*A/n Hey guys! Happy Friday! I'm still cringing over my last story so let's get something straight… I am really sorry it wasn't supposed to happen and let's never speak of it again.
Anyway, I hope you guys like this one, sorry it's another au and I have to say for the person on this site who requested this to me through pm (sazzieazzie).. I'm sorry I don't think I followed the prompt exactly because I couldn't understand what you were trying to say but I hope it's close enough.
Enjoy and I'll be back soon! (Shooting for next Friday :D )
(5k+ words yikes… probably the longest I've written in a while.)
#
"Hail the King." They said, and Sheldon stood still.
It was more of a chant, everyone in the town of Fluffingburg absolutely adored their king, Rajesh Koothrapolli. He was Mexican, or Indian, or something like that, and even Sheldon swooned at his accent as much as he tried to hide it. He wore a purple gown at all times, one that looked softer than any fabric Sheldon had ever felt himself, and always supported sort of a half grin on his thin face.
People all around Sheldon were on their knees, thankful for the smooth stone beneath them that their king had replaced a year prior. Sheldon had heard of this remodeling and was caught gazing at it, which led him to actually meeting the king, and landing him a job as King Koothrapolli's Direct Messenger. And while this job required him to dress in his own white gown, the people on their knees were all clad in either solid black tuxes or fancy blue dresses. Some of the women even wore flower crowns that he would glance at secretly from time to time.
Like then, Sheldon was looking at a girl's flower crown, and nothing more, despite the popular belief. He was so caught up that he hadn't registered when the King's Royal Man had called for them to begin hailing the king, and a person beside him had help him by yanking him to the ground, resulting in the stone scuffing his knees slightly.
"Ouch," he puffed quietly, straightening his back and adjusting the package he held for the king. Beside him, the person whispered loudly before bending over, and he could feel their eyes on him.
"You're welcome."
Shrugging it off without a response, Sheldon gingerly leaned forward and back and repeated until the crowd as a whole decided that enough hailing had been done, and people gradually began to stand up. By the time Sheldon began to rise as well, he turned and looked at the person beside him, only to see them begin to walk away, dark brown curls bouncing off confident shoulders as a woman walked and swayed.
She was the only woman not dressed in blue, and Sheldon loved the color orange.
He was snapped out of his reverie when he saw the mass before him begin to part. The people were splitting so he could get through, this was nothing he hadn't done before. So looking down with a brief inhale and a soft sigh, Sheldon put on a smile and strode up to the King, holding the package tightly.
This time the "Royal Subjects" of the kingdom, or the people in the crowd, did not seem to make as big of a deal out of the package, yet a few did hoot and howl, while some simply nodded. The King himself made eye contact with Sheldon, and reached out carefully to ruffle up the seventeen year old's hair, grinning while he did so.
A thank you was muttered loud enough for most to hear and a chorus of thanks were repeated while Sheldon bowed and turned to walk away. These were his few moments of being noticed, his only one's of fame.
And the path he had taken to exit the scene had him passing by a very long curtain identical to the King's robe. From that curtain a hand was shoved out, and suddenly Sheldon found himself behind it, his long sleeves hanging from his wrists and the hem of his shirt blowing in the light breeze as he was being pulled.
A softened harsh whisper to be quiet was shot in his ear and he looked up, finally meeting the face of the woman he had seen the back of earlier that had pulled him down when he wasn't following directions. Staring at her composed features now, Sheldon felt slightly less terrified and more relaxed as he realised he probably wasn't being kidnapped. Most likely he was being mugged instead, but he'd give her everything he had.
The woman also appeared to be near his age, not that he was hoping, or maybe he was. But she didn't look scared, smiling at him sweetly. Whether it was truly sweet or of worse intentions, Sheldon didn't want to find out.
