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lunarsands · 6 months

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ESMP S1 Fanfic - A Garden's Path - Ch 1

Characters: Mythical Sausage, Scott Smajor, Bubbles the Dog, Sir Carlos, appearances by the rest of the cast of Empires SMP S1, featuring blaze-hybrid emperor TangoTek, and introducing: The Children of Mythland (specific characters to be tagged when they appear in each chapter)

Relationships: MythicalSausage/Scott Smajor, LDShadowlady/Smallishbeans, Shubble/Katherine Elizabeth, TangoTek & SolidarityGaming

Tags: Empires SMP S1 AU, scosage, adoption, fluff, wholesome, so much wholesome fluff you would not believe, a bit of angst here and there, Sausage has a few nightmares for Plot reasons, acknowledgement of amputation (not sure how else to tag that but just in case)

WARNINGS: fantasy racism (human v elf), loss of parent (with adoption inevitably comes orphans), minor character death in a later chapter

Chapter Summary: Sausage and Scott set out to Rivendell to start visiting orphanages, hoping to find a child who won't mind their differences. It ends up not being Sausage's prosthetic arm that is off putting, and yet it turns out they don't even have to worry about traveling elsewhere when they meet two young boys who are not only simply curious, but also a perfect match when it comes to compassion and magic.

(Also available on Ao3!)

[ Prologue ]

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Chapter One – The First Princes

Dressed in plain travel clothes and with an overnight bag on hand in case they needed to stay in Rivendell for any extra time, Scott and Sausage stepped up into the simple carriage devoid of any official heraldry that waited in the stable yard. They settled in across from each other as the carriage began to move, and for about the tenth time that morning Sausage adjusted the partial shirt sleeve over the top end of his prosthetic, trying to get it to lay just right.

“Nervous?” Scott asked.

“A little. I hope this thing doesn’t scare too many of them.”

“It’s your arm, plain and simple. Just think of it that way.”

“Maybe I should have asked fWhip for a full sleeve cover or at least a glove.”

“I remember him saying things like that could get caught in the struts or the gears when you move.”

“Well, I could just hold it still in that case.”

“What if one of the children wants a hug? You would need to move it then.” Scott smiled, knowing the magic word.

“Oh! Oh, yeah, that is true.”

“So nervous, you forgot about things like that. It will be all right, Sausage. This is you now. Just be yourself. There doesn’t have to be any final decisions today, either. We have time.”

“You’re right, you’re right.” He stopped fussing with the sleeve and gazed out the window for a while instead. When they passed the final border into Rivendell territory he began to absently rub at his right shoulder. He was still at it when the carriage stopped. Scott gently pulled his hand away and gave him a reassuring smile before exiting onto the dirt road.

A large cottage with a moss-dotted roof and matching extension to the right side sat in a slightly overgrown grassy field. Further down the road the rest of the village was visible, but the area certainly gave the orphanage a spacious feeling. Sausage tugged at his cloak as he followed Scott to the door where they were greeted by two elven women who spoke warmly in Elvish at first – Scott translated that they were grateful the couple had safely arrived and that they were welcome to come inside and walk around.

As they entered, one of the women did a doubletake upon seeing Sausage’s right arm but she only offered a sympathetic smile afterward. Relieved to have passed that much judgement, they continued further into the building where a large classroom was set up. Most of the space was clear of furniture so the younger children could play with toys on the floor while some of the older ones were seated at desks by the far wall with books or actual classwork. Scott remained near the door, chatting away in Elvish, while Sausage ventured into the room, making sure not to startle any of the children with his approach.

He smiled when some of the little ones looked up at him, giving a small wave with his left hand, then stepped closer to start offering comments on their toys. However, a few of the older children suddenly came over and pulled the smaller ones away while giving wary looks – but it was the side of his head they were looking at, not his arm.

Sausage brought his left hand up to trace the outside curve of his ear, realizing that him being a human was more of a concern than the appearance of his arm. He lowered his hand and turned toward the blackboard, pretending to study the words written there as if what had just happened hadn’t bothered him. He recognized a few of the letters and knew the sounds that went with them from what Scott had begun to teach him. Just to take his mind off the less-than-welcoming reception, he muttered a few out loud. “Lah-ela-ha. Sen dra-ah-din. Te…Tehn. Si-veh…”

“Almost got it,” said a voice to his right. “We’re learning constellation names. The accent can be hard on some of the syllables.”

Sausage glanced down to see a boy with a warm umber complexion, tightly curled orange hair, and amber eyes, who then reached up to tap one of the words. Another boy, pale-skinned with longer, dark green hair and light blue eyes stood behind him. “Sieveh.”

Sausage repeated the word, trying to imitate the melodic sound. The boy shook his head. Sausage tried again, then chuckled. “Sorry, I need more practice. I just started learning.”

“That’s okay. Common is hard to learn sometimes, too.” The orange-haired boy nodded sagely. “By the way, I’m Azahar. I’m eleven years old. This is my best friend, Elowen. He’s nine.” It came out sounding rehearsed. “It’s very nice to meet you, sir.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too. My name is Sausage. I’m here with my husband, Scott.” He pointed toward the door with his right hand, being the side closer to it.

Azahar nudged the younger boy and said quietly, “I told you it worked like a normal one.”

Elowen nodded enthusiastically then piped up, “Excuse me, can I ask about your arm? It looks really cool! Have you always had it?”

Relieved that they were interested over intimidated, Sausage gave a patient smile. “You can, and thank you. I think it’s cool, too. It’s actually pretty new.”

“Can I touch it?” Elowen asked, and Azahar nodded as well.

“Um, sure. Just be careful of the wiring and those overlapping parts there, they might pinch your finger.” Sausage got down on one knee so his prosthetic was closer, stretching out his fingers so they could get a look at the mechanics of his hand, too. He turned it over as they cautiously poked at some of the metal.

Azahar began looking over the parts connecting to his upper arm but refrained from lifting the partial sleeve. “Can I ask what happened to your real arm?”

An amusing thought popped into Sausage’s head. “A dragon ate it during a fight!”

“Whaaaat?” Azahar’s eyes went wide.

“That’s even cooler!” Elowen exclaimed. “Did it hurt when the dragon bit it?”

“Yes, but I have a friend who is good with healing magic and she helped me.”

“Did you try to get it back?” Azahar asked.

“No, the dragon really wanted it for lunch.”

“Where did you get this one?” was the orange-haired boy’s next question.

“A friend who invents lots of cool stuff made it for me.”

“How does it wo—”

“What happened to the dragon?” Elowen cried, interrupting. Azahar didn’t seem to mind, and was actually looking happy to see the younger boy so engaged.

“Well, I had to take a break from fighting because that was also my sword arm, but my friends defeated it.”

Elowen was beaming, although still attempted to be a little quiet as he said, “I could have a dad who fights dragons? That’s so cool…”

“Two, actually. He helped me.” Sausage pointed again to Scott, who had noticed the exchange going on and was now walking over. “Scott, this is Azahar and Elowen. We were just chatting about dragon battles.” He gave a quick wink.

Azahar asked something in Elvish, to which Scott laughed and spoke a reply where the only word Sausage understood was brave. Then Scott switched to Common. “So, boys, I hear it’s lunchtime soon. Would you like to sit with us and talk some more? Besides about his fascinating arm?” He grinned, directing the look mostly at Sausage.

“Yeah!!” Elowen cried, then ran back to the desk he had previously been sitting at.

“We have to put away our schoolwork before eating,” Azahar explained. He glanced after Elowen, then gave the two adults something of a sad smile and looked up at Scott in particular. “His eyes are like yours.” Then he walked back to his own desk.

Sausage and Scott traded glances and then started toward the door. Scott asked quietly, “Did – Did you tell them we were only looking for one?”

“No, it didn’t come up,” Sausage answered. “They just wanted to know about my arm. Both of them,” he abruptly marveled. “And neither seem to mind that I’m human, which…the others do care about.”

“Maybe we’ve gotten lucky that there are two who are accepting of the situation,” Scott murmured thoughtfully.

“I think Azahar was trying to make sure we at least choose Elowen. They’re already close friends…”

“We could take both…”

“Let’s see how lunch goes. Maybe… just to make sure they’ll be okay with other stuff about us – uh, aside from that part about where we live. Ahem. We could talk about some other things besides the obvious. Do you want to show them some ice magic, to be on the safe side?”

“I could. Let me talk to the lead caretaker.” Scott broke off to wave at one of the women, while Sausage wandered further from the classroom door, not wanting to be a disruption when the children left for their lunch at wherever the eating area was.

As an accommodation some food was brought to him, Scott, Azahar, and Elowen in the classroom so they could talk without stares from the others. The boys asked about things like their adventures and hobbies, while Scott and Sausage volunteered as much information as they could without giving away their full identities. Azahar grew increasingly more involved when it became obvious that they were both being considered together.

Scott revealed a few tricks he could do with conjured ice magic, making the boys even more curious and intrigued, leading to questions of whether they would be allowed to learn magic. It was agreed that it could be included in their education, prompting them to promise they would do their very best at all their studies and then they showed off some of that day’s classwork.

Not long after that, the boys were sent to pack up their belongings while Scott and Sausage finalized documents with the lead caretaker. She eyed the official seal of Mythland that Sausage placed after his name before hiding the stamp back in his pocket. “Are you sure you don’t want to tell them who you really are before you leave?” she asked in Common.

“We’re certain,” Scott replied. “We’re just two fathers starting a family.” He did trade another glance with Sausage, however. “If for any reason it doesn’t work out, we’ll do the right thing and let you know. But we both hope the next you hear will be about them settling in at their new home.”

When they met the boys at the door, they each took a bag to carry for them, letting Azahar and Elowen run ahead to the carriage, where they none-too-quietly speculated about the size and style belonging to a noble, and asking if it had been rented for the trip since Sausage had told them over lunch that they would be travelling a fair distance to get home. Once their bags were stowed they inspected the interior, having never been inside an enclosed carriage before. Scott and Sausage sat together and watched them with amusement at their curiosity, fielding more questions as the journey home began.

The boys eventually settled down, each taking a side to stare out the windows as the scenery changed from the familiar lands of Rivendell’s climate to the different hills and fields of the neighboring empires. When the first outlying settlements of Mythland came into view, Sausage reached for Scott’s hand with his left, seeking a little reassurance for his nerves.

“Are those giant mushrooms?” Azahar asked, peering out the window at an angle as if to look up under the plant’s cap. “I’ve seen this kind of forest in a book before, it looks amazing up close!”

“We can take a walk out to see some tomorrow,” Sausage suggested. “You’ll be able to see them from the – house, too, when we’re actually home. This is just the outskirts of where we live.”

Elowen looked over with wide eyes. “How big is this forest? It just keeps going! There’s no mountains anywhere!”

Sausage chuckled. “The forest of Mythland is mostly flat, but you’ll be able to see more when the trees thin out.”

The boys went back to watching the outside pass by, having the occasional comment but staying calm until the carriage finally rolled into the main city. Then Elowen gasped and beckoned Azahar over to his side. “Look, look! There’s a big castle!”

“Whoa! Are we going to go past it? Who lives there?”

Sausage couldn’t contain a grin. “We do, and now so do you.”

Azahar turned a look of disbelief toward him. “Wait, that means you… are nobles? So, you own this carriage?”

“Well, not just any nobles,” Scott said, grinning as well. “Our official titles are Lord Sausage of Mythland and King Regnant Scott.”

