As they stepped in through the front doors, Celestia and Silver let go of the protective bubble. Aila swiftly took the opportunity to flee into the back with a grunt mixed between pain and frustration.
Shei stepped out from the kitchen, looking them over and seeing nothing obvious. "How did it go? Aila looked upset."
Celestia shook her head. "Aila found her own name on the list." Shei paled in horror. "We're afraid this city is no longer safe for either of you. I apologize, this is all likely our fault."
Silver moved up beside Celestia. "It wasn't to start with, it's just more obvious now."
Shei gave a stiff nod before producing a folded letter from a pouch. "This came for you while you were out. It had the royal seal on it and I dared not peek."
Celestia accepted the letter in her golden magic and broke the seal easily. Her eyes scanned over the words quickly.
To My Esteemed Peer,
I am shamed to admit that I have been lax in welcoming you to my kingdom. Please come to the castle immediately so you can be housed in a manner befitting such an honored guest. I've already instructed the dock manager to waive the dock fees for your vessel while you are here. I trust you and your husband will join me tonight for dinner?
Looking Forward to Exchanging News,
Pharaoh Clawdius III
Silver tilted his head. "That's a lot more friendly than I was expecting. Was it really just a big mistake?"
Celestia frowned. "I doubt that highly, but we can't refuse it without looking like the aggressors. At least it means we're unlikely to be shadowed by outright brutes. The game moves on to the next level. Put on your best, we won't keep him waiting."
Shei approached timidly. "You won't leave us to be killed, right?"
Silver quickly replied with a shake of his head. "Of course not. Get Aila. You're my servants, so it shouldn't be that odd that you'd accompany us."
Shei grinned and bounded off to find her sister, looking quite eager to go.
Celestia watched her go before looking back to Silver. "They'll still be in danger at the castle. Ponies, or cats, that want to get to us may try working through them, by subterfuge, bribery, or force."
Silver rolled a hoof. "And the other option is to leave them here, fearing for their lives with no one but themselves to watch over them?"
Celestia gave a bit of a smile. "Don't change, Silver Stars. I just want you to be aware that nowhere is really safe until we get home again. You call them servants, but you are beholden to them at least as much, and they will be relying on us to get through this." She turned away and Silver felt a powerful urge that he didn't fight, nipping Celestia on one of her suns. Celestia shuddered, tail twitching. "You do that again and I'll assume you give consent to what follows. Last warning." She trotted off to the stairs, going to fetch her things.
Silver shook his head, chastising himself for teasing Celestia like that. It felt so right in the moment. Why did things have to be so complicated? Aila emerged from the back with her sister beside her. "Are we really going to the castle?" Silver nodded at her with a hopefully encouraging smile. "Hmmph... Come on, sis, we should get our best on then." They wandered off, leaving Silver alone.
He had his own fineries to wear, and ascended the stairs to get at them. They set together. Silver fidgeted with his new cape, getting it to lay just so, its bright red countering the purple of his shirt-like clothing and the deep brown of his fur. They all looked dressed to impress, and Silver felt a little thrill. He really felt like an alpha, walking along with three gussied-up females that would likely accept his advances if he cared to make them. One advantage of the purple slip that covered his front and bottom, it also kept shameful 'growths' from becoming too obvious. There was something to be said for clothing. "Everyone alright?"
Celestia nodded. "As well as I'm going to be until we're done with this. Aila, Shei?"
Shei smiled brightly. "I'm so excited! I've never been to the castle before. Will we be sleeping there too?"
Aila rolled her eyes. "Sister, calm yourself. Our actions reflect on the master and mistress. If we're supposed to be servants, let's be good ones, right?"
Shei bobbed her head. "Right. I'm still excited though. You can't say you aren't."
Aila sighed softly and pressed up against Shei, and the two walked along, their emotional levels seeming to even one another out.
Celestia moved in beside Silver, taking up a similar position. "I have decided I'm willing to try your idea, Silver. Let's see what Clawdius has in store for us first, and we'll know where we stand before we commit to anything that could leave either of us unprepared." She kissed his cheek softly, her lips warm and sending a little shiver of delight through the stallion. "Do you truly forgive all the things I've done to you? Not out of any sense of modesty or misguided fear of conflict? I want the truth."
Silver considered it as he walked. "I'm still angry that you flippantly ignored my agency, and basically mutilated me. I've gotten better, obviously... and I don't think you were trying to be an awful person about it, but it was an awful thing to do." He returned the kiss with a soft nip at a white ear. "I want my wife to trust me, just as much as I want to be a good husband to the herd of females I've somehow collected. I look at you and my heart races. There's a little fear, and a lot of attraction."
