The Titan Queen - Levi X Reader

Chapter 17 - The Ring

"There is no way in hell that you're -"

"Are you actually kidding me?"

"The Underground can't be ruled by-"

"Can you please pass the bread?"

"Why didn't you say something earlier, for heaven's-"

"You've been here for two weeks - two weeks!"

"And that feels like the amount of time I've spent waiting for the damn bread."

You laughed at the outbursts of voices and fell deeper into amusement at the sight of Jean's magnificently purple face. Petra, you noticed with no small amount of satisfaction, had not said anything - she had merely shrunk herself into the frame of her chair, as though she were trying to disappear. "The Underground's never had a Ruler before - it's governed itself between thugs and merchants. That just wasn't going to be enough for me, I suppose."

"Why are you doing this?" Isabel asked, sitting straight-backed in her chair. "You're ruling an impoverished society. Congratulations. You're now the one responsible for keeping them all here, where they don't know what sunlight and joy is." You snapped your eyes towards her with a glower, to which she responded by shrugging indignantly. You were about to respond when -

"Don't talk to her like that," a voice snapped from the door. Petra's eyes widened as she beheld the little girl glaring at Isabel, her lip trembling. You smiled kindly at your little snake, which apparently gave her the confidence to walk towards the table with her chin high and a glare on her brow. "Did you know that I was living on the street two weeks ago?"

Marco flicked his gaze to the cautious glances of Sasha and Connie before standing and walking towards the girl. "Were you?" He knelt before her, allowing the girl to feel in control without letting her know what he was doing. You struggled not to smile at the boy, on his knees before a girl four or five years his junior. "That must have been awful."

The girl nodded defiantly. "It was - not that any of you would know." You flicked your eyes around your group, carefully marking which people's faces became just a bit more drawn, more pale - who's past obviously proved the girl wrong in her statement. The girl didn't seem to care, however; she was a wolf on the warpath, a snake on the hunt. "Now, I have a bed and a nearby toilet and training to go to. And if you try to shame or hurt the Ruler for giving them to all of us - you'll have us to deal with. And I think you'll find that we are not the people that you want as your enemies."

With that, the girl nodded at you and flounced her way from the room. Petra glanced at you before standing up and meekly following the girl out, which prompted Eld and Gunther's movement as well. You had no doubt that they were all going to meet up with a raven-haired male and discuss the implications of your title, of your following. Isabel sighed and put her head in her hands; Olyver seemed inclined to check if she was alright before you subtly shook your head at him. The girl would not take kindly to strangers touching her.

Ymir was staring at you. "You - what did she mean about the fact that she had training to go to?"

Jean widened his eyes as he reached for Marco, helping his friend rise from his crouch. "What training was she talking about?"

You shrugged. "The children were on the streets - so I taught them the most useful ways to fight, how to bring down the adults that touched them in less than five moves, how to turn anything into a weapon. Then, after I helped the guard's leader in finding a criminal, she and I agreed that she would send over a guard every afternoon to help with their fitness and training. Normal stuff."

"You're turning children into soldiers!" Christa cried, the shrill titter ringing in your ears. "That's not fair - they should be children, should be playing and living and..." Even Isabel quietened her distress at that, narrowing her green eyes at Christa's ocean blue ones. Marco shifted on his feet sheepishly, and you smiled slightly at those two - they knew what you were about to say.