My first new story of the year. It's an idea that took about three weeks to perfect. Enjoy.

I do not own Steven universe neither do I make any profit from this.

"Hear hear, our fair Lord and Master, his Highness king Gregory of Beachtopia has, once again a message to all alchemists and healers of the land. If you can heal his son, our fair prince or at least find the illness that plagues him so, you will not just be rewarded handsomely but your name would be known by generations to come. This is the word of our Lord and protector"

The town crier turned and walked importantly back to the castle signaling that the previously quiet square now had permission to be noisy again.

Kiki, daughter of exceptional Baker, Kofi sighed and continued her journey to her home/bakery, they had a huge order and all hands needed to be on deck. She passed the house of Paddington and stopped to look over the fence. The wide courtyard held only dry leaves, dying trees and a lot of molehills. The large mansion looked like a picture from Kiki's Halloween nightmares.

A little noice startled her, she jumped and stood at alert. A squirrel jumped out holding a nut. Kiki felt kind of silly getting scared because of a squirrel with nut...Wait, nut!. She was supposed to be be cracking nuts for the huge order.

She dashed away from the house hence she didn't notice a shutter close.

•••

Queen rose stood at a window in her chamber, watching the servants carry bags of flour and sugar to a cart whose destination was the Kofi residence.

Her eyes wandered over her kingdom and she saw how the once bustling and beautiful Lands had transformed over a period of six month. It wasn't a surprise to be honest, Steven was like the heart of the kingdom, what he felt, the people felt.

The locked shops, almost empty roads and deserted port proved her theory. She turned back to the servants, she hoped Kofi could handle the order i mean, her people could feel sad and sober for her son but she would never let them go hungry because of him.

Her eyes wandered once more and she saw the daffodil Greg gave her, or at least, what was left of it. She sighed and closed her eyes, feeling a familiar warmth emit from her chest, She mentally channelled it to the tips of her finger then she opened her eyes to watch the flower bloom back to health.

"I never get tired of watching you do that."

Rose recognized the voice "well I have, since I found out it...co...co...uldn't... he...lp.. our so..." She broke down in tears.

"Whoa whoa whoa" Greg ran to her side " we've talked about this rose, the only reason why Steven is alive is because of your amazing gift"

"But I want to do more" she said in between sobs.

He drew her close "it's okay , you've already done your best rose and it's more than enough. As long as Steven is still breathing, we still have hope.

Three knocks from the door intruded the affectionate moment. "Come in"

The door opened and in walked lapis, head of palace staff and Rose's most trusted confidant (besides Greg and one other person) "good morning your majest...ies, The council is in the throne room, they require a meeting of utmost importance."

"You don't say, I'll be with them shortly." Lapis courtesied and left the room.

"I guess it's time"

"I hope not, I'll try my best to prolong thier decision"

"Okay, good luck" rose waved as Greg went out.

###

"All hail his majest king Gregory, Lord and protector of Beachtopia.!"

The council sat down (after Greg of course) Then redwood smiley, council speaker(assist) and owner of Beachtopia largest playground stood up.

"Your majesty, I believe You know why we are here"

"Yes I do and this is my answer, my son would live and not die, there is no need to jump into lifetime decisions"

"Your majesty the council members agree with you, but a farmer doesn't just hope rain would fall, he builds canals to make sure his plants are watered in case they don't. Your majesty no one knows tomorrow, we should make the right choices while we still have today."

"I've said it before and I'm saying it again, my son will live"

"What if he doesn't!" The council gasped

Greg frowned "have you condemed my son to death?"

"I haven't your majesty, but mother nature may have" the council was beginning to frown upon it's speaker

Greg closed his eyes and exhaled slowly "go home smiley, you can't change my decision, go home before you vex me"

"Well I..." Council speaker dewey got up "I'll take it from here Mr smiley"

"But.." he saw the look on everyone's face so he took his seat, slowly.

"Your highness, the third law of our great land states that if every council member agree on something, the council will out rank the king"

Greg opened his eyes "really, so you want to betray me"

"No my Lord, I simply want to do everything in my power to help you"

Greg turned to the other members "do you all agree to this?" Everyone nodded "fine, I am not above the law, what is your decision"

Dewey heaved a sigh of relief "thank you your majesty."

"And now to begin this meeting officially, A hundred and seventy years ago, our fair kingdom was neck deep in a terrible war, we lost many men, women and children until king Richard the deliverer sought help from divine beings, the helped us and left us a with a single rule. Every king obeyed this rule and our kingdom thrived and bloomed. Everyone in this room know what that rule is."

"No heir must die without a mate" the council said in usion.

"Precisely but alas, an unknown ailment threatenes to plunge us back into our former devastating position. But we refuse and therefore have come up with decision. we will wed the prince as soon as possible."

The room was quiet at the decision took effect.

"Seriously. That's the best everyone of you could come up with?!"

"Yes sire"

"And you're sure there is no other less complicated way to approach this problem"

"Sire the council is sure that there are simpler ways than this, heck it might not even be the best approach. But one thing we are sure of, is that this would bring the best result."

"You really think so huh?"

"Undoubtedly your majesty."

"Very well. If that is your decision, I suppose you've sent message to princess..."

"No your majesty"

"I thought you people were in a hurry"

"Steven can't marry Her"

"Why?"

"Your majesty , Romando is two weeks away from us, we need to do this as soon as possible"

"The princess is Stevens betroth, if you do this, the war you're trying hard to avoid will most definitely meet up with you."

"Your majesty, we've sent a message with a level seven royal emergency seal."

