A nice blend of plot and fluff.
To Maka's dismay, she was not only going to have to stomach a fractious breakfast with the Queen and King but also had to quietly accept Liz's whispering in Black Star's ear. It wouldn't have been so bad if that idiot hadn't almost instantly split into the hallway only to let his cackles out while still in earshot. Maka shot Soul a look and while he was conveniently letting his eyes wander anywhere else but her she broadcasted the clear message: If you tell him anything about it, Soul, I'll kill you.
"The advisors," his mother started again as soon as Maka had taken her seat, leaving Soul to clamp his fingers in the wood of Maka's chair as he pressed her chair in.
"What about them?" Soul offered cooly.
"Lord Umbril said you busted into their meeting-"
"Which I should be at," Soul pressed in between her words before he took a seat.
Red was starting to brighten the queen's throat. "Brought the princess-"
Soul let this one sneak out lower though definitely within his mother's earshot, "Who probably knows more about fighting than any of them."
"And proceeded to threaten their lives if they didn't comply," the Queen finished haughtily.
Soul offered a thin smile, "Did he request a formal apology?"
The Queen narrowed her eyes, "No, but you'd be better off if you treated these men with respect."
"I will, when they learn to treat their princess and their people with respect," Soul replied lightly but he felt the rage starting to bubble beneath the surface.
"And this business with the soldiers-"
"Will happen," Soul let that snap from his lips. "And I've already ordered correspondences from the other lords in the nearby areas. I'm not going to sink my head in the sand."
"Soul!" His mother roared.
"Am I not supposed to be a King?" He was edging up out of his seat and while his voice was still steady it fuzzed around the edges with fury. "Isn't this what Wes did? Fought for his people, died for his people?"
"Stop that," his father finally slipped into the conversation. "We'll not speak of that."
"Oh, no," Soul shook his head. "Maybe neither of you will, but I'm going to and you're going to hear it." He was prepared for his tirade but not for the gentle way Maka's fingers spread over his.
Her warmth was there again and when he lowered his eyes to her, Maka was smiling softly at him. "Breath," she mouthed.
Soul did as ordered before he looked back to his parents, his voice now centered. "We aren't doing our people any favors by pretending that Wes's death made the war over and done with. I want to preserve his memory by continuing what he did. I'm trying my best, maybe you two should do the same."
"Remember, you are only half a King," his mother started but his father placed a hand over hers.
"We're taking our leave," the King said quickly as he stood and brought his wife's clenched hand with his. "Princess, Soul." He nodded before dragging his grumbling wife off.
"What was that?" Maka murmured as she motioned towards the door.
"I don't know." Soul's forehead wrinkled as he took his seat next to her again. "Usually the Queen has the last say."
"I've noticed," Maka sighed.
Soul glanced at the doorway again, "But he cut her off. Can't say I remember the last time that happened."
Maka hummed thoughtfully but left the space open for him. Soul didn't seem to bite at it, just leaning back in the chair as his jaw worked to chew over the entirety of it. That face was the perfect embodiment of him and Maka had to smother a smile behind her hand. In the silence she started to reach for the food, putting a smattering of breakfast on her plate and even daring to throw a few things on his. That was the first time his eyes moved from the periphery, a sly smirk starting at the corner of his mouth.
"You're feeding me now?"
"You were busy thinking," Maka answered with an easy shrug.
He snorted a laugh but really it wanted to be a dreamy sigh, the idea instantly turning his thoughts back to this morning. "You remember what I like?"
She rolled her eyes playfully, "We ate every meal together for a few years."
"But you paid attention," he teased.
"Don't be so full of yourself," she sent him a withering glare. "Maybe I'm just good at observing things."
He leaned closer, his lips near her ear. "Admit it, you paid attention to every little thing I did."
"Never," she grinned. "And I bet I remember just as much about Black Star as I do about you."
