though she be but little, she is fierce

Levi was indeed correct, none of what he said about this Griffin guy meant anything to him.  It didn’t escape his notice that this guy was supposed to be Interpol, but he had dealt with more than one officer gone rogue at this point to even question it.  He had pulled the phone away before Yoichi got a good enough look at what he assumed to be a bomb that was strapped to her.

His head was swimming and he felt a bit sick; he was only able to half pay attention to the Houndoom who had appeared in his living room to get a tracking scent.  This Griffin guy worked with Levi – who was supposed to be dead – and had kidnapped Lucy to…what?  Did he know that Levi was alive?  Was this a way to pull him out of hiding?  There were too many questions with zero answers available to him; Yoichi was slightly disoriented as Levi directed a question at him.

“Huh?  Oh, yeah.  She jogs most mornings.  I can’t say for sure if she did this morning…but it would make sense, I guess.  I don’t see any other way they’d be able to catch her off guard.”  He was contemplative for a moment before speaking again.  “I don’t know if we even need to worry about the whole route.  There’s this massive hill that’s nearby the theme park.  She runs up that thing every single day and I can hardly keep up with her because it’s so steep.  You can’t see anything on the other side of the hill until you’re basically at the very top so someone could sit just barely on the other side of the hill and grab her.”

Yoichi nodded, more so to himself than Levi.  “Yeah, I think that’s our best bet.  I’m sure your Houndoom would pick up something around there.”  Without another word, Yoichi yanked his shoes on and grabbed the keys off the hook next to the door.  “I’m going to need to know more about this Griffin guy on the way over, though.”

“It’s a long story and we don’t have much time.” Jax rubbed the back of his neck as a soul-deep sigh of frustration escaped him. “I’ll tell you what I can. You deserve to know, since you’re tangled up in this now. But first I want you to understand that I’m not the villain everyone thinks I am. And this was never supposed to reach Lucy. I stayed away all this time because I was trying to keep her safe.”

He nearly laughed at himself. All of this just sounded like excuses, and definitely something that an actual bad guy would say. Nash stayed on his heels as they followed Yoichi out into the hall and waited for him to lock the door. “I guess you’ll have formulated your own opinion of me by the time all of this is over. I go by Jax now, by the way. It just makes things easier.”

He waited for Yoichi to lead the way and followed beside him. “So, about Griffin. He was my partner at Interpol, and a seasoned agent. I guess by now he’s been serving for nearly forty years now. I don’t know exactly when he went corrupt, but from what I had been able to dig up, he’s been building up this criminal empire for at least the past decade. Through Interpol he’s been able to create a huge network of criminals and other crooked cops, and when I say huge what I mean is, he’s practically untouchable. Anyone who tries to cross him ends up six feet under. When I planned to expose all of this all I ended up accomplishing was getting my friend killed, being framed for his murder, and my name added to the top of Interpol’s blacklist.”

They had been walking for a short time, but Jax felt that they must have been getting close because Nash lowered his head to sniff at Lucy’s scent on the sidewalk with increasing frequency.

“I staged my death to throw them off my trail, but that only worked for a little while. Griffin’s been trying to track me down for years. He hasn’t been able to use my family to find me because they don’t even know I’m alive, and he’s not dumb enough to bring innocent people into this mess when it could easily backfire on him. Which is why I don’t really get why he would take Lucy now, after all this time. He could just be desperate to catch up to me, but this really isn’t his MO.”

Yoichi was pacing back and forth as he tried to figure out his next move.  Lucy wasn’t answering calls or texts and absolutely no one had seen her.  He’d gone through nearly half the officer’s personal numbers before finally giving up.  He felt like he was going crazy; it didn’t seem that anyone else was even a quarter as panicked as he was.  Sure pretty much everyone found the pair of them to be insufferable, but considering he himself had been the victim of a kidnapping in the not so distant past, he had expected a certain level of concern for her wellbeing.

He was jolted out of his deep thoughts by a knock on the door; Yoichi rushed over in hopes that it was Lucy, only to come face to face with another man.  He pushed past Yoichi and whipped around to face him.  Yoichi was only half comprehending what was happening.  Confirmation that Lucy was in trouble was good – well, bad, but good that he now knew for sure.  He tilted his head ever so slightly as the other man questioned him.  He was familiar…  Oh.

“You’re Levi.  Lucy’s brother.  Who is definitely supposed to be dead.”  Lucy had a picture of the two of them that she kept in her wallet, although it seemed like she always tried to hide it.  For a moment he felt a bit lightheaded; this was a lot to process at once.  Yoichi shut his eyes and rubbed his temples to keep himself grounded.  “Okay, Lucy’s missing and now her dead brother has returned from the grave to lend a helping hand.  Sure, why not.”

He opened his eyes again.  “We’re just going to move past all my questions about you not actually being dead and jump right into the matter at hand here.  Do you know where she is?  I don’t even know how long she’s been gone; I was asleep most of the day – for all I know it’s been over twelve hours at this point.  She never texted me when she got to work and as far as I know no one has seen her.  Or at least no one wants to admit having seen her.”

