The hours pass by as Tori and Elise enjoy their night in the tavern, but eventually it’s time for them to head home. The two of them begin their walk back to the castle grounds, and after taking a quick detour to the inn the mercenaries are staying at, to inform them about what happened and to organise an escort for the woman targeted by the baron, they find themselves with time to talk as they wander down the streets that are far less populated than they were earlier in the afternoon.

 

“How you holding up, Elise?”

 

“I’m still a bit sore, but I’m faring much better than I was on the way here. I think being able to sit down and relax for a while helped.”

 

“Makes sense, can’t imagine being on your feet all night at that dinner would have done you any good.”

 

“You’re most certainly correct about that. Thank you for bringing me tonight, even if I had trouble making the journey out here.”

 

“Don’t worry about it. Had to do something nice to celebrate our reunion, didn’t I? There’ll be plenty more chances for fancy dinners soon anyway, and you’ll be one of the guests for a change.”

 

“Yes, once you become queen…” Elise looks down in thought, pausing for a few moments before speaking. “Tori, do you think it was wise to fight the baron? What if aggravating the council makes them take action against you?”

 

“I get what you mean, but it’s not like I had much choice back there. Wasn’t gonna let him have his way with that woman.” Tori lets out a small sigh. “‘Sides, was probably my fault he was there in the first place.”

 

“What do you mean? He didn’t even recognise you at first.”

 

“The townspeople told me he’s a big problem around here, but it sounded like this isn’t one of the nights he’s usually out on the town. Showed up later than usual too. I’m willing to bet he was forced to go out to the castle for that dinner, and when I never showed up he got pissed off and decided to go drinking instead. When you think about it I was just cleaning up my own mess, just glad he went to the same place we did.”

 

“I hadn’t even considered that, but yes, I can see how that would have been the case. I’m also glad you were able to save that woman, and that you came out of the fight unharmed.”

 

“Ha, someone like him couldn’t lay a finger on me!” She says with her hands casually resting on the back of her head. “You don’t need to worry about the coronation either, pretty sure I scared him enough that he won’t be causing us any more problems, but either way there’s not much he could do to stop the ceremony. Already told you how I came back this late so that there’d barely be time to prepare. Cancelling now would be wasting a whole lotta hard work done on short notice, doubt anyone would appreciate him suggesting that when we’re only a week out.”

 

“You really do think of everything, don’t you?”

 

“It’s just something I picked up in my time away, you gotta think about these sorts of things when you’re leading a team of mercs on dangerous missions. Can only hope these skills will help me be a good queen as well.”

 

“I have no doubt that they will, it’s been less than a day and you’ve done nothing but impress me in so many different ways. If anything I’m worried that there’s barely any point to me being around to help…”

 

Tori stops in her tracks and turns to face Elise.

 

“Hey.” She says, putting her hands on her lover’s shoulders. “Don’t talk about yourself like that, okay? I don’t care if you can’t fight like I can, or outsmart the council, what I care about is you. If you feel like you need to help out in some way then we can figure something out, but please don’t leave… Stay here, with me, okay?” 

 

Elise was caught off guard by Tori gripping her with those powerful arms. Elise was always the shorter of the two, but it seems like the princess was quite fortunate in that regard during her time away, and the gap has increased that much more. Having her up close like this is filling her with a lot of unexpected feelings, but before she can focus too much on that she notices that her princess’s hands are trembling, and her breathing has grown erratic as she looks at her with desperate eyes. 

 

“Elise… I need you. Here with me, by my side… I don’t… I don’t know if I can manage any of this without you…”

 

Tori has had some unusual mood swings since she showed up earlier in the day, but none like this. This fear, this desperation, this panic. It stands in very stark contrast to how she’s been acting up to this point. To Elise it almost feels like a small part of Tori’s old personality has shown itself, and she wants nothing more than to soothe her pain.

 

“I’m sorry, my love.” She says as she places her hands over Tori’s. “I didn’t mean to imply that I was thinking about leaving, I just wish that there was more I could do.”

 

Elise smiles warmly as she feels Tori start to calm down.

 

“I haven’t forgotten my promise to you. No matter what happens I’ll stay by your side, every step of the way.”

 

Tori pulls her in for a hug and takes a deep breath.

 

“...Thank you, Elise. Sorry for getting so worked up there. You’re the main reason I came back, and I got a little scared is all. You’ll always be the most important thing to me, no matter what happens.”

 

“Thank you, Tori. I feel the same.”

 

Tori lets her go, and they continue walking back to the castle.

