A Matter of Honor Chapter 24, an azur lane/碧蓝航线 fanfic

Part Twenty-Four –

A full week and flown by and the inspection was coming to an end soon, and as far as I knew, nothing had been said about the change in the command structure yet. I was starting to worry that nothing was going to be said. The upside to His Majesty being here is that the half-pint had not tried to 'hold court'… it was almost like she knew she was on thin ice.

Another added benefit of His presence here, she had avoided being in the same room as me, liking fearing that I had a direct line to His Majesty through Dominion. I may not like her, but the half-pint is shrewd, I will give her that…

Still, I had been surprised to see Illustrious being more affectionate, almost like she had been holding back some… then again, considering where my headspace had been she was likely trying to avoid smothering me at the time. Speaking of that, she's been much more… open to things, she even suggested we stop using condoms, saying that she was ready for what could happen, that she was going to trust in her faith that things will happen when they are meant to. And that now fitted me with a whole new level of worries, if I do work correctly if offspring would be viable if they could come out as either gender… if I was really ready to be a father… not like I had had a good example to work from.

I run a hand through my hair and let out a sigh, these thoughts don't do me any good right now. I look skyward and let out a sigh before I turn my attention to the main Royal Navy hall in front of me, every member of the fleet detachment had been summoned here today. I looked around to see who was walking into the build and I'll admit it was hard to place a lot of them; everyone was in a modern class three alpha uniform, caps on their heads and longer hair in buns… a far cry from the usually more relaxed looking articles of clothing able to dress in. I mean when I got the news about the dress requirement, to me it was normal duty wear… but I had to admit, it was almost funny to watch Illustrious do battle with her shirt and the buttons threatening to burst on her front this morning, but I had to admit, she did look amazing in it. She got up on the balls of her feet to kiss my cheek before she patted my arm and told me, "I'll see you in there; I'd like to catch up with Belfast for a bit."

I watch as she walks away and towards a group of kansen that I guess must contain Belfast, it's hard to tell. I see two with silver looking hair that is in buns, I was about to take a step, when I felt a hand on my right shoulder, turning slightly I see a gloved hand, following it with my eyes I see it leads to my mother, I smile at her and take notice that my Aunts Howe and York are here as well.

My Aunt York gives me a toothy grin as her head tilts up and away as she says, "Thee truly hath passed up pow'r? wherefore, wherefore wouldst thee doth yond?"

Ah, now I knew what this event was for.

I nod before I hug my mother and say, "I did it because I didn't want it. I don't deserve it and I thought that you should have it, Mom."

Wales squeezes me tightly before she leans back to look at me as she says, "While I thank you for this, His Majesty was leaning towards you as the interim flagship."

I nod before I say, "I know, but I persuaded Dominion to sway him in your direction."

My mother smiled at me again and hugged me one last time before releasing me from the embrace as she said, "We should get inside and take our places."

XXXX

Once we were in our assigned positions, battleships were near the front; our lone carrier mixed in, and then came the cruisers, mixing both light and heavies and lastly our destroyers. However all eyes were on the throne that had been set up by Elizabeth, in that chair sat His Majesty, looking so very regal, flanking him from behind and to the right, I could see Dominion in the ridged pose of someone at attention.

As I kept looking around, I started to notice, cameras and humans were present as well and I started to wonder if more was going to happen than what I thought was going to happen. When my eyes landed back on Dominion, it was like she picked up on the fact that I noticed something was off and she winked at me, as if she was trying to reassure me that everything was going as planned.

After what felt like an eternity His Majesty stood up from the throne as he spoke, "Kansen of the Royal Navy, ladies, and gentlemen of the press, thank you for being here today, even on such short notice. For far too long, an injustice has been allowed to happen, an injustice of our own doing, an injustice done to those that have given so much to us, not just those of the United Kingdom, but to the world."

He paused to take a step closer to the edge of the raised platform, folding his hands behind his back and squaring his shoulders, "For far too long, have we debated the status of the kansen if they were weapons of war or people. We have asked them to pay in blood, sweat, oil, and tears to save humanity from the existential threat of the Sirens, a threat of our own making. Not once has a kansen balked at this, yet we as humans have failed them, repeatedly."

His eyes landed on me and I swallowed hard, his right hand came out from behind his back, palm up, as he continued, "I would ask the kansen of HMS Thunderer to step forward."

I felt my chest get tight, but I had no choice, I stepped out of the assembled kansen and went to the center of the room. His Majesty waited till I was in the center of the room before continuing, "Thunderer has had a very unusual journey to being who he is, and his existence has forced my hand today. We can no longer ignore the fact that humanity has failed the kansen, for he is proof that we should have done something sooner. He was born to the world as half-kansen and half-human."

