Robin: 22nd December

The smell of even more food woke me up the next morning. I lay still next to Chrom, staring into the darkness above us. I thought it was perhaps the scent of bread.

I sat up and lit a candle, then turned and shone it near Chrom. His face was hidden beneath his upper arm, and I smiled. "Chrom. It's breakfast time."

He grunted and slowly lifted his head. Then he ducked down again. "Gods, that's bright!"

I placed the candle back on the bedside table and stood up with a shiver. "My apologies. Hurry -- it's freezing."

Chrom sat up, the blankets clutched around him. "Get back in, then."

I looked at the warm bed longingly. "We have a lot of ground to cover today. If we go fast enough, we might get back by tomorrow afternoon."

"All right." Chrom stood up reluctantly, taking the blankets with him. He wrapped the ends around my shoulders so that we were huddled together. "Did you get a good night's sleep?"

"Yes." As good as I ever got these days, anyway.

"So you're ready to travel?"

"Yes." I pictured my perfect Divine Day in my mind again. "I am more than ready to travel."

***

When we were dressed, we went downstairs and found some of the Shepherds at the windows. Sully and Miriel were standing by one, and Frederick and Sumia were at the other. We joined our bodyguards and peered out at the snow. It had grown by at least three feet overnight so that there was more than I had ever seen in Ylisse.

Chrom sighed. "We won't be able to ride the horses through that."

My heart sunk.

"What's going on?" Lissa asked from behind.

I moved out of the way to let her see the snow.

"It was coming down all night," Lyle said, emerging from the backroom to join us. "Don't think you'll be able to ride in that for several days."

"We won't even reach Ylisstol before Divine Day," I whispered, hanging my head.

"Hey, cheer up!" Lissa touched my arm. "You've had a Divine Day in Ylisstol before. You always want to make new memories, right?" She turned to my husband, who was still staring glumly out of the window. "And, Chrom, when have we ever celebrated Divine Day away from home?"

"Well...never." Chrom looked back at us. "It's such an important event that time is always made in the royal calendar for it."

"That's right! So don't stand there looking all miserable. Spending Divine Day in Whiteholt is going to be different, but it will be fun!"

"You're right, lass," Lyle said. "If you're staying here for a few days, I might as well invite you to the Divine Fair. We hold it on the village green every year, and the turnout is good. My wife and I was actually going to be lending a hand to some folks who need it today, soon as we'd served you breakfast. It's tomorrow, you see, and there's still lots to be done. If you have nothing better to do..."

"Oh, yes!" Lissa perked up like a sunflower. "Chrom, we could help prepare, couldn't we?"

Chrom frowned. "I would like to, but we'll draw a lot of attention to ourselves, and that means we'll get no rest. Robin needs it."

I blushed. "Chrom!"

"Well, we just won't tell people you're here," Lyle said.

Chrom glanced down at himself, swathed in a blue cloak with Falchion at his side. "I'm hardly inconspicuous. People know what I look like."

"They know what you look like when you're dressed as royalty," Lyle corrected. "It's amazing how different someone can look in another set of clothes. Every year, people gather their old garments together to donate to some of the families that really struggle. My wife'll know who's got the big pile this year. You can wear those, and then you'll blend in."

Chrom shook his head. "But others will need them."

Lyle shrugged. "You could pay them some gold instead. Then they could buy themselves some warm clothes and have a bit of money for extra food, too."

Chrom looked at me again. I nodded.

My husband started towards the stairs. "All right. It seems that this is the best way forwards. I'll fetch some gold, and once you have our clothes we will help however we can."

***

By the time Chrom came back downstairs, the rest of the Shepherds had arrived and been informed of the situation by Lissa. Her enthusiasm was catching, and as everyone sat down to breakfast they seemed to be even more energetic than they had been the night before.

I sat at the other end of the table this time, as close to the bar as possible. When Lyle emerged to see his wife, Nadia, off to find the clothes, I flagged him down and invited him to eat with us.

Chrom arrived and took his seat just as I had persuaded Lyle to. Both of them were barely touching their chairs before I said, "So, what exactly is at the Divine Fair?"

