#''hey arthur haven't i seen a flag like that before'' no i don't think you have smiles

[autistickaitovocaloid]

Autism flag I made that definitely doesn't have any specific colour palette meaning.

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Broken Bloodlines Chapter 3

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Hello everyone! Arc two will now be gradually uploaded (every saturday but if someone has a better suggestion im all ears) also the chapters for arc two will be shorter for ease of reading. (i know the general attention span of people has gone down cuz Internet)

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read. (not in this chapter but in future ones)

have fun reading!

and as always reblogs are appreciated! (Also ASK’s are open so feel free to bother me!)

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I slammed the book closed and looked around the room, everything was still where it was before and Fable was still sitting in the window though he seemed to be almost done with his book.

He was a really fast reader, especially compared to me.

I wondered what I should do with the book now, just putting it back ment that it was unlikely anybody else would get to read it.

And i didn't want to randomly stuff it into one of the shelves, what if it got damaged?

Also I wasn't sure if I'd find it again if I did that.

Oh wait, I could show it to Oakley. 

He'd probably find such an old book extremely interesting.

Yeah that was a good idea, and then i could ask him if he knew what the thing on the cover was.

Also looking out of the window next to Fable I noticed that I had spent way longer with the book than  originally anticipated.

It was already rather orange out meaning that it was evening already.

Had we really spent a few hours in the library already? 

Time flied by when one was focused huh.

Fable himself was still reading whatever he had grabbed that I assumed had to do with Kamerasca, at least judging by the flag on the cover.

The thing was as thick as his wrist too but he seemed to be almost done with it.

He flipped the pages one by one and took no longer than two minutes at most to read it.

It was really impressive.

Though staring was rude so I looked at the book I found again.

The cover was still the same but I hadn't actually looked at the spine or back so I did that.

The spine was blank and the back was also blank save for what appeared to be nail dug furrows over the left bottom corner.

I did NOT want to know how or why they got there.

Oh well we should probably head back soon anyway or we'd miss dinner.

Just in that moment Fable stood up, having closed his book and walked across the room to put it back.

Perfect timing!

I stood up as well and walked closer to both the door and Fable with the weird book under one arm.

“I think dinner is soon, wanna head out again? I'm not sure what time it is exactly but i don't want to miss it”

Fable just nodded and I opened the door again to the hallway which was now darker than before due to having no windows.

“Say what were you reading? I didn't see the title but you went really fast trough it too”

He looked at me for a split second with his way too red eyes before he answered.

“It was about glassmaking, how to get different colors and shapes as well as how to avoid burning your lungs”

Glassmaking? Well I had seen the church windows and such and i did have to say anyone that had the skill to do so was impressive.

I hadn't even thought about how it got dyed either, since glass had to be melted to work with it it surely wasn't the same dye as was used for fabric.

“Glassmaking huh, haven't really thought about how that's made before if i'm honest”

He offered no comment to that but I could see his eyes flitting down to the book I was holding while we walked.

I held it up a little to show him.

“I wanted to show this Oakley, i think he'll find it interesting so ill bring it to him later”

He nodded slowly again but once again said nothing, Maybe he was tired? 

I was a bit tired as well from straining my brain with reading the cat thing and then this weird book that didn't even have words in it.

It had been strangely enrapturing and exhausting though.

Just then a blonde head turned the corner we were about to round.

“Oh hey Arthur! What are you doing here?”

He looked at both me and Fable and I could see that his neck had a red streak from where Nea had squeezed it.

“Looking for both of you? 

Robin complained that he couldn't find either of you and that you said you'd sit next to him or something”

Oh, right, i did tell him that i would sit near him during dinner, had it already started?

“Really? Dammit I forgot the time, thanks for telling us!”

“Yeah yeah whatever, lets just go i don't want to get the drafty window seat this time”

He turned where he stood and immediately walked back the way he came from so both me and Fable followed him trough the still incredibly stupid floorplan.

We arrived in the dining hall two or three minutes later and I could see that it was already half full with guards and whatnot bickering over whose turn it was to get food from the big pot in the middle of the table.

I just hoped people wouldn't stare at Fable seeing as he did stand out a good bit with his height and paleness, not to mention the ears and red eyes.

I let my gaze wander over the table before spotting Robin near one of the corners where he was currently busy with rifling through a bread platter.

