#which could be either a neighboring country or in fact an Evermore colony/extension

[emry-stars-art]

Not sure if you answered this already; But does Stuart have a place in the Royal au? Since Nathan still killed Mary and is out here joshing and trying to re-kidnap her son multiple times

GREAT question bc yeah he is def not around to help much huh TT

I think the tragedy of it is Mary was planning to run just like she had in canon, but this time didn't manage it before Nathan caught wind and. Probably just killed her yeah. And it being an arranged marriage still makes total sense in this au, so who knows WHERE Mary and her family are from, because of the possibility it was some sort of protection/alliance thing yknow. Maybe the Hatfords were getting favor so they could keep/gain power, running one of Evermore's colonies. I don't imagine the family being anywhere near the castle proper based on what I remember of canon but maybe that's dumb actually

Stuart still exists for sure, but everything in those times was slower - especially travel, whether it be travel of people or travel of news/word. If Stuart is still in a separate home kingdom/state doing his own business, maybe he did try getting some sort of sway or custody of Nathaniel. But that would be an extremely difficult and long process, with very little hope of success. There's a good chance that after Nathaniel ran off, the first word he heard of it was after the fact - likely word from Evermore assuming Nathaniel had died while on his mission.

The REAL problem is that, after Abram's recapture, it takes anywhere from a little less than a month to a few months for word of it to even reach Stuart, that his nephew is alive after all, and even if he started the journey then, he or anyone he sent wouldn't have reached Evermore for another month or more. Abram is at Castle Evermore for much longer than he was canonically in Baltimore, obviously. I'm just not convinced it would have been physically possible for someone in another country/colony to get there before he either escaped or it was too late.

Thankfully Stuart's intervention isn't necessary here like it is in canon, or this would have been a VERY different story that I don't think I could write 😅 no, Kevin Day still knows more about the workings of Castle Evermore than most of the Moriyamas are comfortable with, and he knows who he can correspond with under the table when Kings Tetsuji and Kengo won't cooperate and Prince Riko refuses to give Nathaniel up.