Questions
"I have a pretty new play thing. Here, isn't she beautiful?" the witch shoved Abbey backwards, behind her. The girl fell, continuing to cry and trying to shout for him.
Artie couldn't find his voice, he still couldn't even find a breath to take. He turned back to the door, attempting to open it, but it wouldn't budge.
"Not as good as my last one, I will admit," she frowned, "You killed my Felix," the witch spoke accusingly, "I needed to find someone else. Why not the king's pretty little affair? You did betray her after all."
He ignored the words, hammering his fists on the door, Abbey was still screaming. The ball was too loud below them, their pleas unheard. The sickness he felt in his stomach crawled into his throat. He'd spent many balls and events escaping and running the empty hallways with his friends. He'd always told his bodyguards to leave him be, that nothing would happen. They stood in all the entrances, they watched him, but didn't follow. Or at least, they left a reasonable gap between him and themselves to make it appear that they weren't following. He could never be sure. He could only hope that was the case and they'd find him.
For now, he turned slowly. The witch was waiting for him. She smiled as he met her gaze. "There we are. No one is coming for you. It's just you and me now, King Arthur," she paused, "Oh and her. We can't forget about her. Not that you would," she laughed.
He didn't know how to feel. One part of him felt angry, the control was slipping out of his hands once again. But the other felt weak and inferior; he'd heard of troubles and incidents other kingdoms had faced and everyone seemed to overcome them. They were strong and brave and rose to the challenge. Artie found his only options were calling for help and trying to escape. His eyes drifted to Abbey, she was in a much worse position than him. She broke their eye contact to look down, hanging her head in defeat. Artie took a breath, she was relying on him, as was his kingdom. They had lied to the kingdom about what really happened on the ship to make him look bigger and braver. That's the side of the story he heard from other kingdoms, not the real ones. For all he knew, the other kings would curl up in a ball and cry in the face of a struggle like this. As much as Artie wanted to do just that, he didn't.
"King Arthur, answer this," she paused, "Will you give me the kingdom or will I have to take it from you?" she glanced back at Abbey, a threat, he assumed.
"You can't have my kingdom," he clenched his fists, standing his ground. He didn't want to give in. He wanted to be a hero; the king the kingdom deserved, like his uncle.
The witch only smiled at him again. "I'll ask you the question again, but allow me to explain something first. I want you to make an educated decision. Do you recall how me and Felix worked together? Oh I'm sure you do, hm?"
Artie nervously glanced to Abbey, her eyes were full of tears. "You-you lost your power since then... Felix said... he said..." suddenly the doubt crashed upon him. He never liked him nor trusted him. Perhaps he was right not to. He felt numb.
"I imagine he did tell you about my fate before he tragically passed. He was right," the witch openly disproved Artie's doubts, "I lost some power, just a little bit, but you see..." she stopped, wandering the room a little. "Let's put it this way, say you wanted to catch someone, you'd planned to catch them one way for a while, but you hit a bump in the road, that way doesn't work anymore. What would you do, King Arthur?"
He blinked at her question, "I-I would find a different way."
"Plan B, correct," she laughed, "You think I planned things for that long and didn't have multiple back up plans?" she stared at him, waiting for an answer, "Hm?"
"...No," he felt defeated. He'd had so many distractions, so much to worry about. Felix's assurances that she was relatively harmless put him too much at ease. He left it to the security team, he hadn't stressed anything. It wasn't important to him when he got home. Not like it should have been. He was too wrapped up in his own head, with girls, that he wasn't thinking about his kingdom. He suddenly became aware of the weight the crown had on his head.
"You want her?" the witch looked back at Abbey, "You can have her, fine."
The witch tugged the rope from her wrists off and pulled the gag from around the girl's mouth. Grabbing her arm, she dragged Abbey onto her feet and pushed her at Artie. The king caught her and she gripped onto him. A small part of his brain was screaming at him that they'd never been that close before. He ignored it, feeling the relief rushing over his body that she was okay.
"You can have her if..." The witch held her hand out at Abbey, she clenched her wrinkled fist and the girl doubled over in pain. The relief was short lived. He tightened his grip, holding her against him so she didn't fall to the ground. She clung to the tunic he wore, her hands shaking, body trembling. "If you hand over the kingdom," she finished her statement.
