Suliman smiled, "Mrs Pendragon... you really are in love with Howl"

"I--" You snapped your jaw closed. What? "Ob-Obviously! I'm his wife after all" You trailed off as the elderly witch started tugging veraciously at your coat, her voice getting louder as she heard the wizard's name.

"Howl... Howl's coming!? I want Howl's heart! I want it! You don't get it! He'll never give it to you! You heartless witch!" She hissed unpleasantly, pawing at you and tugging at the beautiful dress you'd been given.

You could feel the sly tug of Madame Suliman's plush lips without even lifting your gaze from tugging the old witch off of the blue skirt she clutched so tightly. "Oh Howl will most certainly come now, I've found his weakness."

There was a loud cringe of the glass doors bursting open so not to shatter at the entrance of a tall man with a magnificent, well-groomed moustache. Your head flew over to his direction at the noise of his entrance catching sight of the curious flying contraption, one you had seen earlier that a couple was riding as you had made your was through the King's square towards the palace upon your arrival. Having gracefully landed it and strode inside of the large room, his entire performance crystal clear through the massive wall of windows that lead out to the open greenhouse just outside.

Madame Suliman dipped her fingers on her staff gently as it rested perfectly upright next to her decorative wooden chair, and she nodded with modest respect. "Your majesty."

"As you were, how are you feeling?" The man striding towards you both had a strong form; proud puffed chest over his green uniform and bright gold buttons that stretched down to a fashionable military, white belt. His hair, bushy and unkept under an aviators green cap with pushed up, large-rimmed flying goggles.

"Fine, thank you for asking," Madame Suliman seemed rather undistracted by his odd entrance, and based on his particular choice of clothing, you quickly assumed his Majesty often rode on those particular air contraptions.

Your brain thrummed like a hummingbird in your head in nervousness, and you stopped clawing the Witch of the Waste's hands off your dressed as he stopped before you. Glancing at the woman in her ornate chair, he held his grumble.

"Meetings bore me. I flew out for a breather."

Madame Suliman smiled, and the wrinkles pulled gently at the edges of her face, her ornately jewelled necklace lying flush across her chest over the deep, red dress she wore. "How lovely."

He glanced down his long nose at you, with his hands firm on his hips, before he placed them behind his back and leant forward slightly to examine you. "These are?"

"This is the Wizard Howl's wife." Madame Suliman responded, and you couldn't help but stare into the blue eyes glued to yours as the King looked down at you, his collar, hard and tight around his neck, made the size of him even more forbidding as he towered over you.

You resisted the urge to gulp in fright, not even the powerful Witch of the Waste had made you feel this seen before. Like he could see right through your lie. You curtseyed, realising his attention had remained solely on you for too long. "Your majesty" You murmured.

He seemed to almost smile at this, as your perceptive eyes only just caught the cheerful twitch of the edge of his lip at your greeting. "I appreciate it" He began, leaning back to his full height, "but I don't intend to win any war with magic." His posture seemed to straighten even more, and it was then you noticed the thin medals on his chest, and the crowns on his shoulder rank slides, the mark of a monarch. "It's true that Suliman's powers shield our palace from bombs, but they just fall on neighbouring towns. Thats how the magic works, right Suliman?"

His proud moustache seemed to move with each breath of his nose as he glanced calmly back over his shoulder, confident in having his back to such a powerful witch, though no longer in her youth as you are. Though he seemed completely unaware of your own witch abilities, which you were grateful for.

Madame Suliman moved her head carefully to the side, "such eloquence today, your Majesty."

Suddenly your attention was caught once more as a large wooden door slammed open among the beautiful green forestry growing out of the plant beds either side of the tiles in the massive room. Another man, with the exact appearance of the king himself, strode through calling the name of the Madame as he waved a paper triumphantly over his head.

You gasped, your eyes quickly changing between the king in front of you, and the king now approaching the mage as the recent intruder handed the note directly to the seated witch.

"This is the final battle!" The other man began, his hat off his head and the full length of his sunny-brown hair in view as you noticed the other King seemed to stand in front of you, shielding you and the witch on the floor from the eyes of this other man. "This time, we'll beat them to a pulp!"

As the hatless king met the other king's eyes, he held still before his body ripped forth with laughter, and he nearly doubled forward with how loud and bellowing he was.

"Suliman!" He stamped the back of her chair with a flat palm in joy, "you've outdone yourself with that double! Await good news." With that, he whirled on the heels of his tall, black military boots and returned through the door he came, a little Howl double bowing to its king before closing the door behind him.

With only the four of your left in the room, well, four of you, and the little dog who still lay patiently under its master's coffee table.

"Its been awhile, Howl."

The King took his hat off and bowed with it across his chest, before setting it back on his head. The voice that suddenly came from him was one you recognised, and for some reason your chest seemed to swell with delight and the stress sunk out of your body, all the way down your fingertips until they left to the open air. If you'd still had your heart, it might have skipped a beat. "Delighted to see you're doing so well" Howl said, in his King disguise.

"I saw right through you" Madame Suliman said, leaning back in her chair with such laze it made you nervous, had she seen through you the entire time as well?

The King's head dipped a little, "I've kept my oath," his arm suddenly wrapped around your shoulders and you were pulled into the side of his large chest. Looking up, you saw the familiar long dark hair and beautiful face of Howl, though still wearing the King's military uniform and hat. "I have no wish to fight you, but I'm taking my wife home" he said, with his eyes still trained on the seated woman.

You cheeks flushed and you quickly clapped cold hands over you as you spun your face into his chest, choosing to hide your red expression rather than admit to him or yourself that him calling you his wife had made the hummingbird in your head reappear once more.

Madame Suliman seemed to sit up at this, and her staff rose just inches from the floor where it had been resting, "I won't let you go."

