Disclaimer: I do not own Attack On Titan or anything related to it...
Chapter 10
Eren and Mikasa slowly walked towards Historia's office hand in hand. With every person they came across, they were met with stares. Some would give them a small bow of the head while others would whisper and gossip behind their backs.
They got to the door and got a small bow from the guard as he opened the door for them. They walked in to the sight of Historia and a pastor shaking hands. "I'm glad we could come to an agreement Pastor Charles." Historia said as the man replied with a small nod and quickly left but before giving Eren and Mikasa a frown as he passed them.
The door closed and Historia slumped back into her chair with a sigh. "What's up with him?" Eren asked.
"One of the wall preachers. They were against our engagement."
"It seems like they're not the only ones." Mikasa said as she took a seat.
"Some good, some bad and some just ugly. I suppose that not everyone's happy about it." Eren added.
"Well they'll have to deal with it." Historia said as she rubbed her temples. "This starting to be a long day, and it's not even lunch." she frowned.
Eren and Mikasa reached out and took a hold each of her hands. "I'm sure it's going to turn out fine." Eren reassured her.
"You're right." she said with a smile. "At least I'm through with the church breathing down my neck."
"What did he want?" Mikasa asked.
"He wanted me to break our engagement, stating that it is an abomination to do such in the eyes of the goddesses. So I merely reminded him of his position in the government hierarchy and promised him that he would officiate the wedding and a small donation from the government as a compromise." she told them.
"Why do we have to submit to the church. They don't know anything. They were part of a government that constantly and deliberately lied to it's people. The very story about the walls and the world that they kept on spewing out every time was a lie. They knew the truth and still chose to lie to us so that they could feel better." Eren angrily said.
"It's how it is but that is a problem alre-" Historia was cut off as they heard muffled noises from the other side of the door. The door suddenly jerked open, startling them as they all took a fighting stance only to see a man possibly in his early twenties walk in.
"I demand to see the queen." the man obnoxiously said as the guard at the door tried to restrict him. "Leave us servants. The queen and I would like to be left alone" He sneered at Mikasa and Eren who still acted as a barrier between the man and Historia.
"I don't think you're in the right frame that we'd leave you alone with her." Mikasa coldly said.
"What do you want Lord Warren?" Historia tiredly asked.
"Have you seen what the newspapers wrote. They say that you are to be married to some commoners." he answered as he slammed the newspaper on her desk. "Surely they are trying to get some kicks out of this propaganda. Say the word and I will have that little print shop down by evening." he added.
Historia stared at the lord with a slight twitch in her eye and slowly took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Gilbert, you may return to your post." she told the guard who stood close incase of any danger.
"I'm sorry your majesty, but I fear for you safety with him in the room." Gilbert respectfully declined as he stared at Lord Warren.
"There's no need to worry. I'm more than perfectly safe with my betrotheds in the room." she calmly told him. He looked at the two mentioned who stood close to the queen as if they were her personal guards. He was satisfied with this and gave a bow and went back to his post.
"So these are the commoners that you saw fit to sully yourself with." Warren calmly said to the angry faces of the throuple.
"You will watch how you speak to both them and me!" Historia warned through gritted teeth.
"You are the queen, you deserve to marry someone of wealth and power. Someone who can keep the other lords from rebelling against you and someone who is a noble of class with a strong bloodline to boot, not some filthy commoner whose only ever lived in a shack." he said with a smirk.
"And I suppose you are the one who deserves to marry Historia?" Mikasa coldly asked.
"Yes." he boldly answered, clueless to the sound of wood snapping in Mikasa's hand as she held one of the chairs in an ironclad grip
"I have made my decision and that is final." Historia said with a stern look.
"They are nothing compared to me." Warren said with a dismissive wave of his hand at Eren and stood up. "You promised me your hand." he added in a cold tone.
"I never promised you anything. I told you that I would think about it and I did. I found you unfit to be a king." an unfazed Historia replied.
"Unfit. I'm a noble and you say that I am unfit to be king!" he angrily stood up and tried to grab Historia's hand only for his face to meet suddenly meet the hard wood of her desk. He struggled to get free but he couldn't as the hold on his arm was tight. "If you try to hurt Historia, I won't hesitate to break your arm." Mikasa warned as she pulled on the man's arm. Warren repeatedly tapped on the desk in pain, which Mikasa complied to his surrender and let him go.
He quickly got up and straightened his clothes. "Do you know who I am? Who my father is?!" he yelled out.
