to pull off such feats." King Gangrel rebuked mockingly, causing the Archbishop to grimace.

"...true." She conceded reluctantly.

"And that takes us back to our immediate problem." Emmeryn intervened, interrupting the debate.

"Even if this Walhart is behind the attack. He is a continent away, and no amount of power could summon such beings in high numbers from that far of a distance." She said, gazing at every ruler in wait for someone to interrupt.

"As a Sage myself, I can easily say that such a feat would need the power of the Goddess herself, and only a massive amount of humans could pull it off. A number that it would be impossible to gather without anyone noticing. I do believe that the ones responsible are to be found here in Archanea." The Exalt explained.

Both the Khans more simply gave their understanding with a couple of grunts while King Gangrel scoffed, and, judging from the angered look he gave the Exalt, he was going to reply with another sarcastic remark.

"Even if that is true, we would need to keep an eye on this Walhart to see how and when he will react. Can we count on you, Lady Anna?" Khan Basilio anticipated him, looking at the older redhead with his only eye.

"Of course not." Was the Matriarch's immediate reply to the question, and that quick and sure answer confused Chrom enough to make him break his self imposed silence.

"Uh?"

Thankfully for him, people either ignored or did not hear him, because Khan Flavis tsked in disappointment at the reply, and muttered an audible, "Figures.", loud enough for everyone to hear.

"While I will research if the kid is behind the summoning of the Undead, everything else not related to that will be kept under wraps. Walhart's army is one of our customers after all, and speaking such information will significantly reduce our business." She explained matter of factly, much to the Prince's dismay.

Surprisingly, everyone simply accepted the answer without any more fuss, simply shrugging off the frankly absurd reasoning.

How could she simply ignore the fact that a man was trying to conquer Archanea?

Even his sister did not seem particularly surprised or thrown off by the explanation.

Sensing his rising temper, both Emmeryn and, strangely enough, Maribelle, looked at him and made a sign of silence, preventing him from speaking up and protesting the decision.

The Exalt focused back on the meeting, while Maribelle instead subtly caught his attention back to her with a low cough and started whispering, "I know how you feel, Lord Chrom. But this was expected. Merchants can't take sides in conflicts. It is a risky move either if they choose the winning side or the defeated one." She reasoned calmly.

Chrom exhaled, and slowly nodded, trying to gain, again, his composure and calm attitude.

He hated to admit it, but Maribelle was right. Normally, the Annas would have never called this kind of meeting between the three Archaneas Kingdoms, even if a total war threatened to break out.

It did not happen years ago when his… father started his crusade, and he never heard of such a meeting happening in recent history. The fact that Lady Anna personally called it showed her willingness to cooperate against this new and inhuman threat.

That was more than enough. He didn't really believe it, but it was enough for both Emmeryn and Maribelle.

And while sometimes he did not approve of his sister's decisions, this time he would. Plus, Maribelle was a dear friend, and she too, despite the great respect she held for the Ruler of Ylisse, shared more of his ideas.

If both of them believed that this was the best way, he would trust them.

"Bah! Fine! We'll make do without you." King Gangrel snapped, glaring… actually petulantly more than heatedly at her.

"That's the spirit, Gangrel!" Kan Basilio complimented while laughing merrily, slamming one hand on the table.

"The first order of business is to locate the base of operation of the bastards. Can you guys estimate the number of our enemies?" The bald Khan continued, looking between both Emmeryn and the Archbishop.

The tanned girl hummed loud enough for everyone to know that she was thinking about the request, until she finally set to say, "At minimum, they would need fifteen high-level Sorcerers. At least as powerful as me or our Lady Exalt." She explained, smiling invitingly at the group.

"I personally knew few people that would qualify with such a level of power, not more than three High Priests and Priestesses in the Church of Naga. Such level is not easily obtained, and to have even ten of them hidden… it is unfeasible. Even if they came from Valm recently, they should have been spotted." Emmeryn interjected politely.

Khan Basilio grunted and scratched his bald head, saying "I dunno much about mages, but from the really boring reports I had during my time as Khan, very few people coming from Valm decided to stay and I don't know if they were mages." He explained sheepishly.

"Useless old man." Khan Flavia rubbed in jokingly, sighing in exasperation, "So it is possible that our group may be more than fifteen. High numbers to cover for the lack of power, right?" she asked, looking at the prince's sister.

Chrom had to agree with her. His sister wasn't the most powerful mage in Ylisse, but she was still one of the best that the Kingdom had to offer, especially because she wasn't combat-oriented.

That those people used numbers to cover for their lack of power was the most reasonable explanation that he could come up with.

That is why he was surprised when his sisters shook her head.

"It is not that simple. Performing a ritual in a group is extremely complicated. To have even thirty people that can chant perfectly synchronized, manipulate their men in the exact same manner without disrupting the other… it is possible, but highly risky and difficult." She explained gravely, making the Archbishop smile in agreement.

"The Exalt is right, of course. Even being generous, there can't be more than fifty people, probably less." Aversa confirmed confidently.

"So we have at best a group of… let's say, fifty mages running amok in Archanea, at worst, fifteen highly skilled individuals." Lady Anna summarized grimly, biting her lips in thought.

Despite having a very scarce idea on how accurate everything would be, Chrom believed that it was a decent assessment of the situation with the little information they had at their disposal.

"We would need to search through our kingdoms for them. A gathering of mages that numerous is bound to leave traces to follow." The blue-haired prince heard from Khan Basilio, the idea causing a round of affirmation between the group.

But again, Chrom remembered the other possibility that Marth presented them a couple of months ago when both him, Robin and Hachiman were at the table.

Even with those conjectures, human involvement seemed admittedly improbable and Emm did say that such an amount of power would need the intervention of The Voice of Naga or someone similar.

"Uhm, Emm?" The swordsman called out, catching the attention of his elder sister, who turned to him with a slight disappointed look.

Chrom smiled awkwardly in answer, knowing that he really shouldn't interrupt such an important discussion, but he believed that it was somewhat important and related to the conversation.

"So, what about what Marth warned us? Do you think we should share with them or…" he asked his sister, who hummed in understanding at the idea, not completely dismissing it.

Chrom tried to be as discreet as possible and do not interrupt the other rulers. It wasn't enough, but most of the people were kind enough to let the two converse.

King Gangrel was not one of them.

"And what are the blessed Exalt line talking about behind our back? Are that secret information that are not for the rest of us common folks?" The Plegian ruler mocked with a hurt expression, glancing venomously at the two.

Emmeryn closed her eyes and exhaled tiredly at the jab, and Chrom was sure that she would have rubbed her head in frustration if she was in a more friendly setting.

