Of Kings and Knights part 1

"Dodge" His battle-hardened instinct screamed at him.

A leg went to his left destroying the tree behind him as he rolled before the attack could make any sort of contact, seeing how she left herself exposed with no way of defending he directed his bokken unto her side the hit being enough to drop the woman who was now clutching her stomach in pain.

He let the girl gather herself as she started glaring hatefully unto his eyes as if he would turn to ash by the sheer emotion in them. He merely chuckled and gave her hand pulling the woman to her feet with a grunt.

She huffed slightly her face sweaty as she grabbed one of the towels to dry herself a bit "It's only a spar you know, you didn't have to hit Rem that hard."

He chuckled again making her glare harder "You're the one who wanted to train with me" the man said shrugging "and if I didn't give out consequences to your failures it would mean you would continue to them, besides" he smirked at her narrowed eyes "I saw what happened to that tree not as if you were pulling your punches either."

She pouted at him still rubbing her side in discomfort "If Rem knew what a slave driver sir Shirou was I wouldn't have asked for the spar."

"It's how I was trained, there really isn't a much better way to do this other than actual combat, besides this is helping you as much as it is me."

She looked at him again now with a deadpan "Yes Rem is very happy to be target practice for sir Shirou." she said emotionlessly.

"I'm being serious, I uuuh…." he thought for a second to gather the amount of personal information he wanted to talk about "Had a partner that I used to spar against, she used a lot of hand to hand combat too.""Among other things."

"A partner huh." she left the question hanging around for a bit before shrugging as Shirou didn't even bother answering, she was curious about his life before she knew him, but not enough to force it out of him.

She heard footsteps behind her as someone was rushing towards the two, her expression becoming more stoic as she put on her work face now that she wasn't alone with someone whom she trusted "Lady Emilia." she bowed down to the approaching lady noticing that she looked worried.

The lady in question smiled awkwardly at the maid before she stepped towards her primary target and her smile became more genuine. "Shiiiiiirou, I told you I would meet you in the morning, silly." she gave him a cute pout which only got worse as the man in question laughed towards the elf, her face relaxed though once she felt him pat her head.

"Sorry sorry, Rem here asked me for a spar and I couldn't really say no."

The elf looked back to the maid, who now was simply dutifully cleaning off the sweat of her face, with a slight frown before shaking her head as she heard puck yawn and stretch.

"Good morning Emilia!" The little cat said with one of his eyes closed, he looked back towards Shirou and nodded towards him. "Seems everyone has too much energy in the morning nowadays."

"Morning Puck." the king prospect said as she patted the cat "It's not really our fault you're lazy."

"Muuuu, hearing it from you really hurts Lia." Despite saying that there was still a smile on his face, as he started to look around the yard noticing a few craters and trees lying around "Huh, there seemed to be a fight going huh." he turned his cheeky smile to Shirou "What too afraid to ask me for help, little Shirou, you should be." the cat started to shadow box "I would give you the one-two."

Shirou simply looked at Puck in thought, he knew very well that while the little being was just joking that it also hid a lot of its true power and if they were in an actual battle it would be his loss "I think I'm fine Puck wouldn't want Emi here to see her dad lose that badly."

"Hmmm, that so?" Puck said turning upside down while staring at Shirou a challenging smirk still on his face.

"C'mon guys no fighting." Emilia said as she stepped in front of the two going as far as trying to grab both of their ears, Shirou easily dodging the hand.

"Emi calm down we're just joking."

She looked at him with way more seriousness than the situation deserved actually making him step back a bit before relenting "Fine but friends shouldn't talk like that to each other."

"Teasing is rather normal for friends, Emi." "Not as if I would call Puck a friend anyway" the cat had been friendly towards him certainly, but there was something hidden behind that usually smiling face, almost like they should be natural enemies it had been something he easily ignored already having felt that long ago with much more force, the only other person that felt close to that man would be Roswaal though perhaps in a different way.

"Huh?" Emilia started to look around with a confused look "Where's Rem?"

"Probably cleaning up she has her duties to uphold after all, speaking of which I should probably do that myself and start making lunch."

Puck started flying around in happiness at those words "Ooooh can't wait to eat your food again Shirou."

"Well then better get to working and meet those expectations."

"Wait." Emilia stopped him in his tracks "Roswaal wants a meeting after lunch, I don't really know what it is about but he called for everyone living in the mansion."

Shirou narrowed his eyes before nodding and leaving again, his thoughts now on the clown.

(Afternoon)

"My myyyy~ seems everyone is here." Roswaal said with a big smile on his face, sipping on his tea, he was flanked by the two maids while Emilia and Puck were on the right in an armchair "This is raaaather~ lovely tea, it seems your skiiills~ go beyond just food."

Shirou stoically nodded as he drank his own tea, he was put right in front of the man the only thing keeping them apart being the small table, it wasn't exactly hard to figure out that this meeting had something to do with him "I would rather get to the point."

The pink-haired maid glared at him her eyes filled with disgust "Oi stray if you think you can talk like that…" before getting stopped by Roswaal.

