The members of the royal court had slowly approached the table with the feast set on it and started trying different items when the crown princess agreed to allow herself to be courted by Racknar. He may have been a lord and a knight of the land, but he was still not human. The rules may allow for this but would the King and his court. Would parliament object? Whispers echoed through the building as King William sat forward in his throne, hands placed together in a triangle, and considered his next move. He stood up and walked over to the table before flipping it over and tossing all the food on it to the floor. He then shouted out with an immense anger in his voice. “Enough!”

  This caused most of the people to jump in shock even after having already had to dodge the table. “I've sat here, trying my best to adhere to the old rules and traditions. Following them and enforcing them. I'm a King dammit! I'm the one who makes the rules. Sure, our kingdom may have bowed before the empire, but that was before my time. I don't care what the rules say, I don't care if this would be allowed under them because someone didn't have the foresight to specify human or at least say the two races had to be able to produce a child. Tell me Racknar, can you give my daughter a child?! Can you, a Beast-kin, give me a grandchild?! Can you get anything besides another Beast-kin of the same type pregnant?! Even if you could, then what? You spread your mark of Cain to my bloodline. I shall not, will not, can not allow this farce to continue.”

  He then drew his sword and pointed it at Racknar. “I will kill you, then, without a husband to be at my daughter's side my eldest son can finally take his rightful place as next in line!” Racknar was still holding Excalibur Ivory in his hand. “You uhh… you realize I currently have one of the most powerful artifacts in your kingdom in my hands right?” King William snapped his fingers and archmage Roland summoned the other three fragments of Excalibur with William holding Caliburn and Clerant in his hands with Excalibur Ebony on his back. “Okay then Racknar Aradae, let's make this a fair fight.”

  Racknar growled. “I'm a fucking barbarian adventurer! I don't fight fair, I fight dirty. I roll in the mud. I'll drag you down in it with me and leave you bloody, broken, and covered in dirt. Just ask your son.” The tattoos on Racknar's wrists glow, disabling the ring of illusion and showing Racknar's true self as he summons his two shields and one of his swords. “So if you want to fuck around, go ahead. I promise you that you won't enjoy finding out.” King William hesitated for a moment. “Where those… angel-blood tattoos?” Racknar pointed Excalibur Ivory angrily. “Yep, now are we still throwing hands or not? Because these four hands are rated E for everyone.”

  William pointed around the room. “Guards, kill this freak.” Racknar unsummoned his weapons and put Excalibur Ivory back in the stone. “Stay.” He said before clenching all four fists and waiting for the guards. The room cleared with everyone that wasn't a guard, the king, the Monster Mashers, or Elizabeth leaving the area. Racknar gestured for the party to stay back since none of them were armed. Archmage Roland cast some sort of anchor spell preventing people from drawing energy from another realm or using magic.

  Racknar skillfully dodged the swords of the guards before knocking each one out. “Jokes on you, I'm also a Martial Artist.” A few guards get in lucky hits but none of them seem to do anything since Racknar was still allowed to wear his defensive items. Eventually all the guards the king had on hand were on the floor unconscious. Roland undid the anti-magic field so he could teleport them out then quickly reactivated it. Racknar grumbled and drew Excalibur again. “You want to keep hiding behind guards who aren't even equipped enough to harm me? Are you going to send a knight next? Or maybe, you'll stop being a little bitch and fight me yourself. It's no wonder this kingdom keeps going to shit with a coward like you on the throne. Billy Junior may be an asshole, but at least he's not a coward.”

  King William started seething and started walking forward. “Father, no!” Elizabeth tried to object but he gestured for her to be silent. He charged at Racknar who hasn't resummoned his weapons. As soon as King William was in range he made his attack. Racknar dodged, grabbed the arm, and struck it before taking Caliburn out of his hand. A second swing, dodged, and disarmed. Racknar now held both Caliburn and Clerant in his lower arms. “Incompetent. Useless. You should step down as King and let someone else give it a go.” William let out a roar as he pulled Excalibur Ebony off his back and swung down wildly at Racknar who dodged to the side. King William then made a horizontal second attack that Racknar dodged.

  Finally King William went for a stab aimed for the guy and Racknar didn't dodge. He let the blade slide into his body with a runt before grabbing the King's hands and gripping tight, causing William to let go of the sword. Then Racknar kicked him down the room and pulled the sword out of his bleeding gut. “Finally, I was thinking that it would take forever to get all three.” Racknar held all four and placed the blades together. “I speak your true name.” He then whispered. The swords lit up with a bright light that blinded everyone and caused the archmage Roland to drop concentration allowing Ariagoria to heal Racknar's wounds. When the light died down Racknar held only one sword. Excalibur Equinox.

