Chapter Text
Anankos had been defeated – apparently, from the dragon’s last words, that was what he had wanted all along. Xander wasn’t sure how it worked, exactly, or how Anankos had found his son, nephew, and step-niece to help with this particular task, but he had been more than relieved to learn that the three had not been led astray and had truly been trying to defeat Anankos themselves.
It had been truly harrowing; Anankos had a tendency to specifically target people during the battle, and once, he’d caught sight of the mad dragon beelining for a running Laslow, who had been wounded and was bleeding heavily. He’d managed to push Laslow behind him and strike at Anankos from a distance with Siegfried, before the dragon had promptly been distracted by Corrin stabbing him with the Omega Yato.
“Thanks, milord,” Laslow had gasped out as he dabbed a vulnerary on his wounds to stop the bleeding. He looked pale, and was slightly unsteady on his feet, but no less determined.
“Stay close to me,” Xander had told him, before they had leapt back into the fray. That had been close.
Afterwards, between the sheer number of people that had come to take the mad dragon down, he had lost track of his family and Peri during the battle. It was only afterwards that he’d learned that they had all made it out alive, thankfully.
The victory celebrations ran late into the night. Xander had been strong-armed by a rather drunk Ryoma to try some special Hoshidan alcohol that he had called ‘sake’, and his first glass had knocked Xander for a loop (which was a rather embarrassing moment given that Hinoka had chugged down three times as much and was still standing, albeit a bit impaired).
“Are you a man, or are you a mouse?” had been his fiancee’s exact words as she gave a slurred giggle she normally never would upon seeing how little had knocked Xander off his feet. Xander had left her in the care of their siblings, citing exhaustion as an excuse to retire early.
They would be leaving Valla within a few days, and the journey home would take weeks. He needed to make sure everything was prepared, since he would be taking the throne as soon as he was home.
It would be weeks later when they finally all made it back home. Hinoka had gone to Hoshido in order to set her affairs straight before she permanently moved over to Nohr as its new queen, so Xander still had some time to himself. Laslow and Peri had been in high spirits as well, and he had found himself privately celebrating with the two of them multiple times.
Returning to Nohr meant that multiple things needed to be taken care of, not the least of which was preparing himself to finally take the crown. The preparations and ceremony for that were long, exhausting, and near the end of it, Xander was ready to collapse as he retired to his chambers one final time before he would start moving into the king’s chambers the next day.
However, all exhaustion vanished the moment he saw the letter on his desk, and he felt the surge of joy and relief. His son had survived the war if he was sending a letter to him.
Father,
By the time you read this, it’ll probably be after the celebrations have ended and everyone has returned home, but I managed to convince Anna to send it. Since the war is now over, I can finally tell you everything… along with where I have been these past several years.
Would it surprise you to realize that you’ve probably known of me the whole time? I wasn’t exactly hiding in the shadows and had a rather prominent place in the army, though you know I would much rather have hidden.
As I told you before, I arrived in Nohr nearly six years ago at Mr. Anankos’s request with Owain and Severa. It might seem a little confusing, but the Anankos that we met was not the dragon that we defeated. It was the fragment of his soul that was still sane, and he was the one that asked us to find his child, come to Valla, and defeat the dragon version of him. We were forced to flee and take up new identities.
We fled Valla, and we found our way to Nohr. We were lost and confused for awhile, and unsure of what to do. We had no idea where to even begin with searching for Mr. Anankos’s child, as he had not been able to impart any other information, not even their name or gender! All we knew was that they had been in Hoshido, but lived in Nohr now. So w we sought out jobs; high positions that would allow us the privilege and resources that would allow us to search for them.
As we searched, we found an advertisement for a royal Nohrian tournament, requesting skilled warriors, and that the winners would receive a retainer position for the Nohrian royal family. The three of us were a perfect fit given our pasts, so we entered, believing that we had little to lose.
And we won.
The name that I chose to go by as part of my disguise was Laslow. My job for the past six years was as Prince – now King – Xander’s personal retainer. Surprised?
Xander reread the last two sentences several times, not quite sure how he was feeling for the longest time, before he set the letter down and closed his eyes.
His son was his retainer.
His retainer was his son.
“…Very much, Inigo.”
It fit. All the information that Inigo had mentioned in his previous letters lined up, and Xander, like a fool, had not noticed it. And, apparently, neither had Leo (that he could believe, Leo could be shockingly dense despite his intelligence), nor Niles (which was the most surprising part; Niles was incredibly good at digging up information). No wonder Inigo and Laslow had shared so many similarities...
