A Fickle Fingered Fate
Chapter 3
Of a Castle and a Kid Sister
"My Lord...? My Lord, are you awake?"
Toffee's brow furrowed with a low grunt. "What?" he demanded, a hint of irritation in his tone.
"Is nearly dawn, Lord," said Buff Frog from outside the tent. "Shall we begin the packing of camp?"
"Yes, I'll be ready momentarily," he muttered.
To his surprise, the amphibian monster chuckled. "Best to be taking your time, Lord. I would not wish to move if I were in your position."
Toffee frowned as he listened to the other monster's retreating footsteps. What had he meant by that? He wasn't certain, but...he was right. Toffee was reluctant to move.
He felt warm and comfortable, and had slept so deep he hadn't awaken with the sun like he should have, which was rare. Normally he was the one to wake his men while they were away from the castle. Having to be woken up himself felt strange.
The reptilian sighed softly, preparing to leave the coziness of the bedding. Slowly, he opened his eyes, his pupils dilating against the soft grey world of pre-dawn that replaced the darkness of sleep. A puzzled frown formed on his lips as he saw the world was sideways.
No, it was not sideways, he was laying down.
He started to shift, only to freeze when he felt something else move against him. Blinking, he slowly tilted his head to look down. Not only was he laying down, he was also beside his bride.
The woman was flushed against him, nose buried into his collarbone as she used his shoulder for a pillow. One of her arms lay draped over his torso, and her ankle had tucked itself between his calves. But perhaps the strangest part for him was that both his own arms encircled her around her shoulders and waist, and his tail had laid claim to her knee, coiling loosely around it. Before he had moved, his chin had even been resting on the crown of her head, where her braid had come undone, a few curls were even caught between his fingers.
'Well, this is awkward...' It was suddenly hard to swallow, and it took all his willpower not to move, his tail still managing to twitch without his consent. Any lesser monster would have thought nothing of rousing his bride for a pre-marital tumble beneath the sheets, and by the Goddess did the idea of it set a fire under him.
She was but a tiny thing to him, her forehead only meeting the top of his chest. But she wasn't skin and bones, Goddess bless, she had sweet curves that would make any man in his right mind want to hold her. Toffee actually had to bite his tongue to stop his hand from caressing the swell of her hip. If he didn't get away from his soon to-be-wife, things weren't going to end well.
He started with his tail. Slowly, he uncoiled it, feeling coolness where he lost the touch of her skin. He carefully released his withheld breath, not realizing he'd even been holding it, and cautiously began to shift his weight. Cradling her head with his free hand, he lifted it just enough to free his arm. Her hair slid like silk along his forearm, a stray curl wrapping around his finger as he gently set her down, as if reluctant to let him leave.
Forcing himself to breathe normally again, he rose from the bedding, keeping the covers wrapped snuggly around the woman to keep her warm. The chill in the air already nipped at his scaled skin, forcing him to seek his jacket. The black fabric stood out starkly against the white of his shirt as he buttoned it up. It wasn't one of his finer jackets, but it was well used whenever he left the castle for rides or hunts, and it formed perfectly to his figure.
Once he combed his fingers through his hair and re-tied it, he quietly slipped out of the tent, casting one more glance back at the human still sound asleep. It would be a sight he'd see every morning now, he only wondered if it would be a pleasant thing, or a dreadful one. He could only hope for the former.
The castle rose high into the air, its walls fashioned of rough marble and granite. Towers and walls, windows and stairs. Everywhere she looked, Miakoda saw architecture she'd never seen before. Unlike Mewni, there was no glitz and glamour to their buildings. Instead, they were rugged and almost natural looking, as if they had simply taken the stones and fitted them together like a giant puzzle. As the army approached, they passed through a village, one large enough to be a small city. It felt a little crowded, as if they all wanted to live as close to the castle walls as they could. The buildings were similar to the castle, looking almost like natural formations in the shape of houses and shops.
