Princess Kassandra of Nohr

We rode hard and fast back through Nohr until dusk began to fall. By the time Xander called us to a halt on the fringes of a dark forest and we dismounted, my arms were aching from hanging onto his waist for so long.

As our army began to set up camp, he turned to my siblings. "Come into the woods, all of you. We need to talk -- alone."

Camilla linked her arm through mine as we walked, and within two seconds, Elise was attached to my other side. Leo stayed ahead of us with Xander, but he did look over his shoulder a lot.

Once we were well within the trees, Xander stopped. Camilla immediately threw her arms around me. "I was so worried about you, darling! Don't ever wander away from me again!"

Elise joined our hug. "Yay! We got our sister back!"

When they pulled away, Leo smiled at me. "I'm glad you're all right, Kass. You must have the devil's own luck!"

I laughed, then turned to Xander just as he suddenly crossed the distance between us and crushed me against his chest. The familiarity of his broad, strong frame filled me with a rush of relief that turned my knees weak. Whatever he felt in return had him holding onto me for quite a lot longer than necessary.

Eventually, he let go and looked me over critically. "They haven't harmed you, have they?"

"No."

"Good. I want to hear the whole story, no details spared, of what happened from the moment you stupidly took off on your own to the moment I saw you on the battlefield."

So I told them: what Hans had done to Gunter, the way Norton had transformed and what he'd done to Hans, being captured by Kaze and Rinkah, discovering my true birthright, fighting against the Faceless, the explosion in the capital, and Norton's full transformation into a dragon.

But there were also things I didn't say, like the chill that the dark woods sent down my spine after living in the bright sunshine of Hoshido, or the acceptance I'd been starting to feel towards some of my blood siblings. Or the pang of guilt I experienced every time I reminded myself that I'd left them.

Once I'd finished my tale, I looked around my Nohrian family. "Did you know?"

Xander frowned. "Know what, Kass?"

"Any of it. My true lineage, for example, or the existence of the Faceless."

Camilla and Elise shook their heads.

Leo lowered his. "I knew about the Faceless. But nothing else."

I nodded, too numb to decide how I felt about that. Then I looked at Xander.

When he didn't say anything for a while, everyone else looked at him, too.

He ran a hand through his hair. "Yes. From the moment you arrived at the Northern Fortress, I knew the whole story. Father swore me to secrecy until he deemed that the time was right. You were kept in there so that rumours would not fly for the Hoshidans to hear, and you were given new names to the same end. And I suppose Iago must have sealed away your memories somehow."

Hurt struck deep like a jagged blade. "You lied to me. You lied to me for all these years!"

"I thought Father was acting for your own good! Surely he did not intend for you to be kidnapped and taken to Hoshido, and he can't have known about the sword. He loves you."

"Yes, clearly." I raised my hands and ticked it all off on my fingers. "He sent me on a mission with a murderer, lured my father into a trap and killed him --"

"A trap? Is that what they told you?"

"I -- what?" I dropped my hands. "What do you mean?"

Xander's eyes darkened. "I should have known the Hoshidans would spin the tale to their own advantage. But when Father summoned King Sumeragi to Cheve, he truly intended for there to be a parley. We haven't always told you things while you've been in the Northern Fortress, Kass. We did not want to worry you or make you feel more trapped than ever. But Nohr has limited supplies, and it's been this way for some time. With our sky always dark and much of our earth dry or rocky, little grows, and all of our citizens go hungry. Thousands die of starvation each year. It's the reason why Father has conquered so many other tribes -- but the tribes don't have much land. Hoshido, however, is just as large as us, and you have seen their sunshine. They have food in abundance. Forming an alliance and a trade agreement with them seemed like it would bring an end to our problems.

"But King Sumeragi refused to parley. He had grown comfortable with his excess -- I suppose he considered it as insurance. And so he chose to give nothing to those who needed it."

It took me a moment to realise that my mouth was hanging open. "He would really be that selfish?"

"Indeed. This is the truth, Kass. Perhaps what I say next will restore your faith in my words -- there will be no more lies. Yes, Father did have archers ready to kill Sumeragi if he refused. But it was no trap. He had them on display from the moment they met in Cheve, and whatever Sumeragi believed they were there for was a mistake of his own doing. When he would not form an alliance, my father ordered them to fire. That is how your father died.

"It was cruel, I will admit, and so was kidnapping you and Norton at the scene. But you must understand that in war, neither side is always honourable. For example, you might have met a Nohrian princess while you were in Hoshido."

"Yes," I said. "Azura."

"What did she tell you?"

"That Mother kidnapped her after King Garon had kidnapped us, hoping to arrange a trade with him. He refused."

