The Courtship of a Queen & Her Knight

by SushiSheik

This stories follows Disenchantment Part 3. Follow along with the series of events that takes Bean from the pits of Hell to the highs of being the Queen of Dreamland as she adjusts to her new role as ruler. At the heart of this story is the journey between Bean and Sir Pendergast, and the romance and trust that begins to bloom between them. BeanxPendergast / Beandergast

12. Imagine Dragonscales

Pendergast knew that no matter how close he got to Bean or how much time they spent together, when it came to her, Luci, and Elfo, the so-called "gang", he knew that he would always give them space to just be together. They were the Three Amigos, and all that other good trio shit, and he was an outsider who was happy to just see them be happy. From what Pendergast had heard thus far, the three of them had gone on a lot of wacky and harrowing adventures already and he respected that interpersonal history. If he thought about it, he had been on the outskirts as a supporting character in some of their adventures, but certainly not all of them. Maybe, in time, he'd be integrated more into the exclusive group, but he wouldn't be bothered if he wasn't. Let's face it, the knight knew that his ongoing relationship with the queen couldn't last, and he was savouring every moment with her.

Yes… even the parts where he totally fucked up. Like… withholding vital information from her, and stuff, which hadn't been cool. He knew that. He may have been resurrected and had gotten a better body, but he wasn't smarter than before he died.

Besides… he also recognized that he had something special with Bean that trumped anything she'd done with Luci and Elfo. His love for her, sure, but mainly that he'd had sex with her. He'd taken her virginity, and vice versa. So… yeah. He had that going for him. Oh, and then there was the whole saving her from Hell and being her own personal living angel stuff. Can't forget about that.

Moving on… back to the story at hand.

The knight's blood was still running a bit hot from his heated, standing make-out session with the queen, which had been rudely interrupted by Elfo and Luci's arrival. Understandably, there was a bit more pep in his step as he descended the many stairwells of Dreamland Castle. Given the alcohol in his system, Pendergast took his time walking down the halls and stairs, but he was smiling softly to himself. He had made a quick exit to give Bean time to reacquaint with Elfo and Luci, but he had said that he'd return later. It was now night proper and the castle's cool halls were relatively lifeless save for the sporadic guard at their station or a mouse running here or there. He wasn't tired in the slightest and the day's events were still all-too fresh in his mind for the man to even consider sleep.

In the midst of his mindless wanderings, Pendergast paused by a window and his lone eye gazed out into the night to glimpse the moon before it hid its face behind a passing cloud. Standing there alone in the dark, gave the knight a moment of contemplation of the events of the past few days in their entirety. Their trip to Twinkletown Insane Asylum, Bean's near-kidnapping, his and Bean's journey into the Enchanted Forest and their finding of the strange pendant, before them having sex… twice. No, they didn't have it again in the forest after that, but they probably would have tonight if they hadn't been interrupted. With hindsight, it had been a crazy week and what should have been an easy day today ended in disaster.

Specifically? Well Pendergast had been an idiot and failed to inform Bean that her attempted kidnapper, Alva Gunderson, was not only still alive but also being held prisoner in her own dungeons. Bean, understandably, freaked out when she found out. Much to the surprise of Pendergast, Bean freaking out could now also include her casting lightning from her hands and electrocuting people (Alva) to their deaths.

Yeah… note to self: don't piss off Bean.

In Pendergast's past life, admittedly he would've been afraid of Bean and her apparent magic powers. Now though? Well, who the hell was he to judge? He was a living angel, after all, or so he had been told. As far as he knew, he didn't have any magic powers, aside from helping Bean sleep without the Devil affecting her dreams, and… slight stamina and physical boosts, if he was being honest. His personality had also changed a bit, or so the rumours said, but Pendergast saw it that he had gained perspective with having died. Dwelling in Heaven and thwarting the Devil in Hell tended to do that to a person, especially a simple knight like himself.

At the end of the day, that's still how Pendergast saw himself: a simple knight. He was loyal to his queen, to his kingdom, and that was all he needed. For now, he would cherish every moment he could spend with Bean while she regarded him as a paramour. However, even though he wasn't the smartest of men, Pendergast knew that his romance with Bean couldn't last. How could it? After all… he was a knight, a nobody, who didn't even know the truth of his past.

Frowning, Pendergast glanced down from the scenic night to his hand upon his chest. While his thoughts had been preoccupied, his fingers had found the form of the strange triangular pendant hidden beneath his shirt and traced its shape. Reaching up to tug the pendant's string to pull the thing from out of his shirt, the man held the strange teardrop-shape medallion and regarded its comforting warmth and mysterious and soft orange glow. He gently swept his thumb over the dark, rougher side before turning it over to regard the opal-like underside.

Squinting, Pendergast once again read the strange language that he mysteriously could read:

'Pendergast, return safely to Scaleton'

What, or who, was Scaleton? Someone clearly cared enough about Pendergast to give him this pendant… or maybe he gave it to himself? Maybe this message came from his young, five-year old self as a reminder to not forget. But then… he was attacked by a forest selkie, lost the necklace, and clearly forgot all about it. If that was the case, then why would he write his own name? No, the most logical explanation that Pendergast could think of was that someone else wrote this for him. Which would mean that… maybe there was someone out there who had been waiting for him and he never returned. Maybe they assumed he was dead? Or maybe…

"Maybe they're still out there waiting for me…" the man mumbled softly, remorse clouding his expression.

The thought of someone who cared about him, maybe even loved him, being out there not knowing what happened to him or why he never returned made him sad. Pendergast was very happy with his current (and second) life, but that didn't mean that he couldn't feel bad about something that hadn't been his fault.

"If only there was a way to figure out whatever this "Scaleton" means," Pendergast muttered under his breath, continuing to ponder his strange medallion. "But… if it's a person, I doubt anyone around here knows of them, or else they surely would have spoken to me about them by now, and if it's a place… it's not on any maps that I've ever seen."

That's when Pendergast got an idea and, frankly, he wasn't surprised that he hadn't thought about it before. Again, the men of Dreamland were, in general, pretty stupid overall, and while Pendergast would consider himself to be a bit smarter than the average Dreamlander… he would never boast about his intelligence or anything. That aside, the knight smirked and tucked his pendant back into his shirt as he turned around to head back up the hallway towards the stairs. Retracing his steps for a while, the man turned down an increasingly familiar hall to find an increasingly familiar door.

No, it wasn't the door to Bean's bedroom.

Opening the door, Pendergast entered the Orb's room and quietly closed the door behind him. His eye briefly scanned the room and smiled as he recalled the last time he had been in there: Bean had granted him permission to court her. Blinking away the heartwarming memory, the man turned his attention to the table that held the aforementioned magical sphere. Licking his lips in brief hesitation, the knight removed the Orb's cloth to reveal its transparent surface and cleared his throat.

"Umm… I'm not sure how-... Ah, hello! Oh… O Magical Orb. I have a question, or two, if you don't… you don't mind?"

Pendergast paused and blinked, not sure if the Orb would react or something. When it didn't, he sighed and looked awkwardly around him. Hesitating further, the man looked at the Orb in surprise when it brightened and buzzed to life before revealing its answer.

'ASK ALREADY'

Clearing his throat, Pendergast gave the sphere a nod.

"Ah, yes… I was wondering if you could tell me what… Scaleton means?"

'YES'

Pendergast blinked, stared at the orb for a couple seconds, before frowning slightly.

"Ah… then… what is it?"

'NOUN'

"Noun?" Pendergast repeated, before groaning under his breath.

Wait, what was a noun again? Ah… oh! Yes, of course. Right… clearly he was going to have to be specific, or something.

"Is Scaleton a place or a person's name?" the knight asked slowly.

'PLACE'

A rush of emotions washed over Pendergast as he stared at the word within the glass sphere. Scaleton was a place? That meant... that that was where he was from… yes? But, he had never heard of such a place, and neither had Bean.

Suddenly feeling a bit excited and tense all in one, Pendergast tapped his fingers together nervously as he asked, "Where is Scaleton?"

'FAR'

"Can… you be more specific?"

'WEST'

Frowning a bit more, Pendergast wracked his brain as to what else he could ask of the magical ball. He knew that Bean had already asked about his parents, which… let's face it, he found that to be incredibly touching and he really should tell her how much he appreciated her inquiring on his behalf. It wasn't necessary, but she still did it because that's the type of person she was. Perfect. Beautiful. Considerate…

Shaking his head, Pendergast quickly thought of a follow-up question, "Ah… can you tell me where I might find information about how to find Scaleton?"

'DUNGEONS'

Okay, now Pendergast was really confused. The dungeons? He'd find information about an unknown faraway land in… the dungeons of all places?

"But, how…?"

Finally it clicked for the knight and he set his hand uopn his head in realization. Why hadn't he thought of that before?! Of course… asking him about mysterious faraway places, it made so much sense! Smiling, Pendergast looked back down at the Orb and bowed his head slightly.

"I thank you, O Magical Orb!" he declared, before replacing the cloth back over the ball and exited the room.