Yoichi took a deep breath as he realized he was talking too fast.  “What exactly is going on?  You seem to know.”

A wry smile tugged at the edges of Jax’s lips as he watched Yoichi’s reaction; it wasn’t amusing in the slightest, in fact the worry and confusion the other man felt must have been sickening, and Jax wished terribly that they could have met under different circumstances. In another world, perhaps their first meeting would have been at a holiday gathering where Lucy was introducing Yoichi to the family. Perhaps one day in the future Jax would have have been a brother-in-law or an uncle, but reality was cruel sometimes and those were just flights of fancy that could never come to be, nor would they help Lucy.

“I don’t know where she is, exactly. I do know who has her: my partner while i was with Interpol, Phil Griffin.” He pulled out his cell phone and unlocked it, tapping the screen a few times. Turning the screen to show Yoichi, it displayed a photo of Lucy tied to a chair in a room with concrete floors and walls, paired with the message, ‘Stand by for rendezvous instructions.’ There was a device strapped to the front of her torso that looked unsettlingly like a complex homemade bomb. The time stamp on the message was from a few hours ago. “I know that doesn’t really make anything any clearer for you, but trust me on this. Griffin is dangerous, and if we don’t get to her on time he will kill Lucy.”

Jax plucked a pokeball from his belt and released his Houndoom, who immediately sat down and looked rigidly up at Jax, awaiting command. Glancing around the room, his eyes settled on a shoe rack beside the door where two pairs of work shoes rested, one pair looking almost comically tiny next to the other much larger pair. Jax pointed at the small pair. “Scent, Nash.” The old Houndoom immediately began sniffing every inch of the pair of shoes, gathering the scent. Jax turned to face Yoichi again.

“Does she still take a jog every morning? Griffin would have taken note of her daily schedule and mapped her usual routes. If she goes early in the morning, before traffic starts to pick up, that would have been the best time for her to grab her. So if you know her jogging route we should start there; if we can find where she ran into him we might find some clue as to where he took her.”

The tug of affection he felt for her as she gave him a sleepy look was almost unbearable.  He closed his eyes and fell asleep quickly.  It was a dreamless sleep, until it suddenly turned into one of his infamous nightmares.  This one was a repeat of the first incident with Evans when he’d been kidnapped.  Actually, he was getting sick of this one, but the worst part was knowing that the only reason he was having it was because Lucy was gone.  Stupid third shift.

He awoke with a start – as he normally did when he realized he was dreaming – and looked at the clock.  It was 5PM; it looked like he managed to stave the nightmares off for awhile at least.  He yawned and stretched his arms, falling back into bed to close his eyes.  Or, maybe not.  He wasn’t excited thrilled at the thought of being dropped back into that nightmare, so he checked his phone for notifications.  He noticed he didn’t have any from Lucy, who normally texted him when she got to work.  She was probably just busy, but he had a sick feeling in his stomach.

He laid in bed for another hour before getting up to make something to eat; Lucy was supposed to be home soon and he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.  6PM turned to 7PM, and now he was worried.  She always called him if she was going to be at the station late.  Something was up, but he didn’t know what it was yet.  He whipped out his phone and to call her, but it went straight to voicemail.  For a second he was starting to panic, and he called the chief to see if she was staying late.

“She never came in, called off sick.”  The chief seemed concerned as he noticed how flustered Yoichi’s voice sounded.  “You okay kid?  Maybe she went to visit her parents.”  Maybe, but why wouldn’t she tell him?  He wouldn’t care if she played hooky and spent the day with her family, so why would she keep it a secret?  He called her mom regardless, who was quite confused by the call.

Yoichi was borderline panicking as he hung up the phone; he called Lucy again and left a voicemail.  “I don’t know what you’re doing, and it’s fine if you don’t want me to know but could you please text me or something?  I just want to know you’re okay.”

The first thing Lucy heard was the quiet hum of fluorescents above her as she slowly regained consciousness. It hadn’t been easy to wake up, in fact she had to consciously focus on that low electronic buzzing and follow it. The second she was able to crack her eyelids open she knew she was in some kind of trouble. She sat in a chair in the middle of a mostly empty room with no windows, but from the architecture of the place she could tell the building she was in was old and likely abandoned for some time.

When she tried to move she realized that someone had tied her hands behind her back, anchoring her to the chair tightly enough to cause pain when she tried to pull her hands free. Panic began to pool in the pit of her stomach as she glanced around the room for some kind of clue as to where she was. Unfortunately nothing stuck out at her in the empty room that could help her out, although disturbing to her was a nearby table with various wires, screws and other electronic looking devices and tools strewn about the surface.

It wasn’t long before the single door to the room opened, and she immediately recognized the person man stepped through it, carrying a paper grocery bag in his arm.

