#blaiddraws

It was clear from his wording that Prince Emery of Unova expected to have many more cups than just the one. Zisu's fingers dug deeply into her knees, her frustration barely hidden and out of sight under the table. She wished for nothing more than to cast the man out of her home, but feared the potential consequences in doing so. The current situation in Jubilife was nothing less than precarious, and as Captain of the Security Corps it was her duty to ensure the peace regardless of the depth of sacrifice.

"Oops," her daughter beside her fumbled with the tea pot, nearly spilling the boiling water onto herself had it not been for the quick and deft hands of the prince who righted it back onto the table.

Even if it meant playing host to the man across from her who was under the entirely incorrect impression that he was the father to her partner—and thus the father-in-law to Zisu—as well as the grandfather to their daughter.

"Careful, dearest," he told her, and it took everything in Zisu to not bristle at the nickname he gifted Yukari. She wished, as she often did, that she had her former captain's ability to remain unaffected no matter what opponent she faced because it would make this whole interaction less laborious on her part she struggled to keep her cool. "Let your mother handle pouring if you must have more."

"She really shouldn't be drinking tea this late," Zisu commented, turning to her daughter so that she could caress her curly, red locks. "Otherwise she'll have to get up in the middle of the night, won't you, sweet pea?"

"No!" Yukari denied it, but she couldn't fool her mother. Zisu knew her better than she knew herself, and ruffled her head affectionately.

In response to Zisu's statement, Prince Emery adjusted the pot so that it was further out of reach from little hands. "Of course. Well, in that case, it seems as though you have hit your limit for the night."

Slumping forward, arms reaching out to the other side of the table, Yukari whined, "Aww."

Prince Emery chuckled at her pouting, before sobering up and turning his attention back to Zisu. "You never did answer me on where Emerson is and why he hasn't joined us."

Zisu worked her jaw as subtly as she could. "He is not here."

"Well yes I see that, but why?"

Because of you, she wanted to spit but refrained. Even though it was the truth—and that was all the reason needed to hold her tongue when faced with this man. It was frustrating not being able to speak her mind in her own home, and even more frustrating that Ingo wasn't at her side to help mitigate the situation.

Because Ingo wasn't here, nor was he even in the village—at least, as far as anyone could tell. The last Zisu had seen her partner was when he and the royal walked away from Tao Hua's basement, leaving all of them to deal with the fall-out of Prince Emery's declaration. They were all in agreement, at least, that Prince Emery was full of it, especially when Abra reported back with all of the information he eavesdropped during their 'private' talk.

Yet, learning about the insidious rot festering within Unovan royal family did nothing to ease her fears when it was clear that Ingo was not returning to the boat behind the prince.

Especially not when the last thing that Abra had seen and left in Cyllene's mind was, 'Sword went chop.'

Zisu couldn't help but picture that Ingo was left bleeding on the deck of the ship, and was kept back from checking herself by the combined efforts of Sanqua and Beni both. The ship was structurally unsound, according to Sanqua and there was no point in putting her life in danger on a hypothetical.

And Beni—he pointed out that he could not smell blood on the prince when he returned.

So yes, her fears were abated by them and quelled after the return of Irida, and yet she still went home all by herself. Ingo had gotten it into his head that the best course of action was staying away from Jubilife during the remainder of Prince Emery's visit. Where to? He didn't say. Zisu could and couldn't see his logic in doing so—considering that the prince had gone out of his way to track down their quarters just to bother her partner more than he already had proved that the key to counteracting this obsession was by removing himself from the equation.

But Ingo failed to consider that his home was Zisu's home too—and their daughter's.

He wasn't in his right mind, Zisu was sure of it. So she didn't blame him much. Or, tried not to. She would certainly get it into his thick skull that as partners they were supposed to share the weight of any challenge together, albeit in a gentle fashion. He didn't need more stress impacting his health, not with this plague before them.

Zisu just wished that he could have warned her a tad better than only telling Irida his plans so that she could have passed off Yukari to the care of someone else for a moment, like Professor Laventon or the Pearl Clan. But again, she couldn't fault him for this either as there was little time between her returning home from the Galaxy Hall and Prince Emery skulking around Canala Avenue.

All she could do was hope that Ingo made it to the Highlands safely. Zisu didn't trust him to get there on his lonesome, and sent out a prayer to the Pearl Clan's Palkia that he kept some foresight to summon Sneasler's aid instead of traversing cliff faces whilst in a daze.

Prince Emery stared expectantly at her, so Zisu defaulted to the generally true excuse of, "Often his warden duties require him to tend to his ward for a night or two, sometimes longer. His absence is normal."

Emery frowned, and when he did that, he looked so much like Ingo that her stomach dropped. He muttered lowly, "I see. Even more reason for you all to return to Unova with me."

Before Zisu could interject and firmly enforce that they would be doing no such thing, Yukari spoke up, "Who are you again?"

A smile blossomed onto Prince Emery's face once more as he turned to her, "Who am I? Well, I am your father's father, which means that I am your grandfather."

"My grandfather...?" Confused, Yukari turned to Zisu as if to confirm with her mother that the stranger was indeed telling the truth, an impossible task for the oldest Prince of Unova.

As her lips parted to respond, she felt the air grow tense. Zisu chanced a look at the man across from her, watching as his eyes hardened in her direction. As if daring her to contradict him.

She wondered, briefly, if he planned on cornering her like this, aware that she could do little to offend or speak out against him without everything tumbling down like improperly stacked firewood. Did the prince know she was the captain of security? Did he take note of her position toward the middle of the table and deemed his power as greater than hers?

Not only that, but somehow and from someone he had gained the knowledge that she and Ingo were married, a fact that he interpreted as binding her to him as an off-shoot branch of his family tree. And Zisu—as well as the rest of those in attendance to that disastrous welcome banquet—knew very well how Prince Emery treated family. What calmed her more than anything else was that he definitely had no idea about Yukari's existence prior to his appearing on her stoop. That much was certain, as genuine surprise had crossed onto his face when he barged his way into her home, stopping dead in his tracks in the genkan at the sight of her.