Chapter Nine

When Seth opened his eyes, it took him a moment, through the dull throbbing in his skull, to realize that he was lying down rather than standing in the middle of camp listening to Dozla and Garcia's plans. For the life of him, he couldn't remember the last time he had actually woken. He found himself staring up at the ceiling of a high tent– certainly not his own. It was nighttime and lantern light cast a glow over the tarp ceiling.

Groaning, Seth eased himself up. His head ached and he gulped in deep lungfuls of air before taking in his surroundings. Men and women, many bandaged and all sleeping soundly, surrounded him. The healers' pavilion... He tried to listen to the sounds of camp to get his bearings, but the night was unusually still and nothing was immediately familiar to him.

In fact, as he tried to remember the regular course of events, he found his memories oddly foggy. Did the wyvern's cry come before or after the sound of the hooting owl? And the guard who always walked by the healers' pavilion late at night, was it the one with the beard or the young woman with the scar on her cheek?

He spun as he heard footfalls– and regretted it when the dull ache crescendoed into a steady throb. Seth groaned and pressed his palms against his temples.

The footsteps approached and when Seth looked up, he saw Ephraim standing over him, a tin cup held out before him. "Drink this," Ephraim said. "It should help with the headache. At least that's what the healers tell me."

Seth downed the bitter draught in one gulp. "Thank you, my lord."

"You took a bad blow to the head, but you should be fine."

"If I might ask, Lord Ephraim... What happened?"

"When you broke Riev's staff you were thrown back against a tree pretty hard. Riev took the fall a bit better and tried to skitter away, but Neimi put an arrow through him and that was that."

Seth's heart leaped. "He's dead?"

"Quite."

He was almost trembling and had to force himself to remain calm. He did not know yet, not for certain. But if it were true... "And everyone else?"

"Everyone's fine. Kyle is back to normal. He says he didn't see or hear a thing after he was 'frozen.' Lute and Saleh were knocked down pretty hard, but it's nothing a good night's rest won't heal. We had some injuries frighting off Riev's forces, but none were fatal."

Seth sagged with relief. It was almost too good to be true... if it were true. He would not believe it until he saw the sunrise. "My lord," he began as something else occurred to him, "why are you..."

"Awake? I couldn't sleep. I tried but I couldn't, not when I know who– or 'what,' I suppose I should say– we'll be facing tomorrow."

"I'm sorry, my lord," Seth replied quietly, bowing his head, thankful as the gesture caused him less discomfort than it would have even a few minutes ago. Lyon, too, had meddled in powers beyond his ken, and, like Riev, his day of reckoning had arrived. "Lord Ephraim?"

"Yes?"

"I had actually meant to ask why you're here."

"I came to check on someone." His eyes drifted to Seth's right. Seth followed Ephraim's gaze. With the pounding of his head, he'd not even realized who lay there. Blankets tucked up to her chin, the lines of Eirika's face appeared relaxed as if she were sleeping soundly.

"Is she–"

"She's fine. Don't worry," Ephraim assured him. "She was concerned about you. Even when the healers said you'd be fine she insisted on staying here. And, well... she needs her rest for the coming battle so... I ordered someone to sneak up behind her with a sleep staff."

Seth raised an eyebrow. "She'll be livid, milord."

Smiling, Ephraim shrugged. "Let her be livid, as long as she's rested." Ephraim's features, taut with worry, relaxed as he looked upon his sleeping sister. "I won't trouble you with questions just yet, Seth, but when this is over I'll be eager to learn how in the world you knew about Riev and that staff."

"Yes, my lord. I..." Seth took a deep breath. "Lord Ephraim, I know you've been under a great deal of strain and I regret that I've contributed to that burden. I'm aware that my behaviour of late has–"

"Seth, that's enough. I should know better than to doubt you."

Seth hung his head. "I've given you good reason, milord. I only ask the chance to put things right again."

Ephraim nodded. "I'll be relying on you in today's battle."

Today's battle... "Prince Ephraim?"

"Yes?"