Soul huffed in reply as he flattened his back against the chair. "Next you'll tell me you liked both of us."
Maka gave him a coy smile.
"Maka," he complained.
She finally broke, the giggles erupting from her mouth. "No, you were the only one from the start. Mostly because you were quiet, let me talk. With Black Star, you can never get a word in edgewise."
A tiny corner of his mind was still ruffled and he couldn't help the next words from tumbling off his tongue, "What about Hero?"
Maka let a few more laughs flutter from her lips as she leaned against her elbow on the table. "You remember him?"
"Barely," Soul grumbled.
"He was a bit of an idiot." Maka's smile was threatening to make her cheeks ache as his expression turned sourer.
Soul was entirely letting his teenage self filter through, the irked whispers that used to drift in the back of his mind in those memories. "He followed you around."
"He did," Maka nodded commiseratingly before laughing again. "And after you left it was incessant."
His brow wrinkled as he crossed his arms over his chest and started chewing on more words.
A little of the amusement drifted away from her lips, "And after you left, I thought that was who I was going to have to end up marrying. Really, I should have been telling myself that even when you were with me but… "
Soul grunted, "Did he actually try to…?" The rest of that was out of his grasp, overwhelmed suddenly by jealousy that didn't matter.
"Very amorously," Maka sighed. "You and Black Star would have died of laughter. His poetry was awful."
He sucked his teeth before letting the last remnants bite from his lips, "But you thought about it."
"For a very short second," she laughed as she brought her hand to his, finding his fingers still stiff in her grasp. "You know I'm really enjoying this jealousy."
"As if I'd be jealous of an idiot who hits-" he snapped back.
"His thumbs more than he hits his anvil," Maka finished for him with a laugh. "You used to always say that."
"It was the truth," he grumbled.
"If it makes you feel better, I was jealous too," she murmured as her fingertips danced over his knuckles.
"Of what?" a tentative laugh broke through his lips.
"Maybe I held out hope that you'd write to me," Maka traced another line over the top of his hand. "I knew after your brother's death you weren't coming back but… it was like you forgot about me completely."
"I did, sort of," Soul sighed.
"Which no one told me, so I assumed that had something to do with all the ladies that you were probably having paraded in front of you since you were going to be King and going to need a Queen." Maka paused to pop a grape in her mouth, trying to erase the bitterness of the words.
"I…" Soul reached out and gently touched her cheek. "I put off courting. The idea felt empty, and I was… still not feeling like myself."
Maka raised her eyebrows as she brought her eyes back to his. "So the contest wasn't your choice?"
"Of course not," Soul scoffed. "Since when did I ever want that kind of attention?"
"True," she laughed softly as she leaned into his touch. "And I never thought I'd end up there until Marie offered me the ladyship and I… I guess I wanted to come here and have you actually really reject me. I assumed when you stood up that day that you were going to get rid of me and I could finally know that you and I were just something I imagined."
Soul shook his head slowly and abandoned the soft touches of her hand to bring both of his to her face. "I've never been a liar, so when I said I wasn't leaving you, I meant it. I wish you'd have realized that day one, Maka, that you were always going to be with me. Just got interrupted for a little."
Maka laughed sharply, "Felt like a lot more than a little."
"We'll have more than enough time to make up for it," he grinned.
She raised her eyebrows playfully, "But not right now." Maka pointed over towards Liz who seemed to be impatiently motioning for her. "I have more court lady business to attend to."
Soul sighed hopelessly, "And I think I have a meeting with the treasury."
"Maybe I'll see you in the afternoon." She giggled as she pulled his hands from her cheeks, settling them back in his lap before taking her hands away. "If not, tonight. But before you get thinking about that can I suggest something?"
Putting the idea of tonight on hold felt impossible, but he attempted to not let his mind drift away. "What's that?"
Maka leaned closer and whispered, "See if you can meet with your father by himself."
"You think he'll listen?"
