Gray Stormy Skies

-Gray-

“No, sorry.” The wolf-girl, Princess Fulgora, or just Fulgora as she demanded to be called, said as she leaned back in a wooden chair in what I could only assume was her bedroom. She kept tilting back her chair, as if making a game of almost falling backwards.

She took us to her bedroom so we could explain why we were here, looking for the base of the raiders.

Her bedroom was not something that felt like a princess’, which fit Fulgora perfectly. A torn up plush bed was covered in animal furs, much of the furniture, once beautiful wooden decorations (and likely priceless,) were scratched and seemingly chewed on. A few of those metallic rods were around as well, with some minor melting damage on one. A dusty mirror sat in front of an unused vanity table, perhaps the one completely untouched piece in here.

“I see.” The princess said in response, putting down the cup of tea she took one sip of, and then only pretended to sip it. “Then I’m sorry to bother you, Princess Fulgora. Gray and I’ll be leaving now.” She stood up, pushing the chewed up chair into the table, and reaching for her helmet on the table.

I didn’t get up, however. I was too busy gnawing on some piece of dried jerky she had a bowl of. Whatever kind of meat it was, it was tasty.

“Hold it.” Fulgora stopped leaning in her chair as she glared at the princess. “Just because I haven’t seen any raiders, doesn’t mean I don’t know anything.”

The princess looked like she wanted to groan and facepalm. “But you just said, you didn’t know. Do you, or do you not, know?”

Fulgora seemed to enjoy getting under the princess’ skin, as she grew a toothy grin. “You asked me if I had encountered any raiders crossing my borders. Which, sadly, is a big ol’ no for me. But you didn’t ask if I knew where the raiders might be coming from. Or if I've seen anything else~”

“Ugh! Why are you like this! People could be dying every moment, and you’re withholding critical information?!” I was surprised to hear how upset the princess was getting.

Fulgora just grinned wider. “Calm down, Goldie. Just having some fun. Life in the castle is so boring! And there’s been like nothing to do! Nothing!” She shot her arms into the air. “No bandits. No monster attacks. And yes, no raiders! Can you believe it! I guess they were all gathering to strike at your nation! Couldn’t they consider my feelings?!” She put on a jokingly distressed face, hands clasped as she acted like she was about to fall over.

“Such things are not something to joke about.” The princess stated, brows furrowed. Her helmet was still on the table, so she wasn’t able to hide how easily Fulgora was getting a reaction out of her.

“I know, I know.” Fulgora raised her hands defensively. “Contrary to what everyone seems to think, I do do my job seriously. I just so happen to enjoy fighting too. Is that so wrong?”

“Yes!” The princess cried out, before realizing her outburst. A blush formed on her cheeks. “Okay, it doesn’t matter why you do the fighting, as long as the fighting is done. But we need that information.”

“And I’ll give it to you.” Fulgora leaned back in her chair again, a very toothy grin on her face. “On one condition.”

“Condition?!” The princess was really losing it now. “Who do you think you are, putting conditions on saving lives?!”

Fulgora shrugged. “People die all the time. I’d love to help them, really I would. But I can’t be everywhere at once. Even if we left now, we won’t save anyone being killed at this moment-”

The princess slammed her armored hand onto the table, causing a few splinters to fly and a faint cracking sound. “No, but we can arrive quickly to save people who’d otherwise die by our delay! Now, tell me, Fulgora, before I make you regret playing with me!”

Fulgora just clicked her tongue and winked at the princess. “Oh, I’d never regret playing with you, Goldie.”

Could the princess even do anything to Fulgora without causing a whole incident? Or resulting in everything nearby getting obliterated in a fight? Including me?

“Princess, please, calm down.” I gulped down the rest of the jerky, and stood up to put my hand on her shoulder. “Fulgora’s perfectly aware of how important every moment is. But she must have a good reason for delaying us.”

And I had a good idea what it was.

My words seemed to calm her down a little. She rubbed her temple with her gauntleted hand, and sat back down. “Very well. What is your condition?”

“I want to fight-”

The princess blew up at that, blasting the chair away, the force breaking it apart, as she slammed both hands on the table, nearly cracking it in half. “You muscle-brained flea bag!”