Lyle smiled. "Stalls selling clothes, food, gifts...all of that stuff, really. But the biggest attraction is actually the games."

I leaned forwards. "Oh? What games?"

"The Lucky Carrot," Torin boomed from behind us.

I almost leapt out of my seat. I twisted around to see the elder closing the tavern door behind him. His silver hair was still tied back, and he was wearing a long, thick coat. He strode over to our table. "I take it you will be staying for a few days, then?"

"Yes, due to the snow," Chrom said. "Please join us, Torin."

The elder sat down at our table with much more certainty than Lyle had. "The games are why families enjoy the fair so much. It keeps the children entertained, although they often see a lot that they like on the shopping stalls, too." He smiled. "I can think of a few who are good at wrapping their parents around their little fingers."

"Do you know them all?" I asked.

"I know every person in my village by name, and usually a lot more." He laughed. "I'd wager I know more of their secrets than Whiteholt's hierarch."

"Knowing them so well must make seeing them having fun more rewarding."

"Yes. I enjoy the Divine Fair every year. I don't usually buy a lot myself, but you're right in thinking that I like to see my people let go of their worries and enjoy themselves for a day. I assume you'll all be attending?"

"Oh, yes!" I smiled and sat back.

"I don't think anything could stop Robin from going," Chrom chuckled.

I beamed at him. "I'm getting used to the idea of us spending Divine Day here."

"So I see."

Lyle stood up. "I should go and make a list of all the families who need help organising their stalls today." He did a head count, then disappeared into the backroom.

Torin diverted his attention to the food and drink that was on offer, and Chrom pressed closer to me, lowering his voice. "It's nice to see that you've perked up."

I smiled. "It's the thought of creating more memories together, I suppose."

"Because of your amnesia?"

"No. I think I would feel this way even if I could remember my past. I'm just looking forward to doing something different with you."

He tightened his grip on me and kissed my forehead. "Good. I am, too."

***

Nadia returned with a few bags of clothes an hour later. We were still gathered around the breakfast table, re-evaluating our previous plans to make them fit in with our current ones. Nadia left the sacks by my feet, then retreated into the backroom without a word.

Chrom stood up. "Wait -- how much will that be?"

"Aw, she's shy," Lissa said, coming further down the table and wrenching a sack open. "Oooh!"

I picked up the other sack, intending to put it on the next table so that we could spread its contents out. But Chrom turned and almost wrenched it out of my hands. "I'll take that."

"Chrom, I can lift a damn sack!"

He put it on the next table. "I know you can. But you'll feel less tired if you don't."

I folded my arms over my chest and glared at him.

"I'm going to find Lyle," he said, stepping away. "You and Frederick can distribute the clothing, all right?"

I glared at his back as he left. Then I cast my gaze down and started digging the garments from the sack with force.

Frederick put the other sack, with Lissa still attached to it, down next to me. "Don't just dump it all on the table, milady. Arrange it so that we can clearly see what we have."

Annoyance flared up inside me. "Fine."

I made a useless attempt to follow his orders, but the Shepherds descended on the clothing like vultures, some curious, others reminiscent. They were not staking a claim on the garments. They were just picking them up and showing them to one another, then dropping them again.

"Enough!" Frederick said eventually as I tried to rearrange the clothes. "Everyone, stand back."

They reluctantly fell away from the table, forming a ring around it.

Frederick looked at me. "Is there enough clothing for everyone, milady?"

"Yes, I think so. I just need to work out if it will fit." I looked at them all for a long moment with narrowed eyes. Then I picked up a dress. "All right, this might fit you, Sumia."

***

Chrom still wasn't back by the time I had sorted everyone's clothing. I could picture almost perfectly what would be happening: after learning how much Lyle and the villagers wanted to be donated, Chrom would have offered a lot more. Lyle was probably finding it hard to accept such generosity for any number of reasons.

Now that I had a few outfits laid out on the table for Chrom and me, I was eager to see what I would look like with my transformation. I gathered it all into my arms and decided to go to our room without him.

