Read The Queen's A King :: Chapter 7

We walked into an office where Opal was standing with my dad. "Why are we even debating this!" Opal was pretty heated as my dad sat quietly behind a desk, trying to listen. "We're not Opal. But I don't think rushing into anything is a good idea. We need to think. I know you don't want a war between us & them, right?" He notices me come in & gives a quick grin while Opal groans. "What I want is a decision of some kind to be made today! Here I am, actively telling you that we don't have the luxury of time anymore. The Broken Circle started tracking him not even 48 hours after I showed up. & I'm tied to the damn kid. Meaning they knew I left & knew about where to find him. Meaning they're probably following us somehow or-" "So then who's to say they aren't listening or watching right now?" Mahalo was there too, sitting on the floor with books sprawled out all around her, wearing a pretty simple black suit with purple & gold trims. I almost didn't even see her. "Opal, dear, we can throw all the 'ifs, ands & buts' around until we're all blue in the face, but speculation won't help, regardless of if we act now or tomorrow or in a week." Opal starts to say something else, but stops, letting Mahalo go on. "You're a... Guardian, right? It's your job to protect this family with everything you have. I completely know & understand your concern, but right now, without knowing any other plans they have, we can't do much else other than watch our backs. Yes, they found him soon after & even tried to shoot at him, but be honest; if they wanted him dead, wouldn't they have killed Archer years ago?" Opal sucked in air through her teeth, nodded. "There's a delay of about... 2 days before they find out he's here right? Let's take advantage of that time then. Figure out if there's anyway to get ahead of them even more." Mahalo said. She gives me a surprised look when she finally looks up from her book pile; she has on the tinest pair of reading glasses I've ever seen outside of a cartoon. "Archer! You look... wow." she gets up & gives me a tight hug. "The girls are gonna die when they see you." Opal scoffed. "They won't be the only ones at this rate." Dad sighed heavily, slamming his hand down on the table. "Opal, please. We understand the danger. But neither one of us have seen Archer in a while. Add the stress onto it & it's not good. We're just happy he's ok for right now." I felt incredibly awkward, but something strikes me. "Wait, where are Yuki & Justice?" Opal glanced at me. "Both princesses are currently seeing the surrounding city. Both have guards... the little one doesn't need to hear any of this right now, even if she's safe from all danger." Mahalo, who had finally let go, seemed upset at the mention of Justice & Yuki. "Yeah... that's what I've been telling myself too." It quickly got quiet in the office as Mahalo started flipping through books again. I take a seat as Mytel stands behind my chair. "Um..." "Wait... there's a way to get a leg up on them." Mahalo said. "Well, maybe... I think. Um, Honey, what's a Fate Dancer?" Dad groaned, covering his face. "The absolute last resort. They're not... very helpful. The things required to even get into their village is extensive, if you can even find it. Besides, their own law prevents them from helping in times of quarrel that isn't humanitarian relief." Mahalo took a second. "Ok, but that doesn't tell me much." Mytel smiled. "An Oracle, a village full of them. Some people simply wake up one morning & suddenly are a Fate Dancer. They show the future through their dances. Usually, they find you. Queen Selene was the last royal to truley gain their trust. & even then, the trials she went through for their trust would take far too long to complete. The only other royal to have their trust was King Jasken over 300 years ago. He's the reason they don't interact with us very much anyway. King Daniel, may I?" Dad waves his hand as Mytel magically pulls up a map of what I can only assume is the whole country. He highlights an unmarked area in a gold circle. "Their last known village location was here, in Resora. But I have a friend who lives here, off of Mari Coast." He highlights an area more westward, but it was still a big gap. "He could help with his own oracle abilities, but... I cannot make any promises." I was impressed & no doubt Mytel noticed; he's standing up straighter. Dad is intently looking at the two areas marked on the map; Mahalo is also looking, using her finger to try & measure.

"What does travel time look like?"

"A week round trip. Assuming we're not slowed down."

"That's not fast enough."

"I left decoy's at the house to look like Queen Mahalo-"

"Don't."

"Of course. Apologies My Lady. Decoys of Miss Mahalo, the princesses & Archer are currently in the house, following a semi regular routine. It's should buy us some time."

"How much?"

"Assuming nothing too out of routine order happens, about 5 days."

"Damn. Opal, is there-"

"Lucky for you, I've been going through her old spell notes."

"&?"

"Unfortunately, she collected just about everything, even spells from Earth. So it's been slow going. But, if anyone had something like that, it'd be her."