He finally realized she had been holding onto his arm still when she finally let go, her lips seemingly permanently in an upcurve. Watching her drop her hand slowly made him want to reach out and hold hers, but he had only just met her, so he fidgeted in his spot and scratched at the back of his neck, which was awkward because of how long his sleeves were, as they just kept falling down no matter what he did.
Giggling, the woman reached out and pulled his arm down, swatting his moving fingers away from the skin on his neck. She leaned back then,settling her hands into her lap, and gazed around the darkened space they were in, before her eyes fell to him again.
"Stay with me until the people leave?"
The question hung in the air for a while and Sheldon paused thoughtfully as he recalled this being the first time he heard her speak properly to him. Then he bit his lip, and considered taking up her offer, before shaking his head ever so slightly, despite the small smile he supported on his own lips.
"I can't, though the offer would be much harder to refuse if you had something like, say, YooHoo to compensate for the missing time I would have from my family."
The woman didn't look upset at his refusal, if anything she seemed happier. Her smile grew, anyway.
"That's alright."
They were quiet for a second, and Sheldon meant to leave right after that but sat for a moment and debated on saying something before she beat him to it.
"I'll be in town two weeks more, so I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other, considering you're the dm and all."
Even though he had no idea who this woman was Sheldon found himself nodding, and secretly feeling giddy about her words, though he pushed the feeling down and continued bobbing his head a moment longer with no more than a blank expression upon his face. And then he was gone, climbing out from behind the curtain and leaving the woman to stare at his shrinking silhouette as he went.
Outside, like he predicted, the people had already dispersed and hardly anyone, not even the King, was around to see him sneak away like he was. He hoped the King read his message carefully, even if it was in a package. He prayed, figuratively of course, that the King wouldn't disregard it, then his job would be pointless.
Sheldon's home wasn't far from the square that the people met in in days like that. In all of six minutes he was home and walking through the door, his mother on the phone like she always was, discussing who to pair her only daughter off with. On a normal day, Sheldon would roll his eyes though he really didn't care. Today, he stopped in the kitchen, grabbing a few grapes from the open bag on the counter as he passed. Then he sat down in a barstool and patiently waited for his mother to acknowledge his presence.
He of course knew how the 'men' were paired off. A mother was called and asked about her son, and requests were made of when to meet and where. This only stood for people in the "Royal Family" and they were hardly in, which was why Sheldon often questioned why his mother was so insistent his sister get paired off to be married. GIven their situation, there weren't many men searching or agreeing, either.
After a short while Sheldon's mother, Mary, set down the phone with a bored expression and reached for a few grapes herself; Sheldon's gone by that time.
He decided to ask if there was any news while his sister was out, to which Mary replied there was none.
"Those darn tax collectors I tell you." she grumbled.
Sheldon straightened out his back however and took off his top, revealing a more casual undershirt before responding. " Any calls for me?" he asked, not needing to hide any nervousness. It was smooth sailing and just another conversational topic, since he didn't really care about who would be his potential bride.
"Nope, sorry Shelly."
Hopping down from his stool, Sheldon shrugged and put on a smile. "That's quite alright. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to take a shower." and he scurried off without another word, not registering that his mother was actually worried for him.
He was never going to meet someone and settle down with the rich family with that attitude.
#
The next day was a Saturday and one week and six days until the woman from yesterday was apparently leaving town- not that he was counting.
Sheldon rolled out of bed an hour after he was meant to, scratching his stubble that had grown in a few days time, and he yawned, before going out into the kitchen.
He was almost amused to see visitors at the door, most likely for his sister. The man looked fairly handsome, two older adults of whom Sheldon assumed were his parents lingering behind him. Sheldon recognized the man as the son of a close friend to the King, not exactly wealthy directly, but still pretty important. Watching them from the small window in the kitchen, Sheldon figured he should probably dress in the attire everyone else saw him in, at least make a neutral impression.
On his way back to his room in a sneaky fashion Sheldon saw his mother fretting over his sister's appearance and nearly chuckled right there. He would never change or worry about his looks for someone else, even if they were forcing him too.
