Chapter 6

Natsu hopped off the carriage, grateful that they had finally stopped. If he had any less dignity, he would've bent down and kissed the ground. Although when he turned to meet Lucy's glare, he put the thought out of his mind.

Lucy jumped down a second later, and they began their trek toward the castle, with Erza keeping a watchful eye behind them. Despite their circumstances, he was interested in seeing the Magnolia in this world. Right from the entrance he could point out a few key differences. First of all, this place was more like Crocus than anything. On top of that, it was full of snow. Even though he didn't feel cold, it was somewhat hard to walk in these sandals. Glancing at Lucy's shoes, it seemed like she wasn't having a better time either. She was trying her best to hide her shivering, but he stood closer anyways. He knew she was pretty sensitive to the cold.

Fiore in general was typically a warm place, especially Magnolia. It was like an everlasting spring (except when the winter months came around) and full of greenery. More so on the outskirts like where their guild was, but even within the city there was plenty of parks, and people had the habit of keeping gardens. This place was just so gray. White streets, white rooftops, diamond homes. That was another thing too, the overall wealth of this place.

He was so used to Magnolia being so… average. And he loved it like that! Their Magnolia had two main attractions - their guild, and the Kardia Cathedral. Besides that, every restaurant, shop, and apartment was either run down or just alright. (Even Lucy's place had its flaws, but she loved it so he wouldn't mention it to her. On top of the fact that he loved it too.) But that didn't matter. No matter how ugly the sandwich shop was, he'd still come back for the Salamander Sub. Little things like that.

Lucy seemed to feel it too. She was smiling warmly at the sights they passed, probably remembering their Earthland counterparts. Despite all the glamour and the awe at the fact that their home could look like this, nothing could compare to the real thing.

Great. He just made himself homesick.

They marched through busy streets, catching glimpses of the castle above the rooftops. He thought about the doubts he expressed to Lucy earlier about seeing Igneel. Up to this point, no one had name dropped the king, but there was no doubt in his mind it was him. Would he be human? It'd be weird if Igneel was still a dragon here. But also kind of awesome.

"What are you snickering about?" Lucy whispered.

"Your hair is messed up." He teased. After her conversation with Loke, Lucy had taken a short nap in the carriage. He had no idea how, because he was awake for the whole ride. When he thought about the ride, the whole memory was just a painful, nauseating blur.

"What?" She quickly tried to pat it down, but found that she couldn't. Her hands were tied.

"Natsu!" She hissed, and he laughed again.

"Just kidding. You're still cute."

The shock on Lucy's face was priceless. She blushed and stammered, "W-what?" But he didn't answer.

Lately he found that he enjoyed teasing Lucy like that more, just to see the look on her face. It was also kind of dangerous for him though, because he knew that there was some truth to his words in regards to how he felt.

For the past year (or years if he was being honest), their relationship had been diving into some unknown waters. He considered Lucy his best friend and partner (along with Happy!) and guildmate, but still there was something different about her. She wasn't just those things, even though that's all he would call her if asked. He cared about her like no one else, and she made him feel… confused. Butterflies in his stomach and all that romantic cheesy crap from Lucy's novels. He didn't know how to react, so he started teasing her or cracking jokes whenever a moment felt too serious.

It helped him feel more at ease, because he knew how to deal with Lucy yelling at him more than he knew how to deal with a blush and hopeful eyes.

As the streets got more crowded, the murmurs of the surrounding people became louder. He glared at people who had the nerve to even point, but it was no use. Their march had become a spectacle.

Figures. He'd stare too if there were royal lookalikes tied up and marching down his streets. But the whispering was getting out of hand, so Erza stopped them and made a quick announcement.

"Citizens, as you may have heard, mages using transformation magic invaded our kingdom. They have been caught, but their motives and affiliations are unknown. There will be a trial tomorrow morning. For now, please don't worry."

