No Romance Allowed

He'd gone from mercenary to teacher to lord in a matter of months. And now, standing in his tent, looking over a map of Fódlan and the pieces that represented the armies covering it, Byleth wasn't sure what to make of that.

He wasn't sure what to make of any of it. He'd taken a position at the Officer's Academy because not only would the pay be good, but he saw it as a means of advancing his own position. Teach what he knew. Learn more in the process. Teach the good sons and daughters of the noble houses of Fódlan, and in a year's time, return to his father's mercenary company. Share the gold, share the knowledge, and if he'd done a good enough job, share leadership. Heck, maybe even take leadership. But now? Now he'd been forced to take a side. He'd chosen to fight for the Adrestian Empire while the continent tore itself apart. Now, instead of looking out for dozens of men, he was commanding armies of thousands. His only solace, nay hope, was that the other lords and ladies of this bloodstained land were as terrified of the burdens of command as he was.

There was a crash of lightning, followed by thunder five seconds later. He frowned, taking a sip of wine as he made his way around the war table. He and his fellow commanders had spent hours over this damn piece of wood, and they'd ended the meeting none the wiser. They had three passes through which they could pass into Faerghus. Each of them was fortified, each path of attack would cost them hundreds of lives, and the Faerghusians knew they were coming. The Adrestians at least had the luxury of choosing their path of attack, but it was a small luxury compared to the advantages of defence. The Faerghusians had shorter supply lines. The Faerghusians could reinforce the front within days if they drafted more men into their ranks. In contrast, the empire's supply lines were long, ragged, and while fighting as a mercenary had taught him many things, it was that men were more likely to fight harder when defending their own lands rather than marching on others. Red figures faced off against blue figures, but it was a face-off that belied the humanity of both.

He grunted, taking another sip of wine. Humanity was overrated. He'd known it up until now, he was just denying that. One way or another, if he wanted to see this war through to the end and head back to his company with enough cold to fill a ship, he'd have to give the empire some kind of victory – one that took place on enemy soil. In the end, all he had to do was pick one of the three passes, give marching orders, and hope superior numbers carried the day.

"My lord?"

He took a sip of wine before turning around to the tent's entrance. At it stood a soldier – absolutely drenched, shivering, and looking even more miserable than he did.

"Yes?" Byleth.

"Lady…" He sniffed, wiping the snot off with his chainmail. "Lady Edelgard wishes to see you."

"Lady Edelgard?"

"Yes, my lord. Should I-"

"Tell her I'm busy." He turned away to face the table, trying to steady his heartbeat.

"My lord, she was very-"

"Oh for the Goddess's sake!"

At first, Byleth didn't look at what was happening – ears and intuition told him enough. He could hear the flaps of the tent open, and could hear the footsteps of his former student, and current heir to the Adrestian Empire. So when he finally did look around, when he saw Edelgard von Hræsvelgr standing there, drenched, and looking furious, he couldn't say he was surprised.

"I thought I said I wasn't seeing anyone."

"I heard," Edelgard snapped, ringing out some water from her hair. "An absolutely ludicrous order, one which I have no intention of following."

"As commander of this army-"

"And as daughter of Emperor Sturluson von Hræsvelgr, I don't care right now." She glanced around at the guard, still standing there. "The hell you hanging around for? Go!"

He bowed. "Yes, my-"

"Go!"

The guard scampered off and Byleth winced. He didn't envy the guard running the risk of chill, nor did he envy him getting a tongue lashing from his former student. But on the other hand, he wouldn't have to endure the lady's wrath.

And on the third…that meant him and Edelgard could be alone together.

"So…" Edelgard said.

"So, I think you should be in your own tent."

"Do you now?" Edelgard asked. She walked up to the table and leant over it, studying the map and the wooden armies arrayed along it. "Funny that. I've spent three days in my tent waiting to find out what we're doing."

"The commanders and I-"

"Are obviously incompetent if you haven't settled on a plan of attack."

Byleth frowned – he didn't like being called incompetent. Especially not from his former student.

"Three days," Edelgard repeated as she drew up a seat, putting her behind on its wood, and her feet on the table. "Three days without battle."