And while standing in front of his old, cracked mirror, he thought to himself how much he didn't want to stay home and communicate with people in the "Royal Family." It had been months since he had actually gone out, dressed as a normal teenager, and had nobody recognize him and treat him differently, so that's what he decided to do.
One thing hardly anybody knew about im was that Sheldon loved superheroes and so he threw on his favorite flash shirt and khakis, slipping on his only pair of tennis shoes before climbing through his back window and out of the house.
It was rather ironic they had been involved with the rich families for so long and were yet, so poor themselves in such a rich neighborhood as well.
That's why Sheldon usually went for walks outside the place in which he lived, where the hills thrived a vibrant green and there weren't so many buildings about. It didn't take long to get there on foot, and with no music to listen to, Sheldon looked from person to person wandering the sidewalks and thought up exactly three things each stranger would have in their house based off their appearance.
A hair dryer, a green notebook and a package of shoe laces, based off the lady with beautiful flowing hair and interesting thick framed glasses.
Candles, simple glass cups, and lots of hangers, based off the young girl who wore big sweaters and walked around as if she were swimming in them.
Whitening toothpaste, headphones, and a briefcase, based off the very professional man Sheldon's mom probably wished he was.
He was nearly skipping when he realized the hills were in view. Slowing down, Sheldon opened the gate carefully to the edge of the city and walked through it, a body slipping in behind him.
He had his hand on the cool black metal on the top of the gate as he looked at the person following him. Usually nobody followed him, he always assumed this to be a secret thing he did whenever he wanted to get out of the house. And though he was mistaken, his didn't necessarily mind, per say.
Beside him stood the woman from yesterday, and she walked ahead of him without so much a glance back. He stared after her, seemingly unable to move for a while, and apparently she sensed he was still at the gates, for she said, without turning her head,
"Are you coming or not?"
She continued to walk along in a similar dress as yesterday although more conservative as Sheldon studied it. Quickly he closed the gate and jogged up beside her once he remembered staring was rude, and together they walked along in silence.
When they got to the hill Sheldon had his eyes on, the woman moved towards the one across from it, and Sheldon stuttered out gently that that hill wasn't the one he usually went to, pointing to the one mentioned previously.
"Then sit on that one and we'll talk." she reasoned, and Sheldon followed her words, sitting down carefully in the grass and leaning back so he was staring at the sky, just like he wanted to do.
Except, this time he couldn't help but wonder if the woman was watching him. He felt like she was, or maybe he was hoping she was, either way he peeked.
She was lying in the same position he was moments before so he resumed lying down, and soon enough her voice floated to his ears.
Talking somewhat loudly so her words carried over to his hill, she asked him,
"Why did you want to come here?"
Sheldon closed his eyes and bit his lip, knowing the answer but also knowing he had never told anyone why he went there, as nobody ever knew, not even his own family.
He shrugged. "Well, do I really need a reason? This area is a public place, and I'm part of the public."
"And it's also illegal to go outside the town's gates." Sheldon shot up at her words. "At least the way you went it was." she finished, still in the same position as before, meanwhile, Sheldon was panicking.
"I'm not going to lose my job over this, am I? I'm not going to join my father in jail, will I?"
Sheldon mentally hit himself, he had forgotten he was never supposed to mention his father. What a lovely first impression that must have made on this girl, of whom, might he add, he found slightly more attractive than all the rest.
In that dress, more specifically.
The woman giggled, however, and he saw her shake her head against the grass; her hair becoming slightly messy. "You won't." she confirmed smoothly. "I would know."
Sheldon visibly relaxed at her words before catching how she said the last bit. Not knowing if he should, he hesitantly stood up and clambered down the hill, making the trek all the way back to her side before sitting down gingerly, leaving a good foot between them.
"What do you mean 'you would know'?" he asked; palms in the grass. And she shrugged, rolling her head to him and smiling as she had the day before.