"Something bothered him about what you said and without your mother…" Maka shrugged.
"Good idea." He wanted to reach for her again but Maka was already on her feet and moving around the table. "Don't have too much fun with the ladies."
Maka snorted a laugh before she paused, throwing her head over her shoulder to look at him. "You know… I'm glad I took the chance."
He smirked, "You're fearless. Why wouldn't you?"
It wasn't possible that the treasury meeting could be any more boring, but Soul somehow managed to keep himself conscious enough to insert at least part of his will. There were a few times he wished for Maka but with each command, he felt her voice echoing in his head. He was becoming a prince instead of an ornament and while he hated being the center of attention, the idea that she could be proud of him, that she could love him for this spurred him on. Although, when Black Star stuck his head into the meeting Soul couldn't help but feel relief.
"The Queen left for the temple," Black Star whispered into his ear.
"And my father?"
"In the garden."
Soul took his leave from the meeting, trailing close behind Black Star through the corridors. The sun blinded them as they moved to the courtyard and Black Star sent him a weak wave as he parted for the barracks. His feet were swift and purposeful as he moved along the hedges. The soldiers were his first clue, a King never necessarily ever being left alone, an idea that he didn't look forward to. As he cleared the maze to reach the trees he caught sight of his father.
It was often like looking in a mirror, as it had been with his brother, but Soul had always tried to see the differences instead of the way the two of them echoed each other. For that moment, he was ready to set it aside. "Father?"
The King turned his head and gave a faint smile. "This isn't your usual spot."
"I was looking for you," Soul tried to keep it from echoing his tone from breakfast, leaving it just as soft inquisitiveness.
The King nodded before turning his attention back to the light pin-holing through the canopy of the trees.
"I'm sorry if…" Soul cleared his throat. "I know that bringing up Wes hurts you."
"An apology isn't necessary," he breathed out in barely a whisper.
Soul took a few steps closer and tried to search his memory for the last time he tried to converse with his father. There were just blanks, a relationship that relied on his mother as a mouthpiece with only a few glances between the two of them. There was no hope that continuing in that way would save this so Soul dropped to his knees at his father's feet, his face looking up expectantly at him like a child at storytime. "After he died, it… felt like you stopped existing. All I ever hear now is Mother's voice and none of the advisors can tell me the last time you've been to any of these meetings. Today was the first time in a long time I feel like you've even seen me."
A slow sigh left the King's lips. "Your mother has always been strong-willed. It seems you've picked the same for yourself."
Soul snorted a laugh, "Maka is nothing like Mother."
"When your mother was younger, yes," the King smiled at the memory before it quickly drifted off his face. "But you lose a child and it hardens something in you. Out of fear you find yourself acting in ways that are not always right to protect what you have left." The King moved his kind eyes to Soul's face, a steady red reflection of his own. "We almost lost both of our sons at the same time. You lived, but for some time you were half of what you were."
"But I've been improving," Soul offered hopefully.
"I've noticed," the King smiled, "and with that, it seems like a piece of your brother has come back as well." The breath caught in Soul's throat as his father's hand reached out, resting on his hair. Maybe he had become a child again, especially as that was the last time he could remember his father touching him.
"Then what I said, about keeping Wes's memory, didn't make you angry?"
The King sighed, "No, but… I am left wondering that if you follow in his footsteps, will we lose you again as well?"
"I guess I can tell you what I told the princess, that I don't plan on dying," Soul laughed softly. "I know that doesn't exactly keep you from being scared about it, but… neither of us can let the fear of me dying leave us blind to the rest of the world." Even though he hated to lose it, Soul grabbed his father's hand off of his head, cradling it in his own. "Evil didn't die with Wes, and I need you to trust me and let me do something about it."