“K-King? …W-Wait, that means we’re…” Azahar looked at Elowen and wondered if he understood the implications.

“You are the new princes of Mythland,” Scott declared warmly.

Azahar sat back against the seat, digesting the news while Elowen seemed to still be working things out. “So…my new dads fight dragons and are kings of a whole big place with giant mushrooms and no mountains… This is kinda weird but it’s still cool!”

Azahar gave a little laugh and patted his friend-turned-brother on the head. “So, are we supposed to call you ‘Lord’ and ‘King’, um, ‘King Regnant’, too? I don’t know how being a prince is supposed to work except what’s in fairy tales.”

“You can just call us Dad,” Scott indicated himself, then pointed at Sausage, “And Papa, if you like. Or just our regular names. Titles are for use outside the family. You’ll meet some of our friends who go by names like Count fWhip and the Wizard GeminiTay. fWhip was the one who created Sausage’s prosthetic arm. He’ll be like an uncle to you. You’ll see him around because that arm needs regular maintenance, so you’ll see it when he’s not wearing it, too.”

“I hope that won’t bother either of you?” Sausage put in.

The boys shook their heads and Azahar replied, “We’ve seen – what’s it called – ampu…tees? Before. There are some old veterans in our village. But none of them have anything like that.”

“It’s a fWhip original,” Sausage explained, and then began to think of asking the inventor if he was interested in doing similar projects.

Scott had more he wanted to tell them, but at that moment the carriage came to a halt. “Here we are,” he said instead. “Mythland Castle. I am going to ask that you not run around right away. It’s a big place and you could maybe get lost.”

“We won’t, sir—uh, Dad.” Azahar paused then gave a delighted smile at being able to say the word. He helped Elowen get down from the carriage and held his hand to make sure he didn’t start wandering off, since the younger boy was already looking around in fascination.

Sausage followed next and took all of the bags as Scott handed them out to him. Then all four of them went up the steps to start a tour of the boys’ new home. One of the first stops was their bedrooms, down the hall from the royal chambers, and Sausage was now glad he had the foresight to clear a second room previously intended for guests.

However, the boys looked very confused by the options, each staring into the same room, with Elowen questioning, “Where’s my bed?”

“You can each have your own room!” Sausage pointed to the other doorway. “See, there’s another right across from here.”

“No, I wanna be in his room.” Elowen suddenly clung to Azahar’s arm.

The older boy spoke quietly to him in Elvish, and Scott flashed a sympathetic look as he overheard, then Azahar asked, “Can we share one for now? I’ll help move a bed over if you need me to.”

“Don’t worry! I’ll get it,” Sausage chirped, and set down the bags to bustle about in the second room, removing the bedding. Scott directed the boys to stand to the side and went to help him, and a short while later they had rearranged the agreed upon room to accommodate everything. They left the bags to be unpacked later and continued the tour, which included the library, treasury, dining hall, and a stop off in the courtyard for an introduction to Bubbles, which lead to more delight from the boys when they were offered a chance to run around with her.

Sausage told them that she had her own castle to look after but she visited often, so she was their dog to play with, too. Bubbles gave her approval of the children – not that Sausage ever thought she would doubt his decision in the matter. Not long after, he joined in the running around, pretending Bubbles was a scary beast that required fleeing, with extra flee. At one point he hoisted Elowen onto his shoulders, getting him out of range as Bubbles feigned nipping at his ankles. She jumped repeatedly, not getting much higher than Sausage’s stomach, causing Elowen to laugh.

Azahar, meanwhile, drifted over to where Scott sat on a bench watching with his own joy at seeing Sausage having such unrestrained fun. He commented to the older boy, “You’ve been watching out for him for a while, haven’t you?”

“He was really shy when he first got there. I don’t know what happened to his family, but I wanted to help.”

“I heard you were there for a long time.”

“Yeah. I just wanted the littler kids to get a home. I thought I could just, you know, grow up there, and work there. That seemed okay.”

Scott’s heart broke a little at hearing the tone of his voice, the weight of too much knowledge for his age. “If that’s something you would like to do when you’re grown up, we’ll support you. But you’re allowed to be a kid right now, and we’re here to look after Elowen now, too. So go play some more.” He turned a kind smile to him.

“No, let him have Papa to himself for a while. I’d like to sit here with you, Dad.” Azahar returned the smile and sat down. For the next hour or so they simply chatted in Elvish while Sausage and Elowen tired themselves out chasing or being chased by Bubbles.

~*~

Later, after dinner, the boys returned to their room to unpack their things. Azahar had a few of his favorite books that he placed across the top of his dresser. Elowen held up a picture book of his own, which the older boy smiled at and put next to his. Then he helped Elowen organize his clothes before hopping up on his bed to think about the day’s events.

Elowen took a slightly ragged-looking teddy bear out of his bag and climbed up next to Azahar, hugging the doll as he, too, thought about things. “Do you think they’re going to let us stay?”

“I think they’re very happy to have us. Papa is… different, and the other kids didn’t like that.”

“But he’s nice! And a lot of fun! And he has Bubbles!”

Azahar chuckled. “Well, we didn’t know about Bubbles before, either.”

“He let me ask all those things and didn’t get mad and was nice at our home. I don’t know why everybody else didn’t want to talk to him. They didn’t even try to ask him anything!”

“I’ll explain it to you later. Are you going to sleep in your own bed, or do you want me to tuck you in over here?”

“Umm… Can I stay here?” Elowen squirmed. “This place is nice but it’s… kinda scary, too?”

“Well, it’s a lot bigger than we’re used to, and it is a castle.” Azahar went over to get an extra pillow from the other bed, then arranged the blanket over Elowen and smirked. “There might even be ghosts hiding in some secret passage!”

“Nooo! That’s too scary!”

The older boy laughed. “Don’t worry, our dads are brave heroes, remember? They wouldn’t let ghosts or anything else hurt you. We’re their family now, right?” He climbed back onto the bed and made himself comfortable, letting the younger boy snuggle against him for familiarity’s sake.

“So, if we’re princes now, do we have some kind of job we have to do?”

“I don’t know. You can ask tomorrow. But I think we just get to be kids, and run around and have fun like you did today.”

“Okay. … … I’m gonna be extra good, just in case. I wanna stay here.”

Meanwhile, down the hall, the two newly minted fathers were also settling in for the night. Scott picked a stray leaf out from under a strut on Sausage’s prosthetic as he put it away. He looked at the leaf with amusement as he twirled the stem between his fingers, then set it on the windowsill before turning to his side of the bed.

Sausage was already laying down and gazing at the ceiling, then he looked over at Scott. “We have kids now. Two kids. Two… sons.”

“I know. I was there.”

“H— come on, now! Don’t ruin the moment!”

Scott laughed lightly. “I’m sorry. You did seem to be having a lot of fun out there.”

“I’ve ended up always being too busy to play with Bubbles most of the time. But today it felt different, anyway.”

“Now you have someone to share that with you, and meeting Bubbles was like a new experience for them, too.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Sausage went back to staring at the ceiling for a few minutes, then said, “I hope they’ll want to stay. Mythland is going to be different for them.”

Scott thought back to some things Azahar had told him. “It’s something of an adventure for them. Give it some time and we’ll find out how they feel. But I think we made the right choice.”

~*~

Over breakfast the next morning the boys were more subdued and being extraneously polite, with a few ‘sir’s slipping out as food was passed along the table. Sausage cast a couple of worried glances at Scott, who wanted to assure him that they were still adjusting but didn’t want to say it out loud in case it might make them feel like they were doing something wrong.

Finally, it was Elowen who broke the tension. “Excuse me, I wanna ask ‘cause Azahar didn’t know – do we have to do anything special because we’re princes now? Do princes have jobs? I know they rescue girls sometimes but that’s always in stories! What do they really do?”

“Well,” Scott replied, “Princes your age don’t have to worry about jobs yet. You might learn some things about the work we do when you’re older, but even I was only a prince until I married your papa. My brother, who is now also your uncle, has the job of a ruler, and I would only help out if he needed it.”

Azahar waved his fork. “So, if you lived in Rivendell instead of here, we would still be princes?”

“That’s right. Your whole family is royalty.” Scott smiled, feeling that he got past the technicality of having also been a king elsewhere. “Sausage does most of the work because this is his kingdom. The only work you have to do is your studies. We’ll set something up in the library later for that, but this morning we can all go out for a walk or look around the castle more if you like.”

Then Elowen remembered. “The giant mushrooms!”

Sausage nodded, also recalling the boys’ fascination from the day before. “There are some right behind the castle. We’ll go out after everyone is done here.”

Elowen excitedly began eating faster to finish his breakfast, although Azahar quietly reminded him to not eat too fast.

On the way out they ran into Bubbles, so the boys had another good run through the trees until they came across one of the giant mushrooms, which they inspected and made a brief attempt to climb. This time Scott was the one to lift Elowen on his shoulders to reach the underside of the mushroom’s cap, with Azahar watching from below while Sausage had a word with Bubbles.

Apparently, there was something important she needed him for, so after helping Elowen down from Scott’s shoulders, Sausage excused himself but promised to meet back up with them for lunch. The three elves walked for a little while so Scott could show them some of the paths that led either to other outside parts of the castle or into town, then they headed back inside for the remainder of the tour they hadn’t finished the previous day.

They ended at the library, with Scott saying, “I have someone else for you to meet who will help with some of your studies. Please wait here while I go get him.” He held the door open and the boys began to wander around to get a better look at the inside of the library. Elowen hopped up on one of the armchairs by the fireplace, glancing at the books someone had left on the table beside it, while Azahar went to the nearest bookshelf and looked at some of the titles.

Scott returned a few minutes later with some paper and quills tucked under one arm, and the boys were extremely confused to see that he was being followed by a… chicken. A chicken wearing armor with red and yellow heraldry, but still very much a chicken. “Boys, this is Sir Carlos. He’ll be teaching you Mythland’s history and helping with some other lessons.”

Sir Carlos tilted his head at each of the boys in turn, then clucked and said, “Young master Azahar, young master Elowen, it is a pleasure to meet you. I understand your studies center on Rivendell, so I will include that in your lessons. You are welcome to ask any questions about Mythland and I will do my best to answer.”

The two boys couldn’t help staring. Sir Carlos clucked quietly, then sighed. “Yes, I am currently a talking chicken. No, I wasn’t always a chicken. Your… papa has endeavored to return me to my original form but the spell was cast so long ago that it has been lost to time. I have gone on several quests to find the solution, and yes, I will tell you about them, but that will come later. Sire,” he nodded to Scott, who motioned for the boys to join him at one of the reading tables, where he set out the paper and quills, with one set of each for himself, as well.

Sir Carlos flapped his wings and got himself up onto a chair, then onto the table where he began to walk back and forth. “Firstly, tell me about your schoolwork so far, then we will choose a curriculum from there.”

Scott explained the concept of a curriculum in Elvish, then proceeded to help, translate, and take notes of his own. He and Sir Carlos soon had a general list, and then it was Azahar who reminded them about the possibility of learning magic. That one was out of Sir Carlos’ realm of expertise, but Scott decided he could get them started on some of the casting forms for ice magic, while another tutor would be needed for other types.

A little while later Sausage returned from the business with Bubbles for lunch as promised. He put in his thoughts on school lessons and agreed to sit in on the ones about Mythland’s history when the boys asked if he could tell them stories about their new home, too.

