"Have you seen my scarf?"
Phil lowered his book so he could glance at Kristin over the pages. "Which one?"
"The purple one with the threads of silk. Looks like a night sky?" Kristin was more or less upending her entire wardrobe, covering the bed in expensive fabrics of velvet and cashmere. "I could have sworn I left it in the throne room yesterday, but it's not there."
"Why did you leave it there?" Phil closed his book and got up, but it would be useless to try and help her search. He'd rather not drown in a flood of corsets.
"It gets so incredibly stifling in there with that many people." Kristin sighed, throwing up her hands in defeat. "Well, whatever. The public will have to deal with seeing my riding cape for a change."
"If it helps, I think you look amazing in anything," Phil offered. Kristin gave him an amused smirk.
"I think you're just saying that because you're my husband," she said.
"No, I'm your husband because I think that," he answered. "Get it right."
"You're lucky you're so cute or I'd have you beheaded for contempt." After giving him a peck on the cheek in passing, Kristin opened the door. Phil knew she hated official functions, but so did he. They had more or less agreed Kristin could force him to attend one every week, but for the other days, he was exempt. The upside of Phil being married to royalty but not being royalty himself. Technically speaking, he was only a king consort, though nobody ever treated him as anything but their rightful monarch.
Phil was more than happy for it because that meant he could spend his afternoons out on the hunting ground. On his way to the stables, he passed the captain of the guard training with some new recruits.
They stopped their sparring to bow at him - something Phil found completely unnecessary not to mention ridiculous. But he greeted Bad all the same.
"Good afternoon, Captain." He put his hand on Bad's shoulder to keep his spine straight. It was embarrassing enough to have the rookies bow at him, he didn't need Bad to do it too. "How are we doing, this fine afternoon?"
"All is perfectly well," Bad said. The way his voice tilted up at the end betrayed some underlying nervousness though.
Which was why Phil motioned for him to follow. "Walk with me to the stables?"
Bad nodded tightly, dismissing the recruits with a gesture so they could continue doing their job. He fell into step next to Phil easily.
"And now the truth?" Phil prompted.
Hushed so nobody could overhear, Bad spoke a lot more honestly. "There's been some unrest to the south. Nothing to worry yourself over, your majesty." Despite Phil's best efforts, their loyal captain had not fallen out of the habit of using his title. "But I do admit it has me working overtime."
"A rebellion?"
"Not quite that much unrest," Bad said. "The queen is making us keep an eye on it. And we're preparing just in case."
Phil nodded. "I see." He wasn't concerned, in the many years since he met Kristin and even before that, he had not known signs of the people being unhappy with her rule. War seemed unlikely to him. If this was anything more than a small group of people selfishly trying to seize power, he'd be very surprised.
Still, it was not a thing to be dismissed. And also a thing he would have loved to know sooner.
"Did she ask you not to tell me?" Phil and Kristin did not keep secrets from each other. This would be new.
"Oh, gosh, no, she didn't-" Bad stumbled over his words a bit at being put on the spot. "Nothing like that, your majesty. I promise. She just said that she'd rather not bother you since you have more important things to worry about."
Surprised, Phil tilted his head. "More important things?" They arrived at the stables, where the air was a bit more stuffy and smelled of manure. Phil liked the place since it reminded him of his youth.
"The uh, the child," Bad said awkwardly. "Technoblade?"
"I don't believe Technoblade keeps me busy, he mostly tends to himself." Ever since Techno learned how to tear himself away from Phil's side, he went out exploring a lot. He was rarely away from Phil for more than a handful of hours, half a day at most, but you'd be surprised how much trouble that boy could get into in such a short window of time.
"We simply did not see the point in bothering you with this," Bad said. "If we misjudged, I am to blame. Nothing much more interesting has happened lately than us misplacing a bunch of training dummies, truly."
Phil laughed. Oh, the chaos of barrack life. He was well aware of it. "I trust the queen's judgment above all else," he said. "And yours too, Captain."
Bad offered him a satisfied smile. "Thank you, your majesty. If you don't mind, I really should get back to my recruits."
After the captain left, Phil headed over to his favorite horse. He wasn't concerned about Kristin's decision to not tell him about this unrest earlier, she must have had a good reason. Phil did not consider himself to be overly distracted by Techno, but he could admit he'd spent a lot of time lately hoping to adjust Techno to the castle and then to the town. He seemed to be dealing with the change pretty well. Give or take a few hiccups involving stolen church bells.
Speaking of which, Phil should check with the royal blacksmith about that latest replacement. Wilbur got testy when he had to wait more than a week.
He grabbed a pitchfork from against the wall, dismissing a stableboy who was already jumping forward and offering to help him shovel the hay. Just because he was married to the queen didn't mean Phil minded getting his hands dirty. He reeled his arms back, preparing to start scooping clean bedding into the paddock.
