Disclaimer: All non-original characters are property of SEGA or their respective creators.

19. Her Rightful Place

"Ma?" whined Silver, plodding along an uneven track dented by a thousand hooves, "My feet hurt."

Walking ahead of him, Amaranth breathed a quiet sigh. The poor boy had never walked any great distance beyond Dalriada's walls. She felt his pain. Her feet had suffered a similar shock when King Melodeon's soldiers turned Shadow and her loose in the backwoods of Agnia.

"Ma?"

"They'll be alright, Silver. Just try and watch out for sharp stones."

"But Ma—"

Just then, the white horse the hedgehogs were walking behind came to a stop. Its rider, an ironclad brown monkey, dismounted and approached Amaranth in silence.

"Khan?" she said uncertainly.

The monkey ducked under the rope mooring the cerise hedgehog to the horse's saddle and reached for the rope tied around her waist.

"Khan, what're you doing?" she asked, nervously watching his gauntleted hands fumble with the knot, "Khan?"

Soon enough, she felt the rope loosen. Her pulse quickened. She tried to swat his hands away with her bound wrists. Khan grumbled but persevered, so Amaranth headbutted him.

"W-wait!" Silver cried out, rushing to his mother's side as the monkey brandished a mace, "Don't hurt my Ma! I'll be quiet!"

Khan stared long and hard at the quavering ten-year-old.

"Not for three days, you won't," he muttered, lowering his mace.

Mother and son exchanged worried glances as Khan finished untying the knot. Then, with the rope binding Silver's wrists in one hand, he grabbed the boy by the scruff of his teal tunic and marched him towards the horse. Amaranth looked on helplessly, her heart pounding.

"Climb on, then," said the monkey.

Silver eyed the dangling stirrup warily. "I…can't."

"What?"

The albino hedgehog looked at his sore feet. "Pa says Erinians don't ride horses."

Khan shot a disbelieving glance at Amaranth.

"Have you ever been to Erinia?" he asked.

"No," mumbled Silver.

"Then you're about as Erinian as I am."

Hoisting the ten-year-old over his shoulder, Khan remounted his steed. He deposited Silver behind him on the saddle, tied the rope around his own waist, and set off at a trot.

After a while, Silver looked over his shoulder. Amaranth almost laughed when she saw his face. He looked positively guilty.

"Good boy," she said, smiling her first unforced smile that day.

жЖж

"You're awake?" said Fiona as she saw Styx descending the stairs towards the Blackthorn Inn's tavern area.

"Well-spotted," muttered the badger, rubbing an eye.

"I wasn't expecting to see you so soon."

"Expecting or hoping?"

The vixen smirked. "A bit of both."

Styx rolled her eyes. "I said sorry, didn't I?"

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she glanced about the tavern. Zoë was tucked away in a corner with Miles and his grandmother. Raymond was behind the bar, pouring drinks for some foxes from the village. Meanwhile, the villagers were watching Raymond's kids and a posse of fox cubs trying to lift Sonic's claymore.

"Where's Sonic?" she wondered aloud.

"You must be hungry," said Fiona briskly, "I'll see what Tessa can rustle up."

The bemused Styx watched the vixen scuttle off towards the kitchen door beside the bar. She glanced at Miles and family but thought better of interrupting. Sonic wasn't the only member of their party she couldn't see in here.

Assuming Fiona wouldn't be back in a hurry, the badger headed for the inn's front door. Outside, she spied Morain lounging on the gnarled bough of a blackthorn tree. Styx tiptoed across the yard and tugged the vixen's dangling tail.

The dozing Morain awoke with a start, brandishing a knife. Looking down, she saw Styx waving.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" she muttered, sheathing the knife.

"Too hungry to sleep," said Styx, "No thanks to you."

Morain sighed. "Must you start this again?"

"Are you ready to say sorry?"

"Styx, it was only an elk—"

"An elk we could've cooked and eaten and still been here before sundown if you hadn't gone feral."

"Maybe so," said Morain wearily, "Are you really going to begrudge me one last hunt in these woods?"

"That depends," said the badger.

The vixen brightened. "Upon what?"

