Author Note:

It's kinda close to the winter holidays, so happy holidays everyone.

_____

[ Etho Point of View ]

Etho slept peacefully his first night at the palace. He was absorbed by the comfort of his mattress. The high quality mattress helped him sleep extraordinarily well, compared to how he used to. The silvernette was not used to the relaxing luxuries that came with being in association with a royal. And he didn't plan on parting with the life changing accommodations anytime soon.

"Etho!" An angered voice yelled at him from behind the scratched up wooden door. "Get up, I'm hungry."

"What?" Etho groaned, rolling over in the bed, now facing the door.

"You have to escort me to breakfast in the unlikely case an attempt is made on my life." The royal restated, his tone sounding dry.

"Can I have a few more minutes?" The bodyguard requested, unwilling to leave the quality mattress.

"No." King Bdubs denied without any hesitation. He then went on to provide an explanation. "My breakfast will get cold."

Seeing no reason to anger the king more, Etho managed to roll out of bed and get ready for the day in a timely manner. Upon stepping outside his room, the silvernette was greeted with a disappointed frown from the wide eyed royal. He didn't want to ask anything, as he didn't know what he could and couldn't say to the moss dressed king.

"You know," The royal turned to Etho as he began walking down the stairs. "If you're busy getting your beauty sleep, I could get someone else to be my bodyguard. Wouldn't want something to happen to me because my personal guard is sleeping."

"I wasn't asleep for that long," Etho explained himself.

"I got ready and still waited about ten minutes, before I woke you up." Bdubs made his rebuttal.

"It doesn't take that long to get ready and ten minutes isn't that long," The taller of the two males stated.

"It may not take you a long time, Etho, but I have a whole kingdom to impress." The king boasted about himself. "I need to make sure that I look spectacular every single day."

"Don't you spend most of your time in your castle, though?" The foreigner pointed out to the other man. "Why would you need to spend time ''looking spectacular'' for the kingdom's people, if you don't even see them everyday? It kinda seems like you're putting in a lot of work for nothing."

"It's not for nothing." Bdubs hastily corrected, smoothing his hair as the two walked. "Appearance is very important in how you present yourself. I want to present myself in a way that shows the kingdom that I'm good at leading them."

"I see," Etho nodded, not entirely understanding what the royal was meaning.

It was at this time that the king and his protector had reached the end of the stairs. A faint smell of breakfast bread lingered throughout the castle's lower floor, the silvernette subconsciously wandering towards the dining room. The royal found it odd that his bodyguard was so excited to eat, though he didn't think much of it.

Etho took his seat beside Bdubs at the table. Once the moss fashioned king was comfortable in his seat, the silvernette repeated his same actions at dinner. He ate quickly, despite having no reason to be in a rush.

"Why are you eating so fast?" The ravenette questioned him, puzzled by his actions.

"I..." Etho blanked, not realizing his pace of consumption. "Habit, I guess."

"How did you make a habit of eating fast?" Bdubs gave a follow up inquiry. "You never get to enjoy anything you eat, if you are always eating at the speed of lightning."

"I usually had to eat quickly, otherwise I wouldn't be able to eat at all." Etho explained, pushing away his empty plate.

The king was at loss for words, making him unable to reply. A silence fell between the two, as neither knew each other well. Both were unsure of how to break the ice between them and find a ground where they could both be completely comfortable around one another.

"Sorry," Etho blurted, feeling the need to apologize.

"It's fine. You don't need to apologize for anything." Bdubs replied, slowly rising from his seat.

The taller silvernette did the same, expecting the king to lead him somewhere. The shorter royal began to walk away from the table and towards one of the various exits to the palace's exterior.

"Where are we going?" Etho curiosity asked the king as he caught up beside him.

"It's a surprise." He replied, with a wide smile that he wore so well.

'A surprise?' Etho thought to himself, trying to determine what it could be. 'Like a gift? Did he get me a gift?'

As the two had made their out onto the kingdom's luscious courtyard, the king's protector took note of the presence of last night's dinner guests. The orange haired woman, the brunette with fluffy hair, and the blonde doctor with crimson red eyes.

'Why are they here?' The silvernette was surprised to see them, instead of the gift he had been anticipating.

"What is everyone else doing out here this early?" The heterochromic man turned to the king in confusion.

"We're gonna be doing some training." Cleo stated, using her healthy hand to crack the knuckles of her broken arm.

"Training... Why?" The silver haired man asked another question.

"Well, Etho," Bdubs began. "There's no doubt that you are more capable of protecting me against a bandit or a wild animal..."

