Eren POV
The guards shot forward as soon as the first word had left the Queen's mouth.
They disappeared into the dark night, chasing after whoever had been dumb enough to follow them.
Eren frowned at the endless trees that shielded them from the rest of the world. He shivered and put his arms around himself in an attempt to warm himself.
The wind picked up and brushed through the woods at a pace that would have sent Eren's teeth chattering if he were any less stubborn.
The Queen looked over to him, noticing what he was trying to do. She beckoned one of the two guards that had stayed with her over and whispered something into his ear.
Then she said with an interested gesture of her hand, her eyes meeting the prince's: "Please do tell me more about the events at your father's ceremony, Your Highness."
"What do you know?", he retorted and caught the Queen's amused smirk gliding over her lips.
"An information for an information. Very well." Her guard returned, something dark laying over his arms.
When she saw Eren's distrustful gaze wandering over the strange object, Historia explained while taking it from her guard: "I knew already that you are playing the simple servant in your father's presence so I didn't expect you to come here in anything but....well."
She smiled apologetically and Eren allowed his body to relax at the sight.
"The clothes of a servant.", he ended the sentence for her, not minding the ruckus her other guards caused in the forest. "It's impossible to escape the palace without looking like the nobody they would never notice."
She nodded in understanding.
"Of course. That's why I wanted my maid to get you something."
Eren chuckled darkly.
"A present? Bought loyalty is meaningless as you surely know, Your Majesty."
"Don't be so rash with your judgement.", she smirked and handed him what she held in her arms.
He took it with a suspicious face, eyeing the object warily and with an understandable amount of curiosity.
It was a coat.
Dark as the night with a collar high enough to hide a delicate throat.
Eren touched the material hesitatingly and found that he rather liked the way it firmly stood still under his touch.
It must reach down to his calves at least and he exhaled softly as his fingers danced across the fabric.
"It is..."
"Try it on.", the Queen urged him with a wink of her hand, seemingly satisfied with his reaction.
Instead of searching for meaningless words, he did as he was told and slipped his arms into the coat.
When he was done, he noticed a belt wrapped around the waist and with a hint of insecurity tightened it around his body.
The first thing he noticed was this...warmth.
It felt like the coat was made from something deep within himself. Like it was meant for him and him alone.
Breathlessly he glanced over to Mikasa, who nodded approvingly at him.
"It's perfect for you.", she said and he smiled thankfully. Then he turned around to face the grinning Queen.
"What is it made of?"
She put a finger on her lips and only shook her head.
"Some things aren't meant to be discovered, Your Highness. But I would hate for this bastard's son to look anything but the rightful heir to his throne." Her eyes wandered higher up to his scalp.
He knew what she was searching for and waved the lack of his crown off, enjoying the rustling of the coat, dark and warm just like the object itself.
His eyes were serious, narrowed only the tiniest bit.
"It is a hard enough challenge to hide it in our room back in the palace. But wearing it openly while trying to leave the palace grounds...it wouldn't have been possible."
He must admit that he did feel a bit naked without it, despite not having worn it for almost a decade.
The Queen eyed him with interest masking her face.
"It isn't a crown which makes you the Prince of Eldia."
"The Second Prince.", he corrected her with gritted teeth, the memory of his brother still bright and too visible in front of his inner eye. "I would never dare take my brother's rightful title from him."
"The ever loyal brother and prince."
He couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or complimenting him.
"My Queen!"
Both of them straightened at the guard's shout and Eren brushed the dark strands of his wild hair out of his forehead when gusts of wind followed the men storming back to their small circle of people.
Some of them were breathing hard with cuts and blood on their cheeks and maybe three of them...limped.
"What is it?", Historia demanded to know.
"What have you found?"
The guards pushed a shackled person forward with quiet curses and pained gasps.
"Who are you?" Just the slightest bit of fear tainted Historia's confidence as she took a closer look at their prisoner.
Eren followed her example but stayed further back in the shadows, not wanting the stranger to spot him right away. If it wasn't already too late for that.
Mikasa ducked behind her horse, aware of the danger that being seen would bring with it.
"Fuck off.", the person grumbled but surprisingly didn't fight their restraints.
Eren crossed his hands behind his back, wondering how Historia would react to the insult, even if he was sure that it was directed at the guard, not the Queen herself.
"I have dealt with too much disrespect in my time of reign to accept such an answer."
Historia's voice was ice cold, her hair flattering around her face and Eren had this feeling that the wind wanted to underline her fury.
"I was walking through the woods.", the voice of the stranger said.
Eren froze.
The breath got stuck in his throat.
He widened his eyes slightly.
"What did you hear?", the Queen asked dangerously calm.
The man stayed silent.
"What is your name?" Still calm. Still dangerous.
Eren took a step forward.
Leaves crunched underneath his weight.
Both, the prisoner and Historia, looked over to where he was standing.
One look in your eyes...
"His name..."
...and my heart stands still.
"...is Levi."
- - -
Levi POV
Hanji would die of laughter if she ever heard about this.
Going out because he couldn't sleep, wandering off the palace grounds - because who the fuck would stop him? - and taking an even longer walk to the forests where some asshats caught him near some bushes.
And now he was kneeling there.
In front of him a somehow familiar woman clad in the finest robes with anger lining her otherwise soft features.
She couldn't be older than twenty years. But what really stood out to him was the jewelry on the girl's head.
Weaved into her fair hair was a crown, small enough to be considered inconspicuous and yet it sent out waves of energy that commanded everyone brave enough to inspect it to lower their head.
Only Levi's stubbornness kept him from doing exactly this.
"What is your name?", the girl asked him, her fists shaking but he wouldn't make the mistake to call fear the reason for it.
He stayed silent.
Suddenly a noise echoed through the dark.
His eyes wandered past the girl, where the shadows met the trees and hid their secrets deep within.
Nothing hut darkness and silence called out to him from there.
But when the girl turned around as well he knew that he hadn't imagined the crunching of leaves behind her.
A side-glance told him that she was well aware of whatever - whoever - was standing there.
"His name is Levi."
- - -
He knew this voice.
It was unmistakable.
Although he had never heard it speak more than a few sentences it felt like it had burned itself into Levi's memory.
As soon as the words had left its speakers mouth, he knew who had been meeting up with the beautiful girl.
Another step.
Another crunch.
The guards around him tensed and a look into their eyes gave their feelings away faster than they'd probably liked.
Fear.
But also...respect.
Something akin to the way they stared at the girl. And suddenly he recalled where he had seen the girl before.
He chuckled darkly and promptly received a hard push against his shoulders from the guard behind him.
"You know him?", the girl asked and Levi wondered why he hadn't known any sooner who she was.
This aura of power and confidence should have been enough. Not to even mention the crown sitting on her hair.
Queen Historia of Marley.
The enemy's leader.
And the person behind her - with a straight back and emerald eyes trained on him alone - the Second Prince of Eldia.
I am so fucked.
(Aaaaaand a longer chapter for you because I really had the time and the motivation. 🌸
So Levi gets to meet Eren and the queen.
Sadly their conversation was interrupted. What do you think the queen knows about the ceremony? And Eren's partly transformation?
Stay tuned, lads! ☀️)