"Tell me a story!" demanded the young girl bouncing on her large canopy bed. The person she was addressing fastened the doors to the balcony and closed the curtains. He turned, the soft candlelight shining on the silvery hair and smooth blue skin.
"It's late, Princess. You should go to sleep now."
Princess plopped on her bed with a huff, crossing her arms and screwing her face into the mask of stubbornness. "Story."
He shook his head.
"Storystorystorystorystorystorystory!" she yelled, punctuating each word with Flare Arrow.
Zelgadiss sighed as each flaming arrow hit and dissipated against his shield. Whose bright idea was it to teach her magic at such a young age?
"I'll tell you a story until the candle is down to a finger's width alright?"
Princess looked at the candle next to her bed. It was currently about six finger widths high. "Okay."
Zelgadiss sat down on the edge of the soft bed. Looking into her expectant blue eyes, he began.
"Where are we going again?"
Zel rolled his eyes before answering. "We are headed toward Saillune. And please face forward, your highness."
The young man riding on a white horse before him faced the road again. Only to turn around yet again to ask another question. "Why are we going there?"
"To show our country's goodwill toward the alliance and to finish the final papers detailing the treaty," Zel explained for the umpteenth time that day. He ignored the whispering of the contingent sent to escort them. Most of them didn't realize he could hear them, or else they wouldn't have been so free with their thoughts. It was no secret to anyone in the kingdom of Emaar about the second prince's simpleness.
A piercing shriek cut through the sky above the envoy. Looking up, Zel could see the brown plumaged falcon with its distinct white breast circling above.
"We must be nearing the city," commented one of the guardsmen.
"Torl!" Zel called, holding out a leather bound arm and the falcon dove down and gracefully landed on the proffered perch. He fed the falcon a piece of meat as reward for its scouting and coaxed the bird to shift onto his shoulder. The falcon was the symbol of the royal family of Emaar. Each member of the royal family had a falconer to take care of their personal raptor.
"You know, sometimes I think that that bird likes you more than it likes me," the blond remarked good-naturedly, reining back his white stallion to ride next to Zelgadiss's black.
Zelgadiss shrugged. "Maybe it's because you've threatened to eat it several times. Forgive me for speaking bluntly your highness but that kind of treatment doesn't exactly inspire trust."
"Enough with the rank already. We're not at my father's court. Just call me Gourry like you always do."
"Such familiarity isn't appropriate," Zelgadiss said coolly. Especially not in front of other people. "Please ride forward sir, we're approaching the city walls."
"Of course we have no objections to your joining the priests and priestesses that serve our temple to Ceiphied," Crown Prince Philionel smiled broadly to the slim elegant young woman with long black hair. "In fact, we are honored to have you here, Miss Sylphiel Nels Rada. I'm sure Sairaag will miss its most brightest star."
Sylphiel blinked back tears at the mention of her home. Her companion looked narrowly at the crown prince. Not only did he not look like a prince, but his sense of tact was about equal to a bandit's. Sairaag and the holy tree Flagon were now nothing more than dust.
"And who is your companion?" grinned Prince Phil, looking over to the shorter red-haired girl standing impatiently next to Sylphiel.
"My name is Lina Inverse," Lina bowed slightly. "I am under orders by the Knight of Ceiphied to ensure that Sylphiel is safely and comfortably settled in the temple."
"The Knight? The Knight here?" Prince Phil looked around the throne room wildly.
Lina sweatdropped. "Not exactly, she had some...pressing matters in the city to attend to."
Yeah, like picking up the first waitress job that was available the minute they stepped into town.
"If there are matters you need to discuss with the Knight then feel free to discuss them with me. The Knight has given me the authority to act in her place."
Either I do that or fry at Nee-chan's hands.
"No...it isn't something that would need someone of the Knight's stature but..." Prince Phil jumped off of his throne and walked around Lina, looking her up and down. She wondered if he was some kind of pervert.
"Wha-what are you doing?" she asked nervously.
Prince Phil came to a stop in front of her, one hand under his chin, deep in thought. He nodded decisively. "Yes."
"Yes what?" Lina did not like the suddenly serious look on his face.
Prince Phil clamped his heavy hands on her shoulders. "I want you to be the governess for my two daughters."
"WHAT?!?!?!"
"Please summon Princess Gracia and Princess Amelia," Prince Phil ordered before turning back to Lina. "As you know, my wife died over ten years ago."
Lina nodded cautiously. Nee-chan had drilled Saillune history into her head during their journey to the city. The wife of the Crown Prince had been found hideously murdered in her room. No one had ever discovered who was her murderer. Some speculation hinted that disgruntled nobles who had wanted their own daughters to marry the Crown Prince had orchestrated the incident. Most of the common people loved the late Crown Princess, more so maybe because she was also a commoner.