"Answer the question you kept avoiding last night," said Styx, "Why not just tell her what you told me?"

Morain jumped nimbly to the ground and grabbed her former student's shoulders.

"Now isn't the time!" she hissed.

The badger curled her lip. "Why tell me, then?"

The vixen withdrew her hands and straightened up. "It's a long ride to Cilgarren and there's no knowing what we might run into."

"Shows how much you were listening," said Styx, "King Furlong's waiting at the hunting lodge."

"All the same, it's important someone but me knows," said Morain, pinching the badger's cheek, "Someone I can trust."

"You don't trust Errol?" said Styx, swatting the hand away.

"My big brother has let me down quite enough."

The badger rolled her eyes at this latest cryptic remark. Turning away, she looked wistfully at Mount Scathach, looming on the horizon like a rocky fist punching through the surrounding greenery.

"Aren't you sad to be leaving?" she asked.

Morain smiled. "Would you like me to be?"

Styx glared at the vixen. The smile only broadened.

"This won't be the first time that cave has been empty. Word will spread. Someone else will come."

"What if I were to—"

"Don't be absurd. You can hardly keep your temper with me, never mind alone some wild waif who happens to gifted with a sword," said Morain, "Or a bow."

Styx narrowed her eyes. "You didn't have to take me in."

"Yes I did. What else could I have done with you? Sent you to Yojana?"

The vixen chuckled.

"She hated me quite enough already. Besides, I'm not sure she would've understood how you could run away from everything you had. The castles, the servants—"

"The arranged marriage?"

"Most would accept that for the comforts that come with you."

"You didn't, either," said Styx.

"Indeed," said Morain, "And I won't see waste your talents up a mountain when—"

"Styx?"

The badger wheeled round. Fiona was standing outside the inn's entrance with a plate of food in hand. She was wearing an apron over her tunic.

"Look at her. It's like she never left," chuckled Morain, "Go eat, and remember, not a word to Fiona."

"I thought you said you trust me," grumbled Styx.

жЖж

The skulking Shadow peered out of the thatched hut he'd called home these past few days. Across the compound, he could see Knuxahuatl helping his aunt Ayahuasca and the dingo pup Lenca shove the stubborn alpaca Inti into an empty hut.

Meanwhile, over by the alpaca's empty pen in the middle of the compound, Princess Blaze of Agnia was being fussed over by Tikal and Xhade. The echidnas were individually inspecting every wooden bead they'd tied into the cat's ponytail. At present, there wasn't much else for them to do.

As Shadow had feared, Blaze hadn't fully understood what she was agreeing to when she accepted King Iximche's demand that Queen Rouge's emissaries should dress like 'true Arkadians' for their audience.

Strictly speaking, all echidnas were Arkadians. However, the clans who lived within the high mudbrick walls of Laputa thought of themselves as Laputans. The so-called 'true' Arkadians belonged to the nomadic clans who roamed the prairies with their herds of horses.

The horse clans kept no alpacas, nor the cumbersome looms required to spin their wool into sarongs. Thus, they went without. So were the emissaries as they awaited King Iximche.

Six spear-toting echidnas stood lined up in front of the compound's gate. Dressed in chainmail, they were a detachment of Guardians — King Iximche's personal protectors — there to ensure the emissaries couldn't prepare any surprises for their master.

"Break out of there again and it won't be fish for dinner tonight!" yelled Ayahuasca as she and Lenca barricaded the hut's entrance.

Shadow turned to see Knuxahuatl coming his way.

"Will you be joining us?" asked the scarlet echidna, "It's almost time."

"I'll wait in here, thank you."

Knuxahuatl cast a glance at the stony-faced Guardians. "They'll expect us to be ready."

"I am ready."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

With a heavy sigh, Shadow emerged into the sunlight, naked but for a small wooden amulet around his neck. Much good Iblis's protection would do him now.

"Is this all just to humiliate us?" he asked, turning his back as a Guardian caught his eye.

"Xhade thinks so," said Knuxahuatl.

"What do you think?"

"I think if his own daughter can't read his intentions, what hope do I have?"