~*~

Extra-curricular lessons ended up diverging after a few days, however, when Scott was teaching them how to shape spell sigils in the air and, while Elowen was able to get it on the second try, Azahar struggled – with not a wisp of spell energy being conjured. It soon became clear that he simply didn’t have the propensity for magic. Sausage stepped in and offered to begin his sword fighting training early so that he would have something to do while Scott helped Elowen develop his burgeoning skills; Azahar was, of course, happy for his brother, especially because it looked like ice magic could be his specialty, and it gave them each a different way to bond with their new fathers.

What he lacked in magic he made up for with agility and analysis while using a blade, quickly picking up on the forms, if not yet having the strength to back up his strikes – although those, too, were only meant as examples, and Sausage didn’t push him too hard during practice. He enjoyed the chance to spend time with Azahar, though, getting to know him and making up for the slight lack he felt about not being able to hold full conversations in Elvish like Scott. The boy, in turn, helped him work on learning the language in between their own lessons and Sausage’s kingly duties that kept him busy.

Around three weeks later, everyone seemed to have settled nicely into their new routine, and there were no more worries on either side about whether things would work out. The boys were out playing in the garden with Bubbles during an afternoon off from lessons. Scott sat reading a book and occasionally glanced up when they ran by, although it was something mentioned in the book that made him get up and wander off in search of Sausage.

He found him where he expected to, standing over a desk sorting through a wide assortment of papers with requests from around the kingdom. Scott leaned on the doorway, tapping the spine of the book against his chin. “Sausage, I was just reminded of something. Do you remember how old you were at your debut gala?”

“Ummm, I think maybe I was ten.”

“Oh. It’s different for the elven court. But since this is Mythland, we could start thinking about having one for Azahar soon, since we missed that window.”

“Well, I think my parents waited for one reason or another. Considering the stories, they might have been waiting out a curse or something.” He laughed but cut himself off. “Uhm, maybe it’s not that funny actually, eh-heh. Okay, well, we could just make our own tradition. Split the difference and have one now for both of them, instead of introducing them separately. That might…actually work out better for Elowen, you know? I noticed he, um, gets a bit clingy toward Azahar when new people are around.”

“That’s true,” Scott agreed quietly. “I do like the idea overall. It might be easier on them to experience that part of royal life if they’re sharing a special day.”

“How big are we going to make this thing? Mine was open to the whole kingdom because I was the sole prince at that point. I don’t want to put too much pressure on them.” Sausage then added in a mutter, “Also, remember what happened at that one party after the wedding…”

“I think we’ll at most invite our friends, with the rulers of all the empires being a courteous necessity. It isn’t a secret to our kingdom anyway, but this will be one of those official introduction things.”

“Okay!” Sausage grinned and pushed all the missives into one pile, then took out a fresh sheet of paper and a drafting pencil. Then he began to rattle off fancy phrasing in an ostentatious voice, “Dearest friends, allies, and others, you are hereby invited…”

Scott chuckled as he continued with an exaggerated courtly tone and waited until he was done writing to pluck the pencil from his hand, turn the paper around, and start adding decorative flourishes around the border.

~*~

Everyone had just settled down for breakfast when Sausage announced, “Lessons today will come later, boys. We have an appointment at the tailor shop for something special.” He couldn’t help throwing an excited look at Scott. “We decided we’re going to have a special party for you that royal families hold when introducing a new child to the kingdom called a debut gala. Usually, it’s for one child at a time – well, unless there are twins or triplets, or something – but we’re going to have it for both of you at the same time, so you can share it. We thought you would prefer that.” He smiled gently at Elowen, whose eyes had gone as big as saucers.

Azahar seemed to be fighting back some tears of his own. Then he blurted out, “That – That sounds like it really makes things official! That we… we really do get to stay!”

Now Sausage and Scott traded alarmed looks, and the latter said with concern, “Of course you’re staying! You’re our sons. I – I’m sorry if anything in the last few weeks made you think we weren’t going to keep you.”

Sausage abruptly stood, nearly knocking his chair down, and hurried over to enfold Azahar in a hug. “We - We’ve been worried you might not want to stay, because things are different here, and we’re a little different, but… we love having you here with us! We want you as our family.” He tried to convey his sincerity without squeezing the boy too hard with his metal arm.

Elowen let out a sort of squawk and ran around the table to throw his arms around Scott. “We love you, too! I told Azahar I would behave really good because I really wanted to stay! I’ll keep being really good! A big party sounds scary but I still wanna be a prince!”

Scott gently patted Elowen’s back. “It’s not going to be too big. We’re inviting just our friends and other rulers so they’ll know we have more family now. It will be a bit fancy, but you still don’t have to worry about knowing everything about being a prince. You’ll be introduced to everyone by name, then everyone dances and has some food, and they might ask you some things to get to know you a little. We’ll be right there if you’re not sure about something, or even if it is a little scary.”

Sausage returned to his seat after straightening the chair. “And there’s one more thing: you’ll each get your own special crown! Not like my silly old thing, but something nice that you can wear whenever you want, or not at all – unless there is another fancy event that you’d like to go to.”

Azahar asked curiously, “Then, what will they look like?”

Sausage grinned. “It’s a surprise. But you do get to pick out the outfit and colors you want to wear for it! We’ll head out after breakfast, so eat up!”

As with almost all of the recent trips into town, such as the last time they had gone out to get the boys some new clothes in general, the more people they passed the more Elowen retreated into himself. He clung to Azahar’s hand and shied away against him despite the warm greetings from citizens who were merely happy to see their king and his husband out among them. By the third instance of a shopkeeper attempting to draw a smile from the shy boy, Sausage fell in beside Elowen and offered his left hand for him to also hold, acting as a second barrier to what was meant as politeness, yet was obliviousness on the part of the outgoing citizens.

By the time they reached the tailor’s shop, Elowen had begun to peek around with more curiosity toward his surroundings. Inside, the tailor also greeted them kindly before bustling off to the back room. He returned a moment later with an assistant and a small basket. From it he took three bobby pins with tassels made from metallic string on the ends. He gestured for Scott to lean forward, then he slid a pin with a red tassel into his hair near his ear, then turned to smile at the boys. Azahar accepted a gold one threaded carefully into his hair, while for Elowen the tailor knelt and gently slipped a silver one onto the cuff of his shirt sleeve.

Elowen looked at the tassel dangling from his cuff and the tailor lightly flicked it to make it sway. Elowen smiled and began playing with it, neatly distracted. The tailor then moved to get a tape measure from the basket and took Azahar’s measurements, with the older boy following instructions for how to stand and when to hold out his arms. When it was Elowen’s turn, the tailor asked him to hold out the tassel in different ways, effectively getting him to make the same poses for measuring.

The next step was picking out the style of outfit they wanted. The assistant brought out some examples, which were decidedly on the Mythland side of fashion. Seeing that both of the boys were uncertain, Sausage suggested they could get the same thing in different colors. Azahar glanced at Scott a few times then asked if they could get something similar to his elven tunic with a Mythland-style doublet over it (after he figured out what the clothing pieces were called).

At that point Elowen began to clutch at the tassel instead of still playing with it. Sausage held out his hand again, and now the boy practically buried himself in his papa’s cloak. The tailor cast a sympathetic look at Sausage and Scott, then quietly asked if Elowen would like to touch the fabrics; he didn’t even have to choose one, it was okay for him to just see what they all felt like.

Elowen nodded, and soon he and Sausage were walking through the shop patting at the assorted bolts of fabric with Sausage commenting how soft one was or how the textured pattern on another was weird, getting Elowen to laugh a few times.

Azahar smiled after them, then turned his own attention to choosing something he liked. He eventually settled on scarlet and yellow, hoping to lend significance to the colors of Mythland’s banner as his new home. After some gentle coaxing from Sausage, Elowen went back around and patted some dark blue fabric to indicate his choice.

With everything settled and a follow up day for a fitting agreed upon, they set off back home. Elowen was quiet the entire way and only relaxed once they were on the castle grounds. Instead of departing right away to tend to daily work, Sausage nodded meaningfully to Scott, then nodded toward Elowen as the boy seemed to meander aimlessly away whereas Azahar set off immediately toward the library for the expected delayed lessons.

Sausage moved to Elowen’s side with Scott a step behind. “Elowen, can we talk out in the garden for a moment?”

The boy glanced around for a second, but not seeing Azahar for reassurance, he silently nodded then lowered his head. Sausage gently took his hand and the three of them walked down to the doors leading to the securely walled-in outside area. Once there, Elowen continued to look at the ground. “Sorry if I didn’t act like a brave prince should today. I’m… I’m…” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “I get scared sometimes…”

Sausage lowered himself to one knee to get closer to eye level. “You know what? It’s okay if being around a lot of strangers makes you nervous. All those people out there were happy to see us, and they’ll be nice to you, but if you’re nervous about it, you just tell one of us, and we’ll be right there to keep you safe. We don’t expect you to be brave all the time. I mean, we appreciate if you be a polite young elf, of course. But if there’s something you want to talk about so we can help things not be so scary…” He attempted to drop a hint without being pushy. He couldn’t help wondering if something in the boy’s past had contributed to this.

Scott, however, was the one to pick up on the hint. He placed his hands on Elowen’s shoulders. “Um. We’ll listen and help you with anything, but you don’t even have to talk about it right now. We just want you to know that as your dads, we’re here for you.”

Sausage smiled up at Scott with a sheepish look, realizing he was softening the potential pushiness. Sausage then placed his right hand on Elowen’s arm. “It’s always okay to say if something scares you. Adults get scared of things, too.”

Elowen glanced at Sausage’s prosthetic arm, then put a hand over the metal and gave a small smile before hugging his human father. “Thank you, Papa, Dad. …I don’t wanna talk about anything right now, but I feel better. I’ll try not to be so scared next time.” He stood back but kept his hand on Sausage’s prosthetic and said quietly, “Getting bitten by a dragon must be scary, too, and maybe too scary to talk a lot about.”

Sausage smiled back at him then ruffled the boy’s hair with his left hand. “That’s a good point! I’ve got an idea for something else we can do today that’s more fun than scary dragons: Why don’t you help me finish the invitations and get them sent out? You know all those ravens that hang out on top of the tower? We can tell them to go to Uncle fWhip and everyone that’s invited to the party! Let’s go find your brother!”

The three of them quickly went to collect a surprised Azahar from the library, but he caught on to Elowen’s enthusiasm after the quiet walk home. They relocated the stack of invitations – and Sausage’s stack of daily paperwork – to the dining room table to have space for all of them to work.

Now that they had an idea of when the boys’ outfits would be ready, they could set an official date for the gala, which Azahar and Scott wrote in the space left blank in the original draft. Scott signed each one, then passed them to Elowen, who put them in a neat pile for Sausage to sign in between his other missives. Elowen then took each one back and carefully rolled it up. Scott showed them how to apply enough wax before pressing the seal of Mythland into the middle to show that this was an approved royal message. He put the boys in charge of keeping hold of the dozen invitations while they waited for Sausage to seal some other scrolls, then up they went to the raven aerie.

The majority of the ravens were out on the rooftops. Sausage took care of a few unrelated missives first with quiet instructions, then turned a big grin to the boys. “Okay, where should we start? Alphabetical in Common? The closest first? The farthest – oh, we should probably send Tango’s to Jimmy, I don’t think any of the ravens know how to get to that particular Ancient City, um. Hmm…”

Elowen glanced at a raven that was hopping around on the nearest windowsill. “Are we gonna go by their first names or the name of their empire?”

