NOTE OF INTEREST: Good news to those who've read "Behind the Foxes Eyes".
The re-posting of the fic has so far been a success (but remember its rated
"R") and therefore it shall continue with as planned. However I'll make
anywhere from 1-9 updates on that daily as to get back up to chapter 21,
after that the updates will come regularly (once or twice a week). Thank
you for taking time to read this. But this isn't "Behind the Foxes Eyes"
this is "The Vulpine Prince" and I'd very much like to continue with this
fic (I assume you clicked on it to read it right?).
A/N: Now some of the story will start to show. Only a little bit. I have a great big plan in mind for this fic. But anyway, its now time for Scales to carry out his plan and he has to hope it works. But of course if you read the summary for the fic then... Oh, and one last thing. This chapter isn't supposed to be that focused on the party. It's actually supposed to be more focused on Scales and his plan.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Star Fox. Nintendo and/or Rare do. Any relation to my made up characters in anyway is entirely coincidental. _____________________________________________________________________
Chapter 5-Long Live the King
Celebration time was how it was described. The furs had put up lots of decorations and had games a plenty for the tenth birthday of the Vulpine Prince. The evening was beautiful and the guests were happy to be in the palace with the King. You were never forced to go to a party under the rule of King James, but many found it a sign of disrespect if you didn't go to the King's parties.
The celebration was held in the main hall and the ballroom mostly. None of the guests were allowed upstairs but James refused to have guards doing their duty at such a time of the day. There was nothing upstairs that the other furs hadn't seen anyway. James wanted the guards to enjoy this day just as much the rest of the guests.
As Scales had already known, Fox indeed had to leave his Arwing dagger in his room. Scales would grab the dagger later, when there wouldn't be quite as many guests and the guards could easily be found.
The guests all dressed in their normal street clothes for the occasion. James wanted his Kingdom to be comfortable for everyone. Some furs did dress real snazzy while others did not.
There were all sorts of wines and juices there. The whole kingdom attended the party. Kits drank the juice while the adults had the wine. Wine was the most popular drink among the furs. They always enjoyed it and the fact that each fur had one glass of wine a day, including some kits; they appeared thinner than the furs that didn't.
There was a bit of slow dancing music and fast dance music. Many different beats played throughout the party. The furs danced and talked. But many were interested in some of the games they had to offer. Some went bobbing for apples, there was a dunking booth brought in from time to time. Many of the furs played chess, as that was the most popular game there. If they couldn't play chess they played checkers.
The kits enjoyed the simple games like "Twister" and some brought cards along with them and played "Black-jack". Teenage furs played "Spin the bottle" while others went off to find someplace private to play "Seven Minutes in Heaven." The younger kits also spent a lot of time in the courtyard playing tag. There was even a piñata for the kits. It would be a matter of time before it would be smashed open so they had to sit tight.
Fox, who's special party this was for, decided to hangout with his father at the feast. He didn't have an interest in bobbing for apples or playing at the dunking booth. He did however, have a big interests in the piñata.
The table in the banquet hall could seat up to 100 furs and that didn't include the Kings seat, nor did it include the two seats on the King's left and right side. On the right usually sat the King's guest of honor and on the left would sit the Queen. It used to be that the guest of honor would sit on the left while the Queen sat on the right. This was changed when one-day James' father had a guest of honor named Andross. Andross sat on the left side (meaning his right hand was towards the King), and because Andross was right-handed he was able to take a dagger and stab the King without anyone noticing. It was then proven that most of the furs in Corneria were right-handed. Thus, in order to protect the King, the guest would sit on the King's right side. That way if they did plan on killing the King, they wouldn't be able to do it from under the table as easily.
As for Andross? He was executed, and his family was exiled from Corneria.
Anyway, in the banquet hall, the advisors would sit closest to the King. The higher your status (Prince/Princess, Vice King, Duke/Duchess etc.) the closer to the King you sat. The lower your status in the kingdom the farther away you sat. This also meant that your higher status granted you more time to be with the King and Queen. If your status was very low than you'd be dismissed from the table first and you'd spend less time with the King and the Queen. If there weren't a guest of honor then the Prince would sit on the King's right side.