While Pendergast had some extra pep in his step before due to his frisk interlude with Bean, now he strode down stairs and halls with steady determination. Answers. He was getting some answers, or at least had some leads on how to find some answers. The knight had told Bean the truth before, that finding out about his past really wasn't that big of a deal to him. He was VERY happy where he was. Still, that didn't mean that he didn't have SOME curiosity. Bean's own encouragement and interest in his past was spurring his own sense of interest to bloom. He understood why, because it was as she said herself: he had a surprisingly interesting and mysterious background. Who didn't love a good mystery? Pendergast was usually indifferent to such things, but since Bean was so invested, well then so was he.

He would do this for, he had decided.

Making his way to the main level of the castle, Pendergast walked silently down the empty halls until he turned a corner and saw a couple guards standing by an entrywau. The pair stood at attention upon seeing the knight approach them.

"Men," he greeted shortly, coming to stand before them.

"Sir Pendergast!" the guards responded in turn.

Casting an eye between them, Pendergast asked, "You have done as I asked? None have gone down into the dungeons?"

"No, sir," replied one of the men… Pinkus was his name? Yeah, that sounded about right.

"Aye! Stan left some time ago, but none have gone down since! Just as you asked," added by the other… Pendergast couldn't remember his name.

Pendergast just nodded.

"Good. Now… step aside. I need to see to something down there."

The guards nodded dutifully and stepped aside, with Pinkus handing Pendergast a nearby sconce from the wall. With the flaming torch in hand, the one-eyed knight descended the stairs. He could appreciate that even though he had died and stuff, his men still respected him and heeded his orders. Was it respect? Or was it out of fear because… well he had died and come back to life, and now he was the so-called "queen's favourite". Whatever the reasons, the man didn't care: as long as no questions were asked and problems weren't started.

Halfway down the stairs, Pendergast caught a whiff of the smell. It smelt like… burnt flesh and… bacon? On top of that, the standard dank and mildew scent of the dungeons, with a touch of despair. Stepping down off the stairs, Pendergast saw that there was no trace of the smoldering corpse of that Stemalander bastard and that Stan had tidied up the place. The Royal Executioner had always prided himself with making sure his workplace was tidy. Perhaps that was an effect that Bunty had on her husband. Looking away from the spot where Alva Gunderson breathed his last breath, Pendergast lifted the sconce to brighten the area a bit more and scanned the nearby cells. The weary souls within either shirked back into the shadows, fearing the one-eyed knight, or did not stir in their pitiful slumbers.

There was only one cell that Pendergast was interested in, however.

Stepping forward, Pendergast brought up the sconce to cast firelight through the bars of a nearby cell. The light and the wavering shadows fell upon the form of the back of a sleeping man. He was a thin man, with a mostly bald head, and even from this angle and being asleep he gave off creepy vibes. Frowning down at the form of the man, Pendergast cleared his throat to hopefully get the man's attention. He waited for a few seconds and just as he was about to pick up a rock to throw at the man to wake him up, Pendergast was stopped by the man's sudden quiet words.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to come for me."

Pendergast blinked, confused.

"What? You were expecting me?"

The prisoner suddenly turned over and lifted his hand against the light. Pendergast saw him squint and blink before Big Jo stood and came to stand by the bars.

"Oh… it's you… Hm. Tell me: is it true that you died and then was mysteriously resurrected?"

Pendergast chose to ignore the man while he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the exorcist. "Who did you think I was at first?"

Big Jo waved him off.

"Oh, no one important. I was, umm… talking in my sleep. Yes, that's right."

Unconvinced, Pendergast scowled at the man and was already regretting coming down here. He remained, however, undaunted when Big Jo leaned in closer. The man's gaunt face was illuminated by the torchlight and his false arm clinked against the bar when he rested it there. Big Jo seemed to study the knight's face for a moment before speaking again.

"You were here before, when… a certain incident occurred here some time ago, earlier today perhaps. Please say that you have come to me to inquire about that event."

Pendergast's expression turned dangerous.

"If you had any sense of self-preservation, you will want to forget that any sort of… incident happened at all…" Pendergast warned threateningly.

Big Jo simply waved him off and grinned.

"Oh, there's no need for that. I have studied many things in my life! I am, after all, the world's leading exorcist, so I can only comment from a purely… academic standpoint, that what I may have witnessed earlier was quite the spectacle! Worthy of note." Before Pendergast could utter another threat, Big Jo waved him off again and continued, "But… I have some inclination that perhaps you have come to me… for another reason? One that isn't forbidden to speak of, I hope."

The knight, weighing his options, stared at the creepy older man and reconsidered the Orb's words. Surely this is who the sphere meant, right? Pendergast mentally kicked himself for being stupid and simply not asking the Orb to clarify its cryptic message but, oh well. He was here already so he might as well ask.

"I… do have some questions for you. Or rather, maybe one question… depending if you know anything about it, of course."

Big Jo seemed intrigued and gave the knight a nod to continue.

Reaching up to subtly feel the pendant beneath his shirt, Pendergast ignored the slight increase in his heart rate and asked his question.

"Do you know… of a place called Scaleton?"

At first, it seemed that Pendergast's question genuinely surprised Big Jo, for the renowned necromancer blinked and stood back. The knight watched the man tap his chin and he seemed to study Pendergast once more, though this time he took in his whole person.

"I admit, my good knight, that you have piqued my curiosity. Not many know the name of Scaleton these days, it seems… especially, at least, not out here in Dreamland."

"So you have heard of it?" Pendergast clarified, his tone guarded slightly.

"Indeed I have," Big Jo replied, a smile playing on his thin lips. "But I wonder why you have an interest in it… and, I daresay I am finding myself also wondering what price might be paid for such information?"

Of course, there was a hitch. Pendergast couldn't argue a hustle, but he also knew that he had an advantage over Big Jo.

"How about being able to keep breathing?" he offered flatly.

Again, Big Jo waved him off before gesturing to his small cell.

"In this place? Not exactly worthwhile… I had come here with my assistant, Porky, who… well I don't know where he is, but then we were falsely accused of… well I'm not entirely sure of that either, though undoubtedly it must've been something rather unpleasant to result in this miserable incarceration."

Pendergast was beginning to find that Big Jo liked to speak a lot of words, a lot of big words specifically, but that he wasn't saying much. Still, the knight understood what the man was getting at.

"If I deem what you have to tell me as… useful, and that I can prove it to be true, then I have the authority to see to your release," Pendergast explained, before adding, "oh, and… this Porky, too, I suppose."

Having grown tired of waiting on his brother, Odval, to act and help him escape, Big Jo smiled once again. Might as well take this chance… he had grown weary of being a Dreamland prisoner.

"Reasonable enough! Do we have an accord?" he asked, reaching his right and real hand through the bars for Pendergast to shake.

Still frowning, Pendergast glanced at the hand before meeting Big Jo's narrowed eyes and wordlessly shook the man's hand.

"Wonderful!" exclaimed Big Jo, taking back his hand to grip the bars. "Now, what would you care to know about Scaleton, dear boy?"

Okay! Now we were getting somewhere.

"Well…" Pendergast started, licking his lips as he gathered his thoughts. "Where is it? For one… and why haven't I heard of it before? Why isn't it on any of the maps?"

"Mmm… all good questions, and all have the same answer, I'm afraid," Big Jo replied cryptically. "Scaleton… was a kingdom located far, far to the west of here. I have never been there myself, but I have heard of the place during my many travels. I am not surprised in the slightest that you have heard no mention of it before, dear boy, especially since it no longer exists."

Pendergast blinked, his expression confused.

"What do you mean?"

Big Jo continued.

"The Kingdom of Scaleton was, according to the rumours and stories, a land where people coexisted with dragons, if you can believe that."

"I don't," Penderstant retorted curtly. "Dragons don't exist."

Big Jo chuckled with little amusement.

"Indeed… Tell me: we live in a world where elves, ogres, demons, and mermaids are real and normal, yet dragons are what you deem to be unbelievable?"

Pendergast looked uncomfortable by that logic.

"Does that mean that you… have actually seen a dragon before?"

"Me? Oh no," Big Jo replied with a shake of his head. "Dragons have always been exceedingly rare, especially in recent years. Too many knights and heroes with too much to prove, I suppose, or so I hear. Apparently, the dragons of Scaleton were smaller and used as beasts of burden, like horses. The dragons that I am sure that you envision, the ones that can breathe fire and can soar through the air and such… those, I'm afraid, could be considered extinct. Stories of sightings of those kinds of dragons are too far and few between to support a logistical healthy population. Sightings these days? More often than not they're just the delusions of manic and malnourished farmer talk, I'm sure."

"Or Steamland airships…" Pendergast commented under his breath, and once more his hatred for Steamland flared up.

"What was that, boy?"

"Ah, nothing," Pendergast replied, meeting Big Jo's eyes once again. "So… if dragons are extinct, is that what you mean that the Kingdom of Scaleton does not exist anymore?"

Big Jo just slowly shook his head.

"I'm afraid, dear boy, that according to what I've heard from the merchants who used to travel to Scaleton with their wares, that there was a… civil war in the kingdom some time ago. The dragons rose up against their human masters and everyone was slaughtered and the kingdom was destroyed. Whether or not dragons still remain there, is unknown, as the land has turned wild and is too dangerous for people to enter. those who do... are never seen of again." Big Jo then shrugged and added, "I mean, was such an outcome really that surprising?"

Pendergast remained silent, his gaze aside, and his expression looked troubled to say the least. Once again his fingers had subconsciously found his pendant beneath his shirt and were subtly tracing its triangular shape, savouring its warmth.

