Cresenta sat at the head of the massive table, built to seat hundreds of nobles at a time. Currently, it held only one. Or two, if anyone was so inclined to consider Seth a noble.

The two ate as they spoke, Cresenta was grinning, her chatter excited and eyes aglow, while Seth was guarded, weary.

"It's so nice of you to hear us out, your kind is normally so... Violent, aren't they?" Cresenta was saying, "I never considered you could resolve anything through reason"

Seth narrowed his eyes at the young women, trying to drown the sense of unease stirring in his gut. Canny as she was, Cresenta was nothing like her great grandmother. Seth had nothing to fear. Not from some mewmen girl less than half his size.

"Odd" he grunted, "I've always thought the same of mewmens"

Cresenta rolled her eyes at his jab but did not acknowledge it otherwise. She kept a steady smile, pinning the far larger man with unwavering eye contact. "I must thank you again for agreeing to cooperate with us, I knew you'd be able to recognize the need to unite your people under a real leader"

"My people have a leader" he said, "And I will not surrender my position"

Cresenta laughed, snapping her fingers, and her servants removed their emptied plates and replaced them with their next course, their movements smoothly choreographed. Seth's massive gharial-like head tilted down, nose wrinkling as he sniffed the air.

"Goatpig steak, of the finest quality for my guest of honor" she smiled in a way that missed innocence by a mile.

Seth poked at it with his fork, alarm bells ringing in the back of his head. It looked like any other meat, but the smell... It did not remind him of any goatpig he'd ever had, though the heavy use of spices made it hard for him to place. He cut off a piece and took a wary bite, swallowing quietly before pretending to chew. Septarians weren't set up for it, but he found that acting like he could made these talks go much smoother.

"I don't understand-" Seth began, only for Cresenta to cut him off.

"A monster not understanding" she said, "ha ha, who could've imagined?"

Seth glared down at her, unamused.

"As I was saying, your majesty" he ground out, "this 'election' is unnecessary. I don't know what you're trying to do" he lied, "But I would rather you talk. To us. Directly"

Cresenta only seemed to be half listening, her unsettling grin widening as he ate. Seth snorted. Why summon him if she didn't care what he had to say? Mewmens. He'd never understand them.

Cresenta laughed, "that is what I'm trying to do, silly!" she said, "it's just so hard to do when you seem to lack any legitimate leadership"

Seth banged a fist on the table, getting to his feet, "We do have-" he cut himself off, groaning, "Queen Cresenta" he said instead, letting distain creep into his tone "If you aren't going to take me seriously, then I'm going to return to my countrymen" he got to his feet, imposing figure coming nowhere near the high ceiling of the grand hall, which now only served the two of them alone. Seth shivered at how his voice echoed in the too-vast space.

Cresenta let out a titter that rose into a cackle. She cut a piece off her steak and held it up. "For shame" she said, voice pitched in excitement, "I hoped I wouldn't need to tell you"

"What-?" Seth began, before realization cut him off, cold dread washing over him and settling in his throat, in his stomach.

"Then again, I suppose your kind are to savage to set up a fire, no, you just tear into each other bloody and raw, don't you?"

Seth's face fell, horror dawning on his features. "You fucking BITCH" he roared, anger and disgust making a sickening cocktail in his stomach. He slammed clawed hands on the table, crest bristling, and frill flared as he bit back vomit. He had damn well known it wasn't fucking goatpig, but he'd had enough faith in her to think-

"Lizard meat tastes so good when it's fed on corn" daintily, she put the fork to her lips, making a point of chewing well before she swallowed, "you look like you've got a lot to spare" the woman was practically leering at him.

Trembling, Seth took a step back, biting his lip to keep from crumbling under Cresenta's predatory gaze.

""I am a governing member of the council" he said "To capture me would mean war."

"Typical monster" she snorted, "putting words in mewmen mouths, making everything seem so much worse than it really is. It's no wonder we run Mewni" she waved a hand, dismissing him, "Of course you're free to go"

Seth backed away, eyes trained on Cresenta until she was obscured by the powerful oak doors of the great hall, and then he turned and ran out of the castle.