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"Halt! State your name and purpose!"
Two guards with long spears block the entrance into the large kingdom. After glancing at each of them nervously, Andrew finally gets the courage to speak.
"Andrew- Andrew Curtis. I'm uhm... seeking refuge here. I was exiled from my Kingdom and I didn't know where else to go." He says, looking at the ground, almost ashamed.
"Exiled? For what?" Guard 1 inquires, looking at him up and down. "You don't look like a criminal."
Andrew shakes his head. "No... I didn't commit a crime! Well, I did technically, but- okay. Well... you see... my old Kingdom was Baldvania..."
Both guards eyes widen in understanding.
"Well, any enemy of Baldvania is a friend of ours, come on in! We'll have a guard escort you to the King." Guard 2 smiles.
Andrew's eyes light up in delight, before shifting into slight panic. "Wait. The King!? W-Why do I have to see the King!?"
Guard 1 chuckles. "You aren't in trouble. King Washington makes it a point to greet everyone wishing to join our Kingdom."
After sighing in relief, Andrew is promptly escorted through the gates and to the main castle. All the architecture was nothing like he'd ever seen before, with towering greyish-blue buildings making all the ones in Baldvania look tiny by comparison. The entrance to the castle has two large flags on either side, sporting a vibrant blue color with- who he can only assume to be King Washington- in the middle.
Before he can appreciate more of his surroundings, Andrew suddenly finds himself in the throne room, a young man looking down at him from his seat. He has luscious short blue hair, it covering one of his medium blue eyes. His appearance matches the flags outside, no doubt about it, this is King Washington.
"Hm... you're... Andrew Curtis?" The King asks, resulting in a fervent nod from the other man.
"Yes! Yeah- that's me, uhm. The guards told me you wanted to meet me?"
King Washington nods. "I do like to greet all new guests, but wow, you're... different."
Before Andrew can reply, King Washington steps down from his throne, swiftly making his way to him and placing a hand on his hair.
"Your hair... it's... it's very bouncy." King Washington muses, running his fingers through the strands.
Andrew's mind goes blank. "M-my hairs very bouncy? T-thanks!" He manages to stammer out before King Washington steps back.
"So... Andrew. I understand you were exiled from Baldvania... is that right?"
Andrew's flustered expression quickly turns solemn and he nods. "Yeah. I'm sure you know... but everyone's required to be bald and... well... I'm clearly not."
King Washington smiles cheerfully. "Don't worry, that just means our glorious Kingdom of Washyland is the perfect home for you! I'm... sure you've at least somewhat heard of our main law here?"
Seeing Andrew's hesitation, King Washington continues. "No balds allowed. That's our most important rule- well- alongside the usual no murder and stealing and whatnot. Just no balds allowed. And you..."
King Washington's hand goes onto Andrew's hair again.
"Have not only NOT broken that rule, but have exceeded my expectations in your hair quality... I haven't seen hair this gorgeous and bouncy in a very long time. We must throw a feast in your honor!"
Andrew stares at King Washington in disbelief. "A-A feast!?" He squeaks. "I can't... that's- that's too much-"
"I'm not asking." King Washington huffs, crossing his arms with a slight pout. "I'm telling you, there's gonna be a feast and you're GOING to be there. Understood?"
Andrew has never nodded faster in his life.
~
The feast begins about an hour later, and Andrew has been given the absolute honor of sitting next to the King himself. The dinner table is adorned with various decorations, and the dishes are so exquisite Andrew isn't even sure he can name half of them.
"You look lost." King Washington teases, causing Andrew's face to flush in embarrassment.
"I'm not lost! I just... uhm. Okay I'm lost. What should I eat?"
King Washington grins and places a few items on Andrew's plate. "These are our Kingdom's specialties! Onika burgers, elu spaghelu, lemon danishes, oh and you must try the vegetable juice!"
Andrew's eyes light up at the mention of the vegetable juice, and he can't help but start singing. "Pop pipop pipop pop pip po! Pop pipop pipop pop pip po!"
When he stops singing, he realizes King Washington is staring at him.
"Shoot- sorry... I-"
"Amazing."
Andrew's eyes widen. Did King Washington just call his singing AMAZING!?"
"Not only is your hair bouncy, but your singing is beautiful." King Washington says in awe. "You must sing for everyone! I'll get the dancers! We'll make this a true celebration!"
Before Andrew can protest, King Washington has already bolted off to speak to some of his servants, and before he knows it, he's being ushered to the stage.
He's met with five backup dancers, all taller guys. Two have black hair, two white hair, and one has purple. Despite some of their intimidating appearances, they don't necessarily appear hostile.
"It's nice to meet you, Andrew!" The purple haired one beams. "We've heard so much about you! It's an honor! Oh wow- your hair really is bouncy! Oops- wait. We should introduce ourselves. My name is Rafayel!"
The shorter white haired one speaks up next. "Xavier." He says quietly.
The taller black haired one follows suit. "My name is Zayne." He says coolly.