_

Although he’d made the drive in record time despite the rush-hour traffic, to Jax it had felt like ages before he finally made it to the apartment where his sister lived. He hoped that Yoichi Oshiro would still be home even if he’d already caught on to the fact that Lucy had gone missing early this morning. He raised his hand to knock on the door and nearly hesitated; Jax had never intended to get this close to his sister’s life, but he was desperately aware that he wasn’t going to be able to handle this situation alone.

He knocked, firmly but not too hard, and waited for an answer. Outwardly he appeared perfectly composed, although his head was a whirlwind of thoughts that didn’t seem like it would slow down anytime soon. Lucy’s life hanging in the balance, and the decisions he made in the next few hours would very likely determine whether any of them would survive the night.

When the door opened Jax unceremoniously let himself in, pushing the door closed behind him before turning to face Yoichi.

The sun wasn’t up yet as Yoichi returned home.  He made a conscious effort to be as quiet as possible; working third shift was killing him – it wasn’t that it was hard by any means, but he and Lucy were hardly spending time together anymore.  The moment she came back they had to have a quick dinner together before he had to leave for work himself.  He quietly opened the bedroom door and approached the dresser to put on something other than his uniform; Lucy’s voice made him jolt.

“It was fine.”  He just took whatever was at the top of the pajama drawer and began to change.  “Nothing that interesting happened.  That’s the worst part about third shift; it’s either non-stop craziness or I sit on my ass the whole time doing absolutely nothing.”  Yoichi sighed as he climbed into bed next to her.  “Still, I had to listen to Anderson talk for 10 hours so I’m exhausted.  He wouldn’t shut up about his stupid prize winning Lilipup.”

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest, burying his face in her hair.  “I’m probably going to sleep like a rock.  You still have two hours until you have to be up so you might as well go back to sleep yourself.”  Another sigh escaped him.  He was praying that he’d get off third shift soon.  He slept terribly when Lucy wasn’t with him and he’d like to get a peaceful rest for the first time in weeks.  If she stayed the full two hours then he’d at least get a power nap in before he was tormented by nightmares again.

“If I have to do even one more week of third shift I’m gonna kill someone.  I don’t know who, but someone.  I’ll probably go alphabetically and then by age.”

In a selfish way Lucy was glad to hear that Yoichi’s day without her had been uneventful. She knew that they couldn’t realistically spend every hour of every day together, and that they would each benefit from spending time away from one another every once in a while. But lately it had been extreme; they barely saw each other anymore, and so when she thought about Yoichi actually enjoying the time he spent away from her she got a stupid jealous ache in her chest.

“Mm... That’s too bad.” She mumbled quietly and closed her eyes as Yoichi finally got into bed and pulled her close. In seconds it felt like her mind was already drifting to a more peaceful sleep that she had just awoken from, and she listened contentedly to the sound of Yoichi’s voice as he spoke.

“Ah, no. Kill Davis first. I still catch him looking at my ass sometimes.” Her eyes remained closed, but her nose wrinkled slightly at the thought. Luckily she was still too sleepy to get very upset about it. “Or Clark... he slurps his coffee so loud... drives me crazy...”

@atamagaii​

It was in the still, dark hours of the morning when Lucy heard the door to the apartment quietly open and shut, followed by the quiet jangle of keys as they were carefully hung onto the hook beside the door. Soft rustlings from the other side of the closed bedroom door -- click of the lamp turning on, shoes and jacket being removed and put away, things set down on the table -- were all known and familiar to her as Yoichi’s habitual routine once he came home from work. Even with her eyes closed she recognized him; she knew him by heart, even his soft footsteps when they padded down the hallway toward the door.

She never opened her eyes. She simply rolled over in the bed and buried her face into the pillow; it was way too early. Even Yoichi’s best attempts at silence had awoken her, and it wasn’t because his attempts were bad. It was almost as if her unconscious mind had been waiting for him to return, and at the slightest noise, had woken up in anticipation.

The bedroom door creaked quietly open now, and she rolled over again so that her body faced his approaching figure in the dark. Her eyes were finally open but she couldn’t see him. That was okay, it was enough just to know that he was there.

Prince Yoichi gave Luci a sad smile.  “Well you’ll soon find out I have one too many sad stories to share.  I deeply appreciate your company Lady Luci.”  He craned his neck to look at Mirabelle; moonlight washed over her and revealed a small smile on her face.  “I’m glad at least one of us is having pleasant dreams.”  A deep sigh escaped him.  “As much as I loathe to do it, maybe I should go back to sleep as well.  We have along journey back home.  I also need to formulate exactly how I plan on presenting Mirabelle to my Aunt and Uncle…”

The Prince turned his attention back to Luci and locked eyes.  “I know you detested me – and I certainly deserve it – but I appreciate that I’m able to speak so candidly with you.  It’s not something I’m able to do with many.  Appearances, and all.  That’s the thing about being royalty; everything is about appearances.  Even during private conversations you have to keep them in mind.  It’s exhausting.”