Abbey whimpered, her body rigid in pain. Artie could feel himself start to tremble. The whole kingdom or one girl. Back in school he'd been posed a similar hypothetical question. Would you rather save one important person, or a big group of others? It was a question that tested morality, sacrifice and selfishness. It was a big debate between his classmates. He'd firmly been on the side of saving the group. The one person could make the sacrifice, they'd understand. It was better to save more after all. He looked to Abbey. But he had never anticipated that one person being that important in his life, his girlfriend... But... she wasn't his girlfriend. She was just a maid, who he got close to. King's would have affairs and make questionable actions with their maids sometimes, he'd heard of that... and thought about it distastefully. He'd be handing over his kingdom for a maid, that's how his people would see it. They'd look upon it distastefully too. He couldn't. But then again, he couldn't lose her.
"Don't," Abbey shook her head, she gasped for breath, "I told you before," she looked up at him, "don't be stupid."
The sickness crawled up his throat. It was the same decision as before; Abbey or the kingdom. This time around he couldn't imagine there would be such an easy loophole. He couldn't even make the decision when there weren't such great consequences. Or maybe he did in the end, he said 'I do' after all.
"Stop hurting her!" he demanded weakly, choosing to ignore the thoughts spinning in his head. He wasn't sure what he was achieving, chastising himself for being so stupid. Abbey's weight only became heavier as her legs buckled.
The witch laughed at his feeble attempt to take control, "Then stop it, King Arthur," she grinned at him, "Just say the word, or..." she pointed at the maid once more, the girl shrieking in pain.
"Fine-Fine!" Artie shouted at her, "Stop."
"Artie no," the girl moaned at him, "Let me go."
The witch grabbed her arm and pulled her away from him. He held onto her but she didn't hold onto him, instead working against him to loosen his grip. "Now now, the King has made his decision," she smirked at him.
Artie only looked at the pair of them, feeling confused. He could feel the pain from where Abbey's grip had been so tight, she'd misshapen his tunic a little. It didn't add up that she would leave him so willingly. A rock formed in the pit of his stomach as he realised the witch had more control over her than the pain. It certainly explained the odd behaviour with her leading him away, her lack of warning, or even her lack of presence. He didn't want to think about what the witch would do with her once he was out of the way. He recalled what happened to Felix...
But. Things still didn't add up. When she took over Felix's body, she disappeared, he didn't remember things. It was a lot more complicated. It wasn't the same. He furrowed his brow.
"Now, King Arthur," she smirked at him again, "How would you like to settle this. I know normally there would be meetings and officials and bore, but I'm afraid I'm in a hurry. There's a group of important people downstairs I'd need to introduce myself to," her voice was confident.
Artie ignored her for a moment, catching sight of a sack in the corner. There were a couple of empty potion bottles. He looked back to the witch, his mind racing. Maybe her magic wasn't entirely magic. It was potions... He recalled her flexing her power on the ship, making the waves appear, the rain, the control over the clouds. He remembered Felix's power, barely needed spells to cast magic. Artie took deep breaths trying to focus his mind, thinking hard back to the few lessons he had with Mr Merlin. He remembered the warm buzz magic created when something was cast on it. The king stepped back, against the door, he could feel the warmth radiating from it. The door wasn't just held closed by her power. It was a spell or a potion. It wasn't something she did herself, but something created… by a witch, any normal witch. That meant... it meant Felix was right.
His eyes landed on the water pitcher, the water that was in every sitting room, waiting for someone to need it. He needed it more than ever now. The witch began to follow his gaze, confused by his silence, he looked away quickly.
"You're going to kill me," he spoke the first words on his mind, he sounded uneasy and scared. Her eyes lit up, her smile grew. He knew what would happen if he couldn't reach it in time. Artie knew he couldn't just run for it, she'd surely stop him, or maybe she'd have Abbey stop him. Either way, she would be alerted to his plan. The only plan he had.
"That does seem like the most effective method, hm?" her eyes were sparkling.
"Just please don't hurt my family, they'll leave you alone," he realised that if his plan didn't work, there would be trouble. A lot of it. The triplets had already been put to bed, their parents in the ballroom. There was no quick way to flee the castle, "They'll protect the children, you know that," he bargained with her as she watched him sceptically. "And let Abbey free," Abbey was slightly behind the witch, closer to the pitcher. "Those are my conditions," he concluded.
"Or what?" the smirk tugged at her lips again.