Instead, she simply opened her eyes again and, ignoring the insult of the king, she answered "My brother decided to remember me of another hypothesis that was presented to us about a possible origin of this cataclysm. It is, however, something with few basis in reality and more of a wild conjecture."

Khan Flavia smiled at Chrom and shrugged "Well, I'd say we hear it anyway. We do not really know anything, and besides, I owe the kid's judgment for five years of rule on Regna Ferox." She proposed in support of the prince.

Khan Basilio lowly grumbled at the umpteenth reminder of his defeat but did not vote against the idea.

King Gangrel smiled sweetly at them, and fakely encouraged them, "Yes, let's hear the young prince's wisdom."

Emmeryn looked at the host of the meeting for permission to talk, and Lady Anna, despite the insecure expression, rewarded her with a nod.

Emmeryn frowned, clearly hesitant to speak of the idea, but after a bit of hesitation, she explained demurely, "It has been pointed out to us that, if the Goddess or her Voice did not have any connection with the events, it doesn't mean that something with similar powers could not be behind it."

Lady Anna raised her eyebrows in skepticism and mulled over his sister's words, before replying, "You suspect that another Divine Dragon may be behind this? That is… impossible. The Dragons left this world from time immemorial. If legends are to be believed, most of them went extinct after a civil war."

"True," Emmeryn admitted. "But we already established that those Undead are corpses of our honorable ancestors. There is still the possibility that this is the work of a revitalized Divine Dragon."

The older merchant did not seem convinced by the explanation and, by the looks of it, neither where the other rulers.

Chrom could not really blame them. Even the swordsman himself would not consider the idea if he didn't hear from the lips of Marth. Despite being a man with lots of mysteries behind him, Chrom believed that he was an honest man.

If he told them that the Fell Dragon was behind the events, it was because he truly believed such. Nevertheless, that did not mean that he and his sister would take his words as truth, especially without a way to back it up.

"We'll keep that in mind if we come across something that points in that direction." Khan Flavia intervened. She too didn't seem convinced of the idea, but she was at least willing to consider it.

As Marth said to them, that was more than enough.

"Maybe it was Grima? I mean, he is the so-called dragon of death and destruction, right?" A new voice interjected with a tone of amusement, and everyone in the room turned towards the lone soldier that followed the two Khans, who up until now, stood in silence and was simply hearing the discussion.

Sir Inigo smiled brightly when all the attention of the room fell on him and the stares of the most powerful people of Archanea did not make him cower or even flinch. Even when the reigned Khan glared harder at him he did not seem to regret the intervention.

Instead, Chrom could see the clear hint of vindictive satisfaction in his eyes. For what, he could not know.

"So that is it? You are telling me that this is all Plegia's fault?" King Gangrel snapped, his more neutral face twisting in sudden rage at the accusation.

The Plegian's eye moved between Inigo and Emmeryn, his scowl deepening at every passing second.

"Of course not." the Exalt immediately intervened, trying to subdue the redhead king.

"Oh, forgive me, of course not!" the Trickster mocked in a fake feminine voice. He then fixated his angered gaze on Chrom, and the prince could see something snap inside him.

Turning violently to glare at the East-Khan, Gangrel shot up and growled "So Christian's spawn gives you the throne and in exchange you attack me here? That was the deal Khan Flavia?" He accused angrily, his hand going towards the sword on his hips.

Everyone tensed at the movement, and Chrom's hand immediately went for his trusted Falchion and positioned himself in front of his sister, mentally cursing at how quickly the situation went out of hand.

Chrom saw Sir Inigo follow his lead and prepared himself for a fight, and he heard more than saw every other guard doing the same, even recognizing the sound of Frederick's Silver Lance behind him.

Chrom had honestly forgotten that his mentor and Phila were inside the room, too absorbed by the conversation in fact, but he was glad to have such strong allies to help him protect both Emmeryn and Maribelle.

"Watch your mouth brat." The blonde Khan replied back. Despite the words, the tone wasn't one of anger, but she did have a threatening subtext in it that everyone could clearly understand. "The only agreement we had with Ylisse was about helping them with repelling the Undead. You or your kingdom had no matter in that. Do not insult me. Such tactics are beneath me and the old oaf." She said, her eyes locked in a contest of will with the Plegian King's.

That was not what the Trickster wanted to hear, judging by how strongly he gripped the handle of the sword.

Khan Basilio smiled widely at the display, and he slowly erected himself in all of his height. The action was simple, but the threat was strongly implied.

Lady Anna punched the table violently, creating a loud sound that normally would have forced the people to look at her, but in that situation she was only rewarded with deep silence. Nobody left his own weapon, everyone still prepared in the case someone would come to blow.

"Stop this nonsense, fools." The matriarch ordered severely, her voice rumbling loudly inside the room.

As to reinforce the order, everyone heard the sounds of a dozen of weapons being unlined in perfect synchronization, only to be immediately sheathed again.

In the corner of his eyes, Chrom noticed how the various Annas inside the room had their arms on their own weapon, and the Lord suddenly remembered where they were holding the meeting.

Suddenly nervous, Chrom gulped down his nervousness and looked around the room, only to see his sister exhaling slowly, a bead of sweat rolling on her cheek. She glanced at him and made a slow, clear gesture that indicated him to let Falchion go.

Looking around again, he saw that everyone was suddenly very wary of the presence of the group of merchants, but none of them was the first to yield.

"Chrom." His sister urged tensely.

The prince hesitated for a moment, but the pleading look of his sister made him desist.

Sighing loudly, he slowly let Falchion go and with deliberate theatrics, he positioned himself again behind his sister, crossing his arms for added measure.

Khan Basilio grunted almost disappointed and, following his example, he fell on his chair with a loud thud, crossing his arms too, giving a childish pout.

Slowly, everyone followed them and in the end, the room was again not in the danger of exploding in a fight.

The only one who still stood on his feet was King Gangrel, still furious as before but now more in control of himself and his action.

Looking heatedly at the other three rulers, King Gangrel sat back on the chair, looking incredibly sourly at the situation.

His eyes locked on both Emmeryn and Chrom himself, before glaring threatening at the two.

Chrom's hand twitched, but the prince did not react in any other way, knowing that, while the reaction was exaggerated, it was still understandable. But Chrom did not know why he was so focused on them. While it was him that started the conjecture, it was Sir Inigo that put the blame on Plegia.

Speaking of, the man who started the scuffle was looking at the scene impassively, the smile that he introduced himself with gone. It was not the same ladies man from before the meeting. There was a warrior there.

