Adjustments

The big doors were opened to the grand room they mainly used for important, and boring, meetings. The room was beautiful, Artie remembered being in awe of it when he was first introduced. He quickly realised there was nothing exciting about it at all and learned to dread entering. It was the place where he had awkward conversations with other important people, or his own team of management staff and council, where they would criticise him about any slight misstep he took. It was never a pleasant place, but it was especially unpleasant now. The king watched with tired eyes as everyone stood from their seats. Artie had taken as much time as he possibly could delaying the inevitable meeting with everyone. It was insisted upon, an emergency. He only wished he could postpone it until he'd had some sleep. As soon as he stepped off the ship onto his kingdom's land, Edmund was by his side setting up this particular meeting. If anything, delaying only meant Edmund had the first word about everything that went on. That was never good.

They all greeted him, bowing their heads as he passed to his seat at the head of the large table. He had great difficulty not dragging his feet along the polished floor. His eyes landed on the empty seat next to his, the one Lillian normally took. He couldn't help but glare a little at it, she had deemed her daughter and grandchildren as more important than him. He sighed quietly, it wasn't like she was wrong to do so. He just wasn't sure he had the energy to keep up without her.

"Your Majesty," someone began as they all sat, unable to keep himself from speaking, "I'm so sorry to hear about what happened... Such a disaster..."

"Mm," Artie hesitantly nodded his agreement. He wasn't sure how much they had heard.

"Edmund here was just filling us in," another spoke.

All he had done to Edmund was be short and rude to him. He knew this was coming but it didn't mean he was ready for it. Part of him wanted to run but he didn't have the energy to even begin thinking about it. "Oh really?" he looked at his fingers, feigning interest.

"Yes," someone else said, "Might I say that it was incredible."

Artie's gaze froze, "What?" he looked up to the people gathered around the table. They were all nodding and smiling at him. Everyone seemed happy.

"Sacrificing yourself to save people," agreement spread around the room, "It should be put in a storybook."

"Of course it will be, the tale of King Arthur and his bride!"

Artie was forcibly reminded of his marriage to Elena. The princess who had grown surprisingly despondent since the death of the man who saved her life. His eyes trailed back to his hands. He didn't want to think about it.

"Obviously we have to change the part where you agreed to hand over the kingdom..."

"I had no choice," Artie spoke up defensively.

"But you had a backup plan," Edmund spoke evenly, "Didn't you, King Arthur?"

Artie blinked in surprise at his words, "Uh-yeah, I did, of course." He watched Edmund nod clandestinely at him. They were going to lie? Artie furrowed his brow as the praise for him continued. He knew the kingdom would hardly react well to hearing that he was willing to trade them for the lives of those on the ship. Only then did he realise what he had almost done. On the ship his capacity for thinking was pretty limited and time constrained. He gave up his crown to her, he didn't spare a thought to his people until she disappeared. Of course, his crown meant the kingdom. The kingdom meant the people. They would have been terrorised and had their lives destroyed by his choice to save a few people on a ship. They'd hate it. He met Edmund's gaze, suddenly thankful for his sharp thinking. It wasn't a lie... It was an adjustment.

"It was so smart of you, King Arthur, to send that magic user to save the princess," a voice broke his pattern of thought, "I'm sure everyone else thought all hope was lost."

"She must be so thankful for your quick thinking, Your Majesty."

Artie frowned, another lie on Edmund's part. It made him look like the hero, Felix just a slave to his instruction. Edmund was clever. People would be very happy to read about that... but Elena surely wouldn't. His thoughts were reluctantly brought back to the way she held onto his hand. It was very romantic; him catching her tear when he could barely move. Of course, that was if Artie wasn't the one she was supposed to be marrying. He had been meaning to ask her on the ship if she still wanted to marry him. He wanted to ask but couldn't. He was afraid of her answer. He blinked away his thoughts.