And only just stopped himself from stabbing Technoblade, who was laying curled up sleeping in the hay.
After a series of rather impressive expletives, Phil managed to slow his heart rate down enough to breathe. Techno was sitting up and rubbing his eyes, looking up at him sheepishly after being woken up so suddenly.
"Phil," he said after a moment. Not a question, merely an observation.
"Yeah, mate. It's me." Phil lowered the pitchfork. "Were you… sleeping?"
Phil had never seen Techno sleep before. To be honest, he was under the impression Techno didn't sleep at all. Whatever sort of hybrid he was - not piglin but something adjacent going by Phil's research - might have something to do with that. But Techno was definitely taking a nap just now.
The boy didn't answer the question, instead stretching with his arms above his head. His tail twitched a bit, then curled around his waist almost shyly. He nodded.
"If you're tired you should sleep in your bed," Phil said. "We had a room prepared for you and everything."
Techno's small features scrunched up in displeasure at Phil mentioning that. "It's not ready," he mumbled. As far as Phil was aware, Techno hadn't spent more than three minutes in there.
"Yes, it is. I can tuck you in if you want?" Phil might not be entirely proficient at the whole fatherhood thing, he knew that tucking kids in was what parents did. But Techno only shook his head vehemently. His tail wrapped around his side, so he could play with the fluff on the end. It was a sign he was nervous. Keeping that in mind, Phil didn't press.
"Alright then," he said. "Just… tell me if you change your mind, I guess? You can sleep in there whenever you want."
Techno got up, shaking the hay off himself. Some of it had gotten stuck in his hair, carefully braided this morning by Phil but now already a mess. Phil reached out to tuck some of the strands back in place.
"Woods?" Techno asked. He was semi-verbal at best but got just a tad more talkative when he was alone with Phil.
"Yeah, I'm taking Carl out. Do you wanna come along?"
Techno didn't need to be told twice, jumping up so he could sprint over. The horse craned his neck over the door of his paddock, accepting the soft little pats Techno gave to Carl's snout. Techno absolutely loved animals. From the ants he spent hours observing in the courtyard to the stray cats that wandered around town. He seemed especially fond of horses, and particularly of Carl.
And Carl was about as temperate in his mood as a lap dog - compared to most warhorses that shied away from strangers - so the friendship was pretty instant.
Phil smiled as he picked up the pitchfork again. The fact that Techno was sleeping when he never had done that before was a little odd, but not concerning. Hell, for all Phil knew it was a good sign. Like he finally felt comfortable enough to rest?
Whatever the case, he'd worry about it later. He wouldn't keep an enthusiastic child bursting with anticipation to get on a horse waiting.
Phil should really start sorting through his journals at some point.
He never came back from his travels without at least three notebooks filled. And being the sentimental bastard that he was, Phil insisted he'd hang onto all of them. What if he wanted to revisit those memories? Or the info inside them might become handy at some point?
Kristin didn't mind. She liked leafing through the journals herself.
Eret on the other hand… Well, Phil supposed it was hard work to keep an entire archive and library worth of books cataloged properly. Eret should probably be more cross with him than they were.
"I found another box full," Phil said as he walked into the library. "They were hiding in the war room. I guess we stored them there for later."
Eret visibly jumped at his voice, so absorbed in their work that they didn't hear Phil's approach. "Did you have to do that?" they asked, looking mournfully at the small stains of ink they had spilled on the parchment when they startled. "Sneak up on me, I mean."
Trying hard not to laugh, Phil put the box down wherever. Eret would just have to sort them out later. It was a little amusing that in their irritation at Phil's interruption, they had dropped all formality.
"Sorry," Phil said to keep the peace. "I did not realize drawing maps took that much concentration."
"They do when it's the tenth time you're drawing them. Pretty sure my hand is cramping, actually." Eret sighed. "If somebody didn't keep misplacing our current ones, that wouldn't be a problem."
There was definitely a story there but Phil didn't think he'd want to know. Eret's annoyance at how uncareful half the staff was when handling the precious royal documents was no secret. And obviously, the maps were consulted more than anything else.
"If there's anything I can do to help," he offered. It was unlikely Eret would take him up on it - Phil was the king after all. But Phil truly wouldn't mind. And Eret was the only person he could see being that forward.
But the librarian smiled and half-turned towards him. "No need, your majesty." The title felt more in jest than anything, making Phil grin. He did appreciate it when people spoke candidly to him. "With some uninterrupted time, I'll have this sorted out before you can find another box of journals."
A small chuckle escaped Phil. "Fair enough," he said. He was about to leave when Eret's voice stopped him.
"It's quite remarkable how much Techno is taking after you though."
"What?" Phil asked in confusion.
"Earlier today I was tidying up around here and found him buried under a pile of books. Scared me half to death, but I guess he didn't see it as an odd place to sleep." Eret had a clear fond spot for the boy. Phil knew Techno spent a lot of time in the library.
