Fate: Servant and Cook

by Serenarey Chiba

Shirou is forced back in time to save Arturia from her downfall, though he doesn't know how or what to do about it. He's not a fighter, but an idealist. Is he supposed to use his ideals to oppose, or supplement Arturia's? Saber/Shirou

8. Arc I: Trials and Errors 8

So, before the intro and ending notes, and possible corrections I make along the way, this chapter came to 14,497 words. I managed to make it right within that 15k closure. Whelp, here's the next chapter. The story will be turning in a different direction after this chapter. Enjoy!

I also want to give a huge thanks to all those who have reviewed (26 for ch7), faved (298), or followed (397). I cannot say this does not bring me immense joy. So, thank you to all of you!

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When Zago had first proposed the plan, Shirou had told him pointblank: "No way in hell, Zago."

Unfortunately for Shirou, with the both of them being practically the only two people in the kitchen during the night service aside of Dai and Telyn, he didn't have much of an opportunity to run away either. Of course, after that first night, it wasn't as if they'd really been by themselves after that either. One of the two, either Dai or Telyn, had always been by their side, making sure they were doing their work as was required of them. This did offer Shirou some room for evasion though – Zago couldn't corner him about his ridiculous plan if someone was watching them at all times.

It had been a couple of weeks since Shirou had first told Zago off, but the other man was quite persistent. It wasn't exactly that Zago couldn't take no for an answer, but probably more that Shirou hadn't bothered to even give the idea much thought in the first place. If he was going to stand out, he wanted it to be done in a good way, like by achieving a higher rank through good, wholesome hard work. Maybe if he had been part of the Upper Echelon when Zago had pitched the idea, then maybe, just maybe, things might have been different. As it was, he wasn't, and so as far as he was concerned, no matter what Zago said or did, there was no way in hell that he would ever participate.

"Come on, dude, at least hear me out."

At current, the two were walking down a corridor to the castle gardens in the northern wing. Shirou wasn't really one for flowers, but the gardens had been recommended to him by Eos, so he'd decided to check it out when he got the chance. He supposed they should have been sleeping, – working four shifts every day really wore him out incredibly – but Zago had used his benefits to get them both the evening service off. As Zago was still in the process of proving himself capable of staying committed to his work, it was actually somewhat miraculous that he'd been able to pull that off. Honestly, though, Shirou believed it had more to do with the current happenings at the castle right then.

Shirou had awoken one morning to the sounding of horns, and had jumped out of bed, his heart racing and adrenaline pumping. Apparently, the troops had gathered on the main grounds that day, with the king in attendance, to march off for another battle. Where to, he wasn't quite sure, but just hoped that she returned back safely. Obviously, her lore indicated that up until her final battle, she had only ever known victory and returned unwounded, thanks to a certain sheath, but that didn't mean he couldn't worry.

However, with that being the case, a majority of the soldiers were no longer within the city walls, and so the kitchen help was not required to service as many people as usual. According to Baeddan, though, the king had supposedly said they were still under lockdown with the one-meal-a-day thing. That had caused another eruption of cries from the staff as well, although Shirou still, for some reason, couldn't believe that King Arthur would ever make such a ridiculous order. When they were together in the War, he remembered her tendency to try and shove food down Rin's throat.

"Battles cannot be fought on an empty stomach!" Saber had protested one day to Rin. "What if you're attacked while hungry?"

"How long are you going to ignore me, brother?"

Shirou smirked slightly as he recalled Rin's horrified expression. The mirth he'd felt that day had been almost as great as the time Rin had discovered she would have to pay for every single smartphone she had broken within the span of a month. That, he remembered, had been one of the most amusing days of his life. Of course, he was also happy he hadn't had to deal with the force of her anger at the cell phone shop as well – he had also told her of the stupidity of choosing the most expensive phone there. How could she be such a spendthrift with most things and then the second she has to deal with something that she knows nothing about, she goes out and buys the most expensive and detail-filled one possible? Just because something is pricier doesn't exactly mean that it will be better. Well, she got her just rewards for not listening to him.

"It's seriously not that bad of an idea, man."

In any case, Shirou simply couldn't understand the food situation. More supplies were due to ship in within another month or so, but no one foresaw any storms as bad as the first two sweeping through the area, so he couldn't figure out why the meal restriction wasn't repealed. At first, most of the staff had been able to somewhat deal with the new "law", so to speak, but as the days went by, Shirou saw people start dragging their feet more. More accidents than usual started taking place – fires were raised, destruction was caused, incidents occurred, and Baeddan had grown ever so slightly annoyed with each disaster.

Shirou was actually happy that there was less work to do in the kitchen and more time to wander about as he pleased – Baeddan had such a short fuse lately that it didn't matter how good someone was at doing something as they were guaranteed to be yelled at regardless. Shirou had to hand it to Baeddan though – he was taking heat from both his superiors and subordinates. The latter, on one hand, was furious with the measures, and constantly pestered the Head Cook to get them cancelled. The former, on the other hand, was resentful that a mere cook should even think to bother them about a ruling that the king himself had made.

"That fool king would never have made such a ridiculous ruling. He may know of nothing else, but he certainly appreciates a person's need for consuming sustenance," Baeddan had confided to Shirou one day, only after grilling the redhead as to why he couldn't cut things faster. "There's some other power riding behind this decision – I would bet the person is right under our noses with us none the wiser. I would even hazard the guess that the king himself is unaware of what is happening right now."

"Like what? Are one of his knights rebelling, or trying to act in his stead?"

"No, nothing nearly so dire, I doubt," had come the reply, filled with bitterness. "No. This is linked to someone close to the king, but who ultimately does not hold as much power as he himself believes he does. I would much like to kill this man, or even woman, for causing me as many issues as have cropped up. Preferably with a rusted spoon. Slowly, and decisively."

Shirou honestly did feel bad for the main cook, though. With King Arthur out of town for who knew how long, there was no way for him to personally confront her about the issue. As there weren't any other leads to who might have given the order in the king's place, Baeddan had no choice but to duck his head like everyone else and accept the punishment, so to speak. It honestly didn't affect him whatsoever, considering his status, nor did it affect any of the Upper Echelons, but he had to put more effort in getting people to work harder the longer they were deprived the food they needed to function. What was worse, Shirou supposed, was the fact that the common citizen in the city was probably eating more meals per day than a castle servant. That would have made far more sense were he referring to the higher-class citizens, for Camelot, too, had its shares of social class diversity; the lower-class citizens also had more access to food as well, though, as they could venture out beyond the castle walls with permission and hunt for themselves.

Servants within the castle did not have nearly so much freedom; living within the castle walls was both a blessing and a curse – each member was guaranteed room and board, as well as permission to travel its lengths and see a world that those unaffiliated with the castle would never be able to see, but without the permission of the royal members, the court, or someone else in a superior position, they were effectively trapped with no other places to go. Servants were essentially birds stuck within a cage, with no way out unless they moved up, and common citizens were given free rein to do whatever they desired, within reason, but they would never receive the protection from the less-than-desirable forces of the outside world as the servants would. Life in Camelot, or maybe anywhere in this time period, was a double-edged sword, to be sure.

"It's not like I'm going to just vanish. Dude, I'm right here. Look at me."

Baeddan's indignant fury had only been slightly tempered by the fact that King Arthur had come through on a part of her promise. Now, Shirou didn't know where the hell she'd procured the materials, or how hard she'd possibly had to fight to get stuff done, but by the first week's end, every room housing servants within the east wing had received a package wrapped with malleable, soft leather with a small note written on parchment paper. The leather, they'd had to give back to the deliverer, but the contents and the letter were theirs to do what they would with.

Zago had opened the package immediately as soon as the leather had touched his hands – Shirou had just looked at the deliverer, since the man had seemed none too happy to be giving them anything. When Zago had gasped aloud, which was fairly rare for the laid-back man to bother doing, the redhead had turned his gaze to look at the contents, only for both of his eyebrows to arch up in complete and genuine surprise. In his hands were two beautifully sewn, thick, brown and red blankets. The insides must have been filled with feathers as it was incredibly soft and felt ridiculously warm just by touching it.

"Whoa, what the flying...?" Zago had begun, unable to do much but continue staring at the gift in his hands. "This is some expensive looking shit..."

