The Queen's Court

Spoiler

From The Underground City:

Enide Hyusei, Queen of Foxes. About 5'5", holds herself royally. She wears a floral print dress that stretches down to her wrists and ankles, held together at the waist by a belt with a shining pearl buckle, which shines about as much as the polished wood buttons on her dress. She also wears sandals that slip off her feet fairly easily. Hilariously calm under pressure, she's respectful, quiet, and brilliant.

Aaaand, as thought this would surprise you, she's a bipedal red fox. She keeps a katana in its scabbard on her belt.

Enide gently closed the door to her room and sighed.

What a morning it had been. Of course the Old Queen of the Wolves had decided to pay a visit. So Enide had had to wake up bright and early, stand beside the throne to formally welcome the dignitaries, share drinks and conversations with them afterwards, and rearrange her spy network to keep the wolves safe (to say nothing of the Old Queen - working with the Red Wolves had always been a pain). The feasts had been planned, ceremonies arranged, and appropriate parties invited. Now all she had to do was wait for the Queen to arrive tomorrow morning, barring anything that Shiruba decided was her responsibility. He was more unsettled and frustrated than usual, which was saying something.

Glittering red dress in hand, Enide walked past the empty, silk-curtained bed and her thick mahogany desk. She glanced at the mirror, happy to see that she had washed off all of her makeup. Her casual clothes (or whatever qualified as casual in a royal court) felt so much nicer, and she was happy that she'd been able to throw the red dress on top of it without any noticing. Not that she was meant to be paid attention to.

Breathing another long sigh of relief, Enide cut it off before she stepped in front of the closet. There was something strange about it. Some smell that cut through the incense. Something not like a fox, but more like a human. Kind of.

Hng, of course someone would make an attempt on her life the moment she had sent her spies away. How inconvenient. Still, this assassin didn't seem particularly clever to be hiding in as crowded a spot as her closet. Drawing her sword, Enide flung open the closet door and pointed the blade inside.

Only to find an extraordinarily strange man pointing a golden sword right back at her.

Lex had been having a relatively normal day - or, at least, as normal as a day could get for someone who had died and ended up in his favorite video game. It had only been a few hours since he had woken up, but they had been a good few hours. He had breakfast with Télos and his chosen, trading jokes with Glis while Aleks sat glowering nearby. Then Aleks had demanded they spar for a bit, and he had been doing that right until suddenly ending up in the closet.

If he hadn't been in the middle of a sparring session - hoodie tied around his waist and hair sticking to his forehead in a sweaty mess - he might have opened the door and then made a sword appear. But he still had his sword ready for Aleks' next strike when he suddenly found himself suffocating among what had to be a closet full of dresses, and it was the first thing that the supposed owner of the dresses saw when she opened the closet doors.

"It's not what it looks like," he said, eying the sword she had pointing at him. He didn't know what it really looked like, but it was a good idea to diffuse the situation as quickly as possible. He made his sword disappear in the blink of an eye, watching her warily as he slunk a little further back into the closet. "I don't know how-"

He paused as he was about to raise his hands up in surrender.

"...Enide?" he questioned. It had been nearly a year since he had seen her last, but he had never met anyone else who looked remotely similar. Even the blade pointed at him was the katana she had pointed at him during their first meeting.

He tried to remember what she had said about her life. She was important to royalty; she would have a high standing, and threats were likely frequent. Right now, he looked like he could easily be one, even if he was sweating from sparring and no longer had his weapon. "I'm Lex from the underground city," he said, fully raising his hands. "I know I don't look anything like the last time we met, but there's a good explanation for it. Could you please put your sword down?"

Enide lowered her sword ever so slightly. She scanned Lex's face as her mind scrambled for an explanation. She'd never told anyone what had happened in the city, but that didn't mean Amaya hadn't (especially if Amaya had ever gotten drunk). Still, that he knew about the city, knew about a specific person in that group, and pointed out just how different he looked than that person was odd. And he smelled familiar. Not exactly like the person that she remembered, but that person had been a blend of smells. Which had been fitting for a two minds stuffed in one body.

"Who do you think I am?" Enide said carefully. If he'd heard from Amaya after the incident, he'd probably call her a queen (if not, it'd be easy enough to piece together if he was from this world). Otherwise, if he wasn't from this world, she'd been careful to get Amaya to stick to the lie in the city itself, so he'd think of her as an adviser to the throne. She hoped he'd make the right choice; she wasn't in a mood to clean up the mess.

He stared at her. Why would she be asking that when he had already mentioned her name? If he had been wrong on her being Enide, she wouldn't have lowered her sword - he was sure of it. But because he didn't know the true reason behind the question, he decided it was best to answer it truthfully.

"You're an advisor to the royalty of your kingdom," he said. "A powerful one, since you were in charge of-"

Wait a second.

