From War to Science {UNDERTALE}

Royalty

Progress was slow, both in his studies and in building their new home in the cave. Slowly, the cavern almost began looking like something livable, but with each step came more set-backs. He couldn't understand all of the discussions when it came to problems, but even with his limited vocabulary he knew that morale was low.

A lot of it was due to the struggles they had with building. "That should hold" and "Look out!" were becoming the two phrases he knew best. In a week, three structures went up; two came down. One monster didn't get out of the way in time.

On the brighter side, he could speak the language now, sort of. He'd managed to work out a system, assigning a sound to each of his hand signs. It often took him a few tries to sound out what he wanted to say—the sounds were still strange and never seemed to come out of his mouth quite right—but it got the job done. And he suspected it took some of the pressure off Toriel when it came to teaching him. Oh, she did her best to stay cheerful during the lessons, and he was very grateful for that, but it did barely anything to hide her stress.

"What is wrong?" he finally asked the day after the collapse. He expected her to be affected—after all, it was always her who was there to help any monster in need—but she looked even more tired than usual. She met his sockets, then gave a light, mirthless laugh.

"You should stop using your hands with simple phrases, my friend," she said. He gave her a wry smile in return.

"Please, it...er, it helps. But you, er, you..." His browbone furrowed, and he slowly signed the word. "...ch...chah, chay...change the subject."

Toriel sighed. "You are very perceptive." She gestured to the rubble still at one end of the cavern. "But I am certain you have noticed we are not rebuilding well."

He grimaced, but nodded. Toriel buried her face in her hands.

"We cannot survive if we are unable to even house ourselves. Asgore and I have been trying so hard, but..." She shook her head.

He looked at her sympathetically, hesitantly reaching out to pat her arm. Asgore. He'd heard the sounds from the other monsters here and there, but he hadn't even considered it would be a name. "Who...er, who is Asgore?"

Toriel lifted her head and took a deep breath. "My husband," she explained after a moment. "He has been discussing strategy with one of our top warriors for days, and he is no closer to figuring out this...situation than I am." She shook her head. "I am half-afraid he will dissolve from the stress. He has not been king for very long and..."

"King?"

Toriel looked up. "Well, yes."

He gaped at her. True, skeletons didn't have monarchies, but he wasn't an idiot. Kings were important. And if Toriel was married to the king... "Then...so...so you-you are...are the..."

She eked out a half-smile. "The Queen, yes."

He stared at her silently, then covered his face in embarrassment. "Oh, god." He didn't need to sign that phrase. "I...I waste...so much of time!"

"Oh, no! No, no, not at all, my friend!" Toriel assured. Now she was the one patting his arm. "You are learning quite fast, especially your writing. And, if you do choose to make a home with our people, then I would like you to be as comfortable as possible." She smiled a bit and added, in a whisper, "And, between us, I have always wanted to be a teacher."