But on this day James didn't follow any such "rules." Instead he had his son as his guest of honor and of course Vixy was still next to him. But this time he let every fur choose where they wanted to sit. He didn't care how close or how far you sat.
Scales chose to sit the closest to James. He'd invited Wolf for the occasion. James accepted this, being that James didn't exile Wolf. Wolf actually exiled himself and therefore he was still allowed in the kingdom.
Wolf smiled as the different dishes were being passed around. It was mostly beef, pork and chicken. Wolf refused to eat pork. Doing so reminded him of Pigma. Lettuce was passed around after the meat. Mostly green beans and carrots. There were beans and black-eyed peas a plenty. All cooked to perfection, but you had to put the spices on them.
Scales and Wolf both sat close to James and Fox. "So you're ten today I see." Wolf said to Fox and smiled. There was something about Wolf that Fox didn't really like. Perhaps it was that smile that showed he was hiding something.
Mia walked up to James and bowed her head. "Please take this young prince." She said and held out a necklace. The necklace was a gold necklace with a ruby for a pendant. She put it around Fox and went to sit down. She sat next to Wolf as to stay close to the King. Mia was often times the guest of honor when James had a feast. She was liked a lot in the kingdom and to James she was no different to him than Scales was.
"Before we feast anymore, would anyone like to say prayer to Great Fox?" James announced.
Scales smiled. It wasn't as if he was going to volunteer. "Why don't you have Fox make the prayer? After all it is his party."
Fox looked at Scales and frowned. Like most young kits he had no idea what to say. They all put their eating utensils down and they all bowed their heads. James whispered into Fox's ear "just make it short and sweet."
Fox shrugged and did just what his father said. He made it short and sweet. "Thank-you Great Fox for this food in which are about to receive." He paused for a moment trying to think of something else to say. Instead he ended it there, "Amen." The rest of the guests repeated. Then they began to eat.
"I'd like to give a toast." Scales stood up with a glass of wine. "To our King, James McCloud." The furs all held their glasses up and looked to Scales. Scales smiled. "James my friend, you have been the greatest inspiration I've known throughout my life. You have given me a home, and a family to be apart of. You've protected this kingdom for years and I have to say that there couldn't have been a better King. May Fox one day grow up to live in your shadow. To James!" He ended and every fur repeated after him. Then they went back to eating.
Vixy smiled at Scales and held her glass up and kissed her husband. Little did she know that this would be the last time they'd be together as a family like this.
Wolf finally asked to be dismissed from the banquet early. Of course James wasn't going to force him to sit, so he let the lupine go.
Wolf walked out of the banquet hall back into the main hall. There several furs danced the night away. All the guards were in one spot...right next to the wines. Wolf had something better up his sleeve. He walked up to the guards and smiled. "Do you have something other than wine?"
One guard, a huge bulldog turned around, "Well, yes but the King doesn't want us to have any other drinks. We have to have something that all the furs, including the kits, can drink." He replied.
"Oh, I'm sure the King wouldn't mind if the adults had something more than wine to drink would they?" Wolf winked.
The guard leaned in and whispered, "Behind the banquet hall is the kitchen. In the back past the spices is the wine cellar. James keeps all his drinks in there. Why don't you see if you can bring back a keg of Whiskey or something?"
Wolf nodded and did as the guard requested. He smiled on the way to the wine cellar. This, he was going to enjoy. In the back were several kegs. The only one he was interested in was the Whiskey. He grabbed two kegs actually. He went back to the main hall with them.
As he made his way back, there were few furs that actually noticed him and those that did only continued to party on. Wolf set the kegs down in front of the guards. There were about six guards and Wolf had to get ALL of them drunk. "How about we get these out of sight?" Wolf asked smiling. He had to make sure that there was no one to suspect him.