And Chrom had to remind himself that he was the guard of the Khans. Of course, he could not be a simple buffoon.

"Now that we have ended these childish accusations…" Lady Anna started to talk again while glancing disappointed at the Khans side, who took the accusation gracefully.

"We can return to the talk about what we can do about this situation. Whatever caused the incident, it has to be here in Archanea. I suggest experts on all three sides will join forces and try to track them down while the various kingdoms will scout preliminary their own region first."

Nobody spoke at first, everyone still tense for the early exchange, the group eying each other suspiciously to see who would do the first move.

Once again, it was Emmeryn that showed her goodwill first, stepping up and saying, "Ylisse will immediately make available the brightest mind of the Kingdom." She announced loudly.

Lady Anna nodded and actually smiled relieved at his sister's intervention, much to the blond's visible satisfaction.

It took a bit for someone to speak after that, but in the end, Khan Flavia hummed to herself while looking back between Chrom himself and King Gangrel, before announcing "Regna Ferox will share the most aptitude people we possess." she proclaimed with just as finality as the Sage.

Khan Basilio visibly grimaced but did not try to go against the female Khan idea.

Then, everyone slowly turned towards Gangrel, waiting for his answer.

King Gangrel glared boldly at the group, stretching his silence for more than another minute, making himself wait.

Then he grinned, and Chrom knew that whatever he was going to say, it would not be what everyone wanted.

"Of course, Plegia will graciously allow the exchange of information with both Regna Ferox and Ylisse. But unfortunately, we are not trusted enough to form any other kind of cooperation, as I am sure you understand." King Gangrel said toothily, and the room seemed to deflate at his decision.

Lady Anna sighed and sadly shook her head.

"Are you sure Gangrel?" She asked him. It was more of a formality, because when the redhead nodded, the merchant simply accepted his decision, giving only a disapproving frown that she did not even direct at the King.

Nobody spoke after the refusal. Chrom could feel Emmeryn disappointed at the result of the conversation, even if she did not show it.

Surprisingly enough, or maybe not, Chrom and most of the other participants of the meeting felt the same.

That was when the silence was broken.

It was his sister and the Archbishop that reacted first, suddenly springing up so harshly that everyone's hand went for their own weapon, ready for one of the two to attack.

The Exalt turned her back on them, much to Chrom's surprise, and the prince felt his sister preparing a spell.

That was when the door exploded violently, the loud sound making everyone in the room flinch in surprise.

Chrom could only see a small group of four people on black robes before dust and fog covered the entire room.

"Attack!" Someone screamed. Chrom could not really understand who it was. He was too busy taking his sister and forcing her to the ground before the spells of the terrorists started to fly.

Emmeryn yelped in a very unladylike manner, and in any other situation he would have found the sound highly amusing. Unfortunately, it really wasn't the time, because just when the two hit the ground, Chrom heard something flying over their head.

A spell without a doubt, aimed for his sister.

"Emm, stay down and let me take care of this! Maribelle?" Chrom said to his sister over the sudden sound of weapon and furniture falling and breaking.

"I'm fine Chrom." He heard the healer whisper right at his side. The Lord suppressed the relief at the sound of her voice, and instead tried to locate the attackers behind the fog.

No such luck, it was thick enough that whatever he could see between it, they were nothing more than shadows.

"I'll deal with it." He heard Emmeryn say confidently.

Before the swordsman could muster a protest, the Exalt stabilized herself on her two feet and, with a quick chant, she created winds around her hand.

Nothing immediately happened, the winds simply spinning around her palm.

Then Emmeryn raised her hand and the intensity soared. The wind became a small, controlled typhoon, sucking around it all the smog that covered the room.

A moment later, Chrom could see what was happening around him.

A group of unknown people was inside the room, wearing what were clearly Grimleal coats that covered most of their faces.

In front of him, there was a group of five people that was looking directly at them, three of them had their hands already raised and ready to cast a spell to shoot against them.

Chrom positioned himself in front of his sister, the Falchion already drawn and ready to shield the older woman from the curses of the Dark Mages.

He really didn't need to.

With a grunt of effort, Emmeryn let the small typhoon go towards the group. Of the five, the two non-mages had the mind to evade the attack, but the three mages reacted too late, so much caught up in their spells.

The mass of smog, wind, and specks of dirt reached the three enemies and suddenly exploded, making the three curses in their hand fly randomly in the room without hitting a person, and the three were flung away hitting the ground with various screams of pain.

Not that Chrom could hear them, obviously. The room was in complete chaos, and the five were not the only assassins who busted inside the conference room.

Frederick and Phila were already engaging a small task of three mages in close combat, who were unfortunately extremely skillful in evading their attacks like the cowards they were.

The Lord searched for the other rulers. he expected them to be relatively unharmed, but he was still surprised to see how they were fearing.

Apparently the Khans had the same idea of his sister in dealing with the cover fog that hindered their sight. Only that, without mages, the Feroxies had to settle with one of the three, which was Khan Basilio, creating a vortex with his own brute strength by spinning one of the biggest axe the blue-haired prince saw in his life while the East-Khan and Sir Inigo were engaged against a couple of attackers each.

Chrom almost missed the annoyed expression of the bald Khan.

Searching again, the prince found himself still surprised at the sight that greeted him.

King Gangrel was fighting. And he was furious.

Shielding Lady Anna with his bigger body, the Plegian King roared and, from the tip of his distorted sword, he summoned a bolt of powerful lightning that blasted one of the closest assassins that dared to approach the two.

Lady Anna did not seem particularly scared of the series of events, from the little he could see. From behind the King, the matriarch chanted a surprisingly controlled Arcfire that distracted one of the other assailants enough for the Mad King to kill him with a fast and brutal swipe of the strange sword.

The body fell on the ground, its head following the lead a mere moment later a couple of meters away.

Chrom looked back at his surroundings, and the prince was welcomed by the sight of a duo of enemies, a sword wielder and lance wielder, running ferociously towards them, aiming directly at him.

Throwing himself against the two, Chrom succeeded in blocking the path of the swordsman.

The lancer ignored him, and Chrom realized that no, they weren't aiming at him, but at the Exalt.

Cursing loudly, Chrom used his superior strength to push the swordsman away, making him stumble back with a grunt of surprise.

He violently reached for the lancer wielding foe and, thanks to the really long coat, he successfully grabbed the foe and yanked him back in front of him.

He had no time to rest, because just after that, the swordsman was already on him, trying to pierce his naked shoulder.

Chrom barely had the possibility to evade it, and the close action allowed them to draw first blood, cutting him.

It wasn't anything deep, but the sudden jolt of pain and the cold that sank into his muscles could only be unpleasant.