I dressed in a long-sleeved forest green dress that fell to my knees, a tatty brown cloak, stockings, and my boots. The dress was a little tight on me, and the elbows were worn through. I stood uncomfortably for a moment, shivering next to the embers of our fire. After putting a second cloak on over the top, I felt somewhat better.

Next, I tugged my hair out of its signature pigtails and went into the bathroom to style it in a way no one had ever seen Princess Robin wear it before.

There was a little mirror in the dim room, speckled with dirt, and I watched myself secure my hair into a messy ponytail at the nape of my neck. Then I tied on a bandanna so that it would keep any loose strands in place. It was a completely different shade of brown to my boots and cloaks, but I found that it made my disguise even more realistic.

In fact, my disguise was so realistic that I felt nauseated, as unfamiliar with the woman in front of me as I had been the first time I'd ever looked in a mirror. I turned from side to side. I'd always thought I'd looked relatively ordinary when I was not in courtly dresses, but this was something else. I supposed that I looked like a farm girl. I looked like an ordinary non-warrior.

I looked like a young woman of Whiteholt.

The thought pleased me as my mind adjusted to my new look, but the nausea didn't leave. It took me a moment to realise that it might not have been related to my initial unease upon seeing my reflection.

I groaned. Perhaps our battle yesterday had been too much for me.

I closed my eyes, praying that the nausea would go away, but the certainty that I would be sick only grew in my stomach.

I spun around and fell to my knees in front of the toilet.

***

Chrom was in our room when I reached it again, removing his shirt with his back to me. I shut the door, then leaned against it and watched him.

He threw his shirt on the bed and turned around, a tunic in his hands. "Wow. You look different."

I hesitated, suddenly shy. "Is that bad?"

"No." He crossed the distance between us. "It's just another variation of you, and you always look beautiful."

I blushed and lowered my eyes to his bare chest.

"Where were you before you came in?" He unfolded the tunic in his hands.

"Just looking at my reflection in the bathroom." I didn't want him to worry needlessly. Sometimes, I was afraid that he'd worry himself into illness.

He nodded and started to pull the tunic on.

I placed my hand on his chest and slowly slid it down his skin. "Wait! Let me..."

He grinned and held onto my waist gently, lowering his head. "Does this mean I get a kiss from my villager?"

I closed my eyes and tilted my head with a smile. But as desire unfurled in me, so did panic as I recalled what I'd really been doing in the bathroom. No!

I shot from his grasp so abruptly that he almost stumbled. "Not yet! Not until you look like a villager of Whiteholt, too."

Chrom turned around to look at me again, his eyes wide. We stared at each other for a long moment. Slowly, his face relaxed into a smile. "You're such a tease."

Now safely on the other side of the room, I smiled back. "I-I just wanted to get some payback for all the times when you're a tease."

I turned my back on him and rooted around in my pack for some mint leaves. Once I'd chewed one, I felt a lot calmer.

When I turned to Chrom again, he was fully dressed in a white tunic, a brown cloak, beige trousers, and brown boots. He'd pulled the hood of the cloak over his blue hair, and now he tugged on it uncertainly. "I'm not used to this."

"Your hair is unusual, so keep it on." I went to him and pulled his hands away from his head. "Besides, it will keep you warm."

"True." He took my hand and led me to the door. "Let's see what we look like as a couple."

As it turned out, I thought I looked a lot better when I had Chrom by my side. But he observed his reflection in the bathroom mirror with a grave expression.

"No one will be able to tell who I am, will they?" he asked eventually.

I smiled. "Did you actually just look at yourself? You're the furthest thing from the Prince of Ylisse. You're just...ordinary."

"Good." He pulled me against him so that we were face to face. "If we're recognised, you'll miss out on your chance to get some rest. And I want that for you, more than anything. I want you to be better."

"I'm all right," I said gently. "You need a break, too, Chrom, and you won't get it if all you're doing is worrying about me."

"I know." He sighed and closed his eyes. "But I can't help it."

"I'm all right." I lifted my head and kissed him on the cheek. "Now we should go and make certain the fair will be all right, too."