It pissed her off.
Saying so, she reckoned, was probably some kind of treason, but even so...
It really pissed her off!
He probably wasn't doing it on purpose. Thus far, the Prince – that is, the King – had proven himself a kind and considerate ruler, and Erza honestly couldn't imagine he would do such a thing by design. In fact, he probably didn't even realise he was doing it. And there was always the chance that she was being overly paranoid...
"Erza?"
Erza jerked, shaken from her reverie at the sound of her name.
His Majesty, King Jellal, was staring at her with those concerned eyes of his. Clearly, she'd been spacing out while he spoke. It was with embarrassment, therefore, that she was forced to admit she hadn't been listening.
"Yes, Sire?" She could feel her cheeks burning as she snapped a hasty salute. "I apologise for my inattention. My mind was... elsewhere."
But rather than reprimand her, as the previous King would have done, King Jellal merely chuckled. His expression, normally so stiff and reserved, softened, and the smile he offered her was the smile of a friend and ally.
Erza's muscles stiffened in response.
It was infuriating.
"I can see that," he replied, still smiling. "I asked if you would care to join me for lunch?"
She scrambled for an answer that was both respectful and firm, but as usual, his gentle manner and familiar attitude unmanned her, and it was all she could manage to stutter, "U-um, I... I fear that would – ah – would not be entirely... a-appropriate, Your Majesty."
The red head cursed herself for a fool. She was Erza Knightwalker! A proud and mighty warrior; Captain of the Royal Guard! Yet there she stood, barely able to string a sentence together before her Liege Lord, heart pounding like a silly, lovesick girl. It was sickening. Not least because His Majesty's affections for her, whatever those might be, exactly, were not strictly for her.
It was Erza Scarlet he saw when he looked at her, and well she knew it.
He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why is that?"
"Highness, with all due respect," she said, using irritation to steady her voice. "I am a lowly guard. It would be unseemly for someone of your stature to spend an inordinate amount of time in such company."
King Jellal sighed lightly. Erza knew her rigidity and constant efforts to rebuff his attempts at a friendlier relationship caused him some exasperation. But though he was her King, she could not, in good conscience, bow to his wishes in this. She was Erza Knightwalker – she was different to the Erza he had known on Earthland. Any attempt to replicate the friendship he'd shared with Scarlet would be nothing but a sham.
She couldn't – wouldn't – indulge such a falsity.
"There's no need to be so formal," His Majesty told her calmly. The soft smile in his eyes told her he was still seeing Scarlet. "Call me by my name. I order it," he added, before she could protest. "I'll see you in the dining room at one."
"Is that an order as well, Si... I mean Jellal?" Erza asked, just barely hanging on to her temper. She hated his flippancy!
The King looked thoughtful for a moment. "Call it an invitation," he said at last. "And Erza? It's rude to refuse."
-X-
Despite the fact that it was a King's table, His Maj... that is, Jellal's lunch was as plain and lacking in extravagance as any commoner's. He had plates of sandwiches brought out, with jugs of fruit juice to drink, and when a maid moved forward to serve him, he shooed her away with a shake of his head and a polite smile.
It was certainly true that the new King had a different way of doing things.
Perhaps it was the influence of all those years spent in Earthland.
Seated on his right hand side – at his insistence – Erza wondered what had made her accept the invitation in the first place. It was exceptionally uncomfortable to dine with Jellal, knowing that she was being used as a replacement for her Earthland counterpart. Her personal feelings aside though, it was also highly improper. He was royalty, after all. If her years of service under Faust had taught her anything, it was that the divisions of class were insurmountable.
"Erza," Jellal sighed, after several long minutes of silence. "Is my company really so detestable that you have to wear that expression?"
Erza started, blinking in confusion. "What expression, my... er... Jellal?"
"You look like you'd rather be digging graves."
She supposed she did have a tendency to wear grim facial expressions when she was deep in thought. It was a force of habit, developed over the years as she strove to perfect her image as the fearsome 'Fairy Hunter'. Still... there was a grain of truth in his evaluation. She'd rather do almost anything than play the part of Scarlet at the King's behest.
Truth be told, she though it cruel of him to use her so. She would admit that she and her Earthland self shared certain qualities – they were, after all, essentially the same person. In some respects, at least. But they were different in the ways that mattered. Their circumstances, the experiences they had endured... the paths they had chosen to walk were fundamentally different.
She was Erza Knightwalker. She was not and never would be, Erza Scarlet.
"Erza," he said again, more firmly this time. "You're not going to combust just from talking to me."