A few strands of hair were hanging loose in front of Luci’s face; he reached out to tuck it behind her ear before quickly withdrawing his hand.  “Ah, I apologize.  Forgive me.  I think I’ll retire again.  Hopefully this time I’m not thrust into another nightmare.  I’ll speak with you in the morning; I’m going to attempt to sneak out of here before Princess Mista is able to hold us hostage much longer.”  He offered her a half smile.

“Goodnight Lady Luci, and thank you for pulling me out of that terrible dream.”

Luci felt a small pang of guilt when the Prince mentioned how she had detested him in the past. She certainly felt now that her feelings toward him in the past had been totally undeserved, and it made her wonder how she could have misjudged him so terribly. However on keeping up appearances she felt that she could relate to him more than anyone else. Perhaps that was why she felt so drawn to him at that particular moment, almost spellbound and unable to turn away from his gaze. They were both trying desperately to appear to be something other than what they truly were. Luci suddenly felt that no one else in the kingdom could understand her better than the Prince.

Her breath caught when Prince Yoichi tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear; she could feel the heat of a blush creeping onto her face, and looked away immediately. Nodding silently in agreement as the Prince declared his decision to attempt to sleep again, she stood up to allow him to get situated in his bed.

The Prince was still half asleep as he listened to Luci; it took a moment for him to realize that she was holding his hand.  Somehow he knew that this was the reason he had been pulled out of his disturbing nightmare and a feeling of peace washed over him.  For a second he nearly fell back asleep without responding, but he managed to force himself to sit up in bed.  The thought of letting go of Luci’s hand pained him more than he could’ve imagined; he wasn’t ready just yet.

“You haven’t overstepped anything.”  He sighed and crawled out of his spot to sit next to her on the edge of the bed instead.  “I’m beset by nightmares very single time I close my eye.  This was the first moment of peaceful sleep I’ve experienced in years.  Forgive me, I’m the one overstepping boundaries.”  Prince Yoichi finally convinced himself to release her hand, although the sense of security it had brought him lingered.

“I don’t know that I’ll be able to lay down again.  I don’t want to slip back into that demented scenario again.  We’ll start our journey back home in the morning.”  He closed his eyes while he still sat up.  There was a very long pause before he again, as if he debated speaking at all.  “Have you ever wondered what life would be like had a single incident been avoided?”  The Prince opened his eyes again to look at Luci.

“If our carriage had never been attacked by bandits– if they hadn’t killed my parents and my cousin…well I’d probably be sitting at home, reading a letter he’d sent me detailing his engagement to Princess Mista while begging I help disguise him as an old woman to smuggle him out of the country.”  He let out a half-hearted laugh; unfortunately he knew it to be true.  

“I didn’t ask to be prince.  But with my cousin and father dead, I’m next in line for the throne.  Sometimes I wish I’d just been the son to some blacksmith.  I’d rather have soot and grease permanently under my fingernails than have to spend the rest of my life looking at Mista in the morning.”  Prince Yoichi let out another sigh and stretched his back.  “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to bombard you with such depressing stories all the time.  I feel that even Clooney is going to try to force me to look at the positives.  I believe that you’re the only one on my side Lady Luci.  For that I owe you a great debt.”

Luci was having a hard time reading the Prince’s expression. Not only was the room quite dark but it didn’t seem as if there was any sort of emotion on his face for quite some time. It had only been a few seconds, but to Luci it felt much longer than that as she waited for Prince Yoichi to say something. Her initial terror and guilt were increasingly giving way to simple embarrassment as he finally responded, and moved to sit beside her, all the while keeping her hand in his.

She tilted her head forward just slightly, allowing her bangs to fall in front of her eyes like a veil in an attempt to hide her expression. When he finally did release her hand, Luci was surprised to feel a small twinge of disappointment. Watching the Prince silently as he spoke, there a tangible pain in her chest. His question resonated with her; what would her life be like now if that one incident hadn’t happened?

In her case it had been more of a short series of events that had led to one plain fact: that she had been left alone in the world, everyone she loved dead under mysterious circumstances. If this hadn’t be the case, she surely wouldn’t have had to become a knight. Where would she be now, and would she be happy?

“Sleep.  You’re right, sleep would be beneficial.”  He allowed Luci to pull him up; all he could muster was the energy to kick off his shoes before collapsing face first into bed.  It was a terrible idea to wear these clothes to sleep, but he couldn’t bring himself to care enough to take them off.  Mirabelle gently pulled the covers out and laid them on top of him; she patted his back before retreating to the corner.  Some servants had laid out a cot with a blanket and pillow for her while they had been at the party.

In his absolutely exhausted state, he found himself asleep almost immediately.  It was a peaceful sleep at first – which had surprised him – but it quickly took a turn for the worse – which wasn’t a surprise.  He was back at the castle, and apparently it was his wedding day.  It seemed like all the nobility within a thousand miles was in attendance; his Aunt and Uncle were beaming at him as they watched some tailors help him put on his clothes.