After Zayne, the other black haired one chimes in. "Caleb's my name!"
And finally, the last one introduces himself. "Sylus." He says, a small smirk on his face.
Andrew's so overwhelmed he feels like he might pass out, but he manages to put a smile on his face. "It's nice to meet you all. So... uhm. How's this gonna work? Do we need to choreograph... or..."
Sylus shakes his head. "No need. We have it all planned out. Just sing whatever you desire and we'll be able to match it."
The other dancers nod in agreement, and soon they take their places.
Being so engrossed in conversation with King Washington and the dancers caused Andrew to disregard the sheer amount of people at the feast. Jesus, did King Washington invite all of Washyland? There were definitely more people at this feast than there were in the entire Kingdom of Baldvania.
What also didn't help Andrew's nerves was everyone's expectant stares, waiting for him to prove himself as the new member of this nation. Andrew swallows hard, his hands trembling slightly as he adjusts his collar. He was honestly unsure which song he should sing. Should he sing his favorite? Or the safe option? Probably the safe option... yeah.
He steps forward, his hair bouncing slightly as he closes his eyes and begins to sing.
"Some long for longevity..... before fading to dust..... some long for eternal sleep..... and eulogy..... chanted by stars....."
Andrew's mystical singing renders the audience speechless. The backup dancers effortlessly sway to the melody, it's as if time has stopped in the castle. He can feel his earlier nerves slipping away, and soon enough he finishes the song and opens his eyes.
The feast erupts in applause and cheers, King Washington even bolts on stage to praise him personally.
"Andrew! That... that was..." King Washington's eyes are brimming with tears. "That was beautiful..."
Suddenly, the audience's cheers shift into chants of "Encore! Encore!"
Who's he to deny them one?
King Washington excitedly looks at Andrew. "Please!? Will you do the encore!? You should sing the song you were singing earlier!"
With a grin, Andrew nods, and he turns back to the feast once more.
"Pop pipop pipop pop pip po! Pop pipop pipop pop pip po!" He sings happily. The entire audience is caroling along and King Washington has even joined the dancers.
Everyone's laughing and singing joyfully when suddenly-
CRASH!
Andrew abruptly stops his song and turns around to see that King Washington had crashed into Zayne, but that wasn't the craziest part.
Because right next to King Washington on the ground...
Was a blue wig.
Everyone's horrified expressions dart between the wig and King Washington's exposed bald head, and after a few seconds of stunned silence, the feast erupts into angry shouts.
"The King is bald!?"
"How can this be!?"
"After exiling so many balds!?"
"He's not my King anymore!"
"He's a monster!"
Although Andrew has only known King Washington for a short while, he can't help but feel the strong urge to defend him.
With a determined expression, he storms over to Washington and helps him up, before bringing him to the front of the stage.
"HEY WASHYLAND!" He shouts, which stuns the audience into silence. "KING WASHINGTON IS NOT A MONSTER! SO STOP TREATING HIM LIKE HE IS ONE!"
Tears spill down King Washington's cheeks as he adjusts his wig back into place. "You... you didn't have to do that." He whispers to Andrew, who just shakes his head. "Of course I did. We're friends, aren't we?" He smiles. King Washington smiles back. "Yeah. We are."
Andrew pats him on the back. "You should probably explain to everyone... why you're bald..."
King Washington sighs and nods, stepping ahead of Andrew and facing the feast with newfound confidence.
"Citizens of Washyland." He begins. "I... I'm sorry for deceiving you all... for making you lose your trust in me as your King."
"To tell the truth, I... I was actually born in Baldvania."
He tries to ignore the shocked and angry gasps from the audience, but it's difficult. Noticing this, Andrew quickly steps forward and places a reassuring hand on King Washington's shoulder, encouraging him to continue.
"One day when I was young... I was at the market with my parents and I mistakenly stole a ten yen cheese coin." King Washington looks down. "Before I knew it... I was face to face with Queen Reze and then I was exiled from Baldvania. Ever since then... I've had a resentment for balds and people from Baldvania. I... I now see that this resentment is wrong... I'm sorry."
When he looks back up, he notices everyone's tear-stained faces, sniffling and sobbing softly at his tragic story. Even Andrew's face is red and puffy from crying, and before King Washington can say anything, he's suddenly hugged tight.
"Washington... I had no idea..." Andrew mumbles, before suddenly pulling back, panicked. "I-I mean King Washington-" "Washington's fine." King Washington smiles.
"Thank you, Andrew... for... for everything..." King Washington continues, before pulling away and turning back to everyone. "I... I'm very sorry again for tricking you all... but I hope you will still accept me as your King..."
Quiet murmurs spread across the audience before suddenly the dancers from behind shout. "You'll always be our King, King Washington!"
As if a switch was flipped, everyone begins cheering and clapping for King Washington, and it's almost enough to make him cry again.
No, it's definitely enough.
Andrew hugs him again as the applause continues, and King Washington hugs him back, knowing that everything will be alright in Washyland.