He understood it as a "mind your own business" in that formal way she spoke and he was grateful. Speaking of the trial, he needed to come up with a plan with Lucy soon. The memory of the ride was as he said, pretty foggy since he was trying not to die, but he vaguely remembered some talk of an "artifact" and Lucy agreeing to something. He figured this meant their original plan to just escape their cell and get back home with the help of the thief was off, but if so, then what were they supposed to do now?

He looked to his right and was met with an anxious Lucy biting her lip as she looked toward the crowd. Despite what Erza had said, plenty of people were still staring at them like they were mythical creatures or something. He wished he could cheer her up, but his hands were tied- literally.

Once they arrived on a less populated street, Erza cleared her throat. "Once we arrive at the palace, I will hand you off to some guards and you will be left in a holding cell overnight. The trial is tomorrow morning." He gave a sly thumbs up to Lucy, to which she gave a small nod. That was more than enough time to have Lucy summon Loke and get some answers, and hopefully make up a plan.

Before he knew it, the full palace was in sight. He couldn't help it- his jaw dropped. He snickered when he saw Lucy react the same. The palace was even bigger than the one in Crocus, and was made out of a bluish-clear material. Diamond. The beautiful palace looked so fake, but it was undoubtedly real with the way it glimmered in the sunlight, and at certain angles he had to look away because of the glare.

"Welcome back, Lady Titania." A guard greeted. His voice was a bit shaky. "Shall I alert the Lady Lucy of your arrival?" He nervously glanced at Natsu and Lucy in chains. Natsu gave a little wave, which just made the guard frown.

"Yes, and let her know that I've apprehended the impostors. I will be attending the meeting shortly."

"Of course." The guard stumbled, then ran off to wherever Knight Lucy was.

Erza scoffed behind them. She had her arms crossed. "He's new. Don't know what he acts so nervous for."

"He's scared." Lucy whispered.

Natsu nodded. Looking at this Erza, there wasn't much of a difference between her and Erza Scarlet. Although, to be honest Scarlet has become softer over the years. Yeah she could still snap at you over cake, but overall she's calmer. This Erza was super serious, and definitely strong.

Erza called over another guard to open the gates and escort them to their temporary cell. With that, they ventured into the diamond castle.

Lucy Heart paced back and forth on the sky-bridge that led to the meeting room. Of course, she should be going in already but she wasn't prepared to face the rest of the court right now. Too many things were happening at once, none of them good. News of the Queen's supposed attack had spread like wildfire throughout the palace after an overheard conversation. She scolded the knights responsible and told them to be more careful, and managed to keep the rumors within castle doors. Unfortunately, the rumors did have some truth to it. She forced the thought out of her mind, as that was what today's court meeting was about.

She couldn't help being jittery. Just recently she went to see how the prince was doing, as he went horse-riding this morning with some of the representatives who were attending tomorrow's meeting. (Her head throbbed, she hated politics sometimes. Too many meetings.) His horse, it turns out, was frightened by some animal it saw in the snow and he was thrown off. His arm was broken, mostly healed by magic but he still had to wear a sling.

"Oh look at you, my heart is about to burst." She confessed to him.

The prince just smiled at her. "I'm happy to hear I can make your heart flutter, Lucy."

She blushed, remembering his comment from earlier. He loved to tease her whenever she was worried about him. As much as she tried, she couldn't deny her feelings. It was wrong for her, as a knight- as his knight- to feel this way towards him. Every time they met or shared a smile for just a bit too long, she felt guilty. They could never be together officially, because she was not of noble blood. In fact, she was nothing more than a runaway servant who had only been lucky enough that King Igneel had kindly housed her.

There were clouds on the horizon, a sign of snow. It hadn't snowed for some time now. She leaned over this bridge, looking out toward the pure white image of Magnolia. It was perfectly still, but there was tension in the air. Like the moment before you take a breath, it felt like something was about to happen.

She thought about the tension between the Kingdom of Hearts and Diamonds. It would inevitably manifest in an all-out war. Up until this point, there was nothing more than shifting eyes and rumors, and never any real battles. It kept Lucy up at night, thinking of the many ways that in the event of a battle on castle grounds, she wouldn't be able to protect Natsu like his father had asked her to do. She had made that promise to him, and Lucy Heart never broke her promises.