"But if you had to fight someone with actual combat training, you would definitely lose." The Royal Guard Captain bluntly explained.

"It's okay, though!" Skizz chimed in to bring a brighter tone to the conversation. "Cleo is here to help you improve your skills so you can protect King Bdubs from any harm that may come his way."

"I see..." The masked man nodded, accepting that fact that he would have to train. "Why is he here, then?"

The light haired male looked over to the blonde doctor, who had already taken a seat on the fresh morning grass. He looked completely uninterested in being outside. None of the others seem to find the medical expert's complete lack of enthusiasm unusual, aside from Etho.

"Oh, Tango?" Bdubs glanced towards the blonde, before turning back to the standing group. "He's here in case anyone gets hurt while you guys train."

Etho felt satisfied knowing the reasoning for everything happening at the moment. A cloud of doubt did hover above him, though he didn't want that to affect him outwardly in front of a group of people that he barely knew, who he assumed held high expectations of him.

"First off, I'd like to see you in action some more, before doing anything to improve your technique." The woman told Etho.

"What do you want me to do then?" He asked her, drawing his sword.

"Isn't it obvious?" She smiled. "I want to observe you during a fight."

"You aren't going to fight with me, right?" Etho worriedly questioned her.

"Of course not. That would be unfair to you, since I would make our battle last only a few seconds." Cleo explained, boosting slightly about herself. She then glanced towards Skizzle. "You'll be against Skizz. He's more around your skill level, give or take."

'Skizzle.' Etho began to examine his opponent. 'He doesn't seem like a tough opponent.'

"This is going to be so much fun," The brunette with fluffy hair eagerly smiled.

"Alright, you two will fight until one of you disarms the other or someone falls to the ground." The female with fiery hair started, raising up her non-broken arm. "Go!"

As soon as Cleo's arm went down, Skizz and Etho's sword loudly clashed together. The two warriors exchanged harmless swings, until the silvernette stumbled from an unexpected power-filled swing from his opponent. He was able to regain his balance, though he was then knocked to the ground easily with his guard down.

"Pfft." A faint snicker came from the doctor sitting on the grass.

"Good job, buddy," Skizz outstretched his hand from the silvernette to take hold. "You did great!"

"I did horrible," Etho muttered to himself, allowing the brunette to help him up.

"I think you're having trouble keeping your balance during battle." Cleo gave her experienced insight.

'You think...' Etho thought himself, seeming almost defeated by his own combat inability.

[ Bdubs Point of View ]

Bdubs expected himself to fall asleep during the training session. He didn't find battle very interesting, and his lack of knowledge on the subject only contributed to that opinion. Yet, he stayed awake and observed the training from afar with Tango. However, the royal sat on a cushion instead of the grass like the doctor did.

The ravenette watched his bodyguard fall to the ground and get disarmed countless times, though also he noticed his slight improvements from each battle. He didn't find it worrying that his protector wasn't the most skilled warrior in all the land, but comforting that Etho had things he needed to improve on.

Eventually, the time for quitting for the day came. Skizz and Etho were tired from fighting, as well as needing a few cuts cleaned up. Tango was bored, having nothing to do but clean and bandage little cuts. Cleo understood that everyone had enough training for one day, so she let everyone go off to relax.

When Bdubs and Etho returned inside the palace, they sat back down at the table to eat lunch. The moss covered king decided that he would try to break the wall of tension between the two, as Bdubs foresaw them spending a large amount of time together.

"So, Etho," The shorter of the two men began. "Do you prefer tea or coffee?"

"I honestly don't mind either one," The taller responded. "Though, I've had a lot more tea in my lifetime than coffee."

"My kingdom grows coffee beans if you'd like to try it sometime," The king offered.

"Thanks." Etho quietly thanked him. "I'll definitely try some at some point."

'I think my ice breaker worked.' Bdubs thought to himself, mentally patting himself on the back.

"Which of the two do you prefer?" Etho questioned the king.

"Tea," The royal in the moss cloak answered without any hesitation. "Something about it is so refreshing."

The silvernette seemed to be thinking of a question to ask the king, which would ideally send the two of them on a long back and forth of asking and answering questions, helping the two males get to know each other. Sadly, there was a loud thud, causing an interruption in their conversation.

Bdubs groaned, lightly palming his forehead. The king seemed to have an idea of what was coming, but Etho had a face of unanswered confusion as he looked towards the source of the sound.