"There's something important we need to address," he spoke with as much authority as he could muster, changing the topic entirely, "The witch is still out there..." gasps were sent around the table, "She's still alive. If that magic user's dying words are to be believed, she's weaker but still there. If she hadn't given up after over thirty years, what's stopping her giving up now... and we've just made her pretty angry."

"The kingdom is in danger, what should we do, Your Majesty?" there was the question that was constantly thrown at him. He spared a glance to Lillian's empty seat.

"We have to find her, before she regains any strength. I'm guessing circles of magic users may know about her and how to find her," he searched the eyes of people sat around him for any knowledge or suggestions. They were all staring at him. "We have to find people who will know these circles and be able to get that information," he prompted them more.

"A spy?" someone offered.

"Yeah, maybe," he nodded, "Something like that."

"I will handle it, King Arthur, if you so wish," Artie's captain spoke up. Artie nodded at him, smiling appreciatively. "I shall do what I can today and we will review tomorrow," he confirmed.

The young king found himself smiling at the word 'tomorrow'. That was the best thing he'd heard since he stepped inside the castle.

"King Arthur?" a familiar voice entered the room from the doorway, "Dinner is about to be served. Your family are waiting," Abbey smiled at him.

"Ah!" Artie jumped out of his seat, "Thank you everyone," he nodded at them, "We shall meet another time to um go over any details and stuff..." he rushed through his words, eager to leave the room, "Farewell to you all, and I hope you all have a great evening."

He disappeared quickly, not giving a second thought to their reactions. He had said what was important, if they missed anything out they shouldn't have spent so long gushing about some storybook. He smiled, leaving it all behind. "Hey-" his greeting was cut off as someone else jumped from behind the door as it closed, startling him.

The brief panic that struck him ended quickly, "Theo!" Artie laughed at the boy in a server's uniform, ducking away from his arms as he playfully lunged at the king's shoulder.

"Hey royal stranger," he grinned, "When do we get to hear about the trip?"

"Whenever I have a spare second," Artie grimaced at the two of them as they fell into step beside him. "What are you doing announcing dinner?" Artie asked them.

They glanced at each other, "I offered," Theo grinned at him, answering for Abbey. Artie looked between them, puzzled.

The girl sighed, "Theo made me call for you so he could hide and jump out," she rolled her eyes as the server boy laughed.

Artie couldn't help but grin, "Wow, thanks guys," he spoke sarcastically.

"Had to pull Abbey away from her important duties refilling water pitchers in empty rooms," he laughed openly, the maid swatting at him. They all laughed, trying to lower the volume, taking looks around them. Theo was often the reason they almost got caught. Also the one most likely to be fired for demeaning the king's duties, Artie had pointed out before. Still, the king enjoyed their presence even though he was mocked, it wasn't the same as Worcestershire. They all received just as much as they gave out, whether it be for bowing to other royals, or dutifully refilling the water pitchers that sat in rooms around the castle, to awkwardly apologising for almost serving someone the wrong food.

"We just wanted to say how glad we are that you're home in one piece. None of us could find you before," Abbey spoke genuinely.

He shook his head, chuckling. "Same." They came to a halt outside another set of grand doors, to the dining room. "Wait... you know about everything already?" he whispered.

"Of course. Us servants listen in at every opportunity we can," she whispered back, raised her eyebrows at him.

"Every opportunity," Theo winked.

He shook his head again, "I'll tell you guys about it later." They nodded at him and quickly left. His eyes fell on the doors in front of him and his smile faded.

"Arthur?"

He startled, looking behind him in the direction of Elena's voice. "Elena," she was gliding towards him. She had a new tiara, of course she had a spare, and a new dress. She looked as perfect as she had done back in her kingdom. The straw haired, sunken eyed girl from back on the boat practically disappeared. He suddenly realised he was supposed to meet her before dinner, he hadn't even thought about it. "I... I was late in the meeting," he gestured down the hall, "I thought you'd be at the table already," he spoke sheepishly.

"I waited out here for you," she smiled lightly. He couldn't tell whether she believed his words or not, "I didn't want to enter without you."