I nudged Fable's arm and pointed to where the Ginger was sitting.

“Lets go before someone decides to steal the spots Robin kept free for us”

Fable nodded once again and we walked over to Robin while Arthur went over to the big pot.

“Robin! Hey, sorry we're late we were in the library and i forgot to check the time”

He looked at me and I could see he had stuffed his cheeks with what looked like one of the vanilla flavored breads.

“If fine! Am ogay wif waiding”

His speech was a little muffled with the bread in his mouth but it was still understandable enough.

I sat next to him so I ended up in the middle of Robin and Fable who ended up having the corner seat.

I hoped he wouldn't mind but it seemed like he didn't really care about it.

I grabbed the plate all the bread was piled on and pulled it closer so Fable could reach it as well.

He sat there for a few seconds not doing anything until I simply handed him a cinnamon bread.

“Here, try this, it's one of my favorites!”

He carefully took it and pulled a bit of it out of the loaf before shoving it in his mouth.

Well that was one way of doing it, Everyone else I knew just bit chunks out of stuff if they could.

He blinked and then pulled out another piece to eat.

Seemed like he had the same affinity for it as I did.

“Good eh?”

He looked up from the bread.

“I can see why it is your favorite”

He then went back to eating by pulling the bread apart and showing the pieces in his mouth.

It was kinda funny if I was honest, but I would never say that out loud of course.

Robin then leaned half over me to grab himself another handful of the small buns on the plate.

“What were you doing in the Library anyway? And why'd you bring a book with you?”

He pointed to the book I had put on my lap to not lose it.

“Fable wanted to take a look at what books we have here, and i took this one because i think it would interest Oakley”

I somehow wasn't keen on showing it to Robin considering the rather graphic nature of the latter half.

Whatever, he had already turned to shovel a bun with what appeared to be walnuts into his mouth.

Fable meanwhile had taken a second cinnamon bread and I decided to also take some.

Yep, still as good as ever.

Leaning forward a bit I could see Arthur in an argument with one of the Guards, I had no idea what it was about though I could guess it had to do with either food or the table itself.

Eh, not my problem.

Robin had in the meantime leaned over to look at Fable again.

If he continued to stare like that I would have to tell him to stop though.

“I don't think your eyes are quite blood red”

Both me and Fable stopped eating for a second and looked confused at him in unison.

Hey, this was the first time I saw Fable genuinely confused!

“What do you mean by that?”

Yeah, what did he mean by that? 

Fable was Albino of course that was blood red.

Robin leaned over even more to stare directly at Fable.

“It’s more…hmmm… it's more Poppy red than Blood red, I can show you, wait a second!”

He bent down under the table and I looked at Fable while he was busy with an expression that I hoped showed that I was so sorry for this and did not know either what was going on right now.

There was a bumping sound followed by a pained exclamation before Robin popped up again with a handful of red flowers that he apparently had stashed under his seat.

“Ow! But look! His eyes have the same color as these poppies!

He held the bundle I now realized to be a flower crown right next to Fable’s face and I did have to admit that it was indeed the exact same color.

I also was not surprised that Robin managed to pull a flower crown from wherever considering the amount of these he made.

“Here!”

He shoved the poppy crown into a still confused looking Fable’s hands who then just sat there staring at it, seemingly not comprehending for a few seconds.

“I can't say he's wrong on this one, your eyes do have the exact same shade of red as these flowers”

He blinked and then tried to hand the flowers back to Robin who was already back to snatching whatever he liked from across the table.

His attention span really was something else.

And now Fable was sitting there not knowing what to do.

“He gave it to you, i doubt he wants it back he gives those out a lot anyway, and he could just make a new one if he needs it”

Fable just stared at it for a few more seconds and I wondered if elves made flower crowns.

“Wait, let me help for a second”

I held out my hands and he handed the little crown over, being careful not to bend any of the petals.

I then gently set it on top of his off white hair, making sure to put it as symmetrical as possible.

“Bit dumb to figure out if its askew or not without a mirror, but hey it really suits you!”

It did, the red against the white made for a nice contrast and the green tunic thing he wore also fit perfectly!

Fable didn't react to the compliment though, and I somehow doubted he'd heard many of those as an Albino.

I knew full well that people were mean to everyone that was deemed different but I wouldn't bring such a thing up unless he wanted to.