"I've done my best to raise my two daughters since then. And if I may say it, they have grown up to be very fine young women," Prince Phil laughed loudly. "Still, I think they need some female guidance, you know for girl talk." Prince Phil winked at Lina as if she was in on some big secret.
"With all due respect, your highness, I don't believe that I'm the most suitable person for the position. Surely there is someone among the noble classes with better knowledge of court life," Lina pleaded. The last thing she wanted to do was babysit a pair of spoiled princesses.
Prince Phil patted Lina solidly on the back, almost knocking her over. "Oh that's alright. They already know everything about court. I want them to learn more about the real world. And if the Knight trusts you to stand in her place then I can't think of a higher recommendation. My little girls are getting adventurous but they've never been outside of the city alone. Why they've never been out of the castle without a veritable wall of guards around them! You should be able to protect them in case they get in over their heads."
Lina cringed. This was sounding very similar to a job she had taken, at Nee-chan's insistence, with the Mailstar family. The high delusional Lady Josephine was sure her son Jeffrey, the embodiment of the word wimp, was destined to become the Knight of Knights. She hired Lina to "assist" her son in exterminating the local villians. In the first job, Josephine had hired actors to play bandits but that plan got screwed up when the real bandits appeared. Lina ended up defeating the entire band by herself. Then when they went to deal with an evil army of monsters, who would be leading it but Jeffrey's father. Seemed he wanted to get away from his family. Not that Lina could blame him. Lady Josephine had the uncanny ability of appearing out of nowhere and smashing to the ground any person who insulted her dear darling boy.
"Father!!" cried a young voice overflowing with exuberance and all around cheerfulness.
"Amelia!!" Prince Phil grinned and looked up.
Lina followed his gaze to the the chandelier hanging above them in the throne room. Standing on it was a young girl with short black hair and large bluish-purple eyes wearing a set of ivory short-sleeved tunic and pants trimmed with pink. She struck a pose, one fist on her wait and the other pointing at some point only she could see.
"With the brightly blazing star of justice as my guide, no evil shall touch this fair city of white, no crime will go unpunished by Fist of Justice, for I am the Holy Protector of Saillune! Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune!!"
From somewhere, streamers and confetti burst out showering the princess and everyone beneath.
"Oh my, isn't it dangerous for her to be standing so high above the ground?" Sylphiel asked. "And on a chandelier much less."
Lina's eyes had reduced to dots. "What? This is one of the two princesses I'm supposed to watch over?"
"Amelia present!" Amelia bubbled leaping off of the chandelier.
"No wai - "
Lina was cut off as Amelia's knee landed in her face and they both crashed to the marble floor.
"...oops..." Amelia laughed weakly.
"Isn't she a charming little thing?" Prince Phil asked after Amelia had gotten off of Lina. Sylphiel was casting a Recovery on the steaming sorceress.
"Charming...isn't the word I'd use," Lina gritted out.
"What did you call me for?" Amelia chirped, latching onto her father's large arm. "Is the envoy from Emaar here yet?"
"Emaar?" Lina repeated. "For that alliance between kingdoms right? That's why you have so many diplomats and foreign royalty running around town right now. Hey, is that the real reason you want me to play bodyguard for your girls?" Lina grabbed Prince Phil by the collar bringing him down to her eye level.
"How dare you touch the Crown Prince?" roared the royal guards but Prince Phil waved them away.
"Well...isn't that why you and the Knight are in town? To make sure nothing goes wrong?" Prince Phil smiled. "Of course I won't be asking you to work for free. It would only be proper to give you some financial recompense."
All of Lina's objections flew out the window at the mention of money. She pulled out an abacus from her cape. "How much?"
"Ummm," Prince Phil fiddled with several beads. "How about this?"
Lina took back the abacus and played with some more beads. "No this much."
Prince Phil's eyes bulged. "That's highway robbery!"
Lina watched Princess Amelia practicing flips and then slipping on the smooth floor to land smack on her head. "If your other daughter is anything like this one than I think I'd be adequately paid."
"Gracia? Oh no, Gracia isn't very much like Amelia. Though I wish it was otherwise since Gracia is my heir but no, only Amelia seems to have followed me in my footsteps of justice and pacificism."
Lina looked at Amelia shadow boxing. "What pacificism?"
"Your highness!" called a royal guard. "The Emaar envoy has arrived and is currently on its way to the castle."
Prince Phil clapped his hands together. "Good, good. They are the last to arrive."
"I want to go see them! The second prince of Emaar is supposed to be coming!" Amelia jumped up and down excitedly.