He hesitantly offered his arm for her, she took it. "So... uh, you still want to marry me then?" he chuckled awkwardly.

She blinked at him, "Of course," she bit her lip.

Artie laughed, "I'm kidding, I'm sorry," he lied again, "You know, after all that... I'm not too good at jokes..." his laughter faded as she forced her own laughter at his words.

They both stared at the doors as they slowly approached. "Who were they?" she asked quietly.

"Oh, that was Abbey and Theo... castle staff..." he stared at the dining room doors.

Her brow furrowed a little, "You mentioned their names before... You said they were friends."

"Yeah," he nodded, "Yeah they're friends and staff," he peered at her expression. She only looked confused. Though she had no time to speak in reaction as the grand doors were opened. His family already seated, they looked at the pair as they entered. Elena's grip tightened on his arm. Her steps were hesitant, it was clear she didn't know what to do or say. There was no royal protocol here. No mandatory bowing or greeting, just a family dinner.

"Taking ye time, Artie," Shrek's words were joking, though the frowning and squirming child sat on his knee put some truth to the complaint. He apologised, leading Elena to her seat next to his, before taking his own. Dinner quickly followed.

Everyone sat around the table, for the most part, in silence. Donkey's absence was for once missed, he had opted to find his own family instead of bugging theirs. Puss had also run off without explanation. The two talkers were gone. His aunt had already been filled in by Fiona and her eyes were locked on her daughter almost the entire meal. Elena was the main focal point of conversation when there was any. Polite questions were asked to her, and she politely replied. But there were only so many anyone had the patience for. Elena spent the time either looking at her plate or staring at Fiona. She had been staring at Fiona a lot, not that his cousin noticed much. The triplets were fussy, if anything it made the silence less awkward. They had no interest in anyone's light conversation with them or smiles. They were tired. Everyone was. Artie found himself fighting to keep his eyes open. He realised he had hurriedly left one boring, awkward table for another. He yearned to either find his friends or his bed.

As the meal finished his family disappeared quickly, dealing with the children being their main priority. It left Artie and Elena to themselves, though the silent awkwardness didn't leave. Elena took his arm once again as they slowly made their way back to her room. It was a contrast to how distant she was on the boat. Then again, there were more important eyes roaming around the castle. Servants that would at some point be calling her queen, his wife. Artie couldn't decide if the progress was welcome or not.

"Your aunt is nice," Elena spoke lightly as they climbed the stairs.

"Yeah," Artie nodded, "Yeah she is. She's uh normally more talkative than she was. She's just distracted by what happened to Fiona."

"Mm," Elena looked confused, "I don't understand," she shook her head, "Your cousin, she was happy before when she was green. Now she's had her humanity restored she's not happy," she looked at him. He only looked back questioningly. Artie had thought the answer to her question was obvious. In his silence Elena continued, "Before, in the donkey's story, he said that her beauty was taken by the curse, she couldn't control that. She's beautiful again now, I don't understand why she wouldn't be happy about it."

Artie took a moment to process her confusion. He supposed to a princess beauty was everything. To understand her he had to look at things from her perspective. But for her to understand anything she would need to do the same. "Well, I guess humanity and beauty didn't really work out so well for her happiness before. You know, with the tower," he smirked.

Elena's brow raised, "I suppose not," she took a breath. "She surprised me. I thought that since she was married to him she'd have been uglier than she is. She's beautiful and yet she chose an ogre. She could have had anyone else."

"They're in love," Artie answered simply, "There's nothing else to understand."

The princess grew silent as they approached their destination, though Artie could tell she was thinking. Finally she turned to him as they reached her room, "How did she know a leap of faith like that would work?"

"Aren't we a leap of faith?" he asked her. She had agreed to marry him after only exchanging a few letters, after all.

She paused for a moment, "Yes," she opened the door to her room, frowning a little "You know, I always thought my mother dying was my fairy tale princess moment. But I fear I was wrong. I think last night was instead," she held onto her arms.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you, Elena," Artie looked down, the guilt washing over him yet again.

