Chapter Text
Byleth made her way to Fodlan’s Throat knowing she was making a bold move, yet it was one she felt she needed to make now that the war was finally over and Dimitri was on the throne. Her decision to decline the offer of Archbishop was met with more disappointment than she had anticipated, but she felt it was the right move for her. Seteth could handle the church much more effectively than she knew she would be able to. She couldn’t help but feel that had she accepted, he would have been doing most of the work in guiding her anyway.
The group of young students that she had taught learned the hard way to become warriors and fight for their beliefs and all they held dear. Now, they were all strong and ready to begin their lives in a whole new Fodlan. A Fodlan that was sure to prosper once again under Dimitri’s rule. As for her, she wanted to take some time to evaluate her own desires and consider if she wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps and become the Ashen Demon once again or find a new path. At least she knew she would always have a place at the monastery. Seteth was quite clear in this.
“Well, Byleth, time to see just what Almyra is like,” she sighed as she kicked her horse into a trot. “Hopefully, crossing the border will not become an issue,” she muttered to herself as she sucked a deep breath.
In an effort to keep people from recognizing her, after such a lengthy campaign against Edelgard at Dimitri’s side, she had donned a hood to conceal her obvious coloring. As her eyes scanned over the entry to Almyra, she was surprised and relieved to see Hilda. A pure stroke of luck. As she approached, she was stopped before reaching the one person she knew.
“Reason for going into Almyra?”
Byleth looked at the man that was, no doubt, part of the group led by the Goneril family to maintain order between Almyra and Fodlan. “Is it possible to speak with Hilda?” She lifted a gloved finger to point now, “I see her just over there. We are well acquainted.”
The man stared at Byleth for a long moment. “Wait here, and you may have to lower that hood.”
She watched as the man spoke with Hilda and turned to stare at Byleth. Reaching up, she dropped the hood for a moment to allow Hilda the opportunity to recognize her before she pulled it over her hair again. Smiling, she watched Hilda happily trot toward her.
“Professor!” Hilda smiled up at her. “What are you doing here? I thought you were going to be Archbishop, but the gossip is that you turned it down.” Her eyes widened now as a new thought popped in her head. “Are you hiding from someone? What’s with the hood?”
Byleth chuckled. “That’s a lot of questions. Let’s see, I did turn the job offer down,” Byleth verified. “And I am trying to get into Almyra without too much notice and not hiding. I just want to take some time now to find out who I am and who I may want to be. I need to do it away from everyone who already knows me and has an opinion of what I should be doing.”
“Wow, I had no idea you were feeling conflicted. I even thought you might hook up with Dimitri.”
Byleth lightly laughed. “Yeah, well, Dimitri and I are close, just not romantically. He and Mercedes are actually a nice fit together, and they are exploring this with each other. In truth, I just need to space myself from everything for a while.”
“I get it,” Hilda said now. “So, you wanna cross the border? You sure?” Her pink brows lifted. “Scary Almyrans over there, ya know.”
“I think I will be fine.” She looked toward the border a moment before looking down at Hilda from her perch on her horse. “And if it gets too scary over there, I can always make a strategic retreat back to Fodlan.”
Hilda laughed. “Sure, sure.” She reached up and patted Byleth’s horse. “All right. I’ll walk you over that way. Good luck, Professor and don’t forget us.”
“I could never forget you, Hilda, or anyone else, for that matter. Besides, I will probably be back. My parents are here, you know. And, Hilda, I expect you to call me Byleth now.”
Looking up at her as they approached the opening to the Throat, Hilda said, “Bye, Byleth. We’ll all still be here when you decide to come back home.”
“Thanks, Hilda.” Byleth waved as she kicked her horse into a trot and crossed the border into a new and unknown land. “All right, Dad,” she softly said as she trotted along, “you always avoided getting involved with Almyrans because you said they could handle themselves. Time to find out for myself.”
Securing a room at an inn had been a bit of a challenge with the language barrier, but she finally managed it thanks to a patron that spoke both languages quite well. In all honesty, she thought more Almyrans spoke both languages. Now, as she relaxed back in the small but colorful room, her belly full of food that was quite tasty despite the different spices used to season it, she drew a long slow breath. So far, she found the country quite interesting and beautiful, though a bit warm. Tomorrow, she looked forward to seeing more.
With the morning sun streaking into the room, Byleth frowned and rolled over. It had taken longer to fall asleep than she had anticipated due to some ruckus going on outside for what seemed like hours. It didn’t sound like angry noises but more like a party of some sort. At any rate, it kept her from enjoying a restful night.
Humming in slight defeat, she decided to just get up and move on with her plan of discovery. As she stared at her face in the small mirror, she wondered if she should continue to wear a scarf over her hair. It certainly wouldn’t be too out of place, she decided while she recalled seeing several women with scarves, braids, and even decorative baubles adorning their hair. What would be out of place, would be the color of her hair and a point of odd interest for some, no doubt. With this in mind, she decided to adorn the hood once again. Last thing she wanted was to draw too much attention to herself. It was bad enough she was struggling to communicate more than she had anticipated.
Making her way further into the country, she spotted what she was positive was the Almyran palace, resting a bit in the distance. “Impressive,” she said to herself as she looked ahead at a sprawling marketplace. A smile touched her lips as she decided that this was an area she wanted to explore and spend a couple of days soaking up the culture.
