Chapter 3 of Kings’ Gambit is out now!
Tags: Arranged Marriage, Childhood Friends, Friends to Enemies to Lovers, Political Intrigue, Alternate Universe - Plegian Royalty My Unit |Reflet | Robin |, Alternate Universe - Chrom’s Father Is Alive, Abusive Parents, Fantasy World Racism, Minor Emmeryn/Phila, Female My Unit | Reflet | Robin, Eventual Smut
Chrom punctuates the announcement by flopping onto his back, but neither of his sisters pay any mind to him.
Chrom spends a solid ten seconds laying there spread-eagled on the rug before raising his voice louder: “Emm! I said—”
“Wait just one moment, please, Chrom.”
Chrom sighs but complies, turning his head to gaze out the villa sitting room's picture window again. The firs at their property edge aren’t dense enough to shield him from Lake Orrean’s taunts—every flash of its crystal waters a promise of freedom from the sweltering summer.
With a soft thump, Emmeryn closes the book she was studying and turns in her seat to face him. "Thank you for your patience. You have my full attention now. What is it that you need?"
“I'm bored,” he reiterates. “There's nothing to do.”
“Now, Chrom, that isn't true at all. We have plenty of books to choose from—I can help you pick one out that you would like. And I'm sure Lissa would love having her older brother draw with her.”
“Yeah! Draw with me,” Lissa cries from atop her booster seat. She raises one pudgy fist into the air, proudly presenting the charcoal stick clamped within.
Chrom wrinkles his nose. "I did that earlier. I don't want to draw or read anymore. I want to go outside."
Lissa giggles. “Why! Why!”
“Because it's stuffy inside! And we've been here a whole week, but I've barely seen the lake at all. It's not fair.”
Just recounting it is getting him fired up again. Summer is supposed to be fun. It's the time of year he has the fewest lessons, and that should mean more time to play and get stronger. But with all his friends back home in Ylisstol, the months ahead are starting to look less like an adventure and more like a stickier, sweatier version of how he’s made to spend all his other days: sitting around reading dusty books and scrolls.
Emmeryn's smile falters. “I understand, Chrom. I wish just as you do that we could all venture down to the water together. But we cannot leave Mother unattended.”
“Why!” Lissa chirps again.
Chrom's ribs squeeze the way they do when someone hugs him too tightly and it’s hard to breathe.
Emmeryn draws in a breath. “Lissa, do you remember when we told you that Mother isn't feeling well? And that she needs help caring for herself sometimes?”
pixelskylines
blakekathryn
origamiaround
kaledo-art
titsay
germansingergirl
discoholicmusic
snowghoul
areudirty
