Work Text:
Ethereal Moon
It was simple enough to escape from the ballroom, if one wished it, even one so packed and crowded as the reception hall at Garreg Mach. All it took was a head raised high and a purposeful stride. Who would dare to stop her? Yet, despite Edelgard’s forthright, business-like, step it was something far more frivolous that moved her -although perhaps frivolity was not so out of place on this night.
One moment of whimsy should be safe enough to indulge in, she thought. One moment to follow an errant thought instead of quashing it.
A small defiance against the Immaculate One -to sneak into the Goddess Tower when it should be off-limits.
She had heard so many variations of the story in the past months it was little wonder they had become so diluted. More than half did not mention her parents at all. A moment of nostalgic whimsy, the call of destiny, a man and a woman meeting in the night, a wish to the Goddess.
The only things all the tales agreed on were the date and location.
As she climbed the stair Edelgard attempted to picture the scene as it must have happened; the music playing below, much as it was now, the Archbishop leading the way for the Emperor, all polite small talk as they circled each other’s intentions. That year’s Black Eagle House Leader awaiting them atop the stair to receive the Emperor’s praise directly for the House’s performance. And beside the House Leader stood his adjutant, a girl so beautiful she outshone the moonlight and captured the heart of the Emperor in a glance.
Edelgard couldn’t hold the image. For all the romanticism and rumours her parent’s history had caused amongst the student population (wishes to the Goddess indeed!) even all these years later, she simply couldn’t picture it.
All she saw, all she could allow herself to see when she closed her eyes, were her Father’s hands, clenched in impotent rage.
Her parent’s love story had ended long ago, and the moment of whimsy she had followed out here broke with the thought. She believed herself a product of love, but what a delicate, fleeting thing that love was. There could be no such moon-lit romance in her life, she walked too harsh a path.
Below, the music played on.
She breathed the night air. Away from the crush of the ballroom it was cool -cold, even. Had she been alone perhaps she might have crossed her arms for warmth, as it was she forced her hands into their customary resting position, listening closely for the step she had heard behind her.
“Lady Edelgard,” Hubert addressed her, melting out of the shadows. Edelgard allowed her tension to flow away, though she remained fixed in position.
“Have I been missed already?” she asked. The moment had passed, the sugar-spun whimsy would not sustain her. She was ready to be recalled.
“Your absence is always keenly felt, Lady Edelgard.” Hubert answered, moving to stand at her elbow. “But not yet enough to cause any alarm to -those below.”
He had hesitated on those last words, and Edelgard turned, brow raised in inquiry “You need not hold whatever insult was on your tongue on my account.”
Hubert chuckled “Even I can be in charity with our classmates. On occasion.”
“Hubert you’ve barely spent two minutes this evening with anyone other than me.”
“Precisely. They’ve learned well enough that I have no care for their usual antics.” He replied, then after a moment added “Though I do expect Dorothea shall insist I dance with her.”
“What a trial that will be!” Edelgard shot back in laughing incredulity. “Come, I’ll not have it said you wouldn’t do your duty by those awaiting a dance this evening.”
“If I must.” Hubert sighed, following as the princess moved back towards the stairs. Edelgard pressed her lips together to keep her amusement from showing, certain that Hubert would see it even though he walked behind her.
Some motion in her periphery drew her attention and she paused to look out over the casement of a window on the stairs. Across the chasm between the Goddess Tower and the Officer’s Academy she could make out two figures dancing near the wall -Claude and Byleth. Claude led his partner into a series of extravagant spins and Edelgard scoffed, shaking her head as she resumed the descent.
“Something shall have to be done about that.” she mused.
“Your Highness has already made significant inroads to cultivating the sympathies of the Ashen Demon. Twice monthly tea, as I understand it.” Hubert answered “And troublesome as he is, it may prove disadvantageous to remove the Riegan heir before we understand his origins. An accident at the start of the year, an incompetent teacher on hand to take the blame, that may have served. A targeted attack now would only draw undue suspicion. However, I did acquire Miss Eisner’s battalion for our mission tomorrow.”
“Did you?” Edelgard asked, “Excellent. I should have set you to the task sooner.”
Hubert’s posture was already perfectly correct; he could not stand straighter. Yet under Edelgard’s approval, somehow, he did just that. He stepped forwards as they reached the entrance way, to hold the door for her and she accepted his arm as they made their way through the shadow of the cathedral.
There could be no moon-lit romance for Edelgard von Hresvelg. She walked too harsh a path for such ephemeral sentiments.
What she had was far better; a companion who would willingly walk that bloody path with her. When the dawn came that would see her plans in action, he would stand by her still, they would endure the harsh light of day. He would always be at her side.
Anything else was simply unthinkable.