Shadow glanced at the vermillion echidna, still hard at work on Blaze's beaded ponytail.

"Did she ever tell you where all this chainmail came from?" he asked.

"She doesn't know," replied Knuxahuatl, "She says even the Gatekeeper doesn't know, or if he does, he won't tell her."

Shadow frowned. He was less concerned about the chainmail's source than its apparent abundance. Every story he'd ever heard about echidnas emphasized how they spurned armor and fighting on foot in favor of swift horsemanship. No longer, it seemed.

It made Queen Rouge's veiled threat of invasion, which they were about to put to King Iximche, much less threatening.

Just then, chainmail jingled as the line of Guardians parted, allowing a brown echidna in a green sarong to enter the compound.

"Herald?" said Knuxahuatl, raising a hand in greeting.

Tazumal, the king's herald, acknowledged the gesture with a nod.

"Take your places," he commanded.

Knuxahuatl turned to Shadow and offered his hand. The hedgehog scowled and barged past the echidna. Making his way to his appointed position, he tried to ignore imagined echoes of jangling chains and Ashura's sobs. He stopped twenty paces from the gate, facing Tazumal and the Guardians head-on.

Meanwhile, Xhade and Tikal left Blaze's side to join Ayahuasca and Lenca behind the emissaries, kneeling with their foreheads pressed to the ground. Shadow glanced across at the cat, feeling a flicker of envy at her apparent composure. Before she could catch his eye, Knuxahuatl stepped between them.

Suddenly, the trio flinched, dazzled by a flash of brilliant light. Shadow's eyes recovered first. He looked up and saw an echidna clad head-to-toe in gleaming silver armor. The pauldrons on his shoulders were shaped like horseheads, while his helmet's visor was sculpted to imitate an echidna's facial features. Only his eyes moved as he studied the emissaries.

A green tenrec and gray lemur shuffled along behind the armored echidna. Both wore emerald-studded silver chokers around their stooped necks. Other than that, they were as naked as the emissaries.

King Iximche stopped ten paces from the trio and removed his helmet. Shadow's eyes widened. His fur was as white as Silver's, and as wrinkled as Ayahuasca's. He was surely too old to make practically use of such heavy armor.

"Something caught your eye, Erinian?" said the albino echidna.

Shadow stiffened, lowering his gaze. Iximche snorted.

"And why shouldn't it?" he said, "You won't see artisanship like this out of your mistress's forge."

He looked to his left, pushing his helmet into the tenrec's hands. The slave's eyes remained downcast.

"Show some curiosity, Suruga," he said, forcing the tenrec's chin up, "When will you ever see an Erinian or Agnian in the flesh again?"

Then, the king turned his gaze on Knuxahuatl.

"So, Guardian," he began, "Or did you renounce that rank when you renounced your own people?"

The scarlet echidna frowned. "My king, I never renounced—"

"Your actions say otherwise," snapped Iximche, "Coming before me like this in the name of that covetous flittermouse. By chariot, no less."

He looked to Blaze.

"Tell me, Princess of Agnia, can you ride?"

"I can, my king."

"Then why don't you?"

"Expediency, my king."

Iximche snorted. "A rider who can't outpace a chariot is no rider at all. You're no better than an Erinian."

His gaze shifted back to Shadow.

"One hedgehog falls from his horse centuries ago and your pathetic people forsake riding forever. Did it never occur to your ancestors that one hedgehog was merely a terrible rider?"

"It is not openly discussed…my king," muttered Shadow, forcing the honorific out through gritted teeth.

"My king," Knuxahuatl interjected, "We come bearing terms from Queen Rouge of Galderia."

"I am sure you do, Guardian," said Iximche, "But why should I care to listen?"

The scarlet echidna blinked mutely. The albino hedgehog grinned.

"What could your mistress possibly have to offer that I could conceivably want?" said the king, "Spindly horses? Crude Broskosian iron? Flea-bitten wolves?"

He gave a contemptuous grunt.

"I would only barter with that flittermouse in exchange for her wings. Failing that, Queen Tripitaka and the noble lords of Indica are more than capable of meeting our needs."

He hooked his arms around the tenrec and lemur's waists, pulling them closer.

