Discovery
It had started out as normal a day as any other for Laslow. He rose before the sun and did some light stretching, trying not to wince when he stretched his sore core muscles. He hadn’t remembered doing anything particularity straining and certainly nothing that would make his stomach feel swollen and sensitive and if he was honest with himself it was a little concerning.
So he usually did with his potentially serious injuries, he ignored it and continued on with his day. After getting dressed he glanced at the small mirror on his wall to make sure everything was in order before he would have to officially go out and start the day. However something caught his attention in the mirror and made him pause, he peered closer knowing that something was off but being unable to figure out what it was exactly.
Finally his still sleep hazed brain made the connection and he gaped at the reappeared Brand in his eye. Blinking a few times the shock began to ebb away to reveal fear and dread at what it could mean for him now that his lineage was on display. Laslow had never once been ashamed to bear the Brand of the Exalt it was different now, he was married to the King of Nohr and he wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to leave just yet.
That and Selena, Odin, and him formed an almost unspoken agreement that they would stick together in any world they were in so that no one would be alone. Forcing himself to take a lung full of air he reasoned with himself that Xander would never force him out or try to have him excucted just because he was the prince in some other far away world.
Slapping his face lightly he slowly got to his feet, though he didn’t remember sitting to begin with, and looked back at the mirror. So far the brand was the only thing to have changed, his hair was still the same gray it had been when he fell asleep but that brought little comfort to him.
Why would the magic that had changed his appearance only falter with one thing? Were the others also facing some sort of resurgence? Had Odin’s mark reappreared as well? He knew that no answers would come to him locked up in his room and that the only person he could go to was on the far side of the castle.
Picking through some old medical supplies he found a simple eye-patch and after putting it on felt like he was trying to impersonate Lord Leo’s retainer Niles. A small pang in his chest had him pushing away thoughts of Lord Leo and his retainers, all of whom were in different kingdoms for different reasons.
One last glance in the mirror and he was out the door on the hunt for Selena. He did his best to walk through the halls confidently and with a smile to try and push down his instinct to just go back to his room and hide forever. Spotting a familiar head of blue hair he put on a wider smile and added some cheer in his voice.
“Why good morning dear Peri. Enjoying the cool air, are we?”
It wasn’t always the best idea to try and bother the women this early in the day but he needed to tell her something as well.
“Shhh be quite Laslow. I’m still sleepy and Silas was a meany who made me get up. Xander’s not even back yet why do I have to- Hey! You’re eye looks weird. Did someone scoop it out with a spoon when you were sleeping? I’ll kill ‘em for you if they did!” A real smile crept up onto his face when he heard the concern in her voice and sudden blood lust for his imaginary attacker.
Raising a hand to calm her he shook his head. “While I do apreciate the concern my eye is still attached and otherwise unharmed. It was mearly…bothering me this morning so I’m going on a hunt for a salve. I must ask that you tend to Lord Xander when he returns, I don’t know how long this will take and he should have at least one of his retainers there to greet him.”
Peri pouted at not being able to paint the castle red in revenge for her friend but quickly perked up. “Alrighty! I’ll let Xander know but don’t expect me to share any goodies he brought back.” Laslow thanked her before continuing on and let out a weary sigh, he loved Peri and she was one of his dearest friends but she wasn’t the greatest person to tell Xander where his husband had gone.
Knowing her she would probably say his eye had been cut out and that they would need to start stabbing people for information. Xander wouldn’t go through with it of course, or at least he would wait until he made sure it actually happened, but that wasn’t the best thing to hear the moment you come back from a trip.
Xander had only been gone a week to meet with Lord Ryoma and Lord Corrin on a informal trip. Few people knew about the meeting and in order to avoid suspicion they traveled with only one person, Beruka had been the one ultimately chosen on account of her ability to disappear and loyalty.
Both Peri and Laslow had tried to sneak after him, after all just because the war was over didn’t mean all enemies were gone, but he had firmly told them that neither were to follow him and that they would both be noticed missing if they left. That did nothing to calm Laslow’s nerves and he found his appetite had disappeared almost altogether.
Xander was one of the strongest men he knew but that wouldn’t mean much if he was completely ambushed or poisoned. His stomach threatened to revolt if he let himself get worked up over this like he had for the past week and after what felt like hours he finally spotted Selena’s room.
