"No, not at all! Like I said, I used to be a prince, I'm not anymore, so I don't do things for Morroc at all. I just came here because I was worried, on my own, not because anyone told me to."

"Oh. ...what's it like, being a prince?"

"It's... honestly really boring."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We have nice things, but we can't really do anything. I had to take a lot of lessons about how to speak and what to do, but I really wanted to go out and help people and fight evil."

"...I think I'd like being a princess anyway. I still have lessons about how to speak and what to do, but at least I'd have nice things, and I'd look pretty, and I'd be a princess."

"Maybe it would work better for you than it did for me," he concedes. "You're different than me and you like different things and that's okay."

She nods a few times. "...could I become a Princess of Morroc? If you're not a prince anymore, do they have space for a new princess?"

"Ah, that's not really how it works, I'm sorry. You would need to marry a prince—or another princess!—to become a princess there."

"Oh. You can marry girls? ...I mean, I can marry girls? You're a boy, I know you can."

"In Morroc you can! You can marry anyone you want, as long as you love each other very much and want to be together."

"...oh." She chews on her lip, and even from a distance it's clear that her teeth are very sharp. "I think I might like to marry a girl more than a boy. But I don't know any princesses."

"There are unfortunately very few of those, so finding one to marry is hard, but if you hang around royalty you could run into one."

She sighs. "It would be so much easier if a fox demon wanted me to be her princess..."

He really doesn't think that'd be easier, actually.

"Well, hopefully things can be resolved peacefully with the fox demons and then maybe you'll become a princess."

Okay but, like, are they going to actually solve the problem they came here to solve, or...?

...right.

"So, um... There's actually something I need to tell you."

"Me? Why me? I thought you didn't know me."

"I didn't, but when I saw you I knew it. It's that... I think you may already be a fox Princess."

"I think I'd have noticed if I were a fox Princess, Taharqi."

"...may I walk over to you? I want to show you something."

"...okay. But if you try anything bad I'll kill you!"

"I would expect nothing less." He stands up slowly and starts walking towards her.

Her fur bristles a little bit but she's willing to allow him.

When he's about just past arm length from her, he crouches down again, and extends a hand to her, palm up.