The deliverer had merely sneered as he'd swiped the leather back, derision creeping into his voice when he'd said, "I don't see what makes you two idiots any more important than anyone else here. Why do you get blankets first, and why are they so much better than everyone else's? I'll bet you two dumbasses cheated your way into getting those."

With that, the deliverer had stomped away, fuming. Zago hadn't bothered to pay the guy any attention – he had been far too busy rubbing the blanket to his face with happiness. Shirou had flipped around the piece of paper before unfolding it and taking a look at what was written. He had soon found that he couldn't read a single word – Myrus obviously hadn't taught him how to read or write with those potions – and he had been forced to make Zago read it aloud for the both of them instead. Zago had pushed one blanket towards Shirou – the red one, to match his hair, Shirou guessed – and read out the words written in perfect calligraphy:

"I confer upon you these blankets made from the furs of the greatest hunters within the walls of Camelot. I ask that you only consider this as a present in gratitude for the information you supplied me previously. My last request to you is that you would eliminate evidence that this exchange ever occurred. May you sleep with warmth. Sincerely, King Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon."

"Whoa..." was all both Shirou and Zago could manage after reading the note.

They had indeed burned the note with the fire of their candle, but that night had been the first one where they neither had woken up midway through the night shivering due to the cold – at least, not more than once. Shirou wasn't quite sure what kinds of blankets the other servants had received, but he did know for certain they were not nearly as well-made or as expensive looking as the ones he and Zago had gotten. He also wasn't sure why his room had been the first to get anything, but if nothing else, he felt like the king had been trying to prove a point, like not being someone who would "seek the deaths of those who care for [her] castle".

She must have gotten every single one of her tailors and seamstresses to work on those blankets at the cost of having a good night's rest the entire week. Shirou supposed he should have felt bad for them, but he really couldn't be bothered to give a damn. What the king wanted, she got, after all. With King Arthur being gone though, Shirou hadn't had a chance to thank her in any way. Well, he would just have to force his way up through the ranks – that would show her he was at least making an effort to be better.

"Okay, seriously!" Zago said angrily, pushing back at Shirou's chest to make him stop walking. "Stop ignoring me and pay attention!"

Shirou frowned at the blond, and turned his gaze away. "I told you I'm not interested in your scheme. I've got enough problems on my plate."

"Look, just listen to the plan at least, okay? You barely let me say a few words that night and have basically been on the run from me ever since!"

"That's because the idea is moronic, and we'll get into serious trouble if we're caught. Everyone already knows me just from how I look – they'll never let me live down any mistakes."

"I get that, I do. I swear I do. But look, man, this is for the greater good!"

They were right inside of the stairwell that let out into the courtyard gardens. Zago must have realized that Shirou was trying to escape there as visitors to the gardens were meant to stay quiet in respect to the plants and royal court. Shirou sighed when he realized he'd be found out but turned to Zago with his arms crossed.

"Fine," the redhead muttered. "Lay it on me. I'll admit I should probably have the full details before telling you 'no', which I will be doing, regardless."

Zago held up his hands in a placating manner, a grin on his face.

"Okay, lo and behold, the amazing masterpiece that I have created!" Zago began in a hushed tone, keenly aware of how close in proximity the two were to the gardens. "Okay, so, you know how the king ordered that stupid one-meal-a-day thing?"

When Shirou just frowned at him and said nothing in return, Zago just took it in stride. Grinning, he rubbed his hands together, saying,

"So, I was thinking that we could put those cooking skills of yours to good use. Tell me, buddy, how much food do we throw out each day that goes entirely uneaten by the main populace of the castle?"

"Kilos of it," Shirou responded lazily.

Zago paused at that. "What's a 'kilo'?"

"Never mind," Shirou replied with a sigh. "Go on."

"Anyway, so, yeah. All that food just goes to waste. I've been thinking that we could, you know, 'procure' that 'trash' for ourselves and use it in a way that would befit all of the servants more. Like, a behind-the-scenes market, or an underground chain. I, and some people I know pretty well, could go and reclaim the wasted goods, and bring them to you in a secure location, and we could basically create an area that only the servants know about and divvy out the creations you make to everyone. Then everyone could eat like normal person, and the higher ups would be none the wiser!"

Shirou just stared at him for a short while, neither moving nor saying a single word. Zago kept grinning, obviously proud of himself.

"That's it?" Shirou finally ended up asking. "That's your grand plan? Your masterpiece?"

"What?" Zago asked in reply, taken aback. "What's wrong with it?"

"What isn't wrong with it, Zago?" the Japanese shot back, irritated. "Do you know how many holes there are in your plan? You want to steal that food? You want to create some underground chain in the castle where all the servants just happen to frequent without anyone noticing at all? How would you even steal the food? Where the hell would we even cook it? How would we cook it? And how the hell wouldn't we be found? And you want me to cook everything? I may have extra time now that practically all of the soldiers and knights are gone, but what about when they get back? You and I will both be back to working four shifts a day. Neither of us will have time for some stupid underground chain. It's not even remotely plausible!"

"I know of some places in the tunnels that are never used. We could do it there. As for the food, I know of all the places where they dump the remaining stuff, and it'd be nothing short of simple for me to get my hands on all of it. We could build fires down there and no one would ever notice. It's perfect, dude!"

Shirou continued glaring at Zago. "You're nuts. Does the word 'stealing' mean absolutely nothing to you? What if we're caught? I'm telling you that this has disaster written all over it. Not even I'm dumb enough to attempt something as stupid as this. And why am I stuck cooking everything?"

"Why are you so stuck on this stealing thing? And why do you keep assuming we'll be caught? We'll be fine. I've got it in the bag."

"I assume it because that's what's going to happen, damn it," Shirou argued, pointing at Zago determinedly before turning and walking away. "My luck sucks balls and Eos has an eye on you constantly. There is no way this will turn out for the best. Ever. And your plan has a shitload of holes in it."

Zago followed behind Shirou as the latter walked into the courtyard, a protest dying at his lips as he looked around the area. The first thing Shirou noticed when he stepped into the garden area was the immediate warmth that flowed around him as magic washed over his body. It felt almost like summer, so he was surprised that hardly anyone was around except for one woman with two guards on the far side of the courtyard. He paused to take in the sight in front of him – the entire square garden was filled to the brim with flowers galore. He wasn't a flower fanatic by any means, but even he knew a few of the types: roses, of course, some foxgloves, orchids, violets, daffodils, poppies, primroses, heaths... They were all in a state of bloom as well, which is probably due to it being so warm.

"This place gives me the creeps," Zago whispered, his eyes constantly darting left and right. "Something about it just screams 'stay away'. Dude, let's head back."

"What are you talking about? It's really nice and warm in here. It's got a nice ambiance."

Zago frowned at him slightly. "That should only be possible for those close to the court. All normal servants get this sense that they don't belong here, so that's why you don't see anyone here, even though it practically feels like summer. It's like something is crawling up my spine and ready to pierce my skull with some kind of poison dart or something. You don't feel that way?"

"...No?"

The blond gave him one more glance up and down, his gaze full of suspicion. Shirou turned away from his piercing eyes and instead walked further into the courtyard, his own gaze focused completely on the bubbling fountain in front of him. That was probably induced magically as well, considering how precious a resource clean water was. Magic must have been continuously cycling it around so that nothing was left to waste. He cocked his head to the side a bit and frowned as he tried to sense the prana. It was probably a very simple spell that kept the water going along, but it was still beyond him to attempt. He just couldn't understand the concept behind most spells.

"Fine, then you'll talk to me about the plan more?" Zago persisted.

"As I recall, I said no," he murmured back, making sure to stay silent. "No way am I giving anyone enough justification to kick me out, and besides, I kind of enjoy working in the kitchen now."

"So, you're completely cool with only eating once per day?"

That made Shirou hesitate a bit. He hadn't been particularly happy about that announcement either, and it was always really difficult to get through the day on just one meal. Even if Zago and he tried to ration their food portions, it never lasted them long enough. The mornings were the worst, because both of them would only eat a piece of stale bread and expect it to last them until the afternoon hours. Even when the two managed to get through the day, by the time they got back to their room to eat the rest of what they had stored, it had become long past its time and they were only inviting sickness when they ate the remains. Not even Shirou could do much with food that was technically near a couple of days old by that time, not without other resources at least.