Anankos targeting Laslow during the battle suddenly had a much more bone-chilling explanation.
It’s a highly difficult job, and there were bad days many times, but I felt that it was a wonderful opportunity for me to learn how the country worked. You are Nohrian, after all, and I must admit that I had been curious about the kind of country that you had grown up in and the people at the top.
I’m not sure how you feel about King Xander, Father, but I have spent six years getting to know him on a personal level, and I can confidently say that he is a good man. I feel that Nohr will prosper under his rule, with him and Queen Hinoka, and that a golden age of peace with Nohr and Hoshido and even Valla will be coming. It’s a good feeling, knowing that a war will end and then there will be nothing but peace.
Xander had to put the letter down, his ears burning. He touched his suddenly warm cheek with one hand and just knew that he was blushing head to toe. Oh, he wanted a hole to swallow him. He and his son had been dancing around each other this whole time, and Xander was very relieved that he had shown mostly his good side to Laslow.
(Granted, he had liked Laslow. A lot.)
The three of us are thinking of settling down in Nohr permanently. It was supposed to be temporary, but what do we truly have over there, in Ylisse? The three of us would never be born, and our mothers aren’t truly our mothers, but you are truly our fathers. You’re family. While I admit it would be difficult to leave Lucina and the rest of our friends, we feel less like impostors here in Nohr. After what I’ve heard, I’d love to get to know you and my uncle and aunt, and the rest of our families, and they both feel the same.
I’m not sure when would be the best time to meet up. I’m sure you have a lot of affairs to settle after the war, Father, but perhaps you can send me another one with your reply? I’d be happy to come out and meet you whenever possible.
Love, Inigo
Xander stared at the words of the letter again, trying to comprehend exactly what he had just read. He had known Inigo all along. Thanks the gods that neither of them had died in the war, because if he’d learned this after Laslow had died… he never would have forgiven himself.
(And if he had died, then… well. Inigo would have had to suffer the trauma of having both of his parents die, and that was the last thing that Xander had wanted to do to him.)
He took a deep breath.
His son had revealed himself.
He should repay the favor.
Xander knew that he was the one in current control of the situation; while his son had no way of knowing when and where he could bump into him, he however did. And there were plenty of opportunities when he would be alone with Laslow.
Case in point: the other had just knocked on his door to announce himself. “Milord? It’s Laslow.”
“Come in,” Xander called. When his retainer entered, Xander realized that he really had been a fool. His bone structure and grace was all Olivia’s – it was incredibly obvious. When he came closer, Xander could see that his eyes had changed color, from the dark blue he associated with Laslow to a light purple that wasn’t dissimilar to his, and that the roots of his hair were rose-blond instead of the ashen gray that it had been for years.
With Anankos dead, the disguise was finally starting to wear off, even if it looked like Laslow hadn’t noticed it yet. He idly wondered if that was the case with Odin and Selena. Odin was already blond, so chances are it would stay that with both Leo and Lissa being blond, but there was a possibility that Selena’s true hair color was lighter than the vivid Cordelia-red (again, so obvious! He’d thought she merely had Hoshidan ancestry somewhere in her!) that she currently had.
Laslow set down his dinner on his desk where he always set it, and poured some tea out for him. “I’ve brought your dinner, Milord. Is there anything else that you might need?”
“No, thank you, Laslow,” Xander told him, smiling.
When the other smiled back before turning to leave, Xander felt his stomach turn. No wonder he’d felt that Laslow’s smiles felt familiar; they were exactly like his Olivia’s. Before he could stop himself, he called out.
“Laslow, wait.”
Laslow – Inigo – turn around, the way he blinked indicating that he was wondering why Xander had given him the order. “Yes, Milord?”
Once he had the other’s attention, Xander mustered up the courage to speak to him. Gods, why was this so difficult? He had made speeches to the army as a whole, he had even spoken to Laslow about many things numerous times, scolded him for flirting even, but five simple words (“Inigo, I am your father”) had suddenly become the hardest things to say.
Imagining his son as a bunny didn’t seem to be helping much, either.
Finally, he managed to get out, “Perhaps it would be easier to just show you.”
Clearly curious, Laslow nodded, and stood there waiting as Xander retrieved a locked decorated box. He set the box in front of Laslow along with the key, and gestured for him to open it.
