Chattering bounced off of the walls of the ballroom. The higher ups from all kinds of species, humans, dwarfs, dragons and elves, were enjoying the new years celebration together, forging new bonds and strengthening old ones. Some were dancing together on the dance floor to the rhythm of the music, others were laughing while dining on the many small delicacies prepared by the kitchen staff. Among them were two Servants, the Red Hood wildly dancing with some of the guests. The Prince was watching from afar, with apple juice in a wine glass per his request. His gaze was focused on five specific people standing at the other side of the room, sipping on his juice as they talked, ready to jump the second someone made a wrong move. But their conversation seemed to go flawless. The chief of the dwarfs laughed heartily at something the human baron said and the Head of the light Elves just sighed with a mixture of mild annoyance and amusement. The Elder Dragon watched them quietly while the Prince’s Master giggled amused.
The woman was dressed in much more refined clothing than usual. A long grey dress adorned her figure, with a low cleavage covered in white fur. The bodice was a darker grey than the skirt, with longer separate sleeves ending at her elbows, whose edges were also decorated with the same white fur. Underneath them was another layer of sleeves, in the same color as the skirt and reaching her wrists. Her back and shoulders were mostly covered by a long coat, also made out of fur to keep her warm in the cold winter night. The woman’s grey hair was braided with flowers and a vine like crown rested on her head. After a few more minutes, the woman left the four sovereigns on their own, planing to leave the room. The Prince wanted to follow, but was promptly dragged to the dance floor by the Red Hood.
The guards at the door didn’t question her, nor did anyone else, too absorbed in their conversations and celebrations. Once she made sure nobody was in sight, she quickened her pace, desperate to get out of that posh and proper persona. Through hallways and up the stairs, she quickly found herself at the inner wall of the castle, having a good outlook of the city and forest below. Quickly shutting the door behind her and with little regard if anyone is there or not, the tired Queen leaned against the wood, eyes closed and slowly sliding down until she reached the floor. A huge sigh escaped her as the strain of all those social rules slowly started to fade.
“You seem tired.”
With a yelp, the woman jumped to her feet, but quickly lost balance again. Before she could tumble back to the ground, a pair of arms caught her, a hand on her waist and a claw on her arm. His hold on her was firm, but gentle enough that she could easily step away. Regaining her composure, she looked up to see who scared her so much and found a pair of worried black and green eyes staring back at her. She giggled at the sight and took a step back before answering.
“I’m fine, just so done with politics.”
The man in front of her seemed curious about her complains, but didn’t ask any question, so she continued.
“That’s why I came up here. But I didn’t expect to see you here, oh almighty guardian of our beloved island.”
For the dramatic flare, she bowed slightly, much to the annoyance of the wolf. Looking at his grumpy face again, she couldn’t help but laugh loudly.
“Sorry sorry, couldn’t help myself. Seriously tho, I didn’t expect to see you on the surface Fen, so what gives?”
The fluffy ears on top of his head twitched before he looked up at the sky and her gaze followed his. A breeze softly flew past them as he gave his simple answer.
“You mentioned a few days ago that it is new years soon, so I wanted to come up and see it for myself.”
“But the celebrations are inside, not here on the walls.”
The statement made the wolf smile.
“I knew you’d come here eventually, and your company without any mask is more than enough reason to wait here.”
The woman rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face showed her obvious amusement.
“Well, since you waited here for me, I suppose it’s only proper to spend some time together!”
With these words, Mordred let herself fall back to the ground, caring fairly little for the expensive clothes and leaning against the stone of the wall. Patting the floor beside her, she didn’t need to tell him twice before the wolf sat down beside her.
“Soooo the politics you mentioned?”
The dreaded topic made the mage groan in frustration, causing Fenrir to chuckle at her misery.
“Oh you have no idea how hard it is to work with those chiefs! Mister dwarf guy always wants to solve everything with violence, the funky baron is a slimy lying snake and both the elven guy and the elder dragon are just staring at me like I’m some young child that doesn’t understand the world! It’s horrible!”
Flailing her arms around to physically show her anger, all that Mordred achieved with that was making her friend laugh louder.
“I’m sure it’s not that bad.”
“But it is! Especially with all of these extra things they demand of me. Like, oh I’m sorry that I can’t remember everything that happened in the last five hundred years in a day. What does mister know it all think I am? A walking textbook?!”
Hearing Fenrir howl out laughing quickly lightened her mood and she soon joined in on his laughter. Guards surely heard them by now, but neither of them could care. When one slowly came back down from their laughter, one look at the other was enough to send them back into a fit of giggles. Pressing her back against the stonewall, Mordred tried to regain control of her breathing again while also repress the urge to fall into laughter again.
“Great, now I’m cold and my stomach hurts!”
Almost as if to prove a point, a strong and cold wind blew past them, making the dragon lady shiver again. Even with the furred cape, she wasn’t able to escape the cold that easily. Before she could complain more though, a heavy and warm fabric was placed on her shoulders. Her hands reached for it and found grey and black long fur along with Fenrir’s blue cape.
“Wait but you said-”
“I trust you.”
With a surprised look on her face, Mordred stared at Fenrir, baffled that he gave her his coat so willingly. The wolf smiled at her, eyes filled with a warmth that looked so familiar yet so foreign.
“I trust you more than anyone else in the entire world.”
The warmth was quickly replaced with a certain sadness as he averted his eyes and his ears lay flat on his head.
“People always viewed me as a monster or a savior. They kept me at a distance, either too afraid or in awe.”
He looked back up at her again, the warmth returning tenfold. Gently, his hand rested on hers.
“But you never shied away from me, even when I was angry. You treated me like everybody else and I don’t know how to describe it, but it just made me so incredibly happy and warm inside. Over time this warmth only kept growing with every single one of your visits and now I can’t even imagine spending the rest of my existence without you in it. You just mean so much to me.”
His words left her speechless, because even if he didn’t say it, she knew what he was talking about. Their fingers intertwined and her other hand gently rested on his cheek, fingers softly brushing along the scars below his black eye.
“Oh you silly wolf.”
Pulling him closer, the wolf didn’t try to resist in any way and leaned closer to her, his ears perked up high. In a delicate and soft tone she whispered.
“I love you too.”
And in a swift motion, their lips united in a kiss.
