A King's Legacy Ch. 33

"I really don't deserve you, but I am thankful to have you beside me now more than ever. let's go, my wolf... and I do mean together this time." Stahl felt the tension in his gut ease at long last when his mate spoke those words. The beast just knew then, they were going to be alright.

===

It was around three hours before dusk when Tyfin and his guard finally made it to the outskirts of the smaller town of Cayne. They camped off a ways beneath a large oak, the landscape more familiar now as they traveled away from the thicket, and back to the sweet smelling fields of Alora. Tyfin was grateful for the moment's rest, as they had been walking pretty steadily the last few days at that point. Getting time to quite literally stop and smell the flowers was something the beast king would always appreciate. He spoke a bit mindlessly out loud, to nobody in particular.

"There really is nothing like the scent of an Aloran spring, however late into the season it may be now... It's good to be home." Captain Rix answered as gruffly as ever.

"We aren't home, not yet. Don't get too comfortable, bu order of my king, I still have to train with you in a moment." Tyfin smiled playfully at the bull, and answered accordingly.

"Yes Sir!" Rix groaned, and turned away, muttering something about royal brats as he stepped off a short ways. Tyfin was grinning ear to ear all the while. He couldn't help it, it was just too easy to tease the bull, and well, it was so nice to finally have the end in sight, to see the goal just ahead of them at long last after such a long journey home.

Tyfin had never been thrust into any kind of situation like the one he had found himself, and his knights in. There were a lot of sad parts to their story so far, but the beast made sure he found the good in all of it too. The beast king made sure he was learning, and paying attention to all of it the entire time... So for just a moment, he felt he could relax, and enjoy the simpler pleasures before his training began. The beast stood, and stretched heartily before gazing at the town in the distance, the sweet sign of civilization at long last. The king spoke mostly to himself once more.

"We are going to make it back, and the rest of our group is going to be waiting for us when we get there." Tyfin turned to Fraxis and asked the crocodile a question.

"Are you worried about tomorrow?" The croc shook his head as he answered the king.

"Not really. I'm not a noble, nobody is going to recognize a common-born with no renown. It should be pretty easy, just a traveling mercenary stopping by a town for some supplies. It's a pretty normal thing." The prince answered, his out-of-place smile still lingering on his muzzle.

"I've only been through markets on a few occasions, but they are always a great showcase of what the locals really bring to the table. I'm almost a little jealous." Fraxis replied sort of flatly.

"I've been to plenty, and worked in plenty, they aren't that special. I guess it's different when you live there though. I will agree that there's a good sample of the culture in most, for better or for worse." Tyfin smiled and nodded to his guard. Speaking once more before heading off to the awaiting bull.

"I'm glad to know a professional is on the job. I am thankful for what you've done, Fraxis, and even if the captain won't say it yet, I think he sees some potential in you as well. Don't let his defenses fool you, I have it on good authority from a flirtatious hare that he is actually a rather kind beast, he just hides it well." The croc nodded and watched the young lion go, his own sword in the king's grasp. The reptile found himself looking back towards the town he was to infiltrate at the crack of dawn. The common-born knight let himself marvel at the thought for a moment.

'A mission directly from the young king himself, huh? I can't wait to tell ma.' Fraxis Maxillos was a reptile of few words, a beast of simple pleasures, and, (above all else,) a huge mama's boy. He wouldn't do anything that meant he didn't make it back home to her. He used that desire to steel his resolve, accepting his mission, however small, with a re-forged sense of purpose. The lion was right to trust him.

The prince and the bovine began their sparring session as the laid-back reptile lingered on the stories he could one day tell of the time he traveled with a prince. The three had come to enjoy each other's company the last few nights, but it would still be the last night they would all be spending together on their journey. The bull was right to worry.

===

"Ok, so you're telling me there are almost three-hundred humans in your settlement alone? And nearly HALF are sick? That's... that's a lot of healing." Rust had wasted no time at all making Flose fit right in among his rapidly growing list of friends, allies, and interests.

