Yay, I got more reviews! Thank you all so much, it's really good to hear you're enjoying the story! For your enjoyment, I present the next chapter.
Scar quickly went to the stove to begin preparing breakfast for his step brothers, avoiding their eyes all the while. Envy was watching him gleefully just waiting for an excuse to voice a complaint or suggest a better course of action. Greed, not feeling up to torturing Scar so early in the morning, ignored the whole proceeding and read the newspaper. It was just more of the same in there, blah, blah, blah, the king is raising taxes, blah, blah, blah, mental illness is considered a sin, blah, blah, blah, the princess is turning eighteen, on and on. Scar finished making breakfast and set the plates down in front of his step brothers. Greed tossed the newspaper aside and frowned at his plate.
"And just what the hell is this?" he asked.
"It's eggs." Scar said. "The same thing I make for you every Wednesday."
"Yeah, about that." Greed said, smiling. "I really don't feel like eggs today, so…"
He flipped the plate onto the floor and said, "Make me something else, and don't forget to clean up that mess you made."
Envy sniggered as he watched Scar clean up the mess and start making something else. Halfway through making pancakes for Greed, the door flew open and Dante waltzed in, her face flushed with the cool morning air. She was wearing a stunning blue dress today with long sleeves and a fox fur scarf tossed carelessly around her neck. Her hands were warmed by an ermine muff and a fur lined hat kept her head warm. She tossed the muff aside, followed by the hat, and said, "Good morning Greed, good morning Envy."
She sat down at the table completely ignoring Scar.
"What were you doing so early in the morning?" Envy asked.
"Oh, the usual." Dante said.
No one dared to say anything else. When Greed and Envy were ten and Scar was still a toddler Envy had asked what Dante meant by "Oh, the usual." She had grabbed him by the arm, dragged him into the closet, closed the door and did something terrible, but silent. Whatever it was, Envy never spoke of it, Dante never spoke of it, and no one had the nerve to ask what "Oh, the usual" meant ever again. Scar, meanwhile, had finished making Greed his pancakes and set the plate before him. Dante smiled and leaned forward.
"Don't forget all the chores you still have to do Scar. For today I want you to wash the windows, sweep all the floors in the mansion, scrub out Envy's bathroom, and wash all of Greed's jackets. After that you will make us lunch and then you will wash and press my clothes, clean out Greed's bathroom, and brush Envy's hair. You will then make us dinner and proceed to draw Greed's bath, clean my bathroom, wash Envy's "clothes", clean out the chimney and pull back the covers on my bed."
Scar nodded at each of these outrageous tasks, no longer bothering to argue, because his complaints fell on deaf ears. Suddenly Greed let out a yell and his chair tipped over backwards. On his plate was a large rat, hiding under the pancakes. Envy nearly fell off his own chair, howling with laughter at Greed. Dante's lips curled and she shot a venomous glare at Scar.
"If you have time to play tricks on your own brother then you most certainly don't have enough work to do. In addition to your usual chores you will repaint the mansion, trim the hedges, wash out the carriage, inside and out, and weed the garden."
Scar took this verbal stolidly. If he even tried to defend himself Dante would just assign him more chores.
Dante then stood up and said, "Come Envy, Greed, we have business in town."
As they left Scar cleaned up the dishes and sat down, eating something for himself before doing all the chores he had to accomplish before the day was out. He jotted down all the extra jobs and put them in the margins of his usual list of work and remade his timetable. He'd have to sweep faster, wash harder, and brush smoother if he wanted to get everything done in time. He made another quick prayer to Ishbala to send something to help him, then grabbed a broom and started sweeping.
As all this was happening in the village, the denizens of the palace were going about their usual routines. The maids were cleaning, the cooks were preparing the daily meals, the stables were alive with stable boys brushing, washing, and shoeing the horses, and the king was in his throne room with a mountain of work to complete. The king was a less than responsible man and often performed idle tasks instead of doing work. He had been married before but his wife had passed on and now the only woman companion he had was the Duchess. She was his personal advisor who tried her hardest to keep the rebellious king in line and was fairly successful in her duties. The king had only one daughter, a spoiled girl who spent most of her free time exploring the palace and harassing the help.
The king looked at the pile of papers next to his throne, resting on a gilded table, and sighed.
"Why am I always stuck doing so much work?" He said to no one in particular. "I'm the king for the love of God! Can't I just shove this to someone under me?"
"I'm afraid not your majesty." The Duchess said calmly. "These papers require your signature and seal."
The king rapped a finger on the arm of his throne and stared out the window, apparently deep in thought. Suddenly, he turned back to the Duchess and said, "What day is it?"
"It's the twenty fifth sir." She said.
The king jumped up and started tearing through the stacks of papers on his table, looking for something. The Duchess sighed as the room was filled flying paper. Finally he found what he was looking for: a calendar. He ran a finger over it until he stopped on a Saturday of this same week. He whispered, "Can it be?"
He yelled out in pleasure and tossed the calendar into the air dancing wildly throughout the throne room. He grabbed the Duchess by the arms and said, "Riza do you know what this means?"
Being shocked by the king's sudden joyous mood she could only shake her head. The king danced her around saying, "Saturday is Winry's eighteenth birthday! She's finally legal! We can finally get rid of her!"
It was common knowledge around the kingdom that the king was disappointed in his daughter. He had never wanted a kid in the first place and so avoided her at all costs. He had patiently waited for her to turn eighteen so she could be married off to a prince and be moved out of the kingdom. The king eventually settled down and sat back on his throne. He grabbed a pen and a blank piece of paper. He turned to Riza and said, "How quickly can we declare a royal ball?"
Riza did a few quick calculations in her head and said, "If we concentrate all our messengers solely on delivering invitations and accommodate time for guests to arrive we can have it by this Saturday."
The king quickly scribbled something down and handed to Riza.
"Deliver this to be transcribed a thousand times and distribute them all over the kingdom! We're getting rid of her as soon as possible!"
Riza bowed and left to carry out the kings orders. Before the door could even close behind Riza, they were thrown open by the princess herself. She was holding two folds of her dress in her hands, the dress being too big to drag on the floor and ran into the room. Her hair was tied back into a French braid and she was yelling, "Daddy! Daddy!"
The king covered his eyes with a hand and said, "What is it Winry?"
Winry stopped in front of her father, her lips trembling and said, "My eighteenth birthday is this Saturday and no one is preparing anything for me! I want my presents, I want my cake, I want the people who are pretending to be my friends to get over here!"
The king muttered something under his breath before saying, "I've just sent the order to have your party prepared for Saturday."
Winry's face lit up and she rushed over and gave her father a hug.
"Oh thank you Daddy! I'm going to go shopping and pick up a new dress!"
The king watched her leave and said, "I swear, I will get that girl out of my kingdom or my name isn't Roy Mustang!"
At this point all the homunculi, even Sloth and Pride, all burst out laughing at these ludicrous descriptions. Each of the homunculi had met Winry at least once and seeing her portrayed in such a way was something they could all appreciate.
"Oh, that is too funny!" Envy said, sitting up. "For once I'm actually enjoying this story!"
"Well I can't blame the "king" for wanting to get rid of her that's for sure." Lust said.
"Can I eat her?" Gluttony said, not paying attention to anything besides, "get rid of her".
Everyone just ignored him and Wrath bounced up and down in his bed yelling, "Keep reading, keep reading!"
Sloth, still giggling to herself, turned to the next chapter.
And there we go. Expect the next chapter up in a few days. Thanks again for the reviews, I hope you keep enjoying!