"No, nor do we care who your father is." Eren informed him. "Just because you're a noble doesn't give you the right to disrespect others, especially when it comes to Historia."
"Or what?! My family is one of the oldest families in Marquis. My father is Lord Wald Balto, richest noble in Wall Rose. You are nothing but a boy who thinks of himself as a man because they became a good little soldier. You aren't even worth the dirt beneath my shoes. You have no influence and there is nothing that you can do to stop me." he said as he glared at Eren with a winning smile.
"I'd be careful with how you talk to your future monarchs, Warren. You never know when it could bite you in the ass." Historia told him.
"I could say the same." he remarked with a sneer.
Eren merely stared at him with indifference. He took a few steps toward the window and stared outside. Historia worriedly looked at Eren's turned back hoping that he wouldn't do anything drastic. "When Trost was attacked, my friends and I had just graduated. A lot them died in the very first wave. Thomas, Mina and Franz to name a few. When I found out that I could turn into a titan, Commander Pyxis was the one who saved me and my friends from a firing squad. When we were walking along the top of the wall, I was able to overhear these two garrison members say that they couldn't believe that Lord Balto wanted Commander Pyxis and the garrison to protect his estate despite learning that the outer gate was destroyed. They said that Lord Balto even thought that the lowly commoners were trash compared to him."
Eren walked toward Warren and stared at him with a blank look conveying no emotion. "So, I ask this my lord, do you agree with your father's remarks?"
The lord gulped and stood in silence. He averted his eyes from Eren's steely gaze. "I don't have to answer to the likes of you."
"You silence is more than enough of an answer." MIkasa said as she glared at the man.
"And that is why you are unfit to be king, Warren. You only care about yourself and not for the greater good. You don't have the mental fortitude of a king as you still hide behind your father's wealth and shadow." Historia said.
"You would choose these lowly life forms over me?" Warren asked with disdain. "I offer you the entirety of my family's wealth and strength at your disposal. What could these two peasants offer you that I cannot."
"Their loyalty. I know that they would never betray me. You on the other hand, I can see as clear as day that you only hunger for power. And once you have it, you would have no issue with disposing of me at your behest. And as for power; they are the strongest soldiers this island has ever produced." Historia passionately said.
"I bet even they couldn't take on an army." he retorted.
"You're right. We couldn't take on an army...not on our own that is. But your estate is another thing entirely." Eren told him in an eerie tone.
"I highly doubt that your entire house guard could handle a fifteen metre titan while carve through them." Mikasa added with a cold glare.
Historia stood up from her seat and gave Warren a glare of her own. "I believe you've overstayed your welcome.
Warren looked at her with shock written on his face. "You're kicking me out?!"
"Yes, but I'm willing to compromise. The royal government will still do business with your family even though they were a minor part of the previous government. Though you will have to pay an added five percent increment in tax to the crown for the next five years without your father cutting off it's workers' wages or the workers themselves... or the crown will take it's business to your competitors." she said with a stern look. "Think of it as me being lenient to your deplorable actions and insults here today. Now you can leave of your accord before I have you thrown out." she furiously added.
Warren gave them all a glare and left the office in anger. Historia let out a heavy sigh and poured herself a glass of water and slowly drank. "I should have punched him." Eren shortly said.
"As much as I would have loved to see that, I couldn't let him leave here with a black eye or worse. It would send the wrong picture." Historia laughed. "And I have to say, you handled that surprisingly well. I nearly thought you'd beat him up." she added with a smile.
"He wasn't worth it." he replied with a shrug.
"Nonetheless, I appreciate you two for your protection." she said as she gave them a fond smile.
They sat down and talked about everything since they told their friends of their engagement. They were soon interrupted by a knock from the guard. "Your guests have arrived your majesty." he informed them.
"Show them in please."
He nodded and let them pass. Their guests were the Premier of the three military branches and it's commanders. Eren and MIkasa stood and saluted to them which was responded to with a nod from them all.
They all took a seat, with Historia feeling a bit anxious on the matter at hand. "Refreshments anyone?" Historia asked.
The commanders looked at each other before Pyxis calmly replied. "I wouldn't mind having a short glass of wine to sharpen my mind."
"Do you really think that it's wise to have this meeting while you're drunk." Commander Nile admonished him as Historia filled Pyxis' glass.
"I'm sure a glass won't leave me in a drunken state." he calmly replied as he held the glass to his lips and took a sip.
"We know that you have much work to do so we won't take up much of your time." Historia said. "I believe you know the manner of this meeting."
"Ah yes, the upcoming royal wedding...which we were informed about without any input from any of us." Zackly calmly said.