When Laslow opened it, the younger man was clearly stunned when he saw the pile of paper, each with a broken seal. “These are…” He trailed off, gently picking one of them up. “These are the letters that I wrote to my father in Nohr, that I gave to the Secret Merchants--” The younger man’s eyes widened. “Why do you have them, Milord?”
Xander took a deep breath, looking at Laslow’s face. Gods, he felt terrified .
“These are the letters that I received from my son that I believed I had never met. But… I was wrong, wasn’t I? You were with me all along, Inigo.”
Laslow set the letter down, staring at Xander with wide eyes. Realizing that he needed to break the silence, Xander stepped forward, closer to Laslow’s personal space, and pulled the younger man into a tight hug. He felt Laslow freeze for a moment, and he wondered if he’d done the right thing, but slowly felt him relax into the hug.
He rested his chin on Laslow’s head for a moment, giving him a light squeeze, before they broke apart the hug. Laslow was sniffling, though he quickly wiped at his eyes. “I just… I can’t believe it,” Laslow managed to whisper. “It’s you. I was with you all along and… I never suspected.”
“Me neither,” Xander admitted, trying not to blush in embarrassment. “You made it fairly obvious, too, but it… never occurred to me.” He reached up, gently picking up a lock of his hair. “Your hair is turning rose-blond again, you know.”
Laslow looked surprised, a hand flying up to touch his hair as well. “Is it? I hadn’t noticed anything in the mirror this morning. It must have started today. Did my eyes change too?”
“Yes, they’re purple, like mine.” The two were quiet for a few more moments – nothing could have prepared them for the awkwardness of suddenly meeting, even if Xander had had more warning than Laslow had – when Xander finally spoke. “Inigo, I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“I was… I wasn’t there for you, during some of the worst times of your life,” Xander said, reaching out to grasp his hands. “All I could do was watch from afar, helpless to protect my son. But… if you choose to stay here, in Nohr, I promise: I’ll do everything in my power to ensure your safety and happiness. Your identity as my son will not be hidden, and-”
“Milord- Father,” Laslow interrupted, and he gave another one of his smiles as Xander paused in his nervous rambling. “I thought I already told you that I wanted to stay? This doesn’t change any of it. You’re my father, and I wanted to spend time with you here.”
Xander exhaled with relief, glad that Laslow still wished to stay despite finding out the truth, and watched him curiously as he suddenly paled. “Inigo?”
“...Being your son means I’m a Prince,” Laslow said slowly. “Oh gods, I’m royalty.”
“I’m afraid so,” Xander said, his lips twitching. “Prince Inigo de Nohr.”
“Oh no…” Laslow covered his face, and Xander smirked. His dinner was becoming cold, but this was more important. He’d always playfully teased Laslow, and now he finally had a chance to do it as his father.
“Unless you would prefer something else? Prince Laslow? Prince Inigo Laslow de Nohr works, as well.” Xander smirked wider. “If you were worried about being ‘high-class’ enough for Princess Lucina, you don’t need to worry anymore.”
“Please stop,” Laslow nearly whined, still hiding his very red face.
Xander laughed this time. “You are not the only one, remember. Owain and Severa, too.”
Laslow’s eyes widened, and he peeked out from behind his hands now that Xander was no longer teasing him. “Ignoring that Owain was already a prince in Ylisse, that would mean that Lord Leo is Owain’s father,” Laslow mused, and Xander nodded.
“Correct. In retrospect, his personality had Lissa written all over it,” he said with amusement. “As did his magical prowess.” Odin was a monster of a mage, and Xander had a sneaky feeling that it had something to do with not only being the son of two extremely powerful mages, but the blood of three dragons – Naga, the Dusk Dragon, and Anankos (the latter of which was First Blood, no less) – running through him.
He would have to check someday whether Laslow could wield Siegfried. It would certainly be his birthright, and if he could wield it, then… well, there would be no doubts in anyone’s mind that he was a Nohrian royal.
“And if Lord Leo’s ‘friend’ that married your sister is Severa’s father… I know that it’s not Lady Elise or Lady Azura, which leaves Lady Camilla. Then that would make Severa… wait.” Laslow stared at Xander, his expression incredulous, before a smirk crossed his face. “No. Milord- Father- you are saying that Severa’s father is… Niles?”
All he could do was nod his head as Laslow nearly doubled over with laughter. “I am not sure what is going to make Severa scream more – the fact that Niles is her father, that Lady Camilla is now her stepmother, or that she is actually related to me and Owain now,” his son said.
Xander chuckled.