It was over. Elincia, still pretty even though her face was pale and smudged with dirt, her hair was unkempt, and her eyes were red from crying- did her best to comfort the sobbing girl in her arms. Mist had been inconsolable ever since her brother's death.
It had only been a week since Ike's passing, and Elincia's heart still ached. Brave, loyal Ike... and so many of his comrades had fallen against the might of the Daein army. How? How had things gone so wrong?
One minute, the battle seemed to have been progressing smoothly, with Ike leading the charge against the black-armored foes...
Capturing Daein's capital city (and castle) should've meant the end of the war, and yet...
King Ashnard had been nowhere to be seen. The king hadn't even been present in his own capital city!
And to make matters worse, as Ike's forces fought there way through the Daein castle, wave after wave of reinforcements had poured in.
It had been a trap- and Ike, cut off from the rest of his army and outnumbered, had fallen.
It was a small mercy that Elincia hadn't been present to actually watch her loyal protector meet his fate- she didn't know if her heart could take that.
Instead, Ike had fallen in combat after fighting off as many enemies as he could. His sword armed proved fierce all the way to the bitter end, and as Elincia was brought, hands bound together with chains, through the carnage-fraught interior of the castle, she saw that Ike had not died without a fight. No fewer than a dozen of Daein's finest had met their end even as Ike had been badly outnumbered, the young blue-haired man's corpse surrounded by his downed enemies.
The death of general Ike had spelled the end of the New Crimean army. He'd been a symbol of hope for his army, and when he fell in battle, the very spirit of his comrades died with him. Many loyal comrades, who Elincia glumly noted she would miss with a burning passion- had fallen alongside Ike that fateful day.
Rolf was now the last living member of his family. The young green-haired boy sat across from Elincia and Mist, next to a frowning Tormod.
Soren had flown into a rage at Ike's death, and though his powerful wind spells had sundered flesh and rent armor, he had left himself exposed to the enemy, and a hail of arrows ended his life before he'd made it within 20 feet of his closest friend.
Other than Mist and Rolf, Titania was the lone survivor from the now defunct Greil Mercenaries. Or at least, that was what Elincia hoped. She'd seen the red-haired paladin leading a retreat out of the castle, fighting off enemy after enemy as she sought to get the survivors of the Crimean army to safety.
Titania had been alive last Elincia had seen her, and the captive princess could only hope that remained the case.
Elincia herself had been taken captive- it had been her decision to travel with Ike's army into Daein, and oh, how that had gone so wrong. Perhaps if she'd chosen to remain in Begnion, she would've remained safe.
But how could she have lived with herself if the same fate had come to pass? She probably would've lived out the rest of her days in relative comfort, as a royal in exile, but how could she look herself in the mirror? She would've woken up each morning in a comfortable, warm bed, eaten delicious food, and met with the apostle... but she would've lived each day knowing that brave men and women had died for nothing, while she lived on in luxury.
No, for better or worse, Elincia had (metaphorically) gone down fighting for her cause. Her army was shattered, Ike was dead, and the comrades she'd grown to value and trust numbered maybe a dozen at most, counting the three children in the carriage along with her.
Elincia had been taken alive. That much had been obvious; Daein would've wanted her as a trophy, and as morbid as it was, Elincia knew that as a captured princess she could've been ransomed to Begnion or Gallia for, well, a kingly sum.
As for Tormod, Mist, and Rolf?
Elincia couldn't say exactly why they'd been spared, even when the rest of their comrades who'd failed to escape the royal palace of Daein had been put to the sword, but...
Elincia wanted to hope it was because there was a sliver of humanity in those nightmarish, black-armored figures.
The soldiers of Daein were ruthless, all to happy to terrorize the Crimean countryside, but...
In the end they were still men and women, and executing captured children- enemy combatants or not, must've been something that crossed a moral line even by their standards.
Elincia didn't have too many memories of that awful day- she remembered being bound in chains by jeering soldiers and marched through the castle of Daein, having to look in horror at the still-warm bodies lining the interior... and tearing up each time she recognized a body.
Ike... Boyd... Oscar... Soren... and so many more...