"Oh, of course we'll do that." The bulldog replied. He was obviously the captain of the guards. He had to two guards grab the kegs and they made their way to the east-wing of the palace. It was where most of the servant's rooms were. At the back of the east-wing were the guard's quarters. This was where the guards slept and such. Other than that, they were all over the palace. Six was good enough to guard the palace. There were actually eight, but there had to be two guarding the entrance to the palace. Two would guard the east-wing, two would guard the west wing and lastly, two would guard the King's chambers. To the guards, it was a grueling job.
The guards pulled out a set of mugs and motioned for Wolf to come over to their table. The bulldog, the captain of the guards, introduced himself finally. "My name is Link. You're pretty strong. Perhaps someday you could be one of the guards."
"I don't know about that." Wolf said and grabbed a mug. Each of them pored some Whiskey. Wolf didn't drink any. The mugs were huge and to drink from one would be a lot more Whiskey than you'd think. The guards could endure a lot though. They only drank one mug but still looked like they could take more. Wolf took a small sip and set it down. He knew he couldn't take in quite THAT much.
"Now I know where I've seen you before!" Link said. "You're that wolf who exiled himself. You're the one that ate that pig right?"
Wolf blushed for a moment and said nervously, "Yes..."
Link patted him on the back. "Don't worry so much about it. Everyone has forgotten about it by now. You look pretty young, how old are you exactly?"
"I'm about twenty-two years old. I never meant to eat the pig, I just didn't want to result to stealing." He didn't tell them that he was a thief either way. Actually, Wolf was the best thief. He came out at night when the markets were closed and the shopkeepers weren't awake. The furs felt so safe under the rule of King James that they didn't bother to lock up their shops. Not only that, but Wolf would take a piece of bread and move on to another shop that served bread. This way it wasn't quite as obvious that he did steal. Of course that didn't mean the shopkeepers didn't notice. They always shrugged it off anyway. To them one piece of bread wasn't as bad as having a whole loaf stolen.
"Only twenty-two? Why you haven't lived! You should really consider becoming a guard. The pay from the King is good, even though you have to put in a lot of work." Link said. "It isn't too bad, but expect to sleep less."
Wolf stood up, "How about a drinking game?" He suggested. All he had to do was get all the guards drunk, so he could have some fun in doing so right?
The guards didn't seem to care and they nodded anyway. "What king of drinking game?"
"How about we make one up?" Wolf said. "I'll make the rules off the top of my head as best I can." He walked over to the keg and filled up Link's mug, then gave it to him. If he could get the guards to drink AT LEAST four glasses (assuming that's how much they could handle they weighed four times as much as Wolf did), they'd start to be drunk. More than that could pass them out. But considering it was Whiskey, it could be less. Now he wished he grabbed the Vodka and mixed the two drinks.
"Here's how it goes, we'll recite the alphabet." Wolf said and smirked.
"The alphabet? Anyone could do that!" Link laughed. "Some game.
"Did I mention you have to recite it backwards? And for each letter you have to think of a word. If you get the letter right but you miss the word you drink one glass. If you miss both you drink two glasses. You keep going until you miss either the letter or the word. Got it?"
Link smiled and nodded, "Alright then. What if we win?"
Wolf thought for a moment. "Should one of you win I'LL drink the entire keg down!"
The guards thought about this. To see Wolf drunk off his ass would probably be entertaining. "Alright," Link accepted, "get ready to drink!"
Wolf smiled, "I don't think so."
Link stood up and started backwards. "Z, Zebra, Y, Yoga, umm... X for..."
Wolf laughed, "Well, you failed. Take a drink. Come on all of you! Let's enjoy this little game and toast to ourselves and our glorious King and Queen."
***
In the main hall where everyone was dancing, Fox was enjoying a dance with Krystal, as James was with Vixy. Of course Fox was forced to dance with Krystal by his mother's order, but he found that girls weren't quite as bad as Slippy made them out to be. He felt calm at least. They only thing the two did were take small steps and sway side to side.