"Huh," was all he could answer. Maybe he really should get on teaching Techno to sleep in his bed. Especially if this would become a regular occurrence. "I hope he didn't damage anything."
"Not at all, he seemed quite cozy. Don't ask me how." Eret turned to proceed with his maps.
Assured that the safety of their royal documents was not an issue, Phil also returned to what he was doing before he came down to the library. But he probably had to draw out some time soon to sort out Techno's sleeping arrangements. If he could remember to do so.
Mondays were the busiest days in the kitchen so Phil often went down to help out. Supplies were delivered at the start of the week and at the end of it, but the fresh catch of the fishermen only was brought by on Mondays. Phil never minded lending a hand.
Techno loved it too, but mainly because he was endlessly curious about seeing all the foods that passed through the castle.
"I think that was all of them," Niki said, wiping her arm over her forehead. Lugging the heavy boxes around had exhausted her.
"Thanks again," Phil said.
"No, that's, that's fine." Niki was a bit red in the face but due to more than exertion. She was always slightly awkward around Phil. Once again, he was the king so nothing unusual there.
"You'll get your payment the usual way?" Phil confirmed. Niki hummed and nodded. "Great. Can I offer you a drink before you head home? I think we both deserve it."
Flustered, Niki raised her hand in polite refusal. "Oh, uh, that's very kind of you, your majesty." Phil was about to open his mouth and tell her she shouldn't refuse on account of his royal status, but then Niki continued. "I have promised to be at Wilbur's by noon, so."
"Tell him his bell is on the way. Again."
Picking up the last of her boxes - and displaying some impressive strength in cradling the heavy wood - Niki laughed. "He'll be pleased. He said that if it disappears again, he's going to put down bear traps."
"Bold of you to assume Techno would fall for those," Phil said.
Niki left after that, and Phil planned to head out into the garden but Kristin stopped him before he could. She was walking in the opposite direction, clearly looking for him.
"Don't forget there's an audience with the nobles from up north this afternoon. You'll be there." It wasn't phrased as a question, rather a playful command.
Phil sighed, he wasn't particularly looking forward to it. "Do I have to?"
"Yes." Kristin kissed him, short and chaste. "Make sure to wear your crown too. For me."
"Anything for you," Phil said. "But I'll have to find the darn thing because I barely ever wear it. I have no clue where it is."
"Your majesty?" Niki called from behind them. She was barely peeking around the corner, as if stepping out of the kitchen and into the hallway would be some sort of major transgression. She did always deliver her goods through a side door as well.
"Niki?" Phil turned with a smile. "I thought you said you were in a hurry."
"I am, but I'd rather not be charged with kidnapping," she said. Confused, Phil and Kristin walked back into the kitchen.
Only to see that Niki had brought the box back and opened up the lid. Techno was inside, asleep. Completely oblivious to the world even.
"I figured the box was a bit too heavy to be empty so I checked to make sure we hadn't forgotten to unload anything," Niki said. "I guess he crawled in there at some point."
Bending down to pick Techno up, the child was pretty much completely slack in Phil's hold until he tucked Techno's chin onto his shoulders. Only then did he start to stir. "Sorry about that."
"How peculiar," Kristin remarked lightly. "Perhaps he liked the smell?" Niki's boxes had the lingering scent of baked sweets on them.
"Maybe," Phil said. "Techno, you should really sleep in your room." He wanted to bring the boy there, but Techno started to squirm in his grip as soon as he mentioned it, demanding to be put down. Phil did so with a sigh.
"I wonder why he hates beds," Kristin mused out loud, amused.
"He might never have had one before," Niki said. When both members of the royal pair looked at her she looked visibly mortified at her own words. Normally, one should not speak out of turn in the presence of the king and queen. Not that either of them cared one bit. Niki pressed on, "he grew up alone, right? On the streets."
"As far as we know," Phil confirmed. Puzzling together Techno's past had been an uphill battle considering he didn't talk.
Well, a little mystery never killed anybody. He was sure they'd figure it out in due time.
Phil had never felt the fear of being unable to find his child before.
Maybe because he never had children before. Yes, when he wasn't operating on pure undiluted panic his brain might stop and comprehend that, stop and parse the obvious attachment he had grown to the boy that stumbled into his life so unexpectedly that not knowing where he was could be enough to send him in a frenzy.
But Phil was scared.
He hadn't seen Techno for over a day.
And sure, Techno might have been getting a bit bolder and more comfortable to not be by his side, but he'd never been gone this long before. A small gnawing worry had steadily grown into the fear he felt as he sprinted through the hallways, calling out Technoblade's name and praying to Prime that the boy would run around the corner.
