The Fashion Princess

He had seen her on her horse from home quite a bit, but never in a competition. She told him that she was competing in the cross-country section. Given that Silver was competing in the show jumping section, they would not be competing against each other…

However, that meant Silver had the pleasure of watching her perform from the stands, and it filled his stomach with excited butterflies; his usually impassive lips were pulled into a small smile, one his dorm mates were quick to notice. 

“What’s got you all smiley?” One of them asked as he brushed his hair without being prompted to, for once. 

Silver turned away from the bathroom mirror and saw a small group of dorm mates staring at him. 

“My partner will be competing against us today. I’m excited to see her during school hours,” Silver explained. 

He was met with skeptical looks. “What? Your partner? What does that mean?”

“His girlfriend,” Sebek specified as he joined, already prepared for the day and likely came back to ensure Silver hadn’t overslept or forgotten to brush his hair.

“Girlfriend? No way!” one exclaimed, quick to act dumbfounded, “C’mon, that’s like the oldest lie in the book!”

“What’s a lie?” Silver asked, confused. 

“You have a girlfriend that just so happens to go to a different school? Really?” The other boy chided sarcastically, arms crossed. 

Silver didn’t know why they were asking that; he thought the reason was obvious. 

“Night Raven College is an all-boys school; she can’t go to school here,” Silver answered.

His dorm mates looked at each other, baffled, and the one instigator looked to his right to see Silver’s roommate, Cecil, leaving the showers as quietly as possible in his sandals, Pajamas, and still damp-hair in a towel. 

“Cecil, he’s lying, right?” The boy practically shouted across the restroom, “About having a girlfriend?”

Cecil stopped in his tracks and glanced at the group with a deadpanned expression before swiftly retreating to the stairs, muttering under his breath, “Sure, ask me about it, I’m such an expert in all things Silver…Now, you’ll have to excuse me, I have to shove my face into the trap of my carnivorous plant.”

“I’m sure if he wasn’t busy he could tell you about it,” Silver said, sympathetic of Cecil’s clearly sarcastic plight, “If you’re so curious, I could introduce you to her some other time.” 

“That’ll be the day,” the boy said, and quickly dispersed with the group muttering things under their breath Silver couldn’t catch.

Was it really that surprising?

Maybe he didn’t seem like the kind of person to be in a relationship. It stung a bit, but in truth, for most of his life, he had only interacted with three people and his animal friends. Pip was a new addition to his life.

He grabbed his ribbon and prepared to tie a small ponytail with it when Sebek quickly interrupted. 

“Your bangs, Silver, they need to be pushed back, remember?” Sebek nagged him for forgetting. 

Silver handed the materials to Sebek, who went through the process for him, as he often did when he had time to help out. 

“Honestly, you’d think you’d remember to put more effort into your appearance for her,” Sebek continued, parting Silver’s bangs with his comb and running his hair gel through it to help keep its shape. 

“I brushed my hair,” Silver replied. It wasn’t much of an accomplishment; Sebek usually reminded him of that, but today he was far milder for whatever reason. 

“You did, now if only you could remember to brush it every morning,” Sebek replied, “turn around.”

Silver did as instructed, and Sebek tied his hair back with the bow.

Silver looked in the mirror and saw no difference in himself. But when he thought about it more; thought about how visitors from Foothill Town would tell him he looked like a prince when he looked like this, and how Pip was going to be there…He started to see that he actually did look different; he looked more presentable…

Maybe he really was handsome like people said.

He didn’t have much time to dwell on such things longer, as Sebek was pushing him out of the bathroom and down to the stables. 

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

After changing into their uniforms, they waited on the course for Lion Heart Academy to make their way down from the mirror chamber with their horses. 

It was a good thing this transition was happening while classes were going on; otherwise, Silver could easily see the skittish horse Pip had been assigned struggling to make the journey surrounded by so many strangers.

It seemed there were even more townsfolk in attendance for the girl’s arrival. Silver distracted himself with getting Samson ready, but once the preparations were complete and he was all set in his jockey uniform, just waiting for the competition to start, he started getting antsy.