“Good question!” Sausage replied. “What do you think? Which ones do you remember better from geography lessons?”

Elowen placed his set of invitations on the floor so his hands were free to count on his fingers. “Uncle fWhip is in the Grimlands, Auntie Gem is at the Crystal Cliffs… Auntie Pearl is in Gilded Heel-lee-lanthia—”

“Helianthia,” Azahar corrected.

“Umm, so, Auntie Pearl would be first by the closest empire, but Auntie Gem would be first by name…”

“Wait,” Azahar put in, “Would the Cod Empire be first by empire, or does it go under ‘the’ instead of ‘cod’? …That would mean the Grimlands wouldn’t go under ‘g’ either, huh?”

<i>”Cod! Cod!”</i> the raven on the windowsill called out.

Azahar nearly dropped the scrolls he was holding. “D-Did that one just say ‘cod’ or ‘caw’…?”

Sausage tried to suppress a giggle but failed. “Crows caw, ravens have a deeper kind of <i>grunk.”</i>

“Cod! Cod!” the raven repeated. “Cod Empire!” It then tilted its head and looked at the invitations Elowen had put down. “This letter is for Jimmy!” It hopped down to the floor and began to poke at the scrolls with its beak.

Scott scooped one up and held it out to the raven. “They don’t have individual names on them, but you can deliver this one to Jimmy, in the Cod Empire.”

“Cod! Cod! Jimmy is a cod!”

Scott smiled with a chuckle of his own. “Close enough.”

The ruckus got the attention of a few more ravens, who fluttered onto the windowsills and were soon calling to each other as word got around among them that there were quite a few scrolls in the hands of their young masters, as Elowen picked his up to start offering them to whichever raven ventured near. “This one goes to… GeminiTay at the Crystal Cliffs,” he said, trying to sound authoritative while keeping the order of empires listed in his head – since the choice had been decided for them. “Oh! This one goes to Tango the Blaze Emperor, he’ll get his from Jimmy – in the Cod Empire,” he said to the next raven, almost forgetting what Sausage had said earlier.

After he had gone through his half of the invitations, Azahar took over. “This one goes to King Joel in Mazelea. This one goes to Queen Lizzie in the Ocean Empire. Next is Shrub… no, Princess Katherine, in the Overgrown. Heh, I kinda keep messing up the Overgrown and the Undergrove, sorry.”

The next raven croaked at him then plucked at the scroll still in his hand. He hastily handed it over and continued with the rest of the list. He and Elowen then ran to a window to watch the ravens flying off in various directions, including the two going the same way to their neighboring empire.

~*~

Sitting on the dock outside the humble, littlest shack in the Cod Empire, Tango the Blazeborn Emperor held his feet just above the water, casually humming while watching Jimmy swim around under the surface. He was generally careful to not touch the water himself, out of an overabundance of caution, but he did lean over to look at how his fires, black cloak, and blazerod crown was reflected between the ripples.

The mirrored image of two birds flew into view, then they circled and landed at the edge of the shack’s roof. Tango could see they each had a scroll clutched in the talons of one foot. He stood up and held out his hands. “Those are for Jimmy, right? I’ll give them to him. You can’t swim either, can you?”

“Jimmy the cod!” croaked out one. The birds – ravens, Tango now remembered they were called – looked at each other. The second one croaked, “Give it to Jimmy! For Tango the Blaze!”

“Hey, that’s me! So, you were going to give both to Jimmy, and he’d give me one? He’ll probably be up in a minute, but it works the same way: give both to me, and I’ll give him one!”

The ravens conferred with each other in quiet creaking sounds, then both fluttered off the roof. Tango held his hands out again, only for both birds to drop the scrolls while remaining a distance above him, missing his hands completely. He realized they probably didn’t want to get too close to the flame atop his head. “It’s okay! I don’t take it personally!” he called after them as they flew off back the way they had come.

Tango picked up one scroll and broke the seal, softening the wax with his touch but reining in his heat to not set the parchment itself on fire. He unrolled it then tilted his head as he puzzled over some unfamiliar words.

The Codfather climbed up onto the dock a few seconds later and noticed his companion’s look of concentration. “What have you got there?”

“Hey, so – what’s a gala? And what are princes?”

“What? Let me see.”

“Oh, there was one for you, too! I guess they’re the same, but…” Tango turned and bent to pick up the other scroll that the ravens had dropped. “Here! Tell me if yours says it, too!” He handed it over and rather eagerly bounced on his toes while Jimmy struggled for a second to break the seal with his still-damp fingers.

Tango waited patiently for confirmation and an explanation, but all Jimmy did was exclaim, “Wait, since when has Mythland had princes??”

[Chapter Two - The First Gala ]

#empires smp #empires smp fanfic #mythicalsausage #scott smajor #empires bubbles #sir carlos #jimmy solidarity #tangotek #scosage #champions au: garden path #empires smp s1 #empiresshipping #team rancher #...but in Empires #lunar yarns

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lunarsands · 4 months

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ESMP Fanfic: A Garden's Path - Ch 3

Relationships: MythicalSausage/Scott Smajor, LDShadowlady/Smallishbeans, Shubble/Katherine Elizabeth, TangoTek & SolidarityGaming, Joey Graceffa/Xornoth

WARNINGS: fantasy racism (human v elf), loss of parent (with adoption inevitably comes orphans), minor character death in a later chapter

Chapter Summary: Sausage and Scott set out to add to their family and find quite the boisterous little elven girl to take up that place. Meet the adorable, unstoppable force that is Liana of Mythland.

(Also available on Ao3!)

[ Prologue ] [ Chapter One ] [ Chapter Two ]

[A/N: This character sprung fully formed from my head like Athena from Zeus. She was the first to get an official name due to a small one-off scene that eventually led to this whole story.] [To CallMeSausage on Ao3: I see your comment on Chapter Two, and I acknowledge it. XD ]

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Chapter Three – The First Princess

The orphanage looked somewhat similar to the one they had previously visited, if not smaller and with a yellow thatched roof. As before, Scott made introductions in Elvish, and also as before some of the children shied away from Sausage. He took it in stride, and quietly walked around looking at some drawings that had been placed on the walls, hoping to acclimate the children to his presence and show he was harmless. He could hear Scott chatting with someone young but avoided the temptation to glance over, hoping he wouldn’t interrupt a possible candidate. He heard a negative response and tried not to worry. It might be too much to hope for another scenario where a child was more curious than put off by him being a human.

Yet instead, what Sausage heard next was a somewhat brash little voice calling up at him, “I’m having a tea party but no one wants to play tea party with me! You’re not playing with anyone, so do you want to come to my tea party?”

He looked down to see an indigo-eyed girl of perhaps somewhere around six or seven years old, with long, sapphire-colored hair that looped down one side of her pinkish-hued face. She tucked the loop behind her ear as she looked back at him. Sausage smiled gently. Well, maybe this was a good sign. “Yes, I’d love to.”

“Okay.” Without a second’s hesitation she grabbed his right hand and pulled him toward a small table. There were some small chairs already occupied by a few dolls arranged around it, but after she let go of him, she started moving them to make more space. “You’re too big – they always tell the bigger kids not to sit on these chairs or else they’ll break them! So, the dollies go here. You can sit in this spot, an’ I’ll sit over there an’ pour the tea. An’ then we talk about our fav’rite things ‘cause that’s what the growed-ups always do when they come here. Oh, an’ I’m Liana. I’m six an’ a half. We’re s’posed to tell our names an’ how old we are even when we’re just playing.” She gave a big sigh. “They don’t always play tea party, either. Okay, let me get you a cup.”

As he knelt in the indicated spot, Sausage couldn’t help finding her to be quite endearing. “I can get you another guest if you’d like.”

“Okay! I can take a cup from a dollie. They don’t act’lly use them, you know.”

Sausage turned and waved to get Scott’s attention. “Scott! Come have tea with us!” The elf raised an eyebrow, intrigued by where Sausage had ended up, but smiled as he walked over. “Scott, this is our hostess, Liana. Liana, this is my husband, Scott.”

“Hi. You didn’t say your name, you know. Let me move another dollie.” The little girl briefly wrestled one of the chairs to make room for Scott.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot my manners. My name is Sausage.”

She stopped and giggled. “That’s a silly name! But I had a friend named Buttercup, which is also silly, ‘cause a whole cup of butter is a lot! But she was nice, so it wasn’t a bad name. Just kind of silly. She went home last year. Okay, tea time, everybody sit.” Liana bustled back over to her hostess spot.

Scott nudged the chair the rest of the way over so he could kneel, then he sat back. He watched her pick up a small, unglazed clay tea pot that had been roughly painted by obviously childish hands. And was obviously empty. “That’s a nice tea pot, Liana. Did you paint it yourself?”

“No, I gots it from Melne when she went home. She gots it from somebody else, an’ they gots it from somebody else. I’m gonna give it to somebody when I go home so they can play tea party, too.” She poured the pretend-tea into the equally unglazed cups. “It’s hot so be careful!” She poured her own cup then sat and leaned over to blow on the cup. “Okay, now it’s colder.”

Scott and Sausage obliged by picking up their cups and pretending to take sips. Sausage snuck an amused smile over at Scott, then said, “This is very good tea. Thank you, Liana.”

“Yup! Okay, now you tell me some of your fav’rite things, then I’ll tell you more of mine.” She took a dainty pretend-sip from her cup then looked over at them expectantly.

Sausage decided to go ahead and talk about Bubbles, while Scott mentioned magic and cut to the chase by conjuring a small snow flurry over the table. Liana said she thought it was neat, then listed off her favorite dolls from around the table, but especially her bunny plushie that had always been with her and not a hand-me-down from the older kids and that one was on her bed because bunny needed a nap today. Then she asked, “Do you gots any other kids? Sometimes the growed-ups talk about their other kids an’ aren’t act’lly sure they want more.”

“We have two boys,” Sausage replied tentatively. “They’re at home, but we asked them if they would like to have a sister and they said yes.”

“Boys, huh?” Liana looked like she was considering the matter very seriously. “Well, boys don’t always like to play tea party, but that’s okay. ‘Scuse me.” She abruptly stood up and ran over to the caretaker across the room. “Hi, can I has cookies, please? I want to serve my guests. They need cookies with their tea!”

A giggle escaped Sausage. “Oh, she is precious. She doesn’t seem bothered about my arm or the… other thing.” He briefly reached up to touch his ear. “What do you think?”

“I think we have a match” Scott said, watching Liana skip back over clutching a container. She carefully set it down, then fished out one cookie at a time to place on the plates in front of them.

“Okay, wait for me to get back, then we can eat.” She carefully put the cover back on the container then returned it to the caretaker. “I only took one each, so’s not gonna spoil their dinner!” Once she returned, she dunked her cookie into her pretend tea and started munching on it. She then giggled and leaned toward them to whisper conspiratorially, “Sometimes I play tea party so’s I can gets extra cookies.” She giggled again, pleased to have shared her secret, then sat back to finish eating.

Sausage muffled another laugh, covering it up by hastily biting into his cookie. Scott ate his with a little more grace, then said, “We would be happy to get you your own tea set – and cookies – if you’d like to come live with us.”

“Can I gets one with bunnies on it?”

“You could even get one that you can paint yourself and put anything you want on it,” Scott replied. He reckoned they could probably request a specially decorated one from the potter, though.