"Now now, nooo~ need for that deeearest~ Ram, it is quite alright of sir Shirou to be aaasking~ these questions." Roswaal continued to calmly drink, this only furthered everyone's confusion over what the meeting was about. "Since it seems everyone is waaating~ for yours truly to start." the man coughed towards his hand preparing his voice his face turning serious "As most of you know soon enough our camp will have to go to the capital city in order to announce along with the other candidates Emilia's placement in the race towards the throne." the man stopped and scanned the room for a second before his eyes settled towards the red-haired male in front of him "and while our chances at making a good impression are meager at best due to our candidate…" at this Emilia's head dropped "… I believe that with an added member we may run the tide if only a bit." Roswaal stopped talking looking at Shirou pointedly as if waiting for his answer.

The maids looked stoic their heads kept down, these matters were beyond the two therefore they would simply wait for their master to talk. Emilia on the other hand looked confused as her head went left to right towards the two men, the cat at the top of her head simply crossed his arms and waited for this meeting to be done regardless of the outcome.

Shirou looked unto the group emotionlessly "I figure you want something from me Roswaal, just be direct for once."

"Very well." The noble chuckled for a bit before continuing "I believe there is an important spot free in our dearest Emilia's camp, correct?" he looked at Emilia already knowing the answer but wanting her to figure out where he was going with this, the shocked look that became one of realization was all he needed as he looked at the confused face of the younger man once again. "I believe you would agree with me lady Emilia."

She nodded before looking at Shirou with a wide smile on her face "Roswaal is talking about you becoming my knight."

"Your knight?" Shirou looked perplexed at her.

She nodded a big smile on her face she looked ready to just give him the position right there and then before being stopped by Roswaal…

"Now mind you this position comes with many…"

"I refuse."

The conversation reached a full halt at this declaration, Emilia's eyes widening while Roswaal's narrowed "You refuse?"

"Yes." Shirou looked on calmly at the shocked faces in the room "I don't want to get embroiled into the politics of this country."

Roswaal leaned back on his couch his legs crossing "Is that your final answer…" seeing the young man nod he nodded as well and got up from his seating his maids fallowing.

Before he could leave he heard Emilia shout "WAIT." her hands slamming into the table as she stared at Shirou who met her gaze. "Are you really going to refuse?"

Shirou sighed "Emilia… I'm not going to be here for that long this seems like a job for the long haul, I'm sorry but it's just not something I can do."

"I…" she seemed uncomfortable with this notion "You're going to leave?"

He simply nodded once again "I have people waiting at home."

Her arms seemed to tremble slightly "I see…" her breath came in short pauses "Can I ask you a question then?"

"Go ahead."

"Would you support me otherwise?" her eyes almost seemed to beg for a positive answer.

"I'm not going to lie about something this important to you." Shirou sighed "I don't think you're ready to lead a country, so no regardless of my stay here I wouldn't become your knight especially without not even knowing who the other candidates are and if they aren't better suited for being a king."

"I understand…" she got up and started walking to the door "I need some time alone."

He heard her quiet footsteps along the hall before getting up himself and glaring towards the clown "This was never about me becoming her knight, was it?"

The man put a hand on his chest as his face became incredulous his widening smile though told another story "Sir shiiiirou~ I would neeeever~ do something like that."

"Right." Shirou shook his head and started heading out, not before noticing the apologetic look Rem was giving him.

He stopped though before he could close the door "Another thing comes to mind, it's quite peculiar that the village gets attacked when you are away, what is up with that."

"Now now, sir Shirou I have given you much leeway on the way you speak to me." his smile was no longer on his face as the temperature of the room rose "But I would think twice before accusing one such as myself."

He held all the cards at this point he would not only lose access to Beatrice's library not to mention of whatever allies he had in this world. So he dropped the matter and nodded towards the man.

The room cooled down as the smile returned to the owner's face, Shirou simply stepped out of the room and made his way to whatever door now housed Beatrice's library.

He really hated that clown.

(Library)

"So you want my help I suppose." Beatrice said as soon as he got into the room, while her head was firmly fixed on the book in her lap he could tell that she wasn't all that focused on it, probably been waiting for him.

"Yeah." Shirou stood there for a second trying to figure out the best way to tell her about his situation.

"This is about going back to your world I suppose." Beatrice calmly said as she turned another page from her book.

His eyes widened before narrowing "So you know."

She snapped her book shut "Quite." she stood up and closed the distance between the two "Before you ask I can't, it's something outside my reach of power, neither do the books here carry something of that nature in fact."

"So there isn't anything I can do." Shirou simply looked tired now this day was going pretty bad already before getting these news.

"I don't know about that I suppose." the little girl sighed giving an understanding look to the beaten-down man "There must have been someone that brought you here or perhaps a link you have towards this world." she gave him a once over before continuing "You don't know anything about your family, I suppose?"

"I…" he shook his head "I have no memory of my biological family, I actually lost a lot of my childhood memories after a traumatic event."

She sighed and looked at the ground before muttering something inaudible "I guess it doesn't matter then." she turned around and walked back to her chair.