"Our every need."

Shadow felt a sudden burst of gratitude towards Rouge for not sending his wife on this embassy. If Amaranth had been there to see those slaves squirming in the king's embrace, she might've been impaled on a Guardian's spear by now.

"However, it would be remiss of me to send you away entirely empty-handed. I trust this token of our good faith will be to your mistress's liking," said Iximche, pushing the gray lemur towards the emissaries, "Show them, Tangalore."

"Y-yes, master," mumbled the slave.

Padding towards the emissaries, she dropped to one knee before Knuxahuatl and held up an ivory strongbox. Its lid was decorated with the carving of a dragon. She opened it, revealing a segmented gold necklace. The largest segment was set with a single round emerald.

Knuxahuatl's eyes widened as he held up the necklace. "Th-this is—"

"You can't!" blurted Xhade.

Seeing the king's guards mount their spears, Shadow looked round. Xhade was on feet, charging towards them. He and Blaze scrambled to restrain her.

"That isn't yours to give!" she yelled, struggling to free herself.

"Oh?" said Iximche, glaring at his erstwhile adoptive daughter, "Since when was a king not free to dispense the contents of his own treasury?"

"It belongs to the prin…to Tikal," said Xhade weakly.

The king pushed the tenrec aside and stormed towards the emissaries. The lemur and Knuxahuatl both scampered out of his way.

"How can Arkadia have a princess when I have no daughter?" he growled, coming face-to-face with Xhade, "Guardian?"

"My king?" said Knuxahuatl as Iximche looked his way.

"May hope your mistress enjoy her new slave, assuming she can tame her."

With a sweep of his purple cloak, King Iximche turned his back and stormed out of the compound, hastily followed by his slaves and escort.

Shadow felt Xhade go limp. He backed away, leaving Blaze to console the disconsolate echidna.

Meanwhile, the dumbstruck Knuxahuatl gawped at the golden necklace. Eventually, he looked over his shoulder. His aunt was still on her knees, hugging Tikal and Lenca to her breast. They all looked shaken.

Knuxahuatl started towards them. Tikal looked up. Her glistening ears widened as she spied the necklace. She wriggled out of Ayahuasca's embrace and shuffled backwards on her backside, shaking her head.

"Please, my lord, take it with you," she pleaded, "I don't want it."

Knuxahuatl froze. "But…your father—"

"Is dead, my lord," said Tikal, "So is the echidna that was made for. I'm not a princess anymore."

She paused to wipe her eyes.

"It's better this way. Too many echidnas have been hurt because of me and my family—"

"Don't say that, girl!" snapped Ayahuasca.

"Why not, mistress?" countered Tikal, "What about Xhade?"

She looked to the vermillion echidna, now bawling in Blaze's arms.

"She lost her family…no, her families because of my father and me. Now this."

Just then, she felt a tug on her green sarong. She glanced down. Lenca peered up at her, tail twitching in apprehension. With a sniffly smile, Tikal lifted the dingo pup onto her lap.

"After everything my father did, making the clans fight those horrible wars," she went on, idly scratching behind Lenca's ears, "I deserve to be a slave, but Xhade doesn't."

"She won't be," said Knuxahuatl, kneeling beside the youngsters, "Not in Galderia."

Tikal furrowed her brow. "But…there are slaves in Galderia, aren't there?"

"There are, but I…no, better than that, Princess Blaze won't let that happen."

The young echidna's face lit up. She glanced over at the cat, still patiently shushing the distraught Xhade. "Sh-she won't? She has that power?"

"Count on it," said Shadow.

The kneelers looked up at the hedgehog standing over them.

"A word, Knuxahuatl," he said.

The echidna nodded and stood up. Lenca went to go with them but Tikal held onto her.

"Not now," cooed Tikal, nuzzling the fur between the pup's ears.

Together, the naked warriors wandered towards the hedgehog's hut.

"Thank you for that," said Knuxahuatl.

"Was it wise to make such a vow?" asked Shadow sternly.

The echidna blinked. "Can it hurt?"

"It will if you can't honor it."

