At the very beginning of most fairy tales one often says "once upon a time." The saying of this, of course indicates that the story the speaker is about to tell is probably a children's tale, being entirely fictional and more often than not, utterly boring. This tale, though technically classified as one of these fairy tales and will indeed start with the phrase "once upon a time", is completely true. It is the only guaranteed exception to the rule.
Once upon a time, in a kingdom tucked away within far off, exotic lands, amongst a minefield of mountains and a perilous scattering of thick forests, stood a tall, stone tower. It exceeded the heights of the trees around enormously and was pigmented darker than the continually-starless night sky. It's looming appearance alone forbade travelers from even allowing their thoughts to wander anywhere near it. This, obviously, contributed to the loneliness of the tower's only resident, a typically, trapped-by-the-book and formerly-royal damsel in distress. Princess Kiku, a sibling and confidant of the former king, had just reached the beginning of her third year of imprisonment. She had jet black hair with a silken quality to it, skin pale as ivory, and a pair of deep brown eyes that held an aura of mystery, or so the story told.
Princess Kiku was undeserving of her title, not because she lacked royal blood but simply because she was not a she. Princess Kiku was, in truth, a prince. When his dark-hearted cousin seized the throne from his beloved brother, the king, and taken control of the kingdom, he had been banished to the outskirts of it. He'd been given the faux title of "princess" and the story had been concocted that "she" had been behaving promiscuously and had to be locked away to preserve "her" innocence.
For three years, Kiku had stared out of his tiny window at the top of the tower and wondered about the world. He despaired with uncertainty for his brother's fate, hating having to wonder whether or not Yao was healthy, or even alive after so long, and he puzzled for hours at a time on ways of escape. He'd taken inventory of his tiny room at least two hundred times, surveyed the land around him for hours upon hours-which if added up could easily have amounted to days-and had found absolutely no possible way for him to make it to the ground without wounding or killing himself in the process.
And so this night, on his third anniversary of imprisonment, Kiku sighed heavily as he stared at the moon.
"Are you trapped too, suspended up there?" he lamented softly, "Maybe you're lonely, like me."
"Oh, son of a-!"
For the second time that morning, a loud curse word disturbed the birds on their branches and sent them exploding by the hundreds into the sky. An obnoxious whinnying followed, a sound that could be described as a horse's laughter, and then came the clanking of armor as its wearer chased his four-legged equestrian around the clearing.
Sweat ran down Prince Alfred's dirt-stained skin and soaked his straw-blonde as he attempted to reprimand his transportation. He'd been traveling through the dark, twisted forest for weeks, killing monster after drooling monster, battling roadside thieves and hoards of bloodsucking flies, and sleeping on piles of the itchiest natural matter he'd ever come across. He was tired, sore, and frustrated, and his be-damned horse had to choose then to have an attitude. He gave the animal a particularly hard smack on the flank as he steadied him again; all of this effort to find a damned tower and find the damned princess and safe the God-damned neighboring kingdom.
"At this point, I'm ready to turn the fuck around and let them handle their own damn problems…"
At his words, his horse lifted a rear hoof and nailed him right in his steel-clad stomach. Alfred fell to the ground, hissing as the wind was knocked out of him, and glowering at the stallion as it 'laughed' once more.
Just as Alfred was sure he'd be eating horse meat for dinner, a glimmer of light that had nothing to do with the sun tore him from his thoughts and jerked his attentions westward. Through the dense, deep green canopy of trees, he could see a dark texture that looked like nothing that belonged in a forest. A spot on that texture was shining in the setting sunlight. Even his horse stopped its antics to stare at it, and in that moment of peace he leapt onto its back and directed it towards the light. If his hunch was right, his day was about to get infinitely better.
He rode into a clearing, and just a slight turn of his head revealed the tower he'd put himself through hell to find. Looming over him in the quickly-fading light, it looked even more menacing. It definitely wasn't anywhere a princess belonged.
He dismounted and approached cautiously, keeping his left hand securely fastened to the handle of his sword. King Arthur*, his elder brother, had warned him before he'd departed to keep it constantly on hand. Apparently that sword had saved his life several times before, and it even had a name, although that particular detail was one Alfred could never remember.*
As he surveyed the tower's architecture, he discovered the only entrance; a lone window, barely five feet in width, near the very top of the tower was where he'd seen the glinting light, and was now wielding a faint, warm-looking glow. It had to be her sanctuary. He cleared his throat, wiped some of the muck from his face, and stood a bit taller as he neared the base.
"Princess!" he choked, having not tried to speak formally in so long, his voice cracked in a rather humiliating fashion. He cleared his throat once more and tried again.