"This better be good, Grian," The black haired royal sternly said, as he looked towards the source of the sound as well. "I happened to be in the middle of a very interesting conversation."

The two pairs of eyes at the table glared at the small man on the floor. A few stray feathers surrounded him where he had crashed after flying in through the glassless window. The light haired brunette had dropped an envelope sealed with deep blue colored wax. The winged man quickly got on his feet and picked up the envelope.

"It's urgent," Grian declared in a quiet voice.

Grian gave the letter to his king, before stepping away from the table where the royal and his bodyguard sat. Both Bdubs and Etho examined the envelope. The silvernette was trying to pinpoint which kingdom the seal was from, while the ravenette was trying to figure out what the letter was for before he opened it. The king flipped it around, noticing it said 'Urjent' on the front. Upon seeing the misspelling, the king realized that something horrible must have happened in the kingdom that sent the letter.

"Did anyone say anything when you were given the letter, Grian?" Bdubs turned to the hybrid with a serious face.

"The prince said that you needed to see this immediately and that the Coastal Kingdom would like a response from you as soon as possible." The winged hybrid responded in an almost automatic way.

Hearing the short man's words did not relax the king at all. The royal took a breath, before he ripped open the letter. He read it carefully, before biting his lip with worry. The royal pushed his unfinished plate aside, putting the letter on the table for his bodyguard to see.

"What does it say?" Etho asked, struggling to examine the letter.

"Read it for yourself." The royal replied much ruder than he had meant to.

"...this handwriting is really messy and hard to read." The silvernette mumbled.

"Basically, the Coastal Kingdom's harvest was bad and they aren't able to catch enough fish to feed everyone in their kingdom during the approaching winter months." The moss caped king summarized for Etho. "They've requested that we share food with them, since this is the best kingdom for farming."

"Are you going to help them?" The man foreign to the land curiously questioned the king.

"I don't see why not." Bdubs answered. He turned to Grian, who was still just standing behind them. "Go gather some of the extra harvest and make sure it's transported to the Coastal Kingdom tomorrow morning."

"Yes, sir, your majesty," Grian nodded, power walking out of the room.

Once the hybrid had left, the king quickly finished his lunch. The protector had finished long before the winged man graced the two with his presence, as the masked man had a habit of eating quickly. When the king finished, he and Etho made their way up the spiral staircase, traveling down the hallway and past their bedrooms to a study-type room.

There was a desk with empty sheets of paper in a neat stack on the left. There was a bottle of unopened ink and a small bucket of quills on the right. There was also some green wax and a ring with the kingdom's seal on the desk as well. Bdubs sat down at the desk and began to write up a response for the bird hybrid to deliver as soon as possible. The king's protector sat on an old dismantled chair, unsure of what he needed to do.

* * *

The king had made the last mark with his feathered pen, then proceeded to fold the letter so it would fit in an envelope. He pulled an envelope from the wooden desk's only drawer, stamping it with his seal. His previous stress had completely left his body and he felt confident enough to slightly glance towards the pile of discarded letters in the corner of the room.

"It's finally done." The royal smiled, feeling proud of himself.

"Why did it take so long for you to write a letter?" The taller of the two men asked, letting out a quiet muffled yawn.

"It had to be perfect." Bdubs instantly answered with a wide grin. "No spelling errors, no messing handwriting, nothing. Only perfection."

'I obviously have to make my reply look much neater than their request letter.' The mossy royal thought to himself.

Upon leaving the room and traveling back down the staircase, the two were greeted by an orange haired woman. This time, however, she seemed bothered by something.

"Bdubs," Cleo directly addressed the king. "There's a messenger that claims to have an important message for you."

'Oh no...' The king gulped, expecting the worst to happen within a few minutes.

"Where from?" The ravenette questioned the captain, trying to keep his composure.

"The magical faction," The woman with a sling replied.

"I'll go speak with them," Bdubs stated. He held out the letter had just written. "Give this to Grian. Tell him to deliver it tonight."

"Scar's not going to like Grian delivering at night," The Guard Captain commented as she took the letter.

"I don't care," The shorter of the three bluntly admitted. "Lives could be at stake.

The king and his protector parted with the captain, leaving the letter in her hands. The two men went to where the messenger was waiting. The silvernette was still in the dark, while the royal couldn't shake the anxiety that bubbled in his stomach.

_____

Author Note:

I originally started Protector on my Quotev account on November 1, 2021.

Last Life had just ended, so most of the story beats and inspiration comes from there and Third Life. (And a small amount from Empires 1.) However, I did change and tweak a few things when Double Life came around.