"So you have no idea."

"I didn't say that in fact." she gave a little hop and settled down on her chair again "It's just any of the conclusions I come up with don't really bring forth any easy results or quick ones, I suppose."

"I would take anything at this point."

The little girl sighed "Considering the miasma around you well…" she left the answer hanging knowing that the man in front of her would reach the same conclusion.

"You think the witch has something to do with me being here?"

She gave a little nod "Either that or the cultists though where they got that power from I couldn't really say I suppose."

Shirou gave out a sigh before rubbing his face in frustration "So I am out of options."

The little girl merely shrugged "You seem to be doing well enough I suppose."

"I guess so." he chuckled without any mirth in his voice.

Beatrice looked to the redhead with pity "I understand that this isn't the help you wanted…"

He shook his head "It's fine it's not your fault."

"What will you do now?"

Shirou leaned back into the door and started thinking "I don't know, waiting for an answer to come my way isn't really how I do things though." he gave her a smile after noticing her worried look "Don't worry about me, I'm pretty stubborn I'll be fine, though I might start asking you question about the witches."

The little girl narrowed her eyes "That's quite a path you would be taking, you understand that I suppose?"

"It's the only one I have right?"

She gave him a serious look before relenting "Well then if you are going down this path you might as well not be illiterate shall we continue our studies."

"Yeah, I would like that thanks."

It would certainly do him some good to just engross himself into learning something for a few hours instead of moping around, so he accepted Beatrice's proposition wholeheartedly.

(Night)

Dinner was a rather tense affair, Emilia still hadn't come back down from her room and he hadn't really bothered to strike up a conversation with anyone after leaving Beatrice's library the little girl herself watching on as everyone at the table ate in silence before shrugging and leaving on her own accord.

Puck on the other hand simply stared, not glared stared at the young man in the room, he didn't look angry he just looked pensive. As Shirou got up and made his way out of the dining room, Puck stopped him. "You should talk to her." and with that he left, disappearing with a yawn.

The idea was already in his mind before Puck put it there, so he might as well fully explain himself to the girl who helped him get aground in this world.

He knocked on her door, allowing her a few seconds to respond. He hears a small shuffle coming from the room and quiet footsteps closing in before someone grabbed the doorknob, things seemingly stopped for a few seconds as they both stood there quietly.

The door snapped open almost as if it were kicked as Emilia pulled it with such force that it beat into the wall with a thud. She sighed "Seems I can't do anything right huh." she gave out an awkward chuckle before stepping away and sitting in her bed. "If you're here to make amends Shirou you shouldn't have, I understand where you're coming from…"

He sat at her side watching as she grabbed both of her legs making her look incredibly small "Do you now?"

She nodded her temple hitting her knees as her head rested there "I'm sorry for how I acted this afternoon, I shouldn't have snapped like that."

Shirou stayed there quietly allowing her to vent, he had thought of all the questions she could have asked him in this conversation the number one being why? Why not become a part of her group and help her, he hadn't thought that she would have given so much thought to this. Perhaps he had underestimated her.

"But…" Emilia finally looked back at him "… you really don't believe I'm good enough right? You're my first friend and hearing that hurt."

"I believe you can do a lot, Emilia." He looked back at her and smiled "As a friend, I can safely say you're incredibly kind and nice to be around if I could keep spending time with you it wouldn't be time wasted." He gave her some time to think before continuing "As a fighter, you're plenty strong I wouldn't mind having you watch my back even if I would prefer you to be safe. As a person you have a lot of room for growth, can't lie about that, but you can do a lot of good and I believe that's all you want to do too."

"But…" Emilia said in preparation.

"Running a kingdom when you can barely make your own decisions isn't really something I can support." He gave her a second to counter what he said but she remained silent "Do you actually want this Emilia, I never even heard you talking about it besides studying, why do you want the throne?"

"It's personal."

"Very well, I won't ask you again."

They sat there in silence, it wasn't exactly unusual for the pair to do that at this time of day, but the change in scenery and the weight of the silence was quite different.

"As you are right now the weight of a kingdom would crush you but it's not my choice to make, what is though is on whether or not I become a part of your group of supporters and that I can't do." Shirou sighed and got up "I hope you can understand that and that we can remain friends still."

She gave out a little nod and a smile but still seemed deep in thought though at this point her sadness had given out to more careful thinking. Shirou put his hand up trying to see if she would shake it which with a little pause she did.

She watched him go carefully shutting close the door she almost broke and made her way to the window still thinking about the last conversation.

"Making my own decisions… huh."

Soooo It's been a bit. Well sorry about that I kinda broke my arm so while I have been trying to write it hasn't been easy, it's still going to take a couple of weeks to heal up good but should be able to bring another chapter this month probably. Anyway, this isn't really the chapter I had in mind it was going to be bigger for once but at this point I just want something out so this is what you get, I'll be doing some edits to the chapters before too just to make it a bit more uuuh... lore friendly I know I fucked up on a few things. The next chapter of (S)alvation is nearly finished probably by Sunday at most Monday.

Thanks crashclown for proofreading this before I put it out.