#righteousarchangel

Dean and Charlie’s mission had been simple, find a princess for the Come-of-Age Heir of the Dragon Nation. Simple.  Open and closed book.  Wipe your hands of it and be off.

And it would have been, if they’d made it just 15 more hours.

“Oh, this is bad, Dean. This is bad.”  Charlie was pacing in the limited fire light.  As she wrung her hands, her armor ground together in ways that made Dean cringe where he sat on the other side of the clearing.

Poking at the fire, Dean sighed.  “What is it?”

Charlie wasn’t usually the anxious sort.  She was usually the ‘let’s get it done before I start to think about it too much’ type, which meant that she actively made sure that she didn’t get anxious.  Dean liked that about her.  It reminded him of himself and that was probably why he had become such good friends with her.  As the Crown Prince, he hadn’t been given much choice in his life, but, when it came to Charlie, he never budged.

Now, after her training and a few years as his second, she was his best, most loyal knight.  Of course, women aren’t ‘supposed’ to be knights, but, once she was in her full suit of armor, no one could tell anyway.  So, they broke the rules a little bit.  No one batted an eye at their close interaction while suited up.  Most of the people who saw their closeness outside of their armor thought she was a mistress or consort.  Little did they know.

And less still because Dean didn’t correct them.  It kept people off his case about marriage and children and lineage and honor and fuck them.

“I may have fallen in love with her.”