Frowning slightly, Pendergast asked in a slightly lower tone, "When… did this all happen?"

Big Jo watched him, assessing him, and gave the knight another moment of silent contemplation before he leaned closer to the bars once more.

"Oh, it has been some time… at least twenty years, I believe. Perhaps more? Now… tell me: why would a Knight of Dreamland care about, or even know of, a dead kingdom that has little to zero consequence to this kingdom? I admit, I find your inquiries most… peculiar."

The knight's lone eye met the exorcist's and the shadows cast by the torch's light made the man look even more creepy and sinister. Pendergast was trying to process all of this information as best as he could, while also considering whether or not he should indulge Big Jo's question for the sake of gaining more answers for himself. He had learned a considerable amount thus far, but he wasn't sure if he should reveal too much. Namely, his pendant. Only he and Bean knew about the strange medallion and, for whatever reason, Pendergast felt protective of it.

"Well…?" Big Jo coaxed, frowning with veiled impatience.

Pendergast looked aside and cleared his throat, before he replied, "Just… was curious. I found the name in a book and couldn't place it." Standing straighter, the knight gave his prisoner a nod and stated, "Well, thank you for your information and time. I shall see if there's truth in your words and, if there is… we'll discuss the conditions of your release."

Big Jo inclined his head. "Then… I await your return, good sir knight."

Pendergast turned to go and managed to make it almost to the bottom of the stairs before Big Jo's haunting voice called out to him from the darkness of his cell.

"Before you go… could you remind me of your name? I'm afraid in my old age, such things sometimes slip my mind."

Turning back to regard the exorcist and, after a moment, he said, "Sir Pendergast, Leader of the Knights of the Tiabeanie Table," before climbing the stairs and plunging the dungeons back into grim darkness once again.

Finding his shanty bed once more, Big Jo sat down, set his thin elbows upon his knobby knees, interlocked his fingers and set his weak chin upon them.

"Pendergast… what an… unusual name…"

Wordlessly, Pendergast climbed the stairs back up to the main hall and handed his sconce to Pinkus. Without stopping, Pendergast made his way back up several stairwells until, once again, he entered the Orb Room. Closing the door behind him, he finally released the breath he seemed to have been holding and reached up to run his fingers through his hair. His heart rate was up, though this had nothing to do with his recent stair ascension. His mind was racing with what Big Jo told him and he wasn't sure exactly how to process it appropriately. Uncertainty clouded his expression as his gaze fell to the table and the clothed form of the mystical glass sphere. He had… a considerable amount of information that he had to sort through, if he so wished. Pendergast knew that he could simply… ignore all that Big Jo had told him and continue his happy life as a Dreamland Knight and the queen's boyfriend, and there was a part of him that wanted to do this.

However… he had given his word to Big Jo that he'd corroborate his story and, if Pendergast determined that what he had told him was the truth, that Big Jo and his partner, Porky, would be released. As a knight, his word was binding. Frowning, Pendergast looked down to once again notice that his hand had found its way back up to rest on his hidden pendant. Pulling it free from his shirt, the man stared at its opal-like side and thought about Big Jo's words.

"D-... dragons?" Pendergast whispered, staring at the triangular pendant. "Dragons actually exist? Or… existed?"

The questions were to himself, as a means to try and sort through everything, when the man looked up suddenly to see the glow of the Orb beneath its cloth. Hastily, Pendergast walked over to remove the cloth to reveal the Orb's answer.

'YES'

"Wow…" Pendergast replied lamely, though he realized that he wasn't sure which question the Orb had answered. "Are… there any dragons alive anymore?"

'PROBABLY?'

"Hm," Pendergast commented, shrugging at that, but the thought of there being no more dragons made him slightly sad for… whatever reason.

Pulling out a chair at the table, Pendergast sat down with a sigh and stared at the Orb. He really wasn't sure what to do or ask next. He was still subtly turning his pendant over in his hand and an idea popped into his head. Looking at his hand, the man blinked as a slow realization filled his mind and his eye widened.

"Is… is this pendant, or whatever… is it a dragonscale?"

'DUH'

Pendergast looked up and frowned at the Orb because, as Luci would say: wow, rude. The knight would remain where he was for another hour or so, just thinking. He didn't ask the Orb anything else, because he was overcome with subtle emotion when he remembered that his parents, his birth parents, were alive. He had known this since being in Heaven, but knowing this in conjunction with what Big Jo said about the downfall of Scaleton… meant that they, and by extension himself, had possibly survived a dragon uprising. He wasn't sure what to do with this piece of information, but he couldn't help but wonder: where were his parents? How had they become separated? If Scaleton was as far as Big Jo had said, then how had Pendergast ended up alone in the Enchanted Forest?

There were just too many questions and Pendergast knew that even the magical Orb couldn't know them all.

"Pendergast, return to Scaleton…" he read aloud in a quiet voice, frowning sadly at the dragonscale. "I'm… I'm sorry, but I can't return to something that no longer exists… and even if it does, I could never leave Bean and Dreamland."

The knight remained there for a little while more, thinking, until finally he got up to return to Bean.

Speaking of Bean… let's turn back the clock about a couple of hours or so and see what the Queen of Dreamland and her friends have been up to this entire time. To set the scene, the trio of friends are lounging on Bean's comfy bed with many bottles of liquor having collected around them so that they could get stupidly drunk.

Let's start by focusing on Elfo's stupid dumbfounded face.

"Holy shit… you guys really did all that stuff while I was in Ogre Valley?"

"Yeah, some friend you are," Luci commented dryly, smoking a cigar.

Bean took a hearty swig from her bottle, and grinned over at Elfo.

"Yeah… you know, man… when I put it all out like that… holy shit is right! I've been busy since I became queen. But hey! We haven't been invaded or whatever yet! So, like, I must be doing something right."

Luci smirked devilishly and Bean realized her mistake a moment too late.

"Tch! Yeah you have, busy with a certain kni-! Ow, fuck!"

Without hesitation, Bean threw her boot directly at Luci's fat nose and bonked it real good. Elfo burst out laughing and, being the dumb dork that he was, grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at Bean. He missed terribly.

Bean burst out laughing and chugged some more… whiskey? Yeah, it was whiskey. God she missed this, just hanging out with her friends.

Elfo, also laughing, wiped his eyes and rocked forward onto his belly to dance his feet into the air.

"So, do you guys wanna hear what I've been up to? What I learned while I was in Ogre Valley before the Trøgs saved me?"

Luci, still rubbing his nose, leaned back on one of Bean's pillows and puffed on his cigar. He shrugged.

"Eh… I guess so, as long as it's not boring."

Bean rolled over onto her side, smirking, and commented, "Did they, like, remember that you and I were there before and you, like, totally killed a bunch of them?"

Elfo laughed nervously.

"Yeah… about that. I, ah… so, it turns out, the queen of the ogres is my-"

"Bean and Pendergast are dating, y'know?"

Both Elfo and Bean whipped their heads towards Luci, with Bean nearly spurting out her whiskey (she didn't because you don't disrespect whiskey like that).

"LUCI! What the fuck, man?"

Luci shrugged and puffed his cigar, smirking like the little shit he was.

"He had to be told eventually."

Elfo blinked and chuckled awkwardly again, before saying, "F-funny joke, Luce! I mean, I get it how he's back and all now, what with the Heaven and Hell stuff, but that doesn't mean that Pendergast and Bean are dating…"

Luci just shook his head and clicked his tongue shamefully.

"Oh, you poor fool… are you sure Ogre Valley wasn't really Denialville?"

Bean scoffed and waved Luci off, sitting up to look at Elfo.

"Dude… I, like…. literally just told you that Pendergast and I went into the Enchanted Forest to find out about his past…"

Elfo blew a raspberry and shrugged, "Yeah, so? That's because you like adventures, Bean. So what?"

"Dude… you literally walked in on them like… with Bean in the guy's arms…" Luci pointed out dryly.

Again, Elfo shrugged and buried his face into his wine-filled cup.

"S-so? Bean's always falling down drunk or whatever and has to get picked up and… and stuff."

Luci blinked at the small green man and shook his head. "Dude…"

Elfo was slurping his wine REALLY loudly until he downed the last drop. His smile gone and replaced with a pout, he tossed the cup aside and crossed his arms grumpily.

Bean offered her green and shrimpy friend a sympathetic smile.

"Pendergast… is my boyfriend, Elfo. I've decided to give him a chance and see what him courting me looks like."

Elfo scoffed and looked aside.

"Oh, sure… give Mr… Dreamy-Tall-Human-Knight a chance! That's fair…" he grumbled under his breath, sinking lower into his slouch.

"I thought you were done with the whole chasing Bean's skirts thing?" Luci quipped, though it was a fair question.

Elfo sighed and groaned, reaching over for another bottle.

"I mean… yeah? But like… I just think it's weird, especially considering how many times I heard you bitching about Pendergast in the past."

"That was different," Bean pointed out. "Pendergast was a total jerk back then. But now… he's changed, like literally, y'know? He's a-"

"Don't say… "living angel" again…" Elfo warned, squinting over at Bean before drinking some wine. Wiping his mouth, he continued to mutter, "Pfft! I died! I was in Heaven, then went to Hell! It's not that special…"

"Not gunna lie, bro," Luci interjected. "You're kinda acting like a whiny bitch… Awe, come here! You haven't changed a bit! Let's get hammered!"