The rest of dinner time he was silent but so were we as we tried our way through some of the more seasonal dishes.

Apparently Barsen had brought the kitchen a whole lot of edible flowers and whatnot and I had to admit that the majority of them were absolutely delicious even if they sometimes looked weird.

Fable also seemed to have taken a liking to some of these but I did notice that he kept going back to the little cinnamon breads.

Yeah, I for sure was related to the guy.

After we were done we went outside to try and catch the sunset from the top of the cliff only to walk out into the throne room and see a concerned looking Rikaad standing there.

He wasn't alone either as both Nea and Norrin were right there.

Ignoring Arthur who had accidentally bumped into Robin we went closer to try and figure out what was going on.

Rikaad was Holding a slightly bent paper and with the way his hands looked it seemed he wanted nothing more than to crumple the parchment.

I recognized the broken wax seal on it too as the emblem of the Maringand royal family.

Did they insult him?

Before I could ask what was going on Arthur had already spoken.

“The maringand Royal family? Don't tell me they made a spelling mistake!”

He joked but it didn't land as the other three just looked at him with unamused expressions, well Nea looked like she wanted to hit him again but that was nothing new.

Rikaad then turned to all of us while pointing at the paper.

“This-”

He flicked at the paper with disdain.

“-is a declaration of War from Maringand”

What.

My brain was struggling to work for the second time that day.

War? Maringand wanted war?

“Why?”

Came the legitimate question from Robin.

Rikaad stared at the letter he had received.

“Apparently they don't believe that I'm actually related to the king and question what claims I have to the throne as well as demanding huge chunks of land.

They also want to put ‘actual royalty’ on the Kamerasca throne which means they pick out one of their nobles to put in charge here”

“Im sorry but what the fuck?”

Arthur had gotten quickly over the death stares he received moments ago.

“Well aside from the official records and some of the classified ones there is not much i can do to prove it seeing as he's dead”

So just paperwork? Man all that stupid paperstuff was making things way to complicated.

Wait.

There was another way to prove he was related to the king!

“Wait, I think there is a way to prove you're related! Oakley offered me and Fable to make some sort of blood test to figure out how much genetic stuff we share! Maybe he can help!”

Rikaad looked surprised at this but also the tiniest bit hopeful.

“Well it can't hurt to ask, and frankly I hope that would be enough proof but I'm not fool enough to believe that.

Nea make sure the weapons arsenal is in top shape, Norrin you make sure every Guard and Soldier is fit enough to fight”

He then turned where he stood leaving the confused Nea and Norrin behind while he looked for Oakley.

“Wait!”

Robin ran after him and suddenly I remembered the story of assassins that had killed the previous heirs.

I bolted after them dragging Fable behind me as well as a startled Arthur.

We catched up pretty quickly seeing as Rikaad wasn't actually running.

“Hey now wait a second! If they are out for Blood do you think you should walk around alone? Assassins managed to get in here before and kill the previous heirs!

Whos not to say Maringand won't also send some to get rid of you?”

He didn't stop in his tracks but did go a little slower while Robin let out a frightened squeak and hid behind me while clinging to my arm.

“I am well aware, in fact it is not unlikely that the assassins where send by Maringand in the first place but i refuse to show fear”

Noble of him but that wouldn't do good if he died.

Then Arthur butted in.

“I mean that's perfectly possible, I know Winton, more than I'd like honestly, and I really wouldn't put it past him to do something like that.

He poisoned his own brother to get the throne for fucks sake!

Im just glad he thinks im dead-  oh fuck, what if theres spies? What if he comes over himself and recognizes me?!?”

I hadn't known that he poisoned his Brother but from the brief time I interacted with that asshole it really wasn't out of the question.

Also if he poisoned Arthur's Dad like that it was no wonder they held absolutely no love for each other.

Also if he continued like this he'd give himself a panic attack.

“Arthur calm down, I doubt he'd manage to get in here without anyone noticing unless he shaves that monobrow of his and starts doing actual sport.

But if you don't feel comfortable you can go back inside”

Arthur Actually stopped fretting about nothing at Rikaad’s words, seemingly only now realizing he could just leave and go into the safety of the Castle.

“I- well if you're sure? But what about you? You could be attacked!”

Rikaad shook his head.

“Even if that was the case do you truly think i would go anywhere without means to defend myself?”