And yet, when she'd been brought to the throne room where Ashnard should've been, she found a small group of soldiers standing in a loose circle around the trio of children...
Even the soldiers who'd captured Mist, Tormod, and Rolf had been at a loss of what to do. It was clear that the suggestion of 'just kill them' was hanging in the air like a guillotine ready to fall, but none of the soldiers wanted to act on it. Instead, they looked at each other almost confused, as if none of them actually knew what to do with prisoners beyond torment them.
It had been a small mercy that Ena, the young woman commanding Daein's defenses had burst into the room and taken charge of the situation. She'd swiftly (and firmly) shot down any notion of executing the captive children, and now a week later Elincia found herself traveling in a heavily-guarded carriage along with the trio of youngsters to an as of yet unknown destination.
Elincia's wardens snapped at her rudely whenever she asked for information on where they were going or what would happen to them, but at least they seemed to have been instructed to keep their hands off of her. Elincia was in low spirits, but at least she'd been physically unharmed throughout this process.
That brought the princess back to her current situation. Poor Rolf still had that empty, despairing look in his eyes, and stared down at the floor of the carriage without uttering a word. If it hadn't been for Elincia trying to 'take charge' of the little quartet she was now part of, the boy might've starved to death by now. Elincia had to practically force him to eat the rations their guards tossed at him!
Tormod stared out of the small window on one side of the carriage aimlessly. Of the three, Elincia knew him the least, but he'd apparently been a slave before joining the Crimean army, and as morbid as it was, he was likely at least somewhat adapted to being someone's captive.
As for Mist...
The poor girl was still sniffling into Elincia's modest bosom, the brown-haired girl's face pressed into the bodice of Elincia's wide, flowing orange dress. That had been another humiliating point for Elincia. She was the largest of the trio by a wide margin- they were children, and she was a young woman after all... but the large, wide-skirted dress she always wore took up so much space in the carriage that the children either had to scoot up against the walls of the carriage, lest they sit on the voluminous skirt!
She did her best to console Mist, trying not to let her own heartache show. Elincia felt a sort of responsibility to the trio- they had all thrown there lot in with her army, and the army had fallen. She had to put on a strong face for them, if for no reason other than to try and give them a little bit of hope that things would be alright.
Elincia left Mist nestled in her arms, letting out a shaky sigh.
Who knew what the future would hold? Whatever it was... Elincia doubted it would be pleasant. But she'd protect these children or die trying! She owed it to Ike- to all her fallen friends. If Mist died because of her, Elincia didn't think Ike (or his spirit) would ever forgive her.
-------------
"So, they're inside the carriage?"
"Correct, Ma'am. A sorry looking bunch they are, but... it's understandable."
"Is that sympathy for the enemy I'm hearing, sergeant?"
"N-no, General! Just a statement. Though... I am glad we were ordered to take the kids alive. Dirty business it is, putting youngsters in the ground."
"Hmph. That'll be all, sergeant. I'll see to the prisoners. Rejoin your unit."
"Ma'am!" The troop commander saluted her before jogging off. Petrine, loyal general of Daein and wielder the flame lance, watched him go.
"He'd do well not to let others see his sympathy in public..." But oh well. Petrine couldn't fault him. His words weren't wrong. Killing an enemy in the heat of battle was one thing, but executing a brat sniveling and whimpering for his mommy in some dingy prison was something even she considered unpleasant.
Not that she'd ever voice her thoughts.
Still, it was a good day. His Majesty Ashnard had seen fit to order her to oversee the imprisonment of the captured Crimean princess, and Ashnard had been very clear that Petrine could more or less exercise free reign over the prisoners.
"Do what you want with them," were his exact words. There was value in keeping the princess as a hostage, but... heh. Petrine didn't mind roughing her up a bit if she tried to escape captivity.
And to better ensure that her new captives didn't escape their new mistress's clutches, Petrine had a special trick prepared. A 'gift' straight from Izuka. Petrine couldn't stand the man, but he was quite possibly the foremost master of curses and hexes on the continent. All she had to do was walk over to the carriage where Elincia and the brats were, use the 'gift' on them, and Petrine could enjoy her new status as the princess's warden!
What exactly was the 'gift' that Izuka gave to Petrine?
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