James held Vixy close and kissed her forehead. The dance was wonderful and tranquil. He had completely spaced everything in the moment they were having. He was proud of what he had. He'd do anything for Fox and Vixy.
"Look at him with Krystal, he's so cute." James whispered.
"Yes," Vixy replied. "Let's hope that one day Krystal shall be his queen." The laughed lightly at the thought. Then Vixy snuggled into her husband's arms and let him take lead in the dance.
***
Fox and Krystal were enjoying the moment together when Fox had suddenly stopped. Krystal was puzzled for a moment. "What's wrong?"
Fox shrugged. "I have a feeling something bad is going to happen."
Krystal hugged him and this took Fox by surprise. He didn't hug back. Actually, he didn't know what to do. He decided that the best thing to do was at least wrap his arms around her. He did this for about ten seconds, as he was nervous. Krystal wasn't though. "You're still scared about the sharp claw cave, that's what bothering you. As long as we don't go back we'll be fine."
It wasn't exactly the vibe that Fox was feeling but there was just no arguing with Krystal and so he decided to let her be right.
***
Scales was in the dance hall when Wolf walked up to him. "So, how goes your part of the plan?" Scales asked.
"They're all out for the count. They could certainly drink a lot, why didn't you tell me that?" Wolf asked.
"Well, I'd thought you know that their immune system was weaker to wine rather than Whiskey. Mia made it that way." Scales smirked.
'Who the hell is Mia?' Wolf thought, but didn't ask. It was probably one of those questions that the answer was so obvious he'd feel dumb for asking afterwards. He'd probably seen her anyway.
"Now its time for my part." Scales said and pulled out the Arwing he'd already secured in his possession. "We wait until the guests are gone. Then, we take the King." Scales cackled.
***Later in the night...
James had dismissed the entire guest, but Scales wanted Wolf to stay a bit longer than all the other guests. Scales had promised that Wolf would leave within the next two hours. James was tired and had retired to his chambers. The guards were out cold and there was no way James could get them up. He didn't let it bother him though. The nights were usually safe.
He stepped into Vixy's chambers for a moment. They slept in separate chambers because regardless of how great of a King, James was; there was nothing that snored louder than he did in the night. "I wish you a good night dear." He said. "Tomorrow I think I'll take Fox out myself." Luckily Fox was already asleep. James wanted this to be a surprise. James leaned in and kissed his wife and she was ready to sleep.
James then crept into Fox's room. The little kit was already asleep. James didn't even notice that the Arwing was missing. He walked up beside Fox's bed and pulled the covers over his son. He kissed Fox on the forehead, "I love you, my son." He said.
Finally, the King retired to his chambers.
***
Scales was making his way through the palace, the Arwing pocketed. He'd use it when the time came. As he crept through the palace he was shivered by a voice behind him.
"Scales? What are you still doing up? And in your dress clothes!?" It was Peppy who had apparently been up to get a glass of water.
Scales didn't turn around for a moment. He hadn't planned on someone being awake. He slowly turned around hoping the pocketed dagger didn't show at the helm. "I was just on my way to bed. I haven't changed yet, I was seeing our guest out." Scales said referring to Wolf. Wolf was still in the palace though, or so Scales thought..
Peppy shrugged and walked off. 'Too close' Scales thought. He continued onward to the King's chambers. The guards weren't there and that meant Wolf had been successful. Scales went inside. As usual, James was snoring but it didn't take long for him to fall asleep. Scales went up to his bedside, and the snoring was only louder.
Standing above James now, he looked down. "I'm sorry that its come to this." He said and closed his eyes. Then he mumbled under his breath, "Long live the King..." and with that he plunged the dagger into James. Then he lifted it up and did it again. The snoring stopped.
Scales took the dagger covered with James' blood. It was entirely silent and Scales could've sworn someone saw him. Not only that, but he swore that someone uttered "Murder."