A wind spell flew past him, hitting the lance wielder at his side right in the chest, making him scream in pain. Capitalizing with the opening, the Lord swung for the sword wielder with a powerful slash, which the enemy predictably defended against.

The enemy's longsword cracked, and Chrom grinned at the incredulity that crept in the assassin in front of him.

He went for another attack, but the foe screamed in pain and fell on the ground, dead.

Blinking, Chrom saw Vaike smiling smugly at him, his ax dripping with the blood of the Grimleal he just slew.

"Hey, there Captain! Teach to the rescue!" The blonde Shepherd saluted with a boastful laugh that made the prince smile back. Focusing again on his surroundings, Chrom was surprised to see that the battle already was on the finishing stages, most of the enemies being both subdued or killed.

It was easy to see why. The killers, despite the surprise factor, were evenly matched in numbers by the guards and the Annas. Once the sound of the battle reached the Shepherds and the soldiers stationed outside, it was only a matter of time that the enemies would be dealt with.

"Aversa!" A furious voice screamed, and Chrom had to stop himself from shivering at the pure hate that dripped from the words.

He, Emmeryn, Vaike, and Maribelle turned towards the red-head king, who was looking at the unscathed Archibishop on the corner of the room.

The woman walked easily towards the king, seemingly unfazed by the anger directed on her.

"My king…" she started to say with the same collected tone of voice she had during the meeting, only for her being interrupted by lighting crashing right at her side.

"Cut it! Explain this!" Gangrel demanded, taking ample and heavy steps towards the religious woman, who's facade cracked in fear at what it was approaching her.

"I assure you, my king, me and the Grimleals had nothing to do with this." She immediately pleaded, making the King stop in his track.

Maybe it was the fact that Chrom was still full of adrenaline of the short fight, maybe because those people struck him as the Grimleals he always imagined, but Chrom did not really believe her.

Neither did the Khans, judging by one simply rolled his eyes in annoyance while the regent ruler just shook her head in exasperation.

"Do you think me of a fool Aversa? Do you believe I can't recognize the High Priest that lead the attack?" the King shot down mercilessly, seemingly even angrier with every word the woman spoke.

"You may believe that the Church of Grima is independent from Plegia, but know that this is treason, Aversa. I can and will kill you on the spot for this!" Gangrel threatened loudly.

Archbishop Aversa stood in silence, and Chrom wasn't sure what she was thinking. She did not seem terrorized as one would expect her to be in this situation, but she seemed taken aback from the justified rage and extremely worried.

She looked around, maybe in search of help, but none of the people would and even could offer assistance. This was, after all, a matter of internal strife, and while they could push and impose their will after being victim of such an attack, none of them would even think of doing that.

"I am sure Archbishop Aversa as a reasonable explanation for this, King Gangrel. Why do not hear her?"

Gods Emmeryn, really?

Of course, his sister was not most people and decided to intervene in favor of the Archbishop, much to the exasperation and anger of the Shepherds present in the room.

"Milady, I sugg-" Frederick tried to say, but he was interrupted by the furious shout of the red-head king.

"Silence, Ylisseans! This has nothing to do about you! I will deal with this and you will stand still and watch." He commanded angrily, his eyes looking crazily between me, Emmeryn and Frederick who intervened.

The Great Knight stood silent after the scolding, and, after a moment of hesitation, he bowed at the Plegian King to apologize.

It was surprising, really, especially for how deep the bow was.

Emmeryn was clearly not satisfied by the answer she received and made to politely protest what she thought was the hasty course of action, but Chrom decided to stop her.

Putting a hand on her shoulder and catching her attention before she could speak up, Chrom silently shook his head, trying to convey how strongly he was against her intervention.

His sister was still clearly displeased by the lack of action that they were suggesting, but it was Maribelle intervention that completely made her hesitate enough for King Gangrel to continue with his… trial.

"I do not believe it is wise for us to interfere, Lady Emmeryn. We do not know how our neighbor would react to such uncouth intrusion." the blonde duchess said.

In front of them, Archbishop Aversa seemed to have accepted her fate, and she now was kneeled on the floor, offering her head to the enraged King.

"If it is what you wish, my King, I offer you my head against a hunt for my followers." She stated, her voice not cracking despite this possibly being the last moment of her life.

Chrom gulped, and despite what just happened to them, her words made him hesitate in his judgment. Maybe she was really innocent? Could all of this be a stage against the Archbishop?

Could he really stand and watch how a woman may be executed without a fair trial and judgment?

Evidently, King Gangrel did not seem to care about such things, because he seemed more than ready to kill the Lead of the Grimleals without the necessary trivialities.

"Gangrel…" Lady Anna called out with a trace of concern in her tone, making the man stop in his track. The Plegian did not turn to see the matriarch, but everyone saw his body tense and hesitate in his action.

Despite that, the redhead king seemed still ready to go on with the execution, his rightful anger still not quelled.

It was a surprise when the pale man lowered his sword. King Gangrel spat on the floor, and violently took the Archbishop and lifted her weight with only one hand, his crazed red pupils locked on the Archbishop's face.

"How lucky of you. You are more useful alive for now." The King said slowly, in a manner that vaguely resembles a calm and rational man.

He then flung the Archbishop on the ground, making her hiss in pain at the sudden and violent blow.

"No Aversa. I won't spare your followers. And you will help me locate every single one of these fools that went against my express orders. Am I clear?" he spelled out threateningly to the woman, who could only accept the conditions forced on her.

"... yes my king."

Chrom exhaled in relief at the affirmative answer, for a brief moment fearing that the Archbishop would protest and thus provoke the already infuriated king in something that none of them could stop.

Looking at Emmeryn, he saw her feeling the same, her shoulders now more relaxed.

Lady Anna nodded at the scene and turned towards the rest of her family, who were mumbling between themselves with a various degree of annoyance at what just transpired.

Seeing how none of them was excessively injured by the short assault, the matriarch seemed a lot more relieved and quickly ordered them "Girls, stop wasting your time and start checking the mansion."

A couple of the younger redheads grumbled and whined in annoyance at the sudden task, but they did go out of the room to do what they were told to do.

It was slightly amusing to see a group of respected and accomplished merchants behave like children, but alas, he could feel for them.

After all, he too had something to do at the moment. No time for dilly-dallying for him, especially after such an attempt.

Turning towards his Shepherds, the Prince approached Frederick and Phila, who were quietly talking with Stahl and Lon'qu.

Obviously, Frederick was the first to notice his presence, and with a quick gesture, he silenced the two soldiers.

"Milord." He saluted respectfully.