Recently she had… discussed this promise with Erza. She didn't want to say "argued" because she walked away before it got to that, but their conversations had been tense since then.

"Lucy, you have to take care of yourself."

"What do you mean?" She played dumb. It was immature, but she didn't want to have this conversation.

"I know that you lo-care for the Prince and his father, his Majesty, but you can't hurt yourself in the process. It is one thing to do your job, and another to sacrifice your sanity."

Lucy didn't reply. She hadn't spoken a word of her feelings to anyone at all, scared that the King would find out and distance her from Natsu. As much as she felt guilty for feeling this way for him, she also wanted to be near him. It was her duty to protect him, after all. Her heart knew it was more than that too.

Still, as her best friend Erza knew how she was feeling. That she was beating herself up every time she even bid good morning to the Prince. Her feelings were clashing more than ever recently with the threat of a war. She wanted to keep him safe from the Queen just as much as she wanted to selfishly keep him for herself.

"I just don't want you to hurt yourself anymore," Erza continued. "Your feelings are not wrong for you to feel so guilty over them. The Prince could care less about a class difference."

"That's not the problem!" Lucy snapped. "It is utterly inappropriate for me to encourage a relationship when he will end up marrying a princess from some other land instead. That's his duty as the prince, and his father said so himself!"

Those words stung when she overheard them. She wanted to discuss military matters with the King, and she accidentally heard his conversation with one of the advisers. She ran away then and ignored Natsu for a week, only interacting with him to do her job as his bodyguard. She felt foolish for acting like a child, but she didn't want to face the truth.

"But what did the Prince say?"

Lucy stepped away then. She hated that Erza was right. That Natsu didn't care, and that Lucy was only holding herself back. But she had enough respect for the King and pride in her position as the Diamond's top knight that she wanted to act appropriately, not selfishly.

"Lady Lucy!" A panting guard jogged up to her on the bridge, snapping her out of her memory. Amused and thankful for the distraction, she allowed him a moment to catch his breath and then asked him what he came here for.

"Lady Titania has returned, and she successfully captured the impostors. She also said she would be arriving to the meeting shortly."

"Thank you." She said. Thank goodness for the reliable Lady Erza. Now that Erza was back, she had no choice but to enter the meeting room soon and face the rest of the Fairy Tail court. She strolled over to the double doors at the end of the sky-bridge and took a deep breath. The knight threw the doors open and stepped inside.

Despite having just entered the meeting room, Lucy's head throbbed. Not only were most of the members present, representatives from other kingdom's courts had come as well. Thanks to her and Natsu's diplomatic efforts, the Kingdom of Diamonds, Clovers, and Spades had joined together in an unofficial-slash-official military alliance. Of course, the whole thing was kept a secret in order to prevent leaks to Queen Ur. The knights, when gathered together, were a rowdy bunch. Her eye twitched when she realized that some of them were standing up, about to get into a fistfight.

"That's enough!" She boomed. The knights quieted down as Lucy made her way to the head of the table. The guard posted at the door seemed miffed that she spoke before he made his announcement, but continued nonetheless.

"Announcing the arrival of the Golden Knight Lucy, from the Kingdom of Diamonds."

"Look who finally showed up." Sir Gajeel smirked. Lucy pursed her lips, holding back a retort. As the alliance leader, she had to force herself to always take the high road. But damn if that Gajeel didn't get on her nerved.

The door on the other side of the room opened. "Announcing the arrival of Lady Titania, from the Kingdom of Diamonds."

Erza quickly sat down in the second seat.

"Lady Levy, Meredy, and Sir Gildarts will not be joining us for this meeting. Now, we have much to discuss. Let's start with the rumors."

A white haired woman raised her hand. Mirajane. By power alone, she ranked third in the Fairy Tail Court. She had a sweet voice and kind blue eyes, but behind that pretty face was a devil. Lucy wasn't sure about that woman's past, but even her brother, the reckless Sir Elfman was afraid of her. She was strong and reliable, and Lucy valued her word.