Kristin was helping him look and Bad had probably also been put on the case. They didn't want to involve anybody else quite yet though, because if this turned out to be a misunderstanding the fallout would be bad. They couldn't have people thinking that somebody was kidnapped straight out of the castle. Phil didn't think Techno was the type of kid to be kidnapped either.
If anybody tried, he'd be more worried for their safety than Techno's.
By now, Phil's anxiety was spiking with every heartbeat. Maybe it was time to call for a town-wide search? Maybe they needed to organize the army and-
"Have you checked our room yet?" Kristin asked, rushing to meet him in the hallway.
"Yes, he's not- he wouldn't be in there without us, you know that." Phil didn't mean to be curt with her. It was just getting hard to think straight.
"What about his room?"
Phil dug his heels into the fancy tiles to come to a skidding halt, almost tumbling over his own feet and onto his face. How the fuck had he not thought of that?
He spun around and took off again, hearing the tapping of Kristin's boots behind him. When they got to Techno's room, Phil threw the door open in a rush, flinching back at the heat that met him.
Somebody had lit the fireplace and stoked it with enough wood to almost burn the castle down. At least they had also pushed the protective iron grate in front of it to prevent any sparks from catching on the carpet.
Phil's eye was much more drawn to the rest of the room. He'd only been in there briefly after ordering some servants to set it up for Techno. The furnishing was simple but cozy, definitely adequate in Phil's opinion. Somebody - Techno himself, obviously. Who else? - had pushed the bed over to the middle of the room. As close to the fireplace as they could manage without it being dangerous. The posts of the bed had been torn off and a combination of blankets and pillows had been piled on top. Many more than Phil knew were in the room. Techno must have gotten them elsewhere.
The makeshift nest (and the room at large) was full of the most random assortment of items Phil had ever laid eyes on.
The most prominent was an honestly pretty impressive collection of bells that would even put the grander temples of Prime to shame. Phil recognized every single one of them because he had been informed of Techno stealing them and had ordered their replacement. He knew Techno must have stacked them away somewhere, but he never expected them to be in this room. Stepping closer to the nest found the offender of such thievery lying curled up in the middle of it. As additional bedding, Techno had ripped out the fluff from inside a bunch of training dummies used by the guards. The destroyed remains lay in another corner of the room. He was using Kristin's scarf as a blanket and had Phil's crown clutched loosely in his fingers.
Furthermore, he was blissfully asleep.
"Is he-" Kristin asked from behind him, then got distracted by looking around curiously. "So what's all this then?"
"I think it's every missing item from a ten-mile radius," Phil said. He saw some of Eret's maps in one corner of the nest, slightly crumpled but undamaged. Against Techno's back, one of the stray cats Phil had seen him play with most often lay fast asleep as well, fluffy back rising and falling in even breaths.
Techno had taken all these things he cared about and had brought them here? Why?
"Techno?" Phil said softly, shaking the boy's shoulder. "Time to wake up and explain what's going on."
Techno didn't respond, he didn't so much as flinch. Phil shook him a bit harder, but it seemed to have no effect.
All that panic that had been squashed down by finding Techno suddenly reared its ugly head again.
"Techno?" Phil kneeled down and pressed the back of his hand against Techno's forehead. It was warm, but not feverishly so. The entire room was unbearably hot thanks to the fire. Techno showed no sign of movement, not even fluttering his eyelids.
"I'll get Ponk," Kristin said before leaving the room in a hurry.
Those ten minutes of waiting for her to return with their court physician might be the longest of Phil's life. He tried to wake Techno up several more times, every time Techno's complete lack of reaction had his heart clench unpleasantly. Phil even found himself checking the boy's pulse. He was alive, still breathing. Just… so deeply asleep he couldn't wake up?
"He's hibernating," Ponk said after having a chance to look the boy over.
"He's what?" Phil blinked numbly. "Is that… is that even possible?"
"Not for humans," Ponk said casually. Their complete lack of concern over the situation was a bit comforting, honestly. "But for whatever Techno is, apparently it's not abnormal. His body is showing all the signs of a typical hibernation. He's not in distress."
"So what do we do?" Kristin asked. She reached out to wrap the scarf around Techno more properly, a sight that made Phil smile fondly.
"Not much we can do except wait for him to wake up," Ponk answered. "You said he was sleeping intermittently lately? Sounds like he was gearing up for deep sleep already but couldn't hibernate since he didn't have the proper arrangements yet." They gestured at the room around them. "A nest."
Phil nodded. Then he walked over to the desk and pulled the chair over to the side of Techno's 'nest'. "Then wait we shall." Ponk's assessment as a doctor was unmatched. If they said this was normal and Techno would wake up on his own, Phil did not doubt that was true.
Why did it not ease the guilt in Phil's chest telling him he should have noticed sooner?
Kristin squeezed his shoulder before going to fetch a chair from the other room as well. Together, they would wait.