"What is the situation outside?" The prince asked severely, looking worried at his friends. He was glad to notice that all of them were generally unscratched, with the worst he could see was Frederick having a scratch on his face and some slight dents on his armour.

"Preliminary investigations suggest that some of the assassins were part of the Plegian embassy that followed Archbishop Aversa." His oldest knight explained dutifully.

"As stated by King Gangrel, the assassination was lead by High Priest Mirzac, one of the unfortunate casualties, who presumably procured an opening for outsiders to sneak past all the guards of the three Kingdoms." He continued, prompting a nod of understanding from the Prince.

"Unfortunately, in the initial phases of the attack, the Grimleals killed some of the ambassadors of every Kingdom. On Ylisse side, we mourn the loss of a Priest of Naga and two of our youngest soldiers.'' he concluded. Frederick's tone remained the same even when he listed the loss of his own soldier, but Chrom could see the veiled anger behind the facade of professionalism.

The prince wasn't as collected as him. Cursing loudly, Chrom sadly closed his eyes for a quick but heartfelt prayer for the unforeseen deaths, hoping that the Goddess would take proper care for the souls of those unfortunate Ylissean.

He inwardly damned the Grimleals and their stupid fanaticism and felt a spike of anger against King Gangrel for not being able to control them and resulting in events like those.

But the Prince squashed it, knowing that he was being unjust in the confrontation of the Plegian King. Even if Gangrel wasn't able to be just with them, it didn't mean that he could follow his lead and be like him.

He was better than that. He will be better than him.

"Your Highness?" He heard Frederick call and, realizing that he had lost time in reflection, Chrom coughed in his hand and replied, "I see. I will talk with Emm now. Go and start checking on everyone outside please." He ordered the brown-haired knight, who bowed in acknowledgment and immediately went on to carry on.

With a simple glance, Frederick commanded the two Shepherds to follow and help him in his task, and both Stahl and Lon'qu compiled without much of a sound.

With a defeated sigh at the events that just transpired, Chrom turned around and looked for his elder sister. Searching for her, his eyes stopped on Maribelle, who was dutifully going around the room and checking for various injuries on both Feroxi or Plegian alike.

He couldn't help the small, prideful smile that grew at the sight, and he contently allowed himself to watch over her work for a minute, before going back to search for his sister.

He saw her right beside the two Khans, talking in a low voice with the two dark-skinned rulers with a slightly saddened and demoralized look.

"Sis." The prince called her hesitantly, making the three turn to see him. Giving a respectful nod to the two Khans, Chrom continued to address his sister, "Frederick just briefed me: We have lost three men in the attack."

Emmeryn exhaled slowly, closing her eyes in a mix of sadness and resignation, "I see." She only commented.

"You too uh? Well, that is expected." Khan Basilio said, giving the two Ylisseans a brief pat on their back to show his condolence.

"Seeing what happened here, I suggest we will keep the summit in hold and take a couple of days to organize ourselves and see if we can dig up whoever planned this." Khan Flavia suggested somberly, looking at the three in wait for a confirmation.

"Good idea." the West Khan approved immediately, and Chrom nodded in acceptance.

His sister took a moment to think about the idea, before giving her approval "Yes, I believe that it is a wise course of action. But we should ask King Gangrel his opinion on this."

The two Khans hesitated just for a brief moment, but then they accepted the decision of the Exalt.

The three rulers decided to depart, and Emmeryn politely dismissed him from the discussion and went to talk with the Plegian King.

Chrom thought of following them and hearing what the red-head King was saying, but he decided to let his sister and the two Khans deal with him.

Chrom decided to go and check personally on the Shepherd.

---

That night, King Gangrel was looking at the paper in his hand with ill-concealed anger at the paper in his hand, reading the report of the losses of the day for the umpteenth time.

There was a difference from before though, the redhead king had the responsibility of such unjustifiable losses right in front of him, the Archbishop of the Grimleal, Aversa, watching the pale king with a seemingly calm and collected expression.

Gangrel knew better. Aversa was a long time acquaintance of the King. He knew the woman since before she was made the Archbishop, after her father's passing. She was installed as his councilor for the Grimleal faction to try to have some sort of control or influence on him.

She even tried to seduce him at the time.

Looking up from the report, the King observed the tense form of the woman waiting for his next words. She was scared of what he would do now, in the privacy of the tent without the influence of Christian's spawn to help her.

"You better have a good explanation for what you pulled here, Aversa." Gangrel started to say slowly in a low voice.

The king was satisfied with how little of what he really felt about the… incident was palpable from his tone.

"I thought we had a deal, Aversa. A deal that I made with you and your band of fanatic imbeciles that believe that they still have the control of my kingdom." He continued, posing the papers on the table at his side while slowly walking towards her.

The dark-skinned woman inhaled imperceptibly, the tension and fear for the anger of the king taking a toll on her.

Nevertheless, she mustered all the self-control she had and smiled sultrily at him, replying, "And we did respect our part of the contract, King Gangrel. We did not interfere with your quest of vengeance, and even gave you a chan-"

Aversa did not have the possibility of finishing the phrase, because the answer was not what the King of Plegia wanted to hear. All the illusion of calm that he conjured for her shattered like broken glass and the man placed himself in front of the face of the woman.

"Stop this game!" He demanded angrily. Gangrel was not screaming, but the venom and loathing behind the words were more than enough to convey how on a thin line the archbishop was with him.

"Did you think I did not see you? When the task force covered the room, I saw you conjuring that curse to kill the Exalt from behind!" He said, his hand twitching violently at the image.

Aversa's smile died and she took a step back from the redhead.

He did not allow that. He blocked the woman with a hand heavily put on her shoulder, making her wince in pain at the strength and pressure he put her on.

"The Exalt's death would have put Ylisse in panic, especially after the theft of the Fire Emblem. The Prince would have asked for blood and would have declared war on Plegia. Just like you wanted." She explained quietly, despite the hammering of her heart and all her body screaming at her to get away from him.

"The princeling…," Gangrel said, spatting the name like it was a curse. "... is the only thing that saves you now, Aversa." He said, gripping her shoulder tighter.

The white-haired woman did not make a sound, despite the pain from the grip, simply waiting for the king to vent his anger and hoping that nothing more would come out of it.

"It seems you have forgotten what our deal was, Aversa. So let me refresh it for you." The pale king slowly said, his tone deceptively calm.

"I would allow you fools to do whatever you want in your stupid quest to resurrect the Fell Dragon, no matter what kind of consequences it would have with the other two kingdoms. In exchange…," Gangrel articulated slowly, relaxing the grip on her shoulder.