____________________________________________________________________
A/N: Where was Wolf at the end of the chapter you ask? That'll be explained next chapter. Oh, and the Link in this fic I would hope you all know is not the Link from "Legend of Zelda" and is not based off him in any way. I didn't describe much of the party because the main focus was SUPPOSED to be on Scales and his ambition. I like this chapter nonetheless though. This is easily one of my better one I think. Please R+R and try not to flame me.
A/N: Now some of the story will start to show. Only a little bit. I have a great big plan in mind for this fic. But anyway, its now time for Scales to carry out his plan and he has to hope it works. But of course if you read the summary for the fic then... Oh, and one last thing. This chapter isn't supposed to be that focused on the party. It's actually supposed to be more focused on Scales and his plan.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Star Fox. Nintendo and/or Rare do. Any relation to my made up characters in anyway is entirely coincidental. _____________________________________________________________________
Chapter 5-Long Live the King
Celebration time was how it was described. The furs had put up lots of decorations and had games a plenty for the tenth birthday of the Vulpine Prince. The evening was beautiful and the guests were happy to be in the palace with the King. You were never forced to go to a party under the rule of King James, but many found it a sign of disrespect if you didn't go to the King's parties.
The celebration was held in the main hall and the ballroom mostly. None of the guests were allowed upstairs but James refused to have guards doing their duty at such a time of the day. There was nothing upstairs that the other furs hadn't seen anyway. James wanted the guards to enjoy this day just as much the rest of the guests.
As Scales had already known, Fox indeed had to leave his Arwing dagger in his room. Scales would grab the dagger later, when there wouldn't be quite as many guests and the guards could easily be found.
The guests all dressed in their normal street clothes for the occasion. James wanted his Kingdom to be comfortable for everyone. Some furs did dress real snazzy while others did not.
There were all sorts of wines and juices there. The whole kingdom attended the party. Kits drank the juice while the adults had the wine. Wine was the most popular drink among the furs. They always enjoyed it and the fact that each fur had one glass of wine a day, including some kits; they appeared thinner than the furs that didn't.
There was a bit of slow dancing music and fast dance music. Many different beats played throughout the party. The furs danced and talked. But many were interested in some of the games they had to offer. Some went bobbing for apples, there was a dunking booth brought in from time to time. Many of the furs played chess, as that was the most popular game there. If they couldn't play chess they played checkers.
The kits enjoyed the simple games like "Twister" and some brought cards along with them and played "Black-jack". Teenage furs played "Spin the bottle" while others went off to find someplace private to play "Seven Minutes in Heaven." The younger kits also spent a lot of time in the courtyard playing tag. There was even a piñata for the kits. It would be a matter of time before it would be smashed open so they had to sit tight.
Fox, who's special party this was for, decided to hangout with his father at the feast. He didn't have an interest in bobbing for apples or playing at the dunking booth. He did however, have a big interests in the piñata.
The table in the banquet hall could seat up to 100 furs and that didn't include the Kings seat, nor did it include the two seats on the King's left and right side. On the right usually sat the King's guest of honor and on the left would sit the Queen. It used to be that the guest of honor would sit on the left while the Queen sat on the right. This was changed when one-day James' father had a guest of honor named Andross. Andross sat on the left side (meaning his right hand was towards the King), and because Andross was right-handed he was able to take a dagger and stab the King without anyone noticing. It was then proven that most of the furs in Corneria were right-handed. Thus, in order to protect the King, the guest would sit on the King's right side. That way if they did plan on killing the King, they wouldn't be able to do it from under the table as easily.
As for Andross? He was executed, and his family was exiled from Corneria.
Anyway, in the banquet hall, the advisors would sit closest to the King. The higher your status (Prince/Princess, Vice King, Duke/Duchess etc.) the closer to the King you sat. The lower your status in the kingdom the farther away you sat. This also meant that your higher status granted you more time to be with the King and Queen. If your status was very low than you'd be dismissed from the table first and you'd spend less time with the King and the Queen. If there weren't a guest of honor then the Prince would sit on the King's right side.
