Divine Day | Fire Emblem Awakening (Holiday Shepherds Book 1)

Chapter 2: Jingle Bells

Robin: 7th December

Chrom arranged for the Shepherds to visit Regna Ferox the next week so that we would arrive one day earlier than their annual Winter Festival. This was to give us time to find ourselves a "Divine tree", a pine tree that people hung decorations from, for the garrison. He'd decided that it needed to be perfect, and there was no better place to look than Regna Ferox.

We arrived at a small village not too far from the capital on the eve of our tree hunt and managed to find some rooms in a nearby tavern. We retired to bed early and rose later than usual, but it was hard for me to enjoy my extra rest. If I had already been married to Chrom, we could have shared a room together and snuggled up under the sheets. Instead, I woke early and lay alone until I heard the others getting ready for the day. Then I rose and dressed in warm clothes and went downstairs for breakfast. I cheered up a little when I saw Chrom, then even more once we'd eaten and two sleighs pulled up outside the tavern.

Lissa leapt out of her chair and raced to the windows with a squeal. Chrom laughed as he stood up, pulling his deep blue winter cloak over his shoulders. He offered his hand to me.

I just stared at him with wide eyes. "Are those for us?"

"They are indeed. Surprise." He grinned. "I could only hire two though, so you might have to sit on my lap."

I accepted his hand and let him pull me to my feet. "I don't have any objections to that."

The rest of the Shepherds had already started spilling out of the tavern to admire the sleighs, so we followed, hand in hand. Our transports were large and made of heavy, snow-kissed oak. They required two chestnut cobs each to pull them.

Chrom let me have the honour of boarding our sleigh first, but I waited until he was inside before I sat down. I perched hesitantly on his knees.

He pulled me back so that I was nestled against his chest, then folded his arms around me like a warm blanket. I smiled and relaxed against him while everyone else boarded.

He leaned down so that his head was level with mine and pressed his cold lips against my cheek. "Are you warm enough?"

I crossed my arms so that I could put my hands, clad only in my fingerless gloves, in his. They formed a tangle of love against his sides. "Yes."

He smiled and sat back again. "Good. Frederick, tell the driver to take us to Pinewood Forest."

***

Pinewood Forest was supposed to be ten minutes from our tavern by sleigh, but it only felt like a few seconds. The journey was smoother than the carriage rides we often endured, and the snow-topped cottages of the village slipped by so peacefully that I felt like I was falling into a sleepy trance. Chrom's body heat was making me feel especially cosy, and I watched the scenery with half-shut eyes.

Every now and then, Chrom would move and jerk me from near unconsciousness: once to pull my hood over my head as it started to snow again, and a few times to rub some warmth back into my hands. Then, as the Shepherds' quiet chatter suddenly became louder, he sat up straighter and released me from the enclosure of his arms. "We're here, Robin."

I lifted my head from his chest and focused my eyes on the view directly ahead of us. An orderly sea of green trees dusted with white frosting stood on a mountain, rising higher and higher above each other as they climbed up the steep slope. It gave us a clear view of the whole forest. I'd never seen so many trees at once in all my life.

The sleigh came to a smooth stop at the bottom next to a few others. They all had happy families disembarking them. One man in the clothes of a Feroxi warrior climbed down from the sleigh to the left of us, then turned and offered his wife a hand. She was a petite woman with blonde hair and a little girl cradled against her hip. Once she had stepped down, the man took the child from her and put her on the floor. Then he reached back inside the sleigh. He withdrew two axes, one large, and one very small. He gave the smallest to the little girl. She squealed in delight. I smiled at them.