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

Chapter 3: Winter Wonderland

Robin: 8th December

The next day, we rose early to cover the last of the distance to the capital. We arrived mid-morning and halted our carriages right by the entrance to the Winter Festival. Two people were standing under a Feroxi banner that was tied between the pine trees: Flavia and Basilio.

The khans strode towards us as we disembarked our transports. Chrom moved forwards to greet our allies. "Khan Flavia, Basilio. It's good to see you again."

"Prince Chrom." Flavia smiled. "I'm glad that you could make it to our annual festival."

Chrom glanced at me. "We wouldn't miss it for the world."

Flavia followed his gaze and smiled. "This is your tactician's first Divine Day, is it not?"

"Indeed."

"Then you should try ice skating first," she said to me. "Regna Ferox has the finest ice rinks east of the long sea!"

I looked at Chrom despairingly. "What's an ice rink?"

Basilio laughed, the sound booming across the festival grounds. "You'll find out soon enough, lass."

***

A few minutes later I was standing in front of a large, frozen pond. Flavia put her hand on my shoulder. "Here we are."

I stared at the lanterns that were hanging from the bare trees near the edges of the ice. A wooden barrier curved around the pond, and some of the skaters clutched it as they went by. Others glided in the middle, confident and graceful. They all wore a range of brightly-coloured winter clothes, though some of them still had weapons strapped to their backs. You couldn't have mistaken them for being for anything other than Feroxi.

The Shepherds were already walking towards a small set of benches and a booth, taking no time to stop and observe. Only Chrom, Frederick, Sumia, Flavia, and Basilio were standing with me. Chrom was a few feet away, careful to keep as much distance between us as he would with anyone else. His hands were clasped behind his back, but he was watching my face intently. "What do you think?"

"It's...interesting," I said. "And a bit unusual."

He laughed. "I suppose it must be, to you. Why don't you try it? I just realised that, er..." He glanced over his shoulder at the market stalls. "I have an errand to run. I'll be back shortly. I'm certain that Frederick and Sumia will look after you."

Frederick frowned, clearly not pleased with being dismissed yet again. But he said nothing.

"I'll walk some of the way with you, boy," Basilio said. "I have to go and see the wife of some earl because she wants..." His voice faded as they both turned and walked away.

Flavia tightened her grip on my shoulder. "Ha! An errand to run, indeed! Well, whatever he's really doing must be important, because he usually can't bear to leave you."

I tore my gaze away from his retreating back and stared at her in alarm. "Khan Flavia, I can assure you that there is nothing going on between Chrom and me."

"Hmm. Nothing that's official yet, anyway." She smiled knowingly. "Now, I also have duties I must attend to in order to keep the festival running smoothly. I hope to see you again later." She released my shoulder and walked away.

I raised my hands to my burning cheeks. "Oh, no."

"The khan won't tell anyone, Robin," Sumia said gently. "Don't worry about it. Let's just go and skate."

She linked her arm through mine, and we followed Frederick to the benches where we exchanged our ordinary footwear for bladed shoes. Frederick tied his quickly and was soon on the ice with Sully and Stahl. Sumia stayed with me while I tried to find the right size.