"The Grimleals would put aside any grudge against the Exalt line." He concluded sweetly, giving the woman a false smile.

The Archbishop, of course, already knew that. She was the one that negotiated with the king and the other high priests, after all, the one that convinced the King to cooperate with the Grimleals in their pursuit after the death of her father.

"What you did was breaking that agreement, Aversa. I am hurt, you know? I thought that you would be better than this. I believed you to be smarter than to try and deceive me." He continued, putting up the same obnoxious fake expression that was used with the Ylisseans.

"And how amusing is that the Exalt was the only one that voiced for you. It amuses me, knowing that Christian's spawn tries so hard to be as different as their father when they are all of the same kind." He continued with a low chuckle, taking a step back from the woman and starting to walk around the tent.

"Like father like son, after all. Always jumping and attacking my country. They may be putting a pacifist facade, but they are just like him. Worthless beasts out for blood to offer to their Goddess!" He said, his voice becoming more and more agitated the more the redhead talked about them.

Aversa simply nodded and patiently waited for him to finish his monologue, knowing better than to try to talk to him now that he was this flighty and agitated.

He always was when he was thinking about the Exalt line. Obsessed, angered.

His grudge against the rulers of Ylisse was well known in the higher circle, but few ever witnessed how strong he felt about them. How much he hated them.

"And you, my dear Aversa, have tried to kill the oldest and most hypocritical of them behind my back. That won't do." Gangrel suddenly snapped back at the dark mage, glaring heatedly at the religious woman.

The archbishop opened her mouth to try and apologize, but unfortunately, that wasn't going to cut for the king.

Instead, she felt a sudden surge of pain on her left shoulder, and her calm mask immediately broke when he saw Gangrel's Levin Sword impaled in it.

Fumbling away from him, the woman let out a low sound of pain at the sudden attack, but the maddened king did not let her have any kind of breath. The sword seemed to crackle with static and then the electric shock of a lowly powered thunder spell crashed on her body.

Aversa couldn't even scream from the pain she felt, the sudden follow-up attack taking her breath and strength away.

She barely felt when the trickster slowly removed the sword from her shoulder and left her body fell on her knees.

"Seeing how little you value our agreement, this is the only warning you will receive. Don't do this again because next time I will kill you. Christian's spawn is mine. Are we clear, Aversa?" she heard the king stress coldly, ignoring the pain of the woman.

When she didn't answer, still too caught up in catching her breath, the king put the sword at her throat.

Feeling the hot steel of the blade threatening her life, the archbishop tensed and looked slowly up at the king.

"Are. We. Clear?" Gangrel repeated again, this time articulating every word so slowly that even in her unfocused state she could understand them.

Aversa could only answer with a weak affirmation, prompting the redhead to sheathe his sword and smile in perverse satisfaction.

"Good. Now get out of there. I have to deal with the mess that this embarrassing raid did for us."

---

Chrom let out a sigh of mild satisfaction, enjoying the lunch he was having with both his sisters in the tent of the Exalt.

It was a rare occurrence when the three of them were truly alone in the same space. Being royalty, they always had someone with them everywhere since birth.

Even now, despite him being an accomplished warrior and his older sister an experienced and fairly powerful Sage, they always had at least Frederick or Phila at their side. Even Lissa, despite the minor role she had in the political land, she always was with one of the Shepherds or a Pegasus Knight.

At the moment, instead, both Phila and Frederick were waiting outside the tent standing on guard while the three siblings were enjoying their time together.

Chrom felt actually a bit bad for making them do this, but he squashed the sentiment when he saw both of his sisters peacefully enjoying their food.

"... and I'm booored!" Lissa finished whining to her elder sister, who simply smiled slightly at the younger blond antics.

"I see Lissa. Do not worry, because as we decided, we will depart in the late evening." Emmeryn assured, making Lissa smile widely in happiness.

"Nice. I can't wait to be back at the castle. The people here are so creepy you know? Always staring and being closed off from everyone." The young Cleric commented annoyed, making her two siblings chuckle in amusement and the peculiar description of the other guards.

"That is not true." Chrom rebuked in fake offense. "The Khans are really funny and nice people, Lissa." He reminded her, crossing his arms with a smirk.

The blonde girl gasped dramatically, and covered her mouth with both her hands, "Oh Chrom, how could I have said that. I will miss their really, really loud laughs and painful pats!" She exclaimed with perceived sarcasm.

Emmeryn laughed quietly at her younger sister's reaction but did not comment on the disrespect shown by the cleric. "Well, Sir Inigo is really nice and charming, don't you think so Lissa?" She teased, making the other girl smile more mischievously and nodding enthusiastically.

Chrom's smile strained at the thought of that particular individual, laughing half-heartedly at the two's joking.

In those days, he had the occasion to talk with the man, being the only noticeable person of the Regna Ferox' entourage.

Put it simply, he was a womanizer. He saw him flirt with a lot of women in the span of three hours, including a couple of Plegians, five different priestesses, and even his own damn sisters.

Both of them.

Strangely enough, he seemed to hold him in high esteems, for some reason, if the clear respect and slight deference he showed the prince the few times they crossed roads were of some indication.

It was one of the two things that convinced Chrom that maybe the guy wasn't so bad. The other reason was that he was one of Marth's comrades.

It was a pleasant surprise, seeing him with the Feroxi delegation after the meeting, running around helping the Shepherds with the aftermath of the assassination attempt.

He did seem agitated by the event, most likely caught off guard for it, but he couldn't really blame the masked swordsman for that, everyone was.

The prince found just strange seeing him showing it that much. Chrom had the impression of him being way more detached and collected most of the time.

"Come on Chrom, we are joking." Lissa commented while barely holding back a laugh, and the blue-haired swordsman just blinked and smiled awkwardly at her, realizing that he must have shown his thoughts.

Looking at Emmeryn, Chrom noticed her chuckle mirthfully, and he let out a sigh of resignation. Truly, if her pious elder sister enjoyed teasing him like that, he must be extremely gullible and fun to play with.

It was irritating, but for them, he would bear the curse for them.

"I know sister. After all, I am sure Lon'qu would be jealous if he heard you talk so well of another prominent Feroxi warrior."He replied with a bright, innocent smile.

He would bear the curse, but that would not mean he could not do some payback at them.

Lissa blushed at the insinuation of her clear crush on their last addition on the Shepherds, and tried to reply back with some cunning insult.

"Wha-, t-that is… Shut up!"

Chrom's smile did not waver at the comeback, and he observed how Emmeryn slowly turned her head to the younger sibling and commented "My, my, what a refined answer, Princess Lissa. I am sure your tutor and Maribelle would be very proud of you." she said in faux disappointment.

