"As far as our allegiancies go… Far Away is a strong bordering nation. Our connection with them is one of our greatest assets."

"You shall have to meet with the King there as soon as possible."

Fiona's eyes bounced back and forth around the long table, watching the various important people who spoke. They all seemed the same to her, speaking in the same tone of voice, barely moving, not even shifting in their seats. Her interest was slim at best, though she did what she could to listen to the dreary words.

"I'm sure he'd be happy to leave all of our affairs in the same order they're in now."

"At least for now. Good monarchs will understand that you're in training and shouldn't pester us."

One very active party was her mother. "I shall take up any formal arrangements from anyone who should challenge us and try to take advantage of our situation." Fiona was startled as Lillian's eyes met hers. "Perhaps my daughter could join me if such meetings and audiences occur."

"Yes!" Fiona nodded along with what her mother was asking her. "Of course."

Everyone's eyes seemed to land on her. She set a smile on her lips, small, proper, straightening her already firm posture.

"Are you sure?" someone enquired.

"Yes," her mother responded. Of course they were speaking to Lillian, and not herself. "We need to be united. The past month has done nothing to weaken our family and royal household."

"Quite right. We have a new king. Our household is strengthened."

Fiona's gaze landed where she had held it for the majority of the council session. On Artie. He sat at the head of the table, where her father was once seated. Hers were not the only eyes watching him. Every time attention turned to him he wilted just a little further. In her fixation on her cousin, she'd mostly noted that he looked uncomfortable, overwhelmed. He was still a child after all. A child who had never seen a royal court.

Shrek had squirmed his way out of the royal matters as soon as he was able to. She'd let him. She'd take as detailed notes as possible afterwards, just in case he needed them. It wasn't a done deal yet, absolutely not. Not that she'd say it out loud to him. She supposed it was somewhat selfish of her to never mention the kingdom when she first married her husband, but she didn't want to think about it. Becoming a queen was something she knew was a fact about her life, but she never dreamed it would happen so soon. That was always future Fiona's problem. A problem that would manifest when her father passed, why would she want to think about that?

That day had arrived far too soon. And now she was sitting in a royal court session, watching every tiny facial expression and movement of the new heir to the throne. Trying to predict if they would ever see their swamp again. Because Artie wasn't really the heir, she was. She would always be the heir until Artie had his coronation and had a child of his own. In that moment, watching his confused expression, nervous silence, and anxious finger picking, she was more the heir than ever.

The thought of being queen stirred up a queasiness within her that sometimes felt overwhelming. She supposed that might also be aided by something else. Something else she didn't entirely want to think about as being within the equation. She wanted nothing more than to return to their swamp and wait for the exciting things to come in their life. Inheriting a kingdom wasn't one of them. And yet, it was mostly out of her control. If destiny says she was to be a queen, then that's what would be.

"Princess Fiona, we must further discuss your abdication of the throne."

Attention was pulled back to her. The words caught Fiona off-guard. It felt strange to her that her mind was consumed by the possibility of being queen, and yet everyone only spoke of her giving up that position. She'd already had formal and legal discussions about it, and each time the pinpricks of guilt would sum up a little more. Especially if her mother was in the room.

"Of course," she confirmed her willingness. She glanced in her mother's direction, meeting her gaze for only a second before looking away.

"We shall finalize that before King Arthur's coronation."

Fiona nodded at the words. It was just under a week away. She knew everyone was rushing into Artie's position as king. It was required, given everything that had happened in the kingdom after her father's death. And of course, now the kingdom was under the threat of having ogres on the throne, all of the officials sitting around the table couldn't have that. The nausea began to swirl in her stomach, she took a deep breath.

"Are there any further matters to be discussed today?"

"I believe not. Myself and King Arthur shall meet later privately to speak about finances."

"I shall be there too." Lillian's gaze finally left Fiona, transferring to her nephew instead. He nodded at her, looking queasy himself.

"I shall set up a meeting with the king of Far Away."

"I shall continue working on the coronation guest list."

"And I shall ensure we all get fed that day."

There was mirthless laughter.

"Council is dismissed," her mother announced. Standing from her seat, everyone else took her lead. Artie was just a beat behind the rest.

They all filtered out of the room. Fiona hung back, watching her cousin. Lillian placed a comforting hand on Artie's shoulder, whispering something to him and made her way over to the ogress. She took Fiona's arm and led her out into the slow dash for the door, dragging her attention away.

"He's doing well." She nodded at Fiona, speaking quietly.

The ogress looked over her shoulder at the boy who had slumped back into his seat now that everyone had their backs turned.

"Uh-yeah, sure he is," Fiona forced positivity into her voice. "He just seems… overwhelmed."

"Leading a kingdom is no small task." Lillian didn't meet her enthusiasm.

"I know." Fiona blinked at her.

"How are you feeling?" Her mother's tone shifted entirely as they exited the room.

"Fine. I'm fine." She shook off her mother's slowly increasing levels of worry for her. "I'm… actually going to speak with Artie." She paused her movement, mumbling a small apology to someone who almost walked into her.

Lillian's eyebrows raised at her and she nodded, drifting away with the flow of important people.