Unfortunately for him, anxiety was something those closest to him found easy to read, and Sebek was at his side whispering to him, “You never get nervous when Lord Malleus watches these competitions.”

“That’s because I’m used to him watching,” Silver defended. He saw the way Sebek looked offended, but said nothing more as it was, on all accounts, true. “I’ve never competed against Pip before.”

“She’s in cross-country, you’re in show jumping…Unless,” Sebek began to piece together what made Silver’s heart race, “You’re nervous about her watching you perform.”

Silver doesn’t reply, and Sebek haughtily chuckles, “If only our dorm mates could see you now, then they’d surely believe she’s real. Straighten yourself up, Silver; you better not lose composure in the arena due to your infatuation.” 

“I won’t.” Silver replies this time, though in his head he’s thinking, ‘I hope I don’t.’

Usually it took a lot for Silver to feel embarrassed. When Father did something gross in public, or when he and Malleus loudly discussed a memory of Silver as a baby around other people, that was when Silver remembered losing his composure. 

He had been unaffected by Pip seeing him in his brightly colored pajamas multiple times; he hadn’t even understood why she blushed and hid her face when he took off his wet clothes in front of her after they got caught in the rain. 

But the thought of Silver knocking down one of the rails, or falling off his horse, or worse…Falling asleep during riding, all in front of Pip, bothered him to no avail. 

Not even when he was small, desperately trying to regain his father’s compliments as his attention was divided when Sebek joined their training, did he ever feel this nervous about a performance. All due to his audience, the one he desperately wanted to appear his best for…

Silver clasped his hands together and held them tight in front of him, his own self-soothing for whenever he felt anxious. He had no choice but to wait and see Pip later. The schools agreed that NRC would have their riders go first while LHA sat in their designated spectator area; then they would line up with their horses at the in-gate while NRC cooled down and sat in the spectator area. 

They lined up by category, with dressage going first, then their own cross-country, and finally show-jumping. The announcer was very enthusiastic about introducing everyone and commentating on their performance. 

It must have been someone new, or from LHA, because Silver heard his name called out differently. 

“Up next is Silver…No last name provided, 2nd year of Night Raven College and his 7-year-old stallion, Samson!”

Silver and Samson rode into the arena, the videographer with his camera pointed at him, the hurdles at the ready for him, and, as if drawn by some kismet, Silver’s eyes fell exactly where they needed to. 

Just like the bird of his signature spell, showing him the owner of the dream he slipped into, his gaze naturally drifted to where Pip sat, all that distance away. He could make out her strawberry blonde hair and amber eyes amidst the crowd of LHA students. 

She waved, he nodded, and he felt inspired to perform the very best he could, trumping all other desires he had ever felt before. He patted Samson’s head for reassurance, and his horse seemed to understand him as all animals did. 

When he leaped over the hurdles, he didn’t see any weakness in his landings. He didn’t hear the distinctive knock of rails being kicked out of place by Samson. 

In the moment, he didn’t yet notice it was the best he had ever performed; the only thing swarming in his mind was Pip watching him, and him needing to show her the best of himself and Samson. 

Once he finished, he could hardly hear the applause over his own heartbeat. 

“That was a clear round! Phenomenal, not a single fault, and those landings were perfect!” Silver heard the announcer comment. 

Seeing Pip’s amazed expression made all his nervousness from earlier seem ridiculous in retrospect. There was no way he wouldn’t do his best for her. 

Silver and Samson left to cool down outside of the ring, reining up Samson, removing his tack, and both taking a drink of water. Sebek was already seated, so Silver hurried through the rest of his routine to get Samson settled and hurried back out before the girls started.

“Though I loathe to admit it, your performance has significantly improved since our last competition. If Lord Malleus and Master Lilia were here, I’m sure they’d be proud,” Sebek told him. 

It didn’t even bother Silver that they weren’t; the audience he did have made him feel proud all on his own. Though knowing his father and Malleus, there was a non-zero chance they were watching from afar, unseen.