The Prince felt like a corpse as he walked through the castle.  It was less walking, and more like floating.  As if he were being pulled along by an unseen string.  His carefully practiced smile was the only thing keeping him afloat as he was congratulated by every person in the room.  Princess Mista attached herself to him like a leech; she tittered happily as people spoke to her, but the sound was grating, like metal scraping against one another.  Eventually she peeled herself off of him as the ceremony was about to begin.

He took his place at the front of the room with the clergy member who was to officiate their wedding.  In front of him was the King and Queen of Almidia, to their right was his Aunt and Uncle.  All four of them were beaming at him, but he had a sinking feeling in his gut that was worse than what he felt before.  Prince Yoichi wasn’t paying attention to the words that were being spoken as the officiant began the ceremony, and suddenly he was in their bed chambers after the wedding.

Princess Mista gave him a sultry look as she began to unbutton her nightgown, but with each button she simply revealed another section of the grotesque, massive mouth that ran vertically along her torso.  It was mashing its teeth, and saliva was dripping from its chapped lips as she approached him, her arms held open.  He knew that if he let her touch him he would be eaten, but he was frozen in place.

The Prince felt something warm touch his hand; he was pulled out of the dark nightmare and into a much more idyllic dream.  He and Mirabelle were sitting in a field making flower crowns together.  Luci was sitting near them looking at a map, her brow furrowed as she appeared to be plotting something on it.  Prince Yoichi stood up and dropped a flower crown onto her head; she looked up and shook her head as she laughed.  He was suddenly aware this was a dream; this was too pleasant to be real.  The realization caused him to wake up.  He groggily blinked, his eyes adjusting to the low light.

“Lady Luci?”

Exhausted from the events of the day, both Mirabelle and the Prince fell asleep quite quickly. Luci was rather grateful, and normally she would have had no trouble going to sleep herself, but she wanted to stay awake for a while to keep watch. She knew there was no danger here in the castle -- at least, no physical danger. But something told her she needed to stay awake.

It turned out to be easy enough; she sat down at the writing desk and quietly polished her armor. The humidity had done quite a number on it, and she worked slowly and methodically, purposely dragging out the task. Before long she could hear Prince Yoichi stirring in his bed.

Luci glanced over at him. As expected, he was having a nightmare. During the past few days she had noticed that the Prince was plagued every night with dreams that made him toss and turn, sometimes muttering incoherently. Tonight it seemed much worse than the previous nights; before long the blanket had been kicked off of the bed.

Quietly, she picked it up from the floor and carefully draped it over him again. It had gotten quite dark, but by the pale silver light of the moon filtering through the window she could see a light glistening of sweat on the Prince’s face, his expression looked pained. Luci frowned; once again she felt that awful feeling of helplessness. Was there really nothing she could do for him, other than to stand aside and watch him suffer?

Without thinking, she sat on the edge of the bed and slipped her hand into the Prince’s. She was immediately aware of how small her hand appeared in his. Suddenly his fingers curled around her hand, locking her into the gentle but firm grip. Luci tugged lightly, but couldn’t seem to break away. Which wasn’t such a terrible thing, she thought suddenly, and she felt the heat of a blush creeping onto her face. Besides, the Prince had finally stopped his tossing about, and his face had even relaxed. She would stay like this for a few minutes longer, until she was sure Prince Yoichi had settled down.

Then, without warning, Prince Yoichi started to blink awake. Luci froze, her breath caught in her throat, her heart feeling like it was trying to burst out of her body. He spoke her name and she sighed.

The nobles attending the party didn’t pay them any mind as Luci tore through the crowds to get the Prince out of the ballroom.  Mirabelle gently took his hand as they hurried back to the chamber they had been brought to when they arrived.  He slumped onto the downy bed and stared straight ahead; he was unable to even form a complete thought to answer Luci’s questions.

The image of him kissing Princess Mista on their wedding day – a delighted but devious grin on her face, a look of horror on his own – flashed across his mind and he rushed to stick his head out the window so that he wouldn’t get vomit on the ground.  He wretched several times before leaning back into the room and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.  His eyes were red from throwing up, but it didn’t help that he was also trying to hold back tears.

His legs felt weak; he slumped to the ground and wrapped his arms around his legs, pressing his head into his knees.  “I thought I could handle it.  I knew it was coming.”  Prince Yoichi paused as his voice began to crack.  “She’s vile.  The thought of her coming to Kareen– the thought of her treating my people like that.  But I can’t do anything.  Kareen needs the alliance with Almidia.”  Mirabelle gently lifted the Prince’s head from his knees and place the cup to his lips.

He couldn’t help but crack a small smile at the gesture; he took the cup from her and downed the water.  “Thank you Lady Mirabelle.”  She sat on the floor next to him and patted his knee silently.  The Prince was wracked with images of Mista attempting to beat Mirabelle into submission as she had done with her own staff; he placed his hand on top of hers and let out a deep sigh.

“I won’t let her do anything to you.  Or you.”  He looked up at Luci with a glint in his eye.  “There’s very little I can control about this situation…but that much I can manage.  The King said Mista is to arrive at our castle in two months time.”  Prince Yoichi closed his eyes for a moment, leaning his head back against the cool rock wall.  “I don’t suppose you know a noble from Almidia I could marry instead of Princess Mista?”