He hiked his blue garment up and I could see that aside from the twin daggers that sat left and right in his pocket he also had some sort of platemail under it.

For a second I wondered why that had not made any sound whatsoever but then I saw that between each layer of metal there was another layer of Leather.

Well that would be enough to considerably mute it under the Fabric of his clothes.

“That's actually genius, but man that must have taken forever to build”

Since it was form fitted there was no doubt that it had to be specifically made for him and I had to admit the smith that pulled this off in the short amount of time we were here must be really talented.

“Well it took a week and a half but it does do what it is intended to, with this i can't get stabbed in the back or shot at”

All of us were a lot more at ease now that we knew Rikaad had stuff to defend himself, especially Arthur.

“Oh thank god for your ability to plan ahead, so if you're sure i can go back to the castle then i'm going to do that, maybe help Norrin?”

I had a feeling I knew why he said he'd help Norrin and not Nea.

At Rikaad’s nod he turned where he stood and went back to the castle, frequently looking over his shoulder as well as left and right.

I hoped he'd not get paranoid about this.

“Well we better look if Oakley is at the tower then”

Came the meek voice of Robin from behind me and I had to agree, we'd better get this done as fast as possible.

As for the Book that was still lodged under my arm I’d just put it on a table there, he could take a look at it later after all was okay again.

We had resumed walking after Rikaad tidied up his coat thing again and I couldn't help but glance at Fable.

He'd come here expecting to just meet his Brother and now there was the threat of war aside from the general awkwardness this surely wasn't what he had in mind when he entered the castle.

He seemed to be taking it well though.

But I could see that he seemed just the tiniest bit more alert, I wasn't sure how but it probably had to do with the way his ears seemed to point up a bit more than before.

I had never actually tested how flexible they were, After all, why draw even more attention to them when that would have gotten me killed not even that long ago?

But sure enough after some tries I found that I could make them go up and down, funny but I had no idea if that signaled anything to Elves so I'd better not do it while near Fable until I knew more.

Fable himself seemed to be okay though, at least from what little I knew about him.

I hoped he wouldn't feel obligated to help seeing as he was currently a resident here too.

Then we reached Oakleys Tower, the thing still seemed a little dusty but it already looked a whole lot better than it did at the start.

And Oakley was also here! What luck! I had worried he'd be gone to get more of his stuff from his old hut.

“OAKLEY! Hello! We could use your help for something!”

I hadn't been aware that Rikaad could also get loud but considering Oakley was on what I assumed used to be a flagpole it was necessary to shout as he was a good twenty or so feet up from the ground.

Oakley himself looked down by leaning over backwards which for a moment made me think his spine snapped before he just let himself drop.

He caught himself with his wings before he landed on the ground though.

Fucking show off.

He perched on the windowsill of the tower and cocked his head in that strange way that reminded one of a bird.

“Help? With what? if you want to use me for the war then you can leave right away”

How did he already know? I was pretty sure nobody told him.

Rikaad also looked confused for a split second.

“I'm just not going to question why you already know, and no i was not going to ask you to do such a thing, rather i've been told you have ways to prove if people are related or not”

Oakley bent his head the other way and looked at him with piercing yellow eyes.

“Well yes, but i do need a blood sample, a chunk of tissue would work too but living people usually don't want to lose a finger”

“So you are saying I have to dig him up regardless of what I choose? Well he didn't deserve to rest in peace so i'll arrange that”

Oakley snickered and the sound of that was almost as bad as his laughing.

“Heh, you could say rest in Pieces! 

But yeah, if it helps keep the peace then i'll for sure do it! 

But that means Fable and Donovan need to wait longer for their results”

Oh so he just got back from looking for whatever he needed to test it, no wonder he was on top of the tower! He'd just come back!

And sure enough if I looked up I could make out the strap of one of Oakleys bags.

“I don't mind, i don't think we actually need it anyway”

Really it was rather obvious that we were related at least somehow, we had a similar hair type even if Fable’s was longer than mine, by a lot.

We also shared some facial features even if Fable’s was also again a bit thinner, and we both had the same stubborn lock of hair on our foreheads that wouldn't leave no matter what.

He really looked like a stretched out and less colorful version of me.

I wondered how similar we were exactly, After all, we couldn't have gotten all of our traits from our Father, right?