I could hear the press behind me go dead silent while His Majesty paused again, to give his words more weight before he continued, "Thunderer's path has not been a direct one; it has been one full of pain and suffering, for he alone has been on both sides of the gulf of inequality between our two races. But he is not the only one that has suffered because of inequality…"

He paused again, making a subtle gesture with his fingers for me to return to my place, with a measured pace, I returned to my position, but I could feel the cameras follow me before they returned to His Majesty while he turned slightly, I could tell that as much as he was trying not to look at Dominion, he was still looking at her as he continued, "We have come to understand just how much alike our races are, how wrong we as humans have been to treat the kansen the way we have. As the King of the United Kingdom, I beseech the Parliament and the House of Lords to recognize the kansen for all that they have done for us, to reward them with equal rights and freedoms enjoyed by the people of the United Kingdom."

His Majesty turned to the cameras again, adding, "That perhaps one day, we can have more than just one blessed union of kansen and a human, that perhaps we will see the union of kansen and kansen soon."

When His Majesty stopped speaking he returned to the throne he had taken over and said, "Thank you all for coming, but I must ask Queen Elizabeth, Warspite, and Prince of Wales to stay behind; there is something I need to discuss with the three of them in private."

Once the press filed out of the room, I chose to exit out of a side room, I didn't want to have to wade through the likely ton of questions they would have for me.

XXXX

By the time I got home, it was already dark out, I had to go out and around the island to avoid being ambushed by cameras, just as I take my keys out of the lock and push the door open I hear laughter from inside, one I know really well and two voices that I don't know. I carefully slip inside, closing the door as quietly as I can behind me, taking off my boots as quietly as I can, while I listen to what they are saying.

"You are a delight to talk to Illustrious!" spoke a female voice, pausing and from what it sounds like, walking over to something in the living space before it spoke again, "May I ask you something, on the record?"

"That depends on the question." Countered Illustrious, good to know she was being careful with her answers to reporters.

The voice that I didn't know spoke again, "Based on the amount of pictures I'm seeing around here, I take it that you are in a relationship with Thunderer of some kind?"

I press myself against the wall and continue to listen, I can hear Illustrious shifts in her chair before she asks, "We are, why?"

The reporter, I guess that's what she is at this point, "He's the only male kansen, and this is something that has never been asked of the kansen before, but do you practice monogamous relationships?"

I do my best not to laugh; I can already see Illustrious turning bright red, after a moment I hear Illustrious finally speaks, "I don't know how others do things, but as far as both I and Thunderer are concerned, we are in a monogamous relationship."

I smile, I love her so much… but I need to get in there lest they start to try and put ideas into her head…

"Are you sure about that? I mean he's the only male of your kind…" says the reporter.

Bullocks.

"I'm sure. And for the record, I do not like what you are suggesting." Illustrious counters again.

That was when I pushed myself off the wall and came around the corner, I could see that Illustrious was looking furious and I knew where that ire was directed. I gave a forced smile to the reporters before I said to them, "I think that will be all for today, it's getting late and I would like to spend what little remains of the evening with Illustrious, so thank you for coming by, perhaps if you head down to the local pub, you'll find more kansen that would be happy to talk to you."

Both the reporter and her camera person look at one another, I know they want to turn their questions to me, but I had been too polite and direct about wanting them to leave… or perhaps they were sensing that they had overstayed their welcome, I'm honestly not sure which, but they left without any difficulty, thankfully.

After I closed and locked the door behind the reporters I turn to see Illustrious standing behind me, she smiles at me and says, "I didn't like what they were suggesting. I know you well enough to know that they were wrong."

I move over to her, slipping my arms around her waist before she rests her head on my chest and lets out a content sigh and says, "I think part of what His Majesty was saying today, was directed at Dominion…"

I slide my hands up and down her back a little as I say, "I think you're right, but it was also done in such a way to suggest that he giving his blessing to any union to happen between kansen and human now."

She tilts her head up to smile at me as she adds, "And kansen to kansen."

I laugh as I say before kissing her, "That too."

I feel her hands slide down to my stern and she winks at me as she says, "Speaking of unions…"

XXXX

Morning came faster than I would've liked, way, way faster. I open my eyes to see Illustrious still asleep, our hands touching one another, in moments like this, I know that despite how much I dislike the little brat, I can't deny that she did the right thing pairing me with Illustrious.

I quietly slip out of bed and out of the room, closing the door as quietly as I can behind me. Once I'm in the living space, I turn on the TV turning the volume down too low as I set the channel to the BBC so that I can listen to the news as I get breakfast going.

I'm listening to them bang on about something to do with the Parliament holding an emergency session today to try and figure out what to do about His Majesty's speech yesterday. Apparently, he put them over a barrel with this one; I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pleased to hear that.

I had just cracked the eggs into the pan when I heard the news anchor say, "Hold on… we're cutting live to press room in the Palace of Westminster."

I still wasn't paying much attention that was until I heard the Prime Minister say, "… After hours of deliberations, we will be issuing a new law to be signed in by His Majesty, ratifying the point of his speech at Midway yesterday.

