Hesitantly, Kuba knocked on the king's door. He opened the door, then seemed to regret it and almost closed it again. This was too much emotion for him.
"Good morning again, Lady Kuba," he still managed to say. "What can I do for you?"
Kuba decided that staring was a completely normal thing to do. It wasn't her fault he was pretty. She didn't even have an answer anyway. The king scratched his head as she tried to put together a reason for her being here so early.
"My apologies. I thought I would, um."
She paused there. She had no idea what to say.
"I don't know anyone around here," she chuckled sheepishly. "People call me a lady, but I must be much less intimidating up close, mustn't I?"
Somehow, her attempt at a joke made him smile. It broke her brain further.
"Being endearing is a much better trait to cultivate, I can assure you of it," the Wolf King answered warmly.
She nodded emphatically, but she was still at a complete loss.
"I do hope I'm not too intimidating, either?" the king asked, and he seemed concerned, even if he was laughing.
It made her smile. He found that it was like her entire being was glowing when she smiled like that. He decided that smiling stupidly at her and not doing anything was very proper. Hopefully, Golden Wolf wouldn't suddenly appear in a corridor and make faces. White Wolf would have made faces, and probably suplexed him while yelling like an idiot. He was funny.
Then he realised that he was lost in thought and shook himself. He thought of inviting the lady to the gardens, then told himself that they didn't have one. The strawberry fields used to be beautiful, but they were gone.
"I was wondering to myself earlier, and it's quite unrelated, but, well, there must be good windows for stargazing in the higher towers," Kuba somehow put together. "Or to look at the moon, even."
"Ah. Well, ah, perhaps," the king muttered, and he was smiling a little, which made him want to hit himself.
He quickly put together an escape plan if his face kept betraying him.
"People usually sleep at night, which is obvious -- or then again, perhaps not, but, well, we sleep at night here. The -- the towers should be quite empty at night. I, um, I can't tell the weather, but I'll hope the night is starry. There are other towers in the castle that are good for stargazing. Golden Wolf puts maps and paintings everywhere. You should find it easily enough. It's the middle tower -- it points towards the --"
He put a hand on his face. He couldn't pronounce words today.
"There's the watch-tower that you climbed into, as I was told; and another watch-tower on another flank of the castle that points toward the river. You'll want to find the one between them."
Kuba's mind conjured up an image of them sitting on top of a tower and laughing as they looked at the stars together.
"We had a meeting planned after breakfast, but it seems that you've arrived early," the king commented.
Kuba nodded. They resumed their staring.
"Have you met everyone?" he tried.
"A few people," she opined. "Not nearly everyone, though."
He opened the door.
"Please, come in," he welcomed, before deciding that he was an idiot and staring at the wall like it was very interesting.
Kuba timidly entered the room, and as the Wolf King closed the door again, he told himself that he was going to die.
"Have you eaten?" he asked to distract himself.
"I have, actually. Have you?"
But she was distracted from the topic by a very irritating image in her mind. It wasn't irritating in itself. It was a rather beautiful memory, even if it was sad, but the problem was that it wasn't her memory, and it wasn't the proper time to even be learning about that yet. She had a problem. She knew everything.
"My lord," she tried, rubbing the annoyance from her eyes. "I hear you have a brother. How is he?"
The king looked at her in surprise.
"Well --" he tried.
"He is well, I assume," she went on, then she put her face in her hands.
If he had been like her, he would have been quite concerned, but to him, they had only just met, and besides, he couldn't read her memories. He wasn't even that confused.
"I don't know him," she added hurriedly," but I do know a few things about him. They're rather irrelevant today."
She tied her hair up more tightly to try to wake herself up better.
"Forgive me, milord. I don't think I slept well enough to be logical today. Or perhaps I have, and that's what's confusing me."
She paused. The king was still looking at her, but he didn't seem angry, which was very good.
"I do have a brother," he ended up answering very gently. "His name is White Wolf. He would have preferred another name, but the tradition -- well, it is how it is. He's been away for a long time. Now, you don't seem too well. I hope our food problems haven't been worrying you too much."
Kuba actually chuckled, which he took as a win. She liked people. They were more grounded in reality than she was, which settled her into it when she talked to them. He really had no idea why she was so upset.
"Oh, no, milord. They haven't," she grinned. "Although I have to admit I'm quite unqualified as a negotiator. I'm not sure I'm the proper person to ask to clear out everyone's worries and questions, either. I feel like I know nothing. I suppose I only came here yesterday afternoon. It would make sense."
She sighed.
"I'm very sorry. I tend to forget my manners," she let out. "I think this is our first formal meeting."
"It is," the Wolf King nodded.
"They call you the Wolf King. It's a -- well, it sounds nice," she rephrased.
The king nodded.
"The title came before we became Wolf People," he explained.
"Did it?" she asked, curious.
"We're a recent clan. My grandfather built the castle, and my father was the first to rule it. Well, my grandfather ruled for some time, but not for his entire adulthood. We were wandering people before that."
She already knew most of that, but she still pretended to be surprised.
"What were their names?" she inquired, because that was something she didn't already know.
"Starry Sky and Mud Golem. He changed it to Brown Wolf during his reign. Personally, I would have rather stayed "Mud Golem", but that's not my choice to make," he added, and she had never seen him laugh, but here he was.
Of course, they had only met yesterday, but still.
"I suppose you became Wolf People during your father's reign, then?"
"Oh, we did. It comes with living here for a while," he explained proudly.
"Wouldn't you rather keep this information a secret?" Kuba protested worriedly.
He shrugged.
"It's in good hands," he replied.
Kuba stared at him blankly for a while.
"Could I ask you for a favor? I would like a schedule. I find that time stretches on forever if I don't find myself something to do. Could I have a schedule of meetings with people of interest, or visits, or tasks?"
"My first piece of advice would be for you to rest. You must still be weary from your journey to get here. I'll postpone our meeting, then, and have the list ready in a few days."
Kuba nodded, and left shortly afterwards. She fell into her bed and only woke up once the sun had set. By her bedside was a little food-tray signed "get well, from Boolo" with a little misshapen heart next to it. There was also a drawing of Boolo with a dog and a rainbow.
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