For the record, Danny wasn't surprised by Gwensyvyr's titles. He might not be up to date on what was going on with his extended family at all times - he was a teenager living on another continent - but he wasn't an idiot, and he'd been here before. He'd seen this mural before. Which at least explained why the woman looked so familiar to him.

No, the part that surprised Danny was that she was Gwensyvyr.

(Or a ghost pretending to be Gwensyvyr. He'd met shapeshifters before, and a thousand years was a long, long time for someone who just looked like her to be born and die.)

Heck, half the reason Danny had picked the name 'Phantom' was because of her title, the other half being the pun of it all.

What do you do when you find out that your most famous ancestor, whose life history was mythologized to the point where people debated whether or not she even existed, is the ghost you've been playing charades with since yesterday? Freak out? Realize that, in hindsight, her life might not have been all that mythologized, considering that ghosts and magic exist and have messed up your life repeatedly in the past? Ask dumb questions?

"Are you really Gwensyvyr?"

Ask dumb questions it was.

Gwensyvyr smiled, broad, smug, catlike, and pleased, and flicked her hand back and forth between herself and the mural before pressing her fingers against her chest and posing. Every inch of her body language suggested that, yes, Danny should be impressed. Flattered even to be in her presence.

At least this explained her stake in all this. Even if she didn't have a soft spot for her very distant descendants, she'd founded Avlynys. People didn't like to see their work destroyed.

Vivian walked through the wall and shook herself all over. Danny sympathized. Being intangible was a lot to get used to. Once she had recovered, though, she started pointing frenetically at the door.

Oh, no, he was going to be missed. He'd been here too long.

He slipped back through the walls and used a bit of flight to catch up with the group, inserting himself next to Jazz. She gave him a look. Past her, he saw Gwensyvyr laughing.

Being laughed at by your long-dead culture hero ancestor was… an experience. Yep. That's sure what he'd call this whole thing. An experience. Mostly a bad one.

He watched Gwensyvyr out of the corner of his eye. Which of the stories about her were true? They'd been compared to Authurian myth in terms of how warped they'd gotten… at least by people who weren't from Avlynys. If there was even a grain of truth to them, though, her life had been tumultuous.

Even the most straightforward reckoning… born on Myz, sent to Myrgyn to become a priestess tending the 'sacred pool,' kidnapped by viking raiders who also desecrated the pool, won free, returned with a husband, who was killed by invaders from either Brittain or mainland Europe, united the islands to drive them off… It wasn't a wonder that some people called her the Avlynyse King Arthur and accused Avlynys of stealing ideas. Idiots. Gwensyvyr was much better documented than Arthur.

And now she was a ghost. Some of the stories had ghosts in them, didn't they? Like that one about her husband… Most people thought it was just a story, a way to deflect blame about her getting pregnant as a widow, but…

But it could be true. Danny was living (sort of) proof that humans and ghosts weren't completely incompatible, and ghosts could have children with one another. So. Ew. He didn't want to be thinking about this. This was gross.

They entered one of the Assembly Hall antechambers. Matthew was already there, having left hours before everyone else. He was wearing clean clothes, but it didn't look like he'd actually slept since yesterday. His lapel was conspicuously bare.

"You all know what to do, yes?" asked Matthew. "You just have to step forward and agree to act as witnesses under your names as members of the royal family. A show that you aren't contesting my coronation."

There was a smattering of 'yeses' and nods.

"Danny, Jazz… I didn't think about this before, but do you two know enough Avlynyse? There's still time to– We could get you a cheat sheet or something."

Danny crossed his arms. "We knywet gynoug, keswyn. It isn't as if we'll miss our names."

"I did teach them, Matthew," said Maddie, pinching the bridge of her nose. "They were born here, for goodness' sake."

"Right," said Matthew. "Of course. It's… been a long day, Maddie. Give me a break."

One of the security personnel raised their hand to their earpiece. "Your highness? There are a couple Assemblymen who would like to speak with you before the ceremony starts."

"Oh. Do I– Oh, alright, then, send them in. Might as well get it over with without offending anyone."

Danny rather thought he might be offending Maddie, but he didn't say anything.

A pair of men were shown into the antechamber a moment later, both of them looking like they were seconds from picking a fight with one another. The sight of it was enough to make Matthew sigh heavily.

"Julius, Richard, what is it this time?"

"Your Majesty," said one of them, a tall, handsome older man that felt far too much like Vlad for Danny's peace of mind.

"I'm not king yet," said Matthew, crossly. "And I'm fully prepared to abdicate in Vivian's favor, when she's found."

Vivian cringed. Danny managed to suppress his reaction, at least.

"Matthew," said Joanna, "if you're planning that, maybe you shouldn't–"

"We've been over this," said Matthew.

"Your highness," started the man, again, "I'm here to offer my condolences again and apologize for my conduct yesterday. I should have asked to visit the matter at a later date, not when–"

"No," interrupted Matthew.

"I'm sorry, your Highness?"

"No, we aren't going to revisit the foreign businesses policy," said Matthew. "My goal has always been to give businesses the tools to meet the requirements, not overthrow them altogether, and I– I don't know why we're still having this conversation." Matthew bit out a short laugh. "You can take that to your foreign lobbyist friends. And don't you look too smug, either, Richard. I know you're here to stir up trouble."

The rather nasty grin on Richard's face slid right off. "I'm actually here to talk to you about a different matter from Julius altogether, your Highness."

"Right," said Matthew. "Julius, you can go."

Julius twitched and looked aghast, even as Matthew gestured over security to take him away.

Matthew turned to Richard. "What do you want? If this is about Revyvtech, I don't want to hear about it today."

Richard laced his fingers in front of himself, and looked for all the world like a rather round rumpled owl. "I… No, your Highness, nothing about the company. I was sent by the stability faction–"

"Which Julius is also part of," Matthew pointed out, irritably.

"Yes, well, Julius is Julius, and he's not especially… welcome. We would like to ask you to reconsider your decision regarding abdication… or at least the public announcement of your decision. We know you feel Vivian should be the one receiving the crown, but her credentials aren't any better than yours, and you are much more experienced. And she is not here."

Matthew inhaled deeply. "I appreciate the concerns of your faction, but remember, I am only accepting the crown at the strenuous urging of the Assembly. The plan was always for Vivian to succeed William. If this isn't a temporary measure, it will only be because tragedy has struck yet again."

Sophia made a squeaking sound and gripped her sons' shoulders until her hands went white around the knuckles. Vivian's death scars were starting to show through again.

"Now, I must ask you to leave so I can prepare myself." He smiled thinly. "In absence of the traditional vigil, I would like five minutes to myself and my family." He looked away from Richard and gave them a very brittle grin. "Where was I? The ceremony!"

.

Vlad, being the owner of an multinational business, habitually surveyed the political landscape of foreign countries. At least, that was his excuse for his guilty pleasure of reading royalty-obsessed tabloids. With a cup of wine and Maddie the Cat on his lap.

Today's point of interest was a succession crisis in a tiny frigid archipelago in the North Atlantic. It might, possibly, have some bearing on his businesses. Their government was currently rather hostile to foreign businesses, and one of their home-grown companies, Revyvtech, had some interesting medical patents…

He turned the page and spat out his wine as he registered a picture of a much younger Maddie - or Princess Madeline of Avlynys, also known as Pyrs Madlyn Loryn Dyrys Avlynyse, as the caption read.

He stood up immediately, displacing Maddie the Cat, and stalked to his phone.

"I need a flight to Avlynys - No, I didn't sneeze. That's the name of the country."