Luci was truly at a loss for words. She would never try to claim that she and the Prince were close, but they had practically grown up together in the castle and she had never once seen him in such a state. It was quite worrisome to say the least, but she was beginning to see that it was a bit deeper than that.

In the past few days alone she had seen Prince Yoichi in a new light, and Luci had decided to herself that he was someone that she admired, and that she had never given him enough credit in the past. So seeing him in his current condition was actually quite upsetting, and she wished with all her heart that there was something she could do to ease some of what he was feeling. Yet there was nothing at all that she could do, other than watch helplessly.

“Prince Yoichi,” there was the smallest hint of a scolding in her voice, “I wish you would stop worrying about me. It’s a waste of your energy, and you could certainly use it worrying about your own situation.” Yes, Luci could still use a bit of work when it came to trying to comfort others. When the Prince continued she understood that his question was rhetorical, so she didn’t bother stating the obvious. “I can’t begin to understand how you feel, Your Highness. But perhaps you should retire early for the night? You might feel better after some rest.”

Princess Mista apparently didn’t feel the need to dignify Luci’s apology with a comment and instead sniffed as she picked up the pace.  There was a small platform where the King and Queen were sitting; they beamed as the Princess led him up the two steps and steered him so that he faced the ballroom.  It felt like a lead ball was sitting in his stomach as he kept a practiced smile on his face.  He would’ve liked to scream and run from the castle with reckless abandon, but now wasn’t the time for that.  The King stood up and slapped his hand on the Prince’s shoulder.

“Lord and Ladies, Counts, Viscounts, Earls and your wives, I’m pleased to finally have the opportunity to announce why you’ve all been called here today.  It is on this day that we are able to officially announce that Prince Yoichi of Kareen and my dear daughter Princess Mista of Almidia are now betrothed to marry.”  The Princess yanked on the Prince’s arm to force him to bend down so that she could excitedly plant a kiss on his cheek.  It was borderline revolting, but he managed to keep a grin on his face despite how pained it must have looked.

The crowds began to cheer and holler; there were crashing sounds as people slammed their goblets together in celebration.  Princess Mista clapped her hands together excitedly and waved at a gaggle of girls – likely some Ladies that lived in her kingdom – who were all giggling and waving back.  Prince Yoichi felt faint for a moment as he thought about what he was about to go through, but the King leaned into his ear just in time to bring him back to reality.

“There are still things your uncle and I must arrange, so we’ll send Mista to Kareen in two months time for the wedding.  I look forward to our new alliance.”  The Prince nodded as the King beamed at him.  “Go get some food!  You haven’t eaten and you spent all day riding.”

“Actually your Highness, I think I might go to bed.  I’m not feeling very hungry at the moment.”  The King titled his head but gestured for him to leave if he so pleased.  Prince Yoichi took the Princess’ hand and kissed it, an easy but false smile on his face.  She was too euphoric to really care; she didn’t bother to follow him this time as he rejoined Mirabelle and Luci.

“I think I might puke.  Let’s return to my chamber.”

Luci was glad that the Princess decided not to respond to her apology, because she felt so would up that she was sure that the slightest provocation might set her off. And that was the absolute last thing they needed at the moment. As Princess Mista dragged the Prince onto the platform, Luci motioned for Mirabelle to hang back. The pair stood off to the side a bit, still close by but out of the way, watching as the King stood and clapped a hand on Prince Yoichi’s shoulder.

Here we go, Luci thought, and to her surprise she realized that she actually felt quite nervous. At least, she thought it was nerves; there was a heavy pit in her stomach, along with a very uncomfortable feeling in her chest. Before she had much of a chance to sort out her feelings however, the King promptly commanded the entire room’s attention before beginning the announcement.

No one else seemed to notice how forced Prince Yoichi’s smile looked, but Luci noticed. It made the uncomfortable feeling in her chest even worse, especially when she saw how excited the Princess was in comparison. Luci glanced over at Mirabelle, who didn’t appear to be very happy; she had noticed the false smile as well.

“Don’t worry, Lady Mirabelle.” Luci said to the girl, her voice nearly drowned in the cheers filling the room. Mirabelle looked up at her and nodded, although her expression still remained tense. Luci couldn’t exactly blame her. The announcement had been quite quick, but somehow it seemed as if a lot of time had passed before the Prince finally stepped back down from the platform.

“Right this way, Prince Yoichi.” Luci cleared a path through the room, nearly shoving one or two drunken nobles aside in the process. Mirabelle stayed close to Prince Yoichi’s side as they followed, and once they were out of the banquet hall Luci found it a bit easier to breathe. She didn’t say anything as they made their way back to the Prince’s chamber; she didn’t know she should say or how she should say it. Once they were all inside the mercifully quiet room she finally spoke. “Are you going to be alright, Your Highness?”