"It's okay," she spoke quietly, "I'm alive."

When he looked back up to her, she was gazing off in a different direction, that frown creeping back onto her face, eyes glazing over. Artie felt the pulls of jealously unexpectedly rise within him. "Hey," he spoke a little louder than intended, catching her attention, "You are, I'm glad," he smiled at her, though she didn't return the gesture. Her eyes just trailed back into her room.

"Thank you for the kindness, Arthur," she spoke, stepping into the room.

"Um, no problem," he shrugged at her, "Are you sure you don't want to... hang out or anything?" he found himself asking. He didn't know if he even wanted to.

"No, thank you," she shook her head. "I'll see you tomorrow," the corner of her mouth twitched into a smile before the door was closed.


Artie drearily walked from one place to another until he realised he was no longer needed. He had loitered around where the servants were for a while, catching the attention of a couple of his friends. After making excuses for the others and requesting their presence, the group locked themselves in the empty grand ballroom. The server, the maid, the cook's apprentice, the sweeper and the king all lay in a circle, their heads nearly touching. They laid there in the middle of the giant room often, eyes searching the intricately decorated ceiling. The ballroom was completely empty most of the time, it gave the odd band of friends somewhere to hide. It was a game to find something in the patterns and illustrations that the rest hadn't found yet. After a couple of years, winning was a cause for celebration. Though they didn't spend much time searching the ceiling this time around. Artie had much too interesting of a story. He told them everything, they proudly pointed out the details they had overheard. How much his friends knew about secretive royal things often gave the king cause for concern. But over the years he grew to not care. It helped that they all understood everything he did all day. Other friends he had attempted to make never did. He wasn't good at making friends, he never had been. He thought it a miracle that he finally had them. Not that his advisors were too pleased. He was often told with a stern voice to not get too friendly with them. It was how information was leaked to spies, that any one of them could be a spy. But to Artie, friends were so rare he no longer cared about it. He enjoyed their company and they enjoyed his, that's all that mattered to him.

Of course, it wasn't ever long before someone had to drift away, Theo, and Arvin didn't want to miss dinner, Abbey had chores, Reynor didn't stay overnight in the castle and had to get home. Or other days, Artie had an event or a meeting, or some other royal requirement. There were days where Artie wished he could be one of them, be on the same schedule as them, not worry about being seen in fits of laughter with them. Alas he wasn't. He was the most abnormal one.

As expected, the time where the kitchen staff ate came around, Theo and Arvin disappeared with promises to return if Artie hadn't passed out from exhaustion. Reynor had to get home, he'd see them all tomorrow. And Abbey stayed put. They stared at the ceiling longer.

"Hey, there's a leaf..." she pointed, "One with three stalks..."

"Already found it," he dashed her hope.

"I was hoping you'd forgotten," she giggled, "I can't try it with Theo around, he never forgets. But your brain is so full of everything else... it was worth a shot..." she paused. He could hear her hesitant breath, "Are you okay?" she looked over to where he lay beside her.

"Yeah," he didn't catch her eye.

"Theo and Arvin made a bet about whether you'd survive it," she laughed, throwing her hands over her mouth.

"Ha," he grinned, "They did say they were coming back, right? We'll lock them out."

Their laughter faded, again Abbey was hesitant, "I mean, like, are you okay about everything now... the princess..." she trailed off.

Artie didn't know what to say. It was something he had left out of his story to them. The guys didn't really care about his feelings with the princess, or if they did they didn't express it. They asked if she was pretty, if she was okay, if her dad beat him up, and if she smelled good. The conversation moved on. Artie was sure if he had said anything about how uncertain he was they would have listened and given their best advice. But being equally outcast as he was, they largely didn't know either. The only girl any of them spoke to was the one who faithfully lay beside them. He should have known that the maid would stick around just to ask him the awkward, arguably girly questions.

"It's really weird to think I'm getting married," he laughed. It wasn't a lie. It still hadn't sunk in.

There was a pause, "Yeah, it is weird," she turned to him again, a smile on her lips, "You're a taken man now, huh?"