The king sighed, defeatedly, she was right. He shrugged, "I-I don't know," he admitted, "I just need you to honour it."
She narrowed her eyes at him before nodding once. Now he had checked off his mental to-do list, he had to ham it up for yet another magic user.
"Can-Can I just say something to Abbey before... before we do this?"
She rolled her eyes, "Fine, make it quick," she snapped at him. She didn't move, slumping her shoulders, though her gaze was fixed on him.
Artie uncomfortably moved his gaze to Abbey, "Abbey?"
She had tears in her eyes, she started moving towards him, but the witch held her arm out, stopping the girl's movement.
"You can say things," the witch clarified the boundary.
Artie cleared his throat, "Abbey," watching a tear fall over her cheek made the realisation hit him; his plan was shaky at best. A knot tied itself in his throat. He had to try. "Abbey, I wish I had realised things sooner," he spoke genuinely.
She nodded, sniffing, "Me too."
"We've got so many memories together," his mind was racing, "Like the ballroom and everything with Arvin, Theo and Rey. You know the jokes Theo would make..." he dared glance at the pitcher and back to her again.
"I'll miss the ballroom ceiling," Abbey was oblivious.
Artie tried not to show his disappointment, "Right?" he forced a chuckle, it seemed a little fake. He shifted his gaze to the witch again, his heart pounding. The witch was watching him carefully, but her posture, her expression, she was bored. "Remember the joke Theo made," Artie made a second attempt, "about our duties, that was the best, I'll miss that."
Abbey's brow crossed, confused by his words.
"The one about your very important duties. You know?" he glanced again at the water, "He'd always make fun of it, but I always appreciated it."
The puzzlement didn't move from her face, "With the w-"
"You know what I mean," he interrupted her quickly, he raised his eyebrows at her.
The witch suddenly shifted, catching onto his change of expression. She turned to Abbey and back to him. She coyly approached him a little further, "What are you doing, King Arthur?"
Artie gulped, "N-nothing... Nothing, I'm having my last words," he looked to Abbey in desperation, but the witch cut off his gaze, standing between them.
"Words over, it's time."
Artie's eyes widened, "Wait... I just-"
"No, you're done," the witch corrected him, she smiled, "Now, of course I'll pretend you put up more of a fight. Don't worry, King Arthur. I'd like it to sound a little more difficult than it was myself. Though, I do love how quickly you'd give up so many people just to save the likes of one. They'll appreciate that, I'm sure."
Artie struggled to breathe, his back was pressed against the warm, buzzing door, it was building quite a sweat.
She held out a hand, "The crown?" she asked.
Shakily, he lifted it off his head, slowly handing it to her. Much to his dismay, she tossed it onto the ground without taking her eyes off of him. She reached up her long sleeve and pulled out a dark, twisted, wooden wand. She definitely hadn't needed a wand before. Still, he didn't know how quickly she'd be able to shoot something at him with it. He didn't know how much time he had, "Abbey! Th-"
"Wait!" Abbey cut off his desperate call, "Wait... Take me with him," her words were absolute. It was enough to make the witch pause. "I'll only be in your way. I know he made his decision, but this is mine."
The witch narrowed her eyes at him before she turned to the girl. Artie was about to protest when he heard the splash. Abbey threw the water from the pitcher directly into the witch's face. Their assailant shrieked in pain, clawing at her dissolving face, dropping the wand in the process. Abbey dropped the pitcher, it shattered onto the ground and she hurried to Artie's side. They watched in mute horror, holding onto each other, as the witch slowly melted in front of them. They pressed their backs harder against the door, trying to avoid the steam being released by the spectacle. The witch's voice grew smaller and smaller still until she was nothing but a pile of clothes on the ground in front of them.
The pair took several moments more, not even breathing as they stared at the empty clothing.
"I will never be mad at Theo's jokes again," Abbey finally spoke, relief strewn through her voice.
"Me neither," Artie laughed, suddenly realising how out of breath he was.
They looked at each other, grinning. Simultaneously they realised they were still clinging onto each other. They both stepped apart, their laughter turning a little awkward.
"Are you okay?" Artie asked her, concerned, "What did she do to you?"
Abbey looked to the ground, shrugging, "I was on my way back here to find you after I heard what happened... you know... after the wedding. She took me and told me if I didn't help her she would hurt my family," her brow furrowed, "I couldn't take that chance, Artie. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," he reassured her softly.