"One might be glad for that," Byleth said.

"One might. I, on the other hand, did not attend attend the Officer's Academy and lead the Black Eagles to learn the ways of war yet not apply any of it."

"I may remind you that your father has insisted that you observe only."

"We both know that my father is a crumbling dolt who doesn't understand that the times have moved past him. And we both know that I'm more capable than any other lord you break bread with."

Byleth smirked. "That's a high appraisal of yourself."

"But true, no? I know it. You know it. You said it yourself that I was your best student. Why else…" She took a breath, her eyes lowering, her cheeks reddening. "Well, no matter." She went over to a smaller table, poured herself some wine, then walked back. "Tell me about the battle looming before us."

"Which battle?" Byleth murmured. Nevertheless, he unsheathed a dagger and pointed to each of the three passes. "Dexus. Renoat. And in the centre, Meerus. All named after-"

"Tell me about each of them," Edelgard said. "About Lord Ulster. How many men does he have?"

"By our last estimate, two-thousand."

"And at last count, we were just short of five-thousand?"

"Correct."

"Hmm." Edelgard began walking round the table, tracing a perfectly manicured fingertip along the map. "Common wisdom dictates that we focus our attack in one location to achieve a breakthrough."

"Common wisdom didn't account for these mountains," Byleth said.

"How so?"

He pointed to Meerus. "The central pass, and the best defended. This might be closest to a conventional battle if we committed here. And who knows, we might even prevail." He traced the dagger along the contours of the map. "But Ulster has the advantage of height. He could hundreds of arrows upon our men and be at no risk of being hit themselves, not to mention his mages." He sighed. "Most of my commanders are pressing for an attack on Meerus."

"And you refuse?" Edelgard said.

He looked at her, into those lilac eyes that shone with ice and fire. "If your only means of victory was to sacrifice the lives of thousands, would you do it?"

"I would-"

"Speak carefully Edelgard. It may tell the world about the type of empress you want to be."

She fell silent.

"Well?"

"I never wanted to be empress," she murmured eventually. "Why else would I come to the academy?"

"Peace and war are two sides of-"

"Tell me about Dexus," Edelgard said, tapping the east-most of the three passes. "What's stopping us from making an attack here? By the looks of it, Ulster has far fewer soldiers here than the others."

"Only a few hundred by our estimate," Byleth said. "But he can afford it, given how narrow the pass is. Only ten men could march abreast – eight if they don't want to be touching the pass walls. If we made an attack…"

"Ulster would turn it into a grinder," Edelgard murmured. "We wouldn't be able to use our cavalry, which is our key advantage here." She looked at the final pass. "What of Renoat? What separates it from the other two?"

"Meerus goes up before it goes down," Byleth said. He used his dagger to trace the contours. "Renoat has more men than Dexus, but less than Meerus. But whatever the case, we'd be fighting our way uphill." He looked at Edelgard. "So you see our dilemma. Three choices, none of which are appealing."

She didn't say anything, but Byleth could tell it wasn't for lack of thinking. Where there had once been ice in her eyes, there was now fire. True to her days at the academy, he could tell that she was scrutinizing the map, pouring over every detail. Even then, she'd always been beautiful.

Brilliant, he corrected himself, glad that these were thoughts rather than words. Brilliant.

"Common logic…" Edelgard took a breath and stood up straight. "Common logic dictates that we attack one pass, no?"

"Most of history's commanders would agree."

"And would you say Ulster is versed in history?"

Byleth shrugged. "I have no reason to assume not."

"Then what if we were to attack more than one pass?"

Byleth frowned. "That would be a break from conventional strategy."

"Tell me – did Artamon the Great follow conventional strategy when he sacked Akkabad? Did Clerendon the Pitiless follow the ways of old when he took his cavalry and outflanked the hordes of Mowbray?"

"The exceptions that prove the rule."

"And what are we but not exceptional?" Edelgard asked.

"If we are not and think ourselves so, then foolish at best, or dead at worse."

"Or both, and we become dead fools," Edelgard said. "Well, I'm willing to take that risk. Are you?"

