Letter roll

Later that night Mircea's door was knocked on softly two times. Mircea pondered on who dared to do that. She had her supper a while ago so she knew half of the palace must be asleep by now. It had been a long day after all. 

Mircea herself was planning on retiring to bed early. She had consumed a tiny drop of poison an hour ago. The side effects were kicking in. 

Grudgingly she got up from her desk to see who it was. There was a stretched silence on the other side of the door. Without thinking more about it she pulled the door open. Athos was standing proudly with a mysterious gleam in eyes. Mircea sighed loudly making sure the guards and Athos heard it. 

She was tired. Her mind wanted to add, of being a queen but it restrained itself. 

Mircea couldn't be selfish now. 

"Did something happen?" Mircea questioned him, giving him space to step inside. She closed the door before him. He trotted his way to the other side of the desk where she had been sitting before he decided it was the appropriate time to disturb his queen. 

"Yes and no. I heard you defeated the witcher on the field today. Nice." Mircea ignored his second statement and instead asked "Yes and no? I don't have time to play games Athos."

"You seem a little more crabbed than usual." He commented, brushing off her initial question yet again. Mircea huffed whilst she sat on her desk chair and finished up the things. She promised herself quietly, once I wrap this up I will kick Athos out. 

"What is it that you came for? If you don't answer me, within the next ten seconds I will punch you and then kick you out." Her tone was soft and calm like the east sea during the start of summer season. Athos heaved at her statement and dropped the book in his hand. Mircea didn't realise he had carried it in. The side effects were getting to her and all she wanted to do was sleep. 

Mircea peeked at the book and then at Athos questioning him without opening her mouth. "I bumped into Urban while coming here. He said to bring it to you, he didn't want to intrude on us." Athos declared lazily. Mircea simply arched her perfect eyebrow at him. 

This was not the reason why he was sitting in front of her at that moment and they both knew. He was trying to stall. "Cut the bullshit, Athos." Mircea closed her files. Finally, now she could go to bed after getting Athos to spill whatever he was here for. 

Athos groaned from the base of his throat aggravating Mircea further. She leaned in on the desk and glared at his nonsense behavior. He then fished something in the inside of his pocket. 

A letter roll. 

That was why he was here. Mircea would bet her life that that letter roll was from King Kirill. Moreover she could see in Athos' eyes that he was yet to open it and scan the words written in it. He was as eager to read it as she was. 

Athos dropped the letter roll between them as he rested on the desk cloning Mircea. They both stared at it like it was the answer for their existence on this land. "Will you open it or shall I?" Athos asked her in a pained voice. 

The future of her kingdom depended on this letter. Mircea's breath was shaken when she told Athos to go ahead. He looked like he was praying to the saints before he finally scrolled open the letter. 

He furiously scanned the letter whilst Mircea harrowingly waited for him to finish. Athos raised to his seat-the letter roll covered his face. "Fuck...fuck...saints!" He roared as he pulled the letter down. Mircea finally got up to read his expression.

There was a pinch of worry but it held a bright mask of happiness. His eyes were the warmest brown looking at her like they were ready to do whatever it took to make her satisfied. 

"They said yes?" Mircea questioned hesitantly, her heart was beating like a wild animal. 

"He didn't only say yes, he said he has a small army stationed at our borders which will take us to meet him at his main palace. He is happy that you want to talk. He seems one hell of an attention seeker. But we are going to Cetus to-morrow." He beamed like someone had asked him on a trip and not their enemy saying he was happy to hear from them. 

It was rather weird, Mircea thought, Athos didn't want to visit him till yesterday and now he was grinning like a coming-of-age boy in love. Furthermore, why was King Kirill being so nice? Till yesterday the man wanted a war and now he had an army at the border to escort her to his palace?

"Are you sure that is what's written in there? I don't want this to be a sick joke. I don't want that small army to kill us off the minute we step on their land." Mircea said, shuddering at the thought. She cannot imagine what would happen to her kingdom once she was dead. Her kingdom. Perhaps she was finally seeing Slyve as her kingdom and not something that accidently fell in her lap. 

Slyve was her kingdom, no matter what anybody said. And she must save it from a war. 

"I would have cried if they had said no." Athos's voice broke in.

Mircea gazed up at him, "You are a little bit extra, don't you think so?" She snatched the roll. 

"Do you think I would have it in me to beam at a no. If they would have said no we were doomed. Their yes means one more thing. They are willing to see you or hear you, perhaps they have a soft side for Slyve. After all, they did make an alliance. It was us who went behind their backs to…" He trailed off taking his seat back. 

"You do have a point." 

"So have you figured it out?"

"Well you know those small things like what you are going to tell the council and in case they take you hostage there, who is going to look after the kingdom for the timespan and then what if they kill us both? You know little things." Athos had an innocent look on his face as he finished speaking. Mircea gave him a dirty look. 

"I got to say, you have an imagination and you are more of a pessimist than I am." 

"I have to look after both of us." He said nonchalantly.

"You are managing that just fine. I mean at least we both are alive with no broken bones." 

"Oh, wait." Athos seemed as if he was searching for something in the dark rooms of his brain. Mircea read the letter confirming all things Athos had told her earlier. 

"We should ask Urban to lend us those hiding cloaks and some more things so we won't get killed if we do get ourselves in some kind of pickle." He uttered it like it was the most brilliant idea he ever had. However, it was a good idea except Mircea wasn't asking Urban for anything. 

She peeped at the book Urban sent with Athos. Coward. He couldn't come to give the book himself, instead he found a way out with Athos' help. The crooked Kingdom. The sequel for the last book she read the other day. He remembered. It didn't matter. Mircea exhaled, her brain was packed with a hundred thoughts.

"I don't know." She admitted as if she meant it.

"Why? Do you think he will say no to us?"

"I don't know."

Athos gazed at her trying to figure out what was actually going on in her head. He huffed after a moment. "I will ask him if he says no then we have to fight hand-to-hand."

Mircea glanced at him sharply. "Okay, why do you really hate werewolves? They have assured my safety in the letter. Heck they have an army at the border of their own to assure it." 

"You always tend to trust people too fast, Mir." Athos stated in a low voice. 

"There is a difference between showing and actually trusting them. I will come back alive and you will be there with me. I have to continue ruling after all." Mircea grinned at him. He barked out a laugh at her response, shaking his head. 

"So we are going there in the morrow?" 

"No, the day after morrow, I have to take a council meeting and talk with Carsten. I am planning on telling Carsten the truth." Mircea wanted to know if he knew anything about the alliance. He did know her father more than any other council member did.

Athos didn't say anything until, "Hmm okay. I'm going to retire to bed. Also stop making fun of grown men on the field. Urban was so humiliated he told me to get this to you. Poor guy." 

Mircea knew for a fact he wasn't humiliated by the loss. He couldn't care less about the duel. Perhaps he wanted to avoid her because he hadn't had it in himself to feel sorry about what he had said the other day. Mircea knew she had made a big deal out of it even so it had hurt. Athos closed the door behind him after waving her goodnight like a weird person. 

Mircea kept the letter aside, picking up the book Urban sent. A small square of paper slipped off.

Huh.