[Fire Emblem Fates Novelization.]
Nohrian twins Princess Kassandra and Prince Norton have been estranged for six years: separated by stone, distance and hearts. When they're kidnapped by Hoshido and told of their true lineage, they're suddenly drawn...
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Princess Kassandra of Nohr
Our days of riding were long, but we eventually reached Castle Krakenburg a week after we'd left the border. It looked even more hostile than when I'd first seen it, like a deep, dark execution chamber. The first time I'd come, Gunter had still been alive, and I'd believed that I was Nohrian. Now my beloved trainer was dead, and so were both of my real parents.
Somewhere down there, their murderer was waiting.
As I didn't have much experience riding wyverns, I had to double up with one of my siblings for the descent. The first time we'd done this, Camilla and Elise had quarrelled over who I should ride with, and today was no different.
"Enough!" Xander said eventually. "If neither of you can decide, Kass will ride with me."
Elise pouted. "That's not fair! She's ridden with you all the way back here!"
"That's true," I said quickly. "And I rode down to the castle on Camilla's wyvern last time. So I'll ride with Elise."
Elise cheered. Camilla huffed and mounted her wyvern alone. Leo shook his head at us, but I beamed at him. Little things like this made it good to be with them again.
***
King Garon was waiting in the throne room.
From the moment I'd met him, this part of the castle had felt like an extension of himself. Sinister shadows clung to the corners, half-disguising the armed guards and their unsheathed swords. Painted trees with twisting branches reached across the walls, and black spears framed the throne.
Garon was elevated so high above us that he was like a god: weapon as big as a mortal in his hand, a face of thunder, and a tyrannic temper bubbling beneath his surface -- one that sometimes led to people being struck down as if by a bolt of lightning. Cold sweat spread across my skin.
As we stopped at the bottom of the steps and craned our heads back, Xander started to greet him. But Garon stood up and slammed his axe into the ground. "What are you doing here, Kassandra?"
Xander's greeting died on his lips.
My stomach sank. "F-Father! I..."
"I know you've been in Hoshido," he growled. "You are surely now aware that the royal family of Nohr is your enemy by birthright. Norton has joined them, yet you came back. I cannot help but wonder why."
"She must have sided with the enemy." Iago emerged from the shadows beside the throne, black locks framing a face so pale that he resembled a phantom. "It smells like betrayal to me. Could it be that she is planning to assassinate Your Majesty?"
Panic spiked through me. "No! I chose to side with Nohr because it's where my loyalties lie."
"Kass would never turn against us," Xander added fiercely.