Admittedly, he was sick of it. At least most of the upper class people had enough sense to eat away from the servants at each meal time, but Dai was starting to piss him off. Since Shirou had stopped Dai from killing – geez, he couldn't believe he had to even think of that kind of reality – Zago, the other man had seemed to launch some kind of vendetta against Shirou. Anything that could get on Shirou's nerves was the first thing Dai would do, out of sight of Telyn, at least. Lately, Dai had adopted bringing his entire meal into the kitchen each night and promptly smacking on each morsel right in front of Shirou as he cooked. Shirou didn't even care that Dai was able to eat more than him, it was simply the expressions and the things he would say while doing so. The other man more than likely thought Shirou was starting to cave with so much food around him that he couldn't eat, but since everything tasted like crap anyway, really, Shirou just wanted to punch the guy in the face. If Dai kept up his crap, then he definitely would punch him. Hard.

"I try not to think about that too much," Shirou eventually said after a bit of thought. "Things could be worse."

"Why are you so stubborn?" Zago asked, still frowning. "This would make our lives so much easier!"

"Yours, maybe."

Zago grabbed him by his tunic collar, tightly hanging on as he mustered out, "You're being really selfish, brother!"

"Get off of me," Shirou said, struggling to push Zago away without hurting him any. "If you want to do it so bad, then find someone else to con into your grand plan!"

"There's no one else who can actually cook in that damn kitchen!"

"It's a kitchen! There's no way that no one else can't cook! It's like going to a farm with no livestock!"

"Some farms don't!"

"What farm doesn't have at least a chicken on it?"

"Poultry doesn't count!"

"Then what the hell is it?"

"It's chicken!"

Shirou finally pushed the blond away, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "You're nuts! Something like this isn't worth –"

It was the clanging of armor that alerted the two of another person's presence and forced them to quickly end their argument. Both Shirou and Zago watched as the woman Shirou had seen earlier walked towards them slowly, her closed eyes narrowed slightly and hands clasped in front of her as she walked up to the two of them. The two soldiers followed behind her at a respectful distance, though both were quick to look suspiciously at Shirou, as if he were a threat. He felt his muscles begin coiling tightly and Zago was already looking as if he were going to bolt at any given moment. The second she reached them, Shirou saw her open her eyes and was stunned by the striking vividity of her violet irises.

His mouth gaped open a bit unconsciously as he stared at her eyes – they were incredibly gorgeous. They only added to her overall beauty, what with her long, luscious, hazelnut-brown hair tied up in a high bun with a few tresses falling in curls to accentuate her high cheek bones and obvious jaw line. His eyes ran her down slowly with him taking note of her full lips and very generous bosom. Shirou gulped slightly and forced himself to look away from the wonderful feminine features of the woman, and instead took notice of her flowing white and royal blue gown with its long tail trailing after her as she walked. He noticed the guards glaring at him further and quickly turned his gaze away from her when she approached.

Rin had developed very well, but her Japanese genetics were far stronger than her European ones, so he hadn't had the opportunity to appreciate such a feminine figure before. Well, Sakura had grown quite a bit, but he hadn't seen her much since he'd gotten out of high school, so he had no idea of how she looked now, or...rather, in the future? Whatever. Taiga, obviously, didn't have much for him to appreciate – not that he would anyway – and Ilya was unfortunate enough to have to live in the body of a young girl for the rest of her life. He wondered though: if Saber hadn't had Avalon and had been allowed to develop into a fully mature woman, how would she have looked? Shirou felt his cheeks heat up as he considered the possibility. He almost wished he could see the adult Saber at least once in his lifetime...

"This area is a place of tranquility and serenity, someplace meant for introspection of one's livelihood and retrospection of one's past, not the constant bickering and idiocy you two have seen fit to take part of," the woman began, her voice steady and calm. "While this courtyard is open to all of those who would seek to take refuge here away from the inconsistency of everyday life and instead turn inwards, I will not tolerate any who would attempt to destroy the peace that can be achieved here."

Zago had begun to tremble slightly, but Shirou only cocked his head. The woman's placidness and the sheer confidence she displayed reminded him of someone. He wasn't quite sure what it was exactly, but there was something about her that just screamed, "pay attention to me", and not in a bad way either. It wasn't just her beauty, but something about the way that she demanded the attention of anyone who happened to be in the same room with her. Who was it she kept reminding him of?

The woman gave Shirou a cursory glance before frowning as she looked at Zago. After giving them both some time to contemplate her words some, she asked,

"Must I have you escorted back to wherever you belong? I would assume the kitchens?"

Zago quickly shook his head back and forth, not making a single peep. That was strange for him, Shirou noted, still trying to figure out the source of his confusion. When the woman looked at him expectantly, he met her gaze, somewhat perplexed and left unable to answer for a short time.

"Shirou," she said, addressing him to his surprise, – did every single person in the castle know his name now? – "you are aware that this is a sanctuary, yes?"

"Yeah," he answered hesitantly, before asking, "Wait, how do you know my name?"

Zago elbowed him in his ribs incredibly hard, glaring at him hard. He muttered harshly, "Dude, that's the queen you're talking to. Show some respect!"

"Oh, the queen?" he questioned and saw her features soften slightly as she confirmed his inquiry. "I was wondering who you kept reminding me of. You and King Arthur exude the same kind of pressure. Guess it's a royalty thing."

So, this was the fabled Guinevere. Shirou had to admit that he was impressed – it would take quite the woman to stand by King Arthur for so long, even if she did end up committing adultery and leaving the king for his, uh, her most loyal knight. That took some guts, too, though he supposed that according to the lore, she had been rather torn up about it the entire time. Well, after meeting her, as far as first impressions went, he could kind of believe it. She seemed nice enough, and Saber hadn't had anything bad to say about her – though, then again, Saber hadn't exactly said anything about her past at all, so he guessed that was a fairly moot point.

Queen Guinevere smiled gently at Shirou and seemed to show little to no interest in Zago whatsoever. Zago didn't appear to care any – rather, he seemed to appreciate it more so than not, but it kind of struck Shirou as somewhat odd. To him, Zago was just a normal person, but, Shirou concluded, to the queen, he was just an ordinary servant and not altogether deserving of her time. Shirou was a regular servant, too, though, if people could look past his foreignness, so he wasn't really sure why she was paying him any particular attention.

"Have you become accustomed to life in the castle, Shirou?" she asked him politely, much to his discomfort.

Zago stared at him and asked in a whisper, "Why does she know who you are, dude? Why do all of the upper class people talk to you?"

That's what he wanted to know.

Shirou nodded slightly to answer her question. He could be polite, too.

"It's definitely been an experience," he admitted. "I'm really grateful to the king, though. Oh, and tell him that we really appreciate the blankets. They're lifesavers."

"Wonderful," Queen Guinevere responded with a smile. "I had been curious about your circumstances since I first saw you upon your arrival to the castle, and my husband has spoken so well of you that I simply could not contain my curiosity any further."

That piqued his interest. King Arthur had been talking about him?

"What did the king say about Shirou, Your Majesty?" Zago asked before Shirou got the chance.

"Oh, nothing too detailed," she replied. "He only said that you were someone of good character, if a bit unrefined."

Zago and Shirou stared at her a bit. That didn't seem like anything extraordinary or something to really take notice of. Queen Guinevere smiled more widely when she saw their frowns.

"For someone like Arthur, you must understand that those words are practically dripping with satisfaction. He is not one to become overly emotional, nor does he truly understand how to compliment someone normally. Rest assured that he has lauded you quite a bit with what he said."

In other words, King Arthur was incapable of expressing his emotions like a normal person. Well, that Shirou could believe. That's how she'd been with him until that fateful night. Then it had been like a flip had been switched and she had suddenly had difficulty finding whatever happy place she'd had before.

"It must be hard to deal with such a serious person like him all the time," Shirou ventured, trying to probe for some information on how the king had been before he'd met her.