Oh well whatever, while Oakley and Rikaad talked I decided to keep an eye out in case anyone decided to come near.

“How many gardeners do you have here?”

Fable’s Question caught me off guard.

It was only Barsen, I had even asked him one time if he had any helpers but he had just said he was capable of doing it himself even if I thought that he should get at least one helper for such a big area.

“Just one, Barsen, you already saw him back at the gate when there was chaos, why do you ask?”

But he had already set off into the underbrush before I managed to blink.

“Fable! Wait!”

I went after him leaving a perplexed Robin behind and ducked under the tree Fable just went past.

I had no idea if I was going in the right direction but hearing a surprised shout, one that was too deep to be Fable, somewhere in front of me I decided to keep going until I found him.

Considering the shout I just heard, I hoped he wasn't getting into trouble with the guards.

Getting out of the shrubbery I saw that that wasn't the case as Fable was currently holding someone I had never seen down onto the ground.

The clothes they wore were also unfamiliar but clearly made for camouflage judging by the colors and patterns.

There also was a little bag on the ground that had spilled its contents.

A dagger and a vial that had a sickly looking fluid in it as well as what appeared to be a bunch of the Maringand coins.

So not one of our men then.

“Unhand me! What the hell is an Elf doing here anyway? 

If you are here to kill the new King we could collaborate!”

Definitely not one of our men then, and killing Rikaad? That was a no from me.

I went over to Fable and the man who only now noticed me and bent down to pick up a sword that undoubtedly belonged to the man.

I then stared at the man without saying anything. 

I was angry that Someone just had the audacity to come here and try to kill one of my friends, on the other side the only things this guy had were a poisoned dagger and a tiny sword which was rather laughable.

What did they think? Rikaad was trained to be a guard but it was possible no one knew that and just assumed he was another one of those spoiled prince brats.

Whatever the case it was very clear what the intention of this was and I was half tempted to punch the guy, which apparently showed in my face.

“Eheh i assume there's no room for a bargain?”

Fucker.

But what to do now? Neither me or Fable were allowed to do anything really, maybe I should just go and get someone?

That turned out to not be necessary as suddenly Barsen appeared flanked by a good ten or so Guards.

How the fuck did he know? And I realized in the hassle I had shoved the Book somewhere into Oakleys stuff, eh, he'd find it.

The Guards quickly took the man away from Fable and some of them even congratulated him on catching the guy after doing a double take on his appearance.

They left rather fast and dragged the would be murderer in their middle along with them.

Fable stood back up straight and there wasn't as much as a speck of dirt on him.

Impressive really but the man hadn't really seemed like an expert and from what i had heard Elves could move pretty silently.

But now we were left alone again with Barsen and i still questioned how the fuck he knew about the potential assasin.

He also didn't look too happy.

“You boys should be careful! If that was a trained one you'd surely have gotten injured! What are you doing here anyway?”

Yep, not pleased at all, also-

“Barsen, how did you know there was a dangerous person here? I mean we knew because Fable heard him and then went to look but how did you know? And why did you just get a bunch of Guards instead of sounding an alarm?”

His face shifted into something softer.

“Well I heard Elves had good hearing so i'm not surprised at that part honestly, as for why i didn't sound an alarm that was because it would have caused the guy to bolt and then we'd have less of a chance of possibly priceless intel.

As for How i know, well i told you before that i always know what is going on in the Garden, Plants are alive too you know and they can feel stress”

Oh, so by observing the plants he tended to every day he knew if something was amiss, and apparently where too.

Well it made some sense and I just hoped the plants never led him to me when Robin was chilling in my Pouch, That would be a disaster to explain.

“Well I knew you had a green thumb but what the hell? 

Well whatever, me and Fable better get back to Oakleys tower now since the others are probably confused as to where we went”

He just smiled and picked up the sword the Guards forgot to take with them.

“It is nice that you boys are keeping an eye out but please think about your own safety too!”

With that he left and disappeared back into the greenery.

“He is also a strange man”

I jumped a bit as Fable had snuck up on me and was directly on my right side, just barely not touching.

“Fable! Are you okay though? I know that guy had poison or whatever that was, also next time please tell someone what you are doing! And Barsen isn't nearly as weird as Oakley, he's just a plant guy”

Fable just blinked.