While Luci poured everyone shots, Bean leaned over to lightly punch Elfo's arm to coax him to look up at her. Begrudgingly he did, and try as he might he couldn't hold off not smiling with Bean grinning down at him.

"So he's cool now?" Elfo asked, taking his shot from Luci.

"He's pretty cool," Bean admitted, before taking up her shot to raise it towards him. "Though, not as cool as you."

"Awe!" Elfo gushed, tears appearing in his eyes.

Luci just rolled his large eyes and lifted his pair of shots. "Let's drink, you chumps!"

And drink they did. It was like old times again, before when none of them had died. They did shots, played drinking games, drank while doing keg stands, sang songs, and jumped on Bean's bed. Elfo tried to teach them an ogre drinking game, but it quickly ended when he was the one who puked into the hearth. Lucky for him there was a fire in the hearth, so the puke was quickly dried up. Unlucky for him there was a fire in the hearth, and Elfo's hat caught fire. Luci and Bean guffawed with laughter as they watched the green elf dunk his flaming hat into his beer. The three then began to play with cards and daggers for the next hour.

Luci never left to go and tend to his bar because, as he said, he could do whatever the fuck he wanted. Clearly he just wanted to spend the night with his two best friends, but it wasn't like he was going to say that outloud. However, after another good hour, it was Elfo who was the first one to yawn. Luci called him a wimp, but then Bean yawned. Luci declared blasphemy. Bean offered that they all cozy up in her bed and drink mulled wine that she could get a guard to go fetch. Her idea was voted in and soon the gang was snuggled in the queen's cozy bed, drinking warm mulled wine. It was heavenly (both Luci and Elfo could attest to this comparison), and the trio slowly slipped further into alcoholic fatigue. Luci attested that they must be getting old and lame or something, because they used to do all-nighters (sometimes all-weekenders) and get up to so many crazy shenanigans… yet there they were, in bed, in the middle of the night… like a bunch of losers or responsible adults. There were no in-betweens.

"How did we end up here?"

Bean, situated in between her two friends, looked over at Luci and blinked slowly due to sleepiness and drunkenness.

"Well... we were over there-" she muttered, pointing towards her room's couches "-and then we walked over here…" she finished, pointing down at herself and her bed.

Luci rolled his large eyes.

"Tch! Smartass…" he scoffed, before drinking more from his bottle of some sort of liquor.

"W-weren't you supposed to go to your bar?" Bean mumbled, rubbing her eyes and looking over at Elfo. She frowned when she saw the green elf was practically sound asleep, hugging his empty wine bottle like a teddy bear. "Quitter…" she mumbled, but there was a soft smile on her lips: she was just so happy to see him back safe and sound.

"Meh," Luci commented nonchalantly. "I do what I want. The drunks of Dreamland can suffer from withdrawals for a night and spend a whole heck of a lot more tomorrow night."

Bean only nodded, understanding completely.

The former-demon-turned-angel-turned-mortal looked over at the drowsy white-haired woman before his large round eyes gazed over towards the room's door.

"Weird that your boy-toy isn't here yet, eh?"

Bean yawned and rubbed her eyes, blinking them repeatedly to try and stay awake.

"He's not… He'll be here," she mumbled stubbornly, finding herself too tired to even argue the "boy-toy" comment.

"Hmm, probably," Luci commented casually, finishing off his bottle before letting it fall off the bed: Elfo didn't even stir but instead began to snore with a slight whistle as he inhaled.

Bean, squinting her eyes over at her best friend, frowned suspiciously.

"And whadda you mean by that?" she mumbled.

"All I'm saying is," Luci replied, making himself more comfortable by curling himself up on the covers like a cat, "Pendergast is the type of guy you can depend on, which is rare because mortals are a bunch of bums." Luci then grinned and peeked an eye over at Bean before he added in a sly tone, "You can always trust a lovestruck fool: they're consistent."

Bean frowned and narrowed her eyes more, until she sighed with exasperation and reached up to pull out yet another mickey of whiskey from beneath her pillow.

"For a demon, you really seem to obsess over love…" the queen pointed out dryly, unscrewing the mickey to take a gulp.

Luci sputtered out a raspberry and wiggled his spearhead tail.

"You kiddin' me? Demons love love! The suckers in Hell who died for love or some shit were always the most fought over to be tortured by the higher ranking demons. Love is one of the most powerful forces and feelings that exists - even Mr. Nick Scratch could admit that."

Bean fought the urge to shudder when Luci said one of the Devil's name, but instead turned over onto her side to face him and ask, "Why is that? I thought something' as pure as love wouldn't, like, survive in Hell."

"You'd think that, eh? But, naw. Love is so powerful, that demons barely even have to torture the lovesick fools. Why you might ask? Well, it's simple: nothing tortures the soul and heart more than heartache, heartbreak, and love sickness. Take Pendergast as a perfect example. Dude was in Heaven of all places, but made it his own personal Hell because of his sense of love… and, like... failures and all that other sad-sack shit too, I suppose."

Leaving those words for Bean to think on, Luci curled his tail around him and closed his eyes. Bean watched him for a couple minutes, seeing his small body rise and fall with his sleeping breath, before she turned to lay on her back. Elfo was still whistle-snoring beside her and usually the woman would find this to be rather annoying, but tonight it was a comfort. Staring up at the underside of her balcony, Bean was trying hard to focus on Luci's words and not how tired (and drunk) she was. She was also trying to ignore the small voice of doubt at the back of her mind that whispered that if she fell asleep without her angelic knight, her nightmares would return. But they… shouldn't though, right? What happened down in the dungeons… that had been Satan's last hoorah… wasn't it? Is that what Luci said? Bean couldn't sort through the alcohol in her brain but she frowned with uncertainty all the same. She was literally surrounded by her best friends. She was happy… shouldn't that amount to the same level of protection that Pendergast could afford her?

"Wh-where is he?" she muttered, her eyelids feeling like stones. "He… said he'd… be…"

And just like that, Bean fell asleep. Too bad she couldn't hold out for, like… another five minutes or so, because that's around when Pendergast finally arrived at her door. When he heard no sounds of merrimaking inside, the knight peeked his head in as quietly as he could yet was still surprised to see a former-demon-turned-angel-turned-mortal, a queen, and an elf asleep in the same bed. Honestly, it was sort of cute, but then the knight realized that he couldn't just crawl in and cuddle his girlfriend like he had been wanting to. That's when he frowned into an almost-pout.

Cursing under his breath, the man looked aside, unsure, before quietly closing the door behind him. He really wasn't sure what was the best thing to do, but he also didn't want to disturb Bean and her friend-time. He understood how important Luci and Elfo were to her and… no, Pendergast wasn't jealous in the slightest that his girlfriend was sleeping with other "guys". She was the queen, after all, and… even though he was courting her, he couldn't, like, dictate who she slept with… but not, like, "sleep with" like that! Sighing, the knight went over to the dying heath and stirred up the embers before feeding it some logs. Why'd it smell like puke? Whatever... He was still the Queen's Watchman, after all, so he couldn't just abandon his post and leave Bean alone… or, alone as in "without him". He figured that since he had a lot on his mind that he wouldn't fall asleep right away, especially since he hadn't been needing to sleep as much since being resurrected.

Well, Pendergast was wrong, and after settling down on one of the purple couches into a comfortable lounge, the knight was sound asleep after about a half-hour or so of dragon-filled thoughts. The last thing that crossed his mind before sleep won out was how much he wished he could be cuddling Bean like he had out in the Enchanted Forest.

Too bad Pendergast didn't listen to his gut and desire to be with Bean. Without his touch as a mortal angel, the Queen of Dreamland dreamed. Or, perhaps, the better term should be "nightmared".

Once again, Bean was surrounded by heat. However… it was different this time…

Finding herself laying on her stomach on stone, Bean groaned and coughed as she lifted her head. Smoke surrounded her, blotting out the sky, but the Dreamland Queen knew in an instant where she was. She was… on top of Dreamland Castle's highest tower: the same tower where she had met Pendergast after his resurrection. Looking around her, Bean saw that she was alone and there were no signs of her friends or anyone. Coming to stand on shaky feet, Bean squinted against the smoke, though she noticed that she was wearing a gown that she'd never seen before. Shielding her eyes, Bean moved to peer over the battlement and through the smoke.

The wind shifted and her eyes widened. Bean gasped in horror and with shaking hands raised her fingers to touch her agape lips.

Dreamland Castle… was burning.

That explained the heat. That explained all the smoke. Dumbfounded and confused, Bean peered through the giant pillars of billowing smoke to see several parts of the castle set ablaze. Obscured by the thick smoke and heated air, she couldn't see the town. She only had a moment to fear the worst.

That is until a great gale suddenly blasted Bean, smothering her with smoke, forcing her to shut her eyes tight and cover her mouth. Blinded, the woman coughed and gritted her teeth as she fell to her knees to hide behind the parapet from the sudden wind.

Whoosh…

Whoosh…

Whoosh…

Freezing in place, Bean held her breath and opened her eyes. Time seemed to slow as she turned to stand, the fear from her expression melted away to reveal her classic determination. The Queen of Dreamland, her dress and hair wavering in the wind, faced the towering cloud of smoke…

… and the giant shadow of the great beast that was hovering in the wall of smoke before her…

"Bean! For God's sake, wake up!"

