//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Peace Negotiations // by setablaze53 //------------------------------// The next day started earlier for Liam than it usually would have. Normally he’d stay up late reading and sleep in the next morning. It wasn't like he had much else to do around here. He wasn’t allowed to leave the castle grounds, so he couldn’t look for things to do in the city. He tried to help out the castle staff whenever he could, but there was only so much he could do before the maids start to think he's out for their jobs. With no internet or television, that mostly left him with reading and sleeping. Not that he minded either of those things. He loved to read and loved having the time to do so. He found himself outside the castle dining room before he knew it. He pushed through the door, book under arm, and made his way inside. To his surprise, Princess Celestia was sitting at the table, munching away at a muffin. She turned to see who had entered the room and smiled warmly when her eyes landed on the resident human. “Well, this is a rare occasion. You’re usually still asleep at this hour, Liam.” He returned the smile and made his way to sit near the solar diarch. “Yeah, and so is ninety-nine percent of the country. Not everyone has to wake up and pull a giant fireball into the sky." "That is true, but that doesn't answer my implied question. Why do I have the pleasure of your company this morning? It's not often we see each other this early." "I went to bed early last night. I felt like I'd gotten enough reading done for one day.” She giggled at that. “You? Get enough reading? I’m not sure that’s possible. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without a book. You must have turned in early to get an early start on reading today.” “You’re not wrong,” he agreed with a lighthearted chuckle. “So, what on the agenda today?” “Meetings with a sprinkle of day court. The usual. And you?” “Do you really have to ask?” She just giggled again and took a bite of muffin. A waiter came and took Liam's order soon after, and it wasn’t long before he was eating a muffin of his own. It seemed that blueberry was the flavor of the day. Celestia spoke up again. “You should drop by my chambers more often Liam. We don’t see enough of each other and I enjoy our talks. They’re simple and don’t tend to involve politics or underhooved attempts to gain power.” “Who said I’m not looking for power?” Liam said as he took another bite of delicious muffin. “As the king of Equestria, I could make an entire holiday dedicated to reading.” “I have no doubt my student would bend the knee and swear loyalty to you immediately, but I don’t think you’d last a day as king,” She said playfully. He was inclined to agree. It would be too much stress, and based on her schedule, he wouldn’t have time to do anything. He was about to tell her just that when the door to the dining room opened and an annoyed changeling queen wandered in. She seemed to be mumbling something under her breath, but Liam couldn’t tell what. She took a few more steps before realizing she wasn’t alone in the room. She gave Celestia a glare that could kill, and Liam a glare that could turn a sandy beach into a plane of glass. “Good morning to you too, Queen Chrysalis.” Celestia said, unfazed by the queen's aggressive leering. The queen’s gaze lingered on the human as she approached the large banquet table. She sat directly across from him, her stare never wavering. “Have you met Liam, Chrysalis?” “No,” she said simply. Liam said nothing to contradict her statement. If she wanted to pretend yesterday hadn’t happened, he was happy to oblige. “How were the negotiations with my sister last night? Fruitful, I hope.” The changeling’s gaze finally left Liam and turned to Celestia. “Yes, they were very fruitful.” “I’m glad. I’ll have to get the details from Luna later. I apologize again for not being able to attend myself. I had some prior arrangements that needed to be dealt with.” Chrysalis said nothing. The now nervous waiter came and took her order too before disappearing once again into the kitchen. The room descended into an awkward silence after that. I thought changelings ate emotions or something like that. What's the point in ordering food? Now that he got a good look at her, Chrysalis wasn’t nearly as unpleasant to look at as he'd imagined she would be. She wasn’t attractive, he wouldn’t know how to gauge that in another species anyway, but if ponies were cute by fluffy cat standards, he guessed changelings would be cute in hairless cat standards. The holes in her legs were a bit unnerving, but it was easy enough to get past. In all honesty, he wasn’t sure why he'd been so scared of her the night before. He supposed it was hard to be scared of something he'd knocked out by accident. "So," he said trying to break the silence, "the negotiations between the Hive and Equestria are done?" The queen's eyes shot to him once again and her lips pulled back in a wicked grin, showing off her sharp fangs. "Yes, me and my hive are officially part of Equestria now. I will be living in the castle from now on." "So, I guess I'll be seeing more of you then?" Liam asked. "You'll be seeing much more of me, my little human. You belong to me now after all." That seemed to pique Celestia's interest. She set down the cup of tea she had been sipping from and turned to the changeling queen. "What do you mean he belongs to you? I thought you hadn't met each other yet." I guess the cat's out of the bag now, Liam thought. That hadn't taken long. The grin on the queen's face deflated slightly. She looked like a dog that knew its toy was going to be taken away. Considering Liam was that toy, he wasn’t sure he felt all that bad for her. "We met last night," he