David and Arnold had grown closer over the two days that General Dominic Reno had been missing. 

After day one, Arnold had grown increasingly more worried. He did not know the punishment for attacking a member of the royal family, but he assumed it was not fun. And the fact that Reno had not shown up after a day was even more concerning.

Afraid to share his concerns with Nathan because, after all, King Drake was the highest authority and part of the royal family in which Reno had attacked, the butler accidentally slipped and expressed his worries with Queen David when Nathan was having a private conversation with his sister. Arnold remembered the queen's serious look of confusion and concern- with a hint of curiousity- before he assured Arnold that he would look into it.

Over the second day, David had reported back to Arnold. He said that part of General Reno's punishment was to be restricted from his addictions. Meaning, he couldn't have alcohol or tobacco while he was being punished.

Arnold, frightened at the thought, realized that he had never been within Reno's shack without a beer bottle sitting on a surface or the singeing smell of smoke wafting through the air. The butler couldn't fathom what it would be like for Reno to be completely sober.

Queen David frowned in concern at Arnold's worried face.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Arnold's eyes focused back onto the queen. He noticed how calculated the queen's eyes were; they must possess so much hidden intelligence, Arnold thought.

"Queen David-"

"Please call me David," David interrupted, cheeks red. Arnold noticed how innocent and open David was about his feelings. However, surely he could not be innocent, being the soulmate of Nathan? Arnold had, plenty of times, had to bring supplies to Nathan for that sort of thing beforehand.

"Yes- David, your majesty," Arnold did not feel comfortable without tacking that on the end, "And, about your question... You see, I am usually the one to wake up General Reno. And the few things that stay constant about his...house...are the signs of his addictions. I am not sure any of us have seen him completely withdrawn from them. I...I am worried for him because, when he gets out, he may be in a foul mood- worse than before." 

Arnold shuffled his legs. Something else David had requested that was not in Arnold's daily routine: sitting cross-legged on the bed like they were little girls. It was quite awkward, especially because Arnold had the knowledge of all that had laid in this bed. It made him shiver.

But to David's request, he was obliged.

"Maybe I could get Nathan to change the punishment?" David wondered out loud, "Although, he told me he had to get creative with Reno's punishment."

"Yes," Arnold agreed, "There is not much that affects Reno, so it is hard to punish him."

While Arnold had been discussing General Reno's situation, David had noticed something... different about the butler. Arnold had, temporarily, broken his seemingly uptight and formal demeanor when worrying about the general.

David thought that Arnold didn't care. That he hated the way Reno displayed himself. However, over the past two days, David was starting to suspect something else was going on below the surface.

"He's also been locked in a cell for a few days," David reminded, which made his nose wrinkle up in distaste. He didn't like the idea of punishing someone, but the leshy knew it had to be done. Over the days that he has been in the castle, Reno had proven himself not very loyal and extremely reckless.

This further made David suspect that there was a connection with Dominic Reno and werewolves. But the leshy kept that to himself.

"It couldn't be much different than that shack he has," Arnold commented bitterly. This perked David's attention.

"What do you mean?" David asked.

"He has an awful living space," Arnold said, breaking his formal attitude to rant about Reno's shack, "I wouldn't even call it a house! It always reeks of cigarettes-" David smiled at Arnold's shutter afterward. It made the butler seem more human- "And there is at least one beer bottle when I walk in there to wake him up. You know, he could sleep on the ground in the woods and probably get a better night's sleep than on that rickety bed!"

"Oh?" David asked, concerned about the way General Reno was living.

"I am not joking! He treats himself like he treats his home too! Getting into all those nasty, unhealthy addictions. Doing reckless things despite being told otherwise. Not controlling his temper or his attitude! I am surprised he hasn't gotten himself...hurt."

They both paused, making eye contact. In an instant, they knew they were thinking the same thing.

The scars. How did he get those scars?

"I-" Arnold huffed, his rant dying with a sigh, "I just want to know why he does it to himself."