LHA began sending out their dressage riders, and Silver waited with bated breath for the cross-country segment to begin. Finally, as they reached the later part of the order, he heard her name called. 

“Up next is Pippa Ulstead, 2nd year of LionHeart Academy, and her 9-year-old stallion, Skumper!”

Pip rode out on a buckskin horse, quite different from her palomino mare back at Briar Valley. 

Silver knew Pip had trouble with animals she wasn’t particularly close to. She had a strong bond with Butterbriar because she helped raise her since she was a foal, and she said her barn cat Charles would sit on her lap occasionally.

He was confident Pip had forged a bond with this school horse, as he did with Samson, but he wondered if she thought about the difference between her two horses. 

Silver often agreed to help others without thinking; Sebek always got on him for that. But when it came to situations that needed assessing, his father had drilled it into Silver’s head that planning one’s next action was important.

Pip tended to skip all that and everything in between, choosing instead to act on the first thought that popped into her head, and sometimes there wasn’t a thought at all, just a feeling she blindly followed.

She was brave and determined, Silver’s favorite traits of hers, but he couldn’t help but worry sometimes. Taking a leap of faith was meant for when there was no time left to think, or when all other options had been exhausted; Pip treated everything like fate. 

She performed the cross-country hurdles with the precision of someone who has spent her whole life exploring uneven terrain. 

Pip and her horse leaped over the rocky and log-shaped hurdles and onto the platform to the shallow water pool below. She galloped over to the hurdle within the pool, and suddenly, Pip released the reins and threw her arms into the air. 

It was something she did while riding Butterbriar in the valley. Butterbriar was used to Pip giving her independence to ride unguided, but he doubted this school horse, who had many different riders in the past, was at all the same. 

Sure enough, the moment Pip let go, Skumper flared his nostrils and let out a panicked whine. The horse lifted his front legs as soon as he landed across the other hurdle and dumped Pip into the shallow pond below. 

This was one of those moments when Silver couldn't think and only felt. 

Silver grasped the guardrail and jumped over onto the field, running full speed ahead to pull Pip out of the water, ignoring Sebek loudly screaming his name and the announcer expressing his shock over his stunt. 

The pool was shallow, barely up to one’s ankles, but Silver still took Pip into his arms as though she was drowning. Once he set her down on the grassy turf, he checked her all over. Loose strands of her wet hair stuck to her face, and her uniform was thoroughly soaked. 

Her helmet seemed to have saved her from any real damage, but she held her right hand to her side as though it hurt. 

“Are you okay?” Silver asked. 

“Yeah! That was dumb of me. I wanted to wave to you, but Skumper freaked out,” she explained, more embarrassed than upset. “Good thing I was wearing my helmet.”

“What about your side? You’re holding it.” Silver notes. 

Silver looked behind them and saw the coach of LHA’s team taking Skumper’s reins, trying to calm him down, and two medical staff coming out with a stretcher. 

Normally, Silver would volunteer to handle one end of the stretcher himself when transporting someone to the infirmary, but this was something he wanted to do himself. 

No, he needed to. 

“If you could step aside for us, young man?” One of the medics requested. 

Silver instead gently placed his hands against her back and under her knees, took her into his arms, and bolted towards the exit as fast as he could. The competition left his mind and was replaced only with thoughts of getting Pip to the infirmary to make sure she’s not horribly injured. 

Without them, the competition continued buzzing over the stunt they both pulled. Sebek fought back the urge to follow them himself and instead remained in his seat as the announcer cleared his throat and spoke into the mic. 

“Only at Night Raven College could you see something like that, am I right, folks?”

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

Pip was okay, thank the seven. 

Once she was changed out of her wet uniform and into some dry clothes she packed with her, she seemed worlds better.

Pip’s side was bruised from where she fell, but the nurse determined that she had actually saved herself from a worse injury by quickly turning her body to the side in midair and bracing herself.  