“Okay. Can I bring my bunny, or do I has to hands-me-down it first?” She looked a little consternated by the choice.

Sausage could see the indecision in her eyes and felt he should encourage her in some way, as the tradition seemed important to her. “You can bring everything that is yours. But we can get you some new things, if you’d like to leave anything as a gift to someone else, like this tea set.”

“I really like my bunny… But I have a dress that Silvilana said she liked. She’s smaller than me but she can wear it when she gets bigger!”

“That’s very nice of you,” Scott said. “Thank you for the tea. We need to talk with the other grown-ups but we’ll see you in a little while.”

“Okay. Thanks for coming to my tea party. You were nice guests. Time to clean up!” Liana stacked the plates and hurriedly began to bring the assortment of items to a set of wooden cubby holes along the wall. She was trying to line up the dolls on top of them – not quite tall enough to reach – when another little girl came over to her. As Scott and Sausage walked toward the caretaker, they heard her call out, “Silvilana! I might gets two daddies! One of ‘em gots a metal arm!”

Scott was now the one to suppress a laugh. “Oh, my gods. She’s perfect. She’s just like you.”

“I don’t remember if I was like that at that age.”

“No, I’m talking about now.”

Sausage gave him a look questioning that observation. Scott gave him a frank look in return. Sausage bobbed his head for a moment as if in debate, then held his hands out in a gesture admitting the elf was right.

Soon paperwork was finalized and once again the royal stamp was eyed by the caretaker. “You’re… absolutely sure about her?” they asked, attempting to be tactful. “She’s not quite, well, princess material.”

Sausage deftly snapped the stamp up into his hand then whisked it away into his pocket. “We’re not looking for a princess. We’re looking for a daughter.” He smiled pleasantly and turned to go help with Liana’s bag, with Scott not far behind.

The little girl sat in a chair near the main door, humming and swinging her feet. She hopped up as they approached. She hugged her bunny plush tightly. “Time to go home! Do we have to go far?”

“It’s a little far,” Sausage admitted. “But we’ll get there before it’s dark out.” He then gave pause and lowered himself to one knee to be closer to her level. “I just want to ask you one thing before we go. You’ve been very nice about my arm. It does come off so it can be fixed, so you’ll see me without it. Is that okay?”

She looked over at his prosthetic thoughtfully, then placed her hand on the transparent crystal in the middle of his forearm. “A dollie’s arm gots pulled off one time but gots sewed back on. I could still play with her without it.”

“I also can’t sleep with it on, so it isn’t just when it needs to be fixed.”

“Well, yeah! Metal can’t be comfy to sleep on!”

Sausage smiled broadly at her. He felt Scott’s hand on his shoulder. “You have a very good point. Are you all ready to go?” He stood up and gave Scott a weaker smile. The elf patted his shoulder in response.

“Umm…” She turned to the door, then looked back toward the playroom. “I put away all the toys like I’m s’posed to. I put all my clothes in there. I have my bunny. I think I’m okay to go now.” She hugged the doll again, then reached up for Sausage’s hand while holding the bunny close with the other. “Let’s go home, um… Sau-sage an’, um…” When she sounded out his name it was the first time she seemed uncertain.

“You can call me Papa,” he offered.

Scott moved to get the door for them. “I’m called ‘Dad’.” Remembering what she had said to the other girl, he added, “Daddy is fine, too.”

“Papa, and Daddy. Okay.” Liana nodded, then quietly walked along out to the carriage. She wasn’t as enamored with it as the boys had been, instead only keeping a tight hold on her bunny as she watched Scott climb in. He took her bag from Sausage then held out his arms to help her in when Sausage lifted her up to reach the step more easily. She sat between them and once the carriage set off, she began humming again.

Scott let a few minutes pass before striking up conversation. “Liana, can I ask what you think about princesses?” Sausage shot him a bit of a worried glance; he had thought they would bring that up closer to home.

“They live in big castles an’ have pretty dresses an’ have pet horsies. They don’t ride the horsies too much, they just sit on them an’ look pretty, an’ a prince walks the horsie around so she doesn’t have to walk after he gives her a special shoe.”

There was clearly a very specific picture book that she associated the word princess with.

“Princesses can actually do all sorts of different things, including ride a horse around,” Scott said. “The big castle part is true, though.”

“Are we going to see a big castle? An’ meet a princess? That would be neat.” Her face fell a little bit. “I don’t gots a dress pretty enough to meet a princess. Everybody looks really pretty when they gets to meet a prince or princess.”

Sausage commented with a smile, “You’ll soon get to meet two princes, and they won’t mind if you have a fancy dress or not. But we can get you one.”

She perked up. “Can it be purple? I like purple. Melne had a purple dress, not as pretty as a princess’, but it was nice.”

“It can definitely be purple,” Scott replied. “If we get back home with enough time, we might be able to find one and you could wear it when you see the princes.”

“Are they your princes?” Liana asked with all the curiosity of the world in her voice, while leaving them stunned that she managed to make such a guess. “You said you gots two boys. So, two princes!”

“Ah, ehm,” Scott stammered. “How did you get that idea?”

She pointed at Sausage. “You’re tall like a king.”

“Me?” Sausage tried to sound innocent. “But he’s taller! I didn’t know height was a requirement for kings.”

“No, it’s ‘cause you’re like this.” Liana stood up and carefully walked toward the other seats, mindful of the motion of the carriage. She squared her shoulders and then sat, poised confidently with her back straight and head held high – a complete change from her own subconscious slouch when she had been sitting between them.

“I – I am??” Sausage asked in confusion, unaware of his apparently ingrained royal posture.

“When you sat at the tea party!” she insisted. “’Cause you were being serious! You were serious about playing pretend!” A grin spread across her face.

Scot failed to not share that grin as he turned to his husband. “She has you, there. Well, Liana, you have us figured out. We’re the rulers of Mythland. We wanted to keep it a secret so no one would think we were super-special.”

Liana’s face scrunched up into an exaggerated ‘thinking mode’. “Hmm. Kings pretending to be reg’lar people but are from a land of myths…” She peered over at them. “Are you also heroes who saved the world from a BIG monster that would’ve eated everything if somebody wasn’t brave enough to stop it?”

Sausage hastily hugged Scott to cover up their mutually shocked reactions, lamenting, “Scott, we have to keep her now! She knows our secret! We have no choice but to make her a princess who will be destined to save the kingdom from an even scarier monster in the future! Thank goodness we found her in time!”

Liana giggled. “No, that’s just pretend! I can be a reg’lar princess just having tea parties! An’ maybe ride a horsie.”

~*~

When the report came from the watchtower that a carriage was approaching, Bubbles and the boys ran out toward the stable yard – with Sir Carlos flapping in their wake, admonishing them to slow down in case one of them tripped.

Due to this, they all arrived after the carriage had parked, although they witnessed Sausage lifting an elven girl who was clutching a plush bunny doll down off the carriage steps. She spotted the boys and dashed over while Sausage was busy taking her bag from Scott. “Hi! You must be the princes! I didn’t have a dress for meeting princes an’ we didn’t have time to stop an’ look for one like Daddy said ‘cause we didn’t want to be late to dinner, so I’ll get one later. I’m Liana, an’ I’m six an’ a half!”

“Hi, Liana. I’m Azahar. I turned twelve last month, but… you don’t have to keep telling everyone your age now that you have a family.”

“Oh.” She looked up at him, baffled. “That’s what I was told I was s’posed to do when I meet new people. You’re my brothers ‘cause you’re Papa and Daddy’s sons, but you’re still new to me!” She then pivoted toward Elowen. “Hi!”

Her gregariousness seemed a bit much for the other boy, who stammered, “H-Hi, Liana. I’m Elowen. It – It’s nice to meet you.”

“Yeah! And this doggy is Bubbles, right? Hi, Bubbles! And this is—” Liana paused and peered down at Sir Carlos. “Nobody told me about a pet chicken! ‘Specially a chicken with armor! Papa!” She turned her head to look for Sausage. “Are you a king who has all sorts of knights, too? ‘Cause this chicken looks like a knight!”

Sir Carlos clucked – almost sounding more like a chuckle. “Young mistress Liana, I am Sir Carlos. I am, indeed, a knight.”

The little girl spun back to face him with her eyes wide. “You’re a talking chicken?! This place is like a fairytale story! Bubbles, are you magical, too??”

Elowen tugged on Azahar’s sleeve as the older boy stood stunned by the sheer amount of vivacious energy coming off the girl. Elowen whispered, “And I thought I got excited about cool things. Wait until she hears about the dragon…”

“There’s a pet DRAGON, too?!” Liana exclaimed.

Azahar now turned an amused smile toward his parents. Sausage hefted Liana’s bag over his shoulder and strolled past the children up the steps, trying to give off a casual air. “You, Liana, seem to have exceptional hearing. The story about the dragon will have to wait – I think I can smell dinner from here! Let’s rest up from all that travel and we can all talk more inside.”

“Okay!” Liana followed at his heels. “Is there a special princess chair? I’ve seen pictures of princesses sitting on big, fancy pillows. I don’t need a fancy pillow, but sometimes I need one to reach a table.”

Azahar and Elowen remained where they stood for half a minute longer, just staring after them and listening to their new sister’s voice echo off the stone as she continued to ramble. The older boy looked at Scott as he stepped between them to put a hand behind each’s shoulder, as if to nudge them out of their flummoxed states and start walking. “How—” Azahar flicked a pointing finger between Scott and the direction of Sausage’s back. “How did you—? She’s—??”

“…Just like Papa?” Scott finished for him with a smile. “There is a lot of magic in the world, and maybe fate does happen to be one of them.”

~*~

Liana gazed around as she continued to follow Sausage toward the staircase that led to the upper floors, where he intended to quickly stash her bag and maybe see if she would part with her bunny plush so she could go to dinner unhindered. “Papa, this castle is huge! It’s gonna take weeks an’ weeks to see all of it! How come you only gots two kids? You could fit elebenty hundred in here!”

Sausage laughed. “Well, we only decided we wanted kids last year. It would take a while to find that many! And there aren’t as many bedrooms as it looks like. We would probably run out of space after the first elebenty, er, eleven. Azahar and Elowen share a room right now, but they might decide they each want their own later.”

“Who do I have a room with?” Liana asked curiously.

“Um… your bunny! But your room is right across from the boys if you need anything, and Dad and I are right down the hall.”

“What about these rooms?” She glanced left and right at the other doors they were passing.

“Those are guest rooms! Well, a few have some junk stored in them because I, uh, collect things. But when you or the boys make some friends, they’ll be able to stay over and sleep in one of them! Okay, here we are! See, there’s their room.” Sausage pointed with his foot to the open doorway on the left before finagling with the door across from it.

Liana wandered over to glance inside; she saw the two neatly made beds with Elowen’s teddy bear on the one farthest from the door, then she spotted the books and crowns sitting on the dresser. Her eyes widened with glee, but she kept the feeling reined in to just a broad smile as she turned and walked back over to survey her room. Two new beds and other furniture had been placed in it after the existing items had been moved to accommodate Elowen’s request to share.

Liana scurried over to the second bed and climbed up to lay her bunny against the pillows. “You’re right! Bunny gets a bed, too!” She hopped back to the floor and took a serious look around. “Hmm. I need to gets books. An’… An’ a crown. ‘Cause that’s what’s in Azahar and Elowen’s room.”