Sitting up with a gasp that quickly turned into hoarse coughing, Bean struggled to get a breath as she looked frantically around her. She was drenched in sweat and was still on her bed, with Elfo and Luci both looking at her with concern. Pendergast was kneeling in front of her with his hands on her shoulders. Reaching up to grip her knight's wrists, Bean opened her mouth to say something, say anything, but she only frowned and dropped her head in fatigued defeat.

The man pulled his queen into his arms to hold and comfort her. Elfo looked over at Luci. He shuffled over to him and leaned over and whisper to him.

"Is this what you meant when you said that Bean screams in bed with Pendergast?"

Luci just facepalmed and slapped Elfo with his tail at the same time. For the record, that wasn't at all what Luci said. Elfo's an idiot and ruined the joke.

/

A knock came to Bean's door and everyone in the room looked over at the sound. Bean was still in bed with Pendergast laying beside her, while Elfo and Luci were sitting on the sheets. It was morning and Bunty had already come in with her jovially bombastic greeting, but the jolly matron was quickly quieted by the likes of Pendergast, Luci, and finally by Bean herself. The queen was tired and she was cranky, and really didn't feel like doing anything queenly that day. She ordered Bunty out and return with breakfast for everything (though she did say please after), and she and the gang were enjoying their morning meal when they cllectively her the knock.

"Maybe Bunts forgot something?" Bean theorized before biting in her scone.

"Oh! I hope she brought us some eggs, preferably raw ones," Luci commented, licking his lips and rubbing his fiendishly tiny hands together.

Pendergast got up off of the bed and walked over towards the door. He was tired and riddled with concern and guilt. He had already apologized profusely to Bean because he felt that her turmoil and suffering was his fault. Well, technically yes, he should've fulfilled his duty or promise or whatever, but she didn't blame him and had forgiven him.

After her nightmare, it took awhile for Bean to settle back down and only after she had changed her sweaty nightgown and when Pendergast was in bed beside her, holding her. Elfo clearly revealed his displeasure with this, for about a moment, before he took this opportunity to cuddle beside Bean to join in on the "sleepover". Luci ceremoniously kicked the elf out of the way so that he could be by Bean, which Elfo bitched about until he realized that meant that he had the rest of the bed to himself. Soon thereafter, the Walking-Little-Man-Complex was back to being fast asleep and snoring. Granted, he had just been busted out of ogre jail, and he did only go back to sleep after he was reassured that now that Pendergast of all people had joined them in bed that Bean would be fine to go back to sleep.

But she didn't, not for a long time. Bean revealed her brand new dream to her friends, which only raised questions that no one could answer. When asked, Luci revealed that Satan could change form at will and therefore could theoretically become a huge winged beast. But… the former-demon reassured the worried, white-haired woman that this was incredibly unlikely. He explained that for one, the Devil couldn't just leave Hell willy-nilly to cause death and destruction in the mortal realm as a giant beast. Reason two: Luci admitted that he didn't smell or sense any hint of Hellish interference on Bean, so he couldn't confirm if her nightmare had been the Devil's doing at all. Then again, without his powers, he couldn't be sure.

This news didn't necessarily convince Bean, but it definitely gave them all more to think about and that only made falling back asleep even more difficult.

Opening the door, Pendergast blinked when he saw Sir Bolt standing there, who immediately saluted upon seeing the Leader of the Knights.

"Sir Pendergast!"

"Sir Bolt… is there something wrong?" Pendergast asked with a tone of seriousness.

"Nothing is amiss, sir, but I was asked to come and fetch you for a meeting in the council room."

"A meeting? Today?" Pendergast repeated, going over his schedule in his head before frowning. "There's no meeting today… What's this about? Her Majesty isn't… feeling well today."

Sir Bolt held up his hand and shook his head.

"Her Majesty may continue to rest, as she is not… required for this meeting. You, on the other hand, have been summoned and are expected to attend."

Pendergast frowned more. He didn't like Sir Bolt's tone or what the old man could possibly be insinuating, but then again Bolt was a good knight and Pendergast knew that he could rely on him. If the elder knight said that a meeting was imperative, well then Pendergast had better attend.

"I'll be there," the one-eyed knight replied after a moment of thought. "What time?"

"Now," Sir Bolt said simply.

"Right… Well, I shall only be a moment," Pendergast assured, before partly closing the door after Bolt nodded his head and stepped back to wait. Looking over to the bed, Pendergast called over to the gang, "I must leave, but I'll return once I'm able."

"What's up?" Bean asked, scone crumbs on her lips.

Pendergast smiled at her and waved her off. "Nothing to worry about, my queen! Just some knight stuff. Enjoy your meal, my friends!"

"I call dibs on his scone!" Elfo declared as Pendergast left the room.

Following Sir Bolt down a couple flights of stairs, Pendergast remained silent as he mentally prepared himself for whatever was about to come. He reasoned that the meeting couldn't be that important or serious if the queen wasn't required to attend, but that by itself was slightly suspicious to the knight. Bean screaming due to nightmares wasn't out of the ordinary now, so Pendergast guessed that this unscheduled meeting couldn't be about that. However, it dawned on the one-eyed knight that since Bean wasn't in attendance… that this meeting could be about him.

Safe to say, Pendergast hardened his expression when he saw Sir Bolt stand aside by the door to the council room and nod his head to his superior. Feeling wary, Pendergast glanced at the older knight before entering the council room, before he blinked to see that only Odval stood within: hands behind his back and wearing his smug smile. The door was closed behind him and suddenly the knight felt like he had walked into some sort of trap.

"Ah! Sir Pendergast. So glad that you could join me this morning. Please! Come and take a seat."

Pendergast narrowed his eye at the triclops and said warily, "What's this about? I thought this was a council meeting?"

Odval chuckled lightly, which did not help Pendergast's zero sense of trust in the former Prime Minister.

"Oh, no, and I apologize if perhaps you were misled. No, I asked Sir Bolt to fetch you so that you and I could talk about some… sensitive matters, just the two of us."

Pendergast crossed his arms and continued to not-so-subtly glare at the worm of a man.

"I'm listening, though… I should warn you to speak carefully, but, to be perfectly honest, any reason to hurt you again suits me fine."

Odval simply nodded in understanding.

"Warning heard. Oh! By the way... before I begin, I heard that Miss Moonpence was arrested. Care to share about that?"

Pendergast shrugged and said, "She was. turned out she was in league with Steamland."

Odval shook his head slowly and frowned slightly.

"Ah. Well, that's a shame. She was a good secretary," before he shrugged and revealed a rolled up scroll from behind his back. "Anyway, down to business. Sir Pendergast, I have here a correspondence from the Empire of Maru. This is in response to the invitation I sent to the nobility of Maru in hopes that they might attend the celebrations of Her Majesty's twentieth birthday." Odval then arched a brow at Pendergast before he asked, "Have you and Bean discussed this?"

Frowning still, Pendergast replied dryly, "Bean has mentioned that her mother was of Maru and what happened while she was there."

Odval smiled.

"Excellent! That saves me from having to explain the intricacies to you. To get to the point, there are those in Maru who consider Bean to be the rightful heir to the Maruvian throne, with the… let's say, unfortunate deaths of the emperor and his sisters: Bean's mother and aunt and uncle. However, there are those who contest the legitimacy of Bean's right to the throne and within this scroll is a proposition made by the Maruvian nobility."

Pendergast remained silent, though his stomach twisted at where Odval was going with this.

"It's quite simple, you see. The Maruvians offer to attend Queen's Bean's birthday in addition to her agreeing to marrying one of their nobles. A, umm… let's see here… Oh! A Duke Humphrey, or something like that. Basically, with this marriage, Bean would be named Empress of Maru in addition to her title of being Queen of Dreamland, our two kingdom's would unite, and Dreamland will gain a substantial ally and a king. Personally speaking, I think it's a win-win scenario! Except, of course… convincing Bean that it's in the best interest of the kingdom… that's where I expect you to come in, Sir Pendergast."

The entire time Odval spoke, Pendergast managed to keep his expression from changing as he internally reacted to the triclops' news. Bean getting married? The knight knew that this was always a possibility, but in all honesty, he hadn't expected it to happen like this or so soon. His heart was pounding and his blood boiled with contained anger at wanting to cave Odval's stupid face in.

"And what could I possibly help with in this situation?" Pendergast asked gruffly.

Odval simply smirked and shrugged.

"Isn't it obvious? You and Her Majesty have gotten rather close as of late and as much as she has insisted that she holds the kingdom's best interest above anything else, you and I both know that the queen doesn't hold the idea of marriage in the same light. I'm asking you, Sir Pendergast, taking into account your role as the Leader of the Dreamland Knights and being the queen's… favourite… to break the news to her so to speak. Convince her that this proposed alliance with Maru is for the kingdom, and that she must shed her childish misgivings about marriage aside if she is serious about doing what is best for the good of the kingdom."

Pendergast didn't like Odval's tone. He didn't like how the man said favourite, and he didn't like the underlying insinuation. Frankly, he hated the man.

"Well, it's as you said yourself…" Pendergast stated through tight lips, "you and I both know that Bean does what she wants. What makes you think that she'll listen to me?"