Xander released a long, weary sigh. "That is part of the truth, although even that reason was unfair on Azura. Perhaps she didn't know it all. Queen Mikoto was even less willing to parley with us than her husband -- I suppose, after what Father did to him, it was no surprise. She was wounded, and that was the other reason why she took Azura. For spiteful revenge. She left a message for us that made it very clear, engraved into the walls of Azura's bedchambers. I was only nine, but I remember seeing it for myself. 'FEEL OUR PAIN'."

He stepped back. I looked down at the twigs on the forest floor, snapped and broken, disjointed from themselves and what they had been. "This is a lot to take in."

But not unbelievable. Norton's actions had taught me that the people who I thought were good could also do bad. By leaving the fortress six years ago, he'd shattered my naïve view that the world was black and white, wrong and right.

"I am sorry that I hid this from you." Xander looked around our other shell-shocked siblings. "I hope that you can forgive me. If it had been my choice, you always would have known. Especially you, Kass. Every moment I spent with you, this secret was a weight on my chest."

I looked him in the eyes and saw that he meant it, so I swallowed the lingering remains of betrayal. "I forgive you. I understand that hiding this wasn't your choice."

"Every time I hear about King Sumeragi," Elise said, "I can never believe that the Hoshidans could be so selfish!"

"Neither can I," Camilla added. "It makes me doubly cross that you had to spend so much time with them, darling!"

Having heard enough about the Hoshidans for my muddled mind to cope with, I looked to Leo for help.

He sighed, but he dutifully steered the conversation in a slightly different direction. "I can't believe that Norton has the power to turn into a dragon. None of the other Hoshidans can, and neither can Kass." He looked thoughtful. "So, why Norton? It must have been by a very small chance."

While Leo contemplated the science, I contemplated the empty space in the circle we'd created where Norton probably would have been standing.

Elise eventually broke the silence. "I miss him. We will get him back, won't we?"

"Of course," Camilla said. "We won't stop until we've freed him from the Hoshidans' lies and brought him back to Castle Krakenburg. I'll kill everyone who gets in our way!"

Xander almost smiled at that. "We should go back to camp. We've done enough killing for one day, and we need to rest if we wish to take Norton when we next meet on the battlefield."

"Yeah, I'm hungry," Elise said.

Camilla switched her nurturing attentions to Elise, and the two of them led the way back to camp. Xander, Leo, and I followed behind. Xander ran a hand through his hair as we walked, and when he dragged it away from his hairline, I noticed a long, deep cut that had previously been hidden to my eye. I frowned at it.

He met my gaze and dropped his hand.

When we reached camp and the others had drifted away, I turned to him. "Xander! Why haven't you had a healer tend to that?"

"It's nothing. Our soldiers need healers more than me."

I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows at him.

"Also," he added, his expression folding in on itself, "I was so preoccupied with keeping you safe during our retreat that I forgot it was there."

"Thank you," I said softly. "Why don't you let me return the favour now? Come to the medical tent. I'll have to get someone else to heal it, but I can at least clean it for you."

He watched me for a long moment, contemplating. "I suppose you won't let it go until I have."

"No. And if Camilla catches you walking around with an untreated wound, she'll take twice as long lecturing you about looking after yourself as it would take to have it healed."

He smiled fondly. "You're right. Come."

We weaved our way around the cluster of dark canvases together, looking for the medical tent. When we found it, Felicia was in there and setting up ready for the wounded, who'd travelled slower than us.

She knocked a pile of bandages over when she saw me, then left them all unravelling on the floor and came to give me an enthusiastic curtsey. "Oh, my lady, it's good to see you again! Are you all right? Is there something you need?"

"I'm fine," I said. "But Xander needs healing."

I stood on my tiptoes and swept his long hair back, displaying his injury again. I wasn't sure if I was overstepping my boundaries, but I liked the butterflies that tumbled through me when I brushed against his skin.

He didn't look at me until I'd moved away.

"I'll just get my medical kit," Felicia said.

She fetched it, then supervised me while I cleaned Xander's cut -- he had to sit down so that I could reach. Nothing on his face betrayed the fact that it must have hurt, and in return, I hoped that he wouldn't read too much into my shaking hands.

As it was only a small wound, all that needed to be done once I'd cleaned it was the healing. Felicia did that because it took years of specialised training, but I still felt satisfied when I saw the cut close up.

Once she'd finished, Xander stood. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, my lord." Felicia curtsied again, then went back to sorting supplies and preparing cots.

Xander put his arm around my shoulders and guided us out of the medical tent. "You have natural talent, Kass."

I lit up inside, and I knew it was written all over my face. "I do?"

"Yes. Even when you were just cleaning, you were patient and gentle. Perhaps you should think about training in the staff alongside your sword, like Felicia. You would make an excellent fully-fledged healer."

I grinned. "Maybe I'll become one after the war. But I can, at least, help out with little things in our medical wards until then."

"I'm sure that's much appreciated." He tightened his grip on me. "We're all glad to have you back, Kass."