  The King who was trying to get back into his feet fell down again in shock. “Wh-what?! But how?!” Racknar chuckled and smiled with his fangs. “You know, originally Elizabeth was going to fuse these together since she knows the secret as well. But that tournament set back my plan. Elizabeth will be the next Queen, and with her in charge we can start a war for independence, separate from the Empire, forge new alliances with other nations that hate them, and finally end this nightmare the Empire and Pope have been spreading for the last two millennia.” King William started laughing. “Hahahaha. Yes. Yes! Hahahaha. That spirit, that determination!” He laid down on the floor laughing. “I prayed my son would turn out like that, but if not that the Fates would send me someone who was unshakable. Indestructible character. Someone both an immovable object and an unstoppable force.”

  Racknar tilted his head. “You… wanted this?” King William laughed. “Not exactly. But I'll settle for this. I yield.” He picked himself up off the ground and signaled for Roland to stand down. He disabled his anti-magic field and the realm anchor. “I'll allow you to court my daughter.” Racknar huffed. “That's not even what I'm after. You put in your stupid requirements and that stupid deadline so being engaged with her was the only way I saw to get her on the throne because of it.” He slides the sword over to Elizabeth. “She deserves better, someone like me could never be worthy.”

  Elizabeth picked up Excalibur. “...Not worthy? Has that been what you've thought this whole time? Across two lifetimes you denied yourself any chance of having feelings for me or letting me have feelings for you because you thought you weren't good enough? For fucks sake Racknar you drew the sword from the stone! What else would it take for you to know your own worth? How many people have you saved or helped? How many goblins and kobolds would be dead without you?” Racknar replied. “And how many bandits have I killed because doing non lethal damage is a lot harder than simply declaring it? My hands are stained with blood, and even when I was free of major sin I couldn't even love myself. If I can't love myself how can I expect to love another or be loved?”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Racknar put his hands out and shaped them into claws. “I mean look at me. As cool as I find spiders, everyone else fears them. Not to mention the fact I've blended my Celestial heritage with my Infernal powers becoming something akin to a Nephilim. I'm an eight legged geek who's gotten this far out of stubbornness and the fact that I know everything about every monster in this world because my nerdy ass spent an entire previous lifetime remembering the books to a freaking game. My outside appearance is a reflection of exactly what I deserve. To be hated by everyone else as much as I hate myself. My rage… it's the result of projection. The person I really want to beat to a bloody pulp when I fight is the ugly bastard I see when I look in the mirror. You recoiled at the thought of kissing my forehead when I asked for one as a joke well over a year ago.”

  Elizabeth whispers something causing Excalibur to separate into its four parts again before putting Ivory back in the stone and giving the other three to Roland to teleport out with. She then walked to Racknar and put her hand on his shoulder. “Racknar, look at me.” Racknar hesitated, but did. Elizabeth held his face on both sides. “You have… the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen.” She then pulled him in, and kissed him on the mandibles before pulling away. “The only one who gets to decide if you're worthy of me, is me.” Marionette stomped her foot. “God damnit! She got his first kiss. I was hoping to- shit, I'm talking out loud aren't I? Bloody ‘el.”

  Elizabeth looked at Marionette and tilted her head before letting go of Racknar's. “So uhh… just to double check: Do I still need to be engaged to keep my position as crown princess?” King William gave a small nod. “Those are the rules. No king has dared challenge or change them since this nation was unified.” Elizabeth looked back to Racknar, then to Marionette. “I don't want to force you into something you don't want for a goal. I'm sure if we talk to my brother we can-” Racknar put up his hand and shook his head. “Your brother is an insufferable selfish asshole. Although we might be able to manipulate him into doing what we want I think it would be better if you ran things directly. You're not forcing anything.”

  Racknar gently grabbed Elizabeth’s hand in his. “I’m willing to sacrifice, for you, for the kingdom, for the world. I care about you and want to see you happy. That… that's what love means.” Davy starts to squirm in the background. “God damn it, this makes things harder for me. I care about both Krys'tal and Ivory equally and want them both to be happy but can't date them both.” Marionette put her hands on her hips. “I feel left out.” Racknar sighed. “Right, I care about everyone on my team and want them all to be happy. But making everyone happy simply isn't possible. Marionette has a crush on me, Davy has two people he's interested in, Ariagoria has her dad to deal with…”

  Elizabeth taps Racknar's hand. “One thing at a time, Racknar. All we can do is our best.” She then leans in and whispers something in his ears causing his eyes to widen. “Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Heh.” Elizabeth gives Racknar a playful tap on the cheek. “Everything will work out as long as we work at it, together, as a team.” King William threw up his hands. “I declare a feast. To celebrate the engagement of my daughter Elizabeth to Sir Racknar Aradae… who I'll give the duchy of Camelot to since he already owns the land anyway. Congratulations Princess Elizabeth Anne Victoria Bramble and Duke Racknar Aradae.” There's some hesitation but the guests that had cleared to the edges of the large room started clapping.