"Because… Sir Pendergast…" Odval replied slowly, before he sighed. "Look, I really don't care about the details of whatever might be going on between you and the queen, but consider this to be my attempt at an olive branch. If you help me with this, then you can tell Bean in your own special way and… soften the blow. You don't have to remind me just how stubborn she can be… but I hope that if she hears it from you first rather than hearing it from the Council then, maybe… Bean will see reason."

Reluctantly, Pendergast tore his gaze from Odval to look aside, clearly in thought. He felt uncomfortable with the information that Odval was sharing with him, but he couldn't deny that he didn't see the logic in his words. Bean was a queen and queens were expected to marry and build alliances with other lands. Pendergast had always known this, but that didn't mean his heart couldn't hurt.

"Bean won't... It'll take a lot of convincing for her to agree to something like this…" Pendergast relented after another long moment, the knight looking back over at Odval with something that looked like regret in his eye.

Odval nodded, almost sympathetically, and walked over to the knight to hand him the scroll.

"I truly believe that Bean could be a great queen, I really do. But... even the greatest kings and queens need to make sacrifices for their kingdoms. Now this doesn't technically mean that your little romance with the queen needs to stop-"

"Who said anything about a romance?" Pendergast interrupted threateningly.

"-all I'm saying…" Odval continued, holding up his hands submissively, "is that it's time for Bean to prove her commitment to her kingdom. Dreamland is in desperate need of allies. I would hope that you, being a Knight of Dreamland, could agree with me on that."

Staring down Odval for a long moment, his eye narrowed dangerously, Pendergast grabbed the scroll from the man's hand and through gritted teeth he uttered, "I'll try."

Without another word, the knight stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him. Odval, wincing at the slam, exhaled slowly and shook his head.

"That man scares the crap out of me…" he whispered with a shudder, removing his hat and dabbing around his third eye on his forehead with a handkerchief.

Meanwhile, Pendergast continued down the hall, past a couple servants and a guard, until he ducked into an unused room and closed the door behind him. Leaning back against door, Pendergast thumped his head against the door's surface and closed his eye, breathing slowly out through his nostrils. Wiping his hand slowly down his face, the man opened his eye to stare at the ceiling.

"I knew this day would come… just not so soon," he muttered, feeling his heart pang with sadness and regret. However, he quickly shook his head and stared down at the scroll in his hand, "but I am grateful for all the time spent with Bean," he reminded himself.

After all, he had saved her. He had kissed her. She knew he loved her. She had granted him permission to court her. He had made her laugh and smile. He had had sex with her! He was in no position to bemoan current circumstances because, in all honesty, he should either still be in Heaven or nonexistent. It was as Odval said, Bean was queen… marrying some noble bastard from a faraway land wasn't out of the realm of possibilities.

"Still… that doesn't make this any easier…" he whispered as he unrolled the scroll to read it himself.

The more he read, the more his heart sank.

/

Bean looked over at Pendergast and smiled. The Dreamland Knight had his eyes closed, his right arm behind his head while he left was under her head, and he looked pretty darn handsome from his angle. The woman had given up denying that fact and even though she was pretty tired, she was grateful to the guy when he had suggested their little getaway. She had planned to hang out with Elfo and Luci all day, when Pendergast came back to the room and asked her if she wanted to go out for a picnic with him alone. The knight revealed that he had gathered together everything they would need already, their horses were waiting for them, and all he needed from her was her to agree to join him. She said yes even with the chorus of teasing and grumbles from Luci and Elfo at being left out. Bean figured that the man was just trying to make up for feeling guilty about her having a nightmare without him.

Considering how she saw that he had packed the saddlebags full of food and alcohol, along with him stopping to buy her some flowers in town… it was safe to say that Bean forgave him yet again. Watching him doze in the sunshine roused a smile from Bean. She turned onto her side and set her hand on his chest, trailing her finger over the form of the pendant beneath his shirt.

"You asleep?" she asked.

"No," the man replied, his eye remaining closed. "Just… enjoying the day. Lots on my mind."

"Oh, yeah? Like what?" Bean asked coyly, continuing to run her finger around his chest.

Pendergast inhaled slowly through his nostrils and lifted his left hand to start combing his fingers lightly through her silky hair.

"Oh, you know… you, mostly," he replied quietly, peeking his eye open to smile at her.

"Only good things, I hope," Bean replied slyly, her expression becoming coy.

Pendergast teetered, wanting to respond sweetly or saying something suggestive, because he still wasn't sure how he wanted to spend this outing. He was well aware that it might be their last. Would he be an asshole if they potentially had sex one last time before he broke the news to her about Maru? Well… put into a sentence like that: yeah, yeah he would. Sweet it is then.

"About you? Always," he said softly, his voice sincere and full of love.

Bean blinked at the unexpected sincerity and a bright blush appeared in her cheeks. Her smile softened and she leaned against his hand upon her hair.

"Bean. I still don't know why Luci and I were brought back, but every moment that I've been able to spend with you has been worth facing the Devil and oblivion itself. The good and the bad."

"Pendergast…" Bean began tenderly, though concern crept into her expression.

"I mean it, Bean! If God Themself were to strike me down here and now, the only regret that I would carry with me back to Heaven would be having to leave you alone to grieve."

"Yeah, but," Bean replied, laughing awkwardly, "that's… not going to happen, right? I mean, you're here! With me… and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Unless, of course, you seriously screw up."

Pendergast chuckled lightly with little humour.

"That does sound like me, and you don't deserve a screw up, Bean. You're a queen. You deserve the best and, me being a knight, means that I can't give you all that you deserve."

"Okay, well first off, I'm a screw up too so it's not all bad," she replied lightly, though she was clearly uncomfortable with this conversation. Bean slightly slapped Pendergast's chest and said, "And second, let's keep the serious talk to a minimum of, like, none today, okay? I just want to enjoy ourselves here, and… who knows what may happen…"

"Bean, I-"

Sultriness returned to Bean's face and she ignored Pendergast as she leaned over to press her lips against his. The knight was hesitant at first, for about a second, before he groaned softly and returned her kiss. Closing his eye, he shifted his hand from her hair to the back of her shoulders to pull her even closer, deepening their kiss. He knew that he should stop this, to tell Bean the truth, but… she was so soft and smelt so good and tasted better than Heaven! And yes, the clouds of Heaven were edible and had a distinctive flavour of pure bliss, but Bean's kiss was better than that. Maybe… one more make out session couldn't hurt after all…

Tender kissing quickly developed into passionate smooches and at some point Bean pulled herself to lay on top of Pendergast. The knight added his other arm into the kissing fray and the pair of lovers became a tangled mess of limbs and hormones. Rolling on the blanket, Pendergast turned them over to position himself over Bean, her legs hooking behind his thighs. Busy with peppering her neck with kisses and nuzzles, Pendergast barely noticed when Bean began to pull up at his white shirt. He only noticed when she had practically pulled it up and onto his face, forcing him to sit up and remove his belt and shirt with a lustful chuckle. His brain warned him to stop, but his heart and erection yelled at him to continue and, frankly, they made a better argument. Deliciously shirtless, Pendergast smirked down at Bean before placing his hands on either side of her head to kiss her once more. The queen returned the kiss enthusiastically. So much so, her excited fingers ran down the front of his toned chest until they found the top of his pants.

Pendergast opened his eye in panic when he felt Bean begin to untie his pants and he hastily broke the kiss and pulled back to look down at her.

Bean laughed and gazed up at him with a flirty smirk.

"What's the matter? Did I tickle you?"

"Ah… no… but-"

"Then what's the problem?" Bean asked with a laugh, though she could see the increasing look of uncertainty in the knight's face.

The man furrowed his brow in indecision and he looked down at his love and liege with remorse. Licking his lips, he started to say something but stopped when Bean sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Pendergast, for the last time. It's okay! I'm not mad about the whole nightmare thing. But look, if you want to make it up to me, then you can start by-"

"Bean. We need to talk."

Bean finally frowned and placed her hands on his chest.

"Jeez, Pendergast… way to kill the mood."

Pushing him off of her, Bean sat up while Pendergast shifted to sit on the blanket across from her. The woman immediately reached over to grab one of the bottles of booze. Her expression clearly revealed her annoyance and her boyfriend steeled himself for what he was about to say.

"I'm sorry, Bean, but I-"

"Yeah, I'm sorry too," she grumbled, popping off the top of the bottle and chugging half of its contents down.

Pendergast nervously grabbed his shirt and put it back on, hating how she phrased her response.

"Umm, what are you sorry-?"

Bean groaned with exasperation and looked over at him with a scowl.

"All I wanted was a sexy picnic with my boyfriend without any serious bullshit! Is that so much to ask for?!"

The knight looked away guiltily and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Trust me. Considering what I'm about to show you, I'm sure that you'll be glad that we stopped."

Suspicion narrowed Bean's eyes and she slightly leaned towards him.

"Okay. The fuck is going on, Pendergast? What did you do now?"

The man sighed and leaned over to reach into one of his saddlebags. He revealed the scroll and with a look of restrained sadness, he handed it to Bean. Maintaining her suspicious gaze on his solemn one, Bean took the scroll and after a moment more, did she unroll it and began to read.

As she read, Pendergast shifted his position to raise his knees a bit and he set his arms upon them. Gazing out at the ocean, which sparkled under the rays of the beautiful day, the knight took a steadying breath to savour this moment. He loved Bean, whether he was courting her or not. Sure seeing her get married to another would tear his heart to pieces, but his love would persist. He'd do anything for her… even if that meant living in silent agony for the rest of his second life.