“I’ve fallen a lot as a kid,” Pip stated the obvious, “still do!”

“I’m glad you aren’t terribly hurt, but please try not to be too reckless in the future,” Silver asked her from his pulled-up chair beside her bed. 

“You’ve injured yourself being reckless, too,” Pip pointed out. “Remember? With the baby birds?”

“I was protecting them from certain death. No one but yourself and possibly Skumper would be hurt by what you did,” Silver told her, not seeing the correlation between blindly trying out a trick and blindly using his own body as a shield while falling out of a tree.

When Pip looked saddened by his reaction, his heart broke. He didn’t want to make her feel bad at all; he just wanted her to be safe.

“Pip, I’m sorry. I can’t stand the thought of you being hurt in any way,” He says, taking one of her hands into his. 

Her hands are much smaller than his, slender and soft. Her grip is tight, however, and her palms lightly calloused from a life of working with her hands just as his were. 

They weren’t that different from each other at all. 

Pip takes her other hand and places it on top of his, overlaying their touch. 

“I feel the same about you,” she tells him decidedly, like it had been something on her mind that she hadn’t been able to put into words until just now. 

To Silver, being worried over felt like a burden. At least, it did when it came to his father and Malleus. 

But with Pip, the feelings of mutuality somehow made him feel less like a burden and more…What was the word? 

He felt normal. It was natural for people to worry about each other. To care meant to love unconditionally. Pip’s mere existence gave him reason to love her, and vice versa. 

She needn’t pay him back for his concern or his affection, and somehow, that applied to him as well. Why had he never realized that before? 

Was it because he was…and she is…?

“SILVER!!!!” A loud voice echoed throughout the infirmary. The nurse there harshly shushed Sebek, but he continued to push past them in an unbroken stride. 

“Hey Seb!” Pip greeted him with a cheerful wave from her bed. 

“Don’t call me-“ Sebek was about to retort, but he took a deep breath; clearly, he had more important matters to discuss than the nickname. “Human, are you unharmed?” 

“I’m fine!” Pip insisted. 

With that out of the way, Sebek returned to chastise Silver, “Do you seriously lack any common sense whatsoever?! She is unharmed, and you abandoned your post to carry her away like some princess in front of both schools!” 

“Why do you think that’s a problem?” Silver asked genuinely. With Sebek, he usually didn’t know. 

“Both NRC and LHA students recorded it on their devices and said they were posting it on social media! Our lord does not concern himself with such things, but you know your father uses the internet frequently! He will see!” Sebek shouted with an accusatory finger pointed at him, “The world is now seeing a future guard of Lord Malleus running away with some human girl!”

“Actually, Sebek,” Silver leaned back in his seat, feeling himself getting just a little bit ticked off, “I think my father would be proud that I valued Pip’s safety over sitting idly by. If you only came here to yell at me, I’d like to ask that you wait and do so later if you still feel peeved over it.”

“I’m not peeved; all I’m saying is that when it comes to Lord Malleus’s reputation-“

“I can do what I want without thinking about serving Malleus. I’m a person too!” Silver found his voice rising to a level and tone he was unfamiliar with. 

He froze in place after he said that; Sebek looked just as shocked. 

He’s never said anything like that before, ever.

Pip pulled off her blanket and stood up, grabbing Silver’s hand and dragging him to the door. 

“Thanks for stopping by, Seb. I’m sure I’ll be heading back to school soon, so Silver is taking me to the mirror chamber. Nice seeing you again!” She said hurriedly, and then took Silver in a completely different direction from the mirror’s location.

Pip had gotten a text earlier from one of her club mates that she had permission to return to the mirror chamber whenever she felt ready, and clearly she wasn’t.

But Silver allowed himself to be whisked away into one of her whims. Despite his worries, he always trusted her.

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

The sun was starting to set. The sky had turned a soft orange, and the chatter around classes and the competition had since ceased. Pip somehow remembered where NRC’s equestrian club stables were and chose to take Silver there. 

The horses in their stables were excited to see Silver after hours, Samson in particular bucking and letting out happy whinnies. 