Knuxahuatl's expression hardened. "Leave the queen to me."

Shadow cocked a brow. "What if she decides she wants her new slave?"

The scarlet echidna glanced over his shoulder. Xhade was on her feet again, albeit propped up by Blaze. Her tears seemed to be on the ebb.

"No one's going to make her a slave. I won't let them," he said grimly, "I love her too much."

жЖж

A flurry of bubbles escaped Fiona's mouth as she touched the streambed. Her inner cub jumped for joy. Laying a hand on these pebbles had been a longstanding ambition. Yojana's threats of early bedtimes and no horses had always dissuaded her. Before she was old enough to disregard them, she'd already left for Cilgarren.

Snatching one of the pebbles off the streambed, she went up for air, surfacing in the shallows beneath the bridge. She lingered there for a time, contemplating the smooth stone in her hands as water flowed round her ankles. She would have to think of something to do with it. Perhaps Raymond's little daughter could help.

"Finally got one, did you?"

Fiona looked up.

"Are you serious?" she said, glaring at Sonic, "You avoid me all day and this is where you decide to talk?"

The hedgehog cringed, as if preparing to dodge a stone. "You've been in the kitchen all day."

"And where were you?" said Fiona, folding her arms across her chest.

Sonic looked away.

"Don't worry. Zoë already told me."

The hedgehog grimaced. "How much?"

"Enough," said the vixen, walking out of the shallows, "Why did you bring that book?"

Sonic shrank from her gaze, retreating further up the bank to where she'd left her tunic.

"I don't need you to bring me my clothes," Fiona huffed, "I need an answer."

Sonic sighed. "What if you don't like the answer?"

Suddenly tempted to throw the pebble, Fiona turned her back and sat down by the water.

"If you weren't prepared to talk then why did you come? I don't care what Miles said. You can't just 'unsay' what you said yesterday."

"But Fiona…" said Sonic weakly, "…it's the truth."

"Says the hedgehog who calls a fox his brother!" the vixen snapped, punching the stony bank.

She looked over her shoulder. Sonic was heading for the ladder up to the inn's yard.

"W-what?" spluttered Fiona, "Where are you going?"

"I'm sorry," said the hedgehog, mounting the ladder, "I can't do this now."

"Then when?" she demanded.

Sonic cast an anguished glance over his shoulder, then began to climb.

"Not now."

жЖж

Thrusting his hand inside a gauntlet, Knuxahuatl flexed his fingers. It felt a little odd being fully clothed again after almost a quarter-moon in a sarong (or less), but Shadow and Xhade had spoken. The former wanted to get back to his family, whilst the latter just wanted to get away.

To placate his aunt, he'd persuaded them to let her cook them one last big meal. It would mean an additional night making camp out on the prairie, but he wasn't so sure he minded. Not with Xhade sharing his tent.

Just then, he heard the familiar rattle of wooden beads.

"Aunt?" he said, reaching for his other gauntlet.

"Not quite, my lord," said Blaze.

The echidna's plaited quills swirled as he span round. The cat was in full armor, too, minus the helmet tucked under her arm.

"Princess?" he said, nonplussed.

"I'm sorry to barge in like this. I just wanted to speak privately before we leave."

"Oh," uttered Knuxahuatl, "If it's about what I told Tikal…"

He trailed off as Blaze shook her head, ponytail rattling.

"Not about that, my lord. This concerns Xhade."

"How so?"

"Have you told her about the queen?"

"What about the queen?"

Blaze frowned. "I think you know what I mean, my lord."

He did. Other than the queen's bodyguard Honey and a select few slaves, the cat was the only creature in Dalriada who knew he shared Rouge's bed.

"I'll tell you what I told Shadow," he said firmly, "Leave the queen to me."

The cat blinked, seemingly taken aback by his tone. In spite of the armor and the battleaxe slung over her back, she cut a strangely timid figure.

"Very well, my lord," she said, dipping her head.

Donning their helmets, the emissaries stepped out into the compound where Shadow was chasing his helmet. Propelled by a pair of furry little legs, the piece of armor ran rings around the ironclad hedgehog. Tikal was giggling herself silly, propped up by the chuckling Ayahuasca.