But on this day James didn't follow any such "rules." Instead he had his son as his guest of honor and of course Vixy was still next to him. But this time he let every fur choose where they wanted to sit. He didn't care how close or how far you sat.
Scales chose to sit the closest to James. He'd invited Wolf for the occasion. James accepted this, being that James didn't exile Wolf. Wolf actually exiled himself and therefore he was still allowed in the kingdom.
Wolf smiled as the different dishes were being passed around. It was mostly beef, pork and chicken. Wolf refused to eat pork. Doing so reminded him of Pigma. Lettuce was passed around after the meat. Mostly green beans and carrots. There were beans and black-eyed peas a plenty. All cooked to perfection, but you had to put the spices on them.
Scales and Wolf both sat close to James and Fox. "So you're ten today I see." Wolf said to Fox and smiled. There was something about Wolf that Fox didn't really like. Perhaps it was that smile that showed he was hiding something.
Mia walked up to James and bowed her head. "Please take this young prince." She said and held out a necklace. The necklace was a gold necklace with a ruby for a pendant. She put it around Fox and went to sit down. She sat next to Wolf as to stay close to the King. Mia was often times the guest of honor when James had a feast. She was liked a lot in the kingdom and to James she was no different to him than Scales was.
"Before we feast anymore, would anyone like to say prayer to Great Fox?" James announced.
Scales smiled. It wasn't as if he was going to volunteer. "Why don't you have Fox make the prayer? After all it is his party."
Fox looked at Scales and frowned. Like most young kits he had no idea what to say. They all put their eating utensils down and they all bowed their heads. James whispered into Fox's ear "just make it short and sweet."
Fox shrugged and did just what his father said. He made it short and sweet. "Thank-you Great Fox for this food in which are about to receive." He paused for a moment trying to think of something else to say. Instead he ended it there, "Amen." The rest of the guests repeated. Then they began to eat.
"I'd like to give a toast." Scales stood up with a glass of wine. "To our King, James McCloud." The furs all held their glasses up and looked to Scales. Scales smiled. "James my friend, you have been the greatest inspiration I've known throughout my life. You have given me a home, and a family to be apart of. You've protected this kingdom for years and I have to say that there couldn't have been a better King. May Fox one day grow up to live in your shadow. To James!" He ended and every fur repeated after him. Then they went back to eating.
Vixy smiled at Scales and held her glass up and kissed her husband. Little did she know that this would be the last time they'd be together as a family like this.
Wolf finally asked to be dismissed from the banquet early. Of course James wasn't going to force him to sit, so he let the lupine go.
Wolf walked out of the banquet hall back into the main hall. There several furs danced the night away. All the guards were in one spot...right next to the wines. Wolf had something better up his sleeve. He walked up to the guards and smiled. "Do you have something other than wine?"
One guard, a huge bulldog turned around, "Well, yes but the King doesn't want us to have any other drinks. We have to have something that all the furs, including the kits, can drink." He replied.
"Oh, I'm sure the King wouldn't mind if the adults had something more than wine to drink would they?" Wolf winked.
The guard leaned in and whispered, "Behind the banquet hall is the kitchen. In the back past the spices is the wine cellar. James keeps all his drinks in there. Why don't you see if you can bring back a keg of Whiskey or something?"
Wolf nodded and did as the guard requested. He smiled on the way to the wine cellar. This, he was going to enjoy. In the back were several kegs. The only one he was interested in was the Whiskey. He grabbed two kegs actually. He went back to the main hall with them.
As he made his way back, there were few furs that actually noticed him and those that did only continued to party on. Wolf set the kegs down in front of the guards. There were about six guards and Wolf had to get ALL of them drunk. "How about we get these out of sight?" Wolf asked smiling. He had to make sure that there was no one to suspect him.
"Oh, of course we'll do that." The bulldog replied. He was obviously the captain of the guards. He had to two guards grab the kegs and they made their way to the east-wing of the palace. It was where most of the servant's rooms were. At the back of the east-wing were the guard's quarters. This was where the guards slept and such. Other than that, they were all over the palace. Six was good enough to guard the palace. There were actually eight, but there had to be two guarding the entrance to the palace. Two would guard the east-wing, two would guard the west wing and lastly, two would guard the King's chambers. To the guards, it was a grueling job.