“Why did you bring us here?” Silver asked, though he was thankful; his mood improved, and his sudden burst of anger turned to guilt and an urge to apologize. 

He saw that Pip’s school horse, Skumper, was left in one of NRC’s extra stables for Pip to return to. Silver supposed maybe Skumper had some behavioral issues just as Samson did, only wanting Pip as his rider. 

In that case, she probably had planned on returning to school, but Pip seemed to have other ideas.

“I thought it’d be better to get some privacy,” Pip said, “and I wanted to meet Samson up close. Handsome boy!”

She cooed at Samson, petting his snout with both her hands. Samson, who usually was closed off to others besides Silver, seemed to enjoy Pip’s attention and nuzzled into her touch. Silver’s heart fluttered at the sight. 

Skumper saw this and whinnied for her attention, to which she freed her other hand to pet him too, coincidentally situated next to Samson. “Aw, I’m okay, Skump,” she says, “You’ll be home soon.”

She was all smiles, but turned to Silver with a serious expression as well.

“Also, I could tell Sebek really hurt your feelings,” she added, seriousness shifting into her usually jovial tone. “I don’t think he meant what he said. I think he gets worried about how he appears to others and took that out on you.” 

That was usually how he viewed it too. He felt relief that Pip could see what he saw, which made him feel even worse about his sudden outburst. 

“I know,” Silver agreed, “I’m used to it, but it felt like he was trying to make me feel bad for helping you, like I was breaking some unspoken rule of decorum…And I don’t feel bad.” 

Pip nodded silently, showing him that he understood. 

“I owe Father and Malleus a great debt. They take care of me even though they are fae and I’m a human. I’m prepared to spend the rest of my short lifespan paying them back,” Silver says as though his debt were fact, a heavy metaphorical weight on his shoulders since the moment he learned he was human. 

Pip’s presence was feather-light in comparison; that’s why he was able to speak to her with full confidence. 

“I think I’m in love with you, and there’s no debt to repay,” Silver admits. “All I want is to be with you and protect you, and you feel the same way…Why do you feel the same way?”

Pip stifled a laugh; the expression of affection on her face made him feel as though he was floating on the pink fluffy clouds of his signature spell, where the first met, again and again. 

“I just do. Love doesn’t have to have a reason. You love everyone unconditionally, don’t you?” She replies, “There’s no debt to pay, Silver, just love and be loved. That’s what being human is about.” 

Being human, huh.

He was a human all along, wasn’t he?

Pip’s eyes widened, and she brought a hand to her mouth after letting out a small gasp. “Oh, Silver, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to phrase it like that. I meant all living beings! Of course, fae feel the same way!” 

“It’s alright, I understand what you meant,” Silver assured her, speaking nothing of how he was not granted a surname, how he was often reminded of how short his life is compared to fae, how his goal of knighthood had stemmed from wanting to remain in Lilia and Malleus’s life, how he was found alone in the woods surely abandoned by his original parents, how Lilia had no obligation to care for him at all…

Perhaps Pip was right, and love was as easy as she presented it as. Maybe unconditional love included him too. His knowledge of love came primarily from fae. He always hoped humans and fae weren’t so different; maybe that was true.

“So, there’s a reason I brought you out here,” Pip changed the subject, sauntering over to the saddle rack and removing the first one she saw. “I want to ride together before I return to LHA. Do you have a good patch of woods near campus?”

Silver grinned; it wasn’t often he stayed out past curfew intentionally. A jaunt together with her sounded fun, and that desire was trumping over his usual call to duty. 

They saddled up together, Silver helping her up on Skumper as her side still hurt from falling earlier. They rode into the patch of woods a little outside of campus, where Coach Vargas had them camp out months prior. 

Despite Pip's usual habit of daring riding, she took Skumper on a leisurely trot beside Silver and Samson

As the sky turned darker, the fireflies began to appear, briefly illuminating the trees and tall grass with little glowing lights. 

