-
"And if I ever go back against my word and tell him everything right now, what will you do?"
"I doubt that you will."
"Yes, but if I break ties with you at this moment, what shall be my fate?"
"Oh, my old friend, you shall be begging for death before I'm even close to done with you."
-
Laughter echoed throughout the garden, the little girl's blue-green eyes twinkling under the still dark sky. It was her fourth nameday today, and she was really, really happy as she ran along the snow covered grass. Her beasty had gifted this sanctuary for her, in honor of her purity and beauty as he would say, and had mages enchant the plants so that they may dwell within the cold winter land of Galyra.
"Do not go too far off, my lady. You know how the king doesn't want you to be left alone without an eye on you." The gift's guardian warned her with a sweet smile on his face, the permanent feeling of worry can be seen in his light brown orbs as he looked to his mistress.
She giggled and nodded enthusiastically. "I know, Nowy! I just want to play, and go on an adventure!"
Norward sighed in exhaustion. The sun had barely even begun to present itself when his lady had barged into his room, demanding to be taken to her garden that Xerxes had told her about just the day before her nameday. He hadn't had any qualms with it, seeing as he didn't really get much sleep with Adelaide jumping and running noisily around in her chambers, waiting for daybreak to come but couldn't contain her excitement to getting to explore her very own sanctuary, so with the permission of the king, the two went and the little lady finally received her present from her beasty.
He proceeded to dutifully follow the little lady around the massive garden, once in awhile stopping so that he may collect some of the flowers that his mistress took an interest in to craft a small crown to be placed on top of her head. She'd thanked him, offering a kiss on his cheek before running off towards the statue of the Mother; the one that the beast king had made himself with his own bare hands.
His lady's next action had him smiling, eyes softening because of the innocence that lie within her. Little Adelaide openly talked to the sculpture as if it were the Luna herself, asking it questions but in the end answering it herself as she spoke delightfully about how thoughtful and loving her beasty was with an extra jump in her tone.
The winged creature rolled his eyes at that. Yes, that was absolutely the exact opposite of what a regular being would say to describe the proclaimed beast king. But Norward knew how much passion Xerxes had when it came to the little lady in front him.
Snow crunching underneath booted feet made him take away his gaze from Adelaide for a moment to meet eyes with a young lad that sprouted fair-hair on top of his head, giving the shapeshifter a nod in greeting.
"I see the young queen is enjoying her time here." Coatl smiled softly as he stopped beside him.
Norward chuckled. "Yes, she seems to relish in speaking with the Mother."
"Her innocence never fails to amaze me." The shapeshifter said, shaking his head in amusement.
The guardian agreed and crossed his arms. "So, what brings you here, Coatl?"
"Ah, yes, the king Xerxes wishes for you to meet him in his chambers."
Sighing, Norward had Coatl look after the little queen in his absence, the young shifter quickly agreeing and joining Adelaide in her one sided conversation with the statue. He shook his wings to get rid of the snow that fell on its feathers before spreading them and took flight towards the west wing, landing on the largest balcony that led to Xerxes' room.
"You've summoned me?" Norward asked, staring at the beast who was going through one parchment to another, eyes skimming the ink on the paper.
"How is my Dela?" Xerxes questioned, getting straight the point. "Does she like her present?"
"She loves it," he answered. "in fact, she took a particular liking towards your creation. She converses with it about you."
The king smirked. "All good things, I hope."
Norward scoffed. "She describes you as if you were her favorite horse."
Xerxes chuckled deeply, calming slightly at the thought of his little love before taking the current matters into the conversation. "Any word from the elders?"
"No, they haven't received a sign from the Mother for days."
The guardian could see the weight settle rather harshly on the beast's shoulders, concern taking the place of his usual unemotional mask as it always did when it came to Adelaide. Ever since he's delivered the little girl and told him of her inevitable future, Xerxes hasn't had any rest. The king didn't let anything come close to his precious gift, only a handful of those who he had absolute trust in were to be graced with the queen's presence, and even then he had trouble leaving her alone with them in the first few years.
Xerxes stood up from his place, straightening his leather vest whilst doing so before both him and the guardian silently made their way to where Adelaide was, or to what they expected where she should be.
He felt his feathers ruffle in their own accord, a shiver running up his spine not even a second later. Beside him, the king too suddenly tensed from where he stood, eyes morphing from one color to another and nails growing in length. Norward hurriedly spread his wings as the king ran in inhuman pace, both of them desperate to reach their destination and when they did, the metallic scent of blood almost immediately invaded them.
Nothing seemed to be amiss in the quiet garden, everything was at ease and peaceful as it should be. The only thing that disturbed this scenery was the convulsing body of the young shifter, laying in his own pool of blood in front of the Mother's statue and the little queen nowhere in sight.
The beast roared a deafening howl, his bellow alerting the whole kingdom of the unfortunate loss of their king. Soldiers suddenly surrounded them, some had taken the body of the fallen Coatl to the healers for treatment, whilst most of them tried to defend themselves from the fully transformed beast that has gone berserk in their place.
But this didn't faze the numb guardian, his hands gently clutching the crown of flowers he had gifted to his lady as a tear slid from his eye and dropped onto a petal before it disintegrated into nothing.
He had failed.
The guardian shook his head from the memory, finding himself back in the war room with the king as they discussed the strategies they would be taking, along with Xerxes' lead commander, another beast called Barin.
"It is settled then," the king said. "Commander Barin will stay here and act as surrogate in your place, Norward."
Confused, he asked. "Surrogate for what?"
"He will be protecting my queen when you cannot."
"And why will I be unable to protect my lady?" Norward stiffened, suddenly growing wary.
"Because I've ordered you to call upon the elites of my country, and I suggest you leave now."
-