"I know all the rules." she left it at that, no explanation, and Sheldon wasn't sure whether to question her or believe her and drop it or clarify that he wouldn't be punished for this.
"But you're out here too." he sputtered. Her grin only grew.
She began absentmindedly picking flowers with her hand farthest away from him while she spoke.
"And?"
Sheldon wanted to shake her senseless at how calm and carefree and amused she sounded, but he also kind of really wanted to kiss her so he kept his hands to himself and his gaze steady on her.
"Aren't you worried about getting in trouble too?"
"Nope." came her immediate response.
While Sheldon wondered why, he figured it wasn't his place to ask and so laid back down, and the two enjoyed staring at the clouds in silence, before eventually, what seemed like an hour later, she moved her arm through the grass.
Her fingers landed on Sheldon's arm just barely, and her touch was even more electrifying to his bare skin than he remembered from the day before through his long sleeve uniform. Her hand slipped down, and being seventeen, Sheldon told himself the only logical answer here was that she wanted to hold his hand.
But did he want to-
To hell with it of course he wanted to.
He allowed for hand holding, just this once, with a girl he didn't even know the name of, and this could be so bad, because she could be so much younger or older than him, or she could be plotting to kill him, and who better to kill him than her.
But her hand fit so nicely into his.
#
Nothing else had happened that day on the hill, neither of them had spoken another word that entire time. In fact, Sheldon had accidentally fallen asleep, staring at the mid afternoon sky, and woke up alone.
Whatever the woman had done, if anything, he couldn't tell, and so temporarily erased it from his memory as he trotted back to the town.
To his dismay, a while back from the gate, Sheldon realized there were people there, most likely to guard it, and he groaned in the early morning sunlight. He hadn't noticed them before.
He was about to give up and walk the entire way around to find another entrance, if there even was one, when he saw the woman from earlier, subtly motioning to him from behind a set of pine trees some thirty feet to the left of him and farther away from the gate than he was. He crept to her and was hastily pulled to hide in the trees while experiencing somewhat of a deja vu.
"I think you know why you're here." she said, her tone still soft and hand covering his mouth so he could only nod in response.
He was definitely getting punished.
"We can get back in though," she continued on saying and Sheldon began to calm down, ever so slightly, not like he was fretting too much in the first place. The woman smelled nice, and her touch was comforting.
"As long as it's before my shift on Monday, because I have to work."
Taking her hand away, the woman noded in approval, confirming it was a deal and grabbing Sheldon's hand to shake it. Then, she pushed him farther back into the trees and sat down across from him while he was in an awkward squatting position.
"You don't have to squat, you know. We're going to be here for a while." she sighed before giving Sheldon another one of her beautiful smiles. "Not that I mind."
"Okay."
Okay? Was that the only thing he could think of to say, okay?! He should have-
She laughed and leaned back, casually throwing a glance between the trees at the guards.
"I said it might take a while because we need a plan, obviously." and Sheldon nodded in agreement.
"So here's what we do…"
#
Sheldon wasn't sure how to feel about this woman being an expert in sneaking and breaking into places.
She could do it pretty skillfully, he had to admit. What was even better, was that he wasn't included in the plan until close to the end, and no sneaking would have to be done on his part according to her.
Because apparently, she could get the guards to come away from the gate without them noticing she was on the other side.
Apparently.
What was even more strange was, how he had known this woman for around two days and he already trusted her with his life. She appeared to be smart, he hoped she was.
For the most part he couldn't see her sneak over the trees and their stupid branches, so he couldn't secretly watch her behind while she did so…
Not that he was trying to do that.
And suddenly, he saw her on the other side of the wall, and she was openly talking to the guards.
And they… bowed.. before her.
His grin returned once the guards left and the woman turned around to flash him a thumbs up. Scrambling out of the trees, Sheldon ran to the gate, ran through it, and tried asking her, in a low voice in between huffs for air, how she was able to do that.