Miakoda glanced about as they moved through the streets made of flat stones set deep into the dirt with grass and the occasional weed growing between them. The monsters gathered as they passed, staring and murmuring, a few cheering and welcoming the soldiers home. If they had been mewmans, she would have sworn it was just like when her father's warriors returned after months out in the wilds taming new lands. But while they greeted the soldiers, their expressions almost immediately became hard or confused when they caught sight of her.
It was to be expected. She was a mewman after all, an enemy to them, as far as they knew. Most likely they assumed her to be Toffee's captive, a prisoner of war. She wondered how they would react when he announced their betrothal. Anger would probably be their first emotion, maybe confusion after, then hatred for her. She expected it all, but the mere thought was still terrifying. The princess knew so little about monsters, she could only expect the unexpected, which didn't help her confidence.
She swallowed a sudden lump in her throat, her tongue feeling like sandpaper as her hands clenched fistfuls of her skirt while the villagers stared at her with distaste and muted rage. If she wasn't on the same unicorn as Toffee, she was all but certain half of them would have attacked her by now. Her teeth bit into her lower lip, pinching it uncomfortably as she tried to focused on the road, their glares stabbing through her like invisible knives.
A hand rested on her shoulder, breaking her from the swirling thoughts in her head. "Don't pay them any attention," said Toffee quietly. "Pretend they aren't here for now, and keep your head up. Never let anyone make you feel inferior." Miakoda glanced back at him, blinking up at the reptile. His gaze slid down to her, his expression impassive. "You're a princess, after all. Don't let them think you're weak by buckling under their stares. Remember you are to be their Queen, they must see you as confident and proud."
The princess looked ahead once more, sitting up straighter while lifting her chin. "I wish I felt half as confident as you look," she admitted. Glancing down briefly, she squeezed her hands tighter in the fabric of her dress. "I'm so overwhelmed, my hands won't stop shaking. Its like they're just waiting for a reason to rip me apart in one way or another."
"Trust me, I'm not as certain on the inside as you think," he replied, his gaze darting to a large group that emerged from what appeared to be a tavern. "I'm not foolish enough to know at least a few of them wouldn't try to harm you if given the chance. But I know they wouldn't dare try with me sitting here. However, that doesn't mean the desperate ones won't attempt something. Their hatred for mewmans is strong enough to drive them to stupidity. I can only guess how great the backlash will be this evening."
Miakoda turned to him slightly. "Do you think...could they ever accept me? Is this even going to work?"
"A little late to be doubting, is it not?" he asked, a hint of teasing in his words.
She looked at the back of their mount's head, staring between it's ears. "It is...but now, I suddenly feel the weight of everything. It feels like we're trying to do the impossible."
"We are," he replied as they approached a set of tall iron gates. They swung open before them, allowing the caravan into the courtyard of the strange castle. "But everything is impossible, until somebody does it." Toffee turned their mount, and set his fingers to his lips, letting out a loud and shrill whistle towards the tower of the gatehouse. A monster poked their head out, watching as Toffee gave a gesture, then disappeared with a nod. The gates slowly closed as the last soldier entered the courtyard, a crowd gathering at them almost instantly, confused shouts questioning the nearest warriors for details of the attack, and their captive Mewnian.
Miakoda glanced back at the gate as Toffee helped her down off the unicorn, trying to take in all the different looking creatures that now surrounded her. New faces appeared from within the castle, coming to greet and assist the soldiers, servants and friends, she guessed, all eager to know their situation. The princess swallowed hard against her nerves as more and more monsters began to crowd the area. She knew to stay close to Toffee and to keep out of the way, but it was still rather overwhelming with so much fuss and noise.
Having been raised within the castle, she hadn't dealt with being within a large crowd like this. Normally they were docile dinner crowds at her father's banquets, or they were separated into private booths at jousting tournaments. But being in the thick of things was new, it left her feeling unbalanced and ready to topple. A hand on her elbow tugged her to the side, pulling her out of a particularly large monster's path, and back against a warm torso that was rapidly becoming familiar to her.