“I do not have a single scratch on me, besides even if i had been injured i have been immunized against the more common poisons over the course of my childhood”

What the fuck, did he mean that? But that would mean he'd been repeatedly poisoned in small doses as a KID of all things!

“Fable, that is fucked up”

He didn't seem to comprehend that and for a second I worried the poisons he got as a kid affected his brain a little as his eyes still looked a bit weirdly dull and lifeless.

I hoped not but it really didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it so I sighed.

“Well nothing to do about that now, lets just get back and next time we'll inform a Guard if there is something suspicious going on”

He nodded and then followed me back to the Tower where Rikaad was just stepping out of.

“Thank you Oakley, i will see to it that you get a good tissue sample even if that means i have to dig the old man up myself”

Oakley stepped out after him.

“Oh no problem! I'm always for defiling the rich! Well not you, you actually do smart stuff with the money! That's something I've rarely seen!”

Rikaad shook his head at that strange comment.

“It shouldn't be rare… well i better make the arrangements now”

“You mean get a shovel”

Oakleys half-joke actually managed to get a rare smile on Rikaads face.

Just then Robin saw we had come back and immediately went up to us and asked what was going on.

“Where did you two go? Are you alright? Why'd you run off like that?”

Oh boy here we go, how the fuck was i supposed to tell him we caught a potentional assassin? He'd freak out and get upset we went into danger like that.

Also we still had to notify Rikaad about it too.

“We have intercepted an intruder”

Came Fables blunt and short answer and honestly that probably was the best way to say it.

It didn't outright state what the guy was doing or why he was there, just that someone that's not supposed to be here still sneaked in.

“Yeah Fable heard some guy walk through the bushes and we went to see but Barsen got some Guards so no worries”

Robin seemed to be placated by that answer but Rikaad didn't look too pleased.

“I'll have the doors checked, if anyone forgot to lock them well have a problem”

Right, the guy actually came from the side door i used when i first set foot into the castle, if there was a security flaw it better be fixed soon.

We turned away from the tower and Oakley who could be heard shoving things this way and that, likely making space for later, and went back to the castle.

“So Oakley said he'd do the test thingy, that means digging the old man up, at least for a little bit right? Do you need help? Im sure if we ask Barsen for a shovel hell lend us one”

“My first thought was to ask one of the guards to do it but I can't feasibly ask any of these upstanding people to dig a corpse up so yes, I'm going to do it myself.

And you don't have to help, i doubt anyone wants to see the half rotted carcass of a human”

That was true, I really didn't think anyone in their right head would want to see something like that, aside from a scientist maybe but to be fair those guys weren't all that normal either.

“If you're sure, just see to it that you aren't a prime target for the enemy”

“Don't worry i'm not going alone,  i'll take Norrin and some other Guards with me.

As for you all i don't think you should stay in Donovans hut or the Loft built into it”

What? Where else was I supposed to stay then?

A good question that Robin spoke aloud just as I thought it.

“What? Why? And where else can we stay then? Fable too of course!”

“I'll see to it that you get rooms inside of the castle,  but for now i think it is a bit too dangerous to be in the built on construct that you normally use.

It stands out, and thus might be attacked and if you are there, well...”

Oh, so that was why, it made sense, I wasn't even sure why that thing was built in the first place but if he thought we were safer inside the castle then I'd stay there, at least while sleeping.

The floorplan was still a nightmare though.

“Okay, you are right in that i just hope i can memorize where it is in that nonsense floor plan”

He nodded and even Robin agreed on that.

“Yeah, who built it like that? Also if we have to stay in the castle can we get rooms next to each other?”

“Of course,  if i remember correctly there are some empty rooms next to Nea”

That drew a laugh from Robin.

“Haha no wonder they're empty! The Guards have to deal with Nea all day already so I doubt they're gonna want to sleep near her!”

As soon as he said it I realized he was probably right and I couldn't help but laugh too, with Rikaad eventually joining as well.

Fable didn't laugh but the smile he was wearing seemed less fake than the ones he had before.

We went back to the castle pretty quickly after that to avoid any more possible intruders.

While Rikaad arranged a shovel and the like to dig his old man up he instructed Nea to show us where the rooms were.

Since Arthur already knew as Nea had thrown a shoe at him from her window he went with Rikaad after borrowing an old helmet to hide his face.

Also I was fifty percent sure he only instructed Nea to do this so she wouldn't follow him to the gravesite.