The inquisitive little fox had question after question for the boy, but Flose appreciated the distraction... The tiger sitting next to him always felt like it was stalking him for some reason, like he was always glaring at him in something like rage or hunger, both equally as unnerving to the frail human. As things usually went with Oust, his timing was unfortunate. He had a question of his own though.

"So... Have any beasts ever visited your people?" Flose didn't flinch this time, but he was still hesitant to answer. He shook his head, stalling his reply a little.

"No. We don't stray far for a reason. If even one found us and reported it..." Oust nodded in reply. He understood. Rust was quick to say it.

"Well, don't worry! I have family that's human, so your secret is safe with me!" Flose looked at the adolescent, and finally asked what he had been hesitant to do.

"You said Solis was your uncle? I think you called him Aster though. May I ask how exactly that happened? Is the stolen king of Adamare married to a fox, or?" Rust laughed a little at that, not realizing he had been so busy talking about the human, that he had barely even talked about himself or Aster. He corrected that.

"No, but he is partnered to a wolf right now." As Flose took a moment to process that information, Rust finally told the human everything there was to tell about Aster, (that didn't seem too personal,) and how he had come to join his family. Flose went silent for a while when the cub finally finished. At long last, the meek boy finally commented on it.

"That's kind of shocking to me, if I'm being honest... I didn't think there were any real amount of you that would ever be sympathetic towards my kind after all these years. And to think a human could be with a beastman in this day and age? That's even more surprising. It seems..." Flose trailed off, not wanting to seem rude, Rust pressed a little further anyway.

"It seems? Go on..." Flose sighed, and finally said it.

"It seems a little doomed to fail. I don't think our kind can reach across the table like that... I think the world still hates us too much. I don't see how they can ever even feel safe together, because I don't think a lot of people on either side are going to understand." Rust went silent, not sure if he was simply surprised, or offended. The reply came quietly, the gruff voice heavy with something the human just couldn't quite place. Sir Corper was speaking.

"It was a hard path for us then, and it will be an even harder one for them now, but you would be amazed at what two people's love for each other can withstand, no matter their differences." Oust never pried in his master's past, it never seemed his place, but the question slipped out before he ever had the chance to ponder it.

"Master, how did you and your wife handle the disapproval of both beasts and man? I imagine it was easy for someone so level-headed?" For a moment, you could've heard a pin drop. Rust was lost in anticipation, Oust was second guessing how appropriate his question was after all, and Flose had stopped breathing altogether. The bear closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and grumbled out a "Hmphh," before continuing. He scratched lightly at his head and thought hard about how to even go about giving such an answer. After a moment, he found his starting point.

"Well... I'll have to give a little backstory to answer that... It all started with a young thief, a bellowing roar, and a tiny little human that stood up to a bully..."

===

The young general Corper Paxus was enjoying a few days away from his duty as the queen's guard. Every so often, the burly beast would take a break from nobility, and simply spend some time away among the common born, drinking heavily, fighting anyone that looked like a challenge, and fucking any female that felt like spreading her legs for a noble of his status. Being childhood friends with the king and his closest knights had its perks for staying out of trouble, and since the war with the west had ended and King Alocer had begun his reign, the bear had no shortage of booze or boredom-killing on most days.

To put it quite lightly... Sir Corper was once an absolute drunk, a renowned whore, and an overall bully to anyone that had something to say about it. When you're a nine-foot tall bear in your prime, loaded down with muscle, a fortune, and a family name sitting in your back pocket, all topped off with a title outranking most others, you wouldn't often meet your match. But the general certainly was about to on that particular morning.

He had a killer hangover, was on his way to soothe it with another drink, and the grumpy bear was not in the mood for anybody's shit, to say the very least. As usual, that's when it landed right on his plate.

"STOP HIM! THIEF! SOMEBODY STOP HIM!" A merchant was yelling out in the streets behind him. The bear smiled. Normally he wouldn't give a single care about some common-born thief running through the market, but in truth, the bear just felt like punching someone that day. He had a sour attitude, and maybe cracking a few bones would make the morning a little brighter...