His father was a mirror for Soul because he could see the same chilly look of frightened thought cross his face. He wondered if he should speak again, his mouth trying to form words that seemed pointless but the King relieved him of the need. "I'd like to continue to see you attend these meetings. Make choices. Bringing your princess may rub a few of them the wrong way, but I see it doesn't bother you to put them in their places. If you can continue like this… your mother's insistence that you are half a King will have to be rectified."
"If I prove myself you'll… you'd step down?" Reflexively his fingers clenched at his father's and as if he could be more breathless they squeezed back in kind.
"I would have done the same for your brother," the King smiled softly. "Keep your promises and I'll keep mine."
Soul let out a delirious laugh tempered with the joy that was starting in his chest. "Just watch me."
Liz leaned in close, the words only for Maka's ear. "The prince requests you for just a minute."
Maka raised her eyebrow, the curiosity further sparked by Liz's amused smile. "Where?"
"Black Star's here to take you to him," Liz offered as another whisper.
The captain is still playing errand boy? Maka let out a quick laugh before turning her eyes back to the disapproving bunch of ladies. "If you'll excuse me for just a moment. My husband has requested me." And I'm just a wife doing my duty, Maka added with an internal eye roll before standing. Though, what was that feeling in the pit of her stomach when she used the word? When she reminded herself that Soul was her husband?
"Took you long enough," Black Star grumbled as soon as she was close enough to keep it out of earshot.
"I'll pretend you didn't talk to your princess that way," Maka chirped, enjoying the pained glare she received in reply. "And why all the secretive whisking away?"
Black Star huffed, "He doesn't want any extra ears."
"Then why not wait for tonight, when we're alone," Maka wondered out loud.
He didn't rein in his laugh in reply, "Probably because he's got better things he wants to do with you tonight."
"Idiot," Maka hissed as the blush hit her cheeks.
"Don't be ashamed, princess," Black Star raised his eyebrows playfully at her. "I mean, from what I hear-"
"You heard nothing," Maka snapped.
"Sure the Queen wasn't telling many people but I have a best friend who-"
"Who will be murdered by my hand if you finish that sentence," she spat back.
Black Star sucked his teeth, "As if you'd kill him."
"Try me," she replied flatly as they turned another corner and Black Star quickly pressed her into an open door, slamming it behind her. It was dark except for a sliver of light from a mostly covered window and Maka blinked to try to settle her eyes. "I swear if that idiot is playing a game with me…" She turned back to the door but firm hands grabbed at her waist. "That better be my husband or I'm going to-"
Soul's soft 'sh' turned into a chuckle. "What's got you so angry?" he whispered.
"Oh, just a morning full of asinine conversation and then your best friend threatening to discuss our moment together this morning that should remain private if you want to keep having said moments." He was bewildered by how her voice could remain so quiet but still drill into him and all Soul could do was laugh again. "And now you've ordered me here for a minute which is turning into many and I have to get back to-"
The soft pad of his finger touched her lips, quelling the complaint long enough so that he could replace it with his own lips. While his plan had just been a few rushed sentences, being this close to her had ruined any hope of maintaining that and even with all her badgering, Maka was quick to give in. Her body melted into his and both were lost for much more important minutes. When they parted, Soul whispered with a grin, "Better?"
"If you're buttering me up," she sighed sweetly, "it worked."
"Then I'll be quick with the rest," he planted a kiss on her cheek before leaving the words right next to her ear. "With the treasury, I had our wedding gifts evenly divided and sent back out to the provinces. I called a meeting of the war council tomorrow so you'll have to blow off your ladies. And I spoke to my father."
"You've had a busy morning," Maka cooed happily. "I'm proud of you."
How much that warmed him was unexpected and all he wanted to do was taste her lips again as if that would be enough to thank her for that feeling. "But he said… he'll step down if I continue to prove myself."
"What?" Maka could barely breathe out the word.
"If I keep doing what my brother did and… and I follow you, I'll be King, and you'll be Queen without having to lose them." His hands were creeping along her cheeks and into her hair. "We're going to rule."