The subdued Xhade stood apart, wrapped in a purple cloak borrowed from Blaze. Catching sight of Knuxahuatl in his armor, a smile blossomed on her lips. Lifting his helmet's visor, he smiled back.

Belatedly, she noticed Knuxahuatl and Blaze's emergence from the hut. A smile blossomed on her lips. Lifting his helmet's visor, Knuxahuatl smiled back.

жЖж

Still lightheaded from the sloeberry wine she'd drunk at dinner, Zoë could feel herself beginning to drift off. She lay nestled amid Miles's tails, half-listening to the prince as he read rhyming verses from The Ballad of the Blue Prince — the book he'd confiscated from Sonic — by candlelight.

Knock-knock!

"Huh?" uttered Zoë, snapping out of her dreamy state, "Who could that be?"

"Let's give it a moment," said Miles, placing the book aside.

A few moments of silence ensued, then another knock, then silence again, then more insistent knocks.

"Not my grandmother, then," said Miles, shuffling off the bed.

"How can you tell?"

"She would've opened the door already."

Zoë giggled as she crawled under the bedcovers. Miles wrapped himself in a cloak and approached the door.

"Fiona?" he said.

"Sorry if I woke you," said Fiona sheepishly.

"No, not at all, but, uh, Sonic's next door."

"I'm aware," said the vixen curtly, "I came to see you, my prince."

The fox blinked. It was a rare day when she called him that off-duty.

"Come in," he said, stepping aside.

Zoë sat up in bed as the Captain of the Jade Forest Company plodded into the room, wrapped in a blanket.

"I take it Sonic didn't…"

Fiona sighed. "What gave it away?"

"Is this…about that?" asked Miles tentatively.

"Only a little," said the vixen, perching on a storage chest, "I mean, it's probably more than that but—"

"What did he say, Fiona?" Zoë chimed in, knowing the prince wouldn't dare to ask so bluntly.

"Just…how could someone with no real family possibly understand his situation enough to have an opinion worth listening to."

Zoë's ears pricked as she heard Miles inhale sharply.

"Miles!" she snapped, "Control your temper."

Fiona snickered into her blanket.

"Anyway, this isn't about…him," she said, looking at Miles, "It got more to do with what you said, my prince. About your grandmother's condition."

The fox frowned. "How did you…"

He glanced at Zoë. She looked unapologetic.

"She deserved to know," said the slave.

Miles nodded passively. "What about it, though?"

"Aunty Jana is the only family I have," said Fiona, "Depending on what happens with…well, who knows what might happen. This might really be the last time we…I get to see her."

She stood up.

"I'm not sure I can ride out with you in the morning," she went on, holding out her hand, "With your permission, my prince, I'd like to stay here a little while."

Miles looked at her open hand. It held the Captain of Jade Forest Company's badge of office: an emerald brooch cut in the shape of a tree.

"C-captain, there's really no need to—"

"The Company always needs a captain," said Fiona firmly, "I'm not saying I won't want it back, but that's for your father to—"

"No, it's not," Miles cut in, "Come with me."

The fox turned on his heel and headed for the door. Fiona grabbed the nearest candle and went after him. Watching them leave, Zoe scrambled out of bed and across the room naked. She thrust her head out of the door in time to see them pass by Sonic's room. They knocked on a door at the end of the landing.

"Huh?" groaned a groggy Styx as she opened her door.

Squinting against the light of Fiona's candle, she looked back and forth between the foxes.

"What do you two want?" If you're here to say sorry, I didn't hear anything."

"Actually, that's not why we're here," said Miles, stifling a laugh, "Hold out your hand, princess."

Styx eyed the prince warily. It was an even rarer day when her official title got mentioned.

"Please?" said the fox.

Haltingly, the badger complied.

"It's only temporary, but…"

Fiona placed her brooch in the Princess of Hibernia's palm.

"…congratulations, Captain," said Miles.

Styx gawked at the tree-shaped emerald glittering in the candlelight.

"Trogg's balls," she breathed, hand on heart, "Does this mean…I can order someone else to take that blue oaf on their horse?"