Yuuki came to her senses after a few hours. Not to say she wasn’t conscious before that, she was, she just couldn’t control her body. She even gave up on trying to control her aura, instead creating a powerful ward to keep it inside the room. She realized she was clutching Alice hard enough to hurt her, which meant enough to turn tanks into pancakes, so she released her grip.

Alice wasn’t entirely fine. She was hardy, thanks to intense training, but that did not prepare her for Yuuki’s soul having a tantrum. Her body went from absolute zero to a temperature that could melt steel, she was shaking at a rate that a radio station could’ve picked up the signal, and she had Alice in a grip that she couldn’t escape from. Combine that with the wild aura fluctuations that washed over the poor wolf-kin’s soul like a hurricane, and she was barely conscious herself.

Yuuki now, more or less, in control gently brought Alice closer and healed her with an absurd amount of magic that she knew wasn’t necessary.

“You’re pretty.” Alice said, her eyes closed, her breathing now stable.

“So I’ve heard.” Yuuki joked, hoping to lift the mood a bit.

Alice chuckled. “I’m talking about your soul. You’ve seen mine a bunch already, but it was the first time I saw yours.”

Hearing that, Yuuki began to panic. “I didn’t try to connect to your soul, right?” Souls were normally invulnerable, but the personalities and memories inside can get damaged if the soul allows harm through.

“No, and I’m not dumb enough that I’d let you in that state.” Alice pulled away a bit and looked Yuuki in the eye. “You let me in.”

A silence followed that, and this time it was Alice who brought Yuuki into an embrace.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. You always looked so confident, I thought…” Unable to continue, Alice stopped talking and put more strength in her arms. Yuuki enjoyed the warm feeling and wished that it would last forever. Unfortunately, duty called.

 

--

 

Arthur was shown to an empty guestroom that was quickly cleaned with magic and told to stay while he sorts himself out. The conversation with Jack uncovered many old wounds to finally let them heal. After an hour or two of staring at a wall, submerged in his thoughts, he opened the door. Waiting just outside, was the person who confused Arthur more and more as he found out more about her. Yuuki, the kitsune spy.

“Are you ready?” She asked.

“Yeah. What’s with your hair? I’ve never seen it so ruffled before”

“From the perspective of the innkeepers I recently woke up. I ought to have bed hair, don’t I?”

Arthur knew she was hiding something, which was unusual to say the least. Normally, she would say the most outlandish thing and it would feel completely natural.

“If you like looking at me so much I could make you a painting to put above your bed.” Like right there.

“When I’m king I’ll make teasing me illegal.”

“Don’t you mean if?”

“Your dad told me that I have nothing to worry about at this point.”

“And you trust him?”

“Yeah, he seems a trustworthy guy. Very good at listening. He also told me that if I think what you say makes sense and is true, it’s either a lie or a half truth, and if I think you’re lying, that’s what you want me to think.”

“You’re overthinking it.”

“You know, I thought the same thing, but that means-”

“Are you done bawling your eyes out princess?” She interrupted their banter.

“Now that’s just petty and insensitive.”

“And you weren’t hurt, which means we’re ready.”

Reality around them shifted and they were once more in Arthur’s inn room.

“Your father is having a meeting currently and is fed up with the stupidity of his advisors. If you want to be smooth about it, you can ‘drop by’ and show how much more competent you are, shouldn't be difficult, and make crowning you seem like it’s his idea.”

“Sounds like a plan, I’ll tell you how it goes.” Arthur said with faked confidence as he began walking.

“Arthur.” He turned from the door. “Chin up. You killed that lion, some bureaucrats can’t hope to hurt you.” He bowed as a thanks for the advice and walked away, a bit more sure of himself.

 

--

 

Uther was in the council chambers, listening to his advisors bickering. The large room surrounded by thick stone on all sides echoed with senseless quarreling.

“These ‘skirmishes’ are unsustainable! We don’t have enough food to supply them all.”

“If we take some food from their villages, we will be just fine.”

“Raiding is forbidden! If we do that, the churches will denounce us.”

“It won’t be raiding. We’ll just ask them to share some of their supplies with us.”

A messenger came into the chambers and the king couldn’t be happier with the distraction.

“My lord, prince Arthur is in the city and wished to greet you.”

“Tell him to come in.”

The bickering turned into name calling such as ‘coward’, ‘muscle-brain’, ‘milk-drinker’ and ‘oaf’. They all turned silent as Arthur walked into the chambers, in clothing fit for hunting and unfit for an audience with the king.

“Good morning Arthur, please, take a seat.” Uther motioned to a seat next to him that was empty. Arthur bowed before his father and the advisors bowed before him. “What brings you here?”

“To be honest, father, I was out hunting nearby and decided to come see if you were busy, I wouldn’t want to take your precious time.” His tone was a mixture of formal humility and confidence.

“Well, while you’re here, why don’t you give your opinion on the matter. With your brother’s skirmishes, our food supplies are beginning to run low.”

Arthur waited a bit in case there was more, but as there wasn’t, he answered. “Withdraw the forces. With just these skirmishes, we won’t be gaining any lands of importance without a cost far too great for it to be worth it.”

One of the hot-headed generals spoke up. “People died for those lands!”

Arthur gave him a look that caused him to shrink. “And if we try to hold on to them, many more will. You seem awfully generous with other people’s lives.” No answer came, just a terrified look.

Uther showed nothing on his face and looked at his son. “So you would call your brother back?”

“I would. He neglected his own territory and left it defenseless when he moved all troops away to satisfy his pride. The monster I killed yesterday wouldn’t have attacked a village if there were armed guards.”

“Were there any casualties?” The king asked.

“Eleven, but luckily my companion could revive them in time.”

That casual comment had a large impact on everyone in the room, but Uther masked it the best.

“Thank you for your input.”

Arthur stood up, bowed and left the chamber. He did not want to meet his mother, so he waited not far from the council, waiting for his father to leave, so they could talk. Little over ten minutes later and his father stepped out, and headed straight toward Arthur.

“Good to see you again, son.” They were far enough away from prying eyes that they could drop their formalities. “Come on, walk with me, I have many questions.”

“As do I.” His father gave him a curious look, so he asked. “Why do you let my brother get away with it?”

The king gave a sigh before answering. “The same reason I would have allowed you to speak your mind even if I didn’t agree with it. A king must be sure of what they do, otherwise people will not follow. Well, there's more to it, but that is an important part.” He saw that Arthur understood, so he asked his own questions. “About this companion of yours, what can you tell me about her?”

“Your spies didn’t tell you already?”

“They said lots of things, and they contradict each other. They can’t even form a consensus on what her name or race is. Which tells me that she knew about them and fed them a bunch of nonsense.”

“She is blessed by Mystra and the High Priestess of her church. Her name is Elizabeth and she is a fox-kin.” There were no lies there: Elizabeth was her legal name now and kitsune are a sub-race of fox-kin.

“Look at you, forming connections! Is she single?” He asked jokingly.

“To my knowledge, yes.” Arthur has gotten quite good at suppressing blushes thanks to Yuuki.

“And where is she, out of curiosity?”

“At an inn. I think the name was… Hearthfire inn? She should still be there.” He asked more than said, confused.

“That’s a good one. They have some nice hunter stew.” Uther quickly changed the conversation. He had a plan, and it would solve all his problems.