  The room was cleared and cleaned and a new feast was placed with a number of dishes that Racknar made being recreated by the royal chiefs with his help. Everyone sat together and ate as they celebrated the engagement well into the night. Guests cleared out till it was just the party, king, and Elizabeth. Davy looked to Krys'tal and nodded to the side. “Krys'tal and I are going to check out and have a nice long private talk. We'll catch up back at Camelot.” They made their exit. Marionette shifted awkwardly for a bit. “I'm going to… check to see if my dad is ready for his part in the plan later on.” She also left. Racknar shook hands with King William. “It is getting late, I should also return to my castle.”

  King William put his hand on Racknar’s shoulder. “Nonsense, you stay here tonight. After all, it's customary for the new couple to share a room together on the first night.” Racknar made a face of disappointment. “Are you serious? Just a moment ago you were trying to kill me.” William laughed. Your friends will be fine. Besides, all I said was you share a room. I didn't tell you to do anything specific.” Racknar sighed. “Yeah, alright. Either way I'm getting sleep.”

  Racknar backed away a few steps from the King and bowed before walking the halls with Elizabeth. “So… engaged to be married. I'm sorry you're stuck with me. As soon as your father kicks it or steps down you can marry whomever you want. This is only temporary.” Elizabeth nods, but then develops a wicked smile. “Oh, but Racknar~ What if I decide the person I want to marry is you?” She said in a joking and teasing tone. Racknar rolled his many eyes. The two got to and entered Elizabeth's room. A massive display of elegance and finery as well as one of wasted and unused space. Her room was basically the size of a one bedroom house with multiple rooms.

  She had a bedroom, a bathroom, and a personal study all in her personal area. The bed alone was larger than a California King of their old world. Racknar made several clicking sounds. <”Damn, that bed's so big we could both sleep in it and never touch.”> To Racknar's surprise, Elizabeth responded in Mandiblese. <”Yeah, and if you still are uncomfortable the floor is padded soft.”> “There's no word for carpet in Mandiblese.” Racknar squinted as he looked at her. “You… actually learned to speak Mandiblese?” She nodded. “I have linguistic talent and can learn just about any language quickly. No need for the comprehend language spell.”

  Racknar walked over and put his hand on the extremely lush and soft bed. Then he rubbed his hand on the floor. “This certainly is a strange situation we've found ourselves in, eh Megan?” Elizabeth nodded. “If I'm being totally honest, there was a time in my last life where I would have given everything I had to lay in a bed with you when you were Jon. Not sexually, but just to have you close. You were the only one who genuinely cared about me. Even my own parents couldn't give less of a fuck.”

  Racknar slowly took all his magic items off and put them in his bag of holding, all but his blue Sky-silk robe. “Normally I sleep with my equipment in, but I guess I can let my guard down a little here.” He twirled the ring of minor illusion in his hand before placing it in last. The only thing he didn't put in the bag of holding was the doorknob. That he simply placed next to the bag that he set down by an end table that was to the side of the massive bed with drapes over it. Racknar took a quick visit to the bathroom then returned to climb into the bed under the covers. “I'm not passing up a chance to sleep in a bed of this quality. The ones in the castle I bought rotted and we replaced them with cheap ones.”

  Elizabeth giggled lightly. “Alright Racknar, I'll go get ready for bed myself.” She then went into the bathroom. Racknar got comfortable, fluffing pillows before laying down and wiggling into the bed. Elizabeth returned in a nightdress. Sparkly and mostly see through with underwear worn underneath to cover herself. She put a number of hairpins and other objects in a drawer in her own nightstand. Racknar practically stared at her as she finished up, she looked over and saw him looking. “Something up? Do I have something on my face?” Racknar turned onto his back and stared at the ceiling. “It's… nothing. You just look lovely is all.”

  Elizabeth chuckled. “Such a charmer.” She said almost sarcastically as she herself crawled into the bed and under the blanket. A sizable gap was between the two as they lay near the edges of the bed. She then turned over to look at Racknar one last time. “Racknar, I just want you to know, if you had asked me to go on a date with you in highschool after prom, I probably would have said yes.” Racknar sighed. “That probably wouldn't have helped my situation any. Especially with Duncan. Either way there's little point in going over what-ifs. We can only ever move forward.”

  Elizabeth rolled her body to face Racknar as well. “Together, as a team though. You don't have to keep fighting alone.” She reached over and grabbed Racknar's hand, pulled herself closer, and kissed him on the cheek. “Goodnight, my eight legged geek.” She rolled onto her back, letting go of the hand, and closed her eyes. Racknar settled into the bed. “Goodnight, Elizabeth.” He closed his eyes and sat in silence until he eventually dozed off.