Yeah, I miss Edolas. A pig will probably fly before Mashima will consider doing an Edolas spinoff/update…but I guess that's why we write fanfiction.

So, I'm starting this series of Mystwalker drabbles. And to begin, I'm taking a stab at celebrating Mystwalker Week this year! Hopefully I'll get some good stuff out of the next seven days! :D

First thing's first: loyalty.

off the record

When the king asked for updates from his court officials, it was clear that the insurgent monarch paid more attention to some news over others—

A smile graced King Jellal's lips as he listened to the ridiculous stories told of the once-illegal organization, and a certain scarlet-haired elite didn't like the look of the toothy grin on the man's face.

"You're always quite interested in hearing about Fairy Tail, aren't you, your Majesty?" the head of the Royal Army so then remarked. "You still seem attached to guilds—maybe, the other universe—is what I mean."

Her comment wiped the smile off his face.

"Are you suspecting that I'm biased towards guilds, Captain?" he asked her, eyes turning toward him.

"I never said that," she shot back.

"Do you trust my judgment?"

"To be honest, no."

"I thought you swore loyalty to the crown."

"I thought you promised to think for the kingdom and not just for yourself."

"Captain Knightwalker," he suddenly snapped, in a tone rare to the kind king.

He glared at her in a way that made them shudder—just as the Great Demon Lord Dragneel had a couple of months prior. The other subordinates around the Royal Army's captain looked at her from the side, and they were surprised that her sierra eyes were staring right back at the king.

She looked at him in the same way the former Fairy Hunter used to eye her prey. She could rip apart souls with that gaze and they were surprised that their ultramarine Highness was still in one piece.

The rest of them knew they didn't want to be part of this fight, and when their Majesty finally dismissed them, not removing his cold dead stare at the scarlet-haired warrior, they immediately disassembled from the meeting hall and quietly went on their way to their chambers, deciding to wait until a final decision about the policies on guilds.

Neither spoke until everyone else had left the room. But they held the silence between them for as long as possible, teasing the tension.

Jellal snapped first, wrinkling his nose.

"Fine, you win," he admitted, looking downwards to separate him from her intense gaze.

Said victor smirked, a devilish sneer curling her pink lips.

"You can cut back on the 'defy the ruler' game a little bit," the king continued.

Erza's grin didn't disappear, and she slinked slowly up his throne, leaning over him and pinning his wrists down onto the armrests of his chair. She pushed her mouth into his hair and breathed over the shell of his right ear, tickling the hairs at the back of his neck.

"And what if I don't?" she defied, in a salacious whisper. "Would you accuse me of treason? Lock me up in chains and tie me down?"

"You have an odd sense of loyalty, you know," he murmured, nuzzling her neck. "I might have to punish you for that."

And oh, her sentence was definitely not going in the records tonight.

Hmm...not sure if the rating for this fic will go upwards, lol...

thir13enth