Rotting Away

Fingunt was often considered. . . rather gross for a grandson of Her Majesty. He always had a bit of a morbid fascination with molds and fungi of all kinds, spending hours learning about them instead of attending to etiquette lessons. He stayed in his grandmother's lair for a long time without joining her court.

Perhaps that's why his various family members didn't hesitate to whisper secrets with him around to hear. Because Fingunt would never have the nerve to strike out on his own, or to ever join the court.

Right?

~ ~ ~

Claws tapping against the marble floor was a comforting sound to Fingunt. It had been a while since he'd been in Guinevere's home, and he was happy to return to bring his family the news. He entered the large room where meetings were held, meetings he'd sat in on many times but never spoken during.

The queen hadn't arrived yet. His various family members sat in all of their designated spots, and it took a while for any of them to notice his arrival.

"Look who decided to show up," his mother, Eilevere, grumbled. "Was it too scary in the Scarred Wastelands for you?" Quiet laughter filled the room, and as Fingunt was about to answer, Quinevere stepped inside.

The court was dead silent was she sat on her throne and stared each individual member down. She stopped when she reached Fingunt, though, and for a moment everything felt frozen.

"What. . . are you doing here?" she asked, her voice dripping with ice. All eyes were on him, and for a moment, he began to regret his choice to return. But only for a moment.

"Your majesty," he said, lowering himself into a bow, "I've come to join the Court of Thorns."

Once again the room was silent. Tiny, hushed whispers began to arise until all that could be heard was "Does he know. . .", "Was he in the room when. . .", "I think he heard about. . .", and, most frighteningly:

"We need to make sure he doesn't share any of that."

"Silence!" Guinevere demanded. "Fingunt. . . the queen welcomes you into the Court of Thorns. Find a seat."

After careful consideration, he sat as far away as he could from Eilevere, seeing as how he knew the most about her. He half listened to the queen as she started the formal speech that proceeded every meeting, and instead pondered on how to protect himself. It wasn't exactly like he could use any of his moss or molds to poison anyone, knowing how to spot poison was practically an inherited trait across the court.

It was only when he saw Allium and Elaine whispering something to each other that he remembered that they shared a home. He realized that, more than anything, he needed allies.

The queen noticed the two whispering and stopped what she was saying. "Is something the matter, Allium?" she asked.

"Apologies, your majesty, I was sharing some good news," he said, "It's my son, he's going to be a father soon."

Good news indeed.