"Ugh!" Lissa grunted out in a very unladylike manner at the Exalt's joke, and panickingly tried to come up with a rebuke. She seemed to come up with something because after a couple of seconds of stuttering, she replied viciously "W-well, what about your crush on Frederick, Emm? How does that go?"

The Exalt, unfortunately for the princess, did not seem to be embarrassed by the frankly new revelation, which piqued the only brother's interest. Humming calmly, she shook her head with the same peaceful smile she used in her meetings "I don't know where that came from, my dear sister. I believe you just came up with this." She replied.

Lissa pouted and crossed her arms at the negation, and she didn't even try to press the matter further, knowing full well that Emmeryn could talk around the both of them even if she was ill and bedridden. Curse her diplomatic abilities.

Nevertheless, Chrom filed that little bit of information for later use. His sister and Frederick huh… he should keep an eye on them from now on. Just in case.

"Lady Emmeryn, Lord Chrom, Lady Lissa." They suddenly heard from outside the tent, the slightly nervous and on edge voice of the captain of the pegasus knights calling their attention.

The three looked between themselves in confusion at the interruption. Chrom knew that Phila wouldn't interrupt their alone time if there wasn't a good reason.

Nevertheless from the tone of voice, Phila did not seem agitated or impatient, making the prince think that whatever needed their, or his sister's attention, wasn't immediate.

Calmly standing, Emmeryn was the first to walk outside the tent with the two younger siblings following her, curious of what would push the trusted guard to interrupt them.

The three Ylisseans were welcomed by the sight of a third person outside the tent, who stood dutifully right beside the Great Knight and the Pegasus Knight, one of the few soldiers that came with them from the capital if Chrom remembered.

The knight saluted the three of them dutifully, "Lady Emmeryn I am sorry to inconvenience you, but we have an abnormal situation on our hands." He explained curtly, looking slightly apologetically at them.

Composing herself, not that she even needed to do that in Chrom's opinion, Emmeryn nodded solemnly at the man and smiled encouragingly at him, "I understand. Explain, please." She ordered gently.

The knight nodded and quickly summarized, "An hour ago, we met a man that asked to talk with us, claiming to have the necessary information from the capital. After allowing him in the presence of Lady Sully and Lord Virion, the man named Gaius reported a theft in the castle led by the Grimleals." He explained.

Chrom's eyebrow raised at the news. That was not what he expected to hear.

Mirroring the Prince's expression, the Exalt did not seem particularly worried by the notion. "I see. I assume we can't really confirm his claim, right." She asked.

To their surprise, the man shook his head, suddenly showing an unsure and hesitant expression, "We are not sure. He did show us some sort of proof, Lady Emmeryn. He had some silverware but we can't identify if they are from the castle or not."

Chrom saw Emmeryn blink in surprise at the peculiarity, and the Prince had to wonder how the guy had some of the supposedly stolen silverware. But it was the youngest of the three that actually pointed out the strangeness.

"Wait, how did he have those? Did he take them from the thieves or something?" She questioned skeptically, looking up to the older siblings to have an answer.

Chrom didn't answer her question, simply mirroring Lissa and looking towards the oldest of them, waiting for her input.

Strangely enough, even his sister was hesitant to judge the bizarre events. Chrom had no doubt that she was thinking the same thing he did.

It was impossible for a man to simply take some silverware from thieves and run away. Or if not impossible, extremely improbable. The Prince had the impression that this was a case of a thief turning his back on former comrades.

Seeing how the Exalt was still thinking about the situation at hand, Chrom decided to intervene in her stead, "Should we hear him out?" He proposed, a bit hesitant, looking at his older sister for confirmation.

Emmeryn looked back at him, and, after a moment of consideration, she confirmed, "Yes Chrom, that would be wise. Please, escort us to this individual."

Nodding resolutely, the knight bowed and gestured for the siblings to follow him, before setting off with the three royals in tow. Chrom heard metal boots right behind him, and he just assumed that Frederick or Phila decided to follow them to see what was happening.

The group decided to not talk between them and pondered on the situation at hand, but it didn't take long for them to reach their destination.

Chrom saw both Sully and Virion talking with a new man, maybe a bit older than him. The first thing that he noticed was the fact that certainly, he did not look like a bystander or a normal subject.

The way he was casually relaxed with the eyes of a lot of armed people was a big show that he was used to the presence of certain kinds of people. The fact that he was dressed like some kind of thief and had a sword himself was actually the thing that convinced the Prince that this man was probably a traitor in the group.

Chrom supposed that it was a good thing for them, but that didn't stop him from thinking of the man of someone to not trust.

"Greetings, sir. I believe you are the man who wanted to tell us about a theft in my castle?" Emmeryn politely greeted him with a hearty smile, "I am Emmeryn, the Exalt of Ylisse. May I ask you your name?" She asked him.

The man blinked and thought for a moment while chewing on something in his mouth. After a bit, he took out a... lollipop from his mouth and answered with a careless shrug, "Gaius, Your Majesty."

Lissa's eyes widened, focusing her attention on the lollipop -seriously though, really?- and her eyebrows raised dangerously.

She did not say anything, but Chrom noticed how she started glaring intensely at the redhead. More specifically, she seemed particularly focused on the lollipop in his hand.

Deciding to ignore her and simply focus on the events in front of him, Chrom heard his sister reply to the man, "Thank you, Gaius. They said that you believe that some people stole from our castle, right?"

Gaius nodded at the question, putting his sweet back in his mouth, seemingly savoring the treat despite the interrogation from the woman. "You are right, I was there. Stole some stuff myself. A bit of the silverware I gave back to you guys and some treats for myself." He admitted seamlessly.

Chrom blinked at the blunt reply and felt a spike of admiration for the courage that the man displayed in front of the Queen of the kingdom. The owner of the castle that he said he robbed.

He saw and heard some of the knights around them hesitantly going for their weapons, with Sully and Frederick being the more determined in the movement, but Chrom stopped them with a gesture of his hand before his sister could.

He felt more than saw the incredulous gaze of both the redhead cavalier and the archer, even if they received the confirmation of the order from Emmeryn, who simply nodded at the Prince in appreciation for the initiative.

"I see. I applaud your willingness to come here and confess your crimes, Gaius. I will make sure to remember it when the trial comes." Emmeryn assured with a smile, making the self-proclaimed thief raise an eyebrow in mock surprise.

"Hey now, Your Majesty, I never spoke of capture and turning over a new leaf. I am here just because my Grimleals pals broke the code and tried to get rid of me and the others. Also, I am pretty sure we were a distraction to something more important. Don't know what. I only saw some old relics in their hands." He said with a shrug, while his eyes roamed around him.

