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And Had I Made You Queen
30themes featuring L11 (L-Elf) and Lieselotte

Besides canon, canon speculation, alternate realities/timelines, there's also legitimate alternative universes. Like so.

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"Why do I have to be the horse?" Haruto whines.

"Horses can't talk," L-elf bites back.

"Okay, fine." He tries to think of an animal that can. "Why do I have to be the pack parrot?"

"There's no such thing."

"And parrots don't actually know what they're saying!" Shoko helpfully supplies.

"Well there's one similarity then," L-elf drawls.

"Yeah... wait... hey!"

"Don't tip the cart, idiot!"

"Then help me... urgh!" A noticeable weight is lifted from his shoulders, allowing him to look up for the first time in hours. "Thank you Saki! Now if you could just..." he makes a chivalrous attempt to scuttle out from the harness.

"Not a chance," Saki crisply replies, grabbing his collar. "I just thought you might like a breather."

"Aren't you ashamed of yourself Haruto?" Shoko facepalms, "Asking a girl to pull the cart for you?"

"But it's so heavy!" he whines. "And you guys are all stronger than me!"

"Is something the matter?" Lieselotte asks, poking her head out of the screen door.

"Nope! Nothing!" Shoko grins, elbowing Haruto. Haruto, of course, can't take a hint.

"Yeah, actually," he starts, even as Saki grinds her heel into his toe, "Do you think you could lighten the cart a bit?"

L-elf's eye twitches.

"You mean..." Lieselotte tilts her head, "I should lose weight?"

"What? No, I... I just...!" he cowers under the deathglares of Saki and Shoko. Still, he makes an effort: "You're not heavy at all! It's just all the treasures you're bringing back!"

"But... my brother asked for enough gold to pave the ballroom."

Haruto blanches.

"Er... I... well..." Lieselotte's eyes water a bit and he feels a third murderous aura behind him. And then he hangs his head: "Nevermind. My apologies."

"Yay!" the princess beams, clapping her hands. "Well, now that that's settled, please wake me up when we reach the next stop." And then she promptly closes the screen, no doubt going back to sleep.

"Don't act so surprised," Saki advises, helping him steady the cart. "Royalty is the same everywhere, after all."

"I still don't get why - " he pauses to take the first shuddering step, unlocking the wheels, "Out of the four of us, I'm the one who has to drag the cart!"

"Because you're the weakest," is the chorused reply.

"I told you I'd make this journey worth your while," L-elf adds.

"No you said that you'd kill us if we didn't listen!" Haruto retorts.

"Easy, easy," Shoko chuckles. "Actually, this is a pretty safe region. I can switch with you for a bit."

"Really?!" Haruto's eyes sparkle.

"Sure! It'll be good exercise!" She shrugs off her katana and passes it over. "Don't drop it!"

"I'll be holding onto that," Saki intervenes, plucking the blade from the boy's fingers and tucking it in her own shoulderpack.

"Hurry it up will you?" L-elf calls from fifty meters ahead, "This checkpoint closes before sunset."

"Yes, yes!" Shoko agrees, picking up the pace.

"What's with you guys?" Haruto grumbles, stretching his arms. "And that guy too... acting like we're kids even when I know we're the same age."

"He's probably anxious for the princess' safety," Saki rightfully guesses.

"Why? Isn't he just a soldier? ...Oh, is he part of her brother's personal guard?"

"Maybe," Saki shrugs, speeding up as well, "And then, maybe not."

"What does that... hey! Wait up!" He needs to jog a bit to catch up with the other four. Saki raises an eyebrow.

"You know, for all your complaining, you never made any effort to run away." She looks at him and then leers. "Oh, I see," she says.

"No you don't," Haruto hotly denies, "I just - look, I said I would help out so I am, okay? L-elf! Shoko!" he raises his voice and points in a slightly different direction, "You guys are going the wrong way! The checkpoint is that way! Geez, no one has any sense of direction..."

There's the creak of wheels on unpaved road as Shoko readjusts the direction. Haruto stares for a second too long.

"No," Saki says, smiling wide, "I think I do see."

He flushes and splutters out a string of incoherent denials, finishing with: "Do you think they're... like... you know?"

Saki stops walking to stare at him. Haruto stops too and flushes deeper.

"Wh-what?"

"You're an idiot," she concludes, smacking the upside of his head and adding: "Tell her at the end of this journey and I'm sure she'll say yes."

"Really?"

"What really?" Shoko calls, waving to them, "Hurry up, will you? L-elf says he can see the checkpoint!"

They end up reaching the checkpoint gates at sundown. And then L-elf employs his special method of persuasion and the guards part like sheep. Shoko cheers and Haruto scowls and Saki observes. Like usual, Shoko and Haruto amble off looking for sustenance, and Saki goes searching for firewood.

"Princess," L-elf calls, gently rapping on the screen, "We've reached the next stop."

"Really?!" the screen door flies open and she practically skips out of the cart, "Wow! That was fast! Are we closer to to the harbor now?"

"Much closer," her guard stiffly replies.

"Are there any souvenirs? Can I wear my kimono? Are we having another early start? What's for dinner?"

"No, yes, yes, and whatever those idiots can catch," he smoothly replies, ducking into the cart to pull out said kimono.

Lieselotte pauses for a while, matching up the answers with their questions, "Ah, okay!" she grins and takes the silk garment, swishing back into the cart and sliding back the door.

L-elf keeps guard outside.

Surprisingly enough, Saki is the first to return, dumping the pile of firewood before the cart.

"Where's the princess?" she asks, getting to work making a firepit.

"Getting dressed," L-elf responds. He kneels down and begins to help.

"Well that was quick," Saki remarks. And then she learns that L-elf can turn red just as quickly as Haruto. She laughs, batting the air with a dirt-smudged hand. "Not like that, not like that. I meant... well... she's quite young, isn't she?"

"...No. What do you mean?"

His hand inches to the holster of the gun and she laughs internally, realizing that he would shoot her for such a transgression.

Saki shakes her head, passing him two of the thicker sticks. She's never been quick at making fire.

"It's cruel not to tell her," she murmurs as the merry crunch of foliage signals the return of Shoko and Haruto. "It's her dowry, isn't it?"

L-elf doesn't look up, concentrating on the two pieces of wood.

Then he says in a voice so quiet she thinks she might've imagined it: "She knows."

And the fire ignites.

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/10. for the sake of adventure