Sausage kept quiet for a moment, realizing for the first time as he put her clothes away in the dresser how few possessions Liana had been able to put in her bag… or, what had actually been put in it for her. The clothing seemed threadbare and was, perhaps, reserved for sending off with a child when it could no longer be handed down to another child who wore that size. He made a mental note to send a subsidy to that particular orphanage, and have a talk with Xornoth about checking fund distributions; he then added a note for himself to do the same there in Mythland.

He turned a bright smile toward Liana. “You can put whatever you want in here! It doesn’t have to be just books! Flowers, dollies, a pretty tea pot – even other bunny plushies!” She looked distressed for a second, so he added, “Bunnies that are friends for your bunny! That way yours can have company when you’re busy doing princess things!”

She seemed to think about it, then she nodded enthusiastically and carefully enunciated, “Thank you, Papa, I would like that.”

Sausage chuckled then scooped her up with his left arm, holding her on his hip with support from his right hand. “You’re welcome! Let’s go downstairs to dinner, and we can think about getting dollies and dresses tomorrow. In fact… We’re going to be late for dinner! I just noticed Dad and the boys didn’t follow us! They might eat everything before we get there! Hold on to me!”

Liana giggled and hugged his neck as he ran out of the room and tore down the hall, laughing with her until they reached the staircase, which he navigated more carefully until he neared the bottom. He bunny-hopped down the last few steps, making Liana giggle again. As they neared the dining room, she put her nose up into the air and crinkled it. “I can smell dinner now, too! Dinnertime! Dinnertime! Dinner with my new daddies an’ brothers!”

Sausage entered the room to see heartfelt looks on the faces of Scott and the boys due to having heard Liana’s joyful declaration. They had been making changes to how the table was arranged, with Scott and Elowen seated to the left of the head of the table and an extra chair added on the right next to Azahar that put Liana between him and Sausage. An additional purple cushion had been placed on this chair. Liana uttered a big, delighted gasp when she saw it as Sausage set her down on it. She wiggled a little, then whispered, “So there was a special princess chair…”

Elowen suppressed a giggle, while Azahar smiled gently at Liana. “You said you might need a pillow to reach the table, so we found one for you. Dad said you like purple.”

“I do! Thank you!” Liana crowed. She calmed down and said matter-of-factly, “I only need it for right now, though. I’m gonna grow up to be really tall, then I can reach all the fancy tables!”

Elowen fidgeted as the kitchen staff began to set out bowls of soup and small, individual baskets of warm bread rolls. He appeared as if he wanted to say something to Liana, but he waited while she thanked each person that walked past. After the staff withdrew, he blurted, “D-Do you think you’ll be really tall because your mom or your dad were tall?”

Liana had started munching on a bread roll and calmly spoke around the bite, “I don’t know my mommy or daddy. When I gots old enough an’ asked, the growed-ups told me I was a ‘doorstep baby’, an’ all I had with me was my bunny! So, they didn’t know about them to tell me.”

Azahar, Scott, and Sausage were startled by her candor. Azahar reached over to lightly pat Liana’s arm. “You and I have something in common, then.”

Liana’s eyes widened. “You gots left with just your bunny, too? But I didn’t see one in your room!”

Azahar laughed. “No, I think it was a handspun yarn blanket, and when I outgrew it, it was used for another baby, which I didn’t mind.”

“Oh, that’s a nice hands-me-down,” Liana said, nodding sagely as she took another bite of the roll. She chewed, then announced, “This is yummy bread!” She hummed happily until she finished eating the roll, then she looked across the table. “Elowen, did you hands-me-down anything? Was that your teddy bear I saw? It could be friends with my bunny!”

Elowen smiled weakly, having been poking his spoon at the vegetables in his soup. “I didn’t have anything like that. I got my teddy bear later.”

“Oh, okay,” Liana replied, oblivious to his dulled tone. “That’s a good reason to not hands-me-down! Daddy, Papa, do you have bunnies or teddy bears from when you was kids?”

With a mischievous look – and hoping to lighten Elowen’s mood – Sausage answered, “I only have Bubbles from when I was a kid!”

Liana shook her spoon at him. “Papa, Bubbles is a real doggy! You can’t pretend a real aminal is a toy!” She took a very serious first sip of her soup, as if she was the parent scolding the child, then her eyes lit up and she looked down at the bowl in wonder. “This is really good soup!” She ate two more quick spoonfuls before coughing when she started on a third.

“Slowly, Liana,” Scott gently chided. “It will still taste good if you eat slower. And to answer your question, I had a blue fawn plushie when I was little, although it ended up with the spots turned red because my brother tried to dye it with berry juice. We were never able to wash the stain out. But it was still my favorite.”

Liana gave an angry pout. “Your brother sounds mean! What if you gots another brother or sister after you, an’ you were gonna hands-me-down it to them, but they didn’t like red, an’ it made them cry! An’… An’ if he’s your brother, that makes him my uncle!” Her face fell into a sadder pout. “I don’t want a mean uncle.”

Scott chuckled. “Don’t worry, he wasn’t trying to be mean. He just wanted to do something silly. He thought it would wash out, too.”

Liana stood up on her chair and now shook her spoon at Scott, sending a few droplets of broth flying. “But no one should mess with someone’s fav’rite toy! It’s not nice! He shoulda tried it on his own toy first, so’s he would know how it feels!”

Sausage reached over to pinch the handle of her spoon between two fingers, creating a metallic tink sound. Putting some focus on his magic frequency, he sent a brief surge of energy through his prosthetic to make the gemstone at the wrist twinkle. The shine of this light through the translucent green cover atop his forearm distracted her from her tiny outrage and she watched with fascination, although all he did was gently lower her hand.

Meanwhile, Azahar and Elowen traded looks across the table. The latter stammered, “Y-You’re very energetic, Liana. We were really nervous about becoming princes and were, um, very polite our first days here.”

Liana blinked at him. To Sausage’s relief, she put her spoon down altogether instead of gesturing with it again, so he withdrew his hand. “But it’s just dinnertime,” she replied. “It’s not a big ball with lotsa candles an’ people dancing in a big room with fancy dresses. We’re just being us, aren’t we?”

Sausage began to laugh. “She’s right! We’re just us right now. But you still shouldn’t stand on your chair, Liana, or wave utensils around at the same time – you might fall over into your soup!”

“Oh. Yeah, you’re right – it won’t taste good if I do that,” she agreed. She sat back down on the pillow and ate her soup with perfect manners, although after a point she grabbed another roll and proceeded to gobble it down while again proclaiming how yummy it was.

~*~

After a short lantern-lit tour to try to give Liana a sense of direction if she happened to get up during the night or possibly woke up early and decided to explore on her own – which, honestly, Sausage and Scott wouldn’t put past her but did request that she not do – everyone started getting ready for bed. Sausage tucked her in and asked if she would be alright in a room by herself, and assured her it was fine if she wasn’t, and asked if she would feel better if one of her brothers stayed in the room with her until she got used to it because this place was new to her and it was fine to be nervous, and—

Liana merely hugged her bunny and said she was okay, a big girl princess wouldn’t be scared of a castle and she had bunny to share the room with her, after all, and Azahar and Elowen seemed to like having a room together, so maybe that also meant one of them was scared to be alone at night, so she would be brave so that neither of them would have to be alone, and—

Scott broke up the mutual rambling session, gently pulling Sausage away from the doorway before wishing Liana a goodnight in Elvish to try to make it sound like a finality that everyone would go to sleep now. He elbowed Sausage, who hastily repeated the phrase while still looking worried about this first night in the castle. Yet, this only caused Liana to giggle, because Scott then corrected Sausage’s accent, telling his husband he had just told Liana to ‘have a good sneeze’.

Liana loudly repeated the misspoken phrase with another giggle, drawing laughs from across the hall. Sausage uttered a good-natured grumble about still working on his accent, then wished everyone goodnight again in Common.

The little girl laid down, bunny in her arms, and gazed at the ceiling while processing some of the sounds she was noticing; she was silently glad for the lanternlight coming in from the hallway, since the door had been left open in case she did happen to call for something.

It was only a few minutes later that Azahar came in to check on her. He sat down on the other bed as she sat up to tell him, “I told Papa I was okay. You can sleep in your room.”

“I just wanted to make sure,” Azahar said warmly. “I always tried to help new kids feel welcome in the place where Elowen and I used to live. I thought I could still do the same now.”

“But Daddy an’ Papa took me home! That means I am welcome!”

“Oh, well, yes. Of course it does. But if you have anything you’re, like, worried about or scared of, I can talk with you about it. Elowen was nervous about how big the castle was when we first got here, and we wondered if there might be ghosts.”

“Castles are s’posed to be big! An’… An’ ghosts aren’t scary!” Liana insisted, although she clutched her bunny plushie tightly. “Papa would have said something if there were ghosts!”

From out in the hallway came a high-pitched “OoOoOo~” noise, then Elowen leaned his head into the room. “Maybe Papa doesn’t know there are ghosts. Maybe they only show themselves to certain people. Like little children…”

Azahar shot him a look of warning; Elowen gave a mischievous grin. Liana, meanwhile, protested, “Stop tryin’a scare me! You’re being mean brothers!”

“Shhh,” Azahar tried to quiet her, holding his hands up to calm the situation. “Let’s not worry Dad or Papa. They need to rest from traveling, too. Elowen, that wasn’t nice. We should teach her how to chase away the ghosts first.” He snuck a grin at the other boy.

Liana scowled. “I don’t believe you! There aren’t any ghosts! Kingdoms that have talking chickens an’ dragons don’t have stupid scary things like ghosts! There would be REAL monsters! Now get outta my room, I wanna go to sleep!” She glared mightily at them.

Elowen stood straight upright, incidentally hopping into the middle of the doorway. “Oh, I see – you’re scarier than ghosts would be! Oh, time to run away! I’m gonna hide under my blanket from a scary little sister!” He turned tail to run to the other room.

Azahar stared after him. “This is… not how I meant this to go…”

“Hmph!” Liana put her chin in the air. “That’s what you get for tryin’a scare me! Now go away!” She emphatically turned and pulled the blanket up over herself.

“Okay, well… Um, sorry, Liana. I really do want to help. That was just some silly fun to make your first night here less scary—”

“I don’t care! Time for sleep! Say sorry at breakfast, an’ maybe I won’t be as mad at you!”

“Heh, okay.” Azahar wished her goodnight in Elvish, then left.

Liana hugged her bunny under the covers. “Mean… There’s no ghosts. There can’t be ghosts. My new daddies are secret heroes… Ghosts don’t haunt heroes. Unless they’re good ghosts… I don’t wanna see a ghost floatin’ through the wall, but maybe they’re helpful ghosts… An’… An’ they don’t try to scare little girls who’re tryin’a be brave even though they’re in a big, giant castle for the first time, an’ just met everyone…”

She heard a brief scraping sound; she let out an involuntary whimper, clutching her bunny tighter. Something jumped onto the bed, and then a wet nose came sniffing around the edge of the blanket. There was a very soft, “Arf?” then a weight settled down beside her.

Liana put her hand out and ended up grasping a fistful of short fur. She lightened her grip, then surreptitiously began to pet the furry creature. She whispered, “It’s time for sleep, Bubbles. You can stay in my room, though. You’re a big, brave doggie. Goodnight.”

