Rescue The King

Part 2

The damn fool had gotten himself kidnapped. Again.

As a person experienced in the subject matter, Rue knew that it wasn't actually hard to kidnap the great king Siegfried. She'd done it at least three, no, four times in her youth.

Sometimes her embarrassing teen years were too embarrassing to think about.

While the pair of them had both indulged in ridiculous impulses due to the poisoning they had both endured, Rue still cringed at the memories. Mytho still teased her about it too, saying terrible things like 'how is it that when you're possessed by evil ravens blood, the evilest thing you could do was kidnap me for an impromptu wedding' and 'it was pretty cute when you'd send me on petty errands, I like it when you're willful'.

One time he'd even kissed her playfully while asserting that if she ever felt the inclination to kidnap him again, he would happily marry her all over again. The mischievous twinkle in his eyes as he promised her his love and fidelity.

Mytho seemed to think that her cringy past self was quite charming, even where she was so desperate for his love that broke every single rule.

There were of course some more serious topics between them about that period in time, Mytho's bloodthirsty pursuit of a victim and Rue's desperation leading her to obey that horrific monster as some examples. But those wounds had mostly healed, their love and patience with one another allowing them to find peace in that pain.

There was no removing the trauma but there was healing it, day by day, year by year, with compassion and kindness.

Rue let out a deep sigh and stared up at the wall where her husband's famous blade was mounted. The beautifully engraved doves, who breathed life into the sword and enabled him to destroy a heart, and the golden accents all made it look truly elegant.

Rue couldn't decide if she thought the sword was a pain in the ass or a future chair for her garden. Mostly because this incredibly overpowered artifact of the royal family was supposed to keep its master safe and respond to his needs.

She kicked the wall, glaring fiercely at it. The dove guardians within the sword, mighty as they might be, felt just a bit uneasy under her scrutiny.

They had, after all, been at Siegfried's side the longest and knew that above all else how formidable Rue truly was.

It wasn't fair to blame them though. The current Mytho, weakened through his experiences, was incapable of even lifting the sword much less summoning it to his hands.

What the doves didn't know was that bringing that fact to Rue's attention would have actually solidified their fate as scrap metal. After all, the reason behind Mytho's weakness was the sword that had torn apart his heart to begin with.

It was really a situation without any escape.

Rue's intense gaze softened though as she stared at the sword in silence. Not out of mercy for the doves, they were still on her shit list, but as her mind wandered.

"What are you thinking about?"

His presence was warm as he hugged her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder and placing a kiss on the base of her neck. She loved his casual affection, the way he felt it was as natural as air to be close with her.

Rue closed her eyes and moved to return the hug only to have the moment vanish into thin air.

Mytho wasn't here to hug or ease her worries. But she still felt him at her side.

Years of marriage had built an unshakable trust between them. Even when they were apart, the string of fate still bound them together with love and compassion.

She quelled the insecure worries inside of her, the ones that screamed that every moment he was gone was a moment he could die. The crippling fears that the memories of his hugs would be all that she was left with.

He'd hugged her just like that when he'd explained the sword to her. About the quest in his youth where he'd obtained the sword to fight the raven. About how the powers inside of it worked and how they could be utilized but only ever responded to him.

He'd smiled and held her tightly, running kisses along her neck when they'd grown tired of the topic, giggling and holding one another with nothing but a peaceful future in their hearts.

She remembered his words. Not just because of how much she loved and treasured him but also because of how much she worried.

What would happen if Mytho was unable to defend himself, as he had been for so many years while heartless. What would happen if he was unable to wield his magical blade to fend off foes.

She wasn't hesitating or wasting time.

She was thinking.

Mytho had described the doves the way someone might describe a mystical companion in a fantasy novel. Truthfully this was a fantasy novel so that made sense but if they truly did have sentience...

She held out her hand to the sword, not grabbing it but waiting as she stared it down.

"Mytho's in danger. You're going to listen to me."

She didn't phrase it as a question because it wasn't one.

She was a queen and she knew her authority.

But more so than anything else, she knew how to lather her words with an absolute implicit threat.

The guardian doves would help her, whether they agreed to or not, but it would be in their best interest if they shared their strength with the woman whom their master had chosen as his wife.

Especially since they'd be thrown in the forge after all this nonsense was over with if they didn't.

Rue smiled at the sword but the expression didn't meet her eyes in a way that made her far more terrifying than if she'd just glared.

"Your decision?"

There was a moment's pause, a tense second of contemplation, and then with the gentle glow of the blessed blade, two dancing doves landing gracefully into Rue's outstretched palm.

She smiled at them, her expression enough to send chills down anyone who might witness it. "You made the right choice."

The good news, if there was any good news to be found in this horrible ruination of her treasured time with her beloved husband, was that Rue was hyper aware of both the genre and intention of the story she lived in.

A fantasy with a tragic ending.

This knowledge had guided her action quite a bit as a monarch. It was pretty easy to avoid tragic cliches when you were familiar with the author's style. And Rue had always had a formidable mind for noticing Drosselmeyer's hand in things.

She'd learned something truly precious from her beloved friend whom she missed dearly.

One did not need to follow the will of the author and it was never impossible to write your own story.

Rue clenched the sword in her hand before turning away from the now bare wall and completing her preparations to leave.

She would, after all, have to ensure that the government was still functioning while she brutally murdered a stupid fat husband stealing lizard.