She simply slipped her hand into his once more and squeezed it before letting go and walking towards the town square.
Sheldon, in his dazed state, yawned and remembered he had forgotten to shave.
He was off for home once more, hopefully with minimal questioning from his mother, as he had been out literally a full twenty four hours.
Or close to it.
#
Monday alarms and Monday routines threatened to dampen Sheldon's spirit the next morning, but he tiredly pulled himself from the bed at the ungodly hour of five am to visit the King and make his rounds. HIs uniform was still slightly crinkled, and he liked to blame the woman's grip on it but couldn't, as he knew it was only that way because he had worn it.
Still he shrugged it on and set off, forgetting breakfast like usual and stretching his limbs, preparing to break out into a run. He was met with a body, crashing into it, the minute he opened his front door.
How the woman knew where he lived, Sheldon wasn't sure.
He tilted his head down to look at her and immediately noticed the pink color that painted her cheeks, and wanted desperately to kiss her skin and feel the heat. Instead, he backed away slowly and exhaled.
"The king wants you promptly." she said, in a sweet, singsong voice as if she wasn't embarrassed at all, and the only way Sheldon could tell was how it was basically written all over her face. He smiled at her though and nodded, walking away without a word but turning back and giving her a quizzical look.
"How are you involved with the king?" he asked, expecting an answer similar to his situation, and getting a kiss blown to him for an answer. He saw her wink at him out of the corner of his eye, and she turned to walk away, leaving Sheldon confused, but happy nonetheless while he bounded in a separate direction.
Needless to say, Sheldon made it to "home base" fifteen minutes earlier than he usually would, and the King smiled at him warmly, if a bit tiredly, when he strolled into view.
"I see Amy got my message to you after all." he bellowed, casually for him, and Sheldon did a double take before a look of understanding dawned upon his features.
So the woman's name must be Amy…
"What do you think, Sheldon?" the King addressed him properly, except Sheldon wasn't hearing. He was caught up in admiring how perfect the name fit the woman he'd recently met, Amy, and the King had to snap his fingers before Sheldon readjusted his gaze.
"I'm sorry, what?"
The King grinned rather than rolled his eyes at Sheldon's stutter. Behind his chair Sheldon noticed various people walking and conversing, though the more his attention wandered, the more irritated the King seemed to be.
"Boy, you really need to get your priorities in check." Sheldon blushed as the king, casually called him boy. It bothered him, weren't kings supposed to be more professional than that?
"What do you think of Amy?"
Before Sheldon could think through what he was going to say, he blurted out, asking if Amy was his daughter.
The King's laugh was sickeningly sweet.
"I am bound by secrecy not to tell. If she tells you herself how she's involved with me, it's on her."
Sheldon nodded, but he wasn't completely disappointed. He wasn't even sure Amy would answer if he asked, but remained hopeful.
"Anyway, I need you to do your usual run with a few extra stops, so come closer and listen up."
So Sheldon came closer and listened.
#
Another day another dollar, more dollars Sheldon wasn't making enough of. Seriously, the King had all that money, and after an entire day of laboring, Sheldon only came back with fifteen dollars. He'd rather be driving a train for that money.
Speaking of, it was clutched in his hand as he wandered home, slower than usual to take in the view, despite having seen it every day for so long. He was half hoping to be able to get home without interruption and take a nap, half hoping to run into Amy before he got there, and neither of those were an option, at least not right away, as he found out when he tried getting into his home.
Locked.
Turning around with a sigh, Sheldon tiredly leaned against the wall and slid down it, dropping his head in his knees and raising it a while later when he glanced at familiar white shoes on the ground in front of him and heard a quiet shuffling.
Amy was there, and offering her hand to him whilst smiling, causing Sheldon's stomach to flip. He was never good with physical contact, but would risk holding her hand for a few seconds over placing his palms on the dirty ground to push himself up- why had he even sat on the ground in the first place?