Also it was better to get used to having Nea next to us since we were staying near her place anyway.

There were two free rooms both left and right to Neas which didn't really surprise me.

But it meant I had to share with someone as did Robin, Arthur and Fable.

I decided to share with Fable as I had offered to do so in the shed anyway, besides he was my brother and I wasn't sure how he'd take to sharing with either Arthur or Robin.

So I ended up in a room with Fable while Arthur and Robin shared the other empty one.

Which led to where I was now, sitting on a weirdly soft mattress across the room from where Fable’s bed stood.

He was also sitting on his bed, mimicking me in pose.

Well, that was awkward, maybe attempt smalltalk?

But over what? I looked back at Fable and the first thing I noticed was once again how similar we actually looked with the lock of hair and the pointy ears and teeth.

I wondered how many traits we each got from our father and which ones from our respective moms.

That might be a good topic to talk about?

Even if it wasn't, I still was curious now that I thought about it.

“You look a lot like me, well if i was taller, thinner and paler, do we both just look like our Father or did you get some traits of your mom as well?

I know I got some traits from mine, like the hair color and eye color too weirdly enough, and I think I got her eyebrow shape as well.

So what about you? What traits did you get from your mom?”

He seemed confused for a second, his red eyes looking at his hands, which rested in his lap for a split second.

“Ah, yes, my mother and aunt,  i guess some of my traits are from her, but i'm not sure which ones”

I just stared at him for a second or two.

What he had just said didn't make sense, unless-

“Fable?”

He looked at me with his way too red eyes that seemed so uncannily doll-like and dull that were framed by off white eyelashes.

“Hmm?”

I never had wanted so badly to be wrong before but now-

“Are.. are your parents siblings?”

I prayed that he would say no, that he'd say no and that I was wrong.

“Yes, they are”

Oh.

So it wasn't that he was just randomly an albino, there was an actual reason for it.

Why? Surely Elves knew about genetics at least a little.

Why was such a thing even allowed in the first place? 

Poor Fable, no wonder he was so awkward all the time, he had to live with the knowledge that he was the product of incest.

I stood up and crossed the room before I myself knew what I was doing and pulled Fable into a hug.

He didn't move to hug back or anything but he did rest his head on my shoulder.

“I'm not going to judge you, and I'm not going to EVER tell anyone about this, okay?”

I could feel him nod but before I could say anything more a voice outside called for everyone to put out their lights and go to sleep.

Since I had turned to the source of the sound it allowed Fable to slip out of the hug and blow out the candle he had on his side of the room.

Apparently he didn't want to talk more today, and that was fine.

Admitting such a thing wasn't easy and if he was tired I'd let him rest.

Also I had no idea how long he was traveling before he arrived in Kamerasca so he might need it a lot more than he let on.

So I went back to my side of the room and put my candle out as well.

“Goodnight Fable”

He didn't answer but I could hear the shifting of fabric as he pulled the cover over himself.

I decided to sleep as well,  Since it was dark there was nothing else to do anyway.

Pulling the blanket over myself I laid on my side with knees tucked closer to my torso.

It took me a few seconds to realize what I was doing.

I had prepared to curl myself around a potential sleepy tiny friend joining me while I was Giant.

But right now I was human sized, had been almost all day so there was no possibility of that happening.

Especially not while in a room that was smaller than my Ardua form.

But it was funny how fast i had accustomed to being around people even when sleeping.

Well mostly my friends as other people were understandably a bit wary of something so big.

Aside from Barsen maybe but he was something else.

…

The mattress was way too soft.

How was anyone supposed to sleep on this?

Maybe if I turned to lay on my other side?

I shuffled a bit to turn but found that wasn't helping either.

Damnit.

Maybe if I were to lay still for a bit I'd fall asleep?

After an hour of that and trying not to think about anything there still wasn't an ounce of sleepiness in my body.

Well i really wasn't used to an actual bed,  I had either slept on the floor or in a bunch of hay.

Or the Ardua form of course.

Maybe the bed itself was the problem?

I shuffled the covers off of myself and wanted to lay on the floor while pulling the pillow and blankets off the bed and cocooning myself with them.

That was actually better.

Now I could sleep and I didn't care if this was weird or not.

It felt like I had only been asleep for a few seconds before a knocking on the door woke me back up.

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