"Well," David replied, "If it is any consolation, my best friend had a soulmate who behaved sort-of like Reno. He didn't have addictions, but he was always nasty toward people. He was just battling the sorrow of losing his mother alone- he pushed everyone away so that he couldn't be hurt again."

"You are saying that Reno is battling sadness?" Arnold asked, his eyes piecing the puzzle together. David nodded. "D-Did your friend's soulmate get better?"

David nodded again and replied: "All he needed was a little love."

Arnold let that roll around in his head for a bit.

Nathan, however, had popped his head in and asked Arnold to leave soon after. Apparently, the couple needed to discuss some things privately. Before Arnold shut the door behind him, however, he got a glimpse of Nathan kissing his soulmate endearingly, and that made the butler smile.

He was glad that the king had finally found his soulmate. Quite frankly, he was tired of Nathan moping about, obsessing over books and sexual people to distract himself. It was obvious the king enjoyed his life much better with Queen- with David by his side.

Speaking of David, the queen had given Arnold some very useful information to use on Reno.

Maybe he is just lonely? thought Arnold, Or maybe no one has ever been kind to him...?

He thought of the possibilities, as he walked.

He knew Reno had to be turning twenty-one some time within the year. But he didn't know when exactly. Perhaps he will change once he finds his soulmate? Arnold thought.

Then another thought hit Arnold: What if I could change him before he meets his soulmate?

Arnold always loved a good challenge; therefore, he had made up his mind.

He was going to show kindness to Dominic Reno, whether the general liked it or not.

~{()}~

"You got a letter," Nathan mumbled to David as his lips pressed against his soulmate's again. David sighed happily as Nathan pulled back to kiss the leshy's cheek.

"From who?" David mumbled back, still loved-up from the kisses he was receiving. Strangely, David found himself wanting more. So, unafraid, he pushed his head toward Nathan's, but it was a little too forceful. David winced at the sound of their teeth clashing and backed away quickly.

"Wow, Babe," Nathan chuckled," I didn't think you liked it rough." David's cheeks burned with embarrassment. 

"I-I didn't mean to," David blushed. However, suddenly, he felt offended by the statement Nathan made. "And what if I like it rough?" he tacked onto the end defensively, making his embarrassment worse. However, Nathan's eyes raised in surprise before he relaxed and smirked.

"I don't know if I could hurt such a pretty face," Nathan stated, licking his lips. David watched as his tongue swiped over his bottom lip, and the leshy felt cravings for it. David was about to scold himself for thinking so sexually, but then he realized.

This is my soulmate, he told himself, He will love me forever. And I will love him. Why shouldn't I want to be with him sexually?

His leshy grunted in agreement- or disagreement. David wouldn't know the difference. However, the grunt reminded David about how his leshy wouldn't talk to him.

Why won't you talk to me? David asked it. But he was only met with silence.

"David?" Nathan asked, concern gracing his face, "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm sorry," David sighed, his cheeks still tinged red. I ruined the moment, he sighed to himself. "I'm just trying to get my leshy to talk to me."

Nathan scooped David up and set him on the bed, climbing in alongside him. Nathan somehow knew that David needed the comfort that only a soulmate could provide.

"What's wrong?" the king asked 

"My leshy doesn't talk to me, like Jake's wolf does to him," David admitted, "And I don't know why."

"Hmm," Nathan frowned, then smiled and kissed David's temple, "Maybe he can't talk." David's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, so Nathan decided to elaborate. "I once met a woman who couldn't talk- she was mute. It was a while ago, during my travels to another kingdom. Despite being a woman, she was a member of the royal advisory, and, even if she could not talk, her ideas and advice gave her the position of Head Royal Advisor. She communicated her thoughts through pen and paper."

David considered this, but then brushed it aside.

"But I am listening to my leshy's direct thoughts," David replied, "And he still won't talk to me. I just receive little grunts here and there."

