Team: Holyhead Harpies
Position: Keeper
Prompt: King: Write about a character who needs defending.
Word Count: 1587
The Road Ahead
James surveyed the road ahead of him. He had a long way to travel as part of his duties. As the Prince of the Godric's Hollow, it was expected of him to visit every nook and cranny of the kingdom he would rule over as king upon the death of his father. Every monarch before him had done so and it was a tradition that he had to uphold.
He had chosen his two most loyal companions, Sirius and Remus, to accompany him on his travels. As knights in the royal guard, his father had agreed that there was no finer choice he could have made. If this journey proved to be just as dull and boring as his ancestral stories sounded then at least he would have good company to elevate the monotony of his days.
"So, I heard your father is planning on marrying you off to the Lady Narcissa," Sirius jibed, breaking the amiable silence which had fallen between them.
"My father despises the Blacks, present company being the exception," James scoffed. "There's no way he would marry me off to her, especially after the recent rebellion. Quite frankly, your aunt and uncle should be glad he didn't take their heads."
"Well, I heard he had made a match for James with Princess Lily."
"The 'Pauper Princess'?" James cried. "Gosh, she'd be an even worse match than Narcissa."
"I heard her father just gives away all their wealth for 'the good of the people.'" Sirius commented. "Whilst it's a nice idea in theory, the more you give, the more the people come to expect. When you fail to give them what they want, they will rise up."
"I'm just saying what I heard," Remus told them. "Apparently, she has travelled with her father to enter into discussions with the king. Supposedly, they were due to arrive the day after we left."
Shrieks in the distance cut off any response to Remus' information.
"Looks like our journey is about to get a lot more interesting," James said, a look of excitement crossing his face as he kicked the side of his horse urging it to gallop at full speed towards the sounds.
"Hey, wait for us," James heard Sirius cry as he sped off.
The scene James happened upon caused his blood to run cold. A young woman was being held by her hair and then thrown to the ground. She was covered in cuts and bruises, and she was clearly in distress.
Without thinking about it for a second, James jumped off his horse and drew his sword. It was his duty to defend this woman's honour.
"Step away from the lady," James hissed in a low voice.
The dark haired man straightened up and turned so that he was facing James, who was soon joined at his side by Remus and Sirius.
"Sire," he said, bowing lowly, "I—"
"Save your snivelling words," James growled. "Take your horse and leave before I have my men hang you."
"Right away," the man said, scrambling backwards towards the horse.
James sheathed his sword as he glared at the scrawny man who had sought to harm the young woman before him.
As soon as the man had galloped away on his horse, James approached the redhead and offered her his hand.
"What's your name, fair maiden?" James asked, helping the redhead to her feet.
"Pippy," she replied, pulling her hand from his grasp. "And I'll have you know I was handling that situation just fine on my own."
"My lady, you were being attacked; it was my duty, first and foremost, as a man to come to your aid."
Her eyes narrowed at him, moments before her fist connected with his face and he fell unconscious to the ground.
The redhead turned to the two men who were stood there, seemingly stunned by what had just happened. She smiled at them before using the skills her father had ensured she learned as a child to ensure they followed their friend to unconsciousness.
She took a moment to take in the sight of the three men on the ground before rifling through their pockets and taking what she was owed. She then made her way towards the finest horse of the three and climbed on before riding off into the distance. She had somewhere she needed to be.
~o~o~o~
For the rest of his journey, all James talked about was the mysterious stranger who had got the better of himself, Sirius, and Remus, and essentially robbed them blind of any valuable possessions. She invaded his every waking thought and every night he dreamed of flaming red hair and emerald green eyes.
He wanted to know who she was, and how someone so seemingly defenceless was capable of such skill.
Everywhere they went he hoped he would see her again so he was able to ask her these questions and get the answers he desired, but it was as though she was a ghost.
As the trio approached the gates to the castle, James had resigned himself to a lifetime of not knowing who she was.
"Prince James," his father's chief advisor, Sir Alastor, said as they escorted their horses to the stable, "your father wishes to see you. He has requested you come alone as this is a matter of great importance for the kingdom."
"Someone's about to meet their match," Sirius muttered under his breath.
James shot Sirius a glare before following Sir Alastor towards the castle, and leaving his friends to tend to the horses.
"Son," his father greeted as he approached the throne, "I trust your travels proved to be a good learning experience."
"Of course, Father," James replied, "but I suspect discussion of my travels is not the reason you summoned me here so soon after my return."
"Your intuition serves you well," his father replied, "and it will guide you well when you become king. As you know, it is custom in our family to have an arranged match with neighbouring kingdom, and in your absence I have been finalising the finer details of yours."
"You mean to say I have no input into who I marry," James said, balling his hands up into fists at the thought of his father marrying him off to Narcissa Black, or someone equally worse.
"It is for the good of Godric's Hollow that you marry who I say," the king replied. "I have found you an excellent match, and she is delightful. She will make you a very good wife and queen when the time comes."
"I highly doubt that," James muttered under his breath, his mind travelling to the red haired beauty. "So who is she?"
"Adjust your tone, young man," his father snapped. "You are not too old to be grounded."
"Father, to whom am I being betrothed?" James asked, sensing his father's obvious dismay.
"She is a truly remarkable young woman of high intellect and great generosity," his father replied. "Her name is Princess Lily."
"The 'Pauper Princess,'" James cried. "No way. I will not marry someone whose father thinks the best way to rule a kingdom is to give away their fortune. I won't do it."
"You have no choice," his father informed him. "And I will not have you talk about your future wife in such a way. Ahh, here she is now. I'll leave you two to get acquainted."
As his father left the throne room, out of the corner of his eye, James saw the side door open and his jaw dropped as he recognised the woman who walked through.
"You mean to say you don't want to marry a poor, weak, defenceless girl such as myself," she whispered in a meek voice so different to the one she had used when she had spoken to him all those weeks ago. "Besides, what if I don't want to marry you? By all accounts, everything I have heard about you leads me to believe you are nothing more than a chauvinistic, misogynistic pig"
"At least I'm not a liar," James hissed. "You told me your name was Pippy."
"I said my name was P. P. You know, as in, Pauper Princess. I'm not clueless; I know what your kingdom says about my family," she replied.
"Well then, at least I'm not a thief," James snapped. "You stole everything from my friends and I."
Lily huffed. "I only took what I was owed. If you and your friends hadn't so wrongly assumed I couldn't defend myself then that man would never have gotten away with my horse and my valuables."
"You know you look quite attractive when you're all fired up," James answered. "Perhaps you will make me a good wife."
"If I'll have you," Lily bit back.
"Oh, you'll have me," James replied, winking. "Sooner or later you'll fall for my charms."
"It'll be a cold day in hell when that happens, I can assure you of that."
The doors to the throne room opened, cutting off any reply James had, and his father entered.
"It is time to make the joyous announcement to the kingdom," he told them. "Follow me."
James offered his arm to Lily, smiling smugly as she reluctantly took it and they followed his father out of the throne room towards the grand balcony where all official announcements were made.
As he cast a glance at his future wife, James knew that his life with her by his side would mean there would never be a dull moment.