Toffee gently nudged her towards the steps leading to the massive wood doors of the castle, his hand resting on the small of her back was like an anchor, keeping her drifting mind firmly focused on his closeness instead of on the stormy seas of her nervousness. The muffled thud of the doors closing behind them felt like the signal she had unknowingly been waiting for, her form began to tremble slightly. She felt the reptile's hand tighten a bit on her arm, as if he was waiting for her to swoon.
"I...I'm sorry, I..." She didn't even know the words to describe herself. Afraid, yes, but not in the way she feared he thought. Their appearances didn't scare her, in fact, a few of them had been rather beautiful to her. It was the magnitude of everything crashing down all at once, the full gravity of her position now suddenly all too real. In a matter of hours, she would be their queen, and they hated her.
And yet she couldn't blame them. Everything she had ever been told about them had depicted them as lowly beasts barely more than violent animals, and her people had undoubtedly treated them as such. Now they were to be ruled by one of the beings that had been so cruel to them, a fact they did not yet know, and as soon as they did...
"Mia." The rich tone made her jump as it jerked her attention back to the entrance hall where they now stood. She blinked, looking up at the monster who was now standing in front of her, his expression completely neutral, as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening around them. His fingers forced her tightly tensed fists to unclench from their white-knuckled grip, his claws cool against her sweaty palms. Golden orbs like warm honey stared down at her, making the world seem to far away as if it no longer existed. Then he blinked, and the trance was broken.
She took a slight step back, bringing a hand up to her face as she released his. "I'm sorry, I just...sorry," she murmured, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.
"Don't be," he replied. "Things are stressful. We're all under a lot of pressure now. It must be shocking to see so many monsters at once."
Her head shot up. "N-no, that's not-I mean-" She sighed, looking at the worn rug they stood on instead of his expression, feeling like a bug under a magnifying glass. So she used the one trick she had used for years, she adopted her 'Princess Mode'. "Yes, some of them, to me, look rather...unique, but I don't find any of them terrifying." Her voice was calm and even, her tone emotionless yet natural, she had even folded her hands like she would whenever she had preformed for her speech tutor when she was younger.
Raising her gaze to his, she was a little surprised to see a slight smirk creep across his lips. Her confusion only mounted when he slowly clapped his hands. "Very impressive," he drawled, folding his arms behind his back as he leaned over her, his height once again allowing his to tower over the mewman woman. "Tell me, how often do you pull the wool over people's eyes with that little act, Princess?" When she stammered flusteredly, he chuckled. "You should play cards. I'm sure you'd manage to trick everyone into thinking you're holding every ace in the deck."
"Wh-what...?"
The reptilian straightened with another chuckle. "We've clearly had similar lessons in politics, Mia. I know that little trick all too well." He reached out, gently tapping her nose. "Ever hear the term 'don't try to con a con'? Well, you might be able hide from everyone else, but I still see you." His smirk only widened a little more when he noticed the red creeping into her face. "You have no reason to hide from me, Mia-emotionally or otherwise. I always find things out."
She looked away, folded her arms. The gestured made him chuckle, as it reminded him somewhat of a pouting child. "You must be a pain to plan surprises for," she mumbled. "But I wasn't lying. They don't scare me..."
"Perhaps not their looks," he agreed, glancing back at the doors, then to the Mewman. "But what they could do, what they feel for you. That's was frightens you."
Deep blue sapphires turned towards him, lashes black as coal parted to reveal them, contrasting their color. "Wouldn't it scare you if you were in my position? If you were surrounded by Mewmans? I'd think you'd be more than a little uneasy, knowing they hated you to the point of murder." She scoffed softly, shaking her head. "But of course, it turns out we were the real killers, so maybe it wouldn't be the same."
Toffee frowned slightly as he looked up at the daylight streaming in through one of the windows. "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. It doesn't matter what your people were like," he said, meeting her gaze again. "Your people are now different. Mine are yours now. Give them time to adjust, and I'm confident things will smooth out. Perhaps they won't ever love you, but they will respect you."