He kept walking for a moment, pretending not to hear as the approaching thief drew closer and closer. As soon as the thief stepped in range, the bear swung his right arm out, catching the fleeing adolescent right by his neck with a quick hand. The young weasel was yanked to a stop by the grip, and quickly began wheezing vainly as his throat was nearly crushed by the powerful general. He dropped the stolen apple, his hands moving to weakly try and free himself. Corper smirked and turned to the adolescent beast firmly trapped within his grasp. He spoke threateningly.

"Bad day to get caught, cub, but at least you'll remember this lesson for life..." The great bear turned, the struggling thief fearing for his life as the general raised him even higher. Just as he was about to slam him against a nearby wall, a clear voice behind him rang out through the air.

"Stop! He's a child!" Corper figured this snot-nosed little shit's mom was coming to his rescue, and was fine with her opting to go the "alternate," payment route if that was the way she wanted to settle it, as it often was... But the general had no real way of being prepared for the woman who had spoken on the weasel's behalf.

A human... there in the heart of Alora, was a human visiting that day. She had a smaller frame, barely five and a half feet tall, with long, blond hair woven into a large, golden braid clear down to the small of her back. She had an emerald ribbon trailing through that braid, one that matched those eyes that were quite busy sizing the general up so thoroughly. She spoke once more, her words saturated with a degree of elegance that seemed far too out of place in the slum markets of the capital.

"You wear this nation's crest, so does a knight of Alora usually resort to such cruel punishment for one of her children merely seeking a meal?" Corper stopped in his tracks. Surely this uppity bitch wasn't trying to make a scene here? Who the fuck did this human think she was? The general answered with a scoff, turning to stare at the woman as he kept his grip on the adolescent's throat.

"A thief is a thief, I am well within my right to handle this matter as a general to this country. It is you who oversteps, human." She was quite the quarreler, quick to call him out, more so after flaunting his rank so boldly.

"Ah, so, the very generals of this country would behave so unknightly. I'm afraid that's even worse." Corper tightened his jaw, he didn't usually hit females, given he wasn't in a battle, but she was really starting to get under his pelt. The bear doubled down, letting his temper carry his words.

"Ah, and you seem to be mistaken... were I to show you unknightly behavior, I'd just squeeze this little thief's head until it popped, and then come carve that judgmental glare right out of those pretty green eyes of yours." The woman never flinched or even backed down for a second, jumping instead straight to her response. Her argument was far more calculated than the general's itself was, living up to her reputation as a worthy ambassador.

"And tell me, great general of Alora, would you be able to do it while his sister watched?" The human gestured off to the side, where a smaller weasel was crying silent tears as she watched her older brother struggle in the general's grasp. The bear sucked in a breath of realization, but the woman kept on cutting.

"I wonder how it will change her destiny? To watch her brother killed for trying to undoubtedly steal her something to eat, to carry such guilt forward in life... To watch those sworn to protect their citizens murder someone simply for being hungry, like so many of your people are during this famine. Ask her in ten years what it was like to watch a great general of Alora kill her brother, all because he felt like it... One who likely still sat on plenty of wealth, and who never knew the pain of an empty stomach... One that could've just paid for the damned apple in the first place. Will she even last that long without him? Would she even want to? Perhaps you should simply kill her too? I'm sure a beast of your morals could find a way to justify it as a mercy."

Corper was fuming! He loosened his grip on the adolescent, but didn't quite let go. The weasel sucked in a gasp of oxygen, and possibly not a moment too soon, either. The bear began walking forward, his demeanor and appearance unnaturally calm as he approached the woman. People nearby in the streets were looking on in utter shock, did that foolish human not realize who the famed general was? Needless to say, the intimidating bear soon towered over the woman, his shadow alone engulfing her frame more than two times over as he loomed above her.