A sharp sound rang out and you almost leapt in fright as the world around you seemed to drown in an ocean of breathable, dark water. You blinked, and you were floating in the middle of a large open sky, far above a forest and river that coiled like a snake through miles of mountains and trees. Below you, still clutching the bottom of your dress, the old Witch howled in fright and tugged harder at you, desperate not to fall in this very-real appearing illusion.

"Don't look down" Howl said to you, and his voice seemed to carry over the wind that pushed both of your hair back spinning over your shoulders, "or you'll be dragged down."

The shadow in front of Madame Suliman seemed to grow and morph behind her, and the lights ascended her face in a far darker way. "It's time I showed your dear wife what you really are."

From the sky, a deafening fizzle and pop, followed by a dancing light, made its way around you as many others joined it. These dangerous star spirits seemed to grow legs as they circled you, encasing you in a floating circle where in the middle, Howl held you firmly against his side. Like little firework people, their faces, disguised in the flaring lights and pops, allowed for transparent hands to reach out and seal their circle, combining limbs as they walked around you three.

The hand clutching your shoulder, so warm before, suddenly began to feel larger, and cold, and you nearly yelped as claws erupted from Howl's gloved hands, and feathers grew from every inch of his perfect skin.

He looked away, off into the stars like some longing creature as his face seemed to contort, and pearly white fangs chased the speed of which they emerged from his flat canines. Feathers like a raven's skin, grew so fast and in such volume, that quickly took over his long hair and a large portion of his face.

As you wrestled your hands free from where they were pinned to his chest, huge dark wings torn out of his face, and his eyes grew wild as the illusion of Madame Suliman passed into the circle of spirits. She raised her staff against you, aiming at you rather than the creature Howl was quickly becoming. When his eyes locked onto it, he almost tore his claws over your shoulders as he began to lunge at her.

"Howl! Don't!" You cried out, quickly pressing your small hands over his feathered and retextured face, desperate to put yourself between the two so he would not be destroyed, "It's a trap! Please! STOP!"

Something flew threw the air like a glowing javelin, and it pierced through the wind where your bodies had been only seconds before. Opening your eyes again, you saw Howl and taken up into the air, dragging the two of you with him easily on powerful black wings.

Feathers seemed to fall from his face as he embraced you tightly, curling you into his body like he was trying to smother you before you burst through the glass at the top of the greenhouse.

The light of day seemed blinding against the darkness of the illusion you had only just escaped from, and you breathed hard as you scrambled to link your arms around his neck. Your head disappeared over his shoulder as you tried to catch your breath, quickly realised Howl's wings were fading to nothing rather quickly.

"Howl!" You said as you fell from the sky, before he seemed to hover just moments before you all hit the ground, and lowered you onto the flying contraption he had landed there before.

With you, a mess in the first seat, and the exhausted, and frankly, traumatised Witch of the Waste lay in a mess of dark fur in the second seat, Howl set the controls and the wings of the flying machine took off like a dragonfly's.

"Hold tight" He said and he couldn't have said something more obvious, it made you want to call him stupid as you grasped impossibly tight to the metal back of your chair. You felt a thump on your back and sharply turn your head to see the pudgy spotted dog from before land in a lump in the Witch's lap.

"So, you're coming with us then Heen?" You managed to say, before the sheer speed of the flying machine nearly blew you out of your chair.

"Oh, no, (Y/n), you Brough the whole gang with you" Howl said as he turned the ship's wheel gently, piloting you off away from the city, "I imagined I would only need to rescue you."

Peering back at the extra passengers, the old woman and her bright red nose, smiled on an face more wrinkles than skin, and patted the old dog happily, "Good doggie."

You huffed at Heen, "I'm sure you're just Suliman's spy" you watched his floppy ears as he shook his head, either from what you said or because he had picked up a flee from the Witch of the Waste's fur coat. "Oh well, too late to toss you I guess."

"(Y/n)" Howl caught your awareness once more as you noticed his fingers had moved over to grasp yours before dropping your hand onto the steering wheel, "you steer."

You clutched the thin metal wheel as you nearly whacked him in the thigh with your other hand, "what nonsense are you pulling!? I can't possibly fly this!" Hell, the last time you had been on any sort of contraption, you had crashed it through the town's large bell tower and nearly destroyed the neighbouring church. That's why you had downgraded to your leaping boots as the safer means of travel.

He pointed behind you with an almost cocky smirk on his face, "they're after us, and we're not going to outrun them." As you got a better look at the almost swarm of similar aircraft quickly approaching, you noticed they were two manned; and while one piloted, the other was sporting a rather large rifle in his hands.

"Oh crickets" You gulped, and Howl's hand on the back of your chair seemed to brush against your back, a small token of reassurance to the bees that had just laced your stomach with an uncomfortable buzz.

"I'll draw them away, you fly straight to my castle in the Wastes."

"What?! I don't even know where that is from here!" Your hair hit lightly against the edges of your face as he stared out ahead, setting you in the right direction.

"Don't worry, that ring I gave you can guide you back to my castle. Just summon Calcifer in your heart."

"Summon Calcifer?" You whispered in confusion as you presented the right in front of you on one of your delicate fingers, soon, a light sparked out of the magical blue gem, and began pointing off towards the hills in a fine, almost invisible line.

Howl grasped your hand once more, and you resisted the urge to pull away as he pointed your wrist in the direction the ring was pointing, "that's my girl." With that he dropped off over the side of the contraption and out into the opening air, calling something back to you as he flew towards the attackers. "Follow the light! You'll be there by nightfall!"

Look who's made a rather dramatic return!! I love writing this story its so much fun! I'm glad I've finally had enough time to get out another chapter. thank you all for being so patient with me.