Thorns and Roses | Fire Emblem Awakening (Holiday Shepherds Book 2)

Chapter 3: The Beast at the Ball

Robin

The castle was a hive of activity the next morning. The air buzzed with excitement as the servants flitted about from room to room, their arms piled high with boxes of decorations. After breakfast, I stood just inside the entrance to the ballroom and watched them prepare for a while.

The walls were strung with bunting, and the tables and chairs that were dotted about were littered with rose-scented candles. At the centre of the room stood a potted tree, its branches bare of leaves and covered in hanging paper hearts. Apparently, it was tradition for everyone in each village, town, and city to hang a heart from one of their trees, and House of Ylisse had always liked to replicate it here.

Excitement briefly penetrated my nerves as I took it all in. The servants seemed to be enjoying themselves greatly as they decorated. Some hurried across the room to their own husbands, wives, boyfriends, and girlfriends when their supervisors weren't watching, and others tried to group together with their friends. All of them talked, laughed, and smiled as they worked. Love was in the air, and everyone who danced in this ballroom tonight would feel it, too.

I turned on my heel to go and almost slammed into Chrom's chest.

"Whoa, easy there," he said, placing a hand on my arm. "My apologies. I didn't intend to sneak up on you."

I smiled. "I can't believe that you did. I usually know when you're around. I suppose this beautiful ballroom was distracting me."

Chrom directed his gaze over my shoulder. His eyebrows lifted. "That's...much more decorative than I've ever seen it. I suppose everyone must be excited now that I finally have a partner to attend the ball with."

"You've never attended with anyone else?"

"No. I've never found anyone special enough. To me, Sir Amias' day is about more than people who are lovers. It's about people who are partners, who rule their lives together and pick each other up when they fall down. There has to be true friendship in the romance. You are my best friend as well as my fiancé." He reached into his pocket. "Which is why you're attending the ball with me, and why I need you to wear this."

His hand resurfaced, and he opened his palm. A small lever-lock key was sitting on his glove, the bow woven into the Ylissean crest. It had been threaded onto a thin chain that was joined with a clasp, and it looked to be about wrist size.

"Couples usually exchange keys on their first Sir Amias' Day," he said, "and our people will be expecting you to wear one this evening. It's meant to resemble –"

"– the unlocking of your heart," I finished. "Luckily for you, I read about that. And you know that you've unlocked my heart, too."

I opened my own palm to reveal a smaller, plainer key. It also had a chain, but this one was longer – perfect for Chrom to wear around his neck. It was usually acceptable for only the man to give a key to the woman, but we were equals here.

Chrom's eyes lit up, and he smiled at me as he lifted the necklace from my hand. "Thank you, Robin."

He put it on, then fastened the bracelet around my wrist. When I lowered my arm, the key fell forwards and rested against the back of my leather fingerless glove. I found myself idly noting that it would be a useful weapon to scrape someone's eyes out in a close-quarters attack. Then I mentally scolded myself. Did I really have to turn a romantic gesture into a tactical advantage?

But the bit of the key wasn't really...bit-shaped. It had been sharpened to a point.

I looked back up at Chrom in surprise.