"That woman I met communicated with pen and paper," Nathan commented, trying to cheer his soulmate up, "Maybe your leshy communicates with little grunts? Who knows!" David let that sink in. "Anyway, Jake sent you a letter."

That immediately perked up David's mood.

"He did?!" David smiled and sat up. It was his first letter he had ever received from Jake! He was so excited to see how his best friend was doing over in the kingdom of Mac Tíre! "Let me see!"

"So demanding," Nathan chuckled playfully but continued to pull the letter out of his pocket. He handed the letter to David, and the leshy took it greedily, ready to read the letter with the excitement of a thousand Mexican jumping beans.

Nathan adored seeing David this excited. He hoped Jake would send letters more often, if this was David's reaction to them. He observed his soulmate's excited smile as David read the letter carefully; the king then watched the smile slowly die as he read on. Nathan frowned as well when the smile did not come back.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned. David sighed heavily, then looked toward Nathan.

"Jake has seen some visions- about us-" he said, "And I don't know if they are good or not."

~{()}~

Arnold was extremely busy the rest of the day. Nathan had declared that, once the baby was developed enough, that the kingdom was going to hold a festival- complete with a ball- to celebrate the princess's upcoming baby.

And, according to Nathan, the king was also considering giving the crown to the princess. Which of course, had leaked throughout the castle already. Arnold had spent the day dismissing the rumors and giving out orders, when he ran into Becky.

Becky, of all people.

He was turning the corner from the kitchen to the maid's chambers, where he was supposed to supervise the activity going on down there. Once, there had been a physical fight between two women, and, once, a maid snuck a cat into her room. Pets were strictly off-limits, considering the kitchen was close by. Therefore, after multiple infractions occurring down in the maid's chambers, Arnold was instructed to peek in every once in a while to make sure everything was in check.

He would have been delighted to do so- if it were not for Becky, a maid who worked in the castle.

Unfortunately for Arnold, Becky had been down in the chambers that day.

He remembered the instinct to run as he saw her predatory eyes approach him from down the corridor- though there was no hope of escape from her once she saw him standing on duty. She smiled that red-lipped, Cheshire smile, sauntering her way to him, rocking her hips back and forth while gracefully stepping.

"Look at you," she purred as she got closer to him- close enough to put a gentle hand on his chest. He stiffened as she leaned into his ear, "You look so professional. No wonder you got hired as the king's sideman."

Arnold stood stiffly, as he tried his hardest not to look down. Her breasts were already pushed up enough in her maid uniform to be concerning; however, looking down would give Arnold a straight shot into her cleavage- something he did not want. Her hair, up in a sleek blonde ponytail, was so shiny and soft- any man would be delighted to sleep with her.

But Arnold definitely did not want to do so, which Becky took as a challenge.

"Thank you," Arnold said uncomfortably, but then he felt her leg sliding up to his waist and her chest pressing into his.

This woman has no shame he thought, before pushing her away.

"I thought I told you, Becky," Arnold huffed, "I am asexual. I do not want to sleep with you."

Her fingers trailed his jaw, and she bit her lip seductively before saying, "I bet I can change your mind. Just this once."

"No," Arnold said sternly, "Now, I must go. I have other duties to attend."

And then he left without another word.

Now it was later in the day, and Arnold had found himself cleaning Reno's shack for him. The butler could not stand unorderly things, and the shack was one of them; therefore, even with the notion that Reno would kill him for it, he began to tidy the place up. Plus, another benefit to the cleaning would be an act of kindness that Reno would hopefully consider.

After he was finished, the dirty floor had been swept, the musty window had been wiped, the small kitchen had been cleaned, the smell of smoke had been aired out, and the random empty bottles had been deposited. It wasn't perfect, no. But it was the best Arnold could do for the moment.

He sighed as he sat on the newly made bed, exhausted from the day. He could barely keep his eyes open.

And, without really meaning to, the butler fell asleep on Dominic's bed.