Fiona waited until everyone was gone; she didn't want anyone to overhear them. She heard Artie's chair scoot out from under the table as he stood and she crept back through the doorway.

"Are you okay?" she asked him gently. Her voice startled him. He watched her wide eyed as she approached the table.

"Uh... yeah." He mustered a smile.

"Are you sure?" She rested her arms on the back of a chair she stood behind.

He nodded, though he looked back down the length of the long table. Whatever spark he had in his eyes when he first showed up in the kingdom was now gone.

"It's scary... I know." She gave him a small smile back, allowing him the words perhaps he didn't realise he could use.

He stayed silent, nodding again, gulping.

"You know, you're allowed to change your mind," she ventured, bracing herself for the inevitable celebration from her cousin.

Her words only seemed to surprise him. "What?"

She watched him carefully and shrugged. "If you've seen all of this and hate it, you can decide you don't want to be king."

His brow furrowed. "But I picked up the crown in front of the kingdom... I can't go back on that."

"Of course you can. You've not had your coronation yet," she stated the fact that had been plaguing her. The ogress inhaled deeply, trying her best to do so silently.

His eyes trailed down to the ground as he processed her words. "I just… I don't want to go back to that school." His voice had grown even quieter. "I like it here with you guys."

He suddenly seemed like so much more of a child than he was. He was lost.

Her brow creased. "Artie, you don't have to be king to be a part of this family. You are a part of this family." His eyes met hers. "If you don't want to be king we're not going to send you back."

He wordlessly watched her for a moment, not giving her any indication of which side he was going to take.

Fiona smiled ruefully. "We didn't realise how bad things were for you. Just that you were with your dad and he enrolled you in that school."

He sat back down into the chair, fiddling with his hands. "I'm not sure he did it because he thought it was best for me." He shrugged.

Fiona took a seat in the chair beside him. "We know that now. We'll never make you go back. You can live here in the castle, no matter what." Fiona wasn't sure what she was doing. It wasn't like she wanted him to back down from the decision he'd made only a couple of weeks ago. However, she was sure that him having a choice was important. He needed to understand that. If he backed away, well, that was a new choice for her to make. She didn't dwell on it, dwelling only encouraged the queasiness to tickle at the back of her throat.

"My mom was telling me how your mom would have been mad at her." She changed the topic, letting him in on a private conversation she'd had much earlier after he had introduced himself to everyone.

He continued to stare at his hands. "My dad never really spoke about her."

"I remember her."

His gaze immediately met hers. "Really?"

"I knew your mom, kind of…" She trailed off, suddenly self-conscious about overselling her knowledge of his parents. "Your parents' wedding was here."

"Oh, huh? My dad hated royalty." There was a sudden ease about him. He watched her with eager eyes.

"Yeah, he hated my dad. It was mutual." They chuckled together. "A lot of family events happened here when I was a kid." She raised her eyebrows at him, though he raised his back questioningly. "...So my parents could attend things… I couldn't be left here alone and couldn't travel anywhere overnight. So…" She faded into a shrug.

"Oh." He paused for a moment. "Are there pictures?"

She nodded. Not that she was one hundred percent sure, however she recalled standing for pictures with her family and the small hushed squabbles that ensued. They had to be somewhere. "This isn't your first time here, you know."

"What?" His eyes were wide.

She nodded again, enthusiastically. "I remember. Your mom got better, for a time, before it got worse and… Well your parents brought you to visit. You were a baby." She smiled.

"Ha, that's weird." He looked around the room, almost as if he might recognise something.

"I was obsessed with you. Whenever someone held you, I followed them around everywhere they went." She grinned at the vague memory. "I thought that perhaps I'd be able to tell you my secret about the curse. But you were just a baby. And I left before I had the chance."

He exaggeratedly shrugged, lifting a leg up and propping his foot on the edge of the seat. "You totally could have told me anyway. I'd have kept that secret better than anyone. Yanno, because I was a baby." He smirked at her.

She laughed. "Unfortunately they wouldn't leave me alone with you, otherwise I'm sure I would have."

"Hey, better late than never." He leaned in a little closer to her, lowering his voice. "I promise I won't tell anyone you're an ogre."

"Thanks." They grinned at each other for a moment. "When your mom died the contact was lost. I'm sorry it seemed like we forgot about you." She looked down. "I guess my parents did... they had bigger problems." She gestured to herself.

"Well you don't need to apologise, you had it way worse." He shrugged at her. She expected him to be saddened by her apology, however, it didn't seem so. "But hey, in a tower by yourself, that means you couldn't get picked on, that's a plus." He chuckled at her, inviting her to share in his mirth.

She raised the corners of her lips into a smile, not realising her expression had faded so far. "Mm. It's terrible that happened to you."

He nodded at her. "Yeah, having no friends kinda sucks."

"Oh, I know." She raised her eyebrows. "I didn't really have any either."

His brow creased, more so in confusion than sadness for her. "But you were a princess."

She wrinkled her nose playfully. "A princess who had to be shut back in her room by the time the sun began to set."

"Oh. That sucks too."