The guards pulled out a set of mugs and motioned for Wolf to come over to their table. The bulldog, the captain of the guards, introduced himself finally. "My name is Link. You're pretty strong. Perhaps someday you could be one of the guards."
"I don't know about that." Wolf said and grabbed a mug. Each of them pored some Whiskey. Wolf didn't drink any. The mugs were huge and to drink from one would be a lot more Whiskey than you'd think. The guards could endure a lot though. They only drank one mug but still looked like they could take more. Wolf took a small sip and set it down. He knew he couldn't take in quite THAT much.
"Now I know where I've seen you before!" Link said. "You're that wolf who exiled himself. You're the one that ate that pig right?"
Wolf blushed for a moment and said nervously, "Yes..."
Link patted him on the back. "Don't worry so much about it. Everyone has forgotten about it by now. You look pretty young, how old are you exactly?"
"I'm about twenty-two years old. I never meant to eat the pig, I just didn't want to result to stealing." He didn't tell them that he was a thief either way. Actually, Wolf was the best thief. He came out at night when the markets were closed and the shopkeepers weren't awake. The furs felt so safe under the rule of King James that they didn't bother to lock up their shops. Not only that, but Wolf would take a piece of bread and move on to another shop that served bread. This way it wasn't quite as obvious that he did steal. Of course that didn't mean the shopkeepers didn't notice. They always shrugged it off anyway. To them one piece of bread wasn't as bad as having a whole loaf stolen.
"Only twenty-two? Why you haven't lived! You should really consider becoming a guard. The pay from the King is good, even though you have to put in a lot of work." Link said. "It isn't too bad, but expect to sleep less."
Wolf stood up, "How about a drinking game?" He suggested. All he had to do was get all the guards drunk, so he could have some fun in doing so right?
The guards didn't seem to care and they nodded anyway. "What king of drinking game?"
"How about we make one up?" Wolf said. "I'll make the rules off the top of my head as best I can." He walked over to the keg and filled up Link's mug, then gave it to him. If he could get the guards to drink AT LEAST four glasses (assuming that's how much they could handle they weighed four times as much as Wolf did), they'd start to be drunk. More than that could pass them out. But considering it was Whiskey, it could be less. Now he wished he grabbed the Vodka and mixed the two drinks.
"Here's how it goes, we'll recite the alphabet." Wolf said and smirked.
"The alphabet? Anyone could do that!" Link laughed. "Some game.
"Did I mention you have to recite it backwards? And for each letter you have to think of a word. If you get the letter right but you miss the word you drink one glass. If you miss both you drink two glasses. You keep going until you miss either the letter or the word. Got it?"
Link smiled and nodded, "Alright then. What if we win?"
Wolf thought for a moment. "Should one of you win I'LL drink the entire keg down!"
The guards thought about this. To see Wolf drunk off his ass would probably be entertaining. "Alright," Link accepted, "get ready to drink!"
Wolf smiled, "I don't think so."
Link stood up and started backwards. "Z, Zebra, Y, Yoga, umm... X for..."
Wolf laughed, "Well, you failed. Take a drink. Come on all of you! Let's enjoy this little game and toast to ourselves and our glorious King and Queen."
***
In the main hall where everyone was dancing, Fox was enjoying a dance with Krystal, as James was with Vixy. Of course Fox was forced to dance with Krystal by his mother's order, but he found that girls weren't quite as bad as Slippy made them out to be. He felt calm at least. They only thing the two did were take small steps and sway side to side.
James held Vixy close and kissed her forehead. The dance was wonderful and tranquil. He had completely spaced everything in the moment they were having. He was proud of what he had. He'd do anything for Fox and Vixy.
"Look at him with Krystal, he's so cute." James whispered.