He turned his attention back to the dresses, staring at the fine material and the sheer abundance of them. Then he looked back out at the rest of the room - or the little bit he could see through where he was in the closet - and put together something that should have been incredibly obvious the first time they had met.

She was no advisor.

She was the queen.

It made sense, now. She was in charge of many parts of the kingdom's functions, and had to work with the king - her husband - to rule it justly. She hadn't ever seemed intimidated by Télos. In the months since their first meeting, when people had met Télos for the first time, they had been clearly flustered or intimidated. It was strange for someone to deal with him so calmly in retrospect. The only people who had ever acted as calmly as she did were the ones who felt that they were just as powerful or even more powerful than him - Eras in particular came to mind, and even Zephyrus when he was acting.

"You're your kingdom's queen," he said. It wasn't a guess; it was a statement of what he now knew to be the honest truth. "Aren't you? I'm guessing you lied about it because you couldn't trust us. I know you probably still don't trust me, but it just makes...sense."

He gave an awkward, nervous smile.

"No wonder you were so prepared for someone moving around in your closet," he said, giving a poor attempt at cracking a joke to lighten the tense mood.

"Astute of you," Enide said, sheathing her sword in its scabbard. She still didn't know whether to fully trust him - perhaps Amaya had told him about the lie too - but he sounded too genuine. He was sweating, but she had no idea if that was a consequence of fear, being stuffed in a warm closet, or something else entirely. And nobody else she knew could make a sword disappear and reappear like that (even if it didn't bode her for well should he turn on her). For now, she decided it would be better to trust him.

The Queen of Foxes sighed and tapped her foot. "How did you get here?" she said, pulling out dresses and robes in the meantime.

He slipped out into the rest of the room. In another time - and another life - he might have marveled at the room of a queen, but he lived with Télos and frequently went to visit Phoenix at Oracle's place. He wasn't new to the riches of royalty, in whatever form they appeared.

"I don't know," he admitted. He awkwardly shoved his hands into his jeans, not sure what he was supposed to do while she started pulling out robes and dresses. "I was in the middle of sparring with Aleks when I ended up in your closet - it was why I had my sword out."

After a moment passed, he pulled his hands out of the pockets and tightened the knot keeping his hoodie around his waist. He couldn't have it slipping off during the middle of the conversation, but he also couldn't put it on when he was so hot and sweaty. He would just have to stay in his t-shirt for now and hope he didn't smell too disgusting.

Enide was a flurry of activity. Parting the curtains over her bed, she set down her dresses and looked between them. "Ah, this Aleks fellow," she said, picking the biggest blue dress she could find. "I assume that you two must have separated by now? How did you manage this, if it is not rude of me to ask?" She threw the dress over Lex's head, then reached down, loosened his hoodie, pulled it off, and stretched it out. Nodding in satisfaction, she set it on the bed.

"Apologies," she said, walking over to the other side of the room and grabbing a stick of sweet-smelling incense. She moved it back to the bed and waved it over the hoodie. "I believe that I might need to see a friend, and you would attract too much attention the way you currently look. If you would be so kind as to raise the hood of this article of clothing over your head and then put on that dress, we will pay her a visit."

"It's a long story involving my soul getting sucked out of his body and put into a fighting machine," he said. Then he sheepishly began to add, "I'm sorry about how much I smell. We've tried making deodorant, but it's hard-"

He came to a sudden stop as the rest of the situation dawned on him. Maybe he had been subconsciously trying to avoid it; maybe he had been too caught up trying to explain things to notice. But the reason for her trying to make his hoodie smell better with the incense suddenly became all the more clearer, as well as why she had been suddenly comparing her dresses.

He looked at the dress, then back at her.

"You're joking...right?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer.

He let out a quiet sigh and slipped his hoodie back on, pulling up the hood and leaving it unzipped. It did a nice job of covering his hair, and cast shadows on s good deal of his facial features. He didn't think he looked all the feminine, but Enide must have thought otherwise if she was convinced something like this would work.

He cast one more glance at her before putting on the dress. The fabric felt unfamiliar and uncomfortable and he could already see himself tripping more than once, but there was little he could do to prevent that. Enide wanted something that covered his actual clothing.

"Is this good?" he asked, finding the nearest mirror. It was hard to tell that it was him underneath the hood and the dress - the only hint was his gray-tinted skin, and the shadows of the hood made even that difficult to see when he kept his hands hidden in his sleeves.

Standing behind Lex, Enide squinted into the mirror and nodded. "It will do," she said. "I would rather have liked to have had more time, but I would rather not have to explain to my spies that someone intruded on me without their awareness. They would never leave me alone for it. To say nothing of all the servants and attendants who are to tend to this room. And you do not look particularly bad in it, if that is of some comfort."