All throughout Selena’s pregnancy Lady Camilla had been urging her to take maternity leave, and while Laslow didn’t know exactly what she said it was enough for Selena to take her advice with only minor back talk. Now that Caeldori was born Selena was eager to take her place by Camilla’s side again, and he had yet to hear how that was going.
He was debating knocking on the door and risk waking the baby, or just sneak in and risk getting stabbed by her parents but as luck would have it he wasn’t forced to make that decision and the door was quietly opened to reveal Selena. Her surprise was evident but was quickly replaced with confusion and worry.
She closed the door quietly behind her then roughly grabbed his wrist and lead him to a small, empty, dusty room. “What happened? Are you ok?” Selena was more than a bit worried about not only the eye patch but how pale he was and the faint sheen of sweat he had seemed to acquire on his way there.
Laslow bit his lip, causing Selena to become even more concerned, and removed the patch before staring at her gaping face. “What- Is that the Brand? What happened?” Her voice grew louder and Laslow found himself prickle with annoyance at the accusation in her tone. “I didn’t do anything. It was just there when I woke up!”
Selena was about to retort but hushed when footsteps were heard passing by, after they had gone she looked back at the male and most importantly his eye. After another closer inspection confirmed it was the Brand and not some weird infection and crossed her arms. “Ok so it’s obviously not that stupid spell wearing off. If it was something else would have changed as well for all of us and I'm pretty sure hair would be the first thing to revert. Hmm, oh wait! It appeared again once before right? When you got stabbed like an idiot and almost bled out. I hadn’t really been paying attention to your eyes and it seemed to go away so maybe its like that.”
Despite her flippant words that event had struck quite a few people to the core. Laslow had taken a blow meant for her and she was forced to watch yet another person she loved struggle to draw breath. Odin had pretty much snapped at seeing his cousin becoming unresponsive and had what could only be described as a melt down.
He had made sure no one would get any closer and Xander, who had been on the other side of the field began clearing a path. Between him and Camilla they reached the trio in short time and Elise poured every ounce of energy she had to make sure he survived, after he recovered Xander had confessed his feelings for the other man and Odin had actually sobbed. No one liked to talk about it so and Selena was now looking at the floor, clearing his throat Laslow rubbed the back of his neck.
“Are you trying to say that i’m dying?” A brief look of horror flashed on Selena’s face before it was replaced with forced irritation. “Don’t be stupid! Listen i’m going to go find Sakura. If there is something wrong with you she’ll find it.” With that she stormed out of the room leaving Laslow with nothing but the silence and his thoughts.
Thoughts about what Lucina or his parents were doing began to circle around, surely by this time they would have their hands full with little Lucina and Inigo. The thought of his big sister watching their parents play with their own children had regret creeping up on him.
Long ago he had made a promise to Lucina that he wouldn’t leave her behind like their parents had done, instead he had done worse. He didn’t just abandon her and all his friends, he had created a new life in Nohr. They had won the war but talk of going back just didn’t happen, Laslow knew the others wanted to go back just as much as he did but at the same time he didn’t know if he could leave everything they had helped create behind.
Tears had worked their way out slowly at first but quickly grew in intensity. Gods he would do anything for his mother or father to tell him what he should do from here on and to give him a hug. Or for Lucina to give him that smile that was often times so bittersweet and promised that she would always protect him.
When a small sob broke past he truly realized that he was breaking down in some dusty room because he wanted his big sister here. Wiping the tears away he stood and began pacing, while dancing was always going to be the most calming thing to do in times of stress with training coming after it neither was appropriate when Lady Sakura could enter at any given minute.
A soft knock some time later had him looking towards the door and muffled voices were heard before Selena threw open the door and ushered Sakura inside. The healer looked a bit ruffled at the sudden manhandling but regained herself quickly and looked at Laslow before cautiously walking towards him.
“S-Selena told me what was going on, though truthfully I don’t really think I understand it. She, um, said your eye was different and that it had changed again?” Laslow felt bad for getting poor innocent Sakura involved with whatever was going on. Knowing that if he said anything he’d be liable to make her a stuttering mess he instead nodded.
She continued getting closer until she saw the brand and stepped back, “oh my! Oh I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude, I- it’s just a little surprising.” Her nervousness at being in a empty room with two people she didn’t really know was seemingly forgotten and she leaned in closer for a better look.
Laslow felt his cheeks turning pink under her close scrutiny and blinked when she asked about how he was feeling. “Well I suppose I don’t feel any different from normal.” Selena let out a derisive laugh and crossed her arms. “Oh please. You’ve been feeling sick for a while haven’t you? You get tired fast, you have a hard time eating, and your stomach has been causing you pain.”