Prince Yoichi didn’t have the presence of mind to step in and stop Luci from giving Beuga a verbal lashing.  He deserved it, and frankly the Prince didn’t care to give the old man the benefit of the doubt.  It was obvious that he was picking on her on purpose.  Princess Mista was scowling at Luci; she clearly didn’t think this conversation was funny or appropriate.  It was well known that she was a massive proponent of proper decorum – this was throwing her rulebook out the window.

Lord Beuga was staring at Luci with bulging eyes for a moment; he was clearly taken aback by the sudden attack – although it was certainly deserved.  There was an uncomfortable silence between all of them; the Prince was about to open his mouth to break it when Lord Beuga spoke instead.

“I have never in my days been addressed by a knight like that.”  He let out a bellowing laugh and smacked Luci on the back hard.  “This is fantastic.  No one gives it straight to nobility, you know that?  They always speak in riddles and try to be as pleasant as possible.  I want the truth!  If you weren’t assisting the Prince, I would steal you away.  I’m sure you’d make sure I didn’t look ridiculous in my dress shirts.  We need less yes men in the castle!”  He began to wander off, waving his hand.

“I do hope to see you later Prince Yoichi and party.  Especially you Sir Lucien, you’re quite the character.”  Princess Mista saw the opportunity to move and began dragging the Prince towards the raised platform where her father and mother were sitting.  He managed to grab Mirabelle’s hand last second to keep them in tow behind him.

“Your knight is certainly crass.”  The Princess was speaking as if Luci wasn’t there, which definitely wasn’t unusual for her.  “That’s generally something they train out when they’re squires.  Hopefully we can change that.”  Prince Yoichi had several things to say that would’ve greatly offended Mista, but felt that starting a war between their two kingdoms when he wasn’t in the safety of his own castle was likely in bad taste.

“Who taught you to speak like that Lucien?  Assure me it wasn’t your commander?”

The moment of tense silence seemed to last forever, although it must have only been a few seconds long. When Luci was suddenly smacked on the back by the much larger man it felt like the air had been knocked out of her lungs, and she nearly stumbled forward but managed to keep her footing. There was a rather unamused expression on her face as Beuga spoke in a drunkenly jovial tone. The very idea of working for a man like him was a very unpleasant one for Luci, but she kept that thought to herself, thinking that she had pushed her luck enough for one night.

The quiet sense of relief that she felt as Lord Beuga wandered away was fleeting. Princess Mista had immediately seized the opportunity to begin pulling the Prince away. Luci supposed that the Princess was eager for a certain announcement to be made. Her stomach suddenly felt like lead at the thought, and she imagined that Prince Yoichi felt many times worse.

Stifling the urge to snap back at the Princess with the same hardly-subdued bluntness that she had afforded Lord Beuga, Luci reminded herself once again not to continue to push her luck. Although she bristled at the mention of her commander, she took a breath to steady herself.

The Prince pursed his lips as he tried to hold back at laugh.  Luci was barely keeping her irritation in check as she introduced herself and Mirabelle, although once the attention was shifted off of her she seemed more able to hold back.  He would have loved nothing more than to let her verbally attack him all night, but unfortunately for him, Lord Beuga was a very important vassal for his kingdom.  Keeping him happy was one of his Uncle’s top priorities, and that duty extended to the Prince as well.

“A new lady in waiting?  How delightful!  Truly, the good Queen has been without one for so long.  I thought she hated having someone tag behind her all day; she’s since changed her mind then?”  Beuga made eye contact with Prince Yoichi, and for a moment his heart skipped a beat.  He hadn’t realized that the Lord would remember how much his Aunt detested the very concept of ladies in waiting.  He didn’t let the sudden bout of anxiety show on his face as he shrugged.

“She heard that Queen Guinevere of Aierene was acquiring a new lady in waiting and felt it necessary to keep up with her.”  The lie came easily as it was only a half lie.  Queen Guinevere had indeed recently acquire a new lady in waiting, it just wasn’t something his Aunt would particularly care about.  Lord Beuga gave him a steady look for a moment; before offering Mirabelle a wide smile.

“I didn’t realize the Queen was so keen on keeping up with someone like Guinevere, but I suppose I don’t spend as much time with her as you.  So Lady Mirabelle, what’s your favorite part of living in the castle?”  The Prince felt panicked for a moment, but Mirabelle cut in before he could cover her with a lie.

“I like the stables.”  Prince Yoichi quirked an eyebrow at Luci, hoping felt just as befuddled.  Lord Beuga let out a loud laugh, nearly sloshing his wine all over the Prince as he placed his other hand on his stomach.  Princess Mista looked like she wanted nothing more than for this conversation to end, but the Prince was determined to keep them here as long as possible, no matter how boring this conversation was.

“Ah, girls and their horses.  Do you help her take care of those beasts?”  He gestured towards Luci with his goblet.  “You seem like the type to have been a stable boy before a knight.”  The Prince couldn’t help but feel Beuga was goading Luci on purpose, but he was too stupid to pull something like that.  At least he thought.

