bluewindsofrestoration:
“You think Innes feels inferior to you?” Ephraim had sounded like he was joking, but given what they had just discussed regarding Lyon… “Well, he knows how important you are to me. Our friendship can survive that.” I want it to, at least.
She can’t help but smile at the way her brother talks about Myrrh. “You make me wonder what it would have been like had Father given us a younger sibling.” She thinks of Forde and Franz, and her mouth is dry. “Though I’m not sure that we would have been able to keep them safe.” Even if it means that they are the only ones to carry their father’s legacy.
How can he speak so lightly when he’s so burdened? She would take all of the guilt, all of the regrets, if she could spare him. “But returning to the subject of Innes… I think you should be honest with him. My memories of what we talked about earlier are admittedly a bit uncertain, but he seemed to relish how frankly I spoke with him. I can understand why you would be reluctant to be vulnerable around him, though.”
“If I had to guess, I would assume that your personalities are too alike and different to match. You are both strong-willed and skilled on the battlefield, but he values composure. That does not make him a better or worse person than you, but I bet that he sees traits that he wishes he possessed in you.” She pauses. “As well as the faults he hates in himself.”
She stops for a moment to contemplate. “I know little about children, though; the most interaction I’ve had with them being brief moments with servants’ children. And while I’m grateful for your confidence in me, do you think that we would be able to find many families willing to let their daughters join the knighthood?” For of course the girls would be too young to truly make the decision on their own.
The way Eirika asks the question, Ephraim wonders if he may have misinterpreted Innes’s constant challenges after all. Certainly he acts as though he always has something to prove, though as far as Ephraim is concerned it’s a pointless rivalry; Innes is plenty strong in his own right, and surely it would be easier for the two of them to just get along. But it’s been too many years of butting heads to suddenly take the easy route now.
“Vulnerable?” Ephraim blinks. “And honest...?” Is she actually suggesting he approach Innes and say hey, I know we’ve been fighting our whole lives but I’d like to try being friends now. Actually, I’ve wanted to try being friends for a while, but I haven’t asked because I know you won’t take me seriously. And then Innes will, predictably, not take him seriously. He would either laugh at him or turn up his nose in disgust, and then they’d be right back to where they started. “Well. Perhaps I’ll try to talk to him.” It’s probably clear from his tone that he’s considering not taking that advice at all, but in his heart he knows Eirika is right.
It’s easier said than done, though. The few times that Ephraim has attempted to approach him frankly, he’s let himself get worked up the moment Innes says something remotely snarky, falling back into the comfortable familiarity of their surface-level banter.
“It’s an odd thing to think about, is it not?” Ephraim ponders. “Having a bigger family. Of course, I probably wouldn’t have minded it, but our childhood was defined by it just being the two of us.” A sigh leaves his lips at her solemn words. “Being able to protect your loved ones is never a certainty. But at least it is easier to keep them safe when there is no active war -- even if we did sustain heavy losses to get here.”
Ephraim can’t help but chuckle when Eirika doubts herself, not meaning to make light of her uncertainties but simply not able to see those same flaws in her. “With you at the helm, I think those families would certainly place their confidence in you. If it were me, well -- that would be a different story entirely. Even my own friends fear being under the command of my recklessness at times. But there are so many young women in Renais who look up to you already, for your compassion and strength. Your prior experience isn’t necessary when you already drawn those same kinds of kindhearted souls towards you.”