Queen Guinevere's eyes darkened slightly, though not from anger, but from deliberation. "When we first married, I had believed it would be somewhat difficult," she confided without reserve. "His reputation preceded him after all – someone who was strong, silent, and unyielding in his views. After some time, though, I have come to realize that the rumors were not necessarily true. Yes, he is strong, and yes, he holds his tongue unless a situation presents itself in that he must speak, but he is not as fixed in his beliefs as I had initially believed."

Shirou couldn't help but raise his eyebrows from his surprise. "You mean that he's wavering with what he does a lot?"

"According to him, he's found a happy medium, whatever that may mean. If nothing else, he is a joy to be around, so long as Sir Percival has not irritated him in some manner."

The redhead chuckled softly at her comment while Zago looked on with confusion. Percival was indeed very good at playing his part. Shirou was about to add his own opinion about Percival when a loud growl erupted from his stomach. As if to echo Shirou's, Zago's stomach let out its own complaint of emptiness. The two grimaced and looked at one another – they'd already finished off the last of their reserves. They would have to wait until the next morning to stock up again.

Zago rubbed his stomach and muttered, "See, we won't have to deal with this crap anymore if you'd just agree to follow my plan."

"Enough about the stupid, damned plan thing," Shirou muttered back, hoping that the queen wasn't actually paying any attention to their bickering.

Queen Guinevere merely tilted her head slightly, still smiling a bit. "Oh my," she began softly, "perhaps you two should go partake in your meal for the evening."

It was like she was taunting them.

"No," Shirou denied politely, "we've already had our one meal for the day."

Zago sneered. "Yeah, no thanks to that husband of yours."

Shirou wasn't sure what Zago's deal with the king was, since he'd been carrying some sort of grudge for much longer than the new ruling had been set into effect, but he knew damn well that this wasn't the time for him to make that hatred known. Shirou didn't particularly like it when Zago griped so much about King Arthur, but didn't mind it as much when it was just the two of them alone. Saying something that stupid in front of the queen, though, was just pushing his luck. Shirou made sure to glare vehemently at the other man, trying to silently point out the folly. Zago noticed and backed off a bit and so Shirou hoped that the queen wouldn't take any offense, but one look at her made his blood run cold.

Gone was the friendly, but somewhat distanced, countenance of the woman who had spoken so respectfully of her husband barely minutes before, and in its place, the overbearing pressure of the woman who presided as queen over an entire kingdom. Her violet eyes were narrowed dangerously as she glared at Zago regally, her chin rising as she maintained an air of elegance even with her anger.

"What is this nonsense you speak of?" she asked, essentially demanding an answer. "'Thanks to my husband', you say? What, pray tell, is 'thanks to my husband'?"

Zago shrunk back a bit under her gaze, though Shirou was relatively unaffected. Saber had pinned him with that gaze more than once after all. He wouldn't say he was immune, but he took significantly less damage from it now than he used to. Maybe he'd leveled up. Since Zago seemed unable to speak further, that left Shirou with the job of answering.

"You don't know about the new ruling the king made?" he asked her, to which she only raised a fine eyebrow to display her confusion. "A couple of weeks back, when all of the shipments came in late, all the servants were told that they would only be able to eat one meal a day until further notice. Probably until another shipment comes in, but no one but the higher ups know anything about that."

Queen Guinevere seemed less than enthused with his response. "What foolery is this? The king never made such a ridiculous ruling, nor will he ever. I do not know where you came by this lie, but I would ask that you not stoop so low as to spit on his good name. He spoke so well of you, too, Shirou."

Now it was Shirou and Zago's turns to be confused, and confused they were. Shirou glanced at Zago quickly before turning back to ask, "Wait, what are you talking about? Every head person, including Baeddan, was told that this was something set down by the king to save on resources. It was a pretty big thing."

When the queen didn't respond and simply frowned, Shirou felt a knot begin to tie itself up within his stomach. Something about her reaction was completely off, and the guards behind her looked at him as if he were trying to gain something by lying to the queen. Zago scowled when he realized what was going on.

"What the fuck?" he vented, forgetting to be polite in the queen's presence. "So Baeddan was just playing us? All those people were just trying to run us down so we'd have no energy and so they'd be able to have yet another reason to get pissed at us?"

"I can't imagine Baeddan as much of a liar, but if King Arthur didn't pass that temporary law..."

"He totally lied to us!" Zago exclaimed, growing more and more heated. "I knew something was off about all of this!"

"Silence!" Queen Guinevere commanded, her gaze elsewhere as she thought. "Baeddan is no fool, by any means. He would never consider giving Arthur any reason to kick him out of Camelot, and even if his plan were to wear out his kitchen help, he is far too smart and devious to devise something with a guaranteed chance of failure. You swear that this is something told to you by Baeddan?"

When the two men nodded, she quickly turned to look at one of the guards, snapping, "Arial, find Baeddan and inquire of this matter. I desire to know who is at fault with this foolhardiness."

Turning back to Shirou and Zago as the guard rushed to bow and run from the courtyard at full speed, her eyes were like the frozen tundra when she coolly glanced at them: "And if I find that you have been wasting my time with this foolishness, trust that I will spare no expense and effort to see that you meet a fitting end."

Shirou wasn't particularly worried. He was well aware of how willing the king was to kick out Baeddan, and she would probably do so with some glee as well. There was no way Baeddan would give her any reason to do so at all, so Shirou was rather content to stand still and look around at the vegetation from where he was. Zago, next to him, kept shifting repetitively from angry to nervous and back again. One day, he'd have to thank the king for always getting mad at him – he felt perfectly fine, despite the pressure radiating from the queen, especially since it wasn't exactly directed at him, but at a feeling of certain helplessness from not understanding the situation. He could understand that. He wanted to know what was going on, too.

It wasn't too long before the soldier came running back in, hardly out of breath, nearly twenty minutes or so later. In his hands, he held a piece of parchment paper, which he quickly turned over to the queen with a deep bow. He then returned to his position behind her, again maintaining a respectful distance. Shirou and Zago looked to the queen to see what was stored for them in the future, and Shirou frowned somewhat when he saw her tense slightly, her jaw tightening as she read the paper. He saw her hands tremble a bit.

"What," she choked out, her tone terse, "is this madness? Arthur would never... But this seal..."

Her gaze lifted to make eye contact with Shirou. "I," she started, seeming to fumble with her words, "stand corrected. There was indeed an order passed dictating that servants are only allowed a single meal per day."

"Well, we knew that," Shirou replied, not sure what she was getting at. "What's the problem?"

"This date... I was in attendance with my husband for the entirety of this day. This... This is nothing short of impossible. And yet..."

She whipped around again to look at her two guards. "Have you heard any word of this ruling?"

Both guards shook their heads slowly, unused to seeing their queen look so rattled. Queen Guinevere looked back at the paper before shakily rolling it up and gripping it as tightly as she dared.

"Whoever has done this will pay dearly for their crime."

Shirou looked at Zago before asking, "What's going on?"

Queen Guinevere turned slowly to look at him, and through clenched teeth, "Someone has seen fit to use the royal seal to submit a ruling without my husband's approval. I do not know who they are, but I will find them, and I will deal with them suitably."

For however warm it was in the courtyard, Shirou definitely felt a chill run down his spine. "What do you want us to do then?"

"You have suffered unjustly," the queen responded. "Unfortunately, it is not within my power to overturn this, law," she spat out, "but that of the king's. I do not have any way to allow you the meals you rightly deserve, nor am I certain that it would be in anyone's best interests for me to make such an attempt until more information is within my grasp."

Damn, so she couldn't help them. She definitely seemed upset about it though. Shirou noticed Zago look at him hesitantly, a grin on his face. Before he could figure out what the blond was about to do, Zago quickly said,

"Well, Your Majesty, if you please, I have a plan that could help you rest at ease and give us the meals we need."

Shirou slapped a hand to his face. "Oh, for fuck's sake..."

"Yes, this plan," Queen Guinevere conceded, eyes still narrowed. "I assume it was the source of your bickering earlier. I will hear of this plan of yours."

"Please don't," Shirou muttered.

Zago relayed every detail that he had come up with for the plan, although Queen Guinevere's only reaction was the raising of both of her eyebrows. She was obviously not as awed by the plan as Zago had intended her to be, but she listened quietly nonetheless. When Zago finished, and Shirou was ready for someone to put himself out of his misery, the queen finally spoke:

"Never have I heard a more ridiculous idea in my life. Cooking in the dungeons, you say? To presume that you wouldn't be caught is nothing short of ludicrous. And who, I ask, would be the one to cook all of this?"