She smiled with a soft huff, shaking her head, the curls in her ponytail bouncing. "There's that total confidence again. I'm beginning to see that you're rather confident in a lot of things."
He shrugged a shoulder. "Better confident than doubtful," he replied, then offered her his arm. "Now, before we get swarmed with questions, I think a few hours of rest are in order. Riding about all day on a unicorn is hardly the best way to start causing chaos. One should be well rested as to better enjoy the insanity."
Miakoda giggled as he led her down the long hall. "Oh, I quite agree. And with as much as we plan to cause, is a few hours even enough?" she joked. 'He did it again. He completely turned everything around on me. One minute I'm overwhelmed with our problems, the next he has me making fun of them. I wish I knew how he did that.'
"Well, there is one bit of chaos we'll have to deal with before we can relax," he stated as they entered a grand hall with a vaulted ceiling, a wide staircase that split off in two directions, and what appeared to be a ballroom or a formal dining room off to one side. "Did I mention I have a little sister?"
Mia's brow rose. "No, you didn't. I don't know what kind of family you have."
"You'll be meeting her shortly, I'm sure," he said as they headed up the stairs, reminding himself to keep his pace slower than usual as his Mewnian companion had shorter legs. "She's eight years my junior, and takes more after our Mewman half."
"So she's not as reptilian as you I'm guess," she replied, lifting her skirt up a little higher to keep from stepping on it.
"No 'reptilian' traits whatsoever. When different monsters have children, they tend to look very different from either parents' species, and Renata and I look almost nothing like our parents. In fact, I have my father's eye color, and my mother's hair. Re has a more Mewman form, but doesn't really take after our parents in looks."
"I got more of my mother's hair than my father, but hers is darker-almost red when its wet," she replied. "But I've been told I have Father's eyes."
Toffee glanced at her sideways as they headed up the stairs on the right side, studying her as she focused on not tripping on her hem. He had to wonder what else she got from her parents, personality wise. So far she seemed pleasant enough, but only time would tell.
"Toffee!" He turned, watching as another young lady came running towards them from the opposite staircase with lavender skin in a bright fuchsia pink dress with white ruffles around the waist that were being held on by nothing but pins. Her dark purple hair, which looked black without the lighting, was messily tied up in a bun and several strands escaped as she rushed up the steps to throw her arms around him. "You're back!"
He smiled, patting her head between a pair of short spiraled horns poking out of her hair. She pulled back, beaming up at him with eyes like ripe raspberries behind a pair of thick black glasses. "Are you okay? What happened?!" She exclaimed, grabbing his hand in both of hers, bouncing on her shoeless feet. "C'mon, tell me!"
"Easy, Re," he soothed, holding up a calming hand. "I'm fine, but a lot has happened, things that are going to change our lives." He watched as her eyes widened slightly, excitement replaced by worry. The monster king gestured to the woman beside them, who was staring at them with a look of realization and curiosity. "Renata, this is Princess Miakoda, heir to the Mewnian throne...and my bride-to-be."
A gasp flew from the young girl's mouth, her hands flying up to her lips as she stared at Mia with a look of horror. She swung back to her brother. "What?! Toffee-you can't be serious! This isn't funny!"
He hushed her softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We'll talk about this later, Re. But right now we're both tired. I'll explain everything this evening, alright?" He replied, and glanced down at her form. "You'd best get back to the seamstress if you want your dress to get finished."
She gaped at him. "Wha-?! You just told me your marrying a Mewman, and you're worried about my dress?!"
Toffee reached down, refitting a slipping pin back into its proper place. "See if she can't add a brooch above the ruffles. A bit of silver would really tie everything together nicely." Turning to the pink-haired woman, he held out his hand. "Come, I'll show you to the room."
She nodded, and waved shyly at the lavender girl, who stared at them in disbelief. "It was nice meeting you, Renata."