"THE FUCK IS THIS?! ME MARRY SOME DUKE-FUCKING-HUMPHREY?!"

Pendergast closed his eye and sighed. Here we go.

The knight looked over and managed not to flinch at how pissed off Bean looked. She angrily scrunched the scoll in her hand and waved it in his face.

"How long have you known about this?"

"Not long," Pendergast admitted evenly. "That's why I was called away from your room. Odval met with me and gave me that."

Bean glared at the paper and tossed it aside with a scoff, taking up her bottle once more to empty it with a few hearty gulps. Slamming down the bottle, Bean haphazardly tossed it at the tower's wall where it shattered on impact.

"And what? You better have told him where he could shove it, right?" Bean asked aggressively, poking her finger harshly into Pendergast's arm.

He didn't react, but instead calmly replied, "No, Bean. I…" he hesitated for a moment, searching her beautiful face, before continuing, "I think it's for the best if I stop courting you."

Bean's hand flew faster than Pendergast could blink and the slap of her palm upon his cheek echoed through the wind. Grabbing the front of his shirt, Bean hauled him forward until their noses nearly touched. His cheek burning, the knight stared wide-eyed up into Bean's face and cowered before the famous anger of the Queen of Dreamland. She opened her mouth and Pendergast flinched, ready for the screaming tirade he was about to endure, when he saw Bean hesitate. Blinking, the man watched his queen's angry mask crack and saw how her eyes wavered with emotion.

"I thought that you loved me, Pendergast."

The bluntness of her words sent blunt knives stabbing into Pendergast's heart. He promised himself and her that he wouldn't lie to her, and he would never dream of doing so at that moment. Even if he wanted to or tried, Bean would see through his lie in an instant, and probably just hit him again.

"I do, Bean. You know I do, and it's because I do that I know that this courtship of ours… it's not what you deserve. It's not what a queen deserves."

Bean tightened her grip on his shirt and shook him with every question she asked him.

"What I deserve?! Since when do you know what I deserve?! Since when does anyone know what I deserve?! Why does everyone think they know what's best for me?! Why does everyone keep trying to tell me who to fucking MARRY?!"

"But! Bean! The-! Al-li-ance!" Pendergast tried to say, finding it hard to speak with how vigorously Bean was shaking him.

"Tell me! Did Duke-Fucking-Humphrey leave Heaven for me?!"

"Ah-?!"

"Did Duke-Fucking-Humphrey save me from the hand of the Devil himself?!"

"N-no?"

"Did Duke-Fucking-Humphrey fucking tell me that he loved me moments before he disappeared into nothing?!"

"Bean.."

"Did I have SEX with DUKE-FUCKING-HUMPHREY?!"

Bean shook the man one last time before she pushed him back. Her hands were trembling and there were tears in her eyes, but she maintained her classic expression of anger and determination. Pointing a finger at Pendergast, again forcing the stunned knight to wince back in reaction (being lowkey afraid that she was going to electrocute him), Bean still had more to say.

"Listen here, Sir-Fucking-Pendergast! I am tired of people telling me what I deserve and what's best for me! No! I'm queen! And I'm going to tell you what I deserve!"

Honestly? Pendergast was scared. Bean was pissed and there was a perfectly full bottle of wine within her reach. He had a hand up in weak self-defence and his eye remained wide as he watched Bean lean closer to him once more. His heart crumbled upon seeing the clear hurt in her eyes, but there was something else in her expression that he wasn't sure about. He was too guilty and scared to register what it could be though. The white-haired woman pressed her palm against his chest, and Pendergast allowed her to push him onto his back. There was no way in hell that he'd put up any sort of resistance against whatever Bean was planning on doing to him. He was sure that she was about to tell him what he deserved, and it probably involved more pain.

So be it.

The knight blinked in cautious surprise when Bean, instead of hitting him or punching him in the dick, simply laid down beside him with her head on his left shoulder. She set her clenched fist on his chest and exhaled slowly. Too confused to question what was happening, Pendergast stiffly wrapped his arm around her and held her fist with his other hand.

"I deserve… this…" Bean stated quietly, almost sadlike. "I deserve… to be loved. To be with someone who wants to be with me because I'm me. Not because I'm queen, or for some sort of alliance, or even for the kingdom or whatever." The queen lifted her head slightly to look up at Pendergast's face and he shifted to meet her gaze, to which she continued, "I know why you said what you did and why you brought me out here. And… I'm not mad. I get it. You're honourable and good: so much better than some pompous and fat duke from whatever kingdom."

"Bean? What are- what are you saying?"

Remaining quiet for a moment, Bean moved and slid over so that she was resting her forearms on Pendergast's chest and was staring down into his face. Her anger had left her expression, and all that remained was a sad smile. Tenderly, Pendergast lifted his hand to her cheek to caress it softly and wipe away a small trace of a tear that had escaped from his love's melancholic eyes. Tucking her hair out of her face and behind her ear, his expression revealed to her how much he didn't want to hurt her.

"What I'm saying is… that there's more than one way to make an alliance," Bean replied cryptically.

Her smile broadened with Bean's trademarked confidence and Pendergast couldn't but smile back. Little did the knight know, but his queen had an idea forming in her head.

"I'm sorry, Bean," Pendergast mumbled, running his fingers slowly down the side of her cheek. "About all of this, truly I am."

She leaned down until her nose touched his and whispered, "Besides… you're far too interesting to break up with now."

The knight chuckled in his throat and this time when Bean kissed him, Pendergast didn't fight back. He also didn't fight back when their passionate kiss evolved into another make out session. He didn't resist when the removal of articles of clothing began, and he certainly didn't protest when they started having sex with Bean on riding on top of him. If anything, he fought with her to determine who could moan the loudest. Spoilers: Bean won.

Now, the author could write out a whole scene of how Bean and Pendergast eventually rode back to the castle after their romantic interlude, only for Bean to summon her Council together in order to reveal how she was going to deal with the Maruvian proposal. That could happen but, let's face it. This chapter is getting pretty long as it is, and there's still one more scene to cover, so here's the short version.

Once the Council had arrived into their meeting room, Bean revealed to them all Maru's proposal: her hand in marriage to some duke for an alliance with the desert empire, Bean gaining the title of Empress, and, oh, that the Maruvian nobility would attend her birthday celebrations. She explained how she understood the predicament they, as a kingdom faced, especially considering the current status of Dreamland. Bean admitted that an alliance with Maru would be to the benefit of them all. However, she then went on to say that Dreamland is still healing from too many tragedies to count, in addition to adjusting to its first solo-ruling queen. The last thing the people and kingdom needed was their queen to suddenly split her time and efforts to another kingdom: one that barely any Dreamlander had heard of, let alone visited, and one where Bean herself had been to only once before. Bean once again reiterated that she is learning and she has already struggled with being a good queen and knows that if she became empress too, that she would most definitely fail. Once prompted by members of the Council (aka Odval, let's be real here) as to what she planned to do about the marriage proposal then, Bean proposed the following alternative solution: Dreamland would negotiate with Maru about forming a new major trade route between both lands to build a alliance based on goods and commerce rather than a political marriage. Bean would offer to abdicate her claim to the Maruvian throne and assist with selecting the new Emperor or Empress of Maru from the current Maruvian nobles. That way, a true Maruvian who actually knows their country and its customs would rule over the people. Bean would then be able to maintain her focus on Dreamland, which would reap the benefits from a new and exotic trade route.

After some discussion, it soon became clear that the majority of Bean's Council of advisors were impressed with their queen's alternate proposal, and Odval offered to write up the queen's trade route alliance to be sent back to Maru. With that settled, the meeting was adjourned and Odval approached Bean to ask her something.

"I must admit, Queen, this is certainly an impressive counter proposal. I shall have it drafted right away to await your signature."

"That's great, Odval, and thanks," Bean replied, turning once again towards the door with Pendergast having gone on ahead to do something quickly, but would meet her soon up in her room.

"Oh! Bean, I do have a question of sorts, if you might humour me for a moment."

Bean didn't try to mask her sigh as she turned back around to arch a brow at Odval.

"Yeah, sure, go ahead."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I was just wondering if there was a chance that this… new trade alliance has more to do with your reluctance to marry than it does for the good of Dreamland."

Bean narrowed her eyes.

"I don't hear a question in that statement, Odval…"

"What I mean is… if there's another reason why you are declining the Maruvian marriage proposal, then I hope that you have thought it through."

Once again, Bean revealed her objection to Odval's words.

"Odval…"

"Might I offer a word of advice to Her Majesty, as her advisor?"

Bean looked about done with this conversation but, nonetheless, she groaned and mumbled, "Sure…"

Odval, still wearing his fake smile, proceeded.

"Ruling a kingdom means, by definition, that the entire kingdom must be taken into account by a king, or, in your case, a queen. Sometimes the decisions are easy, cut and dry, but more often than not decision-making is hard and it's not always clear to see what the right choice to make is at the time. Sometimes, there is no "straightforward" choice, there's no "right thing" to do. Just one hard choice versus another, and with each there are consequences and unhappy people. You have, Bean, shown that you care about this kingdom and its people, and I commend you on this. I also agree that you, being as young and… dare I say naive and inexperienced as you are, are not fit to rule over both Dreamland and Maru. I say this not to offer insult, but simply to state a fact. Sure, it sounds good on paper: Queen of Dreamland and Empress of Maru, but in practice? I fear that would prove to be rather disastrous. All in all, this proposed trade route of yours sounds promising, and I have a feeling that the Maruvians will agree that electing one of their own to be their next ruler is the best outcome for all. Well done, Bean."