"She cast a spell on me so that she could control me tonight," the girl shuddered, "It was the weirdest feeling. I could see and feel everything, I just couldn't- wait-" she looked at him suspiciously, "Who was that girl you were dancing with?" there was a glimmer of amusement in her eye.
"Oh," Artie inwardly kicked himself, "That was... that was the girl I had a crush on in high school."
"The one who picked on you?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah," he shrugged nonchalantly, "She was crown chasing, and I couldn't make a scene."
Abbey shook her head, laughing a little, "How many times are you going to not make a scene and crush me, Artie?"
"Not ever again," he spoke truthfully, he meant it. She smiled at him, her eyes sparkling. He wanted to hold her again, even kiss her, but he wasn't sure. He couldn't shake the memory of her face when he'd said 'I do' at the altar. All that waiting he'd done for her, despite it not being her fault, he worried it might have changed things.
Abbey didn't advance either, instead, she looked down apprehensively at the witch's clothing. "What do we do now?"
"I'll have to find someone to investigate this... and..." he hesitated, the last thing he wanted was to get caught up in an investigation and have countless meetings all night, he dropped his sentence, "Well... I invited you to the ball," he gestured to the door, "So if you wanted to go with me, you could... I mean, you look the part," he nodded at the ballgown she was wearing, "If-If you want..."
"I've never been to a ball before," she grinned at him before dropping her eyes to her dress, "And even though the witch forced me to wear it... I kinda like it," she lifted the skirt, "Is that weird?"
"No," he chuckled at her, "You look... you're beautiful," he was hesitant in his words.
"Thank you," she looked down, cheeks reddening, hair falling in front of her face, "Wait!" she announced for the second time that evening, "Don't forget this, King Arthur," she hopped over the clothing to retrieve his crown, then paused, digging around the sack he had caught sight of earlier. She proudly pulled out an unused potion, "To remove the magic on the door!"
The pair ran down the hallway together, hand in hand. Artie had taken time to find someone, explain in short and most importantly instruct them to not disturb him for the rest of the night. It gave Abbey enough time to freshen herself up and wipe away the evidence of her tears. Despite everything, he was excited, it helped that he was holding her hand, both their palms equally sweaty after their close encounter.
They paused as they reached the door to the grand ballroom, Abbey was beaming, he even realised he'd not felt that excited about a royal event in a long time. They entered, instinctively withdrawing their hands from each other. The ball hadn't changed, the music was still loud, the people talking and laughing. Artie held his head high as they reached the staircase together. Though, people caught sight of them, the pause spread quickly through the room; everyone's eyes fixed on them. The king sucked in a breath, not expecting the reaction. He looked to Abbey, she was rooted to the spot, staring right back at them. Artie remembered protocol, he offered her his arm. As much as he didn't want to draw attention to them, it would only be stranger for the pair to scurry down the stairs separately. "Abbey?" he prompted her after a moment of no response.
She finally drew her gaze to him, then his arm, "Oh," she carefully took it, "Is that right?" she asked him hesitantly.
He nodded at her. They looked out at the people again. He noticed his family; Donkey tapping at Shrek's leg, gesturing to them. The secret was out. He began to lead her down the steps.
"What if I fall?" she whispered her anxiety at him, "I'm wearing a long, fancy dress."
"You won't," he chuckled at her as they began their descent.
"Everyone is watching me, and that-that girl who likes you..."
Artie looked out at the crowd again, scanning faces for Guinn. He found her, scowling at him, pushing past people towards the exit. "She's actually leaving right now," he allowed himself a small smirk.
"Ha," Abbey smiled, "When we get down you can describe it to me, I can't look away from these steps."
Finally they reached the bottom, the room still in eerie silence. Abbey mutely looked to him, panic in her eyes. He put his other hand atop hers, maintaining her grip on his arm and lead her through the crowd, murmuring welcomes and thank you's at people as they parted to allow them to the dance floor. People cleared the floor for them, staring at them.
"Artie, I can't dance," Abbey hesitated, beginning to pull her arm away from him.
"Neither can I," he shrugged at her. She allowed him to pull her closer. He placed one of her hands upon his shoulder and took the other. He nodded at the band who began to softly play the music. "Now, you take one step one way," he lead her in that direction, "And then another this way." She looked down at their feet. "It's the simplest way to dance, it's... the only way I really know how," he admitted.
