Even though she had grown her hair out, he immediately recognized who she was. It was Fie.
“Ugh!” he said. “What’re you doing here?”
“What kind of greeting is that?” she asked. “Here I am, stopping by to see an old friend I haven’t seen in a year, and this is the reception I get?”
Yes, he thought, they were indeed friends, but her situation was so...complex (maybe that was the right word for it) that he didn’t know how to approach her. Still, she didn’t seem to care, and she hugged the baby to her hip to show her off to Gormus.
“Look,” she said, “we had a baby. Her name’s Qurio. She’s a cute little thing, don’t you think?”
The smug look she gave him was identical to the ones she’d given him many times before.
A line of sweat ran down Gormus’s cheek. “Don’t try to show her off,” he said.
“No, it’s fine. She can already hold her own head up.” That’s not the issue, thought Gormus.
“Want to try holding her?” she asked.
“No, I’m good...” His strength made it too easy to accidentally hurt a baby. Likewise, his mind was a mess of confusion. All of a sudden, the news got out that she was the king’s second wife, and then she started playing the role of his first wife and queen. But then, before Gormus could see her again, she was marrying Queen. He attended their wedding, but he didn’t have a chance to talk with her before he went back to school and, eventually, he heard the news that she was pregnant. As a result, he hadn’t actually spoken to her in quite some time.
Yet even as confused as he was, Gormus was still thrilled to see her again. In honor of that, he decided not to tell her how obnoxious that smug grin of hers was, so he scratched his head instead and asked, “So, uh, how’ve you been?” In those words were his complex emotions and a reminder of the old days they once shared.
Fie picked up on all of that and smiled at him a little sadly. She knew that those days in which they could horse around together as fellow squires were long gone.
She hugged her baby tight and said, “Pretty good.”
Then, a moment later, she perked back up and added, “Pregnancy was a real hassle, as I bet you can expect, and she’s been a hassle even after she was born. What with the colic and all, you know? But Lynette’s been a big help, and now look how cute she is. She’s a good kid.”
She smirked once more and tried to show him the baby again.
Another bead of sweat rolled down Gormus’s cheek. “It’s a good thing she doesn’t take after you.”
“Hey, what is that supposed to mean?”
The two made up for lost time, catching up as Fie held the baby in her arms.
“Since you’re here today,” Gormus asked, “does that mean you’re attending the ceremony?”
“Yeah,” Fie said. “Although I wish I could have been one of the graduates.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
She giggled and then waved goodbye. “I’m going to show the baby to some of the others. See you around.”
“Be careful with her,” he warned her.
“It’s fine,” she said. “Look, watch this!”
Gormus wanted to ask what “this” was, but Fie was already skipping away.
“Look at the baby...”
“S-So little.”
“Wow...”
The north dorm was mostly empty apart from Slad, Remie, and Gees who stood transfixed before Fie, nervously staring at her child.
“Want to hold the baby?” she asked.
Remie lit up and cried, “Can I?”
“Yeah. Like this.” She showed him the proper way to hold Qurio and then handed him her daughter.
Remie took Qurio nervously, but for all his nerves, he held the baby well. “W-Wow...” he said. Qurio stared at him with round eyes, not knowing who this person holding her was.
“Adorable...” Remie said, blushing from the cuteness.
“I want to try too!” Slad cried.
“Go ahead,” said Fie, grinning as Slad took his turn.
“Don’t drop them now,” Gees warned.
“I-I’ll be fine,” said Slad. “I know how to hold a baby.” Despite how confidently he spoke, his arms trembled when Remie passed the baby over. However, Slad didn’t drop her.
“Ooh...” he breathed. He felt a small flame of warmth alight in his heart, and he stared down at the baby in his arms as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. Then he laughed. “He looks just like Queen.”
“She does,” Fie agreed. “Even though she’s a girl.” Well, either way, she was the spitting image of Queen, with her dark skin and white hair.
“But she’s got your eyes,” said Slad. She did. Her blue eyes must have come from Fie’s side of the family.
The three boys continued to stare at Qurio, spellbound, until Fie asked Gees, “Do you want to hold her too?”
He looked slightly concerned, but he nodded anyway. “Sure.”
Next, Fie went to the 18th’s guardroom wherein she found Conrad, Orbel, Parwick, and Garuge.
“Goodness,” said Conrad. “It has been far too long.”
Fie giggled self-consciously.
The others were surprised to see her visit with a baby in tow, but they all welcomed her warmly just the same. Conrad made her a cup of tea like it was old times, and Garuge, the former enabler of much of her mischief, said, “I can hardly believe this mischievous young rapscallion now has a child of her own. Oh, how time flies.” He sounded deeply moved.
“I’ve only been gone a year,” Fie pointed out.
“Even so.”
Sir Parwick, being his usual reticent self, said nothing but carefully set the tea down on the table in front of her.
Orbel wrote “What a cute baby” on his board.
Fie enjoyed catching up with her old friends for a while, but then she asked about the group’s missing members. “Where’s Sir Crow at?” she asked. She figured Sir Cain was busy with some sort of intelligence operation, so hadn’t expected to see him at least.
“I reckon he’s setting up for the ceremony,” Garuge said.
“Really?”
“Why don’t you go say hello to him? You’ll give him the shock of his life.”
Fie snickered. “Good,” she said. “I plan to.”
As Crow worked to set up the venue, he heard a woman’s voice from behind him calling his name. He jolted and spun around; there stood a girl who brought back a wave of memories.
“Heath?” he cried. “I mean, Fie?” Not only was it her, but she had a baby in her arms!
“Long time no see, Sir Crow,” she said. “Here, Qurio, let me introduce you to Sir Crow as well. This is your mommy’s old mentor.”
Qurio looked at Crow and said, “Ma!”
Flabbergasted, Crow asked, “Is that kid...yours?”
“She sure is. What, didn’t anyone tell you?”
Truthfully, no one had. He had spent most of this last year away from Wienne in order to take care of business for his family, although he knew about Fie’s wedding, of course. The speed at which time flew startled him. Wait, maybe it wasn’t time that was moving too fast—it hadn’t even been two years yet. Fie and Queen were the ones moving too fast!
Nevertheless, seeing Fie with a baby was a huge shock, especially, Crow thought, because Queen didn’t see the type to rush into something like that.
Guessing what it was that floored him, Fie sneered and said, “How about you, Sir Crow? Don’t tell me. Have you not found anyone to marry you yet?”
For the knighthood’s resident playboy, bringing up marriage was tantamount to an attack. For all his popularity, marriage was still not in the cards.
“No, but I mean, I’ll get around to it someday...” he mumbled.
“If you don’t get serious, you’re going to lose all the best years of your life. You can’t keep fooling around. Haven’t you thought of settling down? It’s shameful that I managed to get married before you.”
She grinned in triumph and kept shoving the baby at him, as if to rub it in his face.
Truth be told, Crow had largely stopped skirt chasing after Fie’s wedding, but his playboy reputation preceded him, leading to his utter lack of luck in finding a wife.
Fie flaunted the baby once more as a trophy of her victory.
He decided to play along and gave her a good-natured noogie. “You think you’re so good just because you’re married, huh, punk?”
“No!” she cried, shrieking with laughter. “Don’t hurt me!”
Qurio stuck a finger in her mouth and watched the two of them argue.