admitted. Chrysalis shot another glare his way, obviously trying to shut him up. "Oh? And how did that happen?" Celestia asked curiously. Liam gave her a quick rundown of the events that had transpired the night before. She sat and listened intently, mirth dancing in her eyes. All the while, Chysalis was trying to kill the human with her mind. "Chrysalis, if you were looking for someone to 'ravish' you, you couldn't have picked a worse target," Celestia teased, causing Chysalis to blush green in embarrassment. "Liam here is the biggest bibliophile I've met, barring my personal student. You'd have an easier time seducing an ursa major than going after him." Now it was Liam's turn to blush. "But," she continued, "that only answers one of my questions. What did you mean when you said that Liam belongs to you?" Liam was curious about that too. He remembered the changeling saying something about it last night, but he was too busy rendering her unconscious to listen to what she had been saying. Chrysalis took a second to compose herself before speaking matter-of-factly. "The human belongs to me now. It was agreed during the negotiations that the possession of the human would be passed to me." Celestia's demeanor turned serious and she turned to give the changeling queen her full attention. "When did this happen? I never agreed to any such terms." "It happened last night. Princess Luna saw no issue with it, so we both agreed to it." Celestia wasn't happy to hear that. She looked like she had drank sour milk. He couldn't blame her. He wasn't exactly enthralled by this confession either. "It appears," Celestia said, "that my sister and I need to have another one of our talks about what is and what isn't acceptable in this day and age. Liam is not an object to be "possessed", Chrysalis." She turned to Liam. "I can assure you, Liam, that this will not stand." "Um, thanks," he said simply. Celestia stood up and looked out one of the windows briefly before shaking her head. "I will have to talk to Luna later. For now, I have meetings to attend. I hope the both of you enjoy the rest of your morning." Then she walked out of the dining room to start her day, leaving Liam alone with someone who had apparently conspired to enslave him. Good times. He took another bite of muffin before looking down at the book he'd set on the table. He picked it up, noting the flinch from Chrysalis, and opened it to the page he had left off on. He frowned at the slightly crumpled page. Oh well, it was his own fault for using the tome as a projectile weapon in the first place. He began to read. He could tell that Chrysalis was watching him, but it didn't bother him so long as she stayed on her side of the table. He felt bad for doming the bug queen, but she was the one that burst through the door. They sat there like that for a while, Liam reading, and her watching (glaring at) him from a safe distance. He looked up again when the waiter came back out of the kitchen with a covered dish on his back. He found it a little odd considering his food, as well as Celestia’s, was just brought on a simple plate. Celestia liked to keep things fairly casual when she could, and he was pretty sure covered dishes were normally only used for formal events. The waiter still looked nervous, but professionalism seemed to win out and he dutifully brought the dish over to the waiting changeling queen. As soon as the dish hit the table, the waiter hightailed it back out of the room. Liam guessed professionalism only went so far. He made to go back to reading, but Chrysalis grabbed his attention by clearing her throat. When she saw he was watching, she grinned wickedly once again before she lifted the covering off the plate. A raw cut of meat sat there, slightly bloody. Liam had known the castle had a small store of meat for griffin visitors, and he even dipped into it when he could. She was clearly trying to make a dramatic scene out of it. He didn’t think much of it and returned to his book. However, he wasn’t allowed to get far before Chrysalis cleared her throat again. She didn’t look very happy, but then again, he hadn’t seen her be happy yet. He sighed. “Do you need something?” “Does this not disturb you?” She asked, gesturing to the bloody meat. “No. Is it supposed to?” “How does the sight of bloody corpse flesh not disturb you? Isn’t everyone in this country supposed to be terrified by the thought of harm coming to other creatures?” She sounded offended that Liam wasn’t offended. “Well, for many Equestrians that’s probably true, but I’m not from Equestria. If you’re worried about me judging you for what you eat, don’t be. I also eat meat on a regular basis, so that,” he gestured to the plate, “doesn’t bother me in the slightest.” “You eat other creatures!?” “There’s no need to sound so surprised,” Liam said. “You’re not the only one with sharp teeth. My people actually created an entire industry based on the slaughter of animals like cows and pigs raised specifically for the purpose of being eaten.” She shot up out of her seat and backed away from the table. She looked absolutely disgusted. “Y-you’re telling the truth. You don’t even feel any remorse for consuming other creatures!” “Is something wrong? Weren’t you going to eat that?” He asked sincerely. “They call us monsters for trying to survive, but they let you live with them in their own home? What are they thinking?” She asked before she too left the room. Okay, that took a weird turn, Liam thought. He looked down at the raw cut of meat on the plate once again and sighed. She’d just left it there, and the waiter probably wouldn’t be back out anytime soon. That left cleanup to him. He sighed again. Whatever, at least I can read in peace now that she’s gone. He ate the last bite of muffin and returned to his book.