She quickly made the question disappear from his mind as she brought his hand up to her lips and skimmed a kiss over it, making Sheldon blush. Weren't the men supposed to do sappy, romantic things like that? However, she dropped her hand as quickly as she had offered it and looked to him with bright eyes.
"Locked out?" she asked, as if it weren't obvious already. Sheldon nodded regretfully and they walked along in silence until he finally decided to ask where they were going. Whispering rather close to his ear, she said two words.
Our hill.
Sheldon stopped in his tracks, pausing and causing Amy to stand still as well.
"Why?" he asked. She knew it was illegal, so why was this girl so reckless? Did she want him to lose his job? Get killed?
Maybe she wanted to watch him attempt to outrun the guards by the gate.
Sheldon couldn't run for shit, very ironic how he had the job he had.
Amy replied by looking to the sky briefly, the sunlight reflecting beautifully in her deep green eyes.
"Because we can't go to my house."
Again, "Why?"
With a surprising smirk, she lowered her gaze and stared at him directly. "Because nobody is supposed to come into my life and get to know me, as they would find out that I'm the Queen's niece."
Sheldon hadn't even met the Queen before.
He was silent.
Well that was easy.
#
Slowly but surely Sheldon began to find himself "falling" for the Queen's niece, although he didn't exactly believe in that nonsense.
Sheldon was never good with metaphors anyway.
Either way, he began to get to know Amy over the next several days, despite her initial statement that no one was supposed to do so.
It didn't appear that she minded, though.
And that hill did become theirs, for the next few afternoons and evenings, some late nights even, leading up to that next Thursday, the day before her supposed departure.
Sheldon hadn't asked her about it, had no clue why she was leaving, but not wanting her to, and stuck between telling her and having no clue how to express his objection to the matter.
It was afternoon by the time they decided to meet up, though Sheldon had the entire day off. Freshly shaven, he walked out of his house and winded through the old brick buildings, waiting at the place Amy told him to meet her at the day before.
And she showed up minutes later, coming from behind him and placing her hands over his eyes.
He hadn't meant to stiffen at the contact, but he honestly thought someone was trying to kidnap him. Sometimes he hated how flirty and confident Amy was, because it just made him "fall" for her even more, but also because it involved a lot of touching, and it was dangerous.
But apparently Sheldon had been taking a lot of risks lately.
Turns out, the reason that Amy wanted to meet him there was to show him to her house, as she was "throwing it all away," and "risking it all" because in actuality, she was leaving that evening and felt Sheldon should at least see her room, for whatever reason.
Sheldon was still stuck on the fact that she was leaving in a few hours, and had only just told him.
The nostalgia was in crazy amounts when Sheldon entered Amy's room, not that he could do much about it. It was a simple, clean, room, reflecting Amy's personality perfectly, and Sheldon smiled at her sadly.
"Why do you have to leave?"
Amy was seemingly trying to fight off the urge to smile, probably at the whine in Sheldon's voice.
"It's what's best for everyone." she said, and he subconsciously titled his head.
"What do you mean?"
"Sometimes," she said, moving closer to him and taking his hands in hers. "People need to leave, so they can use their distance…"
Dropping their hands, she pulled him into the saddest hug he had ever been in, and he hugged her back to avoid potential conflict.
And because he might not ever get the chance again.
"...To figure out if their feelings are right."
Sheldon knew that his feelings were right. He wanted to tell her, but decided not to push the subject, because maybe, by the very rare chance he was wrong, he didn't want to have people know it.
And he was too much of a chicken to go after her once her time came to leave, and she led him out of her house slowly, smiling and playing with his fingers gently as they walked.
"I'll come back," she promised, and Sheldon felt a lump in his throat.
And then she asked him to promise something, and Sheldon didn't do promises.
And he really didn't want to disappoint her.
Still, he nodded weakly and waited for her to speak, for nearly an entire two minutes, before she breathed a very quiet sigh, and said,
"Never stop being you."
fin.