Zago pointed at Shirou, who sighed and said, "When the soldiers get back, I'll be working four shifts a day, every day. I don't have the time for this plan of his. Please ignore him."

"A wonderfully steadfast answer," she commended, nodding at him. "Were this any other situation, however, I would swiftly agree with you, Shirou. Unfortunately, something as nonsensical as his plan may be what is necessary to combat the absurdity of everything overall."

She paused, and Zago burst into a grin when she said, "I will permit this. I will allow no one to trespass into the tunnels – I will instead speak to the mages and have a specific area of the castle readied for you to cook in. Entrance will be given only to servants, and of course, the royal family, to ensure everything is going as it should. As for you, Shirou, I will speak to Baeddan about all of this and make certain you have every evening service off, and that the materials are delivered to you accordingly. I realize this will be quite the burden on you, but I am wary of assigning too many people to your cause, just in case they are somehow linked to the perpetrator of this entire event."

Zago cheered and Shirou groaned. Great, there went his peace.

"Your labor will not go unnoticed, Shirou," Queen Guinevere reassured him. "I will speak with my husband promptly about what has occurred. I am certain he will have something to say to you upon his return."

She frowned slightly. "I want all of you to understand that this information is restricted solely to you two servants, and you alone. I do not want this to spread to anyone else, no matter what. I dare say you will both be punished if I find it has. This arrangement will also come to an immediate halt the moment the king returns and does away with this farce."

Both Shirou and the excited Zago nodded in agreement.

Seeing the giddy Zago made Shirou feel somewhat sick. He was the one who had to cook all of the crap, though it would be nice to eat something good for a change. In a way, he was kind of excited, but he simply wished everything hadn't been forced down his throat. Zago's pushiness kind of reminded him of Taiga in a way. He simply didn't love the blond as much as he did her, but he was growing used to the personality, bit by bit. Queen Guinevere seemed just as ready to be rid of Zago as he was, and quickly issued an order for one of her guards to take Zago away to talk to one of the mages on the upper floors. The other guard she sent to ensure a message would be delivered to King Arthur out on the battlefield, warning him of what he would be coming home to.

Shirou could only sigh when he thought of all the responsibility that had just been given to him in less than an hour. Turning to the queen, though, he adamantly said,

"Tell the king he doesn't have to worry about me, please."

Queen Guinevere's eyes widened slightly with surprise. "Whatever do you mean?"

"He doesn't have to come see and talk to me when he gets back. This is my job as a servant, right?" Shirou asked, knowing what the answer was. "Just know that it'll all be done to the best of my abilities, and that he doesn't need to mind any. It would mean more to me to know I'm being trusted to do something so important without concern."

"An admirable outlook, to be certain," she said with a smile. "I say, your confidence is quite wonderful to witness. Very well, I will tell Arthur to focus his attention on the problem at hand and leave you to do your work as is expected."

"Thanks," he said with a small grin. "You can count on me."

"Pay mind to that friend of yours, however. I do not trust him whatsoever."

Shirou chuckled hesitantly. "Roger. Will do."

Then, he remembered something and smiled sheepishly. "Um, could you allow one more person access to the area you designate for this thing?"

"Another?" Queen Guinevere asked. "Who, I wonder?"

"A woman named Eos. She's part of the Upper Echelon, but she's always helped me and Zago whenever we've had any problems."

"Hmm," she murmured. "Very well. I will allow this 'Eos' clearance. Is there anything else?"

"Nah," Shirou confirmed, grinning again. "Thanks, Your Majesty."

"You are most welcome, Shirou," she replied with her own smile before turning to gaze at the fountain as she said, "May the odds be ever in your favor."

Shirou turned around and walked away from the center of the courtyard, heading for the stairwell that would take him back towards the other parts of the castle. As soon as he reached it and starting walking up its steps, he felt the pressure of what was expected of him suddenly hit and he slid a hand across his face.

"God damn you, Zago."

---

He hadn't been expecting much when told that he would be operating in a place far, far away from the kitchens so as to not attract too much attention. He'd known for certain he wouldn't have the space, all of the ovens, and all of the hearths at his disposal. He'd also been well aware that he would probably be doing everything on his own, which was fine, if not a bit of a burden. There were over four hundred servants within the castle walls, after all, and he had to cook for all of them. What Shirou had not known is that this was the place he would be given to work in.

"Welcome to Master Merlin's own personal kitchen space," droned one mage who obviously felt he had better things to do. "As a favor to Her Highness, Merlin is granting you usage of his own personal hearths, ovens, tables, cutlery, seasonings, and whatever trinkets that kitchens normally come with. Once finished for the day, we ask that you clean up after yourself properly."

Shirou, Eos, and Zago stared at the immense area in front of them. Merlin had obviously manipulated another dimension to allocate so much space, considering the entrance to it was originally a door leading to a closet of sorts. He gazed up at the high ceilings and then looked around at everything. It didn't look to be much different from the main kitchens, so it didn't seem like they would have much trouble adjusting. The main things that was different were the cauldrons of tossed soup and barrels full of thrown away materials, although the meats and vegetables were, luckily, separate, and the line of ten or so mages standing in front of him in a line.

Three of them wore brown robes, indicating their novice status, four had on red robes, which meant they were very skilled, – the man who had spoke wore a red robe as well – one had on a blue robe with silver lining, one had a black robe with red lining, and one wore ordinary clothing. Shirou wasn't sure what the silver or red linings meant, but because of how attentive they seemed, he assumed they were fairly adept. The last woman, who had on regular clothing completely tossed him for a loop. In any case, the rookies weren't going anywhere near any of the food he was cooking with their magic. That was for sure.

He scratched the back of his head and looked at Zago and Eos, who merely turned to him for guidance. Sighing, he looked back at the mages. The noon shift had just ended, so they had a bit of time to spare before people starting drifting in for a meal. First and foremost, Shirou wanted to know exactly who he was working with.

"So," he began, attracting everyone's attention, "uh, who are you guys?"

The novices introduced themselves as Cynon, Gwatcyn, and Undeg. Okay, two guys and a girl – that was fine, although he seriously couldn't be bothered to give as much of a damn about the newbies. According to them, they couldn't cook worth a damn anyway, so, yeah, cleaning it was. Though, it was the two highest classed people who he was most interested in, but that was just because he was judging them by their magical abilities, not their ability to cook. That would come later. The three reds introduced themselves as Math, Nerys, and Rhianydd. The bored one who'd spoken before was named Rhein. Only Nerys and Rhianydd, the two women, were able to cook in that group, although Math did know how to cut, and Rhein was familiar with different cuts of meats and how to cook them. That was reassuring.

Then, it was the blue-cloaked man's turn. He stepped forward, bowed his head once, and said in a rather soft voice,

"Hail, stranger. I am called Coel. I have been under Merlin's guidance for seven years and am proficient the manipulation of any and all liquid. If you have ever seen the fountain within the courtyard, please know that it is an example of my work. I am also responsible for cleansing the water within the main castle area, and am capable of duplicating the essential core of alcohol to prolong it, if it proves to be necessary. I will admit that this is one of my least used skills, as alcohol is fairly plentiful. I am here to 'purify' the soups and take out that which does not belong, or that could possibly make others sick, such as mold and other byproducts."

Shirou's eyes widened slightly. He didn't know liquid manipulation was a thing. He was wondering what he had been supposed to do with all the soup presented him. So Coel could essentially take out bad bacteria or whatever for reusing. He also took care of the sewer systems? That was a job he would never envy Coel for. Shirou turned his gaze to the woman in the black cloak, who pulled back her hood to look back at him resolutely.

"Hail. My name is Perl. I have studied under Master Merlin for the past sixty years, since I was five years of age. I am able to manipulate time fairly accurately within a ten to fifteen year span, although dimensional distortion is beyond me at this point."

"S-sixty years?" Shirou burst out. "You hardly look a day over twenty!"

Her dark eyes twinkled with amusement, although she said nothing further on that particular matter.

