Chapter 8 - A Brief Ride

The Shepherds' barracks was located in a grassy patch of land, near the base of the hill that Ylisstol Castle was built on. A river nearby and a farm with some animals and crops allowed the Shepherds to be self-sustaining in their barracks should the need arise. While the barracks had plenty of space around for the Shepherds to train or use as they needed, it was far from isolated. There were a few animal or plant farms, all with cordial inhabitants that often interacted with the Shepherds.

Robin was walking past one of the neighboring farms, going down a path that connected the barracks to the castle. He stretched his arms out and opened his mouth for a loud but satisfying yawn. The sun, still low in the horizon, was peeking above the land just enough to strike Robin's eyes, as if glaring at him angrily for being up so early. He blocked the sun with his gloved hand and looked down at the ground as he walked, hoping with each step that there was nothing he might trip on a few steps ahead of his limited visibility.

The distant clop of a group of horses made Robin turn. He saw three pegasi and one horse, brightly lit by the sun behind him. He stopped walking and allowed them to catch up, bowing when they came closer. "Lady Emmeryn, good morning to you," he said as he stood back up.

"Good morning to you, too, Sir Robin," Emmeryn responded. "Though I do wish you would stop speaking to the ground, it makes it difficult to hear you."

Robin allowed a brief, "Hah!" as he stood up and faced the Exalt. "It was a tactical error on my part, Your Grace. Next time, I will present my salutations before bowing, so that my voice isn't hindered.

"I know you often favor the ground over my face, but eye contact would also be nice. I do appreciate the beauty and utility of our land, but I wouldn't mind appreciating your eyes as well."

Robin had never considered how Emmeryn interpreted his nervous eyes looking away. "I… uh… I'm sorry. I never… I didn't…"

"Sir Robin is probably overwhelmed by Your Grace's visage," Phila offered with a straight face. "You are a wonder to behold, after all."

Emmeryn brought her horse in front of Robin. She gave Robin a concerned look. "Robin, I wish you had asked us for a ride," she said. "Or at least told us when you were leaving. We could have coordinated a ride together."

"Oh. My apologies, Lady Emmeryn, I will keep that in mind for the future," Robin said. "I didn't know you would be dropping by the barracks though, and so early, too. But I thank you for your generosity. I… I'll make sure to… uh… check with you? Um… In the future?" Robin's eyes wandered around as he pondered the legitimacy of his words. "Would that be appropriate?"

"We will work something out," Emmeryn reassured Robin. "Communication is essential to efficiency, I'm sure you would agree."

"Of course, Lady Emmeryn." He glanced at the other riders. "Hmm. Lady Phila, I don't mean to doubt you, but in wartime, shouldn't the Exalt have a larger guard?"

Emmeryn let out a mirthful laugh. "Forgive me, Robin, but you echo Phila's own words. Ylisstol is secure enough, and we don't want to disrupt the citizens with a large entourage." Emmeryn turned her horse so that Robin was facing its side. She then extended her hand out to Robin, who stared at it with an open, confused mouth. "Here. Let me give you a ride."

Despite the purest of intentions, or because of it, Emmeryn's welcoming hand only made Robin nervous. He started to sweat, and his eyes looked back and forth, unsure of the etiquette of accepting a sovereign's generous hand and the appropriateness of riding on the back of the horse, holding onto the sovereign. "Ummm, Your Grace, is this, um…" Robin was unable to finish a sentence. After failing to say anything coherent, he slowly but hesitantly raised his hand to accept Emmeryn's invitation.

"Milady!" Phila gripped her reins tightly and quickly jumped her pegasus next to Robin. "Allow me!" She intercepted Robin's arm and helped him up onto her pegasus. "Your Grace, forgive me for being hasty, but I don't wish to encumber your mount."

"I would expect no less of you to look after both my well-being and that of my steed," Emmeryn said, patting her horse with the hand that was previously extended towards Robin. "Though wouldn't Robin make for an excellent missile shield if he were sitting behind me?"

"A missile shield…" Robin noted pensively.

"Of… Well… Your Grace is, of course, wise in all areas, even in tactics," Phila managed to say. "I have as much confidence as you do in Sir Robin's ability as a meat shield…"

"Meat shield…" Robin repeated softly.

"But your mobility and capability to escape supersedes that potential tactical benefit." Phila turned her head to speak to Robin. "Isn't that right, Sir Robin?"