"It does."

"Maybe being a part of this family doesn't have to suck anymore," he commented. She hadn't thought about it that way. Being a part of her family had always been an honour, it was the being her part that sucked. Her cousin clearly had a different perspective on things, a shift of blame. She couldn't tell who was more accurate. She smiled weakly at him, in an attempt to express her agreement.

The cousins lapsed into silence. He slumped forward, resting his chin on his knee. He began to drift away from her again, eyes lingering on the intimidating table.

After a few moments his brow furrowed. He sat up again, his foot hitting the ground from its resting place. "If I give up the crown then you and Shrek have to take it." He realigned the conversation with its main purpose, prompting Fiona's nausea back from wherever the distraction had banished it to. "Shrek made it pretty clear he doesn't want it."

She involuntarily let out a sigh, eyes rolling. "Don't listen to him." She shook her head. "It's not your responsibility to worry about us."

"But it's kinda mean to just hand it back after everything." He was quick with his defence. Fiona couldn't tell if he was making his decision or being resistant to realising he had one.

"Hey, we're the ones first in the queue for it," she countered his point. "It was kinda mean for us to just throw it at you in the first place."

"That's true." A smile grew on his face again. They shared a small laugh.

Fiona sighed again. "We'll figure it out." She folded her arms against her middle and stared off at the empty chair opposite her. "I guess I was born to inherit this kingdom and Shrek willingly married me. He can't be too surprised." She blinked at her new realisation. "It works out okay, he'll have just the right amount of time to learn how to be a king before the baby comes."

Artie's expression changed entirely. "Wait… You're having a baby?"

Her eyebrows raised, meeting his gaze. "Mhm." Despite him only being at the castle for a couple of weeks, she found herself mildly surprised no one had mentioned it. Her mother had been growing in obsessiveness, and he'd spent a lot of time with Shrek on their journey and afterwards.

"Oh... congrats..." He seemed unsure.

"Shrek never mentioned it?" she asked lightly. Given that her husband had only just learnt of the news himself when he fetched Artie, she found herself more surprised that he'd been able to keep it in.

"No." Artie gave a quiet chuckle. "That makes a lot of sense actually."

"What happened?" She looked at him bemusedly. Shrek hadn't given her too many details about their journey. Slowly more would emerge, but she was eager to know exactly how things went and Donkey sometimes proved to be an unreliable narrator.

He shrugged, seemingly growing a little self-conscious. He tried to dampen the smirk growing on his face. "Nothing really... misspoken words... he seemed kinda on edge."

Fiona chuckled. "Well, he's always a little on edge."

They shared more laughter together. The sickness stirred within her, as though the focus of the dilemma, combined with the mention of the pregnancy created the perfect mix.

"You take all the time you need to make this decision, okay?" She gave him an uncertain smile, standing from her chair. "It's a tough one... I know."

He slumped in his seat, looking down at his restless fingers. He nodded slowly.

She was about to tuck in her chair and leave the room, but despite the ease he had fallen into with her, he looked just as lost as when she'd entered. She couldn't leave him like that. She took a steady breath through the nose, setting another smile on her face. "If you're concerned at all, I think you'd make a good king."

"You think?" He looked up at her. He'd been given all kinds of compliments by strangers and important people over the couple of weeks he'd been with them, and yet he seemed surprised.

She nodded at him. "Yeah, you thought quickly in a crisis, you put yourself in danger for someone else, you addressed the crowd, gave an amazing speech..." She smiled at him. "That's king material."

His eyes drifted back to the long table in front of them, face frozen.

She followed his gaze for a moment, before settling on him. "There's always new things for you to learn, but you'll get the hang of it." She offered him reassurance. "You're right to be scared by all of this... it's terrifying!"

"It is," he admitted gently. With his long exhale, his body seemed to relax, as if it were the first time he had been allowed to admit it.

"Anyone would think so," she confirmed. "Still… The choice is yours. You'll get better at all of this." She gestured to the table. "Any reluctance you hear from Shrek… or me, isn't your problem. This is something you need to be sure about."

He nodded, still watching the table. The ease his tiny confession had brought him stayed.

She smiled at him, finally turning to make her leave. He understood his decision, she could check in again later. Her conversation had been a success.

"Fiona?" He caught her attention just as she reached the doorway. She turned back to him, eyebrows raised. "If you're concerned, I think you're gonna be a good mom." He returned her gesture.

A smile crossed her lips. She looked down before meeting his gaze again. "Thanks."

. . .

PLOT TWIST. The reason Artie wasn't in Forever After is because he rejected being king and then Fiona dismantled the monarchy. They wear their crowns in Forever After purely for symbolism and nostalgia… Nah. Like THAT's ever gonna happen.

Oh, hanny spoon, you're british. Is this inspired by the death of the queen? Lmao no, I'm just on season 4 of Merlin. Got me thinking about a bunch of Artie stories with nowhere to put them. Who else remembers the era here where every single fic was about Artie? Bringing it back.

One time someone on DA drew all of the FFN Artie pairings and they missed out Abbey. 13 years ago me was pissed. Haha!

Thanks for reading!