"I am also well versed with cooking. Please use me as you see fit."

The redhead nodded dumbly and turned to look back at Zago, who simply leered at Perl. She hardly paid him any attention other to say, "It does not do you justice for your breeches to be down at your ankles like that, young one."

Zago blinked at her before looking down and quickly rushing to pull up his pants, his face flushed a cherry red. Shirou almost felt bad for him, since underwear was a concept that didn't seem to really exist in this time. Eos merely smiled knowingly at the man, much to his apparent discomfort. Shirou ended up looking at Perl with renewed interest – he never felt anything shift and she seemed to still be standing in the same place, so she must have been very exact with her time manipulation. She also decidedly despised perverts, so Zago was going to have a horrible time with her, which suited Shirou fine. He was still angry with Zago for this whole situation anyway.

The last woman in a simple tunic stepped forward, her silver eyes peering straight at Shirou. He felt his heart jump as his body was bound under her gaze. She had Mystic Eyes? What if he stayed paralyzed? Did he have anything in his arsenal to fight something under that caliber? Shirou realized with a some dread that he definitely didn't.

"Calm yourself, stranger," a voice filtered through his mind, its tone feminine and reassuring. "I mean no harm. I am physically incapable of speaking orally, and must make do with telepathic communication. Hail, stranger. My name is Siân. I am adept at physical duplication and manipulation, and can multiply myself to up to ninety-nine copies, each one as capable as my original self. I will be your main force for carrying out tasks quickly and efficiently. Use me well, stranger."

When she blinked once, slowly, he felt himself regain control of his limbs, though it seemed that neither Eos nor Zago had noticed anything wrong. By the looks of Perl and Coel's expressions, neither one was particularly surprised by what Siân had done, so he supposed he just had to get used to it. He rubbed his eyes a bit and then looked at Siân once again.

"Do you have any skill with cooking, Siân?"

Her smile told him she did. That was good. He basically had a hundred people working with him to complete all of the tasks needed. Shirou looked around and clapped his hands.

"Okay, my name is Shirou, and this is Zago, and she's Eos. We're here to make sure all of the servants get the food they need. I think a lot of them will be coming in fairly soon, so we don't have much time to get this ball rolling. First things first," he said, looking to Perl, "I need those fires good and hot. Siân, I need all of those leftover vegetables cut into even pieces about the size of my pinky, and Coel, I want you to get started on those soups. Recover as much as you can from them and toss out the gross stuff."

He had barely blinked before all three of the higher level mages had begun working. He wasn't sure how far back in the past Perl had gone, but the fires were already blazing in the hearths and the ovens were operating at an even temperature. Each table had about two or three Siâns cutting various vegetables and Coel was off pulling out various unnecessary pieces from the broths and throwing them into a vat meant for disposal. Shirou hadn't even said anything to the other mages, but the novices scampered off to clean areas here and there while Rhein immediately headed straight for the meat, and Math helped cut at a speed worth two or three people in the main kitchens. Nerys and Rhianydd were working to put together a decent tasting soup, and Shirou guessed that that was where he came in.

He grinned. Now, this? This was pretty damned cool.

Sparing his two coworkers a quick smile, he walked forward to start helping Nerys and Rhianydd, while Zago cleaned with the novices, and Eos concentrated on the meat with Rhein. It wasn't too long before Shirou was finally plating the meats onto a table where one of the rookies would pick it up and take it into the serving area next door. Shirou was incredibly grateful for the mages' help, as well as Eos for directing them on the finer points of each meal.

He was also incredibly relieved when all of the food finally went out to the other servants for them to eat, and when they gave out a few compliments. He had done his job well.

---

Two and a half weeks later, Shirou sat in the main kitchens for the night service, a permanent smirk stuck on his face as he glared at Dai who continued to glower at him. As to why he was in such a good mood, that would be because of the subtle shift in power that the Upper Echelons, aside from Eos, couldn't seem to grasp. People who had shunned him before now gave him unabashed smiles or grins, or clapped him on the back for the part he played in Zago's plan. Zago, having been entirely instrumental in helping to get everything off the ground in the first place, was absolutely ecstatic, and he kept jabbing Dai with the broom he usually used to clean the kitchens with. The best part of it all was that Dai couldn't lay a hand on them, not without suffering possible repercussions from the queen, and ultimately, the king, themselves.

Half a week earlier, the king had come back from her most recent campaign, and apparently had been utterly livid when she discovered what had taken place behind her back. Shirou was so glad he had not been anywhere near her – he couldn't even imagine how she had probably reacted when she discovered the royal seal meant to be used by her, and her alone, had been used for some other ulterior motive. Apparently, though, the king couldn't pinpoint the source behind the entire ordeal – was it a fabricated seal, or did someone sneak into her office at some point and copy the seal, or did they simply sneak in something without her knowledge and have her unwittingly stamp her approval on the paper?

There was a good chance that the seal hadn't been fabricated as there were no faults whatsoever in its markings on the paper. Also, as King Arthur was rather anal about her work, there was little chance that she had stamped something without looking at it thoroughly, which meant that someone had a copy. Nothing about the seal seemed forged or forced, it looked precisely the same, and considering how often the king was in her office, the perpetrator would have needed to forge it in a hurry. There would have been some kind of mistake along the way.

According to the queen after his last, very short, meeting with her, they had indeed confirmed it was a copy, as King Arthur had kept one just in case something happened to the original. At some point in time, it had been stolen. By whom, though, she couldn't say. They would need to run a surveillance on every single person who frequented the king's office within the past half year, maybe even further. It had to be someone who knew King Arthur's routines, and someone who effectively had overall clearance to be in the king's study. Unfortunately, there were quite a few of those people who lived in the castle. Going along and interrogating every single member of the court was risky though, and liable to rub quite a few people the wrong way.

It would take a decent amount of time before the criminal could be tracked down, but until then, the least the king could do was make an official announcement to all of the staff to belay the previous "order" of servants only being able to partake in one meal a day. Also, as previously agreed, the temporary use of Merlin's kitchen subspace was brought to a close and Shirou, Zago, and Eos were essentially given a time period of fourteen meal sessions tickets to do what they would with. The session could be used for resting during a specific service, or eating in the Great Hall with the privileged, or roaming the castle freely. They could also be used consecutively, which would equate to three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half days off straight, or as sparingly as the user desired. The times used were recorded and given to the king personally so she could keep track of their progress. All the better, the "tickets" would never expire so long as the three served within the castle.

As for why Dai couldn't lay a finger on either them, well, that was because Zago blabbed to the queen about the latest murder attempt, and so now, Dai was under close scrutiny from some of the guard. The guards wouldn't go into the kitchen, but they stood silently outside of its doors until Dai next left the room. After hearing about Dai's predicament, Shirou couldn't stop himself from grinning the entire day long. He hadn't used any of his "tickets" just yet, and had come in obediently every night service just so he could irritate the other man and smirk at him the entire time.

Another good thing that had come out of Zago's plan was the two new friends he had gained. Siân, whenever he happened to see her here and there, would always greet him with a smile, though she hadn't telepathically spoken to him since the day he'd met her. Shirou had only found out later that the ability was reserved for those of whom she held upmost trust, and she had only communicated that way with him as a courtesy. That was fine – it was kind of an invasion, and it put her at risk if anyone else was psychically adept. Coel was pretty cool, too, and was kind enough sometimes to give him a container full of clean water for him to drink or do whatever with. The mages were a busy bunch though, so unless he went to the north wing himself, he never really saw them much.

It was still snowing fairly heavily outside, despite March just beginning, but it wasn't enough to call for a complete shift change for the soldiers like in January and early February. This, of course, meant that the night service was back to being as slow as it had been prior to the blizzard, but Shirou didn't mind working so late anymore. Besides, there was the perk of seeing a very irritated Dai, and Telyn wasn't about to say anything to him because he hadn't done anything wrong. She seemed quite ready to beat Zago with his own stick though. Oh well, Shirou couldn't say that he blamed her – Zago was probably taking things a bit too far, like usual.