Silver slowed Samson’s pace so their horses would be right beside each other, side to side, with Pip so close he could lean just a little to his right and be practically on her saddle. 

Instead, his butterfly-filled gut pushed him to make a different decision. 

He reached over to Pip and she to him, their lips connecting in the middle. 

Their horses slowed to a stand for them as Silver pressed his palm against her cheek, lips still locked together as if they were two halves of one whole. 

Silver had experienced plenty of kisses before; his father often kissed him on the cheek and forehead when he was young; just quick, chaste kisses between family. But Silver remembered the illustrations in the fairytale books his father read to him well…

He recalled how the brave knight woke the sleeping princess by planting a gentle kiss on her lips, after conquering many obstacles that stood in his way. 

When he dreamt of being a knight, his heart was always focused on his family. This feeling he felt now might’ve never happened had she not searched for him outside of her dreams. 

In a way, it felt like she was the knight waking him up with her kiss. 

Silver could only take her in his arms now and revel in the warmth she brought. He owed her no debt for her presence. His desire to stay with her was unburdened, and as fate seemed to allow it, it granted him this reprieve from his eternal service to those who helped him live.

Once they released, he got to see how her cheeks flushed up into a bright pink. He cupped those cheeks in his hands, and Pip rested hers atop Silver’s. 

“I love you, Silver,” she said, with fondness dripping from every syllable, “I’m truly glad that I met you.”

By the time they rode back to the stables and returned Skumper to the mirror chamber, it was night. Pip was sure to get an earful for returning later than anticipated, but the lingering touch she left as the mirror spirited her away to mainland Dawning proved she had no regrets. 

Any time spent with her was a blessing. That’s why Silver decided to finally agree to an idea she had brought up weeks ago.

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

Silver returned to Diasomnia to find the entire dormitory quiet. He was usually asleep at this time, and the brief spurt of wakefulness he felt when kissing Pip had since left him, leaving him teetering on the edge of drowsiness.

He almost missed Sebek’s call for him, and the forceful shaking of his shoulders helped stave off the sleepiness. 

“Silver! There you are, what took you so long?! I’ve done our nightly duties alone,” Sebek exclaimed. He didn’t seem nearly as angry as he was at the infirmary; he almost sounded anxious, as though he feared Silver wouldn’t come back at all. 

‘Sebek wouldn’t worry over something like that,’ Silver thought to himself. 

“I’m sorry, Sebek. I didn’t mean to lose my temper with you earlier today,” Silver apologized. 

Sebek sputtered, “Never mind that. Silver, you’ve never intentionally shirked our knightly training unless you were sleeping. Is it because of her?”

He sounded less accusatory this time. Sebek had never spared a gentle voice for Silver before, in all the years that he knew him. If he was concerned for his fellow knight, Silver didn’t know why. 

“I wanted to. I’ll return to my usual duties tomorrow,” Silver said and attempted to continue his walk down the halls.

Sebek grabbed him by the arm, and Silver could see Sebek’s eyes turn glassy. No tears spilled, but he was getting emotional for whatever reason. 

“Don’t forget about them, Lord Malleus and Master Lilia. Don’t forget what you promised them,” Sebek insisted. 

“I don’t. I can’t,” Silver replied. Sebek would remind him on occasion as if he ever could. It was impossible. The moment he learned he wasn’t a fae, it had never left his mind. 

But being with Father and Master Malleus didn’t have to mean rejecting the part of him that was human.

He was short-lived anyway; why shouldn’t he enjoy his brief time alive with Pip?

“But next break, I’ll be visiting Pip’s family,” Silver informed him. “Since father and Malleus are awake at this time, I’ll be telling them now.”

Sebek released his grip on Silver, and his hands fell to his sides. Silver walked away from him and didn’t see the look of unease on Sebek’s face. 

It never occurred to Silver that the half of Sebek that was fae could’ve felt any kind of protectiveness over him. 

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

Videos and photos of Silver running out onto the field and carrying Pip off like a princess were posted and shared all over Magicam.