"My apologies." She took a sandwich from the tray. Taking a generous bite, she tried to appear more sociable. "These sandwiches are quite delicious. Salmon?"
Jellal studied her in amusement. "Tuna."
She choked it down, chasing it with an equally generous gulp of orange juice. It mattered not a bit whether the filling was salmon or tuna... She hated them equally. Erza wasn't generally a fan of savoury foods, but of the many varieties out there, fish was her least favourite. She ate the rest of the sandwich anyway, for the sake of being polite, but it was a struggle not to grimace openly as she did so.
"Not to your tastes?" he asked when she'd finished. There was a perceptive glint in his eye, and as such Erza saw no reason to deny it.
"No," she admitted reluctantly. "I'm afraid fish isn't to my liking."
Jellal laughed, a carefree kind of sound that made her heart both clench with delight and shrivel with horror. That kind of casual freedom was unbecoming of a King. On the other hand... his laughter, his smile, made him very... attractive.
Erza put an immediate stop to that train of thought. He was her King! Nothing good could come from wonderings of that nature.
"I suppose you prefer sweet things, yes?" he asked.
She frowned. That was true, but how on Edolas had he known?
Before she could frame the question, he continued, a nostalgic tone overtaking him. "Earthland's Erza was the same. She especially liked strawberry cake; I remember she used to get so mad when-,"
"I'm not her."
Erza almost couldn't believe she'd had the audacity to speak out. She was a soldier. Just a tiny step above a commoner really – she had no authority to interrupt the King when he was speaking. No authority at all.
And yet she could no longer remain silent. Her Earthland self had taught her a valuable lesson during their final battle, one she wouldn't soon forget. Scarlet had taught her to live honestly. As such, she would endure Jellal's comparisons no longer.
"Not... who?" he asked, bewildered. His eyebrows pinched in the middle of his forehead, his expression one of such genuine confusion that Erza was forced to admit he probably wasn't doing it on purpose after all.
She wasn't sure whether that made it better or worse.
"With the greatest possible respect, Maj... Jellal," she said, careful to remember the appropriate manners this time. "I'm not Erza." She frowned – that didn't sound quite right. "Or rather I am, but I'm not the Erza you would have me be. I am Erza Knightwalker. Scarlet and I... we are different people."
Her words seemed so... weak, somehow. They weren't enough, and yet, all at once, she'd said too much. What would King Jellal make of it? Would he forgive her outburst? Would he relieve her of her post? Erza didn't know. What she did know, however, was that she had no regrets – she couldn't allow herself to regret speaking the truth.
"Erza..." The King seemed at a loss for words.
She continued to stare steadfastly at her plate, unable to bring herself to meet his gaze. If she was to be dismissed, she would accept it with grace. But it was more than her self-control could handle to meet him eye-to-eye, as she was stripped of everything that had made her who she was.
A tiny, self-conscious part of her brain whispered that perhaps what she couldn't handle was the confirmation that she wasn't the Erza he wanted, but she quickly quashed the thought.
"I know..." Jellal began cautiously. "I've never thought of you as..." He paused, struggling to find the words. "as being Erza Scarlet."
Erza said nothing. If what he said was true, then she'd just made a fool of herself in front of the King of Edolas. She found herself wishing the ground would just swallow her where she sat.
"I know you're different people," he continued, gaining confidence, the words flowing more easily. "I'll admit it's been a comfort to have a familiar face around, but it was Erza Knightwalker I invited to lunch today – no one else."
Her cheeks grew red and uncomfortably warm. Oh, the humiliation...
Standing, Erza offered him a stiff bow. "I apologise for my presumptuousness, Sire. If you'll excuse me..." I have to go hang myself, she finished silently.
"One moment." She looked at him, finally, and was intrigued to see him grinning. What he found so amusing, she dared not imagine. "Do you want me to tell you the biggest difference between you and Erza Scarlet?"
Erza knew he'd tell her anyway, so she refrained from making a response – she would probably only end up making things worse anyway.
"It's true you and Scarlet are similar in many ways... But the biggest difference is in my own feelings." He stood, coming round the table to take one of her hands gently in his. Slowly, keeping eye contact as he did so, Jellal brought her hand to his lips, and planted a delicate kiss over her knuckles.
Erza's heart began to beat fast in her chest. Had that really happened? Or had her warrior lifestyle finally pushed her straight off the deep end?
"You see," he said quietly, wrapping his free arm around her waist. "I'm not in love with Erza Scarlet."
-X-
Hm. A little cheesy perhaps, and missing something I can't put my finger on, but it'll serve.
Thank you for reading.