* * *

No sooner had Sally closed the door behind her, than Misha began to question what had just happened. Though he had known her for a few short weeks, he somehow felt more at easy with Sally than he did with most people. Odder still, she was a scion of royalty, daughter of King Maximillian "the bastard" Acorn.

Misha felt his fur stand on end at the thought of the deposed monarch of Mobius. One of the most frustrating aspects of living in Knothole, Misha thought, was having to reconcile his loathing for the monarchy in general and King Acorn in particular, with the fact that his daughter was in charge of Misha's new home.

Misha sighed. He liked Sally, he really did. Respected her too, something he never imagined himself thinking about any member of the ruling elite. But still, he felt uneasy.

"Tacitus said 'A good man can serve a bad ruler.' Does that mean, that a bad king can have a good daughter?" He hoped so, otherwise his life in Knothole would be.cut short.

Misha sighed to himself, since there was no one else around to sigh to. "Liking and obeying Sally is not the same thing as obeying Princess Sally of the House of Acorn." Or at least, that's what he told himself. It was if Princess Sally, daughter of the king was some other creature than Sally, leader of the Freedom Fighters, as if they were divorced from one another. "If only that were true," Misha mused. It would make his life so much simpler.

But if he were to find himself supporting the monarchy itself.He shuddered. "I would sooner fall upon my sword." He quoted, a human phrase.

Misha sometimes amazed himself with his fascination.okay, obsession, with humanity. He grabbed one of the books off his shelf. Misha had taken several books from the old human library at the garrison and brought them to Knothole. This one in particular, was a favorite.

When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made! All the world wondered. Honor the charge they made, Honor the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred

"These humans are extraordinary creatures." He said to himself in the emptiness of his hut. They had never failed to fascinate him, from the first time he stumbled onto the library he KNEW that he had discovered something special. Something no one else imagined existed. Barbarians indeed! Misha snorted at the common Mobian perception of the Overlanders. "More like descendants of a proud, ancient heritage." He said, before thinking about some of the more...ugly incidents in their history. Wars, slavery, hatred, genocide. He shuddered. Disgusting, but if anything, they only increased his interest for knowledge about humanity.

"Are they a barbaric race with a few redeeming qualities or a enlightened race with a few leftover savage qualities? A sensitive people that act insensitive or an insensitive people trying to act sensitive. Are they driven by emotion or stoicism? Rational or irrational? Sane or insane?"

"Coward." A part of his mind answered. "Be honest with yourself. You're really wondering about yourself when you ask those questions of humans, and you know it." His mind snickered. With a frustrated groan of annoyance he dragged himself away from his books and walked into his bathroom.

Turning the water on, he splashed his face with icy cold water, trying to get his mind off his musings. "I think too much." He muttered to himself as he groped for a towel. "I need to lay off the in-depth thinking for a while." Misha squinted as fumbled around for his glasses.

He looked out the window. It was already dark out. "Have I been talking to myself all afternoon?" Misha asked in despair. "Might as well go make myself useful." He grabbed another book of his shelf and hurried over to Tails' hut.

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