I've been told that where there's love there is danger
And giving you my heart would be painless
I know nothing will last forever
I still like the thought of being together

… And then without any warning, she was running for her life. Through the expansive hallways, out through the colourful gardens and into the thick forest she went. She had her long, silk skirt hiked and bunched into a ball, the silk smooth and slippery underneath her fingertips. Her elegant shoes long abandoned, making her dainty feet thump against the ground, though it was only audible to her ears.

She didn't dare look over her shoulder, for she knew well that meant slowing her pace and a split second was all it took for her to no longer be of this world.

The thicket in the heavy wood was tearing her skirt and pale legs to shreds, but if she felt it, she did not make any indication of caring. Perhaps it was because she was too concerned on avoiding slamming into a tree on the moonless night.

Perhaps if the moon had been out, her skin would be glowing to make her look like an imp, or even a spirit that would make a traveler spread stories about the fair ghost that he saw for only an instant. "But there was no mistaking her face. Whoever she was in her past life, she had to have been a princess. Why else was she wearing a crown?"

Needless to say, stories such as that would have been greatly exaggerated, though always telling the same tale:

The maiden who nearly escaped, only to perish at the hand of her own family for loving a man she was ordered not to be with.

Living in silence and fear along with having to look over her shoulder nearly every minute of every day was taxing on Kanaya's health. Sure, she had been doing it for the better half of a decade, most presuming her to be dead which made her drop her guard from time to time, but never was it safe.

'Twas the life of a princess that fell for a man born in a kingdom that was not her own.

Not only that, but a kingdom that had been the polar opposite of hers in nearly every shape and form for centuries. However, the kingdoms were not enemies at the time of their first meeting (nor any of those following), but not allies either. They were Prospit and Derse, the sun and the moon, land and water. They were both created by two brothers back during a time when family values were a thing that was unheard of. Only blood mattered then to "make the kingdom strong" as her history books told her.

She herself was next in line to take over the throne, which would have made her the first woman to rule over her kingdom. That was all in the past, now.

It all began when she took a business trip to the next village over. Growing bored of all the political talk, she took a stroll through to see what the people in the land wanted to see changed in the government. Like every good princess, she never went out in her gowns. Only her street clothes that she made herself; a single print cotton dress and cloak. It helped for when a few civilians here and there recognized her. The royal family was known to have tan skin, dark hair, and large almond shaped eyes. The fact that her skin was pale helped, but most people that did notice her hardly said a word, too ensnared in the fat that the royal family was around.

After walking halfway across the village, talking to several business owners, and buying a new book for her library, she figured it was about time to head back to the mansion that she and her family were staying in. However, there was a somewhat large group of people surrounding what looked to be a puppeteer on the side of the road that caught her attention.

She went over to watch the show becoming fascinated over the show he was putting on he was putting on. He made his puppet hand her a lily that seemed to appear out of thin-air (she would later learn that the puppet's name was Little Calious, Lil cal for short, and he was the best friend of the puppeteer).

To her, it was the most flattering thing anyone had ever done for her without knowing who she was. Normally she would just be a regular woman on the street, but apparently she had caught his eye. The fact that she was royalty made it even more exciting, for having everyone waiting on her, hand and foot, was indeed one of the many perks of being being who she was, but having someone treat her as an everyday person never failed to make her feel happy inside.

But the day was drawing to a close, and she needed to return to her temporary home so she could entertain whatever guests her family decided to invite. Plus, the puppeteer was packing his puppet into the chest that she had seen him sitting on for the past half-hour as he entertained anyone who happened to stop and watch him make his living.

Thanking him for the lily, the pale woman tucked it into her cloak, making a mental reminder to press it into her journal. Only after being turned away for a moment, a hand clasped around her wrist accompanied by a "Please wait a moment, miss." She twisted her head to see who it was, only to see that it was the puppeteer.

"Yes?"

"What are the chances of a man like me knowing a lovely lady's name like yours?" He released her hand, giving a small smile as he shifted his weight. The only thing that he accomplished was making him appear a little bit taller and a smidge bit more attractive. "It's rude to ask for a ladies' name without giving your own, my good sir," a smirk found its way onto her lips.

A shade of pink blossomed over his cheeks, disappearing as soon as it came. "Of course, pardon me. Where are my manners?" He bowed down dramatically (his form was formal, however) and came back up again saying "Dirk Strider Ma'lady. Entertainer for the kingdom of Derse."

From that sentence alone, she knew that he was either a fool or did not give a single damn. Telling a person that they were from the opposite kingdom in the heart of Prospit was a generally frowned upon rule. Very much like her reading her books outside instead of sitting indoors all day, doing all sorts of boring paperwork.

With that stated, she decided that she had already taken a liking to this man, even after only learning his name.

Curtsying, she said "Kanaya." A royal princess never gave away her last name, but always her first. Most people gave no heed to the names of any princess, in line for the throne or not. Regardless, she immediately felt as if she could trust this man with that snippet of information, from Derse or otherwise.

That was how the relationship of Dirk Strider of Derse and Kanaya Maryam of Prospit began to end.