"Princess! Are you awake? I…" he trailed off, not wanting to sound flamboyantly full of himself but wanting her to be assured of his heroism, "I'm here to rescue you!"
"I'm here to rescue you!"
At those words, Kiku leapt from his bed and scrambled to the wall beside him. So many dreams had passed in which he'd heard those words, only to wake up and find the clearing below empty as ever. He braced himself against the stone wall, taking a deep breath and sending a desperate glance heavenwards, begging that his savior wouldn't turn away upon discovering his gender.
He looked out the window, and met the eyes of the most beautiful man he had ever seen. Looking back on that moment from years beyond, Alfred hadn't been as godlike as he'd initially taken him. He wasn't ugly by any means-he was quite a handsome prince indeed-but he'd been the first human being he'd seen in three years. In any case, he was a right and true angel.
And he was Kiku's only chance.
Alfred's heart lifted as his princess made her entrance. She was high above him and the light was so regretfully dim that he couldn't make out much about her, other than her dark hair and small, pale frame, but even from that distance he could tell that she was beautiful.
'Beautiful, and she's gonna be mine' he couldn't help but grin.
"Okay, princess, you're gonna have to stand back! I've got this grappling hook and it's gonna have to go into, and it's real sharp!"
He heard the princess giggle faintly and she disappeared again. Grinning the whole way, he strode back to his horse with new vigor and took the climbing equipment from the saddlebag. He checked the rope, tightened the coil around his arm, and wound it back. He spun it and gathered momentum, and with all the confidence in the world, he tossed it towards the window. As it soared through the air, Alfred felt his stomach drop a little. He'd never been dead-on with his aim, and God knew how much his brothers liked to mock him for it. He hoped to high heaven that, if this princess was indeed his soul mate, the hook would catch.
Kiku winced at the piercing, sudden clank of metal against solid stone. A three-pronged hook was digging itself into the sealing between the stone bricks, hooked in by his window sill. He saw it jerk a little, and realizing the man below was ensuring it was secured. He stared for another moment. That hook, that tri-barbed piece of smithed steel, was his long-awaited doorway to freedom. He cast another gaze around his tiny bedroom; blandly decorated, with a single bed, a small chest of drawers, and a tiny table with a single candle burning on it. He considered for a second unloading his dresser, but thought better of it. They were full of feminine robes and even a few dresses, nothing he could wear in the outside world. What he was wearing then, coincidentally enough, was the most masculine of everything his sick, devious cousin had provided him with; a simple off-white robe with a blue tie around the middle, covered by a warmer, more jacket-like dark blue robe. His only shoes were indoor slippers, and as he looked down at them he sighed.
"Don't let my prince be too annoyed with me…"
Alfred's arms were burning by the time he reached the princess' window. He could hear his horse laughing at him from below, knowing he must look like quite a site with his legs dangling and kicking about and his hands clinging to the rope for dear life. Cursing having to own the one horse in his kingdom with the damned ability to laugh, he used the last of the strength in his upper body to heave himself up and into the window, landing rather unceremoniously on the hard wood floor below. He stood, and straightened himself out, meeting the eyes of the princess standing in the back of the room as he did.
His gaze, and then his stomach, dropped.
Kiku could feel the awkward atmosphere choking the air in the room. The mystery prince's eyes were fixated not on his own eyes, but on his chest. Realization was dawning on him, he could see it seeping into those clear, blue eyes, and a cold knot began tying itself in his abdomen.
'God this is the end, he's going to spit in my face and leave me here…'
"I guess I should have said prince when I called out to you, eh?"
Kiku jerked his head up to find the man smiling, scratching the back of his head.
"Well, no use dwelling on it," he continued, "Prince or princess, it doesn't matter to me. Just a little surprised is all. Anyway, you ready?" he tugged on the grappling rope for emphasis, "because I'm seriously done with this woodsy hell."
Kiku was silent for a moment, taking everything the prince said in and processing exactly what was happening. His eyes were glazed as the depth of his thoughts deepened, and Alfred blushed, feeling that he was being scrutinized. He laughed nervously and reached out a hand to the prince-turned-princess.
After what seemed like an eternity, he felt a soft, small palm in his own, and he pulled the smaller man into his grasp.
"Now put your arms around my neck and hold on tight, because I'm too tired to climb us down. We're slidin'. By the way," with a grin that could only be described as dashing, he said, "my name's Alfred."
It was Kiku's turn to blush as they began to descend. He snuggled a little closer to Alfred's armored torso and murmured into it.
"My name is Kiku."