“I-When?” His response was that infuriating smirk she got when she knew she had won and Sakura looked at him seriously. “Well I mean you are right, I have been a bit under the weather as of late but it hasn’t been that bad. I mean it hasn’t caused any problems so far.” Selena gestured at him, “except for the eye thing and you looking like crap.”
Their bickering was cut off by Sakura who had cleaned off a table and had taken off her robe to fold it in order to make a small pillow of sorts. “If you would please remove you’re outer shirt and lay down here. I’m sorry to say but those symptoms are commonly linked and can be caused by any number of things. It will be best to do a simple check over before using any magic.”
Her tone was gentle yet left little room for argument and Laslow nodded before removing his shirt and leaving him in his thin undershirt. Lieing down he was rewarded with Sakura’s soft smile and a warning that should would begin. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Sakura while she worked and felt oddly exposed in front of Selena who he knew was still standing at the doorway watching.
Closing his eyes he forced himself not to tense up or die of embarrassment when she placed pressure on more tender areas. When she lingered on his lower stomach he opened his eyes slightly and after seeing the odd look on her face was ready to call over Selena to have her help cut out a tumor.
Stepping back Sakura retrieved her rod and tried to give him a reassuring smile. “I know the location now and with this I’ll be able to figure things out a little better.” Selena had moved from her spot at the door and moved closer still when Sakura held out the rod and began to emit a small light that enveloped Laslow. On her face was a look of concentration and suddenly the magic stopped and Sakura blinked.
She looked at Laslow and gave a warm smile, “congratulations, you are pregnant with the next prince or princess of Nohr.” Selena wasted no time before raising her voice and demanding answers which caused Sakura to immediately shrink back under her glare. “Lady Sakura are you sure? I don’t mean to discredit you but this is the type of thing that you need to be positive about before you go around telling people.” Sakura looked at him and nodded, “I’m positive.”
At her words Laslow buried his face in his hand before nodding, “thank you ever so much for the help my dear Lady Sakura. Perhaps I can repay you some later day with a cup of tea? But I’m afriad that I must go for now, my king is to arrive shortly if he hasn’t already and he gets grumpy if I’m late.” Sakura was staring at him with confusion and a bit of concern for his sudden behavior, “i’m sure Lord Xander will be thrilled about the child.”
She meant to be reassuring but knew she failed when she saw him pause briefly while putting on his shirt and he gave a smile. “Yes I think he would be. I must ask that neither of you let him know about this. I will tell him, I just need some time to find the words.” After being promised by both of them that they would not tell Xander he left the room.
Unsurprisingly Selena followed him and put a hand on his shoulder, “are you ok? If you need someone to talk to I’m still here.” Laslow sighed and rubbed his face before putting on his familiar smile. “Thank you for everything. I might have to take you up on that offer a little later.” Selena sighed and nodded knowing that if he needed to talk he would do so when he was ready.
Bidding her goodbye Laslow made the walk to the stables of the castle, if Xander was back already then that’s where he would be. The thought didn’t comfort him and he instead tried thinking of ways to break it to the king, male pregnancy was uncommon but for royal families it wasn’t too odd. In fact Corrin and now even Takumi were expecting so it wouldn’t be hard for the others to except it.
That said it was almost always those with dragon blood that were able to do that kind of thing and there was already uneasiness for the citizens of Nohr that their new king married a foreign man. To suddenly find out he was pregnant could very well cause a rebellion or some other chaos.
He forced that train of thought to end there and instead to focus on how he was going to tell Xander. All to soon he was outside and the cool air made him hug himself, he heard the enthusiastic voice of Peri drift over and following he saw a worried Xander and a far to happy Peri.
Upon seeing him Xander visibly relaxed, as it turns out Peri had been very creative on what may have happened to him, and after excusing himself went to embrace Laslow. He stopped short and when he saw the brand and Laslow wouldn’t be surprised if Xander figured out he was royalty from that alone.
“Welcome home milord. I’m sorry for the delay but I was with the ever charming Lady Sakura.” Xander seemed to peer into his very soul and Laslow found he couldn’t hold this king’s eyes. The moment he looked away it seemed like the spell was broken and Xander moved forward. “It seems we have much to discuss. I will have tea brought to my room and we can have some prvacy.” On any other occasion that simple statement would have Laslow’s heart pounding, now it only fueled his concern.