It was only the very next day she met with Dirk again in the same spot that they had their chance encounter. Only a bit of persuasion was done on his part to get her to meet him there with promise of a full tour of the small village. She guessed that it was because of her accent and skin colour that made him think she wasn't from the area, which was a bit rude to assume, but it only showed her that he was a perceptive person.

She rather fancied that quality in any person.

After she went to her temporary residence, she couldn't help but feel a bit giddy inside over the thought of spending the day with a Dersite. And it wasn't because he was from there. No, it was because he intrigued her. Had anyone known that she planned to do such a thing, she would have been given a "strong lecture" on trusting someone from the opposite kingdom and banned from ever seeing him again. To her, they were nothing but people who lived in a different region. People who had lives, worries, families, jobs, and customs just like Prospitians.

If only everyone on both sides of the kingdom could think the way that she did.

Kanaya awoke the next morning to the feel of the Sun's rays on her cheek, notifying her that it was sometime after dawn and she had overslept. Cursing under her breath (A true lady never spoke such obscenities aloud unless the moment called for it), she rushed to get dressed. Only half-way into her corset did she remember that she was meeting Dirk that day, and there was no need for her to get fancy. It seemed as if her restlessness and anxiousness caused her to forget all about him.

Since she was meeting him inside the town, there was no way that she could wear one of her elaborate and detailed dresses, which cut her preparation time into more than half. Small blessings those dresses were.

Skipping breakfast and heading straight to the heart of the village (not without telling her mother, of course), Dirk was there as he promised. He was a bit more fancily dressed than she was which made her feel a smidge of embarrassment and equally thrilled that he had some sort of fashion sense. There were a fine number of things she was fond of, and a man that could dress himself was near the top.

He did not notice her at first, so Kanaya took that time to study his features. His hair was pointed and tostled in the back as if he had spent the entire night tossing and turning (thinking back on it, it looked the exact same way the day before). He had a clean white tunic with an orange vest over it, black trousers and black boots adorned his legs and feet.

He was rather handsome for a jester, she thought. Perhaps he was related to the Derse's royal family in some sort of way. As a child, and even growing up, in attempt to strengthen the feeble political bonds between the two kingdoms, Dersite's would often come to the castle for a few weeks and she would always take note of their perfectly straight blonde hair and their porcelain skin. Kanaya herself was the odd ball of Prospit, having fair skin herself, an uncommon trait among her family. As a little girl, before she grew into a young woman, she would often fantasize the idea that she was taken from Derse and raised as a Prospitian. The books that she found on her mother's book shelf about such lore with fairytales and the like didn't do anything but help with that idea playing around in her head.

After only a few more moments, Dirk turned and saw Kanaya which snapped her out of her childhood fantasies. "Miss Kanaya," The man gave another over-dramatic bow, not raising himself until she curtsied. "Tell me Mr. Strider, what sort of things did you have in mind for today?"

"I figured we could go to the pub down the way," He pointed down the road at a sign that read Saw and Tooth, "have an early lunch and get to know each other a little. Of course, only if that's alright with you Malady," He paused, "Perhaps we could take a stroll of the town if you're not tired of me by then."

He shot her a pearly white smile, and she couldn't help but to smile back.

"That sounds lovely."

The entirety of the day was spent in Saw and Tooth. They didn't take a stroll of any sort, unless a stroll was considered him getting her another drink before her glass of tea was even empty. He even pulled her chair out for her, which was a rare occurrence with the men that had tried to court her in her life. No, it was always servants that would do it for her, never whatever man her mother had tried to set her up with. None of the relationships lasted to say the least.

Those men were always more concerned with her blood, not of the things that she said and thought about. Dirk Strider hung onto her every word saying "You have a sharp mind." Her reply was only a smirk and a sip of her tea.

She learned that he wasn't so different from her as far as being a Dersite was concerned. He shared with her that he thought she herself was from there at first, judging by her pale skin of course. She wanted to tell him about the childhood fantasies that she had about being kidnapped from there because she looked different from her family, but that would be telling him that she was royalty and that was the last thing she wanted to do. Telling anyone from the opposite kingdom was a risky thing to do for anyone that lived and associated with the opposed monarchy.

Regardless, they continued to talk until it was time for her to go back to her home. He offered to take her there, but that too was an enormous risk. She wasn't staying in a cottage by any means with her family, so she had to decline. It clearly upset him a bit, so she promised him that she would meet him again at the same pub at the same time on the next day.

He bid her off with a bow and watched her back until she was no longer in sight. When she returned to her temporary home, she went straight to her bed chamber, claiming that she felt weary from walking all day, when really she wanted to gush over her new-found crush over the Strider. There was no telling how long it would last, so she relished in it for as long as she could.

She quickly fell asleep that night, dreaming of a certain man with striking blonde hair.

(A/N: part 1 of ?. Writing this for tumblr user amperehope who had a birthday like, last week (whoops) and i figured you were probably tired of waiting and this is really fast paced which is making it really bad and im so sorry but ahhh i hope you like what i've got so far v_v xoxo happy late b-day and stuff. hahaha.

ah, the song at the top is called Heat Lightening by Icky Blossoms and its pretty sad and this is slightly sadstuck so I though that it fit mhm. but ahh im so nervous i really hope you like this mr. Rhaeme.)