"And you think the king would let a lifetime agreement go because of a simple letter"

"Don't worry your majesty, I laid down full details of Stevens current predicament he would think Steven is going to die and therefore withraw his daughter"

Greg shook his head "you people should not involve me when this backfires, it was your decision."

"Very well your majesty"

"So who would be the bride?"

"Miss Connie Maheswaran"

"And why did you choose her?"

"She is an intelligent girl and one of a kind among her pears. She would be able to run the kingdom if your son is err...Absent."

"Okay, when is the wedding"

"Three days, the Maheswaran's Have been notified two months ago."

"So you were already ready with your plan before you even bothered to ask me"

"Pardon us your majesty but time was of the essence"

"Very well, I will inform the queen and we would be ready for you. I believe that is all"

"No sire"

"What else?"

"The prisoner Jasper, general of our enemies, the kingdom crystalon tried to escape"

"Again!"

"Yes your majesty.

Greg sighed crystalon, Nicknamed homeworld (because of its plan to overthrow neighboring kingdoms and become thier capital.) Was a formidable kingdom indeed, the only reason Beachtopia was able to match them in strength was because of the help of the Divine beings or as Greg liked to classify it, "dumb luck"

Their warriors were trained to thirst for blood, hunger for death and abstain from peace. But Jasper was different, it's like she was forged for destruction, a prodigy in Warcraft she rose fast through the ranks. The only reason why they kept her alive was to get information on how to defeat home world. "What do we do"

Yellow tail, a council member spoke up. "We could finally make her bid this world adieu."

"No, we still need her"

"For what sire, she injured two ARMOUR clad guards with BARE HANDS."

"Why don't we just upgrade her prison"

The room went silent, then Greg spoke up

"Are you by any chance insinuating 'the house of azreal'?"

"Yes" smiley answered

"Isn't that a tad inhumane"

"Sire with the amount of blood on that woman's hand, I don't think she can still be classified as human."

Greg turned to dewey "what say you?"

"Sire to be honest I think that is our best option. We want her alive and so far no other prison has been able to hold her."

"So it is settled, Jasper shall be transfered to the "house of Azrael". Any other business?"

"No sire."

"Very well then, I take my leave"

"Long live the king!"

Greg opened the door to his wife room "you wouldn't believe what just happ..."

Rose was staring at a letter with a royal seal, looking shocked.

?

The castle grounds was so large, it had lots of uses. Stables, storehouses , name it. But the most popular was the sparing grounds, where the greatest knights clashed and the most clever squire reigned supreme (among their peers of course)

Amethyst green, squire and prospective knight stood at alert, even though she was battling half hearted. Her opponent thrusted, amethyst tried to parry but she got a face full of sheild.

"Amethyst!" The girl got up and rubbed her chin, squire Captain bismuth was mad now. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"I'm sorry Captain I..."

"You nothing!. That was the worst move I have ever seen."

"It was..."

"You only talk when asked to"

"Yes ma'am"

"Good. You're madam garnets squire and a future knight of our fair kingdom, you should be perfect in the act of spari..."

Amethyst eyes wandered to a particular window in the castle and her mind pondered. 'i wonder how he's doing, don't die Steven, I beg you. Oh how i miss him, if he was here I would gladly win this battle, knowing fully well that after this Steven would have excellent pastries from the palace kitchen and we would have fun all day in the house of Paddington playing with the inventions of...'

"Squire!"

"Yes ma'am"

"Your mind seems to be wandering"

"No ma'am, it isn't."

"Really?, Well then, what's my last word"

"Umm...I...Uh...*gulp* word?"

"Latrine duty!"

•••

Amethyst closed the final stall, it had taken all day but she was done, every toilet was spick and span.

She decide to take a walk, go where her legs took her. The kingdom was beautiful in the light of the setting sun, she passed by silent houses and unopened shops. A few toddlers chased a chicken and she couldn't help but smile, admiring their innocence and care free attitude.

A few people called out to her and she waved back, a butcher threw her a drum stick and she caught it effortlessly. It was all nice and cool but it wasn't the same without Steven. She really missed him.

She was so deep in thought that she nearly bumped into kiki. "Whoa,"

"Hey, wait, amethest!"

"Oh high kiki, watcha up to?"

"Oh just passing out food ordered by queen rose, she really worked us up, I'm beat."

Amethyst smiled "like you didn't get paid"

"Okay, okay, I have no right to complain."

"Exactly"

"Oh I forgot, I didn't see you home so I dropped your pastry basket through the window."

"Wait, I left my window open"

"Yeah but I closed it, no one will notice."

"Thanks"

"You're welcome, I have to go, see you next time."

Amethest waved then continued her journey. She walked for a while before she noticed a familiar fence "better check on her" she scaled the fence and tore through a few overgrowth before coming face to face with the house of Paddington.

Earlier

"Rose, what is it?"

"Pearls alive"

"What?"

Rose gave him the letter and he sat down to completely scan it's content.

Greg sighed "she's alive alright, but she's a prisoner"

"But at least, she's alive. Oh Greg she could help Steven, she could save our son."

Greg sighed"I'm guessing you didn't finish this letter."

"Why do you ask"

"Homeworld is willing to release pearl only if we release one of theirs."

"We don't have any homeworld prisoner, I mean...Wait a minute. Oh my God!"

"Exactly, they want Jasper."

That's it for now, I don't know a lot about medieval government, people and lifestyle. I wrote this story solely on research, so if I might have made mistakes here and there, I am sorry. Don't forget to review or PM me about what you think.

Peace.