"Yes," Vixy replied. "Let's hope that one day Krystal shall be his queen." The laughed lightly at the thought. Then Vixy snuggled into her husband's arms and let him take lead in the dance.
***
Fox and Krystal were enjoying the moment together when Fox had suddenly stopped. Krystal was puzzled for a moment. "What's wrong?"
Fox shrugged. "I have a feeling something bad is going to happen."
Krystal hugged him and this took Fox by surprise. He didn't hug back. Actually, he didn't know what to do. He decided that the best thing to do was at least wrap his arms around her. He did this for about ten seconds, as he was nervous. Krystal wasn't though. "You're still scared about the sharp claw cave, that's what bothering you. As long as we don't go back we'll be fine."
It wasn't exactly the vibe that Fox was feeling but there was just no arguing with Krystal and so he decided to let her be right.
***
Scales was in the dance hall when Wolf walked up to him. "So, how goes your part of the plan?" Scales asked.
"They're all out for the count. They could certainly drink a lot, why didn't you tell me that?" Wolf asked.
"Well, I'd thought you know that their immune system was weaker to wine rather than Whiskey. Mia made it that way." Scales smirked.
'Who the hell is Mia?' Wolf thought, but didn't ask. It was probably one of those questions that the answer was so obvious he'd feel dumb for asking afterwards. He'd probably seen her anyway.
"Now its time for my part." Scales said and pulled out the Arwing he'd already secured in his possession. "We wait until the guests are gone. Then, we take the King." Scales cackled.
***Later in the night...
James had dismissed the entire guest, but Scales wanted Wolf to stay a bit longer than all the other guests. Scales had promised that Wolf would leave within the next two hours. James was tired and had retired to his chambers. The guards were out cold and there was no way James could get them up. He didn't let it bother him though. The nights were usually safe.
He stepped into Vixy's chambers for a moment. They slept in separate chambers because regardless of how great of a King, James was; there was nothing that snored louder than he did in the night. "I wish you a good night dear." He said. "Tomorrow I think I'll take Fox out myself." Luckily Fox was already asleep. James wanted this to be a surprise. James leaned in and kissed his wife and she was ready to sleep.
James then crept into Fox's room. The little kit was already asleep. James didn't even notice that the Arwing was missing. He walked up beside Fox's bed and pulled the covers over his son. He kissed Fox on the forehead, "I love you, my son." He said.
Finally, the King retired to his chambers.
***
Scales was making his way through the palace, the Arwing pocketed. He'd use it when the time came. As he crept through the palace he was shivered by a voice behind him.
"Scales? What are you still doing up? And in your dress clothes!?" It was Peppy who had apparently been up to get a glass of water.
Scales didn't turn around for a moment. He hadn't planned on someone being awake. He slowly turned around hoping the pocketed dagger didn't show at the helm. "I was just on my way to bed. I haven't changed yet, I was seeing our guest out." Scales said referring to Wolf. Wolf was still in the palace though, or so Scales thought..
Peppy shrugged and walked off. 'Too close' Scales thought. He continued onward to the King's chambers. The guards weren't there and that meant Wolf had been successful. Scales went inside. As usual, James was snoring but it didn't take long for him to fall asleep. Scales went up to his bedside, and the snoring was only louder.
Standing above James now, he looked down. "I'm sorry that its come to this." He said and closed his eyes. Then he mumbled under his breath, "Long live the King..." and with that he plunged the dagger into James. Then he lifted it up and did it again. The snoring stopped.
Scales took the dagger covered with James' blood. It was entirely silent and Scales could've sworn someone saw him. Not only that, but he swore that someone uttered "Murder."
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A/N: Where was Wolf at the end of the chapter you ask? That'll be explained next chapter. Oh, and the Link in this fic I would hope you all know is not the Link from "Legend of Zelda" and is not based off him in any way. I didn't describe much of the party because the main focus was SUPPOSED to be on Scales and his ambition. I like this chapter nonetheless though. This is easily one of my better one I think. Please R+R and try not to flame me.