~*~

Sausage was the first awake the next morning, and he didn’t even wait for Scott to be up to help him don his prosthetic before he padded out of the room without it so he could check on Liana. Things were a little different from Azahar’s and Elowen’s first night in Mythland; they were older, for starters, and had the familiarity of each other for company. Sausage had heard some of the kerfuffle among the three children at bedtime, but it hadn’t seemed too alarming, and everyone quieted down soon after.

He glanced into the boys’ room just to see if Liana had gone to them – either from reassurance during the night, or if she had already woken up and was there to chat. Instead, he saw both boys still in bed, although they were awake. Azahar was doing some arm stretches while Elowen yawned loudly – but he used a quiet tone when he spotted Sausage and said, “Good morning, Papa.”

“Good morning,” Sausage replied, also keeping his voice down. “I’m just checking up on everything. I’ll see you at breakfast in a bit.” He gave a little wave, then crossed to the other side of the hall.

Liana was sleeping soundly, lying on her back with her bunny in range of her right hand, while her left hand rested beside a furry black and tan lump that was curled up next to her. Sausage smiled and whispered, “Good girl, Bubbles.”

The interdimensional Yorkie lifted her head and turned it to peer at him. She wagged her tail and made a silent bark. Then she jumped up, did a one-eighty turn in the air, and licked Liana’s hand. The little girl stirred, mumbling, “Bubbles… stop tryin’a eat me… You’re s’posed to eat the scary ghosts…”

“Bubbles,” Sausage called in an exaggerated whisper, “I thought we chased off the ghosts. Did you find one more and tell our new daughter about it?”

Liana abruptly sat bolt upright, causing Bubbles to jump off the bed and run past Sausage out of the room. He smiled after her, turning so that the cuff covering his stump was visible – due to his nightshirt lacking a sleeve on that side. Liana declared, “I knew there wouldn’t be any real ghosts! Azahar an’ Elowen tried to scare me, but I didn’t believe them! Bubbles was just sleepin’ here ‘cause she wanted company! I wasn’t scared!” She then blinked and stared at Sausage’s right side. “Oh. That’s not like the dollie’s arm. Her whole arm came off.”

Sausage smiled gently and cupped the end of his stump with his left hand as he entered the room. “Yeah, the dragon only ate part of it. I usually put on my metal arm when I get up in the morning, but I really wanted to make sure you slept alright last night. So, the boys tried to scare you, huh?”

Liana’s eyes went wide and, aghast, she yelled, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE DRAGON ATE IT?! I thought it was a pet dragon, or knight dragon, like the chicken!!”

Sausage winced at her volume. “Oh, ha, we didn’t tell you the whole story yesterday.” He sat down on the side of the bed with his left arm toward her, but she crawled over to sit on his right, so he turned, leaving them both sat on the end facing the doorway. “Dad and I, along with our friends – your new Uncle fWhip and Aunt Gem – fought an angry dragon – or, a dragon-like creature.” Sausage’s own eyes brightened with merriment as he thought of a way to embellish the story, because Liana was hanging onto his every word. “We didn’t know what it really was, but it was fierce, and it was hungry! I attacked it with my sword – whap-pow! – but it just opened its big mouth and bit down on not only my sword, but most of my arm! Dad used his magic to freeze it, then rescued me, and Auntie Gem healed me. She did a good job, but the beast had already finished its meal and we couldn’t get it back to stick it back on, so Uncle fWhip made me a new arm!”

Liana fairly vibrated from excitement. “So, you did stop a monster that would have eated everything!”

Sausage uttered a slightly nervous laugh. “Well, sort of. It seemed like it was happy to eat only my arm. But we put a stop to it, just in case.”

Liana went quiet, looking as if she was pondering a very serious matter, then said, “Papa, do you think the dragon-creature’s ghost would haunt the castle?”

“Nope! I think you already know what would happen – Bubbles would eat it!”

“That’s true,” Liana replied in an upbeat tone. She then tilted her head. “Can I see it? Y-Your arm? Um, the part the dragon didn’t eat?” She gestured to the buttoned cuff, her expression the epitome of childlike curiosity. “Oh, wait, ummm… Is it okay to ask that?”

“Sure! I don’t mind! It’s not scary, it just has a scar like my face.” Sausage began to undo the buttons on the side of the cuff.

“Did the monster scratch your face, too??”

“No, that was from an… accident. With a Blood Sheep. You don’t want to mess with the Blood Sheep. They’re powerful, like Bubbles! But as long as they have plenty of grass to graze, they won’t try to eat little girls.”

“What’s a Blood Sheep? There were sheep near where I lived, but no one ever said they were dangerous!”

“Umm… I’ll show you after breakfast!” He rolled the cuff upward and held the remainder of his arm up for Liana to examine. She noted the wide line of scar tissue on the end and began to reach to touch it, but pulled her hand back, murmuring to herself, “Nope, that might be rude, too. You gots to ask first.” She screwed up her face in thought, then pulled up the sleeves of her nightgown and – after a moment of deliberating – held her left arm up next to his stump to give herself an idea of where it might match up.

Sausage smiled, amused by her train of thought. He then caught movement by the door from the corner of his eye. Scott was there with a look of consternation, one of his braids coming loose as if he hadn’t had time to complete it, and he held the prosthetic in his hands. Sausage gave him a little nod, then raised a finger in a ‘one minute’ gesture. Scott shook his head and pointed down at the prosthetic, then off to the side, indicating that Sausage should get moving. “Well, Liana, if you have any more questions about it, I can answer them later. We should get going and have breakfast!”

Scott gestured more insistently. Sausage hopped up and hurried over to ask about the rush, but Scott immediately ushered him back to their room. “There’s a raven waiting for you. It came from the western border. You need to go over there right away.” The raven in question was sitting on the windowsill, an open scroll under one foot.

Sausage quickly pulled off his nightshirt to allow Scott to help him attach the prosthetic. “But we were going to go shopping for Liana after breakfast.” His mouth fell into a little pout.

“It’s urgent. I’ll take her and the boys out, don’t worry.” Not waiting for Sausage to move faster, Scott started dressing his husband shirt-first.

Sausage, meanwhile, gave him a sad-eyed look, his pout intensifying. He did, however, cooperate with getting dressed for travel.

Scott chuckled softly. “I know, I know. You were looking forward to it. You’ve become very fond of her rather quickly.”

“I can’t help it! She’s so charming and… and… we didn’t have a chance to stop yesterday to get her the dress she wanted…” Sausage continued to pout, then tapped the tips of his index fingers against each other while looking aside as he mumbled, “But I guess she can spend time with her new dad, too…”

“Sau-sage,” Scott said, “They think there’s a Warden loose in the caves near the town. If it weren’t for Liana, I would go, too, but I don’t want to leave her on her first day here. And it’s better if you’re the one to meet with the townsfolk, especially if you need to get Tango’s help for Warden wrangling.”

Sausage’s expression changed instantly. He rushed to get his boots on, then grabbed his customized elytra from the armor stand in the corner. He shrugged it on, then went to the window to read the scroll for himself, checking the name of the town. Then he climbed into the window. The raven croaked and flew off ahead of him to let the distressed townsfolk know their king was on his way. “I’ll find breakfast on the way. Tell the kids I love them and I’ll be back soon!”

“Good luck!” Scott called after him as Sausage launched himself out of the window frame. Scott then finished getting himself sorted for the day and went to tell the children of the change in plans. He caught up to the boys as they were heading out of their room, and asked them to wait while he checked if Liana was ready to go downstairs.

He found her fully dressed in one of the patched outfits she had brought home with her, the leggings in decent shape – but no shoes yet, since she was jumping on the second bed trying to look out the high, narrow window. Scott was about to question her but she turned and exclaimed, “I heard a loud bird! An’ I looked up an’ saw Papa flying by the window! He doesn’t have bird wings like elves!” She leapt down from the bed and ran over to Scott, demanding, “Why is he flying? How is he flying?!”

Perhaps startled by her announcement, Azahar and Elowen ran over to the doorway. Scott looked around at the three children, silently wishing Sausage had chosen a different direction to go. “I was just coming to tell all of you: Papa had a sudden, important request for help from a town, and it’s his job as king to go in person, especially because he might need some extra help.” Scott then realized what Sausage’s choice of direction meant. “It sounds like he was going to get that help, actually, because Tango the Blaze Emperor – boys, you might remember him from your gala – is a specialist at wrangling the creature that the townsfolk are having a problem with, and the best place to find him is our neighbor, the Cod Empire.”

Azahar was about to make a humorous comment about Tango being rather memorable for appearing to be on fire, but Liana cut him off. “Our neighbors are fish?! How do fish have an empire?? Don’t fish just swim around in the water all day? Isn’t a blaze like a fire? Wouldn’t that boil the water? Oh! Is he really good at cooking fish?”

Elowen giggled. Scott was once again struck by how similar Liana and Sausage were. As he stifled a laugh of his own, Azahar explained, “There are people who can breathe underwater and have the appearance of different types of sea life. The Cod Empire is ruled by Jimmy, who is a fish-like man. His sister, Lizzie, rules the Ocean Empire, and looks like a giant blue axolotl. Tango, however, is a blazeman-hybrid. He does have a kingdom of his own underground, a little far away from here, but he is good friends with Jimmy, who is teaching him about life on the surface – teaching him about people like us, who are different from what he’s used to.”

Liana seemed to be listening with fascination. “So, there’s lotsa other kingdoms besides Rivendell an’ this land of myths? But those people all sound like they’re myths!”

Scott now openly chuckled. “Our kingdom is literally named Mythland. Sir Carlos can explain the history better than I can, but it has its roots in an even older kingdom with a great – if lost – legacy. You’ll learn all about these things when we have school lessons later. We’ll figure out what type of lessons you need another day, though. After breakfast we’re going to do some shopping in town and find that dress you wanted, and you can show it to Papa when he gets home.”

Liana looked disappointed for a second as she stepped back. She glanced toward the window. Then she gave a decisive nod and ran to the dresser to take out a pair of socks. She sat down on the floor to pull them on. “Okay, Daddy. We’ll… surprise Papa by finding a really pretty one! An’… he’ll see… he’ll see that we could find one, even if not all of us was there to look at ev’rything.” She scooted over to her shoes to put them on next. Afterward, she lifted her chin proudly to show she was being a big girl and not upset that her new papa wasn’t also going with them.

Scott, of course, noticed her lip tremble. “He’ll be with us in spirit. He really wanted you to get that purple dress, and since we don’t know how long it would take to help the townsfolk, I said I would take you out to get one.” Thinking he had cottoned on to the problem, he said, “You know, this can also be a way for you to impress him by telling him about all the things you saw in town! It will be like your own adventure in your new home.”

Elowen piped up, “Y-Yeah, Liana, and we can show you some of the cool things we’ve discovered when we’ve gone out around town.” He gestured to himself and Azahar. “We can show you where the winter market was, and where the regular shops are that sell fun stuff!”

“No,” Liana said in a firm, yet calm, tone. “When Daddy an’ Papa came to my old home, they both played with me. So, they should both be there for other fun!” As if that should settle the matter, she walked past Scott and went between the boys, grabbing Azahar and Elowen by the hand. “Okay, breakfast time! You gots to eat a good breakfast before you go out!”

~*~

“Jimmy!! Tango!!” Sausage’s voice rang out over the sea-facing border of the Cod Empire as he flew over, hoping to get the attention of one of them. “I need help with a Warden problem!!”

