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

Chapter 6: Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Robin: 20th December

Five days later, there was still no snow. The Shepherds gathered in the garrison that the evening and stared out of the windows with hopeful eyes while they attempted to write their Divine cards. I stayed in my room. I hadn't wanted anyone to read what I was writing for them, although there was only one card left to do now. Chrom's.

I sat cross-legged on my mattress, staring at the blank pages of his card in the hope that they might inspire something. I had an idea. I lifted my pen to write it down. Then I changed my mind. The words just weren't right.

I was starting to ponder it again when a herd of elephants thundered down the garrison stairs, and Lissa yelled (loud enough for the whole castle to hear), "It's snowing!"

A commotion started up in the main living space. The garrison door squeaked open again, and a few more voices joined in. One stood out to me above all the rest. "Where's Robin?"

Oh, gods. I leapt from the mattress like a startled cat, clutching Chrom's card to my chest. Where could I hide it?

"Robin?" Chrom called. I heard him walking down the corridor. "Are you in here?"

I dropped to my knees and lifted my mattress up, stuffing the card between it and the bed frame. I was just lowering it again when Chrom knocked twice and opened the door behind me. "Robin, it's – what are you doing?"

I stood up, blushing fiercely as I turned around to face him. "There was a spider."

"Under your mattress?"

"Under my mattress," I confirmed.

His blue-grey eyes twinkled mischievously. "Right. Well, in case you didn't hear Lissa when she came down here..." He grinned. "It's snowing!"

I couldn't help but smile. "I heard her. I was just about to come through."

"But you had to deal with the spider first," Chrom said, stepping aside so that I could walk out the door. "That you knew was underneath your mattress."

"Yes."

"You're not going to be able to hide many presents under there," Chrom mused, looping an arm around my waist.

I glared at him. "I wasn't hiding anything!"

"Of course." We walked back down the corridor and halted in the main living space. Chrom grinned at me. "Well, perhaps you'll get some more spiders coming to sleep with you tonight. It'll certainly be cold out there." He nodded towards the window that the Shepherds were crowded around, then turned his back to me and crouched down. "Let me show you your first Ylissean snow."

I climbed onto his back and wrapped my arms around his neck as he straightened up. Over the tops of the Shepherds' heads I could see that the royal gardens were slowly starting to resemble the countryside of Regna Ferox. The room was dark in comparison to the bright snow outside, creating Shepherd-shaped silhouettes against a winter wonderland.

The snow was a light dusting, but more was falling from the inky sky. The bare trees welcomed it with open arms, the evergreens let it settle on their leaves, and what shrubbery and flowers were left in the gardens shivered as it brushed past them. The Shepherds moved, too, turning to one another excitedly as they admired the scene.

Chrom gently lowered me to the floor and pulled me against his side. His expression was fond as he watched the Shepherds. "This is the first snow in Ylisse for a few years, but still...they can be like children at times." He laughed and looked into my eyes. "I must admit to feeling excited myself. I wasn't certain that it really would snow, but I did promise you that your Divine Day would be perfect."

"I'm not going to hold you to that promise, Chrom," I said, searching his eyes carefully to see what lay there. Underneath his excitement was a hint of nerves. Was he really that serious about making certain that everything was perfect for me?

He looked away. "Hopefully the snow will stick. It seems like it will. If it does, then you can count on being woken bright and early by the Shepherds tomorrow."

As if that was their cue, the Shepherds pulled away from the window with a round of yawns and started to gather up their cards. My excitement evaporated. All too soon, it was time to say goodbye to Chrom again.

The warmth that sparked between us as we kissed goodnight was a strange contrast to the outside world, and it left me feeling even colder when Chrom pulled away again. It was like stepping from a warm tavern into the winter's night. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself, gathering my courage to ask him if he could risk everything to sleep with me. But he had already gone.

I retreated to my quarters alone. When I reached my bedside, I knelt on the floor and lifted my mattress up again. I withdrew Chrom's card and stared at the blank pages. My eyes were starting to ache, and the bitter emptiness that visited me each night was hardly going to fuel beautiful words. I stowed it away in the back of the wardrobe with the rest of my cards, then wearily retired to bed. I prayed that when I woke up, I would know what to write.