The King and the Peasant - A Pico x Nene Medieval AU

Part XI

"Men, something urgent has come up that all of you should know. As of now, I need to make sure I have everyone's attention. Do I?" Pico asked.

"Yes, sir!" exclaimed the royal guard.

"It's King Flacit. He wants us to form an alliance with his nation or go to war," Pico began. He could feel the uneasyness and tension in the room arising. "Now this may be a reckless decision, but I have decided not to do as he says. However, we will go to him to try to talk things over," he explained. A guard raised his shaky hand. Pico nodded towards him as if to say, "yes"

"And if he insists on it...? You know, forming an alliance?" he asked.

"We go to war. But make no mistake, we will win," Pico asserted. "No one has ever questioned the power of our nation and returned to theirs victorious, have they?"

"No, sir!" exclaimed the royal guard.

***

The next day, Nene went into town for the second time in a week, only to be greeted by a slightly frightened looking Girlfriend.

"Oh. H-hey, Nene," she said.

"Hi... is everything alright?" Nene asked. Girlfriend sighed and let her in the boutique to sit her down and tell her what was wrong. "Wait, really?!" she exclaimed in disbelief once she knew. Girlfriend nodded solemnly.

"Boyfriend said they might go to war... meaning they also might not... but I'm still worried!" she said. She looked Nene in the eyes. "For you too... I heard some maids go with kings and the royal guard to battles to aid soldiers and patch them up... if something happened to you or to Boyfriend..." she added. Nene gave a heavy sigh, taking in the fact that both she and the man her best friend loved had their lives on the line. She gave a meek smile.

"We'll be alright. If I have to go, I'll do my best to survive, just for you. I'll keep Boyfriend in my prayers as well. Besides, we have a tough army. As terrifying as he is to most people, the king makes a good ruler," she reassured. She stood up. "I think it's best if I go back to the castle. There are a lot of things on my mind, now."

Girlfriend nodded in agreement. Nene waved goodbye and headed back. When she went back to the castle, she looked around for Pico, but found him in his room, standing there as if he was waiting for her. She entered hastily. After she did so, the king approached her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Something extremely important has come up. Me and the royal guard will be gone for a while, as will some other maids, but I want you to stay here," he ordered. She nodded, all of her questions having been answered. Nene didn't see Pico for the rest of that afternoon. He was too busy planning things for the following morning and preparing for travel.

After she was ordered to stay at the castle, Nene knew she would stay safe. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling of impending worry. Was she... worried for the king? Worried that he might get injured, in critical condition, or... killed...?

"Don't imagine things like that!" she told herself, hugging a pillow to her chest. She was currently sitting on the bed in one of the guest rooms. Nene buried her nose into the pillow. "Why am I so worried anyway?" she thought. She sighed. "It's cause I have a job here. If anything happened, I probably wouldn't be able to work anymore. Nothing more than that," the servant admitted out loud.

She did so to try to convince herself of such. It wasn't working. Not when she kept thinking back to when he saved her from that dark dimension of a room. Him hugging her; him picking her up; his warmth... his kindness... Nene stared blankly at the cloudy sky outside her window.

***

It was 4:00 AM. Every soldier was awake, already dressed and loading the ship they would be using, preparing it for travel. Everyone's efforts were so efficient, they left the castle by 4:30. As Pico stood at the front of the boat, watching the horizon over the sea, he couldn't stop thinking about how this compromise was going to go. He thought about all the things he was willing to go to war for. His independence, his kingdom, his loyal guards, his father's honor, and the sweet young lady he took in to work for him.

Pico then widened his eyes at that last thought.

"For her...?" he muttered aloud. Steve, who was standing beside him, turned to him.

"What was that, sire?" he asked. Pico shook his head, muttering a 'nothing.'

The ship entered the dock of King Flacit's kingdom by 6:00 AM. Pico and his troops walked towards the dark castle, and met the opposing king outside of it.

"My fellow king! You have come to sign my agreement, ja? If you would just come inside for a bit, I'll get you all situated and then-"

"Actually," Pico interrupted, raising his voice so that speaking over Flacit would get his attention, "There's a few things we have to discuss. May I come in?" he asked. The elder king hesitantly nodded, and signaled at the knights at the front gates to open them. Pico didn't even give Flacit time to blink. "I refuse to marry your daughter and form an alliance," he announced as soon as he and the other ruler were face to face. The elder tried to maintain his composure.

"Oh, but my dear boy, you have been reading my letters, haven't you?" he asked.

"I have," Pico lied.

"You didn't see any of the upsides to joining forces as beneficiaries?" Flacit asked.

"Listen, I just wouldn't like the idea of agreeing to that type of thing. However, I am willing to give you some goods as an apology for my stubbornness," Pico offered. He turned to Boyfriend, and Boyfriend handed him a fairly large bag of gold.

"Bribes, huh?" The elder muttered under his breath. He exhaled. "Since you didn't argue with me, I suppose we do not have to go to war," he said.

"Wait-really?" Pico asked. King Flacit patted his shoulder.

"Of course, my boy. Let's just put all this behind us, sollen wir?" he said. "And keep your gold," he handed Pico his goods, placed his hands on his back and practically pushed him out of the castle in a friendly way.

"Well, now should we head back?" Darnell requested.

"Uh, yeah," Pico replied. He usually wasn't this informal-talking around guards that weren't Steve, Darnell, or Boyfriend, but at that moment he was trying to process what had just happened. All that preparation, and the king of the Goth Nation was exaggerating?

King Flacit stared at Pico and his troops outside of his window as they left. Little did they know, that wouldn't be the last of him...

Merry Christmas guys :D