"If I might trouble you, what is the hour?" Seth's heart trembled to know the answer. If began it again he thought he would go mad.

"Just before dawn."

"Truly?"

Ephraim peered at him with a raised eyebrow. "Yes. I'm quite certain."

"Milord, I– Could you excuse me?" he said, stumbling to his feet. The ache in his skull had dulled to almost nothing and the rush of excitement made his knees feel weak. "I think I... need some air."

Ephraim nodded. "Of course. You're certain you're all right? You look a tad pale."

"I'll be fine, milord, thank you." And then, with a hasty bow, he all but ran out of the healers' pavilion.

The west lay in darkness, but as Seth turned away from Darkling Woods, he thought he glimpsed a lighter tint of black, there in the east. He trained his eyes upon the eastern sky until the stars faded and black shifted to a deep, velvety blue. Could it truly be happening, finally, after all this time? He had almost forgotten what time was, how precious the passing of the minutes and hours truly was.

The first hint of colour appearing over the eastern woods set his heart aflutter.

He very nearly dropped to his knees and resisted only because he could not bear to tear his eyes away from the sky as the faint luster of yellow melted into ochre and orange, flame bright and more brilliant than he remembered. Murmuring his thanks to gods, to the Everlasting, to the living, breathing world itself, Seth scrubbed at his eyes and drank in the sweet morning air that made him as giddy as would the finest wine.

And even now as he watched the sun rise, as he'd feared he might never again be able to, he found the memories of the long day fading as might a dream upon waking. He remembered the shape of events their general flow, but the edges grew fuzzy and the colours less vivid, the string of repeated days blurring together.

It was the sound of Eirika's voice that finally prompted him to turn his eyes from the brilliant magenta and orange palette of the sunrise. "Seth?"

"My lady."

"How are you?" The concern on her features as she eyed him could not but endear her all the more to him. He was only a knight, yet she deigned to worry about him, to be concerned for his welfare, more so than for her other retainers. He had realized this some while ago, but it no longer troubled him as it once had.

"I am very well, my lady." He smiled at her then and he thought it was more than the light of dawn that coloured her cheeks.

She smiled in return. "I'm glad." And then, after a moment's pause, "When the staff sent you flying and you just lay there, I was afraid you'd– But you're fine now." She shook her head. "How did you know about Rieve? And... what you said at the end– about being trapped..."

And so he gave her a brief account of the long weeks of repeated evenings and battles and of the gwyllgis and the staff. Even in the ruddy glow of the sunrise Eirika looked pale.

"I'm so sorry, Seth," she said when he came to the end of his tale.

"My lady, you've nothing to be sorry for."

"I caused you a great deal of trouble and you suffered for me once again."

"I could do no less," he said quietly, for he knew he had failed her more than once.

"Are you sure you're well enough to fight today?"

"Yes, Princess."

She nodded and, rubbing at her bare arms in the cool air, she turned and glanced in the direction of Darkling Woods. The western sky was still dark. "I can't believe we'll have to face Lyon," she breathed.

"My lady," Seth said, stepping closer to her and laying a hand on her shoulder, "whatever happens, I will be by your side. Always." She darted a glance at him.

"Seth, after the war..." She trailed off, her lips thinned to a line, her eyes downcast.

"Yes?"

She shook her head. "No it's nothing. We need to focus on the battle, not on... other things."

"Lady Eirika," Seth began, daring to reach out and place his fingers beneath her chin and tilt her face up. "If you've something to say to me I would have you say it." Her eyes were wide as she looked up at him

"Seth... I–" She took a deep breath and began again. "I need to know," she said slowly, "if you can ever see me as more than the princess of Renais. I need to know whether you can think of me the way you did... that night."

The night they'd fled Renais. He knew that was what she meant of course, but all at once his thoughts returned to a night that seemed now as little more than a beautiful dream.

"After the war," Eirika continued, "Ephraim will be crowned king. He'll marry and his heirs will inherit the crown." She paused a moment, not meeting his eyes. "We have strong alliances with our neighbours, ones sealed with our very blood. So there's really no need for me to make a political alliance. I should be able to marry any man I choose." She was still not looking at him. The sunlight was creeping higher into the sky, and as it caressed her features she seemed to Seth's eyes almost to glow. "There will be much to do once we return home. Restoring Renais will take much work."