"Um, well, I suppose there is some merit to that argument," Robin said, speaking more coherently now that he had a tactical prompt with which to focus on. "But, in terms of superseding, well, um…" He paused in his analysis and darted his eyes from Emmeryn to Phila and back, trying to assess which side of the argument would cause less relationship damage in the long run.

Emmeryn smiled and raised a hand to cease the discussion. "Worry not, Robin. I won't make you take sides," she said as if reading Robin's mind.

"Oh, thank you, Your Grace."

"Because you would choose me, of course," Emmeryn added with the gravest of intonations, her face suddenly turning serious. A cloud had just started passing over the group, casting a shadow on all of them and highlighting Emmeryn's dark tone.

A shiver coursed through Robin's body. "Of… Of course. Eheheh..."

Emmeryn flashed a smile and a wink at Robin, and the cloud above them suddenly faded, allowing the sun to resume lighting the path towards the Shepherds' barracks.

"Are you actually manipulating the sun and the clouds?" Robin found himself wondering.

"He would not be wrong, Your Grace," Phila said.

Emmeryn faced forward again. "Let us all focus on the common ground. That whether more or less tactically advantageous, Robin would make for a fine shield."

Robin felt Phila shift slightly. He suspected that Phila was trying to suppress a grin. "Lady Emmeryn is most wise," Phila said.

Robin sighed. "Very well." He then straightened his posture and looked proudly at Emmeryn. "I'll just focus on the idea that my performance would be excellent, no matter the task."

Behind them, one of the Pegasus Knights giggled. Phila turned her pegasus around and glared at each of them. They both came to attention, though one of them covered her mouth and cleared her throat first. "You agree with our tactician? You may speak."

"Pardon my outburst, Lady Phila!" the Pegasus Knight exclaimed, still at attention. "I had heard so much of him, or rather of you, Sir Robin, and you are different than I had imagined."

"Hmm." Robin moved his hand to scratch his chin, then stumbled at the pegasus's sudden movement and immediately returned to holding onto Phila. "Whoa! Ah, sorry." He cleared his throat before speaking again. "What… Uh… What had you imagined?"

"Better on a mount, for one," was the muttered reply.

"Hmm? I didn't quite hear that," Robin said, though the other Pegasus Knight's stifled giggles made him suspicious. "Lady…"

"Karin. And the other is Misha," Phila pointed out. Karin, the one who was talking, gave a hyper-energetic salute.

"They've been with Phila for a while now," Emmeryn said. "And so they've accompanied me many times as well. Thank you, Lady Misha and Lady Karin, for all that you do."

"Your Grace! You are far too kind!" Karin exclaimed, bowing her head and closing her eyes.

"Yes, Your Grace, it is our honor and pleasure to serve you and Ylisse," Misha added, also bowing.

"Please, rise, both of you. You need not look down," Emmeryn ordered. The both of them looked back up. Emmeryn rewarded them with a warm and catching smile. "Thank you." Before they could protest their sovereign giving them unnecessary thanks, Emmeryn raised a hand to silence them. "And now I would much appreciate hearing more of what you imagined of Sir Robin here from what you heard," she said, still smiling.

Robin coughed at the mention of his name.

Karin glanced at Robin, then looked back at Emmeryn. "Um… Well…"

"Taller," Misha spoke up. "Karin, I believe you mentioned he would probably be a tall, gallant hero, riding on a white horse?"

"Eheheheh, I may have said that," Karin admitted.

"Hmm, Robin is plenty gallant though," Emmeryn mused, looking at nothing in particular. She glanced at Robin and saw him blushing and scratching the back of his head. "Well, on the battlefield. When we're not talking about him. I'm sorry, Robin, are we teasing you too much?"

Robin exhaled and smiled. "Lady Emmeryn, I feel like I understand Lissa a lot more now."

"Is that so? Hmm…" Emmeryn turned to Misha. "And what of you, Lady Misha? What was your image of the gallant Sir Robin?"

"Your Grace? Oh, well…" Misha's eyes looked to the sky as she thought. "Well, we have a genius in our ranks, though she's somewhat inexperienced. Sir Robin, your story reminded me of her."

"Who?" Robin asked.

"Ah," Phila said, leaning her head back when she realized whom Misha was talking about. "She is in Lady Severa's squadron. Very skilled, but she hasn't seen much combat." Phila nodded in thought. "Yes, I can see why you would think of her."

"A tall, gallant genius?" Robin chuckled for a moment. "Well, I'll take that as a compliment. Sorry if the real me is a disappointment, though."

"Mmm." Emmeryn hummed briefly, seemingly content. "Robin, never forget that people think highly of all you have done. Trust in yourself, because the real you can never be a disappointment. In these dark times, you've already brought so much light to the people."

