Fantasy A Tale of Fire and Ice: An Unexpected Engagement

[DergTheDergon]

Xander's eyes widened at her coopertive response, butafter a few moments he nodded and took a deep breath, preparing to tell her the things demanded of him, as infuriating as they were. He still wasn't entirely sure why he was going to tell her, in all honesty. He was also suprised at how quickly Evangeline agreed not to tell, eve after being so angry at him just a mere few moments ago for his cold words. She didn't seem to be a dishonest type either, and though he'd never admit it, he honestly trusted her not to tell. Just when he was about to explain the pyromancer assassn's demands however, Clyde entered the room.

Xander froze in unison with his to-be bride, perhaps a comical sight to one who might be watching. Clyde didn't seem to notice any odd behavior however, and Xander began to relax as a result. He wondered if he would ever get the chance to tell Evangeline now, though.

He looked Clyde in the eyes, listening to his words, and and frowned, flinching while his eye twtiched as Evangeline reacted so adversely to smething that, sometime in the future, she would be expected to do. He didn't really mind sleeping in a seprate room, in fact he preferred it, but if the news that the king and queen slept in seperate rooms ever got out into the public, it would do a number on the nation's already-low morale.

A moment later, it dawned on the king that this could be thier chance to have the rest of this private conversation, despite that he still wasn't sure what he wanted to tell her for. It just seemed... safer, than telling Clyde, but why did he think that? Taking a deep breath and clearing these thoughts as best he could, he sat through Clyde's attempt to calm down his king's to-be-wife, and was about to speak up, when Evangeline stopped the whole world with her own words. He looked just as shocked as Clyde.... but then, a few seconds later, it dawned on him. 'She must just be doing this in order to get the rest of the information,' he thought. 'But to go to such lengths... she must truly be prepared to do anything for her country then.'

Xander sighed, decided to bite the bullet and shock Clyde even more. He just hoped the poor man could handle it. First though, He looked into Evangeline's eyes for a moment, the pair sitting at an angle that thankfully masked the look in Xander's eyes from Clyde, and gave her a very grateful, sincere look that seemed to say 'thank you, I will make it up to you.' This probably shocked Evangeline too now that he thought about it, but then he turned to Clyde. "I... also agree, in all honesty. T'wouldn't do for the king and queen to sleep sperately. Well then Evangeline, follow me." He seemed just as bashful as she did. He hoped the clever Clyde was not onto something fishy happening here... normally when Xander didn't act like himself, it was becasue he was trying to hide something, and Clyde knew that. However, it was impossible to eavesdrop through thre thick doors and walls of this castel, so the moment Clyde left the malone, they would have the privacy they needed.

The moment they were alone, Xander sat down on his bed and motioned for Evangeline to sit in a nearby chair which he often read it. It was quite comfy. Once she had, he told her everything, all of his assailant's demands, from replacing his head priest to betraying the water kingdom, striaght through his promises and threats surrounding it all. "I think I've finally figured out the reason I wanted to tell you this, as well,' he said, when he was finally finished.He too ka deep breath, this being hard to say. "Like it or not, we must be in this together and form a bond if we are to win this war... and beyond that... I don't see you as the worst prospective queen I've had by any stretch. I... honestly admire the way you stand up for yourself and your people. That's needed in a queen. I suppose what i am trying to say is... I can't bring myselef to keep secrets from you. The reason I'm keeping them from clyde, well... knowing him he'll take actions without my knowing that may jeopardize the whole king... both of our kingdoms." His gaze was serious, as he then waited for whatever response Evangeline was to give him.

The Velveteen Rabbit

 

[DergTheDergon]

Xander groaned in frustration when Evangeline wouldn't get up. He sighed and clenched his fists after saying her name again and continuing to be ignored. He had some choice words for her but he decided that it was best to simply keep getting ready to go. He ended up not saying another word to her, rushing about to get dressed and then leaving. The events of last night had rustled the king so much that he forgot to wait for Hana and Rina to bring his morning tea, which he couldn't function near as well without. As he got to the throne room, he found himself wondering why he still felt so groggy and generally "off". His thoughts kept drifting back to Evangeline's passive-aggresive behavior this morning which caused anger to boil up within him. Somehow though, he kept his composure as he was waited upon to ensure that he was prepared for the high priest business. He had decided he was going to appoint the priest the assassin had wanted. Once the war is over, Xander thought grimly, he could have the man exectued as he was likely a spy for Darkness in some capacity... assuming Darkness didn't win, of course. But for now, it was in the best interest of his kingdom to appoint the man.

Just then, Evangeline came into the room. He looked to her and was about to say something along the lines of 'it's about time you got out of bed' but the words were stolen by the sight of her. Her dress suited her very well, and if Evangeline looked hard enough, she would see a glint of appreciation in his eyes, both for the dress and for the tea she handed him. He looked a little flustered as he was handed the tea, just then remembering that it was what he was missing from his morning routine. He locked eyes with Evangeline, his expression surprised at first as weel as a little angry due to her actions (or lack thereof) earlier this morning. Then, he reminded himself that despite all that, she'd just done something quite kind for him, and he said "thank you, Evangeline," with a very slight, barely noticable smile. Truthfully, Xander couldn't bring himself to continue being mad at her now, at least until after this business with the preist was concluded and he had time to think about all the things she'd done in the past to tick him off. He took a sip of the ta and smiled again. It was just he way he liked it, just enough sugar and milk. Hana and Rena definitely had something to do with this. He'd have to thank them later.

Xander was all business as usual when the High priest walked in, standing rigidly in front of his throne and greeting the priest and his entourage with a nod. At the man's greeting, he nodded back, though he was just slightly visibly flustered for the slightest moment as the priest complimented Evangeline. He manged a smile that didn't seem sheepish in the slightest, although it took a lot of willpower. "It is good to see you again as well... and I would have to agree." Something came over Xander in this moment and he looked over to Evangeline with a cheeky grin, hoping to see her embarassment. He really did think she was beautiful, and he saw this as slight revenge for this morning in addition to a way of keeping up appeaarances that he was in love with her.

Xander cast glances over the church officials that glared at Evangeline, and they averted thier gazes in time with the king's own glare. Deep down, Xander felt a little angry at them, but didn't let it show.

It was time to get down to business soon enough, as the priest pointed out with his question of what he was called here for. Xander's gaze hardened and his posture stiffened, before he gave the priest a stern look. In all honesty, Xander had been considering replacing this man for a long time. Guards surrounded the throne room like always, so if the priest or any one of his cohorts should get any ideas, there would be too many heavily armed men positioned nearby for them to go through with it. Xander began pacing with his hands behind his back in front of the priest.

"Yes, about that…” the king paused for effect, stopping then staring the priest down. “I’ve been thinking about our little arrangement, and I am honestly quite displeased with how you run your church. I’ve had my spies do some investigating, to find you have been giving us a much smaller percentage of your tithes than we agreed. I’ve had to hike taxes because of this, and no one is happy about that. In addition, I’ve heard tell of one of your prriests slandering my fiancee’ as part of his sermon, something you seem to have not moved to punish him for at all. These incidents are in addition to the others you’ve been able to get away with in the past, and I’ve had quite enough.” Everything he had said was true; just further reason to meet the assassin’s demands, and sufficient justification to boot. “Therefore, I herby command, as King of the Fire Kingdom, that you step down as priest.” Xander looked the man in the eyes harshly, his guards preparing to jump into action should things get unnecesarily heated.

The Velveteen Rabbit