Chrom and Emmeryn ignored the casual dismissal about the capture and decided to focus on the new information given.

"And can you tell us what they took?" Emmeryn asked again, and Chrom could feel a strange edge in her voice. He could not really know why that was. Everything they could have stolen could not be something that important.

"Some stuff. Jewelry, antique things like pots and portraits and an old-looking shield." Gaius answered seemingly nonchalantly, but he seemed to give them his full attention when he told them about it, waiting for a reaction.

Emmeryn tensed, her eyes widening in shock, Chrom having a really similar reaction to the older sister.

"Could you please describe the shield they took?" Emmeryn asked quickly, her tone not hiding the concern that she was feeling.

"That important uh…" Gaius commented with a low sigh, shaking his head in annoyance, "Should have known it was a political thing… well, sorry but I didn't take a good look. All I can say is that it was ornate, really old because of some chippings and had some placing on the front." He answered.

Chrom cursed loudly, and immediately marched away from them.

The description was scarce but clear enough. The Grimleals stole the Fire Emblem, the Holy Shield that, paired with Falchion, slew Grima one thousand years ago. Not only that, but the shield was also in the hands of legendary figures from before the very foundation of Ylisse.

It was the shield that the Hero-King Marth utilized in both the fabled War of Shadows and the War of Heroes. It was the shield that it is said to call upon the power of Naga and could create miracles.

And it was with Ylisse from the start of the Kingdom, never leaving the Exalt line. Even his father used it against Plegia years ago.

And they stole it.

Enough was enough. Gangrel had to stop whatever problem he had in controlling those damn animals!

His anger was probably extremely visible, because a lot of the knights and people that he met in his march towards the Plegian's assembly stayed clear from him, actually making space for him to walk.

It didn't take long for him to find the incapable king. He was outside his tent, talking with the archbishop in a strangely hushed tone.

Chrom didn't care. Even if it was the Khans, he would have his voice heard.

"Gangrel!" He called out, barely containing his fury from his voice. Even then, he was sure that the hostility could still be felt, despite his frankly nonexisting efforts.

The Plegian king turned towards him and, acknowledging his presence, he smiled condescendingly at him and opened his arms in a sarcastic welcoming gesture.

"Ah, Prince Chrom. How rare for us to see you without the company of the Exalt. What do we owe the honor?" Gangrel asked with as much actual respect as he gave to the Exalt with a condescending smile.

"Stop your games, Gangrel. I am here to tell you this. Keep your damn fanatics at bay!" He spatted back with venom, much to the king's surprise.

Raising an eyebrow with a sardonic smirk, the Plegian tilted his head, looking at the Ylissean prince with satisfaction "So you finally show your true colors. Barging in Plegian territory and demanding absurdities. Like father like son is not only a way of saying." He commented.

That bastard! How dare he compare him with that failure of a father! "You… don't you dare! I am nothing like him! We put up with you and your attitude, but enough is enough! Just give back the Fire Emblem and we will leave you alone!" He ordered in anger.

"Unfortunately, I have no idea of what you are talking about." Was instead the satisfied reply of the redhead king.

Seeing the smug, satisfied look in the face of that damnable man, the same man who always mocked and belittled his sister and all of his family made him clench his fists.

He just wanted to punch the satisfaction out of that despicable king.

Fortunately for him, before Chrom could actually pull it off, he was stopped by the panicked but severe voice of his older sister, "Chrom!" She called out.

Spitting on the ground, the Prince turned towards the source of the voice and saw Emmeryn strolling towards the two of them with a worried expression.

"Oh, and here it is the older sister! Here to calm down the Princeling?" the Trickster asked jovially, much to Chrom's irritation.

"Yes." Was the composed answer of the Exalt. Chrom's eyes twitched, feeling offended by the fact that his sister was actually agreeing with him in this situation, but before he could protest, Emmeryn continued to explain to the King, "You have to excuse him, King Gangrel. We just received distraught news. It has been reported to us that the Fire Emblem has been stolen from the castle, and reports from a deserter indicate that a Grimeals task force is behind the crime."

King Gangrel gasped in exaggerated surprise "My, the Fire Emblem stolen right under the noise of the Ylissean family…," he mocked, before glaring at the two, "And you believe that we are behind it, right?"

"Of course not." Emmeryn quickly denied, shaking her head in negation, "We suspect that whoever is behind it, is the same force that attacked us days ago." she affirmed.

Gangrel sneered at the explanation, looking at the two in plain disgust, "Your dear brother's outburst from before seemed to show me a very different story, dear Holy Exalt. But no more!" He shouted.

"Seeing how you seem to believe the voice of a petty deserter over mine, I will end this farce for the both of us!" He declared, before giving them a bloodthirsty smile.

Chrom's heart stopped at the sight, fearing the implication of that statement, and he could feel his sister pale at the declaration.

"I, King Gangrel, declare the end of the peace between Plegia and the hypocritical Ylisse. No more false smiles. No more masks. From now on, I declare that I will usurp the Exalt line and take over Ylisse!" Gangrel announced loudly, making the various bystander recoil back in various states of surprise.

"Wait, I am sure-"

"None of that falsified pacification, Exalt! Our next encounter will be on the battlefield!"

Chrom took a step back, his anger vanishing, only replaced by the horror of what he assisted.

Giving the two his back, Gangrel walked away under the stunned silence of the people, vanishing in the tent, the Archbishop right after his steps.

He just… despite all the commitment, the diligence, the years…

Chrom fell on his knees.

War.

Author Notes:

Fuck this chapter. Seriously. I believed writing this would have been fun, being important to the story and having some cool moments, but now that it cames, it was doubt after doubt and talking and talking... ugh.

In the end, I am satisfied at least.

The things that made me hesitate the most were both Gangrel and Chrom's reaction. Gangrel is clearly different from the canon, I tried to give him more depth against his game counterpart, and I tried to not make him too wildly inconsistent in his behavior. We'll see how the reception goes.

Chrom's reaction is another thing that made me hesitate. Him losing his composure is not impossible, but I always thought, 'he is not a complete meathead, he would probably restain himself right?', and so I didn't write the last part.

In the end, I tried to make it sound how it wasn't only the FE the problem, but Gangrel's attitude towards him and his sister up until now that made him explode.

Hope you like it, I put way more time than I intended in this.

Next time, at least, is Hachiman again. That will be fun.

If you see some typos, please don't hesitate to point it out, being both on review or on private messaging.

Stay home, stay safe, don't be stupid people.

Taine.