“W-What?” Rubio asks in alarm.
Because what other reaction could he have to someone asking him to help commit matricide?
Let alone against the Queen of an entire kingdom.
He hadn’t even been there a full night!
“I need your help.
If you do not kill my mother, you will all be in danger.” Asenath insists.
“This one understands, but…oh…damn it!
Can you understand Universal?” He asks urgently.
His mind races as he struggles to connect the dots, refusing to translate the words coming out of his mouth.
Asenath hesitantly nods.
“Alright, good, tell me if something doesn’t make sense.” He mumbles.
“Okay, just to make absolutely sure, if I do not help with this plan, the Queen is going to do something to us?” He reiterates, and Asenath frantically nods.
“Yes, she had no plans to let you escape from the beginning, no matter what she told you.” She confirms.
“Alright, okay, this is great.” He takes a few deep breaths, hoping to calm down the incoming anxiety.
“So, you believe me?
I thought I would’ve had to explain a bit more.” She admits.
“Oh yes, you are definitely going to explain more.
But I believe you; some things about Kissa’s story didn’t add up earlier.
But I chose to ignore it for my own peace and sanity.” He sighs.
“What do you need to know?
I have a plan, but it’s shoddy at best.” She shakes her hand in a so-so motion.
“Just explain everything from the beginning.” He tells her.
“I do not know the whole story; all that I know is that my mother has something to do with why everyone is stone.
All the stories of people leaving and never returning are false; she killed them, I saw it with my own eyes.
She turned them back and killed them!” Asenath growls, gritting her teeth, her hands scraping together in anger.
“Anyway,” She continues after taking a deep breath.
“I know my mother better than anyone; I’ve lived with her for over five hundred years.
She won’t let you out; she’ll either kill you or turn you to stone.
Which is why we must stop her!
It’s my duty as princess to help the people of my kingdom, and they don’t deserve to be stuck down here as stone for eternity!”
“And why do you think I can do anything about it?” He asks sincerely.
“Not just you, you and your friends.
And I ask this of you because I cannot ask my people to do this for me.
I cannot let any harm come to them.” She states.
“They’re not my…never mind.
I’ll bring it up with them, but I can’t guarantee they’ll help.” Rubio says, crossing his arms.
“But you will help?” She pleads, moving her hands so that they clutch onto his.
“…Fine.” He agrees.
He can’t help it; people always said he was too kind for his own good.
“Perfect!
You gather your friends, and I will have a trusted guard bring you to my quarters where we can discuss the plan.” She beams.
“Planning to kill the Queen isn’t exactly how I expected my day to go.” He jokes, trying to lighten the mood.
Asenath giggles.
Then, a clattering noise can be heard from around the corner.
Rubio doesn’t waste a second of time; he sprints around, coming face to face with a stunned Kissa.
She opens her mouth to scream, but he places his hand over it.
Her scream comes out muffled, and she tries to bite him.
It hurts; after all, her teeth are made of stone.
“Ow, ow, ow, can you just let me explain?” He pleads.
“Kissa!
Let him go!” Asenath orders.
She slowly removes her teeth, and when Rubio is assured she won’t scream, he lets go.
“You better not be doing anything to the princess over here!
I don’t care how well we got on earlier; I’ll kick you where it hurts most!
Princess, is he threatening you!?” She had slipped back into her mother tongue.
Rushing over to Asenath, she surveyed her body for any injuries.
“Kissa, I’m fine.
I’m the one who brought him here.
He’s helping me.” Asenath replies.
“Helping you…with what?” Kissa says slowly.
She knows the answer, but would rather hear it from Asenath herself.
Rubio understands the sentiment.
“I need his help to kill my mother.
I never wanted to involve you or anyone else in this if I could, but now that you are here, Kissa, I need you to promise not to tell anyone else what you are about to hear.” Asenath clutches onto Kissa, her tone completely serious.
“Alright.” Kissa agrees.
“Great, I’ll meet you in my room.” Asenath squeezes Kissa’s hand and stalks off further into the palace.
“This is the best day of my life!” Kissa cheers.
“What?” Rubio exclaims, astonished by the girl’s change in attitude.
“I get to meet outsiders, hear about the outside, and join in an overthrow of the Queen herself!?
Talk about exciting!” She squeals.
“I think we have wildly different definitions of what exciting is.” He sighs.
“Anyway, let’s get back to the party; I need to talk to the others.”
“Alright, I’ll follow you.” She grins.
Thankfully, when he gets back into the throne room, the Queen doesn’t seem suspicious.
Astra and Thalia have also deemed it fit to finally stop parading around with stories and shows and sit like civilized people.
Rubio and Kissa slide onto the bench beside them.
“You’re back?
What happened?
When I looked around for you earlier, you’d disappeared.” Astra grumbles.
“Is hanging out with me really that bad?” Thalia pouts.
“I got caught up with something; I ended up talking with the Queen’s daughter, Princess Asenath,” Rubio explains.
“She wants us to…wait, where are your translators?” The two stone Goliaths were strangely missing from their sides, despite being told to follow them closely.
“Hah!
Knowing Jibade and Kesi, they snuck off together to get it on.
I mean, as much as you can while being made of stone.
Those two never really cared for learning Universal; they just wanted to spend time together without getting caught.
They really hated it when they found out I was studying it as well.” Kissa laughs cheekily.
“You see, Jibade is distantly related to the Queen, while Kesi is a commoner; not only that, but her father has always been a bit of a…let’s just say troublemaker and-”
“Kissa, while I would love to hear about this gossip any other time, we really need to focus on what’s going on right now.” Rubio interrupts.
“Right, right, sorry.” She apologizes.
“She’s totally right, though; those two abandoned us like immediately,” Thalia confirms.
“Then how have you been communicating this whole time?” Rubio asks, completely baffled.
“We haven’t, but you know, most communication is done through body language and gestures.
So we were able to get on well enough.” Thalia shrugs.
“Right…well, anyway, here’s what’s going on…” Rubio whispers what Asenath told him to both Astra and Thalia while Kissa keeps a lookout to make sure nobody overhears.
They both stay silent as they absorb the information.
“I feel like things have blown way out of proportion.
You know what we could’ve done to avoid this from happening?” Astra questions sarcastically.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it.
Can we please stop bringing that up?
Let’s just deal with the situation in front of us.
It’s not like I can go back in time.” Rubio huffs.
“It feels like we kind of have to go along.
Y’know, with the threat of being killed and all.
So I guess I’m in.” Thalia states.
“Same here, not like there’s anything better to do.” Astra agrees.
“Alright, then let’s wait here for the guard,” Rubio says, and everyone nods in agreement.
This was going to be a long night.