Delicate

Chapter 1

"Hold him down! Don't let that Nohrian trash go!"

"Magic! His magic! He's dangerous!"

"We'll knock the dastard out! A potion! Bring me a potion!"

"You'll choke him to death! Lord Ryoma would have your head!"

"I will not kill him, but it's no less than he deserves!"

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Dark. Cold. Hard.

The prince looked around hazily, eyes blinking into awakeness yet they were unable to see far more than that same cloaking shade. Everything was always dark, he had come to accept this. That was the way of Nohr.

Yet somehow, even with his memories as clouded as they were, he knew he was nowhere near his kingdom. Of course, it didn't take much deduction to know this. He was chained, back slumped against a wall with big enough cracks he could feel it lingering against him. But he had been in Cheve. He had been fighting. Fighting as he should have.

Something distracted him. Something left him vulnerable.

And those Hoshidan soldiers, more like ruffians, held him down, gripped and choked and he was forced a liquid.

How long have I been asleep?

Prince Leo wondered silently, gulping in hopes to lubricate his dry throat. But he had no such luck. No, it was still dry, and skin rubbed against skin. Sticking. Leo believed he might choke with his luck.

There was a sound that met Leo's ears first, his eyes clenching shut as a crack of light permeated into the room. The blonde wouldn't admit it, but he had winced. Of course, he had. His eyes had been assaulted, naturally, he would have disdain over light when he had always been shackled to the dark.

This was like Nohr, too. He realized.

They were alike and yet so different.

Leo heard a shuffling of wood against ground, before a weight was set on the wood. Perhaps a chair or stool for the intruder to rest upon. Leo wondered if Hoshidan torture was anything like that of Nohr. He could only hope not.

"Open your eyes and face me, Prince Leo."

The voice was low, dripping with power and authority. Leo suppressed a need to wince, forcing his aching eyes open to realize that light now spread the whole room. Hoshidans couldn't face the dark, after all. That was simply fact. They lived their lives in the light, unable to do as necessary in the shadows.

That was for Nohr.

The Glory of Nohr.

Leo stared at the Crowned Prince, eyes squinted as they slowly adjusted to the onslaught of light.

"You have invaded my home, my people. Slew my people, destroyed my towns. My crops."

Ryoma stated, Leo ever so quiet in the face of a ruler. Even if it was not his own. A shiver, the Prince was not stupid and knew of his fate.

"You Prince Leo, have led armies to ruin a nation of peace. And have assisted in the capture of our very own Prince Kamui. Your people have washed his brains, rewritten him in your favor."

The blonde almost scoffed. Leo had done none of the sort to Corrin. Corrin was not brainwashed. Corrin was family. He had come at a truly young age and was raised as such. There was no magic, rather, child rearing, that led Corrin to Nohr. Nothing more or less.