"We have no qualms with you marrying your majesty, but you must see how it would look when you are to marry a member of the survey corps. And that's excluding that your husband would soon marry another scout right after." Nile added.
"What I believe Commander Nile is trying to say is that; it would seem like the survey corps is making an aggressive move for power, considering you were a member of the scouts once." Pyxis to the nods of Nile and Darius.
"The survey corps had no say in this arrangement. We were much as surprised as anyone else." Hange interjected.
"Commander Hange is right on this matter. We were the ones who came up with this engagement." Mikasa said.
"We don't want any power...we just want to spend as much of the little time we have left with each other." Eren added as he took a hold of Historia and Mikasa's hands.
"That is quite admirable." Pyxis said as he took another sip.
"We understand why you wish to marry Eren Yeager...the question is, why should he marry both you and Mikasa?" Nile calmly asked them.
"Eren is the last living member of his family, and thus he can take more than one wife to keep his bloodline from dying out when he is king. We just thought we'd not push it for long and just do the wedding altogether and focus on preparing for he outside world...and furthermore, Eren holds the founding titan, in retrospect, he is already king." Historia answered to the commanders' nods.
"Though we have to ask, with Eren having two wives, would it not lead to a war for the throne?" Darius questioned.
"I highly doubt that it would reach to that point." Hange calmly interjected.
"I believe your judgement is impaired on this delicate matter Commander Hange. After all, these three were and are still part of your regiment if I'm not mistaken, thus it wouldn't be mistaken that you have a soft spot for them." Nile said as he folded his arms.
"What I think the question is; what's to stop sergeant Mikasa's children from taking the throne. You did say that with Eren having the founder, he is basically our king, though not in name and thus his children from Mikasa can still challenge for the throne with the claim that their father is or was the founder." Pyxis calmly elaborated.
"I would never do that." Mikasa loudly protested.
"It isn't a matter about you, it's about your children. We have no doubts about your loyalty, but most children have their own opinions and follow their own wills. They can decide to usurp Queen Historia's children with the power of the founder in their hands since the old king's vow of pacifism would limit Historia's descendants from using the founding titan's full power." Darius calmly said with a blank look.
"It won't come to that." Eren cut them off, earning curious looks from the commanders.
"And how sure are you of this?" Nile questioned.
"Because I will choose who I give the founder to, and it won't be my children. I would never bear them with the burden of knowing that they killed their own father, even if it was for a just cause." Eren passionately answered. "Plus, I will try to put this war to rest however I must before my term comes to an end."
The commanders all looked at each other and gave various nods having been content with the answers provided by the three. "Now that the matter with the successions is handled, we need to know, what will be the roles of sergeants Eren and Mikasa once the wedding is done?" Hange calmly asked.
Eren, Mikasa and Historia looked at each other for a moment. "We discussed this in detail, and after our marriage Mikasa and Eren will bear the titles king and queen consort. And upon further discussion, we decided that I would mostly handle the peoples and civil disputes while they handle the military part of our island and focus on strengthening them. Of course they will have to learn from you four so that they maybe more imbedded with problem solving skills from all military regiments, but that is after they are done with their duties in training the recently enrolled scouts. Other than that, we will all share our inputs in various issues when needed."
The room fell silent for a moment. The throuple were anxiously waiting for the commanders' answer as a sheen of sweat formed at the bas of their hairlines.
"I believe that these are compromisable terms." Commander Darius said as he reached out to shake their hands. "We wish you all the best in your upcoming endeavours." he added as he shook their hands.
"We thank you for your support and will strive to face the upcoming challenges head first." Mikasa replied with a salute.
"I'm sure you will." Hange smiled and gave them a salute of her own.
"We'll leave you three alone. I believe this meeting has run it's course and we need to get back to our duties." Commander Zackly said with a short bow and the commanders all left the office.
The three let out a heavy sigh and looked at each other. They didn't realize the amount of tension they had been hold in in since the meeting. Historia walked towards a small cupboard in her office and poured three glasses of wine and handed the two to her soon to be husband and wife.
"I have to say, that wen't better than I anticipated." she said with a beaming smile on her face which was matched by the other two.
And that my dear readers is chapter 10. I hope you enjoyed it. Some readers PM wanting to know what I intend to do with this story and wish for me to rush it. I want to establish the relationships before I dive in to the plot, which I assure you will be longer than I expected when I wrote the first chapter. Hope you'll remain patient for a while and you'll get to see what I have planned.
Don't forget to review and follow & fav and I will see you soon. Bye