"Lady Lucy," she started. "We received an anonymous note this morning, delivered by a cat of all creatures! Probably someone's familiar. Still, I urge you to take it seriously."

Lucy took the paper from Mirajane. She sharply sucked in a breath as she read the single word message. "Tomorrow." She read out loud.

Agitated whispering broke out among the knights. Lady Lisanna of the Clover Court, Mirajane and Elfman's sister, spoke out loud first. "What does that mean?"

With no doubt in her mind Lucy announced, "The Queen's attack. Allegedly, it will happen tomorrow!"

The whispering turned to shouting as the knights fought over the meaning of the message. It didn't have to be that, some said. Lucy shook her head. She could understand the worry that some of the other knights felt, like Gajeel and Lisanna from the Kingdom of Clovers. That kingdom was a small peninsula, not as rich in resources or as powerful as the Diamonds or Hearts. Even the Spades wasn't better off, which was why the three had joined together in the first place. If the Queen attacked their capitals tomorrow with their strongest mages here in a meeting, she would surely burn their homes to the ground.

"Silence!" Erza yelled.

"Oh, I have to alert the Queen!" Lisanna said.

"She's strong. No matter what, she'll be okay." Gajeel assured her.

As much as Lucy wanted to agree, she held her tongue. Queen Juvia was a young widow who was forced into power when her father and husband both died in an accident. Rumor had it Juvia was happier to be free of her husband Bora, since the arranged marriage wasn't as happy behind closed doors as it seemed, but that was a story for another day. She was well-liked by the citizens because despite her obsessive nature, she was an adept water mage who could hold her own in a fight in case her knights weren't there. If anyone stood a chance against the fire mages of the Hearts Kingdom, it was her, but Lucy didn't think she could win a three-on-one.

Especially not when her rumoured love Gray, the youngest Prince of Hearts was her enemy. Lucy always rolled her eyes at the gossip, but young women loved to entertain the idea of a "forbidden love" of sorts between the young Queen and the villainous Ur's son. Forbidden loves weren't nearly as juicy and romantic as the gossip made it seem. Mostly they were painful, especially when you knew that despite your fantasies, it could never be.

Lucy directed the focus on the threat of an attack looming over them. "As Lady Lisanna says, please alert your respective superiors. We should be prepared for an attack on any of our three kingdoms tomorrow at any time. Perhaps even all three kingdoms at once."

"No way she could do something like that. Her army is strong, but she can't split herself in three." Lady Minerva spoke. She was in the Saber Court, the group that formed the head of the Kingdom of Spade's military.

Sir Bickslow spoke next. "I agree. Shouldn't we focus our power at one place? We'll stand a better chance that way!"

"I don't believe 'her Majesty' is as simple minded as you make her out to be." Sir Rufus scoffed.

As the knights turned to bickering again, Lady Kagura stood up. "Quit speaking out of turn. Don't you realize how childish you're all acting? Let's devise a plan in a civilised fashion, as proper knights should. And listen to Lady Lucy! We are meeting in the Diamond Hall, and she is our superior in this alliance."

Lucy mouthed a thank you to the swordswoman. Kagura was strong, and in recent years had quickly climbed her way up the ranks and could now claim the title of being one of the strongest in the kingdom. Just like Lucy she was an orphan who joined the military as soon as she could. She was fiercely loyal to the kingdom that gave her a home, and always respectful of her superiors.

"I understand your points, Minerva and Bickslow. It is more likely she'd focus all her strength on one place to assure a quick victory. We should plan in the case of her attacking one place, but since we don't know which territory she'll attack, I advise that you all go home now. Queen Juvia and Queen Yukino can not be left alone in times like this."

No one argued. A few muttered about it being smarter that the strongest stay together, but directly defying Lucy and testing her patience was just asking to be chewed out by Erza, Kagura, or even Millianna who could be quite feisty herself. Their telepathy specialist, Meredy, was out on a special mission right now, so they couldn't get any quick emergency messages to the other rulers. Erza declared that she would warn King Igneel herself. Lucy thanked her, as all she wanted to do now was go to bed.