That forced me to turn to the screen, seeing the old man collecting his papers, I could see that he looked angry, clearly, this was something he didn't want, but understood he needed to be on the right side of history for this… it also likely helped that he would be up for election this year, so he needed to secure a suddenly larger voting base.

As the bacon and eggs hit the plate, I hear the bedroom door open up and I see a vision in white in a loosely done up housecoat as she makes her way to the table. Her blue eyes shut, letting her nose lead her there, as I slide her plate down she sits and opens her eyes to take in breakfast and she says, "I love you."

I take a seat across from her, sipping from my tea as I tell her, "Love you too."

As she takes a bite of bacon she asks, "So, what's going on in the world today?"

"Parliament had their hand forced with election season coming around; they had little choice but to honor the king's words." I say, scooping up some egg with some toast.

I can tell from the way she moves that she's crossing her knees under the table before she rests an elbow on the table and taps the tip of her nose, she's clearly thinking about something and I worry inside that the words of those reporters from last night are bugging her on some level. Those thoughts are banished when I see her smile and say, "Well once we get out papers, do you think spring or summer?"

Blinking a few times, I tilt my head to the side and she elaborates, "For a wedding… that is something you want to do, right?"

Oh, bullocks.

That is something I know I need to answer in the right way, she clearly has wedding on the brain now, and this means it's something that I'll likely need to go through for this relationship to keep pace. I mean that was always the intention of this pairing after all. I think I'm starting to take too long to answer when I see her start to frown, so I follow it up quickly with, "Spring. I think springtime would be good, it's a time of freshness, a good way to start a new chapter in our lives."

That seems to be what she wanted to hear as she goes from frowning to smiling again before she says, "Good answer."

XXXX

After breakfast I was walking through the main hall, again doing my best to avoid reporters, I really, really didn't want to deal with them, when I heard the voice of the half-pint call out, "You! You did this to me!"

I turn around to see Elizabeth stomping towards me, hands on her hips and I tilt my head to the side as I say, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Her lips press together, tightly before she snaps, "I'm being mothballed! I'm being sent to be a museum!"

I fold my arms across my chest and lean against the wall of the hallway as I say, "I don't see how that's my fault."

Her nostrils fare out as she comes to a stop in front of me and she continues, "You and that damnable sister of yours! You've been plotting against me!"

I shake my head from side to side as I say, "I had nothing to do with it. I turned down the position as flagship, I don't want it."

"I know you had something to do with it though!" she hollers at me.

Again I shake my head from side to side as I say, "Again, you've got it all wrong. The Crown had been planning on replacing you with Sovereign when she was finished… if anything I bought you an extra year. My hull was meant to be hers, but you did this to yourself, you didn't report me to the Crown, you kept me secret for your own aims."

I move off the wall, bending over slightly to get nose to nose with her as I finish with, "You tried to play the game of thrones and lost. You were never a queen, you tried to act like one and now it's bitten you in the backside."

I can see her face go bright red and she starts to shake with fury, her hands clenching and unclenching before she spins on her heel and stomps off in the other direction and I can't help but smile, that actually put a smile on my face, seeing her plans blow up in her face like that. Once she was out of sight, I look down the hall and see that the fleet office is open and a light is on inside and I head over to it.

Looking into the room, I see my mother in a white shirt, her red jacket hanging on the coat rack, a pen in one hand, and open reports all around her. I give a knock on the door and she looks up to smile at me and gesture me in as she says, "Mitchel, what are you doing up so late?"

I blink a few times and cross over to the drawn curtains before I open them as I say, "Mom, it's nearly seven in the morning… have you been up all night?"

Looking over my shoulder just as my mother flips over her phone as she sighs out, "Apparently so."

"What's got you so buried in paperwork?" I ask her taking a seat across from her.

She sits back against the back of her chair as she says, "Months of reports and requests that went unanswered or un-submitted. It's a wonder the admiralty didn't come down here sooner to take Elizabeth to task."

"It can't be that bad, right?" I ask, picking up a folder to see that the date it was sent was nearly a year and a half ago.

"Worse." She says to me, showing me a request from almost two years ago now.

I start to read through it and see that it's a report on Siren activity as my mother continues, "There is so much here that needs attention that I got lost trying to figure out where I should start."

I take the report in my hands and put it on the chair beside mine as I say, "We start making piles, intel reports that are more than two days old go on this chair."

Picking up another file I see that it is an oil usage report that is only six months old, closing the folder I put it in the chair I had been in as I say, "Reports that need filing to go in this chair."

Taking a moment to look around the room I add, "But first, Mom, we need to get you something to eat, this will keep that long."

XXXX

A/N: Chapter 24 done! I know it was a shorter chapter, but I was hitting a road block filling it out to my target of 4k words/chapter. I know that the next chapter will likely be short as well, but it will be the epilog to this novel. And yes, this really is a novel at this point, since the excepted minimal length of a novel is 90,000 words, hard to believe that I've knocked this out in just about two months! I want to thank everyone that has hung in this far for the views and reviews.