Dad seemed to relax a bit. "Bless that woman... & thank you Opal. If anyone can find it, it's you." Opal quickly turned out & left, but stopped before closing the door. "Mahalo, I... I may need your granddaughters help. I promise, I won't tell her anything." without looking up, my step-mom nodded. "I trust you." Mahalo lingered for a little while; she perked up, noticing the silence. "Oh... Oh, ok. I'm going to... yeah." She quickly hurries out. Mytel goes to leave to, but Dad stops him. "No... not you Mytel. Not yet. I want you here for this."

Dad pulls out the arrow head, starting at it. "You're... You're ok right? No one... no one hurt you?" I shook my head. "I'm... I'm ok. I'm scared out of my mind but... no one hurt me." Dad nodded, eyes welling up with tears. "Homecoming was the only time." a single tear falls. "Ok... ok. You went into the panic room?" I nodded. "Yeah... how long was all that there?" Dad chuckled. "Honestly, the whole time. We got the house with the room already there. I only decorated it, but your mother did all the heavy lifting there. She infused the room with protective magic the day we got the house. Whole house is like that. I'm sorry for having you waste your magic to protect the house, Mytel." Mytel maintains his smile. "Better to be safe than sorry." Dad takes a breath. "I need to tell you both about who we're dealing with." he says. "They're called the Broken Circle... been around since Camelot. They gave Selene a hard time, but they've never been this active. The good news is that they don't care about Mahalo, or Justice, or Yuki. Bad news, this means they only want you." Mytel's hand was on my shoulder. "But why? What did I do?" Dad shook his head, fiddling with something under the table. "It's not about you as Archer. It's about your bloodline." He sunddely puts it on the table; it was the arrow head. "They want the same thing their founder, Mordred, wanted all those years ago. The throne & Excalibur. Things that only your blood can do." I didn't know what to say. "Originally, their plans began to try & befriend you. Gain your trust... make you switch sides. But, they assumed you were here; it took them years to get to & locate you on Earth. & thanks to your mother, they couldn't even get into the house. So, they took a more agressive approach." The moon mark on my hand began to burn slightly. "... Am I even safe here...? You're the one in charge, right? You're king right? Why... Why am I even here?" Dad smiled. "To find Excalibur before they do. She's in hiding, but I know you heard her when you arrived. You'll be safe." I gave Dad a crazy look.

"B-But how can you be so sure?"

"Selene gave you the moon on your hand right? That's all you'll need."

"This...? Wait, how'd you know about this?"

"It was your first day of school gift. & the theme for your nursery. Now, its a charm."

"& this... mark, should keep me safe?"

"Not should, will. It'll help you center your magic. She gave me one too."

Dad pulls up his sleeve & I see a very stylized sun glowing a faint silver color. "A sun. I'm her light & you are part of her. Still seperate, but no doubt still a part of her. She's kept us safe so far & now-" he sort of motioned to the room. "Now we're in her home. Her own country. This is the safest place for us to be. These marks can & will get us anywhere we need to be. More so, it'll prove to Excalibur that you're actually you." Mytel, who had been mostly quiet until now, spoke up. "Your Highness, why am I here then? I understand telling Archer, but why me? I'm aware of the history of Broken Circle." Dad gave him an odd look. "We found this message embedded in your little souvenier." Dad takes the arrow head & tosses it into the middle of the room. When it hits the floor, nothing immediately happens, but soon, a mans image suddenly stands before us. He's transparent, but we can only see his silloette. "You're very lucky young prince. You should be wounded. I don't want you dead, make no mistake; despite what you, your mutt, & that fake king you call a father, I do see you as more valuable alive than dead. I..." the shadow looks to the left as the sound of a door shutting rings out. The demeanor of the man changes & more of his body begins to show. We can see skin tone, caramel & brown eyes with a sort of fire in them. The man gets distracted when I hear a thud behind me. Mytel's back is against the wall, right next to the door, & he's clearly very angry. A low, yet loud growl is coming from him. I turn around to see him & his eyes are completely wild looking... like he's trapped. Sparks of gold fly off him, emmiting its own heat as he hits the door. He's breathing with a bit more force, like he's holding himself back. He starts mumuring to himself in that same language he spoke to Dad earlier in the day. His tail gets longer as he stands beside the door; was... was he biting his tail? "Look, I don't have much time." The recording continues. "Young Prince, I don't want to see you hurt. I want to talk. See if maybe we can work together; I can't tell you my name. Not yet, but my boss... I can't convince him to change, but I can stall him for a while. I can buy you about 3 more days. I hope it's enough. May your safety be insured." the man gives a wave before vanishing. Another thud as Mytel hisses. "Fuck... fuck!" he's completely irate, shaking with anger. "Mytel...?" I call his name to get his attention; his eyes glare at me before relaxing. "Sorry... s-I apologize. I... I believe I over reacted. I have preparations to make... if you both would excuse me." with a quick bow, he hurries out. Dad sighs. "& then there were two."