"Prince?" Lina's ears perked. Her head filled with images of a handsome blond prince adorned in silks and brocades riding a white horse and not of the bandit leader Crown Prince standing before her. If she could marry a prince than she would never have to worry about money again! And she could get out of Nee-chan's wing.
"Yes you may go to watch if Miss Lina is with you," Prince Phil said patting his daughter on the head.
"Yeah!" Amelia cheered and grabbed Lina's arm and dragged her out of the throne room. Lina just shrugged at Sylphiel's parting questioning look. For the money and a prince, Lina was probably getting a bargain.
Prince Phil laughed. "I think they'll be getting along just fine. Don't you want to go see the royal envoy Miss Sylphiel?"
Sylphiel curtsied. "No, I am tired from my long journey. If I may, I'd like to rest now."
"Of course of course. Guard! Please escort the priestess to the temple."
Sylphiel curtsied again to the Crown Prince and followed her escort. Prince Phil did not match at all her image of what a prince was like. A real prince was handsome in face and kind in manners. She touched the amulet beneath her throat. Just like him.
"Look your highness."
"Just Amelia is fine," grinned the princess. "I'm incognito right now."
"Okay, Amelia, I don't think this is the best place to be," Lina rolled her eyes.
"What do you mean? We have a clear view of the center road that the envoy is going to take," Amelia pointed out, scanning the road.
"I can see that," Lina said, reining in her temper. "But why do we have to be on the rooftop?"
Lina and Amelia were sitting on the roof of one of the buildings alongside the center road. And it wasn't a flat roof either but a somewhat slippery sloping one. Lina dug her boots into the roof tiles, keeping as still as possible. Amelia on the other hand couldn't have been more jittery than if an entire colony of ants had been dumped into her clothes. Speaking of which...
"Amelia, just how old are you?" Lina asked sourly, noting the girl's larger chest.
"Hm? I just turned sixteen last month."
A big rock fell on Lina. Sixteen?!? She acted more like twelve.
"How old are you Miss Lina?"
"Me? Oh eighteen." For the last century or so, Lina added silently. Appearance wise they were only two years apart but Amelia's chest could soon rival Nee-chan's. And the worst part of it was that even if the age-halting magic was removed, Lina knew she wasn't going to grow much more.
"Damn, now I'm getting depressed," Lina muttered under her breath. "I need to blow something up."
"Here they come!!" Amelia squealed leaping to her feet.
Riding through the parting crowds was the royal envoy of Emaar. The guards rode in a loose formation around their charges, resplendent in their bright shining armor astride matching chestnut steeds. Flapping proudly in the breeze was the flag of the royal family, a rising falcon. However, most of the attention was fixated on the pair riding the white and black stallions.
"Ohhh, isn't the prince handsome?" Amelia sighed dreamily. Lina couldn't help but nod. This was the first time she had ever seen a prince that matched the description in the fairytales.
The prince sat straight and tall in his saddle, long blond hair glistening under the sun. A white cape was thrown back to reveal the gold-threaded tunic and pants underneath. Hanging from his swordbelt was a gem-encrusted long sword. Girls blushed whenever he gave them a handsome smile or glanced at them with his bright blue eyes.
Lina sighed. Her little voice was telling her that if it was too good to be true, it probably was. Couldn't she just dream for once?
She looked again at the prince. Then she looked over his companion on the black stallion. There really wasn't much to see. He was completely hidden in a cloak and deep hood of silver. On his shoulder perched a brown feathered falcon with a white breast. So then he must be the prince's falconer.
"He's like from a fairytale..." Amelia sighed, leaning closer for a better look.
Lina snapped to attention. "Amelia! You shouldn't be leaning so - "
"WAAAAHHH!!"
" - far out..." Lina finished lamely as Amelia slipped off of the roof and down into the road right in the path of the envoy. "Oh boy."
"Ow ow ow ow," Amelia groaned rubbing her sore posterior.
Several very sharp lances pointed right at her as cries of "Protect the prince!" and "Assassin!" rang out.
Lina covered her eyes with her hand. "This couldn't get worse."
"And that's all," Zelgadiss finished standing up.
"What? That wasn't an ending! What's going to happen to Amelia?" pouted Princess. "And what happened to Princess Gracia?"
Zelgadiss, with the ease of long practice, tucked in the petulant Princess. "The candle is now at finger's width. You're going to sleep."
"But I want to know what happens," grumbled Princess. She tried to look demanding but a huge yawn ruined it.
Zelgadiss raised an eyebrow. "Maybe if you're good I'll finish it later. But to sleep with you now."
Princess's eyes closed sleepily, her head filled with thoughts of the story.
Zelgadiss softly blew out the candle and left the room.