"Depends." Byleth sheathed his dagger. "As the maverick or the fool, what would you suggest?"

Edelgard didn't say anything. She began rearranging the wooden pieces representing their army. In less than a minute, what had once been a line focused equally along all three passes had become divided into two unequal ones.

"We attack first at Dexus," she said. "We do so at night, so that Ulster cannot guess our numbers. We mass during the day, so he may guess that it is where we plan to strike, but with the setting of the sun, we march a small force up."

"To do what?" Byleth asked.

"To engage the enemy of course." Edelgard pushes the figurines forward into Ulster's. "He won't be able to tell how many we have, but he'll assume that we intend to push through here. As such, he'll send reinforcements from the other passes."

"But he won't leave them abandoned," Byleth said. "We may be forcing Ulster to divide his forces, but we'd be dividing ours as well."

"True," Edelgard said. "But you said earlier that the one area that we definitely surpass him in is in cavalry." She pushed them forward to Renoat. "We wait as long as we are able. We send our cavalry up the incline to smash the defenders – they'll have speed on their side, and the gradient will be less harsh on our horses than our men."

"Cavalry are best used at the flanks."

"In a pitched battle, yes. In this, we send our cavaliers forward, smash the line at Renoat, and consolidate our position." She pushed the wooden soldiers forward. "An open pass, and one easily defensible at that." She tapped a finger on the finger. "And the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus lies open to us."

Byleth frowned. "And what of the men at Dexus?"

"They fight. They die. If fate allows it, they'll be able to retreat into friendly lands. I doubt Ulster will want to pursue when we've made a breakthrough of our own."

"Sacrificing hundreds."

"Better that then engage in a battle that costs us thousands," Edelgard said.

Byleth said nothing.

"Well?" she asked.

Byleth said nothing.

"Logic dictates that hundreds dying on the field is better than thousands."

"And honour would demand that sacrificing hundreds willingly is no better than victory."

"If I recall your lessons at the academy my lord, you told us that honour was like a banner – pretty to look at, but academic to the course of war."

Byleth said nothing. He had said that, but that had been early on. Back when he'd first started teaching. When he was still thinking like a mercenary, and not as a teacher. When he could fight under any banner, pledge his sword to any lord, and keep do all of that with a clean conscience.

"If it pleases you, I can take blame for failure, and let you take glory for victory," Edelgard said.

Byleth raised an eyebrow. "That's not an action I can imagine many rulers taking."

"As ruler, I serve the people. They serve me as long as that service goes both ways. If I must sacrifice hundreds to save thousands, if I must forsake the privilege of sinless sleep in doing so, then I shall undertake it. For what else would I, as future empress of Adrestia, do in a situation like this?"

Stay out of it, Byleth thought. Claim victory, and forsake defeat should it come.

She wouldn't do that though. He knew her well enough to know better.

"Alright," Byleth said. He got to his feet. "I shall pass this plan onto my fellow commanders on the morrow."

"Do that," Edelgard said. "And make sure they follow it."

"Of course."

A silence lingered between the two of them, broken only by the sound of thunder.

Did you forget there was a storm outside?

He looked aside from Edelgard. There, as always, was Sothis. Sitting there. Watching him in silence. Proof of the divine, or proof of his own madness.

"Byleth?" Edelgard asked.

He looked at her. "Hmm?"

She sat there, just looking at him.

"What?" he asked.

"You know what," she whispered.

He did, and to that end, he got up and walked to the flap that separated the main part of the tent from his personal quarters. Where bearskin and feathered pillow awaited him for ever more restless sleep.

"Byleth!"

Against his better judgement, he stopped, and looked at Edelgard. She was standing there, looking at him. Mere minutes ago she had the look of an empress and a lady. Now, she had the look of a girl only a few years his junior. The look she'd had at the academy.

"My lady-"

"Oh, do stop the formalities," she said. "You know what this is about."

"I don't-"

"Do you deny it?" Edelgard asked. "Do so, if you can, provided you speak truth."

"I can't-"

"From the moment our paths crossed at the academy, do you deny the connection?" Edelgard asked. "Do you deny that our minds linked first, followed by hearts?"

