Fire Emblem: Before Awakening

Falchion

Chrom
7 Months Later...

Seven months can pass in the blink of an eye; all events happening in between both blur and stand out in that span of time.

Now with Vaike a part of our ranks and no plans on expanding, my tiny militia felt like it was real: true. The bonds I forged with these people were ones that I would treasure for a lifetime, I already knew it. 

In these months, the Shepherds became more active. Going on small missions to defend small villages from raids and chasing away ne'er-do-wells from fields occupied our time. It wasn't the most glamorous or high-glory types of jobs and missions, but it was more than enough. Even then, all of our actions and victories gained us more renown in the kingdom. Now, it was common to know the name and purpose of the Shepherds.

This renown has gained us more and more approval from Emm and we were now very close to being considered a recognized and important militia in the royal court. Of course, being the prince and brother to the Exalt, I could just flaunt my power and status to gain us more things, but that wasn't how I wanted to run things. And Emm would agree. I wanted to work from the ground up to build up this militia to glory. No privileges or shortcuts.

However, the approval we receive is not something we take or granted or the things Emm gifts us.

For example, our very own barracks.

Impeccable timing was on our side. Or mine, at least. The development of our own barracks was something in the works for months, now, but it was deemed fully completed on the day of my eighteenth birthday. The date was nothing significant (Emm wasn't going to give my soldiers barracks as my birthday present) it just happened to be a coincidence.

I held my breath as Frederick and I walked down the halls of the castle, each step bringing us closer to the barracks. I've seen the progress of the area occasionally so it wasn't something I was completely blind to, but anxiety still gripped my senses. This would be the first time I stepped inside of the finished barracks. My Shepherds have already seen and began making themselves at home a few hours earlier.

"Ease your nerves, Milord. You're acting like a young soldier who's about to enter his first battle," Frederick quipped, astute but still amused.

I swallowed thickly. "It's really easy to read my nervousness, huh?"

"Easier than any book."

I released a breath, my chest relaxing but the pitter patter of nerves still running around. "I'm just - I'm in absolute shock about all of this. Just last year, we formed. And now, we have our own barracks. This seems too surreal; I feel like I don't deserve this."

"It was our hard work and dedication that gave us these barracks," Frederick spoke, not missing a step or looking anywhere but forward. "Lady Emmeryn observed how much you have worked to make the Shepherds prosper. How much effort you've made into including these people, how their lives have changed because of you."

I looked up at him, some nerves subsiding. When I first met the knight, I had to crane my neck all the way and practically jump just to be on his eye level. Now, we were almost at equal standing. Frederick was taller than the average man, though. "You really think so?"

"I know so." The corner of his mouth turned up into a smile. "Every development we receive is to better ourselves and encourage us to work harder in the future."

As I opened my mouth to reply, Frederick stopped at a pair of doors. The realization of where we were and what we were about to enter dawned on me. This is it...