"Yes, my lady."

"Seth, I..." She glanced up at him then, nervously, he thought. "I want you to be there by my side... as more than my retainer."

His heart surged with pride that she would chose him– him!– above any other when she could have had any man. She deserved a lord of royal blood with a kingdom to offer as a bride price; all he had was his service and his affection and those had always been hers.

"Lady Eirika," he said earnestly, "I am only a knight and hardly worthy of your affections." And here he had to take a breath to calm himself before he went on, even as her face fell. "But if you would bend to honour me with your hand, I would not refuse it."

Eirika froze, stared at him, and then, much to his dismay, began to laugh.

"Oh Seth, I'm sorry," she said, still laughing as she reached out and squeezed his arm. Her eyes still glimmered with laughter, but she drew in a deep breath and began to speak. "I'm just so relieved. You looked so serious: I was expecting another speech about your being a knight and I, a noble. So you really–"

"Yes."

"And we–"

Instead of replying, he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. His arms wrapped themselves around her, one hand tangling in her wind-blown hair as she relaxed against him. Her lips were as warm and soft as he remembered them.

A grin broke onto his face when they parted and he felt as giddy as a squire trying on his first suit of armour. Her cheeks were pink like the eastern sky and she clung to him as if uncertain of her limbs. "What made you change your mind?" she asked him.

He let his fingers trail over her face. "I had a great deal of time to think," he replied, winking. "But there's something I must tell," he continued more soberly. "While I was trapped in that day I... When I was on the brink of despair..." He cleared his throat. There would be no second chances now; any mistake he made now would be set in stone, but still he plowed on. "One night you came to me and we– I–"

She pressed a finger to his lips, and though her cheeks were flushed she met his eyes and spoke with deliberateness "Whatever happened, I forgive it." She smiled then, but after a moment her glance turned westward. "Today..." He pulled her against him as he felt the tremor that ran through her body. "Seth..."

"I will be by your side, Eirika. Whatever may come to pass, I will be with you, I swear it."

She nestled close against him. "I love you, Seth." Her whisper thrilled him as much as if it were the first time– and truly it seemed liked it was. Had it really all been more than a dream? Could her skin really be as soft as he had thought it, her touch as gentle? His blood raced at the thought that he'd have to wait until their wedding night to know.

"And I love you, my beautiful, darling Eirika." He could not but smile as he said it.

Her eyes were bright as she looked up at him and then shook her head. "We have to get to through today..."

"We will. And then we'll speak to Ephraim and I'll earn his consent to marry you. And we'll return home and be married and..." He broke off, suddenly too giddy to speak any further. Her cheeks were scarlet and she was biting her lip in a delightfully nervous manner so that it was too much to resist and he kissed her once again.

They were both flushed and breathless when they parted. "I wish we could just stay like this," she whispered.

"I don't," he said, cupping her cheek and staring into her eyes. "I want a lifetime with you, not just a moment."

Her smile was as bright as the sunlight that spread over the sky, reaching even to the western horizon. He felt as if his heart might burst with joy as he placed a kiss on the top of her head and held her tightly against him, there, in the middle of camp. And he did not care who saw them like that, whether it be Ephraim emerging from the healers' tent after his sister, or the soldiers on patrol, or their comrades rising early. The sunlight on his face seemed to wash away his shame, replacing it with pride. That she had picked him seemed a miracle as great as the sunrise itself. That they would be together was something far more certain.

THE END

A/N: As always, I want to say thank you to everyone who came along for the ride and left reviews. It's always great to know people are actually reading these stories. With the limitations imposed by the idea of a repeating day (a single point of view, setting, series of events), this story was a bit of a challenge to write, especially in terms of the pace, but I think that's one of the really great things about fanfiction: You can experiment, try all sorts of things that you might not be able to in original fiction due to the limitations of your chosen genre. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!