Satisfied with his monologue, Odval replaced his hands behind his back and continued to stare at the confused-as-fuck Queen of Dreamland.

Blinking a couple times, Bean frowned and said, "Wait… what? Really? All that and you're… praising me?" The queen clearly was trying to process what Odval had said to her, but, at the same time, a question popped into her head and she crossed her arms at him. "Odval, was this, like, some sort of test? Because… you really made it sound like it was some sort of test and that I passed… I think? Maybe? Was it a test?"

Odval only chuckled his phony, pleasant laugh and waved her off.

"I assure you, that there was no such thing, Your Majesty! Now, off you go! I heard from the guards that you had another nightmare last night, so I suggest that you have a full and good sleep tonight. Tomorrow we shall be continuing the planning for your birthday. Sleep well, Queen."

Bean gave Odval a nod and small wave before slowly exiting the room, glancing over her shoulder at him, before leaving to head down for an overdue bath. Odval watched his queen leave and only chuckled once more to himself, before moving to go and begin to draft up the trade alliance, just as he said he would.

Meanwhile, Pendergast was hurrying so that his "errand" wouldn't take too long. He didn't want to make Bean wait for him, and he'd rather be waiting for her once she was done with her bath. Perhaps he was encouraged by Bean's spectacular show of leadership that she demonstrated during the meeting, or maybe he was simply still feeling the effects of post-nut clarity, but there was something that the knight felt like he had to do before he could see the queen again.

Descending back down into the dungeons, Pendergast saw the broad back of Stan the Royal Executioner, who was busy polishing his torture implements while some poor chained-up sod moaned with thumb screws on his hands. Stan looked up to see who had entered his place of work, brandishing a knife as he did, because after all no one was supposed to come down here still unless it was himself, the queen, or-

"Ah! Pendergast. I was wonderin' if I'd see you today."

"Stan," the knight greeted with a nod, walking up to the large man. "Anything to report?"

"Oh, no," Stan said. "Just good to see yah today, is all."

"Ah…" Pendergast commented, looking around, before saying, "Hey, Stan. Why don't you go and have yourself a small break? Take a piss or grab something from the kitchens, yeah?"

The hooded man regarded the one-eyed knight for a moment, before ginning and set down his knife once again.

"Aye! I could drain th'monster. Usually I just piss on the prisoners, but goin' outside will be a real treat. Thanks, Pendergast."

The knight nodded and watched the large, surprisingly kind-hearted executioner head up the stairs. Once he was out of sight, did the knight turn and walk over to a cell to find who he was looking for.

"Big Jo?"

The creepy and thin exorcist was sitting on his pathetic bed and creepily looked up to smile slightly at the knight, causing even Pendergast to shudder.

"You are haunting, man."

"I am who I am," Big Jo answered with a shrug, before standing and having multiple bones audibly crack and strain. "I do hope that you are here to uphold your side of the bargain. I daresay that I have grown rather tired of my current living arrangements."

Pendergast looked aside, making sure that the only people around were malnourished prisoners who seemed too preoccupied with their tragic circumstances to be paying attention.

"Actually… I have something to show you."

"Well, that wasn't part of our bargain and- oh! Oh my… how… fascinating…"

Ignoring the exorcist's annoyed protest, Pendergast revealed his dragonscale pendant and held it before the cell's bars. Big Jo leaned in close and began to inspect the medallion, rubbing his weak chin and humming to himself in thought.

"Do you know what this is?" Pendergast asked, frowning when Big Jo poked the scale to make it turn around and reveal its opal-like interior.

"I think the better question, dear boy, is if you know what this is?" Big Jo countered, looking at the knight before turning his analytical gaze to peer at the strange language carved onto the scale.

Pendergast frowned and shifted his gaze around.

"I… do…"

"Interesting…" Big Jo commented, smiling and straightening to look the knight in the eye.

"I can… also read what's written on it…" Pendergast admitted in a lower tone. "But I… I don't remember anything about it. I didn't even know it was mine until recently. Can you tell me anything more about Scaleton?"

Pendergast wasn't sure what he was expecting, but he felt that he had to make sure that Big Jo had told him everything he could before he could carry on with his life. He wanted to be with Bean, but he knew that she had a keen interest in his mysterious past. He figured it'd be a sort of gift to her to tell her everything that he could about Scaleton. Hopefully then she'd be satisfied and that would be that. No more mystery, no more intrigue into Pendergast's increasingly sad past. Just them being together and having increasingly amazing and frequent sex.

However, the knight felt a wave of trepidation when he saw Big Jo smile wider with near-wicked glee. Perhaps… this wasn't the best idea…

The knight frowned, and hesitantly asked, "Can you… read what's on the- umm, pendant?"

Big Jo slowly shook his head.

"No, but I do recognize it as Scaletonian. You say you can read it? Would you… care to elaborate?"

"It, ah… says my name. Pendergast," the knight replied lowly, not wanting to reveal the full translation.

"You know… after our meeting last night, I couldn't help but notice how… unique your name was, Sir Pendergast…"

"Yeah… I've heard that before…" Pendergast admitted guardedly, his hand clasping his dragonscale to take some comfort from its inherent warmth..

"Indeed. In fact, it reminded me of a tidbit of information that I heard about Scaleton, something that I dismissed as nonsense or inconsequential. However… I now think that there might be some truth to it."

"And… that would be?"

"Well…" Big Jo began, staring thoughtfully at the wall as he recounted his vast knowledge. "From what I recall, Scaleton, being a kingdom of course, had a royal family. I'm sure that they're all dead, considering the burning of the kingdom by dragonflame, but that aside, I heard that the family had a unique naming convention."

Pendergast wasn't sure he liked where this was going… he also thought it was unnecessary for Big Jo to mention that the Scaletonian Royal Family were probably all dead. That seemed... excessive.

"Go on…" the knight coaxed, glancing over his shoulder because he knew that Stan would be returning any second.

Big Jo tapped his chin in thought.

"I admit, the details have faded over the years, but from what I recall, the Scaletonians had some sort of legend about a guy named "Pendragon"? Yes, I do believe that was it. To be fair, considering that it was a kingdom with dragons, it's not very original. However, because of this legendary figure, the royal family had a tradition. This tradition was that males born into the royal family were named to honour their hero, Pendragon. Let's see… think… Pendrith, Pendon, Pendilliam…" Big Jo paused and looked over to meet the knight's eye, before he said, "Pendergast, even?"

The knight stared at the exorcist in shock and confusion. However, before he could even begin to utter some sort of sound or words, or burst out laughing at what Big Jo was saying, heavy footsteps echoed from the stairwell to announce Stan's return. Pendergast took an unsteady step away from Big Jo, who continued to stare at him with a creepy smile, before the knight cleared his throat and turned to leave.

"I'll… discuss the conditions of your release with the queen…" he uttered just as Stan reappeared.

The knight then left, giving Stan a nod as they passed, before heading up and out of the dungeons. He tucked his dragonscale pendant back into his shirt and found that its usually comforting heat now made him shiver. His heartbeat was thundering in his ears and coming out to stand in the main hall, Pendergast had to stop to take a breath. He felt dizzy. He felt… he wasn't even sure what he felt. Panic, for one. Confusion, for another. His birth parents… he knew that they were alive, at least they were back when he was in Heaven. Then he and Bean found this pendant, which turned out to be a real dragonscale, and his name is on it for some reason, along with the mention of a mysterious and apparently destroyed Kingdom of Scaleton.

And now… according to Big Jo… he was… Pendergast could be…

No way… right? RIGHT?!

"Oh, fuck…" the man groaned as a wall of lightheadedness slammed against him and he paled.

The world spun and Sir Pendergast collapsed right there in the main hall, much to the surprise and alarm of some passing servants. Guards were quickly called and gathered around the Leader of the Dreamland Knights, rolling him onto his back and determining that he must've fainted, which wasn't like him. After quick discussion, it was decided that he should be brought up to the queen's quarters, since that was where he usually was anyways and also that Bean should know what happened to her "favourite knight".

None could guess what possible reason Pendergast could've had to faint like he did. Then again, it wasn't everyday that a person realized that there was evidence to suggest that they might actually be royalty from a faraway land ruled by dragons.

Ha! Just you wait until Bean, Elfo, and Luci find out… which they will in the next chapter.

---

A/N:

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the bit of a delay but it's here! That next chapter! This was, admittedly, was tougher to write, but I think that could mainly be due to the there's some shit going on with my life and this has been a nice escape to focus on rather than real life stuff.

All in all, I'm quite happy with how this chapter turned out and how there was a lot revealed in this chapter, but still so many delicious things to cover.

I have planned for this story... maybe three more chapters? I'm not quite sure, but I have the story... mostly planned out, at least in broad strokes.

As always, I welcome all comments and critiques, just remember to be kind: this is a fan's labour of love.

Stay tuned and stay classy, folks!

Cheers!

~Sheik