She was really mad. I never heard her yell like that before.

“Do you want to cause chaos! Is that your only goal in life, to cause as much trouble and mischief as you can?! Do you not realize what a fight between two crowned demigods would do to not only everyone nearby, but our nations’ relationship?! I can see why the king dislikes you, you barely have a brain in that ratty head of yours! Or did it get melted from all the thunderclaps you create every day! It’s a wonder you can even hear!”

Fulgora expected to cause the princess to snap, but I think even she didn’t expect this. But of course, instead of apologizing, she stood up, slammed her own fists into the table, creating more cracks and splinters. “Huh? Who you calling a flea-bag, you blind moron?! I’m surprised you can even see, with how much you love looking at that golden sun of yours! What, never seen your goddess in person before?!”

“How dare you! The goddess has better things to do than interfere with us mortals!”

“Oh, that’s rich. What, she’s too busy protecting everyone to even come visit her avatar? Yet my da-” Fulgora cleared her throat suddenly. “My father visits me all the time! Yet you can’t even say the same? Kinda sad to have a deadbeat for a mother!”

“My mother is not the goddess! And neither of them are deadbeats! The goddess herself guides my hand and heart at all times!”

“And, do you actually speak with this goddess? I’ve only heard of her descending once, at the beginning of the age. Are you telling me she comes down regularly to give advice, without anyone else knowing? Or does she just speak in your head? Are you sure you’re even speaking with the goddess?”

The princess was silent for a moment, a look of taken back shock before she responded with a scream. “YES?! Of course I hear her voice! I’m her avatar! The direct manifestation of her will!” Her voice was cracking from how untrained it was for this.

Fulgora was taken aback by that, realizing she was going way too far. She coughed awkwardly in her hand while the princess was panting, glimmers of light faintly sparkling around her.

“Okay, I’m sorry about that,” Fulgora spoke first when both got their bearings. “But you didn’t let me finish.”

“Why would I let such disrespectful words even form on your tongue! You wanted to battle me! What would possess you to think I’d ever agree to such a battle!”

“Ha! I guess you don’t know everything, Goldie, because I actually wanted to battle… him!” She pointed to me, and I wasn’t that surprised. Frankly, I saw how she was eyeing me like prey.

And boy, was I ready. A chance for a friendly fight against a demigod? How could I refuse?! “Yeah, sure-”

My voice was drowned out by the princess slamming her hands on the table again, causing it to shudder and creak. “No! Absolutely no way! Gray isn’t trained in martial combat!”

“Oh?” Fulgora put her hand to her mouth like she just heard a juicy secret. “You’re telling me your personal guard isn’t trained properly? Has your castle’s standards fallen so much?”

The princess didn’t seem as angry about that jab, more… remorseful or reminiscing. “He hasn’t had the chance to be trained more, I took him on when I realized his potential. We’ve been in such a rush, we’ve had no time for breaks.”

Fulgora, thankfully, was wise enough not to press any further on the fates of the princess’ previous knights. But she wasn’t going to let her request go. “Well, if he earned your approval, then it should be fine!”

“Let’s do-” I tried to interject, only to be interrupted by the princess again.

“It’s wrong! As I stated, Gray isn’t trained for martial combat. To pit him against a demigod specialized in martial combat is a disaster, and I can’t risk him getting injured!”

“What does it matter how he’s trained?! I saw his magic, it’s been forever since I fought anyone who could possibly keep me on my toes!”

“And if he gets seriously injured? Or worse, killed?!”

Fulgora scoffed. “Like I can’t control my own strength. The worst he’d get is broken bones, and you can patch those up with a kiss or whatever.”

“I do not kiss-”

This time, I cut off the princess, slamming my hand into the table, turning it into a pile of ash with a flash of red. The dishes on the table shattered against the ground, while the helmet just bounced. “I said, I want to fight.”

Fulgora grinned with her fangs on total display. “My kind of guy.” She grabbed my arm, and began dragging me off before the princess could argue any further. “You’ll get your answers soon, Goldie! But I’m going to have my fun first!”

“Sorry, but I’m not that easy to get into bed.” I teased Fulgora, leaving her sputtering for a moment, and on the back foot for once. And I earned a small smile from Princess Aurelia as we left the room.