They wrapped up the meeting soon after that. Lucy smiled as she watched Lisanna hug her siblings. She didn't pry and ask why they were seperated in the first place, but she had learned years ago that it was pointless to ask Lisanna to stay here in Magnolia. She truly cared for Queen Juvia, and back in the Kingdom of Clovers she was training an apprentice: a young girl named Wendy. She had made a life for herself, and Lucy respected that she wasn't going to leave home anytime soon.

"Hey, don't get your head burnt off." Gajeel said with a pat to her back.

"You either." She teased. Gajeel could get on her nerves, but at the end of the day they were friends. The last thing Lucy wanted was to see any of her friends die. Even Laxus grumbled something to her about staying safe as she shared quick goodbyes with the Saber Knights.

Lucy bid her own court farewell and left the meeting room, heading towards her room in the western tower. Her feet felt heavy, like her boots were full of rocks. The meeting had drained more out of her than she thought it would. Expectedly, it was hard to act brave and strong in front of the continent's strongest mages. After so many years of anticipation for the Queen to make the first move, arguments in meeting halls, and nights full of dread, was this really happening? Tomorrow all her worst nightmares could come true. Natsu could be kidnapped and tortured, the king could be killed, Erza could be killed, the kingdom could be burnt to the ground-

"Lucy, are you aware you've been pacing in front of your chamber doors for the past five minutes?"

Lucy turned around, glaring at Natsu. The sling-armed bastard just gave her a cheeky grin. As much as she hated to admit it, he really did make her heart flutter.

Seriously, he asked, "Are you okay?" He stepped closer and reached for her hand, but Lucy pulled away. It was getting harder to ignore her guilt recently, the more she had to face the king. In the past, she let Natsu reach for her hand and whatever else as much as he liked. The thought that it was wrong and inappropriate was always in the back of her mind, but ultimately she ignored it. After overhearing the King, she steadily started to push him away, for both their sakes.

"I suppose you already know-"

"Know what?" So he didn't. Lucy bit her lip. Just her luck that she had to break the news to him.

"Your Highness, we are going into emergency mode starting tonight. Erza is currently discussing the possibility of an attack by the Queen of Hearts on this very castle tomorrow with your father." Her voice was shaky.

Emergency mode meant that Prince Natsu had to stay with her at all times and that twice as many guards would be watching over King Igneel 24/7. In the event of an infiltration, there were escape routes for the royal family to follow, and specific battle plans for the Fairy Tail Court and the rest of the knights as well. For many years she and her fellow knights had sparred and designed these plans: in the event of a brush with Princess Ultear you must know the limits and weaknesses of her space-perception magic, for example. Prince Natsu and his father had drilled the escape routes many times. As a last resort, they both practiced spells for their safety, which had been hard with Natsu's particular disorder. But now that this could truly be happening, Lucy found it hard to stay calm.

"Then stay by my side." He said simply. Her face warmed up. He took every chance he had to tease her. Maybe there was something funny to him about seeing the stoic and scary Golden Knight reduced to a blushing mess. For Lucy, it was less funny and more mortifying.

"Natsu."

"Lucy." Even when he said her name her cheeks grew warmer. This was wrong, so wrong. But she wanted to give in.

She exhaled. Her breath was shaky too, but she felt better after deciding that she wouldn't stress herself out more than necessary. She turned the topic to something else- the trial.

"I suppose we'll still have to prepare for our doppelganger's trial tomorrow. Best case scenario, there's no attack and everything goes well."

"Do you really mean to have them sentenced, regardless of their reasons?"

"Yes, we must! Of course even if they are sentenced to the dungeon or community service, what have you, we will help them get home. I can tell by their magical aura that they are not from this world. Their magic feels completely alien." She got chills just thinking about it.

"Fine, fine. I'd like to talk with them in private more, though. I'm curious about them. I mean, they're us, but not!"

"Definitely." She agreed.

She chatted with Natsu more, before he asked her to escort him to his own room where he wished to retire for the night. She was his bodyguard, after all. As they walked, Natsu reached for her hand again, and she didn't refuse.