The door of the fishing shack flew open – presumably from the force of Tango’s kick, seeing as he came out with one upraised foot leading. “Warden?? Where?! Oh, hi! Hi, neighboring Sausage-king-person.” Tango looked eager for details, but waited for Sausage to circle around to make a non-watery landing.

Jimmy wandered out of the shack a moment later, yawning and rubbing one eye. “Sausage, it’s too early for monster wrangling…”

The King of Mythland didn’t bother closing his elytra. “Not when they wander up to the surface overnight! I’ve got a small town in need, and I don’t have a lot of time today, so I thought I’d call on the expert to get it done faster. Oh, and you can help, too, Jimmy.”

The Codfather gave him a disgruntled look, while Tango straightened up proudly. “Of course! Professional wranglers here, at your service.”

“Great,” Sausage said. “Now grab some elytra and follow me! I need to get back a-sap!”

“I’ll get them!” Tango chirped. “I haven’t flown around much. Some practice will be great! fWhip even made me some fireproof ones.” He scurried back inside the shack.

Jimmy waited outside, taking note of Sausage’s clearly bright mood despite the apparent threat. “You’re in quite the hurry. What is going on that you need to rush back? Do you have something nice planned with the princes?”

“Jimmy…” Sausage clapped his left hand onto the Codfather’s shoulder and feigned a somber attitude, then overrode it with a wide grin. “Scott and I just became the proud fathers of a little girl! We brought her home last night! This is our first full day with her, and I have to go deal with some stupid Warden that couldn’t stay in the Deep Dark.” As he spoke, his fingers tightened, digging into Jimmy’s shoulder; Sausage’s grin turned into a clenched-tooth grimace of aggravation.

Jimmy endured it, then pried Sausage’s hand off. “Well, uh, congratulations, and I’m sorry you have a rogue Warden to deal with, today of all days. What’s her name? What’s she like? Hey, it’s actually kind of nice to find out ahead of time instead of a gala invite out of the blue.”

“Oh, Jimmy, she’s the sweetest little elf. Her name is Liana, she’s six and a half years old – she seems to like insisting on the ‘and a half’ part – she loves to talk and ask things and have tea parties, and I can’t wait to see her running around with Bubbles and the boys and having fun together—!!” Sausage pressed the palms of his hands against his cheeks and all but squeed with joy.

“Oh my gosh, Sausage.” Jimmy’s mouth crinkled up in amusement. “She’s got you wrapped around her finger, and it hasn’t even been a whole day! That’s so sweet, man. I’ll look forward to meeting her. Y’know, before or at her debut gala.” He grinned teasingly.

Tango returned before Sausage could comment. He handed Jimmy his elytra, then shrugged his own on. “Alright, now to take care of this little Warden issue. Lead on, Your Highness!” Tango glanced over to see Sausage still in jubilant father mode. “Uh…what’s with him?” he asked Jimmy.

“He has discovered the joy of having a daughter. Give him a second, then you can try using your Warden roar to snap him out of it.”

~*~

The shopping trip quickly became a spectacle of Liana delighting each and every shopkeeper they passed, between her customary announcement of her name – although she cut back on mentioning her age unless someone asked – and her exuberant curiosity about differences she noticed between elven and Mythlandian culture.

Scott opted for the general and practical clothing shops rather than going straight to the tailor; that would be reserved for a special trip closer to a certain date. He left Liana under the supervision of either Azahar or Elowen depending on which one he was assisting at the time – Elowen’s leggings were starting to come up short on him, and Azahar’s shirts were becoming tight across his chest and arms.

Meanwhile, Liana would babble to the shopkeeper and whichever brother was in attendance at the time of how she wanted to look at anything in purple or that had a picture of a bunny on it. Scott would then look through those offerings with her, and she tried on the ones that looked like they might fit. If anything happened to be slightly too big, like in the case of corduroy overalls with a rabbit embroidered on the front pocket, Scott bought it anyway with the idea that it could be stored for the future.

By the time they were done they had amassed six large parcels, the clothing neatly folded and secured with twine, but a bit much to carry home even when Scott tested out carrying them on a gust of cold air with magic. The final shopkeeper agreed to hold onto the lot until Scott could send someone down with a cart to pick it up.

Liana had actually gotten quiet by that point, watching as the parcels were stashed in the shop’s back room. She fidgeted for a moment, then yelled, “Thank you for watching our stuff! When I’m bigger I’ll come back for more bunny dresses! So please have some more!”

The shopkeeper chuckled on his way back to the floor. He dusted off his hands and nodded to Liana. “Sure thing, little Miss. You just let me know when you start outgrowing those, and I’ll put in a special princess order.”

“Yay! Thank you, mister clothes shop owner! DADDY!” she then yelled to Scott, “Thank you for the nice dresses!! Maybe when I outgrow them, we can send them to Silvilana an’ the others! But maybe by then Silvilana will have nice daddies, too! Or nice mommies! Or a nice daddy and mommy? I don’t know, but I hope she goes home, too! An’ the others, an’ then maybe they won’t need my clothes, but there always seemed to be new kids coming in, an’ they should have nice stuff, too—”

Scott patted her on the head. “We’ll look into it when the time comes. Right now, we have one more stop to make, then we’ll go home for lunch and see if Papa is back to eat with us.”

“Are we getting something for you an’ Papa next?” Liana asked, puzzled, as they walked out and headed down the street. “You haven’t gotten anything yet! Ev’ryone should get something, it’s only fair! You were nice an’ gots us lots!” She looked at Azahar and Elowen, expecting them to agree.

Elowen nodded. Azahar chuckled. “She’s right, Dad. You should get a tunic with a rabbit on it. A blue one.”

Scott laughed. Liana jumped forward with both feet to keep pace with his steps, proclaiming, “Or a blue fawn! Ev’ryone should get a picture of their fav’rite thing!”

“You have a point, Liana,” Scott agreed. “But as King Regnant, I have to wear what other grown-ups consider to be dignified clothes.” When she stopped jumping in order to pout up at him, he added, “Maybe I could get something like that on a night shirt.”

Her face brightened. “Yeah! Then you just put on a kingly robe over it to hide it from boring growed-ups!”

They all laughed at the idea, then Scott proceeded to make up increasingly silly scenarios where someone might find out he had pastel blue fawn pajamas. This continued as they traveled along the streets until another clothing shop came into view. The sign hanging outside depicted a formal ball gown. Liana’s eyes widened when she saw the window display. She whispered, “Dresses for meeting princesses…” She then froze on the spot, realizing that she now was that princess.

Scott went to the door and held it open to allow the children to enter first. “You could say this is something for Papa and I: to keep our promise to you.”

Liana hopped up and down, then once again grabbed her new brothers by their hands. “Look, look! Now we can see what I shoulda been wearing to meet you! Now I can fit in with princes!”

Azahar tried to say, “Liana, you were fine meeting us just as you were—” but the words got lost as she pulled them into the shop.

The shopkeeper hurried over as soon as she noticed who had entered. “Your Highness! Young princes! I see you brought a little friend! How may I help you?”

Surprisingly, Elowen was the one to answer. “We need a fancy dress for our new sister.” Scott felt a surge of pride over the younger boy speaking up, yet realized that – perhaps – it was Liana’s energy rubbing off on him that had encouraged him.

Liana hopped up and down again. “That’s me! I’m the princess! An’ I need to look like one! Daddy gots me some nice new things, but Elowen’s right! Princesses need one really fancy dress!”

The shopkeeper looked toward Scott. “How wonderful! My congratulations to you and Lord Sausage! Your family just keeps growing, doesn’t it? What are you looking for in your fancy dress?”

Together Scott and the boys all chorused, “Purple” at the same time, answering even as Liana was opening her mouth.

The little girl giggled and then smiled up at the shopkeeper. “Please, may I see your finest pretty purple dresses?”

~*~

Sausage glanced around the interior of the cave nervously, then hissed, “When I asked you guys for help, I thought Jimmy would be the bait, not me!”

The Codfather grinned from his hiding place behind the pile of rocks that was closer to the entrance than Sausage’s position. He whispered in reply, “Of course I’m not the bait. I’m a professional wrangler now. Don’t worry, Sausage! We’ll get you home to your kiddos in one piece. Relatively speaking.”

Sausage wanted to glare in Jimmy’s direction, but the clacking of Warden antennae made him return his focus to the device nestled behind his ear that connected him to the magic frequency operating his prosthetic, allowing him to control it remotely. The prosthetic was currently secured above a button that would turn on a noise machine, which was intended to lure the stray Warden toward a web of ropes set up to snare the creature. It had wandered deeper into the cave system for the moment, but that didn’t guarantee it wouldn’t wander back out again. “You know what - You know what? If my arm gets damaged, you get to explain to fWhip why!”

Tango, hidden across from Jimmy, replied in a flat tone, “Better your fake arm than your whole, real body.” He was in a strict focused mode now. The change in his demeanor started slow after they had spoken with the townsfolk, the bravest of whom took the three to the road that ran near the cave system where a farmer making an early delivery to the town had heard the frightening sounds of a Warden stomping around. The farmer fled without confirming it, but a few intrepid townspeople investigated, only to flee as soon as they heard it and the tell-tale heartbeat for themselves.

Tango’s blithe attitude toward a potential adventure disappeared completely once the three of them had scoped out the cave; they all immediately went on alert at the sound of the creature sniffing around, and the way Tango launched into an analysis of the terrain led Sausage to not even question the plan when it was first proposed.

Now he was feeling uncertain, however. Tango was correct to use Sausage’s prosthetic to activate the noise machine, avoiding any of them being too close to the Warden after it became attracted to the sound, but Sausage himself still needed to be within a specific range of his prosthetic for the signal to carry. “Tango, I think I like you better when you’re hyper and slightly weird. ‘Serious-Tango’ scares me. This had better work. I want to be able to hug my kids with both arms when I get back.”

Tango uttered a strange sort of squawk. “Shush your face! I can feel it stomping this way again! … Wait for it… Wait for it… Now!”

Sausage could see the glow of the Warden’s open chest and antennae around the corner. He gulped, then directed his prosthetic’s hand to slam down onto the button. The noise machine started up. The Warden grunted and the glow coming off it shifted directions as it lumbered toward the machine.

Sausage suppressed a squeak of relief as he ducked behind cover. He left the rest to the professionals as they sprang into action. He put his attention on the device again to remain aware of whether or not the Warden happened to smash his prosthetic or not – rather than watch it occur with his own eyes. Out of sight there, he could also keep his dramatic worries to himself, quietly whimpering and theatrically crying as he imagined a scenario of him returning home without the prosthetic because he would have had to drop it off at The Grimlands for fWhip to repair, and then Liana and Elowen might even stare at his right side and the lack of arm, and he would get ten thousand bazillion questions about their own imagined scenarios before he could explain, and surely he should make it sound more amazing than just using it to push a single button, and meanwhile Scott and Azahar would probably stand there looking amused because, well, Scott knew the situation, and Azahar would be quick to catch on although he would still be entertained by the adventurous aspect, but Sausage still wouldn’t be able to hug everyone or pick up Liana and assure her that he was alright, and that they could still have fun the rest of the day, and… [To Be Continued in Chapter Four: The Parties and The First Dreams]

#empires smp #empires smp fanfic #empiresshipping #mythicalsausage #scott smajor #dangthatsalongname #tangotek #jimmy solidarity #champions au: garden path #empires smp s1 #scosage #lunar yarns

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