Corper stared down into those sharp and calculating eyes and she stared right back, not even a hint of fear in her gaze, only serious, and unyielding fury in the face of injustice. The general took a slow, and deliberate breath in, crouched down to where his face was mere centimeters away from her own, and let out a bone-shaking roar at the top of his lungs with every bit of power he had, his large, ivory fangs nearly brushing against her very skull. As the air around her seemed it would shatter from the sheer weight of that bellowing, the woman never budged even a single inch, still staring into his eyes all the while, daring him to actually do it and calling the bluff for what it was. Somehow, someway, Lady Akhalari Le'gere, or 'Khala' as he would come to know her in time, saw some shred of good in that absolute piece of shit who dared to ever call himself a knight that day.

Corper stared in pure awe, not even the most foolish or strongest beasts he knew would've just stood there so firmly the entire time. Nobody dared make a single sound, the silence piercing after such a deafening roar. Corper peered into those encaptivating eyes for a while longer before he straightened up, and dropped the young weasel off to his side. The adolescent quickly scurried out of the way, his younger sister quick to come to his aid. The great general finally tore his eyes away from the woman, turned back towards the cubs, and walked over to them.

As the siblings cowered in fear of the bear, their terror was soon replaced with disbelief as a clinking sack of gold was dropped right next to them. The brother looked at the bag with an uncertain gaze, and right back up to the bear for a short second. The general spoke in that gruff tone of his.

"I'll let the palace guards know to expect you tomorrow morning. We have work for you, work that pays well enough for you, and your sister to eat. Consider that a starting bonus. You would be wise to show up." The cub nodded once, and snatched a hold of both the gold and his sister. He darted away, putting some distance between them as his mind tried to accept that for the first time since he could remember, he wouldn't have to steal their dinner that night. The general watched them go before he turned back to the woman and spoke once more, his tone still firm, but far lighter.

"You're crazy but brave. I like it. Want to grab a drink?" The woman smiled softly, answering as if she hadn't just been threatened by the beast mere moments before.

"Alright... I suppose I'll be buying though, considering you did just give away all of your coin?" The burly general huffed and replied with a playful smirk and a practiced wink.

"I'll allow it. I'm certain I can find an alternate way to pay you back." The woman raised her eyebrow at the unrefined bear, cocked her head lightly to the side, and answered with a look of worry.

"General, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to insinuate something vulgar about the ambassador of Peuforet..." Corper began panicking, surprised his flirty charm was being brushed aside so easily, something he didn't encounter often. A melodic laugh filled the air a short second later, and from that moment forward, Corper's fate was absolutely sealed. The bear smiled as he realized she was messing with him, and soon, (through the most bizarre exchange the onlookers had ever witnessed,) the pair were laughing together in the slummy streets before they set off to get that drink. They would only get a few, precious years together, but it was more than enough to change the bear for a lifetime.

===

"From that point on, we didn't give a single care to what anyone else thought of our relationship, she had already proven she would stand up to any beast, and I never hesitated to stand right beside her. That's how we dealt with the disapproval of both man and beast, we let them disapprove, and we loved each other regardless, right in front of their judgment." As the bear finished his tale, not a single of the three younger listeners could really respond. It was Rust who finally said what Oust was thinking.

"Soooo... You were kind of a piece of shit back then, huh?" Corper chuckled to himself, noting the adolescent's courage to be so bold once more. The bear answered earnestly.

"I most certainly was, what were you expecting? I was a spoiled noble with both close ties to the king, and the skill to back my talk up, of course I was an out-of-touch jerk. I was constantly angry for reasons I didn't even understand, and I went around making that everyone else's problem. I have said before, she taught me more restraint, patience, and understanding than anyone else ever could." Oust just stared at his master, never believing that the wise bear before him could've ever started out as something so nasty. As if Corper could read that very thought, he answered his student too.

"It's eerily familiar, isn't it young one? Maybe now you will start believing that true potential of yours is actually possible, even for beasts like us, or rather, beasts like we used to be." The tiger looked down, taking that lesson to heart as he thought for quite a while on that. Corper looked to the human who had remained silent, and decided he would ask after all.