After securing a rather nice room for a couple of days and making sure her horse was tended to, she began to wander about the many small shops and outside stalls of goods. She found that more people in this area spoke so she could understand them. Even not understanding some of the conversation going on around her, she enjoyed the lively atmosphere while moving from one shop to another. As she was trying to convey her interest in a gold and red garment to a rather stubborn, old woman merchant, she paused a moment to stare at her while considering another way she may get her desire to purchase it across without the woman thinking she was going to steal it.
Watching the woman’s eyes slightly widen a moment before she gave a slight bow, Byleth turned as a woman behind her smiled and began speaking to the merchant a moment before she looked at Byleth and asked, “You are interested in purchasing this garment?”
“I am, thank you,” she answered and watched the attractive woman continue to converse with the merchant in, what sounded to be a rather stern tone.
“It is yours,” the woman said as she smiled at Byleth while her eyes wandered over her face and hair she could see poking out from under the hood. “You are well out of place here. Please, come away from this crowd for a moment so I can speak with you. I have a feeling you and I may have much in common.”
“But, I didn’t pay for this yet,” Byleth pointed out.
“No need. I handled it for you. Zeta was being unaccommodating because she could have spoken to you properly, and I reminded her that she wants to continue her shop in this area, she should adjust her attitude.” She smiled at Byleth. “Now, please, come along.”
Byleth’s brows slightly furrowed a moment before she followed the taller woman to a shaded area. “Thank you, for assisting me,” she offered as she stood in front of the woman. She was very pretty, Byleth decided, with deep green eyes. Her brown hair was loosely braided, with gold ribbon entwined, down her back. She wore a beautifully patterned dress of several colors and large, gold hoops in her ears. “I just got here yesterday and trying to find a footing.”
“Ah, I thought so,” the woman said as she smiled at Byleth. “I am Tiana, and I can tell by your coloring that you are somehow linked to Nabeteans, although it seems like that should be impossible.” She lightly laughed as Byleth’s eyes widened. “I am originally from Fodlan, so I am familiar with the history and people.”
“I see, well, it is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Byleth, and I have a very odd and hard to believe story as my baggage to bear.” She smiled now. “Thank you so much for this, I did not intend for you to—”
Tiana lifted her hand, “Say no more about it. Consider it a welcome gift. In fact, would you join me for some afternoon refreshment away from this noise and heat where we can relax and get acquainted?”
“I would love to.”
As they began walking closer to the palace while sharing light conversation, Byleth looked at Tiana. “Are we going to the palace?”
“Ah, I neglected to tell you that I left Fodlan and married the King of Almyra several years ago, however, we have recently crowned our son as the new king.” She looked at Byleth as she opened the door. “We do not lock ourselves up in this place but prefer to get out and see, listen, and participate with the people. You, my dear, are exploring outside of your comfort zone, indeed, by coming here. The least I can do is offer hospitality. Besides,” she continued as they walked through an elaborate atrium, “I would love to speak with someone about how things are going in my homeland now that the war has ended.”
As they moved to an open area surrounded with lush foliage and filtered sunlight, Byleth removed her hood and smiled at the beauty around her. “This is amazing.”
Tiana smiled at her as she gestured to the table and chairs. “I rather enjoy this space.” Her eyes wandered over Byleth as she carefully rested her new garment over the back of the chair and sat down. “You are quite a beautiful young woman. We will have to talk about this coloring you have, though.”
“It’s a bit of long story, I’m afraid, but I was not born with this coloring. I was born with dark hair and eyes.” She smiled as an older woman brought in some tea and pastries. “Apparently, Archbishop Rhea did something to me when I was born that ended up catching up to me.” She watched Tiana’s face soften a bit as a brow lifted as if she knew something she had yet to share.
“Ah, Rhea. Is she still the Archbishop? I had heard that she disappeared when the war broke out.”
Byleth nodded. “She did. Dimitri,” her eyes lifted from her tea to Tiana, “that is to say, now, King Dimitri, myself, and several past students of the officer’s academy managed to locate her after a successful takeover of the palace in Enbarr.”
“Ah, so you are, indeed, the Professor that returned after being missing for a few years?”
“How do you know that?”
Tiana laughed. “We make it our business to know what is going on across the Throat.” She lifted a dark brow as she bit into a pastry. “In fact, now that I have spent a bit of time with you, I am positive that my son would be most happy to see you.”
“Your son,” Byleth slowly said as she set her cup down. “As in your son, the King?”
Tiana nodded. “Where is it that you have taken your things?”
“I got a room at that place with all of the big pots, nearly as tall as I am, out front. Why do you ask?”
“Because, Byleth, I have missed talking to someone such as yourself about an array of topics. I hope to spend more time with you. What better way to do that than have you stay here?” She smiled as she waved her hand toward a servant standing off by the archway. “I will have Rajya retrieve your things, unless of course, I have made you uncomfortable and you would rather refuse?”
“I—no, I greatly appreciate the offer, if you are sure. I mean, you don’t really know me,” Byleth stated. “Your hospitality is heartwarming.”
“It is true that I am just meeting you, but I believe we have a connection.” She smiled now as she heard the male voices beginning to filter in through the archway. “Ah, you will understand in a moment.”