"Yeah, and you lighten up guard duty!" Karin added, which earned another glare from Phila. The veteran Pegasus Knight shrinked under Phila's look. "Sorry. I mean, you… make our Exalt happy? For the Exalt!"

"Oh? Hmm..." Emmeryn hummed again, briefly raising an eyebrow.

"Perhaps we are in need of some more training?" Phila asked.

"For Ylisse!" both Pegasus Knights shouted in unison.

Emmeryn nodded to herself and gently prompted her horse to move forward again. "I enjoyed this break, but let's continue." Seeing her move, Phila quickly whistled and made a circle in the air with her hand, prompting the other two Pegasus Knights to reassemble their formation.

As they were moving, Robin said, "I'm actually very impressed with their discipline. They've been trained well. Hmm… Were it not for me, they may not have revealed that they aren't loyal golems."

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that," Phila said, though she kept her back to Robin. "They are all excellent soldiers. With the loyalty of golems, but the… innovation… of a person. But I'd like to give them some more individual tactics training, so that they aren't so golem-like. I am impressed with the Shepherds' individual unit independence. They all work together seamlessly as a team and as individuals."

"Thank you, but I can't take full credit for that. Chrom assembled them, and fostered their individuality."

"Hmm…"

Robin knew that Phila was not satisfied with that answer. "Though I do believe with some additional tactical training, the Pegasus Knights and any soldier can improve. I just don't know how much of the Shepherds' individuality we can replicate."

"Very well. Perhaps I can discuss with Chrom his philosophy on approaching… interactions… with his soldiers. Maybe there are some elements that I can adapt to."

Emmeryn brought her horse closer to Phila and Robin. "Phila, you have your unique method and Chrom has his. I hope you don't doubt your ability to raise the Pegasus Knights."

"My apologies, Your Grace. I didn't mean to show a lack of confidence."

"Robin had also just expressed how impressed he was," Emmeryn added.

Robin was quick to reaffirm Emmeryn's words with an enthusiastic "Yep!"

"Milady is correct. I am proud of our Pegasus Knights," Phila said, though she was sure to speak so that Karin and Misha couldn't hear. "Rather than a lack of confidence, I am just… very impressed with the Shepherds. I have read the reports, and Robin, I trust they are accurate. Not one loss..."

"Er… They are accurate," Robin said.

"Chrom is a wonderful person, with intuition and charisma. He will be a fine leader," Emmeryn said with a satisfied smile. "But the Shepherds' impressive feats may be more the product of Robin, not of any training method."

"Oh…" Robin was taken off-guard when the praise came back to him.

"And while I know how much we would like to replicate our Robin, I'm afraid that might not be possible," Emmeryn said, winking and smiling at Robin again.

"Emmeryn…" Robin gazed fondly at Emmeryn, then caught himself and shook his head. "Hah," he finally responded. "That might be for the best, I don't know if the world would be able to handle two Robins."

A/N I wanted to show that other characters are noticing subtle differences in Emmeryn because of Robin, though I'm a little afraid that I've strayed from Emmeryn's immaculate public image. I also wanted to describe a bit of Ylisstol and the Shepherds' barracks, to explain how they were both separate but still kinda close. I saw an opportunity for some foreshadowing, so I threw some of that in. Also, I didn't really want to introduce new characters, but I also didn't want to say "The first Pegasus Knight, the second Pegasus Knight, the other Pegasus Knight, the other other Knight" so I gave them names. Don't expect much material on them though.

There've been three peaceful chapters though. Now I crave battle! So I'll try to get some battle into the next chapter.

Da Etan, thank you for commenting! After your review in September, I figured I should reaaaally try to update it. ...And then I updated my other stories instead. But you may get some credit for getting me out of my writer's laziness!

TaciturnReader, thanks for being patient! This is my attempt at updating more frequently. This chapter is a lot more dialogue-based and less...description-based? So I would appreciate you letting me know what you think of this chapter.

PrometheusDark, thanks for commenting! I like the idea of Emmeryn having her serious, public image side, and then having a more playful human side. This chapter was a venture into the two of them gradually merging. Let me know what you think of that merger.

RED Roman Pyro, thanks for continuing to follow! ...I hope my dialogue be good… Let me know if you have any comments about the individual characterness of the dialogue!

Anyhoo, thanks everyone! Please continue to read and review, and throw a PM. Don't be afraid to give constructive criticism, too. Them comments be like the lifeblood for writers.