Luci didn’t appreciate how close Prince Yoichi had gotten to being splashed with Lord Beuga’s wine as he laughed heartily at Mirabelle’s answer to his question. Her answer had been quite amusing, even Luci had thought so -- a brief glance she shared with the Prince suggested that he had thought the same. Amusing as it was, Luci could feel a small tug of affinity toward Mirabelle, as the stables had often been where she had retreated to when she wanted to be alone, without the crushing feeling of loneliness.

Before long, the drunken lord’s attention had found itself, unfortunately, ince again on her. And once again Luci was terribly annoyed by his question, which was somehow even more insulting than the last.

She held the man’s gaze steadily, wondering if it was simply in a man’s nature to pick on a smaller target. Perhaps it was for fun, or to prove his dominance, she had no worldly idea of knowing. The other knights at the castle, most of whom she had grown up alongside, called her a runt and took every opportunity to drag her down. They loved to see her struggle, and hated to watch her succeed. Whatever their motives, she felt that Lord Beuga -- with his title, wealth, and prestige -- was no different.

“I have spent a lot of time tending the stables and caring for the horses, and I enjoy the labor.” Luci confirmed. “However, despite what may appear, I have never been a stable boy. Whatever I may look like, I am a knight. I’ve earned that title through years of hardship and struggle, as any other knight has done.” Normally she would have stopped there, but she could still feel a bit of heat rising beneath her collar, fueling her resolve. “With due respect, my lord, I think I can understand how a man of your position would come to such a conclusion; appearances must be very important to those of the noble class. But for a knight, and certainly for myself, the hidden qualities are what matter far more.”

The sounds of the ball ramping up made his stomach turn as they approached the hall.  It was time to face the music, he supposed, as he straightened his back and entered the banquet hall.  Princess Mista immediately appeared at his side, latching onto his arm like a leech.

“Oh!  I was so worried you were lost, dear Prince.”  He offered her his practiced polite smile and nodded.

“Lady Mirabelle was simply enjoying the garden.”  The Princess eyed Mirabelle who was looking at some fancy dresses some nearby Ladies were wearing.  She sniffed before attempting to drag him away, but he dug in his heels.  “Lady Mirabelle is meant to stay with me tonight as I mentioned.  She’s to learn how to act during a royal ball.  Sir Lucien will stay as well.”  Princess Mista narrowed her eyes at him, but quickly plastered a wide smile on her face.

“Of course; today has been so busy that it just slipped my mind.”  He knew she was lying, but gave her an easy smile in return.

“Naturally.  I supposed my Uncle would like for me to speak with Lord Beuga, if he’s in attendance?”  He hoped this would bore her and she would leave him alone for a moment, but instead she eagerly dragged him off towards the last place she had seen him.  He was still there; standing next to a table sampling various wines.  It was clear that he was already quite drunk; his face was beet red as he turned around to face the Prince and party, his drink sloshing in the goblet in his hand.

“Ahh, the good Prince Yoichi!  What a delight!  And the Princess!  Hoo, how wonderful!”  Prince Yoichi attempted to keep his smile even, but it was hard not to laugh as he noticed the pieces of turkey clinging to the front of the Lord’s dress shirt.  “And who is this young lady?  And this exceptionally short knight?”  The Prince eyed Luci and slightly jerked his head to convince her to speak.

Luci watched with silent admiration as the Prince entered the banquet hall, squaring his shoulders in spite of what she could only imagine was a very daunting situation for him. She realized then that Prince Yoichi had been faced with a very difficult decision, and he had chosen his duty to the kingdom and to his family over his own comfort and well-being. It was tragic, and her heart ached for a moment at the thought, but at the very same time she thought that it was quite brave, and honorable -- even knightly. There were much worse people that she could swear her loyalty to, for certain.

Her thoughts were cut short when, almost as soon as they entered the large room, the Princess appeared and attached herself to Prince Yoichi. It was as if she had been hovering about the entrance, simply waiting for him. Luci held a steady gaze with Princess Mista as the woman’s beautiful, yet somehow venomous eyes narrowed toward her. In her heart there was a petty spark of satisfaction at the thought that she had annoyed the Princess, even slightly.

As the Prince began to move, Luci followed behind him and Mirabelle, stealing a quick glance at the young girl’s expression as she turned her head this way and that. Instead of looking nervous or afraid, the knight thought that Mirabelle appeared cautiously curious, which was a relief.

They had stopped, the Prince conversing with a noble. Drops of red wine occasionally dripped to the floor as he moved his arms a bit too enthusiastically, and suddenly he turned his attention to the odd pair accompanying the Prince.

Luci was affronted; of course she was short, but was it necessary to comment on it within seconds of meeting her? He was very clearly drunk, but that was no excuse. Weren’t nobles supposed to have some level of decorum? Luci was silently fuming, while struggling to keep the evidence out off her expression. There was a mild sense of annoyance in her face as she glanced up at the Prince -- perhaps too minute for him to notice -- when she noticed his subtle signal for her to respond.