He sighed and stood up from his stool to go check on the meat – he was no longer stuck with just slicing veggies anymore. Yay for perks! – only to turn back and look at the main entrance as a brunet peeked his head in. After a second of staring, Shirou's face split into a large smile as the brunet waved happily and slid into the kitchen. Zago, Telyn, and Dai stared as one of the Knights of the Round Table wrapped Shirou into a tight hug, a grin upon his face. While Zago's jaw dropped open to see someone who was so highly ranked hug his friend, Dai merely sneered. Telyn, however, flushed a deep red the moment she laid eyes upon the man.

"Percival," Shirou said, unsure of what to really say. "What are you doing here?"

Percival cracked a grin, gave the other three present a quick glance before wrapping an arm around Shirou's shoulder and pulling him away a bit to a corner. His expression was serious as he leaned in closely.

"I was informed about the meal debacle," he stated in a soft tone, his mouth set in a scowl, and sapphire-blue eyes narrowed dangerously. "Whoever prompted this mess will be captured and dealt with appropriately. I promise this to you, my friend."

"I'm okay," Shirou said back. "Don't worry about me."

"Hm," Percival replied, cupping his chin. "Yes, I have little doubt that you are more than capable of taking care of yourself. I am only concerned that others' actions will somehow pull you into a battle that you may not be able to fight without outside influence."

"I'm okay," the redhead repeated. "I'm safe here, kind of. You don't have to worry."

"Truly?"

"I'll swear by it, if that'll make you feel any better."

Percival stood up to his full height, posture perfect as was befitting of a knight. Crossing his arms over his chest, he sighed, but realized there was nothing more he could say. He made a small grin and shook his head.

"Understood. But should you ever require my services, I will offer them gladly and willingly."

"Cool," Shirou agreed, walking away from the knight to check on the meat.

He grabbed a fork off of one table and prodded on the slab rotating over one of the hearths, and frowned up at the dog that was barely turning the spit. It was obviously tired, but he'd already wasted time trying to get Baeddan to stop using live animals and have people turn it themselves. That argument hadn't gotten him anywhere, so the best thing that he could do was get the dog replaced. However, replacing a dog meant that the one changed out would essentially be killed. These types of dogs were made for running in those wheels, which meant that this dog was way past its prime. Shirou grimaced. Eh, whatever – the meat could turn achingly slowly for a little while longer. He really didn't want to deal with replacing the animal.

Turning back around, Shirou raised an eyebrow when he saw Percival just sitting down at one of the tables, obviously not particularly interested in going anywhere. The knight paid no attention whatsoever to Telyn, who kept staring at him – Zago had gotten used to Shirou having all kinds of interesting friends, and Dai thought the knight was less interesting than constantly glaring at a foreigner. Shirou flipped him the bird, which confused the other man, before turning his attention back to Percival.

"What are you doing here anyway? You can't be here just to check up on me, right?"

"I have just returned from a mission for the king hardly a few hours ago," confessed Percival, his mouth opening wide to make way for a yawn. "While I would have much preferred to go straight to sleep, I need to check on the prisoner again in a little bit, so I thought I would pay you a visit."

"Prisoner?" Shirou questioned, interest piqued. "What prisoner?"

"A poor, unfortunate fool who dared to escape from his guard," Percival answered with a malicious smirk. "He led some of the king's men to their deaths on the way to a town called Puria. The man chose to conspire with a band of marauders, but he has since been captured, by yours truly, and will be properly punished. All of the iron has since been recovered, and Puria was found innocent of all charges, so long as they continue to deliver us our supplies as agreed."

"You chased the guy down? Did you have to fight against those bandits?"

Percival chuckled. "Those weaklings were hardly a warmup for me, my friend. Gawain and Lancelot were to have taken care of the matter, but I am hailed as the best at tracking down those who run. Once I set sight on my prey, I will never let it go."

Shirou nodded slowly, taking a seat across the table from Percival. "So, he's in jail? Aren't you afraid that he'll get away again?"

"Not at all. The jail cells are made of iron, and heavily enforced with the magic of our good mages. It would do him more harm to attempt an escape than it would to simply wait for his eventual execution."

The knight puffed out his chest as much as his armor would allow. "It is with great pride when I say that not a single prisoner has ever managed to break out of our dungeon cells."

Shirou laughed. "Oh, man. Here's hoping I never get stuck in one of those."

"I certainly hope you do not," Percival said, losing his smile. "You would most likely die there without anyone knowing otherwise."

"So why did you come here, anyway, besides to check up on me? To the kitchens specifically, I mean."

Percival stood up quickly, hands clasped together in front of him as he whined, "I'm hungry! Please, Lord Shirou, the one I could never forsake, the Master and Wielder of the kitchen knife, feed me your brilliant masterpieces!"

"What?" Shirou deadpanned.

"I am not long for this world, I fear," Percival continued, looking ready to faint. "But that I could try your delicacies just once in my life, I could rest and pass away all whilst knowing that I have tasted a part of Heaven without succumbing to the cold grip of death beforehand!"

Shirou looked helplessly over at Telyn, who had to tear her eyes away from the brunet. It took her a moment before she realized what he was silently asking her and then she just waved her hand, permitting him to do as he pleased. He frowned a bit when he saw absolutely how love struck she was and already knew how that was going to go down. He just hoped that Percival wouldn't turn her down too harshly.

Percival's face lit up childishly as Shirou moved to cut off a couple slices of meat and place them on a plate. They still weren't done cooking, so he was going to stir-fry them real quick with some vegetables for a nice easy meal. With the type of bread available, he could easily make some type of croutons and stick them in together with the batch for something to soak up some of the lard. He rushed to cut up the bread into tiny pieces, and tossed some cut vegetables onto the plate as well. Shirou walked to one particular shelf and made as if he were going to take down one of the pots before secretly tossing a glance back at the other four, who were paying him no real attention. Percival's attention was currently being stolen by the fawning Telyn, though he seemed rather annoyed by it.

Shirou breathed out slowly and quickly projected a cast iron pan to use over the flames within barely a second. It had been a long while since he'd last projected anything, but this much he could certainly do. He acted like he was taking it off the shelf and then walked over towards the one hearth without a rotating spit. He grabbed some lard, threw it into the pan and along with a fistful of salt and other miscellaneous seasonings and the pieces of bread. Well, this wasn't how one truly made croutons, but hopefully they would harden up enough at the edges to resemble real croutons more so than not.

When the lard began crackling and popping and the bread starting browning, Shirou moved the pan away from the fire, walked back to put in the meat and vegetables, and then started actually stir-frying. A stove would have been so much better to work with, but his hands were tied, unless he wanted to project one himself. Which, he could definitely do, but it would be a pain in the butt. There wasn't any electricity to work with and he didn't have any gas stores either. It wasn't going to happen.

Shirou plated the meal as soon as deemed it ready and slid the plate gently in front of a happy Percival. He smiled hesitantly as Percival took off a gauntlet and handfed himself. Shirou chanced a glance at Telyn, but was none too surprised to see her looking nothing short of crushed. Percival must have told her off. Well, if she was upset, than by default, Shirou surmised as he looked over at a glowering Dai...

Ah, yes, of course. The guard dog was pissed. The guy seemed to know better than to approach Percival, however, as he suddenly switched his furious gaze over to Shirou.

Hey, this isn't my fault, Shirou wanted to say, his mouth set into a frown. As Shirou glared back, Dai suddenly adopted a thoughtful expression, which made the redhead a bit suspicious. He lost that particular train of thought, though, when Percival popped his back up when a brilliant smile.

"The Heavens! The Heavens, Shirou! They surely shine upon you! They have blessed you with a gift, my friend, a gift!"

"Yeah, yeah."

"I mean it, truly! I have never once tasted such a scrumptious meal before today! My willingness to take you as my husband has only strengthened threefold! Are you sure you will not do me the honor?"

Percival moved closer to hug Shirou and attempt to kiss him, and Shirou did his best to keep pushing the other man away as gently as possible. He wasn't particularly surprised to see Telyn pale and excuse herself from the room in order to take her break. Dai followed after her obediently, the same odd expression as before plastered on his face. Shirou found that he was concentrating so much on what that peculiar expression seemed to be that he wasn't at all prepared when Percival pressed his lips against Shirou's own. Horrified, Shirou slammed a fist into Percival's face and kicked him away before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He looked over to see Percival grinning happily that a shiver of repulsion ran down his spine.