He pulled his hood down farther. "Uh, thanks," he hesitantly replied, trying to ignore how warm his face was getting. "Is there anything else I should do - like anything extra I need to put on, a different name or changing my voice so it sounds more feminine?"

The situation might have made him uncomfortable, but he wasn't stupid. He needed to blend in, and if that involved seeming more like a woman, then so be it.

"Also," he added after a moment passed, his voice clearly more nervous now that he was thinking about how long he'd have to keep up the facade, "how far away is your friend, exactly?"

"Not at all," Enide said. "It would be more convenient that you not speak, in truth - it might raise suspicion that you are human. So long as you stay by my side and act patient and obedient, no one will think too hard about it."

She walked towards the door. "And my friend is not too far off. I would love to use the secret tunnels, but those are constantly watched, and I would rather you be safely in her hands before people ask questions."

Pushing open the door slightly, Enide peered down each end of the hallway. She waved for Lex to follow as she swung open the door and stepped out, but not before turning back and continuing. "I also apologise if the comment might have flustered you. It is more like court fashion for all genders, and the colors fit your personality - reserved and calm."

"Oh," he quietly said. He pulled down the hood again one last time - it had finally clicked. Minecraftia was home to an abundance of mobs, and those mobs had a tendency to fear or hate anything that looked human. He hadn't thought much on how Enide's kingdom was likely filled with people like her, and how he would stand out like a sore thumb during to his human appearance - he had been convinced his hair and clothing was at fault, and his sudden, unexplained appearance in her room. He doubted it was the same as Minecraftia, but keeping his true identity a secret made sense.

He followed her out into the hallway and desperately hoped things would go as smoothly as she was convinced they would go.

Enide strolled down the hallway, trying to look much calmer than she felt. It wasn't like her to be nervous, or upset, or frustrated. And she wasn't. But the sudden arrival of this interdimensional traveler put a wrench into all of her plans. She needed to find a secure place for him, still serve her duties as a queen, make sure he acclimated to this world for however long he was staying (hopefully not permanently; no way was he going to handle that well), and keep all the people who wanted to kill her from realizing they had another avenue to get to her.

Around a corner, down the hall, up the stairs. The disguise worked about as well as she hoped; none of the other foxes gave them anything more than a passing glance. Probably more because they were afraid of her, which she was perfectly fine with. It gave her time to think of a strategy. Visit her sister-in-law, oversee the old queen's arrival, maybe head to the villa and-

Turning into a hallway, Enide almost ran right into her husband.

"Enide?" the King of Foxes said. His red and gray fur matched the orange and yellow kimono that draped down to his feet. Wooden shoes clacking against the floor, ornately drawn flowers on his robes swaying back and forth, he looked perfectly and completely afraid. Which manifested in his scowl and darting eyes. "Has tomorrow's breakfast been prepared?"

Enide stopped immediately, holding out a paw to block Lex. "That would the chef's responsibility," she said with a quick bow, "I-"

"And that is the chef, I assume?" Shiruba said, pointing to Lex.

"No, this is-"

Shiruba threw up his paws. "Then send him off to the kitchens! We need as many servants as we can in there! Do you know how much those wolves eat? Especially their Queen?"

Enide swore under her breath, but caught herself. Taking a deep breath, she straightened her back. "I do, but this young person is for-"

"And why are they wearing such a hood?" Shiruba said, stepping forward. "Surely they have nothing to keep secret. Or, you have nothing to keep secret."

Before Enide could respond, Shiruba stepped forward and yanked off Lex's hood.

"Enide?" the fox spluttered, stepping back. "Why did you bring a human here? What is the meaning of this?"

The universe had apparently decided it didn't like him much today. Suddenly appearing in another world was bad enough; now he also had to deal with this surprise confrontation, and he wasn't even sure where to begin.

He could make his guesses: this man was the king. It was the same situation from earlier - he acted too comfortable around a member of royalty for him not to be one himself, and he seemed to be ordering Enide around.

Lex glanced between the king and queen, trying - and failing - to come up with a good reply. He knew he wasn't the one who had been asked the question, and he knew that Enide had said it was best not for him to speak. But he wasn't used to being treated like he wasn’t there. Even on Minecraftia, he was Télos's chosen. People paid directed questions and conversations at him because they knew that was how Télos wanted people to be treated in the End.

(He wished he was back there right now - everything was so much simpler there.)

He ran through the options. He could say he was a subordinate of a king of a faraway land, and then he had been sent here for diplomatic reasons. That would be a truthful answer, but he wasn't sure Enide would do something like that without her king knowing. He could say they were friends, but the king might know who all of her friends were. And then he could just tell the truth, but Enide didn't seem in favor of that option.

So he resigned himself to staying silence, blue eyes staring down at the floor and fists clenched as some of his hair continue to pulse bright blue.