She looked back up to him, "Okay," though her brow crossed, "Why are we doing this? In front of all of these people?"
A little bit of panic, not yet used up, spread through him, "Well, they'll leave us alone after one dance," he explained in short, shrugging a little, "And maybe they'll all leave me alone, because they'll know I'm with you..." his eyes widened in surprise a little, "You know... You're my guest."
She nodded, glancing back down at their feet, "Right, I'm your guest," she confirmed.
He desperately tried to analyse the statement, part of him wanted to shout at the band to stop playing for a second and for her to repeat it. She sounded somewhat sad to him, but then again he was hoping for that. The thoughts spiralled through his head as they stepped this way and that throughout the dance. The more they stiffly moved together, the more awkward it was becoming. Abbey had managed to ease, but he could see her cheeks growing red again. He had to do something, whether that be make a move or lead them off the dance floor. Except, the longer he took deciding, the more excruciating the decision was becoming. He finally decided he was definitely overthinking it; they had willingly kissed before, under much worse circumstances, she had waited all the way up to the wedding for him to choose her, and of course, how she acted and what she said in the room with the witch. Considering all evidence, he figured he could at least try something. With his decision, he could feel his heart begin to race again. He let go of her hand, she looked at him wide eyed at his movement. Instead, he placed his hand on her back and very gently pulled her a little closer. She blinked at him in shock.
"Is that okay?" he whispered hesitantly.
She studied his face for just a moment before she nodded meekly, placing her stray hand upon his shoulder, "That's fine," she whispered in return, holding back a smile. She slipped her hands over his shoulders, crossing her arms behind his neck, pulling them so close she was leaning on him.
Their movement slowed to a sway. It was romantic. Artie could barely breathe, trying to chew back the grin that was threatening to take over his face. The murmurs of the crowd brought them back to his attention, he tried harder to shut them out. This was his moment, their moment. He didn't want the attention of his kingdom to hold him back from whatever was going on; he wasn't totally sure, he just knew that he liked it.
"I'm so glad we're both alive," Abbey breathed into his shoulder.
"Same," he replied equally as quietly as the song ended, the music fading.
They reluctantly parted, though, he didn't let his hands leave her waist, holding onto her. He didn't want to let go. She too, held onto his arms. They stared at each other for a moment. The crowd's applause broke their eye contact. They smiled at their audience. He was brought back to when he first started as king; the nervous embarrassment he felt whenever people clapped for him.
Artie expected the music to start up again and for people to join them, but no one moved, everything remained silent aside from some shuffling. Artie turned, realising Shrek was headed his way. He crossed his brow, confused. The ogre didn't say anything as he approached, seeming overly self-conscious himself. He only stuffed something into Artie's hand. It didn't take long before Artie realised it was a ring. He looked, startled at Shrek, who winked at him as he silently departed. The king looked to his family, his aunt was smiling at him; it was her ring. The thought almost made him lose his breath.
"Artie?" Abbey asked him quietly.
He blinked back his surprise. He turned to her, she was shifting her gaze nervously around the room; everyone staring at them. He glanced down to what he held in his hand. It was a little delicate ring with a diamond. It closed it into his fist before she could notice. He took a breath. "Hey," he smiled at her, she smiled awkwardly back. "Abbey? I-I need to ask you something," he hesitated.
She stepped closer, "What?" her voice was soft and anticipatory.
His palms were growing sweaty, he held tightly onto the ring. "I was... I was just wondering, if..." he wasn't sure if he was doing it right, his only practice had been Elena and that hadn't gone too smoothly. Abbey was being patient, watching him. Her wide eyes made him smile a little, despite his nerves. "If you would be my girlfriend?"
There were soft coos from the closest audience. Abbey's eyes widened, a smile spread over her face, she nodded, "Yes, I think I'd like to be your girlfriend," she grinned at him, giggling a little.
The smile was infectious, it spread over his face too. He slipped the ring into his pocket. He'd just gotten married to one girl after a rushed introduction. He didn't want to do it again. Especially not with her. She didn't need to rush into being queen as well. He wanted to do absolutely everything he could to make sure she was okay with their relationship, even if that meant taking training one step at a time. He'd wait. He'd wait forever if he had to, heirs or not.
AN: Another tiny change here. There will not be another royal wedding. But yeah, wow the previous version was full of plot holes, biggest one being nothing happened with the witch. So. Here we go. All tied up!