Celestia gave a soft smile. "That felt refreshingly honest. You've yet to fail me, as a stallion, but I've made it rather hard to do everything a stallion should do, starting with being a threat to your life." She saw Silver fidget mid-walk and she smirked. "It is... oddly pleasing to know I'm tempting enough to consider even with potentially lethal consequences, but resist that. I don't want a dead stallion... I've... had a few of those." Her expression subtly changed towards sadness though her posture remained defiant and proud. "The first in ignorance, the rest to foolishness. There are many ponies that would never forgive me if I killed you that way, starting with myself."
Silver rubbed up against Celestia's clothed side. "We'll work through it, together. First, we have a Pharaoh to deal with. Let's see a smile on your face. We're here to represent Equestria in all the best ways."
They all arrived at the gate of the castle, where a slender twin-tail nekomata sat on a chair over the gate and three large-looking baastians held lances at the ready, eyeballing them. The nekomata called down, his voice firm and even, "Are you Celestia?"
Celestia nodded lightly. "I am. I was informed we were expected?"
"You are, madame, and your husband." The nekomata looked over Silver from his perch. "Who are the other two?"
Silver waved a hoof at Shei and Aila. "Our servants. I trust that isn't an issue?"
"Of course not," said the cat a little too sweetly. "Please, enter. Raise the gate!"
With the sound of gears being turned, the gate slowly lifted upwards, allowing them to proceed. Shei and Aila went first, with Shei looking around with wide eyes and Aila looking mildly defensive.
Silver and Celestia went next side-by-side. Silver heard a faint click, and thrust up a silver hand just in time to catch the gate coming down on them. His horn ached furiously from the sudden catch, but better than being skewered on the sharp-looking bottom of the gate. The nekomata above cursed and shouted for the gate to be raised, and it slowly raised back up, though Silver and Celestia slipped through before it finished raising.
The nekomata turned to face them on the inside of the courtyard. "You can't hire decent help these days! Lifting a gate! You'd think this was a simple task... A thousand pardons, your highnesses. I'll have the cats responsible flogged for their incompetence. The Pharaoh awaits you in the throne room. If you could be so kind..." He rolled a paw. "Please don't mention this little... incident."
As they entered the halls of the castle, Celestia leaned over. "That was more forward than I expected. Excellent reaction time, Silver. Are you alright? You're wincing."
Silver grunted softly. "Catching that gate gave me a damn headache that doesn't want to quit. Stopping that much... momentum isn't easy, and there was nowhere to deflect it to. It was stop it dead on or let it through."
Shei approached with a concerned look and sat on her haunches. She raised her forehooves and started rubbing the sides of Silver's head. It felt... silly, but good, and the headache ebbed a little with the pressure of the mare's caring hooves. "Thank you..."
Aila snorted softly. "I'm starting to wonder if we're safer with you, or at home."
Celestia shook her head. "None of us are, but we're safer with each other. Let's go say hello to our host. Remember, you are our servants, and it will look quite poorly on us all if you speak up while we are with him." She held up a hoof to her chest. "I don't mind you speaking your opinions freely otherwise, but appearances are something we can't ignore right now."
Shei rose back to her hooves and nodded. "Speak only when spoken to, of course, mistress."
Aila snorted at Shei. "You're enjoying this far too much. I'll be on my best behavior."
They proceeded down the halls to find the Pharaoh. Silver confessed as they came into the throne room that he had been expecting a big brute, or maybe a conniving cat twirling a moustache. Instead a young kitten sat in a throne much too large for her. "Welcome!" she said, her voice putting her at a late teenager, just trying to emerge into adulthood. "I'm so glad you could make it!"
Celestia seemed to share Silver's surprise, though she hid it better. "Good day, Pharaoh. We are honored to meet you in person for the first time."
She bounced down to her paws, standing bipedally with practiced ease as she hurried up to Celestia. "You're just as large as they say, Princess of the Sun."
Shei bit her lip before the words escaped her. "You're so small..."
The pharaoh frowned at Shei, shuffling her paws on the ground as her pawhands wrung nervously a moment. "I'm still growing... You're very rude for a servant."
Silver put himself between the pharaoh and Shei. "What she meant was that she's very impressed that you exert such supreme control despite your relative youth, pharaoh."
The pharaoh smiled at Silver's words, but it didn't last long. "That's not true... Everyone works around me. I'm barely a pharaoh in name. Please, you can help me, right?"