"Someone's been reading the works of Wilderbren."

"And I have read much else," Edelgard said. She walked over to Byleth, before softly taking his wrist. "And I'm sure at some point, you read something that made you stop."

"I-"

"As a mercenary, you would have taken me when offered," Edelgard said. "As a teacher…"

"As a teacher, what you're suggesting would be unethical."

Edelgard snorted. "Oh mercenary, when did you start caring about ethics?"

When I met you.

"Well?"

Byleth pried his wrist free. "You don't want this."

She snorted. "I walked through pouring rain for the chance to see you after you've been locked up in this tent. I know exactly what I want."

"As the future empress-"

"Oh for the goddess's sake!" she snapped. "You, who told us stories of lords and ladies. The people who'd fight dragons, and demon kings. Of love that crossed the boundaries of men and beasts that can take their forms. Of those who awakened, of those who found fate, who followed a path of radiance to happiness."

"I told you those stories because the curriculum insisted of it. As a ways of demonstrating that on the battlefield, you need more than just a handful of heroes for victory."

Edelgard snorted. "And what of the victory to come, Byleth? If we defy conventional wisdom, if we break through into Faerghus, what does that say about us?"

"That…we're capable?"

Edelgard fell silent, and in her eyes, Byleth saw yet another change. Not ice. Not fire. Just…hurt.

Which perturbed him more than anything. Even at the academy, even as he'd made it clear that boundaries existed and he wouldn't cross them, former mercenary status aside, he'd never seen Edelgard look hurt. He was so perturbed, he didn't notice her cross into his quarters until a few seconds after she'd done so.

"Edelgard…"

"Small place," she said. She had her back to him before she looked round – Byleth could see that she was fighting back tears. "I really ought to do something about that."

"Edelgard-"

"Say it," the heir to the empire said. said. "Say it and release me."

"Say what?"

"Give your excuse, whatever it is. Because we're not at the academy. We're on the field of battle. Whatever boundaries once existed are gone."

"It's not that simple."

"I'm the future empress, I can make it simple," she said. She turned around to face him fully, putting a hand to her chin. "You know the question, so now give the answer. Yea, or nay?"

Byleth stood there. He looked at Edelgard. Looked beyond her to see Sothis. Still sitting in silence, but now grinning like a devil. Representing temptation, he wondered?

"Byleth…" Edelgard whispered. "Is this…"

He'd heard of devils and demons. In the stories he'd told, love had won as much as the lance.

"Byleth?" Edelgard whispered, walking up to him. Putting a hand on him. "Do you love me?"

He didn't answer, even as the question was presented to him.

Mercenary. Teacher. Lord. And the question of why he'd chosen to side with Adestria as the world fell into chaos. The answer, now right in front of him.

"Byleth?"

He didn't answer the question. He just kissed her. One, followed by many, as battle of another kind was made. As armies converged. As tabards hit the floor. As bodies fell together. Joined together. As the fruit of offering was consumed, and both at last entered sinful sleep.

Restful sleep.

Fulfilled sleep.

A/N

So, ever since Awakening, I've kind of had a weird relationship with Fire Emblem, though this is coming from a position where the last game I actually played Shadow Dragon. Maybe this is a "old man yells at cloud" scenario, but I (and others) have noticed that while there's been an explosion in popularity, there's also been a shift in the series's focus. Relationships were always a significant part in the games, both mechanically and in terms of story, but since Awakening, Intelligent Systems has really been focusing the relationship angle to the point where "waifu" is a word that comes to mind readily.

I bring this up because Three Houses is a thing, and I can't help but wonder about such things. Again, you're using a player avatar. Unlike before, you're spending a good portion of the game educating students. So I'm left to ask how relationships would even work in that scenario, because while this obviously isn't our world, teacher-student relationships probably wouldn't be smiled upon there. So either:

a) The player character can't pursue relationships - any support system is purely through the other characters.

b) The player character can pursue relationships, but only after "graduation" or whatnot.

c) Relationships can be pursued from the outset, damn the ethical concerns.

Like I said, something about yelling at clouds, but ended up drabbling this up regardless.