 

“Y’know, I really wish I could pull you into one of these alleyways and have my way with you right now, but we shouldn’t risk getting seen like that. That hug was probably too risky already.”

 

“To be honest, I’m not sure I’d be able to handle another round tonight.” Elise says with a chuckle. “We’ll have plenty of time for those sorts of activities in the future anyway.”

 

“Yeah, you’re right. Might not get much alone time this week with how busy things are gonna get, but after that I’ll make sure I have plenty of time to spend on you.”

 

“I look forward to it, my princess.”

 

The rest of their walk home passes without much incident, beyond the confused look from the guard on night duty who had to let them back through the gates at such a late hour. Tori makes sure Elise gets back to the servant’s quarters before heading up to her own chambers, but she wasn’t expecting someone to be waiting in front of her door.

 

“And where exactly have you been all night?” The silver haired woman asks.

 

“Ah, you’re certainly up late, mother.”

 

“We went through a lot of trouble to organise that dinner, and you never so much as made an appearance!”

 

“Right, the dinner that you couldn’t even be bothered inviting me to yourself?” She asks with a snarky grin. “A servant had to tell me. Lucky they did too, wouldn’t have known to get out of here otherwise.”

 

“What do you have to say for yourself? There were a lot of esteemed guests expecting to meet you tonight.”

 

“Asking a lot of me on my first day back, aren’t you? If it’s that important they’ll find time to say hi before the coronation. Besides, I found a much more productive use for my time.”

 

“Really, you’d call cavorting with peasants productive? Drinking the night away? Getting into bar fights with members of the council!?”

 

Tori chuckles as she begins to casually pace around the area in front of her door. “So, the Houndsvale dog ran back here after I scared him off, did he? He must have been more than happy to tell you about the part where he tried to assault an innocent woman, then?”

 

“Do you think it matters to me what he gets up to? For all I care he could have killed the woman, so long as he fulfils his duties he’s free to do as he pleases.”

 

“Oh? And what would those duties happen to be?”

 

The queen pauses for a second. “I cannot trust you with that information, not if you’re going to continue to shirk your own duties.”

 

“Fair enough!” She says with a clap. “So I guess it has nothing to do with any of that gang activity he’s apparently involved in?”

 

The queen says nothing, only giving her daughter an intense glare.

 

“Guess that whole ‘cavorting with the peasants’ thing wasn’t as pointless as you thought now was it? Certainly paints him in a whole ‘nother light when you hear what people have to say about him. Figured he was just some kinda bum who didn’t show up to meetings, who’ve guessed he was a full blown crook? Lets just hope the rest of the council aren’t hiding anything either, that’d start to look real bad for everyone involved.”

 

“That’s enough! I won’t tolerate this wild conjecture, Princess Vic-”

 

“Now now now.” Tori stops pacing around and instead walks right up to the queen, invading her personal space. “Thought we’d already settled this earlier, but let me make this crystal clear for you. You don’t get to tell me what to do, you don’t get to tell me where to go, and you definitely do not get to call me by that silly old name you picked out for me. Not anymore.”

 

“...You know this game of yours cannot last. The people need someone with the strength and conviction to lead them where they need to be led. Don’t you dare think you have what it takes to be queen if you continue to behave like this.” The queen says coldly before stepping back and turning to leave.

 

“No need for you to get stressed out about all that, mother. It’d be a better use of your time to think about what you’d like to do with yourself after stepping down, not long to go, after all.”

 

“A lot can happen in a week, daughter.” Is all she says as she walks away.

 

With the confrontation having come to an end, Tori is finally able to enter her chambers. She walks in, and after the door has closed behind her, she stands there with her fists clenched as they start to shake uncontrollably. She scans all the furniture in the room with an intense, desperate gaze, as if she only has a matter of seconds to find whatever it is she’s looking for. The bedframe, the dresser, the chair in the corner, she takes a few rapid steps towards each one before reconsidering. Her eyes eventually settle on the desk near the window, and she rushes towards it, winding up a terrifyingly powerful punch in the process.

 

She hesitates mere moments before her fist connects, sparing the desk from the destruction she was about to bring down upon it. Tori’s desperately trying to think of something, looking around in a panic. She ultimately realises she doesn’t have any options, and moves one of her hands to her mouth before biting down on it as hard as she can. She eventually releases her jaw, and moves to sit against the wall with teary eyes as she gets to work rebandaging her bloody hand, quietly talking to herself between heavy breaths.

 

“One week… Just gotta make it through one week…”