"That is the weirdest part," they laughed, genuinely.

"What was it like to kiss her?" Abbey's question caught him off guard.

"Abbey!" he cringed.

"What?" she laughed loudly, "I want to know if you're embarrassing yourself. I can be your inside on what girls are like."

Artie's face fell, as well intentioned or joking as she was it didn't matter. It hadn't really occurred to him that he hadn't kissed Elena yet. "Well... We... We haven't."

Abbey rolled onto her stomach, propping herself up on her elbows. "Really?" she looked at him. He kept his gaze fixed on the ceiling, feeling his face flush. "I thought you'd have thrown her into your arms, carried her onto the boat," she swooned mockingly, "and, you know, gotten on with it."

He appreciated her joke. Though her laughter faded, her eyes drifted to the marble floor they lay upon.

"Yeah, well, that's how I was planning for it to go, but it didn't," he shrugged, "Not really a surprise there."

"I'm sorry," she offered him a smile, "You'll get there," she tried to brighten herself for him, but somehow she failed. "If you want to talk about anything, I'm always here," she lightly touched his arm, "You know... working for you," her mouth twitched into a smile again. She tapped his arm before moving her hand away.

Artie felt the unease crawl up his spine, "She thinks it's weird," he spoke softly.

"What?" her eyes were on him again.

"She thinks it's weird that I have you guys as friends," he didn't want to look at her to see her reaction.

"Oh..." Abbey's eyes were back on the ground. He could hear the squeak where she rubbed her finger against the polished marble, "Well she'll get used to it," her voice was nonchalant but he could hear the disappointment within her. It hadn't really crossed any of their minds that Artie's eventual partner would have an effect on their friendship. In honesty, Artie couldn't ever imagine Elena laying on the floor with them, or even understanding why Artie did. Abbey had briefly seen her before dinner, he could only assume she was having the same thought.

Abbey offered to be a listening ear, so Artie pressed on, "I'm worried she'll make me stop... talking to you," his statement was met with silence.

The squeaking got louder, more rapid. Artie looked at her, she was staring hard at the floor, brow furrowed. She shrugged erratically, "You are the king I guess," she didn't look at him, "and I'm just your servant." Artie sighed at her reaction, her words were blunt. "It's not like we'd be friends forever anyway..."

"Why not?" he questioned accusingly, sitting up.

She continued to look at the ground, "When you're married you'll be busier, marriage will lead to a family and that'll be even worse. Time alone won't be time alone. You'll never be able to come in here with us anymore. Without you we'll never be allowed in here anyway," she rushed her explanation, "And I might not even work here for much longer."

"Okay," Artie tried to counter her distress, "We might not be able to do this anymore, but we can still talk."

Her eyes finally met his, "It's not really like I- or we – could come visit you. You wouldn't be able to visit us either." She sat up, eyes on the door. "We won't see each other again."

"Abbey, don't be like that..." he reached for her but she stood, dodging his hand.

"I need to go do what I'm supposed to be doing."

She left, quickly. Artie stared at the door she closed behind her. He laid back down on the hard marble floor. She was right. He knew that. He would lose all of the friends he made at the castle eventually. They'd be replaced by royals and high lords and ladies. He could feel the lump growing in his throat. He'd be as lonely as he was in Worcestershire, except this time he'd have to pretend to like everyone. Perhaps even including his wife. Tears pricked his eyes, he blinked them back. He was tired. Very tired. His eyes drifted back towards the door. He wanted her to come back, he wanted anyone to come back. He wanted to talk. But the door remained closed. Abbey never left like that. She always faithfully sat and listened, even when she didn't understand. This particular problem hurt her, just as much as it was hurting him. He realised that it might be the last day he ever got to talk to her, those implications in mind. He put his hands over his face. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to live with that, he already missed her.


AN: This went on far longer than I intended, this wasn't supposed to be a full chapter at all. But the filler needed to do its job. Sorry about that! I need to stop apologising... sorry...