Zago snorted, causing Shirou to pass him a harsh glare. The blond coughed a bit to hide his laugh, and innocently went back to cleaning. The redhead glared instead at Percival, who seemed to still be cheerfully smiling back at him.

"We have kissed, Shirou. You realize this means we must wed now."

"The hell if I'm going to marry a dude! Fuck!" Shirou cursed, rubbing the back of his hand back and forth more purposefully. "God, I'm cursed for life! What's she going to say when she finds out I've kissed you?"

"She who?" Percival inquired naively.

Shirou glared as firmly as he could manage. "I swear I am going to kill you."

Only a grin met his threat. He sighed – he just couldn't stay mad at the other man. He'd just have to beat up Zago later to make up for it.

"By the way," he ended up asking the brunet, "are you sure it was okay to tell me all about that mission and stuff about the jail cells?"

Percival regained his serious manner from earlier. "Of course. What reason would I have to hide something that has already taken place and will soon be common knowledge to all of those in Camelot once he is on the chopping block? The king did not think to silence me either. Besides, what harm would come from telling you anything, Shirou? You are practically my husband, after all."

The last part was said with a cheeky grin.

Shirou ignored it. "And, just out of curiosity, what did you tell Telyn earlier? She came onto you, right?"

"Ah, that?" Percival questioned while looking bored. He frowned and turned his gaze away from Shirou. "I merely said I have no interest in ever courting such a ghastly looking woman, particularly one who was bred for brilliance and only threw it away for her own selfish goals."

Oh. Whoa. Ouch.

"Uh," Shirou started with some hesitance, "you do know what happened to her, right?"

Percival's blue eyes slowly turned back to look at him. "I'm well aware. I do not care. She is beneath me and I have little use for a vixen such as her. In any case," the knight said, growing slightly grimmer, "I must attend to that prisoner, now. I have wasted far too much time here as is."

"I hear you. Good luck with that."

"Indeed," the knight replied, smiling softly. "And you, too, my friend. Do not allow that vixen to corrupt you. I have taken you as my own, now, after all."

Shirou scowled and made as if to throw a piece of hard bread at the knight, but Percival escaped before he could launch it. All Shirou heard afterward was the soft laughter and the sound of his own growling. Zago snorted again and this time Shirou made sure to throw the bread roll as hard as he could directly at the blond.

Thinking back to what the brunet had said, though, Shirou seriously found that he did not desire to be in the same room as the scorned woman. He was honestly entertaining the idea of skipping out, but there were only a few more hours left on this particular shift. Maybe he would take off the morning service and sleep in? In a way, though, he was somewhat entertained by the thought of Percival slamming her right into her place. She was really nice, but, for some reason, it gave him some kind of incomprehensible joy to have seen the absolutely crushed expression on her face. Shirou smirked before a thought struck him. He his hands cupped his cheeks as he stared into nothingness, horrified.

"Isn't this something Rin would take pleasure with?" he asked himself, eyes wide as he realized his situation.

Was he turning into Rin? Why was he taking joy from other people's pain?

"You damned red demon," he muttered, catching Zago's attention. "Even 1,500 years in the past, you manage to influence me with your terrible ways. Begone demon, begone."

Zago frowned at him. "What are you over there muttering about?"

"Just trying to get rid of a curse that doesn't know when it's not wanted," he replied back, head bowed.

"Maybe you should just get your knight in shining armor to help you," Zago joked. "He could kiss you back into heavenly happiness."

Shirou lifted his head, stared at him, and then grabbed another roll off of the table. As soon as Zago saw it, he promptly ran.

"I'll show you 'heavenly happiness'!" Shirou yelled, taking aim and firing a bulls-eye.

---

Shirou cracked his neck while yawning as he walked outside to dump out the contents of his chamber pot. He walked out to the area where the servants were directed to dump them. Crinkling his nose as he tilted the pot, he yawned again. Shirou was incredibly exhausted, and was definitely glad that he'd chosen to use one of his tickets to get the morning service off. He cut his yawn short when footsteps behind him alerted him to someone else's presence.

"Hey," said a voice and Shirou turned around, pot still in his left hand.

The stranger had a some kind of sack over his head which immediately put Shirou on edge. He automatically adjusted his footing just in case something happened.

The man nodded towards him once, amusement in his voice as he asked, "You're Shirou, right?"

Shirou frowned, his eyes narrowing. He chose not to say anything in return.

"No hard feelings, man. Just doing my job."

"Huh?"

Danger!

He heard the crunch of snow behind him and before he could figure out what it was for sure, he felt his body duck down as a heavy steel thing flew across right where his head had been. The steel wedge came flying at him again from his left side. Shirou brought the pot high up over his right shoulder and slammed it back down towards the wedge to meet it head-on. The chamber pot, made out of iron itself, buoyed inwards but effectively stopped the wedge in its tracks.

His quick reaction time obviously surprised his assailant and he jumped up off of his left foot and executed a high spinning jump kick, slamming his foot right into the other man's temple. Hitting the ground hard, he grabbed the wedge and wielded it in front of him as his one, two, four, seven attackers took up a position in front of him.

Danger!

Shirou hesitated slightly which was all the time two people needed to rush him. One came in low and another swung a whip at his neck. Shirou whipped out his right foot and swiftly clipped the opponent to his right under the chin, forcing him back. The whip from the other attacker twirled around his left forearm and Shirou growled, pulling the whip down with his arm as he flipped the steel wedge up in his right hand for a better grip and slammed it right into the man's head. The guy fell down with a grown.

Danger!

The man he'd gotten in the chin was up again and was already trying to tackle him down. Shirou threw the steel wedge at him, making the man dodge first and slide back through the snow to land hard on his back. After unwinding the whip on his forearm, he launched it towards the next assailant and let it wind around the person's neck. The second he realized he had a decent grip, Shirou pulled the whip back towards him and launched a kick right into the man's face. Shirou grunted as the man fell down, though he was sure to let go of the whip. He had no desire to kill any of them, but he would fight back. Hopefully, the king would forgive him for all of this later.

Danger!

His golden-brown eyes glittered dangerously as the last four surrounded him. Projecting was a bad idea in this situation, so he'd have to take care of them the hard way. He cracked his knuckles, only subconsciously noticing that they were in a blind spot where no one would ever see them, and since soldiers were known to still train at night, no one would think anything of some grunts or cracks of weapons. His muscles tensed tightly as he glared at the man with a sack over his head.

The man tilted his head. "You're better than I thought. Looks like we've got a fighter on our hands, boys."

Shirou gritted his teeth. He could practically see the amusement oozing down from the words.

"You've got some guts, doing this out where anyone could notice."

"And yet, no one's coming, huh, genius?" the man retorted, spreading his arms wide. "Good job taking down four of us, but I guarantee you won't be coming out of this unscathed."

Danger!

A fist flew for his face from his right and he clasped it, maneuvered his body just so and flipped the man hard into the snow. He then slammed his own fist straight down into the man's face, knocking him unconscious.

Danger!

Shirou's eyes flashed back as someone came up from behind him and held his arms put him in an arm lock. Struggling to get out of his hold, Shirou's eyes flashed again with his anger. He pulled forward as much as he could manage before smashing the back of his head into the other man's. The grip loosened just enough for Shirou to spin around and launch another kick, taking the man down easily. He growled fiercely when another man caught him in another lock.

Danger! Danger! Danger!

A fist flew straight into Shirou's abdomen, making him gasp for breath. He struggled to breathe before a hook raced right into his cheek. He took in as deep a breath as possible right as a kick slammed into his ribs and a fist into his nose. Soon, Shirou was taking more hits than he could feel, one punch or kick always being followed up with even more. He lifted a heavily wounded face, barely able to see the sack over the guy's face before the grip around his arms was loosened and he stumbled forward.

"Hit him again, for good measure."

Something hard bashed into the back of his head, sending him falling down into the snow below him face first. He groaned slightly, feeling his consciousness fading quickly. His left hand gripped around a clump of snow before falling limp as he fell unconscious.

"Nighty-night, Shi-ro-u."

Death.

---

So, what do YOU think will happen next? Let me know! Questions, comments, criticisms, I'm up for whatever. I normally answer all of those who have reviewed once before.

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